Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Sorry about the wait, but I finally have another chapter done! And don't worry, the story will soon be moving a bit faster. I promise!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

"Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality." -Richter Abend (Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World)

Chapter 174: The Daughter of Courage

Takara 'Kara' Kamiya

File Island, Eastern Hemisphere, Digital World

What...where...where am I?

Wincing in pain, Takara slowly opened her eyes, and lifting her head she let out a small gasp of fear.

Daichi and the rest of her fellow Digidestined were gone.

What happened? How did I end up here?

Unsure of exactly where she was, Takara took a quick look around, her hazel eyes scanning the rough terrain and the rocky path circling just out of sight in both directions, though because the mountain was so thick in diameter, she had to squint in order to spot where the path eventually disappeared from view. As far as she could tell, she was obviously still somewhere on Infinity Mountain, but whether or not she was close to the peak or at the bottom was still a complete mystery to her. The only thing she was sure of was the fact that she just knew instinctively she was no longer anywhere close to her friends.

Dai, Dad, Dovemon...where are you guys? I bet you're all really worried about me...

Blinking back tears, Takara slowly sat up, and doing her best to ignore the small stones digging into her rear and the backs of her thighs, she vigorously shook her head, attempting quite unsuccessfully to dislodge the dust and small pebbles buried deep within her long ponytail. Not surprisingly, DarkAngelicmon had placed her limp body at the base of the jagged slope leading up towards the peak of the mountain, away from the edge of the cliff, clearly as a safety precaution to prevent his hostage from falling off the side of the mountain. Takara knew technically she should probably be grateful, but instead all she felt was bitter resentment. After all, DarkAngelicmon hadn't been protecting her because he was concerned about her safety. He had only done it to fulfill his master's evil plans, whatever those plans might be.

I must have blacked out when DarkAngelicmon used his Dark Teleportation attack. Dai...did you even hear my words? Don't you know how much I care?

"Stay strong, Dai! I love you!"

Much to Takara's embarrassment, even just thinking about her final words to the goggle-headed leader caused her cheeks to turn a brilliant shade of pink, and although she was hoping perhaps maybe he hadn't heard her words, the most important part of her, her heart, was desperately hoping he had heard her voice loud and clear.

But I know he didn't. I wasn't quick enough. I said the words too late...

If anything happened to her, Dai would never know exactly how she felt, and although she was scared to admit it, she knew she was running out of time to tell the goggle-headed leader what was in her heart. There was no telling what might happen in the future, and if she didn't tell him the truth soon, there was a possibility she could end up losing her one last chance to reveal her feelings altogether.

Ryoko's right, I have to tell Dai how I feel as soon as possible, but...what if I'm already too late? What if...something bad happens to me? No! I have to be brave. I have to be brave like Dai and my father. Oh, Dovemon, I wish you were here with me...

"Excellent work, DarkAngelicmon," a female voice suddenly cried gleefully, interrupting Takara's thoughts. "And to think only just this morning I was starting to lose faith in you. You've certainly outdone yourself this time. Our master will be very pleased."

"Why thank you, Spritemon. You're learning, I see. I was almost starting to believe courtesy might be beyond your capabilities."

"Since I happen to be in such a wonderful mood, I'll ignore what you just said. It's about time that Kamiya girl got her comeuppance. Once our master is done with her, I'm going to make sure she pays for making me look like a fool earlier."

"Making you look like a fool isn't exactly a hard thing to do," another female voice snorted, her tone emphasising her obvious disgust. "Honestly, Spritemon, you're a mega! It's time you started acting like one."

"That's rich coming from you! I'll have you know I was this close to taking out WarGreymon. A little more of my pixie dust and he would have been toast! Who are you to tell me to act like a mega?"

"Your commander and the leader of this operation, that's who!"

Looking up in surprise, Takara spotted Vampiramon, Spritemon, DarkAngelicmon, and another digimon who looked like a rookie huddling together near the base of the cliff, and shaking her head in amusement, she crossed her arms over her chest, her lips twitching into a small smile.

They sound like a dysfunctional family, in a creepy sort of way. Don't they ever get along, even just once in a while?

"Enough of this, we're wasting time!" Vampiramon snapped, glaring at the little fairy digimon standing next to her. "Now that we have the Kamiya girl, it's time to begin the next phase of our plan. Spritemon, do you remember what it is you're supposed to do?"

Rolling her eyes, Spritemon made a face and snapped, "Of course I do! You want me to spy on Daichi and his friends and then I'm supposed to have DemiDevimon report back to you."

"Piece of cake!" the little rookie hovering over DarkAngelicmon's left shoulder shouted enthusiastically. "Spying is what I do best!"

"BlackWidowmon and Jestermon are already in position. They're waiting for your arrival," Spritemon added. "I'll make sure to keep in touch with them until the two of you reach the peak. That way DemiDevimon and I will know when you arrive at your destination."

Unable to prevent herself from speaking, Takara snapped, "You won't get away with this!"

Dai, wherever you are be careful!

"Quiet, human!" Spritemon hissed, whirling around to glare at her. "Don't make me come over there!"

"You're awake, I see," DarkAngelicmon said pleasantly, moving slowly towards her. "I assume you realize we're holding you as bait?"

In response, Takara shrank back as the fallen angel suddenly knelt in front of her, and wrapping her arms around her knees she whispered, "Why me? Why did you capture me?"

There's no way they could know about my D-Coder reacting to the barrier surrounding the Spirit Chip of Bravery yet! I haven't pulled my D-Coder out since arriving on Infinity Mountain, nor have I talked about its glowing surface. Unless...were they maybe spying on us before we started climbing the mountain? No, that can't be right. Angelicmon and the other angel digimon would have felt DarkAngelicmon's presence near the gate if he had been watching us earlier. Clearly DarkAngelicmon was on Infinity Mountain the whole time, but that doesn't make any sense either. If he doesn't know about my crest, why did he capture me? Why didn't he capture Dai or Ryoko? Wouldn't it make more sense to capture one of them? They're the ones who might own the Spirit Chip. I mean, I guess one of the others could have been spying on us, but I don't think that's the case. From the way they're talking, it sounds like all of them have been on Infinity Mountain the whole time. Spritemon herself hasn't started spying on anyone yet, and there was nothing for Vampiramon and DarkAngelicmon to see.

"I believe the Spirit Chip of Bravery belongs to Daichi, as do you, I think, which means when it comes to stealing a hostage, you were the logical choice."

"I...was?"

"Daichi cares about you," DarkAngelicmon said simply, his hands resting comfortably on his knees. "We knew you and your friends would be expecting to find us waiting for you on Infinity Mountain today long before we set out for the Eastern Hemisphere, and as a result, we knew you were all going to be a little bit cautious. I must admit, because of recent history, we thought perhaps you and your friends would end up losing your nerve before making it all the way to the top of Infinity Mountain, and because I'm not the type of digimon who believes in taking unnecessary risks, and by that I mean losing my chance to steal the Spirit Chip, I thought it would be a good idea to help you all along a bit on your journey, so to speak."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in order to steal the Spirit Chip, we need to make sure Daichi retrieves it first, and the best way to do that is to give him no other choice. We needed to give him a reason to need the Spirit Chip of Bravery and you are that reason."

"I...am?"

"Of course. The best way to defeat your enemies is to use their weaknesses against them. Daichi's greatest weakness is his friends. We knew if we acquired a hostage, Daichi wouldn't hesitate to follow us to the top of Infinity Mountain and that's obviously where you come in."

Glaring indignantly at the fallen angel, Takara snapped, "That still doesn't explain why you picked me."

"Oh, any human would have done, Daichi's sense of justice wouldn't have let him leave any hostage to his or her fate, but we thought it would be best if we captured someone who was especially important to Daichi. That person is you."

"M-me?"

"Capturing someone important to Daichi will give him even more incentive to follow us, and since we knew capturing the owner of the Spirit Chip would be a waste of time, we decided to do the next best thing."

He doesn't know about my D-Coder!

"We can't steal the Spirit Chip until Daichi gets it first, and in order for him to get it, I suspect he'll have to have a reason to need it first. Isn't that how it normally works with trinkets like the Spirit Chips and the crests?"

"Well yeah, but..."

"I am not blind, Kara. Daichi cares deeply for all of his friends, but there are two who, at the moment, are his greatest concerns. And by that I mean he is uncertain of how they feel about him. You are one of those two people. The other human is Ryoko Ishida."

"W-what?"

Dai is...uncertain of how I feel? But...that doesn't make any sense. He knows how much I value his friendship. I can understand with Ryoko, but for him to be questioning my feelings? I've never given him any reason to believe there might be a rift between us. I don't understand...

"If that's true then why did you pick me over Ryoko?"

"Some of my companions are still worried the Spirit Chip might belong to Ryoko, and if that's true capturing him would ruin our plans. We can't have the wrong person looking for our hostage. It needs to be the owner of the Spirit Chip," DarkAngelicmon explained, smiling slightly. "The same would be true if it were the other way around. If we assumed the Spirit Chip belonged to Ryoko, capturing Daichi would ruin our plans. What if it turned out we were wrong? Ryoko wouldn't be able to get the Spirit Chip and Daichi, being the hostage, wouldn't have sufficient reason to need the Spirit Chip. He could try to use it to save himself, but somehow for him I don't think that would be a good enough reason to need the Spirit Chip."

Dai, you're always trying to save everyone, but what about you? If you end up in trouble, who's going to save you? Ryoko, Mickey, Matty, Sam...please don't let me down...

"Since Daichi is uncertain about your feelings, as well as Ryoko's, we knew that would give him even more incentive to rescue whoever we chose because he doesn't want anything to happen to either one of you. To put it plainly, he doesn't want to lose his chance to figure out just exactly how both you and Ryoko feel about him. You know what Daichi is like. He wouldn't be able to live with himself without having a chance to respond both to your feelings and to Ryoko's feelings. To live never knowing how both you and Ryoko truly feel about him would be worse than death and I am well aware of the fact that he would do anything to fix the unresolved issues he has with his friends, namely you and Ryoko. Funny enough, Ryoko is the same way. Do you understand now?"

"I..."

"As you can see, since both Daichi and Ryoko are off limits at the moment, we did the next best thing," DarkAngelicmon said smoothly, ignoring her uncertain pause. "We decided to capture someone who is important to both of them. Problem solved, and quite nicely I might add, though Ryoko isn't questioning his feelings about you the way Daichi is, but I'm not too concerned about that."

"Why not?"

"Because I know the Spirit Chip belongs to Daichi, but if giving Ryoko a reason to need the Spirit Chip will also keep my companions quiet then I'm happy to ease their fears. Their whining and complaining can be rather annoying at times."

Growing suddenly angry, Takara crossed her arms over her chest and giving the fallen angel a dirty look she snapped, "And what if you're wrong, huh? What if the Spirit Chip does belong to Ryoko?"

"It doesn't. As I said before, you know that as well as I do."

He sounds so sure of himself...

Gazing into the fallen angel's eyes, Takara found herself unable to look away from his surprisingly sympathetic green gaze. For the first time since she had met DarkAngelicmon, the two of them were sitting close enough to one another for her to suddenly realize she was seeing something she had never noticed before. Contrary to his evil nature, DarkAngelicmon's bright green eyes were surprisingly kind, gentle, and understanding, and not only that they were also filled with such deep wisdom and knowledge, it was almost impossible to comprehend just how much his gentle spirit defied his sometimes harsh actions. It was a humbling experience and it made Takara's heart ache with sadness.

Mickey was right all along...

"Well? You seem unusually quiet. I do hope my explanation was sufficient enough," DarkAngelicmon said dryly, smiling in amusement.

"You still didn't really answer my question. Why me? Why would Dai ever question how I feel about him..."

"I told you, Daichi cares about you, more than you know. It seems you harbour similar feelings, although judging from your reaction it appears you have failed to tell him the truth about what it is you really feel within your heart. All the more better for me, I suppose."

"W-what?"

Is he saying Daichi cares about me as...as more than a friend? No way! How could he possibly know something like that? I'm only hearing what I want to hear...

"You would do well to listen to your heart," DarkAngelicmon said softly, almost to himself. "Something I never did..."

DarkAngelicmon...what do we have to do to make you believe in us...

"Honestly, DarkAngelicmon, you're not supposed to visit with the hostage!" Spritemon scowled, causing both Takara and the fallen angel to jump in surprise. "And you're not supposed to be telling them our plans either! What is wrong with you?"

"What difference does it make? She's in no position to be telling the Motomiya boy and the rest of the Digidestined about our plans," DarkAngelicmon said shortly, leaping gracefully to his feet. "Pardon me for interrupting your rant, but don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"DarkAngelicmon is right," Vampiramon snapped, frowning at the little sprite digimon. "I think it's time you got to your post. Daichi and his friends will have picked up Takara's signal on their D-Coders by now, and although it will take them some time to reach us, we still need to hurry. We must make it to the top of the mountain before they come in contact with us again. Remember, when we get there send DemiDevimon back to us frequently with information about what Daichi and his little friends are up to, and for the love of hades don't let them out of your sight! Watch them closely and make sure they don't fly their way up the mountain. I want to know what's going through their heads at all times, and although Takara's D-Coder can help us with their location somewhat, it's still too general. I want to know exactly where Daichi and his friends are with every little step. You should find them on the south side of the mountain, about less than a quarter of the way up. I doubt they've had time to get very far in the last ten minutes. And don't forget, until DarkAngelicmon and I reach the top of the mountain, remember to keep in touch with Jestermon and BlackWidowmon so we know what's going on."

"I know, I know!" Spritemon grumbled, tossing her head in annoyance. "Come on, DemiDevimon, let's get this over with."

"Yes, of course, your evilness!"

I almost forgot! I can keep an eye on Dai and the others with my D-Coder at all times! Not only that...

Scrambling quickly to her feet, Takara quickly pulled out her D-Coder Digivice and holding the glowing green gadget out in her hand she gave the four evil digimon a triumphant smile. "You guys are so sure you have everything all figured out, but you're not as smart as you think you are! All this talk about Dai and Ryoko, but none of you ever stopped to think about me! Have you forgotten the Crest of Courage belongs to my father? Look at my D-Coder! That Spirit Chip could belong to me and if it does then your plans are ruined! Maybe next time you should be a little bit more careful with who you capture!"

For a moment the four digimon merely stared at her D-Coder in disbelief, and as soon as they realized the implications of what her glowing Digivice might mean, the expressions on their faces, with the exception of DarkAngelicmon, changed from shock to complete outrage.

Whirling around so fast her skirts sent up a cloud of dust, Vampiramon smacked the fallen angel hard on the back of his head. "You idiot! Why didn't you tell us about the Kamiya girl?"

"What were you thinking?" Spritemon shrieked, tugging viciously on the fallen angel's wings.

"Truthfully, I did not know about Takara. An oversight, to be sure, but it is of little importance."

"I don't know, it seems pretty important to me," DemiDevimon mumbled anxiously.

"DarkAngelicmon, you fool! How can you even say something like that?" Spritemon cried, stomping heavily on the fallen angel's left foot. "Of course it's important! We might have captured the wrong person! If the Spirit Chip really does belong to Little Miss Snotty here, then we should have captured her precious goggle-headed leader instead!"

Bristling at the insult, Takara pointed her finger at the little mega and snapped, "Excuse me? Little Miss Snotty? Are you sure you aren't referring to yourself, Spritemon?"

"Why you little-"

"If you ladies are done now, can I please say something?" DarkAngelicmon interrupted, grabbing onto his foot and sending Spritemon a reproachful glare. "I admit I feel a little foolish having overlooked Takara's connection to the Crest of Courage, but I don't think there's any need to get all upset."

"Why not?" Spritemon demanded.

"It's quite simple really. The Spirit Chip does not belong to Takara, therefore there is no reason to worry about her D-Coder."

Again he sounds so sure of himself. Maybe he really does feel the same way I feel...

"And what if you're wrong?" Vampiramon snapped, glaring at the fallen angel.

"It belongs to Daichi, plain and simple. At the present moment, Takara's glowing D-Coder is of little importance. It's merely reacting in the same fashion as Ryoko's D-Coder."

"But-"

"Excuse me, Spritemon, but don't you have a job to do?" DarkAngelicmon asked mildly, completely ignoring the vampire digimon and turning instead to smile serenely at the small sprite digimon standing next to him.

Tossing her head, Spritemon let out an irritated sigh and frowning she muttered, "Fine, but I still think you're an idiot. Come on, DemiDevimon, let's get going."

"Yes, your evilness!"

Takara expected the small sprite digimon to quickly hurry off down the path, but much to her surprise, instead of leaving, Spritemon suddenly started to move towards her. In response to the little mega's sudden movement, she let out a small squeak of fear, her back hitting the cliff wall behind her as she scrambled back in terror.

"You've got a lot of nerve trying to pull a trick on us," Spritemon said coldly, her hands on her hips. "DarkAngelicmon might be a bit of a fool sometimes, but I know from experience that he can see right through humans and digimon like you. You told us about your D-Coder on purpose because you wanted us to think we had captured the wrong person. Trying to catch us off guard, are you? Too bad your little plan didn't work!"

"No! That's not-"

"Don't lie to me!" Spritemon hissed, her brown eyes sparkling dangerously in the afternoon sunshine.

Takara was about to protest, but before she could open her mouth Spritemon suddenly grabbed the collar of her shirt, causing her to lose her balance, and forcing herself to remain calm she allowed the little mega to give her a rough shake.

"You're only alive because my master needs your Spirit Chip," Spritemon snapped, her cheeks turning an unpleasant shade of red. "If I were you, little Kara, I'd stay on my guard. You're going to pay for making me look like a fool. Once my master is through with you, you're going to be mine and unlike him I'm not going to go easy on you."

"You're the one who should watch your back, not me!"

"You've been warned," Spritemon said coldly, releasing her grip and turning once more to get DemiDevimon's attention. "When the time comes, your death will be sweet."

I have to be brave! I have to be brave like you, Dai...

Willing herself not to cry, Takara nervously watched Spritemon and DemiDevimon disappear from sight, and realizing all of a sudden there was nowhere for her to run and that she was now left alone with Vampiramon and DarkAngelicmon, the fear in her heart quickly gave way to despair.

Dovemon...

"Come, Kara," DarkAngelicmon suddenly murmured, his voice interrupting her miserable thoughts. "We've wasted too much time already."

Takara let out a whimper, and wrapping her arms around herself she whispered, "Where are we going?"

"Were you not listening? BlackWidowmon and Jestermon are waiting for us at the top of Infinity Mountain. That's where the Spirit Chip of Bravery is located, as you very well know."

"I wouldn't act so smug if I were you. If it wasn't for Gennai, you wouldn't know a thing!"

"Neither would you. Come, we must reach BlackWidowmon and Jestermon before Daichi and the rest of your friends manage to catch up to us."

Glancing at her D-Coder, Takara let out a sigh of defeat. As far as she could tell, it didn't look as if Dai was going to catch up to her any time soon. Whereas she was near the peak of Infinity Mountain, Dai's glowing red dot was close to the bottom, the gap between them so wide they might as well have been on opposite sides of the Digital World.

"Well? Do I have the pleasure of enjoying you company?" DarkAngelicmon asked pleasantly, smiling in amusement.

Biting her lip and wishing desperately for help she knew would be a while in coming, Takara did the only thing she could do. Clutching her glowing D-Coder tightly in her hand, she proceeded to follow the fallen angel and his vampire companion up the path towards the very top of the mountain, the light of her Digivice leading the two digimon confidently towards their destination.

Dai...courage isn't a lack of fear. It's knowing you're afraid and finding the strength to overcome your fear. Please...whatever you do, don't give in. Don't give in to your fears. If you do, we'll never stop all this darkness...