Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
A/N: Finally another chapter! We're starting to get things going now with the new Spirit Chip, so I hope you all like it!
Following the Footsteps of Destiny
Chapter 296: The Mythical City
Takara 'Kara' Kamiya
Odaiba, Japan, Earth - Cyber, Western Hemisphere, Digital World
Takara knew everybody was watching her, but despite the strained silence, she barely even noticed the pained expressions on the faces of her family and friends. There was only one thought going through her mind at the moment, and it scared her more than anything else had ever scared her in her life.
They know he's my weakness. That's why they took him from us.
"You can't blame yourself, Kara," her father suddenly said quietly, his firm voice shattering the stifling atmosphere hovering in the air around the room. "No matter what your feelings are, none of this is your fault."
"But I-I..."
Takara was having trouble speaking, and as tears threatened to spill from her eyes, she felt her mother's arms slip around her shoulders from behind in a comforting hug. Leaning close to her ear, the older female whispered, "If that's how you feel, then don't let the people you love become your weakness. Let them be your strength. Let Dai be the one to fuel the courage in your heart."
She knows. Not just her...Dad, too. It's almost like they read my mind. They understand exactly how I feel about Dai. Probably have for a long time now. How could they not when they love each other so much?
Takara shook her head in an effort to clear her thoughts, and whirling around to face her mother, she stared at the older woman with wide eyes before turning to glance back at her father, her arms trembling as she struggled not to accidentally drop Fluttermon. It wasn't like she had discovered something new or shocking, since a part of her had always realized her parents were aware of her feelings for Dai, but all the same it still came as a surprise to hear them voice their sentiments in words. And judging by the way the rest of the crowd was staring at her, their feelings were mutual.
It's obviously unanimous. It's not just my parents, my Digidestined team, and my friends from school. It's everyone. They all know how I feel, and I know they all want to help me, but it's still not enough. It's not going to bring Dai back. We won't be able to save him if I can't get my Spirit Chip, and I don't know if I'm going to be strong enough to break the seal and fight off the darkness that's trying to steal the one person I love most of all...
Once again, her mother must have sensed her thoughts, and as the older female reached out to touch her cheek, the Child of Love said softly, "Let Dai fuel your motivation to express the love you've kept hidden inside your heart for so long. I know you can do it. I have faith in you. We all do."
My love. Not just my love for Dai, but the love I feel for everyone who is important to me. That's what she's really trying to say...
Takara had no idea how to respond to those words, and sensing the uneasy tension in the air, fueled by the fact that her true feelings for the goggle-headed leader were now hanging right out in the open, Matt quickly stepped forward and said shortly, "If the blame lies with anyone, it's the Ruler of Darkness."
"Exactly," Ryoko agreed, frowning before quickly turning his attention to Taniko. "We should get going. Gennai's probably waiting for us."
They...don't blame me. And their eyes...They've all just accepted my feelings for Dai, and they're going to support me. They're not going to hold me back from whatever I decide to do...
"Be careful out there," Taniko said quietly, her deep brown eyes straying towards Matty. "Keep in touch, and if there's anything we can do on our end, make sure you let us know."
"I'll send you regular reports on our progress," Izzy replied, giving his daughter a reassuring smile. "And make sure you get some rest tonight. Don't stay up too late like I always do."
Taniko laughed at that, and giving her father a quick kiss on the cheek, she said, "Mom will make sure of that. Good luck."
"Ready to go?" Sam asked, his sapphire eyes traveling over the individuals who would be joining their latest mission.
"Definitely," Mickey said firmly, holding out his Digivice. "Let's go save Dai."
Everyday they make it harder for me to deny just how lucky I am. To have so many friends who will stand by me no matter the cost. Do I really deserve this kind of loyalty when I haven't been able to protect them as much as I should?
Takara quickly gathered around the computer with the others, trying unsuccessfully to ignore her wayward thoughts, and watching them closely, Noah said seriously, "We're counting on you guys."
"Please," Noriko pleaded, her eyes shining with tears as she anxiously twisted her hands together in her lap. "Bring my son home safe and sound."
Ken stepped forward to give the female Digidestined a reassuring smile, and turning his attention to Davis, the former Emperor said with conviction, "I won't let you down."
Davis, who had his arm around Noriko, never even batted an eyelash, and lifting his chin, the former leader gazed calmly back at his best friend and said easily, "I know you won't."
"You have no idea how much we want to come with you," Noriko murmured, her watery gaze turning towards the computer. "And while I respect Gennai's decision on who should go to the Digital World for this mission, the thought of not being there to protect my son..."
"If anything happens, we'll be there to provide backup," Davis said firmly, leaning over to kiss his wife's cheek. "Just say the word."
"If we need you, I promise you'll be the first ones I contact," Izzy reassured them. "But I don't think you have anything to worry about. Kara will make sure nothing happens to Dai."
"Gennai feels the same," Taniko added, smiling softly. "That's why he felt the two of you could rely on Kara. It's not something you guys have to do on your own."
"With the amount of times Dai has gotten himself into trouble, I guess Gennai figured we could use a break," Noriko sighed, managing a small laugh.
"And besides, Gennai did choose who was going to the Digital World before Dai disappeared," Mina pointed out. "There was really no sense in diverting from the original plan, especially since Dai will have Kara there, which I think...might end up being the most important factor."
They all have so much confidence in me, but what if I can't save him? What if I fail?
The thought was both heartbreaking and terrifying all at the same time, and unable to look at Dai's parents, Takara kept her eyes focused on the ground. How could she face such high expectations, especially when she didn't trust herself to pull off a successful rescue mission?
Ryoko and Matty were able to save Dai once before, and we did rescue Sam from the Dark Ocean. Despite everything that's happened, we have yet to let anyone down, but I still can't help feeling hesitant. I'm so worried I can barely think straight. Everything around me just feels like it's falling apart...
Noriko must have seen the expression on her face because she suddenly stood up and came towards her, causing her to jump in surprise, and gently lifting her chin, the older female said softly, "I believe in you, Kara. I know you would do anything for my son, just as he would do the same for you."
"No argument there," Davis said simply, standing up next to his wife. "Dai's lucky to have you. One day, he'll fully realize that himself."
Takara simply stared at the Motomiya couple, and heart pounding frantically in her chest, she whispered, "I hope so."
They...they believe he feels the same way about me? Just like Ryoko and the others...
"Time to go," Mickey said quietly, tugging gently on her arm. "Dai's waiting for us."
"You bet he is, and we're gonna bring him back," Matty said firmly, also holding out his D-Coder. "Let's do this. Digiport open!"
Takara flinched as the bright light dazzled her eyes, and as she was swept through the gate, she thought she caught a glimpse of Davis and Noriko watching her with fond expressions on their faces, despite the worry in their eyes. It could have just been her imagination, but somehow she didn't think so.
Like her parents, it was clear they knew how she felt about their son, and the fact that they were obviously fond of her was an encouraging sign. They were counting on her, and the last thing she wanted to do was disappoint them.
If I do, they might lose their son forever...
Similar thoughts, each more terrible than the last, filled her mind as she traveled through the gate, and upon reaching the other side, she let out a groan as she landed on her two male cousins, both of whom cried out in protest at the extra weight. Mumbling an apology, she quickly climbed off their bruised bodies, and flapping her wings to stay airborne, Dovemon said, "Where are we?"
"I'm going to assume we're somewhere on the continent of Cyber," Celestimon replied, hovering beside her. "I'm just not exactly sure where."
"Well, we can definitely say we're by the ocean," Halomon offered, pointing towards the sea.
Takara took a shaky breath to steady her nerves, and glancing in the direction of the water, she had to admit the rookies were right. They were definitely standing at the edge of a large body of water, but other than the gate, there were no distinguishing features to indicate just exactly where they had arrived in the Western Hemisphere. It seemed like a bit of an odd choice for a meeting, and raising his eyebrows, Matty said dryly, "What's the deal? I thought Gennai was gonna meet us here."
"Maybe he's late," Alopemon snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Gennai's always exactly where he needs to be," Gabumon informed them, looking unconcerned. "He'll be here."
"In the meantime, what are we supposed to do?" Agumon asked, looking to his partner for an answer.
"We wait," Izzy interrupted before the former leader could reply, settling himself in the grass and pulling out his laptop. "Knowing Gennai, he had a few things to take care of first. In case you're wondering, we're on the east coast of Cyber. If you kept heading out across the water, you would eventually reach File Island. To the west would be the castle where the Ruler of Darkness is stationed."
"Yeah, let's not go that way," Sam said grimly, making a face.
Though Takara didn't say so, she was entirely in agreement with the raven-haired Digidestined, and sinking to her knees on the grass, she proceeded to stare unseeingly at her hands, her thoughts traveling to dark places she didn't want to think about.
No matter how much she tried to take her mind off Dai, he was always there, pulling at the edges of her heart.
But would I really want it any other way?
Crouching next to her, Ryoko put a hand on her shoulder, and watching her closely, the golden-haired Digidestined said quietly, "How are you holding up?"
Truthfully, Takara knew she was a complete mess inside, but she didn't want to worry her friends. No matter how much she tried to tell herself that her parents were right, she still couldn't let go of the guilt in her heart. If she hadn't fallen for Dai, the Ruler of Darkness and his servants wouldn't have had any interest in the goggle-headed leader, except for the usual wanting to steal his Spirit Chip. But at least in that case the motives of their enemies applied to all of them, not just one individual. In this case, Dai's fate was entirely her responsibility, since he had ended up on their enemies' radar in a way that never should have happened.
DarkAngelicmon, Spritemon, and Vampiramon. They all knew about my feelings for Dai, or at least suspected the truth, and no doubt that information got back to the Ruler of Darkness. And now they're using it against me.
More than anything she wanted to sob and curl up into a helpless little ball beside the water, hoping desperately that the situation would fix itself, but unfortunately that wasn't an option. The logical side of her brain knew that sitting there feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to solve anything, but the emotional side of her wanted to escape and flee from the terrible pain that was eating away at her heart.
I can't tell Ryoko that, though. If I do, it'll only make him worry, and that's the last thing we need right now. I'm not the one they should be worried about. I don't deserve it. They should be worrying about Dai...
"Kara?"
Takara slowly shook her head, and refusing to look at the golden-haired Digidestined, she murmured, "I'm fine."
How do I express my fear to you? I can't save anyone, least of all Dai. And I want so badly to protect all of you. When the people you love are in danger, it makes it all that much harder to let your real feelings show.
"I don't believe you," Ryoko said bluntly, turning his face away. "Whatever you're thinking about right now, just remember. You're not alone in all of this. When it comes to saving Dai, you know we've got your back. We're with you every step of the way."
Takara knew he was right, and hesitantly leaning into his shoulder, she murmured, "Thank you."
It wasn't enough, but it would do for now. At least until she was finally able to express her true feelings on the matter.
The more you love your family and friends, the more it seems to hurt. Especially when you can't find a way to express those feelings with words.
"What's that?" Biyomon suddenly called out, fluttering into the air for a better look at the ocean.
Takara lifted her head just in time to see her mother glance curiously at the pink bird digimon, and frowning, the older female said, "Did you see something?"
"There, I see it," Ken interrupted, his sapphire eyes narrowing in concentration. "The bubbles in the water just beneath the surface. It looks like there's something coming towards us."
"Something good, I hope," Tentomon worried, hovering anxiously next to his partner's shoulder.
"That's not the only thing moving towards us!" Halomon warned, looking past the ripples moving slowly towards them. "He's coming!"
"Huh?" Mickey said, frowning at his partner in confusion. "What do you mean? Who's coming?"
Before the little rookie could reply, the ripples in the ocean began to churn into a wave of water heading towards the shore, and a moment later a large bulk rose up from the depths of the sea, startling the group. Immediately recognizing the huge digimon, Takara ran forward and called out, "Whamon! What are you doing here?"
Instead of responding, Whamon opened his mouth, and catching sight of two figures standing just inside the shadowy depths of the champion's huge jaw, Takara quickly glanced at Izzy, who had immediately jumped to his feet as soon as the waters had parted.
Speaking for Whamon, Gennai waved to them and said with a smile, "Our large friend here is going to be your method of transportation for the upcoming mission."
"Somehow I don't like the sound of that," Ryoko said dryly, raising his eyebrows. "Mind telling us what's going on? Not that you ever do a good job of explaining anyways."
"What my son actually meant to say was it's nice to see you again," Matt said pleasantly, giving the younger blond a look. "And you too, Centarumon."
"Hello, Digidestined," the digimon standing next to Gennai called out, his impressive figure rearing up in greeting. "It has been a while since I last had the chance to guide you on your journey."
"Oh, are you going to be our guide for this mission?" Dovemon asked, flapping her wings in a return greeting.
Gennai and Centarumon quickly joined them on the shore, and stretching, the robed figure said, "In due time. There are a few things we need to go over before I brief you on the Spirit Chip. If that's alright with all of you?"
"Do we have a choice?" Ryoko muttered, earning himself a not so subtle nudge from Sam.
Whamon slowly closed his mouth, and shooting up a stream of water, the large digimon said heartily, "Greetings, Digidestined! It's a pleasure to see you again, as always. Your Spirit Chip is the reason why I'm here, but I'll let Gennai tell you all about that later."
"I assume you wanted to give me the power of the Digicore first and foremost?" Ken asked, stepping forward with Wormmon in his arms.
Gennai nodded in agreement, and pulling Hogan's Digicore out of his robe, he said, "Exactly. If you would kindly step forward."
Ken did as he was instructed, and holding out his D-3, the raven-haired Digidestined allowed the light from the glowing Digicore to merge with his Digivice. Once the process was complete, the former Emperor took a step back and said, "It'll be good to see Imperialdramon again. Davis and Veemon will be happy."
"And so will we," Wormmon offered, looking up at his partner.
Ken smiled fondly at the little digimon in return, and nodding his head, the raven-haired Digidestined said, "Definitely."
"As you already know, thanks to Gatomon's tail ring I was able to complete the process for DNA digivolution," Gennai informed them, tucking the Digicore back into his robe and pulling out the aforementioned ring. "And this time, I was able to do so without having to keep the ring and harnessing all of its power."
"Does that mean Gatomon can have her ring back?" Agumon asked, looking surprised.
"That's exactly what it means."
Takara glanced at her father, who also seemed surprised by the news, and raising his eyebrows, the former leader said, "Really?"
"Yes, really," Gennai confirmed, holding out the golden object in his hand to the dark-haired man. "If you don't mind returning the ring to its owner, I'd like to entrust it to you for safekeeping."
"Sure, I can take it."
"It'll be in good hands with us," Agumon boasted, beaming at the robed figure. "Gatomon will be really excited to see it again."
"Even if she'll play it cool and act like it's no big deal," Biyomon laughed, shaking her head in amusement.
Takara had to agree, and smiling softly at her father, she quickly ducked her head again before the former leader could notice. The ring couldn't have ended up in better hands, and she had no doubt that Gatomon would agree with her sentiments.
Aunt Kari will be happy, too.
"How did you manage to finalize the DNA digivolution process without having to keep the ring this time?" Izzy asked, his interest clearly piqued.
"I thought you'd want to know," Gannai chuckled, smiling slightly. "I'll tell you about it another time, once the situation here in the Digital World has calmed down a bit. And on that note, it's time to discuss the reason why we're all here today."
"Because you guys have discovered where the next Spirit Chip is," Sam finished, his expression immediately growing sober.
"Speaking of which, this doesn't exactly look like a place where a Spirit Chip could be hiding," Ryoko snorted, ignoring the whack to his knees courtesy of Alopemon's fluffy tail.
"And even more importantly than the Spirit Chip, we need to find Dai," Mickey said quietly, holding his partner close.
Takara was aware of the fact that for some reason Halomon kept looking over his partner's shoulder at the ocean, but unable to stop thinking about Dai, she ignored the little rookie's odd behaviour for a moment. After all, what Mickey had said was true. While they had originally planned to locate the next Spirit Chip on their current trip to the Digital World, that wasn't their highest priority anymore. The situation had changed dramatically since then, and the question now was where did Dai fit into the equation, since above all else, rescuing the goggle-headed leader came first and foremost.
"That's what we're about to discuss," Gennai said calmly, acknowledging Mickey's concern with a simple nod. "But before we do so, allow me to apologize for Dai's disappearance. I must admit I hadn't foreseen this happening."
"But it has, and now we have to find a way to fix this," Matt finished, his expression growing serious. "How could this have happened? Have the barriers between the human world and the Digital World weakened that much over the last few weeks?"
Gennai was silent for a moment, and lifting his head to gaze up at the sky, the robed figure said slowly, "As you know, myself and my counterparts have dedicated much of our time to monitoring the powers of light and darkness here in the Digital World. After the Ruler of Darkness began to gather his forces and put his plan into motion to steal the Spirit Chips, the balance of power shifted in favour of the darkness, which triggered the gates to open, but...almost three weeks ago, after you recovered Ryoko's Spirit Chip, we noticed that there was another shift, which caused another spike in the Powers of Darkness. While the barrier between both worlds is technically still intact, whatever caused that shift three weeks ago has weakened what remains of the barrier at an alarming rate. If this keeps up, I don't know how much longer the barrier will hold."
"I assume then that the barrier has weakened just enough to allow those here in the Digital World to have an effect on the human world?" Izzy asked, settling himself on the sand to make a note on his laptop.
"Unfortunately that seems to be the case," Centarumon sighed, shaking his head.
"Uh, that's bad, right?" Matty said anxiously, glancing between the centaur and the robed figure. "I mean, if they went to the trouble of using a breach in the barrier to steal Dai from us then...what else are they willing to do to have an impact on the human world?"
"Which is why it has now become essential to gather the rest of the Spirit Chips as soon as possible," Gennai said seriously, crossing his arms over his chest. "The sooner we can get a hold of them, the sooner we can balance out the powers of light and darkness and return both forces to a harmonious state. Hopefully before the Ruler of Darkness can extend his presence even further into the human world."
"Before we thought we were safe. After all, as long as the Spirit Chips were protected by the barriers placed around them, since nobody could access those barriers except us, there was nothing our enemies could do unless we made the first move, but I guess we were pretty naive to think we had the advantage," Ryoko pondered, frowning down at his partner, who nodded in agreement. "Even if the Spirit Chips are safe, that doesn't mean both worlds aren't at risk, especially since we need that power if we want to save both our homes. Time isn't on our side like we originally thought it was. The Ruler of Darkness could still prevail even if our enemies can't reach the remaining Spirit Chips."
"At the end of the day, the power of the Spirit Chips isn't any good to us if we can't access that power," Izzy confirmed, giving the golden-haired Digidestined an approving look. "The question now is, what exactly happened three weeks ago to cause such a drastic spike in the Powers of Darkness?"
Gennai glanced thoughtfully towards the ocean, and placing his hands behind his back, the robed figure said, "We're all aware of the fact that the Ruler of Darkness has been tracking our movements every bit as much as we've been tracking their movements, but they've been a lot more careful lately when it comes to their actual plans. We know the Ruler of Darkness had his servants tailing us when we were searching for the location of the Spirit Chip, which means I have no doubt they have at least some idea of where it can be found, but that's not the part that concerns me. I had already anticipated that would be the case, which has been so with all of the previous Spirit Chips."
"Something does have you worried, though," Glowmon interrupted, wriggling anxiously in Sam's arms.
"It's not their obvious movements that concern me," Gennai replied, looking unusually serious. "It's what we can't see that worries me."
"What do you mean by that?" Ryoko demanded, his blond eyebrows narrowing into a frown.
"While the Ruler of Darkness has been sending out his servants to spy on us, other than Spritemon we haven't seen anybody of note. The Ruler of Darkness himself hasn't made an appearance, and even more suspiciously, nobody has seen DarkAngelicmon lately. On top of that, we still haven't discovered Vampiramon's fate. Ogremon went back to the caves with a team of digimon to see if he could discover any clues to her whereabouts, but he wasn't able to find any evidence of her presence, alive or dead. The silence, particularly from DarkAngelicmon, I find rather concerning."
That is a bit strange and definitely out of the ordinary for DarkAngelicmon...
Takara wasn't quite sure what to think, and glancing over at her twin cousins, she wasn't surprised to find that Mickey looked especially disturbed by the news. Sinking into the sand, his face turning a bit pale, the older twin said quietly, "Are you saying you think DarkAngelicmon might be up to something...bad? Like maybe he might be the reason why there was a sudden spike in the Powers of Darkness?"
"We don't have enough information yet to make that assumption," Gennai said gently, giving the older twin a sympathetic look. "Perhaps the Ruler of Darkness had him set on other tasks that didn't require him to join the crew that were sent to spy on us, but those duties could have been anything. They might not necessarily have anything to do with the shift in power."
"Don't start jumping to conclusions yet," Sam warned, kneeling next to Mickey and placing a reassuring arm around the older twin's shoulders. "Mistakes happen when we start to assume too much."
"I know, but...I'm worried," Mickey sighed, leaning into the raven-haired Digidestined's shoulder for support.
Gazing directly into the older twin's eyes, Sam said bluntly, "About who? DarkAngelicmon or Matty?"
Matty spluttered in protest at the mention of his name, his amber eyes growing wide, and blushing furiously, Mickey jerked away from Sam and said in embarrassment, "No! It's not that!"
"Yeah, I bet it isn't," Sam muttered, looking slightly offended that Mickey had pulled away from him.
Surprised by Sam's reaction, Takara found herself staring at the raven-haired Digidestined, but before she could comment, her mother took a step forward and said, "As much as I'm interested to know exactly what's going on with the Ruler of Darkness and his servants, we need to stay focused. We know now that the Spirit Chips are even more high priority than what we had originally first thought and that we need to collect them as soon as possible if we want to keep the human world safe, but despite the urgency, even then they're still not as important as Dai. He's without a doubt our number one concern, and that would still be the case even if we didn't need all of the Spirit Chips in order to prevent the barriers between the two worlds from falling."
"Sora's right," Izzy agreed. "While the Spirit Chips are still our main goal, Dai is our first priority."
"And in this case, the two goals coincide," Genna informed them, his smile returning.
"What do you mean by that?" Mickey asked, refusing to look at Sam.
"The moment Izzy informed me that Dai was missing, I had my team out looking for information to see if we could discern his whereabouts, and from what my sources have told me, it looks like Dai is being held captive in the same vicinity as the Spirit Chip."
Dai!
Takara felt her heart jump at the news, and struggling to find her voice, she managed to gasp, "Really? Where? Where is he?"
"Makes sense," Matt said calmly, his expression remaining neutral. "That is...if we're right about who the Spirit Chip belongs to. If we are then that means they're using him as bait."
At this point Kara could feel everyone's eyes on her, including Matt's intense, sapphire gaze, and taking a small step forward, she held out her arms for Dovemon to join her and said in a small voice, "Is it true? The Spirit Chip belongs to me?"
Gennai returned her gaze, and tilting his head to the side, the robed figure said, "I can tell you that the light being emitted from the Spirit Chip's approximate location is green."
"Which is the colour of Kara's D-Coder," Dovemon said solemnly, her wings drooping.
I already knew, but hearing Gennai confirm the truth just makes everything that much worse. There's no getting out of it. I'm the reason all of this is happening to Dai, and somehow I have to fix it. I know Ryoko said I'm not alone, but I still can't help feeling that way...I can't help feeling like I've somehow failed Dai...
"The good news is, you find the Spirit Chip, you find Dai, which brings me to the location of the Spirit Chip," Gennai continued, folding his hands together. "Which also explains my mode of transportation for the day."
"Always happy to help," Whamon jumped in, lounging by the water's edge.
"I must admit, I'm curious," Ken said, moving to crouch next to Izzy. "I'm going to assume wherever we're going has something to do with water?"
"That's correct," Gennai replied, giving them a look. "I trust you're familiar with the lost city of Atlantis?"
"Huh? What's that?" Biyomon asked, frowning in confusion.
"The lost city of Atlantis is a mythical city that supposedly sank beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean when it fell out of favour with the ancient Greek deities," Izzy explained. "It's considered a fictional city from Plato's works, but there are those still out there who believe it, or at least a city like it, did in fact exist at some point in time and that Atlantis was based off of a real city that sank beneath the ocean in the human world. But what does that all have to do with finding the next Spirit Chip?"
"Well, believe it or not, the Digital World has its own version of Atlantis, and no doubt it originally came into existence base on data from the human world that pertained to the mythical city," Centarumon said, looking to Gennai for confirmation. "We had heard reports from our team that a ray of green light could be seen coming from the depths of the ocean just off the coast of Cyber, hence why we're here now."
"So you're telling me there's a digital city somewhere down there beneath the water?" Matty asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
"That's exactly what we're saying," Gennai confirmed, smiling in amusement. "The city is called Abacus, and it is ruled by a queen who takes great pride in the safety of her citizens. The city is home to many Orcamon and Divermon, as well as other digimon of the aquatic variety. When Centarumon and I went to meet with the queen during our mission to inquire about the Spirit Chip, she confirmed that a green light is emanating from somewhere deep within the bowels of the city. We actually just came from there because there was one other thing I wanted to confirm, and that of course was Dai's possible whereabouts."
"And?" Ryoko asked, looking as if he was trying not to sound too eager.
"Her Majesty informed me that some suspicious looking digimon were seen moving a large bag somewhere beneath the city, but nobody had come forward about it until I went to see the queen. She then went about seeing if her faithful subjects had noticed anything out of the ordinary, and that's when they told me. Of course, the queen was angry that someone had infiltrated the city without her being aware, but as much as she wanted to go after the perpetrators herself, I was able to calm her down and convince her that it was a job best left for the Digidestined. She is waiting upon your arrival now."
"And Whamon is going to be our method of transportation to get there," Tentomon concluded, sounding morose. "I knew this was going to be dangerous."
"You know this is a trap, right?" Sam asked, glancing sideways at Mickey, who was still ignoring him. "They want us to find Dai."
Takara slowly lowered herself into the sand, and cuddling Dovemon tightly against her chest, she said quietly, "Of course it's a trap, but I don't care. That's a risk I'm willing to take."
For Dai, it's worth it.
Once again, she could feel her parents watching her, and lifting his chin, her father returned Gennai's steady gaze and said, "Kara's right. No risk is too great for Dai."
Dad...
"How did they manage to infiltrate the city right under the queen's nose?" Gabumon asked, quickly changing the subject.
Takara was grateful for the interruption, since she wasn't quite sure where that sudden spark of courage had come from, and nodding vigourosly in agreement, Agumon said, "Not to mention, who is the queen anyways? I've never heard of this Abacus city before."
"Unfortunately neither we nor the queen have been able to ascertain how the Ruler of Darkness managed to sneak some of his servants into the city without her knowledge, and as for the queen herself, you'll find that out when you meet her," Gennai said pleasantly, his lips twitching into a smile. "Though we have no way of knowing for sure, I suspect DarkAngelicmon and Spritemon will be among those who have breached the city, if your previous missions are any indication."
"Well, whoever they've got holding Dai, we need to stay on our guard," Matt said, an edge to his tone. "I take it Centarumon is coming along to act as our guide?"
"Indeed. He already knows the layout of the city, so his knowledge will be invaluable to you."
Takara felt more than grateful for any help they could get, and glancing over at her father, she couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy at how weary the former leader looked. Thankfully, her father didn't notice, and letting out a resigned sigh, the dark-haired man said, "I guess we'd better get going then."
"Uh, before we do that, how exactly are we going to breath underwater?" Matty asked, looking to his twin for an answer.
Mickey, who was still avoiding Sam's eyes, simply shrugged his shoulders, and laughing, Centarumon said, "I can assure you that won't be a problem. Ready to go, Whamon?"
"Wait!" Halomon suddenly cried, interrupting the large champion. "We can't leave yet. We have a visitor!"
"Huh?" Mickey asked, looking startled. "Visitor?"
"Lucemon," Celestimon informed them, his tone solemn. "He's heading right towards us."
Lucemon? But...why? Especially after he spent all that time avoiding us. Unless...there's something really important he needs to tell us.
"Wait, what!? Seriously? Why didn't you say something earlier?" Matty asked, sounding exasperated.
"I tried!" Halomon protested, wriggling impatiently in Mickey's arms. "I was going to mention it, but that was when Whamon showed up!"
Thus far, only Sam, Matty, and Celestimon had actually been given the opportunity to even see Lucemon in person, let along speak to him, so it was a bit of a surprise to find that the celestial rookie was going out of his way to expose himself openly to such a large group of humans and digimon.
Which meant whatever he had to say was urgent, and that concerned her.
Haven't we received enough bad news already?
"Interesting," Gennai murmured, turning to gaze at the two approaching figures in the distance. "If that's the case, we might as well wait and see what he has to say."
Takara remained silent, her heart dreading the inevitable and much anticipated encounter, and as the fabled Lucemon landed elegantly on the sand with whom she could only assume was MarineAngemon, there was a moment of hushed silence as the group took in the celestial rookie's ethereal appearance. Mickey in particular looked absolutely stunned, and glancing at each of them in turn before his pale blue eyes finally settled on Gennai, Lucemon said softly, "I apologize for descending on you like this with such short notice."
"There is nothing to apologize for," Gennai said warmly, giving the celestial rookie a gentle smile. "You are more than welcome to join us any time."
Lucemon acknowledged the offer with a timid smile, and racing up to the rookie, Matty cried, "Lucemon, is something wrong?"
"I'm not sure," Lucemon murmured, glancing over the younger twin's shoulder at Mickey, who had slowly risen to his feet next to Sam. "That is why I've come."
"Huh?" Celestimon asked, looking confused as he fluttered onto Lucemon's shoulder. "What does that mean?"
"Sorry about sounding all cryptic, but let us explain," MarineAngemon said urgently, his small face twisting in obvious fear. "It's about DarkAngelicmon."
"What about him?" Mickey asked quietly, moving to stand next to his brother. "Do you know where he is and what he's been up to lately?"
For a moment Lucemon seemed at a loss for words, and startled by the force of Mickey's tone, the celestial rookie took a step back and said softly, "There's something I think you all need to know, so I came to warn you. I don't know if it means anything, but about three weeks ago, I noticed something out of the ordinary."
"Would you mind telling us about it?" Izzy asked, keeping his eyes focused on his laptop so as not to scare off the celestial rookie.
Sam was tugging on Mickey's arm, and shrugging the raven-haired Digidestined off, Mickey slowly approached Lucemon and said hesitantly, "Something with DarkAngelicmon?"
Lucemon looked unsure of whether or not he should come any closer to the older twin, and giving the celestial rookie's wings a reassuring tug, Matty said encouragingly, "Go on. Mickey's cool. He's not usually this intimidating, but-"
"Matty! I'm not intimidating! I just...I-I... I'm sorry," Mickey mumbled, blushing furiously. "Forgive me for my manners. I'm Makiya Takaishi, by the way. You can call me Mickey, if you want. I'd really like it if you would. It's nice to finally meet you, Lucemon. I...I've been wanting to see you for a long time now."
"My sentiments exactly," Lucemon murmured, gently holding out his hand. "There's no need to apologize. I understand completely how you feel."
"He's also not usually the type to pull away," Sam grumbled, climbing to his feet and giving the older twin a rather hurt look before stomping off to join Ryoko, who proceeded to stare at the raven-haired Digidestined with interest.
That's funny. Sam and Mickey are usually so close. I don't think I've ever really seen them even argue with each other...
Clearly, Mickey's actions had offended Sam in some way, and looking a tad guilty, Mickey bit his lip before turning to focus on Lucemon again. Taking the rookie's offered hand, he said quietly, "There's so much I want to ask you, so much I want to say..."
"While I would very much like to speak with you as well, there's no time for that right now," Lucemon replied, regretfully shaking his head. "There are more urgent matters at hand, and you all need to focus on rescuing Dai."
Takara let out a gasp, and quickly joining Mickey in front of the rookie, she blurted out, "How do you know about Dai?"
"For future reference, you can always join us on our hunt for the Spirit Chips rather than tracking our movements from afar," Gennai offered, smiling in amusement.
Lucemon blushed at that, and avoiding the robed figure's eyes, he said, "I don't know if it has anything to do with Dai's disappearance and subsequent capture or not, but what I have to tell you does concern DarkAngelicmon. After you left the Digital World almost three weeks ago, something strange happened, something that has never happened before."
"What was it?" Mickey asked, his amber eyes pleading for answers.
Lucemon hesitated before lowering his hand and saying, "I couldn't feel him."
"Pardon me?" Halomon asked, fluttering over to hover at Lucemon's other shoulder. "Couldn't feel who? DarkAngelicmon?"
"Yes. Despite everything we've been through, no matter how far apart we are, I've always been able to feel him, but the day after you left the Digital World, all of a sudden it was like he was no longer there. I couldn't feel his presence at all anymore. It was like...he had disappeared completely."
"Wait a minute, three weeks ago," Matt said slowly, glancing at Izzy. "Isn't that about the time when there was a sudden spike in the Powers of Darkness and the barrier between the human world and the Digital World began to weaken?"
"You mean to say that the barrier between our worlds has grown more unstable?" Lucemon gasped, clearly shocked. "How can this be? How could this have happened without my knowledge?"
"We're not really sure," Izzy explained, shaking his head. "But like Matt said, around the time when you could no longer feel DarkAngelicmon's presence in the Digital World, there was a shift in the balance between light and darkness. Unfortunately the balance has shifted so much that it's starting to affect the barrier between both worlds."
"Hence the reason why the Ruler of Darkness was able to remove Dai from the human world," MarineAngemon finished, sounding anxious. "Of course, that makes a lot of sense."
"So do you think the two incidences are connected somehow?" Ken asked, directing his question at Izzy.
The computer expert shared a look with Gennai, and typing slowly on his laptop, Izzy said, "It's hard to say at this point, but that's a possibility. It's an issue that intrigues me, and it brings me back to my earlier point. If Lucemon could no longer sense DarkAngelicmon's presence, then that suggests that at some point three weeks ago, DarkAngelicmon was no longer in the Digital World. And if he wasn't in the Digital World then where was he?"
"Well, I can tell you he definitely didn't travel to the human world or Halomon and I would have sense him there," Celestimon said quickly, his words firm and his tone sincere.
"Then...like Izzy said, where did he go?" Wormmon asked, sounding perplexed.
Good question.
Takara wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation, but the more Lucemon revealed to them, the more she was starting to feel very uneasy. If DarkAngelicmon hadn't been in either world during that time, then where was there left to go?
There are other worlds out there, like the World of Dreams, but that still doesn't seem right somehow. He would have no reason to go anywhere other than the human or Digital World. And even if he had gone to the human world, his bond with Lucemon is so strong. Stronger than anything I've ever witnessed before. I feel like it would take more than that to sever their link. It would have to be something that affects the heart. Something like the Powers of Darkness...
There was a moment of silence, and pausing, Izzy looked at Lucemon and said, "If I may ask, can you sense DarkAngelicmon right now?"
Lucemon quickly nodded, and pointing towards the ocean, the celestial rookie said, "He's beneath the water, in the ancient city of Abacus."
"We can confirm that," Halomon said, backing up Lucemon's words. "Celestimon and I can also sense him down there. we just didn't know it was an actual city. I thought it was kind of strange that his presence was coming from somewhere underwater."
"It's true, though," Celestimon added, frowning in concentration. "We can't sense DarkAngelicmon when we're in the human world and he's in the Digital World, especially since we haven't known him as long as Lucemon, so wherever he went, it wasn't in either of those two places."
"But then...what does that leave?" Sam asked, momentarily forgetting the slight he had received from Mickey earlier.
Takara felt like there was some sort of silent conversation going on between Gennai and Izzy, but instead of voicing their opinions, Gennai merely said, "It certainly gives us something to mull over. I will think on it and see if I can find an answer, but in the meantime..."
"What?" Ryoko asked, glaring suspiciously at the robed figure.
Gennai kept his gaze focused on Lucemon, and studying the celestial digimon closely, the robed figure ignored Ryoko and said, "Was there anything else you wanted to share with us?"
Lucemon slowly rose up from the ground, and hovering in the air, the celestial rookie said quietly, "Dai's waiting for you. You should go and rescue him."
"You're not coming with?" Alopemon asked, raising his eyebrows.
Lucemon shook his head, and sighing softly, the rookie said, "I've got some research of my own to do, and even more importantly I made a promise. I promised him I wouldn't put myself in any unnecessary danger, especially now that..."
"Now that what?" Mickey cried, reaching out his hand as if to pull the celestial rookie from the sky. "There's so much I want to ask you! So much I want to know..."
"When the time comes, I will tell you all you need to know," Lucemon promised, turning his face away. "I owe you that much at least. Be safe, Digidestined. And if you could, look out for Angelicmon for me. Keep him safe, if you can."
"If we have the chance, we'll see if we can find out what he was up to when he disappeared from your radar," Mickey said boldly, his amber eyes flashing with determination. "That's the least we can do for you."
Lucemon quickly fluttered down to Mickey's level, and taking the older twin's hand in his own, the celestial rookie said with feeling, "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."
Before Mickey could reply, Lucemon quickly took off, his slim form disappearing into the distance with MarineAngemon, and making a face, Matty said, "Well, so much for finding out what other information he knows that he isn't telling us. Perfect opportiniuty gone to waste."
"I'm sure there will be more opportunities to speak with him in the future," Izzy said mildly, packing up his laptop and getting to his feet. "But in the meantime he's right. Dai comes first above all us."
"That's our cue," Ken said, looking determined. "Let's get going."
"Come on, Mickey," Matty murmured, tugging gently on his twin's arm. "You'll see him again. I don't doubt that for a minute."
"I hope so," Mickey sighed, brushing past Sam to reach the large whale digimon.
Sam looked like he was about to say something, but when the older twin failed to notice, the raven-haired Digidestined quickly closed his mouth and proceeded to hurry after the two brothers with a frown on his face. Takara slowly followed Sam into Whamon's mouth, and as they sank beneath the water she couldn't help wondering what was causing Lucemon so much pain.
She didn't think the celestial rookie was afraid of getting hurt, despite his efforts to remain hidden. If anything, his elusive behaviour seemed to stem from the fact that his love for those who were important to him was so great, it made him wary of allowing his true feeling to show on the surface. Lucemon had already lost so much, it was no wonder he kept so much inside.
Better to tuck your feelings away than to let them overwhelm you.
In many ways, the celestial rookie was just like her. Deep down inside he had so much love to give and no proper way to express those feelings, and no doubt that was what had started the tragic events that had eventually led to the loss of his two closest friends.
In the end, their hearts had been their downfall, which led her to the most important question of all.
Will the same thing happen to me if I fail to rescue Dai?