Warnings: Body horror (non-graphic), humanoid characters, cessations, cursing, depression, implied child abuse

Chapter Three: In the Eyes of Dragons, Everything Is Clear

"Everyone assumes kindness is something you just have, that good people are born good and evil are born evil and the lines blur with tears and magic. It's not true. We have to fight to be good. Earth decided that we were all evil. And every kid who wasn't born or made up here or in the data world has a mark on their right shoulder, adults too. Everyone knows what it means to be branded."

The Platinum Tamer shelter – there really was no other way to describe it – spread out around her. The walls were covered in intricate rugs of warm colors and spiraling patterns. The floor in contrast with a soft cream color.

If they were trying to soothe your eyes away from the unusual machinery, they were failing.

"Present your weapons and your DIgivice," ordered a guard as they approached, the woman's cap brim pulled low over her eyes.

Taiki looked up and Sayo watched him try very hard not to roll his eyes. "Charlie, I don't ever carry regular weapons, you know that."

"Standard procedure," the young woman replied, tipping her hat up and letting her full, dark curls roll over her studded ears. She seemed to be fighting a smirk. "Just do it, Taiki. I don't care how tough you are, fairy dust, I can still put a cap in you the same as dad."

Taiki snorted, resisting the habitual urge to say 'it's not fairy dust' of most Light Fang as he did what he was told. Charlie lowered amber eyes to Sayo's height. Sayo looked away by reflex before removing her Digivice from its holster on her belt. Then she took off her goggles and the quarterstaff closed in her pocket. Finally, she reached to her neck.

"What, no knives in your boots?" Charlie's deadpan (which was likely also perfectly serious) remark was met with purple candle wax eyes.

"These boots are made for walking, not bad storage. They're inconvenient." She clasped the chain of the pendant about her neck. It was shaped like a miniature blade, the sapphire gem set in the top and glimmering in the lights. "Titrel," she said to the little pendant. "No fuss."

The small blue gem flashed once and a mechanical voice chirped. 'If I have to, buddy.'

Sayo nodded to it. "It's just for a while." she placed it with the others and then looked patiently up at Charlie. The woman chuckled, apparently not bothered by a tiny talking blade on a necklace. Then again, Taiki did have a pin that doubled as a spear.

"All right, go ahead, I guess. Leave your stuff here, newbie."

Taiki shook his head as he put his own device back on his belt. "I'm pretty sure our boss could knock us all out with the back of her hands," he mused. "Come on. She might be interested in making you do a strip search."

Sayo's face burned, but not nearly as bad as Charlie's. Taiki shook his head at her, unamused. "Aim for her face, not her chest," he advised, offering Sayo his arm and leading her away.

"This is going to be my life, isn't it?" she muttered, twining a purple lock of hair around dark, petite fingers.

Taiki shook his head with exasperation. "Probably," he admitted. "Might be good to consider dating on your break. Get you out of the house… admittedly to be stared at but I don't think you're going to win on that one."

Sayo shook her head. "Body doesn't say much."

"There are like, biologists who would be dumb enough to say it says a whole one-sided conversation," Taiki mused and that got a genuine laugh out of her again. "I was being serious!" His shoulders hunched up, messy hair almost spiking up further.

"Mmhm," she said, releasing his arm. "Taiki is always serious."

He scoffed at her before glancing down the halls. "We're down this way," Taiki said, expression turning sober. Sayo nodded, expression growing a little curious now. If she was never going to be here again, might as well see the sights. She looked about, noting fading graffiti on some steel walls, a few tiny handprints that just seemed to be refusing to come off, dents the shape of of knife butts and burns spread out across the ceiling. "This place is familiar," she finally said, looking up towards the ceiling now.

Taiki blinked. Those weren't words he heard from her very often. "It's possible you came up here with your dad a couple of times. Unless you were hospitalized here after you ran off to Magnet Mine that one time."

Sayo frowned. "I guess so." She still wasn't entirely sure to this day how she had gotten from her house in residential to the Digital World, to Magnet Mine, and then deep enough she had to be dragged out kicking and screaming and biting. That whole thing just remained a blur.

Taiki stopped at the end of one hallway. "All right, this is the room." He pointed around the corner. "Head straight down here until you get to the end of the hall. You'll be meeting Lady Tiamat up there."

Sayo blinked. "You aren't coming with?" Not that she expected him to but still. It would have been nice, she supposed.

Taiki shook his head. "Not allowed until the briefing's done. I'm going to go cover some ground instead, see if I can catch anything on that rumor. I'll be in there once I get clearance."

Sayo nodded, a bobbing of the head. "Okay. I'll see you." Her lips were still set in that blank line. Taiki reached out and patted her head. Before she would have bitten it. Now she just looked at him, purple eyes big and failing to be imposing.

Taiki smiled. "Just be honest."

Sayo nodded. "It's what I'm good at."

They parted and Sayo hurried onward. Well, not hurried. She just walked. There was no hurry, only a sense of welcome that she would finally get to stop for a while.

"Reload, Vio!"

Taiki blinked the light from his eyes as the cat hopped out of his Xros Loader. "You called, Taiki?" She yawned, scratching one orange ear with a white paw. "I was enjoying that though..."

Taiki couldn't help his smile. He knew Vio did that just because she could. "Yeah. Any clue if I can contact my sister yet? You said Shoutmon had seen her not too long ago."

At once, the Meicoomon's droopy eyes snapped open all the way. "I..." Vio hesitated, shifting on her back paws. "Probably? She's still making the connection from there to here but I think we could try." She made a face, big eyes narrowing. "Why? She can't help you with that girl's trial, that's a bit mundane."

Taiki huffed at her. "I know that. Can't I miss my sister? It's been what, centuries over there by now?"

Vio grunted. "Yeah but that didn't stop you before."

"She said not to look for her." Taiki sighed. "And when she doesn't want to be found, she won't be found. That's how she's operated all the time. So… think you can?"

Vio huffed. "I can try, I guess." She shut her eyes entirely and focused on the door. Leaving her to it for a moment, Taiki went over to the nearest door.

His sister definitely couldn't help with this beyond data gathering (which might be useful) but what he actually needed was some distraction so he could do something without immediately getting into trouble. After all, one never knew if and when they needed a back exit. He closed his eyes and set to work.

When he had finished, leaving an almost unnoticeable blue light where his hands had been, he felt Vio's claws sinking into his shoulder. He grimaced and turned around. "What happened?"

Vio gestured and Taiki turned to see a young woman with short brown hair and a Tailmon sitting on her shoulder. Its tail lashed with annoyance as the human smiled a bit, looking shy.

"Hello," Taiki said, stepping back a little without thinking. He wasn't going to enjoy ramming a possible young tamer to the floor, but he certainly knew that he could. "Can I help you?"

She nodded slowly. "You are… Kudo Taiki-san, right?"

"That's right?"

She nodded again, too fast. "Yes, well, I … My name is Yagami Hikari. Your sister sent me here. She said you could help me, us?"

"My sister did." HE repeated this slowly just in case. Everyone knew he had a sibling (or a few,), but no one knew her name.

"Um… Mirei-san. She said you could help me." Hikari lifted something out of her pocket.

Taiki wanted to throw up. An old Chosen was up here. An old Chosen, Digivice and all, chosen by his adoptive parents, was up here. An old Chosen likely accepted by his sister as a guardian and who looked like the description of the mysterious eighth child, was standing on CITY shelter property.

Earth was screwed.

The halls were very quiet, to the point even her shoes weren't making much noise. Perhaps everyone was on missions or watching her slink across the way like the criminal she was.

Forward, Alec's voice reminded her in a soft twist of a memory. She nodded, almost in something resembling a jab of her chin, before straightening and moving on.

The room she entered was spacious and for a moment baffled her eyes because no room could look this big but she could almost see the actual wall in mind. Four large teleportation pads were surrounded by small fences, each glowing with a low humming light. In front of a fifth, center podium stood a tall woman, breaking six feet the same way children learned to break wooden boards in karate class with their fingers. She turned at once, too-big sleeves and swishing kimono fabric doing nothing to distract from the-

Pain.

Ran amock in her for a moment as she thought she saw twelve eyes and golden scales, her mind's eye visualizing great impenetrable claws as they sank down and-

Warm, honey brown fingers, darker than her face by the slightest tint, touched her cheek. Sayo scrambled backwards. When had she gotten across the room? The woman smiled.

"Ah." Her pure white teeth almost glowed in the light. "You are one of mine."

"One of yours?" Sayo's mouth felt as heavy as an iron ball. "I… I have parents, and all… birth certificate and everything."

The woman laughed. "No, no. I am Tiamat, Mother of Chaos. I'm your… mother's? Yes, likely the mother." She paused and every movement of her arms made the sleeves shift. "I am your ancestor, simply put."

"… And you're still alive?!" Open mouth, insert foot. Choke.

Another laugh. But this one made Sayo's ears twitch. "Indeed I am. I have a long life, possibly an eternal one. We shall see yet. But, well, we aren't here to talk about that." She waved her left sleeve and a screen formed in the air. "We're here to talk about you, I'm afraid." The screen burst a bright blue, revealing the twisted picture of her at the age of twelve and data about herself that she couldn't even read. "And your offenses."

Sayo let her face fall, but the sick roiling feeling from right after the event was gone, replaced with a familiar hollow in her stomach. The movement of her tail at her back as it fluffed up further in emotional disarray did not help. "Right..." She cleared her throat. "Please tell me when to start."

It was just going to be like ripping off a band-aid. Then she would get to sleep. It wouldn't change the present, but she didn't know jack about the future.

Sayo didn't exactly have one in mind.

When she stopped for a sip of water (a bottle of which had just magically appeared, she wanted whatever did that to feed hr DigiFarms), Tiamat smiled softly, the light of the room almost majestically washing over her. "Do you know if the Chrono Data is still floating around? It never reached this area, so I'm afraid our information is somewhat limited."

Sayo stared up at the woman, watching her face for extra thoughts, extra desires. Maybe it was just the feeling of knowing she was the equivalent of a Holy Beast in human form, but it was a very distinct 'mom' vibe. She didn't really like it, to be honest. But this was her superior, so… "No, I don't think so, anymore." she said, distinctly aware of the floating Chrono Core deciding it was a good idea to hide behind her. "At least, not very effectively beyond the damage that was already done. In CITY the effects of all the hits have caused Digital to become marginally less organic, but I'm not a scientist, so I don't know the details."

Granted, Koh knew the details, but it was only natural. They had to put him on something when Yuki wasn't in his care, no matter how often that was.

Keiichi shifted behind her, small fingers passing through her back. She did not shiver. She was caught in the spell of the situation. After a moment, the spell broke and the woman stepped back with a smile.

"I see." Tiamat offered Sayo a sheepish smile. "I suppose I should have expected that. This isn't your recognized field."

"Ma'am I can barely read and write in Japanese." Just saying that made her cheeks color. It was so embarrassing.

Tiamat chuckled. "Truth be told, I'm not much better. At any rate-" She clapped her hands together and a solemn look passed over her face. "Tell me about the demon lords and what happened to your partner."

Sayo swallowed. Partner, because in all of those fights, she and Luna had gone alone. It was supposed to be a team mission but she had refused without hesitation. She had wanted to be alone, alone in the weight of the sins and the darkness and everything about that. There weren't enough Platinum Tamers from other side that were free anyway. She was the best Gold they had that wasn't Raigo or Litton. Both had to turn the mission down anyway. Much bigger missions awaited them.

"They weren't Demon Lords, ma'am," she finally said, chewing on her bottom lip. "Not entirely. They were like: images, after images or something. At least, as far as I could tell. I mean… the Rank tests have us face a fallen Lucemon and that one seemed a little weak compared to his so..."

Tiamat frowned and Sayo tensed up, prepared to jump for the door as only a rabbit could. Then she let out a large breath. "I see… that bodes troubling. Continue, please." The red eyes were narrowly scanning the room, regarding the other four portals as if they would leap to life again.

If those were where the Holy Beasts tended to make reports, Sayo had to doubt it.

She made herself continue. "So, Chief Julia asked me to examine some weird events in Chaos Brain, where the Chrono Core had once been active. So Luna and I went to see what was going on." She rubbed her eyes before things got serious. Crying during a report was not allowed. Ever. She went quiet, trying to sum up the words to explain just what had happened. Then, with a grimace, she pulled off her jacket.

"Ma'am, have you ever done a boss rush in a video game?" she asked. "Or a fight where you're hopelessly outnumbered and there's nothing you can do bu fight them off?" At a cautious nod of yes, Sayo continued. "That was what it was. A bunch of ghost of really powerful demons, vying to eat us, to kill us. I think if Luna had been even the tiniest bit bigger, we would have both been killed. As it was, the more we fought…" She began to lift the tank top over her head and hat. "The more pain flowed into my back."

The room vanished around her now as Sayo remembered-

"The more they touched me, the more they whispered, the more I just wanted to cut through them and I did and I did and they cut me right back until this thing was there. And I-"

Fell. I toppled off Luna's shoulder like a drunken ostrich and everything hurt. Everything hurt including my Soul and it was draining dry like the Chrono Core was back and badder than ever and only had its attention on me. But it was at home so that definitely wasn't it. She caught me and almost dropped me because she was starting to shudder. Form was cracking, the faces on her legs turning into fragile marble piles and she groaned.

"We should go," I tried to say because now I was spitting red, literally.

She scowled at the floor and went forward because disobeying was her favorite bad thing to do. These monsters were Viruses, true blue cold and evil ones, which was pretty rare these days. But that was what these were. I yelled at her to come back, that her little Data shielding wouldn't be enough.

But Luna never listened, not when I started getting hurt. I probably ought to have remembered that and called her back into the digivice. I even had a gatedisk prepared. I grabbed Titrel, my sword, prepared to let loose-

Then I'm pretty sure I blacked out. Cause I had to open my eyes and I could see through Luna and I was pretty sure that hadn't happened in the span of me blinking. I was sure enough as sure could get that I ran forward and cut down a giant wraith dragon black as pitch and covered in weird ass seals and Titrel glowed and-

I hit the ground and rolled over, pain sealing me to the floor.

"There was a lot of whispering right then. All in my head" Sayo paused to take a sip of water. "Whispering the size of this room, all saying every edgelord thing a teen's brain could think of, except you could tell they were serious and it was all flooding into my head and back and well-"

Sayo laughed. She didn't believe that she had at first, but judging by the slight widening of the Platinum commander's eyes, she must have, and very loudly. She laughed again, more in control of it this time. "Luna's not a gentle Digimon, ya know. Her life was bad and weird so she couldn't be. But with me, she was always real gentle. So… the pain it kept growing, growing, running through me. But she hugged me, pulled me off the ground and nothing stopped. She turned me away so I, so I couldn't see… and so I couldn't stop whatever it was and-"

Keiichi's fingers passed through her skin, tracing the bone tattooed over her skin and the markings of the door and the skull lodged deep withing her backside, sliced and burned in like a tattoo drawn with a smoking poker.

"I heard her. I heard her say something and then." Sayo pulled her clothes back on to hide her tears, or to try anyway. "And she was gone. Like she was never there. There was no record of her in my Digivice or anything. But-" She made herself look at Tiamat. "I know she was there. She was a damn Olympus Twelve member. She was Artemis. She was real. Everyone of my Digimon know it."

Tiamat regarded her with clear concern and Sayo felt that age old urge to spit. She was crazy but she wasn't that crazy. The screen by one of Tiamat's hands scrolled with a flick of one clawed finger. When it slowed, Tiamat examined it thoughtfully.

"Are you certain your partner's name was Artemis?"

Sayo nodded slowly. "Was her old name. She hated me using it. So I didn't."

"I see..." Tiamat clicked her tongue, such a human gesture. "Well, you see child, that's quite a problem. The only Lunamon we have that could be of that line, of the Olympus Twelve, her name is Nyx. And she's not connected to you in the slightest."

Sayo only stared, helplessly at a loss. Then she laughed herself to tears.

When Julia, six months pregnant at the time, had lightly suggested buying one of those leashes for children that were sold in a few places in Digital, Tsukino Shinta had adamantly refused and not spoken to his wife for two hours, not even to rub the kicking spots of their too eager child.

Now, just over two years later, he was starting to regret that decision. Darja, though he loved her to death, was nigh-unstoppable. No wonder his sister had been so exhausted in her saner moments, and she had had twin toddlers once upon a time.

As he thought those words, he heard his daughter's feet stomp out of immediate reach again, heading what was likely towards the nearest cotton candy stall (the portal residence area was the closest thing to an airport that they had in city now that their resident ship was gone. Without thinking, he went after her, resisting the urge to scold her and hang her by her tail (he had had it done to him, he knew exactly what it felt like) from the nearest streetlamp.

"Darja," he began, causing her to pause midstep. Not a lick of embarrassment to be found. "If you keep running off, you won't be able to meet Sayo, now will you?"

Darja's tail wagged at the sound of her cousin's name (he really didn't know how the girl was so attached to the idea of meeting his niece. It must have been through osmosis. Then, another thought passed through her brain and she began to wander again. Shinta hurried to scoop her up, only to nearly smack into a passing young woman. He smiled at her and her lips twitched, hair buns bouncing a little at the tilt of her head.

"Miss Fei," called a voice, the voice of what was probably one of the Tamer security guards. He needed to work on knowing them by name, especially since they had stopped dropping like flies since EDEN.

Shinta paused and then muttered a few Talosian curse words under his breath when he realized Darja had probably up and climbed a tall fountain in the seconds he had looked away. That child is getting grounded when I find her. Since apparently she wasn't going to listen when he was nice about it.

Thankfully it wasn't very hard to find a navy blue and white tail wagging in the midst of the crowd. Humanoid races tended to get their things and get going here. Not that he could blame them.

Shinta slowed his steps, stepping as quietly as possible to not alert his little girl. She wasn't really paying attention, babbling what words she was managing to say to something, or someone. When she was in reach, he leaped, scooping up the little girl. Darja squealed but to his surprise covered her mouth. As she did, he saw something shift out of the corner of his eye. The little thing, which now that he smelled right was filthy, squirmed further back into the little corner it had wedged itself into. He knelt, Darja squirming under one arm with clear delight.

"Hello there, little one," he said softly. "What are you doing back there?"

No answer, but there was a squinting pair of eyes peering at him. Not even away, right at him.

"Was my little girl being a bother?"

Fwip, fwip. The movement of hair.

"Good!" Shinta smiled. "What do you say you get on out of there, hmm?"

The child twitched, as if wanting to. But then Darja screeched, and the twitching hand scooted back. Shinta wanted to sigh but then he turned his head and saw just who Darja was reaching for.

His dear little niece.

Put bluntly, she looked awful. Even though she was cleaned up and her hair shone and her clothes lacked any of the old rips, the puffiness about her eyes and the set blank frown on her face… well. He knew that look very well.

Shinta put on a smile. "Lo, darling,"

"Lo," she mumbled.

Darja squealed and reached for her. Sayo stared at her and Shinta grinned a bit more. "Darja, darling. This is my daughter."

Sayo stared up at him, large eyes drooping a little. "I thought that had been a joke."

"No, it wasn't." He reached out, nervously, and patted her head. She shifted but didn't pull away. "Julia's a good woman once you pull the layers off."

"...Mm." Sayo grunted a bit before looking about. "Taiki's looking for you. You guys weren't at the entrance."

Shinta sighed. "Darja ran off, found this little one here."

He swore for a moment, that his niece's eyes sparkled at his words. She moved over. Shinta set Darja down warily, wanting both hands. Darja thankfully ran to grap Sayo's jacket. Sayo was knelt down at this point.

"Hullo," she said to the little child. "Ain't that place chilly?"

No answer.

Sayo nodded. "It is. And dark. Are you hungry?"

No answer.

Sayo nodded again. "Yeah. I'm a little hungry too. I like pancakes. Do you like pancakes?"

An answer. A shaken head.

"Why not?"

They coughed, a ragged little rattling sound. "Nnnn-"

Sayo blinked. "Never had pancakes."

The sound stopped, got a nod instead.

"You wanna try 'em?"

The little child nodded. Sayo leaned on her haunches, almost toppling Darja over and holding out one dark hand.

Grimy fingers touched hers and Sayo pulled what looked like a porcelain doll into her chest.

She looked up at Shinta, who tried to smile at that blank face.

"Yes," he said to her unspoken question. "Of course."

Sayo almost smiled.