Welcome back everyone. Here's another chapter for you which kind of explain things, and have more "alternate storyline" stuff for it. This chapter discusses briefly stuff dealing with the past adventures. I can't really explain it too well, so I'll just leave you all to read for yourselves. As for the next chapter, expect some more of the Chosen Children's Digimon, three in particular.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with Digimon. Toei and Bandai have that honor.

Chapter 17: "いらっしゃい! 私の話を聞いて下さい"
"Irasshai! Watashi no hanashi o kiite kudasai."
"Welcome to my home. Please listen to my story." The Meeting of Destiny...

A small girl, who felt as if she'd been wandering around aimlessly for hours, had finally grown quite tired and a bit hungry, despite having already eaten earlier. She looked to be about six years old, and was wearing a pair of dingy blue jeans and a butterfly t-shirt. After arriving in the strange world, she was in search of her friend, but so far, was having no luck in finding him. Not knowing what else to do, she decided to just walk, but was drawn to a bright light that was in the distance. She had no idea what this light was, or where it was coming from, but she felt that she should pursue it.

After about an hour of trekking, she arrived at what looked to be an old town, but it was deserted, or either the inhabitants of the place had all gone in for the night. Ahead of the medieval-looking town, she saw a pathway, and kept on towards it. That's where the light was coming from. The peeking moon began to shine brightly as she kept moving (night had finally arrived), passing by the abandoned stands and shops along the way.

She'd finally reached her destination, or so she felt she had anyway. At the end of the pathway was a large, luxurious home. *It was the equivalent of what the western world called a "mansion". After standing for a short while, she finally got the nerve to knock on the tall, wooden door. She heard the knock echo throughout the home.

A short moment went by, and the door creaked open; behind it, stood a woman with long, flowing red hair wearing a majestic-looking white dress. It looked to be glowing. Beside this woman, was a creature that resembled a swan, only a bit taller and bigger than an average-sized one.

"I see you have finally arrived," the woman stated with a small, gentle smile. "Welcome to my home."

"Huh? What?"

"Please, do come in."

The young girl entered the home slowly as the swan-like creature closed the door behind them. From the entrance, the girl saw a couple of stairwells, the railings looking to be made of some type of oak or pine. Regardless of what it was made of, the place looked expensive. There were also strange looking instruments and gadgets on pedestals and such, as well as devices she had no knowledge of.

As they walked through the home towards wherever the lady and swan were leading her, she noticed many photos on the wall. She grew captivated by the pictures, and began to study them. Most of the photos were of Digimon, despite her lack of knowledge about the digital creatures and the Digital World, and just continued on. Some had humans in them, and one that had caught her eye in particular had five children in it, all with a Digimon by their sides.

In another photograph she saw a picture that resembled a younger version of the character, Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Star Wars franchise. He looked to be in his early teens. In another photo, he saw the same person with four others, and they were all smiling and posing for the camera. They looked like the same five children who were in the other photo she'd seen. In another, she saw the same guy with his arm draped around the shoulder of the lady who had let her into the mansion, only she looked to be a slightly younger version of her.

She saw more and more photographs focused on those particular five people, and, for some inexplicable reason, found it all interesting. At the end of the corridor that all of these photos were, stood a small, wooden table with a framed photo. She picked it up, the frame seeming to weigh as much as the table looked. *On it, was a photo which consisted of an old-looking man in some kind of metal contraption, some Digimon, one of which that resembled a robot, and eight children. The youngest-looking girl of the photo seemed familiar to her, like she'd seen her older someplace.

"How do you like the photographs?"

The girl jumped as she set the one she'd been looking at, back onto the table. The woman had startled her, but the swan-like creature was currently no place to be found. "I'm sorry for being rude."

The redhead looked at the photos, quite fixated on the one on the table. "They say that a photo can tell an entire story just by the way the subjects are acting within them, or so the saying goes. I've always been bad at remembering old sayings."

"Thank you for your hospitality, and I'm sorry for intruding, but I don't know where I am. I'm looking for my friend. Do you think you can help me? Maybe use your phone to call home?"

"Why not have yourself a rest, first? We could have some tea and snacks. The sitting room is already set up for a guest. I would recommend using the parlour, but it's a bit chilly out for that. It's much more invigorating to use during those lovely spring days, where the breezes are absolutely revitalizing, and the sweet smelling flowers of the garden just permeates the entire room with its lovely fragrance."

Skeptical, she nodded slowly, and followed the woman towards the "sitting room". The girl was never too good with world history, but the entire house seemed to be something from out of a British novel taking place during maybe the Victorian era. In the sitting room, there was a fire going, a couple of cushioned chairs, and a small table in front of it. On the other side of the cozy, carpeted room was a bookshelf with lots of foreign books. Well, they were to her anyway since most of the books' titles were in English. She really felt like she was trapped in a British novel, as the room reminded her of something that one would see in a Sherlock Holmes mystery and she only knew that much from watching Detective Conan.

"Please, have a seat. Make yourself comfortable."

The girl awkwardly sat in the chair closest to the fire. She felt weird to be in such a room and found it strange how there wasn't any place for her to remove her shoes when first entering the home. She felt under-dressed to even set foot in it, but the fire felt very comforting. Her long walk to the house had left her a bit cold since she was wearing short sleeves. "Th-thank you."

The lady set a tray down and sat opposite of her. She had put down what appeared to be the most beautiful, most expensive looking pure silver tea set the girl had ever set eyes on. She set a cup and saucer in front of the girl as well as for herself. The teacups looked to be made of porcelain, or some other gentle - more than likely, expensive - material.

"Would you like some tea? It's a very good blend. It's black tea."

"No-no thank you."

"Very well then." She poured herself a cup, and stirred in some milk and sugar to the bitter beverage. "Would you like any of the snacks prepared here? Might I recommend the tea cake? It's quite complementary."

On the tray was an assortment of sweet cakes, plus the one the lady had just mentioned. "No thank you, but can you help me?"

"I'm sure we can. I'm quite sure that you can help us out as well."

"Help you?"

She nodded. "Yes, I am quite certain of this." She took a sip of her hot tea, but still wasn't satisfied with the taste. She added some more sugar to it. "If we help each other, you will most definitely find your friend."

"I don't understand."

"Other than your concerns and where-a-bouts of your friend, I'm sure you have many other questions; am I right?" She nodded. This woman was starting to scare her a bit from being so "all-knowing" and found her overly polite form of Japanese a bit unnerving. "Ask away."

"Where exactly am I? And how come you seem to have a Digimon?"

"Are you referring to my companion who of which you saw when I answered the door?" She nodded again. "Yes, you are correct. That creature you saw is a Digimon; my Digimon partner. We've been friends for many years now." She took another sip of her tea, finally content with its taste. "And as for where you are, is it not obvious?"

"Am-am I in the Digital World?"

"Yes, you are. You have been chosen to come to the Digital World."

"Why was I chosen and why am I a kid?" She shuddered, and glowered slightly. 'I don't want to relive those years over...I don't want to go through all that abuse and suffering again...'

The angelic woman set her tea down, stood up and headed towards the mantle place. She looked at the framed photos setting atop it. The woman stared at one in particular of a dark-haired man wearing a long, off-white robe.

"Excuse me, but are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry. I was a bit lost in thought. Now, I shall answer your question." Before she could start, her swan like Digimon entered the room. Beside the chair the woman had been sitting in, was an ottoman. The swan took a seat there. "As monotonous as this may sound, an evil force is trying to take over this lovely world, and when he's done with this one, he'll try to take over the world in which you live."

"That sounds typical and predictable, like something out of a manga or anime, but how can I help? I don't know anything about Digimon or of this world."

"You have come in contact with Digimon before, and you do not seem to fear them; besides, there is an inexplicable aura coming from you. It's incredibly strong. I don't know how you will help, but I feel that you will in some way."

"Oh-kay?"

"When you first encountered Digimon, was it when Vamdemon took over your city?"

"I think so," the girl answered with uncertainty. She actually wasn't very confident if that was her first time or not, but why would she think otherwise? "I remember it pretty well, but I didn't feel too scared, not like my mother and brothers. It was like I knew everything was going to get better, and that...Vamdemon thing, would get his in the end for kidnapping all of us."

The woman stared at her, and nodded, as if reaching some type of a conclusion. "Hmm, so that is probably why when summoning the other children that you were chosen as well."

"I think you're mistaken, ma'am. I'm just an 11-year-old girl from Odaiba who just happens to remember everything dealing with the monsters that attacked my home, not counting what happened about a couple of years ago, since I don't remember it too clearly. For some weird reason, that's still a bit of a blur."

"You were summoned for a reason, and I shall assume that that was the reason."

"But I wasn't the only one who saw Vamdemon. There were tons of people around for that. Why summon me and not them?"

"I have no idea, but I was given the power to summon the children who have helped the Digital World in some way or form, thanks to the four Holy Beast Guardians. They help to keep the Digital World safe, but they can only do so much." She took her seat again, and sipped some more of her tea. "I am Empress of this world, and of this particular region. The one who usually helps to keep this region safe and under control went after our enemy on his own; no one has seen him since then."

The woman, who had worn a confident, yet gentle, smile the majority of the time, was starting to fade as a forlorn frown slowly began to creep to her face. She looked to be trying her best not to cry. "We cannot fight against him alone. I just know the enemy has done something to Gennai-san."

"Gennai? That name sounds a little familiar...Oh yeah, Iori-kun mentioned him to me. He said that he was the one who gave him and the other Chosen Children some power from a Digimon named, um...let's see, I remember the name sounded Chinese...oh yeah...Qinglongmon!"

"He is one of the four Holy Beast Guardians who guards this world. He is responsible for the Eastern Hemisphere, which is what we are in right now.

"Baihumon, the Tiger Beast, is responsible for the Western Hemisphere; Xuanwumon, the Turtle Beast, is responsible for the North; Zhuqiaomon, the Phoenix, is responsible for the South.

"All four of them are very important here, and are very well-respected, even Zhuqiaomon-sama, who has always been a bit on the strange side with his autonomous ways. They gave me this particular power to open up various gates, to bring you all back. So far, I was only able to get children from the south-eastern region, meaning those of you from Japan."

"So there are more people here?"

"Yes, there are."

"What about Iori-kun?"

"We will meet up with all of them fairly soon - most likely, tomorrow - but as for your friend, he has to find his way first."

"Find his way here?"

"No, he has to find his other friends first and clear the area he has been summoned to. They have to fight off all of our enemy's followers, and as of the moment, most are resting up for battle."

"But what about Iori-kun?!"

"I already know that he will succeed, due to his true admiration for the Digital World."

"And you know this how?"

"Let's just call it woman's intuition," she answered with a small chuckle.

"Um...y-eah. Anyway, you still haven't explained why I'm much younger than I'm supposed to be and why my clothes are different."

"According to my visions and the prophecy, only children can defeat such an enemy. That is why you were all brought back as much younger versions of your current selves, or more than likely the age you were when first encountering a Digimon, or when first becoming a Chosen Child.

"All of the children that Gennai-san spoke so highly of were Chosen Children with partners."

"Except for me..."

"Yes, this may be true, but as I stated before, I do sense that you will help aid the others in some way. That part of my vision has never been quite clear."

"If you say so, but I'm curious about something else now. If you have Qinglongmon as guardian of this particular sector of the Digital World, then why are you and this Gennai-san person so necessary, and what about Ichijouji-san? Wasn't he the Digimon Kaiser at one point?"

"Yes, that's true. He was pretty much self-appointed, and after his adventure, I guess you could say that the guardians didn't see him as much of a threat and didn't even fathom that his becoming the 'Digimon Kaiser' was even worth their trouble, which was why my services weren't really needed at that time.

"After the reformation, security here has increased incredibly to prevent anything like that from happening again. This is also why the guardians are more accepting of me and my warnings now, even Zhuqiaomon-sama of the south. I did warn them about Ichijouji-san, but they didn't really believe me. They had up to that point, but just figured that for once, I was wrong.

"I remember Zhuqiaomon-sama going on about how a human couldn't possibly manage to take over the Digital World; sure one could try, but he was very doubtful. No human could ever obtain such a power. After all of the mayhem caused by him, they took my words at face-value more seriously and realized that my visions are usually never wrong.

"Now, as for your other question, I shall explain as best I can. Each part of this world, the east, west, north, and south, has a ruler and god. The gods can only do so much. They need someone to help keep things in-tact for their areas." The girl stared at the woman, clearly not understanding completely. "I suppose I should find a better way of explaining that." The young girl nodded. "Well, Qinglongmon-sama is like the manager of this part of the Digital World, and all managers need workers, or supervisors, to help carry out and maintain their tasks. I, as well as my friend, was chosen for the Eastern Hemisphere, since we're from this region originally."

"I guess I got that, but I have another question now."

"Go ahead."

"You said to beat this Digimon, everyone had to be brought back as a child since the prophecy, and your vision, said that to defeat him, that they must be children or have the mindset of a child."

"Yes, that is correct."

"But isn't there a mistake with this plan?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I may look like a kid, but I'm still thinking like my 11-year-old self."

"It seems so. That is something I didn't even factor, so I cannot explain it."

"Now, about Iori-kun, when will we go and get him? Where will we meet him?"

"According to what I envisioned, your friend, and his colleagues, will meet up in the last area that needs to be ridden of those filthy Digimon...the factory of Ebemon.

"For now, though, I suggest you relax and get a good night's rest. We can talk more in the morning and I'll have a meal prepared for you as well. Porridge is quite good at this time of the year, unless you prefer a big breakfast meal."

The young girl, who didn't get the majority of what was said, dealing with the prophecy and such, just shrugged it off. She found Iori's safety more important, as well as the identity of this woman, but she didn't feel that she should fear her, despite the super polite way she had spoken and it all seemed natural...not like she was putting on an act. The girl began to nibble on one of the pastries. Her stomach was now completely empty of the burger she'd eaten earlier, and could no longer take the growling feeling within it.

"Excuse me, but I never did catch your name."

"That's because I didn't throw it," she responded with defensive caution, "but it's Eiji; Tezuka Eiji."

"We were very rude, don't you think?" the swan-like Digimon spoke up. "We didn't properly introduce ourselves either."

She nodded, as both she and her Digimon partner introduced themselves to Eiji...

Author's Notes

Note 1: I'm pretty sure you're curious what I meant by, "It was equivalent of what the western world called a 'mansion'." Well, in Japan, a mansion isn't what we would consider a mansion. For us, a mansion is pretty much a really large, expensive house found in like Malibu or Beverly Hills owned by rich folks. In Japan, a "mansion" is pretty much a condo.
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Note 2: Do you think you can figure out what the photo is with the "familiar looking girl"?