I don't own Digimon or any tale of the brothers Grimm.

"He just lost his parents and survived a car crash." Yoshie told the little boy. He had accompanied his parents to the Hospital, where the son of his father's cousin was. "He needs all our help and support."

"How is he like?" Makoto asked, curious.

"Red hair, deep black eyes…" Masami had begun to explain.

"But how is his personality? Is he nice?" Makoto questioned. His parents exchanged concerned glances.

"Koushiro hasn't spoken anything since…" Yoshie could not finish the sentence.

"It's no problem. I'm sure that he's going to talk to me." Makoto said with optimism.

The couple and the child entered the Hospital bedroom, where they found the red-haired kid fully dressed. Masami and Yoshie greeted him and Makoto introduced himself. However, Koushiro kept a blank expression on his face and stayed in silence. He said no word during the trip to the Izumis' apartment, during the dinner or while a futon was prepared for him in Makoto's bedroom. Alone with the other kid, Makoto decided to put more effort into trying to get Koushiro to talk.

The boy with curly black hair and light brown eyes took a story book from a shelf. Then, he sat on his bed and invited the smaller kid to join him.

"Do you know a tale from the brothers Grimm called 'The shepherd boy?'" Makoto asked. Koushiro denied with his head. "It's my favorite. Do you mind if I read it for you?

Koushiro stayed quiet, which motivated Makoto to start reading in loud voice:

"There was once upon a time a shepherd boy whose fame spread far and wide because of the wise answers which he gave to every question. The King of the country heard of it likewise, but did not believe it, and sent for the boy. Then he said to him, 'if you can give me an answer to three questions which I will ask you, I will look on you as my own child, and you shall dwell with me in my royal palace.' The boy said, 'what are the three questions?' The King said, 'the first is, how many drops of water are there in the ocean?' The shepherd boy answered, 'lord King, if you will have all the rivers on Earth dammed up so that not a single drop runs from them into the sea until I have counted it, I will tell you how many drops there are in the sea.' The King said, 'the next question is, how many stars are there in the sky?' The shepherd boy said, 'give me a great sheet of white paper,' and then he made so many fine points on it with a pen that they could scarcely be seen, and it was all but impossible to count them, anyone who looked at them would have lost his sight. Then he said, 'there are as many stars in the sky as there are points on the paper. Just count them.' But no one was able to do it. The King said, 'the third question is, how many seconds of time are there in eternity?' Then said the shepherd boy, 'in lower Pomerania is the diamond mountain, which is two miles high, two miles wide, and two miles deep. Every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on it, and when the whole mountain is worn away by this, then the first second of eternity will be over.' The King said,' you have answered the three questions like a wise man, and shall henceforth dwell with me in my royal palace, and I will regard you as my own child.'"

After finishing the story, Makoto noticed that Koushiro had become sickly pale. The child with red hair slowly opened his mouth and murmured:

"What are the questions that I must answer?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Makoto did not understand.

"In order for me to stay with your family, don't I need to answer three questions?" Koushiro asked.

"What? No!" Makoto got nervous. "Oh, God! No! I-I didn't… it was just a random story; I thought you would like it… I'm so dumb! I should've picked a different one!"

"You're not dumb. Sorry for over thinking." Koushiro had an apologetic tone. "That story you told was very sad."

"What are you talking about?" Makoto raised an eyebrow. "The shepherd boy became a Prince. His life got a lot better."

"But the diamond mountain was worn away by the bird." Koushiro said, melancholic. "Nothing is eternal in this world. All that exists ends…"

"That can't be right." Makoto disagreed. "There are things that never end. I'm sure of it."

"Like what?" Koushiro asked, hopeful.

"I don't know yet… but give me some time and I'll show you something eternal." Makoto said with confidence.

Chapter 11: Bird

It was an emergency reunion in the Citadel. Inside Alphamon's office, a select group of digimon was watching a projection of a battle between the chosen children and two Demon Lords and their armies who had returned from the darkness. The forces of the Society were at promptitude, guarding the Citadel.

"Do you believe the survivors of that confrontation will march against us?" Valkyrimon asked.

"Wizarmon is with them." Bastetmon pointed to the mage visible in the hologram, aiding the chosen children. "It's possible that he's working with the Merchant."

"It greatly annoys me to hear that copycat being referred as the Merchant." A husk voice came from the entrance of the room. A figure wearing a magenta robe and who had the head and the shoulders covered by a white veil walked into the place. His yellow eyes were the only visible things in his face. "I'm the original Merchant; I am the one who deserves that the before my alias."

"Sage!" Valkyrimon made a reverence. "This is a grave situation! Yagami Hikari and Ichijouji Ken are among the ones fighting Demon and Leviamon! If the Enlightened is captured…"

"The Enlightened has already been captured." The Sage declared. "Shinsuke-chan has fused the kid with Homeostasis and they're coming here."

The other digimon gulped, clearly afraid. Screams were heard coming from the projection. The enemies of the chosen children were spontaneously combusting.

"It seems that the carnage has begun." The Sage commented, bemused. "I'd better leave before you guys begin to die horribly."

A giant book appeared under his feet and the Sage began to sink into the pages.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, WISEMON!" Alphamon roared, taking his sword out. "EVERYTHING WE DID WAS FOLLOWING YOUR ORDERS! YOU KNEW WHO THE ENLIGHTENED WAS ALL ALONG? AND YOU LET THE MERCHANT GET HIS HANDS ON HIM?!"

"Well, well, well." Wisemon chuckled. "I do this in almost every world I visit: deceive some fools with promises of power and architect a plan to kill Koushiro with the hopes of overwriting Homeostasis. But this is a special world. Shin-chan provided me a better chance of getting rid of a faulty program than you lot could."

"I betrayed my friend for you…" Alphamon had fury in his voice, "all of us… you said it was the only way to keep the world safe!"

"Don't blame your sociopathy on me." Wisemon said, right before completely disappearing into the book, that closed itself and vanished.

"W-what do we do?" Bastetmon asked.

"Fool! We have Alphamon-sama on our side! Not even God can-" Valkyrimon was saying but he suddenly exploded in data particles. Bastetmon screamed as the same happened to her. Alphamon ran from the room, heading to the hall of the Citadel's main palace. Cries of agony came from everywhere and the air was becoming filled with data particles. At the hall, a carriage was waiting. Its door was opened and an adult man and two teenage boys left it.

"Shin-chan…" Alphamon muttered.

"Come along, Homeostasis." Shinsuke ordered. Koushiro walked behind the man, looking down. Makoto watched everything with increasingly desperation.

"Kou!" He called. "Please! You have to resist! Fight back!"

"Homeostasis, take him somewhere else!" Shinsuke commanded, irritated.

Makoto vanished.

When he noticed it, he had fallen on the hot sand of a desert.

"It's him! It's Makoto-san!" He heard a familiar voice coming from his right. Makoto stood up and turned around. Ken, Wizarmon and the other chosen children and their digimon were there.

"That's the guy who helped those villains in the dark ocean?" Daisuke inquired, spiteful.

"As I explained this morning, during the reunion prior to our incursion, I believe Makoto had his reasons to do what he did." Wizarmon said.

Yamato got close to Makoto, accompanied by Sora.

"Wizarmon told us that you lost your brother. Is that true?" Yamato asked. Makoto paled, in surprise.

"How do you… did Shinsuke-san say anything?"

"Shinsuke-san?" Hikari questioned. "Isn't that one of the deceased chosen children?"

"Shinsuke-san is the Merchant. He's also the only survivor of that group." Makoto explained.

"I can't believe it!" Takeru was perplexed. "All this time we were dealing with an ordinary human? And a former chosen child?!"

"I think we have more urgent things to worry about now." Sora said. "Like why the digimon we were fighting against suddenly died."

Makoto gulped. He remembered, back in the carriage, how Shinsuke had ordered Koushiro to eliminate the Demon Lords and their allies and then everybody in the Citadel except Alphamon.

"I don't have time for this!" The boy with curly black hair had urgency in his voice. "I need to go back and help Kou!"

"Kou?" Taichi inquired, seriously. "Are you talking about Koushiro? Why would he need help?"

"The Merchant deceived him… he fooled both of us…" Makoto felt like crying. "Now, he's controlling Kou and forcing him to do horrible things…"

"That can't be true!" Taichi refused to believe in that. "I talked to Koushiro by the telephone before coming here! He was fine!"

The former leader of the chosen children remembered with details the short conversation he had with the redhead while Wizarmon (who had already returned with Tailmon) was telling the other children about his theories. Koushiro sounded desperate and said that he needed to talk to Taichi about his family. Taichi refused to listen; and the other began to beg; the brown-haired boy hung up the phone. Taichi had no other choice; had he not done that, the Merchant would kill Hikari. Nevertheless, his guilt was immense.

"Right, he was!" A voice suddenly came from their left. Wisemon was walking in their direction. That sight triggered a storm of violent emotions in Makoto, which Wizarmon felt. The boy was about to reach the gun in his belt but Wisemon had quickly materialized in his front and handcuffed him.

"Let Makoto go!" Wizarmon ordered, pointing his staff at Wisemon.

"You've got another little mage for partner, Makoto-kun? How adorable!" The Sage mocked, stepping back while fiercely holding the teenager.

"Murderer!" Makoto roared, unable to do anything. "I'm going to kill you!"

"You'll certainly try." Wisemon chuckled. The mage's giant book appeared under their feet. Makoto and the Sage began to sink, being absorbed by the pages. Before Wizarmon could do anything, strange white light enveloped his body. When he realized it, he was back at Taichi's apartment, along with the chosen children and their digimon, who had devolved to child level (adult level, in the case of Tailmon).

"NO!" Wizarmon shouted. Myako hurried to the computer, with her digivice in hands. The portal did not open.

"What just happened?" Ken inquired, shocked.

"We were forcibly brought back to the real world and now the gate is closed!" Myako explained.

"What do we do? We have to go back there!" Takeru was desperate.

Hikari noticed that her brother had pulled out his cell phone and had dialed a number. She could hear him murmuring:

"Please, pick up. Please, be okay. Koushiro… I'm so sorry… please…"

Makoto fell and hit a hard floor. He looked up and found the open book floating above him. Wisemon, who was by his side, grabbed the boy by the arm and forced him to stand.

"Now, be a good hostage and come with me." Wisemon said. They were in the hall of a palace. The Merchant's carriage was visible some meters in their front.

"What do you want with me?!" Makoto demanded to know.

"It'd be bad if you had been sent away by Homeostasis along with those brats. That problematic program closed all the gates of the Digital World in order to get me. If I have you by my side, he won't destroy this world."

"What are you talking about?! Kou wouldn't-"

"I'm immortal, there's no other way to get rid of me besides destroying this whole plan of existence." Wisemon explained as if it was obvious.

"Koushiro would never destroy the Digital World!" Makoto stated with ferocity. "I know my brother! He's incapable of hurting anyone!"

"STOP!" A desperate cry was heard. Wisemon and Makoto ran in its direction and found Shinsuke floating in the air, seemingly in agony. Koushiro watched him with a satisfied expression.

"I was never really under your control, Shinsuke-kun." The boy with red hair said. "I was just having fun at your expense."

"Don't kill me, please!" Shinsuke begged.

"You didn't mind when Alphamon was the one saying that." Koushiro taunted.

"I was just a victim! Everything I did was to bring them justice!" Shinsuke shouted.

"And now I'll bring justice to you, Merchant." The boy said with a dark grin. Shinsuke's body was undone into several data particles.

Makoto couldn't believe his eyes. Wisemon held him in his front by the arms but allowed the boy to slowly walk in the direction of the other.

"Kou, what have you done?" He asked, in horror. Koushiro looked at him with surprise.

"Why weren't you teleported?" The red-haired teenager asked.

"He's not going anywhere without me!" Wisemon said.

"Coward!" Koushiro hissed.

"Kou…" Makoto had a heartbroken tone of voice. "This is not you! My brother would never willingly kill someone in cold blood! What happened to you?!"

Koushiro glanced at the other boy for a couple of minutes before replying deadly serious:

"A bird."

Thank you for reviewing.

I first heard of the tale of the shepherd boy in an episode of Doctor Who called "Heaven Sent."