58

The Entrance

"The party at the stone building would accept these respective signals in an analogous manner; forcing an entrance at the first, and at the second descending whatever passage into the ground might be discovered, and joining the general or focal warfare expected to take place within the caverns." – H. P. Lovecraft, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

If it wasn't for their faith in Koshiro and Gennai, the Chosen Children might have thought that the program had made a mistake. It was hard to imagine a more innocuous landscape than the one which waited for them on the other side of the Digital Gate. Groves of trees were scattered across grassy, gently rolling hills, and a slow-flowing river wound its way across the land. There was no sinister fortress to darken the scene, or other buildings of any kind. It was very quiet. There were no Digimon in sight. Ken and Stingmon had arrived shortly before the others did, but they had nothing to report.

"No," Hikari said, looking up from her D-Terminal. "He thinks it was coming from here the whole time."

"But then," Miyako asked, "Where is everybody? Could they really have a base here? There's nothing around."

"Unless there's something underground, like there was at Kingsport," Takeru said.

"So what then," said Miyako, "We have to go looking for holes in the ground? It could take forever in an area this big." She knew that either Gennai's program had failed, or Takeru was right. She didn't know which she would prefer. Yes, they needed to end this, but the thought of going underground reminded her of the last night's dream, the taste of dirt in her mouth.

"Maybe there's some kind of entrance, hidden by the trees," Ken suggested.

"Alright," Takeru said. "We'll start looking. No one go too far." He looked about him, trying to think of where danger might come from. His gaze happened across Iori, the younger boy looking down at the ground, not really seeing anything. Obviously his mind was still on Chiho. "Iori-kun, maybe you and Submarimon could check the river."

Iori gave a little start, realized what had been said, and found his voice. "Y-yes. Come on, Armadimon."

"Alright," Takeru continued, looking to the others. "Let's start looking."

He saw their expressions. There was tiredness there. The fear had faded into the background somewhat in these idyllic surroundings, but they were tired, worn out from constant battle and nightmares. He knew without asking that their nights had been as rough as his. "We'll find these people, and we'll stop them," he added, a hard edge to his voice.

The region was small enough that there was no need to pair off. Each of the Digimon evolved in some manner and went their own way with their partner, checking individual groves or searching the horizon. Iori and Submarimon scanned the river bottom, and every once in a while the boy would ask some question or remind his partner not to go too far downstream. The riverbed was different from the shadowy oceans Iori had been seeing in his dreams, but after a long period of silence he would have to say something, just to make sure that Submarimon was still there. It was a childish thing to take comfort in, but he needed it. Besides, silence made him think of Chiho, made him ponder against his will on what exactly had happened to her in the night.

Miyako and Hikari took to the air with Holsmon and Nefertimon, but it wasn't much more instructive than being on the ground; all it really showed them was just how deserted the area was. There weren't even any Dark Towers in sight. Hikari didn't know what to expect, or what to hope for, but while she looked for anything out of place her real focus was on avoiding thoughts of her last dream. She paid close attention to the way the sun felt on her shoulders, and the freshness of the air's scent. It was a surreal experience, that search. Everything seemed so pleasant, but all the while they were hunting for some unknown foulness in the background.

Daisuke accompanied Lighdramon, the two of them never staying for long in one place, but constantly on the move, looking groves and hills over in rapid succession.

"Daisuke," Lighdramon said at one point, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Uh… Yeah, why?"

"You were real quiet just now. That's not like you."

The truth was that Daisuke was a little preoccupied. He had remembered his dream from the moment he woke up. Was it one of those dreams? It hadn't been scary… well, maybe a little scary in places, but nothing he couldn't handle. He'd seen Nat-chan again, and it had felt so real at the time, with the cold digging deeply into him. He didn't have dreams all that often, but he was familiar enough with them to know that last night's had been different.

"I had a dream," he said aloud. "About Nat-chan."

He hadn't really planned on saying anything about it, but problems were easier to deal with once you brought them out into the open, and of his friends living in Japan only his partner had been there with him. He'd never said much to anyone else about the New York trip. It wasn't his nature to avoid discussions, but there was something about that one topic that made the thought of going into it with the others uncomfortable. Above all he was strangely glad that Hikari had never gotten any of the details.

"Was it fun?" Lighdramon asked.

"What? No it wasn't fun, stupid!" Daisuke said, angry at a question he hadn't expected.

"So it was a bad dream then."

"I don't know, it's none of your business." There was a moment's pause before he added, "Ahh… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose my cool. Yeah, it was kind of a bad dream, like New York all over again."

"I see something," Lighdramon said, interrupting. Daisuke looked up and saw it too, some kind of building partially hidden at a place where the trees were thicker.

"Is this it?" he asked, excited. His face fell a little when he saw that what they had found was just a little house. It sure didn't look anything like an enemy base.

"You think someone lives here?" his partner asked.

"I don't know. Let's go see."

He walked up to one of the windows and pressed his face up against the glass. There wasn't much he could see from outside, though. There were no lights on, and he couldn't make out anything in detail. "We'll try the door," he said, running around to the front of the bungalow. The doorknob wouldn't turn, and no one answered at Daisuke's knock. He looked at Lighdramon and shrugged just as Ken stepped out of the trees and into the house's undefined yard.

"You found something, Motomiya-kun?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't look like anyone's home."

After calling for Stingmon, Ken inspected the door for himself, and confirmed that it wouldn't budge.

"Maybe we should break in," Lighdramon suggested.

"Yeah, but what if someone lives here?" Daisuke asked.

"Whatever we do, we should check inside somehow," Ken said. "We haven't seen anything else around here. At least, maybe there are clues."

"Alright," said Stingmon, extending the blade from his wrist. "Spiking Finish!"

The attack cut right through the doorknob, and the door fell open, revealing a house devoid of interior walls and furniture, the floor covered in tiles. The only object of any interest was a large basin, something like a birdbath, situated at the center of the single room. Daisuke and Ken entered the house as their partners watched them from the door.

"That's weird…" Daisuke said.

Ken was looking thoughtfully at the basin. They were looking for a place that was probably underground. Could it possibly… Yes. Setting both hands against the thing and giving it a strong push, Ken was able to shift the basin a little bit, and the boys could see the opening beneath it.

"We've found it," Ken said softly, his eyes fixed on the crescent of blackness at his feet.

Sato Katsu had been watching the control room screen for a long while, watching the Chosen Children mill around on the surface. It was plain that they had come for a reason, though he had no idea how they had found the place. But that didn't matter at the moment. He watched silently until the six colored dots began to converge on the little structure that hid the entrance tunnel to the complex in which he sat. Then—

"They're here," he said. There was no response. After a few seconds he turned around and saw that the room was empty except for him. Where was the Dark Man? Surely he already knew what was happening. Sato scowled and turned back to the panel in front of him. If necessary, he was prepared to handle things without the Dark Man's help. It was only the work of a moment to redirect a small percentage of the power from the generators from the well in his shrine and into other devices.

"Digimentals of Courage and Love," he murmured, bringing up his options with a few keystrokes. "I must congratulate you, Chosen Children. You've exceeded my expectations. Your predecessors would be proud." He input a few final commands and then began walking from the room. "But now you've made a mistake."