121

Revelation

"Evil wings in ether beating;

Vultures at the spirit eating;

Things unseen forever fleeting

Black against the leering sky.

Ghastly shades of bygone gladness,

Clawing fiends of future sadness,

Mingle in a cloud of madness

Ever on the soul to lie."

– H. P. Lovecraft, "Despair"

"You," Sato said, his eyes on Anubimon. "I should have known. I shall tell the Dark One that your usefulness to us has ended."

"Yes," Anubimon said. "It has."

Sato's gaze swept the Chosen Children.

"A large group to avoid all guards and surveillance." His irritation came through in his voice. "Your luck never ceases to amaze me."

"You're lucky I don't—" Daisuke began, but he broke off as Takeru's voice, its anger more restrained but just as intense, spoke up.

"Hasn't it ever occurred to you that it isn't luck, Sato Katsu? Maybe it's what we're fighting for that gives us our strength."

"You haven't taken your lesson to heart, I see," Sato replied. "Never mind," he continued, his voice becoming icy. "By the time you recognize the truth it will be too late. It certainly isn't your skill that has carried you this far. Much of your previous success can be attributed to the natural defenses of the worlds of light, but I have worn those defenses down, and soon they will fail altogether."

"We've talked long enough," Ken interjected, speaking more to his companions than to Sato. "We should keep going."

Sato's scowl grew darker. He and they both knew that with Anubimon present there was nothing he could do to detain them. His eyes came to rest on Hikari, but her own gaze had broken away from him, and her head was turned towards something on his left.

"There," she said softly. The other Chosen Children looked in that direction also. Sato, who knew what had drawn their attention, did not. Upon one of the small stone mesas lay the Digivices and D-Terminals. Sato had experienced an odd reluctance to leave the devices behind in his private chamber.

"The D-3s," Miyako murmured.

"Go on and take them," Sato said, though it struck him for the first time how much the Digivices had fascinated him. "They won't do you much good now."

"Shut up!" Daisuke snapped.

And as he and the others walked over to the table and recovered their belongings, Anubimon, still looking at Sato, softly added, "And don't be so sure."

Sato's eyes narrowed. What did the wretched creature mean by that? An unpleasant suspicion began to grow in his mind. He glanced over to where the children were sorting out their D-Terminals. Whatever Anubimon meant, it was important to detain the Chosen Children as long as possible. The Dark Man could easily deal with them and Anubimon both, but defeating Demon seemed to be taking him a long while. It was too bad there were no Parasimon present. If they had attached one to Anubimon from the beginning this problem might have been avoided.

Across the room, Iori had reclaimed his D-3, and as he turned away from the mesa his eyes met those of Sato. He resisted the urge to look away, and watched the man with a thoughtful expression.

"Still wondering why?" Sato asked in a low voice.

"I am," Iori admitted.

"I tried to show you why," Sato said, the hint of a snarl in his tone. "But you've all chosen to defer your lesson."

"It looks like your experiment's a failure," Takeru said. By now all of the children were listening to the conversation.

"I just need a little longer," Sato said. "This last pitiful attempt of yours means nothing. Those little toys can protect you no longer."

"I'm sick of listening to this," Miyako said. "Let's hurry and get out of here."

"Haven't you realized by now that there is nowhere to run to?" Sato asked with a sort of incredulous anger. "Is it really so hard for you to grasp? But of course!" he went on, the apparent scorn in his voice holding them in place. Anubimon was concerned by the delay, but as yet said nothing. "You've always a place to retreat to, and your Digivices to rely on. The Chosen Ones, impossible to conquer."

"Sounds like you're a sore loser," Daisuke said, his contempt matching that in Sato's tone. He started to say something else, but some subtle change in Sato's expression made him stop. They all noticed it – and felt the chill of a sudden irrational fear. The man's eyes looked almost black. There was a deadly hatred there that paralyzed them.

"You know nothing," Sato said, his low voice like a hiss. "With all your childish platitudes, your blinded faith in Love, and Friendship, and Purity, and Hope, and Light." He spat the word. "Oh, your masters thought that this time they'd avoid their past mistakes. They didn't expect one of those unrectified mistakes to haunt them all these years later. I was forgotten, but I will be remembered now."

Iori was first to find his voice.

"What are you talking about?" he stammered. Some instinct told him that here was something important – perhaps the answer to his repeated questions.

"Of course you wouldn't know," Sato answered. "Maybe you!" He stabbed a finger in the direction of Takeru. "Or you." He pointed at Hikari. "Perhaps you have heard something among all those prophecies that came to your rescue."

Takeru peered at him doubtfully, his eyes narrow and his lips parted. Hikari watched him also, her attention divided between attempting to puzzle out his words and to place a vague impression that had been stirring at the back of her mind ever since that first glimpse of Sato Katsu as they had entered the room. The two mysteries flowed together strangely in her mind. To her overwrought imagination it seemed somehow that the two were connected. Something of that other personality in her stirred, uneasily, and… she had it.

Prophecies, legends… Her last dream… The boy with dark hair, the boy who had spoken of a battle… But was it really possible? Her eyes widened with a kind of horror.

"You… You were a Chosen Child?"

Sounds of surprise came from the other Chosen Children. Anubimon, who had been about to urge that they continue their flight, froze with his mouth half open. Daisuke, Miyako, Ken, and Iori had no idea what Hikari was talking about, but in Takeru's mind the pieces clicked together, and he couldn't keep back a low gasp.

"I am not a child anymore," Sato said, his black eyes smoldering, his voice low and razor sharp. "I left that life behind after I was betrayed, thrust into the dark and forgotten."

"What about the rest?" Takeru broke in. "The other Chosen Children that came before us?"

"My dear, dear friends? They served the Light's purpose and returned to their lives as if nothing had happened. But I did not let them escape punishment. They're long dead by now. They had nothing close to the strength that has allowed me to survive."

"You bastard…" Daisuke growled. The blazing of his eyes lent him a dangerous aspect. "You killed your own friends!?"

"No. I gave them over to my Master, and for their defiance of the Darkness they received His judgment. Soon"—He spoke through clenched teeth—"it will be your turn."

The Chosen Children were too thunderstruck to immediately retort. After their experiences with the generators and in their cells, they had believed nothing more about the extent of Sato Katsu's evil could shock them, but this… What could possibly have driven the man to betray his closest friends – fellow Chosen Children who must even have stood beside him in battle? It was unthinkable.

"Why?" It was Hikari's voice that broke the silence. "Why have you done all this? What reason…?"

"You wouldn't understand," Sato snapped. "What could you possibly know of reality, of failure? What have you ever lost? Even now luck comes to your rescue – escaping your cells, avoiding my search and soldiers." His voice rose to a yell. His fists clenched and unclenched before him. "Why should you always have another miracle to save you, when your predecessors – when I – was left to die!? It's not fair!"

There was something horribly child-like in the declaration. The children could only stare, aghast. But as they watched, Sato's hands returned to his side, and the fury went out of his face. He resumed his usual mask.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "Go on with your 'escape.' It will all be over soon."

He turned away from them and began to walk towards one of the huge room's several exits.

"Hey, wait!" Ken called.

"If you want to stop me you can have your dog kill me," Sato said without looking back.

Anubimon watched him go, but made no move to interfere. Instead he turned to the Chosen Children. "We should go," he began, but suddenly checked himself. He and the children stood still and listened.

All through the confrontation they had been hearing muffled evidence of the continued battle above them between Demon and his opponent, though so far the domed control room had remained undamaged by it. Now, however, a new sound, continuous, had begun to reach them.

"I hate to say it," said the Dark One's voice as the form of Pharaohmon slid backwards across the roof of the monastery, "but you're becoming a little tiresome, Demon." With a swift motion of his arms he extinguished the wave of flame that had been propelling him, and looked at his opponent through the curtain of smoke rising from his body.

"Whereas you have been tiresome from the beginning," Demon answered.

"I really must be going," Pharaohmon said. "It was entertaining for a while, but you've kept me from my duties long enough."

"I offered you a chance of escape already," Demon said. "Your doom is now sealed." Spheres of bluish energy began to grow in his open hands.

"Oh, I'll be back if necessary," Pharaohmon smiled. He clapped his hands together, and numerous small square holes appeared, simultaneously and noiselessly, in the black stone of the monastery roof. Out of the newly made apertures small gray shapes came leaping – small, at least, in comparison to the dueling giants. As the things landed, Demon perceived that they were a species of Digimon he had never previously encountered. At least a hundred of them had gathered, and the glassy lenses of their gasmasks were focused on him. The sight drew one of his slow, derisive laughs from him.

"Are these all the allies you can summon?" he said. "Fool. It will be impossible for them to so much as scratch me."

"Don't worry," the Dark One answered. "I don't expect them to scratch."

He thrust his right hand in the group's direction, bandaged fingers spread wide. The response was immediate and, for Demon, unexpected. The Troopmon burst – exploded like balloons. But their rubbery shells were not empty. Something like blue flames came spiraling out of them and upwards, coiling about Demon where he stood. He prepared to wade through them and continue his assault – he had little to fear from fire attacks.

But when the flames made contact with his body, it was not the hot tingling of fire he felt but a sharp, unfamiliar pain. The blue flames weren't flames at all, but a power unknown to him. His data was being corroded away! He shot skyward, but the roaring fire followed him like a living thing. He had time for an angry glance downward, which showed him that Pharaohmon had disappeared. Then more pressing matters absorbed him.

Anubimon hesitated only a moment. Whatever that rushing sound overhead was, it couldn't bode well for them. They had to press on.

"Which path do we take?" he asked, addressing Hikari. She looked doubtfully at Sato, then looked about the room.

"There," she said, pointing to the entrance of a hall running at right angles to that Sato had chosen.

"I will be so glad to get out of this place," Miyako said. The boys, like Hikari, gave Sato's retreating back a last glance – Takeru grim, Iori wondering, Ken worried.

"I can't believe he gets to walk off like that," Daisuke muttered. His expression remained a kind of incredulous anger.

"We… have to pick our battles," Takeru said. None of the others detected it, but a fleeting emotion passed across his face – something like anxiety that lent him a younger look. Then he and the others began to follow Hikari into the hallway.

Anubimon held back. A sense of unease had been growing on him, perhaps traceable to that odd roaring like that of wind or flame. He shrugged the feeling off with difficulty and prepared to join the Chosen Children. He would need to be there if they met any of those masked creatures. He took one step forward.

There was a sound like a blast of thunder.

Even before it struck, the Chosen Children seemed to be turning, wide-eyed. Anubimon tried to take another step, but instead fell to one knee. Dazedly he looked down. Only then did he realize that a large hole gaped in his abdomen. From what seemed a long distance he heard Hikari scream: "Anubimon!"

Eyes shining, mouths gaping, the Chosen Children stared at him, and at the figure of the Dark Man that stood some distance behind him, hands splayed.

"So I was not too late after all," the Dark Man said. He grinned. "It looks like our partnership is at an end, Anubimon."