--o--o--o--
Chapter 14
Fractures
--o--o--o--
"Yasuramon said to take Calumon back to Earth but I've never been there," Kayamon said to Metal Greymon and Silphymon as they made their way out of the Sovereign's castle. "I guess I should find my mother and the humans first but I don't even know where to start looking."
Metal Greymon opened his mouth to speak but Kayamon didn't even pause for breath before continuing. "And, anyway, I want to wait for my father. I don't know why he had to stay with Yatsuramon because we've already got what we wanted, which is this little guy on my back. Did you know he's the power that lets everyone digivolve? I guess nobody knew that before my father figured it out. He's really smart and taught me all about fighting, like when I used my Binding Tail attack on Zhuqiaomon? That was to keep him from being able to maneuver or dodge which was good because even though I could have done more damage with one of my other attacks that kept him from attacking you and the others so much and that's more important in situations where there are multiple attackers. He said that he and Renamon-- she's my mother-- developed that technique. He said that Renamon could move so fast that she--"
Metal Greymon gave up trying to get a word in and plodded alongside the happily chattering Kayamon in silence. Silphymon leaned over to him and whispered, "What's a 'mother'?" Metal Greymon shrugged his titanic shoulders.
--o--o--o--
Yasuramon lay down and folded her wings alongside her body. With her head resting on her forelegs her eyes were just about level with Istaqamon's. It didn't make her seem an iota less intimidating but Istaqamon appreciated the gesture.
"Same gorgeous violet eyes," he remarked. "I'm glad to see that hasn't changed."
It was only half flattery, Yasuramon knew. She could see right through him-- quite literally. Her senses extended through many planes of existence now and she could read subtleties in Istaqamon's energies that had been hidden to her before her transformation. He did consider her to be beautiful as well as imposing. He was nervous and uncertain-- ready to jump in any direction in an instant-- but he wasn't afraid of her. She found that fact to be very intriguing.
"Thanks for letting the little guy go," Istaqamon continued, "that was very generous of you."
"Not at all," Yasuramon said, enjoying the little sparkle of energy that ran up Istaqamon's spine as she spoke. "It was a smart move, not a generous one. He can do nothing more for me, so it will be best if he were out of reach of any potential enemies. Earth is the best place for him."
Istaqamon smiled, "I'm glad you no longer consider the tamers to be your enemies. But-- not that I'm suggesting such a thing-- wouldn't it have been simpler and easier to just kill Calumon? That's what I would have expected of you in an earlier incarnation."
"It can't be done." Yasuramon told him and grinned at the ripple and flare of his aura as he took in the meaning of her words.
"You-- you mean you tired to--" he said, his eyes narrowing.
"No," she said, "not intentionally. I lost my temper while I was learning to control him. That thing inside of him renews his body instantly-- which explains how such a puny and timid creature survived for so long. I think that, with the strength I now possess, I might be able to destroy him and the thing within him but, for some strange reason, I felt that it wouldn't be--" she briefly searched for the exact word, "--right to do so."
Yasuramon lifted her gigantic head off of her forelegs and loomed over her Captain. "And that brings me to the reason for this private little audience, Istaqamon." His core flared and attack energy built up in his hands. His muscles tensed, ready for instant reaction-- but his aura remained free of the pale color of fear. She felt a brief urge to press him, to find out just how far she would need to go to make him cower, but she wanted other information much more urgently.
"What did you do to me?"
"Oh that," he said, relaxing just a bit. "It was just an energy transfer-- sort of a coronation gift."
Yasuramon saw that he was actually a bit embarrassed. She recalled the incredible ecstasy that had surged through her from his touch and wondered if that was what he and Renamon had shared so often. She felt a sudden powerful longing to reach out and touch him, which she savagely repressed. "Whatever form I wore, have you ever known me to be a fool? I know there was something else in that meaningless flow of energy; something that you hoped would impose your will on me. Isn't that right?"
Istaqamon stood stiffly upright and gave her a precise bow. "My Sovereign Lady," he said in a formal tone that held a definite tinge of mockery, "you are a fool! Oh yes, you're right about that 'something extra' but you couldn't be more wrong about my intent. What I gave you wasn't a virus or some tricky piece of warped data that I hoped would make you do my bidding. I know that's just how you think-- that every move has a hidden threat, every gesture is a potential attack!" He was pacing up and down now, growing more agitated by the word. "And that's where your foolishness comes in. You're blind to half the world! Maybe it's not your fault-- I can see you've had a miserably hard life-- but you are a Sovereign now! You are secure and powerful and you can afford to open yourself to all that the world has to offer."
Yasuramon stared at him in amazement. "What the hell are you raving about?"
"Love, damnit!" he yelled at her, "I gave you my love! I had to force it down your damned throat because that's the only way you'd ever let it near you!"
"I-- I don't understand." Yasuramon said slowly. "You love Renamon. You said--"
"Yes, I do!" Istaqamon continued in a more moderate tone of voice, "I love her and she's my one and only mate, so don't get any funny ideas, gorgeous! That little zap was a one-time deal. I don't go heels up for every pretty piece of tail that comes along."
Yasuramon stared at him, wide-eyed. He was joking-- doing funny voices-- and beneath it all, he was deadly serious.
"You see-- I love Rika, too," he continued, "--when I'm not wanting to strangle her. I love my daughter. And then there's Guilmon-- who could not love that great little guy? What I'm trying to say is that love isn't limited-- and that there's all different kinds of love-- and," he slammed the butt of his lance against the floor for emphasis, "I do love you, damnit!"
Yasuramon was paralyzed with shock. She could see he wasn't lying. Her mind whirled in confusion. Her thoughts were so chaotic that she briefly suspected that Istaqamon had uploaded her with some trojan virus that had been triggered by his last words to her.
"But I-- you--" Even in an uncertain stammer her voice was god-like.
"It makes no frikkin' sense?" Istaqamon laughed, "Tesla's teeth, don't you think I know that? I ought to hate your guts-- but I don't. I could pretend it was because of your strength and perseverance or maybe your cleverness but those are only reasons to admire you. I can't reason it out because love has nothing to do with reason. That's just the way it is and we'd better get used to it!" And he pounded the floor with his lance once again.
Whatever Yasuramon might have been going to say was interrupted by a terrific rumble as the ground began to shake violently.
Istaqamon glanced at his weapon in surprise. "Don't know my own strength," he muttered.
--o--o--o--
Calumon's sudden yell startled Kayamon who jinked sideways and let him fall to the ground between the two posts of the Great South Gate. He lay there, grimacing, with his forehead mark blazing a red beam up into the sky.
Kayamon looked back and forth between her companions. "Is he supposed to do that by himself?" Without waiting for an answer, she prodded the little digimon with a paw. "Stop that!" she told him.
Surprisingly, he did stop and, after a moment, opened his eyes. "I-- I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. I tried not to! Please don't hurt me."
Kayamon looked at him in puzzlement as if he had been speaking a foreign language. "Well, don't do it again," she told him, "I don't think Yasuramon would like it." She looked closer and sniffed at him. "What is that thing in your head, anyway?" She asked.
Calumon whimpered and tried unsuccessfully to cover his relatively enormous head with his tiny arms. "You can't take it out! You can't! It just hurts!"
Kayamon looked up at Metal Greymon. "Do you have any idea what he's talking about?"
Metal Greymon hesitated but when it looked as if Kayamon was actually going to allow him to answer he said, "No-- none at all. But I do know the Sovereign wishes him taken to Earth. It would be best if you did that as soon as possible."
"I guess--" Kayamon said thoughtfully as she looked back down at the unhappy little creature. "If father doesn't come out of the castle by nightfall, I'll head for the Southern Portal. I wish Yasuramon had been able to give us the power to open portals on our own. Maybe she didn't know how-- or d'you think it was because she promised father she wouldn't invade Earth? I still think portal magic would be handy to have because then I could visit Earth whenever I wanted but still come back here to explore because even my father doesn't know everything about the Digital Dimension and it would be such fun to go traveling with him and meet all sorts of new digimon we could fight and of course we would bring my mother along--"
Silphymon and Metal Greymon actually welcomed the interruption caused by the sudden, violent shaking of the ground.
--o--o--o--
"What is it?" Istaqamon asked as he crouched to give his legs the flex needed to ride out the still shaking ground.
Yasuramon was standing, gazing at the wall of the chamber as if she could see through it (which, in fact, she could). "Megas" she rumbled. "There's quite a battle going on out there-- and one of them is drawing in a huge amount of energy. It's disrupting the underlying code of the Digital Dimension."
"Two of them? Can you tell who they are?"
Yasuramon's eyes narrowed. "No-- not for certain-- but I think one of them may be your old friend Beelzemon." She turned her gaze down to her suddenly agitated Captain. "That's quite a vocabulary you have. I don't think I've ever heard some of those words before."
"It's got to be the tamers. I have to go to them!" Istaqamon said urgently, "They need me!"
Yasuramon silently studied him.
"Yasuramon, please! Look, do you want me to kneel and beg you? Because, if that's what it'll take--"
The huge Sovereign gave a sharp exhalation of breath that might have been distantly related to a laugh. "No play-acting, please. Just go."
"Thank you!" Istaqamon shouted and turned toward the great doors that were already swinging open.
"One last thing," Yasuramon said in a voice that slid over him like molten gold.
"Yes?" He turned back to her as she bent over him, her vast head looming large as she bent down to him. Because her face filled his view he didn't notice her tail moving until its tip brushed against his chest. The flare of energy knocked him backwards and it was a second or so before he could scramble to his feet.
"Wha--" he gasped, "I--" his armor glinted with new shapes; symbols and trim that bore curious runes in black digizoid metal.
"You may have some need of that," Yasuramon said.
Istaqamon groped for the right thing to say but Yasuramon was already turning away from him and spreading her wings to fly.
--o--o--o--
"What do you think it is?" Metal Greymon asked Silphymon as they strained to make out any details in the cloud of dust that billowed up on the distant horizon. Flares of bright energy sparkled there from time to time. "Big fight of some kind?"
"Nothing to do with us," Silphimon replied, shrugging, "Not unless the winner of that fight wants to pass through this gate!" Evidently, he was taking his assigned responsibility quite seriously.
Both of the devas suddenly realized that Kayamon hadn't chimed in with her opinion and they turned to look at her. She was gone. Calumon sat alone in the dust, blinking up at them.
"Where'd she go?" Silphymon asked the little digimon.
Calumon raised a tiny hand and pointed at the distant conflict. Looking back, the two devas could just make out a running figure, blurred with speed, racing toward the battle.
"Yasuramon's not going to like this," Metal Greymon rumbled
"Yes," Silphymon agreed, "If this little thing is the key to digivolving, leaving it alone could be a threat to our Sovereign. Any digimon who possessed it could become powerful enough to--" He trailed off slowly and glanced at Metal Greymon who was wearing a puzzled look that was just giving way to realization.
Both devas lunged for Calumon at the same time.