Chapter Two

She Is Only Mine: The Ultimate Price

"Key? What do you mean, 'key'?" She finally gasped.

"Your destiny will unfold itself, young Chosen Child."

The girl took a step back in shock.

The DigiDeity knew her blasphemous secret! Nobody was allowed to call themselves a Chosen Child, or even play like it. It's like play-acting the DigiDeity! You don't play-act a God! In her time, that's exactly what the Chosen Children were!

But she, Yuuta Kokubunji, did anyway. Every night she pretended she was a Chosen Child and was- Yuuta shook her head before she completed that thought. What if he could read her mind?

"Don't you want your partner, Chosen Child?" DigiDeity asked curiously.

"More than anything!" Yuuta blushed and looked down. "Yes, DigiDeity, sir."

"Just call me Gennai." The little old man chuckled. "You humans are such strange creatures. Anointing a being different from them with Godhood."

He grabbed her hands and cupped them gently. Warmth filtered through her whole body. Her eyes widened as light collected on her palms. The light grew into a large egg shape. Her legs were turning into rubber, her breath catching, and her face reddened. As the light dulled and revealed a lavendar-confetti'd pink Digiegg, her heart pounded so hard her toes were thrumming.

"Take good care of this Digiegg. It will take a long time to grow, but it will be the strongest Digimon ever."

"Wha- Honto? But what about WarGraymon or MetalGarurumon?" Yuuta stuttered.

"Even stronger than them. It is time you know the truth." Gennai said.

"The truth, DigiDei-Gennai-sama?"

"Yes. Look here." He pointed to her chest and she immediately saw in her head, them. The Chosen Children. All stood in a line, faces set grimly. Looking on from the side, left to right, they were arranged:

Ken Ichijouji,

Miyako Inoue,

Mimi Tachikawa,

Jyou Kido,

Koushirou Izumi,

Taichi Yagami,

Daisuke Motomiya,

Yamato Ishiida,

Sora Takenouchi,

Takeru Takaishi,

Hikari Yagami, and

Iori Hida.

Her nose began to drip with blood seeing the two goggle-headed leaders, well, Motomiya goggle-headed, anyway. As one they glared, as one they breathed, as one they spoke.

"Go, Digimon!"

Yuuta watched with dazed eyes as the greatest Digimon threw their attacks, all as one, all as a unit. How much she wanted to be in that unit!

"You won't defeat me! You're nothing but children!"

"We've already decimated your arsenal, Lowvell!" Izumi shouted.

"You'll never stop us!" Takenouchi declared.

"We're Chosen Children, damn it!" Motomiya exclaimed. T. Yagami smiled and set a hand on his shoulder.

"Daisuke's right. We are Chosen Children." T. Yagami agreed.

All their hands clasped.

"And with our partners, saving people is what we do!" H. Yagami proclaimed.

"Let's end this." Ichijouji's soft voice carried over the field.

"Right!" The Digimon consented.

"Spiking Strike!"

"Blast Rings!"

"Flower Cannon!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Terra Force!"

"V Laser!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

"Wing Blade!"

"Megaton Press!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

Lowvell screamed. As the land broke around the cloaked figure, backlash of the attacks, MagnaAngemon stepped forth.

"Gate of Destiny!"

"I'll be back, Chosen Children! Both of these worlds will be mine! I'll be reborn in seventy years, and you'll be dead or old! Ha Ha Ha-!" His laugh was cut off as the Destiny Gate closed.

"You-you don't think-" Inoue swayed and Ichijouji caught her shoulders.

"Taichi, what if he's not lying?" H. Yagami turned to him.

"Damn it!" Motomiya cried, pulling at his hair. T. Yagami grabbed his shoulders, holding a little too tightly in his own anger.

"What do we do?" Tachikawa whispered.

"There...there is one way, Izzy." Motimon spoke up suddenly.

"What do you mean, Motimon?" Izumi inquired.

"No, there's no proof that it'll work, Motimon!" Poromon bounced up and down agitated. He stopped suddenly, too tired to continue.

"Whatever it is, it's worth a shot." T. Yagami replied.

"Yes. We need to be here if, when, Lowvell returns." Ishiida added.

"You will be frozen in time, here in the Digital World. Neither your body nor your minds will age. But...there's no guarantee that the Key will be found." Gennai said, suddenly appearing.

"The Key?" Izumi queried finding his breath. Gennai had scared the daylights out of all of them popping up out of nowhere.

"A Chosen Child with the power to awake you once again." Gennai explained. "But at the Ultimate price."

Yuuta blinked. Suddenly, they were gone. She let out a small cry of pain, clutching the pastel colored Digiegg to her chest.

"Please, do not take them away!" Yuuta choked out.

"They are always in here." Gennai smiled, pointing once more to her chest. "Soon, a digivice will find you, and everything else you need."

"Will my digivice be like Inoue Deity's? Or like...like Yagami Deity's?"

"You will see." he chuckled behind his beard at the 'Deity's.

"Why...why am I the Key?" Yuuta whispered, looking at the Digiegg.

"That question I may not answer. Only Knowledge can tell you."

Yuuta gasped. Suddenly, a stream of data swirled around Gennai and he disappeared.

"Knowledge... will tell me." She turned and ran out the door. She stumbled down the steps into the blazing daylight.

Hiro Kokubunji, Suki Kokubunji, and their digimon Gekomon and Numemon, respectively, were waiting at the bottom.

"You finally got your partner, Yuuta." Numemon said excitedly.

"Hai." She wiped at her eyes vigorously.

"Why are you crying?" snapped Suki.

"When I came out of the temple, the sun struck my eyes. I don ot mean to cry, Mother." Yuuta said softly. She hated to lie, but often did.

"Come on, Yuuta! Let's look up your Digiegg on the Internet." Gekomon suggested. Yuuta scratched behind his ear with a smile.

"Okay, Gekomon."

"You finally have your own partner, now stop trying to steal other people's partners." snapped Hiro. Yuuta bit her lip.

"It is not my fault they like me. It is not my fault I love them...more than people." Yuuta whispered to herself hours later.

She clambered onto her bed. An orange comforter with all the Chosen Children Rookie level digimon adorned her bed. She reached over and pulled out the small photo, cut out of an old yearbook. She pressed it to her cheek and sat cross-legged on the bed, her Digiegg under her other arm. She set the 'egg in her lap and wrapped her arms around it, the photo dangling from her small fingertips.

"One day I will wake you. Please wait a little longer. I promise to free you all." She blinked as her Digiegg twitched. She smiled. "Shh, little baby Digimon. I will love you, too. I already do. Ever since you formed in my hands, made of digital light." She rocked the 'egg gently. "She is my Digimon partner...she is only mine."