A/N: Let me know, if you want me to intersect any other episodes.
The separated team of Legendary Warriors were trying to find their way out of the tunnels that led to Cherubimon's castle. But the journey was difficult, the cavern was constantly changing its shape, shifting from one tunnel to another. It seemed as though the team had been walking for ages.
"I'm getting tired," Junpei whined.
"Stop complaining," Izumi declared, "that won't get us anywhere."
"I know that. But we've been walking for so long couldn't we just rest for a bit?"
While she had no interest in arguing, Izumi knew that Junpei was right they had been marching for what seemed like an eternity. The chances of them of ever seeing the outside again was minuscule.
"Even if we rest, the tunnel will just keep changing and we'll be separated again," Bokomon stated.
As if on cue, the cavern floor and ceiling rose up to become a steep, spiraling cliff. Luckily, the heroes were already halfway near the top. But suddenly, they heard a strange noise, coming from the ground. Once, they diverted their eyes to the source of the sounds, the cavern floor felt like something was living inside of it.
Takuya and the twins, Kouji and Kouichi, continued to walk on their journey to the castle, with Kouichi leading the trek. Being chosen to harbour the Spirit of Darkness, Kouichi could easily navigate the corridors that continued to create different paths.
Takuya had to act as a mediator between the two brothers, since they weren't on speaking terms yet. They had spent their entire lives unaware of each other's existence, and this sudden revelation was still a shock to the two. It was clear that they wanted to learn more about each other, but Kouichi felt the lingering guilt of being Duskmon and trying to hurt everyone, while Kouji was not the kind of person to be so open with anyone.
Kouichi led the boys to a section of the tunnel where small orbs of light floated all around them. Takuya and Kouji were curious of the small lights, but dared not touch them lest something unpleasant should happen. Kouichi, on the other hand, was the most uncomfortable when seeing the bright orbs, as if they contained a secret to his whole existence.
Takuya abruptly awakened Kouichi from his train of thought. "Hey! Kouichi! What are these lights?"
"Memories," he replied, quietly.
"Memories," Takuya repeated, quizzically.
"Yeah. Just touch one and see what happens."
Takuya did so without question, and what happened next shocked both boys. A sudden projection of one of his memories materialized before their very eyes. It was a memory of him and his family all gathered at the dinner table talking about what most would consider trivial affairs. The memory dispersed as quickly as it arrived, it was almost like it never even appeared. But it did all of the boys could see that clearly.
Kouji, in turn, decided to experiment with the lights himself and saw a vision of him walking his dog on his regular route.
Takuya and Kouji stared at their memories in amazement and contemplation. They had never really valued their time with others before they came to the Digital World, but once they returned home everything would change.
When they finally finished marvelling at their memories, Kouichi led them to a huge, open cavity flooded with light. It was bright but not so much that it would blind a person.
"We'll be fine here," Kouichi assured, "Nothing will shift in here. Once the other's get here, we'll take the tunnel straight ahead, that'll lead us straight to Cherubimon's castle."
"Well then, if that's the case we should rest." Takuya yawned. It had been a long walk and everyone was getting really tired, so both boys decided to follow Takuya's idea.
Kouji opened his eyes to find himself in what appeared to be a small apartment. There wasn't much furniture anywhere, although the lack of space made it appear almost crowded. Kouji made way to the dining room, where he saw a woman he could only recognise as his birth mother.
She was standing next to an elderly woman, whom he assumed was his maternal grandmother, the two women were caught in a heated argument.
"I can't tell him that," said his mother.
"Don't you think he deserves to know," the elderly woman pleaded.
"But even if everything goes well for them, I don't know how we…"
Before she could finish her sentence, Kouichi walked straight through the door. He quickly acknowledged the two women in the room.
"Sorry," he started, "I didn't mean to interrupt…"
"No, its fine," his mother assured, "I was just about to get dinner ready. Why don't you and your grandmother go wash up?"
Kouichi and his grandmother made their way to the bathroom of the house, away from unwanted ears.
"Grandmother," Kouichi asked, not meeting her eyes.
She looked at her grandson. "What is it?"
"That conversation with mother… it was about my father wasn't it."
She stared at Kouichi, amazed by his insight. "You could say that."
"You want me to meet him don't you?" His voice was so quiet it was almost impossible to hear.
"I know at least part of you wants that."
"Of course I want to meet him, but…" he fell silent for a moment as he stared at his own reflection in the mirror. "I know mother is troubled with him. And I don't want that." He pressed his hand against the mirror's cold glass. "Besides, I'm sure he's happy right now, and he would be troubled too if he saw me…"
Kouji looked at his twin, who could feel his unshed tears at the very edge of his eyes. His brother had the strength to accept his family's situation, while he had cause his step-mother nothing, but grief the moment she married his father.
But, despite his respect for Kouichi, Kouji couldn't help but feel sad for his brother who had sacrificed everything for everyone's happiness, including his own. A brother he never even knew.
He wanted to console his twin and apologize to him, but, before he could even open his mouth, a sudden force overcame him and took him away from his chance.
Kouji woke up with strained breath. He believed what he saw to be a dream, but he knew that was actually a memory…Kouichi's memory. The reason Kouichi felt so uneasy near the lights was because he didn't want to show his counterpart how much he had to suffer to keep his secrets.
Kouichi was sleeping in an isolated part of the cavern, but even in his sleep Kouji could see the pain he had caused his brother. Kouji approached his brother quietly, so not to wake him, unaware that he wasn't really asleep.
"What is it?" Kouichi asked quietly, surprising Kouji.
"Um… well I…"
Before he could say anything else, they heard a scream coming from another cavern. It was Patamon, who flew in with a panicky scream. Takuya disturbed from his slumber noticed the little Digimon rushing in.
"Patamon," Takuya asked, "What's wrong? And where are the other?"
"There being chased by shadows," the young Digimon replied, frantically.
"Shadows?" Takuya said confused.
In the distance, Takuya, Kouji and Kouichi could hear the others screaming in fear. The boys all rushed to find the source of the noise. Not too far they found Izumi, Tomoki and Junpei in their Beast Digimon forms, trying to fight off what looked like flying shadows.
They hit everything with their strongest attacks in the hopes of chasing the creatures away, but, as they attacked, parts of the cave began to crumble.
"Takuya," Bokomon cried out, "You have to do something about these things."
Takuya was eager for a fight, but, as he was about to Spirit Evolve Kouichi stopped him.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
"Don't you remember before," Kouichi implored.
The creatures seemed to have no discernable shape, much like the last time where they had to face a bull-like creature who turned out to be nothing but an illusion.
Takuya began to understand. Maybe these flying menaces were just like the last one they had to face, but he had to convince his friends that. And unfortunately, they were too busy attacking everything in sight to pay attention to anyone. If they didn't stop attacking soon the cave would collapse completely.
"How do we get them to see it's not real?" asked Takuya.
"We need to get them into the other cavern." Kouichi answered, pointing to the section filled with light. "Illusions won't work in there."
"But how do we get them to go there?" Kouji wondered.
The boys had to think quickly or else everyone would be completely buried, but if they attacked them just to push them inside, the caverns would crumble even more. The ceiling was beginning to fall down, they were running out of time. In the end they had no choice but to evolve into their Humanoid Digimon forms and hope for the best.
They used their attacks at a moderate strength to push them all inside the light filled cave, away from the flying shadows. Bokomon and Neemon quickly followed them inside to avoid being crushed by the falling rocks. The other three Warriors also prepared to retreat back into the Light, but one boulder came, hurling down knocking down Kouichi, returning him to his human form.
He was left unconscious, so he couldn't move, Wulfmon noticed this and used his every effort to successfully avoid the falling rocks, grabbed his brother and swiftly made his way back.
Kouichi woke up, his head throbbing slightly as his vision was adjusting from blurry to clear. Once his eyes had adjusted, he could see that everyone had gathered around him with a worried expression on their faces.
"Are you okay?" Tomoki asked.
Kouichi nodded, a bit confused. "What happened to me."
"You got knocked unconscious," Takuya answered, "You were lucky when Kouji pulled you out."
Kouichi looked at his brother, but he didn't meet his eyes.
"In any case," Jupei interrupted, "that's the way out right." He was more than eager to leave the cave.
"Yeah," Kouichi replied, "But were safe here anyway. This is the one part of the caverns that don't surprise you."
"In that case," Bokomon announced, "I suggest that you all rest, before your battle. You'll need all of your strength."
While the team was still eager on leaving, it did seem like a good idea. They had done nothing but walk confusing paths and attack non-existent beings, they had wasted so much of their energy already. They all began to stretch their limbs before drifting into a peaceful slumber…All except the twins.
Kouji slowly advanced towards Kouichi, taking great care with each step. His twin was stting in a corner, looking in the opposite direction, but he could still sense Kouji's upcoming footsteps. "Kouichi," he asked quietly.
"What is it?" His voice was extremely quiet and his words sounded slightly pained, but careful.
"I wanted to say, I'm sorry."
Kouichi stared at his brother intently, but Kouji's eyes were facing the floor. "For what?"
"For what happened to your…our mother."
Kouichi shifted his gaze away from Kouji. "You couldn't have known," he whispered in reply.
"But still…I…"
"Its fine," he interrupted, "we don't have to talk about it now if you don't feel like it."
As much as Kouji wanted to talk with his brother about all sorts of things, he just couldn't find the words for it. The situation was extremely delicate as it was and the two brothers literally lived in different worlds.
"In any case," Kouichi continued, "we should get some rest. We'll talk about it another time. Okay?"
Kouji really didn't want to do this at another time. He had so many questions for his brother, but at this point there was not much he could say that would change his brother's mind. So he agreed, and both twins returned to their respective corners to rest.
A/N: Please review. All suggestions are welcome.