Chapter 8 Recap

"If I'm not back within 24 hours, the chamber will unlock a hidden door with a secret passage that will lead directly to Seraphimon's palace. Take the others and go, don't stop, don't turn back, just go quickly and quietly. Make sure everyone leaves, knock someone out and drag them if you have to, but do not let anyone stay behind. When the secret door opens, the main doors to the chamber will be permanently locked from everyone including myself, and the chamber will disappear. Promise me you won't let anything happen to Zelena or yourself." I pleaded with him with my eyes.

"You know I can't promise that nothing will happen to me." He smiled sadly at me. I nodded my head in understanding, tears brimming at my lashes. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, smiled softly at him, whispered "good-bye" then kissed his cheek. I stepped back from his arms and walked the rest of the distance to the doors, pushed them opened, looked behind me one last time, trying to memorize their faces in my mind's eye, smiled, then stepped outside the chamber. I closed the doors behind me, locking them with magic, thus preventing anyone from entering or exiting the chamber, and whispered softly to myself, "I'm coming back…I know."

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, only Dick and Zelena

CHAPTER 9

I briskly walked down the corridors of the maze, dragging my hands across the symbols as I went, I asked the maze to lead me towards the entrance located near Breezy Village. After walking for a good 45 minutes at least, quietly contemplating my decision and what potential awaited me at the entrance to the tomb the entire way, I mindlessly pulled the hood of my cloak up and over my head to block the my face from being easily seen, I arrived at the entrance at that very moment. I steeled myself for a Demon Lord's attack but was left with fractional disappointment. Yes a Demon Lord awaited me, but he did not attack.

"So which Demon Lord are you supposed to be?" I spat at him.

"Beezelmon, Demon Lord of Gluttony, at your service m'lady." He bowed deeply in a sarcastic manner.

"I'm not too fond of smart-asses, and I'm especially not so fond of the likes of you, so unless you want to provoke me to grant you an early death, I would quit with the theatrics." My voice was icy cold as I spoke to him. He straightened back up and wore a grim expression.

"Strictly business then, I can handle that."

"What are your intentions here?" I demanded.

"I've come to make a confession." If I didn't know any better, I could swear I saw him frown remorsefully.

"You? Confess? To what exactly?" I wearily asked him in my icy voice.

"I know AncientKazemon told you that the war between the Ancients and Lucemon started because a 'traitor' attacked AncientMermaimon and angered AncientGreymon. And I know that you think the 'traitor' was Lucemon, but I'm here to tell you you're wrong."

"And what right do you think you have to tell me if I'm right or if I'm wrong?"

"I don't need a right if I'm the one who knows the real truth! Lucemon didn't attack Mermaimon," he paused whether intentionally or not, the dramatic pause was heavy between us. His face was masked with a layer of remorse and guilt. "I did." He admitted, looking up at me with eyes filled with unbearable grief.

"No, you're wrong, you were never on the ancients side, how could you have betrayed them?"

"And you assume Lucemon was?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He ended the war between human and beast type digimon, and warned AncientKazemon of the war before it happened. He acted like he was on the side of good!" I argued.

"So what makes you think Lucemon didn't start the war himself? Do you really think millions of digimon who previously coexisted peacefully for centuries, would all of a sudden decide they didn't like their neighbor because he looked more beastly than humanly? A war on that large of a scale takes strategic manipulation to erupt as harshly and as quickly as it did. And who better for the job than the prideful Demon Lord himself, Lucemon?" What he was saying, I begrudgingly admit, actually made sense.

"Say I believe this story you're trying to sell me, and Lucemon really did cause the human-type-beast-type war, how does that make you the traitor?"

"Because," he sighed, "I was their secret keeper."

"You were who's-it's what's-it's now?"

"I was the Ancient's secret keeper, I kept their secrets safe and protected their truths from the lies of enemies. I was the only one other than Ranamon, Lowemon, and Mercurymon, whom Kazemon and Lobomon entrusted with their rendezvous and tryst. How do you think I knew exactly where the entrance was, but yet the other Demon Lords haven't found it yet? Not only that, but I used to be a partner digimon, to not one, but two tamers, Ai and Mako, but that, I'm afraid, was a very, very long time ago. Long before the Ancients or this world existed, though in your real world years, it's only been 7 or 8 years since I've seen them last."

"You were a partner digimon, and a secret keeper to the Ancients, knew of Kazemon and Lobomon's tryst, and you had the gull to attack Mermaimon and betray us?!" I was furious now. He bowed his head in shame, arms hanging limply at his sides.

"So not only did you betray your partner's trust by becoming evil, but you also betrayed the trust of the Digital Knights, all 10 Ancients, the Celestials, AND you betrayed the Sovereign of the Digital Worlds. How could you?!"

"It wasn't by choice! Omni, never by choice." He looked so distraught, but my fierce loyalty and my ambition to protect my loved ones overcame the mild sympathy I felt for him.

"Not by choice? You always have a choice, regardless of the consequences or the conditions, you HAVE a choice! Do you think I wanted to break the hearts of everyone I loved in that chamber, by locking them in with no way out, leaving them to confront whatever awaited me here? Not knowing if I would return alive? Do you think I LIKED putting them through that? NO! GOD no, I hated it! But it had to be done, because I had to come out here and strengthen the wards protecting this place so I could give them their best chance. Because as long as I can still stand, and as long as I'm still breathing and living and capable, I will do anything within my power to defeat the Demon Lords and to protect and save the worlds and my loved ones, even if it costs me my life. THAT is what making a choice is about. I don't know if I'll survive the next 24 hours, but damn it, I will do everything I can to ensure they will, even if it means my death, because I love them, all of them, with all of my heart and soul and very being, and I will do anything to protect my loved ones because they mean more to me than my life."

I didn't notice before in all of my righteous glory, but sometime during my speech, a bright light started glowing under my cloak. I lifted the cloak away to see my Crest glowing a bright magenta color. When it died down, I could finally make out a heart-like symbol. The Crest of Love. I cannot believe it. Now I can Ancient digivolve!

-EXECUTE NOW! ANCIENT SPIRIT DIGIVOLUTION!-

ANIENTKAZEMON, THE ANCIENT WARRIOR OF WIND AND LOVE

"You have 1 minute to plead your case before I ram you through with my rapier and deliver a long overdue slice of vengeance." I icily seethed at him.

"Just hear me out, I was ordered, but not by an enemy."

"If it wasn't an enemy, then who the hell in their right mind would order you to attack an ally?"

"Perhaps he wasn't in his right mind, but he did order me…it was AncientWisetmon, he ordered me to attack Mermaimon."

"Shut your mouth! I've heard quite enough lies from you!"

"It's true! I swear, I would never lie about this!"

"Prove it, thoroughly."

"After the war, I was approached by AncientWisetmon who looked shaken to the core, especially for him. He kept blabbering nonsensically about this future evil that would destroy everything, and at one point he was frantically shouting 'Crests! Crests! We need the Crests! All the Crests! 6 is not enough, we need all 10! Crests! 10 Crests, we need 10 Crests! All 10 Crests for all 10 Ancients!' I eventually calmed him down enough that he could sanely tell me of a prophecy about a great evil that will come to exist in the very, very distant future, long after the downfall and death of the Ancients…and that the Ancients were capable of creating an incredible power that has the potential to rid the worlds of this great evil, but without a catalyst to provoke them into action, they would never create this power, and the great evil would overcome them and destroy them, thus corrupting the worlds."

"Then he went on to tell me that the catalyst must invoke another war, for this war would temporarily prolong the inevitable of the evil emergence. I asked him why he was telling me all of this instead of the Ancients or Celestials. He explained that he had to tell me all of that, so that I would be a more cooperative catalyst. I didn't quite understand what he meant, until 50 years or so passed, and Lucemon approached the Ancients on their Dais. He raged and raged about their God-like positions on the Dais, and their great influx of power that put the rest of the world off balance. He threatened them to remove themselves and their power or bad things would happen. The next day Wisetmon approached me and ordered me to become the catalyst and to attack AncientMermaimon in the name of Lucemon."

"Wisetmon's actions did not end there, nor did they start there. Years before, when Kazemon and Ranamon were pining over the love and adoration of Lobomon and Agunimon, they approached Wisetmon for advice. He then proceeded to plant an idea in their heads that would set his master plan into action. He planted the idea for Kazemon's catacomb maze, secret hidden chambers, and the magical glowing symbols and characters on the maze walls, in Ranamon and Kazemon's heads with the intention that doing so would create safe-guarded, top security and highly protected hiding place for the Crests, a hiding place which only the ancients or their descendants could ascertain (reach)"

"I thought he gave them the idea for the maze so that Kazemon and Lobomon could have an intimate, special, elusive rendezvous during their secret tryst? If Wisetmon lied about the maze and chambers, then how can we know anything else he said was true. If he ordered you to attack Mermaimon, how can I trust that his advisory role in AncientKazemon's life was honest or true?"

"No, no, no, no, no. Don't think like that, the maze and chambers are still special and intimate for you and Lobomon, do not begin to think otherwise. They just served more than one purpose, and really, how bad can it be if that other purpose was meant for saving the worlds and their inhabitants?"

"It's horrible, because he did the one thing he swore under oath never to do. Wisetmon did the one thing he swore never to do as a being of future sight and a prospector of destiny – he who sees the future and knows the fate and destiny of everything and everyone, past present future, who cease to exist currently exist or have yet to exist – he saw the future of the worlds and the destruction to follow and took the course of fate and destiny into his hands, to mold it into the future he prefers to exist, and that is what disappoints me the most."

"He only tried to do what he thought was right for our worlds."

"Even so, I cannot forgive his just yet for breaking oath. But this is not the proof I requested, this is merely a story I have yet to decide if I fully believe. Where is the honest proof in your truth? Why should I trust you, you've betrayed the ancients once before, what's stopping you from doing so again?" fractal code surrounded Beezelmon and left behind was a small purple rookie digimon, with two large horns on his head, and a bandana with a yellow face around his neck.

"The only way I can possibly digivolve to Beezelmon again, is with the help of Ai or Mako, who I have not seen since before the first war. Thus, I have officially declined my position and powers as the Demon Lord of Gluttony." He bowed his head in subjection, and for the first time since meeting him, I finally started to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I believe that you, and the other warriors, can defeat the Demon Lords. You are much more powerful than the 6 remaining DL's because you stand united and you have the Crests, therefore YOU will be victorious, not the DL's, who only rally as a group to separately achieve a similar end goal, and they can never coexist or cooperate harmoniously, thus they remain crippled by their ignorance, and the chances of them whipping into shape and working in harmony are extremely futile."

"You truly think so? You think we can defeat the Demon Lords and save the worlds?" I asked hesitantly.

"I believe it with all of my existence." He smiled assuredly. I slightly smiled in response. His smile, however was quickly replaced with a look of complete remorse and heart-wrenching grief.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you kid."

"What is it?"

"Two nights ago, Lillithmon and Barbamon came to Breezy Village and demanded your whereabouts. The Floramon and Mushroommon bravely denied them and Lillithmon didn't take too kindly to it. She and Barbamon then laid waste to Breezy Village, completely obliterating the windy town of your most loyal supporters, and the resident's current status and whereabouts remain unknown. I'm sorry, AncientKazemon. I tried to help them, but Lillithmon and Barbamon together were too strong for me. As it is, they now know my allegiance is to you and not them, so I now have a target on my back to match your own."

"I am greatly saddened to hear this, I never wanted the Floramon or Mushroommon to get hurt at my expense, they were always so good to me and the others, and they've always had such unwavering faith in our abilities and have blindly followed us since day one. They were truly loyal friends. Knowing that you tried to protect and help my most faithful friends, shows that you too are someone loyal and worthy of a second chance. Please, tell me, what is your name?"

"My name is Impmon, and I will forever more be at your service as a loyal companion to you and you alone."

"Thank you Impmon, your trust and loyalty are greatly appreciated and shall be rewarded immensely. But for now, I believe I have some loved ones to return to. Please, join me and come meet the other warriors you will serve after so many long years of being outcast-ed."