Chapter 8: Castle on the cliff

"I thought this swamp would never end," muttered Elecmon, shaking the muddy water off of its red-and-blue fur.

Over the last few minutes of walking, they had felt the ground become more and more solid beneath their feet, with bushes and small trees growing at the sides of the path. Ahead of them towered an impressively large structure which Joanna had excitedly proclaimed to be the castle of a princess. Leah realized that they had never even stopped to wonder whose castle this might actually be. What if they had just walked onto somebody's property unannounced and uninvited?

"And I bet she's pretty and sweet, and she'll have us for dinner," Joanna went on, her homesickness momentarily forgotten.

"I don't want to be anyone's dinner, not even that of a princess!" exclaimed Lucemon, its big, innocent eyes fixed on Joanna in shock.

"She's not going to eat us, dummy," she answered, "It means she will invite us for dinner."

"Oh," said Lucemon, scratching its blond curls. "You sure have strange expressions, Joanna."

To their initial surprise, both Digimon had started to change into seemingly stronger and more developed life forms as soon as the devices in Joanna's and Leah's hands had started glowing. Kyupimon had turned into a young, winged boy clad in white, flowing cloth. Apart from violet tattoos covering the whole of his body and gold bracelets on his wrists and ankles, he strongly reminded Leah of a little cupid, only lacking a bow and arrows. The bashful Tsunomon had turned into a bigger, mammal-like Digimon with bright red and blue fur that turned white on its belly, long rabbit-like ears and a forked tail.

"Speak for yourself. I knew that expression," Elecmon claimed haughtily.

"You do have changed, Tsunomon," Leah mused, watching the Digimon lead the way. It looked back at her, its former insecurity flashing up in its eyes for a short moment.

"Yeah, and it's Elecmon now," it corrected, and then quietly added, "Do you mind that I've changed?"

Leah felt as though much depended on her answer.

"Of course not, I just noticed is all. So when you—whatever it was you did just then—when you do that, you change your looks, your name and your character?"

Elecmon slightly tilted its head. "I think so. I've never done it before."

"Me neither," added Lucemon.

"So, Lucemon," Leah addressed their other companion, "are you a human now? You do look rather human, except for the wings."

Lucemon seemed confused by that notion. "I don't know. But I know I am a Digimon, if that helps. Can you be both?"

"I don't know, either," Leah admitted. What a strange place, she thought—and not for the first time since her arrival.

"Lucemon is an angel Digimon," Joanna informed them curtly.

When the top of the castle had appeared out of the mist before them, Leah's heart had leaped in surprised joy. Where there was a structure built by people, even if it was so out of the ordinary like this castle, there were bound to be people around. So even if they showed up on a stranger's doorstep unannounced and uninvited, they could still hope to find somebody to show them the way home. With that in mind, she felt much easier wandering the wilderness with a little girl she barely knew and two strange creatures that possessed the ability to speak.

Even the landscape became more inviting by the minute. They had gone from swamps that could hardly be called picturesque to solid earth and humble greenery that were now changing into drier ground lined with reeds. The air smelled fresh and salty. They had to be close to the ocean.

Soon, they saw waves rolling across a deep blue plane on the one side, sun-bleached rocks on the other and golden sand in between. On the cliff ahead towered the enormous building. Leah had never seen a castle such as this before. It did not look like the ones she knew; it had pointed roofs that curved inward. Asian architecture, she thought.

"There we are. Want to make the climb?" she asked her companions.

"I want to meet the princess!" cheered Joanna and started running along the beach towards the rocks. Lucemon flapped its little wings, trying to keep up with her.

"Is she always this, uh—" Elecmon wanted to know.

"Enthusiastic?" Leah suggested, "It seems that way. I've only met her today, too."

The Digimon looked up at her. "Then your world must be a big place. I'd like to see where you are from someday."

For some reason that remark stuck with her. She did not know why, but it made her see these creatures that called themselves Digimon in a whole other light. She realized she had underestimated them.

"Maybe you will. Let's catch up with the other two," she replied and started walking along the beach next to Elecmon.

As if to cater to their convenience, somebody had bothered to carve steps into the rocks. They did not question it, since the stairs held their weight and were much safer than the climb would have been. Nonetheless, they were sweating and panting at the end of the last flight of steps. When they had recovered, they found a large, white door with ornate windows just below the arch stand between them and their possible way home.

Leah knocked.

"Is somebody there?" Joanna called.

The door was opened promptly and they saw several heads turn to look at them—the intruders. Numerous pairs of bulging eyes stared unblinkingly; all of them belonging to frog-like creatures.

At the door stood a green frog with disproportionate eyes and a brass bugle around its neck next to an overgrown, blue tadpole with feet.

"What do you want?" squeaked the frog brusquely.

"We're terribly busy," added the tadpole.

The girls were taken aback by what lay behind the white door. Leah, because she had expected to find the homeowner; Joanna, because her dreams of a beautiful and kind princess had been burst like a bubble.

"As you were!" yelled the frog in front of them, and in a flash, the other frogs and tadpoles had started running again, the only ones standing still being those at the door.

Elecmon cleared its throat. "Listen, we are not from around here, and we've walked all day. We'd like to take a rest," it explained.

"Fine," shrugged the frog, "Do that. But not here." It was about to close the door, when a loud voice sounded from within the castle, resonating in the walls and floor.

"Do not send them away! This castle will be home to all weary travellers with a song in their heart!"

The frog opened the door in a hurry and waved them in.

"You heard him," it said when they did not move.

"Who is he?" Leah wanted to know. If they were to set foot into this strange place, she at least wanted to deal with somebody who could answer a few questions, not another frog.

"The owner of this castle," replied the green creature.

Leah and Joanna looked at each other, nodded and went in.