Yamato hung his head. It was partly a reflection of his feelings, but more importantly, it gave him a moment to think of a way that he could answer. He didn't want these people - especially not the likes of Cahir - knowing that there were three more Chosen Children potentially in the world. The thought of them getting their hands on Takeru made his blood run cold. With any luck his brother - and Taichi and Hikari for that matter - had made it home safely, but there was no way of knowing for sure.

Most importantly, his answer had to be convincing enough that Cahir didn't wrest control of his mind again. Even leaving aside the fact that he could put the others at risk, the prospect of going through that invasion into his thoughts again terrified him.

"They're… they're for communicating," he said at last. After all, there was a good chance these people wouldn't know how they worked, if they had to ask what a mobile phone was. Suddenly he found himself hoping that his phone's batteries had died. And at least there was nothing for his digivice to react to this far away from Gabumon. Maybe they'd think that both had stopped working. He didn't dare hope that anyone would give them back.

"With this… Koushiro you mentioned."

Shit. He should have realised Cahir would make that connection. What had he done? Wait, no. He'd turned the phone off. There might still be a way to save the situation.

"I… yes… only they don't seem to be working any more," he said, praying that the honest fear in his voice lent credibility to the lie.

"And yet you told me that you were exploring the city on the advice of your friend," Cahir replied. "I am no fool, Ishida Yamato. I know when I am being lied to, and I will have the truth, willingly or not."

What could he say? His mind had gone blank - naturally this time, as panic took over. He shuddered, knowing what would come next. Any minute now he would hear the sounds of movement. Cahir would force him to stare into eyes which could somehow reach into his mind and pluck out whatever the other man wanted to know. What would happen if they found out about the others. No, forget if - this was a matter of when. Cahir would get his answers. Yamato would betray his friends. Betray his brother. The thought of Takeru in a cold prison flashed into his head; in chains, subject to Cahir's twisted "interrogations". Once there, he couldn't shake it from his mind.

They'd find them. This was their world, after all, and the Chosen were lost strangers, unaware of what was out there. Yamato had seen the looks on their faces - the digimon were monsters to them. What if these people killed their partners? Takeru had lost his once already and still had nightmares about it, years on. Losing Patamon a second time would destroy him - and there was no way to warn them about the danger they were in. He was trapped here, party to vital information and unable to share it.

He was shaking. That was the fear - no one was anywhere near him. It was silent in the room, and the suspense only made things worse. Cahir had to have planned that. The man seemed to be able to manipulate people even when he didn't have a pathway into their brains. He was being toyed with - and the fact Cahir must know he'd worked it out only made it worse. How long did he have until Cahir decided to make his move?

There. A gentle clack as the digivice and phone were set down on the desk. The grate of wood on stone - Cahir stood, pushing his chair backwards. One footstep, then two. Eyes tightly closed, Yamato felt his heart race; felt the manacles bite into his wrists as his arms shook; felt the cold of the stone floor beneath him seeping into his aching knees; felt his chest lock up with fear and dread; felt - nothing at all.

Sunday, 7:30pm

The news was on. Something bad was happening somewhere - the same as any other day. Sora watched the screen without really seeing it. Piyomon sat beside her, resting a feathered wing over her shoulder. Neither of them had moved in over an hour. She hadn't even looked up when Mr Ishida had announced a few minutes ago that he was going out to get something to eat. That he wouldn't be long, he promised, and she should call him if anything happened.

Part of her was beginning to believe that nothing would ever happen. Even the knowledge that she would return to that strange other world at midnight didn't seem real enough to worry over. Yamato was still missing. Miyako had messaged them to say that Taichi had rescued Koushiro and Takeru. Which was good, it really was. The thought that something bad had happened to any of her friends weighed heavily on her heart. She wanted all of them to be safe. And yet, somehow it was hard to be relieved.

She felt guilty, too, thanks to the small knot of irritation she felt over the fact that of everyone remaining, she was the only one alone. Everyone else was gathering together, to support and comfort each other, and here she was, stuck with a near-solitary vigil because Yamato had disappeared here, and not returned. And part of her resented him for that. For getting trapped, and leaving her to fret and worry and wait, and not even have the comfort of her friends to console her. Piyomon was here, yes, but it was company of a different sort. It wasn't the frantic, desperate cheeriness of friends going through hell together. It wasn't Jou's almost comic worrying, or Mimi's unending cheer and blind optimism. It wasn't the murmured discussion between those gathered around the laptop in sporadic conversation with Gennai. The semi-regular messages letting her know who had come and gone from the apartment only served to remind her of the fact that she wasn't there. She felt left out, and no small part of her wished she could be with the others and not here, having to communicate via just her phone.

And what kind of horrible person was she to want to abandon her post when Yamato was missing? He could come back at any time. She knew that. She had to believe that, to hold tight to her faith that he would escape whatever it was that was holding him up.

That hope was balanced against a different one - that he would send a message instead, to let them know that he was safe and well. Trapped, but not in such peril that he was thrust out into the real world again. The memory of lighting and fear blossomed in the back of Sora's mind, and she pushed it from her thoughts, cuddling closer to Piyomon. Much as she wanted Yamato back, she had a better understanding of the stakes now.

"I'm sure he's okay, Sora." Of course Piyomon knew what she was thinking. How she felt.

"I just wish he was okay here, Piyo," she murmured, looking away from the screen. The sky outside was growing dark. She'd been here almost a full day now, and no one was any closer to understanding what was going on. They didn't even have Koushiro working on it any more - Ken and Miyako were doing their best to work with Gennai towards a solution, but neither of them was as familiar with digicode, and they hadn't reported much success so far.

Yamato's bedroom door was propped wide open, a constant reminder of the absence which kept her here. Of their current failure to even understand what was happening, let alone find out how to stop it. She stared into the empty room, then gritted her teeth and got to her feet. Mr Ishida would be back with food soon. Perhaps making some tea and laying out the table would help take her mind off of the long, quiet wait.

She fetched plates first, and stacked three on the counter top - ignoring the twinge in her heart that the third was for Piyomon and not Yamato. That there weren't five plates, with the digimon included. The twinge was stronger as she fetched two cups, and placed them by the electric kettle. Neither Piyomon nor Gabumon had much interest in drinking tea.

Next she filled the kettle, although she didn't set it to boil just yet. There was little point in making and steeping tea when it would probably only grow cold. Still, at least everything was ready for when Mr Ishida returned. She'd more or less taken over household tasks of that sort in the time since Yamato had disappeared - it gave her something to do, and made her feel less like an unwanted presence in the apartment, crowding on Mr Ishida's concern for both of his sons. As worried as she was, surely it couldn't match how she would feel if two of her own children were in another world. If one of them was totally unaccounted for and the other injured.

No, this was no good. She couldn't allow herself to get into a rut of thinking like this again - it was a vicious cycle. She had to be strong, to stay positive, to-

"SORA!" Piyomon's terrified shriek followed a muffled thump from Yamato's bedroom. She raced from the kitchen, dropping the box of tea in her haste. A small part of her heard the faint hiss of dried tea leaves spilling over the counter - she ignored it. That thump - Piyomon's scream - could only mean one thing.

"Yamato!"

She froze at the bedroom doorway for a split second, horrified. Yamato lay curled in the middle of his bed, his clothes tattered and covered in dust. The knees of his jeans were torn, and specks of dried blood showed through the holes in the material. Bruises mottled what she could see of his skin.

He flinched as she cried his name and her heart clenched. She didn't even remember running the rest of the way to the bed. He was back. He was alive. He was-

-clink.

She looked down at his wrists as he brought his hands up to shield his face - from her? - and gasped. Thick metal encased both of his wrists, linked together by a chain. Shaking, she fell to her knees and reached out to him across the bed.

"Yamato, what… Please, speak to me. Tell me you're okay!"

Slowly, hesitantly, his head moved. Bright blue eyes met hers, wide with what had to be shock.

"…Sora?"

She'd never heard his voice crack like that. As though he were moments from breaking down into tears. It was all wrong; this wasn't how things were supposed to be.

"It's me, Yamato. You're home now. You're safe." Her voice sounded almost as fragile as his.

The metal chain clinked once more as he lowered his hands. They shook as he pressed them into the bed, levering himself upright, and looked around the room as though he expected something to leap out and attack him. Something wasn't right - she'd seen him not long after he'd returned the last time, and he'd been shaken, but otherwise fine. Now, he reminded her of a frightened animal more than anything. She reached out and gently placed her hand atop his, swallowing as her fingers brushed the metal cuff on his wrist.

"I'm back?" he said, his voice shaking as much as the rest of him. He didn't seem to be speaking to her so much as himself. In fact, he hardly seemed to see her at all.

"Yes, you're home now Yamato. I… Oh, I'm so glad you're okay. Everyone was really worried, and-"

"Where's Gabumon?" he asked sharply, looking frantically around him. She gasped. Where was Gabumon? In her relief to see him safely in front of her, she hadn't even noticed that he had returned alone.

He was shaking more now, his face a mask of terror.

"Gabumon, no, they'll kill him!" he moaned, pressing his hands to either side of his head.

"Kill- Yamato, I don't understand. What happened to you?" she asked, forcing her legs to work. To lift her so that she could sit on the bed beside him, and wrap one arm over his shoulder for comfort. A flash of pink out of the corner of one eye told her Piyomon had followed her into the room.

His whole body was shaking. It scared her, almost as much as when he had disappeared. Instints unused in over a year screamed wrongness. He was home, but it was as though he'd hardly noticed. As though he'd brought whatever it was that had frightened him so much with him.

"I have to go back," he said, his voice high with panic. "I can't leave him. They'll… oh God, why is this happening? I can't… They… I don't know what I'll do… if anything happens to him…"

The broken speech trailed off as his breathing became more erratic. Sora clung to him, pleading for him to calm down, to listen to her, to let her help him. He was shaking again, shaking like a leaf and the terrified expression on his face was starting to scare her too. This wasn't the Yamato she knew.

"Sora, let go!"

She barely even heard Piyomon's frightened cry. It was too late, in any case - in his panic, Yamato had clung to her free arm, holding her as tightly as she held him. The petrified expression on his face as the blackness took them both was one she would never forget.

Sunday, 7:30pm

Hikari stared across the hall at the "Elders" she had been brought to meet. The word had brought to her mind an image of, well. Old men and women. Grizzled beards, grey hair, wrinkles, that sort of thing. Some of them ought to have wings, of course, like Alwyn and Nonie, but beyond a very vague idea of what that would look like she hadn't really given it much thought.

To her credit, there was one old man among the Elders, and a short, petite woman with whisper-thin wings and grey streaks in her hair. The rest didn't look a whole lot older than Alwyn. And most of them were certainly not human. Some seemed to be part-human and part-animal, and several had wings, horns, or both. Strangest of all was a woman who seemed to have roots instead of feet - in a way, she reminded Hikari of Palmon, only her skin was the textured brown of tree bark, instead of green. She even had leaves growing out of her hair. It occurred to Hikari that a few of them looked an awful lot like fairies, and yet somehow, they didn't seem at all like the fairies from stories or cartoons. There was a realness to them which even Lilymon didn't possess.

They all regarded her with polite interest as she approached in Alwyn's wake. He gestured for her to stop a short distance from the row of their chairs, and flew slightly closer before coming to a halt himself.

"Elders of the Forest, I present Yagami Hikari, Chosen Child of Light."

She bowed as Alwyn spoke, lifting her head in time to see a few lingering expressions of interest. The old man seemed to regard her with something akin to doubt. At least he was the only one.

"We welcome you, Yagami Hikari of the Chosen Children. I am Ithel, spokesperson for the Elders of the Forest."

The speaker was a small man with wings similar to Nonie's, and although he looked older than either of them by a considerable margin, he still seemed surprisingly young for an "Elder". Then again, if he really was a fairy of some sort, there was a good chance he was older than he looked. She had a vague recollection of them being immortal.

The woman beside Ithel was the one with thin, transparent wings. She stood and then took to the air, her wings humming faintly as she circled Hikari once before landing in front of her. The top of her head barely reached Hikari's chin. She stared up at her with a curious expression on her face. Despite the grey streaks in her hair, her skin was hardly wrinkled at all.

"Most intriguing," the woman said. She shook her head, and took to the air once more, hovering with her eyes level to Hikari's own. "I do apologise, my child, for the rude entrance you had to our city. Unfortunately, in these dark times we are unable to take chances with strangers who visit us. I must also ask you to excuse the length of time you were made to wait for this audience - a full gathering of the Elders is a rarity these days. I hope you found the additional comforts we were able to provide sufficient."

Hikari smiled. "I have been most comfortable. Thank you for your hospitality."

The old man stood. "Maela. It is all very well to greet this stranger, but can we be certain that she speaks truly? Her words to Alwyn regarding these… digimon concern me. Thus far we have seen no evidence of their being anything other than hostile creatures bent on destruction."

The woman - Maela, Hikari guessed - turned to the man. "There is an easy way to be certain of that, is there not?" When he nodded, she turned back to Hikari. "Please, child. Tell us of the marks which the Chosen bear. Of their number and names."

Hikari blinked. "Marks?" she asked. "I- I don't understand, unless… Do you mean the Crests?" It was hard to think clearly with the large group of assorted Elders sat watching her. Particularly with the older man - the only other human there, she realised - staring at her so coldly.

"Peace, child," Ithel said. "We bear you no ill-will. The humans of the forest have fared hardest in these dark times. Sjarel speaks with a great concern for his people forefront in his mind. What goes by one name in this world may use another in your own. We speak of marks, such as the mark of Light which you bear."

She sighed with relief. "Well, they're called Crests in the Digital World, where we got them. They started out as physical objects, you see," she said. "Mine is Light, but the others are Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Purity, Honesty, Hope and Kindness. The Crest of Kindness still has a physical form, I think, but not the others."

Maela nodded. "And what became of them after they lost their physical form?"

Hikari frowned. "Well, we realised that we had their power inside us." She put a hand to her chest, where the Crest of Light had once rested; a comforting warmth which could shine forth with the Light it represented. "And then a year or so after that we had to give their strength to protect the Digital world. The power of the Crests restored the Digital world. But they are still inside us really - it's just that they're not quite as strong as they used to be."

"Well, Sjarel, are you convinced?" Ithel said. "It is as the legends foretell."

Sjarel nodded. "Although the legends speak of nine. Nine Marks, or Crests, yes we know of that. But where are the children who belong to them? I see before us only one."

The tree-woman nodded. "If we are upon the time of Merging, it is most important that all nine be present."

Hikari's eyes widened as the group of Elders began to talk amongst themselves. Nine? Now she really needed to get word back to the others. Alwyn had promised that her digivice and D-Terminal would be returned to her if the Elders permitted it. By now it had to be Sunday evening in the real world. Had the others worked out what was going on? It was starting to sound as though there was some sort of prophecy about them - again. If that was true, then surely it was only a matter of time before the others ended up in this place as well. Koushiro would really need to know that it wasn't only the four of them, after all.

The discussion among the Elders was growing louder. From the sounds of things, they were in disagreement about what to do with her.

"…on her own. There's no use in praying for miracles when so far we have only one of the nine." The speaker was a short man wearing a loin cloth. His legs were covered in fur, and ended with hoofed feet, like a deer or goat's.

She cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but I know how to find the others," she said, hoping that they would hear her. Fortunately, although Maela had flown closer to the other Elders to participate in the discussion, she hadn't flown all the way to her throne-like chair.

"Yagami Hikari, you have a means to summon your fellow Chosen?"

All eyes turned to her - Alwyn's included. She had told him that her D-Terminal could send a message, yes, but he didn't know that she could use it for anything else.

"I… when I appeared in this world with my partner, I had something called a D-Terminal with me," she said, glancing at Alwyn to see his nod. She looked back at the Elders. "I use that to talk to the others, no matter what world we're in. But it can also be used to find each other. It's like a beacon. And I'm not the only one of us who's been here. There are four of us so far, although I don't know if the others are all here at the moment. We were still trying to work out what this world is and why we were being pulled here when I was brought to the Forest city."

"And this… D-Terminal, it can bring the others?" Sjarel asked, folding his arms.

She shook her head. "We don't really know how we're coming and going from this world. Only that it seems to happen while we're asleep, and at midnight or midday when we come here. And that to get back… so far the only way we've managed to go back has been when we've been scared. Really scared. But I can use the D-Terminal to explain where I am, and the others could come and find me. And… if it really is the nine of us, then probably the rest will start to appear here soon."

Ithel nodded, and turned to Alwyn. "We must speak of this, and decide upon a course of action. Please, Alwyn, escort the Chosen of Light to somewhere she may sit in comfort whilst we confer."

They returned to the antechamber outside the great hall where the Elders gathered. There were chairs and a couple of benches around the edges of the room, but Alwyn led her through another door into a still smaller room. Here, there were some broad, cushioned seats, and small tables laid out with food. Pitchers stood on one of the tables, next to a few goblets inlaid with gold and silver wire.

"Will they take long to decide what to do?" she asked, as they both sat down. "I don't really know anything about how this place works."

Alwyn smiled crookedly. In the hours since convincing him that she wasn't here to harm anyone, Hikari had discovered that he had a rather black sense of humour.

"In the days before we were driven underground, I would have told you to retire to you chambers for a week or more," he said, leaning forwards and pouring a crimson liquid into two of the goblets. "But in these trying times, they have learnt to confer with greater speed. I believe they will be able to give you an answer within the hour. You must understand that, foretold or not, there is much we do not know about your presence here. We have only half-remembered texts and the words of the Fates - and the Fates themselves have not been seen in years."

"Fates?" Hikari asked. "I don't understand."

Alwyn sighed. "I'm not sure how much I should tell you, before the Elders reach their decision. Forgive me for my reticence, but we must be cautious of enemy agents. Ever since the digimon joined our foes-"

"That's something else I don't understand properly," she said. "You wouldn't explain before. How did the digimon get here? And how do you know it's really them who are attacking? Is someone controlling them?"

He offered her one of the goblets, and sat back, taking a drink from his own. It was a few moments before he spoke, all traces of humour gone from his voice.

"I did not speak of this before, as it is a sensitive matter. But I cannot imagine that they will consider you anything other than one of the Chosen who were spoken of by the Fates. And knowing them, they'll spin the information out into a saga. So I may as well explain now."

He paused again, sighing.

"The digimon are not our only foes. Nor the most numerous. But several months ago, they began to appear in the distorted areas in and around the Forest, and allied themselves with the beast-folk, who have almost all fallen to the corruption. They are powerful foes, and since their first appearance the distortions in the world have spread. Our scouts intercepted messages containing their identity, and that they originate from a place known as the "digital world". There is very little more that we know about them. The Elders sent word to the Grand Council, but we have not heard word from them since. I suspect our messenger was intercepted."

Hikari frowned. "I suppose it's possible that the digimon here are just lost and confused. They caused a lot of problems on Earth that way. But if there's a corruption here, then it could also be that the digimon here have been affected by that too. If that's the case, our digivices and D3s should be able to either heal them or send them back to the digital world. I don't know about these distortions you talked about though."

Alwyn nodded. "The distortions are a matter for the Elders to speak of, at any rate. I've possibly told you more than they would prefer already. For now, we must wait."

At last the Elders called them back into the great hall. She bowed, and rose to find Ithel smiling at her.

"We have conferred," he said, glancing to either side of him at the other Elders, who nodded their agreement. "By your words and presence here, you have proven yourself to be one of the Chosen, whose coming was foretold by the Fates of this world. As such, we are bound to assist you in your quest. However, that quest can only begin when the nine are assembled before the Grand Council. You have told us that there is a way for you to find your fellow Chosen by the use of these devices."

A fairy - he had to be a fairy - with pale yellow and blue wings flew over. The tray he carried held Hikari's D3 and D-Terminal, along with everything else she'd had in her pockets. Hikari smiled at him as she collected her belongings.

The smile faded quickly as she opened the D-Terminal. The screen was blank. That wasn't a good sign. She pressed the power button, and felt her heart sink as it didn't respond.

"I think we have a problem," she said, looking up at the Elders. "The D-Terminal… it's run out of power. Unless you have some batteries around here, the only way I can get it working again is by going home."

Amid the jumble of voices which spoke out in surprise, Sjarel's rang clearly.

"And how are we to know that this is not merely a ploy to betray us? You say that you must return, but how are we to know with whom you communicate after you leave this world? You might betray us to our enemies. It is known already that you are allied with digimon."

"I'm telling the truth!" she cried. "I'm not going to betray you. Besides, I don't even know exactly how I can get home."

"Alwyn mentioned that you have travelled between this world and our own more than once," Maela said, gesturing for the other Elders to be silent. "How was this achieved on those occasions? We may be able to use this information to assist you now."

She swallowed, and hung her head. "I was chased by… I don't know. It was a monster. In a cave outside the forest. Every night for a week I've gone to sleep and woken up there. Koushiro - he has the Crest of Knowledge - well, he thinks that we go back to Earth by being scared. Really scared."

"And the digimon you travelled with? How did this creature come to this world with you?" Sjarel stood with his arms folded, looking defiantly at Maela and Ithel.

"She was touching me when I disappeared on Earth. It happened with some of the others too. We can carry things and people between there and here."

There was a short silence. "I see but one course of action, if that is the case," Ithel said. His expression was grave; his voice sombre. "We must facilitate your return to Earth, that you may replenish the D-Terminal. And to satisfy those of our number who retain doubts, one of our own will travel with you."

A.N.: Phew! A longer chapter this time. Hikari's section is a little slower in pace than I would really have preferred, but the alternative was to cut and splice this elsewhere, and it just really wasn't going to work that way. Either it got stupidly bitty, or it started to feel as though I was concealing information for the sake of concealing it. Which is not the direction I want to take this story in. I know there's been a fair bit of not-knowing-things so far, but that's because the characters didn't know anything either. Not to mention, I love the contrast of the two scenes. I was actually tempted to put Sora's PoV section after Hikari's for that reason, but ultimately I think they would both lose some of their impact that way.

Also, there are a faaair few OCs in this chapter, yes. Given the setting, that's sort of unavoidable, but the focus is definitely going to remain on the Chosen Children and their partners. It's simply that, at the moment, Hikari is kinda without either. Anyway, feedback is, as always, very welcome. And if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask, either in a review or a PM!

~Tott