Chapter Nineteen: The Celestial Palace Part 1
Thompson's head throbbed painfully as he slowly opened his eyes shielding them with his hand from the agony of the blinding light around him. Soon enough though the light coalesced into a mist dimming down and concentrating itself into a single glowing orb enveloped in the darkness of the underground chamber . The fluttering luminescent sprite hummed excitedly around his head as if it was urging him up – urging him forward. How long had he been unconscious? Thompson got to his feet feeling a head-rush that reminded him of the fall inside the chamber and of landing on his head.
"Great," Thompson whispered into the darkness feeling the warmth of blood when he put his hand where the pain was. The wound wasn't too bad, at least he didn't think it was and his motor functions and brain functions all seemed in working order. A sound like thunder shook him from his self-examination reminding him of why he'd come down here and what he was fleeing from. Somewhere above the ground was being scorched by energy blasts making the stone of this chamber shake.
The shimmering buzzing orb danced around him then as if leading him forward down the corridor. He followed after eventually coming to a small stone pedestal carved with strange glyphs. Among the glyphs were the likenesses of two Digimon, the first a strange little bear, the second a massive hulking beast with white fur, hulking muscles and two sharpened medieval looking battle axes. The glowing light seemed surrounded by mist once more as it hovered over the pedestal before coalescing once more. Thompson shielded his eyes for a moment and when he looked back the light was gone and in it's place sat a crystal of some kind.
"We are the Spirits of Ice," a voice resounded sounding more like it was in his head, "We are but a fragment of what we once were traveler. Take the Ice Shard, use its power to set right the wrongs of this world, for that is why the Ten Warriors were born at all, to bring a balance and defend the innocent."
Thompson grabbed the crystal shard and felt a bolt of power course through him as the icy structure dematerialized in his hand. His Digivice shined brightly for a brief moment and then the shard was gone completely.
"You will not be able to Spirit Evolve with this relic," the voice told him, "but you will have power over ice nonetheless."
Thompson thought he recognized the term, Spirit Evolution, from what Ayden did when he became Agunimon. Was this mysterious shard somehow linked to the Spirit of Flame? It had identified itself as the Spirits of Ice.
A thunderous retort shook the entire cavern and Thompson froze in his tracks. He couldn't stay here forever. Sooner or later even the tough stone of this vault would break apart and fall on his head. He thought about what the Spirits had said and felt their ancient wisdom pulsating within his Digivice, and within his own mind.
"Wait," Skullsatamon demanded as Beelzemon reloaded his shotgun, "I think the door is opening."
"Maybe that little brat came to his senses," Beelzemon suggested, "He's been hiding down there all night, if he thinks we're gonna go easy on him-"
"Shut up you fool!" Skullsatamon demanded.
The two evil Digimon stood on the windswept mountain before the sunrise and watched the door to the vault slowly open. It rose up as they watched for movement hoping the human didn't try anything clever, or foolish.
"Where are you human?" Beelzemon growled firing off a shot that impacted into the scorched stone floor that had been utterly cleared of snow by their constant barrage. Skullsatamon moved to restrain his arm but Beelzemon pulled back launching a powerful punch into Skullsatamon's skeletal jaw and sending the demonic Digimon tumbling to the snow below, "Don't you ever touch your superior officer!"
"You were going to kill him," Skullsatamon spat, "We need him alive you damn fool!"
"I'm going down into that vault and I'm going to bring him out," Beelzemon said in a cold tone empty of emotion, "And you are ordered to stay here or I'll swallow your soul, I'll tear out your Data and have it for breakfast."
Thompson watched the demonic Digimon lumber toward the vault from his distant perch. It was surprisingly warm - he had been shielded from the cold bite of the snow by becoming the snow himself! The constant windblown snow, the snow-capped mountain peak, it was the perfect place for the Ice Spirits to show their power. He had fled the bunker by transforming himself not into a Digimon but into a wafting collection of snowflakes. Now he sat on the mountaintop overlooking the scene from ground level as a frozen bank of snow.
Beelzemon emerged from the vault with an enraged expression and his black boots began crunching through the snow.
"He had to have come out," Beelzemon growled covering the distance between him and Skullsatamon in a half a second with gun raised threateningly, "Which means you let him escape!"
"I swear I didn't see him sir," Skullsatamon replied trying to be sincere in his subservience.
Beelzemon turned the butt of his gun on the Digimon and hit him but not as hard as he had before.
"Stand guard here and don't return to camp until you've found that kid."
"Understood," Skullsatamon bowed.
Thompson knew he had to do something to strike out at them. He couldn't just run away. He had to act! In a secluded place atop the mountain he rematerialized into human form and tried to focus his strength using his mind to puppeteer the snow and ice around him. He realized then what he could do to stop his enemies.
Ayden's eyes shot open in a moment of panic but it passed away back into the dreamworld it had come from. So many doubts coursed through him in that moment, so many memories and motivations he'd tried to forget. He was with friends now, he reminded himself, and none of those memories mattered. Those months he'd spent fighting had hardened him but the dreams still brought with them all the questions left unanswered, like whether coming to the Digital World was a good idea in the first place.
It was already growing dark, he realized, his injured body apparently in desperate need of the extra rest had skipped through almost the entire day. He found the others already enjoying dinner, especially Xander who scarfed down food with abandon and was happy to clean the plate of anyone with less of an appetite than he had. Xander was an athlete, or so Ayden had heard, a bit of a baseball star as far as his high school was concerned, so Xander understood how much food a hard working body truly needed.
John sat next to Vera trying to convince her to eat more with Haomon holding a spoon to her mouth and making a propeller noise as if Vera was a two year old child. At the far end Solara sat with Piddomon and Adlimon on either side of her. Patamon hovered near Piddomon while Anselm was half asleep next to his bowl of soup.
Solara's hazel eyes flashed with fire when she saw him and he smiled at her. Before he could even say hello to her an angelic Digimon entered the room towering up over all of them. Flanked by two Knightmon she easily stood several feet taller than Piddomon. Her four golden wings stretched out behind her elegantly. She was armored head to toe in shimmering blue armor etched with ornate angelic symbols and her whole body was surrounded with a glowing aura of light that gave her a regal angelic authority. Ayden stood in the doorway as the angel entered and bid everyone to sit.
"Ophanimon," Patamon and Piddomon announced bowing as they did so.
"I see you are all gathered here at last," the angel announced glancing at Ayden for a moment, "I hope that you have been comfortable here."
"Not all of us are here," Solara said, "One of ours was taken."
"And we are going to help you get him back," Ophanimon acknowledged, "but first I think you have some questions."
"Why were we chosen?" Solara asked.
"You were lead here by a most ancient force," Ophanimon replied, "It was not our doing that brought you here but the Call of Destiny. Since the Digital World's beginnings it has brought other beings to our world, an ancient electricity-"
"We were tricked by it!" Solara shouted standing up, "We were lured here and now one of us might be dead because of it!"
"It is not something we could have controlled," Ophanimon explained, "it is a natural defense mechanism built into our world that when warriors are needed to right the balance of light and dark the call goes out. I understand your frustration, none of you would have chosen to come if you knew you risked death in doing so. It is the Digital World itself that called you here."
"What is the Digital World?" Anselm asked trying to diffuse Solara's anger, "does it have to do with computers?"
"Our world is just as ancient as your own Anselm," Ophanimon said and Anselm smiled and blushed when the elegant angel called him by name, "There are many ancient links with your world but it is true that Digimon were not discovered by your Earth scientists until computer networks were built. Our world became Digital when a scientist found he could remake it into Data, so that all of us could be reborn, our data live on. Before that it was chaos, the creatures who lived here fought endlessly. He birthed order out of chaos and so he is called Erebusmon, the primordial Digimon."
"How are you going to help us find Thompson?" Solara asked, "And when can we go home?"
"I'm sure my parents are going crazy looking for me," John mentioned, "Probably spending millions just on search parties alone."
"We have scouts out looking for Thompson, scouring all of Severa. Piddomon has told you of the Spirit Shards," Ophanimon continued turning her eyes to the angel who had helped guide them, "We have not found all of them, but there is one we do posses that will help make you stronger. Tomorrow we will also begin to train you. Magnamon is the leader of our forces, he will make sure you are ready to fight. You will not have to face Skullsatamon alone."
"Once we save him, how do my human friends get home?" Adlimon asked putting his hand on Solara's shoulder in support.
"There is a way to open a Portal, a ritual. We can send you back if you do not wish to stay."
"What about our Destiny?" Dyrasmon asked, "I understand all of this anger, truly I do Solara, but all of us fought of our own volition. You may have been compelled to come here at first but it was for a reason, for something greater than yourselves. You fight beside us because we're your friends, not because you were tricked! I know this is not your world but I can't stand by and see it burn, if all of you leave the Digital World behind we Digimon will still fight for it without you!"
"To the bitter end," Haomon agreed, "There have been plenty of chances for all of us to give up. Can you honestly say all we ever fought for was our survival? Or was it for friendship and for a greater cause, a greater Destiny?"
"The Digital World is in danger," Ophanimon agreed, "I cannot force you to stay. The choice is yours. Once Thompson is returned we will open a portal if you wish but I implore you all to remain and fight. This darkness is not like one we've faced before. Rather than merely rally forces it corrupts them, it changes them and it digivolves them."
"In the temple," Anselm theorized, "they had a Digivice, the one Solara has now... and they used that energy to make the Medallion with the Wolf change Gabumon!"
"And Devimon Digivolved during our fight," Piddomon recalled.
"The Digivices should not work without a human user, they were designed in ancient times to help Digimon and humans work together," Ophanimon admitted, "I ask that you all proceed carefully when you make up your mind. I cannot ask you to risk your lives any more than you already have for this world. The decision is yours. Now, Magnamon will begin your training tomorrow morning and hopefully our scouts will soon learn the fate of your friend."
Solara sat and digested the possibilities. It sounded to her as if there might another human in the Digital World, someone who might need their help. Somewhere there might be another kid with all their energy being drained out of them, enslaved to the forces of darkness. Thompson was her friend, she had to save him but then weren't they obligated to find out about this possible eighth child? Even if there was no other human surely she couldn't just abandon their Digimon friends. She looked to Ayden but found his chair already empty. Where could he have run off to? Didn't he know she needed comfort and someone to bounce questions off of.
Ayden sat alone in a room at the far end of the palace, a library of sorts with a massive marble fireplace that was roaring. Suddenly Ayden's dream and Ayden's memories seemed far more real to him as he considered Ophanimon's words. He remembered why he'd come to the Digital World but tried very hard to dismiss what had been said.
"Is it true?" Ayden asked realizing Ophanimon was behind him, "Could there be another person in the Digital World... another... human?"
"The forces of chaos and evil are looking for the Spirit Shards and they have been growing stronger, evolving. It may be the case that a human is responsible or it may be that they have tapped some other power. We are truthfully not sure. We only know that we must stop them. Why does this trouble you more than it does the others?"
"You know I didn't come to the Digital World the same way or for the same reasons," Ayden sighed.
"Then why did you come?"
Night had fallen on the snow-topped mountain. The snow and permafrost that clung to the rocks was restless for it had spent the last few hours moving slowly, reorganizing, preparing for an attack. Thompson found his new abilities useful but very taxing. On the brightside he had moved tons of snow to and fro on the mountain and was now set to rain down icy hell on his captors. His affinity with the ice had also kept him warm when normally he'd likely have frozen to death hours ago.
Now Thompson floated down from high up in the mountains and whipped himself with the wind into the tent where he had been held captive. Skullsatamon lay against a furry bedroll sleeping while Beelzemon stood staring at a map of the region. Thompson felt a bit of smug satisfaction at how unwitting they were of what was coming.
"Even if he survived the night he'd never make it down the mountain," Beelzemon whispered to himself.
Suddenly a whooshing sound filled the air around them. Thompson made his way outside staying in his snowy form and wondering if the avalanche might have been set off early. Instead he found a giant serpentine dragon with blue-scaled skin flying above the mountain. Beelzemon came out to greet the dragon.
"Airdramon," Beelzemon acknowledged, "What news do you bring?"
"You are to lead an attack," Aidramon growled with his serpent-like dragon tongue flicking out, "The Master says you shall bring the human with you. The time has come to move on the Celestial Palace! You are to kill the human in front of his friends and when they are demoralized you will destroy the rest!"
Beelzemon reached up and took a scroll that was strapped around the dragon's neck by a long leather strap.
Thompson summoned all of his concentration and the mountain shook. Down came the snow, a massive wave of ice, and snow, and rock tumbling down and crushing in. Beelzemon's eyes went wide. The sound was deafening, like a derailing freight train crashing down on their watched the camp vanish beneath the snow but knew that his attack would only slow them down, it was unlikely to kill them. With the wind sweeping down with the avalanche he launched his snowy body into the air hoping the speeding wind would carry him far and give him the head start he needed to get to the Celestial Palace and warn them.
Solara stood outside Ayden's door wearing nothing but an extra long night shirt that went down to her knees. The Digimon who worked here at the Palace had been extremely helpful in creating all new clothes for all of them, including winter gear that would help them as it grew colder. She'd tried to sleep and failed utterly. She thought to knock. Her heart fluttered at the thought of being with Ayden. Back in the Orphanage they'd often had to share beds but that was due to crowding. She'd only ever imagined in fantasy the idea of actually getting to share a bed with someone, or falling in love with them.
With everything on her mind with Thompson and the fate of the Digital World it'd taken a lot of willpower to let herself go down this road, to allow her feelings to blossom as they had. Sure it had only been a week or so since she'd met him but she was sure that he was interested in her and she didn't want to wait until they were back on Earth – or entrenched in a war – to make her move.
Still, she thought, Ayden had been so distant after Ophanimon's speech. Even when she had finally caught up with him he'd acted so aloof. In a self-loathing harrumph she turned away from the door and strode down the hall only to see Adlimon coming out of his room. She approached the blue dinosaur with a smile.
"Can't sleep either?" Adlimon asked, "where are your pants?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Solara joked trying not to blush, "I was gonna try to flirt with Ayden... see where it might lead..."
"Human romance is confusing," Adlimon remarked, then he added, "Thompson is crazy about you you know."
"He knows I just wanna be friends though," Solara answered, "But yeah I know. He's looked at me like that since we first met in the tunnel back home."
"He asked me once how a girl as strong and as beautiful as you never got adopted or helped," Adlimon chuckled, "He didn't just have a crush, he looked up to you. I think he always knew you were gonna be our leader."
"I'm still not sure I'm cut out to be... I've always felt like I was dreaming of a better tomorrow, excitement, adventure. My world was so limited and now that it's limitless I don't know what to do."
"Follow the light inside," Adlimon told her.
"Thanks," Solara said hugging the Digimon tight for a few moments, "And don't worry, we're not going to abandon your world. I was wrong to want to leave. We're going to figure out who this Master is the Digimon keep talking about. After we find Thompson."
"I just hope we find him soon."
"So do I," Solara said, "So do I."