Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I do not own Heroes of Olympus. Not with a fox, not in a box...

Author's Note: Written for the Novel with Prompts Challenge found on the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The prompt for this chapter is "taste".

I'm glad you all enjoyed the prophecy! I love reading all of ya'lls theories on what it could possibly mean, and all I'll say is that it will all eventually become clear. Other than that, I don't have much to say... Except that by next chapter, I may end up reaching two milestones: 1) Breaking 400 reviews (like, holy crap, guys!). 2) Writing my longest multichap thus far in terms of chapter count. So exciting! I will see you then!

Enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-Five

An eerie silence fell over the group for several moments. The only sounds came from the howling wind outside the entrance of the cave. Kari shivered and pulled her blanket closer. This prophecy wasn't any better than the first. She felt like she was going to drown in destiny at this point. Could they really handle all of this pressure? Could any of them?

"Six?" Yolei asked quietly. "The world that mimics earth… That has to be the Digital World, right?"

"Which means it would be six of us," Ken said slowly. "Six digidestined?"

"Or six digimon!" Tentomon added.

"Or three digidestined and three digimon," Cody said.

Izzy shook his head. "I believe it's referring to six digidestined."

"What has you so certain, Izzy?" Kari asked.

"It's because of us, Kari," Gatomon said, turning to look up at her partner. "We weren't chosen by fate. We were chosen because of you; we're apart of you."

"Gatomon's right," Izzy said. "Gennai told me several years ago that the way that our partners were chosen wasn't by some accident. The scene that we saw all those years ago of our partner digimon's digieggs was the creation of those digieggs. They weren't created and hatched in Primary Village like other digimon. They were created specifically to be part of us, to be our partners. We were chosen; they were created."

"I don't get it," Davis said.

"I think what Izzy's trying to say is that the chosen digimon are unique, because they are one of a kind," Elecmon said.

"I thought I was the only digimon that was one of a kind?" Guilmon said, pointing at his nose with his claw.

"You're the only digimon of your kind," Elecmon said. "There's a difference."

"One that is pretty hard to see, I gather," Hawkmon said.

"Take all of the digimon in the world for instance," Elecmon explained. "They never really die; they just get reborn. Whether each digimon knows it or not, every single digimon in this world has been around since the birth of the Digital World. They just get destroyed and reconfigured, given the chance at a brand new life, often without memories of their previous one. Why, if new digimon were being created all the time while the current digimon never died, imagine how terrible our population would be!"

"What does that have to do with us?" Wormmon asked.

Elecmon sat up. "According to what Izzy just said, despite everything I know about digimon birth and death, it seems that Gennai and his counterparts broke the rules of the Digital World when he created the original eight chosen digimon. They weren't simply paired up with you children. They were created from you."

Izzy nodded. "Exactly. When we were chosen to be digidestined all those years ago in Highton View Terrace, our data was scanned to make sure that we were compatible with the Digital World. From that data, our digimon partners were created."

"The point being…?" Takato said uncertainly.

"The point is that I believe the prophecy is referring to six digidestined, not six digimon," Izzy said.

"Izzy," Davis stuck his hand up in the air with a confused look on his face, "you only talked about the original eight of you. What about the rest of us?"

"Yeah, am I part of Cody's data?" Armadillomon asked.

Izzy shrugged. "I honestly don't know. You'd have to ask Gennai."

Kari stared down at Gatomon with a bit of a befuddled expression. Gatomon had been created from her? A little piece of her own soul was somehow embedded in Gatomon's coding? She had known the second she met Gatomon that they were meant to be together, but she had always played it off as some weird sixth sense. But now she realized that she may have just been recognizing a bit of herself in Gatomon's piercing gaze. And maybe that's why Gatomon followed her, couldn't kill her, even before she knew her real identity, because she'd noticed the same mirroring in her own.

"So six digidestined… which six?" Hawkmon asked.

"I think we know," Izzy said, gravely. His eyes swept across the group, and Kari was certain that the air dropped a few more degrees.

"Us," Cody said quietly. "The five of us plus… plus TK…"

"He's in the middle of this for a reason," Izzy agreed. "I just don't know how yet."

"And I'm…" Takato started uncertainly. "I'm part of the other six… from the world that man did birth… aren't I? Six humans… tamers… and their partners."

Izzy nodded. "That would be my guess."

"What does that mean?" DemiVeemon asked. "World that man did birth? Is there another Digital World out there?"

"It wouldn't be that big of a surprise, would it?" Gatomon pointed out. "We've always known that there were other worlds out there. At least one of them would have to have other digimon."

"Like me!" Guilmon cheered.

"It would certainly explain why nobody's ever heard of you before," Armadillomon said.

"There are digidestined all over the world, and we're in contact with almost all of them," Ken said. "How could we have missed there being another Digital World? How could we have not heard of it before?"

"It may be more than that." Izzy's voice sounded strange, almost eerie, and he was staring at Takato with an unreadable expression. Takato's expression was no better. He looked like he might be sick and was doing his best to avoid Izzy's gaze. Kari wanted to ask what was going on, but Takato looked so distressed that she hesitated.

"Izzy, you're not going to make us guess, are you?" Yolei groaned.

After a long moment of silence, Izzy finally said, "It's all theoretical at this point. We should focus on things that we do know."

"Like the enemies that darkness has risen," Gatomon said. "Demon Lords."

"Oikawa named three of them," Cody said. "Greed, Sloth, and Pride."

"Like the Seven Deadly Sins?" Yolei asked.

Cody shrugged.

"That's probably not their actual names," Izzy said, "but more like titles. But it's not surprising that a group of digimon called the Demon Lords would be created based off of the human idea of sin. All digimon have Human World connections, usually through our mythology."

"This would certainly qualify," Ken said.

"Which means that the Gluttony mentioned in the prophecy is probably another one of these Demon Lords," Izzy finished.

"If there are seven deadly sins, that probably means that there are seven Demon Lords," Ken added.

"That's only if you don't count their allies," Wormmon said.

"What about keeping earth locked in its prison?" Armadillomon asked. "Do you think it's talking about Gennai?"

"Why would we want to keep Gennai locked up?" Tentomon asked.

Davis shook his head. "It's talking about Huang."

"Huanglongmon," Cody said. "Datamon called him by his full name, remember?"

"You sure he and Huang are one and the same?" Armadillmon asked.

Ken nodded slowly. "It would only make sense."

Izzy's eyebrows furrowed together. "I've never heard of that digimon."

"I think I have," Elecmon said. "Maybe…" He trailed off, a concerned expression on his face. Everybody waited for him to continue, but he didn't seem inclined to share any more information.

"What did you hear?" Davis asked, finally breaking the silence.

Elecmon shuddered. "Just that if he's not happy… we're doomed."

"That's real optimistic," Gatomon said.

Yolei groaned and dropped her head to her knees. She shook her head. "I don't even want to think about that last line."

"As a miracle leads them to victory or death," Kari whispered.

Kari pulled her blanket tighter, but she didn't think there was anything that could protect her from the chill that was settling over the group. Her eyes landed on Davis across the cave. His crest was sitting outside his shirt, and it seemed to glitter in the firelight. The Crest of Miracles… A miracle to possibly lead them all to their death… Could it be a coincidence? Somehow, she didn't think so. But Davis didn't look like he had made the connection as he continued to stir up the veggie stir-fry. Kari had no desire to be the one to tell him her theory either. What would she say anyway?

Well, Davis, it looks like you're going to either lead us all to our deaths or to victory! Good luck!

Yeah, that would go over well.

"When I dreamed about Gennai in his prison," Takato said suddenly, "he said something had compelled him to go investigating, to go to that place where he's trapped… Do you think Huang influenced his actions the way that Sirenmon influenced us?"

Cody picked up a stick and poked at the fire pit. "Oikawa said that Huanglongmon is speaking to the Holy Beasts without their knowledge. Maybe he's speaking to more than just them, and they don't even realize it."

Kari shuddered. She'd had a similar thoughts – that this force, Huanglongmon, a being that they couldn't even see was manipulating things behind the scenes, helping the Demon Lords. Maybe Huang was even keeping Barbamon informed of their movements; he had obviously knocked them out of the sky over Datamon's mansion on purpose. Or maybe Huang had more servants like Sirenmon, lots of servants like her, whispering, influencing, and guiding the Digital World subtly to its destruction…

Davis set rice balls on the skillet to toast.

"There were also a few times that Oikawa seemed close to saying something that he shouldn't," Cody continued. "He talked about how bringing the twelve of us together was some big gamble that Gennai was making. Like it was somehow putting the world in danger."

"Twelve," Takato said softly. "Like the prophecy… six and six."

"That must have been who he was talking about," Izzy agreed.

Cody turned toward him. "How do you know that the twelve don't include you and Tai and the others?"

"We are pretty helpful," Tentomon said.

Izzy shook his head. "It's just a hunch I have. Plus, it's the only theory I have that includes how Takato fits into all of this."

The smell of the stir-fry drove Kari's starved stomach to growl with hunger. She dropped her head to her knees and hoped nobody heard that. Here they were talking about the end of the world, and her stomach was two seconds from a mutiny if it didn't get nourishment and fast.

I'm losing it, she thought. After Demon Lords, impending doom, and nearly dying a dozen times so far, all I want to think about is broccoli and teriyaki sauce.

Her stomach wasn't the only thing rebelling. Sitting by the fire, with her friends all around her, snuggled up in blankets and looking as pathetic as she felt, Kari's conscience was slowly crumbling apart as a hot bullet worked its way to her heart. All the guilt she'd been holding in for the last week, since the Demon Lord Barbamon had first sent her a dream, was about to kill her.

Her friends wanted to help her. Takato even said he'd walk into a trap to save her brother, and he didn't even know him. And Kari had just shut them all out.

For all she knew, TK and Tai were both already dead the second she attacked Sirenmon.

She choked back a sob. Maybe she'd done the right thing in Circuit by saving the boys, but she'd only delayed her problem. She could never betray her friends, but the tiniest part of her was desperate enough to think, What if I did?

She tried to imagine what Tai would say. Hey, big brother, if you were ever kidnapped by a Demon Lord intent on destroying the world, and the only way to save you was to betray all of the friends that we both love with all our hearts, what would you want me to do?

Funny how they had never had that conversation. She knew what Tai would say without even having to hear the words, though. He'd be just bullheaded enough to try to save everyone. He never did believe in the this or that approach to life. And TK, well… TK had always looked up to Tai. He would probably have said the exact same thing.

Kari wished one of them were here to make her feel like saving everyone was an actual possibility. At the moment, it just felt like some pipedream that she could never hope to accomplish. She wasn't Tai; she wasn't TK. She was just Kari. Just… Just Kari.

Davis made plates of stir-fry and crunchy rice patties for everybody. The wind kept raging outside the cave. Somewhere, between waking up and now, she had started to feel warmer. Even Yolei didn't seem to be shivering anymore, though she didn't look to be in any hurry to remove herself from Ken's chest. Davis handed out the food. It tasted as good as it smelled, and for a few blissful moments, they enjoyed their food without any talk of doom or destruction. Kari didn't want to move, talk, or do anything to disrupt the moment, but she knew she had to. She couldn't keep doing this anymore.

"We need to talk." The fork in her hand felt unnaturally heavy as she stared down into her plate. "I'm tired of lying and hiding things from all of you… It's not fair, and I'm sorry."

They looked at her with mouths full of veggie stir-fry. It was too late to have second thoughts now; she had their complete undivided attention.

"The night TK disappeared," she said, "I had a dream… a, a vision, I guess… of a Demon Lord telling me that Hope had been taken hostage. He said if I cooperated, I could save him, but if I didn't… he'd be killed. At first, I didn't want to believe it. I thought it was just a nightmare. And then that morning… that's when we found out TK was missing…"

The flames crackled.

Finally Takato said, "The Demon Lord… You're talking about Barbamon, right? He's the one you mentioned before."

Kari nodded.

Izzy typed furiously on his reopened laptop. "Barbamon… I've never heard of him either."

"That's because he's not of this world." Elecmon gave a small shudder. "Demon Lords are born from the World of Darkness. They're not like us other digimon. There's no goodness in them, no matter how far you dig."

"Sounds like the kind of dude that would kidnap one of us and hold us for ransom, though I still don't understand the reason," Davis said.

Ken gave Kari a sympathetic look. "Go on, Kari. What happened next?"

"The other night when we fell into the warehouse—"

"After we met with Baihumon," Cody clarified for Izzy and Tentomon.

"—I'd had another dream. This time… it was about Tai… I saw him. Barbamon has him too now, and… and I don't know what to do…"

"Sirenmon said something about that, didn't she?" Davis asked.

Kari gave a shaky nod. "To get them back, I had to do whatever he asked of me. He said… he said I had to lead you to where he is or make sure you die before we get there. He showed me a map, told me how to get to him. He's along the southeastern edge of Folder, on top of some mountain. I have to be there by noon on the solstice, tomorrow, to make the… the exchange."

She couldn't meet her friends' eyes. She waited for them to yell at her, or turn their backs, or kick her out into the snowstorm.

Instead, Gatomon climbed up into her lap and put a paw on her arm. "Kari, why didn't you tell me?"

Takato let out a long breath. "Jeez, Kari. I'm so sorry."

Davis nodded. "No kidding. You've been carrying this around for a week? We could help you."

"We want to help," Ken added.

"All of us," Cody added. "I understand your situation, and you felt like you were backed into a corner, but… you know you can count on us for anything."

"Well, maybe not the boys," Yolei huffed. "But at least me! Kari, we're going to kick this Demon Lord's butt!"

"One thing at a time, Yolei," Hawkmon said, amusement in his voice.

Kari stared around at the group around her, too shocked for a second to speak. Finally, she settled on Gatomon's blue eyes, and a lump settled in her throat. "You should be yelling at me, furious with me. I lied to you, all of you, and I've been ordered to get you killed."

"Aw, c'mon, Kari," Armadillomon said. "We wouldn't let a little thing like that come between friends!"

"Armadillomon is right, as strange as it may sound," Hawkmon said. "And as I recall, you have saved our lives on quite a few occasions on this trip, not put them in danger."

"I know I trust you with my life," Takato said quietly.

"Me too!" Guilmon said. "Bad guys can threaten you all you want, but they can't change who you are."

"Yeah! Let me at 'em! Let me at 'em!" DemiVeemon put up his dukes and started to punch the air as if battling an invisible enemy. Davis gave his partner a funny look.

"It doesn't matter," Kari said tearfully. "I've probably killed both Tai and TK just telling you this."

"I doubt it." Izzy had been surprisingly quiet ever since Kari's revelation, but now he closed his laptop to give her his full attention. "Barbamon wants you all dead for a reason, and that hasn't happened yet. He needs Tai for leverage. If he's smart and desperate – and if he weren't, why go to all these lengths? – he'll wait until the deadline passes to see if you show up. It seems to me to be about more than just trying to get you all out of the way anyway. His deadline as well as the deadline to save Gennai are on the same day. That can't be a coincidence."

"He's trying to divert our attention," Cody said. "To keep us away from saving Gennai."

"He's making us make a choice," Ken added. "Either we save Gannai or we save Tai and TK."

"And that's assuming that he has TK at all," Izzy said.

Everybody stared at him.

"Izzy, I don't mean to doubt your powers of perception," Tentomon said, "but didn't you just hear Kari's story? He clearly has TK."

Izzy frowned. "Maybe. But then why take Tai?"

"He said he thought my loyalties were wavering," Kari said.

Ken stared at her. "But… if that were the case, he would remind you of what you have to lose. Not add another variable. It's too complicated. He could lose control of the situation quickly. Unless…"

"He never had TK at all," Wormmon finished with wide eyes.

Izzy nodded. "Exactly."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Davis burst out. "We finally think we know where freaking TC is, and he might not even be there!? Where is he then!? Where could he have possibly gone!?"

Ken put a hand on Davis's shoulder to calm him, and Davis quieted down, though he was still obviously fuming over this new development.

Kari felt worse than when the conversation had started. TK not even be there? She had never even considered the possibility. That couldn't be right, though. She'd seen him tied to the pyre, hadn't she? She'd screamed his name, tried to get to him. He'd been there. Hadn't he? She tried to remember if she'd ever actually seen his face, but it had been so dark, there had been so many shadows, she couldn't remember anymore.

She really was losing her mind.

"Either way, we still have Tai to think about," Cody said slowly. "If we go after Gennai, Barbamon will probably kill him. But if we go after Tai, there's no way Barbamon would let us leave."

"He'll probably kill us on the spot," Takato agreed. "He doesn't exactly sound like our biggest fans."

"It's more than that, too," Izzy said. "If he knows that the six of you are part of the prophecy, then he'll have extra reason to want you dead."

"Ooh, fun," Davis said sarcastically.

"So we have no choice," Kari whispered through her tears. "We have to save Gennai or the dark digiegg will hatch. The Digital World depends on it. Barbamon seems to have ways of watching me. He'll know if we don't head there right away. He'll kill Tai anyway."

"Tai's not going to die!" Davis said. "We're going to save him."

"Davis, I'm all for a little optimism, but when exactly are we going to find the time?" Gatomon said.

"Not to mention that we already know it's a trap," Hawkmon added.

"We just need a plan, that's all!" Davis said. "We just have to think guys."

Takato nodded. "I agree. We can do it, we just… need to figure out how."

"It would help if we knew exactly where this mountain that Barbamon is stationed on is located," Elecmon said. "Ebonwumon may be able to tell you that. This is in his sphere of influence, after all."

"It may be simpler than you think," Izzy said. "Once the others get back, we'll have a better chance to—"

A sudden growl cut him off, and Kari turned to see Guilmon tense and shaking, glaring toward the cave entrance. The look on his face was so intense that it was enough to send shivers up her spine.

"Takato," Guilmon growled. "Someone's coming."

"Maybe it's the others," Yolei squeaked.

Something told Kari that wasn't the case. Then she heard it: howls piercing the night.