Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I do not own Heroes of Olympus. I am not a lovesick fool!

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

T-minus 19 hours and counting before July's Camp Nano starts. I am both excited and freaking out a little. I have managed to write myself up to a point that I'm a little uncertain about what to do. Hopefully, I will figure it out before midnight, because I do not want to start Camp Nano plagued with the terrible Writer's Block! Ugh, that would just be the worst. That being said, we are getting oh-so very close, and I am oh-so very excited. Close to what, you may ask? Close to the beginning of the end, of course!

Enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Davis thought everybody had forgotten all about Yolei and Joe until he realized that Yolei was standing even before him. He'd imagined tearful scenarios of goodbyes and having to leave her and Joe behind, but Yolei looked the most well-rested out of all of them. She looked back to normal, and at some point while he was distracted with the conversation, she had apparently been given Mimi's spare pinky fluffy parka and gloves to replace her tattered red one. Davis was thoroughly offended that he hadn't been given a new coat to replace his torn up blue one, but he didn't think he'd look very good in pink.

"Yolei, are you really okay to travel?" Kari asked.

Yolei nodded. "Yeah, thanks to Joe. I feel like I could run ten miles!"

Joe smiled. "Maybe we should start with just a small hike to Ebonwumon's front door."

"Aw, Joe," Gomamamon complained, "you ruin all the fun."

"If you want to run ten miles, Gomamon, I'm not going to stop you," Joe said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

Gomamon hesitated. "I think I'll pass."

"Joe, you're a miracle worker," Kari said.

"I really hope we don't have to run ten miles," Davis groaned. "I feel like all we've done is walk and fly!"

Naturally, everybody ignored him.

It took them just a few minutes to break camp, which Davis thought was pretty efficient, not that they had exactly settled in for the evening. Davis thought about what Takato had said about them getting some rest, but everybody looked wide awake and alert, ready for whatever was next, so he decided not to bring it up. He was ready for all of this to be over with as well.

Takato took the lead, holding out his D-Power to lead the way. The arrow led them down a tiny little path on the side of the mountain – one that Davis didn't even realize was there amongst all the snow. The snow made the trek both treacherous and freezing, hiding obstacles that threatened to send them face first to the ground.

Gomamon seemed totally unfazed. "Let's chant!" he suggested. "Digimon eat and digimon fight! Digimon eat and fight all night—!"

"Let's not," Mimi complained.

So they trekked in silence.

Davis found himself carrying DemiVeemon at the front of the group with Takato and Guilmon. "How you doing, man?"

Takato's expression was enough of an answer: Not good.

"If I was a digidestined – or whatever I was called – before all of this, I don't know how I dealt with it," Takato said. "All of you just seem to take all of this in stride, like it's no big deal. And I feel like I'm totally out of my league here. I'm freaking out. You guys just seem so much more… together."

"Well, one," Davis started, "we're not fighting amnesia, so that helps. Two, I've been a digidestined since I was twelve. Tai was a digidestined before that. You fight talking monsters for a while, and you start to get used to all of the surprises."

"Maybe," Takato said. "I just wish I understood how I got this digivice… how I met Guilmon… and if all of this is happening because of me."

"Hey, whatever's going on, I can pretty much guarantee you, dude, that it's not your fault. You didn't take away your memory, and I'm pretty sure you aren't trying to destroy the world. That's gotta count for something."

Takato took that in silence. Davis wondered if he'd said the right things. He wanted to make Takato feel better, feel more a part of the group, but this was way out of his comfort zone.

Davis remembered how badly he'd wanted Ken to join the group four years ago, and now the guy was walking side-by-side with one of the girls who had been very reluctant to welcome him in. Ken hadn't exactly warmed up to his pushing very easily, and Davis couldn't blame him. He knew that subtlety was not his strong point, and neither was knowing when a person was ready for that type of end of the world friendship. Takato wasn't exactly rejecting his offer of friendship, but he seemed too confused with his own life to accept it open hearted.

He was so lost in thought, he didn't realize Guilmon had stopped. He slammed into the back of the red dinosaur, causing DemiVeemon to cry out as he was squished between the two of them, and nearly sent all three of them off of the cliff they were stopped at. Luckily, Guilmon was sturdier than a bolder. He caught Davis and steadied them both. Takato pointed down.

"That," Davis choked, "is… amazing."

They stood on the edge of Niagara Falls. It wasn't the real Niagara Falls, but it sure was a very nice digital replica. To the right and left of the cliff were miles of waterfall, circling around to create a large crater. The crater was so deep, that the cavern had its own clouds that had settled deep within the falls, created from the misty foam of the water. Chunks of ice and snow from the frozen rivers that fed into the falls crashed into the water below but made nearly no audible sound. Mist rose up and lined Davis's skin with a light sheen of humidity.

Night had set in, but a full moon shone through the now clear skies and the stars were endless. In the center of the crater, Davis nearly gasped as the low hanging clouds parted to reveal an island, just barely visible from their perch. The island was an oasis of green and life in the middle of the snowy landscape they were surrounded by. It was hard to judge its size, but Davis figured it was at least as wide as a soccer stadium.

The only thing connecting their snowy perch to the tropical island was a narrow bridge of light that glistened in the moonlight.

Then Davis realized that the bridge wasn't just made of light, because it was solid enough to hold weight. As mist rose up, it collected along the underside and froze, thickening some areas, while other areas looked wet and were leaking as if it were melting. An ice bridge. A very unstable ice bridge. Davis gulped.

"We're not seriously going to cross that," Yolei said.

Takato pointed his D-Power toward the island, and the device practically lit up as if to say yep, that's your goal! "It looks like if we want to talk to Ebonwumon, this is the only way."

"It doesn't look very stable," Guilmon said.

"What do you think, Cody?" Armadillomon asked.

Cody took a deep breath. "I don't think we really have much of a choice, but we should probably only go across two at a time, just to be on the safe side."

Kari nodded. "I agree."

"Maybe we should just fly across," Ken suggested. "I'm not sure I trust this bridge."

"You and me both, kid," Elecmon said.

Biyomon shook her head. "Not a good idea. The air can't seem to decide whether it wants to be freezing or warm."

"The way that the water is condensing on the bridge and then instantly freezing," Wormmon agreed. "Imagine that on our wings – it would not be good."

"Not unless you wanted to go for a swim," Gatomon said dryly.

"So, who would like to go first?" Izzy asked.

Davis could feel his stomach starting to fall out from underneath him the longer the silence drug on. He figured he would have to go first. He was the leader, after all. Well, sort of. Kind of. He hadn't felt very leaderly so far, but he figured this was as good of a time as any to start – until Kari suddenly tested the light trail with one foot first and then stepped onto the bridge. Amazingly, it held her weight.

Gatomon jumped on after her. "That's my girl!"

"Ladies first, why not," Yolei groaned before moving to follow with Hawkmon in her arms.

The two best friends held each other's hands as they slowly made their way across the bridge. Elecmon hesitantly moved to join them. They were about halfway when Cody, Armadillomon, Ken, and Wormmon followed.

Izzy turned back to the others. "Sora, you should take Mimi and Joe and try to pick the trail back up again. If there's something to follow, we need to find it."

"Without you and Matt?" Sora asked.

"We'll follow soon," Izzy promised. "I just want to see about Ebonwumon while I have the chance."

Sora nodded reluctantly, then led the way back up the mountain path with Mimi and Joe following behind.

"Davis, Takato, you're next," Izzy said. "Just be careful where you step. I doubt it'll break."

"It hasn't met me yet," Davis muttered, but he, Takato, and Guilmon stepped onto the bridge and started to carefully make their way down.

x X x

Halfway down, things went wrong, and of course it was Davis's fault. Kari, Yolei, Gatomon, and Hawkmon had already made it safely to the bottom and were waving at them, encouraging them to keep moving. Ken, Wormmon, Cody, and Armadillomon were three-quarters of the way across, carefully maneuvering their way down the slippery slope. Davis was doing his best not to slip right off the side too when his mind started to wander.

He was thinking about bridges – about the bridge that had been destroyed twelve years ago in Highton View Terrace and the bridge he took every time he visited Ken in Tamachi. He was thinking about how during Christmas last year, Ken had been stuck at his apartment for almost six days straight because the entire bridge and subway system had been shut down due to it completely icing over. He'd read about cars that had slid right off of the bridge, and a train that had barely stopped in time, narrowly avoiding collision with another passenger car. Then a sudden revelation stopped him in his tracks.

"What is the point of a bridge?" he asked.

Takato gave him a funny look. "To connect one place to another that would normally be inaccessible?"

"What's going on?" Izzy asked, coming up behind them with Matt at his side. "Why'd you stop?

"Davis wants to know the point of bridges," Guilmon answered.

"What about bridges that aren't always there?" Davis said. "What's the point of them?"

Izzy frowned but answered, "You mean like drawbridges? Well, they're down when they want to allow access, and they're up when the gates are closed."

"You mean like the Digi-Ports?" Davis asked.

"Davis, do you have a point?" Matt growled.

"We really should keep moving," Gabumon suggested.

Izzy nodded. "Yes, I guess I could see the analogy. The Digi-Ports are open when the Digital World is allowing access to us, the digidestined, and they're closed when we're no longer wanted or needed."

Davis's mind was racing. He was so excited, but he couldn't quite put his thoughts into words. He was onto something important; he could feel it.

"Why?" Takato said. "What are you thinking?"

"Uh, I hate to breakup this sudden discussion of philosophy," Tentomon said, "but you may want to look at your feet."

Davis shuffled backward. With horror, he realized that cracks were starting to form along the thin sheen of ice they were standing on. Takato grabbed onto Davis's arm and they stumbled away from the crack in one direction toward the island while Matt and Izzy backed up back toward the cliff. Davis would have held his breath if he thought it would do any good. Apparently, the ice didn't like them standing in one place for too long, and to make matters worse, the ice was still thinning.

"Stop moving!" Izzy warned. "Or it might break!"

"If we stay standing here, we're going to fall to our deaths!" Takato said.

Davis tried to push the thought of their imminent deaths out of his mind. "Listen, Takato, what did Gennai call you in that dream? He called you a bridge."

"Davis, I don't know what you're on about," Matt said, "but this may not be the best time. If we take a wrong step, we're all dead."

"Just listen," Davis insisted. "If Takato is a bridge, what's he connecting? Maybe two places that are usually inaccessible to each other – maybe two worlds that aren't meant to be connected? You had to be somewhere before this, right? And Gennai said you were an exchange."

"An exchange." Matt's eyes widened. "Oh my god."

Guilmon frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Izzy let out a breath of amazement. "That's why the email sent us to find Takato to find answers on TK. Takato is the answer. We needed to meet him and understand his story to fully get what's going on."

"Um," Takato said, "I don't fully get what's going on, so if you all do, can you clue me in please?"

"All this time…" Matt breathed.

"Yolei was right," Izzy said. "It's all connected. If we just knew exactly how you got here—"

Davis grabbed onto the sleeve of Takato's jacket as the bridge cracked further, forcing them to take several more steps back away from Izzy and Matt. "Takato, quick. What did Shibumi say about that place in your dream where the dark digiegg is? That only one of us, other than you, would know where it is?"

"One of my group," Takato clarified. "Which I guess is the five of you… ten if you include the digimon…"

Izzy suddenly choked. "Why haven't I heard this before? That's where they're keeping Gennai!?"

"You know where it is?" Takato asked.

That's when the bridge broke. Davis would've fallen to his death, but Stingmon suddenly swooped onto the scene and snatched him, Takato, and Guilmon into his arms. Davis held DemiVeemon tightly in one arm while he latched onto Stingmon with his other hand. When Davis looked back toward where Izzy and Matt had last been, he saw Kabuterimon fighting the winds to get them back up onto the cliff, nearly thirty feet away. The bridge continued to crumble, dissolving into nothing.

"Go!" Matt shouted. "Find out where that Demon Lord is keeping Tai! Save him!"

"We'll head to where Gennai is and hold them off until you arrive," Izzy added. "We can save both of them!"

"But where is Gennai!?" Takato shouted.

"Ask Gatomon!" Izzy was so far away now that Davis could barely hear his voice over the wind, but he was pretty sure he heard him add, "We'll see you there! I promise!"

Then Kabuterimon ascended into the clouds and disappeared.

Stingmon had no time to hover around. The winds were threatening to send him crashing into the water blow at a hundred miles an hour. It took everything he had to fly them down safely to the island. They crash landed into a tumble where the others waited, looking confused and concerned. They laid there, in plush grass, in front of an old TV set just a few feet away and just on the edge of a dirt path that led into a dense jungle.

Davis looked back up to the cliff they had come from. He thought he could make out a sharp jagged edge that had been where he had been standing just a few minutes before, but there were no signs of Izzy or Matt. And Davis had just accidentally destroyed their only exit.

"What happened?" Kari asked. "Why did you stop?"

"You nearly got yourselves killed!" Yolei snapped.

"Are you alright?" Ken asked.

Davis shook his head. "I just had a sudden thought, that's all."

"You nearly fell to your deaths over a sudden thought?" Hawkmon asked.

"It doesn't matter," Takato said, but his expression was grim. "We've got less than twenty-four hours to rescue Gennai and Tai. Let's go see the Holy Beast of the North."