Chapter 3

Update

The loud whistle of the Locomon alerting some digimon to get off its track filled Cecilia's ears as the train car rolled through the empty green plains closing in on the outskirts of Yggdrasils castle. The girl looking out the open gate of the cargo railcar as it all flew past, giving her brief glimpses of the many towns dotting its low hillsides. It had already been nearly three days since she had awoken in that forest and had the encounter with the Snimon, though everything after had been thankfully much less eventful.

"You four are quite lucky to have stumbled onto myself and Locomon," a strong voice said to Cecilia and her companions.

Jordan was leaning against the wall of the train car while holding a sleeping Luna, while Avani was sitting staring at the speaker, none other than the royal knight Omnimon, though compared to the humans and rookies, he was rather cramped inside the car, which was only a few feet above his height when sitting. Despite this, his appearance was still awe-inspiring to Cecilia, his primarily white armor shining in the light with the blue decorating his breastplate and the odd symbol sitting in the center on his sternum. His arms definitely attracted her interest the most, his left like that of some orange dragon and the right that of a blue wolf. Though most of all, Omnimons very presence seemed to radiate charisma, power, and authority.

"I... Yes sir," Cecilia responded to him simply, not quite sure what to say in the presence of a someone like Omnimon.

Jordan didn't respond at all, but it wasn't like usual where he seemed nervous or unconfident with Cecilia, it seemed more rather he didn't want anything to do with Omnimon in the least. The knight himself said nothing about such however, and both Cecilia and Avani didn't seem to notice it at all, likely attributing it to the presumed lack of confidence.

Avani was quietly just staring at Omnimon, compared to Cecilia's awe, the wormmon was completely overtaken with admiration for the knight. Whatever words she might have said completely stuck in her throat and unable to come out.

Omnimon, noting that his status seemed to be the cause of the simple or lack of responses, chose to ask a more personal question, "How old are the both of you, Cecilia, Jordan?"

"Er, I turned sixteen back a few months ago," Cecilia nervously answered before looking over expectantly to Jordan, who didn't respond.

A few quiet moments would pass before Cecilia would go, "Um... Jordan?"

"Fifteen," he'd respond with a bit of venom, which caused Cecilia to flinch, although it was obvious it wasn't at her.

Omnimon's blue eyes narrowed a bit, curious about the boys attitude towards him, but in the end he decided it was best not to pry, not yet at least. Instead he chose to keep his conversation focused on Cecilia and Avani, "Cecilia, may I ask from where you chose the name Avani for your partner?"

Cecilia looked back to Omnimon, while Avani turned her head towards Cecilia wanting an answer as well, which caused the girl to flush a bit, "T-to be honest, I kind of just uh... Well, took the name from a favorite character of mine..."

Omnimon nodded, "A name from a fictional character. A fair enough thing to use as a nickname for one called your partner."

Avani had narrowed her eyes at Cecilia, slowly slinking over to whisper, "She's a well-written character, right...?"

The girl only nodded to the wormmon before looking back the royal knight, who she couldn't tell if he was feeling as awkward as she was at the moment. His sheer presence covering any possible sense how he may have felt.

As if to answer her prayers about the awkward situation however, the sound of the Locomon's brakes grinding against rails came from far up towards the front of the train as a massive structure came into view. A veritable fortress, with a massive layering structure that had four progressively taller rings, each lined with guard towers, with the single colossal tower at its center reaching far up close to the clouds. A number of large openings were placed at various points as though to let a larger being in, which was probably true considering the odd nature of the things she had seen so far.

Cecilia didn't hesitate to grab Avani, who yelped, and jump off the car onto the soft grass below, followed silently by Jordan, who had put Luna in his bag to carry her off. Omnimon came out last, awkwardly crouching to get out before standing at his full height far above the two humans and their partners, to which he lead them to the front of the train to Locomon.

"Thank you for the ride, Locomon. I know the usual rules regarding the rail lines don't allow digimon riders on locomon trains," Omnimon spoke with the bulky steam engine digimon, a pair of friendly golden eyes looking at him from where the lights would be on a human train.

"It was no problem for me, the bosses can bite me for being back to the station late all they want. I just got to give a ride to a couple of humans and a royal knight himself," Locomon was clearly in a good mood by his positive tone, "Every digimon-carrying trailmon for kilometers is gonna be envious of me for that one."

Omnimon gave a nod of acknowledgment to Locomon's statement before simply responding, "Take care."

"Of course, Omnimon," Locomon responded as he began to move again, the loud grinding of his gears half covering what he said next, "Come find me if any of you all need a ride again!"

Cecilia didn't respond, but gave a light wave to Locomon as he loudly left, before she looked to Jordan, who was standing rather strongly in the face of the castle.

She walked over to ask, "Are you okay, Jordan?"

Avani would pitch in, "Yeah, you're kind of worrying me too. You seem to have a grudge against Omnimon, and I mean... Who would have a grudge against Omnimon of all digimon? He's literally among the greatest... If not the greatest!"

"It's not that I have a grudge against him," Jordan responded as he half looked down and that strength left, "It's just that I have... I have-"

He'd be interrupted by Omnimon yelling for them, "Come on you four! It's only a fifty minute trek to the castle from this point!"

Outwardly, Cecilia groaned at that, her unathletic physique not wanting to have to walk again after the two day trek in the forest. Inwardly, she was quite concerned about Jordan, and as such she looked back to him only to find he was now looking down at the dirt as he followed Omnimon.

Avani spoke to Cecilia as the girl watched Jordan walk away from her, "Should we ask him again?"

"... Maybe we should wait until later," Cecilia's suggestion was half-hesitant as she said that, following after the other two.

...

"We have only an hours more left of our journey," Craniamon spoke to the four companions he had traveled all the way back on foot with as they walked into the shadow of Yggdrasil's towering castle.

Clive was obviously worn out by the journey compared to the others, but his pride refused to let him admit it as he forced his body to stand tall among the other four. Black snickering slightly at his doing so, as his standing so straight was much more awkward looking than as powerful as Clive wanted it to look.

Ryu on the other hand was intrigued by the massive structure up ahead, it seemed so out of place compared to everything he had seen so far in the digital world. Whereas the digimon villages all had round or cartoonish houses, the castle of Yggdrasil looked far too human in comparison in its architecture. He would glance at Tiamat, who actually seemed nervous about going to the castle of the lord that ruled the Royal Knights.

She noticed this without even looking at Ryu, saying in response as the group continued walking, "I have a bad feeling in my stomach about that place, Ryu."

The laid back man responded, "I definitely get final boss vibes from that place, but... I don't think we really have a choice where to go."

"I imagine it is not my Lord's castle itself that irritates your friend," Craniamon's voice suddenly caused both of them to half-jump, the knight having somehow slipped behind them in the brief moment they'd been speaking, perhaps attesting to Craniamon's skills beyond simply fighting.

Ryu looked up at him, "What do you mean?"

"It is an effect those who bear the digital hazard have on each other. You have likely detected Gallantmon, and I imagine he has detected you as well. As small as your power may be at the moment."

Tiamat would then ask, "What other digimon exactly 'bear' the digital hazard?"

"All the various guilmon lines may inherit the digital hazard, though most never grow past the growlmon phase. Beyond them, only Lucemon himself has been marked," Craniamon's voice was very matter-of-fact as he spoke.

"Lucemon himself...?"

"Indeed, and that is why one of our knights is ever so wary of those like himself."

Clive, having been listening in to the conversation, would ask bluntly, "Which knight exactly? I can't say that you told us much about you 'royal knights'."

Craniamon gave a look at Clive that the man and his digimon didn't even react to, but Ryu swore for a moment that the purple-blue clad knight half-considered hitting the much smaller being for asking that, but instead the knight humored him, "Gallantmon, the crimson knight. He and his brother once came from those of the red guilmon, typically referred to as the 'normal line' of guilmon."

Tiamat added a question, "So... What about you all yourselves. How old are the royal knights?"

"Age wise? I am currently the oldest royal knight in service, the thirty-fifth craniamon to ascend to a seat as a royal knight. Followed by Magnamon, UlforceVeedramon, Crusadermon, Kentaurosmon, Leopardmon, Gankoomon, Dynasmon, Examon, Gallantmon, Jesmon, then both Omnimon and Alphamon ascended at the same time."

This was a lot to take in a time, causing even Clive to have to stop the conversation for a moment to take it in before Black would then ask for Tiamat, "She obviously wanted to ask it, but who is Gallantmon's brother?"

Craniamon let out a "hm" before stating, "His brother was not one of a just heart as Gallantmon was and became the digimon called megidramon. A dragon who ascended to the role of one of the 'four great dragons', a faction that has been more ceremonial than important in some time. Though I suppose that was why it was not enough for him."

"That's... Not very specific," Ryu noted.

"Apologies, but know that Megidramon had to be sealed by his own brother at the request of the other dragons as he began attacking other groups of digimon and declared himself 'the supreme ruler of dragons'. Gallantmon has not trusted others of his line since that time, though I doubt he will do more than be vocal about it."

Tiamat seemed a bit stunned at this, "... Are you certain he won't act further?"

"Gallantmon may not be happy with a guilmon as a partner. As a black guilmon, your likelihood of becoming like that individual is even higher. But his heart is just, and Gallantmon has had a century to calm his nerves from what they once were regarding the subject."

Tiamat looked to the massive castle they were steadily approaching, gulping as that pit in her stomach grew, her mind tuning out the rest of the group continuing to ask questions as her brains serious nature began to go into paranoid overdrive about meeting Gallantmon, something about the idea half making her wonder if she should grab Ryu's arm and spring the opposite way...

...…

Both groups would arrive near the exact same time on opposite sides of the castle, resulting in Alphamon calling the currently present knights and chosen to meet together in the knights meeting hall, a place none of the chosen had been allowed into as of yet, its hall lined with knightmon guards that prevented them from walking down it's archs.

Dynasmon took a deep breath as he walked alongside Alizee, the wyvern knight's hands clenching and opening every few moments.

"You seem rather excited," Alizee would say to Dynasmon, who's eyes would look down at her as they walked.

"Do I seem that way?"

"In our training, whenever I produced a new technique your hands began clenching as you are doing now."

"Observant," Dynasmon responded, "Indeed, I am excited to see my fellow knight Gallantmon again. It has been some time since he went on his mission, and I had begun to worry for his safety amid the current state of events. We hold a great difference in age, but Gallantmon is perhaps the comrade I call closest after over a century of holding the position of Royal Knight together, it would certainly ail me for his health to be compromised."

Alizee offered the towering knight a reassuring smile in response to his statement, which in-turn got a smile out of the knight, at least by what Alizee could tell from the shape of his eyes. Although Alizee wouldn't know it, to the knightmon lining the hall, it was incredibly odd to see the knight of loyalty smile back to someone as he did for her.

As they entered the meeting chamber however, their smiles faded as an argument became clear.

"We should nip this issue in the bud now before it can grow!" The crimson knight Gallantmon was obviously furious, his stark white armor shaking as he pushed his lance against Craniamon's spear. Red cloak furiously flowing behind him as though to indicate his rage, his yellow eyes piercing past Craniamon to a very intimidated Tiamat.

"I can vouch for her and her partner," Craniamon responded, his body not shaking in the slightest, "that power can be tamed, as we've seen with you."

"That's no guarantee!"

"It is a guarantee that I will personally ensure. I am Yggdrasil's most successful knight, I will not let you or her tarnish that title. Not to mention how you now embarrass yourself by acting akin to a newborn jyarimon."

Gallantmon's eyes narrowed at Craniamon, then he looked across the various individuals in the room.

Behind Craniamon, Ryu seemed ready to try fighting Gallantmon himself despite the obvious power disparity, Tiamat was clearly fearful but seemed to trust Craniamon to defend her, while Clive and Black seemed rather impassive about the dispute as a whole.

To his right, Omnimon and the other present Royal Knights besides Dynasmon; Leopardmon, Alphamon, and Magnamon, watched while clearly waiting for his next move. Cecilia and Avani were obviously nervous about a fight they wouldn't stand a chance in breaking out, while Jordan was looking at the ground and preventing Gallantmon from making a guess at his thoughts, with Luna also hiding her emotions by yawning.

To his left, Kyou and Agunimon both had a look on their faces that said they would try to help defend Tiamat if it came down to it, despite the fact they might just get in the way of a fight. But the last two irked Gallantmon, Victor and Sif, the look on their faces was like the way one might judge a child acting out. In particular, the renamon's face made him feel a stroke of absolute rage, the temptation to annihilate her then and there briefly setting in.

He relented from Craniamon's form, stepping away as his eyes specifically avoided looking at Dynasmon, "Apologies, Alphamon. I would like to request... Time to away from the table, it seems my mission has clouded my judgement."

The leader of the Royal Knights crossed his arms as his own eyes narrowed, "Granted, but... We will speak of this later."

"Of course, Alphamon," Gallantmon offered a half-bow before attempting to walk out, though it was more of a light jog past Dynasmon and Alizee. The wyvern knight's eyes watching Gallantmon leave, of which he observed very subtle details about Gallantmon's gait as he left. A lack of regality in his movements, pent up rage indicated by clenched fists, and something about his eyes seemed off entirely to Dynasmon.

Leopardmon let out a disappointed sigh before speaking, drawing Dynasmon's attention away from the leaving Gallantmon for the moment as the strategist knight spoke, "Apologies, Ryu, Tiamat. You've only just arrived and already the worst of our order has seen to show itself."

Tiamat looked to Ryu, who spoke for her, "Well... Craniamon stepped in for us, so I think we owe you a thank you?"

Craniamon turned to face the duo, nodding to him and his partner, "It is simply my duty to ensure my mission is completed to the last aspect."

Ryu opened his mouth to respond again, only for Dynasmon to cough loudly and speak, "Alphamon. I know you didn't call us here only to have the chosen meet each other."

Alphamon nodded, "Everyone. Please, take a seat."

The table was odd to say the least, in this case, the humans and their partners were elevated and placed on the table, where they had to stand while the other knights took their seats, Leopardmon and Magnamon both notably had their seats raised to be equal in height to the other knights, though overall the seats were simple and seemed to be made of stone, with the exception of Alphamon, who's seat seemed more like a black throne. There were thirteen seats total, though eight of those seats were currently empty, those knights out on missions elsewhere, or in the case of Gallantmon, elsewhere in the castle.

"Those knights here now, I thank you for being here to listen in person. Indeed, I did not call you all here simply for the chosen to meet our new arrivals, though I hope you will all properly greet one another once this meeting adjourns," Alphamon spoke with an intensity that seemed to forebode something of great importance, "As it is. I hope Omnimon and Craniamon explained some semblance of what has occured. That a system we once swore to never use again, was reactivated and editted to bring you all here to aid us in a war. Of which I can now tell it did not work completely, as my original goal was to bring those of middle age, which you humans call your twenties, here. It only partially worked, as some of you are still young. The systems management core has told me that you two in particular, Cecilia Velvette and Jordan Bennet, are sixteen and fifteen respectively."

Cecilia nodded quietly as Avani looked between each of the knights in awe at being among them, Jordan on the other hand didn't respond at all, causing Luna to quietly tug on his pant leg to try and get him to snap out of his thoughts.

"Kyou Kagita, seventeen. Clive Williams, nineteen-"

"The number of fame and prosperity," Clive said in-between Alphamon talking.

"Alizee Moulin, twenty. All of you are below the age range I had hoped to set for the system, though it is my hope, if you are willing, that you are still able to aid us in this time. Before you answer however, I would also like to explain something to you all that I recently uncovered upon digging deeper into Lord Drasil's sub-systems."

Alphamon stood from his chair and waved his hand, a flow of data emerging from the table above the humans and knights, showcasing what appeared to be a graph indicating some form of activity, "The first thing is the risk. It is something I had not expected, but it appears the systems decay has interfered with the choosing sub-routines, and as such has caused you all to become a form of unstable presence."

Kyou would raise a brow, "Meaning?"

"The sheer amount of variance in your digivices is a symptom. You should all have a digivice similar to that of the one Victor, who we called first to this world, wields, but instead you all have been given digivices of forms I did not intend for you to receive. Generally, I expect this would influence how your partners will need to progress to digivolve into greater forms. For example, how Alizee did not receive a partner entirely and instead inherited the spirits of wind, but Kyou instead received a partner who inherited the spirits of fire. Both should have the same form of partnership with digimon, but instead they received entirely different programs."

"That doesn't sound too bad. Isn't variance a uh... Spice?" Avani would respond as Alphamon took a breath.

"The digivice issue is only what we know so far, my friend."

"Oh..."

Alphamon continued, "I do not know what side effects could result because of this instability. Of those times that the system has failed, it has either been the result of a human tampering with it, or something done deliberately by Lord Drasil. In the case of the first, it has resulted in demise for some, the most recent time being why we stopped usage of the chosen system in the first place. It is possible that, assuming you continue to use your digivices, any number of effects could be placed upon you. None of which any of us in the Royal Knights could hope to predict."

This quieted the chosen entirely, all of them glancing between each other with the exceptions of Victor and Clive, Victor being unsurprised entirely and Clive's confidence in himself keeping it from creating any sort of fear.

"The second thing, is that this clear decay of the chosen system was not the result of it remaining unused," Alphamon waved his hand again, the data changing into a large blue hologram sphere that seemed to represent the digital world down to the last geographic detail, "This is what I base my current suspicions of the actions our foes have taken on."

Leopardmon looked to the leader of the Royal Knights, "Surely you jest. This is still not enough to go off of. An untouched system rotting away is not a strange sight to-"

"Leopardmon," Alphamon's voice silenced the strategist knight, who simply nodded as Alphamon's vision refocused on the chosen and his voice continued, "As of a few days ago when we called you all here, I found this data in Lord Drasil's anomaly recording system."

The hologram sphere rotated so everyone could see a specific spot on the map that seemed like an eerie black hole, of which suddenly a burst of light would come from it for several minutes before fading.

"That event in itself was not so grand, that is simply Lord Drasil's systems showing the spot," Alphamon stated, "that area however is where a colossal amount of energy far beyond that of a single digimon was used for to tear open a hole in the data comprising the digital world."

Dynasmon spoke this time, "Alphamon, that is the Dark Area. Every lord digimon there has enough energy to tear open the planet's fabric and battle us hit-for-hit."

"If it were just a singular event on its own, I would think so as well," Alphamon replied, "However, this event has repeated itself on smaller scales across the planet at different times."

"Eight months ago," the map rotated to show a small vortex over an exceedingly tall jungle.

"Six months ago," the map showed a black tear over a rather dreary set of islands.

"Five months ago," this one got a growl from Dynasmon as it settled over the ocean itself, which would come across as rather odd to the chosen.

"Two of them occurred together around three and a half months ago," the map settled to show the two anomalies were in relative range of each other, this time one settled again over the dark area and the last settled over a spot that got Omnimon to subtly react this time.

"And two months ago," the last one rotated the globe to what appeared to be a storm near a range of volcanos and lava.

Dynasmon spoke first, "The one five months ago was over where Leviamon was once sealed."

"And one of the two from the three-and-half mark was over Lilithmon's prison," Omnimon added on, "More than mere coincidence."

"Two also occurred over the dark area," Leopardmon responded, "... It seems indeed that the possibility is true then."

Victor was the only one of the chosen not confused, perfectly aware of what the Royal Knights were talking about as he said aloud for the others to hear, "You think the Demon Lords have called forth their own humans and digimon partners, right?"

Alphamon looked at Victor, "Indeed I do, though I believe the possibility of their instability is as present as it is with yourselves."

Dynasmon spoke again, "The only issue is why have they not pushed on us when we still hold a third of the planet? Even if they are unstable, they have humans, likely fully trained chosen humans on their side, they could have annihilated us at any point just as they did the twelve."

"Unless they aren't fully trained," Leopardmon would respond this time, "As it is, the Demon Lords may see us as their greatest threat for something more simple. Over all our predecessors, those that fought the demon lords very rarely saw a casualty in their fights with them before pushing them back into their holes and prisons. It is likely they wish for their chosen to be at their peaks before they battle us so as to ensure an absolute victory, rather than a victory with any chance for loss."

Magnamon spoke this time, "Or perhaps it is something else entirely separate from that. Perhaps they don't desire to conquer us at all, but rather to contain us."

"To contain us..." Leopardmon's head tilted downwards as another set of thoughts entered his head, the knight suddenly standing, "Alphamon, please excuse me. I need to contact Examon and Gankoomon's fronts immediately."

He did not wait for Alphamon's response however, quickly leaping down onto the floor and leaving the room as quickly as he could.

Alphamon didn't say anything about Leopardmon's sudden rush to leave, instead looking to the humans and their partners, "Chosen. I acknowledge we haven't allowed you speak much during this meeting beyond a few moments, and as such. I will now give you the choice with the knowledge that you will have rivals equal to yourselves and that using your digivices may come with unknown risks. I will not force you to fight for us, as such would be dishonorable but we cannot send you home until this war has ended. Will you lend us your aid in our time of trials?"

Sif would answer first for Victor, "Victor and I have affirmed our place in this war for nearly a month now with you, Alphamon. Me and Victor, alongside each other, we will stand with you all."

The renamon took a step closer to her partner as their eyes locked, fierce dedication obvious between them.

"For my partner Blaze?" Kyou grinned as he crossed his arms, "I'll fight a mountain myself if I have to."

The agunimon crossed his arms as well, offering a grin to his partner for those words.

Alizee was next as she glanced at Dynasmon, "though this path was sudden and strange, it is the path I choose."

Clive and Black struck elegant poses in compliment of each other, as Clive answered for them. "So be it, Black and my intelligent self will save this world. I know everyone would be ever so lost without me."

Black snickered at Clive, "You mean without me."

"No, I definitively mean without me."

Tiamat and Ryu had been whispering between one another as the others affirmed their statements, after which Ryu spoke, "Tiamat and I will stand by you guys."

"Mostly cause I want to prove that Gallantmon guy wrong about my future," Tiamat would add on.

Cecilia and Avani looked at each other and nodded before the girl answered, "Of course Avani and I will help!"

Avani would whisper to herself, "... Even if this does get kind of terrifying..."

Cecilia would then look at Jordan, only to find Luna tugging on his pant leg and the boy staring down at the table.

It didn't take a genius to figure it out what Jordan was thinking, with Omnimon being the one to speak, "You have no intention of aiding the knights, do you, Jordan?"

"It's not that," the boy would respond, "But... It... I can't. Not immediately."

Cecilia would walk over to him as Luna stared at Jordan disapprovingly, the girl simply saying his name in a questioning tone, "Jordan?"

"I said no!" He glared at her then at the Royal Knights, with Luna about to say something before the boy suddenly took off. He almost fell off the table, only for Dynasmon to react and aid him down to let him run off much to Cecilia's disapproval.

"Why'd you let him go?!"

"It is his choice," Dynasmon would respond, "He is both the youngest among you all and I imagine quite intimidated by those around him."

"I... Well... That's still..."

"Let him be, girl," Dynasmon looked to Alphamon, "With their affirmations. Is the meeting over?"

Alphamon slowly nodded, "It is."

"Good," Dynasmon stood, "Alizee. With me, we still have enough hours left in the day for your training."

The wyvern knight didn't wait for her response and began to leave.

"W-wait!" Alizee was suddenly lifted up and set down by Craniamon, the girl giving a quick "thank you" to the skull knight before running after Dynasmon.

Victor would walk up next to Cecilia as a left behind Luna began to tug on her pant leg now, the man giving her a piece of advice, "Just give him a few hours to think. I know someone a lot like him just by the way he acts."

Cecilia looked at Victor, concern obvious on her face, but she merely nodded as Avani suddenly plopped down onto Cecilia's head.

"I don't think it's just a confidence issue," the wormmon stated to Cecilia as the girl crouched down to pick up Luna, Jordan's partner digimon obviously even more full of concern than Cecilia and Avani.

As the humans and their partners were than helped off the table, Alphamon would speak again, "Craniamon, Omnimon, please stay after everyone else leaves. I have something I must speak of with the two of you in private."

The humans all looked at him as he said this, all with varying degrees of curiosity or concern, Magnamon however would be quick to guide them out of the chamber for Alphamon. The doors groaning shut behind the group of people and digimon as two knightmon stepped in front of the closed entryway.

Cecilia would be at the head of the group, now deep in her own thoughts while holding Luna, Avani on her head facing the group behind her, of which she made the mistake of speaking with Clive.

"So... Are you famous in the human world or something?"

Clive grinned, "I'm glad you asked, my tiny green fan. I am someone who will leave the largest mark in history, all of mankind and now digikind will know my name. I am an adventurer, an acrobat, a magician, a strategist, an athlete, a genius, and more. I will make my parents proud with all that I shall accomplish as my abilities enable my partner power the world has never seen. My name will echo across the world, no, across the stars themselves!"

"Woaaaah!" Avani was quite taken in with Clive's boasting, her eyes shining like stars as she prepared to bombard him with questions.

Behind them, Victor and Sif were observing this while Kyou and Blaze remained silent, though where Victor seemed moderately at annoyed at Clive, Sif was smiling and clearly amused by the apparently childish nature of Avani. The renamon would then look to the pawnchessmon at Clive's side, and would ask, "You don't seem to mind his boasting."

"Why would I?" Black would respond, "He is both my partner and my rival, he needs that kind of confidence to carry him in comparison to my skill. Where I on the other hand, will prove my superiority with my actions across the battlefield"

Sif nodded in confirmation to the pawnchessmon, who turned her head to face down the long hall again.

In the back, Magnamon was speaking with Ryu and Tiamat, "Don't worry about Gallantmon too much. I know he's touched a nerve by trying to strike you, but I promise he's a good guy. I mean, I honestly didn't expect him to try it, but he's normally fairly level headed despite his strong opinions."

"I get the thing with his brother," Ryu would respond, "but that doesn't excuse treating Tiamat or the other guilmon like that."

"Well... To be honest," Magnamon would respond, "it wasn't and isn't just his brother. His brother is just the most recent one out of a long list of megidramon trying to destroy or conquer the digital world."

This got a simple "Oh" from Ryu, who put his hand to his chin before then responding, "Well, Tiamat isn't like that anyways. Right?"

His partner was deep in her own thoughts, taking a moment to respond, "O-oh. Right. Right. I won't let myself fall into... Whatever happened to his brother."

"I have no doubt you won't," Magnamon responded as the group began to split. Cecilia and Avani going down a path Luna wanted them to go with Clive and Black following the two as Victor, Kyou, and their partners went down another.

Magnamon continued down the middle path with Ryu and Tiamat, "I think I've only ever heard of one good megidramon, the original one himself."

Ryu would respond to this with, "So there is proof of not every megidramon being... Well, evil or insane?"

"We're talking so far back it was before the Royal Knights were even founded. Before all the Demon Lords fell from the celestials plane even. They say that the first megidramon gave up his power to save his fellow dragons before he took on a form similar but not the same as gallantmon, a hero without the need of a title who wielded a lance that held the power of a wyvern."

"It definitely sounds like an interesting tale," his tone was rather too laid-back as he said that, which may have come across as rather disconnected from the conversation on accident.

Magnamon continued despite this, "It is. I could show you the Lord's library after I show you where your room is, if you so wish."

He received a simple "sure" from the human as Tiamat continued to walk while deep in her thoughts, a sense of foreboding at Gallantmon's apparent judgment subtly on her mind...

…..

As Dynasmon and Alizee approached the exit to where they had been training the last few days, Dynasmon stopped before one of the halls, "Alizee, go on ahead and practice a few individual maneuvers. There's something I have to take care of first."

His protege looked at him oddly, "Are you sure?"

"Do it," was Dynasmon's simple response, with him now staring down the hall he had stopped before at someone.

The girl processed it for a few moments, her brain wondering if it was something she should aid in, only for Dynasmon's eyes to settle on her, filled with a concern telling her to go in-case something happened. As such, she then nodded before quickly leaving as Dynasmon made his way down that hall.

"Gallantmon," the wyvern knight's voice said in greeting towards his fellow knight as he approached him.

"Dynasmon," Gallantmon responded before asking, "Did you already pick out a favorite from the humans?"

"Leopardmon asked myself to train her," Dynasmon stated to him, "though Omnimon has told me of the wormmon's champion being kuwagamon, her training will not be alone after today."

"You sound like you're hiding disappointment."

"I'm not," Dynasmon responded, "but I am curious as to why you dishonored yourself earlier by threatening that guilmon."

"That black guilmon, Dynasmon. She will without a doubt become a megidramon or-... She will be a great threat in our future."

"So you seem to think," Dynasmon crossed his arms, "have you instead regressed rather than moved on?"

This received a growl from Gallantmon, "Would you rather she cause immense destruction later rather than be dealt with now? What if she suddenly changes on the battlefield, and then starts annihilating both our enemies and our allies? Would that not only benefit our... foes? What if the power she wields proves too much for her or for her partners... Device to handle? Who is to say she is not hiding that malice within herself until much later?"

"No. It would not benefit our foes to suffer the presence of a megidramon, nor do I believe her to being hiding such malice, as little as I know of her," Dynasmon responded as he narrowed his eyes at the way Gallantmon was speaking, "You've more sense than to make assumptions of the individual, Gallantmon."

"... Maybe it's all this talk about my brother that's getting to my head is all."

"Mm, Perhaps it is. What happened on your mission to discover his current status?"

"He... I found the prison broken open, but not with the power of a dragon... The marks, the scars in the dirt, the same as my own weapons," Gallantmon responded without looking into Dynasmon's eyes, "It was... obvious what had happened, Dynasmon... -He had unlocked the same power I wield. For him of all people to achieve that balance."

Dynasmon noticed that he had whispered bits of his statement, "And that was all you found?"

A few moments of silence before Gallantmon responded, "No. He was waiting for me when I got there... -I barely managed to ward him off before I retreated. I was not ready for him to wield such power. Impressive... But terrifying power."

"I wouldn't think you one to call your brothers abilities impressive, even if he unlocked a new form."

"Even I must acknowledge that he's certainlyhoned his abilities to a new level on-level, or even above myself in raw power."

Dynasmon had suspicions in his heart, but instead changed the subject, "Perhaps it is time you went to see Lord Alphamon?"

"Right, Lord Alphamon, I'd almost forgotten he wants to speak with me on my reprehensible actions," Gallantmon replied as he began to walk past Dynasmon, "I'm not letting go what I said about that black guilmon... Her power will be too great for her."

Dynasmon didn't respond as his eyes followed his fellow knight before turning and watching him go. The wyvern knight slowly uncrossing his arms as he thought to himself, 'It seems that Alizee's training will have to be cut short today...'

Authors note

And with that, we are DONE with the introductory arc for the Royal Knights chosen humans. Really hoping FFN doesn't stab my formatting, ODT files don't seem to transfer well to the FFN Doc format.

For those of you who submitted Demon Lord chosen, don't worry. My goal is to have them introduced in two to three chapters from here. Five or six, much better than the seven or eight I thought I'd be doing it at. God I really don't like massive group chapters, because not every character is going to get equal screen time during them.

I'd also like to reiterate the policy again regarding accents. They had short lines to show they have them, but beyond that dialogue will be done normally so as to not stress the majority of readers.

I tried to have chapter 4 ready in combination with this, but it still needs some work so that'll probably be in a day or two. Then we'll all back on schedule with weekly Wednesday updates.

Weird thing about the digital hazard marks. Lucemon and the guilmon lines all have it for a reason, right? But for some reason Mirage Gaogamon has it on him and I spent so long trying to find out why he had it on him. The best reasoning I've heard so far is it was simply a design choice without being aware of what it means. As it is, there doesn't seem to be an actual lore reason for him to have it(Maybe burst mode but that doesn't really make sense considering all the others who have burst mode) so I didn't include him.

Apologies for those who don't like chapters that are mostly just dialogue. Next chapter will hopefully appease your hunger for fight scenes.