Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon: Apocalypse ❯ The Keyes of the Heavens: Chapter 3 ( Chapter 25 )

My name is James Masters, and I am a soldier of the Digitalatri, or rather, I once was. I was originally part of the London team, along with several others. We came from various backgrounds, and while we did not get along too well at first, we soon became the best of friends. Our connection grew stronger and stronger…

That was until the Second Black Death, that was until we lost our first member, a young girl that claimed to be a member of the Royal Family…in truth she was distantly related. But her death completely tore the team apart. And then, my friends and fellow teammates began to die one by one until I was the only one left. Betamon and I found our way to the Digital World, and that was where the Priestess Miayag approached me and gave us the power to have Betamon evolve to his Mega form, Seadramon.

We used this power to fight for the name of the Digital God. However, that proved to be a lie, the God of the Digital World was GranDracmon, an ancient evil, who used us to resurrect himself. We decided that we should head to the three moons orbiting what was once the Digital World because of a dream Sora Takenouchi had. The digimon partners of the Daughters of the First were able to evolve their partners to their Fully Evolved forms, but Keeya Genet and Iduia Ramiro were killed by GranDracmon’s Four Horsemen. On Earth, Kirahi, Miayag’s replacement in Digitalatri, was gathering a group of Infected Chosen in the park, when Dingo Hogan stumbled upon them… ------------------------------------- The Key of the Heavens: Chapter 3 ------------------------------------

Dingo leapt over a trash can as he charged down the sidewalk. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the congregation of Infected Chosen was charging down the street, He twisted his head back around and continued forward.

“Are they still there?” Ganimon X asked, running at his side.

“What do you think?” Dingo snapped.

“Why aren’t we fighting?” the crab asked.

“Because we’re gonna get killed, that’s why!” he snapped, “We’ve got ta warn Taichi! He’ll know what ta do!”

They continued down the sidewalk, running as fast as they could, trying with all of their might to escape. However, they were becoming tired, and they knew it. It would not be long before they would simply fall to their knees, and then certain death. They had to escape.

As they approached the end of a block, they quickly turned, hoping to lose them. However, as they leapt around the turn, they quickly slid to a stop. Standing before them was a another group of Infected Chosen, all with varying degrees of BD-2. Their partners were all trapped in the Child level, due to the side-affect of BD-2 coupled with the stress of passing through the Digital Gate. Even though, a hundred Child digimon could be a problem for even an adult X-digimon.

Yet, Dingo knew that he did not have a choice. He grabbed his X-digivice. “Ganimon…”

His partner nodded. “Right. Ganimon X evolve to Gesomon X!”

The Infected Chosen shrunk back in surprise, but the boy with the Armadimon stood his ground. “Don’t let him scare you! We must complete this mission for the Digital God!”

“Listen ta me!” Dingo shouted, “The Digital God is a vampire named GranDracmon! He’s just usin’ ya to come ta Earth, and then he’s gonna kill ya all!”

“Lies!” the boy shouted, “You’re lying!”

“I’m tellin’ ya the truth!” he shouted.

The boy pointed his finger forward. “Kill them!”

The digimon began to close in around them. Gesomon X was about to attack, when a group of Numemon leapt in to attack. Gesomon X swung his tentacle around, knocking them back. This left him open for an attack by a group of Elecmons. Their Sparkling Thunder attack struck him across the back. He twisted around, swinging his tentacle into the group of Mammal digimon. More digimon attacked him again. He growled in anger and extended his tentacles as far as they could, throwing most of the digimon back. Before more digimon could attack him around, he spun around in place as fast as he could, knocking the Infected Chosen and their partners into the air. Due to the tight circle they were crammed into, they did not move far, and leapt to tackle the squid to the ground.

“Flower Cannon!”

The group of digimon were suddenly thrown apart as a blast of energy struck them from behind. Dingo and Gesomon X shot their heads to the sky and saw Lillymon X hovering above them. Megaseadramon X was hovering above their heads as well, with Michael and Mimi riding upon his back.

Dingo smiled. “Fancy meetin’ ya guys here!”

“More X-Chosen!” the boy with the Armadimon shouted, “Kill them now!”

“Stop!” Mimi shouted, “You don’t have to do this. I understand that you’re hurt…”

“Don’t patronize us!” a girl shouted, “You’re enemies of the Digital God, you must be exterminated!”

Michael growled. “I’m getting really sick of this! Megaseadramon….!”

“No, don’t!” Mimi shouted, “Lilymon’ll take care of it!” She nodded to her partner.

The flower woman nodded and began to fly around in a circle. A wave of green pollen fell from her body and soon covered the large group below. As the Chosen and the digimon began to breath the green dust into their lungs, their eyes became heavy and began to drop.

“Dingo!” Mimi shouted, “Cover your mouth!”

The Australian man placed his hand over his mouth, but his partner did not hear the warning in time and Gesomon X fell to the ground, snoring loudly. He soon regressed to Ganimon X once again. Soon, the army of Infected Chosen joined him, and fell to the ground in sleep.

“There,” Mimi smiled, “That’s better, we don’t need to hurt them, they’re just following what they believe in…”

“Yeah, well I got bad news for ya,” Dingo said, softly.

“You don’t need to talk so quietly,” Lilymon X said, “My Sleep Petal will keep them asleep for about an hour, they’re not going to wake up.”

The Australian man shook his head, “All right, whatever, listen, we’ve got ta warn Taichi and the others!”

“Why?” Michael asked, “What’s going on?”

Dingo stared at him with a mixture of horror and panic. “GranDracmon’s coming here.”

-----------------------------

On the first moon of the Digital World, known as the Seraphimoon, Sora, Maria, Anna and their partners had reached the mysterious mountain that Patamon had seen upon their arrival on the small sphere. The lone, pointed hill was the only landmark on the entire moon, and so it was the group’s only lead, and upon investigating the hill, they discovered a small cavern near the bottom. The three young women and their partners stared into the dark shadows of the tunnel.

“So that’s where we’re going, right?” Patamon asked.

“Yes,” Maria said, peering into the dark cavern.

Piyomon turned to her partner. “Aren’t we going?”

“Yeah, “ Sora said, “I’m….I’m just wondering how deep the cave is, the flashlight runs on batteries.”

Anna stepped forward. “Is it that dangerous?”

The redhead stared at her for a moment and remembered that Anna’s everyday was covered in darkness. She reached up and gently rubbed the white bandage that was covering her missing eye and wondered how long before the infection spread to her remaining eye.

“Sora?” the Russian woman asked.

She sighed. “A cave floor isn’t really the smoothest place, Maria might not be able to come with us at all…”

“Oh,” the younger woman pouted.

“And what about you?” Anna asked, “I hate to speak about this, but you are not able to walk as well either.”

The redhead frowned. She sighed deeply. “Yeah…maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all…” She shook her head and clenched the handles of her crutches tightly. “Damn it, what the hell was I thinking? I can’t do this!”

Maria stared at her. “S…Sora…”

She smiled slightly at the Latino woman. “Sorry, Maria, I’m sorry I dragged you along because of my damn pride.”

Maria shook her head. “Sora, I came because you made me believe I could! You’re so strong, Sora, don’t give up, you can do anything.”

She slowly turned to her. “Please…” Maria said, “Please…”

Sora took a deep breath, then smiled slightly. “I’m really starting to feel sorry for myself lately, huh?”

“I’ve got an idea,” Patamon said, “I’ll evolve to Centarumon, and then Maria can ride my back.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Anna said.

Maria quickly agreed. Her partner evolved to his Adult form, and Maria climbed from her wheelchair and onto his back.

Sora nodded, “All right, let’s go, and just be careful.”

The group stepped forward and approached the dark cave. Before they could step across the perimeter, a strange wind blew from deep within the cavern, forcing them all to stop in their tracks.

“What was that?” Anna’s Penmon asked.

Before anyone could respond, a low, mysterious voice echoed from within the cavern. “You are they that serve Taichi Yagami, King of the X-Chosen?”

The group glanced at once another, then Sora nodded. “Yes.”

The voice was silent for a moment before speaking once again. “You are Anna Danika of Wind, Maria Silvano of Earth, and Sora Takenouchi of Fire, Queen of the Daughters of the First, correct?”

“Queen?” Piyomon asked, turning to glance at her partner, “You’re a Queen?”

Sora did not respond to her partner, but kept her gaze on the darkened cavern. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Then enter.”

Sora switched on the flashlight before they entered the dark cavern and continued forward. Anna kept one hand on the wall to help guide them. They walked in silence for a full minute before the ground suddenly gave way beneath them and they fell into nothingness….

“Sora! Sora!”

The redheaded woman slowly felt herself returned to consciousness. She felt a sharp pain in the front of her head, and she came to the conclusion that she was lying on the ground. Piyomon was yelling to her, but she could not see her, nor anything. She must have dropped the flashlight.

“Sora!”

“I’m okay, I’m awake,” she said, pushing herself into a seated position, “Are the others here?”

“No,” her partner responded, “I can’t see them.”

“Can you see the flashlight?” Sora asked, “I can’t see anything.”

“You can’t see anything?” Piyomon asked.

“No,” Sora responded, “Where’s the flashlight?”

“Sora….we don’t need the flashlight, it’s really bright in here…”

“What?” Sora asked.

Piyomon stared at her partner, who was sitting on the ground in the center of a clearing in the cavern. Holes in the wall, near the ceiling, were large enough to allow the light from the sun to flow into the chamber. The pink bird ran to stand in front of Sora and she waved her wings in front of her face.

“Sora…” she said, her voice quivering, “C…can’t you see me?”

“N…no,” the redhead said, “P…Piyomon, I’m completely blind.” The full brunt of the revelation crashed into her and she collapsed to the ground.

“I’m blind…I’m blind!”

Piyomon stared at her face. “Sora, your right eye’s still there.”

Sora reached up and touched her remaining eye. “So?” she asked, “BD-2 probably ate away the back or something….Oh God, I’m blind!”

She began to cry from her remaining eye as she fell to the ground. Piyomon stared at her partner, unsure of what to do. She wanted to help her with every fiber of her being, but she did not know how. She had found Sora’s crutches lying at the base of the slope they had no doubt fallen down.

Piyomon gently rubbed her partner’s back. “Sora, I…we need to look for the others…”

“What’s the use!” she snapped, “I can’t even see anymore…”

The pink bird was not sure how to approach her; she wanted to let her be alone and sort it out, yet she knew that time was running out, and they had to make certain that the others in their group were not harmed.

“Sora,” Piyomon said, “We’ve got to look for Maria and Anna…”

She did not answer.

“And…we’ve got to see if there’s something here to stop GranDracmon…”

“Piyomon,” she said, “What good am I going to be? I can’t see anything!”

“Sora,” she said, “What about Anna? She’s blind too, and she never gave up, did she? She kept going, didn’t she?”

“Piyomon, I’m useless now…”

She could not believe her ears. She had never seen her partner like this before. “Sora…” She took a deep breath, “Sora, we have to look for Maria and the others. They could be really hurt, are you just going to leave them like that?”

“But Piyomon…”

“I’ll guide you,” she said, “I’ve got your crutches right here, now come on.”

The redhead reached out and grabbed her crutches. She felt Piyomon’s wing onto her leg. “Now let’s go.”

They began to walk forward, calling out the names of their missing friends. Piyomon called out with worry and fear in her voice, yet Sora’s calls were half-hearted. She truly wanted her friends to be safe, she truly did, but the darkness that she now saw within her eyes filled her with fear and terror.

As she limped forward, she could only think of her new condition, her new handicap. She could no longer be a fashion designer, how could she see what she was creating? Could she even live alone anymore? She did experience a slight calmness when she thought of living with Taichi, but even that brought her no comfort. How could she live with him if she could not do the simplest tasks? She thought of Anna, but even the accomplishments that the Russian woman had done did not give her hope.

Piyomon noticed that Sora had stopped moving. She turned to her and saw that she was crying from her remaining eye. “Sora…” she said.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” she said, taking a deep breath to calm herself, “Okay, let’s go.”

The pink bird began to walk forward, but Sora was not yet ready, so her wing slipped from around the redhead’s leg. The young woman felt a bust of fear. “Piyomon!” she shouted, “Piyomon!”

“I’m right here,” her partner answered, placing her wing onto Sora’s leg, “I’m right here.”

“Don’t leave again!” she said, panting heavily. Her heart was threatening to leap through her chest.

Piyomon nodded, then held tightly to her partner as they made their way forward. The illuminated cavern they been traveling through soon came to an end with a rock wall and a small opening that was wide enough for only one person. Sora was shaking as Piyomon released her grip on her leg to step through. When the redhead had passed through the opening, she screamed out her partner’s name. “Piyomon, where are you?! Piyomon?!”

“Sora!” her partner shouted, “Anna and Maria are right here, they look like they’re unconscious, but they’re really close to a cliff or something.”

“What?” she asked.

Piyomon stared at the room they were now in, an equally illuminated area, this one with a sharp ravine in the center. Anna, Maria, and their partners were lying dangerously close to the ledge. She wondered how they could have perfectly arrived in that position, but figured that they could determine that after they were moved to safety. She grabbed hold of Sora’s leg and they began to move forward.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. “What’s going on?” Sora shouted.

Piyomon twisted her head around and saw a figure standing in the passage they had entered, a figure draped in a blue cape and carrying a large wand. “Wizardmon?” the pink bird gasped.

He shook his head. “My name is Sorcerymon, and you are not wanted here.”

“We were told to enter!” the bird protested.

Sorcerymon ignored her and charged forward. Piyomon pushed Sora to the side and Sorcerymon’s staff crashed to the ground.

“What’s going on?” Sora shouted.

“We’re under attack!” Piyomon shouted, “Sora, you have to evolve me!”

The redhead nodded and reached for her digivice, which was attached to a belt that she wore around her dress. She was not sure where Piyomon was, so she just pointed the device into the air. She felt the familiar connection and heard her partner shout out, “Piyomon evolve to Birdramon!”

She suddenly realized that she did not know where the battle was taking place, and a horrified thought entered her mind, she would not know if she was seconds away from being injured. She knew that Anna could hear the sound of battle, so she tried to listen to the sounds around her, but her heart was pounding far too fast for her to concentrate.

Birdramon hovered in the air, staring down at Sorcerymon. The magical digimon pointed his staff at the hovering firebird. “Crystal Barrage!” Waves of sharp ice shot from the tip of the staff towards the hovering bird. She quickly darted out of the way,

She began to flap her wings to execute her Meteor Wing technique, but thought better of it. Sora was blindly standing on the ground, how would she know to move in time?

“Crystal Barrage!”

Birdramon darted to the side just in time, however, as she did, her wings clipped the side of the cavern. This caused the walls to shake, which, in turn, caused the ground to shake. The ground beneath the unconscious Anna and Maria jarred lose, and the group began to slid towards the cliff edge.

“Sora!” Birdramon shouted, “Anna and Maria are falling into the cliff, you’ve got to save them!”

“What?” she gasped, “I…I don’t know where they are!”

Birdramon dodged another attack from Sorcerymon, keeping her eyes on the scene below. “They’re right to your left! Sora, you’re got to hurry!”

The redhead twisted her head, but all she saw was darkness. “Piyomon, I…I can’t…!”

“Sora, you have to!” she screamed, “They’re going to die, Sora!”

The redhead dropped down to her knees. “I…I….”

“Sora!”

She lifted her head in defiance of her fear and began to crawl forward. As she did, she felt a sharp pain in her head once more. To her surprise, the darkness began to part, and she was able to see once more.

“I can see!” she gasped, “I can…” She twisted her head around in an effort to see Anna and Maria; when she did, she was certain that her vision had not completely returned, as the two young women and their partner were hovering in the air, safely suspended over the deep ravine, still unconscious, but hovering none-the-less.

She turned to her partner, and found that Birdramon was staring at who she deduced was Sorcerymon, who was glowing brightly, evolving or transforming into a larger, winged digimon.

“What’s going on here?” Sora demanded.

The winged digimon answered. “My name is Seraphimon, and I have been waiting here for a very long time.”

“What?” Birdramon asked.

“Following the war with GranDracmon, Ophanimon, Cherubimon and I used our power to seal him within the center of the Digital World. We took our place within the heavens, and our lives eventually passed, returning our bodies to Digitamas, those Digitamas eventually grew to large planets…”

“This is your Digitama?” Birdramon asked.

“This moon grew around that Digitama,” he answered, “A Digitama I will now give to you, but before I could, I needed to test you to determine your character and strength.”

“Test?” Sora asked.

“Your greatest fear is to lose your sight, is it not? When your friends were in danger, you overcame that fear and began to move forward to save them. You overcame your fear to save those your care for, just as Taichi did for you so many years ago.”

She thought of Taichi saving her from Datamon. “So this was all a test?”

Seraphimon nodded. “Yes, that is correct, and necessary.”

The redhead mentioned to Anna, Maria and their partners. “What about our friends?”

“They are merely sleeping, and will not remember this encounter. You must tell them after returning to your world.” As he spoke, a glowing orb appeared over his shoulder, which floated over to Sora. She lend forward on her crutches and grabbed the egg within her hands.

“What’s this suppose to do anyway?” she asked.

“That you must discover on your own. I have the power to return you to Earth.”

Sora nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Stand beside your friends, and I shall return you home.”

The redhead and her partner began to walk to their still-unconscious friends. “I’m sorry,” Sora said.

“What?” Birdramon asked.

“I was acting like such a baby when I couldn’t see. He was right, I was scared of being blind, more scared then anything in my life.”

“And now…?”

She shrugged slightly. “We’ll have to see, but maybe I’m not so scared anymore. I know that if I do become blind, I won’t let it stop me from living…and helping those I care for.”

Birdramon smiled as Seraphimon’s energy enveloped them in a burst of light.

-------------------------

On the central moon, Noriko, Catherine, Lynna and their partners were staring at the entrance to their own cavern. “Aren’t we goin’ inside?” Lynna asked.

“Just a second,” Noriko said, “It’s a little dark inside…”

Catherine chuckled slightly. “Really?”

The Chinese/Japanese woman glared at her. “If you’ve got something to say, then just say it.”

The French woman smiled. “It is just odd zat ze Daughter of Darkness is afraid of going into a dark cave.”

“I’m not afraid of anything!” Noriko shouted, “And just remember, you’re going to be powerless without the sun!”

“What are you talking about?” she snapped, “I have more power zen you!”

As they began to argue, Gizamon turned to Lynna. “Aren’t we going to stop them?”

The Australian woman shrugged. “I dunno, if they start with their fists, I kinda wanna see who wins.” She leaned in closer, “My money’s on Noriko.”

Catherine’s ears perked. She twirled to face Lynna. “What? What do you mean by that?”

“Well, it’s just that…”

“You know, my power helped Yamato and Gabumon evolve to Mega!”

Noriko glared at her. “That’s only because my power was already there! You just built on my hard work!”

“Hard work?!”

Lynna chuckled. “See, this is why it’s so fun to hang with these girls.”

Floramon stepped between the two young women. “Why don’t we just go inside?”

Noriko frowned and turned away from Catherine and stared at the dark cavern. “Come on.”

Catherine glared at the Japanese women’s back, while further behind Lynna snickered slightly. Once they were standing directly before the cavern, a wind exploded from within, chilling them all.

“What the hell was that?” Noriko asked, hugging herself.

“I dunno,” Lynna said, “But that was even cold for me!”

A voice began to echo from within the cavern. “You are they that serve Yamato Ishida, Prince of the X-Chosen?”

“Yamato’s a Prince?” Catherine asked.

Noriko kept her attention to the darkness within the cavern. “Yeah…everything you just said, that’s right.”

“You are Lynna Jeffry of Water, Catherine Rupert of Light and Noriko Kawada of Darkness, Princess of the Daughters of the First?”

“Princess?!” Catherine exclaimed, “How iz it zat you are a princess?”

Lynna rubbed her chin. “Well, let’s see, if Yamato’s a prince and Noriko’s a princess…then I guess Taichi’s a king and Sora’s a queen?”

“How come I do not get a title?” Catherine frowned.

The voice continued to speak. “Please enter then, Daughters of the First.”

Noriko nodded to the disembodied voice and walked forward. The others followed and stepped inside. The light continued to stream in through the main entrance, illuminating the immediate area. As they began to walk further into the cavern, Noriko began to shiver.

“Cold?” Plotmon asked.

“No...” she said, “It’s something else…the darkness, it’s...it’s just not right…”

She turned around to speak to the others, only to find that they were not there. “Catherine?” Noriko shouted, “Lynna? Floramon? Gizamon? Hello? Guys?” Despite her fevered cries, there was no answer. She and Plotmon were alone.

“Where the hell did they disappear to?” Noriko asked, “They were right behind us.”

“Let’s backtrack,” Plotmon suggested, “Maybe they fell down a hole or something.”

The two females walked back up the path, but found nothing. The other members of their group had simply vanished into thin air.

“Shit,” Noriko muttered, “Now what?”

Without anything else to do, they began to walk back down the path until they arrived within a larger room, one with a domed ceiling. Plotmon glanced around. “A dead end?”

Noriko mentioned to the far wall. “I see a doorway down there. Let’s go check it out.”

“Are you sure?” the Child digimon asked, “Lynna and the others disappeared behind us, shouldn’t we go looking for them?”

Noriko shook her head. “I don’t think they’re back there. The darkness…there was something…fucked-up about it. There’s something else here, and that…thing, took them.”

Plotmon nodded. “But why us?”

Noriko did not answer. Instead, she began to walk forward. Plotmon sighed slightly and followed. They passed through the domed cavern and entered the doorway at the end. They then saw a sight that completely surprised them, a female figure draped in dark robes and standing before a small pool of water.

Noriko and Plotmon gave a surprised gasp. “I am sorry to startle you,” the female figure said.

Noriko nodded. “Who are you?”

“My name is not important.”

“Are you the one that was talking to us outside of the cave?” Plotmon asked.

“Yes,” the female said, “But I had to separate you from the rest of your team.”

“Separate us?” Plotmon asked, raising an eyebrow.”

“Yes,” she said, “It was your depression and anger that called to me.”

“Depression?” Noriko asked, “We’re not depressed.”

“You are lying to yourself,” she answered, “I can help you.”

“This is ridiculous!” Plotmon sighed, “Noriko, ask her where…Noriko?” The Child digimon was horrified to see that her partner was staring intently at the figure.

“What do you mean you can help?” she asked.

The female began to wave her hands over the pool of water. “I know everything about you Noriko Kawada. You mask your depression and insecurity behind anger.”

The Japanese woman continued to stare at her. Plotmon could not believe it, but this mysterious female seemed to have reached something deep within her.

“What are you saying?” Noriko asked.

The female continued to wave her hands over the pool. “If you wish to overcome your problems, then you must overcome the source of your depression and insecurity.”

“And what would that be?” Plotmon asked, rolling her eyes.

The female maneuvered her hands over the pool of water. The liquid shimmered for a moment, twisting and turning until an image appeared in the reflection, the face of a familiar young woman.

“Catherine?” Noriko gasped.

“That is correct,” the female answered, “The one called Catherine Rupert is your rival, your opposite. She is the light, you are the dark. Everything you are, she is not, and everything she is, you are not. She is attractive, cheerful, beautiful, she is liked by everyone, including Yamato Ishida.”

Noriko did not respond, only continued to stare into the water.

The female continued, “Catherine outshines you in every respect, and as time moves forward, she will win Yamato for herself. If you wish to prevent this, if you wish your depression and anxiety to leave, then you must remove Catherine Rupert, you must cleanse her from all worlds, from life itself…”

“Noriko!” Plotmon shouted, “Noriko, you can’t listen to this. She’s wrong!”

The Japanese woman shook her head. “No, Plotmon, she isn’t.”

The small digimon felt her blood turn cold. “What?”

Noriko took a deep breath. “She’s not wrong, she’s completely right. I…I am jealous of Catherine. I mean, look at her, she might have lost her hair to BD-2, but she could still be a supermodel or something, and she’s rich, she’s so…so cheerful and happy…”

“Noriko…”

The young woman smiled slightly and stared at the mysterious female. “And you’re right, everything Catherine is, I’m not, but you know what? That’s just who I am. Sure, maybe I’m not as pretty as Catherine, or as cheerful, but I don’t need to compare myself against her! When she and Sora were both captured by the Demon Lords, I was the one that kept the other Daughters together, I was the one that gave Yamato the power to defeat Chimeramon in Nightsun, and I was even the one that helped rescues Catherine. I’m not Catherine, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less who I am. And I know that Yamato loves me, so you know, I’ve got nothing to feel insecure about, nothing at all.”

The female began to laugh slightly. “Well done, Noriko, well done. You have passed this test.”

“Test?” Plotmon asked.

The robes of the female vanished and she revealed herself to be a woman with large wings emerging from her back. “Please forgive me, my name is Ophanimon, and I have been waiting here since the war against GranDracmon.”

“This was just a test?” Noriko asked.

“Yes, you had to overcome your jealously and insecurity against Catherine, just as Yamato Ishida did against Taichi Yagami. And to reward you, I shall present to you my Digitama. Please accept it now.”

She held out her hands, and a glowing orb appeared within her palms. It floated forward, and Noriko gently grasped it. The Japanese woman stared at her. “What about the others?”

Ophanimon mentioned over Noriko’s shoulder. She turned and saw their missing members standing within the doorway to the smaller room. They were all staring directly at her, but their eyes were glossed over. “What did you do to them?” Plotmon demanded.

“They are not aware of their surroundings at this moment. They will not remember this encounter, but they will be fine once I return you to your world.”

“Wait, how does your Digitama defeat GranDracmon?”

Ophanimon glanced to the ground. “That, I’m afraid, you must discover on your own. Think of it as another test.”

Noriko muttered something.

“Now please, Daughter of Darkness, take your place with your friends, and I will send you home.”

Noriko and Plotmon walked to stand beside the others. Plotmon turned to her partner. “Yamato’s going to be really proud of you, you know.”

The Japanese woman smiled as Ophanimon’s light enveloped them. “Yeah…I can’t wait to tell him.”

-----------------------------

On the third moon, the four members of Miayag’s Digitalatri were standing before their own mysterious cavern, at the base of a large ravine. Keiko narrowed her eyes as she stared at the entrance. “I wonder what’s inside of there.”

“We’re going inside, right?” her Kunemon asked.

“Yes we are,” Hiroshi answered.

Takashi crossed his arms. “I still think this is a trap that the X-Chosen set up.”

“Yeah, we know,” James frowned, “And I’m telling you that you’re too paranoid.”

He turned away. “I just want to be cautious.”

Hiroshi smiled slightly. “If we wanted to be cautious, we shouldn’t have even agreed to do this.” He nodded at the others. “Come on.”

The group walked towards the entrance of the cavern, when a cold wind exploded from the darkness, enveloping them. They all shivered violently, but before they could speak, a voice boomed from within, “You are they that serve Megumi Seisou, known as Chihi Miayag, Lady of the Digitalatri?”

“Who said that?” Takashi demanded.

“That is not important now, please answer the question. You are they that serve Megumi Seisou, known as Chihi Miayag, Lady of the Digitalatri?”

“Yes,” Hiroshi answered, “We are.”

The voice was silent for a moment before speaking again. “You are James Masters, Takashi Yuuske, Keiko Shingu, and Hiroshi Shibya, General of the Digitalatri?”

“That is correct,” Hiroshi answered.

“Then enter this cavern, and be prepared to face your inner darkness.”

The Digitalatri glanced at one another, then walked into the darkness of the cavern. As they walked forward, the darkness began to swirl, until the shadows parted, revealing a familiar sight to the Digitalatri, an image of a collapsing church, with a young woman standing on the altar, along with three young adults.

“I remember this day,” Hiroshi said.

“This was the day we met Lady Miayag,” Keiko answered.

Like a recording being displayed on a screen, the image began to proceed as it had on that day so long ago…

Miayag raised her arms. “Keiko, Takashi, Hiroshi, do you wish to be saved?”

Takashi agreed, while Hiroshi nodded slightly at Keiko. The slightly overweight girl stared at Miayag. “I speak for myself and Hiroshi, since he can’t, and we wish to be saved.”

She nodded. “Yes, and so you will, but to you the God of the Digital World shall give you the greatest power he has bestowed upon his followers. However, you must first prove your worth…” She mentioned to the altar behind her, where they could now see that Noriko, Maria were tied and bound in the center; their digimon had been regressed to their Child forms, and all were being guarded by Tatum, Sam, and their new partners, Archnemon and Mummymon.

“Noriko?” Takashi gasped.

“That’s right,” Miayag grinned, “If you want to prove yourselves to receive the Digital God’s greatest gift, then you must kill them!”

Takashi, Noriko and Hiroshi stared in horror at Maria and especially Noriko, who was staring back at them in equal horror. “Takashi…” she gasped, staring at her young friend. She turned to the other girl. “Keiko…” They only turned away. When she turned to Hiroshi, the young man stared at her with unemotional eyes. He nodded at Keiko and Takashi, who nodded slowly as well.

Keiko struggled to speak. “W…we choose their deaths.”

Miayag smiled. “Excellent.” She walked forward and handed Hiroshi a sharp dagger. “Began…”

The Japanese young man stepped forward the dagger glistening in the evening light. He approached Noriko, who continued to plead with her eyes. Behind her, Centarumon’s child form, Patamon, and Noriko’s partner, Plotmon, stood defensively in front of Maria. Hiroshi’s eyes were cold as he moved the knife into position at Noriko’s neck…

Keiko watched with mixed emotions, but when she saw Hiroshi place the knife against Noriko’s neck, she was forced to turn away. “Keiko?” Hiroshi asked.

She buried her face in his chest. “I can’t believe what we did to her! She…she was our friend, and look what we did!”

“She turned her back on us!” Takashi protested.

“But we didn’t have to nearly kill her!” she shook her head violently, “If Yagami and Ishida didn’t save her…then we would have…”

“Guys,” James said, “Something’s happening…”

The group looked at the image, only to see that it had changed, this time to an image of a city surrounded by a thick wall. “Nightsun…” James said.

Keiko watched in horror as she saw an image of herself leading the forces of the Digitalatri against the citizens of the small city. An image of Hiroshi was standing in the rear, along with Miayag. The group watched as the Digitalatri army brutally assaulted the Nightsun population.

“We destroyed their city,” James said, “We destroyed their homes…”

Even Takashi frowned at the image. “Yeah…you’re right…after everything we did, it’s no wonder the X-Chosen don’t trust us…”

“What about Lady Miayag?” Keiko asked, “How is she feeling?”

Hiroshi stared at the scene being displayed before him. He smiled slightly and looked to the sky. “I don’t know who you are or why you’re showing these things to us, but if you’re trying to break our spirits, it won’t work. Yes, we’ve done things that we now regret, but everything we did, was at the request of Lady Miayag. She’s the one that gave us hope when we didn’t have any. And now our beliefs were nothing but a lie, we will make up for it every day for the rest of our lives if need be. We know we’ve made mistakes, but we won’t feel sorry for ourselves any longer!”

The images around them suddenly dissolved, revealing the rocks of the interior of the cavern. “All right,” James’s Betamon said, “Now what?”

Keiko Kunemon mentioned forward. “Him!”

The group twisted their heads until they saw a transparent image of a large, dark creature. “Who the hell are you?” Keiko shouted.

“My name is Cherubimon,” he said.

“Cherubimon?” James asked, “You mean, one of the Three Great Angels that battled GranDracmon?”

“That is correct,” he replied, “You have no doubt come seeking the power I posses. In order to achieve that power, you had to prove yourselves worthy, which you did. All beings do make mistakes, all beings commit acts that they may latter regret, but only by striving to correct those mistakes, will they be redeemed. Self-pity only works for so long, action is what is needed. So, to you I now give, my digitama, which contains my power.”

He held up his palm, and a glowing object appeared. It floated to Keiko, and she caught it within her hands.

“What does this do?” Takashi asked.

“That you must discover on your own,” he replied, “Now, you must hurry back to your world, for GranDracmon is coming.”

“He’s coming to Earth?” Hiroshi gasped, “So soon?”

“Yes,” Cherubimon said, “I have the power to transport you back to your home. Stand together, and it shall be done.”

The group huddled together, and Cherubimon raised his palms. The Digitalatri felt the angel’s energy envelop them, bringing them back to their world.

------------------------

Deep within the Dark Area, GranDracmon stared down at three of his Four Horsemen. “Oiri, Matut, Asm,” he grinned, “The time is quickly approaching. Kirahi is gathering the energy needed for my arrival in the human world.”

He threw his arms into the air and laughed with maniacal glee. “And I will rule over the human world, and those miserable flesh and bone creatures will pay! The First Chosen are dead, but I will have revenge on the rest of their entire species! The human world will burn, and then the digimon will take over, and we will make Earth the new Digital World!”

The Keys to the Heavens hath ended, the Book of Armageddon now begins.