Buildings of pale marble glistened brightly in the rays of the rising sun, so that it looked from your vantage point like a whole city had been carved from solid light. A syrupy gold had taken the streets, and would continue to do so for the next few hours while the morning was young. This was the time when the city was at its most beautiful, and it warmed your heart each and every morning you stood out here on the balcony and watched.
You needed no guards, and had chased away your advisers prior to the rising of the sun, so only a few people stood there with you and watched the spectacle, though the rooftops were dotted with angels who had taken time from their schedules to do the same. You spotted many; their golden armour or their beautific wings made it easy to pick them out. On the larger buildings, they flocked like an oddly coloured murder of crows; their words were spoken softly, but they carried and your power allowed you to listen to it all.
They spoke of great things; of how the world was turning; the defeat of the Digimon King and his Dark Generals had sent ripples through the whole of the Digital World. Yggdrasial was wounded and drawing back to recover; the Seer Council were weakened by the magic of the final battle, perhaps fatally.
The Dominion of Light was in resurgence. Though you had taken your fair share of wounds as well; you still remembered that bitter battle when you had hunted down CrusaderAngemon like the dog he was, and crushed him once and for all. For his crime, there could be no redemption. The murder of the previous Seraphimon, your predecessor.
You remembered how it had felt; the rain against your face, the feel of his armour crumpling in that final, fatal, clash arms. His blood had stained your fist, and you had watched the light leave his last. His last look one of utter despondency at the failure of his quest. His life had come to nought, and you had crushed all hope he had of turning it into a victory. You shouldn't have been proud of that, but you were. It was a tiny little secret that you kept from your allies. The feeling of triumph as your fist had cleaved armour and clash and bone. A sense of vicious, but deserved satisfaction. He had caused much pain, and because he had, you had destroyed him. It was justice.
Wasn't it?
You stared into the streets of the city below; gleaming buildings gave way eventually to high-walled streets, and then to great walls which rose up into the clouds. Not a great barrier for one who could fly, but necessary to defend the city from its many enemies.
Jade, your own pupil, was standing to the side uncomfortably. She knew better than to interrupt you right now, but it was obvious from her stance that she was bored. She wasn't native to the city, and didn't seem to have the same connection as you. A pity, as in all other respects she would be a fine successor when the time came.
Her golden hair streamed behind her in the wind, and her wings were set firmly at her back; as though afraid that she might be tempted to fly off. Not that'd be annoyed if she did; honestly, her insistence on spending the start of each day with you had confused you a bit, but then you had turned it into a chance to continue her teachings.
As they usually did, once you had admired the view for a time, you heard the door to the balcony slide open and a few of your most trusted aids joined you. You didn't turn around, but instead spoke from where you stood.
"How goes the struggle with Yggdrasial?"
"It is not open war yet." One of your advisers spoke. He was notable because unlike the rest, he was no angel. He was clad in silver armour, with a crimson under-shirt and a purple cloak which he wore like a second skin. A sword was sheathed at his side, and he bore no other obvious weapons. "But it is also unlikely that Yggdrasial will give up on his insane desire to restart the Digital World. In order to do that... my sources indicate that's cooking up something big."
"I suspected as much." You said, still not looking. The city was yours; yours to lead, but also to protect. You felt like a proud father, knowing all the dangers that it had come through, but it had never fallen. Not even when CrusaderAngemon had led an army to its very walls. "What can you do to delay him Mystimon?"
"Not much." Your loyal knight admitted ruefully. "They suspect me of much, though they cannot prove anything. The Royal Knights do not take kindly to those who do not share their goals, and fellow knight or not, they may try to destroy if I pushed too hard."
"Surely there are some who would support you? You said you had been making connections with that group."
"A few. Gallantmon, Omnimon, maybe one or two others, but if Yggdrasial orders it they will destroy me. At least they'll probably regret it afterwards."
"So much for honour." Jade said softly from her own corner.
"On the contrary." Mistymon was not annoyed at the interruption; indeed, he'd served for almost as long as you. "Honour is exactly what will force their hand. A knight's honour is not the same as that of, say, an angel or of a wandering warrior. We are sworn to our lord, to defy them would be...unthinkable. The Royal Knights will not bend, I am afraid."
"Then we destroy them." Jade spoke. "We strike first, gather our forces and march. Indivudally they are powerful, but they are few and we many. We are angels, to the denizens of the world below, the fact we oppose the knights will be enough to follow us to battle. Our forces will grow the longer we fight. They cannot win."
"If that were the case." Mistymon said."I wonder why the knights have not been cast down already. If they were that easy to unseat."
"We have to do something." Jade reminded you. "The World Computer will tolerate no equal, you know that! This whole damn war was started because of that. You know he's weakened now, and we are strong. If we continue to rise like this, we'll catch his attention. The city will burn."
Flames licked up around the buildings; their marble sheen now blackened and scorched. Behind you, the wall fell slowly. Cracks spreading as larger and larger chunks were sent tumbling. You shouted a rallying cry, but it was too little. The rest of your troops – the rest of the city - -watched in horror as the first wall fell.
You blinked away the vivid imagining of the city in flames. It would never happen; not while you still drew breath. Instead of being consumed by the nagging worry of the vision, you focused on the conversation.
"The knights are weak! Several of their number are misisng or dead, we should strike now." Jade was insisting.
"Several are gone." Mistymon confirmed. "But Omnimon remains. Even if all the rest were to vanish, I'd hesitate to move against him. Army or not, no foe stands before the Knight of the End."
Jade scoffed. "Knights and their silly titles. What do words matter when an army of thousands is staring you down? It may have escaped you, but we have quite a few megas ourselves. Omnimon would tire, and eventually be overcome."
"How many lives before that, though?" Mistymon asked. "Certainly thousands. Most of our megas, as they would be priority targets. Probably a good chunk of our ultimates too. Then, assuming we won, we would be vastly reduced. Calling us a shadow of ourselves would be too generous. We would cease to exist as a group, just like the Domain of Shadow."
"Domain of Shadow?" Jade was confused for a moment, before memory seemed to return to you. "Oh, you mean that faction founded by the Demon Lords? We wiped that out, Mistymon. Every single one of them. What I want is no different."
"That." He said. "Is what worries me."
"What do you think?" You asked your third advisor; the one whom you valued most highly of all. She spoke rarely, and even more rarely voiced her opinions, but when she did it was worth the infuriating silences.
Ophanimon was quiet for some time, and you thought at first that she would not answer at all. Then, she spokes and her words were soft and brought memories to you of less war-torn times.
"I gave up my position to allow your ascent." She said. "When I did so, I did it with the knowledge that such choices were now not my place. I do not intend to take back that duty; it belongs to the ruling Three, which right consists solely of you, Seraphimon."
"Is it so easy to slip off the chains of government?" You asked, not angry but annoyed by her answer. "The duty that you are sworn to undertake."
"Not at all." She said. "If you decide to fight, I will fight. I am powerful, and will doubtless kill many. But I do not wish to be drawn back to the Three. I have served my time; I watched each of my peers die. Why do you think I would want to do that again?"
You knew that Jade was right; an offensive right now was the best chance to prevent Yggdrasial from pulling one of his stunts; especially now that the world was recovering from such a devastating war. However, like Mistymon you were doubtful of your ability to actually deal with Omnimon and if you didn't.... well, you could always try to bypass but what would he do when he discovered that his Lord, and all his allies were dead? You had no illusions of your ability to permanently destroy Yggdrasial, but maybe you could fake it for a time.
What then? Would Yggdrasial be content to peacefully give way to your Dominion? Of course not, he'd raise an army, a new group of knights, and Omnimon would be drawn in...
The city would fall. It was inescapable. Even if everything went perfectly, and you ambushed and destroyed the other Knights; even if you managed to disable the World Computer somehow, even if you were left with enough forces to defend the city, Omnimon would know who did it, and he'd come for vengeance you had no doubt.
To strike would be to accept the fall of the city; his title was not one he went without earning. The Knight of the End had never been defeated even once, and whole armies had fallen to his hand alone. As Seraphimon, you knew that in theory you were the strongest angel in the city, but you didn't compare to Omnimon.
"What about an alliance?" Jade asked suddenly. "With the Seer Council? They were at least trustworthy during the war, and I doubt they want to see the world ended either."
"The Council suffered the most of all our allies during the final battle." You said. " They have withdrawn from this world, and returned to their own sealed realm to lick their wounds. They will return in time, but..."
"Not for a hundred years at least." Ophanimon said. "The Deva were decimated, the Olympus Twelve were overrun. To all intents and purposes, the Dominion and the Knights are the last groups of significant influence to be active and powerful."
"So now we battle for the fate of the world." You mused. "Not because of some greater threat, but merely to preserve our lives. If we wait, the knights will turn on us, if we do not, we have started a war and that is not easily forgiven."
"And that" Ophanimon said. "Is one of the reasons I will not be returning to my place as one of the Three. Choices like that can destroy a soul if you let them."
"Did you let them do it to yours?"
You blinked at the odd question, turned to meet her and asked her what she had meant. Ophanimon seemed confused.
"I merely said that the choices can be difficult, surely you don't doubt that? Not unless the power has gone to your head already."
"No..." You shook your head, ignoring the chortle in her voice. If anyone had the right to playful mockery of you, it was your mentor. "It must have been nothing."
"Is it so easy to ignore the presence of your oldest ally?"
Again that voice, but this time you saw the source! A warrior stood clothed in armour which glowed like the streets of your city. As your eyes focused on him, he bounded up and in a single great leap he cleared the balcony!
You thought for sure that he would fall; he had no wings; and he looked totally out of place. His armour was carved in white, with mottled patches of blue; a long scarf was wrapped about his neck, and as he fell he twisted to face you. His helmet was carved into the face of a wolf, but a human mouth was visible below its snout. It curved into a smile, and he gestured to you then he was gone.
A flash of light and he appeared on the roof of the nearest building. His blue scarves bellowed in the wind, and you were easily able to spot him but he didn't care. He stood, as though in challenge.
You didn't even wait to see why the others hadn't reacted; with a great surge of wind, you unbound your wings and took to the air. Wind rushed past you as you travelled to the building where the strange warrior stood.
"Who are you?" You demanded when you felt your feet connect with the roof. The world around you was fading now, going grey as the light seemed to concentrate on the two of you. There was a nagging feeling in the back of your mind, but you did not quite know what it was yet.
In a flurry of sudden movement, the strange warrior had drawn two blue blades from his belt. Shining weapons of forged light. You recognised them instantly, and with them, their wielder. There was only one being who used blades like that; a legendary warrior told of in the histories of the Dominion for as long as you remembered.
"Lobomon."
He inclined his head. You felt an odd mixture of awe and fear; that the very Spirit of Light had graced your city at all seemed impossible. No one had seen him since long ago when he, in the form of AncientGarurumon, had duelled Lucemon to a standstill, and bequeathed his power to your kind. You didn't know why he was here, but for some reason you felt a tinge of fear. As though he was something you didn't want to be near, but why?
He brought one arm up; still holding the blade so that it pointed directly at your chest. You struggled for a moment, why wasn't he speaking?
"You mean me? You've come for me?"
Another nod.
"Why? And why can't you speak? What do you want with me?"
This time, he jabbed his blade so that it dinged off your armour, and you quirked your head. What was the point in that? Obviously not an attack...
Then you noticed it. A black spot travelling from the point of impact, and where it went you lost all feeling. A swift horror stole over you and it began to speed up. You clutched at it, but it would not be removed and soon you felt the energy leave. Knees weak, you collapsed to the ground.
There was no pain; but there should have been! Your whole body was being corrupted; twisted by the touch. You looked in vein to the Spirit of Light, who had betrayed you with a single touch. His eyes were sad.
Then you caught sight of the city, and saw the flames.
"No!" You shouted; weakness forgotten. "Nononononono! Not again! Not again!"
The pain and horror of the moment struck you like a dagger through time; the walls collapsed just as you had seen; the streets ran with blood, and the screams of the angels who had watched filled your ears. You flexed a hand; no longer armoured, but pale. Felt the dark power fill up, and knew why it was not clashing with the light.
Because there was no light. Not anymore.
A sudden heaviness filled you, and your throat was rough. Tears were in your eyes, and you didn't care who saw. You looked up for the last time, and saw the city in ruins. Buildings broken or cracked; the ashes of long-dead fires coloured the streets black. There was no one here. There hadn't been for quite some time.
"I've been living in the past, haven't I?" You said softly. The last hint of the dream faded, and you were Myotismon once more. You were not the guardian of this place, you were a fallen angel, and one of the few survivors.
Your eyes narrowed, and you turned with a sudden speed.
"You! Why did you create this illusion! Why did you make this place!" Rage filled you; to have felt for a few seconds like your world had still lived; to feel that you had been whole again, and then to have it torn away!
"He didn't. You did."
A new voice. A figure faded in from the shadows of a broken house. A dark warrior, made up to look like a lion.
"Loweemon." You said slowly. "You're here too."
"Of course I am, and you'd best be thankful. Its taking the combined power of myself and Lobomon to keep your Core from returning to Anubismon. Even so, we cannot maintain this place for long."
"My Core?" Your hand went to your chest; to your beating heart. It wasn't. A memory; hazy and pain-fogged, but nevertheless accurate. "I died. Daemon killed me."
"Yeah. You tried the whole ''power of friendship'' shtick and it turns out that it only works for humans and Digi-Destined." Loweemon said with a grin. He shook his head suddenly, and then added. "Don't mind me. I respect that, I really do. In fact, if you hadn't done that, I don't think we'd be able to do this."
"What is this?" You asked. "This place... I created it?"
"When you died, your body was deleted, but your core was still in existence for a few seconds. Because Daemon was stupid enough to bring you close to the runes, Lobomon could intervene, and so could I. With our powers together, we locked you into the spell, and now all the power he was using in his magic is going into keeping you in this world. We gave you the power, but you created this perfect world all on your own." That same grin reformed. "I never knew you still had a thing for the good guys."
You ignored his jab., "If I was hooked to the spell, did that stop it?"
"No. We were too late. The first part of his plan has been completed, but he has not released the Demon Lords yet. We can still stop him. Right now, you're in a kind of limbo, nether dead nor alive. Alone, neither myself nor Lobomon could sustain it for more than a few seconds, but luckily Daemon's spell does most of the work. It does not, however, help to rebuild your body. That part we're going to need to do ourselves... and it won't be easy."
"I imagine not." You said slowly. "But you wouldn't bring it up without a plan, so what have you got?"
"Honestly? Its not going to be easy at all, or even possible usually. We're going to take the power of the runes and feed it through ourselves, filtering it and then use that to help build a new body. But.... Lobomon was injured badly by the spell, and he can't devote a lot of power to it, so it is down mostly to me. In addition, as you are now, you cannot be reborn in this manner. Only a spirit could."
"DuskMyotismon?"
"Could, but I can't fuse with you since I'll be needed to direct the spell. Lobomon can't do it directly either – his light and your darkness? One would annihilate the other. So here is what I am going to do. I want you to fuse with both of us. It will be like an advanced form of Spirit Evolution; its been done before, but usually it is by two spirits of the same element. If it works, I can act as a buffer between you and Lobomon while directing most of my attention towards the spell."
"If it doesn't?"
"Oh, it'll probably wipe out all three of us."
"Ah, the usual then."
"Yep." He gave a cheery nod. "Lobomon has agreed to lend you his power this once. He's not too keen on it as you might imagine. So I am going to need you to try and get a feel for the light. You were an angel once, remember how that felt. The more alike you are to Lobomon, the more focus I can divert towards the main thing which is getting us all out of here."
He paused.
"But not too alike of course, because if you totally converted then it would be your light vs my darkness and that wouldn't be a happy ending either. Try to strike a balance if you will."
"All right." You said with false bravado. "Let's do this. I want out of here as fast as I can."
Loweemon regarded you for a moment, and then nodded. "Very well. Whatever happens next... you're not a totally evil bastard."
"And you're not a totally worthless paper weight." You countered. "Now do it."
Loweemon grew silent, and raised his hands slowly. Lobomon did the same on the other side of you; and you tried to drown them out. Focusing inwards. Try to remember what it was like to be an angel? Impossible! You'd blotted that out so long ago, it was painful...
But then, you'd been one not five minutes ago, hadn't you? Seraphimon; defender of the Digital World, a being who stood poised on the throne of light, and yet who had not lost his sense of duty to the little people of the world. It had not been like you were now, he had felt more keenly, his empathy far beyond what you usually employed. His sense of duty was a bit strange, and you wondered when you were an Angemon if you had ever thought in such a convoluted manner.
Still, for the sake of your friends you would try. The thought was a connection; Seraphimon would have felt the same. You seized upon it with all your might, and tried to remember the essence of Seraphimon. Not how he had spoken, or what he had said, but what he had felt.
You drew upon it; remembering the feel of the sky; the wind between each feather of your wings; the weight of the armour you had worn, and the duty which seemed to compel you. The determination that the walls would not fall, the fact that they had anyway. The strength with which you had been blessed, and the drive to use it in the defence of others.
Loweemon nodded in approval. With a single gesture; he erupted into a wave of darkness which raced to embrace you. It was cold where he struck; and he seemed to wrap about your body from head to toe. Once he had done this, Lobomon made the same gesture and the wave of light rushed you.
You closed your eyes for this; focused on the image of what you had been... no, what you had wanted to be. You'd never been a Seraphimon, but if you were, that was what you would have been like!
You felt the light, like burning pitch about your body, but the pain was lessened by the blanket of shadows. You remembered the duty to protect your friends and allies, and also remembered Phantomon who had thrown himself in front of the blast meant for you without even a second's pause.
The power of light burned in your blood, but it was a familiar old feeling; like the return to a home you had never thought to see again. The pain it brought was almost welcome, because for the first time since the fall of the city...
You felt at home.
"Myotismon, Spirit Evolution!"
__
The crackling circle of runes was suddenly interrupted as a great surge of power spiked through. ''Shield'' Burned out instantly, and the rest imploded soon after, still the power built until there was a great flash of light.
Ice was scorched to nothing; the tables blown over, the books destroyed. The alter which had been at the centre was utterly destroyed and still the power continued to build. A bubble of light and shadows soon began to show cracks, and then with a second flash it shattered to reveal a single figure kneeling.
He was neither angel nor demon. Six pairs of bat wings extended from his back; his armour was lime green, with gold trimmings. There was not a speck of exposed flesh but for the wings and eyes. His helmet was marked with the symbol of a star, and across his back a Crest.
The last of the light, and evolution complete, you felt the words torn from your throat:
ShadowSeraphimon!
As you stood up, you felt power as you had never felt before. A connection to both light and dark filled you from top to bottom with a sense of purpose, a duty that you had never felt so keenly in your life. You were a guardian, an angel.
One more time.
Daemon would be cast down this day, you swore to yourself that the madness would end; but not yet. First, there was a task you would leave to no other.
A surge of power rippled through the room, and exposed the faintly glowing form of your oldest friend. Phantomon was lying where he had fallen; his entire chest bisected by the force of the attack. Alive, but not for long. Just as you had stood on the precipice of death, so too did he. Phantomon didn't have two spirits to come to his aid, though.
Hmmp. As though you'd ever let any of your followers fight alone.
In seconds you were at his side. Gentle hands propped him up, and you let your mind slowly scan his body, sensing each and every wound with an empathy you had never had. One hand rose, and was laid gently on his chest. His eyes fluttered.
"M-otyismon?"
"Rest my friend. You have done all that you could, now the task falls to me."
"I think...I think rest won't be a problem. I'm dying."
"Not this time Phantomon. This time you live."
Carefully, so as not to disturb him, you syphoned off some of Loweemon's power. Like yourself, Phantomon would react badly to Lobomon's light, but with his power of healing combined with Loweemon's shadow, you could heal your friend's wounds.
Instantly, the wounds began to fade. Fresh, new data was fed to the wounds and the cuts closed inch by inch. Satisfied, you nodded. It'd take the best part of the day, but he would live.
Now, you could turn your attention to Daemon.
You strode to the balcony into which you had first arrived; throwing the door open with such force that it shattered at the force of the impact; spreading your wings, you walked to the edge.
And stopped.
The sky...
The sky was gone. A black void stretched up as far as you could see, and looking down you saw not the icy wastes, but a kind of hilly blackness which also seemed to have no end. There was no sign of life, or any light at all. There was absolutely no doubt about where you were.
"The Dark Area." You said. "So he intends to free the Demon Lords this way. Not if I can help it, Daemon."
_
Daemon escaped before you awoke, and is now somewhere in the Dark Area. However, with your new abilities you can sense the location of the Demon Lords, and know that he will probably show up there eventually. What do you want to do?
[] You'll go to the Demon Lords and wait for him
[] You decide that you will try to track him instead; its a bit riskier but there is no chance that he can trick you and unlock the Lords if he's nowhere near them when you attack. You're confident you can find him.
[] You decide to examine the runes he left in the circle, you know that one can summon demons, how hard can it be?
