The night glittered beautifully with shining blue-white stars. Inside it, a creeping fog curled its misty grasp around the town of Odaiba. And, within Odaiba, the Digidestined slept-but their enemy did not.
When Tai, the unofficial leader of the Digidestined, had finally gone to sleep, he was instantly transported into dreams. They were almost like nightmares, almost, but each of them ended happily, if not also sadly.
Suddenly waking, for reasons unknown, Tai sat up in bed. He just couldn’t stop thinking about last night.
On that night, they had actually met Myotismon-face to face-but not in battle. They had talked to him, and discovered the answers to some of their questions. They now knew some of his past, and also the reason why he wore a mask-he had scars from the undeserved punishments he took as a young Digimon.
And they also realized that there is some good, even in the most evil of beings. You see, one night, Sora ran into Myotismon, but was not attacked. When they later asked the reason for this, Myotismon had told them that she had no protection, she did not do anything to him, and that he "needed not blood."
Blood. The sound of it made Tai shiver. Of course, they already knew he was a vampire-they had figured it out a couple of nights ago-but the fact that he survived on the blood of others was still unsettling.
Tai also thought about Myotismon’s past. He said that he had always been treated unfairly, and had been punished for things he didn’t do. As a matter of fact, he had worked under the same slave driver as Joe and Matt at one point in his life.
Now, though, it all seemed like a dream. He did not know why; it just did. I mean, the setting, the fact that they were talking with a vampire, a vampire-it just all seemed unreal.
Sighing, Tai murmured, "I wonder what he’s doing right now . . ."
Myotismon wasn’t doing much, save thinking. Thinking about his past, his present, even sometimes about his future. Now that he had actually spoken to the Digidestined, he had a better idea of his opponents. He also now knew that they were close friends-they would defend each other to the end.
He had no friends like that. He had no friends, period, except for the persistent human girl who called herself Ymparshthu . . .
Her real name was Emily. Emily Ono. But she called herself "darkness" in her language, and him "vampire"-Triinsahmur. She even once had the nerve to ask him how he survived. It had hit a nerve, but, not wishing to hurt the young child he calmly-but dangerously close to icily-told Ymparshthu that he survived on the blood of others.
The thought stirred unpleasant memories in him. Of when he Digivolved, among
others-of his first kill, you might say. But he did not wish to recall that.
Almost lost in thought, he noticed the first rays of the sun shooting over the horizon.
The next day, as everyone was gathered at Izzy’s house, Izzy discovered an e-mail for him. "Now who could that be?" he muttered, and opened the file.
He was not at all prepared for what was to come next.
It was from Gennai.
"Everybody come here, quick!" he called, over his shoulder. Tai, Matt, Sora, Mimi, Joe, and T.K. all came rushing over.
Then, as they all watched on in wonder, Gennai began to speak to them.
"I bring news from the Digiworld," said he. "It has gotten around that there is another Digidestined-a ninth one, to add to the eighth child that you’re searching for. But, though you may not know it, you have already met him-or her, as it turns out to be."
Everyone was puzzled. Another Digidestined? Who could it be? And what would their crest be of?
"Who is it?!" demanded Tai. Gennai merely shook his head.
"I can’t remember," he said. "but I know that they are in Odaiba."
Butting in, Matt asked, "But what is their crest of? There’s already Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, and Hope, not counting the eighth child’s! What could it possibly stand for?"
"Her crest is of Faithfulness, I know that much," stated Gennai. "But that is where my knowledge runs out. You will have to find them on your own, from here. Goodbye."
"But!-" exclaimed Tai. He was going to say, "But, where are they in Odaiba?"
Said Mimi, "Well, the more the merrier!"
Everyone was amazed. Another Digidestined? How could it be? They were still looking for the eighth child. But another one to look for? It was impossible! How could they do that and fight the evil Digimon at the same time?
As he walked home about five minutes later, a flash of insight came to Tai. Could Kari be the eighth child?
Softly shaking his head, he said, "Maybe, maybe . . ."
It was two days later that they found the eighth child. Gatomon and Wizardmon did, actually, but that didn’t matter much. But they still had not gotten Kari’s-she was the eighth Digidestined-crest.
And it was also then that Izzy found an important clue to the ninth Digidestined.
Izzy received another message from Gennai. In it, he said, "The only way for the ninth Digidestined to fulfil her destiny is for this to happen. At the full lunar eclipse, at exactly midnight, all the Digidestined, their Digimon, and the ninth Digidestined and her Digimon, had to be at the highest point in Odaiba-as the last rays of moonlight shoot
from behind the shadow. Then, the ninth Digidestined’s crest will glow, the Digivice go off-and prophecies will be fulfilled."
This helped Izzy a bit more. Now they knew what they had to do, in order for the prophecies to be fulfilled-but, who would they have to do it for?
Emily "Ymparshthu" Ono was sitting at her desk, in her room, writing something down. It was the beginnings of a poem, a song. It went something like this:
"Child of the Shadow,
Creature of the Night,
Take shelter in darkness
In your plight."
As I said, it was only the beginning, brought on by the memory of Triinsahmur.
Standing up, Ymparshthu exclaimed, "Ouch!"
It felt like she had hit her hand on something sharp, like the corner of a desk-but her hand had been nowhere near the corner of her desk.
She rubbed her hand. It had been doing that lately, right where her birthmark was. The funny thing was, it had never happened before, until now-when it was nearing the full lunar eclipse.
The pain struck again, only worse this time. It was sharper, like someone was driving nails into the back of her hand.
She yelped in pain, and then, it subsided.
Rubbing her hand again, she sat down on her bed. "I wonder if Triinsahmur will come tonight?" she wondered.
She then started to stare off into space.
"Night, beautiful night. Darkness, soothing, utter blackness-stars brightly glittering-icy wind blowing . . ." Sora recalled a poem of someone she knew as she walked home, through the darkness. It was shortly after sunset, but, thanks to the fog, it was as dark as midnight.
Her footsteps echoed loudly in the silence. Occasionally, a car passed by, but that happened very rarely. Not where she was.
It was a long way-or seemed like it-between street lights. That made her trip even more unnerving. And, to add to it all, she could hear flitting sounds that made her skin crawl.
There was one particular noise, like the rustle of leaves in the wind, that happened every so often. Each time, it got closer-but, thank goodness, it was still about ten feet away.
Sora then heard it again-the unmistakable sound of something moving. It was either rustling leaves, or something walking across grass. She was leaning towards the first one, since she didn’t want to lose her nerve.
She would have been more comfortable, had Biyomon been with her. But, she was not; she was at home, hidden under the covers on Sora’s bed.
Suddenly, a loud noise came from behind her. It definitely was something-or someone- walking on the pavement behind. It was loud and clear.
Sora spun around, to find herself staring straight into the deep blue eyes of Myotismon.
And then, she knew no more, as she grew weak-kneed, and fainted.
"What happened?" questioned Tai. "What happened to Sora?"
He was talking on the phone, to Matt.
"I told you what Mimi relayed to me," said Matt. "Sora was put in the hospital last night!"
Tai couldn’t believe it. Healthy, tomboyish Sora was in the hospital. For what? Why would she need to go to a hospital?
Informed Matt, "Mimi said that it was for anemia. Anemia, Tai! Why would Sora get anemia? Well, I have some ideas, myself."
Tai silently nodded his head. He was sure that his ideas were the same as those of Matt.
"I’ll tell the others," he said. "And, I think I have somebody to ask about this."
Sora awoke to the sight of gleaming white hospital walls surrounding her.
"Huh?" she said. She was puzzled. Where was she? Why was she here? She wanted to go home . . .
She tried to lift her hand up to her face, but found that she was too weak to move it but an inch. Slowly and weakly lifting her head, she looked around at her new settings.
It was then that she realized she was in a hospital.
In the bed next to her was Sabrina, her twenty-one-year-old friend. She looked pale, almost as white as her sheets. Her black hair lay limply across her pillow.
"Hmm? Sora, is that you?" she said, waking up. "What are you doing here?"
Then, Sora remembered the events of the previous night: the noises, the darkness, and turning around to find herself staring into Myotismon’s eyes.
"Yeah, its me," answered Sora. She was tired, oh, so tired. But she felt that she must stay awake, try to make connections between it all.
Her friend asked, "Why are you here?"
Sighing, Sora told Sabrina her story.
"Last night, I was walking home from a friend’s house," she informed her friend, "and I kept hearing all these strange noises."
"Same with me," cut in Sabrina.
Sora continued. "Anyway, there was this one noise that kept coming closer, and closer and closer, until it finally stopped. But then, I heard another noise."
She shuddered at the memory. There was another memory, too, one of Myotismon saying something about blood . . .
"And I spun around to find myself staring into deep blue eyes. Then, I fainted."
Sabrina nodded her black-haired head. "It was the same with me," she said, "only,
there was something in those eyes that made me not even notice something . . . I can’t remember what . . ."
"Fangs," finished Sora. "He had fangs."
Meanwhile, back at Joe’s house . . .
Joe was in his room, studying and mentally shouting at himself for making a "C" on a test. Gomamon tried to get him to lighten up, but it just wouldn’t work.
"Oh no, it’s the end of the world! Joe got a C! Oh, this is even more terrible than all the evil Digimon combined!" joked Gomamon, poking a claw at Joe.
"Stop it, will you?" Joe said, almost angrily. But it was kind of hard to get angry with a funny guy like Gomamon. "I have another test to study for. This is my one chance to make up for the last one!"
Bent over his book, Joe looked like an author hunched over their story.
Gomamon laughed. Joe really was a nice kid, it’s just that he needed to lighten up a little. But, other than that (and, sometimes, his complaints), he was an all-around pleasant person.
Suddenly, the phone rang, jarring Joe from his thoughts, and scaring Gomamon half to death.
"Hello," said Joe, answering it. The voice on the other end came so suddenly and loudly that it almost knocked him over in surprise.
"Joe? Is that you?" asked Tai. He seemed worried about something . . .
"Yeah, it’s me," answered Joe. "Why are you calling?"
Tai informed him, "It’s about Sora. She had to be put in the hospital last night, and, from what Mimi heard from her, we personally know the reason."
Joe knew as soon as Tai said that.
"Myotismon," he said. "Yes" was Tai’s answer.
"But why would he do it? He said that Sora did nothing to him," Joe asked.
"Think some more," said Tai, "you know the answer. As a matter of fact, you were the first one to figure it out, earlier."
The answer suddenly popped into Joe’s head.
"She had anemia, didn’t she?"
"Yes."
"I just remembered . . . he lives on blood."
On the other end of the line, Tai shuddered.
"Mimi is going to visit her tonight. If she gets any more information, she’ll tell us. Bye."
With that, Tai hung up the phone, as did Joe (soon enough).
"Oh, and did I mention that there’s a time limit as to when we can find the ninth Digidestined?" asked Gomamon. "Tentomon told me."
Joe hit himself in the fore head.
Kari Kamiya was sitting in the living room, watching cartoons, when Tai walked
in. Gatomon, who was sitting beside the eighth Digidestined, immediately stood up.
"So, any news?" she asked, stretching.
Answered Tai, "Yes. Sora was hospitalized last night."
Gatomon, who had been around Myotismon enough to know the cause, said, "But why? Didn’t Myotismon leave you alone for right now?"
Tai nodded his head. "Yes, but . . ."
"But what?"
"You know him well enough to know why."
"Yes, I do," said Gatomon, stretching again. "I think I should know that by now, considering I used to be his most trusted servant, when he had me convinced that I was an evil Digimon."
Kari was puzzled. "Tell me, Tai, why was Sora put in the hospital?"
Shaking his head, Tai told her, "Because Myotismon survives on the blood of others. He said it himself."
It was Kari who now shuddered. "But why, Tai? Why is he like that?"
Her brother sighed. "I don’t know why, Kari. All I know is that he is a vampire. And that he also happens to be evil, even with what happened a few nights ago," Tai answered.
Gatomon reached a gloved paw up to her face. She knew what Myotismon was like. She also knew that Myotismon hunted every night, to survive. That meant that there would be many, many others. And the only way to save the remaining few would be to destroy Myotismon-her former master.
"I’m sure he didn’t really mean it," whispered Mimi to Sora. Sora’s friend, Sabrina, was asleep in the bed next to hers.
Shaking her head, Sora said, "The only person other than Myotismon who would know that would be Emily Ono. And who knows where she is."
She sighed. It had been a day now, but it seemed like a year. Time seemed to enter a no-passing zone in the hospital; all she could do was wait, and hope for visitors.
Sora was still very weak. She was also pale, almost as white as her bed sheets. Hardly ever having the energy to, she rarely talked to Sabrina.
Just then, Sabrina woke up.
"Huh? Who are you?" she asked of Mimi. Sabrina was a bit dazed, seeing Sora’s visitor.
"My name’s Mimi," answered she, "and Sora’s a friend of mine."
Sabrina nodded her head weakly, but as though she understood. She did.
"Um, I don’t mean to be rude, but can you tell me exactly what happened to you? To give you anemia, I mean?"
She didn’t take it at all as an insult, just a curious question to be answered.
"Okay, here goes," said Sabrina.
"A few nights ago, I was walking home from my job at about eleven thirty, since we’d worked late. It was really dark, thanks to the fog, and it seemed like a long way between street lights. So long, in fact, that the darkness started to get to me.
"I kept hearing strange noises, but, since I was scared, convinced myself that my mind was just playing tricks on me. But there was this one noise that seemed to keep coming closer and closer to me.
"Finally, I couldn’t bear it any more. I turned around, and saw . . ."
She paused, as if making sure it wasn’t just some dream that had happened to her. If it were a dream, then how could she have ended up in the hospital for a severe case of anemia?
"I saw a person, almost, standing behind me."
"It had deep blue eyes that somehow held me in place, and, as I told you, Sora, I was so preoccupied by them that I didn’t hardly notice anything else. Except for gleaming white fangs. And they frightened me. But I couldn’t seem to move . . ."
Sabrina shuddered as best she could in her weak condition. She did not like to recall this at all . . .
"The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground, with paramedics surrounding me. I must have fainted, but . . . before I awoke, when I was half asleep, I could hear footsteps walking quietly off. I had to strain my ears to listen, so silent they were. But I could just make them out, before the ambulance arrived."
She stopped, having told her tale. Then, since she was so tired, she fell right to sleep.
Looking up at Mimi, Sora said, "I think we have a clue here."
I wonder who the ninth Digimon could be, thought Matt as he walked along. T.K. was elsewhere.
Coming to an abrupt halt, he muttered, "And who could the ninth Digidestined be?"
He shook his head. I would take forever to find them, and the lunar eclipse was drawing near . . .
Just then, Izzy came up, at a sprint, behind him. Tentomon was following.
"I-just received-another-message from-from-" he panted.
"From who?!" asked Matt.
"-From-Gennai."
"Oh. What does it say?"
Replied Izzy, "It says that we’re closer to the ninth Digidestined than we think. It also gives a clue as to the ninth Digimon!"
Matt was amazed, excited, and yet worried, all at the same time. If there was a ninth Digidestined, that would mean that Myotismon was probably searching, too.
"Go on, go on," he said. Izzy did.
"Gennai said that the ninth Digimon was of Darkness, and that the ninth Digidestined already knew them. And the ninth Digimon also has the Crest of Faithfulness."
"Woah! That’s a big help," exclaimed Matt. "Now, all we have to do is find the ninth Digidestined and their Digimon. We don’t have to worry about finding the crest, too."
"Yes, I know. But the bad thing is, the lunar eclipse is drawing near. As a matter of fact, we now only have one day to find the ninth Digidestined, so we can be there for the eclipse," said Izzy, looking up at Matt.
"Well, I need to go check out some information that Gennai gave me. Bye!" said he.
"Bye!" answered Matt. "Bye."
Myotismon was restless. Lately, he had been subconsciously waiting for someone, as Gatomon once had. But why he? He was an independent Digimon, a leader among the evil.
But, he had also been feeling his ties to evil slowly snapping. He did not belong there . . . it tore at his soul to see the innocent hurt when they did nothing, nothing, as he and the other evil Digimon searched the city for the eighth Digidestined.
He pulled out the on Tag and Crest he still had-that of Faithfulness. Its dark black-blue colors were soothing to him, as the darkness was of that color.
The design on it represented the eclipse, in which the ninth Digidestined would become fully one. And that had to happen at exactly midnight, with the last few rays of moonlight shining defiantly through before the whole of the moon’s face was covered.
Sighing, he thought of who the ninth Digidestined to whom it belonged was. Could it possibly be the one who knew him so well, Ymparshthu? Maybe. But it was only a possibility, not a true fact, then.
He decided to see if his suspicions were true. He would wait until sundown, then Ymparshthu. After all, the Crest of Faithfulness glowed whenever it was near the ninth Digidestined. And it seemed to him that, if anyone in Odaiba was the ninth Digidestined, it was Emily "Ymparshthu" Ono.
That night, Ymparshthu was sitting at her desk, inspecting an object she found.
It was a Digivice. Only her subconscious mind knew that, but she could not seem to retrieve the memory of what it was.
She remembered a time, long, long ago. It had been a joyful time, filled with light and dark, both living together in harmony.
She had been in another place then. But she had this Digivice-and a creature somewhat larger than her at her side, but not fully Digivolved. And it had deep blue eyes . . .
Shaking her head, trying to remember, Emily was once again transported-by memory-to that place.
The Dark and the Light lived in harmony there, with her making sure that their bonds would always be. And then, something happened-something of the Dark split its ties with the light, making the Dark its own, separate body-evil.
The light valiantly fought, but the Evil was always there. It was then that Emily was transported to the human world.
And it was also then that her Digimon, the not-yet-fully-Digivolved Myotismon, split with her, and was taken in by Evil.
Ymparshthu was adopted. It was the one thing that only she, her parents, and Triinsahmur, her most trusted friend, knew.
Just then, the Digivice started glowing. It caught Emily off guard, and almost sent her reeling head over heels out of her chair.
Regaining her balance, she looked at the Digivice before her. Somewhere, hidden among her memories, was the answer to this puzzle. And that memory would be the return of long-forgotten Digidestiny . . .
Suddenly, she heard a noise below her window. Rushing over to look outside, she saw Triinsahmur standing below.
When he was inside, Myotismon noticed the Crest glowing with a dark, yet bright, light.
"Tonight is the lunar eclipse," Izzy urgently said, the next day. He was talking to Mimi, who had been informing him about what Sora had told her.
Sora herself was healing rapidly, but was still pale and somewhat weak. But her strength was quickly replenishing, and she could walk-at least. A little bit.
"That means that we need to hurry up and find the ninth Digidestined," replied Mimi. "From what Gennai said, the ninth Digidestined is the one who can unite the Light and the Dark again. And that is very important."
Snapping his fingers, Izzy said, "Oh my goodness. I think I know who they are . . . I’ve got to tell Tai!"
So saying, he and Mimi ran off to find their unofficial leader.
"Who do you think it could be?" asked Tai.
"My theory is that it is Emily Ono, otherwise known as Ymparshthu," answered Izzy. "Gennai said that the ninth Digidestined would already know their Digimon."
"But that would mean . . ." started Joe. (Everyone was gathered at Tai’s house. It was about eight o’clock-and the lunar eclipse had just started.)
Finished Matt, "That Myotismon is the ninth Digimon."
They all ran as hard as they could to the hospital, even Kari-she was a Digidestined, too, after all. But it was almost midnight, by now. And all the Digidestined, their Digimon, and the ninth Digidestined and their Digimon had to be at the highest point in Odaiba at exactly midnight.
Meanwhile, Ymparshthu and Myotismon were hidden in the shadows at the bottom of he hospital. Myotismon had explained it all to Ymparshthu, who realized her faded memories were of peace-keeping in the Digiworld. And she knew her Digimon, too, the one that had been with her in the beginning, but separated as she was transported to the human world-Myotismon.
It explained it all; why Myotismon chose to be with her, why she never ran away from him. It also explained why she cared for him.
He still had the Crest, though. Now was not the proper time to return it to her . . .
To get to the top, Ymparshthu merely rode on her Digimon, who thought that the return to Digidestiny was more important than pride.
As they were nearing the top, so were Tai, Matt, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, T.K., and Kari.
Only Sora was not present as they made their ascent. She still was not allowed to leave her hospital room, even though she was doing much better.
But now, they were racing against time to discover the ninth Digidestined, and their Digimon-and bring peace back to the evil-filled Digiworld.
The moon was eleven twelfths of the way covered when they reached the top. Emily and Myotismon were already at the top, much to the surprise of the other Digidestined.
Seeing her former master, Gatomon gasped.
"You have nothing to fear, Gatomon. I now know how you felt, waiting for Kari. For I am the ninth Digimon," Myotismon said in a soft voice, not at all evil. Gatomon almost gave a sigh of relief.
Pulling out the Crest of Faithfulness, he said (again softly), "Now is the time for you to regain what was once lost. Here is your crest, of Faithfulness."
With that, he handed it to Ymparshthu. It seemed to glow a little as Emily took it from her Digimon.
But still, Sora was not there, and the moon’s face was rapidly being covered. In less than two minutes, it would be completely hidden-and, if Sora was not there, than the ninth Digidestined would never become fully one.
When there was about thirty seconds left, Myotismon hung his head. "I was sorry then, and am sorry now, for what I did. She did nothing, nothing! Why did I attack? Why must I be this way?"
"It’s not your fault," said Emily, comforting him. "It’s not your fault that you are like this. Don’t be ashamed of who you are."
Ten seconds, nine seconds, eight seconds, seven, five, four, three . . .
And suddenly, there she was, standing tall and proud in the moonlight. Her hair blew a little in the wind . . .
Two seconds . . .
Emily held up her hand, with the Crest of Faithfulness in her palm.
Myotismon moved closer, as if to protect her from anything that might come when the moment of truth arrived.
One second . . .
The crest glowed with a dark, yet piercingly bright, light, and her Digivice-which was attached to a belt loop at Emily’s waist-started to beep.
Suddenly, the last and brightest rays of moonlight streamed down from the night sky, as if they were spotlight beams fixing themselves on Emily Ono and her Digimon. The crest glowed even more, and the Digivice was beeping louder than ever. And suddenly, when it became too bright to bear, Myotismon stood side-by-side with Ymparshthu. They stood there for a moment, two incredibly bright figures in an even brighter pool of light, and suddenly, they were gone-vanished into thin air.
For a moment, they were all blinded by the light which was now gone. But, when their eyes had once again adjusted to the darkness, they noticed that Ymparshthu and Myotismon were gone. There was no trace of them left, only the memory of that last moment in the moonlight.
Just then, Mimi started crying. "Why did the go, and where to?" she sobbed. "They just vanished . . ."
"There, there, now, Mimi," said Sora, patting her on the shoulder. Then, as she looked at the night beyond, she whispered, "They are where they belong, wherever that may be."
Emily Ono and Myotismon found themselves standing in a bright place in the Digiworld. Neither one of them were dazed, and they both remembered this place . . .
"This was where I lived before the Dark and the Light broke their unity," said Emily, looking around. "And this is home."