Butter-Fly Effect

Sender: Koushiro Izumi
Recipient: Haruka Yamaguchi
Subject: Good news!


So, we've all managed to get back together now. Matt has an Ultimate Digimon in WereGarurumon apparently, the rest of us but Tai and Agumon haven't seem him yet, but they assure us he's real. Given that his partner was a Tsunomon when we all met up again, we have no real reason to disbelieve him. Joe and Gomamon are getting along well enough, too, so we're actually a stronger group than we've ever been before!

Something really odd happened a few days ago. Kari said something about... how she could feel that there was at least one other human in the Digital World. She also says that they're 'not able to do anything,' though, so we probably won't be able to get help from that angle.

At the same time, she wasn't really able to describe what she was feeling, just that she was feeling it. Did anything of the sort ever happen to you?

If so, could you tell us what it was? Kari's okay, but the idea of information randomly coming from an unknown source is more than a little off-putting for those of us that do not have the Crest of Knowledge.

In other Kari-related news... we've also heard of two castles on Server, and there's one that's known to be home to a ShogunGekomon. So it's probably the castle built by Homeostasis that we're going to- it seems pretty much inevitable, when Kari is still being pulled in that direction. And we're not about to let her take on that sort of thing alone.

Tai's plan is to just go up and knock on the front door. It seems a bit brazen, but the rest of us can't actually find any reason not to, when we're backed up by so much firepower.

Don't worry about us. We'll keep our eyes open, and we'll stick together. We actually mean it this time, it won't end up like all the others. It's not like we could get that far split from each other in a castle, right?

Don't worry too much about responding to this one, either. Once the castle is dealt with one way or the other, we'll send you another message.

---

It's just a few days of walking in the forest until you get there. Said forest is almost entirely deserted, so you make good time, but... you don't know. It just feels strangely creepy to you.

Eventually, though... you arrive.

The castle seems rather large on the outside, and you assume that the inside is at least as big, if not bigger. "So... who's going to knock?" Matt asks, once you've all taken in just what the place is that's swallowed up everyone that approached.

Given how nervous he sounds, you assume he's not volunteering.

"I'll do it!" Tai volunteers, only to be stopped by Joe and Mimi.

"No!" They insist. You sigh.

"Sorry, Tai, it's not that we don't trust you, but... If you don't open your mouth and offend somebody, Agumon will."

He pauses. Opens and closes his mouth a few times. And then sighs. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Are you going to do it, then, Sora?"

Immediately, you glance around, looking for an out. You don't see any. Actually, Izzy seems to be pretending that, if he can't see you over his computer monitor, you can't see him. "...Apparently."

You don't really know how you ended up in this situation. All you did was hatch a DigiEgg! And be friends with Tai and Matt. Neither of those seem like they would end with you being here, but then again, nobody ever said that the Digital World made sense. Well, that wasn't a computer person, at least. And you don't think they count.

...You're never telling Izzy and Haruka that you thought that. They scare you.

Eventually realizing that you're actually going to have to do this, you walk up to the door and knock. You're not sure if anyone will actually hear it, but...

The door swings open just a few moments later, though, revealing the familiar form of a Bakemon. "Why, hello," He greets all of you. "Who might you be?"


[ ] You're the DigiDestined.

[ ] You're here to investigate the mysterious disappearances.

[ ] You're looking for a specific Digimon.
-[ ] Kari's partner.
-[ ] Koemon.

[ ] You're simply visitors to the castle.

"We're the DigiDestined," You say, deciding that hiding it wouldn't really help anything, before remembering that you really should give a better introduction than that. "I'm Sora Takenouchi, partner to Biyomon." You gesture to the others, hoping that they'll take the hint and copy you.

It's Tai who does so first, and you're not sure if that surprises you or not. "I'm Taichi Kamiya, partner to Agumon, and this is my little sister, Hikari. We... don't really know what her partner is." Kari nods, and ducks away a little, and for a moment you wonder if she's going to start whistling again.

Thankfully, with the two of you giving your examples, the others follow up pretty quickly. "I'm Mimi Tachikawa, partner to Palmon."

"...Yamato Ishida. Partner to Gabumon."

"Um, I'm Joe Kido, and my partner is Gomamon."

"Koushiro Izumi, partner to Tentomon."

The Bakemon observes all of your greetings without expressing any sort of shock. You think there's something just a little odd about that. "You... don't seem all that surprised to see humans..." You comment, unsure on if you were supposed to say that or not, but you can't take it back now.

"That's because I was told you would be coming." You assume that was Koemon, if she ever made it here. "Though, I did not expect it to be this soon..."

"I don't think anyone did..." Matt sighs. "There's not much to do in the forest but come straight here." You wish he weren't exaggerating. You're sure there's something interesting that could happen with pines thick enough to block out the sun. But if there is, everyone's so afraid of this place that nothing comes of it.

The Bakemon floats up and down for a moment, before seeming to take notice of something that Tai is wearing. "That necklace... tell me, any of your friends have others like it?"

"Oh, you mean my Tag and Crest?" He picks it up and twists it around on his finger. "Yeah, we've all got them. Except for Joe, anyway."

"I see... then it might be good for your friend to speak with the lord of the castle. Not that you would be able to avoid it, if you chose to enter." Those words sound almost ominous.

Joe adjusts his glasses and laughs nervously. "Yes, well, that's what we were planning. Entering, that is. Not... avoiding the lord here, whoever that is..."

"Very well. Then enter, DigiDestined. May fate guide you safely through these halls..." The ghostly Digimon floats away, as though intent on being as spooky as possible, only to forget that he is still solid and hit his head on the ceiling.

"Are... you going to be all right?" Kari asks. Bakemon doesn't answer. He appears to have knocked himself out.

Once TK, the last of you, is inside the castle... the door swings shut by itself. You reach over and try to turn the knob.

Locked.

"Did we just wander into a horror movie?" You ask. Your human friends all glare at you.

"D-don't even joke about that," Joe stammers. Gomamon pokes at him.

"Joe, what's a horror movie?"

"Something we really don't want to be in. People die in horror movies, and he singled me out!" Right. Joe is panicking right now, and not for a terrible reason. Still... worst case, if you need to get out, you could probably just blow a hole in a wall or something. Or burn the place down.

Yes, it'd be dangerous with you inside of it, and the place seems to be made of solid stone, but it's still a possibility.

Kari stares down one of the hallways. "Is something wrong?" Her brother asks. She shakes her head.

"No, I just- it feels stronger, now. A lot stronger." Right. That's the whole reason that you're here.

With that said, the little girl walks down the hallways she was staring at, without saying another word. You aren't sure why you don't move to stop her, or go after her, but she soon turns and vanishes around a corner.

...So much for sticking together.

"I... guess that means we're splitting up, then?" Mimi asks, once whatever was keeping you rooted in place fades away. "Izzy, could we get a map, or anything?"

The redhead's fingers are already flying across his keyboard, but then they stop. "...It's no good." He sounds horrified by this, and you guess you can't blame him, with the stuff he downloads being the only things that keep you all from getting lost most of the time. "I just can't get a grasp on this castle's coding. But it still seems familiar somehow..."

"Either way, we probably shouldn't hang around here," Matt states. "So... now what do we do?"

"I'm going after Kari," Tai decides. He's gone before any of you can say anything else. Somehow, this doesn't surprise you one bit.

"I think I'll stay here and wait for this guy to wake up." Mimi gestures at the unconscious Bakemon. "Maybe I'll try the door a few more times."

"He said we should look for the lord of the castle, right, Joe?" Gomamon points out. "Come on, let's go find him!" He moves down the hall opposite of the one Kari went through with surprising speed, for a seal stuck on land.

"Gomamon, wait!" And then Joe's gone, too.

This is... maybe not the best sign of how things are going to go.


[ ] Go after Tai and Kari. Finding Kari's partner is important. Making sure she and Tai do so safely is even more important.

[ ] Go after Joe. Just in case Gomamon is leading him into a trap.

[ ] You should stay here. Even if you don't leave, the Bakemon could give you some useful information once he wakes up.
-[ ] And talk with Mimi.
-[ ] And see if you can't try and stop Izzy before he breaks his keyboard.

[ ] There's something else you wanted to do...
-[ ] You promised you'd look for Koemon. So you'll wander, and ask the first Digimon you come across about Koemon.
-[ ] Castles have dungeons. These are usually in the basement. There might be something important in the basement.
-[ ] Your partner is a bird. If you can get up to a high window or something, you just may have yourself an escape route.