Butter-Fly Effect

Well, Joe can take care of himself, and you don't really feel up to exploring this castle at the moment. Instead, you figure you can get more out of the use of your time by talking to Myotismon.

"So, you probably know a lot about the Tags and Crests," You comment. "I was... wondering if you could answer a question for me." Really, it's been bugging you for a while.

"I cannot promise to have an answer that satisfies you," He warns. "But go ahead."

"Well... Before we came to the Digital World, we were at summer camp... or, well, most of us were." You're not really sure how to explain Joe's circumstances. "It's complicated. But, anyway, while I was exploring the camp, I found something on the ground. It later turned out to be the Crest of Light, which belongs to the sister of one of my friends. Do you have any idea how it could have gotten there?"

Myotismon seems to react to this one, but covers it up quick enough that it could have just been your imagination. You don't think it is, though. "...I had thought it destroyed. But it seems that the experiment was a success after all."

"Experiment?" That sounds vaguely concerning.

"As I said before, after living in the Digital World for so long, Maki desired to see if it was possible for her to return to yours. We found a pair of Crests in two different parts of Server's desert, and decided to see if it would be possible for one of them to open a gate, that being the Crest of Light. There was a powerful explosion, and then it vanished. As I said, we had assumed it was obliterated."

That makes sense. You remember your predecessors opening a portal for you using nothing but their Digivices. They both seem to be connected to Digivolution in some way, so it wouldn't be unthinkable that they might share other properties.

...And now you're starting to sound like Haruka. That's never a good sign.

"I guess that's how you knew there'd be more DigiDestined, then." He seems to flinch at hearing you say that, but again, covers it up so much you wonder if it wasn't just your imagination.

"...In a way. Though part of it... seemed to be just wishful thinking." Okay, there's definitely something off about this whole thing, you just don't know what yet.

You're also not going to ask about it. You're not sure why, but it just feels like it would break something that you want to keep intact.

You also don't really know what else to say. But it doesn't feel right just to leave, either. It's... well, when you think of it, it's sort of like Parrotmon, or Devimon. Something that you can't bring yourself to truly flee from, but that you'll always end up looping back to in turn. Even though you're certain that Myotismon, at least, means you no ill will.

The moment is broken, eventually, when he speaks again. "Once your friends have all completed their business here, you should gather them all together in the deepest part of the castle. If you come across any of this castle's non-Bakemon residents... you should direct them there, as well. It is a matter of great importance."

You nod, without really thinking about it. "Come on, Biyomon."

"Sora, are you sure about this? It could be a trap!" You know this. You've been on guard for traps since the moment you got here.

And yet, you understand that you never really had an option. Myotismon is the lord of the castle. According to the customs that Daigo taught you, here, as long as you are a guest in his domain, his word is law. And while it's been a long time since Daigo was in the Digital World... you think the vampire Digimon might just be old enough for it to still be relevant.

Besides, you're not sure there's a trap you couldn't blast your way out of. Your group has multiple Ultimate Digimon, it can't be that difficult!

"We'll be fine. Even if there's a problem, we'll all be able to handle it together, right?" Your partner doesn't seem convinced. You don't really begrudge her that, either.

"I guess... But I don't like this."

"Nobody asked you to." There's a lot that's been asked of the both of you, but liking your current situation has never been among them. And if anyone were ever to actually do that, you think you might just end up hating whatever it is out of spite. Or maybe not. That's always been more Mimi's thing.

Speaking of Mimi... you guess that you need to find the others, now. You could probably convince any Bakemon you see to help you with gathering various Digimon, but you're the one with a Digivice, and if it becomes really important, Myotismon could probably direct them to help himself.

Friends first... though, at times like this, you really wish your Digivice could show you where things are vertically...


[ ] Find Tai and Kari first. You want to meet Kari's Digimon.

[ ] You already know where Izzy and Mimi are. It would be fastest to find them first.

[ ] You really shouldn't leave Joe on his own...

[ ] Matt and TK have wandered off somewhere. You might want to do something about that.

Okay, you do have a basic idea of where Joe will be. You were told that the Crest of Reliability is kept in a locked room on the first floor. That means that you should take the stairs at some point, and keep following his dot, and you should be able to get there without any real worries.

Maybe. Look, it's a big castle, okay? You have no idea where anything is.

You decide to take the staircase, first. You don't know if there will be any stairs near where Joe is, and you don't think Myotismon would appreciate you blowing holes in the floors of his castle. Having an angry Ultimate Digimon to deal with is not on your list of things you'd like to do today.

Really, it's not something you'd want to deal with any day, but you realize how impossible that is, so you'll settle for 'not while indoors'. You'd rather there be actual room to fight, rather than someplace that would break just by having Garudamon in it. That shouldn't be too much to ask, right? RIght.

As you walk, you notice that the hallways seem oddly empty. You'd expect a castle of this size, even one that's creepy like this one, to be bustling with activity.

Instead, there's no signs of life- or unlife- in sight. Just you and Biyomon.

"It's kind of scary here, huh?" Your partner asks. "There's nothing really here, just empty hallways and-" She cuts off suddenly, and really, you can't blame her. This is... really sort of amazing.

In front of you sits a large room, with bridges from all over stretching across some sort of abyss. You don't know if it has a bottom or not, but neither answer would really surprise you. There's an actual ridge in the wall that you'll be following, so you don't have to walk over that thing, but...

"Wait, are some of those bridges upside down?" You check. You Digimon nods. "This might actually be the strangest place we've ever been." At least with the pyramid, you were generally heading downwards.

Still, you're even more glad that you won't be walking over the abyss now. You wouldn't want to risk forgetting which way is up.

You put the little voice that reminds you that you may have to cross it eventually out of mind for now. Maybe, if you ignore the idea, nothing will come of it and it won't matter anymore.

---

When you find Joe, he seems to be arguing with a living pile of rocks. "Look, Myotismon really did send me!"

"Yeah, right. It's called the Crest of Reliability, and you certainly don't look all that reliable."

"What were you expecting?" Gomamon asks. "Someone rock-headed like you?" The Gotsumon throws a pebble at him.

"And your partner doesn't seem like he can be depended on, either."

"He's the one thing I could depend on since I got here! Everyone else had been hiding stuff from me except Mimi, and she's... Mimi." You probably shouldn't mention this to Mimi if you want Joe to stay alive. Even though he probably doesn't mean it, and might just still be salty about the shopping trip. Or the shoelaces. Or the time she wasn't looking, and knocked him into a tree... okay, so you see where he might have a problem with her.

"...Well, I'm still not letting you through."

"You probably should, though," Biyomon chirps up. You sort of wonder what would have happened if they'd actually noticed you sooner. "Myotismon wouldn't be very happy with you if you didn't."

"...You're another DigiDestined."

You nod. "I've... been doing this for a while, and unless there's someone we've missed, it's Joe who's meant to have the Crest of Reliability. Also, Myotismon wants everyone in the castle who's not a Bakemon to go to the basement. So you shouldn't stay here either way."

"And if you don't feel like being agreeable, we could always just go past, anyway. You're only a Rookie," Gomamon reminds Gotsumon. "And we can Digivolve."

"Gomamon, please, don't threaten strange piles of rocks..." Joe gorans.

The stone Digimon looks from Gomamon to Biyomon, and back again. "Fine! But if this goes badly..." You ignore the threat in his words as he storms off down the hall. It's not like he's actually dangerous to you- honestly, you could probably take on a Rookie Digimon and win. Maybe not one that's solid rock, but it's not like you're ever far from Biyomon, anyway.

Once he's gone, Joe unlocks the door. "So, where were you earlier, anyway?"

"I wanted to ask Myotismon something," You explain. "Still, I almost thought you'd be done with this by now."

"I wish..." He ventures into the small room, and comes back wearing a necklace with a familiar shape, and a gray Crest. "So... we've all got our Crests now, huh? But we still don't know what they're for..."

"I mean, they probably help with Digivolution, but..." Well, the older group didn't need Crests. Why should all of you be any different? "We should try and gather everyone towards the basement."

"Are you sure that's safe? For all we know, Myotismon just wants to have his Bakemon swarm everybody!"

"We don't have a choice, though," You point out. "The door out's locked, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess, but... where would we go first?"


[ ] To the entrance. Izzy and Mimi should still be there. Maybe if you give them something to do, they won't try and break down the door.

[ ] Wherever Matt and TK have gotten off to. You don't know why they wandered off, and it'd probably be best to get the reason for it as soon as you can.

[ ] You're pretty close to Tai and Kari's dots. Now, you don't know if they're on the same floor as you... If they aren't, you could be lost for a while.