DISCLAIMER: Hi, I don't own anything, including Digimon, not mine, no money, don't sue....

WARNINGS: Either real or imagined, be aware of Yaoi, there is no INTENDED, but some people are sick, so... be wary of Taito, Kouto, Jyouto, Karito, and Taketo(ew)... Also, for those who get angry... There is also possible Mimato, Mishirou(blatant), Jyoura, and Taiora...

CON'T: OOC-ness... there are several characters that act different from what they do in the show... please ignore all differences in Taichi (especially), Mimi, Takeru, Yamato, Koushirou, Jyou, Sora, and Kari...

OH, and for all those with squeamish stomachs, this story has very violent parts... bring your inhaler!

FINAL NOTE: Most of these warnings are solely there so that oversensitive people won't flame us... (no names mentioned, right Sam?) truthfully, most everyone is clean and OKAY!

ENJOY!

PLEASE!!!!!!!!

1. -_- JOE

The time was at hand! I faced my victim with a triumphant smile.

"What do you expect to accomplish by this, Kido?" asked the Duchess Sora Takenouchi, defiant to the last.

"Silence you melodramatic wench!" I brandished my ultimate weapon, " With the head of this Cockatrimon", I thrust my arm forward so that she may see the huge chicken head more clearly, "I shall be rid of you and take over your duchy! <Insert evil overdone laugh here> And there’s nothing you or your pitiful excuse for a duke can do to stop me! <More evil-type laughter>.

"Now who’s being melodramatic…?"

2. ^_~ KOUSHIROU

...Okay...just a little more... I tapped the vile just so. I only need one more drop of it to complete the spell...

"WIZARD IZUMI!"

I jumped nearly twice my height into the air and spun around to see just who had the audacity to burst into my study and the MOST inopportune time. The vile I was holding flew thew the air and shattered at the intruder’s feet, its green contents already beginning to burn (yet another) hole in the stone floor.

Standing in my doorway, hand still posed on the door handle, was one of the Queens many messenger boys. He looked hurried and out of breath, as if he’d been running up stairs for about 20 minutes. (Of course my study’s in the tower, so that is very well possible)

"What," I grit out " do you want?"

"Queen Kari request your presence."

"What ever for?"

"Got me but she said it was urgent."

I sighed exasperated, "Fine..." I closed my eyes and ignored the page at the door and instead visualized the extravagant throne room.

And was there. A neat little trick I’ve learned. Teleportation. Handy.

"You’re late..."

I opened my eyes and looked up at the speaker. Sir Yamato. Captain of the Guard. He was standing on the red carpeted dais with the young queen, his ever-present squire, Takeru, at his side. How I ever remembered the young squire’s name, I’ll never know. He just seemed to be more exuberant then the others as he displayed himself.

"WIZARD IZUMI!" he cried jovially. I suppressed a winced. I’ve been getting that a lot lately.

"So it is." Queen Kari said in a smooth dignified tone as she cast the boy an amused glance.

"I would like to inquire as to the heritage of the reason it was summoned." I took a small bow out of habit and when I straightened myself to see 4 sets of eyes blinking at me. Wha... four..? Scanning over the dais again I spotted a man with wild brown hair and large matching eyes. I think I’d seen a portrait of him some where in the main hall...

They continued stare at me uncomprehendingly, I then decided to rephrase myself. "You rang?"

The Queen smiled, now understanding, and motioned to the man with the freakish hair. "This is my brother, Duke Kamiya. He has brought us grave news from the Duchy of Takenouchi."

Grave news... great... I took a knee. This was going to take a while.

"We, my wife Sora, and I," the young man now revealed to be Taichi Kamiya, spoke quietly. (Is it me or does he have a unnaturally high voice for a male of his age group?) "were attacked by a deranged alchemist named Joe.."

It was about here that I had a really, really good gut feeling as to why I was summoned.

"He cornered the both of us," Taichi continued, "I managed to get away but he turned Sora to stone..."

The queen took over from here, "Jyou has taken over the Duchy and is now a threat to the kingdom."

"Let me guess" I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose tiredly, "you want me to eliminate the obstacle?"

"Why, Yes! How insightful of you."

Joy of Joys...

3. ~_~ YAMATO

Let it never be said I don’t like sleep. In fact, I REVEL in sleep. But apparently, no one else in the ENTIRE castle seems to notice, or else I would not have been so rudely awakened by the sound of

"CAPTAIN YAMATO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

...at this ungodly hour in the morning.

The young squire, who just happened to be my younger brother, burst into my quarters with a loud SLAM! I scrambled to pull my leggings up, "KYAA! Takeru, what is it?"

"IT’S QUEEN KARI!" my younger sibling informed me imperatively, "She’s just sent for the both of us."

I froze, in shock, "THE QUEEN!??! Ah, shit!" I cursed, hurriedly getting dressed, "C’mon, Takeru, we’ve got to hurry, or we’ll get demoted and sent to serve Duke Kamiya again!"

Takeru screamed in horror, "OH NO!" Then more calm, "What’s $H1T mean?"

I shook my head as I finished getting dressed, "Never mind, I’m ready, so let’s go, remember what happened the LAST time we had to serve the Duke?"

Takeru almost began to cry as we bolted out the door, "I’ll never go swimming again!"

We arrived at the Queen’s throne room within several minutes. The extravagances the queen had lain out for herself were fitting for the wise and fair ruler that she was. Decorated mostly in red and purple hues, the large throne room was not so done out that it was eye-popping, but it was appealing without being self-important. I always was proud to be in Queen Kari’s service, and thanked the previous rulers for appointing her ruler instead of her idiot brother whom they married off to the Takenouchi Duchy’s daughter. Duke Kamiya was NOT the most talked-about member of the Queen’s family, unless you were talking about incompetent rulers, of course.

Once again marveled by the room’s humble beauty, I remembered my place and kneeled before my Queen with my brother at my side, "Greetings, my queen, what are the reasons for your summons?"

Our lovely queen rose from her throne, her sage curls framing her face nicely and highlighting her maroon eyes. Queen Kari’s purple robes flowing with each step as she walked closer to our position, "Ah, Captain, how good of you to show up so promptly, we’re currently awaiting for Wizard Izumi’s entrance. My imbecile brother has somehow managed to escape trouble once again, only to come running to me for help," she spoke matter-of-factly.

I nodded, "I see, what is the problem?"

"Yeah, what is it, Queen Kari? I’m sure we can help, right?" Takeru spoke up suddenly with great enthusiasm.

Which is exactly NOT the way to act in the presence of a queen, "Takeru," I hissed at him from my kneeling position.

My little brother blushed and threw himself back upon his knee with whipped embarrassment, "Gomen ne..."

To my surprise the queen giggled with delight, "How nice, young squire, I certainly hope you both can be of service..."

We nodded solemnly and stood up with all the military regale we could muster, I saluted as Takeru smiled.

It was then, the ingenious Wizard Izumi appeared before us with one of his latest spells.

I smiled, the wizard was one of the few people in the castle I respected outside the Queen. "You’re late."

"WIZARD IZUMI!" my squire called cheerfully in surprise.

"So it is," Queen Kari agreed, amused at my brother’s exuberance.

"I would like to inquire as to the heritage of the reason it was summoned," the wizard asked, scanning the room.

I blinked, Izumi repeated his statement, "You rang?" he asked.

The queen smiled and introduced the poor wizard to her moronic brother, Duke Kamiya. She explained to us the awful situation in which an alchemist had transformed the moron’s only livelihood (his wife) into a lawn ornament, and now *WE* had to fix it.

The Duke, who apparently had never heard of a haircut, nodded gravely, "Well, shall we be off?"

"WAITAMINNIUT!" I called, realizing my outburst and not caring, "What do you mean ‘we’?"

Duke Taichi Kamiya smiled his incredibly childish grin, "’We’ as in Wizard Izumi, your young squire, you, and I, of course. How could I just sit back and wait while the rest of you save my wife?"

Takeru and I exchanged worried glances, "But..." we said in unison... and almost began to cry.

4. -_-* TAICHI

I peered over the ledge of the castle, scanning the city my younger sister ruled over. I always wondered why she got the kingdom instead of me, the eldest boy, but I guess it’s because Mom and Dad always felt me too free to be tied down by such... troubles. And hey, I supposed they were right, here I am, leading a party to save my beloved wife Sora from the clutches of an evil alchemist named Joe. That damn bastard named Joe he cheats at cards.

I waited at the edge of the castle gate as the members of my party arrived one-by-one. First to show up, was the captain’s younger brother as well as squire, um... what’s his name.

He walked up to me dutifully, "Hello Duke Kamiya," he said with a dry voice, I guess he has a cold, poor lad.

"Hello, young... young... what’s your name?" I asked politely.

He answered in his dry tone once again, "Takeru Ishida, sir..."

I thought a moment on the name, trying to commit it to memory, when a thought struck me, "Well," I said, wanting to start conversation, "I do think I remember another squire named Takeru, he visited my Duchy several weeks ago and there was a small incident in the moat. Poor boy, he wasn’t too bright, though."

Young Takeru smiled, his teeth clenched to show his humor, "That’s too bad for him, sir..." he made a slight growling noise, which I attributed to his cold.

Showing up soon after that, was captain Yamato, equipped with moderate armor and a small arsenal of weapons at his disposal, and leading three beasts of burden.

"How odd," I mentioned, view the three strangely colored horses, "This one blue-striped horse has such funny sharp teeth, a strangely wet nose, and odd hooves, they kinda look like paws..."

Captain Yamato shook his head and smiled, "Yes, Garuru is quite an odd... horse. These others are called Pegasu and Centauru." He gestured to a brown, feathered horse, and a helmeted one-eyed horse.

Before I could inform the Captain of Centauru’s missing eye and exactly what we should’ve done about it, Wizard Izumi popped into view with a sudden burst of magic.

I looked over the young wizard, "Izumi? Aren’t wizards supposed to wear a dress?"

Wizard Izumi sighed and muttered something about a ‘queen’ before explaining to me he preferred wearing his tunic and carrying his supplies in his pack, not a large pointy hat.

I nodded, though not fully understanding and asked, "Shall we be off?"

Captain Yamato turned to Izumi, "I told you reasoning with him will do you no good."

Izumi nodded thoughtfully, "I’ll remember next time not to try to reason with a lesser-evolved species, thanks."

With that, we mounted the steeds and rode to town to meet with Izumi’s council.

5. ^_~ KOUSHIROU

I stood on the street out side a small ornate door. Some runes were carved in to the doorframe to prevent unwanted visitors, the sense of magic teasing my senses. It was a simple protection spell, true enough, but the familiar presence behind it brought back memories...

" So... are you going to...I don’t know..." Yamato seemed to think for a moment, "how about...knock?" He gave me a meaningful look.

I blinked at him coming back to reality. "Sorry, Yamato... I haven’t been here in a while that’s all..."

"Wizard Izumi..." The duke ventured, "Might I ask what we’re doing here, again?"

I decided to ‘politely’ ignore that question. It would be the third time since we arrived in town that we had to explain to this scatter-brained idiot what exactly our business here was.

The blonde guard on the other hand ‘calmly’ (I admired his restraint) told him for a third time, "We’re going to talk to Koushirou’s old Sensei to see if we can get some information of how to go about turning your wife back to normal."

"Oh..." Kamiya said. "And whose idea was this?"

Yamato’s little brother stopped banging his head against a wall long enough to give the Duke a humoring smile, "Yours, sir."

I turned my attention back to the door and studied the symbols in the wood. Using my index finger I traced the sun symbol in the top left corner and the moon in the right, then placed my hand on the rune scrawled in the center. The figures glowed for a moment and a faint noise was heard inside the small house.

"What was that?" Yamato asked.

"Sensei called it a doorbell." The door swung open quietly and I walked inside. It was rather dark compared to the bright noon sun and it took my eyes a moment to adjust, but when they finally did, I glanced around and drank in my surroundings. The main room we were in was very cluttered with books and papers strewn over various tables and chairs, scattered across the floor on the wall. Bottles and jars lined shelves alongside even MORE books. The room was lit by a well-tended blaze in the fireplace accented with the heavy scent of pine and sage.

"It smells funny in here," Takeru mentioned, crinkling his nose a bit.

"Those chemically induced reactions your experiencing are only inhibited by the content of the magically enhanced concoctions imbued within this dwelling," I explained to the young squire, "Haven’t you ever smelled magic before?"

Takeru shook his head profusely at the idea, "You mean you can *smell* magic?" he asked.

His older brother, Yamato nodded, "Trust me, squirt, you’ll get used to magic really quickly around wizards," he rolled his eyes.

I ignored the two and went back to perusing the dwelling for my old Sensei. I walked deeper into the room and finally found him hunched over a book at the desk where I had cast my first fire spell. He looked up from the slightly singed desk and peered over at me. The man was the living image of what had become the stereotype for wizards everywhere. The man was so old, I still pondered if he originated the stereotype initially. He wore a tattered pointed hat, a masking cloak, loose tan clothing with various runic designs. He had a red-brown mane that fell down to his mid-back and was tied near the end. I couldn’t see much of his face, but his electric green eyes bequeathed themselves.

My Sensei righted himself upon my arrival, "Koushirou, how are you? How have you been? It’s been a long time..."

I smiled, "Yes, Sensei, it has, I’m sorry for not visiting more often, but I’ve been a bit busy with castle duties..." I explained with my hand-behind-my-head embarrassment.

Yamato and Duke Kamiya approached us, and I offhandedly noticed Takeru playing with Teiru, Sensei’s white kitten.

"Excuse me, Izumi, but we are kind of in a hurry," Yamato mentioned politely.

"Whose this old guy?" the Duke asked stupidly, "How is *he* supposed to help us break the alchemist’s spell?"

Sensei’s eyebrows raised slightly, "I see you brought some friends," he stated, then addressed the others, "I am Wizard Mon, it appears you are in need of my services?" he introduced himself.

The captain spoke up, "Yes, sir, Wizard Mon, we’ve been sent by Queen Kari to help Duke Kamiya here to save his Duchy from the grip of Joe, the alchemist."

Sensei looked at him thoughtfully, "Joe? I remember him, he’s actually quite the chemist, but he needs practice turning lead into gold..." he stated, "But I digress, you need me to break a spell of his for you then?"

I nodded at the question, "He’s been using a petrification potion that I’m unfamiliar with. Duke Kamiya brought a sample of the stone compound for you to analyze...." I paused, taking the stone from the moronic Duke and handing it to Sensei Mon. "I was hoping you could dissect it into its alchemical origins and direct us to the most efficient restorative so we could be on our way."

Wizard Mon took the stone and turned to his mage laboratory. I signaled for the others to follow us as I walked down the long corridor to what appeared to be an ‘underground explosives testing’ area. Actually it was just a Mage training room. But it might as well be, considering what happened when I was training here. I won’t go into details but lets just say that the wall still has warped spots and scaring. Anyway a training room isn’t a training room without a strong magic barrier cast on the walls to keep out interference but mainly to prevent the student from destroying the entire town because of one little miscalculation. And it really was just ONE miscalculation! Really! I didn’t mean it...

Magic was pungent in the air and it was nearly palatable. Any normal person should not have been able to feel it but I noticed the brother flinch visibly and Takeru make a quiet comment to his sibling. They can’t use magic but they can obviously sense it...I idly wondered where they learned it. The Duke, on the other hand just stared around the blankly.

Not that there was much to look at anyway. The training room was a blank domed room and surprising large for such a small abode such as Wizard Mon’s. Other then that, it was nothing special.

My Sensei stood in the middle of the room still holding the sample in one gloved hand. With his other hand he drew a circle in the air in front of him a gold ring appeared. He reached through the ring and his arm seemed to disappear for a moment. After a moment he pulled out a large staff with a carved sun dawning it.

I stood and waited patiently, Yamato tapped his foot, Takeru watched in awe and Taichi stared in confusion.

He tapped the staff on the ground once, the sun began to glow softly, and the air in the room began to kick up.

"Are you done with the dramatics yet, Sensei?" I asked tiredly.

He smiled at me. "Kou-chan... any sorcerer worth his salt knows that you have to make a big show out of magic."

I rolled my eyes.

"Sorry, sir, but we’re in a hurry." Yamato put in, "So could we drop the light show and get to the point."

"Oh, sorry." Wizard Mon put the staff back in the ring and retrieved a book about a foot thick. He dropped it on the floor with a slam and started flipping through pages. "Petrification.... Petrificaction... Ah Ha!" He called in triumph waving for me to take a look, "Here it is." He pointed at a typically decorated page with a vine border. In the center of the page, in tiny print, were the ingredients and incantation for a spell.

"That’s great, Sensei! So what do we need?"

He whipped out a magnifying glass and read over the page, "Well...you need...an Icarian’s prize, an astral beacon, the blood of a magic tree and the tear of the flying mythic creature."

I sweatdropped, "What?"

"That’s what it says."

And how the hell are we going to go about getting those!?" Yamato stormed. I could understand his frustration. He probably expected this to be an in and out job. Unfortunately, it appears that we will be parading around the countryside looking for spell items before we even make it to the Duchy.

Wizard Mon smiled at us again looking up from his book. "You kids are intelligent," he glanced over at Taichi, "most of you anyway. You’ll figure something out."

I resisted the urge to break down and cry. This was going to a loooong trip.