" Uh. Eric." I began sweetly, " it's nice to see you and all, but , just so you know, I've been kidnapped and am being held here against my free will by my ex-fianceé, and I would really,really appreciate it if you could just get me out of here, cause, you know, I really think he's going to kill me when he gets here." I just couldn't control the dripping sarcasm in my voice, nor could I control the shock I felt when he answered.

" I'm sorry, Mimi," he said plainly, " I can't do that."

" Wha..what do you mean, 'you can't do that?'"

" Just what he said," said another familiar voice, this one far more menacing that Eric's. Every fiber of my body instinctively quivered in fear. Oh my god, no…no…

" Hello baby," he said, mocking me.

" Frank," I breathed, my voice belaying all the fright that was welling up inside me.

" Bingo," he sneered. His gaze lingered on me for a tense moment, and with a sense of dread growing inside my heart, I noticed his eyes slide down my figure before he looked back at my face, his eyes leering at me, just like those of the demon I had seen before. " I have plans for you later," he said with a vicious smirk, " but for now…" He turned towards Eric and began ordering him to do something in a low tone. That gave me a few moments to think. I knew that I couldn't free myself from these chains because they were tied too tightly. I looked around to see if there was anything that could help me fight Frank probably, a weapon or something along those lines, but there was nothing in sight. Just great. I thought, Aries…Celeste…Matt, where are you?

***

A few minutes later, Frank and Eric were still deep in conversation, although…from the look on Eric's face, I'm sure he didn't like what Frank was saying, and I'm deadly sure that I wouldn't like it either. Then, from out of nowhere, a stray thought crossed my mind. Whatever happened to those demons? Why were they here? What did they represent? I just knew that something bad was going to happen, and probably to me at that. Now, if the situation hadn't been so utterly grim, I would have laughed. I was starting to sound like Joe.

Then, Frank turned back to me, and smirked again. I watched my hopes dwindle as Eric vanished into the darkness. Then, Frank stood in front of where I was hanging, giving me that damn smirk again. I swear, if I wasn't tied up right now, I'd wipe that smile off of his face with a good solid punch. And suddenly…I was falling. The ground was rushing towards we, and I was dimly aware of the sound of machinery in the background. Lucky for me, the vertical distance wasn't too long. I hit the ground with a heavy thump, dazed and sore, but not otherwise injured.

" Oooh," said Frank satirically, " you're not hurt are you?"

" No," I growled through my clenched teeth, " I'm fine." I hoped that by observing the niceties, no matter how grudgingly, I would keep him talking, and the longer I kept him talking, the more time that would give my friends to rescue me.

" Oh, good," he said, the viciousness I feared in him edging into his voice, " I would have hated for that little fall to hurt you…when I can do it all the better." He leaned over, his face just inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my face, and I began to shiver in fear. Our eyes met, and for a moment, just for a single moment, the malicious look in them faded and I swear, I saw his true soul. It was saying I'm sorry. Forgive me. That's when I realized it. That's when I realized why the demons were here. But, before I could think anything further, the front of my silk blouse was ripped open, and my crest torn from around my neck. He reached forward and grabbed my neck, kissing me roughly and forcefully. No! my mind screamed. No! You can't do this to me! You don't have my consent! You can't! You can't! When he pushed me away, it took me a second to catch my breath before I spat out, " What are you doing?!"

He leered evilly. " Just claiming what's mine. Just claiming what's mine." With those words, he heaved me bodily across the room into a dark corner where I landed on my side. I looked up, my eyes filled with an undeniable fear, and saw him advancing menacingly towards me. I curled up in as small a ball as humanly possible as I whimpered, " No…please no…" my voice cracking every few words and tears falling down my face, endless in source.

" Eric!" he called, " restrain her! I'm going to have some fun with her."

Eric stepped forward from the shadows, and grabbed the chain that tied my hands, yanking it upwards and uncurling me from my fetal position. " No…" I wimpered again.

" I'm sorry, Mimi," I heard him say softly. " I really am. I had no idea he was going to do this to you. Can you…" his voice trailed off, but I knew what he was saying.

" I forgive you, Eric, I do."

" Thank you."

" Enough talking!" bellowed Frank, as he leered down at me, his face contorted with a kind of cruel pleasure. Then all concious thoughts were lost as my mind receded into the protection of the coma-like darkness within it. I knew what was happening to my physical body. I knew that I would never…no could never be the same again, but here in the darkness, I knew my mind at least would be safe…well, at least I thought so. With the knowledge that my crest was gone, I felt that I didn't have enough power within me. To tell the truth, I felt that because of this, I would no longer be worthy to posess my crest, to ever have been the soldier of the princess, to ever have been truly loved, or to ever be truly loved again. I felt underserving of anything except pain and darkness, the pain and darkness that I knew was coming. As my mind slipped into the cradle of darkness, I was able to make one last concious thought. I felt that if, right now, I could hold on to hope, perhaps I might yet be saved, so I prayed. I prayed to whatever god might be listening for someone to stop Frank, for someone to save me from this shame. My last thought, my last hope was…Matt, where are you?

3^rd person P.O.V.-

-Place, unknown

A woman of about twenty sat behind the circular desk, reading a report and occasionally brushing a few strands of silver hair out of her icy blue eyes. She was dressed in a long bluish silver dress with a long skirt that tapered off around her ankles. She had much jewelry adorning her wrists and fingers, two large opals hanging from golden earrings, and one particularly interesting pendant that hung on a silver chain around her neck. On the other side of the desk stood a very nervous looking Celeste. The woman behind the desk, when she had finished reading, she set the metal device down with an angry thud.

" Twenty-nine dimensional infractions in ONE day to save ONE person! You've really blown it this time, Celeste," her voice was full of forced calm, but the angry shone clearly in her eyes. " Now, if you were doing this to save an entire planet, this report might just have gotten lost, or may never have been filed at all, but for ONE person." She sighed heavily. " Celeste, I've given you a lot of freedom around here. After all, you are the Prophecy Incarnate, but I just can't overlook it. What do you have to say for yourself."

" Elder, I just couldn't let Mimi die in the coma. I couldn't let her be killed by the assassin or Frank either. I just couldn't! Elder, after all, you do know that she is my Sister Crest! I just couldn't let her die!"

" Yes, Celeste," sighed the Elder wearily, " I know how…attached you are to your Sister, and the point isn't that you were to let her die either…"

" Then what is the point?!" yelled Celeste, roused to something like passion.

" The point is!," said the Elder forcefully, standing up to add emphasis to her words, " is that you could have been more surreptitious about it! They orders you gave your subordinates are just preposterous! I mean, sending in Aries to dispatch the assassin, you going in person to protect your Sister, sending Taurus, Scorpio and Libra to that diner! Celeste, if you don't think more carefully about your orders, I'm going to have to demote you!"

Demote me! She wanted to scream. You can't demote me! I am the Prophecy Incarnate!, but she held herself in, and remained under stressed silence.

At that moment, the double doors of the office burst open and a messenger dressed in a blue jumpsuit dashed in and whispered fiercely to the Elder, panic and concern splashed across his face.

Celeste, knowing something was hideously wrong, and having the dread feeling that it was something to do with her Sister, immediately asked, " What's wrong?!" fear and panic rising within her.

Suddenly, the Elder turned to her, and, no longer furious, but concerned said, " You've got to go back. Your Sister is in grave danger, more so than anyone thought. It turned out that the demon you destroyed wasn't the only one who infiltrated that time stream. There is an extremely large concentration where your Sister is being held, and they're pushing for her destruction. You've got to get there and stop them now! Don't let anyone else know about this. That means, don't take anyone with you. You'll have to do this on your own. You have been authorized to use whatever force is necessary." She gave a weak smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. " If you succeed, this report might just find its way into the garbage disposal."

" Thank you, Elder," said Celeste as she bowed stiffly.

" Dismissed. Now, hurry, Celeste."

Celeste said nothing more as she turned and hurried out of the room. She ran down an ornately decorated corridor, shoving people out of the way as she went, ignoring their angry shouts. Her mind was focused on one thing, and one thing only. Mimi, please…please be all right…

3^rd person P.O.V.-

-Place: Tai/Sora's house.

The hour had passed as though time had slowed to a halt, but the Digidestined at least had a plan. They had decided worked out who would do what. Tai, Matt, Ken and Daisuke would actually confront Frank. Sora, Kari and Miyako would go for help because, as Tai had pointed out, Frank probably took her somewhere where access to help was not easy to find. That left Izzy, Joe and T.K. to protect Mimi during the fight. Joe was there because it was more than certain that she would need a doctor. They had brainstormed during the tense hour, and they finally felt as though they had accounted for every possible reaction, and Joe pointed out that Celeste's prediction had come true, they had been able to, and he was sure that the feeling of fulfillment was actually Celeste's way of telling them that the plan was good.

When the Grandfather clock in the hall chimed, announcing that the hour had past. Everyone bolted out of the house, barely stopping to grab their coats before hurrying out into the rain-filled street. Ken had revealed to them what he was saying before he had been interrupted by Matt, that he thought the odor surrounding Frank to be marine. Since there was only one warehouse district by the sea within the radius that Izzy had calculated Frank to have taken Mimi to, they had some idea where to go. They decided that it might be to obvious to take a car, so they had to go on foot. They decided to take the back streets and, even though it was raining buckets, they decided to go on foot. It was quicker anyway. The streets were just beginning to darken when they all stepped outside. They decided to go in two's so as to look less suspicious. Tai and Daisuke left first, then Ken and T.K., then Izzy and Joe, then Sora and Iori, then Kari and Miyako. Lastly, Matt was left alone standing in the rain on the deserted street, the very street from which his girlfriend had been kidnapped and taken, more than likely, to her death. As much as he didn't want to think about it, the possibility kept forcing itself in his mind. She could be dead. As much as he didn't want to, that might turn out to be a possibility that he had to face. But, to counter that, he had stuck to a mantra, and he kept telling himself that she was okay, that she wasn't dead. However, that only served to make him more anxious. When it was his turn to leave, he cast a glance back at the house, wishing that they could all still be inside together, but he shook the thought away, knowing that wishing wouldn't do him…or her any good. As he turned to walk away into the darkness, to follow Kari and Miyako, one thought forced its way into his mind. Mimi, he prayed, please be all right.