Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

Epilogue

Kari woke up slowly, becoming aware of a pleasant feeling of warmth surrounding her. She found that this warmth made her feel very happy and content, and she suddenly remembered the events of the previous night. Slowly Kari opened her eyes and saw T.K.'s sleeping face directly in front of her. Kari smiled and nuzzled in closer to T.K., inadvertently rousing him from his own slumber.

"Hey." T.K. greeted somewhat drowsily with a smile.

"Hi." Kari greeted back smiling.

The couple began lightly kissing each other on the lips. They were interrupted however by the sound of a creaking door, which was closely followed by the sounds of flapping wings and paws running across carpet.

"Kari!" a familiar female voice called out, causing both T.K. and Kari to sit up.

Gatomon jumped onto the bed and tackled Kari with a hug; a tearful smile was on the feline Digimon's face. Patamon landed on the foot of the bed and looked on with his own cheerful expression.

"Hi there Gatomon." Kari greeted happily as she hugged her old friend, it had been quite some time since the two had seen each other.

T.K. glanced away from the happy reunion and noticed that something was watching them. It was a fairly small raptor-like creature, but instead of scales it was covered in a sort of lavender colored fur, with white fur covering its belly, forepaws, feet, and the tip of its snout. The creature also had a long bushy tail that ended in a tip of white fur. It was the type of tail that one might normally expect to see on a fox. On the creature's head was a pair of pointed ears covered with black fur, and on its back was a pair of small black bat-like wings. As the thing looked at them with its big yellow eyes, T.K. noticed the large triangular gemstone that adorned the creature's forehead.

"Hey Patamon, who's your friend?" T.K. asked, getting both Kari and Gatomon's attention and causing Patamon to glance over at the thing that dragon-like creature that was watching them.

"Oh, that's Dorumon." Patamon introduced. "He doesn't talk much but he's very nice."

"Easy for you to say." Gatomon said as she turned her head and narrowed her eyes at Dorumon. "He didn't chase you up a tree."

Dorumon growled at Gatomon's comment, causing Gatomon to hiss back in response.

"Calm down you two!" a voice from outside the room commanded. "I don't need you tearing up the house again!"

The owner of the voice walked into the room, revealing himself as a young handsome looking man about T.K. and Kari's age with short black hair and dark blue eyes. He wore tan slacks and a light green polo shirt under a navy blue jacket, and on his face was a pair of glasses with square frames. As the young man glanced around the room he suddenly noticed that T.K. and Kari were both awake.

"Oh, forgive me for just barging in like I did." The young man said apologetically. "I had no idea that you were awake, though with this rabble barging in I'm hardly surprised."

T.K. and Kari did not respond, only looked at the young man with slightly startled expressions.

"I actually am rather relieved to see you both awake though." The young man continued as he sat down in a nearby chair. "You were asleep for an entire day. Although from what your two companions have told me I can understand why. You must have both been through an incredibly dreadful ordeal. It's not surprising that you'd need a large amount of rest. I hope that you will forgive my presumption in placing you both in the same bed. I merely assumed that you were involved romantically, though again from what I've heard from your companions it seems that my assumption was correct."

"Uh, who are you?" T.K. asked as the young man finally paused.

"Oh, forgive me. I do forget myself sometimes." The young man chuckled. "My name is Arthur Pierce, and like you I am a Digidestined. I assume that you are already somewhat familiar with my faithful companion Dorumon."

With that Dorumon trotted up next to Arthur's chair, causing the young man to pat the Dragon Digimon in response.

"As to where you are, you are currently in the guest room at my family's mansion in Vermont." Arthur continued. "I'm hoping that you will find your stay here to be a pleasant one."

"Did Gennai bring us here?" Kari asked.

"As a matter a fact yes." Arthur answered. "It was actually quite a surprise. I was out in front of the house walking Dorumon at the time, and suddenly there was a flash of white light by the front door. Naturally Dorumon and I went to investigate, and there we found old Gennai, with the four of you unconscious at his feet. He told me of your situation; that you needed to rest here and hide from the terrible things that are most likely still going to try to kill you. So for the next month or so you may consider both Dorumon and yourself to be your hosts and bodyguards."

"So I guess we can't contact our friends and family back home." T.K. assumed.

"I'm afraid not." Arthur replied. "Old Gennai was very clear on that subject. He said that we could not afford the enemy finding out where you are, at least not awhile."

"That's fine I guess." Kari suddenly said. "I would like for Tai and the others to know I'm okay, but if Gennai thinks that it's safer for us not to, than I guess I can live with it. I mean he's never steered us wrong before."

"I guess I'm okay with it too then." T.K. added.

"Marvelous!" Arthur replied cheerfully. "I'm glad that we're all on the same page. I would not want any of you to feel as if you were being held prisoner. Until the next battle comes I shall see to it that your stay here is a good one."

"Next battle?" T.K. asked.

"Yes, the truth is that I've actually been expecting you for quite some time." Arthur replied as his expression became more serious. "You see years ago my team and I, that is the group of Digidestined that I was a part of, had learned of the group known as the Seven Lords. Which are apparently now the Six Lords from what Miss Gatomon has mentioned about the death of that creature Leviamon, marvelous job on that by the way. Anyway, we were told by old Gennai and the Harmonious Ones that one day the pair known as the children of hope and light would come before us, and that we would have to work with them to defeat the Seven Lords once and for all."

"So the Harmonious Ones are sure that this battle is going to happen?" T.K. asked.

"Yes, and from what I've learned from your two friends, so am I." Arthur replied gravely.

Back at The Dark Ocean, Daemon flied back to the island with the old inn where Kari had been held prisoner for over a month. The Demon Lord entered the building and went directly to the basement, stopping before a door with the number 666 written on it. Daemon spoke to the door in his own evil sounding language, making a mysterious sign to it with his left hand at the same time. The door swung open, closing itself once Daemon had walked through. As the Demon Lord descended a seemingly endless stairway, he knew that his master would not be pleased to see him, not after such a colossal failure.

At last Daemon had reached the end on the mile long staircase, entering the cavernous expanse that housed the ancient and enormous castle of Pandemonium, the home of the Seven Lords. Reluctantly Daemon walked before the gigantic stone doors of the castle that were being guarded by a pair of black dragons with white snouts and four red glowing eyes. The arms of both dragons were long and ended in red talons, and two pairs of massive black wings. Their appearance was actually quite similar to that of Devimon. These were the Devidramon, evil Digimon who have been servants of darkness for millennia.

Daemon stood before the gates and spoke again in the evil language he had used to open the door to the cavern, making the same sign with his left hand as well. The massive demonic looking gates swung inward, and Daemon entered the castle. He walked down seemingly endless corridors dimly lit by the fire of torches until he at last came to the door to his masters throne room. The doors opened, and Daemon timidly entered.

The side of the room that Daemon was on was dimly lit by torchlight, but the other with the throne was completely shrouded in darkness. It was impossible to see if anyone was sitting on the throne, but Daemon did not have to see his master to know he was there. He could feel his master's presence, and could tell right away that he was displeased.

"So at last you have returned Daemon." The unseen master said in a sweet child-like voice. "I would like to know why you took so long to report back."

"Forgive me, my lord." Daemon said as he bowed apologetically. "I was merely taking some time to myself to formulate a new plan for us."

"More likely you were cowering somewhere because you were afraid to face me after such an outrageous blunder!" The Master said in a deep demonic sounding voice filled with hate. "Not only did you and Dragomon fail to kill the child of light and remove the barrier of this accursed realm, but you allowed both Dragomon AND Leviamon to be destroyed! What's worse is that the child of hope managed to come here and rescue the girl, something you assured me would not happen! And yet he was able to come here, and as a result the children of hope and light are both stronger! How do you explain yourself Daemon?"

"Well you see my lord…" Daemon began hesitantly. "A rogue Devimon helped the child of hope find a way through the barrier. His intention was to use the children to gain our power."

"You let one low level Fallen Angel Digimon derail our plans?" The Master asked, still speaking in his low hate-filled voice. "Why did you not destroy him or for that matter the child of hope as soon as you encountered them?"

"Well my lord… I did not think that they were any great threat to our plans." Daemon replied fearfully.

"FOOL!" The Master shouted as he launched ten white fireballs arranged in a cross at Daemon, knocking the Demon Lord against the wall. "Alone the children of hope and light are weak, but when united they become a powerful force! You were careless not to destroy him!"

"Forgive me my lord." Daemon begged as he got back to his feet.

"And now not only is the barrier still intact, but I'm sure that those old fools the Harmonious Ones have hidden them!" The Master continued, still speaking in his low hate-filled voice but in a somewhat calmer tone.

"Even so, all is not lost my lord." A female voice interrupted.

Stepping into the torchlight from a dark corner of the room was a beautiful woman with pale skin and long dark hair that was tied up with gold ornaments, one of which had a pair of small horns, and four that hung down from the back in the shaped of pointed tails. Pointed ears were just visible under the black locks. On her face the woman wore purple lipstick and mascara, and the symbol of a black bat was on her forehead. Around her neck she wore a black collar with gold trim, and she was clothed in a black low cut bodysuit that revealed her shoulders. On the back of the outfit hung four black ribbons, two of which were shaped like bat wings. Hanging from around the waste was a sort of purple skirt that was open in the front. The same fabric was used to form a pair of baggy sleeves, though the woman's right hand was still visible and was revealed to be a sort of talon with skin that looked like decaying flesh.

"What are you doing here Lilithmon?" The Master asked angrily.

"Forgive the intrusion my lord, but I was merely pointing out that there is an upside to all of this." Lilithmon replied. "For one thing even though the barrier is still enacted it is far weaker than before. Daemon, myself, and the rest of the Lords may now pass through."

"BUT I AM STILL TRAPPED HERE!" The Master shouted. "My powers are too massive for me to pass through!"

"True my lord, but the rest of us can pass through." Lilithmon continued, though somewhat hesitantly. "And once through we can find a way to break the barrier from the outside, allowing you to finally escape. Plus we can destroy the rest of the Digidestined in the process."

"…Go on Lilithmon." The Master said intrigued, now speaking in the sweet child voice he had used when Daemon had first entered his chamber.

"It is true that the children of hope and light are now hidden from us, but that means that they are hidden from the rest of the Digidestined as well." Lilithmon explained. "Without hope and light to believe in the rest of the Digidestined are lost, vulnerable. We now have the opportunity to break them both body and spirit."

"I'm guessing that you have something in mind for at least one of them." The Master said in his child voice, sounding amused.

"You know me too well my lord." Lilithmon replied with an evil smile. "Daemon's last report about them has given me ideas for the child of light's former lover."

"You truly live up to your title as the Goddess of Darkness." The Master chuckled. "Very well, the two of you may go to the human world, and take the other Lords with you! Destroy the other Digidestined of Japan if you can, but at the first opportunity you are to open the barrier enough for me to pass though!"

"Yes my lord!" Daemon and Lilithmon said together.

"One way or another, the age of chaos shall begin!" The Master proclaimed.

Author's Note: I'm sure a few of you reading have guessed the identity of Daemon and Lilithmon's unseen master. As I was writing this epilogue I was kind of thinking that maybe it was pointless to hide the "master's" identity, because it was probably kind of obvious. But I decided to do it anyway for the effect.

Well, there you have, the end of Digimon: Home by the Sea, but obviously there are still a few things left unresolved, like what remains of the Seven Lords. When I first planned this story, there was a lot I wanted to do, so much that just one story wasn't enough. This first story, which is my own version of the unmade Dark Ocean storyline from the anime, is over, but the larger story is about to begin. For now T.K. and Kari will be left at the home of the mysterious Arthur Pierce, who's story will be revealed in time. They will be back however. In the meantime, I'm going to do stuff with some of the other Digidestined. I've already hinted that Lilithmon has some unsavory plans for Davis, and in a future story there will be some very special "guest stars". So for right now I need to do a little bit of planning and research, but very soon the Demon Crisis will begin!

For now though, please review and tell me what you think.