I figured I'd post this chapter early since it was done. I didn't edit much, so if you notice any typos I'm going to have to say it's your own fault for noticing ;).

As for a clarification; yes, the guy who saved Mala was Ryo, though it probably won't be a huge part of the story, although it'll have some more significance to Mala's character, and how she got here.

Anyways, this chapter should give you some more things to try and figure out.

Review, please!

-N

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"If you don't go far enough back in memory or far enough ahead in hope, your future will be impoverished."

- Art Linkletter

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"So how long was it before you started getting some real answers?"

Takato shrugged. "I figured a lot of it out shortly after. But I still had about a million questions, and each one led to a million more."

--

Takato lay in bed for several hours after Mala took him to his new 'home'. The bed was actually pretty comfortable, though it wasn't much to look at. The blankets were thick and warm, but soft. He couldn't really identify what exactly they were made of, but he didn't care much. He lay with his hands behind his head, reflecting on the day's events.

Mala seems nice enough. Gave me a house, after all. Takato Matsuda—homeowner. Go me. I wonder how she knows about the digital world and all this. I'd have asked if she hadn't snapped at me for interrupting her. She knows a lot more than I thought she did. Hell, she knows more than I probably would if I'd been in her situation. I don't think I'd even be able to survive here on my own like she did. She must be stronger than she looks. Like Jeri.

Takato then found himself full of worry, of how Jeri was doing back in the recovery ward at Hypnos. He had to get back, so he could be there when she woke up. But he forced his mind elsewhere, as he knew obsessing over it at that time of night wouldn't help.

How did Mala get here? Or Cronus, for that matter? I got here from a portal back in the complex. But back in that place, it didn't look like anyone had been using it. Valn had used digimon to build his labs. But there weren't any digimon here. But Mala knows about digimon. Maybe she knew about them before coming here. She said Cronus remembers more than the others in the village, but not as much as she and I do. She said he killed the monster that attacked. Whether the thing was or wasn't a digimon, it'd killed half a dozen people—how could he have killed it? He doesn't look particularly strong—even I'm taller than him. If these monsters are really so bad—

Takato sat up, and his eyes widened. He'd come here from Valn's complex back in the real world. Takato knew for a fact that there were capabilities there to make monsters that both would and could kill people. Valn had been working on the virus that made his monster for a very long time, it seemed. Maybe these were some of his earlier efforts before he 'perfected' it.

The air was cool on his chest, so Takato lay back down, though his eyes remained open.

If the monsters here are like the ones back home, then they can be beaten. Yamaki has a way to kill them. But then again, if the monster Valn made was the final product, then these ones might be easier to kill. Well, I guess they are easier to kill. Cronus killed one.

He remembered that Mala said Cronus wasn't trusted by the others. If Cronus had killed one of the monsters that was hurting the village, Takato would expect them to be grateful.

Again, Takato sat up. He sighed heavily, realizing that he wasn't going to get any sleep. He decided to go for a walk—look around the village. It's not like he had anything better to do. He tossed the blankets off of him, and made the bed, before putting his shirt, the same long-sleeved white t-shirt he was wearing when he got there. It still bore some of the steins from the ashes and grease from the explosions back in the real world, and a few grass steins, as well. He didn't really care; it wasn't like fashion was at the top of his priority list.

He slipped on his socks and shoes, and went to the door. Takato instinctively reached to lock it, but felt a little embarrassed when he realized there was no lock, and nothing inside worth protecting.

When Takato stepped outside, it wasn't as cold as he thought it would have been. He decided to mentally map out the village. He'd come to terms that it was very possible he could be there for a while, so he might as well get to know where everything is.

The paths around the village were lit with large torches. He walked around, and counted 53 different houses. How many people there were living in each, he had no idea. When he came to Mala's, there were no lights on. While Takato was not surprised, he found himself a little disappointed. He noticed one place had a light on inside, and he recognized it as the one in which he'd woken up in. He looked in the window as he passed, and indeed saw Cronus sitting on his bed inside, writing in a book.

Takato knocked quietly at the door, and Cronus answered it a few seconds later.

"Takato, hi." Cronus said, his eyebrows raising a little. The blonde boy held the door open and indicated for Takato to enter. He was wearing the same green t-shirt he was earlier, and a pair of dark brown shorts.

"Hey." Takato said as he stepped in. "Was I interrupting anything?"

"Nah." Cronus said, hopping onto the bed and picking up the book. "How's your head?"

"Huh?" Takato murmured before he remembered that that girl had elbowed him in the forehead. "Oh, I'm fine, I guess. Is there a mark?"

"Kind of a red spot. Noria's pretty jumpy. She hit me too, when I first met her."

Takato laughed a little at the thought of the greeting.

At least I'm not alone in that aspect. So, the mean one's name is Noria.

"Sorry for coming so late, I couldn't sleep." Takato said, a little embarrassed. "If you're getting tired just kick me out."

"No problem, and will do." Cronus said with a nod and a grin. "How was your talk with Mala?"

"Went well. I think I'm all caught up on things." Takato answered. "Well, as caught up as I could be."

"Yeah, Mala's been wishing she could understand this place pretty often." Cronus said with a frown.

"What about you?" Takato asked. "Aren't you curious?"

"I've been trying to figure out other stuff." Cronus said awkwardly.

"Oh. Right." Takato blurted.

Cronus smirked a little. "Mala told you about me, huh?"

Takato felt flush from his embarrassment. He really hoped Mala wouldn't get in trouble for telling him. "Yeah, your memory, huh?"

Cronus nodded, lowering his sand-colored eyes to the floor.

"Is that what you were writing down?" Takato asked, hoping his questions weren't invasive."

"Oh, yeah." Cronus said, a little awkwardly. He seemed almost embarrassed for his memory loss. "Anytime I remember something from before getting here I write it down. My dreams, too. Trying to make some connections, you know? It really sucks not knowing who you are."

Takato really did feel he understood, but he didn't want to sound pompous in saying he did. Back in the real world, when he was helping Yamaki—the feelings of uncertainty and helplessness that he felt were nothing like he'd ever felt before. He felt like he wasn't himself. He did understand not knowing who he was. But he just nodded.

"So why aren't you asleep?" Takato asked, changing the subject to make Cronus more comfortable.

"I really don't know." He answered with a little laugh. "You'd figure that after sleeping on the floor for three weeks I'd be eager to get back to bed.

Takato didn't quite understand why Cronus had slept on the floor. At first. Then he realized that it was because Takato was in the bed when he was unconscious.

"You slept on the floor for three weeks?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Cronus answered, embarrassed. "I didn't want to leave you alone. Just in case."

"I'm really sorry."

"Don't be. I'm glad you're okay."

Takato didn't understand why the people here wouldn't like or trust Cronus. Even Mala implied he had an oddness to him. As far as Takato was concerned, he was a very nice person, and a considerate one at that.

"Thanks." Takato told him. "For helping me, I mean."

"You already thanked me." Cronus told him.

"I know. Just, you know, just making sure."

"Can you tell me what you remember from the real world?" Takato asked. "It's okay if you don't want to, I was just cur—"

"Oh, sure!" Cronus said with some excitement. "Maybe some of these things will make any sense to you."

He opened the book that Takato had seen him write on, but just as soon closed it. Takato raised an eyebrow, but then Cronus pulled the blanket off his bed and asked Takato to back up. He complied, and Cronus spread it out on the floor and sat down. Takato did as well.

"Okay. Well, I remember digimon."

"That's a pretty good place to begin." Takato admitted. "Most people don't know about them."

Cronus smiled, and Takato continued. "What do you remember about them?"

"Well, I remember I have a partner. Or, had, maybe. I don't know if they're okay, or if they've found a new partner themselves."

"You were a Tamer?" Takato asked.

"I guess so…?" Cronus sounded confused, and Takato felt guilty. But Cronus didn't seem offended or hurt or anything, to which Takato found solace. "I remember that 'Gatomon wanted bread'. I'm not sure why I remember that."

"Do you remember what a Gatomon is?" Takato asked.

Cronus frowned again. "No. Mala said it's like a cat, but I just can't picture it. Oh, and I remember cats too."

Takato felt an immense amount of pity for the teen who sat across from him. Takato couldn't bear the thought of forgetting Guilmon. He remembered the forced goodbye back when the D-Reaper had been beaten. The last time Takato had seen him, Guilmon had been asleep. Takato never got to say goodbye.

Didn't need to say goodbye. I'll see him again.

Takato wouldn't give up. He found Cronus's efforts to remember very inspiring, and he felt privileged to be asked to help.

"I don't remember much else about the real world." Cronus admitted. "Just that I want to get back there. I want to—you know, meet my partner there."

Takato thought he understood, and he nodded solemnly. When he didn't say anything, Cronus spoke.

"What about you? Tell me about yourself."

"Well, I'm 16—" Takato began.

"Oh! Me too!" Cronus said excitedly.

Takato grinned as he continued. "I'm a Tamer, too. My partner's a Guilmon. He's a red dinosaur, with some black marks, and a hazard sign on his chest. He was—he's really playful, and kind of behaves like one of those giant dogs that thinks they're still a puppy. He's probably triple my weight, and has no objections to falling asleep across me."

Cronus laughed at the image, and Takato went on. "There's a girl back home I'd like to get back to, too. Her name's Jeri. She's really sweet. She's got red hair, and she's really nice, and smart, and—" Takato frowned.

"You miss her?" Cronus asked, understanding.

"Yeah, I really do." He admitted. "Before I came here, she got hurt, and I don't know if she's okay or not."

"I'm sorry." Cronus said quietly.

"Not your fault."

It was mine.

During the silence that followed, Takato remembered that he wanted to ask Cronus about the monsters, but for a reason he couldn't explain, he decided against it, at least for the time being.

"How'd you find me?" Takato asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Oh, sorry."

"No, I mean—that's not something I forgot, or anything, I just—I just knew I'd find something out there. I just knew it."

Takato wasn't quite sure he understood what Cronus meant, but didn't push for him to explain it after he saw him struggle to describe what he already had. Deep down, he knew that he'd understand sooner or later, anyways.

When Takato looked back up, the blonde teenager was staring at something out the window. The look that Takato saw on his face was of pure intrigue, and it got the best of Takato, too, who turned to see what was so interesting.

Off in the distance, over all the trees, and the top of one of the mountains, was a blue light, that was pulsing. It was difficult to see, however, because of the glare of the nearby torch, so Takato headed outside to take a look from a different perspective. Cronus had apparently had the same idea.

"What is it?" Takato asked, not taking his eyes off of it. It was beautifully hypnotic. It pulsed at a regular pace, and was very bright.

"I haven't figured it out yet." Cronus answered.

"You've seen it before?" Takato asked, turning to him.

"Yeah. I think this makes—the fourth time." Cronus took his eyes off of the light as he pondered for a moment. "Yeah. It's been once a week—every seventh day."

"Has it always been this late at night?"

"Yeah."

"Has anyone else seen it?"

"No, I don't think so. Nobody's mentioned anything about it to me, I mean. Then again, the people here don't so much talk to me as they, you know, talk about me." He said, obviously hurt.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I don't know, I really like it. To be honest, I was working in my book so late tonight so that I could see it again. I didn't tell any of them 'cause it's kind of mine, you know?"

"I think so." Takato said absentmindedly. It was beautiful to look at. While he wasn't exactly sure he'd do the same in Cronus's situation, he wasn't going to jeopardize his new friend's privacy.

The two stared at the light for another two minutes before it pulsed off as silently as it appeared.

Takato had no idea what to say afterwards, but when he saw Cronus shift uncomfortably, he looked down to see that his feet were bare, and that the dirt was cold.

"I'm going to head back, try to get some sleep." Takato said finally. "I'll catch you later."

"Okay. Good night." Cronus replied. "Thanks for helping me remember things."

Takato smiled to him. "No problem. We can try again tomorrow, if you want."

He nodded in response. "Yeah, okay. Later."

Takato thought things over as he headed back to his room. He was pretty sure he trusted Cronus, though there was definitely more to him than meets the eye if he was able to kill one of the 'monsters'. He didn't seem to be hiding anything—he answered everything Takato asked relatively quickly and believably. Unless the memory loss and the innocence were a front, Cronus seemed to be on the level.

Takato pushed the door open to his room and stepped inside. He sat on the bed, and pulled off his shoes and socks, which he set aside on the floor. He then pulled off his shirt, inspecting some of the steins on it. Frowning, he folded it neatly and put it underneath the bed, on top of the spare sheets.

He crawled under the blanket, which he wrapped around himself as he shuddered at the feel of the bed's temperature on his skin. As he waited for himself to warm up, he thought of the light he'd seen. Why hadn't Cronus investigated it? If he was really capable of defending himself, and he'd seen it for three times in three weeks, wouldn't the curiosity get the best of him?

His mind cycled through his thoughts as he closed his eyes.

Mala. Digital world. Monsters. Memory loss. Valn. Virus. Cronus. Tamer. Gatomon wants bread. Light.

After deciding that he would find out what the light was sooner or later, he found it easier to get to sleep than he'd expected.

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Alright, well, I hope this gives some understanding of who Cronus is. The next chapter is from Takato's perspective for some, and Mala's perspective for most, and will have some flashbacks like the last one did a-la-Lost. It should thicken the plot a bit, as well as reveal how she got to where she is. The one after it'll be from Cronus's perspective, and you'll get to find out what his deal is.

Oh, the calamity!

Catch you later, review please!

-N