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Thanks for all the nice reviews, here's the next chapter!
-N
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"In doing what we ought we deserve no praise,
because it is our duty."
- Joseph Addison
--
"It sounds like you've been keeping busy, then." Henry murmured in response to Takato bringing him up-to-date. Mala was several paces ahead, as she'd volunteered to lead the way so they could catch up. Over the walk, Takato had repeated several times how relieved he was that Henry had been there to answer the beacon. Henry just put on a smile and admitted that he hadn't expected it.
It was still night, so they had a full day to get back, but they still hurried. Henry had been very concerned about the situation with Guilmon, and—not that he didn't believe Takato—wanted to see it for himself. Henry wasn't sure what to say to Takato—Henry was extremely glad to see his friend was alright, especially since Henry—and everyone else had thought Takato had been dead for two months.
Henry was, at first, surprised that Takato hadn't asked about everyone back in the real world. He wondered if Takato had even known what everyone had assume of his fate.
I'm sure he's pieced it together.
Henry began to wonder what he himself would do in Takato's situation—knowing that his friends and family had believed he died, and stopped looking for him—
—Henry suddenly realized that Takato hadn't been asking about anyone. He didn't know about Jeri, and was scared to hear something he didn't want to.
"She's fine, you know." Henry said suddenly.
He looked to his friend, and saw him visibly smile as he sighed with relief. Henry too, smiled, glad to be the messenger.
"And Rika and Ryo?" Takato asked hopefully after a moment.
Knew it.
"They're fine. They made it out." They'd told Henry and the others about the escape from the lab. "They said you saved them."
Takato scratched the back of his head, obviously more than a little embarrassed. "Yeah. They found out about that, huh?"
"Yup." Henry said with a small smile. The smile faded, though. "Ryo had some nice things to say at your funeral."
Takato's eyebrows raised a little bit, causing Henry to wonder if Takato did know that everyone thought he was dead.
Henry realized that he wouldn't really judge Takato if he didn't figure it out. He clearly had a lot to occupy himself with.
"Oh." Takato said in reply.
"Yeah." Was all Henry could think of to say. The funeral had been huge, but Henry didn't feel like telling his friend of his own funeral anymore.
"What about you? What have you been doing for this time?"
--
Henry hung up the phone and let out a sigh. He blinked, and with great effort, opened his eyes again afterwards. He was so very tired—but he had too much to do, and too many expectations. Sleep didn't fit into the schedule.
"Henry?" his father asked, peeping his head around the corner.
Henry almost slammed his laptop closed, but managed to do it without making a sound. "Yes?" He replied, trying not to sound so drained.
"It's almost time for school. Just making sure you're up."
Henry would have beat himself with a hammer if he had one nearby, but he didn't, so he couldn't. He smiled at his father. "I'm awake, I'll be downstairs in a few minutes."
"Okay, breakfast is ready." His dad said with a smile before leaving.
Too close.
Henry turned back to his laptop and opened the lid, and felt his heart break when he saw that it was off. He looked to the plug, and saw that it wasn't connected. He anxiously rebooted it to see how much work he had lost. The loading screen seemed to take forever. He opened his word processor and tried to load the file from his USB drive.
CANNOT OPEN FILE: DATA MAY BE CORRUPT
He felt his heart break when he realized he'd lost about a week's worth of work. With a sigh, he formatted the drive, put the computer and plug in his backpack, and went downstairs to have breakfast with his family.
--
"What about you? What have you been doing for this time?" Takato had asked.
"Working, mostly." Henry admitted.
"And what about everyone else?" Takato asked him.
Henry again let out a sigh—he really didn't know where to begin. Things had been downright chaotic since Takato had died. He sighed.
"Takato, everything's been—" Henry sighed again, then hurried his pace to make sure that Mala was still close enough. "Well, for starters, Ryo's gone…"
"Gone?" Takato asked in disbelief.
Henry nodded. "Well, not your kind of gone, but he left Shinjuku. We tried looking for him, but we couldn't find anything. Phone numbers or anything. And he either changed his e-mail address, or is ignoring us."
"Why?"
Henry really didn't feel like getting into why. "We don't know exactly." Henry wasn't completely lying. He did know that Ryo left—in part—because he felt guilty that Takato had died. But if he told Takato, then Takato'd be feeling guilty, and that really wouldn't help with their situation. He changed the subject. "Rika wasn't too happy that he'd left."
"I imagine she wouldn't be." Takato murmered. "Is she okay?"
Henry let out a scoff. "You remember Old Rika?" Old Rika was how Takato and Henry had always referred to Rika back when they met her. Back when she was untrusting, mean, and driven.
"Yeah?" Takato asked, not sounding like he understood what Henry was implying.
"Yeah." Henry just repeated. After Takato looked at him, Henry knew that he got it. Rika had retreated from most of her friendships after Ryo left. She still talked to Henry occasionally, and Jeri as well, but she was different. Henry had even spoken to Jeri about it, and Jeri, too, had told him that she noticed Rika was always very distant. Henry wasn't one to talk, though—he knew for certain that he had been quieter than normal in the weeks that passed.
"Kazu and Kenta have both changed, too." Henry continued. "They barely hang out with each other anymore."
He looked ahead to the brown hair that belonged to Mala, which swayed as she walked.
"So she's been here a year, huh?" Henry commented.
"Yeah." Takato responded. "It must have been hard for her. Nobody believed her that this is the digital world."
Henry nodded. "There are humans, you said?"
"A few dozen of them, yeah. In the village. They didn't believe her, and they've got Guilmon."
Henry thought a moment. "Mala?" he called. She turned with a small smile, and stopped as she waited for them to catch up.
"Thanks for giving us some privacy to talk." Henry said sincerely. There really wasn't anything that he had to hide from her, but she had offered to lead the way so that they might speak confidentially.
"It's no problem."
"Well, it's still appreciated." Henry said genuinely. "What can you tell me about the villagers?"
"What do you mean?"
"Their behavior, attitudes—are they hostile? Violent?"
"No, not that I can think of. Not before they took Cronus, I mean."
Cronus? Right. Guilmon.
"Hmm…" Henry murmured. "Takato said that you told him they have no memory of the real world?"
"That's right." She said with a nod. "It's just the three of us, plus Cronus."
"Cronus had memory loss too, though, right? But he was able to at least remember that the real world existed, though. Right?"
"Yes." Mala said with a nod.
"Do you think they could be digimon?" Henry suggested.
Mala actually stopped at this, and her eyes widened. Takato, too, looked contemplative, and Henry could tell that they were both trying to see if the theory matched up with their memories. Henry began walking to encourage them to move as well—they needed to get back to the village as soon as possible.
"I guess it's possible." Takato said finally. "If Guilmon was turned to a human, I mean. Why not them, too?"
"It would explain why they didn't believe in the real world…" Mala said quietly.
"Because they were never there." Henry finished for her. Henry was very eager to see Guilmon, or Cronus, or whoever it was with his own eyes. He had a lot of things to determine—why Guilmon was changed, or at least how—how he was able to fight, how he found Takato—how he knew that someone would answer the beacon. He forced himself to be patient, though.
"You're pretty useful to have around." Mala said with a smirk.
"Thanks." Henry said it flatly, but upon considering it, it had been a long time since he'd felt appreciated.
--
Henry sat in the library of his school working away at his laptop. He wasn't supposed to be there—he was cutting his classes to catch up on the work he destroyed that morning. All his teachers liked him enough not to inform his parents that he wasn't present; and when most students cut class, they didn't go to the library, so it was almost deserted.
This is going to take me forever.
It had been three weeks since Takato's funeral. Henry had grieved, as all the Tamers had. He was forcing himself to move on after losing a close friend, however, and was doing a decent job at it. He missed his friend, but was almost resentful of the mess that had happened as a result of Takato getting himself killed.
Henry's workload was repulsive. He'd promised himself he'd work on tracking down Ryo, if only to know that he's safe. The Monster Makers had enlisted his help in going through some new code, as had Yamaki at Hypnos. He'd had to babysit his little sister, which, unfortunately, did not involve sitting in one place—she needed to be entertained. He was working on a project of his own as well that he hoped would give him some release. His stress had caused him to be short with his sister, and he felt terrible when she started to cry. Henry had been trying very hard to keep control of himself, but he was finding it exceedingly difficult.
Latitude 35.6784…no, .6788…
Henry found himself distracted as he heard the door open. A quick glance revealed a girl entering in a pair of dark blue jeans, a red tanktop, and a matching blue jean jacket. It was Rika, hair let down, and earphones blocking stupid people from bothering her.
Henry raised a hand and waved to her, and she nodded in response. She sat down at the closest table to her, which happened to be a seat rather far from where Henry was sitting. Had he not been working, he probably would have been offended.
Rika had changed after Takato had died and Ryo had left. She never spoke of anything personal to anyone, and the only person—that Henry knew of, at least—that she talked to was him. And it was typically just casual conversation. She'd become as hostile as she used to be, and had been in more than a few fights. Henry just assumed that it was her way of grieving with the changes in her life lately, and let her do what she had to, to adapt.
A half hour had passed until Henry was once again distracted by the ringing of a cell phone.
Who the hell leaves these things on in a libr—
Henry found himself staring in the direction of Rika. She pulled her feet off the chair to access her pocket as the librarian approached her and hushed her audibly.
Rika pulled off her earphones and then reached to take her phone from her pocket with one hand, and offering the librarian a middle-finger with the other. Henry snickered silently at the scene. He felt guilty watching Rika as she spoke on the phone, as if he was eavesdropping. He was glad he was paying attention, though, when he saw Rika's expression change to shock.
"Okay." She concluded. "I'll be right over."
Henry called over to her. "Rika? Everything alright?"
Rika was scrambling to gather all her things, clearly not alright. She stopped to look at him when she spoke.
"That was Mr. Kato." Rika spoke softly. "Jeri's awake."
--
They arrived at the village an hour or so later.
"We'll have to be quiet." Mala had warned Henry. "I don't know how they'll react to you being here."
Henry nodded to her, and asked her to take him to where Guilmon was being held. She took him—with Takato following behind—to a small hut. Henry raised an eyebrow on how tight security could be in a place that looked like that, but when he entered he groaned as he saw the winding stone staircase. At the bottom sat a blonde boy, dressed in a brown long-sleeve shirt, and some jeans.
"Henry!" the boy called out suddenly with a huge smile on his face.
Oh my God
"…Guilmon?" Henry asked slowly, knowing full well the answer.
"It's me! I can't believe you're here!"
He can't believe what he's seeing?
"You look different." Henry said with a grin.
Guilmon laughed, and shifted around, tugging effortlessly at the bars of his cell. Henry could barely believe it. Hearing it was one thing, but seeing Guilmon then—he looked like an ordinary teenager.
"Guil—Cronus?" Henry asked. "Can I ask you some questions?"
"Um, sure." Cronus said, confused. "Why?"
"Well," Henry told him. "it's clear that you have some enhanced abilities, and we need to know what they are. You might have in you what we need to get you out of here."
"Alright." Cronus accepted. "What would you like to know?"
"Do you remember becoming human?" Henry asked.
"Which time?"
"The first time."
"No, I don't remember that. I just woke up like this."
"Okay. What about the second time?" Henry asked him.
"I was just thinking trying to think of how I got turned into a human the first time, and then it happened again."
"And there was a red light, right? From your digivice?" Henry confirmed.
"Yeah." Takato told him. "It was there when he turned back to Guilmon, then again when he turned to Cronus again."
"Okay." Henry noted. "Have you tried turning back into a digimon? Thinking about it, I mean?"
Cronus nodded to him. "I tried, but it didn't work. The light didn't come."
Henry was basically lost.
The transformation can apparently happen both ways…why wouldn't it work? Maybe he just can't control it yet. But he doesn't have time to learn how to.
"How did you know about Valn?" Mala suddenly asked.
Henry raised an eyebrow in confusion, but apparently Takato thought it was a worthwhile question as well.
"Yeah, I don't remember telling you about him." Takato said with a realization.
"I'm not sure." Cronus answered honestly. "I could feel you both getting mad, and then I saw all these pictures in my head, and then my head felt like it was hit with something when the name Valn came up."
"What did you see?" Henry asked him cautiously, before Mala or Takato could ask him something.
Cronus looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke, while looking at Takato. "I saw Jeri." He then turned to Henry. "And you, and Kazu and Suzie and Kenta and Rika and Ryo."
Henry had assumed that he was just remembering things. But that still didn't explain how he knew about Valn. He had a good guess, though, when Cronus then turned to Mala. "And then I saw your mother, then Tigremon, then Justimon, then Joseph. And then I saw Valn, and it hurt."
"How did you know about—how'd you see—" Mala was stammering, completely dumbfounded. Henry, too, was very curious to that. Takato had mentioned that Cronus had seemed intuitive, but there was no implication he could read minds.
"You said you could feel them getting mad?" Henry asked suddenly.
"Right." Cronus said. "When they were yelling."
"What were you yelling about?" Henry asked Takato and Mala.
They looked to each other, but it was Cronus who answered. "This place, and how we got here, and how we plan to get out."
Henry thought it over, but found himself distracted.
--
Henry and Rika stood outside Jeri's hospital room. His palms were sweaty. He looked to Rika—who looked just as anxious—before knocking gently and pushing the door open.
He looked in hopefully, but found not Jeri, but an empty bed, half-covered by a hanging curtain.
"W—what's—" he could hear Rika stammer. Henry turned to her, seeing the shock on her face. Henry was confused as well, but moved his attention to the letter that was in Rika's hand—the letter that Takato had left for Jeri. The letter told Jeri that he was going off to try and save Ryo, and that he might not make it back.
And he didn't.
Henry felt guilty that he had read it, but did so in hopes of finding out where Takato had gone.
"Sorry, just a second, I'm trying to change out of this gown thing."
Henry spun around and grinned happily when he saw Jeri's head peeking around the curtain. None of them said anything for the two minutes it took for Jeri to change into her favorite yellow dress, and she stepped out from behind the curtain.
She looked fantastic—she looked like Jeri. Henry hugged her fiercely. "Don't ever do that again." He whispered to her. Jeri was like another little sister to him. If Suzie could grow up to be anything like Jeri, he'd be proud. Rika tapped on Jeri's shoulder next, and took her turn to be hugged. It was the happiest that Henry had felt in a long time.
"Ooh!" Jeri said, snatching the envelope that Rika held. "You brought me a card?"
--
"You can read minds?" Mala asked him bluntly.
"Maybe. I don't think so." Cronus contemplated. "I don't see anything now other than you guys standing here."
Henry decided to test it. He tried not to change his stature, breathing, or anything else physically, but tried thinking of a memory. He settled on when he had to hide Terriermon from everyone, and Suzie was convinced that his partner was a doll, and was dressing him up like one. He recalled the memory as vividly as he could—what he was wearing, what Suzie was wearing, what she was dressing him in—the time of day, the smell of his sister's room, the color of the carpets, the—
—When he noticed Cronus grin, he was convinced that the memories just had to be intense enough.
"Do you think this has anything to do with your transformation?" Takato asked him. "I mean, you're a digimon, and we're in the digital world. You're like, connected to it, right? Could it have something to do with that?"
"Maybe." Cronus shrugged. "Just stop yelling. Please."
Takato might be on to something.
"Digital monsters draw their energy from the digital world…when they digivolve, they pull in more energy from it." Henry recalled. "When we're here—humans, I mean—we become data."
"But that doesn't explain why this never happened when we were in the digital world before." Takato said skeptically but not hostilely.
"But Cronus is the only one accessing the digital world here. If the other villagers are digimon, but aren't drawing from their world, then it's all open for him to use."
It was his best guess, and it looked to be right.
"So what are you saying?" Cronus asked.
"He means you're a lot more special than we ever thought." Mala told him. It was a nice thing for her to say. Mala seemed like a good person, and she was even cute. But Henry focused his attention back to the task at hand when Takato spoke.
"Can you tell us anything about this place we don't know?" Takato asked.
"Huh?" Cronus asked.
"The village. Try thinking about it. Can you tell where in the digital world we are exactly?"
Henry saw Cronus looked to Mala for a second, but it happened to be the second before she took off her look of fear. When Cronus looked at her, he immediately looked to the floor, then to Takato, then back to the floor. He closed his eyes.
"…We're on an island." He said. "Beyond the mountains, there's just water."
Mala looked to Takato, and he looked back at her, but neither spoke. Cronus went on. "Past the water there's—I'm not seeing anything out th—no! It's the desert where you, Henry and I got hit by that data storm, remember?"
"I remember." Takato said, smiling.
Henry smiled. It had been a long time ago. It had actually been a pretty scary experience, but he still missed the adventures in the digital world. He hadn't realized it until then, but it was a lot simpler than the real world.
--
Henry had stepped outside on Rika's request. He turned the knob as he closed the door so that it wouldn't make a sound. He inhaled sharply, and looked through the mirror.
He could see Rika telling Jeri. The walls were soundproof, so he heard nothing, but he could identify "Takato" from her lips as one of the words she repeated. Rika had been the one who had volunteered to tell Jeri about Takato when she woke up. Henry didn't envy the duty. But he still felt even more terrible than he had before. Not allowing himself to see Jeri cry, he left the hospital, and went back home to work on his project.
--
"Can you see a way back to the real world?" Mala asked suddenly.
He opened his eyes and looked at her for a moment, then squeezed his eyes shut. "…No. I don't see anything."
"Damn." Takato grumbled.
"Henry?" Cronus asked him quietly.
"Yeah?"
Cronus beckoned him closer. Henry was confused, but he complied.
"Can you tell me what's wrong? It might help." Cronus whispered to him.
What's wrong?
Henry realized what Cronus had been talking about. He hadn't been thinking of it at all. But he nodded to him, and thought out the events that had led him to the digital world.
--
Henry finished his project four weeks later. The weeks were hard, too—his grades had slipped because of his devotion to it, and his overall lack of sleep. He'd been in touch with Kazu and Jeri—and Rika, once. Jeri was doing alright. She was devastated to hear what had happened to Takato, and what had almost happened to Rika and Ryo. But she was coping. She had apparently learned how to grieve after she lost her mom. And Leomon.
The poor girl…
Henry felt guilty that he, too, would be leaving her. He double-checked his program, and when he verified that everything was perfect, he went to Hypnos. His clearance-card was usable round-the-clock, which was made possible by Yamaki, when Henry had told him that he wouldn't be able to help out on regular hours.
He went to the laboratories, which were empty—the workers had all gone home to their families. He sat at the computer—it was Tuesday, and it was around midnight, so he had about two more hours. Henry almost hoped that it didn't work.
The night of Takato's funeral, Henry couldn't sleep, so he went to the Hypnos building—why exactly, he didn't know. He was curious to why the digimon had disappeared, and when he ran a scan, he found an energy emission coming somewhere from the digital world—a place in it that hadn't been explored by him or his friends. After investigating it, he'd found that it was indeed coming from the digital world—programmed in there, but he wasn't sure from where. It didn't matter, though—he thought it could be a way to bring Terriermon back.
But as the weeks went on, his goal changed. Henry found that he couldn't keep up with the mess that were his friends and family, and needed to get away. He sat, then, looking at the pulsing energy, deciding whether or not he should leave a note. He decided against it, and ran the program he worked so hard on.
He was engulfed in a blue light, which he embraced. What made his jaw drop was when he saw Takato standing in front of a cute brown-haired girl.
"Takato…?" he asked, not quite allowing himself to believe it.
"Henry!"
--
"I'm sorry." Cronus said to him afterwards. "That must have been hard for you."
Henry glanced backwards to Takato and Mala, who both clearly wanted to know what they were talking about.
But they won't.
"It's okay." Henry said, turning back to Cronus. "I think I'm okay now."
--
Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll be posting an epilogue in Crescendo soon, as this story is nearly done. Thanks to everyone who's read this far!