Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Or Heroes of Olympus. But don't count me out just yet!

Author's Note: Written for the Novel with Prompts Challenge found on the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The prompt for this chapter is "doctor".

Not much to say. Just...

Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

Within seconds, Kari was swarmed by almost all of the digidestined and their digimon. Only the other kid with goggles – Davis – was missing from the gathered group as Tai rushed to place Kari on a sofa in one of the side buildings. Kari was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake up. She seemed to be in some kind of coma.

"Is she going to be okay?" Takato asked. "I mean, we can wake her, right?"

Takato didn't know Kari, and she obviously didn't know him, but he still felt a surge of protectiveness. Maybe they weren't friends. Maybe they would never be. But they were apparently both digidestined, and though he still wasn't fully aware what that meant, he felt an obligation to these people. He felt like if he had been there, this would have never happened.

Joe pulled a med-kit out of his bag and put a hand to her forehead. "She's cold to the touch."

Tai shot a look toward Yolei and Gatomon. "What happened?"

"I wish we knew," Gatomon said. "We ran into the digital entity, the one that we met before."

"What digital entity?" Ken asked.

"Not the digital entity…?" Matt said, looking awkward.

Sora looked around the group. "The one that showed us how we were chosen to be digidestined?"

"Oh yes," Izzy said thoughtfully. "I always wondered what happened to them. So, they contacted Kari again?"

"Contacted her!?" Yolei repeated. "It tried to kill her!"

"Something went terribly wrong," said Hawkmon, back in his rookie form again. "She was talking just fine with the entity one moment, and then the next…"

"She screamed and then fainted!" Gatomon finished. "What happened back there—Right before Kari fainted, I felt something off."

"What do you mean off?" Wormmon asked.

"Darkness," Gatomon whispered. "Evil. It wasn't natural. Whatever it was… I don't think it was related to the digital entity."

"Well, what happened before that?" Tai wiped nervous sweat off of his brow. "What was the digital entity telling Kari?"

Izzy nodded. "Good question, Tai. It could be related."

"We don't know most of what's said as we couldn't see or hear the entity," Hawkmon explained, "but… well… I believe it told her something rather alarming…"

"That Gennai was missing?" Takato guessed.

Everybody turned to stare at him.

Yolei's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

Cody grimaced, like he swallowed something painful. "Takato, you better tell them what happened. Joe, is there anything I can do to help?"

Joe and Cody worked together to put a cold compress on Kari's forehead and trickle a bit of water into her mouth while Takato explained what had happened when the room froze—the hooded figure who had claimed to be the reason why he was here. When he was done, no one spoke, which only made him more anxious.

"So, does this happen often?" he finally asked. "Digital phone calls from strange entities begging you break them out of jail?"

"He said nothing about TK?" Matt asked. "Not a word?"

"No, nothing… And, uh, I kinda didn't think to ask."

Matt cursed under his breath and started to pace back and forth. Takato took a step away from the irate man, deciding that if Matt suddenly got the urge to hit something, he sure didn't want it to be him.

Izzy frowned. "I've never heard of anything like this before. He said that your memory loss was a side effect of bringing you here? Why would coming to the Digital World make you lose your memory? It makes no sense."

"That's not necessarily true." Ken hesitated as everybody's attention turned toward him. "It's just… the first time I went to the Digital World… Even to this day, it's still fuzzy in parts. It could have been because of the Dark Spore, but… it also could have been because of something else."

"You really think simply coming to the Digital World could cause memory loss?" Sora asked. "But then wouldn't more of us have blanks in our memory?"

"Who's to say we don't?" Cody glanced around the group. "If we don't remember it, how do we know that we aren't forgetting something that happened?"

Biyomon looked at Agumon. "I don't feel like I'm forgetting anything. Do you?"

"Not lately. Though I did forget where I left a Frisbee once!"

"We're talking about things bigger than Frisbees, Agumon," Izzy said. "Cody brings up an interesting point. We could all have gaps in our memory that we don't even realize are there, but even then, you would think this would mean that we had to have all forgotten the same thing… and in that case, it would have to be such a short amount of time where we wouldn't notice the discrepancy in our memory. That still doesn't explain why Ken forgot most of his first trip to the Digital World compared to Takato who lost all of his memory."

"But it might be a sign of something good," Joe added.

"What's that?" Guilmon asked.

"Well, Ken, you've gotten back most of your memories, right?"

"Some of them. A lot of it is still fuzzy, but I remember enough to fill in the blanks now at least."

Joe shrugged. "Then that could be a sign of something good for Takato. It's not a guarantee, but it could mean that Centarumon was right: Your memories are retrievable."

"I don't know about that," Takato said. "Gennai made it sound like I won't be getting my memory back unless I help free him."

Izzy raised a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "This is the Digital World. It's possible your memories have been converted into a data stream that has somehow been intertwined with Gennai's. Free Gennai, free your memories, that sort of thing."

"Izzy, that's really confusing," Mimi complained.

He shrugged. "It's all theoretical anyway. We won't know more until we talk to Gennai."

"Well, we know he's imprisoned," Takato said. "He's worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about Sloth rising on the solstice…?"

"Sloth?" Palmon repeated, sounding utterly confused.

"I know I could use a nap!" Gabumon said.

A confused quiet fell over the group. Joe held Kari's wrist, checking her pulse. At last, he broke the silence and said, "Kari needs rest, and I don't think we're going to figure it all out right now. We should discuss this later, or at least take it outside."

"Should we get her to a hospital?" Tai asked.

Joe shook his head. "And tell them what? That some strange digital entity made her pass out?"

"I'm sure they've heard weirder stories!" Gomamon said.

Joe shot him a look before he continued, "If she gets worse, we might want to consider it… But right now, I think all we can do is wait for her to wake up."

Tai looked reluctant, but he eventually nodded for everybody to follow him out, leaving Joe, Kari, Gatomon, and Gomamon behind. Yolei and Takato took up the rear of the group as they stepped outside of the small building and gathered around, waiting for further instruction. Takato bounced his weight from one foot to the next, trying to fight the urge to speak up again. Luckily, Yolei beat him to the punch.

"Oh," she said in a small voice. "A digital entity speaks to Kari at the same time as Gennai shows himself to Takato. That's not a coincidence, is it?"

"No, it's not," Takato said before anybody else could reply. "Gennai… he's a digital entity, too, right? Just… just of a different variety. The fact that these two events happened at the exact same time – just like everything else so far, it's connected."

Izzy nodded. "I agree. Whatever attacked Kari, whatever the digital entity was trying to tell her, and what Gennai told you… it's all related."

"So, Gennai is imprisoned," Agumon said. "Why?"

"And why didn't you tell us?"

Cody was staring at Centarumon who had been waiting for them outside the little hut. Everybody turned to look at the digimon as he gave a hefty sigh and rose on all four legs.

"I have not heard from Gennai in over a month. This is… highly unusual, but I did not see any reason for alarm," he explained. "After all, the Digital World has been fairly peaceful for the past few years. I figured he just got a bit distracted in the city of Download. He does that sometimes. But even so, I made plans to meet with Elecmon, hoping to discuss if he had heard from Gennai lately… It seems my concern has come much too late."

"But who would want to kidnap Gennai?" Hawkmon asked.

Centarumon did not have an answer to that.

Takato stared down at his shoes. They were splattered white with chalk dust from Digmon's cleanup attempt. He could still hear the digimon working in the background. He wondered what all had been retrieved so far. "And why use his energy to send me and Guilmon here?" Takato looked up at them all. "He wasted all of his energy bringing us here, accidentally taking our memory, and someone sent you an email to come find us. Why are we so important? Why not just contact you all directly—let you know that he needs a Digidestined Prison Break?"

"Maybe they need our help," Guilmon said.

"Excuse you!" Tentomon said. "We're a lot more resourceful than we look!"

"He wasn't trying to offend you, Tento'," Izzy said fondly, "but Takato has a point. Why them?"

"I bet it has something to do with that weird looking digivice of his," Sora said.

Takato looked down at the digivice hanging from his belt, and his stomach tightened. "I'm sorry. I think us being here—I don't know. We've messed something up, tipped the balance, thrown everything out of whack somehow."

Sora's eyes softened. "I think maybe we should take another break. This is turning out to be one really long day."

Tai nodded, looking almost as exhausted as Matt. "Sounds good. I'm heading back inside."

He turned and walked back into the hut with Agumon following behind him. The rest of the group hesitated for a long moment before they slowly started to break apart, heading in their own directions. Takato moved to follow after Cody, wanting to know how the retrieval process was going, when Yolei grabbed his jacket sleeve. She had an almost desperate look on her face as if she had just come up with a crazy plan.

"If nobody is going to give us any straight answers, we're going to figure things out ourselves. Which means… you're coming with me. Hawkmon, digivolve!"

"Yolei, I sure hope this isn't another one of your crazy plans…"

"Just do it, Hawkmon!"

"As you wish, Yolei. Hawkmon digivolve to… Aquilamon!"

"Hold on," Takato said as he shielded his eyes from the light of the digivolution. "Am I in trouble?"

Yolei climbed onto Aquilamon's back. "Only if you refuse to come on. We're going to get your memory back."

"Yay!" Guilmon cheered.

x X x

If it had been any other day and Takato were in any other mood, he probably would have loved flying. As it were, he just held onto Yolei in front of him with Guilmon sitting in front of her as they sailed out of Primary Village and soared over treetops. Guilmon laughed the entire way, but he seemed to be the only one in a jovial mood. Yolei's expression hadn't changed since she hauled him onto Aquilamon's back, and he hadn't felt brave enough to try to get her to tell him more about what she was going to do to him to make him remember. He half worried that she was just leading him to his death so that they would have one last thing to worry about, but he knew that was a ridiculous thought as soon as it entered his mind.

They landed in a clearing in the middle of a forest, far outside the village limits of Primary Village. The sun seemed to just barely streak through the overhead foliage, covering the entire forest floor in a sleepy golden glow. Scattered around on the ground were several marigold bushes that rustled softly in the wind. Takato blinked away the sudden sleepy haze that tried to overcome him.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Takatomon, I'm sleepy," Guilmon whined.

"We're looking for a friend," Yolei said. "Someone that might be able to help with memory loss."

The wind passing through the trees gave off a sound that almost sounded like music. The air smelled fresh and comforting. The grass looked so soft and the atmosphere felt so cozy that Takato's eyelids started to feel heavy. A nap suddenly sounded like a great idea. He was exhausted. It had been such a long, eventful day. Surely nobody would mind if he just curled up on the grass that looked as soft as any fluffy quilt and shut his eyes for just two seconds—Yolei nudged him. "Snap out of it."

Takato blinked. He realized his knees had been starting to buckle.

"This is Memory Forest, home to the Tapirmon. Fall asleep here, and you might not wake up," Yolei warned. "Not exactly my favorite place in the Digital World, but dreams and memories are related, as we learned a few years ago…"

"What happened a few years ago?"

She ignored the question and instead called out into the air, "Tapirmon! Tapirmon, I know you're out there somewhere!"

Takato nudged Guilmon as he started to curl up to jerk him awake again just as the air in front of them shimmered. The shimmering formed into a strange boar-like creature with smoke for back legs. His eyes were barely open, as if he were about to fall asleep on them at any second. He wore a silver-plated armor piece on his nose and forehead, and a golden ring sat on his wrist.

"What's all the yelling about? I was sleeping," Tapirmon complained. He yawned, opening his jaw wide as he sucked in the air, and all four of them immediately mimicked him.

"Stop that!" Yolei said, shaking off the drowsiness. "Ever since you quit Digitamamon's restaurant, all you do is sleep. We need your help."

Tapirmon seemed to consider those words for all of two seconds. "Good night."

"Don't even think about it!" Aquilamon's horns sparked with threatening energy.

Yolei crossed her arms and smirked in a victorious manner. "Do you really want to test us, Tapirmon?"

Tapirmon let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. What?"

Yolei explained about Takato and Guilmon's problem. Every once in a while she'd snap her fingers under Tapirmon's drooping nose to keep him awake. Takato's story must have been exciting enough to keep Tapirmon interested though, because he didn't pass back out after Yolei was done. He turned his foggy gaze onto Takato and Guilmon.

"You two don't remember anything?"

They shook their head.

"Hmm… Close your eyes."

Takato was afraid he would end up sleeping in the clearing forever, but he closed his eyes. His thought immediately became murky as if he were sinking into a dark lake. The next thing he knew, his eyes snapped open. He was lying down in the soft grass on the ground, staring up at the treetop. Yolei, Aquilamon, and Tapirmon knelt next to him and Guilmon, who was also shaking off whatever just happened.

"—seems serious," Tapirmon was saying.

"I fell asleep," Guilmon said needlessly.

"Just for a few minutes," Aquilamon reassured him.

"Forgotten memories are just fragments of the mind hidden beneath the surface like dreams," Tapirmon said. "With a good sleep, I can bring them back."

Takato concentrated, trying to remember something – anything – before shaking his head. "I don't remember anything still."

Tapirmon nodded. "This is different. They aren't forgotten. They're lost."

"Lost?" Guilmon asked. "Where'd they go?"

"Hmm…"

"What?" Takato asked. "Do you know where they are?"

"Hmm…" Tapirmon said again, and this time Takato realized he was snoring.

"Tapirmon!" he snapped.

"What? What?" His eyes fluttered open. "Right. Clouds. Pillows. I mean, memories. Memories that are lost. They'll find their way back, but you'd have a better chance if someone knew where to look."

"I'm guessing that's not you?" Yolei growled.

"He probably means Gennai," Takato said.

"If Gennai saw your memory disappear, then he'll know how to get it back, know which data stream it got stuck in," Tapirmon said. "Other than that… it's all a matter of luck. Can I go back to sleep now?"

Yolei stared down at her hands with such an intense worry that Takato wondered if she were envying him right now for not being able to remember all of the things that he should probably be worrying about. Then she stood and set her face with determination once more. "Thanks, Tapirmon. You really need to get a job again."

"Mm… maybe next year." Tapirmon yawned and curled up in the grass next to Takato. "When things aren't so… crazy…"

Takato scrambled to his feet.

"Takatomon, can he breathe like that?" Guilmon asked, staring at Tapirmon's face planted in the dirt.

"He'll be fine," Yolei said, waving off the concern. "But I'm starting to think that we're all in some serious trouble."