Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Or the Heroes of Olympus. Or anything in between.

Summary: Even before Takato was electrocuted, he was having a crummy day. It all started when he woke up with no memory, no idea where he was, and surrounded by a group of kids who called themselves the digidestined as they demanded to know where some kid named TK was. Now he, along with Guilmon and five worried kids, must set out to find out what exactly is going on… and why.

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

This story is just written for a bit of fun. I don't have any planned update schedule, so update will come as they come. Blurring Boundaries has not been forgotten and should be updated within the next few days. I'm aiming for the 24th, so that I can try to get back onto my monthly schedule with that, but we shall see. This is my first story where TK is not quite the main character (eep!), but he does have an important role to play. This is also my first time writing for either Takato or Guilmon, so feedback would be greatly appreciated. The plotline for this is pulled from the Heroes of Olympus series, so any similarities are probably intentional. I hope you all...

Enjoy!

Chapter One

Even before Takato was electrocuted, he was having a crummy day.

He woke up in a grass patch, not sure where he was, and snuggled up with some weird red dinosaur. That wasn't necessarily the crummy part. The dinosaur didn't really scare him, and he had a very strong feeling that he could trust him in a way that made him wonder if the dinosaur had some sort of intelligence. He blinked and realized that he should probably be wondering how a dinosaur was even alive in the first place. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to think.

That was when he noticed the eggs. Hundreds of them just laid out all around the rolling hills in front of them. They were decorated in all kinds of colors, and his stomach clenched unhappily, like he knew what hatched out of those painted eggs despite being certain that he had never seen anything like it ever before in his life. Or had he? Okay, this was starting to get really freaky.

A soft breeze wafted around him, bringing with it the scent of fresh air that Takato was pretty sure he wasn't exactly used to. He lived somewhere that was more crowded, more polluted. He tried to think back… the last thing he remembered…

The dinosaur stirred. "Takatomon?"

He was red, with black designs, a white belly, and intimidating looking claws. He was about the size of an elementary school student (which Takato automatically assumed was younger than him until he stopped to think about it and realized that he didn't even know his age either) and looked like he probably ate his weight in food on a daily basis. But there was a goofy look on his face that reminded Takato of a toddler that let him know that he probably wouldn't hurt a fly if the fly didn't give him a reason to. He looked seriously innocent, and Takato had a sudden urge to give the big guy a hug.

Instead, he pulled away. "Um, I don't—"

Didn't what? Know what a Takatomon was? Remember if his name was actually Takato? Remember who or what the dinosaur was? Have any idea why the idea of a talking dinosaur wasn't freaking him out at all?

He was saved from the confusing array of thoughts flying through his head by a dog-looking monster suddenly racing up toward them. "Hey, you!" he shouted. "What are you doing here!? What are you doing near my babies!?"

Takato scrambled to his feet. For being much smaller than the red dinosaur that was still blinking confusedly around, the newcomer obviously meant business. He was red and purple all over, with long skinny ears, and a fanned out hindquarters. He came to a stop just a few feet in front of Takato and dug his claws into the ground and raised his behind as if getting ready to pounce. Takato didn't think that the little guy could really hurt him, but he really did not want to find out.

"Whoa, hey!" Takato said, holding up his hands in an appeasing gesture.

"Takatomon," the red dinosaur at his side said as he rose to stand, "I smell digimon."

That word meant something to Takato. That word meant something important. The little monster's eyes fixed on the red dinosaur for a long moment before turning his eyes onto Takato. His scowl deepened. A jolt went down Takato's spine. He got the sudden feeling that he was a trespasser and that this little monster dude was fully aware that he was not supposed to be there. He waited for him to call him out, demand to know what he was doing here, all the while knowing that he was not going to have a clue as to what to say.

"Of course you smell digimon!" the little monster finally snapped. "I am a digimon, and so are you, by the looks of it!"

The red dinosaur blinked several times. "Wha…?" He looked down at himself and yelped, "Ah!" before falling over himself in shock.

Takato blinked.

The little monster just shook his head. "You must be new," he said. "I'm Elecmon. I don't think I've ever seen your kind around here before. You're not here to steal my babies, are you?"

"Who, me?" Takato stuttered out. "No! Why would I do something like that?"

"I don't know, but you can never be too careful," Elecmon said. He looked between the two of them. "Besides, I was talking about your red friend. I know a human when I see one! Well, who are you then?"

The red dinosaur clambered to his feet. "I'm Guilmon! And this is Takatomon!"

"Uh… without the –mon, I think," Takato tacked on, wincing at the uncertainty of his own name.

If Elecmon caught onto it, he didn't let it show. "Well, then. Are you here for the babysitting job? I have to say, it's a lot of work, and the pay's not very good. But I can offer you three delicious meals a day of fresh fish plus about sixteen digi-dollars an hour…"

He started to walk off as if he expected Takato and Guilmon to follow. Guilmon did, nodding his head all the while as if he were taking this information all very seriously.

"Wait!" Takato called out. "This is some kind of mistake. I'm not supposed to be here."

Elecmon stopped and turned toward him with a laugh. "Of course you're not! Not without an invitation from me, at least. But since you're here, we might as well put you to work." His eyes narrowed. "Unless you were here to steal my babies."

Takato gulped.

"Why would anybody steal your babies, Elecmon?" Guilmon asked innocently. "There's all of these delicious looking eggs right here instead!"

All of Elecmon's fur stood straight up, and Takato immediately knew that Guilmon had said the wrong thing. Elecmon leaped back several feet, his glare locked on Guilmon, as he raised his haunches in the air as if he were getting ready to pounce once again. He started to crackle with electricity.

"Super Thunder—"

"WAIT!"

Takato didn't know this red dinosaur, or at least he didn't remember knowing him, but he knew that he didn't want to see him get hurt. He also could tell that this Elecmon was just trying to protect what was his, but Guilmon didn't seem to understand that he had just offended him. Maybe it was brash, maybe he would regret it later, but Takato threw himself in front of Guilmon with his arms held out. Elecmon blinked and straightened himself out again, obviously not looking to hurt the kid, but the glare did not lessen right away.

"Please don't hurt him!" Takato said. "He didn't mean it. Isn't that right, boy?"

The affectionate nickname fell off his lips without a thought, and Takato hesitated, feeling like he had definitely said that before. Had he said that about Guilmon? He wasn't sure, but he was starting to think that it might be possible.

Guilmon blinked up at him. "Didn't mean what, Takatomon?"

Takato resisted the urge to drop his face into his hand and instead looked at Elecmon with a smile. "See?" he said. "He doesn't even know what he said!"

Elecmon's glare finally let up, but he kept his eyes narrowed with suspicion. "He better not touch any of my eggs!"

"He won't!" Takato promised immediately. He looked around at the decorated eggs, suddenly curious. "What are they?"

"Don't tell me you've never seen a digiegg!" Elecmon said.

Both Takato and Guilmon shook their head.

Talking about his life's work, Elecmon seemed a lot happier. He ran over to the closest egg, a white one with yellow swirls, and picked it up before running it over to Takato. He held it up as if presenting it.

"This is a digiegg," he explained. "It is the source of all life in the Digital World, the form that all digimon start off as or start over in when they need to be reborn."

Something about that sentence hit Takato as both hopeful and wrong all at the same time. "Reborn?" he repeated.

"That's right, my boy," Elecmon said, as if two seconds ago he hadn't been ready to fight them. "All digimon get the chance to be reborn, whether good or evil, right here."

"Like a second chance," Takato muttered.

Elecmon nodded. "Or a third or fourth."

Guilmon leaned in close and sniffed the egg curiously. "I came from that?" he asked.

"Yeah. All digimon do," Elecmon said.

But there was something off about his voice that Takato caught, like he wasn't actually sure of himself for the first time, as if there were something different about Guilmon that made him not like every other digimon out there. Takato wanted to push for more information, try to figure out exactly what was so different about him, but Guilmon didn't seem at all concerned. He just sniffed the egg again and then went to lick it, earning a scratch on the nose from Elecmon.

"I just wanted a taste!" Guilmon whimpered, holding his nose.

"Keep your tongue away from my babies!" Elecmon shouted.

At least he didn't try to shock him this time. He seemed to realize that Guilmon was just a big baby himself. That was one problem down, only about a billion more for Takato to sort through.

"Where are we?" he asked. Might as well start small.

"You mean you don't know?" Elecmon asked, sounding affronted.

Takato and Guilmon shook their heads.

"This is Primary Village, the birthplace of the Digital World," Elecmon said.

They continued to stare at him blankly.

"On File Island?" he continued.

Their blank stares didn't change.

His eyes narrowed. "Have you ever been to the Digital World?"

Takato's memory told him that he should say no but something about the question made him hesitate. Something was stirring within, trying to come to the surface, but as he tried to grasp it, the thought slipped through his fingers like sand. This was starting to get extremely frustrating, but he was mostly just sad and scared. What was going on?

"I… I don't know," he finally answered as honestly as he could. He looked at Guilmon. "What about you?"

"What's the Digital World?" he asked. "Is that some kind of buffet? Can we go get something to eat? Takatomon, I'm hungry."

Elecmon looked between the two of them. "You two are being serious, aren't you?"

"I wish I wasn't," Takato muttered miserably. He was trying and failing not to panic. "I don't know where I am or why I'm here or who this guy is—"

He jutted a thumb toward Guilmon who blinked up at him with a kicked puppy look that instantly made Takato feel guilty for admitting that at all.

"Takatmon doesn't remember me?" he asked. "But… but we're best friends…"

Yeah, that just made him feel worse.

Elecmon gave Guilmon a curious look. "Well, what do you remember?"

Guilmon stared at him as if that were a question that he had never considered before. He brought a claw up to his chin thoughtfully and seemed to strain himself as he tried to think. "Hm… I remember Takatomon!" he announced triumphantly.

"But what about anything else?" Takato asked, growing more desperate by the minute. "Where are we from? Who are our friends? Why are we here?"

"No," Guilmon said slowly as if just realizing this. "Why are we here, Takatomon?"

Takato sighed sadly. "I wish I knew."

Elecmon narrowed his eyes at him, like he couldn't decide whether he should be suspicious or worried. "Did you hit your head on something? What do you remember?"

He shrugged helplessly. "Nothing… I don't even know who I am."