Disclaimer: Chrono Trigger belongs to Square, not to me

Rewrite

by Shimegami-chan

w w w . shimegami . com / ichijouji

It is said that when Time is altered, the stream of Fate fragments into many separate rivers, joining at times, separating at others. Other believe that if a past event were to be altered, a ripple effect would slowly cause the future to evolve. Still others believe that a change resulting from time travel instantly affects the entire stream, creating paradox, possibly even destroying the universe...

Until a way is found to transcend time, the world will never know.

-from the diary of Lucca Ashtear, 998 A.D

"So that's that." Marle strode down the steps of Guardia Castle, circa 600 A.D. "Toma will be able to rest in peace, now."

Two steps behind, Lucca slung her arms behind her head. "Guess so. I'm just glad to get out of that stupid cave." She hesitated to admit her only-somewhat-rational fear of dinosaurs. It wasn't exactly a problem she had been forced to face often, until she met this particular group of friends. "Well, where to next?"

The two girls looked at Frog, who shrugged. "One of thee should choose where next we go."

Marle led the way back to the Epoch, parked slightly obtrusively between the castle and the forest. She was feeling rather pleased with herself, for now that the Rainbow Shell was in the keeping of the King and Queen, it would surely be safe. It had been nice to see King Guardia and Queen Leene again as well - Marle continually felt that each encounter with them would be her last. It was one of the major disadvantages of time travelling.

Lucca held a fist in front of her face, raising a finger for each of the tasks they had accomplished. "Sun stone. Rainbow shell. Saving Cyrus. The Machine Factory."

Marle took up the count, listing off the other quests Gaspar had told them about. "There's a woman in the middle ages, saving a forest. Ozzie is here too, building up a stronghold. And someone close to one of us is in trouble. But a lot of people around us have been in trouble, so I don't really know if he's referring to someone we already saved, or someone in a time we haven't visited lately."

"The only era we have yet to return to is thine," Frog told them, crossing his flippered arms over his chest. "I think it best that that be our next destination."

"Now would also be a good time," Marle announced, "to see what Melchior'd be able to do with that shell. I think if he can make armor out of it, we should do that before tackling all that other stuff the old man wanted us to do. If someone in the Present needs saving, we can handle that too."

"Right you are." Lucca led the way to Epoch's boarding platform and, when Frog and Marle stood beside her, raised it into the small cockpit. She flipped two switches on the side of the control board and pressed the X button.

Epoch hummed to life around them. The small craft had come in increasingly handy since Dalton's winged modifications were put into place, allowing them to fly all over in a fraction of the time it would have taken to walk. Frog looked longingly out at the castle as they rose into the air.

"Next stop, 1000 A.D.," Lucca confirmed. "I guess nobody wants to leave the party at this point?" She grinned at the Princess in the back seat.

"Thanks, but no. As much as I'd like to avoid seeing my father, I'll be getting us into the castle." Marle's face looked tired and worn, but she smiled.

"Nay," Frog replied. "I shall escort you as well."

"Great." Lucca set the desination and Epoch flashed, sparked, and fell in and out of the time stream in an instant, hovering in the blue skies over Guardia.

Lucca guided the craft eastward, past the forest, and landed just outside Truce. As usual, the machine took a few moments to settle, finally situating itself on the grass without so much as a jitter. She glanced out the viewport, trying to judge whether it was safe to leave the ship so close to the village. "Just because I trusted Queen Leene's court not to touch Epoch doesn't mean it works the same in this eraI'll park well away from the castle. No offense, Marle."

"None taken."

Lucca lowered the ramp and the three adventurers disembarked, two of the three feeling enlivened by the bright sky and clear air. 1000 A.D.'s atmosphere was gerenally the most pleasant of all they had frequented since the time travelling began, and for Lucca and Marle, being in the correct era made them more light-hearted. Once the platform had been raised back into Epoch's belly, the three set off into the forest.

Thankfully, the monster population in the woods had dropped to all but nothing (a welcome change from Mystic-ridden 600 A.D., Lucca thought sourly) and they proceeded through the forest undisturbed. The only conversation was, as they neared the castle, Frog's low-voiced query. "Art thou nervous?"

"No," Marle, who was trembling slightly, lied. "We don't have Chrono with us, so it should be fine."

They ascended the steps three-abreast, Frog's hand hovering over his sword. Lucca nudged him. "Come on, why's everybody so nervous?"

"I'm not nervous," Marle asserted, levering the heavy door open with both hands. "I'm just not looking forward to seeing my father."

Lucca rolled her eyes. Then again, she thought, if my father were like Marle's, I'd be running away too, I guess.

"Hey, I'm home!"

Marle paused, her arms hanging at her sides. As expected, within seconds the four door guards had left their posts to come threaten the intruders. "Halt! Who goes there?"

"It's just me," Marle said wearily, trying to brush past, one hand wrapped around Frog's rubbery wrist.

"It's her!" one of the guards cried out, shocked.

"Get her!"

"Call for backup!"

Marle held up an arm to ward them off. "Hold it! I'm coming in of my own accord, so don't touch!"

"Marle! Frog! Help!" Lucca yowled from under a pile of four guards.

By the time Frog positioned himself in front of Marle, sword drawn, two guards had clapped hands over Lucca's mouth and were dragging her away. The other two stepped in front of them and looked from the Masamune to the amphibian holding it. "What are you?"

"Tis an insulting way to greet someone," Frog warned.

"He might be the one responsible for Lady Lucca's disappearance," one of the guards yelled.

"Lucca's what?"

"Tis advised that thou release our friend," Frog told them, his bulbous eyes flickering to the two guards dragging Lucca up the steps. "I have no desire to harm thee."

"Listen!" Marle cried, stepping out from behind Frog. "I'm willing to talk to my father about this. Please bring Lucca back, and I promise I won't run." They could hear the sound of trampling feet elsewhere in the castle as the reserve guards made their way to the foyer.

The guards stared at her. "You don't make much sense. Are you friends of the Lady, then?"

"What are you, stupid?" Marle stared at them incredolously. "I'm the Princess."

The taller guard drew his sword. "We'd better take them both. You get the girl, I'll take care of this...thing."

Frog backed up a step. "Marle, I hesitate to say that mayhaps there has been an error made somewhere"

"You're telling me." Marle grabbed him by the arm. "We can't fight our way out. We're going to have to run for it."

"An excellent idea." Frog sheathed the Masamune and raised his voice. "There has been some kind of mistake, it seems. We shall return at a later time."

"Should we let them go?" the shorter guard asked worriedly. "We have Lady Lucca now."

"No! They might be kidnappers! Besides, that green one looks like it could be a Mystic!"

"I feel sick," Marle groaned.

"Let us depart, then!" Frog snatched her by the wrist and the two of them careened through the trees, the guards fairly close behind. Fortunately, both Frog and Marle had grown up playing in the woods, and lost their pursuers after only a few moments, pausing by the reflecting pool in the eastern area of the forest.

"Okay, okay," Marle panted, "obviously something's gone wrong, and now we've lost Lucca. What should we do?"

Frog's hand clutched the hilt of his sword. "...I do not know..."

"I will ask you again, Lucca. Where have you been?"

"I fail to see why I need to answer to you," Lucca replied snidely. "I have no idea who you are."

The man sighed and rolled his eyes. "Pretending is not going to get you in less trouble. Surely you realize that feigning ignorance may work with me, but when your father returns, he'll be disciplining you accordingly."

"Yeah, I keep meaning to talk to you about that," Lucca replied icily. "Mind telling me when my father started living in Guardia Castle? Because this is definitely something new."

The man looked at her reproachfully. "Perhaps you will be more willing to talk to him than me. I can understand that."

A little of the hostility faded from Lucca's voice. "Where is he?"

"He went out to the village to visit old friends. He should be back by nightfall." The man beckoned and two women stepped into the room. "Take her to her room. We'll just wait for the Steward to return."

Lucca supposed there was no point in asking for her Wondershot back. The women came forward and gently led her out of the throne room and up the stairs to the room that had been Queen Leene's. Lucca supposed that it belonged to Marle in this time. Or it used to, anyway.

One of the ladies, tall with raven-black hair, unlocked the door with an ancient key. "It's been closed up since you left, to keep people from coming and going. We didn't want anything in there to be touched, just in case you came back."

"Thanks. Listen," Lucca began, "you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders, uh..." she looked at the woman expectantly.

"My name is Eileen," she supplied, "and this is Cora."

"Eileen. Okay. Well, I mean, I'm a little bit confused. I think there may be something wrong with me." Lucca made up the story almost as fast as it was coming out of her mouth. "Maybe I hit my head or something, and I can't remember very much. Honestly, I don't understand why I'm here, I really don't even know who I am. That's why...that's why I couldn't say anything to that man downstairs. I don't understand any of this."

Both womens' faces went from mild boredom to extreme pity in an instant. "Oh, my God!" Cora said, her complexion lightening. Lucca wondered if she had said something wrong or whether they were just overly melodramatic.

"You poor dear," Eileen consoled, leading Lucca into the room. "Sit down...we'll tell you everything we know."

Marle sat in the cockpit of the Epoch, slouched over on the console, face buried in her arms. She had not spoken for quite a while, despite Frog's best attempts to organize a plan.

"Mayhaps it would be best for thee to return to the End of Time," the amphibian suggested, pointing at the dial. "We could get input from the others there as well."

"I can't just leave things as they are," Marle said hotly, raising her head. "I'm going to set things right in this era. Epoch only seats three, and we're coming back with Lucca no matter what it takes, so you and I will have to fix this!"

"I was not suggesting abandoning Lucca. Mine honour demands the rescue of the lass," Frog told her quietly. "Had I been quicker with my sword, or recognized the danger, she might ne'er have been taken. I merely thought that the skills of the others might assist us in freeing her."

"You're right, you're right, I'm sorry," Marle sighed. "I wasn't thinking."

"I know not of secret entrances to the castle, but many of the rooms are windowless, and could be accessed by a skilled climber."

"We'll go back to the End of Time and get Ayla, then we'll come back for Lucca, is that what you're suggesting?"

"If anyone is apt to such a task, Ayla would be," Frog replied. "The lass moves more quickly and steathily than a cat. But thee shalt go alone for now, if thee be safe doing so. There is more information to be found in this era, and so by your leave, I would seek it."

"Okay. You're probably right...again."

Frog had already reached over and flipped the switch to lower the platform. "Thee know'st the castle best, Marle. Go with Ayla - I shall do my part to discover to what ends we must go."

Marle nodded. "We'll wait until it's good and dark, then we'll get Lucca and come back here. If everything goes OK, Ayla or I will return to the End of Time."

"Then, two moons from now, I shall meet thee at Epoch before dawn." He raised his voice slightly as the platform fell away from her, gently settling on the ground.

"I'll be here," Marle promised, pressing the button to retract the platform as Frog stepped away from it.

"Stay safe, lass," Frog told her, and hopped off. Through the front viewport, Marle watched him go in silence.

"Your father, Taban, rules over Guardia as the Steward," Cora explained, sitting beside Lucca on the bed. "He's like a king, but he is not of royal blood."

"My father does? Okay, hold on." Lucca held up both hands. "What happened to the royal line, then? Has my family always held the Stewardship?"

"It's been in your family for many generations," Eileen told her. "The royal line died out in the sixth century."

Lucca's stomach churned. Something altered the timeline that lead to the deaths of the monachs...and it has to have been inadvertantly caused by us!

"The sixth century? Do you know what happened?"

"I'm afraid I do not know as much of Guardia's history as I should, Lady Lucca. All I know is that an uprising in Choras caused the King to fall...some rebellious villagers gained entrance to the castle, and he was killed in the ensuing fight."

"Oh my God."

Eileen's frown deepened. "They had scattered throughout the castle as they entered. Several of them apparantly found the Queen, and she and her baby daughter were taken and presumably killed. Both rulers and the heir were taken from Guardia in only a night."

"When the last heir of a royal line is eliminated," Cora told them, "rule is passed to a Steward. Neither the King nor the Queen had any surviving relatives, so the Chancellor of the time rose to the throne. He was your ancestorthe Stewardship has been passed down the Ashtear line ever since."

"To my father."

"That's right," Eileen said. "You will be the next heir, which is why such a disturbance was caused when you ran away again."

Lucca frowned. "Do you know why I did that?"

"Maybe it was because of that expectation, that you would rule Guardia someday. It's said that many of the citizens and staff refer to you as "the Princess," because you're the first female steward Guradia will ever have. But I can't really say for sure...both Cora and I are very new to the castle. We came just six months ago to wait on your mother. You ran away two years ago."

"I've been gone for two years?" Lucca's brain ran at lightspeed, trying to puzzle out how this was possible. They had never made a significant change to their own ancestry during all the time-travellinghow would this have affected Lucca's relationship with other people? Would her memories slowly change over time to recall this history, instead of the one where she grew up in a small house on the pennisula, inseperable from her best friend Crono?

Or had Lucca's presence outside the timestream when the altering event happened prevented her from being affected? But wouldn't that make her the same Lucca as the one that had run away from this timeline two years before? Lucca's head hurt and she rubbed her fingers against her temples.

Perhaps in this timestream Lucca would have run away and met Crono, then the two of them had somehow ended up in a situation that sent Marle back to 600 A.D. Lucca doubted that everything had gone exactly as before - surely someone would have spotted her if she was showing off inventions at the Millenial Fair.

Oh, wait, she thought to herself. Marle doesn't exist in this timeline. Another paradox.

Lucca wanted to cry.

...to be continued...