CChrono Crosser

Prologue
The Dream that Time Dreams

There was a young girl of the age of 16, crestfallen in an unknow, shaking room, in an unknow building, along with other two persons. The girls's name was Luisa, called simply Ruisu by her best friend. By all appearances, she wasn't anything special. She had long, dark hair, hazel eyes, slightly tan skin and good looks overall if she kept up her appearance from day to day.

While she was crestfallen, she saw a pair of feet and noticed a symbol on the purple, rugged floor. 'Six circles connected to a seventh in its center...', she though before rised her sight to see the other two persons with her. The shake stopped, a pair of doors with dragon-shaped hollow sections opened to a hallaway with dragon statues and two exits, and the others step outside the now identified elevator. The blue-haired boy turned and asked Ruisu if something happened, because she looked troubled. Before she could answer, he remembered her that now there was no turning back. "Oi, C'mon Ruisi, Serge!" the blond girl called them.

She turned again and took a weird stance, apparently a fighting one. "Just you wait, Lynx! Today's gonna be the day of reckonin'!!! Say yer prayers! ...Not that it'll do ya any good!!!" the blonde girl said as she laughed with an evil tone. "Oi Serge, it's me or Kid sound creepy?" Ruisu asked him. He smiled but Kid muttered something under her breath.

The teens took the right exit, arriving to a balcon of stone. Under them was some sort of altar with a pillar of black light behind it. Serge wondered what was that crystal-like thing under there. "Is that some kinda switch? Bugger! So close and yet so far!" Kid complained. "So we just need to reach it and deactivate it. Let's go!" Ruisu encouraged her.

They returned and took the other exit, to found an oval room partially enlighted connected with ladders and bridges over a botomless pit, with robots doing guard, which seemed to be made of some brass-coloured metal. Serge and Kid head through a long path to reach the altar room, but when they arrived Ruisu was already waiting them in its entrace. "Why you didn't just jump?" She asked them, pointing the bridge from where thay came and the path under it. The group entered, reached the altar and Serge manipulate it, managing to deactivate the now-fading crystal. After that, he commented that after releasing the last lock, Kid soon will settle things with Linx.

The group returned to the oval room, and ran to reach the ladders to reach the platform in its center, evading a weird type of bats, but facing other pair of mechanical guards. "Great, we're so near and these Cybots are on our way..." Ruisu commented, while the others prepared to fight. Kid took a silver dagger from the sheat of her belt while Serge wield a double-edged staff, with two long silver blades jutting out from the long handle in the middle - which Ruisu confused with a big, metalic oar. One of them went to attack Ruisu with a improvised bludgeon with one of its arms, but Kid interfered slashing it three times. "What are ya bloody waitin' for? Use yer Swallow!!", she ordered her, pointing something at her back. Quickly she extended her right arm behind, grabbed a weapon equal to Serge's from its grip and took a fighting stance, holding its extremes with both hands while putting her left leg onward, her left hand downward and right hand upwards. She ran, spun to gave a strong slash to the one who tried to attack her, jump back with the others and later Serge slashed fiercly the other. After that, a white light rose up around him for a moment and then he crossed fast through the enemy, instantly slashing it with his Dash & Slash technique. Kid used other strong attack of her dagger and later a light rose up around her like Serge, but this time being a red one. "Red Pin!" She intoned, extending her arms behind her to release multiple heated daggers against the Cybots, finishing with one of them. "Leave me the last one!" Ruisu exclaimed before stabbing it two times to be able to execute her technique. "Glide Hook!" she called out while activating the machine around her left arm, a black light surrounding her and then executed an acrobatic jump to finish the last enemy with her Swallow's edge enhanced with Black Element and the gravity force.

With their path open, they stepped on the cilindrical platform which had the same symbol Ruisu noticed on the elevator's floor, with some sort of waves coming from its center. Suddenly, from the six circles of the symbol, pillars began to shine in a black light, transforming into a big pillar which surround the group. Then they were 'fired' through the hole of the roof.

The three teenagers were on another place, confused because they weren't sure of its location. "Oi! What the bloody hell just happened?" Kid asked them. "Look like were outside... in middle of the sky," her mate tentativally answered while going to the edge of the platform. "What are we doin' out here?" the blonde thief wondered while followed her. Looking down, Ruisu was able to see a huge, tall, rectangular shaped Fortress in the middle of a large mountain range. "Wooooow! Bugger...!!! We're so high up! Is this thing floatin'!?" Kid exclaimed near Ruisu, making her nerveous for a fall of that heigth. To evade the need to hit her for scare her, she went near the silent boy, which asked her his doubt. "Ehh? If it felt like his body passed through the floor? 'Think so...".

"This sure is some fort..." Kid said, still admiring the sight. She turned, noticed her mate worried and crossed her arms while tapping her foot. "Eh, Ruisu? !? You alright, mate? You've been actin' all weird. Who knows what's up ahead, so just stay on your toes, eh!?" Ruisu shook her head. "I-It's nothing. I'm fine."

The group turned and walked to a pair of metalic doors with glyphs on its sides. Ruisu approached and her heartbeat increased. She sighted before open the doors, but suddenly those distortioned, there was bright light and images began to cross in front of her until she heard a voice...

Young lady...
Young lady, I hope you're alright...
So please, get up...

Ruisu was laying on a cot covered with a sheet, with her head between a pillow and a wet towel. She began to regain conciousness, slowly opened her eyes and blinked. She saw a woman of hair and eyes of the same brown color and a rose bandana near her with a worried face. "Thank goodness!"

"What...? Where...?" she began to ask incoherently while trying to get up. The woman calmed her down with one hand, with the other recovered the fell towel of her forehead, turned her sight to other place for a moment and began to explain her, "Well... my son found you unconcious lying down in a nearest beach. He thought you might have been a dead body washed ashore, but discovered you were still alive. He managed to bring you back to the village, where we had take care of you."

She wanted to speak and thank her, but various thoughts returned to her about certain dream she had, disconnecting her from the reality. "Something's wrong?", the woman asked her, making her return. "I-it is... too late?" Ruisu wondered for the few light within the room. "Mmm... I'm pretty sure soon it will be dawn. Taking care from all night..." the woman finished yawning. "Sorry for bother you!" Ruisu quickly apologized, really shy. "No, no! It's nothing like that!!" the woman exclaimed, nervous for a misunderstand, "It's not an inconvenience, but on the contrary."

Ruisu lowered her head, hiding her face behind her hair. "I... Thank you, miss...?" she vaguely said. "Mmm? I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Marge, and yours?". Ruisu removed part of her hair to see the one who take care of her. "Maria Luisa Ixshel, glad to meet you.". Marge smiled. "Glad to meet you too, Maria-san."

"Not sure if should I do this soon... but, could I ask you how you arrived here?" she asked her concerned. Ruisu tried to remember, but in vail. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I am not sure. I was checking something... and then... I woke up here". Possibly Marge wasn't expecting that answer. "I'm wondering what would happened to you. Oh well, at least you look healthy."

Ruisu nodded, and her hair fall in front of her, covering her again. In that moments, a desire came to her. "Could I... see the dawn?", she asked unsure if Marge oba-san would let her. "I think you should rest, Maria-san."

"But... I want to, and I feel fine."

Marge sighed while closing her eyes and offered her hand to the selfish girl. "At least, let me help you." With Marge's help, Maria reached a wooden balcon behind the curtains and was able to see a magnificant view of the sun rising in the marine horizon.

Disclaimer: Maria Luisa is the intellectual property of Soulforger. Chrono Cross and its characters and concepts belong to Square-Enix and its business partners.