I started this a while back, a few months ago, then I stopped writing it and I'm not sure if I'm going to continue it. This was the first step in a re-write of the Chrono Trigger story meant to get deeper into the character of Crono and how I viewed him, as well as an opportunity to expand and build on the friendships of the characters in the story. I lost the will to write it for a while, but I have been thinking of revisiting it. We'll see.
Hope you enjoy.
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Chrono Trigger: Breaking the Silence
By dream of the shore
A Premonition
In sleep, he could see the darkness begin to slightly soften, allowing a small tint of orange to cloud the blank view behind his eyelids. That was all it took to seemingly stir the young man out of his restless sleep and into the brand new day…
The sun shone weakly through the thin curtains, illuminating the plain room with a eerie early morning light. On any other day, the first greetings of the sun would have gone ignored by the thing under the sheets, with its tuft of bright red, unkempt hair poking out. Any other day indeed, but today was no other day, and the first sign of day meant that the fair was sure to be open…
Crono opened his eyelids, and his turquoise eyes reflected the first glimpses of light. His eyes met the plain brown ceiling of his room. He scanned the ceiling briefly, then rolled to his side to look at his window, covered by the curtains except for the outermost right edge, where he could see the pale, young light of early morning infiltrate into the room.
It was very early… his mother was probably still asleep even. He suddenly focused on trying to pay attention to the sounds. He could hear the crickets still chirping; the slow ones that didn't realize the sun was up again. He heard not a sound downstairs…
'Maybe I should go back to sleep…' Crono thought. As he thought this, his eyelids suddenly felt weary and heavy, and succumbed for a brief moment to gravity, and his eyes began to water absently at the inner corners. He was exhausted. He had been up almost all night, simply because he didn't feel tired. He didn't have anything important to keep him up, other then anticipation from the Truce Millennial Fair in celebration for one thousand years of prosperity under the rule of the Guardia line. It honestly wasn't going to be THAT big of a deal, he knew. They threw a festival like this every year, around the same time. This year just happened to be the big one-thousand, and everyone was expecting the fair of fairs - a grand celebration that would go down in history.
It would have been the only notable thing to happen in the world, as far as Crono figured. Life in Truce was very peaceful… and very boring, most of the time.
Crono had been practicing with his wooden sword, which killed the time until the wee hours of the morning when he finally departed to his bed. Crono absently placed his hands to his sides and propped his body up, sitting upward in his bed, the sheet falling down to his waist. He shifted his weight onto his left arm as he rubbed his eyes. He then eyed the wooden weapon in the corner of his room next to his desk. He always kept it in good condition, unlike other people with similar items. He remembered old friends from his younger days when he lived in Porre who would use their wood swords to practice all the time against each other, splintering their weapons, breaking things, and causing misfortune to people who happened to be nearby. Crono NEVER smacked things with his sword. He had been saving up so long to get a real blade… and he knew it would be a serious bummer if he had to go and get a new wood one… there's no way his mom would be ok with letting him practice only with a silver blade.
What was the point of practicing anyway?
Crono sighed. Supposedly his father was a swordsman, albeit not a great one. He didn't know much else about the man who his mother loved. Crono suddenly wondered what his chances would be of taking on his old man in one-on-one combat…
Crono suddenly shivered at the idea of fighting a human. It reminded him for some reason of his strange dream… He tried to focus on exactly what it was that had woken him up so many times that night… but it wouldn't pop into his head right. He remembered… a frog man… and… a strange man made of gold…
A man with a scythe, dashing forward with inhuman grace and speed…
A beautiful girl with blonde hair and purple robes…
A large, red eye staring at him, pulling him forward with a gust of wind…
He could see the blade in his hands as he lifted it up to steady himself… A dark blue blade with a gentle pattern like the oceans waves…
Nothing else seemed to come back right… He could remember the sounds almost; the feeling like it was a very critical thing, something dreadfully important… If he didn't do something, people's lives were at stake. Lives that were somehow important to him… People he loved very much. Sadly, no matter how hard he thought, the names and faces weren't painted in his mind.
Crono threw the sheet aside and placed his feet on the floor, sitting on his bed. Maybe he could get a little practice in before heading off for the fair… There was no point in trying to sleep again. Either it wouldn't happen, or he'd have that dream again, and something told him that that would not be a good thing.
He stood and walked to his dresser in his boxers, and found a green shirt and white pants. He pulled the shirt over his shoulders and quickly put on the pants. While he knew the day was sure to be sunny, the air was still cool from the seasons changing from summer to fall. Soon the leaves would begin to turn golden and orange. He looked at the blue gi top folded over his chair, and quickly decided that it was a good idea to wear another layer. He quickly put it on, and then pulled a yellow scarf from his dresser.
Some early morning practice before the fair to get him pumped… This time he'd ring the bell when he tested his strength. This time he'd beat Lucca's fighting robot, and then he'd spend some points to look at the new attractions.
He smiled at the thought of Lucca. He remembered meeting her when she was very young… back when her mom still took her on walks. It was so silly. He had seen a cute little girl go from being the most childish brat ever to becoming… the epitome of a perfect child. It was like magic. Even then though, when she wasn't around her house, she still had a humorous side. Lucca had neat perspectives on life. She definitely kept Crono's brain turning.
She and her father Taban had reserved Leene Square for the first week of the fair to demonstrate their latest invention… which Lucca had been working on for the past year and a half. He didn't know much about it, but Lucca said it was going to be a machine that would change the entire future of the world. Crono had his doubts… after all, the last time they reserved Leene Square the invention ended up exploding, injuring a few people and costing Taban an unfortunate sum of gold.
Crono sighed again. It wasn't that he didn't like Lucca's inventions; he just wasn't looking forward to consoling Lucca again after she got discouraged by her invention's failure.
He walked to the corner and picked up his wooden sword, neatly placing it in his belt. He then started to creep down his stairs as silently as he could…
The slight creak in the steps made him cringe. He really didn't want to wake his mom if she wasn't already up… on his way down he could see his mom's door open just a crack to his left. He didn't even look inside on his way by… he could hear his mother snoring in the room…
MEOWWW…
Wait… that wasn't snoring…
The door suddenly started to creak open after Crono had already gone by.
Crono whirled around to see nothing at eye level. He then looked down by his feet to see a little yellow cat perched on the step next to his foot, looking up at him.
Crono smiled and reached down to pet the cat, his fingers gently caressing the side of the cat's neck. The little creature closed its eyes and began to purr contently. Crono then turned to continue back down the stairs and…
*THUNK*
His wood sword in his belt knocked loudly against the door.
"Nnn…. Crono, what is it?" A tired voice groaned.
"Nothing mother… I was just going to go outside and practice a little before I go to the fair…" Crono said. He wasn't one to lie to his own mother… He knew that was a game that was lost before it was even played. Crono knew he was the most pathetic liar on the north side of the Zenan Bridge.
"…Uhh… isn't it a bit late… er… early for that?"
"I can't sleep." Crono answered quietly, poking his head through the open door.
His mother was covered in about four blankets, with a pillow over her head.
"Go back to sleep Crono… You can practice another time. I'll wake you up later, ok?" Her muffled voice said, dully.
Crono rolled his eyes, but then admitted defeat.
"Alright mother…"
Crono wasn't one to argue with his own mother.
So, with that, Crono trudged up the stairs again, and placed his wood sword back into its corner. He then lay down again in his bed, not bothering to undress. He'd be up again in a few hours. He silently laid there for a while, staring absentmindedly into the ceiling.
The dream crossed his mind again. This time there was a faint sound of music. He could feel a rush of emotion in his chest, thinking about it, but he couldn't seem to remember just how it went…
(end prologue)
One
"Crono..." A soft, cheerful voice sang. He heard it, and it was all that was needed to pluck him from his sleep… He really hadn't been having a good time trying to get to sleep. He didn't remember exactly when he fell asleep anymore, nor could he remember what he was dreaming about. Something about sneaking into a mansion and stealing fire…
"Crono!" The cheerful voice rang again, this time with a little force and volume. Crono flopped over onto his chest and buried his face into his pillow with a groan.
"Good morning Crono!"
He could practically hear the smile in his mother's voice.
"…M-morning mother." He replied in a groggy tone. His eyes remained shut.
"Come on, sleepyhead! It's time to get up! It's getting close to noon!" She cheerfully called to him. He heard her footsteps trail from his bedside to his windowsill, where she pulled apart the curtains, allowing the much brighter yellow sunlight of nigh-noon to charge into his room vigorously. Crono rolled back over and began to rub his still shut eyes.
A bell could be heard ringing loudly. With that, Crono knew it was noon. On cue, he mouthed the words he knew his mother would say next.
"Dear me! I had forgotten how beautiful Leene's Bell sounds!" His mother said happily. Crono frowned… his estimation of her words was off a little. He rubbed the last bits of sleep from his eyes, and then looked towards his mother, who eyed him with a simple smile.
His mother was a middle-aged woman, with light green hair tied back in a ponytail, down to the middle of her back. Something about the way she always found a way to smile kept a sort of perpetual gentleness leaking from the small wrinkles in her face. Her eyes were as bright blue as Crono's. She was a lady of somewhat small stature… A bit shorter then Crono now. She seemed to suddenly think of her own height as Crono stood up…
"Jeez, you're getting to be a big boy Crono." She said with a sort of sad smile, reaching up and rubbing the top of Crono's mop of hair.
Crono scratched the back of his head with a bashful smile, and then promptly yawned loudly.
"You must have been so excited about the fair that you couldn't sleep. Not even the practice last night wore you out enough?" She asked. Crono nodded.
"Rough time sleeping… yeah. Big day today! Gunna beat Lucca's robot!" He said with a grin. The realization that he was about to go to the fair suddenly brightened him, leaving him amnesiac of his earlier sleep deprivation.
"Well Crono, don't let all that giddiness get you in trouble. I want you to behave yourself today." She teased, patting her son on the shoulder.
Crono smiled at his mother, and then felt something brush against his shin. He looked down to see his cat, staring up at him expectantly. Crono sat down again on his bed and patted the spot next to him, in efforts to get his cat to jump.
"Hey now, don't even touch that bed again. I'm not getting you up again." His mother warned, still with the ever-present smile.
The cat then ignored Crono and followed his mother as she departed back down the stairs. With that, Crono stood at his feet and then fully extended his arms upward to stretch, looking out the window. He could see many different colored balloons floating upward into the sky from the square, barely out of sight because of the forest in his backyard. Crono then hopped twice, and shook his hands to loosen up.
"Today's the day!" He happily reminded himself. He walked over to his wooden sword and once again, placed it into his belt, fumbling with it more then usual as he tried to keep the blade of the sword pointing down instead of backward. He then quickly hopped down the stairs, skipping every other step, coming down loudly.
"Wow, didn't take you long to get excited!" His mother said at the bottom of the stairs. Crono smirked and shrugged.
"I fed the cat. You're free to go, mister. You have an invention to see today right? By that friend of yours… L…"
"Lucca." Chrono politely finished, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"Right, I knew that! Well, be back before dinner, and I left your lunch packed on the table." his mom answered. She then turned to started walking in the kitchen. Crono suddenly became displeased, and frowned, following his mom into the kitchen, tapping her on the shoulder once.
"Mother?"
She stopped in her tracks and suddenly remembered.
"Right, allowance! Sorry!" She pulled her wallet from her pocket and took a few gold from it, holding it out to Crono.
"Have fun at the fair dear!" She called to him, as he turned to walk out the door.
"Thanks mom! No, Alf, stay inside, don't follow me, you're not an outside kitty!" Crono said, opening the door just so he could get outside, and shutting it behind him.
Outside, the hustle and bustle was interesting. Many people of all ages were passing by his neighborhood of three houses, on their way to the fair he deduced. There were too many people for them all to stand on the path, so the entire field was crowded. People crossed over yards and private property walking to the fair. He scanned the crowd and saw no familiar faces. He then began his trek to the fair, walking at first, then growing impatient with the people. He then began to run like the wind to the fair…
****
A/N: Well, it was all written in one night, and I didn't really continue it, but I definitely could if I wanted to. If you got this far, I'd really appreciate it if you'd review it and tell me what you thought of it. If I feel inspired to continue it, I will.
Thanks for reading!
-tt