By Exile
Disclaimer: All of the characters used in this fanfic, except for Ryen who makes a short appearance in chapter 5, are property of Square. Any references to other stories, except mine, are purely coincidental. If you insist it's otherwise, I'll tell Magus you've slept with his sister.
Chapter 1: Epoch's revival
"Is that you, Marle?"
Lucca watched around the corner of the door to see Crono and Marle waiting in front of her house.
"Hey Lucca, how are you?" asked Marle.
"Haven't seen you in a long time!" Crono said.
Lucca scratched the back of her head.
"Well, uhm, I've been kind of busy lately. Come on in, can't let you stand out in the rain like that." she said.
It rained outside, just like it did for the last few days. Crono and Marle came in and hung their coats. Marle closed their umbrella and laid it down in a corner.
"How about something to drink?" Lucca asked while leading them towards the
kitchen.
"Nah, thanks. We just had another one of those fancy dinners at the castle."
Crono answered.
"We're stuffed." said Marle. "By the way, where are your parents?"
"Oh, they left to Porre. Something about the forest I believe."
They sat down at the table in the kitchen, while Lucca poured some soda in a glass for herself.
"Now then, why did you come to see me all of a sudden?" Lucca asked the two
visitors.
"Well, Crono got an idea last night, when we were telling our story about Lavos
to the chancellor. You wouldn't believe the expression on his face when we told
him about how we got Magus to join us." Marle said.
"He thinks Magus is just as evil as that Yakra who stuffed him and his ancestor
in a box." smiled Crono.
"Well, technically he is, you know." Lucca said.
"I don't believe he isn't that evil anymore, not after the things that
happened." Marle said.
"You think so?"
"Of course. He even helped us get rid of Ozzie's gang."
"I'd like to see some proof of that before I'd believe it. Now, what idea did
you have, Crono?"
"Well, it's been almost a year now since we defeated Lavos, so I was thinking
about bringing everyone together, sort of like a reunion." Crono said.
The sky lit up in a bright light as a loud thunder was heard from outside. It seemed to rain even harder than before.
"Heh. Ominous." Crono replied to the thunder. "So what do you think about it?"
"I knew you would want to do that some day. Glad I didn't dismantle the Epoch."
Lucca said, a smile suddenly appearing on her face. "I'll get started right
away! We'll get Robo, Frog and Ayla and..."
"Hold it!" Marle stopped Lucca. She paused for a moment. "You haven't dismantled
the Epoch?"
"Well, um... no. I thought that it might be of some use."
"But you know what could happen if someone accidentally used it?"
"Of course! It's deactivated at the moment. But I can activate it again. Sure.
No problem. I just..."
"You're awfully happy about this aren't you? Something tells me you wanted to do
this since a long time."
"It seems you want that too Crono."
"Well, not as badly as you do."
"You just want to see Robo again, don't you?" Marle said.
"Well, that too, but I want to see how they are all doing. If Robo is still the
same after we changed the future, if Frog defeated Magus or if Ayla and Kino got
married."
"I think we should pay them a visit then."
"When do we go? I honestly can't wait" Crono asked.
"With the Epoch, we've got all the time in the world, so why don't we go right
away? Right Lucca?" Marle asked the inventor.
"Well, technically we don't have all the time in the world, because we'd get
older in this time when we return at the moment when we left." she answered.
"Uh... yeah. Right." Crono said, not completely understanding what she just
said.
"I'm just saying that we can't, or shouldn't return from our visits at the same
time when we left. You'd have aged the time you went away. Not very much, but if
you would keep doing such things, you'd eventually end up being older than your
own parents."
"I see. So we'll just leave a note here that we are away, right?"
"Okay, don't see any reason not to."
Marle wrote a small note saying that they would be back in a few hours, and went off to tell her father the same thing, while Crono and Lucca were going to get the Epoch.
"So where have you stored it without anyone seeing it?" Crono asked while he
followed Lucca to the forest. Lucca opened the umbrella she took with them to
shield them against the heavy rain.
"Me and my dad have a small storage space underground in the forest. It's
actually right below where the gate to 2300 AD used to be."
"Then how did you fit that thing in there anyway? I've never seen any entrance
to that space there."
"Ever noticed the grass there is fake?"
"No."
"Well it is. There's a small button hidden in the bushes that opens a big
hatch."
Crono stood still for a moment.
"Wait a sec. Why didn't you open that space when we were escaping from the
castle, after I was imprisoned there?"
"I didn't know where the button was back then. My dad told me about it, the
storage space I mean, but he always said he had some things stored in there I
should stay away from."
"He didn't trust you, his own genius daughter who could build things even he
himself couldn't think of?"
"No. I think he had some stuff hidden there. But he got rid of it when I
asked him if I could store the Epoch there."
"What kind of stuff exactly?"
"I wouldn't have the slightest clue."
They arrived at the spot where the storage space was supposed to be. And indeed, in this heavy rainfall you could see a big, square part of grass standing straight up as if it wasn't affected by the rain at all.
"Let's see now, third bush from the right, and then three forward."
Lucca stepped between some trees and bushes, and then searched the ground.
"Got it! Stand back Crono."
Crono stepped a few steps backwards, and as Lucca pressed the button, a grinding noise could be heard coming from under the ground. Then the square patch of ground started to lift side wards up into the air, supported by steel beams.
"Hey, nice contraption." Crono said, amazed by the smoothness of the entire operation.
Crono followed Lucca into the dark space, seeing only parts of the Epoch bright enough to distinguish from the rest of the things stored in the space.
"Now, let's activate it. It's been a while since it's been used. Hope it still works."
Lucca took off a part of metal from under the bottom of the winged machine. Crono could hear her press some buttons and attach some wires. Suddenly the light in the dome of the Epoch lit up.
"Yes! It still works! That Belthasar sure knew what he was doing."
Lucca crawled from under the machine and got up.
"Come on, get in."
They both got into the Epoch, Lucca pressed a few buttons and the dome closed. After another pair of buttons were pressed by the young woman, the Epoch started to make a faint humming noise, then it started to get up higher and higher from the ground, until it floated high above the forest.
"Okay then, now let's pick up Marle." she said, as she steered the Epoch towards the castle.
"Is he upstairs?"
"Yes milady."
"Thanks."
Marle closed her umbrella and gave it to the servant. She then walked through the throne room, entering the stairs towards the left tower.
The king heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Go away! I don't want to be disturbed!" he shouted to the person coming
upstairs.
"Dad, it's me!" Marle shouted back.
When Marle entered the kings room, she saw her father lying on his bed, massaging his temples with his fingers.
"Another hard day, daddy?"
"Yes, afraid so. The Porre residents were complaining about the forest again.
As if I could do anything about that." the king replied, staring
at the ceiling.
"Sorry to hear that, dad. I just came to tell you that I'm going to leave with
Crono and Lucca to ehm..."
"Are you going to travel through time again?" the king asked before the princess
could come up with a suitable thing to say.
"If that's alright with you." she replied.
"Of course. Don't worry, I don't mind you saving all existence again." he said,
sarcastically.
"No, we are just going to gather some old friends. For a reunion."
"Is that so?" the king said. He thought for a moment.
"How about I let the servants make a party for you guys?" he then said.
"Well, I was actually thinking about something more private."
"Okay. Just a thought."
Outside, they heard a loud rustle through the wind and rain. Then they saw the Epoch hovering closer and closer towards the only window in the room.
"Is that the machine you went through time with?" the king asked Marle as he saw
the Epoch's dome open, revealing the two teenagers inside.
"Yes it is. Now, I'll be back in a few hours, so don't worry."
"Okay. Bye." the king replied as he closed his eyes.
"Bye daddy."
"Hey, king, long time no seen!" Crono shouted through the window.
"Crono! Easy! He had a hard day!" Marle said to Crono, a bit angry.
The king didn't seem to have heard what the young man said. He already was
asleep.
"Oh, sorry then."
Marle stepped into the dome of the Epoch, making sure she didn't fall the long way down.
"Okay then, now let's pick up Frog." Lucca said while pressing some buttons, while the small screens on Epoch's dashboard flickered a few times.
"Hey, you almost said the same thing just a while ago." Crono said to Lucca.
"Shut up."
Lucca pressed a red button and the Epoch started making even more noise. It changed direction to avoid crashing into the castle after which it speeded up dramatically as it disappeared from sight, leaving a bright light behind it.
As the three people inside the machine rapidly flew through time, they could see images of events passing by them. They saw the war against the Mystics, the Zealean Kingdom and even Frog's now abandoned hideout, which a Nu now had claimed for himself. Then they saw a bright light getting more and more intense, until they suddenly reappeared into a different time, 600 AD according to Epoch's time gyro.
"It's been a while since we were here. Glad it still looks the same." Marle
said.
"It might not be the same you know. What if Magus has defeated Glenn and became
the ruler of this time?" Crono said.
"Nah. Impossible. That would mean that we probably wouldn't exist anymore."
Lucca quickly explained.
"Guess so."
The purple-haired woman steered the machine towards the castle, landing it softly in front of the main gate. They were welcomed by two soldiers.
"Look! It's them! They're back!" one said as he saw the time-machine land in
front of them.
"Don't get all excited now. We're not going save the world again." said Lucca as
the dome opened.
"Uh, no. Of course not."
The trio got out of the Epoch, the dome closing behind them as they entered the
castle.
"You think this thing is made all out of metal?" said the soldier who got
snapped at earlier to the other one standing next to him, examining the famous
machine he had heard so much about.
"What else would it be made of?"
"Well, it might be some magic thing inside there. You know, something like
Magus."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah. Pulling some strings to make the thing fly, stuff like that. But don't touch it. He might attack us."
"Really? How do you know?"
"Well, if it has Magus in there, he'll definitely try to kill us. We're enemies
after all."
"Just shut up. You're being silly."
"Must've been that ale."
"Must've been that keg of ale!"
"Whatever. -hic-"
"Announcing Sir Crono, Lady Lucca and Princess Nadia!"
"Hey! You know I hate being called 'Princess Nadia'!" Marle said to the soldier
who had just announced them to the king and queen.
"Excuse me, milady."
"What brings you here, Sir Crono?" Queen Leene asks to Crono, who already stood
in front of her.
"We wonder where Sir Frog his. We came to pay him a visit." Crono answered as he
kneeled down before her.
"Not only that, your majesty, we'd like to 'borrow' him for a while. We're
holding a reunion, you know." Lucca said.
"Oh, but I'm afraid I don't know where he is. Do you?" Leene asked the king.
"Sorry. I don't know either."
"Too bad. We'll have to go and find him then." Lucca said.
"It's been nice seeing you again, Miss and Mrs." Crono said, still kneeled down
before them.
"You're being awfully nice, aren't you?" Marle whispered into Crono's ear.
"Well, what do you expect. They're your ancestors."
As they left the castle, they saw the two soldiers they met earlier examining the Epoch a little too close than Lucca liked.
"Hey! You two! Get away from that!" she snapped.
"Oh, uhm, yes of course milady!" they both said, as they hastily got back to
their places.
"And don't even get close to this thing again, ever!"
"Easy on them, they don't know what it does." Marle said as they stepped back
into the Epoch.
"Don't care. They should know better." Lucca muttered.
"Huh?"
"Never mind..."
They lifted off again, the force coming from the Epoch's engines almost knocking the two soldiers off their feet.
"How about his old hiding place?" Crono suggested.
"You saw that was taken by a Nu, right?" Marle replied towards Crono.
"Oh yeah. You're right."
This time, only Crono stepped out of the Epoch, just because the two women didn't want to get wet. Sadly enough it had started raining in this time too.
"Should've brought an umbrella." Crono muttered to himself as he ran towards the
spot where the entrance to Frog's old hiding place was, keeping his shirt
partially above his head to avoid his face from getting wet.
"Hello? Anybody home?" he yelled down into the hole.
"Nu..." came back as an answer.
"So there is."
Crono went down into the hole by carefully going down the wooden ladder.
"Hey there."
"Hi." the Nu quietly responded. He was sitting on the table, writing a letter.
"Just here to ask if you know where the previous owner of this ... house went."
"Stop it you dog!"
"Huh? What'd I do?"
"Sorry. Force of habit. I believe you mean the frog guy?"
"Yep. That's him."
"I saw him leaving a few days ago. He took that big sword of him with him,
including those Mid Ethers he had stored here. Too bad."
"You suppose he went out to fight, or something like that?"
"Guess so."
"Well, thanks then. I know enough. Bye." Crono said as he turned around and got
up the ladder again.
"Nu..." the Nu said when he saw him leave, and returned back to his letter.
"Well, Crono, did you find him?" Lucca shouted to the one who came running back
to the Epoch.
"Easy would you!" he yelled back. "Let me get in first!"
Crono quickly jumped up into the now opened dome, and it closed immediately behind him. But before he even got to sit down, he was knocked down by the hard glass of the dome, coming down fast.
"Aww! Lucca! Don't be so hasty! What's your problem?" Crono asked Lucca, rubbing
the top of his head.
"Uh.. Crono, one word... PMS." Marle whispered to him.
"What's tha... Oh. I see." he realized before he could finish his sentence.
"Just shut up you two." Lucca snapped.
"Right. Just saying that Frog is probably looking for Magus right now. By the
way, those Nu's. Why do they always say 'Nu...' in..."
Crono got cut off by an angry Lucca.
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"
