Unreal Reality: Part One
Notes: Perhaps I should explain a few things so this is not totally confusing... This story is set in 600 A.D., in a sort of 'alternate' reality, similar to the different endings of the game, if you wanna think of it that way.. Basically, the Mystics are being wiped out by the humans, and Crono is the Knight Captain of Guardia. Hopefully the rest is self-explanatory.. hopefully. ^__^
Let me also say that Flea is my favorite character out of the whole game, I'm just very biased when it comes to HIM I guess.. ;P And if you really can't stand the idea of a guy flirting with another guy, I suggest you leave now, cuz that's just how I decided to portray him this time around. I believe all the Chrono Trigger fiction I ever write will be based around the Mystics... being the game's superior characters and all. =D
Disclaimer: Of course these characters aren't owned by me, don't be silly. ;P
* * * * * *
He twitched slightly and moaned, feeling a presence somewhere above him. But exactly what that was eluded him at the moment, as he was still in that empty space between sleep and wakefulness.
The presence moved closer, and he heard someone giggle. A very familiar sound. Yet it only served to help jar him fully awake at last. Finally rubbing the back of a blue hand across the equally blue skin of his face, he opened his eyes. To see another set of eyes staring directly into his.
Any other Mystic would have fallen off the bed in shock by this point, but not Slash. Instead, he merely regarded the face above his as flatly as he could manage.
"Flea. Whatever it is, it had better be good."
Flea's eyes widened, and his smile slipped quickly into a frown as he continued to float above the blue Mystic's body. "Aww, Slashy.. I just wanted to wake you up in a more.. memorable way." The smile returned, and now it was almost more of a smirk.
"Memorable for who?" Slash mumbled, sitting up quickly to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, Flea barely managing to float out of the way in time. Slash almost automatically reached for his sheathed sword, Slasher, which he had hung on the wall above his bed as always. It was just more comforting to have it close by. And one never knew when it might be needed, especially in time such as these.
"Now, are you going to tell me what you're doing barging into my room before dawn or do I have to slice it out of you?" So saying, he fingered the edge of Slasher's sheathe appreciatively.
"Hmph." Flea spun around in the air once, in a way that reminded Slash of a spitted Roly, then uprighted himself to float about a foot off the ground. "You're no fun. Especially in the morning. Why, I--"
Slash started sliding the sword out, a slight sound of metal rasping against wood. "Alright, alright!" Flea yelped, paling a little. Then the pink-haired Mystic composed himself and began stating his message quite matter-of-factly. "I was asked to deliver this message to you from Magus himself. In.. oh.. I guess it was five minutes or so.. we are all supposed to meet in the Council Room. Ah, me, you, and Ozzie, that is." Here he paused to take in a deep breath before gushing, "Isn't that great? He personally asked me! I was so--"
By this time, Slash wasn't listening anymore. Standing up, he put Slasher down on the bed and quickly strode over to the babbling fool, reaching up to clasp him on both shoulders and pull him down to the floor, where his boots landed quite loudly in the silence of the room. Flea blinked up at the taller Mystic in consternation.
"S.. Slash.. what.."
"So it's the message? The one we've been waiting for? He's finally going to tell us what we're supposed to do?"
Flea continued to blink rapidly, still flustered. "Y-yes, I suppose that's it.." When that became more like batting his eyelashes to the other Mystic, Slash just sighed and shook his head.
"Can't you keep your mind on the matter at hand right now?"
"Not really.. not with you holding me like that," Flea smiled.
Slash sighed yet again, heading back to grab Slasher and belt it around his waist like always. "That's right... how could I have forgotten that your mission in life seems to be to aggravate others as much as possible?" he asked sardonically.
Flea stuck out his tongue and giggled again. "I think you like me."
"We don't have time for this," Slash stated, already on his way out the door without stopping to see if the other was following. "If that meeting was five minutes from when you said it was, we're most likely late already."
Slash walked in great strides down the castle hallways, sensing more than seeing Flea as he hovered along beside. "And do you have to float everywhere like that? We're not going that far."
"So? If you have it, you should use it. And besides, doesn't it just look cuter?" Flea beamed back at him.
Slash ignored this and continued to walk silently, while Flea folded his hands in front of him and hummed to himself happily. Slash's mind was more on the meeting ahead than his companion's total inability of carrying a tune of any kind. Just what was Magus going to have them do about this?
By the time the pair reached the double doors of the Council Room, he still hadn't figured it out.
* * * * * *
Ozzie read over his copy of the message for the third time. It still wasn't getting any clearer.
Magus sat at the head of the large rectangular table of the Council Room, his fingers tapping upon it restlessly as he waited for Slash and Flea to finish reading. The two fools had arrived several minutes late, Slash with his customary scowl, and Flea with a pleasant smile, although it was only aimed at Magus.
The large green Mystic briefly watched his companions from across the table, trying to gauge their reactions to the piece of parchment they both held in their hands. Slash eyed it over, his expression utterly bored, as though he'd read it all before. Flea managed to keep one eye on his paper and the other on Magus, which the blue-haired mage would surely have found disconcerting if he had actually deigned to notice. Ozzie grunted and sat back, disgusted.
Fools. Idiots. Both of them. If only I was the only general Magus had under his command, then I.."
"So!" Magus suddenly said quite loudly, banging a fist down on the table so hard that everyone jumped. "What do you think about this, hm? What do you think of this new insult to our pride?" The question seemed aimed at everyone and no one. Without waiting for an answer, the tall Mystic spoke again.
"He certainly went through a lot of trouble, that Crono. Writing each of us individually to make absolutely sure his challenge was made known. How very thoughtful of him, the bastard." Magus was practically hissing at this point, and he stood up to began to pace restlessly back and forth, not seeming to really desire comments for the moment. Ozzie couldn't quite remember when he had seen his leader quite so angry. Certainly not for a very long time.
Frowning hard, the green Mystic looked down to read his copy of the message for the fourth and final time.
My dear Ozzie:
How are things faring for you and your Mystic friends in that little hellhole of a castle of yours? Things are going beautifully for the Guardian army, as you can imagine. We've gained a good one thousand additional members in the past week alone, which is certainly wonderful. I am sure you are as pleased at the news as we are.
It is only a matter of time before we come for you. It won't take our full army, of course, but we will wipe you from the face of the planet like the foul plague that you are. We have already gotten so far, but it is no wonder that only four of you remain out of the entire Mystic race, as crafty as you are. But as you know, it has been decreed that all Mystics must perish.
However.. there may be a way to save yourselves. Somewhere within the town of Dorino, there exists a magical device with the power to change fate. Should you be able to find it, you might be able to change yours. But will you be able to find it..
I wish you a good day, until we meet again.
-Crono, Knight Captain of Guardian Royal Forces
It seemed like an eternity passed before anyone spoke again. And surprisingly enough, it was Flea, standing up and looking just about as serious as Ozzie had ever seen him. The large Mystic leaned forward in interest.
"If I may?" Flea began, looking pointedly at Magus, who nodded in return. And folding his arms tightly against that ridiculously female costume he was wearing, Flea began to speak in that airy tone he had a habit of using, and of course seemed to be addressing only Magus.
"This is obviously a trap. What in the world is this.. "magical device" he's talking about? I've never heard of it. Why would he want to help us out anyway? It's just so.. so suspicious." Flea sat back down, obviously having nothing else to say for the moment. Ozzie shook his head.
"Is that the best you can come up with? All of us know it's a trap. And these letters are the bait to lead us into it. Why don't you think twice before you open your big mouth and blurt out the first stupidly obvious thing you can think of?"
Flea turned on him immediately, bristling with anger. "I didn't hear anyone else willing to say anything! So what do you think, you fat green excuse for a--"
"Enough." Magus' voice cut through Flea's quickly, leaving the effeminate Mystic shrinking back into his chair.
"Forgive me, sir, but I--"
"It seems to me..." Magus continued, apparently not hearing. A long pause followed this, which made sure that every listener had their eyes glued to Magus. Their leader had his back turned to them, and seemed to be thinking deeply before he went on.
At last: "It seems to me that this might not be a trap after all." In the stunned silence that followed, Magus finally turned around and fixed his level gaze on each of them in turn as he proceeded to explain himself. "Chrono doesn't need a trap to do us in. He could easily lay seige to this castle with half of his precious Guardian army and destroy us in less time than it would take to set up some elaborate trap. Why he would give us some hope to grasp at.. I don't know. Perhaps his mind really isn't all there, as some reports have indicated.." He lapsed into silence for a moment, musing.
"But trap or no, we have to do something. We can't just sit by and await our deaths like passive fools." There were wholehearted nods of agreement at this statement. Something definitely had to be done.
"Well then," Magus continued, sitting down again at last. "We're going to have to find some sort of information about this supposed.. 'magical device'. We will need to go into Dorino and find that information ourselves, obviously. It has to be there somewhere, if it's there at all. We'll split up to cover ground more quickly, but I don't want any of us to be alone at any time. Ozzie and I will be scouting to the north of Dorino while Slash and Flea will take the south."
"Um.. sir.." Flea spoke up quickly, looking slightly pale. "I thought maybe I could go with y--"
"I need you with Slash," Magus interrupted, his tone of voice leaving no room for argument. Yet Flea turned a brighter shade of pink and opened his mouth as if about to protest further. Ozzie was about to tell his underling to shut his mouth, but Magus was already brushing aside Flea's objections without any effort at all.
"And by the way, Flea.. Two sets of Mystics wandering around Dorino is bound to run into trouble. Death, I'd imagine. I had assumed you would be able to disguise us with some of that magic of yours..?"
"Oh... Oh yes, sir Magus! I have just the thing. The humans won't be able to tell us apart from their own, you can count on that!"
"Good. I have the utmost confidence in you, Flea."
Suddenly Flea's expression became cattishly smug. If the pink-haired Mystic had had a tail, he would have been lashing it proudly about then. Ozzie had to shake his head again, this time in amazement. Flea wasn't the easiest to manipulate once he had his mind set on what he wanted, but Magus certainly knew how to handle that one.
"Alright, all of you," Magus announced, standing once more. "You have this evening to ready yourselves, for we leave at first light. And sleep well," he added with a slight smirk. "Tomorrow could be a very long day."
* * * * * *
Slash stood alone on the castle's highest rampart, watching for signs of the enemy. Ozzie had laughed and said it wasn't necessary to wait and watch for Crono's army to come; he would probably announce it in a letter the week before. And as much as everyone had laughed at that, Slash was still out watching, in spite of a hard, chilling rain that soaked him and everything around him for miles, no doubt. It would have been impossible to see even an army if it was coming in this downpour until it was right at the front door. But still, he stood there, as much to focus his mind and to think about tomorrow as to keep a lookout.
There are no other Mystics left...
This thought, unbidden, actually made him shiver. It was hard to imagine such a thing as being true. But ever since the strange prophet had come, predicting a rise in the Mystics' power - indeed, he had prophesied that they would rule the earth - they had been systematically slaughtered by the humans. Thousands had died.. and now there was only four left. Four desperate to find some way to change their fate.. or better yet.. to change their history.
"I hope you like being sick. Because that's what you're going to be if you stay out here much longer."
Once again, Slash didn't have to look to know who it was, but he did anyway out of surprise that the other Mystic had actually come outside in this weather.
Flea smiled up at him from under the deep hood of his white cloak; in the dim light and heavy rain, he looked even more like a female than normal. Slash turned away quickly lest his companion get the wrong idea about him staring so long. That was just about the last thing he needed right now.
When he did speak, he made his voice as gruff as possible. "Thanks for the vote of confidence in there." The blue-skinned Mystic pitched his voice higher to imitate Flea. "Oh sir, please let me go with you instea--"
"Oh, come on now, Slash," Flea cut in, "I wouldn't mind going with you so much after all... I didn't mean to make you jealous!" So saying, he clamped tightly onto one of Slash's arms.
"Jealous would be the last word I would use to describe myself right now," Slash sighed heavily, not even attempting to shake off the other Mystic. It would have been pointless, in the first place. In the second place it was the only way to actually get him to let go.
Sure enough, it only took Flea a few minutes to release his hold on Slash's arm and simply start gazing out at the rain instead. It really surprised Slash the next time Flea spoke.
"You know, Slash.. I really.. I really don't want to die. What if Crono finds us.. what if there's no way to change all this? What if we're just wasting our time here..."
With the rain pouring down as hard as it was, Slash had a hard time hearing the other's words, but he did hear them, spoken even as low as they were. Not quite knowing what to say, he just looked sideways at Flea. Such a face he had never seen before on the other Mystic; a great sadness, and he wasn't sure if those were tears or just rain running down Flea's face.
Quite unsure of what to do, Slash finally decided to put an arm around the smaller male's shoulders. The only thing he was actually sure of was that he would probably regret it later. But there seemed to be nothing else to do, and perhaps it would comfort him in some way. And considering how much Flea seemed to wish to appear female in every way, it shouldn't matter.. too much.
Comforting Flea was something Slash had never thought he would be doing, but in times like these.. That thought he left unfinished.
"Listen, Flea.. You believe in Magus, don't you? Well then, trust him. He'll find us some way out of this mess. If anyone can do it, he can, right?"
"Yes... that's right... Magus will find a way..." Flea trailed off, still staring blankly at the rain.
Slash frowned. "Let's get inside. We're not doing any good out here, and you should at least heed your own advice about getting sick." Flea didn't reply.
As the pink-haired Mystic went through the door ahead of him,
Slash paused to look back once more at the blinding rain,
fervently hoping that everything he had just told Flea was true.