Chrono Eclipse: What happens when even time is set in the shadows...? Part
two
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, nor am I making any kind of money off this story. These are all property of Squaresoft, a great and powerful company that is too big to notice a small fry like me. (I hope.)
The most powerful, of course, was Schala. She was the most powerful person, in fact, in the entire history of the kingdom of Zeal. Part of that was because of her pendant.
"So, we've got quite some time until we have to go to dinner, Alfador. What do you want to do?" Of course, all the cat did was purr. "Yeah, we can do that, but we have to move quick. It's on the other side of the continent from here." The location Janus was talking about was the forbidden ruins, about a cycle's run from the palace, and half that from the training grounds. The ruins resembled nothing more than a big, blue pyramid, but supposedly, at one time, there was a powerful kingdom that was centered there. "Obviously not too powerful, if they aren't there anymore," Janus sneered.
There was very little known about this empire that used to be. The only recorded history was of the first Royal family of Zeal, and how they ascended from below. You see, the Kingdom of Zeal is a floating island that is held up by the power of an incredibly powerful artifact known as the Mammon Machine. This machine was connected to Lavos, the god of the people of Zeal. Underneath this island was a frozen continent of neanderthals, people who couldn't use magic. That was why they couldn't ascend to Zeal. You had to have at least a spark of magic in you to navigate the Skyway, the transportation from Zeal to the frozen continent.
This Kingdom was obviously very powerful, because a field of powerful energy, which lasted, even now, surrounded these ruins. Even Queen Zeal, while her power was supplanted by the Mammon Machine, couldn't break through the seal. That's part of the reason why so little is known about these people. Only Gaspar, the Guru of Time, had any idea what was in there, and he had been missing for years.
A half cycle later, Janus and Alfador arrived at their destination, the forbidden ruins. This time, however, it didn't seem quite so forbidding, Janus mused. I wonder why?
As the pair got closer to the ruins, they noticed that the blue light was coming not from a barrier shield, but a glowing power from within the ruins. "What, the barrier's down? We should go tell Dalton!" Janus exclaimed to his cat. Dalton was the head of the research and mystical science department of the Zeal Kingdom. They investigated all the new forms of magic, and found ways to harness it to the benefit of the Kingdom. This group had discovered and augmented the Mammon Machine. Dalton was also the head of the military force of Zeal.
Alfador turned to face Janus, with a look that said, "Hey, you wanted adventure, here it is." Janus was in no mood to argue with that.
Entering the ground of the ruins, the light faded away to a background hue. It seemed the light was only there for appearance sake, maybe to maintain the look of a force field around the ruins, whenever it had failed. Some king of safety precaution, to be sure.
As they walked through the entrance, a different kind of light came on, a darker, almost purple haze, that seemed to match Alfador's fur perfectly. Of course, it also matched Janus' robes, because they were the same color. The place was amazing. Despite being quite ancient, there were pillars everywhere, still standing, and chests full of what must have been there money. There were statues in marble, and fine bowls and vases on pedestals surrounding the area. The force field had probably kept them protected from the elements and raiders for all this time. How odd that it had chosen now to fall.
Walking to the back of this first chamber, Janus spotted a throne, encrusted with gold and jewelry. Beside it, he saw a scythe, that one day may have been a magnificent weapon, but was now little more than an ornamental piece of decoration. Out of the corner of his eye, Janus saw movement behind a curtain. "Who's there?" Janus asked. Alfador jumped off his master's shoulder, and to the armrest of the throne, and let out a feral hiss. From behind the curtain stumbled a large, green monster…a goblin!
A.N. Sorry that the first chapter was so short, this is my first fic, so I'm not really sure what protocol is. I've been meaning to write this for a long time, and started to put it up on the CCSB at GameFaqs, but then it fell off the boards. Oh well, I'd rather put it here and see what people have to say, before I submit it to Square as a game idea. I'm also in the process of writing two Final Fantasy fictions: one is a story of a young King Baron, a kind of prequel to FFIV; and the other is a story focusing almost entirely on summoned monsters, or espers, or whatever you want to call them. Same difference.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, nor am I making any kind of money off this story. These are all property of Squaresoft, a great and powerful company that is too big to notice a small fry like me. (I hope.)
The most powerful, of course, was Schala. She was the most powerful person, in fact, in the entire history of the kingdom of Zeal. Part of that was because of her pendant.
"So, we've got quite some time until we have to go to dinner, Alfador. What do you want to do?" Of course, all the cat did was purr. "Yeah, we can do that, but we have to move quick. It's on the other side of the continent from here." The location Janus was talking about was the forbidden ruins, about a cycle's run from the palace, and half that from the training grounds. The ruins resembled nothing more than a big, blue pyramid, but supposedly, at one time, there was a powerful kingdom that was centered there. "Obviously not too powerful, if they aren't there anymore," Janus sneered.
There was very little known about this empire that used to be. The only recorded history was of the first Royal family of Zeal, and how they ascended from below. You see, the Kingdom of Zeal is a floating island that is held up by the power of an incredibly powerful artifact known as the Mammon Machine. This machine was connected to Lavos, the god of the people of Zeal. Underneath this island was a frozen continent of neanderthals, people who couldn't use magic. That was why they couldn't ascend to Zeal. You had to have at least a spark of magic in you to navigate the Skyway, the transportation from Zeal to the frozen continent.
This Kingdom was obviously very powerful, because a field of powerful energy, which lasted, even now, surrounded these ruins. Even Queen Zeal, while her power was supplanted by the Mammon Machine, couldn't break through the seal. That's part of the reason why so little is known about these people. Only Gaspar, the Guru of Time, had any idea what was in there, and he had been missing for years.
A half cycle later, Janus and Alfador arrived at their destination, the forbidden ruins. This time, however, it didn't seem quite so forbidding, Janus mused. I wonder why?
As the pair got closer to the ruins, they noticed that the blue light was coming not from a barrier shield, but a glowing power from within the ruins. "What, the barrier's down? We should go tell Dalton!" Janus exclaimed to his cat. Dalton was the head of the research and mystical science department of the Zeal Kingdom. They investigated all the new forms of magic, and found ways to harness it to the benefit of the Kingdom. This group had discovered and augmented the Mammon Machine. Dalton was also the head of the military force of Zeal.
Alfador turned to face Janus, with a look that said, "Hey, you wanted adventure, here it is." Janus was in no mood to argue with that.
Entering the ground of the ruins, the light faded away to a background hue. It seemed the light was only there for appearance sake, maybe to maintain the look of a force field around the ruins, whenever it had failed. Some king of safety precaution, to be sure.
As they walked through the entrance, a different kind of light came on, a darker, almost purple haze, that seemed to match Alfador's fur perfectly. Of course, it also matched Janus' robes, because they were the same color. The place was amazing. Despite being quite ancient, there were pillars everywhere, still standing, and chests full of what must have been there money. There were statues in marble, and fine bowls and vases on pedestals surrounding the area. The force field had probably kept them protected from the elements and raiders for all this time. How odd that it had chosen now to fall.
Walking to the back of this first chamber, Janus spotted a throne, encrusted with gold and jewelry. Beside it, he saw a scythe, that one day may have been a magnificent weapon, but was now little more than an ornamental piece of decoration. Out of the corner of his eye, Janus saw movement behind a curtain. "Who's there?" Janus asked. Alfador jumped off his master's shoulder, and to the armrest of the throne, and let out a feral hiss. From behind the curtain stumbled a large, green monster…a goblin!
A.N. Sorry that the first chapter was so short, this is my first fic, so I'm not really sure what protocol is. I've been meaning to write this for a long time, and started to put it up on the CCSB at GameFaqs, but then it fell off the boards. Oh well, I'd rather put it here and see what people have to say, before I submit it to Square as a game idea. I'm also in the process of writing two Final Fantasy fictions: one is a story of a young King Baron, a kind of prequel to FFIV; and the other is a story focusing almost entirely on summoned monsters, or espers, or whatever you want to call them. Same difference.