Chapter 7: A Village of Fiends
Crono, Marle, Lucca, Jera, and their new friend Robo fell through the portal. They landed safely on what appeared to be a singular pillar of light.
"Where are we?" Robo asked as he looked around curiously.
The others looked around as well curiously wondering where they were. The location they were in appeared to be an enigma of sorts. It was dimly lit with just one singular lamppost with platforms against swirling mists in the background. There were also two other pillars of light next to the one the group was standing on.
Lucca stared at the Gate Key in her hands. She noticed that it was acting rather oddly. The points on the Gate Key were flashing. "Why is the Gate Key flashing like this?" She wondered curiously.
"There must be someone here," Marle said as she looked around. "Someone has to be in charge of this place."
The group walked down the small narrow path towards a small wooden gate. Crono pushed the gate open and he and everyone else saw what appeared to be an old man fast asleep under the lit lamppost. There was a door behind the lamppost. There were also two shimmering buckets on the corners of the small tiny room, one on the left side, and the other on the right.
Crono cautiously walked over to the old man. The old man was wearing a fedora hat, a clean brown leather trench coat and boots to match. The man's mustache was askew and a snooze bubble was oozing out from his nose.
"Excuse me sir," Crono said as he tapped the old man's shoulder. "Hey wake up!"
With a start the old man's bubble popped. "Ah, more drifters." He said whole heartedly looking at the group.
"Drifters?" Lucca asked. "Where are we?"
The old man smiled. "It is not a question of where my friends, so much as when. This is the End of Time," He answered. "Travelers lost in time's flow turn up here, much like driftwood on a beach." He then looked at the group. "Might I ask when you are from?"
"We're from 1000 AD." Lucca answered.
"I come from the year 2300 AD." Robo said.
"I see," The old man replied looking at the group. He seemed to be staring at Crono, Marle, Lucca, Jera, and Robo for quite some time before continuing his explanation. "You five have something hidden deep inside of you. The power to harness the natural boundaries of the planet's essence, when banded together the entities of varying origins capable of harnessing this power, they enter a temporal rift together, the torsion exerted on time's flow pushes them to the point of least resistance: here. There have been a number of folks turning up here unintended recently like yourselves. I fear something is having a powerful effect on the very fabric of time."
"So that means one of us will have to stay here alone." Lucca said.
"Here?" Marle questioned. "Alone?"
"It is a bleak place isn't it?" The old man gestured. "But not to worry. For all its desolation, it is well connected. There are roads here to any time you could ever wish to visit. Should you so desire, you can call upon your friends at any time. However, due to the natural balance of magical use, you may only travel in a group which only has four out of the seven magical innate elements."
"But how do we know what type of magical element each of us has?" Marle pondered.
The old man chuckled tipping off his hat. "The door behind me will answer your question."
The five travelers looked at the closed door behind them and walked inside. The room was about the size of a normal work station cubical. There was a short white hairy creature with horns on its head and had black stripes like a raccoon on its face.
"What're you lookin' at?" The creature asked rudely.
"Uh, who are you?" Jera asked.
"Me? I'm Spekkio, the Master of War!" The creature beamed with pride. "I watch all kinds of battles from here." He looked at the group. "How do I look to you?" It flexed its tiny arms showing off small muscles. "Strong or weak?"
The group sweat dropped.
"Strong…I guess." Crono stammered.
"I see," Spekkio said. "How I look depends on how strong you are. If you're strong, then I look strong. If you're weak, I look weak.
The tiny creature circled around the five travelers as if inspecting them. "Hm?" He mused. "Oh, you've got it in you don't you? That must be why the old guy let you through."
"Got what exactly?" Lucca asked confused.
"Magic of course!" Spekkio answered. "See, a long time before you were born, there was a kingdom where magic flourished. Everyone there could use it! But the people abused their powers, and ended up destroyin' the place. After that, there wasn't anyone left who could use magic – well expceptin' fiends, of course." He smiled at the group of five. "But you have it! That inner strength, I mean. Magic needs power of the heart. That's what it flows from."
"Even me?" Robo asked the small creature.
Spekkio stared at Robo in wonder. "Boy oh boy, that's the biggest toy, I've ever seen," He said. "Sorry pal, since you're made of metal, you can't harness much magic, but you've got a lot of heart, just like a human, you may do good in stopping those who have shadow magic."
Robo smiled hearing the odd creature say this.
Spekkio then turned to Crono, Marle, Lucca, and Jera. "There're seven types of magical elements: lighting, rock, fire, wind, water, shadow, and light. Not everyone's got the same type," He then turned to Crono, "You with the punk hairdo! You've got lightning," Next he turned to Marle, "The gal with the pony tail has the power of ice," He then looked at Lucca, "That girl with the goofy glasses…Her power is fire," He finally turned to Jera, "You with the stringy green hair have the power of light."
The five teens just sweat dropped at Spekkio's odd and slightly insulting explanation.
"By the way, it's not just magic – everything is made up of those seven elements." Spekkio told them.
"So what happens if all the magical elements are combined?" Lucca asked.
Spekkio shrugged. "Don't ask me I've never seen it done before, and no one's dumb enough to try it since it could have a positive or negative effect on the planet," He replied and then frantically waved his arms in the air. "All right. Starting from the door, circle clockwise along the walls of my room three times and say 'I want to use magic' over and over in your head."
"You're not serious are you?" Crono asked dumb founded by the odd method.
"You wanna have the ability of magic or not?" Spekkio spat back.
"Come Crono, let's give it a try." Marle said.
"Yeah, it couldn't hurt." Jera added.
"Oh…ok." Crono said hesitantly and stood by the door.
"Don't lose track, now," Spekkio warned them. "Three times! Don't want you churnin' yourselves into butter!"
Robo watched as the four teens circled the perimeter three times. He watched as his friends were slowly engulfed in dim yellow, blue, red, and white auras. Once they were done the five teens went back to Spekkio.
"Well done!" Spekkio congratulated the four teens. He then twirled in a circular motion before saying, "Ipso, facto, meeny more…MAGIC-O!"
The dim auras surrounding the five teens became brighter and soon faded away.
"I don't feel any different…"Crono said as he checked himself over making sure he was still in one piece. He then raised his arm in the air and out of nowhere a lightning bolt shot out from the heavens hitting Spekkio.
"Ow! Watch it!" Spekkio cried.
"Oops sorry." Crono apologized.
Marle giggled. "Thanks for your help, Spekkio." She said folding her hands graciously. In her hands a shard of ice appeared. The shard of ice grew bigger and floated into the air hitting Spekkio on the head. "Oh sorry…"
Spekkio fell to the floor. "Cut that out!" He yelled.
"Here this'll warm you up!" Lucca said has she held a floating fire ball in her hand.
"No, no, no, don't throw it!" Spekkio begged and ducked for cover as Lucca launched her fire ball.
The ball of fire headed straight for the tiny creature as it tried to muster its own magical abilities. Suddenly the small creature was encased in a round green barrier. The strange barrier slowly floated off the ground taking Spekkio with it. The fire ball hit the barrier and bounced off of it hitting the wall instead. Spekkio fell to the floor with a thud as the barrier faded away. He then turned to Jera's direction, who had her hands out stretched in front of her.
"Phew, thank goodness for the magical element of light," Spekkio sighed in relief. "Just don't get too carried away with that power." He warned her.
Jera nodded her head slowly wondering why the tiny creature had warned her and not the others.
"You also have the ability to control small portions of fire, ice, and lightning magic as well, just as those who have controlled the element of shadow magic can, but don't rely on them too much. You've got to follow your own elemental heart," Spekkio told her. The tiny creature's face suddenly became as black as thunder as he said, "Light and Shadow, they are among the two strongest of the seven magical elements, but they also stand alone as far as magic goes. Both elements are like opposite sides of a coin. Light and Shadow depend on each other in order to exist. The two elements can either endure a peaceful world or a world of destruction depending on how they are used."
"Thanks for the tip Spekkio." Crono said to the small creature as he and the others left the room.
"You make any new friends, you bring 'em to see me, you hear?" Spekkio told them as he waved good-bye. "I like you guys!"
____________
"Hey!" The old man called out to the five travelers as they stepped out of Spekkio's room. "Well, well…It seems I was right. You do have the inner strength of magic," He told them. "People who lived long along all enjoyed such powers you know. Yes, long, long ago…" He mused to himself and drifted back to sleep again.
Seeing the old man asleep the five travelers sweat dropped.
"Uhh…sir?" Crono asked while shaking the old man.
The old man woke up with a start. "Huh? What happened?" He asked dully clearing his throat as he noticed the five travelers realizing that they needed more of his 'guidance'. "Well, I know you must be eager to finish this thing you seem so intent on doing, but remember one of you must remain here."
"I shall stay," Robo told his friends. "I must recharge my energy so that I may be able to further assist you in the future."
"We'll be back as soon as possible, Robo." Marle told the friendly robot.
"What's in here?" Crono asked as he walked over to the bucket on the bottom left corner of the room. He looked inside the bucket and saw various colorful round pellets. They seemed to be harmless enough. The boy took one blue pellet and promptly ate it. He then beamed happily realizing that those pellets were in fact a full meal. "Alright! Food! This one tastes like…jerky."
The old man chuckled. "That bucket is enchanted so that it never runs out of out of those colored pellets," He told the spiky headed boy who was eating. "So go on and have your fill."
Marle, Lucca, and Jera followed Crono's lead and ate some of the pellets since they hadn't eaten or drank anything in a while.
Jera looked over to the other shimmering bucket on the right corner. "What's in that one?" She asked the old man.
"That bucket is in fact a sealed Gate," The old man answered. "That Gate leads to 2012 AD, the Day of Lavos. If you wish to see the world destroyed before your very eyes, then by all means, go," He said. "But know you yourselves may share the same fate if you choose to fight the parasite now. You may be strong, but there is so much more you need to learn before fighting such a creature."
"How do we get back to our own time?" Marle asked.
"You saw the pillars of light when you arrived, yes?" The old man asked them.
The four teens nodded.
"Each pillar of light connects to this place to a different era," The old man explained while pointing to Lucca's Gate Key. "Once you've been through a Gate, you can use your Gate Key to return here whenever you wish."
"So that's why the Gate Key is acting so odd." Lucca said and headed towards the pillars of light. She examined each pillar of light. On the small tiny screen of the Gate Key flashed the year of each pillar of light: Truce Canyon, 600 AD, Proto Dome 2300 AD, and finally Medina Village 1000 AD.
"Why not first pay a visit back in your own era," The old man advised. "Haste makes waste, as they say. And you'll find that even truer here. Come and see whenever you need. Think of me as your guide on time's road."
The four teens nodded and walked towards the pillars of light. They stepped on the pillar of light which opened the Gate to Medina Village in 1000 AD. The four teens waved good-bye to Robo, promising him that they'd be back soon. Lucca raised her Gate Key in the air to open up the sealed portal. A Gate opened up swallowing the four teens before promptly closing.
__________
The portal opened up again, however the four teens realized they were in a midst of darkness.
"Why is it so dark in here – Ouch!" Marle yelled. "Crono you stepped on my foot."
"Sorry, Marle," Crono apologized. "Where ever we are there doesn't seem to be much room in here."
Lucca looked at her flashing Gate Key, which was the only source of light at the moment. The tiny screen on the Gate Key read: 1,000 AD "Well according to the Gate Key, we're definitely back home."
"The question is where?" Jera thought out loud.
Crono carefully moved his hands along the smooth surface of what felt like walks, no, a door! He then pushed open the doors. With a thud the four teens toppled over each other and fell on the floor to a house which belonged to two imps who were just sitting down to some cake.
Seeing the four teens the two imps looked at them in surprise.
"You folks came out of my wardrobe, didn't you?" The blue imp asked them. "What are you doing here?"
"Sorry…we didn't mean to drop in on you unexpectedly." Crono told the fiend.
The green imp that was there just glared at the four teens disapprovingly. "Who do you think you are, coming and going from someone else's wardrobe at all hours of the night and day?!" It told them. "Humans…I'll tell you! They've got no respect for us fiends!"
"That's not true!" Marle yelled back. "Maybe if your kind didn't start a war with us 400 years ago and lost, you wouldn't be SO grumpy!"
"That's spreading the peace Marle." Lucca rolled her eyes.
"Come on let's just go before we start another war." Jera told her friends.
The four teens headed out the door of the small house.
"Wait a minute." The blue imp called out to them.
The four teens cautiously turned around.
"Medina is a village of fiends, founded by our ancestor when they lost their war against humankind 400 years ago. Most of the townsfolk still have a grudge against humans, so be careful," The blue imp told them. "There's an odd old human who lives near a cave in the mountains to the west. He may be able to help you out."
"Thanks!" Marle beamed and then crossed her arms across her chest suspicious of the tiny creature. "But why are you being so nice?" She asked. "I thought fiends weren't supposed to get along with humans."
"It's been 400 years since man warred against us fiends. There's no use living in the past. Of course, not many other fiends seem to agree with that," The blue imp answered the princess and offered her some cake. "Here take this as a peace offering."
"It's not poison is it?" Crono asked suspiciously.
The blue imp made a sour face. "Course not! Why would I wanna poison you humans, when the Heckran beast living in the cave could possibly rip you all to shreds?" He told them.
The four teens sweat dropped and shared the slice of cake.
"Hey that was fantastic!" Lucca exclaimed.
"See?" The green imp said. "Just because we don't have opposable thumbs like you humans doesn't mean we can't cook, we all don't like to fight you know. We fiends also have our own lives to lead."
Marle smiled. "I'll be sure to remember that, maybe I can ask my Father to make you two official royal test tasters at the castle!"
"Really?" The blue imp asked. "You'd do that for us?"
"It's only fair; you're helping us after all." Marle replied.
"You humans are pretty swell, too bad no one else in town is going to believe you're nice." The green imp said.
___________
The four teens exited the tiny house of the two friendly fiends. That's where the friendly welcome had stopped. The small village of Medina also had, a market, an Inn, and there was also a small Square in the center of the small village. This village was built upon the ashes from war 400 years ago. The village was designed just for fiends so that they were able to live prosperous lives just as humans were able to. The four teens tried desperately to compromise with the fiends that were selling items in the market, or at the Inn, where they needed time to rest, but the fiends were too caught up in their ancestral background to listen to anything the four teens were trying to tell them. They would rather fight with weapons than use their words. Up north from a village there was a small forest. In the forest there was some kind of pyramidal shaped force field at the center of the forest. No one was able to break that force field.
The four teens curiously had entered the Elder's House to see who or what was in charge of Medina Village. They saw imps tirelessly working and cleaning while the elder who was a large, chubby, purple imp dressed in a large white tunic did nothing but supervise. The so called Elder saw the four teens and immediately started gloating.
"I'm Ozzie the VIII, the leader of this village. My great-great-great-great-great grandfather fought against the humans at the side of the Fiendlord himself." He told the four teens. He then sighed while glaring at Crono and the others. "Oh, great Fiendlord…Why didn't you exterminate the human race four centuries ago when you had the chance." He mused.
Seeing that they weren't welcomed, Crono, Marle, Lucca, and Jera left the Elder's home.
"Well, that was pleasant," Marle grumbled. "Someone should teach those fiends some manners!"
"I don't think that's possible Marle," Lucca told the princess. "This has been an ongoing epidemic ever since the war started 400 years ago."
The four teens suddenly heard chanting coming from Medina Square.
"Crono, what's that odd creepy chanting?" Marle asked.
"I'm not sure," Crono answered her. "Let's find out.
The four teens walked into Medina Square. They saw at the center of the Square there was a statue of Magus, whom apparently the fiends looked up to for guidance against humans.
"This is way too weird." Lucca said.
"Not to mention creepy!" Marle shrieked.
"I suppose even fiends need to look up to someone." Jera added.
"We better go before they try to attack us like every other fiend here." Crono told his sister and friends.
They left Medina Square and headed west where they saw a small cabin by a cave up north, just like the blue imp had told them.
"Anyone home?" Crono asked as he casually opened the door to the cabin. "Hey it's you." He said as he saw Melchior.
"You're that man from the fair. The one who wanted to buy off Marle's pendant." Jera said.
Melchior smiled. "So you do remember me?" He asked. "And by the looks of it you've come to see me! Well, by all means, have a look at my collection. Could I interest you in a weapon? I'll give you a special price."
"No thanks," Lucca told the old man. "We kind of need to find a way to get back to Truce."
"Weapons are not meant for the taking of lives. They're meant for saving them," Melchior said whimsically. "If you are in need of any weapons, you know where to find me." He then looked at Lucca, "Oh, if you're wanting to return to Truce, there is a shortcut through the Heckran's cave in the mountains to the north."
"Thanks for the help." Crono said.
"Be cautionary," Melchior advised the four teens. "In that cave dwells a beast, a fiend like no other. No amount of weapons can defeat that creature or the other fiends that dwell in the cave. They can only be harmed by those who possess the power of magic."
"I think we'll be able to handle those fiends." Marle giggled.
___________
The four teens exited Melchior's cabin and headed into the dark, dismal, cave up north. The cave was dimly lit with lanterns around the rough walls. There were different paths leading to a singular pathway in the center of the cave. As soon as the teens entered the cave they were ambushed by two chubby imps in armor.
"Death to the enemies of fiendkind!" The large imps yelled.
"Oh no not again," Crono groaned. "Take this!" The boy raised his arm in the air and shot a lightning bolt at one of the fiends.
The large fiend fell backwards. "They possess the power of magic?!" The fiend exclaimed.
"Who do you humans think you are!?" The second fiend yelled. "Using our kind of power against us!"
"The kind of humans who are sick and tired of you fiends thinking that you're the boss!" Marle yelled launching large shards of ice at the two fiends freezing them in place.
"Nice shot guys." Lucca told her friends. She then noticed that Crono and Marle looked exhausted.
"Hey what's wrong?" Jera asked.
"Using magic….sure takes it out on us…" Crono panted.
Lucca reached into her bag and took out the Ether which they had bought in 2300 AD. "Maybe this will help." She told her friends handing Crono and Marle the blue bottle.
Crono and Marle cautiously drank the contents of the small bottle.
"Phew," Marle breathed. "That's much better."
"So that's what this bottle is for." Crono said looking at the small bottle.
"It replenishes our magical strength." Lucca told her friends.
___________
The four teens proceeded down the path of the dark cave. Climbing down ladders and fighting fiends along the way. They realized that the pathway they needed to get to was barricaded by a river of water. Marle and Jera used their ice magic to freeze the water. This also froze the fish-like fiends that were in the water. They treaded along the slippery frozen water to a small rocky set of stairs. The four teens climbed the stairs and saw a small, dark cave entrance.
"Sure is dark in there." Marle said slightly clinging onto Crono's arm.
"That's the only way out of the cave." Lucca said.
"We have to go in." Jera added.
"Then let's go." Crono told his friends.
The four teens slowly treaded into the dark cave. They saw what looked like a water whirl pool at the end of the cave.
"Death to the enemies of fiendkind!" A deep, dark, murderous voice rang out in the cave.
"That does not sound so friendly!" Marle shrieked.
"It's NOT! Look!" Crono pointed in front of him.
Marle, Lucca, and Jera gazed towards what Crono was pointing at. They saw a creature which was twice their size and had sharp fangs that went passed it jaws, with massive claws that were used as hands. The creature's body was covered entirely in gray fur, like a rhinoceros. The creature slowly advanced towards its enemies. It glared at the four teens with fiery red eyes.
"This must be the Heckran!" Lucca said matter-o-factly.
"Then we take it down!" Crono replied bravely.
Hearing this, the Heckran laughed. "Do you mere little humans think you can destroy me?! No weapon can harm me!"
"What about magic, you big over sized furry bully!" Lucca yelled and launched a fire ball at the creature.
The Heckran staggered back a bit, but grinned. "Foolish humans, do you not think that I do not possess magic as well!" It laughed outstretching its giant claw-like hands summoning a giant tidal wave of water straight for the teens.
Jera quickly outstretched her hands creating a green barrier around herself and her friends. However the strong tidal wave was slowly over powering the barrier.
"Guys! Do something! I'm not sure how long I can keep this barrier up for long!" Jera told her friends.
"What if we combine our magic at once?" Lucca thought.
"Are you crazy!?" Crono exclaimed. "That might kill us!"
"We won't know until we try!" Marle agreed to Lucca's plan.
"You guys better do something!" Jera yelled at her friends as her barrier slowly started to fade away due to the force of the Heckran's tidal wave.
Crono, Marle, and Lucca looked towards the Heckran's direction. Together they fired off bolts of lightning, shards of ice, and balls of fire simultaneously not allowing the giant fiend to rest. The Heckran fiend growled in pain.
"If only Lord Magus had destroyed the human race four hundred years ago when he first brought forth Lavos, the world would belong to us fiends now!" The Heckran yelled before screaming in agony and vanishing without a trace.
"What did he say?!" Crono exclaimed.
"Four hundred years ago…that's during the Middle Ages!" Jera yelled.
"So, Magus created Lavos in the Middle Ages!" Lucca said. "And in the future, Lavos destroys the planet."
"If we go to the Middle Ages and stop Magus, can we change history?" Marle asked.
"If we use the Gate at the fairgrounds, we might have a chance!" Lucca answered.
"We have to stop him! Our future's at stake!" Crono said determinedly.
The four teens walked towards the end of the cave where they saw a small watery vortex. In the watery vortex there was an image of Truce Village.
"Guess we've got to jump in." Crono said and did just that.
Seeing this odd and scary sight the three girls yelled out in distress.
"Crono!" Jera yelled and followed by Marle and Lucca.
___________
The four teens popped out of the watery vortex and landed safely right in front of Crono's and Jera's house.
"Whoa, what a rush." Crono said while holding his head.
"I wonder if Mom's home." Jera wondered as she walked into the small house.
"Mom?" Crono called out to their mother.
"Crono! Jera!" Gina yelled worriedly and ran to her children. "Oh, you two had me so worried! They said you were to be executed!"
"Nope we're fine mom." Jera reassured the worried mother.
"Don't you ever scare your mother like that again!" Gina told her children.
Crono and Jera sheepishly blushed with embarrassment.
"We won't mom, promise." Crono told her.
Gina smiled and saw Lucca who she greeted with open arms and then noticed Marle. "Who's this young lady?" She questioned.
Marle politely smiled. "I'm Marle."
"Are you my son's girl friend?" Gina asked.
Hearing this Crono turned bright red. "MOM!" He flushed with embarrassment.
"What?" Gina asked curiously.
"S-She's just my… friend that's all!" Crono stammered nervously.
Marle, Lucca, and Jera giggled.
Gina smiled. "Alright then, go on enjoy the rest of the fair and stay out of trouble!"
"Oh…of course mom…we'll stay out of trouble." Crono replied while stroking his cat.
The faithful cat purred with delight at Crono's affection and wanted to follow his masters.
"No little one you have to stay home and take care of mom." Jera told the small cat.
The cat meowed and stood by Gina's side as the four teens left the small house and headed straight for the Gate at the Millennial Fair. The four teens entered the Gate, hoping that their strength and knowledge would be enough to stop Magus from summoning the great entity known as Lavos, which would ultimately result in the end of the world.
Author's Note: There you have it guys the next chapter. I hope my explaination made sense of how the characters ended up in the End of Time. Originally in the game, if there were more than 3 people entering the Gate they would end up in that realm. As for the magical elements I got all that from Chrono Cross, since in that game the magic is more reliable in that game than in CT. Well guys that's all I have to say about this chapter, tune in next time because this is only the tip of the iceberg :D