Chrono Trigger: ReDreamt

-IX-

Casa, Presto…

As Crono, Lucca and Robo headed up to the higher landing of the End of Time, there were two glowing portals - one that had brought them from the distant future to this place of nothingness, and a second that lead to whereabouts unknown. But they had a pretty fair idea that Gaspar would have warned them if it lead somewhere bad. As they walked to it, Lucca glanced at Crono with a slightly scolding face.

"Shame on you, Crono! Becoming infatuated with a member of the royal family!"

"HE-" He sighed bitterly as she disappeared into the portal, "Not worth it."

Robo followed along, completely oblivious.

"Here you are." An imp set down a plate of sandwiches on the dinner table.

"Great!" A second took a few and began eating, sipping a cup of apple cider. Afterwards, he smiled. "Getting married… buying this place… man, it's been a real dream, Edna."

"Aww!" Edna the imp giggled, "But this house is just fantastic, isn't it? And no problems with anything either!"

The cabinet door rattled. Both imps paused and stared at it a moment. It went quiet again, only to stir more violently a second later. Finally, the furniture was basically shaking as if it had spasms, before the doors violently opened. Out onto the floor tumbled Lucca, Crono, and Robo, in a heap. Both of the imps screamed, tossing their sandwiches up in shock.

"…Destination reached." Robo was atop the pile, crushingly, painfully heavy… "Current date: 1000 AD. Shall I get off now?"

"YES!" Lucca shrieked. Robo got off quickly, followed by Crono.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN OUR CABINET?!"

"Sorry, folks. Didn't mea- … imps!"

"Humans! In the clean clothes!" Edna exclaimed.

Robo glanced at the closet, then back at Edna. "Shall I clean the clothes, biologic?"

"Stay away from my clothes!"

"Now honey," The husband patted Edna's arm, "They may have a very good reason for being in the closet."

Crono scratched his head. "Would you believe time travel?"

The couple looked at each other, then laughed. "Oh, of course!"

"Oh, they MUST be friends of Alphonz." Edna laughed.

"Sorry for the mistake! Just, er, be careful when going outside."

"What's outside? Mobs? Riots? Spam?"

"More of us."

Edna commented, "We don't quite get along with humans here."

"But forgive and forget, I say!" The man imp nodded, "Can't control the others though."

"And unfortunately that goes both ways…" Crono sighed. "Well, thanks for the head up."

"Of course." The imps nodded, feeling much better about the situation, "Just don't start a riot."

"We'll try not to." Lucca laughed uneasily.

"Warning, Lucca. Current probability of such an event is at 79%."

"Could you make him stop that, Lucca?"

"It's handy to me, so too bad!" She laughed, "You oughtta hear- oh! We should get going. Sorry again, folks."

"We'll try to use a door next time." Crono followed her and Robo outside. They paused and looked around the village a bit, which was completely new and unknown to them.

"Now I'll be honest…" Lucca looked back at Crono, "…and tell you I have no idea where we are right now."

"We're somewhere that isn't where we want to be, I know that much. Hey, Robo, do you know where we are?"

"Processing… Accounting for time displacement, this area would be the site of Medina village."

"It's kinda freaky you can just do that."

"Huh! Never been here before." Lucca giggled, "Maybe we oughta buy the postcard."

"…Neg, Lucca. According to history and statement of the previous life forms, this area is greatly hostile to humanoid life."

"I was being silly because I'm nervous."

"Oh…" Robo thought a moment. "…Oops."

"It's okay." She patted his metallic arm, "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes."

"Aff. Programming is not fool-proof."

"Before I collapse with anxiety, let's get the hell out of this place!"

"I can agree with that." Crono looked at Robo, "Which way would you recommend we go, Robo?"

"…Follow." They started west after Robo. Keeping half an eye out for anything violent, Lucca and Crono followed warily. Finally, Lucca let off a sigh.

"…sorry about being so crabby when I woke up. Not used to sleeping at the End of Time and all."

"It's alright. But… er… What's with you and Marle, Lucca?"

Lucca winced. "Nothing, why?"

"Just seems that the two of you have been, for lack of a better way of saying it, locking horns whenever possible."

"…You've been my friend… my ONLY friend… for the longest time. And it just seems she's inching you away. If I lose you, I don't have anyone left to do anything with!" She paused, and shook, on the verge of tears. "If you disappear on me, I'm gonna go insane! You're the only person I can come talk to about ANYTHING!"

"Woah, Lucca." He walked over in front of her, "I'm not disappearing on you or anything, alright? I'm your friend. Friends don't desert each other, right?"

"B-but…" She wiped her eyes, "What if you become involved with the royal family? Then you CAN'T be with people like me! You're also the only person who doesn't tell me everything I make is gonna fuckin' blow up!"

"Uh, Lucca, I'm fairly certain that people 'involved' with the royal family get to do just about whatever they please. PEOPLE get to associate with whoever the Hell they want to. That's what Marle says and that's what I say, too. As for the inventions, well... I have faith in you. Getting that out of other people is tough as nails, but you -can- do it."

"…" She didn't say anything for the longest time, before attaching in a big hug. "You better not be lying to me!"

"Heh." He hugged back, "'Course not, Lucca. You know I'm a horrible liar anyway."

"I don't know…" She stuck her tongue out, "I still remember what you did with that birthday cake I sent you. I learned about it from what your mother said, and it wasn't funny, mister! I made that myself!"

Crono sweated. Lucca's cooking was horrible and could kill an army… "'I'm sorry' just isn't going to cut it, is it?"

"…it's okay." She laughed. "I did laugh about it after I hit you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you were the only one laughing! You've got a wicked left hook on you, you know."

"I'm handy with my hands!" She winked, then ran to catch up with Robo.

"You know that sounds horrible, right??"

"Better than saying I have MAGIC FINGERS!"

"Oh, now that's just corny!"

"Corny?" Robo glanced back, "Lucca is afflicted with corns?"

"Er, no. It's a figure of speech."

"Ah. That is good. Corns are terribly difficult to remove."

"Just what kind of job did you do anyway, Robo?" Crono blinked.

"… Unknown. Memory core suffering damage."

"Well, your NEW job is to help us, so don't worry!" Lucca patted him, "God, I'm glad I fixed you. You're really cool, Robo!"

"I am glad I am fixed as well. I am enjoying traveling with you and your companions, Lucca."

She smiled and nodded. A house was now in view, and they paused… a deep, beautiful, robust singing was heard from the doorstep. Lucca paused a moment, looking up, "Do you hear that? How relaxing…"

"Aff, Lucca." Robo looked over, spying a certain cat on the doorstep. "Voice belongs to subject Alphonz."

"Shall I amplify?"

"I… don't know." Lucca shrugged. "It might make him upset or something."

"Let's not, and say we didn't, Robo." Crono nodded.

"… A path that has no end; all for better or worse…. Whether thy soul lay blessed or cursed. Sing my life's song, this tale I start / My voice shalt ne'er fail, for this melody is my heart…" Alphonz suddenly glanced at the group, murmuring, "Wilted as a day's dawn…"

Robo walked on over. "We didn't amplify your song."

"Heh." Alphonz smirked, and Crono and Lucca wanted to bury themselves in a hole.

"Let's see, I'm no good at singing…" Lucca thought a moment, "This song, to you, I send with love, with mercy be from great Gods above. Joy and sadness will just one day be nothing but a bittersweet melody, since you have gone away…"

Alphonz huffed.

"You heard Cecelia singing that, didn't you, you crazy cat?"

"…"

"How often, Alphonz?" Crono knelt down. The cat sighed. "Aw jeez, you can't do that to yourself, man."

"'Till the day she dropped down dead, she sang it. But she did marry soon and raise a family of her own."

"And she still wasn't happy if she was singing. And if she wasn't happy, then, the family situation sure didn't help anything."

"There is not I can do about it and I'd quite prefer you stop stepping into things you aren't involved with."

Lucca sighed. "Were you waiting here long?"

"I sat 'pon Crono's doorstep for about twenty years wondering what came of you. Which means in some sense you got hopelessly loss and or possibly killed at some junction." Both of the teens froze in shock.

"U-um," Crono stammered, "S-so you mean we didn't come home for twenty years… because we…"

"Somewhat… I came back to this exact year in another area. You haven't been home for roughly two days by this point. I'm also quite certain you'll survive easier with a guide."

"Don't SCARE us like that!" Lucca yelped.

"I dunno. I'm still kinda scared, seeing as how I don't normally take twenty years to get anywhere… I try to make a habit of living and doing such in the course of a day…"

"Let us make haste and enter! The inhabitant of this house has some information that may be of use, if he is willing to speak it."

"Crono, you do the talking." Lucca scooped up Alphonz.

"Like always, eh? Alright…" Crono knocked on the door.

Alphonz shouted after: "Dear sir! It is Alphonz, come to speak with you!"

"You know this guy too?!??" Lucca was flabbergasted. The cat nodded as the door opened.

"Aha! Alphonz!"

"Salutations for the first time in many years. May we enter?"

"'Course 'o 'course! Ahh, first time you've had company of this sort, though!" A jolly looking man cleared the door for the crew. Lucca snuck in and hid behind Crono and Robo when they got there, forcing Alphonz to leap onto Crono's shoulder for view. The man shut the door and then refocused on Alphonz. "Eh heh, little lady's shy, eh? Not to worry, I don't bite often! Now, what can I help you and your kid friends with, Alphonz?"

"They wish to inquire on a few subjects, I thus turn the floor to them."

"A few things, eh? Well if they're with you, it's obviously a bit of curiosity they're lookin' for! Name's Melchoir, kids. What can I do for ya?"

"Erm… well… first off," Crono thought a moment, "I was wondering if you knew the way to get to Guardia."

"Surely I do! Bit of a dangerous walk, though. Have to travel through Heckran Cave, then hold your breath as you get sucked through a whirlpool! Don't hold it long enough, and ya drown!"

Everyone stared. Alphonz shivered. "I hate water…"

"A-any other paths?"

"Not for the living!" Melchoir smiled cheerfully.

"I assume that I am excluded from said category."

"Well you can just rightly pop over to Guardia now can't ya, Alphonz? Hey, you kids know that this 'ere cat can travel smack through time?! It's a trip!"

"Yes, sir, we've actually been doing a bit of it ourselves." Crono coughed, "Which brings us to our second question... would you happen to know anything about a creature called Lavos?"

Melchoir's smile went away instantly. Alphonz narrowed his eyes. "If you cannot answer that question, I have another. I shall give you time to think this one over."

The man gazed off to the side with a sigh. "I remember Lavos. Damn Queen. We warned her, but nooo, no one ever trusts the whistle blowers."

"Eh?" Crono tilted his head.

"Heh." Alphonz smirked, "Reminds me of that snotty cat…"

"What do you kids have to do with Lavos? It has nothing to do with this era."

"Um... well, we were kinda hoping on frying it like Kentucky Fried Bug."

"WHAT?!?" Melchoir jumped about ten feet in shock.

"We gotta save the future!" Lucca interjected, "So we gotta blow the sucker up!"

"Little lady, do you have any -idea- what sort of power you are going up against?"

"No... but it's not going to stop my effort any!"

"It should. It should stop anyone's effort cold. Lavos is a horrific creature. It eats away at this planet, consuming it before... doing what it... Does…"

Crono shook his head, "Yeah, well, -somebody's- gotta be the insane group of heroes. No way I'm letting my world get stomped by something that ugly."

"Yeah, that's right!" Lucca nodded.

"Enough with this discussion," Alphonz interrupted sharply, "Before it grows late, my question has yet to be answered."

"Sorry, Alphonz." Melchoir shook his head, "I... rightly forgot it after talking about... it... What was it again?"

"The Masamune. Where is it?"

"… I don't know. I've searched, but I haven't found it. I've hired help, but they've been fruitless. I doubt it even still exists. Perhaps... earlier in history it might have been spared the wrath it suffered, but I do not think it is in the now."

"Were we to find it, and were it need of repairs… would you return the favor I lent to you?"

"If it were in need of repairs, I would need ore to smith it back together. Dreamstone would be required. That hasn't existed for many thousands of years. "

"That is all, then."

The old man nodded, "Bring both to me, and I would put it back in one piece. I miss the old thing, to be honest. Right pretty weapon, even if I despise its purpose…"

"We will try. Let us leave now, Crono."

Lucca looked lost. "But… what is?"

"Robo," Alphonz commanded, "Bring Lucca outside."

"Aff, Alphonz." He picked her up and marched outside.

"Well, thanks for your time, Melchoir. Even IF most of it went over my head."

"Come any time. Good luck with your mission and... try not to die."

Crono winked. "I make it a point of not dying."

Outside, Lucca asked with a sharp tone, "Alphonz! What is the Masamune?"

"A blade. Come, we must head for the Heckran cave."

"That doesn't answer my question very well…!"

"Well if Alphonz is curious about it, it's probably a rather important sword."

Lucca sighed as they headed off for the cave.

Heckrans are actually a rather common occurance, especially in mountain-like areas and canyons. Burrowing mammals by nature, they tend to dig dens that can be used as entire passes through mountains. Intelligent by most standards, they can plan and organize, but they're blind as bats and prefer not to have company. However, their bones are coveted by all of canine kind and by those on costal communities for carving into tools… So the passage through the cavern was actually not that hard, small beasties aside, until they came into the newest and largest chamber with a waterfall and stream. There they found the current Big Daddy Heckran, who squinted as they came in.

"Gah! Who dares enter my chambers??"

Crono groaned, "Ah Hell. Not another nasty!"

"One everywhere…" Lucca sighed.

Alphonz cleared his throat. "Allow me."

The kitten got up close so the mighty creature could see him. It gasped sharply, "Oh, man, it's Alphonz! You must have a message from Lord Magus, right?!?"

"Miao."

"What is it?" The Heckran got down on hands and knees, so to speak. "Did Timmy fall down the well?"

"Miao!" Alphonz walked in a tight circle before falling over and playing dead. The Heckran gasped in sheer horror, throwing its claws to its face in dismay.

"W-woah, not cool!! Thank god you came so fast, Alphonz! Yo, I can't see you guys, but you gotta move 'cuz I gotta burn rubber!"

Crono, Robo, and Lucca stepped out of the way as the beast charged past, suddenly tearing into a wall with claws and digging furiously. The crew was buried rather deeply in dirt as it tunneled off to save an unfortunate Timmy, who, probably, was in no danger at all. After it grew quiet, Robo dug everyone out.

"God! Alphonz, what did you tell him?" Crono groaned, completely covered in dirt.

"That this Timmy individual has collapsed. We must hurry, however, for when he comes back he'll be most unhappy."

"The dirt is in my everything!" Lucca groaned.

Robo looked among everyone. "Shall I remove the soil?"

"Yes, please!" She took off her glasses and passed them over, "Glasses first."

"Aff, Lucca." Robo opened a section of armor and carefully put in the glasses. With the sound of a splash, a whirr, and finally a ding, he passed the perfectly cleaned spectacles over. Then he pulled out a bottle of shampoo in a streamlined, futuristic looking bottle. "Please, locate water source."

"Uh… right." She tucked the glasses away for the moment and walked over for the stream. Of course, Crono knew, this was about the worst idea EVER because she was blind as a bat. Before he could stop her, she took one step too many and disappeared into the water with a loud splash. No more Lucca!"

"…that was not a wise move, Lucca."

"No shit, Sherlock! Alphonz, where's this go to?? She going to be alright?"

"Just fine as long as she holds her breath. I shall go to the other side to give her a focal point. Do care to follow; you'll emerge unscathed, on my word." The cat then disappeared with a bamf.

"Guess we follow." Crono took a deep breath, leaping into the water with Robo following close behind. Instead of following the stream down, both parties were sucked with tremendous force into a whirlpool at the bottom. They were torn through with such force that, on the other end, deftly ignoring most laws of physics, Crono was sling-shotted out and landed right on top of Lucca who let out a weak cough. Crono did much the same, "…I never want to do that again … ! Robo!"

Crono wrapped his arms around Lucca and rolled out of the way just as Robo came slamming down, leaving a very nice dent in the ground. Crono let go of the girl and stood up, laughing, "Ha! Take that, fate!"

"…" Lucca gurgled.

"Hey, you alright, Lucca?"

"…so much water…"

"Hoo boy… Alright." He knelt down and patted her on the back, with her promptly coughing out water. "Get it all out there, Lucca. That's it, cough it up."

She did so with a vengeance, finally getting it all out of her system. She then sat up, with a groan, putting her glasses on. Able to now see, she was surprised to find they had been ejected within a close proximity of Crono's house. "I'm never doing that aga- … holy fudge! What the heck happened to your house, Crono?!"

Crono looked up at it. It was now about three times the size it normally was, with a very different build to it. Now that he thought of it, it looked rather familiar even though it was so drastically changed. He stammered for a moment, lost in thought, "…Uh… we had… guests?"

"…" Lucca gasped, "It's CECELIA'S house, isn't it?!? This is right where it existed!"

"…Awwwww shit. I better not be a relative of hers, or I'm going to have my OWN head."

"We'd better investigate… I hate whirlpools." She paused though, looking back at an unmoving Robo. "Robo… Rooobooo? Still alive in there?"

"Sys… system warni-ing. Water in cri-critcal areas. Purging now." He opened a hatch on his rear end, with a great flush of water pouring out. He gave a great tremor, looking as best robots could, very unwell.

"Aww!" Lucca came over and looked him over with great concern. "Oh, poor Robo! Crono, you go see what's up. I gotta fix this for Robo."

"Alright…" Crono walked up to the door, where a dismayed Alphonz sat. The cat stammered up in disbelief. As Crono strode in, Alphonz followed. Upon hearing the door, Dog came bounding in, exploding and shaking with purrs. He rubbed up lavishly against Crono's leg. "Heya, Dog!"

Crono knelt down and petted the happy kitty, who was absolutely in heaven to see his person again. But he glanced over at Alphonz with a curious look. Unfortunately for Dog, Alphonz was more interested in the layout of the house. The furniture was all very antique-looking and definitely matched Cecelia's things. Dog finally pounced the kitten, the both of them rolling about and batting at each other. However, there was a faint sobbing from the living room. Crono muttered, "I hope that's not Mom crying…"

He walked in to find her sobbing into a hanky. He sighed deeply at the hurtful sight. "Uh, hi, Mom. What's up?"

She was up so fast she knocked over the coffee table, snatching her boy into a deep hug. Mom gasped, "Crono!"

"S-s-sorry for worrying you!" He hugged back tightly. "I'm alright, though. No problems."

"Oh, I was so scared, Crono!" She let him go, sighing. "They said you were to be executed…! I couldn't bear to lose my little boy!"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to be executed anytime soon. Assuming, uh, the fuzz doesn't come by." He laughed exceedingly nervously, "I kinda escaped."

"Well, good for you, honey!" Mom nodded fiercely, "I think that stupid kingdom needs a boot wedged firmly up it's - oh… I'm sorry."

"No, no, I agree. Every one of the soldiers and lawyers in there is a moron… except maybe the door guards. But they never took my sword away from me in jail."

"Well if they come to the door they'll have to get through me and the frying pan to get my little boy! I'm just so relieved you're okay!"

"I'll hope it doesn't come to that." Another nervous laugh. "Actually... um... I'm not going to be able to stay for very long, Mom. Something's... something's come up... "

"…oh, um…" Mom nodded. "Alright. Well, If I can help you in any way…!"

"Just being around is good, Mom. It's good to have somewhere to belong to…" He paused, glancing around. "Erm... just a question... has the house always been like this? I seem to remember it being... Smaller."

"Of course, dear." She smiled. "Such a fine house too… We're probably the only family in Guardia to have a historically renovated house from the reign of Queen Leene!"

"Eh heh… T-thanks Mom," Crono's mind screamed History must've changed when… oh SNAPS! He continued, "G-guess it just feels bigger since it's more precious to me now."

"…" She looked at him funny. "Are you okay?"

"I've had my ups and downs today." He started to sweat. "I'll be fine as soon as I get everything straight in my head."

"Alright… you take care… Be careful, Crono." She gave him an extra hug.

"You, too, Mom. And if any people from the castle try to push you around, I'll make 'em stop! Promise!"

Mom nodded happily, but Alphonz let off a sharp hiss all of a sudden, very tired of Dog's play even if it was friendly. However, Dog immediately bound away a good distance and respected Alphonz's space. Crono watched out of the corner of his eye, "Eh heh. Well, I'll catch ya later, Mom."

"…be very careful…"

"Yes'm!" He headed for the door, Alphonz following. As soon as Crono shut it, the cat broke out into panic.

"I… I must head into the past… this house…! S-something… Cecelia…"

" know. Lucca fucked us up something fierce when she told Cecelia about you." Crono knelt down and tried to comfort Alphonz a little. "Let's go, though. Now."

"I… I could twist Time's arm a bit and… send us both back to when time was skewed…" He stuttered, "But you mustn't tell a soul if I do! Fate tends to destroy those with too much good luck."

"Good thing I don't believe in fate, then. Listen, first, let's find out exactly what all the reprecussions of this change are. I want Lucca in on this so we can find out WHAT has happened."

"R-right…"

They wandered back to Lucca, who was finishing up with Robo. She was also doing her best to make him waterproof in the future to prevent further damage. With a screwdriver fixed in her mouth, she shut up all his armor then turned him on. "Here we go, big guy…"

"Hey!" Crono hurried over as Robo came online. "We've got a serious problem!"

"Huh?"

"You know how you told Cecelia about Alphonz? Yeah, well that had some MAJOR effect on time."

"Oh dear." Lucca looked over at Robo, "Robo, are you working well enough to move?"

"…Aff, Lucca. Systems back to full operating capacity. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Robo! But we have to RUN. Follow us!"

They took off in a hurry for Leene's Square, to make use of the portal.