Ollen70: Many, many thank-yous to Preventer Squall, One Winged Kuja, Bionicman and Anime Rachiru for taking the time to review for me. It really helps so much to hear what people think.
I'm sorry - once again - that it's taken an eternity and a half to get this chapter into working order, but thank you so much to the people who've stuck out the wait for me. I most definitely plan to finish this story, and hopefully fairly soon.
Disclaimer: Chrono Trigger does not belong to me. I mean no offense to its creators by writing this story.
Chapter Ten - - The cost
The floating continent in the sky still hung there, suspended ominously like a lowering cloud above the northern cape, and Chrono watched it with a certain amount of irrevokable dread. He forgave himself for it, considering his own experiences with Zeal the last time they were sent here by fate, and he couldn't help but feel a very strong twinge of guilt as he looked upward from amid the trees of the commons.
Admitting fear was different from letting it win. He was loathe to admit it, but he'd been glad enough when the gurus had taken Magus and Lucca and left the three of them behind. It was still something of a surprise that Lucca had been chosen. Sure, she was magically stronger than most of them. Glenn was a natural choice to stay behind, given his respective history with Magus, but he was the hero of time, after all, and Marle was one of the greatest healers of the ages.
Of course, who knew how much of that really mattered to the gurus? They had their own powers, however conservitavely they used them. The Rainbow hanging at his side was proof enough for that. Elemental power usage was a forbidden skill, something only the unassuming and outwardly feeble Melchior knew how to create. Then there was Epoch, made by Belthasar with a mixture of technology from the far past and of a future that no longer existed, as far as anyone could hope.
He couldn't forget Gaspar's creation, but it was something Chrono didn't talk about, and he did his best to quell even the memory of it when it rose. There were too many questions still unanswered about what had really happened for him to be happy with any explanation the others could offer.
Had he really died? Had they truthfully pulled him back just before his own destruction, or was his return a gift, given to him God and the heavens? Perhaps - just perhaps - it hadn't been intended as a gift at all. Chrono was content enough in life and in being among the living, but every sunrise still bore the remnants that golden glow, the last rising of his own soul before the others had watched his body shred away like a shadow. Whether or not that had any bearing in their current reality was beside the point, but the truth of the matter was that it was what was supposed to happen. Was his return also a fated event, or had they somehow cheated destiny by restoring him? Had it really been his time to die?
A doll had told him something once, as very odd as that sounded even inside his own mind, and its words still troubled him a bit. Upon his arrival in the city of Enhasa, on the most southern edge of the Zeal kingdom, he remembered the furry white creature watching him with its bright, button-like eyes. A Zealian toy, no doubt, but sometimes he wondered if the Poyozo were alive. At times, they seemed to be. This particular doll had asked him happily in its innocent, child-like voice , if he believed in destiny. His answer then had been no, and the doll had told him he was right, but he still couldn't keep himself from wondering.
Of course, we're the masters of our own destinies. In fact, I believe there might be a door-way of destiny around here somewhere...
At the time, he thought the creature was some invention of Belthasar's, speaking of the Guru of Reason's secret chambers hidden in both Enhasa and Kajar. Now that he thought about it, the words cast a far more ominous tone, a powerful portent to the road his own choices would lead down. Hindsight was always clearer than foresight, true enough, but maybe the creature hadn't been telling the whole truth...
Shaking his head slightly, Chrono focussed his eyes back on the continent up above him. He'd been staring at it, but his mind was so far away that it made little impression on him. The crags and turrets each inspired their own kind of awe independantly. Together, there was little to feel for them but fear. However it was that the continent of Zeal could come back into existence, turmoil was all that could result from it. As far as Chrono was concerned, very little good could come out of Zeal.
Both Earthbound and Enlightened - for all they professed to be one people, the division still existed and only grew, now that the floating continent had appeared - watched the island in the sky with a deep kind of resignation. Chrono had been expected dread, but very little came. The Earthbound probably believed that their freedom had been too good to be true, and the Enlightened were probably waiting for their magic to return, and for them to be welcomed back among the clouds and stars, the gifted race granted the power of magic.
Tensions were growing - Chrono could tell that with his eyes closed. Just by the way the Enlightened even now, in their brocaded robes and elaborate hats or head-cloths, avoided the fur-cloaked Earthbound in the same manner they might have before the fall of Zeal, the frays were beginning to show. Allies because of necessity, the bond that drew them together was gone now. Nothing was going to hold them for long, at this rate.
Letting this thought complete the circle, he looked back up at the floating continent almost wistfully. Maybe being there, dealing with everything, could keep him from dwelling on the past. He walked away from the clear area of the commons at last, heading toward a small fire where one of the Enlightened men was turning a spit as if it were very far below him. The man gave Chrono a slight smile as he took over turning the spit. At least they weren't treating him like an Earthbound. Yet. Apparently, when they were at their prime, the Enlightened possessed magic the likes of which even Magus couldn't match. Since the Mammon Machine was destroyed and the ability to channel the power of the elements directly all but forgotten, magic usage was lost to them now. But if the continent of Zeal had truly risen again...
Chrono could see the same thoughts playing out behind the eyes of the man. Things were going to change - soon, more likely than not - and it was a matter of deep speculation as to what the nature of those changes would be. Nothing good was going to come of this, Chrono was certain.
Accepting a bit of the roast meat the man offered him, he chewed thoughtfully, not really noticing its smoky flavor as he wandered beneath the cliffs of the commons, keeping an eye out for Glenn. Marle was nearby as well, and while he wasn't really avoiding her, he wasn't sure he really wanted to see her right now either. She probably had a lot on her mind as well - how could she not, with everything that had happened? - and he was sure she'd give him that... look of hers, the one that reeked of barely veiled sympathy. Much as he cared for her, he didn't think he could face that right now.
Glenn, albiet in a different sense, wasn't a good deal better. The knight of Guardia had taken up bowing whenever Chrono approached, a habit that was both annoying and apparently unbreakable. Whether it had to do with the fact that Chrono was now - technically - the king of Guardia or because of the same events that drove Marle to be far more motherly than necessary, he didn't know. He also had no intention of asking.
Picking up speed, he stopped dead when he heard a light rustle from above him, just out of sight over one of the snow-covered bluffs. It probably wasn't a monster. Very few of those survived the fall of Zeal, and few enough had ever been able to exist in the harshness of the overlands anyway. It might be one of Dalton's soldiers, but he doubted it. Most of them who made it out of the dying Blackbird alive lived in relative peace within the commons. Well, they lived in the same sort of peace that the Earthbound and the Enlightened lived, if that could really be called peace.
Starining his ears to catch any other sound, he let his fingers curl around the hilt of the Rainbow. The breeze shifted his direction, aiding in carrying what little sound there was to him. A very soft, very innocent voice whispered.
...fascinating creatures... so many styles, so many colours of mood and ideal... how could anyone tire of watching such wonderous, beautiful little beings?'
Chrono shook his head, his long tresses waving in the same breeze as he did. Had he heard that right? A small laugh, tremulous and kind, rang out over the duration of a heartbeat, and then was gone. Only the voice lingered on, even fainter than before.
...have they realized it yet? Do we have reason to believe... that they ever will...? From all I've seen, I come to think that some of them, at least... may...'
Another trilling laugh, sweet as any child's, and then the feeling of eyes and presence was utterly gone. Whatever had happened, whatever strange diety or lurking creature that had been nearby, Chrono was now alone.
x x x x x x x x x x x x
Rebuild the world? Belthasar's gentle voice cut through the air. My dear girl, the world rebuilds itself in its own way... in its own time, and no matter what fool belief you cling to, none of us have ever wished to sway it to our own ends.
You've ruined all things. Lorraine shot back blackly. Your fingers were in the thick of the destruction of Zeal, whatever lies you would sell, and you owe penance for that crime.
Lavos decieved us all. No one could have known the extent of his power, or the end that queen Zeal would put it to. The aged man's face drew an expression of deep sorrow. In another life, another existance, we spent everything we had to assuage the damage that beast ravaged on the very fabric of time. No one had better cause to say that than Belthasar, and Lucca felt her own heart break at the memory of what eventually happened to him in the far future, even though that future no longer remained.
And yet there is more than enough for the gurus to answer for, as well as those you championed. Lorraine's eyes caught Lucca's, holding them without effort. The beauty and perfection of the mountain that reminded the Earthbound of their worthlessness, the inevitability of their fate, was destroyed. The golden palace beneath the waves, the mighty aeroplane... all these symbols of power have been lost. I will restore them, in due course.
The Mountain of Woe, the symbol of oppression and slavery of our age, will not always stay hidden beneath the waves. It will rise again, in time, Gaspar adjusted his robes, and you will have no part in that resurrection. The Mountain of Woe will not always serve an evil end - when it is revived, its purpose will be much greater.
The mountain... wait a minute, it comes back? Lucca stared blankly at the guru. She's right. We destroyed that place. How can it return?
Lorraine laughed coldly. Have you not realized it? The Mountain of Woe will someday become the peak of Death, crumbling and frozen in the far future. Though, after you ended the life of Lavos, that place has little use. She looked at Gaspar contemptuously. Another one of your interventions, no doubt.
As you could never understand what I hoped to teach you about the Mountain of Woe, so was I certain that you would never one day learn the quality of a true guru. He shouldered his staff, a strange gesture for an old man, and looked at her with what could only be described as pity. A thought, a vision, a vain hope, each of these carry as much weight as any physical thing. Through the blurred window of hope and promise, Melchior planted four seeds into the slopes of the Mountain of Woe when he was imprisoned there. Thus, Life was given to into a peak where none existed before. Lorraine watched him with cold scorn, but she made no effort to interject.
The seeds of life could not flourish without Reason, without thought or purpose to govern their formation, and thus Belthasar created his three guardians to protect the secrets of the mountain from those who might misuse them. Here he fixed the woman with a condescending smirk. For all your gains, Reason was always the one attribute that escaped you. For all your power, you never learned the true secret of our kind. You were never worthy to be one of us.
So you say, old man, Lorraine scoffed, scornfully disregarding his new, youthful form. She curled her elegant hands into fists, gripping so tightly that a thin line of blood ran over her whitened knuckles, seeping from her palm and dripping onto the tiles below her. Her voice was quiet, but Lucca could feel her rage. But as you yourself admit, my power is great. You alone cannot hope to stop me.
Gaspar shook his head, smiling sadly. Still, you fail to understand. It will be your undoing.
That may be so. Lorraine's face was an almost sickly white. Indeed, it is quite likely that it is so, as you have no talent in deception. But your title is not what I have ever sought, Gaspar. Rather, it is your life that I will claim.
It was Gaspar's turn to laugh, a long, low sound that built and echoed through the halls around them. The soldiers, large dark men in cold steel armor and branishing sparkling partisans or curved falchions, bristled at the sound. None of the gurus - not even Lorraine herself - seemed to notice. Her lips became even more set, the cruel malice blooming in her eyes strong enough to rend stone.
Another woman who is nothing but a fool... Magus tested the edge of his blade in what was by now almost a customary action, but Lorraine ignored him, still watching Gaspar with violence.
This place you've created... this fantasy... did you think it would really hold forever? Did you think you could simply undo what the ebb and flow of the universe has formed? Did you wish to untie the thgreads of the Creator? Gaspar's laugh continued. I find it hard to believe that even you could be so foolish, Lorraine.
You question its power? Why, it was you, Gaspar, who gave me the means to build such a mighty thing. What could be greater than the power to restore something that has been lost to you? To defy the nature of Time?
This time it was the old man's face that turned ashen, stamped with an expression of horrified disbelief. You created...a time egg?
Lorraine laughed again with all the look of a woman savoring her victory, closing the distance between them. Janus unlocked a great many places in his pointless search for that dead brat Schala. But just the same, he gave me what I needed to begin my empire. You see, one of the places he found, here her voice became soft and deadly, was a small island, submerged in the northern ocean. It held little of interest to him, but to me, it was a gift I never dared hope for. He found the island where you dwelt, Gaspar of Time, before the destruction of the Ocean Palace. He found your lab, with all of your notes and devices, sealed within a cave in a forgotten mountain. It was there that I perfected my own Chrono Trigger, the Brilliant Oath. It contained the power I needed to open the long-sealed gates of time. Unlike your feeble egg, the Oath is not bound to anything so pathetic as a human life. I was able to use it to bring back the machine of Zeal.
The Mammon Machine? But why? Lavos is destroyed. His power can't be used by anyone now.
True, Lavos is dead. But then, he was never the giver of strength that Zeal believed him to be. Lavos was a destroyer, nothing more. Why would I risk crushing the very world I hope to own? No, the Mammon Machine has more uses than any of you previously imagined. The three of you knew where Lavos's power came from - what he did to take it from the earth. With certain modifications, the Mammon Machine began to do the same, working without Lavos as an intermediary.
You feed off the energy of the souls of our world. Gaspar said quietly, the horror clearer in his voice than it had been before, though his expression was blank. Lorraine's face remained unchanged.
Then why have you waited so long?
You pushed the Eternity out of temporal phase, for which I owe you my thanks. The effects of the Oath and my first, ill-fated meeting with the prince caused it to transcend time, which I had not intended. Only the palace need transcend, for within it I will dwell with the device, gaining immortality at last. But the machine will not respond to me fully, as I had hoped. Give me Janus, and I will leave you in peace. He is the missing component, the tie between humanity and technology.
Janus is the last who can communicate with the device. He can hear the black wind... Lucca heard herself say aloud, the answers becoming horrifically clear. You're going to use that power against mankind.
Lorraine nodded with a perverse satisfaction. Perhaps you are smarter than I had initially assumed. Yes, Janus holds every key needed. Once the Mammon Machine responds to him, it will begin to yield a bounty of usable power, and I can allow the Eternity to transcend time correctly, as the Omen did. I will rise over all the kings of this world, never to suffer the limits of mortality, ever increasing my own strengths in magic and intellect. This Earth is mine now.
Magus gave a smirk of his own, not bothering to raise his head at all. It wasn't lost on her that he'd said next to nothing during the entire exchange, and though there was danger all around her, she knew his docility was about to break, and wanted no part of it. Magus was one of the strongest magic users alive. She was no chopped liver herself, but being caught in a firefight between a woman who called herself the guru of Magic and a man who actually called forward Lavos by creating something far too similar to a timegate... that seemed far from safe.
Ever the arrogance of the Enlightened grows. Your kind was the very reason that the use of magic was forbidden for so long. In fact, given the nature of time, it's quite likely that you yourself caused that chain of events. From 12,000 B.C. to 600 A.D., the human race will be kept from any knowledge of magic. The very element you hoped to control will be lost, as will any memory of you. Give in, Lorraine. Gaspar stood like a statue, his eyes bold and unafraid, flashing with the sort of authority that made Lucca's skin prickle. I have seen these events. Nothing you do will save you. Whatever goodness is left in you, recant now and let time be as it must.
You will learn, Gaspar, that it is folly to underestimate me. I was nearly one of your kind, and I have changed a great deal since we parted ways. Will you not admit that you had no knowledge of my return? When Gaspar made no reply, she smiled in triumph. I shielded myself from you. Nothing you saw could presage my rise. It seems that you taught me a bit too well, if even your eyes could not find me.
Don't overstate yourself, my dear. There is a great deal that takes place in the time stream. I have many other things to look for.
Then perhaps new eyes would best serve that end, sharper eyes that have not been dulled by time or impaired by hardening wits.
Magus shouldered his scythe again, gripping its long, wooden handle firmly with both hands. What will you do if I refuse? He smirked coldly at Lorraine. Did you forget what happened when Zeal tried to force Schala to use the device? I think you'll find that, as bold as Schala was, I'm stronger than you've been led to believe.
Lorraine's smile showed clear rows of white teeth, framed by blood lips. Again, you cling to the pitiful notion that I will give you a choice.