~*~Chapter 13 Returning to the End of Time~*~
They set a camp outside of the cave, below Epoch. There was a lot to talk about.
"So thy mother ran through...?" Frog said, looking at Crono, "oh, I see. And yet no signs of neither her nor thy cats? But thee hath killed four more Lavos' spawns?"
"That's great," Schala said, "then there should be only five or six left for us to take care of."
"It were hard battles!" Marle said, "but we showed them who's boss, right?"
"Nothing can beat the power of science!" Lucca laughed, "so what have you been up to, boys, girl and snake?"
That question wasn't answered until midnight. Frog was on the brink of disclosing the secret of Ayla's great courage, but stopped himself in time. He did hope that he would be able to tell Crono and the two women about Magus' first (and probably only) kiss someday, though.
The next morning, they had to part.
"Give the spawns some extra hits from us, eh?" Lucca called from the Epoch.
"Good luck finding thy mother and the cats!" Cered yelled back.
"And come visit some time!" Frog called and waved with his hand.
The three humans in the Wings of Time waved back as they arose towards the heaven. Epoch blinked, seemed to become longer, and then disappeared.
"'Tis a silent boy, that Crono," Cered said.
"Truly, and yet he speaks," Frog said, shuddering his shoulders, "'tis impossible to grasp how he dost it."
Magus waved with a hand, impatient.
"Nevermind, let's go to the End of Time."
He opened a Gate and went inside, followed by Molor. The others hurried after him.
There was a slight sense of nostalgia to enter the dusky room again. This time, there were only three pillars of light to chose from.
"Is this the End of Time?" Schala said, a little bit skeptic.
"Yes," Magus said with a strange little smile, "come on, there's somebody here that you should meet, apart from Spekkio."
He opened the door in the fence and went down the stair.
The lonely man by the street-lamp looked up, a bit surprised.
"Frog, prince Janus?" he said, "I wasn't expecting to see you again..."
Magus grasped his sister's hand and made her walk into the room. The old man's jaw dropped.
"Princess Schala?!"
"Gaspar?" she said, astounded, "what on earth are you doing here?"
The old Guru hurried over the floor and took her hands.
"Oh, my dear, I thought you were dead!" he said with a thick voice.
She gave him a hug, smiling warmly.
"No, I was thrown through time and landed on Cered here; my fiancé."
"Your fiancé?" Gaspar said, almost with tears of joy in his old eyes, "how wonderful! Nice to meet you, young man. Now, what brings you here?"
"I have found a new source of magic," Schala told him, "the power of Light. Janus and Frog insisted that I should come here and see this Spekkio."
"Indeed you should," Gaspar nodded and pointed at the other door in the fence, "he's in there, go on."
The five travelers started walking over the floor, but Frog stopped and turned around.
"Gaspar, could I hath a word with thee?"
"Certainly. What's on your mind?"
Frog waited until his friends had entered Spekkio's room before he spoke:
"Magus told me that I am the ancestor of Crono, just as Cered is... and that the dark wizard musteth die so that I can turn into a human and become married."
Gaspar gravely nodded.
"But I cannot bear that somebody should die just so that I can find a wife," Frog continued and shook his head, "not even for the sake of Lavos' defeat."
"You're a good man, Glenn," Gaspar said, "and it's true that you are Crono's ancestor. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."
Frog sighed, concerned.
Inside his room, Spekkio was concerned too.
"Hey, you gotto stop getting stronger!" he said, "next I'll turn into Lavos!"
"You're only one of his mutants so far," Magus said with a cold smile, "could we get to the point?"
"Sure, paley."
Spekkio cleared his throat, though it was hard to tell where that could be...
"Hello folks," he said with a broad smile, "I am Spekkio, master of war, and if you are strong, then I look strong, yada yada, should really make you walk around this room three times, but the warlock here seems to be in a hurry, so we'll skip that. So sweetcheeks, you've found the power of Light, eh?"
"Yes," Schala said, "and I'm not sure if it ever has existed before..."
"Right ye are!" Spekkio said, forcing her astonishment at the master's appearance aside, "the power of Light was a secret source of magic, created as an insurance..."
"By who?" Magus and Schala asked at the same time.
"By the one who created magic, duh! How should I know? Anyhow, let's call you 'the Lightbringer', nifty huh?"
"And what does that mean?" the princess asked, rather blankly.
"That you've awoken the power of Light," Spekkio grinned, "and from now on, I'll be able to apply anyone with that power, starting with you, paley!"
"But I already belong to the power of Shadow," Magus calmly pointed out.
Spekkio waved with his enormous hands, almost breaking the fence.
"Doesn't matter," he said, "Light won't push away the 'real' power that you have, it'll only add new abilities. Hee, hee, ready?"
"You don't believe that Light and Shadow in the same body would cause imbalance?" Magus asked.
"Could happen," Spekkio happily nodded, "if it doesn't work, I'll be cleaning this room from pieces of royal warlock forever!"
"I'll skip then, thank you very much," the warlock dryly said, "Frog, get in here!"
The door opened, and the knight entered.
"Thee called?" he sarcastically asked.
"Hello froggie!" Spekkio said, "I was just about to give the power of Light to ol' paley here, but he don't want to get blown into pieces."
"Dideth thee call me to convince him?" the knight said with a smirk and closed the door behind him.
"Sadly, I doubt he will listen. However Light and Water won't be any problem, so here you go!"
Frog began to glow softly. The light lasted for a moment, then it disappeared.
"How do you feel?" Spekkio asked.
"I believeth that I know something new," Frog said with a big grin.
"Well go on, try it!" the master of war said, "you other guys better move a bit."
Frog raised his hands, and his cloak flapped without wind as he began to chant.
"Powers of the world, I bid of thee to lend me the power of Light! Soh sela na shontoly waley!"
A transparent, golden stream flowed over the floor and threw Spekkio backwards against the fence. He straightened up, grinning.
"Good work, froggie. I think we'll call that 'Tide of Sunlight' or something."
"A proper name," Frog thoughtfully nodded.
Spekkio turned to his next victim.
"Your turn, funky-hair."
"Me?" Cered gasped.
"Sure!" Spekkio laughed, "one would believe that you should have the power of Lightning, but Fire suits you better. And of course you'll have Light, too!"
Cered started to glow, even as his mouth was still open in surprise.
Back to normal, he looked very confused.
"I dost not feel anything..."
"That's because you're not used to it," Magus told him, surprisingly softly, "there's two ways to learn new spells; through battle or studying. I'm certain battling will suit you best. When you acquire a new attack, you will know it instantly."
"You'll be fine, I'm sure," Schala smiled.
"What else?" Spekkio laughed, "now go on, boy! Point at me, concentrate and yell 'na farey tlo'. That's simply called 'Fire', boringly enough. Don't forget to begin with the 'powers of the world' rambling."
"But what if I hurt thee...?" Cered said, hesitating.
"Nothing to worry about. Go on."
"'Tis not very powerful," Frog said to encourage his friend.
Cered slowly raised his hand, uncertain. But as he began to chant the word fell out by themselves, stronger and with more determination for every letter. Frog knew that feeling of growing knowledge well.
"Powers of the world, I bid of thee to lend me the power of Fire! Na farey tlo!"
Spekkio was swallowed into a great flame. When it disappeared he just shuddered a little.
"That's a good brother in law you've got there, paley," the master of war smiled.
"I noticed that. You've got great possibilities, Cered," Magus said.
Frog softly hit his own head.
"I musteth have got something in my ears..." he muttered.
Cered stared at his own hands, astounded.
"Incredible..." he mumbled.
Schala smiled and put her arm around his shoulder. Spekkio turned once more.
"Alright, now for you, snakey!" he said.
"What, Molor?!" Magus, Frog, Schala and Cered said in great surprise.
"Why not, he's part of the crew!" Spekkio laughed, "and guess what, he's perfect for Shadow."
Molor nodded, hissing somewhat like a smile.
"But how is he going to chant his spells?" Schala pointed out.
"He'll do that his own way," Spekkio said, "now to..."
"I warn you," Magus sharply said, "do not risk his life!"
"Of course not, paley, anything for you... there you go, history's only magic snake, taa daa!"
Magus sat down on one knee and looked into Molor's eyes, somewhat investigating. Then the warlock smiled coldly and straightened up.
"Impressive, Molor," he said and touched the black head with his gloved hand.
"Wanna try it out?" Spekkio asked, "could be good for awakening some more interesting stuff inside the beginners."
"Of course," Magus said with another cold smile.
"Alright! All at the same time!"
"Art thee serious?" Cered asked, disbelieving.
"Nothing to worry about," Frog calmed him, "I doubt that anything could kill Spekkio."
"Right ye are. Now let's rumble!"
Since Cered only knew one spell so far, he started with that after Schala had thrown a Sacred Stars and Frog had given Spekkio another Tide of Sunlight.
"My turn!" the master of war called, laughing, "powers of the world, lend me the power of Light!"
Spekkio's voice was deformed enough because of the body he used, and it was almost impossible to hear what he chanted. Frog thought that he heard "farey" somewhere, the world he had settled meant "fire". And it was probably what he had heard.
White flames started to dance in his big hands.
"Powers of the world lend me pure power, kell twandor!" Magus yelled before the spell hit Frog and Cered.
Which meant the protection of Magic wall. The magic resistance that the warlock provided protected the two warriors well enough to only make them stagger backwards a little.
"Are you alright?" Schala asked.
Cered got up with a broad smile. There was something special about fighting Spekkio; the knowledge of that is was only a game. Serious battles could wait, for the moment it was all about having fun.
"I am fine. And thou, Frog?" the guardian of the emperor's peace said.
"Not any ordeal, my friend."
"Good. I think I knoweth a new spell..."
"Go on!" Spekkio called.
Cered pointed.
"Powers of the world, lend me the power of Fire!" he called, "na farey kytour ychera…"
It went on, but Frog hardly heard it. He knew that spell, and it froze him in total astonishment.
"Flare?" he choked.
General opinion:
"What?!"
Spekkio rocked backwards as enormous balls of fire were sent his way.
"Fascinating," Magus said, eyebrows higher than usual, "you must be the fastest learner I've ever encountered, Cered."
"Yep," Spekkio nodded even as he tried to pick himself up, "that's the most powerful Fire spell there is. I'm impressed."
"I thank thee," the warrior said, "but is it really that powerful? It felt as simple as Fire."
There was a silence.
"Cered," Magus finally said, slowly, "you and me better have a talk someday, soon."
"Yeah, you're right about that you'll have to do it later!" Spekkio exclaimed with a broad smile, "this battle ain't over yet. Chela ta luon yleqie!"
Magus ducked to avoid the small, spiky objects.
"… Power of Lightning!" Schala called, "na matala shetader!"
Frog was about to start chanting another spell of his own while Schala's lightning flashed through the air, but then he saw Magus and Molor. And he decided to wait and watch the result of their work before he did anything else. It looked like an interesting spell they were preparing.
The snake was floating in the air around Magus, who stood with closed eyes and raised hands. His lips moved in muttered, low chanting. Suddenly he opened his eyes and pointed at Spekkio.
"Now!" he bellowed.
From his hands and Molor's mouth black bolts erupted, throwing the master of war backwards as he was hit. Spekkio got up and shook his big head. Molor landed on the floor, hissing triumphantly.
"Phew!" the master of war said, "alright folks, you win. Here."
He lowered his enormous right hand, and three bottles filled with a clear, glowing liquid materialized in his palm.
"Three mega-elixirs, how's that for a price?" he said.
"That will be fine, thank you so much," Schala warmly said.
She took the bottles and gave them to Magus.
"It's probably most safe that you take care of them, Janus," she smiled.
"Indeed."
He made the magical potions disappear into his cloak.
"We will surely meet again, Spekkio, be well," Frog said as he opened the door.
"Take care, people!"
They left the master of war, and went back into Gaspar's room.
"Hey," the guru said.
"Hast thee any new information to giveth us?" Frog asked, knowing the saying.
"Yes," the old man said with a smile, "the Gates over there has changed since Crono was here; now they are made to fit your quest instead."
"How can that really be?" Magus said, frowning, "who changes Gates?"
Gaspar shrugged his shoulders and followed the group as the five travelers went up the stairs.
"There's still only three of them," Schala pointed out.
"That's right," Gaspar said, "and you came here from one of them. But more might appear after you have mended the wrongs that are in the two which are left."
"Dost this mean that we will not have to travel through time to search out the vile spawns for ourselves?" Cered asked.
"Correct. These Gates are made to help you complete what you have started."
Frog put his hand inside the upper pillar of light.
"South forest, 2400 BC," a strange, whispering voice from out of nowhere informed.
Magus tested the lower one.
"Caves of Torna-mountains, 1300 AD," the same voice whispered.
"But what about Flea and Slash?" Frog said, frowning, "we musteth..."
"Actually, those two are your less concern for the moment," Gaspar said, "I know that if you don't hurry into that one leading to 2400 BC, history might screw up gravely."
"Really?" Schala said, "why?"
Gaspar shrugged his shoulders and pointed at Magus with his thumb.
"Because your brother won't exist. It beats me why this is, though."
Magus raised his eyebrows.
"Well then," he said, "let's go, Molor."
"I'll tell you others when you can use the same Gate," Gaspar said.
The warlock and the snake left, and the guru stood silent for a moment.
"Alright," he finally said, "now you can go."
"Take care, Gaspar," Schala smiled as she went into the light and was warped out of sight.
The guru waved a bit, then he turned and walked down the stair, over the floor and into Spekkio's room.
"Hello, Gaspar," a soft, singing voice said.
Where a big, slimy mutant had been, there now was a softly glowing man. He was dressed in a white robe with golden edges, and held a staff made of silver in his hand. On his back were two enormous wings. Gaspar knew that even this angel wasn't really Spekkio's true form; he probably didn't have any. The angel was only the guru's picture of the master of war.
"Do you think that they will ever find the truth?" Gaspar asked with a strange smile.
Spekkio laughed warmly.
"I guess they won't, I've been confusing them far to much."
"Truly."
"But at least they grasp the thought of me."
Spekkio smiled and said:
"I'm really flattered as I think of their talk that night in the forest when they had fetched Robo from the shrine. I do say, 'The Entity' surely sounds better than 'Spekkio'!"
I don't know about that last part since I've never played Chrono Cross and probably never will :*(
They set a camp outside of the cave, below Epoch. There was a lot to talk about.
"So thy mother ran through...?" Frog said, looking at Crono, "oh, I see. And yet no signs of neither her nor thy cats? But thee hath killed four more Lavos' spawns?"
"That's great," Schala said, "then there should be only five or six left for us to take care of."
"It were hard battles!" Marle said, "but we showed them who's boss, right?"
"Nothing can beat the power of science!" Lucca laughed, "so what have you been up to, boys, girl and snake?"
That question wasn't answered until midnight. Frog was on the brink of disclosing the secret of Ayla's great courage, but stopped himself in time. He did hope that he would be able to tell Crono and the two women about Magus' first (and probably only) kiss someday, though.
The next morning, they had to part.
"Give the spawns some extra hits from us, eh?" Lucca called from the Epoch.
"Good luck finding thy mother and the cats!" Cered yelled back.
"And come visit some time!" Frog called and waved with his hand.
The three humans in the Wings of Time waved back as they arose towards the heaven. Epoch blinked, seemed to become longer, and then disappeared.
"'Tis a silent boy, that Crono," Cered said.
"Truly, and yet he speaks," Frog said, shuddering his shoulders, "'tis impossible to grasp how he dost it."
Magus waved with a hand, impatient.
"Nevermind, let's go to the End of Time."
He opened a Gate and went inside, followed by Molor. The others hurried after him.
There was a slight sense of nostalgia to enter the dusky room again. This time, there were only three pillars of light to chose from.
"Is this the End of Time?" Schala said, a little bit skeptic.
"Yes," Magus said with a strange little smile, "come on, there's somebody here that you should meet, apart from Spekkio."
He opened the door in the fence and went down the stair.
The lonely man by the street-lamp looked up, a bit surprised.
"Frog, prince Janus?" he said, "I wasn't expecting to see you again..."
Magus grasped his sister's hand and made her walk into the room. The old man's jaw dropped.
"Princess Schala?!"
"Gaspar?" she said, astounded, "what on earth are you doing here?"
The old Guru hurried over the floor and took her hands.
"Oh, my dear, I thought you were dead!" he said with a thick voice.
She gave him a hug, smiling warmly.
"No, I was thrown through time and landed on Cered here; my fiancé."
"Your fiancé?" Gaspar said, almost with tears of joy in his old eyes, "how wonderful! Nice to meet you, young man. Now, what brings you here?"
"I have found a new source of magic," Schala told him, "the power of Light. Janus and Frog insisted that I should come here and see this Spekkio."
"Indeed you should," Gaspar nodded and pointed at the other door in the fence, "he's in there, go on."
The five travelers started walking over the floor, but Frog stopped and turned around.
"Gaspar, could I hath a word with thee?"
"Certainly. What's on your mind?"
Frog waited until his friends had entered Spekkio's room before he spoke:
"Magus told me that I am the ancestor of Crono, just as Cered is... and that the dark wizard musteth die so that I can turn into a human and become married."
Gaspar gravely nodded.
"But I cannot bear that somebody should die just so that I can find a wife," Frog continued and shook his head, "not even for the sake of Lavos' defeat."
"You're a good man, Glenn," Gaspar said, "and it's true that you are Crono's ancestor. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."
Frog sighed, concerned.
Inside his room, Spekkio was concerned too.
"Hey, you gotto stop getting stronger!" he said, "next I'll turn into Lavos!"
"You're only one of his mutants so far," Magus said with a cold smile, "could we get to the point?"
"Sure, paley."
Spekkio cleared his throat, though it was hard to tell where that could be...
"Hello folks," he said with a broad smile, "I am Spekkio, master of war, and if you are strong, then I look strong, yada yada, should really make you walk around this room three times, but the warlock here seems to be in a hurry, so we'll skip that. So sweetcheeks, you've found the power of Light, eh?"
"Yes," Schala said, "and I'm not sure if it ever has existed before..."
"Right ye are!" Spekkio said, forcing her astonishment at the master's appearance aside, "the power of Light was a secret source of magic, created as an insurance..."
"By who?" Magus and Schala asked at the same time.
"By the one who created magic, duh! How should I know? Anyhow, let's call you 'the Lightbringer', nifty huh?"
"And what does that mean?" the princess asked, rather blankly.
"That you've awoken the power of Light," Spekkio grinned, "and from now on, I'll be able to apply anyone with that power, starting with you, paley!"
"But I already belong to the power of Shadow," Magus calmly pointed out.
Spekkio waved with his enormous hands, almost breaking the fence.
"Doesn't matter," he said, "Light won't push away the 'real' power that you have, it'll only add new abilities. Hee, hee, ready?"
"You don't believe that Light and Shadow in the same body would cause imbalance?" Magus asked.
"Could happen," Spekkio happily nodded, "if it doesn't work, I'll be cleaning this room from pieces of royal warlock forever!"
"I'll skip then, thank you very much," the warlock dryly said, "Frog, get in here!"
The door opened, and the knight entered.
"Thee called?" he sarcastically asked.
"Hello froggie!" Spekkio said, "I was just about to give the power of Light to ol' paley here, but he don't want to get blown into pieces."
"Dideth thee call me to convince him?" the knight said with a smirk and closed the door behind him.
"Sadly, I doubt he will listen. However Light and Water won't be any problem, so here you go!"
Frog began to glow softly. The light lasted for a moment, then it disappeared.
"How do you feel?" Spekkio asked.
"I believeth that I know something new," Frog said with a big grin.
"Well go on, try it!" the master of war said, "you other guys better move a bit."
Frog raised his hands, and his cloak flapped without wind as he began to chant.
"Powers of the world, I bid of thee to lend me the power of Light! Soh sela na shontoly waley!"
A transparent, golden stream flowed over the floor and threw Spekkio backwards against the fence. He straightened up, grinning.
"Good work, froggie. I think we'll call that 'Tide of Sunlight' or something."
"A proper name," Frog thoughtfully nodded.
Spekkio turned to his next victim.
"Your turn, funky-hair."
"Me?" Cered gasped.
"Sure!" Spekkio laughed, "one would believe that you should have the power of Lightning, but Fire suits you better. And of course you'll have Light, too!"
Cered started to glow, even as his mouth was still open in surprise.
Back to normal, he looked very confused.
"I dost not feel anything..."
"That's because you're not used to it," Magus told him, surprisingly softly, "there's two ways to learn new spells; through battle or studying. I'm certain battling will suit you best. When you acquire a new attack, you will know it instantly."
"You'll be fine, I'm sure," Schala smiled.
"What else?" Spekkio laughed, "now go on, boy! Point at me, concentrate and yell 'na farey tlo'. That's simply called 'Fire', boringly enough. Don't forget to begin with the 'powers of the world' rambling."
"But what if I hurt thee...?" Cered said, hesitating.
"Nothing to worry about. Go on."
"'Tis not very powerful," Frog said to encourage his friend.
Cered slowly raised his hand, uncertain. But as he began to chant the word fell out by themselves, stronger and with more determination for every letter. Frog knew that feeling of growing knowledge well.
"Powers of the world, I bid of thee to lend me the power of Fire! Na farey tlo!"
Spekkio was swallowed into a great flame. When it disappeared he just shuddered a little.
"That's a good brother in law you've got there, paley," the master of war smiled.
"I noticed that. You've got great possibilities, Cered," Magus said.
Frog softly hit his own head.
"I musteth have got something in my ears..." he muttered.
Cered stared at his own hands, astounded.
"Incredible..." he mumbled.
Schala smiled and put her arm around his shoulder. Spekkio turned once more.
"Alright, now for you, snakey!" he said.
"What, Molor?!" Magus, Frog, Schala and Cered said in great surprise.
"Why not, he's part of the crew!" Spekkio laughed, "and guess what, he's perfect for Shadow."
Molor nodded, hissing somewhat like a smile.
"But how is he going to chant his spells?" Schala pointed out.
"He'll do that his own way," Spekkio said, "now to..."
"I warn you," Magus sharply said, "do not risk his life!"
"Of course not, paley, anything for you... there you go, history's only magic snake, taa daa!"
Magus sat down on one knee and looked into Molor's eyes, somewhat investigating. Then the warlock smiled coldly and straightened up.
"Impressive, Molor," he said and touched the black head with his gloved hand.
"Wanna try it out?" Spekkio asked, "could be good for awakening some more interesting stuff inside the beginners."
"Of course," Magus said with another cold smile.
"Alright! All at the same time!"
"Art thee serious?" Cered asked, disbelieving.
"Nothing to worry about," Frog calmed him, "I doubt that anything could kill Spekkio."
"Right ye are. Now let's rumble!"
Since Cered only knew one spell so far, he started with that after Schala had thrown a Sacred Stars and Frog had given Spekkio another Tide of Sunlight.
"My turn!" the master of war called, laughing, "powers of the world, lend me the power of Light!"
Spekkio's voice was deformed enough because of the body he used, and it was almost impossible to hear what he chanted. Frog thought that he heard "farey" somewhere, the world he had settled meant "fire". And it was probably what he had heard.
White flames started to dance in his big hands.
"Powers of the world lend me pure power, kell twandor!" Magus yelled before the spell hit Frog and Cered.
Which meant the protection of Magic wall. The magic resistance that the warlock provided protected the two warriors well enough to only make them stagger backwards a little.
"Are you alright?" Schala asked.
Cered got up with a broad smile. There was something special about fighting Spekkio; the knowledge of that is was only a game. Serious battles could wait, for the moment it was all about having fun.
"I am fine. And thou, Frog?" the guardian of the emperor's peace said.
"Not any ordeal, my friend."
"Good. I think I knoweth a new spell..."
"Go on!" Spekkio called.
Cered pointed.
"Powers of the world, lend me the power of Fire!" he called, "na farey kytour ychera…"
It went on, but Frog hardly heard it. He knew that spell, and it froze him in total astonishment.
"Flare?" he choked.
General opinion:
"What?!"
Spekkio rocked backwards as enormous balls of fire were sent his way.
"Fascinating," Magus said, eyebrows higher than usual, "you must be the fastest learner I've ever encountered, Cered."
"Yep," Spekkio nodded even as he tried to pick himself up, "that's the most powerful Fire spell there is. I'm impressed."
"I thank thee," the warrior said, "but is it really that powerful? It felt as simple as Fire."
There was a silence.
"Cered," Magus finally said, slowly, "you and me better have a talk someday, soon."
"Yeah, you're right about that you'll have to do it later!" Spekkio exclaimed with a broad smile, "this battle ain't over yet. Chela ta luon yleqie!"
Magus ducked to avoid the small, spiky objects.
"… Power of Lightning!" Schala called, "na matala shetader!"
Frog was about to start chanting another spell of his own while Schala's lightning flashed through the air, but then he saw Magus and Molor. And he decided to wait and watch the result of their work before he did anything else. It looked like an interesting spell they were preparing.
The snake was floating in the air around Magus, who stood with closed eyes and raised hands. His lips moved in muttered, low chanting. Suddenly he opened his eyes and pointed at Spekkio.
"Now!" he bellowed.
From his hands and Molor's mouth black bolts erupted, throwing the master of war backwards as he was hit. Spekkio got up and shook his big head. Molor landed on the floor, hissing triumphantly.
"Phew!" the master of war said, "alright folks, you win. Here."
He lowered his enormous right hand, and three bottles filled with a clear, glowing liquid materialized in his palm.
"Three mega-elixirs, how's that for a price?" he said.
"That will be fine, thank you so much," Schala warmly said.
She took the bottles and gave them to Magus.
"It's probably most safe that you take care of them, Janus," she smiled.
"Indeed."
He made the magical potions disappear into his cloak.
"We will surely meet again, Spekkio, be well," Frog said as he opened the door.
"Take care, people!"
They left the master of war, and went back into Gaspar's room.
"Hey," the guru said.
"Hast thee any new information to giveth us?" Frog asked, knowing the saying.
"Yes," the old man said with a smile, "the Gates over there has changed since Crono was here; now they are made to fit your quest instead."
"How can that really be?" Magus said, frowning, "who changes Gates?"
Gaspar shrugged his shoulders and followed the group as the five travelers went up the stairs.
"There's still only three of them," Schala pointed out.
"That's right," Gaspar said, "and you came here from one of them. But more might appear after you have mended the wrongs that are in the two which are left."
"Dost this mean that we will not have to travel through time to search out the vile spawns for ourselves?" Cered asked.
"Correct. These Gates are made to help you complete what you have started."
Frog put his hand inside the upper pillar of light.
"South forest, 2400 BC," a strange, whispering voice from out of nowhere informed.
Magus tested the lower one.
"Caves of Torna-mountains, 1300 AD," the same voice whispered.
"But what about Flea and Slash?" Frog said, frowning, "we musteth..."
"Actually, those two are your less concern for the moment," Gaspar said, "I know that if you don't hurry into that one leading to 2400 BC, history might screw up gravely."
"Really?" Schala said, "why?"
Gaspar shrugged his shoulders and pointed at Magus with his thumb.
"Because your brother won't exist. It beats me why this is, though."
Magus raised his eyebrows.
"Well then," he said, "let's go, Molor."
"I'll tell you others when you can use the same Gate," Gaspar said.
The warlock and the snake left, and the guru stood silent for a moment.
"Alright," he finally said, "now you can go."
"Take care, Gaspar," Schala smiled as she went into the light and was warped out of sight.
The guru waved a bit, then he turned and walked down the stair, over the floor and into Spekkio's room.
"Hello, Gaspar," a soft, singing voice said.
Where a big, slimy mutant had been, there now was a softly glowing man. He was dressed in a white robe with golden edges, and held a staff made of silver in his hand. On his back were two enormous wings. Gaspar knew that even this angel wasn't really Spekkio's true form; he probably didn't have any. The angel was only the guru's picture of the master of war.
"Do you think that they will ever find the truth?" Gaspar asked with a strange smile.
Spekkio laughed warmly.
"I guess they won't, I've been confusing them far to much."
"Truly."
"But at least they grasp the thought of me."
Spekkio smiled and said:
"I'm really flattered as I think of their talk that night in the forest when they had fetched Robo from the shrine. I do say, 'The Entity' surely sounds better than 'Spekkio'!"
I don't know about that last part since I've never played Chrono Cross and probably never will :*(