Chrono Trigger

The Millennial Fair; in which a catastrophic event occurs.

Marle was not too excited about seeing Lucca again. If she had it her way, she would stay far away from the fair and run about doing what she wanted. All the while, she wanted to do what Crono wanted, seeing how she had her way most of the morning. It was the least she could do, and she knew that after the science fair he could gallivant around the whole fair with him again.

It was a little more relaxing this time around, because they weren't pressed so hard for time. They took their time, observing the many sights that surrounded them. They also talked a little bit about Crono's family, which interested Marle, hearing that he actually included Lucca into his list that he considered family. Of course, the hint of affection gave her a slight taste of jealousy in her mouth. "So, you are pretty close to Lucca?" Marle asked, toying with the pendant that hung about her neck. Crono nodded, "We have been friends for as long as either of us could remember. Her family is pretty much my family too, seeing how I am always at their house and eating their food." Marle laughed and the taste of jealousy disappeared, "So you two are just friends?" She asked.

"More than that." Said Crono firmly, "More like brother and sister."

Marle regretted asking it as soon as it left her mouth, but she felt compelled to ask, "Well, have you two ever been, um…romantically involved?"

That made Crono blush, "Uh, not really, no. Lucca isn't that type. She isn't into the whole dating thing at the moment."

"Oh." Marle said quietly, wanting to disappear until she stopped blushing herself.

They stepped up the next dais and they were surprised to see something they hadn't earlier. It was the same spot they had collided together a little more than an hour ago. Yet, among all the commotion of the aforementioned accident, they had failed to notice the most prominent feature in all of Leene's Square. It was a large bell that was almost half the size of Crono. It hung from a belfry of stunning marble work. The bell itself was ancient, having been made almost four centuries ago after a great war. Even to this day, it was a symbol of peace to all those in Guardia. The bell was a dark bronze, a little rusted in some areas, but it was generally well cared for on occasion. It gleamed in the afternoon sun.

"Isn't it incredible?" Marle whispered, strangely awe-struck.

"Yeah. If you really think about it, it wasn't made that long ago." He said, folding his arms.

"I wonder if someone a thousand years from now will look at it the same way we are right now." She smiled.

Suddenly, to the surprise of everyone on the fair grounds, a violent gale blew across the face of the mountain's slope. The flaps of the merchant tents were almost lifted from their bonds, and people suddenly lost their hats, having to chase after them. If Crono and Marle were looking down from above, they could see the effects of the gale; still they did not noticed as they stood in awe of the bell. When it finally hit them, Marle let out a surprised shriek as her hair flapped in the wind. She grabbed Crono's arm, which gave him an oddly comfortable feeling. And the wind finally hit the bell…

CLANG! CLANG!

Marle clapped, "Wow! The wind had rung the bell!"

Yes it had. It didn't have the effect of a good tug on its pulley, but it did make the clapper met the sides of the bell twice. The ring wasn't deafening, and it only seemed audible to anyone on that certain dais. It was a strange thing that such a sudden natural phenomenon manifested itself at that point, but evidently it was lost on Marle, who had begun to laugh. Marle turned to Crono with a big smile, "Ha! You're stuck with me now!" Crono looked at her confused, but smiling. "Well, what is that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"Did you ever hear about the myth? When people hear the bell ring it is said that they will have wonderful, exciting lives! So that means we have to be friends now."

Crono laughed, "Well, that was in the cards anyway."

"C'mon! We better get to your friend's…thing…" She said, trailing off.

They ran past the bell and up the main dais, unbeknownst to them that the ring was only a foreshadowing of things to come…

There were a lot of people, more than Crono or Marle had expected. There were at least a hundred people crowded in the sweet smelling garden. There was a raised platform in the back, which was used to display the invention. People talked excitedly amongst themselves, seemingly hopeful that another malfunction would occur for their amusement. Obviously, they did not know Lucca too well, who was never satisfied until something was accomplished with perfection. There would be no accident here; at least that was what Crono thought to himself.

He felt happy when he saw Lucca on the platform, smiling and waving at him. He gave her a thumbs-up, mouthing that he hoped she would do well. At that moment her father was attaching the last pieces of the equipment which was two large contraptions that sat on opposite ends of the platform. The contraption was only a pedestal wide enough to admit one person. The pedestal was a metal grate that had a blue light glowing from underneath it, and it was exactly the same as the other. Nothing really seemed special about it, and no one could put their finger on its function.

Slowly the talk died down as Lucca went to the center of the platform. She smiled as the people looked at her expectantly as she began what she had rehearsed a thousand times earlier that morning. "Welcome, everyone to the science fair! We appreciate the turnout and we assure you that your time not be wasted! I am Lucca, and this is my father Taban!" A large burly man gave a nonchalant wave, not bothering to turn away from the finishing touches of their device. She rolled her eyes, making Crono laugh, before she carried on, "For the past fifty years, scientists have been investigating a strange type of energy that comes from the very center of our world. It has been one of the most important studies for half a century, but only now are we beginning to reap the benefits of this strange new energy. In fact, we do not fully understand this strange energy. This energy which is known as UGEE (or Unexplained Geothermal and Electric Emissions) is harvested by conductors and used in experiments thoroughly until it is available for public use. Although the day is still far off that we can publicly use this energy, we have received a rare opportunity to use this energy to exemplify to the world just what this energy can do when used properly."

That was a mouthful, and most likely, hardly anyone understood all that technical nonsense. There was a small amount of knowledge concerning this energy, but such things were usually discussed among specialists of this certain field. Then again, when it came to science, Lucca seemed to know everything. Even Marle, who had a wrenching dislike for her in the pit of her stomach, was amazed by her intelligence. She continued on, talking about this strange energy, "I know what you are all thinking. 'How is this energy different from conventional electricity and heat?' Strange phenomenons exist within this energy that never occurs in any other type. It has bizarre properties that are still trying to be explained, but already we have applied it to modern science!"

Suddenly, a pedestal next to her exploded into a fit of crackling blue light. The audience gasped in surprise and that was exactly how Lucca wanted them to react. "This is only a small amount of the energy that I have just mentioned. I will demonstrate just one of these strange phenomena! First, I will need a volunteer!" She leered at Marle, who shrunk behind Crono. She wore a disapproving scowl, but it was replaced by surprise when Crono raised a shaky hand. Lucca smiled, "Ah, a true friend! This is Crono, who had just volunteered. He has no prior knowledge of this experiment."

Crono walked up to the podium and up to Lucca, and you could see that she whispered her thanks with an appreciative smile. Lucca turned to the crowd, while saying, "Crono, please give me your hand." Crono looked at her, slightly dubiously, but obliged all the same. Then, Lucca did something that made the whole crowd gasp, and caused Marle to scream.

She quickly pulled on Crono's arm and thrust his hand into the crackling electricity!

Crono himself yelled as he quickly pulled his hand out of the surging current with a look of wild disbelief. He massaged his hand, but suddenly became surprised when he realized it didn't hurt. He looked at Lucca who only nodded, as if she were telling him to touch the electricity again. He obeyed, but slowly as his arm voluntarily went towards the mess of energy. The audience gasped again as he let his fingertips linger in the currents, causing a few bolts to protrude from his nails. Bit by bit, he eventually emerged his whole arm into the energy field. It did not hurt, nor did it shock him, but it only seemed to fill his arm with a tickling sensation. The audience burst into applause. A blushing Crono made a move to get off the stage, but was stopped by a tug on his arm.

"An energy that exists harmoniously! It is self sustaining! It never changes its form! It does not consume or damage!" Lucca smiled broadly.

She turned her attention to the two platforms that were behind her. At this point, her father had finished the remaining assemblies on the machine. He was standing at her side, and escorting Crono to the platform. He laughed, but it sounded more like a nervous chuckle, "You know, I would be more than happy to do this if you would tell me beforehand what it does."

"And ruin the surprise?" Taban whispered with a chuckle of his own.

Crono scoffed as he stepped onto the platform, his boots clanging against the grate. He looked down anxiously, seeing that the blue light from the platform was actually the energy he just put his arm through. His heart started to beat rapidly as he heard the humming of electrical equipment and the clicks of switches and toggles. He swore he saw a few people do the sign of the cross on themselves, which only made him worry more. Lucca began again, with a proud voice, "Not only does it harmoniously bond with other materials; it has the ability to assimilate and carry whatever it touches! Watch, as the mysteries of teleportation is revealed!" She turned to Crono with a nervous look that he did not like, "Brace your self." She said.

At that point, he had the express fear of being fried to a crisp. At the same time, he felt it would hurt his friend and he would never want to betray her trust. Also, the warning she gave him could be for dramatic effect. Then again, what if it wasn't? He had the strong urge to leap from the platform, but even if he decided to do it, he was too late. He was suddenly surrounded by volts of lightning that coursed through his body. It did not hurt, nor did it have any other effect than tickling him. Suddenly, his vision turned to blue and eventually he saw nothing. He could hear the audience gasp and he felt as if his body were being pulled as if he were in a current in the ocean. Suddenly, it all stopped and the world came into view. All that could be heard was a deafening applause.

He stepped off the platform, only to realize that he was in a different spot! He was on the opposing platform of the stage! Somehow he was moved from one spot to the other without having to move himself! He was bewildered, but a wide grin was on his face. "That was incredible, Lucca!" She only curtsied in response, a wide grin of her own that congratulated herself on a job well-done. Even Marle was cheering enthusiastically, although it was mostly directed Crono and his courage in testing something that seemed so dangerous. Suddenly, a light went off in her head, and a tinge of jealousy entered her heart. She looked at Lucca and waited until the applause died down. She looked at Lucca, and Lucca shot her a look that dared her to speak what she knew she was going to say. Notwithstanding a threat of gestures, Marle raised her hand, and Lucca grudgingly acknowledged her. "What is it? Seems like we have a person who thinks she knows more than anyone." Lucca said this, her voice dripping with accusation.

Marle only gave her a sardonic smile and said, "Well, I have to admit. That was a pretty convincing magic trick. I mean, if you didn't use a friend to do it, then I would have believed you." A twinge of guilt sunk into her as she saw Crono shoot her with a look of hurt surprise, but she could not stop now. Something about this girl annoyed her to no end, and she wanted Crono to see it at the moment. Somewhere in her mind she thought that he just simply didn't realize what kind of person she really was. "I mean, if you are going to try to convince us if this thing is real, you might as well use someone you don't know!" A general murmuring of agreement filled the whole area, but despite this, a wicked grin spread across Lucca's face.

"Then, if you doubt it works, I invite you to try it." Lucca said, with as much mock courtesy she could muster.

Whatever she was expecting, Marle was not expecting that. At that point she was in a dilemma. She knew that if she accepted, it would work and she would have to eat her words in front of her. She was not willing to do that. However, if she refused, how easy would it be for Lucca to embarrass her in front of Crono? She cursed at herself and at Lucca in her mind before she grudgingly made a decision. She was frightened, seeing that it was just a prototype, and a strange gnawing of an evil premonition filled her chest. She shook it off, saying it was nothing more than nerves. She nodded resolutely, and said, "Alright then. I'll try it."

She stepped up to the stage and onto the platform. Her shoes clanged to the platform as Crono's had done. She turned about to face the audience who looked at the display with expectant looks. As Crono watched, he realized just how much he missed in the wake of his nervousness. Lucca went to an opposing machine and began to flip more toggles while Taban did the same. The same whirring of machinery started up and Marle saw the cackling electricity from underneath her. She gulped as it slowly began to reach for her legs. She was surprised that it did not hurt at all.

"The power is at a normal level. Conditions are green, Lucca." Taban yelled over the whirring of the device.

"I'm ready to go when you are!" Lucca shouted over the din.

"Flip the switch then!" Taban said with an excited smile on his face.

Lucca did what her father told her to do. With a grunt, she pulled on the heavy switch and the humming of the machinery came to a sudden stop. The whole audience was illuminated in the brilliance of the blue light. The light quickly surged over the young woman's body, neither damaging her nor singeing her in anyway. However, there was something that happened to her that had not happened to Crono…Her pendant began to float in midair. Suddenly, a light as bright as the sun burned within the jewel of her pendant, much to the surprise of everyone in the audience. There was no longer blue electricity, but there were white and black strands of energy that coursed throughout her whole body.

"Lucca! The power level is rising fast!" Taban shouted.

"What the hell is happening?" Crono shouted.

The machine was no longer whirring, but the energy was now cackling so loud that it was almost deafening. Among these complications was the sudden presence of gales that tore throughout the audience. Women shrieked and men watched in disbelief as the noise only continued to rise. A calamity began to rise from the audience as several people quickly began to excuse themselves. Meanwhile, Marle had noticed that something was going wrong. She looked down, and for some reason she tore off her pendent, throwing it to the ground in front of the platform.

"Taban! Cut the power! Cut the power!" Lucca shouted frantically.

Taban jumped up with a start, running towards a conductor of some sort. He frantically started to work on a console, but he tore at his head as he yelled back, "It IS off! There's no feed! It's self-generating!" Crono looked at him, a countenance mixed with anger and horror, "What do you mean? You can't stop it? What the hell is going on?"

Lucca yelled out loud, "I don't know! Marle, jump off now!"

Marle had a look of horror. For some reason, she could not be heard, even though it seemed like she was yelling at the top of her voice. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as Crono was able to make out the words that mouthed to him, "I can't move! Help me Crono!" Crono stared in awe as a large distortion began to appear in front of all those people present. It was a large, gaping hole that shined with the same blue light. All of a sudden, Marle had warped just like Crono did; only she was standing in the center of the distortion. She was audible now, but all she could do was scream. Crono began to run forward, not sure what he was doing, but acting on foolish instinct alone. He felt his body fly through the air as he leapt headfirst towards the distortion.

Suddenly it was all gone…

He felt his body hit the ground hard. He slid against the abrasive brick walkway, scratching his bare hand and elbows. He got to his knees and turned to face Lucca and Taban who had faces as pale as the moon itself. There were a few men left behind, but most of the others had left the grounds. Even those left behind began to evacuate, not absolutely sure if this was a hoax or some kind of stunt. Even then, most of the people were offended and they did not realize just what had gone wrong. Only Crono, Lucca, and Taban felt the full weight of what had just happened.

"Where is she?" Crono demanded, more than asked, "Where has she gone?"

Tears were going down Lucca's face as well, "I-I don't know! I don't know what happened!"

She fell to her knees as Crono ran to her. He slid on his knees, coming to Lucca's side and grabbing her in a tight hug, "Don't worry! It will be all right! It will be okay! You said the energy doesn't consume, right? That means that she can't possibly be…be…" Lucca nodded in response, and a small amount of hope flooded into her chest, "You're right! She can't be dead! That is the property of the energy! It can only act as it is directed!"

"What do you mean? What direction?" Crono asked.

"She means," Taban began, "that by coaxing the energy in a certain way it changes its effects. So naturally, if it was modified for teleportation…"

"Then she must be in a different place…" Lucca finished, sounding drained of any energy.

"What caused the machine to go berserk like that?" Taban said, scratching his chin.

Crono looked to the platform where Marle stood only seconds before. There was nothing left but a glinting piece of jewelry. Suddenly, his eyes flew open as he yelled out, "Wait! Didn't the pendent start flashing a strange color?" Lucca scoffed, adding, "What could a measly pendant possibly do? There is no possibility that something could go so horribly wrong just because of the pendant."

"I will intercede and disagree with you Marle. I noticed something peculiar about that pendent." Taban pointed out.

"But it is absurd! What could possibly make the electricity act so far out of bounds?" Lucca yelled.

"Forget about the experiment for just a moment!" Crono shouted, causing the two to jump, "What about the girl? Is she okay? Can we bring her back?" A heavy silence was not the answer Crono was hoping for. Nonetheless, the pair only looked down to the ground, not willing to look Crono in the eye. He asked them, only with far more urgency in his voice, "Can we bring her back?" Crono asked desperately.

Lucca shook her head, her disheveled strands of black hair covering her eyes, "We don't know where she is. And wherever she is, she definitely doesn't have that energy on her hands. She needs the platform as well for the teleportation. Without that, there is no hope of her returning this way. Oh no, it is my entire fault…" She buried her face in her hands as she wept bitterly.

A somber mood engulfed the party as the worst came to mind. There was no way of bringing her back to where they were. She was somewhere else, probably lost and all alone. She was not able to come back, but then Crono shot up to his feet. A strong feeling of hope filled his entire body and he began to talk very quickly. "Wait! She can't come back! But can we go to her?"

"What?" Lucca asked, her eyes red from crying.

"Let's say that if someone were to do what she did, would we go to the same place?" Crono asked hopefully.

"It isn't certain," Taban replied grimly, "The whole thing was a freak accident. It is all up to probability. Besides, who would do such a thing?"

"I think it was the pendant!" Crono said, "I could feel it! Start that machine up again!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Crono!" Lucca snapped, "What are you thinking?"

Suddenly, Taban's eyes went wide, "You want to try and go after her!"

A horrified look came over Lucca as she shook her head vigorously. But Crono only walked towards the platform, bending down and picking up the pendent that glinted as it lay on the ground. He wrapped it around his neck, attaching it into a catch. He looked at Lucca who was still shaking her head in disbelief. "Come on, Lucca! You know this is the only way! Someone has to go help her! If we get someone else it can be too late! Please!"

She whimpered, "Y-you're too damn brave for your own good."

"Please Lucca."

Lucca looked straight at his eyes, "Promise me you will come back!"

Crono looked at her with determination, "I swear it. I will come back!"

There was a moment of silence before Lucca shuffled to her feet, saying, "Let's do it then."

Taban looked at Crono with concern, but he only nodded, assuring him that he did plan on coming back. With that, they both went to work as Crono approached the platform. There was the audible sound of clicking switches, and the machine began to hum as electricity began to flow through it. Lucca shouted out towards Taban, "The power level is normal! Nothing is happening!" Taban shouted back at her to keep going. Suddenly, the same electricity that flowed through him earlier was going through his body once again, only this time he felt the pulling sensation sooner than usual.

"Wait! There was a jump! What is going on? There is another power surge!" Lucca shouted.

"It really was the pendant!" Taban yelled back, pointing towards Crono.

At that moment all of them watched as a blinding light emitted from the jewel. They saw something that they hadn't before: the black and white lightning was coming from the pendant itself! All of them stared in amazement as the same portal began to open wide, engulfing Crono in the midst of it. Suddenly, the world went silent as Crono felt his body being pulled in some unknown direction. His vision of the outside world began to distort, making the image of his friends twist in bizarre shapes. Suddenly, it all disappeared and it felt as if he were careening headfirst along a strange path.

"God speed, Crono!" That was the last thing he had heard before the portal disappeared.

There was nothing but silence once again…