Chrono Trigger

A city of metal; a chapter in which we learn somewhat of Crono's feelings, and the inhabitants of this world…

Crono kept his eyes on the miles of broken road. Just like the many miles behind him, these roads were shattered and broken into many pieces. Although this large vehicle rolled over the slabs of concrete, crushing it underneath its weight, there was constant jolting from side to side as the treads continued to spin. It made it very difficult to sleep, which was good for Crono yet horrible for the girls that had tried their hardest to rest their weary eyes.

He looked over them sympathetically as they lay themselves in any spot that could be considered the least bit comfortable. They were curled into positions that he knew would give their bodies aches and pains a short time later into the journey. They also snored softly, yet it would be cut abruptly short whenever the tank went over a pothole that was large enough to make the hull shudder. When that was the case, their limbs would bounce lightly and fall over the edge of their resting place while they moaned in annoyance before falling asleep again.

A sense of love flooded into his heart at that moment as he looked over them. Their lovely faces, covered in silky hair, made them seem like the most adorable things in existence. In a way, he almost thought of them as troubled infants, trying to adjust to a strange new place that held untold surprises for them. It made his heart ache seeing them uncomfortable in their trials, which made him even more determined to stay awake.

As he looked over them, he further understood his feelings and they will be disclosed to the reader. The reader understands how these outstanding women feel towards Crono, but how does he feel towards them? Does he even harbor romantic tendencies towards these women who show their affection in their own ways? Although he was a fairly intelligent individual, he was incredibly unobservant in certain aspects. Also, despite the fact that he was very handsome, he was incredibly humble. The latter is a rare thing to encounter, which Crono was thankful for, and he went as far to say within himself that he past had made him that way.

His father was always a rash brute and that had some effect on him that was manifested in his later years. Suffice it to say until later chapters, he was humbled through his trials insomuch that people were charmed by his down-to-earth honesty. However, there were cons to this story as well, seeing that a sense of inferiority held him back, saying that he was not worthy or was short of acceptable. It also affected how he treated his best friend. Lucca was not the only one in this pair that had feelings for the other. His feelings for her had always existed in some shape or form, but imagine, if you will, having someone you looked up to refer to you as a mistake. Imagine having someone point out your flaws with a mocking tone saying that your existence was a burden. This person was none other than his father and it had a horrible effect on him. It scarred him in such a way that he did not deem himself worthy to partake in such a relationship.

Yes, his father was very much like a knife that cut deeply into his life, leaving a scar that only a journey of this magnitude can heal. He did not realize it, but the inhibitions brought about by his father began to disappear with each step in his journey, causing him to become more observant and willing to acknowledge his budding skills. This was the first time in years that he felt this sense of love without hearing his father's drunken ramblings somewhere inside his mind. For a brief moment, he was able to look over those women as they slept and feel worthy of their company.

Remember that he also had a princess by his side and he felt worthy of her company. As for his feelings towards the Nadia, he almost wished that he could recount his tragic history to her, but by that same token he did not want her to know about something that was so embarrassing to him. In his mind, she thought that his life was a pleasant one, and he wanted her to continue to think in such a way. It is true that men wish to be perceived as strong, and what would ruin that more than revealing a secret past that consisted of constant abuse?

Crono thought nothing more of it and continued to drive, letting his mind focus on the road and away from past regrets…

"Girls? C'mon. Time to get up."

They opened up their eyes slowly as they felt a hand gently rouse them by the shoulder. They looked up into a pair of apple green eyes that were red and tired, very much like their own, despite the sleep they tried to enjoy. Their arms seemed to quiver as they propped themselves up so that they were looking level into each others eyes. Their clothes were disheveled, their faces were lined from the pressure they put against their makeshift cots, and their hair stood up in amusing places. If they were more conscious of their condition, they would have been mortified in embarrassment, yet they only groaned as they futilely adjusted their clothing, that being the only thing they could see.

"How long have we slept?" they asked, rubbing the dust out of their eyes.

"It's been almost four hours." Crono replied, already climbing up the hatch.

"Four hours?" Lucca began, momentarily coming out of her sleepy stupor, "We could see it from the horizon! How could it take four hours?"

"See for yourself," Crono replied, his voice muffled by the thick metal body of the machine.

The girls obeyed, stumbling on the rungs of the ladder from their sleep-induced clumsiness. The minute breeze that prevailed in the belly of the tank was pale in comparison to the gales that whipped around the outside. The wind was good for one thing: it slightly aroused the girls from their state, yet it drove dust into their eyes, making them wince with baggy lids. The reason for the long drive became evident as Crono pointed towards a large gorge that stretched for miles. The bottom of the gorge could be seen, which housed a large river that should have been surrounded by trees. Instead, they were bare skeletons of what they used to be, burnt insomuch that the bark was a whitened husk. Further inspection showed the remains of a massive bridge. The bridge, which once used to connect both land masses had collapsed, evidently from large explosions that rocked the area. Further inspection showed the tank's tracks following the edge of the canyon, signifying that a long detour was necessary.

If Lucca had been in a state which was more aware, she would have been admiring the architectural structure of the bridges stakes and supports. Instead, she turned her attention away from the gorge, looked behind her and was astounded (as much as she could be after such an uncomfortable rest) at what she saw. The object of their sojourn was now right in front of them, the blackened metal glowing dully in the little sunlight that made it through the clouds. It was massive. The only thing that seemed to compare to its size was the castle in their world, if not a mountain.

"We should go inside." A croaky voice suggested.

Lucca turned about to see Crono staring at the enormous dome, his neck craned so that it appeared he was eyeing the spiral at the peak of its shape. She nodded in agreement, but a thought occurred to her at that moment and she said, "Well, where is the entrance?"

"I don't know." He replied.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'? Why would you suggest going inside when there's no entrance?" Lucca said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well, there has to be an entrance somewhere! We can look!" Crono said, slightly irritated.

"Well, thanks for waking me up to have a look at the scenery!" Lucca growled.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt your ugly sleep." Crono retorted.

"You mean 'beauty sleep', idiot."

"No, Lucca, I don't."

"You want a knuckle sandwich, Crono?" Lucca said, pushing up the sleeve of her arm.

"Sure thing, but expect me to bite the hand that feeds me…" Crono said between gritted teeth.

"Hey, take it easy guys. Let's just circle this place and maybe we can find something." Marle suggested.

"Oh sure," Lucca said, "play the pacifist. It would be nice if your father did the same thing too!"

"You better watch your mouth, nerd!" Marle warned.

"Who are you calling nerd?" Lucca shouted, raising a fist.

"What's a nerd?"

The bickering stopped instantly as the trio looked at each other blankly. Did someone just ask what a nerd was? In a strange, high-pitched, childlike voice? There was nothing but the wind as the group gave sideways glances in an effort to spot the owner of the voice. Being satisfied, they were about to resolve their differences, but were shocked to hear the voice again.

"Don't ignore us!"

Crono jerked his head about, which was not a good thing to do when one is exhausted. It felt as if his eyes were spinning in his sockets as he looked over the treads of the vehicle. Imagine his surprise when he spotted two children in the middle of a harsh wasteland, staring up at them with bemused expressions that only a child could truly capture. However, their amusement slowly became indignation as Crono began to gape.

"Who are you guys?" Crono asked.

"Who are you? And what is a nerd?" one of the boys responded while pounding his foot into the ground.

These children were not like any other children that you would see in a pleasant world. These children were destitute throughout their whole appearance. Their hair was long, greasy, and shaggy. Their faces were dirty and it seemed as if they hardly bathed. Their clothes were full of holes and seemed as if they were made from itchy burlap sacks. They were also very scrawny for children their age, which gave Crono a sense of pity at first sight. Perhaps that was what made the children indignant. However, his eyes suddenly showed wild surprise when he realized that both of these boys carried large guns over their shoulders. Thankfully, these boys were not pointing the barrel towards his face, verifying more than anything else that he was not going to be arrested once again.

"Uh, a nerd is someone who is smart but is very anti-social." Crono said awkwardly.

"An-tea-social?" One of the youths repeated, as if he were trying out the sound of it in his head.

"Yeah, that's close enough." He nodded in reply.

"Hey! I'm not anti-social!" Lucca said, her fists clenched into two tight little balls.

"Ha, so you say!" Marle added, rolling her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean, ditzy?" Lucca partially screamed, nostrils flaring.

The two young boys looked at each other, the indignation melting and giving way once again to amusement. While Lucca and Marle bickered with each other, jabbing fingers and such, Crono looked at the two boys and started his own little dialogue. "Just where in the world are we?"

"You mean you don't even know where you are?" asked one of the children.

"I don't have a clue."

"How can you be so rich, yet so clueless?" one of the children demanded, rather than asked.

"Who says I'm rich?" Crono replied, sounding slightly resentful himself.

"Well, look at you! You look like the richest man I've ever seen!" Crono felt their grubby hands caress his dirty, yet to their eyes, immaculate clothing. They ooh-ed and ah-ed as they felt its smoothness and lack of holes. "Have you ever seen clothes that were so bright?" asked one child. "No" replied the other, "except maybe for that old crackpot, Belthazar." They began to name off the various qualities of his clothes, each over stepping their bounds to rub their cheeks against the hem of his tunic. They even went as far as to smell his clothes and exclaim, "How did he get it to smell so nice?"

"Hey, that's enough now." Crono said with flushed cheeks. "Now, can you tell us where we are?"

At this point, Marle and Lucca had finished their little spat, being taken with surprise when Crono had his privacy invaded. The children, seeing that they had the attention of their strange guests, said firmly and confidently, "You are at Trann dome!" This did not have a desired effect upon their visitors, whom began to look at each other as if they had never heard of their dwelling. They cleared their throats, capturing their attention once again, saying, "You fellows seem tired. Would ya like to come in and recharge?"

"By recharge, do you mean sleep?" Crono asked.

"You guys are crazy…Should we trust them, Kapani?"

"I don't know…I guess they can't be that bad. Let's take them inside."

"Inside?" Marle stated once again, slightly confused.

"Yeah…you know…indoors…" one of the children chortled.

The pair walked up to the side of the large structure which seemed to have absolutely no crack or slit in the wall, yet with a wave of their hand there was a hissing sound accompanied with scraping metal. A large gust of steam emanated from a giant, square hole which cleared almost instantaneously. The hole was large enough to fit the tank inside. There was very little light, but a hallway could be seen in the darkness, with the occasional flickering light that illuminated the cement floors. A gentle, constant humming very much like an electric fan could be heard from the inside.

"Just follow us," the kids replied, not seeing the astonishment on their faces, "and we'll get you guys all fixed up."

The children preceded them, with the visitors following closely behind. Soon, they were immersed in the darkness, still hearing that odd hum. The source of the sound became clear as they looked at a conveyor belt that stretched off into the distance. It was hard to see exactly how fast it was going because of the dim light, but judging by the sound it seemed to go at a fairly decent pace. Once they stepped on they realized that you cannot completely rely on a single sense. Once they stepped onto this bizarre belt, the felt their bodies fall back under the overwhelmingly fast speed. It was very possible, judging how their clothes and hair flew back in its wake, that they were going as fast on this belt as they were in the tank.

In the distance was a dim light they steadily grew bigger. They did not know what it was until they were close enough to see that there was something beyond the light. It was simply an entrance to someplace that seemed brighter. The steady hum of the conveyor belt was suddenly engulfed by something that seemed to sound like a high pitched roar. Once they passed through they realized what it was.

They were no longer in a dimly lit hallway, but in an extremely cavernous area of metal riggings and catwalks. Wherever they looked they saw dirty, poor people slaving away, sawing, welding, assembling, and preparing strange parts which did not seem to have a purpose. Great sparks of light and fire rained down from above as workers continued on with their work, some with very little protection. It seemed like a place where many accidents could happen. The children gestured for them to follow, which they did, not being absolutely sure what would be the smartest thing to do. As they walked through the sea of metal and people, they quickly realized that they had become the most interesting, and therefore, the most watched group on the floor. The whirling and snapping of saws and welders died down as everyone seemed to catch a glimpse of these strange visitors. The entire floor was now whispering as the group began to tense their back, understandably becoming rather uncomfortable.

"Just where are we, Crono?" Marle asked, looking at a group of men timidly.

Suddenly, a loud thud sounded in front of them as they came to a stop.

They were now staring into the face of an old man, soaked in oil and weathered skin whilst the children stood by his side. The man had a beard that twisted and turned so that it was completely unruly. Although he was an old man, his arms were bulky and muscular from what seemed to be ages of mechanical work. His hands seemed to have been well used, since it seemed as if his calluses had calluses. Despite the fact that his hands were covered in coolant, he stretched it forward, expectantly as he said rather coolly, "You are in Research and Development. I am the operator here."

Crono took his hand reluctantly, not really wanting his hand to become a soppy mess, "Operator?"

"Call me the boss if you would like, I'm sure the rest of these bastards around here don't." he said with a raucous guffaw.

"Boss, look at 'em. They need to recharge." said their child escort.

"Ah, right you are Kapani, and how did you find these people?" he said, a hint of warning in his voice.

Suddenly, the two boys became rather shy as the old man gave them a cold glare. All at once he seemed to realize where they had met and then he did something that the party would have never expected. He slapped both of them upside the head. Hard.

"What the hell did I tell you idiots about going outside?"

"We had our guns, boss! We would've been okay!"

"What the-" there was an expletive he used that no lady, let alone a child, should hear as he continued "-would you do if a mutant attacked you, huh?"

"We would've dealt with it!" said one of the children, tears forming in their eyes that were brought on by the blow.

"I'll deal with you!" he said as he advanced dangerously.

"Hey! Stop it! Please!" Crono began, greatly offended by such treatment, "Whatever they did, they must be sorry and they helped us."

Crono did not seem to realize that in this place such treatment was normal. He was in a world where men were allowed to maltreat their woman and abuse whomever they felt needed it. They were in an impoverished world that had to survive on a daily basis. The rough conditions of this world did not teach these people the meaning of compassion or proper manners. The children, although Crono did not realize it, were not crying out of fear as he would have done, rather they were only whimpering because of the pain. Children who grow up in such conditions, being taught that it was the normal thing, tend to think nothing of it. So you could imagine the look on everybody's face when he pleaded with the operator to stop his assault.

He nodded slowly, "Alright stranger. I suppose your right. Even still, you boys know you're not supposed to leave the dome! Get to work! Your quota is doubled."

"Double our quota? When have you ever met your quota, you old –" The three never imagined they would hear a child use such a word.

This time, they did not intervene as the old man gave them an even harder slap aside the head, telling them to get back to work, which they did. Marle stood there, her mouth still agape in disbelief from what she had heard, yet she said nothing as the man beckoned them to follow. "C'mon. We can get you guys recharged and then maybe we can answer any questions you might have."

"Why do you keep saying, 'recharged'?"

"What? You guys don't have an enertron where you came from? Hey, where did you come from while we're talking about it?"

"We…don't know…" Lucca said after some intensive thought.

The man looked at them skeptically whilst stroking his beard, "I see. You prefer not to tell us; well that's fine. Just don't try to start any trouble, or else…"

They had moved out of the development area and were now in a place that seemed to serve as residences. It was strange to see battered tents and cloth curtains serving as doors in a place that was made entirely of metal. There was an occasional trash can that served as a heater or a group of people playing some type of game that involved metallic dice. Although there seemed to be more people hear, it had a quieter and more depressing atmosphere. Their presence was noted here as well, since they seemed so different from everyone else. They kept walking until they were staring at a large chamber that seemed to fit only one person within it.

"This is an enertron."

It was a rather complex device, hoses sticking all throughout the machine with monstrous bolts that held them in place. A clear glass window allowed the person on the inside to see outside and there was a door that seemed to serve as a lid. The operator pulled it apart looked at the group, "So which one of you will go first?" The group only looked at each other blankly before Lucca stepped forward. She was about to ask what it was supposed to do, but was surprised when the old man grabbed her arm, using surprising strength, and threw her into the device which turned out to be padded on the inside. He quickly closed the door and a strange hum could be heard as the chamber was suddenly filled with cackling blue light.

"What are you doing?" Crono and Marle yelled, but they were instantly silenced as the man gestured for them to wait with a smile.

Within a few moments, the blue light faded and died. He opened the door, allowing Lucca to step out. Nothing seemed different about her, except the fact that she no longer seemed grumpy or had bags under her eyes. In fact, she looked extremely well rested!

"Amazing!" she said with great eagerness, "It's feels like I had the best rest in my whole life!"

At this point Crono and Marle were practically fighting their way into the machine, Marle winning since she was closest. She also emerged from the strange and wondrous contraption, fresh and full of energy. Crono followed shortly, the results being exactly the same. They no longer felt the weight of sleep deprivation on their shoulders and it was wonderful. Suddenly, their stomachs gave an overpowering growl.

"Ah, I don't know why…but for some strange reason I didn't expect myself to be hungry." Crono said.

"How does this machine work?" Lucca asked, quickly getting into her old form, examining every nook and cranny of the enertron.

"This machine uses electrical currents to stimulate parts of the body that experience fatigue brought on by daily endeavors. Mainly the muscles and brain."

"How?" Lucca asked, not satisfied with the answer.

"If I were to talk about it, it would take all night."

"Well, is it dangerous at all?" Marle asked, "Shouldn't there be times where you sleep as well?"

"Ha! Of course! If you use it all the time your senses would be under constant abuse! You would turn into a nut just like-"

"Like who, operator?" A voice said rather coolly from their rear.

They all turned about to see a man and a strange creature by his side. He was a man dressed in exquisite robes of shimmering blue material. Unlike the many people in this strange place, he was clean and neatly trimmed, save his beard that went down to the mid-section of his chest. He had deep blue eyes that seemed so wise, yet they had a mischievous glow to them. Unlike the many people around him, he held himself with a kingly dignity that was so rare in regular people. He walked with the aid of a cane as he approached the group. The operator seemed to fall back nervously as he stuttered in embarrassment.

"Is it that guy that the kids were talking about?" Marle and Lucca said, whispering into Crono's ears.

"Are you Belthazar?" Crono asked.

He simply nodded.

Author's note: Yeah! I'm coming back! I hope to have another chapter up fairly soon! Keep watchin' for it!