Chrono Trigger
The Village of Mystics; Crono meets an old friend…
Crono instantly thought that what he just said probably was not the perfect thing to say when someone is caught (though unintentionally) trespassing in the privacy of their own home, putting dents in a fine wardrobe all the while. Crono sucked in breath in preparation of the angry burst that would follow from the enraged creature that stood before them. It was well foreseen, because the imp suddenly had a vein appear on the side of his bald head as he stamped his foot on the ground, saying in a high mimicking voice, "'Are we in Medina'? You are not only in Medina, but you are in my house, and you just recently jumped right out of my" And here he used a certain vulgar word that accentuated his anger, "-ing wardrobe!"
The imp finished this with such a high octave that all members of the party flinched, even another imp that sat at a table adorned with delicious looking food covered his ears before going back to eating his meal and watching with a bizarre, almost sick sense of amusement. Crono stammered, for what would you do if you were standing in front of someone who was in the middle of a fanatic rage who aimed a sharp object at you? Luckily for him, fate once again jumped to their rescue insomuch that later the party deemed it to be far more than coincidence.
The imp continued to point his farmer weapon at him and his furrowed brow suddenly rose as if he were unsure of something, "Do you have a brother, by any chance?"
"What?" Crono said, unprepared for such a change in conversation.
"Answer the question!" The imp furrowed his brow again and pointed the pitchfork at him, "Do you or do you not have a brother?"
Crono quickly asked himself if answering one way or another would lead to his death, "N-no, I don't have a brother. Why?"
"You remind me of someone I met in Guardia; a place around Truce."
"What is his name?" Crono offered, hoping that this was leading somewhere in his favor. He had just learned how to control the elements and he just reminded himself that he was not so strong enough yet that the pitchfork wouldn't slice through him like butter.
"Well, his name was Crono…"
Crono gulped, and without thinking said, "Uh, well…I am Crono…"
The imp lowered his pitchfork and gave Crono a very dubious look as he scanned his body, his face, and his eyes. Then, just as suddenly as they had found themselves at the mercy of this imp, they found themselves shrieking with surprise as the imp threw the pitchfork aside and gave a big hearty laugh so sudden that it even jolted the other imp who almost choked on a piece of strawberry shortcake. The imp leapt towards Crono (who was scrambling backwards thinking that he was about to stab him) and wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him tight.
"It is you! Ah ha! I can't believe it! It's been so long! Wow! How did you get here? Where did you…Crono, is something wrong?"
A very pale Crono slowly freed himself from the excited imp who clung to his torso, "I don't mean to be rude, but…why are you hugging me?"
The imp seemed a little surprised, "Don't you remember me?"
Crono shook his head slowly.
"My name is Alwyn…you know…from the square…"
Often times when someone feels guilty for not remembering something it is common for the person to try to act as if they had remembered off the spot, therefore, the reaction coming off as very awkward. However, if that person truly does remember, their eyes widen, their smiles brighten, and they breath in deeply while their first words are, "Oh yeah! I remember now! It is you! Alwyn!" The two started laughing and gave each other a tight hug while everyone else got to their feet were looking on as if the strangest thing in the world had occurred.
"Crono? What is going on?" Marle asked.
"I can't believe it's you!" Crono carried on, not hearing Marle. "How long has it been?"
"Three years I suppose." Alwyn said with a goofy grin. "Man alive! I would have never guessed you would be dropping in like this!"
"This is simply amazing…of all the places in the world." They finally separated but shook hands before Crono reared to his full height.
"So, uh, who are these people behind you? And how in the world did you end up here?"
"Well…" Crono scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Where do I begin?"
It took at least a few hours to recount some of the selected stories from their journey, and by this time they were hoping that it would be the last. They were even wishing there was some kind of book that these people could read instead of taking huge amounts of time to recount the same thing. However, Alwyn was not at all an ungracious host. In fact, he saw that the three travelers were looking mighty winded. He offered food to the man in the suit of armor but he politely informed him that he did not receive his energy by biological digestion. Alwyn simply gave him a weird look and went all out on one of the best dinners these three had ever tasted. Although Crono was cheerful and happy, and maybe even Lucca was enjoying herself, Marle was very ill at ease.
"What is in this?" She asked, gingerly poking her fork in a bowl full of chowder.
"Ah, my specialty: seafood chowder. You have shrimp, clams, scallops, and what have you."
"Do you use anything…interesting in this?" Marle asked gently.
Alwyn suddenly seemed to realize what she was getting at and he gave her a rather cold stare, "No. Just eat it and be grateful that you're being fed. You're a twig."
In this world there were two nations that were always going head to head, or rather two races. Humans and Mystics were never certain why, but there had been strife and anger between the two for ages. In fact, the feud went so far back that a clear history was never obtained. Now, they mainly fought for the sake of fighting and that was enough for them. In fact, the disputes were so horrible between the two that you would rarely see these opposites mingling with each other. Hatred had built up so strong that such a thing was taboo to them. The hatred drove them further apart until humans lived in the west while the Mystics lived mostly in the east. However, an ocean was not the only thing that separated them. There were stereotypes and beliefs that existed between them, serving as a wedge that drove them further apart.
That was what had affected Marle. Imagine being in her position, staying in the home of a Mystic whose nation had always been a threat and an abomination to her father. Imagine the horrible things that she was taught by the examples of all those in her kingdom. She trusted Crono, she even began to view him more as a friend, but she was not willing to let go of these horrible feelings. She was fearful of the food, because when she was a child she heard that in the war between Magus and Guardia, the Mystic soldiers would eat the flesh of men. It was silly, but she could not shake that image. That was why she asked what was in the food. And that was why Alwyn already seemed to detest her. She already formed an opinion before she met him and vice-versa.
They are both guilty of prejudice, but prejudice by Mystics will be explained later on.
"So Crono," began Lucca, "how do you know Alwyn?"
"Well, I took him in for a few weeks." He said this as he took mouthful of bread.
"That explains a lot…" Lucca rolled her eyes, "Why did you take him in?"
That was when Alwyn began his short story, "I have a friend who was into trading. He always had a big company but I suppose he wanted more. Well, I happen to be a merchant. I own a shop in town and one day he asked me if I could go with him to Porre and appraise some cargo he wanted to buy. I always wanted to go outside of Medina, and I figured that's why I took the job. I closed shop for a while and I went on the first and last ferry to Porre. We were supposed to open some new trade routes, but one night my friend got into a fight with a few citizens that were cross with us being there. They took a few things that said they viewed as contraband and commanded my friend to set sail that very night. It was horrible for me because while that was happening I was getting room and board at the inn. I went to bed, went to port the next day and found out they had left. I had no way of getting back home."
"How dreadful," Robo started, "what did you do next?"
"Well, there was nothing to do. I appealed to the court there to grant me passage back home, but instead they tried to sentence me to prison because I had no long term passport. They did not arrest me because they simply wanted to be unfair" (Marle seemed offended at this point) "and because my passport did not expire yet. I wrote to my friend and he said he would try to petition to the government to arrange a way to pick me up. That was denied. Then he wrote to Guardia's immigration department and they said they would need a month to get it approved."
"That's ridiculous," Marle snorted, sounding as if she had found out a liar, "it doesn't take a month to get permission to host a foreign vessel in the harbor!"
"That's my point exactly." Alwyn said darkly, looking stern.
"What happened next?" Lucca injected hastily.
"Well, I made my way up north towards Guardia. It took me about a week by foot and it was pleasant weather most of the way. When I got there it was a different story. The people were cruel to me, even throwing things and cursing at me. I was forced to dig through garbage to find scraps of food to eat. I was feeling pretty down and at that time there were several people yelling at me as I walked down the road. That was when I first met Crono." Alwyn said it in such a way that it sounded like a fond memory, "There were kids who were throwing rocks at me and Crono immediately told them leave me alone. I guess they knew him because they said nothing and walked away. We started talking and I mentioned my troubles. He offered me food and took me home. That was when I met his wonderful mother. Ah, she was just the sweetest thing in the world. I imagine you two talked it over, but later that night when I was about to leave she said how rude Crono was being for not inviting me to stay the night. So I stayed in their home for the next few weeks until my friend gained access to the ports here. Since those few weeks my views on people greatly changed. Oh what? Forgive me if that sounds uncouth, but I did truly think terrible things of humans until I met Crono and his mother. Now, I am simply glad that I can return the favor!"
They accepted his kindness and stayed the night. It was obvious he was a fairly wealthy Mystic, for he had a four room house for just two people. Crono, Lucca, and Marle went to sleep while Robo merely rested, watching over the city.
"How interesting…" he said to himself. "It almost seems as if something purposely sent us to this juncture…"
Last night, when they talked there were only certain things that were addressed. Time travel was discussed and it was hard for Alwyn to believe such a thing until Crono caused small bolts of lightning to appear from his fingers. That was when Alwyn exclaimed that he had never heard of magic being done by humans. (Mystics did not view these skills as those had in the end of time, rather they had always been gifted with magic and therefore did not completely understand its origin). They did not address the end of the world nor the future, but they did ask him one vital question…
"We are trying to find out about something that's called 'Lavos'." Crono began.
"Ah," Alwyn's face twisted into disgust, "I don't want to talk about those crazy people…"
"What about them?" Crono asked.
"Ah, there was a religion of some type created by the Mystic leader during the Great War a few hundred years back. The descendant of the leader's right hand man, Ozzie, is merely purporting the religion to make a living doing nothing. Something about some great god that would obliterate all of humankind so that Mystics would rule…" All four exchanged excited glances.
They remembered the footage they had seen in the dome so long ago, "Would this leader be called Magus?"
"Yeah, he said he could recreate the god of legend, but obviously he didn't…His unusually strong powers gained him a following until all mystics viewed him as some supernatural being. That was when he began to tell them he could summon a being that could destroy all their enemies. They began to worship it in hopes that it would rise. In all honesty, the worst parts of the war started because they were trying to push his creation forward. Evidently the creation never happened and Magus died before he got the chance."
"Suppose he didn't fail? What if the creation happened but Lavos did nothing?"
"Ah, that's exactly what those fools say. They said the creation was successful and that Lavos is simply biding his time until he sees fit to destroy all of humanity. I feel so ashamed to admit I used to be one of those idiots."
"Where is he now? Or where do they say he is now?"
"Oh, they say that he's buried in the earth…even now…but that sounds mighty foolish, don't you think?"
Nobody made a reply.