The Forgotten Journals
The Chrono Trigger Phenomenon
Chapter 1: Chaos in Truce
He drew his knife, scowling at his friend. "I don't like the sounds of this…"
His friend nodded, "I know but there's not much else we can do."
The man turned his body to the side, looking up at the sky, "But how are WE supposed to kidnap someone of royalty? The princess is locked in that palace tighter than... well, you know what it's tighter than..."
The other man laughed, catching the sexual reference the man was trying to make, "Yeah, but there's a way. After all, all the people will be so distracted by the upcoming theatrical performance that no one will notice it when we steal away the princess!"
The man sighed, "Blank… you sure we can handle this?"
Blank shrugged his shoulders, "We better… if not, Baku will have our asses for sure. It's rumored that King Cid of Lindbulm put him up to this!"
The man shook his head, "Like anything like that would happen…"
The two fell silent. Far off, a ringing bell could be heard, soft at first, but became more intensive with each passing second. Now, only the ringing bell could be heard.
He woke up.
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Crono Triggare, hero of time and all around nice guy, woke up from his dream, shaking his head. It had gone on for a year now, the dream had even caused him to wake up late on the day of the Millennial fair! He pushed himself out of his bed and stretched before walking down the stairs of his house.
Though Crono was not a morning person, he still did not mind being woken up to the lovely ringing of Nadia's bell. Which, he noted, had a voice as pretty as who it was named for.
"Good morning, Crono!"
Elaine Triggare, aged in appearance, yet still youthful in nature greeted her son warmly as he plodded down the wooden stairs.
"And a fine morning it is, mother!" he responded.
She moved over to the window, looking outside with a smile.
"You know, son. I was just told that the fishing is wonderful out at Truce pier. Perhaps you should take a trip down there today and catch us some food! If you do it, I can cook up a tantalizing dinner later!"
If one thing could get Crono to do anything, it was the sound of food. But not just any food. It was his favorite, the succulent flavor of fish.
"I think I'll do just that! But… I would like some breakfast first."
She smiled, "Of course dear, I've prepared pancakes and eggs already! Help yourself."
He sprang upon the food, inhaling it in a matter of minutes and finishing up the last of it.
"No leftovers then…" his mother sighed.
He shook his head before standing up and picking up a fishing pole.
"With my fishing skills, you wont need to worry about leftovers! I'll catch something the likes of which you've never seen!" and he promptly set off towards the pier.
The air was slightly cool but there was still heat, emphasizing the fact that it was in the year's second quarter, as we on Earth call Summer. Although not the most beautiful of days, as the sky was slightly covered with clouds, blocking up some of the sunlight, it was a perfect condition to go out and fish.
He stood on the wooden platform, watching the small rippling waves in silence. The tool for the capture of food, a silver hook with a small worm attached, was currently floating somewhere within the blue depths of the ocean.
A slight bright light captured his focus, almost as if it was glinting off of something…
Sure enough, the object appeared to be a sword, and it looked like it was still attached to it's owner as well! Crono carefully set down his fishing rod before leaping into the depths to try and save the man.
He was in luck, the depths were slightly warm, and he had no trouble swimming up to the man to try and get a good hold on him. Using his powerful legs, the fiery haired warrior kicked through the water with the man in his arms, and brought him quickly to the shore.
The man, who looked like he had been out in the water for days coughed up the salty drink before finally trying to speak. Crono put up a hand motioning for the man to stop, but as the man persisted, he realized that he didn't have the energy to do such a thing, and promptly passed out.
Crono put his arms under the man and shifted his weight, allowing himself to be able to carry him. He did the only sensible thing he could think of at the time and took him to his own home and set him down on his bed.
His mother walked in, "Oh dear! Is he all right?"
Crono shook his head, "I was hoping you would see to that, I have to catch more fish now that we have a third mouth to feed."
He walked out, leaving the two in silence.
Suddenly, the strange man shifted himself to an upwards position and Elaine gasped, running over to him.
"Are you okay, young man?"
He nodded his head, "Thank you… my name is Ti-… um…"
She quickly realized what was going on, "Can't remember your name? I guess we'll have to make one up! It started with Ty, right? Well, I had an uncle named Tyler. We'll call you that!"
He heard the name and expressed a frown.
She sighed, "It doesn't seem to fit you? I guess it's all we'll have to call you until you gain back more of your memory."
He nodded, trying to get up once again.
"Not so fast!"
He stopped. "I can handle it."
She shook her head, "You're soaking wet! It looks like you've been stranded out at sea for days! You are going to rest until you feel better. No buts! Now rest!"
He complied with her, slowly closing his eyes. Before long, he was snoring softly.
Elaine studied the features of the young man. He had a strange dark blonde color to his hair. And his face looked to be no younger than her son's age of 17. He wore some kind of foreign clothing, and the sword near him gave off a strange bluish tinge. It looked to be as strong as her son's sword, Rainbow, which she recently noticed after Crono's adventure. She shook her head, wondering why men always seemed to be more partial to the sword as a weapon.
As the day went on, Crono caught many a fish. It was such a load that even the older, more experienced fisherman at the docks voiced their approval. He heaved the net he used to carry the fish over his shoulder, a load that was more than most people could handle, and he trudged off towards his home.
When he reached the small haven, he threw down the net.
"Caught quite a load, eh?"
He turned to see his childhood friend, Lucca, grinning from ear to ear. Her purple hair matted down underneath a strange metallic helmet. She wore a tunic, underneath which was exceptionally powerful armor that her own father had made for her.
"You mind helping me cook this stuff?"
She nodded her head, "Just as long as I get some of it!"
He groaned, "Geez, that's a fourth mouth to feed. You may have to fight it over with the stranger…"
"Who?" She was clearly surprised.
Crono shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not sure of his name. He was floating out near the docks, so I swam out and saved him."
"And I'm clearly grateful, Sir!"
The two of them turned to see the man in question standing at the entrance to Crono's house.
"By the way, until I get over this fit of amnesia I seem to have, you may refer to me as Tyler, instead of 'the stranger'."
Crono walked over to him and shook his hand, "The name's Crono."
Tyler smiled, "You're quite a swimmer to handle getting me out of the water. If I had been conscious, however, I could have handled it. Now… what about fish? You've got fish eh? Let's have some!"
Crono nodded as Lucca began working up a fire spell.
Tyler watched her with intent as she conjured up a great amount of flame. In a matter of seconds the fish had begun to cook, but it was toasting them to the fact that in a minute, they would be burnt to a crisp.
Crono yelled in fear, "Lucca! Stop the spell! You could burn down the whole town!"
She shook her head, "I can't! It's only a casting spell! We need someone here to stop it!"
"I'll get Marle!" Yelled Crono as he took off with a flash.
Tyler looked at the flames with confusion, thinking as if to remember something.
Lucca ran up to him with fear, "Whatsyername!"
Tyler glared, "Tyler."
"Whatever! You need to quit standing around!"
"Stand back."
She stepped away, "Why?"
He walked near to the flames, holding a hand to his head as if he were trying to remember something. Suddenly, he shifted his gaze to the flames and began to chant.
"Power of the coldest ice! Rain down upon the consuming flames! Blizzaga!"
A massive amount of ice covered the flames, putting it out while keeping the fish from completely being worthless.
Lucca could not believe her eyes, "You… know ice magic?"
Tyler nodded, "I think I know some fire magic too…"
"You'd have to be a shadow mage like Magus to know that!" she said fearfully.
Tyler grinned, "Well, I'm obviously not whoever you were talking about right? Besides, by the sound of his name, he isn't the best of people, right?"
She nodded to both questions.
"Well… then there's nothing to worry about! I know I just met you, but I'm not going to just let your town burn to the ground, okay?"
Her voice calmed, "I was wrong, you're nothing like him…"
Tyler started to walk back to the house, but suddenly turned right back around to Lucca.
"By the way… who is this Magus guy you speak of?"
She gasped, "What? You don't know? Gee, he only started a war with Guardia 400 years back!"
"GuardiUH? What's… that?"
Her surprise doubled, "Have you lost your mind?!"
He nodded, "You could say that... I don't even know if Tyler is my real name or not… it's just something to call me for now."
"It must be hard…"
"What?"
He was certainly confused by her words.
"To have amnesia… to forget everything you have ever known, even anyone you loved."
He seemed to be taken back by her final word. He just stood there, trying to recollect something, anything besides the magic.
She left him alone, slowly backing away from the strangely clothed man. What he wore, he could only be from some futuristic time. His speech was much like those of 2300 AD, different from the more medieval accent that she spoke with. However, looking at this young man, she saw that even though they were so different, they were very much the same. Two young souls, both looking for what they had lost. For her, it was the fact that she and Crono would never be together. She saw the way he looked at Marle, saw how he gave up his life for her in the Ocean Palace, and how she was willing to risk so much to bring him back.
He seemed to miss more, much more. The look in his eyes was clearly showing what his mind had held from him. He had lost love himself, and though he could not remember it, his eyes had shown the truth. She knew this well, the same look followed in her eyes.
Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted.
"Lucca! Is everything alright? Crono told me what happened, I was so worried!"
She turned, hearing the voice, "Marle!"
Her friend ran up to her, panting, "I ran as fast as I could! You need to be a little more careful with your pyromaniacal instincts!"
Lucca shook her head, "You don't have to worry about it…" she pointed to Tyler, "He put it out."
Marle turned, "But... I ran all the way here... I was... so worried about Truce..."
Lucca sighed, "Marle… no need to worry about it, Truce is okay now."
Marle walked up to Tyler, shaking a finger at him.
"And how could you put that fire out?!"
He seemed to be knocked out of his trance, and he looked at her intently for a second.
"Well?"
He smiled, "I used Blizzaga."
She stepped back a step, "Come again?"
His smile grew wider, "You know… with the chanting, and the casting of the magic! And then the ice came down and saved the town… and everybody thanked me!"
She shook her head, "Impossible, if you know magic, then you know Spekkio!"
He shook his head, "That definitely does not ring a bell."
Crono finally caught up, "Yeah, I see you met the new guy… he washed ashore three hours ago."
"It would have been nice to tell me that he knew ice magic!" Marle yelled.
"How was I supposed to know? Honestly, the only one of us who ever could sense magic within others was Magus, and God knows where he's at now..."
Lucca nodded, "I think we should get to the bottom of this... some random guy shows up knowing multiple magical elements, doesn't have a bit of evil within him, and doesn't have a clue who he is or how he got here. I think we need to have a talk."
They turned to look at Tyler, noticing his confused, but steady glare.
"Would you guys mind telling me how you got magic... and why you guys seem to be so strong as well?"
It was then, that they all decided to talk of their adventure and what they knew of magic to the mysterious Tyler. Crono didn't know why, but he felt he could trust the man, like he was a kindred soul. After speaking of the gruesomely long epic that they took a part of, Tyler began to speak.
"There's not much I can tell you about, but as you were speaking to me, I regained some of my own memory. I don't know what it was, but maybe it was the fact that I seem to remember going on a hideously long adventure myself, that's why I seem to be so strong. The amount of magic I know just happens to be something that came along in the adventure. Actually, if I remember correctly… everyone in the group knew as much magic as I did, maybe more. Especially… her…"
"Who?" asked Lucca.
"I… can't remember, I can't even remember their faces, or where we came from. All I remember, is that I did go on an adventure. A very long one, in a place I didn't belong. Maybe I'll remember more in time, but as far as I can tell, amnesia takes a long time to recover from."
Crono smiled, the man was perhaps in the same situation he was in, except he couldn't remember a single bit of it. Perhaps in time, the full story would be known.
The red haired warrior leaped up from his sitting position. Calmly walking away from his house to stretch his legs. He strolled over to the fountain in the middle of the square and leaned on it, looking at the inscription under the dilapidated statue.
At least, he tried to read the inscription, it had long since weathered in the time it had not been cleaned. He wiped his hand across the faint lettering, trying to at least make out some of the letters.
"F…r…o…g…"
He stopped.
"Frog?!"
He moved his hands across the rest of the letters, trying to at least make something out. Unfortunately, it seemed that they were being erased before his very eyes. He frowned slightly, thinking to himself for a moment. He considered the whole mess to be a mystery, one he was not supposed to be bothering himself with.
Someone didn't want him to see this… or perhaps it was being changed.
"If only someone could give me the answer…"
He didn't expect anyone to speak up, but he craned his neck to listen, as something seemed to be calling him.
Nothing at first… then he heard a whisper.
Soft, but yet, powerful.
Are you sure you wish to find that answer?
"Who's there?!" he asked.
He noticed that as he heard the whisper, the temperature of the air had dropped sharply, as a chilling wind pierced his body through his clothing, causing him to shiver.
It was a faint whisper again, only this time, he could hear it.
At last, the time has come.
Crono cautiously stepped back, bringing a hand to the hilt of the Rainbow.
"Who's there?! Answer me!"
I am one with the shadow.
He shook his head sadly. It seemed that Magus was up to his old tricks again.
He stepped around to where he heard the voice.
"Alright Magus… where are…"
He stopped, there was nothing there at all. He began to back up, towards his house.
"Um… Magus… this is no time to be playing games."
This time, he was answered to his right.
I'm not playing games, Hero of time. This is serious business.
He backed up a little faster, heading towards where the others were.
"Magus… what do you want?"
You destroyed Lavos. His power could have been very… helpful.
That wasn't Magus. Not even Magus at his worst would say something about Lavos in such a manner. In fact, the mage of shadow would have made sure whatever power the beast might have still held would be purged from the land.
The piercing wind blew harder, whipping his hair around. Though he had never felt a wind this cold before, he knew what it was.
The black wind. It was howling.
And it was directed towards him.
"… Who… are you?"
Where the voice came from next, caused Crono to tense up, his grip on the sword's hilt becoming like iron.
"I am the Wizard of Darkness."
Crono spun around, bringing the Rainbow to a defensive position in front of him. What stood before him took his breath away.
Lavos was a bad dream… but the being that stood before him was an absolute nightmare. He was human, but the pitch black cloak around him hid his features. Clasping the cloak near his neck was a strange golden medallion. The man stood fully upright at a height he guessed to be about 6 feet and 2 inches. But the sword the man held seemed to absorb any light around it. It looked darker than the cloak he wore around him.
A shudder racked through Crono's body. For the one who stood before him reminded him of a man he had briefly seen in the floating city of Kajar. Though he only saw the man once, and briefly talked with him, he could never forget him. The man had to be the most powerful warrior he had ever seen. He could only whisper the name as it came back to him.
"Novalon…"
The cloaked one stepped forward.
"Very perceptive, hero... but unfortunately, I am not the one you think I am… I am Dark Novalon, nemesis of the one you expected…"
Though Crono was afraid to think of it, he came to the conclusion that the Wizard was the exact opposite of the powerful warrior he knew.
Crono knew he was in over his head.
Nevertheless, he still dropped back into a defensive stance, one of the many he had been studying after his trip to the magical kingdom of Zeal. A very special bunch of sword techniques he picked up in a couple scrolls from the local shopkeeper in Zeal. This certain stance was called Zealean Khala: 4th position.
The man stood stoic, his expression unreadable.
"You know the Zealean sword arts... This could be interesting."
Suddenly, the dark cloaked man was upon him with fury, striking the sword in Crono's hands and knocking him back about a couple of feet.
"Damn!" The red haired warrior swore, bringing himself back up for another strike. He wouldn't be able to survive hits like that for much longer, especially with how the man was dishing them out.
The one known as Dark Novalon readied his dark sword for another attack, when suddenly, two female voices rang out over the battlefield.
"Powers of heat and cold! Rain down with Fire and Ice! Antipodaga!"
The energy of the third Antipode slammed into Dark Novalon with their greatest force. As the overwhelming flames of Flare mixed with the chilling of Blizzara (Ice 2), the man seemed to stand his ground, taking in the full energies of the spell. When the carnage ended, the man turned around and spoke once again.
"What a nuisance. The little pests always seem to get in between me and my target. Since you seem to like Fire so much, why don't I give you both a taste of it?"
Marle stepped back, "I guess he felt your Flare more…"
He put up a hand, causing red energies to spit out everywhere. At first, they looked as if they were going to hit the three warriors from 1000 AD, but they merely shot right back in to converge on the same point.
"Powers of the darkest flame, I call upon you!"
The red energies of the spell morphed to a dark purple glow, illuminating and shadowing at the same time.
Crono found that he was unable to move, rooted to his very position by some unknown force. The same seemed to be true for the two females as well.
"Cause pain to the pests!"
He certainly did not like to be called a pest. But Crono could not even move his lips to speak.
"Dark Merton!"
The piercing wind screamed as a wave of heat hit the three simultaneously. As the seemingly Ultimate spell ran it's fiery course, combining the energies of fire and darkness. It was a wall of mass destruction, that strangely only hit those it had targeted. No sound was made as the spell continued on, tossing the three warriors around like rag dolls. Crono suddenly found himself losing consciousness at the intense pain, and promptly fell to the ground in a burning heap.
The Dark one floated over to Crono.
"Ah… you put up a good fight, almost as good as Thundergod Cid… but perhaps I'll be able to bend your will…"
He muttered a few incoherent words, opening up a gate under both he and Crono, and the two promptly disappeared into the closing gate.
It was then that Tyler had decided to come back from inside, being told by Marle to run inside and protect Crono's mother. That she and Lucca would handle whatever the hell was causing the trouble at Truce square.
When he saw their bodies on the ground, smoking from what looked to be some sort of fire, he understood that they, in fact, had underestimated their opponent.
If he could remember anything, it was never to underestimate one's opponent, but rather, overestimate them in order to actually fight your best.
He sighed as he began warming up a set of Full-Life spells for the both of them in order to figure out what happened.
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Well, that's my first chapter! I'm pretty sure many of you have already figured out who the stranger is. But for those who still haven't figured it out (though there'd only be one reason for that), please don't spoil it for them.
"… but in the midst of all the world's turmoil, there was still a faint light of hope on the planet of Earth. One warrior, who stood up for his values, against those who struck terror into the hearts of everyone, this warrior was known as… Novalon."
-The intro to an RPG I am currently making in RPGMaker2000