Things Unseen, Chapter 2:

A Leader's Decision

By Darknightdestiny

"Look! Frog!" shouted Ayla excitedly. She banged on the side of the humanoid standing next to her, before snatching her hand away again in pain.

"Miss Ayla," replied the man of steel, "I understand that you require sustenance, but I hardly think that this is the time to-"

"No! You funny…RAW BOOT!" she spluttered in frustration. "There! There frog! Over there!" She waved her arms in the specified direction, directing the robot's attention away from his oilcan.

Robo adjusted his sensors, finally focusing on three figures making their way towards the Epoch, where their friends awaited them.

"Ah! They have returned to us once more!" he bleeped.

The cavewoman wasted no time, and bounded over to her friends, embracing them. Frog was too sullen to return her embrace; Lucca winced, feeling her petite bones beginning to crack; Marle was much too tired and emotionally drained to even care if she snapped in half.

Ayla noticed this change in her friends; Marle had been especially distressed after Crono's death, but she had been determined when she had set off to find him. She had taken charge, and announced that no one would be leaving until they had done all they could in the Dark Ages. But now, she seemed so broken once again.

"What wrong?"

Frog spoke up. "'Tis nothing that thou shouldst worry thine pretty head over, lass."

"Huh? What you say?"

"He means," said Lucca, "Don't worry about it."

Ayla frowned. "Ayla no dummy. Lucca say, 'Big cliff, last hope'. What you find?"

Lucca sighed. "Nothing. Big, fat nothing."

Ayla huffed and pouted, knitting her brows in frustration. She bit her lip and blew some hair out of her face; this went on for a while, and then her eyes darted back over to Lucca.

"What now? What you do, Lucca?"

"I…what?"

"I believe," stated the robot, "that Miss Ayla has just appointed you to be our new leader."

Lucca shot Marle a glance, as if she was asking permission to mug the poor girl. Whatever she was asking, it was reluctant; she didn't feel ready to take all of this on her shoulders. But she could do it if she had to. She could do something to help, now that Crono was gone; she owed him that much. She just felt at a loss for words, or for a plan.

"Lucca, you should do it," Marle said, softly. "You're the brains behind this entire operation. We can't do anything without you here; you might as well take charge."

Lucca contemplated this for a while. Marle would never be able to lead the group, much as she thought the position belonged to her. She had had too much taken out of her already, but she had done enough. She had been so strong, for so long, even when they had been thrown into the makeshift storage-room prison of the Blackbird. Crono would have been proud, to have seen her fly at Dalton in the way that she did.

She finally nodded her head. From now on, the rest would depend on her. She would do this for him…for Marle.

"Alright. I'll do it."

"Good, Lucca! What now?" asked Ayla. She was becoming impatient with the lack of direction already exhibited by their new leader.

"Well…" began Lucca, "um…first, we should go to the Epoch. There's nothing left for us here, and we might be able to do something in another era to effect this…tragedy. The old man at the End of Time might be able to help us; he's been useful so far, and he's never steered us wrong."

"Methinks we've found a plan," said the frogman, and he walked towards the ladder protruding from the left wing of the ship.

Ayla whooped and rushed to follow, darting around the feet of the warrior, looking like some wild cat.

Marle looked up at Lucca from where her eyes had previously rested at her feet and gave a small, forced smile. "Don't worry," she said, aware of the uneasiness that was shown in the other girl's face, "you're doing just fine."

"…I hope so."

"You are. Don't worry…everything will be all right. Everyone here trusts you-"

"Oh, great."

"…That's supposed to be a good thing, Lucca."

"What if I end up leading us all to our deaths?"

"That's not going to happen. You're smart, Lucca. Smarter than the rest of us could ever hope to be…"

"What about Robo?"

"Lucca, Robo's not real. He's only a robot. Even though he makes a good friend…"

"You know, sometimes I forget that."

Marle smiled at the other girl. "A machine can only be as good as its maker allows it to be. But you…" she pointed at Lucca's forehead, "I'm beginning to think that there's no end to your brains. That's what makes you special. And that's why we need your help."

Marle's words were comforting to Lucca's nerve-ridden spirit, yet they lacked their old cheerful spark. What Lucca wouldn't give to hear Marle's voice turn back to the way it used to be. What she wouldn't give to see every one of them smiling again, and to have Crono lead them back to that ship, for their last trip.

Home…she wanted to go home.

"…Marle?"

"I trust you," Marle finished, and then walked slowly to where the others were waiting at the base of the vehicle.

"You know," Lucca whispered to herself, in a voice the princess would never have caught, even if she had been listening for it, "you can be pretty smart yourself sometimes."

They had all changed so much in so little time. After the incident at the palace, they had all known that not one of them would ever be the same. Marle, especially, had changed; this change had been a double-edged sword. Previous to the disaster, the young girl had been out for adventure, not for blood. She had been lively, and full of sunshine; she had always been able to cheer up any of the other group members if they had been down, gaining the identity of the "comforter" of the bunch.

Now, however, she was the one who needed consolation, but none could be given. She was much too exhausted to fight with all her heart, and the one time that she had brought herself to do so since Crono's death, she hadn't been in her right mind. Her spirit had been broken, and she wasn't sure if she would ever find the pieces, much less know where they fit. With Crono gone, a big part of her was missing, a part she had taken for granted until now. Sure, she had fun with Crono, and sure, they got along wonderfully. But she had been too caught up in the moment, too afraid of ruining that friendship; she had been afraid of losing the first person that had ever looked at her and seen the person inside, instead of the crown on her head.

So afraid that she had never had the chance to tell him how she really felt about him. This is what tore her up inside, never knowing, and never being able to see his face light up again. She wanted his face to light up for her, wanted to see him happy because of her. She had wanted to be the one to make him truly happy in life…

And now she would never know.

Even though this realization brought a sense of maturity, even though she had realized what had truly been important in her life, she had found out much too late. There is a saying that the best things in life are never realized until they have passed the bearer by. Marle had now felt the devastating truth behind that saying, and she could never deny the value of knowing that; had she understood it much earlier, had she known what was going to happen, she would have taken her chances.

But now…

Now, she would never know.

The Epoch began to lift off from the ground, and everyone was settled into their seats, ready for whatever was to come. They had already lost their leader, and they had come to expect casualties in their endeavor after all- at least that's what each of these told themselves as the snow began to swirl around the base of the pod. It was not as if any of them had anything left to lose, and each of them had been in this for the long run, even if it had meant death to them all.

They knew the risks, and they had to regain their spirits somehow. None of them had the heart to fight for the future anymore, because the future looked bleak, regardless of their destination. It seemed selfish, this was true, but the loss of their friend had weighed heavily on their hearts. If they couldn't bring themselves to fight with everything they had, then they would fail, and the future would be lost forever. They were the planet's last hope…

The entire mission looked like a failure from where they sat, looking down at the destruction left behind by the beast, the unfamiliar vast expanse of water, where white terrain used to stretch out seemingly forever. Suddenly, forever seemed non-existent, and the world so finite. They levitated thirty feet above the ground, their own path laid out before them. Lucca's hand reached for the lever, as she prepared to take the first step towards salvation, or oblivion.

As soon as her fingertips brushed up against the leather covering, there was a deafening roar, and the ocean began to toss about. The surface of the water bubbled and rose like the fizz from an ale at the Dorino Town Tavern, and there was another roar, followed by another, as if a hundred whales were screaming bloody murder just beneath the surface. The roaring came to a full swell before settling into a mechanical groan which reminded Lucca of the sound the pressurized chamber in her living room would make when she shifted the balance too far in favor of one side- only a thousand times louder.

There was a bright light growing in diameter beneath the surface of the waves, and it continued to grow until a smooth, metal surface broke free from the depths, a blinding array of white reflecting from every angle. The structure grew larger as it emerged, like an iceberg dragged from its resting place in the cold seas; the tip was relatively small, compared to the whole. The smooth peak descended into a sloped mountain of metal with twisted barbs jutting out of every side, grotesque and broken architecture cutting the chilly air like death's fingers raking across the sky.

Eerie lights shone from the bulk like a thousand insect eyes; a strange pulsating glow of green and purple, disturbingly soothing to the eyes, yet unsettling to the soul. The mechanical wails grew louder with its continued emergence until one great and final shudder was given by the craft as it broke free from the icy water. The entire atmosphere grew calm after that, and the sea was still. There were no birds in the sky, and the air was stagnant.

All members of the group recognized this structure that now loomed over them, its base a giant plate of wiring.

The Ocean Palace…

Lucca moaned at the sight of it; after all they had been through, the evil they had fought against and lost their brave leader to still existed. No matter what they did, it seemed that their problems would never disappear. She couldn't help wondering if this was a foreshadowing of their final fight, a sign resigning them to an inevitable fate.

Marle's eyes darted from the "Omen" to Lucca, and then back again. Unsure of what to say or do, so many mixed thoughts still inside her, she waited for someone, anyone else, to say something.

It was Ayla who spoke first.

"Ayla no like boat!"

"Aye," replied the frog, "'tis a sign of evil. And evil must be dealt with!"

"…We are not ready," sighed Lucca.

"I would agree with Miss Lucca," the robot sounded. "We have not prepared, and we must recuperate…we were not able to defeat this force the last time, and we are now short a companion. Obviously, the power of Lavos is much stronger than we feared."

Being a robot, Robo's forte was not set on human emotions, but rather on stating the facts of the matter at hand; this was something he had struggled with for a long time since joining the group, always wanting to be like the rest of his friends. But no one seemed to notice, already having been lost in their thoughts over the matter at hand, and so they let it slide.

The group sat still, watching the floating mass for a while, unsure of what to do with this unexpected turn of events. It was a while before Lucca finally decided that staring was getting them nowhere, and they still had another task at hand. "Not without Crono," she said.

Marle's eyes lit up with hope and she raised her head to meet the eyes of her friend, which were set on her own still form. In her own silent way, Lucca was letting Marle know that she was hoping in the impossible for her sake. And for that, Marle was grateful. She would always have a close friend that she could count on to be more than just an ally in battle.

"We've come this far," continued the scientist, "and we're not going to finish this without him. We've traveled through the span of millions of years! I'm sure there's still something we can do."

Marle smiled back at Lucca, showing her appreciation of the gesture and the speech, even if she still had doubts on whether or not they would be successful. Lucca smiled back, and then turned back to the control panel, intent on sending them back to the End of Time, where hopefully, they would get some answers.

(A/N): I have…decided to continue this fic. I'm a little uneasy about the standard I set myself up with in the first chapter, and I'm not sure whether or not I can live up to it, but I'm sure going to try. And all you Magus fans, don't worry, because as the summary states, he'll be around shortly. Next chapter, in fact.

Thanks to everyone for the reviews, I was happy to get 9 for one chapter, and I'm really hoping that people will continue to read this. Sorry I left you all hanging in uncertainty for as long as I did, but I'll try to get the next chapters in a bit quicker. I had a writer's block…

So now the pressure's on…