- - -
Crono's breath caught in his throat. Temporal contamination. That meant that what he, Lucca, and the others had worked so hard for years ago, their descendants' futures, was being threatened. To most people, this wouldn't matter; the past or future would be changed, and they'd never know the difference. Crono and the others, though, were different. They were the Chosen of Time, the protectors of the timestream. It was their duty to make sure that nothing went wrong, and that history went as it was supposed to. This, then, was a major disaster.
He leaned over the machine. "When and where did the contamination take place?"
The computer beeped and a timeline replaced the standard readout. Two points were marked: the present, and...
"The contamination will occur approximately seventeen minutes from now, on the Guardia continent. Relative location: Guardia Castle."
Crono blinked a few times. "...Give me a feed from the stream, six seconds before the contaminant hits."
The timeline vanished, to be replaced by a bluish color with multicolored static playing over it. Something, unrecognizable through the static and distortion, screamed slowly by.
"Freeze that. Can you clean the image up a little, and resolve that object?"
The static disappeared, and the blur left onscreen slowly shrunk and moved together into the center. As it resolved, it became recognizable as a face. A plain-looking face, with thick, flowing light brown hair.. and an eyepatch.
"Dalton," Crono breathed.
Lucca rushed home as soon as she got the signal from the monitoring systems. She found the door to Crono's study open. He was hunched over his console, staring at whatever it was displaying.
"Sorry I took so long to get here," she said. "I was out shopping.. what happened?"
"Contamination, type 5-2, Guardia Castle. It's going to happen in about.. fourteen minutes."
"We can't get there in time, can we?"
"No, we can't."
"Damn." She collapsed into a chair. "Well... do we know anything about the contaminant?"
"Take a look," he said, gesturing at the screen. A face was frozen there, vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Then it hit her.
"Dalton..."
"Exactly."
"But.." she struggled for words. "Isn't he dead?"
"I had thought so. Doesn't look that way, though, does it?"
"I suppose we ought to head over to the castle, anyway, and observe the aftermath.."
"Yeah. Who knows? Maybe he just dropped in for some tea."
The trip to the castle was a long one, but wholly uneventful. It was a beautiful spring day, sun shining, birds chirping, and all that, but Crono and Lucca hardly noticed. Nothing else matters when your world is in danger. So on they marched, through Guardia, into the forest, and up the castle's steps. When they reached the gate, Crono addressed the guards.
"Excuse me, sirs, but we have urgent business. We need to speak with the Queen."
"Crono?" said one of the guards in disbelief. "I haven't seen you in a long time, lad. But of course you're always welcome here." He opened the gates.
Crono and Lucca hurried inside, and Crono yelled to the guards standing around. "This is an emergency! Search the castle! If you find a man with an eyepatch, bring him to me!" He turned to Lucca. "Come on- let's find Marle."
They ran through the main hall and up the many flights of stairs leading to the Queen's chamber. They marched past the servants in the hall and threw the door open. There was a blinding blue flash. Crono blinked a few times to clear away the spots. When his vision cleared, he saw that the room looked exactly as it should... except for the fact that the Queen was lying on the floor, her dress stained red with blood.
"Marle!!" he shouted.
- - -
Crono's breath caught in his throat. Temporal contamination. That meant that what he, Lucca, and the others had worked so hard for years ago, their descendants' futures, was being threatened. To most people, this wouldn't matter; the past or future would be changed, and they'd never know the difference. Crono and the others, though, were different. They were the Chosen of Time, the protectors of the timestream. It was their duty to make sure that nothing went wrong, and that history went as it was supposed to. This, then, was a major disaster.
He leaned over the machine. "When and where did the contamination take place?"
The computer beeped and a timeline replaced the standard readout. Two points were marked: the present, and...
"The contamination will occur approximately seventeen minutes from now, on the Guardia continent. Relative location: Guardia Castle."
Crono blinked a few times. "...Give me a feed from the stream, six seconds before the contaminant hits."
The timeline vanished, to be replaced by a bluish color with multicolored static playing over it. Something, unrecognizable through the static and distortion, screamed slowly by.
"Freeze that. Can you clean the image up a little, and resolve that object?"
The static disappeared, and the blur left onscreen slowly shrunk and moved together into the center. As it resolved, it became recognizable as a face. A plain-looking face, with thick, flowing light brown hair.. and an eyepatch.
"Dalton," Crono breathed.
Lucca rushed home as soon as she got the signal from the monitoring systems. She found the door to Crono's study open. He was hunched over his console, staring at whatever it was displaying.
"Sorry I took so long to get here," she said. "I was out shopping.. what happened?"
"Contamination, type 5-2, Guardia Castle. It's going to happen in about.. fourteen minutes."
"We can't get there in time, can we?"
"No, we can't."
"Damn." She collapsed into a chair. "Well... do we know anything about the contaminant?"
"Take a look," he said, gesturing at the screen. A face was frozen there, vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Then it hit her.
"Dalton..."
"Exactly."
"But.." she struggled for words. "Isn't he dead?"
"I had thought so. Doesn't look that way, though, does it?"
"I suppose we ought to head over to the castle, anyway, and observe the aftermath.."
"Yeah. Who knows? Maybe he just dropped in for some tea."
The trip to the castle was a long one, but wholly uneventful. It was a beautiful spring day, sun shining, birds chirping, and all that, but Crono and Lucca hardly noticed. Nothing else matters when your world is in danger. So on they marched, through Guardia, into the forest, and up the castle's steps. When they reached the gate, Crono addressed the guards.
"Excuse me, sirs, but we have urgent business. We need to speak with the Queen."
"Crono?" said one of the guards in disbelief. "I haven't seen you in a long time, lad. But of course you're always welcome here." He opened the gates.
Crono and Lucca hurried inside, and Crono yelled to the guards standing around. "This is an emergency! Search the castle! If you find a man with an eyepatch, bring him to me!" He turned to Lucca. "Come on- let's find Marle."
They ran through the main hall and up the many flights of stairs leading to the Queen's chamber. They marched past the servants in the hall and threw the door open. There was a blinding blue flash. Crono blinked a few times to clear away the spots. When his vision cleared, he saw that the room looked exactly as it should... except for the fact that the Queen was lying on the floor, her dress stained red with blood.
"Marle!!" he shouted.
- - -