Interlude
"Come on daddy you can do better
then that. You are supposed to be training me, now stop hold back." The little
red haired girl stated as she lunged at the man before her. The man simple
shrugged his shoulder spun his staff around her, upended her and slammed her to
the ground.
"Good enough?" The man stated
helping his daughter up.
"Better, but let's see you
handle this." She stated as she spun around like around like a tornado and
caught the man by surprise. With three quick hits, she had him to the ground.
"Impressive." He stated as his daughter helped him from
the mat.
"I learned from the best." She
said happily.
"Too bad you haven't learned
everything." Crono said as he knocked the staff from her hands. He grabbed it
and rapped both of the training weapons across her face. She fell to the mat in
pain as her mother finally decided to step in.
"That's enough you two. Crono
you know better then to be that rough with her." Marle scolded him.
"It's alright mommy, I have to
learn somehow. Better I learn from daddy then in street fight somewhere."
Aurora returned rubbing her stinging face.
"Your only six years old and
your already talking about getting into street fights. Maybe your mom is right;
perhaps we have been going to hard." Crono returned.
"Oh come on daddy, honestly, a
girl has to know how to defend herself these days. Besides, you two are not
always going to be around to defend me. It is 1010 after all, who knows what's
lurking out there." She said pointing out the window. This last comment struck
home with both of her parents. They knew she said was she said innocently, but
they also knew she spoke the truth. Little did they know how quickly those
words would become truth.
"In any event, I think we have
had enough for today. Let's put these weapons away and then you get to your
cooking class. You know how the chef gets when you are late." Crono said
handing her one of the training staves.
"Yeah, he rides your butt for an
hour." She said giggling. Marle couldn't help but giggle at this as well. Crono
shook his head, as he knew he was outnumbered on this. But Aurora didn't want
to see her father get yelled at so she put her staff and headed down the stairs
towards the first floor. While she was making this trip she was nearly run over
by the chancellor. She knew something was happening because this man was many
things, but rude was not one of them. No matter what the situation, he always
took the time to greet her formally. This time however, it seemed that she was
not even there. She decided that her cooking lesson would have to wait,
besides, she was already better then the cook anyways. After all, it was her
duty as a princess to know what was going on in her kingdom. She didn't
honestly believe that, but it was a good excuse. She ran up to the training
room where her mother and father were still resting. The chancellor barged in
on them and Crono looked at worried.
"You know Vicorin, when you get
a look you face like that, it takes a year of my eternal life away. What's
going on?" He asked the chancellor that looked at white as a sheet.
"My liege, there has been… an
attack of sorts." He answered.
"An attack, but we have a
non-aggression pact with Porre; what reason would they have for violating it?"
Marle asked standing.
"I am afraid that it was not
Porre." Chancellor Vicorin returned.
"Then who and better question
what was attacked?" Crono asked as Marle took her place beside him.
"The what is… the orphanage my
liege. It was set ablaze." He answered. Marle and Crono looked at each other
almost as if they had known this was going to happen.
"Go on." Crono said solemnly.
"It was reported that a feline
demi-human and even stranger looking human went in. This human was dressed like
a… what is the word for it…?" Vicorin stood thinking.
"A harlequin, go on." Crono
answered.
"Yes, how did you know, did you
hear this report already." Vicorin asked.
"No, what of the children and
Lucca?" Marle asked.
"Lucca was no where to be found.
A witness stated that the two left carrying a bag big enough to keep a human
in… we fear the worst. As for the children, happily they are all safe. It seems
that another person at some point entered the place and rescued the children.
Witnesses state that this was human, male about seventeen years of age. His
garb would suggest that he was from a tropical location. The witness couldn't
see very well, but believed that his hair was blue, but the strangest thing of
all about this boy was the weapon he carried. The description of it is like the
description you gave for you the weapon you carried during you battles with
Tempest."
"And no one saw this boy enter?"
Crono asked.
"No sir." Vicorin answered.
"Bring the children here, we
have more then enough room. Make sure you have the guards scour the countryside
looking for Lucca. Go." Crono said as he bid the chancellor to leave. Vicorin
agreed and left the room. Aurora had slipped above the room on the steps and
wasn't seen as Vicorin left.
"Mom, dad, you don't seem
saddened at all by the loss of Lucca, what's the deal?" Aurora silently asked
as she continued to listen.
"Is this it?" Marle asked.
"I believe so." Crono returned
looking out the window at the now blotted out stars.
"I would've thought that we
would have been given more time." Marle stated cuddling up to him.
"I wish it were so, but it looks
like the time has come." Crono said kissing her forehead.
"It has begun." Marle said
resting her head on his shoulder.
"Yep, the cycle begins again…"
THE END…
Author's Comments
Well, it was a long process, but
it is finally over… at least this part of the saga. I know that the beginning
was somewhat ify, but I wrote that four years ago. For this release, Avenging
Angel (Chapter 4) and everything after Torn between Love and Honor (Chapter 9)
has been rewritten. The story was originally twelve chapters and an epilogue,
with a much different ending. That was before I played Chrono Cross. I have
made many connections to CC, for go reason; because it is a major part of the
universe I am trying to create. As I said, this is the first part of the saga.
The Interlude was actually not part of the story, but more of a trailer for the
next one. With that addressed I am going to address some character issues that
I know are bugging many of you.
Kain-
Sorry, but I like him and he worked well with the story when I needed him. I
had thought about writing something completely different but I already had him
as a key part and didn't feel like changing it. Besides, as I said he worked.
Ayla-
I know that some are gonna complain about me trying to reform her to work in
'modern' times. But once again it worked, I especially like the parting scene
where she was having trouble holding onto it. And no flaming about the love
between her and Kain, it works on so many levels.
Robo-
I am surprised that no has yelled at me about him. This was something that
would have happened anyway had the story of the game been allowed to continue.
Atropos was gone and besides, he and Lucca were made for each other. I liked
it.
Magus/Guile-
First off, this is my belief. No flames from the Serge/Magus people or the Magus
not part of CC people. Besides, Guile is Magus in the original Radical
Dreamers. Now, about my converting of Magus into evil, I feel that I pretty
well explained that what Crono destroyed was not Magus, just a shadow used by
Tempest after he figure out that she wasn't Schala. Crono specifically stated
that Magus wasn't evil.
Glenn-
I do not believe that my Glenn and CC's Glenn are the same person. In fact in
CC it says they aren't. And besides, CC's Glenn is very important in my future
plans, he will show up later.
Everybody- I have changed everybody, live
with it. It is simply the natural progression of what would have happened had
the story panned out. And besides, maybe a Square exec will be reading and
decide this was going to happen anyway. (And every time somebody rings a bell
an angel gets its wings… humm)
Well with that out of the way, I
hope you have enjoyed my little foray into the art. This was a work four years
in the making so be kind and don't be bashful with the reviews. See you next
time on The Edge of Forever!