Unreal Reality: Part Two

Notes: Searching for the "magical device" in Dorino, the Mystics get more than they were looking for.. and that's all I'll say. Otherwise I'd ruin it, right? o_O

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Chrono Trigger.

* * * * * *

"The... these are the disguises? What kind of joke are you trying to pull here? Well, this isn't funny at all!"

Slash had to smile slightly in spite of himself. With all the yelling Ozzie was doing, he would have expected his new pale skin to turn bright red by now. Flea's mood had certainly improved vastly since last night - he was back to his customary self, floating around with a very smug expression, and even managing to get into two different shouting matches with Ozzie already thas morning. Except that Flea's side was much more like screaming.

Slash sighed, but quietly, so no one else would hear. Ever since there was just the four of them left... Flea would no longer defer to anyone but Magus, which naturally made Ozzie quite furious. Now they were arguing over Flea's choice of costumes; even Magus had raised an eyebrow at some of them, but had made no comment other than to say they would do.

Their leader probably had no objections over his own disguise, that of an extremely handsome young man, but still with his own long blue hair. Slash was a fairly nondescript male, very tall but at least decent-looking. Ozzie, on the other hand, was still quite large, without any changes made to his face except to add short brown hair and lighten the skin. Of course he didn't seem too happy with that. And of course Flea had chosen the guise of a beautiful young woman.. or perhaps he was still meant to be a man? Slash wasn't sure for the moment.

Whatever the case was, they all wore dark clothing in order to blend in to the town better, except for Flea, who insisted on wearing a pure white dress - so maybe he was supposed to be female? - and a cape with a hood he had pulled up over his head as he stared defiantly back into Ozzie's angry face.

"Oh, be quiet. Magus says these are alright. And I'm just giving us looks to fit our personalities," he added as an afterthought, grinning wickedly. Any further objections Ozzie might have had were left unvoiced when Magus stepped forward to speak.

"Now. We all know what to do, don't we? There will be no more discussions or arguments about it then? Becasue we need to act as a unit here... our fate is riding on this. Well?"

The other Mystics looked at each other and nodded, the seriousness of the situation settling in a little. Slash grabbed Slasher's hilt firmly.

Whatever it takes to save us.. I'll do anything... I swear it.

* * * * *

It didn't take long to reach Dorino. The four remaining Mystics only flew to a few miles outside the town, walking the rest of the way to avoid attracting attention. So to all appearances, upon arrival they only seemed to be a small group of slightly dusty travelers, not a band of condemned Mystics. Which was perfect, of course.

Without much dialogue passing between them, the four separated into their groups, Slash and Flea heading to the left, while Ozzie and Magus hurried to the right.

Dorino was a small town, but there were many people either walking down it's streets or clustered around establishments and market stalls, talking, buying, selling. Slash glanced sideways at Flea as they walked. The other Mystic had grabbed onto his arm some time ago and was chattering away happily about something or other, but Slash really hadn't been paying much notice. Leaning down closer, he managed to catch the other's attention for a moment.

"Hey.. could I ask what you're doing?"

Flea looked at him as though he had lost his mind. "I'm acting normal. We don't want people to think we're.. not normal. This stupid street is so dusty, my pretty dress is getting all dirty," he fussed in conclusion.

Slash just shook his head tiredly. "Yes.. heaven forbid anyone think you're not normal, certainly." A few paces later, he looked down at his companion again. "We need to start looking. Maybe we could ask someone around here if there's a museum or a library or something nearby."

"Boring," Flea yawned.

"Well, you think of something then," Slash growled. Not waiting for a response, he began dragging Flea more quickly toward the first vendor he saw, Flea nearly tripping several times over the hem of his skirt on the way.

"S... Slash, slow down!" Slash ignored him. In his haste, he hadn't noticed that the stall he had randomly chosen sold candy, of all things. Pulling Flea up sharply behind him, he greeted the man quickly but as politely as he could manage before asking directions to any of the buildings they sought.

"Well..." the man began slowly, his messy brown hair sliding down over his dull brown eyes. "There's the Ruined Library, if you really want to know.. about half a mile down the street. It's off limits to the public, but.." The man trailed off as he noticed Flea, and his eyes lit up considerably. "My, what a pretty lady. Is she your wife?"

"Oh yes!" Flea spoke up quickly before Slash could say anything. "We were just married yesterday, isn't it wonderful? We're traveling through town on our honeymoon!" Flea gushed happily, clutching Slash's arm tightly all the while. As for Slash himself, he would have slapped his forehead, or maybe just Flea, if he had been able. Instead he tried to smile as pleasantly as possible, ending up looking more like he had just swallowed a rock.

"How sweet.. ah.. here." The man rummaged through his wares for a moment, finally coming up with a small bag that he offered to Flea. "Take this.. my way of saying congratulations on your special occasion.. and because you're such a pretty young woman," he explained, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh.. thank you!" Flea squealed before he started giggling insanely. With a vague statement of gratitude of his own, Slash finally managed to pull his companion away and they set off down the street, the smaller disguised Mystic eating contentedly from his bag of candy.

Slash shot him another sideways glance. "Was that really necessary?"

"What? I had to act the part of a traveler.. I think I did a good job. We make a cute couple anyway! Mmm.. and this candy is really good, do you want some?"

"No," Slash muttered irritably, beginning to walk faster. "Like I've said before, you'd better start keeping your mind on business."

Flea sighed, stuffing the bag into one of the deep pockets of his cloak. "I know, I know," was all he said as he hurried to catch up with Slash.

Within a few blocks they had reached they pile of dusty bricks the candy seller had called the "Ruined Library". Checking around for any sign of guards, Slash was finally satisfied there was no one. And why would there be? Who would wish to guard such a run-down, worthless building?

He led the way through heaps of stone blocks and smaller scattered stones to the largest part of the building which remained whole, Flea following somewhere behind, muttering a curse in which "infernal dust" were the only audible words. Fortunately, the doorway was still dinstinct against the wall, although it was crumbling away as well, the wooden doors it had undoubtedly had in years long past nowhere to be seen.

Flea wrinkled his nose in distaste as they entered, eyeing the scattered books and broken tables littering the floor with a sneer. "You'd think these people would take better care of the cultural part of their town than this," he sniffed, nudging a book that had been ripped clean in two with his boot. "How are we supposed to know if what we're looking for hasn't already been destroyed?"

"I don't know," Slash shrugged. "Just look at the titles of the books that are still left on the shelves, for a start. Maybe we'll find something useful." Glancing around, he took note of the way it looked as though the building's original layout seemed to be composed of a single central room, with five hallways branching off to end in other rooms, three of which were blocked off by huge piles of rubble. Slash frowned, hoping that what they needed wasn't in any of those three rooms.

Parting from Flea in order to search the two remaining rooms at the same time, Slash strode quickly down the bare hallway to stop and stare at the amount of books there really were left on the shelves. "This may take longer than I expected," he mumbled before setting to work at his daunting task.

* * * * *

The sun was descending in the sky, causing a beam of light from a crack in the wall to dance across Slash's face as he stood leafing through a book titled "Secrets of the Past". Disgusted, he finally put it back, the way he had done with countless others before. But he had managed to search this whole section, and the plan had been to meet up with Magus and Ozzie shortly after sunset. Wearily, he turned to head back down the hall in search of his companion in the other open room.

The pink-haired man was sitting in the remains of a chair at the remains of a table, staring hard at an open book before him. His otherwise flawless face was smudged here and there with dirt, showing just how absorbed he really was in his search. Of course, a life or death matter should be of much greater importance to Flea than the state of his makeup.

"It's almost time to go," Slash said loudly, trying to wrest the other Mystic's attention away from whatever it was he was reading. But Flea paid him no mind. "Sunset, remember?" Slash said even louder, becoming annoyed.

About to say more, he stopped short as Flea's pointed Mystic ears suddenly shot out, looking absurdly out of place with his human disguise. "I.. I found it!" he cried suddenly, still staring blankly at the pages of the book.

Quickly, Slash stepped forward to grip Flea's shoulder hard. "Flea! If you lose your focus, we lose our disguises! Get a hold of yourself!"

"O.. oh, yes," Flea murmured, closing his eyes tightly for a moment, his eyebrows drawing together in concentration. Slowly the pointed ears faded away again to be replaced by normal human ones.

"Now.. what did you find?" Slash asked calmly, not losing his hold on the other man's shoulder.

"The answer to all our problems," Flea stated simply, smiling up at him with eyes full of hope. "It says right here, see, that the device to change the past is right under the--"

Flea's soprano tone was suddenly cut off by one that was much more bass. And definitely not friendly. "Neither of you move. This building is off-limits to the public, so you'll be coming with us quietly now and spending a little time..."

Exactly where they would be spending their time was something the man never got a chance to say. The two disguised Mystics had bolted for the only exit left to them that was not blocked by what was apparently the town watch; that being a hole in the wall which was the result of several of the large blocks of stone having tumbled out.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Slash ran as fast as he could through the debris outside, heading for the relative safety of the darker alleys. The only problem was, Flea wasn't faring so well.

"Slash, wait! Wait, I can't.. Ooh, damn this stupid skirt!" he screamed, nearly pitching forward to land on his face.

With the sounds of pursuit growing louder behind them, Slash ran back to Flea, saying only, "Then don't hold this against me." He quickly grabbed the other man by the waist, lifting his slender body up and tossing him over his shoulder as easily as an empty sack. Steadying his squirming burden in place with both hands, Slash dashed off again, not much slower than before despite the extra weight.

"You want me to blast them with something?" Flea gasped out raggedly, being bounced up and down as Slash continued to run. "I could easily.."

"No, you idiot," his companion hissed. "How many humans can use magic? If you used it, they would know we aren't human. Save it for when we're desperate."

The shouts began to die away gradually as Slash reached the streets, ducking through so many alleyways that he was almost afraid he was lost. At last all was quiet and he stopped, breathing hard.

"Um.. Slash? Could you put me down now, at least? Not that I really mind where you've been keeping your hand, but.."

In spite of himself, Slash flushed an odd shade of red while picking Flea up again and setting him on his feet. Surely he hadn't been touching that the whole time...

The pink-haired man merely smiled a little, leaning slightly against Slash's shoulder as the swordsman slumped against the wall, trying to catch his breath. "We made it.. we escaped," he said softly, almost right in his companion's ear. "And now I know wh--"

For the second time that day, Flea was cut off mid-sentence, but this time it was by a sound, not a voice. A sound that came from both ends of the alley. The sound of boots against pavement stones.

Slowly the pair turned to either side, already knowing what they would see, already knowing there would be no escape this time. But the sight that met their eyes was not completely what they expected it to be.

For amidst the town watch members at the right side of the alley, Magus and Ozzie also stood, their hands tied together behind their backs. Slash stared in shock at their leader, who just nodded very slightly as if to say, "don't resist".

Understanding this, Slash put a hand on Flea's arm before he was able to say anything. The other Mystic seemed to understand now as well and stepped back again, yet the arm Slash still held trembled.

"I hope he knows what he's doing," Slash heard him mumble softly.