A big huge thank you and a virtual cookie go out to my truly divine beta-reader, CW. ^_^
1. At Death Peak
The next thing he remembered, frigid wind was blowing past his ears, and Marle's arms were thrown about him.
"Crono! Crono, oh my god..." Her face was burrowed into the nape of his neck and she was sobbing, even as she cast spell after spell over his battered form, healing the cuts and bruises and the bloody gash down his leg. "You're really alive..."
"Yeah... guess I am," he murmured absently in response, leaning back against the stunted little tree with an expression of mild, dismayed surprise.
But I was supposed to die.
He was alive. It didn't seem possible. He recalled all too well where he'd been just a few seconds ago: standing before Lavos and Queen Zeal, weary and shaking, gathering in magic for the spell of his life; feeling calm, and peaceful, and so very certain. He was going to go down fighting; he was going to save his friends, and that would be the end of things, and the world would be right again.
And now, inexplicably, he was sitting in the snow and cold, lying against a tree, and...he wasn't dead. He supposed he should be jumping for joy at this idea, but he couldn't quite seem to summon up enthusiasm for anything at the moment.
What just happened...?
He noticed as if watching from a distance as Marle stood up, pulling him with her; and he made himself smile reassuringly as Lucca rushed over, tears running down her face, and embraced him.
"I wasn't sure about this..." Lucca mumbled, pulling back, awkwardly rubbing at her wet cheeks with the palm of one hand. "But thank goodness it worked."
You weren't sure about what? he wondered absently, gaze wandering. Several feet down from where they were standing, he could see a slightly tattered red cloak and long azure hair flapping in the chilly wind. Their owner turned to look at him with a crimson gaze even colder than the uncaring gale.
"Magus!" A shadow of surprise flitted through his mind--He survived too?--followed by a detatched, intellectual wariness that could not quite be called hatred. Regardless of his designs against Lavos, Magus was no one to be trusted...and there was only one reason he would seek out the people who'd defeated him. Crono's hand moved toward the hilt of his katana.
Lucca and Marle turned to look down at the mage as well. There was awkward silence for a long moment, and perversely, Crono began to feel impatient.
"Are we waiting for something?" he muttered sarcastically.
The Magus's elvenlike ears twitched once, and his lips quirked upward slightly in an expression that might have been termed a smile, were not his eyes as cold and dead as ever.
"I'm on your side, boy," he called up, taking a few steps toward the summit. "I just saved your life."
"What're you--" Crono started forward with a scowl, but Lucca took firm hold of his shoulder.
"It's true, Crono. Magus is here to help."
"Without him," Marle added quietly, "we might never have found out how to bring you back."
"You're really serious." His tone was incredulous as he continued to keep his eyes on the approaching sorcerer.
"Yeah, we really are," Lucca murmured, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned away from him. "He wants to kill Lavos as much as we do. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that..."
Crono shook his head. "That's an awfully big gamble. How do you know you can trust him?"
Both girls stopped, and regarded his face silently for a moment. He was about to open his mouth and ask again when he realized that they were providing his answer.
"Oh, right," he murmured. "Me."
Marle stood awkwardly for a second more before suddenly reaching out and taking Crono's hand, a bright smile spreading across her features.
"C'mon, let's get out of here, huh? A lot's happened since you were gone... I've got so much to tell you...!"
It was a very long trip down the mountain. The cruel wind howled in his ears and bit at his extremities, and Marle's stream of happy chatter seemed never to cease. Lucca was no help in deterring the princess, as her only action was to trail behind Crono quietly, watching him with a grateful smile. This left Magus to guide them down the peak; he walked some feet ahead of the rest, leading the odd procession with an air of cool regality.
Crono still felt strangely detached, and it was with this air of a neutral observer that he noted how oddly beautiful Magus seemed as the sorcerer stood near Death Peak's exit, waiting for the other three to catch up. His sky-tinged hair rested about his head in a feathery, wind-blown mess, and he held his scythe with one end of the pole resting on his shoulder, blade dipping back behind him; half-dried gore clung to its surface, a souvenir of the battles necessary to get up and down the mountain. Magus was watching him expressionlessly, and he shivered slightly under the gaze of those eyes that were as scarlet and dead as spilled blood.
An angel of death, something whispered in his mind. He is a creature to beware.
But I was supposed to die. Why should I fear the Reaper?
The girls rushed ahead, Marle finally leaving his side now in her haste to get back to the Epoch; thus he was alone with his thoughts as he walked slowly over to the path leading out.
Magus turned to watch impassively as the girls climbed into their time machine. Lucca waved at them through the cockpit window and then took off.
"Where're they going?" Crono wondered aloud, watching as Epoch shot forward and disappeared from sight.
"To drop off the princess," murmured Magus. "Then Lucca will come back and retrieve us."
"They could've taken one of us with them."
"I don't think they want to leave anyone alone out here." His face held no expression, but there was a note of amusement in his voice as he added, "Not even myself, apparently."
"Yeah, that sounds like them, I suppose," Crono replied softly. There was silence for a while longer, and finally he turned a questioning gaze on Magus.
"So what's in this for you?"
"Hm?" The dead eyes glanced down at his face once more. "Elaborate, please?"
"Why are you helping us...helping me?" Crono's expression was challenging. "Why do you want to kill Lavos?"
"I helped to revive you because you are the glue that holds your little band together," the sorcerer answered matter-of-factly. "And as for Lavos... Vengeance, of course." He cocked his head in a questioning pose. "What other reason could there possibly be?"
"What other reason?" Crono snorted. "We're not out to get some kind of revenge on that thing. We just want to save the future."
Magus shook his head, and Crono was irritated to hear that faintly amused note in his voice again. "And thus, you are taking vengeance for the ruined lives of the future."
Crono opened his mouth to rebut that, but found he could not think of anything to say.
"You're an amusing little creature, boy," murmured the sorcerer half to himself, raising an eyebrow, as he looked back out toward the horizon. "With your hair and your foolish notions. I think... I am growing fond of you." He cocked his head slightly again, as though the thought was very surprising. "What a remarkable thing."
And then the whine of engines could be heard in the air, and Epoch was setting down to meet them again.
