5. Son of Sun

"...There's a very special stone that can shine its light on each generation, from the distant past to the far future..."


"What in the world is this place...!?"

"You've got me there," Lucca mumbled, looking up toward the dim reaches of the arched ceiling. "But the architecture... This looks like..."

"The Ocean Palace," Magus finished quietly.

Crono sighed tensely, eyes flitting back and forth between the dark corners of the area as he took a few more steps into the room, one hand ready at the hilt of his katana. "Yeah. I noticed."

Lucca pulled her gun from its holster, and glanced toward Magus. "So... Any idea what's going on here?"

"How in the world should I know?" came the flat reply. The sorcerer frowned slightly, pausing for a second. "There is a great deal of magical power concentrated inside here. That's all I can tell."

"Lovely." Lucca grimaced. Without further words, she started slowly up the stairs toward the platform at the room's center.

The chamber was silent, save for the click of Lucca's steps on the metallic tiles. Crono drew his sword, taking a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. Magus watched impassively as the young scientist ascended.

Crono glanced toward the wizard with a scowl. "Aren't you gonna take out your weapon?"

A long moment passed as scarlet eyes met blue ones, and Crono fought to keep from fidgeting under the sorcerer's gaze. Finally, eyebrows raised, Magus remarked, "I fail to understand why you're so nervous. You should calm yourself."

"Easier said than done--"

"But for the sake of your peace of mind," continued Magus, the barest hint of sarcasm in his tone, "I'll gladly comply." He reached out into the air with one gloved hand. The space around it seemed somehow to blur for a moment, and when it righted itself, the scythe was resting in his grasp. "The fact that I could cast a spell in half the time it takes to swing this blade notwithstanding."

"Can't kill everything with magic alone," Crono muttered, turning away.

"Hey, guys!"

Crono gave a start as Lucca shouted down from the center platform. She stood rigidly, her gun held out to one side, warily regarding what stood before her.

"What is it?" he asked her, walking toward the edge of the platform he stood on. "We can't really see with you standing up there. From here it just looks like a big floating ball."

"Same here," she called down, not taking her eyes off the thing. "Except that-- AAAAHH! OH, GOD!" She jumped back in horror, just missing the edge of the stairs, as the orb opened up to reveal what Crono could now see was a larger-than-life representation of an eye.

"A giant eyeball," Magus observed disinterestedly. "That's different."

"Lucca!" Crono's grip tightened on the hilt of his sword. "Is it alive?"

"Um..." Lucca took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, as she walked forward a couple of steps. "I'm not sure, but... Well, it's not blinking or anything..." Slowly, she approached it again.

"U-um... Nice Mr. Eyeball..."

Hesitantly, she reached out, and nudged it at the center with one finger.

"EERRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARH!"

"Oh, shit!" Lucca turned tail and ran down the stairs, the creature following her with more angry shrieks.

"You poked it in the eye! Why the hell did you poke it in the eye!?" Crono shouted as he and Magus each sprang to one side of the platform, taking battle stances.

"Where else could I have poked it?!?!" Lucca snapped, turning to join them with her gun leveled at the thing.

It stopped in the center of the platform. The creature let out another earsplitting screech as a column of flame shot up around it, coalescing into balls of fire that began to bob up and down, rotating around the eye slowly.

"Crap..." Crono stared incredulously. "There's no way I can get at it through that!"

"Perhaps we should attack the flames directly," Magus mused.

"Are you crazy?!"

"We're about to find out." A grim smile flitted across the sorcerer's face as he flew toward the creature, whirling around to thrust his scythe's blade straight through the center of one of the fireballs. The eye winced and spat a bolt of fire at Magus--the sorcerer dodged with a graceful backflip, landing next to Crono's side.

"Hey, it worked!" said Lucca, surprised. "Maybe we should--woah!" She ducked and rolled to avoid another barrage of flames from the creature.

"Maybe we should keep our minds on the battle," Crono admonished her mildly. "Guys, let's concentrate our attacks on one flame at a time!" He leaped forward to slash at the same fireball, and was rewarded as it began to crackle and flicker. The flame swung at him, but he ducked backward and countered with an underhanded slash that caused it to vaporize completely. The creature screamed.

"All right!" He grinned and prepared to strike at the next one. From behind him he could hear Lucca's gun going off, and a flame nearby splintered into small glowing pieces. The eye roared in pain and rage and flung itself at the nearest target--Crono.

"Watch it, boy!" Magus jumped whirling into the fray, fending the creature off.

"I can take care of myself!" Crono growled, slashing at the flames and receiving a few blasts of fire in return.

"Then do so," the sorcerer countered, rending another fireball in two. The eye continued to shriek, and Lucca pounded round after round into a single flame. Crono finished it with one powerful thrust, and she started on another.

"Plenty of room to work with now," the young swordsman observed, taking a few steps backwards. "Better move outta the way, Magus! Confuse!!" He shot toward the eye with a flip through the air, landing to perform a series of slashes so quick it was impossible to discern them all. The eyeball screamed in protest, its vital fluids flying through the air as Crono darted back and forth too fast for it to see, attacking from all directions. The remaining flames converged on him and he ended the assault, quickly backflipping to avoid their attacks until he was next to his two companions. Lucca fired rounds into the group until they backed off, returning to their positions around the eye.

"Phew." Crono was breathing heavily. "I think that about did it. If that stuff is blood, then it's definitely gonna bleed to death, at any rate."

The eyeball blinked.

Magus glanced toward the young man. "Perhaps. But we still shouldn't let our guard--"

"SHIT!" Lucca dove for the floor. "GET DOWN, YOU GUYS!!"

Magus whirled around. "What are--" Crono tackled him, sending both tumbling to the ground just as a white-hot beam of light shot from the eye's pupil, sweeping the area. It exploded against the far wall and left a black, charred trench in the metal.

"Now who needs to watch it, huh?" Crono glared down at the sorcerer.

"Get off me," Magus replied, face impassive as ever.

Crono clambered up, reaching for his fallen sword. "Yeah, you're welcome for saving your life."

"Consider us even." Magus propped himself up with his scythe and rose, turning to face the enemy.

"Okay," Lucca growled as she rose, leveling her gun at the eye once again. "I'm getting just a little tired of you, and I think it's time to finish this fight!" She held down the trigger and sent a steady stream of fire straight into the center of the bloodied eye.

"I think you're doing it, Lucca!" Crono held his sword at the ready.

"Right!" She continued to fire at the creature, whose screams rose to a painful pitch. Lucca gritted her teeth and kept her hands firmly on the gun's handle. "Why don't you just die already?! You big, stupid--"

With a last despairing shriek, the eye exploded.

* * *

Lucca groaned.

"This. Is really. Disgusting."

Magus brushed some of the glop that had formerly been the Son of Sun from his face, expression unfazed as always. "You'll live. Wipe off your glasses and let's continue."

"Marle's gonna be glad she stayed at the End of Time when she hears about this." Crono pulled absently on a strand of hair hanging in front of his eyes, now wet with goop and ichor. "Was there anything else up those stairs?"

"I don't know! I was too busy getting chased by a giant eyeball!"

"Geez, don't get hysterical!"

Magus started up the stairs. "We should go investigate further, then."

Lucca thrust her gun back into its holster and climbed up after him, trying to wipe the slime from her clothing. After a moment, Crono followed.

"By the way," she murmured, turning her head slightly as she glanced toward him, "glad to see you're getting back to normal."

He blinked up at her. "Huh?"

She gave him a small smile. "That fight was just about like old times. Except with Magus saving your ass instead of me."

His lips quirked in return. "Hah. I probably saved you twice for every time you helped me out."

"Did not!" She laughed.

"You two. Look."

The pair reached the top of the platform to find Magus waiting for them, gesturing toward a pedestal next to the far wall. The group walked over to examine what sat on top of it: an orb the size of an infant's head, blue-black and opalescent.

"It's beautiful," breathed Lucca.

Magus looked mildly surprised.

"It's... the Moon Stone."

"Oh!" Lucca quickly wiped her hands as best she could on her soiled vest, and reached out to pick up the orb.

"There's all sorts of things I could do with this, if we could charge it up into a Sun Stone..."

Crono's tone was dubious. "And how, exactly, would we do that?"

Frowning, the young inventor glanced toward Magus. "How was it done back in Zeal? Do you know?"

"It was placed inside the Sun Keep and left to sit there for millenia. But there is no longer a Sun Keep, as you'll recall," he murmured, turning his gaze away.

Crono looked at Lucca. Lucca looked at Crono.

"Yes." She grinned, glancing down at the orb resting in her hands. "Yes, actually, there is."