CHAPTER TEN

"Um... was that supposed to happen?" asked Lucca as she made her way over to Marle to finally heal her.

"I have to find my mother," Crono blurted and ran up the stairs. In his room he found his mother tied up on the floor, Alfador chewing desperately at the ropes. Crono pushed the cat aside and untied his mother.

"Oh Crono, I'm so sorry!" she cried as she sat up. "There's an evil monster downstairs and, oh, your poor cats, your poor beautiful cats, it ate them all except for this purple one here. I don't know what to do!"

"We've defeated the evil monster," Crono comforted his distraught mother, hugging her close. "My friends magicked it to death, it's gone now and it... killed... Magus...? It can't have! Excuse me, I have to check on something." He raced downstairs again to try and work out what had happened.

"Where is Janus?" Schala was asking. "I haven't lost him again, have I? Oh! Alfador!" The cat had followed Crono down the stairs and now rushed over to her, purring. She picked it up gently.

"Is Magus dead?" asked Marle quietly. She didn't really like him too much but she honestly didn't want him to be dead either.

"He can't be," Lucca responded. "Frog is still a frog."

"You do have a point," agreed Crono. "But he wasn't really defeated as such..."

"Janus lives still," Schala announced. "Barely, but enough."

"Lucca's Magus-finder," suggested Frog. "Could we no use that to locate hum?"

"Too late," sneered Flea, getting easily to his/her feet. "I don't know where he is but he can't be in a very good condition. After all, that nasty zap the Monster gave him must have hurt."

They stared at Flea and Crono asked, "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying the Monster may have killed him but I sent him away," replied Flea, eyes flashing maliciously. "I said I'd try to kill him. Thanks for the opportunity. What- did you really think I'd work with you out of the goodness of my heart?" The last four words were said with a sneer. "I'll be going now," he/she said arrogantly and turned to leave.

"Stop right there," Lucca ordered, raising her gun. "Stop, or I'll shoot."

"You don't scare me," Flea laughed.

"Damn you, I will shoot you!" Lucca's voice shook, probably with anger.

Frog drew the Masamune. "Halt, Flea, or I shalt halt thee."

Marle readied her bow. "If you don't come back here right now, I'll shoot you too."

Crono reached for the Swallow. "I'm with the rest of the group."

Robo added, "I will stop you too."

"Flea bad to Magus?" Ayla demanded. "Ayla bad to Flea!"

Schala put her threat in. "I would break my vow of pacifism to hurt you should Janus be in trouble. Don't give me an excuse to lose my temper."

With a sigh Flea turned. "What do you want me to do?"

"Where did you send Magus?" Lucca asked.

Flea hesitated and everyone with a weapon readied it a bit more. Flea sighed again and said sullenly, "I sent him to Ozzie. It was the first place I thought of."

"And what," asked Lucca in quiet and dangerous tones, "would Ozzie do to him?"

Flea shrugged. "I honestly don't know. The Monster might have killed him, you know."

"I think it's time we paid Ozzie a visit," said Crono softly. "And Flea is coming with us."

"Is your mother all right?" Robo asked Crono. "Should someone stay behind and look after her?"

"Alfador shouldn't come either," Schala decided, putting him down.

"I will look after Alfador," announced Robo.

"Ayla take care of Crono mother!" declared Ayla and raced up the stairs to do so.

"Right." Crono rubbed his hands together. "Let's go."

Crono sat in the driver's seat, Marle on his lap, Lucca and Schala on either side holding Flea in the middle and Frog on the back, in the seat Lucca had recently added. They flew to Ozzie's Fort and stormed in, drawing their weapons.

There was no-one there.

Slightly annoyed they went from room to room. No Ozzie, no Magus, and with each room they found empty Flea's smug grin grew. "Maybe you're too late," Flea suggested. "Maybe Ozzie killed him."

"I won't believe that," snapped Lucca, throwing open another door. Beyond was Ozzie.

"Hallo hallo hallo," grinned Ozzie. "Have you lost your wizard? You'll not be getting him back. Not without a fight!"

Crono Luminaired him and accidentally also hit a switch, one which opened the floor under their feet. The last thing they heard as they fell was Ozzie's evil laughter. With mutual sighs they walked all the way up again.

"You back?" demanded Ozzie. "Oh well, I'll just have to kill you anyway." From nowhere a cat fell down and hit a switch. "No, not that one-" cried Ozzie as the floor opened under him. He fell; they listened for the crash.

"He never gives up, does he?" remarked Marle, shaking her head.

"Where's Magus?" Lucca asked. "We've kind of defeated Ozzie, shouldn't we be getting Magus back now?"

The five spread out carefully, checking the dark and gloomy room but finding no cloaked, long-haired evil wizards. Marle was just walking along when she tripped over. "Is there a problem?" demanded Crono, trying to see through the darkness.

"No, but I think I fell over Magus," Marle answered. The others came over for a look.

"I can't see a thing in this blackness," Lucca complained. "Anyone have some wood? No? Right, I'll try something else." She turned one way, then the other, and stopped when the circle of fire rose around her lighting the room somewhat.

"Thanks!" responded Crono and, kneeling next to Magus, checked to see if the wizard was still alive. "Are you sure this is Magus?"

"He's not wearing a cloak, but who else would he be?" replied Marle.

"Well, I can't really see the colour of his hair, but... true, who else could it be? I mean, you don't tend to find innocent travellers in a place such as this." Crono still couldn't see the face of the person properly, but it had to be Magus. "I don't know..."

"What are you on about?" demanded Lucca. "He's still alive- isn't he?"

Crono shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not a healing person."

With a sigh Marle shoved him out of the way and instantly understood why Crono had been talking about Magus' hair. Ozzie had cut most of it off. He didn't appear to be breathing and Marle told them so.

"I don't believe you," Lucca announced and moved as if she'd check for herself.

"Oh, what do you know about healing people? Wait..." Marle thought about it and admitted cheerfully, "Most likely more than me. Oh well. I can just Life2 him, which is what I always do when someone dies."

She put her hands together and closed her eyes, her hair lifted by an unseen force. Pretty blue sparkles settled on Magus and as they faded he sat up.

"Ow," was his first remark.

Lucca just remembered to extinguish the flames before she hugged him. "It was all our fault! We let Flea join our group without questioning it too much. I'm sorry! No-one's ever going to take you away again. Even if I have to follow you everywhere."

"Um... good. Could you let me go now, please?"

"What? Oh- okay." She let him go and leaned back. "He cut your hair."

"It'll grow."

Marle took Crono's arm and dragged him casually back a few steps. She whispered to him, "Did you notice?"

"Notice what?" Crono replied, equally quietly.

"When I touched him when we rescued him the first time, he went psycho, but when Lucca touched him he just asked nicely if she'd let go."

Crono pondered this and came up with, "You touched him?"

"Crono!" Marle complained loudly.

"What happened to Ozzie?" Magus queried.

Marle explained the 'battle', adding, "What happened to you?"

"I don't know," Magus shrugged. "I was zapped by a nasty monster and now I'm here. My hands hurt."

Lucca took one to study it. "Ow! Are you crazy?" Magus snapped, jerking it back. "I said it hurt! That doesn't mean you get to poke it!"

"Shut up," Lucca retorted. "If it hurts, it's good for you." She grabbed his hand again, ignoring his protest, then let it go to grab the other. "Yep, thought so, they're broken."

"Oh." He lifted a hand to look at it. "He broke my fingers? That was nasty. Oh well."

"Why are you not concerned about this?" Marle asked him.

"About what? Oh, this?" Magus shrugged again. "I'll get angry about it soon. Just wait. I think I'm still half-asleep. Or in a state of shock, or something."

"Well, if you drop by my house, I'm sure I can do something about it," declared Lucca cheerfully, so off they went.