AUTHOR'S NOTE- Warning! Warning! Plot hole ahead! Just... just keep 'poetic licence' (even though this isn't a poem) in mind and proceed with caution....

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Crono took Lucca, Magus and Schala off to Lucca's house. All four of them walked in.

"Hey Lucca!" Taban greeted his daughter cheerfully. "Who are you two?"

"This is Schala and her brother, um... Janus," Lucca introduced them.

As always, Taban was very straightforward. "Are you twins?"

"I'm older," Schala told him. "Um... we just look the same age. Because. We do."

"Where are you from?" Taban queried.

"Twelve thousand BC," Schala replied.

"Zeal," was Magus' answer.

"Choras," Lucca told them all firmly. "You can't believe anything these two tell you, they're always making up stories... Janus broke his hands, and we need to do something about it."

"Oh, that's a bit sad. How did you manage to do that?" Taban asked him.

"I was... um, running around in the Northern Ruins and I fell over," Magus invented somewhat desperately.

"Are they ruined again? Someone really should take greater care of that place," sighed Taban, shaking his head. "So, Lucca, do you have anything planned?"

"I'll just make it up," answered Lucca cheerfully. "Come on."

"I'm not going to be experimented on! Get someone else!" Magus protested. "Crono won't mind!"

"Okay Crono, break your fingers and we'll see what we can do," Lucca instructed.

"I'll break them for him," Magus offered.

"I don't like this plan," said Crono nervously, hiding his hands behind his back.

"Janus, stop being such a wimp," Schala instructed. "I'm sure Lucca knows what she's doing."

"Of course I do," Lucca insisted with indignation. "I always know what I'm doing. Okay... now, what should I try first?" she wondered to herself. "I know, we need some cold water."

"Cold water? I hate the cold!" Magus protested.

Lucca sent Crono out with a bucket to get some water from the sea. She put it on the bench and said, "There, put your hands in that."

"No way! They'll freeze!"

"That's the point," Lucca said matter-of-factly. "They have to freeze, because otherwise I'll hurt you even more."

"I don't care. I'd rather be in agony than be cold," Magus replied icily.

Schala dragged him across the room and dumped his hands in the water. "If I can get used to the cold, you can too!"

"You're all out to get me!" Magus wailed.

"We're all out to help you," Lucca corrected. "Just leave them in there for about ten minutes and..."

"Ten minutes? I'll get frostbite! Then I won't have any hands!"

"It's not that cold," Crono pointed out.

"Everything is cold!" Magus replied.

They ignored him for a while although he complained continuously and asked every thirty seconds if ten minutes had passed yet. Finally he decided he couldn't take it any more and walked over to them. "I think my hands are numb!"

"That's what was meant to happen," Lucca replied. "Now, I was thinking, and I may have an idea." She wandered around the house for a while, gathering the kinds of things she needed, and returned to them. "Hold out a hand. Either one, it doesn't matter."

He obliged. "What are you doing?" he queried curiously as she worked.

"Well, your fingers have to heal straight," she explained. "I'm just keeping them in place. You'll have to be careful with them." She yanked on the bandage.

"Ow!"

"Guess you didn't keep your hands in there for long enough," she noted with a slight smile. "Here, give me your other hand."

"It didn't really hurt," he insisted. "Just an unintentional 'ow' of surprise, you know, when someone does something that should hurt but doesn't really and you just act like it hurts anyway and OUCH-"

"Next time, we make the water colder," she decided. "That should do it. You won't be able to do a whole lot for a while, but you'll get used to it. We'll help you."

"Oh, lovely," he responded sarcastically. "Have you finished hurting me now? Not that it actually hurt, but-"

"Give it up," Schala advised. "Thanks for the lend of your house, um... Mr. Lucca."

"Taban," Taban told her with a smile. "And you're welcome. Please call again!"

Crono dropped them off at the End of Time and returned for the others. "Flea ran off!" Marle told him as soon as he arrived. "I don't know where... it... went, but it's gone."

"We'll keep an eye out for- it, but don't worry too much about the incident," Crono replied cheerfully. He took them back to the End of Time too before returning to his house for Ayla, Robo and Alfador. Robo had very kindly disposed of the 'cat casserole'. Crono made sure his mother was okay, stole Catalack from the Millennial Fair to keep her company, and returned to the End of Time. They did the whole 'have a chat and not do a whole lot' thing, which seemed customary these days.

As Crono was explaining, Lucca went over to Magus. "Can you move your fingers?"

He tried. "No."

"Good. You won't be able to point at anyone for a while but you'll get over it." She hesitated, unsure of how to phrase her next sentence. "Thanks for saving me from the Monster."

"Saving you?" he sneered. "I would never even try! I tripped over my cloak, that's all. Why would I save you?" He stalked off to go and talk to Schala.

"You saved her intentionally, didn't you?" Schala asked him softly.

Magus nodded slightly. "It seemed to be the only thing to do at the time," he responded in an equally quiet tone. "These people must be having a good influence on me."

"We found Alfador," she remembered and handed him the cat.

"Alfador!" exclaimed the evil wizard delightedly, holding the cat somewhat awkwardly. He looked at Schala suspiciously. "Is this the real Alfador? You've brought no other little friends from Zeal?"

"As far as we know, this is the real Alfador," Schala replied.

Meanwhile, Marle went to talk to Lucca. Magus' denial of having saved her had been deliberately loud enough for everyone to overhear. "You okay?"

Lucca nodded cheerfully. "I had to know either way. If he'd told me he had intentionally saved me I'd have been a bit worried. I mean, he is Magus."

"You don't really have to pretend. Crono and I have already worked it out."

"You mean you've jumped to conclusions," Lucca corrected. She glanced at Magus, "It's a pity Ozzie had to cut his hair short. Now I can't do anything to it."

"Oh, it's not that short." Now it ended just below his ears. Ozzie was not a hairdresser, so it was jagged and uneven.

"I'll trim it properly for him later. What happened to his cloak?"

"Maybe Ozzie stole it," Marle suggested. "We should get him a new one."

Lucca laughed. "What, for his birthday?"

As casually as possible Crono wandered over and sat down. Marle and Lucca sat down too. "Hey," Crono greeted them cheerfully then lowered his voice. "It's really hard to get any privacy around here, isn't it? I overheard you talking, and I think that although it may seem strange, it's a really good idea."

"What is?" asked Marle blankly.

"We should give Magus a birthday party. I mean, parties always make you happy, right?"

Lucca pointed out the most obvious flaw. "We don't know when his birthday is."

"But Schala would," declared Crono triumphantly.

"It might have already passed."

"Then... we'll... have a party anyway. By your comments, I'd think you didn't want him to be happy!"

"Keep it down!" interjected Marle nervously. "We don't want him to find out about it."

"Right, Lucca, you get him away from Schala. I'll ask." Crono leapt to his feet and bounced away.

"Get him away from Schala?" repeated Lucca in disbelief. "How, exactly?"

"Offer to fix up his hair," suggested Marle.

"Good plan." She went over to bother him. "Hey Magus, I think your hair needs neatening. I could do it now, if you like."

"I'm not letting you anywhere near me with anything sharp," was Magus' suspicious response.

"Um, there's a really good place in Truce." She hadn't heard of one but she was sure she could find one. "I'll pay. Come on!"

"But I was talking to Schala," protested Magus.

"Not any more." She took the cat away, put Alfador down, grabbed his arm and dragged him off to the Epoch.

Marle suddenly realised and hurried to Crono. "Well, you managed to get Magus away so you can talk to Schala, but do you know what else we've done?"

Crono thought. "Oh, man! She took him off somewhere and there's no-one else with them. I didn't know she was going to take him away. Wait- she had to get him out, because otherwise he'd overhear. Damn! Oh well, too late." He wandered over to Schala. "When is Magus' birthday?"

She gave him a very strange look but she answered. "In two days. Why?"

"We're planning to have a surprise party for him. And give him a cloak. We have to find one... we'll get there."

"When are you going to have it? I mean, which era?"

"Um..." He considered. "Prehistoric Age, perhaps? Now, how can we make it a surprise?"

"You'll have to prepare it. Why don't you say Ayla was homesick so she can go home for a while, and Robo can go too. Just because. Maybe tomorrow you can send, um... me definitely, maybe Frog, and Marle. Marle can return when we're ready, say we're in trouble, and everyone will run off and save us. But... are you entirely sure about this?"

"Does Magus like surprise parties?"

"He was eight when I knew him. He was a little antisocial then, but he still liked parties."

"That's good then," said Crono cheerfully. "What if we can't find a cloak?"

"We'll make one," sang Marle. "No-one can sew, I don't think so anyway, but we'll get by."

"Or we can make my mother do it," suggested Crono. "She likes sewing and housework and all of that stuff."

Marle gestured the others closer. "Everyone start planning, we have a party to prepare!"