Chapter One - An Easy Way Out
The purple cat sat on the girl's chest, peering down at her through equally violet eyes. It smiled, leaned down, and licked the girl's face.
She awoke, startled, and sat up quickly, the cat thrown off of her. The girl looked around, eyes wide, until she spotted the disgruntled cat. Giggling, she scooped him up into her arms, and cuddled him close.
"Aww, I'm sorry, Alfador," Crystal said. She gave another giggle and put the purple fuzzy feline onto her bed, getting up to stretch.
Stifling a yawn, Crystal searched through her drawers, and took out a pair of brown pants and a blue long sleeved shirt. She quickly pulled them on and reached for her waitress' apron that was draped over a chair. She put it on over her head, tieing the back.
Crystal hopped back onto her bed beside the cat, and reached for her boots.
Alfador made his way onto the girl's shoulder as she finished.
"Waitress duty today."
Alfador mewed in distaste.
"Hey, it's better than kitchen duty." She said with a sigh. Long blue hair was tied up in a ponytail.
"Let's go raid the kitchen for breakfast," suggested Crystal. The purple ball of fluff mewed a response. "Alrighty then." So the girl with the blue hair, (a sign of being an enlightened one) and the purple cat headed out of their room and into the bustling kitchen.
The head cook, a tall man called Lester, spotted them as the entered. He grinned and steered the two to a table that was placed by the inn door, which was used as a table for employee's off-duty. Saying a quick "Good morning," he hurried off.
Lester was back in a matter of minutes with a plate of eggs for Crystal, and a bowl of cream for Alfador. The cook winked and went back to work.
Crystal smiled in appreciation, and started eating her breakfast. The cat had already started licking his down.
The Zeal Princess quickly scarfed down her own breakfast, then carried her and Alfador's dishes to the sink.
She hurried into the main part of the inne.
"Morning," Marie, the inn-kepper greeted from behind a counter. Marie was the jolly, round sort of person who loved to serve and help, and was extremely fond of the girl and her cat.
Crystal aimed a smile her way and ran over. "Good morning!" she replied cheerfully.
"You'll have the right half today. Felix will take care of the rest," Marie told her, handing the girl a pad and a pen.
Crystal nodded, and made her way over to a table where a couple had just sat down.
"Good morning. Are you ready to order?" said asked with a smile. They answered good morning, and went on to ordering.
"I'll have two eggs, scrambled, with a piece of toast on the side," replied the man.
Crystal pushed a rebellious strand of hair behind an ear and wrote the order down.
"I'll have the same," the woman finally said.
Crystal nodded, jotting it down as well, and headed off to the kitchen, dropping the order onto a pile.
The whole morning went pretty much the same.
By the afternoon, things were getting to be very busy. She was returning from the kitchen when Alfador mewed and hopped off of Crystal's shoulder.
"Alfador, hey, come back!" she called after the cat. Crystal sighed, and went after him. The fuzzy purple feline was sitting on a table, being petted by a cloaked figure.
Alfador seemed to know the person, and actually liked him or her. That was odd, for Alfador had only liked four people: Janus, Schala, Crystal, and oddly enough, the Prophet. Perhaps...
"Excuse me," she said. "But I'm sorry about my cat. He usually doesn't so such things."
The man looked up.
Crystal gasped, recognizing him.
"Prophet!" She exclaimed, looking over the man.
"Hello girl. What are you doing here?" He said somewhat sourly, looking as if he didn't want to see her. A look of disgust was on his face.
"I live and work here," she stated rather arrogantly, glaring at him.
The prophet chuckled.
"Proud of this place? Heh." A faint and bitter grin showed on his face.
This grin quickly faded quickly. "Do you, by any chance, know what happened to your dear cousin?"
There was an odd glint in his eye, she just couldn't place what it meant...
"Janus got sucked through a portal. You saw that yourself." She said, snickering.
"No. Schala. What happened to her?" The man demanded. Crystal looked at him suspiciously.
He had a nervous look about him.
"Why do you want to know...?" the girl asked.
"Because I do, you pathetic little brat! You're going to tell me what you know, do you understand? If you don't, I'll force it out of you," he was suddenly very angry.
Crystal just rolled her eyes.
Alfador rubbed his head against the man's hand, as if to say "It's all right, be calm!" He petted the purple fluffball back in appreciation, before standing.
She sneered, eyeing the cat, and replied, "I'll meet you at the cape in a half an hour."
The Prophet shook his head, apparently not buying what she was saying. "I don't trust you. You better show up and give me my information, or else! Don't be late," were his last words before he turned swiftly and slipped out.
Alfador mewed and hopped back onto Crystal's shoulder. "How daft can he get... Like he could beat Zeal royalty!" she spit after he left, and shook her head.
After helping another table, the princess made her way over to Marie.
"Hey! I was... uh... wondering if I can have a couple hours off?" She asked, hope showing in her voice. She gave her *best* puppy-dog eyes.
"Fine," the plump woman said.
Crystal smiled and started to turn.
"If you take laundry duty tonight," Marie added.
Crystal cringed at that, replying, "All right." She hated laundry duty.
The inne-keeper grinned, knowing her weak spots.
"Now run along, you've got the rest of the day off, girl."
Crystal thanked her, and hurried to her room.
She threw off her apron and grabbed the staff made of oak (topped off with a polished ball of dreamstone) that Melchior had made for her.
Alfador watched her do this from his usual spot on her bed, mewing occasionally. She beckoned the cat to come to her, and made her way to the door, the cat following loyally behind her.
The girl made her way out through the kitchen, into the crisp afternoon breeze. She slowly started to the cape, looking into store windows on the way.
A crimson cloth wristband caught her eye in an armor shop. Knowing the she had time, Crystal made her way into the store. She picked up the bracelet, examining it.
"Ah, I see you are interested in the speed bracelet. It increases your speed in battle. A bargain, only 50 GPS," said a voice from behind her.
The girl spun around. Behind her was a Nu.
"Do you wish to buy it?" He asked.
Crystal nodded, taking out the amount of money he said, and handed it to him.
"Happy battles!" The Nu commented, and went over to help another customer.
Crystal went back outside and put the speed bracelet on. She felt a surge of power for a second, but it faded away. With a smile, she went back to her walk to the cape.
She was absently twirling the staff in her hand when she reached the her destination.
Like the Prophet said he would, he was waiting at the cliff, facing the sea. His cape flapped in the wind, giving him an ominous appearence.
"You have come," he said lightly, clutching his scythe. He turned, and threw off his cloak. Underneath was the same armor he had worn when he had first come to Zeal.
"If you were a real Prophet," Crystal proclaimed, "you would've already known that I would've come. And you would also know where Schala is."
The man snickered. "Well, the cat's out of the bag now." Alfador padded over to him, and rubbed against his leg. A smile touched his face for a second, and he picked the cat up. His face set into its normal grim expression. "Now tell me what you know."
Crystal glared at him. "I know nothing. If I did, I wouldn't be stuck here. Don't you think I want to find her too? And why do you want to find her, to get her to help you in some twisted plan? I want to find Janus too!"
At the name Janus, the man flinched.
"I see. I think it's time I revealed who I really am... I mean, was." He sighed, pulling out a pendant from his armor. "I am Janus."
This was a bit too much for the girl. She was about the speak out to say that he was lying, but then it suddenly made sense. She stumbled back a bit. There had always been something about the Prophet that had reminded her of her cousin. That was how he knew everything that had happened, he had been there when they happened!
"B...but, how did you get back to this time!?"
Janus grinned. "So you figure that out. You always where the clever one. Though I'm disappointed that you don't know about time gates as well."
Crystal eyes opened wide. "But I do!" She exclaimed, "I'm going to make one so I can go find Schala! I just don't know who to focus it so I can get through them..."
The fake Prophet grinned was more. "Impressive." He took out an object and tossed it to her. It looked like a metal flower, that was purple and green. "This is a key," he explained, "it'll allow you to use gates to transport yourself between time."
He didn't know why he was helping her... He just felt this strong urge to. "I'll search this time. You search the others."
The Magus couldn't believe he was doing this. But the girl was strong, although she was a little younger than his companions Crono and the others.
Maybe she could befriend them or their children, if she went to the right times. And if he ever wanted to go through time, well, he had his ways.
The girl caught it. "I will! Thank you, Janus!" She ran over to him and gave him a BIG hug.
Magus pushed the excited girl away, repulsed and muttering.
"You should be getting back to work. I'll walk you there." He was being oddly friendly. Perhaps it was because Crystal was his only remaining family, and the closest thing he had to his sister.
Alfador, who had been watching all of this from afar now, ran up to his owner, and hopped onto the family place of Janus's shoulder. Smiling, the two set off.
Many things were racing through Crystal's mind, but first thing was first. She would finish the day, pack, and tomorrow morning, she would head for the end of time, and start her quest to find Schala.
But what she didn't know, that her quest would end up being far more important than finding her cousin. It would be very long and difficult, indeed. And so, her cat back with its owner, Crystal and Magus turned and walked down the cape.
And so the adventure started.