Chapter 2: Chronological Confusion
The name 'Jack', Marle thought, did not fit him well. It was the…what was that word again? The antithesis of the person who bore it. Then again, he had said that he was 'called' Jack, so it couldn't be his real name. Marle knew all about using fake names. But why use an alias like 'Jack,' when there were so many better names to choose from?
She was probably the only one worrying about it. "Nice to meet you, Jack," she said. "Umm…can you please tell us where we are? We're sort of lost. We didn't mean to come here but…" she jerked her thumb in the direction of the Epoch. "You get the idea."
Jack shook his head. "I am afraid I cannot answer that question. I am not familiar with this place myself." He looked up at the sky. "In any case, we cannot stay here. It is dangerous – Aku will surely send more of his drones after you."
"Aku? Who is that?" Lucca asked.
Jack's eyebrows shot up. Then his brow furrowed in thought. After a few moments he spoke. "I will explain everything, but not here. We must find a safe place. Perhaps in the forest?"
Crono nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Let's get our stuff together." He went to get his backpack and started looking around for those pieces of equipment that had been scattered during the fight. Marle, who trusted Crono's judgment in these matters, followed suit. Lucca was unable to find her pack at first, and Jack helped her search. After a few minutes he found it and gave it to her. He also picked up his straw hat, which he had left hanging on a nearby tree.
After that, they set off into the woods, with Jack leading the way. Lucca took a last look at the Epoch before following them into the trees.
"I hope we can find some fuwhoop!" she exclaimed as she slipped on something. Marle managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
"One thing at a time," Crono said. "Let's just focus on not getting killed first. Watch your step," he advised.
There was no more talking for a while after that, as they were too busy trying to make their way along. The sun dipped below the horizon and the shadows grew. Though the moon was nearly full, it did them little good under the canopy of leaves. Lucca turned on the lamp attached to her helmet so that they could see, but Jack shook his head at her and she put it out. Perhaps he was afraid it would attract attention.
"But how are we going to stay together?" she protested.
Marle gave it some thought. "I know. We have some rope in the packs, let's use that." She walked over to Crono, who turned around so that she could get a coil of climbing rope out of his pack. Jack tied one end around his waist. Lucca did the same a little further along its length. Crono was next, and Marle was last. The rope presented its own problems, getting tangled in brambles and twigs along the way, but it was better than being lost. Well, they were lost already; lost and alone, then.
They traveled for many hours, until the moon was high overhead. Marle was getting tired – she had had an unpleasant encounter with almost every object in her path, tripping on some things, getting scratched by others, and colliding with the occasional tree. But she didn't complain. She could take a little roughing up.
After a while, she started to see strange things in the shadows, out of the corners of her eyes. She could here them whispering and laughing and singing in the back of her head…
Marle tripped and collapsed on the ground. When she tried to get up again, she wasn't able to.
"We have to stop," she heard Crono say from up ahead. "We can't go any farther." You mean I can't go any farther, Marle thought to herself, feeling ashamed. Crono came to her and helped her to her feet.
Lucca and Jack came to join them. "That is all right. We should be safe here," he said. "Let us rest until morning – then we will figure out what to do next."
They couldn't see very well, so they had trouble getting themselves untied from the rope and settled down. Marle used her pack for a pillow and her cloak for a blanket. She curled up in a little hollow between the roots of a tree, and though she was not comfortable, her fatigue put her to sleep almost instantly.
~***~
She woke up at dawn the next morning, when the first rays of light hit her. She uncurled and stretched her limbs with a yawn. Her stomach started to grumble – sleeping had made her feel better, but she was very hungry. She was also a little chilly, so she put her cloak on.
Crono and Lucca, who were lying nearby, weren't awake yet. Jack was nowhere to be seen, but Marle didn't think that he was the type of person to leave three kids alone in the woods. He would be back. Marle took a look around.
They were in a very small clearing, surrounded by a stand of tall oak trees. The occasional leaf fluttered down from above. There were birds singing in the branches, but aside from that and the rustling of leaves in a soft breeze, there was no other sound.
Then some nearby bushes started to shake. Marle had her crossbow in her hands and pointed at the bushes before she even thought about it.
It was only Jack, though, who was returning with a collection of walnuts in his hat. He nodded at Marle, who lowered her crossbow. "Sorry," she apologized in a near-whisper. "Not a very polite good-morning, was it?"
He put the walnuts on the ground. "It is all right. I understand your caution. How did you sleep?"
He didn't seem very much like the person who had been kicking robot butt the previous evening. "Just fine, thanks. And you?"
Lucca woke up before he could answer. She mumbled something, sat up, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and fumbled for her glasses. She found them and put them on.
"Good morning, Lucca," Marle said cheerily.
"'Morning. How long have you guys been up?" Lucca asked.
"Not that long," Jack answered. He looked at Crono, who was still asleep.
Marle crawled over to her sleeping friend. "He's not an early riser," she explained. Getting Crono up in the morning was a challenging task at the very least. But she had known him long enough to figure out a few methods. She leaned over, put two fingers in her mouth and whistled right in his ear. She then jumped backward to avoid a collision as Crono snorted and woke with a start.
He looked around, blinking and frowning. "Good morning, Crono," Marle said cheerfully. Although he was normally a very even-tempered person, he glared at her. But he got up nonetheless.
They ate the walnuts for breakfast, using rocks to crack the shells. Afterwards they washed it down with water from their canteens. Lucca offered some to Jack, but he politely declined.
"Now," Crono said, "About that question. Who's this Aku guy, and what has he got against us?"
"I am surprised that you do not know of him," Jack answered. "He is the demon who holds the world in thrall."
Marle, Lucca and Crono exchanged glances with each other. Then Crono nodded. They would tell him.
"Okay. I can explain that," Lucca said. "And it's going to sound ludicrous, but it's true." She took a deep breath. "The Epoch isn't just a flying ship. It's a time machine."
At the words 'time machine' Jack started as if something had bitten him. "A…time machine?"
Lucca nodded. "Yeah. We're actually from the past – though since we landed here by mistake, I don't know exactly how many years it's been. Anywhere from a few decades to a little more than a millennium," she explained.
Jack thought about this for a moment. "But Aku has ruled the world for more than two thousand years." Marle was completely, utterly confused, as was Lucca.
"Maybe we're wrong about the time, then," Crono said. "Maybe we jumped farther than we thought or something."
Jack shook his head. "No. Such technology did not exist at that time."
"But it did. The guy who built Epoch was from thirteen thousand years before our time!" Jack gave her a very odd look. Marle realized how silly that had sounded, and she blushed.
"Maybe," Crono suggested, "It would be best to start at the beginning? It's a very long story, though."
Jack stood up. "Then tell me while we travel – we can find the river first, and then perhaps the road. After that, where we go is up to you."