Ahh . . . Finally. Chapter 16. Hmm . . . Don't have much to say, so . . .

I don't own CC or any of its characters. In other words, Blah blah blah. I own Ana, the Dragonians including the deceased Bob, and the story. That's about it . . . Oh yeah! I own the multiple Porre soldiers that were in the past chapters!

Chapter 16: Stories

Glenn looked down into the barrel of a large gun. His hands slowly rose. "Hey, guys. What's going–" Kidd trailed off as she saw the group's precarious position. There was a man–he looked as if he was really old–, dressed in a Porre uniform, holding a weird-looking gun to Glenn's face.

"All right. Who are you? What are you doing here?" He asked sternly. How did you find this place? The man thought. Serge–hands outstretched–stepped forward. "Take it easy. We were just looking for someone."

The Mastermune started glowing slightly. When the man saw the glowing weapon, he nearly dropped the gun. He gasped and his eyes widened, "Masamune . . ." Serge narrowed his eyes and the weapon glowed brighter. "Who are you? How do you know about the Mastermune?" Ana jumped in, "and where's Melchior?" The man's head snapped back and he stared at Ana. "Melchior . . . I am the man known as Melchior."

After Melchior shed his stolen Porre uniform, Serge saw that he wore an old, tattered robe. Its, once, bright colors were now almost completely faded. He was balding, and what hair he had was white. He wore thick-rimmed tinted gray glasses. "So . . . Who are you kids, and how did you know about this place?" Ana stood up and walked toward the old man. "Do you recognize me? Do I look familiar?" Melchior looked at her closely, "I'm sorry. My memory is not what it used to be." Ana sighed, "How about anyone else in this group? Anybody familiar?" For the first time since the group of teenagers arrived, Melchior actually studied them. He passed over the blue-haired teenager. Never seen him before. He also passed over the blonde girl next to him. The same went for the dark-haired girl, the brown-haired man, the purple-haired man. He gasped sharply when he saw the final man. His hair was a graying blue color. His teeth were sharp. He wore a black cape. His gray eyes seemed to penetrate Melchior. "Janus . . ."

"Janus! Is that you?!" Janus smirked at Melchior's reaction. Melchior looked like he either wanted to give Janus a big hug or run away screaming. Neither appealed to Janus. Although, the former would be good for some laughs. If Janus actually had a sense of humor, he might have tried the scare Melchior. Instead, he just nodded curtly.


Melchior accepted it and turned back to Ana. "Okay. Who are you and your friends? How do you know Janus?" Ana grinned, "I am Ana Cage." Melchior's eyes widened. "The daughter of Crono and Marle Cage. Princess of the fallen nation, Guardia." Melchior said nothing for many moments. Finally, he managed to squeak, "A–Ana?" Ana smiled. This time, Melchior actually did give her a big hug. "Little Ana! I've thought you were dead for years! After the incident with your parents, you simply disappeared. Everybody thought . . ." He trailed off. "Yes. I'm sure everybody worried about me, but I was young. I didn't know what I was doing. After Lynx took my parents–"

"What?! He took your parents?" Ana looked at the confused Kidd. "Yes. He took them." Kidd simply stared at her, "I thought you said that he killed them!" Ana nodded, "That's what everybody figured. I mean, they haven't been seen for thirteen years." Kidd nodded slowly, "Okay. I guess you're right. It's just that . . . Lucca . . ."

Melchior looked at Kidd in astonishment. "Who are you?" Kidd smiled, "The name's Kidd." Melchior looked at her, "Kidd? Wait . . . I think I remember a Kidd at Lucca's orphanage. Is that you?" Kidd grinned, "The one and the only!" Melchior smiled. He had plenty of reason to. People he had thought long dead had suddenly come back into his life! He had no idea of what was going to come next . . .

"That's not all who I am though." Kidd stated with a mischievous smirk. Melchior looked at her questionably. "I'm also someone from much farther back in your life, Melchior. Thousands of years in fact." Kidd had let Schala begin talking. "Back when the great country, Zeal, was still around." Melchior's eyes widened. How did she know of Zeal? He didn't think Lucca told them about the fallen country. Kidd/Schala saw the confusion in Melchior's eyes and sighed, "Imagine me with bluish-purple hair." Melchior tried to. He really did, and now that he looked at her closely, she looked familiar, but he just couldn't place her face. Janus groaned, "Schala, would you hurry up?"

Schala/Kidd spun around to glare at Janus, "You just spoiled the surprise!" Janus chuckled, "I think he's still surprised."

Melchior's eyes began tearing as soon as he heard the name, Schala. He wiped away some of the tears and asked, "Schala? Is that you?" Kidd/Schala turned back to him. Memories of the beautiful youth, Schala, flooded his mind. He could recognize her now. He saw it in her eyes, face, and build. This girl was Schala! "Yes, Melchior. It is I, Princess Schala 'Kidd' Zeal."

Melchior felt faint. His normally rosy cheeks turned pale. This was impossible! It had to be! He enveloped Schala in a big hug. Salty tears ran down his face now, but he didn't care. This was Schala! Schala was like a daughter to him! He loved Schala more than the rest of the kingdom of Zeal! And after many, many years of thinking that she had been lost forever, she was here! Alive! He vaguely noticed that Schala was crying too. "Schala, I've missed you so much! I thought you were gone forever!" He said after the two pulled apart. Schala smiled, "I have missed you also, Melchior."


The old man smiled brightly and he looked once again at the group that she had come with. Some of them, the purple and brown-haired men mainly, were trying to give Melchior and Schala their private time. Ana was beaming with happiness. The black-haired girl had no readable look upon her features. Janus just looked bored. But out of all of them, the blue-haired teenage boy was the one who intrigued Melchior the most. He was watching Schala like a hawk. His eyes never left her. This, at first, made Melchior slightly uneasy for Schala's sake, but when he saw the man's expression, he relaxed. The boy's expression was one of love. "Schala, please introduce your friends to me. I'm eager to meet the ones who have been doing such a good job protecting you." Kidd resurfaced, "Protect? No. I haven't needed protection for many years. These people . . . well, most of them," She stole a glance at Harle. Harle looked away. "Fought beside me." Melchior chuckled, "Oh yes. Of course. I knew that."

Kidd/Schala smiled brightly, "Anyway. This guy," She indicated Glenn, "Is Glenn. Leader of the four Divas in El Nido." Glenn stepped forward and shook Melchior's hand. "Nice to meet you." He said.

"He's Karsh." She said while pointing at him, "He's one of the Divas." She looked at Harle and scowled, "And this–" Schala stopped her from continuing. Kidd sighed, "Girl is Harle." She was about to continue about Harle, but, once again, she was stopped.

She turned to Serge. The look that he gave her nearly melted her heart. Melchior could see that the love the boy felt toward her was mutual. "And this is my–" She stopped to ponder what she was about to say. Finally, she cleared her throat, "This is Serge."

Kidd's words stung Serge. Why couldn't she just say 'boyfriend' or whatever she was going to say? Serge let it go when he heard her next words, "He's probably the only one here that puts it in his job description to protect me. He's been there for me through thick and thin. He and his swallow have saved me more times my fingers and toes put together." Serge smiled slightly, that wasn't an overstatement. If anything, it was an understatement.

Melchior walked over to Serge and shook his hand, "Well. I guess I should thank you for keeping Kidd safe." Serge simply smiled and nodded. Melchior smiled back. "I like your hair." He commented. Serge's smiled turned into a grim expression. "Melchior, we need to talk." Kidd stated.

"It all started on a beach called Opassa just outside the village, Arni. I was talking with one of my best friends there when I suddenly heard a voice calling my name." Serge explained, "Seconds later, I saw a large wave getting ready to crash upon the shore. At first, I thought nothing of it. It was just a wave, but as it got closer, I saw that it wasn't a normal wave. For example, instead of getting smaller as it came closer to shore, it got bigger and bigger. I looked at my friend, her name's Leena, but she acted like she didn't even see it! Then all of a sudden, some kind of portal opened up underneath me and I fell through it. I blacked out.


"When I woke up, I was still on Opassa Beach. The only problem was the fact that nobody seemed to remember me! Not even Leena! I was even told that 'I' had died ten years before! So I went up to Cape Howl, the place that I had been told 'my' grave was. I found it there, all right. At that time, Karsh and two idiots, known as Salt and Peppor, showed up telling me that a demi-human, known as Lynx, wanted to see me, and that they had been charged to come and detain me. That's when Kidd showed up. We fought them and defeated them." He gave Karsh a smirk, and Karsh groaned loudly, "Are you ever going to give that up?"

Serge laughed and turned back to Melchior. "Anyway, to make a long story short, we traveled to Termina and, finally, Viper Manor. We wanted to know why I had been nearly arrested. Kidd was going there for another reason though. She was planning on stealing the Frozen Flame." Melchior raised an eyebrow at the blushing Kidd/Schala. She groaned, "That was before I melded with Kidd, Melchior." Melchior looked confused and she sighed, "I'll tell you later." Melchior frowned, shrugged, and turned back to Serge.

"Anyway, we met a man named Belthezar." Melchior's eyes widened, "Belthezar?" Kidd nodded, "Yeah. That Belthezar." Melchior sat back heavily. Yet another person that he thought dead had reappeared.

Serge cleared his throat, "He told me that I had been teleported to an alternate universe. A universe where I had died ten years before through drowning. After that, we went to fight Lynx. Kidd had a score to settle with him, and I was just going along for the ride.

"We beat him, but then we found out that we had only beaten a shadow-form of his true self. He, along with half of the Dragoon army, chased us up to the main balcony of Viper Manor. Then he threw a poison-tipped knife at Kidd. It had the rare poison, Hydra Poison, on it. It hit her, and she fell off of the edge. Luckily, she landed in the ocean instead of the rocks near it. She wouldn't have lived otherwise. Anyway, that is when he called me the 'Chrono Trigger'." Melchior let in a sharp gasp. "C–Chrono Trigger?" Serge nodded, "That's right. I'm the new Chrono Trigger. Schala will explain later when she tells you her part of the story." Melchior sighed. He had so many questions. He wanted them answered now, but he couldn't. Serge had already started speaking again, "Lynx offered me a chance to live. He wanted me to join him in ruling the world or something like that. I, being a stubborn teenager, refused and jumped off after Kidd. Our other team member, Nikki, jumped off after me. I don't know how, but we survived."

"So we went to Chronopolis and defeated FATE. We thought we had destroyed him, but he escaped without us knowing it." Glenn cleared his throat, "Serge. How is Fargo going to know where we are? We left him no notice." Serge sighed, "I'm not sure . . ." Janus grunted, "I already know magic. I can keep watch." Harle sighed, "So do I. I volunteer also." Serge grinned, "Okay. That's settled."


"So then Serge, Kidd, and Glenn came and destroyed the Time Devourer via the Chrono Cross. There I made the decision to repair the broken universes and bring them together again. I knew that I couldn't do it in the state that I was in though. I was too weak from being bonded to the Time Devourer for so long. So I merged with Kidd, she was my 'daughter' anyway." Kidd was glad that Schala didn't use the word 'clone'.

"Sadly, to repair the worlds, I had to separate the group and erase their memories. But . . . Somehow–I think it has something to do with his being the Chrono Trigger–, Serge still remembered, somewhat. His memory, though, was only of the most important parts of the journey, and he thought it was just a weird dream."

Melchior nodded, "That's possible."

Schala smiled, "Yes. Anyway, I, with the help of Kidd, repaired the worlds by combining the best of them together. After that, Kidd wanted to fulfill her promise to Serge. That she would find him no matter what." Kidd/Schala blushed slightly and Melchior chuckled.

"So we entered the world again and sought out to find Serge. Sadly, Lynx found us first and held us hostage. Using my power, I reached out to Serge, but I was unable to do anything except give him a few strange visions and happenings. So, finally, I reached out to Doreen and told her everything. From there, Doreen awakened Masa and Mune and they helped Serge remember."

"So I went to rescue Kidd and I succeeded. I ran Lynx off again and then found our companion, Bob, dead. That's when the others arrived." Serge and Schala had been leaving out the fact about the prophesy and his power. They wanted to talk to Melchior about that in private. "Then we decided to come here in hopes of you being able to teach us magic. I already know some and Schala knows some healing magic, but Kidd, Glenn, and Karsh want to learn it. I'd like to learn more." Melchior smiled a warm smile, "Well, you came to the right place. I, of the three Great Prophets of Zeal, can teach magic. The others couldn't."

"Well . . . Kidd. You are a strange one. I can sense Schala's magic in you, but I can also sense something else. Hmm . . . Ahh. I see. You will be a fire mage." Kidd smirked, "I could've told you that. That's my innate." Melchior shook his head, "No . . . An element innate is nothing like a magic innate. Sometimes you could be a certain innate using elements and then end up being the opposite with magic." Kidd nodded.

Melchior turned to Glenn, "Hmm . . . You are a water user. Just by thinking it, when you learn how that is, you could create towering tidal waves or make water shoot up from the ground as long as there is actually water beneath you." Glenn nodded. "Got it."

Melchior moved to Karsh. He studied him for a moment. "Hmm . . . You seem to be an ice wielder. Using ice is different than water. There doesn't need to be any ice anywhere around you to use it."


Finally, he moved to Serge. Although Serge already knew magic, Melchior insisted on him being examined.

Melchior looked deep into Serge's eyes looking for his magic type. The results were not, at all, what Melchior would've expected.

"I don't understand. That's impossible!" Serge waited for Melchior to tell him what was so impossible. "You can use more than one magic type!" Ana stepped forward, "Sure it's possible. I can, can't I?" Melchior shook his head, "Yes, I can understand the rare double-type, but this is different! He seems to be able to use all of them! Including some types that I've never seen before. Before, it was thought that there were only five magic elements. Fire, Water/Ice, Lightning, Darkness, and finally Light or Holy. But there is more in Serge. He can use magic like wind and earth! Magic that was thought to have never existed!" There was a stunned silence for a moment.

The moment to turned into minutes until, finally, "So . . . How do we use magic?" It was Glenn.

Melchior, being glad that the subject had been changed, replied, "Well . . . Remember how I told you that I could teach you magic? Well, I can, but we have to do something else first." The group waited. Melchior smiled, "We have to go see a good friend of mine. His name is Spekkio. He'll make it so you can actually use the magic. From there, I will attune your skills."

"Okay. So where is this Spekkio?" Kidd asked. Melchior sighed, "I don't really know. Last I heard, he was in a place called the 'End of Time'." Serge's eyes widened, "End of Time?" Melchior nodded. Serge snapped his fingers, "I've been there! There's an entrance in El Nido!" Melchior smiled, "Great! We can go as soon as your friends arrive!"

"What are we going to tell Melchior?" Serge asked Kidd in a low voice. She sighed, "I don't know . . . Did you know that he was actually one of the men who prophesied that?" Serge's breath came sharp, "No. I didn't know that." Kidd sighed again, "Should we even tell him?" Serge paused for a moment thinking the proposition over. Finally, "No. He might be able to help."

Janus watched the ocean like a hawk. He was anxious to leave and stop this Lynx. In his mind, he still had to make up for the hundreds maybe even thousands that he had killed during his life. Yes. It was true. The great Magus, the leader of the monstrous race of Mystics. The one who even dared to do human and animal splicing and thus creating demi-human race. That Magus was going soft.

He was no longer known as Magus though, but as Janus, his childhood name. Changing his name back was his way of turning from his old lifestyle. Turning a new leaf, becoming a new man, and other allegations as such.


Harle watched Janus from afar. He was so mysterious. The most mysterious person she had ever met. The only person who came close was that Guile character that she had met in Termina. But his mysteriousness doesn't even contend with Janus's. Harle thought.

Something in the ocean caught Janus's eye. A purple mist engulfed him and he reappeared behind the confused Harle. "You were watching me." He stated.

Harle fumbled for words. What is with me? Why does he make me so tongue-tied? I'm never like that! Not even when I was around Serge! "I . . . Uh . . ." Janus waved it off, "They're here." Harle turned to look at the ocean. Sure enough, in the distance was the S.S. Invincible . . .

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There you have it! Chapter 16! How'd ya like it? Was it good? Bad? Ugly?! I'd like to know ya know! So . . . R&R! Please! Uh . . . Now that I've finished my groveling session, I'll tell you what's to come in future chapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I don't know. I haven't figured it out yet. ;-)

--Ben