Here's Chapter 17!!! It's my longest yet, nearly nine pages. Maybe not much compared to the other big fics, but that a lot to my barely seven-page chapters. Anyway. It might be my most emotional chapters yet. Maybe. It was slow for me at first, but nearing the end, I couldn't stop. Thanks for the reviews! Now read!
Disclaimer: Blah blah blah . . . You know the drill . . .
Chapter 17: Ghost Town
"I was wondering if you guys were all right!" Glenn said with a smile. Fargo laughed a hearty laugh, "Of course! We forgot the crew, so we had to go back and get 'em!" The group laughed. They, including Melchior, were all on the great ship, Invincible. "Why don't you introduce us?" Nikki asked while indicating the three people that he didn't know. Melchior stepped forward, "The name's Melchior. Nice to meet you." They shook hands. "My name's Nikki. This is my wife, Miki." Fargo cleared his throat, "And I'm Fargo, father of this sorry excuse for a sailor." Melchior grinned. "This is Janus." Serge said indicating Janus. Nikki stuck a hand out to be shaken, but Janus ignored it. Nikki retracted his hand. He stepped up close to Serge's ear and whispered, "You pick up some strange people, Serge." Serge chuckled, "And she . . ." He indicated Harle, "Is a person that you already know." Nikki looked at him in puzzlement, "Huh?" Harle rolled her eyes, "You may recognize me with white face paint. I'm Harle." Nikki looked at Serge. Serge nodded. Nikki sighed, "Yep. You sure do . . ." He said quietly.
Serge watched as the sun set slowly across the ocean. They would be nearing the El Nido Canyon soon. They had decided against risking the trip through at night, so they would be stopping when they got there.
Serge looked to his right and he smiled. Harle and Janus were doing the same as Serge. Serge could see Harle's mouth moving, indicating that she was talking. Janus, on the other hand, was being silent. Janus and Harle . . . Who would have thought?
He looked behind himself and saw Glenn showing off his sword skills to Ana. Ana yawned and giggled at the mock hurt look that Glenn had given her.
I wonder where Kidd is . . . Serge thought to himself. He decided to go look for her.
He was walking through the hallways of the ship when he stopped by Melchior's door. He had heard something. He pressed his ear to the wooden door and listened. The was silence for a few moments and then Serge heard a small sound. It sounded kind of like a sob or cry. It sounded kind of like Kidd's sob or cry.
Serge knocked lightly on the door. There was the sound of a chair scraping against the ground and then heavy footfalls. The door creaked open and Melchior peered out of it. "Hi, sorry to bother you, but do you know where Kidd is?" Serge asked. Melchior hesitated, but then someone called out from behind the old man. "I'm in here, Serge!" Melchior immediately covered up his hesitation with a cheery grin and opened the door wider so Serge could come in.
Kidd was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room facing away from the door. Serge could see that she was trying to wipe away any evidence of her crying. The door shut softly behind him and Melchior said, "We were just talking about you, Serge."
"I guess you've heard about the Prophesy already." Melchior said. Serge sighed and nodded. Melchior looked at Serge hair and sighed, "That's not dyed hair, is it?" Serge shook his head. Melchior took off his tinted glasses. He had deep blue eyes similar to Serge's. "Serge, I want you to tell me everything."
And Serge did. He told Melchior everything from when he first gained control over time to when fought Lynx the last time. "Serge, could you show me?" Melchior asked. All of a sudden, Serge simply disappeared from the chair he had been sitting in. "Behind you." Melchior spun around and Serge stood behind him. Serge disappeared again and then appeared sitting on his chair again.
Melchior sighed heavily, "I don't know what to say. The prophecy specifically states that the man would be the destruction of the planet." Serge frowned, "That shouldn't matter! We took out FATE, temporarily anyway. Why should it still happen?" Melchior sighed again, "Fate is different than destiny. Although most people don't believe so." Serge stood up, "No way! I don't believe that!" Melchior indicated for Serge to sit down.
Serge sat heavily. "Fate is decided by the decisions that you make in your life. Destiny, on the other hand, is decided long before any of us were born. It is unavoidable." Melchior said softly.
Serge put his head in his hands and groaned. "Is there anyway for the prophecy to be wrong?" Melchior sighed. "If only one person had it, I'd say that it was possible. But many Zealands had this prophesy, including me! I don't think it's going to be wrong." Serge groaned again, "Is there anyway to stop it?" Melchior thought about it for a moment and then looked toward the ground. "Yes . . . There is a way. But . . . It'd have to be your . . . your . . ." Serge finished for him, "Death." Melchior looked up and nodded.
"No!" Kidd suddenly said. "I'm not going to sit by and watch you die, Serge! I . . . I can't!" A lump formed in Serge's throat as he looked at Kidd. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes.
Serge turned back to Melchior, "There has to be another way. There has to be. You Zealands may be big on prophecies and such, but not me. I believe in free choice. I believe that if I don't want to destroy the world, I won't." Melchior smiled sadly, "I hope you are right, Serge. I truly do."
"So, Janus. I've told you all about me. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" Janus rolled his eyes. Does this woman ever shut up? He thought to himself. He didn't answer. "Come on! It's only fair!"
Serge chuckled lightly as he saw the two. Janus looked genuinely annoyed. He decided to spare Janus the torture and called out, "Janus! What do you say we do a little sparring? It'll be good practice!"
Janus spun around to look at Serge and nodded. He walked over to the young Chrono Trigger. "Fine. But it will be a real fight. I don't do sparring." Serge smiled, "Okay, but no magic. We can't afford tearing up Fargo's boat." Janus nodded and his scythe materialized in his hands. Serge simply grabbed the Mastermune off of its place on his back.
The two went into their respective stances and stared each other down while waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, Serge made his move, Dash and Slash.
Serge ran at Janus with amazing speed. Possibly faster than he had ever done it before. No normal human being would've been able to dodge that. Janus simply sidestepped it and Serge ran past him. Janus thrust backward with the pole of his scythe and it connected with Serge's back. Serge fell to the deck in a heap. Janus turned around to face the dazed Serge. The only problem was, Serge was not dazed. CLANG! The blade of the scythe met the magic blade of the Mastermune. The force of Serge's attack nearly sent the scythe flying out of Janus's hands. Is that the Mastermune enhancing his power, or . . . Janus didn't finish that thought as Serge was on the offensive. CLANG! THUNK! The pole that belonged to the Mastermune hit the scythe's pole. Janus was forced back a few feet. If only he'd let me recover, I'd be able to put up a better fight! Janus did a quick back flip away from Serge. There was about ten feet in between them. Serge closed that distance in less than a second, but that was all Janus needed . . .
Serge noticed the change in Janus's attacks immediately. At first, the fight looked to be in Serge's favor, but now it was fairly even. THUNK! CLANG!
Melchior watched the two people fighting. It was mesmerizing. Even Crono had never fought with the raw speed and power that Serge had. The only reason that Janus could possibly keep up was because he had become a lot more experienced over the years. CLANG!
Janus growled as his scythe nearly flew out of his hands again. He began forcing Serge back some. It was a brutal game. Serge would push Janus back and the other way around. On one hand, Janus was happy to do this. He would need the practice against Serge if he ever actually had to fight him for real. Janus was afraid though. He was afraid that Serge was not giving it his all. While Janus was already sweating, Serge wasn't even breathing heavily. If Janus could hear his heartbeat, he knew that it was probably even and not fast as Janus's was. THUNK! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Serge sped up some. He saw no reason not to. He wasn't even breaking a sweat! In fact, he was in the mood to impress Kidd, who was watching closely. He wasn't about to start attacking Janus at his full strength. That would be just plain mean! CLANG! THUNK!
Janus was tiring fast. His fears had been proven right. Serge wasn't giving it his all. It was easily seen when Serge sped up by a lot. But Janus had to wonder: How much more did Serge have to give?
CLANG! The scythe flew out of Janus's hands and hit the wooden deck with a thud. Janus's eyes widened. Serge simply smiled, "I–" He was cut off as he was hit by a wave of dark energy from Janus. Serge flew back and slid across the polished deck. That distraction was all Janus needed to get his scythe and turn around to face Serge again.
Serge growled softly as he stared at Janus. He cheated! Suddenly, Serge got an idea . . .
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! The Mastermune was a complete blur now. THUNK! THUNK! Janus couldn't believe it! He knew that Serge was reserving some of his power, but he had no idea that Serge was this powerful!
The Mastermune was glowing brightly by now. At the speed it was going and in the light of dusk, it looked like a big ball of light, Melchior noted. Suddenly it was over. The first blade of the Mastermune had cut cleanly through the blade of the scythe and the trailing end of the holy weapon cut the staff part of the scythe in half.
Janus let the scythe drop. It was useless now. He looked at Serge in amazement. Now Serge was breathing hard. He strapped the Mastermune to its place on his gear and smiled at Janus. "That's what you get when you cheat."
There was complete silence as Serge walked below deck toward the showers.
"We're home, boys and girls!" Fargo yelled with a laugh. They had just made it through the canyon and were on their way toward the ruins of Termina.
"They've really begun to rebuild." Serge noted as they pulled into the harbor. Many homes had been rebuilt and others were almost done. Glenn was practically beaming at their progress in rebuilding the town. In the distance, he could see Viper Manor. Although there wasn't much to look at the moment, Glenn could easily see the progress.
The gathered people of Termina cheered loudly as Glenn and Karsh stepped off of the S.S. Invincible. The other Divas were there to greet them as were Dario and Riddle.
Glenn hugged Dario. "So, how did it go?" Dario asked. Glenn sighed, "Lynx got away again. Although we did meet some new and old friends." Dario looked at him, "Who?" Glenn pointed at Melchior, "That's Melchior, and she" He pointed at Harle, "is Harle. I don't know if you ever met her." Dario thought about it for a moment, "I heard about her, but I don't think I've ever met her."
"So. What next? We need to get to the End of Time. How about Fargo?" Glenn asked from his side of the table. The seven plus Dario, the rest Serge shook his head, "Fargo lost a lot of crew members while breaking them out of the prison. He has to notify their families and such." The group nodded in understanding. "What do we do then?" Serge thought about it for a moment. "We'll go to Arni."
"So, Mate. Remind me again, why we're going to Arni?" Kidd asked Serge. Serge grinned, "We need a boat don't we? Arni's a fishing town. Where else will we be able to find a good boat? Would you rather have taken one of Fargo's lifeboats and rowed all the way there?" Kidd looked at him. She knew that there was something else. She just knew it. "Well?" She asked patiently. Serge sighed, "You know me too well, Kidd. I also want to get on better terms with Leena. We've been best friends since longer than I can remember. I don't want that to be ruined." Kidd nodded and smiled. "Okay then. Let's hurry."
Serge laughed when he saw Melchior. The entire group had thought that Melchior would slow them down, because he was, well, old. They were wrong. Instead, he was running up ahead, carrying half the luggage, and encouraging the others to speed up. "Come on! Hurry up! We don't have forever!" Glenn walked beside Serge, "How is it possible that someone of his age can have so much energy? I didn't think that it was possible!" Serge just laughed.
As the group traversed through Fossil Valley, they were attacked by more werewolves, but the beasts were taken care of, quickly, thanks to Serge.
Melchior looked at Serge after he had done his amazing Holy Fire, which is what Serge had decided to call it, magic attack. "Wha–what was that?" He asked hesitantly. Serge looked at him, "It's . . . uh . . . what I like to call Holy Fire. It's a . . . new white magic attack that I . . . learned." Melchior simply stared at Serge, "I've never seen something so powerful! And the way you controlled it! Amazing!" Suddenly a thought crossed Melchior's mind. If he's that powerful already . . . If he becomes evil . . . we're doomed.
When Arni came into view, Serge began speeding up. I can't wait to see everybody! I bet mom's wor–. He suddenly stopped. No. She can't be worried . . . She's gone. Killed by Lynx. "Serge. What's the holdup?" Glenn asked. Serge frowned, "I was just . . . thinking." Serge's eyes had once again turned red as anger filled his mind . . .
Harle watched in confusion at Serge. His eyes . . . They were red . . . Like Lynx's are when ever he gets angry . . . Serge . . . What's happening to you?
When the group arrived at Arni, they were astounded about what they saw. Or what they didn't see. There was nobody around. Not anybody. Not a single person was in the small fishing village.
"Hello? Anybody here?" Serge called out. No answer. He walked to the docks. Most of the boats were still there. Maybe only one or two missing. Not nearly enough to take the whole village.
The group split up to look for signs of life. Or death.
Serge walked into the village café. There was a single person sitting on a bar stool in a shadowy corner. Yes! Finally somebody can tell me what's going on! "Excuse me? What's going on around here? Where is everybody?" The person gave no answer.
Serge walked toward the shadowy figure. As he got closer, he could see that the person was actually a man. Serge couldn't see his face though, for the man was looking downward. Serge could, on the other hand, see the boy's hair. It was blue. Blue?! Serge's mind screamed at himself. "Lynx . . ."
The man stood up and looked at Serge. Serge stumbled backward when he saw the man's face. "D–Dad?" He asked in bewilderment.
Wazuki looked at his son. "Hello, son. Haven't seen you in a while. How have you been? Where's your mother?" Serge couldn't speak for many moments until, finally, "Dad? Is that really you?"
Wazuki smiled warmly. "Yes, of course it's me, Serge! Now, where's your mother?!" He asked calmly. Serge shrunk back in fear. "She's . . . gone." Wazuki calmed. "Where did she go?" Serge fought back tears, "She's . . . dead." Strangely enough, Wazuki wasn't angry or sad. In fact, he looked disappointed. Disappointed in Serge.
"Why weren't you there to protect her, Serge?" Serge's eyes widened, "I couldn't be! I had to rescue Kidd!" Wazuki stepped toward Serge. "Why weren't you there?" Serge took a step back. "I couldn't be!" FLASH! Serge's mother appeared to his left, "Why weren't you there to protect me? Why were you gone when I needed you? I might still be alive if you had been there, Serge!" Serge eyes widened and he shook his head, "No. It's not my fault!" Serge was still stepping backward. "Yes, it is your fault, dear." Leena had materialized to his right. "If you hadn't gone to be with your precious Kidd, she would still be here. In fact, we would all still be here! Where were you when we needed you, Serge?"
"Where were you when they needed you?" Wazuki echoed. "We needed you, and you were gone!" His mother said forcefully. "Serge." Serge spun around and his eyes met Kidd's. "Where were you when I was getting kidnaped by Lynx, Serge?" Serge's eyes widened, "I was–" Kidd interrupted him, "You weren't there!" Serge shook his head, "No. You're all right now. It all worked out." Kidd laughed, "You're wrong, Serge. Bob. Is. Dead! He needed you and you failed him! I needed you when Lynx kidnaped me the first time! I needed you when he was raping me!" Serge felt like he had been punched. "No . . . I didn't know! I didn't remember!"
"Where were you when Viper needed you? Where were you when those soldiers that didn't have a chance needed you? How about when Ana was getting attacked by the Lagoonates?"
"Glenn saved her! She's fine!" Kidd let go another terrifying laugh. "I know where Glenn was. I'm asking where were you?!" The four tormentors surrounded serge now.
"Where were you when Arni needed you?" Serge's mother asked. Glenn appeared. "Where were you when Termina needed you?" Serge's covered his ears, but it was useless. He couldn't block their voices. "Where were you when Lucca needed you? It's your fault she's dead, you know. If you had gotten there faster, she would still be alive!"
"No!!!" Serge suddenly yelled. His agonizing scream pierced the five people surrounding him and they shattered like glass. The entire café shattered in brilliant colors. Serge fell to one knee while trying to catch his breathe.
The teenager soon became aware of his surroundings. He was in a room of the S.S. Invincible. In front of him was Kidd sitting on her bed. Serge knew this scene. It was the time when he– "Will you . . . Would you . . . Marry me?" Kidd looked at him in bewilderment. What is this? Why am I getting shown this? Serge asked himself. "I–I mean . . ." Serge sighed. He remembered this event like yesterday. He knew exactly what would happen. Then, "No." Serge's eyes widened, "Wha–What?!" Kidd smiled an evil smile, "No. I won't marry you."
Serge's breaths were short and ragged. "Why would I marry you, Serge? It's not like I love you or anything." Serge shook his head, "But you said–"
"I said that so you wouldn't kill me. Why in Gaia would I love you, Serge? After you've failed so many people? Why would I love a failure?" Wazuki, Marge, Leena, and Glenn appeared again chanting the same thing over and over, "Failure. Failure. Failure." Kidd joined in. "Failure. Failure! Failure!" The chant had become louder. Bob appeared and chanted loudly in his course voice, "Failure! Failure! Failure!" A person whom Serge guessed was Lucca appeared, "Failure! Failure! Failure!" Serge covered his ears. "No! Please, stop!" The people were practically screaming it now. "FAILURE! FAILURE! FAILURE!"
"Please! STOP!" The screams continued. "I'm not a failure!" Serge was drowned out by the voices now. "FAILURE! FAILURE! FAILURE!"
The floor dropped out from under Serge and he fell and fell into darkness. Above, he could see Kidd looking down at him. Although he couldn't hear her, he could see her mouthing, "Failure. Failure. Failure."
"NO!!!" SPLASH! Serge fell into water.
Kidd shot up from where she was dozing and looked toward Serge. He had just yelled, "NO!!!", and now he was sitting up and weeping. Kidd ran to him. As she ran, she noticed it was raining.
"Serge! What's wrong?" She asked frantically as she sat down in a puddle of mud next to Serge. Serge suddenly jerked away from Kidd and stared at her in fear. Finally, after many awkward moments, recognition shown in his eyes. He started weeping again and Kidd enveloped him in a hug. "Shh . . . It's okay, Serge."
Finally, after many minutes, Serge pulled away from Kidd. "What happened?" Kidd sighed, "You blacked out awhile ago. You had stopped and Glenn asked you what was taking so long. Then we started walking again and then you simply blacked out." Serge absorbed all of this.
"Kidd. I have a question." Kidd looked at him. "Do you blame me for what happened at Fort Dragonia? With Lynx, I mean." Kidd's eyes widened, "Do I– Of course not, Serge! Why in the world would I blame you?"
Serge told Kidd about his dream, which nearly put him in tears again. "None of that's true! None of us blame you! It's not your fault!" Kidd said. Serge sighed, he knew she was right, but . . . "Did you . . . did you mean it when you said that you loved me?" Kidd's eyes widened, "What?! Of course I did, Serge!"
Serge sighed, "Why didn't you . . . answer me when I asked?" Kidd looked at Serge, surprised at the question. "Why did I . . ." She realized what he was asking. "I . . . I don't know. I–I was scared." Serge looked deep into her eyes. "Are you still scared?"
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Hahahaha!!! Aren't I evil? CLIFFHANGER! Heheheheh . . . Anyway, keep up the reviews! Whoo! 17 chapters, one prologue, and no flames or bad reviews!