Chapter 6
Mystic Mountains: 65 000 000 BC
After Magus had been staring off into space for several seconds, Frog started to get annoyed.
"What art thou saying? Hast a survivor from Zeal found themselves here?"
Magus didn't answer.
Suddenly realizing something, Frog's large dark eyes widened. "Could Sir Gaspar have been referring to the poor lady Schala?"
Magus immediately started walking. "We'd best start searching. We've a lot of ground to cover."
Frog began to hop to keep up with him. "Ayla might be of help."
Magus glared at Frog but kept walking. "We don't need more people slowing us down."
"She knows this land better than either of us!" Frog said, a bit more forcefully, then returned to a softer tone. "I understand thy desire to find thy sister is strong, but the chances can only increase with help. Set thy pride aside for a moment, Magus!"
Magus closed his eyes and sighed, causing Frog to smile. He knew he could never bring himself to bring vengeance against Magus as he had once wanted to, but the occasional moral victory was certainly satisfying.
Unnamed forest: ???
Why are gates always in the most ridiculous places, Lucca thought. She had encountered oddly placed gates before but had never really given it much thought until now.
The fact that she'd fallen ten feet into a tree probably had something to do with it.
Grabbing onto the branches, she lowered herself to the ground and found her friends had already done the same.
Marle was looking around. "Where are we? WHEN are we?"
Lucca surveyed the forest. It was much denser than it would be later in 600 AD or 1000 AD. There were no paths, no signs, nothing to suggest a human presence. "Obviously, we're in a time before Guardia was founded. There may not even be any humans here yet. I don't know when exactly humans first arrived here, I never studied history as much as science. As I recall though, the first settlements here existed around 150 AD and involved two feuding-"
"Halt! Who goes there?" A voice shouted in the distance.
The three looked to see where the voice was coming from. It had originated from one of two soldiers about a hundred feet away, riding towards them on large birds.
Robo scanned the approaching soldiers. "They're using chocobos! Accoding to my database, people haven't used them in centuries."
Chocobos were birds too heavy to fly that people had often used as riding animals long ago. They were fairly reliable, despite their annoying tendency to return to their pen once their rider dismounted. Although friendly when tamed, they were powerful enough that most monsters were too afraid to attack someone riding them.
Crono started to look a bit troubled. "Ummm... Are those guys friendly? Should we be worried?"
Lucca squinted her eyes in thought but before she could answer the soldier had ridden up to them.
"You are on land claimed by Lord Arvel! What business have you here?" snapped the first soldier.
"Lord Arvel, I know that name!" Lucca whispered to Crono, Robo, and Marle. "He was the head of one of the feuding settlements."
"I said state your business here!" said the first solder, more forcefully.
Lucca appeared to be struggling to think of a good lie when the second soldier noticed Lucca's Gatekey sticking out of her belt. "Wait a minute!" he said, pointing at the key. "Where did you get that?"
The first soldier glared at his colleague. "We don't have time to worry about some trespasser's trinkets!"
The second soldier glared back at the first. "You fool! Don't you remember what the captain told us? If we ever find someone with a talisman like that, they were to be brought to the Lord's home at once!"
The first soldier eyed Lucca and her Gatekey suspiciously. "Are you sure that's what it's supposed to look like?"
The second nodded "I'm certain. The description we received was very thorough."
Obviously unhappy about the new situation, the first soldier grumbled. "All right. Come on, you four! The village isn't far. And don't think I won't be keeping an eye on you on our way!"
With nothing else to do, Crono, Marle, Robo, and Lucca started walking, flanked by the two chocobo-riding soldiers.
The one good thing about the otherwise dull walk was it gave Lucca time to think. They'd hoped to find some answers but now had even more questions. How on earth could someone from eight hundred and fifty years ago know anything about the Gatekey? Was this Lord Arvel a time traveler? Was he working with one as Ozzie VIII had been? Running in her head every scenario she could think of, good or bad, one thing was certain. Once she met this Lord Arvel and got some answers from him, she'd feel a lot better.
At least she hoped she would.
Ioka Village: 65 000 000 BC
Frog didn't like traveling to the Prehistoric Era. Ever since the arrival of Lavos in this time period, it had grown quite cold here and seemed to grow more so each time he returned. He knew this cold would ultimately be fatal to the reptiles of this time and as a cold-blooded creature himself, he never felt at his peak here.
Still, he was always prepared to put duty and honor above all else. If he needed to endure this unpleasant era to help others, he would do so without hesitation.
Still, a scarf would have been nice.
Standing next to him at the entrance to one of the huts, Magus rapped his hand on the hut's wooden frame, hoping to alert anyone inside.
They were rewarded a second later when Ayla emerged from the hut. The attractive young cavewoman looked genuinely surprised to see them.
"Frog! Magus! Me not expecting you but welcome!"
"We have no time for pleasantries." Magus said, blunt as usual. "We believe there's another time traveler here. We need your help to find them."
Ayla shrugged. "Me not know anything about other time traveler. Maybe sick person time traveler."
"Sick person? To whom art thou referring?" asked Frog
"Me not know sick person's name. Too hurt to talk. Me find him this morning at Laruba ruins after Epoch drop me off."
"Him?" Magus muttered, obviously disappointed it wasn't who he thought it was.
Ayla nodded "Me take you to him."
Walking over to the chief's hut, they found Kino, the new chief, standing over an older man lying unconscious on the skin of what had apparently once been some sort of large cat.
"Kino!" said Ayla. "Sick man any better?"
The young chief shook his head sadly. "No better. If still had sweet water, he be fine now."
"Vrath."
It had barely been louder than a whisper but uttering it had made everyone else to turn to Magus.
"How dost thou know him Magus?" asked Frog.
"He was a friend of my sister's." Magus said slowly. "I never was very close to him, but Schala cared for him very much. He was much younger when I knew him though." Indeed, when they lived in Zeal, Vrath had been about Schala's age, older by no more than a year or two. This man, however, was older than that by twenty or thirty years. His thick black hair was now a ghastly white, and his once handsome face was now weathered and pale. Had he really been forced to live in this savage era for twenty years or more?
Magus turned to Ayla. "What happened to him?"
"Not sure." said Ayla. "Me think monster attack him, but not sure. Not see any animals nearby when me find him."
Immediately, Magus knelt down beside Vrath and pulled an elixir out of his pocket. Opening the unconscious man's mouth, Magus poured it down his gullet.
"Will that help, Magus?" asked Frog.
Magus stood up and started walking out of the hut. "We'll know by tomorrow. I think we should rest until then." He turned around to face the other for a moment. "If it doesn't work and he dies, whatever he knew will die with him. If that happens, then Zeal help us all."
Next: A reunion of sorts...
Mystic Mountains: 65 000 000 BC
After Magus had been staring off into space for several seconds, Frog started to get annoyed.
"What art thou saying? Hast a survivor from Zeal found themselves here?"
Magus didn't answer.
Suddenly realizing something, Frog's large dark eyes widened. "Could Sir Gaspar have been referring to the poor lady Schala?"
Magus immediately started walking. "We'd best start searching. We've a lot of ground to cover."
Frog began to hop to keep up with him. "Ayla might be of help."
Magus glared at Frog but kept walking. "We don't need more people slowing us down."
"She knows this land better than either of us!" Frog said, a bit more forcefully, then returned to a softer tone. "I understand thy desire to find thy sister is strong, but the chances can only increase with help. Set thy pride aside for a moment, Magus!"
Magus closed his eyes and sighed, causing Frog to smile. He knew he could never bring himself to bring vengeance against Magus as he had once wanted to, but the occasional moral victory was certainly satisfying.
Unnamed forest: ???
Why are gates always in the most ridiculous places, Lucca thought. She had encountered oddly placed gates before but had never really given it much thought until now.
The fact that she'd fallen ten feet into a tree probably had something to do with it.
Grabbing onto the branches, she lowered herself to the ground and found her friends had already done the same.
Marle was looking around. "Where are we? WHEN are we?"
Lucca surveyed the forest. It was much denser than it would be later in 600 AD or 1000 AD. There were no paths, no signs, nothing to suggest a human presence. "Obviously, we're in a time before Guardia was founded. There may not even be any humans here yet. I don't know when exactly humans first arrived here, I never studied history as much as science. As I recall though, the first settlements here existed around 150 AD and involved two feuding-"
"Halt! Who goes there?" A voice shouted in the distance.
The three looked to see where the voice was coming from. It had originated from one of two soldiers about a hundred feet away, riding towards them on large birds.
Robo scanned the approaching soldiers. "They're using chocobos! Accoding to my database, people haven't used them in centuries."
Chocobos were birds too heavy to fly that people had often used as riding animals long ago. They were fairly reliable, despite their annoying tendency to return to their pen once their rider dismounted. Although friendly when tamed, they were powerful enough that most monsters were too afraid to attack someone riding them.
Crono started to look a bit troubled. "Ummm... Are those guys friendly? Should we be worried?"
Lucca squinted her eyes in thought but before she could answer the soldier had ridden up to them.
"You are on land claimed by Lord Arvel! What business have you here?" snapped the first soldier.
"Lord Arvel, I know that name!" Lucca whispered to Crono, Robo, and Marle. "He was the head of one of the feuding settlements."
"I said state your business here!" said the first solder, more forcefully.
Lucca appeared to be struggling to think of a good lie when the second soldier noticed Lucca's Gatekey sticking out of her belt. "Wait a minute!" he said, pointing at the key. "Where did you get that?"
The first soldier glared at his colleague. "We don't have time to worry about some trespasser's trinkets!"
The second soldier glared back at the first. "You fool! Don't you remember what the captain told us? If we ever find someone with a talisman like that, they were to be brought to the Lord's home at once!"
The first soldier eyed Lucca and her Gatekey suspiciously. "Are you sure that's what it's supposed to look like?"
The second nodded "I'm certain. The description we received was very thorough."
Obviously unhappy about the new situation, the first soldier grumbled. "All right. Come on, you four! The village isn't far. And don't think I won't be keeping an eye on you on our way!"
With nothing else to do, Crono, Marle, Robo, and Lucca started walking, flanked by the two chocobo-riding soldiers.
The one good thing about the otherwise dull walk was it gave Lucca time to think. They'd hoped to find some answers but now had even more questions. How on earth could someone from eight hundred and fifty years ago know anything about the Gatekey? Was this Lord Arvel a time traveler? Was he working with one as Ozzie VIII had been? Running in her head every scenario she could think of, good or bad, one thing was certain. Once she met this Lord Arvel and got some answers from him, she'd feel a lot better.
At least she hoped she would.
Ioka Village: 65 000 000 BC
Frog didn't like traveling to the Prehistoric Era. Ever since the arrival of Lavos in this time period, it had grown quite cold here and seemed to grow more so each time he returned. He knew this cold would ultimately be fatal to the reptiles of this time and as a cold-blooded creature himself, he never felt at his peak here.
Still, he was always prepared to put duty and honor above all else. If he needed to endure this unpleasant era to help others, he would do so without hesitation.
Still, a scarf would have been nice.
Standing next to him at the entrance to one of the huts, Magus rapped his hand on the hut's wooden frame, hoping to alert anyone inside.
They were rewarded a second later when Ayla emerged from the hut. The attractive young cavewoman looked genuinely surprised to see them.
"Frog! Magus! Me not expecting you but welcome!"
"We have no time for pleasantries." Magus said, blunt as usual. "We believe there's another time traveler here. We need your help to find them."
Ayla shrugged. "Me not know anything about other time traveler. Maybe sick person time traveler."
"Sick person? To whom art thou referring?" asked Frog
"Me not know sick person's name. Too hurt to talk. Me find him this morning at Laruba ruins after Epoch drop me off."
"Him?" Magus muttered, obviously disappointed it wasn't who he thought it was.
Ayla nodded "Me take you to him."
Walking over to the chief's hut, they found Kino, the new chief, standing over an older man lying unconscious on the skin of what had apparently once been some sort of large cat.
"Kino!" said Ayla. "Sick man any better?"
The young chief shook his head sadly. "No better. If still had sweet water, he be fine now."
"Vrath."
It had barely been louder than a whisper but uttering it had made everyone else to turn to Magus.
"How dost thou know him Magus?" asked Frog.
"He was a friend of my sister's." Magus said slowly. "I never was very close to him, but Schala cared for him very much. He was much younger when I knew him though." Indeed, when they lived in Zeal, Vrath had been about Schala's age, older by no more than a year or two. This man, however, was older than that by twenty or thirty years. His thick black hair was now a ghastly white, and his once handsome face was now weathered and pale. Had he really been forced to live in this savage era for twenty years or more?
Magus turned to Ayla. "What happened to him?"
"Not sure." said Ayla. "Me think monster attack him, but not sure. Not see any animals nearby when me find him."
Immediately, Magus knelt down beside Vrath and pulled an elixir out of his pocket. Opening the unconscious man's mouth, Magus poured it down his gullet.
"Will that help, Magus?" asked Frog.
Magus stood up and started walking out of the hut. "We'll know by tomorrow. I think we should rest until then." He turned around to face the other for a moment. "If it doesn't work and he dies, whatever he knew will die with him. If that happens, then Zeal help us all."
Next: A reunion of sorts...