The Fire When it Comes: Part 3 – A Moment Lost In Time: In which Magus and Glenn visit a lost world.

A Crono-Trigger/Cross fanfic
By
Deborah J. Brown

Chrono-Trigger & Chrono-Cross and all associated characters belong to Squaresoft.

2300 A.D.
Belthazar sat in his new Epoch, gazing down at the landscape. It seemed the plans to create new islands in the past had succeeded. An archipelago to the south where none had been before. One thing puzzled him, however, an area concealed beneath mist and contained within a ring of mountains. Not even the Epoch could penetrate that fog to find what lay beyond. Interestingly, it was in the very place where Chronopolis would be built, one day in the far future.

Puzzling over the matter, the Guru of Reason considered his next move. Gaspar's information was a valuable resource, but sometimes it was best to look at things oneself, if only to get a clear idea of what was going on. All right then. Go backwards until I find the time period that area first appears. He fiddled with the controls and the Epoch's engine hummed in response before flickering out of time.

***

11990 B.C.
"Glenn, have you put on weight?" Magus asked as he flew southward, one hand grasping the knight by the upper arm, the other holding his scythe.

"Perhaps. Hath had less exercise lately." Glenn seemed amused at his companion's complaint. "The war, after all, hath been over for a year now."

Magus grinned humorously. "Speak for yourself. It's only been six months since we parted, my time." He shrugged. "Too many flies in that swamp, I take it?"

"I do not believe flies to be particularly fattening," Glenn replied with dignity. "Twas probably all the sweetcakes the Queen sent me."

A sour chuckle escaped Magus' lips and he was about to comment when he was forced to drop several hundred feet in order to avoid the huge piece of metal flying towards them. "What the"

Glenn made a choked sound. "Magus Didst I ever mention I hath little liking for heights?" he asked.

"Nope." Magus dodged sideways to avoid what looked an awful lot like a dragon's claw dropping towards the sea below. He wasn't sure about what it was, however, because it was no longer attached to a body. "Just don't throw up on me, Glenn.

"I think I am glad I didst not eat a large lunch," Glenn muttered. "What ist all this, Magus?"

Magus shook his head, hovering where he was in hopes of finding a landing site. Nothing. "Glenn, be ready to swim because I don't know if I can keep avoiding these things." He ignored the scared look the knight threw towards the sea below and scanned the skies. They seemed to be on the edge of whatever was going on and – considering their lack of solid ground – it was probably for the best.

Far to the south Magus could see gigantic forms flying towards each other. Some seemed streamlined, glittering with some form of armor. Others had a more organic appearance. "Glenn, can you see what's going on?"

***

Glad of the distraction, Glenn squinted off to the south. Machines and "Dragons? What art dragons doing here?"

"Is that what they are?" Magus asked, and Glenn noted the ruby eyes were peering almost nearsightedly at the battle. "You've better vision than I have. Well now, this is an intriguing development. There were no dragons in this time before."

Glenn glanced up at the mage. "Thou doth understate the matter," he commented wryly, half-amused at the casual way Magus took this potential disaster and half-irritated with it. "This didst not occur before. Ist possible – even probable – that this is what Melchior feared would change the world for the worse." He narrowed his eyes at the pale-haired man. "Thou art sure ye had naught to do with this?"

A soft chuckle escaped Magus' lips. "No, I'm not sure. I'm not sure of anything anymore, Glenn. For all I know I did summon these things back to this time." His expression softened from icy sarcasm to worry. "Yet I don't think I did." His frown deepened. "I don't dare interfere, either. I don't know the players yet."

"Then we shouldst observe and learn." Glenn glanced around. "There's an island there," he pointed off to the west, to a large, perfectly circular mass of land. "I don't recognize it, though."

"Gaea's naval," Magus said automatically, then frowned. "How'd I know that and you don't?"

Wishing he could answer the question and knowing he could not, Glenn shook his head. Something was happening to Magus, something overwhelming and frightening. Something that he sensed would have profound effects upon the rest of the world. He only wished he knew whether it was for good or ill. With Magus one simply could not be sure. This was the man who had led the Mystics against humanity in Glenn's time. The man who had summoned Lavos in a misguided attempt to destroy the ancient power. The man whose obsession with vengeance had led him to acts dark and cruel. Not a man he would have wanted to trust with power.

Yet at the same time he hath been companion in battle. Not, mayhap, a friend, but I have heard him weep when he thought none could hear. I have heard his rage at Lavos for what it did to this world. Glenn sighed inwardly and wondered what to do.

***

Landing at the edge of the island, Magus set his companion down and glanced around the jungle behind them. No sign of anything dangerous, but he wouldn't want to bank his life on that idea. "Keep your ears open," he ordered Glenn gruffly, turning to gaze off in the direction of the battle. They were going to need a way to see what was going on without getting close. A scry spell should do it.

"Teach thy grandmother to suck eggs," Glenn muttered in response to his order, although he did move to a guard position. Magus ignored him, drawing together the magic within him to form a ball of black fire. Strange how it too seemed to be glittering with the light in his blood, the red and blue gleam stark against the shadows of his normal magics. Strange, unnerving and something he was going to have to investigate. Right now, however, he had another problem to deal with.

"Hmmm," Magus murmured, as the scry spell showed what was happening to their east. An island had appeared in the waters there, a huge metallic building on its surface. "Glenn, doesn't that look like one of those – what were they called – domes in the future?"

Glenn glanced sideways and nodded before returning his gaze to the jungle. "Aye," he agreed. "It doth appear a building of the future. Yet if it is, how might it have come to this time?"

Magus scowled. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I think we had better find out." He adjusted the scry spell to show the skies above the island. It appeared the metal things were winning, forcing the battle westward. He kept the spell focused on them until they came to a tower rising out of the waters to the north of Gaea's Navel.

"Hello, what is that thing?"

"Hath some resemblance to reptite architecture," Glenn pointed out, sparing the scry spell another glance. "Mayhap these dragons art somehow related?"

It seemed almost certain to Magus that they had to be and he nodded grimly. "It looks like the battle's over. Let's investigate" He reached out to grasp Glenn's arm again, intending to take flight, but suddenly something twisted through him. Ice and fire. Pain and pleasure. He went down to his knees, gasping for air.

***

Glenn stared at his companion. One moment he'd been grabbing Glenn's arm, then next he was twisted in a knot on the ground, his hands clenched in the dirt, his body shuddering beneath the folds of his cloak. "Magus?" The knight reached out to touch the mage and felt the icy heat that burned around him. It was unbearable, showing him things about himself and about the world that he simply didn't want to know. An explosive beginning and – at the end – something lying in wait, something that was and was not Lavos. Something devouring time itself.

Rising to his knees, screaming words that Glenn couldn't and didn't want to understand, eyes burning, Magus threw back his head and howled. Raging fire blasted away from him, striking upwards and separating itself into six separate strands of colored light that spiraled across the sky towards the east. White, black, blue, red, yellow and green – the lights burned against the skies with eye-searing brilliance.

Moments later one of those strands, the green one, swooped back towards them and landed somewhere towards the center of the island. A roar followed, one that Glenn did not want to investigate. It was too huge, too enraged. Glenn knew he was simply not ready to face whatever it was. Especially when it began howling comprehensible words. "THOU HAST NOT WON! THE EARTH THOU HAST DEFILED DEFIES THEE AND WILT HURL THEE AND THY HUMAN CHILDREN FROM HER SURFACE!"

"Magus? Magus, get us out of here," Glenn shook the mage's shoulder, feeling the burning cold fading beneath his grip. Hopefully that meant his companion would get his head cleared before whatever had just landed on this island found them.

***

The Epoch *zinged* into existence in a time period Belthazar had never seen before. It was near to the time he'd first arrived, somewhat after Zeal's fall and the slow warming of the globe. He'd managed to miss this period due to being thrown forward through time by Lavos' power.

"Ahhh, excellent. I thought coming back in time would let me find out what was in that anomaly," Belthazar scanned the southern oceans where an island sat, not yet in the middle of the circle of mountains, not yet concealed by impenetrable fog. "Interesting. Could that be Why yes I do believe it must be Chronopolis." Somehow the island had been thrown back in time to this era. He wondered what had happened, since he was relatively certain that hadn't been in the plans.

Curious, Belthazar guided his ship in that direction.

***

Magus opened his blood red eyes and rose to his feet. The power had faded and he stumbled, feeling weak as a kitten. "Glenn?"

"Get us out of here," Glenn held the mage up. "There's something else here. Something that does not like humans." He was looking off towards the center of the island worriedly, blue eyes watchful, free hand on his sword.

Magus took a deep breath. "It can't get us," he reassured the knight as he was granted a brief vision of what lay beyond the jungle. Huge, green, winged, it was what he would have called a dragon. It was also trapped by its own element, its equivalent power holding it in a grasp that locked it close and tight. "But yes it isn't yet time to battle them."

Glenn raised a blonde brow. "Eh? What dost thou mean, them?"

The vision in Magus' mind shifted. Six elements. Six dragons. Wind and Earth, Water and Fire, Light and Darkness They'd been pulled into this world by the same power that had drawn that strange machine island. Pulled in and had done battle with it. Then something else – something beyond his comprehension – had called forth their equivalent elements and had bound them. Haltingly, he explained what he saw.

"What equivalent elements?" Glenn puzzled.

"The dragons come from a world where only the reptites survived." Magus forced himself to straighten, gazing off in the direction where the green dragon still howled its captured fury. "They represent that world's life-force, just as the elements that contain them represent ours." He shook his head. "But there weren't six powers before. It seems that's changed as well."

Glenn's blue eyes were direct and worried. "How ist it that ye know all this?"

A sharp shudder twisted through Magus. "I don't know. I do not know." He took a deep breath. "I have a feeling we're going to find out."

Another howl of fury shattered the air and Glenn glanced in its direction. "Art thou certain it cannot come after us?"

"Is anything certain, these days?" Magus asked blandly. "I don't think he can. The best way to be sure, though, would be to leave. And since we have some investigating to do"

***

Once again Glenn held onto Magus for dear life. He really really didn't like this flying, though Magus was obviously enjoying it. There was a dangerous grin on the thin features that Glenn wished would go away. Even as an ally the man was a danger to life and limb. Not to mention sanity. Waters rushed beneath them, their dark green surface scattering sunlight. It'd be a beautiful if he were standing on solid ground. Right now it was just unnerving No, terrifying.

"Eh?" Magus' harsh caw of a voice got Glenn's attention. He looked forward towards a ring of mountains that he would have sworn he'd never seen on this world before. "Those are new."

"Aye. It seems our past has been changed again," Glenn agreed as Magus zoomed towards the mountains and the great sea at their center. At Magus' frown, he asked, "Ist that not the case?"

"They're new. It's not like that second moon. They literally just rose out of the water. You had your eyes closed." Magus' grin at Glenn wasn't nice, but the knight was used to the sniping by now. "Didn't feel any normal magic, either."

"And what of that?" Glenn unwillingly freed one hand and pointed towards the clouds beginning to form above the sea, swirling with brilliant energy. "Ist that magic or not?"

Magus blinked in the direction Glenn was pointing, red eyes startled. "No, not such as I've ever dealt with." He shrugged, forcing Glenn to tighten his grip on his arm. "I don't think we'll get there before that fog settles in. Might be best to search out an entrance from the ground."

***

The fog had just covered the skies when Belthazar landed the Epoch on Chronopolis Island. So this was the final result of his work. The technology was advanced – more advanced than it had been in that other timeline Lavos had destroyed. Which it would be, since – this branch– they would have had plenty of time to work on the plans without Lavos to interrupt. He climbed out of the Epoch and cracked his back, looking around with curiosity.

The entrance to the building was up a short stone walkway, great glass doors opening to his presence with smooth silence. As Belthazar stepped into the atrium, he gazed around, puzzledly. No one was here? There was a strangeness to the place, a deep, sonorous silence – like the quiet between the gongs of a great bell. It almost buzzed in his ears.

"Hello?"

"Is anyone there?"

"Hello?"

Slowly the Guru of Reason moved forward into the building. There was no sign of life, but also no reason for that lack. It was as if everyone had deserted their posts before sending the island back in time. And why ever would they do that? Is this the computer's work? Didn't the Prometheus circuit do its job? Has – or rather, will – the Mother Circuit still wipe out humanity? It was, he supposed, very possible. Gaspar had said they'd failed, though could not quite tell how or why owing to a knot in the Time tree that obfuscated his view.

With a sigh, Belthazar headed further into the building. He should be able to access the computers, get answers there. Good thing I left those backdoors in the programs.

Unnoticed, shadows moved around the Guru, silent, unaware, going about their business.

***

Magus landed in front of a cave leading into the side of the mountains. The fog that covered the sea within had completely obscured it by now. "This looks like the way," he told Glenn, suddenly rather glad of the young man's presence. He had no idea what lay beyond the darkened entrance and while he was a skilled mage and fighter himself, having someone to watch his back was almost comforting. Not that I'm going to tell him that, he told himself. No point in enlarging his ego. That the admission would do more to lessen his own ego than enlarge Glenn's was entirely beside the point.

"Aye. Hast light? Seems a deep cavern." Glenn's expression had calmed immensely now that they were down on the ground. Odd, that. He was a brave knight, willing to face down Lavos himself if need be, but a bit of flying turned him into quivering jelly.

"Easily accomplished," Magus agreed, holding out a hand and casting a simple light spell. Well, it would have been a simple light spell if it hadn't been glowing with that same omnipresent swirl of blue and red flame at its center. He glared at it with annoyance, then shrugged and headed towards the cavern without bothering to check if Glenn was following.

For several minutes the two walked along the path leading through the cavern in silence. Then Glenn spoke. "It bothers ye, doth it not?"

Magus turned and snapped angrily, "How would you like to find yourself being transformed into something you don't understand?" He paused, ruby eyes meeting Glenn's rueful blue ones with a sudden, startled, sense of empathy. "Uh forget I said that," he muttered, almost embarrassed, as he walked onward.

"Aye, I wilt." Glenn smiled. "Dost thou want to discuss it?" His footsteps echoed sharply, the metal of his boots ringing on the damp stone.

After another minute of long silence, Magus shrugged. "There's not much to talk about. I'm changing. If that thing I spoke to was a message from my future self, then it's a change I'm not going to like." He looked grimly ahead, peering through the darkness. And I'm right. I don't like this at all.

Glenn's voice was soft. "Ye said thy future self also said you'd be a god. I admit, tis not a thought I find comforting."

"Heh." Magus managed a wry grin. "Why ever not?"

"Oh, mayhap the fact that thou art not exactly the kindest of creatures. To give thee the power of a god seems to me to be a dangerous proposition." Glenn's voice was grim, but it softened slightly as he continued, "Dost thou want godhead?"

"The only thing I want is my sister well and safe," Magus replied and cursed the faint, plaintive, note in his voice. He forced his voice to harden. "I have spent my entire life towards that one goal"

"Nay. Thy life's goal hast been vengeance, wast it not? Twas only when ye learned of the possibility of time travel that ye had hope to find her."

Magus was about to answer when he was saved from further consideration by the light shining ahead of him. "The exit," he said, pointing.

***

Glenn could tell from the faint tone of relief in Magus' voice that he was glad of an interruption. He watched the tall mage hurry towards the break in the stone with a faint frown. Ye art worried, are ye not, he thought to himself. He'd traveled with the man long enough to pick up on some of his body language. The stiffer and angrier Magus got, the more he was trying to ignore some other emotion. Unless he missed his guess, Magus was scared.

And would ye not be yourself, wert ye in his place? Glenn asked himself. He had a certain sympathy. It was no light thing to have ones Self replaced and altered so radically. If the change coming over the mage was slower than his own transformation to a frog-like man it was also far deeper, more pervasive. Glenn had been essentially human on the inside, despite his physical appearance. Magus Magus was changing from within. Never truly human to begin with, he was becoming something so far outside understanding as to frighten anyone.

"Well now, this is different," Magus' harsh voice was surprised and confused, causing Glenn to hurry forward to stand beside the mage. What lay beyond the opening in the cave wall was an impossibility?

The sea was frozen

To Be Continued...