The Fire When it Comes - Part 12: Hide & Seek: In which Kid does some jumping and Glenn and Janus some searching.
A Crono-Trigger/Cross fanfic
By
Deborah J. Brown

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

1012 A.D. Home World:
Kid clenched her fists in a state of red-hot fury. It'd taken her weeks to find her way north. Weeks of evading adult supervision and dodging Porre soldiers. Weeks of bad food and nightmares. Weeks of those strange jumps that had taken her out of danger and – apparently – out of her proper time. Those weeks had turned – without her quite knowing how – into two whole years lost from her life. The jumps were doing something to her. She felt older, both in body and in mind. Still, at long last she'd made it home, only to find there was no home to return to.

Gazing at the burnt out shell that had once been Lucca's house, Kid felt tears pouring down her cheeks. Her memory was so confused, but one image stood clear. Lynx, that horrible demi-human, and his nasty little clown. He'd been threatening Lucca and he must have succeeded in capturing her, or worse. She sat on the ground and began to bawl in earnest, a child whose heart – in those few short weeks – had aged sixty years.

"Sis?" A boy's voice drew Kid's attention, made her stop crying long enough to look up. "Sis?" It was Eike, a strangely older Eike. The blonde blinked at her and suddenly the two were holding onto each other.

Stepping back, Eike smiled wanly at Kid. "We've been worried about you," he said, "Come on, we've been sheltering in the cave."

***

Eike watched his little 'sister' gobble her soup and bread as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. From her story it sounded like she hadn't. He wondered what had happened, how she'd been carried so far away. There was so much he didn't understand. She didn't look the same. Somehow those jumps she'd taken had aged her. Her eyes showed the change best, a searing, aching emptiness that said that nothing would ever be the same.

"Now you have to tell me what happened," Kid said, looking at Eike with those terrible sad eyes. "Everything."

"There's not much to tell. That man saved us from the fire, but he disappeared when he fought Lynx off." Eike was surprised to see a frown of non-comprehension on his sister's face. "Don't you remember? We were watching from the bushes He got you out and Lynx found you. When you were shot and disappeared."

"I don't remember any of this," Kid broke in. "My memory gets confused when I jump." She touched her necklace, the one that Eike remembered she'd been given so many years ago. "What man?"

"He never told us his name. He had a weird necklace. Same stone as yours, but shaped different." Eike shuddered at the memory. The voice from that stone had been terrifying. "It talked to me. It it was pretty scary, but I think it's why we all got out and why the soldiers didn't find us. Something was protecting us, that night, that much I'm sure of."

Kid's frown of puzzlement continued, but she gestured, "Okay, go on."

"After we got out, you and that man came out. There were some explosions and that's when Lynx showed up with some soldiers." Eike described the scene, the memory deeply scarred on his mind. The flames of their burning home, the explosions that had wiped out both the castle and the town. The men firing on Kid when she'd attacked their leader. Her disappearance and the stranger's soon after. "We thought maybe they went to look for you, but when you never came back" Eike's voice broke. "Sis, everyone else is gone. Everyone and everything. We found a few bodies and buried them, but It's like Guardia never existed."

Kid was silent for so long that Eike was sure the news had been too much, far too much for her to take after everything else. Then she looked at Eike with those clear, cold, blue eyes. "Guardia isn't gone as long as we're alive. Porre will pay for what it's done."

***

1019 A.D. Another World:
Glenn took a deep breath and waited for the dizziness to pass. All this time travel was beginning to get to him. He was, in fact, beginning to share Janus' opinion that Kid was deliberately making life hard on them. "We seemeth always to be one step behind her," he muttered in an annoyed voice. "If only we couldst make the jump a bit earlier."

"What I'd like to know is how she managed to get from one time line to the other," Janus replied, equally irate. "Blast it, jumping into this line is bloody dangerous! FATE is in control here and it's about all I can do to keep her from grabbing me."

"She knoweth that ye art here?"

"I'm blocking her. She can see me in either line if I'm not careful, but it doesn't matter so much in the one where Serge survived. Here, on the other hand. Still, if I'm blocking her, there's not much I can do to protect you or Kid," Janus replied grimly. "And from the looks of this place you need protection."

Glancing around, Glenn had to agree. There were some terrible creatures wandering around this highly unpleasant looking cavern. "I wilt manage. We dost not wish her minions here to capture thee."

"Then hurry," Janus growled. "The sooner we find Kid, the better."

As Glenn made his way through the cavern, sometimes forced to do battle, sometimes not, and – once – aided by Janus' will on a doorway that had seemed mere mirror to him, he reflected that Kid was apparently as trouble and danger prone as her brother had been in his human life. Following the trail of her time jumps, Glenn had noticed a growing pattern. The early ones, prior to her reaching Guardia could have been simply accidents, a small child's inability to avoid the natural dangers of the world.

Not long afterwards, though, their nature changed. Always in Porre, always somewhere near a bit of banditry by a group calling themselves the Radical Dreamers. It hadn't been long before Glenn and Janus had realized Kid was leading the Dreamers. The jumps had been growing further apart, too, as the girl became better at whatever madness she was attempting. The last one, set a year prior to now, had been the most impressive, taking out an entire military facility. She really is Janus' sister. Crazy, vengeful and ready to throw herself and those with her into the bleakest danger to achieve her goal.

"I heard that," Janus grumbled. "You're thinking too loudly."

"Canst thou claim my thoughts false?" Glenn demanded, grinning a bit, especially when he got a sense of sharp embarrassment from his companion. "Ne'er mind that. I hear voices."

Pausing at the mouth of a cave that led outside, Glenn listened. "Too long have you dogged my footsteps, little humans. Now we end this." The voice was Lynx's, and Glenn tightened his fist on his sword.

"Couldn't happen soon enuf fer me, yah bastahd," the young voice was female, but rough and angry in its tone. "All o'us, we're ready t'die t'take yah out!"

"Eet weel not be so easy, leetle beetch. Vous ees strong, but vous are not zee match for Master Lynx. Vous are most especially not zee match for Master Lynx and moi."

Glenn blinked. ::Janus, didn't you kill her?::

::There are two timelines now. Apparently in this one we didn't.:: Janus sounded worried. ::Indeed, I begin to wonder if it was because we didn't that the boy died, creating this line.::

The sound of fighting reminded Glenn that this wasn't the time to work out the ins and outs of the last few weeks. He slid out slowly and quietly and eyed the scene. A narrow promontory angled upwards and at its end were four youngsters facing off two others, magic and weaponry flashing as the two groups attacked and dodged. Lynx and Harle might be outnumbered, but they were hardly outmatched. Their black magic was exhausting their enemies, the children were beginning to falter.

Slowly Glenn moved forward, trying to work out a way to end the fight in Kid's favor. The girl was doing her best, fire magic blasting out at Lynx with unrelenting force. One compact blonde youth was firing a pistol and – as Glenn moved closer – used it to shoot thunder into Harle.

::Hello.:: Janus muttered. ::That clown girl she has Kid's necklace, but so does Kid.::

Glenn spotted the stone in question hanging from a triangle of cloth attached around Harle's neck and had to agree it looked the same. However, ::Ne'er mind that,:: Glenn answered as he drew closer. ::We have to help those children.:: He rushed forward, yelling Lynx's name and interrupting the cat-man before he could set off another blaze of magic.

"What th. Who are you?"

It occurred to Glenn that this Lynx had no idea who he was. Not that it mattered, the cat-man was a danger to these children and to the girl he'd sworn to protect. He would have to be stopped.

Swords clashed and sparked. The hatred and rage within the Masamune was palpable and agonizing to feel. Had Doreen not taken its place at Glenn's side he was sure he would have been overwhelmed. He could feel her struggling to reach into the other sword, to reawaken her brothers' true selves. While the Masamune was in Lynx's hands, though, the effort was useless. His nature was blocking her, encouraging the darkness within the blade.

The two men swung and blocked, sliced and dodged, all magic forgotten in the anger of the moment. Lynx was a brilliant swordsman, Glenn could see that. Brilliant, powerful and dangerous. In the end, though, there could only be one winner and one loser. A failed block provided the opening, as Lynx's blade sliced into Glenn's chest. Lynx's smile of satisfaction, however, was quickly lost as Glenn wrapped his left arm around the cat-man's sword arm holding the demi-human still just long enough to drive his sword into Lynx's heart.

***

"GLENN!" Janus dropped the shield guarding him against FATE and wrapped his magics around the knight. "Don't you DARE die on me!"

Glenn's pained chuckle was weak. "Thy words art familiar," he whispered. "Mayhap I said much the same to thee, not terribly long ago? Waste not thy energy on me, when the danger to thyself is so great."

Before Janus could snap back, one of the youngsters was kneeling beside Glenn. "I can help," he said, "I'm training to be a doctor." As Janus worked healing spells on the internal damage, the shaggy haired blonde began wiping blood from the wound, hands shaking as he worked.

"Hurry," Glenn muttered. "Or this fool that calls himself my friend wilt be discovered by our enemies."

"Dude, I'm going as fast as I can."

Janus focused on the healing, pushing his magics as fast as he dared. He was not going to lose the knight, not after they'd been through so much. With relief, he felt the damaged lung tissue beginning to heal, even as the boy – more a young man, really – finished sealing the external damage with his own spells.

::AT LAST! I HAVE FOUND.:: Janus felt the voice in his mind, the roar of triumph from that hated thing that squatted not far to their south. She was sending her minions out for them and though he'd restored the shield, there was no way to keep her from 'seeing' where he was now. They'd have to get out quickly to avoid capture. He was about to say as much when the scream of raw grief and fury forced him to 'look' upwards.

Harle had been kneeling beside her companion and apparently trying to save his life. The effort had been useless, though, for Glenn's blade had struck home with unerring aim. Now she was standing and aiming a spell their way. Only one thing stopped her. A small, red-garbed shaped rushed forwards and tackled the girl, throwing them both over the side of the cliff. There was a scream, sharply cut off, and he felt a dual surge of time energy as both girls were carried away by their necklaces.

"Kid!" One of the girl's companions rushed to the edge, even as Glenn managed to lever his newly healed body into an upright position. The boy, the one with the gun, turned back and shook his head tiredly. "She's gone. Again. The other one is too."

"Blast," muttered the other boy. "I wish she'd cut that out!"

"We'll just have to wait until she finds us, dudes," the young healer answered.

If Janus could have raised a brow, he would have. Then understanding hit. These boys must have become accustomed to Kid's disappearances. Must have been taking them into account. No wonder she'd kept putting herself in danger. She'd been counting on her necklace to protect her. Damn it, sister, I didn't give you that thing so you could play jack in the box with time! He sighed. He should have known she would, though. He'd never known his sister as a small child, but the stories his nurse had told about Schala had made it clear that she'd been something of a hoyden when small. It only stood to reason her clone would be as well, especially when not given any instruction to be otherwise. And most especially when she's been given ample reason for vengeance.

"I knoweth about her necklace," Glenn said. "So she seeks ye out after these incidents?"

Three pairs of suspicious eyes turned on the knight, who stood slowly and kept his hands out where they could be seen. "How do you know about the necklace?"

"Because," Janus growled, "I gave it to her."

It was the boy with the pistol whose expression changed to recognition. "You! You're the one who rescued us! Why didn't you come back?"

"We hath been following Kid's trail thru time for many a day," Glenn answered. "The necklace prevents us from seeking her directly, but there are marks that my companion can sense."

"Hey! Then can you get us to her?" the tallest and skinniest of the three boys demanded. "Take us with you!"

"No," Janus said grimly. "Our enemy searches for us even now and we don't know how long it would take for us to find her. I can't carry you three around all over the place – not when I don't know how many more jumps this is going to take."

"Janus, canst we at least move them to a safer place afore we go? Tis no place for children."

"Dude, I don't think you should be calling us children," the healer of the group said. "Not after everything we've done."

"Yeah, we're the strongest there are!" the other boy said, to the oldest boy's obvious disgust.

"Hah!" Janus muttered, though he appreciated of the young man's bravado, if not his sense. He thought about it, sensing FATE's regard on the area, despite his shield on his Self. "Right. You three are in worse danger than you think. There's only one thing I can do to keep her from knowing you."

"What?"

"Take you back in time before She was freed."

***

1018 A.D. Another World:
Harle found herself landing in the middle of a swamp, her necklace glowing white hot. Her memory was confused, her Self, temporarily lost. All she could do was to roll and find her feet.

It was strange, her mind felt divided against itself. There was a peculiar duality to her, another mind touching hers. Their purposes were similar, their physical nature nearly identical. For a moment she felt as if she was looking out at two different swamps; one a dying mass of vegetation, failing wildlife, acidic waters and a foul stench of death and decay; the other filled with life, thriving, with crystal clear waters and the natural stench of a swamp in full growth.

At last the duality faded, leaving behind only a peculiar sadness, as if something had changed inside her. She sighed and began making her way out of the swamp to get her next orders and decide what to do next.

***

1018 A.D. Home World:
Kid found herself landing in the middle of a swamp, her necklace glowing white hot. Her memory was confused, her Self, temporarily lost. All she could do was to roll and find her feet.

It was strange, her mind felt divided against itself. There was a peculiar duality to her, another mind touching hers. Their purposes were similar, their physical nature nearly identical. For a moment she felt as if she was looking out at two different swamps; one filled with life, thriving, with crystal clear waters and the natural stench of a swamp in full growth; the other a dying mass of vegetation, failing wildlife, acidic waters and a foul stench of death and decay.

At last the duality faded, leaving behind only a peculiar sadness, as if something had changed inside her. She sighed and began making her way out of the swamp to find her friends and decide what to do next.

***

1019 A.D. Another World:
FATE focused her thoughts on the Isle of the Damned. Shield yourself all you wish, little one. I know you are there. She urged her minions, robots built for the greatest speed possible, to aim for the Isle. The young Flame had been busy caring for its guardian and her Sight showed that her tool had damaged the human badly before it had been destroyed. It would be close, but she thought her minions would reach them before the human recovered enough to be moved.

There were other humans as well. The ones her tool had told her of, the brats who called themselves the Radical Dreamers. The ones who seemed to have entered her timeline from that of her Sister-Self's, using technology stolen from the Porre scientists who had been studying a way to move between the timelines. Well enough. She'd avenge Lynx's death on them and have her other Self send her Lynx to help instead.

Nudging the Flame awake and impressing on it the need for its cooperation, FATE watched her minions approach the isle and guided them towards the narrow promontory where four human figures stood. If it hadn't been for the bonds on her will, she would have ordered their immediate execution, but try though she might, she couldn't convince the controls that these humans posed a threat to Chronopolis' security. Still, nothing prevented the machines from laying down a barrage of sleeping gas, intended to drop the four humans to the ground.

Smoke rose around the humans and FATE smiled to herself as she heard their startled yells. "Bring them here!" she ordered her own Flame. When nothing happened, her smile faded and she sent surges of power through her connection to the Flame, eliciting screams from the entity within. "I SAID BRING THEM HERE!"

"I'm trying!" the Flame gasped. "He's fighting me. He's stronger than I am I can't" There was a blaze of red and blue fire around the Flame and, to FATE's amazement and momentary terror, it went dim, moaning softly to itself in the relative darkness.

As the smoke cleared, FATE saw that her effort had failed. The other Flame was gone.

***

OUTSIDE OF TIME:
Two minds touched momentarily. ::It's all up to you Your idea is a good one. Go with it after you find her::

::Are you going to be all right? I didn't mean to hit back so hard:::

::You're just saying that because you know you'll be on the receiving end some day.::

::And your point is?::

::Hah. Just good luck It's not going all our way but I think it will I have to believe Get a hold of some hydra humor. You'll need it when you find Kid::

::Are you sure you'll be all right?::

::Not really But I plan on it:: A faint, tired, chuckle. ::Give my regards to Dad.::

To Be Continued

Author's Notes:

Harle's Necklace: If you look at her outfit in the Strategy Guide (an invaluable tool for this fanfic, as are several of the FAQ over at GameFAQs.) you'll notice a blue pendant hanging off one of the points on her hood. It's not shaped exactly like the stone in Kid's necklace, but we'll figure it wasn't pointed in the right direction when it got drawn. Yeah, that's the ticket.

The Split: Among the questions I think has plagued players of the game is why there was only one Lynx and one Harle. At least it plagued me. These last few segments are partly intended to work out a possible reason. Just to clarify if need be. The game Lynx is Home World and Harle is Another World. Home World's Harle died at Janus' hands and Another World's Lynx at Glenn's. And there's a reason the split occurred, but you'll have to wait and see what it is.

The Masamune: Now *there* is a blade that has given me fits and headaches. It showed up at Dragon Falls and it showed up at the Isle of the Damned and there was only one where there ought to have been two *sigh* So, for the purposes of this fic, there were two, but one gets destroyed when the Lynxed out Serge uses the Einlanzer on it and the other was in Lynx's hands. Convoluted? Probably, but so's the story.

The Radical Dreamers: I'm sure there were more in the group. Since I had those three names already, I decided to use those characters for this segment. Authorial boot to own head, using cute names for characters is okay for walk-ons, a little jarring for characters with more of a part, which it turns out those three boys will have. Oh well.

I've got a rough draft of the rest of the story done (SFX of Kosagi falling over 70 pages of writing in 4 days). I even have a beta-reader now (waves at Skahducky) so I should be printing each of the remaining segments over the course of this next week. Hopefully at a rate of one a day.

Deborah (Kosagi) Brown