Chapter 10
The Chrono Trigger
Everything was in the right place. The desk sat in the middle of the room, with various objects standing against the walls.
Serge, standing in the doorway, noticed three figures awaiting him in the room. He recognized them instantly. One wore an orange shirt with big, goofy glasses and purple hair. The next was wearing a white dress with a bow in her hair. The last figure's red, spiked hair was the first to be noticed, then his blue tunic. The three children smiled at Serge as he peered at them.
"Welcome. We've been waiting for you Serge," the girl with the purple hair spoke first.
"Serge, you've finally made it…" the girl in white said.
"The Chrono Trigger," whispered the boy in blue.
Serge walked forward.
"Serge, do you know why you are here?" the one girl asked. She indicated the room around her.
Serge shook his head.
"We are in Viper Manor because of you Serge," the girl in the white dress told him. "Your mind has created this room from the deep feelings inside of you. Outside that door, you were floating in a time that doesn't exist. You didn't know it, but you were floating in the Frozen Flame's defense against intruders. Inside this structure, this Apocalypse Tower, the Flame has surrounded itself in a blanket of non-existing time. This is to keep out unwanted intruders. Serge, had you been unsure of what your goal was, of what your heart wanted, you would've been lost in a state of frozen time forever. However, since your heart knew what your goal was, you were able to penetrate that fog of time and create this room."
"You see Serge, this room holds a special meaning to you, that is why your mind created it. This is the room where you lost Kid to the Frozen Flame…Your mind and heart realized this and led you here in hopes that you would find her again." The girl finished her explanation and Serge regarded her with a curious expression.
"Now Serge," the girl with the glasses spoke next. "Let me tell you of an event that happened years ago, yet still holds influence today." Serge turned toward her, silent, waiting for her explanation of the events.
"In the time of 1000 AD, after a group of time traveling teenagers defeated the extraterrestrial being Lavos in the future, two of them became married. One of them happened to be Princess Nadia, the other was the first Chrono Trigger. After they were wed, they became king and queen of the kingdom of Guardia. Under their rule, Guardia flourished and was at peace with all of its neighbors. This peace and calm continued for 5 years until an entity became jealous of the Chrono Trigger's place in the world."
"Even though it had been saved by these heroes, the planet began to once again resent them. It became angry at their rate of evolution and wanted revenge. From the future of another dimension, in which humans never evolved beyond apes due to their overshadowing by the reptites, the planet drew a being to this dimension. This being appeared in the year 1005 AD and its sole purpose was to bring about the destruction of the Chrono Trigger and cast Guardia into ruin."
"To do this, this being, this reptite, secretly broke its way into Guardia and stole the Masamune, the legendary sword forged by Melchior and a young man's dreams. Filled with the planet's rage, this figure used the Masamune to commit mass murders in the countryside. Villages were completely destroyed and people fell from their peaceful state of minds and began to know fear once more. With this fear came anger and the humans reverted back to their former selves."
"Eventually, the king and queen of Guardia were able to locate and confront the reptite, whose negative sentiments of the planet turned the Masamune evil. During the confrontation, Queen Nadia fell under the blade of the Masamune. The King and reptite then engaged in a fierce duel, with the king eventually emerging as the winner, despite his many wounds. His victory was an empty one however. Saddened by the death of his queen and by the murders that had been committed with the Masamune, the king took the evil blade away from the main continent of Zenan. Since he was the one who had helped the blade to be forged in the first place, his mind was able to withstand the negative energy of the Masamune. Eventually, wounded and tired, the king placed the unholy weapon inside a cave behind Divine Dragon Falls in the Sea of El Nido. It was there, where a wound from a being of a different future took its toll, the first Chrono Trigger passed away in the water of Divine Dragon Falls. His pure sentiments that remained transformed the area into a place of peace and tranquility for the years that would come."
"The kingdom of Guardia, now with neither king nor queen, began to whither away. Its prosperity left, allowing the nation of Porre to rise and grow powerful. Porre became the power of the continent, where its military state turned back to force to persuade people in their ways.
"The Masamune lingered behind however. With the negative sentiments from the reptite, the sword now bore the hate of the planet with it. From that point on, anyone who took hold of the blade would be overcome with evil thoughts from the planet. Its holder would want to murder humans, especially people the user knew and held dear."
The girl stopped her story and Serge held the Mastermune up in front of him. Its blade shimmered in the soft light of the room.
"Serge, you, the second Chrono Trigger, were able to liberate the Masamune from its enmity. It now carries your dreams with it and will be vital in the battle that is ahead of you…"
Serge lowered the Masamune and he suddenly thought of Lynx and his last encounter with the demi-human. The boy standing behind the desk, as if reading his mind, spoke up. "Lynx, the shell program of the FATE computer system, was transported to this time to try and restore FATE in the future. To do this, the shell thought it needed the power of the Masamune to destroy Kid. It made contact with the Frozen Flame, which allowed it to travel to a distorted area in time to gain access to the evil sword. However, as soon as Lynx took hold of the blade, his mind became unstable. Before, whenever Lynx had held the Masamune, FATE had been there to prevent Lynx's mind from being overcome. Now, with no FATE to guide the shell program, Lynx was corrupted by the Masamune and felt rage for the humans. This rage was amplified even more when he encountered reptites, beings from the future of another dimension, who turned the shell program to their cause. From that point on, if Lynx was holding the Masamune, his mind was bent on nothing but the destruction of humans, and not the restoration of FATE."
Serge's mind flashed back to Opassa Beach, his last encounter with Lynx. Serge had been able to tell something was wrong with Lynx but hadn't known what. Now that he thought about, Lynx's words and actions began to make sense.
"But, that was not truly the end of the Planet's revenge from its jealousy against the main three who had defeated Lavos," the girl continued. "On the fateful night of a terrible magnetic storm caused by Schala reaching out to the second Chrono Trigger from beyond the dimensions, the hidden 7th Dragon God was created. Harle soon made contact with Lynx, the incarnation of FATE. You see, FATE calculated that Lucca Ashtear would not have been able to release the Prometheus Lock on the Frozen Flame due to the fact that while she had incorporated the module into the system, in truth, it was Belthasar who designed the layout system for the circuit. The Dragons knew that it would've taken both Lucca and Belthasar to be able to release the lock on the Flame and that was out of the question, since Belthasar had constructed a time machine for himself and would've been impossible to track down."
"After some persuasion however, Harle was successful in getting Lynx to abduct Lucca from her orphanage and even planned it so that Kid would be present when it happened. It wasn't FATE who had disposed of Lucca after she failed to release the Lock, it was Harle, commencing a revenge plot from the planet that was planned out for over five years."
"Since Harle had taken special care to have the kidnapping take place in front of Kid's eyes, the Dragon's knew the Schala-clone would vow revenge. They had calculated that Kid would eventually draw Serge to the other dimension unknowingly and together they would bring about the destruction of FATE, thus releasing the Dragon Gods from their imprisonment. The Dragon's never wanted the Frozen Flame to be unlocked by Lucca, instead, they had kidnapped Lucca and killed her as an act of revenge and a way to get Kid angry at Lynx, whom she thought committed the murder."
"As for the planet itself," the girl in the white started. "It is now in its final plans to rid itself of all traces of alien life. The Dragon God entity it summoned here is currently making its way through the nonexistent time the Frozen Flame has enveloped itself in. Once it does, the final battle for the future of the planet will begin. You still play a role in it all Serge. You see, when you saved the planet and all of time from being devoured into nothingness, you also created the planet to resent humans even more. It is hard to believe that such a thing could happen, but the planet has grown jealous of the human race. Humans have evolved faster than its reptites ever could, and it now seeks to wipe out humans entirely."
"This same thing happened to the first Chrono Trigger. They are beings chosen by the planet to save it in its hour of need. In doing this, the Chrono Trigger shows that he has a pure heart and seeks only the wellbeing of others. This angers the planet, for even in the distant future, the reptites that it has raised are not perfect. Fearing the Chrono Trigger's influence will spread, the planet attempts to destroy them…Maybe this is the fate of all things…to be envied by another, only to be destroyed by that envy in the end…"
The girl in the glasses began to speak once more. "Serge, you have acquired the Chrono Cross once again. It didn't fully take effect in the Tesseract due to a destroyed Lavos that dwelt there. Lavos used all of its power to prevent the Chrono Cross's healing melody to escape the Tesseract, otherwise, things would've turned out differently…"
She paused for a second, adjusting her glasses. "Well, perhaps, and perhaps not. The Chrono Cross is an ancient relic of the planet, capable of binding the six different sounds the planet produces into one, healing sound. It was assumed that the Chrono Cross would be able to heal the enmity of the planet as well, but it is not so. No, the Chrono Cross, in being a part of the planet, lacks the power to fully heal its creator of enmity toward humans. This task can only be reserved for something else…"
"As for how you were able to gain the Chrono Cross without all the blessings of the Dragon Gods…" she went on. "As Belthasar told you before, this dimension is becoming highly unstable, even more so when the Dragon God passed into it. This time stream has already been torn apart once, when the Dragon God entered this dimension. However, the many forces acting on this time are so powerful that it is being stretched to the point of snapping apart. In this stretching however, certain things have become distorted. The cave where the Chrono Cross was formed was one of them. In it, time was twisted enough to allow you to be able to achieve the Chrono Cross with only the shattered remains of a single Dragon's Tear."
The boy with the red hair took a step forward, holding eye contact with Serge, who returned his gaze. "Serge," he said. "Now is the hour of doom. For which force, none can say. The planet and the aliens are in their final throws. The Dragon God is going to attack the Frozen Flame, which in turn is trying to create another Time Devourer. And in the middle of all of this, humans. You see, if either side wins, humanity is doomed. Serge, you have all the pieces necessary to set things right, but you must set things to your own choosing of what is right. Will you save the planet? Or will you save humans? The choice is up to you, Serge. You are the only one who has the power to show all life forms what the future of this time will be. We entreat you, Chrono Trigger! Do what you feel is right…for the future."
The walls of the room suddenly began to distort themselves. They whirled and rotated. A rumbling sound was heard and the secret doorway that Viper had in his office opened. Behind it, instead of the dark, dreary room that Serge was used to, he saw the top of a stairway. Around him, the three children began to fade. He watched them go, silent in the moment. Their bodies faded even further and the last image Serge had of them was their faces, smiling. He heard, or rather thought he heard, the voices remain in the air for a second more.
Please, Serge. For the future of everything.
Then the three children were gone, nothing but a memory in his head. Gripping the Mastermune with a new resolve, Serge stepped toward the secret opening, heading for the stairway they lay beyond. His footsteps made no sound as he passed through the opening and peered down the steps.
The steps went straight downward, into darkness. Nothing was there to support them, they were simply floating in the air. Serge couldn't explain it, but he felt as though there was a presence waiting for him at the bottom of the stair, waiting for his arrival.
He felt free of fear and somehow strangely calm. With a single thought on his mind, he started down.
Kid, I'm coming to save you…
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A flash of light erupted skyward as the Einlanzer met the reptile sword. Glenn heard a yell pierce the air and he dove forward. With another arc slicing downward, the Einlanzer pierced through the hide of the reptite creature. Green skin gave way and blood seeped through the large, open wound. The reptite cried out again and toppled backwards, the pain in its body too great to bear.
Glenn heard another yell, this time human. He whirled at the sound and saw that a reptite creature had knocked Fargo's sword from his hand. In another instant, Fargo had been pierced through the shoulder, the blue blade of the reptile shimmering as Fargo let out a cry of pain.
Glenn started forward instantly, bearing down on the creature from behind. In an instant, the reptite threw Fargo from its grasp and turned to meet his charge. With inhuman speed, he sidestepped Glenn's attack and made ready with its own. Glenn's shield took the brunt of the blow and shattered. The creature was repelled for an instant only, but in that instant, Fargo had unsteadily regained his footing. With his good arm, he had reached into his jacket and pulled something from within. In a dive of pain and fury, he jumped onto the creature's back and stabbed into his shoulder with something.
The reptite let out a snarl and reached around, grabbing Fargo by his neck. Glenn winced as he heard a snapping sound. Fargo's body went limp. The reptite threw him aside to lay in the grass, unmoving.
Filled with rage, Glenn glanced to his side to see another reptile moving towards him, preparing for its attack. At the same time, the reptile that Fargo had fought with was making its own advance. Glenn's new attacker swung its sword downward. The Einlanzer moved through the air to counter the blow. Another flash of light and the creature stumbled backward, stunned. In his fury, Glenn forgot about his previous attacker for a moment and dove forward, lashing out at the stricken reptile. His sword pierced through its chest and the creature let out a yell. Glenn took a step back, his anger still unchecked. His mistake in forgetting about the other lizard quickly showed through.
In the instant before it happened, Glenn saw his old attacker's sword slice towards his side. He was unable to move to counter it fast enough. His anger boiled even hotter as he realized the creature had him. There was nowhere to go.
The blue sword sliced downward, then swung wide. The creature stumbled forward, almost losing its balance. Fargo's poisonous dart had caused it to almost pass out entirely. Glenn, feeling a new energy, stepped into his attacker's path, swinging the Einlanzer with all his strength. The creature let out a gurgling sound as its body was clove in two.
Schala's arm raised and a purple haze formed ahead of her, in front of Guile from where he lay on the ground. The haze stayed then disappeared, staying just long enough to repel the creature's sword that had been meant to finish Guile off.
He had come to rest on the ground from where he had been thrown by one of the lizards. Upon seeing that Marcy was in danger, Guile had rushed forward, driving into the creature's back that had threatened Marcy. His rush had thrown off the reptite's attack, but had also left Guile open for attack. In anger, the creature had tossed Guile sideways, causing him to land heavily on the ground.
After being deflected by Schala's shield, the reptile had taken a step back in wonder. In a flash, Guile was on his feet, his mask hiding the anger that was surging within. It was personal now.
He made a swinging motion with his staff and it disappeared into thin air. In another second, a dozen staffs had appeared around the lizard, only then to be turned into long, glimmering swords. The creature made a sweeping blow with its own sword and cut three of the hovering ones in half. The remaining blades then lanced inward, piercing the body of the reptite from all sides. It toppled over with a loud scream as Guile's staff materialized in his hand.
As Guile lurched off to aid in the other battles that were happening, Schala looked around, feeling something.
Radius and Viper were fighting back to back, fending off the blows of two different reptites at once.
Karsh had been isolated in his fighting for a moment. In his rage at the beginning, he had struck down two reptites while they were still blinded from Schala's ball of light. Guile was moving to help Karsh as two more lizards approached him.
Zoah and Marcy had taken a stand near each other, engaging in two more reptiles, which were circling the two.
Glenn and Fargo had been isolated further up the line, being attacked by three lizards at once.
Schala felt another feeling stir within her. Serge, he needs help. Looking around a moment more, Schala turned toward the structure behind her.
With a gentle voice that carried throughout the whole battlefield, Schala whispered into the wind, "Stay strong, all of you. I'm going to help Serge…"
The humans left fighting heard her inside their heads and silently nodded to themselves. They understood, it needed to be done.
Schala flowed, rather than ran, into the entrance of the building and disappeared into the shadows that swallowed everything beyond.