By Exile
Disclaimer: All of the characters used in this fanfic, except for Ryen who makes a short appearance in chapter 5, are property of Square. Any references to other stories, except mine, are purely coincidental. If you insist it's otherwise, I'll make you listen to Lucca explaining about quantum theories.
Chapter 2: Gesturing secrets
He put the sword back into its sheath, while he walked out of the castle. At that same moment, he saw the Epoch land several meters below him.
"Look, it's Frog!" Marle said excitedly.
"You think so? Maybe it's another frog-like human being with the Masamune in his
hand."
"That wasn't funny Crono."
Lucca opened the dome and jumped out first.
"T'is thee again." Frog said to the three adventurers, while he jumped of the
small cliff he was standing on earlier.
"What are you doing here?" Lucca asked the amphibian.
"I tried to find Magus. But the mage be not here."
"Of course not. He went to 12000 BC to find Schala. You forgot that?"
He had forgotten indeed. When they had last seen the arch-wizard, he went into the gate at the fairgrounds, off to find Schala.
"Then it'd be best I return'eth to the castle." Frog said, his face down.
"Uh, Frog, what's wrong with you?" Marle asked him.
"T'is nothing. I just need to fi..."
"Look! Up there in the sky!" Crono shouted as he pointed to a light flickering
above Magus' castle.
The pure blue light got brighter, as they saw a figure emerge from it.
"That's Magus!" Lucca noticed.
The wizard came flying down toward the group who were all staring at him.
"But... how...?" an amazed Lucca asked. "...You went to find Schala... right?"
"Of course. But I decided to take a break."
"Then how did you come here? You can travel through time?"
"Exactly. But... what are you doing here at my castle?" he asked, returning his
face to his normal look.
"We came to get Frog."
"Still want to fight, eh?" Magus said.
"Of course. I still owe it to Cyrus."
"Then let's get going" the wizard grimly said, as a scythe materialized in his
right hand.
"No! Stop it!" Marle interrupted the two enemies as they ran towards each other.
It was too late. They had already started their fight. Frog managed to block several attacks from Magus' scythe, as he took a few steps backwards.
"Is that the best you can do?" Magus grinned while he kept attacking.
"Of course not..."
Frog jumped into the air, as only frogs are able to do, while holding the Masamune above his head ready to rag his enemy onto it.
"Ice!" shouted Marle.
The two warriors got frozen, Frog still hanging in mid-air, but quickly falling down. The ice around him shattered as he hit the ground.
"Why did thou do that?" he angrily asked the princess who had just casted the spell on him and Magus.
"You two just can't get along, can you?" she said, pointing at the still frozen Magus.
The ice around Magus started to melt, as a small flame appeared in his hand. Within seconds he had de-frosted himself.
"Why you little...! I'll have your head for that!" Magus shouted angrily at
Marle.
"Yeah, come here and get it!"
Magus turned and started walking to Marle, but got halted by the spiky-haired one.
"Sorry, can't allow that to happen." he said, holding his Rainbow ready to attack.
Magus slowly backed off.
"But when your boy-friend here isn't around, we'll get back to this!" he said to
the blonde girl.
"Yeah. As if."
"And he wasn't supposed to be evil anymore?" Lucca whispered into Marle's ear.
"Whatever."
Crono had put his sword back where it was most of the time. Magus' scythe had already disappeared, but Frog still kept his sword in his hand, ready to fight his enemy-for-life anytime.
"So Frog, we actually came to visit you at your old hide-out. But we found a Nu
instead." Lucca said.
"The Nu's at it again? I'll take'th his guts for that this time."
"Eh, sure. We came to pick you up for a little reunion Crono here thought of."
pointing at the guy she just mentioned.
"A reunion? As long as the mage dost not be around, I'll come."
"Well, we were going to ask Magus too, but..."
"That's Janus now. And I won't come if that fish-fiend comes too."
"You're actually coming?"
"I told you I was taking a break. But if Frog comes..."
"Yeah I know. Can't you two just put that old revenge thing behind you? It's
such a cliché."
"I shant come if the mage comes." Frog said.
"We'll serve some beer?" Crono suggested, trying to lure Frog with them.
"Nay. I do not drink anymore."
"Eh... 9th century food?"
"The Crono Special? Sorry to tell thee, but 't tastes like three-year old
milk."
"Then how can we get you to come?"
"Dost not let Magus here come, and I'll join you."
"I told you, I'd like to be called Janus now!"
"'Tis a choice of thee..."
"Okay. So Magus won't come. But Janus will."
"Nay!" Frog shouted. "If he comes, I shan't!"
"Alright! So Ma... Janus won't come!" Crono said.
"Agreed."
"Hey? You're not letting me come?"
"Frog comes, so you just won't. We probably wouldn't notice you were gone
anyway. With your silence and all."
"Hmpf. Fine. Suit yourself." Janus muttered.
He made a few gestures in the air and muttered a few unidentifiable words. Then a gate appeared in front of him, and he stepped in. It then closed again.
"Maybe not that evil, right?" Lucca sarcastically said to herself. "You coming,
Frog?"
"Of course."
The gate closed behind him as he stepped out into the forest. Janus looked around, then flew up into the sky, searching the horizon. In the distance there was a small cloud of smoke coming from between two mountains.
"Dalton." he said to himself.
"Hey Frog, shouldn't you go tell the queen where you are? She seemed a bit
worried when we were at the castle." Marle said to Frog, who had now also got
into the Epoch.
"Nay, they dost not worry about me. They never do."
"Huh? How do you know that for sure? She looked worried when we were there, for
sure! And you just said that you thought they were worried, too!"
"Let's just go pick up Robo, alright?"
"Okay. Lucca, you heard him."
"Aye, aye, miss."
"What?"
"Err... nothing."
The Epoch accelerated again and disappeared into the sky. While they were traveling faster than light, Crono thought of something.
"Say Lucca, how come Magu.. uhm... Janus could travel through time all of a
sudden?"
"I don't know. Maybe he learned some more magic."
"Suppose he came from 12000 BC?"
"He said he was going to take a break, but left again. Probably to some other
time period."
After the Epoch exited it's hyper-speed travel, all they could see was a black void, with in the distance a small, dimmed light.
"Darn. I forgot." said Lucca. "We can't travel in groups greater than three."
"I shall wait here." said Frog. "I do not have anything to do anyway."
"You sure?"
"Of course. I will practice my sword-skills with Spekkio."
Lucca guided the Epoch towards the dimmed light, and stopped it next to a small bridge.
"Hey Gaspar!" Crono yelled.
He stepped out of the Epoch, the others following him.
"snore" was all that the Guru of Time emitted.
"Asleep. Always is and always will be."
Gaspar woke up because he was violently shaken by the spike-haired hero of time.
"Huh? What? You? What are you doing back here?" the old Guru asked. "Have you
come to see me? I knew you would! I just..."
"Sorry to interrupt you, but we accidentally got here. We traveled with three
people again you see."
"Oh. Too bad." Gaspar said, as he closed his eyes and started snoring again.
"Not much of a help either."
"Okay, can we go now?" Lucca anxiously said. She couldn't wait to see Robo
again.
"Yeah. Frog, wait here for a few hours or so and we'll be back."
"Aye."
When the Epoch came out of its light-speed travel, they were amazed by what they saw.
"Is this... 2300 AD?" Marle asked.
"Of course, look at those domes. There's Proto dome and Arris dome." Lucca said.
"And there's Lab 16! This new future looks amazing!"
"And remember, we did all of this!" Crono proudly said.
Lucca landed the machine in front of Proto dome, where they had first met Robo. They were welcomed by the same robotic figure too. He came walking out of the front gate as soon as the dome of the Epoch opened.
"Welcome back Lucca, Crono, Marle and Frog!" he said in his monotonous voice.
"Robo!" Lucca said happily as she embraced the human-like android. "It's been a
long time hasn't it?"
"Yes it has. 1 year, 2 days and 15 hours."
"You know, that sounds stupid." Crono remarked.
"Sorry, it's in my programming."
"Look, Robo, we came to pick you up for a reunion, we just have to get Ayla and
were complete."
"Then where is Frog?" Robo asked Lucca.
"We left him at the End of Time for a while."
"I see."
"You coming?"
"Just a second Lucca..."
Robo walked back into the small dome. When he got out of it, another robotic machine followed him.
"Is that you, Atropos?" Lucca asked the pink-like machine behind Robo.
"Yes indeed. I am Atropos. Have we met?"
"Uh, Atropos, this is Lucca. I told you about her and her friends, didn't I?"
"Ah yes, now I see! Welcome to Proto dome, miss Lucca!"
"You can just call me Lucca, you know."
"Impossible. That would be rude." the female robot replied.
"Can't help noticing you two fit together quite nicely..." Crono added.
"Lucca, if it's not too much of a problem, I would like to bring Atropos with
me."
"Of course not! Come along!"
They entered the Epoch again, now also including Robo and Atropos.
"Uh... Lucca... it's getting a little cramped in here." said Crono, whose face
was pressed against the thick glass of the dome.
"Live with it."
"Well, I'm not that comfortable either." Marle said to Lucca. She was squeezed
into the back of the Epoch, not being able to take a seat.
"Yeah, and why do the two robots get to sit? Their legs won't get tired!" Crono
snapped at the one steering the Epoch.
"Your legs won't either, all those fights... remember?"
Crono sighed as the Epoch took off to the End of Time again. There they left Robo and Atropos behind for a while after which they set course for the prehistoric age.
"You there! Stop him!"
"Yes sir!" the soldier replied.
Dalton stood in front of a burned down house, guarded by two other soldiers.
"That annoying prophet." he muttered to himself.
He could see Janus fighting against several soldiers from his own army in the distance. It seemed as if the wizard was too quick for them. He finished off the henchmen one by one, without even using his magic abilities.
"Dalton, I'm coming for you!" Janus shouted from the distance as he rapidly flew
towards the former left-hand of queen Zeal.
"Guess I'll have to take care of him myself." Dalton muttered. He took his sword
out of its sheath and charged at Janus.
At the moment when Janus heaved his scythe above his head, Dalton disappeared. Janus quickly turned around, knowing this trick just too well. But he wasn't fast enough. Dalton made a deep cut into Janus' arm. Janus quickly muttered a spell and made a few quick gestures in the air, before Dalton could make his next move. It wasn't a curing spell...
"Lightning 3!"
Janus aimed his two hands towards his enemy, his arms stretched. Two beams of lightning came from his hands. Dalton was too slow to dodge them. They hit him straight in his face.
"Aaaaaagh!" the now injured man screamed. He held his hands in front of his face. "Cure!"
Dalton quickly casted a spell of his own, to cure his wounded face.
"Hehe. I've learned some new spells of my own too!" Dalton said after his face was cured.
"Whatever. I've had it with you."
Janus quickly started doing some more gestures while chanting rapidly.
"Neuga zieber zom..."
"What?" Dalton shouted.
"...Now the chosen time has come..."
"You're crazy! You can't just..."
"...Exchange this world for..."
Dalton tried to escape, but he was too late.
"...Eternity!!" Janus shouted as he completed the spell.
The sky suddenly turned pitch black, clouds blocking the light from the sun. The soldiers who were standing in the burned down village quickly started to run into all directions, bumping into each other.
The ground below Janus' feet started to crack open and a few henchmen already fell into the cracks, which were now starting to form a large hole.
"You can't escape now, Dalton!" Janus said while he was still feeding the spell his energy.
The cracks were now gone, replaced by a large gaping hole. Most of Daltons soldiers had already fallen in, the few who were still standing on the edge fell in as the hole grew bigger and bigger. Then a large, blue light came from the bottomless hole, swallowing everything above it.
"Look! There's Ayla! She's flying on the Dactyls!" Marle said to Lucca.
The two Dactyls flew towards the Epoch, one carrying Ayla, and the other Kino. The prehistoric woman waved at them from the distance. Lucca tried to land the Epoch in the middle of the village, and then got out.
"Lucca! Crono! Marle! You back!" Ayla welcomed her friends.
"Hi friends!" Kino said in his own childish way.
"What happened here?" a shocked Lucca asked.
They hadn't noticed before, but there was now snow everywhere, most of the tropical plants were gone, and most of the animals went with them. It seemed that Azala's last words had come true. Ayla and Kino now wore fur coats, although Ayla still had her old animal tail hanging around her neck.
"It get very cold here after Reptites defeated. Many animals gone too. Having
hard time surviving." Ayla said, her face looking to the ground. "But you not
worry! You back here, we have party!"
"As long as there won't be another one of those soup-eating contests, count me
in!" an excited Crono said, still remembering the last time.
"No. This time WE'RE having a party!" Marle said. "We're bringing everyone
together again!"
"You for sure? Sound fun! Ayla come! Kino too!"
"Just come along then!"
Ayla send the Dactyls away and they all got into the Epoch again. It wasn't as cramped as the first time, but still...
"Uh, Kino, could you make a little more room?" Marle asked the caveman.
Kino tried to move a little, but accidentally touched an already angry Lucca.
"Hey! Get off me, you stupid Neanderthal!"
Kino shuffled back again.
"She... you know... PMS?" he asked Marle.
"See Crono, these cavemen aren't stupid at all. They can figure out things
faster than you."
"What? You're calling me slow?!"