Chapter Four - How the Lunch Was Ruined
Marle paced the halls of Guardia castle. She had been doing this for
about 30 minutes now and was beginning to look rather agitated.
"Where are they?" she asked nobody in particular, for the 10th time.
"I know that I made it clear that we were supposed to have lunch an
hour ago..."
This was true. For the first half hour, she had thought they were
simply running a little late, but at this point, she knew something was
wrong. Something had to be wrong. They wouldn't just stand her up or
forget about it, would they? No, of course not. They had probably
just... Well, she couldn't really think of what excuse they would give
she guessed that she'd just have to...
"Princess Nadia!"
The voice of a panicked guard who was currently rushing towards her
interrupted her train of thought.
"Yes?" she asked.
"We're under attack!"
"Oh?"
"Yes! There have been reports of numerous explosions in the forest! I
think I should lead you to safety!"
Once she heard the word 'explosions' and the word 'forest' in the same
sentence, she knew that her friends were on their way over. She smiled
in a way that thoroughly confused the guard.
"That's good."
When she said this, the guard became even more thoroughly confused than
her smile had made him.
"I-It is?"
"Yes."
Marle then left the dumbfounded guard to scratch his head.
As she neared the entrance, she could hear explosions more and more
distinctly and couldn't help chuckling, as all the guards she passed
wore expressions of alarm and uncertainty. Her chuckle added confusion
to the list of expressions that said guards were now wearing.
Just as the entrance was in sight, she watched Crono run inside,
pursued rapidly by Lucca, who, Marle saw, was holding an incendiary
device. Marle also noticed the slightly insane expression on Lucca's
face - the one that she was fairly used to seeing when Lucca was intent
on causing things to explode.
"Hey, um, Lucca?" Marle began, "Would you mind putting those things
away when you're inside the castle? I mean, hurling bombs at Yakra
VIII when he's trying to frame my father is one situation, but tossing
them around when you're coming for a formal dinner is a little
different."
With her irrationality pointed out by someone who wasn't Crono, Lucca
promptly regained her sanity, put the bomb away, and blushed, smiling
sheepishly.
"Heh heh heh... Sorry about that..." Lucca replied, "So... Umm...
How are you doing, Marle?"
"I've been doing alright, although I was a little worried that you two
wouldn't show up..."
"Yeah, about that: I'm sorry we're late, but..." Lucca pointed at
Crono, "... if this guy would wake up at a normal hour once in a while,
we would have made it here."
Crono, who had now regained his breath from being almost scared out of
his wits and from the run through Guardia forest, joined the
conversation, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I really wanted to get here on time,
but I can just never seem to get up easily... unless Lucca's
threatening to try to burn down the house - again."
"Hey! I can only apologize for that so many times! Must you hold it
against me?" Lucca shot back, testily.
"Well, how would you feel if I went over to your house and tried to
blast it away with Luminaire?"
Lucca smiled disconcertingly and said, "I'd be thrilled. I've been
meaning to see what kind of energy readings come up when you cast
Luminaire, and I could measure those pretty easily with the ampmeters
at my home. So if you--"
She stopped because she noticed that Crono was getting sleepy and Marle
was getting bored. She decided to solve the problem she had created by
shouting "Napalm!" in Crono's ear, making him snap to attention and
then saying to Marle, "So, umm... When are we going to have that
lunch?"
"As soon as all of you are in the dining room" said a voice from the
head of the stairs.
The three youths looked in that direction.
"Oh, hello father" Marle responded.
"Umm... Hi there, King Guardia XXIX" Lucca added slightly nervously.
"Uhh... Hi... Sorry we're late..." Crono said quietly.
"Think nothing of it, Crono," the king replied, "To be honest, I woke
up not 15 minutes ago. It's nice to be able to blow off a schedule
once in a while."
He chuckled a little, causing the three former heros to relax.
"Well, what are we waiting for? To the dining room!" King Guardia
announced.
****
About a minute later, the four of them were seated in the dining room
and aobut 3 minutes later, they had their meals set before them. They
exchanged a few minor pleasantries and began eating. For the moment,
all was smiles. This was soon to change.
"Crono," King Guardia said suddenly, "I understand that you and my
daughter seem to be enamored by one another."
Crono and Marle blushed, looked downward and mumbled something to the
effect of, "Yeah, I guess..." while Lucca looked despondantly at her
food with a sorrowful look in her eyes.
"Well, the reason I ask is that I'm curious as to whether or not you
have any plans of--"
He got no further, for at that moment, a guard rushed downstairs into
the dining room and said, in an alarmed voice, "My liege! I apologize
for interrupting your lunch, but we have a problem!"
The four that had been having lunch exchanged glances with one another
and then followed the guard upstairs. There, they was what he was
talking about.
The mayor of Medina village stood in the entrance of Guardia castle,
with a few of the village's citizens. All these mystics had a
frightened look in their eyes.
"Hmm?" King Guardia asked curiously, "Demitri, I thought we were going
to meet in Porre to sign the treaty later today. Why are you here
now?"
"W-We were, your highness," the imp began, with a tone of fear in his
voice. "However, I must request help for an... incident that has
recently taken place in Medina..."
Marle paced the halls of Guardia castle. She had been doing this for
about 30 minutes now and was beginning to look rather agitated.
"Where are they?" she asked nobody in particular, for the 10th time.
"I know that I made it clear that we were supposed to have lunch an
hour ago..."
This was true. For the first half hour, she had thought they were
simply running a little late, but at this point, she knew something was
wrong. Something had to be wrong. They wouldn't just stand her up or
forget about it, would they? No, of course not. They had probably
just... Well, she couldn't really think of what excuse they would give
she guessed that she'd just have to...
"Princess Nadia!"
The voice of a panicked guard who was currently rushing towards her
interrupted her train of thought.
"Yes?" she asked.
"We're under attack!"
"Oh?"
"Yes! There have been reports of numerous explosions in the forest! I
think I should lead you to safety!"
Once she heard the word 'explosions' and the word 'forest' in the same
sentence, she knew that her friends were on their way over. She smiled
in a way that thoroughly confused the guard.
"That's good."
When she said this, the guard became even more thoroughly confused than
her smile had made him.
"I-It is?"
"Yes."
Marle then left the dumbfounded guard to scratch his head.
As she neared the entrance, she could hear explosions more and more
distinctly and couldn't help chuckling, as all the guards she passed
wore expressions of alarm and uncertainty. Her chuckle added confusion
to the list of expressions that said guards were now wearing.
Just as the entrance was in sight, she watched Crono run inside,
pursued rapidly by Lucca, who, Marle saw, was holding an incendiary
device. Marle also noticed the slightly insane expression on Lucca's
face - the one that she was fairly used to seeing when Lucca was intent
on causing things to explode.
"Hey, um, Lucca?" Marle began, "Would you mind putting those things
away when you're inside the castle? I mean, hurling bombs at Yakra
VIII when he's trying to frame my father is one situation, but tossing
them around when you're coming for a formal dinner is a little
different."
With her irrationality pointed out by someone who wasn't Crono, Lucca
promptly regained her sanity, put the bomb away, and blushed, smiling
sheepishly.
"Heh heh heh... Sorry about that..." Lucca replied, "So... Umm...
How are you doing, Marle?"
"I've been doing alright, although I was a little worried that you two
wouldn't show up..."
"Yeah, about that: I'm sorry we're late, but..." Lucca pointed at
Crono, "... if this guy would wake up at a normal hour once in a while,
we would have made it here."
Crono, who had now regained his breath from being almost scared out of
his wits and from the run through Guardia forest, joined the
conversation, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I really wanted to get here on time,
but I can just never seem to get up easily... unless Lucca's
threatening to try to burn down the house - again."
"Hey! I can only apologize for that so many times! Must you hold it
against me?" Lucca shot back, testily.
"Well, how would you feel if I went over to your house and tried to
blast it away with Luminaire?"
Lucca smiled disconcertingly and said, "I'd be thrilled. I've been
meaning to see what kind of energy readings come up when you cast
Luminaire, and I could measure those pretty easily with the ampmeters
at my home. So if you--"
She stopped because she noticed that Crono was getting sleepy and Marle
was getting bored. She decided to solve the problem she had created by
shouting "Napalm!" in Crono's ear, making him snap to attention and
then saying to Marle, "So, umm... When are we going to have that
lunch?"
"As soon as all of you are in the dining room" said a voice from the
head of the stairs.
The three youths looked in that direction.
"Oh, hello father" Marle responded.
"Umm... Hi there, King Guardia XXIX" Lucca added slightly nervously.
"Uhh... Hi... Sorry we're late..." Crono said quietly.
"Think nothing of it, Crono," the king replied, "To be honest, I woke
up not 15 minutes ago. It's nice to be able to blow off a schedule
once in a while."
He chuckled a little, causing the three former heros to relax.
"Well, what are we waiting for? To the dining room!" King Guardia
announced.
****
About a minute later, the four of them were seated in the dining room
and aobut 3 minutes later, they had their meals set before them. They
exchanged a few minor pleasantries and began eating. For the moment,
all was smiles. This was soon to change.
"Crono," King Guardia said suddenly, "I understand that you and my
daughter seem to be enamored by one another."
Crono and Marle blushed, looked downward and mumbled something to the
effect of, "Yeah, I guess..." while Lucca looked despondantly at her
food with a sorrowful look in her eyes.
"Well, the reason I ask is that I'm curious as to whether or not you
have any plans of--"
He got no further, for at that moment, a guard rushed downstairs into
the dining room and said, in an alarmed voice, "My liege! I apologize
for interrupting your lunch, but we have a problem!"
The four that had been having lunch exchanged glances with one another
and then followed the guard upstairs. There, they was what he was
talking about.
The mayor of Medina village stood in the entrance of Guardia castle,
with a few of the village's citizens. All these mystics had a
frightened look in their eyes.
"Hmm?" King Guardia asked curiously, "Demitri, I thought we were going
to meet in Porre to sign the treaty later today. Why are you here
now?"
"W-We were, your highness," the imp began, with a tone of fear in his
voice. "However, I must request help for an... incident that has
recently taken place in Medina..."