Chapter 3

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Another World

The gushing sea winds traveled their way throughout Truce Village, past the ramshackle homes, in and out of grimy alleyways, and right outside of the pub, causing the "Closed" sign on the tavern's wooden door to batter rapidly upon the surface. The bar was completely desolate. The counter and tables were cleared off, the ale and brandy were properly put away, and the only trace of existence was in the back room, where Lucca, Janus, and the still unidentified woman sat.

Lucca placed two mugs, filled with her finest ale, in front of Janus and his female friend. Whereas Janus immediately consumed the drink, the woman took her time, carefully inspecting the alcohol, and taking cautious sips. She had taken off her purplish cloak, and instead was dressed in white cloths. She was wearing a pallid, sleeveless shirt, and a long, flowing skirt, which traveled down just underneath her kneecaps. Along with her pale outfit, the woman wore bulky, brown leather boots, and faded blue wrist bands, which, unlike Lucca's, remained at her wrists. She donned a belt, too, with a sapphire buckle that had a large 'M' engraved upon it as well. This unnamed woman also wore the finest of jewelry, including diamond earrings and a gorgeous chain necklace. Whoever she was, it was no question that she came from a wealthy background.

Lucca flinched at the woman's azure tinted hair, having to look twice in order to comprehend what she had seen. She recognized immediately that the bluish hair coloring was the mark of the Enlightened Ones from Zeal, and Lucca subsequently noticed that the woman shared a striking resemblance to Janus' older sister, Schala, who had been lost after the Mammoth Machine's destruction in the Ocean Palace. Memories swelled Lucca's mind about that fateful day. She remembered Lavos' power enveloping her, and the great trepidation she felt over losing the only man she ever loved.

Soon, Janus interrupted Lucca's thoughts, by placing his mug down loudly on the table that the three were sitting at. Glancing around the diminutive storage room, occupied by one minuscule table, four chairs, and large kegs of alcohol, Janus could hear the white silence engulf the room, causing the tension to grow steadily. He tried to remember the time he had last seen Lucca, at the Mammoth Machine. His imprudent mother had wished for immortality, hoping Lavos would be the key to finding it. In order to reach her goal, she attempted to destroy Crono and his friends, one of them being Lucca. Janus wondered if Lucca hated him for his mother's actions. Surely she shouldn't hold a grudge on him, for it wasn't his intentions, however he is directly connected to Zeal, being her only son, and part of her will always live in him.

"Well," Lucca began, finally breaking the silence in the room, her voice booming in the exceedingly silent stockroom. She refilled Janus' mug with more ale. "What brings you here, Janus?" she stopped herself. "Better yet … how'd you get here? All the gates have been sealed, and not even the best of magic can reopen them. Not even Scha--"

Lucca cut herself off, realizing that it would not be best if she continued her statement.  Janus, as if Lucca had not almost said what she was about to say, answered, "We used a door."

"A door," Lucca inquired, glimpsing over at the woman whom, to Lucca, was still anonymous. "What do you mean a door?"

The woman soon spoke. "There's a certain object that can reveal a door. This door is not like any other door, as it has the unique power to travel those who pass through it into time."
Lucca could tell this was bad. "Janus," she started, "you know that time travel is bad. It can't fix things. It will never bring her back, and you know it. You can't change history. I've tried."

Janus flinched, and gazed at Lucca. "That's not why I'm here," he said, collecting his composure and, once again, taking a sip of his ale.

Becoming interested, Lucca leaned back in her chair and lifted one of her eyebrows at Janus. "Well then," she sighed, focusing her attention on her drink, trying to make sure Janus was not aware that she was interested in his intentions, "what are you after?"

Janus remained motionless, gazing into Lucca's eyes. He paused for a second, and then responded, "Crono."

Lucca looked up, clutching her mug filled with ale, and swallowed hard on her own saliva. Her eyes quickly shifted from Janus, to the unknown woman, and back again. Hurriedly, she took a significant sip of her drink, and then slammed the glass down on the stiff surface of the undersized table the three were still situated at. "C, Crono," she stammered, her face going pale. "What do you want with him?"

Janus remained calm, took a swig of his drink, savoring the flavor, and soon placed his mug down on the table as well. He looked into Lucca's eyes once more, and with a smirk forming on his face, he replied, "I'm going to kill him."

Lucca steadily rose from her seat, and slammed her fist down on the wooden surface of the table. "I knew it, Janus," she bellowed. "I knew that's what you were after. It doesn't take a genius to realize that you didn't come all this way for a pleasant visit with old friends."

"Please, Lucca, remain calm." Janus motioned for her to take her seat, which she soon did. There was something about Janus, possibly unimpeachable charisma or something of the sort, but he could usually get people to do as he wanted. This was most likely how he acquired his three henchmen, Ozzie, Slash, and Flea, to unite as his trusted advocates. However, that was a different life; a different life in which this Janus never experienced.

"As you know," Janus continued, "there is much disorder in the land once again. This disorder is, not only affecting your now soiled time period, but others as well. Most of the Earthbound villages have been decimated, and the ones that haven't are barely surviving. No doubt this mayhem is devastating further into the past and, not to mention, the future as well.

"It's hard to believe that one era of destruction can span over millions and millions of years, isn't it? Well, it really isn't all that difficult to grasp when you know the cause of it. Someone bound on obliteration, traveling through one time period to another."

"And you think this 'someone' is Crono?" Lucca intervened.

"Quite on the contrary, my dear friend," Janus smiled once again. "I know for certain that it's Crono."

"How?" Lucca asked, becoming entranced by Janus' words.

"Crono is on a killing spree," Lucca recoiled in her chair at this statement, taking another trembling sip of her ale. "He, not only wrought disarray in this time and wiped out most of the Earthbound villages in the past, but he also has killed two of the three prophets." With this statement, the woman, who was suspiciously quiet, dropped her hand, and gazed down into her lap. "Melchior and Belthasar are dead."

Lucca covered her mouth, to hold in her gasp. "What do you mean? How do you know this?"

"Things are complicated, Lucca. When I was transported into time back at the Ocean Palace, I was brought to this time period. As you know, with time, I developed into the malevolent bastard, Magus. However, somewhere through the course of my transformation, a gate was opened to me. It was no ordinary gate. I could feel that there was something different about it, yet before I could even question entering it, I was being carried into it.

"Surprisingly enough, I was brought back to Zeal. Although I was now back home, I was not completely there. You see, I've learned over time that the gate in which I was dragged into so many years ago, was a portal, not only bringing those who entered it through time, but sending them into another world altogether. Because this brought me to a different world, which was, in essence, the same as the one I had just left, I still remained a part of the world I departed from -- the Janus who witnessed the portal, yet never entered it, eventually becoming Magus."

Lucca shook her head. She found it hard to comprehend. "I don't understand," she muttered, searching her thoughts for what she wanted to say, "You entered a portal, were taken to another world, yet still remained in this world?"

"Precisely," Janus replied.

"Two of the same beings living in two parallel universes," the woman finally spoke up, placing down her, now empty, mug. "Once you absorb exactly what Janus went through, it's easy to grasp the concept, however farfetched it may be."

"Well, what do you want with Crono? You still haven't explained how you know that Melchior and Belthasar have been killed by Crono's will," a quiver struck Lucca's voice. This conversation was certainly unsettling for her, and it was growing more apparent.

Janus smiled. "Along with myself, the three prophets were also drawn into the mystifying gate which divided me into two different beings and returned me back to my home, in Zeal. I immediately knew that Belthasar was slain in this world when he inexplicably had vanished into thin air, as one would do if they had been killed in a previous time. I realized that someone had taken his life before he had entered the gate, since he was no longer a part of my world, which led me to understand that time traveling was, once again, occurring in this dimension." Janus reclined further into his seat, crossing him arms, and gazing over at the, now perplexed, Lucca.

"But, how do you know its Crono?" she finally questioned, regaining her composure.

"The Time Egg."

Lucca gasped, sitting upright in her chair. She gaped, uncomprehendingly, into Janus' shimmering sapphire eyes, which reflected the small amount of moonlight shining dimly through the only window in the storeroom. She was about to question him on what he meant, but the look on her face was more powerful than words, and Janus had already begun speaking once more.

"As you know, the Time Egg was given to Princess Nadia for the use of retrieving Crono's soul, which was malignantly stolen from him. The Time Egg, also known as the Chrono Trigger, was made wholly on his soul. As he traveled in his adventures, making new friends and saving the lives of hundreds of people, the Time Egg, along with Crono's soul, only grew stronger, and once he was diminished from the world, was the only means of saving him.

"Since the Chrono Trigger reflected Crono's soul, it was more than apparent that Crono had turned to the darkness once the Time Egg began to grow tattered, falling into much disrepair. It was only time before it occurred to me that Crono must have become vindictive, killing only the most pure hearted individuals for his soul to become so tormented."

"So, you're not exactly sure that it's him that has killed both Belthasar and Melchior, correct?" Lucca queried, sitting back on the edge of her chair. "It's only a hunch, right?"

"More or less of a certainty, but there is a chance that I could be wrong." Janus shook his head, and reassured himself, "a small, dreadfully diminutive chance."

"This doesn't make sense," Lucca argued. "Why would Crono want to murder the prophets? He never had an intention of doing so in the past? What would strike this desire in him all of a sudden?" Lucca looked down in her lap, feeling her heart pounding at the mention of his name. She was still far from any possible understanding of this situation. She needed to know facts. "Who or what would send you into another world that is exactly like the one you were once living in, but just in another time period?"

"I'm not sure," Janus sighed, finishing off the rest of his ale. "Possibly the same entity that conveyed Crono and yourself spiraling into the depths of time…"

Lucca remained silent. It was true; stranger things had happened. But the question that remained in Lucca's mind was why was Crono maliciously destroying everything? Lucca ran her fingers through her crimson hair, sinking back further into her rather uncomfortable seat. It was hard for her to process all of this information at once, especially after so long. Lucca's brain was not what it used to be, once the source of all her knowledge, and now just a mound sitting in her head. She thought back on the days when her intelligence was matched only by the love she shared for the one man that ever truly cared about her. However, he is no more. Crono's gone. And Lucca's guess is he's never coming back … especially after Janus is through with him.