Disclaimer: Crono Trigger and Zelda = NOT MINE. All plot ideas = DEFINITELY MINE!! Stealing them = very, very bad. I'll have to hurt you, so please, no stealing!

A/N: Now that we've had that little lesson, I'll just say, this chapter = looooong. So get reading! Thanks--as always--to all my reviewers. What would I do without you guys? Please keep reading! We're almost to the end here... ~CronoCat =^_^=

Chapter Eight: In Which Our Heroes Meet Captain Hook and Discover How Hyrule REALLY Makes Its Money

The moon had risen by the time our heroes had reached Ganondorf's castle.

"Right here. But our castle is so much nicer! I don't know why you ever wanted to come here in the first place!" Navi announced sullenly.

Lucca groaned. "You're a lot like Link, you know? Just save me the whole 'Grand Tour' crap. I can't take any more of that!"

Crono patted her reassuringly on the shoulder. "There, there, Lucca. I'm sorry you ever had to suffer Peter Pan's torments. Glenn and I rescued you as soon as we could."

"I'm eternally grateful, I'm sure..." Lucca muttered sarcastically, her attention focused on the dark castle ahead of her.

"Oh, no need to thank me!" Crono went on cheerfully.

"Then I won't bother," Lucca said decidedly and took a step forward. "All right, let's find a way in! Everyone be careful--I don't know what we'll find! Ready? Good. Follow me, then."

"I don't think we should--" Navi began hesitantly.

"Oh, hush. I don't think you understand. We're trying to rescue our friend," Marle said, still rather upset that Navi had deserted her in favor of Crono's hair.

"No, I didn't mean that--" Navi began again.

"Shh!" Lucca scolded, walking towards the castle quickly. Navi opened her mouth again, but Crono quickly clamped both hands around her.

"Bad Tinker-Bell. Didn't you hear? Lucca said no talkies!" He whispered into his fist. Navi sighed and gave up.

Ahead of Crono, Lucca suddenly slipped, let forth and muffled scream and toppled into the moat.

"Lucca!" Marle called in an agonized whisper.

Navi escaped from Crono's hands, taunting them. "I tried to warn you. It's your own fault for not listening!"

Marle took a swat at her, but Navi flew easily out of reach, sticking her tongue out. But Marle had more important things to worry about, like her drowning friend.

Crono threw down his sword. "I'm going in!" He announced, striking a heroic pose.

"Stop it! You always have to save her! And quit making those stupid poses! You just look dumb! And you're wasting time!" Marle said angrily, not taking her eyes from the moat.

"Watch my sword, Marle. I'm coming, Lucca!" Crono yelled, ignoring Marle. He dove headfirst into the moat, causing Navi to scream.

"Oh! He'll be killed! Someone save him!"

"Shut up, Navi. What do you care?!" Marle demanded, kneeling on the grass and reaching one hand into the water to see if she could help pull Lucca up.

Navi sighed dreamily. "His hair is so gorgeous. He's just so handsome and brave and--!!"

"And a moron!" Marle finished.

"You're just jealous that he likes me better now," Navi announced.

"WHAT?!" Marle screeched, splashing handfuls of water in the general direction of Navi's voice. A high-pitched coughing and spluttering sound told Marle she'd hit her small target.

"If I were bigger, I swear I'd kill you!" Navi coughed shrilly.

"Oh, stuff it," Marle said curtly, proceeding to ignore the rest of Navi's ranting. As the minutes ticked by, Marle had to fight back the strong urge to panic. It didn't take a genius to figure out that something was wrong here. After all, Lucca lived by the water! She knew how to swim! So why wasn't she reappearing from the dark, muddy water?

At that moment, Crono resurfaced, dragging a waterlogged Lucca with him. He pulled her along and flung her up onto the bank. Marle let out a sigh of relief. Of course Lucca wouldn't drown! Marle couldn't believe she had actually doubted her intelligent friend for a moment there. Yet something still seemed wrong about the whole situation...Lucca lay as still as the dead. Marle screamed in panic.

Crono jumped up beside his best friend and coughed heavily. "Lucca? Lucca...?" He asked, cautiously.

Lucca didn't move, but Marle did. She sprang up from the grass and leapt at Crono, knocking him aside. "LUCCA!!!"

Crono rolled a ways, then crawled back towards Lucca and pushed Marle. Without stopping to pause, he leaned over and began to give Lucca CPR. Marle watched in shock. She certainly hadn't excepted Crono to be able to deal with the whole situation. Maybe he wasn't so worthless after all...She shook the thought from her head as Lucca blinked a few times, coughed deeply, spluttered and then screamed.

"CRONO!! You can stop giving me CPR now! I'M FINE!" With that said, she hastily removed Crono's hands from her chest and his mouth from hers.

"Lucca!!!!" Marle cried, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I thought we lost you!" She flung her arms around Lucca, nearly strangling her.

Blushing, Crono sat back on his heels and self-consciously pushed his wet spikes from his face. He always messed things up. Marle watched him, a look on her face he couldn't begin to decipher. Realizing Lucca wasn't going to die, she came over to Crono.

"Are you okay? You're shaking..." She said cautiously.

To his surprise, Crono realized he was shaking. He shrugged, "It's nothing. Just the fact that the water in this moat is freezing and I've probably gotten hypothermia."

"Don't be cynical," Marle scolded. She cocked her head to the side, thinking. "Maybe...you were scared."

"What? Don't be ridiculous," Crono said airily. "I wasn't scared. I knew Lucca would be all right."

"Cocky boy," Lucca teased, getting slowly to her feet. She paused and held out a hand to Crono. He stared at her without moving. The smile faded from her face. "I owe you one," she said softly. "Thanks for saving my life, Crono."

He smiled slowly and took her hand. "You're welcome."

"Now don't go getting cocky again," Lucca warned. "I fully intend to pay off my debts by saving your butt multiple times within the next few chapters. Just so you know."

"I'd prefer a sundae."

"Tough luck. Let's get going. We have to defeat the evil villain if we want to save Glenn."

Marle remained kneeling where Crono had been sitting. Finally she spoke up. "Lucca...I know you can swim! You practically taught me how one summer. So...why did Crono have to rescue you?"

Crono jumped in with an explanation. "I think she was tangled with some seaweed at the bottom, because it was really hard to pull her up to the surface. I had to kick Lucca's leg free of something."

"I don't think that was seaweed, Crono," Lucca said slowly.

"What was it?" Marle questioned.

"I think the real question is...who."

In the faint lighting, Lucca could see the horrified look on Marle's face and the very confused look on Crono's. But before she had time to say anything else, a loud, gasping noise came from behind them. There was someone floundering in the center of the moat. Crono ran to the middle of the wooden bridge and dove off.

Soon the three heroes and Navi were crowded around someone on the middle of the bridge. He was kind of short, fat and green. It wasn't long before Navi recognized him.

"That's Ganondorf-the evil villain we've been looking for!!" She squealed, in disbelief.

"What was he doing in the moat?" Marle asked.

"I doubt he was bathing," Lucca said sarcastically.

Crono hadn't been listening to their conversation. He was hunched over the still form, although his friends had recoiled when they realized that this was Ganondorf. "Guys! I know who this is!"

"Duh. We all do," Marle said.

"No, no! It's-there's no mistaking him-this is Captain Hook!" Crono cried.

Everyone stared at Crono in disbelief, but he remained oblivious and jumped up, peering into the quiet water. Without warning, he turned and flung his arms in front of Marle and Lucca, as if to shield them from something. Whatever it was, they couldn't see it.

"Nobody move!" Crono yelled. "Stay calm! We have to figure out a way to leave with the alligator seeing us!"

Marle shrieked in terror. "ALLIGATOR?!?!?"

Lucca however, kept her head. "Crono, what alligator? There's no alligator, okay?"

"The alligator who swallowed that clock. He's Captain Hook's nemesis, well, him and Peter Pan..."

Realizing the alligator business was just move of Crono's Peter Pan nonsense, Marle pushed his arm away. "Shut up, Crono! Geez...you just about gave me a heart attack!"

From the air, Navi confirmed that there was, in fact, no alligator present.

Lucca sighed, "Crono...what the hell have you been smoking?!"

"He probably inhaled too many fumes from the grass when he was braiding that rope," Navi suggested. Everyone looked at her. Navi buzzed around their head and went on, "well, didn't you know? That grass is like, a huge cash crop here. We trade it with other cities all over the world map. It's pretty heady stuff and it only grows around the Hyrule Palace. Well, really only the moat. Honestly, I don't know what Zelda puts in that water, but there must be something, otherwise we wouldn't have that crazy grass."

"I would say that explains a lot, but Crono's always like this..." Marle said slowly.

"I'm just going to ignore all of that, because it's completely besides the point right now," Lucca announced, shaking her head in disbelief. "But I have to say first that I can't believe Zelda is growing pot outside the castle!"

"They're not pots. It's a type of grass," Navi corrected.

"Never mind. Just forget it," Lucca said quickly. She pulled Crono away from the moat, where he was still scanning for alligators with clocks.

They were now faced with the dilemma of what to do with the unconscious Ganondorf. If he had been awake, they could have demanded to know where Glenn was, but they couldn't seem to wake him up. So it was decided that Crono would go first, pushing Ganondorf ahead of him. This way any remaining lackeys in the castle would realize their leader had fallen and hopefully surrender immediately. Crono and Ganondorf would enter the castle first, followed closely by Lucca, because she could probably quickly determine which way the dungeons were. Marle would bring up the rear with her crossbow and Navi would fly along with her or possibly scout ahead.

The two friends started walking towards the castle again, this time using the bridge to get there instead of the moat and carting Ganondorf. Marle and Navi lagged behind slightly.

"Any other surprises we should know about?" Marle asked rather coldly.

"I've never been inside," Navi said snobbishly. "Our castle is much better."

"Probably. We're not going in to look at this Ganondorf's interior decorating, you know."

Navi sighed, "No, I suppose not. Friends?"

"You're only saying that because Crono left you for Lucca."

"...maybe. Friends anyways?"

"Sure. Why not? Should we shake on it?" Marle joked.

"Enough taunts about my size. You don't hear me making comments about how gigantic you are!"

"Hey! That makes it sound like I'm fat!"

"Good thing it's dark out," Navi muttered. She was spared from certain death by Marle thanks to Lucca and Crono turning around to hush the two. Navi sped to Crono's hair for safety and Marle notched an arrow to her crossbow harder than really was necessary. After that, it was quiet going and very uneventful. Too uneventful. Everyone began to feel slightly uneasy, although most of Crono's uneasiness still came from thoughts of the non-existent alligator.

They had made it to what appeared to be the dining hall before Ganondorf stirred. Crono and Lucca hoisted him up onto a bench so they could catch their breath. Marle stood over him, the arrow tip resting against his throat. Ganondorf coughed once and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a crossbow and beyond that, a blonde girl with fierce blue eyes. She looked ready to kill him. He quickly decided the best course of action was to lie still and try to look harmless.

"Where is he? What have you done with Glenn?!" A purple-haired girl with glasses demanded. She searched in her pockets and pulled out a hammer. "Don't make me use this!" She cried, brandishing it wildly.

Ganondorf cried out, "I don't know where he is! He's locked up somewhere! Please don't hurt me!"

"We won't have to if you'll just answer a simple question," Marle said sweetly. She lowered her face until it was inches from him. "WHERE IS GLENN?!?!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Crono stood off the side, ready to fight if he was needed. Lucca suddenly put down the hammer.

"There's something strange going on here," she said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Crono asked curiously.

Lucca scratched her head. "I don't know why, but I've got the strangest feeling I've forgotten something...something very important..."

Crono nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, I hate that feeling. I get it when I go out and forget to feed my cat." He blinked twice. "Crap!! I forget to feed Kitty!"

"No, no...It's something much more important than that," Lucca said dismissively. "Gah! This is so incredibly frustrating! What did I forget?!"

"Could it be you forgot to turn off your teleporter?" Suggested a calm voice from across the room.

Crono, Marle and Lucca turned to see..."MAGUS?!"

Lucca began to curse loudly as he smirked openly at them, from a where he was standing atop a small table. His cape was blowing majestically and he was holding his trademark scythe.

"Um...how is your cape doing that?" Marle asked finally.

"What? Oh, uh, dramatic effect," Magus said. He turned and roared over his shoulder, "you can stop now!"

Four small cronies scurried out from behind him where they had been "huffing and puffing" at the cape with all their might.

"Ah, yes. You've taken much, much longer than I expected. I suppose I gave you too much credit. Shame, really. Ah well. I suppose you're looking for Glenn? Good luck! You'll never find him!! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Magus laughed and jumped down from the table. He caught sight of Ganondorf. "Oh, Ganondorf...I see you've recovered yet again. Most unfortunate, but I shouldn't really be surprised. I see who's joining the heroes now. Oh yes, we shall see who is really the evil one here!"

Ganondorf let out a weak moan and Magus laughed some more.

"I give you two minutes to get out of my sight. If you do not leave the castle, I will come and hunt you down!" Magus shouted as he turned and kicked the cronies away. With that, he went out another door and disappeared into the gray gloom.

There was a moment of silence as the heroes collected their thoughts. Finally Lucca spoke. "He's playing hide-and-seek with us," she spat.

Crono's eyes lit up. "Oh! I love this game!"

"No, not like this you don't," Lucca announced. She grabbed Crono's sleeve and pulled Marle away from Ganondorf, "c'mon. We don't want to be here when he gets back. Let's start looking! Navi, you follow him and try to keep Magus busy!"

"Why me?" Navi whined.

"You're small so he can't catch you. Plus, you can't help fight," Lucca explained and Navi fluttered away complaining. "Also, you're the most annoying," she added once Navi was out of earshot.

"Crono-get that loser back on his feet. He'll take us to the dungeons and will make a handy shield," Lucca went on. "Marle, keep that crossbow ready. Now let's move!"

Quickly everyone got ready. Lucca stayed a step behind Ganondorf, holding her hammer at ready. Crono walked alongside her, his sword drawn and behind them, Marle jogged along, keeping an eye out for danger.

And so the rescue mission began. The final challenge was underway. The only thing they had to do now was find Glenn and somehow manage to avoid Magus at the same time. It was going to be a long night.