CHAPTER 4

WE'RE BACK

Back at the castle, the three heroes kneeled in front of Guardia and Leene. There had been a great deal of suspicion at first upon their return. Leene had been questioned intensely before they were satisfied that she was really Leene. Then they had to sort out the sticky situation of Crono, Lucca and Marle deceiving the whole castle. It was mostly forgiven however, due to them rescuing Leene, and Leene's pardoning them herself. Frog, who seemed to be a good friend of the king and queen, also had put in a good word for Crono and Lucca.

The chancellor didn't seem to have the ability to stop praising and thanking them for the rescue, and insisted on knighting Crono and Frog. Lucca was of course resentful that she was not proposed for knighthood. Apparently the people of 600 AD still had some prejudices to take care of.

The king took up his sword, and walked over to Crono, who was still kneeling.

"Crono," Guardia said. "You have proven your valor in the midst of combat, your cunning in finding the queen, and your bravery in going into an abode of mystics with only two other companions. For this, the kingdom of Guardia recognizes you officially as a knight, and I dub thee Sir Crono."

Guardia gently touched Crono's shoulder with his sword, and Crono then stood up, facing the king. Guardia stepped back.

"As a symbol of your knighthood, please accept this sword," Guardia said. "May you use it to protect yourself, those you love, and the weak in defense from the evil and the strong."

A fully armored knight stepped forward, kneeled to Crono, and held out an iron blade and a black leather sheathe tipped with gold. Guardia's royal crest was located near the top of the sheathe. Thrilled to finally get a real sword, Crono took it gratefully and stepped back slightly. Guardia moved on to Lucca.

"Lady Ashtear," Guardia said. "Though our laws state that only men can receive the title of knight, I bestow upon you the title of national hero for your services in rescuing our queen. I reward you with this medal bearing the crest of Guardia. May you wear it with pride so that all shall know your status and give you the respect you deserve."

Lucca remained bowing as Guardia put the medal around her neck. She then stood up smiling, and stepped back as well. Guardia moved on to Frog. He stepped up to Frog, but the unexpected happened as Frog stood up and stepped back. A look of shame was upon his face.

"My king..." he began. "I...cannot accept any reward."

"Glenn!" Leene said, getting up from her throne.

Frog held his hand up for silence, so that he could speak.

"'Twas my fault that the queen was kidnapped," he said. "Had I not been engulfed in my hatred for Magus, shirking my responsibilities to Guardia, she wouldst never have been kidnapped."

"It is my opinion, Glenn," Guardia said. "That your rescuing her has redeemed any fault you may have had prior to this. Though it is also my opinion that you had none. All of us here are as responsible as you were for her disappearance. In fact, more so, as we were right here in the castle that she was taken from!"

"Yet this is not the only reason I can not accept knighthood," Frog said. "Until I have avenged Cyrus, and rid the world of Magus, I shall remain but a loyal protector of Guardia." Frog turned away from all gathered there, towards the door. "Crono...thou hast great skill in swordplay. Farewell." Frog walked out of the throne room, Leene staring in despair after him. The sound of the main doors closing as Frog left echoed throughout the castle.

Guardia and Leene sat in their thrones, everyone in the room in a less than cheerful mood now. The look on Leene's face said that she believed Frog's hurt was her fault. Guardia's thoughts were strained with the pressure of the war and their best fighter just leaving. Crono and Lucca stared at the doors to the throne room, hoping that Frog might come back through them.

Guardia looked up at Crono and Lucca, breaking himself out of his thoughts. "Forgive me," he said. "Please, feel free to stay here as long as you wish. You are invited to-"

"Oh!" Leene said suddenly. "I just remembered, what happened to your friend that was mistaken for me?"

Crono's eyes widened. They had forgotten all about Marle!

"She should be in your room, majesty," Crono said.

"My room?" Leene asked, perplexed. "But I thought she was missing from the castle, that's why everyone got so worried."

"Er, it's hard to explain," Lucca said, grinning. "But we'll be right back, please excuse us!"

Guardia and Leene stared after them, confused, as they rushed past the thrones and to the stairwell that led up to Leene's room. As they ran up the stairwell, wind rushed past them.

"Time is starting to correct itself!" Lucca said. "She should reappear in the room any moment, let's hurry!"

They finally arrived at the top of the tower and ran through the outer doors of the queen's chamber. They rushed through the short hallway, passed some chatting maids, and burst into the queen's room. Lucca hurriedly closed the doors as the wind whirled around one point in the room, a blue light filling the room and slowly increasing in intensity. Then, with a blinding flash, Marle reappeared. She looked extremely bewildered. She then saw Crono.

"Crono!" She yelled, and rushed to him, putting her arms around him.

They stood there for a moment, Marle hugging him and Crono patting her back, comforting her. Lucca smiled, glad to see that the princess was fine.

"It's good to see you're ok, Princess Nadia," Lucca said.

Marle separated herself from Crono, and looked at Lucca.

"You came to save me too?" She asked, then comprehension dawned on her face, along with fear. "Princess...Nadia...? Uh oh. You figured it out, huh?"

"Yes," Lucca said. "As soon as I heard you disappeared, my suspicions were confirmed. It had to be the only explanation."

"I'm sorry you guys..." Marle said sadly. "I've caused you so much trouble. It's just...I was so tired of always being cooped up in the castle. I was gonna go back at the end of the day, but then...all this happened."

"Why didn't you just say who you really were?" Crono asked her.

"Oh come on," Marle said. "Can you honestly say that you would've been comfortable showing me around if you had known who I really was?"

"Well, I might have been a little nervous, and..." Crono grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "I see your point."

"See?" Marle said. "Besides, I like Marle more than Princess Nadia anyway. It's nice to have a nickname...like a normal person. It was nice to have you guys not act so formal around me, and treat me like a regular person."

"Wow..." Lucca said. "I never would've guessed being a princess would be so unenjoyable. I mean, you have all these people waiting on you, all those nice things. If I was princess I could afford so much more things to invent with!"

Marle laughed cynically. "Don't be so sure. Sure you could afford the stuff, but that doesn't mean they'd let you invent. 'Inventing things and playing with gadgets is not the proper way a princess should act!' they'd say. You'd always be cooped up in the castle, and always have to follow the schedule other people set for you. There's hardly any time to do what you actually want to do. Combine that with an overprotective father, and..." Marle sighed.

"Princess Nadia..." Lucca said, feeling bad.

Marle shook her head. "Anyway, let's not think about that now. How did you guys get me back?"

"Well, like I said," Lucca began. "My suspicions of who you were had been confirmed when you disappeared. But we still had to figure out where Leene was, and if she was still alive. So..." Lucca and Crono told Marle all that had happened. Marle stood listening, amazed at all they told her.

"Wow," she said when they had finished. "You did all that for me? I've never had friends like you guys. In fact, I've never had friends at all." She smiled happily at them.

"Well, we better get back down to the throne room," Lucca said. "The king and queen are waiting."

"Oh hold on," Marle said. "Before we go, I wanna change into my regular clothes. Crono...?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Crono said, backing out of the room. "Yeah sorry, I'll just...yeah!" He closed the door after he left, and waited. He could hear Marle giggling as he closed the door.

Note: Hey guys, just wanted to upload this portion of the chapter to let you know I'm still alive. I'm very busy with preparing to move, so don't have loads of time for this story anymore. But I will update it, don't worry.