Chapter 7
"Behold. Everything's at the bottom of the sea. Gone is the magical kingdom of Zeal, and all the dreams and ambitions of its people. I once lived there... But I was another person then," the prophet said, then looked down.
I could sense his aura then, and the burdens he carried. I saw a flashback of his past.
We were in the Ocean Palace, in the Hall of the Mammon Machine. There were three men, the Queen, and Schala there. The Mammon Machine was pulsing with Lavos's power.
"Hmm...! A dimensional warp!" stated a man in red clothes. I could tell that he was a man of great power and magic, like a guru. Actually, he looked a lot like the Guru of Time.
"This power is beyond human control," said another man in a light blue cloak and blue robes. This one too, looked like another guru. The Guru of Reason.
The Mammon Machine gave a shudder, but it kept on going.
"No...! We'll be dragged into the warp!" cried Melchior. This one I really recognized as the Guru of Life. Since he was there, the other two must've been real gurus.
Janus walked up the walkway, looking a bit worried.
"Schala!" he said, and started running toward her.
"No, Janus! Stay away!" Schala yelled, but Janus came closer.
The Mammon Machine gave another shudder, as if under extreme pressure, and energy started pouring out of it.
"B, but!?" Schala said, and everything disappeared.
Everyone soon reappeared, but they were in front of Lavos. Lavos screeched it's scream, much worse than a hundred nails on a chalkboard. A black hole appeared under Melchior.
"It, it's a...!!" he said, then was sucked in.
"A Time gate!?" said the Guru of Time, then he too, was sucked into the ultimate darkness of the hole.
"No!!" the Guru of Reason yelled, and lastly, he disappeared into the shadowy depths.
Another one slowly opened under Janus.
"S, Schalaaa!" he screamed, and vanished into the time gate.
"Janus!!" Schala cried.
Janus soon appeared in a canyon, in a group of trees. A weird green creature wearing weird clothes laughed and sent three blue imps at him. The scene then faded to black.
"You're Janus?" I asked, not so much of a question, but more of a comment.
"... Ever since Lavos's time portal stranded me in the Middle Ages... I have waited to even the score. You three interrupted me just when I had summoned Lavos to my castle. How ironic that, having been drawn into yet another portal, I would end up in this age. Being from the future, my knowledge of the past enabled me to convince the Queen that I was a mighty oracle. But no history book could have prepared me for what happened here. Unimaginable is the power of Lavos. Anyone who dares to oppose... it... meets certain doom. At this rate, you to, will meet a hideous fate. Just like that poor fool, Crono!"
"What! Crono was a fine man... even though he opposed Zeal!" I said.
"He's history! Play with fire and you get burned," said Janus.
"Well, I didn't see you there killing yourself trying to save Schala!" I yelled, and I knew I had hit a sore nerve.
"You wish to fight me?" he asked.
I thought about this long and hard.
"Two deaths will not bring about life," I said.
We started to walk away, but Janus stopped us.
"... Wait. I'll come with you," he said.
"Fine," I said.
"You know, there just might be a way to bring him back," he said.
"Really?"
"Gasper, the Guru of Time, knows how to restore lost or misplaced time streams..."
"... Fine, let's go."
As we began the long walk to the village, I walked over to Lucca.
"He seemed to know you guys, and more than just the prophet or Janus would. How does he know you?"
"Well, at the beginning of the adventure, we heard about this "War against Magus" in the Middle Ages. We helped the king fight his hordes of monsters and three minions, the coward Ozzie, the swordsman Slash, and the magician Flea. We fought through them all because we had raised the suspicion that Magus had brought about Lavos. So we finally encountered him, beat him, and got sucked into a giant gate. In the time we visited next, we got Ayla and found out Lavos came from another planet. The rest you know."
"So Janus is Magus and the prophet... So there were two Janus's in the Zeal palace at one time? This is so wrong..."
"Yeah, time travel is," she said.
We finally made it to the Epoch, and made a difficult discovery.
"Everyone won't fit in," said Lucca.
"Um... isn't there a gate near here?" I asked.
"Yeah, but unless you want to swim to it..."
"Hey, I got an idea!" shouted Marle, which took both me and Lucca in surprise. We stared at her as if she was crazy.
"I haven't said anything for a while. Okay, what if Lucca, 'Becca, and Magus went in the Epoch to go to the time gate. Me and Ayla could wait here. Then when Becca and Magus leave, Lucca and us can go to the end of time!"
"One problem, Marle," said Lucca, "You need three or more people to go to the End of Time. One," she said, pointing to me, "Two," she said, pointing to Magus, "That's not enough."
"Well, then, send someone else!" yelled Marle!
"I'm the only one who knows how to drive the darn thing, and I can't teach anyone to fly it this fast!"
"Then we cramp," I said, "We did it on the way here, we can do it again. And if anyone disagrees, they can sit in the storage compartment."
"But... Well... Okay," said Lucca.
Me, Magus, Ayla, and Lucca crowded into the Epoch. Lucca drove us there, mumbling about "ungrateful cretins" and "not enough space to move, let alone drive". We finally got there, and Lucca nearly shoved us out of the Epoch.
She was driving away when...
"Look!" I shouted, pointing.
The water near us shimmered, and lightning bolts skimmed across the surface. The Ocean Palace rose out the water, and started operating in the sky. The nearly breeze-less day turned into a hurricane-like demeanor.
"What is that!" I said.
"That's...!" Magus murmured.
"Me hate! Ayla not like boat!!"
"... The Undersea Palace? This is impossible...!" mumbled Magus.
"Bleh. For now, let's meet the others at the End of Time," I said, and we headed toward the cave that held the time gate.
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Author's notes: Hello everybody! Next chapter: The resurrection of Crono! Yay! I hope that all you liked this chapter! Review!