The Provoked Duel
part two of three
by: Gibson
The day had come once again, and there were some who had feared that it wouldn't. The recent disaster was thought of as the end of the world for some. Many of the people who had fallen from the Kingdom of Zeal expected to meet a cold end. However, because of the merits and the kindness of those whom they thought of as inferior, their lives were preserved and they were able to see the sun rise again. Although there was a small amount of resentment among them, they were generally grateful for the generosity of the earthbound people; a race that had no magical abilities. Although many deaths were prevented, even still, millions had fallen to their death, and the few that survived the fall had obviously died in the depths of an icy sea. It was a turbulent time, but history and the future would prove it to be a turning point.
Our familiar company had no fear of the end of the world, but only they feared the absolute and undeniable death of their friend. Although they had seen his death with their very eyes they continued to search for him among the survivors. Everyday for a week was spent aiding the survivors and searching for more of them along the coastline. The survivors washed ashore; some of them were badly wounded, and some were found dead. Like every singular revolutionary part of history it was met with a cascade of human emotions. Families would cry as they were reunited, and others would cry when the death of a loved one was confirmed. Frog and his friends were met with these same emotions as they faced disappointment day after day. It became the norm to spend quiet evenings sitting in front of a campfire. No one could find the heart to speak, having been so happy to have saved so many people but yet, facing the crushing disappointment of not finding Crono's body to confirm an already obvious fact: Crono was dead and he wasn't coming back.
The days had passed by, one after the other. After a week the amount of survivors found along the coast began to dwindle. The situation began to look dimmer and dimmer on Crono making it out alive. Nonetheless, the trio would still search the coast. Their search became so frantic that they went as far to make various trips through time so that their whole group was able to assist. Even so, there was still no sight of that friendly youth from Guardia Kingdom. The truth had begun to dawn on the party, yet they still denied it and searched only more diligently. The days continued to pass by until two weeks had come and gone. The last survivor who had been alive was recovered half-way through the second week. The rest had been dead, frozen bodies.
As the second week came to a close, the group sat around a campfire. The hut had become empty as they helped to build more for the other survivors. In just a few short days they had helped establish a strong village of people who were still engaged in saving others. Even still, it was not enough. A cold wind blew through the flap of the hut and circled the room, chilling them all to the bone, except Robo (who, well, had no bones) Lucca began to shiver as she looked into the campfire. Even though she was wrapped in fur coats from her feet to her neck, she could feel the air weaving through the folds of her attire. She, like the rest of the party, had begun to get a little pale and sick from their long excursions through the tundra. They had also become easily irritable from their exhaustion. Over the course of two weeks, the party had been overly optimistic, but then they began to feel a deep depressing hopelessness, but not a single one of them dare mention to stop their search. However, that night, the option had been mentioned the first time that night by the person that was least expected to say it.
Lucca drew in a deep sigh as see stared off into the fire. It almost seemed as if she was building up the courage to say something bold and offensive. Finally, she said quietly, "What if we continue looking for a way to defeat Lavos?" All eyes had turned to Lucca except for Marle's, who continued to stare at the fire blankly. Ayla, who was usually loud and well opinionated, was quiet in her response to Lucca's query. "We no find Crono. We no defeat Lavos with no Crono." Lucca sighed again deeply, "Well, what if we don't find him? What if he's…well…"
"He's not."
Everyone turned towards Marle now, whose eyes were still staring deeply into the licking flames. Her response was curt and brief and filled with conviction. There were small beads of tears in her eyes that rolled down he cheeks whenever she blinked. She was sitting up, her arms propped against her knees, and the bottom-half part of her face was covered by her sleeves. The party was quiet for some time until someone dared to speak again. It was Robo who spoke next, although he was reluctant to do so, "We should begin to consider the fact that he is…"
"HE'S NOT DEAD!"
Marle was no longer sitting, but was standing on her feet, her neck craned so that it looked very tense. Her fists were clenched so tight that the knuckles had gone white. She had yelled this out so loud that a few people in neighboring huts were roused from their sleep. The party looked at her with a look of pity as remained defiant against any type of suspicion that Crono could be dead. She said it once again, quietly and quaking with tears as she slowly sat back down on the ground. She shook her head as Lucca quietly whispered a curse-word to herself. Ayla simply looked down at her crossed legs, unwilling herself to go down that road, but she was realizing that it was entirely possible that even if Crono did survive the blast he couldn't have possibly survived the fall. Robo, being a robot, was completely logical in his thinking and had realized long ago that Crono could never have survived such a strong blast. Frog, who had searched his soul so diligently, had failed to feel any stirring within him, which usually meant a negative answer. Only Marle was clinging to this hope so diligently that it occupied her every thought.
Suddenly, a sense of realization and determination had sunk into Lucca that her eyebrows furrowed as she said it resolutely and with utmost certainty. "No, Marle. Crono is dead." An unbelievably amount of tension could be felt within that moment. Eyes looked around at each other while Marle and Lucca stared at each other. Marle was grasping the ends of her sleeves while her arms were crossed once again while Lucca's jaw began to clench as it had always done during dangerous times. The princess, who had been taught to restrain herself and how to control her feelings, had completely forgotten all those lessons as she sneered at Lucca and said, "And you call yourself his friend. You say you care for him. You say that you would do anything for him. Well look at you now!"
Marle yelled out so loud and suddenly that the party jolted upright. Lucca was the only one who did no such thing. Instead, her brow crinkled in anger and her voice began to rise to meet Marle's volume. "Who are you to talk about being a friend? I have known him my whole life! I have always been with him! How long have you known him? Three months? Four months? I loved him! I trusted him more than anyone! So don't you dare question my friendship with him! You spoiled little brat! You want everything your way? Well life isn't always what you want! We can't just bring him back! I don't want to say it either but he's gone and there is nothing we can do about it! Be reasonable!"
Marle glared angrily as she retorted, "You be reasonable! You be logical! That's what you are best at! You only care about yourself! If you truly loved him you wouldn't stop looking just because it seems hopeless! You don't love him! You never loved him! He wouldn't give up on you! He would look for you until he found you! He would get it done! If you were his friend then you would be the same! You don't love him! You're giving up! He's not your friend!"
"He's my brother!" Lucca shouted with much exasperation.
That had done it. The arguing had stopped abruptly as the party sat in silence. Lucca looked down at her feet. In the midst of their argument the two had jumped to their feet while pointing fingers at each other. A few streams of tears went down her cheeks as she continued, choking in between her sobs. "Do you think I want to stop looking? Do you think I want to accept that he's dead? Do you think I really want to go on without him? Don't you realize that he was the only person that I ever truly cared about more than myself? Don't you realize that if I could I would take his place? I would rather die than go through what I'm experiencing now. I loved him like a brother, but I had always hoped that there would be more between us. Now that will never have a chance to happen. He died before I could tell him how I…" She stopped right there as she sunk to her knees and began to cry again. She wrapped her arms around herself as Marle dared not to look into her eyes. Marle only looked down at her feet as she felt a horrible sinking sensation within herself as remembered her cruel words.
Ayla looked up and began to say her piece as Lucca continued to cry. Usually her speaking was primitive and sounded barbaric, but it had been lost in her sincere expression of her feelings towards her friend. "I never thought that death could happen to someone as strong as me. When I met Crono I knew he was stronger than I was. He died before my eyes. I saw him defeated. It happened so easily…so quickly…It took his death for me to realize that I could die too… I loved him too…but now I can never tell him…I can't believe he's gone…I don't want to believe it…" At that point, Robo said a few words, beginning to sense new things that he had never felt before. "It won't help us if we don't accept it. Crono wouldn't want us to stay here and mourn over him for too long."
Frog sighed and stood up as Marle sunk back down to the floor, "It is time that we accept it and be done with it. This is for Crono's sake where're he may be. He wouldst not allow us the displeasure to continually brood over his demise. He is in better hands now, and I believe that with all mine heart. He would want us to continue our quest to bring an end to all this pain. I say we continue on with it, as a payment of respect to him. It is what he wanted." Frog clenched his gloved hand and looked down into it. "I shall never forget him. There was no other like him in this world; past or present. I will avenge him." At these words a new sense of purpose emerged within the group as the idea of revenge seeped into their hearts. A sense of anger was mingled with that purpose as Marle nodded her head.
"I knew it too." She said quietly. "I just didn't want to believe it." Frog put his hand on her shoulder as she looked back into the fire. As the group silently agreed with the vow that Frog had made, they all stared into the fire and reflected on all their experiences with all their allies. Marle wiped her eyes as she stared into the fire and said, "Please, can't we stay one more week? I promise that we can leave after that. After that I will believe that he's…he's…gone." It seemed as if Lucca was the one to make this choice, she being to first to voice her opinion. She nodded in reply and a weak smile crept across Marle's face. "Thank you. Thank you everyone. I just don't want to leave. Not yet…"
As the group went to sleep the wind blew outside and a wolf howled in the distance. The moon was shining brilliantly over the village and for the rest of that night there was no doubt about what to do next. A new purpose had been fixed to their objective, only strengthening their resolve. While their battle had been against an enemy that had never hurt them directly, it was difficult to be adamant. Now it was personal and it had a weightier purpose than ever before.