(Enter Kit Thespian)
Kit Thespian: And now, to deliver the Disclaimer, I give you the Knights of the Square Table!
(The Guardia Knights jump in)
Knights: We're Knights of the Square Table, we dance whene'er we're able. We kick in rings and chorus scenes and we're quite un-fa-tigue-ab-le. We feast the dining room a lot; we eat ham and jam and spam a lot!
We're Knights of the Square Table, our shows are for-mid-ab-le. But there are times we're given rhymes that are quite un-sing-ab-le. Between our quests we sequin vests and impersonate Clark Gable. It's a busy life to war a lot...
Chef (deep bass): I have to cook their meals a lot...
(Chorus number ends. There's a small silence before Kit Thespian says)
Kit Thespian: On second thought, let's not let them give the Disclaimer; they are a silly bunch.
(Kit Thespian does not own Chrono Trigger or the characters therein, and she is not making any money off of this.)
Author's note: By now, you are probably wondering whatever happened to that little orange kitten that Magus picked up at Ozzie's Fort. Well, it's quite simple. When the group went to 1000 AD, they made a quick stop at the End of Time first, picked up the orange kitten, and took it to Crono's house where it frolics with Crono's cat to this day.
Chapter Eight- The Battle
"Magus...I would have words with thee," Glenn spoke to Magus as they were all preparing for the Final Battle with Queen Zeal and Lavos. Magus went with the knight aside and Glenn said, "I have spoken with the Guru of Time... I must apologize for my behavior to thee. It was unseemly of me and I realize that. I would not give thee a chance to redeem thyself, and now I realize that it was I who wast the villain in this situation, not thou." Glenn, biting his lip, took off his right gauntlet and offered his bare hand to Magus to take, "I ask for thy forgiveness, and thy friendship."
Magus looked at Glenn's hand for a moment, and then he took the glove off of his right hand and placed his hand in Glenn's.
"I freely give both," he said, "friend."
The battle plan was as follows: Being the strongest spellcasters, Crono, Magus, and Lucca would be in the front line. Behind them would stand the four healers Glenn, Marle, Ayla, and Robo. Magic would be the only tool against Lavos, so the four healers would have to do everything in their power to make sure the three spellcasters remained alive.
They took the Epoch to 12,000 BC, and flew straight to the Black Omen. The seven walked towards the entrance. Crono was the first to notice the guard robots and he dodged a laser beam shot by one just before it hit him. Glenn leapt at the left row of wall guards and cut their weapons off and swiftly lopped them away. Lucca had taken out her gun and shot the right row.
Glenn returned to the group, and Magus said to him, an eyebrow raised,
"You should watch yourself. We don't need to lose a healer."
"I am perfectly capably of watching myself, I thank thee very much," Glenn answered, sheathing his sword.
"I was only jesting."
"I know. Let us proceed."
The Black Omen was one large path of twists and turns with hideous monsters and dangerous inventions all bent on destroying any intruders. The group had to stop time and again to replenish themselves after fighting a large battle with Zeal's lackey beasts. They finally reached the pinnacle of the Black Omen, and Magus could hear someone chanting things from the inside of the last room, the Throne Room. He swallowed. It was his mother.
He had often thought of confronting his mother, but to actually fight her, and strike her down, was a task that he was loathed to do. It was Lavos, not Zeal, who was his enemy in truth. But he walked with the rest of the group towards the room, and through the door.
Zeal stood on a platform above her throne at the center of the room. She had her arms outstretched in working her spells and she still wore the heavy robes of a queen. Magus looked and his heart froze when he saw a certain figure suspended in air in a pink glow towards the back of the room. It didn't take him long to be able to figure out who it was, even from the distance between them.
Schala...
Zeal turned around and faced the intruders.
"You again!" she sneered, "I suppose you didn't learn your lesson, did you? You were lucky enough to escape my clutches last time, but now you will die!"
She threw a bolt of energy towards the group, but Marle and Glenn were able to lift a force field up just powerful enough to keep the deadliest elements of the spell out. But enough of the magic seeped through to knock everyone off of their feet, even Robo. Glenn recovered first and Magus was next. Magus stood up and screamed,
"Mother, no!"
Up to this point, it was a forgotten point to most of the group that Zeal was in fact Magus' mother, and they waited with baited breath for the Queen's reaction. Her eyes widened with surprise, but her cruelties did not lessen. It was perhaps through her wicked powers that she recognized Magus as quickly as she did.
"So...Janus...you were that Prophet. You came from another time, no doubt, and you tried to take my kingdom!"
"What kingdom? You have nothing except this wretched keep in the sky," Magus exclaimed, "Zeal is destroyed, swept into the sea. Lavos has driven you mad! It was Its blood I sought, not yours! You were kind once, I remember that! Stop this insanity, or we will have to destroy you, Mother!"
Zeal only cackled and started to prepare another dose of magic in her palms. Crono was ready for it by now, and he summoned his strongest magic, "Luminare" and hurled it towards the unprepared Queen. It knocked the Queen off of the platform, and she was wounded deeply.
Lucca was prepared to cast her strongest spell, "Flare" and Marle had an ice spell ready. But somehow they could all see how the dark presence about Zeal had fled, and she was on the ground, writhing and moaning.
"Schala..." Her voice was pitiful, and sweet, "Janus...Belthasar..."
Magus rushed to her side. The others stood ready just in case it was a trap. Magus took her in his arms, gently.
"Mother?" he spoke. Her face had lost the cruel lining and she was quite beautiful now, like Belthasar had said. She looked up at him, tears streaming out of her eyes,
"Janus? What happened?"
"Mother, it will be all right, just...Mother?"
Zeal's eyes were still open but unseeing. Her eyelids drooped and no breath passed through her lips. Magus did not try to hide his emotions this time. He held his mother's body closer to him and a sob escaped him. The others stood aside, solemn and quiet. Lucca walked to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"Schala!" Marle exclaimed.
Magus looked up and saw that the pink glow that surrounded his sister had faded and she was slowly descending to the ground. Glenn had already run over there and he caught her in his arms. Before anyone else could react, there was a horrible screech that shook the floor on which they stood and wrung their senses. Lucca and Marle couldn't hear their own screams as they covered their ears.
There had been a portal right outside of the Throne Room that would lead them back to the Epoch if they so chose. Crono had the sense to order Robo to take Schala, who was still in a state of delirium, to the Epoch and go straight to the End of Time where she would be safe. That left the remaining six warriors to deal with the horror that was to come.
An enormous portal emerged. All the tunnels before this time had been an eerie black or dark blue color, but this one showed a plethora of colors. There were even colors that they had never seen before. But the colors were not beautiful, as one would wish a new color to be. They were hideous and evil, and all the allies felt violated by the sight of them. And there was a presence, so horrid and terrible that all of the heroes had to swallow the gorge rising in their throats. Before any more movements could be made, all six of them were dragged into the portal.
Theylanded on a cold, dank surface, and all the colors vanished. Magus was puzzled, for he had expected to see the great spiked creature, as he and the others had always seen Lavos. But there was only thick darkness for a few moments. Crono whispered,
"Is everyone all right?"
A chorus of replies chimed in and all six voices could be heard.
"What is this place?" Marle asked, with a shiver in her voice.
"I don't know," Magus answered. He felt desperate hands find him and cling to his cape in the dark. He felt her hair and knew it was Lucca. He wrapped an arm around her and murmured, "Stay close," he spoke louder, "everybody stay close...What's that noise?"
Everyone listened for a moment, and heard the sound of faint breathing. Then something began to glow. It was a form, that looked something like a human, but had large feathery arms, and a long face. Its eyes were black and its mouth opened and closed like a fish's would. It was about nine feet tall, Magus estimated.
Then it spoke, with a deep, gutteral voice, "Who has destroyed my vessel?"
At first, the party thought that "vessel" meant the Black Omen, but then they slowly realized that Lavos was referring to Queen Zeal, who had been possessed of Lavos. Crono stepped forward,
"It was I. Do you recognize me?" he answered. If there was one thing Magus had to admire about that kid, it was his bravery.
"You?" Lavos spoke, mockingly, "You're just a boy!" Obviously, he didn't.
"What are you?" Lucca gathered her courage and asked, "And why are you here?"
"That should be my question," the horrific being chuckled, "but I will humor you. I was sent."
"Sent?" Glenn spoke, "Sent by whom?"
Lavos spoke a word in a language that no one in the team had ever heard. Seeing their confused faces, Lavos said,
"I see you don't understand me. The best words in your language to describe my sender are 'Being of Destruction'. In return for the utter elimination of the human race, I will get to dispoil an entire planet, and feed its energy to my offspring when its ransacking is complete! I don't know who it was who gave you the ability to travel through time, but your journey ends now!"
There was a brilliant flash of light and the party was thrust into yet another portal, another dimension. Lavos had chosen Its battle ground.
Marle and Glenn had barely enough time to recover and send up a shield of defense against Lavos' first attack. Magus summoned his strongest magic and the dark mists flowed into his hands, all around him, and he thrust it at the inhuman creature. It struck Lavos, and the monster stumbled back as if It had been punched in the stomach. Lucca was ready before It recovered and she threw a sphere of flaring fire into the Its eyes. Lavos screeched with agony and rage, and retaliated..
It blasted a cluster of magic which resembled a large rock, and it struck Magus and Lucca to the ground. Ayla and Marle went straight to work healing them as fast as they could, while Glenn stood behind Crono as the youth prepared his lightning attack. As the dome of burning energy surrounded the shrieking Lavos, Magus stumbled back up and gathered more shadow magic.
It seemed to last for hours. Though every blow sent from the team would have ended the life of any other villain, Lavos would not be destroyed. But finally, as Crono flung one more massive bolt of lightning magic at the creature, the being screamed and shriveled, shouting curses at the team as It perished. The last thing any of them remembered before total blackness took them was Lavos' wretched corpse diminishing to dust...
The End of Time...
Magus awakened to a woman's voice speaking to him,
"Janus...Are you waking up, Janus?"
At first he thought it was Lucca, for she was the only woman he knew that addressed him as such. Oh so he thought...
"Here, Janus, you need to sit up and drink this. It will refresh you."
Magus' eyes popped open as he recognized the voice. He looked up and saw his sister Schala.
"Schala, I..." he spoke, "How did you know?"
"Gaspar explained everything to me," the beautiful woman replied, "I know what happened. Come, sit up."
Magus was in such awe at addressing his sister as her brother for the first time in twenty years that he temporarily forgot the most important thing. He remembered in a moment though,
"The others? Lucca?"
He looked around and saw all of his team members in different places in the End of Time. Ayla was already quite active and telling Spekkio everything that had happened, from her point of view. Glenn and Marle were awake, but still a little lethargic. Crono was just now stirring. Lucca was lying on the ground, unmoving.
In a desperate move, Magus tried to crawl towards her but a wave of dizziness filled his head and he stumbled. Schala hastily went to his side and put the cup that she was holding up to his mouth.
"Janus! You shouldn't try to move until you drink this. Please, don't be stubborn."
The cup was filled with the green, foamy liquid contained in a bucket in one of the corners. Magus had nevered minded the taste of it; it was actually cold with a pleasant lime taste. As soon as he drank "every last drop," as Schala insisted, he was able to control his movements without dizziness, but his body was still very tired. He went to Lucca's side and took off his cape (which had amazingly survived the battle and managed to stay on Magus' back) and wrapped it around her. He didn't want her to wake up cold. He gently scooped her up in his arms, caring not that the muscles in his arms were sore and burning.
Lucca was pale and limp. Magus took off one of his gloves with his teeth and rubbed his hand against her hair and face. By now, Gaspar had attended to Crono and given him the drink. Everyone's attention was presently fixed on Magus and Lucca. A silence fell, and was broken only when Lucca began to moan and stir her head. Schala swiftly got a cup of the green water and gave it to Magus, who waited for Lucca to fully regain consciousness.
"Your wife?" Schala asked, smiling.
Magus nodded, not taking his eyes off of Lucca, "My wife."
Lucca's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Magus. Without a word, she accepted the drink that he offered.
"Can you sit up?" Magus asked.
"Yes." The color was returning to Lucca's skin and her eyes became brighter by the minute. She said, "How long has it been?"
Magus was curious to know himself. Gaspar answered,
"Ayla was asleep for an entire day. Glenn awoke in a day and a half, andfor Marle it was two days. As for you three, it has been three days since the battle. Pretty convenient numbers, hmm?"
"You were gone for a week before all of you appeared here," Schala said.
"A week?" Lucca spoke, "We fought for a week?"
"Perhaps, and perhaps not," Gaspar replied, "From what I've been told it seems that Lavos pulled all of you into another dimension altogether. But now that he has been defeated, we can rest at ease about the fate of the human race." He turned to Marle, "Now, tell all of them what you told me."
Marle had had a vision while she was unconscious. A great white Person had appeared before her, congratulating her and all the others for defeating the One sent by the Being of Destruction. It was for that purpose, and many others, that He (the Person) had opened the time portals. And He had a message for all of the team members.
For Ayla, that she would live in peace for the rest of her days and that her tribe would prosper all of her days. For Glenn, that the greatest feat he had ever accomplished was not aiding in defeating Lavos, but finding it within himself to forgive Magus, and he would reap rewards for his mercy. For Crono, that it was He who had provided a way through Gaspar to save Crono's life, and that Crono was destined for many more great things before his life was through. For Marle, that through her many great kings would descend. For Lucca, that she had never been alone all the times that she thought she was alone, and she would never feel alone again. For Robo, that he would exist in the new future as well as the old. And for Magus, that the opening of the time portals was just as purposeful in saving him from Lavos in the Middle Ages as it was for ultimately defeating Lavos, and that Magus mattered to Him so much that he gave him another chance at life.
When Marle had asked the Person for His name, He had answered that those who had known Him called Him "The Entity."
The Gurus had known who the Entity was, and they had taught Schala and Janus about Him when they were children, but Zeal had forbade anymore teaching after she turned to Lavos for power. And now, at hearing of this great vision, the teachings were brought back to the siblings' memory. One was that magic did not come from Lavos, but was gift to the human race from the Entity, perverted by the foreign creature sent by the Being of Destruction.
In awe of this, everyone said hardly a word before they all settled down to rest.