Disclaimer: I do not hold any rights to Chrono Trigger in any form or fashion, nor do I make any profit out of writing this fic.
Reviews: Thank you everyone, who had decided to review! It really means a lot, especially when it comes to a subject that is as past its glory days as Chrono Trigger!
Sexysaxist: Hahaha, I know, I know, I should get working on Youkai no Konseki, but first I ran into a block, then was too busy and now got too engrossed in this story to be able to focus on anything else. But by no means do I intend to abandon my first and most important story, rather, I need to get this out of my system before I can go back to Rin's issues with adulthood ;) In either case, thank you ever so much for reviewing nevertheless and I'm glad to hear that you approve of the style:)
SaiyanLegend1: Thank you very much! That said, I'm not entirely sure whether the chapters aren't too long, but it's still all very fresh, so maybe I'll change it later. Also, I liked the scene with Lucca laughing too the moment it occurred to me – I've seen people go for her being either afraid of Magus or being just generally negative, but I thought I'd go for a different approach ;) And sorry for this chapter not being a good one – the next one will be better, I promise!
zipis1: Thank you and yes, it's an odd effect, though I'm not sure what you mean by 'disturbing' o.0 Anyway, yes, Lucca is in for a surprise of a lifetime! ;) Also, the pixelated blobs are just adorable, especially their emotive expressions, like Lucca cackling evilly – I've always loved that one!
Note: This chapter is not one of the creations I'm most proud of, admittedly, but that's because I've never been fond of the "Trial" part of the game. Preferably, I would've cut the whole thing out, but they have to get to the second Gate somehow... Moreover, I'm discovering more and more why it's almost impossible to retain all the events from the game – it would've been an incredibly boring and rather inconsistent story – so I have altered some of the details, like merging Trann Dome with Arris Dome into one. I've also added a lot of dialogue, hopefully appropriate for their characters.
Lastly, is it just me, or does it make completely no sense for them to have to get to the Gate in Proto Dome? The could just camp out around the first one, give it some time and then sneak back into Guardia! Sheesh!
Finally, a funny note. I have recently discovered that you can take Magus to the Norstein Bekkler lab and have him mimic himself. I was expecting that he'd be surprised but wouldn't laugh, but to my astonishment it was the other way around. So if anyone hasn't done it before – go make Magus laugh! It's hilarious!
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Chapter 03 – Ruins of the Future
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Slumping down onto the stinky bed in the cell, Crono propped his chin on his hands. This couldn't really be happening, could it...? He wasn't really going to be executed, right...? Sighing, he got up an began pacing around his cell in the castle's prison ward – his dump, dark, in desperate need of renovation and as drafty as the back passage of an Ogan cell – and once more ran over the events of the last two days in his mind.
It all started yesterday evening when he and Marle entered the castle, both still full of a relieved sense of adventure after the bizarre happenings of the day. The moment they passed the gates, the Chancellor – who looked so much like his counterpart from the past that Crono momentarily wondered whether they too weren't related – ran up to them, frantic worry itched onto his face.
"Princes Nadia! Are you all right? Where have you been!" The supposed descendent of Yakra's victim was getting progressively more and more riled up. "I heard you were abducted! We had soldiers searching for you!"
That was how Chrono had learnt that Marle had left the castle clandestinely, without telling anyone that she was going to the Fair. It was also how he had learnt that escorting such a run-away princess home could have dire consequences. The moment the Chancellor had spotted him, he began spluttering insane accusations of 'kidnapping the princess', 'terrorism' and 'taking over the throne'. Before Crono even began comprehending the full scope of what the Chancellor was suggesting, the nearly foaming man had called for guards and he was being dragged – literally, since he did resist – towards the prison.
To Marle's credit, she did protest, very vehemently and very loudly, but the Chancellor simply didn't care about what she had to say. Thus, Crono had spent an extremely unpleasant night in the prison, only to discover in the morning that he was going to be put on trial for 'Premeditated Abduction of Royalty', a trial – as idiotic in Crono's opinion as a Naga-ette wanting to be a ballerina – which had been about to start.
Yet although the fanatical Chancellor, who acted as the prosecutor, nearly went out of himself in his efforts to have the spiky-haired 'scoundrel' convicted, Crono was found not guilty. He had been so relieved that justice prevailed that he wasn't even fazed when the judge sentenced him to three days of solitary confinement anyway, for 'running off' with the Princess. Sure, spending three days in prison was not a nice prospect, but it was survivable and he did almost disappear her.
However, his relief lasted only until he was back in the prison ward, where he found that the Chancellor was going to have him executed anyway, despite a perfectly legitimate court verdict. And his violent protests were replied to only with a heavy blow to the base of his skull, one that sent him off to the la-la land for hours, until he woke up to find himself back in the cell and with a future that was going to meet a bloody end in just three days.
Sighing, he slumped back onto the cold prison bed. He couldn't even count on Marle appealing to her father, the King. When the verdict had been announced, Marle had run into the juridical chamber to voice her protest, but had been almost instantly interrupted by a very commanding, and very regal, voice.
"That's enough, my dear!" It had been the King; he strolled inside and towards his daughter with a somber expression on his royal face. "All I asked was for you to behave like a princess. Even royalty must obey rules. Leave the rest up to the Chancellor and forget about the events in town."
He wouldn't listen to any more objections from his daughter after that, and her half-rebellious, half-stunned face was the last thing Crono saw before he had been shoved out of the room. Which meant that he couldn't count on her, since it was evident that the King and his daughter had some serious problems with interpersonal communication.
But it wasn't really possible that he was going to be executed, was it...? Crono frowned in confusion. It had seemed just as impossible to him that he'd ever be in such a situation and yet here he was, labeled as a 'terrorist'. So he couldn't really rule out that somehow, the Chancellor would have his way and he'd be executed. It wasn't all that clear to him why the Chancellor held such uncompromising hatred towards him. Maybe, like his counterpart from the past, he too was a monster in disguise? Crono snorted to himself. It would've been so convenient if everybody who ever had something against him could be classified as a 'monster'. Then he could even sign off Mrs. Pinegrass – a teacher who had taken an instant dislike towards him ever since his first day in school – as a monster too, and maybe even have her 'put down'.
Sighing, Crono turned back to the reality before him, trying to ignore the annoying sound of water dripping somewhere in the background. He had only two options to choose from at the moment – offer himself to the mercy of the fates or try to do something about his situation. The first one was not too appealing, especially if the fates turned out to be less than kind and he really got executed. So that left only the latter. But what could he do...?
Inspecting his surroundings carefully, Crono took in the details of the cell. It was dump, cold and pretty much empty, minus the uncomfortable bed, a pitcher of water and a metal mug. And his way out was blocked by solid looking iron bars and two stern guards. But as he was watching the guards, his mind recalled the numerous heroic stories he had read in his life. Whenever a hero was locked up somewhere, the trick was to make the guard, if there was any, open the cell up, usually by pretending to be ill. He couldn't really do that, the guards could see him in his full glory and he was certain he looked as healthy as could be. But maybe...
A plan twinkling in his mind, he got up and picking up the metal mug, headed towards the iron bars. Soon, the entire area was filled with the annoyingly loud clangs of metal against metal.
"Pipe down!" one of the guards barked out and Crono grinned to himself. So the soldier was irritable enough for his plan to work!
"I'm just trying to fit in," he replied casually, "You know what they say, when in Porre, do like the Porrians do!" With that, he once more scraped the metal mug against the bars, trying to make it as annoying as only possible.
"Knock it off!" the guard barked again. He was not in a good mood. He hated his job, but unfortunately he had a family to keep, and a demanding wife he was not looking forward to getting back home to.
"What?" Crono blinked innocently, "does it bother you in your daydreams of your Ogan of a wife?" Admittedly, it was a low taunt, but Crono was not feeling at the heights of sophistication at the moment.
The jeer hit too close to home, and the guard gritted his teeth, turning towards the prisoner in irritation. "You little punk! I'll show you!"
Muttering various curses, he pulled the lever that lifted the iron bars and stormed into the cell, promptly whacking the naughty convict squarely in the noggin. Crono was sent sprawling to the ground. The guard hit hard, but fortunately, not hard enough to put him out of commission.
"That's what you get for misbehaving," the irritable man with a lousy spouse spat out, looking down to the spiky-haired terrorist. Grumbling, he turned around and moved to exit the poorly-lit cell.
And that was what Crono had been waiting for. Jumping to his feet, he clasped his hands together into a tight ball and hit the guard hard in the base of the neck. When the man staggered slightly, he quickly reached for the guard's sword, and grabbing it firmly, used its hilt to deliver another blow. The man crashed onto the floor, unconscious, and Crono felt immensely thankful for all the hours he had spent on sword practice. It might've been with just a wooden sword, but it still endowed him with extra strength that belied his lithe form.
Following on his success, his heart thumping excitedly, he darted out of the cell, before he was locked in again. The other guard, who had been dozing off somewhat, woke up with a start and hazedly grasped the situation.
"Where do you think you're going!" Crono thought it was rather obvious, but oh well.
Still gripping the sword he had 'borrowed' from the irritable guard, Crono faced off against his companion, and quickly managed to take the groggy man out.
Wiping off a bit of sweat from his forehead – due more to excitement than exertion – he hurriedly surveyed his situation. Well, he was out of the cell, which was step one towards avoiding the execution. Now he just had to somehow get out of the castle altogether and never cross paths with any Guardian official again.
The sword still tightly in his hand, he left the cold stone corridor and began sneaking around the prison ward. It occupied two lanky towers, joined by metal bridges. There were more guards around, but Crono quickly found that being a prison warden was not a very sought-after job and only those who couldn't get anything better took it up. He lurked around in the shadows, trying to sneak up on the guards and knock them out without much hassle. Most of the time he was perfectly successful – the guards, mostly slightly overweight middle-aged men dozing off on their jobs, never saw the blow coming. And when confrontation would turn out inevitable, they would prove to be as inept at sword fighting as grasshoppers, and Crono experienced no problems in walloping their lazy behinds. One had even openly chosen to make himself scarce rather than to fight, muttering 'they don't pay me enough for this!'
Unable to find his way in the maze of cells and corridors, Crono spent quite some time on the guard-disciplining activities. And after a moment of consideration, he began mugging them too. He was already a convicted felon on the run; theft could hardly make his legal status any worse at that point. However, if he ever managed to find his way out of the place, he would have to stay on the run – unless he could think of some brilliant plan to reinstitute himself as a 'decent citizen' – and money was necessary for that. Sighing, he trudged on through the uninviting corridors that were in desperate need of renovation. He was not looking forward to such a life, but if it was that or an execution, the choice was clear.
After sneaking through yet another bridge, he finally reached some more civilized quarters. It seemed that he managed to make his way almost to the castle proper, now he just had to make it out of that castle proper. But first, he found as he passed a corner, he'd have to deal with the prison supervisor. The man noticed him as he entered the room and almost jumped out of his skin in terror.
"H..Help!" Yet without waiting for help to come, the supervisor darted out of the room through the exit that, as Crono suspected, led to the castle. He was about to give chase, not wanting anyone on his way to know that he had escaped, but it turned out he didn't have to. A few loud whacks and thuds reached his ears from the direction the man had run off to, and a blink of an eye later, a very familiar figure in thick glasses appeared in the doorway.
"Crono!" Lucca exclaimed, relieved to see her friend still intact. "I've come to save you!"
She did indeed. Lucca lived a few miles away from Truce, on a small island down south, and thus she didn't exactly follow the latest news from the town. It would've been entirely plausible for her to remain completely oblivious to her friend's predicament, especially since she was so engrossed in reading on time travel, but fortunately, Taban had been in town to do the shopping on the day of Crono's trial. And once he had heard that the boy was to be executed, he dropped the sweet bun he had been snacking on in the shop and sped back home, his reddish hair and beard even more disheveled than usual. Hearing the news, Lucca didn't have to think long about what to do. There was no way she'd let Crono be executed, in any form or fashion, and since she had always held bureaucracy in contempt, that left only the direct approach.
"Gee," she added, raising an eyebrow, "it looks like you didn't need my help, after all!"
Crono grinned mischievously, feeling not only very much in the role of a convict on the loose, but also much better now that Lucca was there with him. She had helped him weasel out of trouble many times when they were kids, and he was sure that if there was any possible way in which he could return to his normal life – how appealing it seemed now that he learnt that adventures were not always as fun as the books made it look! – then Lucca would be the one to discover it.
"Let's blow this joint!"
But before they did, Crono dragged the supervisor back into the room, and tied him up with his own shoelaces to prevent him from alerting anyone that a prisoner had escaped, while Lucca absentmindedly fingered through the papers that were almost spilling down from the desk.
"We're not going to hang around here long enough for him to wake up, you know," she winked at Crono over the rim of her glasses.
"Better safe than sorry," Crono replied resolutely, shoving the man under the desk. Somehow, the whole situation reminded him of how he and Lucca were on the run from Marcus Longhorn, the school's bully, when they were ten. They managed to escape his wrath – incurred by nothing more than an innocent joke about his ancestry – by hiding in the garbage cans behind Truce Inn. From their childish perspective, the situation back then had been just as serious as the one they were in now.
Finally leaving the premises, they sped through the bridge leading to the castle. As they were half-way through, a loud booming noise caught their ears, but neither had any idea what on earth was it. Yet the mystery solved itself but a moment later. A large mechanical monster on wheels, at least seven feet tall and shaped like a simplistic dragon, rolled out onto the bridge, blocking their path.
"Yikes!" Lucca jumped up, thoroughly taken by surprise, and Crono couldn't agree more.
Behind the metallic beast they suddenly saw the Chancellor's head and two guards further back. "Forward, Dragon Tank!" He was spluttering again. "Crush those rebels!"
It seemed that despite Crono's efforts, the news of his escape had already flowed into the castle. Frowning, he reached for his weapon, even though he had very little idea what to do.
"Any bright ideas?" he asked Lucca, while backing away slightly.
"Not yet," Lucca replied, following suit.
For his part, the Dragon Tank didn't waste time on idle prattle and, opening its metallic jaws proudly, spewed fire on them. Both jumped away even further, narrowly escaping the flames. The Dragon Tank rolled forward with surprising speed and crashed into them painfully, sending both to the ground.
"Ouch!"
"Oomph!"
As they collected themselves from the floor, Lucca reached for her flamethrower. If it wanted to play with fire, she would give it fire! But when she shot at the metal monster, they learnt something new about it – it could block such attacks. An energy shield appeared around the monster and they could also hear odd buzzing noises, as if the tank was repairing itself automatically from whatever minor damage it had sustained.
The situation did not look promising. The machine was blocking their path and even if they managed to somehow bypass it, behind it waited the Chancellor and the guards. And the fact that the bridge was not only narrow but also very high above the ground didn't help much either, limiting their evasive tactics. Since getting splattered all over the royal pavement was not what either of them considered a happy ending, and both were aiming for one, caution was definitely advised.
Crono drew closer to the deceptively ridiculous looking machine and attempted to pierce through it metallic hide. Frowning, Lucca watched as his sword barely scraped the hard surface, inflicting practically zero damage. There was a very prominent whisper coming from the back of her head, one telling her 'Lucca, you dolt! You've seen the words 'Dragon Tank' somewhere, just a minute ago!', but her attention was too grasped by the apparent stupidity of the tank's design to chase the elusive memory. The tank, shaped like a dragon, had a bulky body on wheels and its head was raised up on a very long neck. She just couldn't understand what was its designer thinking – having the head so separate from the body was impractical and pointless.
Yet as she fired another shot at the machine – only to have it blocked again – while Crono got almost pushed off the bridge by a powerful shove of the metallic chest, understanding finally hit her like the smell of Crono's mum's apple pie. She had seen the name of the machine in the "Dragon Tank Owner's Manual" on the supervisor's desk! And that manual contained a perfect explanation for the tank's mechanics!
"Crono, the head!" she shouted to her friend who was currently collecting himself from the ground, "attack the head! That's the center of its defenses!"
Easier said than done, Crono grumbled to himself, trying to ignore the piercing pain of his scraped knees and elbows and the dull ache radiating from his ribs, which he suspected might've even gotten cracked. He drew in a deep breath, at least as deep as he could at the moment. In some inexplicable way, this fight seemed somehow more... real than the one with Yakra. Perhaps it was due to being in his own world and thus being unable to escape reality. He could even see the familiar roofs of Truce on the horizon, currently painted red by the setting sun. This was no new, implausible world; this was his world, in which he should be at present delivering fish from the port to the market, while trying to pick up the cutie working there. His world shouldn't include battling mechanical beasts!
Sighing, he pushed away both the useless thoughts and a strand of hair that kept getting into his eyes. This was not the time to ponder the matter, he'd do that later, now he had to ensure there would be a 'later' for him.
So when the tank attempted to roast them again, he dodged the flames, run up under its head and thrust his sword into the dragon-like head... only to have the blade slide off down the metal with a disappointing screech. The tank revved its engines as if offended by such an attempt and rushed forward, sending the would-be slayer flying.
"Try again!" exclaimed Lucca when he landed at her feet with a painful thump.
"This might surprise you," Crono replied while picking himself up from the ground with a grunt, "but that was my plan all along."
Lucca fired another shot to keep the tank busy. "Har har har..."
It took three more attempts – painful landings and flame dodging included – before Crono finally succeeded in his quest and lodged his sword firmly into the base of the tank's dragonish head, nearly hacking it off completely. The appendage erupted in wisps of electrical discharge, clearly having been rendered useless, at the long last.
"Now get the wheels!" Lucca shouted, raining shots on the now not so impenetrable tank.
She really didn't have to tell him that, it was an obvious course of action. But when he ran up to the machine, he found that it could prove to be quite difficult. The wheels were made of very sturdy looking iron and he doubted the not-so-remarkable sword he had cadged of the irritable guard would be of any use here. Yet at that point the tank demonstrated two new things to them. One, it had not only the flamethrower as an offence weapon, but also some sort of a missile launcher, and it just set off one of the aforementioned missiles. Two, the artificial intelligence unit – if it ever had one to begin with – had to have been inside the head, because it fired the projectile at Crono and since he was currently right next it, it meant firing at itself.
And in a one-in-a-million strike of unbelievable luck, Crono managed to jump away before the impact and the missile hit the tank head-on. It exploded into a multitude of metallic shreds, random screws and charred wires, leaving the two 'slayers' both immensely relieved and yet somewhat incredulous. And in an even more unbelievable coincidence – someone above was clearly in love with them – the explosion damaged a part of the bridge, leaving a narrow yet very gaping hole into which their remaining opponents, the Chancellor and the guards, fell. They managed to grab an edge and thus avoid the long drop and a fate of being gathered up from the ground with a spoon – or a sponge, whichever would prove more successful – but were still rendered completely harmless as an effect.
"Well," Lucca said walking up to Crono and pushing her slightly smudgy glasses up, "the way I see it, it still counts as a victory."
"Even if it doesn't," Crono grinned, feeling somehow frivolous, perhaps due to the sudden relief, "I'm still writing it off as one."
Lucca laughed in agreement and waved towards the gap. "After you then."
"Don't fool yourselves into thinking you've gotten away with this!" the Chancellor bellowed as they were jumping above his head, but the two paid him no mind. He could hang there and bellow all he wanted for all they cared, Crono decided, holding back an urge to flip the fanatical man the finger.
Still feeling unbelievably lucky – and thoroughly roughed up in Crono's case – they rushed into the castle and then down the by now familiar to them endless staircases. Only to run into two more guards at the bottom of the last one.
"They're escaping!" exclaimed one of them in a spark of brilliancy that could rival that of a chicken's.
"We have no choice but to break through!" Lucca shouted, shoving the still surprised man aside and running towards the main exit from the castle. Crono followed without delay, rushing through the stone corridors that didn't seem to have changed a bit during the last 400 years.
But more and more guards were noticing them, all giving chase after the scandalous pair, until they were pretty much surrounded. Crono hesitantly reached towards his sword. Fighting royal guards so openly – and now also dragging Lucca into it – was a very double-sided edge, especially if they lost.
"Stop!" shouted a commanding voice just as the guards too were preparing themselves for a confrontation.
The soldiers backed away at once, all falling into a bow. "Princess Nadia!"
It was indeed the princess. She approached them quickly, anger evident on her face. "This is my friend! Show him your respect!"
One of the soldiers dared to protest and somehow Crono was reminded of the same situation taking place both only yesterday and 400 years ago. "B, but..."
"Can't you take orders?" Marle asked in an exasperated voice, leaving the soldier somewhat confused. He could take orders, but that was not the point...
"Nadia!" a new voice joined the argument and Crono cringed, recognizing it. It was the King, he was standing at the top of the main staircase they had been passing by and was looking down on his daughter with a very solemn expression. "The throne comes before your personal wishes!"
"What?" Marle's pretty face was flabbergasted. "Just because I have a title doesn't mean I'm not a person!"
"You pick up strange ideas venturing outside!" The King was obviously against Marle's solitary escapades.
"I didn't 'pick up' anything! It's called 'common sense'!"
Crono and Lucca exchanged conspiratory glances. Marle and the King were clearly busy with their argument and the guards where all crouched down into low bows. It was the best moment to take their leave, especially since the very same moment a heavily panting Chancellor had ran onto the scene. If they were to make it out of the situation, they had to act fast.
But the Princess solved the matter for them. "I despise you!" she shouted towards her father, like a spoiled child who didn't get her candy, "I'm leaving! Come on, Crono!"
With that, she grabbed Crono's hand and ran towards the main entrance, pulling him behind her with Lucca in tow. As they were dashing under the medieval gates and out into the Guardia Forest, the Chancellor's outraged voice reached their ears.
"Don't just stand there!" he scolded the guards, "After them!"
The three picked up their pace, sprinting through the green foliage, neither really aware that Marle was the one in the lead and that she had very little idea where she was running towards, being rather unfamiliar even with the forest right outside the castle.
It became blatantly obvious to them only when they ran into a rocky formation blocking their path, with heaps of fallen trees on each side. To make the matters worse, the heavy footsteps of the soldiers were thudding closer and closer.
Marle looked to the other two apologetically. "Looks like a dead end..."
But Crono wasn't really listening; his attention was too grasped by the odd, muted sounds coming from his friend.
"Lucca," he asked slowly, "why are you beeping...?"
Lucca looked down to herself in surprise. "Ah!" She reached into her pocket and quickly pulled a small metallic gadget they recognized as the Gate Key. "I don't believe it! Yesterday, I added a Gate detector to it, you know, just in case we ran into more of them, you can never really know after all and... Marle! You have led us straight to another Gate!"
Manipulating at the apparatus's controls, she neared the rocky wall in front of them. Sure enough, a blue whirl they could easily recognize by now erupted at its base.
"Let's jump in!" Marle took a step closer to the bluish hole in space.
"But we don't even know where it'll take us!" Lucca objected slightly, despite feeling rather curious. That was why she added the detector after all...
"Who cares!" Marle huffed excitedly. "This place stinks anyway!"
The decision was made for them as the guards, and surprisingly also the Chancellor, ran onto the scene. "Princess Nadia!" Their choices were very limited at the moment and were oscillating between nearly-certain death and possibly-certain death.
"This is completely irrational," Lucca announced, nevertheless backing up towards the Gate.
"Agreed," Crono followed after the two, "but unless we take it, I'm going to be executed for sure! I've ran off with the Princess twice now!"
"I see your point," Lucca sighed, pocketing the Gate Key, "then after you!"
"Come on!" Marle egged them on, jumping in first, and the other two followed promptly, leaving a very stunned group of pursuers behind.
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"Yeoowch...!" Lucca complained, rubbing her aching behind. The Gate had spat them out onto a very hard and surprisingly cold floor. Not to mention, she observed pushing her glasses up as if it could help, into a very dark place.
"There's no way the Chancellor can reach us here", Marle's voice said in the nearly complete darkness somewhere to her left, "But, where are we...?"
Instinctively dusting off her still aching hinder regions, Lucca got up and headed towards the only feeble source of light in the area. It was a door, she found approaching it, but one unlike any door she had ever seen before. For one thing, it was made of metal, somewhat rusted around the edges. But the most astonishing part of it was the center, where a large yellowish crest was protruding from the otherwise smooth surface. It was an abstract shape, yet nevertheless it looked almost like a head of some creature with horns. Scattered around it were blue, shimmering squares and those were the source of light they had noticed. It was as if some kind of energy was pulsing through the door and Lucca was absolutely certain that nothing like that had ever existed in Guardia.
"The civilization here seems so... advanced...," she commented idly, touching the rusted door.
Marle, who had joined her in front of the strange gate, was surveying the visible parts of their surroundings in astonishment. "Like we're in another world..."
It could very well be another world, Lucca observed, letting go of the corroded surface. The only other Gate they had taken before led them through time, but there was no guarantee that the recent one had done the same. Since time and space were irrevocably bound together, it was indeed possible that through this Gate, they had reached a new space rather than a new time.
"More importantly," Crono commented from behind them, where he was rubbing his continuously sore ribs, "what are we going to do now?"
"Well," Lucca considered, pushing her glasses up again, "we can either try waiting for some time here and then go back through the Gate, or go explore this place."
"I'm for exploring!" Marle raised her hand as if they were voting. Crono sighed to himself. The Princess not only had had a comfortable night in her own bed – and probably a bath, something he was in a desperate need of at the moment – but also, she hadn't been with them when they had been rampaging through the cathedral. So she was probably still unaware of the less appealing aspects of adventuring, not to mention was still full of fresh reserves of energy.
Fortunately, Lucca noticed his rather run-down state and reached into her pocket. "Here," she said, handing him a tonic, "I took a few of those with me when I was heading out to 'rescue' you."
"Thanks," Crono accepted the vial gladly and promptly applied the greenish goo onto his numerous cuts and bruises. Cringing slightly, he gulped down the remaining bits, trying not to think about the taste. Tonics were normally meant for external use, there were other medicines for enhancing one's general regenerative abilities, but tonics worked well enough too. Minus the unbelievably mouth-wrenching aftertaste, that is.
"All right," he said finally, trying not to think about the green goo that was still sliding down the back of his throat, "Let's go explore. We can always come back here anyway."
The question was though, could they even leave the place? The only visible door was the crested one and it wouldn't budge an inch, even when all three of them were pushing against it. Giving up on that option, they began stumbling in the darkness along the walls, and all quickly noticed that not only the crested door, but also the walls and the floor were made of rusted metal.
Advancing slowly along the once-smooth surfaces, they finally found another door. This time, however, they had more luck in opening it, although it had to be slid away sideways, instead of being swung, and thus they exited the dimly-lit room and found themselves outdoors altogether.
There, they stood in silence, all stumped by the sight before them. There were no trees around them, nor any flora of any kind. Nor people, nor birds, animals or even Imps. Only a red, dusty desert stretching up to the horizon in an endless expanse of a wasteland. A chilly wind was howling around them, raising the reddish dust up from the ground and hurling it into their eyes, mouths and every possible crease of their clothes.
"This is horrible!" Marle exclaimed, averting her eyes away from the barren land and gazing upwards instead, but the sight there wasn't any better. The skies above were dark with low, heavy clouds that were rushing past them at uncomfortably fast speed. Their sinister swells kept surging forward, shrouding the entire span of the skies. Only an occasional lightning jumping from one cloud to another disrupted their dark monotony. The crackling of electrical discharge and the howling of the wind were the only sounds in the otherwise soundless world.
Lucca was the first one to regain her senses. "Hmmm...," she muttered, trying to shield her glasses from the red dust, in a futile effort to keep her vision clear, "something must have happened here..."
Looking down to the ground to further shield her eyes from the dusty wind, she noticed an odd swelling of the red ground. Stepping forward a few paces, she crouched down and brushed off some of the red powder from the swelling, uncovering a line of once light-colored stones. They were shaped into evenly-cut blocks and had been placed one after another to form a line. Looking around, Lucca quickly spotted another similar swelling, running parallel to the first one a few feet away.
"What is it?" Crono asked, walking up to her, the soles of his shoes eliciting crunchy sounds from the dusty red ground.
"A road," Lucca reached a conclusion, "this used to be a road. And that–," she pointed towards something behind Marle, making the Princess spin around, "used to be a building."
It was where they had emerged from, where the Gate was. The building, for it was indeed a building, was shaped like a dome, like an egg half-embedded into the ground. Or at least it used to be, since now a large part of it was crushed into an unrecognizable heap of wreckage, and the probably once shining metallic surface of the remaining part was stained almost everywhere by the reddish blooms of corrosion. The red dust that seemed to be the most prominent element of this new world added to the image of ruination, piling up at the bottom of the dome, as if it was trying to swallow up the wrecked structure.
"But," Marle turned back to her companions in sudden anxiety, "where are the people...?"
It was a very valid question, Lucca thought, getting up and pointlessly dusting off her black shorts and bare knees. Where there were roads and buildings, there had to be people. However, she frowned, surveying the barren horizon, it was entirely possible that there were simply no people here, at least not anymore. There was no vegetation around, not even one blade of grass or a shrimpy bush, and people needed vegetation to survive. Wasn't it plausible then that the inhabitants of the place had either moved to a more hospitable area – if there was any, which seemed doubtful – or basically... died out?
But just as the thought crossed her mind, Crono spotted something on the horizon. "Look!" he was pointing towards something ahead, and the two girls quickly followed the line of both his finger and eyes.
A mile away – or perhaps two, it was hard to say – they could see a rounded, metallic shape, just like the one behind them. It must've been hidden behind a cloud of the dust before and had been only now uncovered to their eyes.
"Let's go there," Crono suggested, "maybe there are people in that dome...?
"There have to be!" Marle exclaimed, not wanting to think about the possibility that no humans lived in this world anymore.
"Yea," Lucca agreed, "let's go there."
Without delay they set out on their way and trudged on through the clouds of the red dust in silence, each contemplating this new world in the privacies of their minds. Lucca's mind in particular was busy with activity. A dark, sinister whisper arose from the back of her head and was trying to sneak an idea into the conscious parts of her thoughts, an idea so horrible and ghastly that she promptly told the whisper to shut up, convincing herself that it was a preposterous notion.
Walking thus, they passed many heaps of metallic wreckage, crumbled buildings and other remaining parts of the road Lucca had spotted. And craters, numerous, ominous looking craters marring the otherwise even ground. It couldn't be, Lucca repeated to herself, it just couldn't be...
Finally, they reached the second dome, much larger than the one they had initially arrived at, at least three times the size. On a side – or was it the front? – there was a large and somewhat rusted door and Crono moved to slide it open, without trying to push or pull it, feeling already taught by experience. It slid away with a shrill screech, uncovering a dark passage inside. The moment they stepped inside, a pungent, stifling smell of dirt and filth invaded their nostrils.
"If there are people here," Lucca commented, pulling up the yellowish scarf she wore around her neck up to cover her nose, "they are in a dire need of a bath!"
"Hey, at least in comparison, I smell good!" Crono replied, fighting an urge to follow suit and pull his own scarf up.
The girls laughed in agreement; Crono did have a perfect excuse for not being all that fresh though – he had spent a night in jail after all. But the laughter was only a cover for the tenseness the group felt ever since they stumbled out onto the barren desert of the world the Gate had brought them to. The high expectations of finding people in the dome did little to ease their moods either.
"Hey, shh," Marle waved her hand suddenly, "listen! It's voices!"
The other two perked up their ears and soon they too caught sporadic, muted sounds of voices, or at least of what resembled human voices. Their hopes rising greatly, they looked at each other expectantly.
"Well," Lucca finally said, reluctantly lowering the scarf to avoid appearing rude to the inhabitants of the dome, "let's go meet them."
Following the dark corridor of metallic walls, they soon reached another door, smaller and in a less advanced state of corrosion, perhaps due to not having been constantly subjected to the dust outside. It slid away much more easily under Crono's hand and the true innards of the dome were revealed to them.
Its center was hollow and vast while along the round walls they could see countless doors, undoubtedly leading to countless rooms. Above, there was a gallery-like walkway running around the span of the tall dome, and more doors and rooms along it. Some of the doors were open and soft light was pouring out of them, adding to the light of the few lamps in the center of the dome.
The center contained some objects that looked like very used and rather dirty furniture, scattered in between large chunks of what they assumed used to be machinery, but had corroded and degenerated into a state of being darkish lumps of chipped metal boxes and panels of broken glass. The floor and most of the walls of the dome were made of darkly colored metal, largely covered by rust, and in some places patched up by other materials.
But what caught their eyes the most was the moving objects, people. There were many inside, young and aged, adults and children, and all shared a few distinctive features. All looked ragged, being dressed in darkish, patched-up clothes that had undoubtedly seen better days. And all had unhealthily pale complexions, as if they hadn't seen the sun, or even been outside in a very long time. But they were living human beings nevertheless.
"I knew there had to be someone here!" Marle exclaimed in relief.
Her cheerful voice reverberated through the dome and heads of its inhabitants began turning their way, staying turned once the people of this barren world took in their colorful clothing and healthy complexions that clearly stated that they were not from around there. Soon, the dome was filled with excited voices and intense gazes.
"Um," Marle backed up a bit, "they're not going to attack us or anything, right?"
Lucca took of her glasses to clean away the red smudges on the lenses with the hem of her green shirt. "They're probably just surprised to see outsiders."
"What are we going to tell them?" Crono questioned hastily, while some sort of a welcoming – or inquiring – committee was apparently being formed. But before they had the time to agree on their story, an elderly man with tufts of disheveled white hair approached them, leaning heavily on a metallic stuff as he walked.
"You there," he questioned, half-benignly, half-sternly, "where're you from?"
A little girl popped her head out from behind him and added to the gist of the inquiry. "Who are you?"
Crono and Marle glanced to Lucca questioningly. She was the undisputed brains of their trio, so it would've been best if she was the one to do the talking on such a subject. Grasping the intended meaning of the glances, Lucca pondered their options quickly; even though the current residents of the dome seemed somewhat... out of the circuit, so to speak, the advanced state of the past technology around suggested that they could potentially accept the actual truth of their identity and origin, without signing it off as gibberish, as the people from the Middle Ages would've probably done.
Appending mentally that honesty was probably also the best way to receive honesty in return and learn what had happened to this world, Lucca reached her decision. "We're... not from around here," she began tentatively, while the sinister whisper in the back of her head snickered that they could indeed be very much from around here. "We have come here through a Gate in the space-time continuum, from Truce in Guardia Kingdom of 1000 A.D." There.
Incredulous outcries rose from the continuously thickening crowd around them, momentarily making her think that perhaps she had miscalculated.
"A kingdom...?" a man questioned disbelievingly, as if he wasn't even familiar with the word. "Whaddaya talking about...?"
"Truce Dome?" another raised an eyebrow, "Never heard of it. This is Arris Dome."
But the elderly man raised a hand and the people around quieted down, allowing him to speak. "As you have heard, you are in Arris Dome, where no one has heard of either 'Truce' or 'Guardia Kingdom'. And," he was watching them intently from under his white bushy eyebrows, "the year is 2300."
The trio kept staring at him vacantly for a few moments, while the information was making its impact on their minds.
"We must truly be in the future...," Marle whispered finally, her face much paler than its usual rosy hue. The thought had obviously crossed her mind before it had been confirmed, and Lucca knew how it felt. It was the same thought that kept snickering at the back of her mind and even the knowledge that her intuition had been correct did little to raise her spirits. If this was the future, then...
"How...," Crono began, looking as staggered as the other two felt, "how did this happen...?"
"How did what happen...?" a teenage girl in a decrepit version of a mini-skirt asked back, frowning slightly.
Lucca struggled to collect herself as quickly as possible. "He means... how did things come to be as they are? How did the world get turned into a wasteland?" An image of the craters outside flashed briefly through her thoughts.
The elderly man with a cane nodded to himself, as if he had been expecting them to ask the question. "It had been like this for as long as anyone can remember. Even my grandfather's father had been born under the dark sky. But we do have stories of green earth and blue sky, and of the cataclysm that had destroyed that world."
"Come," he gestured to them, turning around and heading towards the center of the dome, while the crowd parted to make way for him. Still stunned, the trio followed after him. He led them towards an old and shabby armchair of unrecognizable color, and sitting down in it, gestured for them to sit down on the simple bench in front of it. The crowd pooled in around them, the inhabitants of the dome being clearly immensely intrigued by the strange newcomers.
"I'm Doan," the elderly man began once they sat down, "I'm a descendant of the director of this info center and something of an Elder of this community."
"Nice to meet you," Marle replied instinctively, although her voice was still somewhat sullen, "I'm Marle, and this is Crono and Lucca." She gestured to her respective companions who mumbled their own greetings and received vague nods from Doan.
"So," Crono began, his previous question still lingering heavily on his mind, "what did happen here? What was that cataclysm...?"
"Alas," Doan replied, resting his hands on his cane, "we do not know the details. Only that a rain of fire had devastated the face of the planet, bringing forth the red earth and dark skies."
Once more Lucca thought of the numerous craters outside. 'A rain of fire'...?
"Ironically, this used to be an info center," Doan continued slowly, gesturing vaguely to the decrepit machinery and broken glass panels around, "and the quarters of the scientists working in the laboratory complex to the west. But those terminals have stopped working long ago. If you want to know more about the cataclysm, you would have to go to the basement area, where a terminal linked directly to the main computer should still be operational."
Excited and incredulous whispers erupted once more from the crowd around them, and one word was repeated like a mantra – 'food'.
"Food...?" Marle questioned, puzzled.
"Yes," Doan nodded pensively, "supposedly, there used to be a large storage center for food down in the underground area, but it had been inaccessible for as long as we can remember. Yet as you can see, a mere mention of food is enough to make us excited."
"Pardon the question," Lucca pushed her glasses up, frowning at Doan, "but how have you survived...? Without food, I mean."
Doan gestured to his side, making the crowd part to allow them to see what he was pointing to. It was a large machine, with a cubicle in the center, behind a glass door. Wires wound up around its sides and a panel of discolored buttons was attached to it next to the transparent door. "This is an Enertron. It artificially sustains our lives, replenishing our energy without the need for food. But unfortunately, it still leaves us feeling hungry, so naturally we would like to be able to get to the storage area."
Lucca squinted her eyes at the contraption, feeling a powerful urge to go inspect this 'Enertron' in full detail. If it really was capable of sustaining life without material substance – and she had no reason to doubt it, since the people around were clearly still alive – then it was the most advanced piece of technology she had ever seen or heard of. She couldn't even comprehend how it would be possible to replenish energy in such a way, although vague ideas were already popping up in her mind.
Doan turned back to them again, "But the area below is guarded by robots and no one has ever made it back from there."
"My husband...," a woman standing behind Doan's chair spoke up suddenly, "...went to the food area below. I haven't seen him since..." Her darkened eyes told them that she was battling the thought that crossed their minds too – that she was not going to see her husband ever again.
"You see," Doan addressed the group once more, stroking his long white moustache, "unlike you, we have no weapons." He looked down meaningfully to Crono's sword and Lucca's gun.
The three time-travelers glanced to each other, clearly thinking the same, until Marle finally voiced the thought. "You mean, if we want to find out more about the cataclysm, we have to go below and defeat the robots...?"
Doan nodded slowly, eliciting more excited outcries from the crowd, while Marle turned back to her companions hastily. "We have to go! Not only to find out what happened here, but to help those people too!"
Crono and Lucca exchanged wary glances. It was easy for her to say, she had no weapons so obviously they would be the ones to do the actual 'defeating the robots'. But simultaneously, both were thinking the same – they needed to know what had happened to this world, their world, what had turned the green forests and blue sky of Guardia into the barren wasteland outside.
Finally, Crono sighed heavily. "All right. I guess we don't really have a choice."
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Sigh, only one out of three people who open the fic decide to continue reading... And here I am, so open for criticism! Flame me, please!