CHRONO TRIGGER DIMENSIONS
by
Jerm

Chapter 16

The castle stood there, a monument to a long dead war and the reign of an infamous being. Within the glow of the moonlight, it seemed paler than ever before. It had once been home to the great Magus during the war with the Mystics. It was now unoccupied, having been so since the failed attempt by Magus to raise Lavos. The castle had sustained the distortion, but it had paid its toll; the foundation was cracked and chipping in some places, completely removed in many others.

Still it stood. Surrounded by a forest in which the trees were all near dead from the gloom that permeated and poisoned from the castle, be it from the air or through the ground. Regrowth was possible, yet far from happening.

A wind blew and the tress began waving in the wind. A shadow appeared out of the moonlight on the ground. A figure flew through the air, finally landing near the entrance to the twisted monolith.

Shrouded in his cloak, with the hood drawn back to reveal the long dark hair, the figure looked up at the ruins with a sense of loss. In those eyes were a look of hatred and ages of suffering; yet deep inside, hidden behind the blockade of anger, was a sadness.

The figure looked back at the door and walked forward. His hand reached out slowly to grasp the handle. He turned back to stare out at the forest for a moment, then turned back to open the door and enter his home.

Magus had returned.

xxxxx

"Pret, is the 'job' done?" Nikades asked the air around him.

There was a moment of silence, obviously Pret still couldn't get used to talking with someone miles away.

Finally the reply came, "Yes, the king is dying. He won't last the day. The ironic thing is I didn't do a thing to him. The stupid fool stood out in the open and allowed himself to be shot up... of course the land had been in peace for centuries, why would he know how to fight-"

"Please don't digress from the topic, Pret. This link of minds makes me weary."

Pret considered these words for a moment, surprised that Nikades gave hint to weakness, then he continued, "Anyway, I've also removed the other two noblemen from Truce and Chorre. I'll be next in line."

"Good," Nikades said, "But are you sure of that?"

"Positive," Pret answered, "the only one left is the daughter of the king and she has been missing for a long time. I take it that that is your doing...?"

The final sentence sounded more like a question than a statement, Pret still unsure of the limits of his ally. Nikades merely smiled. He knew where she was. Pret didn't need to know.

"That is all for now, Pret. Be happy with your new kingdom. I will return when I'm finished with my errands."

"How long?" Pret asked, but Nikades cut him off with a smile.

Nikades turned toward the gatekeeper standing in the grass. Now would be the time to instigate the next phase, the next piece put into play. He reached for the device and began preparing it for another transport.

Where to begin... he thought. He now had two of the three sources of high magic of Zeal. The Sunstone rested in the house of the inventor, now in his control. The Rainbow Shell would now be his from Pret. All that was left was the Dreamstone.

He could wait for that. He had other business to attend to. He activated the gatekeeper and a gate appeared.

A red gate.

The prince of Zeal needed a welcome home present.

Revenge.

xxxxx

"Cid, what are you doing!?" Lucca asked, grabbing Cid by the shirt and trying to pull him back in.

He merely tightened his grip on the ladder rung and turned back inside to look at the others, "I'll go out there and tell them I'm alone. When they apprehend me, you guys hightail it out of here and through the portal."

He indicated the gate, which was now being inspected by several soldiers and a scientist.

"That's, uh, not very well thought out, Cid," Crono pointed out.

Cid shrugged and tried to continue climbing, but Lucca kept her grip. Cid sighed, "So what? It's the best I can come up with."

"You have ten seconds to get out!" yelled the voice of the commander outside.

"What will they do to you?" Lucca asked slowly.

"Nine," the general said.

"I don't know," Cid replied with a shrug, releasing to ladder for a moment, "but this is the best way to find out."

"Seven."

"That's insane!"

"Six."

"I know, but if what you told me is true, and there is a problem, then we're all in trouble anyway. I'm just making sure that someone can solve this problem."

"Three."

Cid grabbed the ladder rung again, "Bye Lucca," he started to climb up, "bye all of you."

"One... there you are."

"Don't shoot." they heard Cid say outside.

"Are you the only one?" it sounded more like disbelief than a question.

"Yes, sir."

"You and you! Check inside and get the others!" the general pointed out two random men who immediately followed orders.

"Bu-" they heard Cid begin.

"Shut up! Don't talk unless you're talked to! You've just done a lot of damage here, boy. As you can tell, I'm none too happy about that. Don't make me entertain ideas of tying you to the treads when we roll this thing back," the general pointed at the tank angrily as he yelled.

Cid was quiet, a quick learner. Seconds later, they heard the sound of footsteps on the tank. The soldiers were coming aboard.

"Uh oh, we'd better hide." Crono whispered.

They moved into the shadows as best they could as the first 'volunteer' climbed down into the vehicle. Lucca hid behind the ladder and Crono and Marle huddled under the cannon loader. They weren't the best of hiding spots.

A gun slowly peeked through the entrance, pivoting slowly as if scanning the area itself. It was soon followed by a person's head. The soldier quickly gripped the top rung and swung himself around, falling into the tank quickly and landing silently. He quickly looked around, though his eyes had yet to adjust to the dim red light. His eyes passed over Lucca, missing her entirely, and he slowly spun as he continued to scan. He turned toward the front, in the direction of the other two. This time, he found someone. Marle.

The soldier turned quickly to yell up at the other soldier waiting outside but stopped as a loud click sounded and a gun pointed at his head. Lucca jumped up from her kneeling position and had the gun at his face in an instant. She glared at him coldly over the sights of the pistol, "Climb that ladder with your hands up."

The soldier began to move slowly, not wanting to cause trouble, but she stopped him again, "And give me your gun," Lucca continued, remembering at the last moment that he was armed.

Sweat was beading on the soldier's head, Lucca's quick movements and attitude were making him nervous. He reached out carefully and put the gun in Lucca's free hand, which had been waving impatiently before him.

Crono and Marle climbed out of their concealment; Crono had his gun in his hands already and Lucca tossed the extra gun into Marle's startled hands. She eyed the weapon suspiciously.

The soldier started to climb, but Lucca held him back a second time. He nearly sighed in impatience, then remembered his situation. His right arm began to twitch in anxiety, a reflex that had popped up in him since basic training and wouldn't go away.

"No, wait a second... Crono, keep an eye on him. I'll take the other one," Lucca said, ignoring the shaking soldier.

"Find anything?" the other soldier yelled down, suddenly, causing his friend to jump in surprise.

The voice echoed for a few seconds within the shell as the captive tried to compose himself. "C'mon..." Lucca prodded him, the gun waving around as if reminding him of its presence.

"No!" the hostage yelled up finally, the voice lacking control.

"Now guard him, Crono," Lucca repeated.

"Lucca, what are you doing?" Crono asked, casually pointing his gun at the other man, despite the fact that he didn't know the first thing about guns.

"I'm getting Cid back," she replied, grabbing the ladder and climbing up so quickly that Crono had no time to argue.

"Another one, eh?" the general asked as Lucca climbed out.

He quickly changed his tone as Lucca displayed her gun and placed it against the head of the soldier on the tank. The soldier stiffened at the sudden movement, caught off guard. His eyes closed and his gun dropped from his petrified hands to clatter on the tank and roll off. He had obviously not been in a situation like this before. All of the armed soldiers that stood about the tank instantly trained their guns on the girl.

"What in the hell's going on?" the general asked, not getting an answer.

"Give me Cid," Lucca replied.

"What, the kid?" the general asked, pointing his gun at Cid, "'Fraid I can't do that little girl."

Lucca wavered, but didn't pull back the gun. She stomped down on the tank, "C'mon Crono, join the party."

Crono walked up with the soldier in front of him. Several of the soldiers turned their guns toward the newcomer. The general had become engrossed in the conversation with these enigmatic children, his hold on Cid loosening slightly. Which was a bad mistake.

Cid realized his chance within seconds and made his move. He grabbed the general's arm and twisted it around brutally. Though Cid wasn't very strong, especially compared against someone twice his size, he had surprise on his side and the arm moved easily. The general yelled in pain and Cid tore the gun out of his madly waving hand. It was then put against the general's temple.

Cid immediately became famous with the local weaponry as gun after gun turned towards him. Lucca and Crono were forgotten for a second, then some of the soldiers turned back to the two.

"Stalemate," Crono sighed.

"Not quite," the general said, giving a small smile and shifting his weight slightly to glance at Cid, "I never load my gun-"

Suddenly, the lights went out. The general brought his head around, wondering for the tenth time what was going on. Cid took this opening and hit the confused officer over the head with the empty gun and turned to run toward where the tank had been. He stumbled, a bit, unable to see in the sudden darkness, then ran into someone.

Cid spun, trying to get around the person he had hit, who was also stumbling from the impact, and tried to continue his run. But before he had made it two steps, incredibly huge arms had taken a hold of him. He was carried struggling toward a place he couldn't see, the only thought in his head was that maybe he hadn't hit the general hard enough.

Lucca looked around in amazement before pushing her soldier off of the tank. His arms waved around for a hold before he struck the ground with a large grunt of pain. A noise behind her told that Crono had followed her example. They quickly ran back into the tank, preparing for possible gunfire.

Then Lucca remembered Cid. "Damn," she said climbing back outside. However a large shape blocked her path. The shape quickly pushed her back as it climbed down the ladder and laid a smaller figure onto the floor. It looked back to the other three.

Lucca glanced down to see Cid on the ground, struggling to get back to his feet. She then looked up and stared at the hidden face of this new person man.

A loud snap entered their ears from outside and the lights turned back on, filling the tank with shallow light. Marle sucked in her breath and stumbled back. Cid stopped moving and stood still, lying on the ground.

The Marshal had indeed found them again.

"I'm not a genius, but I really think you'd better move this thing into the blue light." The Marshall said toward Lucca.

"I-I don't... I'll try." she stuttered, climbing into the seat at the controls.

He turned toward Marle, "And you... I'll have to return you to your father now."

Marle numbly nodded. Crono protectively put his arm around her shoulders.

The tank lurched forward, then stopped. Then lurched forward again.

"What are you doing?!" Crono yelled at the driver.

"Who knows?" came the simple reply, followed by another lurch forward.

Outside, some order had been returning, however with the commander out of commission, most of the soldiers turned and ran as the tank started moving again.

"How did you find us?" Marle asked quietly.

"We'll have time to discuss that once we're out of here, princess."

Cid slowly got up, then fell over again when the tank jumped forward.

"You alright?" Crono asked.

Cid nodded dumbly looking at The Marshal. Outside gunshots began anew. But they were too late.

The tank ran through the gate and they were awash with the blue light yet again.