Chapter II The Queens Returns
"What are you talking about Crono?", the freakishly large boy says this, while his skinny friend looks timidly around. "Have you lost your mind Crono? If the elder hears us, he'll be mad! We're not supposed to be over here, remember? So don't be so loud." The two boys seem rather odd standing by each other. One looks like they have never been fed in their entire life, and he just seems to stand there, shaking. The other boy is huge. He looks like a giant boulder, which brings question as to how this bridge can support him, plus Crono and the shaky boy. Shaky says stuttering, "Yeah, we're not supposed t-t-t-to be here. T-t-t-t-t-there's a g-g-g-g-host around here!" Fat-boy laughs hysterically, "Do you really believe that tripe? People say that just to scare us!" "Nevertheless, I heard Grandma say something about a sh-sh-sh-iny object near the falls! It must be s-s-s-some kind of treasure. We have to find it!" Crono is confused. Isn't it weird that he suddenly appeared out of nowhere? Why haven't they freaked out? Which brings another question, how did the fat boy know his name? As Crono is pondering these questions and several others, Shaky and Fatso begin to walk off the bridge, as Crono gets up to follow them he slips on the edge of the bridge. He falls, but catches onto some bark of the log bridge. "Help! I'm falling!" The two boys stare at each other. Neither try to help Crono.
Crono's grasp dies shortly, he falls, which to him seems like an eternity, but the fall was actually quite short and instead of a messy thud he made a successful splash. The water broke his fall, but that doesn't mean he avoided pain. "Ouch! Man. . . . what is going on? Where's Marle? Did she come to this place? There is no way I can get back up. Maybe I should try to catch up with those strange boys. How though?", Crono thinks this all to himself. The sound of the river is all around him with the cooing of crickets and tweeting of birds. After swimming out of the water, he finds one path that he is forced to take. Everywhere else leads to a barrier of rocks and trees. He walks alongside the path, wondering if maybe he's died and this is some sort of strange afterlife. "Crono! Crono!", a loud voice summons him, but there is no visible speaker, a bright white light overcame Crono's eyes as his name was shouted. "What? Who are you?", Crono yells this back, but there is no answer. He carries on around the river's bend. He meets a dead end. The only way forward is through a patch of grass that is so high that it would be unbearable to journey through. "I hear voices coming north of here. I have to find something to cut through . . . What happened to my sword?", Crono looks around helplessly. "I have everything else from before I came here. Why would my sword disappear? Wait . . . maybe I didn't take my sword to the Millennial Fair. Why would I?", Crono turns around and notices that in the middle of the river there is a stone with a sword stuck in it. The water looks shallow enough to walk through, and since Crono is desperate for the sword he goes back into the river, wishing he had some spare clothes.
Just as he finally is in front of the strange stone, the same voice heard moments before shrieks, "Crono remove the sword!", the strange emitting light evokes the area again. Crono was startled, "Who are you?", Crono pulls the sword with haste. "That light, it's so bright I can't see . . . Ah! You're a ghost!" As the light dissipates, a transparent specter with his arms held out appears. The strange creature, who must have called Crono before, speaks, "Crono it is I who asked the sword . . . " His body disappears and the light completely vanishes. The silver stone sword in Crono's hands is rusted, it is so aged yet just looking at the sword any individual could tell that it had more power within it than it was truly showing.
"Did Marle end up in this place? Where is she?" Crono walks out of the shallow river. Slashing his way out of the grassy patch, he made his way to the loud noise he had heard. Along the way he saw creatures that resembled a bunny, for some reason this creature would attack him. Crono tried to avoid the bunny creatures, but for some reason none of the bunny creatures could resist putting their sharp teeth into his flesh. He didn't want to hurt them, but eventually he used his sword because he was tired of the bunny creatures biting at his legs. He finally met up with the loud noise, and found himself at a village.
The streets were busy with people walking around enjoying the summer sun. In its entirety the village was small, it consisted of a few houses, a shop, and an inn. An old woman came up to Crono, "Did you see that Crono? A minute ago something lit up the sky near the falls. I have a really bad feeling about this . . . " Crono was confused, "Where am I?" The woman seemed docile, " 'Where am I?' Have you hit the skids Crono? This is Potos! You've lived here since you were an infant. You've meddled with my grandson Timothy for years. Do you have a fever, boy?" Before she could put her hand on Crono's forehead, Crono scurried away. He found himself at another entrance into the village, a man stood in front of it looking every which way, "Magus' army has surrounded the village. Something is definitely wrong out there. It would be best if everyone would stay inside the village, Crono-boy." The man says this firmly, but fear was obviously in him by looking at his stare stricken eyes. "Magus' army fought Guardia four-hundred years ago, does that mean I'm in the past?"
A little boy came up to Crono, "Crono, Crono! There is a strange guy in the pub. He's been here ever since Magus' army came over and started putting monsters everywhere!" The little boy scatters away, like any little children love to do, it appears as if he runs off to his house. Crono assumes that the little boy wanted him to scare off the stranger, but knowing what a child means is often a challenge since children are unsure of what they mean half-the-time. Crono goes to the inn, but to find a stranger in a place where you are a stranger yourself isn't even somewhat logical.
He found the pub. He entered assuming it would be a dismal place where drunkards and convicts were laying in waste, since this was how Crono's inn was back in Truce. Instead he found it to be quite cozy. A little bar with some stools, and a couple of tables. There was bar tender, and a single waitress running around the place, but her attitude seemed so fluctuate that it didn't seem like there needed to be any other working staff beyond her and the bartender. Crono began talking to each person in the bar, searching for someone who was different, Crono decided that it couldn't hurt to undergo a small task before going back to his search for Marle. A man drinking at the counter began talking to Crono once he saw him, "That Magus army destroyed the gateway near the Water Palace that leads to Ozzie's Castle. Now no one can use the teleport to travel to Gaia's Navel. I really hate that Magus. If I lived in Pandora, I would join the knight's squad." Crono didn't know how to reply so he just agreed with the man. Crono then began to overhear a discussion between two villagers, "What a relief! They found the Queen of Pandora wandering around Gaia's Navel." The other villager spoke with astonishment, "Everyone was so worried! The king really freaked out when the Queen took off." Jovially the first villager spoke, "I thought maybe Magus had grabbed her. Thank goodness, she's safe!" Crono thought to himself, "Four-hundred years ago the Queen of Guardia was missing for a short period of time, but they found her in the Cathedral under a rampage of religious cult functionaries, not in this Gaia's Navel. Maybe I'm not in the past." A man in the corner sipping on his cider was sitting alone dressed in traveling clothes of an orange vestment and a salvage turban. With one glance Crono knew this was the stranger the child had been speaking about earlier. The person didn't look scary at all, but the way his clothes were fashioned, were so different from the rest of the villagers that anyone could tell that he was an outsider.
Crono walked over to the man and sat in the stool next to him. "What year is it?" Crono asked knowing that people found it extremely idiotic. The man laughed, " 'What year is it?' Ha! That's about the funniest thing I've heard in years. You must be totally lost kid. Do you even know where you are?" Crono shook his head. "Ha! That's a riot. This here is Potos. It's a small village that belongs to the power of Pandora. All over the continent a war has broken out against Magus and his army. No one has kept records on what year it is since the war with the Mana Fortress. Time itself hasn't been recorded since then. I would trace time if I could figure out when that happened, but for some reason no one else seems to care so no one really knows how long ago that was. So knowing the year is impossible." Crono stared at him in amazement. Either Magus is just a bad guy who is always plotting against the world, or he is back in the past and history wasn't accurately written. "Are you a stranger here too kid? I'm Toma the explorer. I search the world for the most valuable items in existence. If you're buying, I'll tell you a story." Crono was intrigued, "Okay, I'll pay." Toma's smile went from ear to ear, "Bar tender, get me twenty ciders and ten for the road." Crono's jaw dropped to the floor. "Good lord! Does he really expect me to pay that much?" As Toma sipped his cider he started his story, "It's about the Queen of Pandora. She disappeared while traveling to the Water Palace to the west, and . . . " Crono interrupted, "They found her by Gaia's Navel." Beg your pardon? What? They Found her? Never mind . . . I was so sure though that something fishy was going on around the palace . . . " After paying Toma's extensive bill, Crono left the pub, he thought about how empty his pockets were.
Outside of the pub Shaky came up to Crono, "Elder wants t-t-t-to see you!" Crono thought to himself, "Who is this elder that these ignoramuses keep talking about? Is he like the mayor?" Shaky leads Crono to the elder's house. The elder's house was in the far east corner of the village, and it was by far the richest house around. In front of the luxurious house stood Fatso and the Elder. "Crono! You're not hurt! They just told me what happened," the elder was old, his beard was long and he wore a lavishly made cloak. Fatso, obviously pretending to be afraid, "I thought you were a goner!" Shaky yelled, "I t-t-told you it was st-st-st-stupid to bring someone like him along!" The elder was furious, "You idiots! Weren't you told never to go there?", he pauses and stares at Crono's hand, "What's that you have?" He's eyes widen and he puts his hands to his cheeks, "Oh no! It couldn't be!" Fatso becomes excited, "Cool! Did you find the treasure?" The elder's face scrunches together, a vein in his forehead bulges, "What have you done? How could you have pulled the Mana Sword! It's impossible!" Shaky goes into a violent rage of shaking, "T-t-t-t-t-t-he Mana s-s-s-s-ssword? Legend has it t-t-t-t-that our village is f-f-f-f-f-inished . . . " the elder interrupts the stuttering, " . . . if the sword is removed, and, oh behold, here it is! The Mana Sword has been protecting our village from infinite disaster!" Fatso cracks his knuckles, "So that's it!", everyone is a little confused by what Fatso just said, "That's why all the monsters are attacking us now! How could an outsider like you yank out the sword and bring doom to us all!" Fatso takes his arm and punches Crono square in the gut. The pain spread throughout Crono's body. Being hit by someone four times larger than himself, made Crono feel as if all his internal organs were being smashed together, and the only reason he was still living was because his stomach was empty so it didn't splurge against the other vital organs. "Hey, stop it!", Crono said while trying to defend himself. Fatso moved in closer, "You did it!" He hit Crono again. "It's your fault!" He tried to hit him again, but Crono moved away. "Hey, I'm the one with the sword, so stop it!" Fatso stared into Crono's face, it was the look of a child who had just come home to find their parent selling their puppy, "You . . . " Crono and Fatso had moved far away from the elder's house after all the attempts to cause Crono internal bleeding. The earth underneath both Crono and Fatso began to shake violently, it began to crumble, Fatso fell in and Crono fell after. Everyone in the village was screaming from the earthquake. Toma ran out of the pub and leaned over the hole.
The hole was pitch black. Crono couldn't even see his feet much less Fatso. He heard Fatso screaming as if someone was slicing him. Crono then realized he just had his eyes closed. "Help! You have a sword Crono! Use it!" Crono turned around slowly, but he wished he never had. Behind him was a giant mantis ant with claws that could have sliced him with one cut, and teeth the size of his head. It danced around Crono and attempted to hit Crono, however, it was surprisingly slow, and while its claw had found its way into the ground from the obtrusive miss, Crono took the sword and started bashing it against the mantis ant's head, and then he realized it was a sword so he stabbed it and the mantis ant screeched and began to flow with blood, its whole body began oozing with dark red blood, the mantis ant was dying. "Hey, Crono! Elliot! Grab the rope!" From the hole a rope was thrown, it truly looked only suitable for Crono to be able to climb. The mantis ant collapsed, it's bloody corpse was so hideous it would have made Crono cry if he had been back at home. Elliot, or shall I say Fatso, raced over to the rope and began climbing. Watching him climb was so horrific that Crono turned his head to look at the mantis ant, then he began to climb the rope as well.
The village was quiet as Crono submerged from the hole, except from the whimpering cries of Elliot. In Crono's right hand he held the bloody sword. Everyone raced off to the elder's house, except Toma. "My, my. That appears to be the real Mana Sword. How on earth did you find it? I only dreamed I could ever see it. It looks like it needs to be reforged to unleash its ultimate power." Crono blinked, "Here, you take it." Toma laughed, "No, no. Only the person who pulled it free can actually use it with its full power. I would look like a fool if even tried to use it. Plus, I'm a treasure hunter, it's a pleasure just to see the Mana Sword." All the joy that was spreading throughtout the village before was now gone, now it was so quiet and bleak that it almost seemed as if Crono were in a different place, although he wasn't. "Crono, you should visit the sage Luka in her Water Palace. She's been protecting these lands for about two-hundred years. She'll give you good advice on the sword, and on the power of mana." Toma stares at the Mana Sword, he obviously was looking at all it's markings, it was an amazing looking sword. Shaky came scampering out of the elder's house. He was out of breath by the time he reached Crono which made his stuttering even worse, "Cr-on-o! T-t-t-t-the Elder w-w-w-wants you in his h-h-h-h-house." Shaky bent over and put his hands on his knees. The kid was so out of shape. Toma comes out of his trance, "I have to be off. I'll wait for you inside the Water Palace. Talk to Banta the Canon Man; he'll transport you to the Water Palace in seconds." Toma left the scene, leaving Crono with the bloody sword and Shaky, who was concentrating on breathing. Crono walked over to the elder's house. While he entered, he heard people lashing out.
"Elder! We can't go on like this!", One villager exclaimed, another one with a pitchfork complied, "Yeah! There's absolutely no sign of relief!" The female waitress, Crono had seen earlier at the pub, cried out in rage, "I think he's part of Magus' army! We've never had monster problems before! I mean he is the only outsider!" The villagers were all furious, all were rambling about the monsters or the Mana Sword. The elder bent his head low, "Oh, Crono! You've really done it to me this time! The reason monsters have appeared is because you have removed the sword." The villager with the pitchfork yelled again, "It's settled then. We can't let Crono stay in the village anymore!" Timothy's grandma blurted out, "If we do, more monsters will come after him!" Everyone looked afraid. The pitchfork man yelled again, "Go! Get out of here! Get on your way now!" The elder looked down, "I don't want to do this, but I have no choice. I'm going to have to ask you to leave the village. You can take what's in the treasure chest downstairs." Everyone gawked at Crono as he walked downstairs. He found himself in a room with a bed, a chest of drawers, a table, and a lavishly made green treasure chest. These were Crono's belongings, but how can this be? He's never been here in his entire life. These must be the belongings of another boy they've mistaken Crono for, except how could it be possible that they are both named Crono? Crono moved over to the chest. Inside he found a small amount of money. It was only enough to provide for a couple of meals. Crono left the room and proceeded upstairs, all the villagers had gone, but the ancient elder stood in the middle of the room transfixed with the door, it was as if he had been a statue. As Crono made his way to the door the elder spoke, "I took you in and I raised you. Yet there's nothing I can do to help. Please forgive me." The elder began to sob, "I know I've told you this before, but . . . " Crono thought to himself, before? ". . .Your mother brought you to this village when you were just a baby. Soon afterwards, she disappeared . . . I took you and have done my best to raise you. But now we must part forever. I truly hope you'll find your mother some day." Crono wasn't sure how to react. "Should I smile? Should I hug the man? Should I leave in a furious rage and break every piece of china like a child?" "Goodbye, Crono. May life be good to you outside of Potos." Crono didn't have time to make a decision on how to react; because the elder immediately went downstairs. Crono left the house. People were frightened of him, they flocked to their houses or gave him ghoulish glares from their safe patios. The man who earlier was guarding the entrance guided Crono to the same entrance, "You are hereby banished from Potos village. Now, get out of here!" The man forced Crono away and then he stood in front of the village entrance. Crono would never be able to go back through Potos again, including the falls where he appeared.
Crono began to walk away from Potos. Instantly monsters began to follow him. He saw a sign that said "Banta the Canon Man," Crono followed the sign remembering that Toma said Banta would take him to the Water Palace. To his surprise he found a man who really looked like a cave man, he had the beard and the clothes to match and behind him was a real canon. Crono walked up to him, "Will you take me to the Water Palace?" "You must be that Crono kid Toma was talking about. He already paid for your trip." Crono suddenly noticed that Banta had a hammer in his hand and that black smudge marks were all over his body. Crono was perplexed, "Have you been working on the canon?" Crono thought it was a joke when he said hop into the canon. Banta scratched his head, "Actually, I'm forging a bell for the King of Pandora to present to his beloved Queen. I lost my will for it when the Queen disappeared. I just couldn't keep working on the bell. But now it's back to business as usual. I love to make things, ya see? Now are you going to get in the canon or not?" Crono thought this was funny, so he thought he'd humor the old man so he got into the canon. Sitting in the dark canon, he noticed that it had a peculiar smell of sulfur. He began thinking it was ludicrous sitting in there, especially after about five minutes. The joke's over, why is Banta carrying on? Then out of nowhere Crono heard something sizzle, then he realized he was being airborne, Banta had lit the canon, and now Crono was flying across the sky. He flew miles above ground, Crono thought he was going to die, he suddenly began to fall and he was coming closer and closer to what resembled a palace, which must be the Water palace. He collided with the ground which surprisingly was comfortable. Logically, Crono couldn't figure out how that was possible. Maybe Banta was a wizard.
In front of the castle a group of soldiers were babbling hastily. The commander had golden blond hair, his stature was equal to a gladiator, his hand was stationed upon a spear that was twice his size, and most importantly he seemed rather domineering. "Alright men! We're going to infiltrate Ozzie's castle. We must follow orders perfectly! Do we have all our rations and preparation guides?" "Yes," said an annoyed solider "For god's sake we have your stupid preparation guides." "Then let's go men!",the golden blond commander guided the men to the west where they stood on some sort of symbol and then suddenly they vanished. Crono thought to himself, "That must be the teleport that one guy was talking about in Potos. I could have sworn he said it was broken." Crono made his way to the Water Palace. It was so beautiful. The water was so crystal clear, that Crono thought that this must be the cleanest water in the whole universe. He waltzed through the front gate of the palace. Walking through the palace entrance his steps echoed across the corridor, his mission seemed so significant, but when he thought it over it was so simple, he only thought about how silly it was to ask about how to use a sword. He finally made his way to the throne, where a esthetical young lady dressed in a blue gown stood in front of a gleaming blue alter where water flowed in and out, around an object that resembled a seed. Toma stood in front of her, but Crono only noticed this after moving much closer to the alter. The woman spoke, "Welcome, I am Luka." Crono thought, "Wow she's two-hundred years old an she looks that beautiful? What's this water made of?" Toma began to speak,"Luka, monsters are invading villages. This boy just fought one in Potos." Luka rolled her eyes, "I know. The ebb and flow of water brings me news from around the world, Toma. Mana's power is growing weak. That's why this ordinary boy was able to draw the Mana Sword. When he did, the whole entire balance of Mana shifted in this area, that's why monsters are lurking. There are evil monsters working to steal away the power of Mana. By defeating the evil monsters, you will restore the sword's power. You must find someone who is worthy enough to forge the sword and release it's sacred power. Magus must want to control the sacred power of Mana. This must be why monsters are rapidly increasing! He must be seeking to obtain the Mana Fortress!" Crono is overwhelmed by all that Luka has to say, but in all honesty he is stuck on the word "ordinary". Luka begins to speak yet again, "The Empire is going to unlock the seals from the world's Mana seeds. A bunch of strangers have already started snooping around here!" Crono assumes she must be talking about the object behind her. Toma then inquires about another subject, "Luka, something is wrong in Pandora. Could the Empire be involved?" Luka looks frightened, "I don't know Toma, see the king of Pandora and tell him to be cautious." Crono thinks to himself "I thought she said she knew everything. . ." "Right, I'm on my way. Crono, you go to the cave called Gaia's Navel. Dwarves live there. They make good weapons and know all about them. They may know somebody who can reforge and empower the Mana Sword." Toma hurries off, undeniably headed for Pandora. Crono began to walk away, "Wait! Crono!", Luka stopped Crono, "Walk up to the seed and hold your sword up high." Crono walked up to the seed and held the sword, a bright light emitted and his body felt as if it was being restored. Luka smiled, "In order to save mana, you must use the Mana Sword to seal it's power. Now the seeds power will come to the sword when you use it. As well it has been sealed from all others. Only you can use the water seeds power. You must go throughout the world and seal the other seven seeds Crono, so please, you must hurry, Magus is a danger to us all."
Crono left the Water Palace. He headed south hoping to run into Gaia's Navel along the way. Crono suddenly heard the screams of a familiar voice. He rushed across the narrow pathway and found himself face to face with forest. He forced his ears to listen for the screams, but he heard nothing. While looking around the trees he noticed an area behind some shrubberies. He moved around them and found a goblin village in the middle of some sort of ritual feast. In the center a young girl was sitting in a black cauldron, underneath her two goblins were beginning to make a fire. The girl screamed, "Help!" One of the green virulent goblins put their old nasty hairy green finger on her face, "You! Do not move! Okay? Just stay very still!" The other goblin spit into the caldron, "You are very lucky! You're going to be our main dish!" Crono stood in horror. They were going to cook the young girl. "Help, Let me go!", she screamed again, and this time Crono realized who the girl was. It was Marle. At any other time Crono would have been thrilled to have found her, but this only made Crono feel the pressure of anxiety. Marle was stuck in the caldron guarded by the two goblins, and Crono was clearly on the other side of the forest hidden by a few scanty shrubberies. Crono decided to move closer to Marle, hoping for a chance to save her from the sporadic goblins. One of the goblins cackled, "You look delicious!" Marle screamed. A horrible music rendition was beginning and some goblins began chanting. Some began dancing around a huge fire and a poorly made totem pole. Crono was now directly behind Marle and the two goblins. One of the goblins looked around the area, spot checking for any other life form besides Marle, then he signaled something to the other stupid goblin "Hey! The dancing has already begun! Let's join in!" The two goblins began laughing then they raced over to the blazing fire. Marle sat in the pot crying, she couldn't find any escape. "Hey!", Crono moved in closer as he whispered this. Crono whispered again, "Hey, you!" Marle turned around this time and saw Crono, she didn't recognize him because he was so far, "Please help me!", she pleaded, Crono raced over to the pot and raised her up, he then proceeded to carry her out, the two raced out of the goblin ceremony, making as little sound as possible.
They finally stopped around a large oak tree near a petite bridge, which was miles from the goblin village. Both of them were out of breath. Marle finally spoke, "I owe you my life." Night had settled in. Darkness was everywhere, the only visible light came from the moon. "Could you come closer. I want to see the face of my hero." Crono moved closer to Marle. "Why, it's you Crono! I'm so relieved you're here!" Her smile was visible through the moonlight. She looked just as angelic as she did at the Millennial Fair. "Everyone keeps calling me, Leene . . . They think I'm the heir to throne of Pandora." Crono then realizes that she is the girl everyone thinks is the queen, which means the real queen is missing. Marle smiles, "We barely know each other, but somehow, I knew you'd come for me . . . Thank you, Crono." Marle panics, her body goes into a rampage and she violently shakes, darkness enthralls her entire image. "What's happening to me, Crono? It feels like . . . I'm being torn apart! Help me, Crono! I'm scared! Please . . . Crono . . . h, help me!" Crono reaches out to hold her, but she suddenly vanishes. Marle disappeared. Nothing is left of her. Crono is now all by himself in an unknown world.
The night owl sings its song and the crickets continue their cry; Crono's arms are still stretched out to hold Marle.