Disclaimer:

You know the drill…Chrono Trigger DOES NOT BELONG 2 ME…that includes places, characters u're already familiar with and if the description of the characters I made up do seem like one of your family members, is purely coincidental…Yap yap.

Chapter three:

The Wings Called Epoch

"Doan! I'm going down." Melanie said, gazing at the dark tunnel with only one ladder to get in or out.

"Are you sure you want to go in? Didn't you say you weren't ready to find what is down there?"

"I did, didn't I?" Melanie reminded herself, still with her eyes fixed down the ladder. Then, she turned to him, who was standing there, waiting for her to answer her own question. "I'm not ready to know, but if I keep waiting I'll never be. And…I guess that those people you saw or those kids…" She scoffed. "…weren't ready for it either. Yet, they are all doing something about it. They are searching the answers for their own questions. I want to search for my own answers as well."

Doan nodded, understanding her. "Ro and Ilia came back faster than I expected. You already know what's in the left door; I believe they took the one to the right."

Melanie smiled at his approval and went down the wide tunnel. She walked to the door Doan instructed her, and to her surprised, it was already unlocked. Melanie wondered if it was Ro's doing, or the other people. Leaving behind those thought, she walked in and ran, dodging the oversized insects and the security robots, reaching the only accessible door. Before she cold open it, her eyes shifted to a far door, encrypted with a strange golden symbol. "(There's one here too?)" She thought; the only door that looked just like that one, couldn't be open, even with dynamite.

Knowing only this, she continued through the door, finding herself inside a room with a monitor at its center running static. On the floor laid cables of different colors. Melanie didn't cared for them, but as she walked over them, she noticed that the image on the monitor changed. She looked back down and started to experiment with the known wires.

Not long, the image cleared, repeating the same footage. Melanie saw the ground breaking apart up ,then the image zoomed out, revealing a red unknown being coming from below, maybe a weapon for all she knew, then more static. As the scene repeated over and over, she could only think that it was 'alive'. "…what is that thing?"

CTR

"You mentioned yesterday that you were coming for me. For what exactly? Not many people come here." Belthasar asked. He was taking them through a long, uneven hallway. The blue creature, now known as a Nu, was leading the way with everyone else in tow.

"We went to the basement of Arris Dome, and saw a strange video of something destroying a world." Ro answered. "We though you knew something, living alone and near Death Peak."

By the given details, Belthasar knew what the boy was talking about, but preferred to keep such things to himself. "I am sorry to disappoint you. I'm afraid I know nothing of that matter."

"Where are you taking us?" Ilia interrupted nervously.

"There is someone who will seek my help soon." Belthasar said. The Nu opened the door and everyone passed through. The room was bigger than every other building they have ever seen, probably the biggest. At the far end, a long wide tunnel stretched with no end, and at the center of the room, laid a machine, built with the intention to transport people. With excitement, Ilia ran to the machine, watching from below and studying the cockpit.

"Whoa! This is what you've been doing all alone? Can I check inside?" She exclaimed, still looking around the machine amazed.

"Nobody has told you to! Can't you wait?' Ro said to Ilia.

"You might say that. I was the one who designed the Ocean Palace and the Blackbird." Belthasar laughed, responding to the question the girl said.

"What are those?" Ro looked at Belthasar, curious about what he just said.

"Just…some designs…I made long ago." Belthasar answered. Without waiting long for a clear answer, Ro walked below the machine, watching everything Ilia pointed. He noticed the machine was intended for travel, but he saw no wheels, or by that matter, wings.

"How is this thing supposed to move? It has no wheels." Ro asked, and Ilia came to realize what he asked glancing at the machine again.

"Move?...It will move alright."

"It's your machine, right? So what name did you give it?" Ilia asked as if the question snapped in her mind.

"Epoch."

"Epoch…sounds familiar." Ilia whispered. "Can I check inside?" She asked again.

"Sure you can. As long as you don't activate it, alright?"

"I'll be careful." She responded, picking up Pookey, who was there long enough to listen to the old man.

"Now, where were we…You said something about the machine moving." He looked now with a calmed face, and his eyes were filled now with a strange determination. "The Epoch will move, but not today, nor tomorrow—and my time is hastening. The whole reason of bringing you here is to ask for your help, to finish it."

"But you're not going to use it; it's not even suitable for this area."

"My situation won't allow me to use it; the person that can open the last door will." Belthasar answered. The door which he was talking about was embedded with a gold crest, and somehow he just made another way in into this room. Ro clearly remembers the same kind of door back at the domes. They even tried dynamite to open it, and even with that it stayed still.

"You're pet told me last night, that both of you were quite adept in this kind of machinery. Are you willing to accept this as a challenge?" Belthasar suddenly said.

"(Pookey's a pet? He'll want to hear this one.) A challenge…We'll do it. It'll be no problem for us." Ro said, quickly running to Ilia, telling her the news. She showed more excitement after hearing.

Belthasar couldn't believe that such energetic youths existed in a barren place like this. He walked to the teens and began giving them instructions on what's left to finish. Each second that passed drained his life, and gave another step to finish the machine. Maybe then, the 'Chrono Trigger', the one who will open the door, could save Schala and, if 'he' has the power, 'he' could change this future. But Belthasar's mind thought of a horrible possibility. If the 'Chrono Trigger' achieved in the changing of the future, what would happen to the teens, and everyone they know. People who were supposed to live would die; and those who did die would live. Some people could never be borne into this world. But that was no matter to think of it now, his only goal was to save Schala; the rest, he would leave it all to the 'Chrono Trigger'.

CTR

"I know what you're talking about now."

"What is it?"

"What you saw down there, is what destroyed our world. Everything from the similar domes to the storm less sky was our world."

"How can that be? Pookey has shown me all the weapons I know so far. Nothing existed that could destroy the world in a matter of minutes and leaving it that way."

"That's because it's no weapon."

"I was right then. That thing was alive. But what was its purpose then."

"That, I don't know." Doan sat silent. "Do you remember what I told you about those people?"

"You said they came from the past."

"Exactly, and if they saw that image…and came from the past-

"—they could change the future! If they really came from the past they can do it, right?"

"That is a possibility. But what if they came from the past and are unable to return."

Melanie kept silent and though for a few seconds. "I doubt it. I believe…no. I know they can go back whenever they want. And I know they are searching for a way to fix whatever that thing destroyed."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because it is what I would do. But I don't know how Ro and Ilia are. What are they doing? Will they come back soon?"

"They'll come back, not so soon knowing them. They think about you…"

"The way I make their lives impossible—"

"—and the reason you gave them to live."

CTR

"I'm gonna take a rest." Ilia jumped down from the machine and sat against a box, letting her eyes close for a rest. Ro watched until she was fast asleep. Then he began to check the notebook Belthasar wrote for the construction of the machine long ago.

It was rather easy to understand. The materials were abundant in the area, and most of them followed a construction already seen in the Domes. And that was it, some of the drawings followed a known construction, but the rest was unknown to him. It didn't have any known purpose for the machine. Out of curiosity, he started checking the unknown purposes for such part.

"What are you doing?" A voice from beside him asked. It was Ilia, partially awake, with Pookey on her shoulder.

"Do you see this?" Ro pointed in the notebook, glancing over the real thing.

"We already fixed that." Ilia answered.

Pookey jumped to the machine, looking around. "I see what you mean, Squeak!"

"You do?" She said annoyed.

Pookey went in the open panel. "Squeak! Ro knows that many of the things you've been working on don't make any sense."

"Can I see that?" Ilia asked for Belthasar's notebook and checked the diagrams. She passed the pages quickly, glancing and comparing everything that was in it.

"Pookey, can you check further in?"

"I had that in mind." He stated, making his way through the machine. In the meantime, Ro and Ilia jumped down from the ladder, and sat to eat, still watching the diagrams. At that time, Belthasar came into the room. Even if he tried his best to hide it, his sickness could be easily seen by anyone.

"I see you're taking a break. Did you have some trouble?" Belthasar asked, walking to them.

"We just finished the left side." Ilia answered, smiling, and then turning again to the notebook.

Belthasar looked at the already finished work. He was amazed at the speed and knowledge of the kids. Hardly what he expected from the rat's words. "Where is your pet?"

Pookey? He's checking some things for us." Ro answered, hiding the fact that what it was checking was probably what Belthasar didn't want them to know."

"He's not going to chew your work, is he?" He asked, scared this time.

"Na. He knows how to behave." Ro said, making a joke out of Pookey.

"What are you working on besides this?" Ilia said, finished with the notebook. "We saw you working on the entrance computer."

"It's nothing that amazing; I'm just leaving a task to complete to the Nu."

Ro got up and open the notebook in a particular diagram, the page he was working on earlier. "Can you tell me something?"

"Of course, what is it that you want to know?" Belthasar said. Ro showed him the page he recently opened, hoping he would get some answers.

"We already finished this part. But I don't know how it's supposed to work on the machine."

Belthasar hesitated a little for an answer. He could tell them how it all worked; against the idea of telling them all, he just chose something more of an excuse. "That's just a method of mine for energy supplying. I was the one who design after all."

"You mean you designed the whole system, the engine and everything! All by yourself!" Ilia exclaimed, looking up with amazement. She didn't knew much about engineering, but the discovery of such a machine inspired her to ask Ro time and again during their short time there.

"Well I did design it. Back then, I was younger, I even had some help from my people. Epoch, The Wings of Time, was my most ambitious project yet, and it still is."

"You said 'the wings of time'." Ro stated, now more curious with the machines name and purpose. "Is the 'Epoch' supposed to 'fly' in this weather?"

"No. I guess I don't have the time to plan on adding wings to the Epoch." Belthasar made a short pause, trying to remember something. "I have to get to my work now." He walked, slowly but surely, from the hangar and disappearing from sight.

"No clue, huh." Ilia said, getting up and teasing her friend.

"Just one; he called the machine 'Epoch, The Wings of Time'. I though it would be useful for finding new shelters and storage buildings, maybe more survivors, but he said he didn't had the time to model wings. That means he didn't have planned on adding wings in the first place."

The sounds of small metallic objects falling to the floor were suddenly heard. Ro and Ilia ran only to find Pookey holding his head. He probably felled from the panel.

"You OK?" Ilia kneed in front of Pookey, picking him up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said with one eye closed. "The sudden flash just blinded me, Squeak!" He managed to jump to a nearby crate.

"What did you find?" Ro asked.

"Squeak! I've managed to find something really interesting. There is a weird engine inside, and from the looks of it, it does produce some energy. But instead of building it inside, the effect is made outside the machine, and from a distance, Squeak!" Pookey said, now looking inside the mess from where he was standing.

"Don't you think that man is hiding something? Every time I ask him about the machine he evades the question." Ro said.

"There could be a good reason for him to hide whatever it is. Even to how or why it should work, Squeak!"

"Maybe it's a time machine. You know, to change the future." Ilia giggle.

Holding his temper, he walked away to the right side of the machine. "C'mon. We've got work to do and you're not sleeping out of this one!"

"In case you didn't notice, I already worked with the right side last night." Ilia said with a perky expression. "But I haven't worked on the seats area. I wired the whole system, and I guess you could program the computer if it isn't."

Ro stopped and looked at her with a puzzled mind. "If the system is programmed…maybe I can hack into it!" Without a second thought he ran to the seats and jumped in, Ilia watching in from the outside. Ro started tapping the keys for information on the settings, but all he could find was just a single menu with years.

"It's already programmed, Squeak!"

"Yeah…but…I can't find anything. It's all set to choose a destination."

"End of time, dark ages, middle, I knew it had to do something with time, and I know he's cracked. Well, maybe not cracked, but how can he know it'll work?"

Ro looked at Ilia, and then turned to the monitor again. "Thanks for the comment. We'll be the ones figuring out if it works."

Ro tried one of the already set destinations. They waited, and nothing happened. Ro could only sigh in disappointment. Ilia smirked, approving to herself that Belthasar was indeed crazy.

Suddenly, the sound of an engine working inside the machine alerted them. They looked back to the source of the noise, then turned to the monitor, which it was showing the pressure of an unknown source. Ro hastily looked around the controls trying to understand what was happening. He then shifted his view to the front, Ilia and Pookey following suit.

The air in front of them seamed distorted at some degree. Like wavelengths emitting from one point, and the wall beyond that 'wave' mixed with its movement.

"What is that!" Ilia asked scared. The pressure of air caused a kind of wind with an eerie high pitch, making it impossible to hear clearly. Slowly, the 'wave' became smaller until disappearing. Most of the rags and papers that were blowing around, halted to a stop and fell.

The three of them stared at each other. Ilia was still shocked. Ro jumped out of the cockpit and caught Ilia's attention. "Now we know it works."

"Are you telling me it's really a time machine?" Ilia said, a bit amused a the thought.

"We can't prove if it's really a time machine. But at least we know that what Belthasar is doing is functional. Even if he doesn't make any sense of what he says."

"Squeak! If we finish faster, maybe he can give us the answers." Pookey commented. Ro and Ilia nodded, continuing with the last touches of the Epoch.

CTR

"You know that old man living in the southern continent."

"Yeah. I've heard of him. Everyone says he's cracked up. Ilia believed that too when I told her. But Ro seemed more amazed than amused." Melanie laughed shortly. "I always thought he was a little weirdo. I wonder if they went there. What is it with that man living alone?"

"That man's name is Belthasar. He might look as old as me, but I believe he's much older. I doubt he was born here."

"From when do you suggest he came from?"

"Zeal." The words came out of Doan's mouth with doubt. Melanie never heard that word in her life, and it somehow carried the mystery further down the rabbit hole.

"Zeal?" She repeated doubtfully. "When or what was that?"

"A theory, perhaps, of a kingdom that was believed to have existed long ago."

"Why a theory? What fact do you have to believe in that?"

"Lucca Ashtear was the only fact. Or rather she will be. Lucca saw with her own eyes the kingdom of Zeal; its beauty; its royalty; its power. It almost seemed like a fairy tale."

"And you believe this fairy tale is real, assuming that Belthasar came from that time."

"I believe that. Lucca wrote that Zeal fell because of overusing their new power source. Belthasar may have come to this time by accident."

"Could he be trying to go back?"

"Possibly. But to return and die; I think he's pursuing something else."

"This power source you talked about, the one that destroyed 'Zeal', did it had a name?"

"Lucca identified it only as Lavos. She never wrote a full description of the power source; she never mentioned if it was a tangible source. She just called it a parasite."

"A parasite used as a power source…never heard of that one. Any other person discovered something of this 'Lavos'?"

"I think a team of scientist did made research on that. Maybe you can find something in the ruins."

"I'll find something…"

Author's note: At last! It's finished! Get of my lap, cat! Oh didn't see you there. A word of warning: The chapters are gonna be longer from this point on. Not surpassing thirteen chapters, and there's not going to be action until chapter 8 or 9 from this first part.

The other three 'books' will have more action…Any reviews?