The Demon's Angel, prologue: A Gate to Get There
614ad, villa near Melchior's hut, Elosia (one of Gaia's moons)
Schala smoothed her flowing, violet tresses as she stepped outside of her seven-year old son's room and into the short hall leading to the front door. She did not shut the door, knowing that her son's inherited telepathy would detect it; then he'd cry out for her. Much as Schala's younger brother, Janus, had done as a boy when he'd had prescient nightmares. It made the former Zealian princess wonder if there was something more to her little Aeron's dreams. . . The front door of the villa creaked open, interrupting her train of thought. She didn't need the dim candlelight to know it was her husband; she could sense his presence as easily as she could sense Aeron's. "Hello, Glenn," she whispered as he embraced her.
"How slumb'reth our son this night?" he asked, removing the legendary sword Masamune, sheathe and all, from his belt and placing it on a nearby table reserved for the purpose.
"He sleeps well – so far. He hasn't been asleep for long."
"How have his studies been progressing?"
Schala chuckled softly, and Glenn smiled. "About as well as when you left early this afternoon to investigate Melchior's reports of imps stealing apples from his orchard."
"Ha! The man hast but a single apple tree, and he bestows upon it the title of orchard? Alas, but I could not find the imps, though I wiled away the afternoon in their pursuit. Didst our child levitate his pencil to write again?"
"That was last week. Now he levitates his textbooks. While reading them, no less," Schala responded with a slight roll of her eyes.
"Thou shouldst not stifle the boy. He possesses great talent and potential!"
"I know," the sorceress sighed. "But I couldn't levitate objects like that until I was ten, and my control wasn't nearly as good then as his is now. I should never have used so much shadow magic while trapped onboard the Black Omen; then perhaps he'd have had more time to grow into his powers. . ."
"As thy brother did in his youth?" Glenn replied, quirking an eyebrow to show her he meant no rancor. "Nay, 'tis better that he learn magic and the responsibility it brings from a young age. And, my dear Schala," Glenn comforted, "Thou didst naught but what was required to defend thyself. 'Twould scarcely have mattered to him, regardless. His ears would still have points, his mouth would still hold fangs, and his eyes would still glow red. He would still have had the power, as well, latent though 'twould have been."
"Precisely! The Mystic War's over, but looking so much like my brother did in his younger years, I fear Aeron will have a hard time of it wherever he goes. . . where is my little brother? Didn't he go with you?"
The Guardian knight's eyebrows went up at the alarm in her voice. "Janus resideth out of doors this night. He bade me leave him, insisting that he wished to keep a nightlong vigil near Heckran Cave. I chose not to interfere." At just that moment, none other than Janus rushed in through the still-open door. His leather armor and scythe were covered in blood that was not his, and his cape bore scorchmarks. Schala gasped.
"The mystics are all in a frenzy, thirsty for blood," the wizard hissed between breaths, "And I don't think even I have ever seen so many in one place. I can't control them, and we've got just a few minutes until they get here."
"It's a machine in the sky," explained the voice of a little boy. Schala turned and saw Aeron standing in the doorway to his room. "Hi, Uncle Jan. Are you okay? You look like you were fighting! Did you see the big red light, like an eye in the sky?"
"How did you know there was a red light? What else did you see?" Janus asked Aeron. He'd always taken the boy's visions and dreams seriously.
"A scary-looking pale man with a white beard. He looked sorta like one of the ro-bots you and Daddy told me about, with a red gemstone heart. And there was a wizard like you, but he had a monkey tail and white hair. I don't like him. It was really weird. Did you see them, too?"
"Never thee mind," Glenn answered for his brother-in-law. "My sword and thine uncle's scythe have a task to perform. Now to bed with thee, lest the morrow be marred by thy fatigue." Glenn kissed his son on the forehead, grabbed the Masamune, and led the man once known as Magus out the front door. It was the last time Aeron saw his father or uncle alive.
Schala tried to flee exactly four centuries into the future, to a time in which her husband's former companions might still recognize her from their journeys. Unfortunately, something fooled with her Gate - perhaps whatever had caused the Mystics' insanity? - and they wound up in 992ad. They could not, of course, visit Glenn's old friends before they could have met him; so mother and son went back to live with her old mentor, Melchior. Old beyond old though he was, the former Guru of Zeal knew how to keep a secret.
The death of not only her beloved husband, but her troubled brother as well did much to quash the qualms that Schala had about using her power - and about teaching Aeron how to use his. For ten years Schala taught her son the vagaries of Shadow, and the intricacies of ancient Zealian technology. He was a frightfully quick learner, but much of his non-telekinetic Shadow abilities went unused - mostly due to his mother's urgings. She didn't want her son to have to deal with the maddening, bloodthirsty "voices" her brother had eventually conquered . . . she encouraged him to practice with his father's inhabited broadsword instead, and after a scant few years of practice he could have rivaled his father.
Aeron stayed there for ten years – until 1002ad, over a year after the defeat of Lavos - before he was allowed to leave the continent. In the forests of his first chosen destination - the island nation of Choras - he freed from limbo a soul his uncle had cursed while still a youngster four centuries before. That soul's body, however, had also been cursed by Magus: it was in the form of a demon and had roamed the countryside like a werewolf in the throes of a centuries-long full moon, a rude insult for the soul of a knight. That part of the curse was something that even Aeron hadn't the power to change. Though he couldn't change him back to a human, Aeron was determined to do what he could for the man whose sense of honor reminded him so much of his dead father . . .
The young wizard had insisted on helping the demon knight, securing transport for both of them all the way to the nation his father had once served: the kingdom of Guardia, the largest dominion on all of Elosia. The former knight, who had since taken up the name of Crimson, stayed only a few months before he left. Rumors were all Aeron heard of him for some time after that, stories of a demon vigilante roaming the Road south to Porre.
Though the wizard's visions of the kingdom falling under the blades of mystics went unheeded by the populace, the king and queen listened, and allowed him to help bring the technology of ancient Zeal to their nation's military. The visions became more and more urgent, and the rogue magic-wielding creatures known as mystics continued to do things more and more out of character: they expanded their settlements to islands not a part of Medina, even building a navy. This from a race that had built nothing more advanced than a rowboat in centuries. Such oddities that Crimson returned from his travels with disturbing news of strange activity deep within Heckran mountain . . . Aeron and those that believed in him prepared for the worst, and were not disappointed. Troubles came, both expected and not, and even the prepared would have been overcome had it not been for a series of freak coincidences.
Chapter One: Up the Creek without a Paddle
"On second thought, maybe I'd better send three of your friends with you. After all, no one likes to fight themselves! Wahahahaha!" Zidane had no idea what Kuja meant by that last comment, but he was glad that he'd get to bring some friends. "Speak their names when you've decided."
Dammit, I still can't believe he trapped us. Or that I'm actually helping him. But it's that or certain death. . . I'll just play along for now, and watch for opportunities. Zidane had to think for a moment. The lives of six others hung on him choosing his companions wisely. He wanted to bring Eiko or Dagger (especially Dagger), but their ability to summon eidolons and use white magic to help others in their party would be made useless by the magic barrier at their destination. As would Vivi's powerful black magic. That anti-magic barrier's really making my choice simple. Zidane decided he'd rather not depend on Quina's freakishly large "combat fork" to carry the day, and that made the choice for him. He definitely wanted Amarant, with his metal claws and razor-sharp throwing discs. His rat-like Nezumi friend Freya's spear would also be good to have at his side. The Dragoon Knight had as much reason to hate Kuja as Zidane himself did, and she probably wouldn't like the idea of running an errand for him; but, like Zidane, she'd do it for the sake of the others. And, though Zidane's pride was reluctant to admit it, Steiner's broadsword would be nice to bring along. The Knight Captain had disliked and distrusted Zidane from the moment they'd met, and had constantly tried to create a wedge between him and his charge, Dagger. A hated voice cut into his thoughts.
"If you can't decide, I'll have to choose for you."
"I want Freya, Amarant, and Steiner."
"Very well. I shall summon them." Kuja closed his eyes momentarily as he telepathically summoned Zidane's companions. A moment later, they appeared on a platform in between two black mages. As soon as they saw Kuja, the three of them dashed forward a few steps and went into their respective fighting stances. Freya and Steiner had both lost their kingdoms to Kuja, and it showed in the fury of their expressions, and the frenzied thrashing of Freya's whiplike tail. Amarant looked eager for a good fight, as he always was. "Please, spare me the emotional reunion scene," Kuja sneered. "Zidane, go stand by your friends." Scowling, the monkey-tailed thief went and stood in front of his three chosen companions. He was about to say something, but was interrupted by a flash of light on the platform as Quina, Vivi, Dagger, and Eiko appeared between the raised hands of two black mages. Kuja laughed at that, seeming to enjoy hearing his own cruel mirth. "Do you foolish mages actually think that even the seven of them stand a chance against me? If so, you are sadly mistaken."
"N-no, they don't stand a chance yet. But someday they will, and then we'll have our vengeance." A sphere of the darkest black zipped through a nearby wall and floated to a stop in between Zidane and Kuja. It expanded, and a small horde of almost comical-looking creatures poured from it. It was impossible to count them as they jostled about in momentary confusion, but it looked to Zidane like about twenty or thirty. They were dazed and confused for only as long as it took for one of them to spot Kuja.
"Hey! It's Magus!" one of them yelled.
"But he's dressed funny. . . "
"Look at the hair! Feel the power!"
That seemed to convince the rest of the horde, who then shrieked as one, "Magus! Traitor! Time to DIE!" The small army rushed at the surprised wizard, brandishing claws, blades, and magic of all types. As the first black sphere faded, another came hurtling into the room, sucking in everything in its path. It stopped in front of Zidane, who struggled mightily not to get sucked in.
"Jump in! It's a Gate to another world, where you can build up your strength and be safe until you're ready! Hurry! The monsters won't hold Kuja for long!" urged the black mage. Zidane looked over to the battle taking place on the other side of the room, and saw that the mage was right. In between flashes of Kuja's magic, he could see the man's unblooded face smiling.
"Come on, everyone! Let's go!" With that, Zidane stopped struggling and allowed himself to get sucked in.
At the same time as he, Quina was sucked in, squealing with delight. "New place! New foods!"
Freya, Amarant, and Steiner were next closest to the gate. The three fighters looked at each other, shrugged, and leapt in. Little purple-haired Eiko led the third group, and though Vivi and Dagger had to rush to catch up with her before she jumped in, they managed it.
The three groups found themselves in a strange place, full of swirling colors rushing past them at unfathomable speeds. Though they could move, they could make no perceptible progress towards any of their companions; nor could they be heard by any but themselves when they spoke. None could quite tell how much time had passed when they saw in the distance a trio of black spheres. One was moving directly towards each group, and the Gates formed an eerily beautiful equilateral triangle around a swirl of color moving towards them rather than away.
The three spheres arrived at staggered intervals, and the first to be dumped into the world beyond the spheres were the three mages, followed in short order by Zidane & Quina, then the three fighters.
Dagger heard a loud thump, and a yelp that was not hers. She grunted as two weights (Eiko and Vivi) slammed into her torso and rolled off. Dagger pulled herself to her feet and saw who had produced the yelp. She had landed on a beautiful young woman with orange hair, elfin features, a billowing white sleeveless bodysuit, and a glowing pendant around her neck. Hey, that pendant looks a little like mine. . . where is it? Dagger thought to herself. Oh, Zidane is holding it for me. Where are we? It looks like we're on a seafaring vessel. . . She reached for the woman who lay on the deck, wincing slightly as she tried to get up, but was stopped short by an exceptionally sharp-looking many-hued blade inches in front of her face. From beside her came a man's voice.
"I don't take too kindly to other people jumping on my wife like that. How did you get here? And who are you?" Cautiously, Dagger turned to face the man. He was somewhat tall, with long, wildly spiked pink hair and piercing green eyes. His blade was of a type she was unfamiliar with, but judging from his stance and his air of sheer competence, he knew how to use it effectively. His expression softened and his blade lowered as the floored woman spoke.
"I'm fine, Crono. You can sheathe your katana, too; they didn't mean to hurt me." Her voice was high pitched, with a cheery, singsong quality to it. Though Crono's sword lowered, it remained unsheathed.
"How can you be sure? They look harmless enough, but looks can be deceiving."
"If they wanted to hurt me, they'd have done it already! Besides, it's just a teenage girl and two kids. What could they do?"
"What could we do at her age? Quite a bit, I'd say. Who'd have thought that a commoner boy with crazy hair, a tomboy princess with a pretty necklace, a dorky girl with huge glasses and a gun could destroy a being powerful enough to threaten time itself?" Crono paused to take a deep breath before continuing, addressing the intruders this time. "There's something funny about you three. I can sense the magic in you, and that's rare. You're almost as powerful as we are, which is especially odd because we were sure we knew all the magic-using humans in this age. Maybe you don't want to hurt us, but until I know what you are, where you came from, and why you're here, I'm holding my sword."
Dagger was surprised by these two as she put together some of Crono's inferences. He was a commoner, she was a princess, but they were married? Where were their royal guards? And mages were hardly so rare that any one or two people could possibly know them all. Of course, Dagger was still unable to speak. Eiko noticed her struggle and spoke for her.
"I'm Eiko. The boy with the pointy hat is Vivi, and she's Dagger. She can't talk right now."
"Why not?" asked the orange-haired woman.
"I dunno. . . she went mute about the same time as the fall of the Mist Continent's four kingdoms-" Eiko was cut off by Crono.
"Hold on! Did you say four kingdoms?" Eiko nodded.
Finally rising from the floor, the woman frowned, and Crono whistled. "Maybe you'd better tell us a lot more about these four kingdoms and how and when they fell."
"Ok," Eiko replied, "But only if you put your sword away."
"Deal." True to his word, the punk-haired prince sheathed his blade.
"Actually, I don't know much about them, 'cuz I grew up in Madain Sari. It's on a different continent."
"Now, wait just a minute. . ." Crono began warningly. He was stopped by Dagger's finger tapping his shoulder, followed by her hands making writing motions.
"I think Dagger wants to write the answers to your questions," the horned little summoner clarified. The mute princess nodded.
"I'll just swipe some blank sheets from Aeron's nav log," remarked Crono, quickly producing the promised paper and pen from a nearby map table. "Knock yourself out."
Finally finished, Dagger wrung out her freshly cramped wrists. After a moment or so of sitting slack-jawed and saucer-eyed, Marle spoke.
"Wow. . .uh, Crono, now I know why my pendant started glowing when they got here. It only glows if I'm using it or if there's a Gate or something nearby. And I wasn't using it, so it must have been a Gate!" Crono nodded in agreement, the spikes of his hair bouncing slightly as he did so.
"That would explain their sudden appearance, the tearing sound, and their totally different world. They must be from somewhen else." Crono paused for a moment, deep in thought. "But it doesn't sound a bit like any time period I'm familiar with. Do you recognize anything, Marle? You've had royal tutoring since birth."
"And I've been a royal goof-off since birth, you know that! I don't recognize a bit of it. But because they mentioned a telepod, I think they're from the future."
"Right." Turning back towards the three strangers, he continued, "Say, you guys never did tell us what year you're from. If you could tell us, it'd help."
"The 1800s," piped Eiko. Crono frowned and scrunched up his eyebrows.
"Ok, now I'm confused. All magic users were gone by then; they said so when we visited 2300. What happened to mark the beginning of the new era where you're from?"
"Do you know, Dagger?" inquired Eiko. The black-haired girl shook her head. "Vivi?" He shook his head as well and straightened his floppy, pointy hat. Eiko shrugged her little shoulders and gave her final answer. "I don't know either. Sorry, guys."
"I dunno either. If anyone can figure out when you're from and get your pals back, it'll be our friends Aeron and Lucca. So you know what? Forget Medina, Marle. We're going back."
"Back? Back where?" demanded Eiko, jumping up and down in agitation.
"Oh, yeah. Crono, I think we've got a history lesson to give. . ."