Ouch. Wow. Sorry about having misspelled the Mammon machine. Let's just ignore I did that! Sorry! I haven't played the game in a bit and that's probably horribly obvious.

Speaking of which, the story is now taking liberties with the game canon so, forgive me if you hate it. I'm evil and such?

Anyway, here's chapter two. Thanks for reviewing ;

The usual I own nothing blah blah suing is futile.

To Marle the world seemed to have fallen on her shoulders. As she pieced together the past few hours in her mind she felt a cold chill in the pit of her abdomen. Like she had been stabbed. In many ways she wished she had been.

She recalled the door opening into the Mammon room. The air had been charged with some sort of terrible electricity. She didn't remember exactly what happened. There had been words exchanged, a Queen and a prophet. A beautiful princess like herself watching with wide eyes. There were flashes of light and a mocking laughter. The Queen was laughing at them. And then, the dread. The terrible sickening dread.

Lavos.

His presence was there in that machine. Her pendant felt like it burned on her neck, reacting to the red rock, reacting to him. She felt the hatred like a tangible presence and in the center of that hatred a twisted desire. The desire to consume, the lust of gluttony, of possession.

She felt herself freeze. She couldn't move a muscle. The agony of that overpowering presence stopped her as the others moved on. Marle kept her eyes plastered on Crono's moptop of red hair. A beacon for her to hold onto. As long as she could see him she was alright.

And then the others stopped. The laughter stopped. There was a light. She felt a small part of herself being dragged into a portal, no, into Lavos himself. It was so slight that she wondered if it was real or if she was merely imagining it. She looked in vain into the light but it blinded her eyes.

Then she saw him. His shadow. Her hero. Like a black fountainhead he stood in front of the light, arms up. The sacrificial offering. He was throwing his body into the light to stop it. He was sacrificing himself for them. She knew it.

"Crono!" she cried out, too late. He was gone, or she was gone. Everything was dark.

When Marle awakened her compatriots, minus one, were gathered around her. She didn't have to ask where Crono was. She saw it in their eyes. The rest of that night was a teary eyed blur.

Now that she was calmer in the morning light Marle felt that she could manage to make conversation without choking up. She leaned into Lucca, who tensely put her arm on the princess' shoulder.

"We'll get him back. Even death won't stop me," Marle said to her friend. Lucca shuddered to hear such serious words from the usually happy-go-lucky blonde. In her heart though, she agreed.

Lucca and Frog decided to go and check out what remained of the earthbound village. Robo had been switched off to restore his battery and Ayla had run off to find food. Of them all, Ayla's simplistic mind was handling the situation the best.

"Crono no die. No red water. He not here. He somewhere. We find," she had said after careful deliberation on the matter. Nobody had the heart to argue with her.

Lucca was nervous about leaving Marle alone. She had taken to staring off into space recently with a dull look not unlike Ayla's when Robo spoke to her. Lucca hesitated but asked the princess to join them.

"There's a cape overlooking the ocean. We're going to go see if there's some more land to travel to. The scenery should be nice though," she said. To her surprise, Marle agreed.

Frog, ever the gentleman, held Marle's hand as they walked. In little time they arrived at the cape. Each took in the sight of the morning sun as it rose before a most unwelcome sight swam into their vision. It was Magus, the demon lord from the Middle Ages.

"You fiend!" Frog said immediately as he pulled out his sword to face his nemesis.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Sir Froggy and his rag tag band of fools. Give me one good reason why shouldn't kill you right now?" Magus ground out, his voice full of pure loathing. "You children can't do anything right. You think you're going make some sort of difference? You're pathetic. You trudge along and fight your little battles and you think you're actually accomplishing something! Unfortunately you're making so little progress it's sad that you're even trying. Your idiot leader thought he was making a difference, but all he did was get himself killed. Magnificent work you children do!"

"You shut your mouth," Marle cried. Tears were so prevalent in her eyes that she could hardly see. "You don't know him! He saved our lives, including yours! He's a hero, do you hear me! He's a hero!" Marle choked on her tears and fell to her knees. She fell into the fetal position and simply cried. She was uncontrollable in her misery. Between crying she would emit a blood curling scream that trailed off and ended in choking.

Lucca couldn't look at her friend. Her own grief was so great that she was almost overjoyed to have something to take her mind off of her misery. Magus was someone to hate. Someone to take the irrational blame for the loss of Crono. She aimed her gun at him, breathing heavily. If only she could shoot him in the heart. Oh, who was she kidding? What heart could this monster have?

"Coward! Beast! Thine ladies are in agony and thou dare to insult Sir Crono's honor?" Frog unsheethed his Masamune. "Vagrant! Demon! I shall avenge Sir Cyrus and Sir Crono in one blow!"

"Take your best shot, vermin," Magus said as he pulled his scythe from thin air. Frog seemed about to take him up on this offer before Marle let out another cry.

"Frog! Don't! Please! I can't take it! I can't take it anymore. Killing him won't bring Crono back. He's gone. Frog, Frog! He's gone. What am I going to do, Frog?" Marle was whispering this last sentence to herself, over and over, like a mantra.

Frog lowered his weapon. He looked at Magus with contempt.

"Though I am grieved Princess, I see truth in thine's words. Thou are lucky, mystic, that the princess is wise. I would have had thine's head, though such actions would not see the return of our loved ones. No harm will come to thine's head from this hand," Frog said quietly.

Magus growled to himself. Turning, he faced the sea. His great cape billowed in the wind around his lithe figure. Frog, helping Marle, walked off with her in the direction of the Earthbound village.

Seemingly forgotten, Lucca still aimed her gun at Magus's back.

"Turn around," she said in a deadly quiet voice.

"Still here?" The blue haired Prophet said calmly.

"Turn around, Magus. I want to look you in the eyes when I kill you," A tear rolled down her face as she said it though she stood her ground.

Magus slowly turned to face her. Lucca expected to see the hatred overflowing in his eyes but instead she saw sadness. She knew somehow that he was seeing exactly what she was feeling as well. They were both mourning a loved one. Lucca knew that she couldn't kill him. She lowered her gun.

"What are you doing?" Magus growled. He moved fast until he was towering over Lucca's small figure. "Why don't you shoot me?"

"I, I can't," Lucca whispered, unable to look him directly in the face.

"Yes you can! Do it, child!" He took her by the shoulders and shook her.

"Is your desire to die so great?" Lucca said quietly, looking up into his dark, red eyes.

"What do you know of desire? You're merely a child," Magus's eyes burned into her.

"I know what it's like to lose someone! I know what it's like to want to change the past so bad you'd give your life for just a moment to be happy. My mother. . . I'd give my life so that she could walk again!" Lucca gritted her teeth and felt the tears overflow and roll down her cheeks.

Magus released her and looked at her. She couldn't read his face but she could feel that his anger had melted away. Almost unconsciously, he raised a hand and wiped away one of her tears.

"Forgive me," he said quietly.

Both of them stood there for what seemed like an eternity. They faced one another with their heads bowed. It seemed like they might become pillars of salt overlooking the sea when a soft "mew" startled both of them. Looking down, each saw the cat, Alfador, caressing the legs of Magus while its tail wrapped around Lucca's legs.

Magus bent down and brought the cat into his arms.

"That's that boys cat. His name was Janus, I think," Lucca paused, considering. "I wonder if he survived."

"He did," Magus said quietly.

"How do you know?"

"This cat is mine," Magus said while cuddling Alfador in his arms.

"You...You're that boy!"

"Yes. Don't ask," he said, noticing her mouth opening to ask the inevitable question. "It's a long story and on the whole, uninteresting."

"Then Schala is your sister," Lucca said, deducing the obvious out loud. She didn't notice the wizards eyes darken at the mention of his sisters name.

"Correct," he said after a moment and offered nothing more. He briskly turned from her and started walking away towards the makeshift earthbound villages.

"Hey, wait! Where do you think you're going?" Lucca called after him.

"I have things to do just as I imagine you and the others have things to do as well," he said quietly.

"You're going to look for her, aren't you? You're going to go find Schala," Lucca said before she thought. The idea had come to her immediately, just as a very angry looking Magus immediately came face to face with her again.

"What business is it of yours?" He growled.

"It ... that it, it isn't," she faltered. "But we're all on the same path. You're looking for Schala, we're looking for Crono,"

"He's dead," Magus interrupted. "Let him rest in peace."

"If he's dead then so is Schala and your searching is equally as pointless as ours," she said. He didn't respond so after a pause she continued. "We're all looking for Lavos. Our paths our inexplicably tied together, regardless of how much we might not like it. You," she paused, sighed. "You should come with us."

"Pardon?" He said, genuinely shocked. "You're asking me to join your little party?"

"Yes."

"I'd rather drown," he said with narrowed eyes. "I'm going to find my sister alone," he said, emphasizing the last word.

"You'll need help!" Lucca said stubbornly. Then she thought her herself, why is she doing this? Who cares if he goes out on his own. It's not like he needs protection or anything. She'd seen how strong he was. Plus he's a great big jerk that everyone hated. Why was she asking him to come along?

Because there's something in him you recognize, a voice in her head told her. He's made of the same stuff you are.

"Are you offering your services?" he asked. At first Lucca was shocked. Was that a teasing note in his voice?

"I.. I don't..." she stammered. He smiled a devilish grin.

"I think you just did. In that case, you may come along with me. Only you," he said with an arched eyebrow. "You may carry Alfador," he said, depositing the cat into her hands.

"But, but.. I didn't..." she looked miserably at the cat. Magus cocked his head to the side but didn't say anything.

"All right," she said then looked positively shocked that she had said it. Magus wanted to laugh but he refrained, instead giving her a cold stare.

Are you out of your mind? her voice thundered in her mind. He'll kill you as soon as look at you. He's mentally unstable! First he's trying to kill you and then he asks you to kill him and now he's asking you to travel with him as a cat carrier! You should have stayed home and never built that damn telepod, she thought bitterly.

"I have to tell my friends first," she said. "Or they'll worry about me."

"Of course. I have to do some preparations. I will meet you back here in a day. Is that suitable?" She nodded her consent.

Magus didn't mention that she took her cat with him. He watched her curiously as she walked off. Then, turning as his cape whipped around dramatically, he sauntered off.