Chapter 4 - The End Of Time

The vortex took her, the colours oscillating around her as she was sucked through... I could do this forever, so calm and peaceful... she let herself relax as the 'Rings of Time', the nick-name given to the bands of colour, streamed around her... why do others feel so ill doing this? It's just so beautiful... Abruptly, she saw the pillar of light at the end... here we go...

Destiny floated down into the middle of the pillar of light. She was surrounded by hundreds of others, but she knew exactly which one she had to use, it was in the dead centre and pure white, signifying it as the birth of time, where the Hand Of Kronos was based, where she had spent 6 years training to be the best in such a twisted universe... all the others radiated outwards from it in all colours imaginable, except one. Black... black was the colour for the link to the end of time, and she was already there... As she walked through the gate, she turned back and looked at the pillars, each one glittering brightly in its own way, a fully panoramic kaleidoscope of colours... such beauty, I wonder why Gaspar doesn't spend all of his time here?

Walking through, she saw an old man in a dishevelled pinstripe suit and a slightly crumpled bowler hat, clutching an old, scratched cane made of solid oak, standing underneath a lamppost.

"Hey," was all he said.

Strange for a man of such importance, and such power to seem so poor... guess it's what's inside that really counts... "You must be Gaspar, the Guru of Time," she said, offering her hand.

"That I am young lady, that I am," he replied taking her hand and gently kissing it, giving her an eloquent bow.

Destiny's face remained placid... it was an expression she'd worn for so long, she'd nearly forgotten how to look any different... "If you keep on looking like that, the wind will change when you aren't expecting it and it'll be stuck like that forever..." It was her mother who said that... she almost smiled at the memory, yet somehow she didn't.

"You must be the infamous Destiny Morad then, judging by your expression... stone-cold I've heard you described as, but then, you and me both know that isn't true, don't we?" Gaspar commented.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Oh, how emotions get in the way sometimes, always creating complications where you want none... but that isn't always the case, sometimes emotion clears everything up, like a ray of sunlight through a damp misty morning. The problem comes with antipode, a mixture of conflicting emotions, all rushing around inside your head at once. Take love for instance, which is at the heart of this matter, the strongest of emotions. It includes the capacity to devote yourself to another person, to do the most ridiculous things to preserve them, yet it can cause you to lose everything you have, your trust, your dignity, your self-respect. It can give you everything, or take it all away from you; it can empower you, or it can weaken you; it can give you wings to soar on, or it can cripple you... it is the be-all and end-all of everything and nothing all at once. It is the single most powerful yet weakest thing in the universe, stronger than any god, but weaker than any amoeba, and anything, whether person, animal or air molecule can be infected by it." As Destiny yawned, he said, "Do tell me if I'm boring you, my dear?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just I have other things on my mind. You know, the usual... the world and everything in it is going to be destroyed, along with the rest of the universe, I'm not going to exist anymore and I'm having a really bad hair day, yadda yadda yadda, you know, the same old boring shit."

"Yes, quite..." he said, disapproving of the bad language. "The resentment is to be expected I suppose, so please forgive me. I'm just an old man who hasn't had anyone to talk to in infinity, yet no time has passed at all since I last talked to someone, so please forgive me if I ramble on a bit."

"If I forgive you, then will you be quiet?" sarcasm abounded in the sugary-sweet voice she put on.

"Indubitably my dear, indubitably."

The two just stood there, facing each other, saying and doing nothing, each sizing the other up. Technically, it was a Chinese Standoff: the two sides staring at each other, not moving or making a single sound, waiting for the others to make a move. It was the calm before the storm... as soon as one said or did something, battle would commence, and Destiny already knew she would lose. Whilst she may have spent the last six years withdrawn in herself, Gaspar had spent eternity not having to do or say anything, and no-one, not even a God, could beat all of that experience.

Ah sod it, I'm gonna lose anyway, there's no point in prolonging this... Destiny sat herself on the floor, leaning against a wall. "So, what do I do know?"

"It's not for me to tell you, you must decide yourself. As you yourself said, the entire universe depends on what you decide to do, and you were picked for a reason, and I have to abide by your decision; my hands are tied."

"Tied? By what?"

"I can't tell you what to do. There's a reason you were chosen to do this and my interfering would only upset your natural process of dealing with it. That interference could well be fatal... it could cause the universe to not exist anymore, or you to not exist anymore... either way we lose. All I can tell you is that you're the only one who can stop this from happening."

"Oh yee-fucking-hah! Praise the lord almighty! This is just what I fucking well needed... Dammit! I gotta think this over."

What the hell am I gonna do? OK, my whole mission objective is to make Marle and Crono fall in love. To do that, I need to create a bond between them. That bond must be constituted of the following: Shared experiences, physical attraction and chemistry. I can't do anything about the physical attraction, but I know that's already there. The shared experiences are going to happen anyway, so I need to add to the chemistry between them, but how the hell do I do that? Destiny racked her brain, trying to think of how to add to the chemistry, but all she could hear was a voice in her head whispering something quietly...

"Envy makes the world go round, envy makes the world go round, envy makes the world go round, envy makes the world go round..."

Destiny remembered that day, many years ago, before the Hand Of Kronos took her...

"Mommy, why is Daddy stealing things? I thought it was bad to steal."

"Destiny, stealing is wrong, but your daddy is doing it for the right reasons. He only does it because he cares for us."

"But why does he have to steal?"

"We're too poor to be able to fend for ourselves. The only way we can get enough money to buy food is for daddy to steal darling. He doesn't like to steal, but he knows that if he doesn't, we'll starve, and he loves us too much to let that happen. If only Santé hadn't..."

"If only Santé hadn't what mommy?"

"If only Santé hadn't ripped us off all those years ago. Daddy used to own a business, which was very successful. He had a very talented apprentice called Santé. We were all doing very well until one day. Santé had decided that he could run the business better than Daddy could and decided to take over. He tricked your father into signing the business over to him, and since then, things have been going downhill."

"Why would anyone do such a thing?"

"Envy. Santé was envious of how well the business was doing and how much money Daddy was making, so he decided to take it all away from him. Remember this Destiny; envy makes the world go round. It consumes people and makes them do things they normally wouldn't do. It can make them do the most hurtful things, but it can also spur them onto greater heights, lead them to excel themselves. Envy makes the world go round. Remember that Destiny, always remember that."

Should I make Marle envious? But how would I do that unless... I was to... no, that's unthinkable! I couldn't do that... but what if it's our only hope?