Chapter 8 - Meeting Time

"I'm an agent of a covert organisation called the Hand of Kronos. We..." Destiny paused, finding it difficult to explain what she had lived with for so long. "We deal with problems in time, when a time-line changes that is not for the best... we fix it and return it to its natural state OR we make sure that it goes to one that is beneficial for all."

"Well that's nice," said Marle, the sarcasm in her voice clearly evident, "but why are you here?"

"There has been a corruption in this time-line, one that threatens all life on this planet and I've been sent back to fix it. We don't know what the cause of the divergence is, but I hope to find it whilst accompanying you in your quest. I assume you know of Lavos now?"

"We... saw the recording in Arris Dome. We saw what it did to our world. We CAN'T let that happen!"

Shaking her head, Lucca spoke up, "One thing is worrying me, how are we supposed to stop Lavos? What can we do? We're just a bunch of teenagers!"

"That's the thing, you've stopped it before in a different time-line. You and four others teamed up and fought against the planet's future and finally defeated the alien life-form known as Lavos. But as I've said, there has been a divergence and now it won't happen. Unless I fix the problem, this world will be destroyed and so will I. I'm not just doing this for the world you live in, I'm also doing it for my very existence and that of millions of others, all of who are doomed unless I fix it."

"Why just you? If this entire world is threatened, why isn't everyone from the Hand of Kronos here to re-align the time-line?"

"I... I don't know. All I know is that I was specially picked for this mission and that I have to save the world. Beyond that, I don't know much else. For all I know, all of the Hand of Kronos is working on this, just not where I can see them," Destiny replied, not knowing she was partially correct...

"Something else, if the time-line has been changed, how do you know about us saving the world?"

"It's kinda complicated. Basically, the Hand of Kronos transcends time. The headquarters are out in space, surrounded by what we call a time-bubble. It surrounds the entire complex, forcing it into all time zones. Basically, you could say it is omnichronic; it's in all times, all at once. Through this, we can observe any changes in the time-line without being affected by it ourselves. We stay in a sort of time-line of our own devising, impervious to the changes around us."

"So if there are all these changes in the time-lines, what happens to the time-lines that existed before?"

"They simply cease to exist as far as we know. It's possible that all the time-lines are out there in parallel universes; we just don't know how to get to them. Even if we could, why would we want to? It's not our time-line; we're not affected by it so why would we bother? We have enough problems in our own one..."

"OK, enough of this crap, what the hell are we gonna do now though?" asked Crono, speaking up for the first time.

"Go through the gate. There's someone there you need to meet and I need to talk to him as well."

"I don't see we've got much choice, let's do it."

Destiny turned around and pulled something out of one of her pockets. Aiming it at the gate, she pressed a button and it opened up. Quickly, she stuffed it back into her pocket before the others could see what it was.

"What was that?" asked Lucca, ever curious.

"It... it's not important," she replied, hurriedly stepping into the gate, the others following her quickly, the little girl still asleep in Crono's arms.

The bands of time encompassed them, enveloping them safely until they reached their destination. They slowly drifted to the ground inside the beam of white light, another one parallel with it. Crono, Lucca and Marle looked around, taking in their new environment, the Victorian-style cobbled floor lit up by no discernable light source. The room was lined with a rickety wooden fence, separating the room from eternal darkness.

"Where are we?" asked Marle.

Ignoring her question, Destiny walked through the gate, into another room, almost identical except with a large lamppost in the middle and Gaspar standing underneath it.

"Hey," was all he said as usual.

"Excuse me sir, but where are we?" asked Lucca.

"It's quite simple really. When 4 or more human beings step into a time warp, the Conservation of Time theorem states they will turn up at the space-time coordinates of least resistance. The end of time. Here." A frown appeared on his face as he continued, "Disturbances in the space-time continuum have increased recently. Far too many folks are just popping in here... I fear something is having powerful effect on the very fabric of time..." It was quite clear Gaspar was becoming rather agitated about something.

"What's wrong?" asked Destiny, a worried look crossing her face.

"Who is she?" he asked, pointing to the little girl in Crono's arms, a note of panic in his voice, sweat running down his face.

"We found her in Arris Dome, 2300AD. Everyone else there had been murdered, their throats cut."

"Di... did she say what they wearing?" he stammered, all the colour draining from his face.

"She said they were dressed all in black, nothing else."

"Th... this can't be!" Clutching at his chest, Gaspar leaned back against the lamppost, his breathing ragged as he grimaced in pain. All of the colours bled out of his vision as he slumped down, colourless faces surrounding him, staring down at him as everything slowly became dark. "Th... the Black Wi... Wind howls..." he managed to croak before lapsing into unconsciousness.

"Spekkio, get out here now!" called Destiny.

The small door burst outwards and a red Nu loped forwards. "Gaspar!" Turning to Destiny he quickly asked, "What happened here?"

"I think he's had a heart attack! Can't you heal him?"

Crouching down, Spekkio leant over the old man, examining him. Finally, he stood up and let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping down. "I can do nothing to help him. He is already dead."

"Can't we cast a spell or something to bring him back? Or use the time egg?" cried Destiny.

"He died of natural causes. No magic can rectify that. Only death caused by one who can use magic can be reversed. He's gone, there's nothing we can do now."

"The black wind howls... what's that supposed to mean?" asked Marle.

"No, he didn't say it like that; capital B and a capital W... it was a name, not a description," replied Destiny; cold ripples running down her spine.