Chapter 2: The Queen Returns

Act One

Crono was surprised that he didn't vanish upon stepping into the circle, as from his point of view. He now had the task of making out what had just happened. He was still there. The Millennial Fair was not.

He was surrounded by grass and foliage. As he began to explore the area, he noticed a wooden bridge over a small canyon that he had never seen before.

Slowly, the realization came to him.

"I was transported away," he said to himself. "But to where?"

Further down, he saw two imps kicking what appeared to be a ball.

This can only be one place, Crono thought to himself as his stomach tightened. Medina.

It was not a place he had wanted to be; Medinans were extremely hostile towards Guardians.

Still, it was possible that they had seen Marle. He really had no choice but to ask.

"Excuse me," he began. "Have either of you seen a girl go by?"

"You mean that cutie in white?" one of them replied. "Yeah, I saw her. She came through here an hour ago."

Crono felt somewhat releaved; at least she was alive.

"Do you know where she went?" he asked hopefully.

"She said she was heading for the castle," the other imp replied. "She looks a lot like the queen. Maybe she's related to her."

Crono immediately began to head for the castle, when he stopped himself. He realized that he had one more question to ask.

"What happened to the Millennial Fair?" he asked.

"What Millennial Fair?" the ball, which turned out to also be a living creature, replied.

"You know," Crono pressed, "the Millennial Fair."

"There's no Fair," one of the imps replied.

"Why would they have a fair in a place like this?" the other imp ask rhetorially.

A concern struck Crono. The strange phenomenon that had just occured was new to anyone who had seen it, and was this potentially capable of anything.

"I caused the Fair to vanish," Crono said to himself.

He hoped that it wasn't the case, but he had to consider the possibility.

He then briefly saw a ghostly image of Lucca smiling.

"Please be okay, Lucca," he said to himself.

MEANWHILE...

Far away from where Crono was, a dark castle stood, surrounded by a dark woods. The focal point of the castle contain a hideous gargoyle of a wolf with bat wings, which was enough to warn any intruder that they were not welcome.

Inside, an individual sat on a throne. But he was no king, as the castle stood on a lone island. He had long, blue hair, and his skin was quite pale.

His name was Magus.

A humble spy approached the throne. He trembled, as if his was seized by fear. Magus was, in fact, a most feared individual.

"I could feel your fear as you entered my chambers," Magus stated. "Bomous, I am not expecting a good report."

"Queen Leene," began the trembling fool, "sire, the queen returns."

"She has returned?" Magus demanded skeptically as he glared.

"Aye," Bomous continued. "She was spotted at Guardia Castle a couple of hours ago."

"But Yakra took her to the cathedral," Magus retorted. "And it was supposed to guarded all too well. Did you check the cathedral?"

"Nary," Bomous replied.

"Then you job wasn't finished, then, was it?"

"I didn't have to," Bomous insisted. "I saw Queen Leene with my own eyes."

"Is that so?" Magus demanded. "Are you sure it was the queen?"

Bomous was silent.

"Here's what's going to happen," Magus warned. "You are going to go back to the cathedral. You are going to check for Queen Leene. And if she is at the cathedral, I won't kill you." Suddenly, Magus' hand began to glow. "Do you understand me?"

Bomous quickly scurried out of the throne room.

MEANWHILE...

Queen Leene sat on the throne next to her husband, King Guardia.

"Are you alright?" the king asked. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Leene dismissed, "I wasn't hurt."

"I'm relieved," King Guardia said. "But you don't seem alright."

"It's been a long day," Leene insisted.

King Guardia remained concerned; the queen seemed more aloof than usual.

Just then, the royal chef approached the throne.

"Would her majesty like something to eat?" he offered.

"I could use some ice cream," Leene requested.

The chef slightly grimaced.

"Some what?"

"Ice cream," Queen Leene repeated.

"Her majesty wants what her majesty gets," he sighed in disgust. "Eyes cream..."

Act Two

Crono, meanwhile, had made his way back to Truce. Feeling famished, he decided to go to his house for a bite before making his way to the castle. When he got to the house, however, he found the door locked.

"Mom must have gone out," he said to himself.

He then kicked himself for forgetting his key again.

The only other place he could get food would be the local pub. He went to the bar there and ordered himself a pork chop. As he was finishing, a stranger sat down next to him.

"Are you a stranger here, too?" he asked.

Crono shook his head.

"I've lived her all my life," he replied.

"Strange," said the stranger. "I've never seen you before. I'm Toma, the explorer. I came all the way from Neustria. If you're buying, I'll tell you a story. How about it?"

Realizing that Crono could get some more information about Marle's whereabouts, or what happened to the Millennial Fair, he agreed.

"Sure," he said out loud. "Cider please!"

"Thanks!" Toma said as he took a sip. "It's about the missing queen. She disappeared while visiting that cathedral to the west, and…"

"They found her," the bartender interjected.

"Beg your pardon?" asked Toma.

"They found her," the bartender repeated.

"They found her?!" Toma then turned to Crono. "Never mind."

"Well, that was a waste of good money," Crono muttered.

LATER...

An hour later, Crono found himsef approaching Lucca's house. He was certainly hoping Lucca still existed; if she did, she could most certainly tell him more about what happened.

As he drew closer, Crono could see Taban fashioning a bell in the front yard.

As he drew even closer, however, he could see that the man was not Taban, though he did somewhat look like him.

"Good day," the man said.

"Good day, Crono replied. "Is Taban around?"

"Who?" asked the man.

"Taban," Crono repeated.

"I don't know any Taban," the man replied. "I'm Banta, the blacksmith. I'm forging a bell for the king to present to his beloved Queen Leene! I lost it when the Queen disappeared. I just couldn't keep working on the bell. But now it's back to business as usual!"

"Queen Leene?" Crono asked.

"Yeah," Banta replied. "She's the queen, remember.

Crono shook his head.

"There is no queen," he dismissed. "King Guardia's wife was Queen Aliza, but she's been dead and gone for twelve years." He paused. "Unless the king remarried recently."

"Nonsense!" the Banta chuckled. "Queen Leene has been King Guardia's wife for a decade!"

"The only Leene I've ever head of is Leene Square," Crono said.

"I've never heard of that place," Banta dismissed.

Crono soon realized that the conversation was going nowhere, so he quit.

MEANWHILE...

Lucca, who most definitely still existed, entered Truce. She did not see anyone she recognized at all. Yet, unlike Crono, she was not surprised the least. She scanned the village, realizing that it was not all that different.

She glanced at the red key.

"Melchior," she said to the key, "you're a lifesaver."

With that, she started for the castle.

Act Three

Crono was now making his way through the forest that surrounded Guardia Castle. There was a lot to take in; Marle, Lucca, and Taban had disappeared, and nobody seemed to recognize him. He was beginning to consider the possibility that he had been bewitched somehow.

As he climbed the stairs to the castle entrance, his heart began to race. He had the strongest feeling that the answer to whatever had happened to Marle awaited him inside. Taking a deep breath an preparing for anything, he stepped inside the castle.

"Halt!" called a guard. "Who goes there?"

"Check out that hair!" observed another guard as he approached Crono and grabbed his arm. "Where're you from, son?"

"Truce," Crono replied.

"Are you one of Magus's troopers?" he demanded.

"Hardly!" dismissed the other guard as he grabbed Crono's other arm. "This kid never would have made the cut! Show us your stamp collection, son! Har, har! Now beat it, shrimp!"

"Stop that at once!" called a female voice.

Both guards let go of Crono's arms.

Crono's spirits were immediately lifted as he recognized the voice. It sounded just like Marle's.

She's okay! Crono thought happily. In a moment, I'll be seeing her face again!

"Queen Leene!" the guard acknowledged.

Crono felt his heart sink.

There's that name again.

And then, the queen appeared.

"Show your manners!" Queen Leene demanded. "This is a friend of mine!"

Crono looked in bewilderment. Not only did Queen Leene sound like Marle, but she looked exactly like her as well. She was dressed in a white gown, however, rather than Marle's white attire.

"But there's something odd about him!" the guard protested.

"You refuse to obey my orders?!" Leene inquired sternly.

The guard immediately turned to Crono with a sheepish look on his face.

"Forgive me, my lady!" the first guard apologized. "Please enter, sir."

The queen then led Crono into the throne room, where her husband, King Guardia, sat.

But this was not the King Guardia he was familiar with.

He seemed much younger, and was an inch or two shorter. Still, Crono went along with it, and knelt before him.

"Arise," the king commanded.

Crono did as he was told.

"Sir!" the king began, "I understand that you are the one who saved my dear wife, the queen!"

I did?! thought Crono. Better go along with it.

"I-I sure did, your majesty," he said.

"But can you tell me what happened?" the king continued. "Leene's acting rather odd. And she seems to have lost her coral pin, which is something she guarded with her life."

"It was scary," Crono suggested. "I think she's just happy to be alive."

"You're probably right," the king agreed. "Forgive me! You must be tired. We can talk about this later. Please rest in the knights' quarters, downstairs, to the left."

Crono began to proceed to the stairwell, when he spotted someone who he had seen in paintings: Chancellor Vanim.

Or at least he looked like him. Crono, at this point, figured that it was someone different.

And then, the Chancellor noticed him.

"What do you want?" the chancellor demanded. "Get out of my face!"

With that, he stormed off.

A moment later, out of the corner of his eye, Crono could see Queen Leene on the stairs. As she began to ascend them, she signaled with her finger to follow her.

Crono duly followed her up the stairs to her chambers. Once he arrived, she turned to face him.

"Come nearer, sir," she commanded.

Crono took a couple of steps forward.

Suddenly, the queen began to giggle.

"Fooled you, didn't I, Crono?"

Crono was overwhelmed with joy when he realized who "Queen Leene" really was.

"It's me!" Marle announced. "But everyone calls me Leene!" She then took a step closer. "I'm so relieved you're here! We barely know each other, but somehow I knew you'd come for me."

And, with a smile, she place her hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Crono!"

Suddenly, the room began to glow a greenish-blue.

"S-something's wrong!" Marle exclaimed as she placed her hands on her racing heart. "W-what's happening?! It feels like…I'm being torn apart!"

Crono quickly scanned the room to find where the glow was coming from, but could not determine the source.

"Help me, Crono!" Marle pleaded. "I'm scared! Please, Crono help me!"

Crono reached for her-too late.

Marle vanished in a flash of light.

SOMEWHERE ELSE...

Marle reappeared in a flash of light.

She scanned her surroundings, and realized there was a sofa behind her. She sat down, and rubbed her shoulders; he location felt cold. It was dark, and she could barely see. Separated from her new friend once again, she felt lonelier than ever.

"Please be a good queen and get off the couch," Magus commanded.

Marle quickly stood up to see her captor approaching her out of the darkness. He was pointing a knife at her.

She immediately began to tremble.

"Do you understand why I have to do this, your majesty?" Magus asked as he pointed the knife to her heart.

Marle shook her head as she began to feel sweat trickle down her back.

"If the king loses you, he will be devastated to the point where he will have to surrender to me."

Marle wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She was too frightened.

And then, Magus suddenly lowered the knife.

"You are not the queen," he said.

Marle stopped trembling. She was relieved and bewildered at the same time.

"Queen Leene is a confident woman who is not afraid to die," Magus continued. "Who are you really?"

"My n-name is Marle," she nervously replied.

"Relax," Magus assured her. "I'm not going to kill you. I think I might have a use for you."

"A use for me?" Marle asked.

MEANWHILE...

Crono, dejected, walked slowly out of the queen's chamber past two of her attendants.

"Has she dismissed you already?" one of them asked. "You were polite, of course?"

"You didn't do anything…funny, did you?" asked the other.

"Well…yes," Crono replied sarcastically. "I grabbed the queen's butt."

"Oooh!" exclaimed the attendant. "We can't let this juicy tidbit out of the castle!"

As Crono reached the bottom of the stairs, he was greeted by another surprise.

"Crono!" exclaimed Lucca as she ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. "You're okay!"

Crono was so happy to see his cousin that he slightly picked her up off the ground.

"I found out what happened!" Lucca announced. "I know what this is!"

"What is this?" Crono asked.

"This," replied Lucca, "is August 1." She paused. "600."

"600?!" Crono replied in surprise.

"China is under the Sui Dynasty," Lucca explained. "Emperor Wen is in power."

"Who's Emperor Wen?" Crono asked.

"The Byzantine Empire's dominating the continent!" Lucca pressed.

"I don't need a history lesson," Crono insisted.

"Look, the least you need to know is that this is August 1, 600." She paused, realizing that she had to address the elephant in the room. "Did you find the girl?"

Crono sadly lowered his head.

"I found her and lost her again," he replied. "She was in the queen's chambers, but now she's gone."

"Gone?!" Lucca exclaimed. "What do you mean she's gone?!"

"She vanished into thin air," he clarified. "But there was no circle opening up this time. She just vanished."

Lucca rubbed her chin.

"It's just as I thought," she deduced. "I knew I recognized her! And this looks identical to the castle in our time!"

"No kidding," added Crono.

"I'll bet they mistook that girl for her ancestor," Lucca continued.

"Her ancestor?" asked the baffled Crono. "You mean Queen Leene?"

"You got it," Lucca replied. "You see, she's a member of the royal family in our time! She's Princess Nadia!"

"The Princess Nadia?" Crono asked.

"The Princess Nadia," Lucca confirmed. "You spent your day at the Millennial Fair with the heir to the Guardian Throne."

Crono stood in silence; it was a lot to take in.

"Marle," Lucca continued, "that is, Princess Nadia, is a descendent of Queen Leene! Queen Leene has been kidnapped. As I recall, someone was supposed to have saved her, but history has been changed!"

"Changed?!" Crono exclaimed. "You're saying if we go back in time and do something different, that changes the present?"

Lucca nodded.

"Marle looks so much like Leene, that they probably called off their searches when she appeared here. But if the real queen is killed, Marle will simply disappear."

Crono presented a concerned look.

"You mean she'll die?!"

"No, it'll be worse," Lucca replied. "She'll have never lived."

Crono lowered his head sadly. It was not looking good for his new friend.

"On the other hand," Lucca continued, "if Marle was never born, she couldn't have gone back in time and have been mistaken for Queen Leene. So they wouldn't have called of the rescue, Queen Leene would be saved, and Marle would be born, so she would have gone back in time, and..."

Crono was staring at Lucca as if she had twenty heads.

"In any case," Lucca continued, "there might still be time! If we can save Leene, history as we know it should remain unchanged! Something must have happened to the queen in this era. As a result, Princess Nadia ceases to exist! Hurry! We have to find the real queen."

"I really wish I listened in history class," Crono muttered.

"If I remember correctly," Lucca said, "she was taken to the forest cathedral."

"There is no forest cathedral," Crono said.

He then realized something.

"Toma!" he exclaimed. "He was right the whole time!"

"You met Toma Le Vine?" Lucca exclaimed.

"I suppose you heard of him," Crono assumed.

"You suppose right," Lucca confirmed. "But now we need to get to the cathedral!"

THE STUFF THAT MIGHT HAVE GONE UNNOTICED...

Neustria was a real country in 600 A. D. It was in France, where Normandy is now.