Chapter 19: Break the Seal!
Act One
The cold was gone. The wind was gone. They all looked around at their new surroundings. There was only void in every direction but down, where there was cobblestone flooring.
And they realized that they were at the End of Time.
It made sense; seven people tried to warp at once.
"The Prophet could have just done away with us," Lucca said, breaking the silence.
"'Tis true, he hath spared us," Frog added. "But something is amiss."
"The key to defeating Lavos must exist in that period," Lucca suggested. "They're magic is beyond powerful."
"Whatever it is," Crono said, "we'll need to find a way back there."
"Door gone," Ayla said as she shook her head. "No can return."
"We found a way through that sealed door at the palace, didn't we?" Crono pointed out.
Lucca's eyes suddenly widened.
"The crest on those sealed doors," she said as she adjusted her glasses. "We've seen it elsewhere, haven't we?"
"I think I remember the Ocean Palace and the Blackbird being mention somewhere, too," Crono recalled. "And I know I've heard that name Schala before."
"Wait," Robo suddenly realized. "The crest on the doors that the pendant opens...I have seen them in my own time!"
Crono then snapped his fingers.
"Of course! The Keeper's Dome!"
"The what?" asked Lucca. "Was that the place in the future with the strange old man who yelled at us not to climb Death Peak? He had a strange purple creature with him?"
"That's the one," Crono replied.
"Let's check it out, Crono!" Marle exclaimed enthusiastically.
Just then, Crono saw the old man approaching them.
"So you've been to the Land of Magic," he observed.
"We have," Crono replied. "And now we're locked out."
"So I heard," the old man said. "Now that the pillar of light is sealed, you'll be needing something that will transport you through time."
"You mean a time machine?" Robo inquired.
"A what?!" Marle exclaimed.
"Yes," replied the old man. "That's exactly what I mean. I recall someone working on such a device.
The Wings of Time, I believe he called it. I'm afraid he became a tad psychotic spending so much of his time doing research."
"Do you know where we can find him?" Lucca asked.
"I'm afraid not," the old man dismissed. "The last I heard, he was swallowed up by a vortex, and was never seen again."
Marle turned to Crono.
"Those doors in the future have the Mammon Machine on them," she pointed. "Someone from Zeal ended up there."
"Agreed," Crono affirmed. "Let's head to the future."
They made their way to the pillars, and stopped suddenly; one of them was missing.
"That's strange," Marle pointed out.
"Looking for the one that leads to the prehistoric era?" ask the old man. "That one went dark. You can no longer go there."
"Why?" asked Lucca.
"I'm not sure," the old man replied. "That world is gone anyway."
"Lavos must have destroyed it," Crono suggested. "It doesn't want it messing with its history."
"Are you sure Lavos is creating the Gates?" the old man inquired. He then turned and walked away.
"That was strange," Lucca said. "Anyone not going to 2300 should probably stay here. Anyone? Last chance!"
"Kino stay behind," Ayla, who had since stripped to her fur bikini, commanded. "Not want to have to rescue again!"
"But..." Kino protested.
In response, Ayla raised her first.
"Want me to punish?" she threatened.
Kino backed away without a word.
August 24, 2300
The Gate opened.
Out came Crono, Marle, and Lucca, who quickly realized that they were back in Bangor Dome.
"I was hoping to never come here again," Lucca sighed.
A moment later, the Gate opened again.
Out came Frog, Robo, and Ayla.
"Where this?" Ayla inquired.
"Welcome to the twenty-fourth century," Lucca replied.
Meanwhile, Marle turned to the north end of the dome.
The door with the Mammon Machine crest was still there.
"Here we go," she said as she raised her pendant to the door.
Almost immediately, the pendant began to shimmer. Moments later, the door slid open.
"It worked!" Marle exclaimed.
Inside, there was a sword that seemed to made from the same red rock as the Masamune.
"This will be perfect!" Crono exclaimed as he picked it up. "When we do return to antiquity, this would put an end to any more Golems!"
"So," began a familiar voice, "you were able to open the sealed doors. Congratulations. They even exceeded my own power."
"Oh," Lucca said. "Mother."
"That's right," Mother replied. "I am quite impressed. But if you're looking for the person who put those there, you're wasting you're time. I am no longer detecting him."
Lucca immediately turned to Crono.
"She's lying."
"I do not lie," Mother insisted. "That is a human fault."
"Yeah, right," Marle snapped. "I know you were the one who sent those robots after us the last time!"
"See for yourself then," Mother relented.
"I'm getting tired of hearing from her," Crono announced. "I say we head out!"
They did so, and Frog and Ayla, who had never been to the future, stood in shock.
"This be the power of Lavos?" Frog exclaimed.
"Yes," Crono replied. "He erupted without warning, and destroyed the world. He killed nearly the entire human population. He now rules what is left."
"And this is what thou art trying to change?"
"That's right," Marle said. "As you can see, the whole future depends on us."
Act Two
After passing through Lab 16 without incident, the group found themselves once again at Arris Dome. It was still mostly the dismal place they had left it, except for one difference.
Plants had begun to sprout.
"Hey!" called a child. "It's those people again!"
"It's them!" called another.
And then, Crono spotted a third child; the daughter of the poor corpse they had found in the basement.
"Daddy's on a trip," said the girl.
"I still can bear to tell her," her widowed mother explained. "But I haven't given up. This child, and this seed are still growing."
Then, another familiar face approached them.
"Hey fellas!" Doan greeted. "Look! The seed's sprouted!"
"How's everyone doing?" Crono asked.
"Since you've come," Doan replied, "we've gained the courage to live."
"Good to hear," Marle said.
And then, one of the residents spotted Robo.
"Look, it's a Atropos!" he exclaimed. "They brought her here!"
"Traitors!" cried the widow. "We trusted you!"
Doan took a quick look at Robo.
"That's not Atropos!" he insisted. "She's pink with a blue bow!"
"It's still a droid!"
"Hold it!" Crono pleaded. "This is Robo! He's a friend of ours!"
"He looks an awful lot like Prometheus!" the widow insisted.
"He's not," Crono assured her. "We found him in disrepair. We fixed him, and he's already been clobbered by Atropos's friends. He's fought alongside us and saved our lives on more than one occasion."
Everyone seemed to calm down, though no apologies were made.
"Who Atropos?" Ayla inquired.
"She's Mother's top robot," Doan replied. "And the only one whose programming allows her to override the three laws of robotics."
"What are you saying?" Crono asked.
"She can kill a human," Doan answered.
Everyone was silent. Somewhere out there was a robot wanting to kill them, just as powerful as Robo was.
Robo seemed especially distraught.
"Art thou acquainted?" Frog inquired.
"You could say that," Robo answered sadly.
MEANWHILE...
At Geno Dome, the real Atropos finished recharging. She opened her eyes, unplugged herself, and slowly stepped away from her charging station.
"Good morning, Atropos," Mother greeted.
"Good morning, Mother," Atropos greeted back.
"Crono is back," Mother announced.
"He's back?" Atropos.
"And he has found out how to open the sealed doors," Mother continued.
"Nothing can open the sealed doors," Atropos insisted.
"I saw it," Mother insisted. "The ponytailed girl, Marle, held her pendant up to it. It opened like magic."
"That sounds like superstition," Atropos insisted. "Magic is the construct of naive human imagination, and nothing more."
"Call it what you will," Mother said, "but I saw what I saw."
"I'll kill Prometheus," Atropos promised. "I can intercept him today if I need to."
"I need you here," Mother replied. "I need you to protect his place in case they make their way here."
Atropos was badly disappointed.
"What am I to do, then?" she asked.
"Deploy the drone," Mother commanded. "They cannot trace it."
Act Three
Death Peak stood ominously in the distance as Crono, Marle, Lucca, Frog, Robo, and Ayla approached the Keeper's Dome.
As they neared the entrance, the sound of a loud buzzing began.
"I don't like the sound of that," Marle sighed.
A moment later, a flying device appeared from over the Keeper's Dome. It had four digits from a center.
"What is this?!" Crono exclaimed.
"It's called a drone," Robo replied. "Don't worry, it's harmless."
The drone suspended itself about two yards above the ground. Suddenly, a giant, humanoid robot extended from the drone. It had horns coming from its head, and spike collars on its wrists.
"I don't think it's harmless," Crono insisted.
The drone immediately fired missiles from its shoulder canon, with enough force to blast away the ground.
"Stand back," Robo commanded.
Knowing Robo never bluffed, everyone did as they were told.
Robo then approached the drone. He almost seemed to pull himself apart.
"Robo!" Marle exclaimed.
Suddenly, what could only be described as a rotating triangle appeared in front of Robo. Bolts of electricity appeared at his side.
Moments later, the drone exploded, sending pieces flying in all directions.
Robo, exhausted, collapsed to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Lucca asked.
"I will be when I recharge," he replied.
"Can it be repeated?" Frog inquired.
"Not for a while," he sighed.
MEANWHILE...
"My sensors report the drone destroyed," Artropos announced. "It appears Robo used his shock technique."
"We won't fail the next time," Mother assured her. "What I need now is the tractor beam repaired."
"The tractor beam?" asked the perplexed Artropos.
"Just do it," Mother commanded.
MEANWHILE...
They found a charging station on the outer wall of the Keeper's Dome, allowing Robo to recharge for a few moments. Once Robo was recharged and insisted that he was alright, they proceeded inside.
The strange creature was there, right near the entrance. It was standing, but sleeping. It was snoring rather loudly. It awoke as soon as Crono touched it.
"Good day," greeted the strange creature. "How may I be of service?"
"We're looking for your companion," Crono began. "We think he may be able to help us with something important."
"My companion?" asked the strange creature.
"The old man," Marle clarified. "We're in a dire situation, and he's the only one who can help us. Where is he?"
"I'm afraid he has passed away," the strange creature informed them.
"Passed away?!" Marle exclaimed.
"Two days after we met you," the strange creature continued. "He did all he needed to do in life. And then, his work was complete."
Everyone was silent. It seemed possible that their chances to break the seal had died with the tenant.
"Wait a minute," Lucca said. "I remember there being a final program code. What was that?"
"Final program code?" replied the strange creature. "The professor's programming was, in a sense, his own eulogy. Soon, I, too, will be able to sleep forever. But first, there is one thing I must do."
"And that is?" Crono asked hopefully.
"Program error," the strange creature replied. "My memory banks have failed."
The strange creature then fell back to sleep, still standing.
Lucca turned to Crono.
"It looks like Mother was right," she lamented. "We came all this way for nothing."
Marle then peered beyond the sleeping strange creature to the back wall of the dome. The sealed door was still there.
"At least we can see what treasures we can get," she said as she made her way to the door.
"You're thinking about that right now?" Lucca sighed as she folded her arms.
Crono, out of curiosity, followed Marle. With nothing better to do, everyone else followed him.
Marle held up her pendant to the door. After a shimmer, the door slid open.
The room beyond featured a catwalk-like path suspended above a dark abyss. Nothing else.
"Okay," sighed Marle. "So I was wrong."
And then, suddenly, a rapidly flashing, ghostly figure of the old man appeared.
Marle screamed and grabbed onto Crono's arm with such force that it nearly broke his skin.
"To those who opened the door," the figure began, "I am Belthasar, the Guru of Reason. I once lived in the kingdom of Zeal. A great disaster in Zeal somehow threw me into this era. To my surprise, Lavos exists here, and, I suspect, in other periods as well. Aeons ago, Lavos descended from the heavens. Burrowing deep into the the world's core, he began to consume our planet's energy, and grow stronger."
The image of Belthasar disappeared.
"What just happened?" Crono muttered.
"It's called a hologram," Robo answered. "It's a message he made before he died.
"Lets see if there's more," Crono decided as he took a few steps forward.
Another hologram appeared.
"Lavos disappeared briefly when he was summoned away by a mighty wizard who lived in Guardia, in the year 600," Belthasar continued. "In the present, Lavos claims this area, and reigns from high atop Death Peak. Lavos continues to replicate like a giant parasite; he is consuming our world."
The hologram disappeared.
"Where hast Magus gone?" Frog suddenly asked.
"I would say the great beyond," Lucca replied. "He was either eaten by a dinosaur or he was killed when Lavos hit."
"Pity," Frog muttered.
Meanwhile, Crono took a few steps forward. He could see another sealed door in the distance. And then, another hologram appeared.
"Forced to live here," Belthasar continued, "I continued to conduct research on Lavos. But I am growing old. And it's impossible to keep sane in such trying times. So before I lose it completely, I shall safeguard my data, and my ultimate creation."
The hologram vanished.
"He did look thinner there," Robo pointed out. "He must have been in failing health for some time."
"What's an ultimate creation?" Marle asked.
"I think we're about to find out," Crono replied as he gazed at the sealed door.
After a few more steps, another hologram of Belthasar appeared. He was visibly thinner and older.
"How I long to return home," Belthasar lamented. "But I have grown frail. So you...you, who have opened the door, I leave things in your hands! Only by mastering time itself do you stand a chance against Lavos."
The hologram dissipated.
They took a few more steps; the sealed door was only a few feet away.
Another hologram appeared; he had clearly degraded further.
"The odds will be against you," Belthasar said, somewhat weakly. "But you are true heros; the world is in your hands. Open, now, the last door, and take what you find there. My last invention; my Wings of Time."
They were now at the sealed door.
Cautiously, Marle held her pendant up to the crest. The door slid open, and everyone stepped into the room beyond.
An oval-shaped contraption sat before them.
"What is this?!" Crono exclaimed in amazement.
"This must be the invention Belthasar spoke of," Lucca replied.
"Wow...this is amazing!" Marle exclaimed. "How do you tell the front from the back?"
"This...moves through time?" Frog inquired.
The group circumvented the device, scanning it inch by inch. Then, they returned to the doorway.
And there stood the strange creature.
"You planned this, didn't you?" Crono suggested.
"Scared you, didn't I?" the strange creature said with a grin. It's me, Belthasar!"
"How could that be?" Crono inquired.
"I copied my memory into this thing," Belthasar replied. "What do you think?"
"This is all too confusing," Crono admitted.
"Anyway, there's something I need to explain," Belthasar continued. "Namely, how to transcend time! The dashboard will read the months, dates, years, hours, minutes, and seconds. Each has an arrow above and below. Push those to change your destination. Push the green button to travel there. Any questions?"
Everyone looked around in partial comprehension.
"I'll drive this thing," Robo volunteered.
Crono looked back at the time machine. It was big enough to fit seven people, and had a ladder to embark.
"Oh, yeah!" Belthasar reminded himself. "Before you go, why don't you name my time machine!"
Crono stood stationary for a moment, trying to think of a name.
"How about the Epoch?" Marle suggested.
"Where hear that?" Ayla inquired.
"I heard Robo mention it once," Marle replied.
"It means a very long time," Robo explained.
"Then it's a clever name, isn't it, Crono?" Marle asked.
"Sounds good to me," Crono replied.
"Hop aboard!" Belthasar commanded.
LATER...
The first place they travelled to was the End of Time. There was practically a dock to park it at the end of the platform
"Interesting," said the old man as he approached them. "So he actually finished the Wings of Time. In fact, gave his life for it! Why not put that device to good use? Take it to the ancient Land of Magic!"
"That's a good idea, I think," Crono agreed. "Next stop, the year 12000 B.C.!"
