Chrono Corruption

Act 2: The Fall of Guardia

Chapter 5: Where Fates Intertwine

*Guardia Castle, Kingdom of Guardia, 1005 A.D.*

"Crono, Crono are you awake?!" called the voice of a woman. A young man turned over in his bed and covered his head with the blankets not wanting to get up. "Crono, now you get out of that bed dear!" called the woman as she ripped the blankets from the young man. The woman was middle-aged and the young man's mother. She had dark blonde hair that was tied in a loose ponytail and blue eyes, and she was dressed in an orange dress with a white apron and blue house shoes.

The young man, Crono, quietly stirred and rose from his bed. Crono has fiery red spiky hair that is a complete mess, green eyes are of average height, and a fit and muscular build. Crono blinked his eyes as he took in the surroundings of his messy room and his mother who seemed slightly miffed. "Get yourself dressed dear, Princess Nadia wanted to see you at the Guardia Festival today!" she informed sweetly. "It's hard to believe the Millennial Fair was already five years ago…, where does the time go?" she mused as she opened the regal curtains. As Crono's mother headed out, she remembered something, "Oh yes, I nearly forgot, I wanted us to go to your father's grave today and pay our respects before you went to the festival," she finished with a solemn expression.

Crono stared into space as he gazed out the window, "My dad huh, I wish I could remember more of him…"

Crono left his room fully dressed in his new regal light blue tunic with brown trimmings, a white long-sleeved undershirt with brown leather wristbands, tan pants held up by a black belt, green socks, and brown leather boots along with a white cape and gold headband with decorative wings on the sides. His mother had a sun hat with a pink ribbon on it and she had a sack lunch with her. "Ready to go son?" she asked with a smile.

"Sure thing mom," Crono said also smiling.

*Guardia Royal Cemetery, Guardia Castle*

Crono and his mother visited the supposed grave of his late father. Crono gazed at the grave that read, "Here lies Caelus Trigger, a proud defender of Guardia. He leaves behind a wife, Gina Trigger, and one son, Crono Trigger."

"Crono, I should have shared this with you several years before, but I couldn't find the nerve," Gina started sadly. "I don't really know what became of your father. He left home one day with a platoon of Guardia's finest. I don't know where they went, but none of them returned…, either way, there isn't even a body under this headstone…," she finished with a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Wow…, mom, I… never knew that…," Crono paused. "Mom, I know we never talk about him much, but what was dad like? I mean before I was born?"

Gina smiled as she wiped her tears, "Well, he was a brave and strong-hearted man, but he had quite a wild side though. That wild attitude kept his mouth running and he had a hard time keeping his 'hands to himself' when around other women until he met me anyway. That mouth of his kept getting him demoted while his actions would only get him promoted again," she giggled as she recalled past events. "But enough about the past, have you decided on what day you and Marle will hold the wedding yet?"

Crono gazed into the sky deep in thought, "I-I'm not sure…, I want to, but I feel like something's holding me back…"

"Now dear, you shouldn't keep a lady waiting, especially a noble Princess!" Gina scolded playfully.

"Yeah, it's just a case of cold feet is all, it's not that I don't love Marle, far from it…, I just…, I need a little more time to think is all…," Crono muttered nervously. "I can't tell mom we've been stalling to fortify the kingdom in case the nation of Porre starts a war or something worse…"

"I'm sorry your father couldn't be here for your wedding Crono he would have loved to see you," Gina said sadly.

Crono gazed into the sky, "Just went missing huh…, I wonder if he's still alive. I mean it's not entirely impossible…"

"Crono, no, I know what you're thinking. Please don't try and look for him, I don't need to lose my only child and be a widow at the same time!" Gina scolded fearfully.

Crono sighed as he smiled at his mother, "Don't worry so much mom…" he said with a light chuckle.

"All right sweetie, I'm going to head home, I guess you'll be off to the festivities from here won't you?" Gina asked sweetly. "I'll see you back at the castle dear!" she finished as she walked off.

As Gina walked off, Crono took one more look at his father's grave, "I wish you could be here with us dad. I would really like to know where you are…"

"…Crono…," a mysterious whisper echoed.

Crono perked up, "Who said that? Hello?" he asked bewildered as he looked around frantically.

"…Crono…, Crono…," came the whisper again.

Crono followed the whisper deeper into the foggy graveyard. As he walked along the old cobblestone walkways into the oldest part of the cemetery the voice became slightly more audible. "Crono…, Crono…, Crono…" it continued. Finally, Crono caught a faint vision of a man in the fog. The vision was nearly indistinguishable but had some familiar features. "…Hello…?" Crono whispered curiously. As Crono continued towards the image the fog cleared and the man was nowhere to be found. However, in the shadows placed on a small hill lay a battered and chipped copper soldier's sword that was covered in patina. Crono approached the sword and plucked it from its spot and examined it.

The sword's hilt read, "…Caelus…"

Crono was in awe, "I don't believe it…, it's dad's sword…," he said as he found the sheathe on the ground. Crono picked up the battered sheathe and placed the sword in it and strapped it to his belt. "I don't know how, but I gotta tell everyone about this!" he said with a smile and a tear in his eye as he exited the cemetery.

*Leene Square, Kingdom of Guardia*

Crono entered the lively Leene Square and it was rustling and bustling with the annual festivities. Crono gazed around, looking at the rainbow of balloons that filled the air and fireworks that crackled in the streets as small children chased each other playing with their toys. Crono looked around eagerly, wondering which event he should take place in first until he heard a familiar voice that is. "Crono, there you are my wonderful fiancé!" said the voice of a woman wearing a white royal dress and holding her long blonde hair in a ponytail. The woman's bangs were grown out more slightly with one large bang hanging down to her nose. Her blue eyes sparkled like the ocean as she gazed lovingly at Crono.

"Wow Marle, you're as beautiful as ever!" Crono complimented with a wide grin. "But, why the dress, you usually never wear your regal clothes in public…, is something going on today?" he asked curiously.

Marle sighed, "Yeah, the folks from Choras called the 'Explorer Corps' dug up some artifacts from what they claim is a civilization that dates around 3000 B.C. and they want me there to honor it or whatever," she said unable to remember everything she was told.

Crono thought for a second, "3000 B.C. huh, sounds interesting."

"It sounds really cool, so I waited for you to arrive so we could go see it together!" Marle said as she threw off her dress revealing her athletic build. Underneath her dress was another set of clothes. She was dressed in a white blouse that did not cover her shoulders with red trimmings and very baggy matching pants and brown sandals. Her wrists had gold bangles as did her right upper arm and a gold plate girdle with a chain over her abdomen. "Today's also special because it's the fifth anniversary of when we first met!" she said cheerfully. "And as a gift…, I want to tell you something…, something really special and I believe you'll do a flip when I tell you!"

Crono's eyes lit up, "Really, well then tell me!" he said growing anxious.

"Not yet, let's go to the center of the square first!" Marle chided excitedly.

Marle took Crono's hand and they both dashed to the center of Leene Square where they saw a large bronze bell that was erected in the name of the Princess of Guardia. Marle gazed at the bell as it began to chime, "Ah, where we first met five years ago. Time flies when you don't pay attention to it. I remember it clearly…, I crashed into you on that day and you didn't know I was Princess Nadia. I even asked you to call me Marle cause I was afraid you might not show me around if you knew who I was!" she finished with a giggle.

"Yeah, and what came after…," Crono thought out loud as he silently reminisced.

"Well, we should go see that exhibit, I think our buddy, Lucca is already there!" Marle said joyfully. "Come on, it's all the way to the north, y'know, where our adventure first began!"

"W-wait didn't you have something to tell me?!" Crono asked in vain as Marle dragged him off.

Crono and Marle arrived at the north end of Leene's Square to find multiple artifacts that were dug up from an ancient time. A young nerdy woman in her early twenties approached them. "Hey, Crono, Marle how have you been?" she said cheerfully. The woman had shoulder-length plum colored hair that was stuffed under a yellow rimmed brown technological helmet with an antenna on the right side, an average build, big goofy glasses that framed her blue eyes, a yellow ascot rolled up and tied around her neck, an orange tunic that she wore over a long sleeve dark green shirt, a pair of black spats, a brown belt with a gun holster and blue bag that lay at her side as it hung over her right shoulder, green socks and brown leather boots.

"I've been great!' Crono said with a smile. "But wow, you never change Lucca!" he finished as he took a jab at her appearance.

"Me too!" Marle followed as she hugged Crono's arm.

Lucca adjusted her glasses, "You two seem awfully chummy today…," she said ignoring Crono's last statement.

"Well, we are going to be married soon after all!" Marle claimed confidently. "Hey, why don't we look at the artifacts?" she suggested enthusiastically.

"Good idea!" Lucca agreed happily.

Crono and the ladies took a good look at all the artifacts presented before them. One was a marble sculpture of a woman with no arms and exposed chest, but it was too worn down with time to really need censoring. Another was a chunk of a carefully crafted marble pillar; minor artifacts were clay pots, urns, and stone tablets. The main attraction however was a golden sarcophagus that supposedly held a mummy.

"Wow, I've never seen this before!" Crono said as he pointed to the sarcophagus. "What is this thing?"

Lucca explained as a few people tried to open it without damaging it, "It's called a 'sarcophagus' Crono, and it's like a coffin, but for ancient royalty. The dead underwent a process called 'mummification'. They would take out all your organs and stuff them in jars and the most amazing part was how they removed your brains. They would take a hot poker and ram it up inside your nose. Then they would wiggle it all around and jerk it all out at once!"

Crono held his nose with a painful expression as Marle cringed, "That sounds like it would hurt!" Crono said nervously.

"Crono, remind me never to put myself down for mummification, all right?" Marle said with a shiver.

"Well, you'd already be dead when they perform a mummification, so it's not like you'd feel anything," Lucca explained further. Just then, the workers popped open the sarcophagus and its air-tight seal unleashed a dust cloud. As the door popped, a rather juicy mummy emerged. Marle and Crono embraced each other in horror as Lucca was stunned, "Wow, this mummy is still…, decomposing…, how about that!" she said with a laugh.

Upon further inspection by the workers, revealed the sarcophagus was lined with spikes like an iron maiden. One of the workers stated, "Wow, this person must have done something really nasty to be put in here!"

"We have Tomo Levine and her buddies to thank for this find!" another worker said.

"Yeah, I heard she beat her rival, Ty Drayguard, to it!" another worker began. "Heh, it seems the Toma family still has it over the Drayguard family!"

Lucca approached, "Excuse me, could you tell me where this was found?"

"Heh, leave it all to the Toma clan and their exploring skills, that daughter of his found this stuff under the EL Nido Sea in the middle of the ocean while scuba diving!" the worker began. "There were pyramids and strange buildings under the water there, her accounts were incredible! Some say she found an ancient lost city that sank under the ocean!"

Lucca adjusted her glasses, "Fascinating, it's good to know Toma's descendants are still at it!" Lucca said to herself.

Crono faced Marle, "What was it you wanted to say to me earlier?"

"Oh, sorry Crono, I have a one-track mind!" Marle giggled. "I guess I got so caught up reminiscing that I forgot to tell you!"

"…," Crono sighed as he smiled.

"Well, I talked to your mother not too long ago about your father and… I researched some stuff about him in the Guardian archives," Marle began, knowing she may be on a touchy subject.

Crono's interest peaked, "Well…, what did you find?"

Lucca also became interested, "Wow, I don't know anything about Crono's dad, do tell!"

"Well, he was never reported to be dead, he just never came back so I researched where he went and why," Marle continued. "He went to that El Nido place that these fellas just mentioned. The Viper Clan discovered the sea in 920 A.D. and they say strange things happen there, supernatural even and they posed to stay away from it, but we got too curious and sent a small platoon in to check it out many years ago. You know the rest after that…"

"Wow…, mom never said anything about a mysterious sea…" Crono said staring out into space.

"No, she wouldn't have known, it was kept quiet," Marle claimed ashamed. "I-I'm so sorry Crono."

Crono smiled, "Don't be Marle I'm sure my dad knew the risks…"

"Hmm, the El Nido Sea, huh, never heard of it," Lucca interjected. "Where might this sea be located?"

"The old journals say it's a mysterious plot of the sea that's on the equator and lies between Choras and Porre," Marle revealed. "It's the mythical location of many lost civilizations."

Lucca adjusted her glasses, "I would like to study this anomaly some more," she claimed with intrigue. "According to the artifacts we have here, it looks like there was someone there."

"Well, maybe you can because for our anniversary I hired someone from the Explorer Corps to help find clues about Crono's dad!" Marle said happily. "I wanted so badly for Crono to know about his dad. If he's alive we can bring him back too!" she continued with a sense of joy.

Crono's eyes lit up as he embraced Marle, "I love you so much Marle. You would help me find out the fate of my dad just for me?"

"Of course Crono…," Marle said tearing up. "It's our wedding and I only want to do it once so it has to be perfect! Even for you, too! So if he is alive, he'll be coming home!"

"Speaking of which!" Crono began ecstatically. "I paid a visit to my dad's grave earlier and I heard a strange voice that guided me to this!" he said as he showed off his dad's sword.

Lucca and Marle were shocked, "Wow, it's like his spirit is telling you he's okay from afar!" Marle said happily.

"What sort of evidence do you have for that?" Lucca asked skeptically as she adjusted her glasses.

Crono placed the sword back at his side, "Hey Marle, you said you hired someone from the Explorer Corps, who are these people, and who did you hire?"

"Oh, the Explorer Corps. are a business run by Toma's descendant Toma XIII and his daughter!" Marle explained. "They run around the planet as archeologists, treasure hunters, and the like!"

"Cool, sounds like a lot of fun!" Crono said getting excited.

"So who did you hire?" Lucca asked curiously.

"Toma XIII said he would send someone while he was unveiling this discovery to the Guardian people," Marle claimed with a smile. "In the meantime let's party until they arrive!"

"Sounds good to me!" Crono agreed jubilantly.

"Yeah, I need some fresh air every once in a while!" Lucca followed.

*Manolia Town Ferry Station, Kingdom of Guardia, 3 Days Later*

As the ferry came to a stop, Ty leaped off the boat giggling hysterically, "Yes, I didn't get seasick this time…, oh wait…, there it is… dammit!" he said as he held his head and felt faint. He laid down on a nearby crate and began to take deep breaths.

Tomo giggled a little, "We'll be heading to Leene's Square Ty, you can rest here and catch up. Dad needs me with him for now. Oh, wait, before I go, here take your Thieve's Tool Kit. Biggs said you forgot it back on the ship," she explained, leaving Ty on his own with his tool kit.

"I owe Biggs a drink later, now that I got my tool kit back, I can make Smoke Bombs and my Poisons again!" Ty said out loud as he stored it away. He then got up and drug his feet into town to find a place to rest for a while and fiddle with his kit.

*Manolia Town, Kingdom of Guardia*

Ty sighed, his strength returning after his seasickness abated slightly. He gazed at the nice large town that was tucked away in the woods. "Manolia Town, huh? I'm sure it was built around the Manolia Cathedral around 400 years ago. The original cathedral supposedly vanished though and they built a new one to replace it," he thought out loud.

Ty began walking around the quaint town. It seemed to hold no suspicion and generally nothing of interest either. Except for one thing, however, at the center of town lies the cathedral with an old bell in its steeple. Ty squinted his eyes and gazed hard at the bell, "Hey…, is that… the old Leene's Bell they had replaced at Leene Square? Huh, I would have assumed they would have melted it down or something…!" Ty mumbled as he turned around and bumped into someone. Being as large as he was in comparison, he was not fazed physically by the collision. The other person, however, was a nerdy girl with short plum-colored hair in an orange tunic that was searching frantically for her glasses. "Oh, geez I-I'm sorry..!" Ty said frantically.

"Ack, I can't find my glasses!" she said rising in anger. "I can't see squat without them! Why did you space out like that?!"

"Err, here let me help you find…!" Ty said as he took a step and felt a crunch under his foot. He looked down nervously as he hoped it was not what he thought. As he moved his foot, a pair of large dorky glasses were crushed into nothing under his foot.

The girl reacted with a shout, "Ahh, you bone head, you just stepped on my glasses with your clodhoppers, didn't you?! Don't think you're getting away with that Mr. Stompy!"

"No, no, I'll get you a new pair…, hopefully, one that looks less like binoculars…!" he thought coyly to himself.

"You're darn right you are!" she spat back.

"Um, well, I-I'm kinda not used to this place so…," Ty said nervously.

"That's fine, just fine," she said starting to calm down. "I was here to pick up a new pair anyway."

"Oh good, um, where is the store exactly?" Ty said hoping he could find it.

She sighed, "Just follow my directions and you'll be fine! I'm coming with you, by the way, so you don't just ditch me here!"

*Several Hours Later*

"My word man!" The girl shouted in a fit of anger. "Do you have any sense of direction at all? You can tour this entire town in under two hours with a good pace!"

Ty was embarrassed, "Sorry, but I tried to tell you, I'm not from here!"

Just then a village woman approached, "Excuse me, but you seem to be lost do you need directions?"

"Uh, directions, yes, could you tell me where the Market is?" Ty asked nervously.

The villager laughed cheerfully, "Why, it's right behind you!"

Ty shot a look to the inconspicuous shop right behind him, then shot his gaze back to his tag along, "Found it!" he said with a cheesy grin. She did not respond vocally, she responded by hitting him over the head with a small hammer. "Another chick with a mallet…, wonderful…!" he thought as he held his head in pain.

Ty and his new friend entered the shop and after some time she accepted her new glasses with Ty's payment making him broke. They were black-rimmed glasses with square-shaped lenses that were not nearly as large as her previous pair. These were actually stylish and showed an air of maturity in the girl's intellect. The girl placed the glasses on her face and turned to Ty. As she gave her escort a full look over, she calmed down significantly. "Huh, y'know, he's kinda cute…" she thought with a blush. The girl excused herself, "Ahem, thank you for replacing my glasses, and…, I apologize for my anger towards you. My name is Lucca Ashtear by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said with a confident smile.

Ty was surprised, "Whoa, you mean…, you're the great scientist of Guardia, 'the' Lucca Ashtear? This is great! I ran into her so easily. Maybe I can open a conversation about time travel."

Lucca laughed haughtily, "Y-you might say something like that! And, what name do you go by?"

"Name's Ty Drayguard, I'm a treasure hunter and as far as I know, I don't have any sort of title, but my family name does carry distrust with certain circles of people… sort of...," he said nervously.

Lucca dropped her ego as she recognized the familiarity with the man's name, "Uh, where have I heard your name…, oh, it's at the tip of my tongue! Drat, well, I'll remember it eventually, but I know I've heard of you somewhere. So you said you weren't from here. Where are you from?"

"I'm from Choras," Ty responded.

"Oh, are you with the Explorer Corps then?" Lucca asked curiously. Then Lucca remembered something, "Oh, the Explorer Corps, that's where I've heard of you from!"

"Yeah, I work for them. I got a little seasick and they went ahead while I recovered, but I think I feel better now," Ty explained with a blush of embarrassment.

"Seasick, huh, yeck!" Lucca said with distaste. "Anyway, I'll bet you're headed to Leene Square right? For the presentation, I mean?"

"Actually," Ty started. "My boss Toma wanted me to see the Princess about some special favor or something."

"Oh, well that is fortunate then!" Lucca said with a smile. "She's probably playing around at Leene Square. She loves festivals you know, quite the childish one!" she giggled.

"Childish? The Princess...?" Ty thought with confusion.

"I know her personally, so I can take you to her if you want!" Lucca said with an insisting tone.

"Sure, that would be great!" Ty said gratefully.

"Well then, it's settled, let's not keep her majesty waiting!" Lucca said cheerfully.

*On the Way to Leene Square*

Ty and Lucca headed east to Leene Square by way of a very speedy steam car. Ty seemed uncomfortable, wanting to share the temporal experience he had with her, hoping she would not find him crazy. Lucca noticed and began a conversation, "So, is this your first time to Guardia?" she asked hoping to make him less nervous.

"Yeah, actually, I live in the Choras Boglands in the northern parts of Choras so I'm a bit of a country bumpkin," Ty chuckled as he settled down.

"Ah, so what kind of work do you do for the Explorer Corps?" Lucca asked curiously.

"Mostly archeology and toxicology, I come from a long line of talented toxicologists," Ty claimed with a smile.

"Really, now that's a field even I don't know," Lucca said with surprise. "I study machinery mostly. I got into theoretical physics and other complex subjects about five years ago. It's some pretty complex stuff. I'm still an amateur at it though, but I am a fast learner!" she boasted comically.

"That's great, people like us, we don't have all the time in the world do we?" Ty said as scratched his nose.

"No kidding!" Lucca said with a laugh.

Ty and Lucca continued their pleasant small talk as though they had been friends for a long time but had been separated from each other. Lucca respected Ty for his biological knowledge and he was fascinated by her knowledge of machines.

*Truce Village, Kingdom of Guardia*

Lucca and Ty arrived at the capital town of the Guardian Kingdom. To Ty, the town seemed to be in much better shape than Choras City but was much smaller. "First stop on our unofficial tour of Guardia, is our capital town, Truce Village!" Lucca said waving a finger in the air.

"Neat, it's more well kept than Choras City," Ty said trying to hide his glum tone.

"Choras City was a Guardian investment that kinda went 'south', both figuratively and literally," Lucca explained. "We wanted to make it our largest known city that was under our control, but it expanded too quickly and we couldn't keep up with the costs."

"Yeah, I'm aware, heh," Ty responded flatly.

"Anyway, north of here is Leene Square, but I think you kinda guessed that since most people are already headed there," Lucca pointed out. "And don't worry about Choras City, I have a feeling it'll get real prosperous soon!" she encouraged.

"I sure hope so!" Ty said cheering up.

*Leene Square, Kingdom of Guardia*

Ty took in the festive air of Leene Square and it hyped him up. "Wow, I've never been to the Guardian Festival before! What is it for exactly?" Ty asked curiously.

Lucca adjusted her glasses with one hand, "Ah, the Guardian Festival is an annual event we hold to commemorate the founding of our kingdom. Five years ago was the special 1000th Anniversary! We had a blast..., literally... um, I mean it was a great gig!" Lucca muttered.

"I remember hearing about the anniversary, but I never went, as much as I was interested...," Ty said glumly.

"Oh, what kept you from coming?" Lucca asked curiously.

"...Nothing much, I was just... really busy is all," Ty said vaguely with a sigh.

"Say, since this is your first one..., do you... want to accompany me for a while?" Lucca said with a slight blush and a smile. "I can show you around... until we find my friends that is."

Ty grinned with joy and his face beamed, "Sure, I would enjoy that!"

"Great, first follow me, I'll get you a Silver Point Card!" Lucca said as she ran off while Ty followed.

They approached an elderly gentleman near a fountain, "Would you youngsters like a Silver Point Card? You'll need one if you want to collect Silver Points to get prizes!" he asked enthusiastically.

"What are Silver Points?" Ty asked curiously.

"I'm glad you asked young man!" the gentleman began. "Silver Points are a type of currency found and used only here at the Guardian Festival! The card allows you to claim the Silver Points, or tokens, that are handed out after playing games here at the festival. If you get enough you can get prizes from vendors that are littered around the Square!"

"Neat! Sounds like fun!" Ty said joyfully.

"I'll only be taking one since I have mine already!" Lucca informed.

The gentleman took out a card and handed it to her, who in turn, handed it to Ty. "Let's go have some fun before we find the princess!" Ty suggested.

"Yahoo!" Lucca cheered while throwing her fist into the air. "You're never too old for a festival!"

Lucca escorted Ty around the festivities until they came to a High Striker game, "Hey, I know this game! You hit the platform with the hammer as hard as you can and the weight is supposed to reach the bell... well, as far as you can hit it anyway," Ty said.

"Want to test your strength?" Lucca said with a daring tone.

"Sure, why not?" Ty said cheerfully as he approached the man in charge. "Although, I think Tomo would be more suited to this type of game..."

"Hey there, want to give it go?" said the man. "You'll get Silver Points depending on whether or not you hit the bell! You get a Silver Point for trying and ten for hitting the bell! Give it a go for just five gold?"

Ty forked over the money and took the large wooden hammer. "Here goes nothin'!" he said as he raised the hammer. With a powerful swing Ty brought the hammer down and... missed. "Whoops, it's a little awkward... let's give that another go," he said nervously as he stumbled.

"That's another five sonny boy!" the peddler claimed.

"What, that counted?!" Ty said with shock.

"I said five gold per swing, you swung, so if you want to swing again you have to pay for another!" continued the peddler.

"Rats!" Ty cursed as he handed over the money. Ty turned discreetly to Lucca who couldn't keep herself from laughing.

"What a shameful display that was...," Ty thought as he raised the hammer again. This time he brought it down and hit the mark. The weight flew up high and tapped the bell with a satisfying ring. "...Heh, child's play after all...," he thought.

Lucca clapped as the man gave him eleven Silver Point Tokens. "Great job, you beat the game, ha, ha, ha!" Lucca laughed heartily.

"Sheesh, good thing I hit it the second time!" Ty thought with a bright red flush on his cheeks.

They continued on through the Square and reached a race between four competitors that were dressed in mascot costumes. One was a comically stitched Yakra monster that was yellow in color with blue buttons for eyes. Its mole-shaped body was well done as were its horns, claws, and fangs. "Yakra, a rare monster, it's probably hot as hell in that costume. How's he supposed to run in that anyway?" Ty thought. Another person simply wore a completely black suit that had 'bones' imprinted on it to make it seem like he was a skeleton. He had a pair of skeletal 'wings' and a cyclopean skull helmet he wore on his head. "That guy has a pair of wings on his back... I hope they don't get caught on anything while he runs," Ty's thoughts continued. A third racer was another very muscular person dressed as a tan bipedal triceratops with a mask to match his outfit. "I think I dug up some fossils that remind me of that type of dinosaur sometime ago," Ty thought deeper. Finally, the fourth contestant was nothing more than a light orange cat. "This should be interesting, a cat that's trained to race people..." Ty's thoughts ended.

The peddler at the booth was taking bets, "Care to take a bet on the race? I heard there was an elderly gentleman that was good at predicting who would win, but I think he might have passed away last year, so it looks like you'll just have to guess for yourself!"

"Care to make a bet Ty?" Lucca asked with a grin.

"Sure, I think I'll bet on the cat," Ty said placing a bet.

"Okay, that's one more bet for Catalack!" announced the peddler. "Take your places, get ready, get set, and GO!"

Surprisingly, all racers had absolutely no trouble running smoothly in their costumes. They ran around the outskirts of the Square and back again through an obstacle course. All this and these racers weren't even hindered by their funny costumes. Catalack however, got distracted by an old man carrying his lunch that was contained in a small box that was wrapped in a pink kerchief. Catalack pounced on him which disqualified him and the old man could be heard complaining and calling out for help as Catalack ran off with his lunch. "Heh, I guess he was pretty hungry. Oh well, shall we move on to something else?" Ty asked, still in a good mood.

"Sure, but that would have been a nice twenty Silver Points if you would have won," Lucca informed. "Meh, anyway let me show you something I made!"

"Alrighty then," Ty said with a chuckle.

Ty followed Lucca to the far side of the fair where there was a working humanoid robot. The robot was built like a wrestler and had a red and silver color scheme. "Ty, meet 'Gato' the world's first fully functional humanoid robot!" Lucca said proudly.

Ty was taken with the mechanical puppet's display, "Wow, this guy's incredible, but I don't think he could stack up to the robots that Captain Viper has..."

Lucca approached him with a surprised expression, "I'm sorry, what did you say...?!"

"Erm, what? Porre seems to have some mechanical dolls like this, although they aren't as cute looking as Gato here is," Ty said as he chuckled at the robot while it was flexing. "So what does this guy do?"

Lucca was in shock at what Ty had just told her, "That..., that shouldn't be possible..., not yet anyway...," she murmured. "Huh, oh, Gato is here for some arm wrestling this year. Some of his metal joints aren't doing well and I have yet to get around to tuning him up. If you beat him you'll get fifteen Silver Points. So go ahead if you like, I gotta think for a moment..."

"Yeah, alright, I'll wrestle your robot!" Ty said confidently as he sat down at the table in front of Gato. Gato was hooked up to some large machine behind him that provided him with power.

"They call me Gato, I have metal joints, beat me up and earn 15 Silver Points!" rhymed the machine with a whimsical song. The machine placed its arm on the table and locked hands with Ty's. "Ready, set, go!" Gato whirred.

Ty had great difficulty even moving Gato's arm an inch. As Ty struggled, unbeknownst to him, Gato's lack of maintenance began to show itself through Gato's shoulder joint. Just as Gato was slowly making his way to victory, his shoulder snapped, and all the strength Ty was putting forth brought the arm clean off so hard Ty hit his fingertips on the table. "Yeeeooow!" Ty screeched as he danced around, holding his sore fingers.

"I lost, you won, here are 15 points, now wasn't that fun!" Gato congratulated without batting an eye. Ty picked the fifteen tokens up from the dispenser next to the table. "Lucca, I have seemed to have suffered damage, so arm wrestling is closed until further notice! However, Rock-Paper-Scissors is still available!" Gato whirred with a monotone voice.

This brought Lucca out of her deep thoughts and back to reality, "Huh, oh, good gosh Ty, what did you do?!" she asked in surprise.

"Sorry, its arm broke off! I didn't mean to!" Ty apologized frantically.

"That's okay, I can always repair Gato later! Here let's finish our time together and I'll drop you off with the Princess!" Lucca said reassuringly. "Why don't we see what kinds of prizes we can get?"

"She seems a tad unsettled..., I hope I didn't make her mad again...," Ty thought quietly.

They returned to the center of the Square and next to the fountain a small wooden kiosk stood tucked into a corner. It was run by two monsters; the first was a large blue ovular creature with a tuft of green hair and stringy limbs that stood behind with an empty expression on its face. The second was a small bipedal sheep-like monster with white wool and cat-like ears and whiskers. Curious as to what a couple of monsters were doing here they decided to check it out. "Hey there, this is the 'Nuumamonja: Across Space and Time' thrift store!" announced the small sheep-like creature. "I'm a Kilwala named Mamo, and this lazy doofus..., just call him what he is, a Nu," introduced Mamo. "We sell things of the utmost rarity! If you've lost something near and dear to you, it just somehow falls into our hands! We also have a hold of items that seem like they're from another world completely! Would you like to take a look?" asked Mamo.

Ty chuckled a little, but decided to humor them, "Alright, what do you guys have?"

"We only have five items for sale right now if you have enough Silver Points!" Mamo informed. "First, we have a wonderful sword called 'The Ultima Weapon', doesn't that sound powerful? Second, we have a crossbow called 'Odin's Bow'! Cool, huh? Third, comes a gun called the 'Death Penalty!' Sounds sinister, doesn't it?! Forth, is a dagger set called the 'Poison Moth Knives'. They are as beautiful as they are deadly! And lastly, we have a great hammer called 'Mjolner'! It's said it can split mountains!"

Lucca and Ty were speechless at the very powerful weapons these two creatures had in their possession. The two monsters even proved they were authentic and not fake. However, they wanted no less than 5,000 Silver Points for each. They decided to come back to this another time as they didn't have the time to rack up enough Silver Points.

Nadia's Bell then chimed signifying that another hour had passed. "Wow, where does the time go? We should go find the Princess," Lucca suggested.

"Yeah, we can always check for more prizes later. I should really be doing my job now," Ty said growing worried.

"Well then, just follow me to where we heard the bell. I'm sure she and the Prince-to-be are hanging around at that end of the Square!" Lucca said positively.

"You got it!" Ty agreed. With that, the two made their way to the northern part of Leene's Square to find the Guardian Princess.

*End of Chapter*