Chrono Corruption

Act 3: Origin of the Flame

Chapter 16: Rise of Guardia, Part 2

*Newly Formed Town of Truce*

The Town of Irma was now officially the Town of Truce. The people who loved the turn of events hailed Irma and made merry and partied with strong drinks and heavy foods. Those who hated it quickly departed to return to their homes. After the night gave way to the day, the merrymakers gathered themselves up and headed for their homes as well. Irma called for Marle, "Where is my sister? I must speak with her," she said. Crono and his party were called to the Magistrate's Hut to meet Irma. "Ah, there you are. We must make haste to the Guardia Forest! I humbly ask you to join me, sister! You, your husband, and your servant," Irma bowed her head in respect.

"Absolutely! We would be honored!" Marle said with a royal tone.

Irma became happy but then thought of something, "Ah, but even with you three and my chosen Hero, Lex, we still don't have enough able bodies to help. All my men are strewn throughout the lands. I would have to bring some back, but that would take days," Irma said stressed.

Crono rose his hand, "We have two more friends if that would be enough!"

Irma's attention was snared, "Truly? Would you be able to bring them here more promptly than I?" she asked with hope.

Lucca pulled Crono and Marle into a huddle, "How exactly do we bring Ty and Tomo here? The only Gate we are aware of is back at the Hills of Denadoro!"

Marle whispered, "Yeah, but the Hills are much closer than say, Medina or Porre!" she said.

"True, so let me go get them! It'll still take some time, but much less than what Irma has in mind!" Crono explained.

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" Marle asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine, just give me any new equipment for them and I'll be as swift as a hummingbird!" Crono said with a thumbs-up gesture.

"Okay, if you insist," Lucca relented worriedly.

The party brought their plan to Irma, who liked it much better than waiting for help from elsewhere. Crono sorted out all their new equipment sold off what they did not need and then left swiftly.

*Prison of Time*

Ty emerged from one of the pillars of light followed by Tomo, "Heh, looks like that's as far as I can go right now...," Ty said panting.

"Gah, I almost have it I swear!" Tomo moaned.

Ty looked around and noticed one more pillar of light, it was a red one, "Hey, there's a strong one in that one! Want to do one more?" Ty asked with a grin.

"I'm exhausted, but pushing our limits is the only way, so let's go!" Tomo said eagerly.

They approached the pillar and held hands so as not to get separated. They both had a slight blush on their faces. The pillar took them to a time that was discarded. The environment was strangely familiar, too familiar. "Hey Tomo, isn't there something eerie about this boat we're on right now?" Ty said pale as a ghost.

"You mean like how it's our ship?" Tomo muttered, also white as a sheet.

They were aboard their ship, the Radical Dreamer. They stood on the deck looking over the El Nido Sea. It was frozen in time. Behind them, they could hear mechanical noises and they both slowly looked over their shoulders to find the ship docked next to Captain Viper's ship. Standing before them, however, were the two puppets, Mustarl and Ralsh.

"I can't believe it! It's these two!" Ty said in awe.

"I know, this is creepy as all hell!" Tomo added.

Mustarl and Ralsh rushed to them as quickly as two mechanical puppets could. The green lanky one, Ralsh focused its attacks on Ty, while Mustarl focused on Tomo. Ty found it much easier now to dodge Ralsh's swings than when he first encountered it. Tomo was the same. Ty struck back with his weapon, "Yikes, these suckers are still hard as a brick!" he said as his weapon did little damage.

Tomo's hammer staggered Mustarl to a degree, but it didn't make any lasting effects. She grunted, "You bet they are, but this time, I'm gonna break them!"

"Agreed, this time I have Magic!" Ty said as he summoned a Wind Spiral. He blasted Ralsh with the tornado, but something strange happened. Ralsh's green armored body gleamed as the Wind Spiral was seemingly negated.

Tomo also found that her Earth Rumble spell was negated by Mustarl. "It shrugged mine off too!" she said perilously.

"Then let's try something a little heavier!" Ty said as his muscles bulked as he placed himself in a more stable stance. His body glowed with a green aura as he built up his magic.

"Ty no! You're body's already exhausted!" Tomo warned strongly.

"Wind Storm!" Ty shouted as he summoned two large tornados that enveloped both robots. Ralsh negated the spell, but Mustarl was damaged. "Ha! I knew I would get somewhere!" he said exhausted. His muscles pulsated painfully from the overuse of magic.

Tomo followed, her muscles bulked and she was enveloped with a yellow aura, "Earth Quake!" she shouted strongly. The two robots were shaken by the ground beneath their feet and pummeled with large stones. However, the opposite happened. Mustarl negated the spell and Ralsh took damage.

The duo locked eyes and nodded as they knew to attack the opposite foe. The two puppets took a lot more damage from magic than from physical assaults. Ty attacked Mustarl and the puppet fought back just as hard, delivering harsh slams on him. Ralsh was fast, but Tomo found her Monster Magic to make good on the situation as well as her elemental magic.

Each duo traded blows until Mustarl and Ralsh revealed a new trick. "Ga pi ga pi!" Ralsh whirred as magical energy emitted from its entire body. Mustarl did the same and was now bathed in yellow light. "They have magical powers too? How?" Tomo asked dumbfounded.

"Your guess is as good as mine!" replied a battered Ty.

The spells the two puppets cast on themselves increased their physical capabilities. Ralsh was now too fast for Tomo to hit and Mustarl was too tough for Ty to hurt. The puppets quickly overwhelmed them both as they fought to stay conscious. They each looked at one another weakly. Ty spoke weakly, "Come on Tomo! Stay with me! I got one more trick up my sleeve. If that doesn't work, then it's Aura Surge or we break!" he said strongly.

They got to their feet, Tomo gave Ty a momentary glance and blushed, "Wow, he looks so manly right now... All that battle damage and he still doesn't give up!" she thought. "Alright, what's this last trick?" Tomo asked with a wheeze.

"Sure you can handle it? You're looking a little red!" Ty chuckled.

She regained her composure, "I- I"m fine! I can take it!"

"We combine our new two spells! Wind Storm and Earth Quake! If that doesn't destroy them, well, it's up to fate after that!" Ty explained.

"You got it, I sure hope our bodies can handle the stress!" Tomo said with a prayer.

The duo synced their magical powers and their bodies were pushed to the limits and beyond. As the puppets came within range, the two unleashed their spell, "Sandstorm!" they shouted in unison. A massive upheaval of magical rocks shook the two robots and two tornados broke the rocks down into grains of sand, engulfing the machines until they could no longer be seen and eventually, heard. When the spell ended, the two machines were completely destroyed. Almost no large parts were intact. Mustarl and Ralsh were torn to pieces. With that, the two were transported back to the Prison of Time's main room.

They collapsed, breathing heavily. "Wow, we beat them!" Ty said with a chuckle.

"Yeah we did, we showed them who's boss!" Tomo said as she suddenly reverted to her normal fat form.

"Why, did you turn back to normal?" Ty asked in surprise.

"Ugh, I must have pushed my body too far... Still, that was a great idea, Ty!" she applauded.

"Well, let's go rest, for now, I doubt there's anything more we can do at this point," Ty suggested.

Tomo agreed and they went back to the End of Time. Crono was there to greet them, "Hey you two, wow, you look like you've been training real hard! Did you two master the Aura Surge?" Crono asked excitedly.

"Nah, not yet, but we're probably getting close," Ty said with a little disappointment.

"Yeah, we really should get patched up first before we try again," Tomo added.

"That's okay, I'm sure whatever progress you made will still be useful!" Crono assured. "Also, you two need to come with me!"

"You totally thought our training was more important than what you came back here by yourself to tell us, didn't you?" Ty said with suspicion.

Crono scratched the back of his head with a mischievous grin, "Heh, it crossed my mind!" he said. Getting back to the task at hand, Crono brought the two up to date. They patched themselves up, armed themselves with new gear, and away they went.

*Town of Truce*

After a few days passed, Crono had made good time getting back to the town. Ty and Tomo introduced themselves and everyone seemed to get along just fine. Irma stood before them, "Very good then, I am impressed that you have such a dependable husband! These two explorers and their skills will make a great addition to our cause!" she said joyfully. "Now then, let us collect all our belongings and be on our way, yes?"

*Forest of Guardia, Base Camp*

After some time passed, the party journeyed into the depths of the antiquated Guardia Forest and up to the camp that was situated at the base of a large mesa. Set into the mesa was a massive door that was once covered with overgrowth, but it had been recently cleared by Irma's foot soldiers. On the large stone door, archaic motifs were carved into it. Everyone settled in for the stay. Ty, Tomo, and Lucca began examining the door to find any clues on how to open it.

"Hmm, well these characters are definitely of Fiend origin," Ty reassured.

"Yes, but it seems to be a much older dialect I believe," Tomo added.

"How far back? Antiquity perhaps?" Lucca asked, adjusting her glasses.

"Oh definitely!" Ty confirmed. "Did you know that we have found evidence that the Fiends actually came out from a hole in the ground?"

"No, I didn't know that. I thought the Enlightened Ones of the Kingdom of Zeal created them!" Lucca said using her knowledge of Zeal. "...But now that I think about it, Mamba Jamba was proof that they are much older than we thought."

"We found ancient Fiendish writings that constantly talk about a fiery pit that they emerged from that dates all the way back to the Ice Age. However, it's met with speculation, because we could never find the site of the hole," Tomo explained further. "But as you said, since we encountered Mamba Jamba back in the Ice Age so that proves there are Fiends that are older than Antiquity."

"...But knowing the Fiends, they probably sealed up the hole or something with their own magic," Ty theorized.

"Then, could it possible that the Zealians studied them and tried to experiment on them?" Lucca shuddered. "Perhaps there are natural Fiends as well artificial ones due to Zeal's experiments."

"It's a distinct possibility. From what you told us about Zeal, it sounds like a place where people were reaching into things they shouldn't be," Ty said sternly.

"You have no idea...," Lucca mumbled, recalling past events.

"Ah, I think I got it!" Tomo said with a jolt of joy. "It seems to be sealed with mysterious energy! It has the same insignia as those little black chests we can't open. You know, the ones we dig up every now and again? The text on the door keeps mentioning a Dreamstone-made artifact of some kind. I'll bet Irma got in here on the original timeline with her pendant!"

"Oh, is that so? In that case, we have both Marle's and Irma's version at the same time!" Lucca laughed confidently.

"Hmm, it's also a warning. The inscriptions clearly want the 'idiots' who try to enter here to know they are true 'idiots' if they open it, due to the danger," Ty warned. "We should let the others know what we found. It isn't possible to get any more information on this door due to wear and tear over the ages."

Tomo jumped up and trotted off in a hurry, "Hey Marle! We need your pendant!" she said enthusiastically.

And so, Crono, Marle, Lucca, Ty, Tomo, and Lex all surrounded Irma as she and Marle approached the door with their pendants shimmering in the sun's rays that were coming from the treetops overhead. Irma started a prayer as she held her pendant high, "Oh please, Goddess of Fate! Hear my plea! Let this door be opened, so that we may claim what lies inside and with it, create a better world!" she prayed diligently.

"Me too!" Marle said childishly, unsure what to say.

The pendants began to glow red and the door did the same as a mysterious force had suddenly been lifted from it. The door lifted as the sound of stone grinding on stone could be heard. A nasty 'breath' of air emanated from the now open door. With that, Irma's pendant became dark and empty.

Crono approached the door, "Well, shall we? Daylight's burning!" he said enthusiastically, his hand on his sword.

With that, Irma wished them her best, "Blessings be upon all of you!" she said as all six adventurer's entered the structure.

After trekking through a long hallway, the party came to a foyer-like room that was decorated with a gothic style decor. The candles sprung to life with blue fire as a heavy spiritual presence came to life in the room. Tomo shivered, "This place gives me the creeps!"

"Yeah, it feels like I'm being watched from everywhere all at once," Ty claimed tensely.

Crono gazed up a flight of carved stairs and noticed two separate doorways they could take, "So it looks like we'll have to split up."

"Alright, who wants to go left?" Marle asked.

"I'll take left...," Ty said.

"I shall go with Mister Drayguard," Lex added.

"Oh, I'll go with you two, too!" Tomo said, jumping in.

"Okay then, that leaves us three!" Crono said looking at his wife and best friend.

"I wouldn't leave you anyway Crono sweetie!" Marle said drawing close.

"...Shall we get moving?" Lucca said bringing them out of the moment.

The two teams went their separate ways, Crono's party to the right and Ty's party to the left. Crono and his party walked cautiously down the dark corridor. "This reminds me of Magus's old castle, only older and a lot spookier!" Lucca said growing anxious.

"Yeah, I got goosebumps all over!" Marle stated as she rubbed her arms as if she were cold.

"You know something? I think I know where we are," Crono said with a revelation. Marle and Lucca blinked and stared as they waited for the answer. "This place must be... the Guardia Catacombs in our time!"

"Of course! This mesa is where the castle will be built after all!" Lucca said, also putting the pieces together.

As they came to this revelation, they came to an open room that was a crypt, "Uh, guys, I don't mean to spoil the revelation, but it looks like the Fiends may have practiced necromancy down here!" Marle said, pointing out all the skeletons strewn throughout the room. The skeletons began to rattle as they sprung to life armed with scythes and spears. Using Magic, Crono's team quickly dispatched the undead.

"Well, that wasn't so bad!" Crono said, sheathing his sword.

Crono's party found nothing of interest in the room so they moved forward. They walked through a large doorway and found themselves in a castle ballroom. "Wow, the Fiends actually lived down here!" Marle said as she gazed at the masonry.

Just then, Ty's voice came from an upper-level balcony, "Hey guys, find anything useful down there?" he asked.

"Nope, nothing of interest!" Lucca stated. As she finished her last word, a flicker of light and a cold presence entered the room. Shadowy formless blobs with simplistic humanoid shapes manifested before them. They seemed to lock arms with one another and perform a slow dance, ignoring the two groups.

Tomo shivered, "Yikes! Ghosts!"

"They appear to be Fiend spirits...," Lex pointed out.

"...And some Humans are mixed in too...," Ty added with a shiver.

"I do not wish to know why both Humans and Fiends shared this dark place...," Lex claimed with his face growing pale.

Crono began walking through the room and noticed one ghost that sat alone at the wall. He approached it and it manifested into a vampiric-looking woman in a red dress. She seemed as though she had been crying so much her face was red. She began to speak, "...No one... wants to dance... with me...," her spirit sobbed.

"Aw...," replied Crono.

"That's so sad, being left out like that...," Marle said gloomily.

"Why don't you see if she wants to dance Crono? It may ease her spirit," Lucca suggested.

"What?! No way, he's MY husband!" Marle whined.

Crono calmed her down, "It's only a dance sweety. Plus it's to ease someone else's suffering," Crono explained. "I'm gonna see if it works. If it doesn't you can scold me later," he added as he turned from his wife and approached the ghost, "Would you care to dance...?" he asked nervously.

The spirit still seemed saddened, but responded, "You are nice, but I would prefer a female actually..."

Crono face-faulted into the floor as Lucca slapped Marle on the back, "Now it's your turn, sister!"

"What, you mean me?" Marle exclaimed fearfully. "Oh well, this is better than seeing Crono with someone else I suppose," she said as she approached. "W-would you like to dance...?" she asked, fearful at the thought of dancing with a ghost.

The ghost lightened up with a shining expression, "Really? You mean it?"

"...S-sure...," Marle said with a fake smile. The ghost stood up and was at eye level with her and the spirit grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the middle of the ballroom. Marle blushed with embarrassment as the ghoul stared at her seductively and danced wonderfully. A strange slow melody emanated throughout the room. This went on for a few minutes as Marle danced with her. Finally, the song came to an end as the other spirits left one by one and the woman's spirit also left with a satisfied look on her face. Marle was left with a Blood Dress in her arms.

Ty's cheering could be heard from the balcony, "Way to go, Princess! Shake it!" he continued to chuckle, amused by the turn of events.

"Wow, you danced so well she gave you her clothes," Tomo said flatly.

"Just be thankful Lady Marle, that your dancing was enough for her!" Lex added, also chuckling.

A couple of arrows flew their way, "Don't you guys have something better to do?" Marle growled comically.

"That reminds me! There are lots of rooms up here! Probably like hotel rooms or something! Let's go check'em out, guys!" Ty said as his party left with him.

Marle moaned, "That was so embarrassing!"

Ty and his party found themselves in a long hallway with many rooms just as Ty had said. Ty hummed as he approached the closest door, "Might as well start somewhere! Maybe we'll find some loot!" he said as he flung open the creaky wooden door. A couple of ghosts were inside on the dusty old bed. A vampiress in a dominatrix outfit was whipping a human male spirit as he moaned pleasurably. The vampiress's spirit turned to the pale adventurer and beckoned him with a finger. Ty quickly closed the door with a fearful look on his face, "NOPE!" he said strongly. "Let's try some other room shall we?"

"I take it that there was another ghost in there?" Tomo asked unnerved.

"Let's just go. I don't want to think about it," he replied.

"I agree, the dead linger here, so the longer we stay the more chance we have of getting a curse," Lex warned.

And with that, the trio checked all other rooms down the long hallway. They busted up animated skeletons and other undead and looted the rooms for goods. Eventually, they came to a small circular room at the end of the hallway that held a large statue of a woman. The statue came to life and Ty and Tomo decimated it with magic. Lex was surprised, "You two can perform Magic?!"

"Yeah, so can Crono and the girls...," Ty started. Ty informed Lex of all he needed to know about their magical talents, bringing him up to speed.

"You can even combine magic together with a friend's spells! It's really handy!" Tomo added.

"I see, that is most helpful! I have the magic of Water, but it manifests as Mist! It was a blessing from the pendant of Lady Irma, but afterward, she said that I was the last person it could grant such a power to as it had too little left to do much of anything," Lex explained.

"Mist, huh? That gives me some ideas!" Ty said with a sly grin. "You and I are gonna get along just fine!"

While Ty finished speaking, Tomo found a red long sword in the rubble of the statue monster they destroyed. "Hey Lex, this sword looks like it would be up your alley!" she said handing over the blade so effortlessly.

Lex took the sword and examined it, "This is a Blood Sword! It is crafted by Fiends and as you could assume, humans do not know how to craft them! Thank you, this shall prove useful!" he said gratefully.

The trio went back down the hallway until it descended, leading to another door. Ty opened the door and it led into a caged room. Crono and his team were on the other side of this cage. It looked like this room was used to keep animals. The room was round and had a large altar in the center. Marle approached the cage, "Are you guys alright in there?" she asked.

"Yep, no problems here," Ty said with a smile.

"There was a kitchen near the ballroom, but it was bare, nothing but shadow monsters and more skeletons," Marle explained.

"What did you guys find?" Crono asked.

"Nothing much, just a bunch of knickknacks... This room was used to make sacrifices and such, so don't go killing any lambs or anything!" Tomo giggled. "You might summon and nasty ghost!"

Marle shrieked, "Eek! I don't want that!"

"We'll go on ahead. It doesn't appear that we'll see much of this room from our end!" Ty said as he and his party moved on, climbing a wooden staircase to an upper level.

Crono got back on track and decided to inspect the altar, "Hmm, the inscription is too illegible to read," he thought.

As he finished his thoughts, something caught his eye. A spirit appeared upon the altar. It was in the image of a Poyozo, which was a small bipedal lamb-like creature. "Eek, another ghost!" said a spooked Marle.

The spirit spoke, "If you place something upon this altar and burn it as an offering, you may be rewarded with something better in return..."

Crono gave it some thought and placed one of their random accessories on the altar, "Let me handle it Crono!" Lucca said as she used her magic to burn the item. As the flame consumed the item, the flames turned blue until it died down, revealing a Bloodstone Amulet. Lucca picked up the talisman and placed it around her neck. "Usually, I'm not really into girly things, but this is really pretty!"

After admiring her new little trinket, the party moved on ahead. Long twisting corridors awaited them along with small crypts to house the dead. They had definitely found themselves in a labyrinth.

Ty and his group fared just as well. On the upper level, the labyrinth was rigged with switch puzzles that opened certain doors and closed others, but being the explorers they were, they were determined to search every nook and cranny. After opening every pattern they could think of and gathering anything of value they moved forward. The exit led them to a very large room. They were on a long but narrow stone bridge that was carved from the natural cavern walls. It came to the center of the room and forked off to the left and to the right. Below them, the rest of the room resembled a throne room. It had a large ornate cobweb-covered chair in front of a large square wooden table and many chairs on each side. At the furthest wall from them was a massive ornate door that overlooked a staircase. It was chained up with three magical locks with runes engraved on them.

Crono and his gang came through a parallel door at the bottom and gazed up at the door. "Wow, that's some door! I wonder if the whole thing is solid gold?" Lucca mused curiously.

"If it is, then the Fiendlord of the time would be the only one to order such a craft," Ty informed. "So whatever is behind that door, is either valuable or dangerous, maybe both."

A door to Crono's right caught his eye, but it was sealed with an iron portcullis, "Hey Ty, is there a switch up there?" Crono asked hopefully.

Ty looked to his right, then to his left, "No, the right side is barred up here too, but the left is open. We'll check it out! Be right back!"

"Don't go anywhere now!" Tomo added with a chuckle.

"We shall return shortly!" Lex added.

Ty and his gang entered the left room which housed an occult-styled library with two floors. Three large tables sat in the center of the room while the walls were lined with bookcases. The staircase, and by extension, the second floor was in the shape of a 'U'. Featureless apparitions wandered the room performing the repetitive tasks they did in life still roamed about, but seemed harmless. The spirits muttered and mumbled as they moved slowly about. The party decided to lend them an ear one by one. They pieced together, "Water summons Wind, Wind makes Fire dance..."

Being familiar with this riddle, the party began looking for books that would cast out an element before them when opened. They took only a little while to find all the books but managed to open them in the proper order. A bookcase opened, revealing a hidden passage on the first floor behind a table and the party entered cautiously. The hidden room was dungeon-like and riddled with bones. Blue flames manifested and engulfed the skeletons, "Uh-oh," Ty muttered before they were surrounded by six blood-red skeletons.

"These ones are a little different aren't they?" Tomo noticed.

"Hey Lex, show us some of your magic! I want to see what you can do!" Ty said with a smirk.

Lex grinned, "Ah, then prepare to be amazed my friend!" he said as he began clapping his hands together. He then outstretched his arms after performing some hand signs, "Mist Beast!" he chanted as a cloud of freezing mist manifested from around his feet. It quickly took the shape of a bulky, muscled, and horned beast that charged into an entire row of the skeletons, destroying them.

"Wow, that was cool! Literally!" Tomo cheered.

"Neat! This guy can make monster clouds!" Ty admired.

"Ty, let's finish these last three off before they get too close!" Tomo said as the other three moved in.

"Ah, let's hit them with a Dust Devil!" Ty said as he began gathering his power.

They threw their hands up, "Dust Devil!" they both shouted as the three skeletons were turned to dust utilizing their combined magic.

When the room cleared, a rumble could be heard as well as felt through the floor. "Sounds like we triggered something. Shall we go back and see?" Lex asked politely.

The trio returned to the room and found that the portcullis opened on Crono's level. "Thanks, guys!" Crono said as he took the lead.

Crono's party had entered what seemed to be a small Apothecary. No chemicals were left behind, but many crude instruments were left lying around that struck fear into those who examined them. Strange spirits roamed the room and gave a bit of cryptic advice, "Fire dances in the darkest of Shadows, which are chased away by the Light..."

Crono and Marle thought hard about the vague information, but couldn't think of how it related to their situation. Lucca then, with inspiration, put the pieces together, "...It's an extension to the 'Water summons Wind, Wind makes Fire dance' riddle!" she deduced with her finger raised.

"Good thinking, Lucca!" Crono praised.

"Yeah, but what do we apply it to? That first riddle was in old Zealian books. Did the Fiends adopt this when they escaped from Zeal?" Marle asked quizzically.

"Quite possibly, either way, I'm sure we need to start a fire first, so let's take a look around!" Crono said, arranging a plan.

The party looked around, but the only feasible place to start a fire was in a stone fireplace that had a rusted cauldron still hanging in place. However, there was no wood or other materials to make a fire. The party continued to look into things further, hoping to find something that would burn. Marle walked along a wall and noticed a crack and indent. It crumbled when she touched it and it revealed a small metal lever. "Hey, I found something neat!" she said as she pulled it. Just then, small torches on the walls came to life. There were six in all, but two flickered, one was out and the other three were lit.

"What did you do, Marle?" Lucca asked curiously.

"There was a hole in the wall with a switch inside!" Marle replied.

"Nice work sweetie, but what does this mean?" Crono asked as seemingly nothing came from lighting the automated lamps.

Lucca made an observation, "Hey, there are button's underneath each lamp. I wonder what happens when we press them."

"Let's find out," Crono replied.

Crono pressed the switch nearest to his position and the lamps changed up their positions. Two went out that were on. The one lantern that was already dark came on, one stopped flickering and another began to flicker. "Huh, what the heck?" Marle said shaking her head in confusion.

"I got it!" Lucca said strongly. "Fire dances in the shadows, right? I bet we have to press these switches in a certain order to make all six lamps 'flicker' or 'dance'!"

"Well, let's try it and see!" said Crono enthusiastically.

Crono and his party tried all sorts of combinations to make all the lamps flicker. Eventually, they found the proper combination and all the lamps flickered, causing a rumble. The rumble was the portcullis upstairs. "Alright, we did it!" Marle cheered as she hopped up and down.

Before the party could leave to inform Ty's group, a calamity could be heard in the room above them. Familiar, yet comical screams were also vaguely heard as the sounds trailed above them. Eventually, another rumble could be heard and Ty's group came tumbling through a hidden passageway concealed behind a bookcase.

Crono, Marle, and Lucca were wide-eyed in surprise as Ty fell flat on the floor with Tomo landing on him, followed by Lex. "GET OFF!" Ty mumbled underneath Tomo.

"What happened you guys?" Crono asked as he helped them up.

Lex came forward, embarrassed, "Please, allow me. The young lady here was growing impatient as we waited for a response from you. She tried breaking the portcullis with her weapon only for it to finally open. She got too excited and rushed in, prompting Ty to chase after her with a scolding. I followed in an attempt to quell things! As we got inside though, it was nothing but a bunch of jail cells. They all opened at once and a gauntlet of skeletons came pouring out like schools of fish!"

"Yeah, and we smashed our way through every single one!" Tomo said cheerfully.

Ty still seemed traumatized as he got to his feet, his head still spinning, "Waaay too many skeletons! Gotta dial back on the skeletons!" he muttered, dusting himself off.

"Well, I'm glad you're all fine," Crono said with relief. "Marle, would you mind patching everyone up before we head to the vault?"

"No problem!" Marle agreed as she used her magic to heal everyone who needed it.

As the party of six regrouped, they stood before the large door, now void of its locks and chains. Crono cautiously opened the door with a strong push. Inside was a rounded room. A moat of rushing water surrounded a platform that was overloaded with precious metals and stones alike. Everyone was in awe, "Jackpot!" said Ty with a wide grin.

Lex seemed to be the most joyful, "This, with all this gold, silver, bronze, and precious stone alike, Lady Irma can fund the foundation of our new capital!"

"No kidding!" Tomo said with a starry-eyed smile.

Just then, out of the hills of gold coin and ingot, Crono's gaze was drawn to a large stone chest that was chained and sealed. He approached cautiously as the others noticed the chest as well. "That's a suspicious-looking chest...," Crono muttered. Tomo came close and smashed the locks and chains with her hammer and they fell to the floor with a heavy metal 'clunk'. She then pushed the large stone lid off. Inside, the Frozen Flame sat all by itself in its dormant state. "Yep, just as I thought!" Crono said, grinding his teeth.

As Crono's words echoed off the walls of the vault the Frozen Flame seemed to respond to them as it levitated out of the chest and its eyes emerged. "What manner of sorcery is this?" Lex said in astonishment.

The Flame began to glow with its sickly crimson light as none other than Dalton, spoke through it, "I see you...!" he said creepily like a stalker would a hapless victim. "What era is this? Oh? I see you pests have made another meddlesome friend! Oh well, no matter! As I become closer to the Flame my power grows as well! I shall exterminate you pests right here, right now! And my favorite Fiend shall put an end to you! Go, Golem! Show them the power we have attained!" Dalton laughed maniacally.

The Frozen Flame emitted red particles of light that manifested into a large monster made of yellow clay that levitated off the ground. Its entire body was shaped like a clump of stalagmites and it had two bulky arms with three fingers on each hand. Its eyes burned with anger and its massive, big red-lipped mouth was lined with razor-sharp teeth. It roared loudly as it smashed the floor with its fists. The parties were shaken as they were sent to the creature's left and right sides respectively. They stood atop mounds of gold coins to get a good view.

"Damn you to hell, Dalton! "Okay, guys let's break this Golem and teach Dalton a lesson!" Crono said bravely as he held out his blade.

The Golem bellowed as it initiated an attack. It generated a volley of yellow magical spheres that pelted all who were present. Some more than others. Ty poisoned his weapons as Crono called out, "Hit it with Magic and it changes its attack patterns to match, let's keep it confused!" he informed as he threw a Lightning Bolt at the Golem.

The Golem took little damage as it warped the lightning around itself and changed its attack style to Light. It then discharged the electricity with a Scintillation spell, enveloping the entire party. Ty managed to pick himself up and use his cunning and wit to strike the monster and hopefully apply a dose of Crippling Poison and Deadly Poison respectfully. The poison took hold and the Golem slowed down but was hindered little by the deadly toxin. "Whew, he's a healthy one!" Ty remarked.

The Golem changed its style back to a physical one and strengthened its attributes with an incantation. It followed this by summoning more energy spheres, only this time, the attack hit Ty alone, knocking him to the ground. He moaned as he struggled to get up.

Tomo reacted in frustration, "Hey, let's see you deal with a little Earth Magic!" she shouted as she cast her Earth Rumble spell. The Golem took Tomo's attribute and threw it back with an attack of its own. It teleported a very large boulder and it crashed into Tomo sending her into a pile of gold coins. She spat up blood from the impact.

The Golem was then hit with an exploding Fire Ball from Lucca, "Got ya! That was quite an opening you left for yourself!" she boasted. The Golem changed its attack style to Fire but was quickly interrupted by a spell chanted by both Lex and Marle. Lex's Mist Beast spell was transformed into an ice sculpture as it barreled towards the Golem. "Ice Beast!" chanted Lex and Marle together.

The Ice Beast headed towards the Golem at full speed as the monster used a Fire Blast spell. Gold coins and other treasures went flying as the Golem was hit and the Ice Beast was destroyed with the party taking a hit from the fire spell.

Most of Crono's party was in ruins. "Damn..., it's a lot stronger than I thought...," Crono thought as he gnashed his teeth.

The Golem changed its attribute to water and growled loudly. It cast forth a Water Wave and pummeled the party with high pressured water. Tomo rose, wounded as did Ty, "Do we do the thing?" Ty asked weakly.

She nodded weakly, "...Let's do it..."

They combined their magic spells, "Sandstorm!" they chanted, pushing their battered bodies to the limits. The Golem took the hit and seemed to take some heavy damage from it, but it was not enough. The Golem changed its style to Wind and retaliated with a Wind Storm. It was much stronger than Ty's version and the party hit the ground.

Ty was covered in treasures and blood as his vision was growing blurry. He lifted his weakened head to see Tomo, who was even worse off. She looked at Ty with blood running down her face and tears of frustration welling up in her eyes.

As they locked eyes, Ty could feel his heartbeat grow strong all of a sudden. In a rage, he gripped the hilt of his weapon and rose to his feet. Crono and Lex slashed at the Golem with their swords and they were followed by an Antipode spell from Lucca and Marle. The Golem took a good hit, but it still wasn't enough as it changed its element to Shadow from the weird mixture of magic. It cast multiple Dark Bombs, Crono was hit, followed by Lex, then Marle, then Lucca, then Tomo, whose scream of pain could be heard by Ty, whose rage was building as he slowly approached the beast with a fierce wind in his eyes. Crono looked over at Ty, who could see a change happening in him, "Can it be?" Crono asked himself as he now had his eyes glued to Ty. He took a deep breath and called out to Ty, "DO IT, TY!"

As Ty got close, the Golem cast yet another Dark Bomb, this time on Ty. However, this time was different. Tomo, too weak to speak stretched her hand out to Ty in horror. A loud roar erupted from the Dark Bomb and it dispersed with a gust of wind and a bright silvery light. When it balanced out. Tomo was in awe at Ty's visage. His hair was colored like melted silver and his iris colored gold. He was radiating a fiery silver aura and he didn't even seem to mind the damage he withstood.

Crono cheered as everyone else joined in, "Alright! Take it down, King of Thieves!"

*End of Chapter*