Chapter 2: The Queen Returns (600 A.D. first time)

By: Sokai

Disclaimer: I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of W.I.T.C.H. -- I leave that honor up to Elisabetta Gnone. Nor do I own the extremely kick arse classic console role-playing game, Chrono Trigger. The glory of that honor forever goes to Square Co., Ltd. However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM said series, although the original idea to cross the two worlds together came from LordofDarkness2099's story challenge.

Note: I know what you're figuring: "Dude, I've played the game and know what happens, so why bother reading?" In way, I suppose you're right. But like I said, not everything I'll write will be exact -- that is, how it is in the game. I plan on putting in as many A.U. curve balls as possible, now that the Guardians are involved. But, whatever.

This chapter was created/written in October 2006.
After having traveled through the unique and deep blue, gateway-like portal for what felt like ages, Crono at last rapidly approached a blinding white light, right before tumbling out of the portal and . . . back home?

Blinking his blue eyes while trying to collect his bearings, the redhead began to wonder if perhaps all Lucca's transferral contrivance had managed to do was transport him outside of Leene Square, and onto the mountain pass that was on the outskirts of Guardia Castle. If that was the case, then perhaps the same had occurred to Marle, who might have been on her way back home by then even.

It certainly looked familiar to Crono, the wooded environment that now surrounded him . . . although, admittedly, the scenery did seem as though it had somehow changed substantially. Before he could further ponder the notion, Crono had suddenly found himself being ambushed by . . . blue imps?

True, Crono had been studying the art of combat for the past several months, so that he could then later try to become a royal guard to the Guardia Royal Family. However, he wasn't exactly well prepared (nor well equipped, for that matter, given that he only had the wooden stick that he'd used to practice fighting within his possession) to try to defend himself at that moment . . . and against monsters of all things.

He had heard stories while growing up, from some of his fellow Truce Villagers, that there indeed existed monsters that lurked about upon the other surrounding islands, as well as within some of the forests. Regardless, Crono had never truly put much stock into anything that had been said, figuring them to be nothing more than mere fairytale.

Now, however, with his nerves flaring up as he frantically eyeballed the minuscule, yet fierce-looking creatures immediately surrounding him, Crono supremely wished that the stories truly had been nothing more than fantasy . . .

Before Crono could properly react, two of the three imps present had already closed in upon him, while only one of them gave a harsh, swift kick to his shin. Although in great pain, Crono was now, at that moment, feeling more aggravated than afraid, and so with all of his might swung and brought down his wooden sword onto the two imps before him, gravely wounding them.

Crono let out a sharp gasp in surprise, obviously not expecting to be so strong and manage to inflict damage with his mere stick of a weapon. However, he certainly had, for the two crippled imps, shrieking in agony, managed to drag their injured bodies away from the looming redhead, at the same instant that the third and physically unaffected imp suddenly decided it best to flee from the scene.

Raising both eyebrows in amazement at the display, Crono lightly smirked to himself as he sheathed his wooden sword and watched until the imps retreated completely back up the mountain pass. Confident that they would not return, he swiftly began to jog down the carved out, winding path down the mountain side and towards what he assumed would be the exit.

Crono took in a deep breath of fresh air, then roughly exhaled it in relief to be out of there and back within Truce Village. Nonetheless, the nagging feeling that something was not right -- was different, continued to plague him, despite the acquainted setting.

Deciding he had better meet back up with Lucca to see if Marle hadn't yet returned to Leene Square on her own, Crono began to make his way toward the area, when he noticed that only a plethora of trees stood in its place.

Gasping in alarm, Crono frantically tried to understand what was going on, and how in such a short amount of time an entire forest could have erected itself in place of where the Square should have been.

Lightly pulling at his spiky red locks, the young man swiftly turned around and began a fast sprint towards his village to see if maybe the townspeople could shed some light onto things. Knocking onto the door of the nearest Truce residence, Crono spilled into the room, and in between heavy gasps inquired about the missing Millennial Fair to the individuals he admittedly did not recognize.

"A Millennial Fair? Here? What are you talking about?" asked the woman who had let Crono inside of her home in reply, a severely perplexed look plastered onto her face. "It's the year 600, and the 21st King of Guardia reigns."

Now it was Crono's turn to be riddled with immense consternation, as the gentlewoman's explanation did not at all make any amount of sense.

The year 600? Twenty-first king of Guardia? That could notbe right. It could not be. Perhaps the woman before him had merely taken a blow to the head, after a run in of her own with those nasty imps back within the mountain pass.

Swallowing hard, Crono shook his head repeatedly before beginning to explain that the year was not 600, but 1000, and that today marked the celebration of continued peace throughout the kingdom.

"We've been at war for years," gravely said a young man, seated at a table within the corner, in contest, causing both Crono and the woman to veer their riled up attention onto him. "When will it end?"

Mouth held open agape, Crono shook his head once more as he began to back away from the pair, before abruptly turning on his heel and rushing out of the still open front door. Either he was dreaming, those people were certifiable, or something staidly wrong was occurring.

Barreling into what he was able to recognize as the Truce Inn, Crono saw a man near the entrance dressed in what looked like soldier attire, but unlike the ones he would see patrolling the kingdom at times. Regardless, he figured that if anyone would be able to set Crono straight once and for all, it would be this man.

After breathlessly asking the soldier where he was and where the kingdom of Guardia was, Crono immediately felt nauseated the moment he'd heard the soldier haughtily reply,

"Are you stupid? This is the kingdom of Guardia! We're battling Magus's army."

The soldier stared expectantly at Crono for some sort of apologetic response, but when he did not receive one, pressed on with,

"You did know that, right?" he inquired wearily, taking in the young man's peculiar attire. Crono could only manage a faint and slightly garbled "No" in response.

Everything still looked like the kingdom of Guardia he'd grown up knowing, and yet at the same time there were drastic deviations -- namely the people and supposed year.

The soldier rolled his dark eyes heavenward and threw his arms into the air before turning away from Crono, muttering to himself,

"Lovely . . . We need more ignorant strangers around here . . ."

After receiving several more shocked and appalled reactions from others within the Inn he'd bothered to converse with, Crono was about to give up and leave when he'd overheard a heated conversation going on between two other soldiers stationed near the entrance.

"What a relief! They finally found Queen Leene wandering up in the mountains!" gushed one of the soldiers to his comrade, who nodded in acknowledgment. "She must be glad to be home! The Queen has been through a lot! But, she was babbling about the oddest thing."

This news swiftly triggered Crono's intrigue to eavesdrop upon. The Queen? Of Guardia? How could that be possible? While he did not know much about the Guardia Royal Family history, Crono was at least aware of the fact that Her Royal Majesty had been deceased for quite some time, and that only her husband, the King, currently resided as ruler.

Unable to refrain from butting in, Crono approached the two soldiers and asked what was going on.

"Everyone was worried! The King freaked when the Queen took off," replied the second of the two soldiers, vaguely confused that the cardinal haired man before him apparently had not heard about the formerly tragic news of their ruler's disappearance. "We all thought Magus had grabbed her. Thank goodness she's safe!"

Just then, another individual, a young man passing by decidedly invited himself into the conversation before Crono could make any sort of response.

"Magus's army destroyed Zenan Bridge, so the south continent is inaccessible," he darkly revealed after taking a generous swig of his mead, apparently ruling out the probability of the kingdom enacting any sort of counterattack, had the one known as Magus kidnapped the Queen.

"Are you a stranger here, too?" said a male voice from behind Crono suddenly, as the two soldiers and the young man continued on within their now shared conversation. Turning around, Crono took in the sight of an individual who was indeed male, whose clothing was khaki in color overall -- save the bright orange vest that covered his chest, in addition to the equally orange boots that sheltered his feet.

"I'm Toma, the explorer," said the man kindly with a mustached smile, extending one citrus gloved hand out to Crono, while brushing aside a few stray locks of his brown hair (that was mostly wrapped within a khaki colored bandanna) with the other. "If you're buying, I'll tell you a story. How about it?"

Even though he thought it a bit rude of the older man to try to finagle him out of his money, Crono nonetheless gave a quiet "Sure" in reply. He figured that listening to his so-called story might be the only way to completely find out what was going on.

Moving over to the bar to purchase Toma his drink with the allowance his mother had given to him (that he hoped would be the same kind of currency the people of this time also used), Crono exhaled in relief to observe that his money was apparently at least good enough, if not indeed the same as these strangers.

Crono took a seat next to the appreciative-looking Toma after passing the cider beverage he had asked for over to him.

"Thanks!" said Toma in gratitude with a grin, taking a deep gulp before beginning his tale. "It's about the missing Queen. She disappeared while visiting that cathedral to the west, and . . ."

Toma trailed off as Crono interjected to inform him that the Queen had been found, according to the soldiers, causing the older man to gasp in surprise.

"Beg your pardon? What!? They found her? Never mind . . ." he murmured thoughtfully, taking another sip of his cider. "I was sure there was something fishy about that cathedral . . ."

Pausing a moment, Crono said a quick goodbye to Toma before coming to the resolution to head to Guardia Castle to try to get an audience with the King and returned Queen, so that they might be able to help him in his plight.

After making his way through the forest that protectively encased the castle, Crono had at last emerged from it several minutes later and entered the castle.

"Halt! Who goes there?" shouted a soldier placed at the foot of a grand marble staircase directly before Crono.

"Check out that hair!" commented a second soldier at his post on the other side of the staircase, rudely pointing at Crono's spiky, flaming red hair. "Where're you from, son? Are you one of Magus's troopers?"

"Hardly! This kid never would have made the cut! Show us your stamp collection, son!" taunted the first soldier, causing Crono to frown in indignation.

The second soldier, practically suffocating from all of his laughter at his comrade's jeering, managed to usher forth,

"Har, har! Now beat it, shrimp!"

Crono, greatly annoyed, was about to open his mouth to plead with the two commanding men, when a strong and vaguely familiar female voice rang out from the top of the staircase.

"Stop that at once!"

Startled, the soldiers whirled around and immediately ceased in their laughter, as they and Crono took in the sight of a beautiful, blonde haired young woman, adorned in an elegant white gown descending the stairs.

"Queen Leene!" gasped both soldiers simultaneously in abashment, instantly bowing in respect.

"Show your manners! This is a friend of mine!" reprimanded the apparent Queen Leene as she gazed past the men and locked eyes with Crono, which promptly caused his heart to skip a beat.

He was a friend of hers? How was that possible? Unless Lucca had already followed after him, and then met with the queen before he'd managed to, thereafter informing her of his presence. Knowing Lucca and her liking to plan ahead as well as need to take the initiative, Crono would not have put it past her to do (and would have been tremendously thankful to her if she had).

Rising to their feet, both soldiers nodded in acknowledgment, before the first soldier hesitantly stated,

"But there's something odd about him!"

At this, Queen Leene loomed over the two guards, and with narrowed, unappreciative green eyes, bellowed,

"You refuse to obey my orders!?"

Practically jumping completely out of their skins, the first soldier bowed in obedience before stammering,

"Forgive me, my lady! Please enter, Sir!"

Crono could only look on in utter surprise at the ongoings, unable to speak as Queen Leene retreated back up the staircase without a word, and both soldiers enacted a complete one-eighty upon him.

"Please pardon us! We revere our Queen's guests!" apologized the second soldier with a sheepish smile as Crono began to slowly ascend the stairs.

"I envy you, whom the Queen calls friend!" muttered the first soldier with a tight grimace, eyeballing Crono with resentment shining forth from his eyes. "King Guardia the XXI is in the throne room. Mind your manners!"

Nodding slowly in understanding, Crono made his way up the rest of the stairs and straight into the throne room. Before him stood a regal looking man dressed in mainly red attire, smiling warmly in obvious gratitude down at him.

"Sir! I understand that you are the one who saved my dear wife, the Queen!" said the King happily, as Crono approached and awkwardly bowed before him. "But can you tell me what happened? Leene's acting rather odd."

Wait a second. Crono hadn't met the queen until mere minutes ago. How could he have been the one to rescue her, and why did her husband seem to believe so?

As Crono was about to voice his confusion, King Guardia continued on.

"And she seems to have lost her coral pin, which is something she guarded with her life . . ." he trailed off in curiosity, tapping a slightly aged finger against his chin in thought. Snapping out of it, King Guardia lightly chuckled in dismissal.

"Forgive me! You must be tired. We can talk about this later. Please rest in the Knights quarters, downstairs, to the left."

With that, King Guardia took a seat upon his throne and gave a small wave to Crono, at the same time an old man with long, wispy white hair scowled in disapproval at his king's side.

"Hmmm . . ." he voiced gravely while Crono passed by him and was led away by a knight who immediately began to open up to him like some sort of floodgate.

"Just between us, the Chancellor's been acting very strange lately," he said to Crono as discreetly as he could while leading the way to the Knight's quarters. "He's been sneakin' out at night . . . But, speaking of nut cases, I haven't seen the Queen's guard, that frog-thing, recently. Heard a spell turned him into a frog. Do you believe that? I think he's a spy!"

Having absolutely no idea as to what the knight was gossiping to him about, Crono awkwardly asked if he could instead be led to the Queen's chamber instead, so that he may have a brief audience with her before resting as suggested.

Narrowing his eyes at Crono a moment in interest, the knight was about to suggest against it when a young woman approached the two of them and informed him that the Queen was in fact waiting on Crono's presence.

Smiling sheepishly, Crono waved a quick goodbye at the knight and followed the woman up a flight of stairs that were near the entrance of the castle.

"The Queen married into the family ten years ago," she gushed cheerfully, commencing in her own form of causerie, making Crono briefly wonder if the servants around the castle did not have enough upon their plates to do. "She still looks so youthful! In fact, she looks even younger now than on her wedding day . . ."

Crono could only nod in response, as he did not know a thing about this queen, and so could not offer up any sort of substantial comment that would suffice. Thankfully, he would not have had enough time to do so anyhow, for the young woman had suddenly opened a large wooden door and moved out of the way for him to pass on through.

Exhaling loudly before clearing his throat, Crono carefully made his way into the vast bedchamber and approached Queen Leene, who stood at her bed with her back facing him.

"Ah! There you are," she said with an expectant smile after hearing Crono's footsteps from behind. "Please leave us. I need to talk to this individual."

Crono gave an embarrassed smile to the female attendants who were with the queen as she gave acknowledgment to them.

"Certainly, your Highness," one of the attendants replied before bowing to both Queen Leene and Crono and leaving the room.

Waiting until the two women had gone, Queen Leene returned her attention back onto the patiently waiting, although nervous Crono with a raised eyebrow and a suddenly serious expression spread across her fair visage.

"Come nearer, Sir," she firmly commanded, causing Crono's heart to beat faster behind his breastplate in increased nerves as he did what he was told.

Did she know what the servants were saying about him having saved her, and was now about to deliver onto him some sort of harsh punishment for the lie?

As Crono's mind began to race with visions of his impending doom, Queen Leene curiously began to giggle softly, her formerly stern expression instantly evaporating in the process.

"Fooled you, didn't I, Crono?" she inquired, continuing to chuckle gleefully. "It's me! But everyone calls me Leene!"

Crono's blue eyes widened in disbelief at the news and realization that Queen Leene was in fact his temporarily vanished new friend, Marle. How, or why would the people throughout the entire castle believe that the queen they had seen and known everyday for the past decade was instead this young teenager?

As if Crono was not utterly befuddled before, now he was suddenly faced with trying to figure out yet another mystery. At least, however, having found Marle was one less worry he would have to be concerned about.

"I'm so relieved you're here!" raved the blonde tomboy before him, interrupting his congested thoughts. "We barely know each other, but somehow, I knew you'd come for me . . ."

This announcement had caused Crono's cheeks to flush profusely with blood, watching Marle immediately turn around to face the stonewall behind her as the embarrassment was perhaps too great for her as well. Crono stammered a bit as he struggled to find the right words to say in response; however, Marle thankfully saved him of the trouble as she turned back around and with a broad smile and said,

"Thank you, Crono!"

Suddenly, the candles that were keeping the bedchamber both warm and alight eerily blew out, causing the room to dramatically dim in the process. Crono instinctively placed a hand upon his wooden sword and gave a weary frown towards Marle before gazing around the room.

"S-something's wrong!!" she cried out in fearful alarm, wrapping her arms around herself. "W-what's happening!? It feels like . . . I'm being torn apart!"

Crono's eyes widened in petrified fear as he stood, paralyzed in front of a suddenly floating Marle, whose body became aglow in vibrant, shimmering white light.

"Help me, Crono! I'm scared!!" she cried out desperately, raising her hands up to her blonde head and clutched it. "Please . . . Crono . . . h-help me!"

Crono, finally able to pry himself from his cemented spot, rushed forward to aid his friend, but was too late. In an instant and within a brilliant light did Marle vanish from sight, causing Crono's blood to ice over at the sight.

.§.§.§.§.

"Why won't she wake up? Do you think it's because the Heart went wonky and somehow landed us here?"

"I don't know, Hay Lin. I don't even know where 'here' is. I just know that she has to wake up soon, because we have to find our way out and get back home."

"What would be the point, even if we find an exit out of this seemingly endless forest, Cornelia? There's no 'home' to go back to . . ."

Will began to lightly stir within her continued slumber while vaguely hearing what sounded like Cornelia and Hay Lin's voices. She presumed that the two women were surrounding her as they carried on what sounded like a very desperate conversation.

"Look! Will's waking up! Come on, Will. Come back to us," Will heard Hay Lin plead, lightly nudging her shoulder.

"Mmm . . ." softly groaned Will, slowly opening her brown eyes. Vision blurred, she could still make out the petite Asian girl's familiar visage, hovering worriedly over her own.

"Are you all right, Will? It looks like our trip into . . . wherever this is has taken its toll upon you the most," thoughtfully observed Cornelia, seated at Hay Lin's side and resting a comforting hand upon her shoulder.

Will, blinking her eyes several times to better clear up her vision, looked about her surroundings and was surprised to see it so full of life.

Wherever the Heart has taken us, it's definitely not Heatherfield anymore, based on how vibrant everything is, she thought in curiosity, gazing up at the lush forest trees and green grass that enveloped the three women.

". . . What happened?" Will managed to ask hoarsely, groggily sitting up in her spot. "Where are Irma and Taranee, and . . . why aren't we in our Guardian forms anymore?"

"I don't know, Will. When the rest of us had woken up, we were back in our regular forms," explained Cornelia as she and Hay Lin helped their redheaded leader up onto her feet.

"And the others went on ahead to check out the area," added Hay Lin softly, brushing a stray strand of her now messy black locks away from her tired face. She still looked a bit worse for the wear, but Will was relieved to see that the younger girl had at least managed to stop crying.

Which is definitely a good thing, because I don't think we can afford to have any distractions right now, thought Will with a grimace, rubbing her forehead to lull her growing headache away.

"Well . . . we'd better go find them so that we can transform back and get out of here," she suggested with an exhale, right when Irma and Taranee had suddenly emerged from a pair of green bushes directly before the trio.

". . . Hey, Will -- it's good to see that you're awake and seem all right," said Taranee with a small, relieved smile spread across her face that was just as spent as everyone else's.

"Yeah, Will . . . Hey, listen, Taranee and I had managed to find what looks like a dirt trail that leads out of the forest -- hopefully, anyway," revealed an overtaxed sounding Irma as she stood beside Cornelia. While she did not look as though she had completely recovered from her tirade against the blonde before the lot of them had been sucked into the mysterious portal, the brunette was at the very least able to stand at her side.

Cornelia looked at Irma from the corner of her eye, taking note of the minuscule progress being made between the two of them and, not wishing to push the issue out of understanding and respect, gently cleared her throat before addressing Will.

"Well, now that everyone is awake and together again, we had better transform back into our Guardian forms and get out of this forest to find some kind of civilization," she suggested, receiving simultaneous nods of united consensus from the other girls surrounding her.

Without a word, Will closed her brown eyes and commenced to summon forth the Heart of Candracar, at the same time that her comrades gathered around her in a circle with arms extended on either side of themselves.

". . . Come forth, Heart of Candracar, and grant us some of your power once more . . ." whispered the cardinal haired female while expecting to feel the familiar sensation of the mystical jewel pulsing within her palm, before at last emerging from it.

However, nothing ever happened.

Cracking one eye open, Will peered down at her right hand that was extended in front of her with utter perplexity.

"What's the matter, Will? Why didn't you summon the Heart?" worriedly asked Hay Lin as she and the others let their arms down and moved closer to their leader.

"I-I don't know, Hay Lin. I still feel it within me, but . . . it just won't come forth," replied Will shakily, pulling her Heart-wielding hand to her chest as though in comfort. "I wonder, though, if this means that we've lost the ability to use our powers . . ."

-- End of Chapter 2

(A.N. Was going to continue and I have, but I decided not to because, to be honest, I currently don't care. I'll care later, as I'm already recovering from a bad run-in, but right now I don't care. LoL Plus, this chapter is about . . . 13 pages long, alone, but I really don't want to hear "It's too long" stuff again. Not now, anyway, when I'm blah. I know at least one person who thinks I'm "complaining" right now and maybe I am, but right now I don't care. So yeah. Chapter three will probably up a lot sooner than two, but . . . yeah.)