CHAPTER THREE
Enter Limbo
Looking into a crystal ball, Noah watched as Crono placed the pendent of Zeal onto the Epoch main power generator and started up the time machine. The young wizard watched the Epoch lift up into the sky and move incredibly fast, the mirror image faded and left the wizard looking upon himself. Noah waved at the mirror, trying to get the image back to no avail. The young wizard smiled
"Well done Crono, well done. But… will it work?" asked Noah to himself.
Noah walked up to a tapestry that shown several layers of time period wars. On the bottom of the tapestry, was a war of the ancient past. Lizards and humans fought against each other. The humans were using spears as weapons while the lizards fought back using their claws and talons. In the middle of the fight was a red star that shined brightly between the two races.
The layer above that image was a war of a very distant past. Humans battled with fellow humans. In the upper left corner of this piece was an army of humans in clean and royal garbs who had their hands up and shot forth the element at the other humans. The rest of the layer showed the other humans who worn skins and were throwing spears at their fancier cousins.
Above that piece was another war, this one fought between humans and a multitude of different unusual creatures. In this layer, in the lower left corner, the monsters were firing the elements out of their palms, similar to the humans in rich clothing directly below the piece. The human army was towering over the creatures with a group of knights charging ahead with their mighty steeds.
The middle layer of the tapestry showed two human armies fighting from one continent to another. On the left side of the artwork was a cavalry in front of their homeland while the right had an armada and in the background was their continent.
Atop that timeline, was a display of a "peaceful present", where two sides seemed to call a truce. A group of humans on the left wore simple chainmail, where the group on the right wore navy clothing. In the center of the masterpiece, stood the two great leaders of those armies. The leader on the left was covered in royal garbs and a crown, while shaking the hands of an admiral on the right.
The following piece was more of a battle against a huge beast and every living creature on the planet. The beast resembled a porcupine and some humans surrounding it were being struck down by a rain of light.
The top image showed a great battle, where both sides of the tapestry had nothing but bright light and two huge clouds that seemed orange in color and mushroom in shape. The complete tapestry was encased in glass and surrounded by a golden frame of leaves.
Noah stood before the magnificent masterpiece, closing his eyes while he began chanting. Slowly, the tapestry of the war between the humans attacking the other humans with the elements seemed to come alive. A human shot fire at another, consuming the other human in flames. Another human threw a spear, embedding it into an element throwing human. The tapestry began to glow and Noah vanished.
The Epoch began to shake. The alarms in the time machine began to blare. The metal on the wings and base started to tear. The pendent continued to glow and was actually melting the power supply. Chaos and death was obvious. Crono never noticed.
The swordsman looked out the cockpit, praying that his gamble would pay off. Never would Crono permit such a rash action, but this was the only chance of finding his lost friend. Then a thought occurred to the young man. What about Gasper? If I kill myself, what would that accomplish? I better stop this.
Crono reached down to remove the pendent, but pulled back his hand when the pendent burned his hand at the touch. As if waking from a dream, Crono finally realized that he was in mortal peril. The swordsman did the only thing he could, he screamed. Crono tried to push any button, but they wouldn't go down. He tried to pull all the levers, they wouldn't budge.
Then, all was quiet. The alarms stopped and the ship shut down immediately. Slowly, Crono opened his eyes, that he never even remembering closing. He looked outside and saw darkness and light mist.
Crono sighed with relief not just because he was alive, but that the plan actually worked. Crono got out of the ship and landed with a thump. The swordsman looked down and saw black oil moving about his feet, but he wasn't sinking. With a shrug, Crono started walking in a random direction, hoping against all hope he could find his friend in this oblivion.
"Master, there is an intruder," called an echoing voice.
"IMPOSSIBLE. NO ONE CAN PHYSICALLY ENTER," replied a deep demonic voice.
"Regardless, there is one."
"VERY WELL, I WILL SEE TO IT."
Crono continued to march through the small waves of oil. The swordsman had no idea how long he'd been in this place, but he didn't feel tired at all. He was well aware that maybe a day, perhaps two, have past but he was not hungry or sleepy. A new thought occurred to the young man.
I'm not hungry or sleepy? Am I… Crono swallowed hard, dead?
Crono shook his head. No, I just swallowed some saliva so I can't be. So where am I?
"YOU ARE IN THE FINAL DESTINATION OF THE TRULY CURSED," replied a demonic voice that seemed to read Crono's mind.
Crono drew his Rainbow and called out, "Show yourself."
In front of the swordsman the oil began to stir and the liquid grew to a twelve foot humanoid creature. The creature opened its eyes which just shown two oval red slits, while the oil of the brow dripped loose oil onto its chest. The droplets merged into its body. The creature began to speak, though it didn't appear to have a mouth.
"YOU WHO ARE CRONO DO NOT BELONG HERE," said the oily creature.
"Where is here?" asked Crono.
"THE FINAL DESTINATION OF THE TRULY CURSED".
"You already said that. Where is here?"
"WHERE NO PHYSICAL BEING BELONGS. THIS IS LIMBO."
Crono lowered his sword. He thought back to when the man in the red cape saved him and gave him hope in finding Janus. That man believed Janus was in Limbo and this place was correct according to the crystal ball. This creature on the other hand said this place was not where physical beings belonged.
The swordsman gasped. "Janus Zeal, he was thrown here physically. You did not kill him did you?"
The creature narrowed its eyes at the swordsman. He was indeed the 'intruder' but his servants never told him there were two. The creature glared at Crono and reached out into his mind for an answer.
The swordsman was caught completely off guard. The mind probe continuously felt like Crono's head was exploding, over and over again. The swordsman fell to his knees grabbing his head, screaming, "Get out of my head!"
The pain stopped, replaced with nausea. Crono wanted to vomit, but he couldn't. The creature reduced its size to Crono's height.
"YOU DON'T BELONG HERE, BUT YOU WERE COMING," said the oily demon.
"What do you mean?" responded Crono.
"YOU TRIED TO TAKE YOUR LIFE, YOU COME HERE."
Crono looked around at the darkness and emptiness. All around him was black air, darker oil, and a disturbing mist as far as the eye can see. Something else that the swordsman didn't noticed. It was quiet. Other than he and the creature, not a sound could be heard. The oil moved, without a slightest swooshing sound and the mist floated around, but there was no wind. All was very silent.
"This is where suicides go?" asked Crono, still heaving.
"YES. BELOW YOU ARE ALL THE TORTURED SOULS WHO DESTROY THE VERY PRECIOUS GIFT THAT GOD HAS GIVEN THEM. NOW THEY ARE ONE, NOW AND FOREVER."
Crono immediately quit heaving and stared at the demon. The afterlife that he wanted was to be with his friends, not trapped in this dimension that seemed worse than Hell. No, Crono thought, I just wanted to get rid of the pain. I am a coward.
"RETURN TO YOUR SHIP. I WILL FIND YOUR COMPANION," spoke the demon.
"Why would you do that for me?" asked Crono.
"I AM WATCHER OF THE SPIRITS, NOT THE LIVING. I WANT YOU BOTH GONE!" yelled the demon as it reformed back into the ocean of oil.
Simple enough for me. Crono turned around and began to walk back to the Epoch. Then he felt, no heard, all the woes and pain of the ocean of tortured spirits. Crono ran, but couldn't run fast or far from the infinite woes. He cupped his ears as he continued to run as quickly back to the Epoch, but his estimates of two days were correct. For two days, Crono was haunted by the deathly wails of true murderers.
"INTERESTING. HE PLACED HIMSELF INTO SUSPENDED ANIMATION," spoke the demon, towering over the blue haired man.
"NO WONDER MY SERVENTS COULDN'T FIND YOU," said the demon as he lifted Janus onto his shoulders. The creature formed four oily wings that dripped oil from its back. Looking behind him, the demon wondered if he could fly in this form. Without another thought the demon took flight, with a passenger aboard.
Noah gazed at the sunset. The simplest things in life the wizard enjoyed above all others. He watched as the colors of the sky slowly descended into darkness. The stars began filling the sky and the temperature began to plummet. Noah wrapped himself in his red cape, thinking that his calculations were off or even wrong.
Shrugging, the wizard didn't really know that Crono and Janus would live against Lavos let alone come back from Limbo. No one has gone to Limbo. If anyone did, it was an impossibility to return. Noah shook his head. Nothing is impossible for those two.
Noah looked over his shoulder where the Temple of Black lay. He knew he was early and now it's been several day later. The wizard looked to the horizon and waited for the next dawn.
Within the Epoch, Crono felt the voices stop in his mind. The swordsman started rubbing his temples, trying to relieve the throbbing in his head. I really got to stop going to places where no man should be. First the Axis of Time, now here.
The Epoch trembled as a large form struck the ship. Crono looked up in the cockpit and saw his friend unconscious. The swordsman opened the hatch, dragging his sorcerer friend in. As he was closing the hatch, an oily hand grasped the edge, keeping it open.
"LEAVE AND DO NOT RETURN!" bellowed the demon.
Crono closed the hatch, nodding rapidly as he continued to get the Epoch going. He removed the pendent, and the ship came to life. The lights inside the ship came on, the engine began to run and the ship took to the sky. The demon looked up at the unusual device, unimpressed as the ship vanished before its eyes.
Crono turned the knob as far to the right as it would go, his destination, The End of Time. As the ship started in its warp, a stirring came from the back seats followed by moaning. The swordsman looked back, seeing his friend coming to. Crono smiled broadly at his friend. Janus didn't return the sentiment.
"How are we here? Last thing I remember was being pulled into a gate," Janus softly asked, too coolly.
Crono smile disappeared into a scowl, giving his friend a death glare before turning back to the controls. The wizard looked shocked at seeing the red headed warrior unlike himself. The shock didn't last long as Janus continued his questioning.
"Answer me! Where the Hell are we!" yelled the wizard.
"End of Time," Crono replied as the ship finally stopped.
Janus nodded, knowing that Crono had a good idea. Here, Gasper, the Guru of Time, would be able to answer any impossible questions that Crono may be unable to answer. Janus jumped out of the cockpit, onto the platform in the End of Time. Crono followed suit and quickly ran to the Guru.
Gasper, as always, was sleeping against a lamppost. Softly, the swordsman began to shake the Guru awake. Gasper opened his eyes and saw Crono. He saw CRONO!
"No! You can't be here! That's impossible!" hollered the Guru.
Janus pushed Crono aside and grabbed the old man by the collar of his trench coat and heaved him off the ground. The Guru was even more terrified, looking into the wizard's cold red eyes. Gasper continuously whispered, "You both can't be here."
"We are here old man and you got some questions to answer," Janus quietly said.
Crono reached up to his friend's shoulder to calm him down, but the wizard gave him a sideway glance. The swordsman retracted his hand. Crono tilted his head, the common physical trait asking what's up.
"Don't you see the fear in his eyes? Didn't you hear him?" Janus paused and slowly glared at Gasper, "he knew we were all going to die."
Crono did look at the Guru at that moment. Indeed, why would the only man alive who can see the outcome of the future not tell them their destiny? Then it dawned on the swordsman. It was their destiny to die and he knew it. Gasper looked at Crono desperately for support, but what the Guru saw in Crono's eyes were more dangerous than the man that held him now.
"Explain now," said Janus, gingerly going for his scythe.
Gasper regained his composer, slapping the wizard's wrists off of him. The Guru straightened his collar and bent over, picking up his cane. On the bottom part of the cane, Gasper poked Janus to a safe distance.
"Both of you traveled through time enough to know about paradoxes. You see Janus, Crono and his friends were thrown into the future after escaping the chancellor of Guardia. In that future, the group found a terminal which showed the destruction of the world in 1999 AD. Then they fixed Robo and the four landed here and their journey began," the Guru paused, letting what he said to Janus sink in.
Janus thought about the story that he never cared to hear about. But if there was a point, he wanted it now and not into a very long story. The wizard nodded, indicating he understood and wanted the Guru to continue. Silence encircled the trio for a very long time. Then Janus saw Gasper head tilt down, completely asleep.
"WAKE UP!" screamed the wizard.
The Guru snapped to attention and noticed that the duo was still in his presence "Ah, yes, where was I?"
"They just arrived at the End of Time," Janus clarified.
"Yes. You see, Lavos had to destroy the planet to have the group go back and 'stop the Magus from creating Lavos.' Else they would have gone to a beautiful future where there were no terminal and no record of Lavos. Thus, they wouldn't go on their adventures to stop Lavos and then Lavos would live and destroy the world. This would cause an infinite loop, a paradox."
"You… knew we would fail," accused Janus.
"Obviously not, because somehow, you both are here," Gasper calmly replied.
"No," said a soft voice from the side.
Both Gasper and Janus saw the red headed swordsman shaking his head, as if everything that they were discussing was false. Crono punched the lamppost, which in turn sent Gasper to the floor. Crono looked down in hate at the Guru.
"NO! That's not right. The future was always good. When Lucca, Marle, and I went to 2300 AD, we saw a glorious future. A scientist dragged Lucca away and Marle and I followed them. He introduced us to a robot named RY-Y6, which we later called Robo, showed us a record of Lavos in 1999 AD. Because we were time travelers, we were the last chance to stop the beast, so Robo told us Janus, er, the Magus created him…" Crono paused, seeing shock in Gasper's eyes.
"Then your adventures began. Time, would not permit a paradox or someone must have planned to input that record into Robo," Gasper got off the ground and bowed his head to Crono, "I'm sorry, I… I didn't know. If I knew…"
"You should have told us anyways," Janus shot back.
"Seems you both should clarify how you are even here. Start from the beginning with the fight with Lavos," said Gasper.
Janus and Crono jumped into the Epoch after telling Gasper everything they knew. Crono also included being saved by Noah and how he gone to Limbo after Janus. Gasper only shook his head, completely at a lost. They both wanted to know where to go from here but all the Guru could say was 'My knowledge is no good anymore. You are on your own'.
Janus suggested that they start by looking for Schala. Crono questioned the motive of why they should look for her and Janus explained that with her magic, they could very well help save their friends. Once Janus looked at the controls, he looked back to Crono.
"What did you do to the Epoch?" Janus asked, far too calmly.
Crono look over and saw that the knob was not written for dates, but eras. Instead of 65,000,000 BC, there was writing that said 'Prehistoric'. The controls were written as 'Prehistoric, Nomadic, Dark Age, Dominic Age, Medieval Age, Guardia Age, First Millennium, and Second Millennium.' Crono just shrugged.
Janus rolled his eyes, turning back to the controls. He knew his time period to begin the search was in 12,000 BC, so he turned the knob to Dark Age.
"Forward."