Chapter Twelve
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The three friends camped out in a cave that evening. Chrono had found as much wood as he could for their campfire. Marle was in complete awe at the two of them. How in the world could Lucca have built a huge flying time machine in only a little while since she was gone? And why did Chrono look so much older?
"I suppose you're wondering what in the world is going on," Lucca explained as Chrono sat down next to them. "Well, here's the thing."
Marle listened very carefully.
"When you're time traveling, there are no limits. And because it took Chrono so long to find you, it was almost two years before he made it back to our time. The first thing he did was come to me and explain the whole thing. It took me another year to perfect the build the Epoch. Unlike the gate keys, we have complete control of wherever we go in the flow of time. I also built in a DNA tracking device so that it would be easier to find you. When we locked onto your position, we just came straight to this time and found you."
Marle was astounded. "I see... So, it didn't take that much to find me."
"I wish we would have thought of it sooner!" Chrono exclaimed. "I was searching for two years and still couldn't find you."
"But Chrono, I just saw you in Ayla's village."
"To you, you just saw me. To me, it was three years ago."
Marle noticed what was going on outside. Lightning was flashing in the distance and thunder soon followed. As it started to rain, Lucca stood up. "I'm gonna spend the night in the Epoch. I've gotta set the ship to take us back home in the morning."
Marle shook her head. "Lucca, I need you to do something for me." She remembered that she was still holding the few strands of Magus' hair. "I need you to track Magus." She looked at them both and explained. "While I was traveling through time, I went to the year 2300. It was terrible. The whole world was pretty much ruined... and it was all thanks to Magus. Someone told me that he summoned something called Lavos in the year 1999 and it caused terrible destruction. We've gotta stop him, or the whole world will be destroyed."
Lucca took the strands of hair. "Will do. We'll go after him in the morning." With that, she left the cave and boarded the Epoch.
Marle tried to make herself as comfortable as possible on the hard cave's ground. She rolled over, not wanting to look Chrono in the face.
"Oh, no you don't. We need to talk."
"We don't have to talk about anything."
"Yes we do... Nadia."
Marle's eyes bugged out as she quickly rolled back over to look at him. "Uh... What?"
"You know what." He scootched over beside her. "Marle, why didn't you tell me that you were the princess of Guardia?"
"You never asked?"
He just gave her a look.
She shrugged. "I didn't know how to tell you... And then, you went and kissed Stella, so..."
Chrono sighed. "Marle, about that... Just let me explain."
o O o
After Chrono had explained everything, Marle felt terrible. The whole thing was just a big misunderstanding.
"But, I can understand why you would think something like that," Chrono explained. "After all, it really did look like I was kissing Stella."
Marle nodded. "I'm so sorry, Chrono."
Chrono reached into his pocket and took out a little box. "I've held onto this for three years." He knelt in front of her on one knee as he opened the box. Inside was the ring. "Marle, when this is all over and things are straightened out... will you marry me?"
Marle gasped, covering her mouth with one hand. She watched as Chrono slipped the ring on her finger. She nodded and began to cry. "Yes."
o O o
The next morning, the three friends boarded the Epoch. Lucca had run Magus' DNA through the system. "It's gonna take a few minutes," she explained. In the mean time, she pressed a few buttons and flipped a few switches. The engine roared as they lifted up off the ground. Then, the DNA machine beeped. "There he is!" Lucca exclaimed. "He's in the year 1999, just like you said."
"Good," Marle replied.
"Not so fast," Chrono pointed out. "First, we need to make a couple pit stops."