Chapter 27 – Intermission I
"Hi! I'm Princess Nadia. You may know me better as Marle, one of the heroes who travelled with Chrono on his first adventure. We fought a planetary scale parasite named Lavos and saved the future, and we also did a lot of miscellaneous rescuing in the past. I'm here today at readers' request to help those of you who are new to the story to catch up on things without having to review sixty thousand words of excitement, adventure, mystery, intrigue, and uneven pacing. I haven't done anything in the story since the first chapter, so I'm happy to take any role I can get.
"Shall we start from the beginning? Do you remember how everything began? The very first chapter was supposed to be this story's 'happily ever after' event. It was a wedding! Chrono and I were about to get hitched, but he vanished. Right in front of me and Lucca and everyone else, he disappeared into a hole in the space-time continuum! Sort of like I did all those years ago, actually, but this time it wasn't Lucca's fault.
"Chrono ended up in some place Beyond Time. I've heard Lucca talk about someplace like that before, but I never knew anyone who ever traveled there before. Who would want to? Time is meaningless there, or so I'm told, and it seems to be where a lot of dead people turn up. Is it the afterlife? Of course Chrono is not dead. You can't just kill off the hero in the first chapter, can you? Not here. No, Chrono ended up alive but out of place. He would have been all by himself, too, if he hadn't run into a suspicious fairy called Disenchantment. What an odd name! Fitting, though. She was an odd one, saying she was to take him to see some Princess of the Dead. As if he needed another princess!
"Chrono, not knowing what else to do, followed Disenchantment into a suspicious set of caves called Jinling Caverns. What a funny name! It sounds familiar somehow. It turned out to be a pretty dangerous place, too; Chrono and Disenchantment got lost for a while. A couple of interesting things happened while they were lost: Disenchantment gave Chrono a magical ball of light for getting through dark caves, and a couple of monsters called Passion and Pain attacked, and after that Chrono found himself alone.
"The situation changed again when he ran into another traveler lost in the maze. She was a curious young woman named Coppelia. Claiming she was looking for someone named Orchid, she decided to tag along with Chrono in hopes of making it easier for the both of them to accomplish their goals. This turned out to be fortuitous, as they needed each other's help to get past a monster guarding the exit to the caves.
"Once outside, a resident of the Darkness Beyond Time welcomed Chrono to the land and gave him a new sword with which to protect himself. The sword even doubled as an informational pamphlet! Its magical hilt occasionally would display cryptic poetry having something to do with wherever Chrono traveled. Isn't that interesting? It certainly explains the poetry all over the place. I sort of wish it would go away, as I see altogether too much uninteresting poetry during my management of the kingdom.
"Oh, did I not tell you? I'm going to be the Queen soon. Queen Nadia. Does that have a good ring to it? Father says I need to be bit more dignified for my public appearances, but he mistakes "old-fashioned" and "dignified" all the time. That's not really important for the story about the moment, but I'm sure it will eventually. I can't go through this entire story without doing anything, can I?
"I might want to mention that the magic sword told Chrono an interesting story about how the King of the Dead lost his vassals when a star split the heavens, so he appointed four new generals in their place. These were not enough to protect against monsters from the part of the sky separated by the fallen star, so he organized a contest between a Rat, an Ox, a Tiger, a Rabbit, a Dragon, a Snake, a Horse, a Goat, a Monkey, a Phoenix, a Dog, a Pig, and a Cat. The contest would determine which one would serve which general. During the contest, the animals had to cross the Sea of Sadness, and each did so in a different way. The Rat and Cat rode on the Ox, but at one point the Rat became frightened and pushed the Cat into the water, where he disappeared. The Rat won the race, and the Cat was never seen again. I don't think Chrono knows this, but a form of this legend exists among the royal family at Guardia, though the tale is old enough that no one seems to know what it means. You can read it again for yourself in Chapter 10, if you wish.
"In any case, Chrono and his new companion Coppelia made their way through a forest and out into a dark, bleak, rocky field next to a town. In that town, they met a new friend, a fortune teller named Paem, who surprised everyone by possessing a large Dreamstone. Do you remember Dreamstone from my previous adventure? It's the stuff the Masamune and Schala's pendant were made of. Oh, and don't forget its connection to Lavos! Why does everything always go back to Lavos? I suppose we should bear that in mind as we look to the future of Chrono's new quest.
"Anyhow, Paem told our heroes that she could see the future using power from a goddess, whom she named Sophia. Coppelia suggested that this 'goddess' was probably a giant computer, like the computers I saw in the year 2300. Lucca knows more about them than I do, but they seem pretty powerful, so I would not be surprised if Coppelia was right. I don't know what Chrono thinks; he must have only vague idea of what a computer is, since he comes from a time when there aren't any! Does this tell us anything about Coppelia? I think it means she is definitely not from my time.
"Paem mentioned that she needs a connection point to take full advantage of her ability to predict the future, so she offered to take Chrono and Coppelia to a tower called Himmelkreuz. I think that means something about 'Heaven' and a 'cross' or something. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think it's important. More important is that, while looking around inside the tower, some villainous people attacked the town! Chrono and his friends easily dispatched Plum Blossom the Assassin and Yu the Fisherman, two creepy and violent people from someplace at war with Paem's land. More sinister than those two was a loathsome man in a mask and cloak who claimed to be a murderer. He was strong. He was even a match for our heroes, but Chrono took advantage of a misstep and sent him down into a river. I hope that is the last of him. He gives me a really sick feeling in my stomach whenever he is around.
"On the bright side, Coppelia drew some information from Plum Blossom during the battle. Apparently, her Orchid, the woman she was looking for, was due out in the western province soon—at the head of an invasion force! Isn't that a little too dramatic? At least it was a clue. Chrono and company went back to town to see Paem's boss, Lord Kuei, to discuss what to do about the news, as well as what to do about the attack. There, they met two of Paem's friends, Mal and Sajo, who were among the highest ranking officials in the land, just like Paem. Lord Kuei ordered Paem to accompany Chrono and Coppelia as they headed west to look for Orchid.
"The western province turned out to be a huge desert. Chrono soon learned that it was much more dangerous than the previous area. He hadn't been there long before he had to take shelter in a small cave to get away from the sandstorms. While in the cave, he met some creatures that closely resembled the Yakra, which, if you remember, was the thing that disguised itself as Guardia's chancellor in the year 600 and in the present in order to try to take over the kingdom. The one in the past even kidnapped Queen Leene! Nasty creatures, Yakras. These particular Yakra beasts even managed to capture a brave knight from the distant past, sent to the Darkness Beyond Time to avenge the murdered king of his homeland of Kalinovo. Such a tragic story! I remember it from my history lessons. I don't remember the king's name, but I remember that the knight Chrono met was called Egmont. He told his story, and he agreed to help Chrono's party out in the desert. He left out the part of his story I remember best, though. There was more to the events of Kalinovo than just a murdered king. Why would he not mention the love story between the prince and that girl? The Royal Guardian Theater Company performs that part on stage every year. It's one of our most popular plays. I'll have to tell you the story some other time. Look for it a few chapters down the road! I'd tell you now, but I need to fetch a copy of the script so I don't mix up the details.
"Wanna know a secret? The storybooks and the plays leave something even more interesting out of the story. The Tragedy of Kalinovo happened around something lost to time, something amazing, remembered in legends passed down among the royal family. The murder of the king and the romance of the prince happened around the discovery of an ancient treasure from the lost Kingdom of Zeal. I bet you didn't know that already. See, I do get to add something to this story! Unfortunately, I can't remember what the treasure was, but I'll get back to you on that.
"Travel in the desert got even nastier fairly quickly. First, Chrono had to fight a giant shelled monster that rose out of the sand. After he killed it, a horde of Golems spilled out of the underground and ran amok all over the desert, but Coppelia thought they were strangely organized. In fact, there were actually three groups of Golems, one marching to the capital city, one going to the desert fortress near the western Himmelkreuz tower, and one with mysterious orders that we never learned. Chrono and Coppelia ran after the third group, but before they found where they were going to, Egmont and Paem encountered three little ghost girls. Egmont went nuts and tried to kill one of them, but he couldn't. However, it turned out that the girls were directing the Golems, so when Egmont distracted them, they Golems went out of control, and their combined weight was too much for the desert floor. See, the desert was really just a bunch of sand sitting on top of a shell, under which everything was hollow. I don't know what was under there, but whatever it was, it was probably crushed when the desert collapsed under the weight of the Golems.
"I am sad to say that Egmont was lost in the collapse, along with the ghost girls. Paem escaped and joined Chrono at the desert fortress, which had been abandoned in the crisis. They rested for a while and mourned for their friend, but then the strangest thing of all happened. Remember those odd little round blue things Chrono and I saw all over time when we were trying to stop Lavos? Nu, I think they were called. These little guys swarmed the castle. You know how that man Crow gives me a sick feeling? I mention that earlier. Well, the Nus give me a funny feeling, too, but it's not the same feeling. It's sort of like they're not really from this world, or maybe they're from this world, but not in the same way we are. I can't really explain it.
"Anyway, Paem became worried that the Nus were gathered to feed. Not wanting to be eaten, our heroes ran for it, and that's' where we stand right now. Pretty exciting, huh? Danger everywhere, mysteries to unravel, epic tales of romance murder lying just beneath the surface... If this were what my history lessons were like, I would have paid more attention! Poor Chrono, caught in the middle of it all! Will I ever get to see him again?
"That's half of the story. Something else is brewing along with that tale, and it seems to me that it's pretty important, too. Do you mind if I catch you up on the story of Samsara Ashtear? It's important, and you'll want to make sure you know what is going on before the next series of events happens.
"Here it goes. Samsara, called Sam by her friends, is the daughter of scientist, inventor, and A.D. 1000 troublemaker Lucca Ashtear, my best friend. The story hasn't yet mention much surrounding the circumstances of Samsara's birth or even who her father is, but I'm sure you'll find out eventually. For now, it's enough to know who she is. Also, when. She lives in the distant future, in a time after the defeat of Lavos. Lives? Lived? I hate dealing with verb tenses and time travel. I know I should pick a case and stick with it, but I might get a little mixed up. I'll have to quit the mix-ups when I become Queen, of course, but for now I order you to forgive me. Tee hee. I can't actually order you until I become Queen, can I?
"In the future, Balthasar, one of the Three Gurus of Zeal founds his own city and his own university, where he teaches and does his research into the nature of time. Lucca has decided to work with him for a while, and together they transform our understanding of physics, mathematics, and nature. This is wonderful for all involved, though neither of the two is able to piece together all of the mysteries. Rumors circulate involving some unfinished projects Balthasar has sitting around. So strange, people talking about the guy as if he's already dead! So strange that he managed to live so long, too, huh? Lives so long, lived so long, whatever. I don't know which case I should be using.
"Eventually, Lucca has her baby, Samsara, and she leaves her to study to follow in her footsteps. Samsara befriends Jinling Lan, a country girl who managed to get into the prestigious Balthasar University. Both are incredibly talented, and both finish their degrees and go on to work for the university as researchers. As best friends, they also share an apartment and a rented laboratory for work. Samsara has her hands in several projects, including some dealings in artificial intelligence and robotics, but her main focus is on temporal mathematics. Jinling's focus is more narrow. She cares only about her pet project, a timeship she and Samsara are building.
"So far, it seems there is no room for anything suspicious in their lives, but word of their success, and their favor with Balthasar (Why not Lucca? What happened to her? More on that later.), spread among students at the university. Eventually, a computer science student named Nimzovich begins electronic mail correspondence (note: these are words I learned from Lucca, so I may not be using them correctly) with Samsara. They play a game of long-distance chess, and at the same time, Nimzovich begs Samsara to know more about her timeship project.
"Jinling gets curious about Samsara's secret letters, so she starts spying on her. One weekend, when Samsara is out of town, she sees a message saying that Nimzovich is coming to visit, and she guesses that his intentions are bad. She manages to lock down the apartment, but she reasons that he will probably attempt to sneak into the lab to steal the timeship. She gets there before he does, but he manages to surprise her.
"When Samsara returns, she finds signs that something is amiss, and so she visits the lab to make sure her project and her friend are safe. When she arrives, she finds that the timeship is missing, and so is Jinling. Worse, she sees evidence of a violent struggle in the form of a pool of dried blood on the ground.
"The city is already in chaos, as the mayor chooses that day to announce his resignation under corruption charges, and there are a few scary rumors going around about the new acting mayor. Samsara hears of this, but she has no time to think about what it means at first.
"Right now, she has other things on her mind, as the most important things in her life has just vanished. To make matters worse, the police then come to the door of the lab and arrest her. The charge is for the murder of her best friend, Jinling Lan.
"Does it get any worse for Samsara? Will she figure out what is going on? How is this connected to Chrono's story? Find out in future chapters. Actually, her story continues in the next chapter, so I hope you are looking forward to it.
"I also hope you enjoyed our time together. I'm a little angry that this is only the second chapter I've been in, so you can count on me to pop in from time to time to keep you informed. As little as I've appeared so far, this is my story, too, even if I have to fight for it. I mean, Chrono disappeared in the middle of our wedding! Do you think I'm going to sit around and do nothing after something like that? No way! That's a story for another time, though. You'll find out what I mean, but not right away. For now, enjoy reading about Samsara in the next chapter and Chrono in the chapter after that.
"Yes, I'm fairly certain Chrono is not going to be eaten by Nus less than halfway through his story, but something interesting is bound to happen soon.
"Until next time, please remember your favorite princess! Ciao, folks."