Chapter XX: Footsteps! Follow!

Chrono awoke with a gasp. Where was he? The last thing he remembered, he was in the middle of the forest. Now he was lying on a mat of fur, someplace with almost no light. He could hear very little, only the faint sound of wind and footsteps coming from outside.

Now he remembered. It is sometime in the past. Hundreds of years – no – thousands. Maybe millions. The girl, Ayla... she promised me a red rock, and we drank something strong. How did I get back here, though? He sat up quickly, then instantly regretted the motion. His head throbbed, and his stomach churned.

"Hello?" he finally ventured to say. "Is anyone else here?" No response. It was just as well. The others would just scold him for being so foolish. Here he was now with a hangover and no Dreamstone. This primitive world was getting worse every second.

Slowly Chrono stood and opened the tent flap. Light burst in like a missile, and he felt intense heat and humidity cover his skin. Ah yes, he'd forgotten about the atmosphere. Suddenly he felt as though he would die of heat exhaustion if he didn't find water immediately.

"Did you sleep well?" Robo's voice called from just beside his right ear. Chrono jerked in surprise. "Sorry, I did not mean to startle you."

"What's going on? What happened after – well, after you know."

Robo sort of bowed, an expression Chrono had begun to believe indicated embarrassment or insecurity. "After you passed out, Miss Lucca charged me to take care of you. I carried you back to Ioka's tent, where you slept soundly. Also, I took care of the other girl, Miss Ayla. I have been here ever since." Chrono just stared. His eyes felt like they weren't attached to his head. "So did you sleep well?"

"No. Yes. I don't know..." Chrono put a hand to his head. "I think I have a hangover."

"A hangover? I remember Miss Lucca telling me about that. Do you require some assistance?"

"No thanks. It just feels like a headache."

"I am sure, then, that Nadia could soothe you if you asked her."

Chrono paused, his mind filling with thoughts of her. He saw her again, lying on the cot after the battle at Zenan Bridge, looking used and worn. "I don't know if she'd be up for it." The image still haunted him. Something had happened to her that day, or maybe even earlier. He made a mental note to talk to her sometime.

At that moment Lucca appeared. Or rather, Chrono heard her approach. Her rapid loud panting and the sound of her boots stomping through underbrush made sure of that. "Chrono, Robo! It's gone! It's just gone!"

"What is gone, Miss Lucca?"

"The gate key!"

Chrono's head still felt fuzzy. "The what?"

"Don't pull that stunt, you moron. The gate key. The one device we need to enter the time portals! The one device that, should we not have it, would strand us here forever."

"It can't be just gone," Chrono stammered.

"Thanks for your help."

"All right, tell me what happened."

Lucca sighed and cracked her knuckles. "Nothing. I was with Nadia at the festival, trying to milk Ioka for some more information on Dreamstone. Then... that didn't go well. We got to talking about Ayla... and that's all."

"You sure?"

"Yes. And then I woke up in the middle of the clearing and the gate key was gone."

"Huh. So you had a little bit to drink as well, didn't you."

"Shut up. Someone in this village has it and we'll have to search them... starting with Ioka."

They barely got more than two steps before Chrono blurted "wait, what about Nadia?"

"What about her? She's probably sleeping, and if we can just get the stupid thing back without having to wake her she'll never have to know. Just between you and me, she's not – well, pulling her weight."

"Hey, she's been through a lot."

"We've all been through a lot. And we got over it. Come on, I don't want to argue about it."

"But we're a team, Lucca. We're doing this together – we've been through everything together. Even that crazy Spekkio gave us our mission together. No, I don't care what you say. She's in."

"Fine."

A minute later they were outside her tent. She had a whole tent to herself – apparently the people in the village shared Lucca's opinions. "Nadia?" Chrono called in. "Are you decent? Are you awake?" No answer. "Robo? Go in."

In a moment they heard a shriek, followed by Nadia yelling "get out!" Robo quickly exited.

"She is indisposed."

"Nadia!" Chrono called back in. "We need you. Come on, we've got big trouble."

"No!" came the reply. "You figure it out yourself!"

He held up a hand toward Lucca before she could say anything. "All right, then," Chrono called. "I'm coming in, decent or not."

Immediately upon entering he had to blink a few times. The tent seemed pitch black, and the sudden change in lightning did nothing to help his headache. After a few moments he noticed Nadia sprawled out face down on a fur. She didn't even move when Chrono entered. "Come on. I know you're not exactly having a good time, but we're really in trouble here." No answer. "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?" She just rolled over. "Don't do this. Listen, Lucca and I are working our butts off. I've never done this saving the world business, okay? Why are you acting this way?" That sounded wrong. "I mean... um, that is to say, we're all on the same team, okay?"

Well, now this is awkward. Chrono just stood and left the tent. He made a mental note to have a real discussion with her sometime.

A moment later he heard Nadia's voice right behind him. "What's wrong?"

An hour later Chrono, Nadia, Lucca, and Robo sat in Chrono's tent. Ayla was with them as well. As soon as she heard that they were searching the village, she became very interested. Chrono just thought the girl liked the attention, as she seemed to have no clue what was going on. She had been totally stumped about Robo (as all the past cultures seemed to be), and Chrono still remembered their odd conversation:

"What is that?" she had asked.

"That is Robo. He is a robot."

"What is a robot?"

"A robot is a machine that... well, it's a kind of machine. Robo is a machine that does what humans do."

Ayla just stared, wide-eyed. "What is a machine?"

"A machine is like... um, it's a thing that does stuff. Listen, you'll need to talk to Lucca about this, I don't know."

"He is a man."

"No, he's a robot."

"He is a man... has... strange... cloth."

Chrono just shrugged. "You got me. Robo is a man in strange clothes."

Ayla only got more annoying as time passed. She wanted to know where Chrono was from. What the gate key was. What a gate was. Why Lucca wore a helmet. If Chrono liked Lucca. If Chrono like Nadia. If Chrono liked her. That it was too late because she liked Kino.

And all that the group had learned was that no one in Ioka village knew anything. However, one of the villagers was missing: Kino. But Ayla assured everyone that he usually would disappear for long periods of time. So there was that. But soon Kino reappeared, and the village was abuzz. He was covered in bruises and cuts and refused to look at anyone.

Ayla went straight up to him and they started a furious conversation. Chrono and the others couldn't catch a single word, so they just sat and watched with the rest of the villagers until Ayla dragged Kino right up to them. "El nayzaysht!" she shouted.

Kino just looked at his feet, his hair dangling in dirty, matted clumps around his forehead. He mumbled something nearly inaudible. Ayla didn't seem to like what he said, so she gave him a violent shove. He shoved back, and they were soon tumbling on the ground. Chrono thought the moment would have been better if they were enveloped in a dust cloud.

Ayla stood up again and brushed her hair out of her face. "He say sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"He say he stealed your... shiny... stone?"

Lucca perked up. "Well, tell him it wasn't funny and he should give it back right now!"

"He also say he... losed... it."

"He lost it? How? Where!"

Ayla and Kino squabbled a bit more and she said "he say reptites take it."

"What are Reptites?"

"You do not know?"

"We're not from around here," Chrono jumped in. "How many times do we have to ask this question?"

"Reptites bad! No... reptites are reptites. They... human... but no. Lizard and human. We live... together... before. Now they follow Azala. She is bad. She is very, very, very bad. She wants Ioka and... everything... to her alone."

It was no well-prepared speech, but it would have to do. "All right, big bad guys wanna take over the world. Cool. We've done this before. So what about our key? How do we get that back?"

She looked puzzled for a moment, then brightened up. "Come!" she shouted, bounding off into the underbrush, with the others struggling to catch up. The dense ferns and bushes slowed them down considerably, and Ayla would often stop to wait for them. Nadia kept up the rear, lagging behind, which slowed them down even more.

They ran for what seemed hours, but didn't feel very winded. The atmosphere, Chrono remembered. It was becoming very convenient. But now he didn't know where they had run to, and Ayla was just standing by a cave entrance, looking excited. How she found this particular cave, he couldn't tell. Everything looked the same to him. A startling thought occurred to him – what if this was a trick and the girl left them here? He wasn't sure they could find their way back. Suddenly this time period didn't seem as quaint.

"Here!" Ayla proclaimed. "Reptites live here!"

"So?" Nadia grumbled.

"So?" Ayla repeated. "So? What is 'so'?"

"She means, why is that important?" Chrono said. "Do these reptites have our gate key?"

Ayla shrugged. "We go," was all she said, indicating for them to follow her in the cave.

Before she made it in, Chrono grabbed her shoulder. "No. This could be dangerous. You go back to your family."

"No... no... no..." Ayla chuckled. "I go. We go. You need me."

"Trust me, we've been through a lot more than you think. We'll be fine. Your parents probably wouldn't want you risking yourself for us like this."

"So?" Ayla said mockingly.

"So you go home. Thank you very much for your help."

"No, I go. You fight me?" she grinned, balling her hands into fists and crouching down. "I am strong. You say go home, so I fight you."

"Territorial much?" Lucca mumbled from behind him.

"No, I won't fight you, Ayla. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

She paused for a moment and stared into his eyes. Her own deep blue eyes seemed to penetrate him, either in anger or curiosity. The moment seemed to stretch on for minutes until she broke his gaze and started to laugh. "You think I... get hurt!" She buckled over from laughter and used the rock wall nearby for support. "You do not know me!"

"No, I suppose I don't..."

"I go – we go – and I give red rock!"

"What? No, you promised that if I drank that stuff with you, you'd give us the Dreamstone."

"I promise... nothing! I... not remember." She quickly looked away.

Chrono just rubbed his temples. "Fine. I don't care anymore. But if something happens, I am not responsible."

"What is 'responsible'?"

"That means – "

"That means," Lucca interrupted, "that we either go in and get the key or go home now. This has gone on long enough."

Ayla pointed into the cave. "Footsteps! Follow!" she said, and bounded inside.

Sure enough, there were tracks leading in. They were mostly small, and definitely looked like reptile tracks. Some of the prints were much larger, though, and Chrono could only imagine what kind of monstrous beast lived inside the cave. But the girl had already entered, so either she had no clue or she was certain they posed no danger. Or she's a silly little girl who thinks she's tougher than she is, he thought as they stepped into the dark opening.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was sort of sweet, like rich soil or rotting wood, and he felt a little uneasy. Also there was the lack of light, but there were some lit torches on the walls ahead, which at least indicated that someone used this place often. Other than that there was nothing – no sounds, no lizard monsters leaping out of shadows to devour them. The silence scared him more than any monsters could have anyway. But Ayla had said that not all the reptites were bad, so if they were lucky no one would mind them trespassing.

Presently the cavern opened up in front of them. Before, they had been walking down a sort of corridor, or at least that was the impression. Now they were in a large open dome, with multiple levels and exits. Hanging from the ceiling was a large metal bowl filled with something, probably wood, burning. It, in addition to the torches on the wall, filled the room with an eerie, flickering red light. Everything about the place screamed "trap" to Chrono, and he halted the others.

Ayla didn't pay any mind, though. She strode in boldly, hands balled into fists. "No!" Chrono half shouted, half whispered, and he ran into the room and grasped her shoulder. She tensed and whirled around, but relaxed when she saw him. Then she started to chuckle.

"You scare me," she said.

Lucca came up to Chrono and whispered "something's not right. I don't like the looks of this. Should we, you know, prepare?"

"Yes," he whispered back, then turned to give the information to Nadia and Robo. But behind them was a group of shadows, twenty or more. They looked like the creatures they had fought when they first met Ayla. Chrono turned back and saw more creatures pouring out of every other entrance in the room. Directly in front of them even more approached him.

Immediately he pulled out his sword and pointed it straight ahead. "Back!" he cried. But before he could take two steps he felt something strike him in the back of the legs, knocking him to his knees. Something was wrapped around his head, something smelling sweet like vines, blocking his vision. He felt a blow to his skull and then felt no more.

The next thing he knew, he felt something being pulled off his face. Where am I? What happened? He tried to bring his hands to his face to feel if it was still there, but he couldn't move his arms. He was sitting, he knew that much, somewhere in a dark room. His arms were bent behind him, wrapping around something. A pole – that was it – his arms were wrapped around a pole and then somehow tied together at the wrist. His sword was missing. He heard no sound yet, save for his breathing. "Hello?" he called weakly.

"Chrono?" came Nadia's voice, somewhere to his right.

"Thank goodness someone else is here," he sighed. "Are you all right?"

"Chrono, I'm tied up."

"Me too. At least whatever's going on, we're wanted alive. We've been through worse."

"Chrono, I'm scared."

He was about to say don't be, but caught himself. "That's okay."

Another voice gurgled from his left. "Huh, what?" Lucca. She sounded like she was just waking up. "Hey, what's the idea?"

"Hello, Lucca," Chrono and Nadia said in unison.

"Oh, we're hostages."

"At least they want us alive."

"Doesn't matter. They're no match for us."

Just then light flooded the room. Some creatures nearby quickly scurried away. They were still in a cave, he noticed, though there was no way of knowing if it was the same cave. He, Nadia, and Lucca were all tied up the same way, wrists bound behind poles, them sitting on large stones. Ayla was there as well, across from him, though she still looked unconscious. Robo was nowhere to be seen.

"Forgive my friends," a new voice said, oily and smooth. "They don't like trespassers." Into view came one of the creatures – its skin was green and scaly, like the others, but it wore fine robes of red and white, as well as some spikes mounted on the shoulders. "I don't like trespassers either," it said, speaking with strangely perfect diction.

"Thank goodness someone else around here speaks plainly," Lucca muttered.

"The others also don't speak our language. I'm afraid they won't be able to understand you if you beg for help. They won't understand the girl, either."

"Um, not to interrupt," Chrono said, trying to sound uninterested, "but what's going on? Are we supposed to be your hostages or something?"

"Yeah, why are we tied up?" Lucca grumbled. Curious, Chrono thought, that she hasn't burned her way out of the ropes. If she was willing to pretend to be helpless, he figured he should do the same.

"Yeah, why?"

"Let me apologize. We were uncertain if you meant us harm. We have no intention of harming you... provided you answer my questions. Let me introduce myself. I am called Azala. I am the queen of the reptites. Now it's your turn." She went over to Nadia. "And you are?" Nadia just stared blankly at him. "Do you talk?"

She looked down at her feet. "Marle," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Speak up. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Marle. My name is Marle."

"Interesting. And you?" she said to Chrono.

"Um... I'm Melchior."

She approached Lucca. "I'm Leene, the queen of Guardia."

"Guardia. Strange... where is this 'Guardia'?"

Chrono and Lucca exchanged a look. "We... don't know," Chrono said. Azala narrowed her eyes at him. "Well we know, but we don't know how to get there from here."

"Hmm, interesting. It does sound to me as though you are lying to me. I promise to be entirely truthful to you. The least you can do is be truthful with me."

"Well, it's true. We can't physically get back to Guardia," Lucca said.

"I see that you will not cooperate with me. You are like the Ioka, stubborn and stupid. Your people don't have half the intelligence I have. You know, this planet isn't big enough for the both of us, Reptite and Human."

"Oh, please, that is such a cliché."

"No, Lucca, where we come from it is, but maybe this place and time is the first time the phrase was ever said," Chrono added with a chuckle.

Azala just narrow her eyes at the two of them. "Something you will learn quickly is that I will not tolerate people trying to make a fool out of me." She backed up until she was outside their circle. "And now, for the reason you are all still alive." Slowly she bent down behind Ayla's rock, deliberately drawing out the moment of revelation.

Chrono knew before he saw the object that Azala held the gate key. Her talon-like hands gripped the key daintily, as if Azala realized she held a valuable object. "Do any of you apes know what this is? One of my own found it on some poor, dumb human." She looked around to the three of them, but no one said anything. "I thought 'how curious,' because, you see, the humans have no intelligence and don't know how to build such interesting objects. Then you arrived and my problem was solved. I assume this trinket belongs to you."

"Yes," Chrono said. Lucca shot him a look, and he shrugged back.

"Ah, good. You're cooperating. Perhaps I'll spare you." Everyone rolled their eyes at that. Azala either didn't notice or didn't care. She just held up the gate key in wonderment. "So, which one of you wants to tell me what this thing does?"

"It's a time machine," Chrono said quickly. Nadia huffed. "Well, it's not actually a time machine. But we use it to travel through time. I guess you could call it a gate key."

Azala stared blankly at him. "Fool. You speak nonsense. Surely you know how to lie better than that." She whirled to face Nadia. "What does it do?"

"It does what Chrono said it does," she replied as unemotionally as possible. Chrono wasn't sure if the fear in her voice was an act or not.

"Who's Chrono?" Azala asked, smiling wickedly. Nadia's eyes went wide when she realized her mistake. "Don't you mean 'Melchior'?" She started to speak, but Azala held up a claw. "Too late. You lied. Just as well – I think I won't get any information out of you like this. No..." she went up to Ayla and gently smacked her face.

The girl grunted and awoke with a start. "Meg uhlek!" she screeched. "Meg uhlum meend!" She jerked at the vines holding her arms. When that didn't work she tried biting at Azala, but the reptite queen stayed just out of her reach until Ayla calmed down.

"I am going to ask my aide Nizbel to get the truth from you. It would be better for all of you if you cooperate quickly." She turned to face the darkness. "Nizbel!" she called. Immediately they all felt a rumbling – a slow steady pounding that shook the rocks they sat on.

Soon a humongous shadow entered their field of vision. As it approached, Chrono could pick out its finer details. It stood over fifteen feet tall and stood erect, like a man. It had the head of a triceratops, talon-like feet, and a thick, monstrous tail. But it's arms, hands, and legs were humanoid, rippling with muscles. The light slowly illuminated its scaly skin, brown and weathered. In its arms was another humanoid form, of normal size.

Nadia gasped. Chrono and Lucca just stared as the creature called Nizbel dumped Robo unceremoniously to the ground. Robo's eyes were dull, and one eye was dangling from its socket by a mess of wires. He wasn't moving.

"So," Azala said, breaking the eerie stillness. "Are we ready to tell the truth?"