Chapter 13 / Magical Kingdom of Zeal
The fire was going nicely now, and we had moved a large rock to block the majority of the wind and cold from entering the cave. Lucca was inspecting Robo, and seeing if he needed any repairs as Glenn was doing maintenance on the Masamune, although it seemed like it wasn't necessary. Night was already settled in, and so we had eaten some of the food we had stored away for such an occasion. But the situation was somewhat grim. We could return through the Gate from what Lucca was saying, but with all of us it would easily become unstable. We would likely end up at the End of Time but Lucca recommended we wait for the particles to became settled. Apparently the only reason we've been able to all go through the portal the last few times was due to an increase in power. Both times was because of Lavos. With the way things had been up to this point, it was a good idea to figure out more about this era we ended up.
Glenn thought that there was wildlife but unsure if it was worth hunting at this time of night without knowing what other predators and monsters were about. Plus the land was covered in snow and if that wasn't bad enough, the wind made it worse. We were not equipped for this cold of weather.
I sat down next to the fire, and it was only a couple moments before Marle moved and sat in front of me, then she made me adjust to her so she was sitting between my legs, and pulled my arms around her. She rested up against me as I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Comfy?" I asked.
"Mm hmm," Marle said as she nuzzled against me. "You're warm. I may just sleep right here."
Well I was sitting against the wall so I wasn't horribly uncomfortable, so I was okay with it. And having my arms wrapped around Marle was very... comforting. "I suppose there is no point in being overly worried about what we're going to do when we're all so tired." I squeezed Marle in my arms as I allowed myself to relax.
"Glenn and Robo can expand their search in the morning. Then after they get back we can decide what we want to do. If it is to press forward or to wait to head back through the Gate and better prepare ourselves for the cold," Marle spoke softly. "Right now, you can focus on me." She reached up and put her hand on my cheek. And through some awkward maneuvering she leaned her head back and the two of us kissed. Her lips, warm, inviting and the feeling of it made me want more and more of it. Our tongues danced around each other before we both slowly pulled apart. "If only we could have a bit more privacy."
"We'll have plenty of that in the future, I'm sure," I can't help but laugh.
"You say that, but you can't wait either," she smirked and moved against me.
"You are truly incorrigible, you know that?" I shake my head.
"Only when it comes to you," She quickly responded as she pulled my arms back around her tighter. "Crono, I spent so long doing as I was told. Never really acting out in any significant ways. And when I had finally had enough I was planning to end my own life. But that was when I met you. Everything has changed for me since then. I realized there was a lot of things in life I could enjoy. Much more than I ever thought possible. With everything we've gone through, I know now that my view on life was so narrow."
"It's hard to know what the world is like when you can only see it through a window from a prison," I commented, lettering her know how I felt about that situation. "You being the only child in a Monarchy is a lot of the issue. Your Father not taking another wife after your Mom's death is also one."
Marle went quiet for a moment, and we sat there for a long moment as we stared into the fire. Until Marle spoke again, "Having an heir is part of a monarch's responsibility. Guess that means I have to have lots of kids with you then."
My eyes widened for a moment, "Marle don't think that..."
"What? It isn't like I haven't thought about it, you know? Maybe my push to be positive comes off as me not thinking that far ahead," Marle spoke softly as she took my right hand and led it underneath her shirt and against her skin. I froze as she did so as she lead my hand between her breasts and, I could feel the beating of her heart. "Feel that? It already belongs to you. My heart beats still, because of you. You saved my life so many times up till now. Not just against the creatures we face but also myself. All those thoughts I had, of how useless, pointless my life was. Those thoughts are long gone. Even if were in a cave in a unknown era, where its impossibly cold outside. There isn't any place I would rather be. I love you."
I could feel Marle's heart racing, and my own. I leveled my thoughts, "I believe you. And my first thought is to say that I love you too. But everything for us has moved so fast. And with all the emotions and things going on, I think it would be too easy for us to rush in. And that's why..."
Marle giggled, "Silly Crono. I'm not asking for anything right now. And even I know that us getting caught up in the heat of everything is a bad idea. Like we talked about before. It would certainly not help us if I were to suddenly be pregnant. Who knows how much longer our search to stop Lavos will go. But it is because of the dangers we face that I can't just go forward without you knowing how I feel. You see, us sitting here in front of this fire, surrounded by friends who have journeyed with us and snuggled against you, is the happiest I've been since Mom died. Well, maybe second to us meeting at the fair."
I kissed the side of her head and looked back to the fire, "Funny, it feels like that happened a lifetime ago."
"It was a different time, you could say," Marle laughed.
"Man, this time travel stuff can mess with your head," I shook my head. "But we also have Magus out there in one of these time eras."
"Magus," Marle sighed. "I remember reading a lot about him when I was home. Sir Lazarus seemed to enjoy the subject."
"My Father?" I realized that Marle had known my Father but we never had the time to talk about what that really meant. "Don't tell me my old man was one of your tutors."
"He was there when Mother was teaching me. Sir Lazarus was Mom's main guardian after all," Marle smiled, seemingly a good memory attached to this. Now that I think about it, I'm sure I heard stories about Princess Nadia from my Father. I just wasn't a good listener. And he told those stories more to my own Mother.
"What about Magus interested my Father? Magus is known as the enemy of Guardia after all," I was curious though.
"Magus had many titles. King of the Mystics, Sorcerer, Ruler of Tyranny, Conqueror, Mastermind, but there was something consistent about all of the things written in the texts in the Guardia. And that all accounts were second hand. No one in the Guardia kingdom knew anything about him. What we knew was because of his followers and how they seemed so devoted to their cause. They were always saying things like 'Praise to Magus and for the future of fiendkind' or variations of that. But that's it," Marle brought up an interesting fact.
"Glenn is the only one that ever saw Magus. And his encounter with him made it seem like he had purpose even then. And when we faced him ourselves, he used his power earnestly but we were just distractions. From the beginning, Lavos was his goal..."
"To destroy the planet? But..."
"He never achieved it. Or else our own lives would have never happened. Which means, more than likely... Regardless of what we did Magus would always end up being pulled into a gate by Lavos at that time in the middle ages," I felt something click into place. "Even considering that thought... we don't know Magus' motive."
"Yeah, and something he said then bothers me. He said, Why would you seek to destroy something you clearly do not understand? Why would he say something like that? I mean, why would he bother conversing with us to begin with? And with the way he spoke about Ozzie... it didn't seem like he was even aware of the Mystics and what they were doing," Marle allowed herself to relax more against me and I pulled her close. We had entertained this thought before.
"Magus has his reasons. Nobody would dedicate that much time and resources for a suicide of that magnitude. And he doesn't come off as someone seeking his own death," I shook my head and looked up to the ceiling of the cave.
"I hope we can find some answers. Right now it feels like we are just wandering in the dark, looking for any scrap or mention of the word Lavos. But all we know now is that Lavos fell in Ayla's time. It is the reason the world fell into an ice age. Lavos buried itself deep underground. And then it will be millions of years before it will come up and destroy the world. It's an alien, crashing onto our planet. Not to mention a lifespan that spans millions of years. How are we even supposed to gather information on an existence like this?" Marle brought up some obvious and painful points to our current situation.
"The only way we can," I said and kissed the top of her head. "With everything we have at our disposal."
When Robo and Glenn returned after an extended search outside, they insisted we all needed to see something. We went outside and off to the northwest we could see it... a massive mountain floating in the air and seemed to be a massive chain that went down, but it was impossible to tell what it was chained to. At least not from the angle we were at. There was a few mountains in the way, but that landmass was definitely floating.
"That isn't all of it," Lucca spoke loudly. "Look further up."
I stared up at the sky, "But Lucca I don't..."
"Use these," Lucca said as she handed me a pair of binoculars from her bag. I took them as I noted her putting her goggles on her head. Not surprised she would have some sort of helpful tools to see from farther away. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. A mountain floating in the air, and chained to the ground was nothing compared to this sight. It wasn't a mountain, but a whole continent of land that was floating far above the sky. My eyes bulged and I put the binoculars down.
"What? How is that even possible?" I shook my head as Marle took the binoculars from her and looked up in turn.
"That's crazy!" Marle added and handed them to Ayla. She looked at it curiously.
"Put it up to your eyes like this," Lucca moved next to Ayla and helped the woman figure out the device.
"Lucca make? Make far away things close," Ayla was looking around before Lucca directed her sight up above. "How land float in sky?"
Lucca took back the binoculars from Ayla and returned it to her bag, "It isn't theoretically impossible to do. However, even if it was an advanced form of machinery it would still require a lot of fuel."
"Fuel?" I asked her after realizing she wouldn't continue without prompting.
She shifted on her feet and crossed her arms, rubbing her arms to heat herself up a bit. "All mechanisms require energy to work. Gato, the robot I built is run on a elementary solar power system. It converts the suns rays into usable power and keeps them in batteries, so it can store excess energy. I'm simplifying but it is the same principle for all of my inventions. My scanner for example has a limited charge but I installed a method of recharging it with a battery charger device. My point being there is no way it would be reasonable for a civilization to float their landmass up in the clouds."
"Right, so it's likely held up another way. Perhaps, magic?" I suggested.
Lucca shrugged, "It seems like too easy an explanation. But either that or some other natural producing phenomenon is the likely reason."
"Think people live up there?" Marle asked.
"Normally I would say no. The way things should work is that it would be colder as well as have a thinner atmosphere. So not only would it be colder but it would be harder to breath..." Lucca sighed heavily. I wasn't familiar with the knowledge she had. She has told me various things over the years about how the world follows certain laws. And well... a floating landmass... how do you even start explaining that?
"However, we don't know until we see it ourselves," Glenn spoke up.
"Considering what we've seen, there is no telling what it is actually like. Especially if magic is a factor here," I scratched the back of my head and looked back up at the impossible landscapes that were high above us. Then a chill ran up my spine, but it wasn't caused by the freezing cold air and wind. I shook it off, bad feelings aside. We still needed a plan of action, some way to move forward. "We should head back to the cave. Won't do us any good if we start getting frost bite out here."
Everyone agreed and so we quickly made our way back. Though we hadn't ventured far from it. As soon as we did it was Ayla that quickly started the fire back up. I probably shouldn't be that surprised she would be so sufficient at this kind of stuff. If anything Ayla likely had tips about survival that we could hardly begin to think of.
"Are we at a dead end?" Marle asked as she moved against me.
Glenn let out an involuntary croak before he spoke, "While we found it prudent to show the floating isles, we also found a structure to the east that is definitely man made. Though Robo and I did not approach it. We also did find a cave to the west but there was no discernible path further in."
"However, my limited sensors indicated the cave went much further in," Robo supplemented.
"The man made structure seems the more logical place to start. Especially if Robo and Glenn don't seem to know a way to get further in the cave," Lucca spoke as she moved closer to the fire that Ayla was now nursing to be bigger.
I scratched my head, "Guess the man made structure will be our next destination. I don't suppose you found something edible, or wild beast or something we can hunt for food? We only have a limited amount of rations left and I would prefer a good meal before we go and get ourselves into more trouble."
"Think we should travel back and get some supplies?" Marle suggested as she snuggled up against my arm. "Is the portal stable enough yet?"
Lucca had settled next to the fire as Ayla had gotten it to a good size, and its heat was welcoming to all of us. She pulled out her Sensor and did... something with it. Her expression changed as she was looking at it before she spoke, "That's... weird."
"Weird? What do you mean?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Well..." Lucca put down her sensor and sighed. "The Gate is still unstable. So far it only took a few hours for it to be usable again for all the other Gates. The readings for this are just... well it keeps changing. I can't be sure what will happen if we go through it right now."
"Maybe it's different because it was created by the impact of Lavos?" Marle suggested.
"I see," Lucca considers the possibility for a moment. "It is the thread that connects all the time periods. At first, Ayala's time wasn't but it was in fact the origin point of Lavos' descent onto the planet. If anything our time era is the odd one out, as we haven't seen a presence of Lavos other than Marle's pendant's reaction with my machine that sent us through time to begin with."
"By that logic then her pendant might have a link to Lavos," I added.
"It's been in my family for longer than the Guardia name. At least that is what is written in our family history. It's our most prized possession, and always given to the next in line to be Queen of the kingdom. So, we really don't know where it came from," Marle said as I pulled out the pendant in question.
"If it is connected, then what?" I ask out loud. "Could Lavos also be unintentionally cause these Gates with his power?"
"It's just a hypothesis, but it all could connect to Lavos. If it is, then it is likely that this era we have arrived in will hold a significant event related to Lavos. If my theory holds any weight that is," Lucca shook her head. "Either way, we can't risk traveling back right now until the readings become stable."
"That settles that then," I let out a sigh. "In that case we need to deal with our current problems. We need food and water as our supplies are running out. We don't have nearly enough for all of us. The other is investigating the man made structure and figuring out what to do from there. The faster the better, so we should divide and conquer."
"That would likely be our best option," Glenn says in agreement.
"Ayla hunt. Saw beast tracks, not far," Ayla spoke up.
"If that is the case then Robo and I can go retrieve some water. We'll have to purify it, but I have enough materials to rig something up here in the cave. Though I don't believe Ayla needs the help, perhaps someone should accompany her anyway," Lucca suggested.
"Seeing as Marle is more versed in history, she and Crono would make logical choices to investigate the man made structure. I shall accompany Ayla and assist her in her hunt. I am familiar with doing so as well," Glenn ended with an unintentional croak.
"I suppose that will have to do," I put the pendant back in my pocket. "How far away was that structure?"
'Shouldn't be far if you move quickly," Glenn answered and took a moment to collect his thoughts. "If you need to, Robo and I noticed a mountain side south of the structure with some places that might be possible to get out of the wind and cold."
"Hmm, good call," I looked to Marle. "Sound good to you?"
"If the worst comes to worst, then you two should take the rations and water we have now. And we'll wait as long as tomorrow morning before we go out searching for you," Lucca interjected.
"It's a plan then. Let's do this everyone!" Marle grinning and everyone chimes off their agreement.
For the moment we were trapped in an unknown time with the Gate being unstable. This place was nothing like anything I had ever seen. Snow, harsh cold winds and floating land? What could this time era be? And did it have a connection to Lavos? Were all the gates and era's connected to Lavos? I felt like we were close to figuring out some key details. First things first, Marle and I needed to figure out anything about where and when we are.
"There is nothing here," Marle's teeth were chattering as we walked into the man made structure. On the outside it looked like an odd shaped hut with color changing lights. No wonder Glenn and Robo had been able to notice it. Even through the thick clouds and the constant blizzard and harsh winds it had been easy to see.
I put my arms around Marle, and thankfully the inside of this building was warm and I could feel my body welcoming it. There wasn't anything though, just like Marle said. But on the floor was a circle and a transcription, a drawing of something I had no hope of deciphering, and it was colored red... and pulsing. "Not exactly nothing."
"What is that? Looks... kind of creepy," Marle shook her head. She seemed to have warmed up as she took a moment to move away from me and knelt down at the edge of the circle. "But... Crono, I can feel magic."
"Magic?" I moved next to her and stretched out my hand. I definitely felt something, but it was hard for me to distinguish a difference. While I understood how to cast my own magic, it had been difficult for me to sense it in a way that Marle seemed to be able to. She definitely seemed more talented in that regard. Then a thought came to me, "A means of travel?"
"Like teleportation? To the... landmass in the sky?" Marle blinked. "A skyway?"
"Remember what Spekkio said when we met him? When he gave us the ability to do magic he said that there was a time whee many humans had such abilities. Or something like that. This could be that time. Which means... something must happen to cause all of the floating land to fall..." I am speculating but obviously there wasn't any landmass floating where we are from. And if there had to be a reason why people stopped being able to use magic it would have had to be a big event.
"Guess that means we don't have a choice," Marle stands back up and pulling me up as well.
I knew we had to give it a shot but still, "Should we? I mean..."
"If we don't then we won't make any progress. There isn't anywhere else we can get to here," Marle brought up a good point. "And we don't know how long it will be before we can use the Gate again."
"How does it go? Fear of the unknown is feared only because no one dared to brave it?" I couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
"Ah right, that is Toma the adventurer right?" Marle smiles a bit, and turns me to her. She puts her hands up to my face and pulls me down and kisses me. "This has to be less scary than being a future monarch."
I furrow my eyebrows in reaction, "That would also mean proving I didn't kidnap you to a corrupted justice system and your Father acknowledging me as your husband to be. That doesn't even include the..."
Marle laughs and quickly kisses me again to silence me, "Exactly my point. This is definitely less scary."
I sighed and looked to the magic circle pulsing on the ground, "You're not wrong. I suppose all we can do is give it a shot. And I'd rather it be us that tries it. It isn't like you would let me try it first."
"You're right," Marle takes my hand and without warning pulls me and her onto the magic circle. It began to glow immediately. "We're going to do everything together, the good, the bad, and the questionable stupid."
An odd purple light emitted around us and I felt the energy pulling us up. I grabbed Marle, pulling her close to me as we started to life into the air. I thought about what Marle said, doing everything together. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. But there was no point in hesitating either. There was too much we didn't know. Magus had disappeared from 600AD, meaning he was somewhere in time as he didn't get forced to the same time period as we had. Considering Magus' goal was to summon Lavos, regardless of his intention for doing so it was a dangerous prospect. While it seemed like nothing had changed in the timeline thus far we couldn't know for sure that it wouldn't. The flow of time was still moving forward. Proof of this was that the Gates that we used to travel did not return to a specific place in time. If it was then every time we used the Gate and the fairgrounds it would always be the time in which the Queen was missing. So in a strange way, the differences in the time periods are far enough apart that we can't unintentionally run into ourselves. As to why it worked that way, I wasn't nearly smart enough to begin to guess.
Marle and I held each other close as our vision seemed to fade away but felt we were moving up. The next moment we stopped and our vision was restored. The two of us steadied ourselves from a brief dizziness before we moved off the magic circle. We found ourselves not in a building but a stone structure. Stairs led to the top where we stood with stone columns and a path that led to the stairs. I blinked as the two of us silently walked down the stairs, separating from each other. Marle moved up to one of the columns and put her hand on it. I looked up to the sky... it was just a sea of blue. But then... islands floating in the sky. We were on one of them, but other masses of land could be seen floating in the distance. The sun shined on us, and it was warm. There was grass, rocks, flowers nearby around us, off of the stone path.
"It really was a skyway," Marle was looking up having moved back next to me. "But Lucca said having someplace livable up here shouldn't be possible. The atmosphere should be thinner, making it harder to breath and should be cold if not colder than the ground."
"Yeah, but it isn't. And I don't feel much different in terms of breathable air. And it is definitely a good comfortable temperature here. This is... all ideal living environmental wise. It is definitely not natural though," I turn and see buildings in the distance. "Looks like a city. Might be better if we scope it out without all the others with us."
"And it might raise more questions if there is a robot and frog walking around," Marle giggled. That was definitely true. Not to mention all of our clothes would likely stand out by itself. We had lucked out for the most part in the places we've been. The future had people that just didn't have the capacity to do anything if they wanted too. The middle ages had presented the capacity to cause the most trouble but our ability to use magic had made it less dangerous. Well, the present day we were wanted criminals by Guardia, due to all the events that happened there. But it was more of us not wanting to hurt anyone that we know there. In one way or another Lucca and I were familiar with most that worked in the castle due to our parents. Lucca's Father worked as a craftsman and often led construction projects for the kingdom. My own Father had been a knight and personal protector to the Queen before she died. Not to mention I had been working as a monster hunter and bodyguard beforehand, so I knew a lot of people in the cities of Truce and Porre. As well as knowing the majority if not all the merchants that frequently go between both. Plus I often sold animal skins and monster materials to them as well.
However, this place... if magic was common here then they would likely be more proficient and skilled in those arts than we could hope to be. And if it was... I had no doubts that the reason this land falls and magic slowly disappears from the world was related to Lavos. Considering it could be possible that Lavos itself could be the reason why the Gate's existed, then magic itself could also be a byproduct. Why? I couldn't even begin to speculate on that. But it would mean that Lavos influenced mankind far more than we could imagine.
The two of us made our way towards the city, and notably there was a building in the center of the city that was much bigger than the others. People seemed to be wearing robes, but there was something about them.
"They look like a bunch of Professors. Like the tutors I had at the castle," Marle commented and hit on what my thoughts had been about. It was as if all of them here were... hmm researchers? Yeah, that was how Lucca put it whenever she was testing things. That there was always a great deal of research needed before she made her first prototype.
"Magic researchers, maybe?" I suggested.
"That seems likely," Marle nodded. We noted that their were children about and not all of them were donning the same style. So no one really looked twice at Marle and I. We made our way to the building in the city center as it seemed to have a good number of people entering and leaving.
Stepping in, we moved to the side to get out of the way and watched as we saw a big area with people about. Books seemed to be everywhere and I was positive that I saw someone casting a spell.
"It's just as we thought. People here can do magic," Marle pointed and we watched as someone conjured a flame in their hands.
"Oh? I sense something familiar in you," a voice approached from behind us.
We turned around and saw a being that looked familiar. They looked exactly like Masa and Mune who we had fought to claim the blade of the sword. But that should have been long after this time, right? Still... I took a shot, "Do you... know Masa or Mune?"
The being blinked, "You know my brothers? I'm Doreen, their older sister. I could sense their energy on you. Curious, you do not seem to be from here. At least I have never seen you before."
I shared a look with Marle.
Marle followed up, "It's complicated, but yeah we don't know anything about this place."
Doreen smiled, "Then allow me to enlighten you. This is the Magic Kingdom of Zeal. It is a place where dreams can be made into reality. That is what is liked to be said among those here that refer to themselves as the enlightened. Though I'm sure you know that nothing in this world comes free. There is always a price to be paid. You will find many here that will not care who you are. Many of which have lost themselves to their research and can no longer tell if they are dreaming or awake. That is the power of magic they explore here. To find breakthroughs in power. And all are fiercely loyal to Queen Zeal who rules over this Magic Kingdom."
"So magic is known by all here," I would imagine it is why no one thinks twice of Doreen's presence as well.
Doreen moves closer looking between Marle and I, "I sense you both come here with great purpose, and you will influence the future of this world. How interesting. Your connection to my brothers is also of interest. Explore the city of Enhasa, here. Arm yourself with knowledge and then make your way to the palace. I believe whatever it is you seek will only be found there."
Before we could respond, Doreen spun and disappeared completely from view.
I blinked, "Some sort of teleportation magic?"
"Considering Masa and Mune are part of a sword I wouldn't discount any possibility," Marle comments. "Let's take a look around then. Maybe we can figure more about the Kingdom of Zeal."
So we started to explore this place with the mind of finding out as much as we could. This city was known as Enhasa, Zeal's City of Dreams. Supposedly they sought enlightenment within sleep and dreams. The actual place of magical research happened in a different city on the western continent called Kajar. Although going there meant going through the landbridge teleporter, which is what they called the structure that had gotten us to up here in the sky. Additionally there seemed to be an airship called the Blackbird. A lot of the other people we tried to talk to seemed to be out of it, or proposing existential queries that I couldn't hope to be able to answer. Marle took on those questions and she even seemed to have a decent conversation with one about the concept of Fate and predetermined destinies. I guess if I had anything to comment on it would be that. After all if fate was not something that could be changed, then the alternative is that in the end we would be the reason why Lavos destroyed the world in the future. And I definitely wasn't about to believe that.
One thing that seemed to be a running theme for everyone we talked to is the adoration of Queen Zeal. It felt very fanatical, like the Mystics that worshiped Magus. But Marle and I only shared a look, knowing that commenting on something like that in a place we could be overheard wasn't the best of ideals.
We were heading up a set of stairs when a boy with light blue hair looked at us from the top. And a cat with dark purple like fur stayed at his side. He walked past us but something about his presence made me stop. At the base of the stairs the boy stopped. I don't know why but I watched him.
"The black winds howl," the boy said just loud enough for us to hear. He looked back us, "You two should be careful. One of you will shortly perish."
"What?" Marle couldn't help but let out.
He turned away from us, the cat following the boys example, "I am sorry." And he then walked off.
"The black winds?" I repeated. Haven't I heard that somewhere before?
"Crono..." Marle was at my side and took my arm. "You don't think... he had some sort of premonition... do you?"
"Regardless of why he said that to us, does it change anything? Death has always been a possibility since we decided to try and save the future, right?" I go the rest of the way up the stairs. Marle staying latched to my arm the whole way.
"I know but..." Marle seemed unable to come up with what she wanted to stay but I understood the hesitation and concern hearing that brings. After all, it immediately make me think of Marle dying. I definitely was against that happening. But it wasn't like me dying instead was the better option. I might prefer it but Marle would have the same line of thoughts that I did.
"Thinking about it is pointless. First of all it wasn't like he told us how it would happen, so how could we do anything to prevent it? And attempting to be overly cautious because of his warning could be the very reason one of us dies. So, Marle let's just continue and do what we've done all this time," I wasn't sure how else I could say it. Fortunately, Marle nodded in agreement, but she refused to leave my side for the rest of our time in Enhasa.
"Welcome. This is the Magic city of Kajar. We perform research in the magical arts to help further Her Majesty's plans to deliver our kingdom even greater glory," A man welcomed Marle and I as we stepped into the largest building of the city. Much like Enhasa this seemed to be the central place of activity for the town. The citizens of this city were definitely more observant in how we dressed and were different than the locals. Even as we went further in a woman stopped us and noted that our magic seemed different, although she could not place how. It was interesting to see people able to sense things in such a way. Marle even continued to talk with the woman and seemed to figure out a bit more on how to sense things with her own magic. Marle had a natural talent to magic, at least it seemed so to me. She was much more attuned to her power than I was.
Getting to Kajar had been an adventure in itself. We had gotten good directions at least. We had to teleport back down to the icy cold tundra via a different landbridge to then traverse across to get to a different one and then use it to teleport to the other continent. And then it was still a good long walk to make it to the city of Kajar. We saw the dock area on the side of the floating land mass where the airship Blackbird was docked but the two of us decided against getting close to it. If there had been a multitude of similar vehicles it would have been different, but there was no doubt that the one who owned the Blackbird would be someone of significant importance. In a society like this I would expect nobles or people close to the reigning Monarch, or in this case Matriarch be those with obvious status symbols.
It was becoming more unsettling that no one spoke against the Queen. Not a single person seemed to have a complaint, only praise to offer. And all of it was in service to the greater glory of Zeal. It was definitely creating an odd narrative for Queen Zeal. Apparently she took over after the King died, but we heard a lot of reverence for the King. What we also heard was that the Queen had refocused the Kingdom to focus on magical research. The timing of it sounded suspicious as hell. The biggest question was, if all of this was held up by magic then what was the power source? Magic from what I could tell wasn't something that could be sustained forever. Like Lucca had said, there had to be an energy source. It was the same with magic as it was with the technology that Lucca created. We could only use so much magic before we needed to rest. So what could be the source of all of this? How could this mass of land exist up here? Especially with keeping it temperate and livable at a height in the atmosphere where it shouldn't be possible to live. And yet... it was more than accommodating life here, and was more than warm enough.
Talking with people around Kajar we learned that there were people living down on the harsh surface, and they were known as the Earthbound Ones. People that could not use magic. So then, only those with the gift to use magic were allowed to live in the Magic Kingdom of Zeal. A society of exclusion and natural disposition for segregation. But the most intriguing information that Marle found was that Her Majesty Queen Zeal had two children. A young woman named Schala, and a younger child by the name Janus. However, there seemed to be more said about Schala, referred to by people that talked to her as Lady Schala. Apparently her magical prowess was significant. From everything we heard it was obvious we needed to learn more about the way Zeal worked, and just how powerful this magic was. Something about it felt wrong.
Marle and I stopped outside of a room for a moment after talking to someone that seemed to be jealous of the power that Lady Schala had.
"The Earthbound Ones are helping speed the construction of the Ocean Palace. Her Majesty has deemed them a place in the construction that will no doubt serve as a symbol of the Queen's greatness. I should have known that Her Majesty was capable of such mercy for thus not blessed as we are," a man spoke inside.
"It will be a pinnacle of all we have done so far. Our research shows that there is nothing that our great Kingdom cannot accomplish. Her Majesty is truly a blessing. We should all feel fortunate to be able to serve her," a woman said.
"And to think that Lady Schala posses even greater magic than Her Majesty. While it is unfortunate that Lord Janus doesn't seem to have such a gift, our future is still bright that Lady Schala will likely reign after Her Majesty," the man responded.
"You two, hustle up with your work. The Ocean Palace is going to run behind schedule if we don't deliver these plans on time," another man said and then came out of the room.
The two of us moved out of the way and didn't seem like we were noticed for eavesdropping.
"So this Lady Schala is more powerful than the Queen?" I pondered for a moment. "Then she is either full support of the Queen or..."
"...Heavily watched," Marle said. "Isolated, controlled, and likely kept quiet to stop any possibility of a different opinion."
"Considering all we've heard about Queen Zeal, I would say controlling public opinion might be a common practice here. We still have Zeal Palace to investigate. Which apparently is quite the walk and more teleporters to go through to get there. Should we head back or continue the whole way?" I asked after a moment.
"As much as I want to keep going, it might be better if we head back to the others for today. No point in pushing our luck for now. We've learned quite a bit," Marle sighed.
She was right, and most of the day had already gone by, and it would take us a while to get back to the others.
Calling it a day we left Kajar and made the long trek back, having to head back down, and then up again, passing Enhasa and finally to the location of the cave we had arrived in this era in. By the time we got there, night had fallen and so we were more cautious on our approach as I expected somebody would be on guard. As we approached we were welcomed.
"Welcome back, Crono and Marle," Robo was seen by the entrance. "I hope your endeavors were met with desirable results."
"Well, we did learn quite a bit," I shrugged. "Come on in we should all talk about it."
"Crono, Marle," Lucca perked up when we entered and so did everyone else. "Welcome back."
"Crono, Crono!" Ayla bounced over and nearly tackled me over. "Crono want food?"
Marle's stomach was the one that grumbled at the mention of it, "I guess we were so wrapped up in everything we never stopped to eat, did we?"
"Worry not, the hunt was quite fruitful so we have plenty of meat," Glenn spoke up.
"Yeah, good idea, we have a lot to tell everyone," I said and found a spot to sit. There was a lot to go over.
"The Magical Kingdom of Zeal," Glenn croaked involuntarily. "I've never heard of such a place in any story from my time."
"That seems hardly surprising. Marle, are you sure that you have never ran across a story involving floating land of any sort? Even a fairy tale?" Lucca asked Marle.
She shook her head as she rested against me. Marle didn't seem like she was going to leave my side anytime soon. The words that boy had said was likely still bothering her. Marle or I will die. That was what he had said. He didn't say it with any malicious manner and even apologized after he had said it. That was probably the most concerning part of it. Because that kind of empathy for his message led credence to his claim. Likely because things he has said in the past had likely come true.
"Yeah, it seems strange that not even a fable persisted to our time. And from what Spekkio told us before, Magic had been something people had in the past, not the future," I spoke up. "Considering how things have happened, and if the theory we had before that Lavos might have a presence in this time, then it is likely connected to those floating continents eventually falling."
"Considering the events thus far, I believe these locations of the Gates are not random as one might be willing to believe," Glenn spoke up.
"To speak logically, every place we've visited has had significant importance to the timeline, with the exception of one. As far as we know anyway," Lucca pushed up her glasses.
"You mean the future," Marle spoke up. "And yet if we hadn't ended up there we might not have continued this journey through the Gates."
"The world is destroyed then, so the influence of Lavos seems to be no longer important at that time. At least as far as we know right now. What is more likely is that we just hadn't found what made that time period important yet. Despite being after Lavos destroyed the world there could be something else possible at that time. And something else that should be considered," Lucca looked to me. "After living on this planet for millions of years, why would it suddenly decide to destroy it? I can only think of one reason. It no longer needed life on our planet."
"So what it just had enough of people being around?" Marle seemed skeptical.
"And if he fell in Ayla's time, and if that was millions of years in the past, that makes you wonder why it waited so long?" I shook my head.
"That would be impossible to speculate without knowing what kind of existence Lavos is. The longevity it has is beyond what anything in our world is capable of. We lack knowledge," Lucca said concisely and then sighed. "As such, exploring Zeal Palace is likely what we should do next. There is likely a library or someone there that could provide answers for the magic behind the floating continents."
"Then we should look for the people called the Guru's. Crono and I separated a couple times in Enhasa and I got to talking with someone about what kind of advancements have been made. I gave them an excuse that I had been focusing more on my own studies than the events in the Kingdom. It was enough to learn a bit more about Zeal. But the Guru's seem to be the top of their individual fields. Though I wasn't able to really learn much more than that," Marle spoke up, she hadn't mentioned it before, but to be honest it would be hard to really determine if it was information worth knowing.
"It's enough," I was wondering what was the Queen's goal. This civilization was too advanced and the presence of magic just left me with a thought. Something horrible was going to happen, and likely the Queen was at the source of it all. It was a fair bit of speculation but there was no floating continents or magic in our time or even Glenn's time.
"So we'll make the journey to Zeal Palace tomorrow," Lucca said. "Do you believe we should all go?"
"If I could," Glenn said. "Even if people might not question our presence, it might be prudent for Robo, Ayla and I to remain behind. You three have the most experience with magic, and Crono and Marle already have an established presence at this point."
As if responding to her name, Ayla grunts from next to Lucca. Apparently Ayla had fallen asleep next to Lucca. And now snuggling against her. Lucca didn't seem to mind and was just focusing on some adjustments she was making to her scanner. She stopped and looked at Ayla for a moment before looking to the rest of us, "Glenn has a point. Besides it wouldn't be great if something to were to happen and we were all taken."
I scratched my head, "Yeah, and we don't know just what kind of problems are ahead. It's possible that the knowledge we need about Lavos is connected to the Queen and the floating continents. I would be more surprised if it wasn't. So, what should be our response if something were to happen? If Marle, Lucca and I go, then we should determine what should happen if we are captured or... we end up going through a Gate."
Lucca shook her head, "No, I think we should stay as we have so far. Crono, you and Marle go to Zeal Palace. I'll go to Kajar and try to find more information about the technology here and make connections. Glenn will be my backup with Ayla and Robo keeping this cave secured. This way I should be able to find out if anything happens to you if you don't come back in a day."
"With the Gate remaining unstable and being unable to return to the End of Time, it is probably the best option," I sighed.
"We can do this," Marle put a hand on my arm. "We're just looking for information. We'll stay cautious and only take action if we absolutely have to."
Was there an ideal situation that would make it safer? And there was no doubt that Marle was thinking about what that boy said. The two of us being alone continuing the investigation might be what gets one of us killed. But I couldn't think of an explanation for why I would prefer we all went. This was the optimal solution so that we could find out as much as possible and have people that weren't in immediate danger and could respond as needed. And if there were people on to Marle and I and someone realized how unusual our presence was, then having people that hadn't been seen yet in reserve would give a better chance as well.
All I could do was make sure I ate, rested and be prepared for our investigation of Zeal Palace.
We were welcomed upon entering the Palace. And it seemed that here was similar to the buildings we had visited in Enhasa and Kajar.
"This is the Queen's palace, and the center of the Magic Kingdom of Zeal. Which is to say, this is the center of the universe," the man chuckled. "May I ask what brings you both to the palace today?"
"We simply wish to see and learn of what Her Majesty surrounds herself with that makes her so amazing," Marle smiled at the man without missing a beat. I nodded in agreement.
"Ah, then it is your first visit to the palace. Please, come in and talk people within. The only place you are restricted from seeing is the throne room, as the Queen is quite busy," the man then motioned for us to enter.
The two of us walked past him and through the path behind him. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw two individuals I recognized. Masa and Mune the pair of individuals we had fought before.
"I want to be the wind, Masa!" Mune bounced around.
"Oh you will someday-if you try hard enough," Masa smiled.
"Our big sister Doreen went to Enhasa again," Mune changed the subject.
"Yeah..." Masa shook his head. "She likes to dream."
"I like the wind better than dreams! Whoosh!" Mune spun in place.
Masa sighed ignoring his brother, "I wonder how the Guru of Life is doing. What are we supposed to do without him? Humans- I'll tell ya.."
Marle and I moved away from them.
"Wait, so Masa and Mune are originally from the Kingdom of Zeal and were forged into a sword?" Marle shook her head.
"So something did survive from this age. How about we split up for now and ask around? Let's stay out here in the open area and just talk with who is out here. Just come find me after you've talked to some people. I'll focus on the left area of the palace," I laid out a plan and Marle agreed. The two of us separated and went to talk as many that would spare us the time. We found out more than we could have predicted.
Marle and I reconvened later and stepped near a bookcase and talked quietly over what we had discovered. The three Guru's were split between the Guru of Reason, the Guru of Life and the Guru of Time. The names of them were Gaspar for Time, Belthasar for Reason and Melchior for Life.
"Melchior, huh?" I shared a look with her. "You don't think that old man..."
"That happens to know how to repair the Masamune and knows about those spirits that inhabit the sword... Yeah I imagine it is the same person," Marle said without hesitation. "I highly doubt it is a coincidence. As much I might have thought before."
"Reason, Life and Time," I thought about it for a moment. "I wonder why those are the domains they claim to be the Guru's of."
"To be honest, I heard something else that is much more concerning. A prophet has appeared and rapidly gained favor with the Queen by making a bunch of predictions," Marle hadn't finished saying this before it came to my mind.
"Magus," I said. "That would mean that Magus originated from this time. But if you add in the fact that Melchior is in our time, then that means there has to be an event in which all of them get pulled into a Gate, causing the Guru's and a young Magus into different time eras."
"Considering the borderline fanaticism and blind loyalty to the Queen we've heard from the people that live in Zeal... And then there is the Ocean Palace which is supposed to be their technical achievement..." Marle eyes widened. "Oh, Crono I also heard that..."
A woman comes by rather quickly causing both Marle and I to stop and note where she had come from. Without a thought we both went through the doorway that the woman had emerged from and could hear voices from a room to our right.
"Schala!" the voice of a young boy. One that sounded familiar. The two of us moved quickly and quietly to listen in to the conversation inside.
"Oh, Janus, you've returned," a few moments of silence. "Is something wrong, brother?"
"It's the black winds," Janus stated. Wait, that was the boy that had said that either Marle of I were going to die sometime soon. He was Janus? The son of the Queen?
"You feel the foreboding, too? Don't worry, it will be all right," Schala was comforting her younger sibling. "Here, keep this close."
"What is it?" Janus asked.
"It's an amulet containing my prayers. If something should happen, it will keep you safe," Schala audibly sighed, and it was clear to me that she was not giving her younger brother information as to why she would say such a thing. "I wish that I could remain with you always, Janus. But Mother has other plans."
"That's not our mother! She looks like her, but she's not the same inside," Janus raised his voice.
"I wish there was another path to take. Even still... Forgive me, Janus. I believe that this is the best option I have," Schala stated.
"Excuse me," a woman comes pushing past us and we step to the side near the door. She goes in. "Pardon, your Highness. The Queen requests your immediate presence at the Ocean Palace."
"Very well," Schala was quiet for a few beats before speaking. "Janus, I must be on my way."
"Don't let mother hurt you," Janus spoke.
A few moments and we saw Schala herself. Long blue hair, pulled back with a red ribbon, so her face was easy to see. She was also wearing an elegant purple robes, and her eyes seemed to convey only sadness. She looked at Marle and I and she came to a stop in front of us. "I've never seen you two before. I'm Schala."
"I'm Crono, this is Marle. We've just been trying to learn more about what the Queen has been doing," I didn't waste time.
"Your Highness... the Queen..." the woman that had retrieved Schala didn't like us holding her up.
"Apologies, I must make haste to the Queen," Schala gave a quick bow before rushing off.
Marle and I watched as Schala rushed off following the woman that had gotten her. I immediately went to follow her. Marle was right behind me. We tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as we tried to keep Schala in view. We could see people stop and glance to Schala as she passed by everyone and led to what was likely the throne room. This made it easier to follow her. As people returned to their own business, the two of us went into the Grand Hall that led to the Throne room. Several people stood by as Schala approached a door. And then something unexpected happened. She pulled out a pendant and held it up to the door. A pendant that looked exactly the same as Marle's. It started to glow and then, in response the door opened. Schala put her pendant back around her neck before she then stepped in, the door closing behind her.
The two of us shared a look at the surprise of what had just happened as well as the similarity between the pendants, but with the people here, any response out loud could cause suspicion of who we were. Marle took my arm and the two of us turned and left the hall. We went to a corner near some bookshelves before we allowed ourselves to say anything.
"Wasn't that locked door crazy?" Marle asked in a whisper. "Not to mention the pendant."
I pulled out the pendant that belonged to Marle from my pocket and we both looked it over. "The similarities are uncanny."
"Hey, Crono. Do you think it is possible that it is the same pendant?" Marle asked, our voices low enough so no one would overhear us.
"No idea," I said honestly. "The question comes with what do we do now?"
Marle looked away to see if anyone was watching us, "The people in the cities haven't told us anything we couldn't figure out for ourselves. The only way we'll learn anything is from the crown."
I sighed heavily and scratched the back of my head, "I figured you might say something like that."
"It's like her citizens don't have a mind of their own. Or I suppose the ones here are simply too wrapped up in their own research or happiness to care. They are clearly satisfied with the current state of affairs," Marle explained herself a bit more.
"The land of exuberance and sloth, inhabited by the Enlightened Ones, living in the sky above the frozen land below. And the oppressed and barely surviving down below, the Earthbound Ones. At least, based on what we've learned in our time up here. Still, this isn't going to last," I found it absolutely bonkers that this was in the history of our world. A floating continent and kingdom. Just what exactly was going to befall this country?
"Yeah but..." Marle paused looking past me, I followed her eyes watching someone enter a room on the far side. "I think they must have something on display through that hallway. I've seen a lot of foot traffic going in and out of there."
I wonder if Marle was just used to noting the behaviors of individuals in Guardia Castle. Or if it was just something she had picked up seeing often only the same individuals every day. Still, the place she indicated was a place we hadn't checked yet. "Let's go."
We moved together across and into the hallway. As we did we saw someone enter a room at the end. Standing near the entrance was a woman who smiled as we approached. She was dressed in an elegant dress, much like the other women we had seen here. If anything only Schala had seemed to be dressed differently and the reason for that was because the Queen was her Mother. We were starting to put things together.
"Are you two here to see the Mammon Machine?" the woman smiled.
"That's right," Marle didn't miss a beat. "How could we come to the palace and not see it?"
"How right you are," the woman grinned. "To feel the power of Lavos so close, to see it as its infinite power can be harnessed. Truly it is Melchior's finest creation to date. Ah, but don't let me hold you up, go and enjoy it's majesty."
Marle and I shared a look before we walked through the doorway and into the room. The lighting in here was different, and standing in the center was the mammon machine. It looked alien, in every sense, there was a creature like quality to it and it was pulsing with an unpleasant vibe, and yet the individuals that were in this room looked as if this was the most comforting sight that could ever exist. The two of us stopped in front of it and were silent as we could feel the malevolent energy that came from the machine. If this was the energy of Lavos, that more than explained it. Then I felt it.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out Marle's pendant, it was pulsing, resonating with the Mammon Machine. Marle instinctively blocked the view of it from any onlookers in the room as we watched it glow. "It's the same is Schala's."
"Could it really be?" Marle whispered. "Should we go back? To the Throne Room?"
If we could sneak in, it might be the information we needed. I nodded and shoved the pendant back in my pocket. Doors that can only be opened by the power of Lavos, that is forcibly sucked out by the Mammon Machine. I feel like I have an idea as to what exactly was going to happen to this society. There were people here that seemed to be almost worshiping the damn thing. Marle and I couldn't leave it soon enough.
The moment we left and the hall behind us both of us took a deep breath, as if the air in that place had been horribly polluted. That oppressive atmosphere... it reminded me of that horrible future we had seen. The one we vowed to stop. We then navigated down the hall that led to the Throne Room and made sure it was clear of people. There was no point in putting guards, after all, the door could only be opened by a pendant that Schala held. And if we were right, so was Marle's.
"Okay, assuming this works, we'll just hide somewhere so we can hear their conversation. Hopefully there is some place we can do that, or this isn't going to go well," I muttered.
"Right," Marle nodded.
I took out the pendant and held it to the door to the throne room. We watched as it glowed and in an instant the door had vanished, just as it had for Schala. We shared a look before we both quietly stepped in. But the moment we did something seemed to scream at me in alarm. I grabbed Marle and dived forward as a massive creature landed where we had just been standing. It looked like some sort of living construct... a golem?
"It seems you were right, Prophet. To think they would find a way to enter the throne room," A lavishly dressed, vain woman sat upon a throne. The Queen. Standing also in the room was Schala who looked shocked to see us here. A man in a dark violet cloak, his face hidden from view. And a man with his own rather lavish outfit stood there somewhat amused.
"These are the bringers of disaster that I spoke of," the cloaked man said.
"To that there can be no doubt. Just entering the throne room without permission is defiance enough. Dalton, seize them. If you kill them I will be rather displeased," the Queen looked to the lavish dressed man.
"Of course, your Majesty," the man grinned and flourished his cloak in dramatic fashion. "Golem, take them!"
"That... did not go as planned," Marle noted as she pulled up her crossbow as the Golem we had barely managed to dodge before rushed us.
I unsheathed my katana swiftly and met the charge head-on. The throne room did not give much room to maneuver but that didn't seem to matter to the Golem. I focused my energy to my katana and released a wind slash to slow down the incoming attack. My attack traveled along the ground and slammed into the Golem.
"Unshackle from the hands of time! Haste!" Marle's voice rang out and I felt her magic wrap around me. I used the sudden enhancement to charge forward and jump at the golem, attacking at points on the golem that appeared the most vulnerable. It tried to reach and grab me but I easily evaded him to land continuous sword strikes. But they weren't doing much harm.
"Marle!" I yelled out as I jumped up avoiding another swipe from the golem and landed on it's arm and used it to launch myself up into the air.
"Encase his blade with the bite of winter! Ice Sword!" Marle's magic quickly went down my blade as I brought it down and stabbed the head of the golem... lodging it deep into its head. I left it there and jumped back to the ground.
I felt myself begin to float off the ground as my magic power coursed through my body, "Come forth and unshackle the chains of heaven! Lightning Raid!" The massive lightning attack that usually spread over a greater area focused down onto my sword, traveling through it and striking the golem deep into its body. Only a moment later the golem collapsed and my sword fell free and I quickly picked it up.
I heard Marle yelp as I turned to her and saw the man named Dalton restricting her and a knife held to her throat, "Careful now. I'm so upset about you killing my golem my hand is likely to slip. And you wouldn't want that would you?"
I glared at him but tossed my sword to the ground.
"Glad you understand your place," Dalton grinned.
The Queen laughed, amused by the scene in front of her, "Fear not. I won't kill you-not immediately, that is. I'll allow you to sample every type of pain and fear imaginable first. By the time we're through, you'll be begging us to end your suffering. Ah, what a delicious diversion. Dalton, take them away."
I could only grit my teeth. This wasn't over yet.
Time seemed like a distant concept. But it surely had been days, if not weeks since Marle and I had been captured. It all had been blurred together, between all matters of torture at the hands of the Queen and Dalton. And both of us made witness to the other in that time. Even now, while floating in this imprisoned magical field I could hear the echoes of Marle's screams of pain... or her screams when she had to watch me get tortured. I'm sure that Lucca and the others were more than aware of our predicament and had no means of acting to save us just yet.
We had been reckless, maybe too confident that something like this couldn't happen. The Queen and Dalton did not care to hear our words, only our screams and cries for relief. Even if I could hold against it better than Marle... hearing Marle had broken me... if only I could get her out of here. If there was just a chance, even a moment I could...
"Fools. They should have expected as such for defying Mother," a voice said. Through half open eyes I looked down to see two individuals. A young woman and an even younger boy stood at the base of where we were imprisoned.
"Janus, do not think them fools. Strength to stand up for what you believe is right is something to be admired. They have more strength than I do," the young woman said, and as I gained more awareness of my surroundings I recognized the pair. Janus, the young boy, we had met previously, and his older sister, Schala who held an identical pendant to Marle. "And they might be the only ones that can help us now."
"Are you sure about this? Mother will punish you for letting them escape," Janus said.
Schala shook her head, "I'll be fine. Asides, if something isn't done we will all be in much greater danger. They might be able to save Melchior." She put her hands out and started chanting, magic swirled and the contraption that held us began to power down. I grabbed Marle's hand as we were slowly guided down to the ground.
Marle collapsed against me and I barely had the strength to stand. I looked at Schala, "Why?"
She raised her hand and chanted and I felt a wave of magic roll over me, healing both Marle and I. It was markedly similar to how Marle's magic felt. As I was able to breath easier I sighed and Marle was able to stand a little easier.
"Why would you help us?" Marle echoed my question again.
"If there were time, I would tell you all that you wish to know. However, your chance to escape does not allow us that time. I ask you to free the Guru of Life, Melchior, who has been imprisoned on the Mountain of Woe for opposing my Mother, the Queens, plan. Melchior himself can explain the details. Please, I beg of you, I know this is a selfish request and you have no reason to accept but-"
"-I'm afraid I cannot allow that," the man known as the Prophet entered. It was impossible to see his face as his hood hid it from view. "It seems I should put an end to them to ensure they won't meddle any further..."
"No! You musn't!" Schala moved quickly in front of us, between the Prophet and us. She put her hands out to stop him. Even the young boy Janus moved next to his sister... and... was that a cat? That's right, Janus had a cat that followed him in the couple times we've seen him.
The Prophet paused, seemingly surprised by the action. "You would go so far to protect those that you cling a false hope to?"
"What is it to you?" Schala said. "You, who come bearing the gift of prophecy... do you truly come to see my Mother's plan to fruition?"
The Prophet said nothing, only to seemingly look down as the cat meowed at him. He then sighed, "Very well. I shall spare their lives. In exchange, Schala, you will cooperate with me. Now, show me how it is you came to be here." The last message was directed at Marle and I.
Something about his change in demeanor made me curious... No, it wasn't time for speculation. "Give me your word that you won't harm anyone in this room. Then I will be completely honest with you."
"You're in no position to barter but I have no problems with that agreement. You have my word," the Prophet agreed.
"Crono?" Marle looked at me.
"Don't worry," I whispered. "It'll work out."
I wasn't sure if I had said that as a means to convince myself of its validity but either way... the next moment we were traveling out of the palace and made the trek back to the cave where we had entered this timeline.
"So this is how you came here," the Prophet raised his hand and the gate appeared, as if it was so easy to do so. "Return to whence you came."
Marle and I approached the gate, but I stopped and looked over my shoulder, "Tell me, the Kingdom of Zeal. This is where you came from, isn't it?"
"What good will it do you to know that?" he asked. The Prophet knew that I had already figured him out. He was no prophet, he brought no actual prophecy, he was just someone who had lived through the events. He was Magus.
"I can guess what happened, and what you were aiming for back then. Revenge, is it? Do you think you're taking the best route to ensure events don't play out the same way?" I turned to him.
"And what? I should ask you for help? Your power of you and your friends won't be enough to change anything," Magus shook his head.
"Power takes all forms," Marle supported me.
"We'll be back. And you better believe when the moment comes, I'm not going to back down. What will you do?" I said before Marle and I turned and jumped through the gate.
Lucca, as I expected, had likely found another place for them to make camp when they learned that Marle and I had been captive. Even if Magus had the means to prevent us from coming back with this Gate, there would likely be another way. After all we had found three separate gates in our time alone. But we would need to find a way back fast. Whatever event that Magus was hoping to prevent involved Lavos. It was the only reason that explained why he was trying to summon Lavos in the Middle Ages.
I don't know why, but something about Magus couldn't allow me to see him as a villain or evil. And well... he probably needed the help. And... why shouldn't it be us to do just that?
A/N:
I'm so sorry guys! Truly! I hadn't forgotten this story and certainly have no intentions of stopping until it's finished. But life has been a roller coaster for a lot of reasons. I mean yeah, the pandemic, but also ups and downs... losing a job, getting my job back, personal life stress and... I mean if life is one thing it is stubborn and unforgiving. Anyway, I've been wanting to get back to this because of just how close we are to some of the biggest and most impactful parts of the game. Not to mention having to take some creative liberties on the development of it... as after certain events the game opens up and you can tackle things or not tackle things at your discretion. But hey, let's talk about the chapter!
The Kingdom of Zeal is kind of crazy looking back at it now. You come to this time period and have like zero guidance on what you should do. There is nothing in the game that beats you over the head with things. Instead the game takes a backseat and lets you explore for yourself. The world outside is harsh, cold... and seemingly devoid of any life. Granted there are no enemy encounters on the world map, just because of how the game is designed, but all you have access to is a cave that is seemingly a dead end, and a strange building with no one on the inside, just a strange glyph/magic circle on the ground. Then stepping on it you are given a cutscene of being transported up, into the clouds, where you are welcomed by the site of a land mass, cities and a palace. Even going into the city, no one approaches you or stops you from exploring around. Talking to the inhabitants reveals you to be in Zeal, and tidbits about the Queen, her daughter Schala... the Guru's and even the boy named Janus. Talking to enough people in the cities and the Palace shows that a lot of people are aware of the Queen's recent changes in behavior but are so benefited by the existence of the Mammon Machine (a device draining power directly from Lavos) that they just accept things as they are.
It's weird now. The player is fully capable of skipping all of these details. You can literally just run past it all, head to the Palace, go see Schala, then power up the pendant via the Mammon Machine and then rush into the Throne room without really knowing or seeing the odd and rather unsettling atmosphere that is in the cities of Enhasa, or Kajar. Or miss the brief cameo of Dalton if you visit the dock with the Blackbird. A cameo that actually foreshadows some of Dalton's ambitions.
There is also the separation of class here, where there is the Enlightened and the Earthbound Ones. With the Earthbounds even being used as slave workers for construction. So much world building and background can be found for those that searched for it. The appearance of the Prophet is also talked about before you make it to the Throne Room and was never really that big of a surprise that it was Magus. But it also adds so much more depth and logical motivation for Magus' actions that are also never outright explained. But I don't plan to.
So now Crono and Marle are on their own to find their way back, with Ayla, Frog, Lucca and Robo essentially trapped in the other time and may or may not know that Crono and Marle are no longer captured. I'm excited to get to this next part with some of my favorite moments in the game. One way or another, this story is gonna keep going until I reach the end!
