The Magus Cut

by Windwillow

Both a sequel AND a prequel to Chrono Cross, plus a remake of my original CT fic. With Schala rescued the scene changes to the End of Time, where Gaspar, Spekkio, and Janus join Schala to recap the adventure while linking to the second game in the series. This won't be a straight remake, but with new angles and content. Contains mild language, violence, and suggestive themes.

3. Inside the Sanctum

Start Date: December 24, 2023

Windwillow

Chrono Trigger: The Magus Cut

Chapter Three: Inside the Sanctum

Scene One

Marle's fate depended on the two of them, now. However, there were a few odds and ends to wrap up first before they set out to look for the wayward queen. First on the list was a solid, filling meal - and fortunately, since everyone still thought that Crono was a hero, he and Lucca were granted full access to the castle kitchens. Both of them ordered a hearty breakfast of sausage and pancakes, prepared carefully by the nearly neurotic Master of Kitchens, who had already raised quite a fuss over developing "eyes cream" for the "queen."

The meal was top notch, very filling and satisfying. After all, these kitchens prepared food for the great Knights of Guardia. During the time of the Mystic War, if the soldiers weren't well led and suitably fed, they were demon fodder. It was during the meal that the pair eavesdropped on a nearby conversation that offered a clue as juicy as the food: the last time the queen was seen, it was when she was praying at Manoria Cathedral in the west. Reasoning that the queen was likely close by their destination was set, but Lucca stopped Crono before they left. She determined that they had to find him a suitable weapon.

Crono and Lucca were escorted to the Armory, with the soldier attendant remarking that only a true hero could fight Mystics with a wooden sword - he of course had no idea that Crono wasn't a hero and that the only combat experience he'd ever had was swatting birds in the Guardia Forest. Presented with a small arsenal of armaments ranging from broadswords to axes, Crono held out for the one item that he was hoping for - a katana. This was a real sword, something he'd never held, and he wanted his first time to be special.

After rustling through several boxes and shelves Crono finally found what he was looking for in a steel saber that had been custom imported from the eastern kingdom of Choras. It was a fine specimen of a traditional katana blade, with the first thing Crono noting was the weight that it held. Simply holding onto the saber took considerable effort from Crono's untrained muscles, but once he adjusted appropriately the katana settled onto his belt quite comfortably.

Traveling to the western Manoria Cathedral took three hours, one to work through the forest and another two to cut a path through the fields of the kingdom that separated them from their destination. Upon arrival Crono and Lucca found themselves in a beautiful chamber with an ornate organ in the back and four nuns with their heads bowed in prayer. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary, at least, but they knew that this had to be their target location.

"These nuns are speaking some sort of foreign language that I certainly haven't heard before..." muttered Crono. "Think it's Latin?"

Lucca, who recognized the tones of the nuns as being foreign, had her suspicions. Although she had the feeling that she'd heard the words before in an old Mystic text that she'd read once, she quickly pushed those feelings to the side. There was no way that these nuns were Mystics, after all. Crono and Lucca silently split up to find the queen, Crono heading through the pews and Lucca treading towards the central altar. Her eagle eyes scanned the room for clues, found nothing, but then locked onto a small pin prick of light at the foot of the altar. She quietly bent down to examine it, and upon finding a golden lion's crest she let out a loud yelp.

"She is here!" croaked Lucca. "I found her royal hairpin! Somewhere..." Her words brought a dark silence to the room. The four nuns, who stopped what they were doing at the precise moment Lucca spoke, silently shuffled towards the altar - where Lucca stood holding the crest. As the nuns walked past her Lucca felt a chilling sensation in the pit of her stomach, finally realizing that she was right - the nuns had been praying in the Mystic language.

"Draw that sword, Crono!" Lucca ordered as she withdrew her own weapon. "These aren't nuns!"

"Say what now?" Crono muttered lamely. In a burst of unholy flames the four nuns caught fire, the blazing heat masking what was beneath their false skins. As Crono watched in amazement - which soon blossomed to horror - what seemed to be humans melted away to reveal a bestial creature with the lower body of a snake and the upper torso of an inhuman reptilian creature, armed with long claw-like nails and two fangs that jutted down from their upper teeth. The four nuns were in truth four Mystics known as Naga-ettes, female serpent demons.

While Crono's horror continued to build unabated Lucca wasted no time in preparing her handgun to fire. She was forced to dodge one of the Naga-ettes' long tails, however, when it lashed out at her and destroyed the pew that she had tried to hide behind. Lucca tucked and rolled, but was continually targeted by the Naga-ette and found that she had no respite or way to escape - all she could do was try to survive and hope to line up a shot that she prayed would actually kill the devil. Her handgun wasn't battle-tested, for the simple reason that she'd never had to actually kill anything with it.

By sheer reflex Crono slid out of the way of a Naga-ette's slashing attack, shuffling through the pews in panic as the Mystic continued to assault him. For the first time in his life he clutched the grip of the katana and withdrew it in a wide flourish, the shimmering steel reflecting the light from the Naga-ette's chillingly alluring eyes. The Naga-ette wasted no time in engaging Crono and slashed at him with its razor-sharp claws. Crono narrowly managed to evade and parry the assault, trading blows until he finally lashed out with a slice that severed the Naga-ette's head from her shoulders.

The Naga-ette's severed head beat against a damaged pew and flopped to the floor, acid still dripping from its fangs. Crono's body immediately betrayed him and went stock still, his grip wavering on the katana even as a second Naga-ette slithered towards him. With a loud hiss the Mystic reared back and prepared to strike. Before it could, however, a large hole burst from its chest as Lucca's first-ever kill downed it in a single shot.

Lucca acted as a professional would and didn't falter, not letting down her guard even as she shuffled to Crono's side. This wasn't like him. "Crono, what the hell is wrong with you?!" she choked. As she turned towards her friend Lucca quickly realized that his sword was already in motion and abruptly ducked just in time to evade his killing blow - the one that decapitated the third Naga-ette. "Why did you choke, you idiot?!" Lucca snarled.

Crono quietly lowered his weapon and shook his head. Although he was back in control of his faculties, he was still shaken and made no motions to argue with Lucca. "Ma was right... Killing something really isn't anything to joke about!" Crono choked out with a deep gasp. "I couldn't handle murdering it... but then I saw that other one behind you and acted on instinct. If it takes killing to save you," he said resolutely, "then I'll gladly kill whoever wants to hurt you."

"Ha... Dummy," Lucca muttered. "Stop acting like you haven't pissed your pants." She stashed her weapon on her belt and wiped the sweat from her brow, then fell against an undamaged pew and tried to catch her breath. It had been a harrowing experience, one that Lucca knew she was very much unprepared for when she'd woken up and brushed her teeth in the morning before the fair. Lucca muttered a foul word and reclined against the pew, silently recounting what had happened until she actually recounted how many nuns they'd come up against.

Four! God dammit!

From behind her the fourth and final Naga-ette burst from behind the pew, fangs and claws brandished. Lucca immediately flinched and dropped to her seat, though when she turned around to stare down the beast she noted that there was a strange dividing line separating the area between its eyes. She stared in shock as the Naga-ette's face split open and fell to either side, let out a loud shriek, and skittered back into Crono's embrace just in time to realize that they had a guest.

Standing just under five feet tall, the intruder seemed to be a most unusual individual. That is to say, anthropomorphic frogs aren't generally seen in these parts around... well, any time. The bizarre creature wore a golden breastplate on its chest and had plain brown gloves and boots, notably carrying an appropriately-sized broadsword on its hip. It was clearly a swordsman of some kind, but of what make remained to be seen. The knight silently sheathed its blade and reached out to Lucca, but she swatted his hand away and tightened her embrace on her friend.

"Figures..." said the knight with a gruff sigh.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You're a t-talking frog!" Lucca shrieked. "Talking frogs aren't supposed to exist!"

The knight shook his head and laid a hand to his sword's pommel, leaning against a nearby pew to prop himself up against the hard wood. "A talking frog I may be, but I'm also a knight of this great kingdom," said the frog. He shook his head and smiled, an action that unnerved Lucca enough that she let out another yelp. Watching an anthropomorphic frog smile wasn't the kind of thing most people are prepared for. "I've come to rescue Queen Leene," it said softly. "Can I count on you to back me up?"

Lucca and Crono exchanged a silent stare of sheer confusion, though in the end they quietly turned back to the frog and nodded. Lucca quietly worked herself to her feet and staggered to stand, laying a hand to her chest to still her beating heart. "We ought to split up and explore..." she said breathlessly. This was approaching too much for her. "If the queen really is here, then there has to be a way through to the next chamber."

The unlikely rescue party quickly split apart and moved to examine the chamber. While the frog and Lucca carefully examined the room for any hidden switches, Crono gravitated towards the altar where Lucca had found Leene's hairpin. He found nothing at the place of worship that suggested a secret trigger. His eyes fell, however, to the organ in the back of the room and he quietly stepped towards it. When he reached the piano he silently scanned the keys for clues and his eye inched towards a small red button hidden beneath the organ, which when pressed caused a large door to open in the back of the room.

"Oh, crap!" croaked Lucca. "You found it!"

"Then we have no time to waste," said the knight, turning towards the door.

"W-Wait!" Lucca called out, stopping the knight in his tracks. As the frog pivoted and turned to face her, the scientist silently gave the sign of the cross and prayed for deliverance. But there was one loose end to tie up. "What are we supposed to call you, anyway?" she asked softly. "Frog?"

With a chuckle, the knight bowed his head and fell to one knee. "That sounds as good to me as anything," he said quietly. He lifted himself to his feet and turned towards the door, his hand on his weapon, and Lucca silently puffed out a nasty word. She hadn't been serious.

Scene Two

Behind the secret door awaited a large foyer, with a long staircase leading up to a large chamber with a steel door. To either side were statues of a fearsome figure, a cloaked demon wielding a long scythe. "This place was never intended for a human god..." Lucca muttered. She quietly examined the statue and a chill ran down her spine. "Since we fought Mystics to get here..." she reasoned softly, "then we're going to run into at least a few more to get to the queen."

From atop the staircase the steel door quietly creaked open and a strange, squat humanoid emerged. It was dressed in rags and clearly very dirty, though when it shut the door and turned down to see the party a wicked gleam formed in its eye. Lucca wasted no time and took no prisoners as she deftly drew her weapon, aimed it, and fired. The gunshot echoed through the chamber and, though it immediately killed the Hench, all three of them realized immediately that any element of surprise they might have held had just vanished in a steaming burst of gunpowder.

"Great job, dipstick!" Crono snarled as he smacked Lucca in the back of the head. "Now all we can do is charge through and kill everything before they kill us. I hope you're happy with yourself..." he muttered.

"Well, what the hell was I supposed to do?!" protested Lucca. "Did you not see the look in its eyes? It was hungry! For us!"

"Whatever happened..." reasoned Frog, "all we can do is march forward as carefully as we can. Watch your backs."

Although Crono and Lucca continued to quietly bicker between each other, Frog shook his head in disgust and clapped a hand to each of their shoulders, turned them around, and gave them the kind of glare that a headmaster gives to the students he's about to punish. This sobered the two up and allowed Frog to guide them up the stairs, towards the thick steel door that the Hench had emerged from. They quietly cracked the door open and peered inside, where they found a large number of Mystics asleep inside. Clearly they hadn't heard the gunshot.

"Look!" whispered Lucca. "Another organ! If we play it..."

Frog shook his head and slowly eased the door back shut. He quietly wiped the sweat from his brow and leaned against the wall, his hand on his sword. He hadn't seen action since Cyrus had been murdered and couldn't help but wonder whether he had it in him to actually defeat an army of Mystics. "But we all saw the spikes separating us from the organ..." he muttered. "We can't pass through until we do something about those."

"There has to be another switch," Lucca said softly. "Find that and we can move forward."

There were two paths to take, one to the left and the other to the right. The trio chose to take the right staircase, but as they sneaked down the stairs the entire stairway gave way and dropped them down into a nest of enemies. Five of them were Henches, the same as Lucca had killed before. The remaining five, however, were much more intimidating. These Mystics seemed to be some sort of bestial human/gryphon hybrid made of stone, five Gargoyles each of whom ranked above the Henches in the Mystic's army hierarchy.

Lucca panicked and lifted her handgun, a single shot blowing off the head of one of the Gargoyles and alerting the bunch to their whereabouts. A second Gargoyle turned and lashed out at the scientist, though Frog reacted immediately and cut open a large gash in its torso before kicking its body into the other three Gargoyles to stun them. The three Mystics let out a nasty shriek and lunged at the two. Frog lifted his weapon and clashed with the beast's steel-like skin with his sword, while one split off to go to Crono and the fifth and final one targeted Lucca.

The Gargoyle attacking Lucca hoisted its claw high and prepared to strike. Lucca quickly stashed her handgun in her satchel and rustled around before withdrawing her hammer. As the Mystic loomed above her she tightened her grip and swung, the powerful steel meeting the Gargoyle's stone skin and shattering several of its teeth while also knocking it out cold. Lucca quickly assumed a defensive position to prepare for the next attack, but found that there wasn't any enemy targeting her.

All five of the Henches reflexively attacked Crono at once. With a sharp curse he fell back and slashed in a wide sweeping motion that cut gashes through three of the five and downed them immediately. The remaining two engaged him swiftly, forcing the young swordsman to deftly parry their blows. He nearly was struck but managed to put them both down with two quick slices.

As the Henches fell the lone surviving Gargoyle, who had breezed past both Frog and Lucca, swung down with its stony claw and nailed Crono in the shoulder. Crono took the attack in stride and pivoted, the momentum from the Mystic's own attack bringing it close enough for Crono to lop off its head with a single slash. The Gargoyle fell back dead, but Crono yelped and grabbed at his injury, falling to one knee with a sharp curse. He'd never actually been wounded in battle before.

With both his friends having dispatched their lone targets Crono spat out another foul word as Lucca turned to tend to him. She rustled through her satchel and, after a few moments, withdrew a small vial of red liquid. Lucca popped open the bottle and slathered the contents onto Crono's wound. Though Crono shouted out in pain as the injury was touched, within moments he realized that the pain was subsiding. Further examination found that the wound itself had begun to close entirely.

"Lucca, what-" choked Crono.

"I've developed a healing tonic," Lucca said quickly as she rustled through her pack again and withdrew a small silver flask that she handed to Crono. "I've made both a topical and a drinkable type," she said smilingly. "Drink that and you ought to feel better real quick."

Crono shrugged and took a sip from the flask. The liquid, which tasted strangely sweet, flowed down his throat and he found to his amazement that both his pain and his mental stress had begun to lessen. He cracked a smile and handed the flask back to Lucca, who stashed it in her satchel again and withdrew her handgun once more. The trio turned to their left and towards the large wooden door behind them, which was clearly their next destination.

Scene Three

Going through the door was always going to be a risk. There was no telling who or what was waiting for them behind it. Fortunately, although the room was quite dark and poorly lit there didn't seem to be any Mystics waiting to strike. Through the second door was a large wall with a space where a door would normally be, in addition to a note that explained how to unlock the way forward: As was surmised the room with the spikes was the key, and what they'd need to do is play a certain key combination to unlock the path leading ever closer to Leene.

"They didn't really put much thought into hiding this..." Crono mumbled.

As he examined the note, Crono realized that there was something behind it - a large, red button. Before Lucca could warn him not to he pressed it, though when he did she managed to slap him upside the head before three Naga-ettes converged on them by slithering towards the trio from three different angles. The two swordsmen swiftly unsheathed their weapons and, in one blow each, took out two of the Mystics in a single shot. They slid into position on either side of the third one, laid their swords on the ground, and then slashed together in an X-shaped motion to cut off the Naga-ette's arms. Lucca finished by bashing its brains in with her mallet.

The previous room, once entered, revealed its protectors: a swarm of bloodsucking bats, forcing the party to slash and hack their way through the room while receiving several nasty bite wounds. They backtracked to the first room, the one behind the steel door, and opened it to find two things: First, the spikes were gone. Second: there were six Gargoyles awake, aware, and thirsty for blood awaiting them. Pressing the earlier button had signaled them to wake up and prepare to maim the intruders.

When the Gargoyles charged they quickly ran into solid opposition. Crono and Frog both beheaded one, and Lucca lifted her handgun to blast open a hole in a third. This signaled the remainder to attack her and the shriek Lucca gave when she realized she was the target pierced her friends' eardrums and nearly shattered them. Two of the Gargoyles attempted to double-team Lucca, though Crono easily intercepted them and cut them down. The final Mystic was dispatched by Frog, leaving Crono to input the correct key combination to unlock the way forward.

Past the door that they managed to unlock, the trio entered a wide open area with several different rooms and staircases. Unfortunately, they were nearly spotted by a group of Henches and were forced to find a hiding place. They narrowly escaped by slipping inside a nearby room, though when they turned around their hearts leapt into their throats. There were three Mystics awaiting them - a Naga-ette, a Hench, and a Gargoyle - all sitting at a table eating meat of questionable origin.

Before they could lift their weapons the Hench lifted his goblet and winked at them, to their amazement. "You guys want a drink?" it asked coolly. When it received no answer the Hench shrugged and downed the remainder of the drink before setting it down and wiping the saliva from his face with a loud burp. "I don't know why you're still disguised like those stupid humans, but then again I don't particularly care..."

"We have two soldiers over in the west wing that are just begging to be munched on," said the Naga-ette. It was quietly smoking a cigarette and picking its teeth with a fishbone. "Do you guys wanna split 'em?"

"W-We'll eat alone, thanks," Lucca said quickly. She rustled through her pack and withdrew a sack of Gil, which she tossed onto the table next to the Naga-ette. "This ought to buy them, right? We... uh... we're really hangry," she shrugged. She prayed against all logic that the bribe would be enough for her to help rescue the two soldiers. When the Naga-ette snatched up the sack and counted through it, to Lucca's relief it smiled and returned to its cigarette.

With the Naga-ette's approval Crono, Lucca, and Frog sneaked away from the patrolling Henches and reached the area of the west wing where the soldiers were being held. They made an excuse that they'd be relieving the guards, and were kind enough to relieve them of their heads when they weren't looking. Inside the room they found two Guardian soldiers locked up in heavy chains, shaking and shivering with terror. Lucca quickly found the keys, unlocked them, and bid them to escape as carefully and quickly as possible.

Through the next door, which led to a long chamber with the queen behind the final door, there were four Naga-ettes who guarded their master. They quickly slithered towards the party and were dispatched by Crono and Frog. The knight charged forward and slammed his fist on the large steel door, but was unable to open it. Although he bowed his head with regret he was shocked when Lucca shoved him back and laid a small, square device on the door with a thick clacking noise.

"Lucca?" Frog muttered.

Lucca silently withdrew the plunger for the bomb, smiled at him with a bizarre sort of warmth, and pressed the button. In a single, massive explosion the door was blasted to bits and the three members of the royal rescue party wasted no time in charging through the final gate together.

Scene Four

The chamber behind the door contained a very comfortable living room area, where two figures sat. The first was the disguised mastermind. Stout and sturdy with a long white beard, he wore a peculiarly puffy green hat that almost looked like the top of a mushroom and carried a brown scepter tipped with a shimmering ruby. The second, of course, was Queen Leene, who sat in her seat with her arms and legs bound with chains.

Decked out in a long, regal white robe, she wore her blonde hair much like Marle would have if she were more... proper. She was a stunning beauty, well suited to be the consort of royalty. Her impeccable white dress was matched by finger-less white gloves, and atop her head was a golden crown. This was, indeed, the true Queen Leene. She'd been caught at the Cathedral during her morning prayers and spirited off through the complex to be eaten alive.

"Do you have any last words, Leene?" asked the demon behind the Chancellor's face. She defiantly shook her head and the disguised Mystic smilingly reached out to grab her face. Before he got the chance a large segment of his chair exploded and he was knocked to the floor prone, where he staggered to his feet and looked desperately around the room for the source of the attack. "What in the hell-" it croaked.

Lucca, with her handgun lifted, quietly shook her head and laid her finger on the trigger. "Step away from the queen, douche bag!" she snarled. "Unless you want a nice, warm bullet between your eyes!"

A long, serpentine tongue slithered from the Chancellor's mouth, prompting Lucca to let out a loud gasp as she realized that she wasn't dealing with a corrupt human. She lifted her weapon and prepared to fire, but was stopped by Frog and turned to find Crono unlocking Leene's restraints. The queen quickly scurried to safety and left Frog to draw his sword and prepare for a finishing strike.

"You won't take me alive," hissed the Chancellor.

Crono smirked and lifted his weapon. "I got no problem with that," he said, shortly before the Chancellor's skin began to puff and finally broke open to reveal what was beneath the disguise. The Chancellor was in truth a devil, servant of the Fiendlord and master of magic materialization. It was some nine feet tall and colored a leathery yellow, with a squat face attached to its body that didn't seem to match his heft. Crono's blood ran cold and he slightly faltered upon seeing the beast unveiled. "Maybe there is a problem..." mumbled Crono. "You're butt-ugly."

As Yakra slowly lifted itself to its full height Crono and Frog quickly moved to either side of it in a pincer attack. That left a very unfortunate Lucca as the middle player, a role she intended to make them pay for once they were done... assuming they survived, naturally. Lucca shrugged and unloaded a shot straight into Yakra's face. The smoke cleared, the demon was ever approaching, and Lucca dropped to her knees in horror. She so did not sign up for that crap.

"I'm gonna kill you two later for this!" she screeched. "Help me!"

When Yakra lashed out with one of its claws at her Lucca narrowly fell back just in time to avoid being skewered. Before the Mystic could follow up, however, the two swordsmen converged and slashed with their weapons. The blows ripped open large gashes in the demon's flesh, though when the wounds opened a storm of black needles shot out and punctured several holes in both Crono and Frog, dropping them to their backs bleeding badly. Yakra's follow-up was stopped when Lucca clapped a second bomb to his face, skittered back several paces, and pressed the button to blast the beast to Kingdom Come, after which she wet herself and fell to her back with tears in her eyes.

Crono quietly guided Lucca back to her feet, while Frog quietly knelt before the queen. A strange commotion suddenly echoed from a treasure chest in the back of the room, so Crono hurried over to check it. Upon unlatching it the real Chancellor burst from the chest and landed squarely on Crono's face. The young lad angrily shoved the official off of him, spat out a nasty word, and staggered to his feet with silent contempt. The Chancellor, grateful to be alive, simply bowed his head in apology.

Scene Five

With their master slain the other Mystics hurried from the Cathedral, leaving the victorious rescue party to escort Queen Leene back to the castle. She received a raucous welcome from the knights of the kingdom, though she quickly burst past them and charged into the throne room. Leene leapt into her husband's arms, embracing him tightly, and was embraced in return by the royal monarch. He silently wept and stroked her hair, just thankful that she was alive.

The king disengaged from his wife upon seeing her rescuers enter the throne room. He quietly turned to the trio and, to the shock of all his knights and retainers, silently bowed his head to Crono, Lucca, and Frog. His servants quickly dropped to their knees as well, which brought a smile to Lucca's sweaty face. She caught sight of a shadow out of the corner of her eye and quickly dragged Crono with her to face Frog. The knight had silently bowed his head and turned to leave, with the two heroes close behind him.

"Hey, what the hell, man?!" Lucca snarled. "We just saved the queen! Let's party!"

Frog shook his head in disgrace and lowered his eyes before turning to leave. Before he could Crono clapped a hand to his shoulder and turned him around to face him, with a solemn grimace on the swordsman's face. The knight broke out in a smile and when Crono stretched out his knuckles, he bumped them and moved to leave, this time succeeding in moving quicker than the two. As Frog departed Crono silently bowed his head and laid a hand to his sword.

Crono and Lucca wasted no time in hurrying to the queen's quarters. As they charged through the halls, their prayers made, the pair threw open the door to reveal a large mass of fluctuating darkness pulsing in the center of the room. The darkness condensed into a singularity and, in a brilliant flash of light, Marle appeared, this time dressed in her appropriate attire. She quietly scratched the back of her head, shrugged, and turned to her saviors with a smile on her face.

"'Sup?" she tittered.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?!" Lucca gasped as she dropped to one knee.

Marle silently shook her head and sighed. "So I guess that means the secret's out, huh?" she asked dryly. When she saw no response from Lucca, the princess groaned and moved forward, dragging the scientist to her feet by pulling her up by the arm. "Get up! And don't call me 'Your Highness' again!" Marle insisted sharply. "The name is Marle, and I hope you get it right from now on!"

"You're every bit the tomboy the rumors say..." muttered Lucca. "Hard to think that you're heir apparent to the entire country."

"I'm so sorry, Crono!" Marle sighed. She bowed her head and began to shake. "I never meant to deceive you!"

To Marle's shock Crono silently clapped a hand to her shoulder and smiled. "It's because of you that I got to use this," he said proudly, grabbing hold of his katana. "I got to use a real sword because you got me into this mess. Even if I have to give it back when we get home... Thanks for making my dream a reality," Crono said smilingly. "And I don't regret a single second of it."

"Um... okay?" mumbled Marle. "How the heck do we get home, though?"

"A simple question with a simple answer!" Lucca boasted. "The scientific genius of the century has just what we need to get us back to our own time... and it's so cool to look at, to boot! We just need to head back to Truce Canyon!"