Start Date: November 21, 2024
Windwillow
Chrono Trigger: The Magus Cut
Chapter Ten: The Falling Red Star
The events preceding and during the battle with Magus at his castle enraptured Schala, though when Lavos began to awaken her intrigue turned to mortal terror. While everyone paid close attention to the epic struggle, including Lucca's crucial contribution to the ending of the fight, it was Lavos' entrance that shook them more than anything else. As Schala watched the stronghold quake and tremble her blood pressure spiked until finally the scene went black and she fell back in her seat breathless. When the scene cut the princess spilled her tea in her lap again, though she barely noticed that she'd gotten wet.
"That was so intense... I can barely breathe...!" Schala rasped weakly. "How on earth could anyone survive that?!"
"When Lavos awakened, the planet intervened by forming a massive Gate that sent Crono and his friends to prehistory and Janus to our original time," explained Gaspar. "While Crono's team was sent to witness the fall of Lavos, Janus was sent to 12,000 B.C.E. to reunite with you... it was either a mixture of pity or out of the vague hope that he would somehow stop the Ocean Palace Incident, but of course we all know that that's not how things ended up turning out."
"I'd been shocked when a man so resembling my younger brother manifested in the halls of the palace... nearly half-dead, covered in mortal wounds. The doctors didn't think he'd last the night..." whispered Schala. "It took a full day of surgery to repair the wound Frog inflicted and even then they didn't know if he'd ever be able to move his arm again... When he awoke and began to prophesize events, we all assumed he was a gift from the heavens..."
"I was no Prophet. All I did was rehash a few vague memories of natural disasters and political intrigue that I remembered from back when I was young..." sighed Janus. "At first I thought he'd sent me to Purgatory, but when I saw Schala staring back at me I realized that I'd been sent back in time to just before the Ocean Palace Incident... my dream, and in the end my nightmare."
"That's exactly what the planet was hoping for: that you'd integrate yourself into Zealian society awaiting a chance to kill Lavos again," explained Spekkio. "That was the plan, anyway, but naturally there were a few tweaks that needed to happen during the actual event itself. The planet didn't know that Crono would actually sacrifice himself... he did that of his own free will. Originally Schala would Gate everyone to safety, but that redheaded punk took initiative and ended up killing himself."
"There's no way anyone could foresee that disaster in real time and prepare a counterattack!" Janus hissed.
"The planet is past, present, and future at the same time..." Gaspar said ominously. He quietly bowed his head and took a sip of his tea as he contemplated what he was about to say next. "The planet is the pinnacle of creation, far greater an entity than Lavos even in its advanced evolutionary state. It is omniscient, and in the moment it saw the world change for the worse... and took action after the extent of Lavos' destruction became clear. It knows everything about its multi-millennial lifespan and in a moment of prescience it saw what would come and acted accordingly."
"So the planet sent me to the middle ages to acquire power to summon Lavos..." muttered Janus. "What happened in the original timeline before Crono came about?"
"You died, naturally, and truly painfully at that. But that's when the planet came up with an idea," Spekkio quipped. "Crono's mission, which was initiated by the planet at the twilight of its existence, was its last desperate hope to save itself."
"What does that even mean...?" rasped Schala.
"The planet is omniscient, but it isn't absolutely eternal," sighed Gaspar. "Indeed, while the world is sentient to all the happenings that occurred on it during the multi-millennial span it existed, there was nothing it could do to shake off Lavos. At the eve of its demise, far past 2300 C.E. when Lavos detonated the planet to create escape velocity for its spawn, the planet skimmed through its history in a last-ditch effort to survive and found the Chrono Trigger."
"And Crono, of course, was the Chrono Trigger..." mumbled Janus.
"As was Serge," Schala shot back.
"Serge?" Gaspar muttered dumbly.
"I discerned a few things while I was bound by Lavos, a being powerful enough to warp time and space in much the same way as the planet is capable of doing," Schala explained. "Entities such as the planet and Lavos, who can warp space and time as they please, occasionally designate envoys to further their will. My mother was one, Lavos' chosen one, a proxy used to awaken him and instigate the Ocean Palace Incident."
"I've always been aware that Crono was a Chrono Trigger, a being whose spiritual wavelength is attuned to warping fate itself..." began Gaspar. "But I have no knowledge of who this Serge character is supposed to be. Either the planet didn't know about him or it didn't deign to share it with anyone."
"A young man named Serge from around twenty years into Crono's future was designated to split the dimensions and create the possibility of rescuing my sister," Janus explained. "He was a part of Belthasar's pet project... but I find it difficult to believe that the old fossil created a Chrono Trigger."
"They were both Chrono Triggers, created by powerful entities..." sighed Schala. "The planet created Crono and I created Serge."
"What?! How?!" Gaspar choked.
"Back then, when I began to cry after I sent Janus through time, I heard a child's cry..." explained Schala. She quietly brushed the tea from her dress and turned her eyes to the sky as the princess remembered back to the events of that particular time, a time that still haunted her and always would. "A child whose voice resembled yours, Janus, perhaps a distant relative or reincarnation. Using the last of my conscious will, I created Serge as my own Chrono Trigger."
"Utter nonsense!" sputtered Janus. "You couldn't have possibly foreseen any of this!"
"Well, it wasn't the part she played so much as what happened afterwards. Serge's interference was made of his own free will," shrugged Spekkio. "It was because he came into contact with the Frozen Flame that the planet and Lavos recognized him as a new Chrono Trigger, a fact that Belthasar must have discovered and planned for accordingly."
"There's no way that he could know about this Serge person!" gasped Gaspar.
"Agreed," chuckled Spekkio. "Kid was the missing piece."
"And who is Kid...?!" rasped Gaspar.
"She was... well, myself," Schala giggled. "My final, desperate attempt to save myself from Lavos' malice."
"You aren't making a lick of sense..." grumbled Gaspar.
"I'd nearly surrendered myself to despair, but in a final moment of lucidity I fissioned off part of my soul..." sighed Schala. "I sent it into the modern age with my own pendant, hoping that I could find respite even if it was as a different entity."
"Because that old fart found out about both of them, Belthasar was able to concoct a ridiculously abstract plot to save you," explained Spekkio. "In order to save her, Belthasar would have to create a device capable of dissecting the boundaries of space-time on a level that even a normal Time Egg could never accomplish. When Serge was murdered in the original timeline, Belthasar recognized the possibility of a Chrono Trigger splitting reality and thus planned to use Kid for his own purposes."
"And how did he know about Kid?" Schala asked breathlessly.
"The same way he discovered Serge: he did a temporal search for your bio-signature when he was trying to discover a way to disconnect you from Lavos," Spekkio said brightly. "His calculations led him to Kid and, in 1027 A.D., years after the original timeline would have ended, he contacted and Gated Kid to the past to save Serge and split the dimensions, thus allowing for the bi-dimensional artifact called the Chrono Cross to come into existence."
"Utterly absurd...!" sputtered Gaspar. "How could he have conceived of that all on his own?!"
"He'd have to be a Chrono Trigger to come up with that..." Janus said ominously.
"Belthasar a Chrono Trigger? Not a chance. You can't artificially create one just by being a genius," groaned Spekkio. The Nu snatched up a bottle of beer and chugged it, and when he discarded the piece of trash a wide smile crossed his ridiculous face. "However, Belthasar's mind was simply so diseased with grief and spectacularly brilliant that he was able to piece together all the fragments into Project Kid."
"So when he went mad in the original timeline, he did it out of grief, the grief of losing everything he held dear...?" mumbled Gaspar. "In the new timeline he channeled that grief and discovered a way to save her...?"
"How could I be so important to him?" gasped Schala. "He ruptured time, space, and dimensional boundaries to get to me!"
"Hard to say," shrugged Gaspar. "Maybe he saw you as a daughter figure or something."
"Let's circle back to Project Kid," grumbled Janus. "Did you ever communicate with Belthasar, Sis?"
"No, no... Everything apparently took place on a separate temporal axis," explained Schala. "He was apparently aware of me, but I wasn't aware of him."
"It just so happened that, when Janus mucked with Lavos and Schala Gated him away, Belthasar saw an opportunity and seized it," shrugged Spekkio. "That lunatic saw that Schala's interference would open up a chance to shift reality in just the right way to make Project Kid possible."
"Let's end the speculation for now. We can address all this further when the viewing is finished, but until then we need to return to the story itself," groaned Gaspar, who lifted his tea to his lips and took a deep sip. Talking about Belthasar's insane machinations would lead to nothing but chaos, bad feelings, and an almighty disregard for common sense. "Crono was shunted to the past by the planet so that he could see Lavos' descent, and then used the Gate created at the Tyranno Lair to reach 12,000 B.C.E. The main issue at hand for the time being isn't the overarching scheme but the matters of the present moment during the war against Lavos."
Scene One
The dream was beyond alluring, it was downright naughty and when Crono finally came to he leapt to his feet with a wild expression in his eyes and swooned. "I finally got a kiss from the princess! Lucky me!" Crono rasped. It didn't take long for him to realize that it was a dream, and not only that but Lucca and Ayla were inside Ayla's tent staring at him, and the teenager dropped to his back and hacked out a foul word. He hadn't expected for anyone to hear about his rather lurid dream, and certainly prayed that Marle would never know the details of what it contained.
"Ooh, so you got lucky with Marle?" cackled Lucca. "Tell me: How does it feel to put your neck in the guillotine?"
"S-Shut up!" Crono snarled. "It was nothing dirty!"
"Yeah, right... You're blushing like you have a fever," Lucca snickered. "Don't worry, I won't tell her. Maybe."
"Cro alive?" Ayla grunted.
"W-What?" croaked Crono. He quickly realized that his wounds had been treated. "T-Thanks?"
"Ayla have dream, want see Cro. Go Mystic Mountains, find Cro and Lucca," Ayla said proudly. "Found lunch too, but no eat yet."
Crono quietly massaged the wound he'd received from Magus and found that, while it was indeed healed, there would be a scar left and quickly began to fantasize if Marle liked men with scars before shaking out of his perverted haze and grabbing at his sword. He found that it was indeed next to him and, as his fingers clenched down on the Swallow's scabbard, the swordsman let out a breath of relief and loosened his body to a more neutral position.
I must have been delusional from blood loss... R-Right?
"We... owe you one, Ayla," Crono said smilingly.
"Ayla find friends, Ayla help friends," shrugged Ayla. "That all."
"We've been out a full day according to Ayla, meaning..." Lucca began hesitantly. "Lavos is awake by now."
"Then why the hell are we still breathing?!" choked Crono.
"My guess? We got sent through a Gate to prehistory," sighed Lucca. "Lucky us, right?"
Frog shrieked as he woke up and broke into a cold sweat as he took stock of his bearings. The memories were fresh, but his wounds had been dried and tended to. With a haggard breath in he hacked out a gasp as he turned to Ayla and sweat dripped down his face as she looked at him hungrily and licked her lips. Clearly she thought he was dinner, and as would be natural of anyone the idea of being consumed by a wild cave woman was enough to moisten his pants.
"Ayla love frogs' legs..." slurped Ayla hungrily. Frog let out a shriek and snatched up the Masamune for use in self-defense, but was stunned when Ayla giggled and stuck out her tongue at him. "Ayla kidding. No eat friend," she quipped. Even so, Frog wasn't totally convinced that he was out of the woods and kept a firm grip on his sword.
"W... Where did Magus go?" hacked Frog.
"Ayla only found us," shrugged Lucca. "He might be dead."
"The man is a cockroach," Frog snapped. "Being trampled on by Lavos won't kill him."
"Lavos?" Ayla gasped. As all eyes turned to the cave woman she smiled and rose to her feet, slowly approaching the gap in her tent and turning a wild eye to her friends. All of them, and not only Frog, immediately suspected that they were going to be on the chopping block but when Ayla stuck her tongue out again playfully they began to relax. Somewhat. "Lavos no hurt. Rest," she grunted. "Talk later."
As Ayla departed the tent, Lucca drew her legs up to her chest and flashed a devious grin at Frog, who scowled and slowly lowered his sword. There was no chance in hell that he didn't believe in time travel at this point. "So... Do you believe we're time travelers yet, or do you want to keep that slimy head up your rectum?" Lucca snickered. "It has to be unpleasant. I've never had Vaseline up my... I-I mean, it has to be obvious by now, right?!"
"Fine," Frog spat. "I believe."
As Frog stewed and Lucca's face flushed with embarrassment, Crono rustled through Lucca's satchel and withdrew a bottle of water. After chugging the contents he stuffed it back inside the pack, wiped the liquid from his lips, and finally began to relax... until Ayla's words came back to hit him like a ton of bricks. The way she'd phrased the name Lavos was remarkably unsettling, like she already knew something that they didn't, and it was downright frightening.
"How does Ayla know who Lavos is...?" mumbled Crono.
The tent flap suddenly opened wide and Kino entered the room carrying a massive leg of Megasaur that he slapped down on the floor in front of Crono and quickly shuffled down to sit next to the lunch that he'd brought for the crew. Crono was in no mood to be proud and snatched up the meat, ripped off a chunk from the bone, and downed it in nearly a single gulp, which seemed to amuse Kino more than anything else (and horrified his friends).
"You good?" Kino asked smilingly. "Ayla go Laruba, get fight. All fight Reptites together."
"And does that seem realistic to you?" asked Lucca incredulously.
"No, sound stupid," grunted Kino. "All charge Tyranno Lair stupid, kill many. Ayla no think."
"Laruba burn!" gasped a cave man who leapt inside the tent, which led Kino to quickly rush outside with the man.
Crono and Lucca exchanged a brief glance and a nod before hurrying after Kino, but because the cave man was so much fitter than they were (and in better shape, having not been badly wounded only a short time prior) they quickly lost sight of him and were forced to follow his footprints into the jungle. It wasn't hard to find his final destination, however, as just a short ways into the jungle the team found hell on earth and immediately stopped and stared in horror. Whatever happened, it had been a massacre. Men, women, and children lay dead and smoldering in heaps around the camp, while several injured survivors weakly took drinks of water from sacks provided by the Iokans who had come to help them. Only a few dwellings remained standing, most of them having been ripped apart and burned down with massive claw marks that rent asunder the leather hides of the tents the Larubans had been using as shelter.
"H-How horrible..." choked Lucca. "Hey, isn't that Ayla?!"
"Ayla responsible for this!" growled the elder, an old man wearing a large feather headdress. "Reptites follow!"
"Ayla sorry..." Ayla mumbled as her head bowed.
"Reptites come, kill many! Take many! Take Kino, too!" grunted the Laruban elder.
"Kino?!" gasped Ayla. "Take Tyranno Lair?!"
"Yes!" growled the elder. "Take Tyranno Lair, never return!"
In an uncharacteristic change, Ayla's body froze solid and her fingers began to twitch.
"Kino..." Ayla croaked, despair for the first time crossing her face. That didn't last long, however, as the Iokan chief's fear quickly gave way to resolve and she tightened her fists and stomped her foot. Kino was her mate, the one she loved, and the idea that the Reptites had the gall to take him filled her with enough hatred that she finally made her decision: fight or die. "Give Dactyl!" she hissed.
"Dactyl? Go Tyranno Lair?!" choked the elder. "Ayla die! No go!"
"Fight and live, lose and die! Rule of earth, no change rule!" roared Ayla, her fists tightening and her teeth clenching. It had been a long, hard war that she'd fought with the Reptites. Now, with Kino's safety on the line, she'd decided to bet it all on one, final assault - all or nothing. Kino deserved nothing less. "Old man breathe, dead inside! Give Dactyl! Ayla save Kino! Ayla lose, Ayla die! Ayla fight!"
"Ayla..." the elder rasped. He finally bowed his head and sighed. "No guards at Dactyl Nest in weeks, go find Dactyl..."
"Ayla thank elder!" Ayla grunted. "Ayla fight!"
Ayla barely took a breath before brushing past the elder and then through Crono's arms, soon thereafter darting out of sight at a speed unrecognizable even to the seasoned warrior's eyes. The implication was clear: Ayla intended on finishing the war herself, damned the consequences. Crono quietly exchanged glances with his friends, nodded, and immediately turned on his heel to follow her but was shocked when he felt a withered hand grab his wrist and pivoted to see the Laruban elder staring up at him with tears in his eyes.
"Please! Protect Ayla!" sobbed the elder.
"We'll follow her anywhere," sighed Crono, "and whatever happens, we'll fight and die with her if need be."
"Talk like Ayla..." the elder chuckled. "Dactyl Nest have many beasts, dangerous. Go north."
"Right, then!" chirped Crono.
"Ayla only one strong enough to go through Dactyl Nest," warned the elder. "You hurt yourself."
With a crooked grin Crono withdrew Gaspar's sphere and lifted it to his face.
"Duly noted. Hey, Marle! Wanna switch with Lucca?" Crono asked briskly.
Although she was taken aback at first, Lucca quickly realized that she wouldn't be of much use if they had to travel up long cliffs and solemnly nodded. Crono raised the sphere he'd gotten from Gaspar and tightened his grip, causing Lucca's body to rapidly flash before her image shattered to reveal Marle, armed and ready, which had the side effect of causing the elder to fall to his back and wet himself from terror. Naturally, he wasn't ready for the concept of time travel, and even if he were, watching that happen would likely horrify even a person from the modern age.
"W-W-W-W-What-" the elder choked, his throat hoarse with terror.
"Right, then!" Crono quipped. He adjusted the sword in his belt and punched his fist into his free hand, feeling the hard flesh slap against the bone of his right palm. There wasn't anything left to do but hurry and fight, and with a few quick glances to Frog and Marle the decision was hastily made to seek out Ayla and help her save Kino. "Everyone ready for a fight?" he asked confidently.
"Ready and willing!" giggled Marle.
"She saved us... And we'll save her," Frog vowed, though he tightened his fists. "Even if she tried to eat me..."
Scene Two
Finding the Dactyls' Nest wasn't terribly difficult, given that it was the highest peak on the far northern mountain range. The team made haste there to follow after Ayla and entered to find themselves in front of a large chasm that made further progress impossible. Marle quickly stepped up and stretched out her right hand, sending a powerful shock wave of white energy that immediately frosted the gap over and formed a traversable path to the next part of the Dactyls' Nest. Just a short way past the hole was a larger open area, a massive jungle ridged with mountains on either side. As the heroes climbed up and approached, however, a sinister form emerged from the jungle, massive and muscular. It was a colossal, winged ape with incredible muscle mass and a powerful exoskeleton that up to that point only Ayla had been able to penetrate. Now, they would need to do it alone and without the backup she so desperately needed to provide. The Cave Ape let out a bellowing howl as it lifted a huge rock into the air and, as it tossed it, the rock seemingly came to life with a set of fangs and limbs all its own as it soared through the sky straight at Marle. Crono would have none of it and stepped up, lifted both hands, and with a single deft cut slashed the rock in half. The two segments of the Shist flew to either side as the Cave Ape decided to make a bum rush instead of fighting from a distance.
Marle opened fire with her crossbow but every bolt simply bounced off the onrushing Cave Ape. The monster continued to approach, its arms stretched out wide and its fangs open for a powerful gnashing attack, so Crono and Frog decided to take initiative and zipped towards the beast. They drew their mighty blades and, as the two swordsmen approached the incoming threat, the Cave Ape's fangs began to secrete a thick stream of acid. Both parties picked up speed and finally met at a single point, both the Swallow and the Masamune clashing against the Cave Ape's powerful exoskeleton. Although they were able to hold it at bay and even began to force it back, however, neither were able to penetrate the shell. The Cave Ape continued to push forward with an unhealthy thirst for blood, refusing to be stopped by steel alone, so that left only one option: magic.
Tiny sparks of lightning flickered from Crono's body as he initiated his lightning mode and Frog's sword became coated in a thick, sharpened blade of compressed water as together the two swordsmen cleaved the Cave Ape in half and tossed its remains far into the distance before signaling to Marle that it was safe to proceed. The princess stared in shock at the display of power but swiftly her feet moved to meet her spirit and the three began to charge through the jungle canopy. They emerged inside of a large canyon, with only a large cliff leading up and no foot holds. Although Marle stepped up at first Crono held her back and charged the Swallow with lightning just as a storm of Avian Rexes - ten of them - swooped down from above the mountain. Avian Rexes were prehistoric beasts similar to the Runners that they'd faced the first time they had explored prehistory, but unlike them the Rexes were both winged and more muscular.
Marle's sweat glands kicked into overdrive as the fleet descended, but her nerves quickly overcame her fear and she prepared to attack. The Avian Rexes descended from above en masse, all ten being half as large as humans, though as they fell from the sky Marle thrust out her hands to her sides and was surrounded by a terrific current of cold air that swallowed up her body and drifted to where the dinosaurs were approaching. Slowly she tightened her grip and when both hands closed the canyon - and the Avian Rexes - frosted over into a massive glacier that froze the monsters solid in a colossal chunk of ice while also creating a hand hold to the top of the mountain.
Her power having been spent Marle slumped to her knees onto the sheet of ice, though as her legs touched the freezing ground she caught herself and became surrounded in a thin film of white light that slowly coagulated inside her body. By the time the princess rose to her feet all her strength had returned to her, her powerful healing magic having replenished the reserves that she'd just expended. Although she wouldn't be doing it again on that level, all that mattered was that they'd found their opening. The trio charged up the chunk of ice and, disregarding the icy cold that bit at their flesh, climbed up the mountain and up several hills before finally reaching their destination. Atop the highest crest stood Ayla, flanked by four massive winged dinosaurs whose breath drifted from their fangs like an icy haze. The Dactyls were the Larubans' finest chariots, the sole beings capable of soaring the skies and reaching the Reptites' Tyranno Lair.
"Ayla!" Crono shouted, alerting the aforementioned woman and shocking her to the core.
"Cro?!" Ayla choked. "Why you here?!"
"We came to fight, obviously!" chortled Crono as he shouldered his sword. "Want some help?"
"You stupid! Tyranno Lair Reptite castle, no go there!" barked Ayla. "Cro want die?!"
"We'll cut 'em to shreds," Frog sneered. When Ayla licked her lips again, he angrily brandished his sword and stomped his foot. He'd been afraid of this: the crazy woman still wanted to cook and eat him. Even so, he was indebted to her for tending to his wounds and the code of the knight demanded that he lend her his aid. "I won't be your lunch, now or ever!" he snarled. "But we can win the fight together!"
"We owe you from before, remember?" Marle giggled.
"Marle... Cro..." Ayla croaked.
"Don't you want to see my shiny stick in action?" Crono asked confidently. "I'll cut 'em all up for you."
Ayla stared in mute shock at Crono's confidence, confidence that bordered on arrogance, but slowly the frown on her face shifted into a sly smile. She hadn't expected anyone she'd just met to be so helpful, though the more she thought the clearer it became that these people cleaned up their own messes and kept their own promises, and it filled her with a broad sense of purpose for the first time in ages.
"Come with Ayla, save Kino?" Ayla asked as she put a hand to her hip and a smile crossed her face. "Ayla have good friends."
Scene Three
The journey to the Tyranno Lair, even with the Dactyls' incredible speed, took over an hour. Soon, however, their target became clear - the Reptites' final stronghold, a massive structure made of steel and stone that jutted high above the lava flows, a fortress so well defended that simply flying inside would be suicide. Instead, they'd have to sneak inside on foot... and even that was tantamount to suicide. As they steadily approached the stronghold Crono confidently reached for his sword but stopped cold when he saw Ayla hesitate. The teenage swordsman cast a cocky smile at the cave woman, an action that bolstered her resolve, and with all the speed they could muster the raiding party charged head long inside the Tyranno Lair's entrance. Thankfully it was undefended, as none of the Reptites could even fathom the idea that any "apes" could attack them in their own homeland.
They quickly broke through the gate and entered in a wild rampage, taking the Reptites by surprise and achieving a tactical advantage against a foe unprepared to fight them. Once inside the foyer the team found two large dinosaur skulls embedded in the back wall and, more ominously, a small army of Reptites guarding the entrances to further progress into the Tyranno Lair. After drawing their weapons all four warriors split into four groups, each isolating five of the twenty Reptites that now barred their path. While Frog and Crono traded blows with the Reptites' scaly skin, Ayla battered at her foes with her fists and feet and Marle prepared to use her mystical ice magic to freeze, immobilize, and shatter the Reptites she faced.
It would be a single attack, but it would be enough to end her portion of the battle. Marle raised her arms high into the air as several snowflakes scattered to the ceiling and when she cast down her hands a shower of ice spears descended on the five Reptites and ripped through their bodies, pinned them to the ground, and froze their bodies solid as the ice turned their scaly skin to frosty scabs. Ayla, who had defeated her own enemies, gawked at the sight of Marle's spell, but Crono grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her towards the first skull - they needed to advance, and they needed to advance quickly.
Down below in the Reptites' holding cell the jailers mercilessly taunted the captive Larubans, while Kino sat in the back of the cage with his head sunken to his knees. Though the Reptites mocked their prisoners their attention turned elsewhere when Ayla bashed her way inside the prison and wreaked havoc on them. Soon the jailers were all either dead or dying, leaving Ayla a chance to examine the rib cage that kept the Larubans prisoner. Ayla found that the bones were too hard to break open, so upon further consideration she climbed up the cage and slipped inside, landing in a heap next to Kino. She didn't stay down long, however, trudged her way towards the cell door, and threw her entire body into the rib cage, which finally ripped open the cage and allowed the Larubans to clamor out of their prison in a mad dash for freedom.
"Ayla hurry with Kino!" Kino begged. "Run!"
"No," sighed Ayla, shaking her head. "Me kill Azala, end war."
Kino wildly shook his head in disbelief, teeth grinding and fists balling.
"Please! Return with Kino!" Kino screamed desperately. Seeing her determination, however, he slowly nodded and gestured towards the stairway leading further up into the fortress. The cave man hurried over to the second, larger skull in the foyer and flipped a switch that threw the dinosaur's jaws wide open before approaching Ayla with a mad desperation in his eyes. "Ayla come back to Kino... right?" he whimpered.
The Iokan chief patted her mate on the head and threw her arms around him in a hard embrace. Kino turned to the others for relief and found none, his cheeks flushed and he hurriedly dashed out the door to the outside world. With their captives freed there was only one thing left to do, just what Ayla said she'd do: kill Azala and end the war between the early humans and the Reptites once and for all. Up the next staircase was their next destination. Unfortunately, awaiting them there was another Cave Ape - two of them, in fact. Ayla immediately threw herself against one and began to struggle with it, while Crono and Frog moved to repeat their previous effort against the one they'd dispatched in the Dactyls' Nest. A few more blows guaranteed their success and once everyone was dealt with the team progressed out into the hot summer sun.
They were met there by a group of Reptites, unfortunately, dozens of them. Marle immediately flinched but when she saw the resolve in Crono's eyes she quickly fell into place and prepared to fight. As the large mass of dinosaur humanoids began to rush towards the group, Crono cast a glance and a nod to Marle, then to Frog, and with a single voiceless discussion they decided on their next tactic. They would deal with all of them at once. Crono and Frog both raised their swords high into the sky and pulsed their elemental magic through the steel and as they reared back to strike Marle threw forward both her hands and released a chilly white mist from her fingers that swallowed their blades. Both swordsmen tightened their grip as they caught the freezing cold of Marle's spell and with a single combined stroke they released their combined elemental magic at once.
The result was literally chilling. When the two swordsmen lashed out with their blades their swords released an electromagnetically-charged wave of cold air that engulfed and frosted over all the Reptites into a cold, dead mass that Crono quickly cut to pieces with a single compressed air projectile that cut them to pieces and dropped their remains to the ground. Ayla again stared in shock, but when Crono motioned for her to come she quickly regained her senses and joined in their assault on a door in the east. Once inside the team found both two switches and another massive dinosaur's skull. Ayla quickly moved to press one but Crono held her back and motioned to Marle. While Ayla looked on silently Marle formed two small bricks of ice and laid them on the floor, then slid them onto the switches. It was fortunate that she did, as well, as when the two switches were pressed both sides of the room collapsed, leaving only a thin walkway that led towards their destination.
Again Marle used her magic to form a path and, after reaching the skull and pressing the switch, the raiding party exited the eastern door and back onto the main platform. There was another unfortunate surprise, one of many that they'd encountered: While the main door was indeed open, a Megasaur and four Avian Rexes flew out of the next chamber and into the line of fire for the team. Ayla clearly decided to deal with the Megasaur, leaving the others to deal with the four Avian Rexes. While the cave woman tussled with the massive dinosaur the other three heroes fought and defeated the Avian Rexes, which gave them the chance to advance even further into another chamber - where over a dozen Reptites again awaited them, all of them having been alerted and made aware of the party's presence.
The cave woman grit her teeth but was surprised when Crono stepped up and lifted his right hand palm up, aimed at the Reptites. As the enemy approached Crono's fingers crackled with white lightning, the powerful magic licking his digits like fire in a fireplace, and with a single massive volley he dispatched the Reptites in a storm of thunderous lightning. Ayla at first stared in shock but quickly hurried forward when her friend gestured to keep moving. Next they found themselves on a massive terrace with seemingly no way forward, only a large chasm that separated them from their next destination. Marle immediately lifted her hands and ice flew from her fingertips, quickly creating a large bridge of ice that the party hurried over. Again when they entered the next room, however, they again encountered even more Reptites - as usual, dozens of them.
"God damn it, there are too many!" Crono shrieked. "I didn't sign up for this crap!"
"This is the final battle, fool!" Frog scowled. "We're lucky we aren't facing hundreds, so stop pissing your pants and fight!"
"Marle! Give chilly-chilly!" Ayla barked suddenly.
Marle quickly realized what she was being asked to do and clapped her hands together, stretching her fingers apart and creating a small mass of snow between her digits that she deftly slammed onto the floor. The next result was a very unusual one, even for Marle: a large line of ice that fortified their position and barred the Reptites from approaching. It wasn't meant for defense, however, but for offense - Ayla reared back her right leg and threw it at the block of ice, which sent a large wave of compressed air at the glacier that shattered the ice and blasted the Reptites with a large amount of ice that blew them away and allowed Crono and his friends the chance to dispatch them one by one. Several chambers and countless Reptites later the team was running on fumes as they entered a room with a very unwelcome old friend waiting for them.
In the center of the chamber was a familiar face. The new and improved Nizbel was just as tall and muscular as its original iteration, though this time it was colored a deep bronze color and its body seemed to be much more armored with crests and muscles. This one, however, had different eyes: They peered out from behind its face with a haunting, electric aura that made the orbs seem as if they were sparkling like thunder. The second Nizbel let out a loud roar and moved to attack but a disgruntled Crono hurled a bolt of lightning down its throat instead of striking it. Rather than defend itself, however, the Nizbel swallowed the thunderbolt, gnawed on it for a few seconds, and then spewed the lightning back at Crono. The swordsman was forced to use his new lightning speed to evade the incredibly quick counterattack as his friends dispersed to the four corners of the room.
Nizbel breathed out a mass of hot air from its fangs as it again charged Crono, this time quickly enough that he only barely managed to escape, before both of them charged one another with lethal intent. The two combatants traded several vicious blows, steel meeting scales in a wild frenzy, though finally Crono was able to vault high into the air to deliver his finishing blow. When the Nizbel opened its mouth wide, preparing to consume him, Crono flipped the Swallow into a reverse grip and drove its blade straight through the Reptite's mouth, skewering it before finally electrocuting it to death. With no other obstructions they charged up the next staircase, then the next, and after several empty rooms the team barged inside a huge throne room. Azala sat on the seat with a bloody thirst dripping from her fangs and was drinking from a glass of blood-red wine as she awaited them. Ayla immediately vaulted forward, though when she did Azala flicked her fingers and sent a powerful shock wave at Ayla that blew her into the far wall.
"You've done well," Azala sneered. "You must have faced a good third of my army to get here."
"Azala! Battle over!" roared Ayla, dragging herself from her crater. "War done! Ayla kill!"
Azala sneered and threw her wine away, causing the liquid to shatter against the floor.
"I disagree," chuckled Azala, fading away in a mirage and reappearing at the door behind her throne. This would be her final chance to kill that wretched ape, though even as the Reptites' end came closer and closer at the bare minimum she would be able to end Ayla once and for all. "I'll meet you at your final resting place... the end of the war will come with your deaths. Come and see the death you seek."
The leader of the Reptites immediately turned and fled out her final door and Ayla brashly followed, forcing her friends to come behind her. They quickly reached a large corridor, a walkway that led deeper into the Tyranno Lair - into the final chamber, the one where Azala's pet awaited them and hungered for their flesh. At the back of the tower was a large mass of flesh and bone, several meters wide and tall, that only barely fit on the bridge of the Tyranno Lair's final chamber. The Black Tyranno was, of course, colored black and was even more muscular than the Nizbels had been. It wore a large, spiked collar attached to a chain that led further inside the tower, seemingly linked to the creature's massive tail.
With a loud, bellowing roar the Black Tyranno scattered the team, with the three time travelers falling back in a calculated defense as Ayla bounded high into the air and towards Azala. The Reptite leader flicked her fingers again, but rather than be launched, Ayla fought her way through and slammed her fist into Azala's face. The blow shook Azala hard and nearly staggered her but as the two quickly began to tussle inside the tower the Black Tyranno prepared to deal with the others. The Black Tyranno gnashed its teeth at the trio and forced them back further and further as the dinosaur continued to advance. Both swordsmen clashed with the beast's monstrous fangs and held the Tyranno at bay as best they could, but it was clear that they were fighting a losing battle and wouldn't hold out for much longer... They were running out of walkway quickly and if the team didn't push the monster back it would chase them to the wall and devour them whole.
When the Black Tyranno stopped moving a chill went down all three time travelers' spines, a feeling well deserved when the dinosaur belched out a huge column of fire at them that seemed ready to engulf and incinerate them all. Frog and Marle exchanged a brief glance and a nod, then threw forward their hands in unison as they prepared a double elemental attack that hopefully - hopefully - would save their sorry hides from immolation. Both ice and water merged together into a large wave of light that pushed against the fiery breath and held it at bay. The two elements struggled mightily against the dinosaur's flaming breath but in the end their spell pushed through, extinguished the flames, and Marle's ice magic frosted the Black Tyranno's body up to the neck in a massive block of ice. Although the Black Tyranno roared and struggled it was unable to escape, though that wouldn't last long.
Crono fully immersed himself with his lightning abilities and slid his fingers along the blade of the Swallow, felt the crackling thunder swell his body, and lifted the mighty blade high above his head. The swordsman leapt forward and upward, clearing the height of the Black Tyranno, and once he'd reached the proper altitude he descended with the Swallow outstretched and literally tore the Black Tyranno's head and body in half. While the Black Tyranno's two halves dropped from the walkway Crono vaguely realized he was under attack and nimbly stepped back just in time to keep from being struck by a crashing Azala, who had been defeated by Ayla and shoved into a deep crater in the middle of the walkway. From inside the tower, a beaten and bloodied Ayla slowly stumbled forward and as Azala struggled and fell to her face the cave woman stood above her with a wild grin on her face.
"Azala... War over," Ayla heaved haggardly, triumphantly.
The Reptite leader weakly struggled against her wounds and soon dragged herself to a sitting position as the sky began to glow red.
"Agreed... We'll all die together..." chuckled Azala. A sudden, crushing pressure forced the team to their knees as the weight in the air shifted to create a massive gravitational force that blasted the breath from their lungs and nearly knocked them unconscious from the sheer, monstrous heat that descended from above. "Soon, a falling red star shall descend and obliterate us all..." rasped Azala. "Then comes a cruel ice age, one that will riddle the apes with frostbite and kill off all sources of food. You'll wish that we got to you first."
"That's not fair!" hacked Crono.
"Life isn't fair, boy," Azala sneered.
"Lavos..." Ayla murmured.
"How do you know about Lavos...?!" choked Marle.
"Ayla people word... La mean fire, Vos mean big..." sighed Ayla. "Maybe all die together..."
A sudden shriek pierced the team's ears and they lifted their heads to see Kino approach with the Dactyls, who fortunately seemed to be unaffected by the heavy pressure and were flying normally. Crono's eyes went wide with joy as he and the others hurried onto the Dactyls, though when Ayla remained behind he felt a chill run down his spine. Ayla desperately reached for Azala's hand only to be rebuffed by a sudden jolt of telekinetic energy and stumbled back in shock. The Reptites would die together without the aid of their enemies, the apes.
"Let it be known that we Reptites fought to the bitter end..." rasped Azala.
Bowing her head, Ayla quietly shook her head and balled her fists.
"Ayla know..." Ayla whispered.
As she mounted the Dactyls she heard a weak cry and stared at a desperate Azala with a puzzled look on her face. It was over and that was all that would be written in the annals of history, but for Azala there seemed to be one final word to impart. She had one final wish, a request that would prove to be prophetic in its implications. Azala's final thoughts were of the planet that she so loved and prayed that Ayla would come to adore as well.
"Azala...?" she murmured.
"The planet... Please, protect it, always..." heaved Azala. "It belongs to you now."
Ayla solemnly nodded as she mounted the Dactyl and the beasts took off, leaving Azala alone in her crater to ruminate on her fate. She used the last of her strength to drag herself to her feet and, as she stared up at the descending red star, a fragile smile crossed Azala's face. Across the Tyranno Lair the surviving Reptites similarly bowed their heads to their fates as Lavos plunged into the fortress with a multi-megaton concussive force that shattered the ground to bits.
Author's Notes
This one started off a little small and eventually grew into a longer chapter than I'd anticipated, as all of the Dactyls' Nest and most of the fights in the Tyranno Lair had been abbreviated in my notes. That means that a good chunk of this chapter came from off the top of my head and wasn't included in the notes themselves. I'm pleasantly surprised that I pulled it off as decently as I did to be honest... I figured it would be even shorter and less descriptive.
And, of course, Belthasar's scheme remains nearly impenetrably ridiculous. Not only that but I added in more of my bull on top of it. You'd best get used to it because I intend on riding the crazy-ass rampaging train all the way to the end of the line. All of this is, of course, totally improvised chapter by chapter, so it's anyone's guess where my "canon" ends up... except that it'll be ridiculous. Hopefully it won't be as bad as Kato just pawning off the answers on the readers to determine, with contradictory and insane theories and statements.