Chrono Continuum Chapter 72
Good Enough
By Cain
1999 AD
"Hath any of thee seen Lucca," Glenn called out.
No one else in the cave responded, which Glenn took as a "no". He sighed. Everyone had grown somewhat despondent since Frog's death, and it was made worse by the fact that Marle and Dalton were still gone after five days. Glenn had to admit it was cause for worry, but he remained optimistic.
Deciding that Lucca wasn't in their cave hideout, Glenn ventured outside, into the deluge. It had been raining for days, non-stop, almost as if the skies themselves grieved for Frog. That was the only reason they'd taken shelter in the cave right near the Red Omen's shield, because the Omen itself didn't worry them. It didn't seem to have any means of detecting them before they entered, so they weren't afraid of camping right nearby.
Deciding that he didn't feel like getting wet at the moment, he pulled out his sword, the Frogmasamune, putting it to one of its many newly discovered uses.
The blade began to glow a faint green. Without even any conscious effort on Glenn's part, the droplets of water falling from the heavens began to steer around him, splashing the ground all around, but leaving him dry as a bone.
Glancing around, he soon spotted Lucca, sitting against a tree, apparently unconcerned over being soaked. Glenn followed her gaze to the Red Omen, sitting there as dry as Glenn himself, the shield protecting it.
Quietly, he walked toward her, his sword drying the ground the moment before he stepped on it. When he reached her, he sat down, not on mud, but on dry ground. However, his dry shield didn't extend to Lucca, and she still stared off at the Red Omen, as if Glenn wasn't there. Glenn was surprised to see that she wasn't wearing her glasses, apparently so that they wouldn't get wet.
"How dost thou see without thine spectacles," Glenn asked, trying to get her to at least speak.
Only Lucca's mouth moved. "I don't. But the Omen's big enough that I can still make it out."
"I see. But what is thy preoccupation with the Omen?"
Lucca was silent, long enough for Glenn to fear he'd asked something he didn't have the right to ask, but she answered presently, "Did you know, Glenn, that I'm the only original Hero here? Crono and Magus are captured by the Kingdom, Ayla and Robo are out on a mission, and so is Marle. And Frog is..."
"Dead," Glenn finished for her. "Yes, but Ayla, Robo, and Marle shalt be back soon, and 'tis only a matter of time before we rescue Crono and Magus. And Frog," he finished, holding up his sword, "is still here. In a way."
Lucca nodded. "Yeah."
For a moment, that was all that was said, but then Lucca said, "Glenn?"
"Yes?"
"Did I ever tell you what Thanatos told me about you?"
Glenn glanced at her for a moment, taking in her expressionless face. "No, thou didst not."
"He said," Lucca replied slowly, "that you weren't supposed to come. That the future me that got Frog to lend you his Masamune wasn't supposed to have done that. That we've changed our own futures."
Glenn nodded, absorbing the information. "And did he say what these futures were?"
Lucca nodded. "We were supposed to lose. The planet was supposed to fall to the Kingdom, and most of us were supposed to die. In fact, most of the people in that cave were already supposed to have died."
She turned to Glenn. "Are we still destined to die, Glenn? To lose this battle? Could one man's introduction into history change everything else?
Slowly, Glenn put his sword away, allowing the rain to fall down on his head, and soak his clothes, like Lucca's clothes were. He didn't meet her eyes. "Thou hast already said that we hath changed the future. P'raps we art still doomed, Lucca. But if we hath been offered a second chance, we mustn't waste it worrying."
He turned his head to look into her eyes, and continued, "We shall all die eventually, Lucca, but we must do what we can while we can. I'm not giving up. Art thou?"
Lucca shook her head, and looked into Glenn's eyes with a small smile. "Thanks for the pep talk, brave knight. What do you say we get out of this rain and into the nice, warm cave."
Glenn stood, and helped Lucca up. Together, they began the walk back to the cave. On the way, Lucca wrapped her arm around Glenn's midsection, and laid her head on his shoulder. Glenn let her.
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Same Time
Terala hugged herself in front of the heater. She absolutely hated the cold, and ever since they'd captured the Queen, the heating system had been malfunctioning. Terala personally thought that the woman's Ice magic had overridden the heating system, but Victorian had assured her it wasn't possible.
She shivered, and rubbed her hands together. Even her normally warm wolf furs had failed to keep the cold from reaching her flesh, giving her constant goosebumps. So desperate was she, she'd even let her hair down, to keep her shoulders warmer, not that it helped much.
Terala groaned in despair as she saw her breath rise up in the air as steam. For a moment, she seriously considered Drissom's offers to "keep her warm", but decided against it. Nothing in the world was worth that.
For a moment, she glanced away from the heater, as Drissom left the Hellbound quarters, to visit their captive. She wasn't really sure what went on on those "visits", but Drissom always looked frustrated afterwards, so Terala guessed that the Queen was imaginative in how she used her Ice magic.
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Same Time
Drissom glanced over his shoulder again as he came to the door of the magically protected cell. He'd had the strangest feeling that he was being followed, ever since he left the Hellbound quarters. After another quick glance, he took out the keys to the door's three locks, making sure to put them each in the right one, as he'd had them magically booby trapped by Victorian.
As he opened the door, he looked for his captive. He smiled as he spotted her. By now, her dress was dirty, and torn in many places, although none of that was his fault. She'd managed to freeze anything he put within six inches of her, including his hand. And due to the fact that the heating was broken it had taken hours to thaw out.
Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him. Drissom turned around just in time to see Dalton's fist, before he was unconscious.
Dalton cursed. "Damn, you have a hard head!"
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Same Time
"I still don't know why I should trust you," Marle told Dalton as they walked through the hallway.
"Do you have any other choice?"
"Well..."
"That's what I thought. I know I should have told you about my plans, but I was partially telling the truth about having betrayed you. It turns out, the reason the Kingdom knew what we were doing, because they were able to monitor whatever I saw or heard through the link with the other Hellbound. If I'd told you my plans, they would've known."
Marle's expression remained dubious. "I suppose I don't have any other choice than to buy that, do I?"
Dalton shook his head. "Nope. But here's some proof right now," he told her, as they came to a stop.
Dalton smiled as he opened the door, revealing a gigangtic machine, wrapped around a huge shaft of ice stretching from the floor to the ceiling. "Welcome the the Ice Room. Let's blow this place to Hell."
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"The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in
one solitary and even humble individual - for it is in the solitary mind
and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged
and ultimately won or lost."
-M. Scott Peck
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