”Crono...”
”Crono!”
”Good morning, Crono!”
It was his mom. Crono slowly opened his eyes and what he first saw was the ceiling.
The wooden ceiling who covered the room.
”Come on, sleepy head! Get up!” His mom tried, but Crono ignored her.
He could hear his cat ‘meow’, but it stayed next to Crono’s mom.
She walked to the window and pulled the curtains away.
The sunlight filled the room fast, and brightened the dark room.
From distance, the sound of a bell could still be heard.
”Ah...” Crono’s mom started ”Leene's Bell makes such beautiful music!”
But Crono didn’t move.
”You were so excited about the Millenial Fair that you didn't sleep well, did you...?” she asked,
but she didn’t count of getting an answer.
”I want you to behave yourself today!”
She walked away to the stairs, but when she noticed that Crono hadn’t move a finger,
she turned around and said:
”Let’s get moving, now!”
Slowly, Crono moved out of his bed.
He stopped in front of the sunlight and stretched all his muscles.
Then he walked to his desk and picked up his clothes he had thrown on his chair yesterday.
He dressed himself and took a final look out of the window before he walked down the stairs.
 

”Finally!” His mom said, when he came down.
She was waiting for him downstairs.
”By the way...” she started. ”That inventor friend of yours...”
”Lucca.” Crono interrupted her. ”What about her?”
His mom smiled.
”Don't forget that she invited you to see her new invention!”
”Don’t worry.”  Crono said. ”I won’t forget it.”
His mom nodded.
”Run along now...” she said while she walked to the kitchen. ”And be back before dinner.”
Crono walked away to the door and put on his shoes.
”Your allowance is on the table. It should be enough for food and other things.
Have fun at the fair!”
Crono walked to the table and took the money.
It was 200 gold. ”Thanks mom!” he said and walked back to the door.
But again, his mom stopped him.
”Do you think you can drop by at the harbor and see if the letter from Porre is here?”
”Sure.” Crono said and walked out.
Finally he was going!
He had waited his entire life for this moment. The Millennial Fair.
It was a celebration of that the Guardia family had ruled the kingdom 1000 years.
Normally this would have been on the winter,
but King Guardia the XXXIII had decided to have the celebration on the summer instead.
And so had the day finally arrived, 28 June 1000 AD.
Crono had saved a lot of money to this day.
400 gold. He knew that he could have fun it, but since his mom gave him 200, he got a little extra. He thought about what he should do with it.
The sun was shining and only a few clouds could be seen.
Even though it was morning, it was warm. Probably over 20 degrees Celsius already.
There were only a few clouds on the sky, and the day was perfect.
They couldn’t have chosen a better day to start the festival.
As he thought, he walked south to the southern parts of Truce village... Or not village...
More a town. He lived in the northeast part of it, but most people lived south and west of the town fountain, who was in the center of the town.
The pier was here, in the southern part. He walked on it to the ticket-and-post office, who was built right on the pier. He entered it and saw just two persons there, except the ticket salesman.
The room was a little bit dark since it only had four windows, but it was fine.
The temperature was a lot lower in here than on the outside.
There was one girl in here, looking out of the windows, and a man who was walking around.
”Are there any letters from Porre?” Crono asked the ticket salesman.
”I'll check. Hold on...” he said and he walked out of the room to another room behind the counter.
Then Crono recognized the girl. She used to walk around with Fritz, the young storekeeper.
His shop is quite popular (because it’s the only one in Truce).
Crono walked closer and heard that she was talking to herself.
”If only Fritz would return... I’d ask for nothing more...”
”What is it?” Crono said and tried to sound nice.
”Nothing...” She... No... what was her name? Oh, yes. Elaine. ”Nothing” Elaine said.
She sat down at one of the chairs who was placed by the wall.
”I guess he’s forgotten me...”
Crono didn’t really wanted to involve himself in... whatever this was about...
So, walked to the counter and shouted for the ticket salesman.
”Hey! Have you checked it yet?”
The man came into the room again.
”Sorry. No letters from Porre today.”
”Okay.” Crono nodded and walked out of the house and headed for Leene square, where the Millennial Fair was located.
Leene square was named after queen Leene who lived 400 years ago.
They had built the square after they won a war against the mystics and their leader,
the human wizard Magus.

Mystics was the name of a lot of different creature who lived on an island to the east. They had one village there, called Medina. The contact between Guardia and the Mystics had decreased after the war 400 years ago. Crono thought it was stupid to ignore each other like this.
The creatures who lived on the island had been called ‘monsters’, 400 years ago.
Even Crono thought of them as monsters. But the ‘mystic’ race included different creatures, who had very little in common. The main race was the imps. They were not very big,
only about a meter, and they had different skin colors. All from blue to brown.
Then there were other races, but Crono had only seen the imps.
 
Leene square was most famous for Leene’s bell who rang every morning.
The bell was famous for wakening everybody.
When Crono passed some houses in south Truce, someone yelled for him.
”Crono!”
He turned around.
”Hi Cheren.” Crono and Cheren were not really friends, but since there were not very many persons in his age, he knew them all.
”Going to the Fair?” Crono asked.
”Yeah! Soon...” Cheren answered.
”How soon?” Crono asked, hoping it would be a long time.
”Soon enough.”
Crono didn’t like Cheren very much. They could never do something without starting a fight. Cheren was also the first one to call Lucca Crono’s girlfriend. Half of it was right.
She was a girl, and she was his friend.
Crono disliked the conversation already so he tried to end it.
”Going to save the princess?” He asked, knowing that it used to end their chat.
”Yep!” Cheren answered and raised his wood sword. Crono couldn’t believe he still had it.
It was SO silly!
”First save, then marry the princess and get half of the kingdom.”
”Good Luck!” Crono said and walked away.
They were referring to princess Nadia.
She was in their age, but Crono had never seen her.
But he wasn’t very interested in the royal family.
All talk he heard about them was about their family problems, and Crono thought it was REALLY boring, so he didn’t listen.

Leene square was located just a few hundred meters north of Crono’s house, so he dropped by there first and told his mom that the letter had not come yet.
She reminded him of Lucca’s invention, and after that, he went to Leene square.

When he arrived, the mayor welcomed him.
”Welcome to the Millennial Fair. Have fun!”
Crono said ”Thank you” and started to walk around.
The Leene square was filled with stores, tent, scenes.
There was a lot of people here. Someone had placed flowers all over the place, so it looked better than usual. Leene square was divided into two halves. The lower (or south) part,
and the upper (or north) part. Right now, Crono was a the lower part, since there were many more stores and more competitions here (and the entrance was here).
He saw his cousin Laina sitting by the fountain, so walked to her and asked where Lucca was.
”Oh, hi Crono!” she said ”Lucca? Yeah, I’ve heard that she and her dad have made another crazy invention. Hope it doesn’t blow up like all the other!”
Crono was used to that everybody said bad things about Lucca.
He didn’t know why they said it him, he was her best friend after all.
”Where is she?” he asked.
Laina looked around.
”I guess she is at the far north part. But she still setting up. Someone said that they should be ready around 1 p.m.”
”Thanks!” Crono said and walked away.
There was 1 hour left before Lucca’s show started.
He walked around and tried to have fun. There was a power test machine he tried.
You hit a little box with a wooden club, and then another box flew up.
Harder you hit, higher it flew.
Crono made it fly all the way up to a bell, who sounded when the box hit it.
When he stood by the fountain, looking for some food seller, a girl came and said:
”This is Leene square. They say people who hear Leene’s bell ring, will have interesting and happy lives!” Crono smiled.
”Really?”
He walked around, looking for something to do.
Many persons tried to sell things to him, and others tried to make him play their games.
”This is renowned ‘tent of horrors!’. Spend all your silver points you’ve won here!”
”Sorry.” Crono said ”I haven’t won any yet.”
Crono hadn’t been at  the upper part yet, so he walked to the stair that took him there.
But when he passed a man who stood on a carpet, just below the stair, the man called for him.
”Hey, You! Come over here! Buy something from Melchior the swordsmith?”
Crono walked to him and looked on the carpet, where Melchior had placed swords of different types. ”I don’t think so. Sorry.”
But Melchior stopped him. ”This is a dangerous world. We need to protect ourselves.”
Crono frowned.
”Mom would not agree”
Melchior shook his head.
”Sure she’ll do. Have you ever met anything dangerous before?”
Crono thought for a long time.
”Hmm... Yes, perhaps. I’ve sometimes met some Hetakes in the forest.”
”Yes, yes...” Melchior started. ”And what did you do?”
Crono smiled. This was just where Melchior wanted him.
”I ran away, of course!”
Melchior looked him in his eyes.
”No, no, no. You should not fear the reaper.”
”Oh...” Crono said, tried to sound a little bit uninterested.
”It’s the reaper who shall fear you! And,” Melchior picked up one of the swords.
”With one of these. He will!”
Melchior put his right hand on Crono’s shoulder.
”It’s yours for only 350 gold!”
Crono looked away.
”I don’t know. I come back later, OK?”
Melchior nodded.
Crono ran away to the upper part. That took too long time. Perhaps the show had already started?
He ran up the stairs, to the big bell construction. He was just about to go through it, when...
”AAA...” Crono yelled when something/someone bumped into him.
He was thrown to the ground, and bumped into the big bell, which made it ring.
Then he heard some metal thing landed right in front of him.
”Hey!” he heard a female voice saying.
Crono opened his eyes.
”Ouch, that hurt!” the female voice said, ”Are you all right?”
He checked what laid in front of him. A pendant.
Crono rose up and check if he had lost something.
He took the pendant. Perhaps it was hers.
”Yeah, I'm okay.” he said as he turned to see who it was. He saw a girl getting up, with long blond hair tied up in a ponytail. She was quite beautiful. ”Are you?”
She looked at him.
She must be in Crono’s age, it was strange that he hadn’t seen her before.
”Yes, but my pendant fell off! Where is it??” she said as she looked around for it.
”Eh...” Crono started, ”This one?”
The girl looked at it, then she smiled.
”Oh! You found it! Thank you! It has sentimental value.” the girl said, giggling.
”My name is, mum... Marle.”
Marle, Crono repeated in his mind. What a nice name.
”Mine’s Crono” Crono said, trying to look proud.
”Crono... That’s a nice name.” Marle said slowly nodding.
They stood there and watched each other. Crono didn’t know what to say, so Marle was the first one to break the silence.
” You... Live in this town, don't you?! I feel a little out of place here.
Would you mind if I walked around with you for a while?”
”Not at all.” Crono replied, smiling.
”Thanks!” Marle said gleefully. ”You’re a true gentleman, you know that?”
”What?!?” Crono thought. ”Who is she?”
It was not normal that persons from his generation called each other ‘gentlemen’.
She’s got to be far from here.
”Lead on!” she said.
”Yeah, right...” Crono started ”I was going to see my friend Lucca’s new invention, and...”
Marle interrupted him ”Great! Where is she?”
”She’s at the far north part, but I don’t know if they are ready yet...”
”Well...” Marle said smiling. ”There’s only one way to find out, right?”
Crono nodded. ”Right! This way.”

Crono walked north until he came to the far north square.
But there were two men, blocking the way.
”They’re not ready yet. Come back at 1 p.m., and that’s 30 minutes more.”
Crono nodded. ”OK, what do we do now?” he asked Marle.
”Let’s have some fun!” she said and walked away with him to games of all kind.
They walked around, and had a great time.
When they were at the south part, again, a young girl walked to them and said:
”This is Leene square. They say people who hear Leene’s bell ring, will have interesting and happy lives!” Crono smiled.
”You’ve already told me.”
”So?” The girl said. ”I’m getting paid every time a say it, so it doesn’t matter for me.”
She walked away, looking for new people to inform.
Marle giggled. ”Crono... I’m having a great time!”
”Yeah...” Crono said. ”Who doesn’t?”
They also saw some acrobats, performing different tricks.
When they where finished, Crono hurried away to another side of the square.
But he didn’t get very far ‘cause Marle grabbed his arm, and pulled him back.
”Hold your horses! I want some candy.”
They walked away to one ‘candy seller’.
Marle looked very carefully at the different candy types.
Then she called for the seller.
”Hi! I would like some of this.” she said and pointed on a box with candy.
”Sure young lady.” The women on the other side of the counter said.
Marle gave her some money and took out one from the box.
”Thanks for waiting!” she said to Crono. ”Now where do you want to go next?”
Then Crono remembered that he hadn’t eaten anything.
”I’m really hungry! Let’s go and buy some food.”
”After you.” Marle said and waited for Crono to move.
Crono searched for any food-sellers, but he couldn’t find any so, he had to ask someone.
He walked to an old women who stood and sold dolls.
”Excuse me, but... Do you know where I can buy some food?”
”Sorry...” the old women said. ”You know, I hate Fairs! Say, do you know the latest gossip?”
”No.” Crono said quite uninterested.
”Just between us, I heard that the king is distressed over his tomboy of a daughter!
Just once, I would like to see how wild she really is!”
Crono wasn’t very interested in the royal family, and not telling gossips of them either.
”Be glad if you see anything of her.” he said.
The women nodded. ”I also heard she ran away from home. Again!”
Marle shook her head.
”I don’t get it!” she said ”How can he rule a kingdom, when he can’t even control his own daughter?”

Crono and Marle continued to walk around, searching for a foodplace.
”Well, I don’t know, but...” Crono said. ”Something’s wrong with the royal family... That’s for sure!”
”No kidding!” Marle said giggling.
They continue to walk, and soon, Crono forgot his hunger.
After a lot of games, shops, and acts, they came to ‘the battle arena’.
It isn’t as violent as it sounds. It had one archery hall, one battle robot (who Lucca had made)
and a few other things. Crono borrowed a wood sword from the manager of the Battle robot, and fought it. It was quite though. You could only hit it on it’s stomach, and it hit you with a boxing glove. After a hard fight, Crono earned 10 silver points, and a lot sweat.
He walked away to check what Marle was up to.
”10...” He heard a male voice saying. ”10... 10... 10...10... and 9...”
Marle was shooting a crossbow against a targetboard. She look very supriced at her results.
The manager looked even more supriced.
”What did I won?” Marle asked.
”Eh...” the man said, looking around for a price. He hadn’t count with that someone should shoot THAT good.
”The crossbow... It’s yours”
Marle looked at it. ”No...” she said. ”I can’t take it...”
The man gave her an arrow basket, filled with arrows. ”Sure you can. It’s your!”
”Nice price!” Crono said when Marle came out of the archer hall, with a Crossbow on her back.
”Is it heavy?” Crono asked, didn’t really care what the answer would be. He just wanted to talk with her.
”No. It’s a small one.”
”Now, what time is it...” Crono said and checked around for a clock...
”1 PM!!” he screamed.
”Ooops...” Marle said, and followed Crono as he ran to the far north part of Leene square.
”Just in time.” Marle said as they came to the small square.
Crono could se two pods in each corner of the square.
In front of one of them, Lucca stood There were two devices of some sort next to each pod.
In front of it, Lucca’s father, Taban stood.
There weren’t very many people here. Just three more.
Taban caught everyone’s eyes.
”Step right on, any of you who have the time and courage! Our ”Super Dimension Warp” is the invention of  the century! To use it, jump here...” he said and pointed at the left pod.
”...And you'll get teleported here!” he pointed at the other pod.
”It's the masterwork of my beautiful daughter, Lucca.”
The audience was quite fascinated of the device, but they didn’t agree on the last part.
Crono heard one saying: ”Look at that girl’s glasses!”
”Yeah...” another one said. ”She could probably see the back side of the moon with those.”
Crono didn’t care.
”Hey Lucca!” he said.
”Crono!” she said supriced. ”Where've you been? No one wants to try the telepod!
How about you?”
Crono was just about to ask if it was safe, when Marle said:
”It looks like fun! I'll watch while you try it out!”
Lucca looked at Marle.
”Hey Crono, how did you pick up a cutie like her?”
Crono blushed, but didn’t answer. He stepped onto the left pod and told Lucca he was ready.
Lucca and Taban fooled around with some controls.
”All right! Here we go!” Lucca pressed a button. Crono's body shimmered, and then disappeared. A small glimmer of light moved from one pod to the other.
Crono then rematerialized on the second pod.
”Ta da!!” exclaimed Lucca.
The audience looked supriced at him. ”How was it?” someone asked.
Crono didn’t answer. He walked to Lucca and said:
”Quite cool!”
Marle walked to them.
”WOAH!! That was cool!!” she said, ”Let me try!!!”
”Sure.” Lucca said. ”Just step onto the pod and...”
”I know!” Marle interrupted her.
She walked to the left pod.
Taban turned to the audience and said:
”Behold, ladies and gentleman, as this vision of loveliness steps aboard the machine!”
Marle stepped onto the left pod and nodded to Lucca.
”OK! Here you go!” Lucca pressed a few buttons, and Marle started to shimmer.
Suddenly, her pendant started to glow. Sparks flew from a console on the machine.
”Wh-What's happening???” said Marle nervously.
”I don’t know! Father, give me more power!!!” yelled Lucca. Sparks were flying everywhere. Marle started to dematerialize. The glimmering light moved from the first pod to the other, but it stopped when it got half way. Then something strange happened.
It was like a windows to another world opened. A big blue circle appeared. Inside the circle,
there was a mixture of different blue colors. Marle rematerialized inside the circle. The circle decreased in size, and disappeared.
All who was left of her was her pendant, who was lying at the left pod.
The audience looked shocked.
”Show's over folks, Let's head along now!” Taban said, and the people gladly walked away.
”OK, Lucca! Where is she?”
Lucca looked a bit confused.
”The way she disappeared.... It couldn't have been the Telepod!
The warp field seemed to be affected by her pendant...”
Taban sighed.
”What are we going to do now?”
Lucca shook her head.
”She's so familiar! I KNOW I've seen her somewhere... Crono!!!”
Lucca screamed as Crono picked up Marle’s pendant and hang it around his neck.
”Full power!” he said. He tried to act cool, but he was actually quite scared. He didn’t know why he did it. Must have been cause he hadn’t eaten anything.
”Listen!
I don't know where this machine is going to send you, but we haven't any other choice...”
Taban shook his head.
”Won't they both be lost?”
”This is our only hope!” Lucca replied.
”Full power!”
”Roger!” Taban replied.
Just like when Marle stood there, the pendant started to glow. Crono dematerialized and the glimmering light move halfway to the other pod, where it stopped. The circle opened again, and Crono rematerialized inside it. The last thing Crono heard was Lucca shouting:
”There! We did it!
I'll follow you after I know what went wrong.
Good luck, Crono!”

.

Go To Chapter 2

Return To CT Fanfic