Chrono Trigger: Timeless Angels Part 10
Fight For Our Parents!
By Mefathiel
"Zeal Shield!" Schala shouted, casting a barrier over everyone before the elves could attack.
"Kill the intruders!" one of the elves ordered.
As the elves attacked, their weapons were deflected by the barrier. Schala was busy preparing another spell when another elf piped up. "Hey, they’ve got the Prince of Veda with them!" he shouted.
"Take the prince, and the boss will be really pleased with us!" another declared.
Natan stepped forward and drew his Vine Whip. "And why would that be, pray tell?" he asked. "Because if you’re planning on ransoming me, it won’t work. The kingdom of Veda does not take kindly to terrorist actions."
"Even if your life is at stake?" one elf asked. Natan shook his head in reply.
Schala raised her hands over her head. "Zeal Shock!" she shouted, sending a current of electricity through the attacking group of Dark Elves. They all fell to the stony floor, knocked unconscious by the attack. "Let’s go, while they’re still out of it!"
She lowered the barrier and the party started making their way deeper into Onseny, led by Crono and Natan. "Which way is it?" Crono asked.
"Which way is what?" Natan asked back.
"Where’s the throne room?"
"What makes you think that they’re in the throne room?" Marle asked.
"They’re probably in the prison," Lucca reasoned.
The group came to a fork in the tunnel, and they stopped. "The prisons are to the left," Natan said, "and the throne room is to the right. Which way do you want to go, Crono?"
Crono looked at the two paths, not knowing which to take. "We’ll split into two groups," he said. "Spekkio and the Timeless Angels will go to the left, everybody else will go to the right. Is that okay with you?" Everyone nodded. "If one group is unsuccessful, then they come back and help the others. We meet back here in one hour if everything goes well."
"Got it," Spekkio said. "I’ll make sure that we’re safe."
"And I’ll make sure we’re safe," Marle said.
Lucca and Zephon looked at each other. "Don’t get yourself killed," Lucca said.
"You either," Zephon said.
The twins smiled at each other and went their separate ways through the Onseny tunnels.
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Ozzie was sitting on a throne in the Onseny Kingdom throne room, with Magus standing beside him. "This is great!" Ozzie shouted in glee. "These mirror twins are great servants! And they sure fit in with these Dark Elves, considering they’re both evil and all!"
"Whatever, Ozzie," Magus said. "Why did you bring me back?"
Ozzie was at a loss for words. "Uh, ya know, I’m not totally sure myself. I suppose it’s because I wanted you to help me kill those stupid brats!"
Magus nodded. "Yes, there’s nothing I want more right now than revenge on that fool Crono and his friends! They are the reason I couldn’t protect Schala!"
"Schala?" Ozzie asked himself. "But isn’t she on the other side? This doesn’t look good. Hey Magus, do you think your powers are completely restored yet?"
"Of course not, fool. It has not even been a day since you revived me. I don’t expect to be at full power for at least another day or two."
"Very good," Ozzie said, standing up. He placed a clawed hand on Magus’ head.
"Ozzie, what are you doing?"
"Making sure you stay under my control," Ozzie said, pouring dark energy into Magus’ head. The warlock started convulsing and he fell to his knees.
"Ozzie, stop this! You will pay!" Magus tried to summon enough magic energy to blast Ozzie into oblivion, but he wasn’t able to in his condition.
"I will make sure you don’t defy me, Magus," Ozzie cackled. "I see you have some connection to this Schala girl, and I’ll see that you don’t leave my side because of her!"
The door burst open just as Ozzie finished his spell, and Crono ran in, followed by Marle, Lucca, Glenn, Ayla and Robo. "Well look at what we’ve got here," Marle said, "it’s a fat green imp and his vulture-nosed companion."
"Ozzie, thou art in charge of Onseny Kingdom?" Glenn asked.
"Of course, who’d you think it would be?" Ozzie asked. "Magus, get them!" Magus drew his scythe and lunged forward at the small traveling party. Ozzie laughed. "I don’t know why I just didn’t put my control over him in the first place. That Magus sure is a fighter!"
Magus summoned energy into his hands, and Glenn struck with the Masamune. The warlock was knocked back, but continued calling the dark energy into his hands. Finally, he released it in a Dark Matter attack. Robo charged forward, hurling his rotund bulk into Magus. Glenn attacked again, and Magus fell.
Ozzie, realizing his greatest asset was in danger, called off Magus’ attack. "Looks like I’ll have to resort to other measures," he said. "Kagami Kage, come forth!"
The door to the throne room opened again, and the mirror duplicates of Crono, Marle, Lucca, Glenn, Ayla and Robo stepped in and drew their weapons. "It appears we’ve been surrounded," Lucca said. "This isn’t good at all…"
"Tell us something we didn’t know," Marle muttered.
"The last digit of pi is 7," Robo said.
"Huh? What’s that got to do with anything?"
"I assumed you didn’t know what the last digit of pi is."
Marle groaned and tightened her finger on the crossbow trigger. "That might just be our last bit of comedy relief for a long time," Crono said.
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Zephon leaned against the wall and peered cautiously around the corner. "What do you see?" Tata asked.
"Well, I can definitely say that this prison is heavily guarded," Zephon replied. "So heavily guarded, in fact, that I can’t even see into the cells. We’ll have to make an attack before we even know if our parents are here."
Cyrus drew the Sword of the Archangel Michael. "Then what art thou waiting for, Sir Zephon? We must attack the enemy before they knoweth what hit them!" he urged.
"I must agree," Schala said. "A preemptive strike is our best bet now."
The Flame Lance of Nathaniel appeared in Zephon’s hands. "Then may the angels guide is safely," he said.
Spekkio waddled forward into view of the Dark Elves. "Hey, do you guys know where the gym is?" he asked, trying to look buff. "Nevermind, I’ll find it myself."
The elves looked at Spekkio and drew their weapons. But before they could attack, the Timeless Angels appeared behind the Nu. Schala raised the Staff of the Magi. "Zeal Torrent!" she shouted.
A wave of water crashed through the midst of the Dark Elves, and Tata raised his sword. "Pearl Blast!" he shouted.
A beam of light shot up through the ground, and a hail of flaming pearls spewed forth and started raining on the Dark Elves. Cyrus rushed forward and cut down a few of the elves with his broadsword. Zephon followed by impaling one on his Flame Lance and throwing the elf into one of its companions. He whirled around and held the lance before him. "Eternal Flame!" he said.
A wall of fire spread from the lance and burned down the elven forces. Natan rushed over to one of the cells. "Are you Lucca’s parents?" he asked.
Taban and Lara nodded. "Of course. Who are you, and what’s going on here?" Taban asked.
"It’s a long story, sir." Natan whirled around and wrapped his whip around an elf who was preparing an attack. Spekkio cast a Rainbow Ring on the elf soldier, nearly killing him. "But we’re here to get you out!"
More elves filed in from the entrance tunnel. Zephon turned and plunged his lance into the ground, bringing his hands together. "Flaming Cherub’s Sword!" he shouted. A flaming blade appeared in Zephon’s hands, and he flung it at the elves. Most of them dove out of the way, but one of them took it right in the chest. He screamed in pain as the sword consumed him from the inside out.
A Dark Elf drew his sword and clashed it against Tata’s Light Sword. Tata swung back with all his might, and the elf laughed. "Ha, what fool brought this boy here?" the elf asked.
"I’m not a boy!" Tata shouted. "I’m thirteen years old!"
The elf brought his face closer to Tata’s. "By elven standards, you’re still an infant, boy!"
Tata punched the elf in the face and kicked him back. He plunged the sword into the elf’s stomach, spilling his blood onto the floor. Another attacking elf smashed his pole arm into Tata’s head. There was a sharp crack, and the boy fell to the floor. Suddenly, the elf felt a sharp pain, and he looked down to see a sword blade sticking through his chest.
Cyrus slid the elf’s body off of his sword and helped Tata to his feet. "Art thou all right, little one?" Cyrus asked.
"I’ve got a headache, but I should be fine," Tata groaned. "I think…"
A group of elves surrounded Schala, and she raised the staff above her. "Zeal Freeze!" she shouted. "Zeal Blaze!"
The two spells created an Antipode effect, and the elves were knocked away by the blast. Natan, meanwhile, was focusing on freeing Lucca and Zephon’s parents. He summoned a ball of light into his hands. "Light Burst!" he shouted.
The ball of magic shattered, and streams of light started connecting with the prison cell, but had no effect. He looked over to Schala. "This thing has a magic lock on it," he said.
"Worry about other things for the moment!" Schala said, warning Natan.
"Right! Vine Wrap!"
Vines and roots shot up from the floor and down from the ceiling, crushing the Dark Elf behind Natan with their powerful strength. Natan summoned the Vine Whip of Sachluph again and jumped into the battle. Taban and Lara watched the mysterious warriors fighting to free them. Nearby, Crono’s mother watched, wondering if Crono even knew where she was…
Zephon screamed as two elves held him down while another ran its sword through his stomach. "I won’t die again!" he shouted. "Angelic Conflagration!"
Fire spread from his body and filled the room, burning all of the Dark Elves. Its power had an adverse effect on the Timeless Angels, Spekkio and the parents, though; the fire healed whatever wounds they had, much like the Phoenix’s flame. The Dark Elf that had stabbed Zephon was on his knees, not quite dead yet.
Zephon stood and grabbed his Flame Lance. "You die, bastard," he said, running the weapon through the elf’s chest.
"Is that it?" Schala asked. "Are there any more elves coming?"
"I doth not see any more," Cyrus said.
Schala walked over to the prison cells and passed the Staff of the Magi over the locks. The powerful magic in the staff shattered the magic locks and freed Taban, Lara and Crono’s mother. "We’re done here," Natan said.
"Spekkio, send them home," Zephon ordered the Nu.
Spekkio nodded, and the parents disappeared. "Looks like we need to head for the throne room," Tata said.
"Let’s go then," Schala said, putting her staff away. "If your parents were here, Zephon, who knows what’s going on in the throne room?"
They headed for the entrance tunnel, but suddenly found themselves facing a number of familiar faces. "What’s going on here?" Cyrus asked. "By what dark magic doth this cometh?"
"It’s those mirror duplicates Rempha was talking about," Zephon said.
"And it looks like they want a fight," Schala said.
The shadowy replicas advanced into the room and raised their weapons to attack…
.
"Ayla no lose!" Ayla declared. "Ayla fight, and Ayla win! Ayaaaaah!"
The cavewoman jumped forward and took hold of her duplicate’s hair, getting ready to perform her Rock Throw attack. Unfortunately, the Mirror Ayla had other plans; and she made those plans known as she executed a Tail Spin. Ayla was sent flying into a wall. Pieces of masonry sailed through the air as Ayla’s body crashed to the ground with a thud.
"Ugh, Ayla no feel good," Ayla groaned.
Mirror Robo conjured up an electric field around his body. "Warning," Robo said, "my dark copy is preparing for a Shock attack!"
"Then do something!" Marle shouted.
Lucca reached into her hip pouch and pulled out a round object. Pulling a pin out of the bomb, she tossed it into the midst of the Kagami Kage Squad. The Mega Bomb exploded, sending the dark mirror duplicates flying all over the throne room. Marle’s dark twin stood up and held her hands together. A blue aura formed around her, and her hair whipped around violently, propelled by an unfelt wind.
"Dark Ice 2!" she shouted.
A huge chunk of black ice appeared inches from the throne room’s ceiling and fell. Marle dashed out underneath it and tried to conjure up magic of her own to stop it as everyone else took cover in the doorway. "Marle!" Crono shouted as the ice block shattered upon impact with the floor. "Marle! No!"
He ran out of the doorway and started digging through the icy debris in a frantic search for Marle. Lucca raised her arm and summoned magic energy into her hand. "Fire 2!" she shouted.
A ring of fire magic spread from her body through the throne room, vaporizing all of the remaining ice and water. Marle was at the center of the room, laying on the floor and not moving. Crono rushed to her and searched for any signs of life, finding none. Tears filled his eyes, and the rest of the team stood over him and Marle in solemn silence.
Not knowing what to make of this turn of events, Ozzie and his crew simply watched as Crono lifted Marle’s body and moved it to the doorway. He kneeled down over her, still facing into the throne room. "Marle, I can’t believe this happened," he said.
Suddenly, Marle started coughing as the life was returned to her body. Crono’s eyes widened in shock as she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Crono," she said, "you can’t believe what happened?"
"I—you—uh… forget it, I’ll tell you later." Crono stood up and dramatically pulled his Rainbow Sword from the ground. He shot a dark smirk at Ozzie and the Kagami Kage Squad. "First, I have some trash to take out."
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"There comes a time for a man when he must act, despite the dangers, knowing he may die…" —Captain Harlock
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