Chrono Trigger: Timeless Angels Part 2
Quest for the Warriors
By Mefathiel
Truce Dome, constructed in the year 1979. The first of all the domes on the earth, it is also the largest as of yet, and a city in its own right. That means it houses the highest population of all the domes. It also means the pollution and crime rates are also higher.
A teenage boy dressed in rags dashed through the halls, clutching a wand in his hand and fleeing from the police. He rudely knocked people over in his attempt to escape the law. He turned and looked over his shoulder, seeing they were gaining on him. In a quick maneuver, he changed direction and dashed down a narrow hallway.
By the time the officers reached the hall, the boy was long gone. They walked through it, searching for him, trying to find out where he could be hiding. After a thorough search, they gave up and walked off. With a heavy sigh, the boy closed the panel below him. He’d climbed up the walls and into the ventilation shaft.
He pulled the wand out of his hip-pouch and looked at it, shaking his head. "It took me a lot of trouble to get you. You’d better have been worth it."
He put the wand back in his pouch and crawled through the vent to the area where he lived. Pushing on the grate, he opened it up and crawled out into the abandoned storeroom. He stretched and flopped down on a sack, tired from the chase. The boy placed his hands under his head and thought.
"Just who am I?" he asked.
He couldn’t even remember his name. No one here knew who he was or how he’d gotten here. Ironically, the only thing he could really remember was how he’d managed to get to Truce Dome. But in those twelve years, having no one to call him by name, he’d forgotten all but one aspect of his identity.
"That was why I needed to get this thing," he said, pulling the wand back out. "I must get back to her, to remember myself."
The only thing that he had to remember his identity was the one name that stood in his mind, repeating over and over again.
Lucca.
.
Lucca and Robo wandered through the Truce Dome. "Where is he?" Lucca asked.
"The one you seek is nearby," Robo said. "But are you sure that he could be the one we seek?"
"I am positive Zephon is one of the five Gaspar spoke of," Lucca said. "And if he’s not, then I guess that’s too bad, ‘cause he’s coming back with us anyway."
As they walked past a door, Robo stopped. "What’s up?" Lucca asked.
"DNA scan confirms your brother is in this room."
"What?!" Lucca exclaimed. "No way, this room is abandoned. It says so right there."
Lucca pointed at the sign that said ABANDONED on the door. Robo shook his head. "DNA scan confirms the subject is in this room."
Lucca shrugged. "I guess I can’t argue with that. It’s Wonder Shot time!"
She pulled out her hand blaster and pointed it at the door. "Bang!" Lucca shouted as she pulled the trigger.
The gun fired an intense heat blast, causing the automatic door to explode. The boy inside sat up quickly, shielding himself from the blast. "What the heck is wrong with you!?!" he exclaimed.
Lucca stepped through the smoke. She gasped at the sight of her long-lost twin brother and dropped the gun in her hand. "Zephon?" she asked.
"Zephon? Who’s that?" the boy asked.
Lucca dropped her shoulders in discouragement. "I guess you aren’t the one I’m looking for."
She turned away, but the boy perked up, recognizing the profile. "Wait! Lucca, is that really you?"
Lucca looked back. "Zephon, it is you!"
She rushed to him and hugged her brother. "My name is Zephon?" he asked. "My name is Zephon!"
"Of course it is," Lucca said.
"Well, a person tends to forget his name if no one knows it."
Lucca laughed. "God, it is so good to see you again. It’s been twelve years."
"I know," Zephon said, pulling away from his twin sister. "I knew I needed to get back, too, so I stole this from the museum."
Zephon reached into his pouch and pulled out the wand. Lucca immediately recognized it and screeched. "My God, it’s the Gate Key! This was in the museum?"
Her brother nodded. "Yeah. You’re pretty famous, sis. So how’re Mom and Dad? Hope they didn’t miss me too much."
Lucca looked away. "They don’t miss you at all," she said. "They don’t even remember you. When you disappeared, you really disappeared. It’s like you didn’t even exist before that. But when I bring you back, they’re bound to remember!"
"But how come you remember?"
"I think it’s because I saw you disappear, so it couldn’t be wiped from my memory."
Zephon looked past Lucca’s shoulder as he nodded, and he noticed Robo standing in the doorway. "Oh wow! It’s an RX Model! Those things are so rare! How’d you get it?"
"Rare? Well, he’s sorta from the future. RX Models are really common in 2300 AD."
Zephon grabbed his head in bewilderment. "2300 AD?!? Wow, then the legends about the Gate Key really were true."
"Ms. Lucca and Mr. Zephon, we must leave," Robo said.
"Oh yeah, that’s right! Zephon, you need to come with me and Robo to help us."
"Help you? How?" Zephon asked.
"We were sent to seek out five people to help us defeat a powerful enemy," Robo said. "We have no time to waste, so we must hurry back."
Zephon nodded. "I’ll do it."
Lucca smiled. "Let’s get going, then!"
.
AD 605, the continent of Porre:
Crono shielded himself from the rain with his arm as he and Marle trudged through the storm. "Where are we?" Marle asked from under the thick blanket she held over herself. "It’s getting cold under this wet blanket!"
Crono squinted and saw a light through the torrents of falling water. "Not too far to the next house. I think we’re getting near Fiona’s Villa!"
A clanking sound emanated from Crono’s left, and he looked to his side to see Robo walking beside him. It took Crono a moment to realize that this was the Robo they’d left behind to fix up the Sunken Desert. "Robo, it’s good to see you," he commented.
"We must hurry," Robo said. "It is not good for humans to be out unprotected for an extended period in this weather. Get on my back, and I will get you and Ms. Marle to the house faster than it would take you to walk."
Crono and Marle did so, and Robo took off, jetting through the shifting sands of the Sunken Desert.
.
Marle shivered and took the mug of hot cocoa, sipping it and taking in its warmth. She pulled the blanket up over her shoulders and sneezed. Fiona turned from the fireplace and looked at her two visitors. "So what brings you to this neck of the woods?" she asked with a smile.
Crono rubbed his nose and took a sip from the cocoa mug. "We’re looking for someone," he said.
"Oh really? Who?"
"We’re looking for a warrior," Marle said. "Someone who can help us with a quest."
"A warrior? There aren’t too many of them around here. Especially since the Hero arrived five years ago. But I do hear that there’s some boy who’s been fighting the monsters on Mount Denadoro and preventing them from invading Dorino Village."
"Boy?" Crono asked.
"Mount Denadoro?" Marle questioned.
"It can only be—"
"—Tata."
"Yes, that’s what his name was," Fiona said. "Tata from Porre. Wait, isn’t he the one who claimed to be the Hero before the Masamune was recovered by that knight from Guardia?"
"The very same," Crono said, putting his mug down.
"So he’s in Dorino?" Marle asked.
Fiona nodded.
"Thanks a bunch," the princess said as she and Crono walked out the door.
"See ya real soon," Crono added before the door closed.
.
The trio of Free Lancers descended upon the purple-haired boy. He screamed and raised his sword above his head. One Free Lancer’s armor was pierced by the sword, and it disappeared in an explosion. The other two fell back and studied the boy.
Tata fixed his hair and raised his sword and shield. "C’mon, bring it to me! If you want Dorino, you’ll have to come through me first!"
He waved the shortsword back and forth. The Free Lancer’s clashed their spears together and charged forward. A bolt of lightning shot down, and the Lancers fell. Tata looked up and saw the sky was still a bright blue above the clouds below him. "Lightning doesn’t shoot up, does it?" he asked himself.
"No," said Crono as he jumped down beside Tata. "That was the work of my magic."
Tata looked over and saw Crono and Marle. "You two look very familiar. That red, spiky hair… You’re Crono, aren’t you?"
"The one and only," Crono said with a smile. "And you’re Tata. That purple hair is hard to forget."
"Oh wow, it’s been like five years since I last saw you."
"And you’ve grown quite a bit," Marle said. "How old are you now?"
Tata flexed his biceps. "I’m thirteen. Impressed?"
Marle giggled, and Crono just rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Tata, we came here for you. We want you to come with us," Crono said, "to the End of Time."
"End of Time?" Tata said with a big grin on his face. The grin faded when he saw the concerned looks on the faces of Crono and Marle. "You’re serious? You’re really gonna take me to the End of Time?" Nods came from the warrior and the princess. Tata sheathed his sword and adjusted the shield on his arm. "This is about Ozzie, isn’t it?"
"How do you know about Ozzie?" Marle asked.
"Everyone knows. He returned almost a week ago."
Crono and Marle looked at each other. "Come with us," Crono said. "We have some explaining to do before we get to the End of Time…"
.
The End of Time:
The team reassembled, with two new members added now. Glenn and Ayla stepped forward. "We found no one who would be fit as a warrior for our team," Glenn said.
"No one good ‘nuff, or strong ‘nuff," Ayla added.
"That’s okay," Crono said. "We have two of the four. It’s just a shame that we don’t know where to look for the other two."
Robo stepped forward, his optical sensors lighting up. "Playback from the conversation held earlier with Guru of Time. ‘You can find four throughout the epochs here on earth, two of which I shall open to you when the time comes. But to find the fifth, you must resort to a celestial solution.’ My sensors are detecting a shift in the makeup of the End of Time. It is advisable that Ms. Lucca check the Time Gauge on the Epoch."
Lucca walked over to the time bike and flipped open the gauge. She adjusted her glasses excitedly. "There’s two new Eras on the gauge! Gaspar must’ve opened Gates in those times: 400 BC and AD 800."
"We’ll split into two teams of four," Crono said.
"That won’t work," Lucca said, "remember? Only three people can travel through a Gate at one time, or we’ll just keep ending up here. Two teams of three and one of two should be fine."
"Who’s on each team, then?" Crono asked.
"Zephon and I can be the team of two," Lucca said. "But we can stay here to monitor your progress while you others go out. We have a lot of catching up to do, too."
"Then Marle, Ayla and I can be a team," Crono said, "while Tata, Glenn and Robo are the other."
"We shall take 800 AD," Glenn said. "Tata and I shall be more familiar with it than the other, and Robo can guide us because of his knowledge of that era."
"Good," Marle said. Then a thought struck her. "Wait, Lucca, Zephon and Tata should stay behind."
"Why?" Tata asked.
"You need to learn magic."
Lucca snapped her fingers. "That’s right!" she exclaimed. "I totally forgot about that! Tata and Zephon, let me take you to see the all-powerful Spekkio."
The door behind Lucca opened up, and cheerful music emanated from it. The trio stepped through and disappeared as they crossed onto the Magic Plane. Crono clapped his hands together and sighed. "This is so confusing," he said. "It’s going too fast for me to comprehend."
"Don’t worry," Marle said. "It’ll all come together in the end, darling. Let’s just get going and get this over with."
Crono nodded reluctantly. He and Marle started walking toward the Room of the Time Pillars when they noticed Ayla wasn’t following. "Something wrong?" Crono asked her.
Ayla shook her head. "Everything good, Crono. We go," Ayla said. She stood up slowly and started walking when she clutched her stomach and fell. "Ugh, Ayla not feel so good. Me want go home."
Crono and Marle complied, leading her to the 65 million BC Gate.
.
Lucca stepped into the light and motioned for the other two to follow. She looked up into the mists before her. "Great Spekkio, ‘tis I, Lucca from Truce!"
The mists shifted to take the form of a Nu. "Hey, it’s Specs! What brings you here?" he asked.
Lucca motioned to Tata and Zephon. "I bring my friends here so you can awaken the magic within them."
The Nu studied the two visitors. "Hey purple-hair, step forward."
Tata did as he was told. Spekkio put his hand on the boy’s head. "I sense great power within you, Tata from Porre. You possess a type of magic I haven’t felt in a long time. I awaken within you the power of Pearl!"
There was a flash of light, and Tata opened his eyes. "Yes, I feel it now. The Pearl Magic within me."
Tata stepped back. Spekkio looked at Zephon. "You, step forward."
Zephon did so and Spekkio gasped. "You’re Lucca’s brother, aren’t you?"
Zephon nodded. "Yes, I am. My name is Zephon."
Spekkio placed his hand on Zephon’s head, and reeled back as if he’d been burned. "Yowch, that’s powerful! You already have the magic awakened within you, Zephon. You possess another magic I haven’t sensed in a long time: Holy Blaze Magic."
Zephon closed his eyes, nodded, and stepped back. "I understand, Mr. Spekkio."
Lucca looked at her brother, and then at Spekkio. "That’s all I came for," she said.
"Hold on," Zephon said. "It may be a while before the others return from their quests. I suggest we practice our skills against this powerful magician."
.