Chrono Trigger: Timeless Angels Part 9
Mirror, Mirror
By Mefathiel
The End of Time:
"Terrific," Marle muttered. "First I’m wiped from history, now Magus has been resurrected. What else can happen today?"
The door to Spekkio’s chamber opened, and the Nu-shaped Master of War stepped out. "Well, for one thing, I’ll be joining you," he said. "The battle you fought against Ozzie and Magmas was almost lost. We can’t take any chances during the next face-off, because all of time is at stake."
Crono nodded. "This is it," he said. "Our final battle against Ozzie, Magmas and Magus is approaching. We mustn’t lose hope, or all will be lost. Once we go on, there will be no return. This is the last stop, so who wants to get off before we go ahead?"
No one moved from their positions. "I’m speaking for myself, but I believe I speak for all the Timeless Angels, and maybe everyone else too," Cyrus said, "but I just got here, and I’m not about to turn around when the world is in need of a few heroes."
"A few heroes?" Tata laughed. "More like a lot of heroes! I’m going with!"
Everyone nodded in compliance with Cyrus and Tata. "Good," Crono said. "We’re not ready to enter the final battle yet, because the first one put a lot of strain on us. I suggest we get our rest and make a battle plan in the morning."
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The Beginning of Time:
"What is this little favor, Ozzie?" Magus asked, crossing his arms. "You’d better get on with this, because I’d really like to know what the hell happened."
"Lord Magus, you were brutally slain by the frog and his friends," Ozzie said. "Don’t you remember that?"
Magus put a hand to his sharply chiseled chin. "Hmm, I do seem to remember the frog attacking me with his Masamune. What does that matter?"
"I want you to destroy them."
A smile broke Magus’ stone-cold face. "Oh really? Hmm, this should be a little interesting, to say the least…"
Ozzie handed the warlock a large, silver framed mirror. "Use this mirror to bring their downfall."
Magus took the mirror and nodded. "I will do it gladly," he said, disappearing into the darkness.
.
The End of Time:
A black Gate opened up in the doorway to Spekkio’s chamber, and Magus stepped out. "I don’t see why Ozzie just doesn’t have me kill them now," he said, his hand brushing against the sickle at his belt, "but Ozzie has been known as a master strategist, and possibly my most trusted advisor. There must be some good reason for me to be doing this."
He aimed the mirror at Crono, charging it with magic energy. A beam of black light hit Crono, and a dark clone stepped out of the mirror. Magus did the same to every other member of the team, creating another team of his own, made up of the dark clones of the Chrono Trigger Team.
"Back to the Beginning of Time," he ordered. "Ozzie is waiting for us."
Rempha opened his eyes just as the black Gate closed. "Huh?" he asked. The Poyozo yawned. "Hmm, thought I heard something. I guess not…"
.
The next morning, the team woke up with a start. Rempha was floating next to the lamppost with an orb of energy before him. "What’s going on?" Lucca asked, staring into the orb. "Why is Truce burning?"
"This is the work of Ozzie, Magmas and Magus," Rempha said. "Somehow they’ve created dark clones of you guys, and they set them out to wreak havoc across time."
Crono drew his sword. "Then let’s stop them!" he declared.
"Hold on, there’s more. Unfortunately, they’ve also taken your mother hostage, Crono, as well as Lucca and Zephon’s parents."
"Where are they now?" Lucca demanded.
"We must hunt them down!" Zephon declared.
"The dark clones have taken your parents to an elf kingdom on Choras Island," Rempha said.
"Elf kingdom on Choras?" Natan asked. "That could only be Onseny in 800 AD."
Crono turned to the elf. "Since you know where we’re going, I suggest you lead the way, Natan," he said. Natan nodded in compliance as Lucca handed him the Gate Key.
"Let’s go, then," the elf said.
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AD 800, Veda Elf Kingdom on Porre:
"Why we come here?" Ayla asked. "Ayla thought we go to Choras."
"We will, eventually," Natan said, "but I know Linsa isn’t going to let me have a leave of absence for very long without calling her parents down here from Peloris. I just need to stop in and set a few things straight. If you wish, you can tour the city; I believe Robo made a map the last time he was here."
"That is correct," Robo chimed.
"That doesn’t sound too bad," Marle said.
Schala looked around the city, amazed at the elven architecture. "Wow, everything looks just like it did back in Zeal. Amazing," she commented.
"I’ll be back soon, then," Natan said, walking toward the palace.
"Follow me," Robo said, calling up his map of Veda.
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Natan walked into Princess Linsa’s chambers. "Princess," he greeted.
Linsa turned to look at Natan. "Prince, where have you been?" she demanded. "You’ve been gone for almost a week!"
"I apologize, Linsa, but I had some emergency to attend to."
"What’s so important that you couldn’t even come to say goodbye before you left?"
"The safety of time itself."
Linsa shot him a wry look. "Excuse me?"
"It’s going to take a while to explain, and I don’t have the time. I came to say that I’m going on an expedition into Onseny Kingdom."
"Onseny? But that’s a Dark Elf kingdom! You’ll never come back alive!"
"There’s only a chance I might not come back alive."
"What’s so important that you need to go into Onseny for it?" Linsa asked, getting steadily more worried.
Natan sighed and looked down. "My friends’ parents have been kidnapped and taken there. The only way to get them back alive is to go into Onseny itself and take them back by force."
Linsa rushed forward and embraced her fiancée. "Please be careful," she said, trying not to cry.
"I always am, aren’t I?"
"Well, there were those few times that I can recall…"
Natan smiled and looked into Linsa’s eyes. "Don’t worry. And I promise that we’ll be married as soon as I return."
Linsa smiled back at Natan. "You really mean it?"
Natan nodded and turned. "I must go now, but I will be back; that’s a promise."
With that said, Natan walked back out through the door, closing it behind him. Linsa clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. "Please let Natan return safely to me," she prayed quietly.
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Natan met back up with the others and smiled. "Everything has been taken care of. Let’s go," he said.
Crono nodded. "So, how do we get to Choras from here?" he asked. "I hope you aren’t going to say swim."
"Of course not," Natan said with a laugh. "We’re going to fly."
Marle had a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach as Natan finished his sentence. Ayla shot up a hand excitedly. "Yay! Ayla like to fly! We fly on Dactyls?" she asked.
"Not exactly…"
.
"Ew, gross!" Marle shouted. "I am not getting on one of those things!"
The things she spoke of were a group of very large insects; dragonflies, to be exact. "Why not?" Natan asked. "They’re perfectly harmless."
Marle started fidgeting. "But… but… they’re bugs!" she shrieked. "I hate bugs!"
Glenn felt a shiver run down his spine. "I must agree with Lady Marle, Natan," he said. "I doth not hate insects, but I find anything that is larger than normal a bit scary."
"But they’re harmless!" Lucca said, petting one of the giant insects on the head. The dragonfly hissed and bit at her hand. Lucca pulled it away and stared at the bug, backing away quickly. "…or not…"
Crono got onto a dragonfly’s back, and it tried to buck him off. "Settle down!" Crono shouted, casting a Lightning spell on the insect. The dragonfly squealed and fell silent, knocked unconscious by the attack. "Oops, that might be a little too settled."
"Don’t worry about it, we’ll just get you another dragonfly, Crono," Natan said.
Ayla howled and jumped off of her dragonfly. "Ouch! Big mean bug bite Ayla! You go squish now!" she screamed, slamming her fist into the dragonfly’s head. Suffice to say, an unpleasant amount of bug juice splattered all over Ayla. She stood there, eyes wide, looking down at the mess.
Spekkio appeared and started laughing. "Ha, look at the mess you’ve gotten into, cave girl," he said between laughs.
Ayla clenched her fists and scowled. "Ayla squish mean Nu, too!"
Spekkio’s eyes widened. "Eep," he squeaked as he started running away, Ayla chasing close behind.
She pounced on the Master of War and used her Tail Spin attack to shake all of the green goo off. Soon, Spekkio found himself covered in the same bug juice that Ayla was covered in. In fact, everyone in the party was covered in the goo because of Ayla’s attack.
Natan sighed and put his hand to his head. "This is getting us nowhere," he said.
.
An hour later, the party set off on their dragonfly transports, headed west to Choras Island. "So just where on the island is Onseny Kingdom?" Lucca asked.
"It’s in the forest just north of the shrine," Natan answered.
"We’ll be entering underwater, though, right?" Schala asked.
"Yeah, he’s only said it five times," Tata said.
"Just making sure I heard it right."
"Why the underwater entrance?" Zephon asked. "Wouldn’t it just be easier to bust in through the front door?"
"Because no one has any means of surviving the dive to get there," Natan said, "so they won’t have any guards posted there."
"Hold on one second," Marle said. "What do you mean no one can survive the dive to reach the door?"
"There’s a lot of jagged rocks, dangerous undercurrents, and a whole variety of sea monsters to contend with."
Everyone’s eyes widened. "And we’re going in that way?" Crono asked. Natan nodded in response. "How do you propose we do that?"
Spekkio, who’d been floating alongside the dragonflies, piped up. "I’ll have a magic barrier up to protect you," he said, "so there’s no need to worry about anything."
The island appeared on the horizon appeared to grow larger as they neared it at an increasing speed. Natan took the dragonfly’s rein in one hand as he got onto his knees. "Get ready for the drop," he said. "Dive on my mark…" His cape billowed in the wind. "Now!"
The twelve time travelers plunged into the water, some landing gracefully, and others…well, let’s just say they would make a novice blush in shame. Spekkio erected his magic barrier, creating a bubble of oxygen for everyone to breath safely. He directed the bubble through the water to the tunnel that marked the back entrance.
The bubble floated up into a dark, secluded room. Spekkio dropped the barrier, Robo turned on a spotlight, and everyone crammed into the small space. "There’s no telling what’s beyond the door," Natan said.
"Draw your weapons and prepare for anything," Crono warned.
The sound of swords and other assorted weapons being drawn could be heard as Robo shut off his lamp. "Who’s at the front?" Tata asked.
"I think I am," Schala replied.
"No, I am," Lucca said.
"Ayla at front!" Ayla shouted.
"Push the door open, whoever is next to it," Crono said.
The door opened, and light spilled into the room. Everyone piled out of the small space, and found themselves surrounded by a crowd of Dark Elves. And they didn’t look too happy…
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"I mustn’t run away, I mustn’t run away, I mustn’t run away!" —Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
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