The Gift of Song Part 5

By The Storyteller

"They did WHAT?"
"That's what Magus tells me."
"I mean... sheesh... I hope Magus was lying to you. This doesn't sound like the king I know."
"Spekkio told me it was true. And besides, what about me? I was loyal to them for longer than you even knew them! And I had to lose my best friend for their cause."
"Well maybe it's not her. Maybe it's the chancellor! Maybe... wait! Remember how the chancellor was Yakra? Maybe it was Yakra's doing that started the war."
"It couldn't have been. The chancellor wasn't held hostage for twelve years. And besides, what royal family line forced the Mystics into hiding hundreds of years ago? This one. And the same bigotry has been passed down generation to generation."
"I don't get this. Your brain went with your figure too, didn't it Glenn. Since when were you and Magus on the same side?"
"I really have no idea and I don't want to talk about it. All I know is that now, we've got another show to put on, and I need to know where to put it on."
"What about in the middle of that forest, the one that turns into Medina in our age?"
"That land will eventually be cleared out anyway for the sake of the town, I guess that's a good idea."

Marle and Crono walked in, with a walking hunk of metal behind them.

"Back." Marle said.
"Already?"
"It doesn't take so long in the Epoch. Don't you know that?"
"What's with you, BeBo?"
"YOU-HAVE-TO-FIGHT-FOR-DEE-RIGHT-TO-PAR-TEE"
"Okay, BeBo. Relax."

The robot started jumping around, singing.

"YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FOR DEE RIGHT TO PAR TEE!!!"
"Okay, BeBo. Shut up."
"YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FOR DEE RIGHT TO PAR TEE!!"
"Marle! Grab the switch under the base of its neck. Shut it off!"
"YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FOR DEEEEEEE......"

BeBo's metal figure slumped to the ground.

"Okay. You guys have the stuff packed, right? Hook it up to the Epoch and get it going to the middle of the field."

Spekkio walked into the kitchen.

"Spekkio! Where have you been?"
"I've been receiving telepathic messages. We have a few visitors coming soon."
"When?"
"Not for another few days or so. One of them has an important fact for all of you."
"No kidding."
"Is my assistance needed?"
"Yeah, can you cut down trees?"
"For what?"
"We're putting on another concert by request of the fans. For safety reasons, we're putting it in the middle of the field where Medina is in our era."
"You shouldn't have to worry about that. That field has been cleared already."
"How convenient! But what for?"
"Well, the mystics aren't fond of staying underground so they're attempting to move upward."
"Underground?"
"Never mind. If you people plan on putting on another show, you should get the place built right away."
"Crono! Marle! Go!"
"Fine, then, Lucca. Just order us around!"
"I have other business to deal with."

* * *

Crono and Marle flew carefully in the Epoch, with a bundle attached to the bottom flying along under them. A sudden appearance of a dark figure startled the driving Marle.

"What was that?"

Crono shrugged.

"That was weird..."

Crono stood and looked behind him, looking for the figure in the distance. Marle suddenly felt the Epoch speed up, and Crono gasped as he saw the bundle of equipment floating below him in the ocean.

"Crono? What's happening? The Epoch is flying so easily! What happened to the equipment?"

He pointed out the window. Marle looked at the floating items in the ocean.

"What the hell are we going to do now?"

Crono pointed forward at the site of Medina, which they were steadily approaching. There, in the center, was a large paved area surrounded by a railing.

"We're saved! We can use that!"

* * *

The stage area was set up carefully, with the help of the semi-anxious mystics. Despite the public's hatred for their former leader and current traitor Magus, they felt obliged to help get the stage up. The electrical equipment was brought more carefully, however the Epoch still had its share of damage from the heavy hauling. However, some of the equipment suffered damage as well.

"This is two of them that are busted!"
"What are we going to do, Lucca? The people are already outside, and nothing is happening for another two hours!"
"Why does it have to be planned for 4 am? Why?"
"Glenn and Magus were going on about protection or something. I really have no idea."
"Ohh... Don't worry about it, Marle, just don't worry."

Glenn rushed onto the stage, under the makeshift cover.

"Lucca! Marle! It's starting to rain!"
"What? Oh no..."
"Marle, relax! The equipment is stronger than you think. We'll just get BeBo to make up the difference. We'll be fine!"

Lucca did the workings, hooking some of the equipment up through BeBo. She also dismantled its microprocessor, vocal items, and motion circuits, so it didn't move or start to sing. The covered the area with a simple tarp, to block out the drizzle.

Time passed, and the area became condensed with people, both human and mystic alike, all of them waiting for the show. Ozzie, Flea, and Slash made their way on, all three very irate because of the lack of attention they were getting. Magus, however, stayed behind, contemplating whether or not to tell Lucca what he told Glenn...

"If you do, Magus..."
"I'm J.L. now."
"If you do, J.L, you have to be real nice to her."
"What would you know?"
"Trust me, I saw it on the Media Crystal. If anything, dedicate a song to her onstage. Make it the last song."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. I've seen tons of shows where they did just that, and they all had happy endings!"
"If you make me look stupid, you can forget about keeping that body of yours!"
"Get! Go! Onstage! And give me a signal when you're about to do this. I gotta see this."
"I'll stomp on the ground twice."
"Go!"

Magus made his way onto the stage, the crowd cheering loudly for him.

"Okay! Shut up! Let's get this going!"

The team started to play AC\DC. All was going well, until one of the tarps covering some of the hidden equipment ripped, exposing the equipment to the steadily falling rain. Sparks flew, and suddenly, the sound went out.

"Damn it! Glenn! Get up there and fix that covering! Crono, you get my tools."

Lucca gave orders in anger as she made her way over to the equipment to see what was the trouble. She noticed that the tarp hadn't ripped. It was cut. She ignored it though, and studied the equipment.

"Damn it... it's gone..."

Lucca examined the busted items as she had an idea. She brought BeBo over and worked on fixing putting everything through the bulky robot. However, she had to enable its microprocessor to allow the electrical flow to continue through the robot's closed ports. As she turned it on, it began to have a mind of its own, and it started singing...

"ITS SABOTAGE!

Magus, in front of the crowd, was confused.

"Yello? What the hell is going on back there?"
"Shut your face and keep playing!" screamed Lucca. She messed with the robot. She thought she had disabled its vocal amplifier, but apparently, someone had re-enabled it.

Magus, surprised, walked back to center stage. The crowd was throwing things at them in anger. The ranting of the robot ceased through the hands of Lucca, and Magus was able to continue. As he was playing a different song, Lucca called through Crono from the back.

"Crono! Can you watch this junk? Just make sure nothing gets on it."

Crono popped a cough drop in his mouth and walked over to BeBo, and tapped its chrome head. Lucca left to meet Marle in the front, to watch Magus's annoying, yet handsome self. They played for over an hour, playing tons of hard, angry songs. Magus was confused, though. He looked at all the people as he played, and he noticed a strange figure in the audience, all the way in the back. It was sitting on top of a tree, looking at him. He could see that the figure had a blade, although very thin. It was drawn and poised, almost as a signal to Magus... but he had to look away, his performance required some heavy headbanging. When he looked up again, the figure was gone.

The rain was pouring furiously, with Glenn and Crono in the back, making sure that nothing got wet.

"Where's Spekkio? He's been gone for ages!"

Crono pointed backward, towards some trees. Glenn grabbed a nearby flashlight and shined it backward. There, was a giant red figure hanging out of a tree, asleep.

"Damn him!"

Suddenly, the ends of one of the tarps flew off. Crono ran and grabbed it, but was barely able to hold it to the ground. Glenn made his way over to the sleeping Spekkio, grabbed a long pole, and started poking at its back, the only part that was visible as it hung from the tree. He managed to scratch Spekkio's back.

"What? What?"
"Spekkio! Get down here!"
"What do you want?" Spekkio said, as he climbed down.
"You know, you helped set up this entire concert and you've been ignoring if for the past three days! Do your friggin part and help out!"
"Alright! Alright!"

Spekkio followed Glenn back to where Crono was, and made him sit on the loose end of the tarp. He quickly fell asleep.

"Problem averted!" Glenn yelled. He looked suddenly out the tarp, and was able to see the slight silhouette of a person behind it. It left suddenly, leaving without a trace.

Magus and the band finished their song, without many real technical problems present after the first one, luckily. Magus saw Lucca and smiled meekly, he saw that the crowd was still angry. Apparently, this time, they hadn't liked the choice of songs. But Magus didn't care... the next one was a hit twelve years ago, it would be good now.

Magus stood on the stage, in front of the crowd, sweating, tired, and aching to play more. He saw Lucca below, standing with Marle there, staring up at him, smiling.

"Okay, we've got another one. This is the only song I know of that might just be a love song. Its called Nothing Else Matters, by Metallica, my favorite band, the people I like to rip off of most."

He took his guitar in hand, and stomped the floor twice with his foot..

"This one is for Lucca, the little thief that stole my heart."
"Cheap! Cheap!" cried the masses.
"What the hell is he talking about, stole his heart?" Lucca yelled, from below.
"I think he likes you, Lucca."
"What? I don't want him to like me! I hate him!"
"Don't tell me, tell him!"

Lucca jumped upward and climbed onto the stage. She walked over to the astounded Magus and slapped him in the face.

"I don't like you! I never liked you! Get over it!"

The entire message rang out through the crowd. They started to laugh at Magus, who stood there in shock as Lucca left the stage. Laughing calls from the crowd rung out, mocking Magus. His guitar fell to the ground. He had been hurt and extremely embarrassed. The rain in the air turned to a full storm, the water pouring to the ground. Magus drudged off the stage, his jaw gaped open. The concert was ruined.

Behind Magus, the other three band members cursed in anger.

"Damn it, Magus, get your ass back here!" Flea yelled in anger.
"Just leave him alone, Flea." Slash said, keeping his friend from attacking the mage.

Suddenly, sparks started to fly. Ozzie jumped backward in fear, afraid that the sparks would hit him. He managed to trip over BeBo, who started singing again. Ozzie tried to ignore BeBo's screams about sabotage and noticed that there was a large piece of equipment there, with a thin cut going straight through, from front to back...

* * *

Time had passed, and the folks abandoned the stage and flew home, most of them unknowing of Magus's location. As they made their way back to the palace, Marle confronted Lucca.

"That was harsh, Lucca. Really. Even for him."
"You told me to tell him!"
"You could have waited until after the show. You embarrassed him onstage, in front of thousands of people!"
"What about me? Am I just supposed to let him sing to me?"
"You could have been easier on him. It's not like he's ever liked anyone else before! At this point, he may just give up as it is. How would you feel if you found out Magus never was able to find anyone ever again just because of you?"
"He's not that stupid."
"He's more fragile than you think. He may be an adult but he's not used to being shot down. He's not even used to liking anyone!"
"Well how do you want me to fix it?"
"Go and talk to him. I saw him down by the shores. And it wasn't a pretty sight. He was dressed in his old clothes and looked really dark and angry."
"Oh great, just let him attack me or something..."
"You take the good with the bad. Now go!"

Lucca turned and walked away, the sky barely lit from the sun that had not risen. The rain had slowed to a halt, but the ground below her had started to turn into mud.

* * *

"Magus?"
"What do you want?"
"Nothing."
"So leave."
"Will you come with me? We'll sit down and talk, ok?"
"Lucca, I'm sitting in mud. Don't expect me to move until nighttime."
"Magus... I'm sorry, ok?"
"No."
"What? What are you so angry about?"
"You're nasty, that's what."
"Oh please! What else could I say? I didn't even know you were into girls until a few days ago!"
"I AM NOT GAY!"
"Fine."
"Lucca, do you know how old I am? I'm 29. I'm going to be thirty soon."
"You have years in front of you! There'll be more girls for you in the future."
"Lucca, most men my age are married with kids."
"So you you're angry because you're not married. Since when did you want children?"
"Just because I may not be normal in your eyes doesn't mean I don't have visions of the future. I do want kids and a wife someday."
"So you were hoping to have kids with me because you actually felt something for me."
"They'd be awfully good looking children."

Lucca smiled and walked toward Magus from the behind. She put her arms on his shoulders and hugged him as he watched the horizon.

"That's a really nice thing to say. But I'm sorry, Magus. I'm too young to have kids first of all, not to mention I don't have feelings for you like that. And I'm sorry to say it, but not many people in the world will..."
"That is such a nasty thing to say."
"Well-"
"You can leave now."

Lucca stood again, and sighed.

"That's it? No revenge? No last wishes?"
"Lucca, just grant me this. Do one last thing for me."
"If it will make you feel better."
"Sit down next to me and watch the sun rise."
"I never knew you were a romantic..." Lucca said, smiling meekly.

Lucca went and sat down next to him. She forgot that the ground was incredibly muddy. She stood up immediately after she sat, realizing her entire rear end was now covered with mud.

"That's my revenge."
"You! That was so mean! OOOH!"

Lucca stormed away in a rage.

* * *

"That is it! Get in the Epoch! We're leaving! And not a word out of you, redhead!"

Lucca ordered Marle and Crono into the Epoch, not even bothering to wipe off the mud invading her skin.

"What happened?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all!"

Crono popped another cough drop into his mouth, as he prepared to speak.

"I said not a word, Crono!"
"MEESA NEVER SPEAKA!"

The high pitched voice rang out and surprised Marle and Lucca.

"Meesa cured! Meesa cana speaka! YAHOO!"
"That's your voice? You sound like you've been neutered! And you sound... different..."
"Meesa no weird. Yousa dumb. Meesa no lika you no more. In Epoch! Now! Crono mama be very happy Crono got speaka back!"

Marle frowned and jumped in the Epoch after Crono. Lucca had been in the front seat, gripping the steering wheel angrily.

"Relax with those controls, Lucca, or you'll break the darn thing."
"Shut up, Marle."
"Lucca! You no be wude!" Crono yelled.
"Shut up, Crono. You sound dumber than Ozzie does."

Lucca pumped a few switches. The Epoch jumped into gear, but then suddenly came to a halt.

"What's the matter? Why isn't it going?"
"I don't know."
"Meesa speak now. Epoch strong. Epoch no invincible. Deesa need run on energy. Crono say yousa need fuel."
"You are saying it's out of gas."
"Meesa says."

_________

Alright, well... I guess you folks who are reading this are wondering why this story was revamped... well, I decided I didn't like the history I put into there, I decided to change it for the sake of future stories. Hey, its in the Chrono Trigger spirit... they changed the remake story to fit for CC, right?

::prepares to get flamed::

Either way, I don't care, cuz i'm sure the future stories will be worth it. Trust me.

Kat

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