No Peace for the Hero Chapter 1

Normalcy

By Cain

1002 AD, May 14, Truce Village

"But mooommmmmmm," Crono whined loudly through his bedcover. "I'm tired. I just got you back from the future. Isn't that enough for a few days?"

"Are you kidding," his mom replied, "This house is a mess. You probably didn't even clean your room once while I was gone, did you?"

Crono pulled the cover away from his face to look directly at his mother. "I was looking for you!"

"You know perfectly well that Lucca could have found me on her own. Now, get up!"

With a sigh, Crono finally pulled the cover aside, and set his feet down on the floor. He did a few squats to get the aches out of his body, and reached over to his dresser to get his clothes on. But there was no need. He was already wearing them.

"You slept in your clothes again, didn't you, Crono? You really must stop that."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I probably should. You might think twice before barging into my room again if you thought I might be naked."

"Now don't get sarcastic with me, young man," she told him, shaking her finger at him. "You're not too old to turn over my knee, you know."

Crono didn't even bother to dispute it, as he'd end up losing the argument anyway. He always did. It wasn't because his mom was always right. Really. It was just that she'd had more years to perfect her argumentative abilities. But if that was true, then how did he explain Lucca? He decided not to try.

He'd just picked up a broom and started to sweep, when he heard a knock at the door. Anxious to have an excuse to avoid chores, he opened it up, and smiled. It was Marle. Even though she'd just been through the ordeal Crono had, she somehow managed to look perfect, as always. Only a stray hair or two belied her restful appearance. He gladly let her in, and offered her a seat at the dining table. He took a chair beside hers, and turned so he was facing her.

"So, what are you doing" she asked, twirling a bit of hair around her finger.

"Uh... sweeping. You couldn't tell by the broom?"

She glanced at the broom, almost nervously, it seemed, and smiled. "Oh, of course." She glanced around, and leaned forward. Crono would have smiled, but her expression was now serious. "Is your mom home," she asked conspiratorally.

"Why," Crono asked, smiling.

"I'm serious," she replied.

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

She glanced around again. Really nervous. "Can you get your sword?"

"Uh... Not without my mom noticing. Why? What's up?"

"We're not really sure..."

"We?"

She ignored him. "But we might need your help. It might just be some wierd happenstance, but it'd be nice if you lent a hand."

Crono nodded, and stood up. Setting the broom aside, he jogged upstairs. In a minute, he came back down, strapping his sheath to his belt. And they walked out.

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It starts. This is the beginning. Or the halfway point, depending on how you look at it. Or when you look at it. Hm. I sound kind of like Gaspar, I suppose, with all this time travel double speak. How'd I get the sword? I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, but I told my mom that Lucca wanted to run some quick experiments on my Rainbow sword. I guess it's a good thing that I brought it. I'd need it.

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1002 AD, May 14, Lucca's House

"So, what's the big deal? Is the very fabric of time collapsing? Or is this an elaborate plot to get me to lift something heavy, or chop some firewood with this," he asked, lifting his sword partway out of the sheath.

Ignoring him, Marle simply knocked on the door, and waited for a response. In a moment, the door opened, and there stood Lucca. She looked at them both, and sighed. "I was wondering when she'd get you here," Lucca told Crono.

They followed her into the house, up into her room. Crono wasn't surprised that there was no sign of Taban and Lara, as it was shopping day. But Crono wondered what was so important. And then he went through the door of Lucca's room, and he knew.

There, on her bed, was something that truly surprised Crono. A man. Well, almost. Judging from his size, and build, Crono would judge him to be not much older than the three of them. And he was unonscious. "Who's that," he asked, finally.

Both of the girls looked at him, surprised. "You don't recognize him," Lucca asked. When Crono shrugged, she continued, "Get a closer look at him."

So he did. He moved closer to the bed, and looked down at the face of the unconscious man. He was wearing rough, torn clothes. A sheath was attached to his belt. He had a beard, or the beginnings of one. It looked like he'd simply forgotten to shave for a week or two. Or three. Like Crono's, his hair was red. And spiky. Like mine...? He took in the man's whole face and body. If he changed the clothes, and got rid of the beard... He took a step back.

"You see it, don't you," asked Marle.

Crono nodded. He really hadn't expected this. Was it possible? It couldn't be.

And suddenly there was a flurry of movement. The man's eyes suddenly shot open, and he jumped up out of the bed, into a mid-air somersault. Somewhere in that roll, he'd managed to turn around, and draw his sword. He landed with a thud, before any of them had even had time to react to his movement.

They turned as one, towards him. He held out the sword, to keep them from getting too close, and they could all hear him chanting. He was casting a spell. He shouted out the last word to the spell, and he put his sword away. His hands began to glow green. His eyes were wild, like those of a trapped animal.

And finally, he shouted out the name of the spell, the spell that only one person knew. "Luminaire!"

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Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is the lightning that does the work.
-Mark Twain (Samuel Longhorne Clemens)

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Chapter 2

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