Chrono Trigger: The Death Gate Cycle Prologue

The Seventh Gate

By Brian Schumacher

Here, time is meaningless. In reality, there is no time. Time, only a term used to describe normal areas, normal places, actual life. In the seventh gate, there is no time.....actually, there really isn't much of anything. The Seventh Gate, where people with magic were expelled to when they found out they were destroying their own world. This gate was formed by the mighty sorcerers of yore, originally constructed to hold off sorcerers that were either too good for anyone's safety, or maniacal people who seeked to spread rage and chaos. Filled to the brink with monsters much more powerful than anyone had ever imagined, which respawned at an enormous rate, it was the true epitomy of hell.

Rage and chaos.....something this world knows much about. Many years ago, the 4 worlds were hit by so much chaos, by the devils and demons themselves, that they had no idea how to stop them. A great airship appeared in the world of water, and spread to all the respecting worlds....earth, fire, sky, and magic. Do the gods have pride in what they created? Or, do you think they have pride in what they didn't create? Well, they certainly did not create this airship, and its passengers, more frightening than all the peaceful residents of the worlds had known. On the front of the ship, standing on a great mast, was a strangely tatooed man, in a great blue tunic, looking out at the residents of the worlds with a great sneer, knowing that the ship and it's people on board could wipe out this 'world' with very little struggle. The residents knew who this was as soon as they had seen him. He was known as Haplo, a very good master of the runes and magic. He was second only to the other person on board, who was at the great wheel of the airship. When the people saw this man, they all started to run for shelter and for their lives, as they knew what he was here to do. He was a large man, much older than Haplo, with even more tatoos on his body, designed with such intricance, that they seemed to glow as he neared his destination. He seemed to eminate pure evil, knowing that his victory was at hand. Then, as some of the people were so awestruck by the sights coming towards them, some raised their heads to the great ship, and saw in the back of the great contraption, a very tall, large figure with a white robe on. He was not covered in tatoos, and seemed to not even carry a weapon. The people wondered who this was, and why he was with these people, when he seemed he couldn't even keep his balance on the great boat, jumping from side to side to keep from falling off. Also, they saw a great dog, or was it a wolf? They could not tell, but they saw it was watching it's master Haplo from the deck intently.

They saw this ship come in every world, destroying as much as it could. It broke the great water gates of the world of water, almost destroying it's entire population. They saw the travelers go to the world of sky, destroying that world even easier than the last, when finally they had ventured to the world of magic. That's when things started to happen....

Now, we come to the Seventh Gate. How, do you ask, do we end up here? Here is the place where Haplo, Alfred (the white robed clumbsy man) and his dog, and the rest of the magic users in the worlds were held captive. But is it captive if it is of their own free will? They had ventured here themselves, knowing that they could not be in the regular world, knowing that they would soon destroy it if they remained. So here they came, knowing that this place is certainly like hell. The gods had made this a place to keep devils and murderers to suffer, and the magic users certainly found this out fast. They had to live by second to second. You could be watching your wife give birth to a new born child, when a pack of deadly monster wolves could burst into camp, killing half of your friends and the population, while you stand there fumbling for a spear, knowing that this will do nothing to such a beast. Seeing this beast fall upon your wife and your newborn child, you cry out in fear and in deadly rage, drawing a rune in the air, readying a spell to burn this beast into the flames of hell, when you feel a sharp pain in your chest, and falling to the ground, the last thing you see is a spear in your chest, with a huge man-like creature above you with a knife, ready to slice you open from one end to the other. You hope to the gods that your child survived, as you see the knife descend upon your body....

How, you ask, can anyone survive here? They have no hope, you say. Well, actually they do. Hope in newborns, hope in.....well, let this quote sum it up:

"We each have within ourselves the ability to shape our own destinies. That much we understand. But, more importantly, each of us has an equal ability to shape the destiny of the universe. Ah, that you find more difficult to belive. But I tell you it is so. You do not have to be the leader of a castle, the head of a dwarven clan, or a king or queen to have a significant impact on the world around you."

You may now be asking yourself, they can survive, but what part will each of these people play in our story? Haplo, Alfred, the dog, and others have no idea there is another world, a world about to go through almost, if not more, hell than theirs has . The world in which Chrono, Marle, Lucca, Robo, Magus, and the others live in. They will all shortly be involved in a global, multi-world adventure that will span the length of years, worlds, times. In comparing, Haplo and the others have been through literally hell and back, while Chrono and the others almost recently had their world destroyed by Lavos. Chrono is in love with Marle, as Haplo is in love with another woman, but alas she was killed recently. Haplo and Alfred are very competent magic users, years ahead of Chrono and the others.

But, you say, how will they be linked together? Here begins the story, at the End of Time. A story which will threaten many people and worlds, and show the true meaning of love. Here begins the story of a lifetime, the story of "The Death Gate Cycle".

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