The Ancient Tree Chapter 1
The Library
By jenyf86
“Hey, Crono!” Marle shouted across the throne room. ”Lucca!”
“Nadia, please do not shout,” Marle’s father, King Guardia XXXIII, said to his daughter who ran to greet her friends, her orange-blond ponytail pouncing. It was two years after the defeat of Lavos and the King let his daughter go wherever she wanted, as long as she didn’t get into trouble.
“I’m going to show them the new library, father.”
“Ok, be careful!” he called after her.
“So, where’s the new library?” Lucca asked. She had on her big round glasses and looked really interested.
“It’s at the entrance of Truce. I bet you didn’t see it because it’s a little hidden by the trees,” Marle replied.
They arrived at the library and went in. Crono and Lucca gaped in awe; it was huge! Shelves lined the walls and were back to back everywhere in the room. In a corner were chairs and coffee tables, and in another corner was a fireplace. The ceiling reached almost as high as in a cathedral. On a table just next to the entrance sat a red and blue book. Lucca wanted to read it, but Crono said they should visit the library first.
Marle led them around and then showed them a private room for the employees. It was small and had a few shelves with books, other shelves with odds and ends. There was also a coffee table, two chairs and a sofa all in bright colors.
They checked out a few books at the counter and prepared to leave. “Lucca, didn’t you want to read the book, at the entrance? You could borrow it,” Crono reminded his friend.
A clerk who had heard them piped up in a chirpy voice. “You can’t borrow that book. Everyone has to read it here.”
“Oh, well I guess I’m going to stay. How about you?” asked Lucca.
“Of course! If you’re staying I’m staying,” Crono replied.
“Yeah, me too! I guess I’m a little curious about what’s in that book anyway.”
They settled down in the chairs to read. The book wasn’t very old, maybe two or three years. It talked about a really old tree in Fiona’s forest. Lucca read aloud because no one else was there.
“’The great tree has the best wood to create weapons and armor. The tree is huge and the trunk is so solid it is impossible to cut. But of course, no one would want to do that because the legend may come true.’” Lucca looked up from the book. “I bet that it’s worth a lot of money. I wonder what the legend is?” She continued on reading. “’They say that in the year 602ad, a sorceress went to a tree in the forest, actually the tree, and put a curse on it so that whoever touched the tree would die instantly. Some say she was very beautiful but mean, others say that she was ugly but nice and all that she wanted was to protect the tree. And so the tree is 400 years old, the oldest in the whole forest; all the other trees died while new ones were born.’”
“Wow,” said Marle.” Do you think the legend is true?”
“Maybe, but I don’t think so,” Crono said.
“Why not go see the tree ourselves?” suggested Lucca.
And so, they were off.
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