The Ancient Tree Chapter 9
Stopping the Poison Flow
By jenyf86
When Crono arrived home, he saw Glenn, Lucca and three kids standing in the living room.
“Hi, Lucca, Glenn. Who are the three children?”
“They are the only survivors of Dorino,” Glenn replied a note of sadness in his voice.
“I-I’m sorry,” Crono said slowly.
The twin girls were named Celia and Kirin, and their brother was named Tosha. The girls were about 12 and had their light brown hair pulled back in ponytails; their eyes were red as if they’d been crying, which they probably were. Tosha was about a year younger than Crono, with short black hair and green eyes.
“We think,” Lucca said, “that Tosha could use a sword; he already knows how to use a crossbow, but he thinks a sword would be better. We explained what was going on and he wants to help us.”
“Okay. I have a few old swords in my room,” Crono suggested. “I’ll go get one for him.”
Crono went up the steps and entered his room; Marle was lying in his bed, sleeping. Crono picked up the Shiva Edge he still had and went back to the living room.
“Here,” he said handing Tosha his sword. “You can sleep here with Glenn tonight. I guess Marle will stay at Lucca’s if she’s able to move.”
Tosha spoke for the first time since Crono had met him. “Can I practice with you now? Or should we wait tomorrow?”
“First we should all eat something, or you two won’t have enough strength,” Lucca suggested.
They all sat around Crono’s dinning room table and ate quite a lot. “Guys, we really should find a way to make the water good again,” Lucca said. “We can’t drink any water, and we can’t clean ourselves. We shouldn’t even touch the water if we want to be sure about our safety.”
“I guess Glenn and you could try finding a way while I help Tosha with his training. Celia and Kirin could help my mom take care of Marle,” Crono said.
“Or we could learn how to use crossbows?” Celia asked.
“Yeah, it would be nice!” Kirin added.
“But it’s too dangerous,” Lucca told the twins. “You could get hurt.”
“Maybe, but like you talked about that guy, Kinishi, it was like he wanted to take over the world,” Kirin said.
“Isn’t that what he wants?” Celia asked.
“You mean… it wouldn’t only… be the tree he wants… But also take over the… world? Yeah… that’s right…” said a weak voice from the doorway.
“Marle!” Crono exclaimed. “You should be in bed!”
“It’s okay… I feel a little better… I guess the sleep helped me recover a bit.”
Crono stood up and helped Marle to the table.
“Did anyone tell you you looked like Queen Leene?” Kirin asked.
“Yes,” Marle said smiling. “It’s because I’m Princess Nadia.”
The twins and their brother looked at her open-mouthed. “Wow!” Celia exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, just call me Marle.”
“O-okay, Marle,” Tosha said.
Crono served Marle some milk and an apple. “You should go back upstairs,” he said, concerned. “Maybe like that, tomorrow you’ll feel better.”
They all finished eating. Tosha and Crono went out to Crono’s backyard. Lucca and Glenn stayed in the kitchen discussing way to evacuate the poison from the water on Denadoro Mts.
“First of all, we’ll try doing something in 602 A.D., so we won’t have to do it twice,” Lucca said.
“That is true, but the question is: What can we do?”
“Good question. You know what? I don’t have the slightest idea.”
After a while of thinking, Lucca finally came up with something. “We have to detect the source of the poisoning. I have to create a device for that. Once we find it we can, well, we’ll see.”
“This sounds as good as any other plan. I will go tell Crono about it.”
“Okay, join me in my workshop. I’ll hurry over there.”
* * *
“No, you hold it like this,” Crono instructed. He showed Tosha the right position. “Okay, now, to attack.” Crono demonstrated the move on his doll-clone with a wooden sword.
Tosha did it right the first time, but when he tried again, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
This is going to be harder than I though, Crono complained to himself. “Look, let’s try battling together.”
Crono and Tosha fought with their wooden swords till Tosha got it right. When he finally managed to keep his balance and fight properly, Crono decided they would go in Guardia forest to train with real monsters.
Well, it wasn’t that hard, Crono thought as he and Tosha returned to Crono’s house in the evening. “You’re getting better, you know.”
“Yeah. I’m kinda enjoying it, too.”
“We can train a bit more tomorrow morning. You’ll be great then.”
When he entered his house, Crono noticed Lucca and Glenn were there, smiles on their faces.
“Crono!” Lucca exclaimed as she saw him. “I analyzed the poison. And it will simply wear out in couple of days. Maybe two or three, but now we don’t have to worry about it any longer. We can just make sure not to drink any water. And Marle and my parents will be recovering very soon; they didn’t swallow too much poison.”
“This is great news!” Crono exclaimed. “We can take a vacation, now.”
“No, Crono,” Lucca interrupted. “You’re forgetting something. There’s still the Kinishi problem. And it is Kinishi that put the poison in the river.”
“Oh, right.”
.