Chrono Trigger Dimensions Chapter 19
By Jerm
"You know Marle, that's pretty cold blooded," Crono mused as Cid helped the Marshall to his feet.
"He'd deserve it," Marle retorted hotly.
"Why?"
Marle was silent for a moment, then sighed, "Forget it."
Crono didn't implore, but he had a feeling that something WAS wrong. He walked over to help Cid lift the groggy giant.
Lucca began shaking the Marshall's cloak. A dagger fell out. Then a length of wire, 20 feet. Another 2 bolas came loose followed by a small package. Lucca bent over and picked up the package.
"What's in this?" she mused to herself quietly.
"Don't. . ." the Marshall said, "Don't open it. It's medicinal stuff."
"Oh," she said, putting the package back down.
She began inspecting the inside folds of the cloak, looking for hiding spots; a small pile of weapons at her feet.
When the Marshall was finally on his feet, the group gathered around him, preparing to ask questions while at the same time, preparing for an attempted escape.
The Marshall looked at the group groggily, with a quick, wary glance at Magus. "Now what are you going to do with me?" he asked calmly.
Marle was about to say something, but Crono put his hand over her mouth, already knowing the word she would use would sound something like 'torture'. Lucca spoke up, "We'd like to ask you a few questions."
Cid and Crono nodded their agreement. Crono moved his hand covering Marle's mouth up and down to make her nod too. She reached up and slapped his hand away.
The Marshall looked at them for a second, thinking, and then said, "Ask away."
"I need to know why you're following us around like this," Lucca said starting off.
"I was sent to bring back Princess Nadia to her father, the king." the Marshall answered.
"Yes, I know that. . .but WHY are you risking life and limb dashing through territory unknown to you just to do that?"
"The Marshall has never failed before. I must say that this IS a challenge, meeting two wizards and a group of angry men with strange crossbows."
"Guns," Cid corrected him reflexively. He sat down on the stone floor, slightly exhausted.
"Okay, now for question number two," Lucca began, "How were you able to sneak through the military base undetected?"
The Marshall looked around nervously and remained silent.
"H--" Lucca started to repeat the question.
"How did YOU sneak through?" the Marshall asked them.
Lucca was slightly angry, "We'll ask the questions right now. How did you sneak through," then as an afterthought, "and how were you able to track us all that way?"
The Marshall thought about it for a few seconds. His thoughts looked troubled, but he finally replied, "I followed you to the military base, of course."
"We didn't see you," Lucca replied.
"Then you needed to look harder."
Marle walked over to the Marshall making as if to kick him. Then she thought better about it and yelled, "Don't go sarcastic on us! How come we didn't see you?!"
"Okay, I hid myself!" he said, obviously not wanting to talk.
"How?"
"With. . .magic," he said, it was finally out.
Crono, Lucca, Cid, and Marle looked stunned. Magus looked thoughtfully at the Marshall. "Magic," Cid said almost to himself in a strange sort of awe.
"That would explain how you could see me when 'I' hid myself," Magus said quietly, still thoughtful, "I will have to think on this."
"Magic," Cid said again, "I didn't know it existed."
Lucca looked over at him in surprise, "You mean there is NO magic in the future?"
"Zilch, Cid replied, giving another look at the Marshall.
Lucca looked excited, though. "What're you so happy about?" Crono asked her.
"Another of my theories has been proven!"
Crono sighed, "Which one is that?"
"That magic only existed with Lavos. You see, before Lavos came into the open-the Prehistoric time-there was no magic. But during the Dark Ages, magic flourished because of Lavos. Then when he destroyed the kingdom of Zeal and retreated underground, magic slowly died. In our time, only a select few can use magic. In the future, it's completely dead!"
Crono faked a yawn, "How interesting."
Lucca punched his arm, "It was, wasn't it?"
"So we have another magic user here do we," Crono said changing the subject back to the Marshall.
"Do you have any more questions?" the Marshall asked.
'Why would Marle hate you so much?' Crono thought, but instead he said, "None that I can think of."
"Like that's saying a lot," Lucca put in, "but I can't think of any either."
"Then it's my turn," the Marshall began, then said, "Where in the hell are we?"
Lucca sat down getting into her storyteller pose, "Well, the best question would be 'WHEN in the hell are we, but we need to start at the beginning. Now, when you jumped through that gate back in our time. . ."
And then she told him when and where they had traveled, finally ending up here, at Magus's castle.
"Time. . .travel?" the Marshall finally said, clearly in shock.
"Yep," was all Lucca replied with.
"Don't worry," Cid said helpfully, "I'm still in awe at what's been happening."
The Marshall looked at Cid for a moment, but said nothing. He looked back down at the ground, lost in thought. Magus, however, broke out of his thinking and turned toward Lucca.
"This. . .wizard that has stolen your gate creator. . .would you know his name?" the sorcerer asked.
"It was Nikades, I think," Crono said.
For once in his life, Crono witnessed Magus in a state of surprise. Magus jerked his head toward the redheaded boy so quickly his hair whirled around his face before falling back into place. "What?!"
"Uhh. . ." Crono said intelligently.
"Nevermind," Magus interrupted, "do you know how much trouble you're in?"
"You know Nikades?" Lucca asked.
Magus looked at Lucca, crossing his arms, "I never met him, I wasn't born until five years after he. . .left, but he was one of my mother's. . .," he searched for the word, ". . .he was THE guru of the time."
"What happened?" Cid asked standing back up, ever ready to listen.
"My sister was old enough to understand what was happening, and she told me a little about him," Magus said beginning, "He was the head guru, above all the rest. But unfortunately, he became too ambitious. He had made some huge discovery, but the queen told him to cease. That was before she had become corrupted by the will of Lavos.
"He ignored her orders and began his supreme project. I don't know what it is, neither did my sister. I think that the only two who did where my mother and Nikades. Perhaps a few of the other gurus, too."
"How many gurus where there back then?" Marle asked.
"They were a large order that was created in order to better understand the world. I would say that there were around two hundred or more." Magus answered.
"What happened to them all?" Crono asked.
"I'm getting there. . ." Magus replied, becoming annoyed at the interruptions.
Magus continued, "The other gurus had all turned against him too, and had sided with the queen. The project was too dangerous. They tried to stop him; he fought with them. He was finally subdued. However. . .only five gurus were left alive: Melchior, Belthasar, Gaspar, Ucledes, and Dalton."
"Dalton?!" Crono, Marle, and Lucca yelled simultaneously.
"Yes, he was a guru. And one of the survivors. However, of the four survivors, he got the worst. Nikades had hit him in the face with some spell that even I don't know. Dalton's eye was destroyed and he was forced to wear an eyepatch. He also went insane." Magus answered, "The other, the one you do not know, Ucledes, was killed shortly after. Some sort of gate had been formed by Nikades. It was his project, though it was incomplete. They banished him through the unfinished gate, sealing his powers. That banishment cost Ucledes his life. They threw Nikades into the unknown to die. . .after they had controlled his magic, taking it from his very form, leaving him without its use."
Magus grew silent, already saying what he believed to be too much. The others looked at him, registering the new information.
". . .And now he's back," Crono said ominously.
"For revenge," Marle finished, "he wants to destroy the world that he was rejected from."
"To do that requires immense power. Fortunately, that power was taken from him by the gurus. But he could find a way to bring that power back," Magus mused.
"So what do we do now?" Marle asked, eying the now silent Marshall with suspicion.
"We need to find a way to reach our time. But we've ran out of gates." Lucca said. Then she finished suddenly, "I wish we still had the epoch. Ramming Lavos WAS fun, but it has its minuses now."
"I can create a small gate with the magics of this castle and myself," Magus said quietly, "a little gift I learned from Belthasar so long ago."
"Really?" Lucca asked amazed.
"What? Are you coming too?!" Crono asked, surprised by the sorceror's sudden helpfulness; he had always been so separated before.
"I'm coming," Magus said suspiciously, "I've a score to settle."
"Score?" Cid asked.
"Whatever that gate was that he was thrown in, it sucked Zeal completely of power. The Ice Age was in full force and we began to freeze. That was when my mother began looking for an alternate power source. She found Lavos. His tampering caused my mother to become desperate enough to take Lavos. My score is the score of all of Zeal."
"And what do we do with him?" Crono asked indicating the Marshall.
"Kill him," Marle said quickly.
Crono glared at her, "I think we'll need his help. Should we bring him along?"
Marle cried out in protest, but he headed her off, "We at least need to get him back to our time. He might change history if we left him here to his own devices. Can we trust you?" he asked the giant man.
The Marshall looked at him for a moment and lowered his head, "Aye, I give you my word. But Marle must be returned to her father or I'll not get paid."
"After this is over, she'll go back. But not by force," Crono said.
"You've got that right," Marle said backing up Crono's words.
Suddenly, Magus looked up sharply and peered down the narrow, dark halls in concentration.
"Quiet," he whispered. His hand went to his scythe, now belted.
They looked at him, wondering what was happening. They however, remained silent, listening for what only he could hear at the moment.
Then they heard the growls and snarls from the darkness. They were coming closer much too quickly. The group all jumped as the ringing of Magus scythe echoed suddenly in the air. They likewise drew weapons, taking them from the Marshall's arsenal.
The Marshall looked at them trying to get their attention. "Umm. . .Could I have a weapon?," he asked pleadingly as dark shapes came lumbering through the hall toward them, making nightmarish noises at the sight of prey.
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