Chrono Trigger Dimensions Chapter 38

By Jerm

Magus stood before the gate he had recently erected. It's blue light shone brightly on him, clashing with the dark colors he wore.

What had been said earlier had given him discomfort. Nikades couldn't be able to control time that easily. Not yet. There was only one way he could do so and that was where Magus was heading.

The End of Time was home to Gaspar, Guru of Time. If Nikades wanted the power to warp time before his godhood, he would need something from him.

Magus was also tense about something else that had been said earlier. That the Time of Zeal was the only time zone unaffected by Nikades's attack. The End of Time might not be there anymore.

Magus shoved the thought out of his head and stepped into the gate. Blue light swirled around him as he was thrown into a place where time no longer existed.

Moments later, he landed in a land of pure blackness. Magus looked around wildly. This was more than he had expected.

Everything was gone. Gaspar, Spekkio, and, more importantly, the rooms and the timegates within them. Magus stumbled forward, looking for a trace of some existance. There was nothing. Only him and the gate.

Then he spotted something on the ground. It was white, though it shone with a blue tint in the gate's light. Magus bent over and looked at it.

It was a Chrono Trigger, a time egg. Gaspar had left it behind for them, possibly.

Even then, he knew what was going on.

However, it wasn't going to be enough to beat Nikades. Gaspar must have left it for another reason.

But what?

Magus placed the Chrono Trigger into his pocket and turned to the gate. Gaspar would no longer be able to help them. They were alone now.

More alone than when they had fought Lavos. And this time they were fighting something much more powerful. Something that had shirked the live from Lavos as though you were taking something from a small child.

Magus entered the gate. After his departure, the gate obediently shut behind him.

* * * * *

"That noise is going to drive me insane!" Marshall roared as Lucca's activities began again.

Above them descended the steady thump of a hammer beating into something. Lucca had been at whatever she was doing for close to seven hours now. Without any breaks as far as he could tell.

Cid peered up at the ceiling and replied, "I wish I knew what she was doing. . ."

"I wish I knew what she was THINKING," Marshall replied, "I hope she hasn't gone crazy."

Cid shook his head, "She's too level headed to lose her mind."

Marshall laughed darkly, "It doesn't take much to lose your mind, no matter what defenses you have against it."

"You an expert on what it's like to be insane?" Cid joked.

"No, no, no. . .well, maybe." Marshall chuckled.

Cid looked away from the ceiling and stood up out of the chair he was sitting in, "I'm bored. Badly."

"Me too. . .I think I'll go out for a while and cause 'mischief' in the town." Marshall replied innocently.

"You aren't gonna cause trouble are you?" Cid asked apprehensively.

"Oh no. Just 'mischief'." Marshall said with a smile, "I'm bored, not angry."

"Fine go ahead, just as long as you don't cause 'trouble'. I think I'll take a rest." Cid replied, stretching before taking Marshall's spot on the couch, which was much softer than the wooden chair he had been sitting in earlier.

"With THAT noise?" Marshall asked, "Good luck."

In response, Cid snored.

"Don't be sarcastic, Cid," Marshall chided.

"Okay," Cid said, "Bye Marshall. Have fun causing trouble."

"'Mischief', not trouble. There IS a difference." Marshall said, hurt.

"I know. Anytime you cause mischief, it becomes trouble fairly quick." Cid said.

"Care to give an example?" Marshall asked.

In response, Cid snored again.

"Thought so," Marshall replied, "Bye, little guy."

Cid stopped snoring and his head snapped up, "Little guy?!" but the door shut before he could finish, cutting him off from Marshall.

Cid snorted, "Little guy," he said to himself, "Hmph."

Moments later, Cid's breathing became rhythmic once more. However, he was really asleep this time.

* * * * *

It was three o'clock when Cid awoke to the sound of footsteps. He opened his eyes and turned to the stairway, where the sound was coming from.

Cid at first thought that someone had returned while he was asleep and had went to check on Lucca. However, that died when he realized that he hadn't been asleep long enough for that. He then realized that the noise upstairs had abated.

Lucca appeared at the bottom of the stairway, turning and walking into the main room he was seated at. She was still dressed as she normally was, dark orange shirt with brown shorts and shoes. She yawned as she stepped into the room.

"Hi, Cid. Where is everyone?" she asked.

"They're all gone off somewhere else," Cid replied, wondering why she was acting so normal after spending so much time retreated into herself.

She nodded, "Ah."

"What were you doing up there?" Cid asked finally.

"Oh, this and that." she replied evasively.

"As in?" Cid pressed, he repositioned himself on the couch, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees.

"Nothing important," she said, keeping the charade, "I'm going to Leene Square in a few minutes, would you like to come with me and talk?"

Cid decided that if she didn't want to talk about what she had been doing, then she didn't have to, "Sure, I'd love to."

Lucca pushed her glasses up her nose bridge, "Okay, let me get something to eat and we can leave."

She turned to go, then turned back, "Do you want anything?"

"Ummm. . .sure. I'll take a sandwich or something." Cid replied.

Lucca nodded and went into her kitchen.

The door shut behind her and Cid looked up at the ceiling, wondering if she had locked her door behind her. He finally decided not to snoop around in her stuff. If she didn't want to tell him, she didn't have to.

And she was bound to tell him later.

Cid stood up and stretched as Lucca reentered with a bag of food for them.

"All set. Let's go, Cid," she said.

* * * * *

"This is Nadia's Bell," Lucca said, indicating the said bell, "It was named after Nadia, or Marle."

Cid nodded, already accustomed to the idea of keeping company with royalty. He peered at the two year old memorial. It was quite new, there were as of yet no signs of overuse or any other damage. It would be here for years to come; if they succeeded.

Cid had told Lucca of their plan during the trip to Leene Square. She had merely nodded in response, digesting what was to happen. When Cid had questioned if she could think of anything better, she merely shrugged and changed the subject.

"They ring it every morning to awaken the citizens. It sounds pretty good, though I live too far away to hear it," Lucca continued.

"And your father built it?" Cid asked.

Lucca recieved a pained expression on her face for a moment, but cleared it up and replied, "Yeah. Taban."

"Taban. . ." Cid mused, "I've heard that name before, I'm sure of it. . .Maybe it was from the history books at school. He surely left some imprint in history."

"Maybe. . ." Lucca said, turning from the bell and heading ahead to where her teleporters once lay years ago.

Cid followed her, "What's up here?"

"Nothing now. But it was where Marle was thrown back in time to start our fight against Lavos a long time ago. The teleporters are gone now, moved back to my house and collecting dust."

"This is where it all began?" Cid asked amazed as he walked into the empty clearing.

"Yeah." Lucca replied, not knowing what else to say.

Cid peered at the ground around him, "Where's the gate?"

"It's gone. When Lavos was killed, most gates closed down. Only a few of the newer ones remained." Lucca said.

"Like the one in my time," Cid pointed out.

"And the one in Magus's castle," Lucca finished.

Cid nodded, remembering. He looked up at the sky, it was getting dark. Only two more free days left as soon as this day finished. Then what would become of them on that fateful day that came after those two?

"Are we going to live?" Cid asked her suddenly.

The question was vague, but Lucca knew what he was talking about, "I hope so. If. . .your plan works, then we shouldn't have any problems concerning ceasing to exist or anything like that."

"We don't have much time left," Cid whispered quietly, then said aloud, "I'm glad I met you all before all of this happened."

"It was more like 'during' all of this was happening," Lucca pointed out, then replied, "I'm glad I was able to meet with you, too, Cid."

"Too bad I never got to learn about the technology in this time like I had originally planned. Things got way out of hand before I could begin to study," Cid laughed.

Lucca laughed back, "Out of hand? I'm surprised things weren't lost completely considering all that's been happening."

They walked back into the main square and Lucca sat down on one of the benches. Cid sat down beside her. They sat together in silence for several minutes, staring at the dimming light.

Something was tugging at the back of Cid's mind, however. He grasped the thought and suddenly remembered what Crono and Marle had said earlier.

The town was infested with demons. It was safe during the day, when people were about, but night was something altogether different.

"Damn," he muttered.

"What?" Lucca asked him, turning from her view of the stars to peer at him.

"We're in trouble. This town has a lot of demons still in it. It isn't safe at night, when the real people are asleep. We've--" Cid said, but stopped.

At the entrance to the square was movement. It was too dark to see who they were, but Cid counted around ten of them. They appeared human at first, however there was a sharp red tint from their eyes, indicating that they were indeed demons. Also they moved with agility impossible for a human.

"Too late," Cid swore.

He stood, wishing he hadn't left his weapon back at Lucca's house. However, Lucca wasn't as forgetful. She stood up from her seat beside Cid and pulled out what appeared to be a bulky piston.

The demons saw the sudden movement and charged. They molded from their human shapes as they galloped toward the two.

Then there was a brief flash of light and the gun Lucca held jerked back. A ball of light tore from the gun's nozzle and flew into the nearest demon, throwing it back to land on the ground unmoving.

"Whoa," Cid said excitedly.

Lucca pulled the trigger once more and another ball of light blasted yet another demon, "You said it," she said, concentrating.

After the demons lost two more of their compatriots in a matter of three seconds, they stopped and turned. They were no longer human in form but the common doglike monsters that had plagued the group for so long. They howled in distress and bounded away, leaving Cid and Lucca alone oncemore.

"What is that?" Cid asked in awe of the newest toy.

"I'll explain on the way," Lucca said, holstering the weapon in her belt and grabbing his hand to pull him along, "We need to get out of town."

"I know that," Cid replied, then apologized, "Sorry I forgot about the demons."

"It's all right, Cid. I forgot as much as you did." Lucca replied, "No one was hurt."

Cid stepped over one of the smoldering carcasses of the demons, "Well, no one 'human' was hurt."

Lucca smiled mischieviously at him, "Right. Besides, you were saying yourself, you wanted to see some of this time's technology."

Cid smiled with her for a moment, then Cid remembered something else, "What about Crono and Marle?" his smile faded away.

"They'll be okay. They have a house to sleep in. We need to get out of town quickly before more of them come." Lucca pointed out.

Cid didn't argue her logic, "Then you can tell me about your gun on the way."

They left the square and entered the north part of town, not breaking stride. Lucca told him about her gun as they crossed the town.

They weren't attacked the rest of the way to her house.

* * * * *

"Allen, it was probably just lightning."

"There aren't any clouds out, Rena," Allen replied, "I know I saw light."

Allen crossed the street and entered the square. Rena followed, trying to stop him. Then suddenly, he stopped and peered down at the ground.

It was dark, but he could clearly see the smoking carcass of a monster.

"What is it, Allen?" Rena asked curiously.

"Let's get back in the house, honey." Allen said, slowly backing up, "We can check it out in the morning."

"But--" Rena objected.

"Don't question, just go."

They both ran back to their house, afraid that there was something still out there.

However, the night remained quiet.

* * * * *

After the sudden destruction of Guardia Castle, the chancellor had named himself ruler of Guardia until order could be returned and a new king selected.

The people were still shocked over what had happened, but they obeyed his move, some applauding his bold move to keep order. Anarchy had been avoided and that was something to cheer.

However, when the bodies of five demons were found lying in Leene's Square, panic returned. And not even the chancellor could stop it.

Melchior had been right after all, the townsmen thought. They were being invaded by demons.

.

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