Chrono Trigger Invasions Chapter 10
By Jerm
Magus awoke with a jump when he heard the noise. He instantly jumped out of his makeshift cot, looking around wildly for any signs of intrusion. When nothing but his sister, still in a spell-induced sleep, came to his eyes, he sighed. It was a dream.
But Magus felt it was more than a dream, it was a vision. It had told him how to release his sister from the spell. Magus wracked his brain, trying to remember what Schala had told him during the dream. It was fading away quickly.
Magus grabbed onto her words, forming them as a conscious thought and not a subconscious one. He needed to memorize this more than anything. Her words drifted through his head as he tried to get to the part of the 'antidote'.
He started to pace unknowingly back and forth along the side of his cave. Looking outside briefly, he could see that it was still snowing, though it was letting up.
Then it was there. She would need a shock to awake. A short electrical charge, something statling enough to break her out of the sleep.
Magus almost snapped his fingers at the recognition. Of course, a burst of energy large enough to disturb the spell. The same thing Lucca had used to stop Nikades. The only difference was the magnitude of the spell. This was a much smaller spell, it required a lot less energy to break.
Magus rushed over to his sister's bed, wondering when he should do this. He had been waiting nearly his whole life for this, but for some reason it didn't seem like the right time. It was almost ludicrous that this moment had so suddenly come apon him.
He looked down at his sister and reached for her hand, drawing in the energy. His decision had been made. He had been waiting much to long for this moment.
Magus or Janus, whoever he was, he would bring back this woman who had saved him.
* * * * *
Glenn awoke suddenly with a sharp pain in his back. His eyes shot open, causing a blurry view to appear before him. When his vision cleared, he was able to see that he was in some sort of meeting room. A long table went down the middle of the room, which sat a dozen of the shadow beings.
Behind him were three more shadows, one being the leader of the hunting party, known as Ericane. He didn't know how he could tell them apart, but for some reason his mind seemed to register some difference. Maybe it was in their shape or maybe how they stood.
"Here he is," Ericane said suddenly, bringing Glenn from his thoughts.
The other shadows were all peering at him intently and curiously. He suddenly realized that he was unexpected by most of them.
One of the shadows on the table stood up, nodding, "Good. Now where is the magic sword?"
"We weren't able to get it," Ericane apologized.
"Bastion, what is the meaning of this?!" one of the other shadows stood up in semioutrage, demanding from the other shadow at the table.
"Just a little hunting party, Morlis. Nothing big enough for your concern," Bastion replied.
Another shadow stood up, siding with Morlis, "It IS our concern. You are not authorized to do anything like this without the consent of the rest of the council."
"I didn't think it was necessary, St--" Bastion began.
"Not authorized to do ANYTHING!" the shadow continued angrily, "This is now twice that you have done this! First with the Queen, now with the knight."
"Very well," Bastion bowed, "It won't happen again, Storimae."
"This is your last chance, Bastion. If you go beyond your authority once again, you will be dropped from the council," Morlis said.
Glenn watched this with intent. There was dissention in the ranks of the shadows. They were aruguing with each other. THAT was why they hadn't attacked his world yet, they were struggling for a leader. Without Thatos, they were merely squabbling with each other over who will replace him.
They had tried to create a joint rule between all of the possible candidates. Apparently, it wasn't working.
"What do I do with him, then?" Ericane asked, pointing at Glenn.
"Kill him, I guess," Bastion said.
"But he is the only one who can handle the sword," Ericane said, "In fact, I've learned that the sword has a life of its own, in a way. Glenn may even be able to draw it to us."
"Are you insane, Ericane? How in the hell can a sword follow somebody? Kill him," Bastion continued.
"Wait," Storimae said, cutting the argument off, "Ericane is right. This Masamune is a very unique sword. It DOES have a life of its own. It WILL find a way to get here. It could be the turning point in this battle if we could get ahold of it."
"It may be too dangerous, Storimae," Morlis argued, "You remember how it reacted to Thatos."
"I know what I'm doing," Storimae argued, "If I can get ahold of it, we may be able to get the revenge on this world for what it did to Nikades and Thatos."
"Don't overstep your boundaries as well; after so recently berating Bastion. Ambition will cause this council to fall apart," another shadow, Lanon, retorted.
"Then NOW what do I do with him?" Ericane asked again, becoming impatient.
"Put him in a cell for now. I'll talk with the rest of the council on how we should handle this," Storimae said, waving him off.
Glenn was grabbed roughly and pulled out of the room as the shadows began to consult each other on the predicament.
* * * * *
Schala lay asleep, though the sleep was no longer from the spell. Magus sighed in content at a job accomplished. The spell was removed and she would wake when she was ready.
He walked away from her cot and toward the entrance of the cave. It was stil light, yet the new stars in the sky were now visible in the daytime, now that the clouds were gone once more. He didn't know what this meant. They had slowly started appearing during the daytime several days ago. Now they were permanently in the sky, a baffling event.
As he was looking at the sky, he caught a glimpse of a flash of light to his left. His snapped to the side to look at what was happening. Then the flash of light again and suddenly there was something in the sky.
* * * * *
The blue light left the group as they were suddenly thrown into another time. The epoch continued to shudder, however, something was wrong with it.
"Zeal?" Crono asked, looking at the snow-covered lands around him.
"We've got a problem," Cid said suddenly, breaking Crono from his musings.
"What's wrong?" Marle asked, looking over Crono's seat to the control box.
"I think one of those laser-things hit a little too close, the epoch isn't flying too well and. . . ."
The epoch suddenly started to tip forward and drop. Everyone felt their stomachs jump up at the suddenly roller coaster style drop.
They were heading straight for a mountain.
"Can't you do anything?!" Marshall yelled, holding onto his seat with both hands to hold his position.
"Nope, we're going to crash," Cid said, "but I might be able to soften the landing. . ."
Cid pulled the steering controls to the left hard. They were approaching the mountain very fast. After the epoch had turned to a near vertical position, Cid pulled up.
The epoch started to crawl to the side. They might just miss the mountain.
* * * * *
Magus stared at the machine in the sky. It looked almost like the epoch. He also noticed that it was about to hit the mountain he was on.
Then the epoch angled sideways, with the wings almost vertical, and tried to veer to the side. They were trying to avoid the mountain.
Then Magus noticed that it was heading right for him. He could hear the noise now, it was very loud. The thing was coming in much too fast.
Magus realized his position and jumped back into the cave quickly. Then suddenly, the epoch crashed. It slid across the entrance to his cave, he saw the bottom of it passing by him as it raked over the opening of his cave. Then it was gone, sliding across the snowy mountain.
Magus peered out of his cave to see the epoch sliding down the hill roughly, spinning as it tried to stop.
* * * * *
Crono looked back madly as the epoch continued to jostle them madly. This was crazy. He had thought he had seen Magus back there.
The epoch hit a rock that was jutting out of the ground and took air once more. Then it landed again, throwing its occupants around the small seating area. The epoch lost all traction and started to turn sideways as it continued to slide down the mountain.
It slid off of an escarpment, then tipped as it fell, the left wing pointing downwards. It struck the ground, the wind sticking into the ground, then snapping off with a metallic ring. The broken fragment of the wing continued to jut out of the snow.
The epoch rolled over, the glass covering striking the ground and cracking from a rock. The epoch slid a few more feet, then stopped.
* * * * *
Several minutes after the crash, there was finally movement inside of the epoch. Cid coughed weakly, feeling his face. His hand came back with blood and small glass shards. He coughed again and looked at the others.
Looking back at him was Marshall. The man was still awake, but was cut up badly too. He seemed too stunned to move. Cid started to reached out to him when Marshall spoke in a tense whipser, "Do NOT move, Cid. Not one muscle."
Cid stopped, "Why?"
"Do you want to continue this ride. All the way to the bottom of the mountain. We're only about a quarter of the way down right now."
". . .Oh," Cid whispered back.
The epoch was smashed on the outside. However, most of the inside still looked to be in working condition. Cid sighed with relief.
He continued to sit still along with Marshall, waiting for the others to wake up so they could find out a way to get out of here.
.