Chrono Trigger Invasions Chapter 22
By Jerm
"Where the hell's this wind coming from anyway?!" Marshall yelled, the gusts of air blowing all around him and the others.
Crono shrugged slightly, nearly losing his footing in the process. He shifted his balance quickly and answered, "Lucca tried to tell me before. Something about 'fronts' and 'air pressure!' I didn't bother to ask! Supposedly, this mountain's aerodynamic shape allows the winds to blow without as much friction! And the cold wind at the high altitude is pushed down by the warm wind at the low altitude!"
Marshall's answer was short and simple, "Nevermind!"
Marle entered the conversation, "I know these jokes are Cid's job, but he isn't here! So I thought I'd ask you just in case! Do you happen to have an ice pick handy?!"
Marshall started to yell something unpleasant back to her, then stopped and thought for a moment. Then he nodded, "Depends on how flexible your definition of ice pick is!"
With that, he drew his sword and stabbed it into the ground. He then hefted himself forward, pulling the blade out and stabbing once more into the snowy ground several feet ahead of the first jab.
"You know that'll ruin your sword!" Crono said offhandedly.
"What else would we use them on?!" Marshall yelled back, "Unless you're really, really mad at Cid!?"
Crono leaned into the wind and pulled out his sword, "Let's just hope we can fix them after this!"
Glenn did as Crono and Marshall were doing as well, the Masamune's condition was a nonprob. Magus, due to his weapon, had a free hand and used it to grab Schala around the shoulders; he then used his scythe in much the same fashion as the others. Marle, however seemed to have a problem. Considering she didn't have a sword, her progress wasn't quite as fast as the others. Marshall, being the master of 'preparedness,' stopped long enough to draw his other sword and heft it to her.
The sword landed at her feet, falling into the snow and disappearing. Marle bent over and dug through the snow, looking for it. Luckily, she didn't cut herself and she was able to pull it out.
"How far up?!" Marshall yelled after a moment.
"Uhhh. . ." Crono thought, "I have no idea!" he turned to Marle, "Marle?!"
"It's taller than Denadoro for one thing!" she answered, "I'd say it'd take us about ten hours to get to the top if we didn't stop! But we do have to stop for breaks!"
"Great. . ." Marshall muttered, inaudible to the others in the noisy gale.
"At least it gives us more time to catch up to Cid!" Crono said, "Especially since he probably won't be taking any breaks!"
"You know, if he collapses from exhaustion, he'll be buried in a minute's time!" Marle said suddenly, always the optimist.
"Then we'd better catch up before that!" Crono yelled back.
They continued to trudge through the snow, slowly but surely.
"Hey Marshall!" Crono yelled suddenly, "This'll make you happy! The wind'll stop for a while once we hit that ridge right up there!"
"No it won't, Crono!" Marle answered, "It's the next ridge! About a quarter of a mile up!"
Crono stopped for a second, trying to remember what the others had told him about this mountain. Finally, he shrugged and continued.
* * * * *
"Tell me again why I'm doing this?" Cid asked as he shambled up the mountain.
The figure seemed to sigh, but spoke, "So Lucca can be saved."
"I'm not so sure I want to destroy this world in order to do so, though," Cid replied.
"Do you doubt that you and Lucca could come up with a better plan to save the world than what they had?"
Cid thought about it, finally shaking his head, "No, I guess not."
"Besides, the future will be able to stop the invasion, won't they?"
"Yeah," Cid agreed, "They will."
"Then let's continue."
Cid trudged on. Morlis was able to regain control after a moment. This was becoming harder than Morlis had ever thought it would.
Dalack approached him, "You almost lost him that time."
"I know what I'm doing," Morlis shot back angrily.
"Then what's the problem?"
"He's much too individualistic. He's spent most of his life alone and it's hard for him to trust people. I keep having to reassure him."
"Maybe you should just kill him and forget this whole thing. We need to warn Storimae about this invasion from the sky."
"I'm sure he already knows," Morlis/Cid replied.
"Even if we get Thatos back, we would lose this world," Dalack argued, "I for one wouldn't mind having Storimae as a leader as long as it held the spectres together and meant that this world would be ours."
"Then you have lost your will if you are going to bow to someone like that. The only reason he is at the top is that he has some secret ally, whoever that fiend is, that has a very mean sword," Morlis replied.
"How far?" Dalack changed the subject.
"Not long. Maybe three more hours."
"Good, I want this over with."
* * * * *
"What are you doing here, Storimae? And where is the rest of your council?"
Storimae stood in a large domed amphitheatre-style room. In the center sat about twenty spectres, the high council. All around the twenty were rows and rows of seats that rose as they distanced from the center. Most of these seats were empty, however there were a few that were occupied by curious denizens. Storimae stood in front of the high council, an aisle stretched out behind him, leading to the exit.
"I am here because there is no more council," Storimae replied.
"And why is that?"
"Our outpost was destroyed by something far more stronger than those that we had originally assumed to live in that world. I have simply fallen back to gather reinforcements so that we may defeat these things."
"So none of the other councilmen made it?" the question was one of suspicion.
Storimae shook his head, "No."
"Why did you not simply take control of these things?"
"There were quite a lot of them," Storimae answered, "That is why I call for reinforcements, I need enough to successfully take control of these things."
"You will recieve no reinforcements," the spectre replied instantly, "Furthermore, due to your incompetence, you will be relieved of your position and a new council will be selected. We will then send reinforcements for them."
"They will find it too much to handle," Storimae said, showing no emotion on his face, "I doubt any will survive."
"What makes you so different?"
Storimae smiled inwardly, he had been waiting for a question like this. Nothing beats a dramatic entrance.
He began to concentrate, attempting to summon the Murasame.
* * * * *
The eleventh century had been obliterated. Now, the only time that remained was the deep future.
Like all of those before them, the Lavos's buried themselves under the ground after the assault. There they met with their brethren and waited for a signal.
They would have their full revenge soon.
Having manipulated time, their destroying of each time had not effected any future times ahead of that one. The monsters existed in the fourth dimension, allowing them such powers.
After the last of the planet had been personally destroyed, they would release their hold. Then they would continue with their cycles, bringing their kind to other planets.
* * * * *
"Finally, I can talk normally," Crono said heavily, as the wind had stopped gusting around them.
"Yeah, all that yelling can get to you," Marshall said, equally breathless.
"How long have we been climbing?" Glenn asked.
"About four hours," Marle answered, "We're half way up there, timewise."
"I don't know if that's an assurace or not," Crono replied.
"It's an answer," Marle said, "I'll leave it up to you to feel assured."
Crono nodded, smiling, "Good idea."
"I should've brought a sled," Marshall mused, looking back over his shoulder at the large drop, "That'd be one wild trip."
"Too wild for me," Crono said, "I'll walk."
"Haven't you had enough of that already?" Marshall asked.
"Yeah, but I don't want to kill myself sledding. I've had enough of dying already," Crono replied, "Remember, this mountain didn't get named because someone simply didn't like it."
"Maybe we can rename it 'Sunny Side Hill' or something," Marshall said, grinning.
Crono slipped, but caught himself with his hands and stood back up, "If you do that, I'll kill you myself."
"Fine. Leave this mountain drab and dark."
"Wait, everyone; I see something," Marle said suddenly.
The others turned to her. "What is it?" Crono asked.
"Footprints," Marle bent over to examine them more closely, then stood back up a moment later, "I guess they're Cid's, no one else has been here short enough to leave footprints not covered with snow."
"That also means we're closer than I thought to him," Crono said, "Let's hurry up."
The group followed the footsteps at a much faster pace than before. Cid couldn't be more than ten minutes ahead of them.
Far above, the stars that indicated the aliens shone on with a pearly white. They were behaving themselves for the moment.
There still wasn't much time.
.