Chrono Trigger Invasions Chapter 29
By Jerm
"Marshall?!" Dalack looked up at the voice, seeing the other five of the group.
He quickly looked to the side, thinking they would see Morlis and blow his cover. However, the spectre was gone, obviously going for the fallen boy. Dalack faced the others again.
"Are you okay?" the boy, Crono, continued.
"I-I'm fine," Dalack replied, trying to remember this man's personality.
"How'd you survive the fall? We thought you were dead," Marle said as they approached him.
Keep them between you and Cid Dalack remembered. He slowly repositioned himself that way. "It wasn't quite a large drop. Not as much as I'd thought anyway."
"Not a long drop? We couldn't even see the bottom of it," Crono pressed.
"I hit a small ledge about forty feet down. It saved me from falling the rest of the way," Dalack said, trying to find a way to prove it.
"We stopped it, though!" Marle said, looking around, "We did it right. . .I mean left."
She giggled, though only she and Crono knew the inside joke. The others nodded, it was indeed over.
Idiot, Dalack thought as the girl giggled.
"So it's over?" Marshall asked.
"Yeah. . .almost. We still need to drive off the spectres."
"Let's get going," Magus said suddenly, "Death Peak is not the safest place to be. Especially at night."
"Let's not be so hasty," Crono argued, "We need to get Cid before we go anywhere."
Dalack hid his smile, he didn't want to seem happy at the boy's death. Then he remembered that Marshall wasn't supposed to know how Cid had died. Ah, but he was playing the charade well tonight.
"What happened to him?" Marshall asked, "Did the spectre kill him?"
"No. . . ." Marle replied slowly, "I, uh. . .sort of did."
Marshall nodded, not revealing anything. Dalack tried to make the nod sad and full of pity. Making it full of good humor was not the way to go in a situation like this.
"We all would have, though. It meant saving the world. I hated it," Crono said, "but it had to be done."
They went over, preparing to hoist Cid up. Crono drew back suddenly, "Wait a second, he's. . .breathing? Marshall, quick! We need some of that 'first aid' you're toting around!"
Dalack realized that he had stalled too long. He sent a burst of energy into the boy, throwing him toward the edge. Crono grabbed ahold of the tree, though and held on, preventing himself from falling off of the edge.
Marshall quickly backhanded Glenn, who was standing closest. The frog's head snapped back from the strike, and Glenn stumbled back, tripping up in the snow. Magus drew back as he realized he was the next target. There was a ringing noise and the scythe was loose, "I beat you last time, don't even think that you might get lucky this time."
Marshall stepped forward and Magus swung the weapon. The giant reached out and grabbed the descending scythe by the shaft, holding it at bay. He stepped forward quickly and grabbed it with his other hand, then twisting it so the butt of the scythe twirled around and tripped Magus.
The wizard fell to the ground and Marshall spun the weapon around, holding the opposite end now, the blade toward Magus. Magus quickly faded away to reappear, still lying on the ground, beside Crono.
Magus seemed a little angry. He raised his hand and fire burst around it. "I take it a physical fight is out of the question."
Marle aimed her crossbow, but held herself in check. She couldn't do this again. Who was she, killing off all of her friends like this?
Marshall stalked forward and Magus released the spell. The firebolt sped toward the bounty hunter, but Marshall merely waved his hand, sending the flame into the sky.
"Another spectre," Crono noted as he stood up, using the tree for support, "Great."
"No, two of them," Cid said behind him.
Crono quickly turned to the voice, seeing Cid in a brief moment before he was punched. Crono fell to the ground, his lip cut from the blow. Cid pounced on him, trying to take his sheathed sword.
Marshall swung the scythe in a downward arc, forcing Magus to jump to the side. However, the scythe cut into the wizard's cloak. The scythe then dug into the ground, pinning Magus. Magus lost his momentum of jumping to the side, then was choked and thrown to the ground.
Marshall quickly undug the scythe and brought it down again. Magus rolled out of the way, then sent a wave of air to throw Marshall to the ground.
Marshall was caught off guard and dropped the scythe as he was thrown back. Schala took this moment to grab it from the ground. She quickly ran to hand it to Magus, but the wizard waved her off.
Cid had succeeded in drawing Crono's sword, and was preparing to dice the redhead. Then suddenly, the side of his face was backhanded by the flat of the Masamune. Cid crumpled to the ground, seeming to be unconscious.
The Masamune had an effect though. Morlis started to scream from the contact with the weapon. Cid was up on his knees, trying to stand back up as the screaming continued. Then something left his body, something ethereal, and Cid fell back to the ground. The sword lay by his side.
It was then that Crono finally realized that Cid still had a broken crossbow bolt sticking out of his shoulder.
Later.
He looked up at the fleeing spectre, then concentrated on it. A bolt of electricity raced at the fleeing demon at the speed of light. It struck the spectre, causing it to writh in its grip. Crono continued the flow, however, pinning the demon in the air.
Finally, he sent a burst of energy into the spectre. The intensity of the blast was evident as the very air around the impact seemed to shudder.
Crono dropped the flow and looked at his work, the spectre was dead, faded away. He turned back to Marshall, who had been watching all of this from his vantage point on the ground.
"Oh, that was just great," Marshall muttered.
Then the bounty hunter vanished, disappearing from the peak. There was nothing left but an imprint in the snow. The group stopped their activity, the threat gone.
"Now we're down one more member. What do we do?" Crono finally asked.
"Not sure," Marle shook her head, "I can't believe they have Marshall now."
"From the looks of it, they can take anybody they feel like," Glenn supplemented.
Crono turned back to Cid, remembering the arrow. Crono looked at the wound, then pulled the quarrel out, which caused blood to flow out of the reopened wound.
"Crono, don't pull out the arrow, we need to wait until we can get him help!" Marle said behind him suddenly.
"Well, what do you want me to do, put it back in?" Crono retorted.
"No, but you aren't supposed to do that. We need to get him somewhere where we can help him, not bleed him to death," Marle answered.
"Sorry, I didn't know," Crono said, "I'm having mixed emotions right now, we won one war, but another just beat us."
"I would advise we take the boy and escape this mountain before he does bleed to death," Magus added helpfully.
Crono tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and wrapped it around Cid's shoulder to stifle the flow. It didn't help much, but it was the best he could do.
Marle sighed, "Let's just get out of here."
* * * * *
"This is one time where Marshall would have been useful," Crono said, as he carried the unconscious Cid.
The wind and snow were blowing madly at the group, reminding them they were on Death Peak. Though no one had fallen as of yet, the wind continued to try. Being careful was very necessary in these harsh climates.
"What do we do about him?" Marle asked, "I'm sure we'll meet him again when we go after the spectres."
"Going after the spectres," Crono muttered to himself, "You all know that we don't even know how many of these things there are. If we chase after them into Limbo, they could swarm us."
"We can use an army," Marle replied.
"From where? Nikades did a very good job at wasting this world's supply of armed men."
"How much longer to the bottom?" Glenn asked, trying to end the argument.
"About two more hours, I think," Marle answered, "Maybe less since we're going downhill now."
Crono sighed, "I can't feel my arms any more."
"Then you won't feel it when they begin to hurt from the strain." Marle pointed out.
"Why doesn't Glenn hold him?" Crono pressed, "After all, he was the one that beat him over the head with his sword."
"Almost there, just hold on," Marle said, becoming impatient as well.
"Fine," Crono sighed again, but trudged on.
Far off to the east, a sunrise was beginning. They had been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours. And it wasn't over yet. Though the Lavos's were the most dangerous, they were the easiest problem to overcome.
The group continued for the next ten minutes in silence. The sun slowly rose up, drawing light onto the world. They were able to see the land now. Not blemished with craters and death, but thriving once again without the threat of an invasion. They had succeeded.
"I've been thinking," Crono said suddenly, breaking the silence, "Since there really isn't an army to fight the spectres, what's going to stop them from invading this world wholesale. It would be almost impossible to stop them."
"I'm not sure," Marle answered, "I hope there is something that holds them back."
"The council does," Glenn said, "As long as the council holds, they will be arguing and fighting each other too much to bother with this world. That is how it was when I was there. There should be no real threat from them."
"I hope so," Marle replied.
* * * * *
"Put Cid right there," Marle said, pointing to a small clearing in the dome that had once been hom to Belthasar.
Since there weren't any beds or anything soft to lay on anywhere, they would have to adjust. Cid was lain down carefully, and the others stood back.
"What do we do now?" Glenn asked.
"We rest for now," Magus said, "Then we can use the machine to get to another time and begin something against the spectres. And we get a doctor or something close for Cid."
"Yeah, good idea. I'm tired as it is," Crono said, stretching.
"Lounge anywhere, I guess." Marle said.
The group each found a spot to rest. Though there weren't any soft spots to lie, they had been awake form a whole day and rest was recieved no matter the condition of the floor.
They fell asleep instantly and the day bore on. Cid remained in a state of unconsciousness, but he was sure to wake soon.
From past events, they wondered if that was a good thing.
.