Chrono Trigger Invasions Chapter 35
By Jerm
Cid stumbled forward, falling on his face, as he tumbled out of the gate. Every bone in his body hurt from the previous fight, and that wasn't helping one bit. He slowly got up, thinking about what had just happened.
Marshall was dead.
Cid had been so cold-hearted over it, too. He had been trying to kill Marshall, not the spectre. Why?
You're beginning to think like a merciless killer, Cid.
Cid shook his head about, fighting the thoughts. He wouldn't succumb to this again. He had had enough of losing control of himself.
All around him, there was nothing. Aparently the fight was over, and since he could see various people wandering around the dead, he could see that the humans had held out for today. It was slowly becoming dusk, the sun disappearing slowly over the forest to the west. To his east, he saw smoke from the ruined town of Truce.
Could there have been a way to save Marshall? A way to remove the spectre without killing both? Cid didn't know, but he wasn't so sure at the moment. The spectre had too firm a grip on the giant.
Still trying to appease your guilt?
"Shut up," Cid mumbled to himself.
He turned back to the gate, looking for Magus. He would be back soon. He had said he had some business to take care of or something.
Cid hoped that he didn't kill off the rest of the policemen. That was the last thing Cid needed on his mind. He had created the gate for Magus to simply throw Marshall through. Magus going after him as well wasn't what he had planned at all.
Now a whole street was nearly demolished and several people dead.
My fault.
Cid sighed, trying to ignore his conscience. What an annoying thing it was.
But could he have saved Marshall?
The gate was suddenly alive, causing Cid to jump. A few seconds later, Magus stepped through. Another surprise was that he was carrying the body of Marshall. A flickering shield around Magus was still active, but the sorcerer didn't notice. He went to his knees, piling the body on the ground, heaving a deep breath.
The gate shut behind him.
Cid looked at the body for a moment, then turned away. It was covered in blood from being shot multiple times. Magus, too, had been covered in it from carrying it. Cid took a deep breath, and sighed.
"We have to get him to the castle," Magus said, no emotion in his voice.
Cid just nodded slowly.
What a surprise this will be to show to your friends.
Cid ignored the voices, "Can you carry him that far?"
"No, not far at all," Magus replied, still breathing heavily, "I was thinking of flagging down one of the medics scouring the fields."
"Oh, good call," Cid admitted, then walked away toward the nearest person.
* * * * *
A chair was sent soaring through the air, only stopping momentarily as it struck the far wall of the room Cid was in. It broke upon impact, one of the legs snapping off and rebounding away.
Cid had finally released his anger at what had happened.
After they had reached the castle, Cid hadn't been able to break the bad news to them. It was obvious to them what had happened, as they could see the bounty hunter being carried in. Cid couldn't find it in himself to speak.
Marle had been nice enough to give him a room to sleep in over the night. A gracious offer, too bad Cid wasn't as gracious at the moment.
When he realized that both of the chairs were out of his reach and the bed and table were both too heavy to pick up, he settled for hitting the wall. There was a loud smack as he punched the stone bricks, and he felt extreme pain as one of his knuckles broke. He ignored the pain, feeding it into his anger. He attacked the wall again.
"Cid?" Nadia asked as she quickly stepped into his room.
Cid was yelling now, continuously hitting the wall. There was blood running down his wrist, down his palm. It wasn't much, but if he continued, it could be.
"Cid?! What are you doing?!" Marle yelled, more insistantly now.
Cid finally stopped, realizing that he had a visitor. He turned and looked at Nadia, staring back at him in amazement. He realized that he had been out of control.
"I'm. . .I'm sorry, I don't know what got over me, I guess I'm. . ." Cid tried to take several deep breaths to calm his anger.
"Is this about him?" Marle asked carefully.
Cid nodded, shakily, "Y. . .Yeah. I killed him, I just know it."
"The spectre killed him, Cid--"
"I killed him!" Cid yelled at her, losing himself again.
Cid grasped his forehead with one hand, his bleeding hand, trying to think straight. Blood slowly flowed down the middle, between his eyes and flowing around the bridge of his nose, but he ignored it.
"I was the one who shot at him and knocked him off the cliff at Death Peak. Because of that, the spectre was able to get ahold of him. If that wasn't enough, I was the one who opened the gate and sent him to a time that was too dangerous for him."
Marle shook her head, "The spectre shot Marshall on the peak, not you. As for the gate, if you hadn't removed their leader, we would have lost the castle today."
"And--" Cid began, trying to add to his grievances.
"I'm tired of you blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong that you are just the smallest bit associated with. Accept that life will be rough, Cid. If you don't it'll eat you alive."
Marle's voice had an edge to it now, hinting that he shouldn't argue with her. Cid obeyed, still shaking somewhat. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. . .I'm sorry," he shook his head at his stupidity.
It was then that he began to feel a dull throbbing in his hand. He looked at it in startlement, "Oh man, look what I've done. . .Your chairs, too--"
"Don't worry about the chairs, Cid. I'll get someone up here for your hand, okay?"
Cid nodded, "Thanks."
Marle nodded back and started to leave, but Cid stopped her, "Why did you come here in the first place?"
"Oh!" Marle stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to him as she stood in the doorway, "I came to tell you that we found something in Marshall's cloak."
"I thought he had everything in there," Cid pointed out, trying to forget that his friend was dead.
"Yeah, but this is special. He had a will written out."
* * * * *
"And what will that accomplish?" Schala asked Magus, pleadingly.
"It will accomplish a lot. I'm no longer playing by the rules of this. The spectres set the rules and I don't like them anymore. It's time I did something on my own accord."
Schala grabbed Magus's arm as he tried to leave the room, "You're not going anywhere. Wait for the others at least!"
Magus sighed and looked at the person that had once been his sister. She looked the same that she did when Lavos had separated them so long ago. She still had a life to live. Janus was gone, Magus shouldn't have any bond with her anymore.
Yet he did.
For some reason, it sometimes seemed like she could see into him, to know his thoughts. He knew that there was some remnant of Janus in him for that to happen. But not enough.
"The others still have a war to fight," Magus said pointedly, drawing his hand out of her grasp, "Don't stop me, I won't be stopped."
"But. . .but. . ." Schala sighed, "Thank you for saving me, then. I'll want to tell you that before you leave."
Magus nodded slowly, then turned to head for the door that lead out of her room. Before he was out though, he stopped and turned back. "Schala?"
"Yes?" she asked,looking at him curiously.
"I'm sorry about your brother."
Schala's mind went back to Janus for a moment. Her brother. Gone. Schala nodded at him, "Thank you, Magus."
"And don't call me that," Magus said, shaking his head, "I'm not Magus tonight."
"Then who are you?" Schala was having trouble understanding this man.
Magus drew the hood over his head, masking his face. The rest of him was covered in his black cloak. He turned back to the door to leave, "Tonight, I'm the Angel of Death."
* * * * *
"How would he have time to write a will?" Crono asked, as he walked into the throne room, confused.
"He could have written it long before he came with us, Crono," Marle replied.
"Which isn't the case. . ." Cid broke in, "Read this!"
"What is it?" Marle asked as she accepted the parchment from Cid's bandaged hand.
"Read it and find out," Cid said.
Marle looked at the quickly written text on the manuscript:
Friends,
I have been given this opportunity by the spectre to quote my final thoughts. It is pretty obvious to me that it does not intend that I live much longer. I only hope that you can take me out before I kill one of you.
I'm sorry it turned out this way for me, but I'd be even sorrier if it went for the worst for one of you because of me.
I don't have much time so I will get to the point. If I do die, and I obviously have since you are reading this, I wish for you to do a little traveling before I am layed to rest. At the fork in the Truce highway, go north-northwest for about 12 miles. If you feel you have missed it, you will have to do a little searching, but it is there. When you find the spot, you will know it. You will also know what to do with me.
I am also regretful to tell you that my sword has been lost. Thrown away the moment after I was taken. This is a very special sword, though it lacks any magical value. If I am to be buried, I would like for my blessèd blade to be my stone.
And as a promise to a dying friend, please leave my secrets to be secrets. It is a promise I made long ago to my father and for two decades I have held that promise. Now it must be continued.
Good bye to all of you. And if Cid is reading this, I am glad that you were able to escape unscathed. Don't hold what the spectre did to me against yourself. You must remain strong in order to survive.
Marshall
Marle handed the paper to Crono, who took it eagerly and began to read. Marle looked at Cid, remembering both the last paragraph and her talk with Cid. He made eye contact and nodded back, "I'm okay now."
Several moments later, Crono took his eyes of the paper and handed it back to Cid. "I'm going to kill every last spectre, now."
"Don't forget me," Cid reminded the bloodthirsty teen, "I have a large piece of this as well."
"Me, too," Marle agreed.
Suddenly, the doors to the throne room were thrown open as Schala stormed in hastily, "We've got a small--no, a large problem, now."
"Great, what is it, Schala?" Marle sighed.
"Magus is gone. He went off after the spectres all by himself. I think he's a little angry over the incident with your friend."
Crono looked confused, "That doesn't sound like him at all. He respected Marshall a lot, but going for revenge without planning or thinking ahead isn't his style at all."
"You think he took it personally?" Marle cut in, "After one of them had taken ahold of him. . ."
"Where's he going exactly?" Cid asked, putting the "will" on the throne for the moment.
"He said he was tired of playing by their rules. He's going to take it on the offensive now or something," Schala tried to think, "Maybe. . ."
"He's going to Limbo," Cid said, "The spectres' home base."
Marle shook her head violently, "He'll be slaughtered."
"Maybe," Schala said, "But if we can help him--"
"Your Majesty!" someone yelled, running into the room.
All heads turned to the person as he ran inside. It was Tristan. The head of Nadia's personal guard bowed quickly, then spoke, "The shadows are attacking again. They've got more than just villagers this time, they've. . .Uhh, you'll have to see for yourself!"
"Well, I think Magus is on his own," Marle sighed as she followed Tristan out of the room.
* * * * *
"It looks like the spectres have decided to up the ante," Crono muttered angrily, looking at the new army massing just outside of the forest surrounding Guardia Castle.
Though it was now dark, lights from the castle were illuminating the horde that stood outside. Instead of humans, the spectres had taken much more powerful and larger monsters. There were several dragons in the mass, though none as big as the dark bahamut that had destroyed the castle months ago. These dragons ranged from ten to twenty feet in height. Some of the new demons were evil looking humanoid figures with batlike wings sprouting out of their backs. Standing at a mere five feet against the dragons, they still looked fierce. Then there were the basic doglike monsters that had been of Nikades' main force.
"I think I see the new leader. . ." Cid mumbled, pointing awkwardly off to the middle of the mass.
The others tried to follow his finger, but it was too dark.
"I don't see it yet, keep an eye on it for now and we'll try to spot it," Crono shrugged, "Killing it will be the key to this probably, just like it was the last time."
"Don't say 'the last time,' Crono," Marle smiled, "It certainly isn't near that yet."
"We can hope," Schala agreed, thinking back to Magus.
.