Chrono Trigger: The Mistake Chapter 1
First Signs
By Jerm
Lucca stared at where the gate had once been, trying to figure out what had happened. A second and third brief discharge had occurred after Crono and Marle had left, each one stronger than the last. For safety's sake, she had stepped back a ways so as not to get injured or killed if the fourth came and was much larger.
She finally shook her head, she would need to get some of her devices to discover this. Lucca stared at the spot for several moments longer, then turned and ran out of the now deserted Leene Square.
* * * * *
It was the same in the now safe year of 1999. Inside the crater, stood the resting spot of a final gate created by Lavos. It had supposedly shut down as well, but discharges were fleeing it constantly.
Several people who lived near the location had crept out of their homes and into the night, heading toward this phenomenon. The crater had appeared after a large earthquake, which woke up most of the population.
The first group of people reached it, and began to slowly descend the crater's wall, sliding down the loose dirt. The first person to reach the bottom began to investigate the hole, wondering how this had happened. He had short brown hair, and wore glasses over his brown eyes.
"Wow," said another person standing beside him, "Did the earthquake do this?"
Two more people had followed him down. One, the one who had spoken was wearing a nightgown and shoes, not bothering to dress in his urgency to get out here. The other had been more thoughtful, dressing in a black shirt and pants. However, he hadn't bothered to comb his hair, which was blonde and obviously in disarray.
The third person spoke up, "It's a sink hole. There must've been a cavern under this land, and the earthquake caused the "ceiling" of the cave to collapse," the person stared around him, "but this is much larger than any I've seen before."
"What was that?" the first person said suddenly, cutting off the lecture and turning quickly to face the darkness near the center of the pit.
"What was what?" the second person asked.
"I saw a light over there a moment ago," the first person scratched his head and slowly advanced toward the spot.
"You're seeing things," the third person complained, "And I wouldn't walk around here too long, the sinkhole might not have fallen in all of the way. It could collapse again any moment."
After he was done saying so, the third person began to back away, heading for the wall of the crater and preparing to climb out. The second person glanced back and forth between the two, then decided he was too curious for his own good. He went after the first person.
"What kind of light was it?" he asked as he caught up.
"It looked kinda red," the person said, scanning the ground for a source.
"By the way, what's your name?" the second person asked suddenly, as he joined in the search.
"Craig," the first person responded, hiding his annoyance with great pain.
"I'm Ronald, nice to meet you," the second person responded.
"Aren't you cold, Ronald?" Craig asked, hoping he could get this talkative person away.
"Nah. . .Well not cold enough to go home. I want to see what you saw."
"It was right about--" Craig began.
The red light returned. The two had been standing not two feet from where the gate was as it reopened suddenly. Craig shut his mouth and tried to shield his eyes as he backed away. Ronald stumbled back in surprise and fell onto the ground.
"What in the hell?!" Craig yelled, "I knew I should have brought my camera--Hey!"
Craig suddenly felt a tug that was originating from the small hole. All of a sudden, he felt himself being lifted off of the ground. His heart nearly skipped a beat and his stomach dipped as he was flung around the air. Too dizzy to understand where he was going, he began to yell. He was heading right for the red gate. . .
Lightning laced out of the gate, grabbing ahold of him and electrocuting him as he was pulled in. Craig began to scream in pain as he disappeared into the vortex. The gate was now howling madly, almost a deafening roar.
Ronald screamed, too, but in fear not pain. He crawled backwards away from the vortex, feeling it trying to pull at him too. The lightning continued to lance out of the hole, striking the ground and flowing into it. Getting closer to him. . . .
"Help me. . ." he said weakly, though no one was around.
He shut his eyes and prayed for safety. He felt himself lifted off of the ground. He yelled uncontrollably as he felt himself leave the ground, he didn't bother to open his eyes.
It took him a few moments to realize that the roaring was gone. I must have gone through, Ronald thought, "Am I dead?"
"For God's sake, quit screaming!" said a voice suddenly, "Quit screaming, it's over."
The voice broke into his thoughts and he realized that he was indeed still yelling. He shut his mouth and opened his eyes, still fearing the worst.
He found himself being carried away by the third person, who had obviously returned after seeing the gate. Ronald quickly looked back to see that the gate was gone, it had shut.
"Pu. . .Put me down. . .I'm okay," Ronald finally said.
"Are you sure?" the person carrying him asked.
"No, but. . .put me down anyway."
"Fine," the person put him back on the ground.
"What happened?" Ronald finally asked, after he was once again standing.
"You tell me," the third person shook his head, "One moment it was quiet, then the next I heard a roaring and two people screaming. I had thought the whole thing had finally collapsed like I said, but when I reached the rim, the other person was gone and you were writhing around and yelling. I thought for a moment I had seen a light, but it was gone. When I had reached you, you were still yelling, but you had at least stopped twisting around. I realized you were in shock, so I carried you off. Are you okay?"
"What happened to the red. . .that red thing?"
"What red thing?" the person cocked his head.
"It was the red light Craig said he saw. We were looking for it and this. . .hole just opened up showering red light. We both tried to get away. . .but he was too close."
The other person sighed, "You can tell me later when you aren't stressed. For now, let's get out of here."
Ronald nodded slowly, still shaking from his experience, "So what's your name?" he finally asked, trying for forget the experience.
* * * * *
Lucca returned with her tools to find a scene not unlike what she had witnessed several times tonight. The gate was again open, this time much larger. It was the size of a house and it was showering lightning among the trees around it.
Lucca quickly jumped back out of the clearing and stared at this. Several of the trees had caught fire from this, but there was naught she could do. Lucca merely stared at this occurrence as the gate became more menacing.
Moments passed and still the gate did not shut. It was open much too long for Lucca's liking.
"Just shut already so I can start my investigation," Lucca murmured to it.
Lucca shut her mouth, however, when she realized that the gate was becoming larger, not bigger. It wasn't yet done growing. The roaring was steadily becoming louder and she began to feel a small tug on her, like a wind blowing at her back. In fact, the trees nearest it were bending toward the gate, the closer they were, the further they were bent.
This is not good at all, Lucca thought to herself as she backed away further.
One of the trees was suddenly uprooted and sent flying into the vortex. Leaves and small branches broke off and flew in ahead of it, but the tree finally entered the gate. The lightning seemed to attack it, the electrons atracted somehow to it. The tree burst into flames before it disappeared.
Lucca shook her head in disbelief as several other trees were beginning to do the same. She finally realized that the gate wasn't going to shut anytime soon. She turned and ran out of the square, toward Crono's house.
Not good at all.
.