Chrono Trigger Prophecies Chapter 11
Accidental Retribution
By Jerm
Crono viewed the forest from afar with awe. Something was going on in there, and it was much too close to where he surmised Glenn's home to be for comfort. Then the rumbling started. He felt it at first as a slight shaking, causing his teeth to clatter. Then, there was a wrenching in the ground and he was thrown to his knees painfully. He dropped the small package of medical supplies, which clattered on the ground beside him as he grabbed the ground to try and keep himself from falling over.
Moments after the rumbling began, the sound of the event reached his ears. The unmistakable sound of tearing rock and snapping trees echoed loudly across the distance, telling him that whatever was going on in there was much more than he had initially thought.
Rocks pounded and cut into his hands and knees as he continued to 'bouce' atop the ground. He winced in pain, but could do nothing about it. He gritted his teeth to keep them from chattering and possibly breaking a tooth or two.
Then his right arm buckled from the beating and he fell onto his shoulder, rolling over onto his back. The ground heaved again, bringing his head up and back down, striking the ground. His eyes went blurry for a moment, then his head struck the ground again.
He blacked out.
Glenn was knocked roughly out of his bed when the shaking began. His quilt and pillow were dragged with him, which he was thankful for. The noise of glass breaking was heard on the other side of the cave, as containers were knocked off of the table.
He threw the pillow under his head, using it as a cushion, and held on tightly, hoping this would end soon. Outside, he heard noises that were definitely not natural, and he began to realize what had happened.
They had indeed found Magus.
Praying briefly for their safety, he burrowed his head into the pillow and lay as still as possible, waiting for it to stop. His wounds were still not fully fixed up, and he was still slightly injured. The shaking was doing no good for him at all.
Beside him, deep inside of the cave, he heard a tearing noise. Stealing a glance in that direction allowed him to watch as the dirt ceiling began to crack, dirt began to slowly sift onto the floor below him.
It's going to collapse! his mind fretted to him in a panic.
A chunk of the ceiling, about the size of his head, broke away and smashed onto the ground a few feet from his prostrate form, shattering into a pile of dirt clods upon impact.
Get out!! this time his mind was more to the point and left little to argue.
Luckily, the tree roots that had threaded their way through the underground for so many years held most of the dirt together more firmly. Unfortunately, it was not enough. To prove this, more dirt began to cascade out of the slowly forming rift.
Glenn stood up unsteadily, clutching one of his wounds in one hand and the pillow in the other. No sooner had he stood up than he was thrown back down, collapsing atop his bed. He pulled himself up slowly, releasing his wound and holding himself up tentatively from the bed. Trying his best to hold his balance, he began to inch along the bed toward the exit to his cave.
Behind him, the rift began to widen even further, rocks loosing their hold and falling with a clatter against the floor. He heaved himself off of the bed and fell against the wall. Now using the wall as a handrail of sorts, he continued to edge toward the cave's exit ladder.
Several seconds later, he dropped the pillow and reached out to try and grasp the ladder. The ceiling collapsed behind him. Rocks and dirt spilled like a waterfall as the ceiling fell and soon became a part of the floor.
Something hard hit Glenn in the back of the head, bowling him over. He looked over briefly at the ladder in a daze. Then something heavy piled over him and there his memory stopped.
Crono slowly opened his eyes, feeling extreme pain in his head and a stinging in his hands. He slowly attempted to pull himself up, feeling too groggy to do so in the first place.
How did this happen? he thought to himself, trying to draw someting from his head.
The earthquake. No, something in the forest. The memories slowly came back to him as he looked around. No real damage was done, of course it was just miles of open plains around him. But it was over.
He bent over to pick up the medical pack, wondering if he had bought any concoctions that would cure a headache. He opened it, then shook his head. His bad luck was just beginning. It would be a long day.
With another quick glance around him, he shut the container and continued toward the Cursed Woods, this time at a much faster pace. He had just realized that the other three would be in much more danger than he was in.
The fast pace soon became a run.
Something was hurting his eyes. Glenn shuddered, as he realized that his legs were mysteriously numb. His back hurt as well, the feeling at least indicating that he hadn't broken his neck. He had an incredible headache, as well.
He slowly opened his eyes, realizing that the sunlight was the cause of his slight discomfort there. He shook his head to clear it, then realized that he was covered in dirt that clung to his slimy skin like glue. He coughed a bit from the dust that permeated in the air, then spit out the dirt in his mouth.
He sighed and tried to stand. However, something was holding him down. He groaned loudly as his back complained from the movement, then looked back. Dirt and rock was piled atop his legs from the collapse. He was pinned. Looking above him, he saw that the ladder had fallen over, lying atop the bet and hovering over his head. A very large rock lay on top of it, a rock big enough that it would have given him a coma had the ladder not stopped its descent.
Glenn pulled once again, trying to get himself out, but the pile on top of him barely budged. He grunted with the exertion, but still nothing. Glenn stopped pulling from the ground and reached up, grabbing a rung of the ladder with both hands. Then he pulled again, using the extra leverage. Slowly but surely, his bloodied legs emerged from the shifting pile of debris.
When he was free, he slowly began to crawl across the ground toward his bed. He would have to get the Masamune. He reached the area beside the bed, which was now covered with dirt as well. Glenn reached out and began to dig away with his bare hands. It was painful, but he didn't care at the moment. Finally, the glowing sword was revealed. He reached into the small hole and pulled it out carefully. It was still undamaged from the collapse, but not very surprisingly to him.
As he slid the sword beside him, he looked into the debris once more and saw a small piece of cloth jutting out. It was his blanket. He would need it for his wounds. The quilt was dirty, but he needed to stop his bleeding. He pulled the shredded quilt out, then hurriedly began to tend to his cuts.
After he had tied the the last strip around his leg, he tried once again to stand. Feeling had slowly began to come back to his legs, but they weren't fit for travel at the moment. He grabbed the Masamune and used it as a crutch, pressing it into the ground as leverage to stand.
Then he began to hobble out, climbing the pile of dirt and rock to reach level ground once again.
Crono hurtled fallen logs as he cut through the forest, not even bothering to waste the time of walking around to the trail. Before him, he could now see the small clearing that was Glenn's home. But something was wrong.
As he approached the hole, he slowed his run to a jog, then to a walk. The cave had caved in, as far as he could tell.
They're all dead.
He tried to silence his mind, hoping it wasn't true. Cautiously, he stepped toward the sinkhole. It was fairly obvious that anything inside of there would not have a very high chance of survival. And three people...
His thoughts were brought up short as he saw someone hobbling out.
Glenn had survived.
Crono leapt over some underbrush, dashing into the clearing. Before him, Glenn stumbled a bit and was forced to use his sword to hold himself up. He seemed in horrible condition. Crono slowed his run to a walk and carefully approached the injured person.
"Geez, Glenn, are you okay?"
Glenn looked up at Crono, gave a small nod, and tried to stand again. However, he couldn't manage it and Crono had to step over and hold him up. Despite this, Glenn still managed to respond, "I'll be fine."
"Maybe in a week or two," Crono shook his head, "but not at the moment. Where's Lucca and Marle?"
"I don't know," Glenn grunted and started to walk over to a fallen log by the forest edge.
"What do you mean you don't know? Are they trapped down there?!" Crono turned in a panic to look at the collapsed home; nothing could survive that...
"No," Glenn shook his head, "They went looking for Magus--"
"Magus..." Crono cut Glenn off, "He's the one who did this, isn't he?"
Glenn nodded, then coughed, "That conclusion had been drawn by me as well. Furthermore, I think he will be returning shortly."
Glenn haltingly stood from his seat and held up his sword, "Twould be best if you left, I will have to finish this on my own."
"Not likely," Crono stepped over and grabbed Glenn by his arms, "You wouldn't win."
"But--"
"Just because you won't kill him today doesn't mean you won't tomorrow. You know how far away I was when that earthquake hit? I must have been 5 miles off and it still threw me off my feet. Both of use together, in our condition, wouldn't even stand a second against him."
Glenn looked into the forest grudgingly, as if looking for Magus and in effect cementing his resolve to duel. It was quiet and empty. Finally, Glenn nodded and turned to start limping the direction Crono had come from. "Fine. We shall return to Dorino."
"Good, I don't really feel like explaining your death at the moment," Crono said, helping Glenn limp along, "And not to sound like a hypocrite, but as soon as I get you to town for some medical treatment, I'm coming back and finding Lucca and Marle."
Glenn sighed, "Do as you will. Considering my state, I doubt I could stop you any more than you could stop Magus."
They were several yards into the forest before Crono responded.
"Thanks...I think."
.