Specter of the Past Chapter 3

By KrossRodes

"Magus?!" said Crono, not sure if what he saw was really true.

"Yes," he said, "it's me."

"I thought you changed! Why did you kidnap my mom and Marle?" Crono asked.

"It was just a joke. Don't worry," Magus explained, "they're both safe at home in their beds now. They won't remember any of this when they wake up."

"You've always had a morbid sense-of-humor, but why kidnap Marle and my mom? You could have just knocked on my door," said Crono, with a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, this way it was more fun getting your attention."

"I never could understand you..." he said as he put his sword back in its sheath. As he sat on the ledge of the fountain, he asked, "Have you gotten any closer to finding Schala?"

Magus looked into Crono's eyes, then turned his back to him. "No," he said, "I still haven't found any hint that she is still alive..." His voice trailed off as he looked up at the stars.

"Did you go back to the village of the Earthbound?" Crono asked.

Magus turned around and looked at Crono. "Yes. I even talked to some people who used to be Enlightened. No body has seen even a trace of Schala. They did find mother, though."

"They did?"

"Yeah," Magus said as he looked to the ground, "they found her dead. She had killed herself. I guess when she returned to land and Lavos had finally left her mind she saw what she did. She was horrified by the fact that she killed so many people and she ruined so many lives. Someone saw her take out the knife and tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen. She stabbed herself in the heart. They buried her on the north cape by the sea," Magus sighed and sat down next to Crono. "They inscribed on her tombstone: 'Here lies the Queen of Zeal, the woman who made people realize what is important in life.'"

After a couple seconds of staring into space, Crono said, "I thought Queen Zeal died when we destroyed the Black Omen. How did she survive?"

"When we killed her," Magus explained, "we killed the Lavos part of her, not her. When we destroyed Lavos he completely left her mind and she was free to be herself again.

"So, what's happened around here lately?" Magus asked Crono, trying to change the subject.

"Well, not much," said Crono. "Marle and I are getting married and the King is building a house for us."

"What's Lucca doing?"

"She's been working day and night trying to reopen the gates," Crono said, rolling his eyes.

"Do you guys do any time traveling?" Magus asked.

"Not much. Only on rare occasions when we visit Frog, Robo, or Ayla."

"So, I guess Glenn is still a frog, then," said Magus, with a smile on his face.

"Yep," said Crono. There was a moment of silence until Crono looked at Magus and asked, "How did you get back here if the gates closed?"

"Well," Magus explained, "I was stuck in the Earthbound Village with no way to get to another time, when I remembered a spell I had learned as a child. It gave me a way to contact Gasper at the End of Time. He said he could reopen a gate for a short amount of time, allowing only one person through at a time. So, he used a pillar of light to open a gate and helped me get here."

"I bet Lucca would really like some information on how to do that," said Crono, smiling as he looked at Magus.

With a yawn, Crono turned to Magus and said, "I hate to cut the rest of our conversation short, but I'd like to go home and get some sleep. You're welcome to stay at my place tonight, if you need a place to sleep."

"That's okay," said Magus. "I'll hang around here for a while."

"Okay, goodbye then," said Crono, as he walked back to his house.

When he got there he found his mom sleeping safely in her bed. As he closed her door he headed up to his own room to get some well needed sleep.

Crono slept soundly for a few hours until Magus burst into his room as the sun was coming up.

"Crono, are you awake?" Magus asked, with an excited expression in his voice.

"Yeah, why?" asked Crono as he sat up.

"You'll never believe this, but the gates have reopened!"

.

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