Specter of the Past Chapter 5
By KrossRodes
'I definitely missed this,' Crono thought to himself as he flew through the time warp. He couldn't wait to see where he would end up.
The further he flew, the closer he got to the gate in front of him. He could see it growing as he approached it. The doorway shined bright, so it was impossible to tell what was on the other side.
Half a minute later, he was standing in front of the doorway with Marle and Lucca behind him. Magus had already stepped through the gate.
When Crono stepped into the door, the white light engulfed him briefly until he came out on the other side. He saw Magus standing on the edge of a cliff looking at a waterfall and the stream below coming from it.
As Marle and Lucca stepped through the gate, Crono asked Magus, "Do you know where we are?"
Magus turned around, looked at Crono, and said, "I think we're somewhere in Truce Canyon. I'm pretty sure this is 600 AD."
"So," Lucca said, "the gate in Leene Square took us to the same time period as the last gate did, but a different location."
"I don't think that we are very far away from the original gate," Magus added. "I think the original location is just across that ledge." Magus pointed to a rock ledge no more than 20 feet away from them.
"Well, let's get out of this canyon and go see what's going on with the rest of this time period," Marle said.
Marle climbed off the edge using a rope ladder that had been hung there. There were ladders all over the canyon left over from explorers that had been there.
As everyone followed her they climbed down many ledges before they reached the base of the canyon. When they all stepped on to the path that led into Truce Village they brushed themselves off. The climb down had been very dirty.
"Let's go to Truce and see if anything strange has been happening," Lucca suggested.
They all agreed and began their walk into the village. As they walked, Marle couldn't help looking all around her. It was so weird to see everything in her time period as it was 400 years ago.
When they reached the edge of the village nothing looked out of the ordinary. The townspeople busily moved from one house to the next. The streets were busy with people who had something to do and were going to get it done.
As the group walked through town they couldn't help wondering why the gate had opened to this time.
When they reached the edge of town someone yelled out, "Hey, Crono! Wait up!"
They all turned around to see who it was. They couldn't tell who it was in the crowd of people in the streets.
Two seconds later, someone stepped out of the crowd of people.
"Hey, Crono!" said the person. They all recognized him at once. It was Toma Levine, the explorer and adventurer. They were all still friends even though Crono had beaten him to the Rainbow Shell and Moon Stone.
"What have you been up to lately?" Crono asked.
"Well," Toma said, "I'm trying to find another legendary treasure."
"What kind of treasure?" Marle asked.
"A giant stone made of mithril," Toma replied. "They call it the Dragon's Egg."
When Magus heard the word 'mithril,' his expression immediately changed. He looked extremely shocked. "Where did you hear of this mithril stone?" he asked.
"It's been a legend around us treasure-hunters for some time now," Toma said. "I'd like to stay and talk more, but I've got to go. I have a lead I need to follow."
"See ya," Marle said as she waved goodbye.
Toma waved back at them as he ran across the town.
Lucca, who had noticed the expression on Magus's face, asked him, "What's going on with you?"
"It's just..." Magus said as his voice trailed off. His expression was still the same. "The Kingdom of Zeal was the only place on the planet that had mithril. It must have sunk to the bottom of the ocean when Zeal fell."
"Do you think some washed ashore?" Crono asked.
"I'm not sure," Magus replied, "but I'd like to find more about it."
"We'll ask around later. Right now we have to find more information about the gates," Lucca said.
"Let's go to the castle and ask the King if he's noticed anything weird happening," Marle suggested.
With that they all headed to Guardia Castle. On the way there they passed a few merchants who were traveling from town to town trading their goods and equipment.
When they reached Guardia Forest, the woods that surrounded the castle, they all stopped.
"The forest in this time is definitely much darker than the forest in our time," said Marle.
"Well," Crono said, "you're just going to have to bear with it because it's the only way into the castle."
They all went through the forest singe-file on a narrow path that led to the castle gates. Half-way through, Marle thought she heard something and jumped, accidentally knocking Magus and Lucca over.
When they made it through, Marle gave a sigh of relief.
Magus just looked at her and said, "You, the Princess of the Kingdom in your time, who helped defeat the strongest and most deadly foe this world had ever seen, are afraid of a dark forest?"
"I can't help it," Marle replied. "Dark places just creep me out."
Magus rolled his eyes, but Lucca grabbed his shoulder and said, "Just forget about it."
They all walked up the steps and into the castle through the gates. The guards stopped them, but when they saw Crono they let them go through. Then they walked up the steps and into the Throne Room where King Guardia and Queen Leene sat with the Chancellor standing by them and talking to them.
As soon as the King saw Crono he interrupted the Chancellor, stood, and said, "Welcome, Crono, Lucca, and Marle! What brings you here and who is this man your are with?"
Afraid to tell the King that this person was Magus, the one who previously tried to destroy the kingdom, he just said, "This is Janus, a hometown friend."
"Nice to meet you, Janus," said the King.
"Pleased to meet you," said Magus as he bowed low to the King. He couldn't help from smiling.
"The reason we're here is a long story, however," Lucca said.
"You can tell us during lunch," said the Queen as she stood. "I must insist you accompany us to lunch. I can imagine that time-traveling takes a lot out of you."
"Well..." said Lucca, wanting to explore this time period some more. She still hadn't gotten any answers to her questions.
"I won't take no for an answer," said the King.
"Okay," Crono said, and they all went downstairs to the King's special table in the kitchen's dining area.
While they ate, Crono told them about Lucca's experiments, Marle's and his engagement, the appearance of the gate, and their discussion with Toma. He made sure he left out enough information about Magus, so the King wouldn't figure anything out.
After he finished his story the Queen said, "My, you've had quite an adventure today!"
"It's also safe to say that it's far from over," Magus added.
He just didn't realize how right he was.
.