The Dark Storm Chapter 7
By Martin Berglund
Crono and Lucca carefully sneaked through the woods.
This time it was for real. This must succeed.
”Let’s split up.” Lucca said, and changed direction to a little
bit more east.
Crono nodded and continued alone.
The forest was normally not very scary, but now, with dark clouds hanging
in the sky, and the knowledge of that a psychotic sorcer was in the forest,
it was extra scary.
Crono walked slowly forward, very alert for any sound.
Then he saw an open field straight forward.
He didn’t recall this place.
Even more carefully, he walked forward.
Then he saw something white in the open field.
A white layer was covering the ground.
Was this the place Marle had spoken about?
He walked forward to the area.
Then he touched the layer.
It felt like ash.
”Better move on.” He thought and continued.
He wondered why it didn’t fall any rain, the clouds looked that heavy!
But then he remembered what he was here for and continued to search.
After 30 minutes, he meet Lucca.
She hadn’t found anything.
”Let’s split up again and met by the ocean.”
Lucca nodded, and they separated again.
The sound of the ocean came closer for every step Crono took.
It was scary that Shadin hadn’t showed up yet. He used to be easy to
find.
After 20 minutes, he reached the ocean where Lucca waited.
”Let’s walk a hundred meter up in the forest and then walk parallel
with the ocean”
Crono agreed.
They walked up in the forest and continued to walk after the shore.
The wind blew quite heavy. Big waves was crushing into the cliffs.
That eliminated the possibilities to listen for sounds.
Most animals were gone also. Crono didn’t know where they were,
or if they were hiding, and in that case, why?
They found a path after a few minutes of walking.
The path was going parallel with the shore,
so it matched them perfectly.
”Are you sure you can make him do it?” Lucca suddenly asked.
”What?” Crono shouted, tried to shout louder than the ocean.
”ARE YOU SURE YOU CAN MAKE HIM DO IT?” Lucca shouted.
”Yes. No problems.” Crono shouted back.
”Sure?”
”Hey! I’m the one who’s worrying.”
Lucca smiled.
”Okay. As you wish. Keep worrying.”
”Hey... That’s him?” Lucca said and pointed at a man in a
black cape, who was walking higher up in the forest.
Crono nodded.
”Let’s take him from behind.”
They ran up and tried to sneak toward him.
When they were too close, Shadin turned around.
Crono looked into his eyes. Again, they looked helpless and... kind.
”My instinct is telling me that you don’t like me anymore.”
He said.
Crono was just about to answer, but Lucca was faster.
”Trust your instinct. Nobody likes you anymore.”
Shadin turned around.
”But let’s forget that now.” Crono said. ”We have a gift
for you.”
Lucca picked up a bottle from her bag.
”Your favorite. Salt water!”
Shadin looked at the bottle.
”Yes. Give it to me! Quickly! I want it!”
Crono gave it to him.
He looked at it.
He watched it for at long time.
”He’s not gonna do it...” Lucca whispered. ”The dark
power is taking control of him.”
Shadin’s hand started to shake.
”No!!!!! Not that!!!”
Crono saw that his eyes looked different now. They were more... empty.
Shadin crushed the bottle in his hand.
”Alternative plan!” Lucca shouted. ”Which is... Improvise!”
She draw her gun.
”Croo- Shak!”
A rainbow colored beam smashed the gun away.
”Ah...” Lucca said and prepared a flare.
A big lightning bolt came out of Shadin’s hand and knocked Lucca down.
Crono draw his sword and leaped forward, tried to attack.
But Shadin just disappeared in front of his eyes.
Crono landed just were Shadin had been a second ago.
Then felt something hit his back, and he was thrown forward.
Lucca tried to rose, but a force made her unable to do it.
Shadin walked towards her.
He leaned down.
He put his hand right in front of Lucca’s head.
It started to glow.
Lucca watched his eyes.
They looked cold as ice. But then he closed his eyes.
The hand was still glowing.
When Shadin opened his eyes again, they were different.
”Normally, I would kill you right here and now, but since you only live
in a hundred years,
I find it quite meaningless.”
His hand stopped to glow.
Lucca rolled away.
Shadin followed her with his eyes, but then a big thing came down, and kicked
his back.
Shadin fell forward.
”Nice timing, Marle.” Lucca said, when she rose.
Crono got also up.
Marle took her bottle with salt water and pushed it into Shadin’s mouth.
All three stood in a circle around Shadin.
They waited for any reaction.
Slowly he rose.
”Eh... How do you feel?” Crono asked.
He got a big fireball as answer.
Shadin fired a green sphere on Lucca, who throwed her back, and fired this
rainbow colored beam on Marle.
Marle flied far away.
First, all she saw was the dark clouds.
Then, cold surrounded her body.
She realized that she had landed in the water.
Supriced by the cold, she nearly got a cramp.
She swimmed back to the shore, fast as she could.
Supriced by the fireball, Crono rose up from ground.
He looked around.
Where was Shadin?
Nowhere to be seen.
Crono picked up his sword, who had been throwed a few meters away.
Then he looked for any of the others.
”Marle! Lucca!” he shouted.
No response.
Where could they be?
Then he saw a shadow a few meter in front of him.
It looked just like Shadin.
Crono sneaked closer and then attacked.
Whooosh.... He swinged his sword and aimed for Shadin.
His sword went right through, and the shadow disappeared.
An illusion.
Then Lucca came.
”Are you all right?” Crono asked.
Lucca picked up her gun and fired on him.
Crono jump to the left, just to evade the shoot.
He looked for Lucca.
She was gone.
Crono turned around.
Lucca was right in front of him.
”Go away!” Crono said and kicked the Lucca illusion.
She flied into a tree.
”Aoouu....” she yelled.
”Lucca?” Crono said panicky. ”I thought it was...”
Lucca fired a fire beam on him.
Crono was thrown back.
”I’m so sorry Crono!” Lucca said and walked to him.
”It’s okay.” Crono answered.
Then Lucca kicked him.
And again...
Crono fired a bolt on her.
The Lucca illusion disappeared.
Two Shadin images came up.
He smiled.
”One is right. Chance.” he said.
Crono attacked the first one. It disappeared.
”Wrong.” Shadin’s voice said.
The other image faded out.
Five Shadin’s came from nowhere and surrounded Crono.
”One of five.” His voice said. ”Which one will it be?”
Lucca felt on her head. Then her arm, where the sphere had hit.
It was warm. And she could feel a terrible headache.
She managed to rose, but freezed, as she saw Crono come.
He was holding in his rainbow. He walked to her, and then attacked.
Lucca screamed and fell down to the ground again.
Then she looked up. Crono wasn’t there. There was no wound.
Was this an illusion?
She got up again, and looked around.
Suddenly she heard a voice in her head.
”This is Crono! Escape while you can!”
Lucca shook her head.
No. Crono couldn’t talk though telepathy.
She picked up her wondershot and ran to the place where they found Shadin
first.
She looked around. Where was he? And where was Crono?
Then she heard someone say something like ”Wrong.”
She ran in the direction from where she thought the sound came from.
She finally saw Crono, surrounded by five Shadins.
”One of five.” Shadin’s voice said. ”Which one will it
be?”
Lucca aimed with her wondershot on one of the images, but then she thought:
”No! Why don’t I shot Crono instead?”
She aimed for Crono instead and was just about to fire, when she supriced
discovered what she was planing to do.
”Was that my thought? I couldn’t have been? Yes, It was! I shall
kill Crono! No! Give it up, Shadin!”
In that moment, all Shadin images looked at her.
The gave Crono time for a luminare.
When they looked back, it was too late.
The egg-formed ball started to shrink, and massive Lightning magic flew out
of it.
When the light was gone, One Shadin remained.
He was lying on the ground, but got soon up.
”Nice trick!”
Crono didn’t say a word.
”So... A challenge!” Shadin continued. ”I accept it.”
Crono looked at Lucca.
”Lucca! Gimme a hand!”
Lucca ran down to him.
Shadin looked on them.
”Two against one? Is that really fair?”
”Fair enough!” Crono said.
He leaped forward, jumped up, and caught Lucca’s fire.
Then he dived down.
Shadin protected himself with his cape.
It gave better defense than it looked.
Crono leaped back and waited for Shadin to take action.
Shadin pointed on Lucca.
”Meowha lyythning!”
A small sphere appeared between Shadin and Lucca.
White light-tentacle came out of it. They seemed to moved around in random
sequel, but then Lucca realized that they were searching for her.
She fired a shot into the sphere, and it exploded.
Crono leaped forward and collected all magic energy.
He gathered them in front of him, and fired lightnings in every direction.
Once the chain lightning spell was completed, he leaped back.
Shadin said a few un-hearable words, and then a colorful circle appeared
above Crono.
He recognized this spell. Small crystal looking things circled around the
big circle.
Crono tried to escape, but an invisible forcefield stopped him from leaving
the circles area.
The circle transformed into a cage.
Crono screamed for Lucca, but she couldn’t hear what he said. His voice
sounded like it came from the bottom of a spring. Then the cage exploded
in a letterly, colorful explosion.
Once the explosion was gone, and Lucca opened her eyes, she first couldn’t
see Crono.
But then she did. He was lying on the ground, and was almost covered with
small particles.
”Crono!” Lucca yelled and checked him.
He didn’t breath.
”Who’s next?” Shadin said.
Lucca answered with a flare.
This time, Shadin was thrown backwards.
Lucca ran to him and pulled of his cape, and throwed it away.
”Aaaahhh...” Shadin said and launched an ice beam.
Lucca evaded it, and fired with her gun.
Shadin evaded the shot, and closed his eyes.
A big shockwave came out of him.
It throwed Lucca backwards.
Lucca got up, but something hit her, and forced her down again.
Lucca looked up. Shadin was standing there.
He smiled. He was wearing his cape and was holding in Crono’s rainbow.
Lucca rolled to the left, but Shadin stopped her with Crono’s sword.
He placed his sword on Lucca’s throat.
Lucca swallowed.
”Only in a hundred years...” Shadin said and backed of. He turned
around and walked away.
Lucca rose up fast with her gun in her hand, but Shadin was faster.
He turned around and fired a gigantic bolt.
Lucca fell down to the ground, and didn’t move.
”Three lost lives.” Shadin said.
He looked on the girl.
She didn’t move, she didn’t breath. She was... dead.
And so was the boy.
Fools.
He turned around and walked away.
But then he walked back.
He placed the dead boys sword by his side. It must have been special to him.
He turned around. A tear fell down from his eye.
Was he crying? He couldn’t be!
He was... was...
Shadin looked around.
”Who am I!”
As a response, someone kicked him in his stomach.
He felled down.
A blonde haired girl place her foot on his throat.
”Not business. Just personal.”
With those words, she hit him with a bottle.
Shadin’s head became all bloody.
She took another bottle and hit him again.
The contence of the bottles got mixed up with blood and covered his face.
Marle screamed.
”You killed him! You killed him! And you killed Lucca!”
Shadin coughed. And again.
”Do you know what the last thing he said to me was?”
Shadin coughed again.
”Good luck. He said it before we left. You bastard!”
Shadin coughed again.
Then he closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he looked sick.
”Eh.... I... Nej... Hur... Njaief... O....”
Marle hit him with her hand, and it became bloody.
The she looked at the bottles she had hit him with.
A bottle with salt water and a bottle with ‘heal’.
Was this the combination?
Had she succeeded?
No, both Crono and Lucca were dead.
”D, du...” Shadin said.
Marle looked at him. ”What?”
”You... can... not...”
”Save them? I know. You killed them.”
Shadin weakly shook his head.
”W, who...?”
Marle looked at him.
”What do you mean?”
”Who... I... killed...?” then his head fell back on the ground.
His eyes were closed, but he breathed.
Marle ran over to Crono and Lucca.
She had used a life saving spell once, during the Lavos adventure.
She concentrated. Somehow, she felt like someone was helping her.
She could suddenly control ten times more energy than normal.
She let the energy flow around Crono and Lucca, and their bodies slowly healed.
Crono was first to open his eyes.
When he did it, Marle ran to him and hugged him.
”Just, don’t do it again, okay?”
Crono made a weak nod.
Then Lucca woke up.
Lucca looked at Shadin.
”Don’t worry, Lucca.” Marle said. ”I found the cure.”
With those words, Lucca closed her eyes and smiled.
It was over.
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Authors comment:
Oh, no!
It’s far from over....
Remember I promised ten chapters!
The dark storm does NOT end here.
-Martin
.