Chrono Trigger: Timeless Angels Part 4

The Lost Princess and the Elven Prince

By Mefathiel

The End of Time:

Zephon jumped back, avoiding Spekkio’s Ice spell. He put his hands together and concentrated, gathering magic energy for his spell. He lunged forward and leapt into the air, swinging his arms down at the Master of War. "Flaming Cherub’s Sword!"

A sword of divine fire appeared in Zephon’s hands as he swung them at Spekkio. The blade cut through the wizard, and he evaporated into magic energy, reappearing behind Zephon. The Nu-shaped Spekkio placed his stumpy hands on his hips and laughed. "Mr. Zephon, you are more powerful than anyone I’ve ever met! And your mastery of magic impresses even me!" he bellowed.

Zephon smiled and bowed. "Thank you, Spekkio. It honors me to have one with such a position of yours to speak of me that way."

Spekkio edged forward. "In fact," he whispered, "it makes me wonder how it is you came to possess such powerful magic. No one human can wield such power."

Zephon widened his eyes, then he caught himself and stood up, looking as solemn as he had been. "I’m simply unique," he said, not wanting Spekkio to say anymore.

"We’d better get going," Lucca said, putting her arm on Zephon’s shoulder. "With Gaspar gone at the moment, we’d better watch over time for him."

Lucca, Zephon and Tata started walking off when Spekkio stopped them. "Zephon, before you guys leave for another time, I want you to come back. I’ll have something ready for you then…" He trailed off, waiting for a response.

Zephon nodded and continued with his twin sister and the teenager from the seventh century.

.

400 BC, Choras:

"Schala?" the woman asked. "Who is this Schala you speak of?"

"You," Marle said matter-of-factly.

"I know naught of this Schala person you speak of," the woman said. "My name is Aurora."

"Oh," Crono said disappointedly. "Sorry, we thought you were one of our friends."

"That’s understandable. Anyway, I must get back to my work here. There’re still many people who need to be tended to."

Crono and Marle watched as white magic again washed over a group of fallen villagers infested with the plague. Their wounds instantaneously healed and they rose from the street. "Amazing," Crono said.

Marle crossed her arms. "Yeah, something like that. That’s some pretty powerful magic you’ve got there, ‘Aurora’," she said.

The nurse turned to them again and said, "Yes, I’m aware of that."

"Funny, but I can’t seem to find anyone else in this town who has magic."

"I’m a special case," Aurora defended herself. "I’m considered a priestess here in Choras. Why are you still here?"

Marle reached into her dress and pulled out a pendant, almost shoving it into Aurora’s face. "Somehow I have a feeling that you have the match to this pendant." It glowed brightly, obviously reacting to a Dreamstone object nearby.

Aurora pushed the pendant away. "I’ve never seen anything like that," Aurora said forcibly, "so stop insisting. I have never seen you before in my life, and I never want to see you again. Leave!"

Crono and Marle started walking in the direction Aurora pointed, disappointed and distraught. "I could’ve sworn she was Schala," Marle said, dropping the pendant back into her dress.

"Me too," Crono said. "Well, it looks like we need to search around the rest of the land in order to find out where this next warrior is."

"If that were Schala, I’m sure she would be the next warrior Gaspar spoke of…"

"Marle, quit obsessing. You’re almost as bad as Magus was before Frog killed him."

Marle shook her head. "I’m sorry. It’s just that my pendant was glowing when we were near her, and now as we get farther away, it’s fad—"

She stopped, noticing the dirty look Crono was giving her. Crono looked north and saw a small town on the horizon, just below the water beyond. "Well, there’s another port up ahead. We can hop a ship and go to wherever else we can in this time."

Marle nodded in compliance, picking up her pace.

.

AD 800, Veda Forest on Porre Continent:

"What be that?" Glenn asked, waving the Masamune around. "Who’s there!?"

Robo looked up and scanned around. "I detect the use of magic in order to disguise the identity of our stalker. Perhaps it is an elf," he said.

Glenn tightened his grip on his sword. "Good, a chance for some real action. Come out, vile fiend! Reveal thine self so that I, Glenn from Guardia, may have a chance to slay you!"

Some leaves above rustled. "Do you really think you can defeat me?" a mocking voice asked, seeming to come from everywhere.

"If given a fair chance, then yes, I do believe I can beat you!"

There was a pause, as if the stalker was thinking. "No, I don’t think so."

A stream of light shot out of the tree behind Glenn. He turned and quickly blocked the attack with the Masamune, the sword absorbing the light. There was more rustling as the attacker switched positions. Glenn looked around.

"Where art thou now?" he demanded.

"Oh come on, knight, you think I’d actually reveal my position to you? You really are stupider than I thought… Light Burst!"

A wide, single beam of light cut through the forest. Glenn raised the Masamune, but the sword was knocked from his hands as the beam impacted, and the knight was thrown backwards into a tree. There was a sudden flicker of light, and Glenn suddenly found an elf before him, rapier drawn and clashing against Robo’s arm.

With a single blow, the elf was thrown back when Robo smacked him. But the nimble forest-dweller recovered quickly and rubbed his jaw, sword ready again in mere moments. The elf stood across the small clearing from Robo and Glenn. The Masamune returned to Glenn’s hand and he stood up.

"So thou art our antagonist? Why art thou attacking us?" Glenn asked.

"You’re trespassing on elf territory! If you’re truly from Guardia, surely you know what that means."

"Actually, we art strangers in this time," Glenn explained.

The elf warily tightened his hold on the rapier’s grip. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"We art time travelers, though ‘tis a long story…"

"I don’t believe you." The elf charged forward, almost disappearing from view as he blended in with his surroundings. He reappeared as his rapier blade struck against Glenn’s Masamune. "You’re bandits come from that Guardia Kingdom to destroy Veda! I will not let you!" Metal clashed on metal as the elf repeatedly slashed at Glenn. "As the Prince of Veda, I shall not allow humans to destroy our home! Light Burst!"

A green ball of magic formed in the elf’s hand and he thrust it forward; a beam shot out and passed through the Masamune, cutting into Glenn’s armor. The knight jumped back and clutched his chest. "Prince of Veda? I bow to you, royal denizen."

Glenn lowered his head in a gesture of respect. The elf lowered his sword in wonderment. "You’re human, yet you’ll bow to an elf?"

"I am a knight, and I will bow to royalty of any sort, as well as any warrior who can best me in battle," Glenn replied. "I will also serve them in any way I can, so long as the cause is good."

The elf sheathed his sword, throwing the pine green cape back around his body, covering the brown-mottled-green outfit he wore. He warily looked at Robo. "What’s that, some new form of knight armor?"

"Something like that," Glenn interjected before Robo could speak. "His name is Robo."

The elf nodded. "A pleasure to meet you, Sir Robo. I am Natan, Prince of Veda."

Glenn stood. "Prince, you know this area well. We art seeking a warrior of great skill to help us in our cause. Mayhaps thou canst help us find him."

"Or her," Robo added.

"Well then, allow me to take you to Veda Palace. I’m sure we can find the warrior you seek there," Natan said, turning and walking deeper into the woods.

.

400 BC, the western continent of Zenan:

It had been almost three days since Crono and Marle left Choras Continent, which seemed to be the only continent that existed in every time period in one form or another, for Zenan Continent. Zenan was the only other inhabited continent other than Choras, so it was Crono and Marle’s last hope.

At what would be Porre in the future, Marle picked up some information about a strange woman living at the top of Mt. Woe to the west. After a day of walking (it was a two day ride by boat to Zenan), the couple finally made it to the nefarious mountain.

Marle and Crono looked up at it in awe. "So this is Mt. Woe? This is what’s left of that floating rock from 12,000 BC?" Marle asked.

"Looks that way," Crono replied. "Let’s start climbing. It’s not that high, and we should reach the peak by sundown."

After hours of climbing, Crono and Marle reached the top. They collapsed onto the small plateau at the top, breathing heavily. "I see why they call it Mt. Woe," Crono said. "Just climbing the stupid thing could make a person depressed."

Marle stood up and looked around, seeing only a tall crystal jutting out of the flat surface of the plateau. As she neared the crystal, she saw a person encased inside. "Crono, come here quick! There’s a woman in this thing!"

Crono rushed up behind her and drew his sword. "Step back, I’ll cut her out," he said valiantly.

With a single blow, the crystal shattered under the sword blade, releasing the woman from her imprisonment. Crono and Marle helped her up; the woman was obviously dazed from being trapped for a long time. "Are you okay?" Marle asked.

"Yes, thank you," the woman replied. "I’ve been in that thing for centuries. Now I need to pay you back…" Crono and Marle were thrown back as the woman’s body burst into bright light. She stood before them, and her form twisted into that of a Gorgon. "So which of you was it who released me from that prison, hmm? The boy, perhaps?"

Crono tried to get up and run away, but he was caught by the Ice spell before he could react. Marle shrieked and ran to him. "Crono, are you okay?"

There was no response from the princess’s frozen friend. She turned to Gorgon and scowled. "Why’d you do that to him!? He freed you from that prison!" Marle shrieked.

"For which I’m very thankful, girl," Gorgon hissed. "But you have no idea how long I’ve waited inside that thing. I’ve waited ever since the rise and fall of Zeal to destroy the world that imprisoned me. I simply started with your boyfriend."

Marle pulled out her crossbow and loaded it quickly, taking a shot just moments later. Gorgon simply knocked the projectile away and retaliated with another Ice spell. Marle managed to dodge the magic and fire back with her own. A chunk of ice appeared above Gorgon and fell on her.

"Yes!" Marle cheered, but soon saw it would take more to defeat Gorgon as the ice shattered and revealed the monster, unscathed.

Gorgon attacked again, this time successfully encasing Marle in a block of ice. The monster smiled wickedly and approached, scratching her nails against the ice. "Such pretty little children. A pity you must die, but that’s the way the world is."

She was about to shatter the ice and kill Marle when Gorgon was thrown back by a strong gust of wind. She screamed in pain, as if the wind hurt. Gorgon turned and found herself facing the girl from Choras, the girl Crono and Marle knew as "Aurora." But Gorgon knew who this truly was.

"Schala!" she screamed.

The violet-clad girl stepped forward and said, "Gorgon, you displease me again. Did you really think that harming children would find you no punishment?" The monster shook her head and Schala stepped forward again. "So, I suppose I’ll have to mete out that punishment again, just like I did 8,000 years ago."

"But how is it you survived that long?" Gorgon asked.

Schala responded by raising her hands and closing her eyes. "No mercy for you this time, Gorgon. You learned your lesson the first time, yet you persisted. It’s time for punishment you can’t escape."

Gorgon suddenly found herself unable to move, ensnared by one of Schala’s spells. "Zeal Blaze!" the lost princess shouted.

Fire filled the entirety of the plateau, consuming Gorgon in an intense blaze. When the fire cleared, Crono and Marle were also freed of their prisons. Marle looked up and pointed an accusing finger at Schala. "You lied to us!" she declared.

"I’m aware of that," Schala said. "I had my reasons."

"Like what? What gives you justification to lie to us?"

"The fact that everyone in this time hates the fallen kingdom of Zeal. If they even got the smallest idea that I was part of that, no matter how absurd, I would be lynched in a second."

"Oh," was all Marle could manage.

"But I thought you were killed by Lavos," Crono said, "when the Ocean Palace fell."

Schala shook her head. "No, I was simply thrown into this time frame."

"I see…"

There was a long pause in the conversation, as no one had anything to say. "We should get back," Crono said finally. "Schala, we need you to come with us."

"Why?" was the answer.

"We’ll explain on the way," Marle said as the trio descended down the mountain.

.

AD 800, Veda Kingdom on Porre:

Glenn and Robo proceeded through the quartz streets of Veda Kingdom, led by their elven guide, Natan. The large, white quartz palace of the Elf Kingdom loomed above them, even from almost a mile away. Glenn looked around in awe at the marvelous and spectacular underground kingdom.

"Sir Natan, how is it that this kingdom receives light while underground?" Glenn asked.

"The quartz has magical properties that make it glow," Natan replied. "Since the entire city is constructed of that quartz, there exists no darkness in Veda."

"Amazing," Robo uttered.

When they reached the palace, the guards at the gate stopped them. "Halt," one ordered. "Prince Natan, what are these…things…doing here?"

Natan whirled his cape out, its pine green folds billowing in an unfelt wind. "These ‘things’ as you put it happen to be emissaries from the northern kingdom of Peloris! Has their disguise fooled you so much into thinking they’re human?"

The other guard tapped his staff against Robo’s chest plate. "This one here ain’t elf," he said. "There’s no magic. And the other," tapping Glenn, "has the stench of a human scum. Besides, the emissaries are already here, your Highness."

Natan released his rapier from its sheath. "Fine, they art humans, but what hath thou against them? Glenn and Robo have done no harm to us. In fact, they’re seeking out one of our warriors to help in their desperate cause! So if you don’t let us through to see my father, not only will you lose your jobs, but you will lose your heads!"

The guards quickly stepped away and allowed Natan and his guests into the palace. They marched through the quartz halls, the servants giving them wry looks, until they reached the throne room. Natan shoved the doors open.

"Father, I bring visitors from another land," he declared.

King Veda looked up. "Which kingdom do they come from? If they’re from Peloris, tell them to go back because Princess Linsa is already here," he said.

"No Father, these are visitors from the Kingdom of Guardia."

Immediately, all activity in the throne room ceased. King Veda turned pale. "Humans? You dare bring humans into this palace?"

"Father, I have good reason," Natan explained. "These warriors, Glenn and Robo, have come in search of a warrior possessing great skills."

Veda eyed the two knights. "Why do they wish to take one of our own away from here?"

Glenn stepped forward. "Your Highness, my companion and I are on a quest to seek out five warriors to help us defeat a terrible enemy," he explained. "We have reason to believe that one of your warriors here possesses the necessary power to help us against this evil fiend."

"Well our greatest fighter here is Natan," Veda said. "But it is up to him whether or not he goes with you. After all, he is a prince, and he has duties to his throne."

Glenn nodded. "I shall await his decision."

A messenger burst into the throne room. "Prince Natan, Princess Linsa of Peloris demands your presence in her chambers now," he said. "It is to discuss your marriage arrangements."

Natan looked from the messenger to Glenn. "When do we leave?" he asked eagerly.

.

"Is it true that you’re leaving? It is true, isn’t it?" —Kensuke Aida, Neon Genesis Evangelion

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