The Trials Of The King Chapter 11

A New Mission

By Nanaki

June 21

"Still no sign of her sir." The guard reported reluctantly. Crono nodded solemnly. There had been no sign of Sira since the last time he had seen her. He hadn't expected her to just up and leave like this. She had only known him for a few weeks. How attached could they have been? "We did find a few sheets tied together outside of her window. They were far too short for her to have climbed down, though. She would have had to jump into the moat."

"Did you find anything?" He asked, afraid of what he would hear.

"We've dredged most of it already, but no body so far."

"No. Wherever she is, she's probably alive. I wish I knew what she was going to do."

"She just needs some time to calm down." Nadia reassured him. "After all, I was pretty angry after you died. I'd only known you for a few weeks."

"Are you comparing me to Lavos?!"

"I suppose so." She reluctantly admitted. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently.

"What the hell?" Crono demanded. "We haven't had any earthquakes since Lavos was around." As he and Nadia ran to the top of the right tower, they saw a crack appear in the ground in the middle of Guardia Forest. Lava began pouring out, and the trees were burned to a crisp. A humungous shape began to rise out of the blazing mass. It looked like Lavos' shell, except there were spikes sticking out of the spikes sticking out of the spikes, instead of straight spines. "It can't be!" Crono gasped.

"I wouldn't think so, but it looks like the queen witch herself." Nadia frowned. "Let's get down there." The two ran down the tower and out the front of the castle, getting as close as they could to the front of the shell. The front pod opened, and the lava bubbled away to either side. A blue skinned woman stepped out, an evil glint in her fiery eyes. Her long, dark blue hair seemed to writhe and twist like a mass of snakes.

"It can't be... It's Laria!!" Crono rubbed the scar on his left cheek. "I killed you!!" He roared at her, whipping out the Swallow. Nadia readied her Valkyrie as well.

The Lavoid smiled at him. "Yes, I suppose you did manage to kill me, through some freak accident. But Lavoid Queens aren't so easily disposed of. My sisters brought me back, easily. They have a more instinctive knowledge of time travel than any human could attain through any amount of studying!"

Crono began to twirl the Swallow in his fingers. "So what do you want? Why are you here?"

"I've already got what I want. I just stopped for the entertainment."

Crono's eyes narrowed even more than they already had been. "You!! You caused this war! You and your cowardly mind control!!"

"There was no mind control necessary." Laria laughed. "You humans are so easy to manipulate! I just increased Nadia's stubborness, Vincent's desire for revenge, and Sira's sympathy. Then I just sat back and watched the show!"

"I'll kill you again!!" Crono charged at her, his face a mask of rage.

"I think not." Laria raised her hand, and Crono froze in place. Nadia fired the Valkyrie, but the arrow just bounced harmlessly off her blue skin. "My little Lev is in trouble. I have some other human trash to take care of before I can deal with you." She headed back toward her shell, but turned back one time. "I don't know how you managed to beat me last time, but I'll give you a lot worse than a scar if you come after me again." With that, the front pod closed around her, and the shell began to blast off. Crono dropped the to ground, then quickly got up.

"Get back inside!" He shouted to Nadia. "Or else we're going to roast!" As they reached the castle doors and jumped inside, a fireball launched from Laria's shell, and the doors burst inward as it impacted. Then, she was gone.

As Crono rubbed the soot off his face, he heard a low whirring sound outside. He helped Nadia up, and they both ventured back out. He couldn't believe what he saw. "I-It's the Epoch! But I thought Maro had-"

He stopped talking as the canopy slid open. A young man looking to be about 19 hopped out. There was nothing especially unusual about him at first glance. He was wearing a long sleeved black shirt, rough black pants, and heavy black boots. His hair was fairly close cropped in a conservative style. The only thing was, his hair was blue, and he was floating about two feet above the ground. He glanced around for a second, then spotted Crono. "King Crono Triggara of Guardia?" He asked politely.

"That's me." Crono nodded tiredly. "What are you here for?"

"I spotted Laria taking off as I was coming in. I need your help to go after her."

"You probably have it, but who are you?" Crono asked, beginning to grin.

"My name is... Well, you can call me Kash. I'm Schala's son, if that means anything to you." Crono and Nadia were speechless now. "I need your help pretty bad. Laria has gone back in time to before I was born to try to kill my mother. To stop her from ever becoming a hunter, and to prevent me from ever existing."

"Count us in, as soon as we can round up Lucca and Vincent. Laria just messed us up pretty bad. This would help to take our mind off of it somewhat. But tell me, how did you get the Epoch?"

"This?" Kash glanced back at his ship. "This isn't the original Epoch. It's a replica Keldon made, studying Belthasar's designs. And of course that lousy 'synth wouldn't let me take the Skyshroud Ranger." He grumbled to himself.

"Um, I think we have a lot to learn." Crono grinned at him.

"You'll be fine." Kash reassured him. "We're a team on our main goal then?"

"Right." Crono stretched out his hand, and Kash shook it. "To the death of Laria!"

.

"If she dies, it won't just be his past that changes. It'll be ours too." - Washu

Nanaki: The following people correctly guessed the reason as to why Giga Gaia concentrated his attack on Marle in Chapter 47 of The Aftermath of Mount Woe: Tony Porreco, Ray21121, The Entity, and Icy Brian. I'm only using the names that were on the e-mails, so if I screwed anybody's up, don't sue me. The reason was that Marle is a descendent of Vigo. Remember that Giga Gaia was a collection of Shivan's spirit energy, and he still wanted another shot at Vigo, much like Serges in this story. Good job people.

.

Go To Epilogue

Return To CT Fanfic