Chrono Trigger: Dangerous Times Chapter 2
By Nihon Soba
Glenn sat on a tree stump near his underground home in the “haunted” forest. In fact, he didn’t know why they called this forest haunted. Oh sure, there was the occasional monster or two (or three or four) but there were no ghosts or spirits of any kind. People just have a strange way of naming things, thought Glenn.
Lucca hadn’t been strange when she had dubbed him “Frog.” After all, it was fitting to his form. Plus what did anyone expect from a walking, talking frog, Glenn silently mused. He sighed, making a ribbit sound. He chose to live in this forest because not many people ventured here. Less people to be scared of him or to laugh at him. His house wasn’t much. Basically just one large room, with a bed and a table as well as a few more accommodations. Spartan it was, like a knight should live. Only, what knight could hope to be remembered worthily by his form? The only thing that kept certain people from dismissing him entirely was the fact that he had been the friend of the legendary knight, Cyrus. Cyrus, his best friend. Killed by some loathsome wizard. Glenn seethed, pulling out the Masamune sword from his belt, removing it’s scabbard. So close, he had been so close to killing that damned elf-like magic-user. Glenn refused to call Magus by his true name, did not credit his sob story as legitimate for killing Cyrus or countless other knights on the field of battle. He had been so close... but what would more bloodshed accomplish? Absolutely nothing. Still, it felt good driving that sword into Magus at that battle at Magus’s castle when he and Crono fought him...
“No.” Glenn thought. Enjoyment of violence was not tolerated by the knight’s code. “Vanquishing thee will not bring back Cyrus.” he said, echoing his own words that time when he had confronted the wizard on the cliff on the Earthbound continent in the aftermath of the destruction of Zeal. Let him endlessly search for his sister. That was punishment enough.
Glenn pulled out the hero medal from under his breastplate, watching the way the light from the half moon shone upon it. A fine thing it was now, he thought. Just a reminder of how his best friend was killed. The improved Masamune had been given to Glenn when he visited Cyrus’s grave in the present time. He remembered how Magus had stood there looking upon the scene between Glenn and Cyrus with utter disdain. The wizard was quite eager to exit the Hero’s Grave, for reasons unknown to Glenn except that maybe he felt guilty or something.
“Magus, feeling remorse?” thought Glenn. He laughed, making a croaking sound. “No, the foul urchin doth not feel an ounce of pity.” He looked at the stars in the night sky, contemplating the future. Guardia was at peace again. Ozzie was dead, as well as Flea and Slash, the Mystics reduced to a few scattered bands on the other continents. When Queen Leene offered him board at Guardia as a full-fledged knight, he had declined. Glenn would not sit there and let other knights look upon him with pity or disgust. Better that he go live in obscurity, he was not needed anymore. Glenn sighed. So this is where it all ends up, his family line ending here. He would sire no sons, and no one would take up his glorious name to become a knight.
Glenn coughed and decided that it would be a good idea to go inside since the cold, damp air of the night was starting to affect him. He jumped off the tree stump and wandered back to the bushes that concealed the ladder that lead to his house. As he placed a foot on the rung of the ladder, Glenn heard a rustling sound ahead. His instincts kicked into action, his sword was unsheathed. He silently waited.
Ahead of Glenn in the darkness of the forest, a short, squat creature could be seen walking in an almost ridiculous way. The creature seemed to be walking toward Glenn. The frog-knight stepped out from the ladder, unafraid and ready for anything.
“Foul villain, show thyself!” he yelled, brandishing his sword in a salute. If it was a Mystic, then Glenn would defeat it. He had no love for the inhuman beings, and he was ready for a fight, magic or not.
The creature hobbled into the moonlight, and Glenn could see it better now. It seemed to be large head with eyes, arms, legs, and a mouth. The skin was a blue color, as was the hair on its head. Only one creature in the world fit this criteria.
A Nu? Glenn thought. Of course, he knew about them. These creatures could be seen in the most obscure places. They were avoided out of some silly taboo, but the creatures were not openly hostile. Knights have claimed to see the strange creatures when venturing through dark forests at night. Children claimed to see them everywhere, though those claims were often ignored. No one knows where they came from, what exactly they were, or how they got the name Nu. Glenn remembered going into the Kingdom of Zeal with Crono and Marle and reading this text saying “All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu...” The purpose of that phrase escaped him, though Glenn could obviously see that the creatures were obviously important somehow.
The Nu had walked up in front of the frog-knight now, standing there with a blank expression on its face. Glenn lowered his sword and stroked his chin in concentration. Nu’s weren’t known to just walk up to people like that. Most of the time they were reported to just ignore any person completely.
“Strange creature,” said Glenn, still a bit wary. “for what reason dost thou approach me?” The Nu stood still, its eyes starting to close sleepily. A prod from Glenn woke it up with a start, and it reached back to scratch its back lazily. As if remembering something, the Nu then reached for its hair and pulled out a folded slip of paper, handing it to Glenn. The knight warily took the paper from the Nu, who had begun to fall asleep again. He unfolded the paper and looked at the flourishing script written there in some sort of calligraphy. The paper looked old, as well as the writing on it, and Glenn wondered why a Nu would bring something like this to him. Sitting down on the wet grass, Glenn began to read.
“Consider this an act of pity, not goodwill. The Nu are as old as time and almost eternal, and their memory sharp though they are lazy, so I was able to make this one an able courier. Heed my message: you are free. I release you, Glenn, knight of Guardia. Maybe this will change your feelings toward me, maybe not. I could care less. But there is no need for your present state anymore. Farewell.” The note was not signed, and it seemed to fall to pieces when Glenn finished reading it. The knight pondered over the cryptic message for a few minutes, then scoffed.
“Bah! I know not the meaning of this or who wrote it. Maybe some things are better left off unknown.” and with that, Glenn sat up and proceeded to climb down the ladder to his room underground, still pondering the words of the message. No witnesses were present for this except the Nu, who Glenn thought was asleep. However, it had kept one eye half-open to observe the task it was given. When the act was finished, the Nu remained there until Glenn was gone from sight, then it turned around and hobbled off into the forest. A the moment, no one but the Nu and the one who had given it the task knew this, but a great deed was done. Glenn could now walk the Earth without self-consciousness, for he was now human. He would find out sooner or later. With that done, the Nu found some place that looked good for a nap, then abruptly fell asleep to dream.
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