Tragedy of the Raven Part 1, Chapter 3

By Prince Nightmare

“CRONO! WAKE UP!!”

The slim, blonde young woman had been trying to wake her husband up for almost an hour now and she was getting rather annoyed with him. Marle pouted her lip out and put her hands on her hips, glaring down at the sleeping man. He snored on blissfully.

“CRONO! WE HAVE TO LEAVE TODAY!”

When he didn’t respond Marle punched him in the shoulder. “Wake UP!”

Crono blinked sleepily. “Huh??” he rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. “What time is it?”

Marle snorted. “Almost noon! You know we are supposed to leave today!” Her expression softened a bit as he looked up at her, his wild hair messy. “You are still the same little boy I met all those years ago.. always SLEEPING!” She tried to sound mad but he grinned up at her.

“Uh huh... some things never change, I guess.” Crono drowsily rolled out of bed and stood scratching his head, gazing out the window at the sunny day. He stretched and yawned, thinking about eating a nice big breakfast...well, lunch technically... Just then he remembered what day it was.

“Holy Cow!” he jumped up and began to dress in a hurry. Marle rolled her eyes. “Do you know what today is?! Jeez, why are you standing there! We have to leave soon!”

“ I know! Why do you think I’ve been trying to get you all morning?”

“Hm? Oh... sorry. I guess it just slipped my mind. Guess it’s a good thing we got everything all packed last night, huh?”

Nadia nodded. “ Lucca probably thinks we’re dead or something. You know what how she is about being late... “

Crono grinned as he attempted to straighten his rebellious red hair. “Uh huh... specially when it has to do with Glenn...” He smiled mischievously.

“You aren’t going to go into that again are you...??”

“Nope. You do just fine yourself on that subject!”

Marle rolled her eyes at him again, though there was a hint of a smile on her lips. “Well they should just admit it and get it over with. Jeez.. it gets worse every time they see each other... all they can do is stare at one another. Really though... you be nice about it.”

Crono winked at her, the closest thing to a ‘Yes’ she could get out of him on that matter.

Luckily Marle had gotten everything packed and ready for their trip back in time... she missed her old friend and thought it would be more fun than the last time. The last time had been sort of... subdued....

“Crono?”

“Hmmmfp!” Crono was choking down a few pancakes as quick as he could. His mouth was stuffed. “Whafth ith it hufpfhy?” He swallowed noisily. “What is it hunny?”

“ I was just thinking about how much better this visit is going to be than last time. I mean... I think last time was a little sad.”

Crono nodded slowly. “You know it’s over with Marle. We couldn’t help Janus... he didn’t want to be helped. Let’s forget about the past and make the future better.”

“I know.. I just can’t help feeling a little sad about it... but you’re right! I am going to make this time so much more fun! Besides... I have a feeling Lucca and Glenn are going to finally go for it this time!”

Now it was Crono’s turn to roll his eyes. “Oh jeez. And you say I razz them about it! Sheesh! girls... ”

Marle was about to tell him a thing or two about respect when a knock on the door saved Crono from a chewing-out. “That’s Lucca, I bet...” Marle said rushing off to get the door. Crono let out a sigh of relief.

A moment later Lucca strode into the kitchen followed by Marle. “Well... late AGAIN this year, aren’t we Crono?” The brown haired woman with the thick glasses snapped at him. Crono grinned and winked.

“I have a reputation to keep up you know, Lucca.”

Lucca took her glasses off and began to inspect them for any smudges. Most people thought her a plain girl, but it was only because of the thick glasses she wore most of the time. Her face looked surprisingly pretty without them on, though no one had ever told her so. Lucca wasn’t the type who fell for flattery.

“Well, are you both ready now? I have the Epoch all fired up and ready to go!”

Marle and Crono looked at one another and shrugged.

“I guess so. Let me get our things and we can go.” Marle sprinted up the stairs and came back down a second later with a few bags.

“Good! Then we’re off!!”

.

The trip took less than a second... one moment they were in the air just over the Castle, then the sky flashed brilliantly for an instant. Then they were hovering over a forest. At first it was hard to notice they were some place different... the Castle of Guardia was still below them, as was the small village. However, in only a few moments, they had traveled back in time nearly 400 years.

Lucca was smirking in extreme satisfaction. She patted the control panel affectionately. “This thing never ceases to amaze me!”

They flew the short distance to the small clearing in the forest, landing the Epoch right outside Glenn’s cottage. Glenn was outside waiting for them and grinning widely. However, there was something weary about his smile.

Lucca was the first to notice the darkness around his eyes. “Glenn?? What is wrong?” Marle and Crono looked at each other, slightly confused, still not seeing the tension in their friend’s smile.

“It’s been too long my friends! I am really happy to see you all again. And... I have something I really need to talk to you about.” Glenn motioned them inside his cabin. The trio followed anxiously. Marle sighed to herself, wondering if this trip was going to be like the last one.

“One of these times we are all just going to sit down and have a nice, normal conversation that doesn’t involve some sort of crises!” she whispered to Crono, who could only look at her helplessly.

Glenn led them into his small front room. It was a modestly decorated cottage which was definitely the average bachelor’s house. There were swords on the walls instead of paintings, the flowers in the vase on the table needed to be changed, and the colors tended to be mismatched and bold. The two women looked around and mentally made notes of what to change around when Glenn and Crono were out male bonding.

Glenn motioned them to sit down at the table. He paced around the front room for a moment as his friends waited for him to say something. He stopped his pacing and looked at them all for a long moment.

“Glenn... you are really acting like something terrible is going on! Come on! Tell us!” Lucca demanded sharply as he looked at her wearily. Crono nodded in agreement, while Marle sat quietly, nervously awaiting the news.

Glenn sighed. “I fear, my friends, that I was called to Lenstahn a week ago for a special purpose... the Ein’deresch had called me. Do you all recall who they are?”

Crono pondered. “Hmmm... yeah... weren’t they those holy paladins who were trying to hunt Janus down all those years?”

Nodding solemnly, Glenn went on, “Yes, that’s right. But they could never defeat him. Well... they summoned me there for revenge on Magus...”

“What? How can you get revenge on someone who is...” Marle’s voice trailed off.

“Dead?” Glenn finished for her. “I wondered the same thing after they told me that was the reason they had summoned me. I didn’t want vengeance... not after all that happened... but the Ein’deresch didn’t want to listen to me.”

Lucca began to interrupt. “But...” Glenn held up his hand and she was silent. He looked round at them sadly.

“I was just getting to that part...What sort of revenge was it?” He paused for a moment, then went on in a quieter voice, “ They wanted me to kill his son.”

Crono almost fell out of his chair. “WHAT?! Janus had a son?!!” Glenn nodded slowly as Crono smirked a little. “Why that dog! If he was here I’d give him a cigar!” He began to laugh. Marle glared at him and he became solemn again.

“They wanted you to KILL his son? What did his son do?” Lucca asked, the shock in her voice apparent.

“What harm can a five year old boy do? They wanted him dead because he carried on the bloodline of Magus... that is his only crime...”

Lucca went pale as she looked down at the table. “You... didn’t do it, did you Glenn?”

“Hell no! What kind of a man do you think I am?” Glenn blanched when he realized how harshly he had spoken. “I’m sorry... it’s just that I don’t think I could ever kill a child, no matter who his father was. It’s true at one time my rage got the better of me after Cyrus was killed, but that was a long time ago and I’ve learned a few things about compassion since then. So... after I turned down their offer, there was only one alternative besides letting Krischtiahn himself kill the boy...”

They all looked at him expectantly. Glenn shrugged. “ I brought him back with me.”

Marle stared at him dumbfounded, Lucca nearly choked, and Crono began to laugh.

“Oh boy!” Crono managed between guffaws, “now I have heard it all! Uncle Glenn! I bet Janus is rolling in his grave about this!!” he tipped backwards in his chair and fell unto the floor, hitting his head on the table as he went. “Owww!” Crono rubbed his head sheepishly.

Glenn shot him a dirty look. “You deserve that knot on your head for laughing like that! It’s really no laughing matter. The Ein’deresch weren’t very happy when I stole the boy from them. They caught up with me halfway here and held me at sword point... I thought I was going to finally meet my end. However, I made a deal of sorts with Krischtiahn. I promised to raise the child myself ... and if he ever turned out to be like his father... I promised to kill him...” Glenn’s voice trailed off . He offered his hand to Crono and pulled his friend up to his feet. “So you see... it’s a very heavy responsibility. Though I doubt very much Raven will ever be like his father.”

Marle looked at him. “What did you say his name was?”

“The villagers all called him Raven. He’s a mute, you see. Around here we have sayings about how a raven never sings and only brings bad luck. He was born in October too, which is the month of the raven... needless to say, the villagers in Lenstahn didn’t like him too well.”

“I still can’t believe all of this... I had no idea Janus had a son.” Lucca said as she shook her head in awe.

Crono sighed. “I don’t think any of us did. Then again, he never really was one to go around talking about that sort of thing either. Especially not to us.”

Glenn walked to the doorway and stood looking outside. The bright sunlight made him squint his eyes a little. “I don’t think he knew either. Raven’s mother died giving birth to him. That was nearly five years ago, right after Magus died. If Magus knew he had a child soon to be born, I don’t think he would have gone off on that suicidal quest to find Schala.”

“I think you’re right Glenn.” Marle said softly as she stood up from the table. “He didn’t even know.”

Crono looked around at them all, exasperated. “Well, why are you all so sad? The kid’s safe now, isn’t he? We should all be kind of celebrating this instead of acting all gloom and doom about it!” He grinned at his friends in an impish way. “Hey Glenn... where is he anyway? I want him to meet his Uncle Crono!”

Marle smirked. “Oh no! I hope he’s hiding, for his own sake! Uncle Crono... that’s all we need!”

.

Go To Part 1, Chapter 4

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