Escaping Fate Chapter 5
By Taran
Scar was there, wrapped in his black cloak. Someone was behind him, a man, dressed in a white uniform. With one arm around Scar's neck and the other holding a gun to his head, their friend was not in the greatest position. Seeing them finally come into the room he growled, "What took you so long?"
Taking the gun from Scar's head and pointing it towards Crono and Marle he demanded. "Who are you?"
"That was the biggest mistake you'll ever make." Scar growled. Before the man could respond, Scar's hand flew from his cloak and grabbed the gun. Next, a reptilian tail shot out from behind Scar and knocked the man over.
"You're... not human..." Marle began.
"Hardly." Indeed, he was definitely not. As he removed his black cloak, they saw him for the first time. His 'skin' was plated with thick scales, like a crocodile, but smoother. His scales were, for the most part, green, but they varied in shade. His head was not shaped like a human's either. It was more like a bird's, though it too was covered with scales. He had no beak, but his snout protruded in the same manor. His mouth, expanding outwards with his nose, was lined with sharp, razor-like teeth. His eyes resembled that of a snake's, with one narrow slit for a pupil. Across his left eye there was a deep red scar, perhaps from where he got his name.
Despite his lizard-like qualities, there was another thing about Scar that was not human; part of him was made of or covered with metal. His left eye for instance, had been replaced with some type of red glow that shot out a thin laser when opened. His right forearm was plated with a shining alloy that reached up and became an even more massive and deadly claw than that which he wielded underneath. If he had not been standing erect, he might have been confused with a cyborg philossil-raptor.
This was too his advantage though. After tossing the gun he had taken to Marle he shouted, "Use that. Pull the trigger to shoot." With no more explanation, he leapt onto the fallen man and continued his attack. The man, however, had the same idea. With both feet he kicked Scar as hard as he could, sending the reptile soaring to the other side of the room. The man was still on the ground though, thus a perfect target. Marle lined up her sight over the top of the gun and pulled the trigger. The pistol shook in her hands, she had not been prepared for that. At the same time, something very small and very fast, a bullet, flew out and struck the man in the leg.
"Ah!" The man cried out in pain and grabbed his leg. "You'll pay for that, pagan!" One arm still pressing against his wound, the other thrust outward. Short, white bolts of energy quickly crawled across the floor and formed a circle around Marle. With a gesture the man brought his hand down and around, then two of his fingers shot up. At the same time, a pillar of white energy tore away at and ripped up from the floor, rocketing skywards. The massive unleash of energy all contained in the space above the previously drawn circle. When it died away, Marle was lying limp on the ground.
"No!" Crono yelled. He raced over to the man in white, who was just now getting up, and rammed into him with his shoulder. The man, only standing on one leg, flew into a nearby wall and fell down again. Crono then jumped on top of him and started beating him with his fists.
"Crono, move!" Scar growled at him. Crono did not listen. He just continued bashing the Pentance soldier. "Crono!" Still he would not let up. "Fine then." Scar's right hand, mechanical claws began to radiate with a green energy. Bringing them down with a mighty blow, he swiped at the air. Although he hit no one, the attack was not ineffective. At the same moment, his claws projected three energy beams conformed to the shape of his claws that went through with at the same wild strike. The 'claws' cut through Crono and the man underneath, leaving a trail of green energy that flowed out of the scars the attack caused. Even the air was split and glowed with the same color. After the talons cut through them, both the men fell unconscious.
Just when Scar deactivated his metal blades, another target ran into the room. It was a girl, Calis. Seeing the man Scar had taken out, she screamed, "Atall!" She raised her arms and a golden, shining halo was formed above her. It floated over to the Pentance officer and let loose a stream of golden light down on his body.
The man blinked his eyes open and looked around. "Thanks sis." He said as he got to his foot, the other still wounded.
"You're hurt!" Calis cried as she ran over to her brother.
"I can handle it." He reassured her. Waving his hand over the wound, a bright light flashed and he was healed; the only reminder of it the blood spread around the leg of his uniform. Soon however, that too was gone.
Knowing that he could not take on both of the Pentance warriors himself, Scar ran over to Marle. Reaching up to a metal plate in his chest, a small panel slid open. He took from it a similarly small orb. Kneeling down in front of her limp body, he crushed the Revive above her. A bluish light flashed and fell down on her, bringing her back to consciousness. She sat up, "What happened."
Another Revive was ejected from Scar's robotic chest implant and he handed it to Marle. "Crack this over Crono. Be sure to take the gun too. Quickly, I'll cover you." She nodded and ran over to the two Pentance officers hovering over Crono's body. With a thought, Scar's holster attached to his leg popped out the gun he was keeping there. As a spring releasing tension, it jumped the weapon up into the air where he grabbed it with his scaled claw. Pointing his targeting laser beam between his enemies he fired the pistol. Although the blast hit neither of the two, it forced them to jump behind a stack of wooden crates for protection from future, perhaps more properly aimed shots.
Even though they had not gone far, it was far enough for Marle to reach her fiansea. As soon as she broke the sphere over his battered body, he too, like herself, came back to the world. Instinctively, he grabbed for his sword, but there was none there. He glanced around and then remembered where he was. Crono did not have much time to act on that knowledge though. As soon as he had stood up, a dagger cut through the air, aimed at his chest. With no time for hesitation, he jumped out of the way, pulling Marle with him. The knife wizzed past him and then struck and stuck into the wall behind.
"Finally, a weapon." Crono observed with delight. Hopping to his feet once again, he grabbed the hilt of the short blade and pulled it out of the wall. It was a finely crafted weapon, Crono could see that just by examining it in his hand. The hilt was in the shape of a small cross, but elaborated upon. The sides and edges were all curved and acute, not blunt like the original shape. It was made of metal and studded with five jewels. In the center, there four rubies and a small saphire stone embedded into the hilt. Its beuty was not its prime function though. From the long end of the cross, a short, steel blade jetted outward. After twirling it afew times, he was beggining to get the hang of it.
"Hold it right there." Calis ordered as she poked his back with another blade.
"Don't move Calis!" Marle shouted. Spinning her head, but not letting her dagger fall from Crono's back, she saw that the girl was aiming a gun at her. Realizing that if shot, Calis could not carry out with her attack, Marle pulled the trigger. This time expecting the shake of the gun, she was again surprised as there was none. Instead, Marle only heard a clicking noise. Nothing happened. Calis laughed, then blast Marle with a ball of holy magic, spun Crono around and thrust the dagger into his stomach.
On the other side of the room, fighting Atall, Scar slammed his very small palm into his forehead as he looked down in disgrace. "Apes... you would think they could cock a gun, but no..." Then he heard the sound of that exact action taking place, looked up, and was hit in the chest by a blast from a shotgun. After being hurled backwards a few feet, he crashed down onto the floor. From there, he was lifted back up into the air by a roaring geyser of light magic. Once lifted, he was helpless but to be shot repedatively with the quick pistols that the Pentance soldiers carried. Both his flesh and mechanical body were damaged very badly by the time he slammed back down onto the stone floor and was nocked out cold.
Lucklily for Marle, Calis' beam had not ended with the same results. Instead, she was able to bring forth a spell. A blue aura surrounded her, pulsing with curative waves that instantly rejuvinated and restored her strength. With no weapons around, she thought the gun useless, Marle had no joice but to take them on with her bare hands. Running at Calis, she punched her in the gut and then followed through with a kick. Calis drew out one of her cross-blades, but Marle froze it with an ice spell. The battle continued for a short while longer, but then Atall decided to end it. Again the white beams of energy skid across the floor to surround Marle; this time she was encased in a sphere. There, bolts of light magic shot into her from every direction until she fell unconscious.
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The three of them woke up in a small cell. It was not a jail cell though, for it was moving and constantly shaking. There was one window from where Scar, the first to come to, saw that they were in some type of flying vehicle. Presently, it was carrying them over a light, tropical jungle. "Where are we?" Crono asked as he looked around.
"I believe we are being transported to Medina."
"Medina!?" He responded to the capitol of the Islar with a little bit of anger.
"Yes."
"Are you telling me it still stands!?"
"Of coarse. Today, that is the oldest city in the world. It was built over the ruins of a great castle built just as man was learning to talk."
"Wow, that is old. But, why didn't the Zeal army tear it down?"
"Why tear down a perfectly good city? Besides, by the time the Zeal army ever got to Medina, the Islar were as good as gone."
"Islar? Where?" That was a word Marle did not like waking up to.
"They're all dead." Scar answered. The craft jolted, and they felt the beginning of a descent. "We should be coming down into the city soon..." Sure enough, through the window they watched as they lowered down onto a rather large, long, stone road that cut into the jungle. After landing, the ride became increasingly rough, the craft josstling them about inside. Finally, they rolled under a large archway dug out of a mountain and into Medina.
The whole city was inside a small valley, surrounded by mountains on each side. There were springs that leapt up from underground flooding the entire valley with crystal waters. Huge marble pillars rose from the lake and held up massive smooth-stone buildings and walkways. On roof tops and next to the walking paths emerald gardens glistened in the sun. It was a beutiful city, it was too bad they were not allowed to see it.
Instead , Calis, Atall, and another Pentance soldier led them out of the vehicle and down into a long, stone-laid hall. They were forced to march through the tunnel, their destination unknown. As they continued to walk, the temperature rose. It became hotter and hotter until even the walls and floor were too hot to touch. The six humans were beginning to break a sweat; Scar on the otherhand, seemed fine. When they had reached the most unbarabke point in the walk, a corner where one section iof the wall was starting to become black from over exposure the heat, he took in a deep breath and sighed. "It is good to be home."
"You live here?" Marle asked him.
"Yes, well, rather, I did, many years ago."
"So... what exactly are you?" Crono questioned. "Are you some kind of messed up Islar, or what?"
"Something like that... Actually, the Islar are, as you said, 'messed up' forms of myself. I am a Reptite."
"A what?"
"A dinosaur."
"Oh. Then, how did you get here?"
"That, my friend, is a long story." Scar glanced up infront of them and saw that they had reached the end of their trek. "And I believe that we are out of time."
As he said, they were silenced and made walk up a flight of stairs, out of the heat, and into a large building. They entered a large chamber that was lined with seats and spectators on all sides. They seemed to be in some type of assembly room. They stood directly infront of a tall platform. Seated above, looking down on them, was a man draped in layer upon layer of white robes and black cloaks. It seemed to be the latest fastion of this era. Stepping infront of them, before the man, Atall adressed him. "Domahd, we bring for you three heritics."
"I do not sense their sins." Domahd responded.
"This one is especially strong, your holiness." Calis explained, gesturing to Scar. "He is someohow able to hide his own and others' wrongs, it has taken us almost a year to track him down since he was first discovered, but God wass always watching him and He delivered him to us."
"And the other two?"
"They would not have been dragged in," Atall began, "had they not attacked us and attempted to aid this one in escape. When he was down though... they are strong in their heathen magics."
"I see. Do we have any witnesses?"
"Not at the moment."
Adressing the masses, Domahd asked them, "Is there anyone who can testify for Krantor against these pagans?" The crowd stirred at first, yet no one stood. Then a man hooded in a black cloak came to his feet. Looking over towards the man, Domahd saw that he was seated in the section reserved for high ranking Penatnce officers. This demanded a very secure sentance. "Very well. Scar, Crono, and Marle, I hereby condemn you all to a minimum of ten years imprisonment in the Judgement Tower and the same thereafter until repentance. May Krantor have mercy on your souls.”
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