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Chapter Text

A few sparks lingered, slowly hovering to the other platform. A few more joined them, glistening brighter on approach. They coalesced, taking roughly the same shape of the man who just stood to the crowd’s left mere seconds ago. As his form solidified, it glowed brighter, until exploding in a piercing light. Crono shot off the teleporter and landed on the ground with a thud.

“My gods, she actually did it!” one woman muttered, before the crowd broke into applause. Crono let out a loud, sudden scream, cutting the festivities short. On closer inspection, the redhead was badly bruised, covered in blood, and pointing madly at the Ashtear Transporter. “Th-there’s, there’s,” he muttered, almost delirious.

Marle broke from the crowd to help Crono back up. “Crono?! What happened?” Lucca joined her, grabbing his opposite shoulder.

“There was, there was,” he stammered, “a big monster thing! I f-fought it off, but it just sucked me into its shell and…”

“Big monster?” Lucca asked, confused. The Transporter was only supposed to teleport Crono from A to B. The only way he could have encountered some monster was if it took him somewhere else between that. But the teleportation was instantaneous. The only place he could have gone was beyond space and time entirely.

“Shh, shhhhh,” Marle whispered, trying to calm the redhead down. “What happened after you were sucked in?”

“Dunno, it’s all a blur,” said Crono, staggering back to his feet. “I think I killed it.” He felt his back, and let out a startled gasp. “My sword!” he cried. “I think I broke it fighting that thing!”

“Don’t worry folks,” said Lucca’s father, forcing a smile. “I’ve just made some little adjustments. Whoever goes next shouldn’t encounter any big monsters. Any takers?” The crowd weren’t won over by his offer, and started to back away.

Once Crono was up, Marle marched up to the platform. “I’ll do it,” she said. Technology like this was important to the future of Guardia, and possibly the world at large. She may have been incognito, but she felt a Royal duty to test this innovative creation. The crowd murmured in disbelief as she took her place, spun on her heel, and gave a nervous smile to everyone present. She clutched her pendant and closed her eyes. “Leene, give me strength,” she whispered.

“Marle, don’t!” Crono cried, but her form had already dissolved in a flash of glistening sparkles. He watched helplessly as they idly flew to the other platform, slowly recreating her form. “Marle…” he gasped. Had he lost her? Was the big monster going to kill her?

The sparkles exploded into light on the right platform, and there Marle stood, confused, but no worse for wear. She checked her arms and forehead. No damage. “Is this supposed to happen?” she asked.

“Marle!” Crono yelled, almost running up to the platform to hug her. “How d’you feel?”

“Well, I’ve got pins and needles in my fingers,” she said, flexing her digits, “but fine otherwise.” She gave the crowd a shrug. “Second time lucky, eh?” She stepped down and gave Crono a warm smile. “Let’s go clean you up, shall we?”

Marle took Crono by the hand and guided him back down to Leene’s Square, and away from the Millennial Fair entirely. “C’mon,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to see what Truce is like up close.” Lucca watched her childhood friend disappear from the demonstration with a total stranger, and felt a lump in her throat. Had she almost killed her best friend? Did he even trust her anymore?

“Strange,” her father said behind her. “Judging by the readings, there’s been some sort of seismic shift in the air. Almost like one of the laws of physics has been rewritten.”

Lucca looked at him, trying to distract herself from the guilt she felt. “What do you mean?”

He offered a defeated shrug. “Whatever big monster your old friend met,” he suggested, “must’ve been some kind of time god or something.”

“Oh…” Luca turned back to the Fair, watching numbly as Crono and this Marle girl ran into the main marketplace of Truce. “I see.” Above, an overcast sky started to break, releasing the sun’s warm rays on the festivities.

Chapter Text

The void spat the duo back into the Millennial Fair like gristle caught in teeth, and they looked as though chewed up by some great beast. Crono’s arms were bruised, while blood smeared Marle’s blonde hair. “What the hell was that?” she gasped, drawing from her newfound healing ability to ease the damage.

“More importantly, how did we survive?” Crono gasped, as Marle took the pain out of his body with just the tips of her fingers. Midway through their void travel, some great, spiny beast attacked them out of nowhere. Something about its immense might tore right through the redhead’s resolve. “That slug Fiend was nothing compared to that!”

Marle looked at her crossbow. She had exhausted her last arrow in the attack, and Crono’s blade wasn’t looking any better either. Thankfully, the two had fully healed. “Let’s go see Lucca,” she suggested. “She might know what that thing was.” She helped Crono to his feet, and started sprinting for the stairs. For some reason, she felt compelled to run, driven by a strong urge to get to Lucca’s as fast as she could.

That compulsion made her leap from stair to stair, her knees propelling her greater with every bound. When she met the ground, she tumbled back onto her feet, no worse for wear. Crono, by contrast, climbed slowly like most people. “What put your spring in your step?” he asked. “One minute we’re fighting for our lives, the next you’re jumping around like some kind of…” He trailed off, unsure where he was going with that.

Marle started to laugh as she descended the plaza. As that laugh continued, it turned a little hoarse, deeper, which took her by surprise. She came to a stop right by Leene’s square, and tried laughing again. A deep, inhuman croak left her lips this time. She covered her mouth in shock, just in time for Crono to rejoin her. “Hey, everything okay?” he asked, his voice as consoling as ever.

She turned to him with growing fear in her mind. “On second thoughts,” she said, “let’s go see my father. I think something’s changed about me.”

***

The most agonising thing about the walk to Guardia Castle was the effort to not leap ahead or croak, but to try and walk like any other person. When they fought that monster, did they change the timeline in some weird way? True, that thing came dangerously close to killing both of them. It was a miracle they escaped with their body parts intact. But what could have changed in the process?

“Father!” she yelled, running through the opening doors. Crono stood behind to marvel at the intricate design of the gates, unaware of the weary glances the soldiers gave him. “Father, are you there?” Urgency took over, and she had to fight to not burst into tears.

“Marle?” Her father stepped out of the throne room, meeting her at the foyer. “Oh, did you go to the fair?” he asked, as though that was the most normal thing in the world. (For most people in Guardia, it was.)

“Uh, yes,” Marle stuttered, taken off-guard by his casual attitude. “But, uh, I need to ask something.”

“Marle, dear,” the king continued, “did you go there in your human disguise?”

The rising anxiety in her heart shifted, becoming something far stranger. “My what?”

With a running start, the king leapt over the upstairs balustrade, landing with a squat before his daughter. “Oh, my dear,” he said, “you were always pushing for the common people to accept who we are. It’s a bit counterproductive pretending to be one of them now, don’t you think?”

Marle stepped back, her face contorted in confusion. “Uh…” She gulped. “What, exactly, are we, again?” She considered coming up with some kind of excuse for the question, but she was so far out of her element, her brain couldn’t imagine anything reasonable.

The king sighed, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Oh, dear Marle,” he whispered. “Perhaps the old film can jog your memory.” He grinned. “Would you believe it? We found the old film of our ancestor, perfectly preserved after nearly half a century!” He guided her back into the throne room, where a large, bulky projector stood, aimed at the wall behind his throne. “Didn’t you say we should show this on the last day of the Millennial Fair?”

Marle nodded slowly, unable to think of any verbal response.

The king clapped his hands, and the lights in the room went out. On cue, the projector started to whir, displaying a short clip in sepia tones. For something so old, the picture quality was shocking in its clarity, as though it had been filmed mere months ago, not centuries. Marle sank to her knees, and numbly watched.

In the film, Queen Leene walked down the aisle of an old church, accompanied by a short, frog-headed man. Though the film was silent, the context spoke clearly for itself. The two spoke their vows, and locked lips. To anyone who already knew this, the film must have been quite boring. To Marle, however, it felt like the cruellest twist in the history of cinema.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” The king grabbed at his face, pulling it off to unveil a green, toad-like face beneath it. “Shame we still don’t know what happened to Leene’s former husband.”

The room started to contract around Marle. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be real. “No, no!” She tried to scream, but only the croak of a frog escaped her throat. Please tell me we can go back and change this, she thought, as her father, the king of Guardia, leapt and bounced in circles around her.

Chapter Text

Crono stepped up to the bucket, watching the water’s continuous ripple rise to rapid sloshing on his approach. He could faintly see the dark outline of something within. He turned to look at Gaspar warily. “This is a portal?”

Gaspar responded with a curt nod. “Give it a tap.”

Pursing his lips, Crono tapped the water with his fingertip. On contact, the water abruptly calmed, and the vision within disappeared, leaving only clear water in a tin bucket. His brow furrowed. Was that it? “I don’t get it, doc,” he started to say, before a Time Gate suddenly appeared beneath his feet. He just got a view of Gaspar in his periphery before it swallowed him whole, returning him to the void.

“Crono!” Marle yelled, leaping in after him. Lucca and Robo followed, diving into the strange Time Gate before it sealed. The four fell through the void, struck by an intense gale as they descended. The fall was long enough for them to start dwelling on their current situation, and how dangerous their impending foe might be, before an opening appeared before them, spitting them into a vast, echoing cavern.

The Gate closed, leaving the four alone in the dark, subterranean space, filled by a strange gurgling sound at the far end. “That’s him,” Robo mused. “The great fire that destroyed the land. The parasite that shaped human history.” He looked at his palms, flexing his fingers for a few seconds. “We will likely lose.”

“How likely?” Lucca asked, examining her gun.

Robo swivelled his head. “I estimate a 0.01% chance of us even harming him.”

Crono reached out where the Time Gate was, but felt nothing. He looked over his shoulder, and saw the cavern stretch further beyond view. “What year is this?” he asked, out of curiosity.

Lucca checked her Gate Key. “This is…” she muttered, then let out a startled gasp. “This is it!” she screamed. “1999, the day of awakening!”

“What?!” Robo turned to Lucca, snatching the Key out of her hands. “She’s correct,” he said, shock invading his monotone voice. “In just a few minutes, Lavos will pierce the land and begin his destructive reign.”

In unison, the four looked into the dark, towards the echoing gurgles. They could faintly see something moving within its veil. “If anyone wants to leave…” Crono started to say.

“We wouldn’t have followed you into the Gate,” Marle replied, her voice shaking with terror. She clutched onto her crossbow for dear life.

“If we die here,” Lucca added, “I wanna take that monster with us.”

“If I was built to enforce Mother Brain’s will,” said Robo, “I was made to destroy her master.”

Crono drew his sword and stepped forth. “Then let’s give him hell!” he screamed, running towards the beast. His friends joined him, screaming with every fibre of anger, terror, determination and hope they had. This was the battle of their lives.

***

Gaspar cranked his head up, watching an apparition of 1999-era Guardia take shape in the void. It was a view he’d seen many times: any second now, Lavos would rip through the ground and lay waste to everything. Any second now. Behind him, he could hear the pitter-patter of inhuman feet. “This old show again?” asked Spekkio.

“That’s where our guests just went,” said Gaspar. “If nothing happens, they’ve defeated Lavos. If he rises like always…” He looked away from the timeline for a second.

“You think they’ll survive if they win?” asked Spekkio, staring at the continent intently.

Gaspar stayed quiet. Perhaps the anticipation of Lavos’ awakening held his attention. With every passing second, Spekkio felt a rising tension within him. Even if they delayed Lavos’ awakening by a minute, would that make any difference to the timeline? He stared, watching for nothing to happen. “I suppose it’s better than watching 12,000 BC over and over,” he muttered.

“Indeed,” said Gaspar, watching the skyline of Guardia, waiting to see Lavos tear the ground asunder. Even without looking at Spekkio, he could sense the same sense of dread from his only ally.

The two watched, and waited. A flock of seagulls flew across the scene, hiding the landscape beneath their cloud-white wings.