Chrono Trigger: ReDreamt

-X-

Cambiamenti

Having rushed through the gate in Leene's Square to the time gate, Alphonz, Crono, and Lucca found themselves before Cecelia's house. The door lay wide open and half of the building suffered fire damage. Alphonz hurried within, skirting around broken glass and furniture strewn about everywhere. He came to a halt before a corpse that was so thoroughly mutilated it was barely recognizable; Cecelia's father. With a sharp gasp the cat rushed up the damaged steps to the second floor, straight into Cecelia's room. There she lay, bled out from the neck, with all of her jewelry torn off the body. While the room had been lit aflame, a rain spell must have snuffed it out… but the damage had been done.

"Alphonz!" Crono came to a halt by the burned stairs, which obviously would not support his weight if he tried. "Alphonz, what's happened?"

"…She…" The cat shook it's head, backing out to the staircase. "Someone… Bandits?"

"What the… holy fuck…" Crono gazed around at room.

"I… I must go to the start of this mess!" Alphonz yelped, coming down quickly. "I fear to go alone…"

"You can count me in." Crono gave him a firm nod. The cat nodded back and led them outside.

"What's…?" Lucca knew the answer as soon as she looked at the two emerge. "… I see."

"We shall travel back to the turning point of this event," Alphonz muttered. "Bring yourself to the End of Time and tell Gaspar what has happened! With any luck he shall be able to find you a way to follow… we will need assistance."

"Right." Lucca knelt down and carefully hug Alphonz all of a sudden. The cat froze, gazing at her in shock. "Alphonz, I'm so sorry…"

"…I…"

"You'll get it fixed! I know it! I'll get back ASAP!" She let him go. "Crono, you be careful too!"

"Got it."

Lucca tore off like the wind. Alphonz watched for the greatest time in silence… "…She… why?"

He shook his head and leapt onto Crono's shoulder. He spoke firmly, "Bear with me, then, for I must encompass you in my own distortion. It is best you not mention the experience to anybody… It may make you a slight bit unwell."

Crono merely nodded. The cat then bristled his fur and concentrated deeply. A faint bubble-like shape appeared around him, something Crono had never quite seen before. It reflected scenes that were very much not happening around the two, but before Crono could get a look at it, it engulfed the pair. Time froze completely still as the world lost all its color before them… Then the scenery seemed to melt away in an oily sheen to a dark, damp evening. Thunder rolled about the clouds above, threatening to split them open and pour rain. There was the house, door wide open, with the lights off. Alphonz immediately leapt inside.

Inside the event had already begun, it seemed, for they found Todd freshly dead on the main floor. Ignoring this completely the cat rushed up the stairs and came to a halt in the bedroom, Crono following shortly after. There, a woman in a cape was busily prying the jewelry off the bleeding Cecelia, humming happily.

"More for the collection… hm!"

"Hey!" Crono drew his sword instantly.

"Hm!" The woman stood up and looked back at Crono and Alphonz, growing a smirk. She turned smoothly pushing her ponytail back. Within a hand she grasped a very large scythe with a flower motif carved into it. "What have we here?"

"One pissed off person, that's what!"

"Oh ho ho ho!" The woman shook with laughter, "A hero has come to save the maiden! Too late, she lies dead."

"Y…y… g…!" Alphonz stammered, bristled with rage.

"Mother FUCKER!" Crono shouted, "Dammit, we didn't warp back far enough!"

"Ah yes!" The woman gazed down at Alphonz. "Well if it isn't dearest Hearth. The sweet little cat finally gets his for abandoning us, hmm?"

"FLEA, YOU BASTARD!" Alphonz roared.

"Ah, and now you can talk! How annoyingly cute!"

"Listen, lady, you fucked with the wrong group of people!" Crono gripped his weapon tightly.

"Clearly you know not who you trifle with. Ah well, come, take a stab at it!"

"I think I will!" The woman stood with a smile as Crono charged; Alphonz cast a spectrum element onto the blade. Right as Crono was within striking distance, Flea threw a hand out and countered with another Spectrum spell. Crono and Alphonz were knocked away violently, with the cat yowling in agony. Crono quickly leapt to his feet, angry as ever.

"Why do you even bother?" Flea suddenly shot over like the wind, without feet ever touching the floor. With a great swing, scythe met sword- Crono blocked with all his strength, but could feel an unnatural force propelling the mage's weapon. Flea laughed amusedly, "Pardon me, but the point of this is…?"

"The point is this isn't suppose to happen!"

Flea suddenly swung the scythe back, bringing it down and missing Crono horribly - except, the weapon did cleave Alphonz entirely in half. The bubble-like distortion around him seemed to collapse, causing the cat to disappear in an instant. Flea jumped back, bringing the scythe into a ready position.

"Hoo, boy, that's a bad thing." Crono stared in disbelief.

"So, handsome…! Now what?"

"What the HELL is the point of this for YOU? These people did nothing wrong!"

"When I am given orders, I merely carry them out!"

"And who's the bastard who ordered you to do this?"

"My Lord Magus, of course!" Flea laughed merrily, "And I did a fantastic job! Destroy little mage Alphonz's connections and that pesky, intrusive little cat! Since he turned on us we had no choice but to purge him."

"So you're with Magus."

"That I am. But, so was your cat."

"He quit."

Flea burst out laughing, "Dearest Hearth, bearing the soul of the mighty Alphonz! To use Lavos to gain his mortality or to at least purge the world of all company was his intent! Too bad, we'll just fix that in the future!"

"You're gonna fucking use LAVOS?" Crono screamed, "Do you have any frickin' idea what the HELL you're doing?"

"I only do what I am ordered to do! No less!"

"Yeah. It's people like you that are the reason our world got turned into an ash tray."

"Just as it was meant to be! Just like this house!" Flea burst out laughing before suddenly being engulfed in flames and disappearing without a trace. The flames however remained, setting several objects ablaze. Crono cursed loudly, running over to check on Cecelia.

Somehow, just somehow, she was still breathing.

"Hang in there, Cecelia!" He picked her up, "Don't you dare die on me!"

He fled the house as the rain began. As soon as the flames licked through the weak roofing, they were snuffed by the strong downfall. Crono ran to a tree away from the house, setting Cecelia down in the grass. "Hey, you still there? Don't talk, just nod?"

"Al…" she gurgled wetly.

"Listen, we've done a couple of odd things with time. You just worry about your own self right now." He winced at the sight of her wounds, which were all rather deep cuts around the neck area. She looked absolutely horrible, so he immediately began to tear parts of his shirt off into strips, to use as wrap. "Aw shit…"

"Life… carries on… and… on…"

"Yeah, it does. And YOU are going to carry on and on. You are not fuckin dying on me when you're so close to getting what you want most. So think happy thoughts!" He wrapped her up and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. She winced violently, but what could he do in this situation? "Think positive, Cecelia. And if you have a second, pray. This would be easier if I had curative magic instead of just attack stuff…"

"…I… apologize…"

"You haven't done anything wrong. Hell, you've done nothing but what's -right.- Save your strength for staying alive, Cecelia." He looked around, cursing, "I just wonder why nobody's coming to help!"

Just as he said that, a very familiar 'ribbit' came from down the path. Crono looked up instantly to see Frog running his heart out for the house. With a gasp, Crono called out as loud as he could, "FROG! Over here!"

Changing directions, the amphibian came over as fast as he could. "Lad! And fair maiden Cecelia!"

"Yeah, we got a problem down here. Cecelia took some nasty hits from that Flea lady. We need serious help."

"'Tis no lady. 'Tis a black hearted, wicked man." Frog reached into his cloak and drew out a dark, amber colored bottle and opened it quickly. He began to carefully dab Cecelia's wounds with the medicine within.

"…man?"

"Verily." Frog did a much better job at tending to Cecelia than Crono had, "'Tis a corruption of his true form, but he is indeed of the sterner gender."

"W…where…?" Cecelia murmured.

"Ssh. Save thine breath, fair maiden. Ask when thou hast grown of stronger constitution." Frog looked up at Crono, "She may live the night, or she may not. Her chances would be greatly improved with better facilities, however."

"Think we can get her to Guardia ca-"

"CRONO!"

Crono looked back to see Marle and Lucca coming at top speed. Marle came skidding to a halt, and spoke between heavy pants, "Here! I am! To help!"

"Thank God! Listen, we need to move Cecelia to Guardia Castle. She's in serious bad shape."

Frog glanced up at Marle with a shock, "'Tis… thou dost indeed look much like her Highness."

"Hello, Froggy!" Marle quickly used healing magic on the wounded lady, "That should keep her held together until we get there!"

Lucca wheezed heavily, "Gaspar altered the gate just enough to get here in time…"

"Thank you, Gaspar. Alrighty, the sooner we move her, the better."

"Indeed!" Frog assisted in lifting up Cecelia.

"Lucca, take the rear!" Marle drew out her crossbow, "Anything dares get in front or behind us is goin' down, baby!"

Lucca drew her gun and nodded, "Yeah! Let's go!"

"Thanks, ladies!" Crono nodded and the crew took off.

They slipped through the dark, wet woods without much issue to the castle. As soon as they reached it, Marle turned around and shouted, "I'll tell them what's happening while you go straight downstairs for the beds, okay?"

"Roger!" As Marle split off, Crono and Frog immediately went around the bend and down the stairs, bursting into the room. Several guards moved out of the way as they entered, with many of the attendants looking up with a gasp.

"Assistance, please!" Frog yelped. Immediately the attendants cleared a bed and the guards helped lay Cecelia down in it. The nurses were summoned and they got straight to work on Cecelia, providing the needed care for her wounds. One of the women split off and stopped by the group.

"Goodness, what has happened?"

"T'was the foul creature, Flea, who didst strike."

"Yeah." Crono growled, "Killed Todd and just about got Cecelia. If I ever see that guy again I am SO going to cream him."

"Ugh, such vermin!" The woman shuddered. "I shall dance the day that lot falls. We thank you for bringing her!"

"Glad I could."

Marle came down, dragging the wheezing Lucca to a chair. "'Kay! We've been cleared!"

"I can walk…!" Lucca gasped.

"Not in that state, you can't!"

"And now you know what it feels like to be dragged by Marle, Lucca." Crono grinned a little, Lucca merely let out a sigh. Frog, though, looked at Marle with a smile.

"Thou art indeed a high-spirited lass."

"That's me! You must be Frog." She waved, "Alphonz told me about you!"

"!" Frog ribbited in surprise, "You discovered the whereabouts of the mage, Alphonz?"

"Uh…" Crono scratched his face. "Yes and no…"

"Did you see a kitty with those guys before?" Marle giggled. "That's,,, kinda Alphonz."

"You speak a riddle to mine ears, fair maided. What is it you mean?"

"He's turned into the cat."

"What a wretched turn of luck. Prithee… was he… the cat that was with you, lad?"

"Bingo."

"According to Lucca, somebody murdered his human form…"

"Mm." Frog sighed. "Would be no surprise to mine ears… I had hoped against hope he had not perished, however…"

"I heard that you have the downy-downs, mister Froggy!" Marle put her hands on her hips. "I have but one thing to say to you!"

"Yes, lass?"

"As Princess Nadia Guardia of the year 1000 AD I hereby pronounce you a knight of the future! And for being so brave and saving a young maiden," She bent over and kissed him right on the nose, "I present you the gift of a kiss! Now stop BEING SO SAD!"

Frog glanced over at Crono.

"Yes, she's from the future; yes, she is a descendant of Queen Leene; yes, you ARE a lucky guy to get a kiss; and NO, she doesn't take 'no' as an answer."

Frog glanced the other way. "'Tis more complicated than thou must think, fair maiden."

"Ah ah!" She raised a finger, "Ssh!"

"That's a 'no' answer…" Crono explained.

"I won't let you get away with that. Don't make me hug you, mister!"

Frog let off a surprised ribbit.

"She'll do it, too, until you cheer up!" Crono winked.

"Please…" Frog looked down. "Thou must think it rude of me to say this, but mine ill humours will plague me to the grave."

"THAT'S IT!" She hugged him, and he gave off another startled ribbit, "Geez, you and Alphonz must trade woe secrets!"

The attendant-woman laughed, "I hate to break up the scene, but you are allowed, travelers, to rest here for the night. I fear there aren't any open beds, however…"

"No prob!" Marle kept hugging.

"I can do the floor." Crono nodded, glancing at Lucca who was almost already asleep in her chair.

"'Tis an interesting method of curing one's gloom, I admit…"

"Are you happy yet? Cuz you know I think frogs are cute and could hug you until next week!"

"I shan't be happy 'till Magus is vanquished by mine own hand."

"TEN MORE MINUTES, BUSTER!"

"Aaand incidentally," Crono added, "You and I need to talk about that, Frog."

"Aw! Should I let him go?"

"Hell NO." Crono laughed. "This doesn't need to be done in private.

"'kay!"

Exactly ten minutes later, Marle asked sweetly, "Happy yet?"

Frog cleared his throat and turned lie-mode on. "Quite."

"GOOD!" She let him go. "I'll do it again if I must!"

"P-perish the thought."

"Better be happy." She winked.

"Indeed…"

"So, Frog, anyway, about you wanting to slay Magus and all… um… y'see, we're kinda thinking of maybe working in that general direction."

Frog was shocked. "You wish… lad, hast thou gone insane? Magus's powers are far more lethal than I think you comprehend."

"Compared to what will happen if he sticks around, I think Magus is kind of a small fry, actually." Crono sighed. "Listen, it needs to happen. Otherwise the Earth goes boom in the year 1999."

"Aww!" Marle whined. "Can't we be depressed TOMORROW? Let's deal with it then! I'm tired!"

"Mm…thou dost have a point! Perhaps t'would be wise to retire and continue this upon the morn?"

Most randomly, with a loud 'bamf', a certain purple cat appeared, shaking with pain and purring violently because of it. Marle gasped, "Alphonz!"

"Hey!" Crono knelt down, beaming, "You're in one piece!"

"…painful…"

"I bet so. Anything we can do?"

"No…" Alphonz collapsed and closed his eyes.

"…I think he's doing it." Marle picked him up and cradled him.

"…'tis strange… to think a man caught in the body of a feline. And yet I… mm, yes, 'tis a wise idea indeed. I bid thee goodnight, friends."

"Goodnight!" Marle nodded. "Hey, can we have some blankets, please?"

"Yes ma'am." The attendant dug out spares and gave one to everyone. She tucked Lucca into her chair with one, setting the girl's glasses carefully on the table beside.

"Thanks, ma'am." Crono smiled and sat against a wall, curling up in his blanket.

Marle threw hers around herself and Alphonz, instantly snuggling up against Crono. "Snuggly! Good night!"

"G-g-goodnight."

Marle shifted a little, let off a soft sigh, and worked on sleeping while holding Alphonz close. Crono chuckled a little, resting his head back and closing his eyes as well.

In hazy dreams, Crono found himself standing in an endless plain of water, a sunset sky crowning over him like a dome. A cool, misty breeze rolled past as he sleepily gazed around, wondering where he was. He could feel the water seeping into the seams of his shoes, surprised at how realistic it all felt. A strong gust drifted by as a blue-and-green butterfly came flitting about. He watched it as it landed on the water, flicking its wings a little. Before long it burst into light, reforming into a crouching figure who rose shakily, back turned to Crono. She gave off an angelic aura…

"…who… are you?" Crono was stunned.

The woman gazed down, her deep blue hair cascading down her back. "The voice of the winds, one who has gone astray…"

"Where are we? Man, this is some dream…!" He laughed, but then gazed down at her feet in the water. A cloud of red was forming around her in the water at quite an alarming rate. "H-hey! Are you alright?"

"A visitor from the future, are you not? An outsider to this time." The woman shook her head lightly. "There will come a great pain upon you, traveler…"

"What?" Crono looked down at himself, to find he was bleeding all over. "H-HEY! What's going on?"

"What will you do with the time Luck has granted you?" The woman looked up at the sky, before morphing back into the butterfly that flit away silently. The water around Crono abruptly flooded with red.

He woke up with a start, sweating violently. He gasped, looking around. "…j-just a nightmare. God Almighty…"

With a sigh, he started to calm down. Gazing down, he found he somehow wound up, in the course of slumbering, with Marle in his arms, who was asleep herself. She moved slightly, due to Crono's sudden movement. He sloooowly eased back down, blushing deep red. His gaze rolled about the room… everyone else was asleep, save for an attendant beside Cecelia's bed who was reading a book under candlelight. Also, in the far corner, he spotted Alphonz, facing the wall with his ears slicked, as far away from Cecelia as possible. Dammit, Alphonz… well at least he's alive.

Crono was suddenly bumped into by a figure in robes. He looked up with a start just as they bolted past - he caught glimpse of a woman's face, but was interrupted when Marle was violently jerked out of his lap. There was a faint snap noise, as the figure tore off up the stairs!

"Ugh!" Marle sat up instantly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Mother of Cabbage! Ah! My necklace…!"

Crono instantly got up and tore after. The thief paused momentarily, seeming to panic, before taking off outside. The woman, as she ran, had a very distinct limp of the left leg. Marle and Crono followed, with the princess pulling out her crossbow. Though the woman continued (panting worse than Lucca did), Marle skidded to a halt, took aim, and fired off an arrow.

The woman suddenly stumbled forward with a gasp, with the projectile sticking out of her leg. She painfully tried to keep walking, before collapsing and trying to -drag- herself away. It was laughably easy, then, for the two to pin her down.

"Of all the things I HATE it's thieves!" Marle shouted.

"P-please!" The woman begged, "Let me go!"

"How about NO?" Crono shouted, "You come in, almost rip the head off my friend, take her necklace and try to run awa… and then expect me to let you go?"

The woman broke out into deep, soulful sobs. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody…."

Marle yanked her pendant back out of the woman's hand. Crono growled, "Listen, there's a way to go about things in life. Stealing isn't one of those ways. Alright then, who the heck are you?"

The woman muttered in a familiar voice, "R… Reiz."

"…Reiz, huh?" Crono blinked. "You sound a bit… familiar."

The setting moon reflected off of her black… no, it was dark blue, silky hair. She wore a crushed velvet robe, but felt intensely weak under Crono's arms. She gave off a soft, calm aura even though she was shaking all over. He gasped, realizing. "Holy shit. How in the Hell… did you get in my freaking nightmare?"

"I… ggh…"

"Hold still." Marle, still sore, ripped the arrow out of the woman's leg, who shrieked.

"Ah jeez, Marle." Crono winced. "There had to be a less painful way of doing that."

Marle sighed bitterly. "Fine. Let me heal your wound, okay?"

"I'd rather not," Reiz muttered, "It's…"

"Come on! Better than bleeding to death!"

"Honestly? Um…"

"Oh, what could poss-" Marle flipped the cloak up enough to see Reiz's leg. Slowly her eyes grew wide with horror. Crono blinked and looked over… it looked as if somebody had taken a razor blade to the woman's leg. It was entirely covered in still-pink scar tissue, flecked with white and the open, bleeding puncture wound. It looked incredibly painful and how she was walking was a mystery.

"Mother fugger!" Crono exclaimed. "Who the hell put you through the meat grinder, lady?"

"Sosueira…" The woman muttered.

"Yeah. That was pretty much Greek to me. Alright. I'm going to get off you now. Promise not to run away?"

"There's too much… p-pain to even walk." She winced.

"Exactly." As Crono unpinned her, Marle thought hard before whispering.

"Uh, usually I don't say smart things, but ya know, 'Sosueira' means 'Sister'."

Crono blinked and whispered back. "Serious?"

Marle nodded. Crono shuddered, "Now that is not kosher."

"…pardon me?" Reiz staggered painfully onto her feet.

"Er, nothing!" Marle helped her stand.

"Alright, Reiz," Crono looked at her, "Now why are you trying to steal from us?"

"… I need to find a way home."

"Where's home?"

"…I can't… really say…"

"Can't or won't?"

"I can't." Reiz sighed. "For I shall be beheaded."

"Whoa. Hold that thought right there. Beheaded?" She nodded at him. "Jesus. What kind of sicko lives where you do?"

"Sosueira."

"Eeurgh!" Marle yelped.

"And you want to go back there? What kinda crack you on, girl?"

"…Somebody misses me dearly."

"Hopefully not the same person who wants to test their newest 'toy' on you. Cause in that case, you're best off keeping away."

"No." Reiz sighed. "Besides, If I told you where… you wouldn't believe me."

"Oh yeah?" Marle put her hands on her hips. "Try it."

"A kingdom that floats above the endless sea of clouds, anchored by magic to the earth below."

Marle and Crono just stared. Crono coughed. "…well you certainly aren't from around here. I'm not a big history whiz, but I don't think we have any floating kingdoms in this time period."

Marle added, "I've never even HEARD of something that absurd!"

"Hey, I didn't believe in time travel either, Marle. You see where that got me."

Marle sighed. "I suppose. So what are we going to do with miss Bluehair Reiz here?"

"You spared my life…" She looked at them. "The only favor I could possibly return is to protect yours."

"…you don't get out often, do you?" Crono blinked. "Typically thievery really isn't just the kind of crime that warrants a death penalty."

Reiz closed her eyes with a sigh. A soft breeze rolled by. "Please… let me… I may not be… physically strong, but I have my talents. And it is rather important to me…"

"…Ooo-kay. Well, I'm not going to debate the issue. Could use all the help we could get."

"Just no stealing my stuff ever again!"

Reiz nodded. "It is a promise bound to my heart. Except, well… I may have to theft another item from you. A cane, or a walking stick… mine was broken over my head a cycle ago."

"Mother of… you're just beat to pieces, aren't you?"

"I just chose not to use force at that time." She smiled sweetly. "They sometimes frighten me, so I am careful with them."