Chrono Trigger: ReDreamt

-XII -

Per Essere un Eroe…

Reiz followed the soft breezes to the entrance of a woods, marked with great warning signs. Most read in some form or another 'CURSED WOODS: STAY AWAY' in bold, dark letters. She cautiously peered past the signs into the dark path, listening. Birds and frogs filled the air with their songs; carefully, she started in. The ground was damp and littered with the debris typical of a woods, but for being so 'cursed' it was actually quite peaceful. She came to a sharp halt as she heard movement from the trees around her, calmly gazing about.

Rustle rustle… clamber clamber… from the treeline came a blue creature, rather large and of a joyful blue color, with a tuft of green hair upon its head. A Nu, to be precise, that most people wanted to avoid for their ability to beat you within an inch of your life. But it stared at Reiz and she stared back, giving a smile and kneeling down.

"Hello there, Brother. A blessed day, is it not?"

The Nu was shocked! "Hello, Sister. Yes it is. Why are you here?"

"I am looking for another Brother, that in the form of a frog."

"Over this way." The Nu started off, making sure she followed. The other beasties kept well away from the pair as he stopped by some bushes. "Under these. There's a ladder, but Sister, you look hurt. Can you make it?"

"Yes, thank you!" She dug in a pocket and offered over a shiny coin, "Here you are, for your help."

The Nu took it with a big smile, moving it about to see the light reflect off of it. Reiz chuckled, walking behind the bushes, where indeed there was a hole with a ladder. She knelt down, then shouted in, "Hello down there!"

"Hmm?" There came the distinct ribbit, "Who goes there?"

"Lady Reiz, may I enter?"

"Ah! Yes, fair maiden, at thy leisure."

Reiz left her staff topside and started down the latter with care. Her wincing was visible every time she put weight on her left leg; Frog immediately brought a chair beside the ladder and helped her down the last length of the rungs. With a long sigh, she sat back in the chair, then laughed, "It's hell getting old. Thank you."

"Thou has seen better days, I confess, but I think it not due to thine age. Do tell, what brings thee to mine humble abode?" Frog bowed his head a little, "Pardon the shabbiness of it, but one can do only so much with earth and moss."

Indeed, it was at best a hole; a bed, table, and other such furniture were set around in sparse amounts. But at least it was private, cool, and a roof over one's head. Reiz merely shook her head, "I've dwelt in much worse! I've come to apologize about my rude sendoff."

"Mm... t'was no insult. Thou spoke sooth, even if the delivery may have been heavy-handed. Pay it no mind, I hold no grudge."

"Alright… then I come with a bit of curiosity… first off, why are you living in a hole, for goodness's sakes?"

"Mine form is a corruption of man. I took to hiding here to escape the eyes of my fellows. Enough time spent in a place and the heart grows a fondness for it, however."

"Oh? You are like the cat, then?" She sat up a little straighter. "He ran off not long ago at the bridge."

"Perhaps, in a manner of speaking... from what I gathered, his soul was forcefully thrust into its feline cage. I am merely... cursed. 'Tis odd he wouldst flee, though, now that the mind wanders to it."

"He seemed set on a path, though… I'm certain we'll find him again. But, right now, I'm here by myself," she explained with a concerned look, "The others are off searching for the Masamune."

"Hm." Frog grew a thoughtful look, then let off a ribbit. "T'would be terribly difficult to use that blade now."

"Ah, so you know of its fate!"

"Indeed. T'was... broken in two."

"Oh dear…" Reiz shook her head. She could feel her knife under her robes grow warm. "Do you know where the pieces are?"

"That I do. One half, the blade, lays enshrined at the peak of the Denadoro Mountains, to the east. The hilt I selfishly keep as a momento..."

"Woah, woah!" A new voice was heard beside Reiz, "You can't just KEEP it in a basket!"

Not surprisingly, Frog was quite started. "Who goes there!"

Within seconds an imp faded into view beside Reiz, resting against her chair some. It wore a really plain-looking robe, but unlike any other of the species Frog had ever seen, this one felt intelligent and peaceful. Reiz sighed a little, then laughed. "This is Doreen, Frog."

"I see... Prithee... where didst thou hide thineself so adeptly?"

"I'm Reiz's knife, the Blood Muse's Knife, whatever have you." Doreen nodded in greeting.

"A spirited blade? Then art thou like the Masamune? Cyrus claimed it spoke on occasion."

"Yes!" Doreen nodded again. "Masa and Mune are my family, man. I'm their older sister and I haven't seen head nor tail of either in a lifetime!"

"Doreen was created beside the Masamune for a much different purpose," Reiz explained, "For a young woman bearing fair looks and thus much unwanted attention."

"Ahh... such situations I am closely familiar with. A young lady can attract trouble at an alarming pace." Frog nodded.

"So true," Doreen grinned, "But, it's not just a regular sword. You can't keep it as a momento, that's just… man, that's not cool. They must be feeling so sick and tired where-ever they are if they're broken."

"I was unaware that it t'would cause troubles on any soul! My sincerest apologies! We could not repair the blade... for that matter, when it was first come upon, it was in terrible disrepair. We did our best to restore it to pristine glory, but it was obvious to all eyes that time had left its scars." He ribbited, then glanced away. "Mayhaps that was our fatal mistake, taking an injured blade into battle with a matchless foe... one of many such errors."

"In either case," Reiz chimed in, "We have yet a chance to repair this blade! When we do, won't you have the chance to undo this spot you're in, Frog?"

"I... I am unfit to bear it. I may have been a better swordsman than Cyrus, but I haven't his spirit. I would be ill-suited to a weapon of such calibur as the Masamune."

"Hmm." Doreen walked up to him and looked at him closely. She wandered around him several times, before stepping back to Reiz's side. "If you say so, but, we'd still really like the chance to fix the sword."

"T'would be cruel to leave a spirit broken and incomplete as I have done. The hilt you saw in the basket was, by no means, that of the Masamune." He walked back to the rear bookcase and pulled down a heavy box. Removing the lid, he brought the hilt back to the pair, where it was wrapped in silk. "Thou may take it back. If the repair proves successful... do give the spirits my apologies."

"No problem, thanks." Doreen nodded. "However, I can't carry it, sorry, Reiz!"

"No, no, not an issue." Reiz nodded to Doreen, who vanished. She carefully took the piece from the box, keeping it wrapped up. "I'll make sure they know. Well, let me not bother you a minute longer! You have quite the friendly Nu upstairs, did you know?"

Frog laughed. "Yes! He is a dear soul, as kind and gentle as any could be. We've had many a meal together as compatriots."

"A wonderful thing to hear." Reiz laughed, tucking the hilt away in her robes and getting up. "In that case, a most blessed day to you, Brother!"

"And thee as well, Sister! May luck travel in thy midst!"

After a bit more laughter, Reiz hauled herself up the ladder. At the top, the Nu helped her back to the surface, letting the winded woman use it as a seat and offering up her staff. The woman laughed, "Goodness, so much work for a stranger!"

"Brothers and Sisters who know the words of Peace and Nu are not strangers by any means." It happily waited until she rose again, but then asked, "Do you have to leave right away?"

"No, not for a little, I do not believe."

"Tell me about this thing!" The Nu pointed at his coin.

"Ah." Reiz sat back down in the grass. "This is a first minted coin bearing the image of…"

"Yes, indeed, we know of the new Hero!"

"Fantastic!" Marle spoke through a pint, with Crono staring on in disbelief. "See, we're looking for the guy and maybe you might be able to send us in the right direction?"

"Sure!" The man beside her grinned, "The kid Tata, doesn't live too far from here! He's got the Hero's Medal and the spirit of a true hero! He's off looking for the Masamune at the Dendaro Mountains!"

"Oh wow!" Marle giggled drunkenly, "The Hero's Medal!"

"Uh, and wearing it makes him a hero, how, again?" Crono scratched his head, wondering if he should take Marle's mug away.

"Didn't you pay attention in history class?" She asked, waving the mug slightly. "The Hero of Guardia will appear, designated by the Hero's Medal! It's only local folklore, you silly. I think it was… wait, wait… yeah! The missing princess Celine had it commissioned for a man by the name of Linneaus or something…"

"Oh, poor Celine!" A man started bawling. "Such a cute princess too!"

"Princess Celine?"

"Man, Crono, you're soooo stupid!" Marle laughed at him. "In like 560 AD there was Princess Celine Guardia… except she was kidnapped once. A man named Linneaus so totally found her, and he was given the Medal. But then they went off somewhere and were never seen again. Legend has it that Hero Linneaus's spirit will be reincarnated and the person will be known cuz he'll have the Medal! You're soooooo stupid!"

"You already said that, thanks."

"Thanks fellas fer the info! And thanks fer the pint!" Marle downed the rest of it in one great gulp, with a loud gasp afterwards. "Now I'm ready for anything!"

"Sure thing!" The drunkards all waved as she hopped off the stool and wandered waveringly to the door. "Come back any time!"

"Uh…" Crono followed her out, "Marle?"

"Yeeesh?"

"Do you have any idea how smashed you are?"

"Listen." She jabbed a finger at his chest. "I'm smashed only when I can't see straight and right now I see you two just fine, okay?"

"Alright, you're not going anywhere. Why don't we head to the Inn and take a rest, huh?"

"No way! We gotta go find tha HERO! You ain't getting in my way, nope, not at all, sir!" She started off in the rough direction of the mountains - even to the drunk, such a landmark was obvious. "C'mon Crono, we got a sword to find!"

Crono shook his head and followed. Eventually though they reached the foot of the mountains, and both paused to take in the peaceful scenery. The sunlight filtered prettily through the trees scattered about, and it was quiet and calm. Marle gasped, "Wow, what pretty scenery!"

"Yeah!" Crono smiled wide, "This would probably make a grade-A picnic spot."

Just as he finished the thought, a loud shriek was heard. Marle nearly leapt out of her pants, "Eeek! Trouble at ten'o'clock!"

"Maybe not a good picnic spot!" Crono and Marle rushed to the sound of the cry. There before them ran a little boy in a cape, hauling a big sword under one arm. An imp, roughly the same size as he was, chased the child, cackling. The two were almost about to whip out their weapons when Marle paused.

"…wait a minute." She thought. "Little kid… sword… cape…"

"Please no." Crono wailed.

"'Fraid so."

"BACK, YOU FIEND!" Tata shouted as he ran as fast as he could, bawling, "H-h-how dare you do this to the Great Hero Tata!"

"Sneeheehee!" The imp did not ease up in the slightest.

"Alright, I'll save the 'hero.'" Crono sighed and wandered over. He shouted, "Yo! Mystic guy!"

"HEY DUDE," Tata yelled, "Run while you can! This place SUCKS!"

The imp skidded to a halt at the sight of Crono and fled, shrieking. "Eek~"

"Jeeze, I didn't know I was that ugly…"

Tata came to a halt, panting and falling to his knees. "First killer chickens, then imps, and then a purple cat…!"

"A… cat? Purple? Kinda small? Speaks?"

"A DEMON cat!" Tata tore at his hair. "This isn't how it's suppose to work out!"

"Uh…" Marle kneeled down. "What? I'm a leeeetle drunk right now so if you'd explain…"

"Okay, so I found this medal in the café on a table. Put it on and went to play with my friends as a hero, right? So, so Mary's dad comes by and sees me, and suddenly everyone in town is calling me a Great Hero! It was kinda fun at first…"

"Heeey! I pretended to be Queen Leene too! That was fun!"

"Yeah, pretending is fun, but nobody else is pretending!" He rubbed a few bitter tears from his eyes. "They sent me to find a stupid sword and then there were CHICKENS. And after the chickens was that imp! Then there was the demon cat! I don't wanna be a hero no more!"

"Wait!" Marle took him by the shoulders, "You're NOT the reincarnation of the Hero Linneaus?"

"I don't even know how to SPELL that name! I'm only six!"

"Then who does the medal actually belong to?" Crono knelt down.

"I don't know! Here, I just wanna go home!" Tata pulled the medal off and handed it to Crono. "Please don't be mad at me!"

"Poor thing!" Marle hugged Tata as he began crying. "Now now, you run right on home and we'll bring the medal back to whoever it belongs to, 'kay?"

"You smell like Daddy when he comes home from the pub." Tata got up and wiped his eyes. "I'm never gonna do this ever again!"

"Good," Crono nodded at him, pocketing the medal unceremoniously. "Go on, then, your parents have to be worried sick."

Tata ran off, with Marle waving. "Goodbye, fake reincarnation of Hero Linneaus!"

"Bye, drunk lady!"

"They're so cute at that age!" Marle swept away a tear.

"…um… riiiiiight…" Crono hauled Marle back up to her feet. "Well if they sent him here, maybe that crazy sword really is around. Especially if he saw Alphonz… that cat is starting to freak me out."

"Let's find him!" Marle started off again.

They scaled the mountainside, punting imps left and right and coming across the gang of unruly… chickens. The chickens were surprisingly fierce, but Crono and Marle fought bravely and forced them to flee into the wilds. Crono was absolutely flabbergasted. "Those chickens -were- dynamite."

"Looky!" Marle pointed at a cave, where little bitty kitten prints were seen in the sand within. "Cat tracks!"

"That must be Alphonz!" The two entered the cave, to find the kitten staring down two children that looked identical, save for the colored collars of their robes. Obviously they were engaged in some sort of fight, for the kids were sweating hard and Alphonz had his fur stuck in a bristle.

"Alphonz! Do you need help?" Marle drunkenly ran up beside him with her crossbow.

"For the love of Frigidan, woman, you reek of the bottle!" Alphonz stepped away.

"Wait!" One of the imps shouted, "Time out!"

"We don't fight girls! Especially drunk ones!"

"Then you must claim me victor, for before she showed up you two were in quite the spot of trouble!" Alphonz smirked.

"I suppose it's only fair…"

"We did our best. No regrets here. But, like, do the rules apply to this?"

"He was once a man, so I suppose so… Man, this is sooo awkward!"

"Yeah, little bro. And he barely broke a sweat! Even Cyrus was hurtin' after his trial."

"Bro, cats don't sweat."

"Uh… well… figure of speech, little bro."

"Yeah, okay."

"Enough with the idle chatter!" Alphonz hissed, annoyed.

"Uhh, yeah!" Masa sweated.

"Don't smite us, kitty." Mune gulped.

"Well," Crono blinked, "Alphonz has been busy."

"Beating up little kids, it seems! For shame, Alphonz!" Marle yelped.

"Maybe they're some kind of super magicians or something?"

Marle giggled, "Ya know, I'm drunk enough that it wouldn't be a surprise."

"Well, it was fun!" Masa shouted, "Let's go, Mune! Whoosh!"

"Yeah! Let's do it, Masa!"

The two leapt at each other with a burst of light, merging. The light settled on the cavern floor in a beam of light, then dispersed to reveal the bottom half of a blade. Chipped and broken, dull and hiltless… it looked useless to unknowing eyes. But Marle let off a cheer, "The SWORD! Hey, good going, Alphonz!"

"Sweet!" Crono beamed, "Thanks, Alphonz!"

"Tis… as I feared. It will need mending." Alphonz sighed. "Crono, you must bear it for me. Could I even carry it in this form, I am undeserving."

"We getting back into the gloom?"

"I haven't left it."

Marle groaned. "…just go get the sword."

"Seriously, though, you need some stuffed animal catnip." Crono retrieved the blade carefully. He was surprised how light it felt… Marle picked up Alphonz and force-cuddled the kitten against his will.

"Well! Now we got the kitty and the poking stick, let's go see if Reiz is still alive!"

"Meeting somebody?" Masa shouted.

"Need a lift?" Mune cheered.

"Uh… sure!" Marle giggled.

"Whoosh! Ride the wind!"

"Fly, baby, fly!"

A strong column of wind swirled into the cavern. It stirred the dust, and Marle gasped. In her drunken stupor, she wandered straight into it, being carefully lifted up and away… Crono watched in silence, then nearly tore his hair out. "This is the second vortex this week…!"

He could only follow along. However, this trip was a lot more enjoyable… as if light as a feather he was lifted over the beautiful scenery at a pleasant, soothing pace. He was gently brought down, landing somewhere just as soft and heavenly. He let off a sigh, then looked up.

"Wow!" Marle giggled, holding him in her arms. "Men! From the sky! I'm so keeping this one!"

Crono flinched, flushing. Alphonz sat upon Marle's shoulder and said nothing. Marle gasped, "Oh, and he's changing colors!"

"Must be a curse," Alphonz warned, "You must remedy this before he turns into a toad!"

Marle, in her drunkeness, leaned her head in and planted a kiss on Crono's lips, then shouted, "Crisis adverted!"

"!" He completely matched his hair color. "Hey! That's not fair! Aren't I the one that's suppose to be sweeping you off your feet?"

"Yet you never do! Hmm!"

"O-oh. Right…" He laughed exceedingly nervously, "Er… waiting for a good moment…"

She set him down and winked. "Uh-huh. I'm holding you to it, buster."

"I-I'll try not to disappoint." OH SWEET JESUS! Crono nearly burst apart in joy.

"Let's go find Reiz before you explode. You look like an overripe tomato!"

"Sorry. Happens to us." He shrugged with another awkward laugh, as Marle stumbled off.

They met Reiz outside of the forest, where she was absolutely beaming. A blue flower was pinned to her cloak, a most beautiful looking thing. Marle and Crono came up, grinning from ear to ear at the sight of a happy Reiz. Marle gasped, "There you are! What a pretty flower!"

"Heya! Well, you look a little happier!"

"Yes, taking some time to chat with the native Nu population tends to do that for me." She laughed. "What did you find?"

"A fake hero and part of a sword. And Alphonz, see?" Marle held him up.

"Also, this medal thing."

"Medal? Let me see…"

Crono offered it over. Marle explained, "The Hero's medal! It belonged to a guy named Linneaus. He disappeared, and whoever shows up with it is suppose to be him, reincarnated. I think so, anyway, I had a bit of brewski."

"…but it looks like I could buy it for 3.50 at a local flea market, though." Crono coughed.

"But it is worth much more than that in historical and sentimental value."

"So how'd you do, Reiz?" Marle smiled.

"He's still in his funk… Now, I don't make a convincing liar…" She pulled out the hilt, wrapped still in silk. " But I am very good at finding things!"

"Woohoo!" Marle jumped for joy.

"Yeah! That takes care of finding the sword! Great job, Reiz!"

Alphonz muttered, "All we need now is some Dreamstone…"

"Dreamstone…" Reiz thought a moment, "I do not believe it would exist in this era."

"Then let us go back through time to find some."

"You know, I really hope doing this isn't illegal." Crono sighed. "We would be the kind of nation to come up with a law against time travel."

"I wouldn't worry," Reiz laughed.

"You haven't seen Guardia Castle in 1000 AD."

"You haven't seen my homeland either."

"Oooh!" Marle winced. "Low blow!"

"Point. Game. Match. Alright… Time to head to our local time distortion and see just how far back we can go."

"Right!" Marle instantly fell over onto her face.

"…after Marle gets her hangover and is back to normal, that is…"