Well this started out as the script for a rom hack/spinoff sequel I wanted to do, but I don't even know how to download Temporal Flux, so it turned into this. The sequel was supposed to be humurous and slightly out of character, ignoring Chrono Cross, and taking off right after the credits of the 'best ending' Moonlight Parade.
Contains mild swearing.
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The forests, mountains, and all the patchwork farms of the land were a distorted blur, green and brown chasms stretching for eternity, dark spires reaching up to tear at the sky. The chill night wind roared beneath the great Wings of Time as they scoured the earth and the heavens.
"Crono, let's just go home... We've been searching for a month already!" Whether or not it had actually been a month is debatable. Their search had spanned millions of years, though you could say the three travelers only experienced one biological month, disconnected from the flow of time completely. "We'll get lost too if we don't go home soon!" The young woman's voice was barely audible over the shrill whine of the machine's overtaxed engines.
"No, we have to keep searching! This is my mom we're talking about!" the flaming haired boy, Crono, responded, his voice desperate and hoarse from worry.
"Crono, Marle's right. The Epoch can't take much more of this," the third wayward time-traveller, a smart looking girl called Lucca, said. "We'll never find Jina if the Epoch breaks down in the Dark Ages." Lucca and Crono had been friends since childhood, and her learned opinion meant more to him than any other. What seemed to be an eon of silence (and indeed it had been many years, as the Epoch had just performed another time jump) passed as he considered his companions' words.
"...Alright. We'll go home and rest." Crono finally responded, despondent.
"Yes!" Marle - the first to have spoken, a blonde princess and Crono's girlfriend - exclaimed. "1000 AG, here we come!"
"Don't worry too much about it Crono. We can rest at my place, and maybe come up with a new search plan," Lucca crowed, trying to soothe her friend. She cared for Crono as if he were a brother, she couldn't bear to see him hurting so. Only a month ago, or 2200 years in the future, Crono, Lucca and Marle had returned victorious from a battle for the fate of the world, and time itself. Just as they were saying saying farewell to the warriors who had accompanied them on this journey, Crono's mother fell into a Time Gate and disappeared.
As if this weren't bad enough, all twelve of Crono's pet cats were lost as well. The three time travellers had searched through every era they could think of, from the dawn of time to the brink of apocalypse, without any luck at all.
The frozen peaks of the Ice Age melted together, streaking past and stretching forward in a multicolored swirl as the Epoch jumped through time. Lucca's insides writhed, attempting to imitate the mountains outside. Time travel always made her queasy. After what seemed like an eternity, or maybe only a few seconds, the world around them settled back into a familiar setting. Lush forests and verdant fields, framed by warm mountains and fluffy white clouds. The era of origin for Lucca and her two friends.
"4:15 Post Meridiem, Day 7, First Moonth of the Winter Season, 1000th Guardian Year," chimed the computer inside the Epoch's cockpit with the frail voice of an old man.
'It's strange...' Lucca thought, 'My eighteenth birthday is in a week, and I'm already twenty. But of course, two years’ existence outside the normal flow of time will do that to a person. Should've taken a cue from Magus and just stopped counting...' There was a slight bump, and her reverie was interrupted. Crono landed the Epoch on Ashtear Island, right outside Lucca's house. The roof of the Epoch hissed open and a stairway unfurled toward the ground. Lucca and Marle clambered eagerly out, followed by a more somber Crono.
“C’mon guys, I smell something cooking!” Marle called, rushing ahead of the others. Lucca stalled, looking to Crono.
“Hey, are you feeling alright?” She asked, concern painting her face. “You don’t look so hot.”
“Yeah, I guess… I’m just worr-“
“KYAH!!”
THUNK!
Crono and Lucca both whipped around, searching for the source of the interruption. To no one’s amazement, and perhaps everyone’s relief, they found it was only Marle, sprawled over a large hunk of metal.
What appeared to be a beautifully tended and innocent yard from a mile above turned out to be quite the opposite. Weeds sprouted from every inch of dirt, and the grass had not been trimmed in ages. Many twisted, unidentifiable pieces of metal and machinery littered the yard, hidden in the overgrowth or framed by burnt patches of lawn. Poor Marle had stumbled upon the remnants of another abandoned Ashtear creation.
“Aah, it’s good to be home!” The young inventor laughed.
It took nearly fifteen minutes to calm the hysterical princess and help her to her feet, but the three finally managed to make it into Lucca’s house. The inside was in the same state of disarray as the yard. The majority of the floor was covered by pipes, wires and discarded books, and the far wall was dominated by a giant machine of some unknown purpose. The smell of smoke and motor oil permeated the house, tinged only slightly with the aroma of bacon.
“Really, I can’t thank you enough Madame Lara. You have been so kind.”
“It’s no problem, Schala dear! I’m just happy to have guests at all! Lucca never brings her friends around.” The voices of two women drifted out of the kitchen, muffled by the hall door.
“Sounds like your mom’s finally got some friends of her own. Now she can stop pestering us!” Marle said cheerily. She dropped her bag on a pile of books, displacing a stack of papers that fluttered to the floor.
“At least you have a mom…”
“Oh, lay off it Crono,” Lucca chided. “We’ll find her soon enough. We just need to get some good rest to get our heads straight, then set up a grid system to more thoroughly search the…” She stopped mid-speech, a hint of horror creeping into her face. “Waitwaitwait, did she just say ‘Schala’?”
Crono nodded. “Yeah. Who’s that?” Lucca just rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Don’t you remember a thing about our time in Zeal? You know, Princess Schala, daughter of the crazy queen that tried to kill us, should have died in the Ocean Palace… Any of this ring a bell to you?”
Apprehension finally dawned on Crono. “Ohhhh, THAT Schala!”
“Schala’s here? Then doesn’t that mean…” Marle trailed off, not wanting to voice her fears. She looked from Crono to Lucca, hoping either would tell her otherwise.
As if on cue, all three bolted into the hall and fought to reach the kitchen. The door fell open and the bodies tumbled onto the kitchen floor.
“Lucca, there you are!” Lara called from the table. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?”
“Wh-what?!”
“Why, he told me all about it. He even came here looking for you!”
“Hello, honey,” a gravelly voice drawled above her. Lucca, who was pinned between a wall, someone’s chest and four legs, could only stare incredulously, her worst fears confirmed.
‘He’ was a tall man of about twenty-three years. He had pale, sallow skin stretched across a thin and well muscled frame. His greasy blue hair fell to his waist, his face framing a plunging widow’s peak. His eyes were a fiery red with a piercing glare; his ears long and pointed, his grin revealed a row of sharp fangs. A flowing blue cloak concealed a battered set of leather body armor, over purple silk pants. He smelled faintly of ash and blood and incense. Everything about this man screamed evil. He was the most hated man in history, the last person Lucca ever wanted to see again.
And he was standing in her kitchen.
“Lucca, what’s wrong with you?” Lara chided. “Honestly, I don’t see how you can be so shy about such a handsome young man!”
Lucca balked. This was ridiculous! “But he’s not…” she stopped, catching sight of the death glare coming from the warlock in front of her.
“Not what?” Lara asked.
“Not, er… not missing!” Lucca quickly amended. “Yeah, we got separated after the Moonlight Parade. But now that he's found his way back, I'd like to speak with him - in private." She shot her own glare back at her ‘boyfriend’.
“Oh, of course!” She bought it. Close call. “You two behave now! Schala, be a dear and help me peel some potatoes.”
Crono and Marle hastily untangled themselves and peeled Lucca off the floor. The three hurried out of the kitchen. The blue man followed with a wave of his cape, leaving his sister to tend to dinner with Lara.
“Magus, what the HELL is wrong with you?!” Lucca shrieked once out of earshot of her mother.
“Apparently a lot, considering the lengths I’ve gone to here,” the warlock huffed, looking none too pleased with the situation.
Not what Lucca wanted to hear. She pulled out her gun and pointed wildly. “Just what is that supposed to mean? And why did you lie to my parents!”
“Put that thing away, woman!” Magus made a swipe for the weapon and missed, only managing to find a handful of breast. “Oh, shi-“
Lucca floundered, completely taken aback. “You perverted freak!” She tackled Magus to the ground in rage, pinning his arms with her knees. “You. Explain. NOW.”
“I had no choice!” Magus sputtered, trying to appease the angry woman on top of him. “Schala is sick and needs a place to stay, and this is the only family I could find that wouldn’t attack me on sight. I would have preferred the company of Miss Jina, but she was not home,” he snarled in what he thought was his most sincere tone.
Lucca, however, was not convinced. “Why I oughtta…” Unable to find an appropriate threat, she settled instead for a simple fire spell.
“Lucca, don’t!” Crono cried and yanked Lucca away before she could roast the unlucky mage, putting as much distance between the two as possible. Magus climbed to his feet and dusted his cape off, shooting a venomous glare at the two of them.
“So, uh, you found Schala?” Marle asked timidly in an attempt to break the tension.
“Well duh, she’s peeling potatoes in my kitchen…” Lucca snorted.
Marle ignored her. “How? I thought she got lost in time…”
“Hmph, of course she did.” Magus growled, “And what do you do when someone gets lost?”
“Umm… Ask for help?”
The mage smacked his forehead and sighed. Just as he opened his mouth to scold her, Lucca came to the rescue. “You look for them?”
“Exactly,” Magus turned to sweep out of the room, but was interrupted by Crono yanking on his cape.
“Wait! I like Marle’s idea. Magus, if you tracked Schala down, you could help us find my mom!” The younger boy exclaimed, hopping with excitement.
Magus watched him bounce, getting slightly dizzy. “Aaand why would I want to do that?”
“Baby brother? Baby brother, where are you?” A lilted voice wafted from the kitchen, followed closely by the ethereal beauty that is Magus’ sister. “Janus, there you are!” Despite the beauty and poise constantly about her, Schala looked frail and sickly. She examined the room, looking from Crono to Marle, to Lucca. “So, these are your friends?”
“Well,” Magus began, but was again interrupted.
Lucca, hearing opportunity knocking, jumped straight in. “Why yes, we're his friends,” she said in the most sickeningly sweet voice she could muster. “Your baby brother is such the nicest man. In fact, he was just offering to help us find Crono's missing mother!”
“I was no-“
“Oh Janus, that’s so kind of you!” Schala beamed. “But of course, you would know what it’s like to lose family, after what happened to us…”
“But Schala, I’m not-“
“Oh yes, he’s so thoughtful!” Marle giggled, catching on.
“We really should be going, if we want to find Jina before something bad happens to her,” Lucca crooned, the perfect image of concern.
Schala nodded. “Yes, a wise idea. Good luck, baby brother!” She threw her arms around Magus and kissed the older man on the cheek, before sweeping back into the kitchen.
“…I hate you. Just thought you ought to know.” Magus grumbled, accepting defeat. Lucca could only laugh, with much more malice than should be allowed.
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This is the script/story so far. From here, our four heroes will go on a grand adventure to search for Crono's Mom and all twelve cats (which is conveniently not written yet).
