Plot Sketch

This is where we'll keep track of and refine the basic plot outline. We'll start off with a basic flow of the most critical events and concepts that happen in 606AG and 12,000BG.

As far as what the "endgame" is here from the 2300AG perspective, Belthasar has begun Project Kid following the events in Crimson Echoes. His main goal is to get Magus into the Darkness Beyond Time and awaken Schala so that she'll produce Kid. However, Belthasar is unable to determine the exact method by which a gate to the DBT might be opened because he is not omniscient as Chrono Cross supposes - he is merely utterly brilliant. He finds what he believes is an historical incident in which someone succeeded in opening a gate to the DBT based on before-and-after topographical evidence, and prepares to use this incident to study the process of DBT gate creation for further refinement later. As an added bonus, he plans to have Magus "piggyback" on the historical incident and essentially get a free ride to the DBT.

12,000BG

This will be left as an extremely brief sketch for now with suggested plot points.

• Schala's relationship with the Frozen Flame, given that she becomes its Arbiter following King Zeal's death.

• Janus' feelings of inadequacy for being unable to help Schala overcome any of the trials she does during these chapters, resulting in Magus' later determination to enter the DBT.

• Norstein Bekkler's obsession with Schala, which prompts him to trade in his old decrepit body for that of a virile youth by some means, adopting the identity of Assistant Beck.

• A brewing Earthbound rebellion and Schala's dream that Earthbound and Earthbound might live peacefully together within her lifetime.

• As a demonstration of his love for Schala, Assistant Beck succeeds in saving the lives of several high-profile Earthbound prisoners. However, the only plausible pretext under which this can happen is the use of said prisoners in Frozen Flame experiments meant to determine whether magical ability can be induced in Earthbound; this is partly fueled by his own scientific curiosity, but perhaps also by a weird desire to see Schala's dream realized through unconventional means -- if Earthbound and Englightened are demonstrably identical genetically, the social darwinist aspect of Zealian political thought should theoretically go out the window. In any case, the experiments cause the test subjects extreme suffering and only four survive -- Grishe, Derben, Wynda, and Valna. The latter of these had a different, more Earthboundy name to begin with but became "Valna" upon adopting Zealian ways after she learned magic. Together, the four constitute the first Magic Guild.

• Discovery of Lavos and how this furthers Queen Zeal's search for means of achieving immortality. It should be noted that Norstein Bekkler seems to be immortal, so he may factor heavily into this plot point as well.

• Schala and Melchior befriend Grishe's children: Masa, Mune and Doreen. The children later die, perhaps ironically as a direct result of Earthbound action. They later reappear as the embodiment of Melchior's dreams as he creates the blade later termed "Masamune."

• Assistant Beck's work with creation fibers leads to the creation and first use of Pengalaan on Earthbound rioters, which understandably proves counterproductive to his aim of wooing Schala. Schala neutralizes the creature with the Magic Guild's help and seals it.

• Schala's relationship with Queen Zeal and explaining why Schala could never go against her mother's wishes despite all the other gutsy moves she makes during her chapters.

• Prophet's Guile, Chrono Trigger, and possibly even Crimson Echoes events from Schala's point of view.

• Schala's final succumbing to Lavos and the birth of the Dream Devourer.

606AG

• Wittel abandons his monastic life in Sensei's monastery to pursue the path of the "hero." He becomes highly confused after apparently achieving his goal, questioning the morality of what it takes to receive the label he'd always dreamed of. He meets Raqh and wanders with him for awhile, Raqh taking him to Guardia in exchange for the chance to corrupt Wittel and thus acquire another cult member.

• During their travels, Raqh proselytizes in Porre and Guardia. Their Porrean travels take them to Viper Manor, where Raqh absorbs Gladus in an effort to extract information from her -- she's an especially old and knowledgeable spirit. Artemis warns him not to, but to no avail. Artemis tracks Raqh and confronts him in Truce, but her shadow hunting skills prove incapable of defeating his Gladus-fueled powers. She teams up with Dalton to find Levantine, an esoteric weapon supposedly capable of "disabling" spirits.

• Wittel and Raqh part ways when Fiona is kidnapped in Medina on a goodwill mission; Raqh refuses to help someone who has little chance of seeing things his way. Wittel joins Slash in rescuing Fiona. It just so happens, however, that Fiona suddenly possesses magic ability and defends herself against Ozzie and other captors. Fiona leaves Medina due to the unstable political climate there.

• Wittel attempts to alleviate Medina's situation by garnering food aid from Choras but his effort backfires; both he and Slash are taken into custody and shipped to Guardia for trial and imprisonment.

• Queen Leene gives Wittel and Slash freedom in exchange for tasking them to find the Magus and take Frog to him. Frog suffers from the amphibian strain of a plague spreading like wildfire through Porre and it is believed he will recover if he attains human form again. Finding Raqh is an intermediate goal to locating the Magus because Raqh can find out about faraway events via spirit channelling.

• With Flea's assistance, Wittel and Slash convince Toma to show them the way into Giant's Claw. They find Raqh inside, then Magus, who had been searching for Raqh himself on Belthasar's advice. Magus and Raqh would appear to be adversaries at first, but they team up once they realize it's in their best interest. Raqh found an Angelus Errare in Giant's Claw and his spirit channelling abilities give him the power to find out how to manipulate the dimensional distortion. Magus, meanwhile, has acquired the ability to create Time Gates. It is theorized that by opening a Time Gate with some catalyst in the presence of the Angelus Errare, the Angelus Errare will transform into a gate to the Darkness Beyond Time.

• Dalton and Artemis hire Toma to help them locate Levantine.

• Somewhere along the line Frog teaches Wittel how to unlock his innate magic-wielding capabilities.

• Raqh uses his spirit channelling capability to discover that Levantine will provide the catalyst they need to open the DBT gate. He and Magus are thus drawn into the quest for Levantine, as are Wittel & co. by virtue of following Magus.

• Raqh, Magus, and Wittel & co. shadow Toma/Dalton/Artemis on their Levantine hunt, and after investigating various leads worldwide Toma deduces that the weapon must have fallen into Ozzie's hands. Everyone converges on Ozzie and it turns out Levantine does not actually exist -- he only holds the schematics for the blade in his personal collection dating back to the Magus' rule over Medina. Wittel snatches the documents from Ozzie, hoping this will stop Raqh and moreover serve as a bargaining chip forcing Magus to reverse Frog's curse.

• Somewhere along the line Fiona, Leene, Sensei, and Bantam the blacksmith meet, drawn to each other by the fact that they possess the spirits of the original Magic Guild members, whether via reincarnation or other means. Robo is given orders to accompany Wittel & co by Belthasar and 2300AG Robo, so that Belthasar can follow the Levantine doings more closely.

• Magus obliterates Wittel & co. in a battle over the Levantine schematics.

• Toma joins for some reason and Frog teaches him the ways of magic as well.

• Dalton begins devising a plan to acquire Levantine, surmising that Raqh will be able to forge the blade with knowledge gained from wandering spirits. Meanwhile, Magus and Raqh proceed to gather needed materials for constructing the blade. Raqh discovers Zealian spirits who worked with Melchior's weapon production team in a former lifetime -- perhaps killing people to get at those spirits on Gladus' advice. Raqh wonders what he has become; the gift of Gladus' knowledge is both a blessing and a curse, compromising the moral standards he has set for himself and his cult -- by killing these people and releasing their spirits into the Shadow Realm, he has denied them the salvation he wants to give as many people as possible, because it is assumed that the DBT gate will last only a short while once created and freeroaming spirits have a natural aversion to the Dream Devourer.

• Raqh needs a Lavoid Core (a Lavos Spawn's mini Frozen Flame) and perhaps other ingredients - maybe proper equipment - to forge Levantine and give it the properties necessary to catalyze a reaction between co-spatial temporal and dimensional distortions. Magus goes on a fetch quest, bringing him back to Zeal before the time he would normally appear there as the Prophet.

• While Magus is absent the party is about to confront Raqh but Dalton and Artemis team up to halt them for the time being -- Levantine must be forged, so best not to disturb him. Dalton asks Robo why Magus is in this era, and the party finds out how Dalton ended up here as well. Dalton learns Magus' intention to destroy the Dream Devourer once the DBT gate is successfully created.

• Dalton forwards Magus' true intent to Raqh, frightening the cult leader. Raqh suspects that Magus will seize Levantine upon its completion They and head into the DBT independently, leaving Raqh high and dry. Dalton and Raqh agree to an arrangement in which Raqh will forge Levantine and then pass it off to Dalton temporarily so he can use it for whatever, then meet up with Raqh at Giant's Claw to return the blade. Dalton also advises Raqh that if he wants to take out Magus before heading for Giant's Claw, the Masamune would be the most effective weapon to use. Raqh sends his top lieutenant along with Dalton to ensure that Dalton keeps up his end of the bargain.

• Magus returns from 12,000BG with the last of the materials needed to forge Levantine and Raqh completes the blade. Dalton absconds with it while Magus is distracted somehow; Artemis, realizing she's been double-crossed (Dalton promised to let her use the blade to destroy Gladus in exchange for her help), teams up with Magus to recover it.

• Magus sufficiently distracted for the near future, Raqh does what he needs to acquire the Masamune. He visits Choras to absorb Cyrus' spirit, having been blown back into the Northern Ruins despite his release in CT due to the churning of spacetime accompanying the Dream Devourer's birth. He probably inducts Brione into his cult while in Choras as well.

• Raqh enters Castle Guardia and due to his possession of Cyrus' spirit successfully picks up the Masamune within Guardia's vaults.

• Raqh confronts Magus and incapacitates him using the Masamune. Magus teleports away, presumably to recover. Raqh, possessing both the Masamune and Gladus' power, seems unstoppable and prepares for the final opening of the DBT gate. Artemis joins the party, noting that if they can nab the Levantine from Dalton they'll be able to nullify Masamune.

• Somehow Raqh gains the ability to create temporal distortions that suffice for the purpose of opening a DBT gate.

• There's a pause in the action as Frog seems to be on his last legs. He requests to be taken back to Guardia so he can see Queen Leene one last time. Wittel accedes to the request, crestfallen that he wasn't able to help Frog after all.

• While the party keeps vigil over the dying Frog, Leene informs Wittel that she is his mother, and thus Wittel is heir-apparent to the medieval Guardian throne. Wow.

• In Chronopolis, Belthasar and 2300AG Robo are flabbergasted when they record an unexpected dimensional distortion that seems to be some kind of aftershock of the Dream Devourer's creation. Belthasar can't determine the source but notes that the distortion focuses into a specific point in spacetime, somewhere in 606AG. He asks 2300AG Robo to command his medieval counterpart to investigate, prompting 606AG Robo to leave Castle Guardia. Frog asks to be alone with Leene during his final hours, freeing Wittel to accompany the rest of the party in hunting after Robo.

• Wittel & co. catch up with Robo and he leads them to a certain location where they find a recuperating Magus. Wittel pleads with him one last time to restore Frog. Dream Schala walks onscreen and convinces Magus to make the journey to Castle Guardia and save Frog. Magus' demeanor has changed noticeably now, as if he is finally at peace.

• Magus, under the Nexus-like influence of Dream Schala, saves Frog's life by turning him into Human Glenn. All is joyous, and Dream Schala convinces Magus to accompany her as she tries to undo some of the damage wrought by plague and famine throughout the world. Magus is living his childhood dream of being Schala's seneschal.

• Belthasar is at a loss -- he doubts Dream Schala is actually a freed Schala as Magus supposes, noting that the Dream Devourer is still intact as far as Chronopolis' instruments allow detection of the creature. Nevertheless, Dream Schala has apparently irrevocably taken Magus' eye off the ball, and Project Kid cannot proceed as long as Magus is in this state.

• The party resumes its search for Dalton and the Levantine at Artemis' insistence; Magus and Dream Schala may deter Raqh from achieving some goal in the meantime. They find Dalton and defeat Raqh's top lieutenant, surprised when Dalton simply hands them the blade with thanks for ridding him of the cultist assigned to mind him.

• The party wields Levantine against Raqh and the Masamune - the blade may ironically be used by Glenn to seal the spirits powering the sword he formerly used.

• Robo notes that, now that the party has possession of the Levantine, it is the perfect time to have Magus enter the DBT and complete his mission. However, Magus is uninterested in Belthasar's scheme -- Schala's right there in front of them, and she may falsely state that she is free of the Time Devourer's influence (she may indeed be free, but the real Schala isn't).

• The back-and-forth between Robo and Magus over Dream Schala buys Raqh enough time to execute his backup plan for ensuring the cult's exclusive access to the DBT gate. He captures Norstein Bekkler and grills him for info about Pengalaan, an ancient Zealian bioweapon Assistant Beck designed back in 12,000BG.

• Raqh captures all four Magic Guild members - currently Leene, Fiona, Bantam, and Sensei - with plans to kill them, releasing the spirits they harbor so that he can learn how to unseal the various pieces of Pengalaan strewn about a series of Mystic ruins. The player's acumen determines whether all four are saved. For each Magic Guild member saved, the player gets the opportunity to destroy one of Pengalaan's pieces sealed in the corresponding Elemental dungeon and thus weakens the Pengalaan they will have to face during the game's climax.

• Somewhere along the line Robo succeeds in convincing Magus that Dream Schala is not really the Schala he knew in Zeal, theorizing that she may be the mysterious embodiment of his dreams.

• Raqh somehow learns that Dream Schala contains the knowledge necessary to unlocking Pengalaan's main body sealed within a special fifth Elemental dungeon. Artemis seizes the Levantine and attempts to exterminate Dream Schala in order to prevent Raqh from resurrecting the monstrosity. She ends up fighting Magus, essentially distracting him from protecting Dream Schala, who is absorbed by Raqh. Magus flies into a rage and nearly kills Artemis, but if the player saved all four Magic Guild members they somehow save Artemis' life.

• In the confusion following Dream Schala's destruction, Raqh snatches the Levantine. He has everything he needs.

• Back in 2300AG, Belthasar is even more worried - Magus' anger at the loss of Dream Schala may have corrupted him past the point at which Schala would even recognize him while entrapped within the Dream Devourer. Project Kid will proceed along a course he did not predict. Dream Schala was the element that threw the plan off, and Belthasar eventually hypothesizes that she may be the cross-dimensional product of Magus throwing away his memories during CT:DS' bonus ending. That is, at a future point in terms of time error Magus succeeded in reaching the DBT, threw away his memories, the memories traveled backwards in time error somehow and became Dream Schala, likely screwing up Project Kid significantly in this dimension. There is nothing to do but sit back and watch events play out.

• Magus and the party follow Raqh into a ceremoniously furnished temple within Giant's Claw, destroying Pengalaan in the process. Once Raqh has finished using Gladus' power to create a temporal distortion that results in the creation of the DBT Gate, he double-crosses Gladus and seals her with the Levantine. He allows his wife to leave the temple with his infant son, seeing as neither consciously wanted to share Raqh's fate and now his son can live free of Gladus' curse on the Guildstern bloodline (as far as he knows). All the spirits hiding inside Raqh flee his body as he walks into the DBT gate.

• Giant's Claw gets sucked into the DBT and becomes transformed into the game's last dungeon. The party follows Raqh to the core of the DBT where the Dream Devourer resides and witness him achieving the annihilation he always desired. Wittel somehow convinces Brione to snap out of it just before she steps in front of the Dream Devourer. She flees with other cult members who are having second thoughts after seeing Raqh get vaporized.

• Magus confronts the Dream Devourer and unlike in CT:DS, Schala awakens angrily, explaining that Magus, now fully corrupted by hatred, represents the very justification for her universe-annihilating actions. She subjects Magus to a fraction of the pain he has inflicted on others. The trauma levels him and Robo notes that it appears to have damaged his neurons and yet reversed the genetic damage in his cells, essentially de-aging him.

• Glenn intervenes as Schala is about to destroy Magus, reminding her that he is still her brother. Schala attacks them, and thus the (apparent) final boss is the Dream Devourer. There are two endings here -- either the party kills Schala outright or they focus their attacks on the Lavos portion of the Dream Devourer, forcing it to shut down momentarily. In the former case Belthasar despairs in 2300AG and calls off the Time Crash. In the latter, Schala briefly regains her senses and fulfills Glenn's request that she spare the seriously injured Magus. She opens a portal to a time and place apparently conducive to his survival, and Glenn says his goodbye to Wittel and co., handing Guardia XXII the sleeping Masamune for safekeeping. Wittel and co. escape the DBT while fending off all the game's bosses teleported in from various dimensional distortions. Wittel, Artemis (if she's alive), Robo, and Toma all return to 606AG but Slash and Flea take their chances in a random dimensional distortion, seeking better prospects in a new time and place. Dalton and Ozzie follow suit.

• Provided the party did not kill Schala, an ending plays out in which Glenn carries Magus into Castle Guardia circa 1005AG, leaving him in King Crono's and Queen Nadia's care. Belthasar notes that Project Kid will not play out as expected but gives the go-ahead for the Time Crash anyway. 2300AG Robo offers to be incorporated into FATE to prevent the super AI from doing anything patently immoral.

AEHU/Plot