Chrono Trigger 1. A rash decision, a new party member

"Throbbing…"  
  
"My head hurts…"  
  
"Damn… where am I?"  
  
A young boy opened his sore eyes and took a look at his surroundings. There were metal walls around him and he was lying back at the bottom of a flight of stairs. The sound of heavy rock music could be heard a small distance away, each beat making his head throb. Some of his memory returned once he heard the music, although most of his memories were muddled.  
  
"That's right… The band… what was it called… I forget… ah well. It doesn't matter. I should get out of here." He looked around for a close exit. Seeing a door near, he limped over to it, turning the rusted handle he opened it up, and found himself looking out into a back alley. He quickly walked out and tried to find something he recognized, but found nothing.  
  
"Am I lost?" He asked himself, "Nothing looks familiar." He said after wandering around for a while. "Am I even in the right town? What is going on?! What are those weird lights?" He said, looking up seeing normal old street lamps like he had never seen them before. He seemed fascinated with the sidewalk, looking at moving pictures in a shop window (television) like it was some miracle. Finally, he walked over to a passer by. "Excuse me sir… can you tell me where I am?"  
  
"You're in the south part of town?" He replied, unsure of what the boy was speaking about.  
  
"No… I mean, what city?" Said the boy.  
  
"…Um … you're in-" The man was suddenly cut off by a loud booming noise the shook the ground and drowned out the mans voice. People began running down the street, all headed in the same direction as if they were running for their lives.  
  
The boy was bewildered and simply stood there until somebody came up to him and screamed in his face, "ARE YOU MAD? RUN!!!" He shook his head as if snapping back into reality and began running along with the rest of the crowd from whatever it was. Being a boy who was quick to think, he ran strait for a high hill on the outer edge of town, trying to see whatever it was they were running from. He saw a terrible sight.  
  
An enormous monster had emerged from the ground; red rocks flew in every direction, flying off for miles like little comets. He saw a streak bolt through the sky, then suddenly stop near the bottom of the hill, near a bunch of rocks. He watched to see a small ship, opening up to reveal three people. One of them had the strangest hair he had ever seen, spiky, red and he carried a long samurai sword with him. The other was a girl, carried a crossbow and had orange hair in a ponytail. The third that emerged from the flying craft was the strangest thing he had ever seen. He looked like a human, and yet a frog in a warriors armour. The boy studied these three characters while trying to stay out of sight.  
  
The orange haired girl turned around to face the one with the long samurai sword, "Crono! There's Lavos! What should we do? Do we fight him now, or should we get stronger and come back?" As she spoke, the boy tried to get closer, trying to hear them better. The boy with the spiky red hair was silent, then quickly said, "Let's come back later."  
  
The frog-man nodded, "Indeed, 'tis wiser to strengthen our abilities to be sure to defeat this, the foulest of all beasts", he said, sticking the knight's sword he had into it's scabbard and walking back to the ship. The boy was much closer by this time and could hear them clearly.  
  
Just as the last person was getting aboard the craft, the boy jumped out, "How can you come back later?!" He quickly belted out, "That thing will tear the place apart before you can help anybody!"  
  
They jumped at his sudden appearance, "Where did YOU come from boy?" asked the girl. The one with red hair only stared curiously while the frog-man was putting his sword back in it's place. He was ready to attack in case this startling thing was an enemy, but it was only a harmless boy.  
  
"Who cares where I came from? If you can help, NOW is the time!" He waved his fists in the air. Debris was still flying everywhere and one piece was headed straight for the boy. In the heat of the moment, the frog and the spiky haired boy both reached out suddenly and pulled him into the ship unexpectedly, saving him from the flying debris.  
  
"GETTETH YOUR CARCASS IN HERE!" yelled the frog as the hauled him in and shut the top of the craft, lifting off into the air and shooting off as suddenly as they had stopped.  
  
"Where are we going?" asked the boy, who was crammed into the craft, it was obviously built for three people only, a fourth made it hard to take.  
  
"We're already there." Said the girl as the craft came to a sudden halt.  
  
They all piled out and into a strange looking room, there were walls and a floor, along with an old lamp. There were a few people there and many were strange looking. A robot, a pale, pointy eared man with a blue cape, a blonde woman who seemed to be wearing cat skins (which caught the boy's eye in particular, but he didn't show it), and a girl with purple hair and huge glasses.  
  
"I'm Marle" said the girl, "You've met Crono and Frog already. What is your name?" She asked.  
  
"M…me? I'm… uh… who am I again… o-oh yeah. I'm Gwyn… Pleased to um… meet all of you." He shakily replied.  
  
"Well Gwyn, welcome to the end of time, and I'd say you're in quite a fix." 


	2. You are Gwyn

Gwyn shook his head. "Pardon me? Did you say 'the end of time'?" He said scratching his head a little as his eyes widened, "as in… THE end of time?!"  
  
Ayla stood up from her usual sitting place, "Only one end of time. Gwyn think there more?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow and walking over to him, "How Gwyn get here?"  
  
"We saved him from falling debris, he was right in front of us so all we could do was pull him in." Said Marle, and then she paused for a moment. "Come to think of it we could have left him once we saved him from the debris. But then again, that would have been cruel to just let him die, even if we were going to save him and everybody else in the long run." With these words Gwyn nearly exploded with confusion.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? You just came, decided not to fight, the LEFT! I don't see how that's saving anybody." He yelled out, then after a moment of silence something clicked in the back of his mind. He was in the 'end of time'. They could time travel? "…You were going to come back… back in time, weren't you?" He asked. Marle nodded. Gwyn slapped his forehead, "JE-SUS!!! How in the hell did I end up here?" he exclaimed as he leaned against the wall, pulling his hand down his face as he mumbled things to himself.  
  
The old man under the lamp had remained silent until this point, "Oddly dressed for the time period you were found in. Tell me, where are you from?" He asked quietly.  
  
"Me?" replied Gwyn, "I'm from uh… the place… it's on the tip of my tongue… I um, I don't remember. Isn't that odd now?" He shook his head hard, trying to remember.  
  
"Odd indeed. Crono, I think you should take young Gwyn to see Spekkio." Said the man, Crono nodded in reply and opened a door to another room. Gwyn followed Crono and Marle, Frog and Ayla trailed behind, wanting to watch.  
  
Once Gwyn had gotten into the room, he saw nobody there. "So where is this Spekkio?" He asked.  
  
"Art thou blind?" croaked Frog, "He standeth there before you."  
  
A voice seemed to come out of thin air, "Hey you! The frog must be right. You've gotta be blind. I'm standing right here in front of you!" Something hit Gwyn gently on his shoulder, but was enough to knock him over.  
  
"Hmph… Gwyn weak." Muttered Ayla.  
  
"Spekkio, we brought the kid here because we want to give him magic. Can you do that for us?" Marle asked.  
  
"Are you kidding, this squirt? No problem. His element is… well what is this? A joke? Why did you bring me somebody who already knows magic? You numbskulls!" Spekkio blurted out.  
  
"Already… knows magic?" Gwyn said, nearly just mouthing the words and not saying anything at all. "First time travel, then magic… now I've already got it? What's going on? I've got to be dreaming… what did you say my element was?"  
  
"Can't say, to tell you the truth I'm not sure. But it makes me a little nervous feeling it. Not that I'm scared of you. BWA-HA! No way!" Spekkio said, then cleared his throat, "It's also strange that you can't see me. That may be because you're incredibly weak. If you're weak I look weak, and you see me as nothing at all. HAH! That must mean you're nothing at all!"  
  
Gwyn flushed red with anger and clenched his fist.  
  
"Whoa now!" Spekkio hastily said, "I just got the weirdest feeling of magic from you just there. Hey punk head, I suggest you keep an eye on squirt here. Might be a good idea not to tick him off too badly. Where is he from?"  
  
"He doesn't remember…" Said Marle.  
  
"Could it be that the magic has something to do with it?" Said Frog, "That is to say, if the lad has a strange aura about him, what if when he received this odd type of magic is also when he received his amnesia?"  
  
"Could be…" Said Spekkio.  
  
"Ayla think Gwyn should sleep… Ayla remember things better when Ayla sleep well." Said Ayla. Gwyn laughed for a minute, and then he thought that it might actually be a good idea. He couldn't remember anything since he woke up in that place where the music was playing. That strange rock music.  
  
"Maybe I should sleep. Yeah… I think I will. Where are the beds?" Gwyn asked hastily.  
  
"None here, we can stop at an inn though. Lets get to the Epoch Crono, I guess Ayla's suggestion is as good as any so far." Said Marle as she shrugged, "what do you think Crono?"  
  
Crono simply nodded. Gwyn had guessed (obviously) that Crono was a man of few words… VERY few words.  
  
As they walked out of the room Marle walked over to Gwyn, "Hold on… How old are you Gwyn?" She said, looking at him.  
  
The boy was short, he looked like he couldn't be older than fourteen, and he wore a thick green shirt with long sleeves and a pair of white pants with a drawstring. Muddy black shoes that were falling apart covered his feet. His hair was short but scruffy and matted, causing a large clump of hair to move whenever he tilted his head, which he seemed to do quite often.  
  
"Me? How old? Uh…" He said as his face turned red and he began to sweat, "I… I don't know. I never thought about it. I don't think I'm supposed to think about that."  
  
Frog turned around with a confused look on his face, "Not supposed to? Why would that be prey tell? When was it a crime for one to thinketh how many years hath passed him by?"  
  
Gwyn scratched his head, "… I dunno, it's just something I feel uncomfortable thinking about… Maybe I'm crazy." He said shaking his head, "Let's get to that inn, I hope Ayla's suggestion works."  
  
Just before they left he turned around to face Robo and Lucca, "Who are those two? I haven't met them yet… I'd like to meet them when I get back." He said before turning around again, only to see a pale faced man with long purple hair and pointed ears, he was about to ask who he was, but then decided against it. The man looked like he didn't want to be disturbed, and that it would in Gwyn's best interest not to do so.  
  
Crono followed behind everybody else, the old man tapped his shoulder and spoke.  
  
"Crono, don't ever let this boy out of your sight… Ever… I've got a bad feeling about him."  
  
Crono quickly nodded and with that, Crono, Marle and Gwyn all got aboard the Epoch and zoomed off to the Middle Ages.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Here we are at the Dorino Inn" Marle pointed out as she opened the door to a room and let Gwyn go inside, "try and get some sleep and remember something, Gwyn."  
  
Gwyn jumped onto his back, and bounced up a little on the bed, "…wow… so comfortable… Well then I guess I'll be sleeping now. Bye bye" He said.  
  
Marle was a little frustrated with him, "Well jeez. You buy a kid a room and act all nice and you don't even get a 'thank you' in return" She went off mumbling and was followed by Crono, who shut the door but stayed right by it, Making sure nothing went in or out without him seeing it.  
  
Gwyn got under the covers after kicking off his shoes and he quickly fell asleep and began to dream.  
  
"…"  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"Go back to sleep… I'm not finished with you yet."  
  
"Who am I?"  
  
"You are Gwyn."  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Operating. You will help us live our dreams"  
  
"Us?"  
  
"Go back to sleep."  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Dr. Morth. Go to sleep now."  
  
"…Morth?"  
  
Gwyn opened his eyes for a moment. He had been dreaming. But he hadn't seen anything, just heard voices. Closing his eyes again, he drifted back to sleep.  
  
In another dream, Gwyn opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings. He saw a laboratory with strange gizmos and experiments all over. It wasn't until his feet touched the ground that he realized that he was sleeping standing up. "wha… what's going on?" He thought, as he put his hand forward, but it was stopped by a hard surface. Glass. Then he finally realized his situation. He was inside a tube. A glass tube, in a laboratory. The tube was filled with a strange liquid that held him up without him having to support his own weight. He was an experiment.  
  
A man walked into the room and looked at Gwyn, "Well it seems you've woken up." He said in a familiar voice.  
  
"Dr. Morth?" He thought, then suddenly woke up in the bed of the Inn. He was shaking violently and sweating hard.  
  
"Maybe… maybe I shouldn't think about my past for awhile…" 


	3. Invading Melody

Gwyn sat up in his bed, frozen in place for a few minutes. "It must have just been a simple dream. Nothing more. Nightmares happen." He said to himself, trying to convince himself that he was right.  
  
Finally gathering the courage to pull the covers off, he got off of the bed and put his shoes back on. "I guess they're waiting for me… what should I tell them? I can just make something up I guess." He walked out the door, seeing Crono waiting on the other side. "Oh… hello Crono… thanks for the room. Where's Marle?" He asked.  
  
"Let's go get her." Crono said quietly to Gwyn, "She's in the lobby."  
  
Gwyn nodded and followed Crono. Indeed Marle was sitting in the lobby, waiting and tapping her feet to the music of the piano player in the corner of the large room. Her frustration from before seemed to be gone now. She stood up when she saw Crono and Gwyn.  
  
"So Gwyn, how are you feeling now? You don't look to well actually, but do you remember anything? At least your age?" She asked him. Gwyn began to shake a little, but it wasn't noticed.  
  
"I'm um… I'm… twelve… yes, twelve." He lied.  
  
Both Marle and Crono seemed surprised. They thought he'd at least be thirteen, if not older. However they believed him and nodded.  
  
The piano player switched to a different song. It seemed familiar to Gwyn, and a tiny pain began to spread through his head. "That's… the same song that was playing when I woke up" he said under his breath, "…A little slower, but the same song, I'm sure of it. Where did the piano man learn it?"  
  
His vision began to blur a little and the pain became more intense. His hand quickly went up to his forehead squeezed it. "Something…is invading my mind." He said a little louder, only Crono and Marle could hear his faint murmurs.  
  
"A memory?" Marle asked quickly.  
  
"No… not a memory… not even a thought. It's like something's been triggered." He replied as his hands went to the top of his head and shut his eyes tight. He fell to the floor, "It's the music… make it stop…" he whispered. "Make it stop…please… MAKE IT STOP!!! STOP THE DAMN MUSIC!!!!!" He screamed out as loud as his aching body would allow. The piano player got startled at the sudden screaming and stopped playing, staring at Gwyn.  
  
"Is something wrong?" He asked, standing up and walking over.  
  
Gwyn was lying on the ground curled up in a ball, holding his head tightly and whimpering. Marle was kneeling next to him, trying help him, saying things like "C'mon, get up. It's stopped. Poor kid. What in the world made him do that?"  
  
Gwyn began to relax as the pain in his head began to vanish and he looked up at the man who was playing the piano. He realized he was still lying on the floor, he was embarrassed about it, but he didn't feel like getting up. He just wanted to lie there for a few more minutes.  
  
"Where did you learn that song?" He asked, "Tell me right now!"  
  
"Whoa! I'll tell you lad, don't worry." He said, helping Gwyn up. "I found the music sheets somewhere in the forest when I was headed to Guardia Castle." He stared off into space, "But… After I picked up the music… I left as soon as I could. I heard voices there. It was very frightening."  
  
"Voices? What did they say?" Asked Marle.  
  
"Something about lower grade humans… and how they were going to take back what was theirs. I was too afraid to listen to any more. So I ran as fast as I could." Replied the piano-man with a slight shudder.  
  
The four of them were silent until Gwyn finally spoke up.  
  
"I… I want to go there. Today."  
  
Marle looked over at Crono, "What do you think Crono? Should we go? It might be dangerous."  
  
Crono thought for a moment, "We should be ok…" he said, "Let's go and see what's there."  
  
Gwyn, who was now supporting himself with his own feet, looked at the man, "Can you tell me which direction you went in?"  
  
"There is a hidden path to you're right at the forest on your way to Guardia Castle. Just take that path and you'll find the place. It's marked by a imp's skull." He replied.  
  
"Thank you sir." Said Marle before they left for the Epoch.  
  
After reaching the edge of Guardia Forest, they landed the Epoch and got out, they had barely walked a few steps into the forest, when a couple of imps set their sights on the group.  
  
Marle armed her crossbow while Crono took out his sword. The shining blade sparkled as a glint of sunlight came through the trees. It was then that it occurred to Gwyn that he had no weapon. He looked around and set his sights on a rock. He quickly walked over to pick it up, but an imp got there first and tossed it right at his head. Gwyn fell back and rubbed his forehead, "GAH! That hurt!" He glared at the green imp that stood before him, sticking out its tongue and making taunting faces at him. "Damn it… that really hurt! I'll get you for that!" He jumped up and ran at the imp, who easily dodged the running boy. But Gwyn wasn't done yet; he whipped around and kicked the imp in the head as hard as he could. The imp went sprawling on the ground, but another one came up behind him, throwing another rock at his back, making him fall forward.  
  
A small group of imps waddled towards Gwyn. Marle turned to Gwyn and her eye sparkled a little as she lifted up her hand and a tiny bit of light swirled around it. Crono nodded and bolted towards the imps and leapt high into the air. Marle threw her hands forward, tossing blue, sparkling light at Crono's sword and made it gleam bright blue. He came down on one of the imps and a block of ice formed around it, the block was large and touched many of the other imps, making them freeze in place. Crono wasted no time. He ran around in circles, slicing at all the imps touched by the ice, killing them instantly. Gwyn stared in astonishment as the rest of the imps fled in terror.  
  
Crono wiped off his sword and sheathed it. Gwyn jumped up and stared for a moment silently, then suddenly burst out, "WOW!!! THAT WAS SO COOL!!! WAS THAT MAGIC? HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"  
  
Crono raised an eyebrow at Gwyn and motioned for him to follow. Gwyn obeyed and followed close behind Marle and Crono.  
  
"I don't see any hidden path anywhere…" Said Marle as she pushed away bushes and shrubs, "do you think that man was lying?"  
  
"Let's just look a little longer" Pleaded Gwyn, "Look! Over here!" He said as he moved through a bunch of bushes, "This must be the path! C'mon! Hurry up!"  
  
Marle and Crono followed Gwyn through the bushes and down a narrow path. Crono tapped Marle on the shoulder and motioned over to an imp's skull hanging from a tree.  
  
"Gwyn, look over here." Said Marle quietly. Gwyn looked and saw the skull.  
  
"This is it then! We're here, now I can learn more about where I came from… but um… how do we do that?" He asked.  
  
"Don't ask me. You're the one who insisted on coming here. I seem to remember the man saying something about voices… but I hear no voices. Oh well, I can't say that it's a disappointment." Replied Marle.  
  
Crono walked over to the tree where the skull was hanging and hesitantly tapped it lightly. Nothing happened, which was what he expected. Then he removed the skull. A small device fell to the ground from the tree. Crono stooped down and picked it up.  
  
"Gwyn… have a look at this." He said as he handed it over.  
  
The device was a hexagon, about as large as an outstretched human hand. It was green and black with a small screen on it and a single button. Gwyn pushed the button without thinking twice. The thing suddenly switched on and writing popped up on the screen. It read:  
  
Day XX Month XX Year XX  
  
Journal Entry 18 of Dr. Dorath King  
  
It's been completed and we've moved out of Guardia Forest. Soon our dreams of taking over the world of the lower humans will be finally realized. I should be glad to have been born into the generation that the machine is completed in. It's taken hundreds… no, thousands of years to complete, but something is nagging at my brain. It happened ever since I was assigned to take over with supervision. Are we doing the right thing? Waiting for the humans to get the earth just how we'd like it, then taking it from them. It was ours to begin with, and they stole it from us. But that was millions of years ago, and these are not the same people. Maybe we could learn to live together instead of continuing the plan. Yet if I show any sign of doubt at all, I could get my job taken away and be thrown in prison… or even worse.  
  
I fear for my own life, I have no choice but to continue as planned. The ceremony will take place tomorrow, along with my 'award', I have to start the machine, and I have to do THAT to the lower humans… and that poor boy… I'd hate to be him. To fall victim to my colleague's experiments like that. Dr. Morth is a brilliant man and a dear friend, but he seems too involved with the machine and his new experiment more than I was informed he would be. I think there is something he is not telling me.  
  
I heard he was going to release his experiment. God have mercy on the unlucky soul who finds him. 


End file.

Chrono Trigger