Chrono Trigger Not titled

A single black rose grew on the large lonely estate. It was the only flower that ever bloomed there. Janis touched its petals tentatively. She was always afraid of harming it. They weren't ever there for long, but Janis always spent the time she was here staring and staring at that flower. It was velvety and soft. It bloomed all year round, even when it snowed. When they came in the winter, it was always buried deep in the icy whiteness. Janis always dug it out to look at it. Her father didn't understand, but he didn't stop her.  
  
He stood now, watching her as he always did before he told her it was time to go. She sat on the boulder beside the small plant, absolutely transfixed. He called her name. She turned, a bit startled by the sudden noise. She sighed, seeing the book in her father's hands. He was done with his business; it was time to go. She stood, and casting one last longing glance at the rose, hurried to join her father.  
  
He had already turned back to the Wings of Time. The machine's hatch was open. He gazed at it with a contemplative look upon his face. Janis came along side him and tugged at his cloak. He snatched it back irritably without casting her a second glance. He climbed into the Wings of Time. Janis let out a small whimper. He sighed. "Sometimes," he sighed softly, leaning over the side to help Janis up, "I wish you were taller."  
  
Janis sat contentedly next to her father in the Wings of Time. She watched him try to start it up with amusement. She didn't think he actually knew how to work it mechanically. She knew, however, that he always got it to work. He seemed to get better and better at it each time. She heard the whirl of the motors in the back and she smiled. He grinned, slapping the dash of the Wings of Time in excitement. He set the time dial and pressed a button. There was a sickening lurch and bright flash as the two disappeared into the time stream.  
  
"Crono."  
  
Five more minutes…  
  
"Crono!"  
  
He turned over in his warm bed.  
  
"Crono! Wake up you sleepy head!"  
  
A large weight dropped on his chest. "Ooof!"  
  
"Wake up, Daddy!" Crono opened his eyes. His youngest, Haley, sat square on his chest, bouncing up and down. Crono smiled a bit.  
  
Marle put her hands on her hips. "Honestly, Crono! It's noon!" Crono sat up, hugging his little girl.  
  
"Good morning, Haley, Marle."  
  
Marle smiled a bit, watching her husband wake up. "You promised you'd take the children for a hike in the Dedandaro mountains today, my dear. The others are all waiting for you."  
  
Crono nodded, climbing out of bed with Haley still clinging to his chest. "I suppose Cyrus and Dominic are very impatient for me to wake, then." Crono smiled and placed Haley on the floor. "Go tell your brothers I'll be down in a moment."  
  
Haley ran out of the room squealing, "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!"  
  
Crono smiled and shook his head. Marle placed her hand on her husband's arm. "They're very excited about today."  
  
"I know. So am I. I've wanted to go for a while. You're sure you'll be okay?"  
  
Marle smiled. "Lucca's coming to keep me company."  
  
Crono looked down at Marle. "You're sure? We could wait until you're ready to go."  
  
Marle smiled. "They're not willing to wait six months for this. And I know you're not either. Go and have a good time."  
  
Crono nodded. "I'm really sorry about leaving you here alone."  
  
"For the last time, I'm not going to be alone! Your mother and Lucca and I are going to go out shopping for a little while! I'll be fine!" Marle pushed Crono out the door. "Just go on your hike!"  
  
"Marle?"  
  
"What is it, Crono!?"  
  
"Would you mind if I got dressed first?"  
  
Janis sighed contentedly. It was beautiful here. Her father had left her alone for the afternoon while he went to investigate Medina for any clues about Schala's whereabouts. There were some monsters, but overall the Dendandaro mountains were peaceful. It was quiet. There were a lot of flowers here, too.  
  
Janis loved flowers. They were so serene. She sat on a boulder in the middle of the stream staring at a small gathering of bluebells. Janis also looked at the small buttercups that grew in the moss on the rocks and at the tall white flowers that leaned over the edge of the stream. She was captivated by the beauty of it all.  
  
Janis sat absolutely still. A large monarch butterfly fluttered overhead. It landed on one of the bluebells. Janis didn't move, watching in interest. It took to the air again, but this time it settled on her head. Careful not to move, Janis tried to look at it. It settled on her head and spread its wings.  
  
Janis let out a small squeak. The monarch fluttered away. Janis sighed and watched it fly away. "Come on Dad!"  
  
The voice startled Janis. She turned. She heard the voices getting closer. "Hold on, Cyrus! I'm coming as fast as I can!"  
  
Janis stood on the boulder, trying to get a look at the group coming the path. The first person she saw was a boy about her age with red spiky hair that seemed to be bigger than his head. Behind him was a younger boy with bowl cut blonde hair. Bringing up the rear was a man in his early thirties of the same description of the first boy and a little girl with long blond hair held up in a pony tail. The first boy stopped walking, having caught sight of Janis.  
  
She looked impressive standing on the boulder in the middle of the stream. She had long blue hair that seemed to flow like water over her shoulders. Her cape was blood red and moved as if stirred by a breeze from behind her. A small jeweled knife was strapped to her hip. Her eyes matched her cape.  
  
Cyrus called to her after a moment of hesitation. "Who are you?"  
  
Dominic, Crono, and Haley came up from behind Cyrus. The group regarded Janis in silence. She did the same. "You know," said Crono, "somehow she's familiar…"  
  
Haley stood at her brother's side. "Hey!" she said.  
  
Janis looked at Haley in interest. "Yes?"  
  
Haley jumped and hid behind her brother at Janis' voice. "Hey, who are you?"  
  
Janis swooped off her rock and onto the side of the stream. She didn't touch a single flower. She walked up to Haley and held out her hand. "My name's Janis. What's your name?"  
  
Haley peeked out from behind Cyrus, who was studying Janis as if angry. "I'm Haley. This is Cyrus, and he's Dominic."  
  
Janis turned her eyes over Dominic and then over Cyrus. "Pleased to make your acquaintance," she said nodding to them deeply.  
  
"And that's my Daddy," said Haley coming out from behind Cyrus, pointing to Crono.  
  
"Pleased to meet you, sir."  
  
Crono smiled. "My, we're polite. Just call me Crono, okay, Janis?"  
  
Janis nodded. "Okay."  
  
Dominic smiled. "Janis," he said, "do you like bugs? I like bugs. Bugs are cool."  
  
"Eeek! I hate bugs!" cried Haley. "You don't like bugs, do you, Janis?"  
  
Cyrus frowned and kicked the dirt. Janis smiled as the two younger children bombarded her with questions and stories. Crono laughed and sat down on the roots of a tree. Cyrus walked up to him. "Can't we leave, now, Father? I want to see all of the mountains today."  
  
Crono smiled at his impatient son. "Let them play with their new friend for a while. Her novelty will wear off soon. Now, where have I seen her before?"  
  
Cyrus huffed. "It's not fair!" He walked over to where his brother and sister still bombarded Janis with questions stories and now, in Dominic's case, everything in his pack. "I know more than her," Cyrus grumbled under his breath.  
  
"And this is my lucky marble. And this is a dried-up frog I found once. And this is the wooden sword Cyrus gave me. And this is a imp skull that I found in the trash. Gramma says it's cursed, but I don't believe it. And this is a picture of my mom and my dad with all their friends when they saved the world from Lavos." Janis' eyes widened and she took the picture from Dominic. "And this is a sandwich. And this is some cat food. And this is a book. And this is…" Janis continued to stare at the photo.  
  
She walked over to Cyrus who periodically kicked the dirt. "Cyrus," she said.  
  
Cyrus looked up. Janis was staring at the photo in something like disbelief. "What?"  
  
"Is this photo real?"  
  
"What? Of course it's real! Don't you be calling my little brother a liar!" Cyrus continued to yell at her. Janis sat on the ground, staring at Crono in amazement.  
  
"It's him…"  
  
"What?" asked Cyrus. "What are you talking about?"  
  
Cyrus stooped next to Janis. Janis pointed to the picture. She pointed to the tall man in the far left side of the photo. He was cloaked, but it was obvious he was big and well-muscled. He was pale and his ears were pointed. "That's my Daddy," she whispered to Cyrus. She pointed to Crono in the photo. "Daddy told me about him. About all of them. I thought it was just fantasy, a little girl's bedtime fairy tale. He never told me their names. Your father…he called your father 'the boy', as if he was a child. Daddy taught me a move once he learned from Crono."  
  
Cyrus looked down at the man Janis claimed to be her father. "Well," he said in a small voice, remembering all the tales his parents told about Magus, the man in the photo, "you do look like him…" Both his parents spoke of a fearful power and strong passion to find his sister. They told him of his quest for revenge, of their battle with him, and of this man's battle within. "But where is he?"  
  
Janis sighed, standing up. "Medina, looking for clues."  
  
"For…clues?"  
  
"We're looking for his sister, Schala. He let me stay here this time. I think he's afraid I'll get hurt, even though he'll never admit to that."  
  
"That's why Dad said you looked familiar," said Cyrus softly.  
  
Janis smiled. "I suppose. Everyone tells me I look a lot like my father."  
  
"That's it!" cried Crono. "She looks like a Zealian! I've got it!"  
  
"Dad," said Cyrus. Crono stood and walked over to Janis and Cyrus.  
  
"Yes, son?"  
  
"Janis is Magus's daughter. She told me."  
  
Crono's eyes widened and he looked at Janis. She smiled and waved a bit. "You're sure?"  
  
Janis nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Crono blinked a couple of times. "Who's your mother?"  
  
Janis looked away suddenly, rubbing her arm absentmindedly. "I don't know…"  
  
"Huh?" asked Cyrus and Crono in unison.  
  
"Well, Daddy says she died in my childbirth. He doesn't talk about my mother much. I never got to meet her."  
  
Crono nodded. "I'm sorry, Janis."  
  
"That's okay. It's something people usually want to know…" she trailed off. Her ears suddenly perked up. "Coming, Father," she whispered. She looked up at Crono. "Lovely meeting you, sir. My father summons." Janis turned to leave, but hesitated. Dominic and Haley ran to her and hugged her. She hugged them back.  
  
"Bye-bye," they said. They then joined their father. Janis lingered at the top of the path still. She turned, studying Cyrus. His arms were crossed and his stance was defensive. She smiled and waved.  
  
Janis turned and disappeared with a slight breeze. "Goodbye…" came her whispered voice to the astounded group.  
  
Cyrus ran to the spot where she had just been. He kicked the dirt. "How'd you do that?" he demanded of the sky. "That's not fair."  
  
"And she claimed to be Magus's daughter?" asked Marle.  
  
Lucca shook her head. "I don't think anyone like Magus could have a child like the one you describe, Crono."  
  
"She looked just like him. Like a mini-Magus only a girl…Oh! You know what I'm trying to say. She had the cape and everything. The only difference I noticed was her attitude. She smiled and she was very humble. And polite as the highest royalty." Crono was shaking his head. "But there was definitely some Magus to her. Instead of just leaving like a regular person she had to disappear. I don't think the children noticed, but she did levitate while she was moving quite a bit. She seemed…lonely. The children interested her greatly, as if it was a treat to spend time with people her own age."  
  
"Well, if she was Magus's," said Lucca, "I imagine that'd be true. I mean, a man like Magus isn't going to give up on his life quest just because he now has a child. And if this is true I believe wholeheartedly that her mother is very obviously dead. Magus would, in an instant abandon mother and child if he could continue searching for his sister. If her mother died, and he had to take responsibility, he'd probably just take her with him. She's probably a burden to him."  
  
"I don't know," said Crono. "She seemed intelligent enough. Perhaps she helps him in his quest."  
  
Lucca nodded sagely. "He probably under-appreciates that. She would follow him to the ends of the earth because he is all she knows. He doesn't understand such loyalty, and at the same time, he probably identifies with it. It was the same with his sister. The only difference is that he's her father, not her brother."  
  
Marle agreed, "That makes perfect sense. The more I listen, the more I want to meet this little girl. I-"  
  
A sudden shriek interrupted the conversation. The three adults jumped to their feet and ran into Dominic's room, where it originated. "It's gone! It's gone! It's gone!" he cried over and over.  
  
"Dominic, calm down. What's gone?" asked his mother, placing a soothing hand on his arm.  
  
Dominic held onto his mother's arm, crying and wailing, "My lucky marble! It's gone! I had it here in my pack, and I showed it to Janis, and then I put it down! It's gone!"  
  
"What happened after you put it down?"  
  
"I don't remember!" He cried and his nose ran. "It's gone!"  
  
Crono looked at Dominic and sighed. "Dominic, I don't know where it could have gotten to."  
  
Dominic continued to cry.  
  
"And there was a little girl; her name was Haley." Janis poked at the campfire with a long stick. "Her hair was golden and long. She had it up in a ponytail."  
  
"Like her mother used to wear it," said Magus. He leaned against the trunk of an oak. "That is, supposing her mother is Marle. From your description I wouldn't doubt it."  
  
Janis took off her small boots and turned them over. Something small and round rolled out of one of them. "What?" said Janis, leaning forward to pick it up. It was a cat's eye marble with blue and green coloring. "Oh gosh," she breathed. "This is Dominic's lucky marble."  
  
Magus looked over at his daughter. "Where'd you get that little trinket, Janis?"  
  
"It's not mine. It's Dominic's. It must've fallen into my boot when he dropped it after he showed it to me. I'm surprised I didn't feel it before." Janis held the marble up to the light and inspected it.  
  
Magus sighed. "I suppose you'll be wanting to give it back."  
  
Janis nodded. "Please, Daddy? If it's not too much trouble."  
  
"Fine. First thing tomorrow morning. Right now, it's time to sleep."  
  
Janis sighed. "But Daddy, I'm not…sleepy…" Janis sank towards the ground, putting her head on her cloak. "Good night…Daddy…" Janis' eyes closed. Magus started to smile, but caught himself and frowned. He took his cloak and laid it over his sleeping child.  
  
He shook his head, looking down at her. Then he turned and stared into the darkness, not wanting anything to disturb the child he just got to sleep.  
  
Crono woke up very early the next morning. He snuck downstairs very quietly trying not to wake anyone. He was fully dressed and at his side was a small money pouch. He was planning to sneak down to Fritz' shop and pick up a marble identical to Dominic's lucky marble. He was on the third step when he tripped and fell the rest of the way down the stairs, making an unholy amount of noise, waking everyone in the house.  
  
Everyone stood at the top of the stairs looking down at Crono's twisted body at the bottom of the steps. He sighed. There was a knock at the door. Everyone looked up in surprise. "I'll get it," said Marle. She made her way down the stairs and stepped over Crono.  
  
She opened the door and her mouth dropped open. In the doorway stood Magus and a young girl that looked exactly like him. "Hi," said the little girl. "Is Dominic awake yet?"  
  
Marle stared at the girl for a few moments. "Uh…yes. Please, come in."  
  
"Thank you, madam." Magus and his daughter stepped into the house. Crono stood, staring at Magus and Janis. Dominic and Haley ran down the stairs to greet Janis. She smiled. "Dominic, you dropped this yesterday." She held out the marble.  
  
Dominic's eyes widened and filled with joy. He took it from her and hugged it. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best, Janis!"  
  
Janis smiled. "You're welcome, Dominic." Cyrus stomped down the stairs, bringing attention to himself. "Good morning, Cyrus," said Janis cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah, whatever," he grumbled. He caught sight of Magus looking down at him disapprovingly and said quickly, "Uh, hi, Janis. Nice to see you again."  
  
"You too." She looked up at Magus.  
  
"Ready to go?" he asked. She smiled. Magus looked up at Marle and Crono. "So, hello, and goodbye. Come, Janis. We have much work to do today."  
  
Janis nodded and waved. "Bye. It was nice seeing you all again." The two turned and exited Crono and Marle's home. Magus shut the door behind them.  
  
"That was strange."  
  
"To say the very least," said Marle.  
  
Crono shook his head. "Well, at least we found Dominic's marble," he said with a bit of a shrug.  
  
"Daddy," said Haley. "When will we see Janis again?"  
  
"I don't know, Haley. We'll have to wait and see."  
  
"Father," said Janis as she picked up a palm sized piece of a clay pot, "what was this place?"  
  
"It was a mystic village. Originally it was a camp for my armies attacking Guardia by sea. We're only about a mile away from the west shore. After the war remaining soldiers and random others settled here to be free of Ozzie's rule. Then Crono and I beat Ozzie into submission and this place has been run by the peace-loving imps since. A few decades ago there was a terrible drought here and everyone left for Medina. Many had family there, so it worked out well. No one lives here anymore."  
  
Janis nodded as she pieced another piece of the pot with the one in her hand. She didn't have to ask what they were looking for. She glanced over at her father. She saw little hope in anything they might find here, but she never said such things to her father. They both knew that his search was most likely going to end with the end of his life and it would probably bear no fruit, but neither said so, for he was in denial and she understood his feelings.  
  
As she pieced together the pot, Janis realized that one day Magus would die. What if he hadn't found Schala? Would she continue looking? She looked back at her father again and knew deep in her heart the answer was yes.  
  
"Found anything?" came Magus' deep voice.  
  
"Not yet," Janis answered.  
  
They covered a great deal of ground in the few hours of light they had left. They searched nearly every nook and cranny of the abandoned village, and found nothing. When the sky darkened, and the sun dipped below the horizon, Magus looked up form his current work. He was reading through some files in what was once an elder's home.  
  
"Janis!" he called. There was no answer. "Janis?" 


End file.

Chrono Trigger