The Aftermath

Crono dreamt during the period he seemed to have the migraine. The mother from the first dream was crying in it. The boy, a few years older that the previous dream, spoke first.

"Hi, Mom! I'm home! ... Mom? Where are you?"

"I'm here honey *sniff* in the kitchen,"

There was no sound except the crying and the boy's footsteps for some seconds. The boy gasped. His mother took the boy's turn to talk.

"He's... he's dead."

"No... no.. Dad can't be dead. How?"

"He was murdered. One of his students came to spar with him. They fought in the living room. Eventually the spar ended after it somehow had reached the kitchen, even though I told him not to fight there. Your dad started to bow, as he does at the end of every fight, but the student thrust his sword through your dad. The student smiled and ran off. Your father's last words were something like, 'Now our son will be the sword master. Tell him I will keep loving him, wherever my soul goes, as I will love you dear. Goodbye...'"

The mother burst into renewed tears.

"No... it can't be! Dad, you taught me so much, why did your life had to be taken now?"

"Son..."

"No, Dad, you can't be dead! I loved you so much! How will I live knowing my father is dead?"

"Son..."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

Lucca told Marle of Crono's tragic past. Crono was close to his parents. His dad, who was a sword fighter, told Crono how to use a sword. Crono's favorite sword was the samurai sword, so he chiefly used that kind. His father was murdered by another of the father's students, who was never found. Crono never spoke much from his discovery of that tragic incident to the present. He had reoccurring flashbacks for awhile, or at least the doctor said they were flashbacks. Crono would not answer when asked what was happening to him. Eventually Crono got over the flashbacks, and everyone got used to his long-term silent treatment. The flashbacks didn't return until recently...

"These flashbacks must be due to Crono's missing mother," Marle suggested.

Crono regained his senses. When he was standing, Marle said to him, "Don't worry Crono, we'll find your mother."

Crono made a small nod and gestured to Spekkio's door, behind which was the one place left here the second person who traveled through the Gate could be. The three approached the door, and Crono turned the knob.

The door opened and they entered. On the far side of the room, Crono saw his mother and a pink Nu, the strongest version of Spekkio, gagged and bound to the walls with chains thrust inside the walls.

"Mmmph! Mmm mm mmp!" Crono's mom mumbled.

Crono ran toward his mom. When he was within a meter of her, or so, he fell backwards like he had ran into a wall. Lucca and Marle ran toward Crono and helped him up.

As Crono stood up, seven figures appeared between them and the doorway. The seven looked almost like them and their friends. They were in a line of this order: Ayla, Magus, Lucca, Crono, Marle, Frog, and Robo. These "clones" could be distinguished from the real people (or robot) because they were horribly disfigured.

"It's a force field," the evil Magus spoke, "now we must destroy you by our master's wishes."

The evil clones took out their appropriate weapons as did Crono, Marle, and Lucca.

"It's seven against three!" Marle exclaimed, "They have us outnumbered!"

Gaspar walked into the room.

"I'll help you out!"

He raised his arms and three open Blue Gates and one open Red Gate appeared. Magus, Frog, and Robo climbed out of the Blue Gates while Ayla climbed out of the Red Gate (because there is no Blue Gate to or from 64,999,998 B.C.).

"That is all I can do," Gaspar wheezed in his elderly voice. He walked back to his lamppost.

Lucca spoke, "Hey guys! We need your help! These clones are holding Crono's mother behind a force field!"

"Ayla no know how get here, but Ayla help fight! Eww! That thing supposed look like me?!"

"You helped me find Schala, I suppose I could help you fight."

"For the sake of Crono's mother, I will helpeth thee fight!"

"We destroyed Mother! We can certainly beat these weaklings!"

Now with the groups equal, they charged toward each other. Each person began fighting his or her "twin."

Crono took up his Rainbow and brought it down with a downward slash toward his clone. Crono 2 (his clone) parried with his sword and thrust his sword toward Crono's stomach, which was parried. The battle continued like this until Crono conjured the Confuse tech, in which he jumped into the air and circled Crono 2, hacking away at him until he disappeared in a red flash.

Marle 2 fired an arrow at Marle which hit her arm. Marle cast Cure on herself to stop the wound and then Haste on herself. Marle 2 attempted to fire another arrow, but Marle cast Ice on it, stopping it in midair. Marle then countered with her own bow, which hit Marle 2, making the weakling clone disappear in the red flash.

Lucca hit Lucca 2 with a shot from her Wondershot, but it was a weak attack. Demonstrating that clones can use magic, Lucca 2 cast Fire, but Frog saw this and put out the Fire with Water. Frog 2 took this opportunity to thrust his sword at Frog, but Crono, who was finished with his battle, knocked Frog down to help him avoid the attack. Crono got off Frog as Lucca helped them up. As they were doing so, Frog 2 put his sword at Frog's (let's see, er, on a frog I think it would be called its) neck and Lucca 2 aimed her gun at Lucca. Crono wasn't threatened though, so he knocked down Frog 2. Lucca 2 fired at Lucca, but it was too late, for Lucca and Frog executed their Line Bomb dual tech with Frog slashing through their two clones while Lucca threw bombs at them to increase the damage. Frog 2 and Lucca 2 disappeared in a red flash.

Ayla 2 invoked her Cat Attack tech and jumped acrobatically at Ayla. Right as Ayla 2's Cat Attack reached Ayla, Ayla used her Rock Throw tech to grab Ayla 2 by the arms and throw her in the air. Seeing this, Robo quickly made some quick calculations and Robo Tackled his clone. This forced Robo 2 back into a position so that Ayla 2 landed and crushed him. Magus cast the Ice 2 and then the Fire 2 spells on them, so that they were soaked with water. Ayla 2 got up quickly, but Robo cast Shock and Ayla joined up with Crono to use Volt Bite on the broken Robo 2. These techs amplified the electricity of the (well, its a clone, but I think it would still be a) robot, causing the water-electricity mixture to electrify Ayla 2. Robo 2 and Ayla 2 disappeared into redness.

Magus 2 cast a Dark Bomb on Magus, foolishly, for Magus still had his Black Mail equipped (you ever notice that when you equip something the character doesn't seem to be wearing it?). The Black Mail absorbed the Shadow magic. Magus 2 started to cast a non-black magic spell at Magus, but Magus cast Black Hole, which sucked Magus 2 into a place of infinite darkness. With this, Magus 2 was the only clone not to have disappeared in the red flash.

"I can still feel a presence," Lucca said under her breath, "the force field is weaker though. Let's destroy it."

The seven approached the force field. All of them unleashed one of the three types of techniques on it at the same time. Robo and Lucca used their DoubleVBomb on it. Crono and Marle combined their magic to create a magic sphere, which Ayla Triple Kicked through, hitting the force field; the Final Kick triple tech. Frog used Frog Squash as Magus used Dark Matter on the field. The field made a buzz which grew softer, showing that it was weakened. When the sound and field was no more, the group walked toward the two chained up. That is all except Crono, who ran to his mother.

Crono removed the gag from his mother's mouth and used the Rainbow to break the chains. He smiled as they hugged, and Crono's mother went on rambling about "the blue portal" and that she was "so glad you're here" and so on. Lucca took the gag out of Spekkio's mouth and blasted his (Spekkio is male, isn't he?) chains off with her Wondershot.

Crono stopped hugging his mother when he felt the presence making an entrance. He started staring at the center of the room, where he felt the presence making the entrance. The other eight looked where Crono was staring at. There, in the center of the room, a form materialized. It looked like a smaller version of Lavos, so it was a Lavos Spawn.

Unlike the other Lavos Spawns and even the great Lavos, it spoke, "Aye, Crono. We finally meet."

Crono put his sword in a fighting position. He kept eye contact with the monster. Lucca spoke, "How do you know Crono?"

"Oh... sorry," the Lavos Spawn spoke, "it seems Crono already senses who I am. For some reason, his mother does not. I will show you myself."

The Lavos Spawn then morphed into a man. He had black hair slicked back. His blue-eyed face was more round than tall. He had a thin, but definitely not brittle build. The right arm extending from his loose blue shirt held a sword.

This metamorphosis did not seem to make Crono stare at it any differently. Now Crono's mother identified it, "You... are the student who killed my husband."

"Ah... You do remember me! But it is not you, woman, that I am after."

The student, who was named Kenneth, met Crono in the space between them. They raised their swords, and the duel began.

Lucca tried casting a Fire spell on Kenneth. Before it hit Kenneth though, a crescent-shaped force field appeared and bounced the Fire back at Lucca. Marle cast an Ice spell at this Fire spell to nullify it before it hit Lucca. Spekkio realized this field as the Lost Reflect spell. Even non-magic techniques against Kenneth would be risky to use, because when they would reach Kenneth, he could easily strike at his attacker with his sword. Non-magic distance techniques would also be risky because Kenneth could attack the Dino Tail or the Squashing Frog and thus avoid the attack. Robo hesistated to use his Laser Spin or Shock, because Spekkio told him that Kenneth's protection could also defend against magic-based attacks. The battle would have to be one-on-one, Crono vs. Kenneth.

Kenneth had the early advantage in the battle. He said, "I remember when I killed your father. It may not have been my goal, but I am... proud to see it discontinued your speech."

A few minutes later, Kenneth lost his advantage, but Crono gained none. Kenneth once again spoke, "My goal was to kill you, or at the very least make you nonexistent, so I morphed into one of your father's students to kill him before you were ever born. Of course I killed and disposed of the real Kenneth to give the impression that he ran off. Unfortunately, I accidentally warped to the wrong time, and thus killed your father after you were born, and thus you still existed. My master saw you would commit suicide because of your loss, and so I did not make any more attempts to kill you, but my master was somehow wrong. And so we waited for that moment to come. When the great Lavos was destroyed after your death was supposed to, but didn't happen, my powers were weakened. I tried to warp through time, but I got stuck here. When your mom came through the Gate, though, I found the perfect opportunity to draw you here and avenge Lavos."

Rage filled Crono and he took the advantage, so Kenneth had to parry while Crono attacked. In the background, Spekkio felt that Crono's mother could be able to use magic, if she learned it or if it was given to her. Her element, however, was of a rare kind...

Crono made the Kenneth wannabe back up against a wall. Lucca threw the Sun Shades at Crono, which he caught in his right hand, while still fighting Kenneth with his left. When he put them on he felt power flow through him. Using this power and some of his own, he swung at Kenneth's sword. Upon contact, Kenneth's sword flew from his hand, over the wall that the non-fighting eight people were against, and into the void, never to be seen again.

Crono then put the point of his Rainbow at Kenneth's neck, and Kenneth then lifted his head, so his neck was exposed. Words came from Crono, but not from his mouth. These words were from some sort of telepathy, just like the mysterious woman spoke. Crono never had or felt this power before, but he didn't seem surprised that he had it. Perhaps it was the intensity of his feelings that made these words flow from him. Everyone there "heard" Crono's thoughts:

"You... You deserve to die. You killed my father before his time came. You used your evil magic to lure the cats, and thus my mother here, only to get me. You want to avenge LAVOS... Why should I spare you?"

Crono made the mistake of hesitating after that, and Kenneth punched Crono in the stomach. The blow seemed to be magically enhanced, for Crono got knocked backward out of fighting distance. He fell to the ground, stunned.

"You are right," Kenneth said.

Spekkio wasn't paying attention. His hand were raised with his palms pointing outward at Crono's mother in bewilderment. The hands were shaking. "Interesting..." he said.

Kenneth approached Crono, "You are clever, for you found out even what I have not told you. I did magically draw the cats here, it was all a part of my ingenious plan. And it worked."

Even in the heat of the fight, Crono's mother had to turn to Spekkio and ask, "What are you doing?"

"And now Crono," Kenneth began, "I must complete the plan, with your death."

Then Spekkio chanted, "Ipso facto chango..."

Kenneth pointed his hand at Crono, and said, "Goodbye, Crono." A ball of light appeared on Kenneth's finger and started growing.

Then Spekkio yelled, "MAGICO!!"

And then, Crono's mother felt a power flow through her... magic. She realized her new powers and what they could do.

The ball of light from Kenneth reached the size of his hand and flew at Crono. If Crono tried to get up, he failed at doing so.

Crono's mother quickly knew what to do. She pointed her finger at Crono and yelled, "REFLECT!" When the ball reached Crono, a crescent-shaped shield, like the one Kenneth had had, appeared and reflected the ball back at Kenneth. The ball hit Kenneth (because of the once-over rule, it wasn't reflected off him), but it did not hurt him much.

The mother then moved her pointing hand at Kenneth and yelled, "Dispel!" Six silver, shimmering "coins" orbited around Kenneth. Then there was a flash, and the coins scattered upwards, away from each other and Kenneth. And finally, four triangles, one pointing up and the other pointing down, left and right appeared. One "coin" was in the middle of the four triangles. When that disappeared, Crono's mother yelled to Crono's six friends, "Dispel removes positive effects! That includes his magical barrier!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Lucca shouted.

Crono, still injured from the punch, fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Quick, Marle, before he dies!" Lucca cried.

"Life 2!" Marle yelled. Flashing lights encircled her, and a red spotlight focused on Crono. In the spotlight appeared three angels over Crono, which threw a sparkling dust on Crono. When they disappeared and the light faded, Crono stood up.

"Crono! Lucca! NOW!" Ayla yelled.

Lucca and Ayla shouted and invoked, "Gatling Kick!" Crono and Lucca mixed their lightning and fire powers, forming a glowing sphere, which launched up into the air. Ayla leaped at Kenneth, and before she could hit the ground, she orbited around Kenneth, kicking him. The floor around Kenneth turned to rock, and the sphere landed through him, causing him to fall on the ground. Ayla jumped away as Kenneth yelled from the blow:

"Impossible... NOOOOOO!!!" And he disappeared like Yakra, Nizbel, and many of the other bosses had.

Spekkio explained to them about the magic from Crono's mother. Back in 12,000 B.C., when magic started being used, there were five elements of it. They were Fire, Water (of which there were the subelements of normal Water and Ice), Lightning, Shadow, and an unnamed one. The element that any particular person could learn depended on a trait started in 65,000,000 B.C in unborn humans (which explains why Ayla cannot use magic). The trait was started from human exposure to radiation from the Lavos collision. The only reason the Earthbound Ones could not use magic is because they found learning magic too complicated, and failed at learning it.

But anyway, Queen Zeal one day saw the powers of the unnamed element, and noticed that anyone with the powers of that element could easily revolt against her because they could easily add and remove magical defense, as well use some other powerful spells. Because of that observation, she ordered her soldiers to kill off everyone that could use the unnamed element. They did, and so the people called the unnamed element the Lost Element. The only people with the Lost Element that survived were the few that were never found and the Earthbound Ones that happened to have the element (of course, it was difficult to know what element one had if he/she did not know how to use the spells of that element). Time passed and the people lost their ability to use magic. Even so, the element traits, as well as the Lost Element, passed down from generation to generation, but in only a few people, because of Queen Zeal's massacre. The number of these people became fewer with every generation.

"I must have been too young to remember the massacre," Magus said.

"But," Frog asked, "how come Crono inherith the Lightning element, and not the Lost One?"

Spekkio answered, "The element of the child depends on the combination of the elements of the parents. However, the Lost Element is disregarded in the presence of another element, so the only way a person can have the Lost Element, is if both parents have it. That is another reason why it can be called the Lost Element"

"So then Crono's father had the Lightning element," Robo said.

"Yes."

"And Crono," Marle asked, "I've been wondering, how DID you know that that... thing... had lured the cats here?"

Crono didn't know, so he shrugged.

"Speaking of," Lucca wondered, "where ARE the cats?"

No sooner that she said that did Spekkio feel magical chains being released, and the cats appeared overhead in the void. Robo used his Rocket Punch tech several times on the cats, but instead of punching them, his long arm grabbed them and pulled them down.

"This is all too weird," Marle said, "lets go back to the campsite in 1000 A.D. where we can rest and talk."

With that, the eight took turns in Epoch (not Spekkio) and brought some of their other friends to the campsite near Fiona's Shrine.

But even then --

Crono wondered...

Lucca wondered...

Marle wondered...

WHO was the shadowed woman in 65,000,000 B.C.?