Fan Fiction ❯ Of Shadows and Of Light ❯ The Beggining ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: yaoi_boy 
The adventure begins...
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Angst / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.07.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 656 | Status: Completed
The adventure begins...
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Angst / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.07.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 656 | Status: Completed
Yaoiboy: Chrono Trigger isn't mine. I mean none of it. The characters, the locales, all of it is the property of Squaresoft. What else...well this is definitely a yaoi story, but its all soft stuff now. There's some mild language...but really this is just to see if I should continue. If you guys and gals like it, let me know, and if you don't, let me know that too. Thanks!
The castle sat deep within the forest, shrouded in the thickest darkness, swimming in the aura of shadow magic. The wind, on occasion, swirled chillingly through the trees. It whispered through the dry leaves, lifting the dead ones from their precarious perches on gnarled branches, and carrying them into the recesses of the darkness, beyond where any man would ever chance to step. Nor animals, for that matter, except the bats. They frequented the massive building in clouds of fluttering gray and twinkling red.
The entire fortress sat on an island far away from civilization, surrounded on all sides by perpetually rough waves and waters infested with the most vicious of sea creatures. There was another, more direct, route however; a cave equally dangerous, if not more so. It was infested with monsters and, beyond that, sealed. So Magus had enjoyed relative solitude there, just himself and the Mystics.
Why Crono couldn't seem to understand this eluded him. The silvery-blue haired master of the Dark Arts sat in a cotton packed armchair. He scowled at the boy who stood directly in front of him, hands on hips, glaring. Idly, he replaced a long silvery strand that hung limply across his left eye, annoyingly impairing his vision. He knew before hand that this gesture, combined with his sustained silence, would further inflame the temper of the redhead before him. Thus, he was prepared for the coming verbal onslaught. Watching the boy's chest rise with a flicker of
amusement, he guessed it would be quite an onslaught.
"You AREN'T listening to me Magus!" it began, the volume of it causing him to flinch involuntarily. "I WANT to go to the next Millennial Fair, and you're COMING! Who knows what we'll find in the future? We need your strength if we're going to be safe, and you KNOW you want to come anyway. Without us you'll be all alone here. So grab your cape and get going!"
To punctuate the statement, the boy pointed sharply at the door leading outside. Magus could not help but laugh out loud. Crono was giving HIM an order? It was definitely laughable, and became even more so as he saw the boy's expression lose some of that fiery resolve.
"Are you done?" the man, clad simply in a sleeveless black shirt and black pants, asked between dying chuckles.
"I guess so", the younger boy replied, his eyes smoldering, arms crossed over his white T-shirt, legs parted slightly in their rather tight, Magus noted, blue jeans.
"Well then pay close attention", he began, the amusement in his face and voice already a distant memory. "If I wanted to go, I would already be boarding the Epoch and you wouldn't have had to waste your paltry commands on me. As the situation stands, however-" He paused suddenly, faltering as he watched Crono's face sadden before him, the response preempting the statement. He suddenly wasn't sure he wanted to continue...
He had to be savoring the moment. That was the only explanation for this drawn out silence before the obvious finishing statement that was to come. Crono tried to hold on to his anger, but he couldn't do it. He just wanted Magus to come along. He wanted him to come because he, Crono, was going. He knew it was silly. He knew it was something else too, something more substantial, but he would only let himself recognize the silliness. And it was true that it could be dangerous, and that Magus's power would be an extra safeguard, but it wasn't true that the taciturn magician would want to come along to relieve any loneliness. That was just Crono, looking desperately for any small reason to get the man to join him.
For a while, Magus sat with a look that Crono could only recognize as annoyance. Then, with a flash of exasperation, he rose suddenly and stalked over to the polished oaken dresser that dominated the right side of the darkened room. Without ceremony he stood before the large oval mirror, trimmed in that very same shining wood, and snatched up his dark plum colored gloves, shoving his hands inside.
Crono's eye lit up. Magus WAS going to come! There was no way to be sure why, but he was coming, and that was enough. After watching the long-haired wizard run gloved hands through his light blue locks a few times, he began to feel a slight pain in his cheeks. With somewhat more of an effort than he thought it'd take, he managed to shrink the painful smile down to a cool smirk before Magus turned from the mirror. With a more measured step than before, the dark clothed wizard made his way past Crono to the door, retrieving his indigo cloak and wicked looking scythe on the way. The young swordsman turned to say something just as Magus pushed open the door, but he was beaten to the punch.
"Not one word, boy. Not one." came the deep voice from the silently retreating figure. Crono smirked even more.
"Not one word then", he said quietly to himself, and turned to follow after him to meet up with the others who were waiting outside.
Marle, Lucca, Frog, Robo and Ayla were all outside in the forest clearing around the Epoch. Lucca held an animated discussion on physics with Robo while she made a few last minute checks to the android's systems. Ayla and Frog were busy with speed training that consisted of Frog (a humanoid frog-like creature), hopping easily from Ayla's (an incredibly strong female from prehistoric times) reach. Further away from the group, Marle, or Princess Nadia as she was known to the courier with whom she spoke, was busy sending her final goodbyes to her father, the King of Guardia.
Unconsciously they were all delighting in the weather. The skies were a deep, clear blue. Puffy white clouds, pushed along by a gentle, cool breeze, sparsely populated the heavens. The whole forest was dappled with sunlight filtered through the overhanging branches, warming the air to just the right temperature and coaxing the various flowers to release there sweet scents. It was no surprise, then, that the sudden cold breeze caught them all off guard, as did the incremental darkening of the sky. It caused them all to look up from their various tasks. Upon doing so, they saw Magus emerging from the quaint cabin where they all gathered to spend time together, and he chose to stay. He, of course, was the reason for the sceneries sudden change.
With an upward tilt to his head just short of arrogant, Magus made his way to where the Epoch sat humming in the clearing, his cloak flowing regally behind him. He ignored the stares he garnered. The surprise in their eyes only served to remind him that he was, in fact, joining them on this field trip/mission. Since he didn't know exactly why he was going, it was something he would rather not think on too much. He leaned against the cool metal side of the time traveling vehicle and crossed his arms. The ship made a few subdued sounds, almost like speech, and Magus grunted in response.
"Well Magus, antisocial as usual I see", came Lucca's voice across the clearing. He watched as she replaced the upper half of Robo's titanium skull, adjusted the rather large glasses she wore, and headed over to him. Her red clothing was a sharp contrast to the natural greens of the scenery. With a sigh, he mentally steeled himself against her annoying know-it-all disposition.
"Why don't you lighten up a bit Magus? I mean what's with the I'm-so-serious demeanor? It is a well known fact that a person cannot survive without a good dose of happiness every now and then."
How she could waste such spiel on someone who obviously didn't give a damn was a mystery. How ever well meaning her intentions happened to be, he simply did not care to hear this at the moment, or any other moment for that matter.
"You know what would make me happy?", he said, half musing over the idea and grinning at her inquisitive features. "If Lavos came back from the dead and bit off your head. Then I'd smile for you."
As proof, he flashed a wicked grin in her direction.
"Oh what an awful thing to say! But you and I both know that is an impossibility. We defeated Lavos outside of time. It's not possible for him to be brought back for various reasons. It would take a dimensional rift in the space-time continuum for it to even be feasible, but even then there would only be a one in infinity chance of that happening.", she replied, her mood unshaken, and with a smirk that bordered on arrogant, she walked off.
Magus sighed and closed his eyes. Why he ever tried to ruin her mood was also a mystery to him, but whatever, she was out of his hair for now.
"Methinks thou may have meant that remark."
Magus didn't have to open his eyes to see from whom the remark had come. Even if he hadn't recognized that tone dripping with joyless nobility, the Old speech and the "ribbit" after the statement would have given it away.
"I didn't", Magus replied, grudgingly admitting that he had no desire to see the girl killed. He had seen enough death and destruction, caused enough...
"Aye, that is most likely true, but thine past speaks for itself. I cannot truly trust thee, even now", the voice came again, followed closely by another characteristic croak.
"Nor do I trust you. I do not fear you in the least bit, and never shall. You may wield the Masamune, but so did Cyrus before I-"
The two moved fluidly, quickly, Magus ever prepared for battle against his now enraged foe. Frog's heavy battle sword, the magically fortified Masamune, had left its sheath in one practiced motion. The only hint of its movement had been the near silent rasp of the blade against the dark metal of the ornate scabbard. Its course would have brought it to Magus's neck, only in threat as had happened on several occasions before. Even so, the shadow magician would not even allow it to get that far. In a blur of movement, Magus's hand found his scythe and swung it in a tight arc from where it lay hidden beneath his cloak, which he had easily thrown open to avoid shredding it. With an expertly timed twist of his wrist, the curved blade caught the heavier, straighter one, and took it to the ground, the points of both stabbing into the earth.
"Before I killed him", Magus finished, a mirthless smirk on his face, there only to offend the overlarge golden eyes glaring at him. "And so you have the same blade now. Unlucky, my amphibious friend."
Slowly, Frog unearthed his blade and returned it to its sheath. With a slow release of breath, the tenseness left the green man's body, but his eyes still burned.
"Mine eyes", he began, his voice low with menace, "Art on thee."
With that he strode off in the direction of the cottage where Crono stood watching from the steps, biting his lip with what appeared to be worry.
"If you wanted the perfect trip", Magus said quietly to himself, "You shouldn't have invited me."
Crono was actually worried about Magus. WHERE did THAT come from?! Of the two involved in that little confrontation, Magus was least likely to have come out with bruised pride, much less a bruised body. Still, he chewed his lip with undue concern, trying to discern any injury to the sorcerer from afar, receiving a cool gaze in return before the dark one resumed his stance of repose, arms crossed, eyes closed. Frog approached Crono silently, following the boy's gaze.
"Twas nothing Crono. I am unhurt", he remarked, snapping the boy from his thoughts. "Fear not, I will keep constant watch over our dangerous companion. You'll have no reason to match blades with him."
"Huh?", Crono asked, not understanding the point of that last statement until he realized his hand was tightly gripping the hilt of his katana. "O-oh, of course not...I just hope he doesn't fight like this the whole time. I invited him...", he started, his mind almost allowing him to say 'because I want him with me'. "Because I wanted him to have fun for once", he finished, only halfway lying. Frog nodded.
"In all the time I have known him, I have yet to discern what he considers "fun", though even I would not say it is killing. Despite all my misgivings against him, I know he does not kill for love of it, rather, out of necessity."
"He...has a kind heart", Crono said quietly, ignoring the questioning look on his companion's face and walking into the clearing towards Epoch, a slight flush to his cheeks. Suddenly two warm hands covered his eyes from behind.
"Guess who!"
It was an easy question to answer. The voice was a female one, with a pleasant pitch and words that were spoken with casual inflection, but flawless pronunciation. There was no way Crono could ever mistake the voice of rebellious princess who had been the catalyst that started the adventure that had brought the unruly group together. Knowing this, and knowing she knew it as well, where would be the fun in giving the right answer?
"Ah, Robo?", he said, the beginnings of laughter already evident in his voice. "I'd recognize the cold metal hands anywhere."
"Croooonoooo!"
"Maaarleeeeee!"
The hands were removed and Crono laughed along with the young blonde girl dressed in white pants, somewhat baggy on her slim frame, and a tank top of matching color. She stepped around in front of him and wagged a finger.
"I go through a lot of trouble to keep these hands nice and soft you know, so I will not tolerate any further comparisons of my hands to Robo's", she said, perfectly feigning a grave expression.
"This is a direct order from your Princess by the way."
"My apologies, my liege, it shall never happen again", Crono responded, his tone a flawless imitation of Frog's, and to top it off he bowed low to the ground.
They both burst into giggles simultaneously, and Marle shoved Crono just a bit.
"When are we going? I'm getting bored with waiting", she said, her hand idly tracing the handle of the crossbow that was at her side.
"In a minute", Crono remarked, still grinning. "I just have to make sure everyone is ready."
"Well, I'm gonna hop on Epoch now. Could you try to hurry them up a bit?"
Before Crono could respond, she was dashing to the Epoch, shoving Magus playfully before leaping into the vehicle. The man scowled after her, but easily settled back into his dark silence. Shaking his head, Crono made his way over to Robo, who stood motionless, reminding the boy humorously enough, of an oversized techno trash can.
"Robo?"
A series of clicks and beeps sounded and then:
"Yes, Sir Crono? How may I assist you?" Round, glowing green optical sensors locked firmly on the red-haired teen.
"I was only wondering if you were ready to go."
More beeps and tones.
"All systems appear to be running at optimum efficiency. I am ready whenever you are."
"Great", came the friendly reply. "That just leaves Lucca and Ayla."
A quick scan of the area and Crono knew the other two would be ready to leave whenever he was as well. Lucca sat at the base of a tree, writing lazily on a pad. Probably disproving the Theory of Relativity Robo had explained to her earlier. Ayla, on the other hand...was chasing her tail. Chuckling, Crono made his way over to the Epoch. He ended up standing in front of Magus, and he paused, waiting to be acknowledged. It wasn't that he was afraid to speak, only, the wizard looked so much better at rest. Almost innocent, Crono thought, the pale skin devoid of the wrinkles of scowls or derisive smirks. It looked...smooth...probably felt...soft...
Slowly, Crono raised his hand towards the face, the sudden desire to actually touch Magus too overwhelming for reason to divert. What was the worst that could happen anyway? Pushing aside the vivid thought of a scythe removing the hand, he left the question unanswered. Better to focus on the skin, let it keep enticing him so he wouldn't lose his nerve. Then the eye fluttered open, dark, reddish pupils fixing first on Crono's hand, then on the face of the now frozen boy. The genuine surprise on the face of the silver-haired mage was not completely unexpected, but was that...was he...blushing?
Magus struggled to regain his equilibrium. The boy was too close. He could feel the warmth of his body, especially intense where the hand hovered centimeters from his cheek. He could even smell him, which was something he had never had occasion to do. It was...pleasant. But why were both of his cheeks burning? And why was Crono blushing...blushing...was HE, MAGUS, blushing?! It was unthinkable! Yet he felt it, and the change from embarrassed surprise in the face before him to curious scrutiny was enough to let him know that Crono had noticed as well.
He had to do something fast, but he didn't know WHY he had to do something fast or WHY it was so flustering that Crono in particular had seen him blush. If it had been any of the others the offending limb would have already been, at the very least, batted away. Why not the same with Crono...? The only reason that came to mind was one he would not let himself confront. Instead, with a annoyed scowl, he smacked the boy's hand roughly away.
"What are you doing?"he asked, his tone sounding both annoyed and uncaring. He'd make the boy forget the blush easily.
"I...I was just..."Crono stuttered, face darkening all the while. It occurred to Magus that there could be no rational reason for the boy to have gotten that close to him. His eyes narrowed as genuine curiosity rose within him, causing the young form before him to cower, just a bit. "I was only...swatting at a spider!"
Maybe on one of his off days Magus would have believed such an unlikely story, but this was not one of those days. Beyond that, the way Crono suddenly began blabbering out some long string of incidents that lead to him coming to save the wizard from the obviously poisonous spider made it that much more hard to believe. Magus allowed the boy to babble on until he was finished, and considered burning the thin veil of deceit to cinders. One look at the desperation in those reddened features eradicated the thought. There could only be one feeling hiding behind those eyes...
"Whatever." Magus said gruffly after a brief silence, and turned with unintentional flourish towards the Epoch. He lifted easily from the ground and flew up and into the passenger section of the vehicle, recently added on by the resident know-it-all, Lucca.
He did not speak to the others that were already there, chatting amongst themselves. They all glancing up when the overhead light flickered upon his entry, but he made his way straight to the back row. Had he taken the time to notice the odd glances he was given, he would have realized that his cheeks were once again flushed rosy red. As it was, he didn't notice at all. He kept thinking of the look in Crono's eyes, the desperate desire for something unspoken...It reminded him of little Janus's face in the mirror...the day that the mysterious red headed visitor came...
What a RELIEF! Crono stood with his hands flat against the hull of the Epoch, his head hanging down between his outstretched arms. Magus had bought it, or at least, pretended to buy it. Either way, he was off the hook, and had managed to keep his hand attached to the rest of him. However, the incident now behind him, he realized that he hadn't managed to touch him. All that for nothing...except...he'd made Magus blush! What was all that about anyway...had the taciturn wizard...maybe...felt something?
"Felt what?", the boy asked himself with a small sigh and a hint of bitterness. Magus was more likely flushed red with anger than anything...that had to be it, Crono decided. "He doesn't even want me to touch him", he thought out loud.
And then he was on his back.
"Ayla!" he yelled at the muscled blonde female who had tackled him, and now sat on his chest like a cat, complete with the tail whipping excitedly about.
"Crono!" she yelled back, mimicking him and then laughing. "We go now. Ayla tired of sitting around. All inside, Crono outside. Ayla come to get Crono. Come!"
"I'm ulp!-"
Before he could say anything more, he found himself waving about wildly with a tail about his waist towing him after Ayla who, scoffing at conventional methods like ladders, made her way into the ship by somersaulting off the side of a tree, scrambling up the metal surface of the Epoch, and diving deftly into the seating area/cockpit.
"Crono here." Ayla announced proudly, even though the Crono she delivered was a dizzy form on the floor with hair all splayed out of place. "Now we go."
The castle sat deep within the forest, shrouded in the thickest darkness, swimming in the aura of shadow magic. The wind, on occasion, swirled chillingly through the trees. It whispered through the dry leaves, lifting the dead ones from their precarious perches on gnarled branches, and carrying them into the recesses of the darkness, beyond where any man would ever chance to step. Nor animals, for that matter, except the bats. They frequented the massive building in clouds of fluttering gray and twinkling red.
The entire fortress sat on an island far away from civilization, surrounded on all sides by perpetually rough waves and waters infested with the most vicious of sea creatures. There was another, more direct, route however; a cave equally dangerous, if not more so. It was infested with monsters and, beyond that, sealed. So Magus had enjoyed relative solitude there, just himself and the Mystics.
Why Crono couldn't seem to understand this eluded him. The silvery-blue haired master of the Dark Arts sat in a cotton packed armchair. He scowled at the boy who stood directly in front of him, hands on hips, glaring. Idly, he replaced a long silvery strand that hung limply across his left eye, annoyingly impairing his vision. He knew before hand that this gesture, combined with his sustained silence, would further inflame the temper of the redhead before him. Thus, he was prepared for the coming verbal onslaught. Watching the boy's chest rise with a flicker of
amusement, he guessed it would be quite an onslaught.
"You AREN'T listening to me Magus!" it began, the volume of it causing him to flinch involuntarily. "I WANT to go to the next Millennial Fair, and you're COMING! Who knows what we'll find in the future? We need your strength if we're going to be safe, and you KNOW you want to come anyway. Without us you'll be all alone here. So grab your cape and get going!"
To punctuate the statement, the boy pointed sharply at the door leading outside. Magus could not help but laugh out loud. Crono was giving HIM an order? It was definitely laughable, and became even more so as he saw the boy's expression lose some of that fiery resolve.
"Are you done?" the man, clad simply in a sleeveless black shirt and black pants, asked between dying chuckles.
"I guess so", the younger boy replied, his eyes smoldering, arms crossed over his white T-shirt, legs parted slightly in their rather tight, Magus noted, blue jeans.
"Well then pay close attention", he began, the amusement in his face and voice already a distant memory. "If I wanted to go, I would already be boarding the Epoch and you wouldn't have had to waste your paltry commands on me. As the situation stands, however-" He paused suddenly, faltering as he watched Crono's face sadden before him, the response preempting the statement. He suddenly wasn't sure he wanted to continue...
He had to be savoring the moment. That was the only explanation for this drawn out silence before the obvious finishing statement that was to come. Crono tried to hold on to his anger, but he couldn't do it. He just wanted Magus to come along. He wanted him to come because he, Crono, was going. He knew it was silly. He knew it was something else too, something more substantial, but he would only let himself recognize the silliness. And it was true that it could be dangerous, and that Magus's power would be an extra safeguard, but it wasn't true that the taciturn magician would want to come along to relieve any loneliness. That was just Crono, looking desperately for any small reason to get the man to join him.
For a while, Magus sat with a look that Crono could only recognize as annoyance. Then, with a flash of exasperation, he rose suddenly and stalked over to the polished oaken dresser that dominated the right side of the darkened room. Without ceremony he stood before the large oval mirror, trimmed in that very same shining wood, and snatched up his dark plum colored gloves, shoving his hands inside.
Crono's eye lit up. Magus WAS going to come! There was no way to be sure why, but he was coming, and that was enough. After watching the long-haired wizard run gloved hands through his light blue locks a few times, he began to feel a slight pain in his cheeks. With somewhat more of an effort than he thought it'd take, he managed to shrink the painful smile down to a cool smirk before Magus turned from the mirror. With a more measured step than before, the dark clothed wizard made his way past Crono to the door, retrieving his indigo cloak and wicked looking scythe on the way. The young swordsman turned to say something just as Magus pushed open the door, but he was beaten to the punch.
"Not one word, boy. Not one." came the deep voice from the silently retreating figure. Crono smirked even more.
"Not one word then", he said quietly to himself, and turned to follow after him to meet up with the others who were waiting outside.
Marle, Lucca, Frog, Robo and Ayla were all outside in the forest clearing around the Epoch. Lucca held an animated discussion on physics with Robo while she made a few last minute checks to the android's systems. Ayla and Frog were busy with speed training that consisted of Frog (a humanoid frog-like creature), hopping easily from Ayla's (an incredibly strong female from prehistoric times) reach. Further away from the group, Marle, or Princess Nadia as she was known to the courier with whom she spoke, was busy sending her final goodbyes to her father, the King of Guardia.
Unconsciously they were all delighting in the weather. The skies were a deep, clear blue. Puffy white clouds, pushed along by a gentle, cool breeze, sparsely populated the heavens. The whole forest was dappled with sunlight filtered through the overhanging branches, warming the air to just the right temperature and coaxing the various flowers to release there sweet scents. It was no surprise, then, that the sudden cold breeze caught them all off guard, as did the incremental darkening of the sky. It caused them all to look up from their various tasks. Upon doing so, they saw Magus emerging from the quaint cabin where they all gathered to spend time together, and he chose to stay. He, of course, was the reason for the sceneries sudden change.
With an upward tilt to his head just short of arrogant, Magus made his way to where the Epoch sat humming in the clearing, his cloak flowing regally behind him. He ignored the stares he garnered. The surprise in their eyes only served to remind him that he was, in fact, joining them on this field trip/mission. Since he didn't know exactly why he was going, it was something he would rather not think on too much. He leaned against the cool metal side of the time traveling vehicle and crossed his arms. The ship made a few subdued sounds, almost like speech, and Magus grunted in response.
"Well Magus, antisocial as usual I see", came Lucca's voice across the clearing. He watched as she replaced the upper half of Robo's titanium skull, adjusted the rather large glasses she wore, and headed over to him. Her red clothing was a sharp contrast to the natural greens of the scenery. With a sigh, he mentally steeled himself against her annoying know-it-all disposition.
"Why don't you lighten up a bit Magus? I mean what's with the I'm-so-serious demeanor? It is a well known fact that a person cannot survive without a good dose of happiness every now and then."
How she could waste such spiel on someone who obviously didn't give a damn was a mystery. How ever well meaning her intentions happened to be, he simply did not care to hear this at the moment, or any other moment for that matter.
"You know what would make me happy?", he said, half musing over the idea and grinning at her inquisitive features. "If Lavos came back from the dead and bit off your head. Then I'd smile for you."
As proof, he flashed a wicked grin in her direction.
"Oh what an awful thing to say! But you and I both know that is an impossibility. We defeated Lavos outside of time. It's not possible for him to be brought back for various reasons. It would take a dimensional rift in the space-time continuum for it to even be feasible, but even then there would only be a one in infinity chance of that happening.", she replied, her mood unshaken, and with a smirk that bordered on arrogant, she walked off.
Magus sighed and closed his eyes. Why he ever tried to ruin her mood was also a mystery to him, but whatever, she was out of his hair for now.
"Methinks thou may have meant that remark."
Magus didn't have to open his eyes to see from whom the remark had come. Even if he hadn't recognized that tone dripping with joyless nobility, the Old speech and the "ribbit" after the statement would have given it away.
"I didn't", Magus replied, grudgingly admitting that he had no desire to see the girl killed. He had seen enough death and destruction, caused enough...
"Aye, that is most likely true, but thine past speaks for itself. I cannot truly trust thee, even now", the voice came again, followed closely by another characteristic croak.
"Nor do I trust you. I do not fear you in the least bit, and never shall. You may wield the Masamune, but so did Cyrus before I-"
The two moved fluidly, quickly, Magus ever prepared for battle against his now enraged foe. Frog's heavy battle sword, the magically fortified Masamune, had left its sheath in one practiced motion. The only hint of its movement had been the near silent rasp of the blade against the dark metal of the ornate scabbard. Its course would have brought it to Magus's neck, only in threat as had happened on several occasions before. Even so, the shadow magician would not even allow it to get that far. In a blur of movement, Magus's hand found his scythe and swung it in a tight arc from where it lay hidden beneath his cloak, which he had easily thrown open to avoid shredding it. With an expertly timed twist of his wrist, the curved blade caught the heavier, straighter one, and took it to the ground, the points of both stabbing into the earth.
"Before I killed him", Magus finished, a mirthless smirk on his face, there only to offend the overlarge golden eyes glaring at him. "And so you have the same blade now. Unlucky, my amphibious friend."
Slowly, Frog unearthed his blade and returned it to its sheath. With a slow release of breath, the tenseness left the green man's body, but his eyes still burned.
"Mine eyes", he began, his voice low with menace, "Art on thee."
With that he strode off in the direction of the cottage where Crono stood watching from the steps, biting his lip with what appeared to be worry.
"If you wanted the perfect trip", Magus said quietly to himself, "You shouldn't have invited me."
Crono was actually worried about Magus. WHERE did THAT come from?! Of the two involved in that little confrontation, Magus was least likely to have come out with bruised pride, much less a bruised body. Still, he chewed his lip with undue concern, trying to discern any injury to the sorcerer from afar, receiving a cool gaze in return before the dark one resumed his stance of repose, arms crossed, eyes closed. Frog approached Crono silently, following the boy's gaze.
"Twas nothing Crono. I am unhurt", he remarked, snapping the boy from his thoughts. "Fear not, I will keep constant watch over our dangerous companion. You'll have no reason to match blades with him."
"Huh?", Crono asked, not understanding the point of that last statement until he realized his hand was tightly gripping the hilt of his katana. "O-oh, of course not...I just hope he doesn't fight like this the whole time. I invited him...", he started, his mind almost allowing him to say 'because I want him with me'. "Because I wanted him to have fun for once", he finished, only halfway lying. Frog nodded.
"In all the time I have known him, I have yet to discern what he considers "fun", though even I would not say it is killing. Despite all my misgivings against him, I know he does not kill for love of it, rather, out of necessity."
"He...has a kind heart", Crono said quietly, ignoring the questioning look on his companion's face and walking into the clearing towards Epoch, a slight flush to his cheeks. Suddenly two warm hands covered his eyes from behind.
"Guess who!"
It was an easy question to answer. The voice was a female one, with a pleasant pitch and words that were spoken with casual inflection, but flawless pronunciation. There was no way Crono could ever mistake the voice of rebellious princess who had been the catalyst that started the adventure that had brought the unruly group together. Knowing this, and knowing she knew it as well, where would be the fun in giving the right answer?
"Ah, Robo?", he said, the beginnings of laughter already evident in his voice. "I'd recognize the cold metal hands anywhere."
"Croooonoooo!"
"Maaarleeeeee!"
The hands were removed and Crono laughed along with the young blonde girl dressed in white pants, somewhat baggy on her slim frame, and a tank top of matching color. She stepped around in front of him and wagged a finger.
"I go through a lot of trouble to keep these hands nice and soft you know, so I will not tolerate any further comparisons of my hands to Robo's", she said, perfectly feigning a grave expression.
"This is a direct order from your Princess by the way."
"My apologies, my liege, it shall never happen again", Crono responded, his tone a flawless imitation of Frog's, and to top it off he bowed low to the ground.
They both burst into giggles simultaneously, and Marle shoved Crono just a bit.
"When are we going? I'm getting bored with waiting", she said, her hand idly tracing the handle of the crossbow that was at her side.
"In a minute", Crono remarked, still grinning. "I just have to make sure everyone is ready."
"Well, I'm gonna hop on Epoch now. Could you try to hurry them up a bit?"
Before Crono could respond, she was dashing to the Epoch, shoving Magus playfully before leaping into the vehicle. The man scowled after her, but easily settled back into his dark silence. Shaking his head, Crono made his way over to Robo, who stood motionless, reminding the boy humorously enough, of an oversized techno trash can.
"Robo?"
A series of clicks and beeps sounded and then:
"Yes, Sir Crono? How may I assist you?" Round, glowing green optical sensors locked firmly on the red-haired teen.
"I was only wondering if you were ready to go."
More beeps and tones.
"All systems appear to be running at optimum efficiency. I am ready whenever you are."
"Great", came the friendly reply. "That just leaves Lucca and Ayla."
A quick scan of the area and Crono knew the other two would be ready to leave whenever he was as well. Lucca sat at the base of a tree, writing lazily on a pad. Probably disproving the Theory of Relativity Robo had explained to her earlier. Ayla, on the other hand...was chasing her tail. Chuckling, Crono made his way over to the Epoch. He ended up standing in front of Magus, and he paused, waiting to be acknowledged. It wasn't that he was afraid to speak, only, the wizard looked so much better at rest. Almost innocent, Crono thought, the pale skin devoid of the wrinkles of scowls or derisive smirks. It looked...smooth...probably felt...soft...
Slowly, Crono raised his hand towards the face, the sudden desire to actually touch Magus too overwhelming for reason to divert. What was the worst that could happen anyway? Pushing aside the vivid thought of a scythe removing the hand, he left the question unanswered. Better to focus on the skin, let it keep enticing him so he wouldn't lose his nerve. Then the eye fluttered open, dark, reddish pupils fixing first on Crono's hand, then on the face of the now frozen boy. The genuine surprise on the face of the silver-haired mage was not completely unexpected, but was that...was he...blushing?
Magus struggled to regain his equilibrium. The boy was too close. He could feel the warmth of his body, especially intense where the hand hovered centimeters from his cheek. He could even smell him, which was something he had never had occasion to do. It was...pleasant. But why were both of his cheeks burning? And why was Crono blushing...blushing...was HE, MAGUS, blushing?! It was unthinkable! Yet he felt it, and the change from embarrassed surprise in the face before him to curious scrutiny was enough to let him know that Crono had noticed as well.
He had to do something fast, but he didn't know WHY he had to do something fast or WHY it was so flustering that Crono in particular had seen him blush. If it had been any of the others the offending limb would have already been, at the very least, batted away. Why not the same with Crono...? The only reason that came to mind was one he would not let himself confront. Instead, with a annoyed scowl, he smacked the boy's hand roughly away.
"What are you doing?"he asked, his tone sounding both annoyed and uncaring. He'd make the boy forget the blush easily.
"I...I was just..."Crono stuttered, face darkening all the while. It occurred to Magus that there could be no rational reason for the boy to have gotten that close to him. His eyes narrowed as genuine curiosity rose within him, causing the young form before him to cower, just a bit. "I was only...swatting at a spider!"
Maybe on one of his off days Magus would have believed such an unlikely story, but this was not one of those days. Beyond that, the way Crono suddenly began blabbering out some long string of incidents that lead to him coming to save the wizard from the obviously poisonous spider made it that much more hard to believe. Magus allowed the boy to babble on until he was finished, and considered burning the thin veil of deceit to cinders. One look at the desperation in those reddened features eradicated the thought. There could only be one feeling hiding behind those eyes...
"Whatever." Magus said gruffly after a brief silence, and turned with unintentional flourish towards the Epoch. He lifted easily from the ground and flew up and into the passenger section of the vehicle, recently added on by the resident know-it-all, Lucca.
He did not speak to the others that were already there, chatting amongst themselves. They all glancing up when the overhead light flickered upon his entry, but he made his way straight to the back row. Had he taken the time to notice the odd glances he was given, he would have realized that his cheeks were once again flushed rosy red. As it was, he didn't notice at all. He kept thinking of the look in Crono's eyes, the desperate desire for something unspoken...It reminded him of little Janus's face in the mirror...the day that the mysterious red headed visitor came...
What a RELIEF! Crono stood with his hands flat against the hull of the Epoch, his head hanging down between his outstretched arms. Magus had bought it, or at least, pretended to buy it. Either way, he was off the hook, and had managed to keep his hand attached to the rest of him. However, the incident now behind him, he realized that he hadn't managed to touch him. All that for nothing...except...he'd made Magus blush! What was all that about anyway...had the taciturn wizard...maybe...felt something?
"Felt what?", the boy asked himself with a small sigh and a hint of bitterness. Magus was more likely flushed red with anger than anything...that had to be it, Crono decided. "He doesn't even want me to touch him", he thought out loud.
And then he was on his back.
"Ayla!" he yelled at the muscled blonde female who had tackled him, and now sat on his chest like a cat, complete with the tail whipping excitedly about.
"Crono!" she yelled back, mimicking him and then laughing. "We go now. Ayla tired of sitting around. All inside, Crono outside. Ayla come to get Crono. Come!"
"I'm ulp!-"
Before he could say anything more, he found himself waving about wildly with a tail about his waist towing him after Ayla who, scoffing at conventional methods like ladders, made her way into the ship by somersaulting off the side of a tree, scrambling up the metal surface of the Epoch, and diving deftly into the seating area/cockpit.
"Crono here." Ayla announced proudly, even though the Crono she delivered was a dizzy form on the floor with hair all splayed out of place. "Now we go."