Fan Fiction ❯ The Last Sunrise ❯ How it all began ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter one

The first day;

How it all began

IT ALL BEGAN WITH A VISIT TO LUCCA'S HOUSE. Chrono and Marle had decided to go for good two reasons. A, they hadn't seen Lucca in awhile, and B, the ice machine at the palace was broken again. So they had loaded the ice machine into a wagon and had it hauled to Lucca's house. Chrono liked to arrive unannounced as a measure to tease his old friend. She hated it when he visited if her house was a mess, and he loved to see her get worked up. He joked to Marle about making a national sport out of it.

This time, however, they were busted by a spunky little blond kid nicknamed, appropriately, "Kid". Kid was Lucca's number one stooge, and she was obviously the one on point that day at Lucca's orphanage. By the time Chrono realized they were busted it was too late to think of a witty way to still bug Lucca, besides, he was too lazy. But Marle wasn't beaten yet. She executed her plan secretly. They were met by Lucca at her front door, and she looked proud of her preparedness.

"Trying to catch me unprepared, eh?" She said, grinning broadly. Chrono perked a brow, looking her over.

"Looks like I almost did." He said, smiling broadly. Lucca did look like she hadn't been expecting company-her clothes and hair were messy, and even her glasses looked like they were falling off of her face. She scowled at him, fixing her glasses. Marle grinned.

"Kid just made it, huh?"

Lucca grinned.

"Yeah." She confirmed, smiling. "She saw you guys when she was on her way back from Truce. Ran all the way here." She looked behind them, grimacing at the wagon. "Ice machine's broken again?" Chrono nodded.

"Yeah. I don't know what the heck's wrong with it. You're the brain."

"Heh heh, and you're nothing but muscles and hair!" Lucca teased, shoving him a bit. Chrono didn't even move. Marle smiled.

"You two… I never get tired of watching you squabble." Lucca suddenly peered behind Marle, adjusting her glasses.

"Where are they?!" Lucca demanded. She looked up at Chrono, her eyes narrowed. "Why don't you ever bring your kids here to visit me?!"

Marle grinned at Lucca.

"Oh Lucca, you know we always leave them home because you spoil them! All those snacks make them hyper!" Lucca scowled back at Marle.

"And yet you manage to live with Mr. Pixie Stixs over here."

"Hey come on!" Chrono exclaimed. "I didn't eat THAT many!"

"You ate nearly one hundred!!" Lucca pointed out.

"On a dare!!!" Chrono shot back. They would have continued too, except that two small voices from the wagon rang out.

"Daddy's funny!"

"Daddy ate Pixie Stixs!" Two little redheads popped over the rail, one a boy, one a girl. The two looked at the adults and let out cries of glee.

"Miss Lucca!!!" The little girl hopped out of the wagon, running for Lucca. The boy, who was younger, had more trouble getting out, but he managed it. The two of them hugged Lucca, who beamed.

"I knew you were up to something." She said.

Marle grinned.

"That one was my idea."

The group went inside after that, into the cooled air of Lucca's house. She had invented an improved air conditioner, fixing the flaws in her father's design, so her home remained cool most of the time. Chrono liked this as much as his family did. The castle was too warm in the summer, and Lucca's was a nice retreat. The adults sat on couches in Lucca's living room, while to the children played underfoot. Kid had joined them now, along with most of her posse-a bigger boy named Louie who got a kick out of hiding Lucca's blueprints, a girl named Marissa who was obsessed with her hair, a toddler nicknamed "Dribble" who drooled nearly all the time, and another girl named Ally who liked maps. The kids of the orphanage loved with Chrono brought his children over, since it was an instant change in routine. And Chrono's kid's fit in well, even though they were royalty.

Chrono and Marle had originally wanted to wait a bit before having kids, but it only took a year before they changed their minds. The girl, Jade, was a tomboy like her mother. She loved nothing more than a good prank on the poor cook. Even at four she was hard to handle. The boy, Aaron, was mellower. He seemed to have innate magical powers, and a high I.Q.. Lucca often joked around with Chrono about Aaron being "switched at birth". "I never thought I'd see YOU with such a smart kid!" She'd exclaim. Both of the children had red hair like their father, and his same bright blue eyes. Jade was even taking up the katana. She wasn't advanced enough to wield the Rainbow Blade, but Chrono still had his old bowken, and that was perfect for a kid her size.

The three talked for hours, chatting about this and that, as always most of it was meaningless. Towards the third hour though, they did hit a serious subject. They were now very comfortable, drinking chilled sodas.

"I heard that Porre wants its independence." Lucca said, taking a sip from her soda.

Chrono scowled.

"Oh… THAT." He said unhappily. "Yeah. It isn't just that they want their independence… They want our land too. I already told them that they can be their own country if they want. I don't wanna start a war over something so stupid… They seem to want to take advantage of my age. I never thought that Porre would be the place you'd find a revolutionary…"

Lucca nodded.

"That guy… What do they call him?"

"Lynx, I think…" Marle said softly. "He's been boasting that he's got an ace up his sleeve, but he hasn't come to us in person."

"Don't you think that it's a little odd that Porre would become organized so quickly?"

Chrono nodded.

"Yeah. I woulda expected Medina to bother us before Porre ever did. Even Chorus… But Porre…" Chrono shook his head, looking down. It was obviously bothering him. "I mean… My dad was from Porre… He was always so proud of the alliance between Porre and Guardia." Lucca peered at him over her glasses.

"Did Aaron ever mention them being displeased with Guardia? He was friends with the mayor of Porre, right?" Chrono blinked.

"Aaron? Oh, you mean dad… Sorry, since Aaron's been born, I've been getting the names mixed up…"

"Chrono…" Marle looked at him sadly, knowing that memories of his father made Chrono extremely sad. But Chrono seemed willing to continue.

"My dad never said anything about them not liking Guardia… The mayor even brought a special memorial to him… After the fire…"

Lucca was quick to change the subject.

"Anyway, I think you should subdue that Lynx character. I mean, he's the one who stirred this whole mess up."

Chrono shook his head.

"I'd just love to, but they've blockaded their end of the Zenon bridge." Lucca blinked.

"Can they do that?!" Marle nodded solemnly.

"They can do anything they want with their side of the bridge." She said softly. Lucca lowered her tone, worried the kids would overhear them.

"Have they declared war yet?" Chrono shook his head.

"Luckily, no. Also, we have Medina and Chorus on our side. If they pull anything, our allies will help us…" Marle laughed.

"I personally think that Porre is crazy. I mean, not only is Guardia the most powerful kingdom on the planet, it's also home to US! I mean, we won against both Magus and Zeal's armies! We defeated Lavos! What would possess them to try and attack us?" Lucca blinked.

"I wonder…" She slowly stood up and walked to the window. She gazed out of it, her eyes fixed on something outside. Chrono walked up to her, and saw that her eyes were fixed on the sky.

"What's the matter?" He asked, blinking. Lucca turned and smiled at him, tilting her head a bit.

"Oh, it's nothing! I was just remembering something that I had forgotten a while back." She sounded confident, but her eyes betrayed her. Chrono shook his head.

"You're worried. I can tell." Lucca smiled again.

"You just be careful, Chrono… Don't take Porre or Lynx too lightly. Remember that even the tiniest spiders can be poisonous." Chrono laughed, shaking his head.

"Have you forgotten? We wasted Lavos! Our wars are over! I mean, it would take someone even stronger than Lavos to defeat us!" Lucca shook her head.

"Don't you get it, Chrono?! We aren't invincible! If we had never found out about the gates… We would have always been normal kids! It was Spekkio's magic that saved us! We never would have made it out of the Heckran cave alive without it! To say that we're the only ones capable of becoming this strong is completely illogical!" Marle stood up, joining them by the window.

"Yes, but Lucca, you forget… Each of us had something special to begin with." She pointed to Chrono. "Even in the beginning, he was really good with the katana. And I had my pendant, my Aura powers, and my crossbow… And you were a genius! You built weapons that even future technology couldn't beat! Look at the Wonder Shot!" Lucca bowed her head.

"I know that we were a bit advanced… But I'm sure that we weren't the only ones. You don't need magic to be strong. Sometimes all you need is charisma, and a lucky break. That is probably how this madman Lynx got involved with Porre in the first place." Lucca bowed her head. "And… If Lynx has the power to turn a usually docile territory into a bunch of revolutionary guerrillas… Who knows what he could do with Medina. The Mystics may seem calm and peaceful since we tinkered with their past, but they may be easy for Lynx to turn against us. And we know how powerful they are as a whole." Chrono nodded.

"I understand what you're saying… It's a shame we can't use Epoch to visit the future again… I'd like to see how this wraps up BEFORE I have to live it. That way… If anything does go wrong…" Lucca shook her head.

"We can't use Epoch anymore. I left it with Gaspar on my last visit. I didn't have the heart to take it apart, so I thought he might find something useful to do with it…" Marle looked at her in surprise.

"How did you get back? I thought that the gates were dead…" Lucca grinned.

"Oh come on. You think a little technicality like that is gonna phase the greatest scientist in the world? Oops…" She blushed a bit, but recovered. "I had Gaspar make a little tear for me. I used the gate key to direct the path here."

Marle laughed.

"You're always coming up with stuff like that!" Chrono sighed.

"I liked the Epoch… It was cool to fly around in. Why'd you have to give it to Gaspar…?"

"You owe him your life!" Lucca exclaimed. Chrono pouted.

"I know… But I liked Epoch…"

The day continued on, until it was nearly dusk. Finally, Chrono was forced to tell Lucca goodbye. The visit had been an overall happy one, except that they had neglected to get the ice machine fixed, so they left it with Lucca, said their last goodbyes, and headed off towards Guardia Castle. Halfway there, they were met by soldiers who had come looking for them. Chrono waved their worries off, telling them that they had left secretly so that they could avoid all the hubbub that came along with escorts. The soldiers knew it was useless to argue-Chrono had been born free, not under royal rules. And he intended to live as normal a life as possible.

They arrived at the palace just in time for supper, and after that Chrono and Marle put their kids to bed. The two of them then headed to their room where they sat and talked, mostly about the kingdoms newfound problems. The two had very different views of the problems-mostly because of their difference in upbringing. Chrono had difficulty understanding why the problem couldn't be solved with simple diplomacy. Marle, with her knowledge of royal practices, had no problem shooting down most of Chrono's ideas. She assured him that Porre wouldn't give up on the extra land that easily, and that the only way to really calm things down was to show that they were not weak, and that they wouldn't surrender that easily. Chrono shook his head.

"I don't want to start a war… Marle, I don't want our kids to see the things we did." He said unhappily. Marle sighed.

"Chrono, you can't be afraid of being a king. The army… And this country's safety are in your hands. You can't make them think that you're vulnerable!"

"It's not that… I've just got a bad feeling…" Chrono looked down again, staring at his hands. "I've got the same feeling… That I had that time I faced Lavos alone…" Marle looked at him with worried eyes this time, and she stood up slowly.

"Let's talk to Melchoir. I'm sure he'll have an idea… Maybe he can contact Magus."

Chrono blinked.

"Why Magus…?" He asked.

"Well… Magus predicted what happened to you, didn't he? I mean, even if he was a little kid at the time… Maybe he'd be able to…" Chrono shook his head.

"Even though he predicted it, it still didn't change the future." He said softly. Marle looked down again, closing her eyes.

"I'm sure it's nothing to really worry about… I mean, we can take on almost anybody, right?"

"Yeah…" Chrono said, gazing up towards the window before them. "You're right. I think Lucca's wrong for once. No one currently on this planet can match us, and that Lynx guy is just some islander from ElNido. They can't time travel, because the gates are gone, and the Epoch is with Gaspar… I guess I'm just worried. This is my first problem as king." Marle smiled and put her arms around his waist.

"See? I told you… You worry too much!" She winked at him. "Whatever happened to that Chrono that I met at the fair? You weren't scared of anything!"

"Accept Ayla when she was drunk." Chrono said, laughing. Marle giggled, and slowly walked the dresser, on which sat a framed photograph of the entire group-minus Magus. They were all laughing and happy. Marle smiled fondly.

"I miss everyone. I wish we could have a reunion." Chrono hopped off of the bed and joined her, smiling at the picture.
"Yeah, that would be great… Who knows? If Lucca could maybe talk to Gaspar again…" Marle sighed.

"I wonder how everyone is…"

"I'm sure they're fine." Chrono said, putting his arm around her shoulders. Kaeru is probably happily guarding Queen Leene, or slaying monsters or something, Robo is probably hanging out with his friend Aco-whatever her name was… I'm sure that Ayla's drunk off her mind, partying with the rest of the Ioka, and Magus is probably still looking for poor Schala... Who knows? Maybe he found her."

Marle smiled.

"I hope so…" She leaned against him, and they looked out of the window again, staring into the sky. Marle sighed softly. "I wonder if they are as happy as we are…"

"I'm sure they are…" Chrono smiled and pulled her close, kissing her.

As they turned away from the window, they didn't see the dark figure staring up at their window… And they didn't see the gleam of his blade in the moonlight…