Fan Fiction ❯ The Last Sunrise ❯ The beginning of the end; The Fall of Truce ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5

The beginning of the end;

The Fall of Truce

TRUCE VILLAGE WAS AFLAME WHEN CHRONO REACHED IT, AND HE AND HIS MEN STOOD THERE IN SILENT AWE AT WHAT THEY BEHELD. Chrono shook his head as he moved through the debris. They had moved fast… So fast… One of Chrono's men spoke in a horrified voice.

"They left no one alive… We're too late…"

It seemed to be true. The dead littered the streets, homes had been destroyed… They moved from burning house to burning house, searching for any survivors… But they found no one. Chrono felt his stomach knot as he neared his mother's house. He reached it, only to find it burning as well. Memories from his youth threatened to come screaming back into reality, but he held them in check. He moved closer, only to hear a meow at his feet. He looked down and saw his cat at his feet. The cat meowed at him again, and he looked down.

"Oh, Kitty…" He said softly, reaching for it. But the cat dashed out of his reach, and it ran behind the house. Chrono followed it, but stopped in his tracks when he got there. His crystal eyes filled with tears at the sight that greeted him. The flames licked at the house behind him, the soldiers were screaming something about an ambush… But he heard nothing… Nothing but the pounding of his own heart, and the sound of his own sobs…

His mother lay dead in their back yard. She had collapsed after taking an arrow to the back. His father's sword was in her lifeless hand. She had tried to fight back. It was the only explanation. She was just a homemaker… Just a mother, and a woman… Nothing more… She'd done nothing to anyone in her life… Chrono was the only accomplishment she ever made. She had raised him, mostly as a single parent. She had always been cheerful, she had never complained about having a shortage of money… Never complained when Chrono needed extra funds to buy a toy sailboat… Never complained when he came back battered and bruised after playing in the ravine… She had always taken it with good humor, saying things like "you should behave more often, Chrono… You're such a naughty boy." Or "You do know that goblins like to eat naughty little boys who go in their ravine.". Chrono had loved his mother more than anything… But now she lay lifeless at his feet, her face expressionless. He saw her in his mind, smiling at him, announcing that she was going to be making his favorite dish for dinner, and that he needed to make sure to wash his hands before supper… All of that shattered, as did his heart. He dropped to his knees, and placed his gauntleted hand to his mother's cheek.

"Well mom… At least… At least you're with dad now… …" He hung his head, and stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, until he heard someone cry faintly: "Protect the king!!!" Chrono looked up just in time to hear a gunshot. He saw the soldier holding the smoking gun, and he braced himself for the impact. A guard brought himself up between the bullet and the young king, however, taking a fatal hit in the process. Chrono leapt to his feet as the soldier fell, and he let out a cry of agony. The Porre soldiers looked at him bewildered pointed to them and spoke in a low tone.

"How could you do this to Truce?!" He cried angrily. "They were innocent!!! These people had nothing to do with your stupid conquest! Couldn't they have just been captured?! Did you really have to kill them all?!" He brought his hands up, floating up into the air. "I'll show you… What it's like to fight someone who isn't so helpless!!!!" He closed his eyes, feeling the electric field around him building. He hurt badly on the inside, and that hatred was focused on these men. They would feel the pain that his mother and friends had. The men began screaming as the dome of electricity formed over them, washing down in torrents of pure energy. There was a blinding flash, and Chrono lowered back to the ground. The screams had stopped almost immediately, as if a wire had been snipped. Chrono watched as nearly twenty soldiers hit the ground in unison. He shook his head. "I never wanted war…" He whispered. He then turned back to his soldiers.

"I want this place cleaned out of those bastards. Rescue any survivors! Bring the dead to the palace! We'll give them a hero's burial…" He hurried back towards his horse, but one of the men stopped him.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" The soldier cried.

"To see if Lucca is okay." Chrono responded, swinging onto the saddle. He looked back towards the soldier. "Take news to the castle… Tell them that they need to be ready-a siege could come at any time. I also want word spread to the soldiers at Zenon… That bridge must be held at all costs! Lynx is probably planning to bring the forces that he got through Truce to Zenon to attack from behind. If our men get caught in a pincer, we're…"

"Screwed, sir?" The soldier answered for him, sensing the tension of the situation. Chrono nodded.

"Tell my wife to be ready. Her healing powers might be needed."

The soldier nodded.

"Yessir!"

Chrono urged his horse to go, and as he was leaving, he turned around to take one last look at Truce, his home… He heard the ringing of Nadia's bell, but then it stopped. There was a loud metallic thud, as if something had heavy fallen. Chrono's heart felt heavy. He urged his horse to go as fast as it could, shouting commands to it. When they got out of Truce, he was alarmed at how calm it was… That was when he heard the screaming… And he knew right then, that Lucca's house hadn't been spared in the attack.

He rode up to the bridge leading to her house, and then let out a cry of dismay at the sight. Lucca's house was aflame. It burned unnaturally, and this time Chrono could feel magic in that fire. Certainly Lucca hadn't purposely set it. Maybe she had been fighting and it had accidentally happened… Surely they were all all right. They had to be. Lucca was simply too powerful to die so easily. He wouldn't allow himself to believe otherwise. He rode across the bridge, and blinked in confusion when he saw Kid standing near a boy with blue hair. The boy was about 17, and he held a large Swallow. Chrono shouted to them.

"Hey!!! Kid!" Kid turned and looked at him, blinking.

"Uncle Chrono?" She blinked several times, and then looked up at the boy that was with her. "Wait here, okay? Please don't leave me yet…"

The boy bowed his head.

"I have to go… I'm sorry…" He said softly.

"Will I see you again…? So that I won't be alone?" Kid asked in a small voice. The boy nodded.

"Yeah. I'm sure of it." He looked up to Chrono, and the Swallow glowed a bit. Chrono though he heard two familiar voices…

"Look… It's Chrono…"

"Then… He's still-"

"Doreen! Can't we do anything?!"

"There has to be something!!!"

"I'm sorry, Masa and Mune… We simply don't have the power… I wish we could do something too…"

Chrono blinked. By now he had gotten off of his horse and joined the group.

"Masa and Mune?! What are you doing with that boy?!" The boy turned to Chrono, looking at him with deep purple eyes. They were sad eyes, as if he knew something.

"So you're Chrono…? You're one of Lucca's friends. I heard about you…"

Chrono shook his head.

"Who are you?! Are you with Porre?!"

The boy shook his head. He smiled a bit.

"I'm from ElNido. Don't worry… I'll take care of Kid." He smiled down at his Swallow. "And the Mastermune."

"Mastermune?!"

The boy smiled at him, his form dimming. Light began to rim his being.

"I wish I had more time to get to know you… But just remember… No matter what happens, my friends and I won't let the future that you fought so hard for disappear. I promise…" The boy vanished, and Chrono blinked in disbelief.

"He came from… The future?" Chrono stared at the place where the boy had stood, feeling his stomach knot. He was brought out of it by Kid's sobbing.

"He said he'd be with me! He wasn't supposed to leave!!!" Chrono knelt next to her, comforting her.

"Hey hey… Calm down. Where are Lucca and the others…?" Kid shook her head, her eyes glistening with tears.

"They all burned up!!!!" She screamed, dropping to her knees. Chrono shook his head.

"No… That… That can't be…" He looked to Kid. "Lucca… Where's Lucca?!" He cried, kneeling next to her. "Tell me Kid!!! Where is she?!"

"Big sis…" Kid whispered. "Lynx… He called himself Lynx… He… He killed big sis!!!!" Kid held the Wonder Shot out to Chrono, and he took it in his hand, bowing his head in utter horror, his blue eyes wide.

"No…" He whispered in a tight pain-filled voice. Suddenly, sheer terror gripped his heart. If Lucca could be overcome… Then Marle… He took Kid's hand roughly, pulling her away from the tree. "We're going to the castle. Now." Kid ripped her hand away.

"No! I'm staying here!!! Some of my friends might come back!!"

Chrono shook his head.

"Kid! I don't have time to argue!! We have to go-NOW!" Kid backed away from him.

"NO!" She turned and took off into the forest that surrounded Lucca's house. Chrono glared at the bushes she had disappeared into.

"Fine then!!! I'm not going to chase you though the woods all day!!! Just stay hidden-that's all I ask!!" He leapt back onto his horse and thundered off into the night.

And in those bushes, Kid slowly peaked out and watched him go. She sniffled and whispered.

"Good luck, Uncle Chrono…"