**Author's Email**lostshadowknight@hotmail.com

Chrono Trigger and all of it's characters is owned by Squaresoft Inc. These's characters aren't mine, I'm just borrowing them for awhile. All copyrights and rights reserved apply for both Squaresoft and myself, Squaresoft for the original story and characters, myself for the "novelization". If you wish to post this on a website, or use it for other purposes, please contact me first at Acruelthesis@aol.com
Thank you!



Home of Crono

1,000 A.D.


"AHH!" Crono sat up quickly in his bed, breathing heavily. He blinked his eyes a few minutes, taking in his surroundings. He was home. Home, in his bed.

"Another nightmare..." He sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. It was the same thing, every night. He was in some sort of strange environment, colors swirling everywhere...and then a voice. A kid's voice, couldn't be older than 10 years old...

"One of you...shall shortly perish." Crono repeated to himself, even though the meaning was unclear to him.

He sighed once more, and lay back down in his bed. He was never going to get any sleep, and the Millenial Fair was tomorrow! He closed his eyes, and tried to think of everything fun he was going to do there. Lucca's new invention was going to be revealed, the very same thing she'd kept a secret from him for months on end, driving him crazy.

With that thought in mind, Crono drifted to sleep once more.

~~~~~*~~~~~


"Crono..."

Crono grumbled, turning in his bed. "Two more minutes..."

"Crono!"

"Alright, alright..." Crono mumbled.

"Good morning Crono!" Crono's mother, Miria, spoke. She walked over to Crono's curtains and pulled them open, allowing bright sunlight to shine into the room.

"Mom!" Crono spoke lazily, burying himself deeper into his blanket.

"Wake up, sleepy head! You were so excited about the Millenial Fair that you didn't get any sleep, did you?" Miria remarked.

Crono sat up in bed, yawning. His mother sat on a chair by the window, the cat, Herky, sitting on her lap, purring. When Crono was a kid, his Dad had come home with the cat, and named him Henry. For weeks he and mom had tried to get Crono to say Henry, but all that could come out was Herky. So, eventually, the name stuck.

"Yeah," Crono spoke. "Something like that."

Miria smiled, the sound of Leene's bell ringing through the room.

"It makes such beautiful music, doesn't it?"

"Leene's bell, mom?" Crono asked.

"Mmmhmm..."

"Yeah...I guess it does."

Crono hopped out of bed, stretching and letting out another yawn. He made his bed rather quickly, and turned to his mother, who was giggling.

"Your father..." Miria said, half happy, half sad. "Your father always used to sleep in his clothes."

Crono looked down at his clothes. He wore the light blue tunic his father had bought him for his birthday, the belt showing over the tunic, instead of under it, on his khaki pants. The orange boots went perfect with his clothes, and the orange scarf around his neck, along with the white bandanna on his head completed the ensemble.

"Dad..." Crono whispered to himself.

Crono's father, Ben, was a treasure hunter, searching the world over for relics and old things that were of the past. One night, when Crono was 11, his Dad woke him up in the middle of the night, claiming to know something about the Space-Time Continuum and hugging him tightly, saying he would be back soon.

...Five years had past, and he'd never come back...

Crono and Miria, however, stayed hopeful, and Lucca, Crono's best friend, desperately tried to cheer him up when he and his mother grieved. No matter what happened, Lucca always kept a positive mind and wouldn't let Crono or his mother think that Ben was dead. Lucca was always one to keep the faith alive.

His mother stood up out of the chair, snapping Crono out of his thoughts. She set the cat down and reached into her pocket, pulling out 200 gold and handing it to Crono.

"Here's your allowance!" Miria beamed. "Have fun!"

"Thanks Mom!" Crono spoke, ready to go, he dashed out of the room, and started down the stairs, only to be halted by his mother.

"Wait!" Miria yelled down to Crono.

Crono, at the bottom of the stairs, looked up to his mother. "Yeah?"

"That inventor friend of yours, Lucca, stopped by. She wanted me to remind you that her new creation is in the North Square! Don't forget!"

"Okay mom! Love you!" Crono said, dashing out the door.

"Love you too, dear! Oh, be back before dinner!"

~~~~~*~~~~~

Crono walked into Leene Square, smiling widely to himself. This was the event that he'd been waiting for for 6 whole months, ever since it was announced by the King himself. The event that boasted to have everything and anything to do, for all ages.

"The Millenial Fair." Crono smirked.

It looked wonderful! Around the Town Square were 3 guys dressed up and racing around with a cat, a line of people waiting to try their luck at ringing a bell by stomping on a platform, and dozens of tents! He didn't know where to start!
"They call me Gato...I have metal joints! Beat me up and earn 15 Silver points!" A mechanical voice shouted.

Crono turned over to the direction of the voice just to see a red robot knock over a tent with a giant microphone.

"Hey, cool!" Crono exclaimed. "A show!"

A hatch in the robot's midsection opened, and out popped a boxing glove, smashing into the fountain where a girl sat, crumbling the stone foundation and sending water everywhere.

"Hey...I don't think that was supposed to happen!" Crono spoke, rushing over to help the girl up.

"Someone has to stop that thing!" One of the racers shouted, dressed up as a knight.

Screams came from everywhere as the robot knocked over a few more tents, as people scrambled to get out of it's way.

Crono reached for his fathers sword, and silently swore to himself. He'd forgotten it at home!

"Here!" A male voice shouted behind him. Crono turned around, and a sword was tossed to him. He caught it with ease. Wait, was that...

"Are you Melchior? The Swordmaker?" Crono asked, recognizing the face. Melchior was his father's travel companion! Maybe he knew something about-

"Crono, m'boy! There's no time for a reunion! Strike that blasted machine down!" Melchior yelled quickly.

"Got it!" Crono shouted, and turned towards the robot. "Hey you! You big bag of bolts!"

The robot turned around, and swung it's microphone around, singing again. "They call me Gato...I have metal joints...beat me up and earn 15 silver points!"

Crono ran up to the rampaging Gato and swung at him, sword hitting metal and coming away, leaving a dent in the armor. The robot responded by opening his chestplate, and sending out the boxing glove, striking Crono and sending him back a few feet.

"Hey!" Crono growled, running towards the robot, only to get knocked back again.

Whoosh! Something flew past Crono's head and struck Gato in his head, sending him stumbling. It was an arrow! Crono turned around to come face to face with it's shooter, a pretty blonde haired girl who wore her hair in a hair ribbon, a color that matched the light green of her pants and shirt. She also wore gold wrist guards, and held a bowgun in her hand. Her smile was welcoming, but her eyes said different, a wild glint in them, like she was always looking for adventure.

"Need a hand?" She smiled, helping Crono up.

"Thanks!" Crono said, turning around and charging towards the robot again, also accompanied by the mysterious blonde haired girl. Crono struck Gato with his sword, followed by the girl shooting an arrow, following up with a smash from her bow, which knocked Gato backwards. It stood up and shook it's head, unfazed.

"Get behind it, we'll attack from both sides!" Crono said to the girl.

"Right!" She nodded, getting behind Gato.
Crono plunged the sword into Gato's chest, sending sparks flying everywhere. Crono tugged at the sword.

It didn't budge.

Crono tugged again, harder, as the chestplate started to open slowly.

"Come on, come on!" Crono yelled, tugging harder.

The chestplate was open, and Crono could see the boxing glvoe in the shadows, bouncing out and aiming straight for his head. Crono closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the impact. Nothing came. He reluctantly opened his eyes, and saw the boxing glove stopped inches away from his face.

Gato slumped to his knees, his voice starting to go slower and deeper with each voice. "I lost...you won...here's 15 points...now...wasn't...that...fun?!"

The robot fell backwards, revealing the girl, giving a thumbs up sign and smiling at Crono. Everyone cheered, and Crono couldn't disappoint them, so he took the sword out of the robot's chest and smiled, bowing. Once the crowd was clear, he turned to the girl.

"Thanks for the help!" He spoke.

"No problem!" The girl said, reaching for something on her neck, and feeling air. "Oh no! My pendant!" She took off, searching frantically around the area Crono helped as well, looking around, until finally, he caught a glimpse of a green light flashing in the sun, he walked towards it, and picked it up, a green circular object with an emitting glow hung by a peach colored string.

"Is this it?" Crono asked, turning to the girl.

"Oh, you found it!" The girl asked, taking the pendant from Crono and putting it around her neck. "Thank you so much!"

"Think nothing of it!" Crono smiled, happy to play hero twice in one day. "Hey...what's your name?"

The girl jumped slightly, shocked, and gave a nervous laugh. "My name? My name's...um...er...Marle! That's it! My name's Marle!"

Crono extended his hand. "Crono. It's nice to fight alongside you!"

Marle shook his hand, grinning. "Likewise. Hey...do you live around here?"

Crono nodded.

"Well...I'm new around here, so I was wondering...could you show me around?" Marle asked pleadingly.

"Of course!" Crono replied.

Marle smiled widely, and hugged him. "Oh wow, a true gentleman!"

Crono blushed. "Um...think nothing of it!"

"Okay!" Marle said, jumping in the air. "Shall we go?"


Crono nodded. Oh, he almost forgot! He turned to where Melchior was standing, to give him back the sword, and ask about his father.

Gone!

Crono looked around quickly. Where could Melchior have gone?

"Crono...?" Marle asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Crono turned around quickly, sheathing his sword. "No, nothing! Hey, do you mind if we stop at North Square first? I promised a friend I'd look at her new invention."

"No problem!" Marle spoke, skipping off towards North Square.

"Hey, wait for me!" Crono said, running alongside her.

Crono burst into the North Square and ran straight into Lucca, sending the two to the ground. Lucca laughed, and brushed herself off, helping Crono up. She wore her usual garb, a helmet with a sight scope over her short purple hair, an orange vest over a long, olive green shirt. She wore an orange skirt, as well as orange shoes, covering up olive green socks.

"You're so klutzy!" Lucca said in that know-it-all voice of hers. Actually, that wasn't too far off. Lucca had to be the smartest person Crono knew, her intelligence outweighing that of every smart person in Leene. She came up with all sorts of inventions, but lots malfunctioned, but still...lots of others worked.

"Gee, thanks!" Crono said, smirking.

"No sweat. Hey, I'd really like to make fun of you more, but, the fact of the matter is, Gato's gone crazy, and I gotta-!" Lucca spat out quickly.

"That crazy machine was YOURS?" Crono said, not the least bit surprised. "We took care of, it, don't worry."

"Crono! Did you scratch it, did you blow it up, what did you do, did you know it took me 2 months to even construct the frame alone? Then, I had to install the bionic memory data system, and THAT took me a whole...what do you mean we?" Lucca babbled. Her gaze turned to Marle, and smirked. "Hey Crono, how'd you pick up a cutie like her?" Lucca extended her hand, smiling. "Lucca, master inventor."

Marle shook her hand. "Marle, Pri-...Princess of Battle!"

"Step right on up, any of you who have the time and courage! Our 'Super Dimension Warp' is the invention of the century!" Taban, Lucca's father shouted, drawing everyones attention over to him. "To use it, you step up on this pod here..."

He gestured to the mechanism to the left.

"And you'll get teleported here! It's the masterwork of my beautiful daughter, Lucca!"

"Princess of battle, huh?" Lucca nodded, and turned to Crono. "As you can see...nobody wants to try my Telepod! You wanna give it a go?"

Crono looked up at the dual machines that lay ahead, all kinds of buttons and dials and knobs, and...too many buttons for Lucca wasn't good.

"Well...er..." Crono started.

"Of course 'ya do!" Lucca shouted, pushing Crono towards and into the machine pod to the left.

"H-Hey!" Crono argued.

"Good luck, Crono!" Marle cheered from the sidelines.

"Now...you just stand there, and wait!" Lucca ran over to a machine on the right and started pushing buttons while Taban stepped up to a machine to the left and started pulling a lever up and down.

"Crono, don't worry! I tried it with Herky, so there should be no reason that it doesn't work with humans!" Lucca called to him.

"Lucca!" Crono said, frowning.

"All systems on!" Taban spoke, the machine starting to whir.

"...Begin energy transfer!" Lucca spoke, pushing more buttons.

FLASH!

The next thing Crono knew, he was standing on the right pod, Lucca grinning widely at him. "Whoohoo! It worked!"

Crono stumbled off the machine, a little dizzy. The crowd certainly showed it's awe by cheering and clapping.

"What a kick!" Marle said, running up to Crono and Lucca. "Can I give it a try?"

"Of course!" Lucca spoke, laughing uncontrollably. "It works, it works, it WORKS!"

Marle ran to the left pod and stepped onto it. "I'm all ready!"

Lucca repositioned herself and started pressing buttons once more. "Watch THIS Crono!"

"Behold, ladies and gentlemen, as this vision of lovliness is transported before your very eyes!" Taban spoke to the crowd before turning to Marle. "You sure about this? There's still time to turn back!"

"No way!" Marle said, courageously. "Throw the switch!"

Taban nodded, and turned towards the crowd. "Okay everyone, let's give her a big hand when she reappears!" He turned towards the machine, and started pulling the lever up and down once more. He examined a screen and turned to Lucca. "All systems on!"

Lucca nodded, and began pressing more buttons. "Begin energy transfer!"

The machine started to whir, and suddenly, Marle's pendant started to glow.

"What?" Crono said dumbly, turning to Lucca. "Lucca, what's going on?"

Lucca waved a hand at Crono. "Not now!"

Marle looked down at her pendant, confused. "My pendant...it's..."

Suddenly, Taban's machine started to spark and fizzle, and Taben jumped back. "Lucca!"

Lucca turned to the machine, and then to Marle. "Huh?" She jumped back as her machine started to spark as well, crackling and fizzling. Suddenly, both machine shot out a bolt of energy and connected with each other, forming a circular blue mass that seemed endless.

"Crono!" Marle shouted.

Crono rushed forward to help her, but was held back by Lucca.

"It's too dangerous!" Lucca yelled.

Marle was reduced to nothing but energy particles, and her pendant dropped to the pods floor. The particles flew into the endless blue mass, and Marle reformed, clutching her stomach, screaming. The mass started to swirl around and around, and then, disappeared, taking Marle with it.