The Sands Through Time Ch. 17

Chapter 17: A Forest of Dreams

With Crono back everyone left the cold, dreary mountain known as Death Peak and returned to the End of Time. Gaspar was waiting for the heroes of time. The wise guru had inspirational advice for them.

"So, all went well..," Gaspar began.

Marle beamed happily throwing her arms around the guru's neck, hugging him. "We owe it all to you Gaspar! Thank you so much for helping us!" She beamed.

Gaspar turned a shade of crimson as the princess pulled away from him and his fedora nearly fell off his head. The wise guru adjusted his hat and cleared his throat. "No, don't thank me," He said. "I merely placed a piece upon the board. It was not my hand that moved it. If you should thank someone, thank the ones who cared enough to see their friend returned to them."

Lucca grinned. "I guess we should give ourselves a pat on the back," She patted Crono's head affectionately. "You should be lucky to have friends like us."

Crono grimaced slightly because of the way his brainy friend was petting him like a puppy. "I won't argue with you there, Lucca." He replied and fell over as Ayla tackled the boy to the floor.

"Ayla happy Crono back!" The cave woman smiled.

"Thanks...Ayla…" Crono dizzily groaned getting up.

"By the way, the Wings of Time have come looking for you," Gaspar said to them pointing to Belthasar's useful invention which was patiently hovering on the side as if waiting for its passengers to come and ride it again. "It seems to have a heart and mind of its own."

"That vessel has helped us immensely." Robo beeped.

"If we're done with this sad excuse for a reunion we've got bigger fish to fry!" Magus interrupted.

"He's right." Jera agreed with the dark mage.

"Lavos must be stopped." Frog said.

Gasper intently stared at the eight heroes. Since they arrived here, Crono, Marle, Lucca, Jera, Frog, Robo, Ayla, and Magus, were merely pawns in the chess game of fate. Would they truly be able to stop a fated, disastrous future phenomenon from happening? Was their strength and determination enough to stop the deadly parasite which arrived on the planet eons ago?

"You wish to fight Lavos, correct?" Gaspar asked them. "Many paths lie before you. You might choose to leap into that bucket, or fly the Wings of Time to the Day of Lavos. Or there is the resurrected Ocean Palace, now known as the Black Omen, which now straddles time to summon Lavos yet again. Such folly! Lusting so greedily after that the power wields you…It is up to you to decide when and where you will face Lavos. However, do not think you stand alone."

"Huh?" Lucca asked confused. "What do you mean? We'll be receiving help? From who?"

"I have had glimpses, albeit vague, of events, people, and places that will empower you," Gaspar informed them. "A forest brought back to life by the sheer determination of a woman in the Middle Ages…"

"Fiona!" Crono questioned remembering the weary woman whose dream was to replant the forest which was burned to the ground during the war with the fiends in the year 600 AD.

"The fortress of one of Magus's three former generals in the Middle Ages…" Gasper continued aiding them in their quest.

Magus scowled, balling his gloved fists. "Ozzie…That cretin he's still alive."

"A task is to be done in the future, in a birthplace of machines…" Gaspar told them.

"I…," Robo began. "…Have a birthplace?" He pondered curiously.

"A prehistoric stone that will shine with the light of all ages of the world…" The Guru continued.

"Old man mean Sun Stone?" Ayla asked.

"The restless spirit of a proud knight, slain by Magus in the Middle Ages, is lingering even in the present era of 1,000 AD…" Gaspar went on.

Frog's heart skipped a beat. "Cyrus…"

An object of legend in the Middle Ages that sparkles like a rainbow…" The Guru of Time foresaw.

"The Rainbow Shell!" Lucca gasped remembering the large shimmering shell which was in the Tyrano Lair.

"Borrow the might of all these lives throughout the ages," Gaspar told them. "Let their strength become your own! For only you can hope to defeat the enemy you face. Such is the power required, should you wish to change the future. I will remain here, and bear witness to the world's fate."

"We won't let you or the planet down Gaspar!" Crono declared heroically.

With those words of wisdom from Gaspar, the heroes of time left the sanctuary of the End of Time and boarded the Epoch. Their first stop was 600 AD, to help Fiona re-plant the forest which was lost in the war against the fiends.

___________

The Epoch landed in the desert wasteland of 600 AD, where a forest once stood near Fiona's home. The heroes stepped out of their time traveling vehicle.

"Things are much calmer now that the war has ended." Marle said while looking around.

She and everyone else saw that the soldiers, who aided the royal army, the ones who were lucky enough to stay alive, were now returning to their loved ones.

Ayla stared at the rough, coarse ground and kneeled down to touch the ground. "Trees no more." She sighed sadly.

"That's what war does, Ayla," Lucca told the primitive cave woman. "It destroys things that people cherish."

"But we're here now," Crono replied. "We'll help Fiona restore the forest."

The heroes of time entered Fiona's home, she was hugging her husband, Marco, who had just returned home. Fiona turned noticing the heroes, she smiled, "My husband Marco is finally home from the war!"

Marco smiled hugging his wife close to her. "Do not worry my love," He told her soothingly. "We won't be parted again." He then protectively stood in front of his wife with his sword drawn. "What is HE doing in our home?"

Magus stared at Marco with a straight face, but said nothing.

"He's going to help us restore your forest, Fiona." Robo told her.

"We cannot trust him! It's because of him and his Mystic army that we lost our beautiful forest!" Marco glared at the fiend lord.

Magus itched to draw his scythe out, but he didn't. "If I were planning something you and your wife would've been met by the grim reaper, but I've allied with these people to help restore your so called cherished forest."

"If that is true, you and your friends must stop the desert monsters!" Fiona told them. "They are draining the life out of the soil here." She then pointed out to a small seedling which was resting on the wooden table near her. The seedling was blossoming nicely, with tiny green leaves and branches. "This Mystic seedling which my husband retrieved during the battle on Zenan Bridge could revive the forest, but I can't plant it. Too many hungry monsters lurking about. Marco has tried on his own to stop those vile beasts, but they are too powerful."

Crono smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry Fiona, we'll stop those monsters for you!"

Fiona graciously smiled and Marco lowered his sword.

"Good luck to you." Fiona said to them as the heroes left the small cabin.

Lucca looked around examining the desert trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. "There has to be a way those fiends come up here." She pondered.

"Crono!" Marle screamed causing everyone to break away from their thoughts. "You're sinking!"

"Huh?" Crono looked down and saw that his feet were in some sort of quick sand. "Oh great…! I just came back to life and I'm going to die again!" The spiky headed boy squirmed and thrashed about. The more he struggled the more the murky sand pulled him below.

"Hang on Crono!" Jera leapt forward to grab her brother's hand, but she was too late!

"Crono! No!" Marle yelled.

"I'm ok Marle!" Crono's voice came from below everyone.

"Where are you?" Lucca asked curiously.

"Down in some cavern below the kingdom!" The boy replied.

"The quick sand must be the entrance for the fiends to surface." Robo said.

The others followed Crono's lead and allowed the quick sand to take them below the ground's surface. Everyone found themselves in an underground cavern. The ground was moist and slushy, filled with wet sand, making it difficult for the travelers to walk on.

Crono was waiting for his sister and friends.

"What is this place?" Marle wondered.

"An underground cavern for a beast known as Retinite, its powers are great and can wipe out an entire army with a single breath." Magus said.

"That creature must be responsible for causing the desertification here." Lucca thought out loud.

The ground suddenly started to shake.

"Ground shaking!" Ayla yelled stating the obvious as she fell over.

Something began slowly ascending from the murky sand. It was a very large skeleton creature, similar to Zombor except this creature had bony wings sprouting from its back. Its blood shot eyes gazed towards the new visitors of his realm and let out a massive growl.

"W-What is that?" Marle shrieked.

"That is Retinite." Magus answered the frightened princess.

"Whatever it is," Crono began unsheathing his sword. "We have to take it down!" The boy ran towards the mighty bony fiend, but found it difficult to run because of the wet sand.

The creature known as Retinite saw Crono coming and swatted the spiky headed boy into his friends with his large bony-claw-like hand.

"Ground too wet, can't fight giant monster this way." Ayla said.

Magus levitated into the air and pointed down to the sand.

"What are you doing?" Frog asked suspiciously.

"For once in your pitiful lives, trust me!" The dark mage spat back. He used his profound shadow magic to freeze the ground making it easier for everyone to fight. Retinite's large bony feet were trapped in the icy ground. The massive fiend squirmed about, but was not able to move. Enraged by this the large fiend let out a breath of fire from its mouth.

Jera casted a shield to protect herself and her friends, from the flames.

"Fight giant monster!" Ayla charged forward and leapt into the air kicking the fiend to the icy ground causing the ice to crack slightly.

Robo fired off his lasers at the large beast before it was able to stand up again.

"Time to take this fiend down!" Crono declared.

Bolts of lightning, shards of ice, inferno flames, tidal waves of water, bombs of darkness, and beams of light were all directed at the mighty bony fiend. The fiend let out a gurgling yell as it was bombarded by magical attacks. It crashed into a nearby cavern and fell over. The ice which encased the sand slowly began melting and Retinite slowly sank to the unknown bowls of the earth, defeated and dead.

"That takes care of Retinite!" Crono smiled sheathing his sword.

___________

With Retinite defeated everyone retreated back to Fiona's home to tell the young woman the good news.

"We've taken care of Retinite for you." Robo beamed.

Fiona smiled graciously at the heroes. "Thank you for dealing with those foul creatures," She told them. "Now I can set to work replanting again." She then turned to the tree sapling which was resting on the nearby table and sighed in dismay. "Alas, I fear it will take ages to plant enough trees to restore this land. If only there was someone who could toil for centuries on end! Then these wastes could truly be made green again."

Robo took in Fiona's plight and stared at his comrades. "I could remain here and assist Madam Fiona, and you could come to retrieve me here once my work is complete." He told them.

"But Robo…," Lucca protested. "We need you to help us fight Lavos."

Robo stared at the brainy girl. "Do not fear Lucca," He told her. "I shall only be a time flux away."

Lucca smiled at her robotic friend. "Take care of yourself ok?" She advised him. "Don't short circuit yourself because I won't be here to repair you."

Robo nodded and waved good-bye to his friends. He then faced Fiona and began working on replanting the forest.

"Do you think Robo can re-plant the forest all by himself?" Marle asked.

"O-of course he can…" Lucca replied wiping her eyes.

"Are you ok, Lucca?" Crono asked.

Lucca nodded while watching Robo clumsily, but quickly planting the sapling which Fiona had in her hands, she smiled watching the artificial robot helping a human in need. "Let's head to our time and see if Robo succeeded."

___________

Everyone time warped to the year 1,000 AD. Where there was once a barren desert near the town of Porre was a beautiful forest. There were tall tree trunks, with branches full of green leaved trees for miles. In the center of this gorgeous forest was a small church-like shrine. Everyone disembarked from the Epoch and entered the shrine. There were nuns who were spiritually praying and thanking Fiona's and Robo's hard efforts which recreated the forest.

"This is Fiona's Shrine," A nun said them. "Here we give thanks to Fiona and Robo for reviving the forest scorched in the war against Magus four hundred years ago."

"The remains of the venerable Robo are enshrined in the inner sanctum." Another nun informed them.

Lucca stared straight ahead and saw that Robo was there. However he was degraded and rusting. "Robo!" She cried out in concern and ran over to her robotic friend. "Robo? Say something!" The brainy scientist carefully pulled Robo out of the shrine.

The rusted robot slightly beeped and his unfixed wires twitched giving off sparks of electricity. "Systems…reactivated…," The robot spoke after four hundred years. "Wh-where am I?" He asked curiously.

"It's us Robo!" Lucca answered him.

The semi-fixed robot lifted his rusted head seeing Lucca and the others. "Lucca…how nice to see you, all of you," He said looking at his friends. "For you, it was a quick hop, but for me four hundred years have passed. The effort was worth it! The forest has grown back!" He smiled at his friends. "Now, let us celebrate our 400th year reunion."

___________

As night descended on the Kingdom of Guardia, the heroes of time made a small camp fire in the middle of restored forest, taking a much needed break from their mission to help those in need and stop Lavos. Lucca was by Robo's side fixing him while the others relaxed and focused on their mission ahead.

"I realized something during these past four hundred years," Robo told his friends. "I believe we may have been incorrect in our assumption that Lavos was responsible for the creation of the Gates."

"What do you mean?" Marle asked confused.

"It is not a certainty, but I have come to believe it possible that some entity wished for us to witness these events," Robo replied. "Perhaps it wanted us to see all of these various ages. Alternately, it may have wished to see them for itself. It seems almost as though it was reflecting on the days of its past."

"Ayla know," The cave woman spoke. "Person die, see life pass by. Elder say!" She theorized.

"Before death claims a man, he is made to bear witness a second time to those memories engraved most deeply upon his heart," Frog said as his mind filled with the death of his mentor and good friend, Cyrus. "There may be fond memories among them, yes. But often as not, the ones which grieve us are the most profound."

"Knowing the end is approaching likely reactivates dormant feelings of regret, and desire to return to moments in the past." Robo replied.

"Do you suppose that will happen when our time comes?" Marle asked her friends.

"We won't know until our time comes." Jera answered.

"But that's a LONG time from now." Crono added.

"Probably… Who knows?" Lucca shrugged.

Marle looked at Lucca curiously. "Is there a point and time you'd want to return to, Lucca?" She asked.

Lucca paused for a moment. "I-no," She replied. "Not…not really."

Marle frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have asked."

Lucca slightly smiled at the princess. "No, it's okay," She told her. "It's just something I don't like to think about too much."

"But even if Lavos did not open the Gates, his fate is clearly bound to that of the one who did," Frog pondered. "Lavos has played a role in every age we've seen."

Magus turned to Robo, the dark mage was quietly thinking about what his comrades were saying. "Who do you think it is?" He asked the fully repaired robot.

Robo rubbed his metallic head as if he was deep in thought. "It is unknown to me whose memories these are," He told everyone. "It is likely an entity greater than any of us." He then saw how tired and sleepy everyone was. The heroes of time hadn't really had a good night's rest in a while. "Shall we turn in for the night?" He suggested.

___________

Later that night while everyone was sleeping, Lucca awoke with something bothering her brain. She remembered what Marle had asked her. About returning to a point and time where she wanted to return to. To her, that answer was obvious. She wanted to go back to the time when her mother, Lara, had lost her legs. It was Lucca's fault, that her mother lost her legs. She did not know the password which belonged to one of Taban's invention. If she had known the password, Lara's legs would've been saved. The brainy scientist slowly got up and walked away from her friends. She tip toed about so that she wouldn't bother them or get caught. She wandered deeper into the forest when the Gate Key began reacting rather strangely.

'There's a strange distortion nearby.' Lucca thought while holding the Gate Key in her hands.

She walked straight ahead where the signal was coming from and saw a Gate. However this Gate was not blue like all the other Gates everyone had encountered. This one was red.

'I wonder if this will lead me back when mom…,' the brainy girl broke away from her thoughts and looked back at the campsite where her friends were sleeping. '..I won't be gone long.' With curiosity getting the better of her, Lucca stepped into the strange red spirally Gate.

___________

The strange red Gate re-opened and Lucca found herself back home. She was in her room. There was a fixed bed, a giant bookshelf filled with all kinds of science books, a wooden desk and a chair nearby.

"Did I make it back…to that moment?" She thought aloud.

Beside Lucca's bed there was some sort of journal entry.

"6/24/990 AD

Dad promised to go hiking with me, but blew me off again, due to his work. I hate science! I loathe it!"

"I remember this!" Lucca said to herself. "This was ten years ago! I was so mad at Dad because he was working on his invention! The same invention which took mom's legs away. I have to find out what the password is, I might be able to save mom!"

Lucca left her room exploring her house seeing what it was like ten years ago. She wandered into the kitchen and saw a note on the dining table.

The note reads: "The password is…The name of my lovely wife. Use it in an emergency – Taban."

Lucca smiled softly. "Eureka!" With the password in her head Lucca ran to the main foyer. She saw giant conveyer belts, which were moving slowly, they were attached to various large coal pipes. She saw her mother, Lara, who was inspecting the odd contraption which her husband had invented. Lucca also saw her younger self. This Lucca was about six years old. Her short purple hair matched her frilly purple dress.

"What IS this thing?" Lara asked the younger Lucca. "Taban says to keep away from it, but it's so dusty. I'll just..." The house wife walked over to the conveyer belt and began dusting away. She realized that her skirt was stuck while she was cleaning. "Dear me!" She yelled. "My skirt…it's…I'm STUCK!" She screamed. "Lucca! Lucca, help!" She cried out for her daughter.

The younger Lucca began to panic. She ran over to her mother and tried pulling her Lara's skirt which was tangled in the conveyer belt. "I can't pull it out!" She exclaimed.

The conveyer belt slowly started to pull Lara towards the rear where there were metal spikes attached to a giant oil drum.

"Lucca!" Lara exclaimed. "Enter the password! Stop this machine!"

They young child lowered her head. "But I don't know it mommy!" The small girl began frantically crying as she watched her mother helplessly get pulled towards the edge of the machine.

Lucca had seen enough she walked over to the control panel and entered the password, which was Lara's name. The machine abruptly stopped. Lara and the younger Lucca sighed in relief.

The younger Lucca ran to her mother and hugged her tightly. "Thank goodness mommy!"

Lucca smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. She quickly headed back to her room and let out most of the tears that were falling from her eyes, which were tears of joy. She was able to save her mother, it made the young scientist proud of herself. The brainy scientist began filling out one more journal entry, hoping that her younger self would learn from it.

"7/2/990 AD

I feel like I've learned something! I'll study machines now. There'll be no more accidents around here."

After finishing the tiny entry Lucca used the Gate to head back to her friends.

___________

Lucca returned to the forest. The strange red Gate had disappeared and she saw that Robo was standing nearby.

"Lucca, you've got a kind heart," The happy robot said to her. "You're always thinking of others."

Lucca looked at the friendly robot in surprise. "You…you knew where that Gate led to didn't you?" She asked.

Robo nodded. "Yes I did," He replied and then opened up his central power core. There was a shimmering green stone. The happy robot took it out and handed to the scientist. "This is for you," He told her. "It's a piece of amber I created using the sap from a tree in my forest. It took four hundred years to and a lot of pressure to make! I hope you'll find it useful."

Lucca stared at the shimmering green stone. She smiled at Robo thoughtfully. "Robo…," She smiled. "You're so sweet."

"Lucca!" Crono called out to his friend.

"Crono?" Lucca asked.

"Thank goodness!" Marle said relieved. "You're alright!"

"Where were you?" Jera asked.

"Oh…I was….helping my mom." Lucca answered sheepishly.

Everyone looked at the brainy girl in confusion wondering what she meant by that.

Lucca snickered. "Don't worry about it!" She told them. "Mom's fine, she'll be walking around soon."

"Huh?" Crono and Jera exclaimed.

"I thought your mom couldn't walk!" Crono said.

"She can now." Lucca replied with a sly wink.

Jera smiled. "You changed the past, didn't you?" She asked. "You went back in time and made it so that your mom could walk again."

Lucca nodded. "Yeah..," She answered. "I was only six years old when it happened. I felt like it was my fault that mom lost her legs. I wanted SO much to change it!" She then looked at Marle. "That's why I was hesitating when you first asked me if there was a time and place I wanted to go back to…I'm supposed to be the smart one, I'm supposed to be solving problems not creating them, but when that Gate appeared, I knew I had a chance to change mom's past and I did!"

Crono smiled. "Well we're glad you got things worked out." He told her.

___________

The heroes of time left the forest and boarded the Epoch. They noticed that Medina village, which was home to all the fiends of this timeline. The residents of Medina were gathering at the square. From what the heroes saw the fiends were getting ready for what seemed to be like battle. The leader of the fiends was a descendant of Ozzie. The fiend looked exactly like Ozzie, except it had purple skin instead of green. The chubby general was ordering an attack against the humans. They had an arsenal of weapons and an army of green and blue imps. The imps cheered with pride at their new leader.

"Oh no! What are those fiends up to now?" Marle exclaimed.

"We won't be able to handle another war!" Lucca yelled seeing most of the fiends armed with guns, bows and arrows, and sling shots.

"They're so many of them!" Robo yelled.

Magus scowled. "It seems as though that fool, Ozzie seems to be calling out the orders now since my absence."

"Big battle come soon." Ayla said.

"We cannot allow that to happen." Frog added.

"We need to stop this!" Jera told her brother.

"Then we've got to go back in time and stop Ozzie before he can gather up all the fiends and recruit another army!" Crono declared.