Chrono Trigger:  The Planeswalkers
Chapter 32- Back to the Beginning and Together Again
By Mox Jet

            

 

        Jack woke in strange surroundings.  It looked like he was in some kind of shelter, but seeming more importantly, from what he could tell, he wasn’t wearing any clothes.  His arms were wrapped around Sarah’s waist, both of the teens under a long piece of fabric that must have been her robe.  Her back was towards him, her hair in his eyes.  His own hair was out of its tie, cascading down his back.  He slowly arched his head upward to see if she was awake, but she looked so peaceful, he couldn’t bare to move and possibly wake her up.

            So, he just closed his eyes again and pulled her closer.  Try as he could, he didn’t remember how they ended up here.  He remembered the time before that.  He could remember jumping in front of the beam.  He remembered kissing her.  He remembered what came after that.  But, where the hell were they now and when did they blank out?

            “Are you up?” Sarah said.  He didn’t think she was up.

            “I didn’t wake you, did I?” he asked.

            “No, dear,” she said happily.  “I’ve been up for some time.”  She turned her head around and kissed him.  “Good morning.”

            “Umm…how did we get here?” he asked, still holding her close.  “I can’t remember much of last night.”

            “I’m not sure either,” she said.  “I wasn’t worried though.  I remember feeling very safe, that’s all.  It was…very warm.  We were inside that shield that you made, and it was so cold outside.  I remember being very afraid before that.  Then, you came down and stopped that beam from hitting me.  After that, it was just happiness,” she said, smiling.  “I wasn’t afraid anymore.  I knew you were there…”

            At that moment, Jack noticed that there were other people in the room.  Another group was sleeping on the floor a few feet away from them.  In the doorway, there was an old man.  He walked over towards them, carrying some torn ramshackle garments in his hands.

            “So you’re up, I see,” he said warily. 

            “Where are we?” Jack asked, becoming conscious of their nudeness and wrapping the blanket tight around them tighter and turning slightly red. 

            “This is where we brought all of the survivors that we found,” the old man said.  He bent down and handed Jack the torn clothing he was carrying.  “You two were naked when we found you.  We managed to pull together some clothing for you.”

            Jack, swallowing shame, slowly climbed out of the blanket and graciously took the clothing, dressing himself quickly.  “Thank you,” he said, helping Sarah by erecting a ‘dressing room’ out of the robe, allowing her to change in private. They were mostly just rags and a beaten cape for both of them.  The clothes for both of them were sparse, but it was better than nothing.

            “Okay,” Jack said.  “So, who are they?” he pointed to two more women, both blonde.  One wore a white dress and had her hair tied in a pony tail that had been slightly messed from its contact with the ground.  The other was dressed in what looked like animal furs.  She had long, powerful muscles and almost salon perfect hair.  They were both unconscious.

            “We found them also,” the old man said.  “There was actually a third one.  He looks like…well, I think he’s a giant frog.  I’m not sure how to explain that, though.”

            “You don’t need to,” Sarah said bitterly, knowing the group of people vaguely.  “These are the others,” she said to Jack.  “I know the girl.  She’s the one that Tristan was talking about.  According to what we found, her name is Princess Nadia of the Guardia Family, also known as Marle.”

            “The girl was calling for someone named Crono,” the old man said.  “That wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?” he asked Jack.

            “No,” Jack said.  “I’m Jack.  I think I know who she’s talking about though.  Where there any others?”

            “I’m afraid not.”

            “Crono,” Sarah mused.  “That’s certainly the man Sean was talking about before he died.”  Jack did a double take.

            “W-what?” he stammered.  “How do you know that?”

            “It makes sense,” Sarah said with a shrug.  “If you think about it, the name Cro couldn’t have been his whole name.  Sean was still trying to speak before he died.”  She laughed to herself.  “Funny how you completed the name, yourself.”

            “How so?” he asked, slightly creeped out.

            “Sean said, ‘seek the boy named Cro-’” she said.  “Then you screamed, ‘no!’” as he died.  Cro, no?  Get it?”  She giggled at her own humor.

            “You’re scaring me, Sarah,” he said.  Then, he realized that something was missing from his possessions.   “The Dreamblade!” he shouted, looking around for the weapon which he knew had not been with him when he woke up.

            “Oh, you mean this?” the old man said, holding up a sword with a decorative handle.  Jack recognized the Dreamblade in the man’s hands, quickly leaping over and taking it.  He examined it to make sure it was real.

            “Was this near us?” he asked.

            “It was close,” the old man said.  “You’re lucky that the sword was shinning so brightly in the light.”

            “It appears we’ve been lucky many times today,” Sarah said, somewhat dryly.  A moment later, another figure walked through the door.  Green skinned and yellow eyed, the ‘Frog Man’ was carrying a bundle of wood.  Seeing Jack’s hair (his back was turned), the Frog dropped the wood he was carrying and quickly drew the sword he had sheathed at his hip.

            “Magus!” he hissed.  “Thy dare defile mine friends whilst they sleep?” 

            Jack slowly spun around, the Dreamblade in hand.  “Easy, buddy,” he said calmly.  “I think you have me confused with someone.”  Once he had seen Jack’s face, the Frog quickly realized his error, sheathing his weapon.

            “My pardon, please,” he said.  “Thine hair is blue as the one whom I am after.  I am sorry for mine sudden impetuousness.  I am called Frog, or Glenn, if you so prefer.”  The Frog kneeled in apology.

            “It’s okay,” Jack said, sliding the Dreamblade into it’s sheath.  “I know there aren’t a lot of us blue-haired guys out there.  I don’t blame you for confusing me at first.  I’m Jack.  I believe the Magus who you talk of…isn’t here.”

            “Alas, then tis for the better that Marle and Ayla did not meet him.”

            “Those two?” Sarah asked, motioning towards the sleeping women.

           

            “Aye,” Frog said in response.

            “You…fought Lavos, didn’t you?” Jack asked.  “With that boy, Crono.”

            “Aye, the poor lad,” Frog lamented.

            “What happened?” Sarah asked.

            “The brave lad sacrificed himself so that we might escape,” he said, closing his eyes.  “Such altruism I haven’t seen since Cyrus was here.”

            “So he’s…?”

            “Aye.”  Jack kneeled and punched the floor. 

            “Damn it!” he yelled.  “Damn it all!  Him and all the people of Zeal!”

            “Tis true,” Frog said.  “We were lucky that the Lady Schala did save us.”

            “You’ve seen Schala?” Jack asked, rising and running up to Frog, grabbing his cloak around the shoulders.  “Where have you seen her?!”

            “Lady Schala has also been missing since Lavos’s attack,” the old man in the corner cut in.

            “Quite true, I’m afraid,” Frog said.  “She used the remnants of her magical power to save us three.  It has been a dreadful series of events.”

            “So Schala’s gone too…” Sarah said.

            “Everyone…” Jack said with a small sniffle, releasing his grip on Frog.  “Why!?” he demanded.

            “He just keeps taking from us…” Sarah said, clenching her fists.

            “Thou art not the only one to have lost thine friends.  We have all suffered bitter casualties this past day.”

            Jack looked at Frog and then Sarah, then he tightened his cape and stormed out of the room.  Sarah quickly followed him.  Outside, he was standing in the snow up to his knees.  While the rags were doing nothing to preserve his heat, he didn’t seem cold.  Sarah, not wanting him depressed again, ran up to him and wrapped her warm arms around his shoulders.

            “It’s okay,” she told him.  “We’ll get him.  He’ll pay for everything that he’s done.”

            “You know, Sarah,” he said softly, “I don’t know what I would do without you to tell me it’s alright.”  He pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair.  “But I’ve been thinking…”

            “Yeah?”

            “Even if we do kill him, does that avenge all of the lives he’s taken?  He only has one life to take, and just killing him…will that really get back for everyone?  I mean, think of just how many people he’s killed.  Think of all of the lives he’s taken.  How can his life be even close to worth all of the murder he has committed?”

            “What are you suggesting?”

            “I…don’t know.  I’m just rambling, really.”  He paused.  “But, while we’re talking about killing him, I now know how, at any rate…”  She let go of him, holding his shoulders at arms length.

            “Really?” she asked.  “I don’t understand.  Just a few weeks ago, you thought he was too powerful.  What changed your mind?”

            “When I…talked to it,” Jack said.  “He showed me some things.  That, along with this new power which I’m beginning to manifest.  While I might be able to handle him physically, I have an idea for a sure-fire, one-spell deal.”

            “You think you can do it?”

            “I don’t know how yet, but, I’ve got this crazy idea...”

            “What is it?”

            Jack sat down in the snow and started to trace outlines in the fluff with his left index finer.  “This stuff that he called Chaos,” he said.  “It’s this great swirling mass of energy that exists on a different level then our four dimensional world.  Anyway, it’s kind of the stuff that powers them.  Their cells draw on it, and it creates their power supply.  However, what they create from it isn’t pure Chaos.  It’s what we call Lavoid Energy.  When I created that shield and those…wings…I was using Lavoid Energy.”

            “How?  Why can you use that?”

            “Because I’m…” he thought about telling her for a second.  Could he really keep something like this?  But, on the other hand, would she hate him for it?  No, she wouldn’t.  She’d understand.  She had to know.  “…I’m half Lavoid.”  Sarah was surprised at first, her eyes widening.  Soon though, she calmed down as Jack explained everything that Lavos had told him.  His origin.  His purpose.  The mysterious Epitorum thing.  Everything.  She slowly absorbed it, asking questions every now and then.  As he concluded, she gasped.

            “I guess it makes sense after all,” she finally said.  “And then it’s true, what that Farilii told you.”

            “Lavos wants me to breed,” he said.  “That’s why I have part of his genetic code in him.  He wants to create a stronger Lavoid using me.”

            “And you think you can use it to your advantage?”  Jack slowly nodded.

            “From what I gather, this all means that I can channel Chaos energy myself.  The Lavoid portion of my DNA is also probably what allows me such a high level of energy tolerance.  Think about it.  Why else could I be able to withstand such Force Tech energy without killing myself.  My tolerance level is inordinately high.  That’s also why I think I can cast such powerful magic.  I’m subconsciously pouring all of that Force Tech into the spells.”

            “What does it have to do with Chaos?”

            “Chaos is…well, it’s a super concentrated source of energy.  Lavos showed me what it was, by connecting me to it.  The energy quotient was immense.  I’m sure it would have driven any other human insane, if it didn’t kill them first.”

            “So you want to use Chaos?”

            “Lavoid Energy is basically a refined version of Chaos Energy, not nearly as raw.  Lavoid Energy is, like I said earlier, what I used during the Fall of Zeal to protect us.  Don’t get me wrong, Lavoid Energy isn’t to be taken lightly, but it’s not what seems to be Pure Chaos.”

            “So how does that relate to killing a Lavoid?”

            “Well, think back to when I found out that to kill a being with magical resistance, you have to summon energy from a more powerful source.  You see, I think that Chaos is more powerful than Lavoid Energy.  No…I don’t think that.  I’m sure that it’s more powerful.”  He paused.  “Anyway, while I don’t know how to do it, or even if I can do it, I think I can create a spell that uses my innate Lavoid Energy to channel energy directly from Chaos.”

            “And then…”

            “Bam.  No more Lavoid.  Since they are not as powerful as Chaos, hitting them with a spell that is, functionally, Pure Chaos, I should be able to rip directly through their armor and into the core, killing it.”

            “Okay…” Sarah said cautiously.  “But, how do you construct such a spell?  I mean, can you just make up a completely new spell that’s never been cast before?”

            “I don’t know…” Jack said.

           

            “Do we have time?” Sarah said.  “I mean, we should be worried about finding the others now, and then killing Lavos.  Do we really have the time to do this?”

            He thought about it for a second before repeating her question.  “Do we really have time…?” Jack mused over the question.  “Time?” he asked himself.  “Do we really have the….Time?”  He said the word in his head over and over again, the inner workings of his mind chipping away at the problem.  After a few more moments, he jumped into the air, waving his hands around.  “That’s the beauty of it!” Jack exclaimed.  “We have all the time that we need!”  He jumped from his seat.

            “How so?”

            “Think about it!  We can use that bucket at the End of Time to go to the Day of Lavos whenever we want!  He’s not going anywhere!  We have all the time we need to get ready.  Time…is our ally!”  Suddenly happy, he hugged her, then went sprinting back towards the shelter.

            “Where are you going?” Sarah asked, running after him.

            “We’re going back!” Jack yelled.  “We’re going back to the End of Time!”  Running into the house, he quickly grabbed the robe that they had left in there and said his farewells.

            “Thanks for taking us in, Old Man!” he said, shaking the man’s hand.  “It was good meeting you too, Glenn!” he patted the Frog on the back.  “Hope your friends get better soon.”  Just as he finished, Sarah appeared in the doorway.

            “What are you doing?” she asked.

            “We’re leaving!” he said excitedly, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her out of the house.  “We should work on this idea right away!”  He quickly lifted off the ground with Sarah holding on.  Flying off into the distance, he left the others dumbfounded.

            “What an….odd boy,” Frog said.

            “Quite so,” the old man agreed.  “Quite so indeed.”

.

            Carrying her in his arms, Jack sped Sarah off over the ocean, relying on instinct in finding the cave with the gate.  That was, of course, if it hadn’t been destroyed.  In his rashness, Jack hadn’t even considered that chance.

            Once they had achieved a certain distance from the hut, Jack suddenly stopped and landed.  Checking out the area, he held up his finger as if to check the wind directions.  “This looks like the place,” Jack said after some thought.

            “Place for what?” Sarah asked.  “There’s no gate around here.”

            “The place for catching the right winds, Sarah,” Jack said.  “I can’t quite cast a Time Warp spell unless I have an extreme concentration of Time Winds.”

            “You’re gonna create a gate?” Sarah asked in slight disbelief.  “Where did you learn how to do that?”

            “It was in the book,” Jack said.  “You need just the right Winds, though…”

            “And this is the place?”

            “I think so,” he said.  “There’s a heavy Wind concentration for the wind that controls Time Magic.  Now if only I can remember how…”  He closed his eyes and contorted his hands and fingers oddly.  “Gift of Time, ally of life, bestow upon me the power of your aide…” he said the words.  Extending his left hand and drawing a rune in the air, he continued.  “To send through time to the farthest reaches.  To the point where time no longer flows, but rests eternal…”  He opened his eyes.  “Answer my call!” he commanded.  Bringing his right hand up in a circle, a small sphere appeared and grew before them.  Expanding outward into the form of a gate, Jack smiled in victory.

            “Not bad,” Sarah commented with a smirk.  “Wish you could have learned that little soon.”  Jack motioned for her to enter first.  She obliged, walking into the gate.  Jack followed, the gate closing behind him.

.

Timeless

            The duo slid down the time.  Jack seemed to have more control over this one, though.  He knew were it started and new knew were it ended.  Jack only hoped that Gaspar would know where to find Tristan and the others.

.

The End of Time

            Landing, for the first time ever, on their feet, Jack and Sarah stood on the cobblestone floor of the End of Time.  Scattered around the room were a girl with purple hair and a robot, sitting in the corner.  The girl was sitting on top of the robot, messing with the wiring on the inside of its head.  Gaspar stood in his usual position, leaning against the dark lamppost in the center of the floor.

            The girl was the first one to look up and see the new travelers.  The robot appeared to be inactive, so it would not see anything.  Gaspar himself waited a moment before greeting the two.

            “Did you just…come from a gate?” Gaspar asked.  Jack looked at him.  “Certainly there was not a gate there before hand.”

            “Yeah, I had to do some renovations to the space time continuum,” Jack said, somewhat sarcastically.  “I needed to make one for myself.  I hope you don’t mind.”

            “You’re…” Lucca said after a few moments.  “You’re the boy and girl from before…” She climbed off of the robot.  “The ones I met in Truce.  Aren’t you?”

            “You wouldn’t happen to be with the frog and the two blondes, would you?” Jack asked, not really interested in talking to her.

            “Yeah…” Lucca said.  “They’re my companions.  I haven’t seen them in few days, though.”

            “Then you haven’t heard,” Sarah said.

            “Heard what?”  Sarah looked down at the floor.

            “Umm…never mind,” she said.  “I’d rather let them tell you.”  Gaspar spoke again.

            “It’s been a while,” he said.  “At least a few weeks.  Where have you folks been?”

            “Around…” Jack said, not wanting to waste words.  “Listen,” he said.  “Do you remember how you opened up that gate that led to the Beginning of Time?”

            “I didn’t open up any such gate,” Gaspar said.  “It’s a one way choice.  They can only open up a gate from their end of the time continuum.”  Jack paused in thought for a minute.

            “But you must be in communications with them,” he finally said.  “Or, at the very least, you’re able to talk with them.”

            “This is true…” Gaspar said.  Lucca looked on in confusion until she realized she was clueless as to what they were talking about.  She quickly went back to work on the robot.

            “Then open it up again,” Jack said.  “I’m sure he wanted me back there eventually.  You can tell him that I want to talk with him.”

            <I am here> came the familiar voice in Jack’s head.  Jack looked at Gaspar, but he merely shrugged.

            “I need to talk with you,” Jack said out loud.

            <Then please> Topik said.  <Come in.  We’ve been waiting for you.>  With that, the gate to the Beginning of Time opened up again, inviting Jack in.

            “I’ll only be a moment,” Jack said to Sarah.  Then, he closed his eyes, and stepped into the gate.

.

Beginning of Time

            Jack stepped out of the portal into the mixed blackness/whiteness of the Beginning of Time.  The crystalline background of swirling transition between existence and non-existence echoed on for the eternity that it encompassed.  Jack ‘stood’ by an unknown force, a bright light in the distance being slightly overshadowed by a silhouette of a man.

            “Topik…” Jack said, calling out to the dark haired man that was walking towards him.  He looked the same.  The long dark hair and the SSAF ceremonial uniform adorned him the exact same way.  It seemed like a haunting image from his past.

            “You wanted to talk to me?” Topik said.  “Are you ready to settle down and listen to what I have to say?”

            Jack walked up to the man.  “I…think so,” Jack said.  “I believe now that there is much you can teach me.”

            “What made you come around?” Topik asked, as if he didn’t already know.

            “What you said to me,” Jack said.  “It just clicked about half an hour ago.”

            “And are you ready to be trained in what you were meant to do?  I take it that you have already discovered your origins.  Have you come to accept your destiny, Walker of Planes?”

            Jack shied away from the destiny talk, getting ahead to one of the more important reasons why he was here.  “I need your help to find my friends,” he said.  “They were lost in time.  I figure, that if you were able to keep your bearings on me, than you can find out where they are, as well.”

            “Tristan and the others?” Topik asked.  Jack nodded.  Topik sighed.  “They’re in the year 600 AD,” he said finally.  “Will you be going to get them before you go after the Lavoid?”

            “Yes, but…” Jack said, turning to leave the way he came in.  “Let’s just say I’ve got more to discuss with you before I attack that thing head on.  After all,” he said as the gate opened again.  “I’ve got all the time in the world, no?”

            “You don’t get it, do you?” Topik called to him as he was about to step into the gate.  “Why can’t you understand?  This is not something for you to kill.  Why don’t you get it into your head!?”  Jack slowly turned around, facing Topik again.

            “What?” Jack asked slowly.  “What do you mean?”

            “I mean you’re being thick,” Topik said.  “You can’t defeat it because it won’t allow you to.  It’s not a matter of power.  It’s a matter of freedom of choice.  You don’t have a choice.

            “I want you to explain to me exactly what you mean,” Jack said, still speaking slowly and harshly.  “I’m a man of little time.  Hurry.”

            “Why can’t you understand?” Topik asked, throwing his hands us in the air.  “You can’t kill your parent Lavoid.  It’s a physical impossibility.  The close you get to it, the more it controls you!  You won’t even be able to life a finger against it.  It’s the same reason why you’ve been going through all the places you have been!”  Jack bit his lip. 

            “That’s not true,” Jack protested.  He suddenly almost felt embarrassed, like a child who was being told what was right but refusing to accept it.  “You’ll…you’ll…” he thought of what to say.  “You’ll see!” he finally said.  “I’ll show I can kill it.  Some monster like that doesn’t have power over me!”  He spun around and jumped into the gate.  “You’ll see…” he voiced echoed through the hall in the Beginning of Time.

            Topik put his hand to his chin.  “Was I…to hard on him?”

            “You’re an idiot, Topik,” came the flat voice of Hal.  “You may have just gotten the first potentially free Planeswalker in eons killed.”

            “You do know how rare it is for one to even exist on a planet where others may defeat the parent Lavoid and free it from its bonds?” Fenreir said.

            “Don’t patronize me, Fenreir,” Topik said.  He thought.  “The funny part is that he’s more than powerful enough to kill the Class C at this point.  He doesn’t need any more power to kill this one.”

            “But?”

            “But, he can’t kill this one anyway.  What a waste…” Topik said.  “The Lavoid factor in his DNA will enable Lavos to prevent him from even moving if he’s that close.  It would have been so perfect since, he doesn’t have to kill this one.  Crono is perfectly capable of taking care of Lavos.  It’s the others that we need Jack for…”

            “Does he know how powerful he is?” Jal asked.  Topik shook his head.

            “He has no idea.  From what I tell, he seems to think that using a spell that materializes Chaos will kill it.  He doesn’t even need such a spell.  He thinks that he is maximizing his Force Tech usage, already.  He hasn’t even considered using the Black Wings.  Plus, his magical intelligence allowed him to cast a Dragon Slave after a mere day or two of practice?  Mentally, he’s the greatest magical genius as far as humans go that we’ve seen…well, ever.  In hand to hand combat, I don’t think a Class C Core could handle him.  Not only that, but he hasn’t even harnessed his complete raw potential.”

            “And so you feel that we can train his magical potential out?”

            “Exactly,” Topik said.  “With magic potential, his speed and fighting ability will also increase.  If he would only stop to listen to me, he might be able to free the others…”

.

600 AD, Truce

            Knowing now where his friends were, Jack returned to the End of Time and met with Sarah.  After saying goodbye to Gaspar (Lucca was asleep), they headed through the pillar of light to the time of 600 AD. Venturing down from Truce Canyon, they found the country in a state of celebration.  They entered Truce Village to find the entire population seemingly involved in a giant party.

            Asking around, they determined, after much ridicule for not knowing before hand, that the war with the Mystics had come to a close.  Word on the street was that, “With a sweeping blow, Aragorn Lestrides had crushed the entire Mystic army with own hands!”

            “Our Aragorn?” Sarah questioned after hearing such stories.  “I thought Aragorn was a renegade.”  They were walking down the street in Truce, their tattered rags almost fitting in well with the clothing of the peasants.

            “Most interesting…” Jack agreed.  “It wouldn’t make sense, but, as I remember, he’s always been a patriot to the end.”

            “And if the War is over, that means he should be around…somewhere.”

            “Topik said that all three of them were in this time.  I’m not really sure if Aragorn and Rayith will want to leave, now.  I figured I should give them the option of fighting Lavos anyway.”

            “So our plan is to get them and then go to the Day of Lavos?”  Jack didn’t say anything.

            Sarah was silent.  They walked along the roads, not really sure of what they were looking for.  Aragorn, Tristan, and Rayith had to be around somewhere.  The fact that Aragorn was in the battle gave a clearer indication that he would be around.  The Castle would be the next place to go. 

            Now able to fly instead of walk, the near experience with déjà vu hit the both of them as the approached the forest in front of the large Castle which loomed on the hill behind the woods.  They both hovered in front of the entrance to the woods.  Slowly settling hitting the floor, Jack spoke.

            “You know, forests are supposed to be romantic for walking through,” he said to Sarah, holding out his hand.  “How about a break from flying?”  Identifying a chance to separate with the current issue of finding their comrades, Sarah touched her hand to his.

            “Gladly, Mr. McKlane,” she said with a smile.  Holding hands, they entered the forest.

            “You know,” Jack said softly.  “Sometimes I wonder why I’m caught up in this.  Why all of this is happening to us.  What’s the point of it all?”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Topik said…” he paused.  “Topik said that I’d be powerless against the Lavoid.  He said that Lavos can control me more powerful when I’m closer to him.  When I fight him, I won’t be able to life a finger.  I’ll be…helpless.”

            “You don’t believe him?” Sarah asked.

            “I don’t know…” Jack admitted.  “I just want to get back at it.  I want my revenge.  And to be told that it’s not possible no matter how strong I am?  I don’t want to feel powerless.”

            “Jack, no matter whether you defeat him or not…you’re not powerless.  You’re the strongest person I know, and I’m here for you.  You’ll never be powerless.”

            “You’re so sweet,” Jack said, wrapping his arm around her.  They moved into a clearing, the ground shadowed by the darkness created by the lack of light passing through the thick canopy.  There was a rustle in the bushes behind them.  Something was moving.

            Jack gripped the Dreamblade warily, motioning for Sarah to stay silent.  Then a voice came from behind them.

            “So you’re the assassins sent by the Mystics to kill the King?” the voice question.  “Drop your weapons now unless you wish to meet defeat.” 

            “That can’t be…” Jack said, slowly turning around.  “Is it?”  Finally meeting their stalker, Jack suddenly felt a sigh of relief.  Standing opposite them in the clearing were three forms.  In the middle, the giant form of a knight wielding a large sword.  A blonde man in a trench coat and a short red headed girl in a cape flanked him.

            “Aragorn!” Sarah shouted, being the first to speak.  She ran over and nearly tackled the big man as she hugged him.

            “All of you!” Jack shouted, releasing the Dreamblade and running over to greet them.  “Your all here!”

            “What, you think we’d die and let you have all the fun?” Tristan asked, shaking Jack’s hand.  He whispered in Jack’s ear.  “And it’s about friggin’ time you made your move,” he said, punching Jack in the shoulder playfully.

            “Can’t let you have the only adventures, Jack!” Rayith said, also hugging him.

            “We’ve been looking for you all!” Sarah said.

            “We saw you go into the forest,” Aragorn said.  “We were flying over it at the time.  The magical radiance of the two of you was so heavy that we had to check it out.  That, along with the residual Force Tech trail you left hinted that you might be in town.”

            Jack smiled.  “You all…” he said.  “You’re all so good.  I was worried about you all…”

            “You?  Worried about us?” Rayith asked.  “Buddy, you should have been more worried about yourself.  I was here!  These two were in perfectly good hands!”

            Rubbing her hair playfully, Jack grinned.  “Yeah, I guess I was wrong to worry.”

            “But,” Tristan cut in.  “We all have a lot to talk about.”

            “Right,” Sarah agreed.  “We should go to an inn and plan our next move.”

            “You find anything about the Lavoid?” Aragorn asked Jack.  Jack sighed.

            “More than you ever wanted to know.  Please, though.  Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you guys everything.  Just make sure we get a lot of coffee, because it’s a long story.”

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“But its power goes beyond what is necessary... Does one really need the power to destroy everything?” –Fei

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To Chapter 33

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