[Chrono Trigger Novel - Episode 54] The Way Left Open
Schala did not sit by the fire. Marle shifted to give her room, but she let go of Melchior's hand and turned instead. Janus stood against the cave wall. He moved his shoe away from a puddle, wearing the same irritable expression Marle remembered from the palace. Yet when his sister held out her hand, he came at once.
“You're really not going back?”
“Not to operate the machine.”
The distinction did not seem to please him. He said nothing more. Marle had heard it too: Schala had not said she was abandoning her mother. She had not simply cast off her place as the Queen's daughter.
Melchior lowered his voice.
“They'll know you're gone.”
“I've left the Skyway open. You can reach the palace.”
“They will send someone for you.”
“I had to tell you before they did.”
Marle opened her hands on her knees. When she had first met Schala, her eyes had kept returning to their matching pendants. Now she wondered about the journey Schala had made after leaving that way open. Had anyone at the palace tried to stop her? What had she said as she brought her brother out? There was much to ask, but little time in which to ask it.
“Can we reach the Ocean Palace from there?”
Schala nodded.
“There's a transport device beyond the audience chamber. My mother has already gone down. They've moved the Mammon Machine as well.”
Lucca listened without opening her map. This route was not on it. When Schala finished, she asked whether the device also provided a way back to the palace. Schala said it did, then glanced at the pendant around Marle's neck.
“You'll be able to open the sealed door.”
Marle brought out the stone. Even in the firelight, its inner glow was clear. Schala did not touch it. Marle did not ask why the two pendants were alike. She wanted to keep this woman safe long enough to ask her later.
Footsteps sounded on the ladder above.
Marle looked up first. These were unlike the familiar creaks of villagers coming down. The sound stopped halfway, and a long shadow entered the cave. Dalton tugged a glove into place as he looked around. One of the villagers recognized him, half rose, then backed against the wall.
“Making me come all this way to collect you.”
Schala moved Janus behind her. Crono was already on his feet, his hand near his sword, though he had not drawn it. Schala stood between him and Dalton. Behind her were the children and the fire.
“Tell her I will not return.”
Schala's voice was quiet. Dalton gave a short snort.
“Do you think I came to carry messages?”
Melchior stepped forward. The instant Marle saw light gather in Dalton's palm, she turned. A fireball struck the old man's chest. He fell backward, knocking against a low table, and a bowl shattered on the ground. Marle dropped to her knees in front of him and pressed a wet cloth against his heated clothes.
Crono lunged. Dalton did not meet him. He reached for Schala, caught her wrist, and jerked her in front of him. By the time Crono's blade cleared its sheath, a small flame hovered beside her throat.
“One more step.”
Crono stopped. His sword point did not waver. Marle saw his eyes move between Dalton's hand and Schala's feet. He was close, but the flame could move before the blade reached its target.
Janus rushed at Dalton's side.
“Let go!”
Dalton swung his free arm. The boy went sideways. Crono stepped back and turned to catch him. Schala tried to move forward, but the grip on her arm held her. Marle left Melchior, who was trying to rise, in the elder's care and raised her hand.
Dalton stopped smiling.
“Going to freeze me? I wonder which of us will freeze first.”
Marle curled her fingers shut. He was too close to Schala. While Dalton's eyes remained on her, Lucca moved to one side. Marle did not look toward her. Drawing his attention would close that way too.
He noticed anyway. Pulling Schala backward, he looked around at the villagers.
“I haven't seen how far these caves go. Shall we find out how far a fire can spread?”
Near the entrance, the woman moved two children behind her. Lucca stopped. It was not only a question of getting a clear shot. There was nowhere for these people to go.
Schala turned toward Dalton.
“I'll come with you. Leave them alone.”
“You might have said that in the first place.”
Marle watched her face. It did not make a lie of what she had said earlier. Instead of struggling to free her wrist, Schala searched for Janus behind Dalton. The boy was trying to wrench himself away from Crono, who tightened his grip.
“Janus. Stay here.”
The child opened his mouth, but Marle could not hear what followed. A circle of light opened behind Dalton. Just before he pulled her through, Schala looked at Marle.
“The way is still open.”
The light folded in on itself. Marle ran to the place where they had vanished. Her outstretched hand met only cooling air. No mark remained on the ground, no place to fit a key.
Behind her, Janus was breathing hard. He broke free of Crono and stood where Schala had been. He looked ready to shout, but said nothing. Marle started to bend to his eye level, then stopped. She could see that a comforting face was not what he wanted.
“Tell me what you know about the passages inside the palace.”
Janus looked at her.
“You're going?”
“Yes.”
“What if they catch you again?”
Marle did not answer at once. Crono came over, sheathed his sword, and crouched in front of the boy.
“We'll get past Dalton.”
Janus looked at the sword. It had been no use a moment ago. He bit his lip, then began describing the inner stairs: where the servants stopped when the Queen was present, the door beyond that Dalton used. Lucca drew lines on a small piece of paper as he spoke. Janus corrected a turn with his finger.
Melchior called to them from where he sat. Marle went back and checked his breathing. His skin was red beneath the scorched clothes, but his voice was clear. She slowly gathered warmth over the injury. He waited until she had finished.
“Now that he has Schala, they will make her use the machine.”
“Do you know how to stop it?” Lucca asked.
“There is something we can try.”
Melchior drew a long, slender bundle from inside his clothes. He unwrapped it, revealing a red blade. Its color was not a reflection of the fire. It looked like stone cut thin, yet its edge was sharp. Marle remembered the red rock she had held in the prehistoric age.
“Dreamstone?”
“Yes. The Mammon Machine was made with it too.”
Lucca leaned closer. Melchior raised a hand to keep her from touching the edge.
“Use this knife on the machine. On the body that takes in the power.”
“You're saying it can destroy it?”
“I made it to stop what I had built. But I have not seen the machine since it was moved beneath the sea. I cannot tell you everything that may happen.”
Marle watched his hands. He seemed less to be offering the weapon than struggling to let it go. Lucca did not ask for an easier answer. She seemed to understand what it meant to ask someone to destroy a machine of your own making.
Crono held out his hand. Melchior looked up at him without immediately giving him the knife.
“You've only just come back from the mountain, and here I am sending you out again.”
Crono gave a small shake of his head.
“Schala's there.”
He offered no further reason. Melchior wrapped the knife and laid it in his hand. Crono secured the red blade in its short sheath and fastened it opposite his usual sword. Marle noticed the difference in their lengths. One would help them reach their destination. The other was for what they had to do when they arrived.
Lucca picked up her bag. When the elder offered to send people with them as far as the entrance, she asked only that someone check the path outside. There was no need for the villagers to take up weapons and follow them to the palace. Those staying behind had work of their own.
Marle approached Janus. He was standing beside Melchior, though he did not cling to the old man's clothes.
“She went because of me.”
His voice was low. Marle did not hasten to tell him it was no one's fault. He had seen what Dalton had done.
“Right to the end, your sister was trying to keep you here.”
Janus looked up.
“So stay here and wait for us.”
He did not answer. Marle rose without trying to make him. Melchior put a hand on the boy's shoulder. This time Janus did not move away.
On the upper level, the man who had given her the arrows was waiting. He handed her a small bundle of food. She thanked him and put it in her bag. There was little left to prepare. While they tied their shoes and filled their water, Crono checked outside and returned.
“The snow's stopped.”
Lucca folded her map. They passed through the narrow exit onto the snowfield. Marle drew a deep breath of cold air. She could not see the sea. The mountain was no longer in the sky. But far away, a pillar of light stood straight and bright: the way Schala had left open.
The wind tugged at her cloak. She settled her quiver and walked beside Crono. Behind them, Lucca checked the Skyway's position, then caught up between them.
“I haven't been to the palace. You two lead.”
Marle nodded.
“Then you can look at the machinery when we get there.”
“Looking I can manage.”
Crono stepped over a low bank of snow and offered Marle his hand, withdrawing it when she sprang up beside him. Lucca crossed using the places they had already trodden. Three lines of footprints lengthened behind them.
Marle did not look back. She did not need to check who was following. Melchior would be with Janus in the cave, and at the end of this road they had to find Schala again. She hoped she could ask about the pendants then. That instead of exchanging a few hurried words on their feet, they might first find somewhere to sit.
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