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You shrug and tell him about the longest day of your life so far. You had a chance encounter with Princess Schala near the waterfalls of the floating islands of your home. You talked and ended up buying a gift for her - a golden hairpin in the shape of a flower with a ruby in its center - before leaving the Magical Kingdom of Zeal to help the Earthbound ones of Algetty. You were attacked by a vicious snow monster on the way and were forced to seek refuge in a nearby cave. In that cave, Princess Schala was pulled into a swirling red portal and you rushed after her. It lead to a future where everything had long perished. Or almost everything, as in the dead ruins of a large domed city you encountered a stranded man from your own time: The Guru of Reason Balthazar, who had been driven more-than-half mad by solitude and his regrets over some unspecified disaster in his past and your future. You succeeded in briefly restoring his sanity and you parted ways after telling him that you cared about Princess Schala and he implored you to change her fate and that of your Kingdom while you still could. While exploring a smaller dome, the beginning of an underwater passage, you rescued the Princess who had been grievously injured by a party of robots that were hostile to all humans. And that is how you had found your way to that cave, both of you needed to rest and recover after your ordeal. Her more than you, to be honest.

He waits patiently for you to finish before commenting. "Quite the tale. I will have to watch more carefully in the future. I wonder..." He leans forward on his cane and the shadow cast by the street lamp behind him obscures even more of his face. "Would you like to hear the advice of an old man who has seen much, much more than you could possibly imagine? Are you lost? Or merely wandering?"

>"I'm lost. Your advice would be welcome."
>"I'm just wandering. How could your advice help me?"
>"Neither. I know what I have to do."
>"What's the difference?

Party information: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/frozen-moment-chronoqm
Thread archive: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=ChronoQM
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChronoQm

Welcome to the quest's second thread!

>>5406345
>In this situation, I'll take any advice and help I can get.
>Interesting question... where is the difference? In knowing where you are, where you are going, or how to get there? I have some ideas to all of these, but can I truly claim to *know*?

welcome back OP!

>>5406345
>>"I'm lost. Your advice would be welcome."

>>5406345
>"I'm lost. Your advice would be welcome."

>>5406345
>>5406366
Support

>In this situation, I'll take any advice and help I can get.
>Interesting question... where is the difference? In knowing where you are, where you are going, or how to get there? I have some ideas to all of these, but can I truly claim to *know*?
>>5406366
>>5406445

>"I'm lost. Your advice would be welcome."
>>5406421
>>5406429

It's a tie

>>5407655
Well aside from the waxing philosophical the write in boils down to “I may be lost and welcome any help”

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5407732
They are similar but not identical. His response will not be the same.

I guess I'll just roll for it.
1: Write-in
2: I'm lost

"In this situation, I'll take any advice and help I can get." You aren't about to refuse such a sincere offer of help. Even if it is just a dream, the old man's words can prove useful. The dreamers of Enhasa claim that dreams could reveal the truth. You never really believed that, but was it possible they had a point? It's something to consider later, you suppose. The old man remains silent and you realize that you still haven't answered his other question, but also that you don't have a clear answer to give him. "Interesting question... what is the difference? In knowing where you are, where you are going, or how to get there? I have some ideas to all of these, but can I truly claim to know?"

"Hmm... the answer to that is: All of them, of course, but not equally! If you know none of these things then you are truly lost. If you don't know where you're going then you can't know how to get there and knowing where you are won't do you any good! You need to know all three for your journey to be a success yet with just a clear goal in mind and the determination to see it through, you can never really be lost!"

"As for my help..." He straightens up, no longer putting his weight on his cane. The shadows obscuring his face pull back, revealing a smile underneath his moustache. "I'm afraid I can offer little more than words of advice in the here and now. Trust in the friends you will meet on the way north! They would stare in the face of death to give you or the Princess the merest chance of survival! You should hope that your journey is a long one, full of adventure and discovery. Don't hurry the journey at all, better if it lasts a while. The journey is its own reward. You will find your way back, of that I am sure. What you find there might not be what you expected, however, and what you do with the knowledge you will have gained... that will be up to you. And most important of all..."

"Follow your heart!" He taps your chest with his cane, a little too far on the left. That's not where the heart is! "The heart knows what it wants! When the mind is clouded, the heart can show you the way. It will help you make the right choice when the time comes. Your path ahead will be difficult, but never lose hope! The outcome will be equal to the effort you put into it. No more, no less. That may be our last chance..." He pauses once again and you struggle to think how to respond.

"But now it's time for you to go. You shouldn't linger in this place for too long. Farewell, Gaius from the Kingdom of Zeal! We will meet again." He tips his hat and strikes his cane on the cobblestone, and the sound reverberates across empty space.

You woke up with a start, gasping for air. What a strange dream. Not very eventful, as far as dreams went, but you supposed it was to be expected. You deliberately chose the most plain door after all. Still... you remembered it even though it wasn't like your usual vague nightmares. Did it mean something? Or was your mind simply trying to make sense of the situation you had found yourself in and reassure you that you weren't really lost despite being stranded so far away from home with no good idea on how to get back? But to trust the friends you would meet in the north... that was suspiciously specific. And what the old man had claimed was the most important thing, to follow your heart... your eyes turned to Schala, still peacefully sleeping on the opposite wall of the cave, loosely enveloped by your own cloak, and you imagined what it would be like to stand up, go there and kiss her, to taste her half-open lips, watch her beautiful green eyes as she slowly opened them and then...

No, definitely not. You should stop that line of thought before you did something you regretted. Stupid dream... stupid organ... why would anyone listen to a muscle that does nothing but pump blood all day?

Putting the dream aside, you felt refreshed after your sleep despite sleeping on the cold, hard ground. No, more than refreshed. You felt more powerful. Somehow, without ever studying it, you knew how to use a new spell!

Choose one
>Water Manipulation II (Utility)
>Water Mantle (Defense)
>Water II (Offense)
>Heal (Healing)
>Shadow Manipulation II (Utility)
>Shadow Mantle (Defense)
>Dark Bomb (Offense)
>Creeping Shadow (Utility)

You had never read about something like that before. You couldn't really explain how it had happened, but that was the case for a lot of things you had encountered recently. Naturally, your mana reserves were fully restored as well. Why did rest recover mana? Many scholars had searched for an answer to that question without ever reaching a consensus. The most prevalent view was that magic was a power derived from dreams, the ability of someone to manifest his dreams into reality. That meant, the theory went, that dreaming is what really restored mana, not sleep by itself. As far as you knew, however, no way to test this theory's veracity had been proposed. Nor did it offer an explanation on why magic was strictly hereditary.

You sat up, filled your canteen with water and drunk deeply. You had surprised yourself with your mana reserves yesterday. You had cast far more spells than you thought you would. And now you had a safe spot in which to retreat if your mana got low. You saw no reason to ration water anymore. Neither you nor Schala would go thirsty from now on. Hunger would be an issue, but there were a couple potential solutions. Balthazar must have been eating something in all the years he stayed here and the robot had implied there were other survivors, possibly on the other side of the underwater passage.

You'd make your decision about where to go next later. What would you do now?
>Go back to sleep
>Wake Schala up
>Exercise
>Practice with your new spell
>Meditate
>Scout the area
>Other (Write-in)

>>5407935
Hmm... friends to the north. I wonder, can we trust the man of our dreams (cue oblivion memes)? So far we've seen nothing much, and we still have no idea how to obtain food.

Anyway, what sort of utility does water manipulation II bring over what we have? Could it double as telekinesis ability if we conjure a ball of water, toss it somewhere and have it work for us? Could it allow us to bring a bubble of air underwater for us to breathe?

Same for shadow manipulation II, what can it do?

And what can creeping shadow do? Some sort of summon? Can it scout or fetch things?

What's the heal's deal compared to what we have? Stronger and cures additional ailments/conditions?

>>5407949
Feel free to discuss and speculate, but I'm afraid I won't be offering more details about the potential spells than what was there in the update. Don't worry, it won't be the last chance you get to learn a new spell. ;)

>>5407951
Sure, just trying to figure out what could be most helpful for us.

Leaning towards the
>creeping shadow
summon if that's what it is for a disposable scout / distraction / flanker / adorable creepy pet

also I suppose

>Practice with it

>>5407956
Supporting this.

>>5407935
>Creeping Shadow (Utility)
>>5407938
>Practice with your new spell

>>5407956
+1

>>5407956
Supporting
Creeping shadow sounds pretty cool!

>>5407935
>Dark Bomb (Offense)
>Go back to sleep

>>5407935
>>Heal (Healing)
>Exercise

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>>5407935
>>5407956
>>5407973
>>5408009
>>5408023
>>5408047
Support.

Never have I seen so much hype for a utility spell. Let's go!

Spell
>Creeping Shadow (Utility)
>>5407956
>>5407973
>>5408009
>>5408023
>>5408047
>>5408597

>Dark Bomb (Offense)
>>5408116

>Heal (Healing)
>>5408423


What do
>Practice with your new spell
>>5407956
>>5407973
>>5408009
>>5408023
>>5408047
>>5408597

>Go back to sleep
>>5408116

>Exercise
>>5408423

I hope you'll not be disappointed with what it can do.

>>5408835
What can I say, I love me some hope.
And as a wise man once said, hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

Learned Creeping Shadow

A spell that let you control your own shadow and even see, hear and speak through it. It would certainly be useful, though you would need to practice with your new spell. It would usually take much more time for you to master a spell like that, time in which you'd slowly learn how to properly recite the incantation and what its effects were. It would be a disaster if you came to rely on it in a dangerous situation and it ended up working a little differently to what you thought, or even not at all. But first things first. You couldn't really practice where you were sitting so you stood up and left the cave, careful not to make noise.

You scanned the horizon. There had been no change during your sleep. It was still the same lifeless earth and dark sky, Balthazar's Dome to the south - the city must have had a real name when it was inhabited but it was something you had yet to learn - the Underwater Passage to the west and Death's Peak above you. You supposed it was an improvement that you now had names to put to the landmarks you could see. You then carefully watched the unremarkable area closer to you, looking for movement or something that was out of place. You had to make sure none of these hostile robots lurked nearby if you were to become absorbed in spellcasting. It seemed as safe as it could reasonably be expected to be. You were ready to begin.

You dusted your tunic off, no matter how futile it may have been. Ideally, you needed a good bath and new clothes, but you were unlikely to get either in the foreseeable future. Besides, you had more pressing concerns than your lacking - due to circumstances entirely outside your control! - personal hygiene.

"Creeping Shadow" you chanted as quietly as you thought feasible, more out of a desire to practice than a real need. The feeling was disorienting at first, as if your body had instantly grown to include your shadow, but you quickly got used to it. You willed your shadow to move and it did, no longer corresponding to your body's real movements. It waved and danced at your command, always in complete silence. Its substance hadn't changed, only its form. You then made it change shapes, from a table to a dog to fearsome monster. You had it move faster and faster and to your disappointment noted that it couldn't move that fast. Nowhere near the speed with which you could move your own limbs. Still, its ability to take different shapes and move could be used as a distraction. In the heat of combat, your opponent wouldn't be able to tell that the thing lunging at him from the corner of his eye was nothing but a harmless shadow. You closed your eyes and... through your shadow you saw your own shabby self. You spoke a simple "Hello?" while your mouth was closed and heard that sound from two different directions. This... would take some getting used to.

One last thing to try. You began elongating your shadow, growing it taller and taller straight away from the cave. You immediately noticed an increase in the rate it drew on your mana that had been so low as to be almost imperceptible until then. In theory the spell had unlimited range, you could scout kilometers away that way. But in practice, you'd run out of mana long before it grew that tall. A dozen meters was easily manageable though, and you moved the edge of your shadow out of your sight, your real sight, and you continued practicing controlling what was almost a second body, full with two senses.

You were brought out of your trance by a cheery "Good morning!" coming from behind you. It took you a moment to realize that this was relative to your real body and a moment more to disentangle your conscious thoughts from your shadow and return to controlling that real body instead of the shadow one. This spell was uncanny!

You struggled to get your thoughts back in more or less of an order before you opened your eyes and turned around, only to be greeted by her smiling face. She had gotten close without you noticing anything while your attention was on controlling your shadow and you'd have been in trouble if she was an enemy. It was something to keep in mind.

Seeing your delay in responding, she continued more tensely "Are you okay? Did I interrupt?"

"Good morning Pr... Schala!" you finally replied. "Don't worry, I've just been practicing a new spell. Did you rest well?" You made your shadow bow towards her in an exaggerated fashion before dismissing the spell, returning her smile as you did.

She clapped, looking delighted. "Amazing! You've been practicing while I slept... And I did! My sleep was more peaceful than it had been in a long time. So much that I overslept, I'm sorry... How was your sleep?"

"It's alright, you needed it. I slept well too. Better than I expected in a cold cave. Are you ready to go now?" You considered telling her about your dream, but weren't sure if you should. Maybe later, it wasn't very interesting anyway.

"Your cloak was warm..." She mumbled under her breath and you weren't sure if you heard her correctly.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"N-Nothing! I, um... wanted to ask you something before we leave." She put her arms behind her back and leaned forward a little. " Please, can you teach me how to fight? I may not be good at it, but I don't want to feel as helpless as I did yesterday again. I would like to learn... from you. You can't always be there to protect me, can you?"

She looked determined. What would be your answer?
>Accept and spend some time teaching her the basics.
>Promise that you will teach her, but now is not the time.
>Refuse. She doesn't need to know how to fight.
>Other (Write-in)

And regardless of your decision about training her, where would you go next?
>South, to Balthazar's dome.
>Explore the Underwater Passage.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5408904

How much do we know what Schala can currently do? Maybe ask her so we can come up with ways to make best use of what she already knows. And go with some basic exercises our dad taught us I suppose.
>Accept

also, though I suspect it may be a waste of time, perspective of asking Balthazar if he knows where to get food in this wasteland is probably too valuable to pass up, or I can't justify how to do otherwise
>back to Balthazar's dome

>>5408904
>Accept and spend some time teaching her the basics
>Explore the Underwater Passage.

>>5408904
>>Accept and spend some time teaching her the basics.
>Explore the Underwater Passage.

>>5408904
>Accept and spend some time teaching her the basics.
>Explore the Underwater Passage.

>>5408904
>Accept and spend some time teaching her the basics.

We got a sword (which we can practice with sheathed) and she can borrow our staff. Unless we kept our old staff for her to use?

>Explore the Underwater Passage.

>>5408904
>Accept and spend some time teaching her the basics.
>Explore the Underwater Passage.

>>5408904
>Accept and spend some time teaching her the basics.
>Explore the Underwater Passage.

"Alright, alright, I'll teach you. How can I say no to something you want so much?" you answered with a smile.

She rushed and hugged you upon hearing your answer. "Really? Thank you so much!"

Your heart raced as you returned her hug. "Of course. You should know how to defend yourself if we're heading into danger." And you couldn't find it in your heart to say no to her when it was so easily in your power to make her this happy.

"Right! I'm ready!" She withdrew from your arms, to your momentary disappointment, curled her hands into fists and raised them into what could only charitably be described as a fighting stance. Your disappointment was replaced by mirth at the contrast between how seriously she was taking this and how wrong her stance was and you struggled to make your amusement not show in your face.

You failed, her resolve failed in turn and she slumped, putting her hands down, crossing her right arm in front of her chest and gripping her left elbow. "Please don't laugh. Am I really so hopeless?"

Seeing her so dejected made you feel terrible and you tried to fix your mistake. "No, no! I'm sorry. It's just, err, you just looked so cute, ready to fight like that. Here, let me show you how to do it properly."

You immediately moved closer to her, not giving either of you time to think about what had just been said. You put one hand on the small of her back and the other on her shoulder to more properly guide her and you began the lesson. You'd have to start at the basics and so you first showed her how to angle her body, how to plant her feet so they sit more solidly in the ground without being rigid, where to put her hands so they're protecting her vital points. You demonstrated how to dodge and she followed your example. It was like you two were dancing to a tune that no one could hear. It was a familiar tune as a matter of fact. You were simply repeating the lessons that you had been taught by your father so long ago. What would he think if he could see you now? You weren't interested in what he had tried to teach you then, but here you were now, teaching an unlikely student yourself. A beautiful girl, and a princess no less.

Schala proved a far more attentive student than you had been as a kid, quickly picking up on your instructions. Her strength was lacking but she was agile and eagerly followed your example, though obviously very far from perfectly. After some time spent on the basics of defence you decided it was time to move to a little offence, so you had her repeat some exercises while you moved back in the cave and picked up the sword you had found yesterday. As you were returning back to her you weighed your options. It would have been better if you still had your wooden staff or any training weapons, but you'd have to make do with what was available. Your staff was heavier than the sword and you were far more familiar with it. You weren't entirely confident in your control of a sword, and you really didn't want to injure her by accident, even if the sword was sheathed and you could heal her immediately. Having made your decision on the way back, you handed her the sheathed sword and she took it with a glint in her eyes. She made a gesture to unsheathe it and you stopped her at once.

"Wait, keep the sheathe on! You don't want to kill me, do you? Was I that horrible of a teacher?" You joked with her enthusiasm.

"Oh... no, of course not. I'll be careful."

She was still taking this seriously. Maybe too seriously. With your joke failing in its purpose, you showed her how to thrust and swing with the sword and saw that it was more difficult for her than the previous exercises had been. It must have been a little too heavy for her. Still, she did as you told her as well as she could. The real problem came when you asked her to attack you so she could practice swinging at something concrete while you dodged or parried. But either because your earlier joke had left her too self-conscious about harming you, or because she just didn't have it in her, her strikes were far weaker than they had been when she was swinging at air. It wasn't working. You could see that she was getting tired and her frustration at her repeated failures was mounting, so you decided to try goading her into attacking you properly.

"Come on, Princess! Is that the best you can do? Maybe you should give up already. You can't fight if you don't want to harm your enemy!"

Your words stung and something changed in her. She huffed for a few moments, gripping the sword strongly. Then she lunged at you with a savage yell and an overhead swing with all her might. Her sudden ferocity surprised you and while you parried easily, you put too much force into it. The sword dropped from her hands and she lost her balance from the recoil. You quickly let your staff go and caught her before she could fall.

Your faces were only centimeters apart as you held her in your arms. She was visibly flustered and breathing heavily. You could feel her chest move in sync with her breath. Her heart beat rapidly, as well as yours. Some of her hair had fallen on her face. And as you stared mesmerized at her eyes, you decided to...

>Kiss her.
>Tell her that's enough for now.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5410313
>Kiss her.

>>5410313
>>Kiss her.

>>5410313
>>Tell her that's enough for now.

>>5410313
>Tell her that's enough for now.

>>5410313
>Tell her that's enough for now.
Let her keep the sword full-time until she finds a weapon better suited for her. She can work on combining lightning magic with it...I assume Schala knows every element.
>Other (Write-in)
https://chrono.fandom.com/wiki/Lightning_Rod
We could work out a double tech instead of smooching. Combine our rod with her lightning.

>>5410313
>smile
>that was good show of resolve, but although anger can give us strength, we must be careful not to let it control us as it also can make us commit mistakes.

Honestly can’t decide whether to take advantage of the princess even though she seems to like us (sometimes I wonder if she has accrued more history with us than she lets on) but just telling her that’s enough seems a bit insensitive and harsh

>>5410313
>Kiss her.
She wants it.

>>5410313
>Tell her that's enough for now.
Not yet! We're a pure boy who doesn't kiss girls like that.

>>5410313
>Kiss her.

>Kiss her.
>>5410323
>>5410327
>>5410542
>>5410695

>Tell her that's enough for now.
>>5410374
>>5410409
>>5410672

>Tell her that's enough for now.
>We could work out a double tech instead of smooching. Combine our rod with her lightning.
>>5410496

>smile
>that was good show of resolve, but although anger can give us strength, we must be careful not to let it control us as it also can make us commit mistakes.
>>5410525

Calling it for kissing the girl.

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>>5410719
Can't wait for Queen Zeal's Court to use this against us

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>>5410761
Yeah, the Kingdom of Zeal is really big on the rule of law.

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Your hand moved upwards to the back of her head as if it had a will of its own. You began pulling her head towards yours, slowly, gently. She was light as a feather. Your heart was racing. It was like you had caught a tiny, fragile bird in your hands and you were afraid that it would get scared, flutter and fly away at any moment.

But she didn't flutter. Instead, she closed her eyes as your faces came closer and you did the same right after. Your lips touched. She tasted faintly of salt and iron. Her lips were a little dry but still felt incredibly soft and warm. Your mind vaguely registered her wrapping her arms around your neck and then went blank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw4Kkw-huQU

This was a dream.

You were dreaming that you were kissing her.

Reality intruded in your dream. You were running out of air and had to withdraw to take a breath. You opened your eyes and looked into her own half-open ones. You ran your hand through her knotted, messy, gorgeous blue hair. She licked her lips. She looked irresistible, so you kissed her again.

How much time passed? A minute, an hour, an eternity? You couldn't tell. You wished it would last forever. But slowly, an intrusive thought floated on top. You had something to do. You had somewhere to go. Reluctantly, grudgingly, you withdrew even further than the first time, breaking the lock of her arms that were still holding tight around your neck. She looked dazed and even more flustered than before. You imagined you mirrored that look.

"That..." you said.

"That..." she echoed.

Neither of you could think of anything else to say and the silence lingered for long, comfortable moments. You coughed into your fist, trying in vain to gather some of your thoughts that had been scattered into a million pieces.

She spoke first and her words brought you to some measure of focus. "We... we should get going."

"Yes, we should. Do you have everything with you?"

"I didn't really have anything with me in the first place." She smiled shyly, a smile that felt out of place after what had just happened. You picked up your weapons from where they had fallen on the ground and handed the sheathed sword to her.

"Here, keep this. A dagger would probably serve you better, but the sword will do until we find one. It has a button on the hilt that you should press when in a fight." She accepted it with a nod and clasped it on her waist while you secured your staff on your back. She then fixed her robes and the hem went up, revealing a little of her thin legs. "Wait a moment, I'll take a look inside in case we're forgetting something." She wordlessly nodded again and turned around, taking her red ribbon off along with the hairpin and letting her long hair loose. She began trying to bring them to some semblance of order while you returned to the cave.

The only ones of your meagre belongings that you weren't already carrying was the crowbar that you had picked up yesterday and the cloak that she had slept in. You took the crowbar and let the cloak lie where she had left it. It would only hinder you on the way. When you went back outside, her hair were back in the usual ponytail. She smiled and extended her hand. You took it and began walking towards the Underwater Passage. You could feel a goofy smile plastered on your face but you didn't care. You didn't care about anything other than the fragile hand you were holding in yours, and the memory of what you had shared just a few minutes ago. As you were, you felt confident enough to take out an entire army of robots if they dared show themselves before you!

Your thoughts continued coalescing as you two walked in silence and you realized you had completely forgotten something important. "Your canteen." you stopped and told her. "I forgot to refill it!"

"It's alright. I wasn't thirsty anyway." She lied as she gave it to you and the lie became evident when she took it back full of water and drunk deeply. You stared as she did, enthralled by her soft lips that had tasted faintly of blood, sweat and tears. You wanted to make her happy. And you wanted to taste those lips again, though not right now. There would be time for more of that later, you hoped.

She drunk her fill and voicelessly resumed walking, with you at her side. "If you drink all of it, just tell me. I have mana to spare today and you're still not completely hydrated." you spoke earnestly.

"I will!" came her cheerful response.

"And, err, there's one more thing I need to know. What's your element? What spells can you cast? We'll be heading into combat, we should strategize first. You've said that you can't heal, so it can't be Light like your mother's, or Water. I don't think it's Fire, Earth or Shadow, they don't really suit you. Is it Air? I didn't recognize the spell that you cast yesterday."

"My element... it's not Air. And you could never guess it even if I gave you infinite tries. My element is Time and Space." She sounded serious, but you didn't believe her. There were only six elements, and those two weren't among them.

"Are you kidding me? Those are two things. And they're not an element I have heard of."

"It is! Gaspar had a theory of how Time and Space are relative to each other, two interwoven parts of the same whole. The seventh element. He called it the Spacetime Continuum, but I think that's a silly name. He developed the theory while Father was still alive in order to explain what I could do. He never published it. I could explain it if you want, you're smart enough to understand it, but we don't have the time. And I'd need enough paper to write. Just trust me! No, let me show you!" She stopped and turned energetically at her heels, extending an arm to your left.

"Time Wall!"

A... distortion took shape in the air about a meter in front of her. It was like a panel of glass that constantly shifted. She stooped to her knees, took a small rock from the ground and threw it towards the effect of her spell. When the rock reached the distortion it... slowed mid-air and continued on the same trajectory at a vastly reduced speed until it fell softly on the ground at its end. "That's... incredible." The effect had some similarity to an Air barrier you had read about, but that one blew projectiles off course with gusts of wind. This was something else entirely!

Schala chuckled and the distortion disappeared. "I can affect the speed in which time passes for something. I was very happy with what I could do when I was a little girl. You can't imagine how many times I had to Slow a bottle that Janus threw at a poor servant when he was having a fit. And I can accelerate Time's pace too! Father and Mother were both so happy when I brought them flowers that I had made bloom far faster than they were meant to."

You were left speechless by the revelation that she could control such an extraordinary power. She continued after a brief pause, her expression more downcast. "I later understood that there was a cost. Time is precious and it is finite. I cannot give more time to someone, only change the rate at which it is spent. The flowers that I made bloom faster also wilted faster. The kitten that I wanted to stay a kitten spent its days doing everything at half speed until I dismissed the spell. Do you understand? Every living thing's hourglass contains a certain amount of sand and when it's finished..." She trailed off and waited for your answer. You nodded gravely, giving her leave to carry on.

"I envy you, you know. Your magic. You can use it to give to people. You gave me the water in this flask." She raised her canteen, and you couldn't bring yourself to correct her. "You healed me yesterday. My magic cannot give without also taking something in return. I can give you more time in the present, but that robs you of your future. Or I can give you more time in the future, but that robs you of your present. What use is this power when it cannot give?" Her question sounded anguished. Her inability to help with her magic as she wished obviously bothered her very much. You reached forward and squeezed her hand before trying to change the subject to one hopefully less unpleasant.

File: Schala's Amulet.png (26 KB, 114x144)

26 KB PNG

"And what about Space? You said you had an, err, dual element? Or Alchemy? I think you mentioned potions when we talked near the waterfalls."

"Space... it didn't fascinate me as much as time when I was little, so I didn't develop it very much. And after Father passed away... Mother had me focus on Time. This is how I operate the Mammon Machine and why I am the only one who can do it. My element of Time is used every time to draw power from Lavos at an accelerated rate. I only ever used Space once in my life, when I first turned it on and it made the connection with its distant source of power and established the ethereal channels that distributed it across the kingdom. Besides, the Machine always left me too drained to practice with my magic." She stopped and took a deep breath.

"This was why I studied Alchemy. This was the only way I could find to help. I studied by myself and and I learned how to create everything that was known in the Kingdom. So it's not all bad. I can do something. I shouldn't be complaining so much, should I? You said I was stronger than I thought, didn't you? And that's not all. I also studied Enchanting, though I didn't make too many items. This was the most important one." She removed an amulet from beneath her voluminous robes, a plain one with a metal plaque that was at the wrong angle for you to read.

"It is an amulet containing my prayers. I meant to give it to Janus to keep him safe, but... we have to find a way back! Janus is all alone. He doesn't get along with anyone other than me. Everyone thinks he's difficult but he's not. He's just... special. He'll like you too once he gets to know you." She pleaded and you couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"We will. My mother is alone too. She was devastated when my father didn't return, I can't leave her. And we have to stop the Ocean Palace too!" She smiled at your words of encouragement.

[Princess Schala has rejoined your party]

"Well, there you have it. This is all that I can do. I can cast Haste on you, but every second I give you in the present is one less second you will have in the future. Or should I focus on trying to Slow our enemies? What do you think?"

>Tell her to cast Haste on you, despite the cost.
>Tell her to focus on Slowing your enemies.
>Let her to make her own decisions in combat.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5411157
>Let her to make her own decisions in combat

>>5411157
>Let her make her own decisions in combat.

>>5411157
>let her decide based on situation
Cost of haste in combat seems negligible compared to benefit. Especially comparing risk of injury with seconds of age… but exact tactics will depend on layout of battle and enemy comp…

I mean it’s going to be tactical choice rather than moral or longevity one, is my point. So she don’t hesitate to use what seems more likely to win quicker and safer.

>>5411157
>Tell her to cast Haste on you, despite the cost.

>>5411157
>>Let her to make her own decisions in combat.

>>5411157
>Let her make her own decisions in combat.

>>5411157
>Let her to make her own decisions in combat.

>Let her make her own decisions in combat.
>>5411183
>>5411188
>>5411204
>>5411428
>>5411503
>>5411548

>Tell her to cast Haste on you, despite the cost.
>>5411348

Embarrassing typo. That's what I get for writing late at night. Anyway, I'm gonna need some dice now. 1d100, bo3. DC: 50, good DC: 90

File: bagofholding.png (147 KB, 360x450)

147 KB PNG

>>5411157
>Other (Write-in)
Can you use Space Magic to make things bigger on the inside? That would take care of our inventory issue.

File: gaiusandsomeblondegirl.png (570 KB, 420x530)

570 KB PNG

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>5411719

>>5411720
>>5411723

While I bask in the victory of my good roll, I'm thinking this is more possible using Alchemy and Enchanting though it may take a lot of time and energy. Perhaps another side-project while we avoid thinking about hunger?

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>5411719

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>5411719

"I think... that you should be the one to decide. You know your magic better than I do. I trust you." You trusted her, and she had to learn to be more confident in herself. That meant encouraging her to take initiative. The power to control time, even to the limited degree that she could, was incredible. You now understood why her power was so praised throughout the kingdom. What more would she be able to do now that she was free to develop her control over time, or space?

"But..." She rubbed her wrists and slouched, turning her face away from you and down to the ground.

You placed your hand under her chin and gently guided it up until her eyes met yours again. "I trust you!" You repeated with more emphasis. "Don't worry about 'robbing me of my future'. When I fought the R-Series robot yesterday, I was too slow and it hit me hard enough to break bones. I'm alive now only because I got lucky, it thought I was out of the fight and gave me the chance to heal when it could have easily finished me off. I will not be so lucky next time. Your spell could save my life, a few seconds is a small price to pay compared to that. So... do what you think is best and don't hesitate if you see me in trouble. I'll support your decisions." You planted a short kiss on her forehead, then let her go.

She nodded reluctantly and a soft "Okay..." left her lips. She didn't look fully convinced though.

"Besides, if I die, I'd prefer it if it was by your hand!" you joked with a wide smile, hoping to help her see that you really didn't care about losing some seconds of your life.

She pouted at your flippant response. "Don't say that! I don't want to lose you..." She brushed your forearm with her fingers. "But it's okay, I understand. If I were to be killed... I'd be happy if it was you." A shiver came down your spine at her words. This was not what you had expected to hear. Was she just turning your joke around? She sounded serious, but she couldn't have been. Could she?

You were at a loss for words. "I, err, I won't..." you sputtered trying to form a sentence, but she didn't give you the chance to find what you wanted to say.

"Gaius? I, um... want you to have this." She parted her hair around her neck, removed her pendant and extended the hand holding it towards you gravely.

You hesitated. "Your pendant?" Wasn't it important to her?

"Yes. I'm not going to use it anymore. And this way, if you have it, you'll be able to find me if we get separated again." She spoke firmly. You couldn't really argue with that, so you took from her extended hand and put it in your pocket. You hoped she didn't mean for you to wear it, but she didn't say anything about it disappearing from view.

For some time, no more words were exchanged. You were getting close to your destination. Suddenly a wheezing roar resounded across the wasteland, coming from the direction of the dome ahead. You reacted instantly, pushing Schala to the ground and dropping down to cover her. No attack was immediately incoming and you looked for the source of the noise. It was a hoverbike, identical to the one the robots had used yesterday, that was leaving the dome and growing smaller every second as it was quickly heading north east. A speck was barely visible between the clouds and the horizon on the same direction. Was another group of robots incoming? The hoverbike that had just departed didn't seem to have noticed you, or at least they hadn't reacted. You waited for them to put some distance between you and kept a low profile as you approached close enough to the dome to see the entrances clearly.

A spiderbot, like the one that had zapped you with its laser in the ruined city, was guarding the main entrance. The tunnel where the road ended looked unguarded, but just as unstable as it did the last time. You could always use the same entrance you had used yesterday. You could also leave and return later, though the robots may intend to keep reinforcing the garrison they left here to catch those who had destroyed the last patrol. If they did, waiting would only make it more difficult for you.

Schala whispered from your left. "Both the tunnel and the corridors lead to the area where I encountered the sea serpents. That was as far as I reached on my own. I can lead you there. How will we enter?"

>Descend through the partially collapsed tunnel.
>Fight the robot guarding the door and enter through it.
>Circle around to the large gash on the back that lead to the warehouse.
>Leave for now.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5412136
>>Descend through the partially collapsed tunnel.

>>5412136
>Descend through the partially collapsed tunnel.
None of them are without risk but this one gives some possibility of entering undetected I guess

>>5412136
>Descend through the partially collapsed tunnel.

Rolled 89, 98, 35 = 222 (3d100)

Alright, time to roll. 3d100, bo3. first DC 30, second DC 80 (only if 1st is failed), third DC 50

Also rolling for Schala

Rolled 18, 94, 24 = 136 (3d100)

>>5412759
Schala bringing the PAIN

Rolled 8, 45, 46 = 99 (3d100)

>>5412759
Check out my triple crits.

or actually narratively I expect this to be something like
1. don't trigger a cave in
2. dodge a cave in
3. stealth roll vs snek
so I guess she's rather saving us from pain in fact. Whew not great, not terrible.

Rolled 22, 96, 44 = 162 (3d100)

>>5412759

You pointed towards the tunnel and put a finger on your mouth. Schala nodded. She understood the need to remain quiet. You weren't sure if that robot could hear or if it had some other kind of sensor, but it was better not to take any chances. You repositioned and approached the tunnel from the other side of the road, putting the dome's curvature between you two and the robot.

The tunnel was semicircular and as wide as the cracked road that lead into it but, just like almost everything you had encountered in this future, it had seen better days. Fissures ran across every surface. It was dark and it looked ready to collapse at any minute under the weight of the ground above it. It had collapsed in certain parts, and the rubble only grew more frequent as you continued descending into the bowels of the earth, making the tunnel begin to resemble a natural cave. Schala walked confidently in front of you, deftly avoiding all obstacles on the way. You followed her closely with movements that were significantly more lumbering. More than once the same scene repeated: You would almost fall as a pile of rubble that you hadn't even noticed would collapse under your weight, Schala would turn around full of worry, you'd give her a confident smile and a gesture that you were ok, you would resume walking in silence and then the whole thing would repeat all over again just a while later. You had to admit you... may have been too distracted by her lithe body to properly pay attention to where you were going.

https://music.mega64.net/ct/216.mp3

You could tell when you reached the underwater part of the tunnel. It was damp, the ceiling dripped at places and some small pools of water were collecting on the uneven ground. You were amazed it hadn't collapsed entirely, actually. Whoever had built it must have done a tremendous job for it to be standing at all after who knows how many decades of neglect. And it was longer than you had imagined. But your admiration for its - probably Earthbound - creators was interrupted when Schala broke the silence.

"We're getting near. The tunnel is completely flooded, we can't go through. I didn't try swimming across though..." she said in a hushed tone.

"It wouldn't be a good idea. We don't know if it's blocked, if the other side is close enough to reach while holding our breath, or if it's full of those sea serpents that hurt you." you replied and a small pang gripped your heart at those last words.

"That's what I thought too, other than the serpents. I didn't know they existed when I first came through here. There's a door on the side that leads to a large room with some walkways above the water. That's where I was attacked. Just, be careful! The last part of the tunnel looked more unstable than the rest." She pleaded with you and you understood why. You hadn't been exactly careful on the way and seeing ahead proved the truth of her words. The tunnel did look more unstable, with many more piles of rocks jutting in from its broken surfaces.

"I'll be careful, don't worry." you declared, projecting more confidence than you really felt, if you were to be honest. Nevertheless, she took your hand as she nimbly navigated the rough ground and you wasted almost no time in betraying your promise. You put your foot on a pile of rocks that had seemed stable, it slipped and that triggered a chain reaction as the pile of rocks collapsed, taking with it another pile, and another and...

Schala reacted faster than you did. "RUN!" she yelled frantically and pulled your hand, doing as she had called you to. You ran as well, just a few moments behind her. A deep rumbling could be heard from all around you. You had managed to trigger a cave-in! Terrifying moments passed as the ceiling began collapsing around and behind you. You wouldn't be coming back this way, if you came back at all. Both you and her dodged the falling debris as you ran through the nearby door and slammed it shut behind you. You found yourself in a corridor that was much like the ones where you had seen and fought the R-Series. Luckily the corridor was more sturdily constructed and suffered no damage in the time you waited before the rumbling stopped. Both you and Schala were miraculously completely unharmed, though now full of fresh dust, and you breathed a sigh of relief.

The moment danger passed, she hugged you tightly, putting her arms around your shoulders and resting her head on your clavicle. "Don't scare me again like that!" She spoke strenuously and you couldn't think of what to say. She was right, you could have died because of your carelessness. You just put your hand on her head and began gently stroking her hair. You stayed like that for some time and only stopped when you heard metal footsteps and other mechanical sounds echoing across the corridor from somewhere far away. The robots must have decided to investigate the source of the rumbling and that left you only one path forward.

"We should go." you told her and she nodded. Once again she led the way in the corridors that were still empty while the sounds of pursuit were steadily growing louder.

File: Dondrago.png (847 B, 62x60)

847 B PNG

Before long you reached a closed door and she whispered. "We're here. I slammed the door behind me when I ran away."

You paused for a moment before the closed door. You cast "Creeping Shadow" and you sent your shadow under the gap to scout what was on the other side. The black and white vision that came from an origin point outside of your real body was still disorienting, but you were slowly getting used to it. The room behind the door was as she had described it. Large, with the lower half filled with water and walkways that were crossing the room above the surface of the water. Some rubble had fallen on the walkways, that would make crossing them silently more difficult. You didn't see anything suspicious above the stagnant water and dismissed the spell.

You took point in opening the door. You didn't need her to guide you anymore and it would be better if you were in front to intercept any possible attacks. You both took a few careful, silent steps into the room, trying to hurry without making noise. You didn't know how long you had before the robots reached you, but it couldn't be more than a few minutes. You moved to the walkway, still silent. And as you carefully stepped over some debris in your way, all your attempts at stealth came to naught when a tremendous bang came from behind you. The hinges of the door had snapped and it had fallen to the floor causing a ruckus that would certainly...

Three of those serpents rose from the water, one next to the platform, the others further away. They had not attacked yet but were certainly preparing to. You trusted Schala to decide for herself. What would you do?

>Blind one of the serpents that are further away.
>Attack one of the serpents that are further away with Water.
>Attack the closer serpent with your staff.
>Retreat back through the door.
>Other(Write-in)

>>5413300
>Blind one of the serpents that are further away.

>>5413300
>>Attack the closer serpent with your staff.

>>5413300
>blind
I guess it’s going to be blind and whack, as water attacks probably won’t do much. Although the shock sword might…

>>5413300
>>Blind one of the serpents that are further away.

>>5413300
>Blind one of the serpents that are further away.
>Use the fallen door as a barrier for Schala

>>5413300
>Blind one of the serpents that are further away.

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>Blind one of the serpents that are further away.
>>5413323
>>5413338
>>5413495
>>5413715

>Blind one of the serpents that are further away.
>Use the fallen door as a barrier for Schala
>>5413617

>Attack the closer serpent with your staff.
>>5413330

Alright then. 1d100, B03, DC: 40. Also rolling for Schala.

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>5413792

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>5413792
Despair thy eyes!

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>5413792

"Blind!" Your spell's effect was immediately visible on one of the serpents further away, as its eyes were obscured by mists of darkness. While it was sound that drew them to the surface to hunt, you hoped that vision was still something necessary for them.

"Slow!" Schala's cry came from behind, just a few seconds after you had cast your own spell. The movements of the other distant serpent became sluggish, as if some force was preventing it from moving as fast as it had, and in a sense, that was exactly what was happening.

You braced for their counterattack, putting yourself between them and Schala. There could be no dodging this time, you weren't nearly fast enough to dodge lightning. Two lightning bolts streaked first followed by a third after some delay. One of the bolts struck harmlessly somewhere to your left. The serpents needed to see to target properly! The other two both went straight for you and electricity coursed through your body. The pain... it felt like your nerves were on fire. You grunted and Schala let out a terrified yelp. Your arms had gone completely numb, you couldn't feel them at all, but you could see your fist locked tight around your staff. Thank Lavos you hadn't dropped it in the water. Still, past the pain, you were actually happy that you got hit. That meant that she had been spared.

There was no time to lose, you still had to win this fight. "I'm alright." you said through gritted teeth. "Cure." The pain instantly receded and you regained use of your arms. You opened and closed your fist, temporarily passing the staff to your other hand to do so. You were still a little numb but were able to fight again. With the two distant serpents disabled in one way or another, the best course of action was clear. You moved forward and attacked the nearer serpent with your staff before it'd have the time to throw more lightning at you. It was a solid hit, connecting with a satisfying thud. The serpent reeled and let out an angry hiss but had little time for anything else. Schala followed your example, charged at it with a crackling sword and a savage yell and sliced it with another ovearhead swing, but once again put too much force into it. She lost her balance and you quickly grabbed her and pulled her back before she'd fall into the water. The smell of roasted fish permeated the air. It made your mouth water and you remembered that you hadn't actually eaten anything in more than a day. Not now! Were these things even edible?

The battle was going well. Of the three serpents that had attacked you, one was dead, the other was blind and the last was slowed. Was it time to end it? The sound of the robots was getting close.

>Finish the serpents off with Water I.
>Jump into the water to hit them with your staff.
>Blind the other serpent and go forward on the walkway.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5414682
>>Finish the serpents off with Water I.

>>5414682
>Blind the other serpent and go forward on the walkway.

>>5414682
>Blind the other serpent and go forward on the walkway.

>>5414682
>Other (Write-in)
Grab the slowed-down snake and hit the blinded snake. Hit a snake with another snake.

>>5414682
>Blind the other serpent and go forward on the walkway.
Let’s move on and let the sneks vent on the robots.

Rolled 10, 6 = 16 (2d100)

>Finish the serpents off with Water I.
>>5414685

>Blind the other serpent and go forward on the walkway.
>>5414686
>>5414703
>>5415000

>Grab the slowed-down snake and hit the blinded snake. Hit a snake with another snake.
>>5414966

Let's see how well that goes. 2d100, bo3. 1st DC: 50, 2nd DC: 60

Rolled 13, 67 = 80 (2d100)

>>5415044
Schala no!

Rolled 80, 72 = 152 (2d100)

>>5415044

Rolled 90, 48 = 138 (2d100)

>>5415044

Another lightning bolt passed harmlessly to your right. The blind serpent was no threat anymore, but you had to do something about the last one before it could hit you again. You extended your arm towards it. "Blind." With that, the fight was over and you allowed yourself to relax. "They're no threat anymore." you proclaimed.

"Haha, we did it! Did you see that? I..." Schala spoke enthusiastically, and her eyes darted back and forth between the dead serpent and the sword in her hand, as if she couldn't really believe it herself. The smell of roasted fish still made you salivate and you tried not to think about taking a bite out of your vanquished foe.

You smiled at her and stroked her back reassuringly. "You did great! We make for a good team. But we should get going now, before-" an impotent lightning bolt interrupted you "...the robots get here. Follow me!"

She returned your smile and nodded, sheathed the sword and fell in behind you as you ignored the surviving serpents and proceeded on the walkway. You walked quickly but carefully. Debris were all over the walkway and you didn't want to make noise by disturbing them and have to fight more serpents or even worse slip and fall in the water. You were getting close to the door on the other end without incident and you allowed yourself to hope that you'd make it out safely when you heard the sound of stomping feet and a commanding "Halt humans!" coming from behind you. You wasted no time, grabbed Schala's hand and yelled "Run!". It was just a few meters, you could make it!

Shots were fired from the other side of the room and you weren't worried at all. That spell of hers could deal with their ranged attacks. But instead of chanting as you expected, a few moments passed and then she let out a cry of pain. You felt a tug on your hand as she fell hard, scattering some of the rubble in the water. Fresh blood was flowing from her leg. No, no, she'd been hit! Why hadn't she-

A single serpent rose from the surface near you, looking at you hungrily. More shots were heard from the other side of the room but you weren't the target. Two R-Series were standing near the beginning of the walkway. A few of the smaller tracked robots were behind them, shooting at the half dozen serpents that now surrounded them and were about to blast them with lightning. One of the R-Series was preparing a shot with the weapon that had blasted the door apart yesterday, aiming towards you.

"Go!" Schala said. "Leave me!" No, you'd never leave her. But how would you get out of this?
>Cure Schala and get the both of you out of here.
>Blind the robot that was aiming at you.
>Kill the serpent near you.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5415551
>Cure Schala and get the both of you out of here.

>>5415551
>Cure Schala and get the both of you out of here.

>>5415551
>Cure and scoot

>>5415551
>Cure Schala and get the both of you out of here.

>>5415551
>Cure Schala and get the both of you out of here.

>>5415551
>>Cure Schala and get the both of you out of here.

>Cure Schala and get the both of you out of here.
>>5415556
>>5415585
>>5415610
>>5415740
>>5415925
>>5415985

One more roll. 1d100, bo3, DC: 50

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>5416330

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>5416330

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>5416330

Lady luck looks elsewhere it seems

>>5416764
Yeah, your rolls haven't been too great in general in this quest. Let's hope that changes.

And I'm sorry folks but there won't be an update today. Got caught up in some stuff and didn't have the time to write. I'll try not to miss another day, but maintaining my schedule is gonna become harder as winter approaches and work picks up.

>>5416856
Null sweat, take your time. This is supposed to be fun, not a chore

>>5417122
Oh, but it is fun, real fun. The problem is all the other things that aren't fun and still need to be done...

There was no way you'd leave her behind, even if she pleaded for you to. Protecting her came first. You'd decide how to deal with your enemies after. "Cure!" The bleeding stopped immediately but you weren't out of danger yet. With your heart thundering, you put one arm around her back and the other under her legs. She let let out a small squeal as you lifted her up, held her close to your body and began moving towards the door as fast as you could while carrying her. Maybe it was due to the adrenaline coursing through your veins but she felt as light as a feather.

Lightning struck your back and you seized up for a few moments before you willed yourself to ignore what your screaming nerves were telling you and you kept going with a grunt. Just a few more steps. The robot launched its attack, the whistling sound of its projectile came closer and closer, and just as you crossed the threshold of the door carefully in order not to bang her head on the doorframe, a deafening explosion from close behind you sent the both of you plummeting forward.

You fell to the ground with your elbows painfully striking the hard floor and she tumbled out of your arms and rolled somewhere ahead of you. The force of the explosion caused you to drag on the floor before you came to a stop and lied face down. Your back throbbed in pain as if it had been turned to minced meat. It probably had if the fragments of the explosion had struck you.

Before you had a chance to recover, Schala frantically rushed to your side, teared a some fabric off her robes and pressed it on your back in an effort to staunch the bleeding. You could see her mouth move but you couldn't hear what she was saying over the ringing in your ears. Her agonized expression brought you back to your senses. This was unnecessary, you'd be fine as long as you were able to use your magic. You finally healed yourself, though you were unable to even hear the sound of your own voice as you cast your spell. Your pain receded, your wounds closed and your ears started working again.

"-orry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm..." she repeated over and over again in a daze. You shifted on the ground and caught her trembling hand in yours. She looked at you apprehensively and her recurring words stopped, but it didn't take long for her to start apologizing again. "I'm so sorry! This is my fault, you got hurt because of me! You should've-"

You sat up and interrupted her by pulling her close for a hug. "I'm alright, don't apologize. And don't ask me to leave you again, I'm never going to." She said nothing more as you stayed there, holding her in your hands. You wished you could spend more time like this, say something to stop her from blaming herself, but the sound of the ongoing fight beyond the doorway that you had just crossed meant that you didn't have the time.

You ended your embrace and stood up, you needed to know what was going on before deciding anything. Schala remained sitting on the ground as you cast your spell. "Creeping Shadow." Your shadow crept towards that room and you reflected on how invaluable your new spell had proven already, by allowing you to see and hear without putting yourself into danger. Well, more danger than you were already in.

The fight between the robots and the serpents was still going on. Both sides had suffered loses. The robots had the upper hand, the serpents were getting cut down by their attacks, but lightning was effective against them and more serpents had arisen from the water to join the fight. It would be some time before a victor emerged. There were some doors lining the walls of the corridor you had found yourself in and you sent your shadow into a couple of the nearer rooms to see whether there were any threats inside them. You found them to be warehouses full of crates and cabinets, but they also contained a large number of strange large eggs - easily up to your knees in height and not looking like the eggs of any species you had read about. Perhaps something useful could be there, if these eggs weren't dangerous. After you withdrew your shadow from these rooms you extended it as far as you dared along the length of the corridor before the mana cost became prohibitive. Judging by what had happened so far, you would have a long day ahead of you. You saw nothing of interest, but at its greatest extent you barely hear a faint, distant clamour through your shadow that you couldn't really discern the source of.

You dismissed your spell and thought what to do next.
>Stay here, prepare an ambush for the robots after they defeat the serpents.
>Explore the nearby rooms.
>Leave them fighting and move down the corridor, towards the commotion that you had heard.
>Other (Write-in)

AND

Would you say something more to her?
>Optional, Write-in only

>>5417787
Eggs, hm? How strange. Could they be related to snakes? That seems unlikely.

Let’s check out the commotion down the corridor.

>>5417787
>Leave them fighting and move down the corridor, towards the commotion that you had heard.

>Optional, Write-in only
Kiss her before you go

>>5417787
>>Leave them fighting and move down the corridor, towards the commotion that you had heard.

>>5417787
>Explore the nearby rooms.

>>5417787
I realized I forgot about the second prompt. But I’m not sure what to tell her. Maybe that she was doing great, it was just bad luck and without her we would have had no chance of getting through here.

>>5418326
Support

>>5417787
>>Leave them fighting and move down the corridor, towards the commotion that you had heard.

>I would have done it a hundred times over.

>Leave them fighting and move down the corridor, towards the commotion that you had heard.
>>5417801
>>5417816
>>5418279
>>5418418

>Explore the nearby rooms.
>>5418318


Optional
>Kiss her before you go
>>5417816

>I’m not sure what to tell her. Maybe that she was doing great, it was just bad luck and without her we would have had no chance of getting through here.
>>5418326
>>5418410

>I would have done it a hundred times over.
>>5418418

No roll this time. You guys don't mind if I combine the optional write-ins, do you?

>>5418609
I don't mind

>>5418609
Go ahead m8

>>5418609
do it

Schala was still distraught by what had happened, you had to do something about it. You crouched in front of her. She didn't lift her eyes to look at you so you put your hand on the back of her head, kissed her forehead and began speaking warmly. "You did great. It was just bad luck, don't worry about it. Without you I would have had no chance of getting through there."

She finally raised her head, looked at you with a mirthless smile that didn't reach her eyes, placed her hand on your cheek and said sadly "That's not true and you know it..." She slipped from your hand and stood up without waiting for your response. "Um... can we go now?" she asked and turned her back to you.

You had seen this reaction before, when you returned her pendant to her and she had put on that smile that she wore as a well-practiced mask. You had learned much about her since then, enough to be able to tell that she was using that mask to hide her real feelings about an uncomfortable subject. But this time you wouldn't leave it like this. You stood up. "No. What do you mean that it's not true?"

She turned around, still maintaining the empty smile that she had learned to use as a mask. "I did nothing to help you, really. You had to blind the serpent I slowed so we could get away, you could have killed the one that I killed with one more blow and when it mattered I... I panicked and froze and you got hurt because of me. So don't tell me you would have had no chance without me when it's not true. I'm sure you would have done better without me."

"If that's wh-" you began explaining, but she didn't give you the chance to finish.

"You got hurt because of me!" she repeated in anger and her mask cracked a little. Seeing you like that must have affected her greatly. She was too angry at herself. But you had no regrets and you had to let her see that.

"I would have done it a hundred times over!" you almost yelled over the sounds of the still ongoing battle. This time your words were enough to get through to her. Her mask shattered and she was left in shock as you continued. "How do you think I felt when you fell and I saw your blood? I would rather get wounded a hundred times than see you injured once. You may not care what happens to you, but I do. So don't blame yourself when I choose to put myself in danger. I'll be doing it a lot before we get back home... Besides, this was just our first battle together and it went well enough. We're both here. We'll do even better next time."

"We'll do better... . Yes, I can believe that. You always know the right thing to say..." She didn't really look happy with that resolution, but the genuinity was a definite improvement..

"It's a gift. Now, let's go before their battle ends!"

You walked quickly. You could have run, but you might not get another chance to catch your breath before you had to fight again. Soon you began hearing that commotion with your own ears and the clamour grew louder as you approached its source fast. When you thought you were close enough you stopped behind a bend in the corridor. "Creeping Shadow" you chanted in a low volume and sent your shadow ahead to scout the large room ahead.

The source of those sounds were a boy with wild hair and a sword, a girl with a ponytail and a crossbow and another girl with a helmet and a gun that were fighting a sort of... monstrous caterpillar centaur, with oversized hands, a stinger and a tongue that hang out of its mouth and almost reached its waist. As you were watching, the monster let out a laugh that echoed down the hallway, seized the boy in its hands and lifted him up in the air.

You had seen enough and dismissed your spell. As soon as you opened your real eyes Schala asked "What did you see?"

"Three people are fighting a monster. A boy and two girls. It grappled the boy before I ended my spell."

"We should help them. Shouldn't we?" Schala said.

Should you? And if so, how?
>Wait and observe the battle.
>Rush and attack the monster in melee until it drops the boy.
>Snipe the monster with Water I.
>Blind the monster, then attack it.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5419071
>>Rush and attack the monster in melee until it drops the boy.
oh this jobber, Mr. Crawlie or whatever

File: Centaurpede.png (49 KB, 240x228)

49 KB PNG

>>5419071
>Rush and attack the monster in melee until it drops the boy.

Maybe it's edible.

>>5419071
>Rush it
I reckon Schala will slow it.

Using water could hurt Crono, blinding it might not help if it uses other senses or it might just make it focus on chewing Crono.

>>5419071
>>5419287 +1

>>5419071
>Rush and attack the monster in melee until it drops the boy.

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>Rush and attack the monster in melee until it drops the boy.
>>5419076
>>5419241
>>5419287
>>5419289
>>5419300

Unanimous, huh? I'll need a roll. 1d100, bo3, DC: 20, Good DC: 80. Also, rolling for Schala

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>5419559

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>5419559
Poor Schala, just when she could use a confidence boost too.

Maybe give her a bo3 rather than flat roll as well?

>>5419567
kek I better shut up entirely, whole lotta lavos snow up there

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>5419559
>>5419567
Yeah, giving her a bo3 is only fair after our critfail.

>>5419567
Hmm, I could let you guys start rolling for her too, if you want.

Also, I this is a good chance to clarify that in my quest a nat 1 would make a failure as bad as it can possibly get, but does not override a success. Anons beat the low dc, so this isn't a critfail. It doesn't feel fair otherwise.

>>5419573

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>5419573
Messed up

>>5419569
>>5419576
kek, I broke it.

>>5419573
It's your call OP. I thought you could roll 3d100 instead of 1d100, or have us roll for party members instead alongside Gaius. But that's entirely up to what you feel is more proper for the mechanics and story.

>>5419576
Too fast, but I'll allow it.

>>5419587
I'll just let you roll for Schala too from now on. We'll see what happens if and when the party grows. For now, I'll need one more d100 for Schala.

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>5419596
here goes another 1

Rolled 61 (1d100)

>>5419596

I think Schala should be rolled by QM, since we dont play her.

File: Krawlie.png (1 KB, 94x86)

1 KB PNG

"Yes, we should." You couldn't just sit and watch them fight for their lives while you did nothing. There wasn't really another choice here.

She nodded and asked simply. "Okay. What will we do?"

If you wanted to help that boy, then ranged attacks or blinding the monster would not help. You'd have to get close. "I'm going to rush it and hit until it drops him. You should stay back and support me, it's going to be too dangerous to approach."

"Hypocrite." she called you affectionately. "Why should you be the only one to go into danger?"

"Because, err..." You couldn't really think of something to say. She... had a point. You really hated even the thought of seeing her hurt again, but after the talk you just had, you couldn't ask her to stay out of danger just because she was the girl that you-

She chuckled softly and caressed your cheek. "Don't worry, I'm not stupid. I know that one... lesson is not enough for me to fight by your side." Your mind briefly went back to how that lesson had ended and you quickly banished the memory, it really wasn't the time. "But if I see a good opportunity to stab it, I'm not going to hold back!" she declared, and you couldn't come up with a good reason to stop her from doing it.

"...fine. But only if you see a good opportunity. Now, let's go!" You began running and she followed close behind you, though she caught up after only a couple steps. Did she... were her movements unnaturally fast? No, you hadn't heard her cast a spell. Your eyes were playing tricks on you, you weren't exactly staring at her throughout. Your focus was on the sight before you.

The monster was laughing merrily as it slammed the boy on the ground again and again as if it was taking out its frustrations on a lifeless doll. The girl with the ponytail - she was blonde and wore a white loose outfit, you noted now that you could see her with your own eyes - screamed "Chrono!" in distress. The other girl with the helmet - purple hair? Was she related to royalty? - looked deep in thought. Neither was willing to shoot and risk hitting the boy whose name was apparently Chrono. You had to get there faster or it might be too late for him!

"Haste!" came the answer to your silent plea from your side. It was as if she had read your mind! Immediately a strange sensation came over you and the world slowed down. No, it was you who had sped up. You barreled forward, actually moving twice as fast while the monster, the boy, the girls, everything around you seemed to your eyes to have slowed to a crawl as a result of your brain trying to make sense of this unfamiliar sensation.

"W h a t. . ."

"W h o..."

The voices were slow and distorted enough that you couldn't tell who had said what. but it didn't really matter, you'd sort this out later. The monster was surprised at your intervention and at any rate its moves were far too sluggish for it to be able to keep up with you. Your rapid movement allowed you to attack it essentially at will and you took advantage of this to bash the joints in the arm that held the boy up in a series of quick strikes. The elbow first with the top of your staff, a swift twirl to hit its shoulder with the bottom, then the elbow again... if its nerves were anything like a human's, you must have been causing it a great amount of pain.

It let out a long growl and tried to hit you with its other hand but it was far too slow for the attack to connect. You kept hitting it and avoiding its lagging counterattacks until at last it had enough and let Chrono fall to the ground with a drawn out wail of pain. You were amazed to see that despite his injuries, the boy stood up and held his sword straight. The girls that were with him wasted no time in shooting it as soon as they had a clear view and they weren't the only ones who chose this moment to attack.

"S l o w !" Schala's voice from behind you also sounded plodding, it was barely recognizable as belonging to her. The monster almost froze, relative to your accelerated senses, but it was able to resist the spell and resume moving at its previous speed after only a few moments of delay. Poor Schala, this spell had only worked once on the serpent that you later had to blind. It couldn't be good for her confidence...

Returning your thoughts to the battle, you weighed your options. The monster was wounded and in pain, but still very capable of fighting. You had also drawn its attention to yourself with your relentless attack, it was looking straight at you with eyes full of hatred. What would be the best tactic to use from now on?

>Press your advantage, keep attacking it in melee before Haste wears off.
>Heal Chrono and focus on wearing it down by fighting defensively.
>Use your speed advantage to maintain your distance and attack it with Water I from afar.
>Other (Write-in)

Also, since it came up and there was no consensus, I'm gonna ask you to vote for it officially. This seems the most fair way to decide. Do you guys want to roll bo3 for more than just Gaius? Anyone who is rolled by me will only get a single die, the number of dice I'd have to roll would quickly explode otherwise. You can think of it as a protagonist's luck.
>Players roll bo3 only for Gaius, QM rolls a single die for everyone else.
>Players roll for Gaius and Schala.
>Players roll for Gaius, Schala and any future party members.

>>5420441
>Heal Chrono and focus on wearing it down by fighting defensively.
>Players roll for Gaius, Schala and any future party members.
We can consolidate them all into pools really.
Like if we have 4 party members, we can have three of us players roll 4d100 and that's done and outta the way super easy. Just make sure you assign each character a particular dice slot.

>>5420438
>>Press your advantage, keep attacking it in melee before Haste wears off.
>>5420441
>Players roll for Gaius, Schala and any future party members.

>>5420438
>>Heal Chrono and focus on wearing it down by fighting defensively.
Probably best use of the last vestiges of haste we can pull right now

>>5420441
I'm fine with whichever but
>Players roll for Gaius, Schala and any future party members.
if there's consensus for this, that'd be cool

>>5420438
>Heal Chrono and focus on wearing it down by fighting defensively.
There's a lot of us, we definitely have an advantage, so let's not do anything too risky.
>Players roll for Gaius, Schala and any future party members.
I do think that crit fails should not be overwritten by any success, personally, but that's just me

>>5420438
>Heal Chrono and focus on wearing it down by fighting defensively.
>>5420441
>Players roll for Gaius and Schala.
Only for the waifu

>>5419579
Id changed I am this

Rolled 40, 58, 3 = 101 (3d100)

>Heal Chrono and focus on wearing it down by fighting defensively.
>>5420449
>>5420471
>>5420519
>>5421198

>Press your advantage, keep attacking it in melee before Haste wears off.
>>5420463


AND
>Players roll for Gaius, Schala and any future party members.
>>5420449
>>5420463
>>5420471
>>5420519

>Players roll for Gaius and Schala.
>>5421198

Alright, that's pretty clear. I'll have to think about how DCs are going to work now that you'll be rolling for everyone, but for now: 2d100, BO3, first for Gaius, second for Schala. DC: 60.

The others aren't party members yet, so I'm going to roll for Chrono, L and M in order this time.

Rolled 70, 56 = 126 (2d100)

>>5421277
Guys come on, we have the upper hand now...?

Rolled 99, 36 = 135 (2d100)

>>5421277

Rolled 16, 35 = 51 (2d100)

>>5421277

>>5421279
>>5421296
>>5421302
Poor Schala will never roll high

>>5421351
It's okay, we still love her

Fighting defensively would be the best use of the last vestiges of haste that you had left, especially since the monster appeared to have focused its hatred on you. No sooner had you finished that thought than the monster came charging at you and tried to grab you in its oversized hands for a repeat of the attack it had used against Chrono. It was too slow though and you were easily able to dodge it and even land a few hits before it gave up, paused its assault and retreated a few meters.

Chrono was still seriously injured despite standing up on his own. The girl with the blond ponytail launched a bolt from her crossbow that went wide and moved quickly, for someone moving at normal time, towards Chrono. But the monster, seeing that it had no luck against you, switched targets to the easiest one within range and that was the girl. It rushed her and tried to grab her, but you had foreseen what was about to happen before it did and you were right there to intercept it. You took full advantage of your increased speed to position yourself perfectly and used the momentum of its own charge against it to drive the pointy bottom of your staff through its outstretched palm. It let out another drawn out screech of pain and moved back to a safe distance, but not before Chrono lunged forward and slashed it across the waist. You held firm and withdrew your staff that was now half coated in monster blood. It wouldn't be grabbing anything else with that hand if its reaction was anything to go by.

The lull in the combat while it nursed the wound that you had just inflicted allowed you to cast a spell without being afraid of interruptions. "Cure II!" was the one that you chose and it mended the boy's injuries without delay. He blinked and looked in astonishment first at his healed body, then at you. The girl paused in her tracks and you addressed them. "We have the advantage but the monster is still dangerous, let's not do anything risky."

Chrono just looked at you with a puzzled expression. The blonde girl asked "W h a t d i d y o u s a y ?" and the purple-haired one, who had been shooting at the monster all along, adjusted her glasses and clarified "H e s a i d t h a t w e s h o u l d n ' t d o a n y t h i n g r i s k y , i t ' s s t i l l d a n g e r o u s!" The boy nodded and the girl next to you looked at you in annoyance. Why hadn't they understood you? Oh, of course. Just like you were hearing them at half speed, they were hearing you at double. They must have heard your words as 'Wehavetheadvantagebutthemonsterisstilldangerous,let'snotdoanythingrisky.'. No wonder they hadn't understood. You'd have to take care to speak much slower while under the effect of Haste in the future.

Just then the monster went into the offensive again, completely furious at you. But as you prepared to parry its hands and continue bashing it, it did something that surprised you. It paused in front of you and lowered its torso, dodging Chrono's attack in the process, to reveal that the giant stinger on its tail was going straight for your throat. You were still fast enough to dodge easily, but not quite fast enough for the counter attack you had briefly considered.

"S l o w !" Schala tried again and the result was no better than last time. The monster broke out of her spell after just a moment and she let out a cute, frustrated whine, but that moment of delay was enough to give you the opening that you wanted. You placed a few more strikes on its body before it retreated once more to consider its next action, always hailed by the bolts and bullets that didn't miss their mark. It seemed that it now began moving with unnatural agility but you quickly realized that it was just how it appeared to you. Everything resumed moving normally as Haste wore off and your speed advantage faded. It was unfortunate that it hadn't lasted for the entire battle, but it had already proven tremendously useful.

The monster was cornered, bleeding from the hole in its hand and the gash on its side, stricken with the bolts and bullets that hadn't missed their mark, bashed in numerous place and almost certainly getting desperate. What would you do now that you no longer had the advantage of Haste?

>Keep fighting defensively, it's working.
>Go on the offensive to finish it off.
>Let Chrono handle the front, take some distance and attack it with Water I.
>Blind it.
>Let it retreat.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5421931
>Keep fighting defensively, it's working.

>>5421931
>Blind it.

>>5421931
>Keep fighting defensively, it's working.

>>5421931
> Let Chrono handle the front, take some distance and attack it with Water I.

>>5421931
>>Keep fighting defensively, it's working.

>>5421931
>Keep fighting defensively, it's working.

Rolled 5, 78, 28 = 111 (3d100)

>Keep fighting defensively, it's working.
>>5422090
>>5422280
>>5422294
>>5422316

>Blind it.
>>5422216

>Let Chrono handle the front, take some distance and attack it with Water I.
>>5422289

And once again, I'm gonna need some dice. 2d100, first for Gaius, second for Schala, DC 60. My rolls are for Chrono, L and M in order.

Rolled 66, 91 = 157 (2d100)

>>5422442
The geek saves the day with lazors

Rolled 45, 86 = 131 (2d100)

>>5422442

Rolled 15, 98 = 113 (2d100)

>>5422442

A beast was often at its most dangerous when cornered. Fighting defensively was working, there was no reason to switch tactics now. A shot hit the monster and... Chrono charged at it, no doubt looking to finish it off now that it had been weakened. But that was exactly what the monster wanted and it shifted to receive the charge. You rushed forward, but you were no longer fast enough. Chrono saw the trap too late to halt his momentum and was impaled in the monster's stinger. The beast let out another feral laughter and slammed him to the ground, withdrawing its stinger in the process. Was he... no, he moved! You just had to figure out how to get past the beast that had switched its attention to you and heal him before he bled out.

A crossbow bolt went wide, and the blonde girl ran to the boy who had fallen while the monster furiously attacked you, trying and failing to get past your defenses. She knelt next to Chrono, clasped her hands as if in a silent prayer and... an Aura shined around her as her ponytail swayed in a nonexistent wind. What was she doing? You didn't get the chance to watch more closely as you had to fend off the monster's assault until it suddenly turned to attack her and you put yourself in its way, scoring scored more hits without being able to find a way to disengage and heal the wounded. After some more fruitless attempts to hit you, it realized that it was outmatched even with you moving at your normal speed and it looked around for an easier target. It found that target, and your heart skipped a beat as it pivoted with a speed that didn't suit its size and lunged straight at Schala. No! You were too far away to help her!

Schala's hand trembled a little as she extended it towards the fast approaching monster, but she stood her ground and her diction was steady as she chanted "Slow!" The monster slowed down once again, but this time it didn't immediately speed back up. She did it, third time's the charm! For a moment, Schala looked surprised at her own success but she quickly recovered and the monster's now sluggish movements gave her enough time to sidestep its attack. Instead of just dodging, she drew her sword and prepared to slice it from the side and she... she had definitely moved with unnatural speed to do that, this time you were watching her. But how? You didn't hear her cast Haste.

The monster fumbled as she was no longer where it expected her to be and she got the perfect opportunity to cut it down but she hesitated just like she had hesitated in your training and her sword came down with too much of a delay. Her slash missed its main body, and managed only to cut off its stinger. At least she deprived it of this attack. The monster turned to face her and you resumed running. You had been mesmerized by the exchange!

File: 100969363_p0.jpg (2.25 MB, 2048x1536)

2.25 MB JPG

"No you don't!" the purple-haired girl made her move on the other side and a tongue of flame sprang from her wrist, engulfing the monster and setting it on fire. The monster shrieked in agony and flailed around on the ground - slowly - as it burned before eventually its movements and voice came to a stop. It was over. You had won! The purple-haired girl adjusted her glasses with a savage grin. You glanced at Schala - she was alright, staring with disgust at the burning corpse - before you rushed at Chrono's side. It hadn't been too long, he would still be alive.

You were surprised by what you saw when you got there. He was somehow already healed and sitting up with the girl's help. When they saw the monster's still body, he visibly relaxed, adjusted his headband and sheathed his sword while the girl jumped with a wail of joy before she calmed herself down and addressed you. "Thanks for the help! I am Marle, this is Chrono..." she put her hand on the boy's bicep and he nodded without saying a word.

Marle opened her mouth to continue but was interrupted by the purple-haired girl's excited voice. "And I'm Lucca! How did you do that? I don't see any devices on you, are you wearing them under your clothes? Are you manipulating time to quicken your movements, accelerate healing and delay your enemies? Voice-activated too and they identify the voice of their user, right? Do you mind if I take a look? I promise I won't damage them! Who made them? Can we swap schematics, I have the flamethrower that you saw, the Hypnowave, the Telepo-"

"Lucca..." Chrono spoke for the first time since you met them and his chastisement was enough to immediately stop Lucca in her tracks.

Marle took this opportunity to resume and ask "Who are you?"

"We are..." you began answering, but trailed off as your thoughts raced. There was no reason to hide your name, you were a nobody, but should you reveal Schala's? They didn't recognize magic, even if they had used something that was similar to the magic that you had been taught. They could only be descendants of the Earthbound you knew, born long after the Kingdom of Zeal was gone. What did their history say about your people? Did they know about Princess Schala? Would they recognize her name and if they did, would they remember her as the kind girl who did all that she could to help their ancestors, or as the fearsome Princess of their tyrannical oppressors who had operated the Mammon Machine? Should you take that chance or would it be better to lie about her name? Was this even a decision that you should take for her?

>Introduce Schala with her real name.
>Use a fake name for her.
>Let her introduce herself however she wishes.

And there was also the matter of the robots that were hunting you. The rest of their questions, as well as yours, could wait for later. For now you had to...

>Prepare an ambush for the approaching robots.
>Get out of here before they arrive.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5423749
>Introduce Schala with her real name.
Fuck it

>Prepare an ambush for the approaching robots.
More xp

>>5423749
>Let her introduce herself however she wishes.
>Prepare an ambush for the approaching robots.

>>5423749
>Let her introduce herself however she wishes.
>Get out of here before they arrive.
no fucking thanks, one of them was bad enough

>>5423749
We’ll if we can trust the man from our dreams, we can trust these guys with Schala’s name, but I suppose it’s her call to make. We can at least vouch for them looking trustworthy as input for schala’s choice.

Also tell them about the presumably coming robots, let them decide if they want to ambush or book it.

And since Lucca seems interested in devices we could have her look at that chip or whatever we looted earlier. Maybe after resolving the robot question though.

>>5423749
>Let her introduce herself however she wishes.

>Prepare an ambush for the approaching robots.

>>5423749
>Use a fake name for her
>Prepare an ambush for the approaching robots.
I actually somewhat expected OC party members, but I suppose Chrono is a good friend to have!

Rolled 78, 9, 91 = 178 (3d100)

>Introduce Schala with her real name.
>>5423750

>Let her introduce herself however she wishes.
>>5423752
>>5423772
>>5423775
>>5424007

>Use a fake name for her
>>5424355
>Prepare an ambush for the approaching robots.
>>5423750
>>5423752
>>5424007
>>5424355

>Get out of here before they arrive.
>>5423772

>tell them about the presumably coming robots, let them decide if they want to ambush or book it.
>>5423775 (apologies if I misinterpreted your vote)

Alright, let's see how your ambush goes. 2d100, BO3 for you and Schala. DC: 30, good DC 70. Rolling for Chrono, Lucca and Marle.

File: 21107901_p0.jpg (1.41 MB, 1000x1404)

1.41 MB JPG

>>5424355
I considered it desu, but ultimately decided against it, for a number of reasons. I don't trust myself to make a party of OC characters that would be as compelling as the originals, I think it'd be weird to have Schala as the only original character in a party of OCs and the world would have to be reworked significantly to write them all out, probably enough to render it unrecognizable as Chrono Trigger. I might as well have made an "inspired by CT" OC quest in that case.

Also, all my fanart would be rendered obsolete.

Rolled 34, 59 = 93 (2d100)

>>5424374
Better luck next time Lucca

Rolled 84, 82 = 166 (2d100)

>>5424374

Rolled 84, 53 = 137 (2d100)

>>5424374

>>5424375
Ah well, I think it's a shame and that it would have been a lot more fun to get a new perspective, rather than be with the characters we all know and love. Nothing's excluding that we could meet them, too, but I understand.
Perhaps we could have been with characters from the original game that weren't in the party? (Kino, one of Magus' generals, Glenn...)
But I'll still follow your quest!

>>5425434
It would be an interesting idea, but I don't believe I'd be able to do it justice and it wouldn't be very compatible with the ideas I have about this story. I'd play it if someone else wrote it though.
In any case, I'm glad you're sticking around!

"I'm Gaius." You introduced yourself and turned to look at Schala encouragingly. These people looked trustworthy, but revealing her name or not was ultimately her choice to make.

She looked really nervous all of a sudden. "My name is Schala." She spoke politely, put one foot behind the other and bowed slightly while raising the sides of her robes. "It's nice to meet you!" A curtsy? Oh Princess, was that really necessary? You couldn't stop a smile from forming on your face, this kind of etiquette must have become a second nature for her, even if it didn't really suit the situation, and then your smile froze as she straightened up, took a deep breath and... possessively wrapped her arm around yours and declared "Gaius and I... we are together." You felt your face growing warmer. Why had she... Oh, she must have thought that whether to introduce her as a friend or something more was why you had hesitated. Lavos bless her pure heart, it probably didn't even cross her mind to lie to them. Wait, were you now a couple? You had kissed her, more than once, and she seemed to have reciprocated, but 'together' was a little ambiguous, wasn't it? Could you really be so lucky as to have as your girlfriend the Princess that everyone admired from afar, the Kingdom's most gorgeous, kind...

You realized that you had been lost in your thoughts while everyone was waiting. Marle, who had looked uncomfortable with Schala's curtsy was now giggling. You dry-coughed into your fist and tried really hard not to think about something soft that was pressing against your arm as you spoke. "Yes, err, we'd be happy to answer your other questions and we want to learn more about you too, but there's no time right now. We're being pursued by some powerful robots. We left them fighting some sort of electric sea serpents, but that won't last forever. They'll get here any minute. Will you help us?"

"Please?" Schala added and released your arm, drawing away from you.

"Of course! We'd help you even if you hadn't helped us first, isn't that right guys?" Marle was the first to speak, after her giggling ended, and her enthusiastic acceptance eased your worries.

Lucca grinned savagely again and said "Yeah! These robots won't know what hit them!"

Chrono simply nodded. Truly a man of few words.

"Thank you..."

"Thanks..." You and Schala spoke at the same time but she looked away, allowing you to continue. "Chrono and I can wait next to the doorway. You girls should hide behind the corpse and let us move first. Their only ranged attack caused a large explosion but took a long time to charge, you should be safe enough if you stay away. Take care Chrono, these robots are fast and strong. Just one punch was enough to break my bones when I fought one of them yesterday."

"Don't get hit. Got it." Chrono nodded once again and took position on one side of the doorway without delay, his sword in hand.

Lucca had more questions, however. "You broke your bones yesterday? Did Schala drag you to an Enertron or something? Or are there more of your group nearby?"

"What is an Enertron?" Schala asked innocently and you had to admit you were curious yourself. Lucca narrowed her eyes. Was she getting suspicious of something?

You didn't give her the chance to answer Schala's question. "No, it's just me and her and I healed myself. But the rest of us should get ready too, it's not going to be an easy battle."

Marle giggled again and said playfully, looking at the boy who was standing on the doorway with his back turned to her. "It'll be too easy if you can help Chrono move as fast as you did when you arrived."

Schala was the one to answer that with an emphatic "No! I won't use that spell on anyone other than Gaius. I'm sorry, but... please don't ask me to." So she still wasn't completely over her misgivings about the minuscule cost to others that was the product of her control over time itself...

"That was you? Hmm, a limitation of the device... Say no more, you'll explain how it works later. I'm sure I'll manage to improve it!" Lucca still thought that your magic was the result of technology, just like the robot that you fought yesterday had, and neither you nor Schala really wanted to correct that misinterpretation just yet. You hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed when she realized there was no device to be improved.

There was little more to be said so you all took your positions. You gripped your staff on the other side of the door as Chrono while the girls hid. Time passed and you found your mind wandering to an unexpected direction: The dream that you had last night and how quickly it had come true. You had followed the old man's advice to follow your heart when you chose to kiss Schala after your training and it had lead you to a wonderful place - you stole a glance at the charred body behind which she was hiding, but of course you couldn't see her. The friends you would meet in the north could only be Chrono, Marle and Lucca. It was probably too soon to call them friends, but they hadn't hesitated to risk their lives to help you, just like he had said they would. How could a dream be so... prophetic? Was this what the dreamers of Enhasa meant when they said that dreams can reveal the truth? What about the rest of his advice? Enjoy the journey, don't rush home, a warning about the unexpected things you would learn and an encouragement not to lose hope no matter the difficulties... his words had been more vague, but could they be just as true? And you burned with curiosity about the other doors in your dream, especially the ornate blue one that you had almost picked over the wooden one. It had given you an overwhelming sense of longing and despair... if there was truth behind each door, what kind of truth could that be?

It was fruitless to keep thinking about this now. It'd have to wait for when you next slept, if you saw those same doors again and you had no intention of falling asleep for many hours yet. Besides, footsteps had began echoing from the corridor. You didn't dare look in fear of giving up your position. You'd have to wait for them to enter the room and hit them when they didn't expect it. The footsteps stopped just beyond the door and nerve-wracking moments passed as you wondered if they had somehow seen through your trap. A beam of light shined in front of you and illuminated the monster's corpse.

"Krawlie eliminated. Evidence of Flame weapon in addition to previously witnessed Shadow Emitter, Water Generator, Cellular Regenerator and Temporal Glitch Inducer. Threat assessment of the human pair revised upwards. Requesting reinforcements for capture feasibility to remain within acceptable parameters." A monotonous robotic voice echoed in the silence. This wasn't good at all. They somehow knew exactly how your last encounter had went and they wanted you and Schala alive. Whatever they wanted you for, you doubted it would be pleasant. And reinforcements? You wouldn't want to be here when they arrived and if the robots decided to wait before entering the room, your plan for an ambush would have to be abandoned. You looked at Chrono who was frowning, probably having the same thoughts that you did.

You gripped your staff more tightly, preparing yourself to step out of cover and rush one of the robots before you heard it again. "Roger. ETA acknowledged. Investigating." Thank Lavos, they weren't expecting to be attacked now and you'd be sure to make them pay for this carelessness.

The two robots entered the room in front of you. To your disappointment, they looked singed at places but not really hindered by the fight with the serpents. One last glance at Chrono - he was ready too - and you silently charged forward, scoring a solid hit on its back before you yelled "Now!". A clang to your left told you that Chrono had done no worse, but you couldn't afford to divide your attention. This robot was just as murderously fast as the last and you struggled to parry its counter-attack.

"It was a mistake to fight us. You and your mate should have run, humans." It boasted as it kept trying go pummel you with its fists and you found it harder and harder to evade. Would this fight end in the same way as the last? "Mother will peel your-"

"Haste!" Schala interrupted its threats with her timely spell and combat shifted in an instant as you perceived time's passage to slow for everyone else. You easily dodged its last attack and went on the offensive. Now the robot was the one that was struggling to keep up with you and you began scoring glancing hits at its arms and slowly chipping at its metal armour, though without doing any major damage. This one wouldn't make the mistake of giving you a chance to short circuit it with Water I through the cracks you were creating.

You couldn't spare the attention to check how Chrono's battle with the other robot was going. From the sounds of combat it seemed that Marle and Lucca were shooting at it, and you had to agree that it was the right call. With Schala's Haste, he needed their assistance more than you did.

Lucca shouted "C h r o n o ! F i r e W h i r l!" but you heard shots fired from somewhere behind you almost at the same time followed closely by a girlish grunt of pain. Damn, there was a third robot that hadn't entered the room and even with Haste active, you couldn't help her while you were still engaged in melee combat!

"S l o w !" Schala cast again and the robot's movements that had seemed plodding, now slowed to a crawl. It was no longer any threat to you and its slowness now denied it its ability to deflect your blows with its armour and allowed you to strike at its weak points. You demonstrated this with a quick hit on its elbow and the joint gave way with a very satisfying crunch. It wouldn't be hard to finish it off, but it would still take time that you may not have. You took a moment to survey the battlefield before deciding on your next move.

Even without help, Chrono was holding his own against the robot, though his sword seemed ill-suited to actually dealing damage to it. Marle was kneeling next to a fallen Lucca, in the same stance of prayer as before, while her ponytail was standing up and an Aura was glowing around her. You'd have to ask what that was after this battle. Schala was huffing near Lucca and Marle, preparing to cast another spell after seemingly running to them. You couldn't see the third robot, but it mustn't have been too far in the corridor behind you.

How would you deal with the situation?
>Keep attacking the R-Series that you have damaged, finish it off before anything else.
>Help Chrono by attacking his target.
>Help Chrono by Blinding his opponent
>Evade the R-Series, move just enough to see the hidden robot and attack it with Water I.
>Evade the R-Series, move to heal Lucca
>Other (Write-in)

>>5425600
>>Keep attacking the R-Series that you have damaged, finish it off before anything else.

>>5425600
>Keep attacking the R-Series that you have damaged, finish it off before anything else.
>Help Chrono by Blinding his opponent
>move just enough to see the hidden robot and attack it with Water I.

>>5425600
>>Keep attacking the R-Series that you have damaged, finish it off before anything else.

>>5425600
>Keep attacking the R-Series that you have damaged, finish it off before anything else.

>>5425600
Hmm…
> Evade the R-Series, move just enough to see the hidden robot and attack it with Water
Engage it to keep it from firing on Lucca or Marle as she’s healing her… or on Schala.

>>5425663
Switch to
>Evade the R-Series, move just enough to see the hidden robot and attack it with Water

Rolled 90, 95, 27 = 212 (3d100)

>Keep attacking the R-Series that you have damaged, finish it off before anything else.
>>5425605
>>5425886
>>5425960

>Evade the R-Series, move just enough to see the hidden robot and attack it with Water I
>>5425974
>>5425988

One more dice roll. 2d100 for you and Schala. DC: 20, Good DC: 60, Best DC: 90. Rolling for Chrono, Lucca and Marle.

Rolled 12, 72 = 84 (2d100)

>>5426145

Rolled 21, 73 = 94 (2d100)

>>5426145
yee, good job silent guy and geek girl!

Rolled 60, 27 = 87 (2d100)

>>5426145

You'd finish your enemy off before doing anything else. You figured that it shouldn't be too hard, the combination of Haste and Slow gave you the equivalent of a 4x speed advantage. But your hopes for a quick victory were dashed when the robot went completely on the defensive and focused exclusively on protecting itself. Hitting its weak points proved more difficult than you had initially thought.

You heard more shots being fired from beyond your field of view in the corridor and you jumped back and took your attention off the still functioning robot next to you to watch the unfolding scene. Damn, even with your speed advantage, this robot was proving too resilient! You hadn't destroyed it in time to prevent the other robot from shooting again.

"T i m e W a l l!" Schala did not waver this time and she put her almost invisible barrier between the bullets and the girls that were their targets. Of course, even slowed down, the projectiles did not alter course. Schala dodged after shouting a warning. Marle was still engrossed doing whatever it was that she was doing but Lucca reacted quickly and jumped sideways from where she was lying, pushing both Marle and herself out of the way. You were relieved that none of them had been hit.

Taking advantage of your momentary distraction, the robot you had been fighting threw a punch from where it was standing out of reach. You were puzzled by this attack until you saw its fist extend past the length of its arm. It had launched its own fist in your direction! You watched from the corner of your eye as it sped towards you and were barely able to dodge just in the nick of time. The fist passed mere centimetres in front of your face, you'd have surely been hit without the heightened reflexes granted to you by Schala's spell.

After the robot missed it began slowly retracting the chain that was connected to its fist and you didn't let this opening go to waste. You charged forward and smashed its arm useless before it had a chance to recover from its failed attack. You pulled your staff back for the finishing blow while it could do nothing but stare at you with its unblinking, unemotional eyes, but the whoosh of wind followed by the sound of metal crumpling to your left gave you pause.

You took your eyes off the robot once again to see that Chrono was standing victorious over the fallen body of the R-series robot he had been fighting. He was holding his sword low with both hands, after what must have been the downward slash that ended it. There was a gash on the front of the robot running down most of the height of its torso where metal had been torn inward and split open, exposing its delicate machinery inside to the force of his attack. How had he done that? His sword had previously not been sharp enough to penetrate the robot's metal armour.

You concentrated back on the robot you were fighting. After your last attacks it seemed to have no more cards to play and you swung your staff sideways, hitting its unprotected neck. Just like the one you had fought yesterday - it had been so much more difficult when you were on your own - sparks flew and it fell down. You quickly turned to attack the last robot before it could fire for a third time but there was no need. You were only in time to see that it was one of the small wheeled ones that had escorted the two R-series robot and Lucca shot it before Chrono destroyed it with... a ranged attack, a slash of pure wind generated from a downward swing of his sword!

Was this a Wind spell? Was Chrono a mage after all? Was Marle's Aura another unfamiliar spell? Had you been mistaken when you assumed they were descendants of the Earthbound that lived in your era? But if they were magic users, why hadn't they recognized your own spells as magic? And if these were spells, how could they cast them without a verbal invocation? As far as you knew, only the most basic element manipulation spells could be cast silently. Seeing these people in action had left you with questions that would have to wait for when it was safe to speak. With robot reinforcements incoming, now was not the time.

"W e w o n !" Marle jumped with joy and ran to Chrono's side. "D o y o u n e e d h e a l i n g ?" she asked him and Chrono just waved her off. Remarkably, he had defeated the robot without aid and without getting hit!

Schala smiled as she walked towards you. The overwhelming success of these two back-to-back battles had improved her mood considerably since that talk you had in the corridor. "W e d i d b e t t e r ." she said simply.

You smiled back at her and replied "We did! Now, can you believe that I would have had no chance without you?"

She frowned instead of answering and mentally cursed yourself. Haste was proving annoying outside of battle! You repeated your question at a painfully slow speed. Understanding dawned on her face and she chuckled. "I c a n!"

"S o r r y to i n t e r r u p t y o u l o v e b i r d s , b u t w e h a v e t o g o b e f o r e t h e s e r e i n f o r c e m e n t s a r r i v e ." Lucca did not sound sorry at all! "C h r o n o , s o r r y b u t w e w o n ' t s e e w h a t ' s o n t h a t i s l a n d a f t e r a l l . G a i u s a n d S c h a l a w i l l h a v e t o t e l l u s a b o u t i t ." She did sound apologetic towards her friend and Chrono just shrugged before Lucca continued. "A n d I h a v e s o m a n y o t h e r q u e s t i o n s f o r y o u g u y s ! C a n y o u r e a l l y d o a l l t h e s e t h i n g s t h a t t h e r o b o t s s a i d y o u c a n ? W h y d o t h e y w a n t t o c a p t u-"

"W e ' r e h e a d i n g t o P r o t o D o m e ! W h y d o n ' t y o u c o m e w i t h u s? W e ' d b e h a p p y t o h a v e y o u , c r o s s i n g t h e r u i n s w i l l b e e a s i e r i f w e a l l t r a v e l t o g e t h e r . O r a r e y o u g o i n g b a c k t o A r r i s D o m e w i t h t h e o t h e r s u r v i v o r s?" Marle interrupted Lucca's barrage of questions to invite you along and you had to decide whether to accept her invitation or not.

>Join them
>Thank them for their help, but tell them that you have to go your separate ways after you reach the other side.

AND

Regardless, you'd have to travel with them until you left the underground passage. How would you answer Lucca's questions about the island and your abilities?
>With the truth.
>Obscure your magic.
>Obscure Balthazar's existence.
>Hide both.
>Other (Write-in)

>>5426422
>>Join them
>With the truth.

>>5426422
>Join them
>Obscure Balthazar's existence.

>>5426422
>>Join them
>With the truth.

>>5426422
>Join them
>With the truth.

>>5426422
>Join them
>With the truth.

>>5426422
>join them
>with truth

You didn't have a specific destination in mind, so there was no real reason to decline their invitation to travel with them, at least until they reached their destination and you had learned more about the ruined future you had found yourselves in. Nevertheless, you were not alone anymore and Schala might have thought differently. You looked at her and she slowly nodded in agreement after an all too long delay.

"We'd be happy to join you, we're not headed to Arris."

Chrono and Marle looked at you quizzically, and you once again cursed Haste's fixed duration.

"Weee'd beee haaa-" you repeated slowly but you were glad when Schala smiled nervously and took over.

"H e s a i d w e ' d b e h a p p y t o j o i n y o u !"

"T h a t ' s g r e a t ! B u t . . . w i l l h e b e l i k e t h i s f o r e v e r ?" Marle sounded worried about you, and you could only agree. You should talk to Schala later and ask her if she could modify the spell to make it dismissible at will. You didn't want to sound ungrateful, but it was beginning to get on your nerves!

Schala frowned and chuckled insecurely. "I t s h o u l d w e a r o f f s o o n . . ."

"O k t h e n, i t ' l l w e a r o f f o n t h e w a y." Lucca began marching towards the opposite direction from which you had come and you all followed her.

[You and Princess Schala have joined Chrono, Lucca and Marle's party]

https://music.mega64.net/ct/120.mp3

Chrono took point shortly and he lead you through a series of corridors and crossroads that were more complicated that what you had encountered on the way. With Haste complicating communications, you elected to remain silent and listen as Lucca drilled Schala about the island you had just left and Schala described what she had seen in the day that you were separated. The blinding blizzard of Death Peak, the outside of Balthazar's Dome and the other side of the Underwater Passage. Haste wore off during this conversation and you joined in, providing more details about the ruined city and its sole inhabitant. You and Schala took turns describing your descent into the Underwater Passage and the enemies that you had fought together on the way. They were familiar with the serpents, they had apparently fought them too in another flooded room like the one that you had crossed.

"They were delicious." Chrono said and you were left flabbergasted. They had eaten them?

"They were, even if my flamethrower didn't roast them evenly." Lucca added. Your mouth watered at the mention of food, even one of this kind, and Schala's stomach growled. She stopped immediately, looking mortified with her beautiful eyes wide open and her face going red in embarrassment. She mouthed a silent apology, lacking the strength to voice even a whisper. You struggled not to laugh as you walked over and enveloped her in a hug. Being hungry after two days without food was nothing to be embarrassed about!

Marle helped with your predicament. "Don't worry, we cut off pieces of them for lunch. We have more than enough for everyone, including you two. We know how hungry an Enertron leaves you."

"What's an Enertron?" With Schala still trying to hid in your arms, you took this opportunity to change the subject. Schala had asked the same thing before the battle, but you hadn't given Lucca the opportunity to explain.

Marle was the one to answer again. "They're the machines that give you energy so you don't need to eat or sleep. Do you call them something else in your dome? No matter, sounds like we didn't miss much. Maybe we'll meet the poor crazy old man if we go there when this place isn't crawling with robots. But I'm glad you insisted Chrono, we wouldn't have met them if we'd gone straight through the ruins like I said." Marle addressed Chrono after answering you. So there had been a disagreement about where to go and Chrono had convinced the girls? You had to admit you were glad too, they were good company and things would have been much more difficult if you and Schala had had to fight the monster that the robots had called Krawlie by yourselves while the robots pursued you.

"Yeah." Chrono replied.

"Next question!" Lucca spoke excitedly, with barely contained enthusiasm. "Do you really have all the gadgets that the robot said that you had? A Shadow Emitter, a Water Generator, a Cellular Regenerator and a Temporal Glitch Inducer? I think we saw the last two in action, those were how you healed Chrono so fast and how you affected the speed of Gaius, the robot and those bullets, right? Can I see them please? I promise I'll put them back together the same way they were, maybe even better!"

"Well..." you began "It's true that I can create water and shadows, I used both when I fought the robot yesterday. I don't know how they know it though, I destroyed all witnesses, I'm sure of it."

Lucca answered thoughtfully "Hmmmm, some kind of wireless connection that allows them to relay information. Maybe I can create something to jam that signal, it might make them easier to fight. But before that, please, can I see your devices? I can trade you with some of my tech!"

You scratched the back of your neck. This would be awkward. "Err, sorry, but we don't have any devices for you to look at. It's magic. We're magic users, not inventors."

Lucca groaned. "Oh, come on. If you don't want me to take a look just say so or make your excuse believable. Humans can't use magic!"

Schala interjected from underneath your arms to support you. "It's true! I have no technology on me, you can search me if you want!" She moved away from you and extended her arms sideways, inviting Lucca to search her.

Lucca sighed in disappointment and looked away. "No, there's... there's no need. I believe you. There's nothing for me to look at? What a let-down..."

"It's OK Lucca. You can build them yourself." Chrono comforted his friend, surprisingly using more words than you had heard him use so far, and Lucca perked up immediately.

"You're right! I am a genius, I'll just have to build these myself. Thanks Chrono!"

"And, err, there's something that you can look. I found these on a warehouse that the robots were looting. I don't know what they are, maybe you can take a look?" You removed the strange rectangles from your pocket and gave them to her.

"Hmm, I haven't seen these exact ones before, but I think I know what they are. Let me..." she removed a strange tool from her belt and attached two cables on the protrusions on one side of the rectangles. She checked the display and nodded to herself. "Yeah, they're batteries. And they carry large amount of charge. One of these could power the Telepod for months or even years! This is why the robots wanted them. Do you mind if I keep them?"

"No, go ahead. I can't do anything with them."

"Thanks, I'll find a use for them." She put the batteries in her pocket and grinned mischievously. "Oh and you might not believe this, but we all happen to be from the year 1000AG. We came to 2300 through a Time Gate in the forest near Castle Guardia and we're heading to Proto Dome because there's a Gate there that might lead us back to the Present." The girl adjusted her glasses as she finished her sentence. What? They were what from when? You mind struggled to process Lucca's sudden proclamation.

"Lucca! We agreed that we shouldn't talk to anyone about time travel!" Marle objected vehemently. She sounded shocked, almost as shocked as you felt.

"Ah, but I'm not talking to just anyone. There's nothing wrong with telling these fellow time travellers, is there?" She smugly asked and you broke out into a cold sweat. How did she know?

"Fellow time travellers? what makes you say that?" Schala voiced your question with a polite smile that didn't reach her eyes. You could tell that she was worried behind her mask.

File: Eet06a3UEAUYQ0-.png (1.12 MB, 1197x875)

1.12 MB PNG

Lucca grinned. "I'm glad that you asked! There were a lot of clues that lead me to this conclusion. First, your clothes. They are unlike the rags that the survivors wear, but also unlike our own. And I can tell that they're high quality, under these tears, grime and... blood. Your demeanour is different too. You are not as hopeless as the survivors were before we brought them those seeds, not to mention that you curtsied when you greeted us, like you're some sort of princess! You couldn't have received etiquette lessons in a Dome!" Schala grew more nervous and Marle gulped at Lucca's last words while Lucca paused for a moment and adjusted her glasses. "Then there's your magic. Real magic! The only ones who can use magic are the Mystics and that was true for the entire history of the Kingdom of Guardia. Perhaps humans discovered how to do it before Lavos destroyed the world, but the archives of the computer in Arris Dome didn't mention anything like that and you'd think that the discovery of magic would be huge news, wouldn't you? Your weapons are also less advanced than what someone who lives here would use. But those are all circumstantial. The most important clue is that you didn't know what a battery is, or what's the use of an Enertron and no one could survive here for long without knowing those things. So, am I right, or am I right? Are you guys time travellers like us?" Lucca's piercing gaze focused on you and Schala as she waited for your answer.

Schala stared at you frightfully, unsure on what to say. You thought carefully. What were the odds that you'd run into another group of people who had travelled through time to arrive here? There was some danger to admitting the truth, you still didn't know what the descendants of the Earthbound knew about the kingdom of Zeal. Perhaps the truth would cause them to grow weary of you? But on the other hand, couldn't they be trusted? With those thoughts in mind, you...

>Admitted the truth and described in detail the Kingdom of Zeal and your home era.
>Admitted the truth, except for Schala being the Princess. That secret was not yours to tell.
>Admitted the truth about time travel and you being stranded on this future but did not elaborate about what your home was like.
>Tried to convince her that she was mistaken and you were a native of this time period.
>Wait, did she just say that Lavos, God of Magic, the god to which the Kingdom of Zeal owed its existence, had destroyed the world? You should ask her about that first!
>Other (Write-in)

>>5427343
>>Admitted the truth about time travel and you being stranded on this future but did not elaborate about what your home was like.
not knowing about Zeal is kind of important to the plot

>>5427343
>Admitted the truth, except for Schala being the Princess. That secret was not yours to tell.


>>5427347
do we have in character reason to care about plot though? Only clue we have is that the man from our dreams told us we can trust the friends we meet north and these seem to fit the bill.

>>5427343
>>Wait, did she just say that Lavos, God of Magic, the god to which the Kingdom of Zeal owed its existence, had destroyed the world? You should ask her about that first!
Wait, is our god... evil?

>>5427343
> >Wait, did she just say that Lavos, God of Magic, the god to which the Kingdom of Zeal owed its existence, had destroyed the world? You should ask her about that first!
Oh and this too, before we let the name slip ourselves

>>5427343
>Wait, did she just say that Lavos, God of Magic, the god to which the Kingdom of Zeal owed its existence, had destroyed the world? You should ask her about that first!

>>5427343
>Wait, did she just say that Lavos, God of Magic, the god to which the Kingdom of Zeal owed its existence, had destroyed the world? You should ask her about that first!

>>5427343
>Wait, did she just say that Lavos, God of Magic, the god to which the Kingdom of Zeal owed its existence, had destroyed the world? You should ask her about that first!

>Admitted the truth about time travel and you being stranded on this future but did not elaborate about what your home was like.
>>5427347

>Admitted the truth, except for Schala being the Princess. That secret was not yours to tell.
>Wait, did she just say that Lavos, God of Magic, the god to which the Kingdom of Zeal owed its existence, had destroyed the world? You should ask her about that first!
>>5427369 and >>5427418

>Wait, did she just say that Lavos, God of Magic, the god to which the Kingdom of Zeal owed its existence, had destroyed the world? You should ask her about that first!
>>5427387
>>5427521
>>5427539
>>5427567

Whoops, I did not expect this to win by itself. I'm locking it in, but can I ask you for a second round of voting to decide exactly how much of the truth you want to tell her, in addition to Lavos? It's going to be a really short update otherwise. The two anons who have already voted for one of the other options don't need to vote again, I'll count them normally. Sorry guys, that was really my bad. I should have thought of how to structure the vote better.

>Admitted the truth and described in detail the Kingdom of Zeal and your home era.
>Admitted the truth, except for Schala being the Princess. That secret was not yours to tell.
>Admitted the truth about time travel and you being stranded on this future but did not elaborate about what your home was like.
>Tried to convince her that she was mistaken and you were a native of this time period.

>>5427590
>Admitted the truth, except for Schala being the Princess. That secret was not yours to tell.

>>5427590
>Admitted the truth, except for Schala being the Princess. That secret was not yours to tell.

>>5427590
>>Admitted the truth, except for Schala being the Princess. That secret was not yours to tell.
I can see Gaius letting slip more than he wants to say in his shock

Lucca's deductions were impressive, the list of clues she had assembled would be difficult to explain away, though not impossible. But more importantly... "Wait, did you just say that Lavos, the God of Magic, the god to which the Kingdom of Zeal owes its existence was the one that destroyed the world? How? How do you even know that?" you had a far more pressing question and you couldn't stop yourself from blurting it out.

"Aha! I knew it! You know something about Lavos! I've not heard of him being called 'the God of Magic' or something called the 'Kingdom of Zeal' before. But yes, we saw it with our own eyes! We found a computer deep under Arris Dome with files about the state of the world in its final moments and we saw a video of that monster rising from beneath the surface in 1999 and draining the life from the planet while fire rained down from the sky." Lucca spoke in triumph as you accidentally confirmed her suspicions and she described Lavos as the cause of the destruction around you. Was your god... evil?

"Lucca was right? You guys are time travellers too?" Marle sounded surprised, she certainly didn't expect to meet people who had come from a different era, and truthfully, neither had you.

"I'm always right Marle. I'm a genius, after all!" Lucca's voice was smug and she adjusted her glasses once more before turning to face you and Schala. "What's your era like? Do you really worship that thing? Did you... want it to destroy the world?" Chrono narrowed his eyes and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. There was no going back now, you had let slip too much, you'd have to tell them the rest before they decided that you were cultists that wanted to bring an end to the world!

You raised your arms in a peaceful gesture. "No, of course we didn't want that! We had no idea that he might be capable of something like that." Schala pursed her lips. Something seemed to be bothering her. You paused, giving her the chance to say what was on her mind, but she remained silent and so you continued. "We don't have any temples or priests to Lavos, so I'm not sure if 'worship' is the right word. But we praise him for his gift, as he was the god that gave us the magic that separates us from... let me start at the beginning." Chrono visibly relaxed and all three of them looked at you expectantly.

You began reciting. "The world is covered in ice. The sun isn't visible from the frozen surface, thick white clouds obscure the sky. Humanity is split in two. Those who can wield magic, like me and Schala, are called Enlightened Ones. We live on islands that are floating above the clouds. It's warm all year around and artificial servants take care of all manual labour."

"It sounds like a paradise..." Marle commented.

You nodded. "And it's all thanks to Lavos's gift. Without magic, the Kingdom would have never existed. Oh, the year is 200ZE, I don't know how it relates to your chronology, but I believe it was hundreds or thousands of years before."

"That's Zeal Era, our calendar begins when the islands of the Kingdom were wrested from the sea and set to float above the clouds." Schala had regained her composure and added to your explanation, now that you had decided to tell them everything. Well, almost everything. You'd avoid telling them that she was the Princess, that was not your secret to tell. Did she even see it as a big secret though? You waited to see what she would choose to tell them herself. "Those who can't use magic are called the Earthbound Ones and they live in caves under the surface. They can't come into the Magical Kingdom of Zeal at all, but they still find a way to survive in the cold."

"That's horrible! How can you let them live like this?" Marle commented again, and you could only agree. You felt sorry for the Earthbound Ones, but you also admired them for their resilience in the face of adversity.

Schala agreed, as you knew she would. "It is! It's unfair that they live like this while we remain in luxury above the clouds. I wish we could do more to help them but... it's not so easy."

"Yeah, Queen Zeal doesn't care much for the Earthbound, and most of our people don't either, but Schala has been going there by herself and helping them as best she can!" You felt the need to defend her, if not yourself. She had done more than anyone in the Kingdom for the Earthbound Ones and you felt a little guilty that you hadn't actually done anything to help them.

"Schala has been helping them... but not you?" Lucca sounded puzzled by you making that distinction.

Schala put her hand on your back and spoke passionately. "He didn't have the chance! I'm the Princess of Zeal, I have a duty to my people and I can sneak out to help even if Mother forbade it. When we spoke for the first time, Gaius felt about them the same way that I do and he immediately agreed to help them when I asked. We were on the way to the Earthbound village of Algetty when we were attacked I was pulled in by the Time Gate and he came here to save me. He's brave and kindhearted, he'd have done more if he could! I didn't do much for them anyway..." Schala defended you in turn and while you weren't sure you agreed with her praise, you couldn't deny that her words made you feel warm inside.

"A Princess and her Knight being thrust into danger together? That's a bit of a cliche. But you met so recently and you already can't get your hands off from each other? Some people could stand to learn from your example." Lucca smiled mischievously and Schala withdrew her hand in haste. You and her both went red with embarrassment, but... so did Marle and Chrono? Why were they reacting like this, Lucca wasn't making fun of them!

"In any case we've decided to find a way to stop Lavos, we can't allow it to end like this. What are you going to do now that you know?" Lucca asked, moving on from her previous teasing.

"I'm still not sure. We want to prevent the world's destruction if we can find a way, but why would Lavos want to destroy the world?" You answered. You didn't really know what to think about this, you'd need some time to process it and think before you make a decision.

"I... Ι think that we should believe them. The Mammon Machine... you have felt its evil energy too and I told you what I heard through the connection that we share. Lavos isn't what you think he is." Schala made her opinion known. She was more certain than you, but it made sense. She had suffered much from the Machine that drained her life for the good of the kingdom. But what did she mean that Lavos wasn't what you thought? Lavos was a god! How could you kill a god?

"What's the Mammon Machine? How is the Princess connected to it and how could you feel an evil energy and do nothing about it?" Lucca continued with her questions but you weren't given an opportunity to answer.

"Lucca, enough with the interrogation! They told us enough, it's our turn now." Marle took the initiative and chastised her friend before taking a deep breath and recited from memory. "We live in the city of Truce, the capital of the Kingdom of Guardia. The city and the Kingdom were founded in 0AG, After Guardia, we are counting years since the tribe of the Guardians defeated for the first time the Mystics that dominated the world. The city was named after the truce that the first King Guardia signed with the Demon King Ozymandias that ceded control of those territories to the humans. The truce didn't last, but the name stuck. Humans and Mystics fought many wars in the next centuries, with the humans winning more often than not and pushing the Mystics back. The last war ended in 600AG and the humans won so decisively that the Mystics never attacked us again. The Present is a peaceful era, the earth is green and alive, not covered in ice or death. We don't really get along with the Mystics but all humans are united in the Kingdom of Guardia, ruled by King Guardia XXXIII..." Marle sounded sad at the mention of the King and she stopped talking.

Lucca took over for her. "We began our journey from the Present in 1000AG, went to the Middle Ages in 600AG, then went back to the Present and finally found ourselves here, in the Future of 2300AG. Did you two visit any eras other than the Future and your home era? I'm calling it Antiquity, I can't wait to visit and see those wonders for myself!" Lucca was excited once again.

"No, we only... Wait, why is your era the Present? Why should our era be Antiquity, it's our present!" You objected to them deciding you were some sort of remnant of a lost past. It didn't sound right!

"That's just where we're from. We never expected to meet people like you..." Marle was reconciliatory.

Lucca continued in the same vein. "Antiquity being a lost Magical Kingdom in the distant past that has been forgotten by everyone makes sense, doesn't it? It's the perfect name for your era! What name could you use for ours, other than Present?"

>Accept their classification. 200ZE is the era of Antiquity, 600AG is the Middle Ages, their home era of 1000AG is the Present and this ruined 2300AG is the Future.
>Refuse. 200ZE is the Present. 600AG and 2300AG can be the Middle Ages and the Future, but 1000AG has to be called something else. (what?)
>Other (Write-in)

>>5428948
Well if we’re from different times so present is going to mean something else for each of us. Let’s call 200 ZE antiquity and 1000 maybe Peace era?

>>5428956
Green era? Common era? Something else? Peace is fine, just throwing out ideas.

>>5428948
>>Accept their classification. 200ZE is the era of Antiquity, 600AG is the Middle Ages, their home era of 1000AG is the Present and this ruined 2300AG is the Future.

>>5428948
>>Accept their classification. 200ZE is the era of Antiquity, 600AG is the Middle Ages, their home era of 1000AG is the Present and this ruined 2300AG is the Future.

>Antiquity and Peace era
>>5428956
>>5428971

>Antiquity and Present
>>5429086
>>5429120

It's a tie...

>>5429749
Switch to present to break the tie

"Alright, alright, your era can be the Present. I don't really have a better idea." You conceded with a shrug. It wasn't that important anyway.

"I knew you'd see reason. Now-" Lucca said simply, but you raised your finger to stop her.

You turned to Schala with a big smile on your face. "Of course, this means that you are a priceless treasure of Antiquity, Schala."

"W-what?!" She sputtered, taken aback. You chuckled at her reaction. Still, calling her by her name had felt wrong, for some reason. You wondered why.

Lucca rolled her eyes at you two. "Moving on. As I was saying, now we should tell you about our own journey from the beginning."

Lucca then recounted that story, with some help from Marle. Chrono, her childhood friend, had met Marle when he run into her - literally - in the Millennial Fair, a celebration of one thousand years since the founding of the Kingdom of Guardia. Lucca was demonstrating a teleportation device that worked like the Skyways you knew, except without magic. It worked fine with Chrono but somehow malfunctioned for Marle and sent her back to the Middle Ages in a blue portal. Chrono followed after her immediately with Lucca going later, after she figured out how to stabilize and open the Time Gate on command. In 600AD they saved Queen Leene from the Fiends who had kidnapped her along with a... green frogman knight? You weren't sure you had heard correctly, but you didn't dwell on that. They were hailed as heroes, but when they returned to the Present Chrono was arrested, put on trial and exonerated before the Chancellor lied and condemned him to be executed anyway. They were vague when you asked what was his crime, but you were impressed with the fact that there was a trial at all and even more so that he was found innocent. This would have never happened back home.

Chrono managed to escape on his own, he met Lucca who had come to rescue him, they found Marle on their way out of the prison, all three of them were pursued by the guards to the forest outside Guardia Castle and they escaped by entering a new Time Gate that conveniently appeared in front of them. The Time Gate lead them to the Future and they wandered until they reached Arris, a Dome full of people that had banded together to survive in the harsh conditions and defend themselves from Robot and Mutant attacks. At the survivors' request they descended under the Dome and found the computer that Lucca had mentioned before along a single seed of a plant that that brought hope to the survivors. Using the computer to scan the continent, Lucca also located a second Time Gate in Proto Dome, beyond another vast ruined city. On the way there they saw a small Dome that Chrono said they should investigate and that was how they came to be fighting Krawlie when you met them.

File: Future north.png (128 KB, 227x343)

128 KB PNG

During this explanation, Schala remained silent and a little detached, lost in her own thoughts. Chrono also did not participate much, though that was to be expected considering how little he spoke in general and the fact that his attention was focused on leading you out of the Underwater Passage while you weren't even paying attention to your surroundings. You still had a few questions though.

"You said you saw a video of Lavos draining all life from the planet?" Was the first and most important one. What kind of evidence did they have that had convinced them of this?

Marle was the one to answer your question. "Yes, we all saw it."

"Hmmm, a video is a... moving picture that shows some event. Seeing a video is as if you were watching it with your own eyes." Lucca explained briefly and you had to admit that it was needed. You hadn't even heard of the word before today.

"We can take you there, if you want to see it for yourself. It will take us a few more hours to circle back, but I can't blame you for not believing us about your god destroying the world without seeing the evidence for yourself." Marle interjected, making an offer that you had to consider.

Schala nervously bit her lips, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent. This decision would be up to you.
>Take them at their word, head north to the ruins that lie between you and Proto Dome.
>Ask to go to Arris Dome to see this 'video' of Lavos destroying the world for yourself.
>Other (Write-in)

And do you have anything else to ask them?
>Optional, Write-in only

>>5431106
>>Take them at their word, head north to the ruins that lie between you and Proto Dome.

>>5431106
>Ask to go to Arris Dome to see this 'video' of Lavos destroying the world for yourself.

>>5431106
I’m tempted to ask to see the video, it because we don’t believe them, but because seeing for ourselves might better impress upon us the situation.
Buuut I suppose it would be waste of time and we don’t have a Time Machine (yet)… (and even if we did it doesn’t seem to work that way)

Hope Schala doesn’t miss anything from not seeing the recording, though maybe she’d just get traumatised further if she saw it.

Anyway I guess we may as well press onwards.
> >Take them at their word, head north to the ruins that lie between you and Proto Dome.

Also I wonder if Schala would have moral issues with hasting us for purpose of travel, if it was not prohibitively exhausting. I mean it’s not like we’d be going to age any less during the trip, and reaching destinations quicker might prove essential. But I suppose that’s topic for another debate.

Also I’m going to be ultra degenerate and suggest to hold her hand as we go.

>>5431106
>Ask to go to Arris Dome to see this 'video' of Lavos destroying the world for yourself.
>Ask about the way they use magic. Why is it so different?

>>5431209
+1

>>5431209
Support this plus holding her hand.

>>5429752
I am this