Halftime
By Aaron Ziegler
alziegle@norcia.cs.csbsju.edu
http://bingen.cs.csbsju.edu/~alziegle

Chapter 7: Perfect Timing

   Another bleak day dawned over the ravaged earth. Nabiki sat up
and rubbed her eyes. She was hungry, but that was nothing new.
Four days had passed, and in spite of vigorous searching, she and
Marle had been unable to find any food, or any animals to use for
food. They had been able to find a source of drinkable water,
fortunately, but if they didn't find food soon, they weren't
going to last.
   Nabiki noted that she and Marle were alone in the Epoch. She
popped the cockpit, and leapt out. She found Lucca hard at work
on the battered time machine. "Lucca, didn't you go to sleep last
night?"
   Lucca turned tired and shadowed eyes on her. "No. I've gotta
get this fixed as fast as possible."
   "You're wearing yourself out. Food or no food, we'll never get
out of here if you die of overexertion. Besides, what if another
monster had attacked? You're in no condition to fight alone."
   Lucca looked longingly at the cockpit of the Epoch, yearning
for a rest. But still she resisted. "Look," said Nabiki, "I'll
continue your work for now. I should be able to fix some of the
damage, though I don't know enough to do any of the detail work.
You need to rest!"
   "All right," said Lucca gratefully. She climbed up into the
cockpit, past Marle who was climbing out.
   Marle nodded approvingly. "It's about time that you got some
sleep," she said. Marle hopped down to the ground and watched
Nabiki work.
   "More industrial espionage, Nabiki?" she asked innocently.
   Nabiki threw her a dirty look, and wiped a smudge of grease
off of her cheek. "You just don't let up, do you?" she demanded
irritably.
   "Nope!" said Marle with cheerful cruelty. "Well, I'm off to
look for food again. See you later. Oh, and don't go and get
horribly killed by any bloodthirsty mutant monsters or anything
like that. That'd just be awful. I'd hate to clean up a mess like
that."
   "Your concern is touching," Nabiki answered drily. Marle
laughed, and walked off.
   Nabiki sighed. How many times am I going to have to say that
I'm sorry? she wondered. Probably until we get Crono back, she
answered herself. Thinking of Crono brought a surge of pity. Poor
Crono, she thought. It must be awful, just sitting there alone at
the End of Time.
   Nabiki turned back to her work. The array of gears, wires, and
electronics were baffling, but here and there she could see parts
that were obviously bent out of shape, and wires that had been
knocked loose. As she tackled those, more and more of the details
that Lucca had told her returned to her mind.
   "This bank of crystal diodes is connected to the central core
housing by these three black wires," she remembered Lucca saying.
With a glance, she saw that two of the three wires had been
knocked loose. As she fixed them, she thought, hey, this isn't
going to be so bad after all.
   As soon as these words had crossed her mind, she heard Marle
scream, "Nabiki! Wake Lucca! We've got trouble."
   Nabiki looked to the sound of her voice, and her eyes widened.
Marle was running from nearly a dozen assorted ugly patchwork
monsters. Many of the monsters had long spikes on the ends of
some limbs, and many seemed to have odd patches of tattered skin
hanging off of them. Quickly, Nabiki scrambled up into the Epoch,
and roused Lucca. "Quick, Lucca, we need some warm water!"
   Lucca, still a bit groggy, stood up and surveyed the
situation. She came to full attention at the sight of the
oncoming creatures, and whipped out her watergun. "I just hope
that they don't turn into something nastier," she muttered.
   Nabiki looked at Lucca as if she had gone mad. "What could be
worse than this?" she demanded. Lucca shrugged, and doused the
creatures, who had just caught up with Marle at the Epoch.
   The creatures did turn into something nastier. Each monster
shrunk down and took the form of a man or woman. Nabiki saw that
what she had taken for spikes and tattered skin was actually
spears, swords, and rough clothing. They all looked at themselves
in horror.
   "What have you done?" asked one, cringing at the sight of pink
flesh coating his five-fingered hands.
   "We have been profaned!" screamed another.
   One particularly large man, evidently the leader, roared,
"Blasphemers! First you refuse the sacred gift of the Shape of
Redemption, and then you seek to deny us that gift, as well?"
   "What do you mean? What gift?" asked Marle, startled by this
turn of events. "Who are you?"
   "The gift of the Jusenkyo Rains!" the man answered. "Why do
you deny your Shape, your one chance for salvation?"
   "This is the only shape we have!" Marle answered.
   The leader drew back and hissed, "Cursed ones! Untouched by
the Rains of Redemption! I had thought the last of your kind had
been destroyed. No matter! You shall not spread to us your dark
disease! Destroy them!"
   "Now wait a minute!" exclaimed Marle. But the people were
beyond listening. One woman rushed her with a sword, forcing her
to jump sideways to avoid her attack. Marle pulled out her
crossbow and fired, skewering the swordswoman.
   "Guess this squirtgun isn't gonna be much use," noted Lucca.
She pulled out her Wondershot and took aim at one of the angry
people. She pulled the trigger, and a faint beam of light struck
the target, a woman with a spear. She glanced at the
insignificant light burns inflicted by the gun and laughed. She
raised her spear and prepared to throw it.
   Lucca slapped her gun a few times as it slowly recharged,
muttering, "Stupid variable damage." She aimed the gun at the
woman again, and fired. This time, a blinding beam of light
blasted forth and struck home, reducing the attacker to a pile of
ashes. "Much better!"
   Nabiki watched all of this with a sick feeling of
helplessness. She could see that there were too many enemies, and
that Lucca and Marle would be overwhelmed eventually. She wanted
to help, but she didn't have a weapon, and couldn't use it if she
did have one. She was a businesswoman, not a fighter! That was
Akane's department!
   Marle was in bad shape. She was bleeding from several wounds,
and was beginning to tire. Taking a moment to shoot another
oncoming fanatic, she quickly turned and scrambled up to the top
of the Epoch to make her last stand.
   Upon seeing Marle climb up, Nabiki suddenly felt a cold grip
in her stomach. No one was watching the other side. She turned,
and to her horror, saw that a man with a spear was climbing over
the closed cockpit toward Lucca. The man reached the top, and
lifted his spear, smiling a wild grin at his oblivious target.
"Lucca!" screamed Nabiki, and lunged desperately towards her, as
the spearman stabbed downwards with murderous intent. She
collided with Lucca, throwing her to the side. Time seemed to
slow down, as Nabiki twisted around to see the spear coming at
her instead. She gasped as the weapon struck her chest and
continued through. She screamed with pain.
   Lucca jumped up from where Nabiki had pushed her and saw
Nabiki neatly spitted on a spear, suspended above the ground by
its holder. She was gritting her teeth and clenching the spear
with whitened fingers, trying to prevent it from moving. The
wielder of the spear gave a vicious laugh, and threw girl and
spear off of the Epoch to the hard ground below. He reached for
another spear from the large bag on his back.
   "You monster!" screamed Lucca, eyes blazing. She held her
hands high and yelled "FLARE!"
   At first, nothing happened. Then, pinpoints of fire began to
converge to a point in the air at the center of the battlefield.
A glowing ball appeared, and then exploded violently. A huge,
expanding ball of flame enveloped the entire area, converting
every attacker into ash in an eyeblink. When the glow died away,
the landscape, the Epoch, and the three time travelers remained
untouched by the magical blaze. Fine soot marked the final
resting place of each enemy.
   Panting, Lucca jumped to the ground and fell to her knees
beside Nabiki. Nabiki was lying curled up on her side in a pool
of blood, still gripping the spear. "Nabiki?" she asked
tentatively.
   Nabiki turned a horribly pale face up to her. Her eyes were
wide, and bright with pain. "Are you alright, Lucca?" she rasped.
A trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth and down
her chin.
   "Me? I'm fine! But you're not!" said Lucca.
   "I don't need you to tell me that," said Nabiki, trying to
grin. Then she clenched her teeth. "It hurts, Lucca. It hurts a
lot. It's hard to breathe."
   "It must have gone through your lung. I'll get Marle," said
Lucca with a desperate look.
   Lucca was starting to stand up when Marle leapt to the ground.
She was grinning. "You really fried 'em, Lucca!" then she saw
Nabiki and the grin faded. "Oh, my."
   Nabiki turned her eyes on Marle. "Really am s'ry 'bout Crono,"
she wheezed. "Had t' say it one las' time..." She closed her eyes
and mumbled, "Don' think m' insurance c'vers this..." With those
words, Nabiki stopped breathing.
   "Marle? She saved my life! Can you save her?..." asked Lucca,
expectantly.
   "She's dying, Lucca," Marle answered. "Cure's not gonna do the
trick. Let's get that spear outta her, and I'll see what I can
do."
   Lucca nodded, and grabbed a small electric saw from her
satchel. She scrambled over to Nabiki, and gingerly gripped the
bloody spear head protruding from her back. She carefully cut
through the wooden shaft at the base of the spear head. Marle
quickly pulled the shaft out, along with a gout of blood. Nabiki,
if she felt anything, gave no sign, but she retained her stubborn
grip on the shaft.
   Marle stood up and clasped her hands in front of her. "Life2,"
she chanted. A golden beam of light burst through the gloomy sky
and bathed Nabiki in shimmering energy. She almost seemed to
sparkle in the gentle glow. Abruptly, the light ceased, leaving
Nabiki whole.
   Nabiki gasped, and then began to breathe normally. She
remained still for a few seconds, and then opened her eyes. "I
feel great!" she exclaimed. Then, apprehensively, "Am I dead?"
   Suddenly, she heard two thumps. She sat up and found that
Marle and Lucca had fallen to the ground. "Marle? Lucca?" she
asked.
   Breathing shallowly, Lucca muttered, "We're tired, 'Beeky.
Flare...Life2... Powerful spells. We were too weak to cast them,
but we had to."
   "No!" exclaimed Nabiki, standing up. She found that she was
still holding the spear shaft, and dropped it with revulsion.
"Now instead of just me dying, you both are dying! That's no
bargain!"
   "Worth it," answered Marle. "You really have changed. 'Sides,
we're not dying. Jus' tired."
   "Keep working on th' Epoch," said Lucca. "I'll finish when I
wake up..." Lucca closed her eyes, and Marle followed suit. Soon,
each were breathing deeply and evenly. Nabiki sighed, and half
carried, half dragged the two sleeping girls to the Epoch. With a
bit of effort, she managed to get them into the cockpit. Then she
returned to work.
   She worked more or less continuously for the rest of the day.
She discovered, to her relief, that while she was still hungry,
it was no longer a painful hunger. Marle's Life2 technique had
done a very thorough job. With renewed vigor, she hammered bent
plates back into shape, reconnected and sealed frayed wires, and
tightened loose connections. The day passed, and she finally
began to feel fatigued. As dusk fell, she closed the cockpit and
settled in, noting that Marle and Lucca were still sleeping
soundly. Nabiki drifted off to sleep.
   Nabiki woke at dawn the next day, and noted that her hunger
had more of an edge to it. Marle's influence was evidently
wearing off. Marle and Lucca were still sleeping. Concerned,
Nabiki checked to make sure that they were still breathing.
Reassured, she climbed out to begin another day's work.
   She worked until the sun was high in the dismal sky,
occasionally checking up on the sleeping pair. Then, her pace
began to slow, as she realized that the remaining work was
becoming too technical for her. She and Lucca, over the past
several days, had fixed most of the blatant damage, a large
portion of it fixed by Nabiki herself through her renewed
strength the day before. All that was left was detail work, like
shattered banks of delicate diodes, tangled and torn bundles of
complex wiring, and scattered circuit boards--all detail work
that she had no idea how to face. Additionally, she was becoming
worried about Lucca and Marle. They had been asleep for over
twenty-four hours, and showed no sign of recovery. Nabiki had
been unable to wake them or to get them to drink anything. She
was beginning to fear that their condition was more serious than
they had led her to believe. Certainly, they would be in trouble
if they didn't drink something soon. While she couldn't remember
how long a person could go without water, she did remember that
it was not an awfully long time. She climbed up the Epoch again,
intending to check on the two.
   There was a strange man standing on top of the Epoch.
   Nabiki quickly dropped to the ground, and grabbed Lucca's
Wondershot from her satchel. She pointed the gun at the man and
demanded, "Get away from there! Who are you?"
   "Nice reflexes," the man noted. "Very well." He stepped off of
the edge of the time machine, and floated gently to the ground.
Nabiki was able to get a good look at the man. He had pale white
skin and long, straight blue hair. He was wearing camouflage
combat fatigues, and had several pairs of gold earrings in his
pointed ears. His was also wearing white gloves. His eyes were
fixing her with a cold stare. He gestured toward the somatic
passengers and said, "Them I know. You I don't."
   "Who are you?" Nabiki asked again, not liking this man one
bit.
   "You may call me Magus," he said.
   "Name's Nabiki. Now tell me what you're doing here, or I'll
have to blast you."
   "I'm frightened," Magus said drily. "But very well. I had been
waiting many long years for the events of yesterday. When I saw
Lucca's Flare, I knew my deliverance was at hand. I have need of
that machine." Magus gestured toward the Epoch.
   "Well, tough luck," Nabiki answered. "You can't have it."
   Magus laughed. "You wish to fight me? You're no survivor. I
can tell by the look of you. In fact, I am surprised that it is
Lucca and Marle that lie comatose rather than you."
   "How do you know them?" Nabiki asked, shaken by how quickly
the man had seen through her facade of bravado.
   Magus waved his hand dismissively. "I once fought with them,
and once against them. But it is of no concern. Now, are you
going to put away that gun, or do I have to destroy you? I assure
you, it's all the same to me." Magus began to tug on his gloves,
pulling them tight. The gesture seemed both self-confident and
ominous.
   Feeling helpless, and totally out of her element, Nabiki
dropped the gun. "Excellent," said Magus. "Now, if you'll excuse
me..." he turned toward the Epoch again.
   "You're still out of luck," said Nabiki. "The Epoch's not
working."
   Magus froze. He turned toward Nabiki with an unpleasant frown.
"Not working," he repeated, as if tasting the words and finding
them sour.
   "Not working," Nabiki said again.
   "Can you fix it?" Magus asked.
   "No dice. Only Lucca knows enough."
   "Then I'll have to revive her," Magus sighed. He flew up to
the Epoch, and before Nabiki could react, he had scooped up the
sleeping inventor. "So long, and die well, Nabiki. I see little
other future for you here."
   As he prepared to fly off, Nabiki shouted, "Wait!"
   Magus stopped, irritated. "What is it now?"
   "Do you honestly think Lucca will be willing to help you if
you leave us here to die?" Nabiki demanded.
   "She will help me, or she will die as well," Magus answered.
   Nabiki smirked, feeling old territory around her. "You may be
powerful, but you're obviously not very bright. If you try to
convince her with threats, after killing two of her friends, then
she'd fix the Epoch, alright. She'd fix it to make sure you
joined us in the afterlife." Nabiki rubbed her hands together.
"Let's cut a deal, hmmm?"
   Magus scowled. "What kind of deal?" he grated.
   "Well," Nabiki said sweetly, "you save all three of us, for
starters."
   "And what do I get for this foolish act of charity?"
   "You save us, and I put in a good word for you with Lucca, and
maybe she doesn't disintegrate you. I'll even try to convince her
to let you use her time machine."
   "All right," he snapped. "I'll save your miserable lives. Get
up here!"
   Nabiki quickly swept all the tools into Lucca's satchel. She
climbed up onto the Epoch as Magus grabbed Marle none too gently
with his free arm. Nabiki grasped Magus firmly around the neck,
being careful to make her grip as uncomfortable as possible
without actually strangling the man. "Ok, Magus baby, let's go,"
she crooned.
   "You try my patience," snarled Magus. He leapt into the air
and began to fly in a vaguely northern direction, obviously
straining under the weight of his three passengers.
   "Are we too much for you to handle?" Nabiki taunted. Magus
gave no reply, but continued flying.
   Magus's flight speed was not much greater than an average
jogging speed, but it sure beat running as far as Nabiki was
concerned. Magus seemed to feel otherwise, as he touched down for
frequent rest stops, always to the delight of Nabiki, who
proceeded to harangue him with insults regarding his strength,
speed, and intelligence. On one such stop, Magus interrupted her
and said, "I really am coming to loathe you, you know." Nabiki
merely grinned.
   The flight lasted many more hours. Evidently, Magus had
traveled a long way to find the Epoch. Magus landed again, this
time in front of a nondescript hillside. He roughly shook free of
Nabiki, and shoved his two sleeping passengers at her. He then
turned toward the hillside and made a few complicated patterns in
the air with his arms, ending by pointing straight at the hill.
The side of the hill shimmered for a moment, and then faded,
revealing a darkened cave. Then, an electric hum began and
phosphorescent lights illuminated the cave, showing it to be a
long tunnel, angled downward. Without a word, Magus grabbed Lucca
and entered the cave, leaving Nabiki to struggle after him under
the burden of Marle.
   They walked steadily downwards for a long time. At least, it
seemed like a long time to Nabiki, who was breathing heavily and
sweating profusely. She wasn't used to this sort of physical
exertion. And she was sure that Magus was laughing at her
distress, though he gave no outward sign.
   Eventually, the hallway leveled off. They walked past several
rooms, but Nabiki was laboring too hard to pay any attention to
them. Finally, they came to a room with several cots, evidently
some sort of infirmary. Magus deposited Lucca on one, and to
Nabiki's relief, gestured for her to do the same. Magus examined
Lucca closely, and asked, "How long have they been this way?"
   "For a day now. Do you know what's wrong with them?"
   Magus ignored Nabiki's question. "How long since they've last
eaten?"
   "Five days."
   Magus nodded. "So, in spite of her hunger, Lucca used Flare?
You must have been in dire straits indeed."
   "We were being overwhelmed, and I had been fatally stabbed-"
   "Fatally stabbed?" Magus interrupted. "You look fine to me.
Don't lie to me, girl."
   "I'm not lying! Marle healed me."
   "Ah, so that was the second surge I felt in the magical
aether. Marle must have used Life2 to save you, in spite of her
own condition. Typical foolish sentimentality. Well, I know how
to cure them. I need stimulants. There should be some in the
refrigerator over there." Magus pointed out a large cooler on the
other side of the room. It had a large, red, medical cross on it.
   Nabiki opened the refrigerator and removed a package of
stimulants and several sterilized syringes. "So, what's the
problem? Aren't they just asleep?"
   "Don't be stupid, girl," Magus snapped, grabbing the
medicines. "They are merely suffering from a magical deficiency."
   "Magical deficiency?" Nabiki asked.
   Magus sighed impatiently. "Every sentient creature possesses
an amount of magical energy, a reservoir, if you will." Magus
loaded a syringe, and jabbed it into Lucca's arm. "While most
people don't consciously use this reservoir, it is still
necessary to their health. When one is not healthy, the body uses
it's magical reserves to help sustain itself. Those who can use
this reservoir have to be careful not to drain it completely. If
they do, they enter a sort of magical coma. Normally, the
reservoir would replenish with a few hours of sleep, but if the
body is ill, this process is halted. I would imagine that Lucca
and Marle's foolish act of altruism, coupled with their hunger,
put them into this state. This stimulant should bring them around
long enough to get some food into them."
   Magus turned and applied the same treatment to Marle. Soon,
Lucca began to groan. Magus pointed into a dark corner, untouched
by the phosphorescent lights of the room. "Bring me a Dark
Fruit," he commanded.
   Dark Fruit? wondered Nabiki. She walked over to the corner. It
was unnaturally dark in the corner. When she gingerly reached in
with her hand, it disappeared from her sight. Feeling around in
the dark, her hand encountered soft leaves and branches. Finally,
she felt a smooth, round object that could only be the fruit. She
gently tugged on it, and the fruit pulled free of its invisible
branch. She brought the fruit out into the light, and it was
revealed to be a pear-shaped black fruit with purple splotches.
It felt soft in her hand. She handed the Dark Fruit to Magus, who
took it without a word.
   By now Marle had started to stir, and Lucca was opening bleary
eyes. She focused them on Magus. "Magus?" she asked weakly.
   Magus shoved the fruit at her. "Eat," he said brusquely.
   Lucca grasped the offering, and took a bite. "Mmmm," she
sighed. She devoured the rest of the fruit quickly. Her eyes
closed, and she slipped back into sleep.
   Nabiki had caught on, and retrieved a second fruit. She was by
Marle's side when she came to, and immediately handed her the
fruit. "Eat this, Marle," she ordered. Marle looked confused, but
did as she was told. Once the fruit was finished, she returned to
her slumber.
   Magus collected the cores and threw them into a wastebasket.
"Each fruit provides a full day's nourishment. After a few hours
of sleep, their magical reserves should be replenished." He
noticed Nabiki eyeing the dark corner longingly. "Oh, go ahead
and take one," he said disgustedly. "There are plenty."
   Without further encouragement, Nabiki took a fruit for
herself. She took a juicy bite, and found the Dark Fruit had a
strange, bittersweet, but not unpleasant taste. Of course, after
nearly a week without food, rotting meat would have probably been
appetizing. "What is this, exactly?" she asked.
   "When all of the vegetation began to die, I knew that I was
going to have to come up with some means of survival," Magus
said, "So I used my magic to create the Dark Fruit plant, a
hybrid of blueberry and a species of cave lichen. Dark Fruit
plants are totally independent of many of the vital soil
nutrients that were all but lost when Lavos decimated this world.
Unfortunately, light of any kind is a bane to it, so I have to
spend a steady amount of magic to keep the plant in total
darkness. But it is a trifling amount, and easily replenished. I
have survived on Dark Fruit for many years now, while the
scavengers outside eat each other out of existence. Now, if you
will excuse me, I have important matters to attend to." Magus
glided out of the room, leaving a bewildered Nabiki alone with
the peacefully sleeping patients.
   Nabiki sat down on an empty cot for a few moments, but quickly
became bored. She decided to explore this place that Magus had
taken them to. She stepped out of the infirmary into the hallway.
She walked slowly down the hallway. She came to a room, but found
it empty, save for a cot and an empty closet. A second glance
also revealed an extremely dark corner, undoubtably housing
another Dark Fruit plant. Overall, the room gave the impression
of being an empty bedroom. Continuing down the hallway, she found
several more empty bedrooms, all spotlessly clean. She also found
a bathroom. She was surprised to find that the bathroom still had
running water. Evidently, through magic, or some other power
source, Magus had decided to keep these facilities in order.
Gratefully, she made use of the functioning toilets. She would
have loved a shower, but the showers, if there were any, were
elsewhere in the building. Nabiki examined herself in a mirror
and grimaced. As she had expected, she was very dirty, and her
hair was a tangled mess. Her shirt had a large, ragged hole in
it, and was badly stained with dried blood. Nabiki shuddered as
she realized that that blood was her own. She tried
unsuccessfully to push the memory of a wooden shaft protruding
from her chest out of her mind.
   Nabiki left the bathroom and continued to explore. She found
several more empty bedrooms. Abruptly, the hallway twisted left.
Glancing at the room at the corner, she found that this one was
not empty. Nabiki supposed that it must be Magus's. Peeking
carefully through the door, she determined that the occupant was
nowhere to be seen. Never one to respect people's privacy, Nabiki
let herself in.
   Magus's room was nearly as sparse as the empty bedrooms were.
There was a cot, neatly made, and a closet full of camouflage
uniforms. In addition, the closet also contained what looked like
a suit of medieval make, complete with cape. There were several
pairs of the white gloves Nabiki remembered Magus wearing. But
the most striking feature of the room was an easel, paints, and
several canvases. There were many finished paintings, and all of
them featured a beautiful girl with long, blue hair and sad, blue
eyes. She didn't look to be much older than sixteen. She was
portrayed in a variety of ways, here a profile, there a frontal
view. In some she was laughing, or looking thoughtful, or sad. In
the pictures showing more than just the head and shoulders, she
was wearing a shimmering blue gown. A few of the paintings also
featured a single word, 'Schala', which Nabiki took to be the
name of the girl. All in all, Nabiki was impressed by the level
of artistry shown. Then, she stopped short. The girl looked
familiar to her somehow. Nabiki was sure that she recognized that
face from somewhere. She thought for a moment, but drew a blank.
Bemused, Nabiki left the room again.
   Magus's room was the last of the bedrooms. Next to Magus's
room, after the hallway turned left, was just what Nabiki had
been hoping for: a shower room. She found it to be well stocked
with soap and towels, and, like the bathroom, was working. Nabiki
stripped, and proceeded to wash five days of grime away. After
she had toweled off, she observed her clothing dolefully. Her
jeans, though dirty and a little torn, were still in fairly good
shape. The shirt, however, was going to need work. Nabiki
scrubbed at the shirt for a while, and managed to get the
bloodstains to fade slightly. She struggled into the damp shirt
and once again viewed herself in the mirror. Much better, she
thought, but I really don't think gaping spear holes suit me.
Nabiki grasped each side of the hole in her shirt, and tore the
shirt the rest of the way down. Then she tied the two dangling
halves together in a knot just below her chest, leaving her
stomach bare. Almost stylish, she thought as she posed for the
uncritical eye of the mirror. Then she smiled wryly. Just who am
I trying to impress? Magus? Right.
   Feeling much refreshed, Nabiki left the shower room. The
hallway, having just turned left, soon turned left again, running
parallel to the bedroom hallway. Here, there were a variety of
rooms. There was a kitchen, but nothing was working there except
for a refrigerator. The refrigerator was stocked with Dark Fruit,
some whole, some sliced, and jars of what Nabiki guessed must be
Dark Fruit preserves.
   Further down the hall was an arsenal. There were an array of
Bowie knives, pistols, rifles, and semi-automatic weapons, all
covered with dust. Oddly, there was also a rack stocked with
several scythes, and many of these looked to be recently used. An
odd choice of weapon, Nabiki thought, yet somehow appropriate.
Nabiki decided to take a knife with her, along with a belt and
sheath for it. Hopefully, she would never have to use it, but
carrying it made her feel a little more comfortable. She didn't
even consider taking any of the guns. They looked to be old and
out of repair, and more likely to blow up than fire.
   Most of the rest of the rooms along this hallway were empty
storage closets. There was also a workshop, where Magus was
evidently forging a new scythe. Pressing on, Nabiki found some
sort of surveillance room, one wall covered with monitors showing
various locations inside and outside of Magus's bunker. To her
embarrassment, Nabiki noted that one monitor showed a clear view
of the shower room. Silently, she hoped that Magus had not been
watching when she had taken her shower. Scanning the monitors,
she could not see Magus on any of them. Where is he? she
wondered. She glanced at the monitor displaying the infirmary,
and saw Lucca and Marle were stirring. She decided to save any
further explorations until after she had brought her two
companions up to date regarding the events of the day.
   Nabiki retraced her steps until she arrived at the infirmary.
She found Lucca sitting on the edge of her cot, holding her head
and groaning. She looked blearily at Nabiki as she entered, and
said, "Morning, Nabiki. I had the strangest dream. I dreamt that
I saw an old ally of ours, Magus, except that he was wearing
camouflage, and he gave me this weird fruit, and-" she suddenly
got a good look at her environs, "-er, it wasn't a dream, was
it?"
   Nabiki shook her head. "Really? Magus?" questioned Marle, just
waking, "So he's here, too?"
   "He didn't try to hurt you, or anything?" inquired Lucca.
   "Oh, of course not!" said Nabiki cheerfully, "He was a perfect
gentleman!"
   "Magus?" Lucca asked incredulously.
   "Once I blackmailed him, that is," finished Nabiki.
   "Blackmailed? How?" Marle asked.
   "He wanted to use the Epoch. When he found out that it wasn't
working, he planned to kidnap Lucca and force her to fix it,
leaving Marle and I to die. I told him that if he saved us as
well, Lucca would be more willing to help him."
   "That sounds like Magus," nodded Lucca.
   "He could have just asked," Marle said severely, "We would
have been more than willing to lend a hand."
   "I don't think that's really Magus's way," said Lucca. "He
never asks for help."
   "So where is he?" asked Marle.
   "I'm not sure. He cured you and Lucca, and then left. I've
been exploring his little base here, but all I've been able to
find is empty bedrooms, a bathroom-"
   "Bathroom?" Lucca and Marle suddenly chorused.
   "I'll show you the way," grinned Nabiki.

Afterword:
   I had to beat my dark id into submission with a stick halfway
through this chapter. Why does it always pick on Nabiki, anyway?
Oh, well.
   The appearance and name (but not the effects) of Dark Fruit
were borrowed from an episode of Sailor Moon.

Chrono Trigger Tip #7:
   Magus has gotta be the coolest character in Chrono Trigger,
and his weapon rocks! So, where can I find a really kick-butt
scythe?
   The best scythe in the game, the DoomSickle, is cleverly
hidden in Ozzie's Hideout. After you've recovered the Epoch from
Dalton, you can travel to 600 A.D. to find that Ozzie built a
second fortress after Magus's original fortress was destroyed.
About halfway through this fortress, you come to a room where
Ozzie is operating a trap (specifically, a treasure chest with a
chopping blade on a chain before it). The lower right portion of
the screen here appears to be empty and inaccessible, but if you
feel along the wall just below and to the right of where Ozzie
was standing, you will find a niche. Inside will be several
goodies, including a Magic Tab and Magus's ultimate Scythe.
   Oh, that reminds me. Just how can I get to that chest without
being chopped down to 1 hit point by that trap?
   Simple. Just ignore the trap at first, and walk by. A Stupid
Minion (tm) will trigger the trap for you. Ozzie, seeing his plan
foiled, will run off, leaving the chest for the taking.
