Author Topic: Story fragment  (Read 5123 times)

alfadorredux

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Story fragment
« on: June 25, 2010, 04:45:12 pm »
Explanations, such as they are, are at the end.



[Termina at sunset. Guile, looking somewhat older, with streaks of grey at his temples,
emerges from the Dragon's Tail bar just as the entire area suddenly becomes shadowed.
Guile looks up, and the camera pans upward to follow his gaze. Silhouetted against the
sunset is the main island of Zeal. It remains there for a second or two, then shimmers
and dissolves.]

[We pan back down to Guile, who rubs his eyes for a moment, then begins to float toward
the city gates at the best speed of which he is capable. The scene fades out just as he
reaches them.]

[The scene fades back in to show a night sky, with the Zeal-island silhouetted against
the full moon. The camera pans down quickly to show the lights of the Ocean Palace under
the water below the island, then zooms in on it. The picture goes black for a moment,
and then we are inside the palace, in a room containing some huge apparatus and several banks
of control consoles being operated by Nu. Also present are Queen Zeal, Gaspar (in a cage),
and a young woman with blue hair (NOT Schala, although there is a resemblance).]

Queen Zeal:
   It appears that the first test was a success. So much for your doubts, old man.

Gaspar:
   Majesty, I beg you not to do this.

???:
   Yes, Grandmother, what have the people of that other world ever done to us?

Queen Zeal:
   Silence, both of you!

   Caela, you are young yet. You cannot expect to fathom the mind of an immortal who has
   lived as long as I. Or perhaps you intend to turn traitor like your mother?

Caela:
   Of course not, grandmother.

   ...May I leave?

Queen Zeal:
   Very well, go.

[Caela (the blue-haired girl) leaves the room. We follow her along a corridor and into the
hall of the Mammon Machine.]

Caela:
   I hate this. I am beginning to think that Mother was right, and Grandmother is quite mad.
   Seeking out new worlds to conquer because she has all but destroyed our own... There must
   be some way to stop it, but...

   Sabotage?

   Oh, no, no, what am I thinking? If I am caught, I...

   But those people from that other world don't deserve this either...

[She raises her hand and presses it against an area near her collarbone, right where a
pendant might rest.]

Caela:
   Help me, Mother! I don't know what to do.

[The whole scene blurs and darkens, and when it clears we are in quite a different room:
one in a grass hut in Arni village. A young woman who looks exactly like Caela except for
her clothing and hair colour--she is blonde--tosses and turns restlessly on a narrow bed.
The window curtains are open to show the full moon outside. After a few seconds of this,
the scene fades and we are taken to a black screen displaying the Chrono Break logo,
accompanied by the words "Two Worlds, One Destiny." A couple of seconds of that, and we
are back in that room in Arni again. The blonde girl is waking up.]

???:
   (Ugh. That dream again.)

[She shakes her head violently, as though to disperse the memories, and sits up, sliding her
legs over the edge of the bed.]

???:
   (Never mind that. I need to eat, and then go join Una before he gets tired of waiting
   and takes the boat out without me.)

[She gets up, and the player momentarily has control of her until he guides her through the
doorway and into the next room, where Serge and Kid are sitting at a table. Both are much
older than they were in Cross (Serge is starting to look a lot like Wazuki).]

Kid:
   Caela, yer runnin' late again.

???:
   Mom, I told you, call me "Kay".

Kid:
   Kay, then. Whatever. Just sit down and eat.

Kay:
   There's no time. I have to get to Uncle Una's boat--

Kid:
   Una came by earlier. Said he was sorry, but his sister asked him to take young Len
   instead of you, and he couldn't very well say no. They've already left.

[Kay kicks the nearest table leg. Hard.]

Kay:
   You mean he took that brat to help him fish instead of me?

Kid:
   I know it's a bummer, but Len needs to learn the family business. And Una figures
   ya ain't gonna want to go out with him anymore once ya find yerself a man.

Kay:
   That isn't happening.

Kid:
   Heheheh. I thought so once too.

[Kid turns her head and gives Serge, who is still placidly drinking his tea, a good long
look.]

Kid:
   But never mind that. Since ya ain't goin' out on the water today, I thought ya might
   want to take yerself up to Cape Howl. There've been some nasty monsters up that way
   lately, and a couple of kids almost got mauled yesterday. Here, I packed ya a lunch.

[A package wrapped in a square of cloth, with a knot at the top, appears on the table.
Kay picks it up.]

Kid:
   The critters'll give ya somethin' to take yer frustrations out on, anyway.

Kay:
   ...Thanks, Mom. For understanding.

Kid:
   Eh, no biggie.

[Kay goes over to the wall, where two bladed oars rest on hooks. One looks like the
Mastermune. Kay takes the other, then heads for the door. When she's left the room,
the camera pans back to the table.]

Kid:
   Wish I knew if I was doin' the right thing.

[Serge shrugs.]

Kid:
   Yeah, I know, it might all be a false alarm, but the feelin' won't go away. Somethin's
   comin', and I'm pretty sure it's comin' for our little girl. Anyway, she has it now, and
   I ain't gonna try to take it back--don't want to have to explain why I slipped it into
   her lunch in the first place.

[Serge nods, and puts down his tea mug. He reaches across the table and takes Kid's hands
in his.]

Kid:
   I really hope you're right, mate.

[The player now has control of Kay and can wander the village of Arni, shop, gather Useful
Gameplay Tips For People Who Don't Read Manuals, etc. About the only thing of interest that's
mentioned is that Opassa and Lizard Rock are both gone, submerged after an earth tremour plus
tidal wave several years ago that also destroyed the village's original dock. The new dock
is much more expansive, pitchfork-shaped, with three prongs reaching out into the sea. When
the player finally decides to leave the town, we see that the lower-left bit of the El Nido
Main Island is indeed gone. Eventually, the player enters Cape Howl, to discover a monster
trying to take a bite out of Guile, who promptly zaps it.]

Kay:
   What the...? Hey, you! Who are you, and what are you doing here?

Guile:
   You must be Kay.

[Kay pulls out her weapon]

Kay:
   How do you know my name?!

Guile:
   I am sorry; I did not mean to startle you. My name is Guile. We have met before, although
   I do not expect you would remember--you were only a baby at the time. You look a great
   deal like your mother did at your age, although she was shorter.

[Kay lowers her weapon.]

Kay:
   So you know my folks? Were you headed for Arni?

Guile:
   It would be more accurate to say that I am following my nose.

Kay:
   Huh?

Guile:
   I saw something rather odd in Termina a few days ago: a giant shadow on the southwestern
   horizon, like an island floating in the sky. I am currently searching to clues as to
   what it might have been...and this is the southwesternmost part of the main island.

Kay:
   A floating island? (Like the one in my dream...?)

   Are you sure you weren't just seeing things?

Guile:
   I was not the only one who saw it. In any case, now that I am here, I believe I will
   ascend the cape. If that is where you were headed, perhaps we could go together.

Kay:
   We've been having problems with some monsters around here lately...but I guess you
   probably know how to take care of yourself. You're a mean hand with an Element,
   anyway.

Guile:
   It is kind of you to say so, but I fear I am a bit out of practice. I would be glad
   of your escort.

Kay:
   Heh. I should probably charge you for my services.

Guile:
   If you wish.

Kay:
   Hey, I wasn't serious. You watch my back, and we'll call it even, okay? Some problem
   monsters have settled around here lately, so I may need the help, 'specially if they
   turn out to have shells or something. Elements aren't my strong suit.

Guile:
   It is a bargain, then. Shall we go?

[The player regains control, and they fight their way up to the top of the cape, and
defeat the boss monster waiting for them up there. When it's over, Guile walks up to the
tip of the cape and looks out to sea. Kay makes to follow him, but as she approaches the
cairn, ominous red light shoots up from under her feet. Kay looks around, trying to find
its source.]

Guile: [turning to stare]
   Angelus Errare? Here?

Kay:
   Ange-what?

[Everything wavers, and Kay falls to her knees]

Guile:
   !

[Guile lunges toward Kay as a video of something like Serge's first dimensional crossing
in Cross begins. When it ends, they aren't on Cape Howl anymore, but in a cave.]



The next scene would involve Caela carrying out her sabotage against the device Queen Zeal
is using to move between dimensions, and, during her escape, botching a teleport or something
and landing practically on top of Kay and Guile, but since I'm not sure exactly how it would
go, I'm not going to try to write it.


A bit of background, then: Someone once observed in some thread around here somewhere that
"Chrono Trigger" and "Chrono Cross" are both nouns. If "Chrono Break" were also a noun,
it would then have to take the form of some sort of rupture in Time...which is exactly
what Queen Zeal is trying, here, to create.

The world of Caela and Queen Zeal is one where the experiments with the Mammon Machine
were successful, and Zeal became a kingdom of immortals. That was thirteen thousand years
ago, and the surviving immortals are mostly either crazy or really, really bored...but
no Enlightened One who's been exposed to the immortality spell projected by the Mammon
Machine can die, even if he wants to. Most of them can't have children, either, and
how Schala managed to produce Caela is a minor mystery. (Caela's father was an Earthbound--
that world's version of Serge. Queen Zeal probably killed him after she found out that
he was shagging her daughter.)

Schala was imprisoned after an attempt to halt her mother's dimensional transfer research
some fifteen years earlier, and hasn't been seen since. Janus (who never, in this
universe, became Magus) is running what even he admits is a pretty pathetic excuse
for a rebellion. Dalton's probably around somewhere, acting like a jackass as usual.
I haven't a clue about Melchior and Belthasar.

Kay's world (which is, of course, some variation on the post-Cross Ideal Timeline, with
Kid and Guile being the ones who went to the DBT with Serge) may not be the only one that
end up under attack from Zeal--I'm envisioning probably a technologically advanced dimension
(a world conquered by Starkys, perhaps?) and a Reptite/Dragonian one landing in the mix
as well, just for the heck of it.

The thing Kid slipped into Kay's lunch was the Astral Amulet. The Angelus Errare on Cape
Howl was a result of the experiments in Zeal weakening the distinction between the two
worlds. Having Serge still be mute was a bit of a joke.

Oh, and Guile is not Magus here...he's the son of a Magus who never recovered his memory.

This actually first appeared in my head in the form of a fragment of quite a different scene,
involving Janus sacrificing himself to save Caela from a very angry Queen Zeal. Of course,
that could still happen, much later in the game.


Quick notes on character appearances: Caela and Kay are dimensional alternates of the same
person, but they've led very different lives. Caela is pale, slender, wears robes and
slippers, and keeps her hair long, wearing it either loose or in some kind of elaborate
piled-up style involving lots of jeweled pins or combs. Kay is tanned, has more muscle,
has a practical approach to hair (although I'm not sure whether she keeps it short or
ties/braids it back), and dresses like an apprentice pirate (fantasy variation), in tight
knee-length shorts, a cropped top, a brightly-coloured sash, and sandals.

Guile hasn't changed much: he still has the mask and the braid and wears white, but there's
grey in his hair and he's taken to wearing shirts that actually cover his chest. ;P


And I think that's everything that's available in my head to dump about this at this point.

utunnels

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Re: Story fragment
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2010, 09:57:38 pm »
A good start.
I really like it. (steal the icon)

-------------

Hmm, why Kid calls Kay Caela?
« Last Edit: June 25, 2010, 10:23:18 pm by utunnels »

alfadorredux

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Re: Story fragment
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2010, 10:36:36 pm »
Kay's real name is also Caela, but she hates it, and so has come up with a short form she can live with (I think she thinks it's too girly, although why she thinks "Kay" is any better, I don't know). I chose that spelling (rather than "Cae") to make it easier to tell the characters apart.

As for the smiley, help yourself.

utunnels

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Re: Story fragment
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2010, 10:46:36 pm »
Oh, I see.

That name just reminds me of Kaeli from FFMQ, who wields an axe. LOL

utunnels

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Re: Story fragment
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2010, 10:00:45 pm »
Quote
Oh, and Guile is not Magus here...he's the son of a Magus who never recovered his memory.
Umm, just be curious. So it is possible you planned this amnesia Magus to be the post-CTDS Magus?
If so, consider CC Guile's age(26), there'd be 2 conditions:
1. Magus was sent to 994 AD by Schala and was always there (since you said he never recovered his memory).
2. That Magus was not in 994 AD, but Guile experienced some time travel event afterwards.

alfadorredux

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Re: Story fragment
« Reply #5 on: July 04, 2010, 09:05:07 am »
I had it in mind that Schala had dropped Magus somewhere in 990AD or so, where he eventually met and married Guile's mother. Where he would have been during the Millenial Fair I'm not sure (possibly already dead--he would definitely have been dead by the time of Cross). Guile would have had no idea what his father was until he confronted the Frozen Flame during Cross and it fed him some (probably incomplete and distorted) information.

TheMage

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Re: Story fragment
« Reply #6 on: August 22, 2010, 02:32:41 am »
Oh I love this idea! Do you think you'll write more?

alfadorredux

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Re: Story fragment
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2010, 09:16:58 am »
I may try, but not until after the Chrono Helix script is complete.

Rowan Seven

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Re: Story fragment
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2010, 08:11:11 pm »
Very interesting. I usually prefer prose over script format, but what you have here surprised me with how compelling it is and how naturally it seemed to flow. The dialogue and conversations were great (I found the "mute" Serge to be hilarious and definite proof that there are some things that don't need words to be communicated), and as plots goes this one looks very promising. I could definitely envision a Chrono Break game using the threat of a dimension-crossing immortal Zeal as its backbone, and having the two Caela's as main characters opens up a lot of intriguing comparisons and nature vs. nurture philosophical questions. I really enjoyed reading this, and you have my thanks for sharing.