Chapter CCCXIV: Ruthless Murder? Chrono’s Dark Side! ~Chrono

Chrono! You have to go now! A voice rang through Chrono’s mind.

He looked around and replied in his mind, But I haven’t been able to restore my energy!

Suddenly, the woman that owned the baby that Chrono saved walked up to him. “Please, eat this. It will restore your energy,” dhe said, putting a strange looking dumpling in his hand.

Chrono looked at it and sniffed it slightly. He looked at her.

“Please, eat it. It will not harm you. I would not harm anyone who had just saved one of my loved ones,” she said.

Chrono stared at the dumpling and nibbled on it. He swallowed the small piece. He noticed that some of his energy came back.

“Whoa…” he said and stared at it.

He put the rest in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. His eyes widened as his body started to emit a visible yellow aura. The light dimmed. Chrono looked at his hands in surprise.

Chrono bowed to the woman. “Thank you very much. I really needed that.”

“No, it’s a small payment to your great deed. I am still greatly in your debt,” the woman replied.

“N…no, it’s quite all right. You don’t have to repay me for anything,” he said.
The woman shook her head and said, “Just ask for anything, and I will provide it.”

He smiled and nodded, “Thank you.”

Chrono turned to Jeremy. “Jeremy, listen. I have to go to a different planet, called Umihaikyo, for an hour or so. That is as long as it will take me, about an hour. I will return soon.” Before Jeremy could say anything, Chrono had disappeared in a bright flash of light.

Little did they know, the abnormal-looking wolf was still spying on them. It gave off another wolfish grin as he saw Chrono teleport. He heard every word. A human chuckle came from the wolf’s throat. It slowly backed up into the alley and disappeared in a bright flash of white light.

Chrono reappeared on a different planet. He looked around and noticed a castle of ruins with water all around it. It was a big island. He looked around but saw no one in sight. He called out, "Hello!?" but no answer came. He continued to look.

Chrono suddenly stumbled upon a slightly small hut. It was well made and was covered very well. He wondered if that was the house where the people the elder said he needed to guard lived. Chrono walked up and knocked on the door. No answer came and he knocked again. Suddenly, the door opened to another male elderly Yoshi. He was a yellow one and had long grey hair and a grey beard, although, he looked young, still.

Chrono’s eyes widened in shock. “G…Grandfather!?” he yelled.

“Grandson! How good of you to come and visit! We haven’t seen you in a while!” the elder replied.

“We?” Chrono replied.

“Who is at the door, dear?” a voice came from the back ground.

“Grandma!” Chrono said, almost with tears in his eyes.

“Please, come in Chrono.” his grandfather said. Chrono nodded and walked in. He sat down on a chair.

“What are you guys doing here?” Chrono asked.

His grandfather chuckled and said, “We are archaeologists. We explore and dig for stuff. We are on an expedition here.”

Chrono nodded.

“But why have you come here, son?” His grandmother asked.

“Someone… told me to come here.” Chrono replied.

“Ah. I see. Do you want something to eat, dear?” his grandma asked him.

“No thank you. I am fine thanks.” he replied.

They had a nice conversation. Chrono’s grandparents told him about their adventures in archeology and Chrono told them about his adventures through different worlds.

His grandfather looked at the clock and said, “Oh my…we have to get going. We need to search for that egg!”

“You are right…we have to get going. Chrono, would you like to help us hunt for it?” his grandmother asked him.

“Egg?” Chrono repeated.

“Yes, it isn’t very big, but it’s a bit bigger than an ostrich egg,” his grandfather explained. “It appeared here recently. We just don’t know where. It is said to have a legendary and powerful creature in it. It has a moon on it and a strange purple shape on the front of it under the moon shape. It is also said that it has the power of dreams, as you do, Chrono.”

“Sure, I will help you look for it,” he replied.

“Well, let’s get going!” his grandparents said.

The three left the hut after Chrono’s grandparents gathered some things. They stopped as his grandpa unfolded a map.

“Ok, Chrono. Listen, I need you to go check here,” his grandfather pointed to a green spot on the map, “that is a place we haven’t checked yet. It’s in the south.” He pointed in the correct direction. “Your grandmother and I will go here,” his grandfather pointed to another place on the map, in a yellow sandy-looking area. “This is another place we haven’t explored. We will go northeast,” he pointed in a different direction.

Chrono nodded.

“Hurry and bring us back the egg if it’s there!” his grandmother said with a smile.

Chrono smiled back and nodded. He didn’t realize that they were the ones he needed to protect. He spread his wings and took off into the southern direction.

Chrono soon made it to the forest. There was a sign in front of the forest’s entrance that read, “The Green Darkness”. He looked into the forest and gave a sigh. He slowly walked into it. After about five minutes, he came to a strange looking cave. He smiled, figuring the egg was in that cave. Chrono slowly walked in.

Embedded in the walls, there were statues of strange looking animals parallel to each other. The animals looked like strange birds. He stared at the statues as he continued to walk down the long corridor. It didn’t seem to end until he made it into a gigantic room. In the middle of the open room, there was a large column with something on top. Chrono flew to the top, and the egg, in fact, was there on top. He gave a sigh and smiled as he reached for it. Slowly picking it up, his smile broadened. But his smile suddenly turned into an expression of shock as he picked the egg up. The room started to make a rumbling sound and it started to shake. Chrono looked at the column. It suddenly started to sink into the ground. He suddenly looked at the exit and there was a door coming from the ceiling to seal him in.

“WAAH!” he yelled and flew to it with the egg in his arm.

He made it through the doorway before it closed.

He suddenly became shocked, again, as he saw more doors coming from the ceiling in between the statues.

The statues’ eyes lit up and fire began to rain from their mouths.

He gasped and started to fly to the cave’s entrance.

The final door was closing, but Chrono luckily made it out. The whole cave began to shake and it suddenly crumbled to the ground.

Chrono stared at it and stood up as it slowly collapsed. He gave a sigh of relief and looked at the egg. It was just as his grandfather described it. He felt a strange, yet powerful energy coming from the egg. Suddenly, he heard a loud screech come from far away. Chrono gasped and took off into the air. He flew as fast as he could to where he heard the scream. He continued to look, but saw no one. He headed northeast. Finally, he saw two small figures lying on the ground. Chrono gasped and flew down.

“GRANDMA!! GRANDPA!!” he yelled in shock and in tears and ran over to his grandmother.

Both were still alive, but had great gashes on their bodies.

“Grandma…Grandpa…who did this to you!?” he yelled, with tears streaming down his cheeks leaving lines on his dusty face.

Both were still alive, barely. Chrono kneeled down and lifted his grandmother’s head into his arms.

“Grandma… don’t leave me… please… you are the only ones I have left! Grandpa… grandma… please… don’t leave me!!” he yelled.

His grandmother smiled and slowly lifted her hand up to his face. She placed it on his cheek and Chrono put his hand on top of hers. “Chrono… don’t worry… we will always be with you… don’t let him hurt you… you are… too sweet… be strong…… we love you…” his grandmother said softly and weakly.

“Son, please, keep the egg. You can become strong together, with the creature. Be strong. We love you… good…. bye…..” his grandfather said, and his eyes closed as his soul drifted away from his body.

At the same time, his grandmother’s eyes closed and her hand fell to the ground from Chrono’s face and hand.

Chrono’s eyes widened as more tears streamed down. “Grandma!! Grandpa!!!” he hugged her neck tightly. “No… oh god…” he let out a soft sound. NO!!!” he yelled, very, very loudly. His ear-piercing yell echoed through the atmosphere.

Tears were still streaming down his face. “Grandma….. Grandpa….” he said softly and let go of his now dead grandmother’s neck. He tried to dry his eyes, but there were tears still running down.

He stood up, walked over to a place where the ground was somewhat hard and began to dig. Suddenly, he heard laughing behind him. Maniacal, tormenting laughter. He suddenly jumped and turned around to see a man he knew. It was Tachibana.

“Ta…Tachibana?? What are you doing here!? How did you know I was here!?” Chrono yelled.

“Easy. I was in my wolf form and heard every word you told to that vampire.” Tachibana smirked.

Chrono’s eyes suddenly widened as he looked at Tachibana’s hands. They were covered in dry blood.

“No… Tachibana… you did this…?” he asked.

Tachibana laughed again and said, “Yes, I did. They were quite pathetic really. Just as your mother and father were, but only weaker.”

Chrono’s sadness very quickly turned to anger. “You did this! How could you!!??” he yelled.

He laughed more. “Aww.. Boohoo. Did I hurt you wittle feewings?” he asked tauntingly.

“SHUT UP!!” he yelled.

He laughed yet again and said, “Since when do you tell me what to do? Your whole family was pathetic.”

Chrono started to growl very harshly. A black ring suddenly appeared under him. “I SAID SHUT UP!!!”

At that instant, a black energy blast came from his body. It engulfed him. Purple lightning bolts suddenly formed around him as his body grew to a blackish color. A black beam came up from the ring that was under him.

“W…what is happening!?” Tachibana yelled.

The black beam slowly caved in and formed around Chrono’s body. The black shape of his body slowly began to grow and change. It grew to about thirty feet high.

“What!?” Tachibana yelled again.

The black light slowly started to fade back into the original color. The black figure began to take color. Chrono no longer stood there, but a dragon. An evil looking dragon. It had dull golden scales and demonic wings. But on some parts of his body, the bones showed. His skin was rotten in some places. He had small brown horns on the top of his head and sharp spikes going down his spine. A fierce growl came from the dragon’s throat.

“C…Chrono!?” Tachibana yelled.

The dragon smirked. “Yes, foolish parasite. I am Nightmare Chrono. You have wronged me for the last time. You will pay for all that you have done to me!!!” he yelled.

But it wasn’t really Chrono that was talking. It was an alter ego, if you will.

Nightmare Chrono jumped at Tachibana. But he quickly teleported behind Nightmare and fired a blast of energy at him. It hit him in the back of the neck and made him hit the ground with a loud crash.

“Ouch…” he said and slowly got back up. Tachibana laughed.

“You are weaker that I had expected!” he yelled.

Nightmare growled and raised a claw. A black and red beam came from it. It flew at Tachibana with incredible speed, but Tachibana teleported again, behind Nightmare, and fired another beam at him. Nightmare was hit again. But this time, he was hit into a side of a mountain and was knocked out temporarily. His body suddenly gave off a bright flash of yellow light. It engulfed Nightmare again and slowly shrunk back to his normal size and form. The light dimmed and he was back in his Yoshi form.

Tachibana laughed once again and said, “You pathetic excuse for a fighter. You cannot defeat me. No one can!” He laughed yet again.

While Chrono was unconscious, he had a dream. In his dream, he was standing in front of his mother and father.

“Mother? Father?” he said.

They nodded.

“Where am I!?” he yelled.

“Listen to me, son. There is something controlling Tachibana. It wasn’t his doing that killed mother and father. You have to stop the Black Demon Hearts group from hurting him and anyone else. Good Luck!” His mother and father said.

They slowly faded out.

“Wait! Don’t leave me! Please!” Chrono yelled and ran after the disappearing Yoshies.

Chrono slowly woke up in reality. He groaned and rubbed the back of his head and looked around. “Uhn… where am I?” he said.

He then saw Tachibana. Chrono studied him, but couldn’t see anything that looked evil. He closed his eyes and tried to feel anything that was giving off evil energy. Suddenly, his eyes flashed open and looked at a necklace around Tachibana’s neck. That was the thing that was controlling him.

Chrono nodded and flew at Tachibana. But, he suddenly teleported again. Chrono looked back and saw Tachibana fire another blast at him. But this time, he dodged it.

“How am I going to defeat him!?” he said.

Out of nowhere, a loud booming noise could be heard. Both of them looked around. The egg on the ground was glowing. It was giving off the loud noises. Chrono looked back at Tachibana and noticed that he was occupied by staring at the egg.

Chrono smirked and yelled, “Now’s my chance!” He flew at Tachibana, summoned his Sword of Dreams, and sliced at the necklace around his neck, but careful not to cut Tachibana’s neck. His eyes widened as the necklace fell to the ground and broke, letting out a strange form of smoke which disappeared into the air.

Tachibana acted as if he was shocked. His eyes were widened and he was giving off gasps of air. He grabbed his neck and fell to his knees. Tachibana’s eyes suddenly turned from a pale grey to a crystal blue. The dark markings under his eyes disappeared. He slowly coughed and stood up straight, dusting himself off. He looked at Chrono and then around the place where he was.

“W…Where am I? Chrono? What are you doing here?” Tachibana asked.

He looked at the two deceased Yoshies lying on the ground, still bleeding somewhat, then at his hands. He gasped to see the dried blood.

“Oh… Oh my god… I killed these two!?” he yelled.

He suddenly teleported away from there. Chrono gasped and tried to stop him, but it was too late.

He frowned and walked back over to his departed grandmother and grandfather. He continued to dig the hole he started. He got it deep enough and put his grandfather in and covered him up. He did the same with his grandmother, right beside his grandpa. When he finished, he gathered many round stones and stacked them on top of their graves in a pyramid type shape. He started to sob again as he stood before the two graves. He put his hands together and bowed.

“I love you, grandma, grandpa. I will always keep you in my heart…” he said and slowly walked over to the egg and picked it up.

Then, suddenly, he teleported back to the planet he was on before. He teleported back in front of the burned down Blood Rose Inn. Tears were still streaming down as he hugged the egg close to him. He looked around to see if Jeremy was still there.