Reappearing in the empty valley that Truceburg would one day be built in was starting to become old hat. Heh, funny, zipping around the time-line was starting to become normal to me. I still looked forward to the day when I could stop, though. That would mean my job had finally been done.
Of course, all the steps between then and now were likely to keep us busy for a long time yet. Thankfully, I had nothing but time to spare.
The four of us made our way to the capitol, High Aerie, and received a friendly nod from the populace as we passed them by. Apparently they still remembered us, which made walking through the place a lot easier.
"Hmm," I said, thinking aloud. "Where should we go to learn about the things that have happened since we left?"
"A good place to overhear gossip is the bar, or in this era, the tavern," Justice commented.
"As good a start as any," I agreed. Just as a platoon of soldiers started marching down the street, and we scurried out of their way. "Although...Justice, do you have any information as to what would be going on in this era?"
The robot whirred before nodding. "Circa 599, due to the death of the queen's latest bodyguard, the king would send out the army to find and deal with the Fiendlord. Though, since we have changed history..."
"Yeah, Gregory's alive, but she still poses a threat," I quipped. "Especially if she made those fiends that kidnapped the queen."
"Then now would be a good time to ask how we can help," Zehan pointed out. "We should do our best to stop her before more are put into danger."
I then saw something that I knew we could use. Something that would provide us an easy access line to the front lines. A wagon with food piled into it.
"An army marches on its stomach," I pointed out to the others even as I pointed out the wagon. "We can offer our services as guards for the food, and then we'll be one step closer to finding and putting the Fiendlord down for good."
"Works for me," Copper said as we made our way over to the wagon.
"A logical plan," Justice agreed.
Fortunately, the food convoy was glad to have us as guards, as long as we didn't try to eat any of the food on the wagon. The forces of Griffenhiem were currently engaged in a pitched battle to the south, in a mountain pass through which fiends tended to come through. Neither side was gaining any ground, though this couldn't hold true forever. Something would have to give, and the food would help see to it that the soldiers still had the strength to fight.
It took us a day to arrive at the pass, and when we did, it wasn't an encouraging sight. The soldiers were barely holding on at holding back the fiends. A quick display from both Zehan and Copper, combining their Fire and Ice magics together into a freezing-burning technique, saw the fiends scared off for a moment.
"We'll handle things from here!" I shouted as I drew my katana and pushed past the front lines. My allies followed along behind me, and I heard a few whispers along the lines of 'was that magic from non-unicorns?'
"Weapons system on-line," I heard from Justice. "Begin dispensing of punishments."
"I couldn't agree more," Zehan said as he drew his staff. Copper said nothing, just flicked her turret to energy mode as I ran electricity down my blade.
Lighting was all I was seeing then. Electricity erupted from me to strike the fiends assembled before us, and when I felt like I couldn't reliably do it anymore, I switched to simple swordplay, cleaving my foes with my new katana.
Note to self, next time we see Anima, tip him well for this blade. It was like a dream sword for me. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw Copper lighting her foes up with energy and fire, and Zehan dishing out more than a few hits with his staff as he froze some other beings solid. Justice just kept lighting foes up with his lasers, or punching them with his hoof when they got too close.
All our training in the future had paid off, it would seem. Because it wasn't long before we had cut the innumerable horde down to nothing more than a few stragglers, who were fleeing when they saw the situation was no longer in their favor.
There was cheering from behind us, and we realized that we had put on a show for the army that was supposed to have done this in our stead. I sheathed my blade and turned to see the guards we had been defending cheering and clapping for us.
"Thank you," I said, taking an unsteady step as I felt my exhaustion rush into me. "But now I need to rest..."
I didn't get to finish that sentence, as I felt myself falling towards the ground next.
When I next awoke, it was in a tent with a griffon standing watch over me. The moment I stirred, he moved to leave, and I woke up mostly alone, wondering what had happened. I remembered the fight...but not what came after to put me in the tent.
I quickly got some sort of answer as Copper barreled into the tent and tackle-hugged me. "You stupid, stupid stallion!" she berated me. "Using your powers to the point of passing out! What were you thinking?!"
"...That we had an army we had to deal with?" I replied. "Look, I'm sorry I worried you, all right? But what's done is done. And now with the fiends out of the way, we can easily try to locate Gregory and see how he's doing."
She just sniffed, and I sighed before pushing her back and standing up. "C'mon, I'm fine," I told her. "See? Walking, talking. I can do this. We can still do what we meant to do. Finding Gregory and putting a stop to the zebra that thinks herself so powerful."
Copper just sniffed again, but nodded and followed me out of the tent. I was met with a griffon in much shinier armor than the others had been wearing, who was scrutinizing me. Zehan and Justice were just behind him, and Copper quickly followed me out of the tent. "Are you the Crono that these three have been on about, that risked his life to see us all safe?" the likely griffon commander asked of me.
"I did what I could to see as many fiends destroyed as possible," I answered. "It was just my luck that with my friends, the answer turned out to be 'all of them.'"
"I see," the commander mused. "What were those strange powers you all used?"
"Magic," I answered. "We're still coming into our powers, but what we have, we can use well against the fiends that would bar our path."
"Yes, we saw that," the griffon answered. "For what reason did you fight?"
"Because somebody had to," I replied. "Somebody had to help out, and we had the power to do so."
"A sound answer. What is this I hear about you looking for the Queen's Guard, Gregory?"
"He is a friend of mine," I said. "One I hope to meet again. Do you know where he lives?"
The griffon nodded and turned to the pass before pointing at it. "Within the southern half of the empire, there is a forest. It is there, in a place plagued by snakes, that Gregory makes his home. He 'finds the challenge' exhilarating."
I nodded in thanks, before gathering up my allies. We had a friend to check up on.