Silent Light plays. The cave has been converted into a primitive, but livable, village. Amusingly, they have better equipment for sale than the shops in Zeal do, including a sword for Frog that has even higher attack power than the Grandleon.

Elder: I heard from the Philosophers that
Jyaki-sama hides an incredible magical
power that surpasses even Sara-sama.
However, he hates that power, which drives the
Queen mad and torments Sara-sama, and along
with his heart... he has shut that power away.

Ick. Horrible meaning distortion. Blech.

Mud-Eaters, as it turns out, are large, horned beasts. They start with low attack power, but it increases every time you hit them with anything. Use combo attacks for more damage with fewer hits. Ayla can and should steal from them, because the Rainbow Helmet they carry has high defense and halves Sky element damage. The creatures will also reappear if you leave the cave and return, and there's a free inn in the village, so feel free to stock up. At the far end of the cave, a brown goblin, a red Mud-Eater, and a blue Mud-Eater guard a large chain that continues up out of sight. The goblin speaks.

It's a boss fight. The blue Mud-Eater is immune to Water attacks and weak against Fire, and the red one is weak against Water and immune to Fire. The goblin doesn't attack directly, but instead bosses the Mud-Eaters around. All attacks are counterattacked somehow, depending on the attack. If either Mud-Eater dies, the goblin starts countering attacks against itself by healing itself and any remaining Mud-Eaters for 150 HP each. The goblin has very high defense, so killing it at this point is nearly impossible, though it eventually runs away when alone. The easiest way to finish the battle is to bring Marle and Lucca and use their elemental combos with Crono to take out the Mud-Eaters quickly, then just sit there and laugh at the Goblin until it runs away. However, Ayla can steal a Speed Capsule from the Goblin, an Elixir from the red Mud-Eater, and a (very rare) Mermaid Helmet from the blue Mud-Eater. It's also possible (though difficult) to win by taking out only the goblin. Anyway, the chain leads up to a mountain that floats in the air....

Visibility is low, monsters tend to show up out of nowhere, and wind noises replace the music. Different sections of the mountain are connected with more chains. Ayla can steal new weapons from many of the monsters here. There are also rock monsters every so often. These disable skill and item usage at the beginning of battle, are difficult to hit, and run away if they survive long enough. If you manage to kill one before it runs, though, it gives 1000 experience and an obscene 100 tech points. Each one can only be fought once, so try to make it count. Ayla is ideal because of her high hit rate, and the Hit Ring helps too. They don't really have that many hit points, so you only need to connect a few times. On the screen after the second save point, there's a Magic Capsule in the corner. The sky gets darker as the party climbs up the next chain.... At the top is a strange platform, with a large blue crystal in the middle.

Marle: The Philosopher of Life is being
imprisoned here....

Lucca: The Philosopher of Life is being
imprisoned here....

Robo: It IS here. The place where the
Philosopher of Life IS BEING confined.

Frog: So it's here... the place where the
Philosopher of Life's being imprisoned....

The crystal starts to disappear.

A big monster rises out of the depths. Hope everyone's healed.... The two arms jointly use Dark and Fire magic against the group, and can also act alone. The Fire attack is both stronger and more common. Equip your characters with the Red Plate, Red Vest, and Black Plate to absorb some of the attacks for best results. The body, which is the real target, doesn't attack, but it will periodically bring the arms back to life. Take out the arms to stop their attacks, then let loose on the body. Ayla can steal a Speed Capsule. After the battle, Manoria Cathedral plays, and the crystal reappears and dissolves, freeing the Philosopher of Life, who looks quite familiar....

Bosch: Indeed, I am Bosch....
But that's odd, how do you know
my name? You do realize this is
my first time meeting you all?
But never mind that, what of the Queen,
of the Abyssal Temple project?
Do you know anything?

MELCHIOR: Indeed, I am Melchior.
Have we...met before?
More importantly, can you tell me
anything about the Ocean Palace?

Bosch: Mmh, I see....
The Queen's mind, so far already....

MELCHIOR: I see...the Queen has
degenerated to that degree...

Bosch: The greater the energy that the
Demonic Vessel sucks up grows, the
more the Queen loses her sanity....
The Queen's human mind has been
consumed by the immortal god Lavos
that sleeps beneath the ocean....

MELCHIOR: The more energy the
Mammon Machine absorbs, the
further the Queen degenerates.
Her spirit has been stolen by the
infamous immortal, Lavos.

The mountain rumbles.

Bosch: Mh! The mountain will fall since you
broke the seal here! Decend quickly!

In the village below, a man rushes into the elder's room.

A child and parents are near the bottom of the chain.

The chain shatters, and the mountain flies off a short distance before falling to the ground nearby.

Bosch and Crono's party are safely in the elder's room. No music plays.

Bosch: Lavos is consuming this planet
as it sleeps beneath the ocean.
If they moved the Demonic Vessel all
the way to the ocean floor, I fear that
Lavos itself might be awakened...!
If we don't do something before it's
too late, terrible things will happen....

A man walks into the room.

Sara's Theme starts playing, and Sara walks into the room, followed by Jyaki.

Elder: Sara-sama... why have you come
to such a place as this...?

Sara: Please stop....
We People of the Light were once just like you.
The difference is nothing more than that we
are compelled to dance by Lavos's power....

Sara: Bosch....
I thought that I would be able to see you
if I came here, since Grief Mountain fell.

Bosch: Is it all right for you to do such
a thing as leaving the palace?

Sara: This is no time to worry about that.
I'm afraid the Abyssal Temple is complete!

Sara: However, the Demonic Vessel will
not work if I am not there....
The Demonic Vessel, I will no longer....
I have opened the Sky Road.
Quickly, the Queen....
Please stop my mother!

The music fades out.

Dalton walks into the room.

Dalton: It's problematic if we don't have
you running it. Isn't it... Sara-sama.

Bosch: Dalton!
I won't let you do as you please!

Dalton just laughs at this.

Dalton: Old man, I can't stand
how you reek of preaching.
Silence!

He blasts Bosch with magic, rushes over, and grabs Sara.

Dalton: Now, I'm having her come down
to the Abyssal Temple with me.
Interfere, and Sara-sama's life....

Dalton smacks Jyaki across the room.

Dalton: Oh come on, it's no good that
every damn one of the brats with the
Queen's blood is stubborn.

Crono and the others draw their weapons.

Dalton: Whoa, don't you guys interfere either.
I'm not one bit scared of the Queen or
anyone. I'm ready to take the head of a
little girlie like this one any time!

Crono and the others put their weapons away.

Dalton: Now then, let us go, Sara-sama.
Your kindly mother eagerly awaits you.

Can't you just feel the sarcasm oozing? Bleh.

Dalton disappears in a flash, taking Sara with him. Silent Light resumes playing as usual.

Bosch: I'm all right....
If we don't somehow rescue Sara,
terrible things will....

Elder: That's unreasonable!
Even for you, Bosch-sama....

Bosch: But if this plan is carried out,
all mankind, no, all life will be
exposed to a crisis...!

The music fades out. Chrono Trigger starts up instead, and Crono steps forward and shakes his head.

Bosch: Y, you guys....
You mean you'll go for me...?

Crono nods.

Bosch: Thanks.... I don't even know your
names, and you're doing everything....

Marle: If it's our names you want,
you'll find out eventually!

Lucca: Don't mention it! We're going
to owe you one later on!

Robo: NO, we ARE also indebted to
you. This is GIVE AND TAKE.

Frog: Don't worry about it.
We owe you one for having
you repair the Grandleon.

Ayla: Old guy, used red stone,
helped Cros.
This time Ayla's turn.

Of course he has no idea what they mean. For him, it hasn't happened yet!

He holds out a bright red blade. It looks a lot like the one Cyrus used in Frog's flashback.

Bosch: This was made from the same shard
of red stone as the Demonic Vessel.
With it, you can break the Demonic Vessel....

After the recent events, many of the villagers have different things to say. Picking a few...

The party heads out to rescue Sara and stop the Queen's plan.... Incidentally, the Gate is no longer sealed, but with the Sylbird, it's also no longer important.