The Artifact
By Moonraker One

CHAPTER FOUR - All Hail Lord Crono

	Not a single face in the shrine at that moment was without a sheer look of incredulousness. The two instructors, along with their history classes, were the first in a billion years to witness the awakening of the legendary Four Sleepers. If the stories about the legendary sleepers were accurate, both teachers knew that the four confused time travelers in front of them held the one key to eternal life and youth, as well as never-ending power. Several of the kids, whom never had a chance to see the four before, still were just as amazed, for they were seeing a sight that many generations before them had longed for and never achieved. Countless generations had waited for the day their mythical four finally awoke, and the group in the room got to see it.
	“Um, all-powerful ones?” one of the shrine employees mustered the courage to say, making his presence known. “May I be so bold as to…ask what your names are?” His supervisor mildly smacked him on the shoulder.
	“Michael!” he rasped in a whisper. “Do not be so impetuous in the presence of holiness!” Crono shook his head as he turned to the supervisor.
	“Oh, don’t worry,” the time warrior said. “He’s okay. I’m Crono, and my friends are Lucca, Marle, and…” Glenn, the voice in his head answered, “Glenn.” Glenn, the real, human form of Frog, looked to his fellow traveler with a “how’d you know that” look. He already knew the answer, of course, for any question the time travelers wondered about instantly got answered. “But hey, if you don’t need us or anything, we’ve got business to deal with…” One of the instructors quickly moved in front of Crono as he stepped towards the door, with a plea for him to stay.
	“No, we understand, you having to destroy Lavos like the legends say,” she hastily hammered off, “but please stay just a bit longer! We can learn so much from you!” Lucca had a question of her own as she stepped in front of her punk-haired friend.
	“If you’re a technological society, I’d like to see if I can help…” she offered. The other instructor, having minored in computer science in college, took it upon himself to interrupt Lucca mid-sentence with a counter-offer.
	“Oh, we’re really struggling to find a clean, inexpensive power source, Lady Lucca! Could you please help us?” Before he could finish explaining, Crono saw her flash one of those “I’m-there” looks. He smiled at the thought of her telling them the secret to a limitless power source that was cheap and non-polluting, but he instantly foresaw the inevitable conclusion of such an action. Before she even left the building, she turned to her fellow time traveler and the look on her face signified that she knew it as well.
	Lucca, he warned her.
	I know, she telepathically replied. If I just give them the secret, they’ll annihilate themselves. That’s why I’m not going to just tell them. I’m gonna…give them a little push. That way, they won’t find the final answer for at least another four thousand years. You think that’s enough time for their primitive mind to adapt?
	He nodded, and she left the room. Marle and Glenn approached him. They had a question on their minds that Crono shared. They each had begun to sense the presence of people’s souls. It felt like a twinge at first, but a few moments after waking up, they began to feel an energy fluctuation that represented the souls of each living thing. A thought began to make itself known within all of them; they didn’t know what they should do with their newfound power. Should they allow nature to maintain its present course, or should they become the deities that everyone worshiped during the course of their lives? It was a big question, and it seemed as though no one could more adequately answer the question than someone they’d met at the end of time.
	*				*				*

	“Crono, I’m not really the one you should ask,” Gaspar said to the young time warrior as he and his allies stood in the middle of his platform, staring at him with confusion in their eyes. The door behind him, leading to Spekkio’s chamber, flung open. Something walked out; something they hadn’t normally seen. Although, while he was inside his own chamber, he looked like his final Nu form, once he stepped out of the chamber, his form shifted, taking on the appearance of a man garbed in an ordinary-looking suit.
	“Crono,” Spekkio said with a tear in his eyes. He was looking at a sight he thought he’d never see. “I can scarcely believe what I’m staring at. I mean, before, you were just a plain kid with a radical haircut, and now, look at you. You‘re the one, the alpha and omega, the almighty one, you‘re…god, in the sense that most people believe. As are your friends.”
	“Spekkio?” Marle half asked, half stated. She thought a minute; in the language of the populace she’d just left behind, his name meant something. “Your name means…means…”
	“Entity,” Spekkio answered. “Yup. The one that created it all.” He stretched his arms out as wide as they’d go. “I made everything there is. And I knew what I wanted every minute of everyone’s life to be before I even began the process of creating the universe. Fate, in essence, I wrote. There was just one problem.”
	“Not even you had the power to do both the creation of all things and the implementation of fate, right?”
	He pointed at her. “Wrong! I could very easily have implemented fate. I could have said, ‘okay, here’s how I want it to be,’ but that’s not what I wanted. I wanted mortals to decide their own fate, with nothing written for the time being except time itself, the only thing written being that time has no end. Technically, there is no beginning either, because something is limited only when compared to something else.”
	“Whoa whoa there,” Gaspar cut in, “what’re you talking about?”
	Spekkio turned to his friend. “A planet’s size is limited when compared to the size of the limitless universe. A man’s lifespan is limited when compared to the expanse of time. Time itself has nothing to be compared to; how can you declare it limited? I’ve always existed, as has time.” He turned back to the four time travelers. “When there was nothing except a blank, black canvas with nothing inside of it, I was only a gathering of energy in a limitless void. When I decided that there should exist other life, I declared that relevant time had begun, which means that everything before that point had been irrelevant, due to the fact that there was no life.” He motioned to the platform upon which they were standing. “There is nothing here save for our platform which stretches downwards into infinity. Again, since time cannot end, this is the point in time which all relevant history has ended, and the age of nothingness has begun again. I linked all periods of relevant history to this point, due to the fact that as long as life exists, the natural timeline will always stop short of this point.”
	Crono shook his head. “That…doesn’t answer my question.”
	Spekkio took the hint. “Ah, you want to know what you should do.” He thought a minute. “Kill Lavos; what else can you do?” He thought some more. “After you do that, just make sure this point in time, where all relevant things in existence have passed out of it, never happens in real life. Watch after Heaven and all the other realms in which spirits walk once their life has passed. Just be happy.” With a clap of his hands, he sent them back to a thousand A.D..

	*				*				*

	While they stood on a plane of existence high above the one that the Earth rested on, watching down upon the planet they’d been born on, they each looked at each other, and the limitless expanse of white that comprised the part of reality they were standing in. A large orb in front of the four displayed the events of the planet Earth, and the rest of space where they were, expanding outward infinitely in all directions, was nothing except pale blank whiteness. They both knew and didn’t, what this place was. It was the part of existence that was Heaven, and yet it wasn’t. The truth was, it was where Heaven was going to be, once all four decided upon what it was to be. Each had their own unique visions of what it should be, and they all had their own mental pictures of how it was to look and be. Marle, thought that Heaven should be a place that consisted of grassy plains, sparkling rivers and bountiful fruit trees on a flat expanse of land that stretched infinitely towards each horizon, and thus had enough space for every being in existence. Glenn, pictured the holy realm as the place in your life where you were the happiest ever, and that moment lasted for all eternity; nothing except the single happiest moment ever. Lucca had a unique vision of heaven that it was a place where you simply existed in a state where you had no questions in your mind that were unanswered; you could roam freely amongst the fellow dead in perfect harmony, because nothing was unknown, and all the secrets of the universe were open to you at any moment. Crono had the old-fashioned notion that his mother had taught him: heaven was a café, a small diner that had an infinite amount of booths, and you could sit at any moment and eat with any being who’d died, never having to pay or worry about food running out, just limitless conversation and spending time with anyone. He’d loved to picture such a heaven when he was younger.
	“So, now that we’re…” Marle hesitated to overstate the truth, “…special…” Crono interrupted.
	“We’ve been given a special gift, Marle,” he stated. “Now that we have it, we have to use it properly. I say the first course of action is to decide upon what to do with Heaven here.”
	Lucca had a serious question which she would have interrupted with, had her own mind not answered it for her immediately. Where are all the souls that have died until this point? She would have asked.
	Nowhere, the answer was. Heaven exists outside the time stream of the physical universe. Essentially, you could say Heaven always exists before the physical universe came into being. No one has died until the final decision on Heaven is finalized.
	Marle seemed flabbergasted. So, everyone who’s died goes NOWHERE until we’ve decided?!
	Wrong, her mind corrected. Remember, this place always exists before the physical universe, so by the time the first mortal has died, you’ve already long since created Heaven.
	“Hast anyone amongst us decided upon the holiest of holy places?” Glenn inquired. Crono smiled as he turned to his former amphibian friend.
	“It is very near impossible to get four different people to decide upon one, final conclusion,” he informed them, for which they already knew, “and even when that happens, we can never be fully happy about it. So,” he thought of a way to put into words the only inevitable conclusion, “how about it be all of these things at once?”
	Lucca raised an eyebrow. “You mean, like, we all get our own Heaven, and mortals can switch between them merely at will?”
	“It is the only way we can all agree,” Marle reasoned, “and it’s the only way we can get all the mortals who end up here to be happy. Here‘s the kicker though; on the rules on how to get to heaven, we cannot be flexible. There must exist only one truthful way. I say we do it the moral way of letting in mortals who‘ve repented.”
	“I say we do it the old-fashioned way and simply judge them all ourselves,” Crono said.
	“What?!” Glenn almost jumped backwards. “Dost thou realizeth that if we did that, it would requirest all of our time?”
	“That’s a problem? We’ve got all the time in existence. Time is no issue.”
	“But,” Marle argued, “that would require us to subject mortals to the unfair laws of nature!”
	“Nature’s done a pretty good job thus far.”
	“How can we answer people’s prayers, judge the living and the dead, AND intervene in certain cases? You always hear of God intervening in someone’s life!” Crono pulled her closer to him.
	“If ONE ENTITY,” he stressed the point as severely as he could, “could do each of those things in ONE MOMENT, surely FOUR OF US can do it in an INFINITE period of time.”
	Before any of them could possibly go about agreeing on anything, a flash of light and they were back at the end of time, staring at a Spekkio who’d changed from his ordinary-looking suit into a grand outfit that was all-white, quite a contrast to the dark background that was the empty universe at the end of time. He was crying as he placed his hands on the shoulders of Crono and Marle, who just happened to be next to each other. He wiped his eyes and returned his hand to her shoulder. “I’m absolutely touched that you’d be willing to take on a burden far too big for the meek human mind to contemplate,” he said through a faltering voice, “but I simply cannot place such a terrific task upon you, especially when you have such fulfilling lives to lead.” With a single snap of his fingers, he reduced the four back to their mortal selves. Gone was their limitless knowledge and power, and their bodies were back to where they were before Crono completed the artifact. “Please, go back to your own times and live out the lives you want.” He suddenly remembered something. “Oh, and take this with you.” He handed them the artifact, once again surging with power. “I’ve filled it with enough power to avert personal tragedies for the rest of your lives, and remade it only to do such things. It cannot be removed from your possessions; consider this my final parting gift.”
	“And of Lavos? You said for us to kill him,” Crono inquired.
	Spekkio shook his head. “I’m the Entity, punk-hair, and erasing him from being would be beneath me. Rather, I shall remake him, place his soul at the moment of birth into a different body that will have an impact far, FAR less than he has in his current one. I merely wanted to test you and see if you‘d accept this power I allowed you to have and I wanted to know…to know if you‘d do the same thing I did. I HAD to know I wasn‘t wrong to make four distinct varieties of Heaven but only one way to get there.” He shook his head. “Forgive my ramblings. Go, and remember to visit me anytime!” As his frame slowly morphed back into Nu form, due to the fact that the time travelers were mortal again, he clapped his hands before the change was complete, and the four were back in their own time; a thousand A.D., near a time portal that would take Glenn home. They looked around; gone were the glass-and-metal domes that had been before; in fact, everything was back to good old Guardia Kingdom. Only one thing was strange.
	“Lucca,” Marle had wanted to ask her scientist friend why she could see an aura around her, but her voice came raspy and almost not at all. What’s wrong with my voice!? she said within her mind.
	“I don’t…” Crono said with a faltering voice. He clapped his hands over his mouth. I don’t know Marle, he mentally projected, but I’ve got it too!
	Totally bizarre! Lucca spoke with her mind. We can talk telepathically, but not easily with our voices! It’s like… She thought of the only logical explanation.
	You’re right, Spekkio interrupted, sending his voice from the End of Time. Lavos. Without him here to stop it, evolution took its natural course, and Humans evolved into telepaths. You can still use your voices, they just need a little practice.
	Glenn, I guess this is goodbye, Crono said, drawing in closer to hug his fellow time-traveler. You’re quite a friend to have.
	Crono, you need to feed the cats, Glenn’s reply was. His punk-haired friend, upon hearing his mother’s voice come from Glenn’s mouth, jolted back in confusion.
	What the hell was that?! he shouted. Glenn smacked him.
	Now you wake up and don’t you use that foul language again! 
	As he drew backwards to contemplate what he was hearing, a violent shake instantly drew Crono out of his sleep. He looked at the wall and then to his mother, standing over him as he lay in bed. No WAY! he thought. It was all a dream?! He looked at his mother again, who went to the window and pulled it open.
	“Today’s the first day of the Millennial Fair!” she announced verbally. “You were so excited that you didn’t sleep well, did you? Get up and at ‘em!” He whipped his head left and right; none of it was real?! When his vision went to his bedside, he saw an object sitting there on his dresser.
	It was a golden pyramid, surrounded by eyes on all its sides. He smiled and looked toward his ceiling, as though a certain presence was hovering above him.
	On a familiar platform, a familiar old man turned to a young-looking man in a grand, all-white outfit. A grin was painted on both their faces. Gaspar playfully smacked the young man on his back. “Now you’re just showing off, Spekkio!”
	“I know,” Spekkio said to his old friend, “but even though it’s for him, it’s what I’VE always wanted; to one day just wake up from it all, and have my life be ordinary once again, no matter what that meant. No problems, no difficulties, just an ordinary life.”
	Gaspar bowed his head. “Even though you gave him a wonderful gift of living normally again, you do of course realize that it won’t affect you here, Spekkio?”
	Spekkio bowed his head; yes, he’d known. He’d always longed for it, and never got it. He was The Entity, The Creator, The Giver of Life, and The All-powerful and Ever-Living God; he could never get it. He’d eternally have to endure the universe’s most prestigious curse. “I know, Gaspar.” He headed for his chamber behind the Guru of Time. “I’m going to take a nap, then get back to watching over existence. Good night Gaspar.”
	Gaspar stopped his friend mid-stride. “Tell me, though, Spekkio, why’d you test him like that?”
	Spekkio walked towards his friend and put a hand on Gaspar’s shoulder. “I…I had to see if any mortal had the divine spark within them. That’s why I killed those people, Gaspar, I had to see if anyone had that divine spark.”
	Gaspar offered his condolences. “It must’ve hurt, Spekkio, knowing you had to kill your own creations in order to test a mortal.”
	Spekkio fought off tears. “It hurts me, the images I burned into my memory by doing what I did. And seeing the results made it unbearable.” At this point, Spekkio could handle it no longer, and burst into tears. Gaspar held him in an embrace more akin to a mother consoling a child. “Despite the fact that I’ve made it all just a terrible dream, the events of that Day, and made it so the event never happened, it still hurts. It still aches my mind for the images of a Day that now, never happened at all. Well, a short sleep and I’ll get back to watching over everyone. Good night, Gaspar. Oh by the fates, I wish for forgiveness.”
	Gaspar looked to his best friend, the all-powerful God Spekkio. With a tear in his eye at the pain the master had to endure, he bowed his head.
	“Good night, Lavos.”

THE END