Chapter 1—For those of you who may not know, Prometheus, Epimetheus, Dione, Coeus, Phoebe, Cronus, and Rhea are all the names of actual titans, which would obviously explain why I said their names belong to Greek Mythology. I actually decided to retain ‘some’ of the personality of the original titans for this story. For one thing, Prometheus was said to be one of the most intelligent titans, while Epimetheus was one of the...slightly less intelligent ones, and I show this in my writing. Coeus and Phoebe, meanwhile, were supposedly husband and wife, though I should point out that they certainly never bickered and argued like they do in the story (or as far as I know, anyway). That was thrown in just for the sake of being a little humorous, and whether or not I accomplished that is up to you. Dione’s name, according to mythology, is supposed to be a feminine form of Zeus’s name. Though in this story, she is portrayed more as being a sort of female equivalent of Prometheus, as they are meant to be the most intelligent of the seven. Cronus and Rhea, like with Coeus and Phoebe, are meant to be a couple, as according to legend, and I portray them as being very close (but I’m sure you already figured that out). Also according to mythology, Cronus and his wife were meant to be the true leaders of the titans, but in this fanfic, Prometheus and Dione tend to take on a more commanding role than they. It’s hard to explain why I chose to switch the leadership roles in the story, I guess maybe it was so that the reader would see Cronus as the god-like equivalent of Crono. Just as Cronus is more like an “average” titan, Crono appears to be an average person, even though the storyline of the actual game revolves around him. As for how I came up with the name Nelcro, necro is a word which means “dead” or “death,” and Lavos is supposedly the “Bringer of Death.” I threw in the L sound just so that it would sound more different. Not much meaning to it, really. :P

 

Chapter 2—In this chapter, Cronus is found using a scythe in combat. This wasn’t inspired by Magus or anything. Truthfully, the scythe was a weapon Cronus used in Greek Mythology.

 

Chapter 5—You notice the titans keep speaking of a superior. One could possibly believe this person to be God.

 

Chapter 6—Something I often wondered about was how the reptites were supposed to be overthrown in the unaltered time-line, since one of the alternate endings shows the reptites dominating the planet (this is when you don’t assist Ayla during the events at the Tyrano Lair). I came to decide that Crono and Co.’s interference messed things up somehow, and Ayla went to track down Laruba later than she was supposed to, which led to the group of reptites encountering Ayla and secretly following her to the tribe, which, in turn, led to the capture of several villagers and ruining the would-have-been invasion.

 

Chapter 7—Several people seem to believe that, in the unaltered time-line, the gurus are never banished. This is apparently evidenced by their presence at the Ocean Palace during Magus’s flashback, and that when Magus posed as the Prophet, he had them banished because he feared they were a threat to his plans. Yet, in my version of the story, they’re sent away anyway. Why is that, you may ask? My decision focused primarily on this one discussion at the CTNP forums regarding Magus’s intentions. Someone had asked why Magus didn’t simply stand up to his mother rather than let everything play itself out until the awakening of Lavos. We eventually decided that ‘one’ of the reasons may have been that he was afraid of creating a paradox, because Janus and the gurus would never have been sent away in time, thus meaning that HE, in turn, would never have returned to stop Lavos (for those of you who complain that there aren’t any paradoxes in CT *with the possible exception of the Leene/Marle incident*, please bear this in mind: we’re talking about what Magus believed at the time, so whether or not paradoxes actually exist in the game is irrelevant). For this reason, sending the gurus away would seem awfully foolish, since 1. They were meant to go back in time along with Janus, and 2. They didn’t seem to pose any threat to the operation to begin with. Because of this, I chose to believe that maybe they were supposed to be banished, but Magus decided to make sure they were, just in case his interference messed it up somehow. And I feel he had a right to be concerned, since the game (as well as the rest of the series for that matter) shows that the consequences of our actions are complicated, very complicated indeed.

Also, I felt I wanted to create some form of tension in this chapter, and going through with the imprisonment of the gurus, together with Schala’s worries, looked to be the best solution.

By using this explanation, Crono and Company didn’t have to rescue Melchior in the altered time-line due to the connection shared between the pendant and amulet. Magus knew this, of course, and so sent them away too without regrets. I like to believe that Melchior would have escaped eventually, but the party rescues him before he can contact Schala via the pendant, so it doesn’t matter much in the long run, with the exception that Gaspar and Belthasar are never rescued as well.

Of course, this is just one of my ideas on how the unaltered time-line may have played itself out, and if this concept does not appeal to you, that’s just fine. Truthfully, I’m still going over how the events may have played themselves out and what other reasons there may have been behind Magus and the banishing of the gurus. Maybe I’ll come up with something else along the way (but that doesn’t mean I’ll then come back and make major changes to this chapter’s plot).

Anyway, chapter 7 was, without a doubt, the hardest chapter for me to write, so you better have appreciated it. *Flashes a threatening glare*

 

Chapter 8—Personally (and this is something several others seem to share), I feel the war between the humans and mystics would have happened regardless of whether or not Janus ended up in the middle ages. I don’t really see why he would have been responsible for it, especially when the war would draw more attention to him, and I’m sure he didn’t want anyone to get in the way of his plans, as indeed happens in the game itself.

For those who may not know, the knights Jonas and Ian originally appeared in the Novel Project’s Demo Chapters. They are the knights you encounter in Yakra’s lair. Yep, in Wayne’s novelization of the game, he gives those two soldiers names of their own. I wanted someone to fill in for Crono and the others during the storming of the castle in the unaltered time-line, so Jonas and Ian make an encore appearance in this tale of mine.

As to why I gave Glenn a saber scar, I wanted to try and preserve the Glenn as we know him after he became Frog, who was both physically and emotionally scarred by his loss at Denadoro. The emotional scar was already there, but Glenn was uncursed in this unaltered time-line. Therefore, the saber scar was given to him to act as a sort of substitute for that.

 

Chapter 9—For those of you who have read Chapter 2 of the NPDC and remember its content, I’m sure you will have noticed some similarities between it and this. Well, what with reusing Jonas and Ian, and Wayne having been the one who originally inspired this fanfic, I kind of wanted to see this as a prelude to the novel Wayne is writing, even if that is not the case at all. So, the two scenes are basically the same...thing. With a few intentional changes to show how the time stream was affected by Janus’s and Melchior’s arrival to the different eras.

Eh, it’s hard to explain what I’m getting at here. BUT, I just want you to know that I wasn’t basing my writing off your chapter, Wayne, at least not because I didn’t want to do it from the ground up myself, so please don’t kick my butt. *Puppy eyes*

 

Well, that’s pretty much all I have to say about the chapters. Since this is my first fanfic, I don’t know how you all have received it, but I’ve seen some pretty bad stories in my time, so I feel it may be safe to say that I did *okay.* I pray you found it so as well, if not more. If not at all, you’re free to contact me and tell me what turned you off.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the following people: