Chrono Trigger - Rescuing Leene
If you talk to the maid in one of the towers, she exclaims Chancellor is a man of faith. He is so devout, he goes to the cathedral every day. Let us go there and see if we catch him there. Even if you don’t talk to the maid, the cathedral is the only place left unexplored.
Inside the church, there are a few people praying. It does not take much for them to drop the act. Lucca and Crono make short work of the initial attack, but then get ambushed. Just when things seem dire, green flashes across and the enemy lays dying. There is a human sized amphibian with a sword here. This is Frog and he will be the new edition to our party. Lucca is a little creeped out by a giant frog (who is also named Frog) who looks like a distant cousin of Peppy (of Starfox fame). When she sees how competent of a fighter Frog is, Lucca gets over herself quickly. I remember Frog talking in old timey English, but that’s not the case here. He talks just like everyone else. I think it was to represent the time he came from. Now I want to see if Ayla will talk normally or not.
Inside, none of the fiends are wearing disguises. Some of them even question why our team members are still wearing their costumes. With some exploration we find the switch that opens the door to the inner hall. Here the imposter Chancellor is threatening Queen Leene. The persona of Chancellor is shed to reveal the true form of Yakra, the first boss we will face in our adventrures. This might be the lowest overall level of my team while fighting Yakra. Usually I grind before I come in here. But this battle is still pretty short and sweet. Once he is defeated, Crono frees the real Chancellor from the chest he was locked in. With both, the Queen and the Chancellor saved, we head back to the castle, hoping we have unscrewed the past.
Back at the castle, the King is happy Leene is back. There is a much needed sense of joy in the midst of an ongoing war. And Frog is here to throw cold water on it. He takes Queen’s kidnapping as a personal failure. As such he has decided to leave his job and become a hermit. Frog declares he brought danger to the Queen by being here and will leave to protect them. The King and Queen don’t try too hard to stop him either. Their silence is a little damning. Someone else pipes up about cracking down on the fiends in the name of security. This might be the beginning of fascism in Guardia. Chrono tries to convince Frog to not leave but he is adamant he has to go. We are going to let him be and work through his issues, because we have our own problems to take care of right now. Crono and Lucca run to the Queen’s bedroom to see Marle come back into existence.
Marle is alive again and right off the bat, she drops some existential horror on us. She talks of being in nothingness and this nonexistence sounds deeply horrifying. This game is too colorful and peppy to dwell to long on the questions of mortality and I am thankful for that. There are other instances in Chrono Trigger, where the narrative turns dark. It contrasts well with the visual themes of game.
Marle realizes her friends know that she is a royalty when Lucca calls her Princess Nadia. She immediately apologizes to Crono and Lucca for lying about her identity. She only did it because she felt that will be the only way she would be able to enjoy herself at the fair. With all of this out of the way, it is time to go back to our own time. Only if they knew what they are heading into.
Lucca opens the gate to the future and all three go back. Princess Nadia invites Crono to the castle to thank him properly. Nothing bad will happen over there right?
11-21-20
