Chapter Two: Searching Friends

Lucca closed her eyes and prayed for the best as Ankara's portal shut around her and her friends both old and new. They were really in trouble now.

As she fell through the corridors of time and space, she wondered where she'd end up. Who she'd end up with. If she'd ever get home.

After what seemed like forever, she landed hard on a soft, grassy surface. Opening her eyes, she looked around. Over to the east, she could see a city, brightly lit in the waning light of day. Dusk was approaching. To the south, she could see the burnt remains of a house. It looked like it was under repair. North of her was a large forest, and above that a castle rose into the pinkening sky. Guardia Castle.

Lucca breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized her surroundings. It may not have been her era, but at least it was her world. And, actually, it was a good thing it wasn't her era. It was the future, with advanced technology and a fellow genius scientist. Now maybe together, the two of them could find a way to locate the others.

Lucca looked around again. Laying up against a tree was Magus, and a few feet away was Frog. "Oh, great," she muttered. "This should be fun. Those two mix about as well as oil and water, and I'm stuck with them. Goody."

"Madame Lucca?" Frog got up and looked around. "Where art we? This locale doth not look familiar."

"This is the future," Lucca answered.

"The future?" Frog looked surprised.

"Yes, it changed when we defeated Lavos. You do remember that, don't you?" Magus asked condescendingly as he walked over. Frog glared at him.

"Keep a civil tongue," he croaked. "This is not the time for thy sneers and sarcasm. We must find our friends."

"Like I don't know that!" Magus shot back. "I have to find Bleu!" He looked worried.

"Is that all thou cares about?" Frog inquired.

"It's enough." He glared at the amphibian. "Don't provoke me. I'm not in the mood. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Art thou ever?" Frog taunted.

"All right, that's it!" Magus drew his scythe, poised for battle. "I warned you."

"So thee did." Frog unsheathed his sword. The two started towards each other. Just as their weapons clashed, Lucca startled them.

"STOP IT!" she yelled. They turned to see her aiming her Wonder Shot at them. "Stop it right now! We don't have time for your petty arguments!"

"This isn't a petty argument, we're settling a score here!" Magus tossed back. "And you won't fire that, anyway."

"Oh, yeah?!" Lucca pulled the trigger and the shot whizzed between them, just barely missing their faces. The two leaped back, stunned. Lucca smiled tightly. "Just to show you that I mean BUSINESS. Now put those away and come on! We're going to the castle! Peacefully!" Muttering to themselves and glaring at each other, they did as they were told and followed Lucca through the forest to the castle, exchanging glares all the way.

"Lucca! Magus! Where have you two BEEN?! And where are the others?!" Rydia and Schala rushed to greet them inside the castle. Rydia gave Frog a strange look. "And who's this? What happened?"

Lucca took a deep breath and let it out. "Well, Rydia, you see, it's a --"

"Long story?" Rydia finished with a long-suffering sigh. "I figured as much. Come along, we'll sit down, rest, eat, and you can tell me all about it." The three followed her and Schala.

"So then, Ankara comes along and reveals that everything had been a sham to get control of the important places, whichever those are. And that she'd intended to kill Katra all along and was only mad because we'd done it for her and spoiled her fun a bit."

"Talk about a twisted sister!" Rydia exclaimed. "Jeez!"

"Yeah. Then she opens some kind of portal, which she says is going to splinter the group and send us all to different worlds and eras so we can never go home and never stop her." Lucca sighed. "So here we are. I do think, though, that it was fortunate that we ended up in this place and time."

"Why's that?" Rydia asked as she took a sip of her water.

"Because you and I can work on a device to locate them and rescue them!" Lucca looked hopeful and excited.

Rydia frowned slightly and adjusted her glasses. "Are you sure that's possible?"

"Yes! Look at this!" Lucca pulled out her device. "I used this to transport myself and the group to different eras and worlds. Surely we can adjust and duplicate it to locate and rescue them?"

Rydia took the device and examined it. "I don't see why not," she said finally. "I've been working on a sophisticated tracking device that doesn't require attachment to the person you're looking for. If I can hook it up to this and then put it inside the Epoch, we might just be able to do it."

"We're going to need something bigger than the Epoch," Magus reminded them.

"Oh, yeah..." Rydia scowled. "How are we going to do this?"

"Well, if I remove certain things from the Epoch and put them in another vehicle, I can make it capable of time and dimensional travel," Lucca said. "The real problem is getting a vehicle big enough, getting a vehicle period."

Rydia lit up. "That's easy!" she exclaimed. "We'll just borrow one of the royal family's big skimmers! There's tons of room in them!"

"How do you know they'll let us borrow them?" Lucca asked with a frown. "Or do you intend to steal one?"

"Really, Lucca!" Rydia shook her head, amused. "Have you forgotten? Daria is the princess! When we explain that we're going to bring her home, they'll be thrilled to let us have one!"

"Oh, yeah." Lucca looked embarrassed. "Let's get to work, then."

"Right, then!" Rydia said cheerily.

"Okay, hand me that. As soon as I tighten this, it'll be all ready for its test drive." Lucca reached over and handed Rydia what she had asked for. The young inventor made a final adjustment, then stood up and wiped her hands on her soiled work pants. "All done and ready to go!" she announced with a grin. "Let's see what it tells us."