WHERE ANGELS LOST THEIR WAY

What was the start of all this?

When did the cogs of fate begin to turn?

Perhaps it is impossible to grasp that answer now,

From deep within the flow of time...

But, for a certainty, back then,

We loved so many, yet hated so much,

We hurt others and were hurt ourselves...

Yet even then we ran like the wind,

Whilst our laughter echoed, Under cerulean skies...

(Opening words)

How does it feel when you realized that you don't really exist? How would you react when you realized that you're living a two different lives in two separate worlds? What would you do if you learned that the future of the two worlds depend on you alone? Will you let the future came despite you're aware that it will be whether the destruction or fortune of all? Or you'll destroy it whatever it is? These are the questions that came into my mind after playing the RPG from Squaresoft titled CHRONO CROSS.

The game introduced Serge to me, a teenage boy living a peaceful life in Arni Village. Suddenly, he was transported into another dimension by unknown force. In this world, Serge realized that he's already dead and now only the ghost of the boy who died 10 years ago. Puzzled by the weirdness of the present world he stumbled, Serge embarks on a life theatening quest to find an answer.

In his adventure, he encountered many friends who were also troubled by mysterious events that happened in their world. He also stumbled into the shore that transported him into another dimension and realized that in this shore the wormhole between two different world lies called ANGELUS ERRARE or Where Angels Lost Their Way.

Later, he encountered Lynx a demi-human with the face of panther demon. This encounter brought Serge one of the most challenging experience he must face. In Fort Dragonia, Lynx stolen Serge's identity using the Dragon Tear by transferring himself into Serge's body. He left the true Serge in the body of Lynx where people who oppose Lynx despised him. In order to get back his true form, Serge must travel into two different worlds to get the Dragon Tear that will return him to who really he is.

This search brought Serge closer into unfolding the truth. One of the most shocking is, Lynx himself is Serge's father named, Wazuki. He does not only encountered demi-humans and humans in his adventure but also gigantic and powerful creatures known as the Six Dragon Gods. The red dragon possesses the power of fire, the blue controls the water, the green rules the nature, the yellow is the master of the land, the white reigns the air, the black holds death and the purple dragon known as Lavos, the devourer of time.

The encounter slowly bring Serge to the Dead Sea, which later led to the destruction of FATE, the scientific laboratory that sealed the frozen flame and the six dragon gods. Upon the fall of fate, the six dragon gods rejoiced for they are free once again and ready to unleash their vengeance."Fate has fallen, Fate has died" said the water dragon. "I shall make them bleed," roared the black dragon. To whom the dragon gods will wreck their vengeance? To FATE? No! To humans!

Serge realized that the dragon gods tricked him. For they were the true villain. When FATE defeated Lavos, he divided himself into six species and scattered somewhere in two different dimensions vowing vengeance to humans once they're freed again.

Finally, Serge encountered Lavos and Princess Schala as one. Serge realized that Princess Schala herself is the clone of Kid and he must free her from Lavos. Using the Time Egg, Serge traveled into Darkness Beyond Time and successfully defeated Lavos and freeing Princess Schala. This defeat restored the time dimension into one where Serge finally returned to his home and lived happily ever after.

This game was really great and fascinating. The storyline moves at breathtaking pace. For first time players, you might spend much time in solving the riddles of where you're going between two different worlds unless you listen carefully to the clues given by the individuals you encounter in the game. The plot of the story was superb... full of twists and turns. I didn't expect that Kid herself will turn out to be also an important character. Also the revelation of Lynx as Serge's long lost father shocked me. The other plot that surprised me was when I realized that the dragon gods are really the villain in the story. I thought of them as heavenly creatures who are willing to help the humans in defeating Lavos but they turned out to be Lavos himself.

Serge was torn between two worlds and his survival depends on his quest of unfolding the truth and saving the future which is closer to the brink of destruction. It was such a heavy responsibility for the hero. I remember Frodo as one similar to Serge. As Frodo moves closer to Mordor, the One Ring becomes heavier for him to carry and later he realized that he's no longer able to part himself from it. But both Frodo and Serge found strength in their friends' "boundless loyalty and unbearable sacrifices" (from JKR).

I found some part of myself in Chrono Cross. Everyday I'm torn between two lives, one for the light and the other for the dark. There were times I enjoy living in the dark, the other times in the light. I don't really know which one I should allow to exist. By allowing light to be my life, then I should refrain from the darkness that I live. On the other hand, by choosing the dark to be the path of my life, I should shun myself from the light. Sometimes I asks to myself, does living in the light is rewarding? Or it is more rewarding in living in the dark? I'm lost and felt myself standing between the edge of darkness and light. I take the same path of living two different lives everyday. "The same old routine and I felt that my life became a meaningless cycle" (from After Eden). I don't know which path I should take. The path that I will be very grateful someday. Everyday, I ask one same question and struggling to find an approrpriate answer or be enlightened by someone regarding my quest for the true path of life and this question is "what it really means to live?"