Now all this "Kid is a daughter-clone of Schala" blah-dee-dah from CC created more questions than actually solving the "Save Schala" missing subquest of CT.
Having a whole plot explained (or rather unexplained) by a few dearly departed characters in one sitting wasn't much fun.
I also know I'm not the only one who yelled at the TV, "O-i! That's no Schala!"!
Radical Dreamers
I'd like to put CC aside for a bit and bring in the Super Famicom game it's (kinda) based on: Radical Dreamers: The Unstealable Jewel (1996 for Satella View peripheral). It played like a boring 'choose your own story' book, but it had great music. The story is an alternate dimension's CT sequel, which ceases to exist after Chrono Cross occurs in CC (when all dimensions become one).
| Serge | The game starts off with Serge's grandson reading Serge's diary, which is why the game is all narrative from Serge's point of view. Serge during those days was a musician turned traveller, not quite heroic and very much in love with Kid. |
| Kid | A cocky and brash thief who speaks in another dialect, like CC Kid. She has a blonde ponytail although not quite dressed like Kid. She was raised by Lucca (similar to CC) in an orphanage which was later burnt down. Kid was the only survivor while Lucca was abducted. Magil found Kid and since then took her under his wing. Kid then changed from the girl she used to be. Kid is also carrying a Chrono Trigger (a Time Egg). |
| Magil | Physically a CC Guile (JP version is Alf - short for Alfador) clone who is wearing a gold mask that covers his extremely handsome face. He is about 30 years old, floats around, and uses magic. Magil is really Gilbert, a man in love with Riddel since childhood. Still, there's many reasons why he seems to be Magus: he says he knew the wielder of the Masamune, neither as a friend nor enemy, which is just like Magus and Frog's relationship. He also has much knowledge of the Zeal Kingdom and Frozen Flame. He reminisces about the ancient past as though he was there. |
The three are sneaking into Lynx (Yamaneko)'s mansion, looking for the Frozen Flame. The Frozen Flame is a jewel which has a mysterious power, and Magil knows its real origin. He says it's not of their world, and was part of a huge meteorite which fell long ago. Without mentioning the Zeal Kingdom specifically, he says a race once harnessed its power and then fell into oblivion because of it.
Kid has a huge personal vendetta against Lynx. When she was about 10 years old, she tried to get revenge on him for killing Lucca and destroying her home. Kid eventually lost to him because she was young and overpowered. She was about to die at his hands until someone mysteriously rescued her (Magil). Now Kid wants to steal Lynx's most prized item, the Frozen Flame, because Lucca wished for Kid to find and bury it at Crono's grave.
They eventually confront Lynx deep in the mansion and it turns out that he baited Kid to come in the first place. He actually wanted to steal her Time Egg, because when the Time Egg and Frozen Flame are combined, it has the power to change history. Everyone is wounded from battling and Lynx is about to take the Time Egg, but time is stopped.
The Frozen Flame reacts to Kid's Time Egg and reveals that Kid is actually Schala. Schala had been trapped in a temporal vortex outside of time, full of regret and denial. The Time Egg in Schala's possession had scattered her memories and granted her another chance at life. Schala was then reborn as Kid. Kid realizes who she really is, why she was born and what she has to do.
The rest of the game continues with Kid, Magil and Serge facing off with Lynx and searching for The Flame. The story is a lot more nonsensical than that (due to the many possible turns in story you can take), so I just included anything related to Schala. After Kid leaves Serge, she does meet him again in the other dimension during CC. Supposedly this is why she seems to remember Serge clearly, but CC Serge doesn't remember her.
Many RD scenes are repeated in CC, but when they happen in CC they either make no sense or have little impact. CC Guile isn't Magus, and even with their glaring similarities, CC pounds it into your head they're not the same. The opening dialogue text of Serge's diary in RD is also found at Chronopolis in CC. It's those odd "alternate timeline flashbacks" and "memories" you can read.
The mansion and situations encountered in RD are very much like those when sneaking into CC Viper's (Snakebone) Mansion, including the music and battle music. If you remember the letter from Lucca left with Luccia scene in CC, it also happens in RD, except in RD it makes sense. Hope you were able to stomach all that!
Chrono Trigger Remix
On the PSX remake of Chrono Trigger, you see (unexplained) anime cut scene bits with no voice or narrative. Sometimes there's text explanations but not on the one ending about Schala. You don't see Schala, but you do see Lucca waltzing through the forest with a happy little mini-Robo, she notices a flashing blue light emanating from somewhere and goes to it.
It turns out to be a baby with blonde hair wearing Schala's pendant. Since those things aren't standard issue for lost babies floating around dimensions, Lucca in some farfetched way figures out what this baby is all about. She takes in and raises the child, making her house into an orphanage. I guess she is who named the baby Kid. (ouch, what a name)
Chrono Cross
Whatever happened, it seems that in CC's timeline, Janus/Magus never found Schala. Later interviews with CC's staff and the CC Ultimania were needed to explain what supposedly happened.
Through the FATE computer which he constructed in Chronopolis (2300 AD), Belthasar discovered that Schala was still in a dimensional vortex along with Lavos. Schala and Lavos were slowly becoming unified into the 'Devourer of Time', a being with the power to destroy all existence. Over time half of Schala's mind became set on destroying everything. Yet at the same time, the other half of her mind desired to save the universe and to be rescued herself.
Belthasar then performed plans and experiments to stop Lavos and save Schala in the past. The 'Project Kid' plan had Schala clone herself somehow (possibly her pendant had power left in it yet?), sending her copy into Serge's dimension along with her pendant (to protect the daughter-clone). The kid was then found by Lucca (1004 AD).
When Serge cried from the poison of a cat demon on the beach as he was dying (1006 AD), he reached Schala and touched her heart before her evil, destructive side became dominant. Her power brought Serge to Chronopolis, in the hopes of saving him with the Frozen Flame. This action caused the past and the future to intersect, dividing the world into two: one dimension where Serge lived and one where he died.
Ten years later, the story of CC begins. This is where Serge and Kid meet and go dimension hopping to set things right using Kid's astral amulet/pendant. Lavos still has Schala encased within it and only Serge who has come into contact with both Schala and her clone can free her. When she is freed, all dimensions become one and everything that happens is left up to speculation.
The original Schala most likely returns to her own time with Janus. Kid then begins to become womanly and accepts being Schala 'Kid' Zeal as she continues searching for Serge. There's speculation saying that they become one person, but that is just too weird.
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