Chrono Trigger/The Fated Hour

Now that Crono's back in your party, welcome to the final portion of the game. You have unlimited access to space and time over all the periods you've visited, and if you haven't done so already you can clear out the first set of Sealed Chests easily enough. Saving Crono at Death Peak was more or less "his" sidequest, but you'll find out that every other character has one as well. If you talk to any character with Crono in your party they'll say some words of congratulations, and if you talk to any character whose sidequest hasn't been completed they'll inform you of it. And as always, if you say yes when asked to take a character into your party, it will play their theme music.

There are a few other sidequests/secrets you might consider doing however: as you know, you can compete for a poyozo doll, a clone, and a cat for 10, 40, and 80 points respectively. However, if you win a prize twice you can win some cat food to place in your cat's bin, giving you up to 15 cats which will show up in one of the endings. The other interesting thing is that you can win a Clone and a Poyozo doll of each character if you put them at the front of the party and play the games in Norstein Bekkler's lab. Each Clone will show several poses of that character and each Poyozo doll will play the main theme of that character, although Crono's, Marle's, and Lucca's seem to just be Marle's theme. The clone and Poyozo doll will show up at that character's "home." For each character:


 * Crono's clone and Poyozo doll will show up in his room at his house
 * Lucca's clone and Poyozo doll will show up in her room at Taban's house
 * Marle's clone and Poyozo doll will show up in her room at the castle.
 * Frog's clone and Poyozo doll will show up in his house at the cursed woods.
 * Robo's clone and Poyozo doll will show up in the Proto Dome where he joined your party in 2300 A.D.
 * Ayla's clone and Poyozo doll will show up in her hut in 65M B.C.
 * Magus's clone and Poyozo doll will show up at North Cape in 12,000 B.C.

In addition to completing all the sidequests, eventually you'll want to challenge the Black Omen for the most "complete" way to finish the game, and to activate the New Game +. The Black Omen shows up in 2300 A.D., 1000 A.D., 600 A.D., and 12,000 B.C. If you visit it in the future Zeal will show up and laugh at you since Lavos already drained the world's energy, and in any other year she'll tell you how long you have to go until Lavos destroys the world. You can actually fight your way through the Black Omen three times if you go through it in 1000 A.D., 600 A.D., and 12,000 B.C. in that order, although none of the bosses except for Zeal will reappear and you won't be able to get the chests or items more than once.

The first part of this chapter describes all the sidequests which you will want to complete, and the latter part describes how you should fight through the Black Omen.

Sidequests
The sidequests are arranged roughly in order of difficulty. The last three require some major boss fights and dungeons to get through, the first three are comparatively short and painless. If you were to arrange them in order of usefulness, Marle's quest, Lucca's quest, and Fiona's give you the best equipment at the end of them. Gaspar will stop mentioning each sidequest when you complete it, and the party members they apply to will stop mentioning it as well, with the exception of Ayla.

Ayla's Sidequest
Included solely for the sake of completeness, Ayla mentions that her village has a strong defensive item. First, head to the ruins of Laruba Village and talk to the Nu. He'll rename your characters if you want, and give you a SilverRock which unlocks Frog, Robo, and Ayla's Spin Strike Triple Tech.

The armor Ayla was bragging about was the Ruby Armor, which cuts fire hits by 80%, and offers better defense than any armor you'll have found so far. You'll need to trade 10 of each trading item to get it, which can be done if you hang around the Hunting Range (which is really close to the Dactyl Nest, to the east and slightly south of it) long enough and fight a few Nus when it rains.


 * Note: you can trade for as many Ruby Armor's as you want and these Ruby Armors will be very useful in the next sidequest.

Lucca's Sidequest
Gaspar's Hint: "And there's a very special stone that can shine its light on each generation, from the distant past to the far future..."

This quest is particularly interesting because it crosses all time periods. You'll start out in 2300 A.D., and go to the Sun Palace. If you check your map by hitting select, the Sun Palace is at the island at the bottom left of the map. Head inside and equip your best fire resistant armor before fighting a difficult boss. It's advised that you equip the Red Mail to absorb fire, as many Ruby Armors as you bought in the previous sidequest, the Red Vest, and the Taban suit if you have Lucca and picked it up from Taban.

After you hit the correct flame enough times, the Son of Sun will retire deeper inside the palace. Go after it and it lose its fire and turn into a Moon Stone. You'll need to leave it in direct sunlight for 65.0023 million years (Robo's estimated fraction is a bit off), so head to the Sun Keep in 65 Million B.C. It is located to the northeast on the world map. You'll soon notice that the Sun Keep exists in each era at the northeast portion of the map, and it's a mysterious spot where the sun never sets.

Head back to the future (2300 A.D.) and the stone will be missing, and Magus will intuitively guess it's been missing for 1300 years. First head back to 600 A.D. while you're at it to find a Power Tab in the Sun Keep, and now go back to 1000 A.D., the present. Once you find that the Moon Stone is missing from the Sun Keep, head over to Porre at the southwest corner of the map, to find that the Mayor's House is suspiciously glowing. The Mayor of Porre has it, but being a greedy man, will not admit that he has stolen it. What'll you need to do is play with space and time to deal with his greed. To do this, buy some Jerky from the nearby Snail Stop for 9,900 G and head back in time to 600 A.D. and go to the elders house what will one day be the Mayor's house. Speak to the woman across from the door. She will tell you that she needs some Jerky. When she sees that you have Jerky she will offer to buy it from you for 10,000 G. You can sell the Jerky to her for 10,000 G and make a 100 G profit, but you should give it to her for free. This will change the way she feels about generosity and sharing. She will be stunned by your generosity and vow to raise her children to be fine, upstanding, and generous people. Head back to the present (1000 A.D.) after giving it to her.

In this new timeline the mayor is a much more generous guy and will give you the Moon Stone for free saying that he just found the Moon Stone lying around. Return the Moon Stone to its resting place at the Sun Keep in 1000 A.D. and head to the future (2300 A.D.). Put Lucca in your party and go to 2300 A.D. to check on the Moon Stone. You will find that it has become a Sun Stone, and you will be taken to Lucca's house. Here she uses the power of the Sun Stone to make her ultimate weapon: the WonderShot, although it's a wee bit unpredictable. Taban will also enter and give you the Sun Shades which raise your attack power although they'll later be replaced by the PrismSpecs. Also note that this quest is necessary to get all the equipment at the end of Marle's quest involving the Rainbow Shell.

Frog's Sidequest
Gaspar's Hint: "There's the ghost of a lofty knight, slain by Magus in the Middle Ages, who haunts the present..." This one involves visiting a continent you haven't been able to reach yet without the Epoch. You will also finish off the last of the Sealed Chests. If you haven't already gotten the chests you can get outside of the Northern Ruins, you should do so right away. The continent you want to visit for this quest is in the southeast corner of the map. Things will be simpler if you keep Frog in your party throughout this sidequest.

For starters, try going to Choras / Northern Ruins in the Present (1000 A.D.) with Frog in your party to meet a surly ghost who seems to recognize him. Although the ghost can be damaged by non-elemental attacks such as Tail Spin or Poyozo Dance, the monster is invincible. Talk to the villagers to learn that the place has been in ruins for years, then head back into the past.

In 600 A.D., enter the Northern Ruins and go down the left path. You will have to clear out a few sets of monsters to proceed. Note that each group of Sentries drops a Full Ether when defeated, that they are weak against fire attacks, and that they will re-spawn if you leave the ruins and come back. The Sentries will disappear once you begin the next part of this task, so take the opportunity to stock up on this valuable item. After you are done, head back to town. Go to the Café in Choras and talk to the man drinking soda. He will tell you that his tools were stolen and now he can't continue with his work. So head back to Choras in 1000 A.D. and talk to the soda drinking man in the same Café. He will tell you that you can have his tools, but because he is busy at the moment you will have to go and get them from his wife. Go to his house nearbye, get the Tools from his wife, and then go back in time to 600 A.D. again. Talk to the man drinking soda again and give him the tools he needs. He'll be so happy that he can get back to work that he will rush out of the café. Go to his house to find him (same position as the man's house in 1000 A.D.) and talk to him. He will rally the troops and tell you that he is off to fix the Northern Ruins.

Go up to the Northern Ruins and you will be told that they can't finish work with monsters running around. A few general tips for cleaning up the ruins: Don't pick up the chests just yet, wait until the very end! Most of the monsters in here are only affected by magic, especially weak to fire, although non-elemental techniques such as Ayla's Tail Spin work, and sometimes they cast MP buster, so rest at the nearby inn in between attempts to clear it out. Once you defeat all the monsters in the Ruins go back to the carpenter's house and hire them for 2,000 G. Put Frog in your party and head back to the Northern Ruins. Once again, the workers couldn't finish repairs due to monster problems. Go to the Ruins and head down the left stairwell. Continue through the Ruins down this path until you see a grave stone, which you should have Frog interact with. This is Cyrus' grave, and a scene will occur between Frog and Cyrus, at the end of which the Masamune will be upgraded into its ultimate form.

Once you eliminate all enemies in the Ruins. Hire the carpenters again (for another 2,000 G) to finish repairing the Ruins. They will repair the last section of the Ruins so you can reach the rest of the items, although you'll have to fight off a few more monsters to get there. Once you have access to all 3 sealed chests you have cleared the Ruins. Before you open any chests read on...


 * Note: If given time, then one Defunct (Fallen) will fusion with a Base (Soul) to become Departed (Fallen + Soul). So try to avoid that where possible, but on DS you may need fight at last one to get a entry in the Bestiary.

What you want to do here, as explained in the Sealed Chests section, is to go to the ruins in 600 A.D. and select each sealed chest but decline to open it so the items will power up. Then you can go to the present (1000 A.D.) to receive the powered up item, and then head back to the past (600 A.D.) to get the low-power item too. In addition, you can get all the regular chests twice by opening them first in the present (1000 A.D., then in the past (600 A.D.). So once you have cleared things in 600 A.D. Select and decline all 3 sealed chests, ignoring all normal chests for the moment. Once in 1000 A.D. open all 3 sealed chests, and the 2 normal chests. Also, pick up a Magic Tab by Cyrus's grave and a Power Tab in the bottom left of the stairwell (the stairwell to right of main entrance that leads to the 3 sealed chests). Now that you are done in the present; go back to 600 A.D. and pick up all 5 chests there. If you do everything correctly; from the chests in the Northern Ruins you will receive: Normal Chests: Elixir and HyperEther (Once in Each Time Period for 4 items). Sealed Chests: The Nova Armor will power up to become the Moon Armor, which raises magic defense by 10. The Siren will power up to become the Valkerye, the ultimative weapon for Marle, and the Kali Blade will power up to become the Shiva Edge, a weapon for Crono which does 4x damage on critical attacks. (Collect all 6 items)

One last thing you can do now with Frog. Head to the Denadoro Mountains in 600 A.D. with him, put him at the front of the party, and have him catch one of the rocks which the Free Lancers throw. Note that this won't be the first Free Lancer that you run across, to find the rock throwing one you have to further up the Mountain and this particular Free Lancer will throw the rocks at you from across a waterfall (you won't be in battle with him when you catch the rock). After you catch one of the rocks, it will turn out to be a Gold Rock, which invokes the Grand Dream triple tech when equipped on Frog.

Magus's Sidequest
Gaspar's Hint: "A fugitive in the Middle Ages, Ozzie, maintains an evil hideout..."

Time to finish off Ozzie and make Medina Village a happier place to live in. If you go to Medina now the prices will be still be sky high and the natives are very unfriendly, not to mention the villagers are worshiping a statue of Ozzie in the square since you defeated Magus. Head back in time to 600 A.D. and check out the spot where Medina sits in 1000 A.D., east of where Magus' Lair is, to find Ozzie's Fort. Bring along Magus just for Ozzie's reactions, and Ayla so you can steal some of the best equipment in the game from him and his henchmen.

The fort is pretty much a straight line so just head on through, fighting Flea Plus, Super Slash on the way. You should be able to finish them off with your regular attacks at this stage of the game. After Flea Plus, there's an amusing scene in which Ozzie sent his two henchmen down the pits in a moving platform. Poor Ozzie will flee to the next stage waiting for your team.

In the room after Super Slash, Ozzie attempts to tempt you with an obviously trapped chest. Ignore it and head up to the room's exit. An Imp will attempt to take the treasure. This will negate the trap and Ozzie will flee the room. Collect a Full Ether from the chest and check out the bottom right corner of the room to find a hidden room with 3 chests (Magus's best equipment; Gloom Cape, Gloom Helm and DoomSickle). These pieces of equipment are only useable by Magus. Note that there is also a Magic Tab in the corner of this secret room.

Continue to the next room; prepare for what's actually a tricky boss fight with Ozzie, Slash, and Flea ganging up on you.

Grab the contents of the chests for a Dash Ring and Sight Cap after you beat them. After you defeat Ozzie he will run to the north, follow him and you will enter another battle with him.

This will drop you back to the previous room, so now head back to Ozzie's room and he will be defeated by a cat. Head back to the present and you'll find the Medina in 1000 A.D. is now the most peaceful place on earth and they no longer despise humans. Ozzie's ancestor will no longer be the elder, rather one of the imps a the elders house is bossing around Ozzie VIII. The statue of Ozzie / Magus in the town square will now be gone. The market will now offer the cheapest prices in the game rather than the most expensive; so stock up on whatever you want. Also, keep in mind that you don't take your money back with you for a New Game + so this is the best way to "invest" your capital and get the most from it.

A couple notes on the equipment you just got; the OzziePants offer great defense but start you off in the battle with chaos status, so make sure you have some status protection if you equip it. The DoomSickle doubles and triples in power when one or two allies are dead, respectively.

Fiona's Sidequest
Gaspar's Hint: "In the Middle Ages, a woman's sheer determination brings a forest back to life..."

This is the one quest Gaspar mentions that isn't tied to a particular character, although special guest stars Lucca and Robo play a major role in this one. This is also the one quest which may be able to be performed without getting the Epoch, the only requirement is that you have visited Zeal Palace already in 12,000 B.C. and told the girl there to secretly plant the sapling. You can also speak to her at the commons in 12000 B.C. and speak to the enlightened one standing by an unplanted sapling. If you didn't talk to her before the destruction of Zeal she will ask you whether she should burn the sapling or plant it. Choose to plant the sapling. If you have already spoken to her in the past, she will say that "one Day the sapling could save the environment." If you tell her to secretly plant it, she'll keep the sapling after Zeal is destroyed, and Fiona will have it in 600 A.D. Go to Fiona's villa in 600 A.D. and talk to Fiona and her husband Marco and you will learn that there is a desert to the south filled with monsters that are preventing them from replanting the forest. Head south to the "whirlpool." The monsters here are particularly weak against water/ice, so you may want to take at least one of Marle, Frog, or Magus to soften up your enemies to normal attacks.

If this is your first time through the game Magus will probably have more techs to learn than the rest of the party, so keep that in mind as well, equip a Gold Stud on whoever you want your main magic user to be. You'll fight a few enemies and pick up a few chests in the first room (Full Ether, a Lapis, an Elixir and an Aeon Suit). Travel down the stairs to the second room; the boss will constantly disappear and reappear, pick up the chests for an Aeon Helm, Memory Cap, and MuscleRing, Full Tonic, 5000 G, a HyperEther, and a Full Ether. Run into it whenever you're ready to fight.

Make sure to pick up all the chests before you leave and grab a Power Tab in the left side of the first room after you beat the boss.

Unfortunately, if you check out the future just beating the monsters won't be enough to save the forest, there is centuries worth of work to be done. Luckily, you have a party member who wouldn't mind chilling out with humanity for 400 years. Talk to Fiona with Robo in your party and he'll agree to stay behind to help her replant the forest. Go to 1000 A.D. (Present), and you will see that the forest has been replanted. Save first, then put Lucca in your party and enter the shrine that stands where Fiona's house used to. Inside, the uppermost nun will sell you excellent helmets. At the top of the shrine you can find a very battered Robo. Your party will end up around a campfire in the woods while Lucca repairs Robo. They will begin to discuss the reasons for them being able to go through time and Robo will bring up the possibility that the gates may not have been created by Lavos at all, but by an 'Entity' wishing them to witness everything they've seen. The times and places are very important to the existence of some entity, which may be reliving its past much like a creature flashing back over its life and thinking about what it could have changed. Lucca will hint at a scene from her past she regretted, and after the party goes to sleep you will gain control of Lucca. Head to the right and you'll find a red time gate which will take you back 10 years to 990 A.D. to when Lucca's mother got into an accident which ruined her legs. Read the diary entry in Lucca's room, and the one in the back room of the house to learn that the password to the machine is Lucca's mother's name, or Lara. After Lara gets her skirt stuck in the machine, head southeast to the blinking dot and press, then press to finish reading the quest dialogue, and then press  to spell out Lara (make sure you press the keys one after another and not all together). If you pull it off, congratulations, there will be a new diary entry, and Lara will be in good health from now on. Both when you visit the present and the ending scenes. If not, there will be a different diary entry and nothing will have changed in the present.

When you're willing to try again, keep loading your save file and keep trying until you get it right. To repeat it once more: After you reach "Type in password", press, then type "Lara" in a steady fast pace before her mother gets her legs shredded by the machine.

Robo will be waiting for you outside the portal and he will give you the GreenDream accessory, which allows it's wearer a one-time reanimation in battle, kind of like the Life3 spell in Final Fantasy VI or Link's fairies. You can also check the pedestal at the shrine to find the sapling you had the girl save thousands of years ago.

Robo's Sidequest
Gaspar's hint: "There's a task to be done in the Future, where machinery originated."

Robo's sidequest takes place in the future, in 2300 A.D. at the Geno Dome, which is to the southeast of the world map. You'll actually do some dungeon crawling and puzzle solving in this one, which is why you should put it late in the list. Head to the Geno Dome with Robo at the front of your party and he'll open up a path for you. He'll be a permanent fixture of your team throughout this next quest. You'll head down a conveyor belt and fight five or so waves of monsters. Equip the Gold Stud on someone and use the most powerful magic techs you have available. At this point, these enemies shouldn't be too difficult. There's a blinking blue dot directly east of where you enter in the new room; don't interact with it unless you want to return to the beginning (to leave or redo the conveyor belt fights). Clear the room of monsters, and go into the middle room which is just west of the door you just came out of. Here, watch the robot charge himself up and follow him after getting Full Tonic from the chest nearby. He will open a door near where you entered by charging himself up and stepping into an alcove to open it. Head in that room for a quick fight and 2 more chests (Full Tonic, 50,000 G). Back where the charger bot came from, use the computer to get more info about the robots, dolls, conveyor belt, and sealed doors. What you'll want to do is charge up with energy from the room by the computer and step into an alcove to open its door. At the northwest, turn the center switch on and the others off to open the alcove and go in it with a charge to reach the first of 2 Poyozo Dolls, picking up a Speed Tab where it used to sit as well. That's the easy part. Head into the elevator in the southeast corner. Ignore the door for the moment, There will be a save point and a chest with a Lapis nearbye. Fight a few groups of Laser Guards, Ignore the main door to the north (this is where you need the two dolls) and go down a ladder to the southwest. After grabbing 15,000 G from a chest, go through the door to witness a bunch of people being processed by the plant. A deadend with a chest (Full Ether) is on the other side of this room. Leave this room the way you came, go back up the ladder and to the west until you see the door blocked by red laser beams. Step back and have Robo run at the switch he can't reach and he'll leap at it to let you get a MegaElixir and a Magic Tab. Go back further and head through the ordinary door we ignored earlier (next to the elevator), picking up a Power Tab at the beginning of the long hallway, and fight another group of monsters to find another elevator going back to the previous area. Flip the switch to the bottom left to remove a laser so you can reach the conveyor belt. Next, go up and to the left of the door you entered the room. There is a switch up there to reverse the direction of the conveyor belt. There's also a Magic Tab in the secret passage you walk through to get to the switch, so pick it up as well. At the base of the conveyor belt to the right there is a room with some enemies and 2 chests with Elixir and Lapis. Head back and around to where you get Robo charged up with electrical energy, you have to be very fast here. Have Robo race from the charger, down the hall and around to the conveyor belt, which is helping him move faster this time now that you reversed its direction, and go in to the alcove with the locked door to open up the passage to the security robot. Grab the 2 chests with Full Ether and HyperEther and have the robot slowly follow you back to the security robot in the southwest corner, keeping in mind that it can get stuck going around corners. The two robots will short each other out, and you'll grab a Vigil Hat and the last Poyozo Doll. Head back up the elevator to reach a sealed door where you can place both the Poyozo Dolls to clear a passage. On your way up there, you'll run into Robo's old girlfriend, Atropos.

Head to the east if you want to save and use a shelter, then head to the northwest to place the two dolls and visit the mastermind behind all of this.

Robo will get the Terra Arm and Crisis Arm, one of which is his best weapon, and one of which is a bit more unpredictable depending upon his HP. All the machines in the factory will shut down, and you'll be done with the sidequest.

Marle's Sidequest
Gaspar's hint: "There's an object in the Middle Ages that sparkles like a rainbow..."

Before you proceed with this sidequest, you may want to visit Guardia Castle for a few extra scenes that are available as soon as you defeat Magus. You'll be allowed back inside the castle if Marle is in your party when you try to enter, and you'll find out that your sentence has been suspended. The Chancellor will talk to you about how King Guardia was heartless towards Marle's mother when she was dying. The King and Marle will exchange some harsh words, and the King will snap at her and tell her to do whatever she likes. Talk to the Chancellor again and he'll suggest giving the king some jerky to cheer him up. You can buy some in the Snail Stop at Porre and give it to him for a hefty fee, but he'll get even madder because he'll think you're trying to give him a heart attack. The Chancellor also gives three different responses depending on whether you talk to him with Marle, without her and with Crono, or without either.

This particular quest begins In 600 AD on Choras, the island with the northern ruins to the southeast. You'll make things easier if you keep Marle in your party for this whole section. Talk to Toma in the bar to pick up his pop, which he asks you to pour on his grave if he doesn't find the Rainbow Shell. Head forward 400 years to 1000 AD and locate Toma's grave stone on the western most part of the island. Here Toma will point you towards the rainbow shell' s location, at the Giant's Claw to the northwest. Check behind the gravestone for a Speed Tab as well. Head back to the Middle Ages (600 AD)and land on the island near Choras to enter the now accessible Giant's Claw.

Head inside and read Toma's first diary, and you'll walk through Azala's throne room (any character in the lead can interact with the throne for an easter egg). Bring Crono or Magus along for this part so you have access to Lightning magic. After heading through the Giant's Claw for a little while it should begin to look very familiar to you as it is the Tyrano Lair from 65,000,000 BC. You can grab a time or sight hat down the left path, but don't follow it all the way since it's just a dead end you use to return to this area later. Instead, head down the right path and it should look familiar. The center switch activates a save point, the left one opens up the floor, and the right one summons some monsters. You'll need to fall in the pit, so you'll fight the monsters for sure if you hit the right switch. Fall in the pit in any case and step on the right switch to summon some monsters, and the left one to open the skull to find a Power Tab. Head south and out once you are done.

Head down the ladder and to the right for another power tab, and a full ether to the left. Head up and around the room for a few more fights, you may want a healer on full time duty. Check out the northeast area by the door for a blue rock which activates still another triple-tech. If you want, head north in the next area and take the ladder off screen to return to the upper level of the Giant's Claw (the deadend we ignored earlier). To continue, head down the ladder and to the left to find a Zodiac Cape. Head right, and grab a Lapis from the chest. Next, head out through the cave to the southwest. You can sneak up behind the enemies here to scare them away or fight them. Head through the open left skull, to find a familiar area with a couple switches you can step on to get rid of the monsters. Head through the left exit to find a Frenzy Band, which offers an 80% counter-attack rate, eclipsing the feeble 50% of the Rage Band. A must have from now on.

Head back to the switch room and this time go through the right passage. Fight some rubbles for easy tech and experience points which will help everyone finish learning all their single techs. Head into another area and open the right egg switch to fall into the jail cell where Kino was held captive earlier in the game. Head through the left exit to open up the right skull you passed by earlier and grab a power tab nearbye. Return to the room with Kino's cell and go through the new path to the right. Save and heal up if you need it, and equip fire resistant armor because you are about to rumble with... the Rust Tyrano.

Boss Fight
After you have defeated Tyrano, head northward to discover the Rainbow Shell. It turns out that the Rainbow Shell is too heavy for your party to carry so they will ask King Guardia for help. He agrees and decides to keep it in his castle as a family heirloom.

However, that's just the first part of this particular quest. Head back to the present (1000 AD), put Marle in your party, and enter Guardia Castle to learn that the trial of the century is about to take place. King Guardia is accused of selling off the royal treasures. Go to the right and head up the stairs to the council room where Crono was tried earlier in the game. Speak to the guards to have Marle barge her way into the courtroom. You'll learn you need proof of the rainbow shell in order to save the king.

Head back downstairs into the main room and go down the right stairway this time (odd, that wasn't there before). You will need to head down to the basement and fight your way through a bunch of monsters to the Rainbow Shell. Apparently the forces of evil haven't found any new goons in the last 400 years; they'll be the same weak ones you fought in the Cathedral. Pick up 3 chests in a small room (Lapis, Hyperether, Elixer) on your way. You'll find the rainbow shell at the end of the hallway at the northernmost point of the basement in a room with 3 more treasure chests (Hyperether, Lapis, Elixer). Once you have picked up a shard of the rainbow shell and read the queens letter, head back to the courtroom and talk to the guards. You will be denied entry but just as the Judge is pronouncing the King guilty, Marle will smash through the window to make a stunning entrance. She will show the shard of the Rainbow Shell to the Judge and Jury and the Chancellor will reveal that he is actually Yakra XIII, a descendent of the Yakra defeated in 600 AD, and that he has come for revenge.

Prepare to do battle with a fake chancellor again, Yakra XIII. Who knew the guy had kids?

Boss Fight
After you are victorious, you'll be treated to a mushy scene where Marle and the King make up. Then Melchoir will come in and tell you that he is ready to make you some new weapons and equipment. The king will give you permission to leave the castle, and you can explore the castle to talk to people if you want. Head into the kitchen if you'd like a "Crono Special" to heal your HP/MP for free, and make sure you head up to the courtroom to pick up the Yakra Key from off the floor where the glowing blue dot is. This can be used to unlock a previously locked chest just a level or two down in the castle. Open the chest to free the real Chancellor who will show up in the ending of the game.

Head down to the basement treasury where you found the rainbow shell to find and talk to Melchior who's willing to make some armor from the rainbow shell. You can have a prism dress which blocks 1/3rd of all magic and is extremely effective or three prism helms which are slightly less useful but they do protect status. Make your choice and he will give you the armor of your choice. He will also make you the Prism Specs accessory which greatly raise a character's attack power. Providing you have done the sidequests in the order suggested, and have already gotten the Sun Stone from Lucca's quest, Melchoir will also make you Crono's ultimate weapon, the Rainbow Sword! Additionally, note that you can receive an additional Prism Dress and Prism Helm from the final boss of the Black Omen, so you'll have at least one of each by the end of the game if you finish this quest and use Ayla to charm in the final battles. Unfortunately, to equip every character with rainbow equipment you'll have to beat the game at least one time - however most parties don't use multiple girls, so getting the three Prism Helms and a single Prism Dress should suffice. This all depends on your personal preference of which characters you use.

The Black Omen
The final quest you have to complete is going through the Black Omen to defeat Zeal and confront Lavos. You can ram the epoch into Lavos or just use the bucket at the end of time naturally, but you'll only activate the New Game + if you beat the Black Omen the regular way. You can visit it in 2300 A.D. to see an eerie message from Zeal, and you can also fight through the fortress three times if you go in 1000 A.D., 600 A.D., and 12,000 B.C. in that order. You'll encounter all of the bosses the first time through, but only only Zeal on the second and third. Unless you want to max out your experience in that order, you might as well finish it off in 12,000 B.C when you feel ready to continue the story.

A few people on the northern continent and elsewhere will also comment on the Black Omen as they're chatting about the weather, until you get rid of it that is. Hopefully you'll have completed all the other sidequests and challenged Spekkio for the last set of items you'll get until you hit level 99/**, so take your party to the Black Omen by flying the Epoch into it.

Arrival
After you destroy the lasers on the outside, Zeal will inform you how long the planet has left to live. Head inside for the first boss fight with Mega Mutant.

Continue on, but be careful with the goons since they absorb magic, and in general just use your best multi-enemy techs, you should have learned about all of them by now. Be aware that there are a lot of useful equipment and tabs which can be charmed from the enemies here, such as speed tabs from the panels, gold stubs from the flyclops, etc. Eventually you'll come to an elevator where you may have a few random fights while you're riding it.

Pick up a couple chests in the next room (Megaelixer, 30,000 G), and head into the next room for a few more fights and a chest containing a magic seal. Be careful of the Ruminators, since they can kill you in one hit if they get the chance. The next area will have 6 chests (Vigil Hat, Elixer, MegaElixer, Nova Armor, Haste Helm, MegaElixer) and a save point and two Nus, the left one of which will sell you items, the right one will offer you a chance to escape the Black Omen if you ask him to "wake [you] up." Use a shelter if you like, then head into the next room to face a Tubster. These guys counter-attack aggressively and are immune to shadow magic, but they're not too tough. Pick up a Zodiac Cape near the Ruminators running through the hall, and head through another room with a bunch of monsters looking out for fights.

Grab a Power Seal in the next room, and fight a Tubster with a couple flyclops and a few more monsters, grabbing a speed tab in a chest in the bottom right corner at the end. There will also be another speed tab in the next room, and then a transport. You'll fight a few sets of aliens with some nasty instant death counters; you can pick up an Elixir in the south-west corner of this room, pick up a speed tab and a MegaElixir at the end of the room. You'll come to a save point, heal up and prepare to fight Giga Mutant, whose worst danger seems to be continuously draining your MP.

Head through another transport and up another elevator, preparing for fights along the way. Fight through another room of generic enemies, and you'll come to a room with four panels you'll have to fight to reveal a save point. A speed tab will also be waiting in the chest nearby. Save and heal again, because you're about to face the next version of the "mutant" monster, the Terra Mutant. This one has a top which absorbs energy from the bottom half, and the bottom half is immune to magic and lifeshavers you if you try a physical attack. Just concentrate your techniques on the top and the bottom will fall eventually. Pick up a white rock and a MegaElixir, to enable a triple tech, Poyozo Dance, with the three girls. Hopefully by now you have each of the five rocks.

You can save and use a shelter again if you really want, but it probably won't be necessary. Go forward through another room and prepare to face a particularly nasty Lavos Spawn. As before, avoid all multiple target techs and anything that might attack the shell, and use your best single techs on the head instead. Eventually it'll crumble and the shell with it. Head into the next room for another set of panels, keep in mind you can charm these guys for tabs. A save point will appear, so heal up and save because you're about to deal with Zeal. This is also a good time to use those tabs if you haven't already, they each raise a particular stat by one. Keep in mind that speed never goes up as you gain levels and it maxes out at 15 anyway, Lucca and Magus will max out magic on their own eventually, and everyone but Lucca and Marle will max out power, although it doesn't affect their weapon hits anyway.

Zeal
The fight with Zeal will go through three main phases. Having someone who can heal the whole party is important since you'll be having your whole party's HP drained to one by Zeal's attacks in the first phase, and it just makes sense for a long boss fight like this, so Frog or Robo would be helpful. As far as attackers go, Crono is an obvious choice for both magical and physical attacks, and Magus makes the fight interesting by adding some extra dialogue to the fight with Zeal. His theme will play during the battle with her second form.

After defeat she will then try to toss you into the Mammon Machine, thereby initiating her second form.

Finally, you will have to fight Zeal again, however in a much different form.

Lavos
Eventually you'll wear Zeal down, and she'll decide to have Lavos destroy you directly. The Black Omen will sink into the sea and Lavos will erupt ahead of schedule. Lavos of course deserves his own boss strategies, but here's the basic rundown. He'll start by going through the attack modes of each major boss you've fought so far, with extra "bits" to imitate their various parts. He'll start with the Dragon Tank, then the Guardian, then Heckran, Zombor, Masa & Mune's fused form, Nizbel, Magus, Black Tyrano, and finally Giga Gaia, before uttering his trademark scream and using the attack mode he used against you at the Ocean Palace, although thankfully he's not as ridiculously overpowered and you're better equipped. You can heal up between each fight and make SURE you have status protection so he doesn't cast chaos on you and ruin everything. The various forms will have the same elemental resistances and absorptions, as well as counter-attacks, so think back and be careful. Magus's form is particularly tricky since you don't have as many helpful messages telling you what barrier is active, but the barrier will always match the type of spell that Lavos will cast. For example, if he casts fire spells, you can only use fire spells. Having Magus along for these fights makes them simpler since he has all elemental magic types at his disposal. Most of the fights will be easy in comparison to your current levels, but heal and restore mana when you need it.

When you reach Lavos's real form, he'll usually start out with some chaos attacks or a Lavos needle which does massive damage to your party. He can do 300-400 damage at a time even with the best equipment and levels so far, so heal up and hit him with the best magic spells, dual techs, or triple techs you have available. Luminaire, Dark Matter, and Flare seem to be the best damage dealers, although Shock can be good too if you raise Robo's magic high enough. Eventually you'll destroy him, and you'll be able to enter his outer shell. There will be a savepoint, and a time portal, which will lead you back to the end of time. You'll end up outside the bucket that led to the day of Lavos and be able to return to fighting Lavos any time you want, but the outer shell will already be defeated. One more chapter to go, if that.

Challenging Lavos
If you challenge Lavos during this chapter, you'll get The Main Ending. There are several variations depending on whether or not you crashed the Epoch into Lavos, spared Magus, and a few minor ones depending on how you completed Fiona's sidequest and how many cats you have. The basic theme of the ending is that Crono and company get honored for their work in saving the past, and have a farewell party. Keep in mind however that you won't activate the New Game+ unless you battle all the way through the Black Omen and move on to the next chapter.