Dark Cloud: Astral Atlamilia

Mike AZ 2 here, thought I'd try my hand at a Dark Cloud fic. It takes place after the events of Dark Cloud 2, follows the bonus chapter which takes place after the main storyline.

Despite the title, I'm making this a crossover with another series, I'm leaning towards Atelier Iris, but any ideas or suggestions are appriciated. Just please don't flame me for no reason, okay? Try to stick to constructive criticism.

Characters from the original Dark Cloud may make appearences, mostly Toan, Xaio and Ruby. I'll need to think about whether to use characters from Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana and/or Azoth of Destiny, I haven't unlocked the extras menu for Grand Phantasm, so I don't know if Iris Fortner has a Japanese name.

Disclaimer: Dark Cloud and Atelier Iris are the properties of their respective developers (I forget who), I had nothing to do with their development.

Anyways, hope the first chapter is enjoyable. Oh, and spoken words is ", thoughts are ', and _ indicates change in character point of view.

Prologue: Paradox

Three days passed since Maximillian and Monica's quest within the Zelmite Mines in the town of Palm Brinks.

The duo had faced formidable enemies within the mines as they sought some Zelmite, which the mayor needed to fuel the train while expanding the railroad.

Upon defeating the guardian of the Zelmite Mine, Max and Monica returned to Palm Brinks to inform the mayor of their discovery of the Zelmite.

Though Monica inadvertly used a Starglass to travel to Max's time, the nature of the device was unpredictable, and the princess could not go back to her time.

As the pair spent time together, they continued to work towards helping Mayor Need expand the Blackstone Railroad.

In the Future, Max's mother, Elena, was informed of Monica's disappearence, and headed to the Starlight Temple with Monica's father's friend, Galen Agaris.

When they got there, Sage Crest greeted them at the gate to the temple"Hello, what brings you here, Elena?"

"Sage Crest, I was told by one of our kingdom's knights that Monica had vanished. Can you provide me with some answers?" inquired the younger woman.

"Indeed. As a matter of fact, Monica asked for a Starglass when she came to visit. I sensed that Paradox may occur in the timeline, but I allowed her to go back" said the old sage.

"What's the meaning of this? Monica herself passed the law against Time-Traveling, where has she gone?" exclaimed Agaris.

Crest replied grimly"Now's not the time to trouble ourselves with trivialities. I looked into the Moon Crystal, the image shown surprised me. A powerful artifact was discovered in the rifts of time and space, but how and what, I don't know."

Elena was astonished"What does it have to do with Monica's disappearence?"

"It is no accident that Monica should end up back in the past, I should think. She's joined up with your son, the two have encountered and defeated an ancient entity which did not belong within our world" spoke Crest.

Agaris sighed"At least she is safe for now. Sage Crest, is there anything you can tell us about this paradox?"

Crest thought for a moment, then replied"I can only speculate for the time being, even the Moon Crystal cannot reveal everything. But from the looks of it, the artifact within the image in question may be an undiscovered Atlamilia. Now, I must meditate, farewell."

"Thank you, Sage Crest" said Elena.

Elena and Agaris left the temple, the latter spoke"So what is your plan of action, Elena?"

The red haired woman replied"If the Ixion hasn't yet been dismantled, I will go to the Lunatic Wisdom Labratory to borrow it. With the Ixion, I can go back in time to find Monica. While she does share the blame for her recent actions, Sage Crest is also responsible for what may be happening in the past. Anyway, if we're being threatented by an unknown Time Paradox, there might be a way to avert it."

"To think Monica should turn out to be a hypocrite... No, never mind. Elena, sure will you be all right on your own? The royal army is still being reorganized, but we can spare a small group of guards" inquired the older man.

Elena nodded"Yes, Griffon's army is in decline now that he is no more. We should not have anything to fear now the war's over. I will take your concern into consideration."

Agaris shrugged"In either case, I will ensure that the castle is on full alert. Give Max my regards."

"I will" said Elena.

In another dimension, two young mercenaries were reporting to their town's guild for a new mission. One was a young red haired man, the other was a black haired girl.

The two proceeded directly to the Guildmaster's office where the Guildmistress greeted them.

"Did you need help with something, Ma'am?" said the black haired girl.

The older woman smiled"Yes, but please just call me by my Noella, we're friends, are we not?"

"Of course, sorry. Anyway, the request you posted on the bulletin board, it has something to do with an unusual portal of some kind, right?" grinned the black haired girl.

The guildmistress nodded"That's right, Iris. You and Edge probably heard the rumors at town, but outside town, some distance away, it seems like the very fabric of our world is unraveling. I need you to investigate this strange portal, you two are the best this guild has."

Edge pondered for a moment, then said"Sounds a little far-fetched, but we can't afford not to check it out. Who knows what would've hasppened if we had not solved the mystery of the Distorted Dimension last month."

"Good luck. If you should find anything more unusual, return if you can and report it back here. Your requested fee has been approved" smiled Noella.

"Thank you, Noella" smiled Iris.

As the pair took their leave, Edge addressed Iris"So what do you have in mind?"

"I'll make some heal jars at the workshop, then we'll head out" said Iris.

"Then let's get to it. We shouldn't take too long preparing, though" said the red head.

Back within the future, Elena got off a train to head towards Lunitic Wisdom Laboratory after recruiting a small escort of Raybrandt's soldiers and buying a sword at the capital's weapon shop for self defense.

They headed for the blue laboratory, where they were greeted by one of the scientists" Miss Elena, what brings you here?"

"I need to talk to Dr. Nobb" said Elena.

"Yes, ma'am" said the man, turning to inform the head Researcher.

One of the three guards accompanying Elena addressed her"I mean no disrespect, but should we really be time traveling, ourselves?"

"It's the only way to get Monica back, the starglass must have malfunctioned" said the woman.

Just then, the head researcher of the lab, a blond boy in blue clothes approached"Elena, did you call?"

"Yes, Doctor. Is the Ixion still operationable?" inquired the older woman.

Dr. Nobb replied"We haven't dismantled it yet. After the law against Time Travel was passed because of the damage Griffon had done to the timestream, I put it into stasis at the main lab. Dr. Osmond and Dr. Jamming have been busy developing new inventions, so we have yet to start taking the Ixion apart. Did you need something with it? I knew something must be up when you came."

Elena nodded"I need to use the Ixion to travel to Max's time, and find Monica. Do you know anything about a Paradox? Sage Crest told me about it."

"Yes, and what we learned from the computers was unbelieveable, even to us at Luna Lab. Some of the lab's newer researchers rushed to get their eyes examined, I was a little freaked out myself. Couldn't let it bother me too much, however. The Paradox is actually some kind of black hole from somewhere. A hidden dimension supposedly lies within" said Dr. Nobb.

"That's all I need to know, now would you mind letting me borrow Ixion?" said Elena.

Dr. Nobb nodded"Sure, follow me to the main lab. I will have someone let Dr. Osmond know so he can help you drive Ixion."

The group headed into the main lab. Doctor Osmond greeted them"Hey there."

"Dr. Osmond, we have an emergency. We must use the Ixion once again" said Elena.

"I understand, let's get on board. It's good to see you again, Lady Elena" said Dr. Osmond.

They boarded the train, Osmond spoke"So Monica is in the past, isn't she?"

Elena grimly replied"Yes, she broke her own law. What's more, a Paradox is forming somewhere."

"That dosen't sound good... All right, let's get ready to head out" said Osmond.

Dr. Nobb left the train"Elena, good luck. Tell Max and Monica I said hi."

"Will do" said Elena.

The head of Luna Lab signaled the engineers to activate the train tracks at the lab, opening the way out.

"Set course to one hundred years ago, Dr. Osmond" said Elena.

"I'm on it" said the scientist.

Dr. Osmond punched in the numbers, and the time-traveling locomotive took off and vanished.

In Maximilian's time, the blond inventor set about his daily routine working in Cedric's repair shop, while spending time with Monica.

One day, after a long day's work at Cedric's shop, Max went over to his house after recieving his pay. Moncia met him there.

"How's work?" inquired the red haired girl.

Max smiled"Been great so far, Monica. Although tinkering with broken objects seems a little boring compared to our adventures."

"Tell me about it, I was doing the town a favor by beating up some of the leftover monsters at the Zelmite Mines. It's great that we're spending time together again" sighed Monica.

The blond inventor shrugged, then said"By the way, sure you don't mind being stuck here? The Starglass hasn't kicked in yet, huh?"

Monica shook her head"Yeah, it's far too unpredictable. But, what the heck? Being with you, it's not so bad, someone's bound to notice my disappearence from the future."

"Max! Monica!" cried a young voice as a black haired kid greeted them.

"What's up, Donny?" inquired Max.

Donny replied"A portal just appeared in the sky, some kind of train materialized and headed towards Blackstone Station."

"What did it look like?" frowned Monica.

"It was kind of bluish, I couldn't tell" said Donny.

"The Ixion! Monica, let's go. Looks like you got a ride home" smiled Max.

Monica hesitated"Is this a good idea?"

"Of course, let's go" said Max.

"Okay" shrugged Monica.

Max addressed Donny"Thanks for the info, how were things at Vennicio?"

"It's a neat place, Claire and I swam in the ocean the day before yesterday" smiled Donny.

"Let's go, you three" said Monica, running ahead.

The Ixion had landed next to the Blackstone train when Max and Monica reached the station.

"Who can that be?" said Monica, drawing her sword.

Max turned to the younger male"We can't be too careful. Donny, take the Blackstone train back to Vennicio."

"All right" said the black haired boy.

"Stay where you are" said a male voice, as three men in brown uniforms exited the Ixion, followed by a familiar red head. Max was too busy analyzing the situation to notice the newcomer.

Without thinking, Monica charged at the first three newcomers.

"Donny, stay back" said Max, taking out his wrench.

One of the men gasped and turned from watching Monica duel his allies"Huh? You're Elena's son?"

"How do you know?" said Max, charging forward.

The man pulled out a sword"Just a hunch, though it's not completely true since you have your mom's eyes. My name's Alexander, a captain of the late King Raybrandt's knights."

"That's enough, all of you. We don't need meaningless bloodshed, now stand down" said the woman in a soft, firm voice.

Monica had already knocked her two assailants aside"Huh? What are you doing here?"

"Why do you think, Monica?" said the woman.

Max and Alexander lowered their weapons. The blond invetor was surprised as he recognized the female"Mother?"

"Yes, Maximilian. It is I, Elena" said the woman.

Max put down his wrench"But what's up?"

"Elena has asked us to help retrieve Monica. Max, looks like our duel is postponed, I wouldn't have minded seeing your combat skills. Oh, and Monica, the two you just knocked down are Vicks and Alton, two more of Raybrandt's knights" said the older man.

Max and Monica glanced at each other, suprised and a little sheepish at what just unfolded.

Well, my first chapter of this fic ends in a cliffhanger. I keep breaking my own word about finishing other fics before starting new ones, but I swear I will try to finish what I have on my profile, even if it takes months.

I apologize for said cliffhanger, but I must log out now. Stay tuned for next chapter.

Please feel free to review. Let me know what you think, okay? I can delete this eventually if it's not good enough. I plan on doing a Atelier Iris/Dark Cloud crossover, but I can change it if needed.