This isn’t an attempt to patronize the reader, but I’ll clarify the entire story for the record; you’ve just explored the mind of Norstein Bekkler, whose life began as a small boy in a family of eight around the year 600 or so and ended up as a synthetic “Mystic” with nothing left to him but his memories. I wanted to take a character and give an entire history behind him/her, and I feel that Bekkler was one of the most ignored characters in the CT universe. He must have some history, because he is a magician (as Belthasar points out in the game) living in a world where Magic had long been outlawed among humans. He obviously isn’t human, but I figured he must have some sort of tie to humanity. Hence the “formerly human” aspect of his existence.
As Marle, Lucca, and Magus enter Bekkler’s tent at the Millennial Fair to ask for a clone of Crono, he recognizes Marle’s resemblance to Queen Leene and starts thinking about his youth in the Middle Ages. After he distinguishes Magus as a Mystic (if not their very leader), he recalls what it was like to be a subject of their experimentation into creating Magic-wielding soldiers out of human beings. Finally, seeing his face reflected in Lucca’s glasses serves as kind of a reminder that he is still a very real being, and can still act without falling prey to his memories.
Overall, I wanted to paint a portrait of a character who, while appearing stable on the outside, was racked with emotions and visions of the past. This story took a lot of revisions, and over half a year to perfect. I tried not to let it ramble on too long, since it was my intention to keep the subject a secret until the second to last line.
I'd like to thank Nightsong of the Fantasy Finale Arts Association for proofreading this and giving me his input; I couldn't have done it without a well-read critic. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and rest assured that Norstein Bekkler will not fade back into obscurity before I’m done writing all of the fiction I’ve planned. Thank you for reading my work.
--Glarryg