The inside looks just as hi-tech, and even more sinister, than the outside. 3-8 海底神殿 (Abyssal Temple) plays. A portal leading back to the throne room remains in place. There's a save point just ahead, and....

Leon: A black spirit is swelling....
Something scary is waking up.

Leon jumps up, spins around, and disappears. The temple shakes. The scene changes to a room, apparently deep within the temple, where the queen, the prophet, Sara, and a bunch of generic men stand before the Demonic Vessel. Zeal Palace plays.

Queen: Now, Sara, raise the Demonic
Vessel's power up to its limit.

Queen: Sara!
You won't obey what I say!?

Sara puts her arms out and chants. There's an evil crimson glow.

Queen: Oh... such a dazzling radiance!
Lavos-sama's magnificent power!!

Sara seems to be in pain, and collapses.

The prophet turns toward her, and moves slightly closer, as if concerned.

The scene shifts back to Crono and the others, and Abyssal Temple resumes playing. There are, of course, monsters here. Annoying ones include the tiny flying cyclops, which absorb, and counterattack, all elemental attacks except those of their own color, and are also resistant to physical attacks.

The first section has chests with new equipment, including weapons for every character except Ayla (of course). Marle's occasionally inflicts Slow, and Lucca's occasionally inflicts Confusion. Go along the left edge of the bottom room, outside of the glowing stuff, to find a hidden chest containing Frog's Demon Killer, which inflicts double damage to magical enemies, including just about everything in here.

Deeper in the temple is....

Gran: The red stone handed down from ages past....
From that stone, a pendant and the
Demonic Vessel were made....
And a knife was made.
We are Bosch's hopes, imbued
into the knife....
Now, if you mean to go where the queen
and the others are, you must hurry....
We're counting on you guys.

Gran jumps up, spins around, and disappears. The temple shakes, and the scene returns to the room where the Demonic Vessel is. Zeal Palace plays.

Queen: Ahhh, I feel it... I feel it!
The pulse of eternal life...!!
Kukuku...!

Sara: Th, this swirl of black spirit...!?
uhg...!

Sara collapses again.

The crimson glowing intensifies, with several loud crackling noises. One of the generic men approaches the queen.

The queen just zaps him mercilessly.

Queen: Continue, Sara!
Just a little more....
I will obtain eternal life!
My Zeal Kingdom shall be
engulfed in the light of the gods!
Kukuku....
Ah, hahahah...!!

The scene shifts back to Crono and the others, and Abyssal Temple resumes playing. There's an elevator just ahead with several battles one right after another, so heal up at the save point. At the bottom, leave and re-enter the elevator to take it all the way up to the top floor for a Magic Capsule on the left wall. Back at the bottom, use the switches in the side rooms, then step on the button in the middle to advance. There's a save point up ahead, and just past it is....

Dalton: So you really went and came
all the way to a place like this.
It seems as though I've
underestimated your strength....
But that ends here too.
THEY will take care of dealing
with you!
Come forth!
Golem Sisters!!

He does his summoning thing again, and this time two of the golems appear. Other than that, this is the same battle as before. I suggest bringing Crono, Ayla, and Lucca, and giving Crono and Ayla the Red Plate and Mail, and Lucca the Taban Suit. Hit the golems with fire so their attacks can only hurt Lucca, and only barely. After that, just keep them stuck in Fire mode, heal Lucca every so often if needed, and steal a Magic Capsule from each with Ayla. You can also keep switching their elements around to keep them from attacking at all, since it resets their action timer....

Dalton: Damn! The Sisters...!
Fine then, the Master Golem will....

There's a sudden surge of energy from somewhere, and a bright crimson glow.

Dalton: Wh, what's this...?
This eerie swelling of spirit?
Is, is this true Lavos energy...!?
.........
I've kind of got a feeling this's
gonna turn dangerous....
Even if we do gain eternal life,
it's not gonna do me any good
if I'm already dead by then!
All right, I'll do you a favor
and let you off for today!
Later!

Dalton warps himself out. Crono and the others continue in. The next room has a creepy glow to it, and Zeal Palace plays. A Nu stands near the entrance.

The Nu suddenly flies into the air and falls off the walkway into the unseen depths below. The queen and the others are just ahead.

Marle: Sara! We've come to save you!
Let's get outta here!

Lucca: It looks like we've made it in time!
It's kind of a shame, but you're going
to let us stop that machine!

Robo: Staggering gravity waves!?
I CAN feel a dimensional fluctuation!

Frog: We won't let you meddle with
Lavos any further, queen!

Ayla: Ayla here!
Where strong one!?

The device gets more unstable. Energy arcs through the air, some of it striking Sara. An ominous whirring noise starts.

Queen: What are you doing, Sara!
Can't I get you to do your job and control it?!

Marle: Crono...!
The red knife!

Lucca: Come on, Crono!
Hurry up or this is gonna suck...!

Robo: We MUST make the Demonic
Vessel HALT with the knife that
Bosch-san left with us...!

Frog: The old man's knife, Crono!
Stop the Demonic Vessel!!

Ayla: Cro!
Knife, red one!!

Crono steps forward and lifts the knife.

The knife flies up and stabs itself into the Demonic Vessel. The device doesn't stop, but there is some kind of reaction. And the knife suddenly looks like a sword. And not just any sword....

Frog: Th, that's....
The Grandleon!?

Lucca: The knife went sword from
the Demonic Vessel's energy...!?

Marle: H, huh...?
It turned into the Grandleon!?

Robo: The knife ABSORBED
the Demonic Vessel's power
and BECAME a sword!?

Sara: N... no...!!
You can't fully suppress this
power with just that sword...!!

The rumbling and glowing get worse. With an awful shriek that could only be Lavos, the room fades out... and Crono and the others are suddenly facing a hideous creature in some sort of warped space. The creature looks sort of like a freakish turtle with no legs, a huge spikey shell, and something that could be either a maw or a mutated eye where the head should be. Lavos's Theme plays, of course. Lavos usually attacks before anyone can do anything....

Blasts of energy rain down on the party, more likely than not wiping them out right away. Lavos shrieks again, perhaps gloating. The music stops, with the party lying motionless on the ground. And then, the prophet appears in the warped space.

"How long I have waited impatiently....
For this time to come!!

The prophet sheds his hat and cloak, revealing that he's actually Magus!

Magus: It's been a while, Lavos....
On that far-off day, I swore....
To crush you by my hand...!
Even if it meant losing
everything for that sake...!!
The time has at last come
to fulfill my oath.
Die, Lavos!!

The queen and Sara appear in the warped space. Zeal Palace plays.

Queen: Hmph, damned false prophet....
Let's make you prey for Lavos-sama too.

Sara: Mother, please stop already!
This power will bring nothing to
people but calamity!
Any further would be...!!

Queen: Out of my way, Sara!
Lavos-sama's great life force
is breathing within me....
You, too, are a part of that.
You can't change fate now!
If you mean to hinder me, I'll
go so far as to eliminate you!

The queen zaps Sara...

...then hops onto Lavos.

Queen: Here we go, Prophet!
May you realize Lavos-sama's power!!

The maw, or whatever it is, opens and zaps Magus with something.

Magus: Kh...!
ugh...!!
M, my magical power....
It's being sucked away...!?
ughgh...!
I... I won't be beaten...!
To beat you, Lavos... I lived alone
through the midst of darkness!!

He somehow throws off whatever's hitting him, and stands.

Magus: Take this, Lavos!!
Uohhhh...!!

Magus charges Lavos and strikes the maw, or whatever, with something. It seems to do something, but not much.

Magus: It, it can't be...!?
It's not effective!?
gwaaah!!

Lavos blasts him into the ground. He doesn't get up.

Queen: Damned fool...!
The likes of your tiny powers are
invalid against Lavos-sama!
A gift from me.
May you receive eternal life!
Having become one with Lavos-sama!
Kukuku...!
Hah, hahah!!

Lavos starts another energy something. Sara and Magus begin being sucked in. Lavos's Theme plays again. But Crono has recovered enough to stand up....

Marle: You can move? Crono....
P, please, Sara-san...!

Lucca: A, are you okay?
If this keeps up, we're all....
uhg...!

Frog: Ma, Magus...!
There's no way I can let you be
done in by someone else...!

Ayla: C, can stand? Cro....
Ayla hate lose!

Robo: The dimensional fluctuation
IS becoming greater...!
At this rate...!

Magus: Sa... Sara....
Is she all right...!?

Sara: P... please run away....
Crono...!
Against that being, human strength....

Queen: Crono, was it...?
Why don't you turn tail
and flee, as Sara says?
Don't you value your life?
Kukuku....
Hah, hahah...!

Marle: Crono....
Sara-san....
If this keeps up, it'll be too terrible...!

Lucca: As, as if I can just
let my science lose...
at a time like this....

Gotta love mangled lines. She's refusing to quit in the JP version, but just giving up in the NA one.

Robo: If swallowed into that body of
energy, I fear we WILL BE disintegrated
down to our very atoms!

Frog: Kh...!
Wait... Magus...!!

Ayla: Kh...!
Ayla not lose!
Battle just starting...!

Crono has to do something.... It's hopeless, but he confronts Lavos anyway.

Queen: Oh, you mean to fight?
What can you do?
With that wounded body, all by yourself,
you mean to challenge Lavos-sama?
Kukuku....
Die, you damned worm!
Behold Lavos-sama's power!

The music stops, and Lavos charges up yet another attack. It hits Crono....

Frog: You can't...!!
Crono!

The attack intensifies. At the height of it, something sparkling flies up into the air away from Crono, and he just... disintegrates.

"Crono...!?
Cronooo...!!

The scene fades out, then returns to the room where the Demonic Vessel is still running out of control. The sparkling object reappears, followed by Sara, the Magus, and the active party members other than Crono.

Magus: Can this mean my power
isn't enough to win against IT...!?
Lavos...!!

Marle: Crono...?
Where's Crono...!?
NO...!!

Lucca: Crono...!!
Even though I was there...!

Robo: The temple... IS collapsing!
We MUST make escaping
from HERE our first priority...!

Frog: Kh...!
Anyhow, for now, think only
of getting out of here alive!
This temple won't hold!

Ayla: Here ocean bottom!!
What do!?

Manoria Cathedral starts playing as Sara stands.

Sara: I can probably manage to
transfer all of you above ground if I
strain the last of my pendant's power.
I don't expect them to be forgiven....
But, please, my mother,
this country....
Don't hate them....
I'm sorry...!
Now, to the surface...!

He seems like he's going to protest, but stops himself. Sara warps the others out, then collapses.

Sara: .........
Crono....

The scene fades out, then fades in to show Lavos breaking through the surface. Lavos's Theme plays, and Lavos fires off energy blasts, just like in the recording of the A.D.1999 apocalypse. Many of the blasts pierce the floating islands of Zeal, which crumble and fall into the ocean. And that leads to....

The villagers rush to higher ground as the massive wave crashes in.

Much of the following NA version text comes directly from the ROM, which allows for seeing when the game substitutes in variable strings, usually character names. Such strings will be in {braces}, with labels that I hope explain themselves. The only one (so far) that might be confusing is {Cro}. That's Crono's "nickname", which is the same as his name in the NA version, even though it's stored as it's own string and is even used in the text. In other words, the NA version text is set up to use his nickname, but when you name Crono at the beginning of the game, his nickname is set as his name, so you can't tell the difference. Marle's full name ("Nadia" in the NA version) is probably another one. I doubt I'll be adding this string information to any text if I haven't already.

Everything is dark. No music.

Marle: Nh....
Uhhnnn....
Crono....
Cro...!

Lucca: No, Crono....
Cro...!

Robo: It IS dangerous, Crono....
Cro...!

Frog: Y, you idiot...!
Crono... Cro...!

Ayla: Cro... stop...!
Cro...!

The remaining party members wake up in a small hut, similar to those in Ayla's village. One of them will be the effective leader. Normally, whoever was second acts as the leader, but if Marle's here, she affects who says what and when so badly that the effective leader concept pretty much goes out the window, and I've given up on trying to sort it out :-P.

The Elder from the Earth People's village walks into the hut.

Elder: Mh... so you've come to.
You were having quite a nightmare....

Marle: Crono!
Where's Crono!?

Lucca: Crono!
Where's Crono!?

Robo: Crono!
Where IS Crono!?

Frog: Crono....
Where's Crono?

Elder: The only ones collapsed
there were you....

Marle: It wasn't...
a dream....

Lucca: It wasn't...
a dream....

Robo: It really...
WAS reality.
THAT....

Frog: Everyone's another Cyrus....
Even Crono now....

Ayla: That lie!
Cro strong! Cro dead lie!!

Lucca: Th, this is...?
The village of the Earth People...?

Robo: TH, THIS... IS it the village
of the Earth People?

Frog: Th, this... is the village of the
Earth People?

Ayla: Where here?
Earth People village?

Elder: This is the sole island left after the great
disaster that arose from the Abyssal Temple....

Lucca: It can't be....
Even this era....

Robo: We WERE unable to
save THIS era either....

Ayla: That huge bird!
Land above clouds!!
All gone!?

Robo: Bosch-san...
IS Bosch-san here?

Frog: Bosch... what happened
to old man Bosch?

Ayla: Bosch!
What happen Bosch!?

Elder: At the time of the great disaster,
something like a black distortion appeared....
Bosch tried to save Jyaki-sama, who was
about to be sucked in, and he also....

Lucca: Black distortion....
A Gate....

Robo: Black distortion....
A Gate Lavos PRODUCED.

Frog: Black distortion....
A Gate...?

Ayla: Black distortion?
Thing Aylas came through?

Lucca: ......
Sara-san...?

Ayla: Ah! Sara?
What happen Sara?

Elder: I don't know....
No one has seen Sara-sama....

Lucca: The Sylbird! What's become
of the Sylbird?

Frog: The Sylbird! What's happened
to the Sylbird?

Ayla: Sylbird! Where Sylbird?
He alive?

Elder: It's safe, if you mean your ship....
It's so sturdy it's astonishing.
It's washed ashore here, as
if it were following after you.
A mysterious ship....

This should be obvious, but only the character actually here speaks.

Lucca: Marle....
If the Sylbird is safe,
surely Crono is too....

Robo: Marle....
PLEASE cheer up.
This is NOT like YOU....

Frog: Marle....
You have lost someone precious
to you right before your eyes....
I can do no such thing as comforting you....

Ayla: Marle....
Marle cry....
Cro get sad.
Ayla not cry!

Marle: My... pendant....
I entrusted it to Crono....

Lucca: Marle's pendant....
Crono had it....

Robo: Robo: This IS Marle's
pendant... that Crono held.

Frog: The pendant...
that Crono had?

Ayla: This the pendant
Crono had!

Looks like someone made an oversight in Ayla's line. She should be using Crono's nickname, not his full name.

Elder: Young lady, it was on
your shoulder....
As though... protecting you.

Elder: It had fallen beside you....
As though watching over you.

Elder: I will be in the town square up ahead.
Rest as long as you like.