The Origin of a Trigger
By Crystal Zeal
The scientist laughed, looking up to the bright sky. What a wonderful day -- everything had been great! She looked down to her small humanoid robot with a grin. Her miniature Robo was coming along greatly.
Lucca had started more advanced research and development in robotics once Lavos had been defeated and the world had been saved. With the information gained from the Mother Brain and RY series, she was able to create a small, functioning version. She was hoping to manipulate the data more to create an AI feature for it, like the one that had been installed inside the chosen Prometheus, or Robo.
A bright blue light flickered up ahead. Curious, the sixteen year old stepped over. Her expression became one of joy when she spotted a small child, laying amongst the ferns. Lucca kneeled down to investigate further, and spotted a familiar pendant. She fingered it, now intrigued as well as curious. With a large smile, she hefted the child into her arms and started back to her home.
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Three years later, Lucca Ashtear’s house had transformed from one big laboratory into a slightly larger orphanage, with two rooms dedicated to science. Her mother and father had moved out, saying that they admired what Lucca was doing and the house now belonged to her. They then moved into the small town of Porre, some distant south on the lower part of the Zenan continent.
“Big sister, the noise is scaring me...” The young girl voiced to the older scientist. Lucca picked her arm, holding her tightly in her arms.
“Shh, it’s ok, Kid. It’s only thunder!” She tried to sound comforting, but Lucca shot an anxious glance to the window. The storm that raged outside was definitely not normal, and seemed to have originated from over the El Nido Archipelago.
“I’ll tuck you back into bed, Kid. You need to try to sleep. A little rain won’t hurt us, alright?” The older girl smiled brightly to the child. The three-year-old nodded, sticking her thumb into her mouth.
Moving quietly, Lucca moved the nervous girl into the children’s room, making sure not to awake the others. She set her down into a bed, and pulled the overs up over her. “Sleep, little sister,” she whispered, bending over to lightly kiss the girl on the forehead. Kid nodded and shut her eyes.
With a sigh, Lucca slipped out of the room and down the hallway back to her room. Stepping over to a trap door on the floor, she opened it and climbed down the ladder. Her eyes were drawn to a crudely drawn picture of Crono as she made her way down to hallway. Shaking her head with a miniature smile, Lucca entered her workroom.
Her chair was sought out, and she immediately looked to the window once more. Some was wrong... she could feel it.
The gang had been amazed to find a whole new section of the world appear when they returned from the Day of Lavos. This group of Islands was an inhabited area named El Nido. Not only was it now there, but apparently it had been there for hundreds of years. Looking back on old records, Lucca had been stunned to find she had taken a course on the climate of the archipelago in grade school.
While Crono and Marle accepted this, it made the scientist uneasy. If a whole new area had appeared, what else could have resulted from their changing of time? Somehow, she knew the situation was a lot more serious than it seemed, but she had not yet begun to figure out what this was.
Movement from her desk caught her attention. Teal orbs fell upon the Gate Key, widening. She quickly clutched at it, bringing it up to her face. The switch was moving erratically, going from time to time.
This could only mean one thing. Lucca rose, walking over to the window and peering out. Something was effecting the fragile balance of time and space. The continuum was being toyed with. This storm could not be of natural origin.
Little did Lucca know, she was exactly correct.
At this time, both the young Arbiter of Time, Serge, was being sent back in time by Schala Zeal, a princess from the far past and the other half to the Time Devourer, which was the remains of Lavos. At this point, history had righted itself and resumed it’s natural flow. Serge and Kid had successfully defeated the Time Devourer and set the Zealian Princess free from her captivity. Kid, having been a clone created by Schala, joined with her other self, and the two became one entity once more.
During this year, The electrical storm that had appeared over the Sea of Eden temporarily deactivated FATE, the main computer in t he advanced city of Chronopolis. FATE weakened it’s guards for just ten minutes. During this time, a fisherman from the village of Arni and his friend Miguel were blown off course and landed at Chronopolis with Wazuki, the fisherman’s, son, who had fallen deathly ill. Upon landing, the Frozen Flame, an artifact of seemingly limitless power, sought out the dying boy Serge and completely healed and bonded with him, destroying FATE’s hold over it. FATE was further stopped when a secret circuit activated within it’s system, originally created by Lucca herself and the Zealian guru Belthasar, who had designed FATE and Chronopolis to begin with.
Apparently six Dragon Gods had once reigned over the El Nido archipelago. They were trapped and sealed by FATE. Once FATE was weakened, they managed to escape it’s hold and create a 7th Dragon, the entity known as Harle.
When FATE regained hold of Chronopolis, it threw Miguel into a void known as the “Time Crash.” This place was both timeless and a result of interference of Serge with the Frozen Flame.
Shortly after Miguel was tossed in, Serge’s father, Wazuki, managed to get him back to Arni safely. Soon thereafter he was twisted, corrupted and controlled by FATE, which turned him into a Feline Demi-Human named Lynx. The now dangerous servant, Lynx, was ordered to undo the event that had aspired that stormy night. Thus, he set out to follow these orders.
And so, the scientific genius known as Lucca set out into the pouring rain to investigate.
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“Miss Lucca, your mind is greatly needed to help develop our FATE system and Chronopolis. You have experience future technology, and are advanced enough to be of major importance to us.”
Lucca looked the old man over, arms crossed over her chest. “But what of the children? I have them to look after.”
Belthasar flicked his wrist. “The process of time will bring you back right after you left. They won’t even know that you’re gone.”
The scientist pondered this over. “Are you really sure that I can help you? I’m still from a less advanced time era, after all.”
The guru nodded. “Affirmative. You have already begun to reproduce a copy of the RY line that challenges the design true one. You are also aquatinted with another one of our staff, who has guaranteed us that your genius would be an asset to us.”
“Who is this other staff member?” She inquired, leaning back in her chair.
Bringing a hand up to his mouth cough, the Zeal wiseman replied, “he is named Prometheus, but goes by the name of Robo.”
Lucca shot up in her chair, eyes wide. Her glasses slipped down her nose and landed in her lap. “Robo?!” She exclaimed, jamming her glasses back onto her face.
Belthasar tightened his grip on his cane and nodded. “He was among the first to volunteer. He also is an expert in time travel now, so he is as much of an asset as you are.”
Grinning wolfishly, Lucca stuck out her hand. “Count me in, gramps! I’m always ready for another adventure!”
Shaking her hand, he motioned to the door. “Come now. We’ll just hop aboard my Wings of Time and be on our way.”
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“FATE is coming along nicely. All we need is a counterbalance to make sure she doesn’t rebel.” Lucca pushed her glasses up higher along the ridge of her nose, typing steadily into a keyboard.
“Secondary emergency hard drive -- installed. Preparing for programming of back-up system.” A few electronic clicks were issued from the RY Bot.
“Great, Robo. System A files loaded and complete. FATE’s just a few clicks away from becoming a reality!” The scientists face was alight with anticipation.
Belthasar shook his head. “We still need to take precautions to make sure FATE runs safely. We need to create another AI system to make sure that FATE will not betray us.” He winced, knobby fingers pained with arthritis.
Lucca looked to him, concerned. “But what if the AI program also betrays us?”
“We need something that we know will guard FATE and not back down.” The former guru rubbed his chin, peering into the computer screen.
Robo clicked, turning. “I could do it. Just insert me as a backup. You know that I will never betray you, and I can keep a strong hold on FATE.”
With a slight shake of her head, Lucca stared him down. “Don’t talk like that, Robo! You needn’t sacrifice yourself! We’ll just have to find some other way...”
“But what other way is there?” Robo inquired.
This left the two speechless.
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“Goodbye, Lucca.” The robot stood over the scientist who had fallen asleep in her chair. His eyes reflected his inner emotions: those of loss, pain, and love. “I will not let your hard work be in vain.”
He had been working for quite some time since she had fallen asleep, and had soon built a chamber for him to attach himself to the system with. With a final nod as a farewell, he backed up into the cavity and inserted himself. Multiple pipes and wires started connecting with him, and his eyes whirled as his system beeped. “Installing program Prometheus Lock into main computer hard drive. 5% done. 15%. 40%. 79%. 100%. Prometheus Lock is now fully installed into FATE system. Start program Prometheus Lock? Y/N?”
The screen flashed this for quite some time. The beeping finally woke the sleeping scientist. When she adjusted her glances and looked groggily to the screen, she shrieked. “BELTHASAR!”
The guru came slightly running. “My dear, what’s wrong?” He inquired.
Wordless and pale, she just pointed to the screen.
“My dear!” Belthasar exclaimed, shocked. “He did it to himself! Is there any way to remove him?”
Lucca started to frantically type at the keyboard.
//C:drivemanagement/roboprog/uninstall [Enter]
Unistallation denied.
“It won’t work! He’s put a lock on the program!”
//C:drivemanagement/roboprog/ [override] //:uninstall [Enter]
Unistallation denied.
Lucca must have tried dozens of other things by the time she pounded her fist on the motherboard with fury and frustration, sobbing. “Why...Oh Robo, why...” She cried, fists pounding. She finally sank into her chair, tears streaming down her face.
Start program Prometheus Lock? Y/N?
Y-E-S. [Enter]
The Prometheus Lock started making a whirling sound.
“Prometheus Lock started. Override manageable from main computer station. Please, Lucca. Leave me as I am. I am of more importance here. Goodbye, Lucca.”
The scientist whipped her streaming tears with her sleeve, sniffling. “Goodbye, Robo. Rest for now.”
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“This is correct, Sir Lynx. The Porre Military now has outposts in both the Upper Zenan area and El Nido. We number more than the Guardia Army does, and are weaponry is more advanced. Taking the whole Zenan Mainland will be easy.”
The feline creature looked over the Commander through slitted eyes. “You can confirm this, Commander Michaelis?”
Zed Michaelis nodded. “Affirmative, Sir. Each base contains 8,000 soldiers. With two bases, we can easily overcome Guardia’s 12,000.”
Lynx grinned, showing razor sharp teeth. “Excellent. In one month’s time, we attack Guardia and take the Frozen Flame. Until then, I have work to be done.” Chuckling slightly, he turned and exited the room. Zen let loose a shiver upon his exit.
“That creature gives me the creeps...” Shaking his head slightly, he looked to his twenty-three year old son, who was standing in the shadows. “Norris. I want you to inform Captains Choyce and Langen to prepare for battle. Also say that messages must be sent to Beta Base by tomorrow with the same battle. Report then to Colonel Sabo and tell him that a meeting is to be scheduled in two weeks time for a progress report and for a full explanation of plan Gamma-Zeta-Tau.”
The blond man saluted his father and left immediately to fulfill the order.
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“You’d better come with us, Dr. Ashtear.” Lynx’s threatening voice warned. He flexed his claws, glaring down at her.
“Please, Madame. It would be best to surrender to Monsieur Lynx. You do not want to get hurt, no?”
Lucca stood rigidly, a plama gun in hand. “I’ve already told you two! I will not help you remove the Prometheus Lock!” He glared at the Harlequin and Demi-human, pointing the weapon at them. “Don’t get any closer!”
Lynx snarled, clenching his fist. “You have one weeks time in which to change your mind. If you don’t, we’ll just have to force you. Come, Harle.” Motioning for the petite French Harlequin, the feline turned and stalked off.
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Arrows fell out from the sky, covered in flames. Fire spurted up everyone along the village of Truce, calling all to share the blossoming inferno.
“Take the Castle! Ram that gate in! Blow it up with gunpowder! Do what ever it takes to get in!” Zed roared from his position on his horse. A large rifle was strapped to his back. “Battalions C and D! Take hold of the village! Kill all who oppose!”
The Porre army managed to obliterate the gate to Guardia Castle, storming it with little difficulty. The few Guardia soldiers were cut down quickly. The battle was bloody and flame filled. Upon the storming of the gates, both the King and Queen had put up a fine display of fireworks as the magically blasted at least one hundred Porre soldiers into oblivion.
In the end, Queen Nadia had died from multiple bullet wounds, while Crono had one on his shoulder but had also been stabbed through. Thus ended the kingdom of Guardia, with the bloody murder of it’s rulers. As most of the castle burned down to the ground, a gloved hand reached out towards the podium in between both thrones and clasped the Masamune around it’s hilt.
The sword had now fallen into the hands of darkness.
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Lucca, the scientific genius, sat at her desk and sighed. She had been working on the skimatics for another robot generation, but the inspiration just wasn’t flowing. Kid looked her over from her chair, slightly concerned.
“Big sister, you need to take a break! You look tired!”
Lucca smiled wearily to the girl. “It’s alright, Kid. I’m fine. I just need to get these do--”
A big explosion echoed from the mainland. The purple haired woman jumped to her feet, running towards the door. She could see flames erupting from both the castle and village.
“We’re under attack! Kid, go gather the others!” Lucca shouted frantically, eyes alight with fear.
Kid started running towards the door, but a strong power knocked her back into the ground.
“Kid!” Lucca exclaimed, running to her side.
“So, Miss Ashtear, we meet again. Still haven’t changed your mind, have you?” Lynx’s sneering voice sounded from the doorway. He was standing there, eyes narrowed. The Enigmatic Jester stood behind him, peering in.
“How dare you!” Snarled Lucca, standing. Flames started running up her arms, circling around her hands. “Why I’ll -- I’ll fry you!” She raised fire engulfed hands, pointing towards Lynx. He in return brushed his hand, sending out a wave of dark energy which knocked Lucca down and sent her flying into a wall. The roar of flames could be heard from upstairs.
“Oh dear. It seems that your little house is on fire.” Lynx sneered, walking towards the woman and completely ignoring Kid. Harle followed closely behind, pausing to glance down at Kid.
The girl blinked, peering up. “Wha...?” She shook her head, pulling herself to a sitting position. “Lucca!” Kid shouted, spying her ‘older sister.’ “What did you do to her?!” The girl screamed at Harle and Lynx. She jumped to her feet, charging at Harle. The Jester just pushed her away, sending her sprawling.
Do not interfere with zis. It does not concern you, and moi does not want to hurt you,” she warned, looking down to the girl arrogantly.
Kid winced, but then glared right back at the Harlequin.
“Kid...stop...” Lucca groaned and lurched to her feet, grabbing her gun from the nearby desk. Wincing, she brought it up and pointed at Lynx. “Don’t you dare hurt anyone. I will not help you. Leave us now, Lynx!”
Lynx sighed, shaking his head. “It would seem that you don’t have a say in the matter anymore.” Grinning, he stepped forward, sending a few jolts of lightning at Kid, and unhooking his scythe from his back. “You had better come quietly, Miss Ashtear...”
Narrowing her eyes, Lucca shot a ball of plasma towards the feline demi-human.
Chuckling ominously, Lynx raised his scythe, deflecting it with blade like a baseball. He stepped forward more, holding his weapon ready to attack. Lucca stepped back, firing another, which the man dodged with the agility of a cat. Lurching to the side, Lynx sprang forward, bring the flat of his scythe down onto Lucca’s head. The girl had tried to fire a shot, but it was deflected as her arm was smacked out of the way and she slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Chuckling more, the toy of FATE snatched Lucca up, holding her like a rag doll. It was then that the ocean eyes boy shot in. Both Harle and Lynx turned to look at him before disappearing with Lucca.
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“Don’t leave me!” The clone exclaimed as the power of the Mastermune wore out and Serge disappeared back to his time.
Sobbing, Kid fell to her knees on the grass, wrapping her arms around herself. “Big sister...” The tears cascaded down her face, dripping to the ground. She opened blurred eyes to view the burning orphanage.
Gritting her teeth, the clone narrowed her blurred eyes. Lynx... that was his name. She had heard Lucca call him that. Arms still wrapped around her body, Kid drew herself to her feet, burning with an intense rage. “Lynx... I’ll get you for this...”
She drew her hands up to her face, eyes clenched shut. With a small noise from her throat, Kid threw out her arms, screaming, “I’LL GET YOU!”
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The child of the sea played happily on the Opassa Beach with his friends. The now seven year old Serge was an adventurous, healthy youth with no knowledge of what had happened to him four years prior.
Giggling, the ocean-eyed boy tackled another, yelling, “tag! You’re it!” Upon doing this, he started running away down the beach. After running for quite some time, he turned around only to see his friends going in the opposite direction.
“Hey, guys!” He yelled, waving his arms.
Pouting, the boy crossed his arms across his chest and started tromping towards the directions his friends went in. They were soon out of sight, though, and it was starting to grow dark. Serge shivered, rubbing his arms.
“Meanies...They...left me...b-behind...” His teeth chattered as his muttered to himself. He didn’t notice the approaching squall as he walked through the sand, waves lapping at his ankles.
By now it was really dark out, and Serge was having trouble finding his way. Not only this, but it had started to pour, and the waves were crashing harder against his legs. In an attempt to get closer to the beach, he slipped and was dragged further away from shore. The water dropped down onto him as he fought to stay a float. Little arms pushed himself up and he gasped for air, while tiny drops of rain plopped onto his face and into his mouth, dripping down the side of his cheeks and hair. Coughing and sputtering, the boy of the ocean was dragged under his creator, which willed him further from home.
Darkness swept around him. Darkness, and loud crashing noises. The occasional thunder and biting whip of the air slapped him, but for the most part it was just cold, wet darkness. The boy opened his eyes, which saw swirling water and nothing else. He gasped, swallowing water and choking. The blue haired boy kicked with all his might, trying to make his way to the surface, but he was dragged down. Soon, darkness seeped into his brain and a single hand reached above the waves for help...
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The Zeal princess heard the boys cries from across the Darkness of Time. Although not completely aware, the helpless yells pierced through her evil-corrupted heart and consciousness.
Schala, former princess of Zeal, was now a part of Lavos. The two had combined to form the Time Devourer, the creature that feeds off the darkness of souls and the corruption of the space time continuum. Located in the Tesseract, where all lost futures and timelines go, the two were biding their time, plotting to escape and destroy the world.
Long ago, the gate caused by Lavos had thrown Schala into the Tesseract, where she merged with another of it’s forms and was slowly drowned in it’s hatred. This hatred was twisting her, making her feed the Time Devourer with her power.
Now, as she floated there, long blue hair streaming behind her, Schala reached up, cupping a hand over her pendant. A single blue light began to pulse from it. The princess slowly pulled the necklace from her head, and held it upward. A beam of light surged down, enveloping the girl. When it dissipated, the pendant was gone. Mouth twitching into a smile, Schala slipped further into the darkness.
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“Hold on, mate, I’ll save ye!” The girl cried, grabbing the loose hand. She started swimming back towards the shore with powerful kicks, pulling the child up into her arms. Waves gushed down upon them, forcing the girl to add more power to her pushes. Even as the rain drenched them further, the clone was dragging them closer and closer. A wave caught hold of them, sending them crashing into the wet sand.
“Serge, me mate, are ye alright?” The blonde girl peered down somewhat urgently at her future companion. He wasn’t breathing. In desperation, the girl started to push onto his chest, hoping to start his heart. After a few hard pushes, Serge gasped, water pouring from his mouth. He turned onto his side and vomited onto the sand.
When he at least emptied himself, the boy looked warily up to the girl, eyes blurry, before slipping into a state of unconsciousness.
Kid, the clone who had saved him, stood. In one hand she held Schala’s pendant. Bring it up to her face, she muttered something and was soon enveloped in that same blue light. When it cleared, the baby Kid was sleeping soundly in a forest around Guardia Castle, with Lucca close by.
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Something odd happened now, and two dimensions were formed. In one world, Serge lived, while he died in the other. This event had dire consequences, and many people’s lives were changed.
Time had been split asunder.
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“Serge, Serge! Oh Serge, please be all right!”
The boy’s mother kneeled over him, tears pouring down her face. Behind her stood the village chief of Arni and a random assembly of people, as well as Serge’s friends.
The boy laid lifeless in the sand, face pale and clammy. Marge picked up her son, sobbing.
“Serge...my boy...Why?!”
People lowered the heads in sorrow as Marge grieved for the death of her boy.
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“Oh Serge, you’re all right! We had thought for sure that it would have been otherwise!” Marge cried shamelessly into her child’s shoulder, wrapping her arms around him and drawing him close.
Serge coughed, looking up to his mother weekly. “M...Mommy?” He whispered, his voice cracked. His expression was that of puzzlement.
Marge sobbed once more, tears of relief pouring from her. “Yes, Serge... It’s Mommy... You’re ok now...”
Smiling up his mother, looking dazed, Serge nuzzled against her and fell asleep.
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“So you wanna be a Radical Dreamer, aye mate?” The man looked down to the determined looking kid. “D’ya think that ya got what it takes to be one of us?”
The twelve year old girl nodded. “Aye, I do.” She was attempting to copy the thief’s outrageous accent.
Grinning, the thief crossed his arms around his chest, cocking an eyebrow. “Oh, really? Well, mate, why do ya wanna be one of us?”
Kid’s eyes were shadowed as she replied, “revenge,” in a cold voice.
The man was slightly taken aback. “Revenge, ya say? Who could a little tyke like ya want revenge on?”
Clenching her fists, the girl looked him square in his violet hues. “Lynx. He ruined my life and killed my big sister. I’ll get him, no matter what it takes.”
Startled, the man dropped him arms and stared at the child in disbelief. Gathering his wits, he shook his head and once again adopted his cocky attitude. “Well then, Kid me mate, welcome to the Radical Dreamers. We’ll train ya ta fight, steal, and that sort of business. Come, I’ll introduce ya to the gang.” He turned, motioning for her to follow.
Kid grinned somewhat grimly, following him. She and the rest of the orphans had been taken by the Porre military and “placed into foster care.” She shuddered when she thought of the hell she lived through then. Kid, however, had been able to escape. Upon hearing of the small band of thieves known as the Radical Dreamers, she had decided to seek them out.
She would get her revenge, and no one could get in her way.
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The blond thief peered down at the three men threatening the blue haired boy. Shaking her head in anger, she shouted out for them to leave him alone. She hated bullies!
This moment was the start of Kid’s real journey, in the quest to fix time and set things right.
Guess what? They succeeded.