Amor Vincit Omnia Chapter 1
From The Grave
By Minmei
Sometime in 2300 AD...
The brilliant display of shooting stars in the clear black skies was quite a sight, but was not enough to make the pink robot forget her worries about her counterpart. Atropos lowered her glowing eyes to gaze upon Robo, who was at the edge of the cliff overlooking Truce. He had been acting so distant, so strangely in the last few days. She needed him to confide in her. Atropos slowly stepped up beside Robo.
"Robo," she pleaded, "You haven't been yourself lately. Don't shut me out. Please, tell me what's wrong."
Instead of brushing off her words like he had within the past week, he decided to finally admit what was wrong. "Well," he started, turning toward her, "something…something just isn't right."
If she were human, she might have given Robo a strange look. "What do you mean?"
A pause. Robo let out what sounded like a sigh. "I thought I would be happy in this new future, but all of a sudden…I don't know."
"What?" asked Atropos.
"I…"
"Robo…?"
"I...sense strange activity beneath the earth, almost as if-almost as if-"
"Almost as if Lavos is coming back?" Atropos finished for him.
"Yes," Robo said. "How you read my mind, Atropos."
An uncomfortable moment passed. "Robo, do you think Lavos is calling out from the grave?" Atropos asked.
"I don't know," Robo answered, "but I know there is something down there. I have been measuring the energy levels of this-this being, and the readings are close to those of Lavos." He became silent for a moment. Then he continued. "I was assured that it was all over when we killed Lavos 300 years ago."
"So…what do you think is going on? Do you think it…survived?" Atropos wondered.
"No. Lavos is dead. We made sure of that. But..."
"But what?" Atropos asked.
"You remember I told you about Lavos' children we had to kill, up on Death Peak, before we brought Crono back to life?" Robo said.
"Yes," answered Atropos.
"Well, I thought about it, and I am starting to believe that there was one more we did not know about. One that is stirring in the ground beneath us as we speak. One that was expected to take over for Lavos if he were to perish. One, I fear, that is ready to awaken any day at this time, in this time period, to take over this land, to rob the world of-" Robo couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, but Atropos understood perfectly what he was talking about.
"Robo," she began, "maybe it isn't what you are thinking. Maybe there isn't another-"
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. The two robots tried to keep their balance but couldn't. The quake stopped after a few seconds. Then, cautiously, Robo and Atropos picked themselves up. "What was that?" Atropos cried in alarm. As if to answer her question, a loud, familiar, bloodcurdling shriek filled the air.
"That-that was a warning," Robo replied, panicked. "The next time will be for real." He looked to Atropos. "Come with me to Guardia Forest. There is something we must do." Atropos didn't understand, but followed him anyway. Together they ran down the mountain and headed towards the woods.
"What are we doing here?" Atropos asked as soon as they entered the forest.
"If my calculations are correct, the old gate should still be here!" Robo answered.
"Gate?" The pink robot was confused. "Okay, but how are you going to use it?" she wanted to know. "Where does it lead to?"
"It is simple. Lucca gave me her gate key, as something to remember her by, if we completely lost contact of each other. This gate leads to the Guardia Forest in 1000 AD," he answered. They ran into the clearing where the gate was.
"Now, Atropos, I'm going to send you back in time. When you arrive, I want you to find Crono, Marle, and Lucca, and tell them everything I've told you. Then tell them to alert the other members." He opened the portal.
"What are you going to do?" Atropos asked.
"I'm going to find Doan. Then I'll join all of you in the forest Fiona and I replanted," he answered.
"Why don't I get Crono and them and we can come back for you in the Epoch?" Atropos offered.
"No! It may be too late then. Just do what I told you okay? Good luck!"
"Wait! Why are you going after Doan?" she suddenly asked.
"Doan and I must make sure the people are transported to shelterdomes immediately," he answered.
"But why? When we kill this Lavos, you won't have to worry about that."
Instead of answering, he pushed Atropos into the gate. "I have to make sure the humans are safe," Robo thought aloud. "They have treated me wonderfully, especially Lucca..." With the gate key in his hand, Robo turned around and ran out of the forest, wondering how he was going to break the news to Doan...
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