Amor Vincit Omnia Chapter 27
Undermined
By Minmei
"Lucca…"
The man stirred and opened his eyes. With his heart fluttering, he quickly sat upright and found two metal creatures and an old man staring back at him in concern.
"Lie back, Glenn," ordered the rose-colored robot. "You've had a bad fall and you do not need to make it worse."
"Y-yes," Glenn slowly said, remembering the events earlier. He groaned in pain, knowing he'd taken a few bruises. "Lucca…where-"
"She's at Denadoro," explained Atropos. "We ran down that small pathway in the cave and carried you here after we found you two together there. She wanted to stay with you, but we urged her to go on."
"I must get to her…" He began to climb out of the bed, but Atropos stopped him.
"No," she instructed him. "You are not to go anywhere. You are very weak and may not be able to withstand another shock for a while."
"But-"
"Do not argue with her, Glenn," Robo told the young man. "I agree that you are in no condition to go anywhere."
"As do I," threw in Gaspar.
Glenn knew he'd lost the argument as he stared into the faces of his three friends. He sighed and leaned back against the headboard.
***
"Hey, Lucca!"
Lucca trudged along in the back of the group, apparently not hearing her own name. She seemed out of it, her face expressionless.
Crono rolled his eyes and walked up to his best friend. Waving an arm in front of her face, he called her name again.
"Mmm…!" Lucca blinked and frowned, finding Crono's actions quite annoying at the moment. She looked up and scowled at him. "What, Crono?"
"Sorry," Crono said. "But you weren't paying attention. I know you've got a load on your mind, but please try to work with us."
A hint of a smile crossed Lucca's lips as she stared back at her friend. She apologized. "My bad, Crono," she told him. "My mind's just a bit occupied right now. I'm thinking about Glenn, as if you couldn't have guessed."
Crono let out a small chuckle. "Yeah…"
"But you're right. I need to focus on this right now," Lucca said, giving him a nod.
"Good," Crono said, sounding pleased. Lucca gave him a strange look and Crono let out another tiny laugh. He extended an arm out to her. "Come on, Lucca," he beckoned. "Let's all do this together." Lucca smiled, took his arm, and the two of them walked side by side along the path in the cave.
***
"Déjà vu…" Magus spoke the words softly, yet with firmness.
An ample amount of debris, too much, perhaps, surrounded the five members. They could see clumps of dirt and pieces of rock scattered on the ground. And in the back, the damned evil mocking them ever so smugly, still in its flawless armor, without a scratch on its spikes.
"I hate that thing," growled Lucca through clenched teeth, with the abhorrence of the ages boiling inside of her. "I really do."
"Hmph," snorted Marle. "I think we all do."
Magus turned back to Lucca and Marle, and with a corresponding expression of repugnance, said, "Then let's just show it how much." He looked at his sister, who nodded at him and motioned for Marle to join her. "Go for it, you two," he told them.
Marle and Schala made their way through the debris and quietly stepped up to the creature, being careful not to stand too close. They stood facing each other, the monster appearing to be right between the both of them. Together, they started to chant a song that sounded quite eerie, even to the two girls. But as frightening as it seemed, they knew it had to be performed.
Their words were indistinct as they summoned their pendants' power. Both necklaces began to give off a dim light.
Lucca stepped up beside Magus. "What happens if the creature wakes up while they're chanting?"
Magus didn't bother turning around. A safe distance away, he focused his eyes on the two girls and the creature. "Then may God have mercy on us all."
"…to silence this creature…"
The wind began to pick up, and it gusted around the two girls. They tried to ignore it as it strengthened, and they continued to chant. Both pendants glowed more and more brilliantly as the wind grew stronger. Marle shivered as her hair was blown out of the smooth ponytail she always kept it in. The hair ribbon was loosened as the wind blew, and eventually the blond strands completely escaped the hold and blew about her face. Nevertheless, she kept on with the chant.
Suddenly, the so-called eye of the creature opened, but this time, something different happened. A hideous sound erupted from the beast. It sounded almost like a scratchy voice making a dying last request. What was it……..saying?
"Wh-what are you doing here?!" it rasped. The noise scraped away at the members' eardrums.
"It……speaks?!" Schala and Marle stared at the creature, wide-eyed.
Crono charged forward , stopping a few feet away from the monster, pointing his Rainbow at it accusingly. "We're here to finish what your daddy started!" he snarled in response to the sickening abomination.
The monster let out a gurgle. "You…you…what are you d-doing to me?" It groaned as it tried to resist the pendants' power. And it was succeeding.
The two princesses stopped and backed away.
Argh, thought Schala. We couldn't finish the chant, but we were almost at its end. I just hope it was enough to weaken the monster.
Marle looked at Schala, hoping the same thing, then turned to her boyfriend. "Now, Crono!" she commanded.
Crono obediently stepped up to the creature. "Now let's see if it worked," he said aloud. Staring at the beast menacingly, he swung his arms and slashed the monster once across the eye. The son of Lavos uttered a distorted cry of pain. A bit of damage, but apparently not enough, for it managed to glare at Crono a split second before knocking him down with some telekinetic force.
The punk haired boy hit the ground hard. Lucca, already furious with the creature's short but active history, came a bit closer, and aimed her gun at the monster. "Now it's my turn," she declared. Lucca pulled back the trigger and the blast pelted the creature in the middle of its eye. Shutting the eye, the lavoid screeched again.
Crono stood up and tried to give the monster another blow. The blade of the sword clanged against the "eyelids," but had no effect on the creature. Crono's jaw dropped open in shock. "Oh, great," he groaned. "What now?"
A moment of silence passed. "It appears it is only vulnerable when that 'eye' is exposed," Magus observed.
"It…seems so," Lucca agreed. All five studied the monster.
Crono waited a moment, then tried to penetrate the eye again. No success.
"And from the looks of it, it doesn't want to open it again anytime soon," added the blue-haired mage.
"What?!" exclaimed Marle.
"No," whispered Crono.
The beast let out what sounded like a victorious cackle. "I…triumph…"
"We've…lost?" Lucca stared at the creature in disbelief.
"Precisely," it hissed. "Now…you…..die…" Suddenly the cave began to quake, the ceiling preparing to bury all five of them. Bits of the ceiling started to drop.
"Argh!" shouted Lucca, trying to dodge the falling pieces of rock. "It's going to trap all of us in here!"
The monster chortled again. "Say…goodbye…"
We've been defeated, realized Lucca, putting her gun down. And just like that. We've lost. Nothing can help us now.
"Die…"
"NO!"
Everyone looked at Schala, who was struggling to maintain her balance standing. She stared at the beast icily, her face frozen in a mask of contempt. "You are not to get away with this," she coldly informed the son of Lavos. "Lavos has already done enough damage to everything and everyone I love. Don't think you'll ever be powerful enough to do the same. You are but an amateur, and you'll never live long enough to be able to exercise your power to its fullest extent."
She suddenly clutched her pendant and hastily recited a foreign-sounding string of words. A blue orb of light left her pendant at the cue of the chant and floated over to the beast. As it approached the monster, the orb expanded and dissipated over the eye. The son of Lavos growled as its eye was slowly forced wide open. It knew it was about to get what it deserved.
"All right," said Schala. She turned to the spiky-haired guy standing nearby. "NOW is the time, Crono," she instructed.
Crono nodded, brought the sword back, then with all of his might, jammed the blade directly into the center of that ugly eye. The creature uttered the longest and most gruesome of shrieks as Crono pushed the blade deeper and deeper inside, and then, suddenly, was quiet. The ghastly sound echoed throughout the cave long after the monster was silenced.
The team gazed at the eye, whose reddish color was fading. The top eyelid dropped, then slumped over Crono's sword.
"What…is that…is that it?" asked Lucca cautiously.
"I don't know," Crono answered her. "You did say we needed to weaken the monster. But it was nothing like this last time."
"Yeah," Lucca said absentmindedly, still staring at the monster.
"Ick," moaned Crono. "I know I need to be getting back my sword, so…" He carefully placed his hands on the hilt of the Rainbow, not wanting to touch that sickly eyelid, and tugged. Nothing happened. He pulled again. Still nothing. Crono brought his hands back and groaned. "Damn it," he said, placing his hands on his hips. "That's just great. Someone want to help me here?"
Magus sighed and walked over to Crono. Both of them took a hold of the handle and pulled as hard as they could. Slowly, but surely, the sword inched out of the creature. Crono and Magus flew back as the tip was finally pulled out. Magus hit the ground on his derriere, with Crono landing on him, the sword in his hands.
"Get off me!" Magus ordered, pushing Crono off of him. Crono stood up and cast Magus a dirty look. Magus only glared back as he dusted off his cape. Shaking his head, Crono turned away from the wizard and then walked over to Marle.
"Hey look!" shouted Lucca, pointing at the creature. "What's that?"
All looked back at the monster, seeing something that was definitely out of the ordinary. The entire eye of Lavos' son let off another beam of light. Everyone shielded their eyes as the light was blinding them all. Then, as the brightness faded, they all lowered their arms and looked again at the monster, but this time, finding something new.
And they all gasped in horror at what they saw.
.