Of Lives Seldom Written

by Insert Coins To Begin

The chapters are long. Very long. Not too long, though. Read it, and I guarantee you will feel like a bad person for having enjoyed it or, at the very least, a bad person for having read it.

3. I, Robot

As Serge emerged from the tightly sealed room atop Fort Dragonia, fully clothed and looking much more like himself, all that could be heard were the exclamations of his comrades. "Serge!" they both cried in disbelief. True, they had mostly known the young man from Arni as a towering demi-human, formerly known on El Nido as the mysterious and unapproachable Lynx. What followed was a never-ending lesson in pain and futility, until finally the dragons had intervened, and with their guidance Serge sought out the Dragon Tear, the only thing left that could return his soul to its former vessel.

Now, here he was, standing before two of the many friends he had procured along the way, a blonde man hailing from the mainland by the name of Norris, and the silver-haired shrine maiden known only as Steena, the person responsible for lending him the now shattered Dragon Tear. After the initial shock of seeing Serge whole once again, Steena looked down to the contents of Serge's left hand. Serge followed her eyes and caught sight of what remained of Guldove's treasure, now a shard and shadow of its former self.

He held it up to Steena with an apologetic look, hoping to garner some forgiveness from the woman whose most prized possession he had destroyed for his own benefit. She simply smiled, however, and said, "It is no surprise it shattered as it did. But you also carry with you the broken Dragon Tear of another world, and perhaps they together hold the secret to the undiscovered Chrono Cross. Yet I sense that you still have unfinished business..." Serge simply nodded his agreement.

"Not only must you retrieve the lost souls that followed you before you lost your way, but you feel an obligation to one in particular. A promise you made, and one you wish to keep. And I have a feeling it will lead us back to Guldove." Serge again solemnly nodded.

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"This world is distorted and crooked. Trying to force your honesty on this crooked world may break you."

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Norris silently followed Serge and Grobyc up the path to Viper Manor, now dominating the horizon immediately before them. Some distance back, he could barely make out the words that Grobyc's monotonous, metallic voice tossed Serge's way. Something about a personal favour, and how they needed all the help they could get. Norris agreed, but he did not see why they were being led back into the heart of Porre's expeditionary force here in El Nido. As the three approached the massive front gates of the manor, the gold plated viper that snaked its way across the gate glinted in the sun, causing Norris to squint. Norris soon took the lead, convincing the guards at the entrance that he was from this world, and that the guards were on orders to let him back in.

The guilt hit him soon after they entered the manor itself, as it always did when he pulled a feint veil of deceit over the eyes of his fellow man. He often noted the time interval between deception and guilt, and he noticed that the delay never changed. As the three wandered into the basement of the mostly abandoned stone mansion, its lush accommodations and elegant atmosphere sitting stagnant in the humid tropical clime, Norris noticed a faint scent, poignant and unsettling, coming from the direction of a nearby grate. The grate obviously led into the sewers beneath the manor, and Norris was not interested in visiting such a place. Before he could look up again to see where he was going, Norris stumbled right into Grobyc, Norris' head eliciting a hollow thud as it connected with the back of the robot's shoulder.

Grobyc had stopped mid-step to speak to the young, blue-haired boy standing beside him. "Is it true that she aided Serge before Porre's invasion of El Nido?" Serge simply nodded in silent consent. "Perhaps," the robot continued in his usual toneless manner, "Serge should proceed first so that she will not be alarmed by Grobyc's presence." Serge again nodded and took a few paces forward, firmly clutching the handle of the door before him. As the door swung wide, Norris could feel his senses assaulted by the fumes coming from inside the well-sealed room, fumes not unlike those wafting from beneath the manor. The various bubbling liquids and discarded sheets of paper made evident the scientific nature of the room, though who could possibly survive the noxious gases for longer than a minimal amount of time he was unsure.

Upon entering the room, all three turned to face the only humanoid being inside, a curvaceous, feminine form with an hourglass physique. A dull golden hairpiece shrouded most of her purple hair, while a white lab coat fully concealed her voluptuous form. The woman turned to face them, a look of pure detachment on her face. The dragons themselves could have been cramming their bulky forms through her tiny doorframe and she could not have cared less. A single cocked eyebrow was the only recognition on her part of the three intruders. Her eyes landed on Serge, in his usual place at the head of the line. For a brief moment, a thin smile graced the woman's lips. "Serge, vhere have you been all of dis time? I have been anxious to return to studying abroad." As Serge hung his head and slowly scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, the woman's eyes travelled upwards, above Serge's head, to the bulky robot staring back at her with white, featureless orbs, the robot's only form of eyes. Her eyes widened at the sight of the Grobyc, and the robot cocked his head slightly as he spoke to her.

"Serge and Grobyc wish for Luccia to accompany us." Serge emphatically nodded his head in agreement as soon as the cyborg had finished. Just as Luccia opened her mouth to speak, however, Norris slowly stepped around Grobyc and into Luccia's field of view for the first time. The Black Wind leader continued to slowly rub his head as he leaned sideways in an attempt to get a better look at whomever his two companions were speaking to. Luccia quickly shut her mouth and spun around, turning her back on her visitors. As blood quickly rushed to her cheeks, Luccia hastily adjusted her hair, clothing, and monocle, preparing her warmest smile as she turned back around to face the last man in the line.

"Commander Norris, vot a pleasant surprise!" Luccia cried. "I had no idea you vould be gracing my humble lab vitt your presence, lest I vould have prepared myself." Norris simply stared at her, dumbfounded. The moments in which he had met himself inside this very mansion, as strange as it still seemed, jumped to the fore of his thoughts, and he soon began waving his hands towards Luccia apologetically.

"Oh, I'm quite sorry," said Norris. "You must have me confused with the similar man upstairs. In truth I'm not actually from this world, but rather from Serge's home world. I actually don't believe we've met." Norris extended his hand towards Luccia in a friendly manner. "I am Commander Norris of the Black Wind." Luccia simply sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly back and forth.

"I am avare of the fact dat two different vorlds exist," Luccia said, "but perhaps a furtter explanation is in order." At this, Grobyc stepped forward, all too anxious to offer a full retelling of Serge's more recent escapades. As Luccia leaned back against her desk, slowly becoming enchanted by every emotionless word spilling monotonously from Grobyc's hidden mouth, Norris went back to rubbing his head, only this time because he swore he recognised this woman's voice. As he struggled to recall where he had met this woman before, Grobyc dove deep into the story of how Serge, abandoned in a trans-dimensional vortex without his own body, had wound up, of all places, here.

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As the four of them exited the tiny laboratory, Norris alongside Serge with Grobyc and Luccia following close behind, Luccia curiously examined Grobyc up and down the length of his body several times. "Very interesting…" was all she offered. As Grobyc, Serge, and Norris turned to climb the stairs out of the manor's basement, Luccia cleared her throat. All three stopped, turning to face her as they did so. "Before ve leave here," Luccia said, "I vould appreciate it if ve retrieved someting of interest from vittin the manor's sewers." Norris looked towards the floor, staring at the nearest grate leading down to the manor's sewer system. His stomach turned. "You may have noticed a strong odour coming from dere," Luccia continued. Norris gracefully stifled a cough as he once again became acutely aware of the smell of the sewer now permeating the hallway in which he stood. "I believe someting has recently emerged vittin the sewers dat is causing the smell. I can remember notting of such a creature from any of my otter experiments, so I am interested in finding out vot kind of creature could possibly emit such a scent."

As his three companions began making their way towards the nearest grate leading down into the sewers, Norris hesitated. Looking towards the grate he could see the fumes bending and twisting the light as it passed through them, and though the noxious gases were nigh invisible, it was obvious they were going to be unpleasant. Taking a deep breath, Norris steeled himself and quickly followed his friends down the ladder that would take him towards the unsettling source of his nausea.

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The four of them stood on the edge of a tiled platform, staring down at the grey-green water flowing past their feet, down the aqueduct beside which they stood, and off towards an unknown destination. Norris looked over his shoulder at the path they had trod, his stare fixated upon the greasy footsteps they had all left in the thick coating of…something that laced every surface of the sewer. Without warning, Serge suddenly hopped into the water before him, the putrid liquid soaking the young man up to his waist. As Serge began slowly forcing his way across the stream, Grobyc jumped in after him. "Grobyc!" Luccia cried after him. "Be sure not to let your exposed circuits touch the vater, lest I be repairing dem for days."

"Understood," Grobyc replied, as emotionless as always. Luccia took a step forward, preparing to make her way into the water, when a hand around her arm quickly pulled her back from the edge of the platform on which she stood. Turning abruptly, she noticed that Norris was aghast at her attempts to enter the current, his face clearly showing his disbelief.

"You do not truly intend to tread through that water, do you?" Norris asked, his voice spurning her intended actions with every word. Luccia simply blinked in astonishment.

"How else shall I cross?" She asked. Without responding, Norris scooped Luccia's feet out from under her and slowly entered the water, being careful not to let it lap up on Luccia's lab coat. "Vot do you tink you are doing?" Luccia said, too stunned at the sudden action to raise her voice adequately. Norris did not turn to look at her as he spoke.

"I am carrying you across the water, of course. Surely someone such as yourself could not be expected to traverse such ungainly terrain." Luccia simply adjusted her monocle as she continued to stare at Norris in shock. As they reached the far side of the watercourse, Norris carefully placed Luccia on dry ground before pulling himself from the water. As Norris picked bits of algae from his boots Luccia grabbed him by the chin, pulling his face up. Jerking his head from side to side, Luccia squinted as she examined every facet of his face. Norris finally managed a weak protest to Luccia's probing inquisition.

"You say dat you are truly from the otter vorld?" Luccia asked in response to Norris' complaints. "You seem to have very much in common vitt your otter self," she continued. "Very interesting…." As Luccia trailed off, she released Norris' chin and turned around, walking past Serge and Grobyc and deeper into the tunnel in which they stood. Norris slowly rubbed his chin as he and the others began following Luccia. What had startled him most was not her reaction, or even his original actions, but rather the fact that her voice, and her touch, seemed familiar. Upon reaching the end of the tunnel, both Norris and Serge began to cough. The stench that had floated up into the manor clearly emanated from the small room here. Luccia simply held her hand up to her face in a feeble attempt to block the fetor as she scoured the walls of the room with her eyes, looking for something.

Grobyc interrupted her efforts. "Grobyc detects a living creature in the northernmost corner of the room." Grobyc pointed towards a dark, damp corner of the small room, and Luccia immediately headed over. She knelt down in the corner and elicited a small gasp of amazement. Her three comrades rushed over, all of them leaning over Luccia's crouched form for a chance to bear witness to the creature she had found. Grobyc was speechless, and Serge's face became filled with obvious dismay as Norris simply stated the obvious.

"It is a small pile of goo," he said. Luccia's eyes lit up as she leaned even further towards the small, yellow, translucent glob of ooze. Amidst the continuing reverie, Grobyc's head suddenly jerked around, his eyes darting towards the small room's entrance, and its only exit. Serge, noticing Grobyc's distraction, rapped lightly on the cyborg's arm, trying to elicit some explanation. Norris noticed too, and soon asked Grobyc what the matter was.

"Several unknown creatures are approaching Serge," Grobyc stated in his usual monotone. "Serge should prepare for battle."

"Vot life force!" Luccia exclaimed, her eyes glowing with wonderment as she stared at the formless glob. She quickly reached into one of the pockets of her lab coat, adding "I must incubate it immediately!" before pulling a small glass test-tube from her pocket. As she timidly reached down to scoop up the creature, wary that any sudden shock might compromise the fragile creature, a sudden shaking of the room jarred the test-tube from her hands, causing it to shatter on the ground beside the tiny creature. The source of the jarring was two stout creatures banging on the walls of the room near its entrance. The two monsters, both of them blue and heavy-set, had angry expressions on their fish-like faces and both were waving their tridents around emphatically. Norris slowly drew his gun as Serge readied his swallow. Norris looked over at Grobyc as the robot began whirring and clicking. The mechanics fell into place, and the robot raised two clenched fists towards the creatures.

Luccia frantically searched her pockets for another test-tube, oblivious to the sounds of the battle behind her. Looking down, she noticed the creature very slowly move towards a nearby hole in the wall. If she were to let it get in there, she knew she would never have another chance to capture it. Rising to her feet as she continued to pat her pockets in the hopes of discovering another test-tube on her person, Luccia began taking baby steps towards the blob as it began its laborious trip towards the hole in the wall. With the sound of Norris' rapid gunfire suddenly filling the room, the creatures' attacks sent shivers down the room's decrepit walls. Looking up from her quarry, Luccia tried to shout over the noise. "Vould you—" she stopped and quickly ducked as Grobyc's heavy form went flying over her head and crashing noisily into the wall behind her. She rose, and continued. "Vould you mind keeping the disturbances to a minimum, please? I do not know if the creature can vittstand such shocks."

Norris, diverting his attention momentarily from the battle to yell back at Luccia, shouted, "I shall try!" Luccia continued her search for another test-tube as the noise of the battle reached a fevered pitch behind her. Her eyes lighting up with sudden realisation, Luccia quickly reached up into her hair and pulled from within it a hidden test-tube that she kept handy for occasions such as these. As she pulled the cap from the glass tube, Norris could be heard to yell "No, Grobyc! They will surely—" Luccia once more knelt down beside the creature just as the sound of something bursting filled the room. A wad of thick blue slime, flying over Luccia's hunched body, splattered against the wall beside of her, slowly trickling down its length as she scooped the small amoeba into her glass test-tube. Standing up with a wide smile on her face, Luccia's eyes soon darted from the specimen she held before her nose to her three companions behind her, now finished their vicious battle.

She looked over in shock at Norris, Grobyc, and Serge, all three now covered in the same blue slime that Luccia had narrowly avoided. "You poor ting," Luccia offered. She hurried past Norris and Serge, both dripping onto the floor, to Grobyc's side, closely examining his hulking left arm. "Now I shall have to perform a full repair of your arm," Luccia said, scolding Grobyc with her eyes. "Vhy must you always be such a mess?" Luccia, pushing Grobyc from behind in an effort to hurry him out of the room, soon stopped. Turning to Norris and Serge, both still weary from the fight, Luccia cocked a curious eyebrow. "Are you coming?" she asked, before returning to her efforts to speed Grobyc's departure. As Norris slowly holstered his gun, he and Serge began dragging their feet out the room, dripping as they went.

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Serge, sitting on a wide, flat rock at the base of Divine Dragon Falls, struggled to peel off his shirt, now crusted with dry ooze, and began scrubbing it heartily under the flow of water falling from above. A small distance behind him, on the edge of the path leading up to the crest of the falls, sat Grobyc. Hovering over his motionless shell was Luccia, poking and prodding at his left arm with various metal instruments. "Dis is no good," Luccia said to herself. "I shall undoubtedly have to retrieve my heavier tools from our camp." Luccia wandered into the thick brush beside where she stood, leaving Serge and his dirty laundry in the company of a motionless Grobyc. Serge looked up as he heard Luccia loudly forcing her way through the lightly travelled footpath leading through the woods, but he quickly returned to the arduous process of scrubbing the grime from his shirt.

Surrounded by thick woods on all sides, Norris stood naked beneath a thin, high tributary of the main falls. Scrubbing his skin with an oily cloth he had found in one of the compartments of the boat in which they travelled, Norris was making every effort to remove the stink and grime of the sewers from his skin, but realised his struggle was futile at best. Still, he continued earnestly scrubbing away, so much so that he almost failed to notice Luccia emerge from the woods behind him. Turning quickly at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching, Norris cried out as he saw Luccia walk towards him and, quickly remembering his lack of clothing, used the small cloth in his hand to hide himself from her gaze. Luccia simply let out a stifled giggle as she continued approaching, stopping just short of the pool at the base of the tiny waterfall.

"Do not concern yourself, Commander Norris," Luccia said in a conciliatory manner. "It is notting I have not seen before. I am a scientist, after all." Luccia stifled another giggle before continuing. "I seem unable to locate the clearing from vhich I entered the forest. Vhich direction is the camp?" Norris, using a free hand, frantically pointed in the direction of their makeshift camp, the noises coming from his throat making obvious his desire to be left alone. "One more ting, Commander Norris," Luccia added. "You are very similar to your ottervorldy counterpart. Do you, perhaps, share his knowledge of Grobyc's systems?" Luccia stared intently at Norris as he struggled to form coherent thoughts amidst his current situation.

"No! No, I'm, I'm afraid I don't. In fact…." Norris trailed off, unwilling to elaborate.

"Hmm?"

"No. I fear Grobyc is one of the few pieces of technology that I have no knowledge of," Norris said, but his curiosity was not satisfied. "Why ask me?" Norris inquired. "You seem to have a firm grasp on how Grobyc works."

"Dat may be so," Luccia replied, "but his systems have been significantly changed since I first built him." Norris' voice caught in his throat as his shock commandeered his vocal chords. Luccia, oblivious to Norris' croaking attempts to probe further, turned and re-entered the woods in the direction Norris had pointed earlier. Luccia casually tossed back a thank you, but Norris was too busy rushing to put on his clothes to hear her.

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Norris sat at the back of the blue dinghy, guiding the small boat through the heavy darkness of the night towards their next destination, the Sea of Eden. In front of him lay Serge, sleeping on the floor of the boat. On the front lip of the ship Grobyc sat with his head hunched forward, still active but unwilling to move. Luccia apparently still had a little bit of work to do on him. Luccia herself lay sleeping across the front two seats of the boat, letting Norris take note of how her white lab-coat, unstained by the monsters' refuse that had seemed to sink into his very bones, reflected the bright light of the moon and made her prone form shine amidst the darkness. Norris had been unable to draw his eyes from her during the entire trip back from the falls, now aware that this was indeed the woman that had built Grobyc, a woman he had known before, in his own world. Norris was mystified by how the division of the worlds had created two similar versions of himself, and yet had left these two women so very different: this one here before him, and the other one he had left behind so long ago.

The image of a purple-haired young woman began to dance before Norris' vision, hazy and immaterial yet somehow completely real. Norris closed his eyes and she came into focus. The woman stood on a grassy hillock beneath a thick oak tree, overlooking a valley covered over with blooming spring flowers. The woman's long purple hair ran unhindered down her back, and her pale blue sundress billowed in the soft breeze. Norris approached slowly from behind, the equipment hanging from his belt clacking loudly as he did. The woman turned at the sound and smiled at him. As Norris drew closer the silhouette over her face faded, revealing Luccia, sans monocle. As he drew nearer, Norris embraced the woman tightly in his arms. The woman pulled back and lifted her hand to his chin, pulling Norris' face towards her own and staring closely at it as tears gathered in his eyes. Then, amidst a sudden gust of wind, the woman burst into thousands of flower petals and blew away on the wind. Norris could only watch as the petals floated away on the breeze.

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Norris, gun drawn and leading a small group of Porre soldiers, ran down the thin corridor of a scientific facility, pushing various personnel in white lab coats out of his way as he stormed forwards. Bursting through a door, Norris and his squad stormed into the lab, brandishing their rifles at the many scientists busying themselves about the complex laboratory. As his troops began leading the scientists away at gunpoint, Norris rushed towards another door at the back of the room, yelling as he did so. "This is Captain Norris of the Black Wind! By order of the Porre military, I am here to shut down this operation!" Norris easily kicked the door open, pointing his gun into the empty room. The room was filled only with the scattered wiring and parts of an incomplete robot. Norris, carefully inspecting the room as he traversed its depths, noticed various humanoid limbs about the room. Then, looking to the centre of the room, Norris noticed a case containing a head. Looking into the case, Norris could see Grobyc's detached head staring back at him

Pulling several bulky items from his pockets, Norris grabbed each of the items in turn and, twisting small cap on the top of each one, tossed them into the corners of the room and quickly rushed out in the direction he'd come from. Looking back as he rushed to the exit, Norris nearly ran into the person standing in the doorway. Looking down in shock, Norris quickly recognised Luccia blocking his path. "Vot is going on here, Norris!" She cried. Norris was speechless, unable to respond or even move. "Vot is the military doing to our research!" Luccia yelled at him, her eyes swelling tearfully. After a moment of silence, Luccia slowly lowered her head. "You are here to claim my research for the military, aren't you? I knew it. I knew you vould come one day for my creation."

"YOUR creation!" Norris screamed in disbelief. "Luccia, how did you get involved in this? Why didn't you tell me?" Norris grabbed the woman roughly by the shoulders, his eyes pleading with her for answers.

"The robot you vere sent here to steal," the woman replied, looking up at Norris, "vas being built by myself and my brotter."

"Steal?" Norris asked, his voice still filled with astonishment. "No, Luccia, this research has been labelled an affront to Porre's military efforts. We're here to destroy it!" With this, a shadow of pain drew across Luccia's face. "Quickly," Norris continued, "we have to get away from—"

"How could you!" Luccia screamed in anger, before roughly knocking Norris aside and rushing past him towards the room housing Grobyc's parts. Norris, collecting himself from the sudden blow, turned towards Luccia.

"Luccia, don't!" he screamed, but only as everything went dark.

Norris slowly opened his eyes, awakened by the searing pain that shot through his body with every intake of breath. Around him, he could barely discern the faces of three Porre soldiers huddled over his limp figure. "He's alive!" someone yelled, though to Norris the voice sounded distant, as if detached from him. Norris then felt cool water hit his lips and force its way down his throat. It came too fast, and he began to cough. Two of the soldiers lifted Norris from the ground, supporting him, as a third one saluted and gave Norris a detailed report of the mission the soldiers had just undertaken. Norris interrupted him in the middle of his report. "Survivors?" Norris wheezed. The soldier simply stepped aside and allowed Norris a full view of the thoroughly demolished scientific building behind him, one entire wing now completely blown apart by the explosives Norris himself had set.

Norris struggled out of the grasp of the two soldiers supporting him as the report continued. "Totally wiped out, sir, a complete success. The explosion hit you pretty hard, sir. You were lucky." Norris stumbled towards the burning wreckage of the building. He frantically began looking through the wreckage, searching vainly for Luccia as he called out her name. "Oh great," the soldier mumbled. "That explosion fried his brain." Suddenly, Norris collapsed in a heap, the soldiers rushing to his aid as he did. "Hurry up or we'll lose him," the soldier cried out, but that was the last Norris heard.

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As Norris slowly opened his eyes, interrupting any further descent into memory, he again looked over to Luccia. This was undoubtedly what had confused him so much since meeting this Luccia for the first time. It had been so long since that incident that he'd had trouble putting the pieces back together. Still, in his own world, he had loved her. He still loved her. She was still Luccia, and he was still Norris. The severance of the worlds was but a small hurdle for him, because he knew he loved the woman that Luccia was no matter what the circumstances. This Luccia might take some getting used to, but he still felt it. He felt this exact same way the day he had met the Luccia of his own world. It was what drove him to carry her over the grimy creek in the sewers, and to risk his own life protecting her from the creatures within that sewer. It was a second chance. The only problem was that she felt nothing more than a childish attraction to this world's Norris. He would have to win her over a second time.

Norris' thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of loud scraping, and he suddenly noticed that, in his relapse, he had driven the boat alongside several rocks that protruded from the sea below. As the boat shook, its metal shell running up against the stone, Luccia and Serge awoke violently. Norris struggled to correct the vessel's bearings as it rode further up the rock, until finally it became stuck. Serge and Luccia looked over at him with a vengeful glint in their eyes as Norris covered his face in shame and let loose a loud groan.

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The small blue raft crashed against the tiny island and its four occupants promptly leapt over the sides, their feet splashing in the shallow water washing up on the shore. Serge, at the front of the small troupe, stared up at the thick flora choking the island and could barely discern a large clearing amidst the towering trees, its mysterious masonry undoubtedly as elegant as that of the other islands at the outskirts of the Sea of Eden. Serge turned to Luccia, now beside him. "I suspect ve vill find an answer on dis island, no?" Luccia stated to no one in particular. "After all," she continued, "the otter two yielded no answers." Turning back to the boat, Serge waved his hand at Grobyc, attempting to garner the robot's attention. Grobyc looked up to Serge just as Serge made several frantic hand signals in his direction. Turning to face Norris, still busy pulling the boat securely ashore, Grobyc spoke in his monotonous voice.

"Serge would like Commander Norris to remain here," Grobyc said. Norris turned to each of his companions in turn, searching their faces for consensus. Finding it in spades, Norris returned to the task of pulling the boat ashore.

"Of course you are correct, Serge," Norris replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Someone needs to stay and watch the boat. After all, I do not suspect anything out of the ordinary will occur here any more so than on the other islands." By this time his words had become indistinct in Serge's ears as the boy led Grobyc and Luccia down the tiny stone footpath that wormed its way into the heart of the dense thicket closing in on all sides. Norris, after pulling the boat well up onto the shore to make sure it did not drift away with the tide, sat down in the soft white sand encircling the edge of the island. Leaning back against the boat, Norris closed his eyes as he lifted his face up to the sun that beat down on his weary form.

Sitting in silence, the heat of midday setting his heavily clothed body aflame from within, Norris' breath suddenly became shallow, his short, quiet gasps getting sharper with every passing moment. Norris' face knotted up as tears collected in the corners of his eyes, and his breathing soon drowned out the pleasant sounds of the birds floating in the sky above him. As his head jerked forward, Norris' eyes shot open and his breathing gradually returned to its normal pace. He quickly wiped the saline beads from his eyes, his thick gloves scraping across the soft skin of his face and leaving noticeable red marks on his irritable cheeks. Brushing his blonde hair from his eyes, Norris stood up and turned to face the boat, staring down into its well-worn hull.

Doubts had crept through Norris' thoughts suddenly, even as his unusual reaction subsided. He was sure that his love for the woman known as Luccia transcended the division of the world, but, for some reason, Norris had sat in the boat thinking solely of the Luccia from his own world for the first time in ages. The memories of the woman that Norris had loved first, and that had been left dead by his own hand, drove a wedge into his heart that night that he had run the boat up on those rocks. How symbolic, he thought. Now, whenever he looked at this world's Luccia, his eyes gleefully soaking up her beauty and femininity with every brief glimpse, his mind would strike his heart with the pangs of guilt that were the only constant thing during his all too tumultuous days in El Nido. Questions, ones he feared and dreaded, even refused to acknowledge, questions that he had never before fathomed in the least, popped into Norris' head: Was he betraying his world's Luccia by suppressing his grief and trying to love someone else? Were his feelings for this world's Luccia truly love? Were his actions truly fair to either woman, living or dead? Norris tried to dismiss the thoughts as irrelevant, as a simple knee-jerk reaction to finding Luccia again. After all, it wasn't as if he loved somebody new. He loved Luccia.

Still, with each passing day, as his bond with this world's Luccia grew, Norris had taken greater notice of how different she was from the Luccia of his own world. Norris wondered if he could simply fall in love again with a completely different woman. But to think that he could accidentally kill his beloved and then so easily move on to another woman made Norris' stomach turn. He had little desire to become as heartless as that. Norris was fearful of forgetting what he had once done to Luccia, and was worried that he may repeat his mistakes. His thoughts were soon interrupted by the growing sounds of a battle raging from deep within the lush grove of the island, and by the sounds of it, things were not going well. Norris steeled himself and abandoned the boat, urged to action by his desire to help his friends.

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As Serge approached the spinning green pyramid, floating in the air before them with a will of its own, Luccia and Grobyc followed some distance behind, Luccia overcome with the memory of the other fates, Atropos and Clotho, and how they had spoken, soaring away after saying their piece. Serge looked up at the statue of the young woman towering over the three of them, and a voice resonated in their heads. Luccia let out a sigh of relief as the words took on a familiar tone. "I am Lachesis," the voice said, "forever measuring the thread of life." Luccia's relief quickly turned to anxiety, however, as she heard Grobyc's systems whirring and clicking. Serge and Luccia could now hear something approaching, and their apprehension was hardly alleviated by Grobyc's comment.

"Grobyc detects two unknown objects approaching at a high rate of speed." The other two floating pyramids, formerly positioned before the statues of Atropos and Clotho, arrived at either side of Lachesis' intermediary. All three floating pyramids twirled in place, opening a hole in the air between them. From the hole emerged what appeared to be a mask, disembodied and emotionless. Embraced by the bright sunlight drawing over it, the green apparition shone with heady blue and red undertones, and the beauty of the massive being captivated Serge and Luccia as Grobyc stared at the two appendages emerging in the wake of the mask. Grobyc's gaze drifted upwards to the shimmering green emerald encased in cold steel in the being's forehead. Looking over the emerging appendages again, Grobyc noticed that each had a similar jewel encased in their form, one blue and one red. Grobyc understood. "It is testing Serge," the robot stated. "Perhaps it will test Grobyc and Luccia as well." Lachesis' voice returned to them, floating on the air and through their minds as it cried out its challenge.

"Serge," it said, "art thou worthy of accepting thy fate? Art thou worthy of being 'Chrono Trigger'?" Serge readied his swallow, understanding that this test, as with so many in the past, would not be achieved through words alone. The mask drifted into the air, circling the three comrades slowly, as the being's appendages began circling them at a lower altitude in the opposite direction. All three warriors backed away slowly from these new boundaries. Luccia, Serge, and Grobyc, backs to each other, jerked their heads about, wary of any strike from their immense assailant. Suddenly, the entity ceased its movement. The appendages came to a gradual halt on either side of the enigmatic mask. The three pieces as a whole then drifted softly to a position between the trio and the stone footpath from which they had come. The mask faced Serge, gently rocking back and forth in an apparent state of bliss as Serge tightened his grip upon his weapon.

The appendage bearing the red jewel lashed out at Serge, bearing down with great speed, and Serge dove towards the ground. Unable to move fast enough, Serge was, at the last second, knocked aside by Grobyc. The robot grabbed a hold of the charging appendage as it struck his metallic body, holding it in place. Grobyc had just consolidated his footing when the second appendage connected, carrying Grobyc's body across the clearing. With Grobyc thrust into it, the base of the statue depicting Lachesis as a nubile maiden cracked beneath the weight of the impact. Grobyc, still clutching the red-gemmed appendage, was driven further into the heart of the stony roost as he whirred and clicked, his struggle to force back his enemy apparent to even the most casual observer. Sparks shot from his torso in several locations, and a sharp crackle shot from his left shoulder, followed by a small cloud of dark smoke as various parts of his body slowly gave way under the pressure of the appendages' fearsome attack.

A faint noise grabbed Serge's attention, and he just caught sight of a handful of small projectiles bouncing harmlessly off of the mask floating above him. Serge slowly rose to his feet, shaking his head to remove the daze that dragged on his awareness, and noticed Luccia draw a handful of sharp projectiles from a loose sleeve, tossing them at the mask with a violent thrust. Again, the small darts bounced harmlessly off the surface of the creature. The mask turned to Luccia as its disembodied voice drowned out her thoughts. "Luccia," it said, "art thou worthy of accepting thy fate? Art thou worthy of carrying on thy mentor's dying flame?" The appendages released their pressure from Grobyc, allowing the damaged robot to slip to the ground amidst a rain of errant sparks. Grobyc barely managed to turn and watch the mask begin its advance towards Luccia.

Pulling her hands from her sleeves, Luccia brandished two full fists of projectiles and hurled them at the mask, but all bounced harmlessly off the creature's surface. The three-piece being floated before her, advancing on Luccia with all the urgency of a vegetative cadaver. It appeared incapable of great speeds when moving as a whole, but the mask itself soon stopped, the appendages drifting forwards. Luccia could see her reflection forming in the glossy surface of the encroaching objects. Just as the blue-gemmed appendage lashed out at her, a bulky arm flew straight into the jewel at the centre, tearing it from the appendage and causing the now defunct halves of the appendage to shatter on the stone at her feet.

Luccia pulled up her hands as shards of the demolished appendage burst into the air around her. Letting her hands drop from her face, Luccia could see the specks of blood now coating her gloves contrast against their white material, and could feel the tiny cuts and abrasions blanketing her head and neck. She turned to face Grobyc, now struggling towards her without his left arm. Turning in the other direction, Luccia could see Grobyc's arm, detached and discarded, at the far end of the clearing. Amidst intervals of static, Grobyc managed to warn Luccia with his droning voice. "Grobyc has detected that the gems provide it with power. They must be dislodged." Luccia looked back up to the mask, not at it but rather behind it, to where Serge flew through the air towards the mask's rear.

Poised to strike, Serge was fast falling towards the mask, preparing to lash out at the green gem in its head. Immersed in observing Serge's pending foray, Luccia was caught unaware as the second, unharmed appendage of the being scooped her up and carried her into the air. Before Luccia knew what was going on, the appendage thrust her body directly into Serge's, sending the two careening through the air. Luccia landed on top of Serge, both tumbling to the edge of the battlefield. Luccia groaned as she rolled from atop Serge, and noticed the young man was out cold. Collapsing on the rough ground beneath her, Luccia could barely keep her head aloft. Looking up, she could see the mask's remaining appendage approaching her from the heights it had lifted her to moments ago.

Grobyc, watching these events transpire, struggled towards the mask, trying to approach with the use of stealth while the mask had its back turned. As the mask's posterior lay defenceless before him, Grobyc drew back his remaining hand to strike. Sensing his presence, the mask quickly spun forward, pulling Grobyc off his feet and sending the robot tumbling into the bowl-like depression of the mask itself. Shaking back and forth, the mask jostled Grobyc violently until again spinning forward, flinging the robot as if from a catapult. Grobyc flew across the clearing, smashing into the bust of Lachesis' statue and taking the head clean off. Grobyc fell to the earth alongside the dislodged head of the statue, acrid smoke streaming from his open wounds. The robot lay paralysed, his attempts to move resulting in nothing more than the severe twitching of his limbs.

The being, after watching the wretched robot that had destroyed Atropos' incarnation be thoroughly routed, turned to face the woman draped in white whose earlier attempts to inflict the equivalent of human pain upon it had failed miserably. It had nothing to fear from this puny creature. If anything, it envied the humans. It envied their emotions, their camaraderie, but most of all it envied their physical senses. It especially envied their ability to hear approaching footsteps.

Several gunshots burst upon the surface of the remaining appendage, knocking it back with each impact. The red gem in the centre of the appendage, now cracked and partially ousted from its heavy encasement, turned to face Norris, standing at the entrance to the clearing. Norris took one final shot and the gem exploded into hundreds of tiny fragments. The mask slowly turned to face the man who had come to annoy it, approaching Norris at an interminably slow speed. Norris unleashed another cascade of shots from his pistol, each one striking the unmistakable target of the mask. Each shot's echo intertwined with the sound of each bullet bouncing away from the surface of the creature. Small chips of the mask's fragile outer layers began lightly coating the ground, but Norris noticed that the closer the creature got, the more his vision was plagued by a blanketing green hue.

As the green tint in his vision began to blank out the minute details of his surroundings, Norris began to feel weak, his sudden weariness taking its toll on his original furor. His shots slowed, his firing became frighteningly inaccurate, and he was forced to his knees by the mere weight of his body. Norris' pistol slipped from his hand and clattered on the ground as he heard the voice in his head. "Norris," it said, "art thou worthy of accepting thy fate? Art thou worthy of the peace you seek?" Then, as the voice in his head once again became his own, Norris heard it demanding a deep, irrefutable sleep. He feared he would not have the strength to wake from such a slumber, but had not the strength to stave it off. Norris' eyes drew closed, and the image of the mask, now burned into his mind's eye, taunted him from the darkness.

Norris was suddenly awakened by the entire weight of the sun's heavy rays beating down upon his face, the pure, white light overpowering even the thick veil of his eyelids. The sun shone without the hindrance of the terrible green veil that had earlier stifled his vision, and Norris could see the mask hovering before him, no longer approaching him with unstoppable imminence. Rather, it stayed in place, unmoving. Norris ran his gaze up the length of the creature, his eyes eventually falling on the green gem in the mask's forehead. As the creature began to shudder in short spates, Norris could make out a sharp projectile lodged in the creature's brow, between the green gem and its metallic casing. Looking behind the fitful creature he could see Luccia sitting up against a tree. A sense of urgency overtook him as he noticed drops of blood slowly staining the neck of her lab coat.

Lining up one last shot, Norris felt his finger begin to twitch towards the trigger. It took most of his strength to keep himself from letting off a burst of fire prematurely, and the rest of his strength to keep his aim true. He could feel the energy building inside him. The glow started at the furthest tip of the muzzle, slowly building itself into a blinding sphere of yellow light. The sphere continued growing as several small, sharp snaps accompanied the tiny bolts of energy shooting from the brightly glowing sphere to the muzzle of the gun. As Norris closed one eye and stared down the sights of his pistol with the other, he whispered a simple mantra. "Squeeze," Norris breathed, "don't pull."

His finger closed around the trigger as if the tighter he squeezed the more pain he'd inflict. A ball of swirling energy burst forth, its yellow essence cascading through the air it as it rushed forward. The shot tore a massive hole in the creature's forehead, destroying the creature's glittering green gem. The mask soon turned to dust, blowing away upon the salty sea breeze that had picked up in the wake of Norris' attack. Norris rushed past the slain creature to Luccia's side, brushing shreds of shrapnel from her face. "Are you all right?" Norris asked, hurrying to get her to her feet. Luccia brushed him off, pointing to Serge.

"Help him first." Luccia said. Norris rushed over to Serge, shaking him in an attempt to wake him. Luccia struggled to her feet, wiping the dust from her sleeves. She pulled a dainty white handkerchief from her pocket, and as she wiped the fast-drying streaks of blood from her face and neck she found herself wishing she had let Norris lift her from the ground. Luccia was uncharacteristically disappointed at missing an opportunity to enjoy Norris' touch, but it struck her as odd how quickly he had moved from her side to Serge's, simply anxious to help anyone. Drifting further with her thoughts, Luccia now realised that Norris must have found this place simply by seeking out the noise that Grobyc had made when first tangling with the enemy. Her brooding was cut short as, behind her, Luccia heard Serge stir, so she turned to face him as he rose to his feet. The three wandered over to where Grobyc lay beside the head of Lachesis' statue. Sparks shot from Grobyc's neck as the robot turned his head to face the three of them.

"G-Grobyc is-is…Gro-Gro-Grooooobyc—" The sudden 'snap' of a circuit overloading cut short the robot's attempts to speak.

"Ve must carry him from here," Luccia stated frankly. "I must set to vork on him immediately." Serge and Norris bent over, lifting the heavy robot from the ground. Carrying Grobyc with them, the two soon caught up with Luccia, hefting Grobyc's arm in hers. Luccia motioned for Norris and Serge to begin making their way back to their boat just as the ground began to shake. Luccia turned to the demolished statue of Lachesis, looking past it to where the massive cascade of water that marked the centre of the Sea of Eden was gradually drying up. Luccia was tempted to stay and watch the spectacle that was unfolding before her, but noticing the worried looks on Norris and Serge's faces she decidedly gathered up what pieces of Grobyc she could and hurried after Serge and Norris, now lugging Grobyc between them down the winding stone path.

------------------------

The flames crackled softly as the fire's light cast eerie shadows across Grobyc's face. His head turned and he watched as Luccia busied herself with the repairs to his left shoulder, from which his arm was still detached. Grobyc lifted his eyes from Luccia, adamantly poring over his circuits, and looked out across the rough landscape before him. In the distance, silhouetted against the pale white moon in the sky, was a massive research complex. The welcome sign that had greeted Serge as he explored the dirt beach bordering the lush green meadows around the complex had labelled the facility 'Chronopolis'. As his repairs continued, Grobyc's gaze drifted down the length of the small island's coastline, to the long line of small fires dotting the landscape. Beside each one sat a tent, testament to the gathering of people on the island. This had been Serge's doing, in response to the heavy security he had found watching over all entrances to the complex. To get at the answers inside, Serge intended to storm the gates of the facility tomorrow morning, alongside every single person who travelled with him.

Luccia herself knew it would be an unheard of feat, if it were pulled off. As she looked up from her repairs and followed Grobyc's stare down the coast to the string of tents that had emerged in the span of only a few days, Luccia shook her head. This many people, from all walks of life, all rushing headfirst into battle at once. She knew it would be a sight to be seen. If it were pulled off, of course, something she still doubted could happen. She was to charge alongside Grobyc, an undisputed killing machine, so she was not worried about her own safety. Others, however, many of whom she'd gotten to know rather well, were not so lucky. Luccia attempted to cease her wandering thoughts by returning her attention to Grobyc's repairs, but she could not concentrate. A part of Luccia yearned to remain uninvolved, following Serge into battle to observe the outcome as a detached third party. Another, larger, part of her filled with deep concern over one person specifically, a concern she had spent the last few days contemplating. Her desire to find the right words before she said anything to him had led her to this: a base manipulation of her own creation.

Much to Luccia's surprise, the object of her concerns suddenly appeared in front of her bearing Grobyc's left arm. "Here you are," Norris said. "It's all fixed up and good as new." Norris looked up at Grobyc as he spoke, offering the arm to him. Grobyc grabbed hold of it with his good hand and planted the arm firmly in its socket, causing Luccia to jerk her head back as she narrowly dodged the incoming limb. The sounds of whirring and clacking from within the arm let the three know that the reattachment was successful, and Grobyc was soon twisting the arm back and forth. Luccia looked over at Norris as the man watched Grobyc's recovery.

"It looks as if you've done an excellent job on Grobyc's arm," Luccia said. "It appears you know more about Grobyc's systems dan you originally tought." Norris looked Grobyc up and down, speaking as he did.

"Well," Norris replied, turning to face her, "I have always had an admirable skill with mechanical devices, but you… you have completely repaired him in such a short time. Incredible!"

"Tank you very much for your help vitt the repairs."

"It was no trouble at all," Norris stated, sitting down on the ground as he did. "How are you, Grobyc?" Norris asked, looking up at the robot's cold, white eyes. "Are you feeling better? It seems that Luccia has actually improved upon your original design somewhat."

"Correct. Luccia has installed a new program into Grobyc's central system," Grobyc told Norris. Norris looked up at the robot's blank expression as Luccia gasped.

"She has?" Norris asked.

"Yes," Grobyc responded before Luccia could react. "Luccia has programmed Grobyc to monitor Commander Norris' actions in order to compile a psychological profile—" Grobyc's explanation was cut short as the sound of a power source dying cut through the air. Grobyc, though still active, became silent. Mere static emerged from Grobyc's mouth as Luccia pulled herself down from where she had climbed up on Grobyc's shoulders, releasing the wires that she had moments ago been busy rooting through. She closed a small panel on the back of Grobyc's neck and smiled at Norris, though her bright red cheeks betrayed her thorough humiliation. Patting Grobyc's arm playfully, Luccia casually waved a hand at Norris.

"I am so sorry. I have no idea vhere dat outburst came from. Dere is obviously an error in the repairs, Commander Norris" Luccia stated. "It shall not happen again, I can assure you."

"It was not your fault," Norris declared in an attempt to console the embarrassed woman. "Do not worry about it. But please, call me Norris from now on."

"Very well," Luccia replied. With this settled, Norris shifted his gaze past where Luccia stood, angrily reconnecting Grobyc's circuits, to the distant horizon behind her. He soon heard the static coming from Grobyc's mouth stop, and Grobyc, on the orders of Luccia, began his silent trek back to her tent. Watching the stars as they emerged from behind a wispy cloud, Norris did not break the overbearing silence even as Luccia took a seat on the ground next to him. Her gaze darting between Norris and the ground in front of her, Luccia shuffled the words around inside her head, struggling to place them in a sequence that would offer her the best results of conveying her message. Just as she felt she had found an acceptable order, Norris interrupted her, sending the words tumbling back into the depths of her mind.

"Why would you program Grobyc to observe me?" Norris asked.

"I, I… I am curious, Norris," Luccia hesitantly replied. "I badly vish to learn how it is dat you and your otter form are almost exactly the same amidst the many differences of the two vorlds dat exist, but dat is no excuse for my actions. I owe you an apology. To have Grobyc observe you vittout your permission vould be a violation of the standards of experimental science dat I have vehemently upheld my entire life."

"Why force yourself to do something you believe is wrong?" Norris asked.

"You must understand," Luccia replied, hanging her head, "our experiences here in the Sea of Eden have caused a change in me; a change for the vorse. In our last battle, vhen I experienced pain such as I had never felt before, and nearly vitnessed you and Grobyc both killed, I vas overcome vitt the feeling dat vhat I had been doing in my life so far vas not enough. Vhile I vas repairing Grobyc, dis feeling overpowered my better judgement. I realised dat my life as a scientist had been defined by observation of specimens, so I created Grobyc's new program in order to observe you. But speaking vitt you like dis only justifies my doubts. I must erase Grobyc's new program immediately. Again, Norris, I apologise for my recent lapse in judgement." Luccia, still stricken with guilt, looked up as Norris placed a hand on her shoulder, and was surprised to find the man smiling.

"I'm glad that you told me the truth," Norris replied. Luccia simply smiled in response, releasing a hushed sigh of longing before speaking.

"Norris," Luccia said, "the truth is dat I envy you. Most of us who accompany Serge have not had the opportunity to meet demselves in the otter vorld. I must admit dat I am extremely curious as to the fate of my otter self, and vot a meeting between us might be like. Tell me, vot has become of me in your vorld?" The smile faded from Norris' lips as his eyes darted away from Luccia to the sea before him. Struggling to find the right words, Norris found that, despite his best attempts, he could not break himself. He had to tell her the truth.

"In my world, Luccia, you are dead," Norris declared. Luccia gasped.

"I am truly dead? And vot of Grobyc? Surely he is not…."

"Grobyc was destroyed," Norris answered, "along with an ancient super weapon that he was to be armed with. Four years ago." Luccia's eyes widened with surprise and she leaned towards Norris.

"Really?" Luccia asked, her voice rich with its natural inquisitiveness. "Did I create Grobyc in de otter vorld as vell?"

"Yes," Norris stated as he turned his head to look at Luccia. In response, Luccia lifted her hand to her chin, pondering Norris' response while she once more turned to face the horizon. Norris simply stared at her, unsure of what to do next. His fear of the pandemonium that would follow in the wake of Luccia's inevitable interrogation for details kept him stone-faced and silent, with even his breath coming to a brief standstill. As she again turned to face him, Norris struggled to hide his obvious concern from Luccia's gaze. Norris feared the worst. Once Luccia managed to discover what had happened to her other self, she would blame him, berate him, and most certainly cast him and his excuses from her sight. At least, that was what he expected.

"I tink," Luccia uttered, "I tink I am pleased by dat." Norris simply blinked, unsure that he'd properly heard what she'd said. Norris shook his head in disbelief as he spoke.

"I beg your pardon. What did you just say?"

"I said," Luccia repeated, "dat I am pleased dat my otter self is not active." Norris still could not believe what he was hearing.

"The fact that you are dead in my world pleases you!" Norris cried, almost spitting the words in disgust.

"Vot! No!" Luccia shouted in response. She then collected herself, and attempted to calmly explain. "Of course I am unhappy dat my otter self is dead, but the more I tink on it, the more I tink dat, if I vere still alive in your vorld, I vould have to measure up to my otter self's success. Her accomplishments vould reflect poorly on me, and a needless competition vould arise. Dat is something I do not vish to experience. Surely it is something dat you have recently experienced, no?"

"Well, no," Norris muttered. "I can't say that I have."

"Dat is strange," Luccia remarked. "For the Norris of my vorld feels dat he is being overshadowed by you, seeing as he is unable to accompany Serge the vay you have." Norris looked at her quizzically.

"How do you know this?" Norris inquired.

"He told me of his reaction to meeting you, to learning about you, to helping you, as vell as his actions and language after you left for the first time, and all carry vitt dem the weight of jealous toughts and an anxious mind. I observed dis change over the course of many days." Norris laughed in response to this, prompting Luccia to nervously adjust her monocle. After a hearty laugh, Norris quickly composed himself.

"I am sorry," Norris managed while wiping a tear from his eye, "but I find it amusing that you would observe my other self so openly, and yet hesitate to observe me without a veil of secrecy and the use of Grobyc. Why have such a double-standard?" Norris turned to face Luccia, a broad smile on his face. The smile disappeared suddenly, however, as Norris noticed Luccia had turned her back to him. Norris back-pedalled "I am sorry for speaking out of turn, Luccia, I merely—" Norris stopped as he heard Luccia begin chuckling.

"No, you're right," said Luccia. "It is ratter funny. I had not tought of it dat vay until now, and until now I had not tought of a reason vhy eitter. There is a reason for the strange duality of my actions, but it had not occurred to me before."

"Oh really?" asked Norris. "And what reason is that?" Luccia turned to face Norris once more before responding.

"A part of me has realised dat you are not appropriate for observation. Scientific study requires objectivity, but I cannot be objective vitt you because of the relationship you and I have developed over the course of our time vitt Serge. Perhaps a better vay to put it," Luccia stated, adjusting her monocle as she did so, "is dat I find myself to be quite fond of you. You are very handsome, and your ridiculously zealous attempts at nobility are not only amusing but also quite pleasing. I find comfort in your company, vhich is an unusual occurrence for one such as myself." By this time Norris was prepared to leap right into Luccia's waiting arms, but his lingering self-doubt, harassing him ever more frequently these days, stifled his movement. Even Norris' expression had changed only slightly, from one of confusion to one of surprise.

"That was very…honest…of you…." was all that Norris could muster. Norris regretted the words the moment he said them, but he was so overwhelmed at that point by the questions he had spent the last few days ignoring that he found himself unable to muster anything more. Trailing off, Norris could spot the hint of dejection in Luccia's face as she turned away. After a few moments of silence, Luccia rose from the ground in order to depart. Norris felt sparks firing inside his head in an attempt to get him to rectify his mistake immediately, so he grabbed Luccia's wrist, preventing her from leaving his company. Luccia turned to stare at him, expecting him to say something, but Norris still couldn't overcome the memories that were tying his tongue. Luccia, now growing impatient, tried to pull herself free of Norris' grasp, only to find that he gripped harder with each of her attempts.

"Let go, Norris," Luccia demanded. Norris looked up at Luccia, the words falling on his ears like stones in a pond, rippling through his thoughts and growing larger with each passing second. He had to let go. Even if only for now, he had to let go. This was the second chance he'd been vying for since meeting this Luccia, and he was about to throw it away over memories of the past. Norris stared at the reflection of himself in Luccia's monocle in order to make sure he was actually saying what he thought he was saying.

"I can't let go," Norris said. "At least not until I've done this." Norris pulled on Luccia's arm, bending her over towards himself. Then, straining upwards, Norris planted a tentative kiss on Luccia's lips. Norris found himself finally able to concentrate on loving this woman without interference from his memories, and so he continued to kiss Luccia until she finally relinquished her hesitancy and opened her mouth to him. They kissed passionately, feverishly, as Norris' gloved hands moved up to Luccia's cheeks. Slowly, their lips parted, and both opened their eyes to each other's stares. As Norris stood up, Luccia smiled softly and turned to face the sea surrounding the island. Norris, wrapping one arm around Luccia, also turned towards the water, and together the two watched the stars blazing brightly in the night sky above the horizon. As Luccia dropped her head to one side, cradling it on Norris' shoulder, the small fire behind them faded and died, allowing the stars they watched to burn even brighter.

------------------------

Grobyc watched from the shadows as the flap of the tent flew open. In walked Luccia and Norris, both oblivious to Grobyc's presence in the corner of the tent. The two moved towards the bed, locked in each other's arms. Luccia lay back on the bed, setting aside her hairpiece and letting her monocle dangle loosely at her waist, as Norris leaned forward, slowly placing an arm on either side of the woman beneath him as he leaned in for another kiss. Closing his eyes, Norris soon came up against her skin, but he could feel a difference between this touch and the passionate embrace he had experienced earlier. Opening his eyes, Norris could see Luccia's head turned away from him, staring off into the depths of the hut around them, while she held a single finger up to his lips in order to keep them a safe distance from her own. Norris backed off. "What is the matter?" he asked, trying to follow Luccia's stare.

"Do you not hear sometting?" Luccia asked, her eyes still searching the tent. As Norris drew silent he became aware of his own heavy breathing. Holding his breath, Norris could soon hear the source of Luccia's distress. It was a quiet whirring, overdrawn with an occasional click or snap, as if a mechanical device somewhere nearby struggled to absorb new information. Grobyc soon emerged from the shadows, his feet thudding heavily on the ground. Grobyc simply stared blankly at the two on the bed with his hollow eyes as the whirring and clicking of his internal systems continued. The two stared back, their faces turning red with embarrassment. "Vot are you doing, Grobyc?" Luccia asked the robot.

"Grobyc is observing Commander Norris as part of Grobyc's new program." This response prompted Luccia to abruptly sit up, sending Norris over the side of the bed and onto the floor. As Norris leapt up, hurriedly drawing his jacket back over his shoulders, Luccia grabbed her monocle from where it dangled at the end of its cord and placed it back on her face. Norris simply stared at Grobyc, his slack-jawed mouth gaping at the robot. Soon, Norris felt himself being pushed out of the tent. He turned his head and saw Luccia, now standing at his side, urgently pushing him out. Before Norris could react, he was standing outside, alone.

Inside the tent, Luccia stood before Grobyc, spouting obscenities as she kicked him in the legs. Grobyc, unconcerned by this assault, looked down at Luccia, her stream of guttural obscenities once again slowly becoming understandable words. "You stupid fucking robot!" she growled, still staring down at Grobyc's legs as she kicked them. Eventually her kicks slowed, and Luccia slumped forward, letting her head come to rest on Grobyc's chest as her heavy breathing echoed through the quiet tent. "I am sorry, Grobyc. Just…just let me sleep. I shall have much explaining to do in the morning." With that, Luccia lifted her head off of Grobyc and flopped her body down on her bed, her earlier exertions causing her to fall fast asleep.

------------------------

Luccia stared up at the vertical path of the complex's elevator platform. She had watched as, after she, Serge, and Norris had stepped off the platform here in the basement of the facility, the empty elevator immediately rose back up into the heart of Chronopolis as if summoned to the surface by an unknown person. She had kept a close eye on the elevator the entire time she had been down here, hoping that it would soon return to this level carrying whomever it was that had summoned it above. The elevator could very easily have been summoned by any one of the many people that had stormed the gates of Chronopolis with Serge, but she was hoping that whoever had summoned it was Grobyc. It had been too long, she felt, since they had left Grobyc behind with that strange machine. When Norris first laid eyes on the mysterious device, apparently once a weapon in the possession of the Porre military, he'd acted as if he had seen a ghost. Grobyc, at his own insistence, stayed behind to study its presence further, and perhaps find a way to put it to use. It had, Grobyc told them, been modified at one time to operate in conjunction with his original hardware, and the modifications were not hard to accomplish. It had been some time since they had left Grobyc behind, though. She was worried.

Behind her, Luccia could hear the sound of a computer chirping. Turning around, she noticed Serge push a button on the face of the door now blocking the path that would lead them to the heart of Chronopolis, and to the answers Serge sought. All three of them nearly jumped in the air when, after the button was pressed, the door began speaking. A soft, soothing female voice cut in and said "Only personnel registered as 'Arbiter' may enter. Please conduct a security check for verification." Then the voice disappeared. Serge stood dumbfounded for a few moments, simply staring at the door that had spoken to him. Norris broke Serge's stupor by tapping him lightly on the shoulder and pointing to his left, where a large sign reading 'Security Checkpoint' was planted above a strange looking machine. Serge's face lit up as he wandered over to the sign, staring at the panel planted in the wall immediately below it. Serge pushed a simple green button separated from the dials and warning labels amidst the panel, and the soothing female voice again emerged.

"Fingerprint and Retina scan required," it said, "please step inside the circle and hold up your left hand." Serge looked down at his feet and carefully positioned them in the middle of the circle printed on the floor. As he looked up at the wall panel, Serge removed the glove from his left hand and held it aloft in the direction of the strange machine. Suddenly, the circle in which Serge stood lit up and a section of the wall panel moved aside, revealing a strange projection device. The device shot a tiny beam of light straight into Serge's left eye and slowly scanned his hand from a distance. As the device buzzed with activity, the beam shooting into Serge's eye shut off. "Analysing," the machine stated, "please stand by." Serge simply blinked a few times, trying to shrug off the effects of having the beam of light in his eye. When the activity sounding from within the machine finally cut out, Serge lowered his hand, more than a little concern present in his eyes.

"Analysis complete," the female voice said. "Fingerprints, Retina, and C class DNA all clear. Data discrepancies due to aging are within permissible range. 96 confirmation that this individual is the last registered 'Arbiter'." Serge's mouth hung open as the scanning device retreated back within the wall from which it had emerged and was once again covered over by the wall panel. The light of the circle at his feet faded, so Serge stepped out of it and walked slowly towards the door to his right.

"So dat is vhy Lynx needed Serge's form!" Luccia cried.

"Lynx must be inside already," added Norris, a hint of fear present in his voice. Serge walked up to the door and once again pressed the button on the face of it. Watching in silence as the circuits within the door again began chirping, Luccia noticed Serge cross his fingers. Norris clenched his fists tight, barely unable to hold back the anxiety over what awaited within the next room. Finally, the silence was broken by the female voice of the door. "Access Granted," it said as the door slowly slid aside and into the wall. "Welcome back, Chrono Trigger." The three slowly approached the open door, staring into the darkness beyond. Each of them could barely discern in the darkness a faint orange glow, beckoning them onwards. As Serge led them down the hall, too thin to allow even two of them to walk abreast, the white lights of a distant room soon began augmenting the strengthening orange glow. An image of a large, brightly lit room at the end of the hall soon emerged. The three reached the threshold of the room, the lights from within so bright that all of them had to squint just to discern the faintest of shapes.

"Vhere are ve!" Luccia shouted, trying to raise her voice above the pervasive din coming from the machinery that lined every surface of the room. As their eyes adjusted, all three looked up to the massive contraption in front of them. Their eyes traced every inch of it as their gazes each came to rest on the very centre of the device, where the source of the strong orange glow that had beckoned them forward now sat.

"Is that…the Frozen Flame!" Norris shouted. The response to his question seemed to emerge from the very air around him, a seemingly sentient voice without a visible body.

"Exactly," a male voice stated. Both Luccia and Norris began looking frantically in every direction, trying to discern the source of the voice. Unbeknownst to either of them, Serge simply continued to stare longingly at the Frozen Flame, as if the relic commanded his gaze at the expense of all else. Despite this, the disembodied voice continued to taunt them. "The hearer of people's prayers…the provider of riches, fame, and power…the bestower of eternal life…the promiser of peace and happiness…." As the voice trailed off, Serge's gaze drifted down to the base of the massive machine that held the Frozen Flame. On the ground, Serge could barely make out a limp form lying prone beside the base of the machine. Before Serge could attempt to approach this person, a body materialised in front of him. Serge jumped back. Floating in front of his very eyes was a mirror image of himself, a replication of even the tiniest detail of his physique, yet the essence of the creature was everything he was not. As Norris and Luccia finally took note of the new arrival, both cried out in unison, rushing to Serge's side as they did so.

"Lynx!" they yelled.

"What took you so long?" was Lynx's smug reply. As he glided softly to the ground, Lynx continued. "You had me worried. Worried that you might have perished on the way here." As Lynx finished, Serge's eyes went wide with fear. Looking over Lynx's shoulder he could now see that Kid's was the pale body lying still at the base of the massive contraption containing the Frozen Flame. Before Norris could grab hold of Serge in an effort to restrain him, Serge rushed forwards, around Lynx, to Kid's side. Shaking her in an attempt to rouse her, Serge's eyes widened with fear when his efforts met with no response. Lynx simply turned and watched. Luccia called out to Serge.

"Is she all right?" she asked. Serge looked up at Lynx, anger and hatred burning in his eyes as he clenched his teeth. Lynx simply smirked, as he turned his back to Serge. Looking at Luccia and Norris, both scowling at him, Lynx continued, his smirk never fading.

"It's no use. I put her soul to sleep. I had to remove any obstacle from us having this talk." To everyone's surprise, Serge suddenly leapt from his position on the ground beside Kid, lunging at Lynx with an outstretched fist. Lynx's body suddenly vanished, sending Serge tumbling forwards. As Norris caught him, barely managing to keep Serge from sprawling to the ground, Lynx reappeared, grim smirk still present on his face.

"Who are you!" Luccia yelled at Lynx. "Vot are you after!"

"You still don't know?" Lynx replied. "I am the human incarnation of FATE, the living interface of the FATE computer system. Or, put simply, I, too, am FATE!" Luccia took a step back in disbelief, and Norris gasped as Serge's eyes widened at this revelation. Luccia, in her shock, cried out.

"Vot!" Lynx drifted ever so slightly towards the three of them, causing each to take a quick step back. Grinning at his easy intimidation of the fools that had come to confront him, Lynx continued.

"14 years ago," said Lynx, "on the night of a terrible storm, the cogs began to turn. When Wazuki and Miguel came ashore on the island, they decided to seek shelter. At the time, this centre was offline due to the storm. It only took 10 minutes for the system to power back up, but by then the Flame had found you, Serge. Contact with the Flame not only healed your young body but, once the system rebooted, it would only grant access to you…the 'Arbiter'. You can't imagine the trouble this caused. On top of that, we discovered, inside FATE, a stand-alone circuit designed to start a malfunction, or, more precisely, a 'rebellion'. That hidden circuit was based on the initial Ashtear model circuit board. The circuit was programmed so that the moment FATE did detect it, it would erase all record of detection."

"Ashtear model?" Lynx looked up quizzically at Luccia, who had decided to now cut-in. "As in Lucca Ashtear?" Luccia asked timidly. At this, Lynx again viciously grinned, putting on his favourite expression.

"Ah, Dr. Lucca Ashtear…intelligent, enthusiastic…you might even go so far as to call her a mad scientist. Yes, your former mentor had her fingers deep into this pie. Well, until I killed her, that is. And now I'll kill her bothersome circuit, too. FATE! Eliminate the traitor, Prometheus!" Norris, Luccia, and Serge could only watch in awe and stand still in total helplessness as they heard a mechanical female voice fill the room.

"Affirmative. Eliminating Prometheus."

"No!" Luccia yelled out, tears welling up in her eyes. "Lucca's vork! You cannot!" Suddenly, a male voice cut in overtop of the mechanical female voice accepting instructions from Lynx.

"Serge! P-Please…for the…for the f-future of…of man…of manki-ki-ki—" The voice suddenly cut out, leaving no doubt in their minds as to its identity as Prometheus. Norris could only hang his head in mourning as Luccia removed her monocle with one hand to wipe the tears from her eyes with the other. Serge clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing to slits as he attempted to burn a hole through Lynx's smug expression with only his gaze. Letting his eyes drift to meet Serge's stare, Lynx let slip a little chuckle. Serge, boiling over with rage, drew his swallow, brandishing it menacingly at Lynx. Lynx let slip another soft laugh as he began to again float into the air.

"Idiot," Lynx said. "Destruction to those who oppose the Goddess of FATE."

"Lynx!" Norris yelled, drawing his gun. "You'll not get away with this!" All three readied themselves for battle, blood boiling and nerves tensed, as Lynx continued floating into the air above their heads. Lynx, noticing their paltry attempts at courage in what he was sure would be their last moments, stretched his arms out to his sides.

"Come, Serge!" Lynx shouted. Serge, Norris, and Luccia struggled to keep their balance as the ground beneath them shuddered. Suddenly, several massive metallic tubes shot out of the ground from beneath Lynx, impaling him with the needle-like points at their tip. Lynx's body, flailed about by the tubes, went limp, and only a network of thick cables held it aloft. All three onlookers simply stared in wonder as the circuitry lining each of the tubes lit up; the floor's many layers began peeling back like a blossoming flower, allowing Lynx's body to plunge into the unknown beneath. With much ado, Lynx, still posing as Serge, re-emerged from beneath the floor. Now, though, Lynx towered over them with only his upper body, his lower body having been replaced with a mess of hardwiring. Lynx's skin shimmered in the light of the nearby Frozen Flame with a dark lustre, belying its new metallic nature. This new hybrid, the only remains of Lynx's human form, leaned towards Serge and spoke. "Teach me what it means to be 'alive'!"

The female voice of the computer system rang out as Lynx slowly placed his hands out in front of him, palms flat against the floor. "Commencing countdown," the voice said. "Five." Serge was the only one able to break from his trance-like state of awe, driven to action by his anger and disgust at the scenario playing out before him. Raising one hand in the air, Serge closed his eyes and opened his raised hand to the ceiling, creating a large ball of pure white light just above his palm. With his eyes closed, Serge was unable to see the floor below become covered in several concentric circles of strange writing. The circles of text, centred on Lynx's outstretched hands, began to spin in time with Serge's efforts. As the ball of light above Serge's hand grew, so did the circles spin faster, and as Serge began to drift softly into the air, dragged upwards by the energy collecting above his hand, the circles became a blur, the unusual letters no longer distinguishable from each other. Serge, now high in the air above Lynx, soon began to feel something, a strange uncertainty elicited by the unusual combination of his own pending attack and that of Lynx.

Beads of sweat formed on Serge's brow, and he had to concentrate just to keep up the power for his coming attack. Struggling against the pounding in his head, Serge continued to float upwards, opening his eyes in order to aim his assault. It was then that he caught sight of Lynx's machinations, the blurred text covering the ground beneath him. Lynx looked up at Serge, expressionless and dead-eyed, as he pulled his massive hands up from the floor. The text gradually slowed its spin, coming to a halt just it faded from view. As Lynx's attack dissipated, Serge felt the breath sucked from his lungs, his blood, until now pounding in his head, went cold, and, looking up, he could see the energy that had been building above his hand flicker and fade. Suddenly unable to summon the strength for even the smallest of assaults against his enemy, Serge felt the wind rush over his skin as he fell towards the cold, hard ground.

Norris, finally able to control his legs again, ran towards Serge, leaping forward to catch him and cushion his fall. Norris pulled Serge from mid-air, tumbling forward and skidding to a stop a few feet from Lynx's new form. Norris, pushing Serge off of himself, slipped his gun from its holster and unleashed a barrage of shots at Lynx, each bullet bouncing harmlessly off of Lynx's imposing frame. Looking down, the monstrosity towering over Serge and Norris locked eyes with them, drinking in their fearful shivering as its glossy head, shimmering in the light of the room, leaned in close towards the two. Luccia watched from a corner of the room as Lynx raised a hand over them, preparing to crush them into the floor. She turned her head, unable to watch her friends' gruesome end, as she hugged her legs tighter to her chest to try and end her body's uncontrollable shaking.

Luccia leaned back against the pillar that hid her from Lynx's sight, breathing heavily as she attempted to rationalize her actions. Lucca's death had been unconfirmed until now, and she had always held out hope for her former mentor. Norris, Serge, and even Kid sat on the brink of death. Grobyc, still absent, could only be assumed destroyed, his detached parts piled in a heap in some seldom visited corner of the massive complex under which she stood. Luccia began to shake even harder, her uncontrollable fear and hesitancy overpowering her desire to help. The female voice of the room's computer systems rang out again, interrupting her thoughts. "Four," it said.

Lynx's hand, still hovering over Serge and Norris even as they attempted to back away from it, clenched itself into a fist. Norris could see a dark haze draw over his vision as his knees buckled under the sudden weight thrust down upon him. Looking over, he could see Serge sprawled on the floor inside a small groove that perfectly matched the shape of his prone body. Norris, unable to hold himself up, fell forward onto his hands. It was then that he noticed the large dents in the floor that both his hands and his knees had created. Norris scanned the room for anything that might help the current situation. As he sank further into the floor, Norris caught sight of Luccia, leaning around a distant pillar in order to catch a glimpse of what was occurring. Norris, unable to speak, pleaded to her with his eyes, but with such a distance between the two, Norris' efforts went unnoticed. Luccia took no note of Norris' collapse to the floor, either, as her stare was drawn to the doorway leading into the room.

Norris heard a strange noise, and he felt the pressure that had been weighing down upon him disappear. Feverishly sucking in much-needed air through his nostrils, Norris gagged on the putrid stench of scorched metal. Rising to his knees, Norris looked up towards the smell and saw Lynx hold up a smoking hand. Lynx twisted his wrist, and Norris caught sight of a hole burned through Lynx's hand at an awkward angle. Norris scrambled to Serge's side and helped him up. Both stood up just as a dark blue beam burned through the air mere inches from the tops of their heads and tore through Lynx's chest, leaving a noticeable hole where Lynx's heart would be, had he any semblance of one. Lynx simply stared at the new hole in his mechanical body, watching as smoke poured forth from it. Spinning around once more, Serge and Norris broke into wide smiles as they laid eyes on Grobyc, now bearing the super-weapon banned by the Porre military on his left arm. Before Norris could thank Grobyc, his train of thought was derailed by the female voice of the room's computer system. "Three," it said.

Luccia could see the strange red light of Lynx's eyes growing bright as they scanned over Grobyc. Grobyc, hefting the bulky weapon on his shoulder with his right hand, adjusted his aim and fired at Lynx's formidable head. This time, however, Lynx jerked aside, dodging Grobyc's attack and eluding all injury but for a noticeable laceration across the side of his slick, metallic face. Thrusting his head forwards, Lynx unleashed thorough retaliation as the light of his eyes burst forth, sending two parallel lasers tearing through the air. A deafening shatter sounded as Lynx's attack connected with Grobyc's chest, sending the robot careening through the air and slamming into the wall behind him. Grobyc lifted his head, sparks shooting from his neck as he did so, to face Luccia, now at his side pulling several small tools from her pocket.

"You foolish robot!" Luccia yelled at Grobyc. "You know you cannot—"

"Luccia must move immediately," Grobyc interrupted. Before Luccia could protest, Grobyc wrapped his free hand tightly around her collar. Luccia could feel the abrasive material of her coat chafe her neck as Grobyc launched her into the air. She felt as if she were moving in slow motion, her limbs flailing wildly as she soared away from Grobyc. Luccia skidded across the ground to the sheltered corner of the room where Norris and Serge now sat. Luccia sat up, resting her weight on Norris' out stretched arm, as the searing pain shooting up through her nerves and bones went unnoticed in light of the immense torment she felt gripping her heart. She watched as Lynx unleashed another assault from his vapid eyes. It burst upon Grobyc's chest, creating a massive ball of flame as Grobyc's internal systems exploded into fragments and scattered about the room. Luccia could only watch as Lynx's onslaught faded and she saw, through the acrid smoke billowing from the massive hole in his chest, the white light that had formerly filled Grobyc's eyes replaced by darkness.

Lynx returned his attention to the three people huddling in a corner. Norris' eyes darted from Luccia's face to Serge's, and back again. "What shall we do now?" he asked. "My attacks are useless, as are Serge's it seems, and with Grobyc destroyed—"

"No!" Luccia screamed, interrupting Norris. "Not destroyed! He, I, I will fix him as soon as we leave this place. I will…he…." Luccia's breath was soon coming in shallow gasps as her face, red with distress, held an expression of utter contempt for everything she laid eyes on. Stumbling, Luccia fell to her knees, both Norris and Serge rushing to her side as she then collapsed to the ground. Kneeling beside her spent form, Norris lifted Luccia's head from the floor, cradling it in his arms. Serge, however, turned his attention back to Lynx, who now held an outstretched arm in the direction of the three huddled comrades. Both Norris and Luccia followed Serge's gaze, facing Lynx as he opened his outstretched palm towards the three. The female voice of the computer system again interrupted their thoughts. "Two," it said.

Norris barely had time to react as the ground beneath him quite literally rose to meet him. Grabbing Luccia in his arms and diving aside, Norris saw Serge lunge in the other direction out of the corner of his eye. The ground so recently beneath their feet was thrust violently into the air, taking Norris, Luccia, and Serge all with it. Norris and Luccia were sent diving into the wall right next to Grobyc's lifeless shell as Serge's battered body rolled to a stop right next to Kid. Luccia was torn from her forced slumber by the burning in her lungs. Regaining her awareness, Luccia noticed she and Norris were shrouded in the smoke pouring forth from Grobyc. Hearing him cough, Luccia looked over at Norris. Letting her gaze trail down the length of his body, Luccia caught sight of a large shard of metal deeply wedged into Norris' thigh. Mildly prodding the wound with an inquisitive finger, Luccia heard Norris groan in pain. Raising her hand to her face, Luccia could barely make out the deep red stain soaking into her glove. Tears from the smoke and pain were now dripping down her face, and she felt her breath once again coming short and shallow.

Feeling herself ready to succumb to the pain now wracking her body, Luccia clutched at her chest as a shot of scorching heat rushed through the garments under her lab coat and over her skin. Clutching at the pain, Luccia felt her fingers meet resistance as they came up against a strange object stuffed into a pocket inside her jacket. Pulling out the object, Luccia rested her eyes on the small, pliable amoeba that she had secured so long ago in Viper Manor. The amoeba, usually so placid and calm, was now bucking to and fro within its test tube, and Luccia could feel the heat that had ripped across her chest now blistering her hand. It was clear that the amoeba was the source, but why it had acted up so suddenly she was unsure. The scientist within her cut through Luccia's clouded thoughts with an intense curiosity about what would happen if the amoeba were released in such a state. Knowing this was the first clear thought she had had since learning of Lucca's murder, Luccia felt obliged to obey.

Lynx stared at Serge, now lying motionless beside Schala's clone. Lynx could feel a twinge of guilt pass through his processors, a side effect of his many days as a human slave of Nature. Before Lynx could fully enjoy crushing them like ants, however, another wave of emotion passed through him: apprehension. Turning to the deposed remnants of the Arbiter's motley crew, Lynx could easily discern the woman's white suit, now stained and torn, against the backdrop of thick, black smoke. Lynx strained to look at the small object in her hand, but he hand no chance to study it before the object was speeding towards his face. The test tube shattered as it hit him, splashing the gooey contents across Lynx's otherwise untarnished forehead. Slowly, the amoeba spread down to Lynx's mouth, working its way inside until fully absorbed and sinking through the depths of Lynx's circuitry.

Lynx's head jerked back, sparks shooting from parts of his body as his hands rose to his face. The female voice of the computer system cut in. "Alien organism detected within operating systems" it said. "Beginning assimilation." Luccia, worried that her legs would soon give out on her, anxiously watched Lynx writhe under the influence of Luccia's probing protozoa. The din still dampening all sound within the room soon reached a fevered pitch as Lynx's systems struggled against the invasive creature. Suddenly, Lynx's struggle ceased. Lynx eased his head forward, and the sparking that had defined his struggle with Luccia's amoeba was no longer present. As Lynx's arms came to rest at his sides once more, the female voice of the computer system broke in. "Organism successfully assimilated," it said. Luccia's expression darkened as her final gamble failed. With nothing left, Luccia felt her legs give out from under her. But before all hope could abandon her, Luccia heard a large group of footsteps heading towards her, the thud of swarms of heavy boots suddenly cutting through the sound of buzzing machinery.

Luccia turned her head in the direction of the room's only entrance, hidden behind the black smoke from which she had emerged, and her heart skipped a beat as she saw her former employer, General Viper, burst out of the smoke at the head of his beloved Acacia Dragoons. General Viper caught sight of Luccia, and as Karsh and Marcy emerged from the smoke behind him, Viper grabbed the arm of a nearby Dragoon and sent him rushing to her aid. Glenn, now out of the smoke as well, was hot on the heels of the dragoon, both lifting her from the floor. "Where is Commander Norris?" Glenn asked her hurriedly.

"In…in the smoke, Glenn." At her response, Glenn rushed from her side and back into the cloud of thick smoke still hiding Grobyc and Norris as it rose to the heights of the cavernous room. Looking over at General Viper, Luccia smiled, the weight of worry lifted from her shoulders as the General returned her smile in kind.

"Good to see you're still alive, Doctor," Viper called to her, "but I'm afraid I've no time to chat!" Viper lifted his sword in the air, the bright blade reflecting the pale orange light of the nearby Frozen Flame. As his arm dropped, bringing the sword back down to his side, Viper let loose a resounding cry of "Charge!" With Karsh and Marcy at his side, Viper led his Dragoons towards Lynx, still hovering over Serge and Kid. It was then that the female voice of the computer system piped up.

"One," it said. Lynx's open palms shot out towards the newly arrived troops, and a massive sphere of dark energy suddenly appeared in each. Small streaks of purple lightning crackled across the surface of the spheres as they shot forward from Lynx's hands, beams of light curving in their wake. As one, the Dragoons and their leader skidded to a halt, attempting to scatter in the face of this insurmountable offensive, but the attack came so fast that many simply collided with each other in a frenzied attempt to flee. The two spheres tore through the ranks of Dragoons, scattering them into the air and throwing them into the walls of the room. Sent careening towards the Frozen Flame, one Dragoon was simply vaporised. Still more landed at the foot of Lynx's new incarnation and became easy fodder for the living weapon as Lynx's shattering blows crushed them. Broken, what Dragoons remained chaotically retreated from the room. Lynx, still revelling in his luck at encountering such easy prey, felt joy wash over his organic circuits as he witnessed the three Dragoon leaders, Karsh, Marcy, and the General himself, groping blindly towards safety.

Luccia, sitting beside the faceless Dragoon that had led her to cover during the General's charge, watched Lynx scan his glowing eyes over Karsh and Marcy as they struggled with dragging an unconscious Viper back towards the room's exit. Lynx stretched a single hand out towards the three, preparing a decisive final attack. Before Lynx could gather his concentration for an attack, however, several gunshots burst upon the surface of his head. Though each shot glanced harmlessly off of Lynx, he recoiled under the barrage, pulling his hands up to shield his face. Peeking through an opening in his fingers, Lynx stared down at the two figures emerging from the cloud of smoke smothering Grobyc's vicinity. The outer layers of the cloud peeled away as Glenn emerged, carrying a trigger-happy Norris on his back. Glenn halted mid-step, however, noticing for the first time the chaotic array of his fellow Dragoons, injured or killed, and the decrepit state of General Viper and two of his Devas.

Norris let slip a cry of shock and pain as Glenn roughly dropped him to the ground. Glenn turned to meet Norris' unappreciative glare with his own, and spoke harshly to Norris through gritted teeth. "Get out of my way," Glenn growled. Norris, taken aback, remained unmoved until Luccia finally beckoned him to where she sat. Hopping over, his weight resting entirely on his good leg, Norris looked over his shoulders at Glenn as he heard the young knight draw his swords. Collapsing forward into Luccia's arms, Norris watched in silence as Glenn attempted to stare down Lynx, the twin Einlanzers dangling loosely from his hands.

Lynx examined his sole remaining opponent, admiring the pair of swords he wielded. On the inside, Lynx could feel his human remnants laughing loudly at this ludicrous scene. The thought of confrontation with the 'Arbiter', a heavily armed robot, an invasive creature, an army of Dragoons, and now this single headstrong human, amused it to no end. This, he felt, was the most fun he'd had in a very long time, even though these errant opportunists had been so tenacious that his many well-planned accomplishments had even bordered on challenging at times. Now, to be able to casually crush this last obstruction at whim, and in peace, almost disappointed him. It seemed so anti-climactic. If only the 'Arbiter' had been more sporting, surely this would all have cumulated in one big, spectacular conclusion. It would be so much more satisfying that way. Alas, as Lynx extended a hand towards Glenn to prepare his next attack, he conceded to his better sensibilities and decided to take the most direct course of action.

What caught Lynx's attention next, however, was not the sound of gasping from a sheltered corner of the room, or even the red glow growing in Glenn's eyes, but the almost imperceptible sound of metal scraping across the floor. Jerking his head towards where he had disposed of Kid, Lynx was shocked to discover that Serge no longer rested beside her. Lynx continued turning, beckoned by the sound of tapping metal. Twisting to look over his shoulder, Lynx was unable to convey the admiration, shock, and fear that he felt with his static facial features. Behind Lynx stood Serge, impatiently tapping the tip of his swallow against the floor. Jerking his head around once more, Lynx stared back down at Glenn, his hatred and vengeance so overpowering that Glenn could almost see it in his eyes as he rushed towards the pool of blood at the base of Lynx's towering body.

Lynx watched the knight streak towards him, leaving a faint red glow in his wake. He could feel both of the knight's swords strike some of the cables attaching his body to the hidden mechanical infrastructure beneath the floor as he felt the 'Arbiter' begin to gut the rest of them. Glenn and Serge exchanged no glances as they met in the middle of their charge, each passing underneath Lynx's body and cleanly slicing through the mesh of wires beneath it. Serge skidded for several feet across the floor before finally halting his burst of speed, smearing two long streaks of stagnant blood from the pool in front of Lynx across the floor with the bottom of his boots while narrowly avoiding Lynx's body as it collapsed forward and crashed to the ground. The wires formerly holding Lynx's complex chassis aloft squirmed back and forth like worms, unleashing a shower of sparks from their severed ends. Lynx's body was soon crackling from within as several small explosions burst through his shimmering surface. Turning to observe the damage he and Serge had so deservedly inflicted on the deranged hybrid responsible for decimating the Dragoons, Glenn replaced his satisfied smirk with an exasperated frown as he laid eyes on a single cable, thicker than his arm, still connecting Lynx to his supporting hardware. The female voice of the room's computer system punctured Luccia and Norris' premature celebrations. "Zero," it said.

Lynx, supporting his entire weight on his hands, raised his head mere inches from the ground so that it faced a now thoroughly stunned Serge, catching everyone completely off-guard. The circuits within Lynx's mouth glowed bright blue as Lynx prepared to unleash a powerful beam from it. As Lynx's attack quickly charged, thin wisps of smoke began to pour from the edges of Lynx's eyes. Serge attempted to find shelter, but Lynx's head followed his every movement, and even as Serge ducked behind the cover shielding Norris, Luccia, and their Dragoon compatriot, none of them felt very confident that such flimsy protection could defend them against the coming assault now that Lynx knew where they hid. Glenn rushed towards the cable still hardwiring Lynx to his source, but was knocked aside by a thrashing cable he had severed earlier. Lynx continued charging his attack, even as his body began to quiver and the voice of the computer system pierced the chaos of the room. "Warning," it said. "Alien organism re-contaminating systems. Attempting containment and re-assimilation."

Lynx's quivering body entered into fits and starts as control of his internal systems were commandeered, no longer being used to control the charging of his attack. The charging circuits in Lynx's mouth quickly reached critical mass while the internal struggle against Luccia's vengeful amoeba drained Lynx's limited resources, until finally, in one massive convulsion, beginning in the cable still connecting him to his power source and reaching all the way up his body, Lynx's head exploded, its fragments thrust apart so violently that a few almost reached the room's distant ceiling. From the flaming wreckage emerged a tiny yellow blob that tentatively tested the air of the room before scuttling towards the exit and out into the vast complex beyond. With this, Luccia began hobbling towards Grobyc's deposed bodice, Norris hanging off of her shoulder. Norris, now entirely numb from the pain in his leg, collapsed next to the deactivated Grobyc as Luccia looked over the damage to Grobyc with an expert eye, distracted only by the sound of a great roar coming from outside the facility.

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Norris rapped lightly on Luccia's door, somewhere aboard the S.S. Invincible. As the sound of footsteps approached from behind the door, Norris took a moment to brush a spot of dirt from the sleeve of his jacket. Looking up at the sound of the door opening, Norris was more than a little surprised to see Grobyc standing in the doorway. Stepping past Grobyc into the room, Norris' confusion increased as he scanned the room for its errant resident. "Where is Luccia, Grobyc? I could not find her amidst the assault on Terra Tower. What's happened?"

"Luccia has left the ship," was Grobyc's emotionless reply. Norris jerked his head around to face Grobyc, stunned by the unexpected response.

"What?" Norris asked, weakly.

"Luccia has left the ship," Grobyc repeated.

"How odd. Why would she do such a thing? Has she even completed your repairs?"

"Luccia completed Grobyc's repairs before she left," Grobyc replied.

"So where is she?" Norris asked again.

"Grobyc cannot tell Commander Norris where Luccia is." Norris could only stare at Grobyc in response, a puzzled look on his face.

"Why can't you tell me? Don't you know where Luccia is?"

"Grobyc knows where Luccia is."

"Then where is she?" Norris repeated, this time in a loud and hurried voice.

"Grobyc cannot tell Commander Nor—"

"What's going on, Grobyc! What happened!" Norris, now yelling at the robot from inches away, felt the heat rush to his face as he stared at Grobyc. Grobyc's reply was quick in coming, though lacking intonations.

"Luccia has left the ship."

"I know Luccia has left the ship, Grobyc! You told me that already!" Norris' screams, now easily penetrating the walls of the room and alerting the young man walking along the hall outside, continued. "Why has she left the ship! Where has she gone, Grobyc! What's happened to her!" Norris soon began to shake with rage. Grobyc simply stared down into Norris' face with his usual expression, and repeated his words.

"Luccia inserted a new program into Grobyc before leaving. Grobyc cannot tell Commander Norris where Luccia is." Norris' scowl disappeared as Grobyc spoke the words 'Commander Norris' at a slower than usual pace. Norris then noticed a small flicker of light in Grobyc's eyes that he had never witnessed before from the robot. Norris continued to stare at the strange flickering even as a knock at the door threatened to interrupt his thoughts. It was Grobyc that finally drew Norris back to reality. "Would Commander Norris like Grobyc to answer the door?" Norris' head jerked back. Suddenly aware of the knocking, Norris rushed to the door and yanked it open to reveal Glenn. Glenn, surprised by Norris' flushed face and uneasy gait, stuttered his greetings.

"I am sorry to disturb you Norris, but I was just on my way to meet Serge so that we might depart for Opassa Beach and I thought I'd come and say goodbye. I know we have not known each other very long, but-- "

Before Glenn could finish, Norris grabbed the knight's arm. "Glenn," Norris said, "I'm sorry. You have found me in quite a state. I fear I'm in the middle of a rather serious situation. If I could have but a moment of your time before you leave, I would be grateful."

"Well, I suppose," Glenn replied. "What do you need?"

"Would you please ask Grobyc where Luccia is?" Glenn, taken aback by the strange request, could only glare at Norris with a cockeyed expression. "Please," Norris pleaded at seeing Glenn's reluctance.

"Very well," Glenn conceded, turning to face Grobyc. "Grobyc," Glenn said, "where is Luccia?"

"Luccia is in Viper Manor." The words were hardly out of Grobyc's mouth before Norris, fearing the worst, barged past Glenn and rushed down the hallway of the ship towards the exit. Glenn and Grobyc leaned out the door to watch as Norris ran the length of the hall, and were still there some time after the man had disappeared. Glenn could only shift nervously in the awkward silence that followed. "Well," Glenn muttered, turning to face Grobyc. "Goodbye."

------------------------

With his fears evident in his expression, Norris had quickly commandeered a raft and started his hurried trip towards Viper Manor, his concern for what might have driven Luccia to such a state easily overpowering the logical thought processes usually running through his head. Norris could only hope that Luccia, whom he loved more than anything, had not gotten into trouble during their extended parting of ways.

Separated soon after the Chronopolis incident, he'd attempted to then aid her with Grobyc's repairs the moment his wounds had healed enough to allow him to walk again. So engrossed Luccia was with Grobyc's repairs that it was as if she'd forgotten all about him. He knew that couldn't be true, so he'd helped her as best he could in the hopes that the repairs would soon be finished and he could hold her in his arms again. Alas, Serge had called him away to aid him in the assault on Terra Tower before Grobyc's repairs had finished. Returning afterwards, Norris had thought of nothing but the chance to make sure he hadn't been dreaming about the time they'd spent on the beach outside Chronopolis. Now he found her absent from her quarters, without the company of her faithful creation, Grobyc, and making notable efforts to keep him from finding her. This was too much for Norris. Every second another second without her, Norris urged his small raft on with all haste.

------------------------

As he burst through the door leading out onto the small balcony of Viper Manor's highest tower, Norris caught sight of Luccia sitting in the pool of water that stood as the centrepiece of the balcony's flowery décor, her back to the door. Submerged up to her shoulders, Luccia gave no acknowledgement of Norris' approach through the darkness even as he reached the edge of the water in which she was steeped. As Norris dropped to one knee at the side of the pool, the moonlight caught hold of Luccia's thick, indigo hair, the light of the dark moon making the hair appear to throb with life as silvery threads of white moonlight traced their way down the length of hundreds of individual strands. Norris could not resist such an intoxicating sight, but as he reached out to touch it, Luccia turned her head and the spectre faded. Her face a silhouette against the full moons, Luccia's monocle shone in the darkness from the reflection of the moonlight off the water. Luccia's voice, weak and raspy, came out slowly as she spoke.

"Vhy must you continue to harass me, Commander Norris? I have a desire to neither see nor hear you at dis or any future point in time. Do you not have some sort of feline vhich needs to be pulled from a tree or some such?"

"What are you talking about?" Norris asked. "Why did you run away from the ship without telling me? Without letting me know where you went?"

"Must I explain sometting as simple as dat to you? I vish you vould stay away from me, go back to Porre, and never force me to see your face or suffer your company again."

"Why do you say that?"

"For fear of what I might get myself into. I love you, Commander Norris, but I am scared of you at the same time. Dat is a dangerous combination."

"Afraid of me? What do you mean? Why?"

"Because you have killed me once, Commander Norris, and you may yet do it again." Norris was stunned by such a frank answer

"What?"

"My self in the otter vorld. You killed her. Dis I now know." A long pause followed Luccia's sudden spiteful admission as Norris stood up and backed off slightly from the pool. Luccia, now fully turned in the pool to face Norris, returned Norris' continued stare even as the darkness prevented either from seeing the other's eyes at such a distance. Norris simply tried to focus his eyes upon Luccia's monocle, still shining in the darkness with the light reflected from the pool.

"How…how did you find out?" Norris asked.

"It vas Grobyc who told me. Or rather, you did, through Grobyc. Though I said I vould, I did not disable all of Grobyc's data recording equipment, and he captured much of vot you said to him both before and after he vas disabled in Chronopolis, including your tale of your own vorld's Luccia, and the details of her death."

"So it's as I feared. You're scared I may do the same to you. I must say that I do not blame you. I feared the same thing myself for some time, hence my timidity for a short while after meeting you. Such a—"

"No," Luccia interrupted. "Dat is not it. Dat is not the half of it. I have braved death more dan once for you and many otter close friends. I have no fear of death. Vot I do fear is loving a man who does not concern himself vitt who I am." Norris' jaw fell open as Luccia finished. He could still not see her face as anything more than a shadow, but Norris could readily imagine the pain and hatred that was assuredly present in Luccia's eyes at this moment.

"How can you think such a thing? I, I love you, Luccia."

"No!" Luccia cried. "You love Luccia, but not me! I may have her name, her face, her voice, but I am not the Luccia you love! You came to dis vorld and discovered anotter version of the woman you both loved and killed! You feel you can simply pick up vhere you left off vittout any regard for the consequences to yourself and otters! And vorst of all…vorst of…vorst of all…." At this, Luccia began to choke up with tears, unable to continue her tirade. Norris felt warm tears begin to slowly run their way down his cheeks as his ears suffered through the pain evident in Luccia's voice, a fitting punishment, he felt, for his many lies. Yet through their tears, the two continued.

"Did you listen to everything?" Norris asked of Luccia. "Did you listen to everything I told Grobyc?"

"Yes," Luccia timidly replied.

"Then surely you know how I really feel, Luccia. I—"

"Stop!" Luccia cried, but Norris continued.

"I can't help but—"

"Stop! Stop talking!"

"Yes, I started out thinking I could just pick up where I left off, but—" By now, Norris could only yell above the noise of Luccia's frantic objections. "But I realised my mistake! I discovered that you were a different woman, and I fell in love with you anyway!" Luccia's objections abruptly stopped, and silence permeated the balcony. Luccia held her head in her hands, sobbing, as Norris continued. "I think that's what you're afraid of, and I can tell you from experience that you shouldn't be. Don't be…." As he trailed off, Norris got down on his knees beside the pool and gently pulled Luccia's hands away from her face. As he leaned in close, Norris could finally discern the features of Luccia's face through the darkness, her eyes red and puffy from the near constant crying she had put herself through earlier that day. Norris then pulled the monocle from Luccia's face and let it drop into the pool with a soft splash.

"Vhy are you doing dis to me?" Luccia whispered. Norris' only response was to lean in closer and kiss Luccia upon the lips, and action that elicited no resistance. "Vhy must you make me love you so?" Luccia asked as Norris pulled away from her face, letting slip a small grin as she spoke. Norris returned the smile in kind as he spoke.

"Luccia?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you in that pool of water?"

"I got cold."

"You got cold?"

"Yes."

"So, is the pool…?"

"The pool is vell heated in order to foster the rare plant life dat usually inhabits it."

"I see. I think you should come out now." With that Norris stood up, Luccia's hand in his own, and pulled on Luccia in an effort to help her pull herself up and out of the small pool of water. As soon as Luccia got to her feet she brushed Norris aside and began to quickly head towards the door back into the Manor. "Wait!" Norris called to her just as she reached the door, so Luccia stopped and turned to face him. Norris, caught unaware, was stunned by what he saw next. Intending to ask Luccia where she was running to so quickly, the sight that instead greeted Norris was that of Luccia in her white lab coat, lit up by the bright moonlight, and soaked to the bone from her shoulders down. The curves of her body were now very clearly visible beneath her wet lab coat, as were her red panties, and her small, dark nipples were hard from the cool night air hitting the wet cloth atop her chest.

Luccia suddenly became aware of her exposure as she followed Norris' blank stares down to her breasts. She quickly drew her arms across her chest and scowled at Norris. Norris simply looked back up into her eyes and grinned as he slowly approached her. "Doctor," Norris said, "you are such an advocate of the beauty present in nature, yet you've never once mentioned yourself in all the times I've heard you speak." Luccia, speechless, could only stare into Norris' eyes as he approached her at a walk, silently smiling the entire way. Norris placed his hands on Luccia's shoulders as he spoke to her in a whisper, gradually leaning in closer as he did. "Surely you are a specimen to be lauded by the scientific community. Such splendour, such magnificence, such firmness—"

"Commander, you vould do vell not to comment on firmness." Norris chuckled as Luccia smirked at her own remark. As the two met in a slow yet passionate kiss, Luccia slowly opened the door behind her, until both of them could finally stumble through it, neither willing to end the heated embrace that threatened to send them tumbling down the stairs inside the door.

------------------------

As Norris fell back onto Riddel's soft bed, bouncing as he did so, Luccia's heavy lab coat hit a nearby wall with a wet smack. Norris struggled to remove his gloves and jacket as Luccia thrust one of her breasts into his waiting mouth. As Norris continued to struggle with his jacket, Luccia set to work undoing the many belts and buttons that held Norris' one-piece blue uniform on his body. Before long, Norris had escaped from his troublesome jacket, and as Luccia continued removing the rest of his uniform, Norris grasped Luccia's breasts tightly in his hands, squeezing on one while suckling on the other. Luccia squealed with delight every time she felt Norris timidly bite down upon her sensitive breasts, but was hard pressed to remove him from them even as she leaned well back in the hopes that her lover might relent in his onslaught.

When Luccia finally managed to step back fully from Norris, leaving him sitting on the bed, his body bare down to the waist, she abruptly and unceremoniously stripped her last remnants of clothing off before lunging at Norris like a ferocious beast and sending both of them tumbling back on the bed. Luccia, now straddling Norris' prone body, firmly grasped two clumps of the young man's bright blonde hair in her hands and yanked his face forward into her own. Luccia treated Norris' mouth as she would a cherished but abused possession, and as Norris frantically yanked the rest of his uniform down to his ankles Luccia finished working her way up Norris' body. Luccia tore Norris' face away from her own long enough for Norris to manage one gasp of breath before she pulled on his hair once more, planting his face firmly between her legs. As Luccia rocked back and forth atop Norris' face, Norris could feel his tongue gradually going numb from exhaustion.

As the numbness finished spreading to his lips, Norris felt Luccia's legs squeeze into his head, and his ears were so well shielded that he could barely here Luccia's sudden scream of ecstasy. Luccia, gasping for air, seated herself on Norris' chest and looked down into his face. It was then that she noticed Norris' glistening lips had curled themselves into a wicked grin. Norris gripped Luccia's hips firmly as he threw her sideways from his chest down to the bed, where she landed brusquely on her back. Luccia had time to do nothing more than smile at Norris' initiative before she felt her arms being suddenly pulled out to her sides. She could feel Norris' hands now, tightly wrapped around her wrists, and the young man shuffled into position even as he held Luccia's arms firmly down against the bed, though Luccia offered only a paltry, token struggle against his grasp.

No sooner had Norris begun thrusting his hips forward than he found himself fearful of any remaining occupants of the Manor. Certainly the way his efforts made the headboard of the bed bang out a steady rhythm against the wall behind it made it clear that the two of them were here. Norris, in an effort to try and dampen the distracting sound, let go of Luccia's wrists and grabbed onto the top of the bed's headboard. Norris then realised that, in his haste, he had forgotten to close the door behind him. He was now afraid of being found. All such distracting thoughts quickly faded, however, as Norris was spurred onwards by the sensation of Luccia's fingernails now digging into his back, driving him towards the brink. Using the leverage now provided by the headboard, Norris resumed his frantic motions. Even as Norris felt his climax was imminent, Luccia continued pushing him on ever faster, as if he were a machine to be sped up at the push of a button. Despite his best efforts, Norris could hold out no longer, and he collapsed forward into Luccia's welcoming bosom. Then, for a reason neither could fathom, Luccia began to laugh. Soon Norris was laughing along, unable to resist the infectious glee, until, without exchanging a word, both finally giggled themselves to sleep.

------------------------

So, with the sounds of the elements united, Serge was released from his role as Arbiter. The two worlds were re-woven into one, and all but Serge had had their memories ripped from them. His partner, Kid, had vanished, as had his other companions, scattered to their homes like seeds to the wind. Serge felt sad knowing that they would not remember what they did, for him and for the world, but he felt happy that someday, somewhere, he would meet them all again. Maybe he could remind them. Or maybe, they would just know.

Luccia squinted and drew her free hand up to her eyes as the light bore down upon her unsuspecting body. Even after rolling over in her bed, Luccia could still not escape the light that now permeated the room. Finally, as the curtains in the small, freshly painted room were drawn fully back, Luccia succumbed to the beckoning of the dawn and rose from the bed, dragging the sheets with her in an attempt to conceal her body from the room's male occupant, a mere shadow against the backdrop of the sunrise. "What's the matter, Luccia?" asked Norris. "Don't you remember promising to watch the sunrise with me?"

"Of course I do, I simply vish the sunrise vould not occur so early in the day." At this Norris laughed, stepping towards Luccia and out of the light as he did so.

"That's the beauty of watching the sunrise. It's so rare that anyone does, it's as if you're one of only a handful to have ever seen one. Besides, Porre is beautiful at this time of the day." Luccia and Norris then met in the middle of the room, embracing each other in a loving hug as they both turned their heads towards the window in order to watch the sunrise.

"Porre is beautiful at any time of the day, Norris, especially vhen viewed from a vindow such as ours. That is vhy ve purchased dis home."

"Yes, yes, I remember. Of course I remember. It was the same day I turned down that mission to El Nido. Best decision I've ever made." Luccia suddenly grabbed Norris' chin and jerked his head around to face her own.

"Correction," Luccia said, "second best." And with that, she kissed him.

Fin

Author's Note: Yeah, I originally thought I had it in me to do a few more chapters like this, but instead I found out that I just suck. Check back in a few years and maybe I'll have some new chapters up. Then again, maybe I won't.