Celestia Trigger

by Thadius0

Chapter 30 - The Underground Palace

The trip back up to the kingdom of Vis wasn't all that hard. Cold still, yes, but Lumina appeared to have been telling the truth. The Skyways were working. I could only assume that they'd been closed off after we were booted from the era. We passed the still-growing city of Quies and made our way to the next island, where the city of Doctrina and the palace awaited us with none of the ponies trying to stop us. Apparently, word hadn't gotten around from the queen yet that she wanted us stopped. Something I would take advantage of.

However, once we arrived in the throne room once more, we encountered an old friend. And by that I mean somebody I wouldn't mind taking down a few pegs. Praefactus was sitting on the throne and fuming as we walked in. "Reduced to guard duty while that prophet gets to go on, what is the queen thinking!"

Then he saw us and grinned. "Aha, you again! Just what I needed to relieve some stress!" With that, the orange crystal unicorn stallion jumped off the throne and fired up his horn.

"Stay strong," I said to my friends. "Treat him like that golem." Which was to say, no physical moves. Magic only. Scorpan nodded and stepped back, and the remaining five of us brought our magic to bear on the pony. Gregory opened with a coating of water, that Zehan quickly froze into a solid block. Praefactus broke through it easily enough, though.

Then Justice brought his lasers to bear, striking the pony repeatedly with the dark beams. The golem-master growled before summoning up a large iron sphere and tossing it at the robot. The sphere dissipated once its job was done, and Justice looked a fair bit more dinged than he had been before.

"Self-repair functions will take some time to complete," the robot said. "Please give this unit time to get back to optimal functioning conditions."

I brought Lightning 2 to bear on the orange pony next, and he growled once again. Then Copper stepped in and said a simple word.

"Burn."

And everything in the room did, except us. Apparently, like I had unlocked Luminare, she had mastered Flare. A fact the room paid tribute to, as everything turned to fire in an instant. Praefactus fell back to the middle of the room and panted heavily after that attack.

"Fools!" he shouted. "None can stop the true glory and destiny that belongs to Vis!" With that, a back hoof of his connected with a strange device, and he glowed brightly before vanishing.

I sheathed my blade for the time being and motioned for the others to join me in gathering around this device. "I think this is going to be our way to the Underground Palace," I said. "I can hardly picture him running anywhere else."

With a round of agreement from the others, Copper pushed the same switch that the stallion had, and the six of us were transported from the Palace of Vis to somewhere far beneath the earth's surface.

A small room, with only a similar device within it and a door to lead us further into the structure, greeted us upon our teleportation having finished. I looked into the room and saw no small amount of imps running around, and sighed before drawing my sword once again.

"It would appear," I mused, "That we did not show up in the same place as Praefactus. And that we might have quite a walk through this place before we find the Malus Machine we are here to stop."

The only response from my friends was them readying their weapons once again as the six of us made to clear the room.

---

Once we'd gotten rid of every imp that stood between us and the other side of the room, we found that the last being in the room, besides us, was no imp. Rather, it was a small, yellow unicorn colt, who was looking at us all. Or rather, he was looking at me. To be even more specific, he was looking at the knife on my hip that Anima had given us.

"This is the Underground Palace," he said. "A dark magic is brewing here. The queen has taken the Malus Machine to the core of this place, and plans to drain Lavos to gain immortality. You must hurry if you are to stop her."

Then with a cracking noise, he vanished into thin air. The six of us looked at one another and nodded.

No expenses would be spared, now. We passed through the hallway beyond where the colt had been standing, to find a platform with a few buttons on it. Once we were all on the platform, I pushed one button, only for nothing to happen. I shrugged and pushed the opposite one, and with a jolt, the platform started to descend.

Of course, there were monsters that fell from above to accost us, but between the magical might of all the party, nothing lived for very long. I decided against bringing out Luminare for mere imps and two-headed snakes, and Copper also kept herself to her simple fire techniques.

Once we stopped being lowered, we found ourselves in a room with a teleporter in it, and each of us stepped into the beam. When we reappeared again, it was to a room that had more than a few raised pathways over what looked a lot like molten rock. I didn't even question how they were keeping it down here. The answer would probably be magic.

Still, there had to be a way onwards. A quick exploration by us all revealed another door, though it was inaccessible. Further exploration revealed branching pathways, though. I shrugged before deciding we might find another way on there, or at the very least, answers.

It turned out, down one pathway, there was a big, obvious, glowing button. A press of it relinquished nothing but a clicking noise as it changed from blue to green. Of course, we also incurred a trio of imps attacking us, but those were easily dealt with. We continued down the path, to find that the 'two' paths were just a loop...and that there was another button on the other side. Another trio of imps were dealt with once we pushed the second button, and we returned to the main room to find that two platforms had risen out of the lava to give us a way to the door we'd seen earlier.

"Well, onwards it is, then," I quipped. The six of us entered a small room, with hardly more than a small yellow pegasus colt in front of us. We approached, and he nodded to us.

"A shining stone that has watched over ponykind for as long as they have both existed," the colt said. "Granting them magic as they interacted with it. Now, two great things have been made from some of the last vestiges of Arcanite in this world. The Malus Machine and that knife." He pointed at it with a hoof before finishing. "We embody Anima's hopes and dreams, sealed within the knife. It is not quite ready...but it soon will be." With that, there was another crack of noise, and the colt vanished.

The door beyond him revealed a massive staircase, infested with creatures. I sighed and raised my hand, and a spark of green exploded into a dome that wiped the room clean. "We don't have time for this," I said. "We have madness to go and stop."

The Luminare faded and we hurried onwards. Another room with a similar switch puzzle as the first one we'd entered actually parted the lava for us once both were flipped and a third was pressed, revealing a door onwards beyond it.

Though, once we were through that door, another problem made itself evident. Namely, a familiar orange unicorn stallion stood between us and the next pathway onwards. "You've done well to come this far," he said. "But your journey ends here. I cannot permit you to interfere any further."

With that, he raised a hoof, ignited his horn, and faded from view...as two massive golems touched down in front of us.

"Great," I said. "Just what I always wanted. More test subjects for our powers."

---

A brutal battle later, the two golems were broken before us, and Praefactus reappeared. "Hmm, the twins as well?" he mused. "I might have to break out the last option..."

Then there was this...pulse of power that washed over me. Something everyone felt, apparently, as the others blinked and stumbled back. I did as well, and the unicorn in front of us turned to look at the door he'd been guarding. "What is this?" he questioned aloud.

Another pulse, then another, and another, came washing over us. It was getting easier to stand up to them, but there was still something off about the way they felt. The stallion felt it too and shook his head. "Is this...the true nature of Lavos' power?"

He paused for a moment as more waves of power washed over us, and I could finally stand up normally again. It was too late, though. I wouldn't be able to deal with this stallion, as he'd already made up his mind. "This won't do. It would be all for naught if I died before I became immortal." With that, he turned back to us and dramatically raised a hoof into the sky. "This is your lucky day!" he proclaimed before vanishing.

The six of us slowly stumbled into the door beyond, as the pulses settled into a rhythm. Beyond, a draconequus waited, staring ahead. I grunted as the next wave of power slammed into me, and he turned. "Ahead is the altar of the Malus Machine," he informed us. "Now is the time if you wish to turn back. I'm going to go tell my fellow spirits of chaos that it might be time we left this world, for now. I cannot imagine that this power would end in anything except ruin." With that, he snapped two claws together and disappeared.

It...it was time.

The six of us pushed onwards, through the pain and the dark power, to arrive at a room with the Malus Machine at the very back, dominating the view. In front of it stood the mad queen of Vis, and to the side was Lumina, in as much pain as we were. On the opposite side stood that robed pony again. And the queen was not happy to see us.

"You! You all dare to come here, at the height of my power! When I am just about to achieve immortality?"

With no further words, I pulled the grey dagger from my belt and held it in the palm of my hand.

"Now, Masa!" I heard.

"Together, Mune!"

The dagger practically flew from my hand across the room. It even positioned itself mid-flight so that when it arrived at the only opening in the machine, it did so point first, and sunk in to the hilt. And instantly it changed. From a small dagger, to a sword we knew all too well.

It was only on Gregory's back, after all.

The Masamune had been forged.

"R-Run," Lumina croaked out. "That sword alone...won't be enough...to stop it..."

"It is too late," the robed pony said. "He comes."

And then the world around us faded away, to be replaced with a chamber that I could only assume was near the core of the earth. The walls were glowing for some reason, illuminating what could only be our deaths.

The great parasite Lavos itself.

And before we could even move, massive spines detached themselves from its back and were shot at us, with force. And once they landed, they exploded around us, causing me more pain than I'd ever been in on this adventure before. I fought for every last bit, but I dragged myself up to look at the damn thing that would kill everything.

Soon, another being appeared in the chamber. The robed pony from before, who chuckled and spoke. "I've been waiting for this day," he said, before casting his robes aside and revealing himself to be Sombra.

"The day when I could finally pay you back for all the torment and pain you put me through, Lavos," he said. Above his horn, a massive ball of shadowy magic appeared, and was slammed into the beast's head.

Only for nothing to happen.

"What?" Sombra asked. "My strongest attack? Brushed off like it was nothing?"

"Fool!" the queen said as she appeared. "You really thought to take on the mighty Lavos with nothing but your powers? Experience the consequences, False Prophet!"

A wave of power burst from Lavos, and Sombra fell, grunting. Then, like me, he fought, only he managed to stand up again and break free of whatever Lavos had done to him, before roaring and firing a blast of even darker magic at the creature.

One that Lavos returned, causing Sombra to hit the cave wall and fall unconscious.

Lumina appeared next, and she turned to the queen sitting atop the giant monster. "Mother, please, stop this!" she begged.

"The great Lavos is a part of us all," the queen returned. "It is only through rejoining him that we can achieve immortality. Accept your fate, my daughter."

I groaned as I pulled myself up and dragged my sword into the proper position. The queen took notice and laughed. "And what do you think to do, with that battered and broken body of yours? Challenge the mighty Lavos?"

"It'd be better than just standing around with my hands in my pockets," I retorted. "I'm certainly not going to do nothing now that I'm here. I've seen the future he'll make, and I'll be damned if I'll just stand aside. Even if it costs me everything, I will not just let him do as he will."

"Lavos is far mightier than you," the queen pointed out. "You would die for nothing."

"I would die for my friends," I said, even as I heard gasps from behind me. "I would die for the world that could be. I would die so that others can live. That is true nobility, sacrificing what you have for the greater good of others."

Lumina looked over and shook her head. "Please don't. Give me time, and I can see you all to safety. I just need a moment."

"And I'll buy you that moment," I said, focusing my thoughts. A spark of green appeared between me and Lavos, and the Luminare tore into the beast, causing it to let out an unearthly scream as the power ripped through it.

"That's right, Lavos!" I said. "I'm not out yet! And I refuse to let you at anyone here! I can keep going for a long time yet! You can beat me down, but you will never break me! So long as there is breath in my body, I will stand between you and the world!"

Then the creature opened its maw...

And everything went white.

Comments

[Norwegian boy]

Holy shit.

[bot105]

6665861 ...that statement is rather accurate,i belive

[Trent Roogna]

6665861

I was going to give a small rant about how I felt when reading this chapter, but you summed it up perfectly.

[recentteen14]

Now for the fun part of the game. Leader down, time to see everyone else flounder about!
Unless, of course, they all made it out. I would be fine with that, but would be odd to see Crono on the Blackbird.

[KiaraGate]

And now, we wait and see. To bad I forgot my popcorn.

[Emperor]

Now the real question is, do we get the next little bit in real time, or will the party recount it all to Crono after he gets revived?

It's a pretty good thing Crono and co. stuck to basic spells on their way through the Ocean Palace. The last time I played, I forgot the sentries or whatever they're called that can only be killed by magic are colour-coded for what you should hit them with, and after casting Luminaire got counter-casted three times and wiped out for the only time that playthrough.

[SilentMech]

So, who else wanted Crono to fill the room with luminare, then bounce lightning 2 through them, followed by a lightning sweep to trigger the luminares? Staged triple of pure lightning. It would certainly be pretty. Of course, it would also blow the roof off of everything for a mile.

[Trent Roogna]

6668264
.... Even when targeting Lavos, there is such a thing as overkill.

[Frission]

6668734 There is no such thing as overkill, there is only MORE DAKKA!!!

[Wcheff]

To anyone that has played chrono trigger here we all know where this goes in the game.
But i don't recall him ever getting a clone for the replacement.

[SilentMech]

6668734 You need to quit lying. There is no kill like overkill.