Mother flippin' thread revival!
So there's a thread elsewhere where we were talking about the fate of Crono, Marle, and Lucca and what we expect actually happened to the characters. We have the most concrete answer for Lucca, and it certainly ain't a pretty end.
Spoilers for those who haven't played Chrono Cross:
So we see in the PSX anime ending of Chrono Trigger that Guardia falls in 1005AD; the Masamune is also used to kill and disappears. Even worse yet, I had forgot how violent this video is -- we clearly see multiple CIVILIANS lying dead amongst the dirt, not just soldiers. Yikes! Regardless, we later see a slightly older Lucca and a prototype robot (based off of Robo) walking through a forest, where they come upon a blonde-haired baby wearing a pendant... which we all know is actually the daughter-clone of Schala, Kid (for the record, I don't think Kid is an actual genetic clone of Schala -- the game refers to her as daughter-clone at some point, so I'm thinking she's moreso akin to a genetic daughter, but who the other genetic donor(s) would be is up in the air; this clearly reveals why she is Fire elemental and has very little physical similarities to Schala, but this is a topic for another thread).
Moving on, in Chrono Cross we learn that Lucca was recruited by Balthasar into Project Kid (in some capacity). Lucca may have visited Chronopolis and may have known the full extend of Project Kid and it's goal to save Schala from the Dream Devourer and the Darkness Beyond Time. We have confirmation that she helped design/implement the Prometheus Circuit (RIP) that was designed to safeguard against the FATE AI.
But here's something we're all forgetting...
All of the events in Chrono Cross are by design. They are quite literally all mechanisms carefully designed to occur so that Serge is created, become strong enough to obtain the Chrono Cross element, and then go free Schala. That means every battle he undergoes is intentionally designed with the end goal of making him stronger.
So, I got to thinking... Assuming the above is correct... Serge's birth was by design. His attack by the panther demon and becoming the Arbiter of the Frozen Flame was, again, by design. Which means that the fact the FATE AI gets locked out, goes crazy, and transforms poor Wazuki into a living bioorganic interface in the form of Lynx is, once again, by design.
Remember, all of this is part of Balthasar's grand plan.
So... by this very logic, the fact that FATE/Lynx confronts Lucca in 1015AD and burns her orphanage to the ground would HAVE to have been known as part of Project Kid. Why? Because the only home Kid knew until 1015AD was this orphanage, Lucca the closest thing to a mother she had. Kid, who is part of Project Kid's very design, NEEDED this event as a catalyst. This singular event, and the apparent demise of Lucca, is what would've been required to push Kid into the Radical Dreamers lifestyle and eventually cross paths with Serge.
So... this leads us to:
Q: Did Lucca know of her own role in Project Kid?
A: Unknown, although I could totally see megalomaniac Balthasar actively witholding this from Lucca and just allowing her to be another casualty in the scope of Project Kid. After all, what is one more death if it means quite literally saving all of space-time?
Q: But if she did know, and it's possible she did knowing her involvement in Chronopolis' safeguards, did she act as a willing sacrifice? Or did she concoct these events, knowing how brutal they'd be to 11-year old Kid, but necessary, and simply disappear until the appropriate time?
A: Once again, unknown. It's very possible Lucca is quite literally dead. This is most likely the case given how the story was written with complete disregard to our nostalgia regarding the Trigger crew, but then again, there's always this backdoor...
And if Lucca was willing to sidestep history (or at least for a time) in the name of the greater good... where does that lead Crono or Marle?
Food for thought. Or discussion.