Doreen liked dreams more than her brothers Masa
and Mune. For a while I didn't blame her and now I think how foolish
she was. Doreen escaped form the painful world
she was into her Dream World in Enasha. During the last months of
Zeal I wanted to go with her into that world.
Now I knew it was the best for me to stay in the world of pain and become
strong form it. The weak only submit to dreams
that cannot come true.
I glared at the boy, then the girl, then the frog.
I felt the cold wind that shivered up my spine and then looked solemnly
at
the boy.
He would die.
Shortly.
"The black wind howls..." I muttered to myself
more than to the people and walked down the stairs. "One of you shall
shortly die."
It was a fair warning. I walked always form them
and cries of protest towards Castle Zeal. In the castle, there was a rush
about Zeal going to the Ocean Palace. I was extremely
worried about Schala. I ran towards her room, scared Zeal took
her, Schala was gone. "Schala?" I wailed out.
I heard her voice answer form my room.
I took off running towards my room and saw Schala
waiting for me. Her face sad and white, her green eyes shinning with
hope as always. "There you are Janus."
"Schala, I am scared. I feel the black wind."
"You feel it too?"
I nodded. Her face frowned and she reached in
her pocket and pulled out an amulet, a black stone encrusted in sliver.
It
was very beautiful to me. I could sense strong
magic coming form it.
Like an idiot I asked, "What is this?"
My sister smiled and put the amulet around my
neck. "Good luck charm. It will protect you. Janus," She paused for a
moment. "I wish I could stay here and protect
you. But mother has other plans..." I noticed her eyes where batting away
tears as I heard the whimper in her voice. She
knew our mother better than I. Perhaps I am jealous of her. She knew Zeal
as a mother, the most important person in your
life. The warm and loving Mother Schala and the Zeal I knew were not
the same. The Zeal I knew was a cold-hearted
bitch, who strove for power, forgetting her daughter and son and perhaps
life It's self. So I answered my sister. "She
isn't our mother, she looks like our mother but she changed."
"Janus-"
"Miss Schala! Miss Schala!"
A servant broke up our moment. As she left I looked
at the amulet and fell asleep until Schala woke me up. I had a
dream. It was a young woman walking in the grass.
I never had seen this woman before and yet I knew her. A snake came
up to her and looked at her with innocent black
eyes and asked for her to carry it. The woman agreed and she picked the
snake up knowing its nature. After a while the
woman felt comfortable with the snake in her purse, then it bit her. It
was
venomous and the young woman died. An old
story. The woman was The Kingdom of Zeal, the snake was Lavos'
power. I had just seen the fall of Zeal. My first
step into my world of darkness...
Then Schala awakened me and told about the strangers
who had come to Zeal Kingdom. She also told about Dalton's
failed attempt to capture them and so Queen Zeal
had captured these people and placed them in the dungeon of Zeal
Castle. Gentle Schala wanted to save the strangers.
At this time they had no cause so why bother in saving them? Yet
Schala wanted to help them so I agreed to help
my sister. I was worried Zeal would find out and hurt Schala.
Zeal seemed to forget about her little son, Janus.
Schala had brought the strangers (who happened
to be the boy with wild hair, the blond girl, and the frog) form the
magical barrier to the floor when the Prophet
came in. The man was cold as always, yet I notice how much softened to
Schala and I when we begged him form killing
the strangers. I swore I heard something break down within him. He made
the strangers to take him where they came form.
By then I had lost interest and went to my room. Only hours later,
Schala and I decided to visit the Earth Bounders
again. We had heard that the strangers had come. We got this news from
a new batch of slaves. Again, we headed towards
the hellhole called Terra Cave. We found Melchior and the strangers
who had saved the old man.
I was disgusted how the cave had become. Terra
Cave was bad but now it had be come cold, dark and damp. Schala
talked to Melchior, the boy with wild hair was
called Crono and the girl with the blond hair in a ponytail was named
Marle and a young woman with huge glasses was
known as Lucca that hid bright blue eyes and a helmet that hid soft
wisps of purple hair.. I wondered where the frog
was.
For a while I listened when the flop came, Dalton.
I attacked him, I wasn't much and he easily knocked me back with one
signal swipe of his hand. The Elder of the Earth
Bounders and Melchior tended my wounds as the strangers rested up
form the Mountain of Woe rescue. I was sore but
anger was stronger and I slipped out during the night. At the castle I
though, "Why would Zeal keep her lovely castle
and Lavos unguarded?"
I, until then, never used anyone in my life. That
era of my life was over, from that moment on I would use people for my
goals easier for myself. I knew the strangers
would follow Dalton so I waited for them and followed then into the Ocean
place. It was filled with odd creatures and such.
A weak child that knew no magic had no chance of fighting the Scouts or
the mages. I though I was in the clear until
just before the reached Mammon Machine room when I felt a hand on my
shoulder. I quickly spun around to see Melchior
and two other men, Gasper and Belthasar, behind him. "What are you
doing here?" I snapped.
"I'd ask you the same thing, boy."
"To save Schala you twit! God! *Your* a Guru?
Damn, are you stupid!"
"You are too young to go here!"
"If I cared about that wouldn't be here, would
I? Look, save the nagging after we get Schala."
A huge flash of light projected form the Mammon
room and the Gurus rushed off leaving me. Again I was almost
forgotten, I rushed forward, following the Gurus
into the Mammon room and gasped. Zeal was standing and laughing
telling how cowardly the Gurus were and began
talking about the glory of Lavos. I didn't have time to catch on as I
looked at my poor beautiful sister whose face
was twisted in pain and tears ran down my sister's checks. Her green eyes
looked at Zeal, begging her mother to stop.
Her mother was dead.
Zeal was in her place.
I watched my sister and cried, "Schala!"
She looked up and called back to me as I felt
a great force under me. I glanced down and instead of seeing a smooth floor
I saw a portal, black as night, gaping under
me. I began to fall and I screamed out for Schala one more time as I fell.
And I
felt the Black Wind coming from the monster and
taking me into the darkness.
Janus died then.
Magus was born when I woke up.
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