Hey everyone!  Sorry for the delay in chapter, but college keeps a girl busy ya know!  Oh, btw, just a bit of knowledge for all who don't know:  the name 'Janus' is actually a name from mythology, he was a man with two faces and two different personalities.  I think if you know that, it adds effect to these next coming chapters.  Enjoy!

Chapter 8:

Without Me

It was dark by the time Janus strolled up to the castle door.  He had spent the whole day traveling to arrive at the dank form of stone and wood.  "Welcome home Janus," He muttered to himself unenthusiastically.  The boy was not at all happy to be there again.  He had preferred the company of the bright fresh woods to this dank, dismal setting before him. 

With a sigh he transported to his room, and was quite shocked that nothing had been moved.  "I'm surprised Ozzie hasn't proclaimed me dead yet, it's been over eight days I've been gone."  He picked up a queen piece from his chess set, which still sat in the same place he'd left it.  Slowly he ran his fingers down its smooth finish.

"Schala, how could you betray me?"  The thought of Schala in that man's arms ran through his mind and he dropped the chess piece.

Then he remembered his conversation with Leila later on.  He'd almost strangled her, just because of her origin.  "What did you overhear?"  He had snapped at her once they had come face to face.

Leila took a step back; her innocent expression alone would have melted the coldest of hearts, but not his.  "I, I heard something about you being my uncle."

Janus laughed softly, "Me?  Your uncle?"

The brunette nodded indistinctly, afraid to speak to the already perturbed boy.

"I would rather be skinned and gutted than to be an illegitimate child's uncle.  Schala and I were only half-siblings, so that makes you a half-breed of a half-breed, making you nothing to me.  Which is all you'll ever be."

He had left her there, speechless, on the edge of tears as he grabbed a handful of fruit from her armload and whisked off toward the castle, not even looking back.

"Perhaps I was a bit harsh on her," He mused, beginning to prepare for bed, "But enough of that, I must keep my mind off the idle and on more pressing matters."  However, having been awake for forty-eight hours he was completely drained of energy to the point that even thinking was enough to hurt his head.  He sighed, "I will have plenty of time to think of all this later."  With that he laid his head against his pillow and fell instantly asleep.

Janus awoke to a dank, cold morning outside his window.  He lay there for hours, uninterested in moving.  The night's rest had rejuvenated his body, but as soon as he woke up, a flood of memories from the previous day retuned and his mind became weary again.  Finally, a creak in his door caused the boy to turn his head slowly.

"Slash, will you hush!"  A brunette female shushed her comrade as she entered, "We're not going to get caught unless you continue to make such a ruckus!"

A blue mystic followed her in, shutting the door behind him.  "If Ozzie finds out about this Flea he'll have our heads!"

The female forced a hand over his mouth, giving him a hard glare, "He will find out about it if you don't keep quiet!"

Janus, amused with the whole situation, slid up quietly to a sitting position, "Find out about what?"

Both mystics froze in fear.  Slowly Flea turned her head to see who had caught them and gasped, "Janus!"

"Janus?"  Slash then turned to stare at the dead soldier too, his face turning pale, "But, but you're supposed to be…"

"Dead?"  Janus couldn't hide the smile forming across his lips.  This was quite entertaining.  "I decided to come back from the afterlife to see what you were going to do to my possessions."

Flea swallowed hard, shuffling gradually behind her male companion.  "We weren't going to do anything sir.  Just checking to make sure everything is in order."

"I see," Janus mocked, "So I suppose you would not mind if I mentioned this little fiasco to Ozzie?"

Both mystics swallowed hard, their complexions becoming very pale.  "That won't be necessary Sir."  Flea finally mustered, "We will inform him of this ourselves."  With that she grabbed the door handle and began a hurried exit, "Good day Janus."

As soon as the two had left, Janus threw the sheets off and slid out of bed to dress.  "Inform him themselves?"  He clasped his armor to his body, "Do they think they could fool me with such a story?"  He glanced in the mirror, making sure he was presentable then headed out to the main hall for the morning's meal.  He would enjoy surprising everyone.

"J…Janus!"  Ozzie slurred through his drink as the silhouette revealed itself in the morning's rays.  Janus bowed reverently toward the now speechless hall of mystics, then took his usual seat at Ozzie's side.

"Good morning Commander," he greeted in the most charming voice he could muster, "You're looking well today."

Ozzie blinked for a few seconds, unsure of how to respond, "and…uh…likewise to you; of course."  He then looked down to wipe the wine he'd spilt on himself from the startle.  "Well?"  Ozzie burst out after a moment of complete and awkward stillness, "Get out of this business!  Find something else to preoccupy yourselves!"  The many staring faces turned away and revived their previous tasks before Janus's arrival, though eyes periodically glanced in the direction of the Commander and his lost henchman.

"Meddlers!"  Ozzie huffed, trying again to wipe the stain from his soiled clothing, "As if these nobles have anything better to do!  Why if I sent them off to war they'd…"  He paused, "Which reminds me," He then turned to his recovered apprentice, "Of all people Janus, I least of all expected you to cower in battle.  Not only that, but to return!  It's shame-faced, leaving your comrades in the middle of a war then running back here with your tail between your legs like that.  Completely shame-faced!"

"Why Ozzie," Janus gasped in sardonic distress, "I thought you'd know me better than that."  He took a sip of his wine and turned to his Commander, a malicious smirk across his lips, "I never cower from battle.  Ever."  He stared deep into Ozzie's eyes, causing the mystic to turn away timidly.  "You see," The youth continued as he began spooning food onto his plate, "I was merely injured by a hoard of human soldiers, no thanks to your troops."

"What!?  What do you mean by that?"  Ozzie retorted loudly.

"By simply not being able to defeat one single impudent human."  Janus explained, giving pause to capture Ozzie's full attention.  "When I left you during the battle, I was going over to investigate one particularly skilled human who was slaughtering every mystic that he crossed swords with.  When I began to contest with him myself, your mystic troops fled and left me to be enthralled by the human army while contending with their elite fighter.  I was badly injured and left for dead in the bushes as their army continued to march, no thanks to your men."

Ozzie shook his head in disgust, "Perhaps they were not as prepared as we thought for that battle."

"Not prepared?"  Janus scoffed, "Our spies overlooked an entire acre of enemy camp and the troops were completely unprepared for hand-to-hand combat.  Our entire army failed miserably!  It was down-right pathetic!"

A sour look of contempt swallowed Ozzie's demeanor, "Then what are you going to do about it if you're so smart."  He wagged a finger at Janus bitterly; "Remember that you were the one gone for over a week so you have no idea what shape the troops are in!  For all you know I could have trained them harder and built a more magnificent army than even the humans have!"

Janus chuckled softly to himself, shaking his head in amusement and sipping his wine.

"What is it now boy?"  Ozzie snorted, Janus's manner was beginning to make him boil, "I suppose you think you know a way to 'cure' our troops of this little problem better than me?"

Janus's amused expression smeared into a grin, "I feel I can do that and more."

After the morning meal had finished, Janus rushed back to his room to contemplate in solitude a while.  Ozzie, due to the boy's arrogant behavior, had decided to call an urgent assembly for the mystic army in order for Janus to enlighten all with his plans of improvement for the entire militia.

"My story held," He thought, "But now I have to finish what I've started."  The boy sat down at his chessboard.  "Not only must I do that, but I must remodel myself as well."  He picked up a chess piece and moved it onto an open square.  "I need to give myself an alias, a new identity, especially since Leila and her father know of my origins."  He moved an opposing chess piece.  "I can't allow either of them to open their mouths and expose all I've taken so long to conceal."

He moved another one of his own pieces across the board.  "If I shape myself into another character, no one will remember Janus, or his story."  He picked up another opposing piece, knocking over one of his own pieces with it, "But who should I turn into?  What shall Janus become?"  He dropped the opposing piece into his own player's block, the movement causing a thought to hit him, which seemed to shape the confusion into an image, an identity.

"Check mate!"