The Fire When it Comes – Chapter 8: The Rising Flame – In which old business is dealt with.
A Crono-Trigger/Cross fanfic
By
Deborah J. Brown

1008 A.D.
Belthazar sipped at his tea and looked at the two others. "So, what do you plan to do, Janus," he asked. He was feeling rather chastened at the moment, the realization of his mistakes regarding the boy a sharp pain inside him. So much wasted time. Never realizing that helping him deal with the power would have been a wiser course. So many things might have been different.

Memory of a poem from his own world and time came to him. "Of all the words that are said by men, the saddest are these; It might have been"

Ruby eyes looked at him sardonically and Belthazar realized he'd spoken aloud. Or had he? Lucca didn't seem to have noticed. ::The power's growing, old man. It won't be long now before I have no choices left.:: The voice in his head was Janus' but there was an edge of fear and resignation in it as it touched his mind. Somewhere behind that mind voice was a sound, the sound of a howling anguished wind. "First thing I do is break the lock on you," the mage said aloud, hand waving almost negligently in Belthazar's direction. "You'll probably need to communicate with the other two in order to keep an eye on what's going on."

The shock of restored linkages caused the Guru of Reason to sway sharply. ::Gaspar? Melchior?:: At their startled and glad responses he smiled. He'd grown used to their voices in his head. ::We'll talk later and I'll tell you everything. I need to discuss some things with Janus and Lucca right now.:: Their surprise at the fact that Janus was one of his companions was clear, but they sent agreement.

"Thank you, Janus. It's funny, I didn't realize how much I missed having that contact until now." Belthazar examined the tall, pale-haired man and saw a strange expression cross his face. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem" It must be nice to have friends that close even if they are your clones The thought wasn't his own. The boy was beginning to project without intending to. As the realization hit Belthazar saw Janus' eyes narrow as he realized what he'd done. The thin, hard, expression tightened, seemed to close in on itself. His eyes seemed to warn Belthazar against speaking, against offering anything that might be called pity.

"The question is, how to free Schala?" Lucca asked, seemingly unaware of the exchange between the two men. "You say she's become entangled in Lavos somehow?"

"Exactly," Janus agreed, seeming to welcome the distraction. Belthazar breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that neither he nor Janus wanted to pursue the question of the boy's rising power. "In fact, I suspect her doing so may be what made it possible for you to destroy it in the first place."

Long fingers moved in the air between the three. Red and blue tinted light flared after those fingers, forming an image of something that looked like a tree to Belthazar. Except "The time stream," he questioned, beginning to understand why the boy saw it the way he did. Rivers flowing, branching off. At Janus' nod, he examined the image more closely. "I see. No wonder my brothers and I have had so much trouble. We kept thinking of time as solid, that changes made would simply create a new branch"

"It can happen that way, but it isn't it can't be solid," Janus agreed. "I suspect our time stream's been altered significantly by all the manipulation. Forced into one large river it's now too powerful to control easily by normal means." The image drew tight into a single stream with only a few large branches moving off of it.

Lucca spoke up, "That's what attracted Lavos here, isn't it? Not Azala's spell."

"It's in Lavos' nature," and Janus', Belthazar added to himself, "to devour time. Azala may have thought he was the summoner, but he was, very likely, fooling himself."

"Lavos is apparently necessary to the scheme of things," Janus answered. "It has to exist to keep time flowing, to keep the river looping back into nothingness so it can begin again, but its presence in the time stream is dangerous. I don't know if it has any comprehension of what it's doing, but its feeding was speeding time up, rushing human evolution."

"So what do we do?" Lucca asked. "We can't keep it from getting into the time stream, can we? There's already a paradox from what we did"

Belthazar shook his head. "Not quite. What you did was due to seeing a part of another timestream wherein Lavos won. That stream might have died out from what you did, but the fact that it ever existed permits you to know that possibility and prevent it in the main stream without paradox."

"Exactly," Janus agreed. "FATE probably sent you there with that very intention in mind. Even now, with that stream dried and gone, small bits of it remain, marking the riverbed of reality."

Lucca shook her head. "I don't think I like FATE very much. That computer sounds like the Mother Computer we destroyed in that other time Oh it is isn't it? Essentially."

***

Janus smiled ruefully. "Probably. I don't understand computers very well. You'll have to discuss that part with our friend here," he gestured at Belthazar, who – he noted – had the grace to look embarrassed. "The point is that we have to have FATE in order to help you three prevent Lavos from destroying things in 1999. We have to have Schala bound to Lavos in order to weaken it enough for you to destroy it then and we have to find a way to keep all these things in order without creating a paradox that time won't allow."

He lowered his eyes to his fingers, at the gloves concealing the glow within his veins. "I just don't know if there's a way to save my sister There has to be Surely" He looked at Belthazar and hated the plaintive note in his voice. "I don't know what to do"

"I don't either," the old man admitted with a pained expression. "But I promise you, Janus. I'll search for a way. Somehow"

It surprised Janus. Surprised and gratified the mage to realize that Belthazar was committing himself to Schala's freedom. "Thank you," he said and was amused to see surprise in the old man's eyes. "I'm capable of manners, Belthazar, I just don't choose to use them most of the time."

Lucca gave him one of her patented reproving looks over her glasses. He'd gotten a lot of those over those days when he and her friends had fought for Crono's resurrection and Lavos' destruction and he shrugged at her, feeling old dynamics returning. Now if only he could find Glenn

:: Janus, called Magus. It is I, thy friend and boon companion. Come unto this time and place that we may meet again.::

Almost as if thinking of Glenn had brought his voice to him, Janus felt the knight's communication. It was stretched through time, touching his mind and shaking him to the core. Something was different, and very wrong, about the man's mental touch, but it was Glenn, that much he was sure. "I'm going to have to go soon," he said softly.

Lucca stared at him. "But"

"Glenn seems to have found a way to contact me. I'm not sure when he is, yet, but I should go find him." Janus' frown deepened to a worried expression. "I think he's in trouble."

"Then you must go." Lucca rose to her feet. "Do you need anything? Weapons? Healing spells? I've got a few things left from last time"

"No I just need to figure out when he is and go there." Janus glanced at Belthazar, expression significant. One last leap through time would shatter the last of the seal on his power. The old man returned his gaze as calmly as possible and said nothing. With a sigh, Janus continued, "Belthazar You and Lucca see what you can figure out about Schala please." He picked up his scythe and hurried out the back door. He was going to need quiet.

***

Belthazar looked at Lucca, uncertain what to say or do. Her expression was pained and unhappy. "Are you all right?" he asked after a moment.

"No. Not at all. He's trying to do things by himself again. He keeps doing that." She shook her head, rose to her feet, features becoming firm with resolve. "I can't let him."

It seemed to Belthazar that there really wasn't much Lucca could do to help. "Lucca, he's not"

She headed to the door. "I have to try," she said determinedly. "Before he leaves."

As the girl disappeared into the night Belthazar wondered if they should have told her the truth. Still, I don't know what he's going to face – wherever and whenever he finds Glenn – but perhaps he needs to know he has friends? Even if he doesn't accept Lucca's aid, it may help him.

***

She was following him. He could hear her footsteps in the grass as he moved to a quiet spot nearby. With a sigh, he stopped, turning to wait for her.

"Well?" He gazed at her, confused at her presence, at her expression, at the confusion in her mind, "I'm not one for goodbyes Lucca Long or short ones."

"No," she said softly, "Not goodbye. Take me with you."

He stared, "Lucca?"

"Take me with you. You're just going to get Glenn and come back, right?" She managed a smile. "That's the nice thing about time travel. You can be gone for years and no one will notice"

Janus shook his head, stepping towards her, looking down into her face, eyes masked by the moonlight reflecting off her glasses. "Something is wrong with him. I feel it. Whatever I'm going to go into will be dangerous. You're needed here to take care of Kid and the others."

She looked up at him, pleadingly, "Janus"

He felt a sudden sharp understanding, the roil of emotions rising from her mind answering questions he dared not voice. "Lucca, it won't work." He pulled off his gloves, forced his sleeves back. "Look." The glow within the veins of his wrists and the backs of his hands gave his skin a strange luminescence in the darkness. "I'm changing, my fire-hearted friend. I won't be human much longer. There's nothing I can give you that you want."

Lucca stared at the glow within Janus for a long silent moment and Janus felt a surge of anxiety, of expected rejection. Then, slowly, she spoke. "It doesn't change how I feel."

He knew she was telling the truth. That she liked him, that she was lonely, even with all the children, with her friends, that she knew he was lonely and that she ached for that loneliness as well. "No, and I'm sorry for that." He regarded her with a mix of pity and sorrow. "You have no idea how sorry. I would like – so much – to be able to stay. To just be a normal human." He laughed, that hoarse caw of a laugh that had he knew had once frightened her, had once annoyed her and heard her thought clearly 'it sounds like his whole world is ending.'. She was right. "There was a time, Lucca, when I hated being human. Now – when I'm losing it – there's nothing I want more to keep."

Some impulse made her move forward, to kiss him lightly on his cheek, then pull back. "You'll always have humanity in you as long as you want it," she said softly. "I believe it. Just as I believe you'll come back to me. Somehow. Maybe changed beyond my understanding, but you'll come back." Stepping back, she smiled wanly at the mage. "I'll take care of Kid for you, Janus. If nothing else, I know you'll be there for her. By her side whether or not she knows it – or you."

He smiled his death's-head grin. "A part of me will be with her forever," he whispered. "And I will come back. You you and the other two FATE was your friend before, but she will not be now." He stepped back. "I wish I had the power to be both. To leave my humanity with you even while that other part of me goes on, but it won't be possible." He sighed and closed his eyes, reaching out without moving. Then he was gone.

***

1001 A.D.

It took several minutes, but a light was forming before him. Then a human form focused into being. Magus. "There thou art. Finally."

"I didn't know when you were. I was just going to look for you," the pale-haired mage replied, a strange expression in his ruby eyes. The sane part of his Self noted that expression and recognized it as relief. Magus had been worried about him.

"I wast aided," Glenn replied, though deep inside he was trying to yell for his friend to run. "I'm glad it worked. We hath unfinished business"

The ruby eyes gazed at him and a flash of infinite sadness filled them. "Ah, my friend. I see"

"No run" Somehow he managed to push the words past the geas, even as his hand tightened on the Masamune's hilt and the blade flashed. "Run, Magus!"

A faint, sorrowful, smile crossed those thin, tired oh god so tired, what has he been doing? What has he seen features. Then the eyes closed even as the sword drove its way through Janus' chest, ripping flesh, tearing upwards and into his heart. Glenn felt the shock of the blow through his arm, felt his other hand come up the hold the other man still. It wasn't necessary. Gasps of pain were escaping the mage's lips, but he made no move to escape, no move to defend himself. NO!

Glenn's battle with himself failed. His sword hand moved, thrusting the Masamune deep, deeper still, feeling it grate against ribs before breaking free of Magus' back. In control of himself he'd never have used the weapon in such a manner, even intentionally killing someone. The blade was going to be ruined by this use. The thought was – he knew – an effort to avoid thinking about what his body was doing Why isn't he fighting? Why is he letting me do this?

Magus' body collapsed, curling around the pain silently. Glenn let him fall, Masamune sliding out of his grip, driven too deep to free without causing more damage. "Glenn" the mage's voice was a bare whisper, a faint breath of sound. "Finish it"

"No no." Glenn felt his mind beginning to clear. His body returning to his own control. "NO!" He grabbed the sword, tugged it out with terrible effort and flung it aside in a rage. "Hold on, Magus. I didn't mean it. I didn't want to"

Ruby eyes met his with that wry humor. "Know that Don't bother Can't fight death, Glenn. It's time" A final gasp of agonized pain, then a rattle in his throat.

"NO!!!!!" Glenn dropped to his knees and gathered every ounce of his healing power to him.

***

He'd known it would hurt. Known that more than half of that pain would be the knowledge of who was inflicting it. A friend turned enemy once more. Yet this was fate of a different sort. That sword had been created for his destruction and it was doing its job only too well. Had he been struck down before his power had reached its current level, before the last threads of the seal had be shattered, he would have merely died of the wound. Now the Masamune was hard put to complete its task. The energies it was expending were draining the spirits within it of their strength.

He felt his body fall. Felt the hands on his wounded flesh, struggling to repair the damage. It was too late. There was too much damage. If he were just human he would be dead now. He was dead. What was left was the essence of Lavos, reborn with human heart and feelings. He understood that now, understood that – in its own strange way – Lavos was not evil any more than the lion was evil for consuming the lamb. It was simply in the wrong place and the wrong time. It was up to him now to put it right. Put everything right and keep it there.

The light that had once been his blood poured out of him, rising into the air. It coalesced in on itself and settled on a nearby pillar as he took his new form. Silently, he opened his new eyes and 'saw'.

***

"Magus! Magus! Hang on!" Glenn poured every ounce of his life into the dying body before him, water energy flowing in and around him like a raging storm. "Thou canst not die. Thou canst not!" He was weakening. This would kill him, he knew, but he had to save his friend.

"GLENN! Stop that!"

The voice was strangely familiar. It broke through the raging grief and forced the young knight to raise his head. Something was glowing above him, a sphere of raging blues and reds that he recognized instantly as the Frozen Flame, though it burned brighter, with a newness to it that made him think of a freshly lit fire. Sapphire flames intermingled with the ruby, searing both eye and soul. "Thou! Help me Help me save him"

"Glenn"

"No. I told ye before I wanted nothing. Now I've changed my mind. Save him"

The Frozen Flame seemed to sigh from deep within itself. "Glenn, stop it. The body doesn't matter. It's dead. Let it go before you die as well. I" Voices echoed and intermingled, the voices of the ages all entangled among themselves.

Raging, Glenn let loose the power he was using on Magus' body and flung a wave of energy at the thing hanging above him. To his shock the Flame simply absorbed it. "Glenn, it's me," the voice was suddenly familiar, impatient and irritable, "I'm Janus"

Stunned, Glenn fell back on his butt and stared up at the burning fire. "Ye Thou'rt Magus?"

"Well, I went back to calling myself Janus," the Flame said ruefully, "But yes what's left of him."

Glenn shook his head. "I don't understand" He was beginning to, though. That glow in Magus Janus' blood. The power he'd been starting to show, all coming to this point in time. "Ye've become the god ye thought ye would." He wasn't sure how to react, how to feel about this. He sat back in shock and stared at the Flame, not quite able to believe this was happening. But it is. And it explains so much.

A soft sigh. "Something like that. I need your help, though, Glenn. Desperately. This form is limited. It has to be or I'll end up consuming everything. The Masamune's power has seen to that, though I fear at the cost of its Self." Slowly, the light seemed to stretch, as if it was getting used to its new form. Glenn realized it was. "There's a lot I'm going to have to tell you. Not here though She will sense us, sense me here. We have to go back to before she arrived. We must regroup. We must plan. Quickly Before she realizes we're here. Even in times where she isn't, she still has ways of seeing and there are things she must not know."

Glenn wanted to demand answers, to know whom this she was, but nodded instead. "Take me." He stepped forward, ignoring the Masamune, leaving the weapon – its power bereft and the spirits within it drained – for whomever might find it.

***

As the two disappeared the body lying on the floor stirred. Eyes – once red with the fire of Lavos, now bluer than the skies – opened and stared emptily at the ceiling.

To Be Continued:

Author's Notes:

Re Guile Again: Does that explain matters regarding Guile now? (rubs back of head) I'm of two minds. Should I pursue that angle or leave it for a side story? On one hand, it might be interesting finding out what happens to him, but on the other, I don't want the main story to lose focus and I can't think of a way for him to play an important part yet.

Re Darth: I suspect issues here, or at least a need to troll. On the other hand, I do listen to negative criticism when it gives me specific examples of a problem. Honor, like so many other things, after all, is in the eye of the beholder.

Re Story Plans: I think I'm about halfway through. At least I know where I'm going now, which was more than I knew when I first started this thing.