Crono: To all my fans, I think I should warn you that I'm hardly even IN this chapter! .
Yaoiboy: But you're always in my heart. ^_^;;;
Crono and Magus: .;;;;;
Yaoiboy: Bah, no one appreciates me. ANYWAY, this is chapter 4. As always, R&R PLEASE!!!!
Disclaimer: Although I have promised a naked picture to everyone at Squaresoft if they would let me own Crono Trigger, I STILL do not own it...and there is currently a restraining order against me. *cough*
From the corner of his eye, Janus could see Flea watching him from the corner of their cell. It was difficult to make much out in the near complete darkness except for a slumped, flesh colored form with hair that fell over the face like swamp vines, and eyes eerily reflecting the distant torch light from out side the door. Janus would not look directly at Flea in moments like this. It hurt him to see it now...
"Nothing new..." the red-headed boy would say when he stumbled into the cell, in answer to a question Janus had long since stopped asking. And he would go and sit in the corner and wait, until...
"They won't touch you anymore. They're afraid of you. Even Ozzie won't touch you..."
"As it should be."
"...but they do twice as much to me now."
"...I'm sorry."
Janus couldn't pinpoint exactly when he'd begun to have feelings for the listless youth who was his only company, but he did. It seemed that, one day they were across the cell from one another, in silence, and the next, they were close friends, clinging to one another for support.
It was to be expected, Magus thought somewhat bitterly. We were all each other had, in those times...
Abruptly, the reverie was over, but the dark magician knew that the bad memories would return, as long as his current situation did not change.
He had nothing but his mind, it seemed. Nothing but that. He did not know if he was trapped in some magical realm, or if he were dead. He did not know if there was anything he could do about it, either. Worst of all though, he didn't know what had happened to Crono.
Two red heads, he thought, again with bitterness.
There were strange sounds all around him. The sound of liquids sloshing and rushing, the sound of heartbeats, one louder, one softer. It was too dark to see anything, though, if indeed there were anything to see. There was one other thing too. Something that tugged at the corner of his mind, more of a feeling than anything else. He couldn't place it, but it was familiar...
All of this is familiar, in a way, he thought, and the memories came again in full force...
"Don't let them destroy you. They will pay in due time for all the things they have done to us," Janus said, struggling to keep the anger out of his voice, and comfort the sobbing boy in his arms.
"What difference does it make...I wish they would just kill me and get it all over with. What's the use in living, anyway, huh Janus? Nothing but bad things happen to people who are alive..."
"That's nonsense! Listen to yourself, you're letting them beat you!"
Janus could not stand seeing his friend in such a state, but he wasn't very adept at making people feel better. No matter what he said, it didn't seem to matter to Flea anyway. The boy simply accepted this to be his fate, and thought it unrealistic to do otherwise. At least, he thought so before he found out how much Janus's powers had grown.
The normal guards had come in one day, squat, overweight cyclopses in thick, heavy armor. One of them entered the room, his steps slow and plodding, brandishing his heavy mace malevolently. His single eye looked from one boy to the other, and settled on Janus, who stared back with disdain.
"Be a while since we 'ad this one ta play wiff, eh?"
"Juss pick one. Not like I'm gunna get any of it. I gots guard duty."
"You won't be the only one 'not getting any'," Janus hissed, his hands slowly making the motions of a spell he had yet to attempt in his young age. "No one is touching me, or him."
The duo at the door did not laugh, as they knew that the blue haired boy had power enough to make good on his threat. Janus watched them and waited, his hands poised to make the final motions of the spell. He could already feel the energy in him gathering as the guards seemed at a loss as to what to do.
"The guards before you lost their hands," he reminded them, referring to an incident that had happened long before. "I'm much stronger now, though," he added with a threatening smirk.
"We'll see about that," the guard said and raised the mace as if to strike the boy; but by that time it was too late. The spell had already been cast.
The shadows beneath the two grew denser and deeper, and the attacking cyclops stopped his hand in mid swing to look down at his feet, which were sinking into the floor. Before another second passed, there was a crack likening to thunder, and a tremendous gravitational pull that stretched the entire room into the cavernous blackhole that had been created beneath them. Then it was over, and they were gone.
"W-w-what..was that?!?" Flea said, skittering to the corner of the cell in fear.
For a moment, Janus reeled from the effort of casting the spell, yet at the same time he was terribly excited. Even a spell as powerful as that had not completely sapped his energy. He could have cast it 2 or three more times, not to mention the other spells in his arsenal. The time had finally come...
Magus did not know how much time had passed, but things had changed somewhat. The softer heartbeat had become louder. The sound of sloshing liquid was more frequent, and more violent, and the feeling he had was more distinct. It felt like danger, some distant, small danger. It was strange, but that was all it was.
Not like I can investigate, he thought. I wonder if it has anything to do with...Crono...
It was a horrible thing to think at the time. Now he could not help but wonder if Crono were in danger, or if Crono was in the same situation as him, or if Crono were lost in some alternate world, searching for him...It was torture to think such things, because there was nothing he could do about them.
In fact, all that he could do was look back into his memories to pass the time...
They had walked the maze-like hallways of the castle with impunity. The fact that they were free was enough to deter the majority of monsters the stalked, or slunk through, the shadows. Janus took great satisfaction in knowing that he and Flea, two naked little children, could walk easily through a castle full of monsters without worry, based on his power alone.
As it should be, he thought, with a hint of the royal arrogance that was, after all, his birthright.
As the two boys neared the throne room, Janus stopped and turned to Flea, who looked very frightened, yet excited all at once.
"Listen to me...Once I've beaten Ozzie and his henchmen, I won't be leaving here. I am going to use them to find my way to Lavos, and nothing will come between me and that goal....but you don't have to stay here. You can get away from this..."
It was very hard for Janus to say such things. One reason was that he did not want to be alone here, surrounded by creatures that he hated with all his being. Two, he didn't really want Flea to go. He had gotten used to looking out for the boy, and he didn't want anything to happen to him.
"I...don't really have anyplace else to go. I would rather stay with you anyway..." Flea responded, and Janus had nodded and turned away when he'd felt his face begin to flush.
"Well then...there is one other thing. I can see a grim future ahead for me...the dark wind is with me for good, I think. I don't want to...create a bad reputation for myself, in case Scha....in case anyone ever finds a way to come looking for me. It's better that they think their Janus is dead..." He faltered for a moment, allowing himself memories of home for the first time in a while. He wondered if the red headed boy he'd seen in the palace had already met his fate...and then he shook the thoughts away. "I need a new name for myself..."
For a while the two sat in silence. A flurry of bats scattered about them at one point, no doubt off to warn Ozzie of their approach. Janus was not afraid though.
"It's rare," Flea began suddenly, "to find a human who can do any magic, especially as powerful as yours. In all the stories I've heard, they call wizards like you a magus, or magi. Why not just use that? It's common...so no one would ever think you were anyone special..."
"Good idea. I'll call myself Magus from now on then. Remember, call me that and nothing else. I don't want these demons to know who I used to be."
Flea nodded, and the two went on. There was a hush over the castle now. They ran into no more monsters en route to the throne room, but Magus had some idea of what to expect. Either they would all be there to defend their king, or they would all be there to simply watch and see who their new king would be...
Something is wrong...
The sounds had continued to escalate, but the feeling he had, had become very distinct. It was like an alarm in his head, screaming DANGER. It was the same way he'd felt whenever Lavos was near.
What is this...?
As Magus had guessed, the majority of the monsters had gathered in the throne room. There were torches lit along side the red carpet in the center of the room, that was stark and unfurnished except for a very large and opulent throne. And on that throne, Ozzie sat, grinning.
"So, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting," he announced, but there was no reaction from the crowd, and he looked about uneasily.
"If you've been waiting, you must know why I'm here. Shall I make the announcement, or shall you?"
Magus would have laughed at the lost expression on Ozzie's face if he had seen it under different circumstances. As things were, he simply continued on.
"I am your new king!"he cried loudly, and with such authority that it seemed what he said was true. "From now on you follow me! If anyone has a problem with this, then let them challenge me!"
The words echoed in the silence of the room. No one said a thing. Ozzie looked as though he would have laughed, but for the fact that no one else was laughing.
"T-the...the INSOLENCE! You ugly little human BRAT! What makes you think you are so strong??? I should have KILLED you in the beginning, but I won't make the same mistake twice. BE GONE!"
A single gesture of his arm sent a bolt of lightening sizzling towards the boy, who's hair lifted as if in a breeze as he uttered a simple counter spell and deflected the bolt off the palm of his hand amidst a shower of dark purple sparks.
"Come now, Ozzie. You can do much better than that, " he remarked, as he stood there before them all, fearing nothing.
"Grrrr...take THIS!"
As the flames sprung up around him and his companion, Magus chanted another simple counter spell that turned the flames black and cold, and then to wisp of smoke.
"Enough toying around. One last shot Ozzie," he said, sounding invincible, but guessing he had enough power for one more counter, and one casting of the most powerful spell he knew.
"Y-YOU LITTLE MONSTER! YOU THINK YOU'RE HOT STUFF HUH??? WELL NOBODY MAKES A FOOL OUT OF ME! GAAAH!"
Magus quickly traced a long rectangle in the air before him, and took a step back, making sure Flea was right behind him. His magic wall spell could effectively counter a number of spells as long as he kept it concentrated and only used it for short periods of time. He could see the thin outline hanging in the air before him and he held out his hand in the middle of it. When he felt his hairs stand on end from the static energy gathering above him, he raised his hand above his head and concentrated. The lightening spell crashed into the wall, making it visible for a brief moment.
"Hahahahaha! Take this and this and this and this and this!"
Concentrated balls blasted from Ozzie's hands like shots, but Magus was able to deflect them all, almost totally, though his hand was singed somewhat from the continuous impacts.
"*pant* You *gasp* little..."
"Enough! It's my turn now."
Magus had to act quickly. He had used up more power than he thought, and he could not cast the spell he'd wanted. There was another though. One that could fell the entire room. He began the fluid motions of the casting, and almost immediately there was a change in the atmosphere of the room. It began to darken as if beneath a very delicate veil, and slowly it became darker, and darker. The air itself was becoming thick and misty, and with the very last movement, that mist became deadly. All the monsters in the room could feel it. The mist sapped their strength slowly, but surely, and one by one they fell. Curative spells began to flash again and again like fireworks in the night, but no one cast them on Ozzie. No, the panting bulbous Ozzie slowly weakened, fell to the ground, and was not dead, but surely defeated...
If Lavos weren't dead, Magus would have had no doubt that what he felt was indeed the same fiend. It was overwhelming him, this feeling of danger that seemed to grow with every second that passed. It was immense, and it frightened him only because he had no way to know what it was, or to combat it, but he knew it was there.
What the hell IS it!? he thought, just before the sloshing stopped, and he heard something new. It was loud, like a muffled scream. The heartbeats picked up their rhythm, and sound of the liquid was one great rush. For a while, things went back to normal, but then there were more muffled cries. More of them, over and over and over.
The light was so sudden and blinding that Magus would have shut his eyes to it if he could.
"I see the head!"
Wha...is that...was that...Lucca?
"Come on, push your majesty! You're almost there!"
He didn't recognize that voice, but what they were saying...did they mean...?
"I AM PUSHING!!!"
Marle???? It's them!
"You're almost there! Oh it's a boy!"
You can't be serious! Magus thought, finally putting all the comments together. I Magus, AM NOT trapped inside the body of a baby. MARLE'S baby no less. This can't be happening!
"Just a little more! A little more...!"
"GET IT OUT OF ME!!!"
"One last push...aaaand you did it!"
"Awww...he looks just like-"
And that was the last Magus heard of them.
He was slammed back into his own body, and quickly opened his eyes because something was choking him to death. He reached up to find that it was his cloak, and looking up he saw it was snagged on a tree branch and he was dangling there, hanging to death. A quick tug and he was free. He gave himself the once over to make sure he was in one piece, and then he took a look around and froze.
There was Crono, sitting in a clearing up ahead, and as much as Magus had missed him, and wanted to go to him, he had to wait until he had stopped smiling so damned hard.
Yaoiboy: But you're always in my heart. ^_^;;;
Crono and Magus: .;;;;;
Yaoiboy: Bah, no one appreciates me. ANYWAY, this is chapter 4. As always, R&R PLEASE!!!!
Disclaimer: Although I have promised a naked picture to everyone at Squaresoft if they would let me own Crono Trigger, I STILL do not own it...and there is currently a restraining order against me. *cough*
From the corner of his eye, Janus could see Flea watching him from the corner of their cell. It was difficult to make much out in the near complete darkness except for a slumped, flesh colored form with hair that fell over the face like swamp vines, and eyes eerily reflecting the distant torch light from out side the door. Janus would not look directly at Flea in moments like this. It hurt him to see it now...
"Nothing new..." the red-headed boy would say when he stumbled into the cell, in answer to a question Janus had long since stopped asking. And he would go and sit in the corner and wait, until...
"They won't touch you anymore. They're afraid of you. Even Ozzie won't touch you..."
"As it should be."
"...but they do twice as much to me now."
"...I'm sorry."
Janus couldn't pinpoint exactly when he'd begun to have feelings for the listless youth who was his only company, but he did. It seemed that, one day they were across the cell from one another, in silence, and the next, they were close friends, clinging to one another for support.
It was to be expected, Magus thought somewhat bitterly. We were all each other had, in those times...
Abruptly, the reverie was over, but the dark magician knew that the bad memories would return, as long as his current situation did not change.
He had nothing but his mind, it seemed. Nothing but that. He did not know if he was trapped in some magical realm, or if he were dead. He did not know if there was anything he could do about it, either. Worst of all though, he didn't know what had happened to Crono.
Two red heads, he thought, again with bitterness.
There were strange sounds all around him. The sound of liquids sloshing and rushing, the sound of heartbeats, one louder, one softer. It was too dark to see anything, though, if indeed there were anything to see. There was one other thing too. Something that tugged at the corner of his mind, more of a feeling than anything else. He couldn't place it, but it was familiar...
All of this is familiar, in a way, he thought, and the memories came again in full force...
"Don't let them destroy you. They will pay in due time for all the things they have done to us," Janus said, struggling to keep the anger out of his voice, and comfort the sobbing boy in his arms.
"What difference does it make...I wish they would just kill me and get it all over with. What's the use in living, anyway, huh Janus? Nothing but bad things happen to people who are alive..."
"That's nonsense! Listen to yourself, you're letting them beat you!"
Janus could not stand seeing his friend in such a state, but he wasn't very adept at making people feel better. No matter what he said, it didn't seem to matter to Flea anyway. The boy simply accepted this to be his fate, and thought it unrealistic to do otherwise. At least, he thought so before he found out how much Janus's powers had grown.
The normal guards had come in one day, squat, overweight cyclopses in thick, heavy armor. One of them entered the room, his steps slow and plodding, brandishing his heavy mace malevolently. His single eye looked from one boy to the other, and settled on Janus, who stared back with disdain.
"Be a while since we 'ad this one ta play wiff, eh?"
"Juss pick one. Not like I'm gunna get any of it. I gots guard duty."
"You won't be the only one 'not getting any'," Janus hissed, his hands slowly making the motions of a spell he had yet to attempt in his young age. "No one is touching me, or him."
The duo at the door did not laugh, as they knew that the blue haired boy had power enough to make good on his threat. Janus watched them and waited, his hands poised to make the final motions of the spell. He could already feel the energy in him gathering as the guards seemed at a loss as to what to do.
"The guards before you lost their hands," he reminded them, referring to an incident that had happened long before. "I'm much stronger now, though," he added with a threatening smirk.
"We'll see about that," the guard said and raised the mace as if to strike the boy; but by that time it was too late. The spell had already been cast.
The shadows beneath the two grew denser and deeper, and the attacking cyclops stopped his hand in mid swing to look down at his feet, which were sinking into the floor. Before another second passed, there was a crack likening to thunder, and a tremendous gravitational pull that stretched the entire room into the cavernous blackhole that had been created beneath them. Then it was over, and they were gone.
"W-w-what..was that?!?" Flea said, skittering to the corner of the cell in fear.
For a moment, Janus reeled from the effort of casting the spell, yet at the same time he was terribly excited. Even a spell as powerful as that had not completely sapped his energy. He could have cast it 2 or three more times, not to mention the other spells in his arsenal. The time had finally come...
Magus did not know how much time had passed, but things had changed somewhat. The softer heartbeat had become louder. The sound of sloshing liquid was more frequent, and more violent, and the feeling he had was more distinct. It felt like danger, some distant, small danger. It was strange, but that was all it was.
Not like I can investigate, he thought. I wonder if it has anything to do with...Crono...
It was a horrible thing to think at the time. Now he could not help but wonder if Crono were in danger, or if Crono was in the same situation as him, or if Crono were lost in some alternate world, searching for him...It was torture to think such things, because there was nothing he could do about them.
In fact, all that he could do was look back into his memories to pass the time...
They had walked the maze-like hallways of the castle with impunity. The fact that they were free was enough to deter the majority of monsters the stalked, or slunk through, the shadows. Janus took great satisfaction in knowing that he and Flea, two naked little children, could walk easily through a castle full of monsters without worry, based on his power alone.
As it should be, he thought, with a hint of the royal arrogance that was, after all, his birthright.
As the two boys neared the throne room, Janus stopped and turned to Flea, who looked very frightened, yet excited all at once.
"Listen to me...Once I've beaten Ozzie and his henchmen, I won't be leaving here. I am going to use them to find my way to Lavos, and nothing will come between me and that goal....but you don't have to stay here. You can get away from this..."
It was very hard for Janus to say such things. One reason was that he did not want to be alone here, surrounded by creatures that he hated with all his being. Two, he didn't really want Flea to go. He had gotten used to looking out for the boy, and he didn't want anything to happen to him.
"I...don't really have anyplace else to go. I would rather stay with you anyway..." Flea responded, and Janus had nodded and turned away when he'd felt his face begin to flush.
"Well then...there is one other thing. I can see a grim future ahead for me...the dark wind is with me for good, I think. I don't want to...create a bad reputation for myself, in case Scha....in case anyone ever finds a way to come looking for me. It's better that they think their Janus is dead..." He faltered for a moment, allowing himself memories of home for the first time in a while. He wondered if the red headed boy he'd seen in the palace had already met his fate...and then he shook the thoughts away. "I need a new name for myself..."
For a while the two sat in silence. A flurry of bats scattered about them at one point, no doubt off to warn Ozzie of their approach. Janus was not afraid though.
"It's rare," Flea began suddenly, "to find a human who can do any magic, especially as powerful as yours. In all the stories I've heard, they call wizards like you a magus, or magi. Why not just use that? It's common...so no one would ever think you were anyone special..."
"Good idea. I'll call myself Magus from now on then. Remember, call me that and nothing else. I don't want these demons to know who I used to be."
Flea nodded, and the two went on. There was a hush over the castle now. They ran into no more monsters en route to the throne room, but Magus had some idea of what to expect. Either they would all be there to defend their king, or they would all be there to simply watch and see who their new king would be...
Something is wrong...
The sounds had continued to escalate, but the feeling he had, had become very distinct. It was like an alarm in his head, screaming DANGER. It was the same way he'd felt whenever Lavos was near.
What is this...?
As Magus had guessed, the majority of the monsters had gathered in the throne room. There were torches lit along side the red carpet in the center of the room, that was stark and unfurnished except for a very large and opulent throne. And on that throne, Ozzie sat, grinning.
"So, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting," he announced, but there was no reaction from the crowd, and he looked about uneasily.
"If you've been waiting, you must know why I'm here. Shall I make the announcement, or shall you?"
Magus would have laughed at the lost expression on Ozzie's face if he had seen it under different circumstances. As things were, he simply continued on.
"I am your new king!"he cried loudly, and with such authority that it seemed what he said was true. "From now on you follow me! If anyone has a problem with this, then let them challenge me!"
The words echoed in the silence of the room. No one said a thing. Ozzie looked as though he would have laughed, but for the fact that no one else was laughing.
"T-the...the INSOLENCE! You ugly little human BRAT! What makes you think you are so strong??? I should have KILLED you in the beginning, but I won't make the same mistake twice. BE GONE!"
A single gesture of his arm sent a bolt of lightening sizzling towards the boy, who's hair lifted as if in a breeze as he uttered a simple counter spell and deflected the bolt off the palm of his hand amidst a shower of dark purple sparks.
"Come now, Ozzie. You can do much better than that, " he remarked, as he stood there before them all, fearing nothing.
"Grrrr...take THIS!"
As the flames sprung up around him and his companion, Magus chanted another simple counter spell that turned the flames black and cold, and then to wisp of smoke.
"Enough toying around. One last shot Ozzie," he said, sounding invincible, but guessing he had enough power for one more counter, and one casting of the most powerful spell he knew.
"Y-YOU LITTLE MONSTER! YOU THINK YOU'RE HOT STUFF HUH??? WELL NOBODY MAKES A FOOL OUT OF ME! GAAAH!"
Magus quickly traced a long rectangle in the air before him, and took a step back, making sure Flea was right behind him. His magic wall spell could effectively counter a number of spells as long as he kept it concentrated and only used it for short periods of time. He could see the thin outline hanging in the air before him and he held out his hand in the middle of it. When he felt his hairs stand on end from the static energy gathering above him, he raised his hand above his head and concentrated. The lightening spell crashed into the wall, making it visible for a brief moment.
"Hahahahaha! Take this and this and this and this and this!"
Concentrated balls blasted from Ozzie's hands like shots, but Magus was able to deflect them all, almost totally, though his hand was singed somewhat from the continuous impacts.
"*pant* You *gasp* little..."
"Enough! It's my turn now."
Magus had to act quickly. He had used up more power than he thought, and he could not cast the spell he'd wanted. There was another though. One that could fell the entire room. He began the fluid motions of the casting, and almost immediately there was a change in the atmosphere of the room. It began to darken as if beneath a very delicate veil, and slowly it became darker, and darker. The air itself was becoming thick and misty, and with the very last movement, that mist became deadly. All the monsters in the room could feel it. The mist sapped their strength slowly, but surely, and one by one they fell. Curative spells began to flash again and again like fireworks in the night, but no one cast them on Ozzie. No, the panting bulbous Ozzie slowly weakened, fell to the ground, and was not dead, but surely defeated...
If Lavos weren't dead, Magus would have had no doubt that what he felt was indeed the same fiend. It was overwhelming him, this feeling of danger that seemed to grow with every second that passed. It was immense, and it frightened him only because he had no way to know what it was, or to combat it, but he knew it was there.
What the hell IS it!? he thought, just before the sloshing stopped, and he heard something new. It was loud, like a muffled scream. The heartbeats picked up their rhythm, and sound of the liquid was one great rush. For a while, things went back to normal, but then there were more muffled cries. More of them, over and over and over.
The light was so sudden and blinding that Magus would have shut his eyes to it if he could.
"I see the head!"
Wha...is that...was that...Lucca?
"Come on, push your majesty! You're almost there!"
He didn't recognize that voice, but what they were saying...did they mean...?
"I AM PUSHING!!!"
Marle???? It's them!
"You're almost there! Oh it's a boy!"
You can't be serious! Magus thought, finally putting all the comments together. I Magus, AM NOT trapped inside the body of a baby. MARLE'S baby no less. This can't be happening!
"Just a little more! A little more...!"
"GET IT OUT OF ME!!!"
"One last push...aaaand you did it!"
"Awww...he looks just like-"
And that was the last Magus heard of them.
He was slammed back into his own body, and quickly opened his eyes because something was choking him to death. He reached up to find that it was his cloak, and looking up he saw it was snagged on a tree branch and he was dangling there, hanging to death. A quick tug and he was free. He gave himself the once over to make sure he was in one piece, and then he took a look around and froze.
There was Crono, sitting in a clearing up ahead, and as much as Magus had missed him, and wanted to go to him, he had to wait until he had stopped smiling so damned hard.
