CHAPTER TWO: AMBIGUOUS PROPHECIES
Schala opened her eyes. She felt they had been closed for an eternity, particularly because what she observed now she had never perceived from such a breathtaking vantage. She stood on a lone cape protruding fair into the sea, watching the land of her own indigenous era from the Earthbound territory. She gazed out upon the shimmering sea. The reflection of the sun that never shone comfortably high in the floating islands of Zeal was brilliant, illuminating the sky and waves. However, something was not quite right... She peered carefully into the unfathomable depths once more, carefully examining until-Schala gasped, although not even she could hear herself, but she didn't pay attention to what she could hear as she instead watched the ominous gleam intensify until the seas parted, unleashing an eruption of red light for a few moments until it dwindled to a single beam. The bloody ray appeared small off in the distance, but its terrible disturbance in the sea hinted to its true colossal size. It fired upward into the sky, blasting its way through the clouds. As the white parted, she could faintly see land aloft...
It was targeting Zeal.
She anticipated what would happen next with trepidation, and surely enough, the first boulder soon fell from the land above, plummeting blindly into the ocean. Soon, the shards of the magical Kingdom of Zeal began to increase in size as they fell to the mysterious onslaught from the waters.
This was not a new revelation, Schala soon realized. The Janus from the future had already told her of Zeal's end. In fact, that is why he insisted that she fled, why he would not allow her to remain in this time period. And now, had she just returned to witness it despite Janus's efforts, to observe with horror as the world crumbled-with her in its midst?
Her thoughts unexpectedly froze as she felt something grasp her shoulder tightly. Firstly, it felt impeccably bitter, and she froze partially because of its cool touch. After that brief moment, it spread warmth through her body. It was a familiar sensation that she'd had in vicinity not long ago, yet it took time for her to recognize the now-distant source. She slowly rotated, feeling the unknown pressing harsher into her skin. She could now feel that it was a hand, and as she turned, her suspicions were confirmed. It was the prophet, Janus wearing the gothic violet cloak to remain unidentified in this time, but she could not see his face.
Janus spoke, his voice deep and discordant to the howling wind... the black wind? His words were slow and faint, yet they were unwavering and formidable in strength. "Schala... I'm sorry that you have become lost to me."
Schala sighed in relief, pitying Janus for his sorry. She attempted to comfort him. "Janus, it's not your fault. You don't have to-"
Janus continued to speak, but the next words she heard brought a new fear into her thoughts. "Time can no longer help you. At least, not I, in my domain." Schala remained speechless. She couldn't willfully move. "Oh, but there is one waiting for you. She will guide you. She will guide you to Him, Schala. Go to Him. He is direly requiring your pendant. Without it, the universe will fail. If you do not present the Pendant to Him, it will collapse. Time will be threatened, but if you give Him the Pendant, He will be able to lay low the beastly sorrow."
The cloaked one stopped for a moment, curiously examining the disappointed- and somewhat frightened-countenance that was slowly forming on Schala. A shadowed hand outstretched towards her face and stroked her cheek gingerly, inquiring, "What is wrong, maiden Schala? Your mood is sub-orthodox." Schala reached out to grabbed an arm beneath the cloak, opening her mouth to speak, but as she contacted the ambiguous harbinger, it spoke her mind before she could. "Ah, I see. Why has fate befallen you for this? Fate is a curious spectacle without doubt. However, when opportunities arise, it reacts. I guess you could write it off as being in the right space-stream at the right time." Quite peculiarly for such a solemn speaker, the form quavered slightly as a small chuckle escape the shadows of the cloak's hood.
The laughter stopped abruptly as the thing that Schala could only now describe as a true person pointed on long arm over her shoulder. Schala turned, facing the ruins of Zeal as the last rubble disrupted the sea. Something was growing and rushing rapidly on the horizon... A tidal wave- headed for the shore!
The speaker's voice made a sudden drop in pitch, causing it to bring a more terrifying feeling than ever after it had gone through a crescendo up until it giggled as a young girl. Schala felt the wind from before pick up its pace, chilling her further as the speaker sternly commanded, "Go now, Schala, and meet your-"
"Schala!"
Schala didn't even see the harbinger turn before it was facing down the cliff at the intruder. Schala herself managed a glance before her legs crippled and she fell, hunched over, to her knees. She frantically massaged her temples, pounding as they were, trying to get rid of this strange new ripple of pain in her mind. All she could do, however, was to listen as Magus confronted the supposed prophet.
Magus observed in horror as a terrible aura seemingly connected to the mysterious cloaked forerunner loomed over his sister, forcing her to bow with its might. He began dashing up the cape, yelling angrily, "No! What are you doing to her? Get away from my sister!"
This seemed to amuse the cloaked person, as the next thing Schala heard was an impossibly low cackle drowning out her brother's rising battle cry. Magus charged furiously, not heeding as a hand went forth, resolute in halting him. The eerie laughter, quite a change from the girlish giggles a few moments ago, ceased abruptly. At the same time, the hand waved apathetically to the side, and an invisible force cast a cursing Magus over the side of the cape.
Schala found a sudden relief in her mind as the harbinger spoke to her again, urging the point. "Schala, you must bring Him the Pendant without fail." The voice did not switch, but its tone revolved instantly as it continued, "Is there something wrong?"
Schala did not reply. Even though the cause was gone, her skull was still inflamed. All she could do now was to weep in agony.
In fact, she would have hardly noticed as something impacted the back of the cloaked one, sending it sprawling over Schala's hunched form and hurtling it into the sea; she wouldn't have been aware, that is, if Magus hadn't called quite cockily, "I'm not gone yet, you stupid b-" His next words were muffled by an whoosh of magic and a small explosion. Magus slowly hauled himself over the cliff, still containing the sphere of energy for another Dark Bomb spell within his palm. He scurried quickly to Schala's side, kneeling beside her. Schala let herself go, no longer supporting her own weight and instead propping herself in Magus's awaiting arm-span. She had an utter lack of strength now, as if the threads of life remaining in her were extended as daintily as possible. Swooning in her little brother's stalwart grasp, she opened her eyes. "Janus," she whispered, "I'm glad you're here."
"It's all right," he whispered, putting a finger to her lips. "Preserve to persevere, sister. Hush now; there is no need to speak." He sighed, looking out to sea. The torrent was still imminent, but it seemed as though it had momentarily stopped. Time was standing still for them as they lay together, spending a tranquil moment for what seemed the first time in a perpetual period.
It was a dozen minutes before Schala broke the silence. Shifting her head to meet Magus's eyes, she asked hopefully, "Janus, this is real, isn't it? I have returned here from the End of Time, haven't I?"
Janus sighed, and already Schala was in disdain. Janus offered the answer she did not wish for. "No, I'm afraid not, Schala. We are only able to meet now, across barriers of time and space, through the black wind..."
"The black wind? I thought that was just your naïve childhood call for prophecy."
"It was, but the reason I identified my prophetic feelings remains the same. Visions come to me through a chilling wind. It cuts through my bone, but I'm the only one who ever feels it."
"That's not true," Schala thought, perplexed for a moment. "I felt it just before your arrival."
"That could be; once I entered subconsciousness, I traveled the plane of thoughts by the black wind to find you here." Schala did not acknowledge this or show that she understood, regardless of the fact that she did. After a much briefer silence, Magus spoke again. "Sister. some day, I will find you, wherever you may be." He paused, but Schala did not reply to this either. "With the black wind to guide me, and your pendant longing to return to its mistress, I-"
"My pendant?" Schala interrupted. She recalled the mysterious figure who had spoken to her not long ago, even though it seemed far in the past now. "What are you doing with my pendant?"
Magus stroked her long, periwinkle hair casually, acting as though she were an absent-minded juvenile. "Sister, don't you remember? I used it to access the energies of Lavos through the Mammon Machine. I used them to open a Gate for you to escape through. I told you I would return it some day."
Schala became engrossed in her own contemplations at this point. She first thought of the mysterious harbinger of a prophet, who spoke of a "Him." Who was He, and how would she know? An even bigger problem was her lack of the Pendant to give to Him, if she could identify Him. And then there was Janus; she desperately desired to be in his company and his embrace again, but how would that ever be possible? If she was truly lost in the plane of thought somewhere in another dimension, how could they ever hope to reunite, particularly if he did not know about the Dimension Gate and the Riftwaves before it was too late?
Then she realized: With the Time Gates, it would never be too late. She didn't waste time. She hastily spoke. "Janus, listen to me. If you want to find me, you must go to the End of Time immediately. Leave this plane and depart at once. Talk to Gaspar, there. You remember Gaspar, do you not?" She paused, and scolded herself, thinking even swifter, "That's not important, Schala!" She gazed upward into Janus's waiting eyes again. "He'll tell you about the Dimension Gate and the Riftwaves. You have to be precise. If you do not get caught in the correct Riftwave, I should not hope to wonder where else you might be whisked off. Now, go, fast!" She pushed him away, as if to give him a start.
Magus immediately rose, but suddenly found his legs inoperative. The instant he heard the depth of the almost infrasonic voice behind him, he had a reason in his mind. He moved slowly, as did Schala, to find the cloak swirling about the figure as it hovered high above the sea. Shadowed energy crackled about the cloaked one. Magus had no other thought than a half- frightened statement of the obvious: "It's pissed."
"Schala of Zeal, you are in no place to tell another to make haste!" the alleged prophet exclaimed as its aura of power illuminated the black fabric more brightly the more intense the sound emanating from it became. "I have given you revelation, and it is now your fate! GO! You, Magus of Zeal, you have challenged Time itself. I am no mere sorcerer, one for cheap tricks and blasphemous tales! Do not meddle in my affairs. I can destroy you. Incurring my wrath could easily be bringing you to cease to exist and be erased from time itself! Leave this plane! You have no business here any longer. Schala has a new path set before her. Besides, chasing after a paradox is futile! You have done enough, and you are lucky that you are integral to that which will unfold at the turn of a century, or you and your sorcery would be long beyond my patience!"
The longer that which identified itself now as Time spoke, the fiercer the energy became. Bolts projected from Time, crushing rock and soil to exchange them for rubble, narrowly evaded contact with Schala and Magus. All the while, Magus had been undergoing his most powerful incantation, and as he now targeted Time with his potent Dark Matter spell, he was suspended in mid-air without any motion from the cloaked entity. In an unpredictable motion of volatility, Time raced at Magus. The collision caused an eruption of dark energy to flow in all directions, one bolt striking Schala and crippling her once again to her knees. There was an ebony haze about Time and Magus now, and Schala heard a gushing of water behind her. Glancing only for a moment behind her, Schala fell fully against the surface stone cape.
Schala whispered a taciturn prayer to herself foregoing the surge of salt water that enveloped her, becoming the last thing she observed before her senses failed her and she left the subconscious for unconsciousness.
Schala opened her eyes. She felt they had been closed for an eternity, particularly because what she observed now she had never perceived from such a breathtaking vantage. She stood on a lone cape protruding fair into the sea, watching the land of her own indigenous era from the Earthbound territory. She gazed out upon the shimmering sea. The reflection of the sun that never shone comfortably high in the floating islands of Zeal was brilliant, illuminating the sky and waves. However, something was not quite right... She peered carefully into the unfathomable depths once more, carefully examining until-Schala gasped, although not even she could hear herself, but she didn't pay attention to what she could hear as she instead watched the ominous gleam intensify until the seas parted, unleashing an eruption of red light for a few moments until it dwindled to a single beam. The bloody ray appeared small off in the distance, but its terrible disturbance in the sea hinted to its true colossal size. It fired upward into the sky, blasting its way through the clouds. As the white parted, she could faintly see land aloft...
It was targeting Zeal.
She anticipated what would happen next with trepidation, and surely enough, the first boulder soon fell from the land above, plummeting blindly into the ocean. Soon, the shards of the magical Kingdom of Zeal began to increase in size as they fell to the mysterious onslaught from the waters.
This was not a new revelation, Schala soon realized. The Janus from the future had already told her of Zeal's end. In fact, that is why he insisted that she fled, why he would not allow her to remain in this time period. And now, had she just returned to witness it despite Janus's efforts, to observe with horror as the world crumbled-with her in its midst?
Her thoughts unexpectedly froze as she felt something grasp her shoulder tightly. Firstly, it felt impeccably bitter, and she froze partially because of its cool touch. After that brief moment, it spread warmth through her body. It was a familiar sensation that she'd had in vicinity not long ago, yet it took time for her to recognize the now-distant source. She slowly rotated, feeling the unknown pressing harsher into her skin. She could now feel that it was a hand, and as she turned, her suspicions were confirmed. It was the prophet, Janus wearing the gothic violet cloak to remain unidentified in this time, but she could not see his face.
Janus spoke, his voice deep and discordant to the howling wind... the black wind? His words were slow and faint, yet they were unwavering and formidable in strength. "Schala... I'm sorry that you have become lost to me."
Schala sighed in relief, pitying Janus for his sorry. She attempted to comfort him. "Janus, it's not your fault. You don't have to-"
Janus continued to speak, but the next words she heard brought a new fear into her thoughts. "Time can no longer help you. At least, not I, in my domain." Schala remained speechless. She couldn't willfully move. "Oh, but there is one waiting for you. She will guide you. She will guide you to Him, Schala. Go to Him. He is direly requiring your pendant. Without it, the universe will fail. If you do not present the Pendant to Him, it will collapse. Time will be threatened, but if you give Him the Pendant, He will be able to lay low the beastly sorrow."
The cloaked one stopped for a moment, curiously examining the disappointed- and somewhat frightened-countenance that was slowly forming on Schala. A shadowed hand outstretched towards her face and stroked her cheek gingerly, inquiring, "What is wrong, maiden Schala? Your mood is sub-orthodox." Schala reached out to grabbed an arm beneath the cloak, opening her mouth to speak, but as she contacted the ambiguous harbinger, it spoke her mind before she could. "Ah, I see. Why has fate befallen you for this? Fate is a curious spectacle without doubt. However, when opportunities arise, it reacts. I guess you could write it off as being in the right space-stream at the right time." Quite peculiarly for such a solemn speaker, the form quavered slightly as a small chuckle escape the shadows of the cloak's hood.
The laughter stopped abruptly as the thing that Schala could only now describe as a true person pointed on long arm over her shoulder. Schala turned, facing the ruins of Zeal as the last rubble disrupted the sea. Something was growing and rushing rapidly on the horizon... A tidal wave- headed for the shore!
The speaker's voice made a sudden drop in pitch, causing it to bring a more terrifying feeling than ever after it had gone through a crescendo up until it giggled as a young girl. Schala felt the wind from before pick up its pace, chilling her further as the speaker sternly commanded, "Go now, Schala, and meet your-"
"Schala!"
Schala didn't even see the harbinger turn before it was facing down the cliff at the intruder. Schala herself managed a glance before her legs crippled and she fell, hunched over, to her knees. She frantically massaged her temples, pounding as they were, trying to get rid of this strange new ripple of pain in her mind. All she could do, however, was to listen as Magus confronted the supposed prophet.
Magus observed in horror as a terrible aura seemingly connected to the mysterious cloaked forerunner loomed over his sister, forcing her to bow with its might. He began dashing up the cape, yelling angrily, "No! What are you doing to her? Get away from my sister!"
This seemed to amuse the cloaked person, as the next thing Schala heard was an impossibly low cackle drowning out her brother's rising battle cry. Magus charged furiously, not heeding as a hand went forth, resolute in halting him. The eerie laughter, quite a change from the girlish giggles a few moments ago, ceased abruptly. At the same time, the hand waved apathetically to the side, and an invisible force cast a cursing Magus over the side of the cape.
Schala found a sudden relief in her mind as the harbinger spoke to her again, urging the point. "Schala, you must bring Him the Pendant without fail." The voice did not switch, but its tone revolved instantly as it continued, "Is there something wrong?"
Schala did not reply. Even though the cause was gone, her skull was still inflamed. All she could do now was to weep in agony.
In fact, she would have hardly noticed as something impacted the back of the cloaked one, sending it sprawling over Schala's hunched form and hurtling it into the sea; she wouldn't have been aware, that is, if Magus hadn't called quite cockily, "I'm not gone yet, you stupid b-" His next words were muffled by an whoosh of magic and a small explosion. Magus slowly hauled himself over the cliff, still containing the sphere of energy for another Dark Bomb spell within his palm. He scurried quickly to Schala's side, kneeling beside her. Schala let herself go, no longer supporting her own weight and instead propping herself in Magus's awaiting arm-span. She had an utter lack of strength now, as if the threads of life remaining in her were extended as daintily as possible. Swooning in her little brother's stalwart grasp, she opened her eyes. "Janus," she whispered, "I'm glad you're here."
"It's all right," he whispered, putting a finger to her lips. "Preserve to persevere, sister. Hush now; there is no need to speak." He sighed, looking out to sea. The torrent was still imminent, but it seemed as though it had momentarily stopped. Time was standing still for them as they lay together, spending a tranquil moment for what seemed the first time in a perpetual period.
It was a dozen minutes before Schala broke the silence. Shifting her head to meet Magus's eyes, she asked hopefully, "Janus, this is real, isn't it? I have returned here from the End of Time, haven't I?"
Janus sighed, and already Schala was in disdain. Janus offered the answer she did not wish for. "No, I'm afraid not, Schala. We are only able to meet now, across barriers of time and space, through the black wind..."
"The black wind? I thought that was just your naïve childhood call for prophecy."
"It was, but the reason I identified my prophetic feelings remains the same. Visions come to me through a chilling wind. It cuts through my bone, but I'm the only one who ever feels it."
"That's not true," Schala thought, perplexed for a moment. "I felt it just before your arrival."
"That could be; once I entered subconsciousness, I traveled the plane of thoughts by the black wind to find you here." Schala did not acknowledge this or show that she understood, regardless of the fact that she did. After a much briefer silence, Magus spoke again. "Sister. some day, I will find you, wherever you may be." He paused, but Schala did not reply to this either. "With the black wind to guide me, and your pendant longing to return to its mistress, I-"
"My pendant?" Schala interrupted. She recalled the mysterious figure who had spoken to her not long ago, even though it seemed far in the past now. "What are you doing with my pendant?"
Magus stroked her long, periwinkle hair casually, acting as though she were an absent-minded juvenile. "Sister, don't you remember? I used it to access the energies of Lavos through the Mammon Machine. I used them to open a Gate for you to escape through. I told you I would return it some day."
Schala became engrossed in her own contemplations at this point. She first thought of the mysterious harbinger of a prophet, who spoke of a "Him." Who was He, and how would she know? An even bigger problem was her lack of the Pendant to give to Him, if she could identify Him. And then there was Janus; she desperately desired to be in his company and his embrace again, but how would that ever be possible? If she was truly lost in the plane of thought somewhere in another dimension, how could they ever hope to reunite, particularly if he did not know about the Dimension Gate and the Riftwaves before it was too late?
Then she realized: With the Time Gates, it would never be too late. She didn't waste time. She hastily spoke. "Janus, listen to me. If you want to find me, you must go to the End of Time immediately. Leave this plane and depart at once. Talk to Gaspar, there. You remember Gaspar, do you not?" She paused, and scolded herself, thinking even swifter, "That's not important, Schala!" She gazed upward into Janus's waiting eyes again. "He'll tell you about the Dimension Gate and the Riftwaves. You have to be precise. If you do not get caught in the correct Riftwave, I should not hope to wonder where else you might be whisked off. Now, go, fast!" She pushed him away, as if to give him a start.
Magus immediately rose, but suddenly found his legs inoperative. The instant he heard the depth of the almost infrasonic voice behind him, he had a reason in his mind. He moved slowly, as did Schala, to find the cloak swirling about the figure as it hovered high above the sea. Shadowed energy crackled about the cloaked one. Magus had no other thought than a half- frightened statement of the obvious: "It's pissed."
"Schala of Zeal, you are in no place to tell another to make haste!" the alleged prophet exclaimed as its aura of power illuminated the black fabric more brightly the more intense the sound emanating from it became. "I have given you revelation, and it is now your fate! GO! You, Magus of Zeal, you have challenged Time itself. I am no mere sorcerer, one for cheap tricks and blasphemous tales! Do not meddle in my affairs. I can destroy you. Incurring my wrath could easily be bringing you to cease to exist and be erased from time itself! Leave this plane! You have no business here any longer. Schala has a new path set before her. Besides, chasing after a paradox is futile! You have done enough, and you are lucky that you are integral to that which will unfold at the turn of a century, or you and your sorcery would be long beyond my patience!"
The longer that which identified itself now as Time spoke, the fiercer the energy became. Bolts projected from Time, crushing rock and soil to exchange them for rubble, narrowly evaded contact with Schala and Magus. All the while, Magus had been undergoing his most powerful incantation, and as he now targeted Time with his potent Dark Matter spell, he was suspended in mid-air without any motion from the cloaked entity. In an unpredictable motion of volatility, Time raced at Magus. The collision caused an eruption of dark energy to flow in all directions, one bolt striking Schala and crippling her once again to her knees. There was an ebony haze about Time and Magus now, and Schala heard a gushing of water behind her. Glancing only for a moment behind her, Schala fell fully against the surface stone cape.
Schala whispered a taciturn prayer to herself foregoing the surge of salt water that enveloped her, becoming the last thing she observed before her senses failed her and she left the subconscious for unconsciousness.