Ehh, yep. I realized another mistake of
mine. Sorry. Of COURSE the cat's name is Alfador, not Adolfus! Well, my only
excuse is that I haven't had access to CT for almost a year *close to tears*
But in any case I should have looked it up. Sorry ya'll :P
Anyway, it's time for ACTION!
~*~
"I'm the wind! Whoosh!"
The happy call came from a small child dancing around in the middle of the cave. Laughing he leapt from the rocks lying about, seemingly filled with an endless power supply. As the two men and the robot entered the cave he stopped for a moment to merrily wave at them before he continued his private game.
"What might a child be doing in this area?" Robo beeped, and even though he was a robot he sounded puzzled.
Why do I have a feeling he's not a normal child? Crono murmured and continued to walk over the cave floor, keeping an eye at the joyful boy as he proceeded.
'Welcome, prince Janus!' Mune silently called, swooshing by the wizard's side in his game.
'Just don't call me prince aloud,' the blue-hair replied with a small smile.
'I promised, you know!'
'They can't sense you, can they?' Janus thought deeper within his mind.
'No, that could lead to a complicated situation,' the Pawn said with a shake of his head.
'Just making sure.'
With his companions just behind Crono reached the other side of the cave. Sunlight flowed down through a hole in the roof, almost like a touchable ray shining over the sword embedded in the ground.
'But that's wrong, it should only be the blade…?' Janus pondered with a frown.
'It's a illusion,' Mune explained, 'neat, huh?'
'Yes, it is. I can't see through it.'
'Me neither,' the Prince admitted, 'Melchior knew what he did.'
His remark was followed by a grunt from the oldest warlock's side.
'For better or worse,' he added.
"Hold it!" the boy called.
Crono froze in his movement of reaching for the Masamune and looked questioning at the child that ran up between the warriors and the weapon.
"Hang on a moment!"
Mune turned around.
"Oh, big brother!" he called.
From out of the sparkles on the metal another child stepped, identical to the first.
"Yeah?" he said but jumped as he saw the guests, "what, more warriors? Humans are so silly!"
"Yeah!" Mune profusely nodded, "it's not who wields the sword that is important, it's how you use it!"
"Agreed," Janus calmly said, "and we need it to fight a great evil."
'So, you're really going for Lavos then?' Masa asked with rare graveness in his voice.
'Yes.'
'Okay. But we still have to test you.'
'I understand.'
"Should we test them, big brother?" Mune asked aloud.
Masa nodded with a tired smile. Faked, Janus knew.
"I guess we better," he concluded.
And with that they morphed.
The two small boys were covered in a flashing light, and as it swept away from them again they looked completely different. Their skin had a yellow hue, they had no hair. Heads formed almost like drops of water with the protruding, sharp noses and very rounded back. Only the sharply pointy ears broke the smooth look. The clothes were white, long tunics in the finest cloth the lost kingdom of Zeal had been able to offer.
There was only one way to tell them apart, and that was that Masa wore a thick, green bandanna around his neck, while Mune's had a purple color.
"Ready or not, here we come!" they called and dashed forwards.
Janus tore up his staff in both hands and spun it before himself to knock Masa aside, while Crono was violently knocked into the cave wall by Mune. Both the hit ones got up quickly and prepared for a second round.
'Hey, cool staff!' Masa silently cheered as he shook his head to regain his senses, 'don't hold back now, prince! Put the sharp ends to use!'
'Yeah, we're not kids you know!' Mune heartily agreed.
Janus frowned in hesitation, but when Robo was sent stumbling backwards he pursed his mouth and the wood sang against a rock.
'Now we're talking!'
"Wheee!"
Yet another call from Mune, this one sprung from his hasty flight through the air after a direct hit from Robo's metallic fist. He crashed against the wall and bounced up with a merry laughter that was strangely contagious despite the situation.
The robot almost fell of the impact as the creature smashed into him, retaliating the attack received. And Mune didn't stop at that; he flung at Janus who ducked and swung his staff after the quick foe. The impact slammed the magical monster to the ground, but he got up again as if nothing had happened and Janus had to dance backwards while parrying pummels that such small hands and short arms shouldn't have been capable of. He found himself grinning a bit, returning the gaze from the two deep, bright eyes in the yellowish face.
As the wizard fought the two voices in his head kept silent to spare him concentration.
'Sorry you two,' Janus sent out to the twins, 'but I need to get back to the castle before the Zenan bridge is attacked.'
'But we were just getting started!' Mune groaned.
'Yes, yes… sorry.'
"Powers of the world, lend me the power of Water!" Janus shouted and leaped to the middle of the cave with the magical words flowing from his lips just before the staff's blade hit the ground.
Two massive chunks of pure ice appeared from out of nowhere and slammed into Masa and Mune, hurling them violently into the walls.
Whoa… Crono muttered and rubbed his arm.
He had been deep within a battle with Masa, and the chunk of ice had brushed by beside him without harming.
"Had enough?" Janus asked while the ice dissolved, not unfriendly.
But the brothers leaped up again, grinning excitedly.
"Hey, only Cyrus made it this far!" Mune said.
"Yeah!" Masa said, "but we're not done yet."
'Boys, I don't want to be harsh, but we really need to get this over with!' Janus sighed.
'Sorry prince, you must understand that we can't let you at Lavos without being sure that you and these other guys can handle him. Well, as sure as we possibly can…'
Before Janus had time to throw out further protest the two creatures turned to each other.
"With Masa's wisdom and…"
"… Mune's courage!"
"Combine!" they shouted simultaneously, slamming into each other.
And thus creating yet another intense light that signaled transformation.
Oh, great… Crono sighed and changed grip of his katana as the gigantic, muscled beast hovered above him and his friends.
"I believe that if he should trip it would be very hard for him to get back on his feet," Robo beeped in a low voice, carefully motioning at the very small legs holding up the fused beasts' body.
The royal wizard grimly took his staff in both hands and nodded.
"Ready when you are," he said, his voice completely calm.
Masa and Mune's fused form roared enough to shake the whole cave before throwing out a massive arm against the three warriors. Crono and Janus managed to leap backwards in time, but Robo wasn't build to move quickly and crashed on the ground several yards away.
"Are you alright?" Janus called, rather unsure whether his magic powers of Water would be able to help a creature made of steel.
"Right side of back lightly scraped, no other damage to report…" Robo replied and managed to get back to standing.
'As I remember it he could be healed by magic, so you should be able to do so in need,' the Pawn muttered deep down in Janus' mind.
'Nice to know… now what?'
The wizard's long hair flapped by the yellow beast's violent inhalation. Pebbles were drawn over the floor by the strong gasping and Crono's bandana almost got torn off his head.
What is he… are they doing? the young man with the sword called above the wind.
Janus pressed the fingertips of his pointing and middle finger against his forehead, partly because it helped him concentrate, partly because he was trying to keep his own headband in place.
For an inner eye he saw the wind swirl into Masa and Mune's body, whirling into a thick pack of nature force…
"They're storing power for a lightning attack!" Janus warned.
It's going to hurt, isn't it? Crono grimly muttered and moved his feet into a defensive stance.
"Not if we take them out before they can unleash it."
Oh, great. Robo! Get ready to tackle him when I attack, and you try to slam them with more ice, Janus… alright?
"Sounds fine to me," the wizard said with the shadow of a smile.
Masa and Mune finished their breathing and grinned at their enemies, entwining their fingers…
"Ready!" Robo metallically hummed.
Now! Crono shouted and leaped forward.
"Ta keich sanea wyh!" Janus called and once again buried the staff's blade in the ground.
As he already had called upon the power of Water and hadn't chanted anything else of another element he didn't need to ask for power again and could go straight to the point.
Robo's heavy frame smashed into the yellow twin-creature one second before Crono's katana cut deep within the stomach of the foe. But there was no blood, looked almost as if the metal had been run trough some kind of softer wood. However the forces still caused Masa and Mune to stumble backwards.
"Duck!" Janus shouted and threw his palms towards the battle area.
Crono and Robo had just enough time to obey before more chunks of ice hit their opponent.
But even though the force made Masa and Mune rock aside they managed to keep their balance thanks to the cave wall.
"Hachra…" Janus muttered under his breath, this time finding the enemy worth Zealan swearing.
He tried to assemble enough focus for a second spell quickly, but a gigantic yellow fist hit the ground and a sharp light shot over the floor towards the wizard.
"Janus, look…!"
Robo never got any further before the blue-haired man flew backwards with a pained screech, the staff being torn out of the ground but then helplessly falling from a lost grip before the crash came.
"Ow…"
Janus got up, shaking his head to regain orientation. His weapon levitated away from the floor and zoomed over to his waiting hand.
"Well, can't expect to get away from everything…" he grunted and staggered a bit as he tried to move, "never mind me, I can heal myself. Fight him!"
The last two sentences were added as it seemed that both Robo and Crono's focus on the battle was disrupted. But the wizard's order was sharp enough to be obeyed almost blindly and they turned back to the monster.
"Na matala sela," Janus muttered and showered himself in golden stars.
A second later he dashed forward and the staff forcefully hit Masa and Mune just between their horns. Janus' feet hit the big chest and sent him back into the cave; flipping over in the air brought him to a perfect landing.
'Aww, come on!' the combined voice of the two grinned to his mind, 'you can do better than that!'
'So can you.'
'Right you are, prince!'
"Oh for the love of… look out!" Janus shouted and threw himself down.
He had no time to see if his companions made it to the ground before the attack came.
Lightning bolts danced through the cave, and no one was spared. The bolts were too quick and well-aimed to be avoided.
With a harsh cry of pain Crono swayed, clutching his burned sides.
"Circuits near temporary shutdown…" Robo announced with a dangerously fading voice.
"Alright…"
Janus staggered to his feet and leaned at his staff.
"Now you've asked for it!" he grunted.
The staff hit the ground even as the wizard was running his eyes over his allies. Robo had gone into at least a short stasis of "not working" so that his computer brain could mend the damage dealt by the harsh electricity. But Crono was still standing, a bit insecure but still.
"Have you got enough strength left for a spell?" Janus called.
Heh…
The young man opened one tightly shut eye and grinned almost wickedly.
I've been in worse than this, he stated and straightened up.
"Good, be ready to fuse your magic with mine," Janus growled.
Sweet, more lightning…
"Dark powers of the world, I dare to ask of thee to lend me strength!"
"Uh-oh…" Masa and Mune piped up.
That doesn't sound too pretty… Crono commented with a grin and raised his arms, powers of the world, lend me the power of Lightning!
The two men's voices flared together as they called out their spells.
One white and one pitch black triangle swung into existence between Janus and the yellow beast, huge and small at the same time.
"At the light!" the wizard bellowed.
Ha! Crono called and threw out his arms.
Lightning sprouted from his hands and flashed through the air. The white triangle absorbed the force it was offered and its light intensified until it became unbearable…
That was when the black form swallowed the light.
Time ceased to exist until the complete power was unleashed.
Since the explosion was magical the ear couldn't detect any sound, so the waves went straight into the head without taking such a detour.
It could be easily described with the simple word "ow!".
Especially if it was aimed mainly at you and nothing else.
Masa and Mune screeched as the pure dark energy, fused with Crono's lighting, imploded towards them.
A moment later there was a beep.
"Did I miss anything while I was shut down?" Robo asked as he got to his feet again.
His scanners took in the scene with another beep, this one rather puzzled.
Crono was just standing there, his katana hanging in a loose grip while his mouth was wide open and his eyes went between Janus and the yellow monster. The wizard was swaying hardly recognizable, pressing one hand against his forehead above tiredly closed eyes. And Masa and Mune…
… They were placed in a hole shaped perfectly after their body. Since nothing of them were sticking out into the cave the gap in the solid cave wall had to be at least two or three feet deep considering their muscular form.
"You managed a good spell, Crono… ugh," Janus grimaced.
His staff rose up to his free hand so that he could lean on it.
Uh… thanks… the young man said in a rather weak voice.
Masa and Mune's hands twitched a little, causing a few more cracks to appear in the cliff they were imbedded in.
"Ohh…"
With that groan they fell forwards and reverted into their non-fused form before they hit the ground, falling down on either side of the sword they had been guarding throughout all the years.
"Br-r-r!" they muttered while shaking their heads to regain the senses.
Still not enough? Crono groaned and tiredly took his weapon in a securer grip.
But Janus straightened up and waved with a hand to signal to his allies that they should wait.
The brothers managed to get to their feet and exchanged glances.
"They beat us, little brother," Masa concluded with a smile.
"That was fun!" Mune happily said.
He made a small jump of excitement.
"Do you think they'll fix us?" he asked, "will they find us an owner?"
"Yeah," Masa nodded with another smile, "it'll be alright."
And with that they smiled at the three warriors and melted into the sword in the ground.
As they did so, the illusion faltered and the weapon's true state was revealed. Where a whole sword had been resting in the ground, only a blade lay. The sun sparkled in the sharp edges as Crono walked over to it and picked it up.
Just a blade? the young man asked, confused.
"It was broken when Flea, Slash and Ozzie killed Cyrus," Janus grunted while massaging the bridge of his nose, "don't worry, I've got the hilt. We just need to find the man who can fix it."
"And who might that be?" Robo beeped while walking over to the wizard.
"On the hilt there's an inscription that says 'Melchior'," the blue-hair revealed, "is that familiar to any of you?"
"Isn't that the name of the weapon smith you, Marle and Lucca told me about, Crono?" Robo wondered.
Crono nodded, walking down from the blade's resting place with the treasure in a safe grip.
Yes, but… he can't be the same Melchior, can he? the young man said with a frown, I mean, the Melchior I know lives four hundred years from now.
"I used to know a Melchior as well, many years ago," Janus grimly said, "what do you think? Is it just coincidence or something else?"
He shook his head at Crono's sharp gaze.
"I promise, one day I'll tell you everything," the wizard continued, "for now we need to get back to the castle. How are your wounds?"
For a moment it looked like Crono was going to ask something, but he pushed it aside and lightly touched his left side.
Could be better, he admitted.
"Allow me," Robo offered.
The softly yellow light of his "eyes" changed into green by his following words:
"Launching medical system. Loading… done."
Warmly green light sprayed over the two humans, seeming to melt into their skin and filling them with new energy. The singeing after the lightning bolts subsided and disappeared completely.
"Interesting," Janus remarked and changed the grip of his staff since he didn't need to lean on it anymore, "future's magic, is it?"
"It's based on infusing energy to the natural healing system of the human body," Robo gladly informed.
Science is a sort of magic by itself, isn't it? Crono said with a shake of his head.
Janus slowly nodded.
"Yes, I suppose," he said, "but I don't think you should mix them too much, in general."
'Wise words…' Masa muttered within Janus mind.
'Are you two alright?' the wizard silently asked.
'No problem, prince.'
'That was such a cool attack!' Mune grinned.
'Thank you.'
"Hey, allow us to teleport you to the foot of the mountain," Masa's voice said aloud.
"Wait, Flea might…"
Whoosh!
"… Find my trace," Janus ended with a sigh, "oh well, thanks."
"Don't worry," Mune grinned, "we made sure that that weirdo couldn't sense you. Sorry we can't take you further."
Crono needed to blink a few times before he could thank the spirits, which Robo already had done by then.
Janus waved at the road towards the distant rooftops of Dorino.
"Come on, we need to get going," he said.
Can't you teleport us to the castle? Crono asked and fell into the wizard's step.
"I'd like to," Janus sighed and shook his head, "but I can't risk giving Flea another chance to find my trace. You see, when someone teleport, they…"
The three had walked quite a few yards before Janus had managed to explain the full principle.
"… And I can't send you two to the castle to save time either," the wizard ended his rant, "I hid my part of Cyrus' remains in a magical container that only I can open."
And that magic you used to defeat the sword guardians? Crono wondered when his first query had received a proper answer, what the heck was that?
"It's called Dark Matter," Janus grunted and massaged the bridge of his nose again, "it's the worst thing I can do, but I try to keep from going that far. It gives me a killing headache."
'The darkness doesn't like you,' the Prince muttered to him, 'that's why. You seem to almost have managed to convert from Shadow to Light.'
'Light?' the Pawn and Janus blankly repeated.
'It's not possible yet,' the oldest of them explained, 'Schala will find the path. Hmm, that's really strange.'
The Prince mentally "shook his head".
'I didn't think it was possible to change the magic property you're granted…' he thoughtfully said, 'perhaps it's more based on personality than I thought.'
He shrugged.
'Speaking of which… are you two aware that the blade there is extremely deadly for us?'
'It is?' Janus said with a frown.
'In my timeline it was said that it was the only weapon that could kill me, so Crono and the others turned the Middle ages upside down to find it and get Frog to help them invade my castle,' the Prince gruffly said, 'I wouldn't say it's the only thing that can harm me, however…'
He seemed to hesitate for a moment before he continued:
'While I went to retrieve Janatzer's soul back there I talked to someone about it, and he explained that dreamstone is a Light based material and as you understand Light and Shadow doesn't mix. And whether you're changing or not you are still mostly Shadow.'
'In your timeline it was said that it was dangerous to you?' the Pawn said with a frown, 'how could people know that?'
The prince was silent for a moment. Then he shook his head again.
'I have asked myself that quite a few times… it seemed like common knowledge all of a sudden, and to my chagrin it turned out being true.'
'You killed Cyrus too?' Janus asked, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice.
'I did.'
'Ozzie didn't order you to do it?'
'No, he did not.'
'You killed Cyrus by own will?'
The Prince was silent again. It took a few moments before he spoke.
'When I met Cyrus and Glenn on that day, Ozzie was with me. I had long since created a spell of protection that should have kept my skin hard as steel and able to absorb all magic except spells from the element I last called upon. It worked with all weapons, all except the Masamune which cut through the magic and dissolved it. It was him or me, but yes. I killed him in cold blood, for I had no feelings left at the point.'
For a while none of the blue-hairs spoke. Finally Janus released a deep breath, slowly.
'Well…' he muttered, 'at least you're honest.'
'And trust me, I dearly paid for it all before I came to find the two of you,' the Prince almost coldly said.
'I agree, considering what you went through.'
'That's nice to hear…'
The Prince's voice was almost dry and ironical. But just almost. And what was there didn't sound honest.
"We might be able to find horses in Dorino," Janus said aloud, "if the Mystics haven't eaten them…"
"How come the monsters haven't invaded the southern towns?" Robo asked.
"They have."
Janus sighed.
"But there are monsters living in peace with the humans in both Dorino and Porre, and somehow they managed to talk the violent ones into leaving the humans fairly alone. I believe bribing was involved, but that's better than massacres. There's not enough soldiers to protect everything, tragically."
He looked ahead, towards the west north west.
"Besides, Ozzie's main goal has always been the capital, for should that fall the humans are likely to do the same. The king and queen is there, and our main military."
So, repairing the Zenan bridge maybe wasn't a wise step? Crono grimly said.
"No, probably not. Now they can attack and I'm pretty sure they will. But it was necessary or the king would have been completely cut off from his people with the monsters patrolling the beaches…"
'Wait, they've passed the Zenan bridge without battling?!' the Pawn suddenly said, sharply.
'It seems so,' Janus said with a frown.
'It's different again!' the Prince scowled, 'Crono and the others should have won the battle by taking out the general leading the attack over the bridge…'
'Oh great…' the Pawn hissed, 'what day is it?'
'It's the second of October, why?' Janus sharply asked.
'Crachert!'
"Is that smoke coming from Dorino?" Robo suddenly beeped in alarm.
Janus' eyes narrowed as he shadowed his eyes with one hand, his teeth clenching so hard his jaw almost broke.
'Is that what I think it is?'
'It is,' his guardians snarled.
'I can't decide what curse to use…'
"It's not from Dorino, it's from further ahead!" Janus growled aloud.
The staff's end hit the ground.
"Flea or not, I'm teleporting! They've started an attack against the bridge, get ready for battle!"
Alright! Crono said through clenched teeth.
The light engulfed them and they stumbled out on the plain just about a hundred yards from the bridge's south end.
The smoke that they had seen in a distance turned out coming from several great bonfires, which eerie shadows danced around while just as eerie creatures streamed over the bridge, pushing at the armored human warriors that tried to hold a stand from the other side.
"What are those fires?" Robo beeped as the three hurried forwards.
"They're using necromancy to revive the dead warriors to skeletons that fight for the Mystics, we have to take out those magicians or the one leading the attack, otherwise the humans are doomed," Janus snarled.
But can we handle all those? Crono grimly asked, pointing at the army.
"If we just manage to kill the general they are likely to flee, and by the time we get there most of them will be on the bridge…"
'That's funny, in my time stream the necromancy was taken care of out of reach…' the Prince grunted.
'Same for me, these differences can be confusing…' the Pawn agreed.
'Who's the general?' Janus snarled.
'It was me in my version, but you knew that…' his teacher muttered.
'Ozzie for me,' the Prince said, 'so it can only be… ah look, I was right.'
"I see…" Janus hoarsely whispered aloud.
Crono and Robo stopped dead in alarm as the royal wizard suddenly slowed down and ceased to move forwards.
What…? the young man began but fell silent as he noticed Janus' gaze and followed it.
In the light of the fires and the sinking sun a tall monster turned around as he noticed the shadows in the corner of his eye. For a moment time seemed to slow down as the wizard and the monster's eyes locked in a killing glare.
The dancing light sharply reflected in the staff's blades as Janus took it in both hands, his eyes as thin as the edges of his weapon. The flames flickered their light over purple skin and flowed the thin Slasher with mirrored fire as it was drawn.