Chapter 10, Father and son

 "But tell me," the one eyed man behind Janus' back continued, "how did you guess with so few clues?"

 "Oh, the air began to reek even more and besides that the fairies in my head are boiling mad," the wizard replied, still without turning around.

    There was a silence within his mind for a moment as well.

 'I'm not hearing this…' the Pawn finally muttered.

 'I really should just let them have you,' the Prince grunted, but there was an almost invisible stitch of reluctant amusement in his voice.

 "Well, you have to be crazy to end up here…" Flea said and shook his head with a smirk.

 "And what exactly are you doing here?" Janus said to thin air.

    He won as much as making Dalton walk around him so that they came face to face, since the wizard refused to turn his head.

 "I have to look out for my own son, don't I?" the blond one sneered.

 'I should have known, he said he watched what happened to Cyrus and Glenn…' the Prince snarled, 'and he knew about the dreamstone being Light-based!'

    For a thought's moment he gritted his teeth until he managed to get himself together again.

 'That doesn't matter right now,' he growled, 'do you understand the spell?'

 'No problem… my original plan will just have to go after this turn of events,' Janus muttered.

 'You had a plan?' the Pawn dryly asked.

 'Letting Frog and the others save me, yes.'

 'I suppose that could pass as a plan. Bad, but it's a plan…'

 'However, Dalton brings too much danger for sticking to that one any more.'

 'Just chase him away,' the Prince warned, 'you'll actually need him later, so don't kill him yet.'

 'I'll… take your word for that.'

 "That's thoughtful of you," Janus dryly said aloud, "had fun trying to see to that I died?"

 "Oh, it's been amusing alright, hasn't it, Flea?"

    The magician shrugged.

 "It's really funny now, I must say," he sneered.

 "Ah, well…"

    Janus gave a small, cold smile.

 "How about firing things up a little, then?" he said and tore himself free from the sticky ropes with one single powerful tear with arms and legs.

    White flakes were still falling all over the room as the wizard's feet hit the floor on the other side of the desk, a wicked grin on his face. Dalton and Flea moved into defensive stances, their eyes narrowing.

 "What, didn't you expect more from me?" Janus sneered.

    His hand flashed out before him, the fingers painting a line of fire in thin air. The flames flashed as Janus grabbed them, turning into his staff with the blades released.

 'Worked perfectly,' he concluded to the Prince, who grimly nodded.

 "This should prove interesting," Dalton said and cracked his knuckles, suddenly smirking again after he had swallowed the surprise, "let's try a new spell of mine, shall we?"

 'Damn it! Jump!' the Prince roared.

    Janus obeyed blindly by the overwhelming power in that command, just barely escaping two red, glowing tentacles that exploded from the ground by his feet. He landed and leaped again, fleeing from the next pair.

    Following the movements of Dalton's hands the trunks rushed over the floor, persuading the wizard.

 'If you get caught you're done for, understand?' the oldest of the three warlock's snarled, 'those are unbreakable, only the caster's death will dissolve them.'

 'Wonderful.'

 "I must say, you've become one extraordinary acrobat," Dalton sneered as Janus swiftly escaped one narrow situation after another.

 "So you say?" the wizard snarled and threw out his hand, "ta keich sanea wyh!"

 "Twandor!" Dalton countered and threw up his hands, a golden magical shield smashing the two big chunks of ice.

    But the one eyed man froze in shock as he found a sharp blade at the end of a staff dashing towards him behind the dissolving magic.

 "Catch!" Flea shouted, throwing his hands forwards.

 "Argh!"

    Lightning bolts burned through Janus' shirt, and caught in midair he fell to the floor. The magic wasn't enough to do more than singe him; Flea didn't want him dead just yet.

 'Get up!' the two watching spirits shouted, both knowing it was humanly impossible to escape in time.

    Janus managed to get onto one knee before the first tentacle encircled his arm and violently tore him onto his back, another one snatching his staff. His snarl was cut in half as the red ropes pinned him to the ground and one slammed down over his mouth. Even though he had been informed of the pointlessness he tried to struggle, like the Prince finding that it truly was useless. 

 'There went my double life insurance…' he growled.

 "Much better, thank you for the assistance," Dalton said, smugly dusting off his hands.

 "My pleasure."

    Flea smirked down at Janus' murderous glare for a moment before turning to the other human again.

 "Dead as a rock was the order, cutie?" the monster sneered.

 "And I'd prefer in pieces."

 "How about cooked?"

    Even Dalton cringed a bit at that suggestion, realizing that Flea really meant that literally.

 "Do as you wish," he said after a moment.

 "What, do you think monsters' menus are that apprehensive?" the magician said with amusement.

 "Well, suit yourself," Dalton said and shook his head, "I'll be going."

    He sent Janus a grimace and not a smirk as he raised his hand and muttered a spell. A Gate opened before the blond one.

 "Right, I can't forget…"

    Dalton turned to Flea again, clenched and opened his hand once. From his palm a small, red orb floated. The magician caught it and it melted into his fingers.

 "Can't leave you without keys to the cage, can I?" Dalton said.

 "No, that just would ruin all the fun," Flea said with a sweet smile, "good bye then."

 "Good bye. Have fun."

    And with that Dalton disappeared into the flashing darkness. The Gate closed behind him.

    Flea looked down and raised an eyebrow.

 "Why are you so pale all of a sudden?" he asked.

    Janus didn't hear him.

 'You two were…?!' he was thinking, if thoughts could be hoarse and high pitched at the same time then his was just that.

 'No!' the Pawn sharply said, resolutely shaking his head, 'they fed me with rats and such. Human flesh was for the worthy, so to speak.'

 'Same here, and when I got worthy I was powerful enough to say no,' the Prince growled.

 'Thank the heavens…' Janus grimaced.

 'Agreed.'

 "Hello?"

    Flea waved with a hand above Janus' face and he blinked.

 "Mffm?" he grunted, irritated.

 "Much better, sweetheart."

    Janus growled.

    There was a knock on the door.

 "What'ye want, Flea?" the thick voice of a goblin grunted from the other side of the wood.

    The magician straightened up with a charming, bloodthirsty smile at the bound wizard.

 "I want you to come in and close the door behind you," he called without removing his now hungry gaze, "less you'll ruin the surprise for everyone."

 'Alright, I know the way through the caves,' the Prince growled, 'I'll go lead Frog and the others here, you stay and keep an eye on him.'

    The Pawn grimly nodded.

 'And pray that the time streams aren't different again,' the oldest warlock added before he zoomed out of the room and castle.

 'I trust in them,' Janus grimly thought, almost like a mantra.

    His teacher nodded.

 'And I think you can do so,' he said, 'they'll doubtlessly get you out of this.'

 'Yes.'

    Janus closed his eyes for a moment, trying to shut out Flea's order to the goblins to close their gaping mouths. He didn't say anything as the tentacles pushed him into sitting and then mostly disappeared, except one that encircled his wrists behind his back. Still nothing except an absentminded growl when the goblins grabbed his arms and tore him into standing, starting to push him towards the door.

    Sometimes it just didn't help with even a voice in your head muttering calming promises.

    This was the worst he'd ever been into, even though the royal wizard had been through a lot of dangerous situations throughout his life. But he'd never felt so caught and helpless ever since he had been a child in training, ever since then he'd always been able to fight for himself.

    Sometimes… there was only one thing that possibly could help.

    He concentrated.

In Guardia castle a young woman stopped dead in her tracks and clutched at the gem hanging in a chain around her neck.

 'Lai, can you hear me?'

 "What's wrong, Lai?" one of the knights standing behind Leene's throne asked in alarm, and the queen stood up from her seat with a worried frown.

 "It's Janus, he's in danger…" the young woman hoarsely said.

 'What makes you think I'm in danger?' Janus' voice said within her head.

 "You only call me when you're in danger, sweetheart," Lai acidly commented, still talking aloud as she was used to with telepathy.

 'I needed that…'

 "What?"

 "What's going on?" Leene worriedly asked.

 'Is the queen there?' Janus wondered, strangely calm.

 "Yes, His Majesty's much better so she's taking care of matters in the throne-room as for today and I was just leaving…" Lai automatically reported, falling silent as she realized she was babbling.

 'Good… then that's all well. How are the other wounded doing?'

 "Janus, I know something's wrong! Where are you?!"

    There was a rare spark of despair in Lai's voice by now.

 'I had some troubles with my latest assassin, but at least Frog, Crono and Marle are on their way to the Mystics,' Janus quickly said, 'nothing to worry about.'

 "You're an awful liar, royal wizard."

 'Lai…'

    There was a pause for a moment.

 'Now listen to me, Lai,' Janus finally continued, 'I have my teacher and also another version of us watching over me, no matter what I'll be fine.'

    Lai was silent.

 "You're in the Mystics' castle, you fool!" she suddenly cried out, causing everyone to jump in shock.

 'Goddammit, Lai…'

 "How could you end up there?!"

 'I said I had some troubles with the assassin.'

 "Some troubles, you say!?"

 "What has he done now?" Leene sharply asked.

 'That hurt,' Janus dryly said, 'I thought you trusted in me.'

 "Not when you go get captured!" Lai snarled.

 'Frog, Crono and Marle are approaching as we speak, they are supposed to take out the Mystics and they will. With or without me.'

 "And what if they don't come in time to save you?"

 'That's why I needed to hear you call me sweetheart again, just in case,' Janus calmly said, but there was a peculiar edge in his voice.

    Lai's free hand covered her eyes.

 "I hate you…"

    Janus' telepathic voice sighed.

 'I'll come back, I promise,' he finally said.

 "Janus, you…"

 'Good luck with everything, Lai.'

 "Wait!"

    But the telepathic link was cut.

    Lai pinched her eyes close and clenched her fist around the fire gem, ignoring the fact that the edges of the flames cut into her skin.

    Fine hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a gentle hug, and Lai let herself lean on queen Leene as she chewed on her lower lip in a hopeless attempt to fight the flaring worries.

 'I just couldn't tell her.'

 'It was probably just as well. She'll suffer less not knowing.'

 'What about the torment of not being sure?'

 'I believe that in this case it'll be easier for her to get over it. She's a strong lady, you know.'

 'Yes, I know…'

    Janus sighed, just letting the goblins push him onwards through the dark corridors without struggling.

 'I knew it would endanger history.'

 'I'm sorry.'

 'And I… there was always a chance that I wouldn't survive, I didn't even know if you made it through or not until now.'

 'I understand.'

 'I never wanted to risk that she'd loose a lover instead of a friend. No matter how much I do love her.'

    The Pawn sadly nodded.

Below the ocean the Prince was grimly watching a wall.

    Frog and his allies were closing in, they had already entered the caves. Quite a show cutting the entrance cliff in half instead of looking for the hidden switch. The amphibian was reaching the self-esteem he needed.

    So far so good.

    Hmm…

 'They'll win at least half an hour if I could destroy this wall,' our original Janus thought, 'but what a joke…'

    He clenched his fists.

    Perhaps he could subconsciously make Frog cleave this cliff as well, but it would be difficult… and this one might be too thick even for the Masamune.

 'And I don't have the power anymore.'

    Calling the Pawn could maybe help, but that spirit didn't know his way through the caves and could have problems finding the spot in time even when following a mental call.

    Bitterly the Prince shook his head.

 'You win again, Lavos…'

    An eyebrow slowly went up.

 'Hmm…'

    His eyes narrowed. Hardly noticing it he took as much a worldly form as possible while he pondered.

    He was just a spirit now, meaning that his magic wouldn't be even at half power. And as Janus had pointed out fetching the body would take far too long. But now he had materialized as much as he could, and a really forceful spell could be just enough. If he still had any more powerful spells left, that was. The knowledge of chanting wasn't worth anything to him after the past day in his own time stream.

 'Drained of all but low-level magic… but none of my Shadow spells were anything like basic. So, theoretically I can't be Shadow anymore.'

    The thought wasn't exactly illogical, but still it was completely crazy.

 'Molor will bite my head off for doing something so stupid so soon after all that with Lavos.'

    He rolled his eyes and backed away from the wall.

 'I'm too goddamn old to defy my own logic, belief and fate… but I'll be damned if I can't protect that wizard.'

    Sighing and clenching his teeth he raised his hands.

 'Alright, either this works or I'll get blown into pieces. Fun. Here we go…'

 "Powers of the world, lend me the power of Light!"

    And as he chanted his hands drew the ancient Zealan symbol for Purification in thin air with a softly flashing glow.

    A couple of minutes later three warriors came running through the caves, finding a pathway leading down and one ahead; a big opening encircled by smoking rocks.

 "What's this?" Marle suspiciously asked.

 "Methinks a path was cleared just recently…" Frog said with a frown, "dost thee think 'tis a trap?"

 Maybe we should take the other way, Crono suggested.

 'Oh no you don't!'

 "You just wouldn't dare," a slightly hoarse voice said.

    The three blinked.

    Leaning against the cracked frame of the opening a blue-haired man swept into existence, half transparent.

 "Janus?" Frog blankly said.

 "Yes and no," the middle-aged man wearing a blood-red cloak said with a twitching, triumphant smile, "I'm sort of what he could have been. Now go on, I took a great risk opening this way so I'd be glad if you would put it to use."

 Err, thanks? Crono said.

 "You're welcome."

    And he disappeared from their view, but watched them pass while invisible. At first they moved rather slowly, still shocked by what they had seen. But soon enough they remembered their mission and sped up again.

    The Prince allowed himself a wide grin and even punched one of the loose rocks, causing it to fall out of the wall.

 'Correction, Lavos,' he triumphantly called out in his thoughts, heard by no one but that didn't matter at all, 'we win again!'

    At least so much.

    But the black wind hadn't yet warned for death either, on the other hand.

 "And what in Lardon's name is Flea thinking?!" Ozzie snarled, rubbing his fat forehead.

 "For once we agree…" Slash grunted, pressing one hand against an ear with a grimace.

    The sound level in the throne-room was almost unbearable. Monsters fought hard to never assemble in this large groups in such a small area. Most of them wanted to have a space of at least two feet from everyone else, and as they were packed in the - given; big - room that wasn't exactly possible.

    Not able to take it any longer Ozzie made a good attempt - considering the shape of his body - to rush from the throne.

 "Shut up!" he roared and actually got attention, "I don't know what Flea is doing either but I want you all to wait for him! I won't hear another screech, roar or any other sound, understand?!"

    Yep, they understood. For three whole seconds.

    With a grunt Ozzie fell back on his seat; a disturbing sight many would try to avoid. Slash failed to escape this time and turned away, furiously rubbing his forehead to calm his stomach.

    Finally Flea teleported in, gracefully landing on the stair leading up to the throne.

 "Alright, what bloody is it?!" Ozzie snapped before the magician even had time to open his mouth.

 "My, aren't we impatient?" Flea sweetly said.

 "No, we're going deaf!"

 "You're no fun. But very well."

    Flea turned to the swaying ocean of bodies on the lower grounds and raised a hand.

 "Oh, crap…" Slash moaned and violently pressed both hands against his ears.

    The magician placed two fingers between his lips and whistled. The sound zick-zacked right through everything else and the whole army looked up with pained expressions.

 "Alright boys and girls, I want you to make a nice aisle to the door," Flea said with a lovely smile, "can you do that for me?"

    Fearing another whistle the monsters did their best and managed fairly well.

 "Just what are you doing?" Ozzie grunted, hitting his own head with his hand to regain senses after the horrible sound.

    Flea didn't reply, just waved with a hand. From the sea of monsters a seven feet mantis flew, stopping perfectly still in the air before the magician.

 "This is Janus' latest assassin," the pink-skinned one softly announced, "do remember his face."

 "What?" Slash tiredly sighed.

 "Party pooper."

    Flea looked at the mantis and winked with one eye. The beast nodded and zoomed over to the double gates. Without effort his claw feet tore up the two massive doors.

    Just for once the entire castle turned completely silent, and hundreds of mouths fell open.

 "What's the big deal, I am walking!" Janus snarled over his shoulder at the widely grinning goblins.

    They tried to throw him on the floor before the stair going up to the throne, but despite the fact that he stumbled and swayed he managed to keep his balance. Almost as if an invisible force supported him.

 "Understand now, my dear Ozzie?" Flea smirked.

 "Very much so…"

    The fat, green monster stood up and sneered down at the coldly glaring wizard. Janus' concentration was a little split however, due to the metallic tip being pressed against the underside of his jaw.

 "Delighted to see you again, wizard…" Slash hissed.

 "Oh no, no, no," Flea said and waved with a finger, "please, my friend, restrain yourself."

    The purple monster glared at his companions.

 "Don't tell me you don't want to kill him immediately?" the sword master sighed.

 "Why should we, doesn't he deserve better after all we've been through together?" the magician pointed out, tilting his head with a cruel glistening in his eyes.

 "I couldn't agree more," Ozzie hungrily nodded.

 "When will you two start listening to me?" Slash sighed.

 "Lighten up, cutie!" Flea said and looked at the goblins, "now, shall we take our guest somewhere more cozy? The dungeons sound fine to me."

    Janus didn't say a word as rough hands grabbed his arms again, but behind his back his chained fingers twitched like pained snakes.