Arthas: Hmm, problem to read because of Java tags? I'm saving these chapters as web pages and upload them. Well, the first chapters were simply .docs. Is anyone else having troubles?
some guy: Yes! It's just another, and another, and another loop! I'll never ever go away! Mwaha! Ahem. No really. There might be one more in an epilogue, but that's just a crazy lil' idea I have of a completely twisted time stream and I won't write that story. I know when I've done enough *chuckles* But it could be fun to see if anyone else would like to pick up after I'm done ;)
Anyway… onwards!
Chapter 23, Time stream differences
"… Of Water, na matala sela…"
Janus thought he felt a cool hand against his forehead, but he was still in the process of waking up. The warm, healing light gently pulled at his mind.
'Just look at this!' he heard Flea whine, 'is that all I've been reduced to?! A preparation?'
'Preparation or headache, take your pick,' the Prince smirked, 'though I am a bit surprised myself.'
'These time streams are starting to make me dizzy,' the Pawn muttered, 'now this is just a tad bit too strange.'
"Na matala sela…"
That voice was familiar… but… different?
Janus managed to crack his eyes open, but he couldn't see anything through the blur.
"Na matala sela, are you back with us now?"
The blur dissolved.
Janus blinked. Blinked.
And blinked.
"What?" the pink-skinned Mystic said, raising his eyebrows.
'See?!' Flea whined, 'I told you!'
'Taking the risk of sounding incredibly silly,' the Prince dryly said, 'as usual you are too hard on looks and it doesn't surprise me.'
'Argh! Those damn glasses! That short hair, that skinny body! Do you know what it does to a guy!?'
"Flea?" Janus hoarsely said, lightly said baffled.
The quite male-looking Mystic jumped.
"How did you know that?" he demanded, suspiciously fiddling with the rather thick glasses he wore.
"It is you?" the wizard asked, still not quite believing what he saw.
The present magician eyed him for a moment in puzzlement, then nodded.
"Yeah, I'm Flea. Have we met?"
"Not like this…" Janus begun, but dryly added as he heard the clinking of chains as he tried to move, "but something similar."
"Fine, I have no clue what you're talking about, but I suppose I'll know either way later on…" the magician said, tiredly rolling his eyes.
Janus mind finally began to catch up with things.
"Were you healing me?" he suspiciously asked.
Flea threw his arms slightly upwards in a shrugging movement.
"You looked like you needed it, so what?"
The wizard slowly raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not hearing this."
There was a series of choked sounds as the Prince and Pawn did all they could to stop themselves from snickering.
Flea dryly smiled and shifted his kneeling pose to cross-legged.
'It's not me, it's not me, it's not me!' the spirit grumbled.
'That's pretty apparent,' Janus concluded.
"So you say? So, how come you seem to know me but I have no clue who the heck you are?" the living magician said in a conversational tone.
Janus grimly shook his head.
"I haven't got time to tell you," he said, "I have to get the child I came with out of here."
Flea grunted and looked down on the ground.
"Yes, that would be a good idea I'm afraid… ain't gonna happen though. But hey, he's safe right now, hasn't awakened yet. And they're not looking for me down here."
"Look for you?" Janus said after a moment of trying to get the logic together.
"To wake him up, of course. Magician knows what Ozzie plans for that kid."
Flea turned his head and spat on the floor as he spoke the green monster's name.
'Alright, now I'm really, really confused,' Janus thought.
'I find it quite fascinating, actually,' the Pawn said, sending an amused glance in the spirit Flea's direction.
The spirit deeply sighed. Just for the sake of it, of course. Not that he really needed to breathe.
'Okay, in this time stream I seem to be a wimp with a softie heart. Happy!?'
'I think my brain will need a while to grasp the concept,' Janus muttered.
"I have a clue of what he plans," he said aloud and calmly clenched his fists, "I've been waiting for several years to stop the damn toad from doing it."
"First of all, I don't think you'll be able to get loose like…"
The wall made a cracking sound around the rings that the chains were stuck to. Flea's eyebrows twitched.
"Alright, alright, I get it already!" he quickly said and grabbed Janus' right arm, "sheez, you muscle freaks… powers of the world…"
"What are you doing?" Janus said, rather flatly.
Flea snapped his fingers after a grunted spell and his free hand caught a red glow.
"Look, there are simpler ways to get out of here than to make the whole castle crumble…"
"So you say?" the wizard said with amusement through the surprise.
The magician grunted something and grabbed the shackle. The metal melted, but the skin below was left unharmed.
"See?" Flea dryly said, "not that hard, was it?"
Janus smiled a bit, slanted.
"Last time I was in this situation, the Flea and Slash I know were discussing which of my entrails to cut out first," he said.
Flea took off his glasses and scratched his head with one of the curves normally holding them in place by his ears.
"I can't remember ever discussing anything with Slash, mister," he informed and put the glasses back.
'Hooboy, this is a real winner!' the spirit Flea groaned.
"I see," the wizard mildly said, "but tell me, isn't helping a human deemed as high treason or something along the lines?"
The Mystic suddenly flashed two rows of sharp teeth in a grin.
"Well you know… not everyday you meet a human fellow who can break himself free from chains with pure muscle power. Gonna save the kid, are you?"
Janus found himself smiling widely back.
"That's what I had planned, yes," he said, "are you coming?"
"Aw, what the hell. Let's blast down some walls."
The spirit Flea suddenly didn't look quite as frustrated anymore. Even the Prince's lips twitched a bit.
"I think we'll get along just fine," Janus grinned as he stood, taking a hold of the remaining shackle, "powers of the world, lend me the power of Fire."
"Whoa," Flea commented, playing with his glasses again, "never seen a human use magic before."
Janus chuckled and offered his hand.
"Janus, royal wizard of Guardia, from a possible future."
"Right."
Flea shook his head, but then accepted the greeting.
"Flea of the Mystics, magician and rather confused."
"I'll explain it to you once we're out of here," the wizard promised as he called for his staff.
"My teleporting skills are a bit rusty, how about you?" Flea wondered.
"Don't worry about it, I'll get us around."
Janus frowned a bit.
"Do you know if there was a cat brought here together with me and the boy?" he asked.
"A cat?" Flea said with raised eyebrows, "no, I don't think so."
"Good, could be hard to find Alfador around these parts… anyway, let's go."
Flea nodded and tapped his own head. With a slight smirk Janus reached out with his own mind and muttered the teleportation spell.
The strange couple disappeared in the typical flashing light.
"… Is Janus!" a child's voice screeched, blurred with pain and fear.
"Damn it!" Janus growled.
But even before he had time to change the grip on his staff Flea had hurled a fireball straight in the surprised goblin's face and dove for the boy, lashing out his right hand towards Ozzie.
Another whip slashed through the air before the magician could throw another fireball, and he growled in pain as his light robe was torn along with his concentration. He stumbled but got a safe grip of the kid as he fell. The child stared at the pink monster with wide eyes filled with tears of agony, but clutched the arms that shielded him with desperate hope.
"Flea! You good for nothing idiot!" Ozzie's voice roared in outrage.
"The sign of a good leader is respect for his underlings," Janus snarled as he swept up behind the fat greenie.
Ozzie moved surprisingly quick, but the staff slammed down on his forehead and he fell.
Running steps were heard from outside the corridor.
'Time to leave!' the Prince warned.
'Got it.'
Janus tackled the remaining goblin before it had time to raise its whip again. Then he leaped over to the fallen two, muttering the spell he last had used once more. The magical light filled the dark room.
'This must be an escape record or something,' the female looking spirit pointed out.
'It went smoother than mine,' the Pawn allowed himself to agree.
"Dammit!" was Flea's comment as he safely thumped down in the grass of Truce canyon, still with the small prince in a safe grip.
"Dammit what?" Janus asked with a hint of amusement, sitting down to inspect the wounds on the Mystic and child.
He placed the staff on the ground while the winds played with his long hair.
"Dammit, I missed the fat toad," the magician grunted.
'Ozzie sure will like hearing this!' the spirit monster said, all of a sudden disgustingly cheerful.
Janus mildly chuckled, absentmindedly glancing around for any sign of Alfador. The cage he had been in laid open in the grass, the door seemed to have broken. No cat in sight though.
'I'll go find him,' spirit Flea offered and left the wizard's head.
'Thanks,' Janus thought, more friendly than last time he'd said that to the Mystic.
"We'll just have to hope you'll get another chance later," he said aloud and gently touched the boy's shoulder, "hey, are you alright?"
"I'm… I'm…" the kid stammered, staring at the wizard.
"It's okay, nobody will hurt you anymore," Flea calmingly promised as he carefully handed over the saved one to Janus.
This got the child staring at him instead.
"I'm not like them back there," the magician hurriedly assured, "don't look at me like that, kid."
"I…"
His voice trailed off in a sob.
"Don't try to speak if you don't want to," Janus kindly said, "powers of the world…"
"I don't know what's worse," Flea chuckled and stretched a little as the healing magic washed away his pain as well, "the fact that a human is using magic, or that he's doing it better than me."
"My knowledge comes from a version of you, does that cheer you up?" Janus mildly asked.
Flea rolled his eyes.
"Okay, that is it. Explain yourself, now."
"I will, I will. In a moment. Feeling any better?"
The wizard aimed the last part towards the child, who slowly nodded.
"Thanks…" he whispered in a weak voice.
"I know you're confused and scared," Janus gently said, "I'll explain everything to both of you, alright?"
Another frail nod.
"I just numbed your pain since you might have cloth stuck in your wounds," the wizard said, "I have to get that out but you won't feel anything."
"Alright," the boy said, his voice slightly securer than last time.
Janus gently helped him lay down on his stomach and carefully pulled the biggest pieces of bloodied robe away from the two long wounds.
"Will take care of you in a moment," the wizard said, looking up at Flea.
The monster shrugged.
"I'm alright, care for him first," he stated with a slight smile at the suspiciously glancing child, "I care more for an explanation right now."
Janus nodded.
"Here goes then," he said, "my name is Janus, and that is also the name of this child. I came from this land in the future to save him from the Mystics."
He looked down and met the boy's hesitant gaze, unwilling to talk above his head since the story concerned him.
"I was saved like you, but this place is different, and my savior was different too. In my world, this monster here is my archenemy."
"Hey, that's rather harsh…" Flea said, fiddling with his glasses.
Janus chuckled with the hint of a grin.
"You don't look like that in my home world either," he said, "I know you as a psycho, egocentric guy who looks like a woman. Can't exactly say I don't like the variation."
Very slowly one of Flea's eyebrows went up.
"You're kidding, right?" he flatly said.
"Sometimes wish I was. My version of you has been trying to assassinate me for the last eight years, failing every time."
"So you're saying that you come from another world, where I'm a cross dressing freak who is too stubborn to give up an idiotic project and on top of that makes friends with Ozzie and Slash?" the magician summed up in a calm voice.
"Yes," Janus nodded.
"Right. Just dandy."
Flea laid down flat on his stomach and crashed down his cheek into his hand, looking at the surprised boy. Right then he did remind a bit of the Flea Janus knew.
"Please tell me he's just a nutcase, kid!"
At first the small prince just stared at the Mystic in bewilderment. Then his small fingers flew to his lips, as if their twitching tries to grow a smile baffled him even more.
'I hear ya,' spirit Flea's voice sourly stated in a distance, 'and I've never been so insulted in my entire life!'
'Does it feel better if I remind you that you're dead?' the Prince smirked.
'Ohh!' the Mystic grumbled and "stomped off".
"I don't know," the boy finally said and glanced at the wizard, "I met him two days ago."
"Oh good, then I'm not alone with this confusion!" Flea said with a dry chuckle and smiled as the child battled another wave of intruding new sensations aimed at his lips.
Janus watched the boy with fond hope. To have Flea cracking his cold asocial shell was not expected, but it seemed to be happening.
'Afraid of smiling, is he?' the Mystic sent over to the wizard via a thought.
'I was like that too,' Janus replied, 'had a hard time back in the place where we were born. You seem to be doing a good job though.'
'Heh. Don't like children that much but what the heck…'
"Okay, so he says that he's you," Flea said aloud and sarcastically pointed at Janus with his thumb, "so who are you?"
'This will be interesting…' the Pawn murmured.
The boy watched the monster in disbelief for a moment, not used to having anyone else but Schala show him genuine interest above the "worrying miscarriage" level.
"Why are you asking me?" he asked after a couple of seconds.
"Since I've already deemed him there out of his mind, you seem sensible enough. My name's Flea, nice to meet you."
Another short silence.
"Flea?" the boy finally repeated, battling another hesitant smile.
The Mystic rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, back in the good old days my family had names like Dreamer and Magician. Now we're stuck with insects! Can you guess what my mother's name was?"
Janus softly smiled as the boy slowly shook his head.
"No…?" he said, timidly.
"Spider," Flea said with a grimace, "but her brother was named Bumblebee so I suppose we two have it good. We just called him Bumble and he hated all of us for it. I think granny Termite was missing a few…"
The wizard of the three smiled broadly and even his mirrors allowed themselves something similar as a giggle escaped the boy. He covered his own mouth in surprise.
"It's alright, Janus," the wizard gently assured him.
'Congratulations,' he warmly sent Flea.
'Thanks. You owe me one.'
'Sure. And was his name really Bumblebee?'
'No, Dragon Fly. But Bumble sounds funnier.'
Janus couldn't help but chuckle aloud.
"The Flea I know will die standing if I tell him all of this," he said to cover it, not willing to risk the boy thinking that he was the joke.
The child was still in a critical mental state and Janus didn't want to take any chances.
"Are you feeling any better?" the grown one asked the smaller.
After hesitating a moment the boy nodded, trying a small smile. Janus returned it and helped him sit up.
"Your back is cleaned, I better tend to the insect collection now."
"Hey!"
The boy couldn't stop himself from giggling again.
Then suddenly he stopped smiling and pulled up his legs towards his chest, hugging his knees.
"Where's Schala?" he mumbled, watching the wizard who just sat down beside Flea.
"I'm not sure," the wizard said, grimmer than earlier, "but I'm going back to find her."
"I want to come too!" the child said, almost furious as he began to realize that he might be left behind.
"Janus, listen," the wizard said and sadly shook his head, "I came from the future to save you, to make sure that the time-loop in which prince Janus is safe would close. You need to grow stronger, like I did, to go back in time and rescue another one of us."
He watched the pale, angered face and shook his head again.
"I know how you feel, I hated my teacher when he told me the same. But if you don't refine your powers, then you won't be able to kill Lavos and help Schala."
"I can't… I have no powers!" the child protested, "I'm… uh…"
His voice trailed off and he stared down at his hands in disbelief as his memory caught up with something.
"Everyone in Zeal was wrong about you, Janus," the wizard softly said.
"If you can't use magic, then I'm a frog," Flea stated, causing three spirits and nearly also a wizard to whack their own foreheads due to the association.
The boy shifted his wide eyes between his hands and his guardians.
"Look kid," Flea mildly said, "I might not be as powerful as my ancestors but I'm a magician and I know magic when I see it. Just not used to seeing it in humans, but now I know where to look."
"But I…"
The child helplessly looked at Janus, who sighed.
"It's a long time, I know," he said, "but you need to do this to stop Lavos once and for all."
Watching the clenched jaw he sighed.
'Guess I'll have to lie a little to convince him,' he grimly thought.
'It will only be half a lie, after all,' the Pawn nodded.
"It's not only for Schala and Lavos," Janus said aloud, "it's for us too. If you don't also save yourself as a child, that Janus will grow up among the monsters."
The boy flinched and Janus clenched his teeth to continue.
"Look, I'm going to show you something…"
Grudgingly he turned to the child and swiftly pulled off his own shirt, revealing all the scars he had collected in the Mystic castle. The boy sucked in his breath and Flea cringed.
"I was saved, but I got these," Janus said, in his mind crossing his fingers, "the Janus who saved me had spent thirteen years being beaten up and brainwashed. He couldn't even remember his past; serving the monsters as Magus, Pawn of the Mystics. I'm sorry I scare you."
He quickly redressed and held out his palm to the boy.
"This isn't about me, it's your life," he said, "you can grow strong and have revenge against Lavos, and make Schala proud of you."
The boy watched the palm for a few seconds before he reached out and placed is smaller hand in it.
"Royal wizard?" he hesitantly said.
"That's my title, it doesn't have to be yours," Janus kindly said, "our lives will be different according to what you chose to do. And how the world here is set, Flea is different as I've pointed out already."
He glanced at the listening monster.
"How is king Guardia here?" he asked.
"He's okay," Flea said with a light shrug, "keeps the hostile monsters at bay as well as he can, allows peaceful to live among humans…"
He sighed and shook his head.
"What about the war?" he darkly asked.
"It was in its final phase when I got thrown through time again," Janus said with a light sigh, "the Mystics were loosing but it was barely."
"It's idiocy…" Flea growled and hit the ground with his fist, "Ozzie is out of his mind!"
"Ozzie?" the child repeated, a dark edge in his voice.
Flea nodded.
"Yeah, he wants to start a war and wipe out the humans," he grimly said, "as it is now I might just go to king Guardia and ask for his protection, I'm going to need it. I suppose they'll like a magic user, even if I'm rather crappy."
"You?" Janus mildly said.
"In compare to my ancestors, yes. What about yours?" the monster gruffly asked.
"I think you're just in loss of self confidence."
Flea's face hit the ground.
"You are all too right there," he said, muffled and bitterly, "magic is rather passé these days."
"How can you live without magic?" the child said, his own frustrated memories lashing out at the monster.
Flea looked up and shook his head.
"I've got magic, that's all I've got, kid. I'm no fighter. Look…"
He took off his glasses and turned them in his hand to show the boy how thick they were.
"I'm almost blind, so I can never battle with physic strength. So I get no respect, see?"
"And they all thought I was worthless because I couldn't use magic!" the child growled, confused and angry over this new concept.
Janus remained silent, waiting and watching the evolution.
"Almost all monsters can use a little magic," Flea grunted and put his glasses back in place, "but they rely on brute force. I'm just a little bit better a magician than others. Understand?"
"At home magic was everything!" the child said.
"We're both misplaced, aren't we?"
The Mystic smiled a little without joy.
"I've wanted to blast a fireball right in Ozzie's fat face for years, and when I get the chance I miss," he sighed.
Meeting the boy's gaze he smiled a bit softer.
"I'm not that powerful. You however, you'll bypass me in a couple of years and then you can send that toad flying through the walls of his big castle."
"I… could?" the child hesitantly said, but there was something new in the back of his eyes.
"What would you be, nine, ten?" Flea asked and shrugged, "maybe a little too young to take chances. But it wouldn't be much longer, would it?"
He looked up at Janus, who shook his head with a smirk.
"I plan on doing something like that as soon as I get back," the wizard said, "but I'll stay here a little while and help both of you get stronger, if you want."
Flea dryly chuckled.
"I wouldn't turn down an offer like that even if I was crazy," he said and looked ahead, "what about you, kid?"
The boy hardly hesitated at all this time before nodding, and it was with resolve in the small, green eyes. He reached out a hand and Flea took it with a small, excited smirk. Janus closed his hands over the two finer ones.
"But before I go anywhere else I want a damn explanation!" Flea suddenly stated after a few moments of symbolic silence.
"Yes, of course…" Janus chuckled and let go.
'Look what I found!'
"… But I think we're missing someone," the wizard added after hearing the call in his head, smiling at the boy.
"What…" he begun, but followed his older versions gaze.
One of the bushes surrounding the small grassy platform moved and a cat with purplish fur leaped out with a happy meowing.
"Alfador!" the boy called in pure joy and caught the animal in a tight hug.
'Let's just hope that doesn't become his only friend again…' the spirit Flea muttered, 'though I wouldn't worry too much.'
'Oh?' the Prince said, surprisingly mild.
'Really, no.'
"How come everybody knows about these people Schala and Lavos around here," the living Flea grunted, but with a chuckle, "even the kitty talks about them."
Janus raised an eyebrow and the boy looked up in surprise.
"What, it's not that hard," the magician mildly said.
"Can you understand what he says?" the boy asked, intrigued.
"Sure, he's glad to see you… and he's wondering where he is, but it's okay since you're back. So cute I think I'll get sick…"
The tone of his voice got them all smiling again.
"Now really," Flea said, "who's Schala and Lavos?"
Janus opened his mouth but quickly closed it again as the boy burst out:
"She's my sister, and Lavos fooled all of us! We all thought he was a god but he… and the black wind…"
"Hey whoa," Flea said, waving with his hand, "take it from the start, alright? I'm in the dark here."
The boy took in a deep breath to calm down and looked up at the wizard before starting again, a bit hesitant. But Janus nodded encouragement.
"Schala is my sister," the boy then begun, "we lived in Zeal and…"
Smiling to himself Janus resumed picking pieces of cloth from Flea's wounds while the monster fascinated listened to the child's tale.