Chapter 29, One last day

An unearthly wind threw Janus' long hair around, moving the sweaty locks with unnaturally slow movements. The hair got plastered against his skin for short moments before it was torn away in the never ending dance again.

The ground beneath his hands and knees pulsated, feeling hot and cold at the same time as strange colors waved past. He thought that he could see scenes from various places in history somewhere in the blur, but they were too obscure for the tired brain to properly grasp.

A slamming and crashing sound was heard from somewhere ahead, but all directions were distorted.

Help…

Janus tried to stand as he heard the whisper, his right hand weakly fumbling for the broken remain of his staff. Shattered steel glistened just by the border of his sight.

"Hang on…" he hoarsely growled, trying to blink the sweat away from his eyes.

Something gigantic and white filled up his eyesight and a hairy tentacle slowly pushed at his chin from below, forcing his head upwards.

'Well, well. Just as I thought.'

The eerie eyes below the glass bubble shone with abdominal delight.

'Prince Janus himself.'

"Took you that long to recognize me?" Janus spoke through his teeth, glaring at the demon before him through eyes thin with pain and grief.

He could see the wrecked shell of Robo lying a few yards behind their enemy. Crono hung in the giant right hand of the beast, his clothes covered with blood and his face hidden by his heavy, sticky hair.

'I wasn't completely sure,' the voice smirked, 'my sight isn't what you humans seem to define it as. Quite a feast you have brought me, prince.'

Crono wobbly raised his head a little, just so that Janus could see his sole working eye. The other had taken a bad slash a few moments ago; even if he survived it wasn't healable.

Do someth… I can't… he whispered without any strength.

His neck couldn't carry his head and it fell again.

'Humans are silly beings…' Lavos said with a smirk, 'I killed him once and he still comes back to die again.'

The lifeless young man was brought up for closer inspection.

'Hmm… I see he's more powerful than I thought after all. Delicious…'

Janus weakly scratched for the giant hand before him, gritting his teeth as his left, broken arm screamed through the rest of him.

The indescribable face turned to him again with amusement.

'What is it, prince?' Lavos smirked, 'still not giving up?'

"You damn parasite…"

He was flipped upwards, almost tumbling over on his back but managed to heavily land sitting on his knees. The agony that the broken arm sent flaring throughout his body almost robbed his consciousness.

If he had had more strength left, that position would probably have made him prefer falling completely. But as it was he couldn't bring himself to care. It didn't matter anymore…

'Were you saying something?'

Janus' head slowly shook without any force, his hair whipping at his face.

"It's me you want, damn you," he snarled, "leave Crono alone."

There was a cruel laugh.

'How cliché, hero.'

The hand encircled his entire torso and he couldn't do anything about it. Even if Janus had been able to move, his arms were now being pressed against his sides in an iron grip. His wounds and the arm burned, the pain was so intense that he couldn't get a single sound past his lips.

'Nevertheless, it is true. And I'm hungry after this little fight.'

The full force of the parasite's will blazed through Janus' mind, tearing every last thought and memory to pieces.

'Janus!'

"Argh!"

With a dampened shout of horror he sat straight up in the dusk. He blinked, disoriented for a couple of seconds.

'Really now, how can a hero like you have nightmares?' Flea's voice surprisingly gently said as the wizard slowly raised his hands to rub his face.

"Good lord…" Janus sighed with relief, still panting a bit.

'Especially considering it was Lavos who should have been on his knees at the end,' the magician added with a chuckle.

'You were really deep down, we've been calling you for the last ten minutes,' Janus' old teacher said and shook his head.

'Lovely,' Janus thought, sighing and throwing the damp blanket aside.

There was a knock on the door.

"Are you alright, lord Janus?" a male voice called, "I heard something…"

"It's nothing," the wizard called back and cleared his throat as he was hoarse of sleepiness, "I just had a nightmare."

"Are you certain there isn't another assassin about to cut your throat?" the guard outside suspiciously asked.

Janus dryly chuckled and stood, a bit wobbly at first but managing. His hand absentmindedly reached out for a light cloak hanging on the wall and he draped it over his shoulders since he only wore a pair of dark, soft pants. He pulled the door open and gave the soldier a tired but calming smile.

"Thanks for the concern," the wizard said, "but I'm fine."

"One never knows when it comes to you, even if the Mystics seem to be complying," the man replied with a slanted smile.

"I doubt you'll have to worry more about me, with Flea dead. Good night."

"The same to you, sir."

Janus closed the door and leaned his forehead against it, his smile fading in the darkness.

'You really won't have to worry about me soon…'

'We're leaving,' the Prince announced.

For once, Flea didn't even comment. He just obeyed, together with the Pawn. It was surprising, but somewhere deep down Janus had understood that the dead Mystic really wasn't such an annoying fellow by nature.

The wizard stood motionless for a handful of seconds, trying not to think.

Finally he went back to his bed and heavily sat down. His eyes had begun to get used to the little light the moon and stars provided, but there wasn't much he could see. Nothing that he normally didn't either. He knew the room like the back off his hand…

'Nighttime isn't the best time to think…' he gruffly reflected, rubbing his forehead, 'every thought seems to become bigger.'

It was not much of a sensible thought, that. But he wasn't in the mood for making sense.

The nightmare wasn't really about Lavos; it was about the wizard's anguish in facing the losses he'd have to go through in the next couple of days.

With the Mystics and future patched up, nothing bound him to Guardia any longer. At least, there was no threat he was needed to ward off anymore. The kingdom didn't need a wizard any longer, even if most people didn't know it.

The whole Mystic business had been taken cared of quickly. Since there was a magic time limit on the armband Skeeza had given Janus, he hadn't wanted to take any chances and travel in time before he was free of it. He was after all rather fond of both his hands.

King Guardia had of course been very surprised as the situation was explained, who hadn't been? But the option of a peace treaty was stronger than any surprise, and things were easy enough to line out when both parts understood the deal. Now the monsters were withdrawing from the main land with vague but hopeful promises of future amends and trade.

As Skeeza now knew how things were, she would doubtlessly keep Ozzie and the others under control.

Even Cyrus' soul was put to rest, at last. This eased both Frog and the wizard's guilty minds.

That was all well.

But it severed Janus' life as a royal wizard, if indirectly. Now Schala needed him more than his home did.

He wouldn't have to worry about Lavos anymore either, the Black Omen was destroyed in Zeal and the apocalypse was stopped in the future.

The alien's core had been an easy fight, since it had needed a short while to reload whenever changing attacking mode. That had given the warriors time to send whoever was most hurt off to the End of Time and exchange him or her for somebody who had rested.

As the core was penetrated however, the final group had been decided.

Crono, since he had been the group's leader throughout the journey, not to mention the fact that he had been killed by the beast and deserved to pay it back personally.

Robo; it was his future at stake. He had the full right to fight for his world since he was the one of the warriors who would live with the results.

That Janus would be in the final group wasn't much to argue against, since he had more reasons than anyone else.

After the victory there had been a rather teary-eyed goodbye, of course. So much for the heroes. Of course, they'd meet again, in one way or another…

Janus gazed towards the sky at the thought, his lips almost moving into a smile again. But just almost.

'I suppose it'll be alright…'

But it was sad, in a way.

In any case, it would never be the same again.

'But it'll be better than my future relationship with Guardia…'

Time for retirement…

He silently cursed the word.

Why did it have to be so hard?

Sighing, he stood and looked out of the window. The familiar landscape with the trees and distant ocean greeted him, as he was used to.

It was his second last night in this room.

'Might as well be my last, if Lai gets me drunk again tomorrow I'll end up in the infirmary…'

He smirked a little, joylessly.

Tomorrow…

'Great, just great…'

With a grunt he tiredly rubbed his eyes.

Celebrations were just fine in his view; there would be one for the end of the war in all towns. But there would be a ball in the castle, open for everyone, but a ball nonetheless. And that wasn't exactly on the list of things the wizard was fond of.

He would have preferred that his last day in Guardia would have floated past just as they normally did, but it was just as well that the ball marked the end. For even though he truly loved his life in the kingdom, worry for Schala was pulling at him and he knew he should leave as soon as possible.

He sighed again and shook his head.

Schala needed him, but there were others that also did.

Janus closed his eyes and tried to wrestle his thoughts off a certain young woman. As usual, it didn't work very well.

He didn't feel very tired, and anyhow his sheets didn't feel very welcome since he had been sweating a lot of the nightmare. The wizard chose to forget the fact that he could change them with a mutter and wave of his hand.

Instead he shook his head as he muttered another spell, while gripping the cloak's lace so that it got draped tighter around him. As the cloth settled he vanished from human sight. Invisible and untouched by any material he left his room, walking straight through the door.

Like a ghost spreading a gentle breeze the royal wizard moved through the familiar halls of the castle, without any real plan. Just reliving it for the last time in the position he had gained. He avoided all rooms where people were sleeping, because he knew it would be too painful to see anyone right then.

Outside, the spirits were talking, unheard and just as unseen as the one they had been watching over. Well, two of them were.

Flea "sat" on the branch of a tree, several yards above ground. He swung his seemingly delicate legs while humming to himself, as if he was trying to ignore the world.

'I suppose I better go back to my own quest,' the Pawn said and glanced at the silent castle, 'he'll just follow my trace now. Still, it seems wrong to leave him when he's already being torn up as it is.'

'He probably don't want us watching him on that stupid ball,' the Prince replied, more gruff than needed which showed that he was hesitating as well, 'it wouldn't surprise me if he can dance too.'

He pinched the bridge of his nose at the final phrase, tightly shutting his eyes in disgust.

'Well, at least I didn't teach him that,' the old teacher said with the hint of a smirk.

'I give you as much.'

They were silent for a moment, during which the Prince threw a glance at Flea while frowning as he tried to place the melody.

'I know I shouldn't ask,' the Pawn finally sighed, 'but…'

His mirror even smiled a little, despite the repeated glance at the Mystic.

'You're near the right place,' the older said, 'keep looking.'

'They could have saved us some time and made the damn library a little smaller.'

'Guardia history.'

'Thank you.'

The Pawn watched the older warlock for a few seconds, then followed his deepened frown towards Flea. The Mystic smirked without looking up or letting his humming stop.

'What is it?' the younger asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Quit singing that idiotic song,' the Prince growled.

Finally the third spirit looked up and snickered with wide eyes.

'But, but milord, I wrote it myself just for you!'

'What?' the Pawn said, rather surprised.

'It's one of the worst things he ever thought of,' the Prince coldly said and glared at his old general, 'now stop it or you'll "have something to fear because I'm near".'

'No, no, you got it wrong,' Flea instructed and swiftly ducked, 'it's "as long as you're near, there's nothing to fear", you rephrased it. Yikes!'

'It wouldn't have made sense if he hadn't,' the Pawn commented, unheard since Flea was too busy trying to get away and the Prince too occupied with trying to get a hold of his throat.

The younger spirit shook his head.

'I don't want to know…' he muttered to himself.

Morning came, as it usually did.

The castle and Truce bristled with activity even before the sun rose, as the inhabitants tried to fix the last minute preparations as quick as possible, before the evening even begun thinking about approaching.

With a hundred things to do, nobody noticed that a small group of people weren't participating in the happy laughter and talks. Especially as those three did their best to stay alone, managing more or less.

'You'll just give us a call whenever you need us and we'll do our best to show up,' the Pawn kindly said.

Janus tried to smile a bit, idly turning the pages on the book before him, leaning his cheek in his hand.

'Hate to admit it but I think I'll miss your bickering,' he admitted.

'Oh, you're welcome,' Flea said, his arms loosely hanging like his pigtail.

He looked up with a slight grunt and wrinkled his nose at the Prince.

'Hey, are you going to let go or not?'

'At least now we'll all be free of headaches,' the oldest blue-hair calmly said, completely ignoring the Mystic whose ankle he casually held on an arm's length.

Janus joylessly smiled.

'Always a good thing. You three take care now, as well.'

'Don't worry about it, as long as this guy here keeps from getting poss…'

Flea didn't get any longer as the Prince said his goodbye and vanished, taking his old general with him.

'Keep an eye on the boy you saved, will you?' the Pawn said with a faint smile, 'no telling what he and his Flea manage to get themselves into.'

'I will.'

'Good luck on your journey.'

'The same to you.'

'Just promise me to never again do anything alike the things you've done with us watching.'

Janus even chuckled at that.

'I'll do my best not to,' he said.

'I can't really believe you, but there's always hope…' the Pawn smiled and vanished.

The wizard leaned back and sighed a bit. His head felt utterly empty again, it would take a while to get used to it.

'I hate facing losses…'

He stood and put the book aside, running his hand over the small shelf of books. Half of the shelf was occupied by the scrolls of magic that he had studied, all well sealed with magic not to fall into the wrong hands. Of course, no human apart from maybe Lai and Glenn would have any use for the texts, but you could never be too sure.

The books were some notes he had done on his own about magic – sealed just like the scrolls – and a few historical novels that he'd gotten from various people as gifts. When there wasn't any training to take care of or assassin attacking, even Janus needed something to do.

With a snap of his fingers the scrolls and books disappeared. That was about it, he hadn't exactly collected many personal objects.

He crossed the floor to his not exactly impressive wardrobe and opened it. Well, he could use the change of clothes of course. Off they went with a snap. All but one set, which he took out with a grunt and held up for inspection.

It had taken a bit of a strain to keep this off his mind when thinking of the ball. His oldest mirror had vented a lot about Janus' way of acting – several times truly rightfully – but this might just have done it. The wizard hadn't even wanted his teacher commenting, and definitely not Flea.

It was bad enough as it was.

Music lingered out from the castle, mingling with the tunes heard from the town not too far away. Lanterns lit up the paths through the forest and things were overall a lot more noisy than usual.

Frog did his best to smile and reply well whenever anybody greeted him, but he couldn't really muster the joy that the celebration asked for. He already carried the loss that the following day would carry to Guardia.

And it seemed he wouldn't be able to use the evening as he would have wished; talking about old times with Janus and Lai would have been favorable. But the lady of their troop was nowhere to be seen, and getting a hold of the wizard would be quite a problem.

Leene's guardian got his share of praise as a hero, finally everyone was treating him as an equal despite his appearance. He wished he could enjoy it more, even if it soon wouldn't mean much since the spell was about to break.

But the main attention was put on Janus. Frog couldn't even see his friend for all the people, but he could hear him trying to excuse himself. A faint smirk touched the guardian's big lips, however it had a short lifespan.

"Is something wrong, Frog?"

He turned and looked up at queen Leene, bowing politely.

"My mind is simply clouded with a slight worry for the future, my liege," he admitted.

She crouched down a little to get into his eye-level, with the whisper of moving flounces and silk. Her dress this night had a shade of teal, not much unlike the light-green dress she normally wore. A golden necklace with a few blue gems glistened around her neck.

He guardian hadn't bothered to dress up for the occasion; he still didn't like mirrors and anyway he didn't have any special clothes. He wore his normal white shirt and blue pants, but had at least exchanged his green cloak to a somewhat lighter one in a blue hue.

"What is it?" the queen said with a friendly tone that ached in her friend's chest.

Frog figured that he might as well let some of his worries go. She and everyone else would discover the lie about him soon enough and he would hopefully feel less like a traitor…

As for Janus' leave, it was not his place to announce it.

"The nature of the curse that binds me to this form is that it is connected to the spell casters' life," he told his liege, "and thus, as Flea is dead I will soon become a human again."

"But that is wonderful, is it not?" Leene said with a careful smile, confused by her guardian's sadness.

Frog slowly nodded.

"'Tis true, I desire my human guise. However I fear that when I revert, the truth that was hidden will anger many."

"How so? Don't worry, I promise I won't get mad at you."

"As the war raged on, I saw the need for people to retain their hope less they would suffer greatly. Thus, I…"

He trailed off and looked away.

"I could not bring the sad news to thee, to anyone," he bitterly said, "that Cyrus had fallen under the hand of the Mystics and his friend was left alive but horribly twisted by evil magic."

The sound of a quick intake of breath hurt like daggers.

"So is the truth," he forced himself to say, "I hath deceived thee and I even made Janus follow the lie in my fear of bringing such foul news."

For a moment none of them said anything. Then Leene finally spoke.

"So you are Glenn?"

He nodded, silently. The queen reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, making him look up.

"I understand that you had reasons, since everybody put their trust in Cyrus to defeat Ozzie," she said and smiled a bit, "lying is not a particularly good thing, but we did need the light of hope during the war. So let's call it a guardian lie, shall we?"

For the first time during the evening Frog managed to smile honestly.

"I thank thee, my liege."

"We've gone through too much in the last few years to let such a thing tear up alliances," she gently said.

She chuckled a little.

"I know you have a problem dancing as it is now, so let's say we're saving that until the curse wears off."

"'Twould be an honor," Frog said, returning the short laugh.

He glanced at the crowd surrounding Janus and smiled a bit.

"Right now I trust our wizard would be happy to be saved from the attention, however," he said.

Leene straightened up, still letting her hand rest on her guardian's shoulder.

"I can see that…"

She looked around and frowned.

"Where is Lai, come to think of it?"

"I hath not seen her…" Frog said and shook his head.

"Oh well, I'll see what I can do to rescue Janus, as she's not here. I will see you later, Glenn."

"I thank thee, Your Majesty."

The queen smiled at him one last time and then crossed the floor, slyly using her authority to get through to Janus. He gratefully bowed as she asked for a dance and followed her to the open floor.

This was another thing he was glad his guardians did not see. He hardly believed it himself.

Frog's smile managed to survive for a few more moments, floating in relief. But eventually the next problem returned to haunt him again.

'Where is Lai?' he thought, glancing around again.

Her absence was starting to worry him. She should be present in the castle… Lai definitely wasn't the kind to duck out of something like her teacher's last night in the country. Her feelings for the celebration in itself was shared by the rest of the magic using trio though.

For a moment his mind touched the possibility of still hostile Mystics, until his logical sense pointed out that if any monster had attacked Lai then it would have been heard. If not for the burning screams, then at least Janus should have gotten a telepathic call.

In the middle of the thoughts Frog couldn't help but smirk a bit. Everything seemed to circle around Janus sometimes.

'No matter how much he attempts to shove it away…'

He collected himself quickly though and started moving through the great hall, looking around for the female magician. But she was nowhere to be found.

The heat inside was starting to wear him out, and as he couldn't find his friend he decided to take a break to get some fresh air. Exciting the great hall and walking outside, he threw a glance down the stairs and couldn't help but roll his eyes at the coincidence.

"Why art thee here and not inside?" he gently asked as he sat down beside Lai on one of the lower steps.

Despite the early October it wasn't a very cold night, but the last days had been unusually warm overall. It was probably the only reason that Lai could sit outside, considering her outfit. Despite herself, everyone's given up hopes and the laws of the universe she wore a dress.

It was in a smooth, creamy white cloth and plain without any adornments, reaching down just above her ankles as it was stretched by her pose. The sleeves were slick against her arms down to the wrists were they fell down in a few big waves of silky material. A matching cloak gently flowed down Lai's back and the flame necklace glistened around her neck.

The wearer didn't look very gentle, however, not with her heavy leaning on her own knees and the half emptied wine glass in her hand.

"Why would I?" she gruffly said and took a deep swing of the liquid.

"Art thee drunk?" Frog carefully said.

"Not yet, but I'm working on it."

She glared at the glass and smirked for a second.

"This is about what he needs to go out like a light. Weakling…"

Her sneer died and the glass shattered against step higher up the stair.

"Goddammit!" Lai snarled and slammed her forehead down on her knees.

Very carefully Frog put his small hand on her shoulder.

"If thou care for my advice, this night should not be spent in pity like this."

"There's no damn use, Glenn!" she snapped and shook her head without looking up.

"Thou will regret it."

"I already am…"

She straightened up and leaned her cheek in her hand.

"The worst part is that he expects me to get married and have a bunch of stupid kids so history can bloody close. I swear I'd strangle Lucca if I could…"

"'Twas probably why neither Janus nor me allowed her to enter the castle if we could prevent it," Frog mildly said.

"Damn traitor…" Lai grunted.

"I apologize, my friend."

Lai muttered something inconceivable, looking away to avoid the big, black eyes' understanding sadness. For a moment none of them said anything, then she frowned when she heard Frog chanting in a low voice.

"What the heck are you… aww, Frog!" she complained as the light mist she had managed to assemble drifted away from her mind, "now I have to start all over again!"

The short swordsman smiled warmly as he stood.

"I wish thee the sweetest evening of thy life," he said and walked back up the stair.

"Fat chance…" Lai muttered, turning away again as a white figure took the green one's place, "and you look like a bloody saint in that outfit as usual."

Janus heavily placed his arms on his knees with a soft sigh.

"Yeah, I know."

It was simply described as white. White shirt and pants, with a belt decorated with a golden buckle. Spiraling and twisting embroideries in gold threads fell down his chest as well. And on top of that the cloak even carried a picture of Guardia's royal crest.

In golden threads, what else.

"Was wondering when you'd get out here," Lai finally muttered, bitterly.

"Took Frog to find you for me and Leene to get me away from the peacocks."

"You really can't do anything on your own, can you?"

"Not in these situations."

Janus tried to chuckle but it turned into a groan and his forehead connected with his arms.

"Goddammit…"

"And quit mimicking me," Lai said, rather harshly as she wasn't in the best of moods.

"Alright, how about 'shohkon' then?" Janus muttered without moving.

"You just said the same in Zealan, didn't you?" she grunted in a bored voice.

"Pretty much."

They sat in silence for a while.

Eventually Lai glanced at her teacher and couldn't help but feel a softer bitterness as she watched his slumped form.

A couple of people passed by on their way into the castle, giving the pair of magic users on the step puzzled looks. But they came to the wise decision of staying off and just passed by.

"Come on now, you look pathetic sweetheart," Lai finally murmured, much kinder than before.

Janus looked up and managed a joyless smile.

"I still can't define why your insults makes me feel better," he said, absentmindedly somewhat.

Lai shook her head and plopped her cheek back into her hand.

"Probably because you know I'm not really insulting you," she grunted.

Sighing, the wizard bent his neck and watched his white-clad arms.

"Yes, that's it."

Another silence fell, so thick with unsaid words that you would need the sharpest sword in all history to cut through it.

It was broken with the sound of gritted teeth.

"I can't believe this!" Janus snarled and straightened up.

"Hey!" Lai shouted in pure surprise as his arm encircled her waist and swiftly pulled her closer.

She wasn't against it, it was just that that had been the last thing she had expected.

Janus shook his head and avoided her raised eyebrows.

"I hate the mere thought of what I have to do," he growled, "this is my last night here and I refuse to spend it in this damn cold!"

There was a snort and the side of Lai's head gently landed on his shoulder, almost making him jump. He had rather awaited a backhand straight in the face and been prepared to take it too. After all the times he'd chosen to neglect her due to history's needs, punishment for a badly timed sign of affection was the least Janus thought he deserved.

"Now you're all tense," Lai muttered, finally smiling a little.

"Awaiting to be well done any second now."

"Bah, you need to relax, sweetheart."

"So you say?" Janus said with a chuckle.

"You've got too much on your mind, and you deserve some enjoyment," she continued in a sweet, mocking enticing voice, "besides, you're funny when you're drunk."

The wizard rolled his eyes and softly laughed.

"I was rather hoping you'd do me the honor of lending your lovely company for the rest of this tiresome ball, young lady," he said.

"You've been around Frog far too much, hon."

"My nose thinks so too," Janus muttered, absentmindedly rubbing the now healed nose bridge that the swordsman had broken.

Lai laughed and straightened up, stretching her arms before her.

"Oh very well, just since you asked so nicely and I'd love to piss off those noble hens in there," she said.

"I'm honored."

With a chuckle he stood and offered her his arm, and she hooked hers on his with a light smirk.

"Just one thing, royal wizard," she said as they began walking up the stair.

"What?"

"Do something fairy taleish tonight, and I'll set your hair on fire."

"Oh no," he deeply sighed, "and the rain of roses by midnight would have been so pretty!"

"Can't be helped."

They exchanged grins and entered the music and warmth spilling out into the autumn night from Guardia castle. Tomorrow would be later, this night was theirs.

I had originally planned for Lai and Janus to kiss on the stair, but… it just didn't work. Sorry all Lai fans. Buuut, you never know… ;) Part 2 is in the works, might be out already when you read this.