The Janus Saga: A look on Another One, Part 2
Chapter 1, Old enemies and friends
The air smelled like dry sand, and the light was strangely gray. The only light source was a distant hole in the cave's ceiling, way up high.
The silence, however, wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. It had a hard time claiming its place since silence is the lack of sound, and somebody was swearing quite a bit.
"You blasted cross dressing freak!" the female voice snarled.
Her flow of insults turned into a hissed groan, accompanied by a stumbling sound.
"Cross body, sweetheart, not cross dresser," a voice that could be both male and female smiled, soft as silk.
"Leave her alone, thy foul beasts!" somebody harshly croaked.
The last speaker also hissed in pain a moment later, even though this time there was more sounds of struggle.
"Hey, hey now, greeny boy," the second voice smirked, "careful there or they'll have to break your little arms."
"Why can't you just stay dead you damn witch master?!"
"It's hard to stay dead if you never was. Your boyfriend should learn to aim better. Or maybe not…"
Flea smirked at Lai's twisted grimace.
"Come to think of it I rather prefer this, don't you?"
"Thou foul villain!" Frog spat, giving the two sorcerers holding him back a hard time.
"Go to hell!" Lai snapped at the pink Mystic.
"In due time, sweetheart," Flea smiled, waving his hand dismissively in front of the taller prisoner's nose.
He wisely and swiftly moved his fingers out of the way before the female magician managed to bite.
"Stop calling me sweetheart or I'll break your damn neck!" Lai snarled.
For the record, perhaps "damn" wasn't really the word she used. You may be the judge of that.
"You and Janus are so alike it's sickening, lady. Ah well, it was fun seeing you two again. Ta-ta now."
Winking with one eye in a warped imitation of a cute smile Flea snapped his fingers.
Somehow Lai managed to bend away as the freelancer behind her raised his sword at her neck, nearly twisting her wrists free from the fat hands of the goblin. But only nearly. She hissed as the bird-creature sent out his other hand and grabbed her hair.
Of course, Frog wasn't one to just watch all this happen in silence.
"Thou snakes crawling in the scum, accursed beasts! Let her be! At the least kill me first, thou rats!"
The sorcerers brandished their yellowed, curved teeth as they laughed, as did their friends. Apart from Flea, who cutely covered his lips with his hands as he snickered.
"Ah, always the hero. Not that it matters, it's fine by me."
Frog growled as the freelancer turned at him, struggling despite his offer.
"Hey, it was your idea," the giant bird screeched, sounding like a hen as he spoke.
The monsters laughed even more at that, but the laughter ceased suddenly in surprise as a fireball slammed into the bird's back and threw him onto the ground with its sheer force. Through the rage Lai blinked, frowning upon noting that her desperate blow hadn't even left a burn mark on the simple armor of the monster. She exchanged a quick glance with Frog before turning back at the monsters before her.
Growling the freelancer got back to his feet, not for a moment letting go of his sword.
"Bad girl," Flea tsked, waving warningly with his pointing finger, "even though shooting a fireball with your eyes was an interesting one."
He looked closer and chuckled, cocking an eyebrow.
"I think you lost your eyelashes however, for shame…"
"Will you just shut the hell up?!" Lai roared, about to fall over as she struggled.
Her face twisted into a grimace again as her broken ankle screamed in pain. The fall through the ground and into the cave should have rendered both her and Frog unconscious, but Flea had made sure they stayed away from at least that. As the two warriors fell into the trap, the magician momentarily stopped their fall just midway before letting go again. They hadn't been knocked out, but weren't left unscathed. Frog could stand, but Lai highly suspected he had broken at least one rib. The sound as he hit the ground was unmistakable.
'Damn, damn, damn!' the woman desperately thought, trying to fight back the crippling pain.
She knew well that her green friend desperately wanted to help her, but he could do nothing more than save her life for a few more minutes by sacrificing his own. Any attempt to use magic would easily be blocked by his guards, and Lai couldn't heal.
'Hell no!'
"Don't touch him you giant rooster!" she snarled as cold metal neared Frog's neck.
The knight's big lips twitched a little in a joyless smile, trying to silently tell her that he was grateful for her care in these their final moments.
Lai glared at him, furious that he already seemed to have accepted that nobody was going to come running and save them. She knew it all too well herself, but still her mind refused to embrace the cold truth.
"The two of you would make such a cute couple," Flea said with a roll of his eyes, "I think I'm going to be sick…"
"Just out of curiosity, how long did it take you to plan this shit?" Lai spat, desperate to win Frog any second she could.
Just like he wouldn't stand see her being murdered, she couldn't allow it either.
Flea waved at the freelancer to wait another moment, and the big bird straightened up a bit, lowering his sword.
"Sounds to me like your loosing your grip of insults, sweetheart," the pink Mystic stated with a smile.
"Don't call me sweetheart."
"Ah, royal wizard alike royal wizard… that's also nauseatingly cute."
"That pet name is a goddamn thing between me and Janus, you stay the hell off it, you freak!" Lai snarled.
"I figured as much."
Flea smirked and shook his head.
"It's always about Janus when it comes to you, isn't it?" he said, snickering at the young woman.
She bared her teeth in rage.
"'Oh damn, I'm in a jam, come and help me Lai'!" Flea mockingly said, waving his hands melodramatically, "that's our great hero in shining armor."
"Shut the hell up, Flea!" Lai and Frog (very much despite himself) hissed at the same time.
"I should have had you killed years ago, girl," the Mystic sighed, "now that would have been a show. But it doesn't matter much now I suppose."
As Lai was completely focused on glaring heatedly at Flea, she – alike the others – did not notice Frog's eyes twitch.
"Perhaps he didn't manage to kill you, but you didn't get to kill him either!" the wizard's student lashed out at the Mystic.
"Oh, I am hurt," Flea mocked a gasp.
As the next voice spoke, time seemed to slow down for as long as the sound floated into the air.
"You really will be soon, because I strongly plan to make a ribbon of your entrails and hang you from a tree in it."
Flea straightened up and slowly turned around as the other monsters began to growl and Lai's grimace melted like a blackened icicle in spring. Not even the pain in his chest could stop Frog from grinning.
"Or is this a bad time?" Janus coldly said, taking his staff in both hands.
"No, you're just in time," Flea icily smiled and snapped his fingers.
The freelancer drew back his sword, spinning at Lai.
"Freeze!" Janus roared, dashing forwards.
With Flea's mind immediately starting to corrode the paralyzing spell it didn't work for more than three seconds, but that was all the wizard needed to reach his friends and tear them away from their guards. In the haste he couldn't be as gentle as he wished, and there was no time to chant a healing spell as he moved. Despite their doubled pain due to the rough escape, Lai and Frog weren't too spiteful.
Janus more or less threw them aside to whirl around at the first sorcerer after only a couple of yards. His staff sent it flying backwards, and Flea neatly sidestepped the crashing monster. The remaining three servants growled hungrily but instead of attacking they seemed to wait for an order.
The wizard frowned.
"Powers of the world…" he whispered as he got a moment's peace just before whatever move Flea was going to do.
"What the hell took you so long?" Lai softly grunted as the pain in her ankle numbed.
"Sorry," Janus muttered without turning his eyes away from the monsters.
"I am but grateful that thee came in time, my friend," Frog said with a smile.
The wizard nodded absentmindedly, changing the grip of his staff warily.
"Are you done reuning yet?" Flea sarcastically asked.
Janus dared a glance at his friends.
"Not quite, I think we're missing some equipment," he replied.
"Right over there, cutie."
Flea pointed towards the distant wall to his right, slightly behind him and his cohorts.
"Come and get them if you want them," he invited with a smirk.
The goblin, freelancer and sorcerers looked too sure of themselves for being so few. They should know well that they weren't any match for the wizard, even together. Flea's presence shouldn't be able to bring them that much confidence.
"You two notice anything funny about those four?" Janus hissed from the corner of his lips.
"We hath not much chance to fight, but Lai's fireball seemed to cause the bird mystifyingly little harm," Frog whispered.
Lai nodded, even if Janus wasn't looking. He was watching the Mystics suspiciously.
"I thought all monsters were in fear of Skeeza," he pointed out, experimentally.
"Ah yeah, Ozzie's sweet little wife…"
Flea rolled his eyes.
"True, she's got sovereign power over the regular Mystics, but I don't fear her like the others."
"You should, you know."
"I'm keeping my distance, if you hadn't noticed."
"Ah," Janus said with a faint smirk.
He turned grave again just as quickly.
"And how about your playmates then?" he wondered.
At this, Flea gave a dangerously sweet smile.
"I'm glad you asked, Janus my boy," he said and held up his hand as if showing something off, "if these were regular monsters they would be covering under that boring tyranny."
"I figured as much," Janus growled and moved his feet into a defensive stance, gripping his staff tighter as the freelancer straightened up.
And the bird continued to straighten.
His hand and sword grew into each other while his beak shrunk into an insectoid face and his eyes became bigger. The free hand grew a sword-alike claw of its own and giant, transparent wings sprouted from the hardening, now greenish back.
"Of all foulness…" Frog growled while the familiar mantis took on the air.
Janus backed closer to his two friends, protecting.
"I hope you have a backup plan, sweetheart," Lai hissed as one of the sorcerers began to quickly grow thinner and shadier, while the other one sprouted legs.
"I'd teleport us out of here if I could," he muttered back, "but I have a tingling feeling in the back of my head that Flea's planned for such a thing."
The pink Mystic just smiled, folding his arms casually while his servants finished their transformations.
Janus glared at the skeletal form that had been a sorcerer mere seconds ago. It still had its original face, but it was much taller now and its even earlier fierce claws had turned to daggers. Bluish skin was now a somewhat transparent gray, seemingly floating around the creature's bones as it moved.
It reminded far too much of his first magic-proof assassin, which caused Janus to clench his teeth even more. He knew he could handle one, possibly two of the specialized beasts at once, but not four. Especially not if he had to protect Frog and Lai at the same time.
He knew he should have seen something like this coming and moved with more care, but seeing that his friends were inches from having their heads severed he had been forced to reveal himself.
The second sorcerer finished his altering of form, ending up as a sturdy wolf-being standing safely on his back legs. Drool already showed around the razor-sharp teeth as the almost completely yellow eyes hungrily scanned the wizard.
Meanwhile the goblin had lost all resemblance to its earlier looks, save the green color. The bulky body had become long and slithering, supported on three pairs of strong legs. A long, yellow tongue licked the air, sickly greenish poison dribbling from its teeth.
"You don't have a backup plan, do you?" Lai darkly concluded from Janus' lack of decent reply.
"Well…"
"Masamune, cometh to my hand!" Frog shouted.
Over by the wall enchanted steel reflected the poor light as it rose from the floor.
"Hey, cheater!" Flea said, but without any true anger.
The monsters didn't even try to stop the sword as it zoomed past them and into Frog's trained grip. He stumbled as the weight flexed his muscles, with a groan touching his chest.
"Na matala sela…" Janus snarled, numbing the pain again.
Broken bones took more than a simple healing spell like that to heal, they needed a bit more care. And the monsters were fully aware of that.
The teleporting was blocked, and Lai definitely wouldn't be able to run with her ankle. She was still on the ground where Janus had left her, unable to stand. Frog could maybe run, but the pain would slow him, and if the wizard tried to carry them they'd never get away.
No teleporting…
Janus' eyes thinned a little.
'Hang on, I just got a backup plan,' he sent to his friends.
'It better not involve thy poor sense of diplomacy,' Frog sharply told Janus only.
'Not this time, I promise,' Janus lightly smirked at his green friend before turning to both again, 'I'm not sure if it'll work, in any case we'll need to break Flea's concentration for a second so that he won't be able to stop me.'
'I can try something,' Lai grimly thought.
'Alright. Frog, be ready to help her stand, you'll only need to take a couple of steps.'
"Fine," he said aloud and warily changed grip of his staff again, "let's get this over with, Flea."
"Sounds like a plan to me," the leader of the pack nodded.
He raised his hand and gave a quick wave.
Janus swung his staff at the ghastly creature, using his momentum to duck away from the mantis' claws. By more luck than skill he stumbled out of reach for the lizard's tail that tried to catch his ankle. Two seconds into the battle he had already had to avoid certain defeat three times, and it was obviously only a question of chances. Lai winced, shifting nervously.
The ghost snarled and tackled the mantis aside as they bumped into each other, giving the wizard one extra moment to twist out of the way for the werewolf's claws.
He stumbled over the lizard's slithering tail but rather gracelessly got back in balance with some help from the staff. Frog growled, his muscles tensing as he watched. But he had caught Flea's eyes and the small movement of the magician's hand, clearly stating with small means that any try to help would be thrown backwards. The warrior clearly understood, but his whole being flared with rage and will to attack.
Janus punched at the werewolf, in the next heartbeat swinging his staff at the whole snarling group.
"Oh hey, I forgot to tell you something!" Flea shouted over the growls from both teams.
"What?" Janus snapped, trying to catch his breath while his enemies spread out before him.
Half a second later he made a choked sound and the staff clattered against the floor. The wizard's arms ripped against his sides, pressed down by an invisible force.
"Janus!" Frog shouted, rushing forwards only to be flung back again by a wave of Flea's hand.
The swordsman crashed beside Lai, luckily the Masamune landed on his other side and didn't nearly threaten to hurt her. She didn't even look at her short friend, eyes thin as they flew between Janus and the leading Mystic.
"There's five of them," Flea purred.
'Anytime now, Lai!' Janus harshly sent his student.
'One sec…' she grimly replied, her lips whispering the words.
"And you call Frog a cheater?" the wizard snarled aloud, furiously trying to tear himself out of the unseen grip.
"Haven't you heard that everything is allowed in love and war?" Flea asked with an evil glistening in his eyes.
Lai's hand moved like a lightning bolt and the Mystic's smirk died instantly as he doubled over, clutching at the small dagger in his left arm. The assassins spun at their master, their focus shattered.
"Funny you should say that, you bastard," the woman coldly snarled with a killing glare.
"Oh, you'll regret that dearly…" the crossbody growled, tearing the bloodied steel out of his robe and flesh.
Janus rammed his head backwards, slamming its back into the face of whatever it was that held him. The invisible monster screeched in pain and rage; the grip loosened enough for the wizard to break free. He spun down and around to get his staff and move out of the way, snapping his fingers somewhere in the process.
A dark, flashing portal opened just where he had been standing before the battle started, as Flea's pain broke his concentration it was possible for Janus to work his escape plan.
Frog was a little wobbly after his head had hit the hard ground for a second time in a rather short while, but he was much steadier than Lai who despite numbing magic was quite pained by her ankle.
"Get in!" Janus shouted, dashing away from the assassins that dove for him in rage.
The swordsman had gotten up and was giving Lai a hand, the Masamune hanging in his other grip. They stumbled towards the darkness, as Janus reached them getting the final push needed to get into the unearthly colors.
"We'll finish this later, Flea!" the wizard shouted just before he dived for safety.
The Mystics' roars of rage rung in his ears and he clearly felt a hand sweep by his foot, loosing the grip due to his momentum however.
He fell out on the other side, the Gate already closing as he came out.
"Janus!"
With a grunt he got up on his knees, looking around with small gasps for air after the intense seconds. Nothing had followed them through.
"I think we made it," he concluded and turned to his two friends, both of them also breathing a bit harder than normally.
Frog's breath was a bit ragged due to his chest of course.
"But we art still here?" he said with a frown, glancing around.
The wizard looked up. The enormous cavern surrounded the three, but it was much lighter than before. The hole in the roof was much bigger, and small plants grew in the light falling through it. Frog was getting to his feet again, sheathing the Masamune. But Lai remained on the ground, prodded up on her arms somewhat but not feeling like moving too much.
"Let me see…"
Janus pressed two fingers against his forehead and muttered a few words in Zealan. Then he smiled a bit.
"I guess a hundred years keeping us apart should make even Flea and his pets stay away," he reported, "so we're…"
"I digress right there," Lai cut him off, "how… did you find us?"
The brief pause after "how" spoke of held back curses. She was still unable to completely shake off the rage and despair, but quickly getting there. Janus nodded.
"When I read a history book about Guardia I found a text telling about your tragic deaths here," he explained, pursing his mouth a bit with a frown, "so of course I came back to save you."
"I thank thee from the bottom of my heart, my friend," Frog said with a smile despite his lurking pain.
"You're welcome."
Janus smiled a bit. But as the wizard turned to Lai again, Frog noticed a strange glistening of uneasiness in his eyes. The swordsman choose not to ask though.
"Where have you been?" she demanded, but there was a soft tone in her voice, "two damn years without a single word, you should know better!"
Even when facing her chastising, Janus only smiled.
"I'll tell you everything later, alright?" he said, "as for now, we should get out of here. I'll put you to sleep and carry you outside, can't heal your ankle just like that. Shama na se."
Yellowish stars tingled around his fingertips.
"Now just a darn minute…" Lai protested, but Janus moved his hand in a gentle bow before her face.
She blinked in protest but helplessly lowered herself onto the ground, her eyes closing and the frown melting.
With a soft sigh Janus moved over to her side and carefully scoped Lai into his arms, wary of not moving or touching her wounded leg too much. Even if she was asleep there could be aftermath pain and he wanted to save her that.
"Can you manage?" Janus asked Frog, standing up and touching the staff with his heel.
The weapon flashed softly and disappeared like a puff of smoke, to whatever place it went through when being summoned as a thread of flames.
"I believe so," the shorter warrior nodded with a smile.
"Tell me if you need healing, at any sign of pain."
"Worry not, I canst use my own powers in need. But I thank thee."
"No problem."
They began to walk towards the other end of the cave. Frog spotted a hole in the furthest wall, earlier it had been hidden by the dusk and his own situation.
For a short while the two walked towards their goal in silence.
"But we must return later," the green one finally said with a grim frown, "how shalt we confront Flea and his warriors then?"
"We'll have to figure something out…" Janus gravely nodded, "I don't think just the three of us will be able to fight all of them, even in the best condition. As for now we can pretty much relax though, we should be safe here…"
He suddenly pinched his eyes shut and groaned.
"What is it?" Frog worriedly asked.
"Damn it all, Glenn…" the wizard growled and opened his eyes again, looking down at Lai's peaceful face.
Her head was gently rolled towards his shoulder for support, no viewable or hidden pain darkening her soft features in her slumber.
Janus sighed and shook his head.
"That you two were killed by Flea wasn't the only thing I found out," he bitterly said.
"What ails thee, Janus?"
The wizard held back another groan and looked at his concerned, waken friend.
"Lai's going to kill me, Glenn," he bitterly said, "I've really managed to mess up…"
Frog stopped and carefully crossed his arms, tapping his foot against the sandy ground. Janus turned around at him with a faint grimace, knowing what was to come.
"What hast thee done now?"
Bingo.
Janus told Frog.
Frog blinked.
Frog took in a deep breath, slowly.
"She will have thy hide, thou poor fool."
Janus nodded and winced as he turned to walk towards the exit again. The green friend followed, with a very uncharacteristic thought refusing to leave his mind.
'Idiot…'
He felt guilty for even thinking that about his comrade, but for the moment being not even the chivalrous swordsman could help himself. The truth that had been unveiled was simply too twisted.