Chapter 8, Of Memories and Knights
Guardia was enjoying an early spring. Leaves not bigger than mouse ears were tickling the branches of the trees and bushes, drinking the sunlight that flowed from the skies onto the world. The first few strands of grass curiously made their way above ground to explore the forest roads.
The first thing Schala saw as she stepped through the Gate together with Cered and Frog was her little brother, resting his hand against a thick tree trunk beside the grassy road they had stepped out on. Sunlight sparkled in his long blue hair, caressing his cheeks and closed eyelids.
Lai silently stood beside him, in an almost alien show of affection resting her hand on his shoulder. Just as silently, Molor had curled up by their feet. His dead, cold eyes held a soft, content look and he almost seemed to smile.
A sad smile touched the princess' lips as she watched. And she knew. She'd seen Cered in the same state of mind several times when they had returned to his home to rest. But for her sake, he always pushed it away for another amount of time. It was however something she knew that she could not ask of either of them to give up forever; the serene, welcoming embrace of the place they loved as their homes.
Her heart ached dully, still it didn't hurt as much as she'd thought it would. Her little brother was happy, and now she knew exactly where he was, just like he would know where she was in the past with the man she loved. The siblings had found each other only to realize that they had their own lives.
'I understand, Janus,' she softly sent to his mind, unwilling to break the peace by talking aloud.
It took him a moment to reply.
'I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to break away from here again, but I didn't want to hurt you,' he finally replied, his thoughts heavy with hesitance.
'You love this place, I can see it. That's all that matters,' she softly assured.
Another pause.
'Yes…'
Janus opened his eyes, smiling gently at nothing though there was a hint of sadness in his gaze.
'I'm sorry.'
'You know that I can't stay?' Schala whispered, and now it was her turn to sound sad.
'Better than you believe, sister,' he replied with a vaguely strange tone, 'but it's not like…'
'… We'll loose each other again, no,' the older sister gently agreed.
Janus looked around, the sadness in his eyes faltering.
"Fine, I'm done."
This earned him a few smiles and chuckles. Frog held up a hand.
"As well as thee dost feel it, my heart aches to calm the worried souls of our friends. But may I suggest that we save at the least Her Majesty from a heart attack?" he asked, nodding meaningly at the white tower of muscles on the ground.
"Actually, I was thinking of that. Don't give me that look," the wizard defended himself.
"Sure. We believe you," Lai murmured, nodding slowly.
"Bah. Molor?"
The snake straightened up with a nod, uncoiling himself as he slipped over the road towards the wizard. Then he suddenly lowered his head to the ground, turning himself straightly at Janus' shadow. Like a gigantic worm he slipped out of sight, into the hole of sunlight on the ground.
"That was a new one," Schala commented as the white tip of Molor's "tail" disappeared without a trace.
"Glad that you like it," her brother said and let his staff disappear, "shall we?"
"Would it be possible to see a map of this land?" Cered asked as they began to walk towards the north.
"Certainly," Frog nodded, "how so?"
The warrior of the past smiled, glancing up at the sky.
"I find a strange joy in studying how Garadia has changed over the thousands of years through which we have traveled," he explained.
"'Tis not a joy I would deem peculiar," the knight said in a friendly, conversational manner.
"Perhaps so… 'tis the castle?"
Cered squinted at the spires that could be seen just above the treetops.
"Yes, that's it," Janus replied over his shoulder, as he and Lai walked a couple of steps ahead.
"Indeed, 'tis very different from the palace in my homeland," the Garadian almost absentmindedly said, still watching the towers.
Schala pursed her mouth so that it truly looked like a very dry smile. It seemed that she had thoughts about the palace in Cered's time, which she would not voice however. She knew that the emperor was like a god to the people of Garadia, and there were limits she did not want to push.
They met a patrol as they neared the castle, ten soldiers following a knight. The sound of their armors had been heard a couple of minutes before the group met the troop.
The military men almost fell over each other as they came face to face with Janus, Lai and Frog, the latter slipping up beside his old-time friends to smile at the men under his command.
"I thought you said things had been peaceful," Janus commented, glancing at the general with a twitching smile.
Frog was about to reply, but was cut off by the cheer of the soldiers.
"You're alive!"
"Order!" the knight snarled, throwing out his armored arm which nearly smashed out the teeth of the nearest, unlucky soldier.
"Order" was not exactly the effect by that.
"'Twas uncalled for, Sir," Frog grunted and stepped forwards together with Janus to see if anybody in the fallen heap required healing.
But before he kneeled before the soldiers however, the wizard narrowed his eyes slightly at the knight, then raised his hand to his forehead in a salute. His dry smirk was less than respectful, though. Frog glanced upwards and then closed his eyes with a silent groan. And at the same time he had to conceal a snicker.
Of course, Lai was less courteous, halfway hiding her smirk with her hand. Glancing around her shoulder at their two guests, she removed her hand slightly and mouthed "here we go again".
"What joy," Janus dryly said though he smiled, "Sir knight South. Still alive?"
"It's more than you should be, you damn traitor," the knight replied in an icy voice.
The blue-haired man raised an eyebrow at the angered eyes that were visible under the shadow of the dully gray helmet.
"Excuse me, Sir?"
"You claimed that you killed Flea, but then we receive reports of that he's quite active. You should know better than to lie to the king, wizard," Sir South growled, crossing his arms with a violently clanging sound.
Lai opened her mouth in anger, considered it for a moment and then took a step backwards instead, shaking her head.
"Who in all powers' name is that?" Schala muttered to the younger woman, frowning.
"Former lieutenant South," Lai replied from the corner of her mouth, without taking her eyes off the two men, "he was in charge of the new recruits during the time of Janus and Glenn's training days."
"I think I get the picture," Schala said with a somewhat tired tone, watching the back of her brother's head.
That at least meant that he still knew how to raise hell with his teachers. Always something that remained true to his childhood.
During the women's short conversation, the chilly argument had continued.
"I did not lie to anybody, it was my full and true belief that Flea was dead," Janus said, pointing downwards with the hand not used for the never ceasing mock-salute, "general Frog is my witness if you don't believe me."
"Then why was the Mystic trying to murder the general and our new royal wizard?" the knight retorted, scowling.
Janus didn't lower his hand, but his eyes were steadily turning colder and thinner.
"That is exactly why I returned, as I found out that the damn magician was still in one piece," he explained.
"You used magic for the final blow, didn't you?"
South's voice carried a hint of triumph by those words. Cered happened to glance at Frog, noticing that the general cringed slightly.
Finally Janus lowered his hand to fold his arms over his chest.
"I suppose that you've got me there, Sir," he coldly said.
"Aha. Of course," the knight scoffed, his lips twitching towards a smirk.
"Yes, of course," Janus echoed, slowly nodding, "raw, dumb strength beats the power of a mind every time, Sir."
"As does Flea's continued life prove, wizard."
The knight snorted.
"And now you make your grand return, I see. I hope you realize all the trouble this means for the rest of us, considering the defenses we'll need to reestablish because of the assassins that will start showing up again because of you."
"What defenses? As far as I remember I haven't needed guardians since I was thirteen," Janus said in a coldly calm voice, "but I must say it's sweet of you to care. And here I thought that you wanted me hanged from the castle walls."
"Quit trying to be a wisecrack, it's not working."
"Funny, I was thinking the same about you. But as I now am a lowly civilian, I have no right to speak up to a knight."
At this, Janus glanced downwards at Frog, who was straightening up from healing the swollen upper lip of the unlucky front soldier. South tried not to follow the movement of his opponent's eyes but threw a quick glance at the green head, clenching his teeth. Glenn might have been a giant amphibian, but it was no longer a secret who he was – as Janus had more or less guessed by luck. And the one who had been a recruit in the much older man's not too gentle grip had in a depressingly short time reached a position far higher than his instructor.
Lai held back a groan, thinking to herself that the hidden and clear insults were getting really damn low on both sides. At least Janus didn't speak the last thing out loud, but it was borderline. Turning her head to meet Schala's eyes, she saw that the sister was reaching the same thoughts. Cered was watching the show with his eyebrows raised and a look of slight disbelief all over his face.
Janus was apparently growing sick of it too, for he took a step backwards and performed the salute again.
"Speaking of which, I am certain that you have better things to do than to chatter with me, Sir," he said, "I sure know that I have."
"And dost thee not, then so dost I," Frog firmly cut in before another wave of the argument could crash upon the beach of time, "let us be on our way. Now."
He made his way past the troop, smiling at the soldiers as he did so. Janus followed without a word, looking over his shoulder and waiting a second for the three who had stayed out of the line.
The soldiers quickly started moving in their own direction upon South's order, and soon the two groups were out of each other's sight.
"Sorry about that," Janus said after a short while, looking around and rubbing his neck, "he drags out the worst in me, I'm afraid."
"Aye, 'tis a gift the man has," Frog dryly agreed, shaking his head without slowing down.
"Come now, art not all men who train soldiers harsh?" Cered pointed out, tilting his head slightly in remaining disbelief.
The two in the front stopped and turned around, nodding in agreement at the red-haired man.
"Certainly," Frog said, "believeth us not to speak ill of him for no reason. Our discontent is born from Sir South's love of handing out punishment."
"Would you like a man who might lock you up for one day because you tried to help a friend get to his feet after falling into the mud?" Janus said and waved slightly at the green warrior at his side, shaking his head at the memory of Cyrus' disbelieving face.
"And punish a youngster because the beast that attempted to end his life disrupted the training?" Frog grimaced.
He paused for a moment.
"On the other hand, I will hand him that the memories of some of his actions have caused us many a merry moments," the general added, as if to make peace with the old tormentor.
"Just say the truth, you're both crybabies," Lai smirked and patted both their heads as she brushed past them.
"One grain of respect for the pain we have to remember for the rest of our lives, is that too much to ask?" Janus called after her back, but it was hardly with an angry tone.
Lai glanced over her shoulder.
"Do you want me to answer that?" she shot back.
"Not really. Hmm?"
Janus turned to Schala as she draped her arm around his shoulders, laughing.
"With the risk of earning your love's wrath as well," the princess said with a wide smile, "I would like you to forget your torments and listen to a bit of sisterly advice."
"Yes?" the wizard said, his lips twitching with her laughter.
Schala pointed at Lai who was walking backwards now to keep an eye on what was going on.
"When it comes to knights like him and women like her, brother… run, run for your life. That goes for you too, Glenn."
"It's far too late for that, I fear…" the wizard chuckled while Frog shook his head and started to follow Lai, laughter trickling from his giant mouth.
"And where dost I fit into such a warning?" Cered questioned, stepping up beside Schala.
"I know that you already are too far gone already, dear," she told him, laughing softly as he tried to fake surprise.