The sea crashed eternally into the rocks below him. He took deep, calming breaths, trying to still his racing heart.

Today, he would die.

The three adventurers were coming. The three "heroes". His mouth twitched. He wanted to die now. He knew he could not kill Lavos. He hadn't even injured the creature when he had attacked. And Schala. he wasn't able to save her. For the second time. So what better to do now than let Frog get his revenge? It would satisfy both of them.

Frog led the way up the cape, pausing when he saw Magus. The wizard's blue hair blew in the wind with his cape. His pale skin bright against the grey of the sky. He half turned to face the frog and his red eyes glinted with something like contentment.

Frog drew the Masamune.

"You!" he snarled.

Lucca and Ayla also readied themselves for a battle.

Magus did nothing.

Frog advanced slowly.

Magus turned to face them and sighed, "Behold. Everything is at the bottom of the sea. Zeal is gone." he looked away, "I once lived there, but I was another person then."

"Thou...thou art that filthy urchin!" Frog said.

"Janus?" Lucca blurted out.

He nodded, "Yes. ever since Lavos's time portal stranded me in the Middle Ages, I have lived to regain what I had lost."

Magus half growled, "You interrupted me as I had summoned Lavos to my castle. How ironic that, having been drawn into yet another portal I would end up in this age. Being from the future, my knowledge of the past helped me convince the queen that I was a prophet. But no history book could have prepared me for what happened here. Unimaginable is the power of Lavos. Anyone who dares to oppose it meets certain doom. At this rate, you too will meet a hideous fate. Just like that poor fool Crono..."

"You DARE to insult him?!" Frog hissed.

Magus revealed fangs in a feral smirk, "He's history. You play with fire and you get burned."

"Hold thy tongue, Magus." Frog warned.

"So...you wish to fight me?" Magus inquired.

Frog snarled and charged forwards, "Die scum!" he cried.

There was a flash of light and a sharp scream. Frog backed away, the Masamune bloodied in his hands. The knight's gold green eyes went wide.

"But. who is. how?" he managed.

Magus stood behind another mystic. She held her bleeding shoulder, her sabre still raised in defence.

"Magus." she gasped, grinning, "Long time. no."

She had fainted.

"Zeva!" Magus cried.

Magus called up a feeble healing spell. Shadow magic is not a healer.

Frog cast a healing spell, and passed a tonic to the shadow mage.

They were in for a long night.

Frog and Magus had seemingly called a truce, for they were not even arguing. Lucca and Ayla had put up a shelter, and were preparing a meal. Namely jerky. It was a very uneventful evening. Perhaps even boring. They ate, slept, talked very little, ate, slept.. etc. etc. You get the point. They were forced to move their shelter once, when a blizzard started up, and they were nearly blown off the cape. So they moved to the bottom of the cape and the winds died down.

Frog was practically comatose that night. The cold effected him worse than the others, as he was a frog. Ayla had curled up beside him, with the remnants of supper cradled in her bare arms. She snored deafeningly and twitched occaisionally. Zeva lay propped up between Magus and Frog, and Lucca fiddled with the Wondershot on Magus's other side.

Lucca sighed, and looked up from her work. Her eyes went to Zeva.

The mage was beautiful, in a strange sort of way. Her eyes were bright, liquid gold. Her teeth were too sharp to be normal. Her hair was in random streaks of red, silver, gold, black and grey, flowing down past her shoulders. Her fingers were long, and delicate looking, with sharp catlike claws. She wore a cape almost exactly like the one Magus wore. Except that it was red, with a gold lining. She wore flowing dark blue pants, a bit like Marle's favourite pair. Her shirt was also red, with lengthy, loose- fitting sleeves.

"She's got a cape like yours, Magus." Lucca remarked.

"No, I've got a cape like hers." he replied, only half awake.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Magus yawned, "She gave me my first cape. It was hers before."

"How do you know her?"

Magus almost smiled. That'd be a first. thought Lucca.

"I'll tell you how we first met."

Janus shivered on the stone of Ozzie's fort. The chains at his wrists cut into his skin, and the clothes he had worn in Zeal (a simple purple robe) were not warm enough. Ozzie waddled into the room, followed by another mage. She was arguing with him.

Janus was surprised that she was arguing with their leader. Normally, Ozzie would kill any mystic who argued with him.

This mystic was nearly shouting, "You have to take better care of the young mystics, Ozzie! They have no clue how to fight!"

"That's not my problem. If they can't fight, they shouldn't be in my army!" he disagreed.

The mystic turned to give him a piece of her mind, when she saw Janus chained to the wall.

Her golden eyes narrowed.

She turned to Ozzie, with a dangerous, angry look upon her face.

He paled, "What is it?"

She pointed a clawed finger at Janus.

"Oh, but, he's-" Ozzie started.

She growled, and disappeared, reappearing in front of the young prince of Zeal.

She touched the chains on his wrists, and they disappeared. Reappearing seconds later on Ozzie. She offered him a hand, and helped him up.

"So, you're Ozzie's magus, are you?" she asked, "There have been rumours. What's your name?"

Janus was temporarily lost for words.

"I'll call you Magus then, shall I?"

Janus smiled, and whispered, "Okay."

"Here." she said, sweeping off her red and gold cloak, "You look cold."

The boy nodded, "Thank-you."

"No problem Magus, but if you ask me, I'd say that red and gold don't suit you. How about black? Or red?" she sighed, "I'm no good at changing colours, so you'll have to talk to Flea about that. He loves that kind of stuff."

She led him to Flea, and they both ignored the chained and thrashing mystic on the floor.