Disclaimer: Chrono Trigger doesn't belong to me. If it did, Flea would be a main character. It belongs to Square and their creative minds. I'm not making any money of this. Don't sue, please?

Author's notes: This is Yaoi! Male/male relationships, that is. Also contains some graphic violence and sexual acts. Hints at non-con sex as well. This isn't beta-ed. Oh yeah; Magus might seem a bit OOC. I was trying to portray his inner despair over loosing Schala.

/……/ = Flashbacks…

A Trial of Hearts

By Shaded Mazoku

Part 4: Those who was left behind.

As the pain dulled and disappeared, Flea's eyes fluttered open. Someone was sitting over him, and as he tried to sit up, a hand touched his shoulder. At the touch, he felt like ice seeped into his heart. He started remembering things he'd tried for so long to forget.

/ Lying on a cold stone floor, Flea cried as he was being hold down. He tried to pull free, but there were too many, and they were too strong. His clothes were being torn of, leaving him naked in the cold cell. Some one, larger than the others, was coming closer, laughing. The newcomer grasped his hips, thrusting into him, tearing him apart from the inside. Flea screamed. /

Without thinking, he sank his teeth into the hand on his shoulder, ripping into the flesh. He was rewarded by the sound of someone screaming. A woman. Flea smiled weakly and licked the blood of his lips. He sat up and looked around. He was in a castle, he realized. Guardia Castle, if he wasn't mistaken. The girl who'd screamed was sitting on the floor next to him, staring at her hand with a shocked expression. Flea smirked slightly.

       The girl looked uncannily like Queen Leene, actually, although she seemed younger. Flea recognized her as one of the girls who had been with the frog when they attacked Magus' castle. The other girl was staring at him, like she'd seen a ghost. Another person was also looking at him. Magus.

      Flea looked at the mage, who was just looking at him, like he had never done anything wrong in his life. "That's not fair," Flea thought. "He has no right to look so smug. Don't he realize what he did when he betrayed us?" He growled and got to his feet, getting ready to cast a spell. Suddenly, he remembered that he could no longer use his spells. The ones who'd held him captive had made sure of that. Lifting a hand to his neck, Flea sat back down, reality suddenly hitting him.

      He was powerless. None of his magic could be used without incantations, and since he no longer could use his voice, his magic could no longer help him. And here, he had no Slash to charm into protecting him. If Magus decided to kill him, he wouldn't have a chance. Even those two girls could kill him easily.

      Flea noticed the tears that had started running down his face, but he ignored them, not willing to even move. He'd fled from captivity so that he could rest and heal, and then go back and have his revenge. But now, as he was finally free, he had no way of getting that revenge. His potential was as great as ever, but he couldn't use spells. He was totally helpless. It frightened him.

      "And he is to blame for it all," Flea thought, looking at Magus. "He left to go looking for his precious sister, leaving me, Slash and Ozzie behind. How could he even think that Ozzie would be of any use? It took a year before we were all but defeated, and when those other Mystics came, we were easy prey." Flea closed his eyes and shivered as a wave of sorrow and fear washed over him.

      He envied Slash and Ozzie, really. They'd been killed swiftly, not having to suffer much. They had forced Flea to watch. He could still remember it, even after all the time that had passed, he could still remember his fellow Mystic Generals being decapitated, could still remember the sickening sound the axe made as it sliced through flesh and bone before imbedding itself in the wooden block.

      He could still remember screaming, tears streaming down his face. True, he'd never liked Ozzie, but even he did not deserve that. He'd never been a threat to anyone. And Slash, annoying as though he could be, had been Flea's only friend. Flea realized that tears were pouring down his face again, like they had done so often in the past.

      Once, he would rather have died than let anyone see him cry. Once, he had been such a vain creature, always fussing with his hair or his make-up, trying to underline his beautiful appearance. Now, he wished he'd been born looking as repulsive as most Mystics. Maybe if he had been ugly, those bastards would have left him alone. They had ruined him now, he could not bear even the lightest touch, even a simple caress left him frightened and retreated.

       He was aware of three sets of eyes staring at them, but he didn't have the strength to attack again, and he knew that even if he did, Magus alone could easily beat him. He had no chance at all against all three of them, even if he could have used his magic. He opened his eyes and glared at Magus, focusing all his hate in that glare, and he didn't even bother defending against the blow he knew would come. He just curled up in a ball, lips moving, forming the name of one he had lost so very long ago. "Calluna"

- TBC

So, what do you think? I had to give Flea a deeper personality for this fic, because he comes across as rather shallow in the game. Ah, and as for who Calluna is, sore wa himitsu desu. It will be revealed later in the story.