'…Janus…'

Mmmm…

'Wake up, Janus…'

What do you want?

'Open your eyes…'

Who are you?

'Wake up…'

Answer me!

'Janus…'

Wait…I know that voice! Where are you!?

'Wake up…'

No! Don't leave! Come back! I don't want to be alone…

'…Wake up…'

Wait! Don't leave me!

'…Wake up…'

The young prince sat bolt upright in the bed he was in, eyes wide and frantically searching the room for the person who had spoken to him. However, the sudden movement caused his battered body to scream with pain, and he fell back onto the pillow, unable to move.

Silver moonlight poured into the room, casting ghost like shadows on the walls. Looking around as best he could from his position on the bed, he tried to find the origin of that voice. It had sounded so close. So real. However, the room was empty with the exception of the shadows that danced on the walls, and he knew that he would not find what he was looking for even if he was able to get up.

Not knowing what else he could do, he answered it's call with a name, spoken so softly it sounded more like wind passing through leaves, as a single tear rolled down his cheek and landed softly on the blankets.

"…Schala…"

He did not sleep again that night, but instead watched the moon make it's solitary journey across the sky toward the far off mountains. He did not seem to notice when the moon had gone and the sun had begun to take it's place, beginning it's own journey across the blue abyss above.

This is how Flea found him. Lost in a world that no one but Janus could belong to.

"Janus…" he said softly. The boy made no response.

"Janus," he repeated, louder this time. Still the blue-haired boy did not so much as acknowledge the older man's presence.

"JANUS!" Slowly, the child in the bed turned his head toward Flea. At first his pale face showed no emotion, but when he met Flea's eyes, hatred and anger suddenly flared up inside of him and he returned to his usual bratty self.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing more than to see that you've awaken. You've been out for four days, you know. I'm sure that you are probably sore, so I brought you something to ease the pain."

Flea produced a small glass flask from somewhere within his expensive robes. It was filled with a pale green liquid that almost seemed to glow with a magical aura. The red haired mage held the bottle out to Janus, urging him to drink it. The small child turned his head away and stuck his nose up in the air with a short exclamation of "Hmph!", refusing to take it in the most arrogant, snobbish, and stubborn way he could.

"Now, now child. Is that anyway to treat some one who is trying to help you?" Still, Janus did not take what Flea offered. "Janus! You are not going to sit around all day just because you are in pain! Now drink it so that we can get on with more important matters!" Janus did not so much as move his head in Flea's direction, and instead continued to stare at the wall on the opposite end of the room. "Well, then, I guess I'll just have to make you…"

With that, Flea grabbed the boy by the hair and threw him into the chair he had sat in the first night he had been in the Mystic castle. Completely caught off guard, Janus could do very little to soften the impact, and once again felt blinding pain surge throughout his battered body. Flea approached the boy in the chair slowly, as though stalking his prey. When he was close enough, the red-haired mage grabbed the former prince by the throat and shoved the bottle in his mouth, both choking and drowning the boy at the same time. Without meaning to, Janus swallowed the contents of the bottle, sputtering and coughing when he finished. Flea, his task completed, threw the child to the ground.

When his coughing fit had subsided, he turned his attention back to Flea, directing all the hatred and anger he felt toward the man who stood above him, laughing as though it were all just a game and with that insane gleam in his eye once again. Between breaths, he managed to curse at the magician, but the older man found the insults even more amusing.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's quite a mouth you've got there, for some one so young. Will we have to wash it out with soap?" He laughed again before continuing. "However, now that you're awake and healed, I would like you to come with me. Today, you are to begin your work. Until you are older, you will have relatively easy tasks, such as serving us when you are called, straightening our quarters, doing our laundry and-"

"WHAT!? You expect me to serve YOU, as though I'm some lowly servant!? I will do no such thing! I am royalty, and deserve to be treated as such!" Still not fully recovered from the recent lack of air he had experienced, he had to take a deep breath before continuing. "I am not some sort of peasant! I serve no one! Especially not a foul, disgusting, lowly and ugly creature such as y-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off. A cold feeling began to spread throughout his body, and he was unable to finish what he was saying. He looked up to see a beam of pinkish light streaming forth from Flea's fingertips, aimed directly at him. As he watched, the glow began to turn red, growing in brightness and intensity until it was almost too much to look at.

All the while, his body temperature became colder. As the light became brighter and his body colder, he could see his breath in the air. He felt colder than he ever did in his life. Even when Schala took him to the Earthbound village he did not feel this cold. It hurt to breathe. Just when he thought he would surely freeze, the red light flashed brilliantly. When the room became visible again, the red light and the ice he felt coursing through his veins were gone.

He opened his mouth to demand an explanation as to what happened, but nothing came out. Shocked, he could only clamp a hand around his throat and look at Flea with eyes widened in surprise.

The older man approached Janus and said in a slow and dangerous tone, "My patience with you is wearing thin, child. I thought that I warned you to never again go against my word, and insulting my appearance is the worst offence. As punishment, I have taken your voice. If I ever decide to give it back, you are to never call me that again. Do you understand!? Now get up."

When the blue-haired boy at Flea's feet once again disobeyed by crossing his arms over his chest, and looking away with his nose in the air, Flea decided to take matters into his own hands. He suddenly grabbed the boy's arm and began dragging him to the door. This would normally not have so much as fazed the young prince, but after a while the place where Flea was gripping his arm began to feel warm. A few minutes later, it was burning. The pain became unbearable, and he couldn't even scream. He began to thrash about, clawing desperately at Flea's hand, hoping that the older man would let go.

Finally, he decided to make use of his newly formed fangs, and bit Flea's hand. Immediately, blood streamed from where Janus' teeth were embedded into Flea's flesh, leaving a metallic taste in the boy's mouth. With a shriek, Flea released the small child's arm and held his hand protectively to his chest. The young prince, however, was looking at his own arm. The place where Flea's hand had been moments ago was beginning to blister, the skin obviously burned.

Flea looked up from his own injury, smirking as he saw the horrified look on Janus' face. "You see? If you would have cooperated then I wouldn't have had to do that, now would I? Now then, let's go and get you started, shall we? I'm sure Ozzie has a task for you by now. He's been waiting since you passed out."

Not wanting to endure anymore pain that day, Janus complied and followed Flea without fight throughout the many corridors of the castle. After quite a long time of walking, they finally came upon a very large and ornate door. Flea entered the room without so much as knocking.

On the far side of the room, Ozzie sat in an extravagant chair, wolfing down the food that was in front of him as though it would run away any second. When the door opened, he jumped in surprise. "What the- FLEA! How many times do I have to tell you not to enter my presence unless summoned!?"

With a low bow, Flea responded, "Forgive me, Sir Ozzie. I momentarily forgot my place. However, I came only to inform you that the child has awakened, and I have brought him to you so that you can make use of him."

At the mention of Janus, Ozzie's anger seemed to melt away, and a malevolent smile spread across his face. He got up from his chair, the effort of doing so causing a groan to escape from his lips. He slowly floated toward the pair near the entrance of the room, the malevolent smile still clear on his face. Once he reached them, he immediately noticed the burn on Janus' arm, and the dried blood near the corner of his mouth. He also noticed the blood dripping from two small holes on Flea's hand. The sight made him laugh.

"I see that you two have had a small disagreement. Well, Flea, I hope that you have put him in his place. The last thing I need to deal with today is a brat who doesn't respect his superiors!"

"No need to worry, Sir Ozzie. Though I am not sure how his overall behavior will be today, he will at least not be able to give you any lip. I put a silence spell on him for insulting me. I might also want to add," he turned his head toward the boy at his side, "that if he wants his voice back, he had better be respectful. If he is not, Sir Ozzie, I ask that you tell me. I will be sure to punish him later."

"Very well, Flea. You may leave."

With another low bow, Flea left the room, leaving Janus alone with Ozzie, who had turned back toward his vacant chair and the food that he had momentarily abandoned. As Janus watched Ozzie consume the food in front of him, the young boy realized with disdain that he had not eaten anything since the morning before he was taken away to this time. Though he had been unconscious for most of that time, the loud growl that his stomach gave told him all too clearly that it needed food if he was going to make it through the day.

Ozzie had heard his stomach, and noticed that the boy was a bit thin. With a sigh, he held out a plate for the child in front of him.

Janus, though starving, was skeptical. He did not take the food at first, and instead eyed it suspiciously.

"It's not poisoned, boy. I suggest you eat it. You won't get another chance to eat until tonight, and I doubt that you will last that long."

Though still unsure, Janus took the food that was offered.

If it is poisoned, then at least I won't have to deal with these…people…anymore. Besides, I seem to be important to this one. I haven't the slightest idea why, but I guess I'll find out eventually.

With that thought in mind, Janus slowly brought the strange food to his lips, and begrudgingly took a small bite. Though the taste was far from pleasant, he quickly found himself wolfing down the other contents on the plate.

Great. I probably look like a smaller, less ugly, and non-green version of the blimp next to me.

Sure enough, as Slash walked by the door that was left slightly ajar after Flea's departure, he saw what could almost pass as a mirror image of his king eating. Though a bit surprised at first, the swordsman quickly became angry when he realized that the human was eating alone with Ozzie, which was considered a great honor in the Mystic society. Fuming, he quickly spun on his heel and left to go find Flea.

Janus had noticed Slash standing outside the door, and had seen the anger on his face.

No. It wasn't just anger. There was something else…Jealousy? But why would he be jealous of me? I'm just a 'lowly' human, after all.

Deciding not to brood on the matter for too long, the child quickly returned his attention back to the food in front of him.

Not long after, Ozzie snatched the food away from him, smiling wickedly as he did so. "Well, I'm finished, and I think it is time that we start you off on your work. You can eat more later. After all, we can't have you getting fat. Fat people are useless."

Perhaps Flea's stupid spell is coming in handy after all. If he hadn't cast it, I'm sure I would have laughed at that statement. He just insulted himself, and he doesn't even realize it!

Ozzie didn't notice how hard Janus was trying not to smile, and proceeded to assign the blue-haired child his first task as a slave. "I think the first thing I'll have you do is clean up this mess," he said, gesturing toward the empty plates and bare bones that were scattered all over the table and floor. "Throw the scraps out the window for the animals to deal with, then stack the plates on the table. When you're done, I'll call some one to show you the way to the kitchen so you can wash them. I want you to come back here when you are through so that I can start you on your next task."

Though not at all happy about it, Janus began to pick up the plates and scraps, every now and then recoiling in disgust as he touched some unidentifiable glob. Ozzie, of course, had to make things difficult, and would every now and then "accidentally" trip the boy, causing the plates he was carrying to topple out of his hands and back onto the floor.

As promised, when Janus was done stacking the plates, Ozzie called a servant to show the boy the way to the kitchen. When asked, the Mystic servant crinkled his nose in disgust, but said nothing.

On his way to the kitchen, Janus noticed the many sneers he was getting from the other denizens of the castle. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the blue-haired boy had to carry all of the dishes out of Ozzie's room without any help from his "guide", he could not see the feet that made their way into his path, and as a result tripped many, many times. Of course, this also led to many broken dishes, which, in turn, earned him a sound beating when he got to the kitchen.

When the dishes had been taken care of, Janus begrudgingly made his way back toward Ozzie's room.

This really stinks. I can't even insult these people! All I can do is sit there and take their abuse. I obviously can't hurt them physically, I'm just not old enough to do that yet, but at least before I could insult them. But, noooo… of course not. That had to be taken away along with everything else in my life.

At that point, he had made his way back to Ozzie's room, and, without really thinking, opened the door. Almost immediately, he was sent reeling to the ground by a strong blow to the back of his head.

"Insolent boy!" Ozzie was towering over him, anger clear on his face. "What makes you think that you have the right to enter my presence without so much as knocking!? Be sure that it never happens again, or I swear that Flea's 'punishment' from the other night will seem like a backrub compared to what I do to you!" After taking a deep breath, Ozzie continued. "Okay, boy. I have decided that assigning you tasks is servants work, so from now on, you will not report to me for your next assignment. In fact, you really won't report to anyone. Basically, I want you to wander throughout this castle, and if anyone asks you to do something, you are to do it, got that? Now, go. Just being around you makes me feel like less of a Mystic."

Pulling himself up off the floor, Janus gave Ozzie one last glare before exiting the room.

Janus' day only went downhill from there. Though obviously ordered by Ozzie not to kill the boy, the Mystics were not in least bit dissuaded from making him as miserable as possible.

Within the first three hours after being dismissed from Ozzie's room, the Mystics had managed to trip him, hit him, kick him, and insult him more times than he could count. They also made it a point to send him on wild goose chases for things that did not exist.

Once, when he got fed up with one Mystic in particular who had sent him back and forth so many times the stone floor was wearing away, he "accidentally" dropped a vase he was carrying for another Mystic on it's head; an easy task to do when dealing with Imps.

Of course, the Imp didn't take kindly to his behavior, and neither did the Nagaette who owned the vase. He had soon found himself being bombarded by stones and scratched mercilessly. That was the last time he acted up that day.

Not long after, that same Imp had sent him on another wild goose chase. And so his first day of slavery went.

"THIS ISN'T RIGHT!" Slash exclaimed while pacing the floor in front of Flea. "He is a HUMAN! Why is he being treated as such!"

Flea, meanwhile, was enjoying his comrade's distressed state of mind. "What do you mean, Slash? I don't see him being treated in any special way," he said while digging into the puncture marks on his hand with a knife, causing the swordsman in front of him to cringe slightly.

"What do you mean! The fact that he is still alive is special treatment! Now he's doing something that most Mystics only dream about, though they would prefer if it wasn't Ozzie that could give them the honor."

"Well, I haven't been treating him very well. I'm the one responsible for his four day black out, remember?" Flea added, still digging into his wounds.

"You're also the one responsible for Ozzie not killing the brat by now!" Though Slash didn't realize it, Flea was getting him riled up on purpose. "Why did you tell Ozzie that he could use shadow magic!? Why would you make something like that up!? You know as well as I do that Ozzie is dumb enough to believe it! And would you stop picking at those! That's disgusting!"

Of course, Flea didn't stop. Why should he if it was bugging Slash? "I didn't make it up, Slash. The child is very capable of using shadow ma-"

"Then why hasn't he used it to deal with us!? If he could use it, he would have blasted us into millions of little pieces by now!"

"He hasn't unlocked his powers yet. He will in time, though, and then he will be a valuable asset to us. Of course," he added, with a smirk, "it will be as though we're admitting to needing a human to help us, but that is a small price to pay for world domination, wouldn't you agree, Slash." Flea knew that would get to him.

"NO! I DON'T agree! I'd rather die than make it seem like I'm inferior to humans!"

"Maybe you are, Slash. I mean, you are pretty pathetic. You don't even use magic when you fight. All you do is whip that metal stick around, which, by the way, was first invented by humans." Oh, how he loved making Slash mad. He could do this all day and long into the night.

"Look who's talking, Flea! You look like a human! And don't you DARE insult my sword! I'm through talking to you! Go away!"

Flea couldn't help but giggle at Slash. He was so angry, he just made an idiot out of himself, and Flea loved it. "Why should I be the one to leave when you're in my room, Slash?"

With a cry of frustration, Slash teleported, leaving Flea to laugh at his companion's idiocy.

When night finally came and Janus was allowed to go back to his chambers, he was exhausted and felt disgusted with himself. Though none of the tasks he was made to do were especially hard, he had been raised as a prince, and therefore had never so much as picked up a sock. In fact, he usually had a servant pick Alfador up for him, and that was his beloved cat!

However, about halfway to his room, he was greeted by one of the last people he wanted to deal with right then; Slash.

Upon seeing the boy, an evil grin spread across the swordsman's face.

"Well, if it isn't the human. Finally awake I see. How are you enjoying your stay so far?" His sickeningly sweet tone of voice quickly turned dangerous as he, without warning, pinned the young prince against the wall. "What is it about you that makes you so special? Why is it that you harbor the ability to use magic when there are no other humans on the face of this earth who can?"

Janus, obviously, said nothing. Slash, however, did not know about Flea's spell, and anger quickly boiled inside of him.

"I asked you a question, human, and I expect you to answer. You forget who your better is."

When Janus still did not answer, Slash quickly backhanded him. "I should kill you for your insolence, human!" However, he quickly noticed that Janus had mouthed "Ow", and was able to figure it out. " I see…So Flea put a silence spell on you, did he? Perfect," he said, while unsheathing his sword and placing the tip at the base of the boy's throat, "That means that no one will hear you scream…" At that he readied himself to thrust the sword into the child's throat. However, he was stopped by an all too familiar, rather feminine, voice.

"Slash! What in the name of the Magus are you doing!?"

Slash, quite startled, dropped Janus, cutting him slightly before he landed quite hard on the stone floor. The young boy wasn't sure if he was glad to see the red-haired man or not.

"Flea! I, uh, was just-"

"Save it, Slash! You were trying to get me in trouble by killing this child! Funny, though, how you found it disgusting that I would pick at my wounds, yet you were all too willing to plunge a sword into the neck of an innocent child!"

"That's different, Flea! You were hurting yourself! I was just thinning out the population of unwanted pests!"

"That's enough," Flea's voice had gotten dangerously low, and his insanity had begun to come forward again. "If this were some other child, I would allow it. However, this child is in my care, and I will be the one killed if something happens to him. Get out of here, and don't let me ever catch you trying to kill him again."

With a grunt, Slash left, not even bothering to teleport this time. His anger and frustration wouldn't have allowed enough concentration for him to do so.

When he was gone, Flea turned toward Janus, who was still on the floor. "Oh, poor child, he cut your face! Come on, let's get you cleaned up and into bed. I'm sure you've had a long day." With that, Flea led him back to his room.

After Janus had been cleaned up, Flea turned to him and said, in a very annoying, motherly tone of voice, "Now then, young one, I heard that you were overall very good today, with the exception of a few dishes and an incident with a vase. As a reward, I will give you your voice back."

When Flea had finished this sentence, a warm, pleasant sensation began to ripple throughout Janus' entire body. Ironically, the stream that came forth from Flea's fingertips was blue this time, and it only gave off a slight glow. It felt nice, and Janus couldn't help but sigh in delight. In fact, he was almost disappointed when Flea's spell was completed, and the warm feeling went away.

"There you are, young one. I hope that you use it wisely, because I will not hesitate to take it away again. Good night, child. I will see you tomorrow."

"Wait! I want to ask you something!" Janus liked having his voice back, and figured his question would give him an excuse to use it.

"Yes, dear Janus?"

Ignoring the fact that a man who had caused him a great deal of pain since he had arrived here had just called him "dear", Janus continued with his question. "Who is, 'the Magus'? You said his name when Slash was going to kill me, and usually people only say things like, 'What in the name of-' when the person who's name they use is important."

"Ah, child, the Magus has not yet been found, but he will be soon…" Flea's face and voice began to turn almost dreamy as he spoke. "The Magus is part of a legend that almost all Mystics live their lives by."

Janus, being a child, was most intrigued. To him, "legend" meant "story", and he hadn't heard a good one for quite a while. "Can you tell me the legend?"

"Well, I suppose it won't cause any harm. It goes like this:

"Mystics have been oppressed by humans for centuries, never seen as equals because we are so different. We are seen as animals; dirt. This mindset was created long ago. When exactly is not known; that information was lost in the tides of time.

"Though we have our magic, the humans outnumber us, and always have. If we were to try and fight, we would surely lose. So it would seem as though our situation is hopeless. However, there is one who could help us, and that is the Magus.

"It is said that he will come to us, and neither he nor others will know that it is him. He will live among us, his powers growing stronger each day. After many years of biding his time, he will finally arise and all will know who he truly is. He will overthrow the king that seems incapable of helping his people, and take his place. He will lead us in a war against the humans, and free us of them.

"His power will be unparalleled by humans and Mystics alike. Even the legendary sword, the Masamune, will fall to his great strength, along with the human hero that they believe will lead them to victory against us.

"After we have gained our freedom, the Magus will lead us into prosperity. Mystics will have what they always wanted, and the humans will be no more. That is the legend.

"So, you see child, the Magus is more or less a god to us, and we wait in earnest for him to come to us. We wish to be freed, and he is the only one who can do that for us."

"How do you know this guy will be a good leader? Just because he might win a war for you doesn't mean that he will 'lead you into prosperity'."

Flea seemed a bit upset at this question, and was quick to dismiss the matter. "That's enough questions for tonight, Janus. Good night. Like I said before, even I need my beauty sleep."

With that, Flea left the room. Janus, on the other hand, was not yet ready to sleep.

The Magus is more or less a god to them, eh. I bet that there is a way I could use that to my advantage. A mutual weakness…but I'd better be careful…use it the wrong way and they'll all kill me on the spot. Slash is obviously ready to do so already, all he needs is a reason to turn Flea and Ozzie against me. Well…I'll figure it out later…I'm tired. Besides, he paused while looking out toward the moon. I might hear her again tonight.

With that hopeful thought in mind, the former Prince of Zeal rested his head against the pillow and closed his eyes. Soon, he was in a relatively peaceful slumber.

A/N: Okay…MAJOR apology for not updating for so long. All I can say in my defense is that I'm sorry. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!! I hope I won't take so long with my next update, but I can't give any promises. I have summer reading assignments and 13 hour shifts at work to deal with (Seriously…I'm not kidding). That, and my muse is being a total butthead right now. Every time I sat down to write, she would decide to take a vacation!! I don't think this chapter is as good as the other's though (sigh). Janus will cast his first spell in the next chapter, though. Does that make anyone feel better?? I hope so… There's also going to be a time jump…I highly doubt that anyone wants to read about every single day of the kid's sadly abusive life…that would be a bit tedious for you and me. And yes, I know…the legend is a bit…odd…but, it just somehow popped out!! I had in no way planned it. So, yeah…anyway…I hope you liked this chapter, and if not, I will try very hard to make the next one better!! And to update sooner!! Though, once again…I make no promises. Well…that's all I have to say for now…Remember, now, ANY reviews will do. Thank you all for any patience you have left with me after so long. Please review!!