Kit Thespian: And now, to deliver the disclaimer: Frog!

(No one comes out)

Kit Thespian: Ahem…Frog?

Frog (from offstage): No! I shan't take part in this!

Kit Thespian: Oh, really? I don't suppose you remember the threats I made to Magus during the last disclaimer. I could do the same to you, and more!

Frog: But I remain a frog! I wish not to appear before a live audience as a frog! Do what you did in the fiction! Make me human.

Kit Thespian: But I'll need Magus for that. (bing!) What am I saying? I'm the author! I can do what I want. Oh, Magus… Magus!

(Magus appears on the stage, unaware of the audience, brushing his teeth, blow-drying his hair and wearing an "I brake for little kitties" t-shirt with smiley-face boxers.)

Magus (muffled because of the toothpaste): Whaddya want?

(Kit Thespian coughs and indicates to Magus that he is in front of everybody in this very uncouth state. He shrieks a most unmanly shriek and runs away shouting something about putting Kit Thespian out of this mortal coil. He returns a few moments later in his traditional Magus garb.)

Magus (trying to regain his dignified manner): Now, what is it that you want?

Kit Thespian: Make Frog human.

Magus (losing it): You didn't need me to come onstage for that!

Kit Thespian: I didn't ask you to come on stage in the first place. Now, do it!

(Magus growls, waves his hand and Frog changes into Glenn. Glenn laughs with joy and jumps out onstage. He is a rather impressive figure of a man, with great muscles and handsome features.)

Glenn: Kit Thespian does not own the game Chrono Trigger or the characters therein…

Fangirl from the audience: Omigosh! He's so HOT!

'Nother fangirl: GET HIM!

Glenn: EEK!!!

(All the fangirls chase Glenn out of the fic, with Glenn yelling over his shoulder that Kit Thespian is not making money off of this fic, leaving a bewildered Kit Thespian and Magus. They look at each other, shrug, and exit the stage.)

Back to the story:

Author's note: As with the story of Lucca's mother, Belthasar's fate was a little different from the video game as well.

Chapter Four- A Secret Revealed

Magus woke up before everyone else in the End of Time, including Gaspar. He glanced at the guru of time once more before getting up and walking towards Lucca.

"This is stupid," Magus thought, "waking her up? She'll probably want to throw a shoe at me for this. How did I ever get talked into this foolishness?"

Magus made sure that Gaspar (and everyone else for that matter) was asleep one more time before he knelt down beside the violet-haired woman and gently shook her shoulder. The orange kitten had followed him over and was now rubbing itself against Lucca's back. Lucca stirred, but did not quite wake up. Magus considered her face for a moment, how peaceful it looked.

He spoke her name, "Lucca…Lucca, wake up." And it occurred to him at that moment that before then he had never addressed her by her name. He said it again, "Lucca."

This time she opened her eyes and looked up at him, and smiled. It wasn't a big smile, or an amused one. Just an ordinary smile, the sort that you have when you're just happy to see someone. The thought of anyone being happy to see him caused Magus to cock his head just a little and answer her with a little smile. It was the best that he could do for her at this point. She said,

"Good morning…or afternoon…what time is it anyway?"

"I don't think they have a technical time here, but it is time for everyone to wake up. As soon as Gaspar awakens we will receive our next instructions from him."

Lucca sighed, covering her face with her hands,

"Then let's not wake him or anyone else up. Not yet. I'm so tired…"

"…All right." There was a short silence before Magus started to walk away. Then he heard Lucca say,

"Wait, don't go. Talk with me for a while."

Magus said, not turning around,

"I thought you were tired."

"But I need to wake up," Lucca said, sitting up, "I'll go back to sleep if I don't do something, and there's precious little else to do here other than talk. Or do you not want to talk with me?"

"No…" Magus walked back to Lucca's side and sat down, "I wouldn't mind it."

The first person to speak after Magus sat down was Lucca, "Did you get a good night's rest?" she asked.

"Yes. You?"

"So-so."

There was a brief silence in which only the sounds of Ayla and Gaspar's snoring could be heard. Magus spoke,

"So…why did you come on this quest?"

"Because I don't want to see the future with Lavos in it. You?"

"Revenge."

"Naturally…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's just…Before Crono died, I had no true personal reasons for killing Lavos. My only concerns were for what I had observed in the future. But you, your entire family and lifestyle was destroyed by that thing. I heard some of the people in Zeal talk about how after your father died the Queen began to depend more and more on Lavos' power…"

"He wasn't my father…" Magus spoke.

"…I beg your pardon?"

"Queen Zeal's husband, King Gregaran, was not my father."

"Oh, that's right. One of the scholars said that you were Schala's stepbrother."

"That wasn't true either."

"What do you mean, Magus?"

Magus bit his tongue. He was about to throw his greatest secret into the air without even thinking about it. He turned his head to the others, and, after seeing that they were asleep, said,

"Queen Zeal was my mother. But my father…was not King Gregaran, Schala's father."

Lucca was shocked, but she naively asked, "Then who was your father, Magus?"

Magus closed his eyes, unsure if he were ready to reply. He knew now the answer well enough…

The team had gone to the Keeper's Dome near Death Peak in 2300 AD, hoping to find the guru of reason, Belthasar, to help them find the place where the Chrono Trigger could be brought to full power. Magus had never dreamed that there could be such desolation in a place. It only caused his hatred of Lavos to increase.

The light was very dim in the Keeper's Dome, and the moment they entered they could barely hear an old voice ranting things like,

"Impossible to go back…Never to see them again…Never to see him again…Never…"

Magus recognized the voice. It was Belthasar, the one who had taught him science and logic when he was still Prince Janus in the Kingdom of Zeal. Somehow he felt more relieved than the rest of the group to find out that Belthasar was still alive. Magus whispered to Lucca and Marle,

"You said that you got the Wings of Time from him. What did he say to you when you asked for it?"

"He was just finishing it. He said something about being too old to leave this place, and that he didn't even want to try to find…well…them and him were all he would talk about. He mumbled that they were all dead by now, no matter what. He gave us the Wings without any argument. He seemed a little loony, if you ask me."

The group entered a room with large computers on the wall. There was a cot in the corner of the room, with an old man lying in it. Marle said,

"There he is." And she started to approach the cot. Lucca grabbed her shoulder and said,

"Wait…Look at him." The group stared at the guru on the cot, who was coughing and wheezing. Lucca spoke, "He's dying."

"Let me talk to him, alone," Magus said, "I knew him once. He may not remember me, but yet he may."

The group had no objections. Seeing the grave (more grave than usual, even) look on Magus' face even silenced Glenn. The team left the room as Magus slowly walked to the bed, his footfalls echoing. Belthasar coughed one more time before jerking his head in Magus' direction.

"Who's there?" he demanded, "You can't have the Wings. Little imps already took them."

Magus did not reply until he reached the cot and knelt down. His heart sank as he studied the old guru. Belthasar had been in his mid thirties when he was taken from Zeal. He had been an attractive figure of a man, though Magus had always despised the ridiculous hats that the gurus always had to wear. But now, Belthasar's face was wrinkled and sagged. He had bags underneath his eyes that looked heavy and were purple. His facial hair was long and like fine ash.

"Who are you?" Belthasar repeated, "Your hair…you are like one of my people."

"Belthasar…it's me."

Belthasar not only was shocked that this stranger knew his name, but at the way the stranger had spoken it. Though he was aged, his eyesight was not so dimmed that he could not recognize the emerald green eyes.

"You…Janus? Is it Janus?"

Magus nodded. Belthasar gasped with delight and he placed a shaking hand behind Magus' neck and pulled him closer so he could get a better look.

"Janus! My boy! It is you! I never thought I would see you again, though I always hoped for it."

Magus' last image of Belthasar had been when the time portal had opened underneath Magus and it was pulling him in. Belthasar had tried to save Janus, but a time portal opened underneath him as well, and it snatched him away as he was reaching for the Prince.

Belthasar went on, "I thought you had truly perished. But look at you! A grown man, and strong! Schala would be relieved…"

"Belthasar, I must know something."

"Anything, my dearest boy!"

"Gaspar, the guru of time, has given us the Chrono Trigger, to retrieve someone from the past."

Belthasar, since his sense was so far gone, replied,

"The old boy finished it, did he? The place where the Trigger might work would be the tallest point with the strongest magic power. The only place I can think of would be Death Peak."

"Death Peak?"

"Where Lavos reigns in this time period. But surely you do not wish to go there, Janus."

"I must, to help Crono. He is…a comrade."

"I see. Well…you must have a model of that person."

"A model?"

"Yes, a life-size model. It sounds silly I know, but you should have figured out from what Gaspar taught you that you simply cannot snatch somebody from a time period without replacing them somehow." He laughed a little and coughed before continuing, "A model is the best choice for such a task, since I doubt that you intend to put a living person in your comrade's place. But enough of that! Tell me about yourself, my boy! What have you been doing all this time? Surely you were not here. You look too healthy for that!"

Magus swallowed, and said, "Belthasar, let us take you from this place. We can bring you to a good land, where you can be fed and well taken care of. You don't deserve this…"

"Oh, shush. It is too late to be talking in that silly way, Janus. I am tired, very tired. I think I will rest fairly soon. Yes, that is what I want. Rest…"

He was talking about dying, obviously. Magus could hardly imagine having to live in a world like this for so long for Belthasar to age in the way he did. Or perhaps it was the trauma of such a desolation that caused the guru to age so quickly.

Belthasar had been one of the three remaining links to Magus' old life before the Fall of Zeal, and now he was going to die. Magus was prepared to go and let the old man die in peace, but Belthasar put a feeble grip on Magus' arm and said something that caused all the blood to drain from Magus' face,

"Wait, my son, until I rest. Please wait."

Apparently, Belthasar did not realize that he said what he had. At first, Magus wanted to believe that Belthasar had only meant the words as an endearing term. But for some reason that Magus could not fathom, the concept made sense. However, Magus wanted to test the waters. He answered,

"Very well, Father. I will stay until you rest."

"That's my boy," Belthasar smiled, as if the words he and Magus had exchanged were completely normal. The truth was, in his senility, Belthasar had assumed that since Janus was all grown up, someone had naturally told him everything, so he rambled on, "I'm so glad that we can talk like this. You were so young then, of course we could not tell you the truth. It was hard, Janus, very hard. But we had to keep it a secret. But it seemed that everyone suspected. I am sorry for it, my son, for the way that everyone treated you. It was really our fault, your mother's and mine."

Magus drank in every word, for he knew in his heart that these sayings were not mere blather from a demented man's mind. He was numb with shock, though, and so did not resist when Belthasar took his hand and continued talking,

"Yes, it was our fault. I always loved her. She was very beautiful, you know. Like a misty morning, I always thought to myself. When the King died, your mother was grieved, and I did not wish her to be so. We did not think about it, if you must know, about the consequences. I wish you could have grown up without all of the suspicion and deception. But we were to blame, not you…"

Magus gripped Belthasar's hand, as if trying to hold onto the guru's life, just a little while longer.

"Janus, you are indeed my joy," Belthasar spoke, his voice growing a little weaker every moment, "I see much strength in you. Melchior was right. You did grow in power, didn't you? If you see him, tell him I said greetings. And do the same for that cheek Gaspar. Janus…I can say it now…I can say it…"

"What? Say what, Father?" Magus could not hide the desperation in his voice. Belthasar drew in a deep breath and spoke,

"I love you, son… Always, I loved you…"

"Father, no…please…"

But Belthasar's grip on Magus' hand released, and he exhaled slowly. His eyes softly shut, as if he were only falling asleep. But Magus knew better. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he solemnly folded Belthasar's hands and pulled his blanket over him. He hated to leave him this way; food for the rats. But there was a task that had to be fulfilled. Belthasar, had he realized the severity of the situation, would have wanted Janus to accomplish the goal as soon as possible.

When Magus walked out and explained Belthasar's instructions to the team, he did a capital job of keeping his voice emotionless and hollow. No one noticed the tear trails on his face that he didn't bother to wipe off; it was too dark in the halls…

"I confronted Gaspar while you and the rest of the group went to Crono's house to fetch the doll," Magus was finishing explaining everything to Lucca. Tears were streaming down her face and she was sniffling. He said, "And Gaspar confirmed the truth. After King Gregaran died, my mother sought comfort in Belthasar's arms, and I was born. She went away to give birth to me, and she welcomed me into her house as an adopted stepson about three months after. But apparently the people were a little wiser than that. They regarded me with derision, especially since I wasn't manifesting any magical powers. Sometimes they went so far as to blatantly call me a bastard when they thought I couldn't hear."

Lucca now remembered the disdainful attitude all of the Enlightened Ones had born towards little Janus. Even the way the scholar had said "stepbrother" had some scorn in it. Even when he was so small, he had understood that he was rejected.

"I…I'm so sorry, Janus," Lucca spoke hoarsely, not realizing she had said Magus' former name, for really all she could see at this moment when she looked at him was the little child, full of pain.

But a change came over Magus' face. It seemed as if some sort of chain was broken off of him and he looked into Lucca's eyes and said,

"Say it again, my name."

Lucca blinked, "Your name?"

"Yes."

"…Janus."

"…I have been talking about myself this entire time, but I really must thank you, Lucca."

"For what?"

Janus looked away from her and answered, "For treating me like a human being. I tried to kill you, and I have killed many people, and you have regarded me with compassion instead of contempt. You have shown your beauty…inside and out."

Lucca smiled and quietly laughed, despite her tears, "Thank you, Janus."

"…You're welcome."