The Winds Yearning

Don't own Chrono Trigger, and man can I just not let that go. Blargh-e-blargh.


The months were advancing, and the Queen almost seemed to exude heat as time went on. She still cared about her people, but she had already decided that she needed a new center to rule from, and that the location would be as close to Lavos as possible. And she also made the consequent decision that the Mammon Machine would join her there once the Ocean Palace reached completion. She had become more dependent upon her 'Prophet' during these months, as he had come to many of the ideas, claiming he had seen them. This accelerated the process more, and Magus knew he was getting closer to his goal of Lavos once more. He didn't think he could summon Lavos again. The cursed being was too wakeful for that. So Magus bided his time, and found himself being torn between Queen Zeal and Schala most of the time, the rest was studies, which he had basically learned everything of use to him, so he had some time to himself.

The Sun Stone had been sealed off in the Sun Keep on the southwestern floating isle. Balthazar was the main guru working on the ocean palace. It was mainly blue prints, and he enjoyed it. Gaspar and Melchior weren't really needed for it, since the energy and pressure problem had been solved before the Queen had demanded the Palace under the Ocean. The particular studies they performed were done separately once more.

Magus enjoyed being with his sister, and it seemed to him that she was becoming more beautiful by the day. But also more worried. She noticed her mother changing as well, but was ignoring it. She spent more time with him of late, when she wasn't studying, or being studied with her interactions with the Mammon Machine. It only reacted to her in the way it did, and it turned out that she could manipulate it in a way. Which took energy from her. Magus hated her working with it, but swallowed his objections. It was necessary for his long term goal. If he wanted to save her, she would have to endure. So he dealt with his feelings, and concentrated on making her happy when he wasn't appeasing the Queen. She had become more violent in her outbursts lately. Magus was nearing a year spent in Zeal.

"Guess what?" Schala asked him, as they were walking through the green fields of Zeal together.

"What is it that I am to guess?" Magus queried back, smiling at her. She was quite full of vigor today.

"I have finally turned 17!" she exclaimed, excited. "I won't have to go to lessons anymore, and will have more free time"

"You can explore your interests more, I take it?" he asked, blandly. He enjoyed sounding apathetic around Schala, as it was one way to tease her.

"Well, that too," she giggled. "Something else as well. Are you curious?" she asked him. She was holding something back, and enjoying it.

"Are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to make you tell me?" he asked her lightly. "I am not fond of guessing." She didn't know how true that was.

"I think that you'll have to guess," she said, and began running. Magus sighed, grinned, and started running after her, with his longer, loping strides. He was already faster than her, so he figured gliding would be cheating a bit too much. Besides, he wanted to enjoy the chase.

He circled around Schala, and when they reached the woods, he let her think she was safe. She stopped behind some bushes, and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. Magus quietly snuck up, and when he reached her, he whispered, "Boo," behind her. She gasped, turned, and when she saw him crouching a few feet away, she started to run again. Magus didn't let her escape him. She wasn't this playful very often, and he found it was actually fun to play along with her when she was.

Magus tackled her, being careful not to land on her as they went through the air, twisting so he would absorb the energy of impact, and he rolled over after landing, pinning her down. She wriggled in his grasp, trying to find some sort of escape from him. She was laughing as she did so, and Magus had a harder time getting a hold of her wrists than he thought he would, trying to be careful but subdue her at the same time had complications.

Finally she stopped struggling, gasping for breath. Looking up at him, she laughed and said, "Still not going to tell you."

"Oh really," Magus said, sounding unbelieving, voice not giving anything away. "I think I can rectify that." And he began to tickle her, ruthlessly. He had enjoyed finding out that she was ticklish. He enjoyed it more that he could be the one to tickle her even more.

"You're...horrible!" she gasped, between giggles.

"You could stop this quite easily," he breathed into her ear, leaning in closer to her, and smelling her hair.

She didn't answer him for a bit, until finally, she said, "Fine, fine! I'll tell you."

Magus stopped tickling her immediately, and sat up, still pinning her down. "You won't just run again? If you do I'll just have to catch you," he said, with a predatory smirk, staring at her eyes.

"No, I won't run," she said, smiling, but defiant. So Magus got off her, slowly, and was prepared when she started to jump away again, catching her arm and using it to spin her around, so her back went into his chest, and his arms wrapped around her.

"What was that? You were about to tell me your big secret?" he whispered into her ear, softly.

She was suddenly quiet, and he noticed she was blushing in his arms. "I don't want to say it..." she confessed, shy again.

"It would have been easier if you had just told me," he said, breathing into her hair.

"Well, promise not to look at me?" she asked him, nervous.

"I won't look at you, promise, but I'm not letting you go," he warned her, but giving her his word. "My eyes are shut."

He heard her clear her throat nervously, and it took her a moment to say it, and she squirmed a bit while doing so. It stunned him enough that he opened his eyes again. "17 is the age where an Enlightened girl is allowed to be courted," she blurted out, finally.

"Hmm, really now?" Magus asked, finding it funny, but understanding her sudden shyness.

"Yes...really," Schala said, and she suddenly felt the need to be free of his hold on her, and pulled away. He let her. She ended up kneeling in front of him, and he sat back, lounging, elbow on one knee, smiling at her. "Mother wants to have a formal dinner tonight in celebration, and she is going to bring suitable candidates as well as the important people"

"What makes someone a candidate?" Magus asked. His voice didn't show the sudden tense feeling in his stomach. The idea of other people being able to flirt with his sister gave him a disgruntled feeling.

Schala was flushed still, and having a hard time making eye contact, clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken. "Well, they have to be...fertile," she started, stumbling over the words, and trying to put it as least bluntly as possible, but not able to completely avoid the sexual bits. "And they also have to have rank," she finished, still looking down.

Magus didn't say anything for a while. He sat there staring at her, until finally he said, in a light tone that wouldn't betray his anger at his people, "They want someone that can give them an heir."

"Yes," Schala said, "My mother was chosen because she was beautiful and able to bear children."

"I thought it was because she was intelligent and wise," Magus said, sarcastically. He watched Schala flinch, and regretted showing his ire, even that little bit. After a pause, he said in a lighter tone, more jokingly, "I think that I'll have to examine each of these 'candidates' for suitability myself, and if I'm not pleased with them, they will have to stop their clumsy courting."

Schala smiled at him, and laughed a little. Magus looked at her quizzically, waiting for her to explain. "Janus said something very similar this morning."

"Smart boy," he said, realizing that he had felt the same way he did now as a child. Small things that happened broke more memories loose. "If these suitors can't handle a child, they definitely won't be able to handle me, and I don't think that will work at all," he said, smirking, eyes glinting.

"You just want to chase them away!" Schala said accusingly. "Just like Janus!"

And Magus paused a moment to consider that thought. It was completely true. He would just scare them away. He nodded his assent to her accusation, still smirking at her.

"Besides, I do get a choice in the end," she went on, "It's not like I'm to be forced into anything. I get to choose who I want in the end."

Magus closed his eyes, and put on his best Prophet voice, "I foresee that none of these suitors will fit your taste, and that they will all leave you in peace rather than waste your time," he droned. Schala swatted him, laughing.

"I swear, you and Janus are exactly alike! You two should be planning this together!" she laughed, voice light. Magus frowned to himself. Had he really changed so little over the years?

"Perhaps I will just have to protect you from these suitors," he growled, voice suddenly deep and rumbling.

"You'll have to do it when Janus goes to lessons," Schala said, looking at him. "He seems to have much the same idea that you have."

Magus smirked. "I'm not sure if it goes quite like mine does," he said, before sweeping her towards him and kissing her as thoroughly as he had yet, making sure she felt his passion. He only felt more vindicated when she timidly returned his kiss. And when he was done, he didn't let her go. "I don't think he can do that." he said, grinning at her. Her flush was deeply tinged, and she had a hard time thinking straight, fingers still clutching the front of his shirt, breathing heavily. "I'm allowed to do that now," he stated, hands tangling in her hair, "And you just let me." Schala only looked at him, eyes wide and wondering. Of course, he didn't think about the fact that he was Janus, and had contradicted his previous statement.

"You shouldn't do that," Schala said without conviction. "I shouldn't be kissing people, even if I can be courted."

"Perhaps," Magus mused. "Then again, I don't believe that any of your suitors are worthy of you."

"Are you a suitor?" Schala asked, quiet still, eyes seeming a deeper hue than before.

Magus looked at her for a moment, before answering seriously, "Yes." And he got up slowly, and offered his hand to her. She took it, and he lifted her up gently. "And as I said, none of them are worthy of you."

When Schala attempted to protest, he put a finger to her mouth, shushing her. He offered her his arm, and she took it gingerly. She looked strangely sad at his sudden change of mood. He didn't speak as they walked back to Zeal Palace. As they passed by Kajar, he put his hood back up on his head. When they reached the Palace doors, he released her arm, took her hand, and kissed it. "Good day, Princess," was his farewell statement. She nodded to him. "I will see you this evening at dinner."

Magus found himself brooding in his room. Schala's question had brought something to mind he had been avoiding for quite a while now. He didn't believe that he was suited to be with his sister. He had committed too many horrors to count, and atrocities beyond number. Had atrocities committed to him. His sister deserved someone undamaged and pure. Like her. He found himself sleeping through the afternoon. His dreams were unpleasant.

His room was dark. It was always dark. He wasn't allowed light until he could cast a stable enough spell that would last. His studies hadn't taken him that far yet.

The mystics had elaborate magicks, and he was proceeding quite well, but spells that had circular energy use were quite complicated. He was mid-teens now. Even if he learned quickly, there was much to learn. So his room remained dark. In the dark was where he felt comfortable now. He had been in the dark for years now. Since he was seven.

Sleep always came uneasily to him. His dreams took him to his home, and his sister, but also to the black wind, and Lavos, screaming in his head. During the day, he could ignore the whispers of the black wind, but during sleep, it could blow through his head undeterred.

Tonight it was blowing exceptionally strongly.

Janus awoke with a gasp, to find himself bound. He struggled, unsure, mind coming awake.

He recoiled when he felt a warm hand touch his face, and a thumb brush his lips. His eyes, still blue on the outer irises, but red in the centers, the tendrils reaching out from the edges of his pupils, wide.

"Hush, my little darling," cooed a voice he hated. It was Flea, who was his teacher in all things arcane. The man had manipulated his body until it resembled that of a woman, even if he couldn't actually make himself a woman. "I came here just for you."

Magus pulled away even more, but found the soft hand that had held his face had become harder, and grabbed his neck. He gasped slightly as the air was crushed from his windpipe.

"I have come to show you pleasures you never imagined," Flea giggled, still crushing Janus' windpipe casually. "I've wanted to do this since I first saw you."

Janus managed to break free of the grip, neck slightly bruised by Flea's hands. "Get out," he hissed, angry at the intrusion of his room and his personal space, but the hint of fear as he found his mana flow blocked, and his hands and feet bound.

"Are you surprised, my bright star?" Flea asked him, the moonlight in the room illuminating his smile. Flea was almost like flame, and his full lips were parted, showing teeth.

"What do you want," Janus asked, growling, trying not to show his mounting fear, a tight ball in his stomach, which was slowly starting to knot tighter.

"You, my silly boy," Flea said, pouncing on him, and kissing him roughly, bruising his lips as well. Janus thrashed, but found it did not help him any, and that Flea seemed to enjoy it more when he did. Janus fought anyways, sick horror mounting as his fears were confirmed.

Janus refused to make a noise as Flea proceeded, refused to react, neither to taunts, nor to pain.

Magus awoke sweating. He hadn't had that dream in years. Looking out the window, he noticed that the sun hadn't yet gone down.

He knew that further attempts at sleep would be in vain. So he paced, after washing his face. He tried not to brood upon the past, but found it difficult, as his mind kept wandering back there of it's own accord.

Magus found himself smiling darkly as he remembered what he had done to Flea when he had finally realized that he had surpassed the man in magickal arts. That had also when he had found his full affinity for dark magicks. The man had been slightly addled ever since, and had also found himself impotent.

Magus paced and paced, and was surprised that he hadn't worn a path in his carpet yet. In his quarters in the castle he had built, the carpet had been threadbare in a line. He had carved out his path over years there. Here in Zeal, he had the niggling assumption that the carpets and other upholstery were self-repairing. He noticed that most of the things in Zeal took care of themselves. Except for the plants.

He was distracting himself. He knew it.

But when he wasn't brooding on the past, he was listening to the black wind whisper warnings. And he wasn't sure what it was warning of currently. Nothing was good in his mind at the moment. He passed the time that way for a while, before finally going to the room he practiced in. He performed the trick where he just faded out, and reappeared in the room.

He first sealed the room off. Then expanded his power, almost like stretching, and manipulated it slowly, feeling his power uncurl. He basked in the feeling. Using shadow arts basically numbed his feelings. Magus lost himself in the thrill of magic. It was a heady feeling, and it wound it's way throughout the room, sluggish at first, then like muscles warmed up, he worked his way through basic exercises, reaching the more complicated ones, and then worked through them in reverse order. When he left the room, he had time to change into something more appropriate for a formal dinner underneath his cloak. He didn't really believe it mattered, but did it anyways. It was the thought that counted, according to the Queen.


When he reached the elaborate dining hall, he was early, and was admitted to his seat, to the right of the Queen, which was to the right of Schala. The Queen was at the head of the table, to her left, Janus, and to her right, Schala, then the rectangular table bent, Dalton was to the left, across from Magus.

Magus almost stopped breathing when Schala entered the room. She had changed from her regular attire to something that accentuated her natural beauty. She didn't look very comfortable. Magus wished he could hide her. Janus was holding her hand protectively, as they entered the room together.

Oddly enough, it was the Queen who was late. All the guests had arrived, Dalton had been granted the time to become bored with staring daggers at Magus, and had just went to staring at Schala out of the corner of his eyes. Magus for his part, ignored Dalton, and everyone else, his hood hiding him from everyone. It seemed almost as if the darkness in his hood was even darker than usual, almost as if it had solidified somewhat.

The Queen entered at last, and the guests all stopped fidgeting, the whispered conversations put to an end. A lady announced the Queen, everyone stood up, and waited for the Queen to seat herself.

Zeal laughed gaily, eyes bright, cheeks almost flushed. She took her time sitting, seeming to enjoy making everyone wait to sit. The gurus at the other end of the table, gave each other concerned looks. The Queen's attitude had been changing over the past months.

Food was served shortly after Queen Zeal arrived, and she didn't eat much. Neither did Schala or Janus. Magus for his part, never really touched his food. Today was not an exception. He picked at it, eating something every so often from the plates that were circulated, as the courses changed.

Finally, after dessert was taken away, and everyone was drinking whatever suited their fancy, the Queen stood up again. She was laughing. The people who had been making conversation, and the boys who had been all looking at Schala during the dinner, locked eyes on their Queen, the room going quiet once more.

"I would like to announce the reason for this special dinner," the Queen stated, voice carrying, sounding serious suddenly. She seemed to be herself once more. "My lovely daughter," and she gestured to Schala, who seemed to shrink in her seat, "is now 17, and as according to custom, she is to be courted." and the Queen paused for effect. There was some small clapping. She continued her speech. "This is a special time for any enlightened girl, and I was hoping for it to proceed with all courteousness and grace." Everyone nodded an assent. They all knew the reasons for this occasion. That was when the Queen changed. Her eyes suddenly almost glazed over, and she cackled, cutting through the murmuring.

Her hand shot out, and she grabbed Schala by her upper arm, and wrenched her out of her seat. She let go, and gestured towards her daughter. "Think she's fertile?" she asked the room, voice merry. There was a hush, and surprised looks. "She's pretty enough to get young men tight in the pants, though, isn't she?" the Queen cackled. Schala blushed violently, Janus vacated his seat and appeared by his sister's side almost instantaneously, and the members who had been drinking heavily, Dalton included, laughed. A few sobered at the Queen's words.

Magus, for his part, watched the Queen intently, watching her movements, knowing Janus would take care of his sister for the both of them.

"Hell! To be a proper man, she should be desirable to us older folk too," the Queen continued. As she laughed more, Schala hunched down farther. The Queen's smile snapped off, and he prodded her daughter in the arm. "Sit up straight, girl, show yourself to your eager suitors!" and her voice held a dangerous tone. She looked around, saw Magus, and directed her attention to him next. "Prophet! You know the future! Tell us when my daughter will lose her maidenhead!"

Magus inclined his head towards his mother. "My dear Queen, I only see some things, and your daughter's maidenhead is not in it currently, I apologize for my lack failings," was his tactful answer, voice sounding sincerely unhappy at being unable to tell the Queen her wish.

"No worries, Prophet, you serve me well enough already," the Queen answered, looking at him fondly. "Everyone may go to the next room now," she suddenly declared. And the room was vacated, and it was a small room that had a ballroom floor, and many chairs and small tables, and snacks for those who were peckish even after dinner. Schala hid in a corner with her brother, still embarrassed by her mother's comments.

The Queen herself made an exit shortly after, taking Dalton with her, and leaving furious murmurs in her wake. No one had actually seen the Queen's beginning descent until now. It was evident, as her manner had suddenly drastically changed in the middle of a speech.

The younger guests quickly dismissed the Queen's outburst as overindulgence, and began to wander and talk of other things. Magus found himself mobbed by young girls, surprisingly enough, some shy, and others over-familiar. He chased them away with cold looks, and walked over to the Gurus, who were speaking to each other worriedly. Magus glanced at Schala, and saw to his relief that the young men were keeping their distance, as Janus fiercely glared at all of them. Seeing she was in the safe care of the boy, he continued. His idea was that he would be left alone in the care of the Gurus. He was mostly correct. Bold young women still bothered him. He ignored them, and listened to the talk the Gurus were having.

"I don't like how the Queen has been acting lately," Melchior was saying.

"She's been getting worse," Gaspar agreed, nodding.

Balthazar only shook his head. He hadn't noticed anything really, as he was engrossed in his work.

"She started to change when the Mammon Machine was activated," Magus murmured quietly. The old men looked at him. He had their attention.

"Do you know why?" Melchior finally asked, as Magus was silent.

"The effect of Lavos is different for everyone," Magus finally said, a blatant lie, as it only affected the Queen in such a way. He suspected it was because she ruled the kingdom of Zeal as to why she was targeted by Lavos' attentions. "She will undoubtedly descend further as time goes on," he said, after pausing. This only worried the Gurus even more, and they asked more questions.

"Can we stop this?" they asked. Magus only shrugged in reply, which earned him disgusted looks. He left their company, and went to find Schala, who had not moved from her corner, near a plant.

He ignored the the venemous looks from Janus as he approached, and they sloughed off him like water on glass.

Magus bowed before the princess of Zeal, and when he stood, his head was bent. "I would like to apologize for the Queen's outburst, my lady," he said, voice quiet and low.

"You don't have to apologize for mother," Schala said, voice tight, as she controlled her nerves. "I should apologize for her trying to involve you, Prophet."

Magus silently inclined his head, and stood with her for a while, not speaking, as they took some shelter in each other's presence. Magus didn't think she had forgiven him yet for his coldness earlier. He didn't apologize for that.

After a while, Janus spoke up, voice somewhat angry, "You can leave now, you know," the bow grumbled, eyes narrowed.

"Of course I can, child," Magus told him, voice cold, "I can leave anytime, as can anyone here, at any moment." This was a way of harrassing himself. He didn't like the attitude Janus took towards him, but grudgingly approved that the way Janus treated him was the same as he treated everyone else around his sister.

"Janus, remember you are supposed to be polite," Schala scolded lightly, eyes softening as she looked at Janus. Magus relaxed a little as he watched her untense a little.

"Polite won't make them go away," Janus grumbled, looking at Schala, knowing that he was correct in this matter.

"If you would like to retire, you could send take the young prince to bed, my lady," Magus offered, giving her an escape, should she want one. And with that, he took her leave, and left the party, retiring to his room, tired after spending a few hours in the company of all those haughty nobles. He misliked having to go.

As he took off his cloak, he sighed. The cloak was draped over the back of a chair in front of a desk, and he flopped down on his bed bonelessly, melting into the surface. He relaxed like that for a while, before stripping, changing into something less abrasive, and laid upon his covers, not needing them for warmth. He was warmer even without them in Zeal than he had spent the majority of his life.

Magus went over the Queen's actions in his mind for a while, knowing how much worse she would get over time. How much worse it would get for everyone near her over time. Feeling guilty, he knew this was partially his fault.

The black wind had subsided for now, and he knew the meaning of it's whispering. He slowly said goodbye to his sister in his mind. He couldn't dirty her purity with his filth. His company would still be with her, but he would stop at friendship, he told himself.

It saddened him more than he could say. He felt tears welling, and he blinked them away, eyes burning. Tears were a waste of water, and a waste of time. Magus would have to settle for being her friend and protector, even if he was hurting her in the process.


a/n: Well, this took a while to finish. Been busy with all sorts of stuff. But finally! Hah! ….I think it could do with some tweaking, but so far...I'm kinda lazy.