Ozzie's fort was a small, tower-shaped structure with multiple floors. Within its library, Janus sat back in a chair, reading a large red book. He often said that he hated reading, but this wasn't actually true. What he hated was being interrupted while he was reading, or having someone interrupt his privacy.
"Heeeyy Januuuuuus," Flea sang as he tilted Janus's book away from his face. "Whatcha reeeaaddiiiinng?"
Janus's eyes glared at the mage, then rolled down toward the book. "240 ways to murder nosy magicians."
"..."
"It's a tome on advanced warding. I've been studying the details over the past several weeks, and I think I might have some ideas... only problem is they all require more advanced spells than a simple fireball..."
"I could teach you."
Janus raised an eyebrow. "what do I have to do?"
Flea smiled. "Just put that book down for a minute and go stand over there."
Janus did as he was told and faced Flea, who began charging up a fire spell.
"Uh... Flea..." Janus began to ask, "What exactly is this supposed to teach me?"
Flea simply smiled as he leaned back to toss the fireball.
"Whether or not there is a god", he grinned as he suddenly launched the ball towards Janus at high velocity. Warding did not yet come instinctively to the young prince, who panicked and jumped out of the way. The fireball continued towards a bookshelf and Janus quickly tossed off his dirty purple robe to smother it. All this time, Flea was laughing his head off.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU IDIOT!? YOU COULD HAVE BURNED THIS WHOLE PLACE TO THE GROUND!"
"What do I care?" Flea shrugged. "You're the needy one, not me."
Janus tried really hard to like Flea, since Flea was currently his best shot at actually learning some spells. However, Flea was also a somewhat sociopathic pain in the ass who delighted in trickery and treachery, whom each day with made Janus feel further and further from his goals.
"Hey, what's with that stupid silver thing you carry around anyway? What is it like some sort of weird dreamcatcher?"
Janus couldn't immediately see any harm in telling this boy the truth. "it's... it's an amulet. My sister gave it to me, before... well... it's not important. Look, if you're done trying to set me on fire, I'll just read into fire magic myself, alright?"
Flea's expression turned to a hateful envy as Janus turned away. "he thinks just because he's shadow, that he's supposed to be sooo much better... all I'd have to do is burn this whole place down... starting with him..."
Flea charged another fireball and threw it in Janus's direction. This one landed in the boy's hair, much to his horror and shock. Flea got a good laugh as Janus desperately tried to put it out, and even more of a laugh as Janus tried to save the various texts that Flea was setting ablaze, one by one.
"Would you STOP THAT!? I NEED THOSE!"
"Oh, I know," Flea grinned. "I guess you better learn fast, then..."
Janus jumped on flea and started hitting him again, pressing his thumbs into the little mage's eyes. "I SAID STOP IT!"
"h-hey! Let go of me! OZZIE! HELP!"
Ozzie came bursting into the room to see books all over the place and a shirtless Janus about to kill Flea. Small embers were around the room.
"What... ...the HELL DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE DOING!? BOTH OF YOU OUTSIDE, NOW!"
"I didn't even do anything" Janus tried to explain. "Flea started setting everything on-"
"I SAID OUT!"
Janus kept trying to talk over Ozzie, but Ozzie only got louder and louder, and eventually became abusive, smacking Janus. "I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY, YOU LITTLE SHIT! YOU CAN SPEND SOME TIME IN THE HOLE, UNTIL YOU LEARN TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND FOLLOW ORDERS."
Janus couldn't understand. He was only trying to learn, and save the books. Didn't Ozzie even care? He was led to a small dark cellar and tossed into it. Light faded below as Ozzie closed the door, and he could faintly make out muffled screaming from two figures.
"Well at least Flea is learning not to piss him off", Janus thought to himself, tears in his eyes. "Still, he didn't have to get so mad at me. I was only trying to help. If Schala were here, she'd understand. She would be defending me right now, probably casting lightning at him or something...she'd have grabbed Flea by the hand and led him away somewhere where he couldn't cause any trouble... I don't think she'd throw him in a place like this, though... it's too dark.
...
...
"Huh..." Janus thought to himself, drying his eyes. "I've never been in darkness like this before..."
...
"...I kind of like it."
Janus felt... concealed by the darkness. Unable to see his own hands in front of his face, he felt like nothing else could or would detect him either. When he closed his eyes, he even felt as if he were one with it.
...his eyes began to adjust.
Janus could see that the cellar led to a small wooden shelf in the back, with a few odds and ends sat upon it. These things included a small crystal ball, an old dirty bowl, and a large red book, which seemed oddly familiar to Janus, before he recognized the faint glint of a familiar gold crest - Zeal's crest.
"..what...?"
Janus pulled the book down. There was gold-colored text on the outside cover, reflections just barely making it visible to his straining eyes...
"Account of red-innate spells and sorcery"
Janus wished he had a light to read this by. It was impossible to read anything in this darkness, so he had to run up to the cellar door and attempt reading by whatever small rays leaked through.
"ignite... ignite... ignite a burning light. A flame in the darkness, a candle shining bright..."
For a non-red, nothing should have happened next. However, a faint warm glow began to fill the room, as the book became more and more visible to him. A smile crossed the boy's face as he continued reading into this old tome. Who would have thought that a book so old would just by laying around somewhere deep down here?
After what seemed like a fleeting moment, the door of the cellar opened. "Ok Janus," Ozzie called, "You can come out now."
Janus looked back at Ozzie, then at the book. If Flea knew about this book... ...no. No, Janus would have to hide it somehow. Hide it he would: over the next several weeks, Janus would attempt to be punished with "The Hole" again and again. Things between him and Ozzie got worse and worse as he acted out, but he found himself left alone to learn from this old book, comfortably and quietly, at least until Ozzie dragged him back out into the daylight.
Eventually, Janus determined that it was too dangerous to keep the book down there all the time - what if he put Flea down in "The Hole"? He soon hid it away under his bed, and began reading it through his bedtime. Luckily, Flea never learned that the book even existed, and Janus was slowly, secretly, learning all of Flea's same fire spells. "I'll show that jerk", Janus began mumbling to himself. "He's not the only one who can cast a fire spell..."
His mind turned back to Lavos. Would some warding and fire magic be enough? No, certainly not. Even with the knowledge that the book offered him, Janus felt he still needed more.
More.
More knowledge was needed.
Silently, he cursed himself for not having studied these books back in Zeal...