?, Time ? Kingdom Calendar (presumably)
Janus had been walking in the night for some time, along what looked to be a modern concrete construct, with railings, overlooking a bright city in the distance... ...and nothing in between. When he looked down over the railing, there was nothing. Black. No bottom. All he could do was continue forward, illuminated by orange-tinted electric streetlights above. Considering that Janus spent his childhood in an advanced civilization and moved forward into one considerably less-so, whatever this was didn't particularly phase him.
Eventually he approached some guys who looked like street punks. They took notice of him and stood in his way.
"Well, check it out..." one of them spoke. "Long way from home, aren't you Ali Baba?"
"Just get out of my way," Janus demanded. "You really don't want to mess with me."
"Hey, Slash," one of the punks shouted. Janus couldn't help but notice a similarity to Flea. "This kid's got some balls. maybe we should cut 'em off."
"Slash", as he was called, smiled. "Good idea, Flea..." and all three of the punks pulled out knives.
Janus blinked... the third guy kinda looked like a human Ozzie. "No... I ain't doing this. Just get out of my way."
"Ozzie" lunged right for him. Janus had no real fighting skills, but he could see the knife coming easily, and dodged accordingly. In fact, the thought to grab his arm and break it at the elbow with his knee came almost instantly, followed by the suggestion to smash his own elbow into the punk's nose, breaking it and stabbing the sharp inner bone into the brain, killing him...
Janus dumped "Ozzie's" corpse onto the ground in front of him and drew his sword. "You wanna play knife fight? Come on... Let's play knife fight."
"Dude..." Slash spoke, "FLEA, HE KILLED OZZIE MAN. OZZIE'S DEAD!"
"What the hell man!?" Flea screamed.
"AND I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!" Janus shouted. "all you had to do was not mess with me, and you all just had to... HEY! GET BACK HERE!"
Janus began chasing the other two punks. Flea and Slash split off, and Janus decided to follow the former. Flea ran for what appeared to be a fixed ladder attached to the side of the structure, leading down off of it a ways. Janus chased down the ladder after Flea, but the ladder only led onto a small foothold with no doors of any sort.
Flea was cornered.
"Look, man..." Flea stuttered, terrified. "I'm sorry alright? Look we won't bother you anymore just go please don't hurt me or Slash! H-here... you want money? You can have it! Please just go! WHY ARE YOU STILL GETTING CLOSER"
Flea stepped a little too far back, and fell over the railing. However, Janus was able to grab him by the collar before he could be claimed by the endless black void.
"Oh... oh... oh god, thank you... seriously, thank you... I'll never bother you again, man... I owe you my life..."
"Yeah..." Janus smiled.
"You sure do."
...Immediately he grabbed Flea by the scalp, and slit his throat. After some desperate gurgling and attempting to breathe, Flea finally stopped moving.
"Well, debt settled..." Janus muttered, before tossing the body back into the void. "Now to go get the other one."
Janus climbed back up onto the path, and ran forward. Eventually he reached some sort of checkpoint station with a building. All was dark when he entered, and not in a comfortable way. He knew something was wrong, and did not want to stay in here too long.
"..Wait? What am I doing? He's stuck with me, not the other way around."
"Oh, Mr. punk..." Janus grinned. "Come out, come out wherever you are... I'm not going to hurt you! I'm only going to watch the light go out of your eyes when I incinerate your skull..."
Suddenly Janus found a pair of hands around his neck and a voice next to his face.
"Funny... I was thinking something very similar. Sorry kid, but today is not your day..."
Janus sloooowwlly moved his hands upward. "Slash" could not see them in the pitch black.
"Do I get any last words?"
"Better say 'em fast."
"ok... inciniero projectus"
Suddenly a ball of fire smacked the punk in the face, sending him reeling backward. Janus tackled him to the ground and drove his sword into whatever it would connect with. He couldn't see Slash, but knew he was on top of him. Stab. Stab. Stab. Stab. Stab. Stab. Stab.
...Eventually, the figure stopped moving and fell limp. Janus was covered in his blood. Wiping his blade with the punk's jacket, Janus left the room out the far door and continued onward.
The city scape was gone in the distance. Now, it was just all black, along with snow falling. It was getting colder, but didn't feel wintery. Just lonely. Creepy. Sad. Something in Janus's mind was telling him to turn back, but he wouldn't. He couldn't. He had to cultivate this power. He had to unlock it... even if it meant leaving everything else behind.
He was beginning to understand what was going on, now. Where he was... What all this was... well, somewhat. He couldn't explain everything, but he was beginning to understand the true meaning of "the mind's eye".
"I'm seeing..." Janus whispered. "I'm seeing my mind."
"... ...I have to press on."
The streetlights stopped appearing as he continued, and soon, but for the snowfall, he was left in complete darkness, unable to see if the ground beneath his feet continued or not. At first he was hesitant and moved very slowly... ...but the path went on, and on, and on... for what seemed like hours. Finally Janus just stopped.
...It didn't even matter. Did it?"
Janus focused on the air around him... his own energy... If he could do this in a dream, he could manifest it outside of the mind's eye... that is the true power he possessed...
...And so, his feet began to lift off of the ground. He was flying.
Janus continued forward, through the air. As he did so, he picked up speed. Several figures were floating in the darkness, barely illuminated in colored light.
"No, Janus..." Doreen, of all figures, called out. "Past this point, we can't help you any longer. Are you sure this is what you want?"
Janus ignored her and continued on... ...almost stopping when he saw Alfador.
"Meeeeeewwwwwlllll..." it said, crying for him.
"No tears..." Janus thought to himself, otherwise ignoring the cat. "It's all gone anyway."
"Janus! Janus! Janus, stop it!" Schala shouted, scoldingly. "How is this going to undo anything? Do you really think it will bring back Zeal? Or me, for that matter? What would you do afterwards? What was your escape plan?"
For this, he stopped.
"It doesn't matter. Nobody gets to push me around, any longer. Period. All who challenge me shall perish... ...and Lavos already threw down the gauntlet. Now, it. Must. Die."
"...Then my brother is truly dead."
Janus nodded. "Yeah. Guess so."
Coldly, he carried on, as she faded into the darkness. Truthfully, if that were really her, he might have changed his mind. Knowing that she couldn't be real was the only thing keeping him going, now. The only thing true about his past was the amulet he still carried. His contant reminder of why it all mattered so much...
...And now, he was completely alone in the dark and cold. Still... something was out there... waiting for him. Beckoning to be won.
Blue flames began to appear to Janus's left, and to his right. More and more flared up in lines as he continued along, almost like runway lights. He could faintly hear chanting ahead.
Nuega, Ziena, Zieber, Zom...
Cast open the gates that lie betwixt heaven and earth..
In exchange for the life of this world...
"Stop!" Janus shouted.
"Turn and fight me, coward."
The mysterious, caped figure stopped his chanting. His hair was blue like Janus's, but grown out and long. Long, elflike ears protruded from both ends and a dark cape the color of wine flowed from below the blue mane.
A dark chill suddenly came over Janus, piercing his very soul. It was a familiar chill, which he hadn't felt in some time... ...the black wind. Suddenly, he had a very bad feeling about this.
"Very well, then.." the faceless figure spoke. "Take your best shot... ...if it is death, you seek!"
Janus drew his sword, preparing for the final challenge.