Magus was silently cursing. In all of his contemplation over recent events, he nearly forgot all about his ceremony. He now had to dedicate all of his time to the final preparations, and couldn't take an active part in the fiends' endeavors.
Somewhere, deep within a dark chamber of his castle, he was slowly, meticulously, drawing a runic circle on the ground, in front of a demonic altar. He had been studying this for nearly ten years now - he didn't care who he had to pray to to make it happen, but Lavos was getting dragged up for a fight. It was that simple.
Magus knew the words somehow, deep down. He had heard them during his... trip, many years ago.
"Let's see..." he whispered. "Nuega... Ziena. Zieber... and Zom. Nuega Ziena Zieber and Zom. That's how it begins... and then you sacrifice the world... I wonder if any of them have figured that out yet?"
"Did you tell them, Janus?"
Magus immediately whipped around in the direction of the voice.
"What!? NO! IMPOSSIBLE! You... y-you... you're...!
...The Prophet of Alucinatio.
"This cannot be," Magus growled. "I watched them chop your head off in the town square."
The Prophet nodded. "Indeed. They did chop my head off, and I died."
Magus's eyes narrowed. "And yet here you are, walking and talking to me."
The Prophet did not react with any kind of emotion, though he seemed to listen. "I am not here on account of your treachery," he spoke, "except to say that because of it, I did not get a chance to tell you one more important thing about your powers."
"Oh?" Magus chimed with sarcastic interest. "And what is that?"
"Although you may command the power of all the elements, you must beware. Power alone will never allow you to obtain that which you desire most. In time it becomes as a crutch upon which you lean, forgetting how you ever stood without it. Someday, you will be forced to give it up. When you do, I hope something of you will still remain."
"Great," Magus replied. "Now leave."
"There is... one other thing, Janus..."
Magus rolled his eyes. "Yeah? What?"
"I have a prediction for you..." the Prophet continued. "This is not a punishment or curse of any sort. It is, no more and no less, just a prediction."
"Out with it..." Magus ordered.
"Until you realize that you cannot accomplish any of your true goals by yourself, you will slowly and steadily begin to lose everything, just as you did instantly when your kingdom was destroyed. This, again, is only a prediction: there is no expediting it nor delaying it: they are merely two events which shall coincide."
"Great. Now, will you leave?"
The Prophet nodded. "For good. This is the last you shall see of me. Goodbye, Janus..."
...
...In that moment, Magus suddenly jolted awake. He had apparently fallen asleep in his ceremonial chamber, and someone was pounding at the door.
"Magus! Magus, are you in there! We need to talk!"
"Ugh..." Magus thought. "Not this again..."
Magus angrily flung the doors open in Ozzie's face. "I already told you, I'M FINE. It was just... an episode. Nothing more.
"Actually, I'm not here about that. This is something I thought you might actually find important."
Magus took a deep breath, followed by a long sigh. "What?"
"That mage girl we saw before is in the main hall. She's asking to see you."
...Tch!
"W-the... the mage... w-why did you let her in!?"
"Well," Ozzie explained, "When the message was first relayed to me, I told them to chase her out of the surrounding woods. She was apparently pretty insistent though, and when she didn't get her way, she asked again... ...and here's the interesting part," he carried on, while Magus continued fussing with his altar.
...
...
"...She asked for Janus."
...
Magus suddenly froze in place.
"Janus..."
Magus walked away some, to think. Ozzie followed after, unsure what would happen next.
"It's her..." Magus thought. "It's actually her, isn't it? This isn't a hallucination, or a dream, or... ...no, Ozzie saw it too... and she's asking for... ...now, on the eve of my... no... no... No no no no no!"
Magus had apparently started thinking out loud.
"Uh... Magus?" Ozzie asked. "Are you ok? Seriously..."
The Fiendlord collected himself, took a few deep breaths, and stood facing away from Ozzie, a certain excitement and panic in his eyes.
...
...
...
"...Have my belongings moved out of my room," Magus ordered. "Give the room to her, and make sure it is tastefully decorated. Tell Flea that I want a wardrobe prepared for this woman. A TASTEFUL wardrobe. She is not to be harmed or mishandled in any way, got it? Treat her no differently than you would myself. Tell the fiends that she is here to assist with the final steps of my plan if you must... and Ozzie?"
"Yes?"
"Prepare a meal. Inform her that I shall sup with her tonight."
When they told Flea that Magus's sister had arrived, a sense of dread came over him: Two Maguses? ...Magusi? Magi? point is, the fiends were cursed. But no, actually, Flea found she was much nicer than her brother. The two of them hit it off rather well, and Flea was a big help as far as putting Schala in something fancy for supper.
"Well," Flea smiled, "If that is all, I must return to my duties. I'll come and get you when chow's ready. Ciao!"
Schala bowed her head with a smile. "Thank you so much."
...And now, she was alone. Alone to think, and look about the chamber. Like much of the castle, it was a shadowy place, the kind which the warm glow of candles could never fully illuminate. The stone was black, and the carpets seemed to be the color of blood. The place would have been a goth's paradise, but it only reminded Schala about how she found him here.
"Janus..." she thought to herself, a bit forlorn. "I should have done something before. Something to stop mother... look what has happened to you... my sweet little brother. Look what the world has turned you into. The darkness which plagued you has finally swallowed you up... ...but here you are, treating me so kindly... ...maybe something is still in there, reaching out? Maybe... I can still save you..."
Schala looked out the window and sighed. It was a castle window, which did not come up to Schala's face, but sat in a deep recession of the thick wall, requiring Schala to lean in towards it. There was nothing to see outside, though. It was too dark.
"I will be happier," she thought to herself, "when the sun rises. And of course, before that, when me and Janus finally meet. I'm here, Janus."
"She's here, Janus," Flea called out. "She's seated and waiting for you, like a pristine princess."
"Ok... how do I look," he asked. "Do I look... presentable?"
Flea eyed Magus over. He was wearing a black cape with a blue and gold doublet, along with blue pants.
"A little basic," Flea shrugged,"But it'll do. Hey, it's just your sister, right? hehehe"
"Yeah..." Magus sighed. "Just my sister..."
Schala sat at that table for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for Janus to join her. Although she was raised to follow perfect manners, after awhile her patience was tested.
"He is coming, isn't he?" She sighed. "He couldn't have forgot..."
Flea came running back down into the black and red hallway, armor statues all around the fancy table.
"Sorry! He's on his way now," she spoke before leaving to give them privacy.
Now, Schala could hear footsteps. A sudden fear came over her, as she realized Janus was finally on his way... ...he was Janus, right? Or was it Magus? Exactly how much had he changed? How was he going to react to seeing her? He did... go through all of this because he still cared.. didn't he? Or did he remember her none at all, and her request was just so audacious that, before her execution, the Fiendlord sought to fulfill her request?
Schala held her breath as he entered.
Her eyes met with his, as he approached. From the look of it, he was holding his breath, too, and...
...looked just as scared.
A long silence filled the room as the two siblings just... stared at each other in an awkward awe and fear of each other.
"...J-Janus? Janus, is that you?"
An honest smile crossed Magus's face.
"Schala..." he replied, unsure of what to say. "What... How... ...?"
Schala stood up, her heart beating out of her chest.
"Oh my god... I... I just.. I saw the amulet on the statue, and I just... and there was the history, and... and I did the research because I thought maybe... and you... here... I-I-I... I had to... oh god, it really is you..."
Magus's voice was breaking. "take the plate if you'd like... but we can't stay in this room."
Schala nodded, understandingly. "Let's go to mine."
The two of them rushed urgently upstairs, looking as if in distress and slamming the door behind them...
Schala felt compelled to spill everything about what had happened since the Ocean Palace. Mother... Belthasar... How she discovered her little brother's whereabouts via the amulet... Magus couldn't help but laugh a little bit in his tears: having the image of his amulet sculpted into that immortal statue... helped Schala find her way to him.
"I'm so sorry, Janus..." Schala sniffled. "I-I wanted to come for you... to come, and just pluck you out of here... but this time period was as close as I could get, and I knew... if there was even a shred of you still in there... well... I had to try..."
Magus thought about her words. She meant well, but there was a subtext to them, which reminded him of why he partly dreaded this moment: once he had accepted that his sister was gone forever, traces of him as Janus slowly began to fade as well. He was convinced that he'd killed the prince off for years... He always kept that amulet though, as a reminder of why he persevered. He never expected, however, that one day he might actually have to answer to Schala, of all people, for everything he'd done.
"Schala... about that..."
"Shhhh..." she stopped him. "Don't. It's ok, Janus... I understand. I'm not proud of you, but... ...I understand. You've always been a bitter person, and I'd hoped that the darkness would not consume you, poison your mind as it did Mother... I am aware of what you're doing... as well as what your goal is."
Magus wasn't sure how to respond to that.
"You must think so poorly of me..."
"I pity you," she replied. "But I am not angry, or horrified. I'm just glad that you never forgot about me. You've done a lot of terrible things, Janus... but we can put that behind us now..."
"Maybe you can..." Magus told her, "but the whole world knows my name now."
"Then leave!" Schala insisted. "Janus, if you've made yourself the world's worst villain in this time period, then simply leave! Go somewhere that nobody will care! ...come with me."
"?"
"The future..." Schala smiled. "It's not a glamorous place... or a pretty one... actually it's... pretty bleak. Somehow, though... I feel like you of all people might appreciate that kind of honesty in the world..."
An amused smile crossed the Fiendlord's face. "Maybe... ...I'll think about it, Schala."
Schala curled up in her brothers arms for once, instead of the other way around.
"...I'll think about it."
...
Neither of them ever noticed that the door was slightly cracked open...
...or that Axl was listening in...