A few weeks later

Axl was sat in the mess hall, his feet up on a table. There was a large turkey leg in one hand, and a beer in the other. Slash looked annoyed with him.

"You know..." Slash chided, "There are things you can be doing besides sitting around. Just because you have less responsibility doesn't mean you're free to do what you want."

Axl just shrugged. "Doesn't bother me. Unlike the rest of you, I don't fear Magus-"

Slash groaned. "Or respect his title, clearly."

Axl smiled. "He's not gonna do anything to me. Especially now."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on..." Axl grinned at Slash. "You have to have noticed. Ever since that girl showed up, he's gotten... ...soft."

"Uh... yeah..." Slash replied. "I don't think he's gotten soft, Axl. I THINK he's trying to focus his resources on Lavos. We've got a lot of time before Zenan Bridge is fixed, and right now he's laying everything onto his enforcers - us."

Axl didn't respond.

"Which means," Slash continued, "Shape your ass up or I'll cut it off."

When Axl again refused to respond or even sit right, Slash brought his sword down right between the fiend's legs, narrowly missing his crotch. "AH!" Axl jumped, falling back in his chair with a crash.

"SO STOP SLACKING OFF."

Axl looked up at Slash, who was ready to put the fear of God into him. "Hell no! I'm not following that crock of shit, and neither should you! Slash, slash listen..."

Slash grabbed Axl by the neck and started to squeeze...

"N-neither of them... a-are... who they.. they say..."

"Huh?" Slash asked, slowly releasing his grip.

"Magus... Schala... they... they're frauds! They're frauds, I'm tellin' ya!"

"Kid..." Slash rolled his eyes, "I've known Magus longer than you, and that's still young compared to how long Ozzie and Flea have known him. Why would he spend TWENTY YEARS orchestrating a fraud? He is the very reason Guardia is taking fiends seriously in the first place! Nobody cared about us before, nobody thought we could organize any of this! THAT FIEND in the cape is the sole reason we've gained anything!"

"Dude, Slash, he's not even a fiend. His real name isn't even Magus! It's Janus..."

Slash tilted his head. "...alright... I'll give. Where the hell are you getting all this?"

"Well, you see, I was..."

Before Axl could continue, footsteps were coming down the stairs. In the spirit of confidentiality, Axl shut his mouth. Not long after, Flea appeared, along with Schala.

"Afternoon, boys..."

Slash rolled his eyes. "ladies..."

Flea scoffed at that comment. "Still male, Slash..."

"Yeah whatever" Axl shrugged. He gave Schala a brief glance. "Hey," he said.

"Hello there," Schala smiled. "I don't think we've been introduced. I am Schala, Magus's sister. And you are?"

Axl didn't answer. He simply got up from the table, glaring at her, and left.

"Geez," Flea said, shocked. "The hell's eating him?"

"Just some conspiracy bullshit", Slash shrugged. "Find anything in Choras?"

"I don't want to talk about it", Flea sighed. "I just wanna sit here and chill with Schala, because for once Magus isn't lighting fires under my ass to get things done."

"That bad huh?"

Schala just watched the two go back and forth.

"Kids are the worst part", Flea groaned. "Harder to hit, and way too stupid. Thankfully I managed to keep the Naga-ettes fed well enough."

Schala gulped as she realized what Flea was implying: they fed children to monsters. She knew her brother was involved in some pretty terrible things, but never really fully considered what that meant until now... or that even now, he was still giving commands to do so. He was still Janus though, and she needed to get through to him one way or another... she was scared though: scared that, in order to stop him, she might have to harm him... or worse. And what of his generals?

"You ok, Schala?" Slash poked. "You've been awfully quiet. You know, if I didn't know better I'd think you'd never spilled blood before."

Schala thought back... back to the Ocean Palace. She could hear her mother's voice, screaming at her. She could barely see through all the tears, screaming, and pain... she had to continue with the machine. There was no "stop". No stop at all... thus, because she didn't stop, she raised Lavos to the surface and destroyed her kingdom, along with so many Earthbound...

"More blood than you can possibly imagine", she uttered, lowly. "I've done this before, long long ago. Trust me: Magus will do it, but I'm the experienced one..."

Maybe she did belong in a place like this.

"Um... excuse me..." she spoke, apologetically. "I need some time alone."

...and with that, she urgently left the room and all of its company, dashing back to her room to think.

"He's really going to do it, isn't he... he's going to bring it forth... why? What will he accomplish? Zeal can't be brought back, and I'm *right* here... he's so insistent though... He's not going to stop if I just ask him to. No... I can see it now. He's become ruthless and cold...

...just like mother."

Schala sat on her bed, with her head in her hands, face in her palms, thinking about the painful future she had to get through. "I have to stop him... Janus, I'm so sorry... but you've gotten out of control. This wrath and fury are not you, Janus... this cruelty... and to think you believe you can simply *fight* this creature? After what I went through... you know I witnessed this creature's power. If I simply tell you, maybe that will be enough... but what if it isn't? You've become a monster - I can't allow you to simply stay here and continue! I've gotta do what I should have done with Mother... I've... I have to... ...oh Janus... I'm so sorry for this..."

Magus was at his altar when a loud knocking came from the door.

"DO NOT DISTURB ME", Magus hollered. "YOU FOOLS DO NOT COMPREHEND THE INTRICACY OF THE UPCOMING CEREMONY!"

A voice responded. "Janus? It's me..."

Magus suddenly went very soft. "s-Schala? ...come in."

Schala walked in, looking very nervous and upset. "I need to speak to you..."