Keeper's Dome, 2299 Kingdom Calendar
Belthesar's eyes went wide.
"Zeal..." He shuddered... "What have you done?"
Queen Zeal stood firmly. She was still Belthesar's Queen and would not bend to him.
"I have made a decision for the sake of my family, Guru of Reason. Schala has done nothing wrong, and I will not allow her to suffer alongside us. If she desires to be with her brother, than we cannot stand in the way."
Belthesar shook his head. "This was not supposed to happen... she was supposed to be here, where she couldn't...
...
...
...this'll ruin everything... especially if Janus is prepared to..."
"What are you talking about?" Zeal demanded.
"She's the flame's arbiter, right? If Janus raises this beast, she could be... I'll have to change everything... write history from the future... it can be done... its just..."
Zeal sighed and left him rambling. He was making less and less sense as the days passed. At times she did regret losing patience with him as she tried to provide company, but as his mind deteriorated more and more, she knew things would only get worse and worse.
"...and if I could establish contact with her, then...!"
Magus's Castle, 599 Kingdom Calendar
Magus felt a pit in his stomach.
He knew exactly what Schala was going to say, and had been dreading it since the very moment Ozzie confirmed she was alive and well in the middle ages.
"You don't like this, do you Schala?" He sighed.
Schala said nothing.
"...You don't like what I'm doing here. You think I've become a monster who stalks victims in the night and spills blood because his favorite color is red."
Schala looked aside. "Your change in appearance does suggest it..."
Magus thought deeply about how to reply to this. He didn't want to argue with her, but needed to persuade her to at least leave him be.
"Janus, I..."
"Look..." Magus spoke, still trying to find words. "There was a time, long ago, when I didn't want to do any of this... a time when I would cry myself to sleep, wishing you would just come and take me away, like it was all just a bad dream... but that was a long time ago, Schala. I came to accept that you were dead and gone... that I was on my own."
"But Janus, now I-"
"No..." Magus told her, softly. "No words you speak at this point can ever persuade me... No, perhaps I ought to say that no action, no power on this planet remains which can stop me now. So long as you are without power to match, my fury will know no rest until Lavos's last moment is filled with pure terror and regret as I bear my scythe down upon it."
"And why?" Schala demanded, tears streaming down her face. "To what end? For me? For a kingdom wracked with corruption and foolishness? Janus,I'M RIGHT HERE! "
This next part was the hardest for him to say.
"...P-please... Return... R-return to your own time now. You cannot stay here, dwelling on this. Please, get out of my castle and leave this time period."
Schala's vision was blurred with tears. Did he really want her gone that bad?
Magus couldn't stop the tears, and was getting tired of trying.
"Schala... thank you. But I am the boy I was no more. Back to mother, with you...
Live... be strong..."
Schala attempted to protest this, but suddenly found herself being moved out of the room by an unknown force, the door slamming shut behind her. She slammed her fists against it as much as she could, calling out for her brother... calling out for Janus... ...but there was no response.
Janus was truly dead, and Magus did not want her. Desperately trying to contain her sobbing, she left the castle and began making a long, sniffling, tearful trip back towards Truce.
"So..." she whispered, under the pale light of a full moon.
"You mean to tell me that no matter what I say, no matter what I offer... there is nothing I might do to stop you?"
"What purpose, then, is there to remain here... I couldn't stop mother... I can't stop you... you tell me not to dwell on this, and yet... Have you even considered how I could possibly live a life in that place, that awful place where people die and are brutally murdered every day... knowing I could have saved your life..."
Schala reached Zenan Bridge. Reconstruction had begun, but the bridge was still totally out. Unlike Magus, Schala did not yet possess the ability to fly, and certainly would not be able to swim the gap. She could possibly produce another ice bridge, but did not want to draw any attention, especially right now in her vulnerable state.
"What do I do..." she thought to herself.
...and then...
...something, just...
...clicked.
Schala dried her face and furrowed her brow, eyes remaining closed. Taking a deep breath, she sighed.
"Very well, then..." she spoke.
"I am the only person in this time period who comes close to matching your power, aren't I? By now, you've seen fit to eliminate all else... ...but I'm the wild card, and I'm not even sure you can hurt me."
Schala re-braided her hair and glared in the direction she came from, a green fire in her eyes.
"If it is the fate of this world to be destroyed, then I will not let it happen without a fight."
"If I am doomed to perish for daring to change it, then so be it!
"...But if I can change history, you shall bet your own ass that I will do it!
Whether your like it or not... I'm coming, Janus."