Chrono Trigger is not mine. And here, more stuff happens. ...Lyn is kinda stupid...
Lyn woke on her own to some unknown signal, stretching the kinks out of her back and looking around. The moon was coming up, large and nearly full. The light was probably what had woken her. Janus sat at the foot of a tree, back against the trunk, head back, sleeping. With a tender smile, Lyn covered him with his cloak, muttering a near silent "Thank-you," and a quieter "Good-bye." Taking a baring off the mountains and the star-lit sky, Lyn started walking towards Dorino.
When he could barely hear her steps, Janus opened an eye. She had said good-bye. He wasn't really surprised, more like disgusted. What kind of idiot would go to the Humans in her situation? She practically was Mazoku, and she would be soon if he had any sort of say in the matter. She could be a leader of the Mazoku, standing by his side, and she was leaving to be worse than a nobody in Human society? And she was even willing to leave him. That thought hurt more than Janus was willing to admit, especially to himself. Standing with a sigh, Janus put his cloak on properly and started following Lyn.
There were tears in Lyn's eyes as she walked away from Janus. "I don't want to leave you," she whispered in the night, speaking the words she would never say if he could hear. "But you'd never come with me. I want to be free, I want to be accepted. I don't want to be a slave any more." One tear fell, but Lyn didn't even notice. "I'm sorry, Janus. But I can't stay."
The sky was brightening with the light that only Mazoku could see when Lyn reached the first few buildings of Dorino. Stepping onto the paving stones, Lyn gave a sigh and leaned against a wall. Blessed Lady, she was back. She was home.
"What are you doing here?" a man asked in Zenese.
Lyn turned her head, green hair whipping her face. Looking at the man, it took her a long moment to realize why he sounded familiar. "Mahew? By Magi-" Realizing what she was saying, Lyn closed her mouth, looking frightened.
"Do I… know you?" Mahew said in confusion.
"It's me, Lyn. Please, you have to remember me…"
Mahew looked at her, searching for anything he might recognize in the mamono woman claiming to be the healer from Algetty. "I remember Lyn. I can't say for sure that you're her."
Lyn's face went whiter than it already was, blood draining in horror from Mahew's statement. "What do you mean… I'm Lyn."
"Lyn was Human," Mahew said roughly. Seeing the hurt in her eyes, he softened slightly. "Lyn saved my life, the day before the attack. For her sake, I'll give you a warning, mamono. Get out of here. Get out of Dorino, get out of Human lands. I'll even promise not to tell anyone, if you leave now."
"I…" Lyn didn't know what she was trying to say, and it didn't matter. Mahew turned and walked away, limping.
Dawn was breaking, sun topping the horizon, fingers of light tracing Lyn's stricken face. Mahew… hadn't recognized her. He had called her mamono as though she were one of them, and warned her as though… Warned her as though her own people would kill her.
Janus hadn't understood the conversation he'd over heard, and made a mental note to learn Zenese at the next opportunity. It was easy enough to guess what had passed, though, from the look on Lyn's face and the fact the man hadn't attacked. They had known each other, before Lyn was captured, and now the man seemed to have told Lyn something she didn't want to hear.
Motion towards the center of town caught Lyn's eye, and she staggeringly approached, Mahew's warning still in her mind. Merchants were setting up their stalls, laughing and talking quietly in the dawn light. As Lyn drew nearer, the Humans fell silent, looking at her with suspicious eyes.
"I- I just need supplies," Lyn heard herself say, words imposing themselves on the scene. "I just want to cross the desert, that's all." She was using Zenese, but a Medinian accent colored her words and grammar.
"Get the guard!" a man ordered, talking to his assistant. Looking at Lyn, he gave cruel, hungry smile. "If y'leave now, mamono, they might not catch ya," he said, eager for the chase that would start.
"I'm not mamono," Lyn protested, shaking her head. "I'm Human… I just want a little food and water, just enough to cross the desert." She looked at the villagers with a lost expression.
A woman flung a rock, missing Lyn by a finger's length. "Get outta here, filthy monster! We don't care what you want!"
"Stop being so soft!" a new voice said, a man in armor joining the forming mob. "The only good mamono's a dead one. If we let her live, she'll kill all of us at night!"
"I don't want to hurt anyone!" Lyn shouted desperately. "I just want—"
"Food and comfort!" the man interrupted. "And you expect us to just wave as you go back to your friends and tell them all about us!"
Lyn looked at the man, just looked. Tilting her head to the side, with a quiet, earnest voice she asked, "I'm… not Human?"
The armored man blinked blankly at the question, and then started laughing. "What the hell do you think you're tryin' to pull here? Of course you're not Human. Who'd think you are, with mamono features and clothes like that?"
"I'm not… Human," Lyn said again, to herself in Medinian this time. "But Janus said I was…."
Peering out from behind a building, Janus sighed to himself. The girl had wonderful timing on her realizations, really, waiting until they were in the middle of hostile territory to realize she had nothing in common with these peasants. Hearing the leader saying something more, Janus sighed again. It looked like Lyn was too far out of it to save herself, and he didn't feel like leaving her. "Lizard protect me," he muttered, fluidly adding a chant.
"Lyn, come here," Janus ordered sharply, stepping into view. A black glow enveloped his left hand, and he held a scythe in his right, looking very much like the popular conception of death.
Lyn turned to him with a broken gaze. "You said I was Human."
"This is not the time for that conversation, girl, get over here!" Janus snapped, red eyes flashing dangerously.
Obeying the tone, Lyn stepped closer, never looking away from Janus. The armored Human took a couple of paces after Lyn, but all Janus had to do was motion with his spell-covered hand and the man stopped.
Once Lyn was close enough, Janus stepped around her, putting himself between her and the majority of the villagers. "Keep walking, girl, get us out of here…" Janus hissed.
Lyn did keep walking, though from the sound of her steps Janus assumed she wasn't really noticing where she was going. Looking at the Humans, and then glancing around the town, Janus weighed his options, and then threw the Dark Bomb he held. The light-eating explosion grew rapidly, and Janus used the confusion it caused, grabbing Lyn with the hand he'd freed and pulling her into a run towards the rising sun.
Whoo, GO JANUS! Please review?