Part 7

The Epoch appeared over the ocean, the sun rising in front of them. Magus sunk a little deeper into his cloak and narrowed his eyes, but a moment later the windows turned a few shades darker, blocking out the worst of the glare. He blinked and glanced at Lucca.

"Adjustable ultraviolet shields," she said softly so the others wouldn't hear. "Installed 'em a couple weeks ago after the sun made me hit a tree."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I just clipped a wing," she said defensively and looked back out at the ocean. "Help me find the dumb coliseum."

"How can you be sure it's already risen?" he asked, but he glanced at the controls and brought up a small holographic map between themselves. "The earthquake that brings it to the surface may not yet have happened."

"..."

He looked back at her. Every time she held silent, something momentous and awful usually happened. "Ashtear, you'd better not be holding back on me. I don't have the patience for games anymore."

Instead of answering right away, she just nodded once and brought the Epoch down several hundred feet until they flew just above the ocean's surface, skimming the water. She set the autopilot and leaned back in her seat, about to speak when she noticed how quiet the backseat had grown. Loathe to discuss the topic even in front of her friends, she knew she couldn't convince Magus to wait until they were alone for an explanation.

"Consider the loop coincidences occurring through the time stream," she started in her blandest voice, "and the constants of event triggers at our every point of destination. Despite the wide variables and infinite combinations of arrival times, we consistently actualize a vital intimation of historical and, for us, future events."

Magus' narrowed eyes widened. Why on earth would she suddenly speak-- Everyone in the backseat abruptly sighed and looked out the windows, tuning out the scientist as she rambled in jargon. Ah, that explained it. His estimation of her rose and he spoke in low tones. "We consistently arrive at the proper time, yes."

"Even taking into account that we can narrow our intended time within a year," she said, also lowering her voice, "we always seem to appear the day something happens. Once or twice, maybe, but every time? No way it's a coincidence."

Something's controlling everything, he thought, leaning back in his seat. "I must admit, the thought had occurred to me as well. Your entity?"

Lucca stared at him. "Do you think that's it?"

Of course not. At least not this time. He remembered his long year of searching, always finding a timegate to the next era he needed to visit, always finding a way to the next clue. "But Lavos is dead," he murmured, "and the entity untroubled, it seems."

"If anything is doing this," Lucca said, "then whatever is at work here must be not be a threat to the world, only to us. Humans. So I doubt that the entity is concerned all that much."

"On a global scale, what's a few million humans?" Magus added. Or reptites, come to think of it. "If the entity is concerned only with its own destruction and nothing threatens it now, then something else must be leaving us these gates."

"Lavos is dead," Lucca said slowly. "But there was one relic of his that we never fully destroyed. It's possible--"

He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "The mammon machine was just a receptacle for its power. It had no will of its own. It was just a machine."

"Robo is a machine, and he has self-will," she said. "The mammon machine contained the strongest magical force in this world, who knows what might have happened during all this time." With a heavy sigh, she leaned back in her seat and stared at the ocean going by. "Of course, this is all just conjecture. We don't have any hard facts on whether or not Lavos' energy could take form or independent will."

Several silent minutes of searching passed before Magus responded. "His energy could take form."

She glanced at him.

"Me," he whispered. "I don't know about Schala. Mother's husband was still alive when she was born, but he died long before I came along."

Her eyes widened. "You mean, Lavos is your...?"

"Doesn't it make sense?" he said. "Lavos warped all of Zeal, myself most of all. My body took such a long time adapting to his influence that I didn't come into my power for years."

"You're not like that galactic monster," she said.

"Aren't I?" he laughed bitterly. "Dark magic, parasitic...he devoured worlds, I drink blood." He stared at his hands as if he could see the claws beneath the gloves. "I'm alive, but I'm just as much a vampire as he was."

"No," she said, putting her hand on his. "You're not like him at all."

Frozen, he stared at her. Her confidence confused him. After a moment, she drew back and stared at the map, adjusting their flight. He sat straight in his seat, ill at ease in the half-darkness provided by his cloak. After a minute, he shook his head and put her belief out of his mind. Her actions, like much of the world, would have to wait until his search finished, if it ever did. And there lay another conclusion he dreaded. The mammon machine lay at the bottom of the ocean.

As did his sister.

"Found it," Lucca suddenly said, turning the Epoch slightly north. Not long after, the arched colonnades of the coliseum appeared on the horizon. Three stories high with a spire in the center, it grew larger and larger until it towered over them, blotting out the sky. Lucca landed the Epoch in front of its massive gates and released the locks.

"Careful," Magus warned them. "Flea and Slash may already be here."

"I hope so," Frog said as he climbed out with everyone. "'Twill be quite boring if we must wait."

The gates groaned as they pushed them open but the sound didn't rouse any would-be attackers, echoing with the wind through empty corridors. Magus couldn't help a quick glance around himself with everyone else. Tall pillars formed a stone forest that disappeared outside the circle of light from the open doors.

"Where are we?" Marle asked. "I thought this thing was open on the inside."

"It is," Lucca said. "I think we're under the stands. If we keep going, we should find a door into the main seating area." She held a strong flame spell in her hand to light their way through the darkness, leading them past a maze of columns and ornately carved scrollwork along the ceiling.

"Wow," Marle said, gazing at the figures chiseled into the stone. "I wonder who did all this."

"I'd guess a civilization several hundred years after us," Lucca said, pointing out the strange devices the figures held. "Look at all the things they're using. I think I recognize a few of my prototypes..."

While they distracted themselves with the artwork, Magus ignored them and followed a few feet behind the group. So far they had encountered no strange enemies, tripped no hidden traps and heard only the wind blowing through the empty stadium. Unusual, to say the least. Normally they were attacked when they first arrived in a new time. At the very least, they met local people. Hearing only the wind and their own voices unnerved him.

The silence stretched out as they pushed open the next pair of large doors and stepped onto the soft sand that lined the arena of the coliseum. Straggling at the back of the group, he walked slowly after them, staring at the stone stands. He thought it was strange to see stone masonry with advanced technology in the decorations, but who knew how future generations might live? He paused as a familiar whisper blew through the air.

"Thou art lagging," Frog said, coming back towards him. "Is something wrong?"

"I hear it," Magus said. "The black wind blows..."

"Tis nothing here," Frog said. "Methinks thou art overreacting."

The sand around both of them exploded, blasting them from every direction as strong white light surrounded them like a box with a lid. Frog instinctively lashed out with the Masamune at the same time that Magus sliced blindly with his scythe, nearly cutting Frog in half at the same time. The wall of light shimmered but held.

Ahead of them, their companions turned and drew their weapons as a sharp crack of thunder sounded at the far end of the coliseum. High above them in what would have been an emperor's box stood Ozzie, flanked by Flea and Slash. In Ozzie's hand, the sunstone sparkled as bright as its namesake.

Lucca didn't waste time waiting for the inevitable speech but immediately cast her napalm spell at the box. Flea and Slash both ducked, but Ozzie stood still and the spell flashed harmlessly against the box as if a screen had been erected. Lucca cursed and drew her gun.

"Such determined heroes to follow me across space and time," Ozzie laughed, gazing smugly from his perch. "But I'm afraid you're too late. Our revenge against the human race is at hand."

"What are you gonna do out here in an empty coliseum?" Lucca shouted.

"Oh, so you don't know what's under us," Ozzie said. "The sunstone's energy has given me access to a far greater power, one which will let me end the human race before it even begins."

A cold chill ran down Magus' spine, but all he could do was hold his breath and hope he was wrong.

"What are you talking about?" Marle demanded. "You can't end us before we began. You'd have to change time at the very beginning."

"There is one creature in the timeline," Ozzie said, "that was so powerful it affected change from whatever chronological point it was in. We hoped to summon it once during the war. Now we'll finally get our chance."

Frog stepped as close to the barrier as he could. "Magus, do they mean--?"

"There's no other explanation," Magus said.

"Lavos is dead!" Marle said. "We killed it!"

Beside the princess, Lucca gasped and stepped back. "Oh God...I never thought of using the sunstone to find it..."

"That's right!" Ozzie said, pointing dramatically at the sand in front of them. "All those nights of listening to Magus whine about his sister and the mammon machine are finally paying off!"

"Thou were't a whiner?" Frog chuckled despite himself. "I suppose I shouldst not be surprised but--"

"Oh shut up," Magus snapped. "I was a child surrounded by mystics, of course I whined."

Ominous rumbling echoed through the coliseum, knocking off crumbling bits of stone and shaking the ground as it grew louder. As everyone knelt so they wouldn't fall, Magus flew a few inches off the ground, hovering close to the barrier. He put his hand against it, wincing as it burned his skin through his glove. With a little pressure, he found that he could push into the light, but he withdrew before he burned too badly.

"Art thou mad?" Frog winced. "Dost thou wish to do thy enemy's job for them?"

"I know this spell," Magus said, plucking at the bag on his belt with his good hand. "I don't think I can get out, but I should be able to slip you through."

"How?" Frog watched him pull open the bag and release a familiar swirling energy into the air, complete with lightning bolts flashing around him, and he jumped back while brandishing his sword. "Nay, sorcerer! Thou shalt not change me into an even more hideous form!"

"Little idiot," Magus said, directing the magic towards Frog. "For this to work, you might need to lose the accent...Glen."

Outside the force field, no one noticed the little drama played out as the last earthly essence of Cyrus returned Frog to his rightful form, reshaping the amphibian knight and leaving a young human in extremely ill-fitting clothes. Glen fell to his knees as he suddenly felt lighter and heavier at the same time. Green hair streamed past his shoulders and hid his face as he panted for breath, and he studied his hands for the first time in years.

"Get up," Magus said. "You can look at yourself after the fight."

"Mine...mine form..."

"I told you once, Fro--pest, you didn't have the accent before, so lose it now. Otherwise you might not be able to get through."

Glen looked up at him with wide eyes. "Why hast thou--why did you do this?"

"The spell's locked in on our names. You should be able to slip through if you're not Frog--"

"No!" Glen stood up, grabbing the breeches that were suddenly too baggy and too short before they slipped off his hips. "I mean why this? You could've changed me into anything. Why give me back my true form?"

Magus narrowed his eyes. "I owe you no explanations. Now get out there!" He called down a blast of lightning that threw Glen towards the barrier and right through it without so much as a singe. Glen rolled along the sand a little, coming to a stop at Lucca's feet. As the genius looked down at him, the flash of green hair caught Marle's attention and she looked over at the same time.

"Frog?!" Marle cried. "That's what you look like?"

"You never told us you were hot!" Lucca gasped.

"I didn't look like this before," Glen said, standing up with one hand firmly on his breeches. "Didn't sound quite like this, either," he whispered to himself. After so long, how easy it was to return to his old speech. He clasped the Masamune in his hand and found the weight a little different. Perhaps it would be better if he relied on magic for this battle. Then he noticed the girls staring at his pants and felt his face heat up. "Does anyone have a belt they can spare?"

Marle turned and wordlessly pushed Chrono towards him. While Glen took the offered spare belt and shored up his dignity, he spared a glance at Magus still locked behind the barrier. The wizard paced back and forth like a caged animal, his fangs bared as the thunderous rumbling grew louder, finally erupting in a shower of sand and stone as something huge blasted up from the earth, blocking out the sun. For an instant the coliseum turned pitch black, but as the sand fell back to earth, they all stood in momentary awe staring at the mammon machine reborn. It was not the simple mechanical creation that they remembered. Lavos' surge of power so many years ago left deep scars across the metal surface while the sunstone gave a red glow to the long-dead electric lights. And despite the cloudy surface of the protective shell on the front of the machine, they all recognized the outline of the lost Zealan princess trapped within, her eyes burning as she scanned the battlefield without any flicker of recognition.

"Impossible," Marle whispered. "We destroyed it..."

"We defeated it," Lucca said, raising her gun. "But it sank into the ocean. I...I never imagined that Schala..."

Knowing he wouldn't like what he saw but unable to stop himself, Glen looked back at Magus. He wasn't surprised to see spells cast in a fury at the force field, all of them uselessly deflected. Magus wasn't even looking at him. The wizard's attention focused on his sister, now presented after his agonizing search just within reach. Smoke rose from his gloves, smoldering from the rapid fire spells and from trying his claws on the force field out of sheer desperation. Glen suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Even for an enemy, he found such taunts cruel. But he no longer felt that Magus was an enemy, whatever strange companions he and Magus had become, and dangling Schala before him was nothing short of dishonorable. With the courage built in him after years of being a frog, Glen called out to him.

"Magus! I promise you, I'll save her!"

Halting his spells, Magus blinked once and stared at him. "She's not some damsel to rescue, you idiot! She's trapped by that power, she won't recognize you!"

Glen frowned in confusion. "What?"

"He's right," Lucca said, understanding in a flash. "The machine provides the power, but Schala provides the will. We're not fighting the machine...we're fighting her."

The party's momentary disbelief shattered when the first attack came, a blazing light so hot that the air crackled. Protected by the field, Magus watched helplessly, unable to move to their aid, unable to get close to his sister. Burned by his escape attempts, his hands flexed, itching to get around Ozzie's throat. Even now he heard him screaming in laughter.

"Hey, Magus!" Flea yelled from Ozzie's side. "You should be thanking us!"

"All your searching and we found her first," Slash laughed.

Trembling in rage, he nearly gave into his urge to attack the barrier again, no matter how useless his attempts. Her long incarceration had driven Schala mad with panic and fear, and watching his traveling companions struggling against her blind anger nearly blinded him as well.

"Think she even recognizes you, Magus?" Ozzie asked.

His shoulders dropped as he realized the truth of that question. If she recognized him, it was only as the false prophet leading Zeal to its ultimate failure. If she recognized him at all, it was only as the source of her hate, the wizard who lost her a brother and a kingdom, her whole world, all in one maser stroke. She would only know him as the rest of time knew him, the dark magus, pawn of Lavos.

"If this is what it takes," he whispered, touching the amulet around his throat, Schala's last gift to him. Holding it in one hand, he stared at the flickering magic holding him prisoner and came to his decision.

"My looks never mattered," he said softly, speaking to her even though he knew she couldn't hear. "You'd know me if I could touch you again, if you could hear me. Not this name I created, but..."

Another series of explosions rocked the coliseum. Huge sections of the walls blew away with the force of each spell, sand blasted into smooth glass, and the sky turned dark with the intense magic swirling overhead. If this battle was a storm, Magus was the calm at the center.

Rushing to heal his friends after every attack, Glen began to despair of winning this battle. The mammon machine did not have access to a vast amount of power, but what it did have was wielded masterfully by the girl held within. The Zeal royal family raised powerful magic users, he thought, each of them stronger than the last. He doused the flames on Marle's clothes and cast a quick healing spell on Lucca while Marle healed Crono, who sliced deep into the circuitry in the center of the machine. Sparks flew, the lights flickered once, and then Schala sent a wave of lightning over them. Glen winced and healed himself while Lucca retaliated with napalm, coating the front of the machine in flames.

At least there was no wind or rain, he thought, no horde of mystics coming from every direction or helpless victims to protect. His enemy lay before him, his sword was in his hands, but he felt none of the thrill he'd once felt for battle. How could he when the kind girl who'd helped them in the distant past now stood before him as his enemy? Glen almost wished he was Frog again, imagining that as the frog knight he might still taste that lust for victory. Instead all he felt was tired and a deep wish that the fighting would end.

From up on the balcony once reserved for kings, the three mystic generals watched the battle as if it was entertainment, careful to ward the worst damage away from themselves.

"This won't last much longer," Ozzie mused, watching the team slowly run low on ethers and potions. "A few more minutes, if that."

"They'll make fine cadaver soldiers," Slash said.

Flea giggled. "I was actually hoping to use them for something else before they croak. Can we at least eat Magus?"

"You know," Ozzie said with a smile, "I'm not sure if he'll die like a human or burn up like a mystic. The suspense is killing me."

"Hey," Flea said, leaning over the railing. "Look at him. He's just standing there."

"Finally accepted his fate," Slash said. "At last we'll see the end of the Magus."

Inside his prison, even though he couldn't hear them, Magus agreed. This barrier rested on the name he'd given himself. To save his sister, he had to let that name go.

No outward change manifested itself. Silently drawing his scythe, he breathed deep and took a step back, then flew forward as fast as he could. As he struck and passed into the barrier, the magic around him exploded and threw him forward into the sand, his skin burned and his clothes singed with flames flickering at the edge of his cloak, but as he pulled himself to his feet, Janus smiled despite the pain. Raising his scythe once more, he darted past Glen and Lucca, outrunning their spells as he shouldered his way through Schala's last firestorm, a blaze of light and heat that dazzled his eyes and blinded him so that he had to aim at the blurry image of his sister behind the shimmery surface of the mammon machine. With all his strength, he swung his scythe at his sister, slamming the blade into the shield in front of her. For a moment the powerful hit sounded like a musical note vibrating around them. A crack appeared on the shield, spreading out until it and his scythe shattered, sending shards of metal and magic in all directions. For the first time in thousands of years, his sister breathed the open air and felt the sun on her face. Stepping into the small chamber, he stood over her and put his arms around her, relaxing with a sigh as he closed his eyes.

Finally free, all Schala recognized was that something had breached her shield and caught her. Instinctively she pressed her hands against his stomach and cast a bolt of energy that punched through his abdomen, leaving a gaping, smoking hole in its wake.

Somewhere behind him he thought he heard a scream. Pushed back slightly by the force, he stared into Schala's eyes, relieved as they stopped burning in madness and focused on him, narrowing as she tried to remember who he was.

"Schala..." he whispered. A drop of blood welled over his lip and spilled down. "I found you."

Locked within the mammon machine for ages, Schala's eyes slowly accustomed themselves to the light, and she only saw a dark blur outlined by the overpowering sun overhead. The voice was so distinct yet hard to place. Two different memories flashed in her head, her little brother sulking in her bedroom and the false prophet demanding her cooperation. Fond love and fierce hate warred in her heart. A gloved hand touched her cheek, shading her eyes from the sun, and she raised her hand in kind, mimicking the touch. She frowned. Something wasn't right. Her hand was dark red and dripping wet. A strange metallic scent filled the air.

"You don't recognize me, do you?" His heart pulled in two directions, hoping she did and hoping she didn't. His eyes drooped and he leaned against her, speaking through mouthfuls of blood. "But I never forgot. And now I can stop looking."

He couldn't stand anymore. Resting his head on her shoulder, he closed his eyes as he slumped, his extra weight forcing her to stand and hold him rather than remain motionless in her shell.

"Who are you?" she rasped, her voice harsh from disuse.

Her voice sounded so distant that he couldn't make out the words, but he didn't care. All that mattered was the sound of her voice. "Never lost it," he whispered, slurring his words. "Your amulet...Schala..."

Hands started to pull him away from her and he growled, weakly trying to hang onto her. Even worse, her hand had wrapped around her amulet. As he fell back, the chain snapped, and he didn't have the strength to reach for it. The sun dazzled his eyes as someone lay him on the sand.

"It's not healing," Marle cried, trying spell after spell. "Why isn't it healing?"

"It came from Schala," Lucca said. Her hand flew to her glasses in a familiar gesture as her mind raced. "And she's been merged with Lavos' energy for so long...and Lavos might be Magus' father--"

"His father?" Glen gasped. "'Impossible!"

"The two types of magic combined in Schala may be stronger than our magic, or maybe it's just something Magus is weak against since he's made of the same combination of magic." Lucca left their side and scrambled back up into the Mammon Machine, careful not to let Schala see her.

She needn't have worried. Schala stared at the amulet in her hand, blinking rapidly the edges came into focus. Her dark eyes widened.

"Janus? Janus!" She turned and spotted him on the ground, but as she tried to move towards him, her legs collapsed beneath her and she landed on the hard metal of her former prison. Disbelieving, she raised her hands and looked over her arms and body. In her long captivity, she'd become too weak to move.

"Glad to see you back to yourself, princess," Lucca said, leaning inside the capsule and putting an arm around her waist. "I hope you know a healing spell or two."

"Lucca?" Schala held on as she was dragged free, wincing as the scientist jumped down to the sand and carried her to Magus' side. She leaned over him but he was already unconscious. "Put me down," she said, easing onto her knees as Lucca complied. Raising her hands, she began to chant.

Steel crashed over her head as Chrono blocked Slash's sword. Her voice trembled but she didn't pause in her spell.

Beside them, Glen held Flea and Ozzie at bay, standing between them and a stunned Marle who'd been taken by surprise. After another strike aimed at her head was deflected by Chrono's sword, Schala stumbled in her chant but she didn't stop. The wound in Magus' abdomen began to seal.

"And I thought your fashion sense was awful before," Flea laughed, flying out of Glen's reach. "Magus certainly did you no favors by changing you back."

"Get down here!" Glenn yelled, leaping as high as he could and slash at him. He missed and landed clumsily, even more frustrated because he knew he could have reached him in his former shape.

"Where's the accent, Frog?" Ozzie asked, bravely ensconced in a crystal dome. "Or did you just talk like that so no one would know it was you under that slimy skin?"

"I gained a lot because of what Magus did to me," Glenn growled lowly. He took a deep breath and forced himself to admit what he'd never wanted to admit, never even imagined until he spurned Magus' offer of a fight in the frozen wastelands of the past. "Though he intended it as a humiliation, it forced me to learn courage. It forced me to learn to fight, to live despite my fear and grow stronger."

He dodged Flea's next attack and cast a water spell just above the magician's head, forcing him to dodge low to the ground. Gathering his strength, he leaped again, and this time he did not miss. Flea crashed to the ground and didn't move. The force of the attack made Glen fall awkwardly, and his left leg gave out under him as he landed. He went to one knee, sword still up, ready for another attack.

The attack didn't come. Blood streamed out of Flea's severed neck while his head lay several feet from his body. Glen exhaled and looked across the sand. Chrono and Marle likewise finished off Slash with a flurry of lightning and ice.

Lucca did not join in the fighting. She knelt beside Schala and watched anxiously as her magic repaired the damage she'd done to her brother. Glen wondered if she was trying to analyze the spell, so enrapt by the strange magic that she forgot about the fight around her.

The mammon machine, which had faded to a dull glow after Schala's release, suddenly flared up with brilliant light, drawing all of their attention as Ozzie maneuvered his bulky frame into the spot where Schala once stood. In his hands he held the sunstone, no longer merely channeling its power into the machine but letting its power flow directly down into it. The sheer strength flowing from he mammon machine felt like the edge of one of the fiery waves Schala had cast, but Ozzie didn't even try to attack them. Glen got to his feet and ran across the coliseum floor, falling to one knee at Lucca's side.

Despite the circumstances, he couldn't help glancing at his fallen companion. Though ashen, only messy scar tissue remained of his horrendous wound. He was surprised to notice Magus breathing. He'd never been able to tell before.

"Lucca," Glen started, "what is Ozzie doing?"

Blinking a few times in surprise, she looked from him to Ozzie. Her eyes widened and she shot to her feet.

"He's doing it," she said. "He's using the power in the sun stone to fuel his spell. If we don't do something fast, he'll turn the first humans into mystics."

Watching Marle and Chrono cast strong spells against the machine only to have them deflected by just a stray wisp of the sunstone's power showed them how difficult stopping Ozzie would be. Ozzie could have wiped them out in an instant, although he probably hesitated to use the amount of power that would take away from the main spell.

"But how can we reach him?" Glen asked. "He's too well protected."

"Only because the sun stone is strongest around him," Lucca said. "But we don't have to get him directly. If we destroy the mammon machine, the blast should be strong enough to destroy him, too."

"And perhaps us as well," Schala said, looking up at them from the ground. "The last of Lavos' magic won't be strong enough to rend the timestream this time. It will merely destroy this entire structure, and us with it."

"You saw us defeat Lavos?" Glen asked. "How?"

"In my shell, I could see everything," Schala answered. "Although as time passed, I became less aware of what it all meant. In moments of clarity, I saw just enough to provide Janus with the portals he needed, although I had to take the destinations from his mind. I couldn't bring him to me, no matter how much I wanted to."

The hum grew stronger while Chrono and Marle's attacks had even less effect, their magic consumed to low levels. Marle conserved the small amount she had for healing spells and drew her crossbow, taking aim at the mammon machine itself. Glen hefted the Masamune again, about to rejoin the battle, when Schala's voice stopped him.

"Help me stand," she said, holding out her hand. "Lucca, I will need your help in this. My magic will provide the catalyst for your fire."

"Like a wave carrying my spell as a rider," Lucca said in understanding. "You think your magic can punch through the mammon machine's shield?"

"I was part of that thing for over a millennia," she said. "It's pulling at me even now."

Glen helped her stay on her feet as she raised her arms, using the familiar gestures Magus did to cast spells. Violet wisps of light swirled around her fingertips and coalesced into a flowing stream that she shaped into a ball of energy. Beside them, Lucca gathered every bit of her magic, intending to attack in one massive strike. As one, they let their spells fly forward, curling around each other like ribbons.

On the other side of Ozzie's shield, the mammon machine flared brilliantly and absorbed every bit of the sunstone's power. As Schala's magic flew close the shield opened to receive her spell, but instead of being destroyed by Lucca's flames, the machine shimmered as the magic danced over its surface.

"I don't get it," Lucca gasped. "Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know," Schala whispered. "I don't know why it's not penetrating the machine."

"Isn't it obvious?"

Glen nearly dropped Schala as he turned in surprise and stared at Magus, who'd not only woken up but pushed himself up on his elbows, one hand over the place where Schala's magic had wounded him.

"To penetrate that thing's hide, you need the only sword ever made to cut it, a sword made of dreamstone." He glared at Glen as if annoyed by his lack of perception. "Well, knight? You wanted to save the day, didn't you?"

"Only you could make saving the world sound like a selfish act," Glen grumbled, but he obligingly raised his sword and felt a keen sense of satisfaction as he hurled it through the opening Schala's magic had made, piercing the mammon machine's thick shell. Instead of a metallic clang, the impact sounded like glass breaking.

Lucca's flames slipped inside and for a moment nothing happened. Then the machine began to glow red, then white. Ozzie screamed as his skin burned off and his body caught fire.

"It's working," Lucca said. "It's overheating inside. It'll go in a few more seconds."

"Then we should go, too," Schala said. "We may have enough time to escape."

As Glen helped her move away, he cast one last glance at the Masamune, jammed almost proudly into the enemy that had forged it in the beginning. Although its loss hurt, he took some solace knowing that the blade had come full circle.

Beside him, Magus waved off Lucca's help and easily floated with them as they ran for the Epoch. When they reached its side, Glen felt the sudden panic of facing five seats with an extra member in their party. As he helped Schala in, he'd already made up his mind to remain behind when a harsh shove on his back sent him falling in headfirst.

"Get in there," Magus growled and slammed the door, leaving himself outside.

"Magus, no--!" Marle screamed.

He didn't look at her. A deep rumble from inside the coliseum made him turn. White light exploded up to the sky as flames filled the stone stadium. There was no more time. He flew straight up as fast as he could, then angled away as the explosion pushed outward. Beneath him, he heard the Epoch's engines ignite and fade into the distance. He half-smiled. Everyone was probably screaming at Lucca as she calmly ignored them and figured that Magus could take care of himself.

Then the concussive wave hit, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling out of the sky for a few hundred feet before he caught himself again. Pieces of stone and harsh blasts of sand erupted around him and he shielded himself with his cloak until the last echo of the explosion faded away and the coliseum was nothing but sand and stones falling back to the ocean.

Taking a deep breath, he let himself fall as well, slowing down before he touched the surface. After nearly dying, simply flying at all exhausted him, but he was the only one of them who could have hoped to look for the sunstone without dry land to stand on. To his surprise, he found a chunk of the mammon machine floating on the surface, the sunstone precariously balanced on the surface against the edge of the Masamune. Carefully bringing his hands close around it, he snatched the stone first and tucked it into the same space that sheltered his cat, then glanced at the sword.

The explosion had marked the blade with red streaks along the edges, exposing the pure red ore of dreamstone. What that had done to the sword itself, he didn't know, and he hesitated to touch. Bobbing on the waves jostled the floating debris and made his decision for him, forcing him to grab it before it tilted into the water. His fingers closed around the hilt and saved it from the ocean, and he rose farther into the air just in case this era held strange sea creatures that might mistake him for a meal.

For a moment, he held up the sword that had nearly killed him, examining the keen edge and the simple design. It was probably all that was left in the world that could actually threaten him, especially now that the mammon machine was destroyed. He held the sword out at arm's length. All he had to do was open his hand and the sword would slip away, lost to the depths of the ocean. It was probably damaged, anyway.

But then he had nothing to fear from its master, either. After a moment, he lowered his hand and waited for Lucca to return with her ship.

She didn't make him wait long. A few minutes later, he heard the familiar blast of the engines as they arrived in this era. The sparkle of sunlight off the Epoch matched the glimmering water, and he shielded his eyes against the glare as she pulled up close and opened the door to let him in.

"I wasn't sure I'd find you," she said. "We only just escaped the concussive wave."

"I flew out its reach," Magus said, sitting down and closing the door again. "I found these floating on the waves."

On spotting the sword and stone in his hands, she gasped in surprise. "Oh wow. Frog--um, Glen, boy that's gonna take some getting used to--he didn't think he would see it again."

"The sword may have lost its otherworldly qualities," Magus said, turning the blade so that she could see the red flares along the side.

"I don't think he'll mind," she said. "In fact, he'll probably be happier to see you."

He raised an eyebrow in response.

"Really," she insisted. "Everyone was yelling at me for leaving you here."

"You were the only one who believed I could survive," he said.

"It was only logical." She steered the ship onto a new course and angled down closer to the water. "First let's put the sunstone back. Then we can go home."

She said it so casually. Home. He leaned back in his seat and watched the water go by. Zeal lay beneath the waves, and his years spent with Ozzie's mystics could hardly count as a home. And the rest of his life had been spent in forests and ruins and shadowed corners of castles, hiding from the world as he searched for his sister. Without her to look for, he didn't know what to do next.

Dolphins. He looked again and spotted dozens of them splashing on top of the water like silver flashes of light. He'd never been able to see them so close before, and as they neared the island and Lucca slowed the ship, he had a close view as they flew alongside the pod. Slightly darker streaks of gray broke up their light coloring, and the way they skimmed beneath the surface looked les like swimming and more like flying.

The ship set down on the island and they both stepped out, making their way into the cave. Lucca set the sun stone back in the circle of light, and they both took a critical look at the stone, trying to gauge how much if any power had been siphoned away in Ozzie's attempt to remake the world.

"It looks fine," Lucca said at last, but she didn't sound convinced.

"Can you think of any way to add power into it?" he asked.

"Not really. I can draw energy from it, but giving it energy doesn't work along the same principles. It seems to absorb energy at a fixed rate. Even if we added mirrors to increase the light impacting it, it wouldn't gain strength any faster."

"Then don't worry about it," he said. "When we find it several hundred years from now, it will be strong enough to kill Lavos."

She nodded once. "I don't remember anything different, so you're probably right."

With that, she turned and headed back to the Epoch, saying something else about going home that he didn't catch. He didn't want to think about returning. Now that he'd found his sister, he suddenly faced the realization that he didn't know what to say to her.

"Hey! You coming?"

He didn't answer except to follow.

On the way back through time to her era, Lucca didn't ask him any questions, for which he was grateful. She seemed comfortable letting him brood and only when they landed in front of the castle did she break the silence.

"We better go up quick," Lucca said. "I told them to take Schala to a guest room but they were all so busy yelling at me that I don't know if they did or not."

"Yelling?"

"For leaving you behind," she said.

Walking at her side allowed him immediate entrance into the castle. He wasn't sure if the guard would let him in by himself, but looming at Lucca's shoulder certainly made it easier. With a soft mental command, he told Alfador that it was safe to come out, and soon his cat was following his heels.

In the middle of the corridor, Chrono, Marle and Glen stood in a little circle conversing in hushed tones and occasionally glancing at the nearby door. When they spotted Lucca and Magus, Marle broke into a grin and even Glen smiled in relief.

"You have as many lives as your cat," he said. "It's good to see you had one more to spare."

Now that he could take a decent look, Magus glanced once over Glen, a little surprised at the long green hair. Fortunately Glen must have used some of his time to beg a more suitable outfit from someone and, although the clothes were a plain peasant's tunic and pants, he looked considerably more dignified.

"It's good to know that damn accent's gone," Magus said as he reached into his cloak. "Here. I found this, figured you'd want it back."

Glen gasped as he saw the Masamune slip from the darkness and come to rest in Magus' gloved hands. Reverently he took it back, admiring the new red streaks.

"No doubt the explosion acted like a new forge," he said. "I wonder if its spirits are unharmed."

Magus shrugged and glanced at the nearby closed door. No doubt his sister lay behind it.

"She asked to be left alone for a little while," Marle explained at seeing his look. "To think. I doubt she'd mind at all if you went in."

"How is she?" he asked, making no move towards the door.

"Tired and weak," Marle said. "But she'll be fine with some rest. I think she feels bad about blasting a hole in you."

He doubted that was the real reason, but he knew he couldn't avoid her any longer. His past would catch up to him in a few more seconds, and she had every right to hate him. He hadn't even really rescued her. That had been everyone else. He walked to the door and knocked, waiting until she told him to enter before going in and closing the door behind himself.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows, and Schala had seated herself on the nearest window sill, holding her hand up to the light. As he came closer, he saw the amulet she had given him in her hand, sparkling. Around her neck was Marle's pendant, finally come full circle.

"I haven't seen light in hundreds of years," she said softly. "I haven't felt the wind or heard birds singing. Just the cold black depths of the ocean."

She seemed like she might melt into the sun's rays. Tentatively reaching out, he put his hand on top of hers, covering the amulet and reassuring himself that she was real. When she smiled and held out her arm in welcome, his anxiety couldn't hold him back any longer. He stepped into her embrace and held her in return, closing his eyes.

"You're real," he murmured. "I started to believe I wouldn't find you again."

"I'm here," she answered. "I knew you would find me some day. I felt you moving through the world and sent little time gates to help you."

"Those were from you?"

"You're my little brother. I felt your magic through the years, resonating with mine."

"Half-brother," he said, looking away. "My father--"

"Brother in every way that matters," she cut him off. With a soft sigh, she reached up and touched one of his earrings, the triangles of his strongest spell set in ears that no longer resembled hers. "No matter how you've changed."

His armor still bore the singes and tears left from the battle, and his gloves had been so burned that parts of them had flaked off, leaving his claws revealed. Against his hand, her skin looked pale but normal, human instead of mystic.

"I finally came into my magic," he said. "The more I lived like a mystic, the more I changed."

For a moment she examined his claws, then his hands. They dwarfed her own small hand, almost fragile in comparison, and she looked up at him with a smile.

"You hardly seem like the little boy I remember," she said. "So much stronger. So much more confident."

And that confidence had nearly let Lavos destroy the world. He winced and looked away. This was the part of the conversation he'd been dreading.

"Schala," he started. "There's something I need to tell you. When mother created the Mammon Machine, when she started using Lavos, the prophet who helped her--"

"Was you," she said. Her smile faded and she stared back out the window. "I didn't know then, but I had nothing but time to think and remember. I wondered why you watched me and young Janus so intently, but I didn't realize who you were until you attacked Lavos. Your magic felt so similar to mine."

"I thought I could kill him," Magus said.

Neither of them spoke. Outside the door, he heard the others speaking in low tones, waiting for them to finish. Although the windows were wide open and sunlight filled every corner of the room, Magus felt like he would suffocate from the pressure.

"Schala--"

"There will be time to talk later," she said, facing him again with a small smile. "To get to know each other again. You've given me back all the time in the world."

"After I nearly took it all from you."

"No," she shook her head. "Lavos did that. No matter what else happened, you stopped him."

He didn't answer.

"Help me lay down," she said. "I need to sleep. Real sleep this time."

"Are you sure?" he asked, but he bent and picked her up before she answered. "You've only been awake for a little while."

"The machine kept me awake for so long," she said, resting her head on his shoulder. "I want to dream again."

Afraid that if he handled her too roughly she might break, he set her down gently on the bed and helped her adjust herself on the pillows. Now he noticed how long her hair had grown. No doubt the machine had held her in a kind of frozen stasis, but even so, the tip of her hair reached her ankles.

A lavender blur leaped onto the bed and padded up to her hand, rubbing its back insistently against her fingers until she looked down in delight.

"Alfador," she said, inclining her head so she could see him a little better. "You're still alive."

"I went and got him first," Magus explained. "I couldn't stand the idea of leaving him on that cold island. Looks like he remembers you, too."

"I'm glad he's here," she said, petting Alfador as he lay down next to her. "He's like part of the family."

Soon her hand came to rest on the cat's back as she relaxed, her eyes starting to close. "Will you be here when I wake up?" she asked.

"Of course," he answered.

When he was sure that she was sleeping comfortably, he watched her for a little while, taking in the features he hadn't seen in so long. She wasn't exactly as he remembered, too pale and exhausted and worn, but he thought that with a little time, she would look more like a Zeal princess.

Leaving her and Alfador to sleep, he left the room and closed the door behind himself. Immediately the others pressed around him, asking him in whispers what she had said and how she felt. Glen also mentioned asking the cook to prepare something simple for Schala, but Magus couldn't concentrate on them.

"Is my old castle still standing?" he asked suddenly.

Everyone else blinked, and from their confused faces, he guessed that none of them knew.

"I'm not sure," Lucca said. "I don't think it ever collapsed. Why?"

He almost started to answer, then thought twice about doing so in front of everyone and instead waved for her to follow him. "I have several technical problems I need to discuss with you."

Familiar groans from Marle and Glen told him they wouldn't follow. Once he and Lucca were clear, he stopped in front of the castle and faced her.

"I'm going back to my castle," he said, "to clear it out and make it inhabitable again."

"For Schala?" she guessed.

He nodded. "Guardia is fine for now, but she needs someplace she can go when she's well again. And I don't want her living in a castle full of traps or infested with mystics."

"Let me get some supplies and we can get started," she said. "Are you sure you don't want to rest, though? You nearly died back at the coliseum."

"I'm fine now," he said. "And I want to get the bulk of the work done soon. I don't know when she'll want to move, but she never liked being the center of attention and being a long-lost princess will only make her feel uncomfortable there."

"Gossip does spread like wildfire," she agreed.

After stopping in town and buying several dozen ethers, as well as a tunic that didn't have a hole in it for Magus, they flew back to the forest surrounding Magus' castle. To their surprise, the castle seemed untouched by the years and the battles.

"Wow," Lucca said as they stepped out of the Epoch. "The trees don't even look that creepy during the day."

"The bats are asleep," Magus replied as he looked over the castle. "The dragon at the top will have to go. Most of the statues, too. I wonder if I can make the masonry a little less dark..."

"Statues and the dragon, yes," Lucca said. "But you don't have to change everything. There's nothing wrong with a dark castle as long as the inside is comfortable, and besides, I can't picture you living in something as bright as Marle's castle."

She paused and glanced at him. "You are going to live here, right?"

Was he? He'd been thinking solely of Schala's needs, but he didn't need to travel anymore. Flea, Ozzie and Slash were dead and the last remnant of Lavos had been destroyed. He touched the soft material of the simple tunic he wore. Moving around without his armor left him feeling vulnerable, but he didn't miss the weight of it at all.

Escaping from Ozzie's trap had required a mental shift, a return to a someone he hadn't been for years. The change hadn't lasted long, too easily covered over again by his temperament, but something had changed about him. Maybe it was just the knowledge that no one was trying to kill him now. He looked up into the clear sky.

"Yes," he said after a moment. "This will be home."

To Be Concluded...