(Some content warnings for this chapter: ritual self-harm for magic purposes, quasi-suicidalish things. I don't know to describe it well. Please help me if you can on this.
Anyway, enjoy this last chapter. This was meant to be practice for another, longer fic idea I had but turned into it's own thing.)
(Rating was changed to T for this chapter)
The inside of the large earthbound hut was warm compared to the icy conditions outside. Magus sat on the floor, near the hearth that gave an odd warmth to his usually cold visage. Alfador was curled up in his lap, while his bare fingers ran through the cat's lavender fur.
But the situation was not as content as the fire or the cat. The situation was actually very, very tense. Even Magus's normally stoic face fell at the edges.
Next to him was Lucca, who was sobbing violently. Magus did not utter a word but looked down away from her. After a few minutes she wiped the tears from her face, but did not put her glasses back on. She scooted close to Magus and held him tightly. Her tears dampened the edge of his cloak, but she finally way able to regain her voice.
"Janus, please there has to be another way!" She pleaded.
"I spent too long looking for it, but this is the way to do it." Magus looked straight in her eyes. Those eyes that no longer contained a trace of the fierce fiend lord they once belonged to, even if the vicious scarlet tone stayed the same.
"But…but..but…I…what is going to happen to you? Will I ever see you again?" Lucca dug her face between his neck and shoulder. Her arms tight around him.
"That depends." Was all Magus could say at the moment. He rubbed a hand on her back gently. This was no time to worry about personal space, or one's stoic ego, there were more important things that made the air and the heart heavy at the moment.
Gaspar, still dressed in his coat and hat walked into the hut. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Magus not bothering at all to push Lucca away. The old man simply tilted his hat, expecting someone else to initiate any words.
Lucca turned to see Gaspar and she loosened her grip on Magus.
"Gaspar, please tell Janus this is insane!" She yelled helplessly at the guru.
Magus looked straight at Gaspar and said, "Results require action. The effort one puts into the Chrono Trigger determines the likelihood of success—no more, no less, am I correct?"
Gaspar removed his hat and placed it on his chest. "Yes, but I never imagined it would amount to this."
Lucca pleaded again to Magus, "Didn't you ask Belthasar? He helped us get Crono back!"
Magus sighed and looked at the fire. He paused for a moment to decide how to best articulate the matter to Lucca.
"I did speak to Belthasar about it, and while he did have is own solution to save Schala, the moment I heard it, the more it only confirmed my suspicions that he is mad. His plan involved a ridiculously complex chain of events that many would die in, possibly including even you, Lucca."
Lucca gulped.
"Yes, that is like him, sadly he was the one who thought about harnessing Lavos's power for himself." Gaspar chimed in.
"He did confirm my plan would work anyway." Magus spoke softly.
One ungloved hand was stroking Alfador and the other held Lucca tighter to him. He found the idea that his former traveling companions would react so…heartbroken at his announcement strange. What had he been to them? He insulted Crono, called Marle an idiot, made snarky comments like burning Queen Leene's letter to Marle, and was overall the grumpy old man in the corner while the rest of the group was a cheerful ray of sunshine. Yet these people actually cared about him, about what he was going to subject himself to. If he had died, they would have attended his funeral and said great things about him instead of spit on the dirt and cheer. If people later in life asked about what it was like to be with him, they would tell of the bad, but also speak highly of him. The very thought of these people…being his friends.
Friend. How odd, Magus thought. He never could imagine himself with any "friends" other than of course, Schala and Alfador.
Marle and Crono arrived inside the hut. They were dressed in fine furs from their own age.
"Take it to Magus to say something shocking and then walk away into a tent right after!" Marle crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
At least one person was still irritated at him.
"How is it shocking?" Magus tried to deny it.
Crono looked sadly at the floor.
A hearty, noble voice came from the entrance of the hut. "Thou said that if thou confessed, thy friends would stop thee. Mine own eyes seeth now, I admire your resolve, so I shal't not impede thy path."
"Thank you, Glenn." Magus uttered softly. Crono and Marle were surprised to see Magus even say that phrase, nonetheless to Glenn of all people.
Melchior was next to enter, and he simply shook his head solemnly.
"So you all do care about me. That's a surprise." Magus calmly said.
"Maybe we should have said it sooner." Marle replied holding back tears.
Crono looked sadly at the floor.
"Janus, are you really sure this is the way?" Melchior asked with a tremor in his voice.
"From what I have learned about…and from the Chrono Trigger, yes." Magus solemnly nodded.
"You...you will come back eventually?" Marle shook her head in disbelief.
"Maybe in my perspective it will be an instant and an eternity for you. Maybe it will be the other way around. I will leave it in your hands if you wish to save me from the torment I will subject myself to."
"A fate...worse than death." Crono sighed.
"Yes. That is what will happen to Schala if I don't do this. It only makes sense what I must do. The doppeldoll that replaced Crono could have been an inanimate replacement due to it being obliterated. To replace Schala requires someone close to her spirit and blood, and equal to her in magic."
"And that...is you..." Lucca choked. She gripped Magus harder.
There was a very long pause among everyone in the hut. Magus pursed his lips, and wiped the salted dampness from his own eyelashes.
"Yes. I stand by my words. I failed to save Schala twice. It is up to me to atone for that. The Chrono Trigger knows it as well. This is not suicide, suicide does not bring anyone back, and neither does blind vengeance. What I am doing is akin to age-old magic and age-old rites that balance the cosmos."
"Sacrifice." Marle said softly.
"Yes, but I am remaking what is wrong right. Schala should not pay for my foolishness. I alone will pay it and that is what I am doing."
Crono's eyes dampened and he wiped the stray tears running down his face. "You helped my friends take me from death by Lavos. Now you're going to run into Lavos's remains to save someone else…"
"Cyrus was right. Thou art a hero..." Glenn spoke.
Magus shook his head. "More like a fool and a martyr." A hero? Magus? Even the former fiendlord still felt that what he was doing was not exactly heroic. What was so heroic about fixing an error that one was partially responsible for?
Everyone was silent for a moment. So silent, nobody noticed Robo and Ayla slowly crawl in to join the silence. Everyone's eyes shifted downward uncomfortably, yet resigned. It was as if Magus was attending his own funeral, and to his friends, that might as well have been the case.
The silence calmed Lucca enough for her to catch her words. "Schala would be devastated if she knew about this."
"She would, but she would understand. I have made arrangements for her. Once I do this I will put any hope of returning in her hands as well as yours. Maybe there will be a way to save me, but in the meantime I would be the one suffering. I said it before and I'll say it again-if Schala ever endured eternal torment, I would never hesitate to take her place."
Lucca suddenly perked up from Magus's shoulder, and was able to sit up. The expression on her face changed from sorrowful to terribly frightened in an instant.
"I almost forgot! What about the Dream Devourer?" Lucca piped up.
"Belthasar told me it gained power by merging with Schala." Magus shuddered at the thought. "It would grow and threaten to destroy all of existence with Schala's despair as it's fuel."
Everyone else gasped. A wave of gooseflesh rose up on everyone except Magus.
"I intend to feed my sheer hate of that thing to it. I'll make sure that wretched thing stays dead." Magus smirked calmly.
"What is the specter of Lavos anyway?" Lucca asked.
"It is what happens when something terrifyingly alien from the furthest reaches beyond normal time and space refuses to die. A fragment, a ghost trying to crawl its way back into our world. Lavos isn't just from beyond our planet, Lavos and its kin are from somewhere closer to the Darkness Beyond Time itself." Gaspar explained.
"The dark void beyond normal bounds of reality itself..." Melchior contemplated. "Only a miracle can truly kill what exists beyond life and death. That borne from strange aeons, from beyond the bounds of sanity."
"And yet, we have made miracles happened!" Marle said. Crono looked fondly at Marle. Even at this dark time, even when facing that which one could not fully fathom, Marle remained optimistic. Even if she was foolish and naive about it, perhaps she was justified in the notion of remaining a beacon of light even in the pitch darkness. Crono admired that about her greatly.
"Exists beyond…but how could that be?" Lucca softly lifted herself from Magus's shoulder but an arm remained around him.
"It bothers me too." Gaspar sighed. "Lucca, there are things that don't always have a rational explanation. Even magic doesn't quite fit it well."
"It could also be that they do not fit rationality as we know it." Magus added.
Lucca didn't want to argue about that. There would be time later to argue these things.
Robo's voice generator whirred, "If Belthasar spoke of a probable solution, then I am 90% sure there can be a way to reach and defeat the Dream Devourer."
"Thank you Robo." Lucca softened her composure. "I hope you're right." She wiped her eyes again.
"Magus strong! Magus defeat dead Lavos again!" Ayla cheered.
For once, the wizard and the prehistoric woman understood the same thing.
Magus continued to hold back tears as he glanced the direction of the two companions who were from almost diametrically opposite parts of the timeline. "Ayla, Robo, thank you for your help against Lavos." He simply nodded to them. He wasn't in any mood to be condescending to either of them, even if he still felt a little like that with them. They nodded back in silence to him.
Magus continued, "I leave all my possessions, including my weapons and spellbooks to Schala. I will also trust Alfador to Schala. I hope she will use these resources to become as strong as I am one day, even if she cannot save me."
Melchior nodded, "Yes, and I will acquaint her with the time period."
Magus nodded in agreement.
Alfador meowed and rubbed his face against Magus's face, then plopped down on his lap.
"When do you plan to…go?" Lucca asked.
Magus looked out the small vent in the roof for the smoke. He caught a glimpse of the bright white overcast that diffused the rays of the noon sun. He closed his eyes and put a gloved hand in the air, trying to sense something; only Melchior and Gaspar were experienced enough with magic to tell that Magus was divining the right hour for the ritual he planned to open the way to Schala.
Magus opened his eyes and stated, "Close to sundown. Just like when Crono was retrieved."
Lucca was puzzled by this gesture and said, "I want to learn how to do that one day."
His head hardly moved toward her and shrugged. "It would be useful if you probably want me back."
"Janus, why do you…we care about you, isn't that obvious?" Lucca sat back and removed her arms from him. She wrinkled her brow at him in a way that was curiously concerned and angry at rejection at the same time.
Magus replied in a stoic, yet somewhat sarcastic monotone. "I have mastered the arcane arts, led armies of monsters, and slay Lavos. I can tear open the fabric of time and space to bring the chill of the reaper to those who stand against me. I have survived the onslaught of the Masamune diving into my flesh. I have traveled to the edges of time and back…and I still must admit that the eager companionship of you and your little rays of sunshine toward me is quite a mystery."
Crono took it upon himself to answer. "Well, your highness…"
"Yes, your highness as well." Magus snorted.
Crono and Marle groaned a little. Melchior let out a hearty chortle. "There are three royals under this roof!" The old guru pointed out.
"FOUR!" Ayla yelled. "AYLA CHIEF!"
Everyone in the room except for Ayla, Magus and Robo laughed at that. Leave it to her to lighten even the dourest of times.
"Hahah…oh sorry about that, we can't forget the mighty Ioka chief!" Marle went to Ayla and hugged her.
Yes, pay attention to primitive earthbounder. Magus thought slyly. He felt some relief that now the others were paying attention to Ayla and not him. Unfortunately that relief would not last long. A few minutes later, even Ayla herself walked up to Magus.
"Magus strong. Ayla like strong!" Ayla jumped up from where she sat and bounded off like a hyperactive cat that had just seen a mouse. She bounded between the others and pounced on Magus, her great muscular arms grappled his shoulders tight enough to nearly crush him but eased the tiniest bit away from any real damage. Magus struggled to free himself from her chokehold of a hug and growled. Ayla then let go of her hapless quarry and bounded off next to Lucca where she sat legs crossed.
"As I was saying, your highness…" Crono smirked. "You do did help my friends save me."
"Thou hath aided us all to save the world, and thou hath saved mine own life. Thou had plenty of opportunity to slay me when unguarded but never did." Glenn said.
"You actually listen to me when I talk about science!" Lucca added.
"You aided us in battle substantially that the lack of your presence would have assured us defeat." Robo chimed in.
"And…it's great to have someone around who understands me when I whine about being raised into royalty!" Marle smiled.
Oh no here it comes. Magus groaned.
The group hug.
The dark wizard held his breath and just grinned and bore it.
"Meow!" Alfador found himself under a cave of hugs.
Magus knew deep down there was a chance he couldn't make it back, or even survive if they did choose to fight the Dream Devourer. Magus didn't want to speak of it to any of them, not even Gaspar, he wanted to focus on his one and true goal, and that was it. If he casted doubt on them, he'd be covered in more hugs and tears he'd drown in them before he could even move an inch toward the North Cape.
After a solemn last meal with his companions—no, his friends, he just couldn't get used to that term— Magus called for Lucca, Marle and Glenn to meet him behind the hut.
Of course they gladly came.
"Glenn, Lucca, I need both of you to come with me when I retrieve Schala. It is imperative that someone take her from the time stream while I stay behind. I trust both of you to carry her from the time stream while I stay behind. Marle, I need the pendant to be there too. Got that?" He ordered at them.
"Aye. Janus."
Marle nodded clutching the pendant.
Lucca choked and nodded.
"Good. We should head there now."
"Now?" Lucca yelled. "But…but…"
"There is no time for yet another round of goodbyes."
"Janus tis correct, Lucca." Glenn nodded.
Magus would have started the steps toward his doom, but Lucca's yell alerted the others that Magus was about to depart.
There they were. Melchoir and Gaspar gave bows that they would reserve for the kings and queens; Crono imitated the bow. Ayla was uneasily still and serious. Robo stood there, and seemed to be staring at Magus and Lucca. There where some others around too that Magus hardly recognized, but he remember seeing them at Zeal. Those people were likely friends of the gurus or people who had been acquainted with the innermost circles of Zeal. They also gave the same bow reserved for the highest royalty.
Tears could no longer restrain themselves. Magus wiped them off his face but they continued to leak out. Then he felt something deep within him, he wasn't sure how to place it, but something deep inside him reacted to the Chrono Trigger. He felt that the egg had spoken to him, and told him that both he and it were ready.
Lucca and Glenn helplessly watched a few yards behind him. Marle watched helplessly too, but stood a little closer to Magus, pendant held up where the sunset's rouge rays scattered light across its already glowing surface.
Magus looked different out there in the North Cape. It was the same place where he had joined the rest. The winds whipped around gently, carrying faint dust from the shattered hopes and dreams that vaporized just years before. That other wind, the one that had been with Magus all his life, that whispered imminent doom now and then, that inured him to the darkest depths of existence even when he lived among those who complacently bathed in false light—that wind was doing something Magus had never sensed it do before. It was taunting him. It was speaking of his own doom. It was telling him to turn back, it was telling him all was lost, that he would—as he once put it—shortly perish. Yet Magus had seen firsthand with the Chrono Trigger, that just because the black wind would accurately predict the demise of one, it did not mean that could be undone, it was not absolute destiny. That there was a way to defy it. The Chrono Trigger itself was laid gently a few feet in front of him and stood like a sentinel against him and the taunting phantom full of empty threats.
The man sometimes known as Magus pulled a glove and glared directly into the horizon, his infernal gaze attempted to pierce the heart of the black wind itself.
"No, not today." Was all he whispered back to it.
His left glove was drenched in his own blood, the bleeding gash on his palm still stung beneath. With it he made a circle all around himself, the warm trail of blood partially melted the snow beneath, but the cold chill reclaimed it into ice soon after. It was just wide enough for him to stand in, and it was all that was needed.
He removed both gloves from his alabaster hands that rarely saw the light of day, or even the moonlight of night. They were caked in blood and sweat, the pale alabaster of his skin only showing unobstructed in a few places. His delicate fingernails were outlined in coagulated blood and traces of any dirt that had made its way into those gloves. Each glove was tossed behind him beyond the circle, they had no use for him where he was going. Both hands had deep gashes in their palms but they stopped bleeding too much.
Behind him was his cape, and armor. They would not be needed here. The cold bit his skin savagely, numbing his bare shoulders and hands like they were being smothered in searing flames-that strange point where one could not entirely tell if they were freezing or burning. Magus welcomed it, he welcomed the pain, for it was needed. He had spilt himself in heart with his friends, and he now spilt himself literally. He concentrated furiously, pouring the entirety of his being—mind, body, and soul into a single thought—her.
Blood dripped down his palms turned to the sky, each hand was up as if he was carrying an enormous weight upon his shoulders. He shut his mind away from the black wind, it did not matter anymore to him.
Nothing mattered to him, nothing but her.
The Chrono Trigger rose from the ground in front of him. It hovered listlessly a few feet above him, then began to vibrate furiously, as if an enormous amount of energy was just scratching to get out. Brilliant beams of light cut through cracks that were growing bigger and more frequent upon its unstable surface. The charm that Magus carried with him for most of his life also also vibrated with the same furious energy. Marle gasped as the pendant in her hand radiated enormous amounts of energy.
The egg exploded in an enormous blinding bright light. Nothing could be seen at all. But Magus's mind was awash in the thoughts of his sister.
His mind slipped into a reverie, into a single memory in his mind.
He was about eight years old. He was playing a game with Schala beneath a beautifully ornate garden trellis wrapped in thick layers of flowing vines. Highly manicured trees shaded the two children, providing a quiet place for secrets. Within the marble-tiled platform they sat on, one could still see the stunning view of the sun over the clouds below. Sun rays filtered through the trees, a magical dust filtered those light rays to show them as heavenly beams as they touched the sparkling tiles. Schala and Janus were wearing their typical fine lavender robes that denoted their status as royalty, but were not concerned at all about getting them dirty. What was important at the moment was something that Schala had to bring up to her little brother.
"Janus?" Her pleasant and beautiful voice whispered.
"Yes, sis?" The little boy answered.
"Mother is starting to behave strange…" Her face looked down sadly.
"I noticed too."
"I want you to promise me something, Janus…" He solemn gaze implied there was something she knew that she didn't want to tell Janus.
Janus responded, "What is it?"
Schala gulped lightly and whispered. "Janus, no matter what happens, if somehow I vanished one day, would you please look for me?"
Janus looked a little confused. "What…what's the matter?"
"Oh, just something I thought about, I'm quite worried about a lot of strange things lately." She tried to restrain her words. "I would do the same if anything like that happened to you."
Janus paused for a moment. "Really?"
"Yes, I would." Schala smiled.
Both siblings clasped their hands together.
"I would search to here and the ocean for you, sis." Said Janus.
"I promise the same", Schala replied.
They both embraced each other.
Magus slipped out of that memory slowly, the bright light faded into darkness. He opened eyes to see a terrifying sight.
He was within the pocket dimension of the Mammon Machine, but the ripples were still, and cast in a shade of purple instead of blue.
There was Schala, frozen in gray, fixed in an expression of absolute horror knowing that one would be swallowed into a terrifying otherworldly maw. She clung to nothingness on the floor, her legs and feet futilely attempted to anchor onto the ripples of the warped space. Even in the timelessness one could almost hear her desperate cries for help, her futile scream in the cold abyss. Behind her, and in front of the Mammon Machine was a gaping black void. Even when time was fixed, one could still feel a slight horrid pull from it, its malicious hunger extending somehow beyond time.
Thankfully it was not powerful enough to pull in Janus at least not yet. This was the moment he had built up decades of commitment and pursuit to. The moment he would fulfill that vow, to find his sister no matter what; to undo to her what a callous universe had condemned her to.
There was no time to contemplate the moment. He had work to do.
Janus held onto Schala's form and lifted her up gently, away from that terrible black hole's grip. He could feel her silken robes upon his bare shoulders and looked at her fixed expression of terror.
"I found you. Like I promised." He said softly.
Lucca entered the time freeze behind Janus. She was astonished at the sight of him carrying his sister who appeared as if she were petrified by a monster.
"Schala!" Lucca's scream resonated in the warped space.
Janus handed her over to Lucca. Schala's form went limp suddenly in her arms, possibly thawing in exposure to someone whose time stream was not frozen. Lucca heaved her frail form up, her legs dragged on the floor, and looked at Janus. Glenn then appeared and immediately lifted the lower half of the frail maiden.
"Schala!" Marle appeared. Her pendant was furiously pulsing like a heartbeat. She noticed that Schala was pendantless—of course it left her before she disappeared, otherwise Marle would never have had it in the first place. Marle wasn't sure how she knew, but she knew that the pendant ached for its original owner. She slipped it out of her neck and placed it gently around the neck of the other princess.
"….I guess this is goodbye?" Lucca said.
Janus nodded. "Yes."
Tears flowed from Lucca's face. She wiped them with a sleeve.
"Thank you for everything, Lucca, Glenn, Marle. Hopefully this will not be our last goodbye." Magus grimaced. A few tears also leaked from his eyes. Glenn's eyes were also damp and he gave a high salute to Janus.
"Goodbye, Janus." Lucca said.
"Farewell." Glenn said.
"Hope to see you." Marle added.
They carried Schala with her out of the time freeze.
This was it.
Magus pulled an non-existent glove from his hand and gazed into the hungry mouth of the abyss. He stood right in front of it, and laughed.
It was indeed his fate to be gripped in the clutches of his enemy. All he could simply do was laugh.
And laugh he did.
The time freeze cracked and thawed. The ripples above and below turned blue and flowed once again. The vortex pulled upon its new prey.
The man once known as Magus was sucked into the Darkness Beyond Time.
The girl known as Schala Zeal would be incredibly touched by the sacrifice her brother did for her, but she felt it was her time now to fulfill her end of the promise. Janus had given her time, and given her the opportunities she never had before.
Schala lived with Melchoir in 1006 A.D, where she would practice her skills to become stronger for the day she would finally slay that final remnant of Lavos and rescue her brother. She would take up her brother's scythe in battle to honor his memory, but sometimes would favor a small dagger as well. She would use her skills to defend Gaurdia and Medina from the growing unrest from Porre. She would start to gain status not of a damsel in distress, but a true warrior and hero.
She would gather her own party, with the full support of her brother's companions. She would track down the Frozen Flame and use it to locate where her brother might be, and finally destroy the hideous thing that held him captive once and for all.
The creature known as the Dream Devourer, the final remnant of Lavos, never had the chance to transform into what would be the Time Devourer. It would never have the nihilistic despair that a captive Schala would have fed it, instead it was force-fed hatred of its own being. The thing would not remain much of a threat as long as no other force outside aided it.
"Janus."
"Janus, wake up!"
A soft, soothing voice called out to the darkness. A pair of groggy eyes wearily tried to open.
"Janus, it's all right. It's me, Schala!"
Those soft, seafoam green eyes bolted wide open and darted to the source of the voice.
There was a beautiful smile upon the princess's face. Her gentle eyes welled up a little. Yet there was something different about her. She didn't seem so frail anymore. Her hair was a little shorter than he remembered, but still bound up in a ponytail. She was not wearing a delicate silken gown, but instead wore red and purple clothes fit more for a wandering traveler. Beneath her red open shirt was a leather armor bodice, her wrists had leather gauntlets as well. Her hands were calloused from the use of a weapon.
"Schala?" A weary voice responded back to her.
She wove her fingers against his frail ones and held tightly. "Remember our promise?"
He smiled. "Yes, sis."
On the bed lay Janus Zeal. The aftermath of countless aeons channeling sheer rage into the Dream Devourer, left him in a state that could only be described as atrophied. He resembled the little boy who paced nervously around the halls of Enhasa more than he resembled the Fiendlord. Yet one could still those scars and traces that the years as Magus had hardened him. His muscular form withered, he seemed to regress in age to that of a young adult. His hair was still long but retained his original hairline. His ears were once more rounded, and his eyeteeth were no longer fiendish. His pallor was at least human now, and not with the cadaverous tint it once had.
"We did it." Schala smiled. "We're finally together. The ghost of Lavos is destroyed forever! We did it, brother, we did it." She hugged his frail form gently.
"We…we did it." Janus said back. His lips curled into a bright smile.
(Feedback appreciated! Thanks to all the other fics here that provided inspiration for some details.
A few notes:
-I originally was going to throw in Norstein Bekkler to acquaint Schala after her rescue and say that he is a construct/dream being made by Melchior, but I decided against that extra part. It would explain a lot about him though.
-The memory of Schala is based on a scene in Radical Dreamers where Serge asks the mirror spirit about Magil.
-Sorry about jabbing Chrono Cross, I needed to rationalize Magus refusing to comply with Belthasar if he consulted him. I know feelings about CC are polarized in among fans. Even if you like CC, you have to admit Belthasar is...megalomaniac.
-The quasi-religious themes did take some inspiration from the "Crono is Jesus" theory, but evolved on their own from this idea I had.)