Chrono Trigger Prophecies Chapter 12
The Mind's Eye
By Jerm
Janus awoke to find himself lying in a sea of blackness. He felt that he was lying on something hard, but for the moment, he didn't bother to look around him. He already knew where he was. He was in his mind, his dreams and thoughts.
He hadn't been fast enough and now Magus was in control. That also meant that Marle and Lucca were probably dead. And then Magus would finish off Glenn, too. And after that--
Janus shook the thoughts out of his head. He didn't have time for wild thoughts. Or so he at first thought. After thinking it through, he realized that he had all the time of Magus's existance. Magus was in control now, and there was nothing he could do about it. Except hope that his other half was killed.
But if that happened, he would go too. Janus was doomed, either way he looked at it. For him, there was no point in going on. He was exhausted and to just lie there on the hard floor seemed so good. However, he forced himself to stand and peer around himself, despite this. He had to know what had become of him. After only a few seconds, he realized that he was standing inside of his own castle. The huge oak doors stood closed behind him, the wood barely discernable in the halflight. But it was enough to tell him where he was.
And the castle would be very important to him, possibly.
Vili.
The thought entered his head in an instant. Maybe the mysterious person was still here. Janus took a step toward the stairs that led to the basement, but then stopped. As far as he could tell, Vili had been Magus. Janus tried to think back to his past, attempting to divide what had been a dream and what had been real.
He could no longer decipher the difference, however. His mind was still jumbled from what had occurred to him recently and he couldn't think straight. So much had been occurring at once...
If Vili was part of the dream, he would have had to have been Magus. Janus pondered this for a moment, then firmed his resolve. Either way, he would have to go and check. With that thought in mind, he stepped over to the stairwell and slowly began to descend.
Magus stared coldly at the collapsed hovel. Even though it was dark, he could still see the area with a clarity equal to witnessing it during the day. He slowly stepped forward, getting a better angle of the destruction.
Nothing could have survived this, he thought to himself with a small smile, Nothing.
The Masamune and its owner were no longer useful against him. Now he could continue with his self appointed 'errand.' He turned from the sinkhole and calmly walked into the forest, heading east. His next appointment was there.
Crono and Glenn sluggishly exited the woods. It was now slowly becoming dark, the sun disappearing behind the mountains to the east. In about half an hour, they would end up having to stumble through the pitch black, which wasn't a very good idea with Glenn's legs in consideration.
"Where should we stop for the night?" Crono asked finally, as he and Glenn stopped briefly for a rest.
"I would be preferring Dorino, but that is out of the question now. Methinks twould be best to at least carry out some distance from that sorcerer."
Crono nodded, "Distance is good. But we can't even be sure if he'll chase us, in the end."
"He will," Glenn started to walk again and Crono took step beside him, "This sword I carry is the one main threat against him."
"Yeah, but that's what bugs me," Crono continued, "Why would he all of a sudden consider us as 'threats?' I thought we were on his good side again."
Glenn shook his head, "I have no answer for that."
They continued in silence for a while longer when suddenly, Crono stopped and cocked his head to the side. Glenn was forced to stop as well. The frog looked at Crono questioningly.
"I don't know," Crono answered the silent question, "I thought I heard someone ca--There it is again!"
"What is it?" Glenn asked as patiently as he could.
"Someone calling my name...Your's, too."
"Be it Magus?" Glenn reached down to get a grip on his Masamune, waiting for an answer.
"No, I don't think so at least," Crono strained to listen some more, "It sounds feminine."
"It could be Lucca or Nadia," Glenn surmised, he tried to finish the statement, adding his doubts to it, but couldn't think of how to place the words.
"Right," Crono said, "You stay here."
Crono released Glenn and began to walk back toward the forest. Glenn slowly sat down to wait, "Be careful."
Crono nodded and disappeared into the darkness. Glenn tried to listen himself, but couldn't hear the voices. Only the chirping of crickets and other noises of the night.
"So you are still down here," Janus remarked as he spotted a figure in the darkness.
Janus stepped down off of the stairway and into the basement. Across from him, on the other side of the room, Vili stood in the darkness, surrounded by the braziers. They were not alight at the moment, however and Janus couldn't see the figure before him. Just like the old days. For the moment, Janus made no move to reveal him. That could wait.
"Of course, where else would I be?" Vili asked in his normal mocking tone.
"That depends," Janus replied, "Are you referring to the castle or my dream?"
The figure cocked his head at him and possibly smiled, Janus couldn't see his face well enough to tell. "I'm referring to both."
Janus took a step forward, then stopped. He didn't want to 'scare off' this person. He gave a quick sigh and asked, "What do you mean?"
"He is in control now, Janus. Whether you like it or not, he controls your life, real and imagined. This castle is now your permanent home, he has seen to that," Vili responded, "He has your soul, in a way."
"A soul isn't something to take--" Janus began, but was cut off.
"Of course not, I was speaking figuratively," Vili scoffed, "But...he is in control."
"I know that you're a figment of him...of his mind. He's hearing and seeing everything I'm doing right now. But that doesn't mean he owns my soul, he's a silent witness. He's too busy in the outside world to bother with me."
Janus took another step, inching calmly toward the circle of braziers. Vili still made no move to stop him. Janus attempted to divert his attention, "I can still break out."
Vili shook his head, "Not quite that easy. When I say he's in complete control, I mean he has all of the control. Total. Complete. Absolute. He may be in the outside world, but he's focusing a lot of his concentration on you for the moment. Tell me, does a prisoner escape when there are guards watching his every move?"
Janus took another step and began to say something, but Vili wasn't finished.
"Furthermore, I am not a figment created by him. I am just as 'real' as you or he is," Vili was beginning to become worked up, "You think you have this thing figured out, but what you know is only a token bit of information; something passed to you so you wouldn't feel competely stupid. You're still at the bottom of the information chain and all you know are the broken links."
"Then what--?" Janus found that he couldn't get a word in when Vili was ranting.
"You think that this is a simple matter of you versus Magus. Two personas battling in the mind of a host for rights to control that body. What did you learn from all this about you and Magus?"
Janus stopped stepping forward for a moment and thought. One thing popped into his head, "If I remember, he was using a play on words. He referred to me as the 'false prophet' and he was the true. That I was a fluke upon him that must be removed."
"Close..." Vili replied thoughtfully, "True and False, hmm? You will soon learn that there is no right or wrong and that there are more choices than a simple two."
--more choices than a simple two.
Janus took another step forward, asking his next question, "Then how many--"
"You have pushed your luck too far, you should have stayed where you were," Vili said suddenly, bowing his head foward, "but I will tell you the number."
Suddenly, the braziers around him burst into flame, bringing light to the basement in a blinding flash. Janus covered his eyes for a second. As his eyes adjusted, he slowly removed them only to find that he was alone in the room again. But Vili's voice still managed to reach his ears.
"There are three."
.