A Melting Of A Heart Chapter 5
Realization
By Key Mima
It had been a week or so. A full week of painfully boring conversations with
regents of the queen and just plain painful conversations with his long lost
sister. Magus had never wanted to hold someone so badly before. When he was
Janus he had taken hugs for granted. To be enfolded in his sister's, his
goddess's, arms and to smell the sweet perfume she wore was something he
had been subject to every day, but now he missed it like a madman.
When he was Janus... No, he didn't consider himself the same person as the
boy he had encountered earlier. This boy had been a spoiled brat, given
everything he ever wanted, and loathed everyone except his cat and his sister.
He was much the same as Janus in that respect, but when he became Magus he
became someone with a different purpose, with a different view of the world.
He was no longer given priviledges and treated like a prince. With the Mystics,
he had been treated, if not like everyone else, worse than everyone else.
Until he had shown them all how powerful he was and taken Ozzie's place.
That had been the one day he ever had gotten off. He relished the memory
of just doing nothing at all; but the next day he was on his feet again,
running everything and planning his next move.
Magus's head snapped up when someone turned down the hall he had been loitering
in. Oh, God.
"Hello, prophet," Schala said, stopping in front of him and smiling politely.
She chuckled. "I feel kind of dumb calling you 'prophet.' Do you have a real
name?" He studied her from underneath his hood.
"I might have one. If I did, though, you'd never know it." Schala seemed
defeated. Her confident mask came down and she crumbled into the unsure,
frightened teenager she was supposed to be.
"Why do you side with my mother?" she asked quietly, her big blue eyes searching
for his. Magus felt like he was suffocating.
"I side with... your mother simply because she is the only one I can side
with."
"What about me?"
"It would be pointless to join you now. There's nothing much you can do."
"I can defeat my mother."
"But will you?"
Magus decided to let that one hang, and turned away from her. Schala made
a strangled noise and did something he could not have prepared for: pulled
his hood off of his head. For a moment he couldn't react. He just gaped at
her, wide eyed. She obviously did not recognize him, but that was to be expected.
She studied him thoughtfully, though, and he felt the tears sting his eyes.
Don't you dare think of crying, Janus, he told himself frantically. He did
not blink for as long as he could in an effort to dry the tears, but his
eyelids came down, dropping a single tear down his power-white cheek. Quickly,
he reached up and brushed it away, but the moisture remained, and now it
was Schala's turn to gape.
"I'm sorry," she said, wringing her hands. "I didn't know the hood meant
so much to... I don't know why you... I'm sorry."
Magus forced a smile, deciding to not make some stuffy cover-up for his weakness.
He wiped his eyes blatently, and sniffled. "It's not that. No, not that at
all."
"Then what is it?" Magus smiled again. Despite their different views, she
still needed to comfort him.
"Too long to explain..."
"But it has to do with me?" she asked, somewhat sheepishly. She was trying
not to sound conceited, Magus could tell.
"I... Yes, I suppose so."
"Why? We barely know each other." That nearly started him up again. Those
were the words he would never expect out of his own sister's mouth. But,
after one show of his terrible soft spot, he wasn't likely to do it again.
Instead of saying some stupid excuse he merely stared into her eyes. She
looked back, locked in his stare.
Her pale hand covered her mouth suddenly, and her eyes widened to about twice
their natural size.
"You... You're not..."
Magus said nothing. She looked... horrified. Was it because this is what
her little beloved brother had turned into? Or was she just very surprised?
"Janus?" she whispered. He couldn't help but smile slightly and nod. And
then he began to walk away. Now that she knew, he couldn't let her, even
her, get in the way of his plans.
"Janus, wait!" she called, pausing momentarily, probably considering that
name.
"It's Magus now," he replied, and closed the door to his room.
Sunev had finally finished her ultimate masterpiece. Now, she had to unveil
it to the world. The mirror glistened on the table and she picked it up slowly,
prolonging the tension. She lifted it up to the prince's face and he burst
into laughter.
Janus's head looked like a pin cushion. She had used the Zealan shampoo-like
cleaner to stick his hair up on his head. He ducked his head under the water
and came up laughing and sputtering.
"You freak," he cried, patting down his hair.
"Who's the freak?" Sunev asked, grinning.
"You, now," he replied, pulling her into the bathtub with him. Sunev inhaled
some water and choked violently for a moment, then pushed her wet hair out
of her face. She groaned and felt like socking him one in the face, but instead
she merely pulled off her wet clothes and picked up a bar of soap. "Eew!"
Janus shrieked, jumping to the other side of the water. "You're a girl!"
Sunev made a startled face and gasped audibly. "Am I?" she asked incredulously.
"Whoa! I guess I am!" Janus frowned.
"Don't tease me," he stated firmly.
"Sorry," Sunev replied apologetically. "But you're gonna have to put up with
my nakey body for a secind cuz I'm due for a bath, too."
"You don't care if I see you?" Janus asked.
"Well you let me see you. Besides, we're just people. We were born naked,
ya know."
"Well, it's different when you see me. I'm just a kid."
Sunev's ears perked up. "I think I heard something," she said. She drifted
over to Janus and placed her ear in front of his face.
"What?" Janus asked. "From me?"
Sunev nodded, concentrating hard.
"What is it?" Janus asked, hands shaking.
"I'm not quite sure... I think..."
"What already!!! I want to know what you heard!"
Sunev's pretty blue eyes lit up and she pointed at him. "I think I heard
you demeaning yourself! You said 'I'm just a kid'!"
Janus let out an exasperated groan. "Don't do that, Sunev!" he whined.
"Haaaaaar... Sorry."
Sunev finished her quick cleaning and grabbed a towel, covering herself before
Janus could see anything. "I'll be back, I'm just gonna go get some clothes."
Janus nodded. She opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out into the
hall, holding her towel to her body tightly. God, I hope I don't run into
Dalton... she thought. He had begun to give her hell when Janus had stopped.
Constantly, he would corner her in an empty hall and hold pointless conversations
with her about current problems with the Ocean Palace and whatnot while her
looked her over approvingly. Magus had even punched him once to get him away
from her. She shivered.
Instead of seeing Dalton in the halls, she saw a disturbed Schala. She ran
to her immediately, despite her not-so-formal wear. "Lady Schala, are you
alright?" she asked. "Sorry about the towel," she said quickly, when Schala's
eyes widened at her lack of clothing.
"The prophet..." she said, pointing at Magus's closed door. Sunev's mind
spun.
"What about him?" she asked, her heart beginning to beat faster.
"You knew... He's Janus?"
"Of course I knew... You were never supposed to find out, though..."
"What happened to him?"
"Long story... I don't even know it all. Come with me, I'll explain as much
as you want to know."
Sunev changed into another Zealan dress and came out into the main part of
her room, where Schala was waiting.
"Okay. What do you wanna know?"
"Why is he so unkind?"
"What? He was never not unkind. Look at Janus..."
"But Janus loves me..."
"That's something that hasn't changed. Janus changed his name to-"
"Magus."
"-Magus, and with that change he, too, changed a lot. He was transported
to around the year 580 A.D. I'm guessing, and was picked up by some evil
magic-using critters who called themselves Mystics. By some unknown circumstances
he became their leader and plotted to destroy Lavos himself in the year 600
A.D. He's much stronger than you or your mother. But, an old enemy of his
came and challenged him while he was summoning the monster, so instead it
created a huge time gate sending him to this time. Because he lived in the
future he learned much about the past and that's why he's such an effective
prophet."
"How did you come to know him?"
"He recruited me for his army when he sensed a power of mine."
"What is your power?"
Sunev concentrated on Schala's sitting figure and lifted her up off the chair.
Schala screamed and Sunev placed her back down.
"How did you do that?" the princess asked, amazed.
"I picked you up with my mind. It's actually quite simple if you have the
power to begin with."
"How did you get that power?"
"I'm not from this planet. I was transported through another type of gate
to 600 A.D. on this planet. When I came here, it did something to my
mind..."
Schala took in a deep breath. It was a lot to swallow, all that she'd been
told today.
"Poor Janus..."
"He really does love you, Schala. He just has a lot of self control. He didn't
want to blow the whole operation here."
"What does he plan to do here?" Schala asked, looking up suddenly.
"He plans to destroy Lavos when he is summoned in this time. But, I know
more about the past than he does, and I've seen more of the outcome of this
whole thing. He won't be able to do it."
"What will happen? You have to tell me!" Schala cried, standing up. Her eyes
shimmered with tears and her bottom lip trembled. Sunev knew that this was
a tough decision to make.
"Schala, I can't... Some things in history have to happen or the future will
change. And some empires need to go down... I'm sorry."
"No..." Schala croaked. "Zeal can't..." She fell to her knees and let out
a sob. A noise diverted Sunev's attention for a moment and she looked up
to see Janus standing in the doorway.
"What have you done, Sunev?" he asked, his eyes wide and his hands balled
into fists. He ran to his sister and took her in his arms and gave Sunev
a shattering glare. Sunev cursed under her breath. Chrono Trigger wasn't
supposed to be this way! If she didn't do something, the outcome of the game
would change. She ran to Magus's room and flung open the door without his
permission.
He lay on his bed, his face in a pillow, sleeping. She closed the door and
quietly approached him. Cried himself to sleep, she guessed. He looked somewhat
peaceful when he slept, and she smiled. But then it dawned on her that she
had to tell him what happened. She reached out and shook his strong shoulder.
He moaned and rolled onto his back, looking up at her with sleep-clogged
eyes.
"What is it this time, Sunev?"
"How did Schala find out?" she asked.
"Leave me alone," he replied, sitting up and rubbing his wrist.
"Well it's not even that important anymore. The point is, she knows you're
Janus and I told her about you and now she's a mess because I won't tell
her the outcome of Zeal."
"You know the outcome of Zeal?"
"I can't tell you either, Magus. Some things were meant to happen."
"How do you know?" he asked, grasping her shoulders. She avoided his stare.
"I know everything in this world... I know the whole history. In my world,
your world was a game to play. I've played as Glenn and beaten you. I've
defeated Lavos. I know... everything... Except now... It's all changed, and
I don't know anymore. It wasn't supposed to happen this way..." She began
to cry.
"No, it wasn't. This was never supposed to happen. My mother wasn't supposed
to go crazy. Lavos should never have come to this world. Nothing... was supposed
to happen. But it has. So we have to deal with it. Stop crying, you weakling."
Magus managed a smile, which brought a light smile to Sunev's face. Before
she knew it, she had hugged him, burying her face in his chest. His arms
lightly enfolded her, protecting her for a moment. And Sunev was happy.
Janus had never been so mad at anyone. He'd never seen his sister cry that
much before, and he couldn't get a word out of her. What had Sunev, one of
the only ones he trusted, done to make his sister break down like that? He
searched the palace for her, ready to yell at her like there was no tomorrow.
She was nowhere to be found, he concluded. Had she run to Enhasa to get away
from him? That wouldn't save her.
Janus traveled to Enhasa in what seemed about two minutes. His anger blinded
him and nothing mattered to him except her apology directly to his sister.
He flung open the door to the pretty city of sleep and charged around the
building, looking for the bitch.
"Where is Sunev?" he asked a man reading a book at a table lazily.
"Sunev? Haven't seen her. What happened? You look steamed, your Highness."
"Nevermind," Janus said waving a hand and leaving the man to wonder.
Not at Enhasa, eh? Then where could she be? She rarely visited Kajar because
she claimed that too many of the people there were "stuffed-up egomasters
like Dalton" but maybe she would go there because it was the last place he
would think to look for her. He made the grueling trip back to the main continent
and flung open the door to Kajar this time.
"Speak of the Devil..." Janus whispered. Dalton was leaning against a wall
chewing on the tip of a pencil and talking to other men who frequented the
city of science. "Dalton!" he called in his lowest, most authoritative
voice.
"Heya, squirt! What brings you here? Are you the new paperboy?"
"Shut the hell up!" Janus cried. Dalton's jaw dropped and the pencil fell
to the floor. "I don't have time for your bullshit, Dalton! Where is Sunev?
Is she here?"
When Dalton regained his speech he said, "She hasn't been here all day. If
she was you know she'd be right here with me."
"Yeah, against her will. You're an idiot, Dalton. Thanks a lot."
Janus pushed opened the door and raked a hand back through his sky blue hair.
He cursed to himself. She had to be in the castle then... An idea struck
him. Maybe she was with that creepy prophet! She, for some odd reason, was
friends with him, right? He climbed the large flight of stairs to the palace
again and asked the man at the entrance where the prophet stayed.
Janus gathered his equilibrium and knocked on the prophet's door. No answer.
"Come out, Sunev!" he called. No answer. He tried the doorknob. Open.
Janus quietly stepped into the room. Sunev lay on the bed with the prophet,
whose arms were around here. Both of them were asleep. Janus nearly ran out
of the room, but they hadn't done the thing that makes babies, so he figured
it was safe to approach them. It was the first time Janus had ever seen the
prophet with his hood off, and he studied him now. He couldn't really say
he was ugly, more like... attractive in a unique sort of way. He didn't look
as mean when he slept as he expected him to look, and he reached out a hand
to touch the man's oddly pointed ear.
Janus jumped back when a well-aimed slap bashed him over the head and tears
immediately filled his eyes.
"Don't touch him!" Sunev yelled. Janus let out a whimper and backed away.
The prophet was up now, looking at him with ruby eyes.
"You didn't need to hit him so hard, Sunev," he said, pushing her off of
his lap and standing up.
"Time paradox..." she whispered harshly. Janus looked up at her and wondered
what she meant. She saw him and and knelt next to him, putting a hand on
his shoulder.
"Get away from me," Janus stated.
"Janus, I didn't mean-"
"Get away!"
Sunev stood and stepped away from him.
"Why did you make my sister cry?" he asked, sniffling and rising to his feet
as well. His ear throbbed painfully, but he woudl get over it.
"I didn't, Janus. I just told her... She got what I meant."
"What did you say?"
"That Zeal wouldn't survive, Janus."
Both Janus and the prophet fixed their attention on her. Janus's heart skipped
a beat and he knew why his sister had been so out of it.
"That is, I think it won't..." Don't try to soften the blow, Sunev, he thought
as he ran from the room to find his sister again.
.
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