Amor Vincit Omnia Chapter 9
Schala And Magus
By Minmei
The next day began and there was still no sign of Robo. The team was growing restless. They all went back and forth visiting the towns, taking shifts watching the forest in groups of two. Now, Magus and Schala were left to watch for Robo in the woods. They were sitting in the shade.
"Prophet, you never told me what happened to my mother," Schala began.
"Your...mother. Queen Zeal," Magus said flatly, his face expressionless.
Schala nodded once. "Yes. What happened to her? Is she okay?" she questioned.
Magus took a deep breath. "When we destroyed the Black Omen-"
"What's the Black Omen?"
Magus stopped to answer his sister. "The Ocean Palace was thought to have been destroyed, but it arose out of the waters reborn as the Black Omen."
"All right. Continue."
"When the Black Omen was destroyed," Magus began again, "she was…believed to have gone down with it."
"Oh..." Schala whimpered, stifling a sob. She covered her mouth and lowered her gaze. "Mother..."
"But we DID free her of Lavos' spell, so she was okay in the end," Magus offered, wanting desperately to comfort Schala but not knowing how to without giving himself away.
"Oh," Schala said again. "I imagine that was to be expected, sooner or later." She sniffled and put her hand down. "But I…suppose there is some comfort in knowing she didn't die evil." She sat there quietly for a long time, then changed the topic. "There's something else I'm unclear about," she said, looking up at Magus. "What did Lucca mean by you 'breaking the spell' on Glenn?"
Magus stared at her, surprised somehow at the question. "Um, well, I didn't see any reason to keep him a frog anymore," he answered.
"Wait, 'keep him a frog'? You mean, YOU…turned him into a frog?"
The blue haired man let out a sigh. "Yes. It was-it was so long ago. I was just some stupid kid who did a lot of horrible things. I turned Glenn into a frog right after I...killed his best friend," Magus confessed.
"That's awful," Schala said, shaking her head, a disappointed look on her face.
"I know," Magus told her, the tree's shade concealing his slightly reddened cheeks, "and I'm not proud of the things I did. But it was so long ago. Ten years ago."
"I see." Schala thought for a moment, and then asked, "Mr. Prophet, if you knew that Crono and his friends would come to my home, why couldn't you foresee that Lavos would destroy the Kingdom of Zeal?"
Magus stared straight ahead, and his tone turned menacing. "Don't call me that," he said darkly.
"Okay then, Mr. Magus, I-"
"Don't call me that either. It doesn't sound right coming from you," he muttered.
"Well, what am I supposed to call you then?" Schala asked impatiently.
He looked away from her, closing his eyes. "I don't know. I-I-"
"I can't believe you haven't told Glenn you're in love with him!"
The blue-haired pair exchanged glances, then turned their heads to see Marle and Lucca making their way through the woods.
"I mean, you were all over the subject, not to mention all over him, and you couldn't just come right out and say it!"
"Give me a break, Marle," Lucca snorted.
Marle let out a giggle. "Well, okay, you weren't exactly all over him, but if you could just see the little red hearts levitating from your body as you spoke to him-"
"Cut it out, Marle!" Lucca scolded. She uttered a groan of exasperation. "Ohhh, I feel like such a geek! He's this totally gorgeous man, and I'm this scrawny pitiful lovesick schoolgirl! What AM I gonna do?"
"You can shut up now and take Magus' shift," Marle suggested, her wicked smile widening.
Lucca cocked her head in confusion. "Huh?"
Marle pointed to Magus.
"Oh," Lucca said. Then, realizing they had heard everything she told Marle, said, "Oh...oh!! Oh my gosh! Um..." and felt her cheeks grow red.
Magus and Schala both chuckled.
"Come on Magus," Marle beckoned. "Ayla and Atropos are off somewhere. The guys are playing some macho game and I need someone to keep me from killing them." Magus shrugged, stood up, and then followed her out of the woods.
"He is so...strange," Schala commented softly.
"That's for sure," Lucca scoffed. "He's just one big-"
"That's not what I mean," Schala said crossly, eyeing Lucca strangely. "There's just something about him...something...I felt it also when we were in Zeal. We have this connection, almost as if I had known him for years."
Lucca looked away from Schala, an uneasy look on her face.
"He's so mysterious," Schala continued, as if in a trance. "Even if he did do some bad things in his past, he's still a wonderful man."
Lucca raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Schala," she began, then suddenly asked a new question. "Wait...you aren't...FALLING for him, are you?!"
"His long blue hair, that physique, those mysterious eyes," Schala continued dreamily, an eerie smile forming on her lips. "He looks adorable when he lowers his face like that."
Oh man, Lucca thought. No way!!
"Stop!!" Lucca shouted at her. "Stop thinking that way! It can never happen!"
"Huh?" Schala said, snapping out of it. She turned to face Lucca. "Why not?"
Lucca opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the right words to say without revealing Magus' true identity. Finally, she sighed and just spat out whatever poorly thought-out reason came to mind. "It just...can't."
"What's the matter, Lucca? You want him like you want Glenn?" Schala teased.
Lucca's jaw dropped. "Not you too! So what if I have a thing for Glenn?"
The smile returned to the sorceress' face. "So you're probably thankful he broke the curse on Glenn?"
Lucca stuck her tongue out at Schala in response.
Schala laughed. After a while, she stopped, and a serious expression covered her face. "Lucca, what happened to Janus?" she asked suddenly.
Lucca looked at her blankly. "Oh. That's right, Magus hasn't told you yet," she said.
"No, he hasn't," Schala replied. "Why don't you tell me?"
Lucca bit her lower lip and looked off to the right. "I think it's best Magus tell you," she told her.
"But why?"
Lucca took in a deep breath. "He...knows better than the rest of us. That's all I can say. But if it's any comfort, your brother is alive," the scientist offered.
"Oh, that's a relief," Schala exhaled. She looked towards the shore. "He should be back soon, right? I'll ask him then."
.
Schala and Magus, sittin' in a--WHAT?!?!? Let's hope it doesn't go that far.
Uh-oh. Looks like Magus is gonna be trapped. Maybe now he'll stop avoiding the topic, right? Chapter 10, around the corner.
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