The Aftermath Of Mount Woe Epilogue 1
Schala
By Nanaki
12,000 B.C.
Schala inhaled deeply as she finally broke the surface of the water. It wasn't that her lungs really needed the air, but they were just so used to the routine of breathing that it was not pleasant when they couldn't work. Schala had spent what she guessed was about a week swimming out of the ruins of the Ocean Palace, until most of them mysteriously disappeared not very long ago. It seemed like she had been pretty deep, because it had taken a while to float to the surface afterward. She spotted a small island not very far away, and swam toward it.
As soon as she set foot on the shore, waves of magic swarmed around her, and she was hit with a sudden realization. 'This is Enhasa.' Only about one hundred feet of the broken mountain of dreams remained above water, but it was Enhasa all right. The Mountain of Woe was no more. Looking around, Schala determined that everything else was no more also. Then her eyes widened as she saw a huge structure floating in the distance. Her heart sank as she saw that nothing else was floating. It was a strangely sunny day, and Zeal should have been clearly visible. There was nothing in the sky. 'Great. Now what am I going to do?' She grumbled to herself.
Suddenly, a blue flash behind her caused her to turn. A blue portal like the kind she had sealed up after Crono went in not too long ago appeared in front of her. Appearing from it was...
"Schala!! I can't believe I finally got here at the right place and time!" Magus' eyes widened until they were very large. "This should have been the first place I looked, but I... Three years is too long to spend searching. I'm sorry. How are you feeling? Cold? Hurt?"
Schala regarded him for a second, then narrowed her eyes. "Prophet, I've got nothing to say to you." She turned her back on him.
"No Schala, I'm-"
"I know who you are Janus! Do you think I'm stupid?! But you were quite the jerk in Prophet mode, I must say!"
His jaw dropped. "I... I'm sorry. But I felt I had to be on Zeal's side in order to get her to trust me. I would make my move when she was most vulnerable. But she was never really vulnerable, and I acted too late. I'm sure you can identify with that."
She looked at him again. "How'd you get to be older than me anyway?" Then she held up her hand. "No, never mind. I'm sure Lavos had a hand in it." She looked down at the water for a minute. "You know, I'm really not sure what to do with myself now."
He shrugged. "Well, I now reside 12,603 years in the future, but I think the people in the Last Village would also be glad to see you."
"Maybe... First, someone still has to do something about Lavos."
"Don't worry about that." Magus dismissed Lavos with a wave of his hand. "I promised you I'd kill him, and I did." Then he looked over at the Black Omen. As he watched, a blue light began to glow in the water. "In about fifteen minutes, as a matter of fact."
"Lavos... dead?" Schala gasped.
"You got it. Zeal too. Right about..." A huge white explosion burst out of the water, destroying the Omen in a matter of seconds. The very top vanished in a puff of smoke. "Now." Magus smiled.
Schala's eyes glazed over, and she broke into a big grin. "I can't believe it. My powers are back! I've gotta try them out. Star magic, now!" Sure enough, a yellow ball of light formed, shrank to a very small size, then burst outward in a huge explosion that knocked Magus off his feet. "Yea-ah!" After the dust settled, Schala picked a rock up off the ground and jammed it into her arm. She was disappointed to see the Nooze scramble to seal her back up. "Still no blood though. That sucks." Then she looked up at Magus.
"If Lavos is gone, what I want most is to find some way to be alive again." Magus opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "Don't start me in on some pep talk. I'm alive yes, but my body is truly dead. The Nooze keeps me from decomposing, but that's it. No pain, no pleasure, everything feels the same to me."
"Yeah, that sucks." Magus had to admit. "A Chrono Trigger wouldn't work for your particular situation, since you did stay alive after you died, weird as that sounds. I don't really know how important you are to the space/time continuum..."
"Oh, she's very important."
"Gaah!" Magus and Schala both jumped. A second blue portal was right next to the first now, although neither had heard it open or close. In front of it stood Gaspar, although he was dressed in some decidedly odd clothes, with a black motif. "What are you doing here?" Magus demanded in an icy voice.
"Gaspar?" Schala asked. "It's good to see you..." She began to walk toward him.
"Stay back Schala!!" Magus put a hand on her shoulder. "This old coot has gone off the deep end!"
"I wouldn't worry about him." Another voice broke in.
"Gaah!" All three of them jumped. Out of yet another portal emerged a man who looked like Magus, except his widow's peak had reduced in pointiness quite a bit, and his ears were rounded.
"Who are you?!" Magus demanded.
"I'm you, Janus. In a couple years, that is."
"What happened to you, er, me?"
"Lifestream radiation does wear off if you stay away for a while."
"Huh?"
Janus sighed. "You've been living with mystics most of your life, and they're crawling with it. Spend some time with humans."
"So why are you here, anyway?" Magus demanded.
"I'm here to stop myself from doing something I very much regret today." Then Janus seemed to notice Gaspar for the first time. "Hey, O High Shadow."
"I can't help but notice that you don't seem to be overly afraid." Gaspar said, peeved.
"You got that right!" Janus laughed. "Your Shadows are obsolete, old man!"
"Well, that's certainly news to me." Gaspar frowned. "We were doing quite well, the last time I checked."
"I have to say, that's news to me too." Magus broke in. "Although I would check with Theik on how well you're doing, Gaspar."
Schala backed away from all of them. "I don't know what's going on here, and I don't think I want to."
"You've got nothing to worry about Schala." Janus smiled at her. "I know you feel miserable now, but trust me, things will work out for you. They always do in the end." Gaspar took a step forward. Janus and Magus both put a hand on his shoulder. "Oh no you don't." Janus' eyes narrowed.
"B-but, you'll create a paradox!" Gaspar sputtered.
"Big worm whoopee." Janus didn't loosen his hold. Magus glared at him.
"Now where would I pick up such an idiotic expression?!" He demanded.
"Concentrate, my good man. Even obsolete weapons can be quite powerful." Janus pointed at Gaspar. The old man lost his patience and lunged forward. The two wizards quickly forced him back.
"No!" Gaspar shouted. "She has to die! Paradoxes are extremely dangerous!" Schala recoiled in horror.
"If you've seen the future, as you claim, then you know you'll have to kill both of us before you ever touch a hair on her head." Janus growled.
"I think I've heard just about enough out of you." Magus growled also. He hurled Gaspar back toward the gate the old man had emerged from.
"Nooo...!" He vanished with his now catch phrase, "No one survives the Shadows!"
Janus shook his head, then looked up at Magus. "Don't listen to him. Nearly everyone who's not a Shadow survives the Shadows."
"What... happened to him?" Schala whispered.
"Too much work with time streams and paradoxes is bad for the sanity." Janus explained. "He thinks he's seen the future, and feels he has to make what he sees happen, or else a paradox will be created, which will just about end the world, according to him."
Schala shook the odd experience off. "Um... Anyway, we were discussing options on restoring my body." Janus glanced over at the spot in the ocean where he, Crono, and Glenn were battling Lavos.
"Uh oh. Uh, time to go, Magus." He pulled his younger self toward the gate.
"Hey, what's going on here? I'm trying to help our sister."
"I know. I remember. And you can help her best by leaving, right now!"
"I think not! I've been searching for three years!"
"I know! You can wait a few months more!" Janus reached into his belt and whipped out a Tempo Trigger. "I can use this, if I have to."
Magus reached into his own belt and whipped out a Chrono Trigger. "Will it beat this?"
"The two are totally different things." Janus sighed.
"Will the Chrono Trigger come out on top? And don't think you can lie to me!"
Janus sighed again. "Yes, it will. I was hoping you'd listen to reason."
"I probably will. But give me some reasons then!"
Suddenly, Lavos' scream echoed across the water, and Schala cringed. As the scream died away, something launched out of the top of Lavos' shell. "What's that?" Schala pointed to it.
"Damn it! It's already too late!" Janus cursed.
"What the...?" Magus squinted. "That looks like a Lavos spawn."
"Where's it going?" She asked quickly.
He shrugged. "Out into space somewhere. Away from here, is the important thing."
"Into space... To terrorize some other unprepared planet?!"
"Schala, what are you-?"
"No!! No more people will have to suffer through what we have!" She started to cast a spell, then though for a minute. "If I'm going after a new Lavos, I'm going to need my dagger..." She stretched her arm out, and concentrated. For a minute, nothing happened, but then the Masamune flew out of the watery depths, the hilt settling into the palm of her hand. "Well, this is new." She admired the strong blade. "But it's the dagger, all right."
"Wait. Glenn needs that sword, uh... ..to kill Lavos!"
"Does this Glenn person live in the future, with you?"
"Well, yeah..."
"I'll have it back in plenty of time." Then she looked him straight in the eye. "Well Janus, I'll be going." Schala closed her eyes, folded her arms, and began casting a spell. Magus jumped back as a shield similar to the one Melchior had used on Mount Woe surrounded her. Suddenly, it launched off the ground, racing up into the sky after the Lavoid.
"Schala, wait!!" But her pursuit was unrelenting. "Crud! I have to go help her!" Magus raced for the gate.
"No." Janus said simply as he stepped forward to block Magus' way.
"I can't just let her go after a new Lavos alone!!"
"Yes, you can! Believe me. You'll only be making what she has to go through worse if you go too!"
"What she has to go through?" He demanded. "See? She'll need help!"
"Not the kind you end up giving!"
"Don't make me kill myself." Magus said dangerously, as a threat to Janus. "I'll be careful. Besides, wouldn't you be creating a paradox by stopping me? It sounds like you went along."
"Yes. I was hoping I could make it easier on her. You should know, battling a Lavoid is no easy task." Magus nodded, then ran for the gate. As he disappeared, Janus couldn't help shouting, "Just don't cut any deals with someone named Gazuga, Moogoo, Habeeb, or-" Then, Magus was gone. "Great." Janus groaned to himself. "Just watch Leng be the first one he runs into..." Then, he turned and looked at the sky. "God speed Schala! Someone very special is waiting for you there, although he doesn't know it... Give Ertai my regards too!" Then, he stepped back through his own gate, and the landscape was barren once more, the silence broken only by Lavos' death shriek.
.
"It'll be okay... This nightmare'll be over soon. I've had enough! I will not allow this! I will pay you back! Because forgiveness, for one like you, could never be an option!" - Achika Masaki
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