A Birthday Gone Wrong Part 7
Like Son, Like Father
By Shnuff
"I'm a little disappointed. But I'll get over it," a male voice said from behind them.
Everyone turned to see Dalton, complete with smirk on his face and baby Ian in his arms.
"As usual, your timing is impeccable," Crono remarked. "What now? Having trouble fighting men your age?" He laughed at his own joke, while everyone else smiled. Even Magus smiled.
Dalton frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" He turned to Schala. "Ah, yes, the boy should grow up to be a good fighter, just like his father. And, with his mother's magic skill."
Schala stepped forward, but Dalton held his free hand out. "One move, Schala, and I'm gone."
"Yeah, but his father has to be a good fighter first," Magus stated, ignoring Dalton's comment to Schala.
Glenn decided to get in on the game, saying, "Mayhap we should replace him with a working model?"
Crono held up his arm. "Oh! Oh! Pick me! Give me a chance!" he said, jumping up and down wildly.
"I did not come here for your amusement, contrary to what you may think." Dalton declared, trying to stop the madness.
"That would be a first," Crono remarked.
"And hopefully, a last. I don't like it when he's around," Magus said, following along.
"Is he done here yet? I'm tired of him already." Marle asked.
Dalton did not like being ignored. "You people annoy me. You watch, he'll grow up to be a strong warrior, and will be the end of you all!" He disappeared in a flash.
Schala had a look of worry on her face. "I hope he's not serious about training my boy to
be a fighter. With my magic, and Dalton's enthusiastic training…"
Crono waved his hand, shrugging her worries off. "We've dealt with Ian once already."
"But he's probably not dead," Marle reminded him.(Author's Note: To find out what became of our friend Ian, read "The Loss" by Gasper S. Keltner)
Crono suddenly had a thoughtful look on his face. Then he realized it. "Wait a minute! You told me Lavos gave that guy magic!" Crono said, pointing at Magus.
Magus shrugged. "That's what I thought. It's the only explanation that made sense at the time." He didn't seem to care.
Marle turned to Glenn. "Where is the Queen? Is she hurt?"
Glenn nodded. "She is upstairs, sleeping. She was bit by a snake after we crashed Epoch."
"Will she be ok?" Crono asked, concerned.
Glenn opened his mouth to answer, but Magus stopped him. "If she's been bitten by a snake, she will need a Zealian healing technique to be done on her." He turned to face Schala. "Have you done the procedure?"
Schala motioned to her broken arm in response.
Magus snapped his fingers. "Right. I am aware of the technique required, so I will administer the surgery." He looked at Schala, who pointed down the hall toward the room that held the queen. He started toward it, when Glenn grabbed his arm.
"Please do not harm the queen," Glenn requested.
Magus, his gloved hands held in front of him like a surgeon, replied, "I will not."
Glenn let go, and the black caped Zealian headed for his patient. As the others discussed what had happened, Glenn followed Magus in.
.
Magus looked at the unmoving form of the queen, recalling all the healing techniques he had learned. As he took off his gloves, he looked on her for the snakebite, but couldn't locate it.
"Down by the ankle," a voice said from behind him.
Magus turned to see Glenn behind him. "I told you that I wouldn't harm the queen," Magus said.
"I knoweth that thou wouldn't harm the queen. May I assist you?" asked Glenn.
Magus looked a little surprised. "Certainly. Can you get me some hot water?" Magus requested, handing him a bowl from a nearby shelf.
"Sure," Glenn replied. "Wait. We don't even need to leave the room."
Glenn summoned a variation of his water spell, and the bowl was filled with steaming water.
Magus smirked. "Neat trick."
Glenn watched as Magus took some sort of herb out of his coat. Magus crushed the herb in his hands, and dropped them into the water. A soft hissing sound was heard as the two parts mixed.
Magus moved over to a spot near the queen's ankle. He drew a small knife out of his pocket. Glenn looked worried, but Magus, sensing his worry, said, "She won't feel a thing."
Magus cut along the swelled, yellow area with the knife, and with his other hand he poured the water-herb mixture in. After the whole bowl was gone, Magus chanted a magic spell, and the cut Magus had made was closed.
"It'll be a few minutes before the wound disappears, and she comes around," Magus said
Glenn breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing you came along," he said.
I almost didn't, thought Magus. He thought about the ironic twist of fate that brought him here. I came to a birthday party for my mortal enemy, and end up finding my best friend.
Neither of the two men said a word, but a bond of mutual respect had formed where there once was a fiery hatred. They left the room where Leene lay and joined the others.
.
The group was sitting down when the two comrades entered. They all looked up at Magus.
"She'll be all right," he said. "It wasn't anything too serious. If we had come much later, it could have been a lot worse." He sat down near the front window. It was almost dusk.
"How long until she's conscious?" Marle asked.
"No more than an hour," Magus replied. He sat down.
Crono looked outside. "We'd better start heading back now," he said. "The king's probably worried sick."
Schala was confused. "But won't it be like you never left?" She didn't quite understand time travel, as all she knew was the little explanation Crono tried to give.
Magus shook his head. "No. The time interval traveled has to be an exact number of years, to avoid paradoxes."
Now Marle was confused. "Won't there be paradoxes anyway? Like when you met-"
Crono put a hand over her mouth to stop her in midsentence. Marle shot him a dirty look, until she realized why he'd done it. He removed his hand.
"Like when you met who?" Schala inquired of Magus.
"No one," he said, giving her a look that said the discussion was over. He turned back to Marle. "Yes, sometimes there will be paradoxes, but this way there are less."
"Where did you acquire such knowledge on this topic?" Glenn asked.
Magus started to answer, but then stopped. "I had excellent teachers," he finally said, referring to Gaspar and his assistants, but not mentioning them by name.
Glenn left the room. A minute later, he came back, Leene in his arms.
"Shall we depart?" Glenn said. He headed out the door, with Marle following him, and Crono bringing up the rear. Crono stopped before he went out the door, and turned. "Schala?"
The purple haired princess turned at the mention of her name. "Yes?"
"I believe Magus has something he needs to tell you," he said. Magus fired him an angry
look, and walked toward him.
Schala looked curious, but just nodded as Magus went towards the doorway where Crono was. Crono started out the door, but Magus followed him.
About 5 paces away from the house, Magus grabbed Crono's shoulder. "What was that for?" he asked, knowing full well why Crono did it.
Crono turned around, disbelieving. "You know why," he said. "I doubted that you would say it out of your own will. So I decided to lend you a hand."
Magus was angry. "If I want help, I'll ask for it. Is that clear?"
Crono turned around, shrugging. "Suit yourself… Janus." He jogged to catch up with the others, who were ahead of him.
Magus was startled. He hadn't been called that since… he couldn't remember the last time he'd been called that. He realized something. He liked being called Janus. Magus smiled as he returned to Schala's house, almost ready to do what needed to be done.
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End of Part 7
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