Search For Schala Part Five
Destruction By Lavos
By Taran
The blue light surrounded Magus as he traveled through the time stream. As he was about to emerge he felt something pulling him. He was pulled back towards the light and felt like he had been hit by something. He was falling and soon he landed on hard ground. “What the heck is this!?” Looking around Magus saw that he was on some gray type of stone. In the distance he could see giant domes like those he had seen when he was in the future. He heard a very loud honking noise and as he turned around he saw a steel monster charging at him. He quickly held out his hand and blasted the machine to a hundred pieces.
Magus recognized where he was. This was 1999 AD, the day of the Lavos. He headed towards the southern continent where he knew that Lavos would surely rise. With each step his hatred for Lavos grew but he knew that he could do nothing because as soon as Lavos rose a group of three time travelers would arrive and destroy Lavos.
Magus stood near the stone path and waited. He looked at one of the domes near by. There was a large board with some numbers on it. It read 1:23. What did that mean? He waited. The ground rumbled and threw Magus off his feet. A large canyon formed in front of Magus and Lavos rose up. Magus charged at Lavos with his scythe but stopped when he saw a blue gate open up in front of Lavos. Out stepped Crono, Marle, and... himself!? Of course. He had helped destroy Lavos and he was witnessing it again. Magus headed towards the blue gate that had formed and stepped in. He didn’t want to be here when Lavos unleashed his power.
The blue light surrounded Magus as he traveled through the time stream. As he was about to emerge he felt something pulling him. Again he was pulled back towards the light and felt like he had been hit by something. He was falling and soon he landed on hard ground. “What the heck is this!?” Looking around Magus saw that he was again laying on that gray type of stone. In the distance he could see giant domes like those he had seen when he was in the future. Again he heard a very loud honking noise and as he turned around he saw a steel monster charging at him. He quickly held out his hand and blasted the machine to a hundred pieces.
“How the heck did I get here again?” Every time he tried to step through a time gate, he came back here. It hadn’t happened like this the other times he had gone through gates with the others. What had they done differently? The gate key! He didn’t have a gate key. Before he could leave this time period he had to get the gate key. Magus went into one of the nearest domes. It was full of people and machines like Robo. The ground began to shake again and Magus was thrown to the ground along with everybody else.
People were running in every direction trying to find a safe place to get shelter. Knowing that Lavos would not have a chance to unleash it’s full power, Magus stood still. A few minutes later the people started to come out from hiding. Magus headed towards a building that looked like it could be the “castle” of this time. He had to talk to somebody that was in charge.
Magus found a large metal door with two sentries posted. He asked one of the sentries for permission to pass and was let through. He came into a large room with control panels. Standing by one was a man in some kind of brownish flight suit.
“Who are you?” asked the man.
“I am a... a traveler, and who are you?”
“Everyone knows who I am. I’m the director of Aeris Dome. What do you want, traveler.”
“I need a way to access the End of Time.”
“The End of Time, where’s that?”
“It’s the place where all time periods intersect.”
“Time periods? That sounds like time travel. We only have one thing like that and even I’m not sure how to use it.”
“Well, what is it.”
“Oh, it’s some key type thing. It’s been passed down from generations. Now, I have to attend to this recent earthquake. All the people are distressed. We hadn't had an earthquake of this magnitude in many years. I’ve no more time to waste with you. Please leave.”
“I’m not leaving until I get the gate key!”
“Hey, how did you know what it was called. I guess you aren’t just a traveler, you’re a time traveler. OK, I’ll give you the gate key on one condition. First you must help my people. Many are wounded. This was a huge earthquake, we need help.”
“It’s not as big as it should be... I mean, I don’t help people.”
“Well there is always a first time for everything. Go down stairs and help the doctors. Tomorrow I will give you the gate key.”
Magus turned and walked out of the room, went down the stairs and caught up with a robot that seemed to be tending to the injured. “The director sent me to help you.”
“I don’t require assistance, but if you would offer help, very well, follow me.”
They walked towards a young man who lay on the floor. Magus looked down and saw that the man was bleeding all over. Starting to smile at the young man’s misfortune, Magus again felt something that he had never felt before. He wasn’t sure what it was. He didn’t know this man. Maybe he just didn’t want others to be tormented by Lavos like he was. He helped the medical droid nurse the man back to good health.
Magus followed the droid again, to a hospital this time. As he looked at all the men, women, and children laying on cots, all wounded, he again felt this new emotion. At first he just thought that it was hatred towards Lavos but he knew it was more. He did hate Lavos but somehow that wasn’t it. He didn’t care for the people, it was not pity, but perhaps it was compassion for the innocent. That had to be it. There was nothing else it could be. But why!? First he had been sad when Ozzie died, then he had spared Dalton’s life. He could live with that, but now he felt sorry for all these pitiful people. What was wrong with him?
After several hours Magus was finally getting used to this new feeling when one of the patients died. He felt sorrow again, not as great as when Ozzie had died, but he was sad none the less. Quickly he regained control of himself and cleared his mind of all emotions. He did not want to feel them, he did not like them, they hurt him.
When the day was over Magus got the gate key from the director and headed towards the site where Lavos was killed. He looked at the giant creature. It was getting dark and Magus would need a place to rest before he continued his journey so he climbed into Lavos’ shell and headed to the core of this giant creature. He looked at all the severed wires that had been attached to the monster that had rested here and connected it to the rest of the Lavos creature. He could see the monsters bones laying on the floor. It had tried to evolve by absorbing the DNA of all creatures on the planet, it had failed. Magus leaned against a wall that the hollowed out monster’s shell had formed. Soon Magus drifted into a sleep that was filled with many dreams.
First, Magus saw himself standing with Schala. Lavos was towering over them. It roared and shot a beam that hit Schala. Magus grabbed her with his arms and pulled her up. When he looked at her face he no longer saw Schala, he saw Zeal, his mother. Zeal got up and joined Lavos and together they shot for a surge of magic and Magus watched his body disintegrate. Magus awoke with a start and realized that it was pitch black. It was also freezing cold. Magus used a spell to create a bonfire out of the remains of the Lavos Core and then drifted back to sleep.
This time, in his dream, he was in the hall of the Mammon Machine at Zeal palace, but the machine was not there. Instead, Crono, Lucca, and Marle floated in suspended animation. He watched Schala and Alfador come into the room followed by himself, when he had been Janus. Schala messed with some controls and freed the others. Magus then felt that he could move so he stepped forward. He called out, “Schala, it’s you.” Schala turned to him and responded. “Of course it’s me. But who are you?”
“I am your brother, Janus!”
“No you’re not! You’re that cruel, heartless prophet! Stay away from me.” Schala started to run. Magus chased after her.
Looking around Magus saw that they were no longer in the palace. They were on some mountain. It became harder for Magus to climb but Schala kept going at the same speed. Soon, the wind became to strong. He then recognized this place, it was Death Peak. The wind blew him down to the face of the mountain. He remembered that in reality there were trees that provided shelter from the wind. Running back up the mountain he looked for a tree and ducked behind it’s trunk and the wind seemed to die down.
Looking up Magus saw that the tree had been replaced by something else. He was now standing on green grass, not white snow. In front of him he saw a hole. Standing by the hole he saw Spekkio and himself with a single tear rolling down his cheek. “What kind of magic is this?” he yelled aloud.
After getting no response Magus headed further up the mountain. He found himself another tree to hide behind. Again he saw that it was replaced with another image. This time he was standing on stone. Looking up he saw Dalton laying on the ground and himself standing over him, with a staff in his hand but not at his neck. Still wondering what was going on he raced up the mountain. He could see Schala in the distance.
Magus found himself another tree and waited to see what it would become. It changed and he saw the young man that was wounded when Lavos had attacked. Again he was sheltered from the wind. After waiting for the wind to die down a little he continued back up the mountain. He reached another tree and hid behind it. Sticking his head out into the wind he saw Schala standing at the top of the mountain.
He waited for the tree to change form. This time it changed into an utter blackness. He looked at Schala and he could hear her say, “Something is missing. The time is not right.” Then the blackness disappeared but the tree was no longer there. The wind of Death Peak caught Magus and knocked him off his feet. As he was falling down the mountain, he woke up.
“What was that? It seemed that my emotions helped me reach Schala but, something was missing. What could it be? I must find it! It will help me find Schala.” Magus put out the fire and crawled out of Lavos’ shell. It was still night but the and stars and the moon gave off enough light for him to see. He crawled up Lavos’ back and laid down, looking at the stars. Soon he again fell into a deep sleep.
He was standing by a tree. Crono, Ayla, Frog, and all the others were all sitting or laying around a fire. Robo began to speak and Magus looked at him.” After 400 years of experience, I have come to think that Lavos may not be responsible for the gates.”
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“What do you mean?” asked Marle.
“I have come to think that someone, or something wanted us to see all this. The different events over time, that we have witnessed. It is almost as if some entity wanted to relive it’s past.”
Magus awoke with a start. “The entity.” What was it? Was it causing these new emotions? Magus wasn’t sure but he was going to find out. He climbed down off of Lavos and headed towards the gate. Using the gate key he was surrounded by blue light as he again traveled through time.
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The end of part five, Destruction By Lavos
Continued in part six, The Entity At Rest
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