Magus
By Zach Glueck
His brain was strained, and burning, he couldnt go on much longer. With his hands high in the air and the cool wind nipping at his pale flesh. Magus concentrated more, it would take every ounce of strength to do what he intended. As he concetrated harder, the skies turned black, the clouds thickening against all light, to the point where the sun was completely blocked and nothing could be seen. Finally Magus felt it, the sheer force and raw energy escaping from his hands that went straight fron hin into the ground, releasing shockwaves across the land. Magus dropped to the ground as blood began to spurt from his nose and the overwelming pain in his mind finally got to him.
For several hundred miles the tremor was felt across the land, but its greatest effect was on the ocean floor, where the Black Omen had sunk to so many years ago. Magus knew the Black Omen was a very large air bubble and the only thing holding it to the bottom of the ocean were the large metallic weights attached to the bottom. The ocean palace had taken flight long ago with the peak of the power of Lavos, but in his destruction it lost the ability to stay in the air and subsequently dropped.
The shaking of the Earth began to break apart the Black Omen, destroying the heavy weights that kept it anchored underwater, and so it rose. It rose slowly, but as a giant air bubble, it was finally pushed to the top of the water and washed ashore many days later, moving like a huge ship, following the currents till they touched the tides.
Magus awoke in the sand, crabs crawling on his body and the thick stench of brimey water all around. There it was, the most destructive creation he'd seen by man's hands. It stood tipped on it's side, not the way it looked in the reaccuring nightmares he had, it seemed less destructive, more tranquil and abandoned. The bottom half had been cracked off and broken, the part that touched the sea, and now only jagged edges of torn and twisted metal were holding it's base. The only main entrances to the Under Sea Palace were through teleporters, though there was one door, but it's side was submerged in water, leaving no way in.
That's when the warm flash of light appeared. He opened his eyes to see the red entrancing glow of a gate over his body. It was summoning him, beckoning him. He stood and walked calmly in, facing the destiny ahead of him. But it wasn't his destiny he encountered, it was his past. The lights glowed red as he watched Lavos engulf the red haired one in pure energy, and he saw himself as a young boy, as Janus, before he was Magus, before he betrayed his people, before it all. He saw the spear of blue that engulfed him and tore him away from the only person who cared about him, and the only one he had cared about. Magus stood there, watching Janus, himself, not being able to touch or to dom he watched as blue engulfed everything and then dissapeared.
Guardia, up on a small hill stands Ozzy's troops as the portal opens and a young child falls through. magus can't hear what the people are saying, there's an eerie silence as he watches himself like a movie. No sound for his ears to pick up, but he remembers every single word that was said.
Ozzy looked down at Janus and his heart melted. Ozzy never knew pain, or fear, or love, that's why he made the perfect soldier and leader of the Mystics. He never became involved in the lives of individuals and therefore always made the best decisions for the people. But this child was different, as he looked Janus in the eyes, he saw pure hatred and contempt for everything. These were the eyes of one who could bloom to kill, and kill he would. "I'm
Ozzy, you are within my army, but I have decided to let you live, and I shall keep you as my son."
Janus looked him in the eyes and replied "None shall own me, but if I decide you worthy of my presence, perhaps I'll join you."
"Smug little child!" Ozzie through back his arm to cast a spell, but suddenly a pain in his head appeared, so strong he fell over unable to move. He felt as if someone was squeezing his brain, and after a brief second of torture he stood again, released from the spell of Janus.
Even after this event, Ozzie and Janus joined forces, Magus remembered the times of long ago as Ozzie taught him of the world through literature and of his ever lasting battle with the humans. Janus knew he was a human, and as he was nearing to ask Ozzie if he could leave his cause, he found a book in the Mystics library concerning Lavos. Janus became aware of the flood of memories from his past that he had repressed, trying to forget the horror that Lavos had unleashed on the world. Janus confronted Ozzie about his past and Ozzie agreed to help him in his goal to one day reap his revenge, and Ozzie assured little Janus that the humans would not do the same, and that he was better to stay sided with him. Magus watched as his life twirled by in silence, tinted in red showing the events of his life.
Then the image he'd been fearing so much, the battle at Poor. The mystics snuck in during the night in large ships powered by magical sails. The wind was dead and an attack was not expected. They stormed the shores, taking out all the major defenses before the militia arrived. The humans being much stronger than the mystics began to tear right through them, six dead for every one of the humans. Then the hoardes of Mystics parted and out walked a
figure that remained in darkness even as the moon shone on him. He lifted his arm and fire began to come from every direction, setting on fire almost every human there. Finally the leader called a tactical retreat with only a couple dozen men still alive. But the Mystics were all badly hurt and would be destroyed by the next wave of armed men who would come to secure the area, so they headed back into their ships and to the islands. That night Janus was no longer who he use to be, he was Magus, the darkest of living wizards.
Boats were sent out to always keep a constant patrol of the shores to make sure that no humans would attempt a siege on the Mystics, and in the process they found an island shadowed in dark myst and trees of such horror that curved around with huge spiny vine like branches that none of the ships crew would set foot on the land. Magus had a castle built there by some of the bravest construction men in the Mystics Army, when completed it was topped off with a huge gargoyle.
Word of the huge structure reached the humans and they sent an army to charge the castle by taking an underground cave through the ocean to land there and put a stop to their now famous second in command to Ozzie. The army fought with great strength but in the end they were driven back and the caves entrance was sealed. One soldier was left behind, and he was kept in Magus' own personal chamber. There he was tormented and abused by the servants of
Magus to raise morale. One night Magus went to talk to this person, just to see if he has anything of intrest or importance.
"You've destroyed my peoples land, killed my family and destroyed everything we've lived for, why should I even speak with you?"
"Because you have no one else to, and already I can see your fear of insanity, and trust me, it will come to you."
"Is this your sick idea of fun, to shackle a man to a wall till he's slowly driven insane!" he screamed.
"Fun? Truthfully, I have no time for fun, trust me, if I wanted to have fun you wouldn't be alive right now."
"I can see that in your eyes... You repress your emotions, fun, love, laughter, and pain" said the man, between sniffles from the extreme cold of the castle.
"Pain... What would you know about pain?"
"Only that you suffer from some extreme pain. Your eyes are so cold, you've lost a someone you love or something, perhaps you killed the person as far as I know."
Magus drew his scythe and slammed the man in the chest with the blunt end hard enough to break a rib. "Don't you ever suggest that I would kill the ones I love."
"What about the countless men you've sent on suicide missions. You love your people, yet you let them die. This whole war in itself is killing your people. You can never stop us, and even if you were to seige the castle we would leave, but that wouldn't be the end of us. We would come back at you, you'd never know when, but we would kill you and every person you hold dear. If you kill us now, you better watch your back because we will haunt you."
"Your words mean nothing to me.." said Magus, never fluctuating his tone or volume.
"What about us? You're a human by birth, you've betrayed us. You've destoryed your own people in some sort of made hatred for the world. You're no better then any traitor. Go on! Kill!"
"If you say so.." Magus raised his scythe and swung downward with it, there was the sound the of blade cutting bone, then a few seconds later the hollow thump or a human head dropping to the ground, "I start with you." Magus dropped his scythe and went to his bed near by to sleep. But he couldn't, for the first time that he knew, he cried. His twiseted obsession to kill Lavos had led him to betray his own people, but now he couldnt stop, he had to finish his quest.
.
Magus watched as this event was replayed for him through the red tinted light, and all he wanted to do was leave, he didn't wannt to remember his past, but he had been dammned to watch it now.
.
Then a scene he remembered as one of his prouder moments. It had become very clear that Magus was more powerful, smarter, and a better tactician then Ozzie would ever be and there was talk about revolt, forming an army with Magus just as the leader. Ozzie heard of these threats and realized he had no other way of stopping them then giving them what they wanted. In the missle of the town square of the mystics stood every man in the army and they were all surrounding the center stage where Magus and Ozzie stood. The only man who knew why the ceremony had been called was Ozzie, everyone including Magus was clueless.
"I've come here Magus," began Ozzie, "to give you what you want."
"And that is?" replied Magus, monotonely. Ozzie drew his sword, from his sheath mad of human scalps, and as soon as his blade had been exposed to the air, Magus had removed his scythe from out of his cape. "How dare you!" yelled Magus. But as Magus was about to attack, Ozzie flipped the sword around, holding it by the blade and offered it to Magus. Magus gripped on and and Ozzie said
"You are now the new leader of the mystics, I resign for fear of my life."
From that point on Ozzie took the title of General though he never really participated in much work besides taunting the enemy and giving emotional support to Magus.
.
Magus grinned at the memory, because unlike the others, it wasn't nearly as bitter. But then he saw another one of the images that would never leave him.
.
Glenn now under affect of the frog spell fell backwards and landed somewhere at the base of the cliff. The body of Cyrus looked up at him and screamed one last sentence. "You are nothing more then a traitor to humanity, may... god.... have.... mercy.... on........yo..ur....sou...." then he inhaled, but it was too late, he couldn't finish.
Ozzie looked at Magus and Magus mummbled to himself, "soul."
"What do you suppose he meant by that traitor stuff, it's never like you ever fought for the humans side, perhaps you are human, but we raised you and we've been helping you in your ultimate goal. They would never concern themselves in the bussiness of a creature like Lavos."
Magus looked at him with eyes filled of hatred and destruction "Ozzie, sometimes it's better that you just don't speak."
.
Then the images stopped for Magus. He felt a thrusting force and fell face flat on a shiny metallic floor. It was the ocean palace, the horror had stopped for him, no longer looking at the memories of the past, it was time to face his destiny. The ocean palace was overturned and he was actually standing on the was wall, but it didn't matter, he could still find his way through, right side up or not. Through the huge structure he went, a palace made by the pure devising of Lavos' power. He walked down all the halls and past the skeletons of the dead to find the very center room, the one the Mammon Machine was in. Then he saw it, the final door swung ajar and he entered to face the past that had haunted him for so long. The Mammon Machine was no longer there, it had been moved to a different room when the palace rose as the Dark Omen. There in the center room was a skeleton shackled to the floor (when the palace rose the queen probably decided to detain her here till her death) with a purple robe on. Magus ran and looked down at the deteriorated carcass, it was the right size, and had a pendant around her kneck. He pulled it off as a last rememberance of his sister.
He sat their and looked at the body, now knowing that all his efforts had been in vain, he had betrayed his people and the world, and killed hundreds in the hope that one day he could finally speak to her again, that perhaps killing Lavos would ease the suffering or bring her back. He did not cry, he'd only cried once in his life, and he didn't want to start making it a habit. He felt better off with repressed emotions, never expressing his pain, or having to relive it. He dropped to the ground, now realizing that the walls were too thick to break out of on his own and the only exit was underwater. The ocean palace being so big it would take him at least five minutes to swim out from under it and he would drown by then. His mouth felt horrible he had been in that vortex viewing his past for close to two days, seeing all the horrible he had done, and since then he had nonthing to drink. There was no working water purifier or un-spolied food, and for the first time he realized he would die there. Suddenly the red vortex that he used to come there appeared right over Schalas body.
"You appear to me as some sort of savior, but I know you are truthfully nothing more then a punishment for my sins... Back to hell with you!" and with that he chucked Schala's pendant in the vortex. The red hole flashed then dissapeared. Magus looked down and dropped to the floor. His death would soon come and he could be released from the pain and torture of the life he lived. Perhaps now he could be at peace.
.
"Sir we found this on the shore." said the young squire holding a crystal on a golden necklace that is faintly glowing.
"Thank you, I shall give this to my wife," said King Guardia the First. And so the legacy of Schala is passed down in time and the events are set into course for a teleporter accident to happen in the year 1000AD and ultimately leed to the complete changng of hsitory.