FicWad

Janus muttered a curse as he dove out of the way of a giant claw armed with four massive talons. Even though he was not struck by the monster the force of the explosion caused by the attack flung the mage several feet from his target to where he landed flat on his back, expelling all of the air from his lungs. He rolled to his hands and knees and looked up towards the giant beast that arched its head back and roared. The Mystic on the beast's back grinned wickedly and murmured something to the monster which then opened its mouth and began to expel searing blue flames.

Janus' eyes widened but he was far from helpless as he quickly brought forth the power of his magic in the form of his Prism Barrier. The barrier kept the fire from getting close enough to turn him into a pile of cinders, but even as he began to put together a plan he could feel his barrier wane under the might of the dragon beast's attack. Janus' clothes began to catch on fire as flames seeped through the cracks that seemed to be growing bigger by the second, sweat began to drip down his face faster and faster, and he was absolutely convinced that this was the end but when the barrier shattered under the weight of the attack death did not come. Janus lifted his head to look in front of him and there stood Crono who was using his sword to slash the dragon's attack in half. The swordsman looked back at Janus and grinned as if to say that he owned him one, and Janus made a note to thank the swordsman after they had slain the beast.

Standing, Janus reached into his cloak and pulled his scythe from its holster. The air was finally beginning to return to his lungs, but his chest still burned as he heaved each breath. He pushed the pain to the back of his mind in an attempt to focus himself. This was no time for hesitation. Even as he stood here thinking Crono bounded between columns of the dragon's fire. Janus was beginning to question whether bringing the swordsman was a good idea; at this point in time the man seemed to go insane whenever their was a battle to be fought. He fought with next to no style at all as he swung his sword wildly. When that didn't work he began shooting bolts of lightning from his left hand as he swung with his right. The lightning slowed the beast down long enough for his sword to hit the dragon's hard, scaly skin two or three times before the beast used its massive leg to bat the swordsman away. Janus' head whipped to the right as he watched the body of the swordsman fly into one of the still standing houses.

The Mystic on the dragon's neck looked at Janus again and grinned. Janus kept his emotions lying on the ground as he stared back up at the Mystic from behind his mask. Then, just as the Mystic reigned in the dragon and ordered it to attack, Janus formed his magic into a simple teleportation spell.

Where he stood moments earlier was now rubble, but luckily for him he hadn't been standing there when the claw had hit solid ground. He now stood on the beast's leg. Janus heard the Mystic gasp as it saw him running up the dragon's leg towards him. When he reached the beast's body, Janus leapt towards the Mystic and his scythe's blade gleamed brightly as he swung it.

There was a sickening splat as the top of the Mystics head was separated from its body. Janus whipped his scythe quickly behind him to rid the blade of his weapon and pondered what should be done with the dragon. Without its controller it was likely that it would be less dangerous to he and Crono, but the thing would likely stay around the area and prey on the weaker villagers.

Janus' thoughts were interrupted as the beast roared and bucked wildly, sending its lone living passenger flying. Janus groaned as he hit the ground yet again, but any noise he could make was drowned out by a thunderous boom. Thunder? But there were no clouds in the sky...unless...he looked up to see Crono out in front of the rubble he had crashed into. The man was a mess, his shirt lay in tatters around his waist, his right arm seemed to have no strength at all as he allowed much of the blade of his sword to lie in the dirt and he had a large cut down the left side of his face. The man looked very angry now as he commanded his magic, and the aura around him was gigantic. Apparently he had remembered how to focus his powers.

Just as he thought this lightning bolts flashed in the clouds above and streaked towards the ground, hitting all the area around the monster as well as the monster and sending an explosion of debris and energy all around. When the smoke cleared the dragon lay convulsing as the electricity coursed throughout its body. Janus looked at the pitiful thing and shook his head. He then lifted his right palm towards the monster and concentrated his magic into the power of a massive Sunflare. When he released the magic it was nearly as tall as he was, and the thing absorbed the dragon; flesh and bone, without a second thought.

With that over with Janus decided they'd best be off before some curious patrol decided that they should see what the source of the lightning storm that had miraculously disappeared. He turned to tell Crono the same but the man was already nodding as he tied his shirt so that it would at least cover his body. Janus made a mental note to get him some new clothes next time they had a chance; it would make things much easier if he could fit in. One person different than the rest would draw a certain amount of attention; leaving Crono to move freely about the populous; if they both looked like they didn't belong...well, to say that things could get ugly would be a grave understatement.

After a bit more traveling, Janus was starting to believe that Crono was more of a sore thumb that he was. Although he was masked and had a large sword strapped to his back, Janus was able to manipulate the things around him to make it look as if he was just one of the shadows, but Crono had an annoying tendency to walk down the middle of pathways, bullying everyone in front of him out of the way. Janus rolled his eyes as he quickly continued down the path to Guardia castle. Once they reached the forest, he pulled Crono off the path and into a patch of trees so that they would be away from any prying eyes. He supposed now was as good a time as any to give the swordsman his instructions. He was to go into the castle, retrieve clothes, listen for rumors and the like, and then they would be off. While Crono was inside Janus would try to disguise himself with a little rudimentary magic while he questioned people about the war and the location of Cyrus. Both would be key pieces of information in determining where exactly in the time stream they were and what the journey was likely to be like.

Janus silently hoped that the war was progressing as slowly in this new time as it had when he had been the leader of the campaign. Well, he hadn't really done much campaigning; Ozzie had seen to that, but he had made an appearance now and then so that his pawns would be busy while he focused on his true goal; Lavos. But who could say if everything here was the same. That seemed to be the key to everything. If he could find his other self, If Crono was the same, If Cyrus was alive, If, If, IF!

He gnawed on the side of his cheek as he watched Crono disappear into the forest. He was fairly sure the man could hide himself well enough, though it had taken quite a bit of convincing to get him to agree to do so. Once again he let out a short suppressed sigh and then turned to his work. Hopefully the swordsman wouldn't take too long, but then again, trouble had a habit of showing her nose where she wasn't always wanted.

Crono took in all the information Janus was spewing out in stride. Find clothes, blend in, listen to the local gossip, be quick, on and on and on the man seemed to go, and Crono just nodded right through all of it. He was sure that the mage was right in all his assertions, but Crono felt a little overwhelmed. Colors flooded through his skull and he winced a bit. What had brought those on? The lecture he was receiving or the feeling of pure anxiety? He shrugged as he turned and made his way into the forest. He supposed it didn't really matter, but the image of himself...no, not himself, the other, happier him, and spit. The image was pleasant, but life wasn't pleasant. It had never been for him, and he supposed that it likely never would be. All he could hope for now was that when he helped this mage fix the mistakes that had been made that these wounds, this lifelong pain would all disappear. Maybe if he was lucky enough he would go along with it.

For most people these would be depressing thoughts, but after a lifetime of misery and despair, Crono smiled at the thought of peace beyond life. Eternal slumber would be something he would welcome, but not until his job was done. And when the day came that he would be welcomed into darkness' cold grasp he hoped that he would be ready. No, he supposed he had been ready since the day Lucca had died.

Janus and the old man at the End of Time had told Crono that the beautiful girl in his vision was the woman that he should have married, but that couldn't be...could it? Could he have strayed from the girl he had known since they were both infants? Sure, Lucca wasn't as girly as many of the girls, and her vocabulary often times confused Crono, but the two of them had always been inseparable. He shook his head in disgust as he walked. These thoughts were meaningless right now.

He looked around his surroundings as he continued and found that he was getting remarkably close to the castle gates. Theoretically these gates were always open to humans, but Janus had warned that a good many things had changed and so he couldn't be certain. As he approached, Crono saw no signs of hostile intent even though he received more than his fair share of odd looks because of the tattered remains of his shirt that barely covered his body and acted as his makeshift sheathe.

It wasn't long before the gates began to creak open and Crono was allowed to walk into the castle with a party of a good dozen or so other people who seemed to be just as grungy as he. He had a feeling that these people didn't have nearly as interesting a story as he did about the state of his filth, and he grinned widely as he made his way away from them.

The merchants weren't too difficult to find, however Crono had a much harder time finding someone to help him. Every time he approached someone they would throw themselves at his feet and murmur something that was inaudible. Crono grimace as he tried to escape, but as he hopped out of the man's grasp he was grabbed on each arm by two fully armored knights.

"Ho there, what're you doing with this scum?" the knight on his right asked. Crono arched an eyebrow as he looked at each man. The man on his left laughed.

"Ahh looks like another one that won't talk after battle. That's alright mate, we'll just show you where to go." The second man smiled as he said this and they both let go of Crono's arms. Crono was a bit puzzled by the men's actions, and a bit angry about their treatment of the merchant, but he figured the best way to get good information was from the mouth of where the news came from; and the castle seemed like just the place.

Cyrus moaned as he swung his legs over the edge of his small bed. Somehow he had hoped that maybe he wouldn't wake from his slumber, but then again he had known for a long time that there would be no such easy way to escape from his guilt. He yawned as he stood, stretching towards the ceiling of his little underground home. His stomach rumbled, and the rest of his body quivered at the emptiness of his stomach.

If he wasn't so weak he would just stay and let himself starve, but Cyrus knew that something deep inside wouldn't allow him. No, fate had a habit of playing cruel jokes on a man; dangling what he wanted most in front of his eyes only to pull it away at the last moment. And the thing that he wanted most was a release from the pain he experienced with each breath. As he was thinking this, he pulled on his cloak and began climbing out of his hole. The weather outside was surprisingly wonderful; the sun shone brightly, warming Cyrus' face as soon as he emerged. A few streaks of clouds floated in the sky, but it seemed that the sunlight was too bright to be held back by anything. Cyrus looked around for a moment in puzzlement. Usually the forest was full of activity by now, but there were no monsters to be seen. Shrugging he headed out of the forest and north towards Truce.

Really he didn't have to go. He could always just go to Porre; he was much less famous there than he was in Truce, but he had decided that he should visit his friends. It had been about a month and it seemed right that Cyrus should go there on occasion; if for no other reason than to tell them again how he was sorry.

As he traveled, Cyrus noted an eerie silence that seemed to have overcome everything, not just his forest. The lack of any activity or sound worried Cyrus, and it was just then that the sun seemed to disappear. Shocked, he stopped and looked at the ground. Yes, suddenly the bright sun had been replaced by the darkness of shade.

Cyrus reached for his sword as he slowly averted his gaze from the ground and began to look above him. He gasped and pulled his sword from its sheath when he saw what was above him. It was a dragon...no...three dragons, each ridden by a whole host of Mystics. He took up a defensible position in the middle of the great desert that Magus' armies had created in their first battle with the humans of Guardia. The dragons had done this, and it was likely that they were now trying to do the same to the castle itself. He sheathed his sword and contemplated returning home, or maybe even venturing to Porre. No, this was too peculiar. He had fallen into reclusion some time ago, but had the war really turned that badly?

He sighed as he shrugged his cloak back over the pommel of his sword. Cyrus the Great; thinking this made him want to laugh. The only reason he was now likely walking into a battle because he was curious. A battle he never should have left, but what could he do? The MasaMune was gone and he had proved no match for the Magus. Shaking his head, Cyrus decided to let it be for now.

Traveling took a decent portion of the day, but Cyrus soon found himself passing Dorino, the town of his birth. He shuddered at the thought and pulled his cloak up over his face. Many people knew him here, but they all thought him dead; the whole kingdom did actually. At seeing his former home his thoughts wandered to other things that had come from the place; his friendship with Glenn, his ambition to become the best knight in Guardia, and his love for Leene. The last thought made his chest ache as he remembered Leene. Such a wonderfully intelligent and beautiful woman, and if only a few things were changed she would be his bride instead of the King's. He had often thought this, even when he was in the service of the King, but he was sure the King had known. Cyrus was sure to keep his distance though; as much as he loved the woman he had always been a coward and loved his head sitting on his shoulders where it belonged.

Suddenly he wished that he had pushed the issue. Perhaps it would have prevented years of misery for all. He snorted after he thought this, no, it likely would have just made it worse. So for the moment he would return to Truce, and maybe while he was there he could get close enough to the castle to be sure the Queen was still in good health. It had been what...ten years now? Cyrus' breath stayed tight within his chest as he thought this. Yes, ten years ago his life changed forever and he still paid for it every day.

Truce came rather quickly which surprised Cyrus. Usually the trip from Dorino to Truce took the longest since he usually was very careful in avoiding people. It seemed in his reclusion he had grown sloppy. He silently muttered a curse at himself and hoped that no one had seen his face. Looking around he found that his fears were a little ridiculous as there seemed to be no one here either.

As he entered the town Cyrus gasped. Buildings lay ruined, and those that weren't fallen blazed with a fire more intense than anything he had ever felt in his lifetime. Reaching into his cloak he pushed the blade of his sword about an inch out of the sheath. With a click it was ready; now he could have the blade ready when it was needed.

While he looked around the ghost of a town Cyrus heard a roar behind him. Startled he whipped around, sliding his blade from its sheath and swinging the sword into nothing. No there was nothing there, but in the distance he could see three giant shapes floating in the sky heading for the castle. How had the dragons been so delayed? As he sheathed his sword he swore, supposing that it didn't matter. He couldn't stop his friends' deaths, but perhaps he could save a few others, and deep inside he hoped that he would lose his in the process.

Janus had spent a number of hours mingling with the people outside the castle walls, but two things were beginning to worry him. Crono had still not returned from the castle, and so far from everything he had been able to find out Cyrus disappeared nearly ten years ago and hadn't been seen since. Could the old man have been wrong? Janus shook his head as he headed towards another of the many shanty towns that were set up in the forest. Soldiers patrolled all the main paths surrounding the forest, but Janus had an uneasy feeling. They were too confident for a kingdom being beaten back into their castle.

The make-shift town was pathetic at best. Lean-tos were built on top of each other, and the people were all thin and pale; the look of a people that were starving. The worst part about this travesty was that a majority of the people Janus encountered were all women and children. The sight made his blood boil; who could take away these peoples sons and fathers, only to leave them with nothing in the process?

Perhaps the war was going worse than he had expected. He wasn't sure how much worse things could get, but then again it was never healthy for a situation to think or say that. He shrugged off his premonitions, but as he let his guard down a barrage of colors swirled through his head. Strangely enough the colors seemed to swirl into shapes...people.

It seemed that one was him...or rather, he and his counterpoint. The figure was all gray but resembled the Dark One more than it did himself. The second figure was an all red version of Crono, followed but a rough, green outline of someone Janus didn't recognize. He shook his head to knock the colors from his head. The guru had said that the line was too fragmented to see the visions clearly. Well, he supposed he hadn't actually seen the vision, but he had gotten something from it.

The vision brought more questions than it answered though; three people...they must have had something in common, but what was it? Himself, Crono, and someone he didn't recognize. Oh well, he supposed that it didn't matter anyway; neither he nor Crono would be as they were in his vision until they returned time to its normal state. If they even could return time to its normal state.

As he continued on through the shanty-town his view of this new Guardia continued to plummet. What kind of ruler left their people outside their safe little walls without any food or adequate protection? A ruler that planned to lose the war that's what kind. He grunted as he thought this, yes definitely a ruler who didn't want to win...Things suddenly began to make sense. The village, the lack of any sort of defense at Zenan bridge; which had ultimately been the turning point in the war, the lack of protection and food for the kingdoms subjects, everything pointed towards some sort of conspiracy. But that meant that Crono was right in the middle of all of it!

Janus cursed as he began to sprint as fast as he possibly could. He left the town and entered the forest. Once there it would be easy enough to avoid patrols; these men were likely out of the loop if they had been convinced to come out here. Janus jumped into the air and landed softly on a large tree branch. He then began leaping from treetop to treetop like some wild animal; except this animal could move faster than most eyes could see. At this pace it wouldn't take him very long to reach the castle walls, but getting in could be a different matter. And still, even if he made good time the swordsman still had to be alive.

The two knights seemed to be walking them in circles. Crono began to frown as he took in his surroundings. Yes, he had seen that painting not more than a few moments ago. The halls of the castle were vast, but they were far from unending. But why would these two want to keep him walking in circles. This would only keep him busy for...that was it! They were delaying him for something. But what could they possibly need him out of the way for? Unless...someone knew that he and Janus were here from the beginning!

Crono gritted his teeth as he pulled his katana from its place in his tattered shirt. The two knights didn't even have time to mutter a word to each other, much less get off a shout before Crono's blade cut into their backs, and as they fell to the ground, Crono's suspicions were correct. Someone had known, and they had sent these two monsters to pose as someone to help him. Though within their appearance as knights they had appeared slim and very much human, their true form was quite different. They were short and round; their skin lightly tinged yellow, and their features all seemed about the same. The monsters' skin was rough like that of a reptile, and they had large ears that hung down the sides of their heads much like that of a dog. Crono vaguely remembered a monster like these, but he couldn't remember from where. Perhaps that old man and Janus hadn't been as crazy as he had originally believed. After all, this wasn't the first thing that they had been right about.

Crono shrugged it off and decided that it would be best to act now and think later. As quickly as he could he drug the two bodies behind a few suits of statuesque armor. They would go unnoticed there for quite some time by the look of the dust that had collected there; at least until the stench of the rotting bodies was unbearable. Once that was done he decided that he needed some new clothes to replace the ones that dragon had ruined.

When he had decided this he headed down the hall they had been traveling quite some time. This 'brilliant' plan those two monsters' leader had come up with hadn't considered the fact that he might figure them out, and it had given him a chance to familiarize himself with a part of the castle. Crono smiled in spite of himself; his better judgment told him to go and meet with Janus before pursuing the matter, but since when had he ever listened to that?

The first thing Crono did was rummage through every room he could find. The first few had only been food storage, but from the looks of things the castle was much better off than the rest of the remaining bits of the kingdom. Crono frowned at this and since he was more than a little angry at the ruler of this place for keeping so much from his people he decided he would take a little and deprive the 'nobility' of a little of their luxury.

After he had eaten his little snack he rummaged through a few more rooms. The first had proved to be nothing; literally. The second room had been an armory, and the only thing that Crono had found of use there was a sheath for his katana and a matching belt. Running around with his weapon was much easier now, and he found after a little of trial in the little weapons room that pulling the sword from its sheath made for a quicker slashing attack. The final room had proved most useful, but then again that made sense as it was the last place he looked. Here he found the attire of one of the knights that seemed to be about the right size. The clothing was blue and tan, and it was a shirt, pants, boots, and tunic. He just left his undergarments the way they were; they weren't in any worse shape and he had qualms about stealing and wearing another mans undershorts.

Also in the room he had found a rather nice breastplate accompanied by a matching helmet and two rather nice, flexible gauntlets. After he had adorned his new clothing and equipment Crono headed for the door, pausing slightly next to the mirror to look at himself and grin. Once he was in the hallway he looked left and right. Here was the tricky part; which way was it to the bastard who was starving his people and, more importantly, trying to get rid of him?

Cyrus charged towards the three monstrosities, but the bulk of the Mystic force didn't seem to care. Hundreds of the beasts hopped off of the dragons and charged into Guardia Forest; howling battle cries as they did so. Cyrus grit his teeth as he watched the monsters run into the forest. Should he go and help the castle or stay here and try to make a move on them from behind?

He decided the castle would be best; after all Leene would be there, but before he could make a decent effort into the forest he was surrounded. There were Descendents, Henches, Violet Henches, Nagga-ettes, Rolies, Imps, and nearly about any other sort of Mystic there was. He hadn't seen the monsters come towards him, but he supposed that with all the commotion about that he likely only watched two of the dragons unload their passengers.

The monsters sneered as they watched their prey reach into his cloak and pull forth his orange tinted blade. Cyrus returned their sneers with one of his own as he saw the recognition gleam in their eyes. The Mystics were only startled for a second though. After all, they had superior numbers so they couldn't lose; or so they thought. Cyrus' blade flashed left and right, slicing through Mystic flesh with each pass. It had been years since he had fought anything meaningful; let alone fought an entire army, and it was the best he had felt in these past ten years.

He fought with reckless abandon, moving deeper and deeper into the crowd. The path he carved through the Mystic lines began to fall in behind him, but the screams of their fallen comrades seemed to shock the Mystics. Soon he was fighting hundreds...maybe thousands of Mystics. Their claws reached Cyrus only a few times; just enough to rip his cloak off and completely reveal who he was. He was wearing no armor, but none of the Mystics seemed to be armed with anything, and they couldn't get close enough to puncture his skin, let alone land a fatal blow.

The Mystics kept coming though, and Cyrus felt his adrenaline begin to run out. But he had also cleared a ten foot area around him, and now blood and corpses littered the ground. It was then that he noticed that the Mystics had stopped coming. Puzzled he let the tip of his sword touch the ground as he turned in a circle, dragging the blade around as he went. It wasn't until he was facing what would have been his left that he saw why they had stopped.

From the far edge of the Mystics a lone figure seemed to be approaching. The sea of Mystics parted just long enough for the figure to be through and then they closed again. Cyrus didn't recognize the Mystic. Surely Magus wouldn't send his most powerful generals away without accompanying them himself? No, that wasn't Slash, but he was sure that the Mystics that made way for him were much more terrified of this ally than they had been of himself.
The Mystic was tall and lean; a build very same to the General Slash. Cyrus compared the two figures briefly in his mind. Yes, that's who the Mystic reminded him of. However, this Mystic's skin was black as the night sky, with eyes that were a blue that was nearly as dark. The skin of the Mystic was covered in scars of all kinds; presumably from the blades of many swords that had come close to killing the beast but had not traveled quite far enough. Two fangs hung out of the Mystic's mouth; the tips of which seemed to be stained blood red, matching the color of the Mystic's garments. A long sword hung in its sheath at the Mystics belt, and with each step towards the circle Cyrus could here it clink.

When the Mystic reached the clearing he inspected the ground and then looked up to Cyrus. Cyrus eyes' narrowed as he saw the wicked grin plastered on the beast's face. The Mystic licked his lips once before addressing Cyrus. "The legendary knight returned." It said with a snicker as it began to walk around the outer edge of the circle.

Cyrus was sure to keep his front facing the monster as it walked around him. "Who are you Mystic?"

"Mmm? Oh so sorry, I forget that you have been 'dead' for ten years. It seems Ozzie underestimated your will to live, how else could you, a dead man, be standing before me?"

Cyrus ignored the Mystics comments as they were clearly intended to make him lose his cool. He continued to follow the Mystic with his eyes, but he felt the need to provoke him, and so he stopped moving his body. The Mystic reacted exactly as Cyrus had predicted. It snarled at the insult he was giving by not keeping his face to it.

"I am Commander Velius, the most feared swordsman in the Mystic kingdom!"

Cyrus grinned. "If you were the truly the most feared swordsman in the Mystic kingdom than surely Slash would be here and not you?"

The Mystic uttered a guttural growl. "Maybe, but once I kill you there will be no doubt! Prepare to die Cyrus of Guardia!"