"An era has ended, and a new one has begun...Thus is the saga of Zeal..."

Janus sighed as he looked out at the sea, waves cascading on the shores. Frog walked up behind him, a sad look in his glassy eyes. "Schala..."

"Art thou not happy with thy redemption?" Frog asked kindly. "Not only have the people of Guardia forgiven thee, but so have I, as has Cyrus' soul."

"My redemption will not be complete until I am reunited with my sister," Janus replied. "Daikat is still out there, and I'm the only one who can stop him."

Frog nodded, understanding Janus' pain. "Tis good to be by thy side again, my Prince." He smiled a bit. Even if he was stuck in this form forever, he had accepted it, and could use it to his advantage. "We shall face the demon together, as was meant to be."

"Glenn," Janus began, then shook his head. "I can't live with myself like this, you still in a form my powers placed you in."

"T'was not thy fault," Frog replied, ever kind in his voice. "The beast Daikat did this to me, not thee. Thou, my prince, art a noble warrior, and I am proud to be thy friend."

Janus smiled and chuckled a bit. "I still haven't gotten used to your archanic speech. How did you ever end up talking like that?"

"Conversing with the ancient animal warriors rubs off on one," Frog answered, looking out to the waters. "Tis a new day..."

"Just like all the others," Janus stated sadly, closing his eyes in sorrow. "Another day that I shall not find Schala."

"My prince," Frog mused. "Tis occured to me that thou hast searched merely the past ages, and not the future. Wouldst it be wrong to search there as well?"

"You mean ages we had not seen in the war against Lavos?" Janus replied. "There's too many of them."

"I believe Gasper said it best...'Search thy heart for the answer.' Thou should return to the past and find out where thy sister was cast."

"Return to the moment the time gates opened," Janus mused. "Yes...that would work...But if I go there, then I will only be running into myself again, except it will be all too obvious that something is amiss."

"Thou hast used thy powers to hid thee from sight before," Frog stated. "Or hast thou already forgotten?"

"Cloaking," Janus murmered. "Yes...why didn't I think of it before?"

"Thou hast been healing the wounds inflicted by the beast, Daikat," Frog answered. "I shall remain here and do what I can against the demon should he return. Thou must follow thy heart."

"Glenn..." Janus dropped his head, then smiled. "Magus was wrong...the curse can be broken..." He looked at his friend and smiled. "Magus' curse on you was one of hate, fueled by your hate for me...your forgiveness of my soul will break the curse...all you need do is forgive yourself." He turned and began to walk away, casting the spell of invisibility.

"My prince!" Frog called. "What does thou mean, I must forgive myself?"

"You blame yourself for Cyrus' death, and my fall into darkness, for not being able to help me. That blame is not yours, and when you accept that, you shall be healed...go to the river where you awoke as the Frog Knight, and you shall understand."

Casting the spell, Janus vanished from sight, a time gate soon opening then shutting as he stepped through. Frog looked on as he considered the Prince's words, then reached a decision.

"Very clever of you, boy...it seems that your quest for redemption has been fruitful..."

Magus turned from the crystal. Looking at his hands, he frowned; he was aging rapidly, and this body he had stolen would not last long. He had been forced to take the body of a human, his host unable to withstand his hellish energies for long.

Soon, he had to either retake Janus' body, or gain a physical form of his own, both of which would prove most difficult.

"Perhaps the boy can assist me in my own body," he mused, smiling to himself. "While he does not know when his sister lies, I do...and when he finds her, I shall be waiting."

Janus burst out of the time gate, finding himself in the Ocean Palace. He heard the screams and quickly teleported to their source, watching again as his past self was flung into Lavos' time gate. I can't stop it...or I'll never... Throwing off those thoughts, he watched as his more recent past self tried to fight against Lavos, only to be flung away and into a warp. He could still remember the pain from the injury that resulted from his crash into the bluffs.

Turning to Schala, he saw a bright red time gate open beneath her, just as she spirited Lucca and Frog away, gasping in horror. This was not Lavos' that opened the time gate that swallowed his sister, Janus knew that it was something else. He quickly raced out of his cloak of invisibility, Queen Zeal gasping as she saw him appear from thin air and dive into the red portal.

"You?!"

"Not now!" he cried, making it just in time to follow Schala through time, straining to reach her in the timestream. "Schala!"

Suddenly, he found himself crashing to the ground, Schala nearby and out cold. He struggled to his feet, crawling to where his sister lay. "Schala...at last..."

Looking around, he knew where they were. This, of all eras, had been the one place he never thought to look. The sky was shining a bright blue hue as small craft darted through the air. Of all the time periods and the ages he had searched, he had never thought that this would be where his beloved sister was. It was then that he knew Lavos had not sent his sister through time, but someone else, one who knew she would be safe here.

"The true future," he whispered. "The one we forged in Lavos' death...he knew...the old bastard knew all along we would do it...Gasper, you son of a bitch...why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, he would say it was so you'd find out on your own," the cold voice of death stated, Janus snarling as he heard it, it's owner appearing behind him. "However, my opinion is that he just didn't care about it. By the way, thanks for leading me here."

"Have you no compassion?!" Janus bellowed, reaching for his scythe. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Magus warned, gesturing to Schala. "After all, she stills believes you to be me. Besides, I doubt you'd wish any harm to befall her."

"Damn you," Janus growled. "For once, leave me alone."

"I told you I'd come for you, Prince," Magus taunted. "And I've come."

Janus stared intently at his foe, hate in his eyes. "If it's a fight you want, demon, then it's a fight you'll get. Dark....MATTER!!!"

A cascade of energy swirled around Janus, then blew out at Magus in a blast of Shadow magic, tearing a crater where the demon stood. Janus wasn't all that surprised to see that Magus was still standing. What did surprise him was that the demon now looked even older. "What in Aldanya's name?"

"Humans have little energy compared to yourself," Magus commented with a smile. "Then again, you were quite...inhuman."

"My bloodlines are not the concern here," Janus snapped. "Now leave me and my sister, or face your death!"

Magus merely laughed, Janus unleashing another blast of Shadow magic. As the smoke and dust from the blast cleared, all Janus saw was the crumpled for of Magus' host, dead and gone. As he turned back to wake Schala, he felt a cold wind blow up, and impossibility when only moments before, the air was as warm as a mother's embrace. "What?"

"Can you feel it?" Magus' disembodied voice asked. "The coldness of the wind, the lifeless breath of the air? Tis the breath of the Reaper, the cold embrace of Death..."

"Damn you," Janus swore, clutching his scythe tightly. "Why can't you just die?!"

"Allow me to reveal my true form, and you will then understand..." A shimmering began to take shape, the outline filling in with pale skin and black cloaks. Black eyes formed in the sockets of his head as long white hair flowed from his scalp. A wicked looking scythe formed in his hand, upright like a walking staff. Janus could only stare in horror, now understanding. His devisating spells had not destroyed Magus, the demon has used their energy to create a new and uncorrupted body!

"Does this suit me better?" Magus asked with a cold smile, his eyes blazing with fire. "This is my true form, young prince. Now do you see why I said we are one and the same? It is because we are. The truth of it is, I am you, the darkness within you. That is what demons are, the evil and darkness that lie within all beings. When a mortal is born, so is their demon counterpart. The greater the good in the mortal, the greater the evil in their demon. You see now why I am so powerful? I drew off the power in you, your good becoming weaker."

"Then why did you become stronger? As you said, the stronger the good, the stronger the evil becomes..."

"That only works one way," Magus replied. "Alas, you've regained that good, and I have grown stronger."

Janus snapped up with scythe, glaring at the demon before him. "If you have a body, it means that you can be killed, as you are now mortal."

Magus smiled at that. "Do you understand nothing? I am a demon lord of Death! I can't be harmed! I am the first demon to create his own body, and I will live forever as the one who shall rule this world!"

Janus merely snarled and rushed at Magus, scythe's clashing as they fought. Janus' youth gave him an advantage of agility, and soon, his scythe had struck his mark, cutting into Magus' unarmored arm.

"Aaahhh!!" The demon grabbed his wound in pain, then stared at it in shock as he pulled away his hand; he was bleeding. "What? It can't be, I can't be!"

"You said yourself," Janus said as he smirked. "You're the first demon to created his own body...and as I said, you are now mortal."

Magus looked up at Janus and growled. The time for games had ended; it was now a matter of life or death. "I still have the power to destroy you, whelp."

"Come and try me..." Janus held back his scythe and gestured for Magus to strike, smiling his taunt. "Daikat."

Magus raised his scythe and ran at the prince, Janus deflecting with uncanny ease as he pushed the demon back and spun away, cloak furling around him as he leaped into the air. Wind seemed to blow from the ground and his cloaks spread like the wings of an archangel, dark and majestic, a symbol of holy power.

Magus snarled as he attacked, Janus blocking and dodging as he goaded the demon on, his courage not failing at all. "Is that the best you've got?!"

"So you wish a battle of mettle?!" Magus snapped. "You forget! While you fight me, your precious sister is unprotected!" He jumped away, Janus staring in horror.

"Schala!"

Magus laughed coldly as he summoned a tempest of energies, firing them at Schala. Suddenly, a blast of light split the air, and Magus' blast was deflected by a shining white blade held by a man in golden armor. His eyes shined like gems, his shoulder length hair green like emeralds. He gritted his teeth as he stood his ground against the blast of magics, his blade deflecting the blast like it was nothing.

"What?! Who the hell are you, and how the hell did you get here?!"

"Thy curse is shattered," the knight replied with scorn in his voice, his cape flapping in the wind as he stood before Schala. "Thou hast no power over me anymore!"

"No..."

Janus' eyes lite up with glee as he recognized the voice. "I'd know that damn archanic talk anywhere...Glenn!!!"

"No!!!!" Magus roared, firing another blast at the now restored knight of Guardia, the man grabbing Schala and leaping high into the air. Despite he was human again, Glenn had not lost that powerful jumping ability, making him even deadlier to his foes. "How did you break the curse?!"

Janus ran to his friend's side, scythe ready for battle. "He forgave me, then forgave himself," he replied coldly. "Glenn, it's time to see what Shadow and Water can do combained."

"Thou art most correct," Glenn stated, holding his sword upright as he concentrated, Janus preforming charge up hands motions as colored energies built up around them, gray surrounding Janus and aqua blue around Glenn.

"No!" Magus cast a tempest, summoning all the power he could for one powerful blow. "You all can share death at once!" He aimed his hand at the trio, and let loose his spell, the black energies surging to rip Janus and his companians apart.

"Dark...Waters..."

"TYPHOON!!!"

The powers of Water and Shadow came together in an explosive storm of power, absorbing Magus's spell and slamming into the demon warlock, sending him sprawling to the ground, drained of power.

Janus readied himself in case Magus could still fight, but was surprised to see the warlock stir only to send himself into a time gate, blasting back to where he came. "It's done..."

Glenn sheathed Masamune and knelt down to where he had laid Schala. "Thy sister...is a vision of beauty..."

"Indeed," Janus agreed as he set down his scythe. "I only hope she can see me as who I am, and not what she knew from then..."

"Thou hast been change greatly since thou cast out the demon," Glenn assured him. "Thy face looks nothing like it did before...tis the face of my friend, who ran to save us all."

Janus smiled and wave his hand over Schala, filling her with curing magics. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, Janus finding that he was holding his breath as she woke up. "Schala...."

"Where...where am I?" Schala looked up, her vison blurry but quickly clearing as she saw Janus' face before her. "Who...who are you?"

"Schala...finally..."

Schala didn't understand at first, then saw Janus' cloaks and recognized them. "You?! What did you do with Janus and the Gurus?! Where have you brought me?!"

"Schala, it, me! I'm Janus!" he exclaimed.

"No! Don't lie to me, you can't be Janus! Janus would never be so cruel and dark to anyone."

"M'lady," Glenn stated. "He is thy brother. He has the pendent thou gave him in his youth to prove it...merely look at his eyes to see the truth."

Schala looked at Janus, finding it impossible to believe, then stared into his deep blue eyes, finding the same dazzling eyes that had been the last she saw before the portal had claimed her. He bore the same curly blue bangs, though they were a bit longer, they were the same unmistakable sign of his undying youth. His face, despite the years added, still had that child-like roundedness to it. She finally started to cry, realizing what had happened.

"Lavos...he sent you to another time...and you spent Aldanya know how long without me..."

"Nineteen misrable years," Janus replied, hugging his sister tightly as he finally, after so long since that hated day, began to cry, his tears joining Schala's. "All those years, the only thing that kept me going and fighting that demon's hold was the hope that I would find you..."

Glenn smiled as he too shed a tear for his friend. "My prince...Thou hast been redeemed."

Janus smiled as he pulled Glenn over, hugging his friend. "Thank you...I have her back and I owe it to you."

Glenn smiled as he nodded. "Tis a day for us all...Where shall we go? To thy home era?"

"No," Janus replied. "No, there's nothing for us there..."

"Janus," Schala said in shock. "Zeal is back there, we have to stop Mother from..."

"M'lady," Glenn replied. "Thy mother...she was not the one who summoned Lavos...The one who did that was a hollow shell left by Lavos' dark energies. Zeal is gone...destroyed by Lavos...thy mother's spirit would want thee to have a new life."

"But...where do we go?"

"To where I truely belong," Janus answered, smiling. "An era has ended, and new one has begun...thus is the saga of Zeal." He waved his hand and opened a time gate, looking to his sister. "We go to where I have found a new life...and I believe you will find a new one as well."

Six months later...

Janus shook his head at it all. The very thought of what was about to happen, after everything he had seen in his life...it still shocked him.

His sister was getting married.

"Do you, Sir Glenn Figaro of Guardia take this woman to be your eternal wife, in sickness and in health, in time of joy and sorrow, for all time to come till the end?"

"I do..."

"And do you, Lady Schala Zeal, take this man to be your eternal husband, in sickness and in health, in time of joy and sorrow, for all time to come?"

"I do..."

"If anyone has reason that these two should not be united, speak now...or forever hold your peace..."

Janus couldn't hold back the tears. Not tears of sadness, but of joy and pride. He watched from the shadows, a smile on his face. "May Aldanya bless you for all time..."

No one spoke, and the priest smiled at the two. "I now pronounce you, husband, and wife...you may now kiss the bride."

Glenn smiled as he lifted Schala's veil, her glowing blue eyes and shimmering blue hair all the beauty he ever wanted to see. He embraced her tightly as their lips met, and Janus had to look away, a bit embarassed. "I love you..."

Schala smiled and nodded. "To the future..."

Yes... Janus thought as he left the cathedral, his light blue cloak flapping behind him as his hair fluttered in the wind. To the future...a new age...and a new life for the Kingdom of Zeal...

Janus sighed as he watched the celebration. Queen Leene's daughter had been born, and King Guardia was quite the proud father. He had come on Glenn's behalf, his old friend also the proud father of a son that he and Schala had named Alexander Janus.

Strange...to have a child carry his name...it was an honor he had never expect to see. He felt that this was the line that would bring about the guardian of the future, that it was not chance Glenn and Crono had met.

"It binds us, the blood. Ayla, Glenn, Robo, Crono and Nadia....we are all linked by not just destiny but by the blood in our veins..."

Looking to the sky, Janus smiled, knowing that his mother was looking down on him from the heavens. "It's all coming together..."

He turned to leave, knowing that he best be going. As he walked down the pathway, an old man in an overcoat and a brown derby hat appeared before him. "Gasper! Don't do that to me! It's good to see you again though."

"If only this were a social call. Janus, we've got trouble."

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