Ozzie slumped to the ground, blood oozing out of his chest. At long last, it had happened. The last mystic general was dead. The mystics had lost again, this time, for good. Max felt sorry for the beast in a way. Ozzie was only doing what he thought was best for his kind, much like Azala. He saluted the mystic, for his desire to help his kind, and turned to leave.

�You think you�ve won. But it�s far from over.�

Max stopped at the comment, the voice sending a chill done his spin. �That voice. It can�t be.� He turned to face the owner of the voice, the man his as expecting not walking out of the shadows. �Malatar?!!�

The man shook his head with a bit of a smile. �Funny, I thought no one this world knew about me. And the name is Kefka. Kefka Malatar. From Altara. You, um, have quite a reputation there, young knight. The only being to search for Illumina and survive. Much like your knight Glenn, and the Masamune. By the way, I give you my condolences on the tragic lose. Such a shame really, to lose a great knight like that. But that�s not the point. The point is, I finally dug my way out of that wreck that used to be my tower, then you came along and disrupted my plans, much like another group such as yours did long ago. If it weren�t for your little quest, I would have...�

Max glared at Kefka. �You would have what? Taken over Altara?! Destroyed all resistance?! Can�t allow that, buddy boy, you�re against my friends, and that makes you my enemy.�

Kefka frowned. �I didn�t come here to fight, just to tell you that the war is far from over, even if and when you destroy Tykotious. This was just the beginning, be warned, young warrior.� With that, Kefka vanished into the shadows, leaving Max by himself.

Janus, still searching, opened a door and saw a small creature in the chamber, one he knew from long ago. �Doreen.�

The creature smiled at the prince, bowing in respect. �Hello Janus, nice to see you again after all these years.�

Janus smiled at his old friend. �Damn, I never thought I�d see you again.�

Doreen glanced to the back of the room. �There�s something back there that might interest you.�

Janus walked past the creature and looked, not understanding what she meant. �There�s nothing here but an old statue. Of me.� He looked at the scythe in the statue�s hand, then noticed that unlike the statue, it wasn't made of stone . �What the?� He dropped his own weapon and pulled the scythe out of the statue�s hands, amazed at what it was.. �I don�t believe it.� He looked at the weapon with admiration, testing it's handling, finding it to feel like an extention of his own body. �After all these years...you mean to tell me it�s been here all along?�

Doreen nodded with a smile. �You just never bothered to look at it.�

Janus held the scythe up in the light. �After all this time...Nightmare� He smiled at the little creature. �Thank you Doreen, you have no idea how much this means to me.�

Doreen�s eyes flashed as she began to fade away. �I think, young prince, that I do.� She disappeared as Janus left the room, a smile on her face.

Max walked out in to the hall, and found the others. �What took you so long?� he asked.

Nadia turned towards him and glared. �Max!! Don�t ever do that!! You scared us all.�

�Not all of us.� Janus walked out of the doorway and smiled. �I saw your handy work, Max. You�re starting to lose it. If you don�t calm down, Tykotious could very well still win.�

Max shrugged. �Don�t worry. Ozzie�s dead, Glenn's been avenged.�

Janus sighed to himself. Not quite yet. The real being behind his death is still loose.,/i>

�So, want do we do? Head for Tykotious?� Lucca asked as they walked over to the HAWK.

Max shook his head. �No, not yet. I think it�s time I met that Gasper guy you mentioned at the meeting.�

Janus nodded. �More to the point, he should see Spekkio. He�s going to need to learn his element if he�s going to keep going.�

The HAWK burst into the End of Time. Max looked at the small structure floating in the void, still in amazement. He dock the ship and the team got out.

An old man was sleeping by a lamppost. Janus smiled as bit as he walked over. "Gasper.�

The old man woke up with a start. �What!! Who?!! Oh, Janus, it�s just you. Don�t do that to me please. Ah, I see a new face in the group. And who is this young man?�

�Max Triggara," Max stated.

Gasper smiled. �Ah, yes...I know about you...Come to see Spekkio, I take it.�

Janus nodded. �We need to know what is Max�s element.:�

�Yes, yes. Well, you know where he is.�

Janus lead Max to a door and pushed it open. A strange creature stood in the center of the room. �Ah, the prince is back. And who�s the kid?�

Janus chuckled a bit. �This is Max Triggara, the last of Crono�s descendants, and mine as well. He�s come to learn his element.�

The pink Nu jumped with joy and ran over. �Great!! I�ve needed something new. Let�s see.� He zoomed around Max, looking at him from every angle. �Strange. I never sensed this before.� Spekkio was solemn. �Very strange indeed...I�ve never seen anything like it.�

Janus frowned. �What is it?�

Spekkio looked at Janus. �You sure this kid is real? �Cause he�s got a power like nothing I�ve ever seen before in my life.�

Janus looked at the master of war with a confused look. �What do you mean? I thought you had seen everything in magic.�

Spekkio nodded. �So did I. But this, I�ve never seen anything that comes close. If I�m right, this kid�s either got the power of every element, which is slightly possible, or, he�s got the power of Time itself, which definitely impossible according to my knowledge.�

Janus looked at the war master. �Time? But that�s not an element.�

Spekkio shook his head. �On the contrary. Time is the most important element. It controls everything. Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning and Shadow. This kid, he�s strong. I�d say he�s the user of Time. Who�s his father?�

Janus was confused by the question. �David Triggara. Why?�

Spekkio looked at Max closely. �Was he that immortal who had a child? I heard something like that from Darien. Only one to have one. If he is, that would explain it. An immortal can hold a lot of power.� Spekkio frowned as he continued his 'examination'. �Lot'a power in this kid...that would explain this. You�re immortal, aren�t you?� Max nodded. �Ok, that explains it. Time is your guardian. But there�s something else there. Some thing like...�

�Magicite?�

Spekkio looked at Max, shocked. �You�ve been to Altara, haven�t you. I knew it, I knew there was something familiar. Old Bahamut, he taught you how to use it.�

Max grinned. �You know the Phantom Beasts?�

Spekkio smiled and laughed. "Of course I know the Espers!" he replied. "They�re some of the best magic users in the universe! Rangarok, the master of Ultima, you met him yet?� Max shook his head. �Bummer, major power house spell in him. Let me tell you something. You can�t decide the world�s fate for it. The Earth decides if it lives or dies. It chooses if you save it, or if Tykotious will kill it. Keep that in mind boy.�

�So, what�s Max�s power?� Nadia asked as Max and Janus rejoined them.

Janus looked at her and smiled. �Time.�

Lucca frowned. �There�s no such thing as the element of Time.�

Max smiled. �There is now. Spekkio just said so. Time controls everything. Therefore, it�s an element. Come on, let�s go.� They got in the HAWK and launched, the jet shooting off into time, destination, unknown.

To be Continued......