Pathway to the Future
Magus allowed his mind to drift in his meditation. This was his only way of connecting with the past that was barely his own anymore, a past that had recently come back to haunt him.
Things had been so simple before. He had been the overlord of Medina, the terror of the world. He had completely transformed himself, almost entirely discarding all human qualities, including all emotions, except for hate. It was that hate that had been his undoing.
But never mind that. It wasn�t important how he got here, just that he was. He let his mind wander, shifting lazily through his memories. He saw himself as a little boy, Janus they used to call him. The name sounded alien to him now.
He saw a beautiful castle in the sky, his past�s home. He saw the prophet wandering around, though he also saw through the hood that it was his own face. His younger self was afraid of the prophet, but the prophet never revealed his true identity.
He saw his sister and stopped for a moment. Schala had been his best friend, almost like a mother. Their own mother, the queen, had been conceded, consumed by her desire for power. He saw Schala forced to use her pendent, to do a spell to bring the ultimate power: Lavos.
Lavos, who had been the beginning of the end, was his ultimate reason for being where he was today. Lavos had sent him forward through time, landing him here, in Medieval Medina.
Magus sighed and put away the memories. It did not do to dwell on the past. He came out of meditation and stood. Now that his kingdom had collapsed, he was forced to live in an old, crumbling castle that had once been the symbol of his legacy.
~~~~~~~~~~
�Do you see him?� Ozzie said. �Pathetic excuse for a wizard.�
�Agreed sir,� Flea said, �but what are you going to do?�
�Hee hee,� Slash snickered, �I know what to do.�
�Well then, speak up,� Ozzie said, kicking at Slash.
�Yes sir,� Slash said, reaching into his pocket. �Look what I snatched.�
�A gate key!� Flea gasped. �Where did you get it?�
�I have my connections,� Slash said proudly, handing the key to Ozzie. �I daresay, there is a gate in this very castle. Leads to the year 1997, I do believe, and an alternate universe.�
�Which one?� Flea asked suspiciously. Then, her eyes widened. �You don�t mean��
�Oh yeah,� Slash nodded slyly. �It�s the perfect punishment for abandoning us, his faithful servants.�
�Yes,� Ozzie said thoughtfully, �it�s good. Carry out the plan. Just make sure he finds the key and the rest should take care of itself.�
�I can do that,� Flea said, giggling and ran a hand through her hair. �He won�t say no to me.�
�Okay, give the key to Flea,� Ozzie said. �Where is the gate?�
�It�s in his closet sir,� Slash said, handing the gate key to Flea. �If he has the key when the door is opened, it�ll be activated.�
Flea conjured a hairbrush and quickly combed through her hair. Then she pulled her hair into its usual ponytail and started off, using a cloaking spell to blend into the darkness. She moved like a cat, slinking into the room where Magus was just coming out of meditation.
�Who�s there?� Magus asked, looking over his shoulder.
Flea shrank into the shadows and giggled softly.
�Flea, I know that�s you,� Magus said.
Flea came out into the open and walked right up behind Magus and threw her arms around him. �How did you know?� she whispered into his ear.
�Well, you were the only one who ever had the nerve to sneak around my bedroom,� Magus said. �I thought you were sticking to your �I�m a man� bit.�
�Male, female, it doesn�t really matter,� Flea murmured. �Power is beauty, and I have the power.�
�Well, it matters to me,� Magus said. �What is it you want?�
�So untrusting, well, we�ll fix that,� Flea lightly kissed Magus� neck. She felt his resistance to her weaken and smiled to herself. She took the gate key from her pocket and placed it in Magus� hand. �A present. May it be something to remember me by,� She kissed him again and backed away, fading into the darkness.
�What�s this for?� Magus asked.
Flea giggled. �You�ll see. Goodbye Magus.� She blew him a kiss and ran out, her feet barely hitting the floor and, therefore, making no sound.
He wanted to connect to his past, did he? Well, he would learn to be careful what he wished for.
~~~~~~~~~~
Magus stared down at the key in his hand in disbelief. This couldn�t be what he thought it was. There was only one gate key. Lucca, of the year 1000 A.D., had it. How did it get here?
Magus shrugged and pocketed it. Flea had always been faithful, so he had no reason not to trust her. Now, if it had been Ozzie or Slash, he would�ve been running for his life.
Besides, there was only one gate in the castle that he knew of, and that part of the castle was inaccessible, due to a collapse of part of the ceiling. No one would be getting in there anytime soon.
Magus picked up his cloak that he�d worn outside earlier that night and went to the closet to put it away. When he got to the door, he stopped. A cold shiver ran down his spin, making him shiver. The last time he�d felt like that, Lavos had been near.
Magus shook his head. Lavos was dead. He couldn�t come back, or even create gates anymore. He wasn�t even sure if the existing gates worked anymore. So, he opened the door.
He saw a flash of blue and purple, and felt himself jerk forward, flying through the air. He could see the land changing before his eyes, forests growing, being cut down, and growing back, building disappearing and reappearing in different places and different forms.
Then, as quickly as it had begun, he felt himself come to a complete stop, falling to his knees. He raised his head and looked around. He seemed to have landed on the front lawn of a giant castle, even larger than his own. There was a lake to his left, where he could see a huge creature stretching its tentacles up toward the night sky, lit by a full moon.
�Where am I?� Magus asked no one, standing up. �Better yet, when am I?� He had gone through a time gate, he knew that much. Wherever he was, it wasn�t 600 A.D.
Then, he heard voices to his left and whirled around and blindly shot a Fire spell in that direction.
�Duck!� a boy yelled. He and two others, a boy and a girl, fell flat on their stomachs and covered their heads. The spell hit a tree, which immediately burnt to the ground. The fire immediately extinguished itself.
�It�s okay,� the girl said calmly, as though this kind of thing happened all the time, �we won�t hurt you. You�re bleeding. Do you want us to show you to the hospital wing?�
�Huh?� Magus wiped a hand over his forehead and looked down at his now blood stained hand. He didn�t remember hitting his head on anything. �I suppose.�
�Follow us,� the girl said. Magus hesitated a moment before walking with her and the boys up towards the castle.
�Who are you?� one of the boys, a redhead, asked.
�My name�s Magus,� Magus said stiffly, hoping they wouldn�t ask to many questions.
�Well, Magus, I�m Hermione,� the girl said. She pointed to the redhead. �That�s Ron and,� she pointed to the other, black-haired boy, �that�s Harry.�
�Please to meet you,� he said as they entered the castle.
�Likewise,� Hermione said. She pointed down a hallway. �Hospital wing�s this way. We�ll go with you. Needless to say, we�ll get in trouble for being out at night.�
So, they went down the hallway. Hermione stopped at the first door and walked in.
�Madam Pomfrey?� she asked timidly.
�Miss Granger, what�re you doing up at this hour,� a tired voice said from inside.
�There�s a man here,� she said. �He was out on the grounds. He cut his head on something.�
�Well, come on in then,� the voice said. Magus walked into the room and cringed, steering clear of the candles that lit the room. He had developed an aversion to light over the years. This, added to his pointed teeth, had led many people in Medina to believe that he was part vampire.
�Over here sir,� a woman, Magus assumed it was Madam Pomfrey, said, gesturing to a bed. �Just sit down and I�ll fix you up right away.�
Magus walked toward the bed and then stopped a few feet away. He waved his hand and extinguished the candles that shone light on the bed before going to sit down.
�Now, I need that light to see, sir,� Madam Pomfrey said.
�I have a skin condition ma�am,� Magus said. �It hurts to be around light.�
�Well, we can fix that,� Madam Pomfrey said. A few seconds later, a faint beam of light fell across the room, coming from a wooden rod that Madam Pomfrey held in her hand. �I always wondered when this spell would come in handy. It gives us light, but it�s made specially so that it won�t affect the skin. Now, let�s see about that cut,�
Madam Pomfrey walked over and examined Magus� forehead. �Well, the gash itself isn�t that deep. I should be able to heal that up real quick.� The light was extinguished for a moment. She muttered a few quick words and then the beam was back again.
Magus felt a slight burning in his head and then felt the wound close. He�d seen healing spells used in battles before, so he wasn�t too surprised.
�Now, you get some rest,� Madam Pomfrey said. �I�m sure the Headmaster will want to speak to you tomorrow.�
�Headmaster?� Magus asked, confused.
�Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore,� Madam Pomfrey said. �This is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sir. Now, get to sleep.� She turned around to look at the children. �Follow me. You will tell me what happened outside and then you will go up to bed.� They all left the room and Magus was left in darkness.
Magus lay down on his back, folding his arms over his chest and staring up at the ceiling. He had stopped sleeping years ago, having learned how to put himself into a trance. Sleep was an invitation for bad dreams, while a trance allowed him to choose what he thought about while he rested. Tonight, he decided to keep his mind blank, hoping to be able to think of a way out of this the next day.
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Author's note: Before I get Chrono Trigger fans overloading my mailbox with angry e-mails, I know that Magus didn't have a skin problem in the game. I added that in because I need it to make my story work. It'll probably happen again, so if you don't like it, don't read it.
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