It didn't work. It was to be expected, after years of trying and retrying, but it didn't work. Why was he, of all people, damned to be like this? To have to continually sit in his keep and try spells to call forth Schala? WHY? He damned himself for even caring for her. And he damned himself again for not being good enough.
He, Magus, the most powerful mage ever to set foot upon any ground, had been humbled too many times. First to be the pawn of a higher power, Lavos. Then to be paired with the ultimate fool, Ozzie. To act as a lowly soothsayer for an insane woman. Again to be humbled at the feet of Lavos, then to pair with the children.
The children were powerful, he respected that. But that is all they were. Children. The robot and the cavewoman had no technique, no style, no finesse. Yet the children - Crono, Lucca, and Marle were still young enough to have natural grace. The frog, Glenn.... he was worthy of respect, respect Magus did not give him. He could not respect a thing about the one entity besides Lavos to live through his wrath.
And Schala. Schala he considered to be his equal. Male, female, it did not matter! She had power, as did he. It was fate that they were related. So he searched for her. All the others thought he searched for her because he felt love for her. Bah! He was not that weak! To feel emotion! He killed them all long ago! He searched for her because she, alone, was his only equal that was still alive. And he felt the need to test himself.
He tried the spell again, focusing his powers of the arcane onto the amulet of dreamstone that once belonged to Schala. He remembered taking it from the girl Nadia's corpse. He did not kill her, just traveled in time. It was the first place he had gone after being blasted by Lavos through time, not as he told the children that he went straight to 580, and met up with Ozzie.
Blast! It didn't work, again! It made the Black Triangle, with the time gate inside it. He could not for the life of him penetrate the Black Triangle while focusing to keep the time gate open. He could ask for the children's help, but that would be a sign of weakness. Weakness is.. NOT..... ALLOWABLE!!!!!
And as he focused more energy into it, the time gate exploded, and the Black Triangle disappeared, just as before. Frustrated by a lifetime of failures, he picked up the talisman and threw it into his shelf, Knocking several books down, along with the amulet Schala had given him so long ago. The dreamstone fell onto the amulet, and what happened next gave even Magus a shock.
Chapter II

Schala was standing before him. But he could see through her. He remembered Lucca remarking on an advanced piece of technology that produced the same effect when they defeated the Mother Brain at Geno Dome in 2300 AD. She called it.... a hologram.
The hologram of Schala began to talk : "Janus,...." The very name sent shivers down Magus's spine. He had not been called that for centuries. "...since you are seeing this, it means that you believe I am deceased. Not so. You may not believe or understand what I am about to say, but... I travel through time."
Magus understood. Better than she did. Schala went on, "As you may or may not remember by now, my magic was not understood by the gurus. It wasn't Shadow, lightning, fire, or water. No. It was the core essence of magic, as plasma is the core essence of everything else. It is time. I created the gates which sent you and the Gurus everywhere, to protect you from Lavos. I do not know of your future, but seeing this, know that I am safe. I am travelling through time to accumulate enough power to defeat Lavos. To find me, wait until you have become of age, and know your magic. Then cast your most powerful spell through this amulet into my pendant."
Schala's image faded. Magus lined the two talismans up, and cast DarkMatter through the amulet, trying to focus it onto the pendant. It lined up perfectly. He saw a totally new effect engulf the pendant. The black triangle opened up into space, with the normal white triangle inside it, except the white triangle wasn't moving. A gate started opening in the middle of it. He lunged for it, but it closed the instant he started to leap.
"What?....", thought Magus. Then he realized what had to be done. DarkMatter wasn't enough. He needed Lucca and Marle. He needed DarkEternal.
He grabbed his DoomScythe, the Gloom Cape, Gloom Helm, Black Rock, Amulet, and Gold Stud, then invoked DarkMatter on the pendant, opening the portal to 1000 A.D. He grabbed the pendant as he stepped through. He would have felt humbled if he wasn't in such a hurry. With Lavos destroyed, Schala may be stuck in time.
Chapter III

Crono, Lucca and Marle were disassembling the teleporter machine. But only officially. "The Mynock's guide to Cat Care!!" Lucca burst out. Crono felt disappointed. After all, his super genius friend had guessed correctly the first time on every game of charades they had ever played. He thought he really had a good one there. Marle was even more upset.
"Lucca, butt out!!!!" Marle screamed. "I can't stand it, they're so EASY!" Lucca replied. "Okay, my turn!" Marle said. Lucca pointed out that since Crono couldn't talk, it would be charades both ways. And if Marle really wanted to do one, Lucca would guess it right away. Marle was very disappointed. Crono shrugged.
Then the three heard a familiar humming sound that they had hoped they had heard the last of. Instinctively, they stepped back, because the blue gate opened and closed, spitting out.... Magus?!?!
Of course, Magus did not land on his butt, like everyone else. Instead, he remained upright, floating above the ground. Crono and Marle became envious. Lucca became fascinated.
Magus began to speak : "Lucca, Marle, you will come with me," in his dead, monotone voice. It sounded like an impersonation of the dead, or of Satan. Unfortunately, it was just the way Magus talked. They replied, "Why? What will happen if we don't?", like stupid little children, and Crono replied by starting to unsheath his Rainbow Blade, and jumping on top of a teleporter.
Magus replied, "You WILL come with me!", blasting Crono into a pile of boxes. "Crono!" Marle screamed. The fire lunged up in her eyes. "That's it, Magus.... we've put up with you long enough! Lucca, come together.... ANTIPODE 3!" Magus could feel his cape being reduced to a brittle cold, and shattered by the immense heat. But his cape was all that was hurt. He had learned some tricks while trying to find Schala. Magus replied, "Now that I've proven myself more powerful than you, will you come al.... Aaah.... nasty BRAT!" He said this because Crono had gotten up, and tried to fillet him with the rainbow. Him being Magus, of course it didn't work. He got the initial slice off, and then Magus blasted him back into the open with Lucca and Marle.
"What happened to you, Magus? Did you find Schala?" Lucca inquired. Magus's face turned more white then they had ever seen it, then turned back. "'Tis none of your business. Will you or won't you come with me peacefully?" Lucca was thinking, "Will you, won't you, will you won't you come and join the dance?", and would have said it aloud, but didn't because nobody would understand her. Marle burst out for all of them. "NO!"
Magus lowered his voice and lowered his eyes. His eyes starting glowing. "Then.... so... be... it.....", he snarled. And with that, a larger battle than Lavos's began, and ended with Magus the victor.
Chapter IV

Lucca and Marle awoke in Magus's keep. The first thing Lucca noticed was that they were strapped to walls. The first thing Marle noticed was that Crono was dangling by chains over the demon statue Magus had in his castle last time they beat him. That was a long time ago, and he had grown since then. Grown a LOT. To be able to defeat them all by himself...? What kind of a monster was he?
"Simple. I'm not a monster," Magus replied, as if he could read their minds. Who knows, he might just be able to, with his solitary training and all. "Now, You two will cast Fire 2 and Ice 2 at the same time, to complete DarkEternal, or Crono will be destroyed. Not merely killed, but destroyed. His body scattered out into every time period, never breathing, always seeing. And never brought back, even by the Guru of time." Lucca and Marle exchanged glances. They tried signaling Crono, but his head was down, probably unconscious. Oh well. Antipode 3!
As Lucca and Marle's ultimate act of teamwork went hurling straight at Magus, it disappeared at the same rate it appeared. Magus held up a red rock. "Dreamstone. Does a body good." The Dreamstone had, of course, absorbed the power of Antipode 3, and was glowing whitish-blue on one side, and pure red on the other. Lucca and Marle did feel kind of hopeless.
Marle cried out in despair, "We'll help you! Just don't let Crono die again!" Lucca remarked, "You could have just asked us." Magus replied, "I know." The awesome power of DarkEternal was unleashed once more. The black rock began to glow, then release a beam that emanated darkness into the amulet, who added a tinge of bluish aura around the dark light, and forced it into the pendant. The pendant reacted by creating a gate. It was not blue. Not green. Not red. It was... black. It glowed black even, it wasn't just colored black.
Magus said as parting words, "That is not Crono,.." as the image of Crono vanished. "..he is on his way here now to free you. Schala, I shall be with you shortly..." As he stepped through the glowing portal. Lucca and Marle looked at each other. "SCHALA?!?!?"
Chapter V

The feeling Magus experienced next could only be known as 'shock'. Schala was before him, but he recognized the surroundings. It was in Lavos's nether dimension, where he and the children had to go to beat him. The surroundings waved like in a hot desert, or when Lucca and Marle cast Antipode 3. In it he could see familiar sights. However, they were not the ones he saw when he battled Lavos.
The images were Schala's bedroom, the throne chamber of Zeal, the undersea palace's center room, the Earthbound ones's governing hole, and other places where Schala had been. However, the colors of the waving power stayed constant : a constant purple, and was almost an exact copy of whenever you step through a time gate. But this gate seemed to never end.
Schala was standing there in her usual purple attire. She looked strained, and barely took notice of Magus. When she did, she exclaimed, "Prophet!? Did you come to battle Lavos as well? You are too late, for Lavos has already been destroyed. Now, I am the only thing holding this place intact. Can you assist me? With your help, we should be able to escape."
Magus tossed her the pendant. "There, Schala. Maybe now you don't have to uphold the dimension. And you can fight me with all your might." Schala was drawn aback. "Prophet, first you crash into our kingdom and make Dalton the dangerous man he was, and now you fight me? Why? What is it about you, that makes you feel immense hostility towards everyone? Why are you filled with such hate and anger?"
"Question me not, Schala. Fight," Magus replied. Schala shook her head, then stopped midway, and looked at the amulet Magus was wearing. "Prophet.... you have slain my brother! Damn you! I have nobody left!!!" Schala screamed, and with that, she opened up a portal next to her, and one next to Magus. She thrust her arm through one, and her fist came out the other one, knocking Magus to the ground.
Magus got up. He lowered his eyes, began to crouch, and took out the DoomScythe. "Let us begin," he said, as his eyes started to glow an unearthly purple.
Chapter VI

Schala began her assault by opening up a gate, and Dalton popped out. Magus disposed of him almost instantly, as he would Flea. The only thing stopping it from being instantaneous was their amount of health. Magus was faster, better, and far more nicely equipped than anybody else. Unfortunately, Dalton provided enough of a distraction for Schala to gain back her strength.
Magus immediately hit her with a DarkMatter after dusting off Dalton. She took it, and then opened a gate to the time when Lavos cast Grand Stone. The sheer force of it ripped through the time gate into Magus. He held up the DoomScythe to shield him from it, and that it did. It also melted into slag.
She has the powers of anything I have ever faced. This indeed is a worthy foe. I shall enjoy my victory. He did another DarkMatter on her. Schala looked refreshed, and cast Fire2 in return. Magus took the full force of the blast. Then Schala cast Magic Wall on herself.
Magus didn't look surprised. If she had the core component of all spells at her command, then what is to stop her from making "Theme spells" out of it? He hit her with another DarkMatter. She again looked refreshed. However, this time, she cast Lightning2 on him. But she did not cast Magic Wall again. Instead, Magus watched in horror, as he knew what was about to happen.
The three black points appeared in the air, and connected to each other. They started to turn, forming the inside, of a vortex into space, with a white triangle in the middle, also turning. She had just cast DarkMatter on him. Magus, knowing his own spell, also knew its weakness. He cast DarkBomb into the middle of it. It didn't work. Magus was slammed against the confines of this dimension.
What? Of course... she is not using shadow magic, she's using her own! But how.... she's copying some monster, and fueling her own power into it. Which mon.... she's copying me.
Schala, who didn't know he had figured it out, had no way of shutting off her impersonation of him. The two traded blows, each crippling the other, down to their last breaths.
Magus crawled over to Schala, who was half unconscious, and stood on one arm, saying, "You were my most worthy foe, but now... time to end this." He raised his other arm, and at the top of his arc, he hear Schala say the last thing he would ever hear her say. "...Janus.... don't .... go down... that ... path....".
Magus felt something break within him. Hearing her say that name to him.... he hurt. And all his emotions came up from the dead. Especially love. "Schala, ..... I'm..... sorry...... "
And with this, he used the amulet to send Schala to 600 AD, to Glenn's quarters. He knew that Glenn was the only one who could take care of her the way she needed. Perhaps, one day, Glenn would marry her. But Magus and Glenn would never be related. NEVER.
Magus used the amulet one last time, to transport himself into the Tyrano Lair. He yelled, "Lavos! Lavos, you started this!! You made me who I am!! I have overcome what you made me! And I can no longer live with what I've done! Take back your legacy!" and he whispered, "Schala.... forgive me.. " And as the huge meteor fell to earth, Magus's first, and last, tear fell on the pendant.