"You failed becase you are weak...there is no place for the weak..."

Where does it all begin? My quest for redemption, my search for my sister...

I suppose I should start at the beginning...before the dark times when I was not in control...when a demon warlock took over my body, and I was forced to merely watch as I became a symbol of evil.

I come from an ancient kingdom, called Zeal. Legends said that our ancestors came from a distant world far away, that us of the royal family were descended from those not of Earth. I supposed that would explain my rather...elfish appearence...

It all began in what can be called the year 12,000 BC. I was but a child, labeled a 'disgrace' because I didn't show many signs of magic ability...there was a reason for that, one that only the Gurus and my dear sister understood...

It was a cold day in the castle. Queen Enhasa had been rather, preoccupied with her project, and her only son, Prince Janus, was confused as to why she kept away from everyone. In a way, that was just fine by him, as he prefered to play with his cat, Alfador.

However, he had a strange feeling something bad was going to happen soon, and he had first gotten it when that mysterious 'Prophet' had arrived from out of nowhere. He wasn't of the Enlightened Ones, that much was certain. The man was very mysterious, knowing the future before it happened, and knowing a little too much about the queen herself.

Schala seemed to have the same feeling, so Janus knew that it wasn't just him. Old Gasper had promised to keep an eye out for trouble, but ever since Melachior had been sealed away on the peak of Mount Woe, Janus grew doubtful that things would ever get back to normal.

"Your highness," the cloaked 'prophet' stated, bowing low. "The three strangers that have arrived will bring great disaster upon your plan to awaken the Great Beast. Should you not dispose of them before they present their threat?"

"These three know nothing of my plan," Queen Zeal replied as if the problem were beneath her notice. "However, if you feel they are a threat, then you handle them yourself, Prophet. You seem most able to handle things such as this."

"My Queen..." The man hesitated, then bowed. "As you wish." He turned and left the chamber, his cloak billowing around him as he walked through the doorway, stopping for a brief moment as Zeal's daughter, Schala, almost ran into him.

"I'm sorry..." she began, the Prophet merely walking past her as if he didn't have time for an apology.

"Yes, Schala, what is it?"

"Mother, I really think this whole Lavos thing is getting out of hand," Schala stated bluntly. "The people are concerned that you are losing touch with them...and Janus never sees you anymore."

"He'll see plenty of me when I raise Lavos up..." Enhasa replied. "Besides, what does he need me for, he has you."

"You're his mother," Schala snapped back. "Mother, he's only six years old...what do you think not seeing his mother will do to him? It's bad enough he has to grow up without a father."

"And he's done just fine," Enhasa stated, turning to face Schala. "You are the Princess Heir of Zeal, and you wield great powers, powers that we need to awaken Lavos."

"Mother..."

"Enough," Zeal ordered, turning back to the window. "I want you to prepare to join us in the Ocean Palace on the surface. That means no more wandering off to the Earthbound."

Schala sighed as she turned and left, knowing that it was pointless. Her mother was determined to do this no matter what, and it was all that damn Dalton's fault. He was the one who had informed the Queen of the existence of Lavos, a possible source of infinite energy. Schala, however, felt great danger in awakening that creature.

"I see you still are unwilling to show that you do have skills in the Magics," Gasper, Guru of Time, stated, Janus blushing a bit. The Guru had caught him testing an idea he had, creating a 'bomb' of shadow energy. The experiment had worked, vaporizing a chair. "Little Shadow, you going to have to tell your mother eventually."

"If I tell her, she'll just make me help wake up the Lavos thing," Janus replied. "I don't want to do that."

Gasper sighed as he nodded. "Yes, exactly why I haven't told her. I wish Melachior had been able to talk some sense into her."

"Is Melachior ever going to come back?" Janus asked, his eyes glowing a bit.

"I honestly don't know," Gasper replied, sitting down. "Perhaps though, these strangers can help us...the male of their group seems most like us, and the golden-haired girl has that sense of power around her as well...strange thing is they came from the surface."

"Does that mean the Earthbound are becoming like us?"

Gasper shook his head. "No...these three aren't of the Earthbound, I know that much..." He smiled at little Janus kindly. "Don't worry about a thing, this will all turn out right in the end, just watch." He got up and walked towards the door, pausing as Schala walked in. "Pardon me, Princess."

"Gasper, I've been trying to find you," Schala replied, taking him by the arm. "It's the three strangers, Mother's had them imprisoned, all because of that Prophet!"

"What?" Gasper seemed very distressed at that. "Damn it all, we need those three, I can feel it. Is there anyway you can convince your mother to let them go?"

"I already tried," Schala stated. "We've got to free them ourselves. It's strange, but I feel as if these three are some how connected to us."

"It's begun," Janus whispered, feeling a cold chill in his body, his voice becoming hollow as his eyes held a vacent look. "The end of Zeal is at hand...the destruction shall come from the Beast of Great Fire, that which sleeps within our world..."

"Janus?"

The boy shook his head as if he had just woken up. "I'm cold..."

Schala held her brother tightly, shocked that he was ice cold to the touch. "The Black Wind," she stated. "It's howling...Gasper, the end of Zeal is coming..."

"I'm afraid so," Gasper concured. "We must get the strangers out of here, and soon."

Schala looked at her brother, and nodded. "Watch Janus for me, I'm going to get them out of here." She walked out of the room, Janus watching as she left.

"Gasper..."

"Yes Janus?"

Janus searched for the right words, then said it bluntly. "Who's...Daikat?"

Enhasa and Dalton walked down the corriders of the Ocean Palace, stopping as the Prophet approached them. "What is it, Seer?"

"The strangers have escaped, but I have made sure they cannot return. They fled to the surface and went into a portal, I sealed it so it cannot be used again."

"Excellent," Zeal replied, smiling a bit. "You have done well. Too bad we couldn't find out just why they were here."

"It's doesn't matter," Dalton stated. "The point is, they are no longer a concern, and we can proceed with awakening Lavos. Prophet, what do you see for our success?"

"Lavos shall awaken, and Queen Zeal shall bring about a new age," the man replied. "We should begin soon."

"Dalton," Zeal stated, turning to the blonde, one-eyed general. "Fetch my daughter, and bring the Gurus. It's time their, 'doubts', were dispelled."

"At once," Dalton replied, walking off to the transfer chamber. Enhasa turned to the prophet, gesturing for him to walked with her. "So, are you prepared to tell me where you come from?"

"I told you, I am from that which you cannot see."

"Come now, you really expect that to explain how you do what you do, and why you hold powers like us of Zeal, yet you are not from here? You aren't of the Earthbound, yet like those three strangers, you came to us through a surface transfer chamber. As your queen, I demand to know where you come from."

The prophet sighed as he lowered his head. "Darkness is my origin," he stated in a cold, hollow voice. "The flames of Hell my forging. If you wish to know from whist I came, look to your own black heart."

Zeal laughed at the answer. "Be you mortal or demon then, you still are of much use to me. Very well, if that's how it is, then we shall leave it at that."

"There is something else," the prophet stated. "The child, Janus...he must be there when Lavos awakens."

"That powerless whelp? What for, he cannot aid the raising."

"None the less, he must be there, it is written such in the future." The prophet looked to the doors before them, and frowned. They've returned? That's impossible! Schala sealed that blasted Time Gate...unless...Belthasar finished that damn Wing of Time of his...they must have met him in another era and gotten it! He said nothing about it, instead bowing to Zeal as she opened the doors to the next chamber. "By your leave, my queen." Soon, you will be gone, and so will your pitiful kingdom of Zeal...

And what of Lavos, another voice said in his mind. You may rule the body, but I rule the soul.

The prophet kept his mind closed to the other voice as he walked into the chamber after Zeal. Do not forget just who has the control...child...

Janus looked at the transfer pad with fright. He had never been to the Ocean Palace before, but from what Schala had told him, he doubt that he wanted to. "I don't want to go down there!"

Dalton snorted as he pulled Janus along. "Sorry kid, but your mother orders you to be there."

"I'm your prince, and I order you to let me go!" Janus snapped, having to fight the urge to just unleash his powers and blow Dalton away. "I don't want to go down there!"

"Look brat, just shut up and do what your mother's ordered!" Dalton growled, holding Janus as he stepped onto the platform. "You're going down to the Palace whether you like it or not!"

"Get your hands off him!"

Dalton looked up to see three forms standing in the doorway, two of them bearing swords, the third holding some kind of projectile weapon in her hands. "What?! You two?! How did you get back here?!"

"Remove thine hands from the child!" the shortest of the three stated, walking into the light to reveal himself as some kind of human frog. He brandished his sword, light gleeming on the blade.

"Sorry, but Queen Zeal needs her brat son down there!" He quickly cast a spell, activating the transfer and vanishing in a dance of light, Janus disappearing with him.

"Damnit!" the human male swore, sheathing his blade. "Lucca, see if you can figure that thing out. Frog, we're going down there, and soon."

Janus kicked and fought with Dalton the whole way down to the Mammon Chamber, screaming his head off. Despite his royal upbringing, he was just like any normal six year old, and hated being forced to do something. "Let me go!"

"Would you knock it off?!" Dalton yelled. "I really don't wann'a have to hurt you, but don't push your luck!"

"Is there a problem?"

Dalton looked up to see a small brownish creature, one that was about Janus' height. "How did you get in here?!"

"I am Doreen," the creature replied. "I go where I wish, just like my brothers Masa and Mune."

Dalton frowned. He knew about this creature. "No, there is not a problem, the prince just doesn't want to obey his mother's orders."

"If he does not want to be here, then he shouldn't be," Doreen replied, blinking her eyes.

"The Queen says otherwise," Dalton snapped. "Come on, kid, your mom's waiting."

Janus started fighting again as Dalton dragged him to the chamber, Doreen shaking her head in dismay. "Child, you have no idea how right you are not to wish knowing the truth." She teleported to a higher level, then saw three people running down the stairs, one a male with red hair, one a purple haired female, and the third an amphibius being wearing some kind of armor. "Well now...this should prove very interesting..."

"Keonta Karova, Melanta Harkova, Tekana Vetoni..."

Enhasa smiled as the Prophet continued his chant that would awaken Lavos, and with it, all the power she would need. Janus had been a bit of an annoyence with his whines and cries to leave, but if the Prophet said he had to be there, then in the Mammon chamber he would be.

Dalton had gotten word that the strangers had returned, and the Prophet had acknowledged it, the three aided by an outside force he could not have forseen, or so he said.

Dalton walked back into the chamber, bowing to Zeal and saying nothing. The look on his face said it though; the strangers were almost there. She hoped for Dalton's sake that they did not reach their presence.

Suddenly, the doors slammed open, everyone turning to see the red haired stranger and his two companions. "What in God's name are you doing?!"

"Dalton, you told me they would never make it here!" Enhasa bellowed.

"It matters not!" The prophet stated. "They're too late!" Suddenly, he collapsed, holding his head as if in great pain, then vanished. Enhasa growled, but let his departure slide; he was undoubtably drained from the summoning. "Schala, continue the Awakening! We need your power to..."

A glow came from the pocket of the red-haired male, and a blazing ruby knife flew into the air and went sailing into the Mammon Machine, impaling it. Energy pulsed from the machine and into the dagger, transforming it into a powerful sword.

"Tis Masamune!" the amphibius being stated in shock. "This is how t'was forged?!"

"Dalton, stop them!" Zeal ordered, gasping as the palace began to rumble. "It's begun! Lavos has awakened!"

"No!"

Schala collapsed from drain, Janus running to her side. "Schala!"

"Crono, we've got to stop that thing now!" the female of the trio stated. "Frog, can't you use Masamune to destroy it?!"

"The machine is the birth of Masamune," the frog replied. "To destroy it could destroy Masamune!"

"Then we do this the only way we can!" the human male stated, drawing his sword.

Suddenly, the floor began to crack and split, spikes erupting up. The ground vanished and was replaced by some kind of warped watery surface as the source of the quake rose out of the ground.

"Good god," the female whispered.

"Lavos..."

The creature roared and swat down the three without much effort. Zeal laughed as she flew onto the shell of the creature, looking down on the three. "Puny fools! You though you could battle the might of Lavos?!"

Suddenly, the form of the prophet reappeared, except this time, he stood tall and proud, holding a scythe in his hands. Janus stared at him in horror, then felt a sense of trust for the man, as if he wasn't the same person anymore.

"Death follows you like a stench, monster," the prophet stated, his voice no longer cold and hollow. "You are the reason my life was destroyed...now, I shall repay you in full."

"What is the meaning of this?!" Zeal bellowed. "Prophet, why do you bear arms against the might of Lavos?!"

"Why does Light battle Darkness," the prophet stated, grasping his hood. "Why does Good battle Evil...and why does the soul of a child battle the essence of a demon?" He pulled back his hood, revealing blazing blue eyes, long elegant ears, and long, waving light blue hair. His face was sharply defined, seemingly aged, yet at the same time, youthful, the two almost trying to erase the other.

Janus saw that the prophet had indeed been transformed. Before, all that could be seen of his face had an aged look to it. Now, it was not so. "Daikat...Demon of darkness..."

"False prophet!" Zeal yelled, pointing to the cloaked man. "You are a demon of the Underworld, and I shall cast you back to the fires of Hell from which you came!"

"The demon is gone!" the man replied. He thrust his weapon towards Lavos, contempt in his face. "That...beast...is why the demon came in the first place, why your children will suffer their lives destroyed!"

"Then you may join them!" Enhasa replied, laughing as she pointed to him. "Who needs a family when you are immortal!"

"Magus!" the amphibian man called, gripping his sword tightly. "Thou art not done with me yet!"

"I don't have time for this, Knight!" the prophet replied. "I'm here for one thing, and one thing only! The death of Lavos!"

"That which will not come!" Zeal stated, a beam of light flaring out from Lavos and slamming the Prophet to the ground. The light then began to pull him and Schala towards Lavos, Janus dragged as well. "Fools! Only now do you see your folly!"

"Schala..." the prophet whispered, trying to reach out to the Princess. "Janus, you must help me..."

"No..." Janus replied, holding onto Schala tightly.

"Please," the prophet begged. "Or we'll all die..."

"You would challenge the might of Lavos?!"

The prophet looked up to see the human male of the trio standing proudly before Lavos, staring intently at Queen Zeal. "No..."

"Lavos, my ally, destroy them!"

The red-haired one closed his eyes, and ran at Lavos, jumping into the beam that fired out, taking the full force of it. Janus could only stare in horror as the man was slowly vaporized into nothing. "No...."

"It can't be!" Zeal gasped in horror and Lavos was unable to destroy the rest of the group, drained from it's attacks. "How was a single mortal able to do this?!"

Janus tried to get to his feet, then gasped as he saw a vortex open up beneath Belthasar, swallowing him up. Melachior and Gasper shared his fate as portals opened beneath their feet as well. He tried to flee, but found that he too was being swallowed by a vortex. "Schala! Schala!!!"

To Be Continued......