2:09 PM] Uzume: Magus had found himself back.... there: Zeal as it was before the disaster, Schala not yet lost, and everything. The Queen scoffed at Dalton, before seeing Magus enter. "Who... are you?"
[2:12 PM] Falco: Magus had to think fast. If only he had the foresight to know what was the correct answer...          ...wait...           foresight...    "Your majesty," he began, "I have ventured from a surface realm, far far from here, to witness the glory of Zeal as it enters its golden era. Yes...     I have seen this, for I am a prophet. I have had... visions of your kingdom expanding into an empire of your designs, your whims...    I have come to use my abilities to lead you there, asking only that I sit by your side when that moment arrives."
[2:16 PM] Uzume: "Tch..." a shadowy figure sounded, sitting next to Dalton and his hechmen. "Merde! I call ridicule on zis man calling 'eemself a prophet..." a heavily accented woman's voice exclaimed. There, sat a rather unfamiliar harlequin with ruby red eyes, and a cold stare at him.
[2:18 PM] Falco: Magus glared at the woman from under his hood. He didn't remember her at all. "Perhaps... a demonstration is in order"
[2:18 PM] Uzume: The Queen waved her hand. "By all means...."
[2:22 PM] Falco: "Great..." he thought to himself. "good going Janus, do you even remember what you had for Lunch today? hmm..."
[2:24 PM] Falco: "Your son, the young Prince, Janus...."    he began, "Will walk to the edge of Enhasa at exactly the hour of 3 and 42, where he will contemplate jumping off. You may witness this of course, but if he sees you he may change his mind. Do not worry, however - He will not jump. I have foreseen it."
[2:29 PM] Uzume: The harlequin quirked a brow, remembering such an incident. Still, she already hated this man, and sought to artificially discredit him. "Excusez moi..." she got up, clearly aggrivated and exited the throne room. She journeyed to Enhasa where Janus indeed was, following his witnessing the palace guards emotionally abuse Schala into working on that machine again. Harle already had a bit of influence on the boy, having befriended him a few months ago when she arrived. "Young prinze?" she calmly asked, approaching him. Alfador of course sensed Schala right through her costume, but to Janus, it was assumed Alfador just really liked her. She nonetheless picked up Alfador gently, cuddling him as she approached Janus.
[2:34 PM] Falco: Janus was shaken from his thoughts by a familiar accent. "Oh. It's you." He truthfully was a bit on edge by recent events, and strange people arriving to and fro. It gave him a bad feeling, but Alfador actually liked this one, so perhaps she wasn't all bad. "Hey."
[2:35 PM] Uzume: "Your sister's abuse again, and ze Mammon machine, oui?" She sat beside him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
[2:36 PM] Falco: Janus did not like to be touched...    so why did he let her? It felt wrong to trust her and yet...       ....             "There's nothing I can do about it."
[2:38 PM] Uzume: She shook her head. "Non... 'owever... zhingz will alwayz get worse before zhey get better. I know you do non trust moi.... but I zhink I can 'elp...."
[2:39 PM] Uzume: "But..." she looked him in the eyes. "I will warn you.... I can non show kindnezz to you or Schala, lest ze Queen's trust in moi falterz. It will be difficulte to see, but I implore you to steel yourself, Janus."
[2:40 PM] Uzume: Realising the clock was 3:41, she concluded ".... which meanz not stepping off ze island... plummeting to your death."
[2:41 PM] Falco: Janus grumbled, standing up. "wasn't really gonna do it anyways..." he said, storming off with Alfador.
[2:42 PM] Uzume: She smiled, genuinely relieved at this, but also satisfaction, hoping she just bulldozed the Prophet's vision.
[2:43 PM] Uzume: ||is a bit more needed here?
[2:44 PM] Falco: no, its ok :slight_smile:
[2:45 PM] Falco: Janus wandered off back toward the land bridge. Bloody cold. but he didn't care if any earthbound saw him cast fire. Who were they gonna tell?
[2:45 PM] Falco: he made a long trek back to the palace
[2:46 PM] Uzume: Schala was rattled, in her bedroom, sighing. She was very weak from having her energy drained by that machine, but she had to endure, for Janus' sake.
[2:48 PM] Falco: light footfalls ascended the stairs. Janus had been venturing here more often than his own room lately. His sister had become his rock now more than ever.
[2:49 PM] Uzume: "Janus...." she looked up at him. "I had heard talk you contemplated jumping off Enhasa....Is it true?"
[2:51 PM] Falco: "How did she..."    Janus thought to himself. THen he spoke. "I haven't tried to do that since I was 4...     but this time I knew full well what would happen to me."
[2:52 PM] Uzume: "That.... clown.... told me....." she said. "Berrated me for neglecting you, too.... I... could honestly not justify it. I had no excuses..."
[2:53 PM] Falco: "No", Janus stopped her. "Ugh... this isn't your fault. I wasn't even gonna really do it. I'm too scared to even do that."
[2:54 PM] Uzume: She nodded. "I trust you...." she said, putting a hand on his shoulder just as Harle had done earlier, smiling at him with an exhausted, gaunt face.
[2:57 PM] Falco: Janus was reminded of that... but this wasn't Harle. He immediately leaned in to it, tired of thinking about what would happen tomorrow or the day after. He was completely helpless, here. Schala, he knew, had the power to stop all of this. All she had to do was say "no", and if...    that woman... gave her trouble, she could...               ...but no. Schala still saw too much of her mother in her...   he knew that. If only he could turn back time enough, maybe he could have studied harder...    stopped trying to hide his power...   stood up to the queen, cast her into a singularity or something...           ...but what would Schala think? What if he failed? Would it be him with the pendant? He didn't know...
[3:00 PM] Uzume: Meanwhile, Harle slept in the bedroom directly below Schala, and had told Janus he could come speak with her anytime he wanted, and to let the guards let him through. She of course said this only to comfort the boy, not thinking he would visit her after hours.
[3:00 PM] Falco: Alfador had suddenly jumped up into Harle's lap.
[3:02 PM] Uzume: Harle, with her facepaint and costume off sat up in surprise, her older face looking down at Alfador and smiling. "Oh, Alfador...." she embraced him. "You saw right through my costume didn't you...?"
[3:02 PM] Falco: Janus could be heard following soon after. "Harle? Are you in here?"
[3:04 PM] Uzume: She gasped, silently and thrrew her head back down, glancing at the wall, forgetting all about her familiar, but unkept blue hair. "Oui, oui. What iz it, young one?"
[3:04 PM] Uzume: || laying down facing away from him
[3:06 PM] Falco: Janus was a bit surprised, having never seen her hair at all before. It almost looked like the royal color, but silvery and faded. "Bad timing? Sorry, but I don't think I can wait."
[3:07 PM] Uzume: Her concern for her brother overrode her guard for her identity and she sat up and looked at him. "Non non... it'z fine. Tell moi what'z on your mind?"
[3:10 PM] Falco: "Are you here... to help?"
[3:12 PM] Uzume: "Oui, mon cheri." she smiled "You, an Schala both" ... despite her looking nearly identical to her younger self, only difference being a slightly aged appearance.
[3:14 PM] Falco: Janus was still untrustworthy of her, but...     ...
[3:14 PM] Falco: "Hey...     are you..."
[3:14 PM] Falco: The Prophet interrupted before he could continue.
[3:15 PM] Falco: "You. Leave."
[3:15 PM] Falco: Janus ran away
[3:15 PM] Uzume: The older Schala glared up at him. "Prophet..."
[3:20 PM] Falco: (sorry, back)
[3:20 PM] Falco: got distracted
[3:22 PM] Uzume: || no problem
[3:22 PM] Falco: The Prophet was slightly alarmed. He didn't intend to walk in on Harle with her hood and paint down, not that he cared... but she looked oddly similar to Schala....  ??       He put the thought aside for the minute... too many questions...    where to start...
[3:24 PM] Falco: Thankfully the room was one of the few with actual doors in this kingdom, which he closed quickly. Glaring at this unexpected wrench in the gears, he growled. "I don't know who you are, but you don't belong here..."
[3:26 PM] Uzume: She crossed her arms before glancing at her costume hanging up and a cold chill ran down her spine as her eyes widened and she thought "Oh crap..." She shook it off, maintaining the charade. "What makez you zhink zat, Prophet?"
[3:28 PM] Falco: "Because, you weren't here last...     ...in my visions..." he caught himself. "You have no place in this history...   and I cannot see for what your future holds, but it compromises my foresight...         ...Who are you??"
[3:29 PM] Uzume: She thought for a moment, stood up and got her costume on. "Come vit' moi..." she said, exiting the palace.
[3:31 PM] Falco: Prophet followed after, as Janus ran in some direction with Alfador. Amusingly, for a moment, Alfador was a bit confused between all of the people, before defaulting on the boy he knew best.
[3:34 PM] Uzume: She led him to the suface. Off the coast of the icy shore was the ruins of.... Enhasa?! But they seemed very decrepit, worn out through thousands of years. Stepping foot on the ruins, she paused for a moment, absorbing her memories. These ruins were also not here last time.
[3:35 PM] Falco: Magus looked around... he did not recognize the place at first, and would not have guessed it were Enhasa at all, given the context. "What is this place?"
[3:38 PM] Uzume: She said nothing, pressing on. However, risidual energies gave Magus flashes of the past. "Mother! The machine, it's--" ... another flash: "Janus! Stay back, don't come near!" the vision of Schala yelled to Janus before running to him, getting caught in the time gate intended for him.
[3:39 PM] Uzume: More flashes occured. A distraught Schala being found by Cyrus and Glenn, her warming up to Cyrus, sharing her first kiss with him... a wedding.... even her pregnant belly. She looked so happy.]
[3:44 PM] Uzume: But then the visions got darker. Slash appearing in their cottage one stormy night, murdering Cyrus, impaling Schala through her pregnant stomach, leaving her for dead as she fought to stay alive until morning. She stood before two graves for Cyrus and her unborn vhild, distraught. The visions then showed her donning the harlequin costume and displaying fearsome dark magic that caused Ozzie, Flea and Slash to succumb to madness before killing them, and then raising Enhasa from the depths of the ocean to serve as her floating fortress. "They did non 'elp.... Left moi and Cyrus for dead.... I vill end zhem..."
[3:46 PM] Falco: Magus discovered a familiar pattern on the walls... the numerous beds were long gone, but it was definitely the crest of Enhasa.... hmmm....
[3:47 PM] Uzume: The visions continued. Guardia experienced a wave of terror as the minds of its citizens grew maddened and insane through torturous illusions. All culminating in Glenn facing off with her at Enhasa's summit before Lavos threw them and the fortress into a huge gate. "Damn.... not now.... not yet.... Bad...timing..." she said as she was sucked in, and thus awaking in Zeal. After that, the visions subsided, Harle standing in the ruins of the commons where shards of the Masamune were scattered, having fallen through the hole in the roof.
[3:48 PM] Falco: "This is...           ...Enhasa?"
[3:49 PM] Uzume: "...Yes...." she said softly, dropping the accent.
[3:50 PM] Falco: Magus immediately perked up. "... ...            ...Schala...       ...how?"
[3:50 PM] Uzume: "That name..... I haven't used it in so many years...."
[3:52 PM] Uzume: She glanced at the ley energy streaming about. "The visions..... you saw them, no?"
[3:53 PM] Falco: Magus was... confused, more than anything...       But they were alone....   his plan was falling apart from the moment he spotted her here...    Maybe...             maybe he should...
[3:53 PM] Falco: "Not...   exactly..." He admitted. "I, too, have gone through all of this before. That is... how I see the future."
[3:53 PM] Uzume: "The funny thing is.... I don't recall a Prophet... when I was princess..."
[3:54 PM] Falco: "And I don't recall a J-...        ...a Harlequin...    ....curses...       I...   how do I say this..."
[3:55 PM] Falco: Magus leaned his head into a pillar and groaned, quietly. "...                        ...it's me, Schala."
[3:55 PM] Uzume: "... but that was a past life.... I had not yet begun to live...." she said. "My life began when I met Cyrus..... "
[3:56 PM] Uzume: She was silent, closing her eyes. "Fate....... or coincidence...." She took her hood off and her painted face gave him a slight smile.
[3:57 PM] Uzume: "It's been ten years for me..... but for a while.... I was happy..."
[3:57 PM] Uzume: "I married the man who saved me.... got pregnant........ "
[3:58 PM] Falco: Magus shook his head...   he never imagined he would ever have to explain himself to Schala... although he never planned for what would happen after he destroyed Lavos at the Ocean palace. As he listened, it became clear to him that perhaps it wouldn't be as difficult as he imagined.
[4:00 PM] Uzume: "He was murdered by fiend scum.... and my wounds... caused a miscarriage...." she said, lowering her head. "I had never enjoyed others' suffering before that night.... I saw the terror in Ozzie's eyes moments before I wrung his head from his neck..."
[4:02 PM] Uzume: "I was banished from Guardia for violating the armistice.... It was then I knew.... Guardia, like Zeal before it, needed to be taught a lesson in fear..... Their bubble of ignorant tranquility burst....."
[4:02 PM] Falco: Magus nodded...       He felt horrible, and yet completely forgiving. Frankly, he was amazed at how long her patience held out.
[4:03 PM] Falco: "You sound like..."
[4:03 PM] Falco: "..."
[4:03 PM] Falco: sigh
[4:03 PM] Falco: "...mother."
[4:04 PM] Falco: and there, he had finally said it. Not just accepted that his mother had become this monster, but...         admitted his identity at the same time.
[4:04 PM] Uzume: "and then lo and behold... as I summoned Lavos to wipe it off the face of Zenan, my old friend, Glenn.... pointed the Masamune at me.... Melchior's sword...."
[2:07 PM] Uzume: Falco: Magus nodded...       He felt horrible, and yet completely forgiving. Frankly, he was amazed at how long her patience held out.
[4:03 PM] Falco: "You sound like..."
[4:03 PM] Falco: "..."
[4:03 PM] Falco: sigh
[4:03 PM] Falco: "...mother."
[4:04 PM] Falco: and there, he had finally said it. Not just accepted that his mother had become this monster, but...         admitted his identity at the same time.
[4:04 PM] Uzume: "and then lo and behold... as I summoned Lavos to wipe it off the face of Zenan, my old friend, Glenn.... pointed the Masamune at me.... Melchior's sword...."
[2:09 PM] Uzume: that's where we left off
[2:10 PM] Falco: ok. sorry, bit distracted but ahem
[2:12 PM] Falco: Magus laughed a little. He couldn't help it, though he meant no disrespect to his sister's suffering. It was all just so.. ironic. It mirrored his experience so much.
[2:15 PM] Falco: "Guardia...    Glenn...  Cyrus... Masamune...              tell me, Ex-Princess...    What year did you attempt to summon Lavos in? Was it the year 600... Kingdom Calendar?"
[2:15 PM] Uzume: "It was...590, actually."
[2:16 PM] Uzume: 595*
[2:16 PM] Uzume: || math fail
[2:17 PM] Falco: "Hmmm..." Magus smirked. "five years early. It seems you and I are mirror reflections from different versions of the same story."
[2:18 PM] Uzume: "Fiends would muster the confidence to try and kill me.... Led by some armor-clad hardhead named Kasmir, after I slaughtered Ozzie years earlier."
[2:18 PM] Uzume: "Futile, of course..."
[2:21 PM] Falco: "Heh... well there's one name I don't know. Ozzie though... oh, I remember him. Yes, in my version of events, it was I who was cast forward, certainly not you...  if I had learned you were around at all, I would have sought you out immediately. I did not bother harboring any patience for my fellow man, though...   Just as you wear that hood and cast that makeup in public, I too have donned a guile...    mine is a bit harder to remove, though."
[2:25 PM] Uzume: She nods. "We best head back though... before Dalton or the Queen get suspicious" she said. It's been so long, she didn't regard that woman as her mother anymore. She was even a few mere years younger than her now, so it would be awkward, too. Schala had her heart broken far more than this timeline's version of her. Being cold was second nature to her now.
[2:25 PM] Falco: "Wait..."
[2:25 PM] Falco: "There's something else I need you to know, and I need privacy."
[2:26 PM] Falco: "Nobody else must know this, because right now you're the only person here that I trust beside myself."
[2:26 PM] Uzume: "That's obvious... I would endanger you just as you would endanger me...."