Dark Winds Chapter 7

The Dark Winds Howl

By Eponine

Janus' senses barely registered the bizarre turn of events from his position on the floor. Flea turned suddenly, and even without the ability to cast magicks, he could sense a tremendous amount of power from the area of the dais and throne. Twin shadows emerged, the red haired boy, Crono, and a dark haired woman of vague familiarity. Janus felt his jaw drop suddenly, disbelief filling his eyes.

"Meoni?" he whisper inaudibly. It couldn't be, and yet it was. She paid him no heed, her concentration instead on Flea, who raged and ranted in her high, screechy voice. And then, Flea whirled around as suddenly as a rainstorm, slicing at Janus' throat. He felt nothing but the slightest sting, and then the gush of hot life blood draining from his body.

He collapsed, and for all his fears of dying, prepared to meet Lady Death.

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Crono lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the sudden windstorm that sheared through the castle throneroom, sending tapestries wildly into the air, whipping the bare carpet from the ground to slam against the far wall. Debris and dust choked his lungs and he lifted his shirt to protect his mouth. Flea's shrieks and howls were sucked away by the sound of the frenzied air. Janus lie still on the cold floor, blood eddying around his body, his cloak whipping around his unconscious form with furious abandon.

Delora floated in mid-air, having moved a few steps past the dias. She alone seemed the eye of the storm, her hair calmly settled around her shoulders, her clothing not daring to even ripple. Arms outstretched, her eyes glowed with her inner power as in her grief she unleashed everything her magic could conjure. Flea, whirled to face her, willing the air around her to be still, and yet Crono could see the struggle this simple act was, Delora's powers far outmatched her own.

"You, how could you! Without me you would be dead! DEAD!" Flea's indignant cries were muted against the wild winds, but with effort she bellowed them out to reach Delora.

"You lied to me. You've been lying to me. I was nothing to you then, and so you are nothing to me now."

Delora's voice was utterly and terrifyingly calm, echoing above the racket with startling clarity. Flea's eyes popped open and she reached for her throat, gasping and choking for air, even as she was lifted high off her feet, higher and higher still, accelerating with each inch upward. At last the winds suddenly died, and with it, the power that held Flea high into the air. With a scream of terror, Flea plummeted to the ground, a wet splat indicating the splitting of her skull, blood and brain matter leaking out onto the stone.

"It is over." It was said softly, but in the aftermath of the winds, Crono could swear she shouted it. Rising from his crouch, he followed her to Janus' side.

His blood loss was great, for any indication by the crimson pools on the floor. Yet, Delora refused to give in so easily, her hands glowing before they even touched the man. Light filled the room, blinding them both momentarily, and when it cleared, the Magus had evaded death yet again.

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The light... the light.... was it heaven? Could it be possible?

The light faded suddenly and he nearly cried out in despair, how cruel was fate, to tease him with salvation and rip it from him all the same.

"Janus?"

Crono? Was he dead too? Surely, the creators would see fit to let him into the heavens.... or perhaps death had not yet claimed the infamous Magus.

Janus opened his eyes, blinking to clear the momentary blur that fuzzed the edges of his vision. Crono looked down on him from one side, solicitous as always. And across from him sat her. He gaped at her, his mouth suddenly dry, unmalleable to form the words as they crossed his mind.

"Meoni?" he finally managed. She smiled sadly at him, looking away for an agonizing moment.

"I am not Meoni," she said at last, taking his hand in hers. She looked down again, gazing at him with a mixture of emotions, from apprehention to love.

"I am her daughter. And you are my father."

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(The End)

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