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	A Love to Span the Ages
	A Chrono Trigger Fanfic
	Written by Jenny 'Android18' Chan
	android18@hotmail.com
	www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/jerningham/333/index.html
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			 Chapter 4 : Schala's Sorrow
			    Schala's Point of View

	My name is Schala Sara Zeal. Schala is a royal name, 
meaning 'Power' in an ancient tongue. Sara is my middle name,
a more common, personal name, one that is not known to people who
are not close to me, and the name that my parents use to call me,
before the 'incident'. Zeal is my last name, and indicates that
I am part of the royal family in the Kingdom of Zeal. We have 
ruled the kingdom for many generations. 
	My beloved brother's name is Magus Janus Zeal. Magus is 
his royal name, meaning 'Magic' in the ancient tongue. But since
he displays no magic ability at all, everyone calls him Janus,
much to his annoyance.
	Janus once told me that one day, he will be the most 
powerful magician in all Zeal, and then everyone will forget his
childhood name and he would be known as King Magus.
	I gently reminded him that he would go by his last name
then, and would be known as King Zeal. He had laughed and told
me that when he was king, that would change.
	I laughed with him after that, and asked him if I'D have
to call him 'King Magus'. Then, he got all sweet and gave me
a hug saying that he would always by Janus to me.
	Alas... Janus is the one bright spot in my life. I am 20
years of age... and I have seen more horror and ugliness on
what goes on behind the throne, than most people twice my 
age.
	You see, I am the most proficient sorceress in history.
That title was suppose to bring me fame and good luck, but it
has only brought me grief and sorrow.
	I am a puppet, pulled on unwilling strings.
	It didn't use to be this way. I didn't use to cry myself
to sleep on a nightly basis.
	I use to be happy. Janus use to be happy. Mother use to
be content with life and Father... father use to be a part of
life.
	But that was a long time ago.

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	I am 20 years old. Janus is 9 years of age. When I was 11
years old, he was born. I remember the day. 
	The sun was shining and the clouds were puffy. The sky was
the prettiest of blue. Never mind that all the beautiful weather
was brought on by spells and magic, every thing was lovely.
	My mother and my father were both active rulers. They 
often went to visit the few cities and the sights and they 
often went on picnics with me. Then, one day, Mother started to
get ill in the morning, and got moody. She started to tire easily
and didn't have the energy she use to have. She had to retire to
her chambers a lot, leaving my father as the only ruler.
	This of course, meant that my father had twice as much to
do as before, and couldn't spend as much time as he would have
liked with Mother and I.
	I was babysat by the three Gurus of life; Gaspar,
Belthesar and Melchior. They were all old, wise men, and I 
looked up to them for advice and guidance.
	They told me that my mother was in the process of making
for me a little brother or sister. That was why she had to
stay in her room so much. They also told me that after my
little brother or sister arrived, they might have to pay more
attention to he/she than to me, because he/she was little; just
a baby.
	I didn't care. I was ecstatic that a new baby was coming.
As the only child in the palace, I got lonely a lot.
	Then one day, I remember performing a simple magic trick
for the gurus when a maid burst into the room shouting that
my mother was 'ready for the delivery'.
	I had no idea what was going on in the next few hours, but
I was told to sit in a chair and wait. Being a docile child, I
did as was told.
	Finally, they let me into a room where my mother was
sleeping in a bed. In her arms was a tiny little squirming
thing. Father had yet to arrive. 
	I knew my mother was asleep so I muttered a quick silence
spell for my steps and went up at her to look at the baby.
	He, (I just suddenly knew it was a he) looked at me when
he saw me arrive and blinked.
	We just stared at each other for a long time, not moving
save for the blinking of our eyes.
	He had sparkling eyes and a tiny tuff of blue hair on his
head. His ears stuck out and he waved his hands at me.
	I giggled, and was glad that the silence spell stopped me
from waking mother. He was so cute! I held my finger in front
of him and he quickly grabbed on.
	I was going to get along with him just fine.
	Janus, Mother, Father and I were the picture perfect,
happy family. Janus displayed no magic yet, but we were not
worried. We knew that he would become a magician, fitting of his
royal name, someday.
	We were happy.
	That is, until one day, when Janus was four and I was 15.
	The past year had been taxing on both Mother and Father.
There was something very wrong with the kingdom, and they, and
the gurus knew about it. They refused to burden me with knowledge
of it though.
	Mother and Father spent many, many hours in meetings, 
discussing about the problem, and the gurus often had to go 
advise them, leaving Janus and I on our own.
	This was okay with both of us because Janus liked me and I
liked him.
	One week, Mother and Father did not return to the living
quarters in the palace. They stayed at their meetings for three
days straight, and I knew they had no sleep at all. It wasn't
until the gurus demanded they get rest did they come home.
	Mother had flopped into bed, exhausted. I crawled up
beside her and gave her a hug while Janus did the same to her
on the other side.
	"Mother... what's wrong?" I asked in a soothing voice. I
secretly did a spell to relax mother, both to get her to talk,
and to get her to rest.
	Mother, because of the fatigue, and the spell, finally
answered me just as she drifted off into sleep.
	"The kingdom... will fall," she yawned, speaking more to
herself than to me. "We've... we've grown so large in the past
generation that... that the present magic alone... can... can
not sustain our kingdom... we have to start looking for... new
energy... sources..."
	Then, Mother fell asleep.
	Janus fell asleep beside her, but I did not. He was too
young to understand what Mother had just said, but I understood.
	The knowledge that the Kingdom of Zeal would fall, that
the end of the world as I knew it was coming, frightened me. I
got no sleep that night.
	The next morning, I went to the gurus for confirmation
about what Mother had unwittingly told me.
	Melchior, the only available guru, frowned as he looked
at me. "How did you find out?" He asked.
	"I... got it out of Mother when she was too exhausted to
know better," I replied, feeling guilty.
	Melchior's eyes seemed to sadden, even when he laughed.
"Don't worry, fair princess! Nothing will happen! Zeal will
rule forever, the information you got from your Mother was
probably false. As you said so yourself, she was exhausted."
	Melchior's words did little to comfort me. If he had managed
to say so without me seeing his eyes, I would have believed him,
but his eyes betrayed his words, and I knew something was very
wrong.
	The guru apparently told my Mother and Father about my
visit to him, because suddenly, the 24 hour+ meetings stopped
and whenever Janus and I saw them, they were happy and cheerful, 
and always tried to do fun things with us.
	Janus was happy. He thought things had gone back to normal,
but I knew better. Mother and Father could fool him, but the
occasionally worried glance, or the moment of fear told me that
despite the act, things were as bad as they ever were.
	Zeal was loosing its magic because of its growth.

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	One day, the four of us were having a picnic in one of
the parks at the edge of the floating island.
	Janus looked out over the edge to see endless sky. We were
so high up, we couldn't see the earth. I was careful not to let
him fall over.
	Janus ran around, chasing butterflies and bees around while
Father played with him. Mother and I set up lunch when I decided
to ask her.
	"Mother, what's going on?"
	Mother blinked and stared at me in fear before blinking
again, and smiling a happy smile at me. "What do you mean, Sara?"
	"Mother, please tell me," I said. "I can tell something
is very wrong. You can tell me what it is."
	Mother looked surprised. "Why would you think that, dear?"
	"I see you and Father exchange worried looks, often, 
and... sometimes, I can feel the fear around you." I confess.
	Mother sighs unhappily before a weak smile comes to her
face as she looks at me. She strokes my hair. "Amazing, Sara.
Absolutely amazing. Your father and I both put layers of magic
and spells on to make sure you don't find the truth, but still
you manage to see through the disguise. You will be a most
powerful sorceress someday, Sara..." She whispers the next part
but I can still hear. "Your power might save the kingdom..."
	I decide to ignore the later part, and press my question.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
	Mother sighs. "The kingdom has grown dramatically in the
last decade. We've never had such a growth! People are developing
more powerful, effective magics, and they need more raw magic
sources to fuel their research. The kingdom was originally
kept afloat by uses of dreamstone, but our dreamstone resources
are nearly gone. The kingdom of Zeal was never made to be able 
to support such a jump." 
	Mother closes her eyes. "The gurus predict that Zeal will
fall, literally, by the year 12 000 BC. That is why we need to
find another energy source."
	"Have you found any yet?" I ask, my heart pounding.
	Mother nodded. "Yes... we found a great energy, living
inside the planet. We can tap into it. We are hoping to use the
remaining dreamstone which currently supports Zeal, to build a
Mammon machine to harness this power."
	I swallow. "Is it safe?" I ask.
	Mother shrugs. "I don't know," she says softly. "But we
have to try. We are desperate, we'll try anything."
	I nod. Suddenly, a shadow falls over us. We both look up
to see man standing over us, but this is a man I had never seen
before.
	His ears are more pointed and larger than any ear I had
ever seen, and his skin is a dark blue. He wears a white robe that
covers him from neck to toes. He has no nose and there is a sneer 
on his black lips.
	"Who are you?" My mother demands as she stands up. I quickly
utter a protection spell.
	"I am here to solve all your problems, Zeal," says the
man.
	"Hey, what's going on?" Asks my father as he hurries over.
Behind him a few steps runs Janus.
	The man walks back a few steps so that he can see both
my father and mother. 
	"King and Queen Zeal," he says formally. "Allow me to
introduce myself. My name is Lavos. And I am here, to solve this
problem you have, concerning energy sources."
	I turn to my parents, and expect them to blow the guy
off. I don't like him. He reeks of evil and power.
	Unfortunately, my parents decided to listen to him. He
told them his plans, and I began to like him less and less.
	His plans were full of lies and deception.
	But, unfortunately, the plans also clearly stated how to
harness this power mother had talked about, which he called the
Lavos power, and the plans would work. 
	He said that he was a part of Lavos, and if we agreed to
one condition, then he would let us use some of his power to
help sustain Zeal.
	It involved the building of a mammon machine, and an
ocean palace. We were to use Earthbound people to help us.
	It sounded like a good plan. There was only one string.
	"So how about it?" Lavos asked, grinning. "You let me
possess one of you, so then I can explain personally to the
gurus, how to design the mammon machine and the ocean palace,
okay?"
	"Why should we believe you?" Father demanded. "Why can you
not just tell us these plans?"
	Lavos laughed. It was an evil sound. "That is the one
condition, King Zeal. You must let me possess one of you. I have
slept within the earth for a very long time. I wish to learn
all the progress you humanoids have made in magic and technology."
	"Why don't you just visit some of our libraries?" I asked.
	Lavos shook his head. "You must agree to this. Other wise,
 no deal."
	My parents talked about it for a moment before they turned
to Lavos.
	"We must go to the gurus, and ask for their advice first,"
my mother said.
	Lavos nodded. "Alright then. I will contact you later."
	Then, with a swirl of his robes, he was gone.
	Mother, Father, Janus and I quickly returned to the palace
to get the guru's advice.
	I beg and pleaded with both the gurus, then my parents,
not to listen to Lavos.
	I did not like him or his plans. They were both sinister
and evil. I knew then that if we accepted this deal, it could
only end in disaster. Also, I was suspicious of a betrayal.
	Unfortunately, my father turned to me and said my royal
name, sharply. 
	"Schala."
	I knew he was dead serious, because he only called me 
that when he was dead serious.
	"A good ruler must consider all options. Unfortunately,
we don't have a lot of options right now, do we?"
	I swallowed. "No sir." I looked at my feet meekly.
	In the end, the gurus and my parents decided to accept
Lavos's deal, after much talk and debate. They also decided
to let Mother be the one possessed. Between my mother and
my father, my mother was magically stronger, and would have a
greater chance of breaking out of Lavos's control, should the
deal go sour.
	"We had decided," my mother said. "Now how do we contact
him?"
	As soon as she said that, Lavos appeared from out of nowhere.
	"So do we have a deal?"
	My father nodded. "Yes. But we would like to delay this deal
for the next day." He paused. "I would like time for my children 
and I to say farewell to my wife."
	Lavos considered it. "Very well," he said before 
disappearing.

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	I shall never forget the next 24 hours of my life. My family
spent it doing the normal things, you know, the little things that
make people happy. It was at this time did my parents present to
both my brother and I, twin amulets.
	They said that the amulets would protect us from harm. 
	The day ended all too soon.
	Lavos appeared to us when we were in the family room, just
talking idly.
	"Time's up," he announced.
	Mother and Father were both grim. They called in a palace
maid, and told them to keep my brother and I in the family room
while they went to seal the deal. 
	I begged them not to go, to no prevail. Mother kissed her
family and then, they left, locking the door as they went.
	The poor palace maid managed to keep my brother and I
in that room for all of 5 minutes before I zapped her with a
weak lightning spell, punched the door open with another one,
and ran after my parents.
	I made a beeline for where I thought I would find my
parents, and was rewarded to find a magically enforced, locked 
door. 
	The door managed to stay standing despite all the spells
I flung at it, but in the end, a door was no match for the
fear and anxiety that fueled my powers, and I managed to knock
the door down.
	The scene I saw before me was permanently burned into my
mind for the rest of my life.
	The three gurus of life were slumped against a wall. Gaspar
was bleeding profoundly, and all three of them were unconscious.
	In the middle of the room, stood Mother, sort of.
	She looked a lot like Mother... but Mother had pupils in
her eyes. This person didn't. Also, Mother didn't have father's 
sword sticking out of her chest.
	My Father was bloody, and hurt. He was still holding onto
the handle of the sword, which was embedded in Mother's chest.
	He let go of the sword, and leapt back. Mother looked
down at her chest, and suddenly, an aura of fiery anger erupted
around her.
	The fire grabbed the sword, and pulled it out of Mother.
Mother fell to the floor with a slump, but the fire remained
where it was. The fire started to solidify until it turned into
the form of Lavos, the thing which had first approached my 
parents about this deal.
	Lavos was mad. Snarling, he leapt towards Father, and
proceeded to hack him to little bits. Fortunately, Father 
managed to roll out of the way. 
	I saw him summon all of his power into one final magic
spell and hurled it towards Lavos with all his strength. Lavos
managed to lunge out of the way of danger.
	That final spell had depleted all of my father's strength,
and he was complete unprotected. Lavos took the opportunity, and
stabbed father, straight in the heart.
	Lavos stood up, a smirk on his face. He thought he was
triumphant. He was wrong.
	I guess I should tell you what happened to Father's
final magic spell, after it missed Lavos. 
	It continued on is path... straight towards ME. The magic
spell slammed into me, lifting me off the ground.
	My name is Schala Sara Zeal. Schala is a royal name, 
meaning 'Power' in an ancient tongue.
	I am the most proficient sorceress in history. That title 
was suppose to bring me fame and good luck, but it has only 
brought me grief and sorrow.
	But this one time, it actually did me some good. Pure
sorceress instinct took over my mind then, and I absorbed the
magic spell into my own body. I amplified the spell with all
the power that was my name. The fear, loathing, shock, and
anger I was feeling only managed to add to my power.
	Then, bringing out the reinforced spell, I hurled it right
back at Lavos.
	It hit him square in the back, and engulfed him. He was
reduced to nothing more than particles, screaming the entire
time. 
	I had done it. I had killed Lavos, or so I thought. But
my parents were also dead.
	The doctors did everything they could for them, but the
sparks of life within them, the same spark of life that everything
alive has, had been smothered out.
	I cried for many hours. 
	I learned from the three gurus, what had happened before I
burst into the room.
	Lavos had possessed mother, as he said he would. However,
it was more than just 'possessing'. It was more like a merging
of souls. Lavos had complete access to Mother's mind... and 
Mother had complete access to Lavos's mind.
	When Mother saw what was in Lavos's mind, she rejected 
him. She started screaming and begging my father to kill Lavos,
because of the complete evil she saw in its mind.
	Father had been unable too, because Lavos and Mother now
shared one body, and he wouldn't be able to banish the evil
without killing the woman he loved.
	Seeing his predicament, Mother tried to do a very tricky
spell, one which would temporarily separate her body back 
into Lavos and herself. 
	It worked, sort of.
	Mother was mother, and Lavos was her aura, an aura of fire.
Father and the gurus started attacking the aura, and in the
process, were greatly injured.
	Father had managed to stab the fire with his sword, 
wounding it terribly. That was when Mother's spell wore off, and 
Lavos merged back into one body, while Father's sword was still
stabbing Lavos.
	Because of this, Father had stabbed Mother as well. That
was when I came in.

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	Five hours after my parents' death, the doctors discovered 
something very strange. Mother's heart had started to beat again, 
and her vital organs were started to work once more.
	It was a phenomenon. After being dead for 5 hours, Mother
was suddenly alive once more.
	I was wary of her. It was impossible. It could have be a
trick of some sort, or worse yet, it could have been Lavos, in
my Mother's body. I was certain that it was one or the other.
I was so certain, that I barged into the room 'Mother' was resting
in, ready to kill her.
	However, when I saw her, all my plans went down the tubes.
Seeing Mother, resting so peacefully in her bed... I couldn't
bring myself to kill her.
	That was when she woke up. Seeing me, she smiled weakly,
and said my name. "Sara."
	I used a spell, to see if she was being possessed... and,
much to my surprise, she wasn't! This was actually mother!!
	I was so surprised... and so guilty. I was ready to kill
my own mother!! I flung myself at her, sobbing wildly.
	I swore, never again would I doubt my Mother. I would be by 
her side, and loyal, always.

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	That was the last I ever saw of "Mother" after that. 
She was never the same person afterwards. She changed into 
a tyrant, and became obsessed about immortality. The people 
suffered under her sometimes insane decisions. She seldom listened
to the three gurus, and totally ignored Janus, shutting him out 
of her life completely. 
	She did not ignore me though. In fact, I became a very 
large part of her plans. I learned that this was a very, VERY
bad thing afterwards.
	But despite all that, despite all the changes... I still
thought of her as "Mother", and remained completely loyal to
her, hoping that, maybe my loyalty could bring her back to the
way she used to be. It was... a very hopeful way of thinking, I
know, but I hoped all the same.
	After all, it was the only hope I had left.

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