#rustedsoda

@rustedsoda

Ok, so contrary to what I said before, I’ve decided not to post the whole thing here, simply on merit that it does get rather unpleasant, moreso than perhaps people want to see on their feeds. I will however post a link, along with the first chapter of it just to put a taste in your mouths. :)  This is an origins story detailing Janus’s journey towards becoming Magus, from his arrival in the middle ages right up to just *before* Queen Leene is kidnapped in 600 AD. Despite hope spots suggesting otherwise, this ends very sadly. It also contains some crude humor, detailed descriptions of violence, and adult language.  https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13176992/1/Rise-of-the-Fiendlord

Prologue:

Keeper's Dome, 2299 Kingdom Calendar

A lone figure in a tattered gray suitcoat and gray skirt stood on a mezzanine, looking out at the world. It was always a cloudy and dirty world, with little vegetation left and almost as much human life. Buildings would lay toppled or half-buried in the ground, ash flying everywhere you looked. The sunshine however could still be felt through the cracked glass and it warmed this woman's soul a bit.

"You know..." said a voice from behind, "the Ozone layer is weak, here. You might not want to stay there too long."

"Will I wither and die?" she asked, not moving or even turning to face it. "Will my fading husk finally shrivel up and kill me itself? I care not. I have destroyed the world, Belthasar. Look out upon it and see. I have no right to leave this time or look away from it, and she has no will to leave my side. There is only punishment for me, now."

Belthasar shook his head. "Your Majesty... ...I won't pretend that you don't bear your sins upon your back... but the power of Lavos... the promise of the Mammon Machine... you can't deny that in some way, you succumbed to the same illnesses that have plagued mankind since they first came upon the Frozen Flame: greed, envy... madness... Schala does not condemn you for it... ...why do you condemn yourself?"

Zeal shook her head. "Schala does not condemn me because she thinks herself just as responsible. If she had said 'no', or used force to oppose me..."

Belthasar put a hand on Zeal's shoulder. "she doesn't condemn you for it because she loves you. She didn't stop you because to her, deep down, you were always her mother."

"..."

Belthasar removed his hand. Touching her like that *certainly* was not something he would ever have dared to do back in the Kingdom of Zeal, but he felt that after everything that happened... now that they were living together in this... observatory of time... well... ...maybe they were friends too now. ...or not.

"Actually... these domes were built in happier times. Have you not seen the video record of the 'Day of Lavos'?"

Zeal remained facing the window, without a word.

"The destruction you see about you came in 1999, Kingdom Calendar. That's... umm... let's see... 13,999 years after what you did. In that time, the world not only healed, but grew warm and habitable. Not a dreaming paradise perhaps, but a world with grass and trees all its own."

"Is that so?" she asked. "And in all that time, nobody else brought about the end? Just me?"

"Mother, stop", Schala called out. "It was a dark time for you, then. You can't blame yourself like that."

"Hmmm..." Belthasar replied. "Actually, there was one other incident in 600 Kingdom Calendar. That's..."

"65,012,600th Year of Lavos", Zeal replied. "I'm well aware of the new system."

"Erm... yes, well... during this time period, Lavos was briefly awoken by a powerful sorcerer named Magus, who hoped to weaponize it and destroy humanity, paving the way for his own kind, the fiends."

"Fool", Zeal snorted. "So he destroyed the world as well?"

"No", Belthasar replied. "He had succeeded in making some sort of contact with it, but then his castle was destroyed and he was never seen again, inadvertently saving humanity in the process. Still, he is regarded as bringing knowledge of Lavos back into the history books, as well as... ...oh... yes... you might both find this interesting... ...the black wind as well."

Zeal looked surprised for once. "That's impossible! That curse only affects royal family."

An alarming thought crossed Schala's mind. "Belthasar, is it... do you think it is possible that he..."

"Hmm?" Belthasar replied. "Oh, no my dear... no, not likely. Magus was a fiend, not a human. Besides...

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