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Liliana's face immediately fell when she saw who had been admitted into her parlor. Still, she could not let her face betray too much surprise. "You…" she said, a growl punctuating the statement.

Nissa had never mastered the art of blending in when she came to other planes, not that she ever tried. Walking around a bustling city in Fiora looking like she had just stepped out of a vast jungle, she clearly stood out. Anyone could look at her and tell she was "not from around here," which made Liliana even more apprehensive at her arrival. Still, she had expected the elf to be more abrasive, more...hostile. Their last encounter had not ended on good terms. Yet, Nissa looked weary, haggard almost, as if she were barely able to stand on two feet. "Hello, Liliana," was all she could say.

"Not here," Liliana said in a hushed whisper. "I do not go by that name here. It's Ana. And thinking of...how did you know to find me here?"

Nissa really only knew how to respond to direct questioning, Liliana had learned. Trying to go about things subtly with her never worked. She had been pretty sure that Kaya's suggestion to come to Fiora would have kept her well hidden, and yet, someone had found her so easily.

"Jace," Nissa answered with a small shrug.

"But Jace doesn't…" And then she shook her head. "Mind reading, of course." She should have warned those do-gooder assassins about being in his presence and how easily he could pick through minds. It prickled under her skin a little to know that Jace had known where she was, yet had not once tried contacting her. "Very well. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I need your help," the elf said quietly.

This caught Liliana by surprise, and she laughed aloud. "Alright, the joke's over. I had a good laugh about it. Why are you really here?"

"I mean it. I need your help."

Her good humor immediately dissipated. "Really? My help? Last time I recall, when I needed your help, you refused. You left all of us on Dominaria."

Nissa's brow furrowed, as if trying to contain the resentment she still held. "Yes, but you were using us for your own gain. This is to help save another plane."

"And killing Belzenlok didn't help Dominaria?"

"You saved my life on Innistrad!"

Liliana's lip twisted in a sneer. "So, you're finally acknowledging that?"

Nissa grit her teeth. "Yes. And right now, you are the only person I can turn to for help."

"And why aren't you asking the rest of the so-called Gatewatch for help? No Jace? No Chandra?"

Her eyes narrowed at the mention of the pyromancer, but she said nothing in response. Odd, Liliana thought. Jace could be less than helpful sometimes, even if he did not mean it. But Chandra… The young planeswalker would have dropped everything to help Nissa. There was something more to this.

"You do realize that by asking for my help, you are getting the Chain Veil as part of the bargain," Liliana said cooly, waiting to see what sort of response that would elicit.

Nissa would not meet her eyes. "I do not trust that accursed thing. But, I know that I cannot convince you to rid yourself of it. I will tolerate its existence."

Now, this certainly did have her interest. "And just where does this trouble take place? Your precious Zendikar, hm?"

"Theros."

Liliana was swift to answer. "No."

"But-"

"No, not there, not ever."

Nissa's tone became more assertive after that, not something that Liliana was used to hearing, not from her. "Gideon gave up his life for you! Don't you think you deserve to honor his world in some way?"

"I owe him nothing!" she hissed. "There is nothing you can do to convince me to help his world. Personally, I don't know why you're bothering with it either."

"I'm begging you."

No sharp comeback this time. No anger. Usually, Liliana only had to so much as look funny at Nissa to earn her ire, but this time, there was none of that. All she could see was the weary and desperate look in her eyes. There were a lot of reasons Liliana could say no to this. After all, she was getting her new start here on Fiora. What reason did she have to ever leave, especially when the rest of the multiverse was supposed to believe she was dead? Yet, Ugin's words still stuck with her. This was her chance to forge a new path, to be a new person, to do the right thing. But could she when faced with someone who considered her an enemy? On a world that only brought back memories of the foolish hero who had died because he believed in her?

"I must admit," Liliana said at last. "I like it when you grovel."

"You will help?"

She was not about to let her win that easily. "I only said I like seeing you beg. I'll hear all about your little problem, and I just might consider it." Liliana looked Nissa over. She looked as though she would fall over at the slightest breeze, and though it was hard to tell with the peculiar color of her eyes, they seemed bloodshot. "How far have you traveled today?"

"From Theros to Ravnica and then to here," Nissa answered. Liliana could see that she was silently debating leaving now given her cold response.

"That's an awful lot for one day. And how long has it been since you've actually slept?"

"Maybe a couple of days. On Theros…"

Liliana held up a hand. "You are in no condition to be planeswalking again today. I have a room upstairs you may use. Rest, and you can tell me all about it at dinner."

Nissa raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Liliana began to leave but turned slowly. "Yes, I may be a cruel necromancer, but I at least know a thing or two about hospitality. You really don't want to be left to the streets of Fiora anyway."

Always leave them confused, Liliana thought. It gave her a slight advantage.

Liliana watched as Nissa only nibbled at the meal provided. All the while, she seemed so alert, as if constantly on edge, waiting for some wild beast to potentially find her and tear her apart.

"You know, you're not on Zendikar anymore. No terrible monsters stalking you in the woods. You can relax."

Having rested, Nissa seemed to regain some of her sharpness. "Just because creatures don't devour you directly on this world doesn't mean they cannot still find a way to do so."

Indeed, Liliana had learned that Fiora was a world where power, intrigue, and murder were on the menu on a daily basis. It was perhaps even worse than Ravnica. At least there, she knew how to play guild politics to her advantage. Here on Fiora, the alliances were not as clear-cut. She shook her head and laughed. "They really don't give you enough credit sometimes. You really are much smarter than you look."

"I may not be comfortable on more...populated worlds like this, but that doesn't mean I'm oblivious to how they work."

"No, I suppose not." Lilliana laced her fingers together, a slight curiosity gnawing at her. "Now, tell me, just what is it on Theros that you need me for?"

Nissa was silent for several minutes, and Liliana had a feeling it was just trying to find the words to explain herself. Liliana tried to be patient, but often wished she would just spit it out. When she did finally speak, Liliana had to strain a little to even hear her quiet voice.

"I sensed something was wrong with Theros when we first went there to have a memorial for Gideon." There was an implied "you weren't there," but Liliana decided to not acknowledge it. "I returned there to try and understand what was wrong, but it's proven difficult."

"In what way?"

This seemed to make speech more complicated for Nissa. Liliana had to admit, she knew very little about Nissa's powers. Mostly, all that she needed to know was that she could call elementals into battle. That was about all that seemed useful to Liliana. But she imagined that it would be hard to describe powers to anyone. No one ever wanted to ask Liliana how necromancy worked.

After several failed attempts to explain, Nissa finally came to something that resembled sense. "Every plane has a distinct...personality, a way it works. I can see it, hear it, feel it, through the leylines. But Theros has been resistant to letting me listen. It's unique in that it chooses individuals to protect it, to become part of that leyline network."

"Ah, yes, the gods. I have been to Theros once or twice. I do recall something about the gods who control the world."

"Yes, but they're not exactly gods like what we saw on Amonkhet. They were once people on the plane, but are now mixed with the leylines to become something more, some force to keep things balanced on Theros."

"How democratic."

"But things are not balanced right now." Nissa's expression became one of pained confusion. "Something is not right. The gods are at war with each other, and I cannot figure out why or what to do."

Liliana shook her head. "Why not? Aren't you able to listen to a world, as you describe it?"

She shook her head. "That's where it has become complicated. I can sense Theros and hear it, but only for brief moments. The gods start to sense my presence and try to get me to leave."

Liliana nodded. Politics differed from plane to plane, but one thing always remained the same: war. "They're paranoid. They're too busy fighting each other that anything out of the ordinary is seen as a threat."

"Yes, exactly! I communicate with a plane in two ways: consciously and unconsciously. When I attempt to make a conscious connection, they notice me immediately. When I do so unconsciously, it takes them a little longer to notice my presence. When they do, they send their forces to fight me."

Now it was all starting to come together. "And these forces are of the...undead kind, aren't they?" Liliana asked.

Nissa nodded. "Yes. I'm not sure exactly what they are, but I do know they are a form of the dead. When I am in my unconscious state, I'm, well...asleep. Thus far, I've been able to wake up before it's too late, but I still have learned so little about the problems on Theros as a result. I need protection from these forces."

If there was one thing Liliana enjoyed most, it was having others believe in how powerful she was. Whether she could live up to their expectations did not matter. It was the reputation she had as a formidable force. Still, something did not seem right about this. No, it was more that something felt off about this, about Nissa. Was this just some ploy to get her out of her safe spot here on Fiora? She probed a little more.

"So, essentially you want someone to guard you while you sleep," she said, polishing a spot on her fork with a napkin. "How pedantic. Why aren't you running off to your other little do-gooder friends? Jace cannot help you?"

"I don't know how he could. And the last time I asked him for help, he wasn't...he wouldn't…"

She had a feeling she knew the answer to that one. "Yes, Jace does have a habit of being very noncommittal. Always wanting to examine a problem rather than actually solve it. But surely Chandra could have set fire to those undead armies without a second thought."

Nissa would not meet her gaze. "Chandra doesn't want to… The last time we spoke… She wouldn't want to help."

This puzzled Liliana. It was true that Chandra was not always eloquent or always knew the appropriate thing to say at times, but she had always picked up on how hard the pyromancer seemed to try in Nissa's presence. There was a certain closeness between them that could not exactly be explained in words. True, Chandra was about as subtle with her feelings towards the elf as a wildfire, but there was a bond there. "What exactly did she say to you?"

"That is not…" There was a certain acidity to her tone, as if she were about to snap back, but she held her tongue. "That is not something I wish to discuss...with you."

It seemed that the tantalizing drama would have to wait. "So, no one else then? I mean, my goodness, there were certainly a lot of planeswalkers on Ravnica. Couldn't make friends with one of them?"

Nissa looked down. "I do not have many people I can trust. It's hard when I know so little about how to even make connections enough to trust. And now that the Gatewatch is all but dissolved, I have no other choice."

"But you don't trust me," Liliana added.

If there was one thing to be said about Nissa, it was that she was honest to a fault. "No, but I at least know what you are capable of."

"You can trust not to trust me," she translated. "I feel so honored. And why Theros?" she asked. "Aren't you more concerned with Zendikar?" This seemed the most uncharacteristic thing for Nissa to do, and Liliana still felt suspicious about it.

"Zendikar is fine, healing even," she answered. There was something else there, though, something Liliana could not quite put her finger on, but it was not malicious. Nissa was being genuine with her. But it was as if there was something that Nissa was afraid to go back to. "But Theros needs help. I restored my home. I feel I should do the same for Gideon."

There were a lot of things that just did not add up. It seemed that there were things Nissa was not wanting to say or details she was withholding. Every ounce of Liliana's sense of self-preservation was telling her that this was a horrible idea. Besides, what did it matter to her? Liliana would have been content to never have anything to do with the Gatewatch again or Gideon for that matter. He was the fool who chose to die for her when she never asked for it. Did everyone expect her to feel grateful for it?

Yet, there was something genuine in Nissa's request. It was that same cold determination that she saw that day that the elf left them on Dominaria, vowing that she would not return to the Gatewatch. Except this time, that determination was being used solely for the sake of begging Liliana for help. Whatever information she was holding back, it was for personal reasons.

She weighed her options carefully, something that Liliana was not about to take for granted. She was finally free. Free from her demons, free from Bolas, free from the Chain Veil, free from any obligations. Of course, there was still the matter of the Raven Man, but she could do anything she wanted now, no strings attached. Ugin had helped her to get her second chance, in the hopes that she would start doing the right thing, but could she? Only one way to find out.

She composed herself, putting on that devil-may-care smile of hers. "While there are indeed a lot of things wrong with this idea, I suppose I could be inclined to go. After all, you've reminded me how fun it is to use their dead on Theros."

"You will help then?"

"Yes, but only because this little feud on Theros does seem worth watching." She put a hand on Nissa's shoulder, feeling her flinch under her touch. "And you'll be happy to know I no longer have the 'accursed thing.' I gave up the Chain Veil."

As expected, Nissa did not seem convinced. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," she answered. "Ravnica needed to believe I was dead, and so I gave them proof."

Nissa said nothing but only gave her a distrusting glance.

"Of course, it wasn't easy," Liliana continued. "It's not like one just gives up the Chain Veil. It holds you prisoner. Great power comes with great consequences, you know."

This seemed to take the elf by surprise. "You actually tried to rid yourself of it, but couldn't?"

"Yes, quite a while ago. However, the onakke spirits within it make its wearer a prisoner. But I bet you never thought of that when you accused me of being only some power-mad necromancer."

Nissa became silent after that, and Liliana felt as though she had won some sort of battle with that one. Despite the hostility, it seemed that Nissa was attempting to make some sort of truce with Liliana. The necromancer softened, but only slightly.

"We will leave first thing tomorrow. I need to make a few preparations myself, and you need to recover from all your efforts so far."

"Thank you, Liliana."

She had already started for her own chambers, waving off the compliment. "Don't thank me yet. If things go sour, I will leave. This isn't going to be like Innistrad."

Nissa could do more than just hear the soul of a plane. She could feel it, feel every sensation it felt. Fiora was not like Ravnica, despite their similarities as planes filled with masses of people and large cityscapes. Where Ravnica was exhausted and drained from the cacophony of its people all in an unsteady peace with each other, Fiora was more resigned, even embracing, of its fate as a world filled with precarious political situations. Having that sense of peace fill her was refreshing after feeling torn apart by the clashing gods on Theros, but it did not change the sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.

Lately, she had been asking herself what she was thinking getting involved with issues on Theros when she really did not have to. Liliana was right. Why could she not just be content to stay and protect her home on Zendikar? She thought that was what she wanted. She had finally healed the land and could have enjoyed the peace that brought her, but somehow that was now not enough?

Yet there were worlds like Innistrad and Amonkhet that she had watched be torn apart. She could only imagine how that would have felt if that had been the fate of Zendikar. Nissa knew that the rest of the Gatewatch would not have stood idly by knowing that such destruction was occurring elsewhere. That was what their oaths had been about. When Jace had come to her, begging for her to help him on Ravnica, he had reminded her of that oath. For the life of every plane, she could not give up. Gideon would never have given up.

There was also the nagging guilt still gnawing at her. For everything she had done to help save her home, she had to admit that she was just as much responsible for it as the Eldrazi. Nissa had tried to move past it, to accept that she had righted the wrongs, atoned for her sins. But upon coming back to the land of her birth, back to her own people, she had realized she was still not ready to face all the repercussions.

Of course, she was also asking herself why she was here, getting help from the one person she trusted the least, a person who had not just betrayed her, but the entire Gatewatch. If the potential destruction of Ravnica was not enough to have to take in during the war, it was knowing that Liliana was commanding the destructive army that was killing planeswalkers that made it all the more terrifying. And yet, perhaps it was fitting. Had not Nissa turned her back on the Gatewatch as well back on Dominaria? Hadn't she been just as destructive, even if her efforts were for the good of Ravnica? Perhaps it was fitting that two walking disasters like themselves should be working together.

"I understand that you have been to Theros before," Nissa said as Liliana finally joined her.

Liliana locked the door of her home in Fiora. "Yes, but only the cities like Miletos. I have a feeling you're going to take us somewhere more secluded."

"Yes, it is called Setessa. It's mostly a forest there, but there are a few small villages of people and centaurs. They will mostly leave us alone so long as we leave them alone. I will lead. You think you can follow?"

"You leave a vibrant and distinctive trail. You'll be hard to miss."

Nissa allowed herself to be broken by the Blind Eternities. "Very well," she said, feeling the last vestiges of Fiora beginning to disappear in her vision.

The hills rumbled and rolled gently to meet Nissa's feet when she first arrived on Theros, as if to greet her. It felt so much more comfortable than the rough, cobbled streets of Fiora. Still, there was an uneasiness that she could sense, a tension that seemed to be building, even more so than when she left only a day ago.

She had first felt that tension when she and the rest of the Gatewatch had come to give Gideon a proper memorial after his death. However, she had been bombarded with so many other emotions at that time, it had not really registered as a problem to her. But once the dust had settled, and being left completely alone again, she had thought about that odd feeling she had on Gideon's home plane. Something was not right. It was the kind of feeling she would get on Zendikar when she sensed the bucking and swaying of the Roil before it would happen. It was a calm before the storm. But just what sort of storm would this turn out to be?

She felt the chill of Liliana's arrival right behind her. The necromancer was already looking around the forested hills and landscape with disgust. "I had a feeling this is what it would look like," she said. "Please tell me you have some sort of plan for us to not just be out here in the open for the undead army to come after us."

Nissa nodded towards the darker part of the forest. "There," she said. "It is more likely we'll find shelter deeper in the woods. Dead trees, maybe a cave, if it's not already inhabited."

Liliana sighed. "Already looking forward to it. You know, you may enjoy living out among the trees on your own, but some of us -"

"It's more about survival than enjoyment," Nissa interrupted, already walking ahead. "My people knew that on Zendikar. Despite the beauty of the world, it still was and is a dangerous place. That was why we stayed together in our tribes. But...I did not always have that. Because of what I was, an animist, my mother and I were often banished from the other tribes. We had to survive with no one else there to help. Much of what I learned came from those experiences."

She still remembered nights going by sleeplessly as she shivered, clutching her mother tightly with the sounds of felidars roaring and baloths fighting each other for their latest kill. They did not have the protection of brave Joraga warriors surrounding the Jaddi tree where the tribe slept. They had found what they could, and learned how to hide and go unnoticed by the many creatures that would have easily killed them. To this day, Nissa always had to remain vigilant and alert.

"And what did they have against the animists?" Liliana asked, trudging slowly behind her.

"They could not trust what they did not understand," she answered. "The animists could do wonderful, powerful, and sometimes frightening things. But when even stranger and more frightening things started to happen, they blamed us."

"Amazing how people can be so cruel and spiteful to people they assume are 'dangerous,' whose abilities they know nothing of," Liliana said sarcastically.

Nissa sensed what Liliana was getting at, and resisted the temptation to say anything about it. Perhaps she was right, and Nissa had been too quick to judge her. Yet, at the same time, it was hard for her to acknowledge that powers that toyed with the delicate balance between life and death were anything but disastrous.

She nodded just ahead of them. "There's an entrance to a cave there," she said. "No footprints or other signs of another inhabitant." Her ears flicked towards a sound Liliana could not hear. "Water at least a mile away. This is as good a place as any."

Liliana's face said enough: she was clearly not comfortable with having to settle for a cave. "Are you sure they won't find us here?" she asked.

"They will, eventually," Nissa answered. "But for now, it will do, and there are a few things I can do to try and hide our location."

As they got closer, Liliana spotted the green pods that dotted the landscape. There were only a few here, mostly connected to the bases of the trees, but Nissa had been in parts of Setessa where there had been more of them. "What are these?" Liliana asked. "Don't tell me they're another threat we have to worry about."

Nissa shook her head, placing a hand on one of them, feeling the light hum of life and movement from within. "I have not been able to learn a lot about Theros, but some of the gods do not mind my presence. Karametra is one, and these belong to her. From what I have gathered, they are a womb of some form. There is life inside them, but not quite developed enough to live. I cannot tell for sure, but they are a type of elemental."

Liliana got close enough to touch it as well. However, she seemed to come to a different conclusion. "I sense death coming from it," she said. "Something no longer alive." She gave the pod another glance. "They are roughly the size of a body."

This did give Nissa an uneasy feeling. Not only was it a sign that Liliana might be right, but it indicated that there may be something more going on here. Liliana was busy looking at all the pods in the distance.

"Quite a few of them actually, almost like a battlefield."

"Then, these things were once dead, but now encased in a new life?" Nissa said, trying to piece it all together herself. "It would make sense. As a body decays, it becomes part of the earth once more. This just adds another layer to it."

"An undead elemental," Liliana said. "A rather interesting idea."

Nissa did not like the way she said that, as if it were merely one of her dead puppets to toy with rather than a living, breathing embodiment of the world. Yet, few people really understood the nature of elementals and what they represented. It was hard for her to put it into words herself, despite having decades of experience with them.

"So, what's your plan, then?" Liliana had already walked on ahead. "Or are we going to do it the Gatewatch way, improvise until we fail?"

She was not sure that she could tolerate Liliana's snide comments about everything for much longer, but she had to attempt to be nice, if anything to survive Theros. Nissa looked toward the cave.

"I suppose we just make an attempt to see what will happen. There are still so many unknowns at the moment. I will go into an unconscious trance to make a connection, you keep an eye out for the undead forces, and potentially wrest control over them to turn them away." She was trying to sense the plant life around the cave. "There are a few protections I can offer us. I can cloak the cave in plants to make it look more like a hill. Perhaps that will confuse them."

"Oh, well, isn't that clever? Zombies are such vessels of wit and intelligence."

"We can never be too careful. Do you think you can do your part?"

Liliana now seemed more interested in her fingernails. "Perhaps and perhaps not. It will all depend on how strong of a command their leader has over them. If we can go based on your information, a god is heading the army, making for someone very powerful. However, even the most powerful leaders of the dead can make a common mistake in not having total command over their hordes. If this god only gives the single command to find you and doesn't do much else, yes, I can take control over them. But, if they give the command and make sure to manage every detail of the raid, then there's nothing I can do."

Nissa already could tell what was being implied. "You think it's the latter."

"Most likely."

"Then why did you even come here with me?"

She shrugged. "It's more for my own amusement. The dead on Theros are rather fascinating creatures. I want to examine them more. Plus, gods fighting? Who wouldn't want to watch that?"

Nissa sighed in frustration. This was certainly not working out the way she had hoped. Then again, what did she expect? Perhaps she had been too hopeful after Liliana had saved them on Innistrad and again when she had turned the tides against Bolas on Ravnica.

Liliana continued. "Of course, as you said, this is more of a test to see what we're up against. I'd like you to wait until midday, if possible. I want to see how long it takes them to find you and possibly from what direction they are coming."

"You think you can determine where they are coming from? But they are dead. How can you…?"

"Death is different here. Most other worlds involve the soul of the dead completely leaving. What I do is just use the empty body. Here, it's more complicated. The body and soul separate, yes, but what happens to the soul afterward is unique. Most of the time, the soul just...vanishes."

That seemed to make her chest feel heavier. Nissa had always been raised to believe that the spirits of those who passed became a part of Zendikar, leading and guiding her people along their own journey. The ancestors of the past were never truly gone. Then again, she never really had proof of that. She never needed it. A part of her had always hoped that she could somehow have a connection with those long gone through her connection to Zendikar, but as of yet, that was impossible, maybe it was never possible.

Then again, death was different on every plane. She had seen that firsthand through Yahenni, the aetherborn on Kaladesh. Their death had resulted in a renewal of their spirit through the aether cycle. There was no doubt about that. Perhaps Liliana was wrong. A part of her had to believe that.

"But here, the soul actually goes to a physical location, one run by the gods. It is there where things get...interesting. They inhabit a new body, a vessel really. It's not like the physical bodies of zombies, nor is it as incorporeal as a shade. It's something in between, which fascinates me. When these newly embodied souls leave this physical location, they wander the living realm. I believe those are the things coming after you."

"So, what are we to do about them?" Nissa asked.

Liliana smiled. "Nothing, yet. We wait and observe. Now tell me, just what exactly happens in your unconscious state?"

Nissa wished it could be easy to explain. No one ever could follow exactly what it was like. How could they? If they never experienced it themselves, they had no way of knowing. Her own tribe never could understand. Even her mother, who had tried desperately to help her understand, if anything to help assuage her fears, could not even fathom what that experience was like.

"In a conscious state, I can 'experience' a plane. I can be a part of every plant, animal, and living thing, all at once. But in an unconscious state...that's the time a plane speaks to me with its own voice. Every plane is different in this regard. They choose to speak to me in their own ways."

Liliana sat on a stone just at the mouth of the cave. "So, what's Theros like, then?"

She shook her head. "That's just it. Theros doesn't seem to have a voice of its own, so instead, it lets me listen to the voices of those it has charged to speak for it."

"The gods."

"Yes, but since they can sense me listening in, that's when they become defensive."

"A direct line to the war room, but no way to gain information. This should prove fun."

Nissa looked up at her. "Thank you," she said in an almost whisper.

This seemed to take the necromancer by surprise. "What do you mean?"

Blooms of moss and flowers began to spread through the crevices of the cave's outside. Nissa willed them to grow until they nearly covered their hideout. "Very few people understand or even try to understand what it is I do. I know it's hard for me to explain sometimes, but it's just something you have to feel. It cannot be put into words, at least not well, but I appreciate your efforts to try."

Liliana dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Think nothing of it. I'm the kind of person who likes to know the strengths and weaknesses of those around me."

Nissa looked away, finishing the last touches as she turned the cave into a blossoming hill. "It's about time. I should try and get ready." She seemed to vanish within the now-covered cave.

Liliana looked through the row of vines covering the entrance to the cave. Nissa lay on the ground, wrapped in her cloak, fast asleep. It would have almost looked peaceful, if it was not for the fact, that she knew what was coming for them. She had been watching for what seemed like a little over an hour, and she sensed something was coming soon.

As it would turn out, that something was not what she was expecting, but all the same, it was not welcome. The flap of wings signaled his arrival.

"You know this is a mistake," the Raven Man said.

Liliana refused to look at him. "One of these days, I am going to get rid of you. I did it with the demons, with Bolas, with the Chain Veil, and eventually, I'll never have to hear your voice again."

"You'd miss me. But, you did not answer me. Coming here was a mistake."

She shrugged. "It's a rare opportunity to learn more about the art of the dead."

The Raven Man chuckled. "You really are a terrible liar. You're just lucky you find such gullible people to believe you."

"Why are you here? You can't leave me alone for more than a day."

"I'm offended. I actually look out for your well-being. I want you to actually be safe, use your head for once."

"Now you're the terrible liar. What do you really want?"

The Raven Man walked behind her, but she still refused to meet his gaze. "I'm here to ensure you're not in over your head. Do you realize what you're getting yourself into? Who you're involving yourself with?"

Many times those thoughts had crossed Liliana's mind. Today, hearing the elf explain how she did what she did, it started to make her worry. "I'm in no danger," she answered, avoiding the question. "Nissa is capable of taking care of herself."

"She is one of the most dangerous threats to the multiverse," he hissed in her ear. "She can change the very fabric of a plane on a whim. If she so desired, she could throw off the very balance of an entire world. The multiverse is lucky she was born after the Mending. Imagine what kind of power she would have wielded then. You're looking at a disaster waiting to happen."

He was not wrong. More than once, Liliana had thought about just how dangerous Nissa's powers were. Given that they were in the hands of someone so young and inexperienced with them, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong. Yet, there was still something that made her not want to give the Raven Man the satisfaction of being right.

"She may be naive, but she tries to do the right thing. She would never…"

"And how long before her doing the right thing results in complete devastation? Look at where you are. You are putting yourself directly in the middle of a war among gods, an affair you have nothing to gain from. And all the animist has to do is tug at the right strings of a plane and everything can fall apart. Why on earth would you want to involve yourself with that?"

She wheeled around and shouted. "Because she asked me to help her like I was a person instead of a tool to be used by everyone!"

The Raven Man's wizened face turned into a sneer. "Well, that's all that matters isn't it?"

She stood her ground. "I'm done being used by everyone. I'm done being a slave. And if she is the only one offering that opportunity, then I'll take it."

He shrugged, the flapping of wings overhead beginning to drown out his voice. "Well, I hope you enjoy watching the world burn. Besides, I should leave. You have company."

Liliana turned, looking to the horizon. She saw a glint of light coming from the golden masks of the grey, shambling creatures heading towards them.

"Just great," she muttered.

Chapter Text

Theros had given Nissa many surprises when it came to trying to understand it. It had been a long while since a plane had given her this kind of challenge. The functionality of the gods was already something she had not expected. However, it was how the leylines were connected that made her have to reorient herself.

The leylines of Theros were divided between the land itself, which was more familiar to Nissa, and the starry expanse that served as the realm of the gods: Nyx. And it was Nyx which Theros wanted to show her the most. It felt strange to be part of the land while not actually being on the land, but at the same time, it piqued her curiosity. It was similar to how she connected to the aether streams on Kaladesh, but not exactly. It was also like how she could see the leylines in the gods of Amonkhet, but also not the same. It made Nissa wonder just how unique each world could be.

Yet, Nissa had very little time to admire this aspect of Theros as the tension between the gods drew her attention elsewhere. Like her previous attempts at making a connection, she was able to see and hear the gods arguing with each other. There were far too many voices, most of them shouting, for her to really make out any useful conversation. In what little time she had been able to gain information, she had learned a few names for these gods. Helios seemed to be a leader among them, though he also seemed to be the one who most of the aggression was directed at.

While Theros did not have a clear voice of its own, she could still sense feelings from the plane. They were faint, but they were enough to help her make sense of things. Helios may have looked grand and powerful. He walked and spoke with the air of a great leader. In many ways, he reminded her of Gideon. He was careful, strategic, and spoke with a voice that could inspire. However, Theros felt apprehensive about him, almost threatened. Perhaps Helios was less of a leader and more of a tyrant. In a way, it gave her the same shiver down her spine when she heard Numa, the chief of her Joraga tribe, banishing her and her mother from yet another home.

This time, the fighting and the noise was starting to make her head hurt. The arguments among the gods had gotten worse since she left to find Liliana.

In the corner of her eye, she noticed Kruphix, the god of the horizon, looking directly at her. He was one of the few gods who paid her no mind, and perhaps even welcomed her presence. He sat quietly, away from all the fighting, watching intently. Two of his four starry arms were crossed in his lap, as if this were merely a friendly debate. With one of his other hands, he motioned for her to stay silent and to listen.

“You would destroy all of our temples, level cities, and kill our worshippers all for your own power. When is it enough?” Nissa had still not learned the names of all of the gods. This one who spoke with such fury waved his hammer in front of Heliod’s face with every statement.

“Have you forgotten that all of us are needed for the people?” This goddess was part snake, which made Nissa feel uneasy. She slithered as close as she dared to Heliod, trying to read his expression.

He remained cold and impassive to all of them. He silenced them all by pounding his spear on the ground. “I don’t think you realize what kind of a situation we’re up against. A mere mortal ascended to godhood and barely lifted a finger to do so.”

This confused Nissa. Were not all of the gods once mortals who had been chosen by Theros to represent the ideas the people worshipped? Perhaps, after so long, they just forgot? It was so hard to tell how the gods worked from her current distance. If she could only get closer, she could explore the leylines they were made of, possibly even tug at the right ones to change things, just like she had done on Amonkhet. But there was no way she would be able to do that with all of them this close together.

“And this was no ordinary mortal,” Heliod continued. “There are mortals who walk among us who can travel beyond our world to worlds we cannot even imagine.”

A planeswalker had become a god? That certainly was an unsettling thought. Yet it seemed that this planeswalker was no longer a god, so what had happened to them?

“These beings are far more powerful than us. Imagine what chaos they could reign upon this world if they held a place among our ranks.”

“Is that why you killed your own champion?” This was Karametra, the goddess of the harvest, who spoke. “Was she one of these world-walkers?”

Though he sighed as though it were some great weight on his shoulders, Nissa could tell he seemed to revel in that achievement. There was a faint smile on his lips.

“I had no choice,” he said. “Yes, I needed her to dispatch the usurper, but when I saw what kind of power she could wield, with or without my assistance, I knew that such beings were a danger to us all.”

Again the snake-like goddess spoke. “Yet, you have killed your champion. The usurper is no more. You have done away with the world-walkers. Why continue the fight? You have nothing left to gain from it? Why fight us?”

Heliod looked at each of the gods, as if debating how much he would tell them. His jaw stiffened and he refused to actually meet their eyes when he looked at them. For only the briefest of seconds, his eyes looked directly at Nissa’s, recognizing her intrusion. He said nothing to her or to the others about her. He did not need to. One look from any of the gods was enough for her to know they knew of her presence.

It was the swift kick to her ribs that sent Nissa sprawling out of her sleep and back onto the hard ground of the world before her. She blinked several times, trying to reorient herself. Just as fuzzy details started to come back to her, she noticed Liliana looking at her, slowly backing away from the entrance of the cave.

“Well, you weren’t wrong,” the necromancer said. “They did send a small army to come stop us. I can’t take control of them, and your little hill trick isn’t stopping them either. At least, it won’t for much longer. They’re going to find the entrance here soon. I hope you had a backup plan in mind.”

Still piecing back together reality, Nissa stood up shakily. “They can only find me when I’m in connection with Theros. Now that I’m not doing that, it’ll make it harder for them to actually ‘see’ me. If we can just put a little distance between them and us, we will be fine.”

Liliana backed into the cave further. “And you intend to do that how exactly? They have us cornered right now. Too many of them at the entrance.”

She responded by pulling her sword from her staff. For the first time that she could recall, it seemed that Liliana actually looked surprised. “Ah, well, you came armed,” Liliana said, eyeing the sword uneasily.

“And you aren’t,” Nissa responded stiffly. “Stay close to me, and you’ll be fine.”

“Just watch where you point that thing.”

Two grey hands began to emerge through the vines at the entrance of the cave. All conversation ceased then. Instinct took over at that point. Nissa’s ears pinned back and her muscles tightened. They were backed into a corner and had no other choice. They had to fight.

Liliana had seen her fair share of swordsmanship. Her own father and brother had trained in front of her when she was younger. She had seen the flourishing movements of vampire fencers on Innistrad. Nissa was something else entirely. There was no artistry to her movements, only short, swift slashes. And from the look in her eyes, Liliana could see that something primal had awakened in her, a gaze that was nothing but pure survival instinct. It was a look she had seen in the ferocious werewolves of Kessig when they were completely outnumbered by hunters, and that never ended pretty for the hunters.

The grey, undead creatures were not exactly inept either. That did not surprise Liliana. Theros prided its heroes who died in battle. Many of them came armed as well. They were not as deft as Nissa, but they still fought back when she struck. Their faces, hidden behind the impassive golden masks of the underworld made the whole scene a bit surreal. Nissa would slice at them from shoulder to side, and they hardly moved, only lifting their own weapons to her. She stayed out of their range, dodging the slowly moving arms of the undead army.

It was only when she plunged the sword deep into the stomach of an undead satyr that the creature reacted. It sunk to its knees, a hole forming where she had stabbed, and its ashen skin crumbling around it. Nissa did not have time to take in just what was happening, having to dodge more blows from the creatures.

But Liliana could see. She watched as the creature slowly dissolved to a pile of ash, its golden mask being the only remnant of its existence. Reflexively, Liliana called out, “Stab them! That seems to be the only thing that affects them.”

Nissa only glanced at the pile of ash and dust on the ground, eyes widening in realization. She whipped around, thrusting her sword into the ribs of another. Indeed, Liliana’s theory was right. The undead soldiers began to turn to dust before them, finally giving them the opening they needed.

“We need to run, now!” Nissa commanded, after finally clearing a path for them to leave.

It took Liliana a second to process that, and Nissa grabbed her arm, not willing to give the undead a chance to close the gap once more.

They ran for what seemed like hours, Liliana following farther behind, clearly not ready to have gone sprinting through the woods. She was honestly surprised she had not tripped over a root in her impractical boots. At long last, Nissa came to a stop at a riverbed, bent down, clasping her knees and taking in air.

“That was...that was worse than the last time I dealt with them,” she said, catching her breath between words. “There were more of them. Some of those were even bigger creatures.”

As Liliana caught up to her, she noticed it first. “And it looks like they came well prepared. You have an arrow in your shoulder.”

Nissa turned her head slightly to see that it was true. She attempted to reach around to touch it, but flinched at the pain, the realization that she was hurt setting in.

“Here, let me look at it,” Liliana offered.

Nissa started to back away from her touch. “No, I…”

“You can’t very well do it yourself. I studied healing. In fact, that was how I got into necromancy. Let me help.”

Her eyes darted around, as if trying to find another alternative, but finding none, she nodded her consent. Liliana gave her a gentle push to sit on the ground by the edge of the river and proceeded to examine the wound. She took a deep breath, knowing what would have to be done. She proceeded to look through the items in her satchel.

“It could have been much worse,” she said, trying to sound as if this were merely routine. “It’s not lodged in your chest or anywhere vital, but it is in a place with a lot of muscle tissue.”

“Meaning?”

She sighed. “Meaning...it’s going to hurt quite a bit when it comes out. I’m going to have to cut open the wound more to remove it without tearing too much.” She pulled a small knife out of her bag. “It’s a good thing I took some time to gather a few things for such situations.”

Though Nissa had her back to her, she could tell her expression had to be something like pained acceptance. “Alright, I’m ready.”

“Really? No fighting me on this one?”

“I’ve been wounded before. It’s necessary. Just...just be quick.”

Liliana leaned forward, ready to make the first cut. It had been a very long time since she had done anything with the healing arts. It was not that she lacked the confidence in her abilities, but rather that it brought back the memory of trying to save her brother. He had sworn she would endure eternal suffering for what she had done to him. Would she always be doomed to make things worse?

As the blade touched the skin, Liliana knew she was going to have to go fairly deep to get to the head of the arrow. She pressed, making a quick and deep cut. Nissa let out a muffled moan, leaning forward.

Liliana had to keep Nissa talking so that she could focus on something other than the pain. With all the movement so far, there was no way she was going to be able to do this right. She gently pulled Nissa closer to her so she could work. “At least you aren’t one of those overly dramatic types to scream at the slightest bit of pain,” she remarked, realizing that small talk was not one of her strong suits.

“You wouldn’t want to do that out here,” she said, her voice sounding like she was sprinting just to get out a few words. “It would attract who knows what to us.”

By now, Liliana should not have been surprised. Nissa was, of course, the one to know how to survive in these sorts of situations. She had grown up surrounded by land that was literally alive. Still, she knew that a lot of those survival instincts came from a way of life that could have been avoided.

She treaded carefully. “It must’ve been difficult, having to live without your tribe.”

“We got used to it. It really never felt like we belonged with them anyway. The Joraga could be a little...oppressive sometimes.”

Liliana dreaded this. “Alright, pulling the arrow out...now!”

Nissa buried her face in her knees, trying to stifle the noise she was about to make. Liliana began pulling out a needle and thread from her bag. She took a rag, dipped it into the stream and began to clean the wound. She stayed quiet, debating if she should voice her next thought. However, she still needed Nissa to stay calm and to talk through the pain.

“I’ve been to a lot of planes where there are elves, and I’ve noticed something peculiar. No matter where you go, elves seem to have this particular attachment to the bonds of family and friends, more so than humans.”

“Kinship,” Nissa answered. “It’s one of the main tenets of our culture.”

“Right, well, I’ve also noticed that when elves wish to punish one of their own, they tend to favor a form of shunning and making outcasts of their own. If kinship is so valuable, then such a punishment seems awfully cruel.”

“It is especially cruel,” Nissa said quietly.

“So, why do it? What purpose does that serve? Does it make you more likely to come apologizing to them?”

“It’s not about forgiveness. There is no potential for that. When your people turn you away, it’s because you hurt them. You betrayed their trust, and they want you to feel that same pain.”

Liliana shook her head. “That makes no sense. What did you do then to deserve it?”

Nissa was watching as the river flowed past them. “It is not what I did. It is what the animists did, what they thought they did.”

“So, you were just born into it. That was your crime.”

Nissa sighed. “Liliana…”

“Nevermind. Forget I said anything.”

They were both quiet then. Liliana worked diligently, Nissa no longer feeling the extreme pain. Eventually, Liliana broke their silence.

“There, done. Try not to exert it too much, and the stitches won’t break. Knowing your strength and stamina, you’ll recover just fine.”

Nissa tentatively moved her arm in small circles, feeling how much range she had with her arm to not strain it. She turned to face Liliana. “Thank you,” she said with a nod. She then gave Liliana a quizzical look. “I’m...surprised. You studied healing?”

She could not help but revel a little in a moment of vanity. “Yes, and at one time, I was rather skilled with it. I thought if I could master death, I could be the greatest healer ever. Nothing would have stopped me.”

“You found necromancy because you feared death,” Nissa said.

“I never said that,” Liliana answered harshly.

“But it’s what you meant.”

Liliana began to look around their new surroundings, dismissing the subject. “So, what’s the plan now? I assume part of it is finding a new place to hide.”

“I’m not sure what we can do. This didn’t work at all like I had thought. If you can’t take control of the undead beings, then we really do not have much of a chance at learning anything.”

“Well, I haven’t given up hope just yet. There are still things we can try.”

Nissa seemed surprised by that answer, as if expecting her to want to leave immediately. “If you still plan to stay, then we can try. There are places around here where we can hide. I assume you’re going to want to rest before we try anything else. For now, I can find us something to eat.”

Liliana knew this was a bad idea, but after the day they had, she had to say something. “But what about you? Are you okay to stay here? You couldn’t have been asleep for more than a couple of hours, according to Ravnica time.”

“I…” Nissa paused, as if unsure how to respond to Liliana actually being concerned about her wellbeing. “I’m fine. Tired, yes, but I can tolerate it for a few more days.”

She did not feel so sure of that. She had seen what had happened to Nissa on Kaladesh and later on Amonkhet. She would put a lot of pressure on herself and wear herself down. This could not end well if they kept up like this.

Nissa gave a sigh of contentment as she felt the silt and sand from the riverbed against her feet. It was the closest thing she was going to get to feeling connected to Theros. She felt so lost not being able to connect to the land in the way she was accustomed to. To feel some flow of nature, the rhythm of a world’s heartbeat, even in this small of a way was a small blessing to her.

She stood still as she watched the fish swim around her legs, sword at the ready. Her shoulder was still very sore from where Liliana had removed the arrow, but thankfully, it was her left shoulder. She could still fight if she needed to. She waited patiently for the right moment to strike.

Still, it felt so strange to be this disconnected from a world. In a way, it almost felt like being...normal for once. It had been a long time since she had ever thought of it that way. For over a century, she had always known her animist abilities as “normal.” Yet, she could remember a time when she had wanted nothing more than to not have her powers to actually just be ordinary. She did not know what to do with this feeling now.

A fish hesitated right beside her, and that was all she needed. Her sword plunged into the water, skewering the fish with it. It struggled against her as she pulled it up. She winced. While Nissa had been used to having to hunt for as long as she could remember, it did not change the fact that she still felt a sense of guilt having to kill another creature. She laid it on the bank of the river, far enough so that it could not get away, pulled it off the sword and landed a final slice to remove the head, ending its misery.

She had to do this once more before coming back to where Liliana was sitting and waiting. Even stranger than everything that had happened here on Theros was the necromancer. Nissa was still unsure what to make of her interaction with her so far. Sure, she was glad that she had agreed to help, but at the same time, everything about being here with her felt strange.

She had expected to still hate Liliana. She had used them all to deal with her own problems, problems that she had gotten herself into all in a bid for power. She carelessly toyed with the very forces of life and death only for her own ambitious purposes. She had betrayed them all by joining Bolas in his attack on Ravnica. And yet, Nissa surprised herself by not feeling that rage that should have been directed toward her, but she could not understand why.

Perhaps it was because she was starting to see something more in Liliana. From hearing how she had freed herself of the Chain Veil and seeing how she had turned the tides of war in their favor on Ravnica, perhaps there was more to the story. She could not be completely evil, but merely having gone down a wrong path.

Maybe it was the knowledge that Gideon had saved her. He had given up his own life to save her. Surely, that meant something. He had to have had a reason, and Nissa had to believe that reason was worth giving her a chance.

She sat down beside Liliana and looked at the small pile of branches in front of her. “So, did you find anything?” she asked.

Liliana looked a little embarrassed by her efforts. “I found what I could. I hope that’s enough to start a fire.”

It was really only a small bit of brush, if Nissa was being honest. “It’s fine,” she lied. “Thank you.”

They had at least made the fire last long enough for them to eat, and Nissa was thankful for that. However, a new problem made itself apparent.

“Thunder,” she said. “Still pretty far away, but a storm will be here soon.” She stood and pulled Liliana to her feet. “We need to find shelter.”

“Where exactly? I didn’t see any ‘homey’ little caves like our last one.”

She was already looking for signs of a good place to stay. “Doesn’t have to be the same kind of thing. I’m sure there are plenty of dead trees around here.”

“You can’t be serious? These little trees couldn’t possibly -”

The thunder was starting to sound closer, probably close enough for Liliana to hear by now. “This forest has been untouched by humans for hundreds, maybe thousands of years...well, mostly untouched. There are bound to be some older trees that are much bigger. We just have to go deeper into the woods.”

At first, Nissa was confident she could lead them in their survival, but the further they went, the more she realized that this forest was unfamiliar to her. It was not like the jungles of Zendikar. The trees looked entirely different. On Zendikar, trees and vines wound together in perfect harmony, forming a safe and protective canopy. She could identify the different types of trees easily there. She knew how to spot the twisting branches of a Jaddi, the perfect place for the elves to make their homes. Thick bloodbriars were sturdy and just right to hold a person’s weight as they climbed to the top.

But here, none of it was the same. These trees were thinner and windier. They made for good cover when growing close to each other, but for what they needed, there was not much. The forest was much more spread out too. While there were trees to be found everywhere, they did not grow close enough together to really provide any kind of cover. Too much tall grass grew between them.

“There!” Liliana exclaimed.

Sure enough, in the distance, a dark, wide tree that looked like it had been struck by lightning was just to the right of them. It was dead, the bark rotted after many years. If they were lucky, it was just hollow enough for the two of them to fit inside.

Nissa ran ahead, running her hands along the tree, trying to find a sign that this would be their salvation. She knocked against the bark, listening for a distinct sound. Satisfied with what she heard, she began to pull at a weak piece of the bark just at the base of the tree, planting her feet firmly to the ground to get as much leverage as possible.

“Nissa, no! Your shoulder. If you pull too hard... Oh, for goodness sake, let me help.”

In the side of her peripherals, she saw Liliana kneel down to help her. The two pulled, hearing the wood creak. It eventually cracked, and they pulled back. It was not a large enough piece for them to fit through, but with some progress made, they went at it again, pulling dead bark away bit by bit until they had a small entrance. Fat rain drops began to pelt down on them as Nissa urged Liliana in the tree first.

Liliana was sitting there, looking at her torn nails and sighed. “Well, I must say, you know how to make quite an adventure out of this.”

Nissa curled her knees to her chest, trying to make herself smaller and give her and Liliana a little space between them. “It’ll do for now. You can rest through the night, and we can try and think of something then.”

“I suppose starting a new fire is out of the question.”

She shook her head. “Wouldn’t do us any good. Any wood we’d find would be too wet to start anything, and there’s nowhere for the smoke to vent out of the top of the tree. We’d just suffocate.” She removed her cloak and handed it over to Liliana. “Here, this can be pretty warm.”

She hesitated before taking it, and Nissa was unsure how to interpret it. There was no look of disgust or any other sign that Liliana saw the cloak as unpleasant. It was an entirely different look altogether, one that Nissa really had no context to understand. Was it that she was so unused to a simple kindness?

“Thank you,” she muttered.

Nissa was content with the quiet as Liliana slept. It gave her time to think, perhaps to even come up with a better plan. At least, that is what she hoped she could do. Thus far, all her efforts had yielded no results. Rather, all of her plans had fallen apart within the first few minutes. Strategizing was clearly not her strong suit.

If Gideon were here, he would have found a way to use everyone’s strengths to ensure their best chances. He had always had a knack for knowing exactly where everyone belonged in one of their plans. Of course, Nissa could not even gather everyone to help. Not that she had really tried. It was less that she felt their help was unnecessary, and more that she was too afraid to ask them. But Gideon would have been able to talk to them. He would have, no matter the cost.

Jace would have been better at coming up with an actual plan, rather than just trying and failing. He could have figured out a better way for them to stay hidden, to avoid the gods and their armies. Besides, even if all they could do was a method of trial and error, he would have done it better. He would have known exactly what to test for before throwing them into danger.

And Chandra… Nissa was still not ready to think about her. The point was, everyone would have done a better job at this than she could. All she could do was be a walking disaster, a force of power to be best used in small bursts.

Nissa was starting to not like so much quiet around her. It was one thing if she were trying to meditate and commune with the plane, but that was out of the question. Here and now, in her own thoughts, it was starting to feel constricting. Instead, she tried to focus on keeping watch. She listened to the sounds outside. Other than the rain, she could hear a few roars in the distance from creatures far away from them. She did not know what they were, but they were too concerned with bigger prey to be of any harm to them.

It had been a very long time since Nissa had gone on like this: without the familiar touch of another world right there beside her. When she was young and just starting to experience the visions, she had tried desperately to avoid them. The fearful dreams of dark knots of energy trying to tear her apart were enough to make anyone terrified, and she was barely older than a child still having to endure them.

For a while, she thought she could avoid the visions by just not sleeping, which was a horrible idea now that she thought of it. But with few options, that was the best she could do, and it would work for a few days. By the second or third day like that, though, her mother would notice she was not herself.

“Have you been sleeping?” she would ask, already seeming to know the answer.

“Yes...I-” Nissa would already be trying to think of a reasonable lie, but feeling too tired, her mind could come up with none. Not that she was good at lying anyway.

Her mother sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Save the excuses. You’re trying to avoid the visions again.” Nissa would not answer by now. She had already tried several times to explain them to her mother, but neither of them could interpret their meaning. “I know they’re frightening, Nissa, and I wish there were some way I could make them better. But you cannot keep avoiding them like this. It isn’t good for you.”

“I know,” she said, “but what can I do? They always come back, and I think they’ve been getting worse.”

“Then all the more reason to listen to those visions. That is Zendikar trying to tell you something important.”

Nissa groaned, putting her head in her hands. If it was so important, why could Zendikar not just say what it was? Why did it have to keep sending her these cryptic messages that she had no means to decipher?

Her mother continued, sensing her frustration. “I know you don’t think so, but your visions are a gift, Nissa, the gift of our people.”

“You always say that.”

“Because it’s true. Your ancestors have been the speakers of Zendikar for thousands of years. The animists were a powerful people, and you are the one who can carry on that tradition.”

None of these words helped. They felt empty to Nissa, who had never known any of her animist people. “If they were so powerful, why are they all gone?” Nissa snapped. “They angered Zendikar and paid the price for it. I never asked to be born like this.”

She could still remember the warmth and love that came from her mother’s touch as she sat beside her and held her close. “It’s hard to understand, and it’s not always fair, but fate does have a strange way of putting us exactly where we need to be, even if it isn’t where we wanted to be.

“I never wanted to be the last of my people, having to watch our culture die out. I certainly didn’t want to have to stand by and watch as the Joraga left our people to the elements and the Roil. I watched as they let my family and friends be crushed by the sheer power of Zendikar.”

She had heard this story many times by now. It had always been the answer to her biggest questions. Why did they have to leave yet another tribe? Why were they hated? What had happened to her father? And it was hard hearing these explanations every time, but it was also comforting as well. It helped her understand. At least, it helped her understand what had happened, not necessarily why. She leaned into her mother’s hug, breathing in her familiar scent and feeling comforted by it.

“I hated seeing it happen,” she continued, “and I was given the choice to either die with the rest of my people or stay among the Joraga.”

Nissa looked up at her, surprised. She had never been told this part of the story. “You did?” She was afraid to say more, knowing how she would have reacted to that kind of choice, but she dared to voice that thought. “But why would you stay? You lost everything, and they allowed it, practically forced it upon the animists. Why would you stay with people who had treated you like that?”

Meroe met her eyes then, a gleam in them slightly wet with tears as she smiled. “Because, by then, I knew you were going to be born.”

Her face fell. “Because...because of me?” she stammered.

“Don’t ever think that was a bad thing, Nissa. Choosing to stay because of you was not an obligation. It was a reason to hope. Because of you, I knew I did not have to standby and watch our people die out. Fate had shown me that there were things bigger than us, things worth living and fighting for. Most importantly, it made me realize I didn’t have to be alone, and neither did you.

“Nissa, I believe that your visions are important, and that they will do good someday. It will just take time, and that’s hard, given how frightening they are right now. But we will figure it out together. I promise. For now, though, you need rest. I will be right here when the visions return.”

Nissa shivered as the chill of the dawn started to settle in, the dampness in the air making it even cooler on her skin. She had been watching the sky as it started to become light out from the little entrance they had made in the tree. She looked behind her to see that Liliana was still sleeping.

Fate had indeed given Nissa more than she had bargained for. In many ways, it was still new and scary. She could travel to worlds far beyond her imagination, only to be bombarded with the thoughts and feelings of that world when she arrived. It was fascinating and terrifying all at the same time. Yet, it was important that she listened to what these worlds had to say to her. It seemed that her travels with the Gatewatch had always taken her to worlds that needed her to be their voice the most. But it was only after she had been with the Gatewatch...her friends, that she had started to realize there was an empty feeling inside of her, a loneliness she had buried so deep, she did not know it existed.

When Liliana awoke, she had expected to discover that it had all been some strange fever dream. There was no way she ever would have agreed to coming to Theros, having to rough it out in the woods, and especially not with Nissa of all people. Yet, here she was hiding in a hollow tree, like some sort of urchin while the elf sat opposite her, just watching the sun rise. How far the mighty had fallen, she thought to herself as she reflected on her current situation.

It was a tight fit for the two of them in the tree, so she had to almost crawl over to where Nissa was sitting, and she returned her green outer cloak to her. “Thank you,” she muttered. “I...it was warm, and I appreciate the gesture.”

Nissa seemed very far away in that moment, her gaze indicating that her mind was somewhere far away from here. Her face seemed somber as well, and Liliana knew she needed her focused if they were going to survive here. “So, I take it you’ve come up with no other ideas on what we should do in all that time?” she said.

“No,” Nissa said with a sigh. “Finding you was the best plan I had, and now that it’s failed…”

“Well, you’re certainly staying optimistic about it. I do have one possible plan, but we can’t keep running away like this. We keep doing that, and the gods really will start to be on edge, watching for you at every turn.”

This seemed to take the elf by surprise. She scoffed. “And just what would you have me do about that? I can’t very well help when-”

Now that the rain had stopped, Liliana had stepped outside, trying to get the stiffness out of her limbs. “Surely there must be a way to turn off your animist visions.”

Nissa had followed her out. “My abilities are not like some torch to be lit and unlit at a whim. I can’t just ‘turn them off.’”

“That’s impossible. You can’t possibly expect to constantly be having to listen to a world at all times like that. It would drive any person mad. Surely the other animists weren’t always engaging in this trance state all the time.”

If that were true, that Nissa was always listening to a world, then when did she ever have time for her own thoughts? Liliana could not possibly imagine a world where she could not have some form of personal time to herself. Something like that had to be incredibly taxing.

Nissa also seemed to be struggling with this idea. She shook her head. “You don’t understand. Even if there were a way for me to not go into a trance in sleep, I don’t know how to do it.”

“But, your people must’ve…”

“I’m the last of the animists on Zendikar. By the time I was born, there were no others. I had no one to teach me how to use my gifts. Zendikar has always shown me what I needed to know.”

That was something Liliana was not expecting. She had seen firsthand some of the things Nissa could do. The world moved to her command. When she called for it, the world would even become a living creature under her control. And while she had only seen a small portion of it on Innistrad, Jace had explained some of what Nissa could do to the leylines of a world, at least, as far as he understood it. All the while, Nissa had simply been able to do these things with no guidance? That was both impressive and scary.

“You’re entirely self-taught,” she said, not realizing she was voicing that thought aloud.

Nissa raised an eyebrow. “Yes...and you weren’t?”

“You really never explored the multiverse much, did you?” Liliana said with a hint of a smile. “Then again, I suppose our mutual friends weren’t exactly typical in that sense. People like Jace, Chandra, Gideon, and yourself were born with your abilities. It never surprised you to always wield them because they were always there. But a lot of the planeswalkers I knew obtained their power from learning their skills from other sources.”

It had been a long time since she had thought of her earlier years as a planeswalker. Often she tried to forget them. Back then, she had been much weaker, naive, and not as careful.

“I picked up necromancy as a way to conquer death in my attempts to be a better healer, but even after that, I knew I had only the fundamentals at my disposal. When the multiverse opened up to me, I saw the opportunity to learn more than I could ever dream about. I had a great many teachers in that time, most of whom I killed so that they could never reveal their secrets to others, but they were gifted in their time.”

Nissa shook her head, a look of disgust on her face at the mention of murder. “This won’t help us now,” she said, likely avoiding what was really on her mind. “The point is, I can’t just stop an unconscious connection to a world.”

“I tend to disagree. I think you can. The problem is that you’ve never tried. If there was one thing I learned from my many mentors, it is that magic is mostly driven by effort. You attempt to achieve what it is you desire, and more than likely, you can succeed with enough effort. Zendikar may have given you the nudge in the right direction you needed, but ultimately, you had to attempt for yourself to make things happen, right?”

She seemed to think it over, as if debating whether what Liliana said were even possible. “And just how would I go about doing that?” she asked.

This was where things tended to get tricky. Every mage had different ways of working their powers, different patterns, different ticks, different ways of thinking altogether. How was Liliana supposed to know what would work with something like this? More importantly, she had never really been much of a teacher herself when it came to these things. How was she supposed to even explain it?

Eventually, she answered with what she assumed would be the best course of action: simplicity. One of the most important lessons she had learned when she first began researching necromancy was that simplicity was best. To over-complicate a spell was to waste extra energy for a low payoff. Perhaps the same concept could work here.

“You simply need to direct all your focus and energy into not wanting to make a connection with Theros. Focus solely on entering your own subconscious and not the consciousness of the world. In other words, stay in your own head.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

“Then we may need to leave Theros altogether and go somewhere else until we have a better plan. I suppose that is an option now if you really think this isn’t possible.”

Nissa gazed at her intently, as if searching for an answer that was just out of her reach, one Liliana could not provide. At last, she said, “It’s worth trying.”

Liliana stayed close as Nissa attempted to simply sleep and nothing more. After all, if it did not work, they would be faced with yet another undead army. But it seemed that her plan may have worked, at least, she assumed it did. Nissa had been asleep for longer than she had the previous day, and Liliana took that as a cue that something had worked. Now it was time to start putting her own plan into motion.

She still made sure not to go too far away, but if she intended to make something work, she was going to have to find what she needed. She began walking through the forest, finding the terrain extremely uncomfortable under her shoes. Of all the places the elf had to pick to save a world, she thought.

It was not the worst choice, though. Given where they were, she was likely to find what she needed, provided she was not disturbed. She could already sense his presence behind her.

“I get the feeling that you do these things just to spite me,” the Raven Man said. “Is that what this is really about? Do you just hate me that much?”

“That would imply that I actually care anything about what you have to say to me,” Liliana said, knowing that ignoring him was pointless.

“I’m a bit wounded by that,” he answered. “Have I ever steered you wrong before?”

She clenched her teeth, wondering why he had not driven her mad years ago. All the incessant talking, conniving, and lying to her. It was wearing on anyone. “Need I mention the Chain Veil?” she snapped.

“Oh, that. Well, I can see why you would be mad about that, but of course, you know that the only reason I give you these gentle nudges in the right direction is for your own self-preservation. Did it not grant you limitless power? Did it not protect you from some of the most powerful forces out there? Remember Emrakul? You would not have been able to even look at the eldrazi were it not for that. So, I’d say I did you a favor there.”

At last, she found what she was looking for, and she kneeled down to examine her find. It was big enough, definitely a lot of muscle tissue still intact, limbs looked sturdy enough for what she wanted. It would do just fine. She only half-listened to the Raven Man’s ramblings. When she stood, she answered him.

“My self-preservation? Just what exactly is it that you want to use me for? That seems to be the question that you never want to answer. What purpose did you have for me?”

Again, he brushed her question off. “All in due time, my dear.”

“Over two-hundred years wasn’t enough time?”

“I promise, you will find out when the time is right.”

Liliana sighed. “So, why do you continue to bother me before then? We’re clearly at an impasse. I won’t listen to you, nor do I care to. So, why bother wasting your breath?”

By now, they had come back to the tree. Nissa was still asleep inside, which was a good sign, she reasoned. Nothing had come after them yet.

The Raven Man’s eyes narrowed. “Because you insist on putting yourself in situations that require my help and advice. You are determined to bring about your own end.”

“Because of Nissa? I think we already crossed that bridge when I defied Bolas. What makes you so certain that I don’t want to bring about my own end?”

“Because I know you better than that. Your little moment with Bolas was a fluke, something I wasn’t expecting. But now that it has passed, you have had a little clarity now, at least, I hoped you had. You continue on with the animist, and you will take yourself down with her.”

"Why? Because you tell me she's such a danger? I'm pretty sure if you were to ask my own enemies, they would consider me the danger."

The Raven Man entered the tree, crossing over to where Nissa lay. He kneeled down, close enough to touch her. She did not notice his presence, her body still and calm.

"I say so because you have no idea what she is capable of, nor do I think she does herself. She can twist and bend the leylines of a world, changing the very fabric of reality if she chose. You saw what Emrakul could do to Innistrad, but the eldrazi could only do that to the living on the world. The animist could do that to everything."

It was a terrifying idea on the surface, Liliana thought. Even worse, after what she heard today, Nissa was a prodigy when it came to learning her craft almost entirely on her own. With enough trial and error, the future the Raven Man suggested would not be far off.

He continued. "It is impressive how much power the animists can wield, and yet, it comes with one caveat. In a trance state, they are at their most vulnerable. Their mind so deeply connected to a world, they leave their physical body completely exposed to whatever awaits them."

Liliana stood her ground and raised her voice. "Touch one hair on her head, and I'll…"

He stood up, quickly backing away from Nissa. "Oh, I'm not going to do anything. That's not how I work. But if you're smart, you will know what to do. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were fond of her."

Liliana was shaking. Why was she shaking, she wondered? This was not her, but in that instant, she knew she was ready to throttle him if she needed to. The Raven Man chuckled.

"No, I get it now. You see a little of yourself in her. You think you might even become a mentor to her. How quaint. Stupid, but I admire your foolish optimism. She doesn’t even trust you."

"Leave!" Liliana said, punctuating that statement with a growl.

"As you wish," he said, disappearing in a flurry of feathers.

Nissa bolted up, eyes wide and her forehead covered in sweat. Had she heard the conversation? No, that was impossible. The Raven Man could only be seen by her. No one knew of him. He was her problem.

"Well, it seems you were actually able to sleep well," Liliana said, unsure what to say, and trying not to sound like she had just had an argument with an invisible force. "I take it, my advice helped."

Nissa seemed so distant, her mind working on a different level altogether. "There was...I saw...it was awful. Flames everywhere. I couldn't…"

"Relax, it was only a nightmare. It's probably been so long since you've actually been in your own dreams to recognize…" Liliana began, attempting at her best soothing voice. She clearly never honed this skill.

"No, I know what a nightmare is!" she shouted. "This wasn't...I don't know what it was, but I wasn't in control. It wasn't something I did."

She started to stand up, her body still quivering, and started to leave.

"Where are you going?" Liliana started, trying to grab her arm. "Let's talk about this. Nissa, please."

"I need time away," Nissa said quickly, slipping out of her grasp.

She hustled away, leaving Liliana even more confused. "I'm so glad I left the comfort of Fiora for this," she muttered, starting to follow after her.

Chapter Text

Despite how unsteady she felt, Nissa hardly missed a step as she ran back to the river, her mind still lost in the nightmare. Her skin still tingled and stung as if the flames were still burning. This was no ordinary dream gone awry, she knew. There was something too real about it.

She immediately got to her knees when she reached the riverbed, dipping her hands into the cool water, and running it over her face and arms. It helped her clear her mind as well as soothe the burning sensation on her skin. It had not been real, she kept telling herself. It had just felt real, very real, and that scared her the most.

She had been back on Ravnica, the war raging as it had been before. Blue, skeletal eternals were descending on the city, pulling the life out of any planeswalker they could find. Any citizens of Ravnica were just collateral damage. She had to do something. She had raised Vitu-Ghazi, the tree at the center of the Selesnya Conclave as an elemental to fight Bolas. She had been only marginally successful as the tree-beast toppled the great statue Bolas has erected for himself. But in one fell swoop, the dragon had sent the elemental crashing to the grown, snapped like a twig. It had all happened just as she remembered it.

This time, Nissa knew what the consequences of her actions meant. The people of Ravnica, the Selesnyans especially, would resent her for what she had done to the central object of their worship. She had been a force of pure destruction in the wake of only more destruction. She wished she could go back and change it all. There had to have been another way.

What was different this time was that Chandra had been there to watch it all. Nissa felt her stomach drop. The look of disappointment, disdain, and rage on her face was enough to make her feel guilty. She wanted to explain. She wanted to have Chandra understand her, to tell her things would be okay. Instead, she sent a wall of flames at her.

Normally, such a shock should have woken Nissa up. But as the flames engulfed her, she only felt the burn of her skin. She screamed in agony, the sensation of pain feeling all too real. But through the flames, through the pain, she could see a figure. It was grey and eerie, not all too unlike the undead creatures who had been hunting her on Theros. It was dressed all in black, its cloak flowing in whisps, as if the figure was made of dust. It was its head that was the most bizarre. The lower half of the face was human, square and strong, but also delicate and soft, neither male nor female. The upper half of the head was two, twisting, black horns. The dream had already been terrifying enough, but this figure was on another level. Despite the burn on her skin, this figure sent an icy chill through her heart.

It was nothing she could have conjured from her own imagination, and that was the first sign that told Nissa she had not created this dream herself. Despite her efforts to follow Liliana’s advice and try to not make a connection with Theros, something else had taken control, and it was laying bare all her insecurities.

The ethereal figure strode to her, the flames having no effect on it. Meanwhile, she struggled to stand, her skin starting to blacken and peel. The pain was starting to overcome her. The figure said nothing, but with one hand, cupped her chin, and with the other, pierced her heart with one of its long, claw-like fingers. That was what had finally woken her up and took her out of the agony.

Nissa was still shaking as she kneeled by the riverbed, unable to get any of those images out of her mind. She felt so out of control in this situation, and she had no explanation for what had happened. Eventually, she lay down in the grass along the river, allowing her body to finally just collapse. She took in deep gulps of air as the sun beat down on her.

She already knew Liliana had followed her. She had heard her footsteps behind her, but Nissa did not have the energy to answer her.

“I have been pretty patient about this whole little adventure,” she began. “I have asked for nothing in return for agreeing to go with you. But now, I feel as though I am owed an explanation.”

Nissa tried to find words, but could not. Just thinking about anything else at all felt draining. But Liliana was patient and waited her out. Eventually, she had no choice but to speak.

"I tried to do what you said. I tried thinking about anything else, just to sleep. And, maybe it did work. I don't know. But that dream, that wasn't my doing. It was too real, and that figure there. I couldn't have come up with something that elaborate." The shaking started coming back to her limbs. "Something, someone is taking over."

She turned her head towards Liliana when she did not answer. She seemed to be contemplating it.

"Mages like Jace who meddle in memories are not exactly easy to come by. Someone who could mess with dreams, that would have to be extremely rare." She did not say more on the subject. Her tone became stern, almost scolding as she changed directions. "But that is not what I mean. Why are we really here, Nissa?"

Nissa had already grown exhausted with this conversation once back on Fiora, but she understood it. What reason did they have to trust each other? Of course, she was going to be suspicious.

"I already told you. I swear I am not lying. Theros is…"

"Yes, yes, I'm well aware of our objective here," she interrupted, "but I don't understand why. Why here? Why bring me into it? Were you genuinely not interested in just staying on Zendikar? Why did we really come here?"

Nissa shook her head. "I can't...I don't want to talk about it."

Liliana sat down in the grass, crossing her legs casually, as if this were just typical small talk. Still, her face was more serious, knowing that this conversation was more than that. To Nissa, it was as if the necromancer was silently debating with herself, and she only hoped that she would not continue to press further.

Liliana looked down and muttered quietly, "I wanted to die, you know?"

Nissa sat up. This wasn't the Liliana she was familiar with. There was no insincerity in her voice, not the way she was used to hearing.

"What do you mean?"

When Liliana spoke, it was not with the same smoothness or confidence she usually had. She paused between sentences, as if fighting herself on just what to say.

"Back on Ravnica, when I turned the zombies against Bolas. I knew what that would do to me. I wanted that. I spent all my life serving others. I thought it would be worth the power and benefits, and that I could always find a way out of it and be free.

"But then I thought about how much of my life I had spent trying to get out of those situations. I had everything: immense power, immortality, eternal youth. Yet, what good was it if I had to keep fighting to get out of the slavery that brought me all of that. The only freedom I would know would be in death, and I wanted that."

Nissa shifted uneasily. She could not imagine being that desperate, needing to die just for a taste of freedom. True, Liliana had brought it on herself by making bargains with demons, but she had known such creatures. They could offer one's most desperate desires.

Liliana shook her head with an uneasy chuckle. "And then that fool, Gideon had to ruin it. I could have died, could have finally been away from anyone's clutches. I was willing to take whatever awaited me after, but he had to be a hero. I would have been away from my demons, from Bolas, from the Chain Veil, from…" She stopped, as if frightened to say the next thing. "He erased my debts and left me to rot under the influence of the veil."

"He probably didn't realize that," Nissa interrupted.

Liliana did not seem to hear. "And never once did he explain why. What made me worth saving? I suppose he always had to justify why I was part of the Gatewatch to himself. He had to see the good in me. What a waste of time that was."

"I don't think it was that at all," Nissa said.

This time, she listened. She stopped and gave Nissa a confused look. She tried to explain, words tumbling out before she could think them through.

"Gideon didn't always try to see the good in everyone. He saw our vulnerability. He knew that by ourselves, we were…were scared and alone. He knew why we needed each other. I think that's what he saw in you, that you needed more time here with us."

"Funny way of showing that," she scoffed. She stopped, shaking her head, as if she didn't believe that answer. "My point is that I came here because I thought that if I could see where he came from, maybe I'd understand him better."

Nissa became silent again, knowing what Liliana was trying to do. A tightness began building inside her chest, threatening to crush her from the inside. She wanted to say nothing. A part of her still foolishly believed that if she did not say anything, it would keep it from being a reality. At the same time, she knew Liliana would not leave her alone until she explained. She also knew that perhaps it was best. It was clearly obscuring her focus.

"After I helped mend Zendikar, I wanted to reconnect with my people, the Joraga," she started.

"The same people who avoided and shunned you. Why would you want to go back to them?"

A breeze swept over the golden grass. Nissa watched as it made the grass sway. She let the blades dance through her fingers.

"Not all of them were like that. I still had family, friends at one time, who were there. I thought going back would be good for me. I could...I'm not sure, be more used to people."

Liliana was patient, Nissa would give her that. She was listening quietly and only asked questions to coax more out of her. She hated that, but she had to admit, it made the tight knot in her chest feel a little lighter.

"So, what happened? They didn't take you back? Still afraid of you?"

Nissa remembered how Numa, the chief, had looked at her when she first arrived. There was shock, to be sure. No one expected her to still be alive. But there was still the fear in his eyes, the way they darted around, looking for an excuse to tell her to leave. But times were different. She had saved Zendikar from the Eldrazi. People had seen that.

And then there had been Mazik. She had expected to find old friends, but never once did it cross her mind about what she would do when she found them. Of course, she had been happy to see him again, and he was overjoyed to see her. Had it not been for him, she may have left under Numa's suspicious gaze.

Yet, Nissa still felt strange being around Mazik. So many years had passed since she had last seen him, so many things she wanted to say. He had changed so little in that time. True, he was perhaps more mature, not as prone to finding trouble. No, she was the one who was different. Mazik wanted their friendship to continue on as if she had never left. Nissa had no idea how to tread through the canyon of distance between them now, and she knew it worried him that they could hardly talk with each other. Plus, Mazik seemed to look at her the same way Chandra had. How long before she messesd that friendship up too?

"No, I mean, some of them were unsure of me, but I was welcomed back. It was just that I wasn't ready for all the things that have changed. It had been so long since I had been part of a tribe. I don't know how to be a part of a group, of a family."

Liliana looked her in the eye, a hint of uncertainty in that look. She hesitated before asking her next question. "Your mother...she was still part of that tribe when you left right?"

Nissa clutched the grass tighter as a lump formed in her throat. "She's gone," was all she could say.

"You couldn't find her there, or…?"

She shook her head, trying so hard to fight back tears.

"When Ulamog was first awakened, it destroyed Bala Ged, the home of the elves. Very few elves survived the attack. I always suspected that she never made it after that. I thought I had already accepted that, and that I could handle the inevitable. But when I came back to the Joraga, I learned that it was true."

Nissa had said little to Mazik in the time she had been back, but one of the first questions she asked was about her mother. Mazik had to tell her the truth, and it had stung. She thought she had prepared herself for that possibility. Knowing it was a reality, that changed everything.

"I never got the chance to tell her I was sorry. She always tried to tell me my powers were a gift, and I never would listen," Nissa said, a few stray tears falling from her eyes. "I think she always thought I resented her for bringing me into all this. Maybe I did, but I never had the chance to show her that I had learned to accept my abilities for what they were. I feel so…"

"Alone," Liliana finished for her. "You lost the last person who really understood you, and now you realize how alone you really are, even when surrounded by people."

She had moved closer to her, and this time, Nissa did nothing when Liliana's pale hand reached around her in a comforting gesture. "You understand that feeling too," Nissa said.

"On Dominaria, the once noble house of Vess is now a forgotten memory, a ghost story they tell to amuse children. There is no one there for me anymore."

"And it was all my fault," Nissa continued, the words spilling out of her before she had a chance to stop herself. "I'm the one who released the Eldrazi. I'm the reason she's gone.

Just like that, the hand holding her vanished. Liliana almost reflexively pulled away from her. "You did what?" she said, for once, a hint of surprise in her voice.

Nissa clutched at her knees, trying to make herself smaller. "I'm the one who released the Eldrazi from their prison on Zendikar. I wanted to help my world, but instead, I only made things worse."

She buried her face into her knees, letting out the tears she had been holding back. Surprisingly, she was thankful Liliana said nothing, did nothing. Nissa did not think that any attempt at words of comfort or a physical gesture of sympathy would have felt right, not for either of them. Liliana only stayed there, listening to her muffled sobs until there was nothing left in her.

“You must think I’m pretty foolish for it,” Nissa said, finding a voice again. “If it hadn’t been for me, your home on Innistrad would have been fine.”

Liliana sat up, a little surprised by Nissa finally speaking once more. “Releasing world-ending entities that only live for destruction in the hopes they would do something other than that?” she said sarcastically. “Not the brightest idea in the world, but you’re talking to the person who led an undead army on behalf of an egotistical tyrant of a dragon to destroy all of Ravnica. We all do things for a reason. It’s just living with the consequences that’s the hardest.” She paused, taking the edge out of her tone. “Nothing can make facing those consequences any easier. We just have to move on.”

Nissa started to say something, but she was not sure how to word it. There was just so much to this...people thing, she thought. Were it Ashaya, it would be easy to express the complex mix of emotions she held in her. But to find words to express the...what would she call it? Forgiveness? Not exactly that, but something similar.

Liliana seemed to catch on to the meaning. “Empty forgiveness from you won’t change things. I did what I did to protect myself.”

She shrugged. “That’s honestly a natural response,” she said very genuinely.

There was a slight quiver in Liliana’s voice after that. It was as if she were the one who did not know how to respond now. “I’m...I’m sorry about your mother,” she said. “Family was a bit more complicated for me, but she seems to have been incredibly important to you. The people who knew you before you were a planeswalker are always the most important.”

“So, what do we do now? I dragged you all the way out here because I wanted to run away from my own problems.”

Liliana chuckled. “Welcome to the club. I’ve been doing that for as long as I can remember.” She stood up, offering a hand to Nissa. “I’ve been doing some thinking on our predicament. You said that the deeper into an unconscious state you go, the longer it takes for the gods to recognize your presence?”

Nissa was not sure where this was going. “Yes, but being asleep is the closest to that I get. Anything deeper, and I would have to be…” She looked Liliana in the eye, a sinking feeling forming within her. “No,” she said firmly.

“What?” Liliana said, feigning ignorance.

“I know exactly what you’re suggesting, and I’m not doing it.”

The necromancer halted her in her tracks. “It’s not as though I’m going to literally kill you.” She fished something out of a pocket sewn into her dress. It looked like a dried leaf. “This herb will put you into a death-like state for about half a day. You’ll come out of it easily, not like the little mushroom you ate that actually did kill you.”

Nissa’s expression was one of confusion and wonder. How on earth could she possibly know?

As if reading her mind, Liliana answered. “I work with death every day. You have the aura about you that tells me you’ve died before. And yes, I’ve been to Zendikar before, mostly to study deadly poisons. Your people’s little ritual of eating the fungus and being brought out of death is a neat little trick, but it’s also incredibly stupid. Do you realize how close to actually being dead you would have been?”

“I came out of it.”

“By sheer luck,” she responded. “This is a bit more controlled, and I know exactly how it works, no guessing.”

She thought about it. It was dangerous, to be sure, but as Liliana had pointed out, she had done far riskier things. But if it worked...then they might have a chance.

“Let’s say I did what you asked. If I’m in that much of an unconscious state, then there is no getting out of that situation if the gods send their forces after us.”

Liliana’s pace became more brisk. “I had a feeling you would say that. I do think your little trick with making the cave more of a hill worked to an extent. It took them longer to find you. However, I think we can do one better.”

“You’re going to bury me.”

She gestured across the way to the figure standing under a tree in front of them. “Oh, I’m not going to bury you, but he will.”

Nissa never liked to get a closer look at the corpses Liliana could raise. They already made her uncomfortable enough. But the undead centaur standing before her made that feeling even worse. His face was almost completely rotted away, leaving only a few remaining tendons holding his jaw in place. Bits of his haunches were torn away, and from the markings, it may have been the slashes of some wild creature. Still, he looked sturdier than some of her other zombies, but it did not do anything for the nausea she was feeling.

“It’s not one of the ones that’s been following us, right?”

“No, remember what I said about how the dead are different here. The things that follow us are the souls of these people trapped in an artificial body. I work with actual flesh. This is just a remaining corpse. I’ve already taken the liberty of having him build you a coffin. It will be big enough for you to have enough air until he digs you up again. If everything goes according to plan, we won’t need to worry. You’ll be so deep in a trance, they won’t notice you at all. And if for some reason they do, well, it’ll take them a while to figure out where you are. Never trust the dead to be that smart.”

Nissa crossed her arms, her face in a hard line. This did not feel right for all the right reasons. And yet, there was a glimmer of hope in this crazy plan. “You’re going to do this to me either way, aren’t you.”

“It’s either this or leave Theros for good,” she said. “That’s your call."

Liliana had warned her there would be pain. The herb would cause all of her muscles to seize, as if she were dead. She would actually feel her heart nearly stop as it slowed down to give the appearance of death. It would be sudden and unpleasant. And Liliana was not wrong. Nissa wanted to scream when the shock hit her body, but nothing would move, and before she could totally let the panic set in, she was gone.

Nissa had expected to just go into a deeper unconsciousness, to still be the fly on the wall in Nyx. Instead, she was somewhere incredibly unfamiliar to her. She stood at the edge of a river, but it did not look ordinary. The water was almost foggy, a white mist flowing through it, brief shimmers of clear coming through every so often.

The sky was vastly different too. Perhaps the best way to describe it was to say that there was no sky at all. It was dark, but there were no clouds, no stars, nothing but a black expanse, yet she could see despite the darkness.

She turned to look behind her to see a shimmering wall. It was a lot like the Hekma of Amonkhet, a barrier that protected from threats on the other side. The question was, was she protected from the outside because of it, or was she on the side of the danger? Her question was about to be answered when she saw one of the undead husks shamble by her. At first, she thought she had already been found by the gods, but the body kept moving, passing her by as if she did not exist.

Looking around, she noticed that there were a great many of them, marching in small herds through the shimmering barrier. Whatever that wall was supposed to do, it clearly was not working, she thought. As easily as the undead passed through it, it made her wonder what its function was.

Since they were not interested in her, she determined that wherever she was, she was safe, for now. Instead, she wanted to know more about the barrier. She went closer to inspect it. Just as she was about to touch it, a voice resonated from within her skull.

“Leaving the realm of the dead so soon, Worldwaker?”

She spun around, alert as ever, searching for the source of the mental intrusion. But she did not have to look far. Standing before her was a massive satyr. She wore the long, flowing tunics of the people of Theros, bits of the cloth shining with stars woven into them. She was made of Nyx. She was a god.

Her horns wove around her head, creating a large and imposing crown around her. White, thread-like hair flowed and wound around her horns freely like loose strings in the wind.. In one hand she carried a peculiar hourglass and a spear in the other.

Her expression was hard to read. Her eyes were covered by a cloth, and on either side of her head were two golden masks, the kind that these dead husks wore to resemble their past lives. It confused Nissa. Was this god dead?

She shook her head. “You’re not Erebos,” Nissa stated. “So, why are you here?”

The god stiffened. “You dare ask a god that question when you do not belong here at all?”

She tried again. “What I mean is, who are you? I have never seen you before, at least not among the other gods.”

“I am she who guards the strands of fate. I stand as the barrier between life and death, between the destructive titans and mortal kind. I am Klothys, the near-forgotten god.” She leaned closer, bending down to Nissa’s level. “And I do not take kindly to those who disrupt fate. So, now it is your turn to answer me. Why are you here, Speaker of the Worlds?”

Nissa took a chance, deciding to explore this god further. She let her mind connect with Theros here, searching for the leylines that made up Klothys. She seemed to let Nissa search her, and she could not sense the same rigidity she found in Kefnet on Amonkhet. This was not a figure of malevolent force, at least not as far as she could tell.

“I have nothing to hide,” the god said. “I am made of the same threads that make up everything in this world. I keep them carefully aligned. But I grow weary of your insistence to hide from me. Why are you here?”

“Something is wrong with this world,” Nissa said, knowing she had nothing to lose. “The gods war with each other, and the land feels strange and out of balance as a result. I came to find out why.”

Klothys stood back to her full height. “Surely you know what is happening by now. The war these gods wage disrupts the strings of fate, of this world. Nothing is as it should be.”

“But why? Why is this happening, and what can we do to stop it?”

Klothys, though she could not see, as far as Nissa could tell, gazed over at the hordes of dead walking to the barrier.

“Your kind happened, Worldwaker,” she answered. “The travelers of worlds came, and Helios learned of their power, of what they were capable of. He learned the truth of his own fragile existence, and it frightened him. Now, he is determined to solidify his rule over Nyx and the mortal realm. He wages war with any gods who object. Erebos, in his anger, has forgotten his responsibility to the dead, and now this happened.”

She pointed at the dead walking through the wall. “Now, the dead are choosing to escape their fate, and there is nothing to be done about it. The threads of fate are in disarray.”

“But you are the guardian of fate, why can’t you do anything about it?”

“I have sent my agents of fate to try and realign everything,” her voice boomed, making Nissa cover her ears in response. “But the threads are so far unwound, it is doing very little.”

Nissa looked up. “What can we do?”

Klothys shook her head. “There is not much. Provided that the new strands of fate align, this might be over soon, though at great cost. But there is one thing you can do from your position. Setessa is in grave danger. Helios threatens to decimate the land in his bid for power. You must stop him before more fates become unwound.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know exactly what Liliana and I can do to stop that, but we can try.”

“Do more than try, Speaker of the Worlds, fight!”

Nissa’s eyes fluttered open just as the wooden lid of the coffin was lifted. She coughed and sputtered, but that was about all she could do. She still could not move.

“The paralysis will wear off in a little while,” Liliana said, looking her over. “For now, stay relaxed, and it will come back naturally. You did better than I expected. I've used this herb on former mentors of mine, and all in all, you handle it better than most.”

“So, that’s all we have to do, then,” Liliana said after Nissa relayed her experience. “Just stop an attack...just the two of us.”

She should have predicted that their little experiment would have put Nissa on the cusp of death, leading her to the edge of the underworld and not to Nyx. That actually proved better than she had planned. They were at least able to learn what they came after this way, but it produced a new wrinkle in the situation.

“I suppose if I found enough corpses and you called upon your little elementals, we could stand a chance,” she continued. “Finding dead bodies out here, though… So many scavengers to ruin perfectly good bodies.”

Liliana glanced over to see Nissa thinking pensively, her eyes looking distant. “Are you listening?” she asked, the comment hardly disturbing Nissa’s concentration. “We need to make a plan if we hope to survive.”

For the briefest of moments, Liliana actually thought Nissa was starting to be a little different, starting to branch out of the quiet, meek follower she had always been. But now, it seemed that she was returning to that. She shook her head.

“I’m not much of a planner. That was always,” she stopped, looking as if she were debating whether to say it or not. “That was always Gideon’s strength. Him and Jace both. They knew how to do that.”

“And do you see either of them here?” Liliana said callously, wincing as it came out of her mouth. The sarcasm tasted like bile as she realized how wrong it felt to speak about Gideon so flippantly. “It’s just you and me, now.”

Nissa’s brow furrowed. “We need to think like them. Jace would try and seek out a position where we are the most advantageous. And Gideon would want us to think about how to position our forces against…”

“Stop! Do you really know anything about that sort of thing? I’m not asking what Jace or Gideon would do. I’m asking, what would you do?”

Of course, Gideon would have organized them better. He would have been the one to decide how it should be done, while they just did what they did best. He just had to die, didn’t he? Had to be the hero once again. Yet, there was a part of her that wanted that again. If she could go back in time, or fix everything… She knew there were ways, but it was not going to be easy. It could be done, though.

The real question was should she? If she were able to bring him back, what would he say to her? What would she say to him? Would it have been worth it? It would not buy her forgiveness, she knew that much, but it could be a start.

She looked to Nissa, who still seemed dismissive. The elf looked out towards the horizon. “It doesn’t matter what I would do because I always mess things up. All I’m good at is being a walking disaster.”

Liliana glared at her, letting those words sink in, and slowly, the pieces began to come together. “Those don’t sound like your own words. That sounds more like… Is that what Chandra said to you?”

Nissa only gave the smallest of nods, not even looking at her. Liliana found the whole notion rather odd. If anything, the pyromancer was far more destructive in the nature of her powers, and her volatile mood swings. But more importantly, Liliana had been aware of Chandra’s feelings towards Nissa, or at least, had an inkling of them. Not like Chandra had ever been subtle. What would have happened to make her hurt Nissa like that?

Nissa sighed, hands moving unsuredly. “We always promised each other that when we didn’t understand each other or said the wrong thing, we would help each other through it. We would talk through it,” she said. “And this time, I can’t figure out what I said that was wrong. She just… One minute, I suggest she come to Zendikar with me, and the next… I don’t know. I just, I’m not good with this sort of thing, or anything.”

The last thing Liliana wanted to do was discuss personal matters, but it seemed as though she had been dragged into this whole situation without knowing the baggage Nissa was going to bring with them. She shook her head, wondering how she let herself get roped into this.

“I don’t think it’s something you did,” she said. “I think it’s more of a Chandra thing. There’s something going on, and she just needs time for herself to work it out on her own. Now, knowing her, there’s no telling how long that will take, but when she does figure it out, she’s probably going to regret what she said.”

Then again, things between Nissa and Chandra were complicated. Chandra was more straightforward, and it was easy to read her in a situation. Nissa was a different matter entirely. Perhaps there was one thing that might have frustrated Chandra about her.

“Did you…did you have an awareness of what it was Chandra wanted from you?” Liliana asked after much hesitation.

Nissa nodded awkwardly, seeming to be debating with herself how much she wanted to say. “Yes, well, mostly. I’m not as unaware as people might think. It may have taken me longer to understand it than I care to admit. It was a long time since I’ve been around people, but I finally understood it.”

“And, your thoughts on it?”

“Do you remember what I said about kinship being the most important thing to my people? A relationship like that, like what Chandra wanted, that is one of the strongest bonds you can have in my culture. It is not bound by blood and it’s not simple, by any means. It’s a friendship that exceeds all boundaries. It’s extremely powerful. Elves maybe form that kind of bond a handful of times in their life.”

Liliana scoffed. “A handful? You do know that humans prefer that to only be a one-time thing, right?”

She gave a half nod. “Again, it’s different. We’re not as bound by the rules or laws about it like human societies often do. It’s a bit more...fluid. But, it’s not something you just form overnight either. That kind of a kinship is something that takes years to grow. I almost had that once long before I became a planeswalker.”

“You do realize Chandra’s human. She doesn’t have the same kind of time you do.”

Her fingers still fidgeted. “I know, and I would have been willing to try and be more open to what Chandra wanted. It wouldn’t have been easy, but I would have tried. But, I never even got the chance to talk about that with her. We hardly had a chance to say anything, and she just told me how all I did was destroy things. I don’t...I don’t have any context for understanding this.”

The Raven Man’s warnings echoed in Liliana’s ears. Indeed, Nissa was a very destructive force, especially after she told her about releasing the Eldrazi. Her gifts could do so much damage in the wrong hands, and she was still too inexperienced to use them well. She was dangerous, but maybe dangerous was a good thing. It was the sort of power Liliana liked to weild.

Normally, Liliana would have relished in the thought that she had one of the most destructive forces in the multiverse right in the palm of her hand. This was someone she could use. Lately, that just did not feel right. After Ravnica, after Gideon, everything was different. So, what was she to make of the animist who could shake the multiverse to its core?

“She is right, though,” Liliana said at last. “You are a walking disaster.”

Nissa wilted at that, but Liliana continued. “A disaster is a force of nature that cannot be stopped, cannot be predicted, and cannot be controlled. But you’re a different kind of disaster. You’re the kind that decides when and where it happens. You can choose who to destroy and who to save.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked incredulously. “Do you think I want this? Do you think I want to be this terrible force of nature? Do you think I want to be like you?” She gasped as those final words tumbled out of her.

Liliana hardly flinched. “Exactly. You and I are both disasters. But I embrace what I am, and you know what I have because of it?”

“Power?”

She shook her head. “Control. You let your powers rule over you and I rule over mine. I am a disaster, and I can control exactly what I do with it. Now, it’s time we show these gods what kind of a disaster you can be.”

Liliana could see Nissa processing the thought, and for a brief moment, she saw that glint of ambition she had once had in her own eyes, one she could rekindle. Nissa glanced over to the horizon again, this time focusing on one of the green pods on the ground.

“You said you could sense death from them,” she said. “I have an idea.”

Chapter Text

Liliana looked down from her perch atop a rocky crag. The clear valley below was, indeed, going to be the easiest place for an army to march through. It was the only pathway they assumed they would have to take to Setessa. Nissa waited below, her eyes closed in concentration.

They had agreed that the safest place for Liliana to be was away from the action. Once Nissa tapped into the leylines, everything would be drawn to her. She would have the target painted on her back, meaning Liliana had to ensure she did not become a target.

“You think this will work?” Nissa called up to her.

“It’s the only thing we can try,” she answered. “You awaken the elemental part of these things, and I take over the corpse inside. We just have to hope that when you speed up their development, that doesn’t also speed up their decomposition.”

She gave her a worried look. “And if it does?”

“Then they’re entirely elementals, and you would be on your own. How much concentration can you put into this?”

Nissa’s feet shifted on the ground. She seemed to be in a silent conversation with the world. “It’s not like Zendikar. On my home plane, it’s effortless and I can awaken more elementals than you can count. Here, there will be some resistance. I can maybe hold onto my connection enough to handle a few, but not as many as we’re hoping for.”

“Then you’d better hope this works.”

They waited a few hours, keeping watch for any signs of movement. At first, Liliana was about to assume that they had been told the wrong information, or that they would be expected to wait on this so-called army for days. At last, she started to see something on the horizon. “Looks like they’re coming,” she said solemnly.

“How many?”

She strained to see further, but shook her head. “Too far away to tell for sure. But...they’re going the wrong way. They aren’t taking this path. We need to draw them here. You’ll need to do something now.”

Liliana could see Nissa visibly trying to collect herself. “Just be careful with them,” she called. “I feel everything they feel.”

With a deep breath, Nissa touched her staff to the ground. A shining, green, meander pattern of leylines began to make themselves visible. As the lines traced their pattern into the ground, they began to touch the green pods. The pods began to shake and writhe, and Liliana could see that Nissa strained for only a moment to call them to awaken. With a sickening pop, the pods began to burst, green ooze dripping from the hardened shell, and the creatures began to stand.

Liliana had been right. The beings inside the pods had once been dead. The shapes these elementals took was similar to whatever form they had once had in life. Centaurs, satyrs, human warriors, and even the corpse of a large wurm began to rise. Their bodies had been replaced by greenery. Long field grass and vines were now their forms, and they heard Nissa’s call to arms.

She looked over to the horizon again, noting that Heliod’s army had changed course and was heading for them. More elementals began to rise from the exposed pods. Liliana looked to see Nissa’s knees buckle and she began to sink to the ground. Her eyes were open now, glowing a bright green.

“You cannot hold onto them all at once!” Liliana called, hoping that in her animist state, she could still form conscious thought. “Relinquish control to me, and you can focus on awakening more.”

“Trying to,” she said through gritted teeth.

The leylines all seemed to converge at the point where Nissa stood, and Liliana was beginning to understand. She had no way to describe it perfectly, but it had a lot of similarities to a device she had seen crazed stitchers use on the outside of their labs. It was a lightning rod, and it absorbed all the electrical energy coming from a bolt of lightning in an effort to redirect it. That was what Nissa was doing. She was absorbing and redirecting all the energy of the land. Nissa had said that she could feel the pain of the land, and now Liliana believed it. The question was, just how strong was Nissa to be able to take that much.

All at once, Liliana felt a hum of energy in herself, and she knew what that meant. She could sense the dead nearby. Good, that meant that there was still a chance for her to take the lead on these elementals. She reached out her own necrotic energy deep into the grassy creatures. It was a bit hard at first, like wading through a murky swamp, but eventually, she found the locus point she wanted to hit.

The plant thralls shifted uneasily to her touch. Switching masters seemed to jar them for a moment. Still, she was able to take command easily enough. She gave them one single thought: protect your home. She pointed them in the direction of the oncoming army. They lurched forward as a single unit, the towering plants making the ground shake with their footfalls.

She did not want to admit it to Nissa, but she too wished the rest of their ragtag team could have been here. Just the two of them, their own energies were going to be incredibly spent. Jace could have at least kept telepathic communication between them instead of them having to shout back and forth to each other. Now, that was not even going to be an option, not with both of them trying to concentrate on their task.

Chandra could have provided enough firepower to hold off the army until it was absolutely necessary. She would have easily gone toe to toe with whatever came after them. And yes, Gideon wout have been invaluable to the team. They would not have had to throw this whole plan together at the last minute if he were here. She needed to bring him back. She could do it, she thought. She had to.

For now, she would settle for pounding Heliod’s army into the ground. As they approached, Liliana was able to see exactly what they were working with. The armies of the gods were not exactly of mortal making. Liliana had only ever heard of this phenomenon, but had never actually seen it with her own eyes. Each of these soldiers seemed to be no different than any other living creature. Most of them were human warriors, clad in bronze armor. A few were of differing species: a phalanx of centaurs, armored birds, and a few others in the mix. But what made them unique was that they seemed to shine and sparkle like the stars themselves. And that’s when Liliana realized, they were not actually mortals, but made from Nyx itself.

They would have to hope for the best. Liliana knew she had little to worry about. They did not notice, nor care to notice her. It was the living lightning rod in the middle of the valley they were after. She could feel her grasp on more elementals as Nissa awakened even more of them. Time to take action.

As the first few began to barrel down the hill towards the valley, Liliana was already waiting for them with the first wave of her undead elementals. The wurm was perfect for blocking the line, slithering through the field and making the armies have to climb over it to keep moving. Next, she flanked them with what she believed may have once been two human warriors. They were hulking elementals now, and that was even better. They began to pound at the crawling armies, sinking several of them into the ground. For the handful of elementals she had, they could each take out a dozen or more of the Nyxborn armies.

But they were relentless too. Not being mortal, they did not feel pain or experience injuries the way ordinary beings would. As they were knocked down, they began to stir once more. Those hammered into the ground took a little longer, but they too began to pull themselves up to continue their march closer towards Nissa.

This made Liliana uneasy. How were they supposed to fight off these things if they could not kill them? These were worse than zombies. At a certain point, you could tear apart a zombie until there was very little for a necromancer to control. But these were not that. Being pawns of the gods, they were made of tougher stuff.

At this point, Liliana wondered what exactly they were supposed to do to protect Setessa. If the armies of the gods were unstoppable, then what was the point? Hold them off as long as they could? That was only just prolonging the inevitable. Had this Klothys led them astray? That could be likely, given who they were dealing with. The gods here could not be trusted.

Even more were coming over the hills, rushing to take out the threat with a chilling battle cry. Liliana urged more of her undead to throttle them. With more and more elementals awakening, she was starting to build her own small army. However, they needed to do better than that.

Some were starting to rush past the elementals. “Could use a little help here,” Liliana called.

Nissa’s head tilted, and at the movement, a former minotaur, now turned to a towering plant monster, punched the air. Upon doing so, the arm of the beast began to grow outward, vines and leaves stretching at a rapid pace until the leafy fist caught up to the approaching armies, knocking them to the ground. That was more like it, Liliana thought. With her at the helm and Nissa making the elementals act accordingly, they could at least play this game for a little longer. The question was how much longer?

She looked to see that Nissa was down to her hands and knees, one hand gripping the staff tightly, trying to hold it in place. She was not holding up well. And as the armies tried to hack and slash at the elementals, Liliana knew that Nissa could probably feel every one of those blades all at once. She would not last much longer like this, and then they would have nothing.

There was no time to think of other plans. Liliana had to focus on controlling the undead minds of the elementals. She had started to form a small wall of plant life around Nissa, which definitely proved to be a good blockade for now. It at least kept out the larger portion of the armies until Liliana could dispatch them herself.

By the time Liliana spotted them, it was too late. A small group of Nyxborn soldiers had slipped through her line, just out of reach. She commanded one of the elementals to go after them, but its lumbering body was taking too long to turn around. They were heading straight for Nissa. She remembered what the Raven Man had said. In an animist state, Nissa was as sure as dead if attacked.

She started to run down from her perch on the hill, knowing all the while that it would be pointless. In fact, she was not even sure why she was this concerned over it. She could have almost laughed. Imagine; her actually caring about someone else other than herself.

She was no match for them. They were actual soldiers, running at a full sprint, and her in her Fioran outfit trying clumsily to run was not going to come anywhere near catching up to them. She stopped, and tried to shout to get Nissa’s attention. At least she could hear her, she knew. Maybe that would be enough warning.

Just as the first soldier reached her and made to put his blade between her shoulders, Nissa stood bolt upright, her own sword pulled from her staff. She parried the attack almost effortlessly, quickly whipping around to drive her sword into the soldier’s throat. This seemed to have an effect on the Nyxborn. A black bile spilled from the wound before it collapsed. Nissa turned and faced the other approaching soldiers one by one. She made short work of them too. She kicked one so that he turned and drove his own spear into his comrade. Another she sliced through his jaw, down to his neck. And another fell to the ground with a sickening crack of bones as she struck her chest with the butt of her sword.

This was rather impressive, Liliana thought. She had never known Nissa to be this ruthless in a fight, but if that was the way they were going to have to fight, who was she to judge? Still, something did not feel right about it. Something did not look right.

As Nissa snapped the neck of an oncoming Nyxborn boar, Liliana was able to see what it was that felt wrong. Nissa may have been strong in her own right, but to have this much awareness in an animist state and fight like she was, just felt unnatural. As her cloak billowed in the wind, Liliana spotted something strange. Nissa no longer seemed to be entirely herself, certainly not entirely made of flesh anymore. For the briefest of seconds, Liliana noticed the trace of stars in Nissa’s outline.

As she got closer to the fray, she could understand better. Nissa’s eyes were no longer the glowing green of her animist powers. They had been replaced with the stars of Nyx itself. That may have been Nissa’s body fighting back, but that was not her inside of it.

Being very familiar with all forms of magic involving the dead, possession was not something that Liliana was unused to. Ghosts could sometimes inhabit a body temporarily to convey a message to others. Ghoulcallers and Stitchers on Innistrad could infuse the dead with temporary souls to get them to obey. But to watch an entire world take possession of a single being...now that was spectacular. The soul of Theros itself had taken root within Nissa.

It had taken out at least two dozen of the soldiers by itself before Liliana snapped out of it and took control of the elementals once more to fend off the rest. That was harder now. The tug of Theros was stronger now that it had been awakened, making Liliana’s commands to the elementals a little slower to process, and this did not seem to bother Theros one bit. It continued to fight, using Nissa’s body to finish them off as they came.

Liliana kept trying to inch closer, knowing that this madness would have to stop before it was too late. And it seemed that the rest of the gods knew this too. A rumble of thunder from above, followed by the sizzling crack of lightning made all of the Nyxborn stop in their tracks. Nissa’s star-filled eyes gazed up at the clouds, also sensing the change of tone.

Quickly, the Nyxborn army began to turn around, heading the other direction. For a moment, Liliana was worried that the gods had figured out their plan and were now avoiding them to go back to attacking Setessa. Instead, as they neared the top of the hill, they started to vanish, leaving the mortal realm for good, at least for now. Liliana had no idea what, but she sensed something big had happened, something far away from wherever they were.

But Theros did not seem to quit. Even as the soldiers left them, Nissa chased them down, striking any who were within reach. Liliana turned to head back to her. Something had to be done.

She approached cautiously, not wanting to find herself on the wrong end of Nissa’s sword. Theros’ rage had not seemed to be quenched as it slaughtered more Nyxborn in front of her. Liliana found the strength to call it out.

“Enough!” Liliana shouted.

With eerie, unnatural smoothness, Nissa’s body turned towards her, finally acknowledging her presence. Those dark eyes now made of the night sky just did not look right on the youthful elven face of Nissa. The glare in them as they sized her up, trying to decide if she was worth killing too also did not help. Liliana had to act quickly.

“You need to give her back,” she continued. “Nissa does not belong here. She needs to come back with me.”

The expression on her face was as stony and emotionless as it could be. The dark eyes only stared Liliana down.

“She helped protect you from the gods and you’ve protected her from death. The debt is paid,” she said more forcefully. “You have your voice now in this world. You have made your statement. You will no longer be besieged by the gods. Release her.”

Liliana felt silly begging the world to release Nissa. She knew her fair share about possessions and how to make them work, but she knew very little about reversing it. She was not very good at exorcism.

Theros seemed unmoved, looking out and watching the last of the Nyxborn armies scramble away.

Liliana tried one last time. “Nissa is not of this world, or any world for that matter. What will you do if you keep her body? Leave your own domain? I ask you again. Leave her, or I will make you feel every ounce of your new mortality.”

Theros gave her only a knowing smile. It knew that Liliana did not stand a chance against it. She had seen it fight. How was she going to go against an entire world? But she would try, she thought. An animist who could alter the very fabric of the world was dangerous enough. Having the soul of a world do it. She was not about to let that happen, not while she could still draw breath.

Despite the look that Theros gave her, knowing she could not defeat it, it glanced at the sky once more before Nissa’s eyes turned green again. Liliana grabbed her as she unsteadily fell into her arms. “We’re leaving, now,” Liliana said, hoping that Nissa would use her last bit of strength to planeswalk away.

They landed in a heap on the ground of Zendikar, Nissa laying there for several minutes while Liliana stood.

“What happened?” Nissa asked in a hoarse whisper.

She looked down at her, regaining her usual air of confidence and pretension. “Rather impressive really. It would seem we’ve learned something quite valuable about your abilities. In times of great distress, you apparently can become a vessel for a world. You remember nothing of being Theros’ puppet?”

She slowly sat up, wanting to make the world stop spinning for more than a second. “No,” she said. “I have no memory of anything that happened after I began raising the elementals. I can become a vessel of a world?”

The thought sounded ridiculous at first, but it did make her wonder. What would it be like if that happened with Zendikar? That would certainly be a connection she would want to explore. But Liliana snapped her out of that though.

“Yes, and while impressive, it is extremely dangerous. You could have been completely taken over by the soul of Theros if you had been left to your own devices.”

“So you...saved me?” she said, looking up at her confused, not sure how to interpret the gesture.

Liliana seemed to not want to acknowledge that fact. “I only knew that Theros inhabiting your body would be far more dangerous than you keeping it. At least you have some control over your abilities.”

“What do we do now?”

Liliana shrugged. “We? We do nothing. Theros is saved. For whatever reason, the armies turned tail and left. We did what we came there for.”

“Heliod,” Nissa said quietly. “I can’t remember what happened, but I do remember feeling Heliod being afraid. Not of us, but something else.”

“Then that something else will handle it from here. We did what Klothys told us to do. Now is where we part ways.”

“Thank you, Liliana,” Nissa said humbly, “for everything. I wouldn’t have been able to survive on my own like that. I’m glad you came.” It felt strange saying those words aloud, but Nissa did mean them. She could not possibly understand everything about the necromancer, but she had learned a lot.

Liliana sighed, as if debating her next move. There was not that cold, calculating look in her eye, as if she were deciding how to use her next. Instead, it was more of a look that suggested she did not know what to do with herself. Instead, she turned to offering Nissa advice.

“You really are a powerful mage,” she said. “That makes you dangerous.”

“I know,” Nissa answered glumly.

“And that is why you must learn how to better utilize your powers,” she continued on as if Nissa had said nothing.

Nissa was tired of having to go over this again and again. “I believe we’ve established that I am the last living animist in this world,” she said shortly. “There are no others I can learn from.”

“No, but there are plenty of others who are similar to you to learn from. There are no other necromancers like me, and that is because I spent my time learning from everyone I could find with similar powers to mine. I learned their techniques and made them my own. I borrowed ideas, and made myself stronger.

“There may be no others like you, but you are similar enough to plenty of shamans out there to learn from them. And you have the added benefit of being a planeswalker to meet them.” She lowered herself to meet Nissa’s eyes. “Right now, your powers control you. They dictate how you live at every step. But learning how to use them better gives you more - “

“Control?” Nissa finished for her. “That’s usually what you’re after.”

“I was going to say that it gives you even more power. And more power makes you more of a threat, but not as much of a threat to yourself. I tried to get you to meet the elves treefolk on Dominaria, mostly to help me then. But now, I still think you should seek them out. There is a lot they have to teach you about your gifts. And on a plane called Tarkir, you can seek out the shamans of the north. They use their trance state to summon and speak to ancestors, but I think there’s something similar there to learn from them. Just dress warmly, and avoid the dragons. They hate the shamans.”

Nissa thought about that. There was still that feeling of comfort and home from Zendikar. Leaving it yet again would feel like leaving a part of herself behind. At the same time, she could not deny that there was also a loneliness by staying here. She had no one to understand her here. She knew people like Mazik would try, but that just made it harder to meet them on their own terms. If she could find others like her...would she find a sense of home in that?

“I’ll consider it,” she answered. “Thank you, Liliana. But where will you go?”

Liliana was silent, as if debating that herself. But, an idea seemed to strike her as she said. “Since we’re on the subject, I believe there is still quite a bit for me to learn as well. Being free from Bolas, I realize that it has been so long since I really got to practice my craft. There’s a place I haven’t been to in a while. I think I might pay it a visit.”

“Where is that?” Nissa asked, hesitating before adding, “I want to know in case...in case…”

“In case you need me?”

“In case I want to see you again.”

She seemed genuinely conflicted, as if wondering what this adventure had done to them. Nissa wondered too. Were they really friends? She was not sure if she would call it that, but then again, her idea of friends had been in a constant state of fluctuation as her relationships with the rest of the Gatewatch shifted uncontrollably.

“I can’t tell you,” she said at last. “It’s not that I mean you are not welcome to meet me again. But, if I were to tell you, well, then...Jace would know, one way or the other. I’m not ready to see him again. You understand?”

She nodded sincerely. “Yes. Liliana...why is it that I can understand you?”

Liliana scoffed. “You know nothing about the real me.”

“But I can understand you better than others,” Nissa persisted. “Why is that? We’re not exactly…”

“Cordial all the time? No, I suppose not. But the real question you should be asking is why can’t they understand you? The others were just as unsure about you as you were of them. I fear no one. And maybe one day, you’ll be the same way. I’ll see you, Nissa. Trust me, I can probably find you faster than you can find me.”

Liliana’s form slowly vanished in dark wisps as she planeswalked out of Zendikar. Nissa pondered what this meant for her. Perhaps staying tethered to Zendikar was not what she needed right now. Maybe there was something to be said for going out and learning from the world.