Trials of a Planeswalker Ch. 01: Rising

"Morning cuties." Blayne chuckled, feeling Lizzex and Tazzex stirring on either side of him.

"Last night was amazing." One of them said.

"Best in decades." The other smiled.

"Okay, my head's still a bit fuzzy. Which one if you is which?" Blayne asked, scooting up on his elbows.

"Does it matter?" The left twin said.

"We're interchangeable." The right twin giggled.

"I'm definitely gonna have to figure out a way of separating you two. Perfectly same breasts, pussies, lips, eyes and entire bodies in general. So that leaves minds alone. Fuck." Blayne groaned.

"Lizz." The left said.

"Tazz." The right giggled.

"You know if you've spoken to Niv-Mizzet himself, you should be smart enough." Lizzex asked.

"Because we only have two differences. I'm right handed and I like red mana." Tazzex told him as she leaned up on her elbow.

"Naturally, I'm left and I enjoy blue." Lizzex said, also leaning up.

"Uhh, no. I don't even know how to use magic. I've got no clue." Blayne shrugged.

"What?!" Lizzex squeaked, sitting upright, "How on earth could you touch The Firemind and not immediately die from it?"

Blayne shrugged and looked between the twins.

"This makes no sense!" Tazzex cried, throwing her hands up, "You're lying Blayne! You've got to be."

"Nope. No clue. I really don't know." Blayne shrugged, "Ohh! It might be because I'm a Planeswalker."

"What."

"Yea, some kind of wizard who can move between the worlds. That's what Niv-Mizzet said." Blayne postulated, rubbing his chin.

"What in the name of The Firemind is a Planeswalker?" Lizzex asked.

"I told you. Some kinda wizard that can walk between the worlds. Apparently there are dozens of worlds out there in this huge...what did Niv-Mizzet call it...the Multiverse!" Blayne exclaimed, throwing his arms up.

"Uhh...you know I'm not dumb, but what are you talking about?" Lizzex said, raising an eyebrow.

"I really don't know. It's just what Niv-Mizzet told me." Blayne said.

Lizzex got to her feet and stretched her arms above her head. Blayne glanced over and whistled loudly, seeing her perfect heart-shaped ass.

"Hey!" Tazzex squeaked, smacking Blayne.

"What?" Blayne took a second to look over at her.

"What about my ass?!" Tazzex huffed, crossing her arms, "Why do you whistle at hers?"

"You're lying in bed under blankets." Blayne said flatly, "She's showing her's off."

Blayne reached over and smacked Lizzex's ass, making it jiggle softly.

"Tight and beautiful." Blayne chuckled, scooting over and standing up.

"Mine's just as good!" Tazzex said, standing up.

"My lord Tazz, are you getting jealous of me?" Lizzex asked.

"Yea, I thought you shared everything." Blayne pointed out.

Tazzex opened her mouth, closed it with a huff. She crossed her arms and stood up.

"My ass is just as good as hers!" Tazzex said, turning her ass towards Blayne.

"No, it's chubbier." Blayne teased with a chuckle.

"Blayne, you ass!" Tazzex cried, throwing her arm forward.

A burst of flame erupted from her hand and Blayne threw his arms up in fear. The fire splashed over his arm and he felt his skin burning painfully. He cried out loudly and leapt back, shaking his arm angrily.

"What the hell?! I was joking!" Blayne cried, looking at his blister-covered arm, "What the fuck! God, you're twins! Your bodies are exactly the same! Of course your ass is as good as hers! Mother fucker."

Blayne tentatively touched his throbbing arm and he jerked his finger away. His skin was an angry red and a blister burst down his arm.

"But...but that was barely anything. Anyone could've stopped that without thinking. It was barely any fire." Tazzex said fearfully, stepping slowly around the bed, "I mean...any amount of magic could've..."

"I don't know how to use magic!" Blayne yelled, "Damn it this hurts!"

Blood dripped down his arm from two more burst blisters. Pain was swelling against the adrenaline in the back of his mind, making it all slowly worse. He cradled his elbow and held his arm carefully.

"I...I...I still thought you were...lying about that." Tazzex said guiltily.

"Come on, let's get you fixed up. I wish I knew healing magic. I can't use white mana, sorry. Nearly impossible to heal with any other color. We need to get this bandaged quickly." Lizzex said, looking over his arm.

"I'm sorry." Tazzex sighed, "Really! I didn't mean to!"

"Tazzex! I get it! I'm more worried about the blood running out of my arm right now." Blayne said loudly.

"Here, this should help." Lizzex wrapped a shirt carefully around his arm and tied it lightly.

"Thanks. Can we get some real bandages?" Blayne asked.

"Yea, it's just that the doctor's room is on the other side of the steam works. Bit of a walk." Lizzex said, grabbing her shorts, "Get dressed sister, come on."

*******

"How's that?" The Doctor asked, tying the end of the bandage tight.

The Izzet doctor looked like a mad scientist in his laboratory, but he was kind and mildly sensible. He had given Blayne a shot of some numbing medicine and he cut away the burnt skin and blisters before wrapping it in tight white bandaging.

"Yea, I still can't feel much, but it seems to be alright." Blayne nodded, looking down his arm.

"Well you keep an eye on it. Burns like that can be nasty if you let them get infected or if necrosis sets in." The Doctor warned, "So keep the wound clean and change the bandages daily."

"Gotcha." Blayne nodded.

"Come on. We should head to the training room." Lizzex said.

Blayne nodded and followed the twins out of the room.

"So Blayne, you don't hate me, do you?" Tazzex asked, walking behind the other two.

"Does she always have a near-suicidal guilt trip like this when things happen?" Blayne asked Lizzex.

"Not usually, in fact she's usually pretty proud of things like this." Lizzex giggled.

"Stop talking like I'm not here! I'm sorry that I feel bad about burning the man I just slept with!" Tazzex cried.

Lizzex led them down a long metal hallway and through a heavy bulkhead. On the other side was a room of impressive size.

"Wait a second...a room this tall...how did you guys build this place?" Blayne asked, looking around.

The room was over fifty feet from floor to ceiling and it looked a quarter mile across. Heavy iron walkways criss-crossed in front of them and there was a large grated floor beneath them. Mages were casting fire and lightning all around, their impressive magics flying away and colliding harmlessly with pillars or walls around them.

"We're a half-mile underground. This entire facility was built over the generations of Izzet with iron and other metals mined from mineral-rich mountains and surrounding hills. This is one of the magic-works. It's a large room that absorbs and recirculates mana and spells that collide with the walls and ceiling. Impressive magics laid down by Niv-Mizzet himself make this room rich in mana as well as keep it intact through even the most powerful magic." Lizzex explained.

"I...I think I can...feel it. As if down in my soul the mana calls to me. All around...all colors of mana swirl throughout the room. Fiery and wild red...cool and smooth blue. But there are more...untamed and primal green. There's a bright and shining white and dark, unliving black. It's rushing all around me." Blayne said, stepping past Lizzex on the long metal platform.

"Impressive. You must know more about magic than you say because not many mages can sense mana so easily." Lizzex smiled.

"Let's go down to the floor and try to teach you some basics." Tazzex said, "Especially how to defuse incoming magic with basic shields."

"Yea, I'll need those around you." Blayne laughed openly at her.

A platform slid up the wall next to them and they rode it down to the floor.

"Alright. Trying to ignore what else is going on around us. You'll need to focus to draw in mana. The first few times you do this, it may be difficult and strange. But soon you'll grow accustom and it'll be easier." Lizzex said, taking her place a few paces from Blayne.

"Reach out with your mind, feel the mana and draw it into yourself. Let it flow into you and permeate your body." Tazzex stood as the other point of the triangle the three of them formed, "Just focus on filling yourself with it for the moment."

Blayne nodded and closed his eyes. He relaxed his shoulders and tried to think about the magic around him. He could feel the mana swirling about him in eddies and currents of power. He reached for it and it started to soak into him like a sponge. Mana of all five colors drew into his body. It felt energizing to have this mana flowing into him, almost as if he had been incomplete and tired his whole life. The pain from his arm faded away with the sounds and scents of the room around him. The mana filled him, touched his every fiber and made his mind soar with exhilaration. He thirstily drank it in, pulling in as much as he could. His body burned like a fire with power screaming to be released.

"Blayne! Blayne, wake up!" Tazzex's voice finally reached his ears.

His eyes snapped open. A glimmering aura of power swirled around Blayne, glowing brightly with the mana that radiated from his body. The moment he lost his focus, the majority of the mana fluttered away and the glow disappeared. Some, mostly red and blue, still swirled throughout him, but much of the thrill was gone.

"What the hell was that Blayne?" Tazzex asked, "I've never seen anyone call that much power to them. You were drawing in so much power we were starting to get scared."

"Yea, those levels of mana could bury this room if it wasn't enchanted!" Lizzex said, "You need to be careful."

"I didn't even know. It just felt good and so I kept drawing it it. I didn't know I was doing anything bad." Blayne said, scratching his head, "Sorry."

"This doesn't even make any sense. The two of us together might be able to pull in that much mana. How did you do that without having used magic before?" Lizzex asked, glancing at her twin and then back to Blayne.

"I dunno. I told you that I was a Planeswalker." Blayne said, "Niv-Mizzet did mention that we are stronger than most mages, Planeswalkers are that is."

"I'm almost afraid to ask you to cast a spell." Tazzex giggled eagerly.

"Do it. Try to form the magic into fire. Just put your hands forward and try to form that mana into a great conflagration." Lizzex said with almost a lustful tone.

Blayne nodded and he reached out with his mind again. At the thought of fire, the red mana seemed to surge forth eagerly. He pulled the hot, rage-filled red mana into him and fire started to flicker between his fingers. He held his hands forward where only a blank wall was and focused on the mana becoming fire.

A small curl of flame reached out from his hand and burned away into nothing.

"That's it?" Lizzex said, filled with disappointment.

"Well I made fire! Isn't that what you wanted?" Blayne asked, exhilarated just at the fact that he had done what he had believed to be impossible, "I mean, I've never done that before! That was cool!"

"But...but you had so much mana! You had so much power earlier! That much mana should've bathed this entire wall in a searing eruption of flame that would make any Izzet mage proud!" Tazzex cried, holding her arms out, "Something like this!"

She twisted her hand towards the wall and a massive cone of fire erupted from her. It bathed a twenty foot circle in searing flame and Blayne threw his arms in front of his face. Tazzex let the fire die and her arm fell.

"Maybe he would be better with ice!" Lizzex said, holding her hands up, "Try to focus the blue mana into cold, freezing wind. Do this."

She held both her hands up, a cold fog drifting away from her arms. A rush of cold air twisted and spiraled away from her, coating just as big an area of the wall in crippling cold. Ice spread across the wall and frost crept along the ground. She let the mana fade and the cold went away. The ice immediately started to melt and drip on the floor.

"Alright. I'll try." Blayne nodded.

He thought of cold, snow and ice. Blue mana poured cold and free into his body. It swirled about in him and his fingers grew blue with the cold. He let the surge of mana free and a small breeze of cold air blew away from his hand. Not nearly the display that Lizzex had given. It still made Blayne feel great because this was something he had never, ever done before.

"Not ice either. What the hell. You have enough power to kill an army! Your body just won't focus it properly." Lizzex groaned, covering her face.

"What should we do then?" Tazzex asked them.

"I dunno. It wasn't this hard at Niv-Mizzet's aerie." Blayne shrugged.

"Well you weren't really there. You were in his mind. You were drawing on his knowledge of magic." Tazzex told him.

"I think we'll have to start you with some basic training things." Lizzex said.

"Like what?" Blayne wondered.

"You need to focus on feeling the mana. Just meditating on what it feels like inside you." Lizzex said, "When we get young men and women joining the guild, one of the first things we have them do in order to test their magical capabilities is to meditate with a crystal orb. You focus on filling the orb with mana without breaking the crystal. It teaches control and the basics of mana use."

Blayne nodded and followed them across the room.

*******

"How're you doing Blayne?" Lizzex asked as she walked into their room.

"I've been able to contain both red and blue mana in the orb now without breaking it." Blayne said quietly, trying to keep his focus.

It had been more than a week since he had come to the Izzet. Tazzex and Lizzex were often busy with their guild duties, leaving Blayne alone to do what he wanted. He learned quickly that the Izzet facility, the steam works, the magic labs and all the other things there, were not areas for him to just wander around alone. He almost got hurt quite a few times.

Since he had almost gotten burned alive, he had opted to stay in Tazz and Lizz's room whenever he was alone. It gave him time to focus on his meditations and get better at controlling his magic. He had broken dozens of crystal orbs, which Lizzex promptly fixed with her telekinesis. The first time he had, in fact, just made the orb explode in a spray of shrapnel. The following times the girls wanted him to meditate, he had been fearful of doing that again and it took him a while to man up and try again. He cracked, shattered or melted orbs quite a few times more before he managed to get mana inside one without breaking it. It was difficult because the crystal was thin and it took little more than a tight squeeze to break it. This meant that any uncontrolled pressure inside would fracture or shatter the crystal.

Right now, he had an orb held in his hands with both blue and red mana swirling visibly inside. Mana, when under a mage's control, appeared as a sparkling cloud that glinted and shone with it's respective color. Otherwise, when it hadn't yet been touched by a mage, it was completely invisible. Two colors were difficult to manage at once inside the orb because each moved with it's own force and style. Red was more uncontrollable and wild than blue.

"Impressive. I think you're really getting the hang of this." Lizzex said with a smile.

"So where is Tazz?" He asked as he carefully drained the crystal of it's mana.

"She's out on a mission for Crixzix. Some big incident down at the Izzet pumping stations on the coast. Someone was trying a new style of pump and apparently they blew apart half the facility." Lizzex said, "Killed and injured dozens."

"That's not very good."

Blayne stood and put the orb back on the small pillow that sat on a shelf.

"Well it's put the steamworks around here on low power. We've only got about a third the water coming from the coast and we barely get any water from our deep wells as it is." Lizzex sighed, pulling off her brass gauntlet and backpack.

"What is that anyway? I've been meaning to ask." Blayne said, pointing at the gauntlet.

"It's a mana harvesting and control system. The pack helps one absorb greater amounts of mana and the gauntlet lets mana channel from your body into your spells easier." Lizzex said, "They're used in some form or another by almost every Izzet field mage."

"You can use machinery to control mana?" Blayne said in surprise.

"Not really. You're still controlling it, but this helps guide it in a way. The pack makes it easier to absorb as it acts like a conductor for your powers." Lizzex explained, "Very advanced technology that's been in work for centuries."

"So Tazz won't be home tonight?" Blayne asked.

"Nope." Lizzex shrugged, "Hey, you've always said we're perfect twins. How have you been telling us apart?"

"Since I've been able to feel the mana around me, I've been able to feel the differences in each of you. Obviously you've got more blue mana than Tazz." Blayne said simply.

"It's amazing the ways you've advanced or are already skilled in, yet you're still unable to fully control your own mana." Lizzex chuckled.

"Thanks." Blayne said flatly, staring at her.

"Alright, how about I give you a new lesson to work with." Lizzex smiled, "Come sit down at the table."

They sat across each other at the table and Lizzex cupped her hands on the table top. She looked at her palms for a second and a small flame blossomed there.

"This is a simple exercise that is meant to expand the way your mind feels mana. The further away from your body, the more difficult it is to maintain and control. I want you to create a flame like this and then spread your hands apart." Lizzex slowly spread her hands apart, the flame staying where she put it, "Like this. Then maintain it as along as you can. Because fire can't naturally burn like this for more than a few seconds, you have to use a touch of telekinetic magic to keep it in place. It will want to move to one of your hands, closer to it's source of fuel. You have to keep it there and feed it mana all the while."

"Alright. Do I have to worry about the fire burning me?" Blayne asked.

"Oh no, it's your own mana. It would have to be exceptionally out of control to harm you." Lizzex explained, starting to bounce the fireball between her hands.

Blayne nodded and cupped his hands like she had. He focused on his hands and a small fire blossomed there. It burned easily as he slowly fed it mana. As he moved his hands, he saw what she meant. The fireball sort of stuck to his right hand and moved with it. He brought his hands back together and tried again. It stuck to his left this time.

"You know, I've only been using magic for a week now. I think just keeping a fire like this burning in my hands is pretty great." Blayne sighed as the fire flickered out.

"Alright, you know what, I think we need to get out. You've been living in this room and the mess hall since you got here. Come on, let's go." Lizzex sighed, "Maybe you just need to clear your head."

"What is so bad about what I'm doing?" Blayne asked in annoyance.

"These are trials that a teenager should be able to do in their sleep. I could do this when I was ten!" Lizzex groaned, rubbing her face.

"Well I didn't grow up in this world. I know this isn't where I'm from. I have memories of another world, another life. They're from long ago, but I know they're there." Blayne said, "So don't compare yourself to me. I've only known you for a week, I don't even know much about you or your sister except that you like sex!"

"You know that we're half-elves." Lizzex pointed out.

"Lizz." Blayne said flatly.

"Alright, fine. I just...I've never believed that you were from another world." Lizzex sighed, "I get that you don't remember much of your past, but surely you must remember something important."