Trials of a Planeswalker Ch. 02: Fall

His mother smiled again and nodded. "You haven't left my sight since you first passed through the Aether."

Henry blushed in embarrassment and looked down at his feet. Some of his activities since then were not the sort you would want your mother to see.

His mother cupped his face in hands and raised it back up to look at her own. "There's nothing shameful about loving someone honey. And you've been a true friend to Blayne and his family. You stayed by their side and helped them defend others from harm. I know what you are trying to achieve for our world as well. No mother in the universe is prouder of her son than I am of you. I know that if your father was here, he would say the same thing."

"So... do you like her?" Henry asked softly, his eyes finding it hard to meet her's.

"Oh yes Henry! I still can't believe my son was lucky enough to practically fall into the arms of a girl like her," She said. "You two are perfect for each other. She's so sweet and beautiful and she absolutely adores you. She's stronger than you know but she still needs you, so be good to her."

"I will mother, I promise. She makes me so happy I can barely stand it. I hope to have a family with her one day." Henry said with a nod. He paused for a moment, and then laughed "I feel so silly. I get this amazing chance to see you again and I can't think of anything to say."

She giggled and took his hands in hers, "You needn't say anything dear. I'm just happy we can be together again."

"I love you mom." Henry sighed.

"I love you too Henry. I don't know if we'll meet again like this, so keep yourself safe. Not just for me but for that sweet girl." His mom said, kissing him on the forehead.

Then Henry's vision faded and he was left alone in darkness. He gasped and he opened his eyes again. He was back on Quilija, still standing in Nishok's room and his body was a little stiff. He saw Nishok sitting on his cot and watching him from across the room. The sky outside was dark.

"Welcome back Henry." He said.

"How long was I gone?" Henry asked.

"A few hours," Nishok replied. "It's well into the evening now. I've stayed with you the whole time."

"I think... I think I'm ready now" Henry said, taking a deep breath.

"I think so too, but before you go I have a question. Do you know what it really was that the Lotus showed you? The one thing you have lacked until now?"

Henry looked down at the black flower in his hands. It looked smaller now than it had before. He thought about what Nishok asked him. He knew that the monk was referring to something deeper than just memories. What was it he lacked until now? Well the memories had helped him connect with Robin in a way that never would have been possible otherwise. He had loved her from the moment they met, but now he try understood her.

"That's it!" Henry said, his face lighting up at the revelation. "The Lotus gave me understanding. You were right Nishok. Before I just wanted to make people stop fighting. Now I realize I need to address the reasons behind it if I want to have real peace."

"Indeed Henry." Nishok said as he rose to his feet. "People will always fear what they do not understand. Fear is a barrier to harmony: it can only removed with enlightenment. Now that you have overcome your fears, you are truly worthy of the power of the Lotus."

"Thank you Nishok." Henry said bowing "But now I need to be getting back to Earth. My friends need me."

Just then Henry's stomach gave a very loud growl. He looked down at it and realized just how hungry he was. Nishok chuckled "I suppose I can't expect you to maintain inner peace when I disrupt your cycle of nourishment. You've missed two meals afterall."

He put a hand on Henry's shoulder "Come now Henry. Unless they're in imminent danger, I think you can spare a few minutes while I cook you up one last meal before you go." Henry nodded.

"Besides, I wouldn't be much of a host if I let you continue with such an important quest on an empty stomach now would I?"

Henry chuckled and nodded. "Even with the Lotus, I've got a feeling I'll need all the energy I can get."

*******

CHAPTER 23 - A RADIANT DAWN

Blayne banged on the door of Jhoira's workshop. There was no sound inside for a minute or two. Then he heard a shuffling inside and the bolt was pulled back. The door swung open and Blayne blinked in surprise. Jhoira yawned widely and ruffled her unkept hair. She was only wearing black panties and a bra, her skin was fair and beautiful.

"Wow... uhhh... hi Jhoira." Blayne mumbled.

"Hey Blayne." She yawned again, "Come on in. I'll be back in a moment."

Blayne couldn't resist staring at her pert, round butt as it walked away. Once she disappeared across the small sitting room and into her bedroom, he shook his head and looked around. The house wasn't much cleaner than the last time he had been there. The entrance was a small room with a kitchen, a couch and a nice table. There were two other doors, one of them into her bedroom and the other into her workshop.

After a moment, Jhoira came back wearing a loose blue skirt and a black blouse.

"Sorry about that. Late night." Jhoira yawned, pushing her hair out of her face, "What's going on?"

"My world is in peril. Again." Blayne sighed, digging the jar of black goo out of his pack, "I really should come by and talk with you sometime when I'm not trying to save my planet."

"Bolas again? Persistant bastard, isn't he?" Jhoira said, pulling a cup out of a cupboard and filling it with water.

"No, it's not Bolas. It's this, whatever it is. It's infecting my people, turning them into horrific abominations." Blayne said, holding the jar out to her. Upon seeing it, the cup fell from Jhoira's hands and shattered on the ground. She grabbed the jar and looked closely at it.

"No, no, no, no! It can't be! No! Not another world." Jhoira yelled wildly, opening the jar. One whiff of it's caustic scent and she snapped the lid back on. Her face was pale white and she quickly shoved the jar back in his hands.

Blayne watched in confusion as she dashed into her workshop. Magic flew from her hands and crystals glowed into light all around. Gadgets and machines rose from their tables and flew all around.

"Jhoira, what is it? What is going on?" Blayne asked, walking into the doorway of the workshop.

"Phyrexians Blayne! It's Phyrexians again! That is the Phyrexian plague! It eats, consumes, transforms and spreads! It's only purpose is to devistate the life of a plane and spread the world of the Phyrexia!" Jhoira yelled, settling all her instruments and tools around her.

"Phyrexians? Jaya Ballard talked about them, they built that castle on Dominaria, in Urborg." Blayne said, "She described them as horrors and told me to pray that I never have to face them. Jhoira, what can I do for my world! You're the only one old enough to know."

"I know and I am going to help you fight them Blayne! Never shall the Phyrexians take another world! They took Argentum because I wasn't prepared, I couldn't help! They turned it into Mirrodin. It was a beautiful world and they corrupted for their 'glorious' New Phyrexia!" Jhoira yelled, running towards the large stone doorway on the far side of the workshop.

"Then let's go! If this stuff can corrupt and destroy a whole world, I don't want to wait!" Blayne said, striding past the many tables in the workshop.

"No, we will be prepared. We are going to fight the Phyrexians with the tools of old, the same that Urza used to defeat them!" Jhoira said, thrusting her arms apart. The stone door split open and a dark room lay beyond. Blayne followed her in as magic erupted from her. The room was easily eighty feet tall and five hundred feet in length. Blayne stopped cold, his eyes wide as he stared up at what was hung there.

A gorgeous airship a little over three hundred feet long, crafted of dark mahogany and bound with heavy steel. A long spine ran along the keel made of a shining bronze metal. Two sails were closed tightly along it's sides, orginating from next to the bridge about two-thirds back on the ship. Beneath them, built into the sides of the ship, were large intake engines. From the ground, he couldn't see too much more. It was strung up with two dozen enormous wires from the ceiling.

"What in the hell..." Blayne's eyes were wide as he stared up at it.

"Back in the war for Dominaria, Urza had planned for hundreds of years before it. The culmination of efforts to win the war came into the Skyship Weatherlight. It led the charge, fought the greatest battles and carried Gerrard Capashen to victory against Yawgmoth and the Phyrexians. But in the final battle of the war, Weatherlight was destroyed. We won, but the greatest artifact of Urza's life was wrecked." Jhoira said, enchanting more lights in the room to better light the ship.

"So if Weatherlight was destroyed, what is this?" Blayne said, walking beneath the enormous airship.

"This is the Skyship Radiant Dawn and it will lead your world to victory against the Phyrexians!" Jhoira said, throwing her hands up into the air. A great wind blew up beneath them and they were thrown upward. Her magic carried the two of them up onto the deck and deposited them on the perfect, smooth wood.

Blayne stared around in awe. The deck of the ship was beautiful. It had a golden, well-crafted railing around the outer edge of it. Three heavy turrets were mounted on either side of the deck, the main armaments of the ship. A seventh, larger turret was built on the very tip of the bow, giving the ship a very menacing array of weaponry. Blayne didn't know what they would do, but they didn't look like normal guns.

"If it took Urza hundreds of years... how did you..." Blayne said, still in awe of the ship.

"Because unlike Urza, I had someone to copy from. I had Urza's blueprints and plans, I actually helped him build the original Weatherlight. Just in case the Phyrexians should ever come back, I have built a new ship!" Jhoira said, holding her arms out as if to show off her creation.

"So may I ask, how do you plan to get it to my world? You can't just fly there." He asked, scratching his head.

"Just like you and I, this ship can travel the Planes! That is why the Weatherlight was such a great airship! It could gather the greatest weapons and warriors from all over the Multiverse!" Jhoira said, clapping his shoulder.

"Alright, then let's go! How do we make it go?" Blayne asked.

"It's not ready to go just yet. It needs a few more tweaks and we need to get the Planeshift engine online." Jhoira said, "And you're going to help me. Come on."

She guided him back through the bridge and down into the lower decks. They went to the very back of the ship in the lowest part of the hull. There was the strangest engine Blayne had ever seen, if it could even be called that. A shimmering mass of silver components and glittering tubing, he couldn't even fathom how it worked. But in his mind, he could sense all the mana pouring through this thing. Somewhere inside it resided a very powerful source of white mana, more than a Mox could ever produce.

"I hope you don't expect me to help with this thing." Blayne scratched his head, "I have no idea what I'm looking at.

"No, it's already finished. What it needs is a good jolt of power from a couple of Planeswalkers to get the Planeshift engine running. Right now it's capable of basic flight and it's weapons work pretty well, but thats it. No going to other worlds." Jhoira said, opening a hatch on the engine. She turned a handle and pulled out a two foot glimmering glass rod from the core of the engine.

"And that is?" Blayne raised an eyebrow.

"This is how you charge the Planeshift engine. I want you to remember the biggest spell you ever cast, the most mana you ever used." Jhoira said, putting her hands on the glass, "Put that much and about thirty percent more into this."

"Uh... you sure about that?" Blayne said as he thought of his fight with Bolas.

"Oh yea, you can't put too much power into this. I need all of our strength to charge this engine. It needs the power of a Planeswalker to work." Jhoira said as he put his hands on either side of hers.

"Alright, here goes." Blayne sighed, closing his eyes.

He reached out to the abundant magic of Ravnica around him. As he felt around, he brushed against one of the Leylines that criss-crossed the plane. He now knew why Jhoira had built her workshop where she did. A powerful Leyline of mana coursed directly beneath it. He had touched them before while he was here, but never did he have the skill to make full use of it.

Gripping the power of the Leyline, he drew forth as much mana as he could. He felt every cell in his body bristle with power and he drew in absolutely as much as he could manage. With a powerful yell, he loosed it all and the room erupted with mana. He was thoroughly surprised to see the seemingly fragile crystalline rod holding up to his most powerful magic. He poured every ounce of power he could into it and opened his eyes with a sigh.

The crystal rod was glowing brightly with a sparkling blue magic. Jhoira took her hands off it and looked up at him. The amount of mana that they had poured into it could've moved worlds. Now it would be used to move between them.

"Very impressive. I see how you fought Bolas and lived." Jhoira smiled, carefully grabbing the end of the rod. She slipped it back into the engine and it began to hum loudly.

"So if I may ask, what is powering this inside? There's something big in there." Blayne said, pointing at the motor as she looked at a couple of guages.

"Powerstone. Taken from the wreckage of the first Weatherlight, it contains the power of Serra's Realm, the white mana of an entire plane." Jhoira said, flipping a switch and walking past him.

"So is that it?" He asked as she walked away.

"That is all you can do for now. I've got some things to do down in my workshop before we go. You can just hang out until then. Might be a while." Jhoira said with a wave of her hand.

*******

A few hours passed with aching slowness. Blayne had walked through the entire lower deck of the Radiant Dawn, it wasn't a huge ship. The engines were quite amazing feats of mechano-magical engineering.

Right now, Jhoira was working around the bridge. The bridge itself was nice sized and had a number of chairs. Strangely enough, where the captain might sit or there would be a steering wheel on a ship, there was nothing more than an etched gold ring in the floor.

"So Jhoira, how do you fly this ship? Do these things control it?" Blayne asked as he walked around the bridge. She was lying underneath the consoles along the front of the bridge.

"No, see that gold ring in the ground there? When you stand there and cast your mana into the floor, it will tie you to the ship and the illusionary interface will appear all around you. Your body will be lifted into a zero-gravity environment and you fly from there. The zero-gravity is integrated into the control system because if the ship has to make some sharp turns, it is blasted off course or perhaps falls out of the sky, the captain is unaffected and is capable of focusing on controlling the ship." Jhoira explained as she pushed herself out from under the console and stood up.

"Wow, that sounds interesting. I wouldn't mind trying it sometime." Blayne nodded, squatting down to look at the pilot ring set in the floor.

"Well the old Weatherlight had some issues with turning over and being knocked around. Sometimes the captain would get thrown about pretty bad." Jhoira said, pointing around the bridge.

Blayne nodded as she started to collect some tools and go back to work. He went back and took a seat in one of the bridge seats with a sigh. Another hour or two passed by, sitting on that still ship. Blayne was eager to get back home, but he knew that this ship would be an amazing asset in fighting this threat. If it took him an extra day to get home, it was worth it.

"Jhoira, do Planeswalkers have fixed skills?" Blayne asked in the silence.

"What?" Jhoira almost banged her head on the console.

"In the last few weeks, I've been fighting a lot and I find myself constantly falling back into lightning magic. Its not like I can't use ice or fire or use other magic, but when I attack someone, the easiest thing for me to do is to strike them with lightning." Blayne said, "I don't know why, it just kind of bothers me."

"I don't see much of a problem there. Many planeswalkers do acquire specialized skills. Our mutual friend, Beleren, is a mind-magic prodigy. My old master Urza was the most amazing artificer that has ever existed. It's only natural that you're best at something." Jhoira said as she continued working under the console, "I have a surprising skill in temporal manipulation after my time at the Tolarian academy."

"Huh. Thanks." Blayne sighed, watching a few sparks of lightning jump between his fingers.

He slowly generated a ball of lightning in his hand and he tossed it back and forth playfully. As he accepted his affinity for lightning, he found it coming easier and easier. Soon he was standing and juggling a half-dozen crackling orbs of electricity. While he toyed around with his magic, a shimmering blue portal appeared down on the deck of the ship.

Jace stepped through the portal and it closed behind him. He looked around and reached out with his mind, finding Blayne and Jhoira up in the bridge. He walked up the stairs and opened the large bulkhead to the bridge.

"Hello." Jace said as he entered it. Blayne caught each ball of lightning in turn and absorbed the power of them.

"Jace! What are you doing here?" Jhoira asked, scooting out from under the console.

"I'm here to deliver a message, are you busy?" He asked, looking down at her.

"Not anymore. Just finished." Jhoira chuckled, slamming the console panel shut and bouncing to her feet.

"Good, because I think you two are out of time. I received this message from Chandra and Maria a little while ago." Jace said, holding out his hand. A glimmering, wavery illusion of Maria appeared in the middle of the bridge.

"Jace! Chandra is recording this with some kind of spell, hopefully you get it! The isle of Manhattan is completely lost! They are growing everyday! We can't hold it very well. The two of us are running nonstop to try and contain it to the island, but there's only so much we can do. God only knows how many of these things have fallen into the water and have been swept off to the ocean! Jace, if you know where Blayne and Varia are, get them here! We need their help! Anyone else you know that can help, send them too! I know you're busy with being the Guildpact or whatever it is you're doing these days, but you must be able to help somehow! You've got fingers in every world in the Multiverse, help us!" Maria's thick Boston accent was woven with fear and desperation. The message cut off when Chandra yelled something incoherent and an explosion sounded nearby.

"Ahhh fuck, I've got to go. Jhoira, I don't have any more time to wait, I need to go back to earth!" Blayne said, gathering his mana to prepare a Planeswalk.

"Of course. Let's go! Didn't you hear me before? I'm just finished!" Jhoira said, striding over to the gold ring. She held her hands down and there was a soft humming. A shimmering blue pillar appeared around her and she floated a few inches off the floor. Holograms and gauges appeared all around her on the inside of the blue magic. She touched and adjusted a few of them. A press of a button and there was a roar from beneath their feet, the magic engines coming to live.

"I will be leaving you to that." Jace nodded, waving his hand. A small blink of light grew into a portal of shimmering blue magic. He stepped through it and disappeared.