Magic Chapters 6

Chapter 6- Planeswalking Proper

March 30th, 2013
    By the time we came back through the world into my bedroom again, she was falling asleep.  When our feet set down in the room I could hear the bottles on a shelf shaking from our arrival.  Hannah looked around meekly, and she wasn't going to let go any time soon.  I couldn't really blame her, either.  If I weren't in control as much as I was, I'd be just as bad if our situations were reversed.
    "Relax, love," I told her as I gently pried her off my arm.  We can't stop here.  I knew that.  We had to move forward.  "Let's get you a cookie, hmm?"
    Her eyes brightened a little bit at that.  "Mmm," was her only reply, but she followed me out, still holding my hand.  We were only gone for perhaps five minutes altogether, astounding me when I checked the time again out of curiosity.  But the cabinets should have cookies.  What type of cookies for Hannah, hmm?  She loved chocolate chip, but hated raisins and oatmeal.  Almond cookies were out too.
    It took a minute for me to sift through the solid wall of crap the new family had just thrown up into the upper cabinets, but I found what I was after eventually.  Some of dad's cookies, bundled together in a zip-lock baggie.  I knew they were more than a couple days old, but something about them kept them from getting hard.  His cookies were always soft, clear up to the point they started to mold.
March 31, 2013
    I took out a few, tossed them into the microwave for about fifteen seconds, and gave them to Hannah.  She nibbled at one for a minute or two, but started to relax enough to enjoy them shortly after.  It always amazed me just how resilient Hannah really was, despite how quick she hit her limit.  She always bounced back pretty quickly.
    While she was having fun with her cookies, I was searching around for something I could eat, but not have to worry about rotting later on.  What could I try?  The bread would go quick, and so would almost everything else.  I was thirsty though, so I guess it was as good an idea as any.  I  jumped back into the bedroom for a second to find a Quick Trip cup and filled it with water from the faucet.  The normal size.  You know, the 52-oz one.
    I clipped back into place the lid and sucked on the water through the red straw.  The more I drank, the more I needed.  I needed more.  The lid broke along the sides as I pulled off a little too harshly, but I wasn't worried about it when I was that thirsty.  I tipped back the plastic cup and just let it flow.  I did it again, only sucking it down a little slower than I had the last one.  I was breathing pretty heavily after I finished it, feeling like I was going to throw it up immediately after I got it down.
    I still wanted more, but I knew very well it wasn't a good idea.  Hannah was staring at me too; I could feel it.  I didn't mind though.  I'd probably think it was pretty weird to watch someone suck down two of those cups full of much of anything too, much less straight water.  "Just thirsty.  No problem," I told her as I turned around and leaned back against the sink.
    She looked at me a little weird, but let it go.  In my case, I could feel my body already working through the water in my stomach.  The pressure was already noticeably less than it was when I finished, and it wasn't long before it was only pleasant again.  I made a mental note to keep drinking water.  Something about how my body worked now needed it.  And apparently alot.
    Hannah seemed to be doing alot better already, a little bit of a bounce back in her step now that it'd sunk in emotionally that I wasn't gone.
    "Wanna try it again?"  I knew it was in poor taste, but I said it anyways.
    She looked at me like she was going to set me on fire with her mind, which might have been truly intimidating if she'd been able to keep a straight face for long against me smiling like I was.  She eventually couldn't keep up and laughed with me about it.  "Maybe tomorrow, asshole."
    Ouch.  That stung.  I didn't let it get to me though.  I knew it was in good fun.
April 1st, 2013
Hannah left, back somewhere else into the house, and I waited as the rest of the water I drank fully digested into my body.  I felt great.  It felt lie I was pushing it, but I went for another round of water, filling up a water bottle to bring with me around the house.  The first thing I needed to do was fix the small rift our return had caused in my room.  I had all but forgotten about finding something to eat.
    Walking into the bedroom, I was surprised to find Hannah already there, sitting on the bottom bunk of the bed toying with it.  She called me over and asked for help, and I really didn't mind doing it.
    "Now, you need to gather up some mana in your fingers, like this," I told her patiently, "Look for the mana.  See it?  Good."
    Her fingers lit up just a little bit like mine, but not enough.
    "More," was all I said.
    They brightened.  "Enough?"
    "Yeah, that looks about right."  I guided her fingers around the rift first, getting her used to what it felt like.  "Look around it," I said, showing her the 360 properties of its appearance.  "See how unique it is?"
    "Mhmm.  It's actually kinda nice."  I felt a twinge as she said it because of what it was and the inherent danger it posed, but I couldn't argue with her; it was beautiful in itself.
    "Now pinch your fingers together around it, that's it.  When you feel the fabric touching itself, let some mana flow through into it and slide your hand down, like if it was a zipper, okay?  It was basic, I know.  But it was the best way to explain it to Hannah I could think of.
    Her hands did exactly as I told her, but the rift just wasn't sealing itself at all.  I didn't understand what was going on.  We tried again, with similar results.  It was like she was using that thick, white Elmer's glue between wood blocks.  It just didn't work out.  The folds would catch together, but slip back apart when she finished and sat back to look at it.  "John?"
    "Hm?"  I was distracted, thoughtful.  I wanted to understand better what the problem was.  "What is it, love?"
    "Can you please just do it?  I'm kinda getting frustrated with it.  It's giving me a headache."
    That wasn't new.  I understood the feeling there.  "Try it one more time?"
    She didn't look happy about it, but nodded.  Her hands came back up and fingers lit... green?  While she was giving it another shot, I was getting a good idea what was wrong.
    "Hey.  Stop, Stop.  What mana are you using?"
    "...Mine?"  she replied, confused.
    I should have expected that response, honestly.  "No, like what color of mana.  I think that might be the problem."  It was a maybe, but it made sense in my head.
    She gave me that 'Oh really' look that everyone hates.  "Then what should I do, hmm?"
    "Well, if you're done acting like I'm retarded," she perked up and stopped it immediately, looking guilty, "Try colorless.  And if you can't, use the fog around you."
    She didn't think it would work, but she shook her head and tried anyways.  The clear color I was expecting wasn't there, but most of the green was at least gone.  It worked somewhat, but the rift was still obviously there, slowly looking more and more ragged the more she messed with it.
    "Watch," I said, eventually nudging her out of the way, "Look at the fingers."  She did, and I think she noticed the difference between them that time.  It should have been obvious, but I guess I might have just been lucky enough to catch on quickly.  "See how nice and uniform it is?"  I directed her attention at the now almost invisible tear in space.  "Over time, this will just seal itself now."
April 2nd, 2013
    And as she watched, it began to grow smaller, sealing itself off and mending by the second.  The rift faded out of existence, and that was all there was to say about it.  It was gone.  The fabric of reality around it was just as perfect as if it had never been torn.  Hannah got up and left, but I think it was more because of her headache than anything else.  I didn't blame her.  I was surprised I was grasping it as well as I was.  I couldn't really expect her to always do just as well.
    I got up and followed her out, already expecting what she was looking for.  Hannah was in the kitchen again, searching through the liquor cabinet for a bottle of Ibuprofen.  I picked it up off the counter beside her and the sound of it caught her attention.  She grabbed at it.  I lifted my hands out of her reach playfully, but it didn't take.  Sighing, I went ahead and removed the lid for her because I knew she'd get irritated not being able to get it off herself.
    I tipped out a few of the red little pills and handed them to her, putting the bottle away somewhere I could find it.  It wasn't something I was willing to use often because it was addictive, but sometimes it just isn't worth the headache.  I might have used a couple every month or so, but it certainly wasn't often.  One of the benefits of keeping myself relaxed all the time was that headaches were few and far between.  Nowadays though, I could just cure one with mana, so Ibuprofen was kind of a moot point for me.
    Hannah though, apparently still needed it.  Oh well.  I was sure she'd eventually figure it out.  I didn't really care to walk all the way back around again, so I searched fro Hannah with my eyes, sensing her jumping back up into bed again.  Guess I had a few hours then.  I flipped through in my head the things on my mental list I'd been wanting to try out, and there were quite a bit of things piling up.  Spells, mostly.  I wanted to increase my spell-base and figure out how to alter them.
    Hannah was slipping away into sleep, so I made my way outside and away from the house.  Noone would be bothering me there.  I passed the fence, and the trees, and the second fence, then stepped past the saplings into the clearing.  Welling up in the middle of the clearing was a sight I hadn't been expecting.  Not at all.  Pooling and swirling like a chunky, oily gel, was a black mass that seemed to turn to me when I came into whatever type of view it had.  It surged upward, the tip of the mass falling sideways to center on where I stood.  The ground at me feet moved in a way I wasn't expecting, and I looked down to see just how far it extended.
    Black water was everywhere, trickling past my foot and further back.  Assuming this was aware as far as its body extended, it knew I was coming before I even stepped foot past the fence.  I took a step back and it lunged, rushing toward me bodily, completely open.  It was either stupid or there was something I wasn't aware of.  I rolled through the sludge sideways, avoiding the assault.  It didn't matter though.  Where my clothes rolled through the dark water they sizzled audibly.  I could just barely feel the burning under them on my skin.  This was bad.
    I summoned up a spell, firing a burning lance into the creature.  It opened up and folded in on itself, growing considerably larger before my spell ever connected.  What was going on?  I didn't understand what was happening.  Whenever I cast a spell, it only grew larger.  And it was only when I cast a spell, not when it connected.  I tried an Unsummon while I jumped back to avoid a spasmodic stab by it, but it only fizzled out against the gel.  This clearly wasn't summoned here by anything I could conceive of, and it only grew larger when mana was summoned up.  Wait...
    I had an inkling of what this creature was.  But if I was right, this was an incredibly dangerous variant I'd never seen on a card before.  Manaplasm, if I recalled.  It grew in size each time a player cast a spell, but only for a limited amount of time.  Why was this thing not getting smaller again, and if nothing else what was it doing here in the first place?  Something was very wrong here.  I summoned up my quicksteel blades, new design and all, and watched as it grew a little larger still.  It didn't grow as much though, much to my interest.
    Was it reaching its limits?  I pulled up a mass of red mana and imbued my blade with it, swinging heavily at it.  It left a brutal gap in its wake, boiling away from the arc.  I felt the beginnings of an etch in my mind, but it didn't quite get there.  I tried it again, refusing to let the thing recover any more than I could already see it doing, the slime congealing back together as if I had done little more than run a stick through water.  My phone went off in my pocket, complaining wetly through the grime, but I couldn't afford to be distra-
    I felt a huge chunk of mana empty out of my body all at once, bursting out of my hand in a ball with a concussive blast of fire at the ooze.  It moved with incredible speed and force slamming into the thing and wrapping around it like a water balloon before it burst, covering it in flames.  I dropped to a knee, overwhelmed by the firey pain that accompanied the rest of that word as it ripped its way through my mind.  Fireball.  The pain was intense, seeming to sear me just as badly as the rapidly-dissolving ooze.  I wasn't sure though, whether it was the fire or the overload of mana that sent it over the edge.  And to be honest, I didn't really care, either.
    I was confronted with an issue.  Did I want the thing?  Or should I let it burn.  I was torn between the two, but taking it won out.  It may have been something I didn't want to harbor, but it was too powerful and seemingly unique to just let die.  I forced myself to shaky feet and made my way over to it, hurrying before it was gone.  Shooting a mental link at it, I conveyed the same ideas through it like I did the vine.  The contract had begun.  My flames burned quickly down as its body became more and more water, and it congealed into a new (but tiny) body at my feet.  Subjugation didn't bother the brainless thing, content to be alive and soon under the protection and feeding of a being of mana.
    It arced up and ripped into my finger, drawing blood immediately and I think just a little more than it needed to.  As it began to wrap around my finger, blood pouring into it from the wound, I saw the tell-tale flash of light, and the being disappeared into my body.  I wasn't sure if it had just unsummoned itself or if it was sliding around in my bloodstream, but I didn't care.  I couldn't target it with an Unsummon, so I assumed it was gone.  Sealing up the wound, I felt another word slide back into the other reach of my mind.  Darkwater Manaplasm.
    I looked around me, fully aware of just how dangerously low my mana was, and saw the abundance of green fog around my in my second sight.  I welcomed it in, inhaling the vast majority of it and leaving some left over for the land.  It certainly needed it with me here.  My thoughts, deep in my mind, finally finished analyzing something I hadn't realized I was in the first place.  Through that encounter, my mind had been working out just where it came from logically.
    It came to the conclusion that the creature was formed due to an excess of mana and emotion, coupled with the presence of corrupt, hateful beings.  The explanation made sense, and I made sure not to let something like that happen again despite what caused it to happen having been destroyed.  I felt much better after all the mana settled into my body, compacted into its frame.  I was just as rejuvenated as I was yesterday before everything happened.
    It was past time I try different Plane of existence.  Oh, right.  I got a call a minute ago.  I felt around in my pocket, getting hold of my cell and pulling it out to check.  I missed a call from Steven?  That was odd.  I hadn't heard from him more than a couple of times since High School let out.  I tried checking my voice-mail, remembering I hadn't ever taken the time to set it up when the 'no voice-mail box' message popped up again.  Damn it.  Sending a quick text to Steven asking what was up distracted me for a minute or two, but it wasn't log before I had my volume maxed in case he replied and began practicing.
    I was outside for several hours, until well after sunset and twilight playing with different spells and how to make them happen.  I mastered a few of them on my list, learned a couple more, and altogether enjoyed the quiet I was in the first hour.  After the kids got home from that hellish place I went to a few years back they woke Hannah up because of how loud they were, and she ended up searching me out and joining me.  I didn't mind it too much, but I did regret losing time to myself.
    She sat and watched me fling fire and other hateful things at the remains of a pipe for the better part of an hour before she joined in.  She wasn't putting her heart into it though.  Hannah just didn't seem to have the same capacity for knowledge I did.  I couldn't help it though.  There were just fundamental differences between us, and that was one of them.  I loved learning things that interested me almost to a fault and she didn't.
    Hannah did make some headway though, while she watched how I did it.  She learned to pull out of her spells, and to not waste quite so much as she used to when she did.  Honestly, I wasn't sure just how much of it was new to her.  Had she been keeping ahead of me like this?  If she had, I'd missed it completely.  It didn't matter though.  As long as I was certain I could take her down if I had to some day I was content.  I couldn't help but wonder just how far she really had advanced.
    What had she done?  Experienced?  What else had I missed in her life?  It was oh so tempting to put her under and just dive around in her mind, searching every one of her life's memories just to sate my curiosity.  It was hard, but I resisted the urge.  I just poured my attention into a new red spell, launching a crescent of flame at the ground.  I could produce fires without any issue.  I'd mastered that much.  But I was having trouble figuring out how to harden it enough to make it cut into the target like I was wanting it to.
    What was so hard about it?  I threw another bout of it into the ground, spraying dirt and debris up into the air.  If I could just...
    I felt it click.  A crescent of flame shot out and bored into the earth further than I could see.  Wow.  Now that could do some damage.  Flame Slash.  It seared into the walls of my mind in an almost pleasant way.  Did everyone learn like this?  The books seemed to be different.  It felt like this wasn't the normal way, but I didn't care.  The day was more than a little bit gone by then, so I figured we probably needed to go ahead and head inside for the night before someone asked questions.
April 4, 2013
    It was around eight or so in the evening when I bothered to check.  I had a pretty good guess of the time, but I wasn't always right on it.  The car was gone, meaning dad was at work.  I knew full well everyone else was home, but something else was different.  Something was gone.  I did a quick scan to check signatures and saw that Cassandra's friend was gone.  Good.  It meant no more awkward stares, and certainly no more obnoxious screaming into the phone.  I wouldn't miss her.
    Forgetting her absence just as suddenly as I noticed it, Hannah and I made our way into the roughly twelve by fifteen foot bedroom.  She almost immediately jumped up onto the bed and opened up her laptop, zoning out for the rest of the night like she had a tendency to.  I often did too, but I would have imagined power like this was a little bit more interesting and stimulating than a screen.  It did little for me anymore, to be honest.  That's why I hadn't really even bothered opening mine since I ascended alongside Hannah.  I couldn't help but be disappointed when I saw her wasting this.
    I had a few ideas where I wanted to run off to, whenever she decided it was time.  I worried that the shock she'd had was enough to break her wanting to try it with me.  Should I do it alone?  It was a decision I spent the rest of the night struggling with, even as I lay down to sleep.


    I woke up the next morning ready to go as soon as my eyes opened.  It was more of a trance, really, but it was the closest thing to sleep I could manage now.  I had all but forgotten about trying to walk between planes when I jumped out of bed and into the restroom adjoining the two rooms to change.  Almost.  I had that nagging sensation in my head from the night before and I needed to figure out what it was.  I changed, used the restroom, and sat there with my pants around my ankles thinking.  What had I forgotten?
    The planeswalking issue resurfaced, but there was something else under it too.  I took a moment and tried to force it up to the surface, but I had no luck.  Giving up for the moment I stood, dressed, and flushed, letting my mind go blank.  And it came.  It was something I often did when I couldn't bring up something I knew I was missing.  My birthday.  I'd missed my birthday, and noone reminded me about it.  I was used to it, sure.  But something about missing hitting twenty kinda hurt.
    Let's see.  The tenth was Saturday.  Now was Thursday.
April 5, 2013
So it was the fifteenth.  I checked the calendar that was forced upon me while I was at an Oriental restaurant, and it really was the fifteenth.  Huh.  I really had just missed my birthday completely.  Well damn.  I needed to keep better track of time than I had been.  I caught myself frowning and fixed it, forcing my face to relax and overcompensate until it felt normal again.  Don't worry, it was normal in my case.
    Where was Hannah?  Out in the living room, watching a movie, from the sound of it.  I opened the door and turned the corner to see her down in one of the armchairs, watching Transformers with Cassandra and her kids (again.  I mean really.  Who watches that movie every damn day?  They literally watch one of the three every single day!).  What?  Why were the kids home?  I turned and walked back into the kitchen, ignoring the fact that there was a perfectly good alarm clock in my room.
    3:45.  Pm.  Had I slept that long?  I think Hannah could feel my irritation starting to spread, because she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.  Looking back at her I could see the apology in her eyes but I let it go, waving my hand in dismissal.  She probably got caught up in something and forgot I hate sleeping that long.  Oh well.  The weather outside was somewhat dreary, but I personally loved it this way.  Probably about seventy degrees and it looked barely windy.  Perfect weather for what I had in mind.
    I could feel Hannah scanning my mind (rather obtrusively, even though I could tell she meant it to go unnoticed), so I kept my thoughts guarded against it.  She might go insane if she had any idea the things I'd thought about and/or done in the past.  God, wouldn't that be fun to think about.  I have hundreds of things hidden away in my head I don't dare speak about anymore.  Regardless though, I searched the trash for an empty water bottle with a lid.
    I almost didn't find one.  But eventually, under a multitude of crap, my hands grabbed at it.  The damn thing almost wasn't worth it.  I ended up pulling it out and washing it off, mainly because I already had ahold of it anyways.  Looked like there were some beans and maybe... ketchup on it?  The mess came off easily enough though.  I went ahead and filled it with water, drained it, and filled it again.
    I took my time with the second round of water while I went and stood by Hannah.  Despite how many times I'd seen it before, there were still places I enjoyed watching.  This wasn't one of them though, so I left.  My cat stared at me like usual anymore, secretly just as aware of what was happening to me as I was.  I should imprint him later and make a contract.  Why hadn't I done that yet?  I let it go for awhile.  I'd have time to come back to it.  For now though, I needed to try something Hannah wouldn't like very much.  And soon.
    I really gave some thought about where I wanted to go.  Should I try to hit Kamigawa?  Innistrad?  Mirrodin was automatically out.  The Phyrexian hold was something I did NOT want to come into contact with any time soon.  I was really torn between the two though.  Despite all the places I could try, I wanted to hit Innistrad and Kamigawa the most.  Something about them drew me to them.  I don't know.  Perhaps it's just that they were the cards I was most comfortable with and used to seeing.
    Sucking down the last of my water, I refilled it again and stepped outside into the almost perfect weather.  I took the seat my mother always used to on one of the steps before she died, thinking about how much had changed.  I couldn't even remember whether she was alive or not for Christmas.  Was she?  I sincerely could not remember.  Sighing, I let it go.  There was nothing else I could do about it anymore.  I quickly felt the apathy I was prone to slipping back into place.  The only people I really ever let past it were the ones I'd never been hurt by.  It wasn't their fault I was so distant.  I'd just grown up that way.
    It didn't seem very long before the day was wearing away.  If I really tried, I could see the clock in the kitchen on the stove from here, but I really had to try if I was going to scry somewhere so close.  It simply wasn't worth the strain to figure out how long I'd been sitting there.  Shortly before twilight hit, Hannah came and joined me on the steps.  She sat behind me, resting her head against my back and we enjoyed the quiet for awhile together.  There wasn't much we got to do together like this anymore.  I missed it, even if it had only been a week.  After awhile she woke up rather abruptly.  I hadn't even realized she'd fallen asleep.  It was kinda cute, actually.
    It didn't take long before she got up, yawning, and slid back inside.  I couldn't guess what she was off to do, but I assumed it involved food, like it always did.  Hannah ate incredibly often, despite her size.  She probably ate as much as I did until recently, when I found I wasn't able to anymore.  I was surprised she didn't ask me to make her something, to be honest.  She took advantage of my cooking skills, but I didn't mind it so much.  I enjoyed cooking.
    But I sat there, getting ready.  I needed it to happen, even if it was only to prove to myself I could and all of this wasn't just some screwed up dream or coma I'd wake up from soon.  I mean, come on.  I slipped in the tub and died.  Who's to say it wasn't just a dream?  Leaving the water bottle where I was sitting, I gathered my wits and took a step out into the dark.
    I kept my thoughts very veiled as I walked leaving basic, obvious thoughts to divert her attention to what lay underneath.  I inhaled, breathing in all the ambient mana around me and hiding it deep down inside me in preparation for what was to come.  Perhaps that's what alerted her to it.  I finished sealing it away as I walked further out into the lawn, thinking about where I wanted to go firmly before I tried.  It was time.  My hand stretched out in front of me, feeling for the weave of the universe I knew would hurl me into chaos shortly after I found it.
    'Are you certain you are ready for this?'  I somewhat expected to hear from him about now.
    "I should be fine.  But I need to hurry."  And I did.  I could hear Hannah opening the door behind me.  She wasn't going to be happy about this.
    'Then best of luck to you.  I will try to keep the Aether off of your body as long as I can, but do not rely on me.  Keep your guard up.'
    I looked back at the confusion on Hannah's face, smiling at her.  And then I was gone.  Shock crossed her face as I stepped into nothing.  On my side, I stepped into a blue and black vortex full of chaotic shapes and mana that crackled and burst at random.  I needed to get somewhere, and fast.  I could already hear my clothes sizzling in the entropy that surrounded my body.  I thought about Innistrad first, but nothing happened.  I started to panic, willing myself to move down the Blind Eternities to whatever was nearest.  I needed out.
    It did exactly that too.  It shot me down and I saw the way out.  It wasn't what I was hoping for, but I didn't care at that point.  I slowed, regaining a sense of direction and gravity before stepping out the side of the tunnel-like vortex onto the ground like coming off an escalator.  My feet touched down, and I was immediately surrounded by dense forest as the Aether dissipated.  I looked around me, checking the environment.  Even breathing was different here.  Wow.  Everything smelled... rich.  Thick.  Cloying.  Everything smelled of death and new life, all at the same time.
    I could already feel the mana seeping in, even without breathing it in.  There was an incredible amount of it, all over the place.  It made sense, when I was standing in the middle of a place I knew as Jund, why Planeswalkers could produce so much mana so quickly.  The mass of black, green, and overpowering red mana was quickly eating away at the reserves I still had.  It felt... corrupt.  That's the best word I could use for it.  Life, death, and instinct ruled here.  I needed to get away.
    Breathing in a good deal of excess mana, I healed and repaired my body and clothing, preparing to head to another locale.  I made very sure I remembered the thread to get here in the Multiverse.  Something told me Earth just wasn't a part of it.  But I did it.  It didn't matter I had to go, and quickly at that.  I made it.  Turning and making sure to fix the small rift behind me first, I stepped back into chaos and off to wherever it decided to let me out.
    I slipped back in and took the first exit I could, coming out somewhere civilized.  I immediately checked around me and made sure noone was watching, then sealed the rift again.  I was determined not to leave a trace of my entry.  Mana was again predominately red here.  The sky was clear as far as I could see through the streets of the little, rough town I was in.  It was strangely empty though.  There were no people in the streets, or in the windows of the decent-looking homes.  I was surprised at their quality.  Something was off though; I was missing it.  Glancing from place to place and listening intently, I let Sera's word slip from my mind into my heart, then out into the world as a summons.
    It only took a moment, but it certainly wasn't too soon.  The air next to me shimmered as a group of figures came around the edge of the villiage.  Even with my eyesight, I recognized the barbaric nature of them immediately.  Knowing what I was looking for, I could see the blood from the people these men had slain was everywhere.  I knew where I was, and I didn't take chances.  Quicksilver blades slid from my wrists and into my hands.  Sera fully materialized next to me on his knees before standing.  "I am here.  Command me."
    All I had to do was point and let him into my thoughts.  I was on Dominaria, and I was in Keld.