fixit fic is the only time i'll ever write canon characters

As the Weatherlight sailed over the great forest of Yavimaya, Gideon described to the newly-boarded Chandra about the battle plans they had conceived and the achievements they had so far garnered. The two of them sat around a large table alongside Liliana and Jaya in a compartment located just beneath the bridge of the great and legendary airship.

As Gideon finished describing their tale so far, Chandra made a face as if she had been presented with a blackboard filled with advanced calculus. “So you’ve just been aboard the boat for months? And you don’t even have anything that can kill this demon without the Chain Veil? That seems dangerous.”

“He didn’t tell you about the Blackblade.” Lilana’s voice was tinged with bitterness. “That blade once slew an elder dragon, surely it could be used to slay another. But he won’t allow any of us to use it besides himself.”

Gideon stared into Chandra’s eyes as she looked him over, waiting for an answer. “… It also drinks souls.”

“This seems like a bad idea. I mean we’ve seen what one demon can do to a whole plane. And also the… soul thing.” Chandra retorted.

“Exactly.” Liliana shrugged. Chandra looked to Jaya for some comment, but she merely sat with her head propped on her bridged hands, looking thoughtful.

Gideon, seeing this, hesitated. It would be uncouth to argue when they had only just found Chandra again. He should have seen it from talking over the plan like a sensible team. He swallowed the pride building at the back of his throat. Not today, Erebos.

“It isn’t that I don’t believe that any of you are capable of taking that risk.” He started. “But I can’t let you--”

The air thumped and echoed with suddenly-displaced air, and the compartment lit up in a blaze of cerulean light. Within a matter of moments, the four in the room were no longer alone.

Those present scrambled for their weapons and their magic, and the door to the deck was thrown open by the rest of the crew. Their artillery was trained on the boy in the blue clothes in the seconds before Gideon’s eyes widened with realization.

The boy who stood there had caught himself on a wall so as not to stumble from the high velocity of the airship Weatherlight. He was tanned, and scraped, and calloused as if he had spent the last three months in a tropical wilderness. He carried with him a musculature that Gideon had definitely not seen when last the five of them were together on Amonkhet.

As it dawned on Gideon who this was, his heart surged with the very same pride that he had tried to swallow back, but this time for the dear friend who he thought died by Bolas’ hand. He heard a wet splatter as the boy landed properly in the remains of a moist, slimy footprint, and the sigh of a long breath.

The first thing Jace Beleren seemed to notice was the hum of machinery and the creaking of sturdy hardwood. The second thing he noticed was his friend, and all the people in the room staring at him.

“Jace!” Gideon couldn’t help but cry out. “You’re-”

“Hi, hello. Sorry. I really didn’t expect to land that.” Jace’s chest heaved with panting exhaustion. “I had to adjust my trajectory due to your velocity.” His tone grew only more jovial as he shook his tiredness.

“Jace, I-”

“Wow! I’ve never planeswalked onto a moving object before! What exactly are we riding in? How is it powered? How fast are we going?” He gesticulated vaguely at the ship around him (nearly hitting Chandra in the face in the process, for which he apologized profusely without registering who he had just accidentally assaulted), breathlessly exclaiming question after question.

He looked around at the faces around him. Most of these were strange people, new people. Nearby him, he saw Chandra, stunned silent from the sheer surprise. In front of him, he saw Gideon, frozen with shock and overcome with emotion. Brilliant, shining Gideon, whose radiance had led him here to Dominaria. This was clearly someone who was overcome to the point of tears that he was alive. This was, come hell or high water, a friend.

“Jace, you’re-”

“Gideon! I’m not dead!”

Gideon couldn’t contain himself. He lurched forward to embrace the friend he thought lost all this time. However, just before he could reach him, the elder pyromancer that the Planeswalkers had previously been consulting with stepped in front of him, looking Jace over with a skeptical eye.

“...Who’s the bookworm?”

Near the back, an older, dark-skinned man looked a bit displeased at the interruption. “He should learn to knock first.”

One of the crewmates called behind her, out the door to the deck. “It’s okay, Tiana! He’s a friend!”

Chandra, once the stun wore off, flailed her hands in Jace’s general direction. “It’s Jace! He’s alive, he’s… basically… naked. What happened to your clothes?”

“It’s a long story-” Suddenly, it registered in Jace’s mind who he was speaking to. “Chandra! Look! I’m not dead!!”

“I can see that-”

“I traced Gideon’s aether trails right to this ship, although now that I think about it this ship leaves its own aether trails- like a planeswalker! They’re very similar. Anyway, I had to recalculate my entire walk because I could sense Gideon’s trails moving at a speed I couldn’t have predicted, and look! It’s a whole ship!”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Jaya said flatly. “Who’s the bookworm in the bathing suit?”

“Ah...” Gideon cleared his throat. He was still a bit choked up, but he knew he must handle this with some degree of dignity. “This is Jace Beleren, another member of our Gatewatch. We previously believed him… dead… after the events we experienced on Amonkhet.” He now turned to Jace. “And Jace, these are Karn, Teferi and Jaya, fellow Planeswalkers. As well, this is the crew of the airship Weatherlight, who have graciously allowed us aboard and plan to aid us in-”

“Yes! That’s right! It’s urgent, Gideon. I’m sorry to appear without warning, everyone, but I need your utmost attention! It’s about Bolas, you see, he’s got a trap planned for Planeswalkers. You see-”

“A trap…?” Some of Gideon’s overwhelming joy faded in the face of grim reality, but only some.

“Yes, a trap!” Jace began to explain what he knew of the plans the elder dragon had brewed, and then gestured to the gathered. “We need to go, quickly! They’ll need every bit of help they can get! Gideon, Chandra, can you come, at least?”

“What about me?” The voice from behind the crowd made Jace’s heart drop a bit. He looked past the heads of the others and met eyes with Liliana, still seated at the table. He had hoped he wouldn’t need to address this for at least a little bit longer.

“If this is true,” Gideon shook his head, “then we must help Liliana to slay her last demon first. She’ll need to be at her best if what you say is correct.”

Jace’s heart sunk further. He thought of his realization before leaving Ixalan. He thought of the messes Liliana had caused him. He thought of Kallist all that time ago, and he thought of Vraska just a few hours prior. “But… it needs to be addressed immediately.”

“I’m aware, Jace. But the demon Belzenlok must also be addressed immediately. She’s weakened. If we don’t take care of it now, Belzenlok will overtake all of Dominaria, and Liliana will be unable to fight to her fullest.”

“He’s right.” Liliana sighed, “Weakened like this, I won’t be of any help at all. Not fully. We’ll be routed again, or worse. Just like on Amonkhet, completely at Bolas’ mercy.”

That made Jace pause. After everything on Ixalan, his first instinct was not to trust her again. He knew better. But if what they were saying was true, then she was correct. He turned to Chandra. “I understand the necessity of your situation, but surely you can come with me?”

Chandra bit her bottom lip, not much liking the awkward turn this reunion had taken. “Listen, Jace… My plans were… not as great as I thought they were. I can admit that. But I have a chance, a chance to get what I need here. I need to learn more. About myself. I need to see this through. Please understand.”

Jace exhaled in resignation. He was still happy just to see his friends (and Liliana, to an extent) again, but this hadn’t exactly been what he wanted to hear. “I… understand. I guess. I’ll go on my own, then.”

“I’m sorry, Jace. This is just as urgent.” Gideon glanced to the side, avoiding contact with the boy’s blue eyes.

“It’s… fine.” Jace lied. It wasn’t exactly fine, but it couldn’t exactly be helped. “But I can’t stay. I need to go to Ravnica. It’s my duty as the Guildpact.”

In a whorl of blue shadows and the snapping of aether, Jace Beleren disappeared again.

There was a long, pregnant silence, only eventually broken by one of the ship’s crew, a rather shaggy-looking young mage.

“So.” Raff Capashen began, “Are all Planeswalkers like this?”