Nissa vs. Jace/Nahiri

Jace had never before seen so many elementals in so many different forms. If they weren't attacking him, he would have been fascinated.

But they were attacking him, and it took his full skill and cunning to evade their blows and not damage them in return. He knew that if he hoped to win Nissa back as a friend and ally, he couldn't damage Zendikar.

He had to get the Lithoform Core. He had to find a way to broker peace between the two guardians of Zendikar.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Nahiri sprint into the Singing City. He knew that whatever the lithomancer was planning would not help any potential peace talks.

Sweeping up both hands, Jace raised an illusion: a cloud of mist, thicker than natural, thick enough to disappear into, confusing the ivy and lichen elemental looming in front of him. Buying himself some time.

Under this cover, Jace ran.

He slipped into the Singing City moments before an ear-splitting roar of destruction bellowed behind him. He turned to see a massive wall of stone crushing the marble gates of the city, blocking the exit.

Leaving Jace trapped within, where its eerie tune began to hum again.

***

Nahiri could hear the elementals pounding against the Singing City's walls, banging their mud fists and moss wings uselessly at the stones. The sound pleased her.

Nissa couldn't destroy her makeshift fortress, not while Nahiri was within it, using her lithomancy to hold it together.

Still, the thought of all those nature monstrosities attacking her made her skin crawl with dread. Being surrounded by walls and the haunting tune of unseen voices made her stomach lurch. It reminded her too much of being trapped on Helvault again.

She lifted her arms, summoning bedrock and sandstone. And like a dance, she made them rise, knit together, become stronger, harder than the original walls of the Singing City, building herself a massive, indestructible fort above the ruins.

Her body ached with the effort, but she refused to let that foolish elf get her hands on the Core. Not when she was so close to healing Zendikar, to returning it back to the stable, even world she once knew.

Within her fortress, the pounding of the elementals grew muffled and the City's song became a faint melody. Nahiri exhaled. She finally had a moment alone.

"Nahiri."

Damn it. She knew who it was before she even turned around. She recognized the pattern of Jace's footsteps on the stones. But she hadn't noticed them until now.

She turned to see Jace moving toward her.

"If you try to take the Core," Nahiri said, with deadly calm, "I'll add you to my collection of wall hangs."

That made him stop.

"I don't want to fight you," he said, raising his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "But . . . please, let's go to Ravnica. I think Nissa will listen to us there."

"Oh, she'll listen," replied Nahiri, anger rising in her. "She'll listen and listen, and when it comes time to choose, she'll choose to let this world stay fractured and ruined." She clenched her fists and began to unbuild the roof of her fortress, giving her access to the open sky.

Turning her gaze upward, she called the hedrons she made an age ago. She called every single one marooned around the Singing City. There were dozens. "No, Jace. The Core won't work on another plane. It stays here."

"I don't want to fight you," he said again, and there was no aggression in his voice. But she heard what he wasn't saying. The silence half of that statement: But I will.

"Please," he said.

But Nahiri was done. Done with these weak planeswalkers who couldn't see what was clearly in front of them. Her hands shook with emotion, and she used that energy to pull the hedrons down from the sky and hover above Jace.

"Nahiri," said Jace, with alarm. The hedrons closed in around him and began to spin, confining him in their circle. "Listen, please!"

Nahiri was done listening. She rose into the air, her fury and hurt fueling her. With a twirl of her fingers, blue energy engulfed her hands and she sent it through the hedrons, trapping Jace within the dangerous ring. Then, she commanded the ring to close.

She wanted her face to be the last thing he ever saw.

There was movement from the corner of her eye. She knew its shape, its posture, its cool and silent danger.

Nahiri turned and was faced with her old mentor. Her sworn enemy. Sorin.

He was standing on the fortress wall, a dozen feet away from her, at eye level. His long black jacket flowed out behind him. He was smiling.

"What are you doing here?" said Nahiri through gritted teeth.

Sorin didn't respond. He just lifted a hand in that dangerous way she knew so well. The slight movement that heralded a terrible attack.

No, not you, too. Nahiri bared her teeth and screamed. She sent a giant stone foot shooting up from the ground directly at the vampire's chest.

Sorin disappeared in the rush of stones, and Nahiri exhaled. Then, an instant later, he reappeared, still smiling. Like nothing had happened at all.

Nahiri blinked, confused. She reached for the stones under Sorin's feet and discovered that they weren't supporting the vampire's weight.

This is an illusion, she realized. This is Jace.

But this realization came a moment too late. A mist flooded in around her, too thick to see through. She heard her hedrons clatter to the ground.

Suddenly, her thoughts were not her own.

***

It worked! Jace thought as the hedrons hit the surrounding ground. He could feel Nahiri's mind struggle against his control. He hated that it had come to this, but his choices were limited.

The Singing City's eerie hum began to grow in volume.

Better hurry. He wasn't sure if he could hold Nahiri's mind and a silencing spell simultaneously.

Nahiri floated to the ground, and he commanded her to hold still. Cautiously, he approached.

Reached into the satchel on her hip.

Took the Lithoform Core.

It glowed like a beacon in his hand, pulsing gently with the promise of power.

The haunting song of the City swelled in volume, and Jace found himself filled with a sudden, inexplicable longing.

He saw himself wielding the Core's energy, solving problems without needing to debate or fight with others. Without needing to throw himself or his friends in harm's way.

With the Core, with a thought, he could easily change the world. All the worlds.

No, that's not who I am. Jace pushed the temptation away.

He groaned as Nahiri's mind thrashed against his control with renewed force. There was rage in her expression, in every line of her paralyzed body as she fought against him. His hold on her almost slipped, but Jace regained it at the last moment.

"Let me out of this fortress. Lower the wall around the entrance," he commanded.

Nahiri's mind balked at the order, but he heard the sound of stone toppling in the distance, the elementals' attack growing louder.

Jace winced. They should be trying to find a solution for Zendikar together, not fighting against each other.

He could take the Core to Ravnica right now. He should. Nahiri claimed that the Core only worked on this plane, but he wanted to test that theory, safely away from this already damaged world.

He also knew that if he disappeared with the Core without telling Nissa, he would lose her trust forever. He both wanted her friendship and needed her in the battles to come.

Jace wrapped the Core in his cloak and sprinted out of the Singing City, running as fast as his exhausted body could. The haunting song was growing louder now, stealing into his bones. Jace ran faster, faster than he realized he could. He needed to get to the entrance before Nahiri regained herself and sealed it up again. He needed to reach Nissa.

He crossed the ruined marble gates an instant before his control on Nahiri's mind slipped and stone walls slammed up against the ancient city.

Safely on the other side, he thought with some satisfaction.

He didn't see the giant limb of roots and green buds until it was on top of him. Until the elemental pinned him down with one of four massive hands and leaned over him, blocking out the sunlight. Jace gasped, recognizing Ashaya.

"I need to talk to Nissa," he shouted. But Ashaya just increased the pressure on his sternum.

Balling his fist, Jace created an illusion of fire around them, wild and consuming, hoping to create enough of a distraction to escape.

But Ashaya wasn't fooled.

The elemental calmly reached into Jace's cloak and pulled out the Lithoform Core.

"Wait," Jace groaned. But the elemental didn't.

It examined the artifact for a moment before tossing the Core over its shoulder.

And into Nissa's waiting hands.

***

She should destroy it.

That was Nissa's initial thought as she held the Lithoform Core in her hands for the first time.

Listen to me.

The thought was not hers, though the voice sounded familiar. She looked over to where Jace was struggling under Ashaya's grasp. His expression was pleading.

Tentatively, she allowed Jace into her thoughts.

Nissa, please, we need to stop this, Jace thought. Call off the elementals.

If we stop, Jace, Nahiri will take the truce as an opportunity to overwhelm us. You've seen how ruthless she is.

There was a loud crash as the thick walls around the city began rearranging themselves. Nahiri appeared atop the stone chaos. The elementals flooded around her at once.

Please, Jace thought. Let's go to Ravnica. We can study the Core there together.

What makes you think we won't accidentally annihilate Ravnica? Nissa replied. I've seen the damage the Core can do. We should destroy it.

Nahiri said it won't work outside of Zendikar. It'll be safe to test it there.

In the distance, Nahiri began trapping elementals in prisons of stone, her movements focused, precise, and furious. Nissa's breath caught as four impenetrable walls shot up around a river elemental.

Nahiri is not known for her truthfulness, Jace.

Gritting her teeth, Nissa thr.ust out her hands and sent a wave of green energy straight at Nahiri.

Listen to me.

Nahiri screamed a battle cry and deflected Nissa's energy with a massive bedrock wall.

The Gatewatch. We can use this, thought Jace as he struggled against Ashaya's roots. There's something you don't know. I . . . we have other battles to face, Nissa.

The Gatewatch failed. We were supposed to protect the things we love. We couldn't even protect each other. Nissa's heart ached with the memory of Gideon's smiling face, at those tender and hopeful moments with Chandra. How, for a little while at least, among the other planeswalkers, Nissa felt like she belonged somewhere. You were like a family to me.

A hundred feet away, Nahiri fought her way forward, moving closer to where Nissa stood, while elemental after elemental fell victim to the kor's relentless attacks.

No, no, no. Nissa couldn't lose this fight. The Core in her hands grew warmer.

Listen to me.

"I am listening to you Jace," she shouted. "You aren't listening to me!"

Not him. Me.

The Core was flashing urgently in her hand. Nissa realized why the voice sounded so familiar. There was something in its cadence, as if the pulse, the vibrations and breath of Zendikar that she knew so well, had found its words.

Who are you? she asked.

I am me. I am you.

Fifty feet away, Nahiri smashed a stone foot into an earth elemental, catching it by surprise. It crumbled to its knees.

Nissa shot a tangle of vines at Nahiri's ankles. Why are you only speaking now? she said to the Core.

Nahiri dodged the vines with one elegant twist and jump, landing neatly on her feet.

There was a small rumble in the land's rhythm, in its air. Nissa realized Zendikar was laughing. The chuckle from the Core matched the land's pulse.

How? she asked. This was impossible. Confusing. Nissa didn't have time for a new mystery right now. Nahiri close and coming closer.

But if this was Zendikar, really Zendikar . . .

Nissa, please! Let me take the Core! Jace thought. Nissa ignored him.

The object in your hand is a very old piece of me. It's full of power, the voice from the Core replied.

Nissa frowned, aimed a fresh attack at Nahiri. Why? Why would the ancient kor create this?

To undo damage.

Thirty feet away, Nahiri batted aside the second vine attack with a fence of sandstone. She stalked forward, stopping her advance twenty feet away from Nissa.

"Give me the Core, Nissa!" she shouted.

Will you help me, Jace? Nissa thought. Jace nodded once, but even at a distance, she could tell he was planning something.

A moment later, she felt tendrils of power slip into her head. Nissa realized in one horrified instant that Jace was trying to take control of her mind.

She snapped the mental link between them and silently asked Ashaya to make sure Jace couldn't move. The elemental complied, piling all four limbs on the mage. Jace groaned.