Chandra knew right away she was dreaming. It was a place that had visited her sleeping hours so often she could tell without even a single doubt: The end of the maze beneath Ravnica Academy. It was just how she remembered it- or at least, how they had left it behind. She hadn't returned since they had plunged down into the maze's depths the first time, so she had no idea if the massive hole in the roof of the chamber had been fixed, or if anyone had bothered to remove any of the rubble- but this was how it appeared to her, and her subconscious was pulling off all of the stops to convince her she was there. The air smelled of dirt and the faint scent of fire, and she could feel a breeze blowing in from above, whipping her hair up towards the uncovered ceiling, and hear the howl of the wind. She could make out the millions of twinkling stars above her growing fainter in the slightest twinge of sunlight that had begun to cover the sky. She ran her fingers over the rough chunks of rock that littered the ground, feeling the rough texture beneath her fingers.
Yes, the scene felt real, and maybe they would have been enough to convince her had it not been for one, single detail: a person waiting for her near the wall where all the mana of Ravnica and their sparks had been trapped, leaning against the stone and staring up at the stars. They were always the thing that convinced Chandra she was in a dream, and not wandering around in the maze by herself, always there waiting for her like they had planned to meet up, always looking back at her like she had kept them waiting. And even though Chandra knew she was dreaming, and even though she had been through this scene so many times, she felt her chest tighten.
Her companion smiled- a smile that was a slight twist away from being sick and unnerving. They were waiting for Chandra to speak up and to speak their name as if it were a spell that would lift the silence between them. And in those brief moments of silence as Chandra opened her lips to speak, she thought again, just like always, 'why you? Why is it always you?'
"Baltrice." She spoke aloud. It wasn't a question, or even a greeting. It was more of a statement, confirming she was there, and not just a shape or a shadow. She appeared as she had when they had fought within the maze, just as smug and cruel, almost like she wasn't aware of what her fate had wound up being- and as much as it made Chandra's skin crawl, she was thankful. There were times where she could appear before Chandra partially on fire, partially melted like her skin was made of clay.
"You kept me waiting, Nalaar." Baltrice responded, just like always. Her voice filled the chamber in an odd way, and echoed unnaturally all around her. And as always, Chandra held herself from apologizing to a phantom that only lived in her dreams. "Although, I'm surprised you're still here."
Oh. That was new. It caught Chandra off guard and she cocked an eyebrow curiously, and Baltrice smirked as if that was what she had wanted her to do.
"What do you mean, by 'still here'?" Chandra dared to ask. Normally she tried to interact with her as little as possible, keep her sentences down to a few words with single syllables.
"On Ravnica, of course." Baltrice chuckled, holding her hands slightly aloft as her gaze traced over the room before settling back on Chandra. "Even with your spark and all your power, you still insist on staying trapped on this rock."
"There's nowhere I want to go, and there are things I still need to take care of here." Chandra replied seriously, refusing to go deeply into details that weren't even worth going into. "There's no reason to leave Ravnica right now."
"Not even to go after Jace and Liliana?" Baltrice asked. Chandra flinched, their names almost hurting her. She didn't want to mention it to anybody, but it had been a year and they had still not returned- no letter or message assuring them that they were alright, or to let them know they still even remembered them- and it had started to really nag at her. She grit her teeth behind her lips and shook her head.
"They don't need me there with them. I don't even know where they are." She grumbled, balling her hands into tight fists. "I need to stay here on Ravnica, I can't just up and leave for no reason at all!"
"You'll soon find that maybe leaving this place will be necessary." Baltrice's tone of voice had taken on a surprisingly icy tone, and Chandra looked up at her to see her looking back with a deathly-serious expression. She felt a shiver run up her spine as the chamber seemed to grow darker and colder.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, expecting Baltrice to go back to looking smug and sinister, but she remained stone-faced as she looked Chandra in the eyes.
"Ravnica is far from saved- and while you and your friends enjoy this temporary, false peace, you know in the back of your mind that you didn't take care of everything. And ignoring it won't do you any good." Chandra felt her stomach turn before she spoke again.
"You're talking about Ashiok... aren't you?"
"Who else could I be referring to?" Baltrice asked with a cock of her head.
"B-but we defeated Nicol Bolas! Without his help, Ashiok won't be much of a threat on their own!" Chandra insisted. "Nissa established a team to search for them, and they haven't turned up anything after all this time! Ashiok doesn't mean well, sure, but they aren't that dangerous."
"But there are people within the multiverse that are." Baltrice insisted. "They have access to their spark now, as much as you. And if Ashiok could sway Nicol Bolas to do as they wished, then they can convince just about anyone to help them. If I were you, I'd be a little more worried."
"No... If they wanted to do something, they would have done something by now!" Chandra shouted back. A rumble echoed throughout the chamber as flames began to build in the corners of her vision. The place suddenly seemed a lot more dilapidated than before- like it had been the scene of a war.
"They're simply biding their time. Even after you defeated Nicol Bolas this plane has been in danger, and Ashiok knows this." Baltrice spoke above the rising noise, the crackling of flames mingling with her words. "They were always prepared for the chance that Nicol Bolas should fail. They know of something on this plane that you don't, something that will draw the evils of the multiverse here."
"What is it, then!?" Chandra snapped, attempting to take a step forward, only to have a sudden wall of flames block her path. "Tell me what it is, if you now so much!" She was angry, she was frustrated, but above all things, Chandra was frightened.
A single voice answered back in a whisper that somehow could be heard above all the other noises that bounced off the walls, but it was't Baltrice. She merely peered through the flames with a look that resembled pity as the whisper was joined by even more voices- hisses, shouts, cries, wails- that all said the same thing, repeating the phrase over and over:
"Beware the Veil... Beware the Veil... Beware the Veil..."
"Beware the... what!?" Chandra gasped as she grasped at her head. The din of voices that began to grow and grow in volume began to hurt her head almost instantly, and with a considerable bit of strain she looked up once more to look back at Baltrice, who was now consumed in flames, but still unwaveringly looked back at her. And through the flames, Chandra could see her lips move, deliberately forming words, but Chandra couldn't make out what they were.
"What are you talking about!?" Chandra cried. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?"
Suddenly her vision was enveloped by blinding light and she felt her entire world shift violently as she threw herself forward. She felt her heart pounding against her chest furiously and sweat dampening her skin as she wildly looked around. Fire no longer consumed her vision and the relentless voices had ceased. Instead, she found herself in bed, in her room, daylight streaming in through her window. Her ears still rang, but other than that the dream had faded completely... yes, just a dream. It was only a dream. Just like always. Chandra heaved a sigh, trying to calm herself. It had all been just a crazy dream, and nothing more, as vivid as it had been. She could even still smell the fire...
Fire...?
Chandra gasped as she looked down as her sheet she had been grasping in a panic to find that she had summoned flames from her hands in response to the stress the dream had caused, and she was well on her way to setting her entire bed ablaze. Sure, her own fire wasn't really much of a danger to her, but everyone else in the house wasn't as impressively inflammable.
"Oh shit! Oh shit!" She cried out as she quickly shook her hands to stop from producing even more flames, at least, and leaped up from her bed. There wasn't much lying around the room at this point- just a few boxes lying about full of things that would probably only act as tinder for the small blaze now burning brightly on her bed. With hardly any real time to think, she reached for another blanket that had fallen onto the ground and began using it to try and smother the fire, which she couldn't tell if it was even working through all the smoke her fire-fighting attempt was creating. It only occurred to her to finally open her windows once the smoke alarms started to beep irritatingly.
"Ugh, what a way to end this visit..." She groaned as she looked down her charred sheets and blackened mattress. "At least the student apartments come pre-furnished, or else I'd definitely be out a bed!" She wiped her brow and turned away from the mess she had made to go about the rest of her morning. At the very least, she wouldn't get nagged at about oversleeping again.
Another summer had come and gone- a quiet summer at home, awkwardly existing around her family of regular humans, for the most part, anyway. Gideon had stopped by once or twice, once to help her pack up her belongings (and throw away the impressive amount of garbage she had pilled up in her room) that were to be transported to the school- much to her surprise, Chandra's parents had arranged for her to move from the dorms to the student apartments for her final year at the academy. She even now was still attempting to think of it as a genuinely nice gesture and not an attempt to give her less reasons to return home during breaks.
Avacyn had even dropped by once, there had been a trip to the beach and... of course there had been the all-too-familiar absence everyone had grown just a little too used to. Nobody dared mention their names, but there was always a space in the group that everyone noticed- a silence where there normally wouldn't be. It had been a whole year, and it was still there...
"Ugh, stop thinking about it, Chandra..." Chandra scolded herself as she slapped her hands against her cheeks like she was trying to rouse herself from a dream. "There's no use getting hung up about this now..."
Instead, to busy herself, she went about getting dressed and gathering the rest of her belongings- a backpack slung over her shoulder and a few small (but heavy) boxes balanced on top of each other in her arms. She took one last look around her room before heaving one last sigh. She'd probably have to apologize for the bed- if not then, then later when she was back at school and far away from any kind of possible punishment (she already knew it was going to wind up being the later- a bit difficult to apologize for almost burning down the house while bidding farewell to everyone).
Arms full of boxes, she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, which was surprisingly quiet. The only person aside from her that was there was her mother, quietly drinking a mug of coffee and looking at something on her phone. Chandra couldn't help but feel a little bit of discomfort as she silently made her way across the room and set her boxes on a nearby chair.
"I heard the smoke alarms going off a little while ago." Her mother mentioned, breaking the silence. "Was that you?"
"Oh- um- yeah, that was... from steam. I took a really hot shower, and you know how sensitive those smoke alarms are." Chandra lied through a slightly uncomfortable chuckle.
"Funny, I didn't hear the water running." Her mother said, but added nothing else as she took another sip of her coffee and the silence settled back over the room once more. Chandra decided to follow suit and not layer lies on top of lies and instead made her way to the coffee pot that was still half full.
"Is everyone else gone?" She asked as she poured herself a cup. "I was hoping to say goodbye to dad and everyone else before I left."
"Leaving so early?" Her mother asked, looking up from her phone.
"I'd rather get on the road as soon as I can so I have time to unpack once I get back to the academy. Plus I'd rather not make a huge spectacle out of leaving." Chandra explained between sips of coffee. "Just tell everyone I said goodbye if they're already gone- oh, and tell Chelsea to stop calling Gideon and to flirt with people her own age."
Another wave of silence rolled over them, but Chandra couldn't help but notice her mother was no longer as interested in her phone as she was in her, watching her carefully, as if she were studying her. Chandra quickly looked down at her outfit, making sure she hadn't exactly burned it, too.
"Um-"
"I'm sorry, it's just..." Her mother sighed, shaking her head. "I just can't help but notice something is... different about you. I realized it last year, too... maybe it's because you're never around- not that it's any of your fault. But you seem... older, more mature, maybe. My own daughter is growing up and I can only see it in short flashes. You're almost practically an adult and I'm only just now feeling like I've missed something."
"Mom..." Chandra sighed. She wanted to assure her of something- but of what? Everything that was coming out of her mouth was true, there was really nothing to say on the contrary. There was also the whole 'Oh, right, mom, turns out I can travel between different universes now, so there's that' shtick that Chandra wanted very much to avoid.
"Maybe it was a poor decision on my part to send you and your brother to the academy. Maybe if we had been a little more accepting, maybe I could have seen you change, and not just little snapshots in between." Her mother continued, sounding surprisingly melancholy. "Maybe, in a way, I've failed, as a mother..."
"H-hey, don't say that!" Chandra gasped, nearly spilling her coffee in surprise. "I... I mean... being sent to the academy wasn't all that bad. I've met a lot of great people and... we did a lot of great things. I've found myself there, and I don't think I would have been able to do that if I were here with you guys." She wasn't sure if what was coming out of her mouth would even help the situation, but she knew she had to say something. In a way, her mother sending her to the academy had saved the multiverse- somewhat, anyway (Sure, Jace had been the one to really do the deed, but she had been present, hadn't she?). "Don't be so hard on yourself."
"But even so... I'm sorry, for... not, at least, trying." Her mother apologized. "Is there anything I can do to... make it up to you?"
Chandra wanted to say that there was really nothing- she didn't really resent her for having sent her to the academy, at least not anymore. But she could tell her mother needed something clear her guilty conscious, and telling her there was nothing she could do probably wouldn't improve things. For once, she wanted a summer to end on a good note instead of a bad or an awkward one.
"Just... try to be a little more accepting from now on. The world is changing, even though we can't see it, but... even one person standing up for people like me is going to make a world of difference to somebody." Chandra smiled.
"I... I suppose it's for the best I should..." Her mother nodded, looking down at the floor. "Two of my own children are mages, so it would be a bit hypocritical of me not to be... more accepting than I have been in the past."
"Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to call Charles. I promise, he'll actually pick up this time." Chandra added. "I'm sure he'll appreciate a... similar speech."
"And you? Will you be just as easy to reach- You're not going to lose your phone in some freak accident and not tell me like last time, right?" Her mother asked, a slight smile finally creeping across her lips. Chandra chuckled slightly under her breath, nonchalantly shrugging.
"I don't know, I can't make any promises about that. That and I'll be so busy- it is my senior year after all, and I'll have a lot of work to do and all..." She was obviously joking and refused to hide it, but she could see her mother's shoulder slump and that was enough for her to drop the charade. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I'll try to call more often, I promise." She couldn't make any promises about losing her phone, but at the least she could promise that.
A strong cup of coffee and an even stronger hug goodbye later and Chandra was preparing to leave, her boxes messily thrown into the back seat of her truck. In a way she was grateful it had just been her mother and her- if everyone else had been there, there would have hardly been any time at all to speak with her like she had. It left her feeling warm inside- or maybe it was the last remaining effects of the coffee, she wasn't sure. But the smile on her face surely wasn't.
Starting the truck, she took one last look around at the street her childhood home was situated on: a quiet picturesque shot of suburbia, quiet and comfortable and neat. This was her home, but she knew deep down she belonged somewhere much different- a place of winding, maze-like hallways and dark secrets, and a place where her friends were. Her mother had expressed regret she had sent her away, but that place had become her new home, and it was to that place that Chandra was returning once more.
"Next stop: Ravnica Academy!" She said to no one in particular as she craned her neck around and began to back out of the driveway. And as her eyes scanned the back seat, she recalled the last time she had seen her friends crammed in the back at the beginning of the summer of the previous year on their quiet trip to the ruins. Chandra sighed sourly before shaking her head, attempting to throw the negative feelings off.
They'd come back- eventually, everyone always returns to where they belong.