Chandra grumbled as she clomped up the staircase, her metal-clad boots against the stone steps sending a cacophony up and down the column. She didn't understand why she had to go get Jace. Gideon could have done it just as easily. Liliana... eh, yea, she probably would have given her a dirty look if Chandra had told her to go get him herself. Besides, aside from Jace, Liliana was least likely to embarrass themselves. Gids was great and all, but he could be a little too... friendly? Jace would have had a better word.

Jace's bedroom door was just as basically adorned as the rest of his place.

"Jace!" Chandra pounded on the door with her fist. "We got a job! Maybe! Someone's asking for our help!" Scant seconds passed before Chandra gave up and barged in. "Hey, you even in..." The scene awaiting her on the other side was far from what she expected.

A reedy figure stood before a tall mirror that reached from floor to ceiling; the person unmistakably female despite her thin figure. She stood nearly stark nude, save a pair of navy boxer-briefs. Chandra was taken aback until the woman turned to face her. The shock felt like her heart was about to leap out her throat.

"Do you have so little respect for others that you encroach on the simple privacy of a bedroom without a single thought?" Jace said, his voice so cold and sharp the room's temperature could have dropped a few degrees.

"I... You..," Chandra's mouth flapped like a beached fish. "You're a woman?!"

Jaw clenched, Jace fought his first, immediate urge: purge this moment from Chandra's mind and leave her outside his chambers with no recollection of the previous minute. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Close the door if you please."

It took a moment for Chandra to realize Jace wasn't going to wipe her mind. Hesitantly she closed the door behind her with a faint click.

Jace resumed looking at his body in the mirror. If it was indeed his body. No matter where he searched within his memories, what he found there and in the mirror were always in conflict. His angular face and androgynous figure fit together fairly well, but anyone familiar with him would find the combination mind-boggling. As Chandra was currently demonstrating.

The mirror's reflective surface showed Chandra standing against the far wall, face displaying confusion, her body language telegraphing discomfort.

"Ask your questions already."

To her credit, Chandra thought about her first question. "Have you always been a woman? Even back when we fought over the scroll?"

With a sigh, he confessed, "I don't know."

"What's that mean?"

He began touching his body at random points with gentle fingers; collar bone, ribs, arms, hips. "I literally don't know. Searching back through the memories I still have I've always been a man."

He could tell he already lost her.

"I don't remember my early life. No home. No parents. Whether through my own tampering or someone else's, my first concrete memory is here. Ravnica. Already setting out to find work. But every time I sift through my past I'm a man."

Chandra wasn't sure how to process what Jace was telling her. He had always just been, well, Jace. He looked like a guy every time they met, sounded like it, even. Through body language and the formfitting clothes he preferred, Jace had never displayed womanly attributes. Not that Chandra new much about femininity outside the necessities.

"Why not hire someone to change your body? There's gotta be some magic out there that does that, right?" She had a hard time getting the thought into words, the Jace in her mind still conflicting with what was right in front of her.

"I'm not completely sure," Jace did sound a bit confused. "I know it's feasible, but some part of myself is holding me back. Whether it's the desire to confront the one who did this to me, or some part of my mind I have yet to find and access staying my hand; I can't be certain."

"Is that why you've got all those belts?" Chandra haltingly snickered, trying to bring a bit of levity. "To keep you all wrapped up?"

Jace rolled his eyes. "Yes," he drawled.

An odd thought crossed Chandra's mind. "Does Liliana know?"

The dark look Jace gave her sent chills up her spine; eyes becoming hard, face becoming sharp, electric blue light faintly glowing from his eyes and planeswalker marks. "Yes," his voice gruff and angry.

Moments passed in silence as the conversation died between them.

"What did you come here for?" Jace asked, voice back under control.

"Oh, right! We've got someone asking for our help. Figured you should be there," Chandra replied, reminded of her original task.

Jace made a confirming noise. "Tell them I'll be there momentarily. Now, if you please, I'd rather get dressed alone."

Taking her cue, Chandra hopped from her perch against the wall and headed out the door.

Before she could close it, Jace spoke up, "Chandra. This stays between us."

"Uh, yea!" she said hesitantly.

"I'm... trusting you with this," he said slowly. "I would hate for my hand to be forced against you again."

Chandra was sure she saw his eyes glowing blue again, sending another shiver down her spine. Hastily, she jerked the door shut and hustled back to the library. She was halfway there when she began to ponder his threat. Was he referring to the last time they fought? Or had he altered her memories at some point in their shared past? Normally the mere thought would have sent her into a rage, but for some reason all she felt now was a faint sense of fear.

More than a few minutes had passed when Chandra finally burst back in to the library. Lavinia was serving their guest some coffee while Gideon tried to engage her in conversation. Liliana was sitting at the other head of the table, opposite where Jace normally sat. The opening door drew her attention to Chandra rushing in; a flustered, confused expression on her face. What happened to transpire in the time she had gone to fetch Jace? She considered inquiring as Chandra took her seat, when Jace entered himself, primp and polished as always when they entertained company. She filed her questions away for a later date.

Jace marched in, bindings set, giving him the slight physical illusion of mass, aided by his actual illusions. Outwardly he appeared no different than normal, every bit a man as he felt in his head. Taking his seat at the head of the table, Jace faced their guest.

"How might the Gatewatch assist you?"