"Master." Sarkhan Vol kneeled down.
"Speak, Vol."
"They've come. The Origin five. What shall I do?"
"The ones born of darkness are here?"
"Yes, my master."
"Good. Let them participate in the Trials. I want Vraska watching them."
"As you wish."
"For the first trial, I want the Faction War. Let's see how they do." Bolas's emerald eyes glinted in the darkness as the dragon cackled with malice
The five members of the Gatewatch approached the center of the capital city. The roads were lined with cheering crowds, all waving different colored flags. There are 25 types, Jace observed. Maybe they have guilds like Ravnica.
A woman in white linen and adorned silver and gold trinkets that sat at a table underneath an altar looked at them. They approached her.
"State your business."
"We want to register for the Trials." Jace said.
"Names?" she demanded.
"Gideon Jura."
"Jace Beleren."
"Liliana Vess."
"Chandra Nalaar.
"Nissa Revane."
"Faction?"
They stared at each other.
"We...don't have factions." Jace said.
"I'm sorry, but you can't register for the Trials without a faction."
"It's fine, Salihah. They're with me." A bearded man with long hair, red robes and a spear walked up behind her. He wasn't dressed like anyone else on Amonkhet. He looks familiar, Jace thought.
"Mister Vol! Of course. My apologies."
"This way, please." Vol gestured to the Gatewatch.
"You work for Bolas, don't you?" Jace said.
"Yes. How could you tell?"
"I can't read your mind."
"Fair enough. My master asked that you form your own faction. He finds you entertaining. You need a faction for this first Trial, but all the others won't require one. Since you five are a unique case, I will have to give you separate rules." Vol cleared his throat, "You may enlist the help of any Planeswalker not contained within the Worthy. Trust me, that's more than you'd think. You are also allowed to use summoned creatures within your army. Other than that, your conditions are identical to that of the factions."
"So, what is the Trial?" Chandra asked.
"Faction war. The announcer will explain." Vol left the five Planeswalkers in a crowd of hundreds- no, thousands.
"Listen up champions!" A voice, magically projected, was cast out amongst the crowd, "This year's first Trial is the Faction war! Gather your friends and allies to build an army! You will be given three days to battle it out in the Badlands ad whittle down the competition! You may only enlist people belonging to your faction and not allowed to use summoned creatures. If you can't generate an army of at least two thousand by the weekend, you will be disqualified! Other than that, there are no rules except to fight!"
The crowd dissipated within minutes of the transmission ending.
The Gatewatch turned to each other.
Jace began strategizing immediately, "We have two days before the weekend, so we'll have to comprise our army out of mainly soldiers summoned by Gideon and Liliana's zombies. Chandra and I will handle long range attacks, while Nissa focuses on defense. I'll get in contact with Tamiyo, Saheeli and Ral. Gideon, go find Ajani and tell him to bring any Planeswalker he knows."
"Where are we gonna put everyone?" Gideon asked.
"I looked into a couple of minds and it seems we can establish camps in the Badlands. Though, we only have limited mana to use before we sleep, so each night, we'll summon as many creatures as possible before we go to bed. Nissa, If you wouldn't mind building some camps, we'd appreciate it."
"Alright." Nissa said.
"Gideon, once you've contacted Ajani, you should both go to Nissa's camps and start summoning soldiers. Chandra, I need you in the mountain range near the Badlands, summoning elementals. I'll take Lili down to the graveyard by the river to summon zombies, shades, mages and illusions. When the weekend comes, we should have enough troops to fight. Are we clear?"
The other four nodded.
"Let's do this."
Within twelve hours, all of their allies had gathered in Nissa's first camp. It was a stone structure, with bits of vegetation hanging off it. Chandra had started a fire, which the Planeswalkers all sat around. Jace accounted for all of them, Gideon, Liliana, Chandra, Nissa, Ajani, Tamiyo and Ral Zarek. A Narset. and Kiora.
"Now that we're all here, I can proceed. Kiora and Ajani will summon more creatures. I need research done on the factions, so I'll assign that to Ral and Tamiyo. Narset, I need you working on political ties. Try making friends with some of the factions. Let's begin."
The Planeswalkers split up to do their assigned tasks.
Jace and Liliana walked leisurely among the tombstones of their destination, mostly silent.
He deserves another chance.
"What?" Jace asked
"Didn't say anything, dear."
"Oh. Sorry."
I think I miss him. No! What am I doing? I can't keep thinking about him!
Could he be...no. Not hers. But maybe...it's worth a shot.
Can you hear me?
"What?"
"Nothing."
By the Eternities. He'd never been able to read her mind.
"Liliana, I think I can read your mind now."
"Oh, can you now?"
"I heard what you said."
"What'd I say?" she retorted.
"You said...you said you missed me."
"Wh-what? I didn't think anything like that!"
Jace looked at her.
"Fine. But, I made it very clear about my intentions toward you on Innistrad."
"But see, I don't think you were being honest with yourself. I saw that figure talking to you. You had hesitation in your voice when you told me how you felt. I'm fairly certain that my life doesn't equate to that of a pet to you. Or else you never would've come back in Thraben."
He turned around and put both hands on her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Liliana, I miss you. You miss me. We can't get each other out of our heads. Why can't we start over again? I'm willing to accept you and forgive everything in the past. But only if you do. Do you forgive me? Do you forgive yourself?"
"That's...a really intense line of questioning. I, I don't know. I need time to think. I'm not sure if I want to start what we had again. Jace, you make me feel a way that I've never felt before. I'm tired of pretending like we hate each other, but I'm not positive if I want to pick up where we left off."
Jace sighed, "Very well then. Take however long you need."
He took himself off Liliana and they continued back into the graveyard in silence.