"Allies?" Chandra questioned in disbelief as her, Gideon and Avacyn rode the elevator down into the library. Avacyn had come to fetch them shortly after school was over, and had been pretty closed-mouthed about what it was she wanted to show them until they were alone in the chamber descending into the underground. "You mean you actually found people insane enough to help us fight against Bolas?"
"Liliana did, actually." Avacyn corrected her. "She says they sought her out just yesterday- and they seemed very willing to help us in our cause."
"Wow, then they must be like... really crazy if they came to her." Chandra quipped before Gideon lightly bopped her on the head.
"That's really no way to talk about people who are going to help us out fighting an enemy we failed to defeat the first time." Gideon sighed. "Honestly, even if they are inssane, like you said, we should take all of the help we can get."
"Fine, fine." Chandra grumbled, folding her arms. "Who are these potential suicidal psychos anyway? Teachers? Students? Something that will put us toe-to-toe with Bolas, like a dragon?"
"You'll see soon enough." Avacyn spoke enigmatically. "Liliana made it clear I not tell you until you found out for yourself. Something about you refusing to come down and meet them if you figured things out too soon."
"Why bring them aboard if Liliana is afraid we won't agree with her choices?" Gideon questioned as the elevator reached the ground.
"They have with them something that will free Jace Beleren from Bolas' clutches, if we're lucky." Avacyn explained.
"And how do you expect us to believe them? So far you haven't really done that good of a job making them sound like a trustworthy bunch." Chandra inquired, raising an eyebrow as she waited impatiently for Avacyn's answer.
"Because..." Avacyn said as she looked over her shoulder, the doors slowly opening before them. "They used the very same method to free themselves."
"This is starting to sound more and more like a hoax, honestly." Chandra muttered, but Avacyn seemed done responding to her little pokes and jabs and began leading them into the winding halls of books, a few of the glowing orbs that lit the place honing in on them and following after them, lighting their path.
Deep into what seemed like the center of the massive chamber, their trip into the labrynth of books brought them to an open area adorned with a large, circular table and not much else. It seemed like a place groups of important people used to gather to discuss things or make important plans, but now all there was besides the three of them were four others- one of them being Liliana, waiting with their guests, and one that Chandra pointed out almost immediately.
"Ral Zarek!?" She shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the boy nearest them. He sat on the table top, digging into a pile of books he had probably selected to pass the time while they had waited for them. Looking up from the leather-bound thome he had been reading he smirked, although a look in his eyes gave away he was a little insulted she had just shouted his name like she was exposing a culprit to a crime. "What are you doing here!?"
"Now, Chandra, I don't think-" Gideon began to protest, but Ral Zarek stood from the table, ready to engage in a battle of fiery egos with the younger girl.
"Well, now, Miss Nalaar, I should ask you the same thing." He chuckled. "I mean, you in a library? Quite unorthodox. Surely she must have just wandered in her lost, right guys?"
"Look here, you smug bastard..." Chandra growled, ready to pounce had Gideon not held her back.
"Chandra, don't go picking fights right off the bat." Liliana groaned as she approached them. "And don't egg her on, Ral, She'll burn this place to the ground if it meant setting your ass on fire."
Ral rolled his eyes, not buying into what Liliana warned him about but obeying in keeping quiet.
"It's not wise to pick fights with the people we're going to aid." Drawing attention from Ral, Lavinia stepped beside him, arms crossed and eyeing him like she was his disappointed parent. "It would be in our best interests to set aside our differences and not leave that nasty attitude of yours at the door." She paused and turned to Liliana, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry about him." She muttered under her breath, as if Ral Zarek wouldn't hear being not even an arm's length away.
"Hey!"
"It's alright. Stuff like this is to be expected from people like Ral." Liliana assured her.
"HEY! Right here!" Ral shouted again, turning to Lavinia with a glare. "You're one to talk about 'leaving our nasty attitudes at the door' miss holier than thou!"
"Am I going to have to keep you both in check the entire time?" Groaning and rolling his eyes, Tajic, the last of the new party, forced his way between Lavinia and Ral- choosing to lightly push against Lavinia's shoulder to push her to the side and to press his entire hand against Ral's forehead and shove him in the opposite direction. "We didn't come here so the two of you could bicker."
"Tajic!" Gideon exclaimed, sounding extremely happy to see a familiar face among the crowd of newcomers. "You're here?"
"Yeah- and all thanks to this hot-headed dweeb." Tajic grumbled as he turned to Ral who was forcing Tajic's hand from off of his face furiously. He didn't seem all that pleased Tajic had both called him a "dweeb" and had grabbed his face and messed up his hair.
"Hey, I'd watch those words of yours if I were you." He snarled as he smoothed his hair back into place. "Without this 'hot-headed dweeb, you'd still be another one of Bolas' mind-controlled drones!"
"And for that we should just just worship you, shouldn't we?" Lavinia asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Oh, everybody bow down to Ral Zarek. Where would we be without him?"
All of a sudden, out of the chaos brewing between the three of them, the sound of Avacyn stamping one of her feet against the marble floor seemed to slice through the air. Of all the traits she had inherited from Sorin- if that was at all possible, anyway- she had certainly come away with being able to bring a hush to a crowd with the most minimal effort. All three of them- as well as Chandra Gideon and Liliana- looked to her and Avacyn drew a slow, audible breath.
"Are you all quite finished?" She asked in an icy tone. "I understand the three of you are from competing guilds and are predisposed to argue, but I ask, in this dire time, that you settle your differences before I settle them for you."
Ral instinctively grabbed his wrist, recalling the time she had almost completely snapped it.
"S-sorry..." Lavinia stammered. "It's been a long couple of days, please excuse my behavior..."
Tajic lowered his head like an apologetic dog and Ral simply huffed and turned away, folding his arms against his chest. Avacyn took another long, deep breath, allowing the silence to continue a few moments more, before she spoke again.
"Now, I suppose you're a bit curious about the new additions to our team." She said as she turned to Chandra and Gideon.
"On a scale of one to ten, I'd put my curiosity at eleven." Chandra nodded. "I mean, it sounds like they managed to overcome Bolas' mind control- I'm honestly more curious how you managed to convince them to work together."
"Well, Liliana is to be given credit for convincing them to 'work together', although it seems like it's more boiled down to them fighting like children in the same room." Avacyn spoke in an even tone, but there was something in her words and the way she eyed them as she spoke that made the three newcomers twitch. "As for how they managed the nearly impossible feat of breaking out of Bolas' control, I'll have to give Ral the floor on that one." She paused and looked back at the three opposing guild members again. "Only Ral."
"Mmn..." Both Lavinia and Tajic mumbled uncomfortably. It appeared there had been a lot more talking over one another before Chandra and Gideon had arrived.
"Now, Ral, if you would be so kind?" Avacyn asked, sounding strangely forceful. "And please try to keep things simple."
"Simple enough for these cave people?" Ral asked before Lavinia elbowed him in the ribs. Ral groaned in pain and shot a glare back at her, although by that time Lavinia was acting like nothing had even happened. It seemed as if Ral was about to break away from the task at hand and return to arguing with the opposing guild member, but he shook his head and turned his attention back to Chandra and Gideon- mostly because Chandra chose to speak up.
"You keep your captivated cave-audience waiting, Ral." She snorted. Ral grumbled, muttering something to himself that neither Chandra or Gideon could hear as he turned back to the table and snatched something from off of it.
"This is what broke us out of Nicol Bolas' spell. I wish I could take credit for it, but even I'm not that much of a sleaze." He sighed, holding aloft a capped syringe. A strange liquid filled the glass vile that seemed to sparkly in the light of the orbs glowing around them. "Behold the master work of Izzet's late guildleader."
Chandra leaned in a little closer, narrowing her eyes.
"...Sure doesn't look all that impressive." She chuckled lightly as she reached out to touch it. With a frustrated grunt, Ral lifted it out of her reach and pointed at her with his other hand- his finger touching the tip of her nose.
"Keep your grubby little hands off. The last person I want touching our one chance to save this place is the girl who is notorious for arson!" He snarled.
"It was one time!" Chandra groaned.
"Still not worth the risk." Ral shook his head, turning his nose up at her.
"And, while, yes, it certainly doesn't look like much... to the lesser minded crowd... the contents of this vile contain a powerful spell that, once injected into a host, frees them from mind control of any strength- or at least, as strong as Nicol Bolas'." He continued. "Niv Mizzet must have crafted them in secret, thinking that one day someone would try and bore into his mind. Unfortunately for him, when the time came..."
Ral's expression suddenly went from proud to sour. His face twitched as he frowned and his eyebrows knit together. He turned away for a moment, unable to completely hide a grimace.
"What are you getting at, Ral?" Gideon asked. "I mean, when could Niv have been- wait... you aren't saying...?"
"I honestly can't believe you and your little group of freedom fighters hadn't figured out Niv Mizzet's murder by now... or maybe your little angel friend decided not to share." Chandra and Gideon turned to Avacyn who merely averted her gaze and cast it down onto the floor. "Exava using some strange, roundabout way to kill Niv was all a total lie. While under Bolas' control I was allowed to be privy to some things- one of them being that Nicol Bolas had been the one to take control of Niv Mizzets mind and kill him. All of the other incidents concerning the guild leaders are his doing as well, but Niv Mizzet was the first. And... I could have saved him."
"What!?" Chandra gasped. "Are you that power hungry that you ignored your guildleader's cry for help!?"
"It wasn't like that, alright!?" Ral snapped back, pressing forward so that he was yelling right in Chandra's face. "I wouldn't have dreamed of betraying Niv Mizzet! He was a real bastard... and he kept us all on the shortest leash imaginable, but I would never...!" Ral's expression contorted a bit as something other than anger began to build in his gaze.
"Ral, stop, I think they get it." Tajic cut in, resting his hand on Ral's shoulder, to which the Izzet guild member swiftly shrugged away with a furious gasp. "You couldn't have known, you've made that point clear enough to me and Lavnina, as well as Avacyn and Liliana."
Ral looked back at Tajic long and hard before drawing in a loud, slow breath and turning back to Chandra who, at that point, had backed up against Gideon and was looking back at Ral like she expected him to attack her and that she was ready to parry. Ral sighed and smoothed back his hair, beginning, once again, to explain himself.
"The night before Niv's death, he sent me a text message... it was super early in the morning and all that he sent was this random string of numbers. At the time I had thought it was just some silly number puzzle he intended to keep me up, so I ignored it. Turns out they were a combination to a safe he kept in the Izzet guild headquarters, where he kept a lot of his experiments and ideas that were pending. And that's where these were..." Ral looked down at the syringe he was now clutching in his hand. He loosened his grip as an expression drifted across his face that seemed like sadness, but given Ral's sharper features it was hard to tell.
"The numbers that could have saved Niv's life were the ones that saved my hide in the end. Niv planned for everything- aside from a lazy slacker being among his ranks. The numbers themselves are enchanted so that, even when a person is under mind control, they will stand out in the forefront of the person's mind, irritating them to figure out their meaning. The only reason they didn't work on Niv, I imagine, was because he couldn't make it to the guild room in his condition. But, as Izzet's newly appointed guildleader, I had more than enough access to upend almost the entire room before I found the safe."
"So why only use what you found on yourself, Lavinia and Tajic- I mean, no offense..." Gideon brought up. "What about the other guildleaders- the ones that have been hospitalized? Aurelia, Isperia, Zegana- even Emmara would be able to help us, maybe even better than we could help ourselves in this case. We're just kids, Ral, we have a way to stop Bolas but don't you think we need more help than this?"
"Niv only left behind four of these, and took the method he used to make them to his grave. I've tried to analyze the formula myself and maybe make a functional replica, but I can't seem to figure it out. So this is all we have left, and we can't run the risk of using it to wake up you're guild's precious little angel, that annoying, nagging feline, fish-out-of-water or everyone's favorite nurse. Breaking Jace out of Nicol Bolas' spell is our only sure way to beat this."
"Fine, then why don't we just use it on Jace now?" Chandra questioned.
"Jace is Nicol Bolas' trump card, and now we're all in the home stretch toward the final step in his plans. If we were to free Jace now, Nicol Bolas will be forced to do something even more drastic- maybe even spiteful at his own expense." Liliana stepped in and warned. "Our only chance of breaking Jace free of the hold Nicol Bolas has on his mind is during the maze running."
"So, what, you just expect us to sit around on our asses and watch as Bolas keeps on turning the guild system and the school on it's head?" Chandra narrowed her eyes. "Isn't there something we can do!?"
"We can train." Avacyn finally piped up. "All of you were brought up in a world were it was normalized that the powers you have should not be honed for combat, but that doesn't mean you don't have potential. Each one of you is a reincarnation of powerful mages and warriors from the past, so surely the latent ability to use your powers to fight should be within all of you." She paused, gesturing to the shelves of books that surrounded them.
"We have thousands of years worth of knowledge at our disposal on top of all of that. We have our resources, and our potential, we simply need to harness them." She turned back to the group as she clenched her hands that had been hanging at her sides into fists. "So, until the day of the maze running, you all will learn to harness what powers you have and to use them to defend yourselves and, if need be, offensively."
A silence fell over all of them as they looked among themselves.
"If you would much rather chose to leave things in the hands of fate and not run the risk of coming into harms way, then I ask that you leave." Avacyn added sharply. "At this point in Bolas' game, we have no room for cowardice or unwillingness to act. We've fallen far enough behind already- we don't need anyone else slowing us down."
"You have nothing to worry about any of that." Lavinia spoke up in a strong voice. "I don't plan on backing down, not after everything we've learned."
"She's right." Tajic added. "To walk away, knowing what we know now- we know it might as well be suicide."
"Bolas needs to pay for what he did to Niv Mizzet." Ral nodded. "If it means we can kick his scaly ass in the end, you can count me in."
"He needs to pay for a lot of things." Liliana agreed. "And, as it stands, we're the only people who have any chance at all at stopping him."
All of them stared back at Gideon and Chandra, who had fallen silent. Gideon looked to Chandra, and Chandra looked down at her feet.
"And what about the two of you?" Avacyn asked. "I originally hoped from the beginning that maybe I could keep the both of you from being involved, but we don't have much of a choice now. There's no time to leave you two to think, we need your answer now."
"I..." Gideon began, his voice wavering a bit as he looked to Chandra, who's gaze was still fixed at the ground. "I'll only agree to help if Chandra agrees. If she's out, I'm out."
"Gideon!" Liliana gasped angrily. "Think about what you're saying!"
"I am thinking!" Gideon shot back. "I want to protect Ravnica, you know I do, but even more than that I want to protect Chandra. How can I do that when I'm risking my life running the maze!? I died once before trying to protect this place and unable to protect her, you know that! This time, I'm putting Chandra first. If my decision dooms me, well... at least I'll die with a clear conscience. At least I'll perish knowing I actually protected the person that I love!"
"Gideon..." Liliana growled.
"I'm in." Chandra's voice seemed to piece through the air as she spoke, lifting her head with new-found determination burning in her eyes.
"C-Chandra, wait a second!" Gideon gasped. "Do you... are you really...?"
"All my life everything that has happened to me has been because of the will of other people. And now... after all that has happened..." A disgusted frown formed on Chandra's face as she spoke, lips parting slightly to reveal her barred teeth. "I'm going to take back control of my life. Nothing is going to be chosen for me or taken from me again. I'm going to help, not because you or anyone else wants me to, but because I want to." She paused as she looked up at Gideon, who looked back at her slightly slack-jawed.
"Chandra... are you sure?" He dared to ask.
"Of course I'm sure. That doesn't mean I'm terrified of dying... or of losing you or anyone else... but I'm going to show those bastards that they didn't break me. So I'm in." Slowly, her frown softened and curled up into a smile as she reached up and patted Gideon on the shoulder. "But I appreciate the sentiment."
"Well, that was needlessly over-dramatic." Ral mockingly chuckled, rolling his eyes.
"Well, now that that's settled-" Liliana cut in, rewarding Ral for his comment with a swat on the head. "There's one more thing I need to take care of."
"One more thing?" Avacyn asked.
"Gideon was right about one thing- we need more help than this. You an I may have experience with this sort of thing, but you can't ignore the fact that the majority of us have had only tests and personal problems to worry about up until now." Liliana explained. "We need someone with a little more maturity added to our ranks."
"And who would that be?"
"Oh... no one, really." Liliana shrugged. "Just a friend of a friend."
Liliana waited in the cold, dimly lit chamber of the academy's below-ground garage, breathing into her cupped hands before shoving them into her pockets. She sighed, figuring she should have expected being made to wait and began to wonder if she was even going to be met by anyone at all aside from the last, straggling members of the school staff looking at her like she was lost. Pulling out her cell phone to check the time she considered- and not fir the first time- just giving up and leaving. She had only left a voicemail after all, and there was no guarantee she was going to get a call back and even less of a guarantee that the person she had called would even bother to show up.
"Well..." She huffed, her breath visible in translucent white puffs. "It was worth a shot."
Pushing herself off from the concrete wall she had been leaning against, Liliana began to take her leave in defeat, only to find that, at the very same time, someone else was descending into the garage, hardly looking at all relieved to see Liliana as Liliana was relieved to see them.
"Nissa!" She greeted. "I'd asked what took you, but I really shouldn't be shocked that you were, well... hesitant to meet with me."
"I only decided to humor you because I happened to be in the area, human." Nissa groaned back, folding her arms. Liliana didn't have to ask the elf what she had been doing in town, on her own visits to the hospital to see Emmara she'd always catch quick glimpses and sightings of Nissa either leaving before Liliana showed up, or lurking around waiting for her to leave. She was probably coming back from yet another visit to the hospital.
"...How's Emmara?" Liliana dared to ask, immediately regretting it as she watched as Nissa wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" She spat back, much to Liliana's surprise. "You're the one whose to blame for why she's in the hospital."
"E-excuse me?"
"I got all the little details from that fire witch, Baltrice. Your actions against Bolas are the reason he did this to Emmara." Nissa accused, her expression growing uglier.
"H...How did you...?" Liliana's eyes widened as she felt as if the ground below her had vanished, causing her to stumble a bit. "I mean, it's no big secret anymore, but how do you know that?"
"You're not the only person Bolas employed to do his dirty work- although, me and him have long since been through." Nissa paused, her shoulder hunching as her body grew stiff, like she was in pain. She gripped tightly at her arms as she spoke through clenched teeth. "But at least my departure from his ranks didn't result in someone else's loved one almost killing themselves and then falling into a coma."
"Nissa... I'm sorry... I didn't mean for any of that to happen, I swear!" Liliana attempted to assure her. "Emmara wasn't the only one who suffered because of what I did, but I'm trying to rectify that now, I promise!"
"Feh! How in the world can you make up for Emmara becoming a damn vegetable!?" Nissa snarled. "You humans always make empty promises and apologies when it's convenient. What makes this any different?"
"Because we found a way to stop Bolas, and maybe bring Emmara and everyone else back!" Liliana shouted. "But we need guidance, and not very many people we can actually turn to at this point. You have reason enough to stand against Bolas, and we have a way to turn the tables against him. Please- for Emmara-"
"How dare you!" Nissa snapped. "Let alone I wouldn't bother to help humans in the first place, I definitely wouldn't dare to help you. You can't even guarantee that stopping Bolas for getting what he wants in that damn maze will bring Emmara out of her coma- A coma that you, yourself, are the main cause of! You just want to use me and lead me along with pretty words and lies! 'For Emmara'- please, what good have you done her!?
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean for any of this to happen, but we need to stand together! Human or not, we have a common enemy. And don't you think Bolas needs to be punished for what he did?" Liliana asked, the desperation in her voice growing. It wasn't so much that Nissa as refusing to hep them that was bothering her, it was the having to be faced with Emmara's current state being her own fault so harshly that was. Gideon hadn't blamed her and Chandra didn't seem to bear any resentment. Nissa on the other hand, was more than happy to add to the already insurmountable guilt.
"Of course I do, but in that regard I work alone. I'll find a way to stop Bolas and save Emmara without your help. You and the rest of you humans have already helped enough. And see just where it's gotten you? Things are even worse now because of you!" Nissa berated. "I don't need your help, and I most certainly don't want to help you."
"But, Nissa-"
"We're done here!" She interrupted harshly as she turned her back on Liliana. "I only came to tell you I know you were the cause of what happened to Emmara, and that I'm never going to forgive you." Again, Nissa paused as her posture stiffened and she tightly clenched her fists. "People like you deserve to suffer."
After her meeting with Nissa, Liliana didn't have the heart to return to the library. Her body felt heavy, like someone had rested a great weight upon her shoulders. Up until that point, aside from herself, no one had really blamed her for what had happened- for Gideon's assault for the unspeakable things that had been done to Chandra, for Emmara's coma or for what had become of Jace. Nissa, on the other hand, had enough resentment for every person Liliana's actions had effected and then some. It was as if she had been taken right back to the day she came to realize that her actions were having consequences, the day everything came crashing down and she had been robbed of her chance to apologize for what she had done- to Jace, at least. So, lost in the haze of self-loathing, Liliana instead returned to her apartment.
She trudged into her dark abode, choosing to keep the place bathed in darkness instead of flipping on the lights. Dropping her things behind her, she made it about as far as the living room before she stopped in her tracks and looked up at the ceiling blankly as Nissa's words echoed in her head.
"People like you deserve to suffer."
A tear rolled down her cheek as she struggled to breath, feeling as if she was drowning. All that time, the thought that she was the cause of Emmara's current state had been in the back of her mind, and although it seemed Bolas seemed to also have done so to get her out of the way like the other guildleaders, that had only pushed the idea further back into her mind, not eliminated it. It still nagged at her, just loud enough to hear. But now it was at the forefront of her mind, overwhelmingly loud and horribly debilitating.
"I'm sorry..." She muttered as more tears slipped from her eyes. She knew saying so was futile, especially since there was no one around to hear her. Saying so hardly even made her feel better herself, but words of apology to no one in particular were all she could fathom. "I'm... sorry..."
"Liliana..." A familiar voice spoke from behind her. With a gasp, Liliana whipped around, not feeling an inkling of terror. She knew that voice, and had wanted to hear it for the longest time- just as much as she wanted to see the speaker.
"Jace!" She cried, her eyes overflowing with tears so much she could hardly see. But she knew, even by the blurry silhouette, that it was him. However, somehow, seeing him there made her heart hurt all the more. Rubbing her eyes with one hand, she reached out to him with another. She wanted to hold him- wanted to be held by him. She wanted something or someone to hold onto, or else she feared she would be swept away. "Why- when- how-!?"
Much to her surprise, Jace drew away, as if he feared she had moved to hurt him. Hand still outreached she laughed nervously.
"Jace, what the hell? Is this how you greet someone after all this time?" She asked, her weak smile slipping as she choked back a sob.
"I can't have you touching me, Liliana. It's taking a lot of effort to keep up this projection and not have Bolas know..." Jace muttered, sounding strained. "This... may be the only way and the only time I'll be able to speak to you before the maze running."
Liliana's heart sank once again as she lowered her hand and pulled it back against her chest. Maybe that was why her heart ached so much when she saw him- maybe on some unconscious level she had known he really wasn't there. It was all just an illusion she couldn't touch. She swallowed another sob as her eyes began to well up with tears once more.
"Why are you here?" She asked, not sure weather to feel sad or angry.
"I came here to warn you, Liliana..." Jace uttered, again sounding as if he were straining himself while he spoke. "...You can't go up against Bolas! It's suicide! Even if you somehow make it through the maze, Bolas is worlds power than all of us put together... And I don't want to lose you..."
"Then what do you want me to do then, Jace, just roll over and give up!? Just accept what's going to happen and let Bolas have his way!?" Liliana asked irately.
"If you don't interfere, Bolas has agreed to spare you, and you and me can leave this plane together!" Jace explained. "We can go as far as we want- far enough to escape Bolas' influence, if we can manage it... so please... I need you to stop this! Call everyone off before you're killed, I... I don't want to lose you, Lili..."
For a moment, Liliana deeply considered his offer. For a moment, giving up and taking the deal sounded tempting- logical even. She wanted nothing more than to be free of all the madness that had begun to consume her life.
But, instead, she shook her head and took a step backwards from Jace. She wanted to see a future where her and Jace could live freely, running through the multiverse, finally able to be together, but all she could see were her friend's faces. Avacyn, Gideon, Chandra, Emmara... she had a feeling there was no place in the deal for them.
"...What about everyone else? What will happen to them?" She asked.
"...I'm Sorry, Lili... But... it's not like you didn't live like this before- the old Liliana Vess, I mean. Maybe our only choice is to live selfishly." Jace shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "Hopefully they'll be able to find their own way..."
"If it's a choice that excludes my friends, I don't want it!" Lliana shouted. "You talk about the old Liliana Vess- the one who came before me- like she's me. I may be reincarnated from her, but I am not her, and I could never do some of the things she did. I have friends here, Jace... friends that I care about and who care about me and I've fucked them over enough as it is!"
"Lili, please, listen to me-"
"No! You listen to me! I... I love you, Jace... I want to be with you... but if being with you means I have to abandon everyone else, then I'll swallow my feelings and I'll fight- even if it means I'll lose! At least then, I'll..." Liliana said, remembering what Gideon had said to her back at the library. "I'll die with a clear conscience."
"...Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?" He questioned.
"No, Jace. Maybe the former Liliana would have agreed to your proposition but... Ravnica is my home and my friends are like family to me and I won't abandon them- even if it means being able to be you again..." She sighed. "I've screwed over enough people, and it's weighed on my mind more than I can bear. I won't have any more people's suffering dragging me down. I've made my decision, you can tell Bolas that."
Jace looked back at her like a kicked puppy, but said nothing in return.
"I'll see you in the maze, Jace."
In a blink of an eye, he suddenly vanished, and Liliana was once again alone in her dark apartment. She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes that had begun to sting from all of the tears before staring back at the empty space Jace's projection had once been standing. The weight of what she had done and what had happened as a result still clutched at her heart, but inside of her there was a new spark of determination.
As much fun as running away into the multiverse with Jace sounded, she wanted it on her terms, and those were leaving the plane of Ravnica and her friends that lived there safe. No amount of love for anyone would make her decide otherwise. None of her friends deserved that- none of them deserved to suffer.
And neither did she.