Thank you to all reviewers! Heyna: nah, Sayana's just in that one. I needed a weapons teacher who wasn't movieverse.
I don't really know what this mess is, except that it takes place in the same weird little AU as The Last Guide.
Prompt: "My life is in the hands of my God, and you are not Him."
The world had only begun yesterday, and so she had no duty yet, though she knew that duty to her very core. She was in the forest, beneath the waves, among the animals, on the islands in the uncharted seas and in the Westlands, everywhere, simply watching and waiting.
And so she was also in the Garden, as the woman who had once been queen of a different world vaulted the wall and stretched out a hand and plucked the fruit which was forbidden. She saw the fire of magic kindled in the grey eyes, saw the everlasting strength fill the beautiful face even as it grew paler, and as the last bit of color bled away into dead white, she saw the woman see her, and recognize her, and smile in triumph.
"I am beyond you," said the Witch.
"None is beyond me," said the Guide.
"You cannot defeat me."
"I need not try. Your day will come."
"Never."
"Daughter of Charn, all will one day stand between the Lion's paws, will they or nil they. Do not think yourself exempt."
"Begone."
"I am never gone. One day I will draw your sword as I draw all others, and the blade you have spent your life forging will be set forever in its form."
There was a faint rustle from the front of the Garden, where the grass bent under the hesitant step of a child.
The Guide let herself begin to fade from sight. "That day is long delayed, daughter of Charn," she said quietly. "There is yet time to reforge your path."
In answer, Jadis reached out and plucked a second fruit.