FALL SEVEN TIMES

by Ulquiorra9000

Chapter 2

Mizuki didn't say a word until she and Azrael were back out in the open and joined the thronging crowds on the wide sidewalks. Overhead, a pair of Azorius guild hussars swooped past on their griffins, and further along, two odd-looking vedalken wizards in blue-green robes preached about the "future of life's progress" while handing out pamphlets. Street vendors called out the prices of their wares, from dried meats to fruit to leather goods to jewelry.

So much noise. So many people unaware of what else was out there.

It was a burden, being a planeswalker.

But Mizuki would be damned if that stopped her!

"So, uh... do I find you well?" Mizuki asked, putting on her best polite voice.

Azrael drew in a deep breath through his nose and nodded slowly. "I suppose. It'll take some time for me to find complete inner calm, but..." He made a watery smile. "Yes, I'm doing well. Thank you."

"Great. So am I," Mizuki said, then made a face. "Okay, no. I'm not great, actually. I've got a problem, y'see, and -"

"Mizuki," Azrael said sharply as a horse-drawn wagon rolled past, "I've already told you that I'm not an inter-planar vigilante. I'm not a fighter like... like Rohkan was. I'm an artificer, and right now, I -"

"Hey, you fought with me against Nihil," Mizuki insisted, her heart rate speeding up. She swallowed. "You can kick ass! And for all the right reasons, too. We couldn't have killed Nihil without your help back on Dominaria."

Azrael tensed, then sighed. "I know what I did. Could I just let Nihil steal my Sphaera Vitae for his masters? Of course not. But now, that's all over. You don't need me to remind you of that. I'm on a different world, with a different purpose."

Mizuki fell silent, humbled. She knew what he was talking about. After losing his Sphaera Vitae, and therefore his last link to his nation's people and his beloved sister, Azrael had confined himself here to Ravnica to heal. He'd finally accepted that he'd never bring back the dead, but realizing that had taken a toll.

Mizuki knew what it did to you to lose everyone. She could still see Haijin-no-Imari and her ogre warriors massacring her friends and family last year...

The Planeswalker Code.

Mizuki could also remember Veldor's stern tone about such things. What would he think if he saw Mizuki and Azrael crying on each other's shoulders? He'd whip them into shape, Esper style!

Fine.

Mizuki took a deep breath. "I didn't want to just dump this next bit of news on you, but it's important. You gotta hear it."

Azrael stopped at an intersection and waited for the trade wagons and mounted beasts to clear the way to cross. Overhead, a temple's bell tolled, and an Orzhov messenger hawk took flight with a data capsule in its beak.

Mizuki waited for Azrael to say something. He didn't.

"I saw a scout creature back home on Kamigawa," Mizuki said in a rush. "Azrael, it was the same kind of creature Nihil was! Same metal, same oil, same... evil. There's bound to be more. If we don't do something now, it could get a hell of a lot worse."

The street cleared and the crowds around Mizuki started crossing, but Azrael stood there, his unreadable brown eyes locked on Mizuki. "The same... what?"

In a flash, Azrael took hold of Mizuki's shoulders and dragged her into an alley's mouth. "What did you say? Are you sure?" he asked in a strained whisper, his eyes suddenly very readable. With horror.

"Hey, let go!" Mizuki wrenched herself free and took a step back, scowling. "Yeah, I know what I saw, Azrael. What did Nihil call his allies? Fai-rexins?"

Azrael was white as a sheet, his eyes staring past Mizuki. "The Phyrexians." He slowly looked down, staring at his open hands as though expecting a solution to this problem to materialize in his palms. "The same... the very same..."

Mizuki took a few steps forward and gently lowered Azrael's hands. "The ones who wiped out your homeland, right?"

Azrael swallowed and nodded. "They're back. They'll never stop until they get what they want, will they?"

He looked up at Mizuki, his eyes sparking with fire. "I'm sorry I was rough with you. But... if you're certain on what you saw..."

Mizuki nodded back. "Damn straight. I've never seen anything else like it. It was just suddenly there, as I was walkin' back to Juka-no-Nadachi." Her stomach went cold. "Oh no... what if another scout decides to attack the town? And more like it?"

Azrael drew himself to his full height, the color back in his face. "Did you once say something about a Planeswalker Code?"

"It was mostly Veldor and Zoira, but yeah," Mizuki said tentatively.

"I sympathize with the concept. I... I cannot rest if the Phyrexians are about to vanquish someone else's way of life," Azrael declared, his voice growing louder. "I won't!"

Mizuki suddenly beamed. "So, I can count on your help, then?"

"You can." Azrael took a few steps deeper into the alleyway, kicking aside a loose trash can that was in his way. A cat yowled angrily and scampered off. "Take me to Kamigawa. Where you found the Phyrexian scout."

"Well, um..." Mizuki faltered. "Just in case we get in over our heads, I want one more person on the job first."

Azrael raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

"You already know her. C'mon." Mizuki fired up her planeswalking gate and prepared to step in.

Azrael conjured his own blue-black gate. "You know, Mizuki..." he commented.

"Huh? What?"

Azrael managed a smile. "What a superb young woman you turned out to be."

Mizuki went red. "Hey, I've already got a boyfriend..."

"Indeed you do." Azrael stepped into his planeswalking gate and vanished.

Rolling her eyes, Mizuki stepped into hers and joined Azrael in the Blind Eternities. Was this what it was like to have a doting uncle or something?

Fun times.

*o*o*o*o*

Mizuki did not expect grid-like distortions everywhere, or chalky dust, when she stepped out of her planeswalking gate.

"Oh, crap!" Mizuki coughed and spluttered, her eyes watering on the horrible dust choking the air. Next to her, Azrael waved his arm in a wide arc, and a bubble of blue mana enveloped the both of them, filtering the air through its thin membrane.

"What is this?" Azrael hissed, his intense brown eyes taking in the dead world around him.

"Zoira told me that Zendikar was bein' attacked by Eldrazi," Mizuki said, "but this is nuts. I thought the war was already won."

"Then this must be the aftermath. There's no mistaking it," Azrael said grimly. His red hair was being tossed around by the mana of his aura spell. "This dead silence, the despair... do you know where to find anyone?"

Mizuki set off, her straw sandals crunching on the exhausted dirt underfoot. "This is supposed to be the Turntimber forest on the Ondu continent, but damn... there's not a tree in sight!"

"Watch my back," Azreal said tightly, "and I'll watch yours. Take the lead."

Mizuki carefully advanced through the hellish landscape, her wakizashi drawn and held tightly in her hands, poised for combat. She felt her breaths come in rapid gasps and she forced herself to relax a bit. Don't wind yourself too tight. You've been in a few scraps before!

More chalky dust drifted through the air like snow as Mizuki led Azrael through what was once familiar terrain. Nothing looked familiar anymore, just dead. Mizuki strained her eyes and ears for anything that could guide her, and it wasn't until she heard chattering humanoid voices that she broke into an eager dash, Azrael right behind her.

A handful of massive, half-dried trees towered over the landscape, and at their tangled roots stood a collection of tents, campfires, and wagons. Mizuki broke into a run to join them, her wakizashi held casually in her left hand. "Hey! Hello?" she called out.

Two burly elves blocked Mizuki's path, a man and a woman, both with their own swords drawn. "Stop! Who're you?" the man demanded. He had green face paint on, giving him a wild look.

Mizuki slowed and came to a stop before the elves. "Oh, relax. I'm a friend of Zoira's. Is she here? I bet she is..."

"What do you want with her?" the woman demanded. "Sheath your sword, little girl!"

"I -" Mizuki hastily sheathed her wakizashi and stuffed it back in her travel pack. "Sorry. But seriously, where's Zoira?"

"Here, since you asked," came a familiar woman's voice.

Tall, lithe, and rather easy on the eyes, Zoira joined the small party from the larger camp. She had her phoenix perched on her right shoulder, and it cawed a hello to Mizuki and Azrael.

"Zoira," Azrael said kindly, bowing his head. "A pleasure."

"Mizuki. Azrael. I had no idea..." Zoira gestured for the two burly elves to ease off. "I never thought I'd see you both here."

Mizuki waved from inside Azrael's air filter bubble. "Nice to see ya again, Zoira." Her face fell. "Did the Eldrazi really do all this?"

Zoira nodded grimly and her phoenix cooed sadly. "A union of planeswalkers helped destroy the titans Ulamog and Kozilek. I did what I could to keep my tribe alive and fight the Eldrazi, but there's so few of us left. Even with bands of kor and humans aiding us, it's tough picking up the pieces."

Azrael bowed his head again. "I've always admired your strength of spirit, Zoira."

"Thanks." The elf lady managed a smile. "I need it now more than ever. Zendikar nearly died at the titans' hands. Well, except the biggest. Emrakul. No one knows where it is. We're all on alert for a surprise emegence, like what Kozilek did."

Mizuki stepped forward. "Zoira... it looks to me like this war just ended, but there's another one brewin'."

Zoira blinked. "I... what?"

"Back home, on Kamigawa," Mizuki told her, locking eyes with the tall elf. "I found and killed a scout creature. Judgin' from its metal body, its oil and cold feel... it was the same as Nihil. A Phyrexian agent. I'm sure of it."

"Oh..." Zoira clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes downcast. The two other elves looked at her in confusion, and Zoira waved them off again.

"We've gotta do something," Mizuki insisted. "Before it's too late! It was a scout today... what's it going to be tomorrow?"

Zoira lowered her hand. "Mizuki... Azrael... I'm so sorry. Nihil was... you know. But I have a duty here, too! I'm barely keeping everything together as it is."

Mizuki recoiled. "What?! Hey! What about the Planeswalker Code, and -"

"I know the Code," Zoira said sternly, "and right now, it's my world that needs its protection!"

"And mine does too!" Mizuki snapped, shoving her face in Zoira's. "I risked my life so many times to stop Azrael's scheme and fight Nihil with you, and now you -"

The burly elf woman pounced and pinned Mizuki to the hard, cool ground. "Shut up, child!" she roared. She pinned Mizuki's wrists down in her hands. "Zoira is the only reason we're still alive. Don't you talk to her like that!"

"Get... off!" Mizuki snarled and squirmed under the elf woman's weight, but she couldn't get free. Her feet scuffed uselessly against the dead ground.

My sword! Mizuki tried to get her right hand free to draw it. No good. Damn it!

The weight suddenly lifted as Azrael hoisted the elf woman into the air in one hand, his fingers clamped on her jacket collar. Blue-black mana hummed on his arm, the light reflecting in his eyes.

"Stop! Everyone stop!" Zoira shouted. She stepped forward, her phoenix poised for flight.

Reluctantly, Azrael set the elf woman down and powered down his mana. He offered a hand and helped Mizuki up.

Zoira sighed and looked at everyone in turn. "There's been enough fighting as it is! Everyone needs to stay calm."

"This human tried to take you away," the elf woman growled, pointing at Mizuki.

"And to where?" the elf man asked sharply. "What is Kamigawa?"

Zoira pointed to the camp. "It's nothing, okay? Just find another spot to stand guard against any more drone attacks."

The two elves marched off.

"Even with two Eldrazi titans dead, we still have to mop up their broods," Zoira admitted. "Most of them are scattered and relatively easy to deal with, but we're exhausted. Can't take any chances. A bunch of Kozilek drones tried to overtake us three days ago. Lost six good warriors stopping them."

Mizuki ran a hand over her face. "I... I'm sorry I upset you. But Zoira, it's not too late to save Kamigawa. I'm tryin' not to be selfish here. Really. But if we don't do somethin', another world will fall." She held a hand over her heart. "The plane is still recovering from the Kami War. It's vulnerable to the Phyrexians. Maybe that's why they're moving in. Easy prey."

"It's... possible," Zoira said slowly. She turned to Azrael. "Nihil led his Phyrexian army to your home nation to steal its advanced knowledge of artifice. We know that for sure. But what do the Phyrexians want with Kamigawa?"

Azrael shook his head. "I've visited Kamigawa once. It's far away from New Phyrexia, the plane once known as Mirrodin. I can't see any motive to invade."

Mizuki shrugged. "We can look into it together, guys. Zoira, you're good at tracking and stuff, right? Since you're an elf?"

"Sure I am," Zoira said carefully. "But my home plane needs me, Mizuki. Please... you're both quite capable. If you find out what the Phyrexians are doing on Kamigawa, and you can find a way where I can help, I'll consider making the trip."

She stepped forward and wrapped Mizuki in a sudden hug. "I'm sorry, my dearest Mizuki, that you got dragged back into such danger. I'm not refusing my help out of spite. I trust you to find the right solution to this."

Mizuki groaned. "Zoira, not in front of Azrael! C'mon!"

But she actually did kind of like it.

Zoira let Mizuki go, hands on her hips. "And hey..." Zoira added. "Maybe there's other people, planeswalkers or Kamigawa natives, who'd love to help you! Why not expand the Planeswalker Code?"

Azrael gently rested his hands on Mizuki's shoulders. "She has a point, Mizuki. We should be going. We have a lot to do, and Zoira's own world needs her."

Mizuki sighed again and nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Got any ideas, Azrael?"

The tall redhead led Mizuki away and summoned his blue-black planeswalking gate again. He shut off his air filter spell. "Have you ever been to Fiora before, Mizuki?"

"Uh... no."

Azrael grinned. "Summon your planeswalking gate and follow me carefully. We're going to the High City of Paliano. It is not a place where I advise getting lost."

Mizuki felt a chill as she conjured her green-black planeswalking gate and stepped into it. Just what was Azrael getting her into?

Only one way to find out.