Book II, Part II: Outbreak - Convergence
Chapter II: Insight
[July 16, 2152 | Trabia Garden, Third Floor, Hallway | 9:27 AM]
For the second time in less than two weeks, Ben found himself walking down the hallway towards Katanas' office, this time with a little less trepidation than the last. He'd had a message on his GLD shortly after he'd awoken requesting a meeting at 9:30 AM, and he'd taken care to make sure his appearance was immaculate before leaving his dorm room. SeeD training had done a lot for him in just a few short months, and he'd been quite surprised to see the changes in himself over the timeframe. He walked a little straighter instead of walking with his head bowed towards the ground, carrying himself with a bit more confidence and enthusiasm now as opposed to mere months prior. He still had his self-doubt, fears of letting down either Lady Freya or the SeeD who worked alongside him that clouded his mind from time to time, but he was getting better at pushing that aside and focusing on what needed to be done. He felt a bit more like a Planeswalker now, someone who could live up to the enormous burden that their station put upon them.
Someone his parents would be proud of, he thought absently as he turned the final corner and approached the desk Ein was sitting at.
"Good morning, Lieutenant," Ein said cheerily, the ever-present smile on the young SeeD's face. "What can I help you with?"
"The Commander asked to see me at 9:30," Ben said, watching as Ein's eyes drifted down to his computer briefly. "I didn't want to get here too early."
"He should be in his office," Ein replied, looking back up at Ben. "I'll let him know you're here - go on ahead." He gestured for Ben to head inside, and Ben nodded politely with a word of thanks before heading towards the doors to Katanas' office. He gently opened the door in front of him, stepping inside to see Katanas sitting behind his desk and engaged in writing a report of some kind.
"Lieutenant Powell reporting as requested, sir," Ben said, hand snapping into a SeeD salute as he spoke. Katanas looked up and put his pen down, taking the report and placing it off to the side before putting his attention fully on Ben.
"At ease, Lieutenant," Katanas said, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Have a seat, please." Ben complied, stepping up and sliding into one of the chairs as Katanas spoke again. "I trust you've recovered since the battle with Sin?"
"More or less," Ben said, nodding. "It took a while, but I'm fine now."
"That's good to hear. We lost a lot in that fight, so it's nice to see that what remains of our force is making it back to fighting shape."
"Over twelve hundred SeeD, I heard," Ben said, voice quieting a bit as his gaze fell. "Never thought I'd see something again that could kill that many at once, not to mention all the other troops from Dollet and Esthar..."
"It was a harsh blow, to be sure," Katanas agreed, "but SeeD will overcome it, as will our allies. That is part of the reason why I wished to speak with you, in fact."
"Oh?"
"Our operational capacity was, to put it simply, severely reduced by the attack on Sin," Katanas began. "While no cadets were wounded by the fighting, the amount of capable SeeD forces we have on hand now is quite limited. Replenishing the ranks of our higher-level officers and command staff is imperative to ensure that we maintain our capabilities going forward."
He reached into a drawer of his desk, pulling out a small envelope and handing it to Ben. "I've been forced to make some decisions that are not normally made alone because of the current situation," he said as Ben opened up the envelope, the contents carefully falling into his hand. "Based on my familiarity with your skills and knowledge both in and outside of SeeD instruction, I'm offering you a promotion to Captain - if, of course, you are willing to accept."
Ben looked at the items in his hand, turning the SeeD ID card over in his hand carefully for a few seconds. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Go ahead."
"Why, Katanas?" Ben asked, eyes raising to meet with his fellow Planeswalker. "I just got promoted to Lieutenant a week and a half ago, and now you're trying to promote me again? What's going on? Even I know that's not normal procedure, no matter how much happened here because of Sin."
Outwardly, Katanas was as calm as ever even as he smiled inwardly. He'd been banking on his reasoning behind the promotion being enough on the surface, but it looked like the boy in front of him wanted to dig further. The best lies were always grounded in truth, but that wouldn't stop someone from realizing that it wasn't the whole story, after all. However, this wasn't a hand that he particularly wished to play...at least, not yet. The time simply wasn't right, he thought to himself.
"You know that I have had dealings with all of the planar leaders in the past, and even now maintain close contact with both Lady Freya and Lord Kuchiki, correct?" Katanas asked, receiving a nod in response. "I believe that you will be a capable leader one day, especially given what Lady Freya has told me of your recent endeavors. I simply believe in nurturing that skill early, to allow it - and you - time to grow and reach full potential. In light of recent events, this seemed an obvious choice to make."
Ben didn't say anything at first, a subtle play of emotions running across his face that didn't go unnoticed by Katanas. After a silence that dragged on far longer than it should've, Ben finally sighed and nodded.
"Okay, that's sensible enough," he grudgingly admitted, still not entirely convinced that Katanas was telling him everything but unwilling to press the matter any further. He raised the rank insignia to eye level to examine it for a few seconds before returning his focus to Katanas, returning to a more official tone of address as he spoke.
"I'll accept the promotion, sir. Thank you for the opportunity to prove myself further."
Katanas smiled, nodding subtly as he watched Ben begin to replace his former insignia with the new one he had been given. "I have every reason to believe you'll excel, Captain. Normally, the first order of business I would task you with would be to begin considering whom you may wish to have under your new command, but I have a mission for you first. We'll be briefing at 1100 hours, and I'll send the meeting location to your GLD before that time."
"Understood, Commander," Ben said.
"I believe that will be all, Powell. I have faith that you'll become an excellent commander for SeeD, even if you don't believe it yourself just yet."
[July 16, 2152 | Trabia Garden, Third Floor, Briefing Room | 10:53 AM]
The door in front of Ben slid open to allow him into the briefing room, followed closely by Tetsuya before it shut behind them both again. He had met Tetsuya on his way up to the third floor, and was mildly surprised to see that the gunblade-wielding SeeD was headed to the same place that he himself was. Katanas was already present, standing at the front of the table in the room with a binder in front of him, and he saw Naoki along with another SeeD he didn't recognize sitting at the side opposite the door. He was around Tetsuya's height, several inches taller than Ben with hazel eyes and long brown hair tied back into a high ponytail, but the most immediately noticeable thing to Ben was that he did not have Trabian rank insignia on his uniform, but rather had the yellow and blue of Balamb Garden adorning his uniform shirt. Ben knew that the Gardens had suffered quite heavy losses in the last conflict with Sin, and he'd seen SeeD from other Gardens in Trabia more than usual lately as a result.
"Powell, Kurabasa," Katanas said, nodding as they entered the room. "Please, take a seat. We'll begin momentarily."
"Yes, Commander," Tetsuya said, snapping a salute as Ben did the same before taking seats at the near side of the table. Katanas opened the binder in front of him and pulled out several sets of papers, moving around the table and placing one in front of each of the four SeeD that were present before returning to his place at the front.
"Let's go ahead and get started," Katanas said, taking a remote and turning to face the screen on the back wall. He pressed a button and brought up a picture of an elaborate, mansion-like residence that looked to be somewhere in the city of Esthar before facing the gathered SeeD. "At 1000 hours on July 13th, SeeD was contacted by a member of the Tsurimi noble family of Esthar with a request for a security detail - a small team, no more than three SeeD. They requested our presence for the auction of a family heirloom, one that they value well into the billions of Gil."
Security details were a rather mundane task for SeeD, Ben knew. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary there, at least - they brought in a fair amount of the cash that kept SeeD operating, along with other more routine jobs. "The mission contract was tentatively accepted and sent to my desk for final review and acceptance at that time. Upon further review, I discovered that the heirloom in question was in actuality something far more dangerous."
The picture changed to a picture of a blond woman wearing a necklace with a red stone in a silver setting, along with a close-up shot of the necklace itself. Ben squinted at it for a moment before his eyes widened, realizing exactly what he was looking at even though he'd never seen it before.
"...That's a Philosopher's Stone," he said quietly, eyes locked on the picture on the screen for several long seconds. He finally broke away, noticing similar looks on the faces of the others - he'd once explained to Tetsuya and Naoki on separate occasions just what made the Philosopher's Stone such a dangerous tool, and likely Yuki had mentioned it to her brother as well. He wasn't sure about the brown-haired SeeD that he didn't recognize, as he'd never seen him in any of his Alchemy-specific classes, but he seemed to have as much of an idea that the Stone was dangerous as any of them.
"Correct," Katanas said. "After some discussion with a few of my contacts in Esthar, I surmised that the auction was really a front to move the Stone into the hands of a third party. As such, I feel that we cannot let this go unopposed. With no knowledge of who may be attempting to get their hands on such an artifact, there may be far more danger here than we realize."
Katanas clicked the screen off with the press of a button, setting the remote back down on the desk. "Your mission is to recover the Philosopher's Stone from the Tsurimi residence and return it to our specialists for examination. As such, there will be two teams for this mission - the infiltration team and the recovery team. Tetsuya Kurabasa and Naoki Ishida will make up the infiltration team, while Connor Lionheart and Benji Powell will be the recovery team. Captain Powell will be in overall command of the mission."
"Commander, may I ask a question?" the unfamiliar SeeD - Connor - said, looking up at Katanas.
"Go ahead."
"Why are we going against our client's mission by trying to take possession of this artifact? Won't that jeopardize SeeD's reputation if anyone finds out that we're effectively double-crossing a client?"
"An excellent question, Lieutenant. Normally, I would be worried about such a thing happening, yes. However, it is not out of the realm of possibility that an outside party could hire SeeD from another Garden with no knowledge of our mission to, in effect, work against us. There are safeguards in place to try and prevent such things from occurring, of course, but the chance still remains."
Katanas' face turned more solemn as he continued. "The second reason, however, is that the Philosopher's Stone is an immensely powerful and dangerous artifact, capable of incredible acts of destruction in the wrong hands. Given the parties involved that I suspect are intent on gaining possession of the Stone, I feel it is the wisest course of action to take this risk to our organization in order to prevent a potential disaster to Esthar and the rest of the world. SeeD no longer exists merely to defeat sorceresses, but to protect the world at large." Connor nodded as Katanas finished speaking, seemingly satisfied with Katanas' answer as he relaxed somewhat.
"As stated, Lieutenants Kurabasa and Ishida will be the infiltration team. You will pose as the requested security detail for the auction, entering the residence and keeping watch on the proceedings. We expect the auction to proceed normally, and you are to take note of the winner of the auction. Once the target is identified, Captain Powell and Lieutenant Lionheart will begin the second phase of the mission - recovery of the Stone by any means necessary. Once you have the Stone in your possession, you are to contact us and return immediately so that we can secure the artifact for safekeeping. Are there any questions?"
"When is the auction?" Naoki asked.
"Three days from today - July 19th," Katanas responded. "This should give you more than enough time to devise a plan."
"If things do go south," Ben started, "will there be any assets in the area that could assist us?"
"At this time, it doesn't appear so," Katanas remarked, shaking his head. "Assume that you will be on your own for the duration. If that changes, you will be notified." He glanced around the table, looking between the four gathered officers, but no further questions came from any of the SeeD present. "You'll be leaving at 1230 hours - transport will be awaiting you in the parking garage, and one of our safe houses in the area has been prepped. Further details are in your mission packets," he finished, looking at Ben. "Good luck, Captain."
"Thanks, Commander," Ben replied, saluting. "I won't let you down."
Katanas nodded before gathering his things and exiting the room, leaving the gathered SeeD officers alone in the briefing room. It was barely a few seconds later when Tetsuya turned and looked at Ben, giving him an accusing but clearly joking look. Ben looked up from the sheaf of papers, almost seeming to feel Tetsuya's eyes on him.
"So, uh...Captain Powell? When did that happen?" he asked, causing Ben to chuckle nervously and glance at his GLD.
"About...two hours ago?" he said, pocketing the device again. "I was gonna tell you, you know."
"Uh huh. Sure you were," Tetsuya said flatly, clearly not believing him in the least.
"So this is your first command," Connor broke in, also focusing on Ben. With Tetsuya or Naoki, Ben would have taken the statement as teasing or even questioning, yet from this man the statement sounded like a challenge to his newfound authority. Especially the expression he wore. He hated that look, the look of skepticism and doubt that people always seemed to give him far more than he felt he deserved.
"Officially, yes," Ben said, keeping his tone factual. Internally, he was resisting the urge to shrink under the gaze.
There was a brief pause in the room, the air that hung over them nothing short of uncertain. It told Ben a lot without anything being said - the others didn't know anything about this man either. Connor, meanwhile, didn't back down nor change his tone after the statement. His expression changed slightly from perceived doubt to something more neutral, like someone skimming through a corporate memo rather than addressing a superior officer.
"I've heard a lot of rumors about you," Connor started, leaning forward over the table. When Ben didn't take the bait, Connor kept going. "The SeeD officer who went toe to toe with that monster -"
"Sin," Ben corrected automatically, though he regretted he did. It meant that he was at least somewhat invested in what this person thought of him, and Connor definitely caught it.
"Sin," he amended. His air of neutrality gave slightly as interest edged into his voice. "And fought alongside Leonhart's team...in fact, the word in Balamb is saying you played a pretty integral role in helping defeat Sin."
"Is that what they're saying?" Ben asked, giving the faintest bit of a chuckle. In truth, Ben had no idea what people in another Garden was saying about him, but the fact they knew him by name made him proud and yet worried at the same time. He was already a known hero in Spira, after all. He thought he would be used to it by now, yet a part of him enjoyed the anonymity that came with being a member of SeeD. He did have dreams of moving up in his newfound military career, but this was sudden even for him. Connor shrugged at his comment, but Ben knew that he clearly paid attention to those rumors despite the air of indifference he put on.
"People talk, stories talk, actions reveal more," Connor remarked. "I'm interested in seeing how you work out there. I'll believe that over any story."
"That makes two of us," Ben said with a real chuckle this time, trying to add a bit more levity to a situation that had already become far more tense than he would've liked. He didn't know Connor at all, but he already felt on edge around him, like he was being dismissed out of hand before even getting a chance to prove himself. Still, he tried not to let it bother him - he knew he could come off as aloof and hesitant around new people, so he could just be reading far too much into things. "What about you? What's an officer of Balamb doing on this mission?"
Connor paused, his expression of careful neutrality giving way to one of concern and uncertainty. "I'll be honest, I'm not sure. This kind of mission isn't usually in my wheelhouse. I was told resources are tight and all the Gardens were going to be working more closely intertwined with each other while rebuilding. I was asked to do this mission as a favor and I agreed to help out, so obviously someone sees that I'm needed for something."
Ben was outwardly calm, but on the inside he realized his own mistake. He set that up too perfectly for Connor, betraying far more about his own feelings of trying to prove to himself that he was worthy of his newfound position. Whereas Connor, on the other hand, not only told the bare minimum of why he was here, but the fact that he was 'doing this as a favor' meant that despite his rank he held some friends in a higher position and this job with Trabian SeeD was nothing more than what he'd said - a favor.
"We'll get the job done," Tetsuya said, coming to Ben's defense. "SeeD always does, remember?"
Connor turned to Tetsuya and gave a slight nod, agreeing with his proclamation. Yet, Ben could feel that Connor was not fully convinced about his own capacity to lead the team. He leaned a bit back in his chair, not quite lounging as he spoke up one final time. "Let's just hope this is worth the danger."
"We'll be fine," Ben said in a confident tone, trying to act like the leader he'd been appointed. "We've got one hour before we leave - let's head out, get packed and prepped, and meet in the parking garage by 1215." He glanced back at the papers in front of him, looking through them for a moment before facing his team again. "We can be at Esthar by sundown, and we'll start reconnaissance in the morning once we're settled. Once we know a bit more about this place, we can start coming up with a plan of attack."
[Nether Plane, Chateau du Suzerain]
Streamers of reiatsu bled through the air like striking snakes as they flowed away from the one creating them, the form of the Novena Espada panting heavily and radiating anger in one of the many areas around the Overlord's palace used as a training ground. Stone columns lay pulverized all around, sand turned to glass by immense heat from the Cero blasts she'd been throwing around. She didn't care that her two Fraccion were watching. She didn't care that others might feel her energy spiking and come to investigate - in fact, she relished the idea of tearing some unfortunate Arrancar limb from limb in her rage. All that she cared about was that girl, the one the Overlord had tasked her with retrieving.
"'She may eclipse all of you,'" she muttered, remembering Aizen's words to her in the throne room. As if a mere Hume was capable of standing on the level of the Espada, she thought to herself. What utter foolishness!
"I'm going to enjoy watching her break and bleed!" she seethed, hurling another Cero into the distance and listening to the ominous explosion and sound of collapsing stone. "She'll be nothing compared to us...the Overlord's little pet project can't hold a candle to true warriors like us!"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say ya were scared of this runt," a voice piped up from nearby. Xeria spun to face one of her Fraccion - a tall, lanky Arrancar with a long mane of straight, dark hair and an eye patch. Venom practically dripped from her voice as she spoke, her voice lowering to a dangerous pitch.
"Shut up, Jiruga, before I carve that tongue out of your head," she hissed, hair whipping around her wildly as her reiatsu spiked again. The thin Arrancar reached over from his sitting position and lazily snatched up a massive weapon lying on the ground beside him, resembling nothing so much as a pole with two over-sized, crescent-shaped blades in a strange vertical H-shape. He rose up to his full height, almost towering over his more powerful opponent as he looked down with a gleefully crazed expression.
"You wanna go, Esquina? I'm gon -"
Quick as lightning, a strand of hair whipped out and locked itself around the taller Arrancar's throat like a band of steel, instantly cutting off his words and his wind all at once.
"If you weren't so useful to me, Nnoitra, I'd just kill you like the trash you are and be done with it," Xeria said, drawing him closer and listening to him choke as he dropped the massive scythe back to the ground. The hair holding him suddenly flicked out, sending Nnoitra flying into a stone column with a loud crunch and the echoing crash of falling debris.
"Forgive me, but wouldn't it be best to simply bring the child here and train her?" her other Fraccion said, another female voice breaking into the conversation. "Strong warriors make the plane strong, and if you are to be the Overlord someday...you will need that strength."
There were times that Xeria hated the more loyal of her two Fraccion. Halibel was cool, calculating, and smart enough that Xeria found her dangerous. She was lucky that Halibel was such a loyal Arrancar, as with enough ambition it was entirely likely that she'd have become Halibel's minion and not the other way around. She resisted the urge to growl, tamping down her anger just enough to give a more level glance at the other female.
"Aizen is mistaken about this girl," she replied, her voice calmer. "It is impossible that a mere Hume would ever have the power that we Espada possess, let alone more."
"Yet Aizen-sama was mortal before he ascended to his position. Curious, don't you agree?"
Xeria and Halibel both started, Xeria's blade flashing out of its sheath and pointing in the direction the new voice had come from. She watched as an infuriatingly familiar form seemed to melt into view, appearing as if from nothing. Pale skin and white hair pulled back into a high ponytail, golden eyes that seemed to stare into the soul, a fragment of ivory bone stretching along the top of her right eye and the edge of her face...she knew the woman well. She didn't know why the Tercera Espada was here to see her, but it put her on edge all the same.
"Shiroka," she said, her voice slipping back into the annoyed and angry tone it had held before. "What are you doing here?"
"It's a little hard to relax when you can feel reiatsu being flung around all over the place," her fellow Espada said, shrugging and lounging against a tall piece of stonework with the grace of a dancer. "And what do I find but another of my comrades throwing a tantrum like some kind of Hume child. What's your problem?"
Xeria felt her teeth gritting, but didn't rise to Shiroka's bait - she knew full well that even as strong as she was, the Tercera was more than capable of slaughtering her in a straight fight. "With all your skulking around, you didn't hear?" she sniped back, putting the sword back in its sheath. For all of Shiroka's occasional bloodlust, even she wouldn't be brash enough to kill another Espada so close to Aizen's notice.
"Let's pretend I didn't," Shiroka remarked, the mask fragment over her eye rising higher alongside her curious expression.
"Apparently, Aizen-sama has decided to choose a new Planeswalker...one that supposedly holds more potential than all of the Espada. A Hume child, much like the type you were so eager to compare me to."
"And it's your job to go collect her?" she asked, the lack of reply from Xeria giving her the answer anyway. She sighed, shaking her head and fluidly pushing off the stonework as she slowly walked towards Xeria. "So, go collect her and quit bitching, then. Even if he's right, I doubt he's going to just get rid of us, and if he's wrong, it won't matter." She walked right up to Xeria, giving her a sickeningly sweet and obviously false smile. "Or are you afraid she'll take your position in a few weeks? I suppose weaklings like you do need to watch their backs..."
Xeria's jaw clenched, and she turned a particularly angry shade of red as Shiroka walked past her with a jaunty wave. Violet light gathered around Xeria's hand, and she let loose with a brilliant flash of Cero aimed squarely at the back of her fellow Espada. It crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, only to have Shiroka smoothly step aside and let it pass a fraction of a second before it would have struck her. The next step took her in front of Xeria, a distinctly amused look on her face before she lashed out at the Novena and sent her flying, rocks and sand showering the area as she sailed away.
Halibel tensed but didn't move immediately, and her eyes flickered over to see Nnoitra doing much the same thing. They were strong, but both recognized that they were nowhere near the level of someone like the Tercera Espada. Helping Xeria came with the danger that the stronger Espada would simply kill them, even if Shiroka left Xeria alive - Fraccion were expendable even to the Espada they followed, and Aizen wouldn't pay any mind to a couple of Arrancar suddenly vanishing. A sneak attack might work, but it was unlikely that even the three of them could take out Shiroka if she truly went all out. If Shiroka did kill Xeria, however...there was the chance that they would become her Fraccion instead. With a stronger Espada, there would be more potential to grow and evolve, maybe even becoming Espada themselves. Halibel could tell by the look on Nnoitra's face and his continued inaction that he was likely thinking along the same lines as she, and neither Arrancar moved as they saw the flash of another purple Cero.
"You bitch," Xeria hissed, her hair whipping around her like a nest of angry snakes as she dragged her blade from its sheath.
"Guilty," Shiroka said nonchalantly, enjoying the look of fury on the Novena's face. She held up a hand, gesturing for Xeria to come and fight. "At least I belong in the Espada."
The next few seconds were a flurry of slicing blades, whipping hair, and rapid exchanges of blows as Xeria attempted to turn the higher-ranked Espada into mincemeat. Shiroka blocked and parried the majority of the attacks with nothing more than her fists, her iron-hard skin able to weather the blows from her weaker opponent without much issue. Sonido bursts echoed through the area as the pair danced around, fist meeting sword as Shiroka seemed to play with Xeria instead of attempting any real kind of counterattack. The Tercera suddenly leaned aside as Xeria reappeared from Sonido and shot a knee upwards into Xeria's stomach, doubling her over just long enough for Shiroka to slam a hammerfist strike into her back that sent her smashing into the ground at Shiroka's feet.
"Now, this is just pitiful," Shiroka commented, watching as Xeria slowly dragged herself upwards from the small crater, wiping blood from her face in the process. "No wonder you're so worried about having some new prodigy of a Planeswalker around."
She didn't notice the errant strand of Xeria's hair snaking around her ankle until it was too late.
The Novena pulled hard, throwing Shiroka off balance just long enough for her to line up her target - no chance to dodge, no hope of Sonido. As the energy gathered around Xeria's hand for the barest instant, violet tinged with an angry edge of crimson, Shiroka's eyes widened.
The Gran Rey Cero that Xeria unleashed in the next moment was strong enough to force Halibel and Nnoitra to shield their faces from the flying debris, ears ringing from the keening that the energy attack caused.
As the dust cleared, Xeria quickly jumped back with a step of Sonido, putting a bit of distance between herself and the Tercera Espada. That was by no means enough to put her down, but it should've been enough to give her pause. Shiroka had held up well through the powerful attack, but she still sported burns along her face and arms, enough so that Xeria could tell the attack had done some damage. The white-haired Espada grinned, wiping a tiny bit of blood from the corner of her own mouth as she looked across at Xeria.
"Well, maybe you've got a spine after all," she commented. "Next time you do that, though? I'll slice that pretty face of yours to ribbons." She turned on her heel without another word and vanished with a final burst of Sonido, leaving Xeria and her Fraccion alone. Xeria looked over at her two minions, noting that they'd done nothing to help her at all - as expected. Any Arrancar with half a brain served their own interests first when the chance arose. She sheathed her sword, wiped the rest of the blood from her face, and looked out over the sandy plains.
Fine, then - she'd play the Tercera's game. She'd retrieve the child, help her as much as Aizen wished, and when the time came she'd use the Planeswalker to slaughter anyone in her path to the top, including the rest of her infuriating "comrades." Aizen wouldn't sit atop that throne forever...she'd take it from him sooner or later.
"Just you wait, Shiroka Mikana...I'll enjoy watching you suffer. You, and all the rest," she muttered, flashing away into Sonido as she headed for the planar gate that would whisk her away to the mortal plane.