Arc 2- Part 9

"So, if I am to understand you properly, you thought you were… helping by giving Riverside a defensive moat of running water that many lesser undead cannot cross?" said Sorbet Melon, who was holding a bag of conjured ice to his forehead and sitting behind his desk.

They were in the Markov manor, specifically Sorbet's workshop filled with all manner of interesting gizmos and gadgets she had, very rudely, been told not to improve. There were also walls of books on magic, and if it hadn't been for the fact that it was owned by a disgusting lampray, would have been a positively pleasant place.

It was a day after Caprifexia's breathtakingly devious and brilliant plan had saved Riverside from vampiric attack. They'd moved to a nearby, pleasantly desertous plane for the night, and had just been packing up their camp when Sorbet had arrived – apparently having tracked them from Innistrad.

Planeswalkers could do that, follow in the wake of each other – either via the much superior method that Caprifexia used, or by getting a kind of… feeling, a resonance within her Spark when it recognised another. It didn't last forever, but it meant that while Planeswalkers could tactically retreat from most situations, it didn't work against other Planeswalkers.

Sorbet been annoyed, but that wasn't new, but had brought them back to the study in his manor, where they had been confronted by a very angry Eggy. The ancient and grumpy vampire had managed to avoid annihilation, however, by somewhat stiffly apologising for attempting to kill her. In exchange, Caprifexia had benevolently decided to give him a temporary reprieve from a righteous and heroic slaying. Still, he was on her list.

"Exactly, I was helping," nodded Caprifexia, deviously and masterfully and most of all heroically lying. "I definitely wasn't trying to alert the defenders so they'd be ready for Eggy's attack, or give them a defensive advantage. Oh, but I definitely did know that undead on Innitgrad couldn't cross running water, of course, I'm a dragon after all and that's the sort of thing we obviously know, I just…"

There was a pregnant pause.

"Well, it isn't my fault you're so rubbish," said Caprifexia. "Not being able to cross water, bah!"

"Grandson, this is outrageous!" said Eggy Melon, Sorbet's grandfather. "She actively sabotaged my efforts to defend the house!"

"Are your ears rotten? I said I didn't do that-"

"I have had enough of you, you arrogant child-"

"Enough! I have had Avancyn disperse the army, there shall be no attack upon the manor," said Sorbet. "The matter is closed."

"Ah yes, the pet you wield against your own people," spat Eggy. "I am head of this House! I will…"

Sorbet's orange eyes flicked up to Eggy's, who trailed off slowly.

"You will do what?" said Sorbet in a low, dangerous voice. "Give the mortals more reason to target us? Had you succeeded in your little attack, you would have created a dozen blood feuds against us with powerful families from across the midlands – something perhaps beyond my ability to have Avancyn redirect. To say nothing of putting Ms. Nalaar's life in danger, or attacking Ms. Caprifexia – who is, irritatingly I will grant, important to my plans to defend all creation.

"You are fortunate that you are both my grandfather, and that the dragon was – shockingly – able to stymie your plan. You will not be charged with the household's defence in my absence again. And you will not be so cavalier in your approach to the lives of my Planeswalker allies, no matter how enraging they might be. They are more important than you."

"Hah!" said Caprifexia, sticking her tongue out. Heroically.

"I am head of the house!" said Eggy, baring his teeth. "I was the first-"

"And I have allowed you to keep your station because you are family," said Sorbet in a low, cold voice. "Do not make me reconsider that decision. Go to bed, grandfather. Now."

Eggy's hands trembled with rage. "We shall discuss this later, grandson." He turned with a swish of his cloak, striding from the room.

Sorbet exhaled and closed his eyes, adjusting the bag of ice.

"You… OK?" said Einar.

"It is nothing – a headache, too long on a Plane with three suns," he said, opening his eyes and glancing over the group. "I recognise the menace, and Ms. Nalaar, and you, Einar. Who are your companions?"

"Oh, right – this is Serana," said Einar. "And this is Lomeria, she's an archmage of the Psijic Order. And, um, here to keep an eye on Capri."

"A thankless task, if ever there were one," said Sorbet tiredly nodding his head. "Lady Serana, Archmage, welcome, I am Sorin Markov. I apologise for my grandfather's lack of… hospitality." He gestured towards the lounge section of the room where a pale mortal servant had laid out a tray with all sorts of goodies – including fish. "Perhaps you'd care for some refreshments? I would like a word with Einar and the menace."

He turned to Caprifexia.

"Now. You," he said. "Perhaps now you will explain how you managed to defeat Mirael on Nirn, and what you were thinking when you turned into an Eldrazi, and how for that matter you did it?"

"I'm just looking for Planeswalkers who know about time-travel," said Caprifexia. "That's the only reason I came. Do you know any?"

Sorbet closed his eyes and exhaled again. "Einar, perhaps you could offer an explanation?"

"Well, we found out about Mirael, who you seem to know," said Einar. "And we figured out where she was going to destroy Nirn, thanks to the Psijic Order. Capri came to try and get you…"

"But I was not here, and rather than informing my retainers what was going on, she destroyed my curtains and left? I see," said Sorbet. "Please, continue."

"Anyway, we were losing really badly," said Einar. "It was basically over, Mirael had killed Akatosh, and then Magnus. But Capri, well, I'm not sure of the real specifics, but somehow she swapped herself with her future self, millennia and millennia in the future. Made an 'anchor,' or something?"

"That is… unexpectedly competent," said Sorbet.

"I thought so too," said Einar.

"You were just as mean in the future too," said Caprifexia.

"I was there?" said Sorbet, arching a pale eyebrow.

"Yes," said Caprifexia. "And you were crying, like a baby!"

Sorbet's brow furrowed.

"I think, weird as it might seem right now, you two will become good friends," said Einar. "Translating from Capri-speak."

"We might become good friends," said Sorbet. "Planeswalkers are para-causal, we are not bound by chains of causality as most other beings are – we defy prophecy, create the future in each moment unbound of temporal forces. Still, I suppose it is theoretically possible you might become one day less insufferable."

Caprifexia furrowed her brow. "You're… sure?" she said. "How do you know that? The causality thing, not you being rude."

"I am familiar with most magic, including chronomancy," said Sorbet. "Dangerous, and rather unreliable in my experience. But yes, I am sure."

"So I… might not die?" said Caprifexia, her heart swelling.

"You die?" said Sorbet.

"She defeated Mirael, then used the angel's Spark to heal the hole in the sky from Akatosh's death," said Einar, putting a hand on Caprifexia's shoulder. "Then she used her own to repair the Eye of Magnus – the bridge between Aetherias and Mundus. She saved Nirn, but… but it's been hard for her."

"But can I avoid the loop?" said Caprifexia, shrugging off Einar's hand. "Can I change things?"

Sorbet adjusted the ice and considered for a moment. "Yes," he said. "If I understand correctly, you can. You will have that choice. Always."

Caprifexia sagged with relief. She wasn't trapped. She wasn't trapped. She wasn't going to die! Tears tickled the edge of her eyes. She wasn't going to die.

"However," said Sorbet. "If you were to do so, and I cannot be certain of this theory due to the lack of information of paradoxes involving two Planeswalkers at odds with one another, it is possible you would undo your slaying of Mirael, and effectively resurrect her in the past and destroy Nirn – rewrite the history of that plane.

"You would remain unaffected, due your nature, as would Chandra and any other Planeswalker who had walked on that world in this timeline. But your friends, Einar, Lady Serana, and Archmage Lomeria may all die, along with that world – and potentially others, if Mirael's destructive course remained unchecked. I believe one day you will face the choice whether to re-establish the paradox, or let Nirn die in the past."

"But… but Mirael is dead," said Caprifexia, her heart falling a little. "And I killed her – wouldn't- wouldn't para-causal nature mean that she stays dead?"

"I cannot speak with any surity," admitted Sorbet. "As I said, I am familiar with chronomancy, more so than most, but I am no expert – and two Planeswalkers interacting with a plane as odd as Nirn makes the problem incredibly complex, and perhaps unknowable. And before you ask, no, I do not know of any Planeswalkers more versed in Chronomancy than I." He paused. "Other than Ugin, that is."

"Who's Ugin?" asked Caprifexia.

Sorbet sighed. "A… dragon Planeswalker."

Well, that made sense. Of course a dragon would be more experienced and knowledgable and amazing than a stupid vampire.

"Then tell me where he is," said Caprifexia. "Titans! That's all I wanted to know in the first place!"

"I have no idea," said Sorbet. "I have been looking for him for several centuries, to no avail."

"Fat lot of good you are then," said Caprifexia, crossing her arms.

"Well, you've answered one of my questions, after a fashion," said Sorbet. "Now perhaps you would like to tell me about this turning into an Eldrazi? Hmm?"

"It's fine," said Caprifexia. "I just… slightly lost control of a Void spell. Which Chandra made me do!"

"'ey, wie 'idn't 'no it wud 'o 'at!" protested Chandra from across the room, where she was sitting with Serana and Lombardia on the lounge and had a mouth full of chocolate chip cookies.

"I hope I do not need to impress upon you the foolishness of risking something remotely similar every again?" said Sorbet. "An Eldrazi with a Planeswalker Spark…" He trailed off with a frown. "Perhaps that is what they were?" he muttered.

"I know! Better than you! Stop telling me off!" said Caprifexia, crossing her arms. "Titans, you're worse than Einar."

Sorbet put down the bag of ice. "Thank-you Einar, please enjoy some refreshments, I have something I wish to show Caprifexia off-plane," he said.

"Off-plane?" said Einar.

"Yes, Ms. Nalaar also too," he said.

"'e?" said Chandra.

"And… we can't come?" said Lombardia.

"The world we are going to would be dangerous to anyone without a Spark," he said. "Rest assured, Archmage, you are a guest here, and I will not let any harm come to them."

Lombardia looked at Einar, who shrugged. "Sorin has never lied to me," he said. "And if he wanted to hurt us, none of us could stop him. He's probably the most powerful mage I've ever met, after Mirael and… well, future Capri."

"Him, powerful?" snickered Caprifexia. "Hah!"

"Also, it's in his interest to cultivate a good relationship with Capri and Chandra," said Serana. "I know his type, how they operate."

Sorin smiled toothily. "Indeed," he said.

"Alright then," said Lombardia uneasily. "Will you be long?"

"A few hours, no longer than a day – rooms will be prepared, and the manor is open to you," he said, offering a hand to Caprifexia. "Now, come, I will 'walk us."

"You can do that?" said Chandra.

"Yes," he said. "We automatically take anyone with us we are touching." He paused. "So do not touch any non-Planeswalker when you 'walk, unless you mean to destroy them."

"Oh, um. right!" said Chandra, taking his hand.

Caprifexia stared at the pale hand warily. "Where are we going?"

"To a plane once called Delmuth," he said. "It is quite far."

"Won't we get tired then?" said Chandra.

"We will be travelling under my Spark's power, so no," he said. "Come, dragon, you of all people will want to see this."

Caprifexia huffed, but then took his hand. Even though dragons did not hold hands.

Sorbet's form glowed gold, building and building until she had the most peculiar sensation of movement, and then… then she was standing on the side of a rocky mountain.

"What is- how did- what's going on!?" spluttered Caprifexia.

Sorbet looked at her strangely. "We Planeswalked."

"But- but we skipped the Void!" said Caprifexia. "The Blind Eternities, whatever!"

"That's how I do it, when I don't try and copy you," said Chandra. "Your way is harder."

"You have learnt her ability?" said Sorbet.

"Um, yeah," said Chandra. "I could just sort of… do it after she took me once. Although its, like, super easy to get lost doing it her way, and I have to really focus to make the portal. Oh, and apparently if you describe what you see in there to normal people they go, like, mad or something. Oh, and there are, like, monsters that get you if you stay too long."

"Fascinating, I will need you to show me," said Sorbet. "On the way back, though. Now, are you ready?"

They jumped again, and again, and again, and again. On and on and on, whirring past vistas strange and fantastic and mundane. As they went, Caprifexia began to 'get a feel' for what they were doing, and was relatively sure she'd be able to replicate the clearly inferior, but perhaps sometimes marginally useful in certain edge cases way of Planeswalking. It was like she just had to sort of… let everything slip by.

Eventually, after some nine Planeswalks, they arrived on a wide, ash field beneath a purple sun. Ahead of them was a great chasm that seemed to fall away into literal nothingness. The rocks they could see around them were harsh and geometric, and there were… things wandering the distance. Faceless.

"This is Delmuth, or, what remains of it," said Sorbet.

"It's… awful," said Chandra, shuddering.

"Mirael did this?" asked Caprifexia, looking around.

"No," said Sorbet. "And, as far as I can tell, nor was it was not breached by an Eldrazi-"

Caprifexia scoffed. "Old Gods can't breach realities by themselves," she said. "The Multiverse would have been destroyed long ago, if they could."

"Usually, you are correct. However, I know of three Eldrazi Titans that could," said Sorbet. "Ugin, myself, and another imprisoned them, long ago, on a Plane called Zendikar."

Caprifexia frowned. Old Ones that could break into realities by themselves? Was… were they Planeswalkers, who, like her had become corrupted? Had they been like The Daughter?

"But, again, I do not believe that is what happened here," he said. "The local inhabitants, perhaps, were responsible. Regardless, this is an extreme example, although not the only one." He reached into a pocket and brought out a leather-bound journal, flicking to a page that showed a carefully drawn graph. "I have documented worlds where there are evidence of void corruption, and when I estimate it began. You are familiar with statistics?"

"Err… no?" said Chandra, peering at the book.

"Of course," said Caprifexia.

"Then you should understand the significance of this," said the vampire, handing the book to Caprifexia.

Caprifexia glanced over the graph labelled 'instances of void corruption,' and which had 'incidents' on the x-axis, and time on the y. On the face of it, it showed a very slight increase in the number of worlds, but Sorbet wasn't a total idiot, apparently, because he'd also done some mathematics and plotted out two possible dotted lines based on the data. One of them was linear, a straight line, the other, however…

"Exponential," she said, checking his maths. It was all, amazingly, correct.

"Whats-po-nential?" asked Chandra.

"A curve that has a horizontal asymptote and either a decreasing or increasing slope," explained Caprifexia clearly. "Increasing, in this case."

"Yeah… that doesn't help," said Chandra. "You know I only started learning more than basic sums at Winterhold, right?"

"It's very simple-"

"Your friend means, in actually simple terms, that over time the number of incidents gets larger and larger at a faster and faster rate," said Sorbet.

"So, like, if I have one coin, then double it I have two, then if I double that I have four, then double that I have eight?" said Chandra. "Pretty soon the number is crazy big?"

"That's what I said-"

"Precisely, Ms. Nalaar," said Sorbet.

"Oh, OK, that makes sense and is… bad?" said Chandra.

"Assuming it is correct, yes," said Caprifexia. "This data sample could be biased."

"It could, which is why I have plotted both linear and exponential outcomes," admitted Sorbet Melon, tapping the journal. "But I fear, given that we are all immortals here, that we cannot afford to assume that it is a former."

"A… what?" said Chandra. "The straight line?"

"Yes," said Sorbet. "Essentialy, a moderate increase in worlds being corrupted by the Void – worrying, but not apocalyptic."

"Why could it be happening?" said Caprifexia, handing him back the book.

"I have no idea," said Sorbet.

"Well then what use are you?" huffed Caprifexia.

Sorbet rubbed his eyes. "Remember, she apparently gets less annoying," he muttered to himself, before clearing his throat and not answering her question. "Caprifexia, you, perhaps uniquely amongst our kind, truly understand the danger of the Blind Eternities, the Void, as you call it. You were, instinctively, able to create a form of Planeswalking that not even the mightiest of us, even when we were as Gods, managed."

"Well, I am a dragon," said Caprifexia, smoothing her braid down. "Don't feel too bad about being inferior."

"First Ugin, now her," muttered the vampire again. "Listen, what I am saying is that most of our peers are complacent fools, focusing on their petty fights and causes while blind to the real threat. I have shown that same graph to many Planeswalkers in the past five centuries I have been collecting information, and few to none have taken me seriously, because they do not understand."

"There are a lot of idiots around," agreed Caprifexia.

"Since, difficult as you are, you actually understand the danger, I would like you to assist me," he said.

"Assist you, how?" said Caprifexia. "Look, I'm very busy with my own heroing, I don't have time to teach you."

"I am not interested in being a 'hero,'" he said in an irritated voice. "I want you, on your travels, to document instances of Void corruption: how it began, when it began, how it manifests… anything that might be relevant and give us an insight into its nature. And, from time to time, furnish me with this information to assist me in my research."

"I should be in charge," said Caprifexia. "I'm a dragon, and I understand the Void better than you – you admitted it yourself. I should be in charge."

Sorbet sighed. "I am more than happy to 'collaborate' on this – it affects and threatens us all," he said. "But if you wish to be 'in charge,' then you are free to believe that."

"Good, just so we're clear this is my research project," said Caprifexia. "And I was going to do this anyway."

"Of course you were," said Sorbet, rolling his eyes.

"I mean, in Capri's defence, it's sort of true," said Chandra. "She was super freaked when we discovered that Thedas' astral plane of whatever has void corruption, made us get books on it and stuff. Actually, weren't you going to ask if he knew anything about 'devoidifying' it?"

"Thedas? I am not familiar with that plane," said Sorbet. "And no, I have no experience with void afflicted astral planes in particular."

"To no one's surprise," said Caprifexia.

"They really hate mages, and have these 'Templars' that do this kind of anti-magic that hurts vampires really bad – although it doesn't block red or blue mana," continued Chandra. "And, well, I only sort of understand the maths, but… but I saw that thing Capri turned into, and it was, like, really scary, so I want to help too."

"Your assistance would also be appreciated, Ms. Nalaar," said Sorbet. "And, lest you think you will get nothing in exchange, I will be happy to help cultivate your magical abilities. You are also a red mage, yes?"

"Oh, cool!" said Chandra. "And yeah, I am-"

"Hey!" protested Caprifexia. "Why does she get help!?"

"I am already doing the same for you," snapped Sorbet. "Or have you forgotten the books I lent you, you infuriating reptile? I have not, by the way – where are they?"

"Dragons never forget! And I was going to return them," protested Caprifexia. "I have them here, see?"

She rummaged in her satchel for a moment, before producing a few slightly singed and stained and dog-earred books.

Sorin snatched them from her grip, rudely. "Oh you little monster, this is a first edition," he complained, flicking through them. "And this Plane doesn't even exist any more! You will treat my books with more respect in the future, do you understand me?"

"They were like that when I got them!" said Caprifexia. "You can't prove I did that! I know my rights!"

Sorbet inhaled and exhaled sharply. "Just spell them for resilience, Sorin," he muttered to himself. "Or make copies, Sorin… Don't strangle the infant lizard, she's useful, Sorin… or she will be…"

"Hey! You can't call me a lizard! That's dragonist!" said Caprifexia.

Sorbert took another deep breath. "Now," he said. "Show me this different way of Planeswalking."

Caprifexia crossed her arms and glared at him. "Not until you apologise, you bloodsucking fiend."

Sorbet exhaled slowly. "My apologies, child," he said.

"Whelpling!"

"Whelpling," he said. "Now, please, show me this new method of Planeswalking before rage overcomes patience."

"Hmph," said Caprifexia, extending a hand and conjuring a shimmering golden portal to reveal a particularly shattered and broken, borderline collapsing, platform into the Void. "Come on, then."

A.N. So this is the end of this arc. I already have about half of the next one done. This arc was a lot about expanding the multiverse, introducing some new characters, and setting up for future arcs that I have sketched out in my head.

Also BeetleRUS, Capri is a Red Planeswalker currently, and although she will one day master Black magic (her future self did at least), that isn't the colour I have in mind for her to pick up next.