Chapter 70: Devil You Know (Patreon)

The next day dawned all too soon.

In many ways, it was beyond me to be exhausted now. My body could not tire.

But that didn’t address the mental exhaustion from casting so many spells. I’d been up most of the night fixing the damage I’d done to Liliana’s courtyard, to say nothing of the wooden walls. Order had…options when it came to repairing things.

But that didn’t make it fun.

Nor did it make the long conversation I’d had with Ritz, about the full extent of my contract with Trigon, any more fruitful. She’d spent hours with me as I cleaned. With so little information to go on; however, we’d spent most of that time talking around in circles.

Part of me was almost happy that I could still feel tired and worn out. It was a little reminder of my humanity, which seemed to be slipping further and further from my grasp by the day.

But as the sun dawned, I mostly just felt exhausted.

Which, of course, meant that was exactly when one of Liliana’s servants came to fetch me. She’d probably even planned it that way, heartless monster that she was.

Jace was likewise waiting in the great hall. Though, he also looked like he actually got some sleep last night. Liliana was nowhere to be seen.

“Guest privileges run out?” I asked.

“It seems that way,” he said. He gave me a rueful smile, as if to say ‘what can you do?’ “And you?” He gave me a quick once over. “It looks like you’ve been up all night. Did you actually get to the entire courtyard?”

I ran a hand over my face. “I’m multifaceted.”

He laughed. “Well, if you ever feel like putting those skills to use for the sake of others, we could use a Walker like you in the Gatewatch.”

I blinked at that. The name felt odd, though, I suppose it was much better than the ‘Jacetice League,’ which is where my mind had gone the moment I learned he was part of a team of interdimensional superheroes.

Maybe I’d have been more open if I hadn’t just been burned by my last team. It would have been nice, if nothing else, to have partners that could go toe to toe with me. But aloud I only said, “Thanks, but I’ve got enough of my own problems to deal with without adding more.”

Jace shrugged, reaching out his hand. “If you change your mind,” he offered.

I eyed him for a moment, but he’d been nothing but straightforward. Really, books usually depicted telepaths as scheming manipulators, but the two that I’d met had been some of the most honest people I’d ever worked with.

With a sigh, I reached out, accepting the pattern he offered me.

Just like the spell I’d taught to Tula, it would allow me to call him across the Blind Eternities, though as always, whether he’d be willing and able to answer that call would be up to him.

“I’ll keep it in mind.” I said. I already had a team though, didn’t I? Composed of people I’d known far longer and trusted far more than any random Planeswalker.

On the other hand, it wouldn’t hurt to have some friends in high places.

“Well, I’d best say my goodbyes to the Lady of the house,” Jace said. “Wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome. It’d be bad for my health.”

“Whatever do you mean?” came Liliana’s voice from the antechamber. “I would keep you perfectly preserved.”

Jace’s smile shrank slightly. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he said. Still, he didn’t feel worried when he moved to her side. Instead, there was this…weight between them.

Jace made no move to reach out for Liliana, when he came to a stop, but it looked like he wanted to. To take her hand, brush his knuckles against her cheek.

Liliana, for her part, looks just as cold and aloof as always. But there was a sharpness to it, as if her act wasn’t quite so much an effortless disregard, but an intentional one.

‘It’s not like I care about you, or anything.’

“Thanks for not throwing me to the wolves,” Jace said.

“You should be thanking me for not throwing you to the vampires,” she replied. “But you seem intent on spitting on that kindness.”

Jace just shifted in his coat. “I’ve never been one to let others tell me what to do.”

She sighed. It sounded almost fond. “No, you haven’t.”

With a wave of her hand, two of her servants pulled open the doors the great hall. “I took the liberty of preparing a horse for you,” she said. “Do try to take better care of this one.”

Jace laughed. “No more werewolf guides,” he said. “I understand.”

“And I know you don’t believe me,” she said. “But do try to avoid the angels. They have been…different.”

He shrugged, before giving me one last nod and vanishing out the door. 

It didn’t take long for his footsteps to fade.

Idly, I wondered if all of my meetings with other Planeswalkers would be like that, brief glimpses of another being as free to wander as I was. I’d known him for a day, seen only the smallest bit of his goals and his history.

And then our journeys spun us away again.

It seemed almost natural, didn’t it? To gather multiple walkers in one place, you’d probably have to go so far as to physically trap them, as I’d been trapped in Hell…

Still, that was a confluence of unique circumstances, to find something able to trap multiple Planeswalkers? Hopefully I’d never stumble across something like that.

After the doors swung shut Liliana turned back to face me.

“So, my little ‘apprentice,’” she began. “What is it that you need?”

She was having fun with this. I could tell that much even without my Empathy. 

I crossed my arms. “I should ask you the same question,” I said. “Unless you put compulsions on everyone you meet?”

“Only those worth remembering,” Liliana replied. “Now tell me what you want or run along.” Her smirk was as self-assured as ever. “I hardly have another horse to spare.”

I frowned.

Really, this part still didn’t sit right with me. I was trusting someone who’d shown that she would always put herself first. But all four of us had been over this point already, and we couldn’t come up with any better ideas.

“It would be easier just to show you,” I said. At my words, the other version of me walked into the room from where she’d been waiting for her queue.

Liliana sat up straighter on her throne. “Well now,” she said. “that is interesting.”

“I may have gotten a little…”

“Split up?” the other me offered. “Something like that, anyway.”

Liliana rose, walking towards us. She trailed in a circle, peering closely at our identical faces. “You always bring me the most fascinating insights.”

“Jesus,” the other Taylor said. “You do know how to pick ‘em.”

“This one picked me, if you can believe it.”

Liliana chuckled, eyes flashing. “How interesting.” She waved a hand over the two of us, her eyes lighting up purple for a second. We both stiffened. “Different bodies,” Liliana continued. “Different memories, but still one soul.”

Taylor and I shared an awkward glance at that. Those kinds of conclusions were the ones we were actively looking to avoid. Because if that was the truth then…

“If you’ve come seeking my opinion, I’d tell you to simply get it over with,” Liliana said. She turned away with a swish of her gown. “I would be a poor teacher if I strung you along with false hope.”

I blinked. “What?”

Liliana took a seat once more, reclining back on her throne. “It would be clear even to a novice that the two of you are but halves of a greater whole, yearning to snap back into place,” she said. “You’re already feeling the pressure, aren’t you? I’ll admit that I’ve never seen a Planeswalker in your predicament, but really, split souls are a dime a dozen in necromancy, and they only ever end in one of two ways.”

The other me snorted. “Let me guess, the other way is death? Didn’t you just turn out to be a fountain of wisdom.”

Liliana shrugged, accepting a thick tome from one of her minions. “Like you, I have my own concerns. Splitting souls has never been an interest of mine, unless you have something that could hold my attention?”

I held back a wince. Negotiations were…failing rapidly.

Then the other me laughed, the sound echoing off across the great hall. “Now, that’s just a bald-faced lie,” she said with a grin. “Look, I get it, you want to yank the new girl around a bit. But if that’s your starting position we can just go.”

Liliana blinked, eyes turning to my double as she flips her tome shut again.

“What?” the other me asked. “Weren’t expecting one of us to have actual negotiating experience?”

Liliana placed a finger on her chin. “How interesting, you aren’t perfect duplicates, or even close to it. How long ago did you split, I wonder.”

The other me grinned. “Maybe we’ll tell you, if you can actually spare any helpful information beyond your ‘more important concerns,’”

Liliana laughed, waving her hand. The undead shifted, and for a moment I tensed, only for her servants to carry out a fine table and some chairs. “You are a gift that keeps on giving,” she said. “Very well, as a gift for providing me with such a generous diversion.” Liliana paused, smirking. “There are those who have mirrored their souls, for this or that reason. Often to escape their contracts with demons, though those only end up with the poor fool paying double.”

“So you do know a way out,” Taylor said.

To the side, I crossed my arms. This was clearly her show now.

“No,” Liliana admitted easily. “Because those magicians did not so crudely split their soul, and without fully severing it even. Truly, you couldn’t have made this predicament more difficult upon yourself if you’d tried.”

“Not quite hearing a reason we should offer you anything, then.”

“Because, dear children,” Liliana replied. “I am perhaps the only one in the multiverse with the experience to provide you with a solution…unless you’d like to run to a person who would much rather dissect you both to see just how you so thoroughly mutilated yourself?”

We both stiffened at her laugh. “If that was the case, then I do have a few recommendations.”

At that, her servants finished setting up the table.

It was long and sturdy, made of oak, with one elaborate, high backed chair at one end, and two normally sized ones at the other.

The meaning was clear.

“Oh, and a seat for your pet demon too, if she deigns to stop hiding in the shadows,” she said. As another, even small chair was brought into the room, hierarchy clearly defined.

In the background, Raven shifted slightly. There was just something about Liliana that continued to unnerve my friend. Not that I could really blame her.

There was something about the woman that unnerved me very much as well.

With a flourish, Liliana rose, striding to her new throne even as her undead brought out glasses and a bottle of wine.

“So,” she said. “Shall we discuss?”

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A/N: I decided that the discussion itself deserved it's own chapter. Also, I like cliff hangars, maybe a bit too much.