THE LASTEST AGAIN
(Excerpts from The Chapter "The Lastest Again," Of The Trilogy "Magic, The Gathering's: 'Desperate Ploys," Part I, "In Seconds" Written By Geo. E. Burks; Based On The Publication Series: Magic, The Gathering, by Wizards Of The Coast Publishing. VA. USA.)
He appreciates his simple job; two classes a day, a small quaint apartment close by and no heavy weight wizards nor a lordly ruler to be concerned about or pressured by. The Azoria pay was generous for this kind of work while living a wise, quiet modesty deservedly in this token with other good paid pride of Azoria’s civil force that was dwelling immediately around him with secured discretion and privacy of their naturally atoned abilities.
This morning, he was familiarizing a room of 11 years older on a 12x12 grid of numbers. The grid was to help them recognized and condition them to instantly recognized patterns with numbers, weights and other possible probabilities of compounding factors.
The room, bright with a coastal morning sun warming the room to contrast the cooler air circulated thru the densely populated granite metropolis of this inner minor but well intended section in the Azorian Guild House Region. His class’ attitude was looking toward him for a signal or a sign for them to engage themselves at a challenging query or task that Jodah always come up with in order to imposed a delightful recourse with and by the lessons’ contents.
This morning Jodah was more concern about children’s well-beings than their astuteness of the day’s lessons, for even at the seemly lax unconscious level, the physical presentations shown by the majority of the students can be easily noticed by his experienced eyes that the general feelings in the class was more an intense alertness to an anxious mood.
The students were oblivious to their infrequent developing factors casually and constantly wearing on them yet this wear was the only sign present indicating to the Dominarian immortal that normalcy was prioritized by an inner influence.
The tutor, who is known in this parallel timeline as Professor Vin but in other planes and times, known as a strong and mysterious mage or as Jodah, an Arch-Magus from Argive of an exclusive school that has a reputation of benevolent factors as well as the producers of the most powerful wizards and demi-gods of good and evil alike.
In that parallel time and place where Jodah popularity as an arch-magus grew into fear and apprehension toward his approach; a rumor that the school has disbanded to settled many of the school’s difficulties with Jodah’s volunteering to live on the other side of the Great Rift placed those more world-taxing duties as ancient history to his present days.
Here in Azoria, Jodah have been addressed as Professor Vin for more than four years working at one of their science academic’s post. He been assigned to teach their community’s exceptional children the ground-works of disciplining one’s mind and extending one’s concentration and focus by using an old known skill seen in Azoria’s times under obscurity while called Mathematics, a term Jodah and some of his fellow school staff members when away from the general population especially the young students called Magic-matics jokingly.
The ageless mage was feeling accomplished for the first time in a long time after recently discovering he has finally matured as an emotional identity for his alias, Professor Vin by molding and developing an familiarity and instinct for interacting with his immediate day to day Ravinica’s functions. An identity that grew into a reference not guest to this area’s young natives of the Azoria region and grew within the Azoria’s cultural influx as a region’s distinction identity without growing beyond any noticeable distinction with any of the ruling Guild’s houses’ cultural influences and hierarchies pre-set traits.
The time traveler felt confident that this time his future has steadied into an order and control of his preference and more importantly, worthiness as he was about to engaged the children in using their concentration of logical, instantaneous revelations in order to placed that aura of nervousness back into the day’s unusually strong social environment when the school’s dean stepped into the class.
The entire class including Jodah looked up at her with most of the students noisily turning the chairs of their two section wood, movable chair-desks a quarter turn in response to the Dean’s closing the door behind her in a subtle but attention-getting, sudden-like manner.
Dean Abhigya, a small woman with medium length, dark brown hair that hangs just passed her shoulder. She was dressed in a long indigo dress with a large white collar that cover her upper arms, shoulders and upper back with a triangular opening in front showing where the top part of her dress came across behind it from underneath her arms tightly against her skin. The dress extending down tightly around her body until it passes her knees’ area revealing another fabric of the same silky quality but white that deceptively continues from underneath the top fabric extending the wrap ever lower just pass her calf muscle as like the upper yet hanging more freely before another deceptively extension appears from under the second hem. This third portion of the dress is more thicker with lighter bluish shade consistent with the indigo richness silky material of the dress’ uppermost portion hanging more loose down to the ankle area where its slight round flared hung above her rough leather shoes covering the shoe’s height area that can be seen as she walk reaching upward only high enough to cover her ankles.
She was holding her hands together in front of her; hanging the right hand over the left with her right palms pressing against the back of her left hand. Her fingers on her right hand was curling and squeezing under the left smallest, far finger as both hands held closed.
She looked intently at Jodah forcing eye contact with her large brown eyes and oval-shaped childish reflecting face. As Jodah realized she was hinting him to watch her closely and as she saw that her hint was received announced to the class; “Children! There an emergency at the Ministry of Science today and all schools are instructed to send all students home immediately. So, let’s move it, to home all of you! And Professor Vin?’ Now looking directly at Jodah, “I have an important matter to discuss with you about this emergency so, one moment, please!”
She then for the first time since entering the classroom looked at the many faces of the children, instinctively and saying, “And exit in an orderly manner also, please!” then she turned her attention back to their instructor.
Jodah now brought his hands in front of his mouth like to start to warm them with a breath in a side to side semi-close palm facing each other position but after a single breath he lower both of them to the area below his rib cage then straighten relaxing his stance while moving his left hand over and behind his moving right elbow while bringing his right hand up to push sweat up over his forehead to the top of his spine point on the back of his head afterwards with his sights maintaining contact with Dean Abhigya‘s as he brought his hand back to the front of head back to the front of head placing his first two fingers on his chin and used his thumb against the upper corner of his neck below the chin.
At this point of Jodah’s apparent unconscious bodily motions he loudly said as the students eagerly grabbing their books and packing their bags “You heard her young lasses and young lads! Now, don’t topple her and homework is on a schedule for times like this. So, you know what have to be done!”
Jodah want to check in detail on the exiting student’s gears and alertness on their assignments’ schedule but the Dean’s nervousness was too evident for him to return his full attention back to his students and away from her.
As the last student left the class the Dean walked slowly toward the window on Jodah’s right moving around the hastily yet neatly rows of chairs and desks the student’s left as part of their exiting routine.
Jodah listening to the last student closing the door the way the Dean had entering the room, but in a more quieter fashion and at the last moment just as deliberated noticeable with closing as an announcement as the Dean’s entrance.
Jodah paused for a second and as he was about to ask, “What is happening at the Science Department main compound across town,” but the Dean was the first to talk by saying “Enough of these disguises!”
As she announced this, an illusion appeared on Jodah’s mind showing an image of an Argivian Mountain Range while the Dean features change into a partially armored angel with two sets of white wings.
As the Dean appearance fade from around the angel, the illusionist asked “Do you miss our home: The Dominaria where we both are known?”
Jodah quickly moved his eyes slightly upwardly half way across to his right while exhaling hard with only his nostril. He then visualized a sword and a shield behind his desk and started to reach for them while sternly asking “Who are you?”
The angel alert to Jodah movements answered in a calm and clear tone “My name is Mika-Ella of the southern continent of our times called Caliman.
I am, well, I have apparently became trapped in this time-place while chasing a wild planeswalker, a merfolk named Atlantae.”
Jodah now standing in arm reach of his light concentrated weapons asked, “A planeswalker merfolk? A mermaid!? Leave these grounds! I can’t help you!”
The angel looked on calmly for a few seconds while standing by his classroom’s windows then she turned to look thru the window and said, “I would love return to our Dominaria but I fear I may affect the timelines. You see that merfolk was…”
Jodah becoming nervous interrupt, “If you need a means to return I may be able to help but…”
The angel who has stopped talking when Jodah interrupted her now speaking sharply said “You have already shown me your portal.”
Jodah hearing this as he was continuing talking “I can’t allow you walk in here in a … Huh? I had done what?” Then with a short pause said “Affect the timelines? Who did you say you…? What? Have you?? What going on?!
Mika Ella kept looking out the windows quietly until Jodah realized that it was him who was the oddity of her position and of their time space.
Then he calmly asked “Okay, taken that I don’t know who and what happened, I can’t ignore the possibilities of an altered past with my history”
Mika-Ella turned toward Jodah and said “I didn’t effect history, yet. You have affected our history and I can’t continue unless I talked to you now instead of tomorrow morning.
Jodah who now resisting from becoming more forceful toward the unusual four winged angel asked, “How did I affect my history?”
Mika-Ella then said “You must confront her alone this time and don’t compromise you’re…” Mika-Ella suddenly became quiet as the real Dean Abhigya opened the door and entered the room.
Jodah looked toward her as she stepped into the room wearing and looking as the angel’s illusion of her. The Dean asked immediately “Oh I thought you’re in here with someone, You sound like you were talking.
Jodah clumsily covered his awkwardness by starting to move his feet toward the windows saying, “Good Morning, I’m a little impatient with the window cleaner and feel your restrictions against my more minor engaging usefulness…”
With a stern and rash, the Dean’s voice abruptly reprimanded Jodah, “No. You will remain on the floor while working on the school grounds with your two shoes touching, Professor. Do you see me overstating my position and rank? Custodians are compensated a little extra to climb up building walls and you aren’t.”
Jodah now smiling while hiding his closer examination of the cloak from the dean’s senses the angel has erected inconspicuously said, “I prefer a less, an effortless view. Clearer windows are also good for the students’ morale also.
The dean respond by saying “Minor and too risky for one of my teachers.
No!
Now listen, there’s a reason why I’m here for you. There’s an emergency at the Ministry of Science’s compound and seeing that your class already gone means that you already know that all classes are suspend until further notice for there has been a summon sent out for a conference on the compound.
All the deans and principle researchers are expected on the compound tomorrow morning and you are to be my assistant for this function. There’s also a debriefing in about a half hour in my office with a couple of the minister’s assistants who haven’t arrived, yet.”
Jodah when hearing the dean’s instructions only stood staring out the window; no longer feinting examining the cleanness of the glass’ pane nor feinting staring at the outside scenery while listening. Hearing what his next assignment is, his head slowly and longingly glanced toward the other window on his left as to start to turn to face the dean but stopped quickly to inspected the other window’s pane while undiscovered by the Dean that he was looking at the angel’s face and the angel’s story.
He then answered, “Yes, it seems the children were more aware of these developments than I was. Any ideas on what this emergency is?”
The Dean answered “The Science department has obtained an object that they think might be of an alien origin.”
Jodah now turned fully to his left giving the dean a sense that he was presenting his undivided attention for her last minute preconcertation before both of them meet with the Minister’s messengers.
As she walked toward Jodah he started to move a couple of steps past the angel so the Dean wouldn’t disrupted the invisibility illusion the angel has placed but the Dean stepped in front of the first window instead, positioning Mika-Ella partially between him with her. Jodah may a soft breath of relief noting that the angel adjusted the invisibility of the illusion so it applied a slightly transparent view on his senses while maintaining a thoroughly transparency for the Dean.
The Dean glanced over noticing his restrained sign of panicky in which he adjusted his posturing and facial expressions into a caught hidden stupor expression. Jodah moved to the area behind the dean toward the door noticing Mika-Ella softly stepping toward the direction of his desk passing away from the windows. Reaching the door he quickly closed the door and turned toward the dean lifting his arm while his hand started a gesture toward his principle but the words was paused before they were pronounced by the dean’s.
The dean anticipating a comment about her timing of the assigning of this appointment brought up command in her voice saying “And this time can you be more idealistic, more often. You’ve sound so brilliant with them before last time they visit here when you decided to entertain them with your wild witty babblings instead of allowing them to intimidate us like they tried to do.
As much as I’ve found your overall demeanor embarrassing as a member of my staff, your comments was productive and situational beneficial.”
Hearing this, Jodah remember the incident in which one of those so-called principle researchers and that time with several departments’ ministers’ staff members was touring their school and the researchers was desperately trying to prove themselves in the expense of the dean by trying in vain to speak of the contents of the subjects they was discussing in a manner that she couldn’t keep up with, all in order to win a false sense of higher esteem with the other departments’ ministers thru their staff members present then. When they failed at this they resorted to a bunch of dirty political and charismatic tactics which would have worked if he didn’t intervene with some direct wisdom-loaded rude truism and allowed the highly wise and intellectually inclined dean the opportunity to prove her superiority as an exceptional administrator.
Her reminding him of this incident made him blush and he knew her timing of mentioning this incident was meant to let him know there’s will be no reconsideration about her appointment for her assistant for this emergency conference at the Minister Of Science compound.
Jodah reply after subtly clearing his throat, ”An hour? At in your office”
The Dean walked by Jodah to the classroom door saying “Make it under a half hour.”
Opening, exiting and closing the classroom’s door Jodah immediately turned to looked at Mika-Ella; who was now examining the papers on his desk, pausing first to give the Dean time to reach the range limits of overhearing anything they would say and then said “Your grace, I really must insist that you find another to meet this planeswalker especially with your hints on a possible confrontation. I’m better suited for other endeavors and isn’t in good disposal to chase planeswalkers across planes and times. You best…”
Jodah became momentarily speechless as the angel change her image into a projection of him and as he saw this happening while starting to blocked this new illusion but was distracted when he also sensed the angel’s established an spiritual field with him and felt the angel’s psychic sense coming from the skies over his home in his memories at a time-place he kept fortified in his mind.
What caught Jodah’s continuous reasoning process was that her psychic sense came to him in the same approach and manner that another angel he had admired during those times in his original timeline used before. He instantly considered to defeat the logic of all this and was about to repeat his predisposal suggestions by saying “I can’t just take on chasing planeswalkers across planes! Now or as before, my grace, this will be beyond my…”
His words stopped again as he felt something that was too familiar from her as he contained and ward her psychic sense defensively while adjusting his last comment to address but Mika-Ella spoke with a subtle yet fierce demand to be heard as soon as she felt the change in his feelings by saying “On our Domania, in Alaborn I’m known as an archangel” but her explanation went without its intended purpose as in Jodah’s mind then evident in the classroom his powerful white mana surge brought him to an alert strong poise as he finished with a mood changing explanation “Whenever you find yourself my grace, you’re a planeswalker.”
Then with a louder voice, Jodah said “I will ask you once again to…”
Mika-Ella’s head turned to facing the famous arch-magus with her eyes becoming more alive and vibrant as Jodah felt his body became encased with a more improved and stronger armor made of the white mana that he has disciplined his sub-conscious to manifested when he noted a presence of a planeswalker. This time the white mana that was drawn and control wasn’t controlled by him while its source was of the same source he drawn from in the environment’s atmosphere. Then with a slight hint of panic; the mana flow snapped back to under his control yet this energy that is now once again reinforcing his strength, improved his armor, sword and shield with new depths of compensations for his concentrations feeling sounder and heavier in a different ways than he has projected earlier.
He started to lifted the sword and shield from behind his desk then suddenly hesitated feeling the excessive jolt priming up to ready fly the items to him at his orders and with a thought of “How come such a defensive measure is necessary and why heed this visit as a necessary confrontation at all.” All line of reasoning Jodah deducted by his own examination earlier became clearer as well as proven to concluded that any direct forceful challenges was already over.
With the full acceptance and understanding of the potential nature this angel have been disciplined with wasn’t beyond his grasp of comprehension as well as obvious of been of the same nature that has always served him summed up on their unspeakable level of communication and had the mage wondering more hows, why nows and why him and then how again as he desperately in vain was seeking logic that can relieved and prove that their’s purposes wasn’t of the same defining account nor meant to take place as a related plane for existing yet the angel’s power was too tantamount of the energies’ surge his anger brought up to be discounted as coincidence even with the strong disposition the magus allowed to lingered on as his preferred trained for reasoning about been thrust into this matter.
Jodah refocused his tempered force as he realized it became a case for a manner of subertuge for him to utilized in order for him to regain control of or an advantage for his contentment. His facial expression instinctively changed while he stared at Mika-Ella slowly from the confounded expressions into an assertive yet reasonable indulgence which was short-lived as the unavoidable proverbial “how” logic deducted that he must be convincing with an acceptance of what his immediate future entails with the angel that met him the first time in that future but Jodah kept the revelation in reserved as a physically manifested appalled expression.
Thinking fast, the human mage tried to think up terms that will release him of any responsibilities of the unfolding events that about to occurred in or to his time lines but all Jodah could appeal with was his original statement in which he resorted to shouting with more determination for meaning, “I can’t just take on chasing planeswalkers across the time-lines. You are been preposterous even to think of me for such a confrontation!!”
Implement, Psionic, Thunder
Dagger (standard, at-will) 
Weapon
ShortBow (standard, at-will) 
Quarry (free, when an enemy hit by archer is closest enemy , )
Executioner's Swing (standard, at-will) 
Deadly Arc (standard, encounter) 
)
