The acolytes had gathered quickly—in response to Peran’s shouting—to marvel at the sudden reappearance of a back-from-the-dead Teyo Verada. Ultimately, they were joined by Abbot Barrez, a human with dark-brown skin, close-cropped steel-gray hair and a close-cropped steel-gray manner, accustomed to command. He had arrived on the scene and had with exasperation ordered his charges “to help these poor women—not leave them lying on the ground of my garden.”
Thus the entire ensemble began making their way down the garden steps to the monastery. Teyo aided the weary Rat, who was considerably shorter than the boy, forcing him to stoop to support a portion of her weight as she gingerly descended. Kaya, who was just behind them and was herself being supported down the stairs by a dwarven acolyte named Theopholos, wondered what the sight of the bent and halting Teyo must look like to all who couldn’t see Araithia Shokta.
Can they see the care and concern on Teyo’s face? Or does he simply look foolish?
She got a bit of an answer when Peran, who was helping Jaya navigate the twisting staircase, looked back over his shoulder at Teyo and said, “Are you injured?”
“No. I’m fine.”
Rat giggled.
Another acolyte, whose name Kaya hadn’t caught, ran ahead and opened the great wooden door to the monastery. As she crossed the threshold, Kaya saw that every external surface, whether wood, adobe or stone, was studded with a veritable armor of gemstones. Diamonds, apparently.
Theopholos lowered Kaya onto a hard wooden bench in what appeared to be a spare and empty chapel. She had finally begun to catch her breath. Planeswalking with Rat had been more difficult than she had remembered it being with Janah (either Janah). Still, despite the resulting exhaustion, Kaya—free of the Orzhov contracts that had been weighing down her soul—felt more relaxed and revitalized than she had in weeks. She didn’t really want to go back to Ravnica unless she could be permanently freed of her Syndicate responsibilities.
Of course, I owe it to Tomik to return. Right? Yes, right.
Teyo was tending to Rat, who was now lying across another bench, and shooing off a couple of acolytes, who nearly sat down on her. Eventually, he noticed the abbot staring down at him. He swallowed hard and said, “Master.”
The abbot scowled and shook his head before speaking. “I find myself sadly unsurprised that instead of dying, Teyo, you simply wandered off while all who cared about you dug desperately in the sand to find your body.”
“No, Master, it wasn’t like that. It’s very complicated and…and…” He trailed off, despairing at the idea that the strange truths he had to tell would ever—could ever—be believed.
“Mistress Kaya, say something,” Rat pleaded, her concern for the boy evident on her face. His look of gratitude to her was equally touching. Teyo was smitten by Rat, and she was smitten by him. Not that either had done anything about it. (For very different reasons, both had real confidence issues.) Kaya thought about the way she had, at their age, gone after Janah, making her intentions clear in no uncertain terms. It certainly had sped things up. But she wondered if all that speed had cost her the love of her life in the end.
Worth it? Yes, worth it.
But to the matter at hand, Kaya cleared her throat to get the abbot’s attention. “Abbot Barrez, is it?”
He looked at her sternly. “It is.”
“I know this may sound unbelievable, but Teyo here did not wander off. Without intending to, he planeswalked…he traveled to another dimension, another world. And it was fortunate for all of us that he did. We were engaged in a battle against a great evil, and Teyo was invaluable to the cause, saving many lives. He saved my life many times over.”
“Mine, too,” Rat popped in, though only Teyo and Kaya could hear her.
Teyo shook his head, saying to Rat, “I don’t think I ever saved your life. Though you saved mine more than once.”
“I’m trying to help,” Rat said and punched him, weakly.
Of course, to the abbot and the acolytes and even to Jaya, it seemed as if Teyo were contradicting Kaya.
Abbot Barrez said, “I’m relieved you make no such pretense, Verada.”
Jaya said, “He’s being modest. He did save Kaya’s life. And mine, once. And many others with his shields of light.”
The abbot scoffed. “Now I know you’re all lying. This boy’s geometry can’t even save himself. And you expect me to treat this truant as a hero? I wonder, Acolyte Verada, where you found these strange women to lie for you—and to lie for you so badly.”
“I am not lying,” Kaya said darkly.
“No, of course not, Madame Jaya.”
“I’m Kaya. She’s Jaya.”
“And where, pray tell, is Madame Maya? Couldn’t she be found to join your troupe of players?”
Jaya had had enough. Grasping Peran’s arm, she pulled herself up to her feet and said, “I do not appreciate your tone, Abbot Barrez.”
“I’m sure you don’t—”
“Silence, you fool,” she whispered dangerously, allowing flames to dance around her eyes and the one free hand that wasn’t grasping the minotaur to maintain her tenuous balance. “I have been many things, but never a liar—nor an actress. But I was the Matriarch of Keral Keep on the plane of Regatha, and I hope I was never quite so leaden-brained a spiritual leader as you are proving yourself to be.”
“Keral Keep? Regatha? Can’t you make up better names?”
Jaya appeared to be on the verge of incinerating the man when a desperate-looking acolyte came running into the room, shouting “Master—” Spotting Teyo, his eyes went wide and his chin dropped almost to his chest. “Teyo?”
Barrez asked, “What is it, Arturo?”
Arturo stared at Teyo, then slowly turned to stare at the abbot. “What?”
“Spit it out, boy!”
“Oh, uh…it’s the Western Cloud, Master. It sends us a diamondstorm!”