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the Project	By : theLureln Category: +M through R > Magic: The Gathering Views: 11901 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Magic the Gathering characters or settings, anything else is mine. This story is not being written for profit.

Chapter List
- 1-the Project
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-10
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-18
- 19-19
- 20-20
- 21-21
- 22-22
- 23-23
- 24-24
- 25-25
- 26-26
- 27-27
- 28-28
- 29-29
- 30-30
- 31-31
- 32-32
- 33-33
- 34-34
- 35-35
- 36-36
- 37-37
- 38-38
- 39-39
- 40-40
- 41-41
- 42-42
- 43-43
- 44-44
- 45-45
- 46-46
- 14
- 15
- 16
A/N: I ran across this story again while I was going through old content; I had continued writing it but not updating so here it is. I added a note in my profile on Fanfiction.net about the timeline for the story, since when I first began it, the most recent arcs for Ravnica had not yet occurred.
This is still not being written for profit, I own nothing but my own new stuff and so on.
Jace was slowly being buried alive under his duties as guildpact. Although he was only consulted on more serious matters, with there being so many guilds this still meant he had a stream of issues to deal with. Some were petty, such as one guild infringing on another's area during the conduction of projects. The Izzet League tended to do this a great number of times since they took care of infrastructure which naturally crossed into other guild territories. Some were serious infractions, usually altercations between the Rakdos Cult and the Boros Legion or the Azorius Senate. The Thrill-Killers loved a good time, particularly if it contained violence. If he let it, matters would have completely overwhelmed him but he was able to set up a small group of trusted members from various guilds to act as liaisons on his behalf, carrying his decisions from the public Embassy of the Guildpact throughout the plane. Once he arranged for these people to sit in as proxy for him to some of the less important meetings he was even able to get some sleep at night.
            He was far too busy to have time to dwell on personal thoughts, yet he couldn't shake his memories of Lorissa. They came to him at horribly inappropriate moments, irritating him to no end and he contemplated casting a spell on himself to suppress them. In the end he decided not to, it was never wise to mess with the mind unless absolutely necessary, particularly one's own mind. He had grown quite adept at manipulating his abilities but if he were to make a mistake, very few beings in the multiverse could correct it and he was certain none of them called Ravnica home.
            So he had to suffer through the annoying flashbacks that hounded him endlessly. Ever since he'd ditched Lorissa at Nivix, he'd avoided the Izzet League's guild hall at all costs, sending someone else in his stead for each and every meeting with the Firemind. He had probably offended the dragon by doing this, strangely he hadn't heard a word about it by missive or messenger from the Dracogenius, which surprised him. The dragon was incredibly arrogant, Jace was certain he wouldn't tolerate such a slight and had prepared a list of excuses were he to be questioned about his absences. He never was and that made him distinctly uneasy.
            As for the woman herself, she caused a confusing series of emotions in him. He definitely desired her, normally this wouldn't have bothered him except it was too intense. The lust flared up far too often and was unrestrained, thereby unacceptable as well. She brought out a reckless immaturity in him, making him quick to anger and act. He deplored losing control in such a manner and he didn't care for the way he behaved liked a mindless caveman around her. As a person he didn't really know her at all. She seemed nice enough, but he knew none of their conversations had lasted very long and generally dissolved into sex so his impressions couldn't be considered accurate.
            He'd been fooled by a woman before. Liliana Vess had put him utterly under her spell and then proceeded to cause the death of his closest friends, the near death of his long time friend and former love Emmara and his own capture and torture by Tezzeret. He knew she had her reasons for her actions and he could sympathize with the horrible fate that awaited her at the hands of the demons she'd made deals with, but her crimes against him were too great. Part of him would probably always have feelings for her, yet he knew he'd never fully forgive her. He still wanted to help her if he could, however he'd never give her his heart again. Her betrayal had been too profound to overlook. It had also led to him having a difficult if not impossible time ever falling completely in love again.
            Jace had been aware for some time that he was lonely. His powers set him apart, he could read the intentions and feelings of others at will and once people learned this about him they grew distant. He couldn't blame them, the loss of privacy was more than most could bear. He'd thought about it himself often enough and known he couldn't tolerate it either if the situation were reversed. He had few friends, most of them were dead now, killed by people who wanted to rule his talents. As for lovers, there weren't any by the true definition of the word. He had several companions he met up with to have sex, but there was no closeness it was just seeing to a necessity. Until his duties as guildpact arrived, his existence had felt increasingly hollow. He'd traveled the multiverse following knowledge and conducting projects but he'd been aware of a void growing within him. He was aimless, adrift in a life rife with possibilities yet somehow suffocating with stagnation.
            In a way he was grateful for the demanding schedule of acting as liaison between the guilds. It gave him a new sense of purpose, it kept him busy and it made him feel tied to something again for the first time in a long while. Ravnica had been the one plane he always felt bound to, either because of his past in the Infinite Consortium or the presence of friends such as Emmara. Now he was able to give back to the place that had been his only anchor and he enjoyed being able to do so. Sometimes he just wished he had a more ordinary life.
            He wondered what it would be like to just be human, as Lorissa was. She was born on a plane of magic, surrounded by people who could wield it with ease and yet incapable of doing so herself. Did it leave her feeling isolated? She was possibly as lonely as he was, perhaps that was another reason he felt so drawn to her. Unfortunately because she was merely human, he would never be able to have a genuine relationship with her. She wouldn't understand about other planes and she could never see them with him. One of the reasons he'd been so desperate for things to work with Liliana was because she was a planeswalker and as such could fully share in his life. Now that he was reflecting on it, he realized he had quite a bit of baggage.
            Since he had a little free time, he'd once again started working on his memory storage phylactery. He had plans to bury bothersome information in the devices so that he'd know where the recollections were, but not be constantly plagued by them. He suspected he could cure a great portion of his melancholy by simply removing his more troublesome ones. It would be like a mental sedation or wipe, without the possible side effects of damaging his mind. On the last occasion he'd started it, the spell had taken months to get pieced together and he'd just reached the halfway point when he'd heard Lorissa's mental cry of his name and shattered the incantation. This time he was just barely into the forging process. It was grueling work, demanding in both attention to detail and consumption of mana. The safe storage of transient items was no simple task, holding together threads of thought inside a vial for an indefinite period was as valuable as it was difficult. Several hours later, when his brain was exhausted from prolonged focusing and his mana drained from funneling it into the construction, he finally fell into bed.
            When Jace woke the next day, his mouth tasted like foul moss and his head was muddled as if he'd consumed too much wine. He'd slept hard and couldn't remember dreaming about anything. He slowly sat up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, and let out a yelp when he saw the outline of a face pressed up against his bedroom window. He'd summoned up a bolt of telekinetic force and was aiming at the voyeur before he recognized the fellow as a messenger from the Izzet League. The goblin was dressed in the customary bizarre red and blue armor of a Magewright, complete with mizzium gauntlets. He stared back at the mind mage with a placid expression that said he wasn't going anywhere.
            Jace dismissed the bolt and rose from the bed to stomp over to the window. "What are you doing here at this time of morning? I have no appointments with you that I can recall."
            The goblin bowed his head in greeting. "The magnificent Niv-Mizzet sent me to request a meeting with you. There is a delicate matter he wishes to discuss with you."
            Jace knew the dragon requested nothing. This was a politely disguised demand. He was probably going to get called to task for avoiding personal sessions with the guildmaster. He couldn't even pretend as if it would be undeserved. He'd seen the head of every other guild in the last several weeks. He would have met with the dragon as well, if the creature would ever deign to leave his aerie. The guildpact grumbled to himself as he winced through the glaring morning light, blearily searching the contents of his room until he located what he needed. He leafed through his schedule book with a sigh, before setting a date with the goblin a little over a month away. The Izzet lackey looked annoyed, he had mentioned it was a delicate matter but that was the soonest block of time Jace had free for a formal audience.
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