"I can... I can still salvage things..."

These words seeped, barely audible, through the closed door.

"Keep your voice down!" A deeper voice sounded. "Salvage things? Pray tell -- what with? Your optics results?"

"I'm good at optics," the younger woman's voice said.

The sound of male laughter followed. "What are you going to do? Blind the examiners with your expertise?"

The voices grew quieter then, a bit more muffled. Outside the door of Magister Altus's office, a beautiful woman stood, still as ice, and smirked.

"No! That's not a reason!" The female voice from within rang out again. She was shouting now, and outside, the other woman's smirk grew.

"Magister Altus. You would have me abuse my birthright at the expense of my peers? Lie and cheat my way through life? How could you say that? How... how could you even contemplate that? I looked up to you. I always believed you had all the answers. What answers have you been giving me, Magister? How many lies have you fed me to this day?"

"Lumina--"

"Shut up! Do you think you're showing me kindness? What about the rest of my peers? Your peers? They trusted you! They trusted that you would mark us all fairly, pass or fail! What is the Institute for if not that? No. No. I'm sorry. I know your intentions are nothing but good, but I can't go through with this. Not in this darkness, behind locked doors and veiled words."

"Then what?" Altus questioned her. "What will you do? There is no other way. Sometimes the world is simply unfair."

"Even if the world is unfair, we don't have to be. I'm going to do the right thing, Magister. I'm going to fight. Every step of the way." There was a long pause, and a shadow fell over the threshold of the Magister's office door. "Thank you, Magister, but I believe this discussion is over."

The young woman opened the door, hurried through it, and closed it hard behind her. She was brushing a tear away from her right eye as she stormed down the hall and almost ran straight into the tall woman waiting outside.

"Oh! I'm...I'm sorry."

"Quite alright, my dear," the taller woman said, then indicated toward the office door. "That man would not know true talent if it kicked him in the shins."

The younger woman looked away and said nothing.

"You are Lumina Revelaris, are you not?"

Lumina looked back at the taller woman, then simply nodded. After a moment, she spoke. "I am. But who are you?"

"My name is Syl, my dear, and I can help you." Lumina looked at Syl with a skeptical expression, and Syl offered a demure laugh. "No, not the way Altus wants to help you. Nothing will be given to you apart from the opportunity to excel. And, of course, the greatest library resources available."

"With due respect, this institution already has the greatest library resources in the world."

"In this world, perhaps."

This caught Lumina's attention. "What do you mean, 'this world?' Are you saying..."

"I am saying that this world is to existence what a speck of dust is to this world."

Syl smirked as she could see Lumina's thoughts begin to whirl inside her head. She could hear them, as well.

"What...what are you?" Lumina asked.

"I am what is known as a planeswalker," Syl said. "And if you will let me teach you, Lumina, I can make you one, as well. You will be able to move from one plane to another, unhindered by anything," she paused, again indicating toward the door, "especially by the likes of him."

"You can give me that?"

"You have the potential," Syl assured her. "And it is a gift that I can give you."

"Why?" Lumina said, bluntly. "Why would you want to? Clearly, you already know about me, and you've sought me out, even though I've never heard of you before. You must want something."

Syl stared at her for a long moment, and then smiled. "I knew that you were bright. Yes, my dear, there is something that I want from you." She turned her head away, as if embarrassed. "I need your help."

"My help? What do you mean?"

Syl sighed, running through her script in her mind. "My brother and I represent an alliance of planes, a group of worlds collectively called The Wheel. We do what we can to protect them, but the Multiverse is filled with dangers. And some of those dangers have set their sights on The Wheel."

"When did this happen?" Lumina asked.

Syl stared her in the eyes. "Several years from now."

"Several...what?"

Syl nodded. "When they attacked, they were too strong. My brother and I mustered our forces, but we underestimated the enemy. In our desperation, we tried something drastic. The result was a temporal distortion that hurled us into the past. Now we are searching for allies, for anyone who can help us protect our people against this scourge, and who we, in turn, can help." She took a step forward, and laid her hands on Lumina's shoulders. "People like you, Lumina Revelaris."

"I...I just don't know. To leave my world..."

"Solphos has nothing for you, my dear," Syl purred. "Altus has demonstrated that." She paused again, and pulled her arms away. She turned her head, as if in thought. "You study optics, do you not? I have heard it is your passion." Lumina nodded. "Then you must come with me. Let me show you the rainbows of Galanos. They are an optical magnificence that cannot be found on this world."

"But what about Solphos? What if...what if I'm needed here?"

"I have come from the future, remember?" Syl smirked. "I have seen the fate of Solphos. I assure you, its future is golden."

Lumina thought for a long time, and Syl listened, formulating strategies for each of Lumina's new objections. Lumina, however, defeated each of those objections herself, and finally she looked Syl in the eyes and nodded. "Alright, Syl. Take me to Galanos."