After a duel with a time-meddler, Liliana forced out formula from his defeated mind - formula that in proper conditions gave access to the Time Vault itself. They also took from him an artifact - the hourglass figurine made of powdered dragon scales & glass - that combined with formula & preparatory rites, could open the way to the Time Vault. Liliana learned that preparatory rites are difficult to convey in short time, but can be learned by studying the figurine.
They experimented for a while, and confirmed it can work - so after letting Vampyres feed, they let the defeated planeswalker free.
Attentus & Liliana believed in Reincarnation & Karma - so were against killing, and cautiously spared lives when possible - especially the lives of meaningful foes.
They still placed wards & precautions on his mind & soul, so enemy could not retaliate too quickly - meanwhile they would be far away, by their plan.
... as with most of magickal tools, using too much of power in too short time, or maitaining powers for extended periods of time caught too much of attention - of the more dangerous hostile forces of the Multiverse - so they let their access wane and left the area relying for a while on the more mundane means, as much as possible.
Access.
In different Dominaria's part they stopped to create conditions & gain the Time Vault access again - after weeks of skrying on statue, of thinking & meditation they did succeed - a mindstream-channel opened in reality, leading their consciousness to see the chamber guarding the Source - the Swirling Light phenomenon from which many of timestreams originated, affecting different beings & phenomena differently.
They meditated with that vision in mind, Liliana noticed first that different timestreams were interwoven, and linked to the consciousness streams of beings.
Attentus understood her lesson fairly quickly & well.
There were some rules by which those who gained access adhered.
Unless authorized otherwise, those accessing Time Vault had to invest some effort & time to gain time-advantage in a near future.
Liliana was all about breaking these rules as soon as possible, but Attentus persuaded her to gain basic understanding of the Time & it's mysteries at first. His arguments were that unskilled use of such tool would attract too much of unwanted attention to them. In his mind they should be patient & cautious - that way they would learn more in shorter amount of time, anyway.
They interacted with Arcane Machinery, accessed Source telepathically - learned protocols, commands, rules & theory of the Time Vault's functioning.
These theories were complex, but they started from basics - experimenting a little as well.
Discovery.
One of these experiments let Attentus discover a new power, a new spell - with enough of mana they could cast spells they would learn & prepare in future.
This power awakened & placed itself in their pentacles, silver arcane pentagram necklaces with Triple Moon Godess symbolism. It worked as spell-wisdom was granted to them by Moon Godess on the fly, without need to read the books or arrange a memory-refresh other way.
Liliana Vess was thrilled, yet her calm & cold demeanor did not show it - only determined, fascinated light in her eyes showed Attentus that she did care. She was gentle for Attentus in these moments of their triumph, yet pondering upon the possibilities it might unfold for them.
She never slipped such opportunity, Attentus was sure this time she won't either.
They decided to focus on this spell for a while, as it was a key to understanding many of Arcane Secrets, both within, as well as outside Time Vault's theoretical domain.
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