"Brother Corvus!" Vulkan voiced boomed throughout Belos' chamber as he searched for his fellow Primarch, "Please, stop being invisible! I want to give my favorite brother a big 'I-Miss-You-Very-Much' hug!"

"Ugh…" Corvus groaned. He reappeared on the floor with a burst of violet light, though now lying on his stomach instead of his back. He attempted to get back onto his feet but kept falling face-first back into the ground. Admittedly, he did seem to rise slightly higher with each attempt.

"I'm seriously your favorite brother?" Corvus asked in a voice full of cynical disbelief.

"Until proven otherwise, I assume all of my brothers are dead." Vulkan matter-of-factly explained, "So you win by default! But at the very least, I will always like you better than Ferrus Manus."

"You are weak, Corvus!" Ghost Ferrus rasped.

"I am aware, Ferrus. Thank you." Corvus boorishly replied.

"Do not be mean to Corvus!" Vulkan shouted, "What with your stupid facer and unoriginal name!"

"It's fine, Vulkan." Corvus insisted, shooing away Ghost Ferrus, "Can you focus on explaining what's going on? Where are we, and why is Ahzek Ahriman here with a teenaged Aeldari? Did he suddenly convert to Slaaneshi worship?"

"Oh, no brother!" Vulkan jovially answered, "It is actually quite good news! For you see, we are currently in a parallel universe that has been completely severed from the Immaterium! Ahzek hopes to fuse the dimension with ours in the years prior to the Great Crusade, preventing the Age of Strife and Horus's rebellion entirely!"

"…and was it Ahzek who told you this, Vulkan?" Corvus indignantly asked.

"Of course!"

"So, a man who has been serving a god of lies, plots, and deceit for thousands of years told you he is here for purely altruistic reasons and actually wants to save the humans he had previously betrayed?" Corvus inquired further.

"I, um… oh…" Vulkan stuttered, suddenly realizing how gullible he had been, "But Corvus, we mustn't act with haste. I suppose we cannot be sure of Ahzek's true intentions, but the people here are not Aeldari! They are much like humans, but with slight mutations and a proclivity for magic."

"Vulkan," Corvus started, finally rising to his feet, "Everything you just said describes your average Tzeentchian chaos cultist."

"Wait, Corvus, please understand…"

"It's fine, Vulkan." Corvus interrupted as his limbered up his joints, "I'm not Angron. We'll get to the bottom of things before we make any rash decisions. So why don't you explain where we are and how you got here?"

"Well…"

Intermission

"Okay, I have to admit that those portal-doors don't seem like something Tzeentch would come up with." Corvus relented, "But I'm curious about this 'Hooty' you had mentioned. An eldritch-bird daemon is definitely up his alley."

"No no no, brother," Vulkan interrupted, "Demon. Hooty is a demon."

"Should I be hearing a difference?" a confused Corvus asked.

"You said daemon with an 'A.'" Vulkan explained, "The strange creatures here are demons, not daemons. They are completely different entities."

"I'll pretend I understood that and just take your word for it." Corvus said, "But it still leaves some suspicion. We should go to this 'Owl House' and see if there is any connection between this Owl Lady and Tzeentch."

"Not to be that guy, Corvus," Vulkan started, "But it seems somewhat hypocritical for you to be so judgmental of people with a bird motif."

"…Fair enough." Corvus relented, "But that doesn't change the fact that not only does a portal to our dimension exists, but it is currently in the hands a con artist, Ahzek Ahriman, and several schoolchildren. I suggest we head to their location and try to iron this whole situation out."

"But brother, you forget," Vulkan responded, "I had just destroyed the whole town IN A PROPA ORKY KRUMPIN'! How exactly can we traverse to the Owl House without attracting any attention?"

"Vulkan, we are giant trans-humans wearing full suits of futuristic power armor. We are far beyond the point of being inconspicuous." Corvus pointed out, "Besides, the most powerful being in this dimension was apparently just a bog-standard space marine stripped of his psyker powers. I doubt anyone could prove to be an issue for us."

"I do not wish to cause any more harm to the isle's residents, if that is what you're implying." Vulkan said in a stern tone.

"Not at all," Corvus reassured him, "I'm not Konrad. I doubt anyone here could do anything to cause us harm. I'm proposing we simply ignore them."

"That I can do." Vulkan replied. He made his way to Corvus, who by now had managed to sit upright on the ground. He extended a helpful hand to him, which Corvus readily accepted. Vulkan lifted his brother to his feet. While he could only barely keep himself up, Vulkan supported him with his inhuman strength. The duo limped their way out of the emperor's chamber, only to be greeted by Kikimora and a host of the Emperor's Coven, having just arrived for their morning shift.

"Hello friends!" Vulkan greeted the entourage with a friendly wave, "My friend and I are trying to find the Owl House. I must confess, we are not awfully familiar with Bonesborough. Could any of you be so kind as to provide us with directions?"

While their faces were masked, the coven members silence and frozen stature indicated a state of pure, unadulterated terror. Kikimora – standing closest to the Primarchs – was shaking violently as sweat accumulated on her brow. She slowly rose her arm and pointed a single finger towards the palace's entrance.

"I-It's t-t-that way." Kikimora nervously answered."

"Your assistance is much appreciated!" Vulkan cheerfully thank Kikimora, completely oblivious to her terrified state.

"Vulkan, in the future you should not be so eager to tell people our…" Corvus began to say but was silenced as Vulkan quickly bolted out of the palace towards the Owl House, propping up his brother all the while.

"Um, Kiki?" one of the dumbstruck coven members asked after a brief moment of awkward silence, "Did you notice that the emperor's chambers are, well, completely empty?"

"It… appears so." Kikimora stuttered, still frozen in place, "Our boss is gone and I, coincidentally, find myself really wanting to take a personal day."

Kikimora turned around towards the coven members, her face displaying a strange mixture of fear, exhaustion, and utter confusion.

"I think we've earned some time off." Kikimora began, "Do you think Steve's Crêpes™ is open this early?"

"Woo!" the coven member gleefully cried, "Crêpes! Crêpes! Crêpes!"