Prologue

"When I first met him, all those thousands of years ago, he went by the name John. Such a simple name, a name given to everyone from the lowest urchin to the greatest of kings. Yet I knew he was anything but simple, anything but normal. He found me at my lowest point, when I'd thought everyone had abandoned me to an impossible quest, and bid me to stand. He'd been my savior, my teacher, and at one point I even thought of him as the father I'd never had.

I've traveled to every corner of the world with him, learned the truth of reality. Now, at the height of humanities technological power and expansion, I sit in a small cabin with an old book in my hands. I know what is coming, the horror that John and I predicted would befall the universe, and did nothing to stop it. New psykers are being born each day, their untrained powers allowing abominations to run rampant, and the recent wars with humanity's children already put them on the brink of total collapse.

I would ask the gods to have mercy upon us, but those creatures don't even know the meaning of the word. So instead I'll just stay here, in the last bit of earth not consumed, and simply wait.

For I tell you all this simple fact.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war."

Lost journal of Empress Lilith Potter, Mother of Demigods

(999.M41)

She always thought the gold was a little...much, but John always had this interesting idea that it symbolized purity and thus was another defense against their great enemy. Even his three-hundred companions, the real Lords of Terra that stood by his side for so long, were practically bathed in the stuff. Yet all the gold in the imperial palace couldn't even compare to the great throne in which the living corpse of her friend was imprisoned. Even she, who'd spent thousands of years studying everything John had left behind for her, could barely understand the complexities behind the golden throne.

"Look at how far we've fallen, John," she said, not with her mouth but with her mind, "The Imperium we worked so hard to build is wasting away and what remains of our sons seek nothing more than its complete eradication."

Lilith…

His mind, what shattered remnants remained of it, brushed up against hers and conveyed the insurmountable struggle that he was forced to endure. Where once she would feel sorry for him, for the situation he was in and the slow living death he was being forced to suffer, now all she felt was pity; pity for the trillions being forced to die in his name so that the corpse of his dream could limp on.

"I've come to hate you. Hate what you did, hate the way you treated them, and hate that you tasked me with taking your place," Lilith took a single step up the golden stairs leading to the throne, the Custodies closest to her twitched but otherwise remained as if he were a statue.

Understand… No… Other… Way…

Each word that brushed against her mind was harder than the last and the next step she took saw the Emperor's golden guards shift towards her as one. They didn't lower their spears, Lilith had yet to prove herself a threat, but the warning was clear to all. They knew that they had no chance of stopping her, she'd lived too long to see them as any form of threat. She knew that they would die trying to stop her if she made any hostile action towards their lord; it was her mercy that allowed them to live.

"Tell me, John, do you even remember? Remember a time when you still had hope? Remember when this all began? I do, John. I remember it all."

Let's remember together.

I'm almost sad to say that it took me this long to get into the Warhammer 40k books nice and proper. Not this idea has been stuck in my head ever since I picked up the first book in the Horus Heresy and it just wouldn't go away! So R&R if you would be so kind and ideas are always welcome.