The Poet and the Muse
Rating: M
Chapter 4:
One trip and through the Warp and a lengthy explanation similar to the sort you received later; Jinx and I emerged from the rainbow white portal.
"So Khorne and Slaanesh hate each other because they totally want to bang each other, and not in like the 'bang bang pow pow' sort of way, right?" she asked me.
"Pretty much. Personally speaking, I think it's because Slaanesh has a dick and Khrone's in denial about his futanari fetish," I answered.
"Oh okay. Like Khorne is walking past Slaanesh in the office and he's all like, 'go fuck yourself Slaanesh!', and she's all like, 'fuck me yourself, coward!'"
I snapped my fingers into a thumbs up.
"Now you're getting the hang of it, kid. Never forget, when the Abyss stares back you, you laugh in its stupid try-hard face," I told her.
"Okay, I can do that," she giggled in reply.
She looked upon the ruined landscape of the demon world with confusion and mild disgust. Jagged volcanic rock and ash cover scorched earth. Black smoke and lightning billow out of erupting volcanoes. Warp energy auroras waltz and ripple through the sky. Clouds blinking every color of the rainbow rain down orbs of electric blue magic. Great rivers feed into an ocean as rich and deep as wine.
"Whoa," Jinx muttered under her breath.
"It's something else, isn't it," I said, "welcome to Sortiarius, the Planet of Sorcerers."
The home world of Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons. A fellow greater demon of Tzeentch, my peer…much to his chagrin.
"It's beautiful," Jinx whispered.
Not the response I expected. Maybe did know what he was doing when he grabbed her. Taking somebody to Sortiarius is a good way of getting a read on how well they'll fit with a Tzeentchian operation. To be a sorcerer of Tzeentch one must be able to see humor in tragedy and beauty in horror, to the see the rainbow that lies between light and dark. This girl might be more than a pretty face after all.
"So where's the wizard?" she asked me.
Wizard? Oh right! The bullshit reason I came up with to come here. I'm fairly certain Tzeentch doesn't particularly care if we actually go kill the Space Wolves. I think, because you can never be certain with him, that this whole mess is more of an excuse to get his lieutenants on the same page. Magnus and his legion just had their big rematch against the Space Wolves and it went…well? Yeah they achieved their objective by using a full scale invasion as a suitable distraction, but losing a full scale invasion is still losing a full scale invasion. There are far less vital resource intensive ways to stage a distraction. So while we're here, we might as well go rain on Magnus' parade.
I stepped in close to her, laid my arm over her shoulder and pointed straight in front of her face at the glistening silver dot off in the distance along the coast of the sea.
"He be there," I explained, "in his sanctuary of his former glory, Tizca. Once known as 'the City of Light' but its uh…fallen on dark times."
Jinx turned her head to meet the smirk on my face with an eye roll.
"You think you're ever so clever in your endeavors, don't you," she whispered in my ear, "Senpai."
"Ughhh!" I belched in reply, lifting my arm up and retreating away from the heinous word.
Jinx smiled smugly at my revulsion. Then she tapped her chin as she pondered a thought.
"If it's all the way over there then why did you bring us here? I mean I know about men and asking for directions but this is ridiculous."
"Hey," I playfully snapped, "we're not lost. It's called the scenic route. Do you really think I'd miss the opportunity to take in such a beautiful sight."
As I said the words, my eyes couldn't help but glance up and down at Jinx. Everything that is attractive to you, she is. Watch yourself me, otherwise this girl is going to get us in all kinds of trouble and we'll love every second of it. She caught my eyes in the act. She titled her, leaned down with arms behind her back, and knowingly smiled at me.
"Oh I'm sure you couldn't."
I shrugged and meekly smile in kind. What else am I supposed to do: fly into a huffy panic to obfuscate my raison d'etre? I ain't been that kind of fool in a long long time.
"So kid, do you want to go meet that wizard so you can home to Kansas?" I asked.
Jinx raised and eyebrow and sauntered over, "Okay, so I get you're making a reference…but I have no clue as to what."
"Remind me later Dorothy and maybe I'll tell ya," I replied with a wink.
I extended my hand out to her and she reluctantly took hold of it. I spun her about like a top and she pirouetted out of it like a black swan, graceful yet menacing. My staff is drawing the sigil of the gate as we pranced about one another. Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" played through my mind and I projected it into hers.
watch?v=9cNQFB0TDfY&ab_channel=pianushko
Could I have done this in a much faster way? Yes. Did I really have to use the Gate for such a relatively short distance to travel? Not at all. Was there some grand logical scheme in my machinations? Not even a little bit. All I wanted was a beautiful moment with this girl. Judge me as you will for it.
Tchaikovsky comes to conclusion. The hexagram drawn in the ash glowed brightly. Our gazes are locked into one another. As a powerful psyker, her mind would be nothing short of an open book to me but I don't need it. There's an unmistakable spark in her eye and a flutter in my heart. Fuck…I don't even need to see the future to know that this girl is going to ruin me. Tzeentch chuckled in the darkest recesses of my mind.
Lightning cracked across the sky and the volcanoes roared. Then came a terrible screech. A winged dragon-like beast, a wyvern, swooped down at us; daggered fangs barred, horns twisted from the side of its face. I threw myself in front of Jinx, holding her back with my free hand. This beast has made a horrendous mistake. Sortiarius ain't called "the Planet of Sorcerers" for nothing. It's a nexus of magical power inside warp space. My eyes blazed soul piercing blue as neon rainbow electricity rippled over my staff. I am comically powerful in this place. I cackled with utter confidence.
This things is going to fry in nine ways in nine places at nine time-wait! What the fuck? There's a hand on my chest shoving me back. Jinx has slipped in front of me. She shoved me to the ground and pulled "pow pow", her chain gun, out of her pocket. She howled like a demon at the beast as she opened fire. The bullets ripped its body to pieces and its mangled corpse came crashing down in front of us. The black venom on its spiked tail hissed as it singed the ground. The gun whined as its empty barrels still whirled.
Jinx held tight to the trigger as she panted heavily. I get to my feet and place a hand on her shoulder.
"Jinx?" I questioned.
"Huh?" she mumbled at me.
"It's okay. You got it. It's dead," I reassured her as I tenderly peeled her hand off the trigger.
I could read her mind to figure out why precisely she reacted the way she did, but I won't. That's a line I don't want to cross with her. Besides, I know more than enough about her life to take an educated guess. The Great Deceiver wasn't lying to you about him not being the only one of the two of us who had our eyes on her back on Runeterra. Still don't know why he brought her to his sanctum. She stood there trembling in a cold sweat. I puzzled over her reaction…then it hit me. She hasn't used the gun since she killed Silco.
"Say the words," Tzeentch whispered in my ear.
I gently held her face and knelt down to be at eye level with her. With my thumb I wipe her cheek.
"Don't cry. You're perfect," I gently whispered to her.
Her eyes lock in my eye. Tears well up and she explodes into a wailing, sobbing heap. Her body weight gives out as she clutched tightly to me, digging her nails into my back. I gently cradled her and allow myself to fall to the ground. I can't find the words so I say nothing. We just sit there on top of this mountain on a magical nexus world in the Warp; me holding her gently as she wept.
"Don't worry…about a thing," I tenderly sung in her ear, "cause everylittlething gonna be alright…"
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I let my staff fall and I used my free hand work some magic. Three little birds of magical energy laned on her shoulder and the vision of a rising sun is played out before her. Her tears stop and I keep on singing. Time passed and she's tapping my shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"For what?" is my instinctive reply, but I'm fairly certain she isn't saying it to me. Her eyes darted towards me and she goes to say it again.
"Hey, um..I'm-,"
"Don't be. You've got nothing to apologize for," I interrupted her.
"But I'm such a…jynx."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
She nuzzled her head in my shoulder, trying to hide her face. I took my hand, grabbed her gin, and turned her to face me. I looked deeply into her eyes.
"Look at me. You are a jynx, a beautiful fuck-up of creation. An impossible, inopportune touch of magic in the world. You're nothing short of magic," I told her.
"Do you really mean that?" she asked me.
"Course I do!" I confidently asserted as I pull her up to her feet, "Tzeentch, the god of fucking magic brought you to his inner most sanctum. You've been to the Dreaming, walked the aisles of the Great Library, scaled the walls of the Impossible Fortress, and navigated the Crystal Labyrinth. You are one of the most magnificent beings ever crafted by the savage momentum of existence. Don't you ever forget that."
She sniffled and pawed at her face. Underneath her swollen cheeks a faint smile grew.
"That's my girl," I told as I lifted up her chin.
"Thank you," that smile curled into a devilish grin, "Senpai."
"Ughh!" I shouted as I threw my head back.
Jinx covered her mouth as she giggled.
"I still don't know what that means but at this moment I kind of don't want to. I'm having way to much fun with it."
"Oh that is most obvious to me, love," I snapped.
"Love?" she questioned.
I closed my eyes, opened my mouth, and attempted to talk with my hands. That accomplished nothing. I got nothing. Time to redirect.
"Hey we ain't got eternity here! We're running out of daylight," I rambled.
Jinx stared at the unending night sky, turned her head back to me, cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.
"It's a term of phrase and we got a wizard to see," I said, my staff flew back to my hand, "if you don't believe that being to Tzeentch's Dreaming ain't a big deal, then you can ask the Wizard of Red about it for yourself. Either way, I'm going. You coming?"
"Alright alright! Sheesh…you're so sensitive," she mocked me, "we're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of red."
We smirked at one another, grabbed hands, and vanished in a puff of light. A moment later we poofed into existence in the silvery speck on the horizon. The sprawling mass of the ruined city of Tizca sat hundreds of meters below us as we stood on the causeway to the great Pyramid of Photep. This place was once known as "the City of Light" and it was a shimmering jewel in the crown of humanity. Scholars and sorcerers once flocked to this place…but that was millennia ago. The great pyramid before use shines brilliant, the magical auroras reflecting off its silver and gold surface. The one thing I must grant Magnus over his brother Guilliman, at least above all else, is that he does indeed possess a sense of style and an appreciation of artistry. Then again should I expect any less of my fellow greater demon of Tzeentch?
I flicked my wrist and magical boombox manifested in the air, falling into Jinx's hands.
"Uhhh…what I'm supposed to do with this?" she asked.
I reached into my jacket pocket and pull out the MacGuffin mixtape. I slide it into it's open slot on the box and leave my hand hovering over the play button.
"Mr. Wonderful Wizard of Red is named Magnus, which means 'Big' in stupid-Latin, I mean…*cough*cough*… 'High Gothic'."
Jinx squinted an eye, raised the opposite eyebrow, pursed her lips to one side, and said, "That doesn't answer my question…at all."
"Don't worry about it, love. Just listen to your feet," I explained.
With that, I hit the button and the music played and the chorus hit.
"Biggie, biggie, biggie, can't you see? Sometimes your words hypnotize me…"
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Indeed the groove found us and that girl got down.
There us two idiots jived and rhythed with one another down the length of that causeway for the sake of a joke nobody in-universe…except for Tzeentch…would understand. The longer it goes the more Jinx and I mouth the words together. The pair of Thousand Sons space marines standing guard at the door stared at us in utter bafflement. They debated with one another what they should do. For their mercy, the decision is made for them. The colossal door to the pyramid flew open and a monstrously deep voice boomed from within it.
"Usually I prefer to greet unwelcome guests with something more theatrical, something like, 'who dares disturbed my domin!'…"
Out stepped the thirty foot tall, one-eyed crimson red demon primarch; with clawed hands, taloned feathery feet, purple and blue eagle wings, eight foot bull horns, and a luscious mauve mane of hair.
"…but a braying jackass like you doesn't deserve it," Magnus growled at me.
He glared down with his one good eye at Jinx.
"Who in sweet Chaos is she?" he barked.
"Hi! I'm Jinx," she said as she stepped forward, "My my! I know I've always felt a little…inadequate when people called me flat-chested but I uh," she snickered as she pointed to the pair huge horns jutting out of his breast plate nipples, "never compensated that hard for it."
Magnus glared at us with pure contempt.
"Fuck you," he stated and slammed the door shut.
The wind howled as it whipped over the causeway. I allow a long moment to pass before I shout.
"We're killing Space Wolves!"
The colossal door cracked open and Magnus leered out of it. His demonic claws tapped against the marble.
"You got five minutes!" he yelled.
The door opened the rest of the way and me and my companion trotted through it as the terrified guards stared at us in disbelief. The instant we're through, Magnus flicked his wrist and the door slammed shut. He grumbled as he removed his armor and hung an illustrious nightrobe that depicted the actively swirling cosmos on his frame. Neon fire torches lit the massive chamber as bird demons squawked and cawed as they fluttered about the rafters. Long lost pieces of art from every age of mankind lined the walls. A gargantuan model of the galaxy, with countless internal concentric circular rings of gold inside it, sat as the center of an immense table. Magnus shuffled over to his appropriately sized futon and plopped his crimson ass down on it.
"Don't know if you heard," he snipped at me, "but we just attacked them."
"And I heard your little invasion got run off and the Grey Knights banished your ass out of the materium," I fired back.
Magnus cackled with smug glee, "Oh ho ho ho! You see you ignorant cuss, twas all but deception…"
Magnus is the manner of man to get increasingly verbose with his hand gestures as he speaks. I have zero room to judge him for this. At our hearts we're both theater dorks.
"…forrr you seeee," his delivery is increasingly Shatnering, "those Imperium dogs failed to discover my true purpose…behold!"
He pulled a cord and the silk curtains of a titanic window reel back to reveal a planet in shockingly close proximity to the one we were currently sitting on.
"Biggie," I rubbed my face as I spoke, "you're at a ten. You need to be at two."
Magnus frowned as he sipped from his wine chalice.
"Kaaay…does anyone want to tell me what the hell that planet is doing there?" Jinx asked.
"Sweet chaos!" I lamented; I know what exactly what she has the opened the door to.
Magnus sprung to his feet, a smile wide upon his face. He flared his mighty wings out and launched into the speech he clearly had been waiting centuries to deliver.
"Prospero," he rolled the r as he bellowed, "has been returned to her rightful place! The Great Awakening has only just begun! Empowered by the twin nexuses of the planet cores of Prospero and Sortiarius; waves of psychic power shall wash over this galaxy, gloriously mutating all human into the true psychic master race; from whom dominion of creation shall never be wrested! When they're all sorcerers, none of them will be hated. And then…," he breaks and tears well up in his eyes as he goes off script, "they will know I only ever meant well."
I sighed heavily, "Here we go."
Magnus crumbled to the floor, sobbing and wailing.
"Is he okay?" Jinx asked.
"Clearly not," I replied.
Jinx rose out of her seat and went to soothe him. She's barely larger than one of his fingers.
"Shsshhh, it's okay," she tried to console him.
In his emotional state, Magnus has dropped his mental guards. I always thought why me Magnus never really got on was because as powerful psykers you get used to being able to read people's minds like open books, but you can't really do that with one of your peers. That inability to use a skill you've attained mastery of puts you a little on edge. Long story short; this is too good an opportunity to let go to waste.
The real reason why I'm here, regardless of Tzeentch's designs, is to get Jinx on Magnus' good side. The grim dark future is full of terrors and wretched death, if she's in the game I want her protected. If Magnus wasn't such an emotional trainwreck he'd be the strongest psyker in the galaxy. Even as he is, he's nigh unparalleled. He also has a legion of genetically altered super soldiers and dominion over multitudinous worlds throughout the warp. Less nobly, if he's loyal to her then he's less likely to turn against me. If you hadn't noticed, we're not on the best terms.
I know both their histories and more precisely, which moments to show both of them to forge a deeply rooted bond. Starting with Magnus, I projected the moment Jinx accidentally killed her adoptive brothers with one of her bombs when she was trying to save them. In the aftermath of the explosion, it's Jinx's older sister, Vi, mourning over the corpse of their adoptive father. An exuberant ten year-old Jinx, then known as Powder, comes out from around the corner; completely unaware of what she's done.
"Vi! It worked!" she joyfully schreeches.
"What?" Vi mutters in disbelief.
"Did you see me? My monkey bomb finally worked!"
Vi holds herself in silence for a long second.
"You did this?" she mutters.
Jinx sees the body of Vander, their adoptive father.
"Why? Why did you do this?" Vi coldly, quietly snaps at her sister.
"I did-I didn't. I was saving you…"
Thunder echoes as Jinx begins to stammer and sob.
"I o-I only wanted to help. I only wanted to help. I only wanted to help! I only wanted to help!"
"I told you to stay away," Vi said, losing her grip on her rage.
"Please, please, please!" Jinx begs.
"I told you to stay, away!" Vi shouts as she punches Jinx in the face.
The terrified, distraught little girl yelps as she falls back onto the cold stone.
"Why did you leave me!" she screeches.
Vi seizes her by the mouth, picks her up, pulls her in close, and growls in her ear, "Because you're Jinx! Do you hear me? Milo was right!" before storming away.
Next comes Jinx. I show her flashes of Magnus' life. Being abducted from his brothers, then found by his father years later. Him being passed over in favor of his brother, Horus. Him being told he can't use his gifts as a psyker. His vision of Horus' treachery and attempt to warn his father that resulted in the catastrophic destruction of his father's precious work. Then comes the Burning of Prospero. I show her how the Space Wolves led by Leman Russ, were sent by the Emperor to punish Magnus by laying his world to waste. I show her Magnus' fateful duel with Leaman, his brother, and finally how Leaman took a defeated Magnus and shattered his back on his knee.
Jinx and Magnus stared unblinking into each other's eyes, with a profound kinship and understanding between the two of them.
"Don't cry," Magnus comforted her, moving to wipe away her tears with his knuckle.
"Same to you, you big softie," she told him as she tenderly held his finger.
They both faintly smiled at one another.
Magnus! I bark my thoughts at him.
He looked towards me and replied in kind. Od'ynn, why did you bring here here?
Because I want your vow that you'll protect her if anything happens to me.
Without an ounce of doubt or reservation in either his heart or head, Magnus agreed to my terms with a nod. Jinx took notice of this and snapped her attention back to me.
"You two were talking about me in your heads, weren't you?"
"Missus J-" I start but don't get to finish.
"Don't lie to me!" she growled in my face.
I nodded in acknowledgement. Then I raised my right pointer finger to the center of my forehead to open my third-eye chakra. Then I tapped hers to do the same. Next I pressed my forehead against hers and laid my thoughts bare to her.
"Despite my reputation as a deceiver, I'm actually an open book," I told her, "if you ever doubt that, feel free to check for yourself Missus J."
She giggled and bit her lower lip, "So that's what 'senpai' means."
"Goddamn it!" I muttered as I pulled my head away.
Magnus got to his feet, rubbed his hand over his mouth, and sighed.
"Look, she can stay as long as she wants. You!" he said as he pointed at me, "You can stay until you can't. Deal?"
"You got it Biggie," I replied.
"All that warp travel must have made you hungry," he said. Magnus clapped his hands together and feast fit for royalty appeared. Ornate candelabras of silvered human arms stretched up out of the table. Dinnerware rolled down the length of the table and spun into place. Jinx's eye lit up with wonder. I can't help myself.
"Monsieur, are you asking us to…"I inhaled in preparation.
"If you start singing I'm throwing out of the fucking pyramid," Magnus coldly informed me.
"Oh Biggie, you're such a wet blanket."
"Your recruits have more than exhausted my patience for the concept," Magnus said refilling his chalice with a pitcher the size of a bathtub.
"Would you look at that!" Jinx cried out. Me and magnus turn our attention to her to find her covering both eyes with her hands, "I'm completely in the dark."
I take the hint and explain how Chaos Marine recruitment works. The Imperium has the luxury of billions upon billions of souls to pick from the Imperial tithe, the mandated number of young men sacrificed to the Imperial war machine, who can be selected to undergo the bioengineering to be transformed into super human soldiers. While it's true that Chaos forces can never truly die so long as the Warp exists, returning to the materium is a process that can take centuries. So it can be quite difficult to replenish a Chaos legion's losses in the short term. This is where the cults like the one I run come into play. That's where the recruit from.
"We're looking for sorcerers and soldiers but this fop keeps sending us snarky-ass bards!" Magnus exclaimed.
"Beggars can't be choosers, Biggie," I said.
"One of my stature never begs," Magnus mused with his chin held high.
"Ugh," I grunted, "Are we really starting this?"
"Silence peasant!"
"Oh! Forgive me your grace," my response is thick with sarcasm, "but out of the two of us who's the one who's been to the Great Library and even within the Dreaming?"
"Well…uh, um…fuck you!"
"Boys!" Jinx shouted, "No arguing at the dinner table."
Magnus and I both mumbled our compliance.
"I really shouldn't expect better of someone of an inferior seed," Magnus proclaimed.
"Wait…what?" Jinx questioned.
"Dude, if you set up an own-goal against yourself don't get mad at me for it, okay," I told him.
"If this going were I think it is, I'm going to puke," Jinx declared.
I opened my mouth to say something, and then immediately closed. So many jokes I should not make with that. Jinx wagged her finger at me.
"I didn't say nothin'!" I yelled.
"Well I'll say it!" Magnus roared.
This can only end poorly…and I can't goddamn wait. I waved my hand and poof a popcorn into existence. Time for dinner and a show.
"I am filled with my father's gene-seed, as are all my brothers…," Magnus proudly declared. Jinx's mouth hung agape as she clenched tightly to my arm. For my part I'm busting a gut so hard that only the sound of wheezing can escape my throat, "…and as a father to my men, I gift my Thousand Sons with my gene-seed. It is this that makes them a better stock of man than such riffraff as yourself! My all my legionnaires open themselves to receive the full load of my gifts."
Jinx is utterly aghast. She maintained a white knuckle death grip on my arm, mouth contorted in disgust, eyes wide with cold panic. She shook me violently.
"How does he not know how this sounds?" she pleadingly whispered to me.
"A, he's his father's son and he inherited more than he realized. B, the vast majority of Imperial Space Marines are selected before they fully hit puberty. More often than not the process involves some sort of chemical castration and targeted brainwashing to rid of them 'baser desires'. So they're kind of all a bunch of ignorant virgin eunuchs who are almost never around women in any capacity."
Jinx failed to hold back a scoffing laughter. She's practically on the verge of tears she's laughing so hard.
"I'd say we have to get him laid but it sounds like that won't do him much good," she whispered to me.
Magnus' eye twitched and his hands trembled.
"You can leave now!" he bellowed.
"Very well, we'll leave be Biggie," I replied, "Deal's still on right?"
He took a breath releasing his frustrations, "Of course. Always and forever."
"Thank you Magnus."
He solemnly nodded. Me and Magnus are too different and simultaneously too similar to be on good terms with one another. But for all our hostility and bickering, I do trust him. What I said about him being his father's son is both true and unfair. He's a far better man than the Emperor ever was…even if he is a giant dork. The true tragedy of Magnus is that in many ways he's still playing the game by the Imperium's rules. He carries himself like an Imperial and thinks like an Imperial. For as brilliant as he can be, he all too often can't think outside of the boxes he was born and raised in. As jinx and I are about to exit through the door, Magnus called out.
"Wait! What does Tzeentch want us to do with Space Wolves?"
"Honestly, I think he just told me that so you'd let me in the door."
Magnus goes silent. Then he smiled, and that smile broke into a maniacal bellowing laugh.
"The Changer of Ways is most wise. Had he not given you the means to deceive me, my world be greatly diminished. Thank you O'dynn. Thank you for the company you brought and fuck you for everything else."
I flashed him a back-handed v sign, "Fuck you too, mate. If we ever do pick a fight with the Wolves, I'll call."
At that out business is concluded and we exited the pyramid. Back on the causeway a new pair of marines has taken up the guard shift. One of them is one of my recruits. How can I tell? He's strumming a guitar singing a song that is infuriatingly ironic to his comrade who's staring cold death at him.
"All we are is dust in the wind…"
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"Got any more friendsto introduce me too, Senpai?" Jinx asked me with enthusiastic glee.
"Not today. Let's go home, get your room squared away, and crash Saavy?"
With that I slammed my staff into the ground and opened the Gate. In a flash of light, we gone.