Gift from Heaven
In the middle of a road, a pair of man and woman were walking side-by-side. Their outfits – along with the flask tied to a staff carried by the male – identified them to be pilgrims. In the sky, the Sun was slowly sinking towards the horizon, turning the color of bright blue into orange.
"Darkness is about to be upon us." The woman spoke, looking upward. "The town shouldn't be far away, am I right?"
"Indeed, dear." The man nodded. "Just, maybe, ten or fifteen minutes and we would be there."
The pair casually walked through the dirt road, confident that they would reach the settlement before night time arrived. As they traveled towards their destination, the woman let out a sigh.
"Jacob, do you think that what we have done is enough?" She asked.
"I am…well, I can't say for sure, Mary." He replied. "All that we could do now is continue praying to the Chief God and hope that our wish will be fulfilled."
The atmosphere of somberness fell upon the pair. Nevertheless, they continued their walk, not slowing down in the slightest. That was, until…
"Hm?" Jacob stopped moving, causing his partner to do as well. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what…?" Mary was about to ask when she suddenly closed her mouth. "Y-Yeah, I heard it now. Sounds like something…falling…"
They turned their attention towards the source and saw – much to their shock – a falling star heading in their direction. Their fear for the thing to fall on top of them disappeared when it simply passed through, falling instead towards the nearby forest. When it finally stopped, the ground shook and the sound of the explosion could be heard from miles away.
Both of them stared at the location of the crash site before turning at each other. With a silent agreement, the pair headed towards the fallen star. After passing through several trees, they found out that the thing didn't immediately stop upon hitting the ground; it instead dragged itself through the soil, making a small pathway.
When they reached it, the first thing that they noticed was that the star was still intact. The second thing was that it was not a rock – what fallen stars usually ended up as upon hitting the earth – but instead some kind of metal construct.
It was a…very peculiar construct. None of them ever saw something like it before in their entire life. They couldn't help but inspect it, wanting to know more. It was then that the man noticed an inscription on it.
II
"II? As in '2nd?'" He muttered. "2nd of what?"
Meanwhile, the woman was looking at the opposite part of the construct. Then, without warning, it cracked open, causing a clear liquid to come out from it, followed by…a baby.
"W-What?!" She was shocked by the sight before immediately scooping the baby into her arms when the latter started wailing. "I-It's alright, little one. You're safe now."
"Mary, what's that – a baby?" Jacob went towards her.
"The baby – he, apparently – comes from inside the star." The woman went straight to explaining the situation.
"From inside?" He turned his attention to the construct before looking above. "That means…"
The baby came from the stars, that was self-explanatory. They had heard of many miracles from the tales, but this one was nonetheless bizarre to them.
"Ah, that's right!" The man suddenly exclaimed. "We need to get to the town immediately, it's almost dark."
"Y-You're right, dear!" She remembered it. "Let us go now."
Thus, the pair hurriedly left the site, along with the baby in her arms.
"I see that you have returned."
Inside his office, Armand Noscrim had a small and brief meeting with his servant that had just returned from a pilgrimage. It was quite unnecessary, to be honest, especially since the man would inform him of his return to duty the next day.
Still, there was never anything wrong with giving a loyal vassal a show of appreciation.
"Indeed, Milord." The man replied before bowing. "Once again, thank you for the permission given to us."
"It is nothing." The priest replied, waving his hand. "So, correct me if I am wrong, but the boy both of you return with, he's not your flesh-and-blood?"
It was quite obvious. The timing simply didn't match for his servant's wife to get pregnant and gave birth to the baby. Thus, there was only one explanation remaining.
"No, Milord. We…" At that, Jacob looked rather uncomfortable. "We found him in the forest."
"Ah." It was enough for him to figure it out; unfortunately, it was not uncommon for a baby to be abandoned because the family was unable to feed them or even find someone to adopt the child. "Very well. No need to explain further. I will also arrange so that he could receive baptism as soon as possible."
"Of course, Milord. Thank you very much."
"Out of curiosity, have you given the child a name?"
"We have." The servant smiled. "We named him…Elt."
"Elt, are you here?"
Upon entering the room, her guess was immediately confirmed; the red-haired boy was indeed inside. Sasha watched as he simply stared through the glass, observing the clouds in the sky.
It had been days since his parents were buried after they succumbed to the disease that inflicted them. The boy didn't cry at the news nor during the funeral, yet it was apparent that he was saddened by their passing. It was not uncommon to see him looking at basically nowhere.
"Elt." She called him again; this time he turned his head to look at her. "Lunch is ready."
"Ah, right." He wasted no time heading in her direction. "Thanks for telling me, Sasha."
As both of them walked towards the dining room, the nun-in-training noticed that Elt was gaining some height…again. She remembered that it was not too long ago that the boy barely reached her waist and he was now a bit taller than her shoulders. She knew about the existence of growth spurt, but Elt's was just ridiculous.
If this kept continuing, then he would soon reach the height of a normal adult man. That was also a source of envy among other boys, jealous of how fast Elt grew up.
"Speaking of which, Sasha," He suddenly spoke. "What is the status of our financial situation?"
"Um, well," She tried to remember it. "All that I can say is that we're not in red."
"I suppose that that's good enough."
It was not just the body, Elt's mind also grew faster than normal. In fact, it was actually the one that grow the fastest.
As good as her mother's intention of building the orphanage for the homeless children was, it didn't discard the fact that she wasn't exactly good in dealings with numbers, something that was quite important in running the institution.
Then, one day, when she entered her office, her mother saw Elt was almost done with the entire paperwork. To say that he did it better would be a massive understatement; it didn't take long for him to become the unofficial administrator of the orphanage.
If Sasha had to make some rough guess, then Elt appeared to show signs of being favored by the Chief God. As if being a child prodigy was not enough, there was also the already-mentioned fast growth rate. Most of the time, such a thing was something to be celebrated.
Considering his history, however, future events wouldn't likely bode well for him.
"You can't stay here."
It was not every day that the boy – thought one could be forgiven to mistake him for an adult – had a private meeting with the owner of the orphanage.
"I know."
The nun – who he had called "Mother Fullmoon" for more reason than one – sighed.
"You don't want to stay here either."
"Indeed." He admitted.
It was a good thing since it lessened her guilt of having to send him away. Unsurprisingly, the rumors of a boy who became an adult in just a few years would attract attention, many of them unwanted. It didn't take a genius to know that many important figures were wondering if the man in question would be yet another hero produced by this "blessed" city.
Only idiots that became heroes these days. There was a reason that she retired despite being still in her prime. Such a fate was – unfortunately – unavoidable for her daughter, but if she could prevent the boy that she had considered another child from suffering it as well…
"Have you made a plan on where you will be heading?" She asked him.
"I'll take a ship and cross the sea." He said. "I have heard that situations are…heating up over there."
She couldn't help but sigh at the reminder of how – despite the existence of their ancestral enemies – humanity remained divided over petty things. From what she could tell, some king had just died, and – since he left no heir nor will – there was now a struggle between several nations over the one that would inherit the throne.
It could be a good place for him to go to. Elt was physically strong, literate, capable of solving complex math problems, and other traits that would make him desirable to his potential employers. He wouldn't be having a hard time finding a job.
"If that is your plan," She finally spoke. "Then you have my blessing."
Separation was always a hard thing to went through.
"Well, this should be all," Elt stated after inspecting his luggage for the last time.
The Sun hadn't even arisen from the horizon, yet this was the perfect time to depart from the city without attracting unwanted attention. People tend to be dizzy during the changing of day and night, meaning those that usually kept their eyes on the situation of Lescatie would not be at optimum condition.
"Do you really have to go?" Sasha begged, hoping that he would change his mind.
"It's his decision, dear." Her mother told her. "Let us respect it."
"Don't worry, Sasha." The red-haired man assured her before rubbing her head. "I will come back; one day, when it is right."
During his time in the orphanage, Elt had grown so much that he was now taller than the green-haired girl despite the latter being older than her. It admittedly caused the nun-in-training to feel a little bit miffed.
"Promise to me, OK?" She asked of him.
"Sure," Elt replied before showing his pinky. "Pinky promise?"
"Elt, I am not a child!" The girl immediately retorted. "Seriously, just because of how fast you grow up…"
It might not fit with the atmosphere, but the moment of levity was appreciated.
"Well, here it is." He turned his head, looking back. "Tell Primera and Lucian that I apologize for leaving without warning."
"We will." Sasha simply replied.
With that, he walked away from the orphanage that had become his home, departing from the city that had been his home for years and setting sail across the city.
Years later, he would indeed fulfill the promise of one day returning.
He would return…in a condition that was beyond anyone's wildest dream.
So, just to confirm it, yes, in this story, Elt is the 2nd Primarch, one who was missing in canon 40K.
If you have a question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.
Review, please!