Author's note: merendinoemiliano brought up that the existence of parallel dimensions does not negate the Imperial Truth and he is correct about that. That was not the impression I wanted to leave. Ergo I changed the ending closer to what I was intending the first time.
Please enjoy!
For most of you, the transition of reweaving is a startling one. I have it on good authority that a good percentage of the Imperium itself is expected to be killed off by the shock alone. Never mind the choice afterwards.
For me it was much the same. One moment I was fighting on (wherever Cain is in the last book) the next I was sitting up, sucking air into a new pair of lungs.
And that wasn't the last of it. I looked up, and the Primarch Sanguinius was watching me from behind a pane of glass.
I was certain I had died. I'd later learn I had, technically.
He smiled at me. It was as warm and beautiful as a sunrise. "Commissar Cain, Welcome. Is everything working alright?"
"Uh, I uh," I forced myself to reassess. I was lying on my back in the middle of a platform. Could I sit up? I could. Carefully I found my feet. Blood rushed to my head when I did, but I was standing.
And staring at Angron.
"Emporer's bowls!" I yelped.
"Yes, hello," The famously barbaric Primarch waggled his fingers at me with a knowing smile.
He should have been a Demon Prince, instead he looked just like, well, any other Primarch. He was wearing civy clothes, and so I was able to see he was built like a brawler. Heavy muscles under a protective layer of fat. His most defining feature was three red streaks on his bald scalp.
Three streaks. No nails.
I looked back at Sanguinius. He was wearing civy clothes as well. His smile had become long-suffering.
"A lot has changed," He explained. "I will show you. Willow?" The Angel looked at a young woman manning the controls at one end of the room. Aside from the large patch of white in her black hair I wouldn't have been able to tell her apart from any other vaguely pretty girl.
I'd later learn that patch of white meant she was a Myuncher; one of the three Godmothers that wove this dimension and gave her protection to the first three generations raised here. If they wanted to, depending on the Myuncher they could close the Eye of Terror with a thought. Eradicate the Chaos Gods. Revive the Emporer, or kill him for good.
Willow nodded and hit a button, causing the glass bell around me to rise up.
"Follow me," The Angel walked out of the room. I stumbled off the platform after him.
We entered onto a second floor walkway overlooking a combined canteen and communal space. The room had an arched ceiling and no attempts were made to hide the living stone. Several fruiting trees and bushes marked out the lines for food, and once gotten the people went to the communal area to sit at tables or couches and chat or play games. The layout of the room was such everyone could see everyone. Most importantly everyone could see me.
Every single person below was horribly scarred. Most wore multiple layers of clothing, eye patches, hats. There was no style to it, so they all appeared to be menials.
If it weren't for the variety of well used weapons so easily within reach, almost decorating the place, I would have believed they were.
"Welcome to the Sanctuary," Sanguinius gestured grandly at the room as Angron shouldered past us. "Home to the freed people of Nucrecia. Angron's Family."
I frowned. "Isn't Nucrecia a loyal planet? Are- hold on," I glanced between the two Primarchs. They were watching me patiently. Sanguinius serenely. Angron clearly enjoying himself. "We're all dead, correct?"
"Yes," Sanguinius answered.
"Sort of," Angron said at the same time. "Are you aware of string theory? The idea of multiple dimensions?"
"I assume you mean beyond the warp? Mm, some of the more out there shows I suppose." I answered, trying to figure out how that would work. Was this a mirror dimension where the Emperor never made the Imperium? Where Angron was loyal? Why did they pull me here then? Did my reputation repeat itself in other dimensions as well? Were they trying to get a different Cain?
"Don't overthink it," Angron advised. "Let's start with the obvious; The Warp. It is what is referred to as a Shadow dimension. It is closely tied to and is a dark reflection of one or more core dimensions."
He paused to make sure I got it. I nodded, the concept tracked with what I had seen and knew of the warp.
"'A' shadow dimension? There's more than the warp?" I asked.
Angron nodded. "It's a big cosmos," He said with a shrug. "There's more core realities than our own, with their own troubles, their own races. Earth's where the Emperor was never born. Dimensions where no earths exist. Some where humans are alone in sentience, others where humans co-exist- peacefully or not- with other, non human races."
"Is that where you're going with this?" I asked. The thought made me feel uneasy and I let it show. "We're in a dimension where humans and Xenos get along? Or at least are expected to?"
Angron nodded. Sanguinius was frowning down at the smiles most of Angron's Family were directing up at us. Some were chuckling.
The whole thing was making me uneasy. Angron might have allied with Xenos, but Sanguinius was strictly loyal.
"Then where do I come in? Why did you pull me from the Emporer's peace?"
Someone snorted beneath my feet. I looked down, missing the two Primarchs reactions. A pair of humanoid shadows clung to the supports just below me.
They were black haired young women, with four too many eyes. One smiled, the perfect picture of innocence. The other gave me a mischievous grin.
Somehow Angron was the bigger shock. "Why are there two mutants here?" I asked.
"Those are my daughters," Sanguinius answered with a sigh. "Helen, Joan, come on up."
