The world fell away when the shadows became alive again, and all I could focus on were the penetrating eyes of the Chaos God smiling at me in the void. The sensation of a whirlwind enveloped me, and then, I was someplace else.
Somewhere familiar.
Suddenly, I was seated at a cafe I once frequented in graduate school in Manhattan. It was as if I had just come into reality here, with no transition. Bustling New Yorkers, important and unimportant, went about their business, drinking coffee, working remotely on laptops, and chatting with friends. It was so beautifully normal here that I almost could believe that I was home, if not for one detail.
The small white marble table I sat at had another chair, and I saw a familiar tall blond man in a suit walking toward me holding two porcelain cups, one in each hand. He placed one cup in front of me, and went to sit down. The man's alien golden eyes twinkled with amusement as he smiled. "One latte for my adorable little Traveler! Two shots of espresso and a dusting of cocoa powder, just like how you like it!"
"Alright, what is this all about?" I asked Tzeentch as he took his cup in his hand.
"Do I need an excuse to be nice to you? How cynical and east coast of you, Erika!" He took a sip of his latte, and distantly, I heard the sounds of feeble screaming.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Why do anything? The multiverse is my playground, and I enjoy living to the fullest," Tzeentch placed his cup down. "So, what do you think?" he asked, grinning happily with an almost boyish excitement. Another mouth grew on the side of his face, also grinning.
I was confused. I observed the cafe. There wasn't anything really out of the ordinary aside from everything being anything but ordinary with my existence here.
"No, no, no!" Tzeentch said with a jovial laugh. He gestured dramatically to the scene around me. "I know I did a good job here, silly! This 'here' is a shared dream pulled from the subconscious thoughts of little mortals from your home reality. A lot of people like this cafe, so it wasn't difficult to reproduce. Since I'm the god of magic, I'm good at making a scene!" Of course he was reading my mind again. I couldn't even think. I picked up my beverage so I wouldn't have to fixate on looking at the eldritch horror sitting next to me in the skin of a stylish man. At that thought, I saw him raise an eyebrow and twist his lips into a childish pout.
"You do wound me, my dear!"
"Well, what do you mean, then?" I asked him, holding my cup. I took a nervous sip, and the liquid felt electric going down my throat. A few emotions and fractured images wafted through my subconscious. Tzeentch lattes were probably made of some weird stuff, but I had to be polite here. Don't be rude to the all powerful Chaos God who could unmake you with a thought, and all.
The god began smiling again. "I'm asking about where you physically are, the planet in the future with the pylons that isn't Cadia. I've been setting that whole thing up for awhile. Put a lot of work into it, I did! I'm looking for some feedback. How did I do? Do you like it?"
"Like it?" I responded with dumbfounded incredulity.
"I know, I know. You probably love it! I knew you'd appreciate it! It was a tough fit. Took some serious effort to splice some of the story patterns and universal archetypes from that Wizard of Oz thing you like so much with the grim darkness of the far future, but I think I did a good job! I think you being an artist means that you definitely appreciate it."
I couldn't even speak, the thought was so absurd. I took a sip of Warp coffee.
"Aww, you're probably still sore over that Amnaich thing, I bet. It'll get better, I assure you. I'll ask again later when that subplot is done. Slaanesh has never been that much of a good sport with games. You'll have an opportunity to get your retribution if you want."
"Um, Tzeentch?"
"Yes?" Both his primary mouth and the secondary mouth spoke. I had to be careful here, unless I wanted another new body as a chaos spawn.
"Why did you make everything like the Wizard of Oz? It can't have all just been for me. If you're going to trap me somewhere, why not just like, normal 40k reality?"
"I thought you'd enjoy that. Like I said before, you're interesting, so I set all this up for funsies. I like planning things, and you like all that Wizard of Oz shit, so I used that for a template on how your little quest for home develops so we could both have fun. It's a nice hook to keep you motivated, and on my end, it's very fun to watch! Like a big game of Mousetrap, but for gods instead of mortals! Heck, even Slaanesh got himself involved so I know I did a great job. You running around down there has made you very popular in the Immaterium. With my childer, you've become a celebrity! You're actually the Changeling's favorite mortal right now, so be flattered!"
I had no idea what to say to that insane revelation, so I just marveled, "You... really just planned all this to be this way?" I took another sip of my drink, trying to remain calm and polite. It was kind of on brand for this particular Chaos God, I had to admit. Wow.
"Of course I did!" he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world while sipping on his screaming beverage. "They don't call me the Architect of Fate for nothing. I see and weave the threads of fate as easily a spider in its web!" Tzeentch's gaze was drawn to a passing attractive red headed woman, who promptly glitched out of reality in a spasm of light as she passed our table. This did not go unnoticed in the cafe. An older bald man pointed in fright at where the woman had been, only to be scolded by what appeared to be his grown son, who hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. The Chaos God appeared momentarily embarrassed, and a blue green "blush" appeared across his pale cheekbones. "My apologies, that was rude. You have my full attention again!"
"Alright so, what's next then?" I dared to ask as the startled man near our table began to dissolve into quiet hysterics over this supernatural occurrence. I could hear him raving that he had seen that red woman vanish, and that "witches" were after him. No one else had apparently seen the disappearing woman aside from Tzeentch and I. I kept quiet, intimidated by my own dangerous circumstances.
"If I told you what was next that would ruin the surprise, dearest!" He chirped. "I need to cultivate hope from you organically, and I don't want you reading ahead in your own story. Oh, you're just gonna love it! And seriously, don't worry about that tawdry Keeper of Secrets, you'll have an opportunity to show Amnaich the Molden what for. Speaking of that, you know he's got like, a chunk of your soul? Word in the Great Ocean is that he's been altered by eating pieces of a pissed off Traveler. He's even changing his name because of it! Oopsie!"
Traveler! There was that word again used to describe me! What was that all ab-
"Oh, that 'Traveler' designation, right. No one actually told you," Tzeentch interrupted immediately, causing me to startle. Appearing pensive for a moment, the god drummed his fingers on the table. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the raving old man was now angry at his son. He angrily stood up. "Fine, I'll give you a freebie. I like you best out of the Travelers right now anyway. I dabble in the multiverse as a whole, and every so often, someone from your Materium jumps over to a different plane. The energy differential between a foreign soul and a new realm makes for some interesting effects. Lots of chaos and potential for change, there! Those lost bastards are called Travelers, and you're one of them. It's a big time mystical secret across the galaxy in many cultures and races since no one wants anyone to know that there are actually ways to jump a reality. You've probably read all about those people on your fanfiction site who find themselves trapped somewhere else through different means and methods. It happens more often than you would know! In fact, infinitely! What's also fun to think about is that due to the infinite universe theory, someone is probably writing about you in another reality and posting your story on another fanfiction site right now!" The Chaos God's eyes shone brightly for a moment.
"So, there are others from my dimension?"
"Oh yes! From different times and places! And not just limited to your shitty boring dimension. Oftentimes, these little planar adventurers choose to travel, but most of the time not. Sometimes, even the body makes the jump with the soul, too, but obviously, in your case, that didn't happen," Tzeentch laughed, and drained the rest of his drink.
"Excuse me."
Our little meeting was interrupted by the figure of the old man, who was now standing at our table, looming anxiously over both of us. He was sweating profusely, and a vague odor of scotch hung around him.
"Hasn't anyone told you that its rude to interrupt two people when they're having a private conversation, pal?" Tzeentch said, his eyes narrowing at the visitor.
The man ignored the god, and looked at me, his jaw gnashing and his eyes wild. "How dare you curse me, you liberal witch! Don't you know who I am?" He growled hatefully at me. Despite his hostility, I could almost taste his barely concealed fear, and his fists were clenching, revealing white knuckles. Behind him, I saw his son approaching.
Tzeentch watched the little confrontation with his normal sadistic interest. I nervously sipped my latte.
"Dad, c'mon, there's no one there," the son said, coming up from behind his father and clapping him on the shoulder. "How much did you have to drink earlier?"
"But they're right here! You can't tell me you don't see them!"
"Dad..."
"Don't talk back to me! This bitch is the reason everything is falling apart! She's going to kill America! She's an evil witch!" I had never seen this guy before in my life, so I had no idea what he was talking about. Random crazy people saying this sort of thing wasn't all that unheard of in New York, so I just tried to ignore him.
In my mind, I heard the god speak to me again as he laughed, shaking his head. Madmen in your home dimension see a lot of things, some true, some not. This particular lunatic saw you a long time ago in a dream after briefly meeting you in person. There is a sort of psychic fallout from being near you because you are close to my direct attention, being a psyker and all. But, you have my favor, and he doesn't! Tzeentch winked at me cheekily with a giggle.
The stranger took the laughter of the Chaos God very personally. "What's so funny? Stop laughing! I know who both of you are, and I'll fucking ruin you both! I'm not saved in your Hell!"
He had said that loudly enough that the din of the cafe was momentarily silenced with surprise, and a few heads turned toward us.
"Is. That. So?" Tzeentch rumbled with a threatening purr. Smiling like a Cheshire cat, and shaking his blond head, the god slowly stood up in a unnaturally fluid motion. "Ah, I think our little meeting is nearing its end, my dear," Tzeentch said to me as he fixed his glowing golden eyes downward on the old man, who was now angrily staring back up at him.
"I'm not fucking afraid of you, demon! That Satanic whore you're with doesn't scare me either!" The man said, insanity pitching his words into a falsetto. Uh oh. Saying all that to a Chaos God was probably a very bad idea, I cringed. I took a big drink of my latte, which inexplicably tasted like vengeance. It invigorated me, somewhat.
Tzeentch remained mirthlessly smiling as I watched the scene unfold. The old man was stood his ground as he ignored his son behind him, who was emphatically insisting in a desperate whisper that no one was there, and that he was embarrassing himself. The rest of the cafe was beginning to notice the strange altercation, but it did seem that we were both invisible to everyone but the old madman.
"I would think that a distinguished figure such as yourself would be more inclined toward being polite and grounded in public," the Chaos God softly intoned. He didn't even appear very angry, only cooly disappointed. Tzeentch remained staring as a pair of sliver scissors materialized in his slender hands. The crazy man wasn't backing down, even as his son tried to forcefully pull him away. Somehow, I could now literally sense anxiety radiating off him. It almost had a taste to it, sharp and cutting.
"Take her and go back to Hell where you belong, spawn of the devil! Vade retro Satana!" the stranger began yelling at Tzeentch, who reached out with his other hand, and caressed a line of shimmering strands into being from nowhere. The air around his hand was distorted, and difficult to look at. All of this remained invisible to the rest of the cafe, as the people seated nearest to us began to slink away from the upsetting scene of a man losing his mind to an empty table.
"Dad, please!" The son continued to plead, nervously watching the gawking public around us.
"Its a shame, you know. I'm sure an apology for any rude behavior would've been fine. If there's one thing that really makes me tick, it's disrespect," Tzeentch pulled on the loose bundle of scintillating threads, and with his scissors, he began cutting them, one by one. As each thread broke, I heard a metallic twang, and felt a sensation of extreme foreboding. "The threads of fate that wound your timeline are quite fragile, it seems. What a shame!" Another cut, and disembodied wailing began to ring through the air. The old man's ears and eyes began to bleed a black fluid as he was now frozen in place, unable to move, only able to vocalize his terror in short whimpering cries.
"Erika, you should leave. I don't want you to get any mess on you. Check the nightstand when you get back. I'll talk to you later, my dear," the terrifying god lazily suggested to me as my world began to fade away again. The last thing I was able to see was the old man shrieking in madness as the entire cafe took out their mobile devices and began to film the chaos of a pitiful figure having a public meltdown.
I awoke again on the bed just in time to see Alberich stepping up through the trap door. Had I only been gone a moment?
"Did you feel that?" he asked me in a hush. His feathers were on edge.
"What?" I sat up, my head swimming.
The Tzaangor shook his head and said, "Nevermind..." as he crawled upward with his weapon, which he leaned against the corner of the room again. A weary sigh escaped his beak, and he sat down next to me on the bed. I could smell sweat, blood, and dirt, but I wasn't sure if that was me or him. Alberich appeared worn out, and we sat in silence for a couple moments, his hands grasping his knees. He did not look directly when he began speaking again. "We should probably leave here soon, my friend. But, before we go, I need you to know something."
I looked at him, and I could see his jaw tense. The shadow of the lantern's guttering light underlit the Tzaangor, making him look like some sort of gargoyle. Alberich looked upward toward his glaive, watching my reflection indirectly through the shining metal. Afterward, he turned directly toward me, his tired blue grey eyes shining in the dim light. "My friend, I must say that I am most impressed with your skill. I had never seen such incredible power, not here, and not when I was a man. I am a seeker of knowledge, and universal truth, first and foremost. If you would allow me, I would request that I accompany you on your journeys, so that I may learn more and heighten my own understanding of the universe."
"Aren't we already traveling together to go to that pylon?" I asked, confused.
"Yes, but I mean, beyond that. Fate favors you, that much is true. I easily see it now. We should not have survived that last ordeal where hell came to us, but the hand of God stayed our demise. I follow the will of the divine, and I see His will enacted through you. God Himself protects you and has gifted you with great power, and I wish to follow the one whom God has touched. I would be happy to enter in your service, if you would have me."
Alberich appeared sincere while saying this, although it appeared he was somewhat anxious, probably because we had both almost died not even a half an hour ago. He was looking at me expectantly, his head feathers slightly bristled like a curious crow.
Tzaangors followed Tzeentch, I remembered, and I had just spoken with that god a few minutes ago in a vision. If the Architect of Fate was trying to help me by giving me bodyguard in this universe, I should really probably take it. This reality was dangerous, and I remembered just how brutal Alberich was in combat when I saw him slicing up daemons like Christmas hams. Having him would go a long way.
"What's the catch?" I asked.
"No catch. I simply wish to accompany you where you travel. Adventure and knowledge will be my payment. I can fight, as you have seen. You would find my company most useful."
I took a deep breath, and considered for a few moments. He had indeed saved me, and so far, the arrangement was really working out since I was still alive, so I said, "I'm not exactly sure where I'm going after the pylon, but you can come with me if you want."
Alberich smiled, and exhaled deeply. He had been holding his breath. Slowly, he stood up. He took a step away from the bed where we both had been seated, and he turned to face me. I noticed here that his clothes were torn and bloody in places. The way he held himself definitely registered that he had been at least somewhat injured on top of his bandaged wounds. I was surprised when the Tzaangor knelt before me on one knee, bowing his head. I could now see that he had two spaces where his horns would've been, but the area was flat, as if they had been sawed off. He began speaking again, his voice low and serious.
"I swear by God this sacred oath, that I will obey absolutely the orders of this psychic master, chosen of the Great Architect. I will with loyal dedication perform my duties and obey without condition the orders of my charge."
This was a little weird, I had to admit. An oath wasn't necessary, but I wasn't going to argue with him tonight if he thought it was a good idea. It did somewhat cement my trust of him, though. I sincerely hoped that what this Tzaangor had said was truth, and that I could hold him to his word. Alberich stood up without fanfare, and nodded curtly at me. "There, it's done," he said, glancing at his weapon with a small smile. "We should go soon. Hell could be upon us at any minute, and if we have a glimmer of hope at the black tower, I believe we should chase it. Do you know the identity of the messenger being sent?"
"No. I have no idea. It's a mystery to me."
"Well, let us pack up and be off. We are about an hour outside of dawn, so sleep is now inadvisable. Better to get an early start on a long hike," Alberich said before taking his glaive again and walking back into the dark parlor.
I stood up and stretched. Due to the laudanum, I didn't feel much in the way of pain. I felt as if I was forgetting something in my haze, though, and I struggled to remember what it was. I found my riding skirt, shirt, and blood stained boots, and properly dressed myself. My history book was sitting neglected on the nightstand, so I picked that up and packed it away for safekeeping.
"Oh!" I vocalized, remembering Tzeentch had told me himself to check the nightstand during my vision. I opened nightstand drawer, and inside, I found something both intriguing and chilling.
It was a long silver pair of scissors, right out of my vision. I hadn't checked the nightstand before, so these could've been here this whole time. I reached to pick the item up, and found them to be strangely light. Inspecting them, I found no markings, and placing them in my fingers, I found that they fit me perfectly. The shape of the shears when closed reminded me of a thin stiletto blade approximately a foot long, and they could be gripped in a hand like a dagger. What I could not deduce at all was what these were for. Tzeentch had used them to cut the strings of fate off of someone, but I wasn't a Chaos God, so I had no idea. I placed them in my pack. I now had two weapons that I didn't really know how to use, counting the one that was still laying outside. I guess I could now be a Chaos hairdresser now if I had no other options in this reality.
After about a half an hour of packing supplies and eating a humble breakfast of meat that had been smashed against the wall by a daemonette, Alberich and I were ready to depart as the first signs of dawn started to ring the eastern sky. Exiting the broken farmhouse, I picked up the black dagger, placing it back in its scabbard. I started my second day in this weird universe, pleased at myself for staying alive so far. Turning north, we walked at a brisk pace toward the shadowy light forest that ringed the mysterious Warp-nullifying pylon that loomed over us.
