– von Valancius's flagship -

Meanwhile -

" Lord Captain Heydari, when you are ready to order our departure, please let me know where you'd like to set course to first", said Cassia pleasantly, tilting her head to the side.

Jae Heydari was feral. The woman was barely holding in place at all. Her long raven hair fell over her face, hiding the ravenous eyes and the dark circles. She sat awkwardly at the desk of Elena von Valancius. The portrait of the Rogue Trader hung in the room, silently appraising them. Her trophies, around them, now seemed strange. Alien. The place was littered with clues of Elena's presence and Cassia kept expecting that at any second, the Voxmaster would inform them that the nightmare was over and Elena was back.

But she kept not getting back.

" Lord Captain Surrogate", corrected Jae harshly. " We still haven't found proof that the Lord Captain is dead, so we must keep hope. "

That I am not stuck here with thousands of lives now depending on me, Jae thought to herself.

' Lord Captain Surrogate ' was not something anyone would want to say out loud, so Cassia did what she always did when handling Jae : nod along and ignore her advice all the same.

" Of course, Mistress Heydari. Still…"

Jae groaned, looked up, then left, to the strange servitor that kept following her around. She waved her mechanical arm in the air.

" Yeah, yeah, cut the crap, Cassia dear. I know what you came here to say. That we need to get our pretty fingers out of our asses and do something."

" Well, I wouldn't have put it this way," said Cassia, feeling a bit undignified for such language, " but you got the idea. We have been staying in orbit here for the past two weeks. There is so sign of anyone. They are not here anymore. Most probably, they have been taken to…" Cassia's voice shattered and dropped down a notch. " …the Dark City", she finished in a whisper.

Jae said nothing. The air was sizzling around her sharp eyes. " Elena is not dead," she kept saying. " The Rogue Trader needs our help. "

" But maybe she needs our help with taking care of her protectorate for her", added Cassia gently. " This is what she told you. She asked that of you. "

Why ? Jae thought. Why had Elena chosen to leave behind Cassia and herself ? Why had Elena given her this strange list of coordinates ? What was wrong with that woman ? Jae could not close her eyes without recalling her stern face, without hearing the screams in her vox again.

More importantly : why did Jae Heydari care so much about it ? The Rogue Trader named her surrogate ! She was basically the closest thing to an heiress of the Warrant of Trade ! She could be making so much money right now !

Instead, she was wallowing in self-pity and worries in some freaking unknown corner of the Expanse, waiting for something to happen. A sign, anything. She could not be Lord Captain. That was evident.

Sadly, said sign was apparently incarnated in Cassia Orsellio's serious face and Jae wished the girl would relax and just let her be. They could both hang out on their sides of the ship, ignoring the rest of the Expanse and letting the days go by.

But the Lady Navigator had been trained to rule a House since her very birth, and she seemed up to the job. Better than Jae, at least. Maybe she should listen to her.

After all, there was no use lingering around in the hope that somebody would appear and take charge for her.

Jae Heydari was now the one in charge.

Cassia left discreetly, leaving Jae to come to terms with her new place. The petulant woman turned Elena's note over her fingers, thinking.

She turned towards the servitor : " So, remind me again what your name is ?"

" We are Nomos", replied the servitor politely.

" And what do you do exactly, Nomos ? What are you ? "

" We live in the ship. We observe. We learn. Elena von Valancius authorized us to do so and learn with her. " The servitor paused for a second and added, in an even tone : " When is she coming back ? We miss our conversations with her. "

Jae couldn't believe it. The Rogue Trader had hidden that away from her all this time ! A freaking…AI artifact ! She had half a mind to sell the servitor back on Footfall. The Cold Trade would pay much money for some heretek like that.

But she could not. Especially not when the AI gave itself a name and kept asking where Elena was with such a sad insistence.

" The Rogue Trader has been captured," said Jae, seeing no need to hide the truth. " But she is a tough one. She'll find her way out of this."

Nomos tilted its head. " Are you sure ? I detect infra vocal ranges typically associated with indecision and anguish. Are you feeling okay, Mistress Heydari ? "

" What the…" Jae cursed, surprised. " I am fine ! Perfectly fine ! I see no trouble at all speaking to a talking tin can analyzing my own vocal ranges !"

" I detect higher thresholds of cortisol from the dilation of your pupils. Elena von Valancius asked us to improve our empathy in order to better understand people. You do not seem okay, Mistress Heydari. Can Nomos suggest you go to the medbay ?"

" No ! " snapped Jae. " And detecting hormones or whatever is not what empathy is about, tin can ! "

" Then what is it ? Are Nomos wrong ? " asked the machine, tilting its head in confusion.

Jae inhaled sharply. " I…" Have no idea how to explain the concept of empathy to a machine, thought Jae. " Empathy is the ability to project yourself in the place of someone else and imagine what they feel like. It is the ability to understand one's trail of thought and resonate with it. To put people at ease. "

" How do Nomos do that ?"

" I don't know. Why don't you listen to songs and read books, to start with ? To get a sense of how human minds work", grumbled Jae. " I didn't ask for becoming Lord Captain Surrogate, you know, and neither did I sign for becoming a heretek nanny."

" Nomos understand. You are faced with something new. Ordinarily, the novelty would be enjoyable to you. But this one comes with responsibilities and grief, things you have been running from all your life. "

Jae gasped.

" Nomos have access to your logs, Mistress Heydari. Is Nomos's empathy better ?" asked the machine.

" Errr…we still need to work on that, tin can. " But the insulting words did not seem right, not with a thing that learnt fast like that.

" Nomos, do you happen to know what those coordinates indicate ?" asked Jae, changing the topic.

" Yes. Coordinates indicate places", replied Nomos pleasantly.

Jae sighed. " Yes, I know that. I mean, do you know anything about them ?"

Nomos stared at the list. " The third one matches elements stolen from Master van Calox's personal communications."

Jae lifted her head up. Did the machine also have access to that ? But then, if it was located in the ship…it had no limits. " Tell me more", said Jae in a sugary voice.

" It is a place where someone Master van Calox is associated with went to. A place where this person sent a life distress signal from. According to Nomos's mapping system, it should be located in the Gartafral Calamity's sector. "

Another agent of the Inquisition ? Why would Elena have that information around ? And what did she want her to do with it ?

Well, there was only one way to find out. Shaking herself up, Jae clicked her vox.

" Cassia," she said. " I have made up my mind. We're heading to the Gartafral Calamity's sector."

– The Pit –

– The present –

Elena woke up in a much better condition she had hoped for, considering her situation.

She raised her head out of Heinrix's legs, slowly sitting back up. To her surprise, the Interrogator moved in response, leaning back with a sigh.

" Heinrix. Didn't you sleep ? " she asked softly.

His blank eyes told her everything she needed to know. He hadn't healed himself either.

" I am perfectly fine, Elena. Do not worry about me", he replied calmly.

It sounded to her that Heinrix hadn't looked so peaceful since…well…since their time together in Dargonus.

Stepping forward on her knees, trying not to make a sound, Elena caught Heinrix's chin and turned his face towards her.

She wanted to call him an idiot for spending so much time watching over her and neglecting himself, but she caught herself last minute. It was no use telling him that. He would not change his behavior at all.

So, instead, she said : " Thank you."

Heinrix's cracked lips tugged upwards slightly. From this close, Elena could feel the warmth of his breath brushing against her lips.

It wasn't long before Heinrix tilted his head towards her and grazed at her lips, kissing her slowly and passionately.

It wasn't long either before his hands found her now unpainful back, pressing her against him. Roaming over her with a sense of thirst and emergency she hadn't felt for so long. It was as if the fate of the Expanse depended on him kissing her, as if he could merge with her if he tried just right -

" Lo- oh, oh, oh my. Oh my. By the Golden Throne. I'm, errr…"

With a sigh of regret, Heinrix let Elena go. She turned to face a very flustered and very red-faced Argenta.

Elena was surprised at just how good she felt after these unending days of madness and horror. Heinrix really had done some wonders on her - and, perhaps, she thought, her strange dream had something to do with her recovery as well.

" Argenta", she stated, as if nothing had happened at all. She wasn't sure how to handle that situation at all. It was a bit embarrassing, to say the least.

Argenta stared at her a bit dumbfoundedly, then glanced at Heinrix and back at her. Elena wasn't sure what made Argenta blush the most : her lack of composure ? Heinrix's ?

" I…just came…to check on you…and see if you were all right…which you are. Good. I, uh, should probably go ?"

Elena passed a hand over her bald head, hating the feeling of it. " I'll be here in a few seconds. Then we can talk and make a debriefing. "

Argenta nodded and disappeared behind the column, returning to the entrance of the Pit.

Elena pivoted towards Heinrix. He was patting the ground in search of the hilt of his sword. Softly, she took the blade for him and put it inside his palms, tightening his knuckles around the weapon.

" Heinrix. You should take care of yourself now. I hate to see you like this. "

He hesitated. Even him could acknowledge that he was in no state to fight. Yet his lips grew into a thin line : " I'll mend myself on the way. I'll keep up pace. This isn't the first time something like that has happened to me. "

" Heinrix, you're blind. You should stay here and rest. "

" Like I said, it is not my first time in such a state. Do not fret over me. I'll manage. "

He proceeded to tell her about his past, when he was a young Knight in training. Before his talents manifested, and his parents vivisected him to get the familial implants back.

Elena took hold of his hands in hers. " You could manage anything, Heinrix. But the fact that you can doesn't mean you have to. What happened to you is horrible and my heart weeps for the boy you were. Now I want you to rest and mend yourself back. I will not take protests from you. "

Elena left Heinrix to heal and circled the pit around. There were bodies littered together at the far end of the pit, left to rot, and a sslyth was encaged there as well. The previous dwellers of the pit, no doubt, though Elena could not quite remember what happened to them or why they seemed familiar to her.

She found Abelard and Argenta in the center of the pit. The Sister had black circles under her eyes and she was eyeing the entrance of the room, her bolter at the ready. Her short blond hair was greasy and dirty, but the flame in her eyes was as bright as ever.

Abelard, on the other hand, looked like a ghostly version of himself. He had lost a lot of weight and his grey hair was beginning to fall. His wrinkles had deepened unnaturally. Elena had been told about the creature that had mangled her Seneschal's life force, but it was through the hallucinations the brainworm had assailed her with. She had trouble focusing on those memories.

As she made her way towards them, she was sidetracked by a movement in the shadow. There - Kunrad's figure. Was she imagining it ? She must be imagining it.

So, her dream had some truth to it.

The elusive shadow twisted and she thought she heard a whisper in the back of her head, coming from the scar over her chest. It was as if the words were spoken directly into her brain without having to go through her ears. It left her with a strange taste of citrus over her tongue.

' The old man looked like shit. He really outdid himself trying to look out for you. Looks like he needs a promotion straight to retirement - not a lot more years to live with that old carcass. '

Elena said nothing, pressing her lips together and trying to ignore the shadow. She felt uncertain if this was reality or a remnant of the worm's toxin seeping through her senses.

Or maybe she had gone mad in this hellish place.

She walked to Argenta and Abelard. The Seneschal got up on his feet and saluted her stiffly, as if they were still aboard the ship and not cornered and famished in a forsaken place.

" Lord Captain. It looks like Master van Calox's remarkable powers have done wonders on you," he said. And there was a sincere relief in his words.

Elena looked at him uneasily. In her mind, only a few words danced, printing themselves into her will. 'Don't kill me, please, Dad.' 'Dad.'

But Abelard wasn't her dad.

If he had been, he would never have tried to kill her to save his skin from the purge against the witch.

An intolerable amount of emotion rose onto Elena's chest, constricted her heart.

" Seneschal", she said, saluting him just as stiffly. " I believe thanks are in order. I seem to understand that you…you…"

She fell silent as the words slipped away from her. Unthinkable. Unclear. Saved me. Took care of me. Watched over me. They all held a truth that she disliked. That she had been a broken toy. A plaything.

Little black spots formed at the edge of her visions and she had to make a conscious effort to stand still despite the cold sweat dripping over her back.

" Sit down and have something to drink and eat", said Sister Argenta immediately. She was suddenly here, at her side, holding her arm gently on her own.

Elena watched her in confusion and did what she was told. The Sister opened a pack of rations - a veritable feast in such a place, one that they probably had gained through pillage and murder.

Not that they would call it that way, of course.

Elena chewed down on an old, outdated corpse-starch.

Sister Argenta sat back to her position. " Post traumatic stress disorder," she said. " I have seen that in a lot of good soldiers. Praise be to the Emperor that you came out of that place alive. You survived, Lord Captain. "

Abelard sat down at her side, struggling a bit with his knees. " She is right. We saw what that beast - Tervantias - did to you and van Calox and Haneuman." He closed his eyes, shaking with fury. " We saw the place you were held in and spoke to a man that recognized you. "

The cages. They saw the cages. They saw the man with the redmane and the knife. The one that had seen her cut off her own arm.

Argenta made a praying sign. " A most holy Angel of the God-Emperor himself ! A sign that His light was by your side, even during your most harassing trials, Lord-Captain", said the Sister, her voice vibrating.

Elena dared not think the unholy thought but yet here it was, creeping inside her brain : ' But the Angel did nothing for me at all. In fact, he spited me and ignored me. The Emperor must not have cared about my fate.'

She thought she heard Kunrad's chuckle from faraway.

" Then we must rescue him", Elena said. " We should rescue anyone that is still held inside this prison. What about Haneuman ? "

Both Abelard and Argenta's brows furrowed. Abelard replied : " We saw no sign of Haneuman, but the despicable creature spoke about him. Said he had thrown him into the streets of the city. That is actually the reason we wanted to talk with you. Considering your…uh…condition when the drukhari let you go, we should go on the basis that Haneuman is in desperate need of our help. We were talking about leading a search team to find him. With me and the Sister. "

" Of course. I'll be leading it. "

Abelard shot her a hesitant look and Elena understood. They had seen her at her lowest point - and she didn't wish to know what they had seen exactly. A pitiful thing, surely.

" Lord-Captain, your wounds were very grave when we found you. We nearly lost you. What you went through…you need to rest," said Abelard.

Elena tensed, and graced the both of them with a haughty and imperious look, her words cold and sharp : " I must have misheard you, Seneschal, for I think you just called me a cowardly weakling. Shall I remember you that I am chosen by the Emperor himself to bring in His light, walk along the road of thorns, and venture bravely first into the darkness ? I will not abandon Pasqal Haneuman."

Her mind was poisoned by the vision of a man split open, his red robe ripped apart. His back had been cut and his ribs dislocated from his body, metal and bones glistening with blood under the green light of the lab. On the table, the vox caster had been severed, so that the man couldn't scream and waste the perfect picture of pain and art he had become in the hands of his tormentor.

She returned to her consciousness, blinking, having missed the reply of her Seneschal to her.

Yet she was confident he must not have said anything that needed an answer out of her, as he was watching her with what could be interpreted as a prideful smile.

" …old self, Lord-Captain. "

Argenta was looking at her with appreciation as well. Elena inhaled calmly. Her speech had seemed to work its way through their minds.

" Tlass ?" she asked. " I…remember her. She was there…with me. Not in the cages, but on the other side. She…saved my life, I think."

Abelard frowned, holding his heart with his hand. " That's strange. We didn't see her at all. From the way the creature spoke of van Calox, we understood that psykers were something precious in its eyes. Yet it did not mention Idira."

Argenta shook her head, a genuine spark of worry in her eyes. " I hope she is holding on. We would know if she wasn't," she said.

" She must still be there, then."

Elena realized that, however incredibly talented and competent her companions were, they were still clueless as to their situation ; they needed a leader. They needed someone to come and point the way forward, someone to make sense of the world for them, to give meaning and value to their hardships and talents. They needed a Rogue Trader, and thus, in a show of logical inference, they thought they needed her.

Maybe she even grew to think she needed them as well.

" What about Yrliet ?" she asked, roaming the scenery. She didn't see the Aeldari anywhere. Yet she was certain she had been around.

When the worm had been taken out of her brain, when Tervantias had released her from the clutches of death, she had spotted Yrliet, her face hollow and painful. Yrliet had traded herself against her.

" The xenos…has been put somewhere where she can't hurt us ", said Argenta slowly.

Abelard sighed and told Elena of the way they found Yrliet in the streets, torturing humans for the fun of her drukhari tormentors.

Elena did not believe a second that Yrliet took any pleasure from this. This was obviously another sort of torture, designed especially for her. Despite her cold appearance, Yrliet had a sensitive heart and derived no joy from eliminating humans, no matter the grief they caused her.

" To be totally honest, I don't feel comfortable with the xenos around. We only let her live because she traded herself for you," said Abelard. " The drukhari we saw in the lab…the Archmachinator. He only agreed to get this…worm…out of you in exchange for her pain. Honor dictated that we carried her here. Not that we take compassion for the person who dragged us here in the first place. "

Elena's blood ran cold.

" What have you done with Yrliet ?" she asked sharply, her voice emotionless but ringing like steel.

Argenta sighed and got up. " Put her in a cage, where she belongs. Until judgment is done," said the Sister, giving a little rusty key to Elena and pointing her to a dark corner of the pit.

Elena snatched the key in an angry movement. " She didn't betray us," she stated. Her voice could have been used to carve ice.

" Yrliet is a xenos, but she never betrayed us and she didn't plan for this." She took a step forward Argenta, staring at the Sister. " Whatever you think of her, this crime is not for her alone to bear. She paid the price of her mistakes, as we all have to do, one way or another. "

The Sister held her gaze and Elena felt the hold she used to have over her companion wavered. Something had changed in Argenta, she realized. Her trust and faith in the Lord Captain had reached their limits and something else was taking a hold inside her.

" Don't make the mistake of humanizing her, Lord Captain", replied the Sister. " She is not like us. "

Abelard held his breath, but Elena said nothing. No way she could fight against wherever was going on inside Argenta's head.

She walked towards the end of the pit, where the corpses had been laid out. Amongst them, there was a second cage and in it was Yrliet.

The once beautiful and elegant xenos was reduced to a skeletal and unhealthy version of herself. Her gaunt face was stretched over her bones. She was sitting in a meditating position, but there was no peace over her face. Still, when she heard Elena's footsteps growing close, she opened her green, tired eyes.

" Elantach", said Yrliet, and her voice trembled with unusual emotions and shadows.

Elena opened the cage immediately. " I am deeply sorry for that, Yrliet," she said.

" Don't be. By putting me away, they actually kept me safe from themselves," said the xenos calmly. " And I have deserved it."

She got up on her feet, unfolding her tall posture with pain.

Elena gripped the bar of the cage and replied, staring with her dark eyes at Yrliet : " Yrliet, know this. I know you are not to blame for what happened. I know why you did it. I understand, and I would have done the same if our situation was reversed. Never doubt the trust in you I have in my heart, Yrliet. "

Yrliet closed her eyes, a rolling darkness having taken hold of her emerald eyes. " How can you be so forgiving, elantach, after all that you have endured ? Could it be true that your gentleness has been left untouched by this place ? " Yrliet opened her eyes again with deep melancholy. " Hope has prevailed over me and led me here. I have lost everything : my dignity, any leads on my kin's whereabouts, my honor, and you. My faith in you…have wavered, and it shouldn't have. Hope was the name of the blade that tricked me to my failures. I…can't find peace nor meditate now. I am sorry, Elena. I want you to know that. "

Elena rested her head over the bars, eyeing the xenos softly.

If only Yrliet knew…

Elena steeled her heart. " I hear and listen, Yrliet. You speak your truth", she answered.

Yrliet nodded. Elena added : " How are you feeling ? We need to search for our lost companions. "

" I can fight, Elena. And wait ! Before you go… There is an Aeldari that showed himself to me. One of my most frightful kind…a Solitaire." Yrliet paused, looking at her. " He was watching over you, I think. He talked to me, in his strange language."

Elena glanced around the area, but saw no signs of anyone passing through here. A Solitaire…an Aeldari…it stirred her memories…she associated it with the sound of her beating heart. Of being alive. She glimpsed down at the heavy pistol on her hip, the one that was so badly crafted she couldn't use it properly - a gift from the grave given to her by an unknown dancer.

" I…seem to recall meeting someone…who was in the trial, too", whispered Elena, confused.

" Yes. You are being trailed by him, Elena. The Solitaire…has plans for you. He arranged for Tervantias to be…tolerant to us, for now. I do not know what his plans are, but you are a part of it. "

" What ?"

" The Archmachinator and the Solitaire have a deal of a kind. It involve you. I believe you have to join the Arena. Defeat enemies of the Crafter of Flesh. Then he will free another of your companions. "

Elena paused, considering. Idira, Pasqal, the Angel of Mankind, the numerous victims of the drukhari raids…so many souls to save, and so little time.

" Do you know when the next fight will come ?"

" Not long now. A few hours, I believe. I fear we don't have much time to look for your companions," said Yrliet.

" Then let's not waste it. You are coming with me and Abelard. "

The Aeldari nodded and followed along as Elena made her way back to the entrance of the Pit.

" Argenta, you stay here, with Heinrix. Keep an eye over him to make sure he heals", Elena ordered. " Abelard, you are coming with us. "

" You can count on me, Lord Captain. Which companion shall we search for first ? Hanuman ? Tlass ?" asked the Seneschal, checking his weapons.

Elena opened her mouth to reply, when suddenly she felt a rush of coldness in her veins and a pressure at the back of her head.

' Uh-oh,' said Kunrad's voice from somewhere on her side. ' That's bad omen, isn't it ?'

She felt a sharp pain erupt as an augment on her head pierced her skin, her skull, her brain. A throbbing and spasming pain, the taste of rot and blood over her tongue - Elena looked down at her hands and saw a red thread hooked on her flesh. The line was dripping with blood. She looked away and away to see where it led and there were two, two figures…

Idira and Pasqal.

No, Idira or Pasqal.

She had to choose.