Author's Note: I'm really sorry for the slow update speed, I've been reading tons of litRPGs and actually working on an original story. I'll try to do better everyone!

Loki loved playing cards.

Cards was relaxing and fun. Unlike scrabble, he often didn't win, but that was fine. Scrabble was so closely linked to his love of words that he felt a deep drive to win, but with playing cards it just wasn't the same.

Today he was definitely going to lose, since the cards were completely different than what he was used to. Fortunately, he'd quickly read up on eldar card games and knew the basics, so he just had to be taught the specifics of THIS game. So when it was time, he was able to catch on pretty quick!

The aeldari he was playing with were all young and really quite pretty. Loki admired them like artwork - they weren't human, he didn't feel the slightest bit of real attraction towards them, but they were quite gorgeous. Most of all, though, Loki was so relieved to be playing a card game and having a light conversation. It was even worth sitting in a chair, even though it made his joints feel a bit weird and uncomfy.

Alilon brushed a bit of stray red hair out of her face and frowned at her cards. Then she sighed and reluctantly made her play… Loki could see the problem right away, she was playing a mid-tier card which was about the worst possible opening. That meant she had nothing but mid-tier cards. And this game wasn't poker, it wasn't about bluffing, so he knew it was true.

"There is some talk that we might make a small settlement on Yggdrasil, on the opposite side of where the humans have currently settled," Zakiron said conversationally. Inaria frowned. She was a beautiful female with pure white hair.

"Is that wise? These humans are from the Imperium of Man," she said with a quick glance at Loki. He interpreted that as hoping they were not offending. He could be wrong though, since eldar were pretty different.

"Oh, I heard about that, it's not a real settlement though," Loki said as he made his play, another mid-tier card. He was in a good position right now, he could afford to get rid of some trash out of his hand. Mid-tier cards were the worst, you never know if they'd take something or not. "It's going to be more like a nature preserve? There's going to be two big nature preserves, to keep some of the native foliage intact and they were saying one will be for humans to explore and the other will be given to Iyanden so you can sometimes get off the ship." The Craftworld ship was incredible, it went to great lengths to be a wonderful place to live, but it still had some limitations.

"Ah, I see. If there is no contact, it might make more sense," Inaria said neutrally. "Loki, forgive me, but may I ask why you are not playing cards with your own kind?" she said and the others gave her an admonishing look. Loki just ignored it, looking at his cards as he felt a small pain in his heart.

"Things can be rough sometimes," he said vaguely, although he knew that wasn't a real answer. There was a short silence, as Khola played his cards.

"You do not have to talk about it if you don't want to," Alilon said as their points for the round were tallied. Loki thought about it. It didn't really bother him to talk about it, it was just…

"I just think you might not understand because we're human and you're not," Loki finally said. Still, maybe he should try, it could give them some insight into how humans worked. "The Cryptek in charge of the research here is a former human, he was a field engineer and we served together." That was bad because - "He really, really doesn't like me. I uh… I made land speeders stop working." Loki knew now that was the-real-Loki causing interference because he didn't know how Avatars worked and was struggling to figure it out. It had been at its worst on the battlefield because Loki needed to use his powers, but didn't know how to NOT mess up the machines at the same time. He'd figured it out over time, but it had taken a while. "He knew it was me and one time, he even yelled at me so hard he was frothing." That had scared him more than the drukhari!

"Surely he is not still holding a grudge over this? From what I understand, you are both quite old by human standards," Zakiron said and Loki wasn't surprised he'd think so. He had a very calm, logical personality. And he was right but…

"He probably isn't but he still doesn't LIKE me and doesn't want anything more to do with me than necessary. And all the Crypteks under him have noticed and that means they avoid me," Loki said, feeling a bit miserable. He understood, he really did, but it was so hard. "This is what might be hard to get… with humans, you never want to be friends with someone the boss doesn't like. That can get you in real trouble, kind of ostracized from the group and that's how you lose your job." Was he putting this well? "And even if you can't lose your job you can lose opportunities and why would anyone take a chance? I mean, I'm not even that fun to be with really." Loki felt really sad as he said that. He knew Calder would disagree, but Calder really liked him and was used to him being weird. "Necrons have these same dynamics too. Maybe even worse." Loki wasn't sure about that, he wasn't a xenologist, but he knew necrons could be impressively vindictive when someone fell out of favor. The young aeldari glanced at each other and Loki could sense they were feeling baffled by his words.

"That is very strange," Zakiron said as they started the next round. Loki looked at his cards and groaned inside… now he had all the mid-tier cards! Ugh.

"This hand sucks," Loki grumbled before playing his card. He was going first too, which was the worst when you had a mid-tier hand. "I'm not any kind of expert or anything, but maybe it's because groups are important and humans are kind of disposable. One person causing problems to the group? Get rid of 'em, it's for the best. It's different when every person is precious." Loki thought that was how the eldar fundamentally differed from humanity. Humans would always be ready to sacrifice a member of the group, if that person was dragging the group down. "I'm the person causing problems for the group. It's always been that way," Loki said with a bit of melancholy. He'd never fit in, not really. Honestly, despite his problems with the field techs, the best place for him had been the army. Maybe… no, that was the reason he'd decided to go back when he'd gotten the chance. It wasn't just immortality although that was nice. It was because the army was the only place he'd felt like he'd really belonged.

Then some snacks arrived, delivered by a floating mechanical thing that was disguised to look like a piece of wood! It was awfully pretty and Loki admired the little blooms that had been carved into it. He'd noticed the aeldari tended to make everything beautiful. It was a shame he couldn't -

"Oh!" Loki suddenly cursed himself for being a fool. Why was he not thinking?! He shifted to his human form and suddenly the chair was way nicer as he was able to adjust his hips properly. "I'm dumb, I should have done that ages ago - can I have some?" The snacks really looked nice, little pastries with filling. Loki had noticed the eldar really liked pastries and buns although he was a bit vague on what they used to make them. The Craftworld did not have fields of grain, were they even grain based? Or did they get the wheat from the Imperium? No one really admitted to it but everyone knew there were trade routes between factions and some of them were pretty stable.

"Of course!" Loki smiled and helped himself to a pastry, noticing several of the eldar looking at his human form curiously. Although he'd made it to match his necron height this time, so he was crazy tall for a human. Perfectly proportioned though. Loki vaguely wondered how big Loki's true form would technically be. The Warp didn't care about the laws of reality but mythologically speaking, Loki was a frost giant and would have a 'true form' based on that. Then the other operating system supplied the answer… his unadjusted size, when he spontaneously appeared, was roughly the size of a Primarch. Loki knew some Primarchs were bigger than others, so maybe some of them were bigger than Loki. To ancient humans back on Terra, the frost giants and Asgardians would have been huge!

The rest of the game went smoothly and Loki tried to learn a bit about the eldar. They really did look at the world differently than humans. In one way, they were similar to the Necrons… a few hundred years? Pth, that was nothing. The other differences were more subtle though and Loki thought he understood why humans had so much trouble dealing with the aeldari. They were human enough that you expected them to act like humans, so the differences would really catch you off guard. And that's when they were playing fair which a lot of the time, they weren't.

Still, Loki had a great time and they set a time to meet up again for another game, in a week. That would give Loki plenty of time to concentrate on his lessons! He was really looking forward to the materials one, he wanted to see what he could make. Although he felt something a bit odd from the real Loki, an uncertainty? Loki wasn't sure what that was about.

Maybe he'd find out soon.

Loki peered over the edge of a broken cliff, taking in the scene in front of him.

With his long experience with video games, Loki immediately knew that everything about this screamed boss fight! The biggest giveaway was the large, circular area framed by broken cliffs. Utterly classic boss fight design. The second giveaway, to Loki at least, was the surprisingly unassuming young Imperial Guardsman meditating in lotus position on the hard stone. Beside him was a black pole, just a staff? He shouldn't have been scary but Loki knew better. He is unmarked. Just a simple soldier? No way, this was a commando, an elite. He was deliberately unmarked to deceive enemies into thinking he was some scrub, but Loki was dead sure he was the opposite.

(that Loki himself had been an unmarked elite completely went over his head)

Loki examined the man, using a few runes to give himself the gaze of eagles to see him closely. Warm brown skin, very thick black hair, a face that was handsome enough to make Loki a little jealous. He even had a little scar on his cheek, just a small line from a weapon that had barely knicked him! Loki had always wanted a cool scar like that, something that wasn't disfiguring but just looked neat but he'd never gotten one. Why was life so unfair?! Loki knew that his weird personality had lost him a few girlfriends, but his boring-to-ugly looks had prevented him from getting many in the first place. That was just a fact, even Calder didn't try to say he was WRONG exactly, just that there was a lid for every pot…

Loki shook that thought away as someone walked up the stairs leading to the boss room. As he'd thought, it was Mr. Dorn! He was looking excellent in some brand new armor that seemed to have a gryphon theme. And he seemed relieved to see an Imperial Guardsman. Uh oh! Loki quickly traced some runes.

Mr Dorn, be careful, this is a boss fight room and he's definitely a boss! Loki whispered and the man meditating lifted a hand. That was all the warning he got before a blast of pure force hit the outcropping in front of him. Loki fell back, narrowly avoiding getting hit in the head! Although from what he saw, that wouldn't have killed him, just stung really bad.

"No assisting the testee shall be allowed," the Guardsman said calmly before moving to his feet in the smoothest transition from sitting Loki had ever seen. Was that magic? Then he bowed to Rogal Dorn, deeply. "Great Primarch. I stand before you on request of your father, the Emperor of Man. You will pass my test or you shall die." Well, that was pretty blunt and Loki could see Mr Dorn was taking this seriously now.

"Who are you? And will this be a trial by combat?" Dorn's glance at the pole was wary. Loki glanced at it again… it was a flat black pole and something about it didn't seem right. It wasn't the proper length for a staff or a truncheon. The Guardsman nodded with a small smile.

"I am Elir Fellmoon, of the clan of Fellmoon, sept to the Silver Blades chapter of the Grey Knights." Loki had no idea what this guy was talking about but from the look on Dorn's face, he knew. He seemed mildly impressed. "However, for the purpose of this test…" he held out a hand and the pole flew into his grip. He pointed it at Dorn and Loki suddenly had a feeling he knew what it would eventually do. "You may call me by my true name: I am Vishnu the Preserver, protector of all that is good." HOLY SHIT REALLY?!

For Dorn's second question, Vishnu didn't bother to answer it with words. Instead he answered it with a pole to the face, which Dorn blocked with his shield. Loki watched in amazement as they began to spar… and this was basically a spar. He didn't doubt Vishnu would kill Dorn if he did something REALLY dumb, but that wasn't the point of this fight. It was to teach him. But what exactly was Vishnu trying to teach Mr Dorn?

Loki watched as they clashed, trying to figure out what was going on. Vishnu was moving with incredible speed and employing his ability to see the future, just enough, to basically harass Dorn. His staff came out of nowhere and would hit him any place that wasn't adequately defended. Loki was sure Mr Dorn knew that in a real battle, Vishnu would be gradually bleeding him out. Meanwhile, Dorn was finding it almost impossible to touch the god. Not because there was anything wrong with his skill, but because this was the Warp and Vishnu was cheating. What was he supposed to be learning from this exactly?

"Hey, can you give him a hint?!" Loki decided to take his life in his hands and yelled at Vishnu. Dark eyes flicked towards him and Vishnu suddenly leaped back, disengaging. Then he tilted his head to one side, thinking about it and Loki sensed something. Holy shit, was he conferring with the Emperor?! Loki was pretty sure he was!

"Very well. I am a God. In the real world, where reality holds sway, mortals can defeat the Gods. However in the Warp, where we were born, it is the opposite; if you face me as a mortal, you cannot win." Vishnu held out his staff and Loki nodded as light flowed around it in a beautiful pattern, before condensing on the head of the staff. It was like a mandala, glorious and beautiful yet also sharp as a knife. Loki wasn't surprised at all… he'd known the staff would become a spear, sooner or later. "But you contain a Warp entity. Your challenge is to face me as such and grasp the power within yourself. If you cannot do that, you are of more worth to the Emperor as a spirit than a living Primarch." Wow, harsh! Dorn's eyes lit up though and Loki could see a light of battle madness in them. That had touched something deep and primal within him.

They clashed again and Dorn was moving faster and Loki could almost feel him getting it. It wasn't anything obvious, at first, just an extra energy. But he was figuring out how to see the future just far enough and matching Vishnu. Vishnu was smiling a little as his attacks failed to land.

Dorn kept getting better though! Loki had to strain to understand what he was doing, at first it looked like gauntlets of light, but then he realized it was solid energy claws. They flickered on his hands as he struggled to fully realize them, and Vishnu's attacks helped, as the claws countered his spear pretty hard when Dorn got them to work. It kept firming up, getting better and Loki was sure that pretty soon, Dorn would have them completely under his control.

Vishnu gave Dorn a decent amount of time to get used to his claws before taking things to the next level. He slammed the butt of his spear onto the hard stone and Loki's eyes went wide as he registered Vishnu's unbridled power surging out. Perception made reality and Vishnu seized control of the Great Wasteland, making it into what HE wanted. And that was simply nothing, as the stone shattered and they were in a great sky, blue with white clouds. Loki yelped as he danced from stone to stone, trying desperately to take control enough to reject gravity. He couldn't though, Vishnu had an iron grasp on things and he'd decided that gravity mattered. What was he supposed to do?! Loki-the-real-one felt mildly exasperated, in the back of his mind, and sent him a suggestion.

"Oh right!" Loki exclaimed before shifting himself to a bird, a great owl. Flying came naturally and Loki understood that the real Loki had flown like this many, many times. As he flew, completely losing track of Dorn and Vishnu, Loki saw a black fleck, then two. They came closer and resolved into two ravens.

"Hugin! Munin! Hey, it's been a while," Loki greeted the two birds. He hadn't seen them for a while but honestly, that wasn't unusual. They were often doing their own thing. They caught up to him, gazing down and Loki followed their gaze. Wow, was Dorn using glowing wings and learning how to fly?! Vishnu was using mandala's of light on his feet, Loki didn't know what that was but he was flying easily.

"Yeah, we've been busy. What is this?" Munin said, gazing down at the battle still going on. Loki shrugged as best he could when he was a flying owl.

"Not really sure," he lied. Loki wasn't going to trust the ravens with this, he wasn't sure who they were working for. He was pretty confident the ravens wouldn't lie to him but they'd sure as hell spread anything he said to their other contacts.

"Liar. Not that it matters, we have eyes. The Gryphon is remembering who he is?" Munin asked and Loki almost missed a wingbeat. That was who Mr. Dorn had inside him?

"Wow, really? This is a pretty crazy day," Loki mused as he looked down, using his greater eyesight to see what was going on. Vishnu was flying in a really strange and beautiful way, using mandalas of light around his ankles and somehow using them to propel himself. It was honestly kind of gorgeous. There were some islands of floating rocks now and Loki could sense that was the Great Wasteland not really enjoying what Vishnu was doing and fighting back a little. "Wait, so Gryphon is a beast spirit in the Warp? Is that because a lot of humans thought it was real?" He was guessing that was how it worked.

"Yeah, exactly. And you know how beasts are," Hugin said and Loki nodded to himself. Mythological beasts had things pretty easy compared to the ancient gods. They were strong enough to take a place in the ecosystem of the Warp, but too weak for the Ruinous Powers to care about. Plenty of them died of course, but it was generally from predating each other. "The Gryphon was a good choice to make a Primarch, he's loyal and true." Yeah, that was what the Gryphon symbolized. Although he seemed like a weak Warp Spirit to pick. Couldn't the Emperor have found better? Then the other operating system seemed to intrude on his thoughts and Loki blinked as important information was imparted to him.

"Huh," Loki muttered as he understood. The real Loki thought bigger was NOT better and using too powerful Warp spirits had actually been the Emperor's downfall. He'd even approached Loki himself about becoming a Primarch and Loki had told him that was a completely awful idea and to take a hike. He hadn't been nice about it either, telling the Emperor what an idiot he was! The Emperor had kind of listened but he'd still kept going for things that were too strong. Loki didn't know exactly what it was but he thought Magnus had something like that, and the lost Primarchs had definitely been like that. Loki knew for a fact that one of them had contained the spirit of the Morrigan, which had probably seemed like a good idea at the time but wow it had gone wrong. All of this meant that Rogal Dorn's warp entity was a perfect fit for him and a great pick in general. Although, Loki didn't fully understand one thing. "What's so different about an Avatar compared to a Primarch?"

"Are you talking to yourself?" Munin asked and Loki laughed. He really was! "Well, I can tell you. An Avatar gives up most of their psychic potential, becoming a vessel for the God. A Primarch doesn't at all, they get everything, thanks to what the Emperor did. You see the problem." Ohhhh… yeah. That was NOT good at all, was it?

"Way more vulnerable to corruption," Loki muttered. Avatars were super resistant to Warp corruption, being fundamentally just Warp entities in a human body. A Primarch had a different dynamic which made them more powerful than an Avatar, in a lot of ways, but also far more vulnerable. And the stronger the Warp entity used to make one, the worse it would be. The Gryphon was so relatively weak he'd be hard for someone like Khorne to see, but the Morrigan would shine like a beacon. "The Dullahan was actually a really good choice, wasn't it?" Loki could really see now why the Emperor had used that despite the downside.

"Oh yeah, the Dullahan was perfect. Martial skills, virtually invulnerable to damage, but just a creepy myth so almost invisible to the greater powers," Munin confirmed and Loki nodded to himself, keeping an eye on Dorn. His flying was getting really good and he was fighting Vishnu really well, Loki was confident this would be over soon.

Loki was right and the endless sky dissolved, reforming back into the Great Wasteland. He could sense a bit of relief from the fabric of the Warp. It couldn't stop Vishnu, he was a god, but the Great Wasteland didn't like being warped THAT far outside of what it usually was. It wanted to serve its purpose.

Vishnu and Rogal Dorn landed. The Primarch was breathing heavily, a bit of sweat on his forehead, but he was also looking really pleased, almost elated. Well, he'd just learned to fly! Vishnu was smiling slightly as he deactivated his spear, turning it back into a pole.

"I assume I have passed your test?" Dorn asked and Vishnu nodded as Loki and the birds came in for a landing.

"Indeed you have. And what is this?" Vishnu regarded the two ravens severely. They just looked at him with beady eyes as Loki turned human again. Then Vishnu sighed heavily. "The usual?"

"Yep," Munin said and Loki was completely lost as Vishnu grumbled and began taking out cans? Glancing towards Rogal Dorn, he saw the Primarch was also confused as Vishnu opened the cans and put them on the ground?

"Wait, are you bribing them not to report to Chaos?" That was the only point to this Loki could see, Vishnu would have no affinity at all for the ravens. Vishnu grimaced as Dorn very quietly took a step towards the ravens, but then Vishnu shot him an admonishing glance and shook his head.

"Something like that. And don't try to attack them, if that worked they would be dead a thousand times over." Vishnu sighed, looking at the ravens who were just going to town on the stuff in the cans! Loki suddenly caught a whiff of it and his mouth watered.

"Hey, is that cod liver?! Gimme some of that!" He tried to steal a can and got pecked. "Come on, sharing is caring!"

"No, go get your own." OH COME ON!

"That stuff is so expensive! And the cheaper types aren't even real, they're liver from other fish and they don't taste half as good and most of the time you can't even GET the expensive stuff because there's too much demand - " Loki almost got hit in the face with a tin of cod liver as Vishnu lost his patience and threw it at him. He didn't care though as he caught it! "Oh wow thanks! I'm taking this home, it's the best with oat cakes." And he really didn't want to waste it! Maybe he'd share it with Eldrad and Yvraine? Would they like cod liver? There wasn't much in a tin though, maybe he should just have it himself.

"Enough. We should go," Vishnu said and Dorn nodded but Loki had a sudden qualm.

"Uh, Vishnu, this is a stupid question but it's also kind of important," Loki said, knowing he was going to sound like a human. Warp entities just didn't think like this at all but to him, it mattered. "WHEN is this happening for you? When is this happening for Mr. Dorn?" Dorn frowned, but Vishnu just smiled as though he'd asked a good question.

"A foolish question, as the Warp is non-linear in nature." Yeah, yeah, he knew that! But still - "However, you are right. We are meeting you from different parts of the timeline and will exit at a different point." Vishnu turned his attention to Dorn for a moment. "Loki is here from what we would consider to be the past." Huh!

"So for you this is after the Pariah Nexus. What happens if we lose? Did none of this happen?" Loki was fairly sure that was how it went. Vishnu shrugged.

"Even I have difficulty understanding that. I think it more likely that all this has and will happen, but we will simply never exit as there is nothing to exit into." Oh. "The future this led to being invalidated by the destruction of all life." Right.

"Wait, what? What is happening?" Dorn asked and Vishnu shook his head.

"For us, it does not matter. Even if I could bring you out to Loki's time, I have reached you from deep in the Imperium Nihilus. It would take months if not years to reach the Pariah Nexus, and you would be too late. Trust in him, and your brothers. Guilliman and the Lion will attend to this threat." Vishnu's expression turned bleak. "Also, as long as they succeed, our reality will come to be and it is a terrible one. Come, we need you." Oh man, what was happening in the Imperium Nihilus after the Pariah Nexus was over? They all knew Chaos had pulled back to let them deal with that so this implied they'd gone ham after Szeras was defeated. Loki wasn't surprised, although he was a bit depressed at the thought. Loki watched as Vishnu created a portal and led Dorn out of the Immaterium and back into the real world. He hoped they made it safely.

Even if it was pretty terrible out there, it beat not existing at all.

Character profile: Kezgul the Bloody-Handed

Kezgul is a daemon prince dating back to the Aztec Empire. He was deeply religious and sworn to Huitzilopoctli, who unfortunately had been killed and absorbed by Khorne. When he was first elevated, Kezgul still sincerely believed that Khorne was Huitzilopoctli. He still holds a small fondness for those times, although he knows better now.

Kezgul is not remotely a berserker. For some reason, that aspect of Khorne's properties does not affect him. Instead, he is a battle junkie similar to Manric. He adores fighting beyond all else and is constantly trying to improve his skills. Part of the reason he puts up with Loki is because his scenarios can sometimes force Kezgul and his men to adapt and use unconventional tactics.

In terms of personality, Kezgul is definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed. More intelligent than the vast majority of orcs, he's roughly on par with one of the dumber Space Marines. In particular, Kezgul has very little imagination and is an extremely concrete person. However, despite that he is considered one of Khorne's most valuable subordinates and a great leader. First, being able to maintain his head and not go into a battle frenzy is extremely valuable, but he also has a good bit of charisma. Not nearly as much as Galmakh, but his subordinates love him and will walk through fire on his command. Kezgul also has the same gift as the old Sautekh Phaeron… he is good at delegation. While he loathes the fiddly details of logistics, Kezgul understands their importance and is very good at finding subordinates who actually like that sort of thing and then treating them well. While he doesn't exactly go easy on them - that isn't his way - Kezgul has quietly made sure those particular subordinates have no chance of death in the Pit and Loki's games. He's also made sure they aren't aware of that, as he wants to get the best out of them, in combat as well as their other duties.

Kezgul is good at tactics but not good at overall strategy but again, he has several battle geniuses supporting him who are good at that and help direct the overall battle. Kezgul is the glue that holds it together, the overwhelming force of charisma and strength that Khornite demons and Chaos Cultists need. Imotekh and Guilliman would both understand and respect this style of command, and see him as a worthy opponent.

However, it is unlikely that they will ever meet him. In the Great Game, the most important opponents to the Chaos Gods will always be each other. Kezgul's forces are stationed deep in the Eye of Terror and often clash directly against the forces dedicated to Nurgle and Tzeentch. Even when Chaos moves strongly into the material realm, Kezgul will likely be deemed too valuable to waste there and be kept to guard Khorne's back. Unlike many daemon princes, who would chafe at such a position, Kezgul recognizes it for the honor it is.

Khorne trusts very few daemon princes the way he trusts Kezgul.