**Author's note: this chapter is somewhat violent, and was foreshadowed all the way back in chapter 21! Enjoy!**
Evring Sinclair and I stepped away from the pool area, and back into the sun room. Here, Alberich was currently chatting with a curvaceous woman dressed as some kind of white-robed snow sorceress. She wore a silver mask decorated with crystals, and two long blonde braids fell over her shoulders. She was especially well endowed, I was able to see as Alberich also had noticed, his eyes taking furtive glances at her chest as he nodded at her questions.
"It is simply fascinating to actually speak with a civilized mutant! I mean no offense, but most of your kind is trash," the woman informed Alberich, who only flinched and (incredibly) did not become upset. "Why, I must say that I've always been fascinated with the bird mutants and their strange primitive cultures. Why, I've actually heard rumors that your people are excellent shipwrights elsewhere in the galaxy. I guess every race has to be good at something, right? Is that true?"
"I do not know if that is true, my lady, but what I am deep down is a man of civility and culture," the beastman said as Evring and I walked up to him.
"Hello again, mutant manservant of Erika's!" Evring greeted Alberich as he flirted with the snow princess. "I'm taking your companion on a tour of the palace, and we will be back soon."
"Can't he come with us?" I asked Evring, surprised. I watched as the flirty woman drew her finger across Alberich's gold beak, who smiled in response. Alberich appeared intoxicated, which was sort of a disappointment.
"I do apologize, but there is a strict, 'no mutants allowed' rule in the more private wings of the palace, you must understand. We abide by governor Langwidere's wishes and rules. While my family holds much control over Tar Vigaz and the greater Conglomeration of Ev, Langwidere's wishes still must be heeded."
"Do you need me to come with you?"Alberich asked me, not quite hearing what Evring had just said as he continued to flirt with this woman.
"Nah, I'll be fine. I dented the ship with my fist the other day, remember?"
Alberich responded with a chuckle. While this situation was suspicious, I didn't think that I absolutely needed the beastman around, especially if he was intoxicated. I was getting tough enough that I could probably handle most dangerous situations now with my burgeoning psychic strength. After all, this planet seemed pretty normal, and didn't have an entropic curse, Necrons, or pylons shutting off the Warp, so I was quite confident in my ability to defend myself if need be.
"Just don't go far, and don't drink too much more, okay?" I suggested to Alberich, who nodded as he continued to ogle this woman.
"Very well. I did swear an oath to you, meine Führerin."
"Please enjoy yourself, Alberich," Evring interjected. "But, drink responsibly. We still have yet to enjoy the feast and the entertainment part of the evening. Shall we be off, Erika?"
"Just a minute," I responded, examining Alberich with a critical eye.
Maybe I was overthinking this, but Alberich hadn't been behaving quite normally since our encounter with Word Bear. My intuition then strangely whispered to me that something else was in play here. I hoped that I was just being paranoid, so I decided to check.
"Hey, Alberich?"
"Hmm?"
I reached out with my lightning claw hand, and touched the beastman's shoulder. Using a small nudge of Sight, I glanced within Alberich's soul, and discovered that I had been entirely correct in my intuition. It appeared that Word Bear had implanted a psychic suggestion inside the beastman's mind in order to get him out of the way of our conversation, and that suggestion was "go to the bar and drink". I sighed. At least the Chaos Marine hadn't hurt him. Quickly, I burned the implanted enchantment away so he wouldn't keep compulsively drinking all night.
Alberich immediately froze, and the feathers on his neck and head stood on end as his smile dropped. He then looked at me as I removed my hand. "It seems," he began, turning his head. "It seems I am slightly intoxicated."
"Yeah," I answered. "Anyway, no more drinking for you for a little while. I'm going on a tour with Evring here. Don't worry about me." I paused, and added, If he fucks with me, I'll just kill him or something.
Alberich burst out laughing, which confused Evring as we both turned around and began to walk down the sun room again. A great sense of amusement and admiration echoed from Alberich's soul, and he telepathically added, Say what you will about Germany, but you would've been a lovely addition to the Reich with your uncompromising manner! I daresay that I enjoy being around you much more than my former charge.
I decided to ignore that as I followed Evring through the sun room.
After a short walk and a few polite greetings with other high society Evna nobles, Evring led me to a locked door at the far side of the room adjacent to this one, which was apparently some kind of performance hall. As we walked through the locked door, guards immediately advanced upon us, which were then promptly waved away by Evring. We passed a broad stage about five meters in width, and a little over ten in length. Upon the stage, I spied various dancing and laughing slim figures wearing surreal masks. It appeared that they were practicing for a show. Watching them, I recognized their lean bodies and pointed ears as Aeldari.
"Are these the Harlequins that were advertised on the invitation?" I asked Evring as we continued to walk.
"Yes indeed, and this is the palace theater hall. How lucky and interesting that we were able to secure an alien performance troupe! My brother's resourcefulness makes up for his grouchy nature, really."
"And that guy with the horned mask I saw near the pool. Was that their Solitaire?"
"Their what?" Evring asked as he produced a silver key, opening another door at the far end of this theater hall.
"A Harlequin Solitaire," I explained. "They temporarily join troupes for performances. They're really powerful." If Evring didn't know what Solitaires were and their niche in Harlequin society, I didn't feel like explaining it.
"You really are quite worldly, Erika," Evring said with a smile as we were now walking down a pillared hallway. "I personally don't waste time with learning about all this alien stuff. All I know is that they put on a good show."
We walked down this lengthy hallway for a few minutes until encountering a very tall locked set of double doors. Once again, Evring used his key to unlock this door, and we were through. I realized that it looked similar to the key that Word Bear had given me, and felt grateful that I had it.
"While the palace is very large, our east wing is the most lavishly decorated of the four wings, and easiest to get to from the main halls," Evring informed me as we were now standing in a large hall filled with various statues and ornaments. Above, a stunning crystal chandelier guttered to life. This looked like some kind of private museum. "We don't typically allow guests here, but, governor Langwidere and the Grand Advisor suggested bringing you out this way after your earlier inconveniences with the cultists. No one ever really sees this area! It's special."
"I'm sorry, but do you really believe Mombi? Like, it was pretty obvious to me who the culprits were when I was attacked." I decided to put Evring on the spot now that we were somewhat removed from the rest of the party. It was so ridiculously fishy that I was being given this "tour", but since a part of me was itching for a confrontation now, I felt uncharacteristically outspoken. One of the only things holding me back was the possibility that the ruling body of this world would arm the mine field around this planet if I upset them enough, which would trap me here.
Evring didn't say anything, and he sighed, appearing genuinely frustrated. "I personally disagree with a lot of things that my older brother and the governor say, but I don't have as much power as they do. That's all that I'll say." The younger Sinclair brother walked over to a tall metal statue of some kind of abstract humanoid figure. It was wearing a chain of emeralds around its featureless head, and its arms were outstretched in a heroic pose. "This is our ancient Evian archaeology room. Collected here are some of the priceless jewels and ornaments that were discovered on the site of Evna thousands of years ago."
I walked up to the tall metal statue in the center of the room. The figure had a square torso, narrow hips, long limbs, and spindly fingers. If I didn't know any better, I would say that this actually looked like a piece of Necron art. "They found all this before building this city?" I glanced around the room, and discovered various sculpted metal statues, along with bowls, pottery, and emeralds of stunning size and brilliance displayed in glass cases.
"Yes. It is believed that an ancient alien civilization called this world home long ago, but has since become extinct. The wealth of Tar Vigaz was actually kick-started by the discovery of all this art, which was sold to various collectors by my family's ancestors."
As I browsed the museum, I noticed that Evring was watching me, but he turned away when I looked at him directly. "You know, some of this stuff reminds me of the Necrons, but I never knew their race to make art."
"What's a Necron?"
"Race of metal skeleton robots," I replied, browsing the artifacts of the museum. I came to a corner, and it appeared that one of the statues was missing from its pedestal.
"Before you ask, yes, that piece is missing. From what I understand, this statue was of some kind of robot, and it was found separately from the cache. The governor didn't even get too upset, since that piece didn't really match the others. Thing looked really silly too, from what I remember. We think it was stolen by one of our aides, and we still have an ongoing investigation onto its disappearance, many years later."
This was... worrying to say the least. For this world's sake I hoped that the robot statue was just that, and not some Necron in stasis. The amount of ignorance that Evring was demonstrating here was alarming. I had noticed that the people of this world seemed to live a charmed life compared to the rest of the galaxy. They were prosperous, reasonably tolerant of aliens, and the civilization they had built up here looked perfectly functional, and would actually be more at home in the Star Wars universe, considering how developed and healthy this city seemed to be.
And, every time I had read about any world like this one in the general 40k canon, I realized that soon after, it would probably suffer incredible tragedy.
I now stood before an emerald the size of my fist glittering in a glass case that also showed my reflection in this soft light. My features were harsher with my laurels, and my eyes more unforgiving as they softly glowed in my slightly heightened emotional state. I looked away, not wanting to get a sense of uncanny valley from my own reflection right now.
Evring had not noticed my existential crisis, and said beside me, "Looking back, it was the damndest thing. I was a kid when it happened. Langwidere had a party in here, and the next day, the robot statue was gone. We haven't had a party in the east wing since."
After browsing more ornaments, jewels, strange metal statues, Evring guided me along to another door, which unlocked, led to a long hallway lined with large painted portraits. It was explained to me that these were Langwidere's female ancestors, and that the governor intentionally left her past mysterious in order to appear enigmatic. This meant that almost no one knew where she had come from, or even how she had come into power.
"What's she like, the governor?" I cautiously asked, observing a formal portrait of a blue-eyed woman with fair skin and wavy brown hair in a dress of violet silk. Each of these women each wore chokers of dark gemstones, which I was assuming now was some kind of fashion here in Evna.
Evring paused before answering. A wave of anxiety emanated from his soul as he nervously watched me. "She's brilliant. The most brilliant woman I know. Beautiful, but reclusive. Spends lots of time on her projects, and arguably Evna's biggest technology genius." We passed by a portrait of a woman wearing a green dress, this one wearing her blonde hair up in a messy bun. Her grey eyes shimmered with a dangerous intelligence. Evring strangely continued to radiate apprehension as we continued down the hall of portraits. It almost felt like these portraits were watching us, and it was spooky.
After passing a few more women in chokers and various dresses, we then came upon a terrible surprise, one which caused my Corona to flash in alarm. Evring flinched away as I looked above at this portrait, the last in its line.
it was a painting of Tzeentch! Or, at least the human form that he had been taking to visit me in my dreams and visions!
I whirled around to face Evring. "What is the meaning of this?" I asked, just barely keeping myself under control. "Who is that, and why is that there?" I asked, pointing to the art.
"That... that is..." Evring appeared intimidated by me. "That's governor Langwidere's absent paramour, Heinrich. Do you recognize him? He's been missing for years!"
"Recognize him?" I looked up at the unsettling painting. It was definitely the humanoid avatar of Tzeentch that I had seen. "Heinrich" was sitting in a large plush green velvet chair, and in his hand, he held a short glass of amber liquid, which made it even more upsetting. When I looked further, though, I realized that this person lacked Tzeentch's yellow gold eyes, and blue white skin. The resemblance was definitely there, though. Was this just more Tzeentchian bullshit? "Do I? Maybe? I don't know. Sorry for getting upset. It's been a long few days." I exhaled, getting a grip on myself.
"Well, hopefully you'll get to rest soon," Evring said as he unlocked the door at the end of the hall. "I'm sorry your visit has been shit. This world really does pride itself on civility, and to see all this happen to you is upsetting. I'm sorry again, and I promise that we'll fix this somehow."
I sighed as Evring opened the door. This five meter square room seemed to be a very academic parlor, complete with tall bookshelves, comfortable leather chairs, solid desks, and sofas that looked great to sleep on. Books lay strewn about, and tapestries depicting wilderness scenes along with fine paintings of mysterious dour academics decorated the walls. The pleasant smell of old books and incense hung in the air here. There were three other exits here, one for each wall.
"This is one of our study parlors, filled with unique and rare books from across the galaxy. My brother spends a lot of time here with the Grand Advisor," Evring said walking into the room.
I felt a wave of both unease and déjà vu as I walked further inside the parlor. Hearing the door shut behind me, I even jumped a little. Why was this place so familiar?
"Care for some Amasec? Grigori keeps some around here. Let me see," Evring said as he turned away from me. A small beeping sound could be heard in his direction, and I watched as he reached into a pocket in his costume, retrieving his transmitter-vox-phone. He held it to his head, and began to speak.
I didn't quite hear what he was saying as I had begun to grow distracted by my own burgeoning sense of dread. Something felt both very familiar, and very wrong. I began to turn around, examining this room. Where had I seen this room before? I couldn't quite remember.
Evring hung up his phone, and then interrupted my worried examination of this room with a tap on my shoulder. "I'll be right back. I've been called away. Someone wants my opinion on something. Make yourself comfortable, and I'll be right back."
Alright, something was definitely wrong here, I thought as I watched Evring abruptly leave without a goodbye through a narrow door between two bookshelves on the left wall. Closing the door behind him, Evring's soul continued to sing with heavy anxiety as I heard his footsteps quickly retreat. Now alone in the parlor, I took a deep breath, and reached into my Sight, rallying my energy and determined to figure out what was wrong with this situation. Unfortunately, I then noticed that this particular area was under some kind of psychic dampener, which would greatly inhibit my abilities!
Now greatly worried, I went to the door I had seen Evring escape from, and tried to open it. Of course, it was now locked. "Evring?" I shouted out. "Evring, what's going on here?"
He did not respond. Fuck. I again attempted to rally my energy as I fumbled for Word Bear's skeleton key. I was able to summon a faint sheen of gold light instead of my full Corona. I then took my light and tried to push it through the door to wherever Evring had gone, only to suddenly perceive imminent danger behind me!
I swung around just in time to see a long dart sparkle through the air, aimed right at my head! In a panic, I demanded time to decelerate, but while I was able to slow my temporal perception, I found my ability to move within altered time was now impaired. Because of this, I was treated to the sight of a long pointed dart making its way to my head and neck, and I realized in horror that I couldn't move fast enough to dodge it!
And then, the dart froze. It was now completely suspended in mid air. What?
My perception of time sped up once again, and I was now able to stumble out of the way. The dart had stopped a mere hand's length from my neck! Why did it stop? I hadn't stopped it!
The far door at the rear of the study opened, and I instantly pointed my Sight at the newcomer, ready to blast whoever it was to smithereens. Unfortunately, my psychic abilities were still somewhat curtailed, but a fiery gold ripple raced across my halo in outrage! At the very least, the dart seemed to have come from the left wall, so whoever this was, they had not thrown the projectile.
The newcomer was a pale man with long dark hair and a scraggly dark beard. He wore a plain greyish robe with no adornment. On his neck, he wore what appeared to be some kind of psychic enhancement collar (or hood, I had forgotten what they were properly called). His eyes were a blazing clear blue, and in his hand, he held a long gold staff topped with an eagle with spread wings. In his other hand, he held a glowing crystal, and his attention was on the dart that still hung in midair.
"Just in time! Aha!" the man cried out victoriously!
"What the fuck?!" I shouted, backing up and away from this stranger.
"Don't be afraid of me, Erika! I'm here to help!" the stranger explained, holding up his glowing crystal.
"Who the fuck are you?!" I cried out, still desperately trying to summon my abilities, and failing. I pointed at the floating missile. "Who threw this dart? How do you know my name?" I nervously rattled my questions off as I hastily began to study this room for more hidden intruders.
"I'm a friend! Relax, relax! I know a lot of things! I've been watching you since you've arrived in the city, and I am so glad that I happened upon you!" The man left the dart hanging in mid air, and he now stood before me, smiling widely. He then began to laugh, shaking his head in delight. "Ah, yes, and your surname is Romanov? How fate ties us together!" he mused happily. The strange man sounded very pleased with himself as he watched me with bright eyes. The dart continued to hang motionless in the air. My intuition informed me then that it held a lethal poison. "It was foolish of them to try that. Like poison would stop you. Let me fix that. I'm no stranger to people trying to kill me, and I believe you aren't either, but dying is always uncomfortable." The dart fell to the ground with an easy motion of his long fingers. "Foolish to think that they could stop the will of God with something as simple as poison, the weapon of cowards!" The ragged man smiled widely, and his penetrating blue eyes did not smile with him. "Allow me to introduce myself, fellow wanderer, I am Grand Advisor Grigori, and someone, it seems, wishes to kill you!"
"Well isn't this fucking convenient," I barked, removing the Nemeses Argentum scissors from my cloak pocket, gripping the artifact like a long dagger. Grigori stepped back two paces, but remained smiling. "Alright buddy, you better start explaining yourself!"
"How do I get you to trust me?" he responded to my anger with fearlessness. "Oh, I know. I can turn off the dampener in this room. You'd be able to easily kill me if I did that, or, you could go inside my mind and see that my intentions are good. Yes, I think I'll do that!" he said cheerfully.
Before the Grand Advisor could move to do this, a new male voice shouted into the parlor, "How dare you, Grigori!" The new voice sounded out from behind a tapestry on the left wall, and from a hidden alcove, I was now facing another tall man. My assumed would-be assassin was wearing familiar colorful leather robes, and his face was twisted into an expression of roiling fury. What was most familiar, however, was the red bandana wrapped around his forehead. Ahead of him, he held what appear to be a heavy pistol, and it was now pointed at my head. It was Ven Tristan!
"Drinking too much again, Ven Tristan?" Grigori fearlessly laughed, somehow not taking any of this seriously. "Come now. Maybe we can set you up with some help for your alcohol problem? There's no need for violence here. This is a party!" The strange advisor casually walked over to me again, completely unafraid. Grigori's complete lack of concern somehow caused the furious Navigator to pause in confusion, and as the Grand Advisor passed a desk, his hand casually reached below its tabletop. A click was heard, and at that very moment, everything went crazy.
My Corona instantly ignited fully again in a protective halo as Ven Tristan pulled the trigger of his pistol. Time slowed down, and I found that I now had full control of my Warp and Sight abilities once again! I realized that Grigori had turned off the psychic dampener as the large bullet began to meander its way toward me through the air. This time, I was able to quickly side step this projectile, which then struck a bookshelf with an explosive bang behind me! I then noticed that the Navigator had also been reaching for the bandana around his forehead. As time restarted, he had been able to remove it, exposing his Warp eye, which he immediately fixed to me!
Back in my reality, I had read that looking directly into a Navigator's Warp eye was definitely unwise, but nothing could prepare me for the full horror of what I was able to perceive. A wave of painful metaphysical heat began to assault my being as I gazed into the raw Warp itself through Ven Tristan's eye. While my Corona offered some measure of protection against being exposed to this churning violent energy, whispers of madness began to assail my mind like constricting metal thorns, ravaging my very being. The hate behind the Navigator's terrifying gaze smelled and tasted as thick as a death of drowning in tar. My world began to fracture!
I cried out as my vision began to slowly darken, and I rallied more Sight energy within myself, strengthening my Corona. Pain blossomed in my heart, but the indignation of having someone try to murder me again allowed me to ignore any discomfort.
Like a phoenix, gold fire ruptured around me as I rallied myself to fight back! No! I wasn't letting anyone else murder me, not at home and not in this crazy universe! Any fool who dares to assault me will suffer, and I will enjoy inflicting my retribution against them!
A metaphysical struggle then ensued, and my Sight continued to lash against Ven Tristan's enraged gaze. Intuitively, I was able to sense that this man was not an inexperienced Navigator. He was a survivor that had experienced combat many times, and had surmounted incredible odds to thrive in this dangerous universe. As I continued to stare down the murderous Navigator, my point of view then momentarily shifted, and I found myself glaring downward at the worthless creature from a considerable height. This caused the Navigator to blink, which gave me an opening.
I hurled Ven Tristan against a framed painting on the parlor wall, and with a quick motion, I plucked out his offending third eye with the Nemeses Argentum, causing him to scream in agony. Blood and viscera exploded from his face, spilling to the floor.
"You little fool. Did you think you could actually hurt me?" I boomed as I continued to psychically bludgeon the Navigator. I began to telekinetically press his body against the wall as I lifted him upward. He continued to scream. "Look upon me and know who I am, insect!" I felt myself roar at the Navigator, who couldn't even struggle against my grip. My light was now actually burning his skin, and I laughed. I then further brutalized Ven Tristan by forcing images of my own nature through his mind, causing his screams to become even more pitched.
Distantly, my conscience whispered that I was going overboard, and that my rage was now becoming unhinged, but I decided to ignore that small pathetic voice. I needed to be tough in this universe to survive! If I had been braver and smarter back home, I probably wouldn't have been a target for my own assassination. Only the strong survive in this reality, and I was not going to sit here and be merciful against someone who had attempted to murder me in a cowardly fashion with a fucking poison dart!
I continued to press the Navigator against the wall. He deserved it, anyway, I thought with a nasty smile.
"Murderer! You killed... all my friends!" Ven Tristan desperately cried out, his face now covered in blood as his skin began to crisp under my divine radiance. With a telekinetic shove, I then heard the sound of splintering ribs as I continued to crush him. Blood began to pour from his ears and remaining eyes as I pressed against his throat and skull. "You... are no Empress! I see no such thing! You're a beast, a pretender, a murderer! You've taken everything from me! You are a monster!" he hissed at me, blood pouring from his mouth. "You are a daemon!"
My Sight was then assailed by images of the Renegade Navigator weeping and drinking alcohol in his escape pod, poring over pictures of the lost crew of the Ebon Hare as he slowly ran out of oxygen. Seeing this, I actually began to back off, finally disturbed by what he had said. What the fuck was I doing?
"Now, now! Is that any way to talk to a lady, Ven Tristan?" Grigori spoke up from beside me as I hesitated.
The Navigator turned toward the sound of Grigori's voice and began spitting blood in the direction of the Grand Advisor. "You set me up! You set me up you fucking prick! Fuck you!"
"Looks like you set yourself up. Pity you just couldn't let it go and enjoy your script. You could have retired with that kind of money."
"May the Warp take you, you manipulative animal! I curse you both! I curse you both for-"
With a disgusting pop, Ven Tristan's neck then cracked. In confusion, I realized that I had not done this. Grigori was holding a hand out in a claw-like gesture, and was shaking his head. I dropped the broken and bleeding body of the Renegade Navigator to the floor. His soul then escaped, and the Key greedily drew it to me. The spirit wailed in agony as it sang of his lost friends, his family, and the indignity of his death. Before the Key fully captured him, I was able to perceive his strongest dying thought:
...HATE YOU FOREVER...
I fell to my knees on the parlor floor, and began to dry heave, overcome with emotion. My Corona continued to reflexively glow around me in a protective embrace, as this emotionally wracked moment was so intense that it had disquieted the Warp. In the Immaterium, I could even hear the wicked laughter of newly coalesced daemons that had been spawned from this event. They had heard what Ven Tristan had called me, and they now mocked me. "Monster... monster... monster..." Their hissing psychic whispers were so loud that I could almost physically hear them, their vile voices resembling black whirlwinds filled with teeth and hate.
Behind these gibbering daemons, a larger eye fixed in a snarling face was drawn to me, curious. Its red gaze washed over me like a rain shower of hot blood, pleased with this sensation of violence and hatred. Not having any of this daemon shit right now, I pulled my psychic gaze upward at whatever was watching me, and fixed my Sight angrily upon it. I didn't care who or what this was. All I knew is that it needed to fuck off right now!
The vast eldritch creature watched me, and I could sense that it was both surprised and amused. The entity and I regarded one another for a few very long moments until I began to sense that it was laughing, its voice resonating like molten thunder through me. Around me, I could hear the splintering echoes of breaking glass and broken dreams.
The moment was blessedly cut off when a swift headache struck me, and the laughter instantly ceased. A hand with long fingers then clutched my shoulder in comforting support. "Goodness! I'm now grateful that this area has a psychic dampener. They installed it for security because a few of these books contain secrets that they shouldn't. It lessens connections to the Warp, but does not silence them, so it isn't too painful for psykers, as I am one of them," Grigori explained to me. "I must say, I am indeed impressed. You really are a force of nature. You do your Empress costume justice, tsarina!"
"What?" I sputtered, pulling myself to my feet. My heart hurt after that encounter, and the Key on my chest glowed with a harsh radiance. The sounds of Ven Tristan's hateful screams of agony continued to echo through my mind.
"Don't try to tax yourself. You just stared down a powerful Navigator, and emerged victorious. Incredible!"
Blinking, I tried summoning myself back to the present as I swayed on my feet. Ven Tristan had tried to kill me, and Grand Advisor Grigori had saved me. But, the whole situation was wrong, my instincts screamed! Maybe I was still shaken by this encounter, but this had to be an organized and planned attempt on my life! I had been led out to this parlor by Evring, and he had left me here right before Ven Tristan had thrown a dart at my head. In a fugue, I walked to a leather sofa, and sat down, not really caring if I happened to be covered in blood. As I reeled, a cup of water was placed in my hand, and checking it with my Sight, I was relieved that it was just water. I wanted to ask why that Navigator hated me so much, but I already had my answer.
I closed my eyes, and took deep breaths as I attempted to center myself. Even with the modulating effects of my laurels, this had been a traumatic experience. What the hell had come over me? My heart hurt as I remembered what Ven Tristan had called me, and as much as I tried to deny it, I knew that he had been right.
I was a monster. I had killed all of his friends, and now, I had just killed him.
I reached up and touched my Key. Its surface was hot to the touch. The Navigator had been a powerful man, and I knew the Divine Retribution would get a lot of energy from him.
"That was certainly exciting! You're lucky I happened to be back here," Grigori asked beside me on the leather sofa, completely unbothered by everything. I turned to the Grand Advisor and studied him more critically. He had somewhat greasy long brown hair, and an unkempt dark beard. His body was tall and thin, almost bony in structure. If his robe and staff were a part of a costume, he reminded me somewhat of a bearded Malcador. One thing also stood out as well. Grigori, like Alberich, possessed an accent. While Alberich's speech was definitively German, Grigori's accent was distinctly Russian. I then remembered that Justinian had mentioned that the Grand Advisor had been investigated for being a possible Traveler.
Taking a few more deep breaths and forcing myself to calm down, I studied Grigori. "You know, it's really convenient that you were here. Suspicious." I felt my Corona strengthen, and I began to frown, subconsciously readying myself for another confrontation.
"Sometimes fate plays out in strange ways, but I assure you, I only wished to save you. I happened to be back here because this parlor is near my quarters. I will also tell you that Ven Tristan was recently castigated by the Sinclair family for his drunken behavior in recent days. But, is what he said true? Are you responsible for the deaths of those in his mercenary vessel?"
Still suspicious, I glared at the Grand Advisor, knowing that my eyes were glowing. He was actually able to return my gaze, although he did appear intimidated by it. With a push of my Sight, I sensed that deep down, Grigori actually truly wanted to save me from Ven Tristan. I felt a slight mental block that would take more effort and psychic violence to overcome, but since I had already blown up once tonight, I decided to let it go. That could be seen as an assault on the Grand Advisor, who apparently was somewhat of a formidable psyker.
Half in a daze, I remembered that Grigori had asked me if I had been responsible for the destruction of the Ebon Hare. "Yeah, actually," I responded, feeling terrible. "I... I wish I could say that it was an accident but it wasn't. His ship was stalking mine, and I chased after him. His ship overloaded. It blew up, and everyone died."
"Mmm, he did say something to that effect, yes," Grigori mused. I watched as he now began to study the devastation this encounter had inflicted upon the parlor. Breathing deeply, I also began to inspect the damage I had caused.
It was much worse than I had thought. Every mirror and every surface of glass had shattered into pieces, and the painting that I had hurled the Navigator against was now torn to rumpled pieces and partially charred on the floor next to Ven Tristan's bleeding body. I shuddered, and looked at the Grand Advisor. Would I have to remove Grigori's memories? How the fuck would I cover all his up?
"It appears that we've made quite a mess," the Grand Advisor observed as he placed his focusing crystal (which was also broken) on a small nearby table, and leaned his eagle staff beside him on the sofa. "I do hope no one spied upon your actions here, but I will attest that it was self-defense for you. As Grand Advisor, I am quite persuasive, and I will testify on your behalf if it comes to that."
Blinking and dazed, I said nothing. I found a mirror shard on the floor. With a telekinetic pull, I summoned it to my hand, and held it up to check my appearance. I was actually remarkably clean, with no hair out of place. My expression was stern, and my eyes were still faintly glowing, which made me appear coldly fearsome. Small droplets of blood sporadically decorated my armor, and I was easily able to wipe them off with a piece of the torn tapestry. As I did this (and as I considered whether or not to strip the Grand Advisor of his memories), I decided to ask, "So, where are you from? That accent is somewhat familiar to me."
Grigori smiled. "My planet of origin is somewhat complicated. But, to keep the answer simple, I will just say that I come from a distant place named 'Russia'."
I stopped examining myself, and turned to the Grand Advisor. "Are you serious?" I asked incredulously. "Like, planet or nation?"
Grigori smiled widely as I asked him this. "Are you familiar with Russia, wanderer?"
Fuck it, I would just ask him. I wasn't in the mood for games right now. "Maybe. Are you going to tell me that you came from another universe?"
Grigori smiled even more widely, and his eyes almost glowed with delight. "I knew it!" the Grand Advisor began to laugh. "You're also one of them! You are a Traveler, just as I am!"
Stunned, I watched Grigori with wide eyes. "You're from Russia the country, aren't you? What year?"
"1916, tsarina." Grigori began to tremble with excitement as his eyes began to dampen. Elation crossed his features. Continuing to smile maniacally, Grigori then stood and proceeded to prostrate himself on the floor before me. "Back home, I was poisoned by enemies, but I did not die! Instead, I found myself here! A wonder it is to finally find another like myself from my home reality! And your surname! Ah, I am beside myself with wonder and happiness! God's plan in action to bring me to you!"
"What about my name?" I asked, still completely overwhelmed. Again, the screams of the Navigator howled through my mind as my guilt reasserted itself.
"Romanov! Your surname is Romanov! Praise God!" he sputtered, still elated. He even clapped his hands in joy. "Do you happen to recognize me, dearest tsarina? Do I gaze upon little Anastasia, all grown up as a woman of beauty and ferocity, as I always knew her to be? Or perhaps the comely Olga with her dark eyes?" Grigori then stood quickly, and reached forward with a long-fingered hand to touch me. I cringed backward on the sofa.
"What... what did you say your last name was?" I asked as an impossible suspicion then began to dawn upon me.
"I am in a different body of course, so I understand if you do not recognize me. It makes sense, and I do apologize for any impropriety, tsarina. You stand once again before Grigori Rasputin, advisor to the royal Romanov family of Russia, and now, Grand Advisor to governor Langwidere and the ruling body of the entire Conglomeration of Ev. I have sworn an oath to your name, and now, I can continue to honor it! Tell me, are you a member of the royal family, tsarina? I hear rumors that people call you 'Empress', or even 'God'!"
I could only respond to that with stupefied silence, as I simply did not have enough energy to deal with this crazy new situation right now. I turned away from the displaced mad monk, and sighed heavily as I shook my head.
Distantly, and over the sounds of Ven Tristan's screams in my own mind, I could almost hear Tzeentch laughing at me.