**Author's note: This is a very violent chapter.**
I almost didn't see the pink wave of energy as it raced toward the air toward me in a ghostly wall. Instinctually sensing danger, I felt time slow around me, and I leapt to the right, managing to slam into a handful of maddened Chaos corrupted partygoers. I noticed that as I body checked the bloody nude man wearing a devil mask that the contact of my body's gold halo against this man's skin actually burned him.
Time renewed itself, and now, after calming down a little and reining myself in, I found myself standing over three cowering crazed partygoers, their minds agonized by being in close proximity to my gold light. Quickly, I brought my attention back up to Raula, who I now saw flitting away in a blur of pink light again back up to the mezzanine. Shit! I remember having to deal with this moving-away-quickly-in-a-blur-of-pink-light bullshit with Grikk'ahn on Nubua, and I hated it.
Before I could react again to chase after her, an offensively loud discordant wail from the harp daemon vibrated through the room, and now, the corrupted partygoers all decided to rush towards me, despite my burning gold light. Quickly, I skewered one woman dressed as a rat through her right eye with the Nemeses Argentum, which caused her filthy soul to brighten my Key. Directly afterward, two bare-chested and self-injured men rushed reached forward to grapple me with bloody hands, but a beam of multicolored light struck both of them from the side, causing them to scream and fall to the ground.
A quick look behind me revealed Luukai and Alberich standing beside the frightened but sane praying partygoers. The psychic bartender seemed to possess a slight blue halo around his head. He smiled and winked at me as he held up his left hand, which glowed with prismatic brilliance. Further behind, I could also hear the animalistic bellowing of at least one angry Tzaangor. Shortly afterward, the sounds of a violent brawl added to the chaotic symphony of noise in here.
"If you can't fight, hide!" I shouted to the sane partygoers, who were clustered together in fear, their prayers to the Emperor (and, weirdly, to me) whispered in their fear.
A peculiar feeling of satisfaction rippled through me as I observed that some of these people really were actually praying to me. The sensation was actually quite pleasant, and it even seemed to strengthen me. It still felt super wrong that they were doing this, but I didn't have time to lecture these people on the subject of me not being a god right now as an entirely nude woman wearing a cat mask screeched as she ran toward me with a metal candelabra in her hands.
"No, kitty! Bad kitty!" I shouted as a gold fireball left my right hand, connecting with the mad cat woman and setting her ablaze. With a gesture of my hand, I then picked her flaming body up and threw her into the cluster of mad partygoers, causing some of them to catch fire as they were bowled over!
I was never really good at bowling, but at least I was really good at telekinetically throwing jerks around! "Stee-rike!" I cheered!
Another soul jumped into my Key. The artifact was now very warm.
As I raised the Nemeses Argentum defensively (and while frantically trying to locate where Raula White was hidden) I watched in horrified amazement as the flesh of the two shirtless men struck by Luukai earlier began to magically fuse together into one form. Screaming, both men were crushed together before solidifying into some kind of abstract pink crystal statue. Shortly afterward, the two-headed crystal statue shattered, and in its place, a smiling pink horror appeared. This one, like the last one that Alberich had summoned on Nubua, had three clawed arms, and resembled some kind of pink amorphous blob with an oversized smiling maw of sharp teeth. The bizarre daemon had only time for a brief laugh before a daemonette leapt down from the mezzanine, summoned from an unknown action. The Tzeentchian daemon then immediately chased the leaping daemonette as she raced toward me, all while gibbering, "Nasty filthy slut! Leave nice lady alone!" The horror then grappled the daemonette and held it in some kind of bear hug, and began to crush it. "Time for hugs! Hugs time for sluts!" it laughed. The horror then called out in a cheerful voice to me as it proceeded to squash the daemonette's body against its sharp maw, "Nice lady, blessed of the Lord of Change! Go and play, nice blessed lady!"
Hearing this, I perceived Luukai's voice in my mind as I frantically fought off a very bloody nude man who had torn out his own tongue. Lord Tzeentch has blessed you?! I had no idea! If so, I commit myself to y-
"I don't care! Shut up and fight, dude!" I shouted as the Nemeses Argentum brutally sliced the nude man's neck, which ended up spraying my upper body and face with a shower of hot blood. Above, the harp daemon began strumming a new terrible tune, and this one was somewhat familiar. As I listened and strengthened my Corona in preparation for more trouble, the Key captured another soul.
The three small ratlings dressed as members of the Lollipop Guild from The Wizard of Oz had appeared, and they were... dancing their way toward me from down the hall? The music even seemed to serenade them, and the crowd of mad partygoers parted so they could dance their way ahead! What sort of insanity was this?
Another warp bolt (this one from Alberich) flew over the heads of the ratlings, missing them entirely. Of course, one the demented ratlings began to sing screamingly as they advanced upon me: "We represent, the Lollipop Guild! The Lollipop Guild... the Lollipop-"
"-Killed!" I boomed as I set one of the members of the Chaos-corrupted Lollipop Guild on fire, and with a motion of my hand, I hurled him into another knot of maddened partygoers. I turned my angry eyes toward the remaining two munchkin singers, and began to advance upon them with the Nemeses Argentum in my right hand, my Corona bright around me.
The Key captured another soul. My chest began to ache, and a strange electric sensation raced through my nervous system.
Before I could kill the evil Chaos munchkins, a blast of blue electricity arced through five more corrupted partygoers, killing the two remaining ratlings, and three more slathering madmen. Luukai was apparently an accomplished psyker!
My Key brightened with power as the artifact on my chest greedily devoured the handful of escaped souls. Wild power began to surge through my body again, further electrifying me. My heart was beginning to hurt, and I clutched at my chest with my left hand. The energy bleeding from the Key into myself was both exhilarating and frightening, and now, the glowing artifact felt hot on my chest.
Feast on those who would subdue you, little sister... I again remembered what Sebastian had told me when he had possessed me during my escape from Nubua.
Two more daemonettes magically appeared on the mezzanine beside the harpist. Fuck! While our brave little band of miscreants continued to hold our own in the loud ballroom, the actions of the harpist daemon and Raula White's continued daemon summonings were beginning to wear us down. Behind me, I received a mental image of a previously summoned daemonette artfully carving into the frightened group of sane partygoers with her sharp black crab claws. Another soul was drawn into my Key, causing me to gasp uncomfortably. This was getting to be too much! Was there a limit to how many souls the Key could devour at one time? Before I could think about that, I sensed that the Tzaangor that had followed me into the ballroom was racing to confront that murderous daemonette, but not before I sensed the death of yet another innocent person.
The Key grew even hotter, and my world became brighter, stars appearing at the edge of my vision. Within me, I sensed that a supernatural fire had been stoked, and waves of heat and sparkling light began to ripple off my skin. The sensation was simultaneously thrilling and terrifying.
I knew that I had to find Raula White and that I had to dispatch that harp daemon! I looked up toward the mezzanine again, frantically searching for where the Matriarch had vanished, but only saw the harpist as she serenaded her infernal melody from her flesh-crafted instrument. I sensed that the cacophonous Warp-enchanted music was now even beginning to influence the people who had remained lucid! At the very least, I had to stop that harpist!
My leader! What do we do? Alberich asked me in mind as I desperately searched!
Gonna stop the harpist first. Then, I'm going to find Raula White, and I'm going to kill her! I responded, as I rallied my energy. Without even thinking, and feeling myself energized by the prayers of the other lucid partygoers, I braced myself, and I began to race through the chaos of the ballroom, and toward the mezzanine. When a ravening madwoman wearing striped socks and ruby slippers stepped ahead of me to block my passage, I struck her with such incredible force that her screaming body was ragdolled five meters down the ballroom, and proceeded to shatter a gold mirror as she fell lifelessly to the floor. Her soul was drawn to me as I continued my charge. When I was somewhat close, I surrounded myself in a protective hot gold halo before launching myself in a flying leap onto the mezzanine. I landed with a tumble upstairs, and immediately stood, ready for more danger.
My appearance definitely surprised the daemon as she paused her performance. After failing to think of anything wittier to say, I simply informed the Warp beast: "Your music sucks!" I began to advance upon the creature with the Nemeses Argentum outstretched in one hand, which was now glowing with strange bluish radiance. This particular daemonette looked far more formidable than the others that were currently wrecking everyone downstairs, and intuitively, I was now able to discern that this individual was a Herald of Slaanesh. Even though she was still seated at her instrument, I could tell that this creature was taller and more muscular than I was, and while she didn't have two sets of crab claws, her other clawed hand held long vicious talons that she flexed eagerly as she observed my approach. The Herald finally stood from her tortured harp, and brandished her claws ahead of herself with a fanged smile.
"Ah, the new little sister," the tall Herald hissed at me with a musical lilt. "Fake armor, fake bluster, fake everything. The news of her coming is fake! All fake news!" she mocked as she began to stalk forward on her sharp hooves, not afraid of me or my Corona. The unfortunate man that had been melded to her harp still moaned piteously, which still caused "music" to echo into the ballroom.
"Oh yeah?" I responded with the heightening of my voice. I held the Nemeses Argentum ahead of me, and waved it in a threatening manner. "Did Slaanesh not tell you about the weapon in my hand, and what it can do?"
The Herald paused. She then glanced at the glowing Nemeses Argentum. She blinked her wide green saucer-shaped eyes twice, cocked her head, and her smile then dropped.
"Thought so. Not so fearless now, are you?"
She hissed at me again through sharp teeth, and the mutilated man that had been merged to her daemonic instrument moaned again in agony behind her. The tormented man's pained cries continued to send cursed noise through this loud ballroom. The Herald then jeered at me before laughing again, displaying a long black tongue which lashed the air salaciously, "Foolish little sister. You are being manipulated by the Conspirator. You are being made into his fool!"
A loud electric pop echoed below, and I now knew that the pink horror daemon I had seen before was now two blue horrors. Screams and sounds of fear echoed upward, and I sensed that another daemonette had charged into existence below. Raula was still out there and still summoning daemons! Blue flashes of light illuminated the mirrored downstairs area, and daemonic screams of two alignments echoed profanely in this space. Two more souls brightened my Key! I had to put an end to this!
"You know, I haven't actually killed a proper neverborn-type daemon with this yet? I've only killed a Daemon Prince so far. Like, killed completely. I annihilated him. He can never reform! Dead forever! So, if I kill you with this weapon, you're never coming back," I aggressively continued to deride the daemonette, advancing forward and willing my light to brighten. An abrupt dizzying sensation then passed through my body, and I felt a wave of bright power ignite through my very soul. The prayers from the sane group below were becoming frantic, and one soul had even committed himself to me upon his death, which had just happened. Power further energized me, and memories that weren't mine filtered through my mind. I gritted my teeth. "First time for everything, I suppose," I growled, my voice heightening involuntarily through this influx of energy.
The Herald took a step back on her hooves, and then, she even seemed to smile as she noticed my fluctuating light. "Ah, her light glows and dims. The souls she has devoured threaten to burst her from within! Such beautiful gluttony is respected by us! The Dark Prince enjoys her voracity!"
Punctuating what she had just said, my halo began to brighten again as yet another soul was committed to me at the moment of her death. The Key on my chest was now so hot that it was beginning to feel uncomfortable, and my Corona grew brighter, now causing the Herald to step back. My heart ached and burned, and I began to worry if I was about to have a heart attack. How much energy could I absorb? I had to pull myself together here!
The Herald then actually seemed to relax, and stepped bravely forward, which even caused her daemonic skin to smoke slightly in my bright presence. Her smile then actually became somewhat welcoming, and a dark protective halo then surrounded her, shielding her from my damaging light. "The Dark Prince would so love the beautiful one to come to his divine embrace! His arms are open for you, beautiful one! Feast to your heart's content forever!"
The Herald took a gentle step forward as I continued to struggle with the energy within me. Her arms stretched wide, and she smiled warmly.
As I saw this, I felt a dark thought surface through my subconscious. Kill the ones who would threaten the humans! Destroy them! Destroy them all! the wrathful suggestion spoke to me, and my Corona flashed in rainbow brilliance, strengthened by both the injection of the Spook drug, and the influx of freshly devoured souls. This caused the Herald to flinch before she continued smiling at me. Despite all this, the daemon continued to slowly advance. I began to hear beautiful otherworldly music drift through the air as the noise of the ballroom began to fade into the background.
"Would you like an entire world to devour? Perhaps even a Warband of blessed Astartes of your own to consume, already perfectly seasoned by their own battles and tribulations? Think of how delicious their experiences would be as you siphon them away! The Perfect Prince can enhance your palette, and soon, you can dance through all eternity tasting and dining and supping on sublimely delicious mortals! All you have to do is to let him in, beautiful one! All you have to d-"
The daemonette erupted into a screeching fireball of blue flames, and I hurled both her and her mutilated "instrument" across the entire length of the ballroom, striking her remains against the locked double doors. I don't think I'll ever get tired of roasting daemonettes when they try to talk to me, I thought with a short smile. Surprise and fear rose from the combatants that fought below. I then set my empowered glowing gaze to search for Raula White, the bitch who had put me in this situation.
I slowed time down and swept my perception and light outward, searching for where the perfidious Matriarch had hidden herself. I wanted to destroy her!
With my heightened sensitivities, I now saw a pink shadow in the shape of a woman stood partway up the stairs leading to the second floor from the mezzanine. Immediately, the witch realized that she had been perceived, and she then turned to flee from me, racing up the stairs and onto the second floor in a flash of light.
Watching the Matriarch flee set off some kind of predatory instinct in me, and like a big cat honing in on a wounded gazelle, I wanted to hunt and chase. No, I wanted to destroy! Without even thinking, I furiously leaped forward, flying right over the stairs and onto the second floor in pursuit. Behind me, I felt the Warp bend as someone with sorcerous abilities hurled a bolt of multicolored energy at the corrupted costumed rich people, burning a handful of them to death. My Key, of course, responded powerfully to that as well, but I wasn't concerned about that anymore. I had to hunt my prey! I had to enact retribution!
When my feet touched solid "ground" again, I was surprised. I blinked, and discovered that reality itself had shifted. I was now standing on a thick gold tree bough.
Somehow, I then understood that I had bilocated, and that I now fully existed in both the Materium and Immaterium at the same time. Typically, anyone gazing into the Immaterium would instantly have their bodies and sanity torn asunder, but my unique nature (and current fixation on hunting my prey) offered a measure of protection against such spiritual assaults.
I could now see the feminine blur of Raula White as she moved through boughs of perfect gold trees, which were, at the same time, various hallways, balconies, buttresses, and light fixtures in the governor's vast palace. She turned to observe me, and I could see her black-eyed face through her own protective pink Warp shield as she danced down a glittering tree branch that hung heavily with flawless gemstones.
"Oh no you don't," I said, leaping up on a gold column that was also a gold tree heavy with fruit of perfect gemstones. All the false wealth in here was inconsequential, as I needed to destroy my prey! I raced to catch the witch as she deftly moved through the branches.
Our chase took us through an entire forest of various trees (or, thoughtforms that looked like trees, at least). After a short pursuit through the gold gemstone forest, we found that our chase had taken us through a cluster of more animate trees.
As Raula and I raced through a grove of singing apple trees, I found (to my disgust) that I recognized these particular thoughtforms. Familiar sado-masochistic requests from fiendish daemonic apple trees called out to me, and ambulatory vines attempted to lash at me as I raced forward, following the vile Matriarch as she passed easily through the branches of the forest. Inhuman cries of "Mistress! Come back to us!" squealed in my mind as I continued onward. "My punishment is not yet finished, Mistress!"
While I was still within in the governor's palace in Evna, I was also in some sort of supernatural forest in the Warp. This did not make sense at all, but nothing really made sense in my life anymore, so I didn't think on it too much as I continued to chase the witch through the changing landscape.
After escaping the daemonic apple tree grove, the forest we were now racing through was made out of beautiful replicas of platinum trees that were heavy with luminous glittering diamonds. A glittering snow of diamond dust even fell around us as we ran. The "light" in here, (if you could call the illumination in here "light") was a soft pinkish-periwinkle, and it shimmered perfectly off the diamond fruits hanging in the trees, making this whole Warp forest stunningly beautiful. Evocative music echoed through the snowy air, almost as if we were in an action movie, which made the scene even more perfect. Jarring my admiration of this strange place, I was now able to perceive the forms of mortal dreamers and damned souls that were climbing the branches of these impossible platinum diamond trees. They seemed to be clambering for the jewels that hung in the treetops, and paid no attention to the chase between the Matriarch and I. As I ran past a greedy climbing shade, I pushed him aside and caused him to fall from a lower branch. In my mind, I received a flash of his identity.
A rich man was struggling with a fever in his bed. His family, which included his children and his wife, stood near, each praying fervently. As he fell, he let out a primal scream before his spirit struck the ground below in the Warp. Normally, I knew that this would have resulted in the damnation of this man, his soul trapped in the Slaaneshi hells forever, but due to the contact with my gold astral form, this man actually managed to wake up in his bed, covered in sweat and screaming that he wanted to change!
Raula and I were now on a solid balcony somewhere in the palace, and her pink blur raced away from me in another leap, and once again, I found myself back in the Warp.
A daemonette materialized out of nowhere ahead of me, and as I chased Raula through the tree branches, the she-creature reached through unreality to swipe at me with a long black crab claw. Since I was fixated on hunting the Matriarch, I paid the daemon absolutely no concern, and simply decked the bitch in the face, causing her to fall from the treetop with a musical scream. Distantly, I heard the wails of the damned souls in the ballroom as the fighting continued in the palace.
"Let them live! Let the world of Tar Vigaz live, you selfish bitch!" Raula called out to me in the trees. With a long jump, she then vaulted to the ground, and landed delicately as she began to run. The scene had shifted, and now, we were on a long road lined with yellow bricks and perfect gold statues. The witch called back to me as I pursued her, "If you hurt the Family, you hurt those who would defend this world against the xenos!"
Hearing myself insulted yet again, I felt even more energy move through me, and now, I felt taller and move powerful as I raced after the Matriarch. My strides were much longer, enabling me to cover a larger amount of ground in a short amount of time. I didn't stop to think about this change in perspective as I hyperfixated on my hunt. My divine retribution toward those who would commit sin against humans would be severe!
The scene shifted once again, and I found that I was still very tall as I charged down a long hallway lined with mirrors and marble statues as Raula desperately fled from me.
"Call me a bitch again. Fucking do it!" I roared out ahead of myself, fixated on completely destroying Raula White. I could now somehow feel and taste her fear, and I grinned. Dare to fuck with Me, will you?
A flicker of reality, and I now felt the mirrors shattering around me as I raced down the hallway after Raula. Decorations, tapestries, and objects of art were being set aflame or broken into a million pieces as I moved like a tsunami of power down the hallway, pursuing this accursed prey-woman as an eagle would hunt a hare. As I continued on, my head struck a chandelier, which managed to somehow piss me off even more.
In my overwhelming anger, I then felt the now-familiar red eye in the Warp drawn to me once again, and this time, it was immensely pleased. Its presence was now strong enough that I could feel that it wished to communicate with me, and it said to me with the rumble of an earthquake:
A gift for you, Retribution...
A small red daemon now rushed beside me, actually spawned by my feelings of incredible rage. It had a long sword and a lashing tongue as it raced beside me on cloven hooves, just out of range of my Corona. I didn't want that thing near me, but I was so fixated on hunting the Matriarch of the Family of Liberty that I ignored it for the time being. I was retribution, and I had something to destroy!
When we shifted to the Warp again, we were now running through a cracked molten landscape of flowing lava and black rock. The sky above rumbled and broke with supernatural crimson lightning, and the pink shade of Raula seemed to slow in here. Her terror was a delight to my senses, and I even flared my nostrils, enjoying her realization that she had somehow wandered into the wrong part of the Warp.
"You lost?" I boomed like thunder as she finally slowed, trapped on an island surrounded by a river of boiling blood. The little red daemon next to me was now somehow eight little red daemons, and the band was now spreading out around us both in a circle, almost as if to watch the confrontation between me and the Matriarch. I readied myself, and gleefully collected my light into hurling another gold fireball. "Picked a shitty neighborhood to find yourself in, I gotta say!"
I let the fireball go with a triumphant laugh, but the moment the energy left my hand, I fell to my knees, my head screaming in incredible pain! I was now completely back in the Materium, and also, I was no longer an enraged gold Warp-giant. Around me, I could hear the crackling of fire and breaking glass, and before me, Raula White lay staggered on the carpeted ground at the end of the hall, her back against a dead end. She was also gripping her head as fire burned around her on the green carpet. The Matriarch had been burned and her gown had been partially torn from her, revealing both her left breast and a faintly glowing mark of Slaanesh that was now rapidly dimming. Even one side of her blonde head of hair had been burned away, and still smoked on her head, filling the area with a revolting smell.
Due to the fact that most of this palace was mirrored metal, there wasn't much to burn, but ahead of me, I could now see that two ceiling height tapestries depicting governor Langwidere's splendor were now burning, filling the air with more smoke.
The pylon, I remembered, dry heaving in my agonizing migraine. Shit.
Rallying myself, and spitting a gout of blood on the fine scorched carpet, I shakily stood up. I could tell that I was covered in blood, and that my halo had been reduced to a thin line of gold around my head and shoulders.
Raula continued to struggle, obviously very injured. It appeared that my gold fireball had partially connected to her, and as I walked slowly closer, I could see that her destroyed red, white, and blue gown had actually melted to her skin in places. She looked at me, her black eyes burning in hate. "Why don't you just stop?" she asked me as I staggered toward her. The witch spat at the floor ahead of her in disgust at me. "Just stop! Leave this world and let it live!"
"No," I said as I advanced toward the Matriarch. My nose was bleeding heavily, and my Key nearly burned with heat on my chest. One of the flaming tapestries fell, and Raula was forced to throw herself aside as to not get struck. Glowing cinders swirled in the air around us like fireflies. Distant screams could be heard elsewhere in the palace as I observed the perversive Matriarch of the Family of Liberty as she struggled to right herself. Her suffering was good and just, as she was a traitor to mankind, I reminded myself. I held my chin up and explained to the beastly woman, "I am here to defend humanity. I am divine retribution against those who would corrupt humankind."Distantly, a small part of me recognized that this was an unusual thing for me to say, but it had felt right to say it.
Raula actually started to laugh, coughing blood and foam as she stood shaking on her feet. "You don't even know what you're doing, little girl. You came here mere days ago. I have been working with the Conglomeration of Ev for years, faithful to the beautiful independent people here! You see, my Family of Liberty foresaw the peril of xenos coming to Tar Vigaz a decade ago, and our organization has searched for a way to spare this world destruction! A way that wouldn't involve the Imperium, and a way that would allow these worlds to continue their joyous ways of life!"
"You worship Slaanesh," I growled, feeling my Corona only slightly glow now. "You don't want to save anyone! All you want to do is to sacrifice people to Am'Erika, and-"
"You are a fool, little girl!" Raula hissed hatefully at me. "Tell me, what is better? Annihilation under a legion of metal xenos, or dancing forever in love and light under the guidance of the Lord of Hosts? At least humanity would be able to continue under the guidance of Am'Erika, Slaanesh's most beautiful angel! Without the Lord of Hosts and his blessings, the Conglomeration faces doom!"
"Daemons lie, and at least I know not to trust them," I spat at Raula. I was now standing before her as she breathed heavily, in obvious pain. Her exposed skin was blistered, red, and peeling in places along her exposed breast and collar. A burning cinder floated to land on the Matriarch's upper arm, and she didn't even seem to notice it as it sizzled on her scorched flesh. "Humanity must always fight back against evil, against corruption. There's always another way to fix-"
"There is no other way to fix this, you ignorant bitch!" Raula choked at me. "Without the help of Am'Erika and Blessed Slaanesh, this world will die, consumed under metal claws. Its blood is on your hands if you try to stop us. We are the saviors of Tar Vigaz!"
Shouts and screams sounded behind me, and the sounds of breaking glass crushed through the air.
When I didn't respond immediately, Raula even seemed to relax, and closed her eyes. She shook her head, and her tone shifted to that of an adult attempting to explain an important concept to an ignorant bratty child. "I... I have spent my life in protection and service to the great Conglomeration of Ev. I fought well to protect it under the guidance of the Perfect Prince's holiest and most beautiful of angels, Am'Erika." The Matriarch opened her black eyes, and smiled weakly. "And at least now, I have foreseen that there is no way you can stop the collection of life energy needed to ignite Am'Erika so she can walk powerfully through the Materium to defend this world! She and her angels will fight well for humanity! You cannot stop Am'Erika! She will liberate us from evil!"
"Oh yeah? Try me!" I responded, watching the struggling witch. It was now obvious that the Matriarch would die without any sort of intervention, and with the pylon suppressing Warp expression, that probably meant that this woman was going to expire very soon.
Raula laughed weakly at me again, and defiantly gritted her teeth as she looked me in the eye.
"I know who you are, false savior," the Matriarch growled ominously. "How does it feel to be just like your predecessor, stupid girl? You are a destructive, arrogant monster dressed in a gold human costume who destroys everything that they touch, one that will never listen to reason or nuance, and one that will never show any mercy!" Raula laughed deliriously again, and spat again on the floor before me. "No doubt, you will become another force of violent subjugation as you delude yourself that you are helping the human race. But, instead of aiding in the glorious rebirth of mankind, you are destined to only leave ashes and ruin in your murderous wake. Why, the whispers of the Warp tell me that the worlds you have visited so far have all died! Is that true, Anathema?"
I took a step back, actually unnerved.
Raula laughed, bloody foam seeping from her mouth. She staggered in her delirium, and spat, "Ah, so it is true, then! Perhaps history really is repeating itself?" The Matriarch then began to laugh ecstatically, even as she freely bled. "The whispers of the Warp even suggested to me that if you are left unchecked, you will eventually be betrayed by the very humans you profess to love! Maybe you'll even be placed on your very own Golden Throne to be ceaselessly tortured in undeath for thousands of years, and the cycle of time will begin again? Instead of a Corpse Emperor, humanity will have a Corpse Empress!" The Matriarch laughed, and shook her head. "Oh, how utterly absurd this is! But, at least Slaanesh loves the humans of this world too much, and will not allow them to die. His blessed eye has been in this region for some time, and he saw fit to save us by dimming the cursed Astronomican and its false light. And soon, Am'Erika will be awoken as our holy champion to protect us from both you and the silver threat from the stars. You and the aliens will be stopped, and we will spare the galaxy from your evil future! And now, you don't have enough time to stop us all, and-"
I snapped.
I rushed forward with a roar, and slammed into Raula's laughing body, unable to listen to any more of her filth. Instead of using the Nemeses Argentum, I pinned the injured witch to the floor and wrapped my hands around her burned neck. I pushed my thumbs against her windpipe, and began to strangle her. "Fuck... you..." I hissed to Raula. "...Die!"
The people behind me began to grow closer. Despite the interference of the pylon, I felt my halo brighten in my deepest imperative is to help humanity! My wish was to save humanity, and this woman interfered with and insulted me!
How dare this traitor to humankind interfere with Me?!
I smiled madly and continued to viciously strangle this woman, fixing my unblinking gold gaze to her. She choked and struggled beneath me, trying to claw at my face. I changed my position, and violently plunged my knee into Raula's abdomen. When I heard one of her ribs crack, I felt a giddy rush of power wash through me despite the Warp suppression aura. I felt my voice grow powerful, and I said, "When I kill you, I will consume your soul. You will be used as energy to fuel my vessel, and perhaps in some way you will see the glory of who I am as I travel the stars as a vehicle for divine retribution. My Will will be done, for I am the Traveler and my name is blessed!"
Raula's eyes began to bulge as she continued desperately struggle under me, but I was too strong. These sorts of people were not compatible with humanity's existence, I rationalized. They would tear down and ruin the human race if permitted, so I simply needed to choke the life out of them. Prayers that had been called to me continued to swim through my soul in a sweet symphony, reassuring me that what I was doing was right. Humans. I needed to protect humans. I loved humanity, and it needed to be defended against traitors like this who would betray it for the lure of Chaos. I watched Raula's skin begin to turn blue, and then, the Key on my neck was hot. Blood continued to flow from my nose and one of my glowing eyes onto her face, and I smiled at her dimming eyes, my teeth chattering in excitement.
"She's here!" I heard a distant voice call out to me. People were running to me.
Another voice distantly asked, "Did she do all this? All the mirrors, completely shattered! By Tzeentch, what power!"
I blinked, but did not relinquish my vice grip on the Matriarch's neck. A small part of me was now beginning to reassert itself. Blood began to pour more readily from my nose, causing my hands to begin to slip around Raula's neck.
What was I doing? a tiny voice deep within me cried out, breaking through my wall of retributive fury.
"My leader!" another different voice called out. It was a familiar voice. Someone touched my shoulder, and I angrily lashed out with one arm, reflexively throwing whoever had touched me to the floor. This motion, however, had managed to further summon me back to full lucidity.
"What... what am I d-?!" I choked.
I tore myself off of Raula White's body and staggered backward on the smoldering carpeted floor, landing on my rear. Dazed and blinking, I looked over to the Matriarch. I had broken her neck. I could feel that blood was flowing from a wound on my forehead, and through my nose and one of my eyes.
Around me, faces etched with both awe and fear stood by. No one was brave enough to touch me right now, and no one said anything. The smoking carpeted floor was burned in places, and shards of gold mirrors littered the area. I now saw Alberich righting himself after I had thrown him, his ears lowered and his blue-gold eyes wide.
"I... I-" I sputtered, unable to properly articulate words. I noticed then that it was smoky in here, and I coughed. Luukai cautiously walked toward me, and offered a hand to help me up. I took it, and stood on shaking legs. "She... she..." I pointed at the Matriarch's corpse.
"She's dead," the Tzeentchian psyker informed me gently, reminding me with a nudge. "T-the... Warp has been deadened too."
I nodded, and I whispered, "It's the pylon," in a tiny voice. There were broken mirror shards covering much of the floor. The entire hall looked as if a fiery tornado had blown through it, burning the tapestries, breaking every single mirror, and shattering each art object into piles of rubble. Each broken mirror shard reflected either the embers of the burning tapestries, or the guttering electricity in the chandeliers that still hung. It was strangely beautiful, I thought as I concentrated on keeping my balance.
There was a pause as I swayed on my feet, and no one spoke.
"You're bleeding, my leader," Alberich finally said to me as he approached. He helpfully produced a small towel, and offered it to me as his eyes spotted my bleeding head wound. I took the towel but said nothing as I continued to stare at the body of the broken cult leader. I reached up to grip my Key in my other hand, which was still very hot. How many people had I consumed today? Did I do all this?
Still dazed, I observed my destroyed location. Four other individuals stood nearby, and I recognized these people as Luukai, Alberich, the young valet I had met after first visiting the palace, and the Tzaangor cook with the broken horn. I was standing shakily in an unfamiliar four meter tall hall that was lined with burning tapestries and shattered mirrors. Smoke filled the room, but the glass of a few tall barred windows had been shattered, allowing breathable air inside. The green carpet, while still burning in places, also displayed smoking tracks which depicted the footsteps of many beings. Curiously, I could see what appeared to be cloven hoofprints blackening the carpet, as well as normal-sized boot prints. What surprised me were the tracks of what appeared to be some sort of giant that still burned and smoked. The line of giant footprints had run from down the hall to where I was now. I swiveled my head, searching for whatever had made these obscenely huge tracks, and began to wander around in a wordless fugue down the broken hall away from my small group, who still appeared afraid of me.
Distantly, I saw something that jogged a memory, and I reached up to touch my forehead. I had a small wound, and it bled down my forehead and cheek. Swallowing in dread, I was able to pinpoint the culprit. A gold chandelier lay broken and shattered further down in the center of the carpet on the long hall. I looked up again at the high ceiling, and then, I looked down at the large burning footprints on the carpet.
Oh.
"We should go, my leader," Alberich requested quietly as he stood beside me again. The Tzaangor nearby nodded solemnly in agreement. "We need to get to the tunnels."
I nodded wordlessly, and let myself be led along.