The six of us walked cautiously down the central staircase with Luukai quietly leading us onward. We were on our way down to the second floor window, and on our way to leaving the cursed palace. Alongside the walls, scorch marks and smoldering tapestries further demonstrated the level of devastation I had wrought in my insane chase of Matriarch Raula White. I was currently trying to utilize deep breathing exercises to calm myself down away and to get myself to stop thinking about what I had done. It wasn't quite working.
After a terse argument, we had very reluctantly agreed to take Evring along after a physical search of his person came up clean. It was decided that if we left him here, he could tell people about us, and that was no good. I also didn't want to see anyone die in close proximity to my person if I could help it, as it would be yet another soul that I would absorb, and on top of the Spook I had consumed, I felt overloaded. It was discussed that the younger Sinclair was useful because he also owned a fully gassed-up space yacht, and that could be used to evacuate people. At the very least, he also had use as a hostage if we needed him for that too. I actually found myself feeling sorry for the broken playboy as we walked. He had not stopped crying since we had left, and had been muttering to himself as we traveled down the stairs.
Strange shadows flitted across my field of vision as I walked. In one of the mirrors, I briefly saw a reflection of what looked like Sebastian in gold armor as I continued down the stairs, and it even seemed that he was looking at me. When I blinked, he wasn't there, and we continued onward. Get it together, Erika. The rush of extreme power that I was feeling from both the injected Spook drug and my recent acquisition of a large amount of soul energy was nearly overwhelming, and my ears periodically rang as my heart ached. I didn't know how this drug worked, but as time went on, it seemed to almost be getting worse.
Soon, we were now on the second floor, and with a useful turn of my skeleton key, we were through another large pair of double doors. After we had all passed through, the doors were quietly shut and locked, just in case. This was the same hall that Rasputin and I had walked down earlier, and the same hall that held the accursed "visitor's wing" at one end. The unbarred and unwarded open window was only about fifty paces away here, and a cool night breeze offered refreshment as we continued onward.
Since the pylon was active, I began to ask the group if they thought we had time to go in to the governor's sanctum at the end of the hall and smash all of Langwidere's heads (with the explanation for my motivation being "because fuck her, that's why"). Sadly, very soon after asking the question, a wave of vertigo struck me, and I found myself leaning against a mirror. Another wave of electric nausea caused me to break out into a cold sweat, and I breathed deeply, my eyes closed. I clutched at my heart, and another high pitched ring assaulted my ears.
After a few deep breaths, I opened my eyes, ready to continue, only to be struck with another vision.
A tortured small boy had just expired on a metal gurney as a group of red-robed Tech-priests swore angrily. The poor child's head was decorated like a bleeding pincushion with long thin needles that fed information into some sort of machine, and when the psyker child had expired, his eyes had literally melted out of their sockets. This did not upset the adepts in red robes, and they simply moved onto the next subject. For a brief moment, I recognized Null's voice as he said, "The next subject is a Delta. We'll get more time out of her! Let's go! Hurry it up!"
Another voice could be heard shouting, "The governor will be here soon! Tell the Skitarii to arm themselves! This may be war if what we have heard is true!"
"Pylon's down," I alerted our group in my strong voice even before coming completely back to reality. As the full power of the Warp and my Sight rushed back to me, a dizzying wave of energy filled my being again. For a very brief moment, I became a giant gold ghost looming above everyone before nearly immediately shrinking back down. I proceeded to stumble to the floor again, and the world spun around me. "Sorry, sorry," I groaned, getting a handle on myself. "No more Spook for me, I guess."
Well, that and my excess consumption of souls. What had been in Rasputin's dart, anyway? Had it really been just Spook, like he had said? I had poison resistance now, so it had to have been something extremely potent. The Mad Monk just seemed to shrug it off, so why was I so messed up right now?
The group stood around me, their thoughts blazing loudly with awe and amazement at what they had just seen while also cringing with discomfort from the sudden deactivation of the anti-Warp pylon. Alberich, Luukai, and Vadim were holding their heads and wincing, and Evring stood nervously clutching his shoulders, his head bowed. Hopefully, he hadn't seen it. Zok simply stood by impassively. The Tzaangor seemed completely nonplussed by everything. I staggered to my feet again, my body covered in sweat mixing with the dried blood that had covered me from the earlier battle.
"What... did?" Luukai began to ask me, still massaging his temple. "What is this energy that I sense, this gold fire? Alberich has said some peculiar things about your nature, so forgive me, but what... what are you?"
"If Alberich told you I was an Empress-creature, I really am this thing. It's a long story and I'm... I'm just a little fucked up right now which is why I don't have much control over myself at the moment because of drugs and too much energy. I'm sorry," I quickly informed my group, my powerful words slightly slurred. I was now aware that my eyes and Corona were both glowing. I took a breath, and forcefully quieted my voice to more normal levels. "Before you ask, I don't know why Tzeentch seems to like me. He shouldn't like me because of that whole Anathema to Chaos thing. I know that Tzeentch and all the other Chaos Gods hate the other guy in the chair."
Even saying the words, "the other guy in the chair" made both Luukai and Vadim flinch, which was sort of funny. Alberich seemed to find this all at least somewhat amusing too. I reassured myself that I just needed a little time to "burn off" this excess energy, and that I'd be alright. I mean, dying from an energy overload wouldn't make for a good story for whoever was writing my lore in my home dimension, right?
My ears began to ring again. This was extremely uncomfortable.
After we all got our bearings, Luukai led us down the hallway and toward the open window. As we were walking, Evring walked close to me, and whispered an uncomfortable question. He had now stopped crying, and had begun to properly compose himself. I didn't like that he was now a part of our group, but again, I could admit that he had potential use to us. "Are you really a god? Are you here to judge us? Is this why our world is ending? You've come as a sword to kill the unworthy?"
I cringed at hearing this. I didn't like people saying that I was a god.
"If I was a god, would I keep having people chasing me around while they try to murder me every five minutes? People persecuting the shit out of me constantly? You'd think I'd be able to prevent that, because it sucks," I snapped, my voice heightened.
"But, the dreams! And the halo-"
"Stop it. I'm not a god," I growled at Evring. "End of fucking discussion."
I could hear stifled amusement shining from Alberich's soul. I was really not in the mood for this. I clutched my heart again. It hurt, and the Key was still hot. It even gave me a small shock when I touched it.
"We're here," Luukai said beside the window. It was still open to the night air from when Rasputin had unlatched it. "This part is easy. Everyone, come and look."
We all gathered around Luukai, who pointed out the window. As I looked outside, I felt a shiver race through the Warp, and many voices cried out in pain and pleasure. It felt as if daemons were being summoned into existence somewhere nearby.
It was a cool breezy night, and the two small moons of Tar Vigaz were full, bathing the land in a silvery light. From here, we had a view of the sprawling hedge maze that ringed much of the palace property, and I definitely could see that we were over ten meters up, just as Rasputin had indicated. The walls of the hedge maze were actually quite high, and appeared to be a little over twice my height, and some parts of the maze were covered in flowering vines of many colors. I could see the tops of a few statues peeking out from within the sprawling labyrinth. Looking left and right, the maze continued widely across the property, and appeared to ring the palace.
An odd peaceful quiet hung around the estate which belied the amount of turmoil that had to be churning within the palace. I had thought that it was a bad sign that so much of the palace had soundproof walls, but knowing what I knew about Langwidere's corruption, I supposed now that it made sense. She and her friends could probably summon a Fiend of Slaanesh and have a Chaos rodeo in here, and no one would ever know.
I continued to look outside, enjoying the night wind as the group gathered around. Thick vines and greenery covered the wall here, but it was still a long drop down. I was grateful that I had my wizard powers back for this.
Luukai pointed outward into the night. "This is the palace hedge maze, and it is known as one of the most challenging garden mazes in all of the Conglomeration of Ev. Within, there are many dead ends, obstacles, and other fun things to enjoy for any royal visitor. This is likely the last time I or any of us will be using this exit, so I suppose if you wish, feel free to cut or burn the hedge down, but that may bring attention to us. Justinian is still in the palace, even if he isn't in this wing."
"The tunnels are within?" Alberich asked. "They're in a public maze?"
"Hiding in plain sight has worked well for us for many years," Luukai nodded. "Originally, the tunnels existed as a sort of hidden maintenance passageway to quickly ferry supplies to the palace during its construction. They only sealed the tunnels up when the estate was completed, and did not bury them. People of my organization discovered the passages some years later."
My ears began to ring again, and my halo brightened involuntarily. I tried to ignore it. I felt a brief psychic eye pass over me, but I wasn't able to see who was trying to view me, or if I was just going crazy. Dancing shadows raced across my vision again, and Luukai shuffled away from me, uncomfortable in my light.
The Tzeentchian psyker pointed to a small entryway across from the palace that was "guarded" by a statue of a tall stylized stone bird on a pedestal, and of a stone fish. "There is our entry point. You will all be following Vadim and I, but the solution to the maze is simple if we somehow get separated. If you see a statue of a fish at a crossroads, turn toward where the fish is facing with its head. And if you see a bird statue at another crossroads, turn toward where the bird faces. If you see a statue depicting both the bird and the fish, go in the direction the tail of the fish points. Eventually, you will be led to a wide wishing well, and from there, say the words "Et in Prospero, ego." This will unlock the way, and allow you to descend into the well to the tunnels."
I became slightly dizzy again as Vadim asked Luukai a question. I hoped that it wasn't important because I didn't catch it at all, as the pounding of my heart was nearly overwhelming in my ears.
Alberich gripped my shoulder. "You're hot to the touch," he observed. "You're not well."
"No, I'm not," I confirmed with a deep breath. "But I'll get through this. I'm just a little fucked up right now." I continued breathing deeply to calm myself down. Unfortunately, more visions and memories that weren't mine flitted within my mind when I closed my eyes.
People were being assaulted by small gangs of laughing Wheelers who cavorted through city, their sensors permanently affixed to see everything as a "threat" as they shouted predetermined praises to Am'Erika. Cheerful Harlequins happily and artfully cut down a small band of roving daemonettes, which had appeared seemingly out of nowhere as the Aeldari quickly moved through the city. Another of their kind (but not their organization) desperately followed them. Announcements and proclamations of condemnation toward a mutant cult were now being broadcasted through the media on large screens throughout the city as people cowered within in fright. A fearful man in plain astropath robes watched a giant in gold armor angrily pace up and down a gold corridor. A journalist proclaimed, "Enough is enough!" on a giant display screen over a city center as more terrified citizens looked onward. Tech-priests and Skitarii armed themselves with green alien weapons as they prepared to defend themselves. A group of large evil men in red armor spoke angrily amongst their numbers, and the name "Kor Phaeron" was heard. A man in a silvery metal costume was giving a speech to a well-dressed crowd while another man in dark robes and carrying an eagle staff walked hastily to the podium, bearing ill tidings.
As these many images passed through my mind, they were somewhat incoherent and difficult to focus on, but one scene seemed to come through with strange clarity.
A man with a very bright soul was seated and meditating in a quiet dark space somewhere very far from my present location. He had longish wavy grey hair that fell to his shoulders, and appeared to be in his early 50s. At his side, an intricately sculpted gold and ebony cane lay at rest, and its head resembled that of a familiar three-eyed gold eagle. The stranger even seemed to notice that I was watching him, and as he perceived me, he let out a short gasp. The man opened his eyes, which were a strange dark brassy gold. The man whispered with amazement, "It is happening again!" before a jostle at my side caused the images to cease.
"Come back to us, my leader," Alberich pleaded to me as he continued to lightly shake my shoulder. Vadim was currently crawling out of the window, and down the side of the palace wall. Luukai was also watching me with concern. "We need you right now."
"Visions," I whispered as my ears rung. "The Wheelers are killing people, and the Tower of Reason is under attack, and the governor is almost there. Rasputin is about to tell Justinian some bad news." At seeing these visions and scenes, my gold Corona flashed brightly with emotion.
Our group let out a soft collective gasp at hearing my words. "Then tell us all about it later," Luukai said, his blue eyes bright as he cringed away from my light. The psyker motioned for me to come to the window. "The winds of Change swirl rapidly around this world, and we need to be away from the palace. My brother is wise. He will know what to do."
I looked outside. Vadim was now at the bottom of the wall and was watching us from below. Evring was currently about halfway down.
"Would you like for me to climb first, my leader?" Alberich asked me. "Can... can you climb at all?"
"I can do it," I replied as I shook the tension from my bones. "Just let me climb. I don't want to stop and think about anything right now."
Taking a deep breath I climbed over the windowsill, and reached for one of the vine clusters on the side of the wall. Drawing into my Sight felt dangerous right now, considering how wildly unstable my energy felt, but falling to my death felt even more dangerous, so with a breath, I willed my energy to come forward.
I cringed as my entire body began to softly glow. I decided that dramatically reducing my weight would make this climb less dangerous. Luckily, I was successful, and now, I was quickly and easily climbing down the vine wall. Alberich began to climb when I was about halfway down the wall. When I was near the bottom, I even hopped off with an artful flip before calming my energy again. Again, my Corona was refusing to be withdrawn completely, so I was a dim gold torch in the night for everyone to follow.
Or, a giant gold target for anyone who happened to be watching this area, I thought depressingly.
As I watched the rest of the group climb down the wall, I heard a whisper at the edge of my senses crawl through my Sight once again. It was strangely loud, and most upsettingly, I could not place where it had come from.
"I see you, and I will find you..." the whisper promised to me as my ears began to ring once again. "I am coming for you..."
The nearby twittering of a bird distracted me, and I turned to find it. It sang a mad song as it sat above the bird statue at the entrance to the maze. As my eyes caught it, it stopped singing, and cocked its little head. It almost looked like it was smiling at me, and I wondered again if I was losing my mind.
"We're all ready. Let's go, friends," Luukai then announced behind me as both he and Zok stepped off the wall of vines. "Erika, stay behind me, and everyone else: follow the glow of the, er, Empress-creature as she walks."
"Just call me Inheritor, everyone," I instructed wearily. "Or Erika, or whatever you want. Just not God." I tried again to soften my aura, and failed. The strange electrical sensation crackled through my body once again, and I let out a low uncomfortable moan that Alberich noticed, his face turning in concern.
Our group walked the short distance through the grass lawn to the arched entryway to the maze. Large trumpet-shaped flowers of many colors covered much of the surface of the greenery here. A pleasant vanilla scent hung in the air. "This is the most disused entry point on the estate. A past ruler planted flowering vines along this part of the maze because she enjoyed the scent of the flowers, but neglected to realize that the thorns held a mild poison, which didn't go over too well with the local nobility's children. Now, the north and west entryways are used instead."
The tweeting bird began to sing again when we walked near the entryway. I squinted at the suspicious little creature in the pale light of the moon, and saw that it was a bright, almost unnatural blue. As I tried to study it, it then flew away once again. Whatever that bird was or whatever it signified, I was now very suspicious of its appearance. It had even shown up in Angel's Respite, which was entirely indoors. My best guess was that it was probably Tzeentch letting me know that he was keeping tabs on me.
We all began to file into the tall thorny hedge maze. After about ten quiet minutes of walking, I had to stop and take another break. After another episode of ringing ears and an aching heart, a chill rose up my spine. Someone was definitely having a daemon party time somewhere close, I thought as I then doubled over. I leaned against a heavy stylized statue of a fish.
"Someone is definitely summoning daemons," I weakly informed my crew. "I can feel it. And I'm really not doing too well here, guys. Rasputin injected me with something earlier. He said it was Spook, but I don't know. I'm really fucked up."
"Yes, I sense that there are-... and that... will..." the voice of Luukai trailed off behind my ringing ears.
I closed my eyes, and began to breathe. After I was feeling more centered, I opened my eyes once again...
Only to find that I was now alone, and somewhere completely different. The maze had become a long branching corridor of metal that smelled of blood, fear, and pain. I was breathing heavily, and I felt a pain in my side. I reached around with my left hand, and found that I had been injured.
I then also realized that I was wearing gold armor. Confused, I straightened up, and found that not only was I alone, injured, and wearing heavy gold armor; I was tall. Not only tall, I was giant, just like I had been when I had chased the cult leader. The memory gave me a brief (and very guilty) pleasant shiver. The glow of my Corona was pretty much the same, and it luckily caused the corruption in this place to flee from me.
Taking a breath, I then realized with perfect certainty that I had somewhere to be in here, and that I had a task to complete. Not quite thinking, I followed my imperative as I began to race forward along these twisted halls, running and turning along pathways in this metal labyrinthine hell. Dimly, I heard that people were instructing me to wait, but I ignored them.
I raced and raced along hallways that seemed endless. This metal maze just like in my dream last night where I was hunting a Chaos Marine with gold eyes and a huge sword. I found myself taking turns and following my intuition forward. A negative premonition of my own coming death chilled me like a splash of ice water, but I decided to ignore that as well. I had a task to accomplish. It was important.
Ahead of me, three woman-things from the Pleasure God suddenly appeared, and behind them, a sensation-addled traitor Astartes sorcerer, likely their summoner. All four were very surprised to see me, and in a blur of motion, the woman-things were now destroyed when they attempted to rush me, and now, I was facing the traitor sorcerer that had summoned them
The exceedingly unlucky Astartes stood before me, and his image flickered. At first, he was the slathering beast with red eyes in black armor that I had seen in my dream, but then, he became a different man as reality shifted. This new individual also wore black armor, and his carried the heraldry of wolves upon it.
This, for some reason, made me incredibly angry. He, like the other man I had seen in my dream, was now frozen in existential terror, looking up at me and knowing absolutely that he gazed upon his doom.
Instead of broiling this man's mind with my Sight like I had done the red-eyed man in my dream, I simply turned this weak traitor into a pile of burning red powder with an easy mental gesture. I didn't have time for this. My body was injured and tired, but I had a task. I had an imperative. I needed to complete it, even if it killed me.
Even if it killed me...
I had to find him. I had to kill him. I had to! I thought as I stormed through this evil place. I had to stop this! I thought frantically. I coughed painfully. This was all my fault! I had failed the humans I was supposed to help! I had to sto-
I was brought back to reality after I had run face first into a bush of red flowers. I fell backward in a heap, the ringing in my ears dissipating. I immediately stood up. Once again, I was now back in the hedge maze, but I was now alone. What? I could hear the sound of trickling water nearby.
A faint voice scraped through my mind. My leader?! it called for me. My leader! Luukai requests that you wait for us! Tell us where you are!
Alberich? I called back. What had happened, I thought shakily. I began to observe my surroundings, and I now found that I was standing in a short dead end corridor that held a wall of climbing red flowers. This short passageway was one that had branched off from a wide circular clearing approximately four meters in diameter. A tall stone fountain in the shape of a leaping fish stood in the center of this area, and water trickled from it. I walked cautiously forward toward the fountain. Around me, some of the leaves of the hedge maze smoked and glowed, as if they had been briefly hit with a blowtorch. In this wide round space, I could now also see three distinct clouds of pink mist that were now drifting away, but I was far too disoriented to understand what that meant right now.
"Where are you?!" a distant audible call echoed through the maze over the soft noise of the fountain. It sounded like Alberich.
"I'm here!" I called out. What was all that? What was wrong with me?
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. My Sight then came alive, and I realized that another party had heard my voice. And, he had begun to search for me. Distant crashing noises began to echo through the maze as a small blue bird flew overhead, its song cheerful and resembling laughter. I then realized that many individuals had heard me! I pushed my awareness out toward the crashing noise in the brush behind me, and discovered that this particular presence was actually two Astartes in black armor with red eyes, and they were running this way, carving and barreling through the vegetation in here, completely breaking the hedges!
Ahead of me, I heard a yell, and a bloom of bright blue Warp magic briefly lit up the night sky. The bellowing of a Tzaangor echoed in the maze. I knew then that my friends had encountered trouble.
Bleary, I then backed away and walked close to the fountain, unsure as to what I should do in my hindered, but somehow overpowered glowing gold state. I needed to get it together! Bowing my head, I looked into the fountain in an attempt to center myself back to sanity. My ears were ringing terribly, and my world spun when reality again glitched.
I was now in a grand dark hall of gold and indigo, and I was looking into some kind of tall silver mirror. There was an incoherent shape within the mirror that was pulling itself into form, and I watched it expectantly. It was dark in here, and the atmosphere was somewhat foreboding. I blinked, and I found that I was now observing a very tall and very stately familiar man with long white hair and a heavy jeweled crown. He wore perfectly wrought and lean black body armor against his muscular form, and a red cloak hung around his shoulders, giving him an extremely regal (but somewhat evil) appearance. Two long silver swords hung on each hip, and each sparkled with a hidden light. However, the most distinctive part of him was not his white hair, or his magic swords, but the large pendant that hung around his neck.
This strange man wore the Key! Or, something that looked just like the Key. It glowed with a pale fire, and the stranger smiled widely at me.
"I can see you now, little star," he said as he looked into my eyes. "I know you can hear me. Tell me your name, sister."
"I'm Erika," I found myself replying.
"Not your mortal name, sister. Your royal designation, your divine name. I know you have one as you bear the Key around your neck. Are you the infamous War Queen? Or perhaps you are Fire Born?"
I shook my head, and found myself answering with, "I'm the Omega."
He cocked his head at me with a curious, almost playful expression, and a small smile then crossed his features. His eyes were just like mine, and were glowing softly in a supernatural fire in this dark hall. "The last one is a woman? That's fascinating," he languidly drawled. "And you're from the future! What a... nice surprise."
"Who are you?" I dared. "Are you Tzeentch?" I quickly demanded in a question.
He shook his head. "I don't even know who or what 'Tzeentch' is, little star," he lightly chuckled. "Perhaps you know of my designation in the glorious far future where you rule humankind instead of I? I am known as the Pale Lord of Prosperity, and I am Caesar to humanity's direction," the man grinned, and he touched his Key idly with his fingers.
Recognition then finally struck me. This mysterious man was an Inheritor! He was the one that had directly preceded the Emperor, and he was the chilling Inheritor that had been depicted lounging on silk pillows while communing with Tzeentch in his representative painting on Nubua. I knew who this Inheritor's title was, and his disused laurels were currently sitting on my head! "You're the Spoiled Prince," I informed him dryly.
The sound of distant thunder echoed through this hall, and Spoiled Prince did not immediately answer as the briefest flash of anger twisted his regal features.
"Mmm, you really are one of the family, then. Spoiled Prince! Ha! If you were a mere common human of my flock speaking to me like that, I'd probably have you executed!" He then laughed as if he had made a funny joke, but I could sense derision in his tone as he shook his white-haired head again. "I never asked for that moniker, and it was given to me unwillingly, so I go by another name. It is a pity that history apparently remembers it. But, you can refer to me as the Pale Lord, Lady Omega."
Behind him, a very small old man in wealthy blue robes walked cautiously up to the tall figure. This gave some scale to just how tall Spoiled Prince was, as this new man was only about a half to a third of the Inheritor's height. He was gigantic! The small old man said, "Lord Caesar, we must go. They're here. Three legions. They have summoned two Screaming Heralds."
"Already?" Spoiled Prince asked, his penetrating gold gaze not leaving me as he pursed his lips. He then rolled his eyes, almost appearing bored. "Shame. And I just found her. Do you happen to see her in the mirror, Chamberlain?" Spoiled Prince idly gestured with a hand toward me.
"Sire?"
"No, it appears you do not. Anyway, I have a war to win right now, which I will, so I'll find you later through the pages of time, Lady Omega. I intend to have a pleasant discussion on the nature of the universe with you. Goodbye, last of us!"
The vision washed away like dark water, and now, I was suddenly back in the hedge maze. I sensed that the two Astartes were close. Still dizzy, I summoned my energy in preparation for a confrontation, and a wreath of violent gold fire wreathed my body like a nova. Get your shit together, Erika, I scolded myself.
Don't speak! I sense Space Marines have intruded here now! Luukai's voice called to me somewhat more closely than before. He was desperately maneuvering through the maze with my friends to find me. I'm sure you know this, but there is a daemon summoner somewhere in the maze! They know we're in here, and Alberich and I have killed two daemons! The Grand Advisor betrayed us!
We're coming, my leader! Alberich called out. Please hold out! We're coming to help!
I didn't respond to my friends as I sensed the two large souls rampaging through the brush. Using my awareness, I then finally knew that these two men were friendly, and I found myself calming down. Oh, that was right. Rezel had told me that the Fallen had put up surveillance around the hedge maze.
They're fine, I informed Luukai. These Astartes are Fallen Dark Angels. They swore themselves to me!
I turned, and looked behind me as I stood near the fountain. Shrubs and greenery were being cut to pieces, and now, I could see their shapes as they rushed forward, crashing through the maze and ruining it. Each marine was entirely completely suited up in solid power armor, and ready for battle. The two Fallen held long electric power swords. Their Dark Angels heraldry seemed to be either covered with tape or paint, but I could see its outline in the moonlight as they arrived. As soon as the red eyes of their helmets met mine, both marines saluted me before immediately aggressively searching for threats, with one immediately drawing his bolter. The other group was still searching for me, and would be here any minute!
"Hey, wait guys, don't! Don't hurt my friends! They're on their way to hel-"
I felt the wind of a bolter projectile pass over my head, and above me, a leaping daemonette exploded into pink fire!
"Oh fuck!" I cried out, dashing out of the way and putting up more of my Corona as a shield.
"Don't shoot at the other group coming here!" I quickly informed the two Fallen as they stood on guard.
When more daemons didn't immediately appear, the two marines looked down at me. One walked forward, and saluted me again before informing me in a raspy whisper through his helmet, "We are the Angels watching the governor's property, Inheritor. We heard your cries for help while on patrol. You have met us both previously. I am Master Foras, and this is Brother Saleos," the larger Fallen motioned toward the watchful marine next to him who nodded. "It appears to us that you have already dispatched three daemons."
"Uh, yeah," I said, briefly observing the landscape glitch before it turned back to normal. "I-I think I'm Warp-sick or something. The Grand Advisor injected me with what he said was this Spook drug but I've been losing my shit!" I mumbled as the landscape again threatened to transform into an endless hell of metal hallways. A very loud thought struck me as I forcefully dragged myself back to cognizance. I felt my face twisting in anger as suddenly, every part of me wanted to destroy Horus. Dizzily, I turned to these two entirely-black armored marines, and looked up at their red eyes. Reality began to flicker again, and the hedges became metal walls. I started to pull on my Sight...
No! No, these guys were not fucking Black Legionnaires! I screamed within my mind as I bit the inside of my cheek, drawing blood. This brought me back to reality. My ears began to ring again, and my heart ached.
Before anything else could be said, two more screaming she-daemons vaulted at me from a side hallway that glitched back and forth from the metal labyrinth to the hedge maze. As the daemonettes leapt, I knew immediately that they would be upon us within 1.9 seconds. I slowed time down. Reflexively, I brandished my sword, and was very disappointed to find that it was just the size of a long dagger, which made no sense whatsoever. Reality was behaving in an unhinged manner right now, anyway, so I decided not to concern myself with that. Nevertheless, a dagger would do the job. Beside me, two loyal Astartes looked up at me in wonder, and even through their suits, I could see that their jaws had dropped.
I pushed my intentions through them both, and ordered them to stand aside. I will handle these! I instantly boomed within their minds.
I charged ahead just as both daemonette's sharp hooves met the ground ahead of me. And then, I watched as their gleeful expressions changed to horror as they were now looking upward at who and what I was, and that pleased me. With an inhale of my energy, I charged my weapon, and lunged quickly ahead, plunging the shining blessed dagger inside the heart of one daemon.
Instead of dissolving into gore, or a smear of pink mist, the vile creature utterly exploded into some kind of foul black ash, and she released an unnaturally loud piercing scream. She had been completely erased from existence. With this, the metal walls shimmered, and glitched back to being thorny hedges once again. I was now smaller, but I was so charged with energy that my momentum carried me through, and I pivoted my heel to instantly fall upon the retreating second daemonette, plunging my dagger into her back.
She was also obliterated, and that made me happy.
I was now smiling as I stood beside the fountain in the center of the circular area. My group of friends then finally appeared out of a passage. I sensed that Foras and Saleos had drawn their weapons again behind me, so I simply told them, "Don't hurt these guys. They're helping."
"Their mutant carries a prisoner! A witch!" Saleos observed as Zok walked into view. The Tzaangor dragged a bald tattooed man with his eyes sewn shut behind him by the cuff of his filthy red, white, and blue robes. He was muttering something unintelligible.
Immediately, my attention was drawn to the blinded muttering Chaos American, and alarm flashed through my soul. "Kill him! Kill him now before-!"
A noise that resembled an animal getting torn to pieces while still alive echoed revoltingly in the clearing, and a terrible pink light began to spill from the witch's torso. Everyone was thrown back by a wall of force as whatever enchantment the Chaos American had initiated completed itself. Master Foras had drawn his bolter, and was now firing at the scene, but to no effect. Some kind of barrier deflected his explosive shells, and within a few more seconds, some sort of terrible giant creature was hauling itself out of the chest cavity of the Chaos American.
A wave of nauseatingly sweet narcotic mist then washed over me, causing reality to flicker again, and forcing me back into the terrible metal hallways. I was now hallucinating that I was leaning up against a cold metal corner after destroying yet another daemon. I clutched my side, and contemplated my injuries. I was exhausted. I was hurt. This couldn't go on. Humanity would eventually die, so why sweat it, I found myself artificially thinking as my head began to nod. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to rest. I wanted to-
"This did not occur," a friendly mellifluous deep voice caught my attention. I opened my eyes, and I was back aboard the Divine Retribution. I was looking out the center eye of the bridge, and before me, many souls, alien and human, waved and smiled at me. Someone was standing directly behind me, and his hand was gently gripping my shoulder. "Don't let them go into the oversoul, Omega. The spirit of us is the amalgamation of all our experiences. We are who we are, and we shall not be touched with the falsities of corruption."
"Yes," another familiar drawling voice said behind me. "Even I would be very upset at this sort of assault." I somehow then knew that I was speaking to the spirit within the Divine Retribution, and with confusion, I turned around.
One man I recognized as Sebastian, but in a partially transfigured (and partially translucent) form. He held his chin proudly, and his long hair was loose, spilling over his shoulders in dark waves. He was wearing a gold robe that shimmered in the light, and a crown of gold laurels framed his chiseled face and brilliant gold eyes. The second man was also slightly transparent, and he was wearing robes of midnight blue and black, making his long white hair appear very dramatic. He also wore a wreath of gold laurels before it flickered into a gemstone crown. His eyes were also a glowing gold, and he also smiled.
The Weeping King and the Spoiled Prince both smiled at me, and nodded. I then felt a refreshing wave of cool energy wash through my soul. Together, they said in tandem, "You are now cleansed of the toxin within you. Go back and destroy the creature that would insult our memory and your will, Omega. Feast on those who would consume you."
I gasped as I pulled myself up. I hadn't even been out for a second, and now, a safe air shield surrounded me. I found that I had become tall and strong again, and I now looked down on the creature that had pulled itself into existence from the wrecked ruin of the Chaos American's corpse.
A familiar crocodilian head atop a cramped reptilian body the size of an ox had torn itself out of the witch's body while trumpeting its victory. It had a tall centaur-like torso lined with many pairs of white breasts pierced with tinkling jewelry, and a bruise colored mane shimmered down its long neck. Two large scythe-like black crab claws clacked in the air, and now, it stood before me on four bent clawed limbs. It swayed its long whip-like scorpion tail as it watched me. I could tell that it was reluctant to immediately engage me in a fight, as my light seemed to repel it.
This was irritating, I thought. I slowed time down again.
The world was moving in slow motion, and a bolter projectile sailed gracefully through the air to strike at the Fiend, which then appeared to scuttle out of the way.
This thing was boring, I found myself thinking. I had already fought one of these things back on Nubua, and I hated it. It stank. It was ugly. It had all those stupid breasts, and I also hated the little plastic model in real life. Since I was still absolutely on fire with excess energy that was causing me to have upsetting visions right now, I decided to spend my energetic overflow destroying this thing.
I calmly approached the daemon. I even put my dagger away, and I smiled. Let's try to have fun tonight, shall we?
It watched me, and I heard it trumpeting again as it cringed away from my light. A giant crab claw swiped at me, and instead of allowing it to ruin my day, I simply caught it with my left hand, and held it immobile, my fingers even crushing into its sharp chitin. As I did this, the creature (which I now stood slightly above eye level with) then began to struggle as it swayed its scorpion tail in a threatening manner. Smoke was beginning to rise from where I gripped the crab claw.
Boring, I thought. Boring ugly titty daemon. A waste on any army list.
The daemon then struck downward with its stinger, attempting to sting my head. I simply reached up with my other hand, and gripped the tail as it plunged down at me, holding it immobile. I laughed, and with a violent tug, I had messily torn the tail from the daemon's body. I tossed the appendage aside as the Fiend continued to burn and squeal under my light.
A bolter projectile connected with the torso of the creature as it was distracted with me, and it trumpeted again in distress. Being a daemon of Slaanesh, it was probably enjoying all this anyway.
"I hate you," I said simply as it tried to swipe again at me with its other crab claw, which I easily backhanded away from me. This backhand cracked its black chitin, and broke its upper arm with a sickening crunch. "I'm bored now," I sighed. Another bolter projectile connected with one of the Fiend's legs as it frantically struggled in my grip, now trying to get away from me. The Fiend's body was now blackening and burning under the full fiery might of my Corona. Okay, time to put it down, I thought as I withdrew to reach for my dagger so I could end this stupid thing's existence. As I did this, another projectile struck the creature explosively in the head, and it then crumpled to the ground. It burned away into an artful plume of pink fire. Oh, that was somewhat disappointing.
I turned to the two Astartes below me, and allowed time to pass more normally. They were trembling beneath their power armor, and under my gaze, they automatically fell to their knees.
"What do you command of us, oh divine Inheritor?" Master Foras asked of me. "We are your angels."
I stood there, and thought sincerely, calculating the best thing that this man could do for me. The answer was not what I expected, and I didn't quite understand what I was saying as I spoke it. My intimate relationship with time and fate informed me that he and his angels would be needed later, and so, he would need to escape the doom of this world.
"You must take all the Angels of Angel's Respite, and you must leave this system as soon as possible. A fleet of xenos too large to defend against draws close, and they rush here to ruin this world. It is now time to strike the Last Bell, and let all know of the coming doom," I instructed.
Master Foras bowed his head and nodded, apparently understanding me. "Thy will be done. Where shall we go, oh Inheritor?"
I thought for a moment, and the answer came to me. Again, I didn't even quite understand why I said it, and my words felt somewhat automatic.
"Make for the Grey Reliquary. You will be safe there, and you and your flock will be welcomed. When the dreams come, look to the world of Aevernal to the south of the Storm of the Emperor's Wrath, for I will have need of you when the galaxy threatens to split again, and my human death draws close."
"Your... death?" Foras questioned me, and I didn't like that.
"You will not question Me, for I am the way. Go now to Angel's Respite, and enact my will without delay."
Foras did not question me a second time, and I watched as both he and Brother Saleos stood once again. Without a goodbye, the two Fallen turned around, and hastily departed down the path in the hedge they had carved. Finally, I felt like I could relax.
I closed my eyes, and exhaled. Another dizzying sensation passed through me, and I was now normal-sized again. My Corona had finally calmed, and I no longer felt uncomfortably overwhelmed with energy. The weird electrical sensation in my nervous system had vanished, and now, I felt a lot better than I did before. Even the Key had cooled to a pleasant warmth, and it was no longer glowing.
Everyone around me was watching me with amazed eyes. Both Evring and Alberich were on their knees, and Alberich was muttering prayers in German.
"What?" I asked with a yawn as everyone stared. "Okay so, where are these tunnels?"
"We're... we're actually very close. I thought you ran here on purpose," Luukai quietly informed me with a crackling voice as he trembled. "The wishing well, it is just over there," the Tzeentchian psyker pointed to another pathway in the hedge that branched out from this circular space.
I turned around, and there, a broad and seemingly decorative wishing well stood at the end of a short pathway.
I laughed and shook my head. "Okay, I guess that works out. And wow, I feel a lot better after getting all that out of my system," I said with a smile. No one smiled back. "Guess this was all 'just as planned' just like you Tzeentch guys say, huh?"
No one responded as Alberich and Evring cautiously stood, their heads bowed. They continued to tremble, and no one moved, still too shocked to say anything.
"Well, come on. Let's get out of here. Someone probably noticed all this fun from the palace, so we have to get going, right."
Luukai nodded and swallowed heavily as he stepped forward toward the wishing well, and my other companions silently followed. Even Zok offered me a respectful nod when he stood near me.
I sighed, and admitted to myself that I now felt much better. While it had felt nice to rip apart a Fiend of Slaanesh with my bare hands, I now knew that my overwhelming overloaded state had now abated, and I hoped that everyone now didn't expect these sorts of theatrics from me constantly as we went along. And luckily, I wasn't huge anymore, so I didn't have to worry about fitting inside the tunnels.
The Tzeentchian psyker said the short pass phrase before the well before turning around and wordlessly nodding to all of us. With a short refreshing stretch, I walked forward and climbed down into the well just after Luukai had descended. Deep down, I hoped that the worst was now behind us as I tried not to think about what I had said to Master Foras...