Isha watched Astarte go, feeling a pang of disappointment. The mortal had stank of fear throughout their session, and Isha had been unable to allay it. Given the fear and wariness emanating from the mortal, Isha had determined this session would be more productive if she allowed Astarte to control the flow of the conversation. Though their work had indeed benefitted, the mortal's anxiety had not wavered in the slightest, she had just kept a firm grasp on it, and when the Emperor had finally arrived and dismissed her, it was clear that Astarte had been all too eager to obey.
If they were to work together in the future, Isha was going to have to find a way to truly lay her fears to rest, or at least reduce them.
But that was a topic for another time.
Putting away thoughts of Astarte for the moment, Isha focused on the Emperor, who was standing at the table, examining the fungi and prodding them psychically.
Quelling the instinct to tell the Emperor to stop lest he hurt the fungi, Isha spoke "So, what next, Your Majesty?" She asked carefully.
The Emperor's golden gaze shifted to her, a spark of anticipation igniting in his eyes. "We are almost at our destination." He replied. "Once we are there, we will go down, and you will do your best to terraform a region of the city with your suppressors on, as a...demonstration for Astarte and her subordinates."
Isha stared at him in astonishment, genuinely taken aback by his words. She had not expected to be allowed to wield her for powers for such a purpose for several more years, perhaps even decades. The fact that the Emperor wanted such a demonstration was more than a little surprising.
"...I see." Isha said finally, unsure of what else to say. She strongly suspected there was more to this than he was telling her, likely some sort of way to gauge the reactions of other mortals to her, but the prospect of truly stretching her powers for the first time since the Fall, of restoring life and beauty to even a relatively miniscule portion of this world was tempting. Dealing with another test was a small price to pay.
The Emperor clearly noticed her curiosity, however, and his lips twitched into a slight smirk. "Do not mistake my intention. I will place wards around the area first to ensure secrecy, and your audience will be relatively small, less than a dozen scientists. But I wish to see you use your powers on a larger scale, and since you will be working with these scientists moving forward, it is best for them to have at least some grasp of how powerful you truly are."
Ah, so it is about gauging the reactions of the mortals. Even aside from that, the Emperor's reasoning was sound. While she couldn't say she wasn't wary of what else he might have planned, even knowing this much of what he intended was useful and less irritating than being yanked around like one of Cegorach's puppets.
So Isha nodded. "I understand, Your Majesty."
The Emperor returned the nod, turning away to leave. "I will be in the command centre. You may remain here or go out on the deck until we arrive."
Isha had to resist the urge to roll her eyes as he disappeared out of the doorway. As if she was going to stay closeted within this room when she had the option of being outdoors. Shaking her head, Isha strode out, eager to be outside once more.
A mixture of anticipation and anxiety bubbled in Isha's chest as she emerged into the air and looked around, noting that the ship was steadily drifting downwards, and below them, Isha could see their destination. The desolate ruins of what had once been a great city, the one she was being brought to heal. Once majestic towers that had been reduced to crumbling shells, the scorched and broken remnants of the city's fortifications...it made for a sorry sight.
But more than anything, Isha was repulsed by the poison that shrouded the city's corpse like an invisible haze, a lingering remnant of the monstrous weapon that had been used on it.
Isha had always disliked radioactive weaponry. They had occasionally been employed by the Yngir during the War in Heaven, and more frequently by the K'nib during the Wars of Reclamation. Those foul creatures corrupted everything they touched, from the stem to the root, and so toxic radiation had appealed to them.
But more than anything, the lingering effects of radioactive weaponry reminded her of her own children's atrocities, against their own kin and mortal races alike. Reducing entire worlds to nightmarish hellscapes with sorcery, poisoning the very air until would warp and twist all those who breathed it in and survived, and a slow, agonizing death for those who did not...it had at once broken Isha's heart and made her blood boil everytime her children did such things in the name of 'entertainment', for all that it was hardly the worst of the crimes they had committed.
Grimacing, Isha pushed away the thoughts of her children. She was out of her gilded cage and would be allowed to heal some portion of this world at last. It was a good day, not the time to linger on things she could currently do nothing about.
Instead Isha focused her senses on the city, carefully analyzing it in preparation for her arrival: assessing the amount of radiation in the air, the more common pollutants prevalent everywhere on Terra, calculating the ideal amount of oxygen to add to the air and how many nutrients to inject into the infertile soil…
Lost in the string of calculations and planning, Isha was shaken from her thoughts several moments later by a polite cough, and she spun to look at the Emperor, who was standing there with a faintly amused look on his face.
Some ways behind were a group of mortals, who Isha presumed to be the Emperor's scientists, going by Astarte's presence among them. They were a small group, less than ten, all dressed in protective gear in preparation for their descent into the poisoned city. They were all quietly discussing something, occasionally casting furtive glances at her. Isha could easily have listened in on their conversation from where she stood, but she had temporarily reduced her hearing capacity as a courtesy. There was no need to be rude, after all.
And, Isha realized, they had arrived. The ship had finally stopped, hovering only a short distance from the ruins.
"Isha." The Emperor greeted. "Ladies and Gentlemen." He directed towards his scientists, beckoning to one of the smaller ships nearby. "Come, we have work to do."
Sighing, Isha leaned against a wall and crossed her arms as she waited for the Emperor to finish his work. The city was as barren and desolate as she had expected, the only sign of life being a few of the fungi that Astarte had shown her earlier. She itched to begin her work, her every instinct screaming at her to begin purifying and revitalizing the soil here immediately, but she had to wait until the Guardian of Mankind was done, no matter how much it grated on her nerves.
As she waited impatiently, the Emperor wove a series of wards around the area he had selected for this demonstration, his eyes glowing and the air shimmering gold with the power that was being added to it. The mortals were watching their liege with a mixture of awe and apprehension, having forgotten Isha for the moment. The Custodians assigned to protect them seemed as unfazed as Isha, however, even if they didn't share her impatience, insteading standing as still and silent as statues, content to wait until their lord required something of them.
It took several more minutes, but at last, the Emperor seemed satisfied with his work, the golden haze of power fading away as though it had never been there, though Isha knew it would flare to life once more if she tried to breach the wards.
The Emperor nodded to her. "You may begin."
Finally!
Isha stepped forward and breathed in deeply, tasting the pollutants and the radiation in the air. Toes curling in the soil, she could feel the poison in the soil below her, a burning corruption, killing or twisting all the living things here.
Well, that was what she was here to fix.
Dimly noting that the Emperor had established a psychic shield around the mortals, who had their attention fixed upon her once more, Isha sat down on the ground. Heedless of how the dirt might stain her clothes, Isha crossed her legs and closed her eyes in concentration.
A soft green aura emanated from her, pulsing gently with power as the primordial energies of light and life flowed out from the Everqueen, cleansing everything within reach and nurturing it to bring forth life once more. Isha did not force her will on the world, but joined with it, giving the things in it the strength to live and flourish once more.
Isha reached deep into scorched and irradiated soil, her power burning away every last trace of radiation, locating any useful and toxic elements alike, and then twisting and transforming them into beneficial nutrients, seeds, roots and plants. Isha had not done this sort of direct transmutation on anything the Emperor had given to her so far, but he had requested a demonstration.
And so, life bloomed where it should have been impossible for anything to grow. The sweet, fresh smell of nature filled the air as vibrant green blades of grass surged to life around their feet, followed by blooming flowers of all kinds: roses of every colour, soft white daisies and most of all, cheerful looking sunflowers, each and every one of them swelling with Isha's love.
Great trees erupted from the ground at Isha's encouragement, spiraling upwards and breaking through crumbling stone and rusted steel like a hammer would shatter glass, until there was not a single building left standing. Verdant leaves and ripe fruits hung from the branches of each tree: shining red apples, vivid golden mangoes, bright peaches and many more.
There was more to the forest than was visible on the surface, however. Each and every plant in the area was designed to safely absorb radiation and convert it into useful forms, which would ensure that they all continued to flourish instead of being poisoned no matter what. They were far more robust and healthy than any normal plant could ever be, with enhanced lifespans that meant they could survive for centuries. Isha paused for a moment, wondering whether to augment their ability to propagate as well, but decided against it. The Emperor was unlikely to be pleased by such a thing.
There was only one task remaining. Isha reached deep into the earth, searching for something, and-ah! There it was. It wasn't strictly necessary, but it would be a good final touch, the goddess mused as she pulled it through the layer of rock and soil as gently as she could.
Until, at last, the earth shook and trembled as a great crack opened throughout the city, a crack which became a great river as the water that Isha had drawn to the surface came rushing up with a thunderous roar.
Isha opened her eyes, casting a look at the Emperor and his followers. The mortals were radiating astonishment behind the Emperor's shield, staring at the verdant forest around them in a mixture of awe and shock, and as for the Emperor...there was something dangerously like hope in those golden eyes.
Astarte didn't know what to think.
As the sweet scent of flowers spread through the air, the shattered ruins in front of her transformed into a thriving forest, and a great river burst from the ground with a roar, somehow not causing an earthquake, Astarte struggled to make sense of it all.
Part of her wanted to rush forward, to examine every single thing in this forest, to unravel its every mystery and discover everything it had to offer, and devise a way to recreate it all.
The rest of her was even more wary of Isha now, and desperately longed to be as far from her as possible.
Astarte cast a glance at the Emperor, who seemed to be drinking in the view of the entire forest. Most of the Imperium's leadership knew of the Emperor's desire to heal Terra, to see it remade from a wasteland of dust and ash into the shining blue gem that the myths of the Golden Age claimed it had once been. She had never really believed it was possible, even for him, but that belief had wavered ever since she had first seen Isha's work, and now…
She couldn't help but wonder if the Emperor was being entirely objective about this. His dream of reviving Terra was one of the two projects she had ever heard him speak of with true passion and hope. The other one had been the creation of the Primarchs.
Was the Emperor really considering all this rationally, or was he blinded by the hope that Isha offered?
Astarte wanted to say the Master of Mankind would never fall prey to such things, but she was far too old and weary to give such faith to anyone, even the Emperor.
The Emperor breathed deeply, taking in unfiltered fresh air for the first time since he had returned to Terra amidst the horror of the Age of Strife. Even as he tried to clamp down on his emotions, he couldn't help the smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth when he drank in the sight of the first new forest to grow on Terra since the Golden Age had ended in a storm of iron, blood and warpfire.
The fresh air, the verdant leaves, the blooming flowers, the sound and sight of a flowing river...for the first time in centuries, it felt like a small piece of the Terra he had once known, the paradise he had bestrode as a young man, had been restored. Some echo of that young man who had been eager to explore every corner of the beautiful world that he had been made to protect, who had delighted in every new thing he came across, remained in his heart, and he couldn't truly quell it.
The only thing missing was sunlight, clouded as the skies still were.
He cast a look at Astarte, sensing her doubt about whether he was being entirely objective about this. He understood why she thought so, but this was only the beginning. Countless tests would have to be run on everything in this forest, from the greatest trees to the smallest blade of grass. And if the results were not satisfactory, he would have to scour this entire forest to the ground with warpfire. It would pain him, but he had destroyed things that of far greater value, both to himself and others, than one forest. If it had to be done, he would not flinch from doing it. No matter how nostalgic he felt right now, the Emperor knew this was not truly a piece of the Terra of his youth. He could feel Isha's power radiating from the entire forest. Great caution would have to be taken here.
But if all the tests came back clean, if this was truly the first step on the path to Terra's rebirth…then the Emperor would not allow anything to hamper it.
Perhaps it might be a mistake, in the end, extending even this sliver of trust to Isha. Perhaps Isha had already betrayed him, driven by her resentment of his tests, and he would discover some hidden trap in this forest upon further analysis. And if that were so, he would not hesitate to strike her down.
But for now, Revelation smiled and allowed himself to hope of a Terra reborn, a verdant paradise with cities of shining gold, once more the pinnacle of civilization and the beating heart of mankind's empire.
Author's Note: Took a while but here we go. It has come to my attention that my prose is rather dry, so I tried to spice it up a bit in this chapter.