Flashes and moments of violence. Bits and pieces she wasn't really able to make sense of. Memories that wore her for a suit. The sting and strike of recollection.

"And you are certain there is no way we can resolve this peacefully?" She—he—asked. "I do not wish for this to end in violence."

"Is that so, oh great and mighty son of this so-called Emperor?" She felt a bristle travel down her overlarge spine. "Then why did you bring an army?"

murderbetrayal

She was looking out of a window thicker than her body, through eyes that were stronger than any that could exist. There was a world on fire on the other side. The same one.

deathconquer

Thousands of worlds. Millions of people. Other sentient beings all died by her—his—hand. It was all she could do to maintain the distinction. To ensure that she knew this wasn't her. It was Horus's memory. Not hers.

Never hers.

The memories flashed, and suddenly she was in one place.

Death was in the air on this world. The smell of blood and iron and ceramite choked the dust-clouded skies. Storm clouds blotted out what she somehow knew wasn't the sun she knew. She opened her eyes.

To find herself surrounded by war.

I never wanted this.

She walked without moving. Ten feet off the ground with eyesight that defied reason. Every step sounded like when Horus had first arrived. Distant but nearby, warfare raged. All around her were the countless dead. Humans and astartes alike. Glad in brilliant yellow, the foolish sons of Rogal Dorn lay in their fetid ignorance. Sons of the false emperor, the pretender.

I never wanted to unleash my legions.

Worldbreaker gleefully awaited more blood. It bayed like a wolf on the hunt, the souls of its victims crying out. It was intoxicating.

There was a heartbeat nearby. How surprising. To think that one of Rogal's sons had survived. Her massive strides brought her closer, and she saw him. A single son, armless and barely able to stand. The fatigue of the battle he'd barely survived proved him a simple opponent.

Together we banished the ignorance of old night.

A memory of someone she'd never met filled her mind. A golden king standing head and shoulders above her. Clad in auric plate, his eyes glittered like suns. A sword that roared with inimical flame hurt her mind's eye.

She grabbed the sword that the Imperial Fist thrust at her midsection, snapping it. Her lightning claw snapped forward into, and through, the space marine. He died on the spot as she feasted on his soul.

War burned in front of her. Machines larger than skyscrapers belched plasma and fire and death onto a battlefield full of foot soldiers and tanks. Astartes died in their thousands. Regular humans in their tens of thousands.

She—he—relished in the carnage.

Another shift.

Right as the Emperor almost gained the upper hand, Horus saw a flash of regret. It caused the killing strike to hesitate, and that was all he needed. His mace came up and smashed into his father's shoulder.

His power claw ripped through his chest.

His mace came down on his father's face.

Broken and wounded, his 'immortal' father looked up at him with hatred. Horus relished the emotion, drinking it in and smirking.

And then, one of his father's billion sycophants stood between them. Barely large enough to be noticed. A single lasgun and paper armor.

And he thought to stand between Horus and humanity's doombringer. He rolled his eyes and eviscerated the fool, not even bothering to capture and feast on his soul.

A worthless end for a worthless being.

The chamber suddenly shook with power as the Emperor's full might rose up against him. Horus staggered backwards half a step as he recognized that he had not yet won.

But it was too late.

"HORUS LUPERCAL" the entire ship rattled under his father's mind.

"YOU DIE"

She was on the grass. Laid down and staring at the sky. Her eyes felt dry. She felt…shriveled. Small.

Frail. She was human. Completely and totally human.

"Welcome home, Felicia." A voice said. It sounded…tired. Old. "You are safe." She didn't feel safe. Her arms and legs shivered with adrenaline she couldn't spend. Waiting for a threat that wouldn't exist for over twenty thousand years.

Sitting up, an old man was sitting next to her. He was huge. Taller and broader and more terrifying than…

Horus. Gentle but sad eyes were crinkled with an age that she hadn't noticed before. Behind them, the uncountable crimes against humanity warred with his sanity. Two hundred years of war.

"You…" she couldn't run. If he'd wanted to kill her, he would have long ago. But every instinct in her body told her to be not here. Over a hundred years of memories that weren't hers had been stuffed into then brusquely removed from her mind. She had flashes of what mattered. The perception of his experience.

But it felt…off. Like it'd been divided in two. She couldn't recall it, not fully; there was something on the edge of every experience for a short period. But that short period, that infinitesimally small time…the atrocities were unimaginable.

She managed to get to her feet, though it was unstable. Staring at Horus was like looking at someone else. He looked completely different from the Horus she'd known for the past month.

"I am sorry, Felicia." He rumbled. His was the voice that had drawn her out of the nightmare. She noticed, on the ground in front of her, was the pistol she'd threatened him with on the night he'd mysteriously arrived. "You may end my life, if you wish. I had thought to do it myself, but…"

He was afraid. Every memory was underpinned with it. A fear of the unknown. Every scent was tinged with not knowing if he would live up to his father. The entire war was…waged out of a desire to be loved.

It'd be so easy. To avenge the quadrillion people, or more, lost to Horus. To claim vengeance for them.

For people who hadn't even lived yet. For them. Trembling, she picked up the handgun. It was fully loaded, six rounds.

The fields echoed with the sound of a gunshot.

Hey guys. Sorry about this one. I tried time and again to get it right, and I just couldn't get anything really in line with what I want. So...sorry for a lackluster chapter quality. Here's hoping those for the future will be better.