It took a lot to anger the First Primarch. Granted, most of his siblings found ways to annoy him on a near constant basis, but none of them had ever gotten him as angry as their father had.
"Daaaw! This is adorable!" His present siblings chorused over Discordia. Lion El'Johnson was back on his flag ship, heading back to Cadia and thought it was a good idea to check in with his siblings via an old communication application that was extremely useful to speak with his siblings without slapping some of them.
Earlier that day, their father had sent them the picture taken the previous night when Lion had calmed their baby sister during a storm and the child had fallen asleep on his chest.
"Look at you being a good big brother," said Ferrus Mannus, genuine approval apparent in his voice.
"I'm never going to hear the end of this," Lion grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Oh come now, it's not so bad," said Robute Guilliman. "If anything, it's good to see you interact with her."
"She may not remember this, but she will know you're there for her," Ferrus added, being the 'group dad' as usual.
"Yeah, and Jaghatai is gonna be her favorite brother for now," said Leman Russ with a huff. "How the hell am I gonna beat joyrides like that?"
"That's what your concerned about?" Asked an incredulous Fulgrim. "You've got years yet to figure that out!"
"Can we get back to our earlier discussion, please?" Angron said while sending an image of a list to their chat. "We narrowed down the list to twenty titles to introduce Alesia to anime, but we still haven't agreed on which one we should show her first."
"Wait, you took out Full Metal Alchemist!"
"Shou Tucker," everyone else on the call said in unison and Russ got the picture.
"Pokemon and Digimon are pretty safe options," Guilliman mused.
"Digimon has some dark moments, but not in a nightmare inducing way as Princess Mononoke," added Ferrus. "Why is that movie still on the list anyway?"
"Striking it out now," Fulgrim and Angron said together.
"As for Sailor Moon, are we talking about the original anime or the remake?" Russ asked for clarification.
"Original. The remake is very forgettable," Lion finally threw in his two cents.
"That's because you slept through it, brother," Ferrus reminded him, "and will someone please take South Park off the list. None of us want death by pissed off Father."
Alesia sneezed as her nanny brushed out her hair for the fifth time that day.
"Oh my goodness!" Said Sylla as she continued working on the child's hair. "Bless you, my Lady."
Alesia just stared at the mirror her nanny had sat her in front of. It was the first time she got to see herself as everyone else did. She looked the same as she did on her first run on life in 40K, except for her now golden eyes. Her black, curly hair was the same along with her Middle Eastern complexion, but she originally had brown eyes. Seeing her new eye color was somewhat disconcerting as it could be seen as another sign of a consequence to come. Or she could just be reading too deep into a simple change in eye color. For all she knew, her eyes may have changed from her new psyker abilities.
"Madam Sylla," Kithes spoke up from his usual position. "Are you satisfied with the Princess's appearance? Lady Erda will be here soon for her scheduled appointment."
This was another thing Alesia was still getting used to. Erda, in lore at least, had a falling out with the Emperor in regards to the Primarchs, their technically shared children, and had not set foot in the Imperial Palace after the scattering of the newly made demigods. Now, the Perpetual woman was on better terms with the Emperor enough to act as the child's doctor in a manner. What level of groveling did her father do to get back in her good graces?
Her nanny had just clipped a bow into her hair when there was a knock at the door and Kithes let in Erda along with another Perpetual, Malcador.
"Lord Malcador," the Custodes addressed the High Lord of Terra, "we were not aware you would be visiting the Princess."
"It was a spur of the moment decision," said the Sigilite as he and Erda stepped in to the room. The Perpetual woman swiftly approached the Imperial Princess and picked her up.
"Hello, Alesia," the woman greeted her with a broad smile. Alesia gave the woman a mostly toothless smile. "Looks like you're getting your teeth in. That's good."
"She hasn't kicked up a big fuss since she started teething," said Sylla. "If anything, whenever she needs something to chew on, she tries to bite down on her guard's armor or whatever cold object I give her."
"Oh? Are her teething toys not helping?" This fact seemed to have gotten her full attention.
"She has chewed through them in a matter of days, my Lady."
Erda stiffened, Malcador froze, and both Perpetuals openly stared at the baby Imperial Princess.
Was this normal in your past life? She heard the voice of Erda in her mind.
No. As far as I know, I was a normal baby in my past life, she admitted, glad these two knew she had the mentality of a thirty year old woman. While they, Magnus, and the Emperor pretended that she was a normal baby in front of other people, they communicated with her adult conscious when her mind didn't need to be in 'baby mode' and listened to her. Her interactions with Erda have proven very interesting as of late as more and more odd instances cropped up during her growth. It's like my jaw has gotten a massive steroid injection.
"How odd.." Erda mused out loud and stuck her index finger in Alesia's mouth, feeling around for the growing teeth. She withdrew her finger and placed the baby down on the giant plush chair. Next, the woman placed two fingers on the child's collar bone and her hand glowed a soft blue as she used her psychic powers to perform a more thorough exam, making her patient anxious as the woman had not done this before. "I am not finding anything out of the ordinary. She might just be a fierce chewer for the time being."
Erda made no indication that something was amiss with her growth psychically.
"Well, so long as she is healthy," mused Sylla as she went to pick Alesia up. "Her health is all that matters right now." The child in question raised her arms up to reach out to her nanny as the woman lifted her up and held her. "Is there anything else she needs? Does she need another round of vaccines?"
At the mention of vaccines, Alesia's baby instincts immediately took over and she fussed in distress. She tried to regain control, but just like the other night, her base instincts were just to strong for her to overcome.
"Oh, come now, my Lady! I am only asking." The nanny soothed her charge and got her to calm down as Malcador chuckled.
"I don't think there is anyone alive that enjoys getting stuck with a needle, child," he said with a smile, stepping forward and catching the child's rapt attention when his staff moved.
"Lord Malcador, I must warn you that the Princess is in her grabby phase," Kithes spoke up. "And your staff is shiny enough for her to try to grab."
"That would be bad," the Sigilite stepped back quickly and gripped his staff with both hands in case the child tried to use her minor psyker powers to rip it from his grasp.
Neoth had learned his lesson in angering Erda after she nearly castrated him when she had heard of his prior treatment of their sons and daughter, the Primarchs. Upon awakening after Alesia made her wish, he had confided in her and Malcador about the incident and of Alesia's existence. He had received many well earned snarky comments from the Perpetual woman when the search began, and the Sigilite showed reluctance in enhancing the child like her siblings.
"My friend, when will you tell your daughter of what we've done to her?" Erda had asked almost immediately when the two plus Malcador were alone in his study. "She is beginning to notice some discrepancies in her development."
"When she is more settled into her new role as the Princess, I will tell her everything," he said, already knowing Erda never approved of the new project he initiated soon after Alesia's recovery. "Try to think in her perspective; how well would you adjust being thrown back in time and into the body of a newborn? To suddenly have a different life than the one you had already lived?"
"I would trust nothing for a long while," said Malcador after a moment of silence passed between them all. "However, this could backfire as well, friend. You have made substantial changes to her body, and when she finds out…"
Neoth knew what his old friend was alluding to. This was one mistake he would not make again.
A knock at the main door made them fall silent and they heard the Captain-General call out from the other side.
"My Lord, Jaghatai Kahn attempted to take the Princess out of her nursery and was thoroughly scolded by Madam Sylla before Kithes hog tied him. What should we do with him aside hiding his bike?"
"Chuck him onto a transport heading to his Legion's Fleet and tell him I will disassemble all of his personal vehicles if doesn't get back to work!" He was sure everyone in the palace felt his annoyance towards his speed freak of a son. He sighed and muttered, "How did she turn all of them into teddy bears?"
"Aside the fact that the relationship between them and her is the most healthy in your family?" said Malcador. "She's also a literal baby in their eyes since her status as a Reincarnation is a secret that might never come to light unless she trusts them enough. This may be the best thing to happen to them so far."
Perturabo liked to think himself calm and collected. He knew his brothers would call bullshit on that statement, especially after he and Rogal Dorn got into a competition to see who could better improve the safety and security of their baby sister's nursery, leading to a Custodes of all people to step in and tell them to "grow the hell up".
Currently he was in his workshop onboard his flagship, the Iron Blood, when a chill went down his spine. Then he caught a familiar smell and sighed, knowing who snuck on his ship.
"Konrad, why are you on my ship?" He asked aloud and turned away from his work table. "And quit creeping around like a damned sewer rat!"
"We need to talk, brother," the lanky figure of Konrad Kurze slowly slipped out from his hiding place. He wasn't wearing his armor, letting Perturabo know his brother didn't come for a fight. "It concerns our sister."
"Which one?"
"The youngest."
"Alesia? Why?"
"You know of Lorgar's First Captain, correct?"
"The bastard that no one likes, let alone trusts. What does this have to do with our baby sister?"