Chapter 43:

Slaanesh is not supposed to be able to feel love, no matter how much she craves it. This is meant to help her in certain ways and hinder her in others.

Love is not meant to be a power-up, it is meant to be a set of chains and depending on how they are made you can use them as weapons or have them be used against you as restraints, so her having found the one being in existence that is willing to truly and deeply love her and not only what she can do for them or her power is not inherently a bad thing as long as we manage to either kill her or keep the number at one, for if there's only one and they're dead then there's a limited amount of nonsense she can pull up.

Love has legal weight in Eldar law, for it is what humanity would call a 'Get our of Jail free card'. If you have done something out of love and broke the law as you did it, then as long as the one you did it to forgave you then it would not be held against you.

Slaanesh had been brought from five strikes to one strike before we can kill her in one day and created a legal conundrum. Her Grandson could be argued was the target of at least two of those strikes meaning that she could not only set us back from where we brought her, but gain a new shield against our own nonsense. This is because the one you harmed by breaking the law has to hold you accountable for the harm done to them and if they don't do so then you have not broken the law. This has very few exceptions, which are made even fewer when the one you did them against is family and both of you love each other.

We can't allow that and we won't, but I am stuck as to how for now.

If I die she can kill this world, for it would have meant she got her way in her tantrum. I would lose my family, half of the worlds I've prepared for Immunization so far and the Followers of Hoeth would lose many contingencies and plans that either rely on me and my younger siblings to act or provide information for others to act.

If the Grandson of Slaanesh dies, then Slaanesh will be able to claim love possessed her to act as she did and the target of her love died. She would be able to pull his soul out of this Tomb and ask for Forgiveness which is likely to be granted putting as back to three strikes.

What strikes would those strikes she can be excused for be?

First would Entering into my Tomb with, or as an Unborn child, for she chose this place to save him and while she broke the law herself, she can argue she broke in here to put her son in the care of those meant to look after children which had lost their families and the Followers of Hoeth are the ones you could go to for that and I am the highest ranking one capable of it that she knows the location of.

We quite literally aren't allowed to hold the family of the children put into our care accountable for it, only the children can do so, and to do so they need to meet them. Such nonsense had happened before and the ones that asked honestly for forgiveness always received it in such cases.

The second would be her kick, for while she sent it, it is her Grandson that received it as a Weapon to protect himself with for Tombs are very dangerous and you need to be armed when in Tombs in order to protect yourself which I can't argue against. It is my Tomb after all and I asked my siblings to indeed make it very dangerous and she can claim that in front of the Court and I can sense the displeasure of the Gods as they realize what I realize as well, for their avatars are still in my Grand Chamber and watch the proceedings.

They are my audience for my third play after all and they want to see how am I going to get myself out of this mess even as I can feel them cheering for me. I thanked them in song for their cheering and waved at Khaine which came armed with Father then proceeded to ignore them. Khaine smiled back and Father sent me his encouragements.

Isha alone looked off put by the proceedings but she too cheered. I'll ignore it, for her domain is family and she probably does not like it to see families suffer, especially when 2/3rds of it are innocent.

If Slaanesh does succeed in her schemes then I'm losing the legal defenses my Tomb grants me and if she decides to hit me again she has two souls that would love her and grant her an excuse to sent tantrums with a lot of collateral damage.

Innia Bris must die and be kept away from Slaanesh and I can't do so for now, and killing her son sets us back too much because the moment he dies his Divine Grandmother gets first dibs to ask for forgiveness and if she does ask for it she will receive it.

We're too far behind schedule as it is, for each time it seems like we might pull ahead a new development pulls us back so I am in constant need to find a way to save on time for no matter what I do I keep losing more of it faster than I gain it and it is a far too human emotion for me to be able to ignore it and not be annoyed by the fact that I am meant to be immortal and yet I keep running out of time.

No matter, I've dealt with it before and I'll deal with it now and I'll do the same in the future for my family needs me to and I'll do what they need without complaint for I know they would do the same if I asked and none refused my requests of them if they could grant them. I can deal with my amused annoyance with time and its shenanigans later, I have more more important things to do than whine.

The grandson stirs now and it had been told its Mission and the desires of his Grandmother and what he needs to do to avenge his mother which he now mourns like I did.

I felt it in his cries, if he managed to kill me Slaanesh might be able to be brought back to three strikes and she'll be able to use one to bring her back and I have no doubt she will do so, for she has never received any love and if she allows Innia Bris to return into the Cycle of Reincarnation or Vaul's Anvil we'll make sure that love is extirpated with Prejudice, for she craves that which love gives her and we have denied it to her at every turn and no other Eldar loves her for who she is.

We do not need her to think she can combine Love Nonsense with the rest of her kit as she's gaining too much ground as it is.

The screams started in full and billions of souls started to burn on the surface. My siblings had put Burning Blades on the Surface and they burned with my personal blend of Flames.

I call it Soul Burn and it is my attempt at mixing the soul burning properties of Khaine's flames with the burn-logic of Phosphex and it was a complete failure, for the thing spreads too slowly and it doesn't burn hot enough to burn the entire soul off, so I couldn't use it to permanently kill Daemons or make a Giant Cauldron to cook Slaanesh in and so I have to use it as a lesser medicine for dealing with Idiotic Souls that don't realize they've failed at being Eldar and thus should die or accept they're dead and try again at life.

The thing isn't even as good as either of the parts that went in it or have anything better going for it than any of its parts either, for it does not spread as easily as Phosphex, nor leave the desolate and poisonous husks of worlds its Human parent does, nor does it fully burn the Soul like its Eldar parent for it is a failure compared to what I hoped of it. The only thing it does is spread through burning souls and burns matter and parts of the soul as it does so and while useful, it fails at what I hoped of it.

I still love it, for my adorable child knows his lot in life and enjoys it and is very polite and open about what it wants and why and its why I made the Burning Blades to give it a home to sleep in until it can live his life and do as he wishes.

'If only all of my other children were as polite and well-mannered and did not keep secrets from their creator.' I thought in amusement.

My Swords of Valor keep pretending they are not capable of intelligent thought and I still haven't been able to figure out why as they do not answer me when I try to ask them. I wouldn't kill them for it, if anything I'd make sure they keep on living for longer the moment I could figure out exactly what they wanted, for despite their deception they are loyal and adorable little things.

A pity the others aren't like that.

I'll deal with unruly children later, I need to figure out how to deal with a precocious one and I need to make sure he does not kill himself by accident as he tries to kill me.

'Maybe I can find a place to store him in for eternity?' I thought to myself.

A black hole might work but I have no clue how to get him there.

I only have a Spirit Stone on me thanks to a care package left for my siblings to find as they dug my Tomb, but I've already attuned it to my soul and I'm already in it while my body is kept in half-life so I can't give it to another.

I originally planned to use it to take the hit for me while I was outside my body, then as it broke see if I can't argue that it already hit me as it destroyed the physical container I stood in for a soul stone is technically a part of the soul that inhabits it, then I would just jump to my other, older body in a mockery of Reincarnation and leave assuming it even got to me for Slaanesh coming to my Tomb was the best possible result and I did not think for a second that it could happen.

I can't do that now, and so I need another plan and I have no clue where to get one as none of my contingencies accounted for me not being able to kill whoever Slaanesh sent to kill me as I did not expect her to actually wish to kick me herself. It worked better than I thought possible and now I only need to have it stick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was born of an oath of vengeance and salvation, my own mother begging for anyone to save me or at the very least help me survive and to seek vengeance and my Divine grandmother all but sacrificed herself to give me that chance.

Now I need to deliver her wrath to the corpse of the one who had killed my mother and who nearly killed my grandmother for they have earned a debt from me, a debt of vengeance that I must repay.

"I welcome you in my tomb nameless grandson of Slaanesh, please try not to die too fast or it would ruin my fun." The voice sang into my mind.

"You will die first Bessar Agail." I growled at him.

I felt his location as he spoke, he was below me in the complex shaped like an inverted pyramid with the top wider than the bottom. All I needed was to go down and I would reach him and then he would die.

"I am already dead I am afraid well legally at least, so you are a bit late." He retorted.

I squinted my eyes down at him, he wishes to play at semantics?

"I will then find a way to make you shut up ofr eternity then, either way I will have my vengeance for how you have wronged my family." I declared.

The dead thing still spoke its deceit to me as I prepared to burn the corpse of my mother to not allow it to turn into a weapon against me. It tried to stop me as flames started appearing in my hands.

"You do not need to burn her corpse, grandson of the Divine, I am willing to swear that I will not use it against you." He said.

My flames disappeared.

I looked again on the three legged corpse of my mother, her body was burned and stabbed, her upper body cut into pieces and her face was nothing but bone, teeth and a tongue for even her eyes had logn since burned. Her body was filled with burns and cuts and even her bones were scorched or melted or cut into pieces by his actions.

Her body had already been desecrated, I do not wish to do more to it.

"How can I trust you?" I asked.

The man danced in front of me not in flesh but in spirit.

"You can't, but I would like to apologize for subjecting your mother to this, it was necessary for my siblings and I to escape from a worse fate and while it is no comfort for you, know that I truly would not have done so if I had a choice." The thing I must kill said.

I would have rather had my mother hug and sing to me than know it escaped whatever was coming for it.

"I won't let her stand like this." I replied.

I couldn't trust a word the deceitful thing said, but I would hear it out and see if I can't spot a weakness to exploit.

"Then don't, but let's come to a deal that I believe you would appreciate. Whichever one of us wins gets to keep the Tomb and regardless of who wins, she gets to keep the sarcophagus as a place to rest." Bessar Agail said.

My eyes remained squinted at him for the entire time he spoke and I took his visage in. His eyes were the same shade of grey as mine but his hair was an ethereal black and not my pale gray. His body wasn't covered in dark shifting shadows but we looked to be roughly similar in height.

I did not trust him.

"Why would you make this deal with me?" I asked it.

"If I win I get to find a worthwhile use of my Tomb once I leave it and your mother has been through a lot of pain even before meeting me. If you win you get to desecrate my tomb properly by replacing the one it is meant for with a new occupant and after she is interred here you might be able to talk to her as you do so with me." He said.

"And why would you want the second?"

It sounded to good to be true because it was but I could not find out how and I dearly wished to meet my mother as all I had of her was the memory of her last words.

"Keeps your mother from your grandmother and it is hilarious to me regardless of what happens." It replied.

I did not trust it, but I did not wish to desecrate the corpse of my mother who died to give birth to me.

"How do I know you won't go back on your deal?"

The thing smiled and it and its eyes were far too kind for a being that did what they did to my mother. It responded quickly to my question at least.

"I once struggled with a similar dilemma as you young one, I had to desecrate the corpse of my Father who died where he stood to try and give me a better future and I did so to prevent it from being desecrated to a greater degree by the servants and faithful of your Grandmother. I do not wish to put someone else in a similar position to mine, for I know that pain and you have not wronged me to such a degree that I am willing to put you through it." Bessar Agail said.

"Swear it." I demanded.

If it tries to weasel around his oath I will burn the corpse of my mother and make sure he dies in the same pain he put her through.

"I swear that I Bessar Agail will not desecrate the remains of your mother, that I will not order or allow any of my servants, family or tools to do so on my behalf and that regardless of what happens between us that the sarcophagus my body now rests in will be occupied by your mother with as much respect as I can grant it. To have my servants or whichever wishes to enter verify my word I will leave a placard with my oath on it and you will be able to take it and put it at the entrance once you leave." It swore.

I could feel the truth of its words and felt as if I was tricked somehow but I could not say how, for his oath truly prevented any sort of desecration to her and would allow me to speak with her once he was dead or at the very least not leave her there to rot if I do die.

I considered it and I lost nothing by agreeing as I felt his oath trying to slither around my soul.

"I accept your oath and thank you Bessar Agail." I said as I bowed.

It felt necessary to bow and so I did for my instincts tell me one is to bow when feeling gratitude.

"I thank you as well young one, for you've lifted a great weight off my soul. I have to ask, were you born with a name chosen by your mother or grandmother? She hummed and sang to you before you were born and many mothers, while not officially naming their children then, do pick a name when they do so and it would not do for my greatest foe so far to either kill me or die without a name."

I considered it and tried to remember it but I had no memories since before my birth.

"No and if she did I do not remember it, for it seems I am a new soul but I will ask her after I rip your corpse to pieces and place her in your sarcophagus." I replied.

It did not reply for ten heartbeats. His head tilted to the left and then to the right as he looked at me between squinted eyes. He started to circle me slowly and I tensed.

"Do you wish for me to give you a nickname or title until then? I promise it will be sound impressive."

I considered it, and I tensed further for the thing had a way with words as it knew what buttons to press to make speak.

"No, I will take a name or title after you are dead."

He stopped moving and he laughed at it when and disappeared and I started to slowly walk in the stone and Wraithbone halls of his Tomb. My grandmother told me there were traps and that I should be careful for they were the least dangerous thing in this Tomb

I swore I would make her proud, for she is the only one that tried to help us and I loved her for it and I knew she loved me too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am queen of my people and our people live on a world my Lord-Husband burns from beyond death.

My siblings in law told me that the one that currently burns this world in flame is one of my husband's failed children, and it is a failure for it does not burn hot enough nor does it want to. No, it only wants to burn more and I am scared to find out what my husband considers a successful child.

Only two of my children from my marriage with 'Mighty Tide' who is now my sister-wife Cuhacta Iamara have chosen to call my husband their father in full and not merely my Lord-Husband and I am quite frightened to find out what my husband does not consider failure, for his failed child kills the living and maims the souls of the dead and does so as they number in the Billions.

I once again gathered my Military Commanders in our Conference room and sat at a round table to plot the demise of our enemies.

"We need to stop our failed nephew from reaching the Webway." Aesan and youngest of the triplet siblings of my husband said vocally in a language all could understand.

I was told quite explicitly that he does so only when we are in great danger and his words serve as a warning.

My warriors are all gathered and ready to strike and sortie in and out of our two settlements to help break large armies that found out how to put down the flames before their methods could spread.

My Siren Generals, the Eldar Murderous Medicine Peddlers trained by my husband or his siblings, Eldar Clan Heads that have sworn loyalty and the Martial Minds of the Skin Walkers all looked at him as if he was crazy.

He wasn't crazy, just mad and there is a very important difference for one is divine and the other isn't.

"How?" I asked.

I was at a loss of how to stop it if it did happen, for already 70% of the entire world burned and it hasn't even been a day since the fires started. The only parts that weren't burning yet were the areas near the Webway which were flooding with souls and those near the settlements that have sworn loyalty to me or that I ordered constructed.

There aren't that many of them either.

There are two eldar settlements, the cities of the 'Third Shatter Blade' which had sworn their loyalty to my daughter Rinceo Natton so that they would not find on their own skin exactly what my husband's wrath means and the city of 'Sand Blade' which is the only pious city around our temporary refuge that decided they'd rather swear themselves to 'beasts' than Drown to death after my son Gearras-Cuhacta managed to use his insightful mind and gifted tongue to convince them and that we are still loyal to the Pantheon and thus made the decision to kneel more palatable than death.

There are four Siren settlements too, one in our old 'Temporary Refuge where the Exodus was centered around, one around my husband's Tomb, another which is being built in our seat of power and another built nearby and of them only our future seat of power and our temporary refuge is capable of sustaining a lot of danger.

The poor Skin Walkers only have one city, and it is above the The Tomb of Bessar Agail which they have built fervorously, and they are not happy he is currently dead and seek to take it out on the bodyless souls they think took their liege from them.

There is an entire generation of them that has grown under his aegis and they learned to love him, for he had made them mightier than they have ever been and taught them much.

"More importantly how and why? We can barely get close to the Webway gates, there's too many Eldar there." My sister-wife asked.

My martially inclined leaders now looked at her and realized that yes, this isn't just the ramblings of a crazy person, but military objectives they have to find out how to accomplish.

"If they burn we lose access to the Webway and it is needed for the next phase of our plans and that's what we are here to talk about." Marsa answered my wife.

I could feel them grumbling, for now they had to work and not just see their enemies burning to death in the billions for no Eldar, things taught properly by the Eldar or that used to be Eldar liked more things to do when they could be lazy and cheer at their enemies' suffering.

"Can we close them to get close enough to extinguish the flames then reopen them?" One of the Military Minds of the Skin Walkers asked.

That might work.

"No, they serve as funnels for the divine tantrum to reach us, if we close them, the Divine Tantrum does not end or reduce in intensity for it still comes but it only comes by other means, such as spaceships opening temporary gates around the world, and the gates being on this world means we don't have to handle the Orbital Bombardment of void ships on top of the current nonsense." The oldest triplet said.

"Why is it bad if the flames reach the Webway? We could allow some of the fire to split from our world and enter the four gateways to reduce the flow and keep them open. It would give us reprieve from the invasion and the enemies being funneled in the tunnels would guarantee fast kills." The same Skin Walker asked.

He was one of the few taught personally by my husband and like all that have been taught so he is never afraid to ask questions. He is also able to find loopholes in situations which is not something most of my martially trained individual know how to.

"The Webway is alive, the flames burn it too and they will spread as it burns and burn more tunnels, including the gate we spare as well, and we don't have the time for them to regrow once the wider Webway cuts the cauterized tunnels off, ad so we need to stop them from burning." Marsa answered.

That was quite the revelation to everyone in this room.

'Failed child my shiny scaled ass.' I thought in annoyance.

The world took my complaint as a signal to complain too and it did so in rumbles and earthquakes I took as agreeing to my opinion. The vast movement of ice, endless flames, temperature fluctuations, floods and explosions we keep throwing at it have cause the world great pains and now the tectonic plates of the world groan and move as they break into pieces.

None present showed any sign they cared for it as the screams of Eldar Souls as they burned inured us to such groans of pain and our settlements have been fortified against it.

'If this thing is a failed child, then my children will never amount to anything once my husband decides to put his expectations on them.' I thought in annoyance.

My husband better not place such extreme expectations on our children, for if he calls this a failure than no Eldar or Siren on this world has been anything but such.

"Can we open our own temporary gates then? We put down the flames in abandoned areas, open the gates then the flames return and we close them again. Like this we can keep the flow of souls steady from a distance and we can temporarily close the Permanent Webway Gates when the flames get too close." My eldest son asked.

That might work.

The rest of my martially inclined leaders turned to the triplets who looked at each other as they calculated whatever arcane calculus they needed to see if this helped their brother's plotting or not.

The three turned to the only Eldar that was not here as a military advisor Arrada Cossan. She was also the only one that did not wear armor or the White Vestments of the Followers of Hoeth for even I wore armor.

She wore the Dark Vestments of the troupes of Cegorach and had one of the Handmaidens of Cegorach tending to her needs, for she is the last Follower of the living Divines on this world. The rest ran on the orders of my husband and my own, even if the Followers of Hoec needed some assurances that my people won't be breaking ritual, especially now that my husband is not here to keep instructing them.

I told them that they can stay and see the tantrum of our Youngest to make sure if they were so inclined and their arguments ceased and they took my word as fact for I am the Wise Queen of a very Wise people.

The Handmaidens of Cegorach are the five song-keepers that originally looked after the five harlequins of Cegorach that awakened in our cave when my husband instructed us so many years ago and my people decided that looking after the children and servants of the Divine is a purposeful enough action that it deserves its own organization. They were dressed in pure black clothes that covered their upper and lower bodies with only a white mask made in the image of Cegorach to create contrast, one that they wore in order for all to know whose servants they were to pamper.

To take care of the overworked servants of the son of the God which ordered our creation is an important duty and the fact that seeing the servants of Cegorach be so flustered when they learn there's an entire order of beautiful blushing maidens willing to cater to their every need never gets old is also a nice bonus.

Her face looked similar to me and we had the same blonde hair, but her eyes were far kinder than mine, just as that of her family which made me wonder if we were not somehow related as my family used to be Eldar what to them must have been seven or eight generations ago.

"Do you have access to the Vaults Arrada Cossan? The vaults of our Divine Older Brother that he left on this world should have what we need and you are the only one that might have access to them." Guraith asked.

The last servant of Cegorach on this world had the attention of every soul in this room for now the novice which had not selected a troupe to join and that wore no mask or mark of status or belonging except the white mark of Cegorach on her black kama* made out of cloth had the attention of my entire High Command and that of myself.

"I was given the location, but I still haven't finished learning the Dance to open it." She told us in shame.

"Good, this means that Cegorach does not wish for us to use it yet, just learn it when you have the time and we'll bother with finding them then. It's not like we don't have other temporary solutions to prevent that nonsense either way." Aesan spoke.

We all nodded at that, it is good that we have the solution to our problem available, that will make things easier than they should be.

"May I receive leave and continue my study of it? I do not have much else to contribute to this meeting" She asked me.

I did not need much time to think of it.

"You may leave, the Handmaidens of Cegorach are to be made available to fulfill your every need while you finish learning your dance." I said.

She bowed and left and I ordered the other four handmaidens to join their sister in caring for the only servant of Cegorach left on this world.

We had to plan how to stop the world from burning and drowning at the same time too fast.


AN:

Gearras-Cuhacta= Géar agus Cumhachtach= Sharp and Mighty

To those that don't remember it, he is the eldest of Sian Ceasanna who noticed Bessar had familiarity with the Sirens as they headed to their temporary refuge.