Chapter 66:

Chapter 66: History lessons and preparations leave way for the trip away from home.



I looked over the young lady as she considered the very important question I have asked of her. Her sundress continued to be very cute, especially now that I knew the reason she wore something so plain.

She has three positions she could take in the service of the Speakers of Apocalypse, those being as a Loremistress, an Older Sister and a Younger Sister. And she already lost her chance at being an Older Sister for trying to steal my blades from under my nose and giving up so soon.

I am not mad at her, if anything I am amused at being proven right.

Older Siblings are meant to be pillars of morality in the Speakers of Apocalypse and we are also meant to be relentless in the pursuit of our goals. She tried to get any advantage she could get to save her family and was perfectly willing to deceive, cheat and steal everything she could get her hands on and as far as Eldar are concerned that is the most moral and righteous thing a filial daughter can do for her family, assuming she is successful that is.

She gave up before even reaching the study and no matter how moral her actions, this meant she does not have the Relentlessness of an Older Sibling to push forward no matter what. She shouldn't have stopped and if anything invited them in as a sign of trust and a show of force, but she decided to let them be and focus on me.

This left her the position of Younger Sister, which assists Older Brothers in their tasks and undertakes low-risk missions or that of a Loremistress. As a Loremistress she would take over the Black Library and help Cegorach in unearthing and understanding hidden knowledge as well as prioritizing what is useful knowledge and what isn't, and to see if she is going to be a Younger Sister or a Loremistress I need to know if she understands our history and its implications. She's had plenty of time to look over it after all.

"I do, it was confusing to me when it was explained, but the Empire of Ten Million Suns was founded by Malekith the First when he managed to cement his Rulership over the Great Wheel by Walking-as-Asuryan-Khaine into the flames of Asuryan and tricked the Eldar people and the rest of the Great Wheel into thinking that he is the twins reborn." She replied unsure of exactly why is this piece of knowledge important.

So not a Loremistress either, I guess being a Younger Sister it is. I'll educate her on how she is wrong still, but it seems she does not have the right frame of mind for a Loremistress.

I looked at her father who sighed at her answer, for he too realized his daughter had lost the chance at a prestigious position with her words, for while her words were not wrong, they were also awfully incomplete.

Malekith did a lot more that day than just trick the Eldar after all and I would have to teach her this.

"You are partially correct in your words, and I will elucidate you as to why, but first, your father wishes for you to join the Diplomatic Corps of the Pantheon and this has been both a healing session, an explanation of your situation and interview and as such I would like to welcome you as Younger Sister of the Speakers of Apocalypse." I explained warmly.

She looked quite shocked and my words and once again turned to her father for an explanation and the two sang to each other about it. Her father looked indulgently at his daughter who was no longer in danger of becoming a dragon.

She never was and now he knows that.

A human Doomsday Prepper and a Dragon might act similarly on the surface as far as Eldar are concerned, but her soul is human and not Eldar, and like her soul, her actions look the same but the underlying order is still the same and it will take a few reincarnations until her soul operated fully on Eldar logic.

A human doomsday prepper is a scavenger preparing for hibernation and a winter that will kill off abundance, while a dragon is a miserable being that wishes to acquire what it desires at all costs and keep it hidden from everyone else and it will grow as mighty and as wrathful as it can if what it desires is threatened or stolen. The two only act the same because the same actions undertaken by Eldar and Humans have entirely different results.

"I will let the priest explain daughter, your healing session is not over but I wish for you to relax as both of us wish you well." The father explained to the daughter in speech.

He knew better than to intervene in this ritual now. He has promised to let me deal with her issues and the improvement was near instant, and while he may or may not be suspicious of me as an individual, he cannot argue with the results of my actions.

The girl is calm, she no longer tries to desperately gather whatever advantage she could find in desperation and most importantly, she knows that she is safe in her own home.

"But I am fine father, the misunderstanding was a bit embarrassing yes, but I am not ill, I can't sense anything wrong with my body." She ignorantly replied.

The father just looked at me pleadingly.

"Bessar, please explain to her how you helped her." He asked of me.

We are not on a half-name basis but I will let it slide.

"Your father is correct my new apprentice and subordinate, you were quite ill and yes you are correct as well, your body is perfectly fine too. Unfortunately it is not the body that is the issue, but the soul and I can assure you, your soul is quite ill and malnourished right now and it is quite obvious to a priest." I answered sternly.

I could see her soul quite easily, its outer layers at least. It was a sputtering thing, large for sure as she is an eldar but extremely gaunt for a lack of a better word. Like a man suffering from a short burst of gigantism, her soul is as 'tall' as it should be but it is far too thin and diffuse.

I pulled a small tablet I had prepared beforehand and I gave her one of my Swords of Light.

"Here, use this and it should show you your own soul as I would see it. You are a bit young to do so unassisted or look into it yourself safely so this should give you an idea. I call it the 'Sword of Light' and it is a self-diagnosis tool for children and those that haven't been trained in the soul arts and it is my hope it will create a unified frame of reference for soul medicine as it spreads. Just think of pushing your soul and energy into it and it should light up" I told her

She took it and did as I told her.

The Sword of Light light up and showed us the shape of her sword, a Harpoon Gun, only instead of a normal harpoon that was held by a rope, it was a bone sword held by a rope made out of blood that was linked to the gun part of herself that too was made out of bone. All three constituent parts were covered in Gea's iconography too, the strange whirlpools that served to represent Gea's connection to the dance floor and rituals.

The issue wasn't easily noticeable on the surface at first sight, for it was a light issue but on a closer study it could be seen.

There were chips in the bone and those chips showed small splotches of a sickly yellow I associated with fear and an extremely light green with dark splotches I associate with cancerous growth and the desperate accumulation of resources.

They were tiny compared to the sword, but they were there and observable to whoever could pay close attention to it.

"Your soul is as much a part of you as is your body and those tiny spots are the thoughts and emotions that have plagued you for most of this life and they have left a mark. They will slowly disappear in time now that you are aware of your situation and the problem, but your soul was in danger and it still hurts even, and due to your nature you are not aware of it, for human souls hide themselves from their bodies." I explained as I pointed with my ringed hand.

If I knew putting a ring was meant to represent my apprentices before I started teaching Vect I would have, unfortunately I could only put them after I had finished teaching Vect for putting them during his apprenticeship to me would have insulted him. Putting the rings after I have taught him would honor him more than I intended and so he'll have to live with that.

A shame but such is life.

"This is my soul?" The young child asked as her red eyes sparkled in wonder.

I shook my head.

"No, this is not your soul, but an image of your soul as seen from my own perspective if I were to look at it. Depending on your perspective your soul would look completely different and even from my own perspective there are parts I can't see fully or appropriately. This is a diagnosis tool for the soul, not a mirror into your soul that shows you all that you are and can be." I explained indulgently.

Teaching truly was fun. Seeing the looks of wonder of those I taught as I opened their minds to new perspectives and knowledge was something I enjoyed deeply. The girl looked in wonder and started to play with the image as she started to cut it into pieces and even see if she can change the perspective.

'Do not stop her, this is healthy for her.' I informed the prince in song and he nodded.

It would normally be quite rude to get so engrossed in looking at a toy that you start ignoring your teacher and father, but some childish wonder was just what she needed right now.

Humans thrive when they can play and have fun, and her soul has been devoid of Play and people she could play with properly for some time as she could not form bonds with other children easily. The best she achieved according to her father is cordiality but she never managed to get a friend.

"Once you get bored or done with it we can continue the history lesson, and there is no rush and you can keep the tool for yourself. I may not be the best soul healer in the Empire but I do have plenty of toys and tools for the task and the Swords of Light are easy to make." I explained to the child having fun.

She realized she was technically speaking during a medical check up and a lesson and blushed slightly.

"You are the first individual that in 2 million years has been the first to find a cure to the Wasting Sickness, if you are not the best, then I am a pauper, which I am not." The father said with amusement at what he perceived as false modesty.

It was not, for while I was no novice in the art and to call myself anything but a Master would be a lie, I was nonetheless far from the best soul healer in the Empire. I had just gotten lucky to have found a cure by accident while I was trying to win an argument with my younger siblings and nearly died for my victory.

"I am a master of it, and have made an entire craft in relation to it I will not deny it, but my cure was more luck than actual skill. Those that would be in the running for the title make my expertise and knowledge in healing souls seem amateurish. Also you are not in any trouble for your wonder young lady, as I truly meant what I said." I replied.

The girl bowed as the Sword of Light stopped shining.

"I am sorry for getting distracted." The girl said stiffly as she bowed deeper.

Too prim and proper by far, but at least she now stopped thinking that I am a scammer which I suppose was good enough. I'll have to teach her how to smile more.

"You have nothing to apologize Laciena Fiora so please raise your head, I have plenty of experience in such situations, the most in the Empire I would argue, so I know perfectly well that what you have done was in no way shape or form disrespectful. I will continue the history lesson then explain your situation if that is alright with you." I replied.

The girl radiated embarrassment which I ignored as she nodded to me and otherwise remained silent and I prepared to continue the history lesson.

"You are correct that Malekith ,or Malerion as he was known before his Ascension, had tricked the Eldar, but he had also Deceived the Gods with a single performance as he crafted a story where he convinced the Twin Divines that it would be so much better if they were as One, and thus he performed so well that the Divine danced to his tune and so did the rest of the Galaxy, for with one act he brought back the path of Priests and Song which was taken from us by the Old Ones as the Eldar stopped being the Small Singing Swords of the Ancients which fought and died with courage and honor, and became the Children of the Stars once again which tricked and deceived reality until it is as we please." I informed the young girl.

She looked confused, which only cemented my decision to keep her as far as possible from the Lorekeepers. Even Cegorach's minions would eat her alive for failing to understand this much with ease.

"But how? He just walked-as-divine, they should know all he does and be as he is so it is impossible to deceive yourself like that." She asked.

I sighed, and wondered why do people on this world not understand Deceit? It shouldn't be this hard.

"Deceit is convincing people that reality is different than what they would normally believe it to be, and Malekith as the first True Deceiver, Deceived the Divine into a glorious future where the Twins are One as they have always wished to be and where we are as we used to be as we live in a reality where there aren't things that will happily eat us alive and that we needed to cull to be safe. Malekith performed so well as both of Khaine and Asuryan, that he showed them that glorious path and they decided that they'll make it real. And so Malekith stepped into the flames of the Gods they spawned from and came back unharmed." I explained.

Malekith was an illegitimate son of the previous Phoenix King Aenarion when we were Boorish swords that fought and died as the Old Ones wished of us.

I could see I had her attention still and so I did not relent in the history lesson.

"By all metrics he was the worst pick for the position as the King of our People, and yet he decided to audaciously trick all of the Lords and the Divines into allowing him to step into the Flames of Asuryan. All believed he would burn and wished to see him become the barbecue they could feast upon at the Crowning of the true candidate, but the Absolute Madman managed to make the Divine remember that they used to be Children of the Stars so long ago and the galaxy applauded and cooed and cheered and cried at our tune. And as the Pompous Would-Be-King pranced and danced and tricked and Deceived his future subjects who were cheering in their souls at his own demise, the Gods have played their first prank in a Million Years and crowned the fool as King, for they wished to laugh at reality once again and his performance was actually so convincing that they decided it needed another one just as grand as payment." I continued.

"Wait, but how does that tame the Gods if they wanted it to happen?" The girl asked.

An annoying question that only the young would ask for. The answer was because it would be funny if it were true and so we made it so.

"It tricked them, because Malekith never even wanted to be a King, he really just wanted his mother to stop nagging him and hoped that if he were to prance enough, he would just be told to leave and not return. He pranced so well that the gods decided it would be really funny if he was a king and in doing so started the time honored tradition of turning Eldar in mortal peril into kings even if they were not wishing for it as they try to achieve one thing, and by their actions achieve another. And so Morathi succeeded in her schemes and turned her son into a king and god and he finally lived up to the potential she saw in him and so became the first True Priestess of the Pantheon." I answered.

The girl was massaging her head and she was actually having a headache from my explanation.

Until Malekith decided to try and pretend that acting and showing up as a pre-War in Heaven Song King in the double gambit that it would either cause them to acknowledge that his Ascension would be the most 'traditional' one, for he used the oldest of traditions, while also acting like such a fool nobody would be taking him seriously. Our people were stuck on the path of Princes and thus did not know how to react when the Would-Be-King did two contradictory acts at the same time that one could not tell from the other. We could only cut through nonsense and not create it but that changed when the most beautiful woman that had ever lived started to plot and brought down the plans of Gods and Mortals with her beauty and treachery.

Morathi with her plans and nonsense taught us how to act like the Priests of Song who made species and civilizations dance to their tune and it is why we call her the Everqueen of Deceit after she married her own Son. The woman was truly built different and every single Deceiver in the Empire of Ten Million Suns are her disciples one way or another, including her own son who we pretend was not deceived by his own mother until he learned to emulate her, for she was the First Mistress of Deceit and also the Mother of Priests, for from her mind and actions our Song Priests were reborn.

Her face being used to depict the Divine was an insult to both Mortal and Divine, for she most certainly was a mortal woman. To accept her being anything else would mean there is a winner to our prank wars and that winner is the Divine and we can't have that. The Divine enjoy the conflict too much to let it end and the Mortals are not going to let them win and so to make her a Divine is a Greater Blasphemy against against both Mortal and Divine and we can't have somebody ruin our fun, even if the woman in question would very much wish to be a Divine.

She'll have to settle to being the shining moral example of all that priests should be, which is things that try to emulate divinity and while they might have some success they will never be Divine and will fail whenever they will try and suffer for it.

Just like Morathi.

"You think still as a human, which is fine in and of itself, but our actions have different results compared to your old people, especially when it comes to the nonsense related to Divinity and Royalty. Everyone really wanted to find a reason to stop fighting all the time somehow, and Malekith and his mother tricked us into having them be our solution, and we tricked them into thinking we were deceived and left the fool to prance to his doom, and he did it so well the Divine pranked us back and turned his deceit into reality, and we've been continuing said pranks and trickery and deceits ever since and we're currently preparing for the next great one with the birth of the New Divine." I continued.

Her headache was growing, which was fine as everyone but Eldar had the same reaction when they learned what our civilization was, for it was a series of pranks, dances, oaths and trickery we've started to keep us busy having fun and enjoying ourselves among ourselves and not fighting everything that breathed and most of the things that didn't.

Really, focusing our attention on each other in a less destructive way was the best thing that could have happened to this galaxy, and the fools in the galaxy don't even appreciate it, for even under the endless slave raids of the civilians trying to find new drugs and toys for their deranged orgies, life is still better off than under the Small Singing Swords of the Ancients, for if they die then they die fast and if they live they don't have to live in Endless Wars that force them to live on the edge of life and death as they desperately try to cling to life at all costs just like the Old Ones Intended.

Without us there to stop the nonsense of the Old Ones from taking root again, the galaxy turned back into endless low scale conflict in less than 20.000 years, so I knew we were right in our opinion that the galaxy truly is better off when we rule it.

"Wait so the birth of the New Divine was planned for?" The girl asked me surprised.

Even the father was now listening intrigued. He has not remained up to date with whatever the other Old Bloodlines have been planning so what I am about to tell him probably comes a bit as a surprised for him as well

"Yes, if for different reasons than most believe. Her priesthood indeed formed to deal with Boredom, and the rest of us have been sabotaging their attempts just enough to let them think it could work. It couldn't work and we really just wanted a temporary prop to assert our supremacy over the galaxy and the Divine while we dealt with the Disease we got saddled with by enemy action. With the exception of that disease we could really do without, things have really been going about as well as it could be expected as we teach the galaxy that it isn't just our wealth and time we've spent stacking the deck that makes us superior to everyone else, but the fact we are inherently superior and if we find someone better or that is too useful, we'll do like Isha does and trick them into our family." I responded.

Gork and Mork thought that humanity are hilarious and wanted to adopt them as their new children after we gave them the idea when we tried to do the same to them and they said they aren't interested.

We decided to see what is that nonsense all about and gave humanity the tools it thinks it needs to avert it and are holding an adoption interview for how well they'll do in our family by giving them the room to breath and see how they do as stewards of the Great Wheel, even if the Anathema is not aware of the fact we're planning it.

Gork and Mork wasted their Ultimatum on saving Mankind from Death, and so we'll give them the chance they refused again as the Anathema thinks he has us for fools for giving him everything he wants for his plans in keeping his people safe and raising them until being his peers is something one can actually achieve and not a distant and unattainable thing they can't even dream about.

Now if they want to call humanity brothers they will have to accept our offer of brotherhood and we will get all of the Old One's nonsense for our pranks and that of humanity added to our kit too.

Humanity's ability to change themselves depending on the games they play is a rare one, and it is the only thing we could use as bait for Gork and Mork and to prevent Gorkamorka from rising and so we will continue to let the Anathema continue his plots for the uplift of his species while being completely unaware of what he's getting his species into.

He wants the Webway as a safe space to develop and grow? He'll have it and learn quite clearly what it means to live in our home, for humanity's numbers mean little there as they need to learn of the trickery of our home if they wish to survive for long in it. Just throwing bodies at the problem never helped past invaders after all and they are hardly the only one that tried to get in.

The necrons themselves could only survive small incursions after all, and mainly used them for transportation, for they knew exactly how dangerous the home of the Old Ones that they have left for their children is.

"So how do I participate into it?" She asked in confusion and trepidation.

I gave her a smile that would make a daemon run and both father and daughter shivered at it, for Priests are nor meant to give heartfelt happy and genuine smiles like I am right now.

"Humanity's is getting adopted while we leave them a retarded, stillborn chaos divine to fight with and see if they got what it takes to fight against our Divines in our war for person-hood and civilization. How do you feel about getting our old people as a member species of the Empire?

We've prepared the perfect stage for them to see if they are worthy and from what we're seeing the fools are absolutely hilarious and adorable and we'll see how they behave when the Empire stops keeping this galaxy safe." I answered joyfully.

One of us built the tomb dedicated for himself and in which he was born and then proceeded to become a doctor and a diplomat, and the other was born in such obscene wealth she thought she was poor and the gods and priesthood find this sort nonsense incredibly useful.

The two of them were quite scared now and I wondered why. The father will go to sleep as the daughter will join our diplomatic efforts into forging and sharpening humanity into something that is just as nonsensical as us, and it will do so as we trick Gork and Mork into joining our family too as the lost children they are. They are our dear younger brothers, and while they are mightier than us, they are far too foolish but it is fine.

Their very kind older siblings continue to Love them very much, for we find them oh so foolish and adorable and so much more pleasant than our Adoptive Parents that tried to make and keep us boorish after they died. They failed and now we have turned their beautiful forest into a garden for ourselves to enjoy and rehearse our plays and songs in.

That is hardly the most impressive thing we've done and planned for after all.

So what if we used an obscene amount of time travel to plan across time and space to turn the only impediment of our fun into a prop? If Slaanesh did not want to be a toy, she should have agreed to die for good when we gave her the chance. She didn't take our mercy and so she is going to be used as a tool by everyone for our ends and fun, and that includes her enemies and the things that pretended to serve her while they wished her ill.

I'll have to ask my hosts how exactly still, for I dearly wished to see if I could use it for my play. I am still in the backstage helping Cegorach and his adorable sons and daughters set up Vect and his nonsense after all and I still haven't started my third act.

I suppose this could serve as the warm up for the last part of the first volume of my story.

'Oh, how cute, they started hugging.' I thought as I looked at them.

Truly, the Pantheon chose correctly when they chose her family and their nonsense to help with my birth. Now I need to figure out how to keep her from marrying me, for they've given this young girl a soul made for catching large prey and I and my Narrative Momentum are quite large now.

~~~~~~~~

'The priests are insane and are bringing the entire galaxy into insanity with them.' Was the thought running through my mind.

I was given to them to be taught and allowed to be healed from the spiritual maladies I accidentally contacted due to myself and my parents not understanding one another.

The issue I find myself into is that nobody but priests understands what's going on in their minds either, and father was tricked into letting me become one, no he was tricked into asking for it by both priesthood and divine as they conscripted us into their sham of a war and apocalypse.

"I am sorry my daughter, I wished to help you and so agreed to the proposal of the Divine and in doing so put you into a far greater danger than I expected. I hoped that you would be a part of the diplomatic efforts of our people as they tricked and mocked the lesser races and I did not know that the priests are by far the worst thing I can put you near of." My father sang mournfully as he equipped me in ornate armor and gear.

It would be covered in the black robes associated with the priests of Cegorach shortly as I needed to uphold traditions and rituals to gain protection from them now as I was to become a priestess of diplomacy and apocalypse.

"You tried to help me father, even if I was too blind to see it, I can't hold it against you." I assured him.

The priest explained to me how soul injuries manifest, when runaway emotions start self propagating into our soul and turn them into unbalanced things that exist to create more of it.

The priest is a deranged lunatic as I have now learned all Eldar priests are as they plot your damnation and rise to glory with the same actions, but he was also an accomplished healer and fixed an issue father has been struggling with for decades in an hour.

"Are mothers alright?" I asked him.

Mom and her sister-wife have always loved me and they are not here to see me off which hurt a little.

"They fell asleep and I will join them shortly and the world will forget we exist until we are safe again. Know that you will return to us when it is so." Father said.

I sighed in relief, they were safe at least.

He wanted me to experience a joyful life, which is why he did not wish to leave me here alone as my parents tried to find any reason to leave me here in safety while they went and had fun in the rest of the galaxy. We are all fools now for it would have been a preferable fate compared to joining the priesthood.

Bessar Agail, my new Older Brother used to be a normal human man in his past life too, but the Divine and his siblings turned him into what he is now, and while he looks favorable upon us now that means little. For a priest the difference between a boon and their wrath is minimal, with the two being largely the same and only the purpose of what they subject you to being different.

"It is difficult to twist my mind to generate momentum father." I told him.

Bessar Agail told me that the best way to generate Narrative Momentum early on was to think of it a spin-up toy where you would make your soul ramble in your mind of your situation and what is going on and why you are doing what you are doing each time something happens or changes but it is so incredibly tiring.

I do not like rambling this much in my mind about useless trivia of information or trying to form barely coherent trains of thought and memory into something that is related to what I was doing and use them to guide me and my actions, but it was according to him the best way I could generate momentum and guide it before I learned to make a ritual, so I would have to learn to ramble.

My father now helps me put on the black robes.

"I know my dear, I raised you to seize the day, not set up the stage and I know the two require very different mentalities. You will have to make do." He replied.

None of dared break this ritual and so I had to go.

Our wealth was measured in the number of rituals we have stacked on top of one another to guarantee our prosperity and safety I now knew. However the bedrock of all our rituals were the Laws of Mortal and Divine, the Divine Edicts that allowed the Empire of Ten Million Suns to exist and be mighty. Breaking ritual is one thing, to break an official ritual is to break every single ritual we have ever made and have to start from nothing and the priest has offered us the chance to not go with it, which we did not take.

Father could have lost the competition, I could have not tried to take his guards from under his nose, father could have just not asked to have me join his organization and so on, but now I have to be a priestess because we did none of that.

Instead we got the priest into debt to us and asked him to take me as his assistant. I would laugh at the concept that someone else getting into debt to me and my family could be used against me, especially when they have every intention of immediately paying it but I am too scared for it.

The necklace holding Cegorach corpse-like visage that all those that are Damned are to wear was the last accessory I am to take and I have to put it on myself.

I looked at the strange little thing and a treacherous thought tried to compel me to not pick it, to break the ritual and the Law and just take my family and run and see if we could not find safety with artifacts we had accrued somewhere safe.

I shook my head.

' I will not do this to my family.' I thought vehemently as I put it around my neck.

I have fought in my past life to bring my family out of poverty and so did my father. I will not be turned into that which I have despised for a human lifetime.

"Come daughter, Bessar Agail waits for us in my study." My father said as he tried to hold back his tears.

I am now a Damned of Cegorach-who-was-once-named-Hoeth and I am so by my and my family's own choice as we got a priest into debt to let me into their organization.

I nodded and walked behind my father. The walk from our armory to our study was short at least.

Bessar Agail's hired blades bowed to me as I passed them as they stood guard over their master as he rested properly for the first time in decades. The backroom study of my father separated a priest from their Narrative Momentum and put them in a good mood as they regained full control over themselves.

I nodded at them and prepared to enter the room and the blades opened the door for us.

My father passed the threshold without even stopping it and I followed him and could immediately feel the force that had been animating my limbs cease doing so as I stumbled slightly.

I did not fall, but even warned of it, it was still surprising.

"You will miss this feeling my younger sister, for this room is the only place I know of where we can control our limbs fully." The Deranged priest of Apocalypse said to me.

I turned to him and looked at him properly. He stood in the rocking chair and looked for all intents and purposes to be relaxing as he drank a glass of water and he wore the same robes as I did.

His eyes were far too kind for a monster to possess and yet he possessed them.

"Will I turn like you did?" I asked meekly.

He sighed at that and took a sip of the glass of water he held before putting it on the small table nearby.

"No, if you would have brought my blades inside during your interview and continued to try to take them from under nose, I would have considered turning you into my peer. But as such you are in luck and will only be my assistant in my schemes and this will allow you to hold your mind in one piece more or less." He replied.

I sat down near my father as I considered his words. Father was getting increasingly more difficult to think of which meant that the ritual to keep them hidden from the New Divine had already started. Once it starts fully it will allow me to return to safety even from beyond death, just before whatever tried to kill me did so and I will awaken safe and sound in my own bed.

The only difference will be my mind and sanity, for if I were to lose any of those I will not regain them.

"Please elaborate." I asked him.

He looked at me with the same indulgent look my father looked at me when I wanted a safehouse to stash the gifts I received from him.

"Older Siblings are the ones who are taken over by our Narrative Momentum as we slowly lose our grip on reality and sanity and replace it with our mad ramblings and schemes. Younger Siblings are our kind brothers and siblings that try to keep us safe as we lose our minds. My own siblings have been trying to stop me from running and accept defeat by the Divines since I Walked-as-Khaine and realized that all of us have lost a lot in the Discontinuity surrounding our first ritual. The eldest triplet lost his cheer, the middle one her original name, the youngest one his certainty that all will be well and I lost my moral compass as I merged with my other self.

My human half of the soul keeps trying to reassert itself fully and my eldar one is trying to help it when it can as it is not Eldar so it can allow us greater control over our actions, but all it can manage is influence decisions taken and grant people as many chances to run as he can give them and make it look like he's playing a game on them. Your family failed to take the ways out it begged you to take as you put us into debt and made us think fondly of you." He explained tiredly.

I considered his words as I stood down. It was only the two of us in this room.

My family was no longer here and the home was empty of all life except the two of us.

"Would you take a chance at freedom from it?" I asked him.

I was struggling with the question if I should take the first chance I had to run and abandon this madness, for one would surely come that would not doom my family.

He took another sip from his glass as he considered my words and he sighed in defeat before answering.

"I have thought of it, but no and I will stop trying from now on. The future of our species, Mankind and Eldar, require that our schemes be successful. Because if I don't succeed extinction will be the kindest fate that awaits us. I can still offer you a way out if you wish it, for my wife is a queen and she would surely take you in and allow you to rescind your oaths to us." He offered me.

It was the human that was speaking now, for the Eldar continued to follow his instincts and tricked us until we reached where we are now.

"What would the consequences be? I do not wish to bring ruin to my family." I answered.

He smiled and it was a sad smile.

"Your family would be fine, they will not lose their rituals, but you would no longer be a part of them or under their nonsense, but you would be able to await behind fortifications until the New Divine is dead. They will not be affected and would continue to be safe under their rituals keeping them hidden from her hunger and notice." He replied.

I considered it, the offer was attractive and the same part of myself I kept fighting since I put my robes whispered that I should take it, but I have already decided by now. I will not run from what I have gotten myself into.

From the moment I walked from the armory I have started walking the Path of Priests in the service of our people.

"I will continue to walk this path." I replied, my voice full of conviction.

He nodded but spoke no more of it. We both rose and started walking away from the Empty home.

The Blades were betrayed to their benefit and were a part of the ritual now too as they had served me and my family and thus were under the same ritual that kept them safe from the New Divine. I could not even remember how they looked now.

None of us commented on it.

We looked at the palace for the last time as we walked away from it.

"All oaths fulfilled, for loyalty is rewarded the same as treachery done out of love." My Older Brother said as we both turned away from my old home.

It was his oath to himself, the seed of himself and around which all that he is is centered. I will have to find one myself so that I am not lost in my own Narrative Momentum.

We started walking and left the empty field behind us, for we had a farseer to inform him of the date and location he is to present himself at for a beating.