(A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter today. Sorry guys. Im strugglingreally bad right now with things. It also doesnt help that ive got finalscoming up for my 3rd semester of welding.)
=== Maximus ===
The chamber surrounding the Singularity Ring had transformed in the span of minutes from a place of tense anticipation into a room full of motion.
Maximus' gaze sweeping across the growing ranks of Astartes as they emerged one after another from the swirling threshold before him. They came in waves, their armor bearing the heraldry of different chapters, Blood Angels in crimson and gold, followed closely by the Dark Angels.
New Ultramarine brothers stepped through the portal as well while the unyielding sons of Dorn, the Imperial Fists, took their place among them.
Next, the green-armored warriors of the Salamanders stood like living embers, having heard their Primarch was on this side of the gate.
Then the portal flared again as a single figure stepped through the threshold, and in that instant, the atmosphere changed.
Clad in radiant golden armor that seemed to drink in the light around it and return it tenfold, the figure moved with a grace that spoke of absolute certainty. The long haft of his guardian spear struck the metal beneath him with a resonant, ringing note as he came to a stop before Nira, the weapon held upright in a posture that was both ceremonial and unmistakably ready.
When he removed his helm, it was not done for comfort or familiarity, but as an act of acknowledgment, revealing a face that was carved by the hands of the Emperor himself, stern and unyielding, untouched by doubt or hesitation.
"I am Atheon," he said. "Of the Ten Thousand. Custodian Guard of the Emperor of Mankind."
Atheon's gaze moved between Nira and Maximus, as though measuring them against a standard known only to him before he continued.
"I have been dispatched with a singular directive," he said. "To locate and protect the children known as Luke and Leia."
Nira did not seem surprised, not in the way many others might have been, though there was a faint narrowing of her eyes as she studied him.
"Is that your only priority?" she asked, her voice steady. "Or have you been sent to help us win this war as well?"
"My duty is clear," the Custodian answered. "The protection of the children is absolute." His grip on the guardian spear tightened just slightly. "Should this war threaten that duty in any capacity, I will act swiftly and without hesitation. Without mercy."
Nira held his gaze for a moment longer, then gave a small nod, accepting the answer for what it was.
"Then we understand each other," she said simply.
Atheon inclined his head once, then walked to the side of the room to stand as a lone Sentinel.
The portal flared once more, brighter than before, the energy within it surging as something far greater began to pass through. The entire chamber seemed to still in response as the first of the Blood Angels re-emerged, their movements slower now as they dragged a heavy slab forward through the portal.
Between them, borne with a care that bordered on sacred, came the form that had defined their existence for ten thousand years as the body of Sanguinius was brought into the chamber.
The wings, though still, seemed almost as though they might stir at any moment, the golden form unmarred by time as the body had been healed.
The Blood Angels moved as one, lowering him with care as they set the massive stone slab to the ground.
The chamber seemed to draw in on itself as the moment approached, the noise and movement that had filled it only minutes before giving way to stillness as all attention settled upon the figure laid out upon the slab and the woman who now walked to stand at the head of the slab.
Sanguinius' spirit lingered at Nira's side, luminous.
"Are you ready?" He asked, Nira lifting her gaze to meet his. She gave a small nod, and answered him simply. "I am."
She stepped forward, closing the final distance to the slab, positioning herself near his head. For a brief moment, the two of them stood together in a silence that felt almost intimate despite the hundreds of warriors watching.
When she looked up at him again, there was something sad in her expression . "I will miss you."
Sanguinius regarded her for a moment, and then he smiled before his form began to dissolve into light, that radiance folding inward as it sank into the still form upon the slab.
Nira drew in a slow breath as the presence at her side vanished before pulling back her hood, revealing pale, near-white skin marked with intricate black tattoos that seemed to shift faintly as power stirred beneath them.
She did not hesitate after that. Her right hand rose first, fingers curling slightly as she drew upon the Warp, and the air around it twisted in response, a sickly green and violet energy coiling into existence, writhing and alive with a dangerous, barely contained intensity.
Her left hand followed, and where the Warp was chaotic and devouring, the Force answered her with a far more fluid, deep luminous blue that flowed into her palm like a current of living light. For a brief moment, she held both, the opposing energies casting shifting shadows across her face, before she extended them outward, placing each hand to either side of Sanguinius' head.
The ritual began.
At first, it was subtle, a low hum that seemed to resonate through the very structure of the chamber as the energies responded to her will, threading into the Primarch's body.
The Warp writhed as it was forced into alignment, its chaotic nature bending under her control, while the Force flowed in tandem, stabilizing, guiding, shaping what might otherwise have torn itself apart. Those closest to the slab felt a pressure building in the air as though reality itself were being pulled taut around a single, impossible point.
Nira began to sway. Her breathing grew strained as more power poured through her, the glow intensifying in both hands as the energies fed into Sanguinius' form. The chamber dimmed as though the light itself were being drawn into the ritual, shadows stretching and bending unnaturally across the walls as the hum deepened into something almost thunderous.
The Astartes did not move as they watched.
Some with reverence, some with disbelief, but all with an understanding that they were witnessing something that defied even the boundaries of their long, war-scarred existence.
A surge of golden light erupted from Sanguinius' body, bursting outward in a radiant wave that flooded the chamber, washing over everything in its path as the energies collapsed inward in a single, blinding instant. The force of it drove Nira back a step, her connection snapping as the ritual completed, the glow in her hands vanishing as the power she had channeled found its final purpose.
For a heartbeat, there was nothing.
Then…
Sanguinius drew in a deep breath, his chest rising as life returned to his once broken body. His eyes snapping open as he surged upward, pushing himself from the slab in a single motion. He sat upright first, his gaze sweeping the chamber as though taking in the world anew, before rising fully to his feet, the sheer presence of him filling the space.
Every Astartes in the chamber dropped to one knee, the sound of ceramite striking metal echoing in unison as voices rose, some in prayer, some in praise, all directed toward the Emperor and the miracle that had just unfolded before them.
The Blood Angels did not hold themselves with the same restraint, their composure breaking as many of them bowed their heads, shoulders trembling as the weight of ten thousand years of loss and longing finally gave way, tears falling freely as they beheld their gene-father restored to them.
Sanguinius stood at the center of it all.
He looked down at his hands first, turning them slightly as though reacquainting himself with the physicality of existence, his fingers flexing slowly before his gaze lifted, his awareness expanding outward as he drew power into himself. The air shifted around him.
Then his wings unfurled.
They spread wide in a single, powerful motion, golden and immense, catching the light that still lingered in the chamber and reflecting it outward in a radiant display that seemed to banish the shadows entirely. The force of it stirred the air, a rush of displaced energy that rippled outward as he stood to his full height.
"I have returned!" he declared, his voice carrying across the chamber.
===
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