Despite the pain she endured when she woke up, Greyfax's iron will never wavered, and she showed only the slightest outward signs of discomfort. Gerhard relieved the pain she might have felt and brought her back to peak condition in every respect.
Now, she focused on keeping a wary eye on Saint Celestine.
In private, Greyfax began to suspect that Celestine's apparent divinity might not be a mere illusion. She had witnessed the Living Saint battle against arch-heretics and twisted traitors; she had seen her accurately predict events that she could not have known in advance; and she had observed how the light of Celestine's faith repelled the wicked and empowered the righteous.
But not only that. She had witnessed first-hand the power of another Living Saint in Gerhard. Not only was he constantly watched over by a Custodian, but he was also capable of miracles. And while she initially thought it to be another way of heresy, she couldn't lie to herself to such a degree, not after he healed her body, mind and soul with a touch.
Katarinya Greyfax was an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, serving as a witch finder whose primary duty was to doubt and suspect all that seemed fair, in case it hid a deeper darkness.
Throughout her long experience, she had learned that true miracles were rare, and what appeared to be a gift from the Emperor was often a tainted temptation laid by the Gods of Chaos. Therefore, as hope began to bloom in her heart that Celestine and Gerhard might be uncorrupted, and despite her own perfectly healthy state, Greyfax remained vigilant, watching over the two Living Saints for even the slightest hint of duplicity.
Lencillus and Gerhard naturally caught her, but beyond showing that they knew of her thoughts, they didn't react. Leaving her to make her own choice was what Gerhard believed would help him in the future.
It took a few days of monotony for Greyfax to approach Gerhard, who was working excitedly on his magnum opus of Anti-Warp technology.
As soon as she entered Gerhard's room, which had turned into a workshop with various pieces of armour and weapons lying around, Greyfax felt the horror of a Blank unlike anyone she had ever experienced.
Her connection to the Warp ceased to exist for a brief moment, and she felt as though she were in the endless void, slowly falling into an existential black hole.
Then everything returned to normal, and she gasped deeply.
"Haaa... haaaahhh..."
She looked at Gerhard with hatred in her eyes, a natural reaction from all humans towards Blanks. But for Psykers, the effect was far more powerful, and they could not control it.
Gerhard didn't care. He knew of this and walked up to her. She wanted to retreat, but he reached her before she could.
[Burning Spirit Principle]
Gerhard used his healing spell to heal her and bring her back to her peak state. The 'aftertaste' of the experience remained, though. This would remain in her mind and soul for eternity.
"You're a Pariah!" she barked.
"Indeed. I am the galaxy's biggest paradox, a Psyker-Blank hybrid. Depending on what I need, I can switch from psyker to Blank with a thought."
The Inquisitor stilled after hearing this. She looked at Lencillus, who hadn't changed his position even one millimetre, remaining a statue of golden power.
The idea was nonesense. That wasn't possible! No creature could have a soul to use the Warp and not have one and be a Pariah.
"I think you are under the misconception that Pariah's or Blanks are soulless. They are, in fact, not soulless. In the same way normal souls have a positive pole in the Warp and can utilise it, Blanks have a negative pole that does the exact opposite. This makes them the most effective weapon against Chaos, and those who use the Warp."
"And you are both...?"
"Yes. You, as an Inquisitor, should see what this means. If I am capable of being a Blank, it is virtually impossible for me ever to be corrupted. It is also this that the Emperor saw as a weapon to be used against the enemies of the Imperium."
Gerhard sprayed some lies into his truth, which were the best lies anyway. While it was true that he was the best weapon against Chaos, this wasn't only because of his hybrid status.
But Greyfax didn't need to know that yet.
Baby steps.
...
...
"Are the so-called Saint's words true then?" Greyfax asked after a long silence.
"They are. We are going to Macragge to see the Lord of Ultramar and save the Imperium from certain doom."
The Inquisitor thought about the healing power that Gerhard had and had to agree that his story was theoretically possible... at least for her, who didn't truly know the exact thing they were going to do when they met the Lord of Ultramar.
But Gerhard wasn't going to go into details right now.
He knew that his new mentality, the increased compassion towards humans and loyalty and his willingness to head into danger to help Guilliman and the Imperium, were surely attributed to the skill he didn't fully know what it was.
[**** ***** - Lv. 1]
Gerhard felt his HP and MP stats slowly grow, and his Mana became denser and more powerful.
His mind was still his own, and the decision to go to help Guilliman was the most logical one. With Guilliman, Gerhard had the best chance to change the Imperium and slowly remove the old, stagnant elements, replacing them with new, progressive ones.
But Guilliman was needed for that.
Not everyone would be happy about his return, but almost everyone would listen to his commands, and Gerhard was going to ride his train to be the spear of progress.
Gerhard talked with Greyfax longer, exchanging stories and information. Gerhard even asked to see her weapons: her power sword and her special bolter.
In front of her, he took it apart, took out new materials from his inventory and shocked her to the bone by reassembling the weapon with ease and incredible speed. And he didn't speak useless prayers or use 'holy' oil like the Mechanicum did.
And still it was a marvellous weapon, far beyond anything the Mechanicum could create.
"... What was that?!" she asked.
"This is another of my uses, Inquisitor. I ask that you keep this to yourself for now. The High Lords of Terra are mostly corrupt and power-hungry pieces of waste.
I am sure you understand that. We will change that. You told me about the slow pace and petty handling by those in power, even by your fellow Inquisitors and Lord Inquisitors.
Can you imagine a smoother leadership? How many heretics and mutants could we purge on Terra itself? I have the power to know the hidden truths of anyone... I'm sure you will find my skills useful."
...
Gerhard used a lot of honey to soften the stern and unyielding Inquisitor slowly. She would be his first piece amongst the Inquisition, which was far too powerful as it was.
But that would take a while. First, they had to get Guilliman back and save Ultramar.
.
Amidst the ongoing monotony, no one noticed when Yvraine beckoned Cawl away into a recessed cargo bay where his auto-reliquary was stored.
No one, except Gerhard and Lencillus. Gerhard had long taken control of Cawls' cogitator using his varied skills and programming mastery to see and hear everything he did.
Gerhard was one step away from reaching Technomancy.
The air in the cargo hold was thick with the smell of machine oil and the rhythmic sounds of Cawl's Kataphron Servitors. Their dead, cybernetic eyes stared into nothingness as Yvraine, the Emissary of Ynnead, stood before the towering mass of wires and metal that was Archmagos Belisarius Cawl.
Between them sat the auto-reliquary, a massive, humming machine that contained Cawl's greatest secret: a suit of armour designed to bring back a dying demigod.
"Your logic is flawed, Archmagos," Yvraine said. "You believe that by mending the flesh and filtering the blood, you can undo ten thousand years of Chaos poison and stasis. You trust in your gears and your bio-alchemies to wake the sleeping Primarch."
Cawl's optical sensors clicked as they zoomed in on the Eldar prophetess.
"My calculations are absolute, Xenos," his voice sounding mechanical and filtered through a heavy vocal synthesiser.
"The Armour of Fate is designed to sustain the biological functions of the Primarch's unique physiology. It will seal the wound dealt by his traitorous brother's blade all those millennia ago. It will restart the heart and his brain functions. It is a triumph of the Omnissiah's design."
"It will restart a heart, yes," Yvraine countered, stepping closer, her hand resting near the hilt of the Crone Sword. "But it will be a hollow vessel. Roboute Guilliman's soul has been drifting close to the tides of the Warp, anchored only by an impossibly thin thread that is a stasis field, which is now failing. If you wake the body without the spirit, you will create a mindless monster—or a corpse that breathes but does not think as the Primarch once did."
The Archmagos paused, a dozen mechanical appendages freezing in mid-air.
"The soul is a variable that is... difficult to quantify through standard mechanics. I will need more time to quantify this conundrum and find a way to solve it."
"I am the hand of the God of the Dead," Yvraine whispered. "Ynnead has given me power over the transition between life and the void. While your armour knits his skin and purges the venom, I will reach into the aether. I will find the light of the Primarch's soul and guide it back into the physical body."
Cawl was silent for a long time. Data-taps on his many legs clicked rhythmically against the deck plating as he ran thousands of simulations. He looked at the auto-reliquary, then back at the Xenos woman who claimed to command authority over the souls of the dead.
Giving her access to Guilliman could be the most foolish thing he had ever done in his life. It might be the thing the Eldar planned the entire time to grow more powerful and weaken humanity.
...
Or it was the truth and the only way to bring the Primarch back.
Finally, his cowled head gave a single, curt nod. He had no choice in the matter. Gerhard was just as much of a wildcard as Yvraine, but he would trust a human more than a Xenos. And from what Gerhard had said, he could help the process as well.
"Agreed," Cawl said. "The physical and the spiritual shall be treated as concurrent projects. See that your... 'divine' interference does not short-circuit my life-support systems, Xenos."
Yvraine smiled, a sharp, almost dangerous expression.
"Do your work, Magos. I shall do mine."
With a swirl of her skirts, she turned and vanished into the shadows of the hold, leaving the Archmagos alone with his machines and the heavy weight of the decision he had made.
.
Gerhard, who had listened in on the discussion, had a thoughtful look on his face. He knew things about Warhammer 40k, but he was by no means the best informed.
He knew that Eldar helped in the return of Roboute Guilliman, but he didn't know how.
This discussion was interesting to him because he had planned not to grant the Xenos access to the Primarch and heal him himself.
Now, he thought about not doing that and using this moment to learn from it. The Ynnari were a relatively small faction right now, but if they were to grow into a larger, more serious faction, they could pose another serious threat.
It was good to have information on potential enemies and use them to his advantage.
"What did you hear?" Lencillus asked.
"We might have to allow the Eldari access to Guilliman. To get him back safely."
"A risky idea."
"Yeah. But it should work out."