"Hey, that last move was pretty cool."
An ethereal, melodious voice, tinged with amusement, rang out without warning in the vast, silent corridor, breaking through the heavy footfalls of Lorgar's solitary walk.
Anastasia appeared soundlessly half a step beside Lorgar, as though she had condensed out of the light.
She was still dressed in plain white, her silver hair cascading down. Her azure eyes, which reflected a sea of stars, gleamed with interest, as though she were observing some fascinating experiment, as she tilted her head to study Lorgar's sharply defined profile.
Lorgar did not break stride or even turn to glance at her, as though he had long since grown accustomed to her sudden appearances.
He simply kept walking, his gaze somewhat unfocused, seemingly not truly fixed on the magnificent reliefs and flickering wall lamps ahead.
"Seriously." Anna walked lightly beside him, her gait graceful beyond anything mortal, her voice carrying a strange echo through the empty corridor.
"The way you turned into a ball of light at the end and burned away all those nanobugs and the mess inside your brother's head... well, it really shattered my usual impression of you as the 'steady, reliable big brother.' I thought you were better at making your point with a sword, or winning people over with scripture."
Lorgar remained silent.
He reached the middle of the corridor and stopped before an enormous mural.
The mural depicted an epic scene of humanity's early exploration of the stars, fighting together beneath the Emperor's banner. Its brushwork was grand, its colors still solemn despite the passage of years.
Yet his gaze did not seem to truly settle on what the mural depicted. He merely needed something on which to rest his eyes for a moment.
"What are you thinking about, Lorgar?" Anna stopped