Bona crossed a plateau formed from rainbows and arrived at the legendary sanctuary of the God of Wisdom.
Vast stretches of crystal stood like thorns upon the ground, constantly shifting in shape, size, and color.
Trying to map this labyrinth through the laws of physics was sheer delusion. Concentrating too hard on the shifting Crystal Labyrinth would only draw one ever deeper into it.
Clearly, Tzeentch hated being bothered by fools.
Even before entering, Bona could clearly sense through his psyker power that the Crystal Labyrinth was a place even more unpredictable than the Warp.
Space and time were as chaotic as random numbers within it. Only masters possessed of true wisdom could enter this labyrinth.
Then a portal suddenly appeared beside Bona, followed by an indifferent voice in his mind.
"Come in."
Bona glanced at the labyrinth in surprise, then looked at the portal.
He stepped through the portal and arrived directly in the deepest part of the labyrinth, beside the God of Wisdom.
The god appeared as a middle-aged man in scholarly robes, holding a strange two-headed bird in his right hand.
"I... don't have to go through the labyrinth?"
Tzeentch glanced at Bona.
"Heh. Only fools who fancy themselves clever go through that labyrinth to see me. Even I would need some time to navigate it."
Bona scratched his head awkwardly.
He really had been thinking about how to get through the labyrinth just moments ago.
Before he could react, however, a great pile of books came flying toward him.
"These, and these, and this pile here. You need to learn all of them."
The Lord of Change gently waved his fingers, and the books containing forbidden knowledge came hurtling at Bona.
"Learn these as soon as possible. You can choose not to, too. It won't make much difference anyway."
Faced with the God of Wisdom's gifts, Bona seemed somewhat at a loss.
"Huh? Don't I have to pass a trial or something?"
The Lord of Change chuckled. Bona felt as though the laughter came from every direction, each with a different voice.
"No, you don't."
With a gentle wave of the god's hand, a strange sword appeared in Bona's grasp.
"This is a weapon that can kill Horus. It will teach you what to do."
"Learn the rest yourself. When you feel ready, there's no need to come see me. Go do what you want to do."
In the blink of an eye, Bona was back where he had been before, with the ever-changing Crystal Labyrinth still in the distance.
If not for the small mountain of books beside him, Bona would have thought it had all been a hallucination.
He looked at the weapon in his hand, its blade twisting. Just looking at it, he could feel the chill it radiated.
Bona gave it a couple of gentle swings. It felt quite comfortable in his hand, so he kept it.
Only as he watched Bona leave did the Lord of Change abandon his earlier air of bland indifference, his expression twisting with excitement.
"Kairos, tell me. How far will this little fellow go?"
The bird in his hand was, in fact, one of the Lord of Change's most capable Greater Daemons.
Kairos Fateweaver.
After Tzeentch had thrown him into the Well of Eternity, whose depths even the god himself could not fathom, he had crawled back out impossibly aged and somewhat mad.
He had grown two heads: one could look back into the past, while the other could foresee the future.
Whenever Tzeentch asked him a question, one head would speak the truth, and the other would lie.
Kairos twisted his heads slightly. Flashes of psyker power burst from his pupils as fate tormented the Greater Daemon's entire being.
He knelt trembling in Tzeentch's hand, finally speaking in a quavering voice:
"He will kill the Emperor."
"He will kill Chaos."
With that, he collapsed into the god's palm and lay motionless.
Tzeentch chuckled softly and casually sent countless threads flying toward Bona, only for every last one to fall limply downward.
At this sight, the Lord of Change grew even more excited.
"Hahaha! The 'Breaker of Fate,' one whom fate refuses to accept."
"The greatest 'change' of all."
The Lord of Change had never been so excited. In all his long existence, this was another being beyond his control, apart from the mysterious and unfathomable Well of Eternity.
For this being, so adept at manipulating hearts, the powerful, and even entire civilizations, it brought a long-forgotten thrill and a challenge.
At last, he could challenge "fate."
M31,004----
Davin.
The vast fleet had returned to the skies above this planet, and this time, it brought the Imperium's punishment for rebellion.
Aboard the magnificent flagship Vengeful Spirit, the great Warmaster Horus sat high upon his throne.
Lupercal Horus, the most perfect Primarch, whose glorious achievements had served the Imperium.
Yet at that moment, he was deeply... troubled.
He looked at the letter in his hand. Its sender was his brother, Roboute Guilliman.
Recently, the actions of their father-the Emperor-on Terra had left them all uneasy.
The newly established governing body of the Imperium, the Council of Terra, symbolized the Emperor handing authority over this vast empire back to mortals.
This body consisted of the twelve most powerful members of the human race, who would decide the next course of the great vessel that was the Imperium of Man.
What frightened them most, however, was that there was no place in it for the Astartes, nor for the Primarchs themselves.
The Emperor had abandoned them.
This fear spread through the Legiones Astartes, and through the ranks of the Primarchs as well.
Now, with the Great Crusade drawing to a close, the Primarchs had decided to return to Terra and ask their father why he had done this.
Everyone hoped the Emperor's most favored son could appeal to him, though the way he did so might differ from what they expected.
But as Warmaster, Horus understood one fact all too well, even if he was unwilling to admit it:
His father, the Emperor of mankind, would not listen.
Having grown up among gangs, Horus had long since learned to read people. He understood this more clearly than any of his brothers.
The Emperor saw them only as tools.
Whether Astartes or Primarchs.
Their father regarded them all as "tools" for achieving his ends, and nothing more.
He would not even devote much of his attention to them. He merely drove them all toward his goals.
If anyone failed to complete a task, he would force them all to kneel in repentance, just as he had punished Lorgar. Those who defied his demands might even be erased outright. His two missing brothers were the clearest proof.
Oh, the only one he cared about was that Crown Prince-Bona.
For he had already ordered every Primarch to bring Bona back, even at the cost of their own lives.
Look. That was his true offspring. Genetic monsters like them were merely tools.
Just then, his Company Captain, Abaddon, approached.
"Father, we have reached attack orbit."
Horus shook off these distracting thoughts. Perhaps he could resolve these issues with his father once he reached Terra.
"Attack. I'll lead them myself. Let those traitors learn the price of betrayal."
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