As the illusion shattered completely, the cloyingly sweet air and the uproar of revelry returned.
Bona opened his eyes again and saw Slaanesh slumped over the table, her head buried in her hands and her cheeks puffed out.
"You really are a freak," she said resentfully.
"Thank you for the compliment."
She tossed him something, and Bona caught it neatly.
What rested in his palm was the stone on which humanity had first depicted a hunting feast.
Merely holding it brought a scene of humanity's ancestors joyfully celebrating before Bona's eyes. They shared meat roasted almost as hard as stone, then painted their feast on a rock wall by torchlight.
That pure, straightforward joy was the joy of a fulfilled "desire."
The joy and hope of surviving, the joy of clinging to life a little longer before facing a tomorrow of both opportunity and danger-these came from the deepest desire in the human heart.
Its name was "living."
Bona looked at Slaanesh with some surprise.
"Giving it up so readily? That isn't like you."
"Heh..."
She rolled over languidly, revealing tantalizing curves in a graceful pose.
"Do your best. That half-paralyzed, violence-crazed lunatic up ahead can hardly wait."
"Don't go losing to him and wasting all the thought your big sister put into this."
Bona rolled his eyes and waved a hand.
"Are you done? Hurry up and disappear."
"Hmph, you bastard. Done playing with me, and now you want me gone?"
"Get lost already."
Yet she did not tease Bona again. Instead, a faint, knowing smile appeared on her face.
She lightly bit her finger, then said with a smile:
"Yes..."
"Get lost while you still can."
After that, there was no further sound behind Bona. He turned around and found the Palace of Slaanesh completely empty.
Bona also