The three brothers, reunited after a long time, along with the Emperor launched into a heated discussion, completely forgetting about the Eldar guests on the side.
The situation became a bit awkward. Rhodes offered a polite smile, choosing not to intrude on this family reunion scene. Instead, he approached Yvraine and greeted the assembled Eldar.
"Welcome, everyone. We'll discuss resurrecting the Eldar God of War, Khaine, tomorrow. Rooms have already been arranged for you—please rest for now. There will also be a banquet tonight," Rhodes said.
No matter what, he had to be a proper host. Basic Imperial etiquette still had to be maintained, after all—this was the Imperial capital.
"Honored Primarch. We have crossed the entire galaxy, overcoming countless dangers, and, with the help of the Eldar Webway, collected all the Avatars of Khaine from every Craftworld. We've persuaded countless kin to do this, for it is the Mother Goddess's will. We want to revive the God of War as soon as possible," said Eldrad.
For six months now, they had been busy gathering Khaine's Avatars—now all that was left was the resurrection.
The Craftworld Eldar seers all nodded in agreement—they didn't want to wait a moment longer.
"My children, resurrecting the God of War requires many intricate steps. First, you must hand me all the shards of Khaine. I will need to use my divine power for this. The Avatars must be refined into fragments, then these fragments combined, and finally a body must be rebuilt for Khaine. It's not as simple as you imagine," Isha said as she joined Rhodes.
By now, Isha's belly was fully swollen. Previously, only the High Seer and Supreme Seer had guessed the Mother Goddess was pregnant.
Now, seeing her like this, all the Eldar present understood what was happening. Even though the body she was using came from a Dark Eldar, it still made them uncomfortable.
All the Eldar kept telling themselves: "It's just this body that's pregnant! It's not truly our Mother Goddess."
"Great Mother Goddess, the body you are currently inhabiting may be inconvenient for you. But it's no problem—we Craftworld Eldar have many pure maidens willing to sacrifice themselves, to offer their bodies so your soul may reside more comfortably," suggested one of the Eldar seers.
Looking at their Mother Goddess's swollen belly, the Eldar felt bitter inside. What was this situation? Their Mother Goddess, walking around pregnant in the human capital, was simply too shameful!
It had to be a misunderstanding. There was no way the Mother Goddess was pregnant with a human child—just the body she borrowed was.
As for reproductive isolation between humans and Eldar, they chose to selectively forget. If not for the Mother Goddess's intervention, how could a human and an Eldar possibly have a child?
"I do not need a new body. I must also help nurture this child—this child is my divine child!" Isha declared.
"…" Eldrad.
"…" Yvraine.
Oh Mother Goddess! Could you not have kept it a secret for just a bit? Your countless followers' hearts will break!
Even though some had guessed the truth, when the brutal facts were laid bare, all the Eldar began to sway on their feet.
"No! This… this can't be! Mother Goddess, you must be joking, right? How could you have a divine child? Who… who is the father?" one seer asked, voice trembling.
"Don't jump to conclusions! The father must be your former husband, our Eldar Father!" He was practically begging for the answer to be the Mother Goddess's long-dead husband.
But all the Eldar knew that was impossible. The goddess's husband had died more than ten thousand years ago, when Slaanesh was first born. Among all the surviving gods, he was not one of them.
So the answer was obvious!
Every seer desperately hoped the child was NOT between the human Primarch and the Mother Goddess—but if not him, could it be Nurgle? That was even harder to accept.
If it was Nurgle's divine child, then Holy Terra would already be corrupted, and the Emperor would never allow such a child to grow up here.
"Great Mother Goddess, this divine child is just blessed by you, right? He is the child of this Dark Eldar and a human Primarch, merely blessed by you. Because, after all, gods cannot have children—especially not a divine child," another seer pleaded.
"Enough speculation. You need not doubt. Rhodes's psychic strength has reached the divine level. His partner, for certain reasons, has also reached godhood. With my presence, this child is mine—one of my children. He is a hybrid of Eldar and human, and will be a god of both races from birth," Isha said, shattering all their hopes.
With the power of the Life Giant, and being on Holy Terra, the child's safety was assured. Even if Khaine revived, Isha would not fear him. And with the cosmic beast fused, Rhodes was in control—Khaine would just have to obey and work for them.
Draw Chaos's attention, buy them time.
At this moment, every Eldar seer looked at Rhodes with murderous eyes.
The Emperor, seated on the Golden Throne, was gleefully watching the seers break down.
Weren't you all so proud? Didn't you call us humans monkeys? Well, now the monkey has gotten your Mother Goddess pregnant—how does it feel?
"Mother Goddess! How could you… with these barbarians! With them, with them…"
"Mother Goddess! I can't accept this—I absolutely can't!"
Compared to the devastated Craftworld and Exodite Eldar, the Dark Eldar and Harlequins were much calmer. To them, the Mother Goddess was single—she could be with whomever she pleased. Why did the others care so much?
"We Dark Eldar are the true heirs of the Eldar Empire. We don't care about this. Do you still think yourselves noble?"
Looks like your spiritual path is far from complete!
"Enough! The Mother Goddess sacrifices for our entire race. The birth of a new god will make us safer," Eldrad said, using his psychic power to silence all the seers.
His power was always among the top of the Ynnari's seers, and recently, blessed by both the Death God and Laughing God, he was now second only to Yvraine.
"This is the Mother Goddess's personal life. We have no right to interfere. She's always worked for our people. Besides reviving Khaine, you may not know—the birth of her divine child will sever our connection to Slaanesh," Yvraine said.
With a cosmic beast inside her, she could use Rhodes's system to chat with her sisters and with Rhodes himself.
She'd learned that the cosmic mantis had already devoured C'tan shards, and with Isha's divine power, they could already cut some members' links to Slaanesh.
When Rhodes and the Mother Goddess's divine child was born, he'd be able to sever that link completely.
The Craftworld Eldar, previously miserable, now brightened instantly. If anyone had suffered the most from Slaanesh's soul-draining, it was the Craftworld Eldar. Even in death, their souls were trapped in infinity circuits.
"Once my divine child is born, all that will be easy," said Isha.
She couldn't wait to shake off the shackles of Chaos. With Aisha's help, the two goddesses could easily sever that link—though for now, only a little at a time, maybe a dozen a day.
When Slaanesh's divinity found a new host, the link would transfer to the reborn Slaanesh. Let her be the scapegoat—the Eldar goddess of love and beauty would be reborn.
"Mother Goddess! Your divine child can truly free us from Slaanesh's threat?" all members wanted to hear it themselves.
"Of course. With the Death God, the God of War, my soon-to-be-born divine child, and my own power, we can defeat Slaanesh," Isha said, smiling.
"Praise the gods of the Eldar!"
"You have not abandoned your children, great Mother Goddess!"
"We finally see hope!"
This was the best news they'd heard since coming to Holy Terra.
The Emperor, atop the Golden Throne, sneered inwardly.
Looks like he'd worried too much. After Rhodes's divine child was born, things wouldn't be so easy for him among the Eldar.
Prejudice is a mountain—and for the Eldar, even greater. They saw humans as mere monkeys.