|3rd POV|
A massive Thunderhawk Gunship slowly lands on the landing pad. When the door to the Thunderhawk opens up, two figures come out of the gunship. The first one is a machine that takes the shape of a human. He is tall, just over three meters. His posture looked hunched with a dome-like object on his back. His legs are no longer regular legs but rather a set of four mechanical legs. It makes him look like a spider-human hybrid. This man is Belisarius Cawl, Archmagos Dominus of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Walking in front of him is a massive man. He is a little bit taller than Cawl. He is an enormous man. He is human, but anyone who sees him immediately knows that he is more than human. He releases an aura that makes weak-willed humans kneel in front of him and look at him in awe. Not only that, but his presence also brings a sense of hope to all the people in Sanctuary. It is as if something is assuring them that everything will be alright. This is Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarine and Son of the God Emperor.
The two of them walk out of the Thunderhawk with a group of Space Marines coming out alongside them. All the humans kneel in front of them. The only person who does not kneel is Kael, who looks at Roboute in fascination.
Roboute looked at him with approval, rather than disapproval, even though his sons frowned at Kael, offended by his action. The Primarch notices this and raises his hand before his sons can say something.
That gesture not only put the Ultramarine at ease, but also snapped Kael from his trance.
He looks at Primarch and says.
"I am sorry, Lord Primarch Guilliman. I was… distracted."
"Oh?" Roboute looks at him in amusement. "And what makes you so distracted?"
"Your soul."
"I beg your pardon?"
Roboute's expression turns 180. His smiling expression turned into a frown. Kael notices his mood change and immediately explains what he means.
"My eyes are a bit different, My Lord. I can see souls, and yours is… beautiful and also concerning."
"Explain."
Roboute's voice vibrates as he looks at Kael with such intensity that a normal human would fall unconscious to the ground. Luckily, Kael is not a normal human. He looks at the Demigod in front of him and says.
"My eyes can see someone's soul, My Lord. It is within my nature to look deeper than others. I can see your soul. It is massive, twenty times bigger than regular humans, and a thousand times brighter."
"And what about it?"
"Your soul is damaged. Whoever is trying to heal your soul does a decent job, but it still leaves damage to your soul. Your soul has an open wound, and whoever tries to heal it only stitches it. They do not seal it properly, and there are a few smaller holes left behind."
"What these… holes done to me?"
"You will be weaker against soul-based attack, My Lord."
Kael keeps looking at the Demigod in front of him with the Soul Stone, allowing him to see behind the meat-suit Roboute is wearing. What he is saying is true, but it is not the whole truth. The situation is even worse. There is a taint in his soul. He knows that taint is something left behind by the Chaos God through the sword Fulgrim uses.
Roboute is about to say something, but stops and looks to the sky. After a few seconds, the air around them shifts. It is now heavy, and the sky turns gold. A massive projection appears in the sky, and all the people in Atoma Prime know who he is.
This is the God Emperor, performing Astra Projection into Atoma Prime.
"Beacon of Humanity, Heal my Son. Fix his soul. Free him from Chaos taint."
"Of course, O God Emperor."
"You don't need to call me God, Old Friend."
Kael blinks for a second at the God Emperor calling him Old Friend. He doesn't know that the Emperor thinks he contains a fragment of his old friend, Malcador. In his mind, Kael is containing a portion of Malcador and sees him as his old friend.
"Fix him, and we shall talk."
Kael decides not to touch that can of worms for now and walks toward Roboute, who looks him right in the eyes. He needs to look up to see the Primarch right in the eyes, given how tall the Primarch is.
"May I heal you, My Lord?"
"You may."
He nods his head and touches Roboute in the stomach. Soul Stone does not require him to touch the flesh and only requires close contact to heal this kind of damage. When he is close enough, the Soul Stone does its work.
The taint inside the golden soul of Roboute slowly disappears. Roboute looks at his body in wonder. The pain he has been feeling since his awakening slowly fades, and his body feels refreshed. It is as if the weight of his duty has been lifted.
The Emperor's projection in the sky nods in approval and slowly disappears. He still has things he needs to do back on Terra. The reason he decides to talk with Kael through Astral Projection is that he hears the conversation through the connection between him and Roboute.
With his new, unwanted power-up, he can leave a piece of himself with his son and listen to the conversation. When he hears that Roboute's soul is damaged, he immediately investigates and finds the problem. He also sees what Kael sees, which is why he decides to have a personal visit.
Seeing that he was no longer needed, he needed to prepare to invade the Bastion of the Dark Eldar, Commorragh. He is debating which path he should take on this. Either he goes on a full assault against the most fortified city in the entire galaxy or creates a hole in the Webway to let the Warp enter the Webway, creating a distraction for him to rescue his son.
Back on Atoma Prime, Kael is done healing Roboute, and the change is immediate. The previous aura intensifies, and his body feels taller than before for some reason. Roboute needs to manually hold back his aura and keep it from going out of control.
Roboute takes a deep breath and nods. He looks at Kael and says.
"Thank you, Kael."
"Think nothing of it, My Lord."
"Please call me, Roboute."
"Of course, Robu."
"Okay, now you overstep the limit."
Even when he says that, the others can see a slight smile on his face. Roboute is happy. He missed such feelings of commonality. Everyone takes his words as gospel. Even his sons take his words literally.
Seeing someone who is not afraid of him and treating him as a person, instead of a Demigod, is something he missed. His mind remembers his adoptive mother, a woman who is not afraid of anything, even when facing his brothers.
He misses the time when she was alive—the banter, the laughter, and the comforting silence.
He doesn't know why, but he has a feeling that soon he will be able to fulfill his dream—a dream where he can rest and only needs to worry about his farm.
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