[Amnesiac Muse] "Let's see...Where should I start? You made a rather long list of mistakes." The Apothecary stepped back just in case.
Konrad scratched his head and looked around the unfamiliar room. Had he been here before? He couldn’t remember. He couldn’t remember anything at all. Just his name and… no, that was it, just his name. he looked at the one who was speaking to him, a tall fellow dressed in armour. “What did I do?” he asked, a frown marring his white brow. His tone was inviting, he wanted to know who he was, “And why do I not remember anything? What happened?”
“Well, My Primarch, None of us are entirely certain as to what happened…perhaps you harmed yourself during one of your visions.
What do you remember before falling unconscious?”
Khyron seemed very on-edge, wary of the chance that his primarch may lash out due to an answer provided that he didn’t like.
Konrad thought for a moment, what could he remember? “I know my name is Konrad, sometimes Night Haunter,” he said. Night Haunter was a dark presence at the back of his mind at the moment however, not in charge, not active but lurking, waiting and watching for dangers.
“You seem tense, have I done something?” he asked. “I don’t remember anything at all.”
“No, No. You’ve done nothing, My Primarch.
Everything’s fine, I assure you.”
Astartes supposedly knew no fear, and the VIIIth Legion thrived from it, but Khyron remained visibly unsettled.
Beyond that he seemed offput by the amnesiac primarch’s calm demeanor as it entire contradicted the vengeful manflayer he had heen made out to be.
What did the Terran-born know though, the Ninth had been separated from the legion since the unification wars.
“If everything is fine, why do I not remember anything?” he snapped.
“What happened prior to me waking up? If you don’t know, fetch me someone who does!” His patience was wearing thin on the matter and he very much wanted to know what was going on.
He rubbed the left side of his head as if it pained him and shook his head. Not knowing was almost as unsettling as the look on Khyron’s face. Maybe he had done something and he was refusing to tell him.
And now Khyron was faced with quite the ordeal. How would he explain that those few who knew the primarch beyond name recognition, namely the Kyroptera, had been dead or presumed dead for several millenia and that he had been found unconscious after who knows how long?
“My Primarch, That…may be an issue.
You see, none of us know what happened before you were discovered unconscious and those who could fill in any memory gaps caused by amnesia have been dead or presumed dead for quite some time.”
“Dead?” he asked, tilting his head a fraction.
He blinked a couple of times and let that information sink in. He looked at Khyron again and licked his teeth in thought, “What year is it? Have I been away long?” How could the Kyroptera be dead, all of them gone! It didn’t bare thinking about. He might not have had much affection for his sons, but to hear the elite were just gone was a bit much.
“A lot has happened hasnt it…” he muttered, it dawning on him that a lot had changed without him knowing.
“…Where would you prefer I begin? With the current year or shall I backtrack to your crippling and Sevatar’s dissolution of the Legion?”
He definitely wouldn’t like the next series of answers.
Konrad rubbed his forehead and thought about what Khyron had said. He answered him with a question of his own.
“What year is it?” He was almost afraid of the answer… almost.
“112.M42, My Primarch.”
Khyron stated matter-of-factly, while the year didn’t really matter to him, it was most likely quite the opposite for the primarch.
“Oh,” he said before he could stop himself. Some time had passed.
A long time in fact.
He folded his arms over his chest and thought for a moment. A lot would have changed in that time. “Who is still alive?”
“If memory serves me correctly, The Talonmaster remains alive, as do the Painted Count and Axemaster…albeit altered from how you may remember them.”
His expression soured at his passing mention of Gendor Skraivok’s and Krieg Acerbus’ respective ascensions.
“Corruption?” Konrad asked. He knew what it was, though he had never approved of it. Their instruction had been to harry the IMperium, not follow the gods of Chaos and worship them. He did not approve of such changes.
“Who else remains? We will have to bring them all together and work out what to do from there,” he said.
“Weakness, not Corruption. My Primarch.”
Khyron laughed internally at how close his statement sounded to something a son of Ferrus Manus would say, it was almost hysterical how he stilled refused to believe in concepts like divinity.
“But, as for who of note remains alive aside from those mentioned, Sevatar is rumored to have survived the siege of Terra.
However, I’ve found nothing outside of rumors and hearsay from various groups ranging from Tenth Company to the Red Corsairs and even the Black Legion.
Aside from that, numerous formations have scattered and resumed operations as mercenaries.”
“Sevatar will be off governing a world of his own choosing somewhere,” Night Haunter replied. “He never had much loyalty to the Imperium, or the Legion after the sundering either. If he lives, he will be doing his own thing somewhere.”
“We should call who remains back together,” he said. He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.
“Do you have any food?” he asked. His stomach ached with emptiness and he needed to think.
“No, but I can have a serf prepare some. I’ll return in a moment.”
He glanced around to see if a serf was present before leaving the room to find one.
His stomach growled, but he got up and stretched. There were a few pops, but the simple motion was enough to make him feel better.
After eating something, he would turn his mind to gathering his scattered sons together.
Khyron returned accompanied by a group of serfs carrying trays, upon entering they lowered their gaze and set down their trays before Khyron dismissed them with a gesture.
Konrad was no animal, not any more. He did not fall on the food like a ravanous beast but ate relatively delicately. He’d never pass in a royal court but it was better than some of his sons!
“You eat too,” he said, gesturing for Khyron to join him.
“The food was meant for you,”
Khyron said, his red gauntlet tapping through a dataslate as he read the results of various scans and tests done before the Primarch had woke up.
He didn’t huff, just ate in silence. It was a lot to take in and he wondered what would happen now. He had the idea that there was a lot to catch up on…
“What’s that?” he asked, indicating the data-slate.
“The results of various tests performed while you were still unresponsive.”
Khyron said without looking up from the aforementioned dataslate, searching for anything particuarly noteworthy.
Konrad finished the meal before returning to the subject. He had been hungry, and he felt better now that he had eaten, “Anything worth mentioning?” he asked.
