"Axis, are you joking?"
Sanguinius gestured to his own face, to the pallid, ghost-like complexion and the crimson wings that now adorned his back.
Two fangs protruded from his lips. He looked every bit the vampire. "Look at me. I'm only in this state because I listened to your nonsense and accepted this so-called 'Warp essence.' Father was right. We never should have meddled with anything from the Immaterium. This damnable form I wear is the best proof of that."
He was beginning to regret heeding Axis's advice to eat the Fruit of the Tree of Might. If he had not eaten it, his Warp essence would not have grown so uncontrollably, warping his physical body until it could contain its full power. It was this that had turned him into this monstrous form.
"No, Sanguinius. This is the real you," Axis countered calmly. "You embody the duality of an angel. You have always maintained the side of light. What you see now is the side of shadow. But once you wholly accept yourself, accept this duality, you will be capable of manifesting this power at will. You will command a strength far greater than before. This is the perfect solution."
"Axis is right, Sanguinius," Magnus added, standing at his side, "Trust me. If you consume just four more Fruits of the Tree of Might, you will complete your ascension. An ascension of both body and soul."
"Please, this is a path you have chosen for me, not one I chose for myself!" Sanguinius snarled, his voice trembling with a barely suppressed rage, "I feel as though I could go mad at any moment, lose myself to fury! You have no idea what this feels like! My very nature is being twisted, becoming bloodthirsty, furious, even insane. I fear that one day I will fall completely to Chaos and become just like the traitor Primarchs."
As the noble Archangel, he was a paragon of perfection, gentle and approachable outside the crucible of combat, where his fury was unleashed only upon his foes.
"Axis. Magnus. I agreed to your proposal to prepare for a future crisis," Sanguinius said, taking a deep breath to quell the storm raging within his heart, "That crisis is now over. I beg you, respect my choice. Seal this Warp essence of mine away. I know you both have the power to do it."
Magnus looked at Axis, a helpless expression on his face, silently asking for his opinion.
"I understand, Sanguinius," Axis said after a moment. "If you insist, Magnus and I can combine our powers to seal your abilities. But let me be perfectly clear: the seal will not hold forever. One day, this power will erupt again, and your sons will be tormented by this curse for eternity. It is a true pity. If you had just listened to Magnus and me, you could have prevented all of this and put a definitive end to the flaw in your lineage."
Even with the use of a perfect gene-seed, the Blood Angels' situation had not improved significantly. The flaw inherited through their DNA was a defect born of the Warp.
Yet unlike the flesh-change that had plagued Magnus's sons, this affliction was not the curse of a Chaos God, but an issue stemming from Sanguinius himself.
"Are you saying," Sanguinius asked, his eyes betraying a flicker of hesitation, "that if I follow your advice, I can truly solve the Red Thirst for my sons?"
"Of course," Axis replied, pressing his advantage, "If you do not wish to be a selfish father, then you will follow our counsel and see this path to its end. But if you do not care for your sons, if you do not care that they are doomed to this fate, then by all means, run from it."
"I know you are trying to provoke me, Axis, but this is nothing more than your theory! Neither of you has ever succeeded at this. You are using me as a test subject!" Sanguinius retorted.
"You know your own nature better than anyone, my brother," Magnus interjected. "Think back. In battle, which one of us Primarchs fought with more ferocity and bloodlust than you? Even in your calmest moments, you were always the most savage warrior."
"Uncle Sanguinius, you have to trust my father and Uncle Magnus," Kratos, who had been standing quietly to the side, chimed in with encouragement, "It will work."
"Fine," Sanguinius finally said with a sharp sigh, his resolve hardening.
"I am not an irresponsible father, nor will I ever be. Let us proceed. I hope for all our sakes that your plan succeeds, you two."
What other path was there for him but to press forward? The answer was obvious. There was none.
"That is more like it. That is the proud Archangel I know," Axis said, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. "Trust me, this plan is guaranteed to succeed."
He reached into his personal storage and retrieved four more fruits, each cultivated on a different planet.
The last one was the special psychic Fruit of the Tree of Might, the one that had been grown upon a world converted from the grasp of Chaos.
"For my sons," Sanguinius whispered. The last trace of doubt in his eyes was replaced by steely determination. Without another word, he reached for the first fruit.
He swallowed it without hesitation.
A torrential flood of life energy instantly coursed through his veins, making greenish patterns flicker beneath his pale skin. For a moment, it suppressed the bloodthirsty agitation, and he felt as if he were soaking in a warm spring.
But this was only the beginning.
He immediately ate the second fruit. The tide of life energy surged again, washing over his body and strengthening his physical form to an unprecedented degree.
As his body grew stronger, his Warp essence stirred, becoming more active, more frenzied. A far more intense and sanguinary aura began to radiate from him.
Sanguinius let out a muffled grunt.
The veins on his skin bulged, and his crimson wings spread wide of their own accord. Overwhelming pain forced him to a knee, his fangs piercing his lower lip.
"Steady, brother! Guide it!" Magnus bellowed.
The pony unleashed his formidable psychic power, which manifested as tangible tethers that wrapped around Sanguinius, helping him stabilize the Warp energy that threatened to tear him apart.
Gritting his teeth, Sanguinius consumed the third fruit.
The moment it passed his lips, he felt his very soul ignite, stretched to infinity.
The whispers of the Immaterium were no longer a vague background noise but a deafening roar. Countless twisted visions assaulted his mind.
He threw his head back and unleashed an inhuman scream. His blood-red wings beat erratically, stirring a foul wind.
His long, crimson hair whipped about wildly, and the sanguine light in his eyes almost completely devoured his sanity. This was precisely what he had feared most: the very edge of losing control.
Axis's expression was grim.
He held out the final fruit.
One that contained the wast purified psychic energy, intermingled with the vast life force of a planet.
"Swallow it, Sanguinius! This is the beginning of your rebirth! Face your fears and embrace your true self!" He pushed the final fruit towards his brother's mouth.
Acting on a near-unconscious instinct, driven by the last vestiges of his sense of responsibility for his sons and his trust in his brothers, Sanguinius bit down hard on the strange fruit.
It shone with a shimmering, golden-crimson light, and within its flesh, constellations seemed to swirl.
An indescribable boom erupted, not in the physical world, but as a psychic storm that exploded directly from the Warp in front of Magnus, Kratos, and Kasha. Fortunately, all four were powerful psykers and managed to withstand the terrifying blast.
Magnus and Kasha immediately threw up a powerful psychic barrier to contain the unfolding metamorphosis.
With Sanguinius at its epicenter, a tempest of energy that was both pure to its core and yet roiling with the forces of life, order, psychic power, and purification, swept outwards.
Magnus's shield shattered instantly. Axis immediately marshalled his own Ki barrier.
At the heart of the storm, Sanguinius's figure was completely engulfed by a blinding, white-gold light.
He roared in absolute agony, but the vampiric hiss in his voice was steadily being replaced by a grander, more majestic cry.
His body underwent a violent transformation within the light, twisting and reshaping itself. Bones stretched, shattered, and were reforged; flesh dissolved and was reborn.
The blood-red hue of his wings seemed to struggle against the purifying light, like impurities being burned from molten metal.
The light grew brighter, the storm more violent.
Sanguinius's silhouette flickered within it.
One moment, he resembled a devil, his blood-red wings flailing in torment. The next, he was the image of a noble angel, radiating pure light, his eyes closed in a look of stoic resolve.
The two forms switched back and forth, colliding and merging in a frantic dance.
"Hold on, Sanguinius! Think of your sons!" Axis roared, his voice infused with Ki.
The shout pierced through the chaos and seemed to awaken the Primarch.
As if in response to the call, the flickering form at the storm's center suddenly stabilized. The brilliant light instantly receded, drawing back into the figure suspended in mid-air.
A new Sanguinius had emerged.
The pale, ghastly features of the vampire were gone.
His skin had returned to a healthy, lustrous tone, as if carved from the most perfect marble.
The wings that had once been stained crimson were now a pure, untainted gold.
Each feather appeared as if sculpted from the finest metal, its edges flowing with a faint, golden halo that radiated an aura of sanctity and absolute majesty.
...
..
.
ps?