Eidolon had seen the sea many times.
That was back when he could still pick up a weapon and fight.
On several ocean worlds, Eidolon had also engaged in firefights with the most tenacious alien opponents.
Under the aftermath of countless weapons, giant waves would roll, oceans would evaporate, and the seawater would be polluted.
Both sides would exhaust all their means until the other was completely annihilated.
He had only ever seen raging seas.
They were never as calm as the one before him.
The twin dim suns of Chemos pulled the tide to lap against the shore, and the glow of the sunset painted the beach a golden yellow.
The horizon was as smooth as a mirror. At this moment, only the sound of the waves and the distant calls of gulls and herons echoed in his ears.
"Look! It's the sea!"
Iulia was the first to step onto the beach. Her full suit of power armor made dull thuds as she walked on the sand.
Eidolon was not so childish.
He just stood on the beach, quietly observing everything.
The sunset, the beach, the gulls, and the waves.
And the people before him.
He took it all in.
As if he wanted to permanently fix this moment in his mind.
When the last ray of the setting sun was hidden behind the mountains, Eidolon knew that their day off was over.
"I hope you all enjoyed Chemos, and enjoyed this day."
Fulgrim, tightly hugging a struggling Kasjia, walked slowly down the beach, smiling at the members of the Third Legion.
She was confident that everyone would like her arrangements.
"My lord, the Third Legion is grateful for your selfless gift."
Eidolon, and the dozens of Third Legion warriors behind him, all approached her.
"And now, please allow us, with our withered and broken bodies, to bid you a final farewell."
It was getting late.
It was time for Eidolon to lay everything bare.
"You knew?"
Fulgrim was surprised.
Of course, he knew.
As a patient of The Blight, he should have disappeared before ever meeting the Primarch.
This was all to prove the purity of the gene-line, and also for the "dignity" of their Third Legion.
But for some reason, Fulgrim had already heard rumors of the Blight in the legion before they even landed.
For them, these Space Marines who were already doomed to die, Fulgrim and Kasjia had fought to get them a day's leave from the Emperor.
They had even gone so far as to argue with the Emperor for it. This was the information he had gotten from the whispers of that Custodian Shield-Captain.
The Emperor was actually not dissatisfied with his sudden son-in-law, Kasjia.
After all, he wasn't the kind of person who was fussy about trivialities.
At that time, the Emperor had only said one word to him.
The Emperor: "Mm."
He had just given a very plain nod of acknowledgement, and then continued to ask Fulgrim about the next matter of business.
It was as if... he had already expected him to be there.
Then, Fulgrim had insisted on staying on Chemos for an extra day, in this precious time of the Great Crusade.
To give those physically and mentally withered Space Marines a proper rest.
The Emperor, of course, disagreed.
The Blight was a disgrace to the Third Legion. They were discarded tools, an existence that the Primarch should not have known about.
And it should certainly not slow down the progress of the Great Crusade by even a single second.
But in the end, even he could not win against his newly reunited daughter.
He agreed.
All for this bunch of long-doomed losers.
The Custodian Shield-Captain hadn't explained everything to him when they boarded, but he could still guess a thing or two from the fragments.
"But I never thought that you would, for us losers..."
"No."
"Do not feel inferior because of this."
Fulgrim comforted him softly.
"Hold your heads high, Space Marines of the Third Legion."
"You have never failed."
"Although we have never met, you are all still my proudest children."
"The Blight may have taken away your proud appearance and skills, but your hearts are still strong, brave, and flawless."
"Even if we have been struck by misfortune, our nobility has always come from what we do!"
"It is never determined by bloodline or appearance, or even by merit!"
She drew her longsword towards the distant coast, and it flashed with a silver-white light in the setting sun.
The sea breeze caressed Fulgrim's silver hair and the corners of her mouth, which were curved in a faint, elegant smile.
"You have all done your best, my children."
"I am proud of you."
"My lord, thank you for your words."
Iulia took a step forward and bowed.
In these final moments, she seemed to have become much quieter.
It wasn't that she was too boisterous before, it was just...
...it was just that Eidolon was still not quite used to it.
"In these last moments, please allow us to take off our helmets and truly feel the air of Chemos," she said.
"Stop, Iulia!"
Eidolon wanted to stop her.
"At this stage of the Blight, our appearance will become very..."
"...horrifying."
He clearly remembered how hard it was for her to accept it when she first learned she had the Blight.
The Third Legion were all perfect Space Marines.
And the Blight would not only wither a person's internal organs, but their perfect and exquisite faces would also gradually wither and decay.
The warriors of the Third Legion, who valued their appearance the most, could never accept such a cruel fate!
This was why she had always worn her full suit of power armor, never taking off her helmet for a moment.
She was afraid of others seeing her ugliness and unseemliness.
At the same time, she was also afraid of seeing it herself.
They were all like that.
"I know, Eidolon."
"But our perfection has always come from our hearts. Hasn't it?"
Smiling, Iulia slowly took off her helmet.
The Blight had already crawled all over her face.
The skin on her face was inevitably ulcerated and corroded, looking extremely terrifying. Her hair had almost completely disappeared under the influence of the virus, with only a few strands of silver-white remaining on the side far from the ulceration.
All that was beautiful had vanished with this damned disease.
Only her pale purple eyes were still as bright as he remembered.
"...Iulia, you—"
Eidolon couldn't believe it.
How had the beautiful girl with the ever-lively smile become like this?
Then what about me?
Would I, who also have the Blight, also—
"Eidolon."
"Am I very ugly now?"
She asked, with her head lowered.
No.
The girl from his memory had never disappeared.
She had always been here, right in front of him.
"Iulia."
"You have never been ugly."
Eidolon stared into her still-bright eyes.
"The ugly one is me."
"It is us, who do not even dare to accept our true selves."
If they couldn't even face their own flaws, how could their Third Legion ever hope to achieve perfection?
Eidolon heard countless sobs from in front of and behind him.
He, and his hundred or so Third Legion Space Marines afflicted with the Blight, all took off their helmets.
And then, for the first time, they took a deep breath of the air of Chemos.
So beautiful, and so real.
Accepting one's own imperfection is always the prerequisite for becoming perfect, isn't it?
Isn't that right, Fulgrim?
"Pfft."
Looking at Eidolon who had taken off his helmet, Iulia smiled and gently stroked his scarred face.
"You're crying, Eidolon."
"I am not."
"But you clearly—"
"I am not!"
He retorted loudly, then his voice dropped to a barely audible whisper.
"It's just... my eyes have withered, too."
The sea breeze whistled in their ears.
In the distance, the gulls were still softly singing their drunken songs.
They just looked at each other quietly, at each other's scarred, ulcerated, and yet perfect and flawless faces.
Without a word.
Eidolon felt he still had so much to say.
But it seemed he also felt he didn't need to say anything.
At this moment, his withered body no longer seemed to ache.
In these final moments, he had finally accepted his incomplete self, and the future of the Third Legion that he would never see.
What a remarkable person she is, Fulgrim.
He recalled the orderly, happy, and beautiful city of Kalliston he had seen.
How much more will she achieve in the future?
Under her leadership, what a dazzling and ideal legion will our Third Legion become?
When will they spread the Imperial Truth throughout this dark and ignorant world?
And when will they reunite all the scattered stars in the universe, to never be separated again?
How... wonderful that would be to look forward to.
Kasjia had originally planned to arrange for people to care for them in their final days, but the warriors of the Third Legion refused his kindness.
They did not want to linger in sickness, nor did they want to be a burden to their Primarch any longer.
It was time to say goodbye.
Eidolon lay on the beach, holding Iulia's hand, gazing up at the endless starry sky.
He thought of his childhood, of the carefree swordsmanship practice with his elder brother on Terra.
He thought of the teachings of his Chapter Master mentor, and the complex court etiquette of the honor guard.
He thought of the battle-brothers who had fought alongside him in the Great Crusade, of how they had cut down one gene-cultist and monster after another to protect the gene-seed.
He thought of the day trip he had just experienced, of the small, nameless tombstone under the rolling green mountains.
He recalled the path he had walked from the beginning.
It had been a long journey.
The old sun set behind the mountains, and a new sun rose from the sea.
A new day had begun.
Isn't it always like this, Eidolon?
The sun will always rise as usual.
As for now...
It was time to rest.
Eidolon, a Terran of old Europan nobility, a Space Marine of the Third Legion, bearer of the Palatine Aquila, a Son of the Emperor, a member of the Emperor's Honor Guard, a Company Captain, a patient of the Blight, and Iulia's beloved.
He had experienced the Unification Wars of Terra, undergone the first Space Marine augmentations, participated in the initial battles of the Great Crusade, become a loyal guardian of the Emperor, and had fought to the last moment with his Chapter Master mentor to protect the gene-seed.
And in the final stage of his journey, he had found his Primarch, securing the future of the Third Legion. And with infinite hope for that future, he lay quietly under the glimmering light of a new dawn on Chemos.
Then, he closed his eyes.
-------
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