Neoth sits on his obsidian throne with his eyes closed, clad in his golden war gear. He thinks about the current situation and what happened. He feels that his soldiers and the various Custodes Legions are preparing for the final part of this war. The Hetaeron Guard, the elite inner circle of the Custodes, stand impassive but attentive, both seen and hidden, in the Throne Room. The Hetaeron Guard forms the personal guard of the Emperor and frequently acts as his aides and confidants. They would leave his side only in the most dire of circumstances.
Suddenly, he feels something and opens his eyes, looking forward. A being stands in front of him, with a grey robe that hides his blind eyes. He holds a thick book in his hands, which is chained to his right wrist. Despite the amount of light inside the Throne Room and Neoth's power, the man doesn't cast a shadow, nor do his steps make a sound or leave prints. Neoth observes the being, the child of Time and the Night themselves, one of the seven siblings.
"Destiny of the Endless... welcome to the Phalanx."
"Neoth, son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, 7th sibling of the Olympians... an existence that should not have been and yet is..."
Destiny's voice is calm, detached, and sombre, not allowing anyone, save perhaps his siblings, to tell what he is thinking. But Neoth knows what this is about; he thought this meeting might happen sooner or later, especially after what happened just now.
"It was inevitable that you arrive here. What can I help you with?" Neoth asks in his equally calm and deep voice.
"You, Neoth, God Emperor... are not in the book," Destiny says.
He raises the tome he carries, the Book of Souls, chained on his right wrist. As Destiny raises it, it opens on its own and flutters violently. The pages start turning themselves in a random fashion. Some turn blank and then rewrite themselves in golden ink that moves backwards. Others remain blank pages where Neoth appears, and then some get damaged and fall out.
"Your presence is impossibly invisible to the Book of Souls. You unmake stories before they occur, you walk paths I do not know. That is not meant to be. You are jeopardising the time-space continuum," Destiny says.
"I see," Neoth answers in thought.
"Your actions broke the symmetry. You weren't meant to exist, and yet you do. Your siblings were meant to win this war, to defeat the Titans. But you killed them. Their death has caused a series of events that shouldn't happen. Fixed points are no longer fixed."
"My Custodes killed the Olympians. The arrogance of a lightning bolt caused their downfall, not me," Neoth states.
"You speak half-truths. Your warriors are not capable of killing the gods, even with the armoury you created. You have fuelled them during the fight. It was your actions," Destiny responds.
"But arrogance, nonetheless. They aren't permanently dead. That wouldn't have been possible either way," Neoth says.
"Indeed. Even in death, they still exist. Their myths endure, somewhat. And the myth never dies as long as it is remembered. But this may change it. This may change everything. I no longer see it and can't trust myself."
Destiny extends the book forward, holding it in front of him. The chain resists momentarily. For the first time in eternity, Destiny hesitates. Uncertain about his plan, about his step. Then, with a cracking sound, Destiny breaks the chain. A fire surrounds the Book of Souls as it floats towards Neoth. The Custodes don't move, simply because they can't. The arrival of Destiny is something that surpasses their minds, and they can't form a single thought. Neoth is special in that regard, since despite not being in the same category of power as an Endless, not even close, his boundless will and incalculable potential of thought allow him to cope.
Neoth stands up and takes the Book of Souls into his hand. He observes it for a few moments and then looks at Destiny again. But Destiny of the Endless has disappeared already. Neoth sits back down on his Throne and thinks about it. He opens the book and starts to read. The Book of Souls, also known as the Cosmic Log or the Book of Destiny, is the book where everything that is and ever will be is written. It was crafted from the hide of a beast that has never existed. Although the identity of its maker is unknown, Time was the original owner of the Book of Souls. He later gave it to his son, Destiny. Destiny has been its guardian and only reader since the Dawn of Time.
Although the Book can be read by whoever truly so desires, skimming over its pages is a mind-straining action. Roulette was severely affected; Supergirl remained dazed for a while and quickly forgot what she had read, and Adam Strange felt even more fatalistic. For Neoth, however, this is no problem. He starts to go over the pages, interested in reading what happened and what might or will happen. As he approaches the Greek Pantheon's section, he sees the words start to smear and shoot across the pages. He is not listed in the book. Not a single word or image mentions him.
Neoth sits on his throne and flips through the pages. He goes forward and sees an interesting fact depicted in the book. Fittingly, a shimmer descends on the room and on all of the Phalanx. Neoth looks up and sees reality fold like a parchment. Through this, two people arrive... two entities. One man, pale with flowing thick hair, which defies gravity. The second, a woman with long black hair and a gentle smile that could end lives.
Dream of the Endless and his sister, Death of the Endless.
"Is this a family gathering?"
Neoth's voice is calm and deep, as it always has been. He doesn't stand up and looks at the two siblings. Right after meeting Destiny, these two show up. It seems that he upset quite a few beings.
"Hehe... seems like Destiny was here already," Death says.
The siblings look at the Book of Souls in Neoth's hands. Dream looks at Neoth again with the same apathetic look as before.
"You killed Zeus," Dream says.
"Indeed."
Dream, unlike his elder brother Destiny, does cast a shadow, and his seems to elongate without end. One can see stars, nebulae, galaxies, and even swirling universes inside it. Anything one can dream of, Dream literally represents all of it. But this is more personal; Dream is here for a reason.
"She's dead... before we could even meet, dead."
"Did you also read in this book then?" Neoth asks, holding up the Book of Souls.
"Do you think we need the Book of Souls to know such things?" Death asks.
"Do you?" Neoth asks.
"Perhaps, perhaps not," she answers with a smile.
...
"This is a useless discussion and a waste of my time," Neoth says and looks at Dream, who is the one with a goal for coming here.
"You killed her..." Dream says again.
"I believe you are talking about Calliope," Neoth says and closes the book.
"So you know. Through Zeus' death, Calliope died. Her existence collapsed like a dream after waking up. She was to be my beloved," Dream says.
"She would have lived in his shadow. I removed the obstacle."
"Not exactly comforting that," Death says, almost amused.
"You wish to have her back," Neoth says.
"I do."
"Then I see no problem. You are aware that they are not gone for good. They can't die just like this," Neoth remarks.
"..."
"You will bring them back?" Dream asks.
"They would return on their own either way."
"But not for a while, and I can't dream of a future without love."
"Love hasn't died. On the contrary, Uranus' testicles still walk the Earth," Neoth tells him.
"The dreaming mourns. I will observe your progress... sleepless one..."
Dream disappears like mist, leaving Death the last remaining Endless in the Phalanx.
"You knew this might happen, don't you?" Death asks him.
"It was a possibility."
"You really are a paradox, Neoth. You can't die, you can't be seen or predicted by the Book of Souls, and now you want to take the reformation and resurrection of Greek Myth itself into your own hands and fix the weave of time and fate. Quite ambitious, wouldn't you say?" she smiles.
"Wouldn't you?"
"Maybe. I have seen many things come to an end and begin again. I will see the end, Neoth. I will see the end of my siblings and even Destiny... but you... You're something else entirely," Death says, dropping her smile into something contemplative.
"Does that frighten you?"
"Hehe, no! But I'm interested. And that's even rarer."
...
"What is it you seek, Death of the Endless?" Neoth says after a brief pause.
"Tell me something, Neoth. Are you trying to fix what you broke... or is this simply your way of justifying it? Was this your way of pushing your will?"
"I sniffed out the lightning bolt to have the sun come out. The irony is that if it were the other way around, no one would bother, simply because it was 'meant' to happen. But I can't for what is meant. Olympus is not eternal. It would have been a failing idea stitched together with adultery and incompetence," Neoth speaks in a measured voice.
"And yet you want the Olympians to be reborn? Otherwise, you would have used the Void Wind or already created the Tear of Extinction, I'm certain."
"What is a God King without a Kingdom of Gods he rules? I am not going to deal with the arrogance of the few by punishing the innocents who have the misfortune to come after them."
"Interesting. Keep the idea and shed the ego," Death deduces.
"Calliope's death wasn't simply grief for your brother, but the end of potential. No sense in doing that," Neoth finishes.
"Oho, and people think of me as cold. But you're colder. I suppose that's what might make you terrifying. The restraint. Pride you have, naturally, but not born out of status or birthright... how peculiar."
Neoth stands up, leaving the Book of Souls on the throne as he does so. He doesn't need to read more of it to know what will happen now. And what he wanted to know, he already knows. It is time for him to write his own chapter.
"I thought I'd be the one to unsettle you," Death says. "Or at least one of my brothers. But I suppose you haven't met Destruction, Despair or Delirium yet."
"You still might," Neoth answers.
"Hahaha, don't tempt me," she laughs.
Her figure starts to fade.
"We'll meet again, Neoth. That is if you're interested in meeting again... An existence as lonely as ours ought to have company, wouldn't you say?"
"If a man knows more than others, he becomes lonely. It's natural and nothing to worry about. But should you choose to visit, I'd welcome you," Neoth says and starts to walk out of the Throne room.
"I'll see you around, God Emperor."
.
The three Custodes Legions who will march towards Mount Othrys stand ready. This will be the IVth, the IXth and the Xth Custodes Legions. The IInd Custodes Legion under their Custodes Primarch, Desh, will take Sword Class Firgates and attack the seaside and deal with the potential arrival of Oceanus.
Escorts, also known as Frigates or Destroyers, are combat space vessels. They are the smallest craft in use but come in the most significant numbers, providing support in the defence of larger ships. The Imperium didn't have enough time to build bigger spaceships yet, but this will do. The most common duties of Escort-class vessels are patrol, reconnaissance, convoy protection, raiding, and picketing.
All of the Imperium's technology, under the use of the Custodes and the Grey Knights, has been enhanced through the use of the Sage Force and retains a spark of Neoth's power within it. Using it will allow them to contend and fight the Titans and their armies.
Accompanying the ground force will be the 1st Brotherhood of the Grey Knights. Why only one? Because that's all there is for now. The bulk of a Grey Knights Chapter is organised into brotherhoods, fighting formations roughly equivalent to a Space Marine company and consisting of around one hundred battle brothers. Grand Master Ignatius, who is also the current Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights, leads the 1st Brotherhood.
[Picture]
Apart from the three Paladins, there is one new addition. Neoth approaches the man wearing Aegis armour and a psychic hood. He has a wrist-mounted psycannon on his left arm and a Nemesis Force Sword in his right hand. He is ready for what is to come, or so he believes. The first Grey Knights Librarian and the first man, Neoth, introduced the psyker potential. He can remove this blessing any time he chooses, but this war will serve as a testing ground for him to make sure it wasn't wasted.