The heavy metal door closed silently behind her.
Morwen Val's figure, like a walking cathedral of steel, vanished behind the door.
The vast observation deck instantly fell into absolute silence.
This was the bow of the genesis.
Outside the massive curved viewport lay the magnificent and cold galaxy of the Saintess Star system.
The light of stars was refracted by distant nebulae into dreamlike colors, with countless points of light burning in the deep darkness, or having died long ago.
Leticia stood alone before the viewport, unmoving.
Her black eyes, capable of swallowing light, reflected the vast and dead universe outside.
Reaching a secret alliance with the Lord Commander of the Adepta Sororitas, the saint who held the Empire's most fanatical armed force in her hands.
This was undoubtedly a world-shaking, perilous move.
If played correctly, the Genesis Sisterhood would transform overnight from wanderers in the universe into a secret kingdom with the strongest insider in the heart of the Empire.
But it also meant that she was pushing herself and all her Sisters into the very center of the Empire's power vortex.
The storms there were enough to tear apart any existence beneath the level of a god.
Unprecedented pressure, like the invisible vacuum of space outside the window, squeezed in from all sides.
Leticia exhaled softly.
A white mist bloomed into a small patch of blur on the cold viewport.
She felt a little tired.
It was not physical exhaustion, but a heaviness stemming from her soul, the weight of supporting a nascent civilization.
Just then.
A delicate, warm fragrance, like white roses blooming under the sun, drifted from behind her without warning.
The scent seemed to possess life, gently brushing against the tips of her hair, silently smoothing out the taut string in her heart.
Leticia did not turn around.
On the entire genesis, only one person could approach her so silently and carry such a divine aura.
"Are you worried about the future, my Goddess?"
A voice as melodious as a heavenly hymn, filled with tenderness and understanding, rang out behind her.
It was Sanguinia.
Leticia looked at the dark sea of stars outside the window and gave a soft "Hmm."
She did not hide her exhaustion.
In this home she had just established and created with her own hands, she did not need to play the role of the omnipotent god forever.
Sanguinia did not speak again.
After a slight rustling sound, like feathers brushing against silk.
Leticia felt a soft, warm, and perfect body, seemingly crafted from sunlight and holy light, gently press against her from behind.
A pair of slender arms, with a hint of cautious probing, gently wrapped around her waist.
The strength of the embrace was very light.
Yet it carried a strength sufficient to support the entire world.
Leticia's body stiffened slightly, then completely relaxed.
She could even feel, through the fabric, Sanguinia's heart beating for her, full of vitality.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Steady and full of a reassuring rhythm.
Sanguinia pressed her unearthly beautiful cheek gently against Leticia's night-dark, smooth hair.
She took a deep breath, as if to draw that cool, unique aura from Leticia deep into her own soul.
That pair of massive, snow-white wings, composed of pure Hope, slowly unfurled.
Then, they closed gently.
Like the gentlest cradle, they completely enveloped her and Leticia in an absolutely private, absolutely sacred, pure white space.
The sea of stars outside, the cold metal, the heavy pressure...
At this moment, were all shut out.
Here, only their temperatures and heartbeats remained.
"Do not worry."
Sanguinia's lips were almost pressed against Leticia's ear.
Warm breath, accompanied by a whisper like a hymn, brushed against Leticia's sensitive earlobe.
The voice was filled with an irresistible, absolute confidence stemming from the future.
"I have seen it."
"I have seen your future."
Leticia's heart jumped violently.
She knew that Sanguinia had inherited Sanguinius's gift of foresight.
But unlike the future that was always shrouded in tragedy for Sanguinius, what could Sanguinia have seen?
"It is a..."
Sanguinia's whisper carried a trace of irrepressible, ecstatic trembling.
"...A sea of stars, infinitely bright, created by your own hands."
"There, there is no war, no lies, and no tears."
"All the Sisters can find their own place of belonging."
"Sister Fogremia is carving the most perfect cities among the stars."
"Sister Angronia is teaching children how to wield wooden swords in a field of golden wheat."
"Sister Valeria has established a kingdom for us that is fair, just, and where no one suffers anymore."
"And Her Majesty Terrania..."
Sanguinia's voice paused; the adoration and fanaticism in her tone were almost overflowing.
"...She sits by your side, smiling at the entire universe. Her laughter makes withered planets revive and frozen stars burn once again."
Leticia listened quietly.
Listening to the painting that Sanguinia described for her—a picture so beautiful that even she had never dared to imagine it.
Her eyes, unknowingly, became somewhat moist.
"And in that endless light..."
Sanguinia tightened her embrace, as if to merge herself completely into Leticia's body.
She rubbed her cheek affectionately against Leticia's neck, her tone filled with childlike dependence and divine solemnity.
That was both the prophecy she had seen.
And the oath she made, spanning eternity.
"I, Sanguinia..."
"Will always be the one by your side, the most dazzling, the most loyal, the one who clears away all darkness for you..."
"Guardian Star."
"Until the end of eternity."
As her voice faded.
The whole world seemed to grow quiet.
Leticia slowly closed her eyes, leaning into Sanguinia's warm and soft embrace.
The last trace of exhaustion and unease in her heart was completely melted away by this sacred and lingering confession.
A warm current flowed from her heart to her limbs.
Yes.
No matter how difficult the road ahead might be, no matter how powerful the enemies she had to face.
She was not fighting alone.
She had a home.
She had family.
That was enough.
...
The two of them embraced quietly like this, neither speaking, enjoying this peaceful and warm time that belonged only to them.
Who knows how much time had passed.
A burst of urgent communication requests abruptly shattered this sacred silence.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Sanguinia's pair of snow-white wings trembled slightly as if startled, and she released the embrace with some dissatisfaction.
Leticia opened her eyes, the moisture in them long since hidden, restored once again to the calm and depth belonging to a deity.
She raised her hand and connected the communication.
Valeria's heroic face appeared on the light screen in mid-air.
Her expression carried a hint of undisguisable excitement and... tension.
"Goddess."
Valeria's voice sounded somewhat low due to solemnity.
"Lord Commander Morwen Val has just left our sector."
"Her fleet has entered the Subspace."
"And just now..."
Valeria took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm her emotions.
"We received top-secret encrypted communications from several different Order sectors within the Empire."
"The first batch of 'Pilgrims'..."
Flames ignited in her gray eyes.
"...Has arrived."
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