Editing Trip Into Hell (Warhammer High) (section)

===Tales of the Daughters===
After finishing the story of Lady Furia with how she was now going to college with Isis, a shocking change if ever there was one, Flynn asked the inevitable question: the shooting. Though it was one topic Julius had been hoping to avoid, he duly obliged, telling them how he had heard of the shooting on the hoverbus omitting that he was returning from religious services at the time, and now he was talking about the meeting they had after visiting Morticia after she had regained consciousness in the bar within the Imperial Palace. He was constantly getting interrupted, but he kind of liked answering all their questions. It hit him that this was the first time he had ever talked about his life on Terra to anyone outside of his immediate circle, to anyone who hadn’t been there with him.

“So anyway, I was talking with Andrew about enlistment…”

“Who?” Flynn interrupted. It was always either Flynn or Scvott. Dyllion was as silent as always, and Summer wore a smile as she sat beside him, keeping him company as he spoke.

“Andrew Hanover. He’s Lady Hana’s companion and my closest and dearest friend outside the daughters. The first time I met him he pestered me endlessly for my father’s autograph and damn near drove me up the wall. My father was and remains his childhood hero and icon. “We became fast friends after that first misunderstanding, did almost everything together. My first date with Isis was a double date with him and Hana. We signed up together after graduation, he’s going into the Terran Praetors while I’m going to the Imperial Military Academy for four years, and coming out a fully fledged officer ready to serve the Imperium.

“What about the other boyfriends? How do you see them?” Scvott asked.

“I’m not close to all of them, as true friends I count only Andrew and Jake Seager. Before you ask, Jake is with Lady Venus and there are few people who are more honest or trustworthy than him. I respect him highly, and hope that he and Lady Venus find happiness together. As for the others, I try to remain on good terms with them. To be honest, some of them see me the same way they see my father and treat me as such. Dad never wanted to be held up as a hero, he’s said many times the real heroes are the ones who never came back, but the people needed a human hero as the crusade dragged on, and it turned out to be him.” Julius sighed. He knew how much his father disliked the way he had been placed upon a pedestal, and when they acted the same way around Julius, he got really mad. “Now, where was I…?”

“Sorry to interrupt, but you’ve grown up alongside them, the Daughters I mean. You are the only person outside the Imperial family who knows them intimately. What are they like, really?” That, surprisingly enough, was Summer. He could sense the hidden meaning in her words; she wanted to know the truth about them. She had a hunger for the truth about those she venerated, even when that truth was not what she’d expected or sometimes wanted.
It was amazing how quickly his story had been sidetracked, but Julius was fine with that. He didn’t really want to tell them about the Petitioner’s City anyway, that was a memory that was still too raw.

“You really want to know? Fine. Isis and Furia I’ve already told you about. Lady Roberta, Lord Guilliman’s daughter is my closest friend amongst the daughters; we’ve known each other ever since I first came to Terra as a toddler. Even after Isis and I became a couple I’ve remained on close terms with her, which came in handy whenever the two have had yet another of their school power struggles and I had to act as the peacemaker.” He chuckled. The relationship between the two of them could only be described as a friendly rivalry. They respected each other immensely, but that didn’t stop them fighting over differences in plans or opinions, and when that happened it was up to Julius to prevent it from blowing out of all proportion.

“If I had to pick one of the daughters to be the sister I never had, it would be Lady Remilia hands down. She’s plucky and stubborn with a genuine smile and a peal of laughter never far from her lips. Only Lady Petra truly dislikes her, and Petra’s a stone-hearted bitch at the best of times. Though to be fair Petra does like my father, she painted that portrait of him he likes so much.” His voice faltered. “At least, that’s how Remilia used to be. She took the shooting hard, harder than most of us.”
It had been her cutting which had spurred him to try and take action, along with the unprovoked assault on his priest in the backlash that followed the shooting.  His father had taught him that the best soldiers were those who could see what others could not, the low ridge that would stop a bullet, the hollow which would provide the perfect place for an ambush, the rough ground which could be hiding mines. His father had that gift in spades, and had passed it on to him. Remilia had tried to hide it, but all the signs were there. The long sleeves, the way Faith had looked at her and how Freya was acting around her, and he had put all the pieces together. He had felt that if he could find a solid answer for why their sheltered lives had come undone, why a fanatic with a gun had gotten so far and done so much damage, it would soothe her damaged soul and she would stop hurting herself and by extension her family. In the end, his actions achieved nothing of the sort, and it had been up to others to help her. He doubted she ever knew that he knew about her cutting, that his actions were in part trying to find answers for her. He swiftly moved on, unwilling to dwell on that topic.

“Lady Faith Aurelian and I share a lot of common interests, a love of Ancient Terran History for one. We were dating for a while, she was my first girlfriend.”

“Isn’t she the religious one? Why would you want to date her?” Scvott said. 
Summer caught Julius’s eye and gave him a secret smile. They both knew better. “Don’t judge a book by its cover Scvott, and don’t judge Faith either.” Julius answered. “She may be nosy, bigoted and self-assured, but she is very observant, she can be highly charitable and she has a bright mind. We may have disagreed on certain things, which are what ended our relationship in the end, but I have great respect for her and hope we remain friends.”

“Yeah, yeah, but what about Lord Fulgrim’s daughter? She’s the really attractive one right? At least that’s what I’ve heard.” Flynn interjected. It would be Flynn. He was one of those types who liked to rank the daughters, who was the most attractive and the like. Julius could never see the point in that; they were all equally good, just in different ways. Then again, he did know them all intimately, so he was biased to an extent. He audibly sighed.
“That’s what everyone hears, and it’s true. Lady Victoria is sex, personified. If I had a throne for every time a boy became…stimulated around her, I’d be a lot richer than I am now.”

“What about you? Don’t you find her attractive as well?”

“What? No! I don’t think of her that way; she’s like family to me. That’s just plain wrong.” He wasn’t ignorant of her…’assets’, but her spoilt and haughty attitude always got to him, and no matter how stunning she was on the surface, what lies within is of equal importance. “She’s a big tease, but she’s not nearly as slutty as you or for that matter anyone else would think. Hell, all the daughters are misunderstood. The public think one thing, when I know for a fact that is completely wrong.”
Flynn didn’t appreciate Julius’s sentiment, he scowled that he hadn’t revealed any juicy details of Victoria’s ‘escapades’.

“Lady Khan's a fighter, always will be. She's the only one of them I remember seriously thinking about military service, with the Scars Legion Auxilia of course. She has a short temper, too. We didn’t get on so well when she was younger, I got a fair few hidings from her because I was one of the only ones who were brave or stupid enough to stand against her. The moment Andrew and her started dating though, she became a whole lot nicer to me. I’d like to think we’re on good terms now. Lady Freya’s a bit…wild, and her animal act unnerves me somewhat. That way she looks at me with those fangs and those eyes, it’s like staring into the eyes of a half-tame beast that will savage you as soon as nuzzle you.” He hadn’t stared that feeling with anyone, not even Isis. He felt she would laugh at him if he ever revealed it to her.
“Ladies Angela and Miranda are good friends, but their powers scare me to be honest. Being able to peer into someone and see everything inside them seems a gross violation to me, though both have been nothing but nice ever since I first met them. It’s a matter of taste, and I don’t let it get in the way whenever I’m spending time with them.” It felt liberating, after lying for so long to be utterly honest about his relations felt like a release, and by the way the others were looking at him expectantly, they seemed to like hearing him.

Dyllion finally said something. “You were quite negative towards Lady Morticia when you were being interviewed by the SBC. Is she on your less liked list?”

Julius knew one of them would bring that up, and at last he could try and practise what he would have to say to her personally. “No, I’m as fond of her as any of the others. It’s just that I don’t see her that often, the least of any of the daughters. She’s shut away most of the time. And I was a bit bitter when they were interviewing me. Before I go off to the IMA I’ll have to apologise to her for what I said, before her father kills me.” He was not smiling at that. Lord Mortarion was as grim and humourless as death, and Julius didn’t want him to be angry at him, not at all.

“Now there’s two I think you’d all like, Ladies Farah and Venus. They could almost be twins for their shared love of machines and building things.”

“Isn’t Farah the one with metal hands?” Flynn interjected.

Julius smiled at him. “Yes. You and Farah would get on like a house on fire were you ever to meet, she’s as enthusiastic about engines and machines as you are. I can see you two discussing the  Vulcanor 16 Twin-Coupled Multi-Burn engine as enthusiastically as I’d discuss the Ullanor Campaign. My friend Johor has harboured a secret passion for Farah since he first met her; I wish he would damn well man up and tell her how he feels.”

“Johor? That’s not an Imperial name.” Scvott pointed out.

“He’s not Imperial at all, he’s from the Interex. He looks like a Human-Eldar Hybrid, inhumanly handsome but for his bat-like ears. Most judge him based solely on his appearance, but beneath that is as nice a nearly human being as ever existed. Now Lady Venus…”

The sound of heavy boots came up the corridor, instantly shutting Julius up. Professor Ahriman was returning. They all stood up as he barged into the room, his helmet removed. Peering over them, he announced. “The Liberation forces will be landing within as few hours, enough time for me to devise a way of dealing with what you saw. Now tell me all about the Daemon, and what it was doing.”