This took a bit longer than usual due to the fact that this turned into a really big chapter.
Tipping point
"Extreme forms of sadism sometimes stems from a troubled childhood or an anti-social psychosis." Tatsumi read loudly. Lying sideways on the bed in their chambers. His head hanging of it's side. His body tucked into the covers. Holding the book up over him. "Would you say that you had a traumatic childhood?"
"What is traumatic or not depends on the person in question." Esdese answered without leaving her report with her eyes. She was sitting at the room's only desk. Reading through diffrent reports and writing down footnotes. Her cap lying on the table beside her. For once she was actually wearing casual clothes and not her uniform. Having a long sweater on her that reached down to the middle of her thighs. "I faced many challenges when I grew up but they didn't defeat me. Physically or mentally. You are on the wrong track either way, Tatsumi. I had these interests long before I lost my family."
Tatsumi turned some pages in his book. He did this sometimes. Reading through books about psychology and sadism. Trying to understand more about Esdese. Trying to learn why she was like she was. But the books had never really helped him in any constructive way. "Sadism is often linked to an urge dominate or overpower someone else." he continued to read out loudly.
"Well... obviously." Esdese said and turned over a page in one of the reports. It was already quite late into the night.
"Many people with sadistic tendencies often fantasize about being able to completly oppress and torment someone else." Tatsumi said. "Sounds familiar?" he asked sarcastically as he skipped ahead some in the book.
"It seems like it must be really frustrating to just leave your desires in your fantasies." Esdese answered as her pencil moved over the paper in front of her.
"It is called restraint. Most people practice it." Tatsumi said. Continuing with his sarcasm.
"Very funny." Esdese said. "But it does seem quite pathetic to only let your dreams remain as dreams. If you have an urge, you should act on it."
"Most people realize at some stages that they can't achieve their wildest fantasies. So then pursuing them would only cause you sadness in the end. Since you know that you are going to fail." Tatsumi said. "Most normal people have to put some moderation on their hopes. Otherwise it will crush them when they fail."
"Weaklings." Esdese simply answered and dwelled deeper into her work.
"Most are when compared to you." Tatsumi said and read on.
"Mhhm." Esdese mumbled absentmindedly. Focusing on her reports for the moment.
Tatsumi read for some minutes before he spoke again. "Hey, did you know that many sadists actually develop their character traits in order to defeat an inner insecurity?"
"Mhmm." Esdese repeated. Not really listening to him. Her attention on her reading.
"Yeah. Wrong again. I know." Tatsumi said. Well aware that he didn't have her attention at the moment. He wondered why he did this sometimes. Even if he did manage to determine why Esdese was like she was, it would not change her. She was who she was. She would break before she bent. He had learned that a long time ago. Yet his curiosity made him read on.
Esdese herself was starting to reach a conclusion. After another fifteen minutes of reading in silence, she closed the last report and put down her pencil. She straightened up with a triumphant sigh and stretched her arms over her head.
While she hadn't solved the issue, she had managed to reason around it. She had managed to get a good read on the situation.
She had been reading reports about the few times when they had managed to engage or capture some of the pillager's forces. The pattern in their success hadn't been that hard to find when you really looked into it. They had only managed to actually fight the pillager's forces five times. All small skirmishes and all of them had happened as the result of some mistake on their part.
It had either been because their troops had misinterpreted their orders, because the orders given to them were not the correct ones or because the troops had made mistakes and traveled in the wrong direction. Normally this would just be intepreted as a string of coincidences but not here. The pattern was too consistent.
They had ordered hundreds of units to search for Makeias' army in diffrent places. They had commanded thousands of soldiers to defend diffrent important towns and cities. Yet Makeias always avoided them and always striked where they were defenseless. It was far beyond the possiblities of mere chance. Makeias' forces had known about the movements and plans of the imperial military long before they were put into action.
The fact that all the times they had fought with his forces had been unplanned on their part only strengthened that theory.
Esdese had long suspected that Makeias had some kind of spy placed high up in the military. Most people that had any connection with him in the empire had been executed as a result of his betrayal. But now it was clear to Esdese that they had missed one. And probably the most important one.
The hundreds of orders they had given out had been encoded and sent from diffrent parts of the military. Yet the pillager's mole had been able to inform him about all of them. Which meant that the spy was placed somewhere close to the imperial court. Since that was the bottleneck.
And since the imperial court was no more, Esdese's list of suspects grew a lot smaller. It needed to be someone that had access to all of these operations. And someone far removed from the usual list of suspects. Not that she had any idea of who it might be. But she was sure that the spy existed now. She would speak to the prime minister about it, the first thing in the morning. She did not trust a courier with this information. If Makeias' mole had complete surveillance of their information network, then a written message like that might make it go into hiding. She would bide her time.
"Ohh, here it says that some people's sadism actually goes down if their libido is weakened. Sometimes sadistic traits disappear if people lose their sexual appetite." Tatsumi said. He looked towards Esdese and found her suddenly standing right beside the bed. A decimeter from his head. Looking down at him.
"Why do you read all these books in order to understand my nature, Tatsumi?" she said with a smile. "I have already told you that I will answer any questions that you have about me."
"Okay." Tatsumi said and closed the book. Looking up at her. Her thighs were very close to his head. "Why are you so sadistic, Esdese?"
"Because I enjoy it. Because that is how I feel." she said and looked down at him over her breasts.
"Not very informative I'm afraid. I didn't really learn anything new from that."
"What more do you need to know? Everything else seems irrelevant." she said and started to sit down beside him.
"You know, Esdese, for a person as inquisitive as yourself, it can sometimes be suprising just how much of a psycopath you are."
Esdese looked at him when she was sitting down beside his head. "Are you calling me psychologically impaired?"
"Impaired is a broad word."
Tatasumi looked at her for some moments after that. Unsure if he had stepped over the line. Esdese just returned his gaze with an empty expression. Not really annoyed with his slight insult but she could see a small glint of fear in his eyes. And that kickstarted her predatory instincts. A smile spread out over her face. Wide and full of sharp teeth. Her eyes got a dangerous character to them.
Her smile hadn't even spread out fully before Tatsumi was retreating. Immediately jumping in under the covers and starting to crawl away across the bed.
"Ooh no you don't!" Esdese called out excitedly and stretched out after him. Her hands grabbing hold of his waist. She moved up on the bed and stood on her knees as she pulled him back to her.
"It was only a joke." Tatsumi shouted as he clawed at the sheets. Trying and failing to stop being dragged back. When his thighs were between her knees, her hands moved up and placed themselves on the back of his chest instead. Pressing him down into the bed to hold him in place.
"You're really trying to be funny tonight huh, Tatsumi?" Esdese said. Getting an idea. "Let me help you bring forth some laughter."
With those words she let go of his body and drew away the covers. Revealing Tatsumi's naked body to the cool air. Tatsumi immediately started to turn around but as soon as he had, Esdese's hands grabbed his wrists and pulled them up above his head. Holding them there for some moments as she smiled menacingly at his face.
"No pain." Tatsumi said and looked her in the eyes.
"Are you challenging me?" Esdese whispered. Moving closer to his face. "Cause that sounded like a demand, my sweet little Tatsumi."
"It was a plead. I was only joking."
Esdese moved up a little bit. Closing her eyes. "You insult me. Do you really think I would hurt you over something so minuscule."
"Well..." Tatsumi began.
"I told you already, Tatsumi." Esdese interrupted him. "I will only bring you laughter." she said softly and one of her hands left the hold on his wrists. Her remaining one more than strong enough to hold his arms in place. The free hands very lighthly trailed down his arm, down to his shuolder and then down towards his chest.
Tatsumi realized what was going to happen. "Ok ok ok, wait just a minute." he said but didn't manage to get much further before Esdese started to tickle him. With merciless precision.
Tatsumi laughed and hissed as her hand deftly started to move around his body. It didn't take more than a minute before he had lost all sorts of restraint.
"Stop it! Stop it!" he squaeled through his laughs.
"Who is impaired, Tatsumi? Who is?" Esdese almost shouted back at him. Her expression excited and malicious.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Tatsumi screamed.
This was not the first time this had happened. Tatsumi knew from experience what one of these sessions could become.
Esdese had once told him that she had experimented with tickling as a torture method that didn't involve pain in a direct way. Esdese said that she had actually managed to make some people completly break down to the edge of insanity by using drugs to enhance their senses and then tickle them relentlessly for some hours. And Tatsumi believed her. She was so quick to pick up on which spots she should use and how hard or soft she should be. It didn't help that she already knew every detail of his body and how it reacted to things.
Tears were starting to pour down his face as he laughed so hard that he had to hiss for air. He could see how Esdese was comlpetely into it. Her smile sadistic and her cheeks red.
"Beg for it, Tatsumi! Beg me for it!" she shouted at him.
"I beg you! Please, please! I beg you." Tatsumi howled.
"What do you beg me for Tatsumi?" she called out cruelly. "You didn't specify."
"Please stop tickling me!" he managed to get out between squeals.
"Nope!" she called out loudly. His pleadings only egging her on. "Don't feel like it." she exclaimed as her hand's movement became even faster. Moving from diffrent places across his body with lightning speed.
Tatsumi pressed his heels into the bed and started to trash around violently. Pushing his body around under her. But Esdese simply closed her thighs around his stomach and rode him as he moved about. Tiring him out like a rider would tire a wild horse. Continuing to tickle him as she did. Tatsumi's fingers clawing holes in the bedclothes under Esdese's grip.
For a short while, Tatsumi managed to get one of his hands free from her iron grip while Esdese was playing around with his neck. Making him move his head around to try and stop her hand from tickling his neck. Always being a little bit too slow. But he did manage to get one of his hands free while her attention was directed at that.
When he got his arm free he didn't quite know what to do with it. His mind in chaos from all the stimulation. He just tried to push her away. Which reulted in him grabbing one of her breasts through her sweater. Squeezing it harshly. Making Esdese draw a sharp breath. Her free hand immediately went down and rammed it's nails into his armpit. Making him draw his arm back and push it against his side in an attempt to protect himself. And when he did, Esdese grabbed the arm as it came back and returned it too her other hand's grip. Resuming with the tickling after that.
Ten minutes after that, Tatsumi's struggling had gotten a lot less violent. A lot of his immediate energy depleted. His laughs sounded more like sobs. His throat coarse from all the strain. Esdese's hand momentarily stopped it's activity. She smiled down at him with satisfaction. His entire body was sweaty and the tears were still pouring from his eyes. He panted as if he had run a mile.
She bowed down and put her face on the side of his head. Looking at him from the side. "You said something about me not having any restraint earlier, Tatsumi." she said in a sweet and gentle tone. Her free hand momentarily still at his chest. "So if I don't have any restraint, then what do you think is going to happen now?"
"You know that I was only joking." Tatsumi managed to get out between breaths.
"Ohh so you do think that I have some restraint in how I conduct myself?"
"You know the answer to.." Tatsumi said but interrupted himself as her fingers touched his chest again. "You do! You do!" he exclaimed quickly.
Esdese smiled and nodded at him.
"When I was young, I once actually killed a little boy like this." she said and straightened. Sitting up on his stomach. "Though I didn't really mean to."
"You tickled someone to death?" Tatsumi wheezed.
Esdese nodded. "He was so cute. I couldn't stop myself from messing with him a little. Sadly he had a rather weak physique. He got a heartattack when I drove him on more harshly. Which he didn't survive."
Tatsumi gave her a dark look. "Monster." he panted.
"Yeah, I will admit, that was rather sloppy of me. I didn't even intend to hurt him. Just mess with him. Back then I hadn't yet realized that not everyone had the same physique as me. I was very young."
Tatsumi's breathing was starting to slow down again. Even if he was still very sweaty. Esdese bent down over him again, putting her forehead against his. Staring at his eyes. "He actually looked a lot like you. He had the same beautiful green eyes as you do."
"Does that mean that you are going to tickle me to death?"
"I doubt that I could. You are too strong. Though I could probably make you lose your sanity a little."
Tatsumi just panted and stared at her. Esdese looked at him for a little while. Still smiling. Her sadistic urges had gotten a little bit of satisfaction from that but having a red faced, teary-eyed Tatsumi under her awoke other needs in her as well.
Esdese reached down and pulled her sweater over her head. Throwing it to the side. She was not wearing anything under it at all.
Tatsumi looked at her carnal beauty. She didn't shy away from his gaze. Proudly and confidently showing off for him. She knew the sway her natural charms had on his body. Sadly it had never been enough to make his mind abandon it's convictions. He had always been able to control himself. Barely.
Not that it mattered. She prefered to be the one who was on the offence either way. She could count the times when she hadn't been the one with the initiative on her hand.
Tatsumi's breathing was finally slowing down as one of her hands came down and placed itself on his chest. Slowly opening and closing. Clawing at him. "Not satisfied yet?" he asked.
"I rarely am." Esdese said and lowered herself down over him. So that she was lying on top of him lengthwise."You don't have any objections, do you?"
"Does it matter if I do?" he asked rhetorically as Esdese put and elbow on his chest. Resting her head in the arm's hand as she looked down at him.
"No." she answered plainly. "Besides, I can already feel something warm that is starting to poke me on the belly."
"Well, can't really do anything about that. Just a physical reaction." he said and smiled up at her.
She returned the smile. "Why do you deny your own nature so much, Tatsumi? I know that you want me. I would have felt it even without your manhood so aggressively seeking my attention."
"I think there are few men that wouldn't have the same reaction in this scenario."
"Maybe you just like to struggle a bit." Esdese thought out loudly. Ignoring what he said. "Maybe you just like to be overpowered and dominated by me."
"Sorry. I am not a machocist."
"Never said that you were." she said as her eyes returned to his. "But I can tell that you enjoy our more intimate moments. Even if I often take you a bit forcefully."
"It is a wonder that you didn't rape me back at that island or down in the dungeons." Tatsumi said with a crooked smile.
Esdese just shook her head at him. Smiling. "The most important thing to me in our relationship, is that I have you. That you are mine. After that, it is your love and affection that I most desire. I would not risk driving you further away before I knew that I had those first two." she calmly explained and moved some of her hair away. "But now that I know that I have those, I will gladly help myself to some of my privileges as your mate." she said and reached down with a hand. Tatsumi drew a deep breath as she grabbed his erection in a hard hold.
Esdese's eyes smiled at him. "I love this. I have such control over you. Your body follows my own so obediently. Though it seems like your mind is not as easily controlled."
"You would like it if it was, wouldn't you?" Tatusmi asked tauntingly.
"I am not sure that I would." Esdese said. "Half the joy of dominating you is that I get to push you around. It's not as fun to be the dominating one if you don't get to crush your opposition." As if to put further emphazise on her words, she pressed her elbow a bit furthed down. Forcing his chest down into the mattress. "Complete control would be boring."
"That is probably the worst possible reason to be against a totalitarian rule. But fine, I'll take it."
"Ohh you will take it. You will take it and you will like it." she reached down and placed her mouth over his. Moving her tongue into his mouth. They stayed like that for a while. Esdese lying on top of him. Enjoying the feeling of pushing him down under her. Squeezing his manhoood in her hand. Every now and then to the point when it hurt. Tatsumi's groans muffled by her own mouth and tongue. Her kissing only intensifying with each moan.
After a little while Tatsumi's breathing grew a bit rougher and more flustered. Esdese could tell that he was getting close. Her hand let go of him and she shifted herself on top of him. Positioning herself. She moved her mouth away from him. Soaking in his expression as she lowered herself on him. Tatsumi muffling his gasp as his member entered her.
Esdese shuddered in delight both from the sensation and Tatsumi's reaction. She looked at him for some moments but then just lied down on top of him again. Wrapping her arms around him. Squeezing him against her body as she started to grind against him. Holding him down under her. His face buried in her chest. Pressing him down into the bed as her strong and rythmic movements began.
Tatsumi peaked long before her. Having already been pressed close to the edge when he entered her. Tatsumi gasped and a slight moan escaped him as his body flexed. Grabbing her butt and pressing his hips harder against hers. Reflexively trying to reach deeper inside of her during his moment. But Esdese didn't change her rythm. Focusing on her own pleasure. Holding Tatsumi in an iron hard hug while she rubbed her entire body against his. Not allowing him to move around or change much.
But it didn't take long for her breath to become ragged. And the grinding grew harder and intenser. A couple of minutes after that she reached her own climax. Squeezing him so hard that Tatsumi yelped out involuntarily. Believing that she was going to break his ribcage. But as always, Esdese stopped just before she caused any lasting damage.
She held him hard against herself as she reveled in the sexual glory of her orgasm. Taking deep breaths through her clenched teeth. Her smile bestial. After staying like that for a long while, she finally lightened her hold on Tatsumi. She let go of him and rolled down beside him. Her breathing heavy. Lying on her back and looking up at the ceiling.
Tatsumi himself was extremly sweaty. Breathing heavily himself. Having been unable to breath as Esdese squeezed him. He turned his head over towards her. She could feel his gaze and turned her head towards him. Smiling.
"You okay over there?" Tatsumi asked after some moments.
Esdese didn't answer. She just looked at him and then reached out with an arm. Wrapping it around his head. Bringing him close. So that his head was resting on her shoulder.
"This is just how it should be." she said in a satisfied voice. "This is perfect."
Tatsumi just smiled and reached an arm around her. Hugging her lightly. They stayed silent like that for a long time before Tatsumi spoke up.
"Hey."
"Mmhh?"
"Thanks for standing up for me regarding the emperor's death." Tatsumi said silently.
Esdese chuckled lightly and ran her fingers through his hair. "Do you honestly believe that I would ever let some special police force lay hands on you." A partly sinister and partly satisfied smile spread on her face as she put her chin against the top of his head. "Don't be silly."
"Yeah. I kind of knew that already. But it still makes me happy."
Esdese smile grew wider. "It is apparent that many in the empire are annoyed that I have stepped in their way. Hoping that this was their chance to take you from me. But just the thought of it is ridiculous. Did they really believe that I would just step aside and let them drag you off to the torture chambers that I reign over. To use interrogation technics and torture methods on you that I invented."
She sighed but the sound of it was neither sad or annoyed. "Fools. All of them. Even if you had been guilty, they should have realized that it was not going to go down like that."
Tatsumi squeezed her a little tighter. "Thank you."
She looked down at him and patted his head. "Just stay close to me, Tatsumi. I will never let anybody else hurt you." she said. Repeating the same phrase she had said so many times before.
"Lucky for me then that you are such a innocent creature yourself." Tatsumi said sarcastically.
"I believe that the saying is "Love hurts"."
"Convenient for you." Tatsumi said.
Esdese giggled. "Well, I am a sadist. That I have no problem to admit. Though I am not a psychopath."
"Yeah.. I know." Tatsumi sighed. "Your perception of the world around you is just the same as everyone else. You just form diffrent relations to what is happening around you than most others. You don't have a brain dysfunction. You're just a clear sociopath."
"Wait.. you're still saying that I am psychologically impaired, aren't you?"
"Impaired is broad word. It might-gihhhh!" Tatsumi was interrupted as Esdese drew her nails into the sides of his chest once again.
"All right, I will only suffer so much sass from you, my sweet little Tatsumi." she exclaimed and started to roll over with him in her arms.
Tatsumi smiled and was about to retort but Esdese's hands suddenly grew ice-cold and caused him to yelp out instead.
"So how should I teach you a lesson, huh?" she called out happily. A smile on her face. "Maybe a refreshing freeze. Or maybe a good, long and hard session of spanking."
Tatsumi didn't respond until he had managed to get Esdese's now freezingly cold hands away from his chest. Grabbing her wrists and forcing them away.
"Ohh you don't want the ice?" Esdese almost shouted. "Spanking it is then."
"Mercy!" Tatsumi exclaimed with a smile as she started to wrestle with him. Both of them starting to play around. They would both think back to this evening many times in the coming future. When their relationship had been reduced to a shell of what it once had been.
The sky was slowly getting brighter but the sun had not yet risen over the horizon as Wave made his way through Makeias' camp. He had recieved the letter just half an hour ago. One of his captains waking him up from his slumber. He had then immediately gotten dressed and left his cabin. Leaving his ship and walking ashore. Into the camp that his fleet was stationed beside. One of the main encampments of Makeias' army.
He had gotten a fair bit into the camp and passed a lot of guards before Kurome catched up to him. Running to him from the ships. Having only learned that he had left a while after he had.
"Why didn't you wake me?" was the first thing she said. Her voice colored with irritation.
"Ahh good morning, Kurome." Wave said and scratched the back of his head.
"Why didn't you wake me?" she repeated and looked at him with anger.
"Didn't think it was necessary." Wave said and shrugged. "I was only gonna walk over to Makeias' camp. It's not like anything is going to happen here."
"Idiot." Kurome said and fell in beside him. "A good assassin only strikes when you are unprepared." she said. Her annoyance clear in her tone.
"Come on. We are surrounded by thousands of Makeias' soldiers." Wave said in an apologetic way. "You're exaggerating. It is safe here."
"I have seen successful assassination attempts in far more unlikely scenarios. And you have at least read about them."
Wave looked at her and was about to dismiss her warnings when she met his gaze. He only need to look at her eyes to see that she was really angry. He turned his gaze down to the ground as he continued to walk. "Sorry."
Kurome nodded. "Wake me next time. It is always better to be two."
Wave nodded. "Will do!"
"Besides..." Kurome said and looked around them.
"What?" Wave said and followed her gaze. But he didn't find anyhting out of the ordinary. Just campfires and tents. Some sleepy guards and early working attendants.
Kurome moved in a little bit closer to him. "..you shouldn't trust the pillager so much."
"Ohh, here we go again." Wave said and sighed.
"I mean it." she whispered angrily at him. "He keeps too many secrets. He openly admits that he isn't telling us everything."
"That could be sign of trust in and of itself, you know? I mean it's not like we have been completely open to him about everything either. It isn't necessary for our alliance."
Kurome was silent for some moments but then shook her head. "I don't like it. Can't you feel it? I feel sick just being near him. This isn't good for us."
Wave looked up at the brightening sky for some moments and thought about the situation. Even if his perceptive instincts weren't as finely tuned as hers, he still knew what she was talking about. Makeias had changed since Garu. Though not in his behaviour or in how he acted. It was something else. Wave could tell as soon as he got close. His instincts warned him of the pillager. And not in the same sense as they did when he felt Esdese's fury or a dangerous situation. His instincts simply told him that he should stay away from the pillager. As if the man's entire existence was unhealthy.
And if he felt like that he could only imagine what Kurome experienced. He looked at her for some moments.
"You don't have to come with me to this meeting." he said after a little while.
"Yes I do." she said bluntly.
"No you don't. I can guess how much you dislike this idea."
"All the more reason for me to tag along." she said determinately. Finishing the discussion.
Wave looked at her for some moments as they walked in silence. "Thanks." he finally said silently. Kurome didn't answer. Keeping her annoyed gaze forward. When he didn't get a response, Wave reacehed down and grabbed her hand as they walked on. He kept his gaze directed foward as they moved through the camp. Unable to see that the simple act had melted all the irritation from Kurome's face.
Ten minutes later they had arrived at Makeias' tent. The only thing that marked the slightly bigger tent from those around it were the guards that stood stationed outside. Tall and slender. Impossible to mistake. Two of them obstructed their path as they walked towards the opening of the tent. Making Kurome and Wave halt themselves.
"Sorry for the late visit, soldiers." Wave said with a smile. "But I need to meet Makeias. Immediately."
The two slender figures looked down at Wave and Kurome with curiosity but they didn't answer.
"Guys?" Wave asked after a good ten seconds of silence had passed. He could not sense or see any hostility from the two giants in front of them. Even if they both were wearing the long and slim swords that all Makeias' personal guards wore. Strapped over each other on their backs. Mimicking how Makeias wore his spears during combat. Wave looked past them. There was light streaming from the tent's opening and he could hear a silent discussion from within.
He was about to speak again when the two guards simple turned in opposite directions and walked away. Wave just stood dumbfounded for some moments. Then Tom-Tom's deep and slow voice called out to him from within the tent.
"Enter when you wish, little Wave."
Wave immediately walked forward and entered the tent. Moving the flap away with an arm. Kurome following him.
The insides of the big tent were pretty well lit up. It seemed like they had been awake in there for a while. Wave was not suprised. It seemed like Makeias didn't sleep that much.
The man in question was sitting on a chair in the other end of the tent. His back turned against Wave and Kurome. He wasn't wearing his destroyed longcoat so he was basically only sitting in his cargo pants. Which would have been revealing if his entire body wasn't covered in bandages and belts. Usually only his hands and feet were exempt from the white cloth but this time his right arm was also revealed. The bandages ending at his shoulder. Some tubes were inserted into the arm. The arm itself was so pale that it almost looked green.
He had three people standing around him. Two were medics from his forces. Dressed in white coats. Standing between him and a big table filled with papers, medical tools, and diffrent looking glass containers. The third one was Tom-Tom. Which was the only one facing them. Since the doctors seemed to be talking to Makeias.
"It isn't separating at all." one of the doctors said. "It seems like the liquid has completly fused with your blood."
"And it remains passive in some sort of way?" Makeias asked and looked at the doctor.
The man nodded at him. "It is in some sort of dormant form."
"Shouldn't my liver be working like crazy right now?" Makeias asked. "I mean, my blood seems to be more poison than anything else."
"Sorry, sir." the other doctor said. "We can not find any activity whatsoever from your liver. It is most likely dead."
Makeias looked at the white robed man for some seconds. "So I just have a dead organ in place for my liver."
"Most likely."
"Then why haven't I fallen over dead. What is cleaning my blood?"
"We have reason to believe that Morbus is eating up and consuming anything that isn't beneficial to you body." the doctor said. "It seems like the teigu has taken complete control of you blood system. As well as some of your digestive functions."
"Lovely." Makeias said bitterly.
"That is not all, sir." the other doctor said and walked up to him.
"The tissue?" Makeias asked and looked at the man.
The other man nodded and gave him a clipboard. Makeias looked at it for some moments. "Gods.." he said silently after a little while. They stood silent like that for a while before Makeias spoke again. "We are done for today. Come back tomorrow for the follow up."
The doctors nodded and started to walk out of the tent. Makeias rose up from the chair. "Sorry for the wait, Wave. I had some things to finish up." he said without turning around. Pulling some of the tubes out of his arm.
"Don't worry about it, sir. More importantly, is everything okay?" Wave said. Sounding genuinely concerned.
"It seems like the trade I made in Garu was a big one." Makeias said and smiled over his shoulder at the younger man. "My body has changed quite a bit."
"Is that a bad thing, sir?"
"To be honest I don't know." He looked at his arm as he closed and opened it's hand a couple of times. "I have stopped aging."
Wave stood in silence for some moments. His mouth open."That's amazing." he finally said.
"I don't know about that. The cells in my tissue has almost stopped replicating. As if my body was already dead. But I am still not fading. Strangely enough."
"Why is that not amazing? Aren't you basically immortal now? At least from the effects of time." Wave asked.
Makeias looked at Wave for the first time since he had entered. Smiling. "I am still human, Wave. My time is finite no matter how you look at it. It just seems like the teigu has some other plans for my body."
"What do you mean?"
"All teigus have a will of their own, Wave. At least to some small extent. Even if they might not be sentient. And Morbus is no exception. Morbus strives to cause decay. In whatever way it can. It is it's only drive and it's only purpose. Doesn't matter if it is the decay of morals, structures or just of the flesh. It will probably revel in it's own decay and destruction when that time comes. So you can understand that it is worrying when the teigu is starting to change my physique. For whatever plans it might have."
Wave went silent after that. It was actually Kurome that spoke up first.
"How bad is it?" she asked in a hard voice.
Makeias looked a little suprised to see Kurome talk to him. It was vey rare "Not too bad yet. I am still in full control. The teigu has been unable to influence my will at all."
"But it is starting to change your body. Shouldn't that be enough warning that you should seal the teigu away." Kurome pressed on.
"Everything that Morbus has taken from me are things I have given it in exchange for power. I will just have to be a bit more careful from now on." Makeias said calmly while walking over to one of the tables. Omitting the fact that he now knew that he would die without the teigu. But Kurome could tell that he was hiding something. She kept quiet for the rest of the meeting.
"Anyway," Makeias said and picked up a roll of bandages from the table. "what brings you here so early in the morning, Wave?"
"We got a message during the night." Wave said and picked forth a letter from his coat.
Makeias turned around and leaned on the table. Starting to wrap his arm up in bandages again. "Go on."
"It's from Akame of the night raid. She wants to negotiate an alliance between us and the revolutionary army." Wave said and steadily met Makeias' gaze. Beside him Kurome's eyes widened. Thinking about her sister. She had not been aware of this.
"Have you been in contact with night raid in the later days?" Makeias said. Looking more suprised than anything.
"Not really but they know how to contact me." Wave lied. "I sent out some messages to them just after I left the empire."
Makeias reached out with the hand that was wrapped up in white cloth. Gesturing for Wave to give him the letter. Wave walked up to him and did. The tent was silent as Makeias read through the message.
"They want a direct meeting with the both of us." Makeias said slowly.
Wave nodded.
When Makeias had read through the letter two times he put it down on the table. "And you want us to attend it?"
"I think we have to, general." Wave said. "How can we not give this a chance. The emperor is dead and the imperial court is gone. If we ally with the revolutionary movement right now then that might very well be the end of the empire."
Makeias just looked at Wave for a little while. The young man really looked like the admiral that he was. Wearing the black cloak that Esdese had given him. One of his eyes covered up by the black piece of coth that was wrapped around his head. His hair wild."Do you trust night raid, Wave?"
"They have opposed the empire for years and are now desperate to capitalize on the empire's moment of weakness. Well aware that they are too weak to make it count on their own. I think they are really hoping that we join them. Genuinely."
"And why do they then require us to attend the meeting personally?" Makeias said and looked at Wave as he finished bandaging his arm.
"I think it is a reasonable demand." Wave said. "You demanded the same of me when we started our alliance."
"And I was suprised that you accepted. I would have settled for one of your representatives. Do you think night raid will be fine with just getting a messenger from us?"
Wave thought about that for some moments. "I think it is an uneccesary risk. I believe that they really want an alliance with us. And I think that we are jeopardizing what could be the fall of the empire by not accepting their invitation personally."
"I can't prove that you are wrong, Wave. But I think there is more to this invitation than just some friendly negotiations."
"So you will not go?" Wave asked. Makeias waited a moment before he answered.
"Let's get to the core of things, Wave. How much do you want this to happen?" he finally asked. "Enough to change your allegiances?"
"What do you mean?" Wave asked in an empty voice.
"You have already had contacts with the revolutionary army that I didn't know about." Makeias said and took a couple of steps towards Wave. "You have mentioned before that I need to change my procedures if our alliance is going to continue. So I ask you Wave, what will happen if I say no? Will you be more prone to changing sides then?"
Makeias had walked up to Wave, standing a meter from him. Kurome was paying absolute attention to the situation. Even if the pillager wasn't wearing a weapon, it was all she could do to not put a hand on her teigu's hilt. Wave however, seemed calmer. He stayed silent for some moments. Looking at Makeias.
"Yes, it might." he finally said. Not easing the tension in the tent. "Don't misunderstand me." he hastily continued. "I am not saying that I will betray you if you don't go to this meeting. But if our ideas of what is best to do is going to diffrentiate everytime we have a choice in front of us, then I don't see why we should be allies. It doesn't help any one of us."
Makeias nodded. "A good point." he said and turned around. Walking back to the table. "I want you to know that your allegiance is very valuable to me."
"Valuable enough for you to attend this meeting?" Wave carefully asked.
Makeias sighed lightly. "Yeah, probably."
Wave was taken back a bit by that. He had not expected this to work out. "Wait... you serious?"
Makeias looked at Wave over his shoulder. "Go to your ship and reply to that message. Tell them that we accept their invitation. Ask them for the details of this meeting. We will decide about our more precise course of action after that."
Wave couldn't help but smile. He bowed down deeply. "Thank you, general. I will do so immediately." he exlcaimed.
"I am not a general anymore, Wave." Makeias answered with a tired smile.
Wave ignored him. "Thank you for valuing our alliance this much."
Makeias just nodded at the joyful young man as he turned around and marched out of the tent. Tom-Tom watched how the two visitors left.
"One would have thought that awakening to the state of the empire would have cured some of his naivety." the giant man slowly said.
"A tiger doesn't change his stripes." Makeias said and put on his ruined coat.
"What?" Tom-Tom asked and looked at him.
"Nothing. Just something someone once told me. But you are right. Wave is still very naive. Luckily for him, we are not."
Esdese opened the large doors and calmly entered the meeting hall.
"It was good of you to contact me, great general." The prime minister said as she walked up to the table he was sitting at. He was the only person in the room. "We have something very important that we need to discuss."
"Indeed." Esdese said as she sat down on the other side of the table. "I think that we have a mole hiding in the upper parts of the empire."
"I do as well." the prime minister said lowly. Thinking about something diffrent.
"I have read up on our struggles against the pillager and it seems like he is tapping into all of our information networks. After reading all the reports I have concluded that it is the only possibility." she said as she sat down into a chair.
"Are you certain? We have already examined all those at the top very carefully. Following the emperor's death." the prime minister asked and scratched his beard.
"Not careful enough. We will need to search again." Esdese said with her usual confidence.
The prime minister nodded slowly. "I think that we need to lay out a bait in that case. I don't think further searches will give much results."
"A bait?" Esdese asked.
"Yeah. A false order or something of that nature. We give many diffrent people diffrent orders. And then we see which one of them Makeias will react to. Then we will know who it is that is giving him the information."
Esdese nodded and smiled at the big man in a dark way. "You really know how to take care of problems like this."
"Well, I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't." he said.
"Reasonably." Esdese agreed.
They were silent for a little while after that. The prime minister carefully studying her before he went on. "Great general, you do know how important you are to this empire, right?"
Esdese just looked at him. Unsure of where he was heading.
"The empire that we have created would most likely fall without you. I could probably not do this alone. Probably."
She gave him a questioning expression. It was unusual for the man to act emotionally when it was just the two of them. He usually dropped all the charades when he was alone with her. Always being down to buisness.
"You are my most valuable ally, Esdese. You know that right?" he said and looked at her.
Esdese moved some of her hair away. "Are you getting sentimental on me, old man." she said and smiled at him. "I always thougth our relationship was more business oriented."
"It is." The big man said and nodded to himself. "But I still want you to know your value. And that your loyalty is appreciated."
"I am not loyal in order to get gratitude." Esdese said calmly. "It is more a matter of who I want to be."
"Even so. It is appreciated."
"I know. I know." Esdese chuckled lightly. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, today? You're being awfully emotional."
"I wish it was that simple." the prime minister said in a sad voice and rose up.
He had wanted too wait with this for a little while longer. He wanted to not make this reveal so dramatic. He had wanted it to happen more slowly. But now the imperial court was gone. The only grip he had on the rule of the empire was through Esdese. He couldn't play around with such a big risk. He needed to finish off his opponent quickly. Giving his enemy more time might lead to his own ruin. Without knowing it, Makeias had forced the prime minister's hand.
The prime minister started to walk around the table. Bringing forth a folder from his coat. His file about Tatsumi.
The traffic and commotions in the slums of the empire had fully woken up when Tatsumi walked in to the old run-down pub. The streets behind him full of noise and movement as he walked in through the door. It was the same old bar that he had visited many times before. One of the places where he usually got his information. Twenty minutes after he had arrived, he was stitting in a secluded room on the upper floor of the bar. Alone with the same waitress that usually acted as his informer.
"Sooo... everything going alright in the palace?" the woman asked.
"I think so." Tatsumi said and leaned back into his seat. "Actually, things have started to move so fast that I am not even sure anymore."
"That sounds worrying." she answered and smiled.
"Well.. I won't say that it isn't. But I am used to dealing with stress."
She nodded. "As long as you have the ice queen looking out for your ass, you should be fine."
"Yeahhh... That is my reasoning as well." Tatsumi said and shifted a little in his seat. His butt still a bit sore. Thinking about the night that had been. "Either way, I am happy that this place hasn't been discovered yet. The entire palace is being searched through."
"I think we are pretty safe here." The woman said and crossed her arms across her big chest. "The military knows that they can't search through the entire capital. So the only risk we have is if someone in the palace is caught that knows of this meeting place. And currently, you are the only one that does that. And you are pretty confident that no one has followed you here yet, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Tatsumi said. He had once thought that Bellany had tracked him to this place during the night when he burned the archieves. But since she hadn't spoken up about it, he had assumed that it was not so. "If I am the only one then this place should be safe."
"So I reasoned as well." the waitress said and put her hands behind her head. Leaning back in her chair. "But why did you come here this early in the day? You usually only visits us after dinner time."
"It isn't good to be too predictable." Tatsumi said and smiled. "But I do have a request. A rather important one as well."
He brought forth a big sealed letter from his coat and handed it to her. "Open it when I have left."
"Is this connected to the fall of the imperial court?" she asked silently.
"In a sense. It is about making it look like I am the victim. That is all that I will say." Tatsumi said with a smile and started to stand up. "Anyway, I shall head back to the palace."
"Ahh, so this is somewhat related to your tug of war with the prime minister?" The waitress said and looked at the letter. Dangerously curious.
"Is it just me or have you gotten a lot more lax these last days?" Tatsumi said. "Someone might be listening, you know."
"Enough shit has passed through these rooms for them to be tapped. My head would have been on a pole a long time ago if this place wasn't safe." the girl said and balanced the letter between two fingers.
"Fair enough. But better safe than sorry."he said and started to walk towards the door. "But yeah. That thing is not going to accomplish much on it's own. But in the long run it might aid me." he said and nodded to the letter.
"A part of something bigger, eh?" the girl said with a smile.
Tatsumi returned the smile as he opened the door. "Yeah. Something like that. But it will be some time before that is ready. You know what they say, slow and steady wins the race."
Esdese's eyes were wide and her mouth slightly open. A shocked expression on her face.
Her eyes were moving quickly across the papers that were strewn out in front of her on the table. Having already taken in all the information they had to give.
The prime minister was standing some steps beside her. Looking at her with a worried gaze. He was a little bit unsure of how she would react to the evidence presented to her.
"I am sorry, Esdese." he said lowly.
Esdese picked up one of the papers. Her voice a bit faster than usual when she spoke. There was something in her tone that the prime minister had never heard from her before.
"This is really strong evidence, I will admit." she said and looked at the paper. A drawing of Tatsumi taking up half of it. "But it is not absolute. There is still a possibility that you are wrong about Tatsumi."
If it was anyone else, she would have sent them to the torture chambers with just half of the evidence he had presented her, the prime minister thought. She only allowed the doubt too gain the upper hand because they were talking about Tatsumi. To the prime minister, that was the biggest sign that dealing with Tatsumi couldn't wait any longer. Esdese was already letting her judgement be affected by her love for him.
But he needed to handle the situation carefully. Not that he distrusted Esdese's loyalty but he had never seen her react like this. In some ways this could even be interpreted as if she was unsure of what to do.
"Listen Esdese." he said in a friendly voice. "Try to look at the big picture. It does make a lot of sense. Sadly."
Her gaze returned to the papers. Staring at them. Willing them out of existence along with the entire situation they created.
"We need to act on this." the prime minister said silently. "Listen Esdese, I wouldn't have brought this up if I didn't think that it was a serious issue. I could easily make all this evidence disappear. But I think you can see how that will come back and bite us. And besides, do you really want that? Are you fine with living in such a delusion?"
Esdese looked at him for some seconds. He gave her a sad expression. After some moments her eyes moved down to the papers again. "The evidence is inconclusive." she stated.
The prime minister sighed heavily. "Come on, Esdese. For all we know he might be the one that killed emperor Makoto."
Esdese's expression grew a bit harder. "That is the only thing that I absolve him from completely. I am certain that he is innocent of that, at least."
"As you were certain that he didn't burn the imperial archives? I have heard that you killed some of you own subordinates just for accusing him of that."
"They tried to take matters into their own hands and kill him themselves. They believed that he had killed one of my advisors. It was a clear case of insubordination. Besides, the very person they thought Tatsumi had killed came out an absolved him of any blame." Esdese said in an empty voice. She gave the old man a hard look. "Are you questioning my judgement?"
"We have both been fooled by Tatsumi, Esdese." the prime minister lied in an attempt to lessen the tension. He was well aware that he was standing on the knife's edge right now. "Even if you do not believe that this is enough to condemn him, you must still admit that he is hiding a lot from us."
"I won't condemn him just because he is hiding something from me." Esdese said. Well aware of how weak her arguments were.
"Come on, Esdese." the minister sighed. "Think about this objectively. No matter how you look at it, Tatsumi has become a big risk. Especially in our current situation."
Esdese kept silent. Looking down at the papers on the table. Her thoughts and feelings battling inside of her.
"There is one more thing that you need to know, Esdese." the prime minister said somberly. She looked up at him. He snapped with his fingers and the door to the room opened. Esdese turned her attention to the doors as Bellany walked through them.
"One of your soldiers have a confession to make." the prime minister said.
Esdese's hard gaze focused on Bellany. She could easily see that her subordinate was very nervous. "What?" her tone was hard and unforgiving.
That alone was enough to make Bellany go down on her knees. Putting her forehead against the floor. "I am sorry, great general. I have witheld information from you."
Esdese very slowly rose up from her seat. Loooking at Bellany. Her presence suddenly oppressive and dangerous. The prime minister grew worried that Esdese would kill Bellany before she got a chance to say everything necessary.
"Tatsumi was the one who burned down the imperial archives, great general. I tried to stop him but he beat me down and then disappeared into the night."
Bellany could feel how Esdese's gaze drilled into her back. It was a great force behind it. "You testified that you hadn't seen Tatsumi that night. You said you had fallen sick at a friend's place."
"I was coerced into saying this by Tatsumi. I was actually recovering from the damage I sustained when I tried to fight him." Bellany said loudly into the floor. "That was why I was forced to abandon those that had followed Tatsumi together with me."
The room was silent for some moments. "You admit that you lied to me. You know who I am, Bellany. You know what this means for you." Esdese's voice was cold and emotionless.
"I do!" Bellany exclaimed and looked up at Esdese. "I do. But I can not take this anymore. I won't lie to you anymore, Esdese. I will take my punishment in the torture chambers."
Esdese was not going to to let her claim slip by that easily. "I know that there has always been bad blood between you and Tatsumi. How do I know that you are not just making this up?"
"I know what awaits me now. Do you honestly think I would chose such a fate for myself and my family just to make life bitter for Tatsumi?"
Esdese couldn't deny that argument. Bellany might have been willing to sacrifice herself to bring down Tatsumi in a desperate scenario. Maybe. But it was unlikely. And now her family was doomed as well. Esdese didn't think that the girl would ever be willing to go that far.
Suddenly her mind started to connect the signs. All the little clues that were hidden about this in her everyday life. Suddenly a lot of things started to make more sense.
She remembered how Tatsumi had said his final farewell to Wave when she had returned from killing the warden of the west. He had never explained to her why he did that. Even after he had been freed from the accusations of killing Bellany. She remembered how Tatsumi had seemed like he was aware of what was going to happen during Budo's meeting as they walked towards it. She remembered how Tatsumi and Makeias had been hiding something from her. She wondered how Tatsumi had gotten Incursio back in Garu.
She looked in front of her with an empty face as the puzzle started to make sense to her. As she realized what had been happening all along.
Suddenly Esdese understood her lover a little bit better. She realized where his true convictions were. And it was not with her.
She felt how something deep inside of her snapped. Breaking apart.
She turned around and took a couple of slow and unsteady steps back to the table. Looking down at the papers. "Tatsumi?" she asked silently. Her voice small and sad. Her teeth clenched and her face filled with pain.
The prime minister took a step closer to her. "I am so sorry, Esdese." He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder but he never got the chance. The storm of feelings raging in Esdese finally bursting out.
When he was reaching out to her with a hand, she grabbed the chair she had been sitting in with a hand and flung it at Bellany with all her strength. Neither the prime minister nor Bellany had a chance to react as the piece of furniture flew into her. Shattering as it did and sending Bellany flying into the wall behind her. Falling down as soon as she had stopped. Completely knocked out by the impact.
Esdese then spun around and raised her fist. She brought it down in the middle of all the damned papers and evidence. The force of her punch destroying the table completely. Making it split into four parts. Sending wood splinters flying in all directions along with the papers on the table. Causing the prime minister fall over on his back.
Then she turned around without a word and walked briskly to the doors. She hit the double doors with the back of her hand as she reached them. Her pain, anger and sadness searching for an outlet. The hit broke the two doors from their hinges and sent them flying into the corridor outside. She then leaped out of the room. Accelerating to her highest speed. Heading for Tatsumi.
The prime minister remained on the floor for some moments before he slowly started to stand up again.
"Ahh young love. How troublesome." he sighed and smiled. It seemed like everything had worked out. He had managed to turn Esdese against Tatsumi without making her his enemy. Now Esdese's loyalty was secured. Now he would remain in control of the empire through her. He had won.
He looked over at Bellany. "Guards, get a medic here immediately." he shouted.
He had promised the girl that he would give her whatever protection he could if she testified against Tatsumi. It would not do to have people believing that he didn't go through with his deals. The girl had served her purpose well. He had been smart to make her disguise herself as Bellany after they had found Bellany dead in the streets, so long ago. It was always good to have some hidden sources of information even among your allies. Even if it had requred some very special tools to make her disguise believable enough to fool the ice queen.
"It's all about being prepared, Tatsumi." he said to himself as he walked out of the room. Passing by the guards that were running into it. "And now that you have lost, you might realize that that I have entire decks up my sleeves."
Author's note:
And there we go. The second longest entry in this story so far. The prime minister arc is now in full swing. A lot of things are about to go down. I am looking forward to it. This story is going to take a couple of turns now. I hope that you will stay for the ride.
The reveal of this specific chapter in regards to the reader would probably be the fact that Makeias only killed Bellany. It was the prime minister who then planted the imposter. Unknowing what had killed the real Bellany. A lot more reveals are to come.
Btw here is a funny fact: I have never played any of the warcraft games. I have no idea of the lore of these games. Neither the universe or the characters in it. So you can guess that I was quite suprised when I recieved a lot of messages after the release of the last chapter, talking about an homage or nod that I apparently had made to a ceratin character in that universe. I have made many nods and homages to other literary works through this story but this one was unintentional. But I found it funny nonetheless.
I apologise for the delays btw. Expect the next one in about ten days. For real this time. The next chapter will be a shorter one. Thanks for all the comments and such. I am ,as always, very grateful.
Take care of each other until next time.