Chapter 17: Cao Cao's Haunted Past: Part I
The King of Wei cursed the morning. It greeted them far too soon, like an unwelcome, disruptive guest. But there was nothing even a man of his ability could do. He was a character of many talents – a prodigious military commander, amongst the greatest politicians in China, a prolific writer, and an overpowering adversary when angered. But all this meant nothing in the face of providence.
While his proudest manuscripts would always be his work on the art of war, his poetry had grown even more articulate ever since Galatea's arrival. Much of his prose, in his younger days, had lamented the ephemeral nature of life and love. But now, he knew better. It was the duty of a philosopher to welcome the inevitable change that came with the turning of the eons. Without change, she would never have come. And as a man who walked the path of the conqueror, he hoped to eventually walk the path of Heaven once this vile chaos finally ended.
He wanted Galatea to tread that new course of peace with him.
"Humanity conspires, Heaven decides," he murmured, his hand gently rubbing her face. She stirred, and as she opened her eyes and smiled fuzzily at him, his heart melted. He would slit his throat before he let that show so easily, however.
Let people have their feelings, their desires, and their loves. Feelings are what make life worth living. But nothing can surpass Heaven's Mandate. No one can. With no other alternative, he roused her from his bed with generous kisses.
The first order of business was, of course, to bathe together, in the royal pools. It was their daily ritual, a habit of intimate courtship between lord and vassal. She would massage him as she kneeled behind him in the hot, therapeutic spring, her hands kneading his lean shoulders and back, pressing her fingers and knuckles against his golden body. And in return, he would make her blush in pride with flattering praise of her unsurpassable beauty.
"Your scar complements you," he said again casually after several minutes of silence, not bothering to turn around as she worked gently at his traps.
Her reply was calm. "You're a liar. A dirty, shameless liar."
He closed his eyes. "I speak the truth. My opinion has not changed since the first night we slept together. You are beautiful, and your scar is beautiful."
"You don't wish I didn't have it?"
"I will have you as you are. Anything else is but a cheap imitation."
For all her beauty, she never imagined that a man would be attracted to the horrendous disfigurement across her stomach. She had always seen it as a blemish on his otherwise perfect figure. It was a strange thing, to be complimented on the wound that had been inflicted on her as a young girl in those dark, dank dungeons of the Organization. But at any rate, Cao Cao had always been a strange man.
She embraced him from behind, her arms draping from his shoulders across his chest. She gave his earlobe an affectionate nibble, tantalizing him with her lips and tongue. "You're quite good at pleasing women, you know that?" she murmured, nuzzling his neck and savouring the steaming water that soaked their bodies as one. "Just how many concubines have you bedded in your life to come this far?"
"My harem houses a couple hundred of your wily kind. So naturally, I have lost count."
"How dare you be so… honest with me?" She bit down crossly at his intentional lack of tact, and he chuckled.
"You are my favourite, more so than my own wife. Do not forget that."
*
They clothed themselves and breakfasted together before making their way to the Imperial Throneroom. There would be plenty of time for intimacy later. For now, there was work to be done. The time was ripe to discover the answers they sought to the crisis of the Awakened Beings.
"When you first arrived at my Court, your former master Ermita hinted that compared to many of your generation, you know much more about the Organization's past. Is that true?" he asked, stopping before the drapes and turning to face her directly. King and guardian regarded each other closely, the quiet ambience of the chamber accentuating the gravity of their discussion.
"I believe so," came her somewhat tentative reply. "But I know not what their plans in China are – and that is assuming they desire anything beyond senseless, gratuitous destruction."
"Then, as we agreed earlier, I would like you to work with me in discovering the reasons for the Yoma's presence here. But you need not lose sleep over this task."
"You are not assigning me any specific task?"
He looked at the shroud beyond the throne. "No. My emissaries have been hard at work. They have helped me to recruit a warrior of your crumbling Organization who is far older than yourself, and who will act as our primary agent in countering the machinations behind this invasion."
She could not help her surprise. "A warrior? Like me?"
He nodded. "Step forward, honoured guest."
To Galatea's shock, a female figure emerged from the shadows. She was slightly taller than Cao Cao, and her eyes just as sinister. Except that she only had one – the left side of her face had been mutilated, an ugly scar spreading across what had once been her left eye. Her hair was short – coming down only to her shoulders. Behind her was the signature sword and mantle of a silver-eyed warrior, and from the symbol at the centre of her collarbones…
Galatea's glare, although mild, was intentionally pronounced. "Rafaela."
"Tigress Guard, hm?" said the scarred Claymore. Her voice was dark, mocking. "But you didn't think you could have His Majesty all to yourself, did you?"
"Father," came a velvety, haughty voice. "Let me show this one to her room. I understand that you are quite busy?" Another form emerged behind Rafaela, and it was one of a sneering youth, with an outfit of snowy white and rich blue. His ebony hair was free, virile, and his light armour did not clash with his royal garments. At his side was a long, royal sword, hidden within a jewelled sheath.
He was none other than Prince Cao Pi, Cao Cao's eldest son and heir apparent.
Galatea shook her head, grimacing condescendingly. She had met him some time ago, after the Battle of He Fei. She had disliked him immediately, just as she vaingloriously and irrationally disliked all of Cao Cao's children. After all, she was not the woman who had mothered them. On the more practical side of things, Cao Pi gave the perpetual impression of a spoilt brat, and was perhaps the most arrogant man she ever had the misfortune of meeting in China. But then again… she glanced at Cao Cao, before stifling a rude snigger.
Pride certainly ran in the family.
On his part, the Prime Minister nodded. "A good idea, my son. I will leave Rafaela in your care. But I am sure she needs no coddling; she is not some new toy of yours. Rather, take care that you do not neglect my daughter-in-law."
"Ease up on the details of my sex life, Father. I assure you that Zhen Ji is quite the satisfied kitten. Besides, your own attention has become rather focused on Lady Galatea, has it not? Surely the women of your harem are becoming… restless indeed."
Galatea's fist suddenly felt itchy. The Prince's face would make a good scratching post.
Smirking, Cao Cao turned to his bodyguard. "Away with you, son." He moved in the direction of the gardens. "Forgive my boy's loose tongue. Let us continue," he suggested. Galatea breathed quietly and followed him. Their shoes clapped lightly against the floor as the voices of Rafaela and Cao Pi grew fainter.
"I wish to tell you something that has been nagging at the back of my mind. I do not know how much help it will be to us in our investigation of the Yoma," said Cao Cao, as a passing attendant bowed and opened the doors to the courtyard. "It brings us back to an age when I was merely a junior governor." He smiled, memories of bygone campaigns returning.
"Many years ago, there occurred an uprising called the Yellow Turban Rebellion," he began, as they walked past the entrance and into the sunlight. "Wishing to see my lofty ambition realized, I joined an alliance of provincial governors who sought to defeat the Yellow Turbans. But the turmoil did not end after our victory. An aristocrat of Xi Liang by the name of Dong Zhuo seized power in the Imperial Court, and began to rule China with the hand of a despot."
The morning star was bright and mellow, and Cao Cao breathed in the scent of seasonal flowers. "Unable to bear his tyranny any longer, we organized another coalition to dispose of him. It was then that I realized the decaying Han Dynasty could never again serve the purpose it once had. I decided that the chaos could only end through my philosophy of rulership. So with the help of my supporters, I expanded my power from a superintendent to that of Prime Minister. I convinced His Imperial Highness to entrust himself to my care, and to use Xuchang as the capital of the empire.
"But I confess this to you, and you alone: the ghosts of the past still haunt me, and I have been unable to lay them to rest."
"Ghosts?" she asked, watching him place his hands on the granite terrace above the lotus pond. "It's quite… unusual for you to speak of such things. Especially from your past."
"Yes. I still remember the day when Dong Zhuo was finally slain. Not by my hand, but by…" he looked at her sharply. "His own foster son. A legendary warrior by the name of Lu Bu." He smirked. "Lu Bu… the master of the battlefield, and the greatest soldier of All Under Heaven. He was unmatched in every respect: archery, on horseback, in the art of the halberd. It was largely due to his prowess that our Alliance was unable to completely topple Dong Zhuo beforehand."
"You make him sound like a deity."
"You would have stood no chance against that nightmare." His wolfish grin widened. "But know this. He had one flaw: deep down, he was a coward, fighting only to satisfy his lust for slaughter. And that was to be his downfall."
Galatea nodded. "I see you're making him out to be quite the villain."
"Many have seen me in the same light, ever since I held this post as Imperial Chancellor." His face was pensive. "After Lu Bu murdered Dong Zhuo and fled from Luoyang, he ousted Liu Bei from Xuzhou and occupied Xia Pi. Determined to end Lu Bu's rampage, I lent Liu Bei an army, and laid siege to Xia Pi with him. Thanks to conspirators led by the traitor Hou Cheng, the city ultimately fell. My men dragged a tightly bound Lu Bu before me." He smiled darkly. "And at Liu Bei's advice, I ordered that fiend's execution."
Silence fell upon the couple for a few moments before God-Eye spoke. "That's… charming," she began cleverly. "But what does this have to do with our investigation?"
Her Lord's face grimaced, as if it were possible for him to scowl further. "I have not spoken of this to anybody else, for I did not believe it was of any significance until your arrival at my Court. That day when I was presented Lu Bu's head, I noticed that amongst those who still remained near Xia Pi was a man who was not of our land. I merely glimpsed him at a distance and thought nothing more of him. Nevertheless, I do recall that he looked suspicious, almost otherworldly."
"Otherworldly?" said Galatea warily.
"He possessed a pale countenance, and his fair hair was long. Around him draped a blue, feathered coat of foreign origin. And… a small girl, dressed in a dirty pink blouse. I assumed them to be merely pirate refugees from across the sea." He paused. "But now that I have met you and Rafaela… I know better." His eyes narrowed.
"They hailed from your Continent, did they not?"
She felt a gaping hole open in the pit of her stomach as realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. "Isley," she breathed.
Was it possible? Was it likely that he possessed a base of operations in the Middle Kingdom all this time? And that bloused girl by his side… it seemed too outrageous – and terrifying – to fathom. But Cao Cao's inquiring voice broke into her wild thoughts. "Explain."
"I will remind you again, my Lord. In the history of the Continent, there have been three disastrous instances of Awakening. These catastrophes have resulted in three Awakened Beings of indescribable power – they are known as the Dwellers of the Deep, or the Abyssal Ones." She shook her head, alarmed and worried. "If who I'm thinking of is the same person in your account, then the most powerful amongst these Abyssal Ones arrived in China during that battle at Xia Pi. And it is almost certain that he is still in this realm."
His face flickered in surprise. "Then I erred by not hunting down that man when I had the chance," he muttered sombrely. "My tigress. Do you have any idea as to what this Isley's intentions may be?"
"An experiment, perhaps," she suggested. "The Organization has always harvested women on the Continent to research the possibilities for ever stronger warriors. He may be attempting the same."
The King stared back down at the pond's waters. "But the question remains – what was Isley's business in Xia Pi city?" he mused. "If you are correct, could it be that he was attempting some kind of experiment with Lu Bu?"
She nodded uneasily. "To create some kind of hybrid warrior… or to unleash an even more terrible genus of archdemon into China." She suddenly looked at him in horror. It sounded wild, paranoid, but she could not help blurting it out.
"Perhaps… even… an Awakened Lu Bu."
Cao Cao suddenly smiled broadly.
At first, she thought he was not taking her seriously. "I know it sounds outlandish, but given Isley's ambitions – "
He remained splendidly calm while he interrupted her. "This is why I enjoy your company so, my tigress. Every word that comes out of those succulent lips brings me one step closer to knowing my enemy.
"And to know the enemy is to win the war."