Chapter Text
The explosion threw him overboard. He managed to see his fleet ablaze and the water burning before hitting the surface of the lake. The first thing he felt was the frosting bite of the water, then its darkness. He was rapidly sinking in the pitch-black water as if someone was grabbing his ankles and pulling him under. He tried to move his legs and arms, attempting to swim to the surface but to no avail. It was the first time water had betrayed him. Chen was born in a fishermen village, on the coasts of the Yellow sea. He learned to swim before he learnt to walk, or so his father used to say. “We will make a great fisherman out of you, my son” he told him on his first time at sea. Maybe he could have become a great fisherman, like his father wanted, he could have married one of the girls in the village, who always smelled like fish and seasalt, and his life would have been peaceful. But even in his young age Chen knew he was destined to be great. He chased greatness so Heaven blessed him with his sacred Mandate, and Heaven would not allow his defeat. With stiff fingers he grabbed the heavy helm and pulled it off his head. He instantly felt lighter and moved his legs and arms with renewed vigor. He could see the light of fires on top of him, one or two strong strokes and he would have reached the surface. His ears were ringing and it felt like his lungs were about to explode; both things suggested he was far deeper underwater than the he had believed. He gave the thought no mind: he was a skilled swimmer and could hold his breath a long time, as long as it took, even if the surface was still far away. Back in his village, Chen used to play with his friends, and their favorite game was diving. They lunched themselves to the bottom of the sea in a bust of bubbles and the cheerful sea water brouth them back up without them even having to swim. Chen kept swimming because it was all he coud do. He couldn’t see the fires anymore and, for the first time, he realised he didn’t know where the surface was. Bubbles escaped his nose and mouth as panick sinked in. The grip of lake water on his feet became stronger, ghost fingers tightening onto him. He shook his feet, moved his arms and sank even deeper in the still, dead water. More bubbles escaped him, he couldn’t breathe. He tried to undo his armor closures with no result. His finger where stiffed by the freezing water. Even if he had been able to move them, he would not have managed to open them nor take off the armor on his own. He reached out in the dark, the red flame of the Heaven’s Mandate brightened the black lake. That was the proof he was still worthy, that he would not die. From the black water, as if recalled by his flame, something glided forwards. The lake became even colder, Chen’s entire body shivered, the Mandate’s flame trembled and died out. He screamed and water filled his mouth and his lungs. He tried to hold onto his destiny: he will achieved excellence, he would not die. The Mandate pulsed in his fist, when he opened his palm inside there was a flame. It was small, pale yellow in color, similar to a candle’s light. He shed light on a ghostly face that had belonged to someone he one knew. He stared at Old Guo and the ghost stared back. The light trembed and when it stilled again Little Guo had joined his father. More ghosts came, following the Mandate’s light. Chen recognised some of them, most he didn’t know. He tried again to swim in a desperate attempt to reach the surface. The ghosts watched him until the little candle light, that once was the proof of his destiny, trembled again and then died out.