Viz, and Pioneer. I just came up with the story, not the people. Don't sue me.
Especially pioneer since I've already bought over a thousand dollars worth of electrical
equipment and Anime from you this year. What more do you want from me?
Now a little side note this story uses the Christian religion as a background. Any
and all changes made that differ with Christian dogma were intentionally. Any changes
or mistakes about the Shinto/Buddhism religion were done accidentally.
Heart and Soul:
Act 2: The Power of a Soul.
In the last act, we left our poor in a kind of a fix. Poor Tenchi Masaki's parents
were all tragically killed leaving him alone except for his adopted aunt, Washu.
Thinking every thing was all right with the world he joyfully skipped along to a date with
his fair lady, Kiyone. Unknown to him though he was being followed by both an angel
and a demon each in search of his supposedly missing soul. Together they all arrived at
the lady Kiyone's house when of all things a space ship landed and out popped a princess
telling the confused Tenchi that he was soon to be a king and married to this ten year old
girl. The whole situation sounds quite preposterous doesn't it. And now on to act two:
The Power of a Soul.
***
For some reason Tenchi's mind kept returning back to an old Anime he had seen
once. The line "Tenchi Masaki, you are the map man." Running over and over through
his head. This was definitely going on the too weird for words level. Some little girl
telling him that he was a King and that they had to marry. It was beyond him what to do.
But he had to make a decision quickly. The aliens was staring at him and god only knew
what Kiyone was doing behind him. He liked her, hell maybe even could grow to love
her, but damn she was such a tom boy.
He mentally reviewed his available options. One, he could attack, though
attacking a little girl was out of the question so that left the two logs and somehow he felt
that those two logs could more then handle a little pounding by his baseball bat. Scratch
attack as an option, at least for now. Two, he could run, a terrific idea in most
circumstances and one that had saved his life and limb a number of times, all he had to
do was point at some object behind the aliens and say something stupid like "look behind
you" and run until you were a very, very long way away from here. Hell even one of his
friends had nicknamed that strategy after him calling it the "Tenchi Maneuver."
It was a good plan with one minor flaw, a space ship hovering over the house. It
seemed unlikely that he could out run that. He scratched that plan for now but kept it at
standby for a worse case scenario.
That left talking with her. Slowly he put down the bat leaning slightly on it and
waved the princess past the lowered portion of the house and into the rest. Feeling a little
out of place and hoping that Kiyone would forgive him, he let the young girl and her two
escorts enter the living room. The princess gave the room a small look and then took the
center chair calmly sitting down and gazing at him as if this were her palace. The two
stumps taking up a position behind her augmenting her regal appearance and giving off
the impression of suppressed power. Tenchi grabbed Kiyone's hand, the one not buried
in her skirt, and led her to the couch, both of them sitting down and facing the little girl.
He marveled at her self control. Normally even trying to touch her would have resulted
in a slap or other such physical violence, but perhaps it was just shock.
"Um... I don't think I caught your name. I'm Tenchi Masaki." The words
seemed stupid to him even as he spoke them.
"No, you are Tenchi Jurai." The two eyes opposite from him stared on in their
untouchable mask. "We are Princess Sasami Jurai." She finally told him breaking the
silence that had been crushing the room and returning to it afterwards.
"How about something to drink, maybe some tea?" Tenchi asked trying to break
the atmosphere that was beginning to feel more and more like a funeral. She stared at
him hard eyes not wavering at all.
"No, We are fine, thank you." She looked him up and down. "In one day, an
acceptable wait, we marry."
If Tenchi had been eating something he would he would have choked.
Swallowing forgetting everything about aliens and space ships credulity gathered in his
voice. "Your only a little girl."
Her mask failed to break at all. "One day then." She stood up preparing to leave.
"No. I refuse." Large hard eyes stared even with him. She standing and him
sitting, only emphasizing the difference in age. "Please just give me some time to think."
He asked her, trying to calm his voice.
"We will talk tomorrow, after the ceremony." She told him turning her back on
the two humans exiting the house unescorted. Tenchi and Kiyone just sat on the couch
deep in troubled thought, as a sonic boom marked the departure of the huge ship.
Behind him Washu entered from the kitchen leaving behind the bound and
gagged woman she had been sent to retrieve. "So Tenchi, that what you expected your
family to be like?" She asked as she circled around the couch and took up the seat that
the princess had just vacated.
"Is she going to be all right?" Washu asked, noticing Kiyone had slid down the
couch.
"She doesn't take well to shocks. I think her understanding of reality is resetting
itself." Tenchi smiled just a little. He straightened Kiyone removing the knife from her
hand and putting a pillow behind her head.
"You know who she was then?" He asked Washu sure of the answer.
"No, I don't know exactly who that was. Yosho was always secretive about his
family. But I do know that your grandfather was an alien. He landed on Earth three
hundred years ago, I was there when it happened." Tenchi looked at her in shock. He
had known that she never aged, but had always thought it was some peculiarity of
genetics or a side effect of an experiment. And that she was only around forty not over
three hundred years old.
"He was running from something at the time, I don't know what. I was there
when his shipped landed, no more like crashed, and pulled him out of the wreckage of it.
He was badly injured and had to be nursed back to health. At that time I was the
caretaker of the shrine. As time went by though more and more he was the one doing the
work. My body the one you see before you was a gift from him though one with side
effects." She smiled warmly a tear touching her eyes.
"Just remember one thing Tenchi. Yosho always believed that no one can ever
force you into anything. You always have freedom of choice." Choking back a sob that
this conversation had lodged in her throat. Washu pushed herself out of the chair
dwarfed by it. "Come on, help me with the new priestess and lets get back to the house
so that you can think."
Jerking his whole body he followed the diminutive form already deep in thoughts
that only moved in circles.
***
The priestess finally seen to a bed, her earlier crying over being tied up forgotten,
as well as the aliens they had encountered. Tenchi walked alongside the pond in the
moonlight trying to sort thoughts that had already run deep grooves in his mind. Casually
picking up a stone and skipping it across the shallow pond towards the great tree,
decorated in spirit traps, at the center.
He was an alien, soon to be the king of this place called Jurai if the little girl was
to be believed. And married that one was the kicker. The one that sent his thoughts back
to the start so that once again they could circle around in his head.
Washu had been no help whatsoever after her few sentences at Kiyone's, she had
disappeared leaving him to apologize to the priestess. Kiyone had righted the world in
her mind and leaving her stupor for long enough to tell him that she would come visit the
shrine tomorrow to see if he was still there and then had quickly left for bed.
Stuck with Miss Mihoshi as the only sounding board for his thoughts he had
turned to the stars for guidance and had let his feet wander. Picking up another rock, he
tested its balance and sent it skipping across the pond of shadows and moonlight
counting how many times it bounced before sinking into the water. Grabbing up another
rock he tossed it out on the pond watching it cause ripples and eddies in the water just
barely visible in the gloom.
He felt like the rock being tossed into a new place it didn't understand. Touching
here and there but mainly letting itself be forced once again into the air until it landed
and sank surrounded by too many troubles.
He searched the ground again for the right type of rock. Flat and just about as
long as his thumb. Picking up a number of likely contenders in his left hand he let
another fly with his right. His eyes watching it skip merrily across the water tell it hit
something floating peacefully in the darkness. Peering hard at the oddly shaped log its
gentle drifting changed by the rock moving it from shadows to moonlight revealing a
person floating face down in the water.
Acting upon instinct he dived into the pond to pull the body from the water
hoping against hope that he wasn't two late. Swimming powerfully his arms making
large waves in the placid crystal clear water until he was next to her. Dog paddling with
his feet and hands he saw that a woman, it was most definitely a woman, had been lucky
enough to float on her side. Flipping her over so that he could swim with her head above
the water. He slowly swam one handed back to the nearest shore. His toes finally
touched dirt as he pulled himself and the woman onto the bank. Shivering as the cold
water fell off of him onto the ground.
Carefully he pulled the woman into a patch of moonlight and checked her pulse
and breathing. She had stopped breathing her chest no longer moving up or down.
Tenchi tilted her head back and kissed her blowing air into her lungs. In between breaths
he carefully and efficiently checked her body for any other wounds, finding a large bruise
and a trickle of blood on her scalp answered most of his questions as to how she had
fallen in. If not why she had been in such a deserted place. He continued mouth to
mouth, blowing life into her, watching her breasts rise and fall. Leaving a taste of mango
on his lips.
The moonlight seemed to wash over her face outlining feminine features and
showing off a head full of grayish-blue hair roguishly covering parts of her face as it fell
in wet cords around her. Her wet clothes, a simple T-shirt and blouse with skirt using the
water to full advantage to highlight her chest.
She was beautiful, of that Tenchi had no difficulty seeing almost to perfection.
Coughing she started to breath again. Hurriedly Tenchi turned her onto her side
allowing her to remove the pond water from her lungs. After a while her breathing
settled down to a normal rate and she turned huge eyes upon her rescuer.
"Thank you." She coughed her pale eyes trying to focus on him.
"Are you okay, miss." He asked, helping her rise to a sitting position. That some
how seemed to toss the shadows of moonlight around her face in merry abandonment.
"I guess so. Though I feel like I just swallowed an entire lake." She said smiling
up at him displaying a row of perfect white teeth that stopped his heart for a second.
*Damn, she's half drowned and still looks like a goddess.*
"I'm Tenchi Masaki and you are..." He trailed off expectantly hoping for an
answer. A name to put with the face.
"Ryoko," Her face lightened up. "Its nice to meet you Tenchi Masaki." She
grinned at him.
"How did you get into the pond, any ways?" Her grin turned sheepish.
"Well it's kind of stupid. You see I'm a photographer and I've been using this
special computer program to make trees look like they have spirits in them and then
selling them as novelty items. The tree here is just perfect but, well I sort of wasn't
watching which way I was going and well, you can guess the rest." Her smile sparkled at
him leaving any other questions forgotten.
"Come on, lets get you out of those wet clothes." He helped her to stand and was
surprised to see that they stood eye to eye. Putting an arm around her, he led her back to
the house his mind having forgotten smaller details like marriages and stuff in the light of
a grateful young woman in his hands.
***
Ryoko smiled and would have flicked her tail is she still had one. As the boy led
her to his house. *That was just too easy. Yosho would never have fallen for that.* She
restrained an urge to lick her lips as she "unsteadily" walked with the human's assistance
making sure to brush the right parts of her anatomy with his at just the right moments.
Coming upon a clearing she "accidentally" tripped.
***
The woman, Ryoko, suddenly tripped over something in a field just out side view
of the house. Sending both of them falling to the ground. With Tenchi somehow falling
on top of the woman, facing her. Between their two bodies a flicker of moon light fell
revealing her face down to the center of her cleavage. A button on her blouse having
become undone. Tenchi gasped blushing a bright red, not moving frozen in the instant.
"You know a lady might reward a handsome rescuer." She purred at him.
The woman under him gasped in shock her eyes going from fully dilated to slits.
Remembering himself Tenchi stood reaching out a hand to help the woman back up. She
looked dazed at him. *She must still be in shock.* Grasping her arm he hurried her back
towards the house.
***
Ryoko smiled slightly at Tenchi. He might be a little inexperienced, but she was
a good teacher. The shadows and light moving at her command left much to the
imagination but giving just the right glimpse at the right time and spot.
This was almost too easy. Now she slightly reassured him. "You know a lady
might reward a handsome rescuer." She could see his eyes dilate even wider expanding
as he got up the courage to kiss her and then, and then, a soul thread had attached to her
from his darkness to her darkness plain as light. Time slowed and she gasped. *That
isn't possible.* She had seduced hundreds of men this exact same way and no thread had
ever bound her. She was suppose to be unable to have them bind to her. It was what had
been decreed at the beginning of time.
He had stood up, the moment ruined by her own actions and she mentally cursed
herself. Grasping his hand she allowed Tenchi to lift her up. Something else was wrong
the tiny little white line connecting him to her she could taste it. This taste, she could
barely remember it. This was that which angels fed on. Something she had been denied
for so long too sweet a joyous elixir. She felt herself getting drunk on the friendship and
even a spark of love a delicious taste. Dazed and stumbling Ryoko let herself be led into
the house.
***
"What is up with my life." Tenchi groaned to himself trying once again to sort
his thoughts that Miss Ryoko had muddled to a dark black.
He had safely seen her to bed in the same room with the priestess. Hoping that
the snoring the blond woman was creating wouldn't stop her from being able to sleep.
Their was something about that strange half drowned woman. He had come so close to
kissing her and more. She had seemed to almost welcome him in those advances. No, he
changed his mind she had been welcoming him.
He shook his head sleep the farthest thing from his mind. He had more important
things to think on then blue gray hair and the taste of mango. Tomorrow he had to figure
out something to tell the little princess.
Somehow though he felt the decision he had made earlier would stand.
One thought tumbled after another as he finally dosed off. In a cold sweat he
jerked up into a sitting position on his futon a thought racing through his mind. That if
Kiyone ever found out about what happened after his dip in the pond he was a dead man.
Spurring his thoughts around again as he fell into an uneasy sleep.
***
Aeka bowed spear before her once again, shield strapped to her left arm. In
resonance with that which gave it strength her spear was an almost unbelievable white
power. It felt warm and comforting as her hand gently rested on it.
Her lords power slightly dimmed as he was deep in thought contemplating her
words and seeing that which she had seen. The giving of the information had left her
feeling slightly dazed. If she had been alive she would have been breathing hard as it
was, she felt like a part of herself had been temporarily dimmed.
"Daughter," the voice seemed to whisper through out the room caressing her and
refilling her energy. "Daughter, many times I and my followers have fought foreign
gods. In those battles you have stood aside strengthening my followers will so that the
battle would go in our favor." He smiled sadly. "We have crushed them and forced their
followers into disbelief." His presence took all the bite out of his words. "You have
always done your part little Aeka now I need you to be a scout."
"But Ryoko."
"Forget Ryoko your mission has changed find out how many souls these aliens
command. Make sure that they are not trying to start a ministry here and win the soul of
this half alien by all means possible." The words were spoken. Aeka had but to fulfill
the orders. Bowing deeply she picked up her spear and left, wondering why such a job
had been given to her. She wasn't even a guardian angel but an inspiration, a gentle
thought of courage when someone needed it. She would carefully, oh so carefully, point
someone in the path towards a better life and reinforce that life though her lord. She was
over worked as it was even if all the major false religious were dead (1) or in the last
dregs of dying. Though their were always new cults abroad. And lately more and more
humans had been turning their minds towards science not religion. It was them that she
dedicated the majority of her time trying to stop them from that path and change one soul
at a time. They were losing this battle slowly but surely. The neutral souls like the one
she had seen on the green hair girl were the result. When they died they just vanished
going nowhere.
Dutifully she caught hold of a string connected to a faithful soul and rode it down
to Japan using it like a compass to guide her to the mortal realm.
***
Awakening early and still tired from a night of half remembered dreams. Tenchi
put on the robes of the monk that he was trying to be. Thinking twice about waking up
the priestess he tip toed down the stairs and out of the house. Heading up the steps to the
shrine near the top of the hill.
Pre-dawn glistened through dew on the deciduous trees, enjoying the return of
their green coats as late spring still brought fog to his breath. The shrine named after a
tree spirit held its Matsuri Festival early in the season only a month away and yet it
needed a vast amount of time and maintenance to get the old temple ready for that
festival.
He topped the stairs as the mountains on the east side of the valley finally allowed
sunrise. Majestically discarding shadows to allow another day. And bringing into
appearance one lone person standing before the shrine.
Tenchi stopped surprised except for the Matsuri festival the temple had few
visitors and very few of those came alone and never before had one arrived this early.
Inflamed by dawns glory she prayed silently to the shrine. Wearing a traditional
style Kimono with a odd color set and some sort of jeweled head piece. That held her
waist length hair in a pig tail with two deadlocks to the front. He had to strain his eyes to
see the color of her hair. The morning sunlight causing it to look a light violet. He
finally decided that it was a deep purple in normal light. *What is it with girls hair today,
whatever happened to just normal black and brown.* He stealthily approached her not
wanting to break into her prayer.
Immersed in her prayer she failed to even notice that he stood behind her a little
to the left watching his breath form into clouds of mist. He remembered his grandfather
had always seemed to sneak up on people at the shrine and was hopping that in that one
small way, however ridiculous it might seem, he could fill Yosho's shoes.
She straitened her back and turned around to stare at the sun finally noticing his
presence.
"I didn't mean to disturb you." Tenchi tried to get his eyes to focus on the young
woman's face but she seemed to be almost glowing in the light.
"You didn't disturb me. I was waiting for you." She gazed at him frankly, her
eyes failing to need any protection from the sun at his back. "You will have to forgive
me. I have never done something like this before." She paused obviously in deep
thought.
"Could I get a fortune at this early time. I realize that your not open, but I would
really appreciate it."
Tenchi scratched his head dipping it a little forward in embarrassment. "Sure."
He walked slowly over to where the shutters protected the fortunes encased in little
wooden boxes and opened them.
Shaking the canister that held the mikuji until one of the fortune sticks fell out,
inscribed with the number 43. Aware that she had an audience she pulled out the little
wooden drawer labeled 43 and read the piece of paper inside of it. Turning it into the sun
light she read aloud. "Trials of the heart and soul are ahead of you. Look carefully for
new friends and foes stand on your horizon." She turned around gazing at the man who
had let her gain these words of advice.
***
Flames surrounded her, ashes choking the air and settling on her wings. She tried
to shake them clear but they seemed to have taken on a permanent black color from the
ash.
"Come on, we have to take the repository. Everyone spread out." Her cell leader
yelled at the small band of rebels as he disappeared in the smoke along with her
comrades.
She was already drained of power, to many times she had summoned the little
helper spirits that had gave her a name. Now she used them for destruction and killing.
It all felt wrong to her, something wasn't right. *Why am I doing this?* She ran off in
search of the repository.
The smoke cleared in front of her for just a second, revealing pure white and then
gone in a haze of smoke. Her barren feet slipped on the gold street, a layer of ash coating
the path she had been running on. Throwing her to one knee.
"Sister." She knew that voice. The light that had been before her revealing itself
to be an enemy. Pure as snow wings, the ashes seeming to dodge coming into contact
with them, glistened before her. The angel held a spear of gold and a small buckler
strapped to her left forearm.
"Sister, beg forgiveness you know that He will forgive you. Please friend Ryoko
the Spirit Caller."
"Sister Aeka, is that you. Help me, something isn't right. I can't think. Help
me."
"Ryoko everything will be okay. Come with me. We will go and see Him." She
shifted her spear into her left hand and reached down with her right.
Pain shot through Ryoko's head at her touch. So much pain she had never ever
felt its like before except second hand through humans. Aeka was hurled back clenching
her spear. She shifted it to her right hand.
"Sister you would betray me such." She braced the spear preparing to charge the
kneeling foe that had given her such pain.
"No, Aeka please, I..." New pain exploded in her breast as the spear buried itself
deep into her chest. The blessing and holy runes giving it power beyond that of a normal
spear, flashing to bright light. Ryoko screamed, pain beyond anything she could have
imagined searing her. She was on fire a deep red that seemed to burn around her.
Then blackness.
A world stood before her when she opened her eyes. Not her home, not the
humans world, no this was a place made of red fire and sulfur. Pain still crackled
through her as tendrils of fire touched her. She furled her wings to try to save them from
the flames, only to realize that they were already gone, replaced by a tail.
The flames around her flared to new life and she fell to the ground rolling in pain
screaming. She screamed for what felt like a million years but had only been a hundred.
***
"Miss, wake up, please. Oh, you must wake up now your having a nightmare.
Oh, what should I do." Someone was shaking her. Ryoko sat up fast, knocking Mihoshi
onto her rear with a grunt of surprise. Her mind still feeling those first hundred years
spent in the deepest parts of hell away from everyone, alone, so alone.
Angels when they are banished from earth are just that locked from visiting the
mortal realm. Demons though are taught new lessons. For one hundred years they are
left alone in agony. It is a very good, if not excellent tool to train them then not to repeat
their previous mistakes. But neither Angels nor Demons dreamed. They were in capable
of dreaming. Having no reason to sort out their minds or worry about the days events.
Nightmares, that was something different, though the majority were still human creations
she had on a number of circumstances seeded someone's dreams with nightmares. But
even that she should have been immune to. Just like the string glowing faintly on her
chest. Even with the distance away from him it gave off a touch of comfort and love.
Ryoko dressed as quickly as possible followed by a nagging Mihoshi. Following
the thread attached to her. She went looking for the boy Tenchi.
***
"Aeka, that's a beautiful name." He handed her the tea cup filled with steaming
bitter green tea.
They had moved from outside to the monks quarters. Talking about
inconsequential, such as the weather.
His cup lay drained along with hers and the great weather that had been promised
at sunrise had already turned into sheets of rain.
She seemed to be studying him. Trying to get a feel of what he was like.
"I really have work to do." He sighed looking at the rain. "At least its just
indoors stuff."
***
Aeka fingered the tea cup that had been full a half hour ago. She wished that she
could see his soul. But somehow she already knew what it would tell her. This boy had
too much goodness coming from him. The strings that she could see connecting him
were many. A large knot tied to a number of them showing that they were once
connected to the now dead. Normally, she didn't work conversions that was the job of
the more soldierly of His followers. For a second she thought about following the
example of that hussy Ryoko and seducing him or at least something like that. But she
tossed the thought away, scared that she had even thought it.
Tenchi began collecting up the tea items. Handling them almost reverently as if
they held some added meaning to him. He calmly smiled and reached out a hand for her
cup. Smiling slightly back she handed him her cup touching the side of his hand by
accident.
A soul string, she hated the term thread of fate, had attached itself to her hand.
She vainly waved her hand to unseat it afraid that she had tampered with his destiny to
the point that one of his threads had been unseated by her except it didn't come off
instead it climbed slowly up her arm across her shoulder and chest and proudly stuck to
where her heart would have been.
Aeka tried to grab it off yanking with both her hands to no avail.
"Miss Aeka, are you ok?" At his words the string seemed to grow even brighter
and thicker. Firmly attaching the two of them together, even worse she could feel
concern radiate over it the pleasure was almost that of standing in His presence.
"I'm fine. Thank you for worrying about me."
"Thank Tsunami." He breathed.
"Who?"
"The guardian spirit of this shrine." He paused. "The tree and water Kami."
"Oh, of course." She hadn't paid much attention to who the shrine had been for.
Only that it was of the Shinto cult.
***
The shutters of the little shrine blew inward releasing a sonic boom on the little
enclosed area. The irreplaceable pair of matching tea cups that had been his grandfathers
went flying into the air and broke into a thousand pieces. Tenchi choked back a sob.
Outside displayed in all its glory, the alien ship hovered causing a dry patch where rain
should have fallen incessantly.
"Please, Miss Aeka, stay here. This is something I must do." He asked her
almost too softly for her to hear over the rain before dashing outside drenched
immediately. Not even bothering to approach the dry patch he stood outside of the
shrine. Staring at the huge ship Aeka watched him calmly from one of the broken
windows.
Once again the ball of light descended from the ship onto the area shielded from
the rain. It popped, revealing the two wooden logs and one diminutive little girl. They
both waited, seeing who would come to who. A long time passed with both of the aliens
staring at each other. Finally the little girl approached walking out of her umbrella and
into the rain shivering slightly.
"Are you ready." Her face was a mask, cold and unreadable. Tenchi wouldn't
have even thought she was alive except for the shivering she was trying hard to repress.
"No." He quietly told her and turned walking back towards the shrine.
"Their is no, no!" Her voice going from young to commanding the shivering that
had wracked her body gone by complete physical control. "There was only a nice way
and the hard way." He turned around afraid for the first time today and also a bit angry.
The woman, Ryoko, had just appeared climbing the stairs in the front of the
shrine. Behind her out of breath and winning the blond hair priestess arrived as well.
***
Aeka saw Tenchi's soul for the first time. His decision not to go with the aliens
revealing it for some reason. The majority still clouded in darkness but one ray of clear
white light escaped. Somehow she knew that the rest was the exact same color.
The ray of light darkened and was hidden again. Looser threads connecting to
him snapped. Major threads withered and became pale. Except for one newly forged
ribbon directly connected to the little princess. Strong and bright it burned. Gathering up
threads that had been snapped and creating a chain of iron light to the young man.
Aeka saw the small little line that connected her and Tenchi together wither and
fall apart. She blinked back tears that she hadn't know she could shed and shifted.
Clothed proudly in light white silk. Spear and shield adorning her hands. She
spread her wings. This was the first time that she had ever walked the mortal realm in
her true form and it felt good. Glowing slightly, she flew out the shattered window.
Flapping her wings twice she landed in front of Tenchi between him and the little girl
who was rewriting his soul.
***
Gasping hard, trying not to scream from the loss of the little thread that was
dimming with every second Ryoko charged forward leaving Mihoshi behind on the last
stair.
Somehow impossibly that little girl, the princess of an alien goddess, was
changing Tenchi's soul by force. Even worse he was forgetting her. There was no way
that she would ever go back to being alone again. Not while he was alive and no one had
better stand in her way.
She could never muster enough power to attack the girl in her false human form.
She changed in a heart beat teleporting herself in front of Tenchi. Aeka somehow stood
beside her. She felt an old ball of hate rise to the surface. But the other woman failed to
attack her caught up in trying to stop the control spell being wrought. Ryoko felt her
bond to Tenchi begin to pull away like a physical pain. Uncaring, now she charged at the
princess leaving her back undefended.
***
Forced to rational thought by the sight of Ryoko, plunging into a head long attack
on the princess. Aeka formed a power web to her spear praying for energy she normally
couldn't hope to command and forcing it into the spirit world.
Told never to even attempt such an action she tried to cut the iron force that was
binding Tenchi's soul. Impact with it sent her reeling as if she had touched live wires
with metal. For a brief moment the power of the binding had dimmed and then reeled
back twice as bright, strong as iron and just as difficult to cut.
It looked like, somehow, she was stuck in a physical confrontation with an alien
and her oldest enemy her only ally.
***
Pushing a hand into the ground, Ryoko called, and was answered by a minor
guardian spirit of the shrine. Not even pausing she teleported behind the princess and let
off a pair of power balls.
The two logs that had been placidly following the little girl suddenly came alive.
One charging after her blocking the balls of light with a shield it projected. And then
firing back from a jewel set near the top. She teleported again dodging and formed a
sword of blood red in her hand grinning evilly.
***
One of the logs blocked Aeka's way as the other one attacking Ryoko. It paused
waiting to see if she harbored hostile intend.
Preying, Aeka charged her spear again and flew forward on a ramming course her
wings flapping huge and stately arcs. The piece of a tree before her fired off the same
energy projectile the other had used on Ryoko. She blocked with her buckler and crashed
into the stump driving her spear deep into its side. Instead of showing pain it rotated
rapidly to the right forcing Aeka to hold onto her weapon at all cost or be thrown. A bolt
of energy sped from its jewel again, unprepared to block this time she took the full power
of the blast sending her flying across the ground. Pain coursing from the area that had
been hit. Leaving her spear behind, imbedded in the tree.
***
Still trying unsuccessfully, to keep her hair dry with her umbrella, the blond
priestess watched the fight unsure who to cheer for.
The nice young lady with the nightmares had some how grown a tail and was
throwing bolts of light, flying, and teleporting. While the little princess seemed to be
completely ignoring the battle. The only other person she recognized was the dark hair
boy she was suppose to help take care of the shrine with.
Before her in-between the fight an Oni began to rise out of the ground.
Finally something she could do. Taking out her wand with its paper spirit traps at
the end she dismissed the spirit before it even had a chance to fully form.
Congratulating herself, she only got the spell right about one out of three times,
she wandered into the battle towards Tenchi.
***
Somehow her demon had been dismissed. Leaving her sapped as the power she
had been using to form it snapped. The tree fired at her again causing her to teleport.
The world went black for a second and then phased back into view showing two lines of
red light coming at her. Somehow the stump had anticipated where she would return at.
*Thats not possible.* Pain lanced through her as she crashed into the ground. Once
again Ryoko gathered the power to call forth a spirit to aid her. The tree fired at her, not
giving her a chance to fully form the spell as she dodged.
The battle had pulled the two logs away from their ward. With a feral grin Ryoko
teleported behind the princess and struck out with her light sword. It skittered across a
barrier held by miniature versions of the logs she was battling. They just appeared with
no warning given, Ryoko was forced to dodge to her left as the stump behind her opened
fire. She flew around it trying to spot any weaknesses.
***
*Tsunami, this is wrong.* Sasami yelled battering against the walls that had
sprung up between her and her body.
*You are to young to understand, this must be done for the good of Jurai.* She
strengthened the spell holding Tenchi cutting off unneeded connections to his soul and
firmly attaching them to her and Sasami.
*Jurai is dead! They are all dead!* The strong emotion crumbled one of
Tsunami's walls forcing her to refocus to rebuild it. A few of Tenchi's fate strings fell
from her grasp and reconnected themselves unsteadily to where they belonged.
Exasperated, she grabbed those threads again only to see one of the local servant
spirits crash into the uneven stone ground. It was the one who had tried to sever her
connection earlier. One of her beautiful white wings crumpled slightly and sat wrong on
her back. A flash of memories filled Tsunami's mind of a young girl finding a bird with
a wing the same way in the palace gardens. How she had secretly nursed it back to
health. Afraid that she would be caught and punished for showing an emotion. Afraid
that she would be forced to perform the purification ceremony again. Tsunami tried to
block the memories. Memories that were not her own. This host was flawed so terribly
flawed. Her barriers crumbled underneath the weight of those emotions. She once again
lost the control of the host body.
The spell uncompleted began to unravel it's self, slowly at first then picking up
speed as more of the knots that held it unraveled.
"Stop it!" The princess yelled. "Please, stop it." She started crying. Tears
streaming down the side of her face as the two logs with drew from their attack taking up
protective positions around her. The two guardian spirits assuming the same stance
around Yosho's grandson.
***
Aeka was confused, the enemy had withdrawn just before it would have banished
her. Unsteadily she walked over to where Tenchi was, cradling her wings carefully
against her back. The knot of souls the alien had been wrongfully weaving falling apart.
She sighed as the thread linking her attached itself again brighter and stronger then
before.
Ryoko teleported next to her. Ignoring her old enemy for the new common one.
They both stared at the little princess who seemed even smaller and crying silent
long trails of tears down her face.
Focusing her mental energy she called her spear to her and took up a defensive
stance waiting.
***
The darkness parted tearing away. The paralysis that had held him fading to a
memory. Tenchi blinked his eyes. Before him stood two woman and then a little farther
the little princess, crying, and her two guardians.
Not knowing exactly why. Tenchi rushed forward past the two woman who he
vaguely recognized, past the two logs who failed to stop him, and up to the princess.
He hugged her giving her a shoulder to cry on, and softly stroked her hair.
Whispering "Don't worry. It'll be okay."
***
Ryoko watched surprised that she felt this jealous. The bonds that held her to
Tenchi strong again. The weavings of their enemy remained though not overly large,
about the same size as the one connecting her and, the name leaving a bitter taste in her
mouth, Aeka.
(1) This is a lie but one she makes unknowingly. Their religions are based on the
faith of their followers. So Aeka can not, will not, believe in what is to her a false god
unless they were attacked. In such a situation almost always the demons will throw in
with the so called false religion reinforcing the angels belief that it was a false religion.
The basic religions require about 500,000 followers to have an advanced and fully
realized religious system. Below that thought noise and disbelief drown it out. This was
not always so. The threshold has increased dramatically with the advanced birth of
science and non religions methods of explaining reality, such as evolution. A smaller
group though of say larger then a hundred can perform miracles. Even one person can
perform a miracles if they believe hard enough. But with more followers the greater the
strength and number of helpful guardian spirits. After they breach the follower threshold
though the religion can form and create such places as a heaven and hell.
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