Oh my god, you're back for the third chapter. That makes me so happy. I must be doing something right. "Jumps up and down" Well here is number 3. Read and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I really hate writing this. But Tenchi Muyo! is not mine, nor will it ever be. However, all new characters and the story is mine. Do not copy, or I'll sick my dog on you; and she is a vicious Chihuahua.

Now on with the show...

Tenchi Muyo! Lost Souls Ch. 3

Five years have passed since the day that Tenchi asked for Washu's help. Soon, no one could get through the system, though, the pirate Andromeda did try and every time she got close, Washu would come up with a better system. It was continual.

Four years ago, the emperor died, but Yosho continued on as regent until Tenchi felt he could be a good emperor. He wasn't so sure now, but his grandfather seemed to be weary of the job. It was time to take his place. The coronation was going to be held in a week and everyone was abuzz in preparation.

It would be easy for someone to sneak in to Jurai, say like the pirate princess Andromeda and her crew of the Olympus.

"Are things ready," Andromeda asked.

"Things are ready, you highness," Atena, her second in command, answered in a slow and steady voice. All of her crew adopted calling her with the same formality that Iris did. It no longer bother her as it had long ago because, although she was not Princess Aeka, she was the space pirate princess, Andromeda. There was no one else that could match her and her crew at piracy, not even the legendary Ryoko, whom happen to be the one she had learned from. This student had surpassed her teacher.

Andromeda looked at Atena, who sat at a consol just to the right of her. She was a calm individual, ideal as a second in command to a sometimes-tetchy commander. She had dark red hair that looked almost black which she wore in a high ponytail that came to her neck; however, a few strands were left free to frame her face. The high ponytail did allow for her very prominent pointy ears, that were common to her race, to show. She had amber eyes that shown with wisdom beyond her years. Her skin was light, but not the soft pearl white of a princess's skin, like that of Andromeda. Encasing her tall and feminine body was a dark green body suit, which she wore thigh-high, black boots over. At her waist, hanging loosely, was a golden tri-tiered belt of varying widths. At her left wrist, she wore what looked like a large cufflink; it was, in fact, a mechanism that extended into a shield to provide a defense against physical attacks. To finish of the ensemble, she wore a brown monk-like cloak with a large hood. This cloak was special, though, when the hood was pulled over her head, it allowed her to become invisible. It had been a gift from her family.

"Good, then let us begin our journey," Andromeda said.

"Princess," interjected a male voice to the left of her, "I do believe we are being tailed." The owner was, in fact, the twin brother of Atena, Ares. He was quite the opposite of Atena in personality. He was volatile and only his sister and Andromeda could calm him down. He was quite protective of both. He had black hair that shown with red, or if your prefer red hair so dark it looked black, which he wore in a style reminiscent of Japan's samurai warriors tied with a dark blue ribbon showing his pointed ears. His skin tone was only slightly darker than that of his sister, but his eyes were the same shade of amber as Atena. He also wore a dark green body suit as his sister but wore a brown happi coat over it and short black boots. Around his waist was a golden belt holster that contained a laser sword that was also a family heirloom, which he yielded with great expertise. Andromeda preferred to have him by her side when a battle was sure to ensue. For all his violent nature, Ares also contained a keen intellect, which he hid behind his brutish façade. All this combined, made him a great asset to the Olympus.

"Can you identify who it is, Ares?"

"It is a Galaxy Police battleship with the ability to carry a crew around two hundred."

"No doubt, it is full to capacity," his sister advised.

Beside her a hologram of Iris appeared. "Should I activate the cloaking device," Iris said. She looked a bit older, and wore her white cloak. She hardly showed her wings, they did tend to shock a person to see an 'angel'. Not even Andromeda's crew was immune to the effects.

"No," was Andromeda's answer, "We'll wait. Let's see what they want first." Iris nodded, no sense giving themselves away.

"The are hailing us, Andromeda-hime," Hermes, the com-system controller, said. Hermes was a teenager, but was an extremely intelligent boy. Andromeda valued intelligence over brutality. He had long blonde hair that stopped mid-back. It was tied into a long braid that traveled down to his waist. His blonde bangs hung messily over his brilliant green eyes which were covered by glasses. He wore tan slack-like slim pants of which he wore dark brown boots under. He wore a fitted white shirt and a long, navy blue trench coat. Within the coat, hidden out of sight, was a small cylindrical object marked with two twining snakes that extended into a long rod. When wielded correctly, the long rod could be used to kill, something Hermes knew how to do very well. What was not so good was the fact that Hermes was also a mischievous boy and loved to play practical joke on everyone. No one was left out, not even Andromeda and Ares who could kill him had they not really liked him. His jokes lightened some very dreary days when nothing was going on. His humor also served to salve the injured when there was one; he worked closely with Iris as the ship's doctor.

"Should we be ready," asked a young girl who sat at the helm in front of Andromeda as the navigator. Andromeda looked at the girl, Aurora. She was the youngest of her crew. She had long pink hair that was done up in two braided ponytails that came up to form loops. Long bangs hung down to frame her small tanned face were two large turquoise pools served as her eyes. She wore a white Washu-like shorts with a purple shirt and matching purple thigh-high stockings. To finish her ensemble she wore white, short lace-up boots. If it wasn't for the high-powered lasik pistol she wore at her waist--which she yielded with deadly accuracy--you could confuse her for a cute adolescent. She reminded Andromeda of her sister.

"Yes, be ready," Andromeda replied with a smile that she always had for the girl.

"You heard her, Eros, be ready," Aurora said to the man sitting by her side.

"I'm always ready," Eros, the pilot of Olympus, replied. Eros was a bit high-strung, but that made him quite capable of piloting really well in dire situations. He had blue hair that was kept short compared with the rest of the men on the Olympus, while his eyes were a deceivingly cool brown. He wore smoky gray military-style pants with a matching smoky gray, waist length jacket. Underneath, he wore an army green t-shirt and matching army green lace-up boots. Like his navigator, her wore a lasik pistol strapped to his belt, but he could be just as deadly with only his hands. He joked lightly with Aurora all the time, but everyone on the Olympus knew he very protective of her; she was like a daughter to him and he was like a father to her.

"Well, open the line, Hermes. Let's see what they want," Andromeda said. When it open, Andromeda almost fell on her face at who was on the other end. She quickly recovered herself.

"Hello," an over-happy blonde said. Atena sweat-dropped, Andromeda had to bit her lip to keep from laughing at Atena's obvious discomfort. Atena had no patience with idiots and air-heads. "My name is Captain Mihoshi of the Galaxy Police," the blonde said. A captain, Andromeda thought, that is unbelievable.

"Yes, Captain Mihoshi, is there anything I can do for you," Andromeda said failing, intentionally, to say her name.

"Well," she said bringing her finger to her mouth in her trademark gesture Andromeda remembered all to well, "You see, we have gotten some information that someone we are looking for was sighted in this area."

This intrigued Andromeda, she hadn't pirated anything in this area, she wondered who could be so important to have the Galaxy Police pursue. Add to that they were using Mihoshi, the luckiest person in the universe; she could find a needle in a hay stack just by sitting on it. The rest of the crew of the Olympus was just as intrigued, they had heard the stories of Mihoshi. "Who might this person be, Captain," Andromeda asked.

"Aeka, crown princess of Jurai," she said casually. Everyone turned towards Andromeda. They all knew that she had been Aeka, crown princess of Jurai, but whom they really knew was Andromeda. Aeka just didn't exist for them. She told them only once who she had been before, and they all noticed how she became distant when she related the story as if she was never Aeka but just someone who knew the story of Aeka. Once again they noticed, as in those times that she related the story before, as she got that distant look in her eyes.

Once again the happy captain spoke-up, "Well, have you noticed anyone that looks like Princess Aeka?" Andromeda's face was hidden by shadows so Mihoshi could not tell. Suddenly, however, the vidscreen started to become clouded by static.

"I'm sorry, we seem to be having trouble with our com-system," Hermes spoke-up. Then the communication was cut. Everyone waited patiently for Andromeda to recover. Awhile after the vidscreen went out, Andromeda finally snapped out of it, Replacing the distant look with the usual cold look of the space pirate princess Andromeda. "Thank you, Hermes. Now bring them back," she said coldly.

"Are you sure, your highness," Hermes asked.

"Yes," was her simple reply. Hermes complied and brought them back. Mihoshi was seen yelling at her crew to bring back the image; she was having an out and out fit. Atena sweat-dropped again, she just couldn't get used to that blonde as a captain of a Galaxy Police battleship. Andromeda cleared her throat loudly and Mihoshi turned to view the vidscreen with obvious relief as the image was returned. Before the captain had a chance to speak-up once again, Andromeda spoke.

"I'll get right to the point, Captain Mihoshi," this stopped the captain, "Crown Princess Aeka of the planet Jurai IS DEAD."

"What?!" Mihoshi gasped. "How do you know she is dead? Did you see it happen? Did you see the body?"

"I know," Andromeda said in order to stop in captain's questions, "because I killed her." That was when she got up from her chair and stepped into the light to reveal herself; and what could be seen was an older looking Aeka. Her purple hair was longer now than when she first cut it, Jurain hair grew at a remarkable rate. She kept it in a single ponytail that traveled down the length of her body. Her bangs hung down her forehead longer that she had ever wore them before, almost, but not quite, covering her eyes. Her eyes were now a fierce purple/pink and she wore her battle make-up. On her body, she wore blood red pants with black battle stripes and an interesting mid-rift, skintight red top. Over the shirt, she wore a black jacket with a high collar that framed then flopped about her face. The jacket was buttoned at her waist and then flared out and ended mid-thigh. She finished the outfit with blood red gloves and calf-high black boots. One of the most prominent things was the green choker that held a golden jewel that sparkled with an unknown power. Then the image was cut off.

"Get us out of here, Eros," she said as she returned to her seat.

"Aye, your highness," was his reply as he set the ship into motion. The Olympus was fast and the Galaxy Police battleship was slow. Of coarse, there was the added advantage they had because of the shock she had given the Galaxy Police. Both advantages put the Olympus a good distance away, before the battleship started to try and follow.

"Iris, cloaking device arm," Andromeda said. Iris, who still stood next to her, closed her eyes. When she opened them awhile later, she confirmed that the cloaking device was engaged.

"Good," Andromeda replied, "Now, on to Jurai, top speed."

"Are you sure that is wise," Ares asked.

"Perfectly," answered Atena, "They will expect us to run as far away from Jurai as possible. We are to do the opposite."

"You are quite correct, Atena," Andromeda concurred. They soon were on their way. Looks like this will be more exciting than I thought, thought Andromeda.

On Mihoshi's ship, though, everything was not as calm. "We have lost the ship, Captain. They just dropped from radar, we do not know why," the engineer announced. Mihoshi knew why but she wasn't telling, she had promised. Great, Mihoshi thought, this is not cool.

"Should we call headquarters," her lieutenant asked.

"No," was Mihoshi's answer. There were only about a week away from Jurai, where Tenchi was going to be crowned. She was going to take this news straight to him, after the coronation, so that Grandfather could not stop what had to be done. "Set a coarse straight to Jurai. I'm going to give this message straight to the Prince."

"Yes, ma'am," the crew responded.

On Jurai, everyone was sitting down at the late meal when suddenly Sasami cried out in pain. Everyone was around her in the matter of seconds, Tenchi holding her closely. Washu felt her head.

"She's burning up, we've got to get her to her room."

Thirty minutes later, the royal doctor came out of Sasami's room. He didn't know what was happening to the youngest princess, time would only tell. No one noticed as the marks on Sasami's head change from the two triangles to two dots, then back again.