I don't own Tenchi Muyo.
A Claim to The Throne
By The Great El Dober.
Chapter Two
Part Four - Conversations
She watched him as he sat there, loyally staying by his stone bride's
side. He had been like that for hours, just sitting in silence, holding her hand, forcing
back his tears. It was almost too much for her to bear, seeing him like this. She felt his
pain, she felt his sorrow,
she wanted to . . .
she had to . . . .
she needed to . . . .
"Don't you even dare!" Funaho warned as she grabbed hold of
Misaki's arm, stopping her in her tracks, "This is very serious so no. Absolutely no
hugs!"
"But he's in so much pain," the over-emotional queen
exclaimed, feeling her yearning desire to comfort everyone and make everything happy.
"Yes, I know," Funaho replied sympathetically, her voice
softening into more understanding tones, "but that's why he needs to be left alone.
He needs time to get himself together."
That was a great understatement. He really needed to sort himself out
for in twenty short hours he would be fighting in the greatest battle of his life. That
was the agreement, it was to commence twenty-four hours after Kagato's first arrival and
in a remote area away from civilians, at Tenchi's request. He had made one other demand,
that Ryoko stayed with him. He didn't want that bastard anywhere near her, he dread to
think what twisted acts he would force upon her. It made him sick, no worse than that, it
made him furious. His whole body burnt with a deep hate, he felt like . . .
"Tenchi."
He looked up, broken out of his trance, to see Little Washu standing
before him, dried tears staining her cheeks. Some of those tears had been of joy at her
daughter's happiness, some of sorrow at her daughter's pain but there was not a tear left
in her eyes as she stared purposefully at him, as composed and professional as she could
force herself to be.
"Tenchi, I want to take Ryoko to my lab," she continued,
"I want to make sure that there's absolutely nothing that I can do to save her. I
think it might be worth a try."
He nodded silently as he reluctantly let go of Ryoko's frozen hand. He
stood and stretched, loosening his stiff muscles. He must have been sitting for longer
than he thought. He watched on devotedly as Washu slowly lowered Ryoko's stone body into a
portal before disappearing away herself.
He immediately felt lost, lonely, disconnected from his purpose, from
his place by Ryoko's side. He would probably have wandered aimlessly like a lost sheep if
it hadn't been for his attentive friends and relatives who were there to support him.
"Tenchi," Ayeka called gently as she slowly approached him.
She had long since dropped the 'Lord' title that she had previously glued to his name and
it was a sign of how their closer, less formal relationship had developed.
"What am I going to do Ayeka?" he asked, seeking counsel from
her. He trusted her more than he trusted his own tortured thoughts just now. "I've
failed her. She's gone and I don't know what to do."
"She isn't gone, you should hold more hope," Ayeka assured
him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Over these past years I have to come
to embrace you as a brother and I have also come to consider Ryoko like a sister. This
pains us all but you have to hold your head high and fight on for her sake."
He just stood there in silence as if he was absorbing her words. He
tried to draw strength and confidence from her heartening words but it felt so hard to
feel anything but grief and regret. He couldn't shift his thoughts from Ryoko.
"Ayeka," he finally said, "could you watch over Ryoko for
me? Just to make sure that she's safe."
"Of course," Ayeka replied warmly. She turned from him slowly,
like a concerned parent hesitant to leave their child unattended, and walked swiftly away
heading off to find Ryoko and Washu.
"Tenchi," another voice called to him, this one far more gruff
and severe.
Tenchi turned half-heartedly to face the Emperor as he stormed a path
towards the broken prince.
"You have a lot of explaining to do," he yelled, "What
the hell were you thinking, gambling our entire future on your barely average swordsman
skills."
"I don't know," Tenchi replied, his voice drained and weak, a
reflection of his battered soul.
"You don't know?" Azusa roared, almost unable to believe the
answer he had been given, "You are fighting for control of Tsunami and you don't even
know what you are doing?"
"No, I don't," Tenchi replied, lowering his head in his own
pathetic shame. He had been exposed for what he truly was, a fool.
"Send a message to the troops," the Emperor bellowed at his
messenger, "Every regiment in the Jurai fleet. Every single last one of them. Tell
them to . . ."
"No!" Funaho objected, "You can't. You have to at least
give Tenchi a chance to . . . ."
But she was silenced by the raised hand of the Emperor. She wasn't
silenced out of fear of him but rather out of curiosity. She knew Azusa better than
anyone, save perhaps Misaki, and was well aware of his behaviour patterns. He would often
need reminded and coaxed into making the right choice but he would always listen and
relent to it in the end. Unless of course he had already chosen the right path and was
just not showing it yet.
"Tell them to take post around the Tsunami unit. Tell them to guard
it with their lives," he finished, turning to Tenchi with a warm, supportive smile,
"Just in case."
"I don't understand," Tenchi admitted, completely bewildered
at fierce Emperor's sudden change of heart.
"You go ask your grandfather why there is still a bitterness
between us," Asuza replied, "Its not because he left me, it is because he left
me to console Ayeka every night as she cried herself to sleep and all because he ran away
from his problems. And here you are, faced with infinitely greater problems and yet you
are prepared to face them alone, you show the courage to stand up for your love. Despite
the fearsome image I portray that is something that I have a deep respect for."
There was a touching silence as the Emperor's heart felt words echoed
around the empty cathedral and through everyone's mind. Well almost everyone's.
"Now?" she asked in a hopeful almost childish voice,
desperately seeking permission to do what she had been restraining herself from doing for
so long.
"Yes now," Funaho finally relented as she saw her husband
walking away from Tenchi. She could only watch as an eager Misaki sprinted towards Tenchi
with open arms ready to happily crush his troubles away.
Part Five - Explanations
"How could this happen?" Ayeka asked as she sat beside Washu
in the deep reaches of the lab, "I thought we would be safe from this sort of thing
now."
"So did I," Washu replied with a deep grief toning her voice,
"I had hoped that bastard was dead and gone forever but I was never completely sure.
I guess now I know."
"What do you mean," Ayeka asked in shock, her previous
understanding of things being completely shattered, "I thought that he had to be
dead, Tenchi cut him in half. And wasn't that what you said, in order for us to return to
the other side of the Souja he had to die."
"Yes, that's exactly what I said," Washu admitted, "For
him to still be alive would require manipulations far beyond our understanding. It would
require control of elements of time and space that not even I have mapped yet. In short it
would take . . ."
". . .the power of a goddess," Ayeka finished as memories of
the Souja flooded back into her mind.
"It won't be long now" Kagato had yelled in triumph as
Tsunami slowly lowered down into his grasp, "You're power joined with mine will be
unbeatable in the universe."
But had it? Had he ever tasted that divine power? When he said it
wouldn't be long, how long had he meant? Long enough for Tenchi to beat him?
Obviously not.
"Yes," Washu replied, "but despite having all of that
power he still couldn't handle Tenchi. He had planned it all out to perfection, it was all
one intricate plan and when Tenchi summoned the light hawk wings it completely threw him
off. It was a complete wild card, but with perfectionists a wild card is a trump card. So
being the cunning, scheming bastard that he is he lost the battle so that one day he could
return and win the war."
"But that's absurd," Ayeka told her, "if he had the power
of Tsunami he would have no reason to run. His power would be far beyond that of
Tenchi's."
"His power would be," Washu replied, "But his control
wouldn't. Power of that magnitude is not something that can be easily harnessed. For
example, would you believe me if I told you that Ryoko is almost as powerful as Tsunami
herself."
"Never," Ayeka replied, completely unable to believe the
ludicrousness of what she was hearing, "I know that Ryoko is incredibly powerful put
her power is still minute in comparison to Tsunami's."
"Yes it is, but she could elevate herself to that level. With all
three gems she has that potential," Washu explained, "And yet she can't, she is
unable to control it properly even after years upon years of practice. What did Kagato
have? Minutes? Seconds? It's a miracle that he managed the small amount that he did. So
you see, it is not half as absurd as you first thought."
"I see," Ayeka replied in a hushed, wondering voice as she
considered these shocking new revelations. Impossible as it all seemed, if she bent her
opinions and beliefs about Tsunami enough to keep an open mind then it did make sense.
"And what of Ryoko?" she finally asked Washu, who all
throughout their conversation had not once taken her attention away from her work on
Ryoko. Even now her gaze didn't shift to meet Ayeka's as it stayed focused on the
statistics displayed on her computer.
"I still can't fix her," Washu replied regretfully, "I
knew I wouldn't. He is too measured and precise to overlook such a thing. He wouldn't wait
five years to rush in with a plan that could be easily reserved."
"Then what chance does that give us?" Ayeka asked her in
concern.
"Not a very good one."
Part Six - Preparations
"Lord Tenchi," a voice called to him from a distance. He
stopped and waited as a man ran up to him, carefully cradling something in his hands.
Tenchi recognised the man's attire as being that of a messenger. What would a messenger
want with him?
"Lord Tenchi, I was asked to deliver this to you from the church of
Jurai," the messenger explained as he presented a golden goblet to the young prince.
It was brimming with a dark, red liquid that swished and swirled violently, some of it
already splashed on the messenger's clothes.
"It is the blessing of Claudius," the messenger continued
while handing over the chalice, "It is a traditional Jurain custom to drink it before
going into battle. It is believed to bring luck and good fortune to warriors."
Tenchi cursed the fact that he was the prince of a planet and still had
to have its customs regularly explained to him. Taking the goblet in his hands he accepted
the church's gesture and drank.
"The whole of Jurai is behind you sir," the messenger informed
him, "They're a bit worried and nervous but they all wish you the greatest success.
You're a hero!"
"I don't feel like a hero," Tenchi replied solemnly as he
handed back the goblet and let his thoughts fall back to Ryoko, his fallen bride that he
was powerless to help.
Washu was also powerless to help her but she continued to try anyway,
desperately trying to forge a way forward out of nothing. It was futile though, her
thoughts weren't even on the task at hand. They were on tomorrow and the epic battle that
would decide the fate of Jurai and so much more.
She knew Kagato better than anyone. He was smart, he had waited until
now to strike, he had waited until his enemy had a weakness and he had struck through it.
That weakness had been Ryoko but knowing Kagato, Washu was sure that this was only the
beginning of his greater plans.
He would never actually fight for something that he desperately wanted,
he would simply take it. He would lead Tenchi into an inescapable trap and then he would
hit the poor boy with everything he had. He had done it before and without the unexpected
occurrence of the light hawk wings he would have succeeded. And now he was doing it again
only this time he had full knowledge of the light hawk wings, so that could be ruled out
of their hopes for salvation.
Was there any wildcards left?
This had all been one perfectly played game of chess for him and now she
feared that his time had finally come.
Checkmate.
End of Chapter Two
Note - As you can see I'm not using chapters in the traditional sense as
there are divisions within the chapters. Think of the chapters more as editions, not so
much to break up the story but more to space it out.
