CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kamadake watched in horror, his blood frozen, as Tokima shouted her success to the skies. He felt as though a piece of himself had just died, and he could do nothing more than stare in shock at Sasami's crumpled body.
Ignorant of his agony, Tokima continued her dance of fury. The dark goddess sent literally dozens of black fireballs at Sasami's form, ensuring that the girl had, in fact, died. As the bolts flew from her fingertips, they struck the ground around Sasami, throwing up a cloud of dust and debris. Kamadake ducked to the ground as thousands of pebbles hit his skin, thrown their way by the sheer intensity of the blast. Beside him, Washu also ducked.
When they were finally able to sit up again, they noticed that Tokima was now examining the shields closely. She poked the shields with a fingertip, hastily withdrawing it as they stung her skin. Grunting in annoyance, Tokima turned away. She paced the confines of her prison, looking for either a way out or the sister who had trapped her there. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she sang. "The battle is over, Washu. Release the shields and I might spare you."
Kamadake ducked down, pulling Washu to the ground with him. He wouldn't let his grief keep him from protecting Sasami's final sister. With Sasami gone, the pink-haired genius might be their only hope of defeating Tokima. He glanced at Washu's face, fully expecting to find the same grief in her eyes that he knew must be showing in his. He inhaled sharply when he saw the dark humor in her emerald eyes. "She's not dead, you know," Washu whispered confidentially. "She's only faking it, so she can regain some of her strength."
His heart simply stopped beating while he processed the genius' words. Sasami couldn't possibly have survived such a fall and such a beating, could she? Still, Washu would be the first to know if her sister lived. Slowly, hope crept back into his soul, and the sheer joy on his normally impassive face made Washu giggle like a schoolgirl.
Her laughter, though muted, immediately brought Tokima. The goddess was before them before they had time to react, though she was still blocked by the shields. "I know you're there, Washu, you and that redhead that Tsunami is so attached to. Show yourselves!"
Kamadake and Washu crept away, hiding themselves behind yet another shrub. Tokima didn't follow them. Possibly, she hadn't heard their departure. "Tell me something," Kamadake whispered as they crouched behind a particularly large bush. "How is that you know that Sasami lives, when Tokima obviously does not? Aren't you all linked to each other?"
Washu shook her head slightly. "Tokima hasn't been around Tsunami in millennia, and they're not as attuned to each other as they used to be. In the old days, when we were still learning about our various abilities, we could tell what one of the others was doing at all times. Even if we were light years apart, we always knew where the other two were. Now, though, Tokima can't sense anything. That kind of sensing takes an extreme amount of concentration and skill, and Tokima is too insane to manage it. The most she can do is sense that we're somewhere near, but she'll never be able to pinpoint our exact location." She grunted. "I don't know why Tokima can't sense Tsunami, especially since Tsunami is only a few feet away and Tokima knows exactly where she is. I'm assuming that Tsunami has found some way to block her energy levels from Tokima's mind." She shrugged at her own lack of knowledge. "Or maybe Tsunami's power is being masked by all those bolts of Tokima's. With so much of her own power floating around, Tokima might not be able to sense Tsunami's life force at all."
Kamadake nodded, pretending that he understood, and turned back to watch Tokima.
Tokima prowled along the edge of the barrier like a wild animal. She may have defeated Tsunami, but her minions could not last long without her. Tokima didn't care if they lived or died, but she wanted to use them to destroy Jurai first. Only then, when Tsunami's dearest friends had died violently, would her triumph be complete. But to destroy the planet, she had to break free from this labyrinth.
Suddenly, Tokima stopped in her tracks. She spun, eyes round with shock and fear, as the smoke from her earlier blasts finally started to clear. Tokima watched in horror as the clouds of dust parted to reveal Tsunami's slender form. The girl stood straight, her hands folded calmly in the sleeves of her robes. Her jewel-like eyes were serious and determined. She could have been at a formal gathering, if it weren't for the blood smearing one of her sleeves, dripping to the ground to pool around her feet. Several other deep gashes marred her perfect face, and her hair was in total disarray. Her clothes were torn and soaked in blood, but Tsunami did not show any sign of the physical pain she must have been feeling.
"You!" shrieked Tokima, pointing a finger at her youngest sister. "How could you live after that?!"
Tsunami shook her head as she watched her sister's body shaking. "Enough talk, Tokima." She lifted a slender, heavily scratched hand, and the earth began to tremble. It rose up, breaking into great slabs of dirt under Tokima's feet.
Tokima struggled to maintain her balance as she glared fiercely at her sister. "Two can play at this game, Tsunami!" she roared, and lava erupted from between the cracks.
Acting like a living creature, the lava splashed towards Tsunami's feet. The woman looked dispassionately down at it. She glanced over to the water fountain in the center, which had miraculously stood through the upheavals. The fish at the top of the fountain suddenly expanded until it was several times the size of a mortal man. The water sprouting from its parted lips also became greater, forming a waterfall. The water leapt from the fountain, arcing through the sky until it came to the lava. The two mixed, resulting in a cloud of steam hot enough to burn the bits of leaves still on the ground from Tokima's earlier attack.
While the steam still blocked her from Tsunami's view, Tokima gestured again. Before the fight, climbing roses had grown in abundance around the fountain. When the fish grew under Tsunami's magic, these roses had been torn to shreds. With Tokima's help, the thorns from these plants became the size of swords. Their tips were covered in rose venom, which was now strong enough to seriously poison even Tsunami. They flew through the steam, heading for Tsunami's defenseless body. Tokima watched eagerly, waiting for Tsunami's inevitable scream.
The scream never came. Tokima peered into the cloud, trying to see if Tsunami had merely crumpled without a sound. With any luck, the rose- swords had pierced her heart and killed her instantly. Of course, Tokima suddenly mused, a quick death would deprive Tsunami of the torture Tokima had planned for her.
Just when Tokima was about to enter the steam cloud herself to see what had happened, the enlarged thorns came back at her, aimed for her throat and heart. Tokima sent up a wall of pure energy, and the thorns shattered on impact. Tokima stepped over the shards, waiting for Tsunami to make yet another appearance. When the girl finally did come out, Tokima sent the shards back towards her. As with Tokima, the shards hit another wall of energy. Now, there was not enough left of them to fight with. Tokima turned to find another weapon.
Having exhausted the readily available elements, Tokima sent a ring of fire, generated from her own power, at her sister. It circled the ground around Tsunami's feet, hot enough to kill even from a distance. As Tsunami flinched away, Tokima merely made the fire even hotter. The flames leapt high into the air, becoming taller than Tsunami by several feet. Tsunami threw an arm over her eyes, jerking her other hand wildly. Streams of ice flew from her outstretched fingertips, freezing the flames. The elements competed with each other for dominance, and eventually shattered into a million pieces.
"Enough, Tokima. I tire of this." Tsunami's face was still maddeningly calm. She started to gesture with her hand once more, but stopped when the ring she wore glinted in the morning light. Tokima peered at the ring, wondering what trick Tsunami had up her sleeve this time. As far as the dark goddess could tell, the ring was just a bit of bleached wood or possibly bone. There wasn't anything remarkable about it, unless one looked closely at the runes carved into its sides. As Tsunami regarded the ring with a half-smile, the runes began to glow brightly. Tsunami lifted her hand high in the air, and the runes became even more like tiny stars as they gathered energy from the sunlight itself.
"I'd forgotten this," Tsunami murmured quietly. She glanced up at her blonde sister. "Do you know what this is?" she asked kindly. Tokima didn't, but she wouldn't give her sister the satisfaction of saying, 'no'. Tsunami smiled sweetly. "This ring was made for me by a very good friend. I don't think even he understands its true nature, but I do." She brought her hand down to rest at her side, though the ring was still just as bright.
"The people of this planet were strong even before I came, and their ancestors possessed great skills in all manner of things. Their people were rich in magic and spells, and their magi were some of the strongest beings in the galaxy. Some of their knowledge has been lost over the centuries, but a few Jurains can still summon their magic during times of hardship. My friend, Mahonori, is one such man. He can carve spells into any surface, spells with power to rival our own." She shook her head slightly. "I don't know what wizard he is descended from, but he is strong, as this ring is strong."
She pulled the ring off, letting it lay in her palm. Tsunami waved a hand over the ring, chanting spells of her own. Tokima could see the blue-green magic coming from Tsunami's fingers, embedding itself in the runes. Now, the entire ring, not just the symbols, was glowing. Tsunami closed her eyes, letting the spell take its final shape.
Using Tsunami's magic, the ring stretched and spread, losing its old shape. The circle broke, becoming a long whip of power. It strained against Tsunami's grip, struggling to get free. Finally, Tsunami released it, and it lashed out for Tokima. It locked onto Tokima's body, wrapping around her ankles, wrists, and throat. Tokima struggled against it, feeling as though it were sapping her very essence into its glowing coils.
Tsunami watched expressionlessly at the coils stole Tokima's power. The runes became even brighter with every particle of magic that they absorbed. Tokima continued to struggle, though even she knew how futile her movements were. Augmented with Tsunami's magic, this ring was far too powerful for Tokima to fight.
As her last bit of magic disappeared, the coils pulled away from Tokima's body. She collapsed where she was, lacking even the strength with which to stand. The coils that had defeated her circled around her body for a moment, and then darted into the sky above her head. It began to spin, eventually forming the same circle that it had been in earlier. As the coils came together once more, it slowly floated down to Tsunami. As it descended, the ring resumed its previous size, landing with a gentle thud in Tsunami's outstretched hand. The runes along the side continued to glow for a moment, and then abruptly faded away. The ring was once more just a bit of worn bone.
Sasami gazed at the ring for a moment, still unsure of its abilities. She could sense the power within it, and she realized that she'd just picked up another duty. She must keep the ring from the wrong hands. Even now, she felt desire for its power echoing from the far reaches of the galaxy. Soon enough, she would have to deal with these new enemies. But for now, her sister was her only concern.
Sasami walked slowly over to the spot where her sister still lay, crumpled on the ground. Tokima was panting heavily, and Sasami could tell immediately that something was drastically different. Sasami lifted a hand, waving Washu and Kamadake over. The shields around them dropped, and two of the most important people in her life rushed across the labyrinth to stand by her side.
Sasami knelt and carefully lifted Tokima's head. She gasped, seeing for the first time just how different her sister now was. Tokima's hair was still a burnished gold, and she still wore that garishly awful makeup that she was so fond of. Now, though, her face was no longer that of a fully- grown woman. Instead, she resembled a child barely approaching adolescence. Her features were still strong, but her face no longer possessed the driving hatred that had been there for so long. She slept peacefully, face and body calmed. Sasami gestured to Kamadake, who lifted Tokima into his arms. Together, they carried the child back to the palace.