"Tenchi Muyo!" and all characters herein are the property of Pioneer and AIC, save those created by the author. This is a fanfic and is not for profit.
Tenchi Muyo!
Odyssey
Chapter Twenty-eight
The Trilogy of Light: Twilight by William Nichols
For the second time in as many days Funaho found her self en route to the Ministry of Intelligence. The last time she had been there the minister had predicted that end of the universe, which if it was still on schedule, was only a day or so away from the Jurai sector. To her extreme dismay the media had picked up on the wave that was sweeping across the galaxy and broadcast the knowledge to the majority of the space faring civilizations. That tends to happen when contact is lost with whole systems. Immediately the Tyran's began to blame the Jurai and similar accusations were made from the Juraian side along with every other sector that held a grudge against someone. If you believed one report the oncoming wave was the result of lost souls of the Tyresian Space Angles coming back to take vengeance on those who had hunted them to extinction. Overall mass panic had yet to set in, but as more and more systems became engulfed in the wave, the more the people began to fear. All Funaho hoped was that the Minister had some good news for her. She needed it.
The look in the guard's eyes outside the ministry expressed what Funaho was feeling inside. His face was the stoic mask that he had been trained to wear, but his eyes spoke volumes. Deep inside his violet orbs Funaho could see the storm of fear that was blowing inside in her soul. The guard flinched as Funaho laid her hand on his shoulder, but soon he saw that his queen had the same fears he did. Bolstered he managed a slight smile and snapped a crisp salute to his sovereign as she passed through the ministries doors. Sometimes the smallest act of compassion can mean so much.
"How dire is the situation?" Funaho asked as the minister shuffled a stack of papers on his desk. In the two days since her last visit Funaho could have sworn that the white haired man had become even more fidgety.
"M-m-m-milady," he stuttered. "We have detected another anomaly."
"Another anomaly?" Funaho parroted. Oh great! If one apocalypse isn't bad enough…
"Y-y-y-yes ma'am," he continued. "At 19:34 yesterday we detected a massive spectral discharge somewhere within the galactic core."
"And what are the repercussions of this? Has it affected the original wave?"
"Not d-d-directly. Near as we can tell it has formed a wave of light."
All of the color drained from Funaho's face. "A wave of light?"
"Near as we can tell."
Funaho chewed her bottom lip again. This was an unexpected turn of events. One wave racing across the galaxy was bad enough, and now this? "What will happen?" Funaho asked.
"At current speeds they will meet in the Sol sector," the minister said as he flipped the page on his clipboard. "In a little under one day, standard time." If Funaho could have become any paler, she did so at that moment. Her son, daughters, great-grandson, and their extended family were once again the focal point of matters beyond her control. "Milady?" came the minister's concerned voice as Funaho staggered back. As the minister asked again her knees gave way and she collapsed into a desk chair. The world was swirling around her and her vision was fading between blurs and darkness. The last coherent thing Funaho heard was the Minister screaming for a medic…
*****
"Tenchi!" Ayeka screamed as the shaft of light expanded out from the obelisk and engulfed him. At that moment Tenchi felt as if every molecule in his body had been stretched and pulled off at the speed of light. The experience was overwhelming. Tenchi's consciousness ascended to the next level as the entire universe was laid before him, proffering a glimpse at a thousand destinies, all of whom lay at his fingertips. Distant galaxies spiraling through the ether were brought near, and then passed him by in vibrant streaks. Every dimension and plain of existence passed before him, even the limbo the held Ryoko's spirit. He was certain that she could see him. In the fraction of a second he was there, Tenchi saw the glimpse of hope in her eyes. Hope that rested on him. Hope that his actions could free her and give her the chance to love him. Hope. Hope that he could stop the unspeakable evil that threatened all of existence. Hope.
Then it was over.
Nausea gripped Tenchi as he returned to what passed for reality in the sanctuary of light. The floor was solid enough, as the pain in his knees attested to, but everything was blank. Featureless. White. As his mind cleared Tenchi realized that the chamber he was in had no distinguishable features. There was light, but no source. There was a floor, or what felt like a floor, but no distinguishable walls or ceiling. Everything was a field of blank, featureless, nothingness.
Acting on gut instinct Tenchi called out into the void. "Is anyone here? Ayeka? Marnot? Anyone?" All that greeted him was his own echoes. That was bright, he scolded himself. Deciding that this course of action was not going to get him anywhere, Tenchi stepped out into the chamber. His eyes searched for any sign of, well, of anything. His footfalls echoed behind him as he searched, which was the only sign that anything was real in this sanctuary.
This is too weird, he thought to himself. The first sanctuary was water oriented, the next stone, the wind one kept changing, and the fire one was just that. So why is there nothing here? Is this right place? Tenchi was beginning to question himself when the first sign of change appeared in the sanctuary.
As abruptly as he was cast into the light, the sanctuary went dark. Behind him could see the light, but the divide was clean cut, like someone had painted half of the floor black. "What now?" he asked the darkness as he fumbled for a palm light in his knapsack. "Figures," he grumbled after finding none. Once again Tenchi held he hilt of the master key aloft and ignited a miniscule blade. It's blue glow shed enough light for him to see where he was going, but not much else. This part of the sanctuary appeared to be the same as the previous, just darker.
Swinging the sword hilt from side-to-side Tenchi desperately tried to find any source of light, or clue as to where the chapel might be. There was precious little time to waste bumbling around a featureless sanctuary, and Tenchi was beginning to become annoyed. "Is there anyone here?" he called out, hoping for any kind of response.
He got one.
"Who enters my sanctuary?" a disembodied voice asked. "What is your business here?" Startled by the phantom voice, Tenchi tried to step back but found that he could not. Some unseen force was keeping him riveted in place. "I shall ask again: who has entered my sanctuary?"
"I am Tenchi Masaki," Tenchi announced to the darkness. "And my business is that I seek the light stone."
"You have been sent by the Elder?" the voice asked, with what sounded like an unpleasant emphasis on the word 'Elder'.
"That I have," Tenchi answered.
"Why do you want the stone of light? Is it for personal gain or as part of a quest?" Tenchi chewed his bottom lip for a second. That last question was both true and false. He was after the stone as part of the Odyssey, but it would also allow him to get Ryoko back. "Answer me boy!" the voice boomed, becoming angry.
"I seek it for both!" Tenchi announced. His feet were still cemented in place keeping him at the unseen questioners mercy.
"But are they not one in the same?" the voice said calmly.
"What do you mean?" Tenchi asked somewhat confused.
"You seek the stone to complete the Odyssey and to restore your sacrifice, so they are one in the same. You young man hold the destiny of our universe in your hands."
"So I've been told," Tenchi mumbled. "Look," he began trying to keep his temper in check, "what must I do to reach the chapel?"
After a pause of what felt like minutes the voice answered. "You must become the light." With that the voice ceased and Tenchi's feet were released from their invisible prisons, and he stumbled forward.
"How do I do that?" Tenchi asked the void as he regained his footing.
"To become the light…drive back the darkness…" Tenchi stood in stark silence for a moment contemplating the words bequeathed to him. Of all of the riddles of the sanctuaries this had to be the most perplexing. He walked through the complete darkness as he thought about this quandary. He had to become the light. By becoming the light he would drive back the darkness. What was the darkness though? Was it literally the darkness in this sanctuary, the darkness that Marnot had said was approaching the universe, or was it the darkness within his own soul?
Then the answer dawned on him. It was all three. He had to drive the darkness out of the sanctuary to find the chapel. By doing so he would find the spirit stone, which would allow him to drive back the darkness facing the universe. But first he had to drive the darkness from his own soul. But what exactly was the darkness in his soul? He had never done anything truly terrible in his young life, save the standard teenage mischief that he and his friends enjoyed before the girls arrived. And after that he didn't really have the time to do much but stay away from them…
"That's it," he mumbled. "All of the animosity I have harbored against them for what I thought was ruining my life." Tenchi scanned the darkness for any sign of the ethereal voice that had spoken to him earlier. "Is that It?" Tenchi yelled into the darkness. "Is that what I must do? Must I atone for feeling that way about the girls?"
The darkness remained silent for a moment before it chose to reply to the young champions inquiry. "That is not the total darkness…"
"Then show me," Tenchi pleaded, clenching his fists in the air. "Show me what you mean!"
"Are you willing to handle the consequences of such knowledge?" the disembodied voice asked calmly.
"I am," Tenchi replied resolutely.
"Then so be it…" Tenchi stood mute as the darkness swirled around him into a series of grays and whites. The area around him spun and contorted until a hazy image replaced the darkened sanctuary. Once the palette had settled down Tenchi recognized where he was. A gentle snow was falling and just begun to blanket the courtyard of his grandfather's shrine. He was home, but it was not home as he remembered it being just a few short weeks ago. No, this is how the Shrine looked years ago. Fifteen years to be precise.
Tenchi swallowed audibly as he took a tentative step towards the shrine yard. "Do you still wish to proceed?" the voice asked again. Tenchi nodded as he turned his vision back to the sepia toned scene playing before him like an old film. He knew what was happening. It was something that haunted him nearly everyday of his life. Choking back his fear, Tenchi stepped up onto the shrine portico. The voices inside rang in out as they had done in his memories so many times before. Tenchi paused at the rice paper door of the shrine office, tears welling in his eyes. Once again the scene played out before him.
"Why can't I see mommy?" a small voice sniffed "Where did she go?"
"Oh gods…" Tenchi muttered as the surge of emotion returned to him.
"Mommy has gone to," his fathers voice cracked as he tried to find the right words. Unfortunately no such words existed. "Mommy has gone to be with Grandmother," Nobuyuki said with a heavy sigh.
"So she'll be back soon? Won't she daddy?"
"No son," Nobuyuki said choking back his emotion. "Mommy won't be coming back."
"Don't she love me anymore?" the little Tenchi sniffed. "Mommy still loves me, don't she Daddy?"
"Yes," Nobuyuki answered. "Mommy loves you very much."
The younger Tenchi sniffed and smeared his runny nose across his upper lip with his tiny hand "Then why ain't, why ain't she comin' back?"
"Mommy will always love you," Nobuyuki said trying to comfort his distraught son. No one should ever have to tell what he was saying to someone as young as his Tenchi. "But Mommy cannot come back."
"Liar!" the little Tenchi exclaimed.
"Tenchi," Nobuyuki begged. "I know this is hard to understand, but Mommy won't be coming back."
"Liar!" little Tenchi accused again. "Mommy loves me. So she's, so she's always goin' to come back."
"No son, she won't be. Mommy has gone to the heavens…" Nobuyuki knelt down and tried to hug his son, but the younger Tenchi pulled away from him.
"I hate you!" little Tenchi yelled, not fully comprehending what was fully happening. "I want my mommy, and you made her go away! I hate you!"
"No son," Nobuyuki said as silent tears streaked his face. "I didn't make her go away."
"Liar!" little Tenchi accused again as he pulled free from his father and ran towards the door. "I hate you!" he proclaimed again as he darted through the phantom image of his older self.
"I will go after him," his grandfather said, doing his best to keep his stoic facade, but how could he. "He is young and does not comprehend his words."
"I know father," Nobuyuki said as he took off his glasses and wiped the lens on a white handkerchief that had his initials embroidered on it. The sight of this gift from his beloved Achika brought his tears back. "Make sure Tenchi is alright," he said quietly as Katsuhito ventured out into the cold.
"Oh my wife!" Nobuyuki wailed. "My beloved Achika and Tenchi…" His words were lost as sobs wracked his body, almost to the point of convulsion.
"This is my darkness…" Tenchi whispered as the scene unfolded. His own face was streaked with glistening tears as the memories of that fateful day were displayed before him again.
"You had been warned," the voice of his unseen tormentor, stated. "This is the root of your darkness. Can you become the light to drive it back?" There were no malice in the words spoken in his mind by the sanctuaries guardian, but they stung just as bitterly. After this incident his grandfather had found him crying near the cave that had held Ryoko. Now Tenchi remembered…Ryoko had tried to comfort him. Another piece of the mosaic fell into place.
Choking back his tears Tenchi's phantom form entered the small room where his father knelt in tears. He had never known how much his words had hurt his father. He was three when this happened, and he barely remembered the incident in its entirety. But now he knew the pain his words had caused, even though he had acted out of childhood emotion. His father had to have felt like he had lost his wife and son that day; his pain compounded by the words of his son. "Father," Tenchi whispered not sure if he could be heard in the world of this memory. Unable to contain his emotion any longer Tenchi fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around his father. How he would have given anything to go back and right this, but all he could do was come to grips with this dark episode from his past.
"Now you understand," his unseen tormentor said softly.
"I do," Tenchi sniffed as the image of his father faded away, to be replace by the white, featureless plain Tenchi had found himself in when he first entered this sanctuary. "I never knew how much my words hurt my father. All I wanted was to have my mother back…" Tenchi voice trailed off as the years of pain he kept inside him found voice. "I never knew…"
"You have the heart of a champion," the voice said as a pinpoint of light coalesced in front of Tenchi. "And you have seen the root of your own darkness. Now purge that darkness."
"How?" Tenchi asked his tears finally abated.
"What is your greatest fear?" the point of light inquired. "What is the one thing that haunts your dreams and darkens your soul?"
Tenchi bit his lip as he looked into the darkest reaches of his inner self. He knew the answer to this question, but it was almost as painful as the memory he had just relieved. "That somehow," he whispered, "that my mothers death was my fault."
"Do you still feel this way?"
"No. I do not."
"Do you still blame your father?"
"No." Tenchi inhaled deeply and reflected inwardly. "I know that my mothers death was not caused by anything me or Dad did."
"You have come to another understanding," the voice said. "The first step to driving back your darkness is to admit that it exists in the first place. Rest assured young champion, your mother is very proud of you."
"How can you say that," Tenchi said, his voice faltering. As much as he wanted to believe it, he could not.
"Because," the light spoke as it began to take a humanoid form. "I am your mother." Tenchi's jaw dropped as the light took the shape of a woman roughly his height. From the swirling mass of colored light the soft visage of his mother materialized. She stood before him just as he remembered her. The maroon eyes, the long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, the lilac kimono with the deep blue obi; everything was just as he remembered from those long years ago.
"Mom?" Tenchi asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking.
"Yes my son," Achika said. "And I am so proud of you."
"Oh Mom," Tenchi sobbed as he fell forward into his mothers arms. All of the years of pent up fear and self-loathing poured forth from his soul.
"It's alright," Achika soothed, patting his back. "You have become a fine young man, and many people love you." Tenchi breathed heavily as he felt his mothers arms wrap around him and hold him tight. "Just let me hold you now."
"How?" Tenchi muttered, not sure if he really wanted an answer or not.
"The Elder chose my spirit," Achika said still cradling her son, something she had not done for fifteen years. "They came to me and told me I was to guard this sanctuary, and help their champion confront his fears. I had no idea that you had been chosen as champion." Achika pulled Tenchi arms from around her so she could cradle his face with her hands. "Never once I have ever blamed you, nor has your father. We are more proud of you than you can ever imagine. And you have many others who love you as well."
"Mom," Tenchi sighed, relishing in the affection he had missed for so long.
"And Tenchi," Achika added looking into his deep chocolate eyes, "I give you my blessing: as both your mother, and as the guardian of the sanctuary of light."
"Thank you," Tenchi said, his tears returning.
"I will have a fine daughter-in-law," Achika said as she cradled her son once again. Tenchi leaned back slightly to see the warm smile irradiating from his mothers face before he leaned back into her embrace.
"I've missed you so much," Tenchi said as Achika began to rock him back and forth. "There have been so many times that I have needed you. So many times I, when I was jealous of everyone else… I still need you…"
"I know my son, and I am sorry I could not be there for you," Achika said as she once more cupped her hands around Tenchi's face. "But always remember that I love you, and I am so proud of you." Achika leaned forward and kissed her sons cheek. "I love you, my Tenchi."
"Mom?" Tenchi asked hesitantly as his mother once again faded from sight, coalescing into the point of light. "Don't' go!" he exclaimed frantically.
"I will always be with you," she said softly. "This is your birthright," Achika said a gem materialized before Tenchi. It was a white stone with the four elemental stones set at the cardinal points. In the center was an amber starburst, symbolizing the light, which holds all things together.
"Mother," Tenchi whispered as he clutched the gem and held it to his chest. "I love you."
"I know," Achika said softly. "Now go back to your family. And tell your father that I still love him as he still does me." Tenchi closed his eyes as the point of light expanded to encompass the entire sanctuary before it drew him back into the warp of trans-dimensional travel. As the young champion sped across the barriers of time and space he had one thought on his mind. His mother loved him and was proud of him.
***
The evening light was dimming on the planet where the monolith stood that served as the sanctuaries gate, or what passed for dimming on a planet so close to the galactic core. Standing amongst the megaliths was three figures, each casting an elongated shadow that wrapped around the ancient gray stones. One was the Elder's first emissary, Ignatius Baltus. The other two shadows were closely melded as the guardian spirit known simply as Marnot held Ayeka Jurai in his arms. His feelings awakened after many centuries of slumber, Marnot now embraced the object of those affections, and stood resolutely in the face of what ever the consequences may be.
"I cannot see how this mortal can be worth that much to you," Baltus said disdainfully. "Nothing can be worth shirking what the Elder have given you."
"I have dealt with you already," Marnot said as he narrowed his golden eyes onto Baltus' ice blue orbs. "But there is a lady present so I shall not repeat myself."
"I hope they take your form," Baltus quipped.
"Why?" Ayeka asked. "Why would you have them deny him happiness?"
"Our duty is to the Elder, and none other," Baltus said as his voice raised a few decibel levels. "Petty trysts are not something that one of Raphael's stature should sink to. They, you, are beneath him."
Ayeka opened her mouth but promptly shut it. Baltus' words had returned unpleasant memories to her. How many times in the past had she told Tenchi that Ryoko was beneath him and not worthy of his time? Too many for her to count at the moment. So this is how Tenchi must have felt all of those times, she realized as she felt Marnot's arms tighten around her.
"Tell me Raphael," Baltus began coldly, "what will you do when she grows old and you remain as youthful as you are today? Will you don a mask like that disgrace of a champion that is her brother, or will you shed silent tears at her grave? Tell me old friend, what will you do?"
Marnot grinned slightly as he imagined Baltus' last breath gurgling from his lips as his fingers squeezed his throat, but that was not the solution. "I will tell you old friend," the guardian began slowly, "to be with her I would gladly renounce my immortality. Sharing a grave next to her would be the ultimate expression of my devotion."
"That is pathetic!" Baltus howled. "But the Champion draws nigh." Baltus glowered in Ayeka and Marnot's direction. "This is not over, Raphael. I will see you returned to your good senses." Marnot started to answer when the first bolt of lightning erupted from the tip of the obelisk and stuck one of the altars. Another bolt, then another and another followed it until all four altars had been struck.
"He returns," Baltus said as a shaft of light erupted from the tip of the obelisk and enveloped the ancient edifice.
"Tenchi?" Ayeka squeaked as a silhouette emerged from the light.
"Yep," the silhouette said as the column of light collapsed back into the obelisk. "It's me." Ayeka smiled as Tenchi came closer. She had been worried about him ever since he had entered the sanctuary, and she was glad to see that the wound inflicted by that hideous reptilian was gone. But something else struck her about Tenchi. He looked no different than he did when he entered the sanctuary over a day ago, but he carried himself different. Then there were his eyes: they looked like a hidden burden had been lifted. "Tenchi?" she asked somewhat hesitantly as the young champion took his place next to her and Marnot.
Marnot slapped Tenchi's back and guffawed. "Well done lad. You have succeeded."
"So it seems," Tenchi said, exuding a new found calmness. Marnot pulled the medallion from his shirtsleeve and handed it back to Tenchi. The original four stones had been returned to their position. "Let's get back to earth," Tenchi said as he placed the final stone in the medallion.
"I am afraid not," Baltus quipped as Tenchi slid the completed medallion back around his neck. "The sacrifice is of no importance. The dark one is at hand."
"I'm not going anywhere but to back to earth," Tenchi stated flatly. "Ryoko will at my side."
"That is where you are mistaken," Baltus stated. "We have no time for such petty concerns. You must be presented to the Elder now!"
Tenchi turned his gaze from Baltus to Marnot. "Marnot," he asked the guardian spirit, "How much time do we have?"
"I'd say roughly five to six hours," Marnot replied, stroking his chin. "More than enough to make a pit stop back on earth."
"Then let's go," Tenchi said.
"I will not allow it!" Baltus shouted. "Your duty is to the Elder, and none other! We shall go to them now!" Baltus finished grabbing Tenchi's arm. That turned out to be one of the worst mistakes the timeless emissary ever made. Tenchi spun on his left heel and connected a solid punch to Baltus' midsection. As the stunned emissary backpedaled Tenchi followed up his first blow with a quick uppercut that floored the reeling emissary.
"Nice shot!" complimented Marnot as Baltus landed spread-eagle on his back. Tenchi shook the pain out of his right hand as Baltus' eyes rolled shut and his head fell to one side. "I'd say he's gonna be out for quite a while."
"Lets us go home now Lord Tenchi," Ayeka said as she wrapped her arms around Marnot's. Somebody is waiting for you."
"I know," Tenchi said as the last vestiges of pain faded from his constantly flexed digits. "Thank you Ayeka," Tenchi added to the princess's surprise.
"Whatever for?" Ayeka asked somewhat puzzled.
"For being my friend," Tenchi answered as Marnot summoned the ring of light that heralded their departure.
"What happened in there?" Ayeka asked.
"I'll tell all of you later," Tenchi said with a warm smile as the ring of light enveloped them and sped them back to the earth, where their family awaited.
It was several hours before Ignatius Baltus returned to world of consciousness. With a moan he slowly sat up and rubbed his aching jaw. This champion was quicker than he gave him credit for, and succeeded where most had failed. Most importantly he had passed the second test of the spirit by defying him. Baltus knew that any champion who would place his personal gain above that of his sacrifice was not worth his salt, and this one had proved him self nicely. "He will be a fine champion," Baltus said, still rubbing his jaw. A true champion always places the well being of other above his own. He began to chuckle but the pain in his jaw stopped him. "A fine champion indeed," He said again as he faded from this plain of existence.
***
The Odyssey shall continue…