Liliana Renthis turned from where she was neatly making up the bed and curtseyed as her Lady Mistress entered the room. "Empress," she murmured. "I'm sorry. I did not realize you would return so soon."
"What?- oh. Lily." The Empress's deep amethyst eyes snapped, and her lips were tightly clamped, a sign that someone had just received the reaming out of their life. "Sometimes I think the Guards choose their members from the stupidest individuals available." She sighed and sat down at her boudoir. Liliana hurried over to take to take the tiara Ayeka removed. As she assisted her Lady in removing the elaborate props of office, she reminisced slightly over the past two years.
When first crowned Empress, Ayeka had been so full of herself. She had insisted on wearing the regal and elegant (and cumbersome) robes and jewels that were the royal signs of her power at all times, as if she were afraid someone would try to take them away and claim her titles. When things didn't go her way or people didn't bend immediately to her will, Liliana had been witness to some truly frightening temper tantrums. Time, however, had mellowed these traits while at the same time developing her wisdom and patience. Now, she was beyond doubt an Empress of the highest caliber. Lady Ayeka was born for political machinations and the responsibilities of rule, and Liliana could think of none more suited for the role she bore. And her Emperor-Consort . . .
*I don't know why I thought he was not good enough for my Lady. He is a good man. I should never have listened to that horrible man.* But she had. Wrapped up in loyalty to the Empress and the rest of her royal family, Liliana had allowed herself to be swayed into thinking Tenchi Masaki was a rude, uncouth ignoramus out for her Lady's power and riches. Time had corrected that faulty impression, but by then it was too late . . .
*I put the potion into my Lady's afternoon tea. It seems so dangerous to mess with her food, though, after Orange was caught. But if I don't do as I'm instructed, Black will do something horrible to me, I know. Or even worse, he'll do something to my family. And if I tell anyone . . .*
* * *
Bodies writhed, some dead, some not, all consumed slowly, so damned slowly, by the flames that raged throughout Jurai. Screams of pain and anguish echoed through the blood and dust-filled courtyards. Never before had such an enemy brought such terrible destruction down upon the most powerful empire in the known universe. Never before had the power of Tsunami failed to protect her chosen people from all harm.
Above it all floated the monster who had single-handedly wreaked this devastation, a cruel smile upon her hard, beautiful face. Golden eyes glowed with an unworldly energy, a ball of energy of the same golden color hung in midair at her elbow. Below, a figure crawling from the wreckage caught her eye. A young woman, in her mid-twenties, perhaps. Blood ran down her face from a gash above her right eyebrow, her midnight black hair was a tangled mess, such a difference from the stylish do it must have been so carefully arranged in. She sobbed, gasping for breath, unable almost to believe the fact that she was still alive.
But not for long. The monster's mouth curled upward, fangs glistening. With a careless thought, the ball of energy at her elbow sped down towards the nameless woman. Something alerted her to her plight, and she looked upward in time to see her approaching death. Sea green eyes widened in denial and incomprehension. Her mouth had time to form a word –"why?"- before she and the ground around her exploded.
And above it all, the monster laughed.
* * *
"No!!!" Ryoko burst upright, sweat dripping from her skin as she shuddered at the memory of her nightmare.
"A dream? Just a dream . . . It was only a dream . . ." But she couldn't control the sobs that ripped from her chest, the tears that slid from her golden eyes.
The door of her room flew open. "Ryoko?!" Washu stood in the doorway, a soft robe wrapped around her. She took one look at her daughter and moved quickly to the bed, transforming as she went to her adult form. She didn't say another word, but sank down and folded her arms around the weeping cyan-maned woman.
"How . . .?"
"How what, little girl?" Washu drew away to push hair from Ryoko's tear-stained cheeks.
"You must have seen it. The dream. I did that, and I laughed. How can you bear to touch me? I'm a monster!"
Washu shook her head. "Never, daughter-mine. A living terror to your mother, yes. A touch obnoxious, very impatient, a bit lazy, and too possessive, yes, but never a monster."
Caught up in her own self-remonstrations, Ryoko wouldn't be nay-sayed. "But I've killed so many! All of that death and destruction was-"
"-Kagato's doing, remember?" An odd look crossed the scientist's face. "You know, I've always wondered why Tsunami did absolutely nothing during that attack. Never did make sense to me."
"Sasami-"
"Little girl, Tsunami's a goddess, and one of the most powerful in the universe to boot. I think she would be capable of multi-tasking if she really wanted. Well, that's a question for another day, I suppose." She glanced at the time unit on the bedside table. "It's too late to go back to sleep. What would you say to ice cream? I've got a craving."
Ryoko gulped back to the last of her sobs and wiped her cheeks. "Sounds good to me."
* * *
One hour later, Washu left her daughter happily polishing off another helping of Ben & Jerry's (AN: come on, readers, you know they're good enough to be famous throughout the galaxy) to return to her lab. She sat down in front of her hyper dimensional screen to study the scene replaying over and over on it.
Ryoko's nightmare had interrupted the study of her own reoccurring dream, which she had returned to contemplating when frustrated with the lack of direction regarding Tenchi's adversaries. The Subconscious Extractor had faithfully saved her fading memories of the dream, and she had taken to sleeping with the electrodes attached to her skull in case the dream returned. As a result, she now finally had a full playback of the entire dream, and plenty of time to watch. Unfortunately, the unit did not record sound, and she could not quite read the figures' lips. But that would surely come in time . . .
She watched her self, arrayed in unfamiliar robes, standing alone and studying a miniaturized universe that floated before her. She seemed to be lost in thought.
Tsunami appeared beside her and spoke, reaching out tenderly to touch the redhead's cheek. They spoke for a moment, and then another woman, strangely familiar, appeared on the other side of Washu. This was the woman that Washu could remember reaching out for her, cruelty in her eyes. The three exchanged words for a few moments, seeming to argue.
Washu ended the conversation by shaking her head and holding up both hands. Three green gems detached themselves from the triangle they had held on Washu's forehead and floated above her hands, beginning slowly to glow, and becoming three familiar red ones. Everything went dark.
When the image reappeared, Washu stood, still in adult form and wearing the strange garments, in the dear old Science Academy Laboratory. Everything looked brand new, and little used. She shook herself and began to look around. Suddenly, the third woman appeared and reached for her, hatred warring with regret in her deep eyes. She grabbed Washu up, and Washu began to scream. The screen went black, signaling the end of the dream.
Washu stared at the blank screen, unable to comprehend what she had just seen. Was this something that had actually happened to her? The dream struck too deep a chord within Washu's heart to be a simple fabrication of her mind. What had she been, before her stint at the Academy? And who was that third woman?
* * *
Lord Keyzu crossed the steps of the Central Palace, having finished reassigning the latest changes in guard duty for that week. As was to be expected, security was at a high due to the recent attempt on the Emperor Consort's life, and that security was largely Keyzu's responsibility.
*I was so proud when I was chosen Captain of the Royal Guard. Power, respect, a chance to be near the Empress . . .*
There, of course, was the problem. It wasn't possible to devote one's full and complete attention to one's duty when all one could think about was a certain scent, a certain smile, a certain voice.
A certain untouchable Empress.
*There have been times when I've actually desired to strike Lord Tenchi, because I know he doesn't love her the way she deserves. The only things that restrain my anger are the genuine respect and friendship that I bear for him, and the fact that I know she does not love him in return. I realize that they both made a hasty decision, one they now regret. One, unfortunately, that they can't change.*
Keyzu knew that he was one of the very few who knew this secret. To the rest of the court, their Empress and her Consort were madly in love. No one suspected the truth.
But, like it or not, they were stuck together, and he was stuck on the outside of that relationship, compelled by love, friendship and duty to place their safety before his own honor.
And that was the other thing that often confused him. Lord Tenchi had been carefully schooled in the required behaviors of court. He understood all that was asked of him, and usually managed to live up to the expectations, despite having spent the majority of his life on an uncultured backwater planet.
*But sometimes he says things and does things that make me so uncomfortable. He questions practices and beliefs held sacred to my people. Does he not understand this? Yes, he is Emperor Consort, and yes, he holds unimaginable power as Tsunami's chosen avatar, but these actions will only gain him more enemies.*
However, such musings were not getting the Juraian space systems checked and rechecked, and the Captain of the Guard had duties to attend to. Keyzu put aside his thoughts for another, freer, moment.
* * *