Infinite Wills is based upon the OAV universe of "Tenchi Muyo!" All characters and technologies mentioned within are the intellectual property of AIC and Pioneer, profitable infringement is not intended. Original characters and ideas are the intellectual property of Garasu any unauthorized use is just bad manners.
Infinite Wills
Part 5: Sacrifices
Part A
Author: Garasu
The sprightly singing of the birds filled the air, competing directly with the sounds of a broom running across a hardwood floor. Everywhere one looked, the signs of spring were deepening. The trees were at their best looking during this time, and the flowers that were carefully planted along the edge of a small shrine proper were in full bloom. It was a time that was most enjoyed by the young man sweeping the dust and debris from the stone pathways and the wooden porches that surrounded the Masaki Shrine building as well as the office that was adjacent to the huge, ancient building. The air was so fresh that the young man found himself guiltily taking breaks to simply smell the cleanliness of the mountain air and smile broadly at the feeling.
Simply put, it was a perfect day to be outdoors, and the man had been glad to take the opportunity to do so. Since there were so few people down at the house that rested at the base of the steps to the shrine, he had even allowed himself his normal appearance, sparing him the stress of maintaining the visage of an old and wise shrine keeper. Nobody would be visiting him for some time, and for that, he was grateful for once.
A small frown appeared across Katsuhito Masaki's face, wiping the previous smile out of existence. It had become increasingly hard to maintain his image of Grandfather Masaki, and he had become more and more worried about the effects that were beginning to show with only the slightest amount of effort. It was as if he was strangely losing energy over time, though the Juraian Prince could not think of a reason why it would become so difficult for him to control his image. So many others from his home world had done the same thing he was doing and held the image for countless years at a time. Though of course, Katsuhito admitted, they were also supplemented by the powers of their spaceship tree, some with trees as low as fourth or fifth generation.
When a thought process touched Katsuhito's mind suddenly, the ghost of his former smile returned to grace his now less wizened face. He should have known that she would have been listening in. Carefully, Katsuhito formed an image of his tree, Funaho, in his mind, paying close attention to the details of his former space-ship tree with loving grace. It was the best way the man knew how to show his love and appreciation towards the once mighty first generation tree. Over the past few months, his tree had been increasingly distraught over the changes that were taking place within him, and alarmed at her inability to help. Sadly, there wasn't much he could do to reassure his bonded that he was fine with what had happened, and understood what it meant.
A quiet sigh was whispered to the wind as the priest once again returned to the task of sweeping the porches. He was certainly proud of his grandson for making a decision and going to help Ayeka, but he certainly did miss having the boy around for the menial chores that always needed to be done. It had been a long time since he had had to sweep the area. Another thought process touched his mind suddenly, and Katsuhito's smile tightened. Nobuyuki was home for the weekend again and as much as he enjoyed the company of his son-in-law, the man would more than likely be visiting him in the office for some time. Which of course meant more energy being released to make his disguise than he previously thought he would have to do.
As calmly as he could, Katsuhito put up the broom and made his way back to the shrine office. There he would wait for the inevitable visit from Nobuyuki and the questions the man would have in regards to Tenchi. As the Juraian closed the sliding doors behind him, he only hoped that he would have enough energy to last the visit.
"Hello? Anybody home?" Nobuyuki called out over the relative quiet of his home. It had been a rather strange week for him, which seemed to culminate in the fact that no one was now answering his call. While Tenchi's father had known that Princesses Ayeka and Sasami had left to go back to Jurai, along with that pretty police officer that showed up recently, he figured that any of the others should be still around.
Nobuyuki carefully set down the package he had been carrying on the kitchen table before walking back out of the room to look for his son. It was highly unusual for Tenchi to leave without leaving at least some kind of note first, especially if he was leaving during one of the weekends Nobuyuki came back from the city. However, this time, opening Tenchi's bedroom door provided no clues to the boy's whereabouts.
"Hello? Tenchi?" Nobuyuki called again, hoping that maybe Tenchi just didn't hear him when he called out from the entranceway. Finally, his call was rewarded with a distant sliding sound of a door and a definite feminine answer.
"Mr. Masaki?" The distant voice came from the right hall where, if Nobuyuki remembered correctly, the shared room of Kiyone and Mihoshi was. "Is that you?"
Moments later, a sleepy Mihoshi appeared from the general direction that Nobuyuki had guessed. The pretty blonde officer was rubbing her eyes tiredly and dragging her feet. It wasn't too hard for the elder Masaki to figure out that she had been taking one of her many daily naps when he had walked home.
"Oh, Miss Mihoshi. Do you know where the others have gone off to?" Nobuyuki asked politely, waiting for the blonde detective to finish a massive yawn. He was rewarded with a rather cute pose from Mihoshi as she stuck her index finger in her mouth and thought about the question that had just been posed to her.
"Umm, I don't think so. But I remember I was supposed to tell you something if you came home…I just can't remember what." Mihoshi turned her light blue eyes towards elder Masaki and gave him a quizzical stare.
"Oh. Okay." Nobuyuki reached back and scratched the back of his head nervously. It wasn't as if he had expected an answer, but still, Mihoshi's memory was something that was definitely a hindrance to her at times. He wondered, not for the first time, just how she had become such a famous detective with such an apparent handicap. "Well, I suppose if he had to go somewhere, he would have told Father in Law right?"
Mihoshi smiled at the elder man's logic and nodded her head. "Yes, of course! I'm sure that Grandfather would know exactly where Tenchi is!" The young woman struck another pose and regarded Nobuyuki once more. "When you do find out, let me know, okay? I'm going back to sleep."
"Sure, Miss Mihoshi." Nobuyuki politely answered before walking down the main stairs. On an afterthought, the man detoured back into the kitchen to get the package he had brought earlier. "Might as well not let this go to waste," he mumbled under his breath and then shut the door behind him, intent on the Masaki family shrine that sat upon one of the many lush green hills delineating the edge of the valley.
"Hmmm, I see." Katsuhito nodded sagely when his son in law explained the situation. "Yes, he was called away to planet Jurai, unfortunately. I believe it was something of utmost importance." The old man deliberately left out certain parts of the story, a story he for certain knew every detail of. It wasn't good to worry Tenchi's father unnecessarily, especially with details as troubling as the entire royal family of Jurai falling unconscious.
"Oh." Nobuyuki didn't really know what else to say in reply to that. His son wouldn't normally just take off like that unless it was something very, very important, which bothered him for some time. A thought occurred to the middle aged man at that instant, however, that set his blood boiling in excitement. "Does this mean that Tenchi has chosen Miss Ayeka? Oh I knew he would! She's such a pretty young woman and so nice. I'm glad that he finally realized how he felt about her."
Nobuyuki laughed to himself. To tell the truth he had been kind of worried about his son for quite some time. It wasn't everyday that one had three eligible young women living with you and all had at least a nominal interest in starting a relationship. The fact that his son hadn't chosen even after two and half years of the same routine going on day in and day out was beginning to make him think that he would never be able to have a grandchild.
"Hmmm, I don't quite know if that's the case in this situation, but I certainly think it's a possibility," Katsuhito smiled thinly. He had been personally hoping that Tenchi and Ayeka would get together, and not just because of his guilt for leaving her so many years ago. She was such a sweet young woman and she deserved someone as nice as Tenchi to love her. The only problem that the former noble could think of was that while he had counted on the young man taming Ryoko, he hadn't really thought that she would be able to fall for him as easily as she did. The old man sighed; things such as love were always tricky to deal with. You could never count on it to do what you wanted it to do. Still, Katsuhito had faith that Tenchi would eventually turn his ears towards the sound of destiny; he just hoped that the fallout wouldn't be as huge as he feared it would be.
Something caught the edge of Katsuhito's eye and his smile widened marginally at the expected gift. "I see, you have brought some sake from town. Is this the bottle you were telling me about?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. This is that single barrel Demon's Dance sake a friend of mine gave me for doing a little contracting work for him. It's excellently aged. Shall we?" Nobuyuki held out the bottle and two small sake cups. If there was one thing that his father in law never refused was good sake, and this stuff was one of the best.
"Certainly." Katsuhito held out his hand and waited for the clear strong liquid to be poured into with patience. However, just as his son in law was handing him the carefully poured drought his hands began shaking uncontrollably. The old man tried to fight it off with all his considerable mental strength, but this time it was just too strong to hold back.
Not now! Katsuhito thought violently, trying to hold back the change. He was too tired, too low in energy though to hold it back any longer. His disguise would start slipping any moment now.
"Katsuhito! Are you all right? Do you need me to call anyone?" The sake was all but forgotten as Nobuyuki ran up to the elder man and tried to calm his shaking hands. Something was strange, he thought, as the hands of the elder man were clasped between Nobuyuki's. They felt strangely…ethereal, like the skin that was on his hands wasn't his own. "Katsuhito?" he called again, looking at the sweating face of the older man. What he saw in his father in law's eyes, and the rapidly changing facial features startled him enough to momentarily take a jump back.
"Katsuhito, what's going…what's going on?" Nobuyuki asked loudly as the swirling got worse, he saw skin change from old a wizened to youthful and smooth in a matter of seconds. The changes looked to be taking place over the man's body: hair, old and gray now black and lustrous, wrinkles suddenly disappearing.
Sake suddenly became very far on down on his list of things to worry about as Nobuyuki watched his old father in law transform into a man that looked much younger than himself.
"Oh, dear."
*~*
The slap resounded across the bridge, making most, if not all of the current officers turn towards the sound with surprise in their eyes.
Urchoíd, for his part, stood his ground but yielded his face to force of the reprimand. If anything he deserved this punishment. His mission failed, a seedling of the Jurai trees was not in his possession and he was embarrassed in battle by running away from his opponent. There was no justification for his cowardice except for the trivial feelings of fear that he could not explain besides remnants of dreams that had been locked in his mind until he saw that young man. All of these made no difference to the old captain that stood before him, with the palm outstretched and beginning to show the redness that was associated with applying force to skin.
Urchoíd looked down towards the floor, showing his ultimate willingness towards the reprimand, not daring to look into the eyes of his commanding officer.
"Failed," was all the elder man uttered from his lips with a disgusted snort, "completely and utterly failed."
The young cephean could hear the voice of his superior rise with every word the man uttered. He became completely speechless and even cringed a little as the last word that was said was nothing more than a screech of rage.
"I have never heard of such cowardice in all my days of serving Her Lady! It is utterly apprehensible the action that you took on your mission. What have they been teaching you in that temple? How to be polite, how to run away? I thought you were supposed to be the best, the 'blessed' one who was supposed to make our race great?"
"I apologize," Urchoíd, muttered quietly, "I failed. I cannot explain my actions more than an incomprehensible fear that overtook me once I saw their great warrior. I thought I could handle the female, but she proved almost as much trouble as even the greatest of our fighters. I submit to your punishment." The young man kneeled before his captain, ready to take the just punishment he deserved. His patron, apparently, had different ideas in mind however.
Just as the captain was about to strike once again, the lights dimmed low across the bridge, and the elder man suddenly looked up to find that the screen in front of him was now filled with the visage of an old man. The ship captain noted the flowing appearance of both the pure white beard and hair, the endless black eyes and the red jewel that rested on the forehead and instantly recognized the man for who he was -The Lady's accolade had come.
"You may not touch this man again, Captain." The voice of Lady Tokimi's accolade, D3, echoed through the heads of all that were present on the bridge. "He is the chosen of us all and is above your petty reprimands."
"Y...yes sir," the captain responded with fear shaking his voice. Urchoíd was instantly impressed. He had known the rumors of the captain enough to know that nothing supposedly ever fazed the grizzled old man. To see the old harbinger of war reduced to a quivering mess was awe inspiring to say the least.
"I'm glad that you have reconsidered," the face of D3 spoke once again, his lips never moving, and with a voice that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once. "Your mission here is, disappointing, but not altogether unexpected considering the circumstances. You will return to Cepheus at once and we will consider this new development. This bodes to make things…difficult."
"Yes, Sir." The captain, to his credit, returned back to the emotionless leader relatively quickly and began issuing the orders even before the face of the ageless man disappeared completely from view. "You, boy," suddenly Urchoíd found himself being pointed at with a wrinkled digit, "you are no longer needed here, please return to your quarters at once and we will notify you when we have returned."
"As you wish," Urchoíd said and bowed to the man formally. He wasn't allowed to get reprimanded physically, but he had no doubt that the captain still intended to make the rest of this journey difficult for him due to the slight that this failed mission had caused. It rankled within the young man's mind that he would probably be held accountable for this mission, even more so that he could not be touched by the penal system due to his stature.
The young Cephean sighed as his palm print allowed the door to his room to slide open. Sometimes, especially in such chaotic and confusing situations such as this, he wondered to himself just why he had answered the Lady's call in the first place. Of course, there was the service. He was raised to worship his people's patron saint, to accept any word that might be handed down from her as law. That much, at least, was instilled within his instincts so tightly that he may have had no choice but to answer her summons. Still, there was the beginning of a doubt to his purpose, especially when he considered the strange race he had just encountered, and the seemingly unimportance of a single seed from some type of tree.
When he reached the small pallet that served as his bed, Urchoíd spread his weary body across the comfortable blanket and glanced around his simple room. On this ship he was granted his own room, a rarity that was reserved for those of upper officer rank, though he felt no feelings of pride at that fact. Even the young officers of the bridge crew shared quarters on warships. In the past, he had always enjoyed the comfort of solitude. Urchoíd was never much of a social man, as he always felt that he had been alienated due to his upbringing, a fact that was made even more apparent since his conscription by the Temple. Young men his age strayed away from him, or suddenly became quiet when he was around. Females were much the same way, although they allowed a little more fear to show in their eyes than the males did. Adults had always treated him differently when he was growing up, as if they expected him to be above the childish playing of children his age. As far as Urchoíd could remember he had had a duty to fulfill to the people of his planet, and never more so than now did the weight of all his people's expectations rest on his shoulders.
Staring at the blank grey wall of metal that delineated his ceiling, Urchoíd fought the urge to seek someone out and talk with them. It was, decidedly a strange sensation. Yet, the young man knew that he could not do so, not until he was back within the safety of the Temple, and in the presence of the old priest, Sagart. Somehow, Urchoíd knew that the old man would have some answers for him, or at least some kind words that could point him in the right direction. He longed to share his encounters with the man who in all senses of the word had become his grandfather and confidante.
Encounters…how best to describe the feeling he had course through his body the moment he first saw that mysterious warrior female? Amazingly, she had almost fought him to a standstill by sheer will power alone, even when he was giving his best. Attraction? The young man paused at that thought, but then thought better of it. Urchoíd knew from even the few encounters he had had with his own races' opposite sex to know when he was attracted to someone. It was more like doubt, perhaps. Doubt that anyone who could be so powerful and still be so beautiful - for he had to admit to himself that she was very physically pleasing – could be evil. The image of the young woman called itself up, unbidden to his mind's eye, and he spent some time considering her features. She was not too terribly different from his own people, with the major exception of her hair and eyes. She was thin in physique, almost lithe. It was easily apparent to his trained eye that she was in peak health and condition, despite the vague impression that she was perhaps of noble blood. Perhaps it was exactly her differences, though, that led him to remember her so clearly? It was the first time he had ever encountered a girl from another species so closely. Was it natural to be surprised, and perhaps a little intrigued?
Urchoíd stretched for a moment, breaking the image he had held of the female. He then closed his eyes in concentration, and tried to find some comfortable position in which to sleep. Too many things were going unexpectedly for him - that mysterious woman, the appearance of his equal, the doubts about his Lady's purpose; they would all have to be dealt with sooner or later he knew. For now, though, the young man felt a need to rest. He could talk about these things with Sagart once they were home, but until then, it would be a long and difficult week of traveling under the grizzled old captain.
Somewhere within the hours that Urchoíd closed himself within his room, the young man found the peace to sleep. Unfortunately, it was the first of many nights of troubled dreams and nightmares so that by the time the small warship reached its destination, Urchoíd had managed to form bags under his golden eyes and his hair, usually kept neat and combed, was slightly disheveled looking. People kept their usual distances from him, plus a spare few meters as he walked through the halls of the major spaceport, regarding the drab signs that broadcast store locations of all kinds. Being in the capital city, this spaceport was factors larger than the others that were sporadically located within the hospitable regions of his planet. The size tended to attract races of all kinds, from within the empire or outside. Urchoíd, however, wasted no time in picking his way through the crowds and exiting the terminal building, despite the many curiosities that his golden eyes picked up. He knew that the palace would send some form of transport for him, and that it would be waiting to take him to the Temple grounds, to which he could not get to quickly enough.
It only took a matter of moments to spy the plain looking vehicle that would be his. Palace vehicle were always the most drab looking machines anywhere, despite the current emperor's love of opulent things. As quickly as he could, the young man greeted the drivers politely and submitted his small amount of luggage to be stored. Within moments, he was inside and on his way to the place that had become his most recent home.
The trip itself was uneventful, if a little bit short. Of course, this fact caused no lost disappointment within Urchoíd himself as he faced the Temple Façade for the first time within a month's period. Today, as always, Sagart was there to greet him with a warm smile and an affectionate pat on the shoulders.
"Ahh, young Urchoíd returns to us," the old man finally greeted with his raspy voice. "And how was the mission, young one?"
Despite himself, Urchoíd looked towards the ground, a frown set upon his face as his cheek suddenly blossomed in memory of pain. "I failed." The young man said simply, and then began to walk past Sagart with his shoulders dropped submissively.
Before he could pass, however, Urchoíd felt a gentle hand rest in his shoulders and apply pressure. When he looked up he was caught up in the most sympathetic gaze that he had seen in a long time.
"Why don't you tell me about it?" Sagart asked quietly, beginning to lead his young charge off towards one of the many gardens that they had used for conversations of this nature in the past. Sagart noted with some amazement that for as much confidence as Urchoíd appeared to exude, he was nothing more than an unsure teenager underneath. It had taken some time to get used to that idea, but the old priest had done his best to assure the young man as much as he could.
"I'm not sure I wish to speak of it, father," Urchoíd muttered respectfully, aware of the fact that he commanded a large portion of the religious leader's time already.
"Nonsense, young one," Sagart shrugged off the boy's reply and smiled warmly. "You can say that it is my very duty to see you, the chosen one, emotionally balanced."
Urchoíd sighed internally at the reference to him being the chosen one. More and more, the pressure had begun to build within his mind that he had some greater role to serve, yet was incapable of doing it, or at least to the standards that his predecessors had done before. This was never more apparent to him, at least, after his great failure on Jurai. Still, his rational mind argued, it would maybe help to speak with Sagart about it, as he had originally wanted to. It would at least help him gauge and prepare for the reaction that his Lady would give him. To that though, Urchoíd could only shudder.
After a brief time spent following after the old priest, the par finally arrived at the garden that Urchoíd recognized as the original garden that he had talked with Sagart. The beauty of this small patch of green still never failed to amaze the young man as he and the priest stepped through the portal and into the golden light of the fading dual suns. It was still as green as he remembered, and the constant babbling of the small stream that bisected the small garden was soothed the young man's mood immediately.
"Now," Sagart started, seating himself with many audible pops of joints. "Share with me your adventure. I should think that Jurai at this time would be a lovely place." Sagart patted the seat next to him, and waited patiently as Urchoíd made himself comfortable, though the last comment that his companion made, made the young man temporarily forget what it was he wished to say.
"You mean that you've been to Jurai before, Father?" he asked breathlessly, confounded by the wealth of wisdom this elder gentleman seemed to possess. "I wasn't aware that anyone from our world had been there before."
"They haven't…in a manner of speaking." Sagart answered cryptically, with a far off expression in his eyes. "However, we are not here to talk about the history of our planet," the old man smiled at the mild rebuke, "we're here to talk about why you feel you failed so miserably on your mission."
Urchoíd dropped his head to the ground, mumbling under his breath something just out of Sagart's hearing. When prompted by the older gentleman to speak up, the raven-haired Cephean met his eyes uncertainly.
"I was hoping you would forget that, Father." He spoke, voice barely above a whisper. "I really do not wish to speak of it much." Urchoíd dropped his eyes once again and tried to concentrate instead on the soft green grass caressing his lightly shoed foot.
Sagart sighed and eyed his young companion shrewdly. "If I believed that, my young one, I would not be in the position that I am in today. Something is troubling you about this past mission, whether or not it is the actual failure itself," Sagart broke off and lifted Urchoíd's chin to allow the young man's eyes to meet his, noting unconsciously the momentary tightening of the boy's fist. When gold eyes met soft brown, Sagart caught the wisp of a thought and seized upon it. "Or perhaps…it's something else about the mission that bothers you, hmm?" He continued, after a moment's thought.
Unable to resist the powerful kindness that lay hidden beneath his mentor's eyes, Urchoíd found his mouth opening and closing rapidly, fighting his mind's first impulse to deny the priest's words. Slowly, his mouth won out, and he began relating the story from beginning to end, sparing Sagart nothing of his thoughts upon the meeting he had had with the female warrior and his equal.
Throughout the soft retelling, Sagart listened thoughtfully, revealing nothing but merely a fractional lift of the eyebrows when Urchoíd mentioned his thoughts on the two people whom most affected the young man. When Urchoíd stopped and took a long breath, he glanced down at the young man and gave him an encouraging smile.
"So, Tsunami's chosen has made a premature appearance?" Sagart asked, more to himself, than to the young man beside him. This information didn't particularly surprise him, though it could annoy his patron, once she learned of it – if she hadn't already. With a quick decision, Sagart chose not to comment on the Urchoíd's equal until he could speak at length with Lady Tokimi, but instead concentrate on the some the small indicators that he had picked up from the boy's speech on the young female. It was plain to him, being somewhat familiar with the society of Jurai that this young woman whom Urchoíd spoke of was probably a part of the ruling royal family, though her exact place he could not determine. It had been centuries since he had last familiarized himself with the family Jurai. When Sagart finally decided to speak, he hesitatingly reserved most of the details for a later conversation, thinking that he should once again consult with his Goddess before speaking to the youth on the Jurai Royal Family.
Sagart chuckled when he recalled the boy's light blush when he told of his encounter with the female royal. The striking appearances of the royal family must have been quite a shock to the young man, who was used to the uniform appearance of black hair and dark eyes.
"You found the appearance of the young woman pleasing?" Sagart asked through a raspy chuckle, which only increased in mirth at the boy's further blush.
"She was a great fighter, skilled and powerful," was all that Urchoíd found he could mutter, feeling the skin on his face flush with heat. When he finally collected himself from his embarrassment, Urchoíd glanced towards his mentor and gathered himself and opened his mouth once again, asking a question that had been burning his mind since first leaving Jurai. "Father, what exactly are they? Their power is significant, even in their warriors, and they have a patron goddess, so similar to ours. Why are we fighting them? There must be a reason for this battle, a reason to fight someone of such obvious power unprovoked."
Sagart sighed when he realized that he could no longer avoid telling the young man certain things, he wasn't exactly sure how much he should reveal, but the priest supposed that he could reveal a bit of information, just enough to keep the young man satisfied. He decided that he should first start with a subject that Urchoíd seemed to have a great deal of interest in.
"The Jurai," he began softly, getting the young man's attention immediately, " are a race that is very similar to ours, evolution wise. Though the primary difference in the way we interact with our patron goddesses are very different. Whereas our lord was granted a fraction of Lady Tokimi's power, it was his and his alone to use, only manifesting itself within his descendent once the original progenitor died. Having only one man with this power has created a peaceful society because it is almost impossible for anyone to wrest control from our lord."
Urchoíd nodded at the opening statements of Sagart. It was all common history taught to every child in school. One man, one power equals a peaceful society without fear of the civil war and bloodshed that shook the planet to its core during the Great War and the following extinction of their brother race. His thoughts instantly returned to Sagart as the old man continued with his history lesson, strangely enraptured with the tale.
"The Jurai, however, became something different. Their power was granted to the entire royal family, each descendent with a fraction of their Goddess's power. That fraction, of course, depends upon the bloodline of the family, with the direct descendents getting the largest percentage. The average populace, and indeed even the palace guards whom you fought do not receive anything." Sagart glanced at the enraptured youth, watching with satisfaction as the knowledge and its implications became apparent to the young man. "Which means," Sagart cut of any remark the boy was going to say by continuing, forcing Urchoíd to shut his mouth quickly, "that the young woman you fought was a member of the Jurai Royal Family. Furthermore, in order to survive as long as she did, I surmise that she is a direct descendent, possibly even the daughter or granddaughter of the Emperor himself."
Urchoíd could no longer force his mouth shut and he let it fall haphazardly as his jaw went slack from surprise. He had been fighting a member of the royal family? But then, if she was a member of the royal family, then did that mean that Tsunami's chosen was as well? If so, then why was it a surprise that he should join the battle so unexpectedly. Where else would he be, if not within the royal palace itself? With this new information, Urchoíd began to feel for the first time, that others around him knew more than he did about the situations they were forcing him to go through. Yet, still, why wouldn't Sagart have told him about their expectation of Tsunami's chosen to be there? Surely they would have known something as simple as that? Feeling his head spin with new questions, Urchoíd once again looked towards his mentor, preparing to speak out his confusion to the elderly priest.
"Yes, that means that Tsunami's chosen is indeed a member of the Jurai royal family," Sagart said quietly, throwing off Urchoíd's questions with a direct answer to his unspoken words. "However, the circumstance surrounding that boy are complicated, we were not expecting him to be there so soon. It even appears as if he might have chosen already." Sagart let out a sigh at his young companions expression. It seems as if he had created more questions that answers with this little talk of his. In fact, he was about to elaborate his cryptic comments further when he heard a loud bell tome through the hallways, echoing it's angelic ring throughout all the rooms and floors of the Temple. The evening bell had rung, signaling the proper time for the evening meal.
"We will continue this conversation some other time, my young friend. There is still much to discuss before you once again meet Lady Tokimi once again. But for now, however, it's time for the evening meal and then there comes evening prayers after. I'm afraid tonight is not a good time to finish the rest of this tale." With those final words, Sagart unfolded himself from the bench they had been sitting upon and walked quickly out of the room, leaving Urchoíd alone and quite confused. It was only some time later that the young man echoed his mentor's reactions and took himself to the great hall for the evening meal, not entirely convinced of his own appetite.
"Mommy!" Sasami called out joyfully as her mother came into sight, stepping shakily out of the small royal ship that belonged to Funaho. Injuries and confusion were scattered to the wind once the blue-haired second empress beheld her beloved daughters waiting for them by the entrance to the palace.
"My little Sasami, Little Ayeka!" Misaki Jurai called back, waving her arms wildly and disengaging herself from her sister's supportive grasp. The trio met in a flurry of excited hugs that threatened to steal the breath out of the two young princesses. Despite the force being applied, however, Ayeka smiled brightly at the sight of the two queens, who had been missing for several days following the confusion of having every single royal family member collapse unexpectedly at once. It had only been by a miracle and Tenchi coming to save the day that had allowed Ayeka, who had mysteriously been unharmed during the event, to keep control over the scared palace grounds and its populous.
"How is your father," Funaho asked of the purple-haired princess, once she had caught up with the group, quietly allowing herself the pleasure of a brief but heartfelt hug with her half-daughter, once she was released from the crushing grip of Misaki.
Ayeka looked down, a frown crossing her facial features briefly before she returned her aunt Funaho's gaze levelly. "He just woke up this morning, and has not been in a good mood since he found out that you and mother went missing. Thank Tsunami you two are safe. We were so worried."
Funaho smiled at the young woman's sentiment, and nodded her head in acknowledgement, before crinkling her nose cutely. "I'm sure he was quite out of his mind with distress, don't you think, sister?" She turned to Misaki, who covered her mouth with a giggle and agreed with the brown-haired empress. It was then that Funaho caught the sight of a young man standing just at the threshold of the door, observing the reunion shyly, and her smile grew impossibly wider. Once again, Funaho turned to Misaki and pointed with her head, positive that her counterpart would catch her drift.
"Lord Tenchiiiii!" Misaki called out happily, forcing a scared expression upon the young man's face as she bounded over to him faster than any injured person should have been able to move and encompassed Tenchi in a bone crushing hug.
Ayeka winced with sympathy for her friend as soon as she heard the crunching sound that sounded suspiciously like bones rubbing against each other. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Tenchi was released enough so that he could greet the Jurai empress properly.
"Good afternoon, Lady Misaki," Tenchi greeted nervously, executing a polite bow, before turning to Funaho and repeating the same procedure. "It is good to see that you two are well after this scare."
Funaho merely smiled before turning to her half daughter. "When did Lord Tenchi arrive?"
The first empress of Jurai was a very sharp woman, one of the sharpest ever as befitting the head of the intelligence bureau. As such, she definitely had her own suspicions about the circumstances in which the young man had come to Jurai, but she wanted to hear her half daughter speak the words, as if by vocalizing them she would finally be admitting the truth behind her feelings for the earthling. Her thoughts were immediately confirmed when the first princess blushed prettily and cast her eyes towards the ground.
"I… I asked him to come Lady Funaho. He was the only one whom the nobles had any chance of listening to because of his blood lineage to Yosho." Ayeka glanced at Tenchi briefly causing the brown haired man to blush a matching shade to Ayeka's before she returned her half mother's gaze resolutely. "I know that we were not to introduce him to the nobles until we could be certain they would accept him and his earth blood, but he was wonderful, mother. He has earned the respect of many on the council already for his sensible actions and quiet demeanor."
Tenchi's blush reddened even further at Ayeka's words of praise as he suddenly found something very interesting to stare at on his shoes. As such, he missed Funaho's appraising stare turn into a broad smile.
"I see that we were certainly right about you, young man," she spoke gravely, a hint of amusement in her voice causing Tenchi to shyly meet her gaze. "You have earned the gratitude of the Royal House and we are in your debt for the loyalty to our people and our family, that you have shown." The elegant woman bowed formally before giving Tenchi a dazzling smile. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I'm sure we have much to catch up on with our husband. Come along Misaki."
Funaho gracefully passed the trio, beckoning the cute eyed Misaki to follow her into the Palace. After several more rounds of crushing hugs, the second queen finally disappeared into the entranceway, leaving the two princesses and one prince alone.
"This calls for something extra special for dinner tonight!" Sasami called happily, dancing her way around Tenchi and Ayeka. "I'm going to find Grandmother Seto and begin right away!" Within moments, the littlest princess had gone inside the palace, loudly calling for their grandmother in her excitement.
Once Sasami was gone, Tenchi looked over to Ayeka, and found, to his embarrassment, that she was looking in his direction. The Princess smiled shyly when Tenchi met her eyes and indicated with a small jerk of her head that they should walk in the direction of the platform fencing. He quietly agreed and the pair began to walk in the opposite direction of the palace, framed by the setting sun.
"Have I told you yet how fitting the Jurai robes suit you?" Ayeka asked shyly, once the pair reached the waist high fence that separated the palace landing platform from a sheer drop of several hundred meters. Tenchi merely blushed in response and shook his head.
"Well, they do." Ayeka added softly, running her hand lightly along the cool wood in front of her. "I know I've said this many times before now, but I can't begin to thank you enough for coming, Lord Tenchi. I honestly don't know what I would have done without your help here, these past two days."
"It was nothing, really, Princess. I was merely trying to do anything I could do to help. It is something I would do for anyone of you." Tenchi, said, lowering his head slightly to hide his blush.
"I…see." Ayeka mumbled, staring off into the distant fields of green and yellow grass. "Lord Tenchi? There has been something I've been meaning to ask you, can you forgive me for being bold?"
Ayeka took a deep breath as she saw Tenchi turn in her direction once again, and nod solemnly. Then, she began softly, and with shaking breath to tell Tenchi just how exactly how she felt about him.
"I…I know that you care about us all, that you would do anything for anyone of us, should we require it. But I..I wanted to tell you that of anyone that I have met I care for you the most." She grabbed his hand suddenly, making Tenchi jump slightly, but otherwise show no other reaction. "In light of everything you've done here, I know you would make a great ruler, but I also know it's something you might not want to do. I do not care. I want to tell you here and now, that I want to be with you wherever you are, whatever you're doing. I love you Tenchi, and I want you to love me as well, more than any other."
Steeling all her courage, Ayeka pulled on Tenchi's hand and let her lips grow closer to his own. Seconds became moments, moments became hours as she felt his breath on her nose, her eyes cow closed against the last brilliant light of the sun. Then, as the last light glittered out of view, their lips met softly, the tears that came unknowingly from Ayeka's eyes mixed and tickled the skin on Tenchi's cheek. All too soon, however, it was over, and the pair broke apart, Ayeka keeping her eyes closed savoring the moment and longing with all her strength to here her words returned. Tenchi merely wore a shocked expression on his face and placed a hand to his lips.
"Ayeka…I," Tenchi began but cut off shortly, completely at a loss for words. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do?
"Yes, Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka prompted, when his silence became too great. Finally opening her eyes and gazing upon the man she had just confessed to.
"I…I don't know what to say," Tenchi began again, the expression on his face remaining. "I mean…I knew. I had to know with you and Ryoko and everyone acting the way they did. But, but Ryoko," Tenchi cut off when the tears began to fall from Ayeka's eyes faster.
"I…see." Ayeka began, backing away from Tenchi slowly, a fearful expression now set on her face. "Please, Lord Tenchi, please forgive me. I knew I shouldn't have said anything, I knew I should have just continued to hold it in, but I couldn't anymore. I just couldn't. Please, I hope you will forget I ever said anything at all. I need to go now, Sasami might need help with dinner." With that, Ayeka turned and ran towards the palace.
"Ayeka! Princess Ayeka, wait!" Tenchi called after the fleeing girl, but to no avail. He was soon left alone on the platform, watching the door she entered intently for a few moments before turning his vision to the stars above his head, just beginning to make their appearances in the dusky sky of Jurai.
"Screwed up again, idiot." Tenchi mumbled to himself, before turning towards the palace doors himself, walking into the darkness that he felt that he would never come out from.
Author's End Notes: Finally! I got something workable for Infinite Wills. If this seems like a lot shorter than usual, it is. I decided that since I am taking too long to finish this part and because part five will be quite long anyway I'm going to break this chapter up, and possibly the sixth as well into smaller parts. It's more manageable for me because I can check them over faster and I can also write them faster. I don't know, I guess I just feel more positive about this way rather than releasing one long part. I think I can make the updates a lot more manageable and faster. Let me know if you feel otherwise. ^_^
As far as for what's in store for later, Ryoko finally comes into play, and Kiyone gets a social life? Hmm, this could be interesting. Stay tuned for the next part of Infinite Wills – Part 5: Sacrifices.