This is a side story of the AU fanfic "Purity and Corruption" but you don't have to know P&C in order to understand "The Prince of Darkness".
A long time ago Kryo and me started writing an AU story about Tenchi and Ryoko. With the years passing the story grew longer and longer, and though we tried, it turned out to be impossible to explain all the characters' motives and background. So we decided to deal with the missing details in two side stories- one written by me, the other by my brother Kryo. Mine is the task to write "The Prince of Darkness", because it has a lot of emotion and character development. But don't be afraid the plot also contains some action.
So simply skip the disclaimer and start reading. I hope my work is worth the time you spend on reading it,
Yours Tamrin
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I have not created the Tenchi Muyo! characters in this story. They are property of AIC, Pioneer and Masaki Kajishima.
Prolog
Lightning flashed in the darkened sky. Suddenly everything that was usually covered by eternal night became clearly visible. Huge unshapely plants dwelling on the stony ground. Their leafless branches intertwined with each other up to double man's height, creating an impenetrable net of skeletal wood. Within a second the light faded away, leaving nothing but gloomy shadows.
The hooded man didn't move in the slightest and even when the earsplitting thunder rumbled on he didn't even blink. A week breeze wafted his long grey coat backwards, revealing the handle of a light sword. His right hand closed around it but before the usual feeling of safety could spread through him another flash lit up the surroundings.
This time it took him less than a second to make out everything, including the path he was supposed to take. Without further hesitation he closed his coat and left the huge artificial clearing where his tree-ship was waiting.
When darkness enveloped him once again he slowed down a little to avoid any unpleasant collision with one of the stray branches reaching out to block his path. But soon he realized that such precaution was unnecessary. The sky was brightened up nearly every five seconds and the way was far too broad to make an unpleasant encounter possible within the short periods of darkness.
Feeling the soft remains of recently deceased organisms beneath his boots he wondered if it had really been necessary to burns a ten-meter broad pathway through hundreds of plants. Of course landing a ship would have been difficult with the dense vegetation, but only an unsound mind would come up with the idea of clearing a way to walk with the board cannons.
Judging by the straightness of the firebreak it was most likely that it had been created like this. The end of the way was still out of sight, but walking at his current speed, he was sure he would reach his destination soon.
Indeed it took him only some more minutes until he finally saw it. Like he had expected not only the end of the way was illuminated by the lightning, but the outline of another man stood out as well. As the thunder roared again he stopped and waited.
The man was quick to approach him, but kept a safe distance. Obviously he was uncertain of what to make of the hooded man's hesitation.
"So you finally succeeded." The sentence was meant as a statement but the tremble of anticipation in Yosho's voice turned it into a question.
"I did," Kagato said and removed his hood. "But maybe..." he made a strange pause. "... you expected more."
For a second Kagato could see a mix of confusion and distrust on Yosho's face, then it merged with the shadows again.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "Our deal was about the book and so all I expect is the book." Yosho totally overemphasized the last words, making it obvious that the Holy Book of Jurai was very important to him.
Kagato nodded but just to calm down the light tempered Juraian. He waited until the roar of the thunder died away, then he spoke up again.
"What you want, Yosho, is not the book, but the knowledge sealed within."
"You don't..." Yosho started, but was silenced by Kagato's resolute voice immediately.
"Of course I know what you try to achieve. It may look like I'm just a space pirate piloting a tree-ship, but I'm still a Juraian of royal blood. And as a Juraian I care for Juraian affairs." The next flash of light illuminated a rare cynical smile on Kagato's face. "Do you think I accepted your offer because I need some money or technology? The second you asked me to aquire the Holy Book, I knew that you were plotting against the empire. Our enemies are the same. That's why I helped you."
"Well... since we know now that we're on the same side..." Yosho said bored, "...give me the book."
"I said it already. What you want is not the book, but the knowledge within. The knowledge I can provide you. The book is useless now." The roar of thunder emphasized his words.
"You... you don't have it?" At first there was only surprise in Yosho's voice, but quickly it turned into anger. "Damn you bastard!" he shouted, drew his light sword and lashed out instantly.
Faster than the eye could follow Kagato drew his own weapon and fended off Yosho's attack. He simply ducked under another and blocked the third blow with his black blade. As the two weapons made contact a flash of light illuminated the two opponents. Kagato saw Yosho's face distorted by anger and hate and he felt, the pressure of the dark blue blade increasing.
"I will kill you, bastard." The fury of Yosho's voice was even greater than that of the thunder.
Kagato had a hard time holding himself against the young Juraian. He didn't understand how he could possess such power without using any of his Juraian abilities. This could have been quite a challenging fight, but rational as he was Kagato thought of a battle with his "ally" as unnecessary. He had to end it.
"If you actually manage to kill me, you will never get to know the location of the Prayer's Grounds."
Yosho stared at him and it seemed like what was left of his sanity had a hard time keeping his emotions in check. Finally the pressure on Kagato's blade subsided.
"Where is it?" Yosho asked in a lurking voice, barely concealing his hostility. His blade was still activated.
"The Soto-oh will send you the coordinates once I give permission." Kagato didn't lower his sword either, holding it in a defensive position in front of his chest, every muscle tensed.
"And why should I believe you?" Yosho snapped.
"Because I have no reason to lie to you." Kagato's voice remained calm. "If I didn't want you to get to the Prayer's Grounds, I would have never contacted you."
Lightning flashed again and at the same time a horrifying realization seemed to strike Yosho's mind. His eyes became wide.
"This means... you... but... why?" he stuttered.
Kagato decided to give him some time to let the truth behind his words sink in and remained silent. Fortunately, it didn't take too long.
"You... you said you're of royal blood. So you could have gone by our own. You said you also want to hurt the empire. So why don't you just go to the Prayer's Grounds and take the ultimate power for yourself?" His eyes thinned. "What are you planning, Kagato?"
"Nothing." Kagato said and deactivated his sword. "Rest assured that I'm not your enemy. I'm a space pirate and always will be. I have no intention of seizing power over the Juraian empire."
Yosho obviously wasn't satisfied with the answer. "But why are you supporting me?"
Kagato thought about the question for some seconds. He knew the answer, but he was trying to decide whether Yosho was worth to be told. Finally he made a decision.
"I want to see Azusa suffer," he said, but the thunder swallowed his words.
"What did you say?" Yosho asked impatiently as Kagato made no attempt to repeat his answer after the thunder had ebbed away.
Kagato shook his head slightly. "It's none of your business. Let's return to our ships and I'll give you the coordinates." With those words he simply turned around and walked away.
Had he paid attention he would have noticed the sound of an energy blade being deactivated and also Yosho's steps some distance behind him, but he didn't. His thoughts were drifting into the past. All the unpleasant images and emotions he had tried to seal away thightly had broken free and washed over him again.
A person like Yosho would never understand.
Chapter notes:
This was just to make the connection to "Purity and Corruption". So if you haven't read it you might not understand what all the stuff of the Holy Book is about. But that doesn't matter. The real story will start with the next chapter.
Last but not least thanks to Kryo for correcting my bad English.