Disclaimer sighs once again, sadly, I don't own Tenchi Muyo, oh well, on with the story:
Tenchi trudged in the house, feeling somewhat light now. Brutal as it was, the battle had done good for him, he was just surprised that they hadn't woken up the entire household and they weren't on the lawn, begging the two to stop. He just imagined what Ayeka would do, probably encase Ryoko in a force field and practically kill her for daring to touch him. Strangely, with the fight earlier, this thought made him laugh, as cold as it may seem. No, he didn't wish death upon Ryoko, if anything, he owed her his sanity, he just had an easier time with the whole situation now. Unfortunately, the fight had left him with some rather painful bruises, he touched one and winced.
At that time, Ayeka was descending the stairs and noticed him wince. "Something wrong Lord Tenchi?" She had a general sound of concern in her voice.
"I'm fine Miss Ayeka, just an accident training." Ayeka looked at him confused, training, THIS early, now Yosho was overstepping his boundaries.
Tenchi saw her face go from concern to frustration. Before she got the chance to say anything, Ryoko walked in sporting a wide grin and a might scar running diagonal down the left side of her face. Ayeka gasped, "How on Jurai did you get that???" She opened her mouth as if to say something but before giving the two a chance to get into it, Tenchi ushered them into the kitchen for breakfast.
By the end of breakfast, everyone had noticed the mighty scar running the length of Ryoko's face, but no one dared ask. Washu was the first to speak up, addressing both Tenchi and Ryoko, "You two made and unearthly racket this morning, woke me right up from a sound sleep with all your fighting." Everyone looked at them curiously.
Tenchi spoke up, looking down at Ryoko for support and receiving a warm smile, "Well, this morning and I had a sort of training session, nothing too bad, but that's what happened." He said, gesturing toward her scar. "Ryoko, I'd feel so much better if you'd just heal that thing."
She gave him puppy dog eyes, "Oh but Tenchi dear, it's my battle scar, besides, it'll heal on it's own, no need to waste energy." Ryoko was interrupted by a loud snap. Everyone at the table turned toward Ayeka who was clutching the bottom half of a pair of chopsticks, her knuckles were white, and she was glaring daggers at Ryoko. She spoke through clenched teeth "How dare you harm Lord Tenchi." She saw him wince as he stood up which only sent her over the edge. Ayeka stood up, slamming her fists on the table. At the same time, Ryoko stood up, staring her right in the eye. "Why don?t you let Tenchi speak for himself huh? Or are ya too scared he'll say he liked it, that he went along with it and enjoyed it!" With each implication, Ayeka was sent further over the edge till eventually, she took the plunge.
Tenchi stood and tried to stop her, but was unsuccessful. She spread her arms wide and surrounded Ryoko with a force field. Ayeka closed her eyes and started chanting something in ancient Jurain slowly getting louder. Tenchi couldn?t help but watch as Ryoko's body went stiff and her eyes glazed over. All of a sudden, Ayeka's eyes flew open and she yelled, "DEPART EVIL DEMON." Ryoko shrieked and her body disappeared in a wisp of smoke. The whole family went still and quiet, nobody even believed their bodies would respond to any command to move.
After a short while, Tenchi was the first to move, he took Ayeka by the shoulders and shook her, "Where is she, what have you done." He screamed in her face. Unfortunately, Ayeka couldn't respond, she just stared dumfounded at his face. Eventually she responded, "It-it worked?"
This only made Tenchi shake her harder, "What worked Ayeka, where is she?" He was now screaming at her. Ayeka looked into his eyes and broke down, "I don?t know what happened, it's a chant, that's supposed to rid the person of demons, nobody knows where they go. It wasn't supposed to work like that!" she cried loudly. Tenchi helped her to the floor then ran outside, to where, he didn't know, but he just had to find her, somehow, someway, he had to find her, and he would.
Ryoko's eyes opened, wherever she was, it certainly was dark, and cold, and wet. Her body seized up, it couldn't possibly be could it? She practically threw her astral form outside and looked around the familiar settings of her former prison. Her form flew through the cave walls and back to her body, which she found she couldn?t move. She let out an ear piercing scream that only she herself could hear.
Tenchi's legs were carrying him somewhere, where he didn't know exactly, all he could think about was getting to her before something else did. He stopped dead in his tracks suddenly as a thought entered his mind, what if she wasn't on earth? Tenchi didn?t even get a chance to dread the thought when his world started to spin, in his very mind, he heard a scream before the ground rushed up to meet him.
Stumbling, he stood back up and carried him, rather unsteadily, up the shrine steps. He took a glimpse at the cave before he ran over and was rudely stopped by a locked gate. Without thinking, he blasted the rusted obstacle and rushed into the cave. When he reached the first chamber, he found his worst nightmare come true. It was sealed, just as it had been when he first set her free.
In one swift motion, Tenchi took out his namesake and sliced the little rock in half. Taking care not to slam his head again, he entered the innermost chamber of the cave and found the same pool he had found before. Not wasting any time, he pulled Ryoko's limp and cold body from the pool and he promptly exited the cave.
The cool autumn wind seemed to be bitter and unforgiving upon the woman in Tenchi's arms. She was unconscious, slightly blue and shivering. Tenchi pulled off his coat and threw it around her. Then, with all his mustered up energy, he sprinted home, ignoring the cramping in his legs, only caring on getting her back and safe.
