I do not own any of the Tenchi Muyo characters and in no way am I making
any money from writing this story. I write to enjoy it and let people
enjoy the stories that I write. So please don't sue me. Here is the
continuation of:
Shogun Muyo - Chapter 11: The Rhythm of My Sorrow
There was darkness in all directions, not a single beam of light to illuminate anything within sight. A flash of light happens within an instant, but pain also accompanied the flash. Another flash occurs, bringing pain once more. Voices are heard, but the words cannot be made out. There is anger present in the sounds of the voices talking, Ryoko who was experiencing the pain and overhearing the voices covers her ears, but still feels the pain. She also realizes there is also a sense of urgency or danger, perhaps even both.
"Who's there?! Where am I?!"
She hears no reply from the voices, they continue talking as though she was never there. She covers her ears again and curls down onto what she could only think was the floor that was beneath her feet.
". . .stop. . . . ." She asked from her fetal position on the ground in a barely audible plea.
The voices continued, the girl knew that they either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her.
"Stop it." She asked louder.
There was still no change in the voices that were echoing in the darkness. She felt a buildup of anger beginning to rise in her, she was growing tired of being ignored. She was tired of feeling this pain and these feelings of doubt, fear, and urgency. She felt herself building up to the verge of erupting in anger, she didn't like this, she wanted to know why. More importantly she wanted this all to. . . .
"I SAID STOP!!!!" She cried throwing her head back and crying into the darkness.
"STOP!" She yelled sitting up on her beam in the house of the Masaki home.
She looked around to make sure that she was indeed inside the house. She wiped her forehead and noticed that she was sweating. She couldn't recall when she had a nightmare and woke up sweating from it. This was the fourth night in a row that she has had a nightmare. Four days ago Ayeka left the house to go back to Jurai, perhaps Ayeka had done something to cause her nightmares while she was away. She thought that it did seem a little too coincidental that the nightmares began the day that she left.
* It has to be Ayeka, there isn't anything else that happened. . . . . * Her train of thought rolled off, she had remembered something else that happened that day.
She looked at the gems on her wrists. * I also got these back on the same day. I don't believe Ayeka has any demonic powers, so that means that you three are causing me this pain. But why? You never hurt me before. *
Not thinking much more about it, she jumped down from the support beam and made herself comfortable on the couch. She turned the television on and looked to find if there was anything worth her time to watch.
***********************
Mireya was sitting under one of the trees that stand near the steps leading to the Masaki Shrine. She was sitting there taking in the sight of the world that her love Ayeka had told her about. It was indeed a lovely and peaceful place. She had to get used to not having to look over her shoulder at the slightest sound. She didn't have to worry about being attacked here, but her reflexes were still there.
She had been watching people from this planet go up to the shrine at the top of the stairs she was sitting near. Nobody noticed her sitting there watching them go by. Either that or they just didn't care if she was there or not. She had been trying to enjoy the planet, like Ayeka suggested she try, but she just couldn't help but feel saddened.
* This place would be more enjoyable if you were here to share it with me my love. My heart aches for you to be near me again Ae. I've never felt feelings for anyone like this before. You are the one love of my life and I can't be with you. * As she thought this a tear goes down her cheek. Suddenly her eyes narrow. * It's not like that Tenchi cares for you my love. He doesn't know how lucky he is to have your affection; he'll discard your heart like a useless piece of trash. Oohh, how I long for the two of us to be together. *
With her heart and thoughts aching to be with the woman she had come to love, she couldn't help but wonder what her love was doing at that moment.
***********************
It had been several days since they began their journey to Jurai, but finally they were preparing to enter the Jurian atmosphere. Ayeka stood in front of a window observing their decent down to the planets surface. It had been a long time since she had gazed upon her homeworld.
* It is good to see Jurai again. I thought that there was a possibility that I would never see it again. * She had to shake her current thoughts from her head. She had not returned to reminisce about her time spent living here. She had something that she had to do.
She turns away from the window and heads to the bridge of Mihoshi's ship, wanting to keep from having memories of the past and to concentrate on what was occurring now. Entering the ships bridge, Ayeka sees that Mihoshi is conversing with a man that seemed to be in charge of the security that would be in the area of their landing.
"Galaxy Police Ship Ukonojo, your request for landing has been approved. You will land on the pad located at the south end of the royal palace."
"Roger that, we are beginning our decent now."
Mihoshi ended communication with the personnel on the other end of the link. The ship adjusted itself to safely enter Jurai's atmosphere, due to Jurai having a landing beacon that the ship was able to fly in on.
Entering the atmosphere caused the ship to begin shaking from the force of their decent. Daimyo was in the break room of the ship sitting on the couch with Sasami sitting next to him.
"Hey Sasami?"
"Yes Daimyo?" She replied, her voice shaky from the turbulence.
"This. . .is normal right?"
"Yes, it gets a little shaky on entry."
"Oh, that's good."
* Of all the ways to die, this isn't one way I would like to get to the great beyond. * He thought to himself.
Looking out the window both of them could see the change from the black of space to the blue of the atmosphere. The ship's vibrations died down to a minimum and Sasami got up and looked out the window.
She saw her world's beauty again. Seeing the sight of how green her world was she had nearly forgotten how beautiful it was. She had spent her live growing up there, she had come to take the sights for granted, but after her long time away, she rediscovered the beauty of Jurai.
"Hey Daimyo. Come see." She cried from her spot at the window.
Deciding he should look or she may get angry and deny him food during their visit, he rose from the couch and joined her by the window. Looking out he saw that there was green that covered the ground, and there were cities that seemed to be incased in the forests of this world. He noticed that there seemed to be a massive tree they were flying towards. He couldn't see all of it, due to the fact that it was a window from the side and not the front.
"Hey Sasami, did you say that your castle was a giant tree?"
She giggles. "Yes, we used the great structure of the tree to carve the castle inside of it. Our planet coexists with the trees of Jurai. Do you have trees that can talk to you on your world Daimyo?"
"No. We don't have trees that can talk to us."
* We don't have much of anything that seems to resemble this place at all. Their powerful, yet their empire doesn't look as. . .bad as ours does. * He thought to himself.
"It looks like we're about to land. We should go join Mihoshi and my sister."
He nods his ok to her, then they both walk out the door into the corridor of the ship. They feel the ship connect with the ground as they are halfway to the bridge. On their way to the bridge they come to the junction of the hall where they can depart from the ship.
"Hey Sasami, I'll do my job as bodyguard and head outside to make sure everything is alright."
Sasami blushes at the thought of Daimyo being her bodyguard. "Alright, I'll go bring my sister and Mihoshi and tell them your checking outside."
Sasami turns and walks to get the others, while trying to get her face to stop blushing. She didn't want the others to see her getting so flushed about him.
* What a good kid she is. I hope she one day finds the love that she would like to have with me. But she could find someone a whole lot better. * He thought to himself, smiling at the thought of her fondness for him.
The outer door opens, letting him see the landing pad that they had used to park the ship at. It was a smoothly shaped build to the material that was used to make the structure of the castle. Walking out of the ship, he was able to see that the pad had a great view of the surrounding forest below. The green of the trees made it look like a weird design of grass as far as the eye could see, the sky also blended beautifully with the distant horizon.
The sound of the ships door closing back down broke him from his awe of the sights of the planet. He had walked down the ramp that the ship had outstretched for the passengers to depart. So he just assumed the door closes automatically and disregarded it, they would come out when they were ready. It looked like the coast was clear, there wasn't anyone around the area. So he walks to the small wall of the pad and looks over the ledge to see how high up they were. He saw the enormous roots to this gigantic tree that was the royal palace of Jurai. He figured they had to be at least a couple hundred yards up.
Daimyo suddenly heard a noise behind him and spun around, instinctively taking a fighting position to face this sudden noise. He saw there were three men, he could only assume they were guards of this palace. They didn't have guns, but they were armed with staffs.
"An assassin! Protect the Princesses!" One of the guards cried out.
Daimyo looks around himself to see if they were seeing someone else nearby. Seeing nobody else there, he looks at the guards and points to himself in question to their assumption. The guards rush him, knowing there wasn't time to explain Daimyo would show them the error in their judgment. The first guard to reach Daimyo moves to strike Daimyo's head, calling his opponents move before he could execute his attack, Daimyo leg sweeps the guard, sending him to the ground. The other two guards engaged him at the same time. Daimyo dodged their attacks by backing up and moving his body out of harms way. He was able to predict their moves by seeing the beginning movements of their arms. He was merely toying with these guards, hoping that they would eventually figure out they weren't going to beat him and give up.
* Wait. There's a problem with that plan. These soldiers believe they are fighting for an honorable cause, so their pride will never allow them to give in to defeat. * This thought entered Daimyo's head.
"Alright then, if you won't give up, then I'll have to fight you for real!" He declared to his attackers.
One of the guards went for an over the head strike with his staff. He brought it down with all his strength to connect it with Daimyo's head. The guard lost his concentration in the fight for a moment when he was surprised to see Daimyo stop his swing so suddenly with his left hand. This distraction was more than enough for Daimyo to take advantage of. Daimyo pushes forward on the staff to loosen the guards grip, then slams his right hand down onto the tip of the staff to send it rocketing into the guards chin. With that guard falling to the floor there was only one left standing. Both of them were now armed with a staff.
Both combatants circle one another, each trying to size the other one up. The guard knew that his opponent was definitely a skilled assassin, so he had to think of a good attack to try to overpower him somehow.
The guard rushed toward Daimyo with the end of his staff pointed toward his opponent. The soldier gave a steady charging cry while he rushed toward Daimyo like a medieval knight jousting. Daimyo twirled his staff around in front of him to show off a little bit, then stopped and tossed the staff toward the guard. The guard bats the wayward staff away before it connects with his face.
With the guard momentarily distracted, Daimyo charges in and grabs the end of the guards staff and pulls back hard. The guard looses his footing and falls into Daimyo's backhand that he tossed to take the guard down. With the guard on the ground Daimyo, lifts his right leg to bring it down onto the guard. Suddenly a blow lands onto the back of his head and he looses his balance and falls to the ground.
After hitting the ground, he feels a blow from the tip of a staff hitting him in the ribs. Followed soon after by a kick to the back. Daimyo looked up and saw a guard that must have gotten back up and sneaked behind him somehow. Soon the other two guards joined in on Daimyo's beating.
* How can this be? They are only guards! That is the lowest opponent anyone can face and now I loose to them as well!! * The thought ran into his mind, humiliating him even more.
"Stop!" A familiar voice cried out to the guards.
The guards look to the ship to see Sasami the second born princess of Jurai, had tears swelling up in her eyes.
"Stop it please! He's our friend!"
The guards back away from Daimyo and kneel down. "Forgive us princess Sasami, we misunderstood his intentions."
Sasami didn't seem to even hear their words of regret, she ran quickly to Daimyo to help him up.
"Daimyo are you alright?!" She asked scared that he had been injured badly from the beating she saw coming out of the ship.
Daimyo pulled his arm away from her grasp and turned to look away from her, she knew that his pride was again hurt. She wanted to say something to comfort him, but she didn't know if any words could comfort him at the moment. All she could do was stand up and watch him get up on his own and walk over to the wall of the pad. He just stood there in thought over what had again happened to him.
Ayeka and Mihoshi had also seen the beating that Daimyo had taken when they all came out together. Mihoshi stood there with concern for Daimyo written upon her face, with the slight signs of her coming close to crying for him. Ayeka on the other hand seemed to just have a small smile on her face. She didn't like or trust Daimyo, after all he was from Draka, she knew full and well what kind of monsters lived on that planet. Seeing Daimyo beaten was almost like seeing Voog himself being beaten. Somehow that had brought comfort to Ayeka.
Ayeka descended from the ships ramp and walked over to the guards who were still kneeling. They seemed to be worried about being punished for their misjudgment of Daimyo's intent.
"You are forgiven for your misjudgment. You are dismissed."
Ayeka walks on, as the guards rise from the ground. One of the guards walks over toward Daimyo, who still hadn't said anything after the fight.
"Forgive us for the misunderstanding sir. You are a very capable warrior and I respect your skills as a fighter. I have shamed myself for using a dishonorable tactic on a respectful fighter, but I had the welfare of the princesses in mind. I am sorry."
The guard turned and walked away after making his apology to Daimyo. The guard could tell from Daimyo's fighting that he was a proud warrior and that he most likely wouldn't forgive him for a long while. Daimyo remained fixated on the horizon, not wanting to look anyone in the eyes right now.
"Come on Daimyo, I'll show you around the palace." Sasami suggested, hoping to cheer him back up.
Daimyo merely turned around and began to walk towards the doorway that was in front of them.
***************
"AYEKA!!" Her mother Misaki cries out seconds before giving Ayeka one of her infamous bear hugs.
"Ha. . ha. . .hello mother." She replies patting her mother's back.
"Oh Ayeka I've missed you so much. I just can't stand to be apart from you for so long."
"I missed you too mother."
Misaki breaks the hug and looks meanly at Ayeka. Feeling her mother's anger growing, she decides that she can't win this battle. "Mommy! I missed you so much Mommy!" Ayeka says in the most childlike voice she can muster.
Misaki's face turns to total joy. "Oh, my little Ayeka!"
"My Mommy!"
Misaki pulls her in for an even more forceful hug. Ayeka makes a couple of gasping sounds as her mother continues the crushing hug.
"Welcome home Ayeka."
Ayeka recognized the sound of her father's voice. The barely emotional tone of his voice when he spoke in public was still there to greet her arrival home. Misaki released Ayeka to see if she wanted to hug her father.
"Thank you Father. It's good to see both of you again. If you'll excuse me I have something I need to take care of."
As Ayeka walked off, her father was about to scold her for not saying more to him, but figuring that she was now at home, he was happy.
* Well at least she finally came to her senses, I don't know what she was thinking, staying on earth with a mere boy who wouldn't help the empire in the slightest bit. Since she's here, I could find her a husband, one that is worthy of being an heir to the throne of Jurai. * Asuza thought to himself.
******************
"Common Daimyo this way." Sasami said pulling his hand to take him in the direction she was giving to tour.
They walk through a door to a hallway that was huge, the ceiling seemed to be a hundred feet up. It was several meters across to the opposite wall. The structure of the ceiling was supported by huge pillars that lined up with the carpet that was in the center that ran the length of the great hall.
"This is the great hall, my mother has been designing it's construction for a long while, but it doesn't look like their near finishing it though."
"Hmm." Daimyo replied.
Sasami was able to tell that he was still down about what had occurred nearly ten minutes ago, so she tried to think of something to show him that would cheer him up.
"Hey, I've got an idea, how about we head to the kitchen and see if they have anything for us to eat. Would you like that Daimyo?"
"Sure."
As Sasami dragged Daimyo around the palace he had noticed that the guards weren't fearful of Sasami's presence. Could their way of ruling be better than what ruler had assumed the throne on Draka? Could they have control over their empire with peace instead of fear?
* Why do I feel like this? I should be in awe at such beauty in a palace, but I do not. I feel. . . .more like disgust for this place. Why? *
"Daimyo, is something wrong?"
Sasami's question derailed his train of thought. "N. .no nothings wrong Sasami. You know I really don't feel like eating anything. Maybe I could go to a room or something to rest."
"Oh. . .ok." Sasami said trying not to sound disappointed. "Just follow me, I know a great room for you to stay in. You'll like it."
********************
Two great doors open into a room that seemed to go up and down for a long ways. Ayeka walks in and looks around. There are trees in spots to themselves, across a narrow bridge was another. This was where the space trees were kept. She walked around to different platforms in the great deep room, making her way to where she wanted to go. Finally she had come to the tree she was looking for, to do what she had made the trip back to her home planet for. She had come to the tree of Tsunami.
The tree itself was surrounded by a small pond to keep it's roots damp for it to live for however long it would be able to live. Ayeka remained near the edge of the pond, with no way to get closer to the tree without being soaked, she kneeled down and clapped her hands together to begin praying to the goddess Tsunami.
"Oh, Goddess Tsunami. You who created our people, you who created the space trees, please hear my prayer." She spoke softly aloud.
A sudden gust of wind blew Ayeka's hair toward her face, as tiny lights began to twirl from the ground up. The light's circled around to create a small tornado, which took on a more human form. There standing before her was the goddess Tsunami. She stood on the water of the pond, making the water look like a solid floor to stand on.
"Princess Ayeka." The goddess whispered softly.
"Goddess Tsunami. I come here today to ask you. ."
"I know why you have come here, Princess Ayeka." She interrupted.
"You do?" She asked in somewhat disbelieve, but more out of fear.
"Yes, you have come to ask something of me. Have you not?"
"Yes, I have. What is. . . .your answer?"
"My answer to your request is. . . .no."
Ayeka looked at Tsunami as though her own goddess that she worshipped had betrayed her. "No?" She questioned.
"No, I will not give you more power Princess Ayeka. You seek more power to extract your vengeance upon a man and I cannot allow you to do that."
"Why? Why do you not offer to help me? I am one of your children! I was. . . .I was desecrated and in my time of need you didn't help me! Now I come to ask you to help me become stronger to punish him and you will turn your back onto me!"
"Ayeka, I want you to consider what you are asking. You wish for more than punishment on him, you wish for his total destruction, as someone who cares, I do not want to nurture your thirst for revenge. Your hatred will only consume you Ayeka. Please morn what has happened to you and abandon your hate. If you continue to follow your thirst for vengeance it may cost you more than you are willing to lose."
"I don't care about any costs, I've lost everything already! Can't you see, I cannot get married now; no man would love me, not after they find out what happened to me! I was saving myself for the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and now I cannot give him anything!"
"Please Ayeka, remember my words. Abandon your hate, or you may lose more than you want too." With that the goddess disperses into tiny lights and they fade away.
Ayeka, still kneeled down, clenched her fists tightly, her anger building up inside of her. She had no other means of gaining enough power to challenge Voog, she had hoped Tsunami would have seen her plight of despair and offer her some of her power to destroy that evil. Now she was betrayed by her own goddess.
She stands up. "BLAST YOU TSUNAMI!!" She curses at the tree.
She turns around and walks off in frustration and anger. They were both feelings she was becoming very familiar with, since those were the only feelings she had left now. She could not feel love from her Tenchi, how could she, if she couldn't even welcome his touch. She had to have her vengeance, there was nothing else but Voog's destruction that would be able to release her from her hatred. But the question now was how would she accomplish that goal. She didn't have the power to withstand him.
* Wait. * An idea popped into her head. * Tenchi has the power of the Light Hawk Wings, perhaps I can convince him to go back to Draka with me and I can let him kill Voog for me. Seeing that monster die at the hands of the man that I love may be just as good as myself killing him. It could work, I'll have to think this over more. *
*****************
"Hmm" Escaped from the smiling lips of a being that existed in a higher plane of existence than most creatures could dream of. This being had the name of Lady Tokimi.
"What is so amusing Lady Tokimi?" Her servant D3 asked, materializing before her.
"Tsunami may be making this too easy. A window of opportunity has opened."
"What are your orders my lady?"
"No, I will take care of this myself."
"As you will my lady."
********************
"No, get away from me you heathen!" Ayeka yelled.
She was dreaming once again that she was back on Draka in the prison block that she was held captive. Her dream seemed so real, she could smell the dampness of the area, she could feel the mildew in the air and felt the despair that was abound in the atmosphere.
Standing before her was Voog. She could not see his face, for it was cast in shadow from the way the lighting of the block. But she knew it was him, from the way the man moved and from the way he laughed. She could never forget the laugh of the creature who showed her the horrors of the nature of man. She was once again unable to move under his power.
"Now my dear." Voog spoke, reaching his hand out toward her.
"No, don't touch me! Tenchi! Tsunami! Anyone help me!!" She cried out closing her eyes, knowing that there wouldn't be anyone to come to her rescue.
Suddenly she feels the floor give way underneath her, she opens her eyes to see what was the cause of her lose of feeling the ground. She sees the cell block disintegrating in front of her and Voog is disappearing as well. Within seconds there is darkness, then Ayeka begins to fall. She cannot see where she is heading and she cannot judge how far she is falling without seeing anything around her.
She gently lands in a field of flowers. Upon looking up she seeks a clear blue sky overhead. Sitting up, she looks around and sees flowers covering the landscape of a couple of hills she was laying in between. Her attention is grabbed by laughter coming from behind her. Turning around she sees a little girl around Sasami's age, perhaps younger, she was rolling in the flowers.
"Excuse me? Where are we?" Ayeka asked in a near whisper to the child.
" We are right here."
Ayeka couldn't help but smile at the reply. "Yes I know we are here, but where exactly is here?"
The little girl reaches behind her and holds out a crown made of some of the flowers. "Here I made this for you Ayeka."
"Oh my thank you, you know I used to. . . ." Ayeka reached out for the crown, but stopped mid sentence when she realized the girl knew her name.
"How. . .How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot about you Ayeka. I know that you used to make crowns out of flowers like these when you were younger. I know that you love a man that you father doesn't want you to wed. I also know what happened to you on Draka. After Draka you came here to ask Tsunami to grant you more power. Am I correct?"
Ayeka was stunned, she didn't know how to react to this situation. Where a little girl seemed to know her whole life and Ayeka didn't even know where she was.
"Tsunami refused to help you didn't she, that's the way she usually is. She tells her children that she will always be there to protect them and when one of them needs her help she doesn't lift a finger."
"What is this?! Is this some kind of joke Tsunami?! You don't think that I have suffered enough!" She yelled at the girl.
"I am not Tsunami Princess Ayeka. I would like to offer you help."
"H. .Help. From you?"
"Yes, I can grant you the power that you seek. I can give you enough power to make Voog plead for your forgiveness, to squirm at your feet like the snake that he is. Or you can crush him in an instant, like an insect under your foot."
"You can." She began to reach out to embrace this small child for giving her what she desired, but she backed up in doubt of her new friend.
"Tell me, why do you want to help me so much?"
"Because your despair that you felt on Draka caught my attention. I watched you endure the misery of that place and I felt like I wanted to help you out."
"What is. .your name?"
The child grins. "What's the matter Ayeka? Are you afraid your making a deal with the devil?"
Ayeka stepped back in disbelief. "Are. . .you. . ."
"No Ayeka. I am not the devil. I am someone who is offering you your chance for revenge, but if you don't want to trust me, then I can just end this dream and we'll never have this conversation again." The child holds her hand up to snap her fingers.
"No! Wait. I. . .I accept your offer. But what is it that you want me to do for you?" She asked, knowing there had to be a price.
"I don't want anything from you Ayeka."
"You. . . .you want nothing in return?"
"You don't have anything to offer that I would want. So let's call this a gift from a friend."
"So how do I get this power?"
"Well that's easy Ayeka. Just turn around and walk through the door."
Ayeka was about to ask what she meant, but she turned and saw there was a door standing a couple of feet behind her.
"When you walk through the door, you will awake to see that it is morning, you will remember this dream. But be careful, you won't feel the power that you have received immediately, but it will be there. Soon after, the knowledge of how to use the power will come to you, then you can seek your revenge."
Ayeka grabs the knob to the door. "Thank you. Whoever you are." Finishing her sentence, she opens the door and steps through.
"No problem Ayeka." The little girl grins. "No problem at all." She begins to laugh.
The serene landscape of the dream disappears, the girl remains smiling. The girl becomes blurry, her form grows and expands more. A new surrounding comes into light, a large room with an altar-like structure in the center. The small girls form is centered above the altar, she comes back into focus to reveal lady Tokimi.
"Now to work on reclaiming my Dragon." She spoke to herself.
*****************************
Images filled the dreamers head. Images of past glories and battles the warrior fought and came out on top. Numerous people faced him and wasn't able to offer much of a challenge to his fighting prowess. On his world he was once called the So of the Dragon, thought to be unbeatable and unkillable. Now here he was first beaten by a woman who he was able to fight back easily when he first arrived on earth, now he was degraded more by being defeated by mere guards.
Doubt in himself seemed to be plaguing his dreams this night. He felt himself getting weaker, but he couldn't figure out what was making him weaker. Could it have been these worlds that he has been too? He just didn't know.
"The So of the Dragon." A feminine voice uttered in his dream.
The images vanished and a woman appeared in front of Daimyo. He could tell from looking at her clothing that she must have been a woman of high stature. Perhaps a princess or queen of some kind. He couldn't tell if he should be bowing or not.
"Who wants to know?" He replied.
"Someone who knows you. I know more about you than you yourself know."
"I'll take your word for it."
"What if I told you I can make you the So of the Dragon again. In fact, I can make it to where you have unlocked your full potential Daimyo. You possess the Dark Dragon Scales, but you have only seen a fraction of it's full force. With my help, you won't have any equals in the entire universe. All you have to do is come with me Daimyo. What do you say?"
"No thanks lady. I don't need your help, I can get back to the way I was on my own. I just need to work harder and train more. Besides, I don't want power or anything to do with the scales."
"Perhaps I should give you some time to think about it. I don't need your answer right away. If you change your mind, I'll find you."
"Don't be holding your breath lady. Who are you anyway?"
"You will know who I am in time. Until we meet again."
The dream fades and he awakens to the morning sun shining into the windows of the room that Sasami had shown him to be his for the visit. Judging from the amount of light coming into the windows he slept longer than he wanted too.
* Boy talk about a crazy dream. Weird lady, what on Draka made me dream about that kind of dream. But then again with what happened yesterday, I don't think I really wanted to wake up. *
Realizing that he wasn't going to die in his sleep to save him from the humiliation that he would be feeling today, he decided to get out of the bed. He expected Sasami to be knocking on his door soon to try to show him more of the palace. He appreciated her attempts to cheer him up, but he just didn't feel like he was going to be cheered up. He just need some time to himself to get his head cleared up from whatever mistakes that he had been making. Then he would become the undefeatable So of the Dragon once again. But until then, he would most likely be in a grumpy mood. He went to reach for the door handle, when there was suddenly a couple of knocks on the door.
"Daimyo. It's Sasami. I was going to show you the rest of the Palace today."
* Huh, that's some timing. * He thought.
"Well time to face the day." He spoke softly to himself, before opening the door.
Thank you for reading my story thus far. I hope you are enjoying it. I will begin working on my next chapter soon.
Shogun Muyo - Chapter 11: The Rhythm of My Sorrow
There was darkness in all directions, not a single beam of light to illuminate anything within sight. A flash of light happens within an instant, but pain also accompanied the flash. Another flash occurs, bringing pain once more. Voices are heard, but the words cannot be made out. There is anger present in the sounds of the voices talking, Ryoko who was experiencing the pain and overhearing the voices covers her ears, but still feels the pain. She also realizes there is also a sense of urgency or danger, perhaps even both.
"Who's there?! Where am I?!"
She hears no reply from the voices, they continue talking as though she was never there. She covers her ears again and curls down onto what she could only think was the floor that was beneath her feet.
". . .stop. . . . ." She asked from her fetal position on the ground in a barely audible plea.
The voices continued, the girl knew that they either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her.
"Stop it." She asked louder.
There was still no change in the voices that were echoing in the darkness. She felt a buildup of anger beginning to rise in her, she was growing tired of being ignored. She was tired of feeling this pain and these feelings of doubt, fear, and urgency. She felt herself building up to the verge of erupting in anger, she didn't like this, she wanted to know why. More importantly she wanted this all to. . . .
"I SAID STOP!!!!" She cried throwing her head back and crying into the darkness.
"STOP!" She yelled sitting up on her beam in the house of the Masaki home.
She looked around to make sure that she was indeed inside the house. She wiped her forehead and noticed that she was sweating. She couldn't recall when she had a nightmare and woke up sweating from it. This was the fourth night in a row that she has had a nightmare. Four days ago Ayeka left the house to go back to Jurai, perhaps Ayeka had done something to cause her nightmares while she was away. She thought that it did seem a little too coincidental that the nightmares began the day that she left.
* It has to be Ayeka, there isn't anything else that happened. . . . . * Her train of thought rolled off, she had remembered something else that happened that day.
She looked at the gems on her wrists. * I also got these back on the same day. I don't believe Ayeka has any demonic powers, so that means that you three are causing me this pain. But why? You never hurt me before. *
Not thinking much more about it, she jumped down from the support beam and made herself comfortable on the couch. She turned the television on and looked to find if there was anything worth her time to watch.
***********************
Mireya was sitting under one of the trees that stand near the steps leading to the Masaki Shrine. She was sitting there taking in the sight of the world that her love Ayeka had told her about. It was indeed a lovely and peaceful place. She had to get used to not having to look over her shoulder at the slightest sound. She didn't have to worry about being attacked here, but her reflexes were still there.
She had been watching people from this planet go up to the shrine at the top of the stairs she was sitting near. Nobody noticed her sitting there watching them go by. Either that or they just didn't care if she was there or not. She had been trying to enjoy the planet, like Ayeka suggested she try, but she just couldn't help but feel saddened.
* This place would be more enjoyable if you were here to share it with me my love. My heart aches for you to be near me again Ae. I've never felt feelings for anyone like this before. You are the one love of my life and I can't be with you. * As she thought this a tear goes down her cheek. Suddenly her eyes narrow. * It's not like that Tenchi cares for you my love. He doesn't know how lucky he is to have your affection; he'll discard your heart like a useless piece of trash. Oohh, how I long for the two of us to be together. *
With her heart and thoughts aching to be with the woman she had come to love, she couldn't help but wonder what her love was doing at that moment.
***********************
It had been several days since they began their journey to Jurai, but finally they were preparing to enter the Jurian atmosphere. Ayeka stood in front of a window observing their decent down to the planets surface. It had been a long time since she had gazed upon her homeworld.
* It is good to see Jurai again. I thought that there was a possibility that I would never see it again. * She had to shake her current thoughts from her head. She had not returned to reminisce about her time spent living here. She had something that she had to do.
She turns away from the window and heads to the bridge of Mihoshi's ship, wanting to keep from having memories of the past and to concentrate on what was occurring now. Entering the ships bridge, Ayeka sees that Mihoshi is conversing with a man that seemed to be in charge of the security that would be in the area of their landing.
"Galaxy Police Ship Ukonojo, your request for landing has been approved. You will land on the pad located at the south end of the royal palace."
"Roger that, we are beginning our decent now."
Mihoshi ended communication with the personnel on the other end of the link. The ship adjusted itself to safely enter Jurai's atmosphere, due to Jurai having a landing beacon that the ship was able to fly in on.
Entering the atmosphere caused the ship to begin shaking from the force of their decent. Daimyo was in the break room of the ship sitting on the couch with Sasami sitting next to him.
"Hey Sasami?"
"Yes Daimyo?" She replied, her voice shaky from the turbulence.
"This. . .is normal right?"
"Yes, it gets a little shaky on entry."
"Oh, that's good."
* Of all the ways to die, this isn't one way I would like to get to the great beyond. * He thought to himself.
Looking out the window both of them could see the change from the black of space to the blue of the atmosphere. The ship's vibrations died down to a minimum and Sasami got up and looked out the window.
She saw her world's beauty again. Seeing the sight of how green her world was she had nearly forgotten how beautiful it was. She had spent her live growing up there, she had come to take the sights for granted, but after her long time away, she rediscovered the beauty of Jurai.
"Hey Daimyo. Come see." She cried from her spot at the window.
Deciding he should look or she may get angry and deny him food during their visit, he rose from the couch and joined her by the window. Looking out he saw that there was green that covered the ground, and there were cities that seemed to be incased in the forests of this world. He noticed that there seemed to be a massive tree they were flying towards. He couldn't see all of it, due to the fact that it was a window from the side and not the front.
"Hey Sasami, did you say that your castle was a giant tree?"
She giggles. "Yes, we used the great structure of the tree to carve the castle inside of it. Our planet coexists with the trees of Jurai. Do you have trees that can talk to you on your world Daimyo?"
"No. We don't have trees that can talk to us."
* We don't have much of anything that seems to resemble this place at all. Their powerful, yet their empire doesn't look as. . .bad as ours does. * He thought to himself.
"It looks like we're about to land. We should go join Mihoshi and my sister."
He nods his ok to her, then they both walk out the door into the corridor of the ship. They feel the ship connect with the ground as they are halfway to the bridge. On their way to the bridge they come to the junction of the hall where they can depart from the ship.
"Hey Sasami, I'll do my job as bodyguard and head outside to make sure everything is alright."
Sasami blushes at the thought of Daimyo being her bodyguard. "Alright, I'll go bring my sister and Mihoshi and tell them your checking outside."
Sasami turns and walks to get the others, while trying to get her face to stop blushing. She didn't want the others to see her getting so flushed about him.
* What a good kid she is. I hope she one day finds the love that she would like to have with me. But she could find someone a whole lot better. * He thought to himself, smiling at the thought of her fondness for him.
The outer door opens, letting him see the landing pad that they had used to park the ship at. It was a smoothly shaped build to the material that was used to make the structure of the castle. Walking out of the ship, he was able to see that the pad had a great view of the surrounding forest below. The green of the trees made it look like a weird design of grass as far as the eye could see, the sky also blended beautifully with the distant horizon.
The sound of the ships door closing back down broke him from his awe of the sights of the planet. He had walked down the ramp that the ship had outstretched for the passengers to depart. So he just assumed the door closes automatically and disregarded it, they would come out when they were ready. It looked like the coast was clear, there wasn't anyone around the area. So he walks to the small wall of the pad and looks over the ledge to see how high up they were. He saw the enormous roots to this gigantic tree that was the royal palace of Jurai. He figured they had to be at least a couple hundred yards up.
Daimyo suddenly heard a noise behind him and spun around, instinctively taking a fighting position to face this sudden noise. He saw there were three men, he could only assume they were guards of this palace. They didn't have guns, but they were armed with staffs.
"An assassin! Protect the Princesses!" One of the guards cried out.
Daimyo looks around himself to see if they were seeing someone else nearby. Seeing nobody else there, he looks at the guards and points to himself in question to their assumption. The guards rush him, knowing there wasn't time to explain Daimyo would show them the error in their judgment. The first guard to reach Daimyo moves to strike Daimyo's head, calling his opponents move before he could execute his attack, Daimyo leg sweeps the guard, sending him to the ground. The other two guards engaged him at the same time. Daimyo dodged their attacks by backing up and moving his body out of harms way. He was able to predict their moves by seeing the beginning movements of their arms. He was merely toying with these guards, hoping that they would eventually figure out they weren't going to beat him and give up.
* Wait. There's a problem with that plan. These soldiers believe they are fighting for an honorable cause, so their pride will never allow them to give in to defeat. * This thought entered Daimyo's head.
"Alright then, if you won't give up, then I'll have to fight you for real!" He declared to his attackers.
One of the guards went for an over the head strike with his staff. He brought it down with all his strength to connect it with Daimyo's head. The guard lost his concentration in the fight for a moment when he was surprised to see Daimyo stop his swing so suddenly with his left hand. This distraction was more than enough for Daimyo to take advantage of. Daimyo pushes forward on the staff to loosen the guards grip, then slams his right hand down onto the tip of the staff to send it rocketing into the guards chin. With that guard falling to the floor there was only one left standing. Both of them were now armed with a staff.
Both combatants circle one another, each trying to size the other one up. The guard knew that his opponent was definitely a skilled assassin, so he had to think of a good attack to try to overpower him somehow.
The guard rushed toward Daimyo with the end of his staff pointed toward his opponent. The soldier gave a steady charging cry while he rushed toward Daimyo like a medieval knight jousting. Daimyo twirled his staff around in front of him to show off a little bit, then stopped and tossed the staff toward the guard. The guard bats the wayward staff away before it connects with his face.
With the guard momentarily distracted, Daimyo charges in and grabs the end of the guards staff and pulls back hard. The guard looses his footing and falls into Daimyo's backhand that he tossed to take the guard down. With the guard on the ground Daimyo, lifts his right leg to bring it down onto the guard. Suddenly a blow lands onto the back of his head and he looses his balance and falls to the ground.
After hitting the ground, he feels a blow from the tip of a staff hitting him in the ribs. Followed soon after by a kick to the back. Daimyo looked up and saw a guard that must have gotten back up and sneaked behind him somehow. Soon the other two guards joined in on Daimyo's beating.
* How can this be? They are only guards! That is the lowest opponent anyone can face and now I loose to them as well!! * The thought ran into his mind, humiliating him even more.
"Stop!" A familiar voice cried out to the guards.
The guards look to the ship to see Sasami the second born princess of Jurai, had tears swelling up in her eyes.
"Stop it please! He's our friend!"
The guards back away from Daimyo and kneel down. "Forgive us princess Sasami, we misunderstood his intentions."
Sasami didn't seem to even hear their words of regret, she ran quickly to Daimyo to help him up.
"Daimyo are you alright?!" She asked scared that he had been injured badly from the beating she saw coming out of the ship.
Daimyo pulled his arm away from her grasp and turned to look away from her, she knew that his pride was again hurt. She wanted to say something to comfort him, but she didn't know if any words could comfort him at the moment. All she could do was stand up and watch him get up on his own and walk over to the wall of the pad. He just stood there in thought over what had again happened to him.
Ayeka and Mihoshi had also seen the beating that Daimyo had taken when they all came out together. Mihoshi stood there with concern for Daimyo written upon her face, with the slight signs of her coming close to crying for him. Ayeka on the other hand seemed to just have a small smile on her face. She didn't like or trust Daimyo, after all he was from Draka, she knew full and well what kind of monsters lived on that planet. Seeing Daimyo beaten was almost like seeing Voog himself being beaten. Somehow that had brought comfort to Ayeka.
Ayeka descended from the ships ramp and walked over to the guards who were still kneeling. They seemed to be worried about being punished for their misjudgment of Daimyo's intent.
"You are forgiven for your misjudgment. You are dismissed."
Ayeka walks on, as the guards rise from the ground. One of the guards walks over toward Daimyo, who still hadn't said anything after the fight.
"Forgive us for the misunderstanding sir. You are a very capable warrior and I respect your skills as a fighter. I have shamed myself for using a dishonorable tactic on a respectful fighter, but I had the welfare of the princesses in mind. I am sorry."
The guard turned and walked away after making his apology to Daimyo. The guard could tell from Daimyo's fighting that he was a proud warrior and that he most likely wouldn't forgive him for a long while. Daimyo remained fixated on the horizon, not wanting to look anyone in the eyes right now.
"Come on Daimyo, I'll show you around the palace." Sasami suggested, hoping to cheer him back up.
Daimyo merely turned around and began to walk towards the doorway that was in front of them.
***************
"AYEKA!!" Her mother Misaki cries out seconds before giving Ayeka one of her infamous bear hugs.
"Ha. . ha. . .hello mother." She replies patting her mother's back.
"Oh Ayeka I've missed you so much. I just can't stand to be apart from you for so long."
"I missed you too mother."
Misaki breaks the hug and looks meanly at Ayeka. Feeling her mother's anger growing, she decides that she can't win this battle. "Mommy! I missed you so much Mommy!" Ayeka says in the most childlike voice she can muster.
Misaki's face turns to total joy. "Oh, my little Ayeka!"
"My Mommy!"
Misaki pulls her in for an even more forceful hug. Ayeka makes a couple of gasping sounds as her mother continues the crushing hug.
"Welcome home Ayeka."
Ayeka recognized the sound of her father's voice. The barely emotional tone of his voice when he spoke in public was still there to greet her arrival home. Misaki released Ayeka to see if she wanted to hug her father.
"Thank you Father. It's good to see both of you again. If you'll excuse me I have something I need to take care of."
As Ayeka walked off, her father was about to scold her for not saying more to him, but figuring that she was now at home, he was happy.
* Well at least she finally came to her senses, I don't know what she was thinking, staying on earth with a mere boy who wouldn't help the empire in the slightest bit. Since she's here, I could find her a husband, one that is worthy of being an heir to the throne of Jurai. * Asuza thought to himself.
******************
"Common Daimyo this way." Sasami said pulling his hand to take him in the direction she was giving to tour.
They walk through a door to a hallway that was huge, the ceiling seemed to be a hundred feet up. It was several meters across to the opposite wall. The structure of the ceiling was supported by huge pillars that lined up with the carpet that was in the center that ran the length of the great hall.
"This is the great hall, my mother has been designing it's construction for a long while, but it doesn't look like their near finishing it though."
"Hmm." Daimyo replied.
Sasami was able to tell that he was still down about what had occurred nearly ten minutes ago, so she tried to think of something to show him that would cheer him up.
"Hey, I've got an idea, how about we head to the kitchen and see if they have anything for us to eat. Would you like that Daimyo?"
"Sure."
As Sasami dragged Daimyo around the palace he had noticed that the guards weren't fearful of Sasami's presence. Could their way of ruling be better than what ruler had assumed the throne on Draka? Could they have control over their empire with peace instead of fear?
* Why do I feel like this? I should be in awe at such beauty in a palace, but I do not. I feel. . . .more like disgust for this place. Why? *
"Daimyo, is something wrong?"
Sasami's question derailed his train of thought. "N. .no nothings wrong Sasami. You know I really don't feel like eating anything. Maybe I could go to a room or something to rest."
"Oh. . .ok." Sasami said trying not to sound disappointed. "Just follow me, I know a great room for you to stay in. You'll like it."
********************
Two great doors open into a room that seemed to go up and down for a long ways. Ayeka walks in and looks around. There are trees in spots to themselves, across a narrow bridge was another. This was where the space trees were kept. She walked around to different platforms in the great deep room, making her way to where she wanted to go. Finally she had come to the tree she was looking for, to do what she had made the trip back to her home planet for. She had come to the tree of Tsunami.
The tree itself was surrounded by a small pond to keep it's roots damp for it to live for however long it would be able to live. Ayeka remained near the edge of the pond, with no way to get closer to the tree without being soaked, she kneeled down and clapped her hands together to begin praying to the goddess Tsunami.
"Oh, Goddess Tsunami. You who created our people, you who created the space trees, please hear my prayer." She spoke softly aloud.
A sudden gust of wind blew Ayeka's hair toward her face, as tiny lights began to twirl from the ground up. The light's circled around to create a small tornado, which took on a more human form. There standing before her was the goddess Tsunami. She stood on the water of the pond, making the water look like a solid floor to stand on.
"Princess Ayeka." The goddess whispered softly.
"Goddess Tsunami. I come here today to ask you. ."
"I know why you have come here, Princess Ayeka." She interrupted.
"You do?" She asked in somewhat disbelieve, but more out of fear.
"Yes, you have come to ask something of me. Have you not?"
"Yes, I have. What is. . . .your answer?"
"My answer to your request is. . . .no."
Ayeka looked at Tsunami as though her own goddess that she worshipped had betrayed her. "No?" She questioned.
"No, I will not give you more power Princess Ayeka. You seek more power to extract your vengeance upon a man and I cannot allow you to do that."
"Why? Why do you not offer to help me? I am one of your children! I was. . . .I was desecrated and in my time of need you didn't help me! Now I come to ask you to help me become stronger to punish him and you will turn your back onto me!"
"Ayeka, I want you to consider what you are asking. You wish for more than punishment on him, you wish for his total destruction, as someone who cares, I do not want to nurture your thirst for revenge. Your hatred will only consume you Ayeka. Please morn what has happened to you and abandon your hate. If you continue to follow your thirst for vengeance it may cost you more than you are willing to lose."
"I don't care about any costs, I've lost everything already! Can't you see, I cannot get married now; no man would love me, not after they find out what happened to me! I was saving myself for the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and now I cannot give him anything!"
"Please Ayeka, remember my words. Abandon your hate, or you may lose more than you want too." With that the goddess disperses into tiny lights and they fade away.
Ayeka, still kneeled down, clenched her fists tightly, her anger building up inside of her. She had no other means of gaining enough power to challenge Voog, she had hoped Tsunami would have seen her plight of despair and offer her some of her power to destroy that evil. Now she was betrayed by her own goddess.
She stands up. "BLAST YOU TSUNAMI!!" She curses at the tree.
She turns around and walks off in frustration and anger. They were both feelings she was becoming very familiar with, since those were the only feelings she had left now. She could not feel love from her Tenchi, how could she, if she couldn't even welcome his touch. She had to have her vengeance, there was nothing else but Voog's destruction that would be able to release her from her hatred. But the question now was how would she accomplish that goal. She didn't have the power to withstand him.
* Wait. * An idea popped into her head. * Tenchi has the power of the Light Hawk Wings, perhaps I can convince him to go back to Draka with me and I can let him kill Voog for me. Seeing that monster die at the hands of the man that I love may be just as good as myself killing him. It could work, I'll have to think this over more. *
*****************
"Hmm" Escaped from the smiling lips of a being that existed in a higher plane of existence than most creatures could dream of. This being had the name of Lady Tokimi.
"What is so amusing Lady Tokimi?" Her servant D3 asked, materializing before her.
"Tsunami may be making this too easy. A window of opportunity has opened."
"What are your orders my lady?"
"No, I will take care of this myself."
"As you will my lady."
********************
"No, get away from me you heathen!" Ayeka yelled.
She was dreaming once again that she was back on Draka in the prison block that she was held captive. Her dream seemed so real, she could smell the dampness of the area, she could feel the mildew in the air and felt the despair that was abound in the atmosphere.
Standing before her was Voog. She could not see his face, for it was cast in shadow from the way the lighting of the block. But she knew it was him, from the way the man moved and from the way he laughed. She could never forget the laugh of the creature who showed her the horrors of the nature of man. She was once again unable to move under his power.
"Now my dear." Voog spoke, reaching his hand out toward her.
"No, don't touch me! Tenchi! Tsunami! Anyone help me!!" She cried out closing her eyes, knowing that there wouldn't be anyone to come to her rescue.
Suddenly she feels the floor give way underneath her, she opens her eyes to see what was the cause of her lose of feeling the ground. She sees the cell block disintegrating in front of her and Voog is disappearing as well. Within seconds there is darkness, then Ayeka begins to fall. She cannot see where she is heading and she cannot judge how far she is falling without seeing anything around her.
She gently lands in a field of flowers. Upon looking up she seeks a clear blue sky overhead. Sitting up, she looks around and sees flowers covering the landscape of a couple of hills she was laying in between. Her attention is grabbed by laughter coming from behind her. Turning around she sees a little girl around Sasami's age, perhaps younger, she was rolling in the flowers.
"Excuse me? Where are we?" Ayeka asked in a near whisper to the child.
" We are right here."
Ayeka couldn't help but smile at the reply. "Yes I know we are here, but where exactly is here?"
The little girl reaches behind her and holds out a crown made of some of the flowers. "Here I made this for you Ayeka."
"Oh my thank you, you know I used to. . . ." Ayeka reached out for the crown, but stopped mid sentence when she realized the girl knew her name.
"How. . .How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot about you Ayeka. I know that you used to make crowns out of flowers like these when you were younger. I know that you love a man that you father doesn't want you to wed. I also know what happened to you on Draka. After Draka you came here to ask Tsunami to grant you more power. Am I correct?"
Ayeka was stunned, she didn't know how to react to this situation. Where a little girl seemed to know her whole life and Ayeka didn't even know where she was.
"Tsunami refused to help you didn't she, that's the way she usually is. She tells her children that she will always be there to protect them and when one of them needs her help she doesn't lift a finger."
"What is this?! Is this some kind of joke Tsunami?! You don't think that I have suffered enough!" She yelled at the girl.
"I am not Tsunami Princess Ayeka. I would like to offer you help."
"H. .Help. From you?"
"Yes, I can grant you the power that you seek. I can give you enough power to make Voog plead for your forgiveness, to squirm at your feet like the snake that he is. Or you can crush him in an instant, like an insect under your foot."
"You can." She began to reach out to embrace this small child for giving her what she desired, but she backed up in doubt of her new friend.
"Tell me, why do you want to help me so much?"
"Because your despair that you felt on Draka caught my attention. I watched you endure the misery of that place and I felt like I wanted to help you out."
"What is. .your name?"
The child grins. "What's the matter Ayeka? Are you afraid your making a deal with the devil?"
Ayeka stepped back in disbelief. "Are. . .you. . ."
"No Ayeka. I am not the devil. I am someone who is offering you your chance for revenge, but if you don't want to trust me, then I can just end this dream and we'll never have this conversation again." The child holds her hand up to snap her fingers.
"No! Wait. I. . .I accept your offer. But what is it that you want me to do for you?" She asked, knowing there had to be a price.
"I don't want anything from you Ayeka."
"You. . . .you want nothing in return?"
"You don't have anything to offer that I would want. So let's call this a gift from a friend."
"So how do I get this power?"
"Well that's easy Ayeka. Just turn around and walk through the door."
Ayeka was about to ask what she meant, but she turned and saw there was a door standing a couple of feet behind her.
"When you walk through the door, you will awake to see that it is morning, you will remember this dream. But be careful, you won't feel the power that you have received immediately, but it will be there. Soon after, the knowledge of how to use the power will come to you, then you can seek your revenge."
Ayeka grabs the knob to the door. "Thank you. Whoever you are." Finishing her sentence, she opens the door and steps through.
"No problem Ayeka." The little girl grins. "No problem at all." She begins to laugh.
The serene landscape of the dream disappears, the girl remains smiling. The girl becomes blurry, her form grows and expands more. A new surrounding comes into light, a large room with an altar-like structure in the center. The small girls form is centered above the altar, she comes back into focus to reveal lady Tokimi.
"Now to work on reclaiming my Dragon." She spoke to herself.
*****************************
Images filled the dreamers head. Images of past glories and battles the warrior fought and came out on top. Numerous people faced him and wasn't able to offer much of a challenge to his fighting prowess. On his world he was once called the So of the Dragon, thought to be unbeatable and unkillable. Now here he was first beaten by a woman who he was able to fight back easily when he first arrived on earth, now he was degraded more by being defeated by mere guards.
Doubt in himself seemed to be plaguing his dreams this night. He felt himself getting weaker, but he couldn't figure out what was making him weaker. Could it have been these worlds that he has been too? He just didn't know.
"The So of the Dragon." A feminine voice uttered in his dream.
The images vanished and a woman appeared in front of Daimyo. He could tell from looking at her clothing that she must have been a woman of high stature. Perhaps a princess or queen of some kind. He couldn't tell if he should be bowing or not.
"Who wants to know?" He replied.
"Someone who knows you. I know more about you than you yourself know."
"I'll take your word for it."
"What if I told you I can make you the So of the Dragon again. In fact, I can make it to where you have unlocked your full potential Daimyo. You possess the Dark Dragon Scales, but you have only seen a fraction of it's full force. With my help, you won't have any equals in the entire universe. All you have to do is come with me Daimyo. What do you say?"
"No thanks lady. I don't need your help, I can get back to the way I was on my own. I just need to work harder and train more. Besides, I don't want power or anything to do with the scales."
"Perhaps I should give you some time to think about it. I don't need your answer right away. If you change your mind, I'll find you."
"Don't be holding your breath lady. Who are you anyway?"
"You will know who I am in time. Until we meet again."
The dream fades and he awakens to the morning sun shining into the windows of the room that Sasami had shown him to be his for the visit. Judging from the amount of light coming into the windows he slept longer than he wanted too.
* Boy talk about a crazy dream. Weird lady, what on Draka made me dream about that kind of dream. But then again with what happened yesterday, I don't think I really wanted to wake up. *
Realizing that he wasn't going to die in his sleep to save him from the humiliation that he would be feeling today, he decided to get out of the bed. He expected Sasami to be knocking on his door soon to try to show him more of the palace. He appreciated her attempts to cheer him up, but he just didn't feel like he was going to be cheered up. He just need some time to himself to get his head cleared up from whatever mistakes that he had been making. Then he would become the undefeatable So of the Dragon once again. But until then, he would most likely be in a grumpy mood. He went to reach for the door handle, when there was suddenly a couple of knocks on the door.
"Daimyo. It's Sasami. I was going to show you the rest of the Palace today."
* Huh, that's some timing. * He thought.
"Well time to face the day." He spoke softly to himself, before opening the door.
Thank you for reading my story thus far. I hope you are enjoying it. I will begin working on my next chapter soon.
