Chapter Eleven


So, this was Yubisu.

Tenchi gazed around him as they walked slowly through the streets of the planet's principal city, a strange feeling settling in his heart. Buildings flanked the streets, each the same as the one before and none of them giving any clue to the people who lived within. Dust and scraps of paper and other rubbish rattled along the cobbles in the breeze, and over his head, thick cables took power and communications from one end of the planet to the other. Despite the high-technology feel of the world, however, there was no transport on the streets and few people walked among them. Those that did stopped to whisper, nudging one another and pointing in their direction. It was clear they were strangers here, and despite himself, Tenchi felt a shade uneasy.

He glanced at his companion, taking in the preoccupation on her face and impulsively he reached out a hand, gripping her slender fingers in his and giving them a squeeze. She raised startled gold eyes to his, then a slight smile touched her lips.

"It's just like I remember it." She said thoughtfully. "Strange and empty. Do you feel it too? The planet without a soul."

"That's what I was just trying to make sense of." Tenchi admitted, reaching up his free hand to scratch his head. "I couldn't put my finger on it, but you've nailed it exactly."

He pursed his lips.

"But this is where you were born...or at least, where you lived. Right?" He added. "So your mother must have come from here. Surely? I mean, why else would you stay?"

"I don't know." Ryoko admitted. "Because it's a long way from central Juraian administration? I didn't find much information about Yubisu on Ryo Ohki's databanks, but from what Azusa said to me, visits from the Juraian Royal Family are few and far between. Whoever runs this show probably has a pretty free reign - and I doubt much happens here that Jurai get to know about."

She frowned.

"I remember that it was always a bit strange." She added. "Being here makes the recollections even more vivid. Mother would always hate us being outside, especially after dark. Sometimes she'd seem afraid...there'd be noises, like sirens, and people shouting in the streets outside. It used to scare me...give me bad dreams."

She looked embarrassed.

"I used to be afraid of the dark." She admitted, a red tint touching her cheeks. "Because it sounded like monsters were abroad when the sun set...and Mother always seemed so on edge when the noises came. Of course, now I don't think it was monsters. Maybe some kind of curfew or police raid. But things stay with you. You know, I think I only stopped being scared of the night when I took up with Haki. He must have taken that away along with my memories."

Tenchi grinned.

"Don't get embarrassed." He told her. "I like knowing that sometimes you're afraid of things, too."

"Well, I'm not afraid of it any more, nor am I afraid to walk down these streets." Ryoko glanced up at the tall blank houses. "I don't think we're far from where we used to live, actually. I have a vague recollection of that cornerstone...there."

She pointed, and Tenchi followed her gaze, taking in the odd shaped lump of rock. Once it might have been a statue, but now it was so worn and damaged that it's very presence seemed out of place among the modern aura of the city. He sent her a questioning look, and she spread her hands.

"I don't know what it's meant to be either." She owned. "But I remember it being there. So we can't be too far away. Across the square, down the second street..."

She trailed off, stopping dead as they stepped out into the main square and Tenchi soon saw why she had faltered. Three men and one woman were bound in the centre of the square, ropes pulled tightly around their arms and legs. He let out an exclamation, taking a step forward as if to free them, but Ryoko held him back.

"There are things we just shouldn't get involved in." She said quietly. "This is how thieves are punished on Yubisu, Tenchi. They're bound and stoned by the passers by. If we free them, we'll be the next ones in line for a beating - they'll think we're in league with them. Especially if they happen to recognise my face as the Space Pirate Ryoko. News of my pardon may not have spread this far yet...so let's not draw attention to ourselves, huh?"

"I didn't think anywhere still sanctioned stoning." Tenchi was stunned. "Even on the Earth, that's an outmoded form of punishment. This place looks so modern and up to date...space travel, high speed technology...and yet they still treat their criminals this way?"

"Well, every place is different." Ryoko said with a shrug. "I'm serious though, Tenchi. We're not getting involved with this. It's not our fight and we're not going to stay longer here than we have to."

Ryo Ohki let out a little hiss from her perch atop Ryoko's shoulder, as if in agreement, and Tenchi sighed, but allowed himself to be led past the bound convicts, crossing the square and heading down the second road.

Though at first glance it looked like all of the others, Tenchi soon realised that it was not. Where he had seen curtains at windows and lights in houses in the other streets, this one gave no signs of life, and the bright paint that coloured the walls of the buildings was chipped and dulled, tarnished and not renewed. On one house, a door hung loosely on it's hinges, creaking and groaning in the wind. He frowned, glancing at Ryoko.

"Are you sure this is where we're supposed to be?" He asked. Ryoko's expression became grim.

"Oh yes." She said firmly. "This is it all right. I remember it like yesterday."

She raised her hand, shooting a bolt of energy across the street and blasting the loose door off it's hinges, sending it clattering across the road. Tenchi visibly jumped, then grabbed her by the arm, glancing around him in alarm.

"What are you doing? You said you didn't want to draw attention to yourself!"

"Well, noone is here. The street is dead." Ryoko said quietly. "Besides, the door was falling down anyway. That was Lord Haru's doing. I remember very vividly how he charged at it like a rampaging bull."

A rueful look touched her face.

"Although he was going to help my mother, so I suppose I can't fault him." She acknowledged. "He did try."

"So that was your house." Tenchi realised, as they crossed the street, Ryoko pausing in the doorway, then taking Tenchi by the hand, leading him inside. "You're sure? Beyond all doubt?"

"Beyond all doubt." Ryoko nodded. She turned, pointing out onto the pavement outside. "That's where Azusa found me. This wasn't a dead street then - there were people here, and life, and all kinds of things. But I guess things change. It has been a long time, and I wouldn't want to live on a street where someone was murdered."

"Do you know what happened to her?" Tenchi asked gently. Ryoko shook her head.

"No." She said shortly. "But one thing I do believe of Azusa and his pesky brother is that they wouldn't have just left her here to rot. They would have done something, Tenchi. But where she is buried, or if she was cremated...I don't know. I didn't ask him and I don't really need that information. After all, beyond death, few people care where they lie."

"True enough." Tenchi inclined his head in agreement, then, "Ouch!" As he hit his toe on a protruding door frame. "It's dark in here! Any chance of some light?"

"At your service." Ryoko pushed her palms together, and crackles of energy illuminated the room, sparking out from her fingers like electric charges. "Better?"

"Better." Tenchi agreed. "So what are we looking for, exactly? The place is empty, and looks like it has been for a long time. What do you expect to find? I mean, wouldn't it be better to ask people if they remember her, rather than breaking into your old house?"

"This planet? No." Ryoko shook her head. "Nobody pays attention to anyone else. Maybe that's why Mother came here. She thought she was under the radar."

She pushed aside the heavy drape that acted as a doorway, beckoning for Tenchi to follow her and as he did so, he saw a tall, spiral staircase, wooden and rotted in places but still sound. Ryoko hovered above the steps, glancing down at him.

"Mother's room was up there." She said softly. "She never liked me climbing these, but I always wanted to anyway. I loved being up high, looking out of her window at all the people down below. But she'd scold me, if I came up by myself. I was so young, you see, and I didn't master flight till I was nine or ten. She was afraid I'd hurt myself, but I never did."

She sighed, chewing on her lip.

"Except for that last time." She added. "She didn't scold me then."

"So we're going up?" Tenchi asked gently. Ryoko nodded.

"Yes." She agreed. "Because in truth, I don't know where else we can go."

With that she hovered upwards, phasing through the floors to the top level. Tenchi glanced at the steep, winding stair, then set his teeth, carefully manoeuvring himself between bits of stable wood and avoiding the sections that were dark and unsafe. At length he found himself in a narrow, box-like hall, with one door leading off it, and he made for that, finding his companion standing at the window, staring out at the deserted street below.

The room was bare, curtains stripped and floors taken up, with no pictures on the wall and no furniture to speak of. The room had been thoroughly cleared, as if to conceal what had taken place there. Dust covered the barren floorboards, but beneath it, Tenchi could make out the dark stain that told of spilt human blood. His heart tugged as he remembered Ryoko's memory.

"This was where it happened." He said softly. "This is where you found her, isn't it?"

"Yes." Ryoko turned from the window, an unreadable look on her face. "And I guess you're right, Tenchi. That coming here was a waste of our time. It has been a long time since I was here. Of course all trace of her is going to be gone. Just stands to reason. I mean, if you clear out a corpse, you might as well make some coin on her belongings."

There was a bitter edge to her voice, and Tenchi slid his arms around her, holding her tightly.

"I'm sorry." He murmured. "I know you wanted to find something more."

"I don't know what I wanted." Ryoko shrugged helplessly. "I don't even know why we came. It was a crazy idea...put in my head by Washu and her deranged rantings. The woman is quite mad, Tenchi...I should know better than to take notice of her and her deluded thoughts."

A yowl from Ryo Ohki prevented Tenchi from answering, and he turned, seeing the cabbit scratching pitiously at the floorboards, uttering another miaow as she tried to get their attention. He frowned, sending the creature a confused look.

"What are you trying to do, Ryo Ohki?" He asked gently. "What's wrong?"

"Have you got something?" Ryoko was alert at once, crouching at the cabbit's side and reaching a hand to the floor, brushing away the thick coating of dust. "What have you found? Your nose is sharper than mine...have you scented something out?"

Ryo Ohki scraped at the floorboards once more, raising her gaze to her mistress, who frowned.

"There's something stuck between the boards." She said, and Tenchi came to join them, squinting down at the wooden slats.

"I don't see anything." He said at length.

"Me either." Ryoko owned. "But if Ryo Ohki says it's there, then it's there."

She slid her hand carefully through the wooden beams, fishing around for a moment and then withdrawing it, something small and white gripped between her fingers. Tenchi's brows knitted in confusion.

"What is it?" He asked. Ryoko did not answer at first, rubbing the object hard with her free hand, then she glanced up at him, surprise glittering in her amber eyes.

"It's a hall pass." She said, confusion in her voice. "For the Science Academy."

"The Science Academy?" Tenchi stared. "But...are you telling me your mother was wound up in that place, as well?"

"Looks that way." Ryoko nodded her head. "Kichi Itokawa. That's what it says. I don't know for sure what my mother's surname was, but Kichi was her first name...it'd be too much of a coincidence for this not to be hers."

She reached out a hand, scratching Ryo Ohki under the chin.

"Well done, Ryo Ohki. They obviously missed this when they cleared her out of existance. It must have got knocked down between the beams and out of sight."

"Human sight, anyway." Tenchi scooped up the cabbit, and the small creature let out a purr, jumping up onto his shoulder. "So what now? Are we going to the Science Academy?"

"I guess we have to, now we've begun all of this." Ryoko pursed her lips, looking thoughtful. "See, I imagined that my mother must have been wound up with Kagato somehow - some sordid secret, some forbidden affair, perhaps. That maybe she came to the edges of the world like this to avoid his attention. But what Washu said is bugging me. And now this...it's the last thing I expected to find here. Only the smartest people get into the Science Academy - isn't that right? The smartest and the most dedicated to their art. That being so..."

"Why did she give everything up there to hide in this backwater?" Tenchi finished softly. "And how does Kagato come into all of this?"

"My questions exactly." Ryoko nodded. She cast Ryo Ohki a glance. "All right...guess you know what I want you to do now, Ryo Ohki. Science Academy, next stop."

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So that was the way of it.

Washu sat back in her chair, her brow creased in a deep frown of concentration as she watched the numbers slowly rising. As they reached their pitch, she reached out to hit a button, never taking her eyes off the screen. Immediately, a sequence of graphs and diagrams flashed up around her, and she bit her lip, absorbing their readings with a critical eye.

At length she sighed.

"No doubt about it." She said aloud. "There are two life forces buried in that tree, and only one of them is recognisable as a tree of Jurai. But can I prove that the force is Kagato? I have so little to work with and I don't know how much time I even have. Plus, with Ryoko out of the picture..."

She bit down hard on her lip, tasting blood.

"I hope that there is a plan B." She admitted to herself. "I don't know whether Ryoko is strong enough to even matter in this equation, or if she's already ruined by her lack of discipline and understanding. But either way, if things are heading in the direction I fear they are heading..."

She faltered, keying more information into her screen and reading over the response. She nodded slowly.

"There is a Juraian element to this other life force, but I don't know if I can match it to Kagato." She muttered. "If only I could find what I was looking for in among all this mess. After Tenchi beat Kagato, I remember clearly that I recorded and tested elements of his brain patterns, trying to discover the secret behind his success. But if I could overlay the memory of that battle alongside this, I might be able to make a comparison. Whether Kagato was a true blooded prince of Jurai or not isn't really important. After all, Tenchi mustered the Jurai Power and his blood isn't exactly all Juraian. Finding out if it is Kagato's energy inside the tree - that is all that matters."

She leaned across to a second console, hitting buttons at a furious rate as she searched through her extensive data banks for the file she wanted.

"The least I can do is give Sasami all the preparation that I can." She decided. "After all, if I can't count on Ryoko, Tsunami might be Jurai's only hope against this darkness. If she even has the time to absorb all that I can tell her and all that she needs to know before the situation is upon us. Whatever it is has begun by poisoning Souja, but it won't stop there. Souja's roots burrow deep into the ground, and his sap soaks through the grass, destroying and warping the vegetation around him. How long before the poison spreads deeper and further across Jurai? How much time do we have before this infiltrates the water, the trees, the very people of the planet, turning their souls and their lives as he grows stronger? This whole thing is much bigger than I ever could have imagined when I first decided to create Ryoko, all those years ago. I was so naive...and I only hope Jurai isn't going to pay for my stupidity. That's a lot of lives to be at stake, and...ahah! Got it!" As she finally located the file she wanted, transferring it across to her main computer.

"Right. Now. Where was I? Tenchi's thought patterns, and Kagato's presence. There must be something in here - Tenchi was exposed to Kagato's particular brand of dark magic, so he must have picked up some radiation in the process..."

She trailed off, narrowing her eyes as she painstakingly overlaid one file on top of the other. Then she leant back, examining the results with shadowed eyes. At length, she sighed.

"As we thought." She murmured. "Kagato's energy is inside that tree. I should have seen this before...back when Tenchi first fought him. I had the evidence here all the time, and I was complacent. I ignored it. I thought I'd found a new nemesis for that devil prince, but it's not that simple. Kagato's body fell, but his spirit left it before it did. How could you be so simple, Washu? Call yourself any kind of a genius? You're a fool!"

She banged her fists down on the console in frustration, glaring at it as the screen blurred and flickered under her outburst. "I can't believe I've been so slow all this time. Kagato is Ryoko's father, and I should know Ryoko's genetic structure better than anyone. Her magic is Kagato's magic,with a touch of mine to balance her...but I've spent too long focusing on his teleportation and his other attributes. Considering all the time he spent in the Darkness of the Universe, honing and developing his powers beyond rational limits, I should have seen this coming. I should have."

She closed her eyes.

"Ryoko passes through solid objects, and that power has lain dormant in me since before Ryoko was born." She whispered. "I didn't even consider it when I judged my own magic, so she must have got it from her father. And that's how his soul left his body, before he was destroyed. He used these abilities I took so much care to implant in my daughter, and I didn't even realise it. He phased through his own skin, teleported his essence to Souja's tree, and used his telepathic link to build and strengthen, waiting until the time he could return and poison the whole planet. This is my fault. My oversight. I should have done something before this."

She stood, rubbing her temples.

"Kichi is dead, Ryoko rebelling and Sasami just a child." She murmured. "Do we even have a chance of stopping his return? Or have I put too much faith in science and not enough in magic all along?"