Reminders of the Past

A Tenchi Muyo and Invinsible Crossover

Chapter 3 - No Need for Visits

The soft hiss echoed around Seto as her ship neared the small blue sphere that her granddaughters called home. She slowly strolled out from her chambers, choosing to walk nude around the ship. There were many that would call her exobitionist streak unsightly, and certainly it could be considered uncouth, but the simple truth was that she was the mother of an empress, the grandmother of two princesses, and she personally led the strongest faction of the royals and nobility in the Juraian empire. Those that believed such things about her knew to keep their mouths shut.

Of course, the fact that she was called the Devil Princess of Jurai didn't hurt matters. It was from a younger time, a time when she was more active in the various skirmishes and wars, and of course when her sadistic side was a bit more prominent. Oh, how suitors would decide that it wasn't a grand idea to get involved when she demonstrated that it was her who would be the dominant one. With the exception of her beloved husband. He, and he alone, proved to be as bullheaded as she was. Neither was dominant, both resisted, and it kept their love quite alive for some time. Although, she did still enjoy teasing him quite often. Her beloved Utsutsumi likely was still fuming about her deciding to leave, with nary a word, and simply taking her ship and heading out to visit her grandchildren. Of course there was far more to it than that. The fact that she was checking on her great grandchild (Although she was a step-great grandchild), and that she wanted to see if the political marriage that had been arranged turned out as well as she had hoped.

She looked at the blank wall before her, cleared her throat, and since her ship couldn't be bothered to show her the planet itself she decided to vocalize her displeasure, "Mikagami, what is it that I don't see before me?"

For a moment there was nothing, and then the wall began to change. An energy field appeared before it, and she could see the tiny blue sphere called Earth. Her son-in-law had officially called Earth a special protectorate, declaring that it allowed trading with Jurai and would be considered neutral territory until they were ready to join the Juraian Empire. It was of course bold of him to do, and she understood the reasoning for it. The Humans, the Earthlings, themselves were a few millennia behind in terms of technology.

Oh, they were semi advanced, having begun space travel, developed ways of splitting the atom, and discovering how to harness energy. Their methods were still charmingly primitive, but she understood that such was the very foundations of many advanced cultures. Unfortunately, they were a race that was forced to advance on their own. They had no help, they were not blessed by an ancient Chousin that gave birth to the royal trees that made up their technology. They did not have the blessing of a literal goddess upon them. And for that reason, she was impressed at their advancements.

"Mistress Seto," a lone voice said over the aether, "Would you like for me to contact your granddaughters, or your daughter Noike?"

She grinned, a mischievous look crossing her features and she leaned back. As she did a small tree grew in place, in seconds, and formed a comfortable chair. It completely sculpted itself to her exactly, allowing her to relax perfectly well against it. It didn't even catch a single strand of her green hair that seemed to effortlessly sift through it. It didn't disturb her ponytail a single bit, and her off red eyes sparkled as she considered what she was doing.

"Yes, contact Noike," she said, her voice light, "And do not take no for an answer."

The screen became static for a moment and she saw her daughter. She was kneeling, the room was dark, and she could tell that it was likely a small storage building. Slight bundles surrounded her, likely the carrots that were grown there, but it was her actions that brought a small bark of laughter to Seto's lips. That same laughter caused her daughter to freeze.

"M…Mom?"

Noike's husband didn't miss a beat, "Lady Seto," Tenchi Masaki said without looking, "I believed that we requested a moment."

She sat there, bare as nature allowed, and laughed softly, "I know, but I wanted to inform all of you that I was arriving. In truth, I will be setting down in the next five or so minutes, so you may want to hurry up Noike," she said through her small pearl of laughter, "I might suggest a slight tongue swirl. I know that your father rather enjoys…"

"No, no, please," Noike said from her position, "I don't want to know about you and Dad."

The screen died, and she let out another small laugh. It was good to tease her again. Granted, Noike was adopted instead of birthed, but she loved her all the same. The marriage itself was important. Tenchi was the Crown Prince of the Juraian Empire, a position thrusted upon him by Yosho leaving the throne. Since Ayeka had explained that he was her betrothed, it further cemented it. Ultimately, it meant that should the unthinkable happen to Azusa, Funaho, and Misaki then ruling of the Juraian Empire would fall directly onto Tenchi's shoulders.

Noike, her beloved daughter, was already well versed in political maneuvering and management. Naturally Ayeka was trained as well, but Ayeka's own training had been dealing with the court, dealing with laws, and the more bureaucratic side of things. It was training designed to work in an environment where there was no corruption. Noike, however, was trained on how to find weaknesses, press them, and use them to sway the attitudes of the nobility. The fact that her daughter and Tenchi found time to be alone was welcomed.

It meant that they were happy together. She had no doubt that Noike was adjusting to having three other wives that were like sisters. She knew that Ryoko herself was undoubtedly the first wife. She had no problems with that. It was obvious that of the four Ryoko had known Tenchi for the longest, that she wanted nothing more than to be part of his life, and so she respected that her place was likely as the alpha of the four of them.

She walked toward her chambers, found her robes, and quickly dressed. One of the first things she would do would be to spoil little Mayuka rotten. There was a wonderful dish on Earth, Iced Cream she believed it was called, that she had no problem purchasing for her little great granddaughter. She felt the atmosphere around the ship as she began descending. One of the issues with Azusa making the announcement was the fact that she knew a few unsavory types would be setting their eyes on the Earth.

That bothered her to some degree. Oh, she had faith in her granddaughters, her granddaughters-in-law, her own daughter, and her grandson-in-law, to handle the situation, but she didn't want to put undo stress upon the planet's population itself. She wasn't sure how they would handle having invaders from outside of their own world dropping in to attempt to overthrow them all and claim themselves leader of the newest planet to gain the lucrative trading rights with the Juraian Empire.

In truth, she wasn't sure how a more primitive world would handle dealing with that kind of stress. Perhaps there were a few that had abilities that would at least put them on par with those that chose to invade. Well, if Yosho had lived here for any length of time, it was very possible that there were a few. She did love her little grandson, and she was certain that he was faithful to those that he loved, but it didn't change that human lives were infinitely shorter than their own. In truth, most Jurians that were bonded to royal trees were capable of living for as long as their trees lived. For many that time was nearly immortal. It would take the death of the tree, the destruction of it, or a power beyond the scope of what has been observed before to take the lives of one bonded to the various trees.

Tenchi himself was a special case. Tsunami had bonded him with a piece of Ryu-Oh, and it made his tree literally part of him. As long as he was not overpowered he would not die. It was brilliant in its simplicity. She could not argue with the logic of it, nor could she deny its intention. Tsunami, either by happy accident or design, had inadvertently joined Tenchi with Ayeka. Since she was bonded to Ryu-Oh, and since the tree was not fully destroyed, Ayeka would live for as long as Tenchi lived.

It was a storybook ending, and for someone who played the long game, like herself, it was a grand manipulation. It ensured a continual connection with Jurai. Of course, ultimately, it did something else that Tenchi obviously didn't know about, or if he did then he didn't want the result. Because of what happened, and how the tree itself was bonded to him in such a way that it exists within him, his status on Jurai is near fanatic god level. She breathed out as she considered it.

"All it would take is him going to Jurai, and saying something along the lines that he is here for his Empire, and most of the nobility would automatically side with him," she thought aloud as the ship neared the landing zone, "And the fact that he hasn't speaks more about his character than anything else. He knows the unrest that would result, or I rather suspect that both Ayeka and Noike have informed him of the unrest."

The ship lurched slightly, and she felt the makeshift landing area for it. Of course that makeshift landing area was actually the lake near the house that they lived in. She walked toward the wall of the ship, watched it open, and proceeded to step down the ramp that met the small dock that had been built there. She did enjoy the feeling of the more rustic materials as she stepped onto them.

The planks were handcrafted, the dock itself had been made by hand, built to be strong, to last, and she rather enjoyed the sturdy craftsmanship. She moved up the dock and saw her elder granddaughter. She was sitting across from Mayuka, and she stopped to listen to them for a moment.

"Now, as a Princess, what is your role when we attend the meetings with Lord Tenchi?"

Mayuka scrunched her face up for a moment, "I am to politely introduce myself, then introduce daddy, Mama 'Oko, You Mama 'yeka, Mama Noike, and Mama Mihoshi, right?"

She smiled, "That is correct," she replied, "That's very good… Oh, grandmother Seto?"

She walked forward, "Ayeka, it has been a while," she said before she felt the running tackle of a little one.

"Granny Seto!"

She smiled as she returned the hug, and then gently lifted Mayuka easily to get a much better hug around her neck, "It's good to see you Mayuka," she said softly to her little great granddaughter, "Tell me, would you like some Iced Cream?"

"Uh huh! Wanna get chocolate again?!"

She couldn't help but smile at the exuberant behavior and energy from the precious bundle, "Of course," she replied before she looked at Ayeka, "This is mostly just a social call."

Ayeka's look became less relaxed, "Oh, should I assume that something is admiss?"

She nodded, allowing Ayeka to lead her into the house. Once inside she took a seat on the couch. Again, it was rustic, a bit more primitive, but it was wonderfully crafted and she rather enjoyed the feeling of it. Part of her considered having one created for her own personal use. It would be interesting to be lounging on it, bare, and greet her beloved when he came in. Of course that was neither here nor there at the moment.

"Emperor Azusa has officially recognized the Earth as an independent trader with the Juraian Empire until it is established enough to join with the Empire itself."

Ayeka's face grew more solem, "I see," she replied as she took a seat as well, "That does put a damper on things. While it is wonderful that the Earth will receive the bounty of trade from home, and there is no doubt that there is much that could be traded from here as well, without it officially being part of the empire it does leave it rather… open."

Seto nodded, "Exactly, and I wanted to inform everyone of that. To be honest, there are too many out there that would love to exploit a planet that doesn't have proper security prepared. Especially one that is placed at such a high place of interest by the Empire."

Ayeka nodded, "I understand, of course we need to let Lord Tenchi know, but we should also inform the others as well."

Seto nodded, "I believed so. I also thought that it might be a wonderful idea to invite the Galaxy Police to begin pooling candidates from the Earth."

Ayeka studied her for a moment, "Grandmother, any human that was to undergo the academy training would have to be altered," she said simply, "It would increase their lifespans, enhance their strengths, they would, in essence, become superhuman when they returned."

Seto nodded, "And they would be quite the front line of defense should they be needed, correct?"

Ayeka smiled, "Very much so, although I am not sure how they would perceive it. While living here I've come to know several humans, there are some that I would even consider dear friends," she said as she considered her words for a moment, "But one thing I know about all of them is that they have the potential to be very noble. They can truly be a great people. I wholeheartedly believe that, but I feel that they lack the amount of those willing to show the way."

Seto smiled as Mayuka squirmed. Ayeka was right. Naturally, the humans had the potential to be noble. They had the potential to rise above their constraints and become far more than they were. That was exceptionally true. She believed that they could be far more, but like Ayeka had said there wasn't really anyone that was able to lead them in that direction. Even now, their planet, from what information she had received, was divided into different nations.

Each nation had boundaries that determined where the collective masses could go, and where they could not enter. It again was primitive, but this was less charming. She understood that there were still entire systems that worked under this kind of situation, even planets that still worked like this, but even those planets would come together when addressing over planets. One of her very real fears was that the various leaders of the nations of this world would not be able to agree long enough to come together and meet as a true equal.

The Juraian Empire didn't merely overtake worlds. Each world that came into the Empire did so through trial. They were accepted based upon the merit of the people that were upon the world. The Empire itself allowed the planets to self govern, stepping in only when the situation was truly dire, or when there was the very real potential of an attack beyond the ability of the planet itself.

Earth would have to prove itself worthy of fully joining the Empire. Until now it had merely been a protectorate. A place considered special because it had been Empress Funaho Masaki Jurai's homeworld. That was enough to give it basic protection. But it had to change. With Princess Ayeka refusing to leave, with her insisting on staying with Lord Tenchi, she had forced Azusa to announce the Earth's readiness to join the Empire.

She believed that it couldn't be further from the truth, "Perhaps they will find a way," she said, hoping that her words would ring true in the very near future, "So, what has happened since my last visit?"

Almost as if the universe itself decided to answer something shot past the patio doors leading toward the dock and hit the water hard. She looked at it, watching as the figure dug into the land on the other side. A deep groove carving into the land, and slowly the form stood. She gently placed Mayuka down, her hand resting upon the hilt of her own weapon, and she walked toward the doors.

She could hear Ayeka say something, but she opened the doors to see a young man standing. She shook, the dirt coming off of him, and he rubbed his head.

"Ugh," he said as he stumbled around, "Didn't think that you would hit that hard." She looked to see Ryoko floating above them. The obvious alpha wife slowly floated to the ground. An orange sword made of light formed in her hand. She relaxed it, and the sword became a small orb which blinked out of existence.

"You said to treat it like a real fight."

He coughed, "I haven't been hit that hard in a long time. Actually, even then I'm not sure that I was hit that hard. It feels like you might have come close to breaking something."

Seto stepped out to watch the two. Her curiosity was peaked, and she watched his stance. He was enhanced, but it seemed natural. To be honest even if it was the enhancement done by the GXP there was no way they would have been able to lay a finger on Ryoko. Not if she didn't want them to. She walked closer, her hand remaining close, and she finally truly studied him. Her eyes widened as she looked at him.

The Juraian Empire did not wage wars to take planets into their empire. They simply showed the planets what they stood to offer. Often a century or two of trading with the empire was enough. But she had known of another empire. One that was truly vicious and cruel. An Empire that ruled based on war and blood. One that claimed every planet in their own system, then most of their galaxy, and then they went quiet. She'd heard of them, and she had even seen one, once, a very long time ago.

"Viltrumite," she said, her voice high and tight, "I believed all of you to be dead."