Okinawa Prefecture,
Holy Tree Funaho, Masaki Shrine, Japan
"Stay back, all of you!" Tenchi repeated, glaring at the men around him with wild brown eyes. Who were these people? This…demon? Was he with the blond foreigner? And the stranger in the priest's robes-they looked like his grandfather's. Had he stolen them? Was he even a man? Or was he like the Foreigner and Kokonotsu, a demon hiding its form behind a human skin? And the others…the teen who looked his age, but carried a gun and a sword, and the talking cat…another youkai? A bakeneko? It didn't have two tails like the nekomata in his grandfather's shrine. Or was it too a foreign demon like the conjoined twin which stood before him?
"I'm warning you!" Tenchi cried, watching as the larger demon adjusted its grip on its sword. The man dressed as a priest carried a similar sword, but unlike the demon, it had fallen to his side as if forgotten with the teen's appearance. Tenchi tightened his grip on the sword hilt and heard the beam of blue light hum with static. He hadn't known how he'd activated the sword anymore than he'd known there would be demons fighting at the holiest place he knew of, and he certainly hadn't expected to find Ryoko being attacked by all of them.
For a while it'd looked like she'd had the advantage; that despite their numbers, her own power was enough to overwhelm them. Yet when the bancho punk had thrown that rock…when he'd heard Ryoko's scream…there had been no thought, just action, the sword coming to life in his hands as he'd lept to the demon's defense.
"Tenchi, calm down." The man in the priest's robes raised his free hand, and Tenchi turned the blue blade towards him.
"No, you calm down!" Tenchi cried. "Who even are you? What are you doing here!?"
The demon twitched, and Tenchi once more pointed the sword up at his two faces. "And you! This is Ryoko's territory, you know that? No one invited you here, what do you want with us?"
The feline face eyed him with a snarl. "Trembling mouse, you seek to challenge Duke Aym?"
"Ryoko kicked your ass before the bancho asshole threw that rock at her." Tenchi retorted with a bravado he didn't feel. "You think you can last any longer? I'm not winded like you-I'll chop your head off!"
The feline's ears pressed against its forehead, and the human face smiled coldly.
"Tenchi…" The man was talking again, and the teen grit his teeth. "You've misunderstand. The demon Ryoko escaped. We need to return her to the cave."
"The fuck you do!" Tenchi snapped. "I was the one who let her go. Me and a foreign demon and-and who the fuck even are you!? Why are you wearing my grandfather's clothes?"
The stranger grimaced. "I'm…Yosho." He said the words carefully, as if he himself was uncertain about his identity. "I…returned…when Ryoko was released."
"So you're a spirit too?" Tenchi accused.
The man paused. "….Yes." He said. "I'm…your ancestor. Lower the sword return it to me. Ryoko needs to be returned before she causes any more harm."
"No." Tenchi shook his head, and the man's expression flashed with confused dismay.
"You would protect the demon?" Yosho asked.
"I would." Tenchi replied. "I know you have beef with her, but Ryoko is my friend. I'm not-you aren't touching her. None of you are."
Yosho sighed as if exasperated. "Tenchi, you must understand…Ryoko attacked us unprovoked. She has proved already that she is too dangerous to roam free."
"That's not her fault!" Tenchi snapped, taking the man further off guard. "It was that foreign demon-he came and, and did something to her physical body! I don't know what but-she's not normally like this!"
"Not normally…" Yosho trailed off, then frowned, his gaze hardening. "Tenchi, give me the sword."
"Not on your life-or death." Tenchi growled.
"You don't know how to use it." The elder man said, "You're endangering all of us. If Ryoko get the gems back-"
"They're hers anyways!"
"She'll endanger the planet, you fool!" Yosho roared, and Tenchi flinched. "If she regains the gems, she will call Ryo-oh-ki, and this planet will be destroyed like the twenty-eight planets which came before it, and there will be no defenses to protect it nor stop her rampage! You would risk the lives of every single man and woman on Earth?!"
Beside him Duke Aym grunted, straightening as he looked down his nose at Tenchi. "This world is in its last moments anyways." He rumbled, ignoring the look Yosho cast his way. "Soon there will be nothing but Kagatsuchi and the Vortex World which is enslaved to it. The Amala will see to it that nothing is left but those of the strongest Will." The Goetia smiled at Tenchi, and the teen felt his skin break into fresh goosebumps. "Defend your woman, Boy. Prove you're less than a mouse squeaking for a cat it has befriended." The demon raised his weapon over his head, and Tenchi's eyes widened in horror.
"Aym, this was not part of the deal!" Yosho cried, "Leave the boy out of this! He doesn't understand what he's doing!"
"Then let him learn." The humanoid face said. "Only the strong will survive, and his time will end before he sees old age regardless." He brought the broadsword down.
"Dont-" Yosho moved to strike him, his own broadsword swinging.
Tenchi screamed, and brought the light sword up to defend himself, the gems within the hilt's handle glowing a bright and baleful red.
A hand on his shoulder, a strange noise like a string instrument played in discord.
And Tenchi found himself floating fifteen feet in the air.
"What-" An arm wrapped securely around his waist before he could fall, and Tenchi looked behind him, finding Ryoko holding him securely against her body. "Ryoko?" The tenchi-ken wicked out like a candle's flame.
He saw a golden glow behind the mask, who was staring down at her opponents in silence. The woman stuck her right hand out, palm aimed towards Duke Aym, and a beam of concentrated red plasma shot from her hands. It fired with enough power to send the teen's hair flying, a sonic boom of pressurized matter forming around the center of the red beam as it was sent onwards.
The beam struck the Goetia square in the chest, and in a moment of horror Tenchi found his mind branded with the sight; that of the two-faced Goetia Aym, a look of shock and surprise on both his faces as the red plasma pierced his chest, the strength leaving him as he looked down to his chest in a daze. He fell to his knees, blinking. Like he isn't aware of what happened, Tenchi thought, watching the sword fall from his right hand and clatter uselessly to the ground beside him.
Tenchi cried out in horror as another beam of lethal energy struck the Goetia's head, and recoiled as what was left of the body-now with little other than a black-singed neck where two fused faces once rested, fell over to one side, hands flopping boneless against its torso as fingers twitched and flexed, groping for a weapon in the final assault against its master.
He heard a growl against his ears, and watched as more red formed in Ryoko's outstretched palm. "Sto-"
A series of consecutive blasts, and the teen screamed as the body was obliterated, torn to pieces beneath the demon's onslaught. "Ryoko! That's enough!" He cried.
The demon at his back paused in her onslaught, tilting her head to look at him behind the mask. A growl issued forth, more irritated than dangerous, and then more plasma launched from her hand, leaving nothing of The Duke behind before her barrage turned towards Yosho. The man vanished under a wave of debris and water, vanishing from sight, and Tenchi dared to hope that somehow the ancestral spirit-if that really was what he was-escaped the assault.
Ryoko paused in her attack with a low rumble, and Tenchi almost thought he heard the woman speak: "eere…ss…eee.." He swallowed, and strained his ears to listen, trying to hear what his eyes could not see-a person, a body, something to show what remained of the two remaining combatants.
Above them, storm clouds gave their final grumble of warning as rain began to pour, slowly at first, but gaining in intensity with a terrible speed. The dust began to clear, the smoke from the fading fire dissipating as the heavens opened their deluge upon the sacred land. With it, Tenchi saw a form in the torrent. Is that Yosho?
It was the bancho, kneeling in the water, his elbow propped against his knee. A gun sat in the cup of his hand, and the teen was aiming down the barrel right at them. A gunshot rang out, and he felt Ryoko recoil behind him.
The teen cried out, looking up at the demon and seeing a smoking hole in the center of the mask's forehead. The woman's head recoiled, and as the mask began to fall from her face, Tenchi heard a roar from his right. At some point within Ryoko's assault, the warrior had slipped away, using the Holy Tree for cover until the demon was distracted. Now, using one of the wooden posts which surrounded the tree, he lept forward, gaining an inhuman amount of height, the European broadsword raised in high with both hands as he came down on them.
"Move Tenchi!" The man spoke with his grandfather's voice, and years of conditioned discipline made his body react before his mind could question. He jerked right, trying to avoid the sword, and felt Ryoko jerk with him, her grip around him loosening enough to let him slide from her hands. He rolled as he hit the ground, the years of training with his grandfather kicking in and protecting him from unnecessary damage, though his knees spiked with a pain he'd feel well into the following week. He turned to the demon and the warrior, and saw Yosho bring the sword down on the demon's right side, inflicting a deep gouge, only to drop the sword as be began to fall and grab the woman instead.
The woman staggered in the air, blood flowing from the wound, and with a fatalistic scream Yosho hoisted himself against her, jabbing something that had been hidden in his left hand into the demon's injury. A bestial roar escaped the demon's throat, and the blood froze in a red crystal geyser. Yosho screamed as well, his hand equally embedded in the frozen crystal, and together, like a pair of star-crossed lovers, the two fell to the earth below.
This time, Ryoko did not get back up.
"Ryoko!" Tenchi staggered to his feet, only to stop as he felt a handgrab him by the hem of his shirt. He wheeled, and his mind had just enough time to register the bancho snarling at him before being pistol-whipped in the chin. The youth saw stars, then felt a fist bury itself into his solar plexus. The air left him, the stars faded to black, and Tenchi fell unconscious to the ground.
Raidou Kuzunoha let him fall to the water, unloading the current magazine in his pistol, pocketing it, and withdrawing a fresh clip with enchanted bufu-tipped bullets. He chambered a round, then approached the two fallen opponents. Before him, the priest-warrior, Yosho, groaned and rolled off the demon, only to grunt as his hand-held in place by the two bufuni stones he'd plunged into the demon's wound.
The feline, his mentor, Gouto-Douji, trotted over to Yosho, his black fur soaked and dripping water into the small pound. He sat near the warrior's imprisoned hand, tail swishing as the ice made by the bufuni stone finally cracked, exploding in a small hail of red shards and freeing the priest from the demon. "That was a dangerous, reckless, and incredibly bold move, Yosho-san."
Yosho grunted, pushing himself up with his good hand and drawing the injured left to his side. He sat in the water, cradling the injury as he stared down at the demon. "When faced in a dangerous situation, sometime one must act recklessly to overcome the odds of defeat." His face was peeled back in a grimace, and the man staggered to his feet, hissing to himself. "This is not the worst nor I fear the last of my reckless antics. A bad habit I attained from my father."
Raidou came to stand beside the man, observing the demon in silence. The mask had slid off her face with his shot, but the face beneath it appeared unblemished. She's pretty for a demon. And powerful to boot. Wonder what I'd need to summon one like her as an ally. As he'd feared, she was invulnerable to holy hama shots. A Higher Demon than. They were usually more resilient to hama and the more sinister mudo spells which could kill lesser demons instantly. Almighty bullets would have been a safer bet-they were pure power and he'd yet to come across anything which could counter them-but those were expensive, and none of the Dealers back home were willing to sell to a kid with his reputation.
"Keep your weapon on her." Yosho ordered, "Shoot her if she so much as twitches." He moved past them, and Raidou heard the man sigh as he approached the unconscious kid-what's his name, Tenchi?
Stupid fucking name for a stupid fucking kid. Did it matter that the kid looked close to his age and grade? Of course not. Just showed what a moron the guy was. Bet he's a fucking nerd who plays video games and reads girly novels. Can't even take a punch-what a wimp. The warrior-priest apparently knew him though-and what was a dumbass like that hanging out with an actual fighter like this Yosho guy?
Yosho returned to stand by Raidou's side, this time with the wooden lightsabre sword in his hand. The weird glow had faded from the gems in its hilt, and the laserbeam sword was gone too. "We need to return her to the cave."
Warily, he stepped forward, approaching the demon with the same level of wariness one might step towards a resting tiger.
Gouto-Douji's ears twitched. "Yosho-san, have caution. I hear kitsune barking.
Yosho paused, glancing over his shoulder at the feline. "Kitsune? From what direction?"
Raidou watched his mentor's ears sway, two tiny triangular radars homing in on their target. "One in front of us….one in back." He trailed off, and the ears abruptly laid flat against his skull. "And something from above—its a trap!"
Though injured, the warrior-priests reactions remained as sharp as ever, and the man lept to the right as something collided in the spot where he'd been standing.
A tengu? Raidou's eyes widened, and on reaction the Devil Summoner fired three clean shots, watching them deflect against the tengu's black wings. Resistant to magic or resistant to ice?
The tengu raised its right hand, black talons glistening, and aimed it at Raidou. The teen was flung backwards in hail of wind, water, and debris. He collided with the large coniferous tree hard, and felt his vision grey as his ears echoed with the high ring of metal.
The youth shook his head, clearing the cobwebs from between his ears, and struggled to his feet. In front of the demon, a tengu stood, clutching a bronze staff in his left hand. He stood with leg and arms splayed wide in a threatening display. Yosho eyed the creature, and in his hands the strange lightsabre sword gleamed with a blue light once more.
Something moved in the bushes to the priest-warrior's left, and with a grimace Raidou brought his weapon up and fired a single shot. A scream, and Yosho retreated as a jurogumo raced from the underbrush, a face that would have been beautiful now a snarl of hideous rage. With a terrifying speed, the youkai charged Yosho, and through sheer reaction the man bore his weapon on the creature, only for it to slip away and out of his range in the next moment.
Raidou climbed to his feet, more confused than anything else. There had been no tengu or jorogumo in the local area when he had scouted the Masaki shrine out with Gouto-Douji the day prior; only the mizuchi he'd acquired in the lake and the kappa which had politely warned him against continuing farther. There'd been the Other too, which the Kappa had warned him about, but it had been buried so deeply in the lake that it had never reacted to his presence.
And yet…
The jorugumo is acting as a distraction. If she was serious, one of us would have already been bound in silk and the other poisoned. The tengu looks like its defending the demon…are they allied? He dropped the weapon to his side and made no effort to draw his sword. The tengu dismissed him, redirecting his attention on Yosho but making no effort to engage unless the man drew too close. Why would a tengu defend a demon? He wondered, Why would a jorogumo and a tengu work together in defense of a demon at all?
He saw Gouto-Douji glance back at him and saw similar questions running through his mentor's mind; the behaviors were abnormal, the alliences unnatural-tengu did not associate with jurogumo anymore than they did demons; though they could and would eat humans at times, they had a sense of morality and honor that prevented such associations with the darker and more sinister man-eaters, and many would go out of their way to hunt and even kill creatures such as the jurogumo. They were two opposing forces-the metaphorical lion and hyena which would go out of their way to kill the other if the opportunity presented itself.
And that's not counting the demon herself…Raidou looked back at the fallen demon, and met the vulpine eyes of another newcomer. Another one? He looks like he's kin to the demon. Gold eyes, similar spiky hair, if tamer and lighter than the demon woman's, but his outfit was odd; a yukata rather than whatever outfit the unconscious demon wore. He knelt at the demon's side, his eyes never leaving Raidou's as he carefully scooped the fallen woman up in his arms, a small, brown, seven-tailed kitsune standing attentively at his side. He cradled the woman in his arms, then barked at the tengu.
Raidou blinked, then narrowed his eyes. If he looked carefully, he could just make out the tip of a silver tail between the newcomer's legs. Not a relation than-another kitsune. Did the demon grant him her image to use?
Demon, tengu, jorogumo, and two kitsune. Raidou thought, frowning as the masked kitsune bore his teeth at him in a predator's snarl. He raised his hands to show they were empty, and watched the creature glower at him before slipping backwards towards the foliage. There's more going on here than meets the eye. I could maybe see the tengu and kitsune working together, but them with a demon and a jorogumo? His eyes narrowed a he looked back at Yosho, who had noticed the newcomer and was making a mad-if futuile-attempt to get back at the demon.
He looked back at Gouto-Douji. We missed something. We may have even fucked up.
His mentor had similar thoughts, racing towards him with wide green eyes. "Get Yosho away from the Jorogumo. Let them go-they only want the demon woman. I want answers before we get ourselves into something else we don't understand."
Raidou nodded, cracking his knuckles with a grin. I never thought I'd get permission to beat another person to a pulp. The bancho raced towards the youkai and the warrior priest, making a beeline for the man as the Jorogumo glanced at him, ready to strike, before falling back once more as she avoided another blow from the sword. Yosho looked to him as the youth came running, lowering his sword as his wartime ally came to his aide.
It was his mistake, as Raidou reached to grab him by the robe, a fist pulling back to pummel the warrior-priest into submission. The bancho got his hand on the man's robes, and it was only then that the warrior seemed to realize Raidou's actions were not all-too-friendly. Yet a warrior once, a warrior he remained, twisting out of Raidou's grasp as the Devil Summoner took a swing at him. The teen's fist connected with air, and with a dark scowl, Yosho rammed an elbow into the teen's gut with enough force to send him kneeling over in pain.
Raidou, however, was no stranger to pain, and recovered quickly, stepping forward with a cross punch which Yosho once again slipped past. "What are you doing!?" The man demanded. "Ryoko is going to-" Raidou lashed out in a kick between the man's legs, and any further words were cut off as Yosho stiffened, staring at the teen in a mixture of shock, pain, and utter betrayal. A high-pitched noise escaped his throat in a tight wheeze, and clutching his groin the man fell over in a crumpled heap. Raidou grinned victoriously, stepping forward to finish what he'd started, only to stop when Gouto-Douji lept between the two of them.
"Yatagarasu's Tits!" Gouto swore, "When did I specifically give you permission to get into a brawl!?" He demanded. Yosho still paralyzed in pain, eyed the cat with one incredulous maroon eye. "I told you to get him away from the Jorogumo, not kick his children out of existence, you thrice cursed boor!" The cat's tail was puffed up, his hair standing on end despite the heavy downpour.
Raidou sighed, his attention wavering as the feline berated him. Instead, he looked back towards the Jorogumo, who watched him hesitantly, retreating backwards into the forest after the two kitsune and the demon, who'd long since vanished. Only the tengu remained, holding the line to ensure the last remaining youkai joined him. The spider woman met his gaze, and gave a small, almost unnoticeable nod in thanks. Then she too disappeared into the forest, the tengu watching them all for a small moment longer before vanishing as well.
All that remained were the humans and the cat.
"-ing to get this on your permanent record!?" Gouto-Douji was still yelling at him. "If you don't drop these barbarous acts against your fellow man-wait, what are you doing-stop!"
Raidou looked at the cat in confusion, realizing too late the feline had directed his attention to something-someone-past Raidou.
Sharp, red pain exploded in his groin.
The teen bent over, mouth yawning open in a mute scream as he clutched his own groin, looking down just in time to see a sandaled foot vanish, only to re-appear as fresh, white stars of misery traveled into his groin and across his brain. He fell on to his side, quivering in agony, and looked up to his assailant, finding a vindictive Tenchi standing over him, sopping wet and panting in anger. The left side of his face was one massive bruise, and his left eye was swollen and black from where Raidou had struck him earlier.
Tenchi flipped him off. "Th f'st un wa fo 'oko." He said, the words coming out garbled from where the swelling had impacted his jaw. "Sec'nd un fo me." He hawked and spat at the ground in front of the Devil Summoner's face. The phlem was red.
Raidou's gaze turned to Yosho, who looked at him darkly. The man smirked as their gazes met, though his own misery still ran clearly across his face. Then Yosho, too, flipped him off.
Snarling, Raidou tried to get to his feet.
Tenchi stepped back, looking ready and willing to send Raidou's family jewels to the final frontier.
"That's ENOUGH!" Gouto-Douji yowled, and all three men looked to the cat. "There will be no more violence! The battle is over for all of us, and instead we are all going to sit down like the adults we are and answer some questions I'm sure all of us have."
Farther off, unnoticed by all, bright streaks of light danced off leaves, illuminating water droplets into tiny streaks of stars.
A sword hilt lay forgotten at a warrior's side, the gems within its hilt glowing a bright but intense blue for a moment before fading into a dull and dead red once more.
And high above the clouds, an entity with hair like the golden rays of the sun smiled its coy smile before departing for brighter pastures on six pairs of broad wings-feathered or flesh, it mattered not.
Okinawa Prefecture,
Masaki Shrine Residence, Japan
"To begin, I believe introductions are in order." One man, two teens, and a cat sat around a table in the residential dining room. Yosho and Tenchi had changed into fresh clothes, and Yosho, with a courtesy that spoke of his royal upbringing, provided a Shinto robe for Raidou to change into as their clothes were thrown into the wash. He gave the teen a towel for the cat, who had patiently if with some reluctance allowed the Devil Summoner to dry him off. Tenchi, with no small amount of suspicion between both Raidou and Yosho's abrupt familiarity with the Shrine and the items within, had gathered a tray of snacks and hot green tea for them to share, and now sat sullenly off at one end of the table, glaring at the guests around him with open distrust.
"I am Gouto-Douji, Servant of Yatagarasu and mentor to the Kuzunoha Clan. With me sits Raidou Kuzunoha the XV, Heir to the Kuzunoha Clan and ambassador of the Four Devil Summoner clans." Gouto sat on the table, and in front of him sat Raidou, who eyed them silently but otherwise said nothing.
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" Tenchi rested an icepack against his left cheek as he looked at the Devil Summoner. The swelling had gone down in his jaw, but he could still only see partially through his left eye.
A look of black rage darkened the Kuzunoha's face, and Raidou lunged at the teen, only to be stopped as Yosho leaned forward and grabbed him. "You start and I'll throw you outside in the rain to fend off the demons." He rumbled. "Sit. Down."
A snarl on his face, Raidou did as he was told, and Yosho turned to Tenchi. "You." He pointed. "I will not tolerate snide comments. You will be respectful of our guests or I will grab the nearest bokken and beat you into silence."
Tenchi narrowed his eyes. "And who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do?"
"Your ancestor."
"You bleed a lot for an ancestor." He gestured to the man's bandaged left hand. "Never seen a spirit fall over after getting kicked in the nuts by a human."
"Are you willing to test your luck against me? You cannot even beat your grandfather in a sparring match; are you so certain you can best me?"
Tenchi glared but said nothing.
Gouto cleared his throat. "If we may return to the conversation at hand…in peace." He emphasized. He looked at Tenchi. "While I realize that Kuzunoha-kun has wronged you, I ask that you please be respectful of him. He suffered an injury in his youth that left him mute, and it is a sensitive subject for him." Raidou scowled at the cat in irritation.
Tenchi opened his mouth to say something.
Beneath the table, Yosho kicked him.
Tenchi glared at the man.
"Before I continue, may I ask for an introduction from the both of you?" Gouto requested.
This is the most polite bakeneko I've ever met. Tenchi thought, looking at Yosho from the corner of one eye and holding his silence when the man gestured for him to speak. Nope. Two can play this game. You want me to shut up, you explain yourself first. Besides, I want to know if Ryoko's accusations are right. As if to make his point, Tenchi reached out and took a long sip of his tea, deliberately ignoring the man in favor of examining Raidou.
The cat was right. The guy's bancho had done a good job of hiding it with its popped collar, but the priest's robes left Raidou's neck exposed. Though old, Tenchi could just make out a jagged silver line running across the teen's throat. Wonder what happened. He's a 'Devil Summoner', so I wonder if a devil or a youkai tried to rip his throat out. He winced internally, recalling the devil that had freed Ryoko and the two-faced demon at the shrine. He's got a dangerous life if all he does is go around looking for demons and devils.
Raidou caught him looking. To Tenchi's chagrin, the Kuzunoha batted his eyes and blew a kiss at him.
Tenchi choked on his tea, feeling hot liquid come out his nose.
Everyone turned to look at him, and Raidou watched him with a cruel smile.
"Ah, I see you have a drinking problem." Gouto said flatly.
Sighing Yosho leaned over, pounding on the youth's back as Tenchi coughed and hacked. Tears pouring down his face, Tenchi had just enough time to watch Raidou flip him off before another coughing fit seized him.
As the youth's fit began to die, Yosho leaned back and took a long sip of his tea, mulling over his words. Gotou and Raidou watched him in silence, and even Tenchi came to watch him with careful scrutiny. "I suppose," He began "I should formally introduce myself. My birth name is Masaki Jurai Yosho, Prince of Planet Jurai." He eyed Tenchi, who watched him with an imploring gaze. "…I crashed here on Earth seven hundred years ago in pursuit of a dangerous intergalactic criminal, the Space Pirate Ryoko, who attacked my home and led me here." He turned to face Tenchi fully, and the youth felt his stomach somersault uncomfortably. "For the past one hundred years or so, however, I have lived under the guise of Masaki Katsuhito, Priest of the Masaki Shrine, as my latest alibi to maintain overwatch of the prison holding Space Pirate Ryoko captive."
Tenchi grimaced. "So you're…"
Yosho sighed. "Yes Tenchi. It's me." For a moment his image flickered, and where once a young man sat his grandfather's elderly face replaced it. When the illusion spoke, it was his Katsuhito's voice he heard. "For close to six hundred years I was able to maintain the cover of a simple priest in the mountains, yet as Japan evolved and the Japanese government became more involved in the affairs of its people, it became necessary to create a cover story-a false lineage of Masaki priests hearkening back to me which would allow me to continue to live unobtrusively in the mountains. At some point throughout my long watch, I met a local woman-your grandmother-and we had a daughter together."
"Mom."
Katsuhito nodded, and the image of an old man once more faded as Yosho leaned back, his face haggard and worn. "Something attacked Funaho, my treeship-what you know as the Holy Tree, Tenchi. A demon."
"Duke Aym." Gouto stated. "A foreign demon; he's a Goetia. Though they have few who follow them out here, the Goetia are ancient demons; I have heard rumor that some of them were once angels who been perverted and corrupted during a great war a millenia ago. They are all notoriously dangerous; even their weakest ones hold dominion over legions of demons. We had been trailing him as part of a greater investigation."
"An investigation?" Tenchi asked, and Yosho frowned.
Raidou nodded. "Yes." Gouto confirmed. "Strange doomsday cults have been forming all over Japan, many of them surrounding a specific individual known only as "Hikawa". It seems he's been working with an organization called the Cult of Gaea to bring about something called a 'Conception'."
"Conception…what, like impregnation?" Tenchi asked.
"We aren't sure." Gouto replied. "Conception, impregnation, birth, possibly even a rebirth? The details have not been forthcoming, and whenever we've found a lead, such as a cult member, the individual is either slain by a demon or sacrifices his-or-herself to summon a greater one." Gouto looked at Yosho. "Did this shrine receive any visitors prior to Duke Aym's appearance?"
Yosho shook his head. "No, the latest visitor to the shrine was Tenchi, and he arrived several weeks prior." He gestured to the teen, who looked at them all with a pensive frown.
"Tenchi-kun, is it?" Gouto asked, and at Tenchi's slight nod, the cat continued. "Did you see anything? You've gone white."
Yosho peered at him, and Raidou frowned, his own suspicion sliding across his face. He tapped the table, gaining Gouto's attention, and gestured at the boy silently.
The cat's tail swayed. "Raidou brings up a good point…" The cat trailed off, then looked back to Tenchi, the bright, unnaturally green eyes narrowing. "…You came to the demon's defense with that sword…What is your connection to her?"
"I would like to know that myself, Tenchi." Though Yosho's words were soft, they held a level of gravity that made Tenchi nauseous. "Please explain yourself."
Tenchi sucked in a long breath, letting it out slowly. "Alright…" He muttered, avoiding his grandfather's eyes in favor of the cat. "But first…This Hikawa guy…I feel like I've heard his name somewhere. Is he…is he a blond westerner?"
Gouto tilted his head, and Raidou frowned before shaking his head. "Our research indicates Hikawa is a Japanese native using the alias 'Hikawa' to avoid connections to his personal life. The most we have been capable of doing is forming a possible connection between him and a woman named Takao Yuko. You believe him a foreigner?"
Tenchi sighed, drooping over the table. "I don't know what to believe." He muttered, and looked into his tea. A scared and tired teen looked back across its green surface. The youth closed his eyes. "Okay…so…I guess I have to introduce myself now?"
"Yes." Though the feline had a level of deadpan sarcasm to him, his words in that moment were surprisingly gentle. "Please…who you are, your connection to this 'Ryoko' character, and anything else you might find relevant. Anything you can think of which might paint a broader picture for us."
Tenchi opened his eyes and glanced at his grandfather, finding concerned maroon eyes staring back at him from a face too young to be his elder. He really does look like Mom this way. Tenchi thought. "I'm…Masaki Tenchi. I just finished my second year in high school and will be going back as a third year in a couple of weeks. I come to visit my grandfather mostly but…" He hesitated, sending a sidelong glance to Yosho before continuing. "…but I also come to visit Ryoko. Yosh-Grandpa, you called her a space pirate?"
Yosho nodded. Tenchi nodded too. "She mentioned that a couple times. I mostly know her as the Devil Caller, or, well…the Heavenly Demon Lord of the Masaki Mountain."
The older Masaki blinked. "I'm sorry…what?"
Tenchi flinched at the elder's tone. "Mom and I could-can-see her. Her spirit."
"Her astral body?" Gouto asked.
Tenchi nodded. "Mom met her as a little girl-grandma had been…murdered, I guess?" He looked at Yosho, and watched his face darken at the memory before nodding. "…and she was running from the murderer. Some local youkai-back then mostly tengu and kitsune-guided her to Ryoko's cave, and the youkai called on her for assistance. Mom-grandma taught her to see youkai from a young age I guess-made a plea with Ryoko for aide, and Ryoko agreed to help her."
"The tanpawatnes?" Yosho asked. "I found its suit destroyed near Ryoko's cave."
Tenchi shrugged uncomfortably. "I guess?" He said, uncomfortably aware of the quiet attention he had from Kuzunoha and his cat. "Ryoko I guess fed it to Hiji."
"Who is Hiji?"
"A tengu." Tenchi revealed, "One of Ryoko's…" He paused, uncertain of how to address the creature. Friend? Ally?
"Familiar?" Gouto supplied.
Tenchi reeled as if slapped, and found his mind wisking him back to the cave, a pair of dual heterochromia eyes watching him with scorn. "Do keep me entertained. I would hate for the Devil Caller's Familiar to fall too swiftly." "Servant." He snapped, and winced at his own tone. Raidou raised an eye, studying Tenchi carefully.
"…Servant." Tenchi repeated. "He's a Karasu tengu dressed in all black, with a bronze staff."
"We saw him." Gouto replied, and Raidou and even Yosho nodded. "Him and what looked to be a relation to the pirate."
Tenchi shook his head. "Kokonotsu—a Kitsune, not relation. Ryoko has a sister-her ship, I guess?" He looked at Yosho for clarity. "…But no other relations. Not…not here, I guess."
"The Ryo-oh-ki?" Yosho furrowed his brow. "They are…relatives?"
Tenchi shrugged. "You said yourself your ship is a tree, and today I just saw a demon with two faces get blown to smithereens. And that's not counting-" He paused, then shook his head. "…I'll get to that."
Raidou nodded, once more tapping the tables and making a gesture. Gouto translated. "You saw one of its tails?"
Raidou nodded.
"And the other one? The seven-tailed kitsune?"
"Kokonotsu's mate, Nanatsu. They've been a bonded pair since before I was born." He paused, then looked at his grandfather from the corner of one eye. "Sometimes Nanatsu would have kits, and Mom would bring me to Ryoko's cave to play with them."
Yosho sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead. "That explains some things…" At Raidou's inquiring look, he elaborated. "My daughter, Achika, had an…obsession with kitsune. And she and Tenchi both were regularly followed by a murder of crows who'd been living in the mountains for decades." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Yosho looked back at Tenchi. "Were they…?"
Tenchi nodded. "Tengu." He said. "Mostly koppa, but many of them have grown into karasu. Ryoko thinks Hiji-he's one of the oldest that still hung around after the elder tengu all left-will achieve the status of a kurama tengu."
Raidou's eyebrows shot up, and the teen let out a long, appreciative whistle. "I have more questions, but I would save them for later." Gouto said. "I fear we are sidetracking the conversation-please, return to your original story."
Maybe I don't want to answer them. Tenchi thought, nodding uneasily. "Anyways…Mom began giving offerings to Ryoko and the other youkai after they saved her, and after I was born, she passed on the practices to me. From what I know of her, Ryoko's become the oldest and most powerful spirit in the region, even without her gems, and a lot of the youkai who remain in these mountains treat her like a lord. They'll go to her for advice or assistance or even permission to settle in the land. There's nothing that happens on the spiritual plane that she's not aware of in these mountains." The youth shrugged, sending a cautious look to his grandfather. "Humans know this as the Masaki Shrine. The youkai know this as The Devil Caller's Mountain."
Raidou nudged Gouto. "That falls in line with what we've heard, as well." The cat confirmed, drawing a startled look from Yosho.
"I have never heard it referred to as such."
"Have you ever spoken to the residential youkai prior to today?" Gouto inquired.
"No." Yosho shook his head. "Until today, I had thought them mischief; tall tales made to scare and entertain children.
"That's why the Elder Tengu left." Tenchi confirmed. "Ryoko said you have the spirititual sensitivity of a rock, and even with everyone pestering you-I think at one point the tengu even tried to burn the Holy Tree down to send you a message-you never reacted to them. That's why youkai started going to Ryoko after the Tengu left. Ryoko listened to them-she ah, didn't really have much else she could do-and addressed their needs through the younger tengu, kitsune, and when necessary, Mom and I."
Yosho rubbed his chin, staring down at the table in thought. "Was there anything else with this relationship?"
"Yeah." Tenchi replied.
"Ryoko wanted her freedom, didn't she."
"'Course she did." Tenchi snorted. "Mom promised her freedom in exchange for saving her life."
Yosho remained silent.
"When Mom passed away, she wanted me to take over. Ryoko had always been kind to us, even going out of her way to warn us or send a youkai out to watch over us in case something went wrong, but, well…Mom never succeeded. So I took it over."
"Is that why you had tenchi-ken?" Yosho demanded.
Tenchi fell silent, staring at the man who was his grandfather with a stoic expression. Yosho held a similar look, and in that moment the two looked so similar that there was little to deny their relation-the looked almost like a pair of brothers, the older berating the younger, one accusing the other of thievery, and the other which held his ground.
"…A man came to the shrine today." Tenchi said instead. "A blond man. He looked my age. Dressed up in a black business suit and yellow tie." His gaze never left Yosho's. "Said he'd met you once before—that he was visiting the shrine to meet up with an old colleague. I'd thought he'd meant you."
"I know of no such man." Yosho replied, a tension spreading between the two relatives.
"He knew you by name. Not 'Yosho' like you said, but 'Katsuhito.'. 'Oh, he's still around?'" Tenchi imitated
Yosho slowly shook his head. "As I said before—I know of no such individual."
Tenchi frowned, then broke his gaze, looking back down at his teacup. "He wanted to visit Ryoko's cave. Not the shrine, the cave." The youth shuddered. "He wasn't human." He looked up at Gouto. "I…still don't know what he was, but he wasn't human. He…forced me to take him to the cave. I thought he was going to kill me-he had a murderous aura that was just…I don't know-demonic. Not like that two-faced demon-this guys was…terrifying.
"Funaho sensed another presence in Ryoko's cave. One which scared her." Yosho too looked down at his cup, and his expression was haunted.
"Yeah, that was him." Tenchi whispered. "He…he spoke with Ryoko's spirit. Said some things. Things I didn't understand. Something about 'samsara' and 'worlds' and 'tides.' He wanted Ryoko's alliance or something. Said they had a deal-free her and she'd join him."
Tenchi looked up. "Well, he freed her alright." His expression was haunted. "Popped open the iron gate to the cave like it was nothing. Had me join him. Had me take the sword and…we…I saw her. She was…" The teen paused, pushing away his cup and placing his elbows on the table, clutching his head with both hands. "He did something to Ryoko. I-she…I don't know. I don't want to know. It was like-like something out of a horror movie. His hand exploded."
The youth squeezed his eyes shut, and for a long moment was quiet, the image of Ryoko's mummified remains painted in his head. There had been more, he knew-something which had terrified him, but…
"I ran." Tenchi said quietly. "Ryoko was in trouble-that thing did something to her and-I ran. I chickened out and ran away and-" He slammed his hands on the table, gritting his teeth in anger. The others watched him in silence. "I ran away. I left her there-with that-that thing! I ran to the Holy Tree because…I don't know! But then that two-faced demon was there and so were you all and Ryoko was there too, and-and-"
A hand rested on his shoulder, and Tenchi flinched away from it. "Tenchi, it's alright." Yosho's voice was gentle, and that was more infuriating than if the man had scolded him. "It's not your fault."
"It is!"
"It's not." Yosho said, more firmly this time. "You ran from a being you did not understand and who, by the sounds of it, would be able to kill you if you stayed and fought-or worse. Ryoko was under the influence of something. It was similar to when I fought her on Jurai and chased her to Earth-she was not in her sane mind. I knew this when we dueled again-her savagery spoke of a beast, not a person."
"You tried to kill her!" Tenchi snapped. "You and him both!" He pointed to Raidou, who watched on impassively.
"No." Yosho shook his head. "I know Ryoko. Maybe not in the same way you do, but as a warrior, I know her resilience. I know her fortitude. I know she can survive the vastness of space and has destroyed literal planets-whether her own will or the will of a greater master-and has the capacity to recover from wounds which would be fatal to any of us. I was trying to subdue her. To capture her. To seal her again before she regained the strength necessary to destroy this mountain, if not the country or even the planet."
"Thus the urgency to have Duke Aym join us." Gouto surmised, an ear flicking thoughtfully. "This demon, Ryoko-she is truly that powerful? Can she even be called a demon?"
Raidou snorted, and Gouto looked at him. The teen brought a hand in front of his mouth and wriggled his fingers, then dropped his hand with a smirk, shaking his head in disdain.
"Raidou appears to believe she has more in common with Cthonic entities than simple demons." Gouto swished his tail in thought. "Such entities are rare, but made all that more dangerous because of it. How in the world did you even imprison her in the first place?" He looked back at Yosho.
Yosho sighed. "I wonder that sometimes myself." He muttered. "At times I truly believe it was not skill or luck but divine intervention on behalf of Tsunami. Certainly it was only by Her grace that I saw Ryoko for what she was back than-a woman possessed by a Will greater than her own, using her only as a vehicle for destruction. In reality, I fear all I could do was seal her-even now, with her gems within tenchi-ken, I do not believe I have the power necessary to kill her." The man withdrew the sword hilt from where it rested strapped to the belt at his waist, placing it on the table in front of the others.
Gouto moved forward, nose twitching. A blue spark flared from the hilt when the feline drew too close, and the cat flinched backwards, sneezing and shaking his head as a blue spark struck his nose.
"Please, do not interact with it." Yosho warned. "The sword, tenchi-ken, is codified to only allow those of Jurain royal blood to interact with it."
"You mentioned those gems are Ryoko's?" Gouto's tail had puffed up with the jolt to his nose, and as they talked he groomed himself subconsciously.
"They are." The man agreed. "One gem on her neck, one for each wrist. Three gems of power which grant her inhuman abilities.
"What did you do, stab her in the neck to get those things?" Gouto eyed the hilt with apprehension.
"…Yes actually." Yosho replied. "Tenchi-ken pierced her throat, and I was able to steal the gems from her. I had thought I had killed her when the final gem embedded itself within the hilt-even with a sword in her neck, she continued attempting to kill me, like a machine whose computing core pushed it forward despite the damage it sustained-yet the gems departure only removed the odd glow from her eyes."
The man paused, frowning deeply as he stared down at the hilt. "I remember her looking at me then-seeing me for the first time it seemed, and how…exhausted she appeared. Exhausted, defeated, and…dead. Dead but alive, like so many soldiers who returned from any of Japan's many wars." The man sighed. "And so I imprisoned her. Used a holding cell from Funaho's deck and buried it underground, installing the greatest security protocols I could and even going through the length of entwining Funaho's roots around her-just to ensure she did not escape again. The gems hold an infinite amount of power that is beyond my understanding, and so I kept tenchi-ken near to Funaho's roots; the gems would fuel Ryoko, and Ryoko would feed Funaho, keeping the treeship alive and sustained on a planet that would not normally be compatible with her."
A flicker of a snarl flew across Raidou's face, yet the young man made no effort to make his thoughts known.
Tenchi thought he might have an idea, though. Like a giant parasite, its roots embedded it flesh and muscle as it stole whatever life Ryoko gained. He shuddered at the thought.
A forlorn silence fell upon the group.
"Vortex World." Yosho was the one to break the silence. "'Soon there will be nothing but Kagatsuchi and the Vortex World which surrounds it."
Tenchi and the others looked at him. "What?"
"Something which Duke Aym said as Tenchi was defending Ryoko. He stated the world is nearing its end. Kagatsuchi. A vortex world. Amala." He looked at the feline. "Gouto-Douji, does any of this mean anything to you?"
The cat heaved a sigh. "It does not." He said. "But it does confirm him as a lead or at least a connection with the Doomsday Cults. Yet the words you speak of…I am unfamiliar with them." The cat paused, tail swaying, then tilted its head to one side, observing Yosho with deep green eyes. "…You claim to be from the stars. Have you ever heard of a vortex world?"
The man pursed his lips, folding his arms over his chest in thought. "…The most I can imagine is a gaseous planet." He said after some time. "Or one filled with tumultuous waters-vortex-as in a spiral, and those things which can be affected by it, such as gas or liquid. A whirlpool planet, as they are sometimes called, or a cyclone world, like Jupiter or Saturn."
"Precambrian Era." Tenchi said absently, playing with a rice cracker-his jaw hurt too much to eat."
Gouto looked at him. "The what?"
The youth blinked, then looked up. "Precambrian Era." He said, "Y'know, when the Earth didn't have any life-it was just toxic oceans and poisonous gases."
"I am unfamiliar with this era." The cat confessed.
Tenchi frowned. "It's the beginning stages of the planet. From like…billions of years ago. Something happened to Earth that eventually made it hospitable, and life began emerging towards the end of the Precambrian Era-like a primordial soup or single-celled organisms springing from hydrothermal vents."
Raidou clicked his teeth, and Tenchi looked up at him. The bancho clearly mouthed a single word: Nerd.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know I was in the company of the poorly educated." Tenchi retorted, "Let me get some crayons and I'll draw it out for you-they're even non-toxic, so you can eat them too!" and moved to rise as Raidou slammed a fist down on the table in anger.
Gouto's ears went back. "Raidou…" He warned.
Yosho grabbed Tenchi's arm. "Sit."
The two teens glared at their respective elders rebelliously, then settled once more, shooting eachother a heated glare before looking away from eachother.
Yosho and Gouto shared a knowing look.
At length Gouto began again. "So we have gained at least something from this conversation. We know the cults are employing demons under the will of a man named Hikawa. We know they want to end this world and that, the demons at least, are expecting the formation of a 'Vortex World', which could possibly…reset the planet, essentially?" The cat sighed. "But why? What purpose would that create? Demons and other spirits in theory don't need the physical realm to operate, but many are still reliant on the basic nature of the land to coexist." He sighed. "There is still too much we do not know, to include what this 'Vortex World' actually is."
Raidou clicked his teeth, scowling as he propped an elbow on the table and rested his cheek on a fist.
"…I bet Ryoko would know."
The others turned to Tenchi.
"If not her…I bet she'd know someone who does." Tenchi replied. "She could tell us—if she knows we aren't a threat."
Raidou scowled, patting his right side.
"Raidou has a point." Gouto said. "We may have missed the opportunity for peaceful discussions. I doubt she'll come and speak with us now-not after the injury she sustained."
"She'll show." Yosho narrowed his eyes.
"How can you be sure?" Gouto asked.
Yosho gestured to the tenchi-ken. "We have something which belongs to her. She will want it back."
"She can't interact with the sword though." Tenchi said. "You said it yourself. The sword will only work for you."
"The sword is codified for Jurain Royalty, Tenchi. Not just me." Yosho replied. "Or do you not recall handling the sword yourself?"
"I'm not royalty." Tenchi replied. "Or…Juraian."
Raidou snorted.
"Tenchi…you are the grandson of the lone Prince of Jurai. You were born on Earth, yes, but you have Jurain blood in you." Yosho said carefully. "The fact that you were able to use the tenchi-ken without training is proof of that. The sword would not respond to anyone else." The man glanced back at the hilt, then reached over, picking it up once more. "Keep it." He said, offering the weapon to Tenchi. "If Ryoko returns to her sanity, she will not approach me, nor Kuzunoha-kun unless it is for revenge. Yet even that will not grant her the gems; they were taken from her by a member of the Jurain royal bloodline and can only be returned by a member of Jurain royalty. No amount of threats, demands, or violence against me will return the gems to her. But if the relationship you hold with her is half as strong as you say it is, she'll return to you."
"Ah…I see. You would have the boy act as a liason between us and the demon." Gouto deduced. "Clever. But the question remains…will you, Masaki-kun?"
Tenchi stared at the offered sword hilt, his eyes falling on the three red gems. He remembered how they glowed that eerie blue in the cave. How a red miasma-like glowing red blood-had fallen from the Foreigner's body. How both strange energies had fed into Ryoko's body, re-animating it as the demon was revived.
He remembered Duke Aym, and Ryoko coming to his defense, despite the strange influence she was under.
"What…specifically…do you want from her?" Tenchi inquired.
"Just some answers to our questions. What the Goetia was doing here. What that stranger you mentioned wanted with her. If she knows anything about these doomsday cults-the Cult of Gaea, or what a Vortex World is."
"And if she wants the gems?"
"I leave that to your judgment, Tenchi." Yosho said. "You know her better than any of us. You will know if she's fit to carry them or not."
"What if she tries to coerce me?"
"Has she tried to in the past?"
"No…"
"Do you believe she would start now?"
Tenchi fell silent, recalling his first night back in the shrine, his visit with Ryoko and the conversation they had. He frowned, then reached forward and took the sword. "I won't make any promises." He said softly. "I don't even know where she is after what happened at the tree. But…I guess I'll try."
"That's all we ask." Gouto said. "Try-for all our sakes. Though I hate to consider it, Ryoko may be the one key we have towards finding some kind of way forward between this 'Conception' and the Doomsday Cults, and any action is better than no action."
Tenchi thumbed the gems in the hilt, feeling the cool, smooth surface. "I hope your wrong." He admitted. "About all of this-doomsday cults, the end of the world, the Goetia-all of it."
Gouto-douji looked up at him solemnly, watching as the teen stuffed the hilt into one pocket. "I hope I am too." He murmured.
Comments of a Madwoman: The drums of Destruction beat a hollow rhythm. Upon a knife's edge all dance, heedless of the dangers around them. Understanding breeds resiliance, yet all remains hidden beneath a cloud of Unknowing.