1996, Postwar Era
Okinawa Prefecture,
Masaki Shrine, Japan
Thunderheads were building overhead.
Off to the east, a black plume depicted the sacrilegious burning of a holy tree.
To the west, two young men ventured into forbidden lands, approaching the cursed cave of the Undead, the prison of the Demon, Dead but Dreaming. Tenchi led the way, back stiff and mind racing, as behind him, an ancient being smiled behind a facade of youthful mortality. The cry of a crow heralded their journey, and around the Blind and the Enlightened, spiritual entities of all shapes, sizes, and ages fled. Some fled towards the cave, as if to take up arms in defense of the Demon which rested there. Others fled away from both, wanting nothing of Devils, Demons, or the Mortal between them.
"Devil! Devil! Devil!" Hiji cawed, beating frantic wings as he sped to the cave.
Two kitsune, normally happy enough racing through their expansive territory that comprised the entire Masaki Shrine, now found themselves once more retreating to the cave, lips peeled back in a snarl of fear or anger, ears pushed flat against their heads as a tengu warned the Masaki Youkai of the foreign Devil's approach.
"What's happening?" A Demon, dead but dreaming, peered with astral eyes to a physical world, finding the land strange, tense, and uncomfortable. The scent of Change clogged the air in the thick black carbon of Hellfire, and the Demon growled, made restless by the strange energies intruding on her territory.
A spider-A massive golden Orb Weaver, thrice the size of a grown man-scaled up the cave walls, meeting the spirit on the rocky outcrop which served as the prison's roof. "Danger approaches." The spider whispered. Its body rested tense and taut, almost flat against the rock surface as it came to rest near the spirit. It groomed itself restlessly, vibrating as it observed east of the cave.
Black smoke.
Black aura.
The aura was growing closer.
"It's more than just approaching danger." The Demon murmured, and a spectral hand rested fearlessly on the orb weaver's thorax, avoiding the eyes as she let it rest there. "Take a breath, Princess. You'll shed your skin before you've even grown too big for it."
Something akin to a shudder rocked the creature."You speak jokes. I wish I could find such humor in this encroaching danger, Ryoko-sama."
"I doubt that." Ryoko said, for once ignoring the honorific. The demon rose to her feet. "Find shelter. Not in the cave rocks-something tells me the guest wishes to speak to me. Seek shelter near the river, where Ryo-oh-ki, the mizuchi, and the kappa dwell. If they do not deter the threat, they will at least provide you warning of what approaches."
"I will not leave you alone."
"You can fight?" Ryoko looked at Princess Kachi with a skeptical eyebrow.
"Not as the others, but I will attempt it." The spider replied."I am not so delicate that I will not leave a mark. My bite is fierce, my venom deadly."
"I won't be able to protect you this time if things go south."
"I would not expect you to." Kachi replied. "Yet I remain in debt to you. I will fight."
Ryoko eyed the jorogumo but did not try to dissuade her. Instead she turned her focus back to the encroaching aura. The demon narrowed her eyes. It was familiar.
I know this aura. She thought, and felt her stomach twist. Why?
The pirate narrowed her eyes, spotting three familiar auras racing towards her-the vanguard to this intruding presence. Hiji emerged from the forest canopy in a hail of leaves, feathers, and caws, so distressed the tengu did not stop to return to his true body. "Devil!" He screamed, the word so hoarse against the crows normally ragged voice that Ryoko wondered if he hadn't screamed the vocal cords raw. She caught him, focusing her energy into her hands in arms, and felt a tiny body with a heart beating a mile a minute.
He's scared too. Ryoko thought. Hiji doesn't spook easily. "Show me." She told him, and brought the small creature up to her forehead. Their astral bodies met, bridging a connection between the two entities, and Ryoko saw an image: Two boys, one Western, one Japanese, one with blond hair, one with black. Of conversation, innocent enough at first, growing more disquieting by the moment.
A jolt of recognition. I do know him-I remember him! He's back. After sixty-five years, he's returned? Dread came with it, watching the pallid look of anxiety spread across Tenchi's face. The woman took a breath.
Sixty-five years ago, a devil with a youth's face claimed he'd use Yosho's predecessor to release her.
Sixty-five years ago, Ryoko would have said such a thing was fine. What care had she of her jailer's descendants?
That had been prior to Achika-a little girl hunted, her mother murdered before her very eyes. That had been prior to Tenchi, introduced to Ryoko by his own mother as a baby, raised to know and respect the great guardian demon imprisoned by his ancestor. That had been prior to a little boy who'd come sobbing to a cave-so similar to another a generation past-with the passing of his mother, seeking comfort in the arms of his ancestral enemy.
A single, simple thought entered the Dread Space Pirate Ryoko, Devil Caller and Destroyer of Worlds: If he harms Tenchi, I'll kill him.
Two kitsune raced for the sanctuary of the shrine, barking warnings of the incoming presence and another intruder near Yosho's rooted treeship, and Ryoko released Hiji, sending him aloft. "Warn the other youkai of the intruders." She said. "Gather those who would defend their territory, and send the others off the mountain. She looked down at Nanatsu and Kokonotsu. "Send word to the badgers and the tanuki. The badgers may assist with their magic, but the tanuki will need to flee. Tell them to assist any other youkai struggling to escape."
Kokonotsu's ears pressed against his head. He whined. "You expect a battle." He stated.
Ryoko pursed her lips. "I don't know what to expect." She said. "I have never been en envoy of peace. You know this. But I will hear out the Devil. It may be nothing."
"You act as if it is not 'nothing'." Nanatsu whimpered. Her brown tails were tucked tight beneath her belly.
"I expect it won't be." Ryoko replied. "In fact, I expect a fight. A fight that may devastate this place. But last I spoke with this one, we remained amiable. I hope it remains so this time.
"The boy changes things." Hiji came to rest on the stone outcrop, a tengu once more.
"It does." Ryoko said. "Which is why I tell you all now-spread the word. Let those who run, run, and assist those who want to. Let those who wish to fight do so, but tell them to defend their homes. I don't think any of them will be a match for what approaches."
"Or the demon at the Holy Tree?" Kokonotsu asked.
Ryoko looked at him, then looked off into the distance, where the black plume grew greater. Yes, there was an aura there. A bad one. Not as bad as what approached, but one which made her hackles rise nonetheless. It would take a great youkai to defeat that one-not as great as the one needed for the Devil but…
She shook her head. She'd need a spiritual entity akin to Ryo-oh-ki to take on both of them. A Kurama tengu-one of the Elder Youkai-might work, but they had long since left the Shrine; they'd grown intolerant of the Masaki Clan's lack of offerings, and had left for greener mountains when it grew apparent that the Clan's focus surrounded Funaho, not the greater spirits which inhabited the land.
Ryoko was the only one left who could hold a candle to the intruders.
The spirit sighed. "We wait." She said, and wondered if perhaps her freedom-be it from the prison or her body-would come sooner than she suspected.
Tenchi swallowed as they grew closer to the cave. His throat was dry and parched, his clothes drenched with sweat, not all of which was from summer's heat. Behind him the blond young man trailed at a distance, a soft smile on his face which conflicted with the piercing gaze digging into the teen's back.
There was something seriously off about the young man, but Tenchi could not place specifically what it was. There was an unrealness to the stranger that made the teen uneasy; as if what he saw was a mirage-like a youkai that took on a human form to prey on its victim. But that's not it. Tenchi thought, dipping beneath a tree branch. Its not a youkai. He doesn't…he doesn't feel like a youkai.
What did he feel like, then?
Danger. Tenchi thought. Like…how a rabbit feels under a hawk's gaze. Like at any moment, the creature behind him would strike, and he would feel the talons of a hawk dig into his back before a hooked beak tore into him.
Yet the stranger had only requested to see the cave. To peer inside.
Why?
He wants something from Ryoko. The thought struck him like a bolt of lightning, and the teen almost stopped in his spot. What does he want from her? Fresh dread filled his gut-no longer for himself but for the demon, and though he did not want to acknowledge it, for the greater populace of Okinawa. Does he want to use her? Free her? Make a deal with her? What could…what could this thing want with her?
The lad drew a shuddering breath. "Hey uh…why do you want to see the cave?" He tried to keep his voice light, but the words trembled as they rolled off his tongue, and Tenchi felt the hair on the nape of his neck rise as fresh interest rolled off the stranger. Oh gods, I can feel it. He thought. Why…why can I feel it? That shouldn't be possible.
"You seem nervous, Masaki-kouhai. Is something wrong?" The stranger asked.
Tenchi flinched. "No." He said quickly. "Just ah…just a little tired." He licked his lips. "Might have overdone it this morning. May have heat exhaustion."
The stranger grunted in what could have been amusement. "Be sure to look after yourself." He said. "I've heard that it's supposed to be a scorching day today."
"Th-that so."
"Indeed." He could hear the smirk in the stranger's voice, and it made his skin crawl. What was that supposed to mean?
"As to answer your question…" The man started, "I have business there."
"Business?" This time Tenchi did stop, and he looked over his shoulder at the young man. "What kind of business do you have at the Demon's Cave?" He demanded, forgetting his fear if only for a moment as a wave of protectiveness surged through him. So he did want something from Ryoko?
The young man smiled, and on his face sat scornful amusement-the way a parent might look at a young child who'd been caught with his hand in the candy jar. Tenchi dropped his gaze.
Yet the young man-mysterious as he was-never once failed to answer his questions. "As I said prior-I'm meeting an old associate before my departure."
"Ryoko." He didn't know why he said the name. It left his lips before Tenchi could stop it, and part of him screamed, clawing with mental talons to capture the word before it could meet the stranger's ears.
"You know her, I see." The blond replied, And when Tenchi looked back at him, ice in chest, he found curious eyes glowing with interest. A slow smile grew upon his face, large and toothy, and in that moment, Tenchi found he wanted to run. To turn and run any direction other than towards the cave or the stranger. To race to the Holy Tree, and seek safety beneath the gentle branches, or even into the depths of the Masaki shrine.
Anywhere but under this creature's gaze. "You must know her well. Not even an honorific!" the dual-colored eyes narrowed. "Tell me Masaki-kouhai…what is Ryoko to you?"
Tenchi stared mutely at the stranger, heart pounding so hard he could feel it in his throat as his mind ran through a gauntlet of excuses. The smile grew larger, hungrier on the face of the stranger, and the teen shrank beneath the gaze.
The blond laughed. It sounded pretty, like ringing bells. It made Tenchi shiver. "No matter. I'm certain she'll tell me herself." That perfect snarl-smile again. "Come. We've dallied enough. As much as I enjoy idle conversation, I am a busy man. Let us continue, that I may conclude my business with Ryoko-sama and be on my way." The blond waved Tenchi forward, and swallowing, Tenchi turned and moved farther along the path, rubbing his arms. They were coated in goosebumps.
The cave was silent and desolate when the two emerged from the animal trail.
Though it looked no different to Tenchi from any of the other times he'd been there, there was something about the atmosphere that felt…different. Desolate. Oppressive even.
It's too…quiet here. Not in the peaceful way, either. He thought, and looked around.
Nothing.
No tengu.
No kitsune.
No kodama.
No spider-women, even.
The teen looked back at the cave. There was a presence there still. If he concentrated, he'd see Ryoko, he knew, but the usual inhabitants who kept her company…there was no one.
Fresh apprehension dawned on him. Did she send them away? He looked up, and just spied the long, spindly leg of the jorogumo disappear atop the cliff face. A trap? Or are they all hiding? His heart skipped a beat. Are they going to try something? Try something against the foreigner?
He glanced back behind him, stepping to the side as the stranger strode forth with casual confidence. Just another day. The walk said, Walking to a demon's shrine dressed in a suit to do business with a seven-hundred year old Devil Caller.
The man's gaze fixated on one point near the top of the cave, and the stranger stuck a leg out and bowed, sweeping an arm across his body in a single elaborate motion. "It's been a long time, Ryoko-sama." He straightened.
Tenchi followed the man's gaze, concentrating on the area as he fought to shut down his own inner white noise. A flicker, and for a brief second he saw Ryoko, staring down at them both with an uncharacteristically stoic face. Her eyes met his and she was gone once more.
Shit.
He was too anxious.
Nows not the time for this. He thought. I need to focus. C'mon Dope, breathe. The lad closed his eyes and sucked in a long, slow breath, fighting to clear his mind. It did not come naturally. Damn it, I should have kept up my practice during the school year. Tenchi thought, and grit his teeth.
"-ned. Why? I-" Ryoko's voice, fading in and out like radio signal.
"I always keep my word, Sister-In-Arms. Though I must say, I am surprised. You've changed. I had not expected kinship with the Jailer's offspring."
"-me ch…es…'ings cha…e-"
A little more. Dial it back a bit more Tenchi. He squinted, and saw a vague apparition that might have been Ryoko or the jorogumo staring down at him. It was formless, but he could just make out its aura.
Had Ryoko's aura always been so…intense?
It made the hair on his arms rise in alarm. His mother had told him the story of her first encounter with Ryoko, with how effortlessly Ryoko had slain the 'worm from the stars' and how powerful she was even with her physical body imprisoned. Yet those had been stories-like Yosho's epic battle against the Demon of Heaven. Tenchi himself had never actually experienced anything akin to that level of power, despite the many youkai who claimed subservience to her.
To him, she had always just been…Ryoko.
This stranger's arrival at the shrine was now challenging that perspective.
He locked on to the apparition, focused his intent, and listened with all his might. Gradually the spirit condensed into a form, and Ryoko indeed stared down at them once more, her expression filled with suspicion and eyes sharp like scythes. Tenchi could feel the energy emanating from her in waves, and watched her with apprehension as the golden cat eyes shifted for a fraction of a second to him.
It was only for a moment, yet in that instance Tenchi felt the full weight of the Devil Caller's gaze on him, and understood immediately why his ancestor had been unable to kill her-had only been capable of locking her physical body away, lessening the full extent of damage against the small island chain which would become his final home.
And childlike though it was, Tenchi's immediate thought was, She's mad at me.
"You must alleviate my curiosity in the boy-I'd not thought he'd have any connection to you-but what is your relationship with him?"
"Why…id you br…g him?" Ryoko crossed her arms, a not-quite snarl on her face as she glared down at the stranger.
"To assist me in opening your cell door, of course." The stranger smiled, unflustered by the hostility rising from the spirit in waves. "My question to you is…will you uphold your own end of our agreement?"
Ryoko was silent.
The smile fell from the blond man. "I meant what I said when we first spoke." He stated. "This world is nearing its end. The waters of Samsara wax and wane with more force by the moment, yet soon there will be no moon to draw in its tide; only Kagatsuchi. It will bear its force down upon all who remain, and when the final Reason stands atop its rivals, when Entropy is overcome-or when it is not-and all that remains are those of the greatest character….we will march."
"I don…stand." Ryoko said.
Tenchi didn't either.
"You will in time." Another slim smile. "On the Eve of that new world, I would have you join me. There is much which needs accomplishing that one of your particular abilities would be greatly suited for."
Ryoko frowned, and her gaze once more drifted to Tenchi.
"Wha…an to do…im?"
"Nothing." The blond shrugged. "He is a means to an end-or a beginning, I suppose. You are freed, he returns to his life-or what remains of it." The young man's form flickered, and for a moment Tenchi thought he saw something. Something massive. Something with wings, and a level of power which frightened him. He stepped away from the stranger.
"Unless…you would see him live?"
"Is that a threat?" Tenchi flinched and looked back at Ryoko. The Devil Caller had appeared on the bolder next to the cave's entrance, lips peeled back in a snarl which showed off elongated canines. A red haze had appeared over her eyes, and Tenchi became uncomfortably aware of a strange energy building in either of the woman's palms.
"Not at all." The man remained unfazed. Cheerful even. "In fact, it is an offer, my Dear!"
"What?"
"What?"
Both Tenchi and Ryoko stared at the stranger in confusion. The man's smile grew sly. "If I guarantee the young Masaki an opportunity at life…an opportunity to meet Kagatsuchi's power with his own might…will I have your allegiance when the time comes?"
A flicker of uncertainty flashed across Ryoko's face. She said something too soft for the teen to catch.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Tenchi asked, and was ignored.
"What I can promise is to grant him the means to power. One which, once granted, will allow him to survive-if he should use it well."
"…ll…om…se…vive…" Ryoko's words were soft and quiet, but her gaze was intense as she stared at the foreigner.
"Then we have a deal!" The young man announced. "I shall await you at the end of eternity, Devil Caller Ryoko-sama! From one to another, I cannot wait to see your development." He looked at Tenchi. "Do keep me entertained." His voice was soft and scolding. "I would hate for the Devil Caller's Familiar to fall too swiftly."
"What do you mean, what familiar-" Tenchi tried again, only to be cut off.
"Come Masaki-kouhai!" The blond man strode towards the shrine. "It's time to see the legendary demon of the Masaki shrine with our own eyes." He placed a hand-gentle but commanding-at the small of Tenchi's back, and against his own wishes, Tenchi moved forward, walking in stride beside the stranger.
They passed the apparition on the boulder, and Tenchi took one final look at Ryoko.
She looked nervous. Scared even.
"Ten-"
She vanished.
Something shrieked, and Tenchi turned just in time to watch the iron gate swig open on its rusted hinges. The stranger looked back at him with his strange eyes. "Shall we?" He asked. "We've a date with Destiny. It's impolite to keep Her waiting."
Tenchi's heart began to hammer in his chest. Before him, the cave loomed black and ominous, a mouth waiting to swallow him whole.
Off against the horizon, the sky began to flicker, echoed by the low grumble of thunder.
The cave was cold, dark and humid. Cold stone surrounded them as the two entered, and when Tenchi stuck his hand out against a wall to serve as a guide, he felt a wet, slimy surface beneath his palm. His skin crawled at the feel, and abruptly the teen yanked his hand back, wiping his palm against his pants leg as he squinted into the darkness.
He could see the blond teen, but little else.
And why is that? He wondered. I can't see anything else, but this guy…its like he's illuminated. Like he's a walking beacon. Indeed, the more Tenchi focused on him, the more the strange youth's features grew prevalent; the golden hair, the androgynous face, even the crisp, black suit seemed to stand apart from their dark surroundings, as if even the darkness was illuminated in such a manner as to become prevalent in the encroaching atmosphere of the cave.
Casually, the youth walked around something which hung low to the ground- a stalactite-a massive piece of limestone which the entire cave appeared centered around. In the quiet, Tenchi could hear water dripping from its tip into a pool below it, and when he stepped towards it his foot sank into a naturally formed bowl of water. With a grunt he removed it, part of him wondering if he hadn't just stepped in the prison housing Ryoko's body.
Yet as his eyes gradually adjusted, he saw that the cave was empty.
In fact, it appeared incredibly lackluster as far as 'prisons' went; a stalactite in the center, the iron bars of the cave's entrance, a shimenawa rope with white paper shide tied around the stalactite, a large stone with kanji carved in and layered with an ofuda talisman not yet succumbed to the elements.
And though it was tiny, a small shrine.
It was to this small shrine the blond man went. "This way, Masaki-kouhai." He said lightly. "You're presence is required."
Grimacing, Tenchi approached, eying the talisman on the old stone surface. "I don't see what you need me for." He muttered, and felt his stomach tighten as he red the cursive script. It was his grandfather's handwriting, and while he was not fluent in the entire symbology, he recognized several of the characters on the ofuda. He glanced back at the stranger, and found the teen staring at him.
"My, you sell yourself so short don't you?," The teen smiled, and Tenchi looked away, hating the expression. "You're the most important character in this play, Masaki-kouhai." The blond replied. "Prince Charming if you will, ready and awaiting his moment to rescue his damsel in distress." The stranger turned to the small shrine cubby, opening the wooden doors and stepping back with a gesture for Tenchi to approach. "Your sword, Sweet Prince."
"I'm not a prince." Tenchi muttered under his breath, and swallowing, stepped forward.
The hilt of a sword lay buried deep in a sheath enshrined by stone.
Tenchi-ken.
The youth swallowed, the dull glint of three red gems catching his eyes. Ryoko's power. He thought. Mom used to tell me stories of how Yosho imprisoned Ryoko by stealing the gems from her body and placing them within his sword. Could these really be…? With no small reluctance and great hesitation, Tenchi reached his hand inside the shrine and wrapped it around the sword hilt. It felt smooth. Cold.
Dead.
It's a sword. Were you expecting warmth? He berated himself.
With a deep breath, he pulled the sword upwards, expecting resistance and instead finding the old weapon slipping up and out of the small shrine like a well-oiled blade. His hand felt clammy as he withdrew it, and his heart quickened as, with a hard pull, the sheath was removed, exposing the long blade to the world outside for the first time in seven hundred years. He grimaced, a feeling of mixed elation and terror briefly overwhelming him. His heart skipped a beat.
The sword was free.
Hesitantly, as if such an act was sacrilegious, Tenchi looked at the legendary weapon, and felt his heart sink. "It's…rusted." He looked the blade up and down in dismay; though the hilt remained in pristine condition, the exposure to seven hundred years of elements had not been kind to the Heavenly Warrior's blade. "I…This can't…" the youth lapsed into silence.
Before him, the blond arched a golden eyebrow. "Interesting. I had heard rumors that this blade could demolish boulders in a single swing. It does not seem so resilient now." The lad pursed his lips, gaze inquisitive as he examined the weapon. He glanced at the small boulder with the ofuda seal, then back to Tenchi, a coy smile sliding atop his face. "Slice the rock." He pointed.
"What?!" Tenchi looked at the teen in horror. "I'll break it! This thing couldn't even cut paper in the condition it's in!"
"Slice the rock." The blond repeated. The lightness had left his voice.
Tenchi stared at him, paralyzed with indecisiveness. What he held in his hand was a holy relic; an artifact of insurmountable value that would, in any other circumstance, be turned over to the Japanese government as a historical artifact. It was his family's legacy and by all accounts his own inheritance-and it remained his grandfather's responsibility and by extent his own, to maintain and care for. It was rusted and fragile.
And this fucker-devil, demon, or whatever-wanted him to use it to cut a rock.
"Slice the rock, Masaki-kouhai." It was a command now. Tenchi didn't have the courage to disobey him.
With a grimace, the teen stiffly turned to the boulder, falling into a second-nature stance from his long years of off-brand kendo with his grandfather. He raised the sword over his head, mindful of the cave ceiling, gripped the hilt with both hands, and brought it down with a swift and practiced blow.
The sword did not so much break against the stone as it did shatter. Rusted bits of iron exploded on impact, and Tenchi recoiled as bits of sharp, brittle iron ricocheted back towards him. Through sheer luck none of it landed in his eyes, but what remained was merely the hilt. The blade laid in a hundred pieces on the ground.
"Fuck." Tenchi whispered. "Oh fuck. Oh fuck-"
The boulder broke in two neat pieces, straight down the middle from where he'd struck the rock.
"Oh fuck!" Tenchi screamed.
Behind him, the blond looked on in fresh interest. A fleeting smile, large and excited, flashed across his face and was gone again, locked behind the face of a calm stoic once more. "Interesting…" He murmured, and moved to inspect the rock as Tenchi stared down at the sword hilt in stupefied horror. "It seems the legends were correct."
"I just….The sword…." Tenchi tried, but the words died in his throat. He stared mournfully down at the hilt. Grandpa's gonna kill me. He thought. This…this is a priceless artifact. What am I gonna do?
The earth began to rumble, and startled, Tenchi lept back as the wall behind the broken boulder began to spit in two, a small slit-barely big enough for a man to squeeze through-appearing before the two of them. "What-did the sword do that?"
"It appears so." The young man murmured. "Come Masaki-kouhai. I believe we must descend in to Hades if we're to find Persephone."
Tenchi looked at the crack warily. "I…really don't want to go down there." He muttered.
"You no longer wish to free Ryoko-sama?"
The teen flinched. "I didn't say that." He whispered.
The blond smirked. "Then lead the way."
Tenchi sighed with resignation. I almost wish he'd just kill me now. He thought. At least then I can end this neverending dread. My heart's going to burst at this rate.
Gripping the sword hilt tightly, Tenchi edged forward, moving past the broken boulder and sliding through the crack. The edges were sharp and jagged, scratching him and biting at his clothes as he pushed through. His foot stepped in ankle deep water, and he yelped, withdrawing it in a rush. He looked down in distaste, and Tenchi could see a low glow somewhere beneath him which highlighted the path downwards.
The ground was slick, and he felt his balance give, only for an arm to grab and steady him. "Careful now." The blond murmured. "Best not to scare the sleeping princess."
"The ground's slick."
"Then lean against the wall. We go together." The blond did not release him. Tenchi wasn't certain if he was relieved or not.
Together, the two made their way down the cave slope. While the walls and ceiling all appeared carved into the rock-either naturally or man-made, the further they descended the more apparent to Tenchi that the surface they walked on was too artificial to be any kind of stone. The ground-like the stranger-seemed to be emitting a strange illumination which grew stronger as they descended, and Tenchi could see some kind of strange panel glowing just below the surface of what they walked on, a gentle glow pouring out of furrows too perfectly straight to have formed naturally. Water seeped through the indents, and as they reached the bottom Tenchi realized that, outside of large, thick, and ancient roots which seemed to emerge at regular intervals from the stoneface, there was no other vegetation. There's no moss. No lichen, not even mold spores or fungus. Its…clean. Sterile even. He thought, and felt his skin crawl.
It was unnatural.
The ground flattened below them and the two entered a large, circular chamber. The furrows from the pathway expanded, forming a maze of indents that reminded Tenchi of the mythic Greek Labyrinth. A pool of water rested in the center, Like King Minos' Minotaur, Tenchi thought, but…that's no Greek monster. That's….That's Izanami.
His heart drummed in his ears, and for a moment Tenchi's vision grew dark with spots. That's a corpse. He realized. There's-it's…His breath came out fast and ragged, and the teen's groin cramped with painful terror. "No." He breathed, and as the blond walked past him, he felt the strength slip out of his knees. "It can't-Is that…?"
The youth ignored him, approaching the pool's edge and peering inside at the body within. "I see." The blond murmured. "What a cruel fate you've suffered. To think you've endured such torture for seven-hundred years…your strength is unparalleled, Ryoko-sama."
"Ry…oko..?" Tenchi felt himself choke on the name, the Stranger revealing the truth which the teen refused to accept. "No, no, that can't-that's…"
The Blond looked back at him, the corner of a lip turned down in scorn. "It is." He stated.
Tenchi's breath hitched a notch and the youth shook his head, the sight, the knowledge, too surreal for him to face.
Before him, the Stranger's frown deepened. "Ryoko-sama has been imprisoned in this cell for approximately seven-hundred years, Masaki-kouhai." His eyes narrowed, and for the first time a sense of true vehemence emerged from the blond. "What did you think you would find, Boy? A plush room with food and entertainment? A demon-a woman-with a healthy, living body to greet you with hugs and kisses?" He scoffed. "You stand in a chamber that is less than all of Hades-you stand in the prison of Irkalla, and before you, my little Dirt Fairy, lies the corpse of Inanna, imprisoned and left to rot by her jailer until such a time as one like you could set her free. Now come."
The Stranger gestured to him, and Tenchi felt his body rise as if grabbed by an invisible hand and propelled forward, the tips of his shoes dragging boneless through the water before he came to an abrupt halt before the blond. The eerie sensation left him, and Tenchi collapsed with a gasp, staring up at the being in open fear.
"Who…what are you?" Tenchi whispered.
"A Brother-in-Arms to the one imprisoned here." The stranger replied. "If she is Inanna, than think of me as one like Shammash-or Ninshubur-come to liberate their fellow."
The gems in the sword hilt began to glow a bright blue, and around them, etheric blue orbs of energy manifested.
Tenchi sat unaware, the water of the cell soaking his pants and shoes to the bone as he stared up at the entity before him.
The human was gone.
In its place stood a figure-so blindingly bright Tenchi could not make out its features-with six great, ethereal limbs emerging from it like wings.
The orbs pulsed, and danced to an unknown rhythm, swaying around not only the individuals, but the body in the prison's center.
The glowing being reached for him, and a low moan-not from the entity but from something else-echoed in the chamber around them, and the floating orbs condensed, shooting to the body in the pool.
Something wet and leathery grabbed the wrist holding the sword hilt.
Tenchi screamed.
It was a maddening sound; one of declining sanity, one which echoed and bounced off the stone walls, making the very air itself hum with presence. A broken sound, made all the more awful by the two presences which surrounded him.
He looked away from the glowing entity above him, unable to bear the sight, and instead found himself staring into the glare of the corpse, its face masked by a ruddy oni mask. Two golden orbs stared into his face from deep within the eye sockets, the emaciated body-oh gods, it was literally just skin and bones-pulling itself out of the water. It used Tenchi's own wrist as leverage, as if in touching him, it somehow found the strength which had for so long been absent in its body.
A fresh scream-a shriek-high pitched and half-mad-escaped Tenchi in short and hysteric breaths, his lungs filling just enough to release a fresh screech as his rational mind buried itself away, making room for the reptile brain to take control.
And take control it did; later, when the world had calmed and the danger was absent, Tenchi would not be able to recall his plight.
But in that moment, it was all to real. With a strength not normal for a human boy, he pulled the corpse from its prison, straining and struggling to free himself and doing little other than drawing it closer to him in his frantic efforts at escape. It collapsed on top of him, not yet strong enough to hold its own weight up by itself, and a hollow, painful groan-soft and almost feminine, met his ears. Behind him, the glowing entity reached reached past him and touched the corpse with fingers which might have been flesh, might have been talons, might have not existed at all. Its hand exploded in light as the two entities touched, and needles of bright, red light flew from the ethereal creature and into the corpse.
The grip on Tenchi loosened as the corpse shuddered, and the teen broke free, scrambling away from the creatures with the hilt still clutched tightly in his hand. His breath came out in wheezes as he stumbled to his feet, and another moan-more feminine this time-echoed off the chamber walls. His world narrowed to the rising slope which led to the cave's surface, and he made a desperate beeline for it, his mind dredging up horrors of another leathery hand grabbing his foot, of an ethereal hand piercing his skin, and finding nothing which followed him up.
Instead-and this he saw but did not see-two foxes, one white, one brown-raced down the artificial slope he so desperately scaled, slipping past him even as he raced over them, with neither party fully aware of the other.
He emerged inside the cave's interior, Izanagi arising from Yomi with Izanami hot on his heels, and without thought raced out of the cave, squeezing himself through the slim gap in the stone wall and somehow slipping through a small gap left by the fallen stalactite in the cave's center. Sunshine-made gray by the building storm, greeted his departure, and without thought or direction he ran straight ahead.
Straight to the one place his instincts thought was safer than the cave.
Straight towards The Holy Tree, still yet lathered in flames.
Only two beings watched his flight. A tengu, returning from its warnings of other youkai to receive further direction from his master, and the jurogumo who hailed him, her expression fearful and desperate as she explained what had occurred in his departure.
Inside the deepest crevices of a cave, a young blond man knelt in a pool of water, the liquid parting at his step and never quite touching his shoes or pants legs. Gently, he cradled the resurrected woman as he fed her small bits of his own infinite energy. Two kitsune approached growling, frightened but willing to die for their master, and Louis Cyphre looked down at them both affectionately.
"It is good to see such courageous servants." He told them. "But you will be wise to depart like the boy." The emaciated body in his arms was twitching, its body slowly rebuilding itself with the energy it had supped on from both the gems' familiar current and Cyphre's own Magatsuchi. "One's magatsuchi is comprised of the spiritual and emotional essence of the beings it draws into itself. And just as your master, I am one who rages." The blue had faded from his eye, replaced by a red haze.
A similar haze was overtaking the golden glow within the mask.
"I fear your master will rage too once her strength sustains her again." He warned, watching as a nose twitched, a tail swished, and fur bristled in alarm. "She may not be in her sane mind during that time. If you do not wish to be targeted by her, leave and warn the young lady and the gentleman above us. I have an idea of whom she may enjoy unleashing her anger on, but, well…"
He looked down at the body-no longer a corpse but an emaciated woman now-and watched her struggle to support herself. He adjusted his grip to allow her to lean into his shoulder, and heard a deep and primal growl emerge behind the mask. He smiled. "….she will be…easily distracted."
The white kitsune, older and wiser than his younger mate, retreated back a step. His brown mate, seeing his action, mimed him, then turned and ran back up the slope. The white one held his ground until a yip came from further above, then turned and followed.
In his mind's eye, a Devil watched a boy who'd broken a sacred stone in half with a rusty iron blade run unknowingly towards danger with one eye, and with the other watched a devil summoner and an otherworldly warrior prince combat a demon.
"I never thought I'd enjoy an apocalypse party. Such things were never for me." Louis Cypher murmured, then looked down at the woman against him. "Ah, but who can say at the end of the world? Surely, you know this as well as I." He smiled.
Comments of a Madwoman: The waves of Samsara ebb and flow. With the tide's pull comes ressurection and reincarnation, and with it outbound push, new souls join it infinite ocean. Push and pull, Life, death, and rebirth. Upon its neverending current souls ride its waves, desperate to break free, yet unable to escape its pull. Will it be a riptide that pulls you under? Holding you captive for million of incarnations? Or shall you be a tern, diving deep yet free of reincarnation's grasp?