Author's notes: Here we go yet again! This is a chapter which has been in planning for quite some time(a month or so), and this is the end result. I really hope you enjoy it, and if you don't, email me and tell me why. Oh, and for those of you who are confused, stay where you are! It'll all make sense in the end! I promise! And, once again, I'd like to give a hats off to my prereaders. You guys are a fic saver.
Quote of the Day: "Look here!
It seems that I happen to have the racquet right here! Oh dear, I suppose
this means that I was the one who switched Miss Lina's racquet!"
- Xellos (Slayers NEXT)
On your shore
I swear
Created from inside me
More than love I trust
Wash away your pains of love
Whichever words you speak of yourself
Which came from a song of a god?
We are the children of the same rhythm
To know you to know a part of you
The smallest unit in the world
Knew we would meet a thousand years ago
It was in our genes
We are the children of the same rhythm
We were together for a thousand years
-- "Pulse" -- from 'Macross Plus'
Washu stared at the data on the screen, with
a puzzled look on her face.
"Where did they go...?" she asked aloud.
Washu had suspected that Tenchi and Ryoko
would have introns in their blood system, but she found no trace of such.
And even more startling...was the fact that the intron residue in *her
own* blood...
...had completely vanished without a trace.
No Urobolus Ring, no autonomical destabilization,
no carbon trail, nothing.
Washu sighed, and scratched her head. How
could that of happened? There was perfectly accurate evidence of introns
merely half an hour ago! How could an entire *body* simply repel *all*
of the *millions* of introns?
It was mind boggling, to say the least.
Something was *definitely* going on.
"Where could I find more information on this...?"
Washu thought to herself aloud.
There was no where that contained a large
amount of information on introns in the entire universe, for several reasons.
Firstly, there really was no need. Introns were simply so rare that there
was no need to have information on them. The only beings that were ever
found to have introns in their bodies were higher priests and Priestesses
of Tsunami, and even then, there was only 3 or maybe 4 people recorded
in the history of existence to have an intron.
Secondly, the fact they were such a rarity
was another reason. There simply was no way to truly study them in great
detail, since they were so hard to find.
Washu tapped her finger against the corner
of her mouth, and tried to think of some sort of place where she could
find a suitable database on introns.
<Think...think...think...>
Suddenly, such a place occured to Washu.
There *was* a place where she could find the
information she needed.
Washu remembered doing extensive research
on the introns in Ryoko's body, but, like a lot of things lately, she couldn't
remember anything about the research.
But, one thing Washu *did* remember, was that
Kagato left the facility in tact. It should still be online, she hoped.
Washu began to quickly type commands over
her computer, a determination that had been renewed from her desire to
find out what was going on.
She accessed the database for the system of
planets where her lab was.
She displayed the information on screen.
- The Kuga System Database -
Washu clicked the enter key.
- Access Which Database? -
Centra archive number 10111010110.
- Access Denied. Password Protocol in Effect.
Enter Password. -
######
- Access Granted. Accessing Centra System.
-
Washu watched as the satellite scanned the
various regions of the Centra planet.
"Centra? Why does that name sound so familiar?"
Washu thought to herself.
- Centra System Accessed. Select Database.
-
Washu chose the area where her lab was situated.
- Confirmed. Landscape: Centra-Alpha Archipalego.
Accessing Island #4. -
Washu watched as the screen surveyed a various
island structures, all surrounded by crystal clear blue water. It came
to a stop on one with an old, decaying structure in the middle.
- Island #4 Accessed. Database detected within
Lithospheric Stratum. Enter Command. -
Access Archive.
- Enter Passward. -
esrevinuethnitsitneicstsetaergehtuhsaw.
- Access Granted. Preparing Neurological Hookup.
-
Washu typed in some extra commands, and a
large helmet appeared out of subspace. Washu took the helmet, and pressed
a button on the back of it. Four small circles on the top opened like shudders.
Washu placed the helmet over her head, then
pressed a few more commands on her computer. Four long, thick cables then
protruded from the computer, and Washu delicately hooked them into the
holes in her helmet.
Washu then slid down a small latch on the
side, and a black glass like covering Washu eyes. Pressing a few more commands
on the computer, the glass then illuminated with information.
- Neural System Activated. Initiate Protocol
at User Convenience. -
Washu pressed a few more buttons, and then
the program was activated.
It felt...strange.
She hadn't done a neural jump in a long time...thousands
of years, in fact.
It felt...good.
Her consciousness had left it's body, and
was now floating around inside an infinite sea of electrons, where information
was shared, and no holds were barred.
What life was like without a physical body.
Washu swam/guided herself through the information
to one area.
Words, numbers, voices, and other collective
unconscious streamed passed her like a drop in a river. Colors swam, diverged,
convulsed, and shifted thoroughly and splendidly in front of Washu's own
mind, waves of information crashing against the shore of the conscious.
Information was shared, and all that was known
was accessible to anyone.
Pushing through the barrier of information,
Washu guided herself towards what she saught.
It took a while.
Getting used to being without a body again
took some adjusting to, especially since she was so used to having one
again.
Washu vividly remebered she would spend months
on end, simply letting her mind roam free inside the sea of electrons,
allowing herself to flower and reach her true reach and potential.
Simply think, and you shall find.
So, she thought.
Introns...
At the mere thought, the information began
to radiate towards her.
Washu was overwhelmed, and nearly consumed
by the incredible vastness of information that began to assault her consciousness,
perpetuating a myriad entrancement of psychological dischord.
Regaining a semblance of control over her
ego, Washu managed to control herself into absorbing the information rather
than being absorbed *by* it.
<I forgot how that felt...I've been out
of practice for too long.>
Washu merely let the knowledge gather into
her being, filling her with a sense of wholeness and completeness. A state
of absolute sentience that could simply not be achieved within a body.
Only when the flesh had detatched itself, allowing the restraints on the
mind to be removed, could such a state of being be achieved.
It felt as if a man had stopped becoming a
man, and had become a god.
Washu slowly began to retract from the database,
all of the knowledge she needed being obtained, she now needed to detatch
herself from her state of benevolence, and retract herself into a state
of incompleteness.
A state where she belonged.
A state where she deserved to be.
A state in which she could be hurt by others,
and she could hurt others.
Washu finally completely detatched herself
from the network, and shut off the satellite hookup. She unhooked the cables
from her helmet, and then tossed the helmet off, letting it bounce on the
floor with a loud clang.
She collapsed into her chair, breathing heavily
and sweating profusely. After several minutes of getting used to having
a body once again, she sat up, and wiped her brow.
Washu looked at her computer screen with a
look of sheer determination. "Alright, this time, we're going to find out
what's really going on."
Sydney looked back and forth between the two
women, and sighed. "Alright, then. But I still think this is crazy."
Yoko nodded. "It is, but how else are we going
to get any info on the guy?"
Sydney scratched his head. "I don't know.
I wish Nez was a little more specific with his info. All we have is the
name."
"Hammond..." Raven reiterated.
Sydney nodded. "Right. Well...let's go look."
Yoko shook her head. "We can't leave just
yet."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because we still haven't got all the 'okays'
from the Jurain government."
"But this is a black project. The government
isn't going to support us." Raven said.
Yoko turned to her. "Yes, but it *was* initiated
by the emperor himself. And if we're gonna do this, we need the parts from
Hammond, and more men from Jurai."
"So, what's the hold up?" Sydney asked.
Yoko sighed. "Well, Nezeer had to get permission
to let us use some Jurai soldiers first from the Intelligence Agency, then
from the Self Defense Force, and then from the emperor himself."
"Beaurocracies..." Sydney muttered. "Alright
then. Raven, you're with me."
She nodded.
"Red, you stay and wait for any messages from
Nez. Deal?"
Yoko growled, but nodded.
Sydney turned to Raven. "Let's go."
The two of them drove to the rougher area of
the town that the legendary smuggler of ship parts Hammond was rumoured
to live. Sydney stopped the car, and turned it off. He turned to Raven.
"You ready?"
She leaned over a kissed him. "Anytime."
They stepped out of the car, and began to
walk down the street, asking everyone they passed about Hammond.
The results were...unfortunate.
"Hammond? Oh, he's that alien dude!"
"Hmm? Hammond, you say? I think he was some
old basketball star."
"Oh, he's tall, I tell you! Stands well over
10 feet, at least!"
"Heard his face was ultra deformed in some
space accident."
"Yes. He contributed to the Shrine of Tsunami
repeatedly, and offered everyone guidance from the goddess herself."
"Oh, Hammond? Heard he's some miracle hacker
guy!"
"I just got *majorly* blasted with him last
night! Whoa, did I just say somethin'?"
"Oh yeah, I know Hammond. He's a green skinned
midget who's into everything from guns to yogurt smuggling."
Sydney plopped back into the seat of his hover
car and sighed. Raven phased in through the door and sat next to him. He
was rubbing his temples, and Raven turned to face him.
"So what now?" she asked.
He sighed. "Now we get some help."
He picked up a communicator off the dashboard
of the old hovercar, and flipped it on. "Hey Red, this is Sydney. You there?"
She responded in kind. "DAMMIT, HOW MANY TIMES...yeah,
I'm here."
He sighed. "We could use a little help, here."
"Don't tell me you guys couldn't get any info,
now." she scolded.
"It's not like that! We got *plenty* of info!"
he retorted.
"Then tell me."
He cleared his throat. "We found out that
Hammond is an alien-super-tall-midget- ex-basketball-pro-ultra-deformed-Tsunami-guru-hacker-dope-addict."
He sighed.
Several seconds of silence ensued, and then
Yoko breaking into a fit of laughter could be heard from the other end.
"Oh...oh yeah...heh heh...good work, guys..."
she said through her maniac giggles.
Sydney shook his head in frustration. "No
need to make this difficult, Yoko."
"I...I'm sorry..." she said, calming her laughter
down. "Alright, so what do you want me to do about it?"
"Run a background check on all black market
purchases in the area. We'll go straight for the area with the largest
cluster." Sydney said into the communicator.
"Gotcha." Yoko said, back in control of herself.
There were several moments of silence, and
Raven leaned against Sydney. "You know, I wonder if he's forgotten?"
Sydney faced her. "Hmm? Forgotten...?"
She met his gaze. "Remember? Two or three
months ago, that little incident outside the asteroid field were you..."
she trailed off.
Sydney's eyes widened. "Hmm...I forgot about
that. Let's just hope he doesn't take crippling his subordinates ships
personally."
The COM crackled as Yoko's nasally voice came
back over. "Okay, I think I found him."
Sydney brought the the COM to his mouth. "Right.
So where?"
"Ummm....a couple of blocks from where you
are now, there's a bar called 'Zero Hour'. There is a *large* cluster of
black market purchases from there."
"Thanks, Red. Any word from Jurai yet?"
"Nope. Not yet. Well, that's about all the
info I got. Yoko out."
Sydney clicked the COM off, and turned to
Raven. "Well, shall we?"
"Hmmm....Zero Hour. Yup, this is it." Raven
said as she read the Neon Sign.
Sydney pushed open the door, and the two of
them stepped inside. It was a dark and seedy place, that was easily descernable.
The lighting was almost next to nil. Several pool tables were scattered
about the bar, and there was a heavy amount of smoke in the air.
Sydney and Raven slinked their way through
the various bar patrons, and over towards the bar itself. They sat down,
trying to fit in as best they could.
A chubby man addressed them from the other
side of the bar, cleaning a beer mug with a slightly dirty cloth. "So what
do you want?" He asked in a gruff voice.
Sydney met the man's gaze. "Info. Do you know
where we can find a man named 'Hammond'?" he asked.
The man squinted at them for a moment, then
anwered, "Just a minute."
He put down the mug, and walked out from behind
the bar, and off to some other bar patrons. Sydney looked over to Raven.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
She faced him, smiling. "Oh? And that is?"
Sydney casually fingered a hand held blaster
at his belt, next to a beam saber. He cleared his throat. "I have a feeling
that Hammond is going to be the violent type."
"Why do you say that?"
They turned as 5 or 6 large men approached
them. He looked at her.
"Just a hunch."
They walked up to them briskly, and stopped
a few feet in front of them.
They sneered down at the couple. "You the
people asking about Hammond?"
Sydney nodded. "Yeah, that's right."
One man stepped forward, and without a word's
warning, belted Sydney in the jaw. Sydney's head flew back, but he remained
fairly still. He slowly turned back to them, with a large grin on his face.
They looked at him, puzzled. He stood. "Mistake,
boys."
Sydney belted the man in the stomach who punched
him, then grabbed his hair, and slammed his head into the bar, rendering
him unconscious.
The others started to move in on Sydney, but
Raven was there first.
With the speed of a cheetah, she elbowed one
of the guys in the spine, causing him to crumple to the ground soundlessly.
Sydney wasn't idle, either. He leapt into
the air, and spun his foot around, kicking the other three men in the face,
knocking them to the ground, also out cold.
The majority of the other patrons were starting
to slowly, if not hesitently, move in on them.
Sydney and Raven just stared back at them
with grins on their faces.
Sydney cracked his knuckles. "What's the matter,
boys? Come on, I like the work-out program you got here."
The other men looked at each other, then as
one, turned to the couple, and drew blasters on them.
Sydney stopped cracking his knuckles.
"Oh shit."
The guns went off, and Raven and Sydney leapt
behind the bar to seek cover.
Sydney drew his blaster, and began firing
over the top of the bar, and Raven was standing with her shield up, firing
blasts at the other attackers. The two were doing fairly well for themselves,
until Raven, out of the corner of her eye, saw a man walk through a door
at the other end of the bar with a large weapon hoisted over his shoulder.
Her eyes went wide when she recognized the
weapon known for it's destructive power known as the Plasma Cannon.
"SHIT!!!" she cursed, and dove right for Sydney,
and then phased the two of them through the wall behind the bar, not a
moment too soon. A large green plasma blast struck the bar, setting off
a large explosion, blowing up half of the bar.
Sydney shook his head as he held onto Raven.
"Told you he would be the violent type!"
Raven grinned. "I never said I doubted you!"
It was midnight. Or at least, that is what
is seemed to be like. Blackness spread from everywhere. In actuality, there
was no time. There was no sky, there was no ground. Only a void.
The void was like a body of pure darkness,
which creeped over everything around it, completely trapping all light
within it.
Only, there were 2 entities within this darkness,
who were in fact, completely unaffected by it. They stood, and watched.
Tokimi sighed. "No change, sister. It's the
same."
Tsunami nodded, but said nothing.
"Judas is still dorment. I think that we will
be able to keep it that way for a while longer, I hope." Tokimi said, still
looking down at the crystalis.
Tsunami took in a breath. "It's a shame, really.
A thing of such beauty..."
Tokimi nodded. "I know. But it is from that
beauty which our problems all originated." She sighed, and turned to Tsunami,
her normally arrogant face now full of concern. "I heard, sister. About
'Adam' and..."
"They are together...again. I suppose I shouldn't
complain, after all, that's what I created them for, isn't it?" she said,
not really sure if she believed it.
Tokimi shook her head. "Don't worry about
it, Tsunami. We're goddesses, we don't have time for love and other pathetic
mortal emotions."
Tsunami turned to Tokimi. "Why do you have
such a grudge against mortals?"
Tokimi grunted in disgust. "They are inferior,
Tsunami! They live for only a twinkling, and they spend their time alive
attacking and hurting each other. Their concerns are perpetual to us."
Tsunami shook her head. "Then why do you want
to enter and control this dimension so badly, Tokimi?"
Tokimi sighed. "If I told you, you'd never
believe me." She huffed in annoyance. "What does it matter, anyway? Why
should *you* care all of a sudden what your *sister* thinks?"
Tsunami narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean
by *that*, Tokimi?"
Tokimi looked back at the crystalis. It was
spinning and changing color as fluidly as water ripples. "I may be the
one who has always strived to control, but I don't think that your goals
were so different, *sis*."
"What?"
Tokimi closed her eyes. "You create the Keepers
of Time. Then, you create other sentient beings. Why? Why would you do
this?" She returned her gaze to Tsunami. "Because you want to control them,
too."
Tsunami shook her head. "Nonsense."
"Is it? I'm not saying you don't *love* them...you
just want to control them."
<I love you so much...that is why sometimes,
I desire to smash you to bits!>
Tsunami shook her head. "Maybe. Maybe that
is how it is. I don't know."
Tokimi nodded, glad that Tsunami wasn't denying
*everything* like she normally did. She returned her gaze back to the swirling
crystalis. "It doesn't matter, anyway. After all, we're all just pawns
of *him*."
Tsunami turned to Tokimi. "What do you mean?"
"Ever since Washu volunteered to be a Keeper
of Time, he has taken the third spot of the trinity. And...he's been controlling
everything." she said, almost sadly, if she could feel such an emotion.
Tsunami blinked. "You mean...the wave existence?"
"Yes. Spiraling out of control, like an enigmatic
singularity, spawned from the 'other' dimension, where all have strived
to be as a God, it arrives, and we cannot understand it." She turned to
face Tsunami once again. "Sound familar?"
Tsunami nodded. "When Washu first discovered
the wave existence..."
"Sometimes...sometimes I wonder. I wonder,
what if this really is going to be the end? I mean, what if we *can't*
stop Judas? And he devours us all? What then? What happens to us, the endless?"
Tokimi whispered.
"Tokimi..."
Tokimi reflected her face off of the crystalis
almost as if she was giving a sad smile, even though such a thing was impossible.
Her eyes conjured a vision of almost extreme sadness and loneliness, perpetuating
a feeling of sheer sorrow.
"I...I can't stop *thinking* about that, Tsunami.
I *can't*. Every time I look at the cradle, or every time I take a peek
at Adam, or even now, when I am talking to my sister, I can't help but
feel it!" she said, and her voice implemented an emotion that she was designed
to never have. But it was clearly destinguishible within her voice.
Fear.
Fear of death.
Fear of...not knowing.
"I am of the endless! I shouldn't have to
die! Every time I plan out how to take this dimension for myself, or everytime
I talk to D3, I am overcome with the thought of what is going to happen!"
Tokimi pleaded.
Tsunami reached out with her hand, and placed
it gently on Tokimi's shoulder. "It's alright, Tokimi. It's alright."
Tokimi looked at Tsunami with a face of bewilderment.
Tsunami gave a half smile. "It may in fact
be for the best."
"What do you mean by that?" Tokimi whispered.
Tsunami sighed as she took her hand off of
her shoulder. "Even though to those outside of the endless, we are goddesses,
that still does not condone our previous actions, Tokimi. We've committed
so many sins...all three of us..."
Tokimi looked at Tsunami, as a tear lazily
glided down her gentle and beautiful face. Tsunami wiped it away gently.
"It's...not that I want to die, it's just that...we've been alive for so
long...we've controlled everything, for thousands upon thousands of years."
Tokimi's eyes widened as she realized something.
"Is...is that why you really wanted to become mortal, sister?"
Tsunami smiled sadly at Tokimi, and said nothing.
"All that talk about you desiring Adam...was
a lie?"
Tsunami shook her head. "Not that much. I..."
she thought about what she was going to say for a moment. "...I suppose
I did, just a little. But, yes...I did want to become mortal...so I could..."
"...End." Tokimi whispered.
Tsunami nodded solemnly.
"But...why? That is a world where people hurt
each other. That is the place where no matter where one is, there is always
pain and sadness!"
Tsunami shook her head. "It's alright...really.
I'm sure I can find happiness."
"But...you can't just conjure up memories
into some kind of rosary for yourself, Tsunami! In that world, you'll *die*!
Don't you really understand what the means? You will *cease to exist*!!"
Tokimi shouted.
Tsunami smiled. Tokimi just blinked in confusion.
"I'm...lonely, you know?" she said.
"Lonely...?" Tokimi repeated.
"Yes...here, it is lonely. I know there is
you, but..." she paused, "...we haven't really had the greatest of relationships,
Tokimi."
Tokimi shrugged.
"I...want to have a relationship with another.
Like I have seen in Adam and Eve. The way they have always come together...I
wanted that. They seemed..."
Tokimi sighed sadly, and turned away from
Tsunami.
"...they seemed...happy." Tsunami said, with
unmistakible sorrow in her voice. "Do *you* know what that's like, sister?
To see your *own* creation have an emotion that you so desire, but you
aren't even *allowed* to feel it? Do you understand what that feels like?"
"No, I don't." Tokimi said, looking at the
crystalis. "That is why *I* never created anything."
Tsunami wiped away a tear. "What do you mean
by that?"
"I mean...just what you're going through.
After all, it is your creations that are the cause of *all* of this, right?"
She sighed. "If you hadn't created them, you wouldn't want that feeling
you so fervently desire, Washu would still be with us, and Judas wouldn't
be about to awaken and bring about our utter annihilation!"
"I...I'm sorry, Tokimi..." Tsunami said, bowing
her head slightly.
Tokimi looked back at Tsunami out of the corner
of her eye. "That's why I wanted to take over your dimension, Tsunami."
"Hmm?"
Tokimi crossed her arms, and stared into the
crystalis. "You're mistakes... they are what's costing us everything. They
cost you your tree all those years ago, and now they will cost you your
life." She turned to Tsunami and spoke acidly to her. "And as your older
*sister*, I wanted to make sure that you were doing things *properly* for
once!"
Tsunami nodded sadly, and Tokimi's hard gaze
softened.
"And...what of the All-Father? We haven't
even *seen* him since he sent us the wave existence. Why? Because of those
*sapiens* born out of the antithesis of your blantent foolery. *Your* mistake
in creating such a petulent race of mortals has cost us almost *everything*,
sister."
Tsunami nodded, and simply stared at the crystalis.
"Don't you remember? All those billions of
years ago? When there was that time...when we were with Him? The All-Father?
How everything was so...perfect?"
Tsunami nodded.
Tokimi sighed at the memory. "Now we can't
even reach him. And we will die because of that. Our sanctity has been
rebuked." She looked over to Tsunami whose face was streaming with tears.
"I'm sorry, sister. I shouldn't speak so harshly of your creations. I just
wish that..."
"So do I." Tsunami cut her off.
They both returned their gaze to the swirling
crystalis.
Tsunami closed her eyes. "So do I."
There really was not much else to do. So, she
sat.
It was cold...but that didn't matter.
Ryoko sat on the roof of the Masaki house,
as the snow gently fell to the ground, blanketing the country with it's
white beauty as if they were tears from angels.
Ryoko sighed happily to herself, warming herself
in the memory of what Tenchi had told her.
<I love you, Ryoko...>
He had said it. And he wasn't lying! He really
said it!
Ryoko pulled her knees up to her chest, and
dreamily rested her face on them. She looked out over the valley as the
snow fell, and couldn't help but feel a certain degree of awe as she watched
the lake slowly be covered by the white angelic tears.
She never used to think about things like
that.
Even what Washu had done to her last night
was already a thing of the past. She was still mad, true, but the darkness
from that incident was nothing compared to the warmth of Tenchi.
She sighed. She wanted to be with Tenchi now,
but he had gone off to be by himself. He said that he needed some time
to be alone for a little bit, and Ryoko respected that.
Ryoko rubbed the spot where Washu had used
the syringe on her absent mindedly. It had completely healed up, but it
still itched a little. After taking Ryoko's and Tenchi's blood samples,
Washu had gone into her lab, and hadn't come out since.
Frankly, Ryoko really didn't care if she ever
came out again.
Ryoko closed her eyes, and allowed memories
of the past to flood to her...
<She is...how should I put it...waste material.>
<A human? And as opposed to the infinite
will of the universe, human emotions amount to little more than dust.>
<Well, that's alright with me, because
*I* have all the gems!>
<Well, not to worry. Very soon. Very soon
indeed, you and Aeka-hime will join him. You won't be alone...in death!>
<TEEEEEENNNNNCCCHHHHHIIIIIII!!!!!!!>
<How many times do I have to tell you,
don't come into my room like that?>
<STAY OUT!!>
<I love you, Ryoko.>
Ryoko blissfully sighed, as a tear flowed
lazily down her cheek, but she didn't even notice. All those years. All
those years of being *waste*. Of being *trash*. Of being useless, and *ending*
human lives. All of that, was now a thing of the past.
Because, she had atoned.
It wasn't her fault.
She could finally see that.
And after all Kagato had done, there was Tenchi,
to undo everything.
Ryoko smiled as tears began to descend down
the gentle contours of her face at a more steady pace as she continued
to think of exactly how much Tenchi meant to her.
She was interrupted from her introspection,
by the sound of someone climbing the ladder at the side of the house.
She turned to see who it was, and gasped slightly
when she saw Aeka's head pop up over the side.
<Damn...she doesn't know yet.> Ryoko thought.
Aeka looked over at Ryoko as she crested the
ladder. "How are you feeling now, Ryoko-san?" she asked, as she timidly
walked over towards her.
Ryoko smiled, and returned her gaze to the
lake. "Better than ever, Aeka."
Aeka nodded, and sat down next to Ryoko. "That
is good. Earlier, you certainly looked distressed. It was most concerning."
Ryoko nodded, trying to contemplate her relationship
with the princess. If she really didn't care about her, she'd just come
out and say what happened between her and Tenchi. But...she *did* care.
Because, she saw herself in Aeka.
It could just as easily have been Aeka having
to tell Ryoko that Tenchi loved her. And Ryoko took sympathy on the princess.
The two of them sat in silence, simply watching
the snow fall, and feeling it fall on their bodies on the cold, gray autumn
day.
<Maybe you *should* tell her. After all,
she has a right to know...>
Ryoko sighed as she looked out over the lake.
Aeka turned to Ryoko. "What is it?"
Ryoko looked over at Aeka, right into the
princesses eyes. "I...I..."
Aeka blinked.
<Ryoko? Struggling to say what she thinks?
She must still be in shock.>
"It's alright, Ryoko. If you don't want to
talk about it, I understand."
Ryoko shook her head. <Might as well.>
"Ummm...Aeka, listen, there's something you
should know." she said as she sat up, and looked at the other woman, face
to face.
Aeka blinked. "What is it?"
Ryoko took in a deep breath. "Ummm....Tenchi
and....well...that is..."
Aeka slowly blinked, as she had an idea of
what she was going to say. She took in a deep breath. "What *about* Tenchi?"
she whispered.
Ryoko sighed. "He...he loves *me*, Aeka."
Aeka closed her eyes, and held them shut tight
for a few seconds before opening them. She looked into Ryoko's eyes, but
found no trace of mischief, pride, malice or even dishonesty.
No, what she saw, was honesty...and pity.
"I...I see..." Aeka managed to say.
Ryoko put a hand on Aeka's shoulder. "Listen
Aeka, I'm sorry..."
Aeka looked at her hands, which were folded
in her lap, and felt the tears begin to cascade down her face. Her heart
had just been torn asunder, and it was no one's fault. She just sat, and
wept, letting the hot tears from her eyes fall into her lap.
Ryoko watched, with her hand still on Aeka's
shoulder. She remembered how earlier that day, how Aeka had thrown aside
her rivalry with Ryoko, and stepped up to be a friend to her in her time
of need.
Ryoko decided that she should do the same
thing.
Slowly, Ryoko moved next to Aeka, and embraced
her.
Holding her loosely, Ryoko held Aeka's face
to her shoulder, and patted her on the back, trying to reassure her.
Aeka didn't fight it. She wept into Ryoko's
shoulder, and found that she had embraced Ryoko back as she did.
"I'm sorry, Aeka." Ryoko whispered into her
ear.
Aeka didn't acknowledge that Ryoko had said
anything, she simply continued to gently weep into Ryoko's shoulder.
Ryoko looked up into the sky, again, letting
memories come back to her.
<Hmph. You can't let *emotions* get in
the way. Emotions are *USELESS*!>
<I can *control* you! You don't have say
in *anything*! You don't have a life, because it is *mine*!>
<People only exist to hurt other people.
Therefore, they are useless. Then, since they are useless, it is our *purpose*
to kill them all!>
<Please! Let me out! Let me out! Yosho!
Please! I'll be good! I'll be good! I promise...please...please...>
<When learning from this universe, you
must remember. People deceive each other. That is how life *is*. There
is no one you can count on. People deceive again and again and again. So,
in order to have any hopes of surviving, *you* must deceive. That is the
*only* way to live in this universe. You must take the rotten hand of cards
you've been dealt in this miserable life, and deceive others, to take theirs.
Otherwise, you will *die*.>
<Trash. Complete, absoloutely worthless
trash.>
<Those who live, must eventually end. All
living matter eventually meets it's end, and there is no way to prevent
that. In the act of living, it means that you are steadily grinding onward,
with every moment, closer to your death.>
Ryoko choked back a sob, but was unable to
hold back the tears, and she began to cry with Aeka. She continued to stare
into the sky, as tears descended freely down her face.
Aeka thoughts, were of something else.
<Again. It has happened *again*. No one
loves you!>
<Brother Yosho! Please! Take me with you!>
<But he died, a long time ago...>
<I am worthless. A useless child!>
<Everyone must *hate* me!>
<They must! Nobody *cares* about me! Nobody
*stays* with me!>
<Why? Why can't they love me? Why can't
anybody ever love me?>
<Tenchi...why? Don't you understand that
all I *ever* wanted in my entire life was for you to love me?>
<I wish I was dead...>
<I want despair...I want to return to nothing...>
<Why can't somebody love me? I'm trying
the best I can! I want *so badly*, why can't somebody love me? *WHY*?!?!>
<Even now...I can live on...but now...now
my soul is dead.>
<I have become a lifeless shell. There
is no point in *living* anymore.>
<Why do I even *exist*? To become the pawn
for men who don't even *care* about me? What have I been living for, all
this time? Have I just been wasting my life...my hopes...and my dreams?
If...if this is just a dream, please god, let me wake up! I want happiness!
Why can't I *ever* find it!!!???>
Aeka pulled back from Ryoko's embrace, and
looked at her face. She was only a little surprised to see that Ryoko had
been crying, but she obviously made nothing of it.
"Th...thank you, Ryoko." Aeka said.
Ryoko just smiled sadly at Aeka, and nodded.
"I w...would like to talk to Tenchi-sama,
if possible. Do you know where I might be able to find him?" Aeka asked.
Ryoko wiped the tears off of her face, and
nodded. "Yeah. He went into the woods over there." she said, pointing out
in the direction that Tenchi had gone.
Aeka stood and bowed politely, her face still
lined with tears. "Thank you, Ryoko-san." she said, and then she briskly,
but gently, walked to the edge of the roof, and then climbed down the ladder.
Ryoko simply sat and watched as Aeka desceded
the sturdy piece of wood, and said nothing. She gave a small, sad smile
for the princesses benefit, and then returned her gaze to the lake, which
was now almost completely blanketed by the snow.
"Tenchi..." she whispered, as she laid her
head back onto her knees.
Yuka looked back and forth, and nodded in confirmation.
"Right! Move in!" she yelled.
Hundreds of Jurians cried a viscous battle
cry, and began to swamp the next area of the city. Yuka aimed her blaster
and fired a few shots off before running in alongside her comrades.
She didn't get very far.
A Centra soldier came up on her left, and
screamed as he dove for her, katana first.
Yuka gasped, then leapt to the side, but not
in complete safety.
The katana struck her leg, and she cried out
as blood began to flow freely from the wound. The man looked down at her
in anger.
"YOU DIE!!!" he screamed as he raised his
katana.
Yuka fumbled with her blaster, and quickly
pointed it up and fired.
The blaster bolt struck the man in the side
of the head, sending brain tissue and skull fragments flying in every which
direction.
Yuka was breathing heavily, while clutching
the wound on her leg.
Two officers ran to her side.
"Yuka-san!" they cried in unison.
Yuka shook her head. "Go on. I'll be okay."
"We can't do that, ma'am." One of them said.
Yuka growled. "That's an order, soldier!"
she barked.
"Y...Yes MA'AM!!" They cried, and ran back
to join their fellow troops.
Yuka sighed, and brought the Communicator
up to her mouth. She gently twisted the top, turning it on.
"Hey, Sumirei? This is Yuka. Come in."
There was slight static, but eventually the
rich voice of the priestess came over the communicator. "Sumirei here.
What is it, Yuka-chan?"
"How are things going for you?" she asked,
struggling to stand on her own.
"Very well. Both you and Ashley have provided
an excellent distraction, and we have managed to infiltrate the palace
successfully." She paused. "How are things going for you, Yuka-chan?"
Yuka coughed, then answered. "Alright." She
rubbed at her wound. "One of the bastards managed to get me in the leg,
but I'll live."
"How is Ashley? He hasn't reported in to me
as of yet."
"Dunno. He called in about twenty minutes
ago, but I haven't heard from him since. I think he's alright." she said,
coughing afterwards.
"I hope so. Take care, Yuka-chan. Sumirei
out."
The sound of the communicator disengaging
from the other end could be heard, and Yuka twisted the white cap, and
put it back into her battle garb.
She wiped her brow. "I'm getting to old for
this..." she mused.
Yuka leaned up against a tree, still breathing
heavily. She watched as her forces were battling heavily against the Centra
forces.
She smiled sadly.
They were *losing*.
That was very apparent.
They had been doing alright for a while, but
now, the majority of her men had been killed off by the more skilled, and
numerous, Centra troops.
Yuka watched as her men were dropping like
flies.
She snorted in disgust. "Tsunami, you should
have trained them better..."
She sighed, knowing that her job was complete.
And, with that, so was her life.
Reaching into her battle garb once again,
she pulled out a black hand held cylinder like object. She smiled. "This
baby should do the trick."
Yuka looked up to see several Centra troops
swarming in on her position. She raised her blaster, and took a few shots.
She managed to drop a couple of them, but there were more. And her blaster
was out of power.
She looked down at the object in her hand,
and smiled sadly again.
"I hope that you can live on, Ashley and Sumirei..."
she said.
She squeezed the object, and a high pitched
'click' was heard. The sound start to grow louder, and came at a more rapid
pace. The Centra troops were almost on top of her now.
She grinned, and threw the object into the
air, then looked at them and yelled, "If you think that you can kill Yuka,
the greatest scientific genius in the universe so easily, you've got another
thing coming!"
And with that, everything went white.
Ashley slashed the Centra man across the neck,
just as the large explosion went off. He shielded his eyes, as almost everything
went white. A massive vibration was sent along the ground, a sonic boom
that knocked him off his feet.
People all around him stopped fighting, and
began to cry out in terror, as they were flung back, and particles from
buildings began to be ripped from their foundations, cast in every which
direction.
Ashley simply looked in the direction of the
explosion, and realized what it meant.
It was where Yuka was fighting.
Yuka had inventions that caused magical explosions.
She promised to only use one if she *had*
to.
Ashley felt tears come to his eyes as he realized
the ramifacations of what had just happened.
He heard something coming from his communicator,
and he removed it from his battle garb.
"...a-chan! Yuka-chan! Please, Tsunami, answer
me Yuka-chan!" Sumirei was pleading into the communicator.
Ashley closed his eyes, and twisted the top.
"Man down, Sumirei. Man down."
He could hear sobs coming from the other end
of the communicator, and he felt his own tears beginning to fall down his
face.
Yuka was his *friend*.
Ashley didn't have many friends.
And now, not only had the Centra people taken
Ashley's parents, his home, his city, and Tsunami's tree...
...they had taken his friend.
With a cry of rage, Ashley leapt to his feet,
and charged at any Centra soldier he saw in his sight.
For a slight moment, he had ceased to become
a man anymore.
He had become a demon.
Mercilessly, his sword began to tear into
the bodies of other men, killing them without even the slightest hint of
remorse.
No, in fact, it was more like...
...release.
With each stroke, he felt his anger being
pacified as he repeatedly and wordlessly took lives from man after man.
Each time, his anger clouded his judgement, and he felt nothing as he killed
them.
Nothing.
It was almost as if something was whispering
to him, telling him that in order to avenge his friends death, he had to
kill everything.
Blood almost completely encompassed Ashley's
battle garb, but he didn't even notice. After almost five minutes of mercilessly
slaying his enemies, he heard something.
Something that made him stop.
Someone's voice...
It was calling his name, again, and again,
and again.
He looked down, and saw the communicator still
clutched in his free hand, and he heard Sumirei's voice coming from the
other end.
"Ashley! Stop! Please! Don't do this! Stop,
Ashley!" she begged.
He realized that he had left the communicator
on, so she was able to hear him mercilessly tear asunder the lives of his
enemies.
Like a demon.
Engulfing everything.
Trembling, Ashley dropped to his knees, not
really caring that fierce combat was going on all around him. He began
to weep, and the commincator was still on.
"It's alright, Ashley. It's going to be okay..."
he heard Sumirei say from the other end of the COM.
"...is it...?" he whispered to himself.
The entity was lying there, as if there was
no life within it, when in fact, there was more potential life within it
that any other being alive in any universe.
Within...his mind was at a debate.
<Of course. Why should I be concerned?>
[But...they killed her! They killed *both*
of them!!]
<But such a thing is but perpetual to the
vast will my own existence.>
[Maybe...but isn't that why we are like this?
Because *they* are dead?]
<It's not my fault that you were fooled
by Tokimi's silk tongue. Being the mortal that you were, it isn't completely
misunderstandible.>
[You're one to talk. After all, you aren't
even REAL anymore! *You* have become the fake!]
<Do you really think so?>
[I think that maybe we have been lying to
ourselves.]
<Even if that is true, what does that mean
to us now? There is no way that we can turn back on what we have set out
to do.>
[But...*why* not? There is nothing I want
more than to be with her again... but that is impossible! Because now,
Tsunami has reinitiated the cycle, and I am simply a missing link...a missing
link that has no place.]
<Isn't that why you came to me in the first
place?>
[I came because I thought I could destroy
the cycle. But now I know that Tsunami could never destroy her own cycle.]
<Hmmm...maybe you just weren't convincing
enough.>
[Convincing enough? How much more convincing
could I *be*? Don't you even understand what this all *means*?]
<I do...if it were up to us, all this wouldn't
be a problem.>
[But then...we had to include our other selves,
as well.]
<Indeed. As a result, we must devour everything.
That is how it must be.>
[I will admit that our sorrows are great.
But I hardly think that they are so great that we must *end* the *endless*
because of them! After all, weren't you the one saying that such concerns
were perpetual?]
<I know. But, *you* must learn to understand.
You have lost yourself, and so have *I*. Do *you* know what it feels like
to not be able to return to what you once were, no matter how fervently
you desire to do so? Even though you have omnipotent power, you *still*
cannot get what you want? What you *need*?>
[I know. That is why I came to you.]
<And that is why we must end everything.>
[Must you be so petulent? A being such as
yourself giving into feelings of such decadence...I find that you are feeling
more out of avarice than out of righteousness.]
<Impossible. I could not feel such a thing.>
[Are you sure? Or can only the *original*
be devoid of those feelings? Remember, you are outside of the cycle now,
too.]
<Correct, again, another reason why we
must end everything. To begin the cycle *again*.>
[But you still won't be able to return! You
could only return when you were in your original form. Now, you can't.
So why?]
<Why are you asking? Isn't this what you
want? You can *never* be with her again. She isn't even watching you anymore.
She couldn't. She has been reborn in the cycle. And now, you must sleep
*outside* of that cycle. So, in order to see her again, you must *destroy*
the cycle. It is the only way.>
[Why? You were once a god. You could've persuaded
Tsunami to end the cycle if you so wished.]
<Tsunami didn't wish to end the cycle.
Don't you realize? Tsunami was in favor of it! She wanted to *enter* the
cycle!>
[No...there's no way.]
<It is true. Since her advent, she has
desired to return to the All-Father, just as I have. But, none of us could.
We simply must wait, as He commanded us to do. But, we all grew impatient,
and Tsunami craved the feeling of being with Him again, so she created
the cycle as a substitute.>
[I...can't imagine that Tsunami would do such
a thing.]
<What? You think simply because we are
beyond your comprehension, we don't wish for company? Solitude is the sole
condition that any being cannot live in, god or not. They desire others.
So, they create others, to suppress their loneliness. They fear themselves,
so the attempt to surround themselves with others, in order to compensate
for that lack within themselves. Gods and Goddesses are no exception.>
[And what does this mean, exactly?]
<Too many others have suffered due to this
lack. There are others, who have never even recieved the warmth that you
did. You recieved it, and although it was stripped from you, they never
had a chance. So, in order to stop all of this pain, we must destroy the
cycle.>
[......have you been interfering?]
<What do you mean?>
[With the cycle. Have you been interfering?]
<.....yes.>
[What have you done?]
<I have invaded the consciousness of the
Keepers of Time, on several occasions.>
[You mean the latest advent of 'her'? And
without my consent?! WHY?!?]
<Because, in order to destroy the cycle,
it must be weakened first.>
[.......I hope you're right. About everything.]
<I musn't be hurt yet...I don't know if
it's true...>
<There is no need to feel this way...she
must have been lying...>
<Will I ever feel the same again?>
These were the thoughts that were running
through Aeka's mind as she brushed through the snow covered woods, almost
frantically, searching for Tenchi.
She had to know.
Did he...love Ryoko?
Not Aeka?
Was Ryoko a better person than Aeka was?
Was Aeka simply not worthy of Tenchi's affections?
Was Aeka too worthless in Tenchi's eyes, to
even be compared to Ryoko?
Aeka brushed a tear away from her eye, and
continued her search with increased vigilance. She sniffled, and barely
even noticed the cold.
She didn't even feel the cold snow against
her soft skin.
None of that even mattered.
After looking for a few minutes, she came
upon a small clearing, where she came across the object of her search.
There, on a rock, staring up at the cloudy
grey sky, sat Tenchi.
Her voice caught in her throat as she looked
at him, unsure of what to do.
Any semblance of a planned question had completely
left her, and she was simply left with the pain and the fear of not being
loved by Tenchi.
Eventually, she managed to gain control over
her voice.
"T...Tenchi-sama?" she asked timidly, clutching
her fist close to her heart.
He turned to look at her, his face was somewhat
contemplative, but that changed when he saw that her face was lined with
tears.
It took him about a second to realise why.
He sighed. "Yes, Aeka-san?"
She sniffed, and took a timid step towards
him. "Umm...is it...true?"
That was all she could ask. There were no
other words that came to her mind. Any other words were drowned out in
a pool of accumulating sorrow, that were beginning to grip at her like
an unseen vice.
He took a deep breath. "Are you talking about
Ryoko?"
She nodded.
He closed his eyes, and bowed his head. "Yes."
Although the pain she had felt when Ryoko
had told her was extreme, this time, it was unbearable. The word he had
said, it had torn open an excruciating hole in her heart.
She choked, and then let the tears stream
anew.
It was true.
<I am worthless.>
<Ryoko is better than I am.>
<What do I have to live for, now? What
I want, is given to someone who clearly deserves it more than I do.>
<What can I do? I, the crown princess,
have *lost* to a space pirate. I truly am a disgrace.>
<No one must want me.>
Convulsing slightly, Aeka collapsed to her
knees, and sobbed looking at the ground, not caring that any scraps of
pride and dignity that she held with her had just been cast away.
Tenchi walked over to her, and knelt down
next to her, and put a comforting arm over her shoulder. He said nothing,
he simply put his arm there to assure that he *was* there.
Aeka continued to weep, doing nothing more
than just that.
Tenchi blinked back his own tears. "I'm...I'm
sorry, Aeka."
Aeka nodded, and rose up a little, to look
him in the face.
When she did, Tenchi felt as if his heart
had been crushed. He felt as if the light that had shown him his feelings
for Ryoko, had blinded him from everything else.
Tenchi took in a deep breath, and wiped at
his eyes.
Aeka sniffed. "It's...the same..."
"What is?" he replied, wiping at his eyes.
Aeka did the same. "When Yosho left me...I
thought that if I chased after him, I could find him, and destroy that
sorrow. And then...when he was gone..." she trailed off, and wiped her
eyes a bit more.
"...I found you, Tenchi. You were there. And
now, you aren't. Now, it feels the same as when Yosho left. The sorrow
is the same." Aeka took in a deep breath.
"I'm tired of carrying it." she said.
Aeka slowly rose to her feet, and Tenchi stood
with her.
"Aeka-san...I'm really sorry...if there is
something I could do..."
"No. There is *nothing* you could do, Tenchi-sama.
Nothing." She said sadly. She turned from him. "I'm...going to go to be
on my own for a bit. Thank you...for telling me, Tenchi."
With that, she hurriedly ran off, as the tears
began to flow freely once again.
Tenchi blinked sadly. "Aeka-san..."
Sumirei burst into the large room, with two
soldiers next to her.
As she expected, and hoped, it was empty.
She turned to her comrades. "Go now. I will
carry out the rest of the plan."
The nodded. "As you wish, Priestess."
They ran off, and Sumirei watched with a sad
smile on her face. As they ran through the palace halls, and further off
out of sight, she closed the large doors behind her.
She turned and faced the object of her search.
Standing no more than 10 meters away, was
Tsunami's tree.
She walked up to it slowly, almost hesitently.
As she did, a single tear fell from her face,
and splashed into the water at her feet.
But she didn't notice.
She sighed.
"I'm so sorry...Ashley..." she whispered.
Sumirei walked up to the tree and gently rested
her hand on it's trunk. When she did, she felt an indescribable amount
of energy begin to course through her body.
She withdrew her hand, and looked up, just
above the tree, to see the ghostly existence of Tsunami herself.
She sighed. "I am prepared, Tsunami."
Tsunami nodded. "Thank you, Sumirei. And I
am sorry."
Sumirei blinked, allowing tears to flow from
her face freely. "I know."
They were interrupted as a voice began to
holler over the communicator.
"Sumirei! Sumirei! Report in, Sumirei!" Ashley
called.
Sumirei gently brought the communicator up
to her mouth, cherishing the sound of Ashley's voice. "I am here, Ashley."
"Thank Tsunami! You haven't reported in for
a while, and I was getting worried."
Sumirei sniffled. "I am afraid that this is
goodbye, Ashley."
"What?" he asked, his voice just barely above
a whisper.
Sumirei looked up at Tsunami, who nodded sadly.
"I am at the tree. And in order for Tsunami to return to her tree, I must
sacrifice myself. I'm so sorry..."
"NO! DON'T, SUMIREI! PLEASE!!" He cried.
Sumirei shook her head, even though she knew
he wasn't there to see it. "I'm sorry, Ashley, but there is no other way...forgive
me..." she wept.
"There has to be another way, Sumirei! There
has to! Please don't throw your life away! *PLEASE*!!!" He sobbed into
the communicator.
Sumirei smiled sadly. "I have to. Even if
it's to save only a few lives...it is my duty. I can't just live for myself.
Every day I have lived to restore Jurai, and I have always claimed that
I would sacrifice myself if need be, and so..."
Ashley said nothing. All that could be heard
were broken sobs coming from the other end of the communicator.
Sumirei looked up at Tsunami, and nodded.
Tsunami nodded in confirmation, and descended down towards Sumirei. Just
as Tsunami was about to touch Sumirei, Sumirei smiled, and lifted the COM
to her mouth one last time.
"Smile, Ashley."
Ashley began to shake uncontrollibly as he
heard the sound of Sumirei's voice, say "Smile, Ashley."
...followed by an intense, animal-pain filled
scream from the same, gentle woman who he loved more than himself.
Weeping, and shaking, Ashley's fist closed
around the COM, and he squeezed it as hard as he could, as he wept.
The COM cracked in his hand, and he fell to
his knees.
Yuka, his friend.
Sumirei, his lover.
Both of them, were now dead.
Ashley fist began to tighten around the hilt
of his katana, as he scanned the area with eyes of hate, searching for
*anything* to take his emotions out on.
That was when he heard the voice.
Whispering to him.
It was subtle.
It was quiet.
And...
...he couldn't resist.
And once again, he stopped becoming a man...
...and he became...
...a demon.
TO BE CONTINUED
MUSIC:
Raid on Centra: "The Mission", from 'Final
Fantasy VIII'.
Washu in the Computer: "Network", from 'Front
Mission 3'.
Checkin' for info: "Chicken Bone", from 'Cowboy
Bebop'.
Bar Brawl: "Piano Black", from 'Cowboy Bebop'.
Tsu and Tok: "Jume no Sukima", from 'The End
of Evangelion'.
Ryoko and Aeka: "The kid who stole the star",
from 'Chrono Cross'.
Yuka's suicide: "Farewell", from 'The Vision
of Escaflowne'.
The entity conversation: "Compression of Time",
from 'Final Fantasy VIII'.
Aeka and Tenchi: "The beautiful women of Alent",
from 'Grandia'.
Sumirei's sacrifice: "Quiet Life", from 'Rurouni
Kenshin'.