Chapter 3
				     Sasami and the Curer

	Misaki looked around her room with quiet awe.  Azusa had given her 
all that she had wanted and more.  He had furnished her room with the 
finest things money could buy, given her the largest bed in his kingdom, 
and even checked on her every waking moment to see if the baby was alright.  
He was already a good father to the baby, and it hadn't even been born yet.  
She had married well, she knew, getting a fine man and an emporer in one, 
not to mention two children (one not quite out of the hole yet, she thought 
as she patted her swelling belly).
	Aeka, her other child, was becoming a regular handful though, at the 
confusing age of ten.  Aeka had long purple hair, like that of Azusa's, but 
Misaki hoped that this next child would have blue hair, like her.  Long 
blue hair would be lovely.  Aeka's hair was always short for some reason.  
The child never seemed to like it long, saying it caused too much trouble 
to put in a ponytail, as was tradition.  She wore the purple hair over 
her eyes in long, bushy bangs, instead.  It was against tradition to wear 
hair like that, but Misaki let her make her own decision.  She would learn, 
Misaki thought though.  She would make that child learn.  She still had 
plenty of time to do it, too.
	As Misaki marveled at her new surroundings, gazing at the blue and 
green all around, set to relax the senses, she became aware of a commotion 
outside.  Suddenly, Aeka, four feet tall, bushy bangs flopping around her 
eyes, busted in.
	"Aeka!" Misaki yelled at the child.  The Queen was nine months 
pregnant now, and could not stand the sound of slamming doors.  "If I told 
you once, I-"
	"But momma!" Aeka yelled over her mother.  "Yosho's badly hurt!  He's 
bleeding and he's got burns all over himself momma!  Daddy told me to get 
you!"
	"What?!"  Misaki jumped out of bed, her gown falling down to her feet 
as she got out of bed, and ran out, past her daughter, clutching her wide 
tummy.
	Yosho was a nice boy Azusa had adopted from the village.  The young 
man had great potential as a Jurain warrior, posessing strength and Jurai 
power that could match any man; Azusa included.  The emporer had been 
drawn to him by the sheer force of the power.  He found the boy, seemingly 
totaly unaware of his ability, playing ball with some other kids in the 
village.  Yosho had turned out to be the son of a woman named Fesuna, 
powerless herself, a local seemstress.  Fesuna was single and obliged the 
emporer as per his request, giving him her son, whom she could barely feed 
herself.  In return, Fesuna was granted great wealth, but died after only 
months of a terrible cancer.  Misaki had become Yosho's mother then, which 
was quite alright with her.  She cared for him as much as she cared for her 
own daughter, Aeka, and the boy had been accepted into the family whole-
heartedly.  The boy had now grown to become a great warrior, equaling that 
of Azusa.  When he was only eighteen, he had been given the task of becoming 
the sole commander of the emperor's army.  Misaki remembered that he had 
been guarding some kind of electrical gadget, a seismic something-or-other, 
that morning.  She hoped that the boy wasn't badly injured.
	But what could have put down a boy of such potential? she wondered.  
Surely nothing human, Misaki was sure.  It had to be some higher beings 
doing.
	Misaki rushed in, nearly running Azusa over, rocketing over to her 
adopted son's side.
	"Yosho!!" she screamed as she saw the burned remains of his face, 
purplish scars covering his cheeks and eyes, bleeding from seeming a 
thousand different points on his face.  Misaki held Yosho tightly, sobbing 
into his chest.
	"Is he. . .?" she managed to croak.
	A Jurain reruit named Hasamato, no more than fifteen, managed to 
speak to the queen.  The boy had little Jurain power himself, but had 
turned out to be a fine recruit.  Misaki recognized him vaguely.  "He's 
dead, your majesty.  Yes."
	Misaki wailed out fresh sobs, burying her face in Yosho's chest 
again.
	"I'm sorry, Misaki," Azusa said, putting an arm around her shoulder.  
He had obviously wiped away fresh tears just moments ago.  Now his tears 
were almost overflowing in his eyes again, and he closed them as the tears 
tumbled out.  The emporer took his wife gently away from the corpse. 
"There's nothing we can-"
	He stopped short, a sudden look of realization dawning on his face.  
"Of course," he mumbled to himself.  "Why hadn't I thought of that 
before?!"  He let out a long, hysterical laugh which confused Hasamato 
and Aeka and sent Misaki into fresh tears, sobbing even louder than before.  
"What are you laughing at?!!" she cried at him, furious through her tears.
	"I can save Yosho!" he cried merrily, and abruptly let go of his 
wife, letting her fall to the ground.  Everyone looked at him in quiet 
shock as he hurriedly helped Misaki to her feet and then raced down the 
hall.
	"Daddy!" Aeka cried and ran after him, followed closely by Hasamato 
and lastly Misaki.
	Azusa raced towards the west wing of the palace, flying through the 
halls like a bat out of hell.  He ran through three wings, laughing 
hysteriacally all the way, screaming "Why didn't I think of this earlier?!"  
Finally he busted into the communications department of the castle and 
barked loudly for eveyone to stop what they were doing and put out a signal 
to course sector seventeen.  The sector was deserted, but the knights knew 
better than to question him.  A signal was sent to the sector at once.
	After a few seconds, Hasamato and Aeka arrived, followed closely by a 
hysterical Misaki.  Everyone waited in tense silence, even the queen keeping 
herself silent as everybody waited for a returning signal.  Fifteen seconds 
later it was answered.
	"What do you want, Azusa?" a gruff voice transmitted.  "You knew I was 
asleep.  Been that way for over a thousand years.  This better be good."
	"My son's dead!" Azusa cried into the intercom, pushing over a knight.
	"Who, Yosho?" the gruff voice asked.
	"Yes sir," Azusa replied.  He did not notice the stunned faces of all 
in the communications department that were listening, stunned at their great 
and powerful emperor acting so humbly towards any being.
	"What a fine lad he was.  I am terribly regretful for your loss, 
Azusa."
	"I was wondering, sensei-" all looked up suddenly at their leader.  
Who could have taught someone like him, one who had such control over his 
awesome power?  "-if you would be so kind as to help me."
	"Will this be your last wish, then?" the gruff voice inquired.
	"Yes sir."
	"You really think this boy is worth all of that?"
	"I do with all my heart, sir."
	"Very well then, I shall be there within the hour."
	"Thank you, my lord."
	"Who was that, daddy?" Aeka asked, looking up at her large father.
	"That was a teacher I had a very long time ago when I was on earth, 
honey.  He was very wise, and he taught me to use my power for the good of 
my kingdom.  He is your grandfather, Aeka."
	"What?!" Misaki gasped, astounded, still huffing from her dash behind 
Hasamato, Aeka, and her husband.  "You told me your father died!"
	"He did," Azusa said simply, looking at his wife and taking her in 
his arms.  "But he was too powerful for death to hold him."
	"What are you talking about?  And what does this have to do with 
Yosho?!"
	"Well, many years ago, my mother, the queen of Jurai, who had married 
the late-emperor before he died, fell in love with a commoner on the 
streets of Jurai.  She sent for him and asked him if he would like to court 
her.  The young man refused, saying he wouldn't dare court the queen.  When 
asked why not, he said that he had his own reasons.  The other members of 
the palace became furious at his insolence, and my mother was on the verge 
of tears, but she let him go, saying that if that was what he wished then 
that was what he would receive.  She was deeply in love with him even from 
just first sight, but she let him go.
	"Suddenly an old man appeared in a flash of dazzling light beside the 
boy and said that the queen had shown compassion and was therefore allowed 
to marry his son if she wished.  The other members became angry at the old 
man and asked what did he mean by 'allow'.  The old man replied that his 
son had magnificent Jurain power, greater than that of even their late 
emperor.  The young boy showed them by waving his hand, causing a priceless 
heirloom vase, the one right over there," he pointed out of the room and in 
to the hall where a splendid vase sat on a stand, "to melt before their 
very eyes.  He then waved his hand again, causing it to reshape, putting it 
in its former condition without a scratch.
	"The members immidiately praised him as their new emperor, he being 
the most powerful, and he was allowed to court the queen.  The man's name 
was Azusa, same as mine.  He gave the queen a baby after they got married, 
which was me.  A few months later, though, a huge demon named Kain, a huge 
beast of magnificent proportions, attacked the empire.  My father gave his 
life to save the empire, dying as he sealed the beast in a huge cavern that 
nobody was to open.  Azusa reappeared when I was fifteen, seen only by me.  
He told me that he had acquired great strength from death himself, defeating 
him in death's game of choice: a fight to the end.  He told me that he had 
never been so powerful, that he defeated him with the ease of an insect.
	"'He's a puchover', I remember him saying.  'A pushover he is.  Once 
I'd defeated him, he laid down his sword to me and said that I could do 
anything I wanted before dying.'  What he told me he would do before he 
really died, though, threw me for quite a whirl.  He agreed to grant me 
three wishes.
	"My first wish was almost automatic: to meet a beautiful woman and 
marry her.  I was betrothed to her that very day," he smiled at Misaki, who 
stared at him with some bewilderment, but smiled back, a sweet smile, just 
the same.  "I then wished for a son.  He told me I would have no sons but 
that I would find one that would become my own.  Yosho is that boy.
	"He then said that I should maybe save my last wish, for he had no 
interest in dying just yet, and that it might be good to save one.
	"So here we are," he said, looking around the room at all the stunned 
expressions which greeted him.  "This is my last wish."  He gave out a 
long sigh and smiled broadly.  "Sure glad I saved that last one.  Aren't 
you, Misaki?  Aeka?"
	Misaki only smiled, a confused smile.  But Aeka looked at him angrily.
"Why didn't you wish for any daughters?" she asked.
	Asuza looked down at her, his smile never faltering.  "I was young," 
he replied smartly.  "You will make mistakes too when you are so young."  
He took Aeka in his arms and put her on his shoulder.  "Let us see how many 
mistakes you make while you are still young, huh?"
	Aeka giggled, pleased by the answer, and hugged her father.
	Just then a bright light flashed and a small, old man appeared.  He 
was just a little taller than Aeka, but his eyes shined with great wisdom 
as he looked around the room.  Finally the eyes rested on Asuza.  The old 
man's long, white beard reached down to around his ankles and his nose 
potruded far out from his face, ending in an odd little point.  His body 
was covered with rags of all colors, some strewn with patches, others 
ripped clear down the middle.  He was a sorry sight indeed, but there was 
a certain aura about him that let them feel his power radiate from him.
	"Hello, son," he said to the powerful emperor.  "You've grown."
	The emperor blushed a bright red.  "It helps people learn to respect 
me, father."
	"Well, let me look at you as God created you."
	Azusa Jr looked around him at the expecting faces and gave out a 
sigh.  He closed his eyes and began to chant words so low that even Aeka, 
who was then still residing on his shoulder, could not make out the words.
	Suddenly Azusa's body began to shrink down, his body and clothes 
contracting down to a size barely taller than his father.  He held Aeka 
with as little effort as he did when he was tall.  It looked very humorous 
to see the four foot tall princess on the shoulders of the four foot 
emperor.  To even think of such a small creature controling such an empire 
would have sent the most serious man for a gale of giggles.  No one was 
laughing, however.
	The emperor put his daughter down and walked up to his father.  
"I'll miss you, father, but this is my wish, I am sure of it."
	"Very well," Azusa Sr replied, taking his son by the arm.  "I will 
see you again someday, I am sure."
	They stood looking into each other's eyes for a while before the 
ragged man looked past Azusa Jr towards Aeka.  "Blessed child," he said, 
moving towards his granddaughter.  "Do you remember your old grandfather?"
	Aeka nodded.  "Your the little man from my dream," she said looking 
down to the ground.
	"What are you talking about?" Misaki asked the child.
	"I came to meet my grandchildren in their dreams," he replied, 
straining his neck to look up to the woman's face.
	Misaki immidiately bent down to one knee.  "Where's my manners?  I 
am Misaki.  Azusa's-"
	"Wife, yes.  I did well, didn't I, miss?"
	"I beg your pardon, sir?"
	"You were the most beautiful princess in the universe, my dear.  And 
Azusa's the most powerful man in the universe.  It took little doing to 
arrange for you two to be betrothed."
	Misaki looked at him questioningly and then lowered her gaze.  
"Thank you, sir."
	"Not at all.  Now where's my grandson?"
	They led him quickly to the room where the man lay dead, the three 
small ones, Azusa Jr, Azusa Sr, and Aeka, running along in the front.  
They had all refused to have been carried.
	When they reached the room, Azusa Sr looked to the boy and shook his 
head.  "Washu did this," he said.
	"Washu?" Hasamato asked.  "I beg your pardon, my lord, but who is 
that?"
	Azusa Sr. answered without looking up from the corpse.  "Washu will 
become the most troublesome mad scientist in the universe, Azusa.  You 
must get rid of her now."
	The emperor nodded.  The other midget then walked to the boy.  He 
stared at the boy for many seconds, everybody watching anxiously as the 
little man did his work.
	Suddenly he stood straight up, a smile on his face.  "Azusa!" he 
cried.
	"What father?!"
	"There's something I didn't tell you before.  I can do something 
else for your family, my boy!"
	"What, father?"
	"This!" he said, and lunged at Misaki.
	Misaki screached and shrank away, but Azusa Sr was on her fast.  
Bright light coursed through his arm as he clutched her swelled stomach.
	"What are you doing?!" Misaki cried, and tried to push the little man 
off of her, but to no avail.  Suddenly the light went down his arm and into 
her belly.  Misaki screamed as the light entered her.
	"Don't worry, mommy," Aeka said, coming to her mother's side.  
"Grandpapa wouldn't hurt you or Sasami."
	"Whose Sasami?!" Misaki cried, on the verge of tears.  All the 
others had been too stunned to act and now didn't know whether to help 
their queen or leave the old man be.
	Aeka pointed towards her mother's stomach.  "My sister," she replied.
	"What are you doing, father?" the little emperor asked, still 
standing by his son's corpse.
	"I have just implanted a special power into your daughter, my lady," 
the father said to the queen.  "Do not be alarmed.  Both of you are quite 
alright."
	That seemed to settle it for the others there.  They seemed to 
relax a little.  They had all obviously been afraid to tackle such a being, 
small or big.
	Misaki however only stared at her father-in-law.  "What power?" she 
asked, tears now coursing down her cheeks.
	"A very important one.  She will have the power to awaken the dead of 
the truly noble," he said, lifting a hand towards the boy's resting place, 
where he sat up, holding his head, his injuries dissapeared.
	"YOSHO!!" Aeka, Azusa, and Misaki screamed in unison.  Aeka bounded 
toward the boy, jumping past her mother and grandfather, leaping into her 
brother's arms.
	Yosho jumped as Aeka fell into his lap.  "Hey, mutchkin," he said, 
confused.  "How's tricks?"
	Aeka flooded him with kisses, which were followed quickly by 
Misaki's, once she managed to pick herself up.  The rest of the members 
only looked, flabbergasted.  Hasamato stared at the swell of Misaki's 
stomach.  Only he was thinking of how much responsibility that child would 
have once she grew up.  He felt sorry for the unborn princess, the only 
sad thought on the joyous, and unusual, occasion.
	Azusa and his father, however, did not go to the boy.  "Tell Yosho 
that I'll miss him," the father said to the son.
	"I will of course."
	"Goodbye, son.  Take care of this empire as I did."
	"Of course, father.  Goodbye."
	They linked hands before the senior disappeared in a flash of light.  
No one but Azusa saw him leave.
	That night, everyone went to bed happy, unaware of what trouble the 
future had in store.

	Before, while Azusa called his father for one last favor, something 
was rustling in sector seventeen, something unseen by anyone, something 
kept hidden by the darkness of space for many years since Azusa Sr locked 
it away.  Kain was awakening.
	Part of the reason Azusa Sr wanted his son to wait for his final 
wish was because he knew that the beast would awaken after he couldn't help 
his son fight it anymore.  Azusa slept with the creature, watching it 
awaken bit by bit.  The beast had attacked the former emperor and they had 
defeated each other.  Azusa had come back, and now so was Kain.
	Kain was a vortex of pure destruction, a chasm of evil energy and 
power.  The villain had gone from sector to sector before, blindingly 
destroying things, but now it had a purpose: to seek revenge on its 
captor's most beloved thing, the Jurain empire.  It would go after the 
younger Azusa, almost surely.
	Kain stirred once.  Twice.  His eyes, two cosmic craters in the pure 
energy, slitted open.  He was awake and only one thought was present in 
the nuclear gas that made up his brain: revenge on Azusa.
	Kain moved only a little, however; for he was still trapped, trapped 
in the very fabric of space where the most powerful Jurain warrior held 
him.  Kain stirred, stopped, unable to move against the darkness.	For a 
second he panicked, trapped, unable to breath the traces of air he could 
even find in the vacuum of space.  For a second he strained with all his 
might, not budging his cell.  He screamed, losing more air, and thought 
surely that he would live the rest of eternity in the hole where he found 
himself.
	And then the fabric budged.
	Kain was stunned for a moment, his apparent, although tiny victory, 
at a loss to him.  And then he strained again, the fabric shuddering 
against his power.
	Azusa had lost, he smiled.  Azusa had lost and Kain had won.
	It took him only an hour longer to escape fully, tearing through the 
fabric, creating a gigantic black hole that was so innormous it collapsed 
on itself after sucking all traces of life in the sector.  The black hole 
disaappeared, however, being so powerful it pulled in the fabric of space 
to fill itself, however damning any planet that might come back there, 
which wouldn't be for another billion years, to an existence devoid of all 
life.
	Kain was free.  He took a moment to rejoice, bellowing into the 
vacuum of space, laughing into the forever night of the sector.  And then 
he rocketed through space, flying towards the empire of Jurai at break-
neck speed.  He would arrive in possibly six Jurain hours.
	How wonderful!

	Aeka tried to sleep that night but just couldn't seem to.  That day 
had been too exciting.  She tossed and turned, turned and tossed until 
finaly she just quit and got up to have a walk.  She first went to Yosho's 
room to see if he was alright.  He was fine, sleeping like a baby.  Aeka 
thought it rather ironic, although she didn't know what ironic was and 
didn't associate the word to the feeling, that after Yosho had been dead 
for about an hour, the first thing he wanted to do when he was alive
was sleep.
	Aeka walked down the hall, kicking her foot on the extravagant red 
carpet, and wondered if maybe she should go to the library and pick up a 
book to get her to sleep.  She would need her rest, for tomorrow was bound 
to be a hectic day, full of excitement over Yosho's awakening.
	She didn't know how correct she was, although the excitement wouldn't 
be about Yosho at all.
	Aeka decided to go outside and into the garden to maybe pick some 
flowers.  She crossed the large hall and walked out to the garden where she 
saw a sight which she would never really forget, but which she would change 
and remember it wrong in her passing age.
	Outside, in the garden, was a small girl with wild white hair which 
made Aeka stare in awe.  The girl had on a small little uniform, red and 
blue with straps over her tiny shoulders and a headband around her 
forehead.  She picked flowers calmly, unaware of the princess's presence.
	Aeka suddenly realized that it must be two in the morning, for they 
stayed awake through the night, filling in Yosho on his recovery, praying 
to the gods for the safety of grandfather's sole.  She wondered who would 
come along on royal property and pick flowers at this time of night?
	It didn't matter, she thought.  I am a princess and must be courtious 
to all guests.  This was her mother's chief rule of how queens and 
princesses should act.	"Hello," she called to the stranger.
	The small girl jumped at the noise.  She turned around quickly, guilt 
on her face and saw the princess.  The girl looked to be about Aeka's age, 
ten or eleven.
	"I wasn't doing anything!" she called back, looking to the ground, 
hot sweat rolling down her face.
	"Who said you were doing anything?" Aeka replied calmly.  The girl 
posed no threat and the princess was curious about the visitor.  "Why are 
you here?"
	The other looked bashfully around the garden and replied lowly, "I 
was picking flowers."
	"I was about to too," Aeka replied and came down to meet the guest.  
She saw that the girl was holding something behind her back and asked, 
"What's that?"
	The girl poured sweat down in large drops and pulled out the thing 
to show.  It was a wreath she had made from the flowers.
	Aeka gasped in awe.  "How did you make that?!"
	The girl looked confused and said, "I just did.  I could show you if 
you would like. . ."
	"I would love to see!" Aeka replied.  "What is your name?"
	"Ryoko," the girl said timidly.  She was awfully shy, Aeka mused.
	"My name is Aeka.  It's very nice to meet you, Ryoko."
	"AEKA!" a yell was heard from inside the castle.  "WHERE ARE YOU?!!"
	"Come," Aeka replied.  "That's my mother.  She's the queen of Jurai.  
I'm sure she'd be very happy to meet you."
	Ryoko's face turned a deathly pale.  "The queen is your mother?!"
	"Why yes.  Is there a problem?"
	"That would make you the princess!"
	"Yes it would.  Is there a problem?"
	"Oh my GOSH!" Ryoko yelled.  "Ryo-Oki!  We need to get OUTTA HERE!!"
	Suddenly a large ship floated overhead, blocking out the sky.  "What 
is that?!!" Aeka yelled, frightened for the first time that day.
	Ryoko didn't answer.  Instead, she vanished.  Aeka stood there, mouth 
ajar, until the ship flew away with a terrible sonic boom.
	Just then, Misaki rushed in.  "Aeka!" she screamed.  "What was 
that?!!"
	"It was a girl, momma!" Aeka said, too stunned to look anywhere but 
where the ship had just been.  "Her name was Ryoko, she said."
	"Ryoko?!!" Misaki yelled.  "Aeka.  Listen to me.  You must never talk 
to that girl again."
	"Why, momma?" Aeka asked, on the verge of tears.
	"That girl is evil.  Her mother is a space pirate.  Trash in the lush 
environment of Jurai.  Never again must you see her.  She is evil, you 
hear me?!  Evil!"
	Aeka burst into tears.
	"That's ok, honey," her mother cooed.  "I'm just glad she didn't hurt 
you."
	And as this was one of the last things her mother ever said to her, 
Aeka always remebered it.

	Aeka was put to bed, only to be awakened a half hour later, ten 
minutes after she had cried herself to sleep.  Men and women, dukes and 
earls, council members and family members were all running down the halls, 
this way and that.  Her bedroom door was burst open by Azusa, in his larger 
form.
	"Aeka!" he yelled at her.  "Get up and dressed!  NOW!!"
	Aeka was frightened by her father's tone and quickly complied, on the 
verge of tears once again.
	Azusa ran quickly out and came back when Aeka was slipping into her 
princess's gown.
	"No!" he yelled.  "That takes too much time!  Wear one of your shirts 
and some pants!"
	Aeka complied, dropping her gound and ripping on a T-shirt and a pair 
of blue pants.  She didn't have time to put on shoes before Azusa snatched 
her from the ground and raced with her in his arms out of the room.  He 
carried her through the halls and out of the palace and towards a large 
dome in the palace yard.  Aeka remembered hearing about this dome.  It was 
for special emergencies, so people would be safe from any attack any rival 
empire would throw at them.  People were all around them, passing Azusa on 
the left and right, paying no mind to their emperor, just trying to get to 
the large dome building that lay ahead.  Hundreds ran into it, fleeing for 
their lives it seemed.  Azusa pushed people out of his way to get in.  It 
was pure chaos and Aeka was too frightened to even scream.  Azusa ran 
through the building, not pausing for a second until he reached a large 
tube.  The tube swished silently open and Azusa stuffed Aeka in quickly.  
Aeka could see others rushing at the tube, jamming themselves in, pushing 
people out of the way.  Aeka had never seen such disorder among the 
Jurains.  She saw a duke from the palace get pushed down and stepped on 
before regaining his footing, jumping on people, pushing them out of the 
way.  Aeka finaly found a way to scream.
	Her scream was cut off abruptly by the yell of her father's stern, 
commanding voice.  "Shut up!"  This made her burst into fresh tears, 
sobbing loudly in her confusion.  "Aeka!  I'm only going to say this once.  
You be good when daddy's not here.  Don't let anyone push you around, you 
here me?  Don't let anyone!"  With that, the tube slid shut, trapping Aeka 
inside.  Aeka looked shocked and frightened to her father and saw a look of 
deep sadness and dread on his face as he looked over his shoulder.  The 
last sight Aeka saw before being frozen solid for over seven-hundred years 
was her father kissing the tube and then mouthing the words:
	"I love y-"
	This is where Aeka's story ends.

	Azusa left the auditorium, looking back over his shoulder to see his 
daughter, frozen there in that chamber.  He saw Hasamato, the young 
soldier that had brought in Yosho's body, stuff himself in one of the 
tubes as it began to freeze.  There was enough room for everyone in the 
city, but people had apparently forgotten that.  Everyone would get in.  
The tubes wouldn't freeze unless they were full.  It was perhaps better if 
everyone rushed, though.  It would speed things up immensely.
	Just then, Azusa caught sight of Yosho, carrying the pregnant Misaki 
to one of the incubanic chambers.  Azusa rushed over there, ramming people 
out of the way furiously.  "Misaki!" he called.
	Yosho and Misaki whirled around.  Each gave a smile of relief as they 
saw their emperor.  "GO!" Azusa screamed.  "AEKA'S OK!!!"
	Yosho nodded and Misaki screamed something at Yosho.  Yosho shook his 
head violently and plunged back into the chaos.  Misaki screamed all the 
way to the tube where Yosho threw her in and activated it.  She froze 
solid in mid-scream.
	Her next thought would come in seven hundred years.
	In the next half an hour, every tube had been closed up, preserving 
the inhabitants of Jurai for the next seven centuries.  The only things 
left conscious in the auditorium were Yosho and Azusa at the end.  None 
were killed in the bustle, thank the gods, but a few were injured and that 
would be sorted out in seven hundred years.
	"So," Yosho said to his adopted father.
	"So."
	"It will only be a few hours before he comes."
	"Yes.  Kain has truly returned."  Azusa turned towards the filled 
chambers, a thousand of them in all.  There were auditoriums like this one 
built all over the empire, on hundreds of planets, containing millions of 
cities.  The late Azusa thought it wise to prepare for the worst, and his 
judgement was indeed correct.  "At least these people will be spared."
	Yosho and Azusa stood, staring at the frozen expressions of their 
townsmen, locked for seven hundred years in terror and relief mixed 
together.  The programs were to freeze the people for a year plus however 
long it took the radiation levels to die down after the catastrophe that 
year would bring.  Little did Yosho, Azusa, or any of the frozen statues 
that were once people and that would later be people know that it would 
take a full seven hundred years after Kain's attack.
	In the time of the seven hundred years, Kain would be defeated, only 
to rise again, Washu would be captured for her crimes and sentenced to 
eternity imprisonment, which she would only spend seven hundred years in, 
and the galaxy police would be formed.  The Jurains would wake up to a 
whole new world, working wildly to repair their civilization before waking 
the royal family, which would sleep a few years longer.  When Aeka would 
finaly awake, she would find her country back in its original condition, 
everything the way she remembered it, except for the loss of her father and 
brother.

	Yosho and Azusa stood outside the gates of the palace, watching the 
ball of destruction glowing in the distance that was the godlike 
destructor, Kain.  They watched, expecting their deaths and meeting them 
head on.
	"It will be a pleasure to die along side you, father," Yosho said.
	"Aye," Azusa agreed.  "The feeling is mutual.  I want to tell you 
something, though," he said to his son, who looked at him expectingly.  
"I don't regret using my last wish, son.  Even if we're both destroyed by 
Kain, at least I got to spend a little more time with you."  The son 
looked at his father, and the father looked at his son.  They waited in 
silence.
	They had to only wait another few minutes, however, before Kain 
floated over them, his energy sparking through the sky.
	"AZUSA!!!" the destructor bellowed through the air.  "YOU SHALL 
DIE!!!"
	"Arrogant, isn't he?" Yosho mumbled up at the creature.
	The creature growled at the young one, annoyed by its interference.  
"LEAVE US!!!"
	"NOPE!" Yosho called up to the destructor.  The creature only 
growled.
	"Yosho," Azusa whispered.  "When I give the signal, shoot that 
thing.  If we can destroy its first form quickly, we might beat it."
	Yosho nodded and then screamed, "HEY, YOU ARROGANT CREEP!!  WHY 
DON'T YOU CRAWL BACK IN YOUR HOLE WHERE IT'S NICE AND SAFE.  I BET YOUR 
MOMMY AND DADDY ARE WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU!  THEY WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO 
GET HURT!!!"
	The creature growled down at the two of them.  "MY MOTHER IS 
ETERNITY!!  MY FATHER, INFINITY!!"
	"SHUT UP!!!  YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER INFEDEL THAT THINKS HE CAN TAKE ON 
THE MOST POWERFUL EMPIRE IN THE UNIVERSE!!  WELL, YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOUR 
BUTT KICKED AT THE HANDS OF MY FATHER AND ME, FOR WE'VE TACKLED THINGS A 
LOT BIGGER AND UGLIER THAN YOU!!!"
	"YOU SHALL BOTH DIE AT MY HAND, AS DID YOUR FATHER, AZUSA!!  YOU AND 
YOUR SON AND YOUR FATHER!!"  Kain hovered downwards, coming closer to them 
as they looked, determination on their faces.  "YOU AND YOUR SON AND YOUR-"
	"Now!" Azusa yelled.  Yosho raised his hands at the black thing, its 
body a cavern of darkness, no head coming from that vail of destruction, 
and blasted him with an onslaught of Jurain energy.  The creature was 
caught by surprise, not lifting its shields in time and meeting the blast 
head on.  It screamed in fury and pain.
	Suddenly Azusa jumped, sword emitting from his hands, pure red energy 
in the sharp shape.  He leaped over six-hundred yards and sliced the 
monster through the black.  It screamed again and the blackness broke apart, 
shattering in space, pieces evaporating in the thinnest air as they fell 
towards the planet.  Behind the blackness was more blackness except for a 
white face that shown through it.  The face was covered with black blood 
pouring from wounds along both sides of its face.  The face screamed, black 
eye sockets clenched in pain.  It was the face of Kain's second form, one 
which Tenchi would have to face centuries later.
	"YOU SHALL DIE FOR THAT!!!" it screamed, but was met by another 
blast from Yosho.  The beast was torn between two opponents, undecided of 
which to tackle first.  Finally it soared for Yosho.  Azusa screamed a 
warrior's cry before slicing again at the beast before it hit the ground, 
but this time Kain dodged.  A hole seemed to appear in the blackness that 
was the destructor, letting Azusa tumble through it, losing all balance as 
he careened through the air, plummeting towards the ground.
	Suddenly a white hand appeared in the darkness, enormous, grabbing 
Azusa up in midair in one strike.  The hand held the emperor up in triumph 
until another blast shot from the ground, tearing off a hole in the 
blackness.  From the hole, another hand appeared, shooting downwards 
towards the planet, crashing through the palace, leaving destruction in 
its wake, straight towards Yosho.  Yosho saw the hand and knew he had to 
make a choice in that split second before the creature seized him: should 
he save the emperor or spare more destruction.
	The hand crashed towards the ground, causing a terrible earthquake 
which made buildings all over the city crumble inwards, emploding in a 
trmendous WHOMP! before littering the streets with the rubble.  The 
auditoriums which housed the sleeping townsmen remained unscathed however, 
standing tall in the destruction.
	Yosho could see his father, crying out in pain as the beast smothered 
him with his fist, breaking bones, bursting muscles.  The emperor cried 
out again and again for Yosho to destroy the beast how they had discussed, 
but Yosho wasn't listening.
	"DO IT NOW!!" he screamed at his son.  "DO IT NOWWW!!!!!"
	Yosho's head shook violently at his father as he let out another bolt 
of power at the mammoth.  Azusa knew only one way to speed it along; he 
knew only one way to imprison this beast as it was done before.  Azusa 
lunged against the strong blackness, ramming into Kain's muscle, reaching 
for his sword.  He swiped once and missed.  The fist clenched tighter and 
Azusa could feel his ribs cracking under the pressure.  Azusa screamed a 
warrior's cry before reaching out and succeeding in taking hold of his 
weapon.
	Azusa put all his strength behind that last swipe, letting go of his 
sword, sending it careening through the air, wirling in the atmosphere, 
landing, sharp point first, into the eye of Kain.  Kain screamed at the top 
of the black vacuum that were its lungs, sending both white hands, pale as 
whitest milk, up to its face.  Azusa was sent plummeting to the ground, 
half dead, almost all of his bones disintegrated into white powder beneath 
his skin, hitting the ground with a thud that broke his one remaining arm 
that he had used to throw his sword into the creature's weak spot.
	Yosho, seeing his father freed from Kain's grip, wound up all the 
energy in his power, sending a bolt as big as the palace careening up 
towards Kain's black mass.  The bolt sliced the darkness to ribbons, 
exiting out the other side, unslowed as it shot and smashed on one of the 
moons of Jurai, the largest in its orbit.  It was meant as a signal.
	One of the last things that came into being before Azusa's father 
died was the preliminary workings of the Galaxy Police.  It was supposed 
to be an organization used to keep order everywhere in the universe.  It 
held the most advanced technology in the universe and it was bound to see 
that signal.  No one in the universe could have missed that shot, sparks 
flying, thousands of meteors which were once part of the moon flying 
through space, some bouncing off the planet's protective shield.  The first 
officer to see the blast was Kishone, the ancestor of Kiyone, who wouldn't 
be born until after the next seven-hundred years.  Kishone immediately 
contacted every police officer in the district, notifying them to report 
to the planet Jurai immidiately.  An all ships alert was posted by the 
commander, sending thousands of ships to Jurai.
	The sky above Kain was flooded with ships before he finished wiping 
the black blood from his eye.  One ship, through a hole the size of a city 
in the black that was Kain, spotted two figures in the gardens surrounding 
the palace which was then rubble on the streets.  A telescope was used to 
look down on the planet and identify two members of the royal family, Yosho 
and Azusa.  Yosho waved his hands frantically into the air and Azusa was 
laying limp on the ground.  To the commander of the unit, the emperor 
looked dead.
	Then Kain looked up, its one good eye straining in the darkness it 
produced itself, which was itself, and its hands left its face.
	None of the officers had any idea where this beast had come from, its 
mere size and ferocious appearance making them quiver.  But, when its hands 
shot up towards space, leaving the planet and rocketing towards the 
biggest ship in the jumble that was the entire police personnel, they 
immediately recognized it as a threat.
	Kain's hands clasped around the hull of the biggest ship in the 
cluster, its red texture splitting as he clenched his fingers around it.  
The explosion was heard in every ship in the cluster, sending the pilots 
diving for their controls, firing blasts of nuclear and atomic magnitude at 
the beast.  Kain let out a roar of protest as a missile with the 
destruction capability of one nuclear bomb hit his face.  His roars and 
protests were only met by more blasts, however, and he found himself once 
again helpless.  He swerved in one direction, only to be met by blasts 
sending him back.  The other direction was met with the same consequences.  
Kain was trapped, his body absorbing, painfully, the nuclear blasts that 
engulfed him.  One of the last things Kain saw before being trapped again, 
was a huge tube rising out of a fleet, small tubes coming from each ship, 
connecting in space to form it.  It was as gigantic as Kain himself.  It 
had been designed by the late emperor to trap the monster if he ever came 
to Jurai.  Although it couldn't save the late emperor, it would be used 
there that night.
	Kain would not be taken so easily, though.  Before the tube was 
activated, sucking at the mere vacuum of space, ripping at the blackness, 
almost tearing another blackhole, one of Kain's hands detached, sending it 
careening towards Jurai at break-neck speed.
	Azusa had been very wise to make this invention, planning ahead, but 
what Azusa hadn't planned on was Kain's power in his second faze to 
detach part of its body in order to make a tremendous nuclear explosion.
	Yosho grinned widely as the monster was sucked up, and then lost his 
grin as a faint object grew in the sky, the sky that had just appeared 
after Kain's black slait had been wiped clean.  The object was deathly 
white in the darkness of the night sky, huge in the atmosphere, seeming to 
grow larger and larger, and he could clearly make out five fingers on it 
as it raced towards him.  Yosho realized with sudden horror that the thing 
racing towards him was Kain's hand.  Yosho felt a feeling of dread so 
powerful that it nearly threw him to the ground.  He ran towards his 
emperor, shaking the old man's limp body, screaming for him to awaken.  
Then, suddenly, he realized that his father was dead, crushed by the fall.
	Yosho looked up, tears in his eyes and saw that white shape careening 
down at an even faster rate.  All that was left now was to save himself.
	He would have only a minute to get to safety.