Infinite Wills is based upon the OAV continuity of Tenchi Muyo! All copyrighted characters mentioned within this work are the intellectual property of AIC and Pioneer. Original characters are intellectual property of Garasu, intentional use without permission is bad manners. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- Infinite Wills Part 1: Introductions Author: Garasu Deep in the recesses of space, far away from even the furthest reaches of the Juraian empire, lies a world frozen in perpetual desert. Orbiting the double star system known to Terrans as omicron ceti, the planet Cepheus is covered with wide sandy expanses that could readily kill any being that was not prepared for the heat. Only surrounding the poles did the landscape make a drastic change. The deserts of Cepheus slowly changed from desert to scrubland then finally to rainforests the further north a traveler went. It was there, in the northern and southern rainforests, where two separate civilizations first began to dawn. Both peoples of the planet were fierce and warlike, hence, it was only natural that when the two finally met they proceeded to destroy one another. After centuries of war, the northern faction finally conquered the last stronghold of their enemy and the southern race became extinct. Sometime during the time that immediately followed the victory, a mysterious woman appeared before the current ruler. The particulars of this meeting have long since been relegated to myth, but the results were immediate. The king was granted legendary powers that would be passed from generation after generation of rulers, one single family ruling over the entire race. Because of this, the woman was instantly deified, to go down in the history of the planet as their patron saint. For eons, this timeless woman watched over her people, training her priests in the arts of combat, giving them spaceflight and the power to travel amongst the stars. The moment they took to the stars, the Cepheans became a force to be reckoned with, conquering star systems with a swift efficiency that left the subdued races gasping for breath. This path continued to the present day where as it stands, the Cephean Empire stretches across thirty different systems and thirty five planets. All of this was due to one woman, a saint among the Cepheans, a feared myth among the Juraians, who called herself Lady Tokimi. * * * The lush hills responded slowly to the golden light that touched them, reaching forth their branches and leaves to catch the most amount of the life giving sunlight. Slowly, the night flowers began to retract their petals as the light climbed higher in the sky, giving way to the brilliant purples and reds of their daytime counterparts. Like the plants to sunlight, animals began to shake the sleepiness off and forage for their own food, everything answering the call of life with echoing cries of hunger. The scene was no different for a small house nestled at the base of a mountain, framed by the green forests of the mountain slope to the back, cultured fields to the sides, and a beautiful crystal blue lake to the front. Its pleasant red tiled roof a stark contrast to the surrounding hills. Here, as with the surrounding forests, people began to stir with the first touch of light upon the glazed windows. The first one to rise would have surprised any stranger in the household, as the young girl did not look any older than eight years. Considering her emotional state, however, everything would have been immediately understood. Sasami rose slowly from her futon, sniffling slightly. Her water blue hair was a mess as it had come out of her hair holds during the night, and she rubbed the tears from red-rimmed pink eyes before glancing next to her. Ayeka, her older sister, was still fast asleep, or at least apparently was. The older Juraian princess had always been a light sleeper, a fact that became more apparent when she and Sasami had begun sharing a room together. The young girl always had a problem with nightmares and would usually need to be woken up during the night at least once a week. Ayeka quickly rose when she heard the stirring beside her, indicating that the little girl was dressing and preparing to leave the room. Sometimes Sasami didn't want to bother Ayeka when she thought she was asleep; this usually meant that the young girl would try to rise as quietly as she could and make herself busy with morning chores to avoid thinking about what had woken her up. That would almost always lead to worse nightmares the following night. "Sasami?" Ayeka called softy, letting her sister know that she was awake, and more than willing to talk. "Oh, Ayeka, I thought you were asleep," Sasami answered back, slowly returning from her position halfway to the door. "I heard you waking up, and thought something might be wrong, would you like to talk about your nightmare?" Ayeka patted the spot next to her and opened her arms for her little sister to snuggle into. Sasami had always loved physical contact, a trait inherited from the girls' mother. She especially liked the warm feeling of knowing that someone cared and was willing to listen to any problems. Often Ayeka would even untie her hair and let Sasami slowly braid the silken purple lengths while she talked. Sasami sat in Ayeka's arms and looked up at her older sister curiously. "How did you know I had a nightmare?" she asked, leaning back into Ayeka's warm embrace. The elder Juraian Princess smiled warmly and loosened her hair, letting it cascade down her back to pool on the floor like a small pond of purple water. "Because you have that look in your eyes," Ayeka answered softly. "You're always so bright eyed after your nightmares because of the tears." Ayeka leaned closer to her little sister, hugging her into a tighter embrace and let her hair spill around them. "You're always braver than you should be Sasami. You should let your feelings go sometimes, it would do you well not to be so bottled up. You're still young, everybody would understand." "I don't want to be a burden on anybody, Ayeka" Sasami answered shaking slightly. She had never liked being a tag along or troublesome. Often, despite the fact that the little girl did almost more than anybody else in the household, Sasami would feel like she was an outsider and therefore not really an accepted part of the Masaki clan. Really, it was because of the fact that she was so young that she felt this way. There was no one really around her age to identify with. When she explained this to Ayeka, the purple haired princess leaned back and thought about what Sasami had just told her. It was true, there wasn't really anyone around that was close to Sasami's age that the little girl to talk with or play with even. Ayeka had always tried to be those things for her sister, she was always willing to listen to anything she had to say, and she always made time to play with Sasami; but still there just was a certain quality that was missing that Ayeka knew she could never provide. Sasami began to slowly braid her sister's hair while Ayeka thought about the problem before her. There wasn't much the elder Juraian could do and she hated that fact. There were no local children around for Sasami to meet, nor did the little princess wish to return to Jurai, where many young courtiers would undoubtedly lavish fake affection upon her. Ayeka shuddered suddenly, she had remembered those times and hated them with a passion. Surrounded by young children who were supposed to be too young to understand the difference between the social status, yet were only all too aware of the fact. True, there were some younger children of minor nobles and even some from major families that were true hearted, but they were unfortunately few and far between. Ayeka sighed, finally admitting that there was nothing she could do but maybe talk to Tenchi and see what he thought. If anybody around the Masaki house was willing to help Sasami it would be him, and he would maybe even know of some way to help out with the child's problem. Ayeka sadly patted her little sister on the shoulder and rubbed it conveying her apologies for not being able to help. All she could do at this time was assure Sasami that she was not a tag along and was indeed very wanted amongst all the family members. Which she made sure to do just as the first stirrings from the rest of the house were heard. Sasami quickly finished the single braid she was doing then got up and began to walk over to the door so that she may start breakfast as soon as possible. "Sasami?" Ayeka stopped her before the little girl could get completely outside and bent down to look her little sister directly in the eyes. "We'll talk about your nightmare after breakfast, okay?" Sasami smiled and nodded her head before dashing out of the door way and down the hall. Ayeka sighed quietly before closing the door once again to get dressed herself. It wouldn't do to make an appearance before anyone without being properly prepared. Meanwhile, other residents of the Masaki household were beginning to tiredly wake up. Tenchi Masaki had already hit his alarm clock snooze button three times before he finally decided that it would do him no good to sleep any longer. Final examinations were going to be given today in most of his classes, and as a diligent student he had spent most of the night brushing up on anything that he could think of that might come up on one of the tests. This was the last school day before Tenchi and the rest of his school would be released for summer break and he definitely did not want to be late. So, after a brief battle with his tired mind and several false starts, Tenchi finally lifted his head off the pillow and turned to the side of the bed. Whereupon his hands instantly came across a slightly rounded object and froze. Slowly his hands traced the contours of the unfamiliar object, scanning slightly spiked hair and a slight nose. The more and more his hands felt, the more Tenchi became dejected. It had been ages since Ryoko had snuck into his bedroom at night, why would she suddenly start again? Tenchi was about to turn his head and lecture Ryoko about the ideals of privacy when a sudden thought came to his sleepy head all at once. She wasn't moving; there was no sound coming from Ryoko at all except a small rhythmic breathing pattern and a slight snore every few seconds. The young Earthling turned his head and confirmed what his senses and instincts told him an instant before. The space pirate had obviously fallen asleep while waiting for him to wake up. Tenchi's facial features instantly softened at the sight of the sleeping form of Ryoko, her hair was matted cutely and there was a slight trail of liquid coming from her parted lips. From her position he could guess that she had been sitting by his bed before falling asleep as the woman's body was kneeling on the floor but her upper torso was lying over the foot of his bed. Slowly Tenchi extricated himself from the covers, careful not to disturb the sleeping demoness and rolled his eyes tolerantly with a slight chuckle. "Really Ryoko," he said softly, talking more to himself than the sleeping form before him. "You should start getting more sleep elsewhere. What would Ayeka say if she were to find you in here?" Personally, however, Tenchi didn't believe that that would ever happen. He knew from experience that Ayeka was always painfully polite, never going where she wasn't invited. In fact, now that Tenchi thought about it, he really couldn't even remember a time when the purple headed princess had been in his bedroom. Just as well, he thought to himself. One beautiful woman clawing at my door is enough for me. Tenchi caught himself at that thought and sighed gustily just as he walked out the door leading to the stairs descending down one level. It was never a good thing when he tried to compare the two women, they were just too different in the strengths and weakness to compare accurately. All it ended with was one large headache for him. Yawning stiffly, Tenchi immediately made for the nearest bathroom to freshen up. As he descended the stairs that led to the second story, Tenchi could smell the familiar aroma of breakfast cooking and he smiled slightly. Today was the last day that Sasami would have to wake up early in order for the whole family to be together for breakfast. He never quite understood why the little Princess felt she had to do that every morning, but the sentiment was sweet and not wasted upon him nor the rest of the family. Mainly because they had all tasted his father's cooking at one point or another, and while not inedible, it certainly was not chef quality. The young man quickly took care of his morning business then began to hurriedly make his way down to the breakfast table, lest he be late. Throwing his school uniform jacket over his shoulders and descending the final flight of stairs leading to the first floor, Tenchi almost ran headlong into Ayeka as she was coming up. "Oh, Tenchi-sama. There you are, I was just about to come and tell you breakfast was ready." She began, then looked around to make sure that no one else was within earshot. "Tenchi, could I also talk to you about something else? It's of some importance." She added, in a quieter fashion. Tenchi was briefly taken aback by the fact that Ayeka should come looking for him to talk, but hid his surprise behind a polite smile and a nod of his head. "Ugh, sure Ayeka-san. What can I do for you?" he replied, only slightly nervous by the fact that she was leading him to one of the lesser trafficked areas of the second floor. After all, this was Ayeka. "Well, it's not for me that you can do something for, Tenchi, it's Sasami. You see she's getting rather homesick, and this feeling is only intensified by the age difference within the house. I was just wondering if you wouldn't maybe have any ideas as to what we might be able to do? I've been getting kind of worried about her lately." Ayeka said, after finally arriving in a small corner of the second floor solar. Tenchi looked mildly distressed at what the Juraian Princess had just told him. He had never quite noticed a change in the bubbly girl's personality lately, but if Ayeka was getting worried enough to talk to him about it something must wrong. "Well Ayeka, I don't really know what we could do." Tenchi scratched the back of his neck reflexively. He hated not being able to do something about problems, especially when they concerned members of his extended "family." "I thought as much," Ayeka sighed dejectedly. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, Tenchi-sama, but I didn't really know who to talk to about this problem. I thought maybe you could at least offer an idea or two." "I wish I could, Princess Ayeka." Tenchi replied sadly. "Unfortunately, none of the local children are her age. She could visit with my Aunt again, if that would make her feel better. I know little Taro would love the company." "Perhaps," Ayeka pondered but then brought herself back to the present. "Either way, Tenchi, I suppose nothing can be done right now so we best go to breakfast before she hunts us both down." Tenchi smiled and laughed a bit while Ayeka giggled. Sasami and mad never went well together. The little Princess was just too good natured to pull it off correctly. When Ayeka finally regained her control and Tenchi stopped chuckling, the pair made their way down to the breakfast table side by side chatting quietly about recent events. "Where's Ryoko?" Sasami asked quizzically when Tenchi and Ayeka finally appeared together. Tenchi immediately laughed nervously and told her that he had seen her sleeping after he had woken up. The last thing he wanted to do was to tell everyone that she had been sleeping in his room so the little half truth would have to do. "Doesn't she want to come down for breakfast?" Sasami asked, pouting slightly from the unintentional hurt. "I wouldn't worry about Ryoko," Washu put in as she sat down in front of the breakfast table. "She can go for weeks without eating and besides, I bet she was up awfully late last night so she'll need at least some rest." Tenchi couldn't help but think that Washu was giving him an expectant look, so he avoided gazing in the little scientist's direction. "I'll bet she was up late," Ayeka muttered to herself at sat down next to Tenchi. It really wasn't fair sometimes. She was always polite and courteous to Tenchi's feelings and yet it seemed Ryoko got all the time with him because she was rude enough to go where she wasn't invited. Every once and while, Ayeka heartily wished she could damn her manners to hell, but she knew she would never be able to; they were just too ingrained. So with a sigh, she steadily picked up her chopsticks and began to eat with the rest of her family. * * * Kiyone Makibi walked the halls of the empty station resolutely. It was almost two hours after her life had been turned upside down, and she still wasn't quite sure that the implications of what had happened sunk in yet. What was clear to her, however, was that her career was now over. The most depressing part was that that wasn't even speculation. She sighed silently and held back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her and continued on her way. The past two hours for Kiyone, would have been sheer hell for any normal person, but for the teal tressed police officer, they were a life altering event and one that ultimately destroyed her confidence with the universe. Kiyone palmed the door to her small apartment harshly, determined to work some her frustration on something, anything. Instead, as soon as the door closed, she collapsed onto the floor in a heap of exhausted tears. Right now, that was all she could think to do, and all she wished to do. Kiyone knew there was also no one around that would think to look for her and try to offer some comfort, she really had no personal friends in the galaxy police station; such was the life of an intensely career minded person. As the sobbing slowly ebbed from Kiyone, she looked around at what had been her home for the past four years. There was almost no personal affects whatsoever; only the commendations of her superiors and various trophies won in inter-squad competitions. Everything in her room gave the distinct impression to visitors that Kiyone Makibi was professional, that she believed in her job and believed in the good she thought she was doing. "At least, the good I thought I was doing." Kiyone mumbled to herself as she slowly rose from her kneeling position. She hadn't even realized that it had been over twenty minutes since she entered her apartment, and her knees were beginning to hurt. Really, once the detective thought about it, it was amazing how simple beaurocracy could effect the Galaxy Police. All it took for an officers career to end was a cleverly made up story backed by some small bit of evidence and the lawyers were all too happy to press charges on behalf of a criminal. "Unfortunately, I just happened to be the target of the month." Somehow, though, Kiyone's reasoning sounded flat to her ears, as if she was making up excuses for her own incompetence. Kiyone stopped abruptly at that thought. Incompetence? Was she now believing in the lawyer's words towards the board of Inquiry so much that she now thought of herself in their own terms? New tears threatened to fall as every little mistake Kiyone had made in her short career suddenly washed over her mind and made themselves at least twice as bad as they were. "Incompetent, yes, that is what I am." Kiyone agreed with her mental arguments. How could she not be to make the sort of mistake that she had done? Kiyone slowly made her way over to her bed and pulled out a small box that lay underneath it. Inside the simple brown box was a bag that looked like any normal police issue duffel. However, this one was much different than the little mission bags that were given to all Academy graduates. This one was more special than all of them put together, not to mention the fact that it had the carrying capacity of all the duffels in the entire force. This bag was in fact a special gift to the top graduate in each class of the Academy. The secret to its capacity lay in the fact that it had a small subspace pocket woven into the little zippered opening, hence giving it the capacity of several trucks yet not increasing in size or weight. Kiyone was not stupid. In fact before her entrance into the Galaxy Police Academy she had been an astrophysics major at the Science Academy. She knew that subspace pockets woven into potable items were notoriously difficult to create, which only served to make the bag more special to her. However, all those feelings soon evaporated at the sight of the small GP logo on the side of the blue bag. Still, it would be wasteful to throw it out now so Kiyone began to slowly gather the small amount of items in her room and pack them into the bag. All throughout packing, she wondered where could she go next. Her room and board had been paid for or supplied through the various facets of the Academy and the Police Force, now suddenly without either in her life for the first time in five years, Kiyone had no idea what to do. The first thought that came to her mind was her uncle. After her parents died, Kiyone's uncle took over her primary care. He was the nicest old man she had ever met and he spoiled his niece as only an extended family member could. In fact her ship, the Yagami, was a gift to her when she graduated the Academy. Kiyone smiled at the thought of visiting her uncle again. It was the first genuine smile she showed all day. The last time she had been there was directly after she failed a psyche exam following her last mission paired with Detective Mihoshi. With the young woman's name, came an unbidden thought into Kiyone's mind. She wondered just where the blonde detective was stationed now. The last she heard, Mihoshi was in charge of patrolling the non-interference preserve of the Sol System. Could it be that the klutz was still there, or had she been promoted to a busier sector? Kiyone sighed, then sat up straight as her hands ran across the smooth configuration of glass. "Glass? In this box? I wonder what it could be." Kiyone wondered to herself as she removed the item from the depths of the metallic box. What she saw forced a slow smile to come across her lips. The item was a simple picture frame of some gilded metal. Its simplistic straight edges framed a small picture that captured two females in a happily relaxed stance. One of the young women was a mirror image of Kiyone, only wearing the uniform of a simple patrolman. Her waist length teal hair was folded smartly under the bluish cap and the uniform of blue and white fit snuggly over her athletic figure. Patrolwoman Kiyone's face was much more relaxed then when compared to her later officer years. This fact was evidenced by the shy smile and the slightly amused expression reflected in her sappharine eyes. The amusement was directed solely towards the person next to her. Someone she hadn't seen in almost a year and a half. The woman had a mass of blonde hair that went in every direction, yet somehow made it look like the hairstyle was purposefully done, her evenly tanned skin contrasted the bright innocent blue eyes. Mihoshi was always so carefree, and her wide smile showing her even white teeth made this fact blatantly apparent. The only problem was that from the moment Kiyone first met Mihoshi, long before the Academy, the blonde had always been somewhat prone to spectacular accidents. This amazingly didn't affect how many criminals Mihoshi had brought in. Between Kiyone's precise methods and Mihoshi's erratic luck, the two had been one of the fastest promoted teams the force staffed. Their rise through the ranks was nothing short of phenomenal, until the last case they had worked. Kiyone, fingered the inscription on the frame idly as she remembered the events that led up to her downfall. The scripted writing read "First time partners and best friends forever," but sadly that was not to be the case. Before, Kiyone had always been able to nonchalantly accept that Mihoshi was a klutz. Sometimes, but only very rarely, would it affect the case they were working on in a bad way. However, during the final caper, Mihoshi's bumbling had finally caught up with the teal haired detective. Kiyone really couldn't blame Mihoshi, once she reflected on it. Unfortunately, at the time, being thrown into a huge drive core then being abandoned by her only partner and friend caused something deep within Kiyone's consciousness to snap. She was lucky that a nearby cruiser had picked up her emergency beacon only hours before her emergency air ration ended, otherwise she would have died in that cold void. Once back on active duty, alone because she had learned that Mihoshi had been reassigned to space patrol, Kiyone's only thoughts were of a violent end for her ex partner. Fortunately, she had managed to keep somewhere in her mind a rational thought and sought help. That was when she failed the psyche exam and was given a mandatory three weeks paid vacation. Kiyone's smile once again softened her facial features. She had used those three weeks to visit her uncle. The kind old man had immediately inquired about Yagami's condition at the same time he gave her a heartfelt hug. Uncle Tarmin had always been an engineer first and a family man second. The part that was a family man, however, was near fanatical. He had always done his best to raise Kiyone right, despite the fact that between his job and the lack of a wife prevented him from being there for her all the time. To Kiyone, though, he was everything. It was her uncle that first inspired her to become an astrophysics major, it was also her uncle that was the foremost supporter of her decision to enter the Galaxy Police Academy as well. While he wasn't able to be there physically sometimes, Uncle Tarmin was the only one whom Kiyone viewed as caring enough to give a damn about her. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she thought about telling her uncle about the latest development in her life, needless to say he would offer to try and help maybe even use his influence to get her back in but what would be the point? Kiyone would never be able to return after knowing that she had been officially fired. Besides, she never liked accepting help from anyone. If she couldn't do it alone by her merits it was not to be. The last thought brought her out of Kiyone out of her self-induced memory trip. She needed to call her uncle anyway to make sure he was around when she got there. It wasn't necessary, as she had a key and an open invitation but Kiyone had the strong suspicion that she would need someone to talk to when she arrived. After zipping the last of her personal belongings into her bag, Kiyone made her way over to the small communications link and activated the screen with a touch of a button. "Contact Tarmin Makibi." She intoned, then waited as the connecting signal displayed. "Yes, hello?" a voice sounded, followed seconds later by a picture of a slightly middle aged man. Kiyone smiled. Uncle Tarmin hadn't changed one bit since she last saw him. He still had the scruffy looking beard of white hair and a crop of messy uncombed hair that perfectly matched the man's beard. His soft blue eyes never seemed to reflect anything worse than a gentle happiness that was supported by the many wrinkles surrounding his wide mouth; most of said wrinkles being caused by the fact that he never seemed to do anything but smile. Tarmin's smile became immediately apparent as soon as he recognized who was calling him. "Kiyone!" he exclaimed, the smile growing wider by the second. "You've finally decided to call you poor Uncle Tarmin and say hi." Tarmin's smile, however, lasted only a few more seconds before he realized that his favorite niece had apparently been crying heavily. "Kiyone, what's wrong? What happened?" He asked, more concerned than ever. It took a very life shattering event to make his niece cry and who ever had caused that will have hell to pay shortly. "Uncle Tarmin, I...I was fired today." Kiyone hung her head in shame, new tears threatening to spill from her blue eyes. "I was accused of blatant misconduct." Tarmin sat back in his chair and fumed for bit. This definitely required a call to one of his friends, who just happened to be the Marshall. Firing his niece was not to be tolerated, especially over such a trivial accusation. "I could make a call for you, Kiyone. You know Marshall Kuramitsu would never stand for this." Tarmin replied after fuming for several more seconds. "No, Uncle, I don't want you to make a call. I got myself into this mess and I'll get out of it on my own merits. I'll find something to do, don't worry." Kiyone responded finding the strength to look into her Uncle's eyes. "Anyway, the reason I called was to see if maybe I could come stay with you for a while. I have no other place to go right now." Tarmin Makibi looked at the woman that was in all respects had become his daughter. She was a strong willed person and if anyone could straighten out this mess it was Kiyone. He had always admired her spirit and her independence. Slowly a radiant smile spread across his face. Tarmin couldn't have been more proud at that moment. "As you wish, dear. I won't interfere. I would love for you to come stay here, however, I've got another suggestion for you to try." Kiyone raised her eyebrows in askance and allowed her uncle to continue. "Why don't you visit Mihoshi for a bit? I know you two haven't seen each other in ages and might be nice to finally straighten out the accident." Tarmin finished. "I don't know uncle, since I'm not a part of force anymore I don't think they'll allow me to find out where she is, let alone visit her." Kiyone sighed. She was going to miss the fact that while she was on the force she could literally find out where anyone was at anytime. "Nonsense, I'll ask Marshall Kuramitsu myself. Last I heard she was made resident officer on some backwater planet, I'm sure Mihoshi would love some company." "Alright then, you're right it has been ages since I've seen her. It might be nice now that I don't have to worry about being official." Kiyone smiled. "Great! If everything goes okay then, I'll see you in a few weeks, alright?" Tarmin waved to his niece and smiled brightly before looking off the screen and to his right. "I've got to go now, sweetie, looks like someone got lost building that new propulsion system I told you about." Kiyone rolled her eyes tolerantly. The latest contract job her uncle won was a new propulsion system that promised better fuel efficiency and smoother sublight acceleration. With any luck she would be able to help him test the final stages of the project when she arrived. "Alright, Uncle, you go set them straight and I'll talk with you when you call me with Mihoshi's location." Kiyone returned her uncle's wave then turned the screen off. Taking one last look at her small quarters, Kiyone sighed sadly then palmed the lights off and walked out towards the docking bays. It would be a long trip into the unknown for the next few weeks, but Kiyone thrived on the challenges that were thrown her way. Who knew, maybe she might find herself liking the fact that she was off the force. With thoughts for the future, Kiyone squared her shoulders bravely and set off down the corridor and into the unknown. * * * Ryoko woke suddenly as a brief feeling of dread passed over her. It was all gone in a second, but she could for the life of her figure out what it was for or why she had had it. Once the space pirate sat up, she took in her surroundings as they did not immediately make themselves apparent. The cleanly kept room was not her usual place on the rafters so why in the world was she here lying against a bed, not to mention the position she had apparently slept in had left her with a back ache like she never had before. Oh yeah, now I remember. Ryoko thought to herself and smiled briefly. She had come in here to watch Tenchi sleep again and must have dozed off. But if that was the case, why didn't he wake her and tell her to leave? Ryoko's brief smile happily widened for a moment. He didn't make me leave, he actually allowed me to stay in his room! This is perfect, maybe he's starting to like me being in here and next time, I can stay awake so when he wakes up... Ryoko rubber her hands together in glee. Finally her Tenchi was beginning to show his feelings for her; it was only a matter of time before he said the three little words she'd been waiting forever to hear. With thoughts of Tenchi running around her head, Ryoko slowly began to get up and wonder where the boy was. He must have woken up early and gone down to breakfast. She reasoned, and phased to the floor level below. When Tenchi didn't make himself immediately apparent she teleported to the dinning room, suddenly feeling a bit hungry. What she found was an empty table. Sasami was not in the kitchen fixing anything, nor was Mihoshi happily setting the plates for breakfast. Where was everybody? A feeling at the back of her head made her smile disappear momentarily. She knew that feeling and sighed at the inevitable. It was too early in the morning to deal with the prissy princess. "Well I see someone finally woke up." Ayeka commented dryly and brushed past Ryoko. "Have a nice nap, Ryoko?" she added before sitting down on the couch with some yarn and a few needles. "Of course," Ryoko smiled and phased over to where Ayeka had sat down. "Tenchi makes such a nice pillow." Ryoko knew it was a mean comment, but she really didn't feel like playing fair with the Juraian Princess this morning. Though it was quite fun to see her reactions to certain things, especially when they concerned Tenchi. This time, the bait worked perfectly. Ayeka stiffened and her face turned several shads darker before she got control of her anger. "I see you've been confusing your dirty dreams with reality again, Ryoko. When will you ever learn that Tenchi maybe does not like it when you try to share his bed?" Ayeka spat, trying her hardest to gain control at the seething anger that threatened to overwhelm her. Ryoko smiled slyly and sat down next to the fuming princess and giggled mischievously. "Oh, Tenchi is just shy, that's what makes him so sweet. He'll come around, all I have to do is get him used to the idea." At that point, Ayeka had had quite enough of Ryoko's teasing and rose from her seated position, intent on firing her best insults. Fortunately for the household, Mihoshi came running into the room at that moment yelling happily about someone coming. "She's coming, she's coming!" Mihoshi hopped into the room, arms tightly clasped over her chest, and a big smile showing on her face. Ryoko and Ayeka stopped they're insults mid-sentence and looked over at the blonde detective curiously, then looked at each other. "Who's coming?" Ayeka asked, walking over to the bouncing blonde and holding her down. "She's coming, my best friend in whole world is coming over here. I thought she died, but apparently she didn't and now she's coming to visit me. Isn't that wonderful?" Mihoshi asked and giggled within the strength of Ayeka's grasp. Ryoko floated over and added her strength to Ayeka's just as a fuse snapped somewhere inside the princess's mind. "MIHOSHI! You're not making any sense whatsoever, now CALM DOWN!" Ayeka yelled directly into Mihoshi's face, forcing the excited detective to blink at her several times and stop trying to bounce. "Kiyone, my old partner and best friend in the whole universe." Mihoshi stated matter of factly, for all the world sounding as if it were the most understood thing in the universe. "Wait a minute," Ryoko interrupted, releasing the blonde from her grasp. "You don't mean that Kiyone that you babbled on about when you told us that silly story, do you?" Mihoshi nodded her head vigorously and her smile widened. " That's that one!" she exclaimed. " I told you that story was true." Ayeka and Ryoko once again looked at each other, one confused expression a perfect reflection of the other. Both knew what the other was thinking as well as they considered the implications of what Mihoshi had just told them. Soon there would be another female in this house, possibly even vying for Tenchi's affections. "When exactly is this Kiyone person coming here?" Ryoko asked only seconds before Ayeka thought to. "Umm, let me see here." Mihoshi struck a thinking pose as she carefully considered all the things that her grandfather personally told her. "It takes several days for someone to get here from headquarters, and grandfather said she had left just this morning...so I think she'll get here maybe tomorrow evening." The smile once again returned to Mihoshi's lips as she thought about the fun her and Kiyone would have once her friend arrived. They had so much to catch up on since they had last seen each other, so many things had happened. But it was kind of strange that Kiyone was taking a vacation. The teal haired detective never took any days off so when her grandfather told her that she would be visiting for a few weeks while on vacation, something in the back of Mihoshi's mind woke up and a few alarms began going off. In the mean time, Ayeka and Ryoko were still staring at each other, both considering what to do about the situation. It wasn't as if they could or even wanted to make Kiyone feel unwelcome, that would possibly anger Tenchi, and they still had no idea what she was like. Still, the thought of someone else living in this household wasn't exactly a pleasant thought. Ayeka sighed and Ryoko felt like doing the same thing at the moment. There wasn't anything they could do now, it was now a waiting game to see what happened. "Well, maybe another person around the house will be able to calm you down, Ryoko." Ayeka spat, suddenly remembering the argument they were having only minutes before. "Maybe she'll be able to keep your attitude in check." Ryoko shot back, then turned her back on the princess just as Ayeka did the same. With an air of stony silence, bot women marched off in opposite directions, leaving a confused Mihoshi to ponder what had just happened. * * * Kiyone entered the quiet docking bay nervously, checking to see if anyone she knew was standing around. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to her "friends" offer false words of comfort, as doubtless her firing was all over the station by now. It was better that she just disappear quietly and never look back towards the life she once had and could never have again. For once, Kiyone was in luck. She encountered no one she knew on the way to her ship, nor was there any person apparent near the terminal where the Yagami was docked. Without talking with anyone, Kiyone had managed to slip aboard her ship unnoticed. "Good Morning, Detective Kiyone." The Yagami's artificial intelligent unit greeted her the minute she was on board. "Good morning, 'Gami." Kiyone returned politely. "Were you able to complete the systems check I requested last night?" "Affirmative, Detective. All systems report green condition. Primary shield generators are online, secondary shields are charging. All weapons report green. There was just one problem." The computer voice droned intently. Kiyone stopped and stared at the nearest speaker terminal where the computer voice was coming from. "What was that 'Gami?" she asked, curiously. "Space Ops requested this morning for a file download of all case sensitive data, and sent the proper code for a memory wipe of all police specific data. Is there anything I should be aware of Detective?" Kiyone smiled sadly and shook her head. "Nothing important, 'Gami. Let them have the data and perform the scheduled memory wipe. We're on our own now." "I see," was the only the computer unit said. A few seconds later, a faint beeping sound was heard as the tasks that Kiyone had approved were performed. Kiyone's smile changed slightly from one of sadness to one of pride. The Yagami's computer unit was custom installed by her uncle when the last one began to get annoying. All the police ships in the galaxy police force were equipped with some form of AI in order to handle all the tasks that a patrol ship undertook in any single voyage. Sometimes, though, they would malfunction unexpectedly resulting in a few mishaps. After the second time the standard unit failed Kiyone almost at the expense of her life, her uncle insisted on installing a custom personality that he had been working on. 'Gami, as she liked to call "him" was one of the most efficient units she had ever seen. It was also a plus that the Space Ops team did not control every function that 'Gami did, making it impossible for anyone but Kiyone to control her ship. Right now, of all times, she was tickled pink that the brainiacs in Ops had to ask permission of her ship in order to obtain the massive police file records that the Yagami's main computer bank stored. That should reduce their egos a peg or two. "Objective completed," 'Gami suddenly intoned followed by a quiet beep, only five seconds after the permission had been given. Kiyone's prideful smile widened. Let the best standard unit try what 'Gami did in five seconds and the stupid thing would have blown a fuse. "Excellent 'Gami," Kiyone replied as she reached the cockpit and sat down in her chair. "Please disconnect all power cables and prepare for launch. Set destination: Sol system." "Roger, destination set, Sol System. Estimated time of Arrival using new hyperspace drive system: one point five days." Kiyone smiled again. Yet another "add-on" by her uncle. Whenever she visited his home, it seemed he always had some new drive system for her to test or a new defense mechanism to "protect" his precious niece. Not to mention the countless armaments, all registered for private testing through his company, that he had given her. In the end, the Yagami was probably the most dangerous, fastest ship in the entire galaxy police force; besting even the Grand Marshal's personal ship, though not by much as he was also a personal friend of her Uncle's. The next day and a half went by fairly smoothly. Surprisingly, Kiyone found that there was plenty for her to do to keep herself occupied. Sometimes it had even scared to find that she hadn't been thinking about her lost job for several hours at a time. She felt that losing her job should have been something that she could never recover from. Yet only several days after the event, Kiyone was already planning on the things she was going to do on her vacation as well as what she was going to do when she finally reached her uncle's home back on Epsilon Eridanis. Uncle Tarmin had promised her a very nice job within his company whenever she chose to take it. It wasn't even a really bad one either. She would be in charge of the weapons division and co-head the volunteer security force that constantly patrolled the top-secret laboratories that served as the division's home. Her uncle was a very shrewd business man, all of the security team that volunteered during their time off were engineers of varying projects and as such were vary proud of their work. By the engineers protecting their own work, sometimes at a fanatic level, Tarmin ensured that there were incredibly few security leaks as all the engineers trusted only their co-workers and their boss. Introducing a new engineer to a team was like bringing someone into a new family. That new person had to earn the respect of all his fellow co-workers and until he or she did, was on probation status without clearance. This tended to weed out anybody who was interested in personal gains or spying for a rival company from applying at all. Fortunately for Kiyone, she grew up around most of the R&D team and considered most of them pseudo-aunts and uncles. Their families were her family and it had been that way since she first came to live with her uncle almost twenty years ago. A brief shadow crossed over Kiyone's face as those events came unbidden into her mind. She had come before Uncle Tarmin a scared three year old who had just lost both of her parents, yet did not understand why they were not coming back. It was only much later, when she was a teenager heading off to the science academy that her uncle was finally able to explain fully the events behind her parents disappearance. Kiyone sighed and brushed an errant strand of her teal hair out of her eyes. She tried not to think much about her parents, as she had hardly knew them but sometimes it was hard, especially since she had all this free time on her hands suddenly. However, before her mind could engage on any more trips into her past, 'Gami appeared from the overhead circuitry and announced their arrival in the Sol System. Navigating planetary systems was always a tedious business, especially around occupied worlds, fortunately, the people of the third planet were not sufficiently advanced enough to achieve anything more than inter-planetary flight, even then by unmanned spacecraft. Despite that, however, Kiyone still had to watch out for those unmanned vessels as an arrant radio frequency or being in the wrong place at the wrong time could result in the people of Earth discovering life on other worlds long before they really should. Finally after a few hours of careful navigation, the giant blue orb of the third planet filled the forwards view screens. The image made Kiyone sigh inwardly. This planet for some reason reminded her a lot of her homeworld. True, there was less space traffic around the planet, but the look and even strangely, the feel of the planet, called to her mind the swirling blue colors of Eridanis. Resolutely, the detective pushed all other thoughts out of her mind, and concentrated on an unguided landing. There were so little opportunities to travel to worlds that had no interstellar space flight that landing without signal beacons was almost becoming a lost art. Carefully, Kiyone avoided a hunk of scrap metal that vaguely looked like a primitive space station and inserted the Yagami into the atmosphere. Finding Mihoshi was almost no problem even without the detailed instructions relayed to her by her uncle. Apparently, her ex-partner forgot to turn off the signal frequency again making her ship visible to the radar of any passing by interstellar race. Fortunately, the Sol System was a non-interference preserve set up by the Juraian Government and maintained by the Galaxy Police force, hence the lack of trouble Kiyone had in getting permission to enter. Express permission from the Grand Marshall was all that was needed and that she was given. Deftly setting Yagami down by a small lake nestled between to mountains, Kiyone slowly started shutting down the various instruments that were only required to run during space flight. Finally, she engaged the subspace cloaking device that would hide the Yagami from prying eyes and began to exit her ship, already taking notice of the gathering crowd outside. "Well, Mihoshi," Kiyone said silently to herself as she waited for the hatch to open. "Looks like we're finally together again." Tenchi silently watched as the small red ship came to a rest over the lake. Unlike Mihoshi's spectacular crashes, this ship was controlled every step of the way, coming top a complete stop only when the hull was just inches from touching the surface of the lake. Outwardly, the young earthling showed nothing but a polite expression as the newest guest made her way down the floating access ramp. Inwardly, however, he was cringing. Tenchi had just started getting used to the idea of four beautiful women living in his house. He had all their silly quirks down, though definitely not understood, and had even began to settle into a somewhat normal routine again. Then came the morning that Mihoshi announced that her best friend, and ex- partner was coming for a visit. That had been yesterday morning, and now it seemed as if the gods had determined that he not have one quiet moment, lest he get bored. Tenchi sighed and tried not to feel too sorry for himself. It always seemed as if his troubles came in the form of beautiful women. Every other male, he assumed, would probably kill to be in a situation like his, but her only found it vaguely unsettling. Now, more trouble was on the way and true to Tenchi style she came in the form of a beautiful woman. Upon closer inspection, Tenchi agreed with his thought on trouble, because there was no doubt that once Kiyone got close enough, she was quite pretty. Her hair was an interesting shade of teal-ish blue, several shades darker than Sasami's and factors darker than Ryoko's and was held out of her eyes by a bright orange headband. Her face seemed to belly her apparent strength as it was small and delicate in appearance, though Tenchi had no trouble imaging what this GP detective could do, should she need to. Kiyone's eyes, seemed to match her hair and the small secretive grin on her face seemed to suit its owner very well. Kiyone's clothes, however were definitely designed to showcase her best feature: A Body that could kill, literally. After years of Martial Arts training and even attending multiple tournaments with his school's team, Tenchi had learned to appreciate the nuances that a body could hold. Kiyone's clothing showed her perfectly toned muscle very well, yet still managed to look conservative, as it didn't reveal too much skin. Her pants resembled denim vaguely and clung to her well formed legs perfectly. The tight fitting shirt of a light purple accented her skin color nicely and showed a modestly endowed chest, hidden only by a white vest. Tenchi sighed, yes, Kiyone was quite striking and therefore high up on his "going to cause trouble whether she wants to or not" list. But that would all remain in his mind, for now, he had to be a gracious host and offer as politely as possible his hospitality and an introduction to the rest of the gathered Masaki "family". Unfortunately, an over excited blonde detective got in his way. Before Tenchi could even mouth two words in greeting, he was flat on his stomach tasting the quality of the dirt surrounding his home. Vaguely, from his position, Tenchi could hear the excited ramblings of Mihoshi. "KIYONE!!!" Before the teal haired woman could react she was swept up into an embrace that almost cut her circulation off. Smiling a bit at Mihoshi's antics, Kiyone patted the blonde's head and forced the woman to let her down. "Hello, Mihoshi, it's been a while hasn't it?" Kiyone asked, slightly amused and out of breath. Kiyone hugged her friend slightly less enthusiastically then bent down to where Tenchi was still lying, dazedly in the earth. "I apologize for Mihoshi, she sometimes gets a little enthusiastic." Kiyone said as she helped the young boy up. "I'm Kiyone by the way." She finished smoothly and shook his hand. "Umm, Hello." Tenchi returned Kiyone's polite expression and her warm handshake. "I'm Tenchi Masaki, and this is my dad Nobuyuki, and grandfather Katsuhito." Tenchi introduced his direct family first then indicated with his right arm the four other girls slightly behind them. "I'm sure you're already aware of Ayeka and Sasami Jurai," Ayeka bowed slightly in greeting and Sasami gave Kiyone a big wave. "The two beside them are Ryoko and Washu Hakubi." Once again Kiyone received a big wave this time from Washu, and a barley polite expression from Ryoko. "Umm, nice to meet you," Kiyone said nervously while trying to shrug off Ryoko's stare. "I wasn't aware that the two Royal Princesses were staying here." She asked, looking inquisitively at the two Juraians. Ayeka smiled politely, and answered Kiyone's slight question with a quick acceptable answer. "We're somewhat on extended vacation here, Miss Kiyone," she said, quietly. Kiyone nodded in understanding and turned once again to face Tenchi. "I appreciate you letting me stay here while I'm on vacation as well, Tenchi. You're hospitality is very generous." Kiyone smiled shyly as a happy Mihoshi passed by her side carrying what small belongings that she Kiyone had, which amounted to only the small travel bag. "Is this all you brought, Kiyone?" Mihoshi asked confused. "I thought you were going to stay for at least a few weeks?" Somehow, Mihoshi managed to look slightly hurt at the implied time Kiyone's visit could take. She had been really looking forward to catching up on old times with her friend. There was so much that had happened to her since they had last been partners, and Kiyone was presumed dead. If she was only going to stay for a few days how could they catch up on everything? Kiyone smiled and was about to answer, but before she could, a curious Washu walked over and examined the bag. "Hmm, interesting. There's a small subspace pocket woven into this bag. Kiyone," Washu switched her scrutinizing glance over to where Kiyone was helping Tenchi dust himself off , unaware of the jealous stares given by Ayeka and Ryoko. "Hmmm?" Kiyone looked up when her name was called and found the diminutive scientist staring directly at her. "You said you were Galaxy Police, did you not?" Washu added, still looking at Kiyone expectantly. Kiyone thought for a moment, deciding in an instant exactly how much to say at this time. "I don't recall mentioning it, but I'm sure Mihoshi told you something about that, so yes." Kiyone answered truthfully. It was hopefully the best way to steer clear of answering any difficult questions that she did not want to answer at this time. "So, you graduated top in your class at the Police Academy, then, did you?" Washu asked, top Kiyone's surprise. "Yes, I did. I was actually number one in my class." Kiyone added matter of factly. "I how did you know that they give bags such as these to the top graduates?" The two were interrupted by a happy laugh from Mihoshi as the familiarity of the bag clicked in her mind. "Oh, now I recognize this bag!" Mihoshi cried happily. "You got yours dyed blue, because it was your favorite color, isn't it Kiyone? I have one just like this upstairs, so no wonder I didn't recognize it, because mine is more of a beige in color." Washu stared at the Rambling blonde for a few seconds, then returned her gaze to Kiyone and asked quietly. "You mean she graduated top of her class as well?" Washu pointed over to where the blonde detective was still rambling about the colors beige versus blue and how they were both Mihoshi's and Kiyone's favorite colors respectively. Kiyone smiled and nodded. "Mmhmm, third in the same class as mine. Kind of hard to believe, isn't it?" Kiyone added, whispering into Washu's ear. Washu blinked several times, considering everything that Mihoshi had done while living under the Masaki roof. "Actually, no." Washu added a few seconds later. "You haven't seen what she's like here. Sometimes, I'd be really willing to believe that." Kiyone stared down at Washu for a second, questioningly. The pink haired scientist just threw a really big grin. "She's some kind of genius, I swear." Washu added, just as Mihoshi was beginning to wind down her comparison between beige and blue. "Well, now that everyone has met," Katsuhito interrupted suddenly Making Kiyone and Washu jump. "Shall we get back to finishing lunch?" Sasami smiled and began to run towards the house yelling over her shoulder that she had a place set for Kiyone already, but the rest of the family should hurry or their lunch would get cold. As the makeshift family began to drift back towards the house, Kiyone singled Tenchi out and matched his walking pace for a second. "Please excuse my sudden appearance Tenchi, I also want to thank you again for welcoming me into your family's house like this." Tenchi smiled warmly. "It was no problem, Kiyone. After all, your appearance was somewhat normal. It was a nice change." Kiyone stopped for a second to consider what the earthling boy just said as Tenchi continued to walk towards the house, Ryoko and Ayeka each pointedly taking opposite sides of him. Finally, however, she gave up and allowed herself to be dragged inside the house by Mihoshi. This trip, she had a feeling, was going to be very interesting. * * * The wide expanse of the Grand Temple filled UrchoĦd's vision as he approached the ancient structure. According to legend, this temple was built within the first few years after a strange woman appeared. This strange woman, who would soon become the Patron Saint of all Cepheus had given the current ruler powers beyond all imagination, and in return, the king declared her a saint and immediately began making plans for this temple in her honor. Carved out of solid rock as it was, the Grand temple was a sight that awed even the most skeptical of people. There were even rumors that divine power went into its building. Looking upon the sunken face of the temple, UrchoĦd was willing to believe the rumors. While the mountain itself was of just plain sandstone, the Temple fa‡ade seemed to glow with an ethereal light of its own, often giving it the appearance of gold. The temple face was itself simplistically carved, reflecting the architectural style that was popular centuries ago. It was decorated with very few statues, most added during the centuries after the temple had been built. All of the plain sandstone statues depicted the various religious heroes that had performed feats that could only be described as divine miracles, each glowing with a light of their own. Besides the statues, only the huge gilded doors and a few windows gave the Temple's appearance away. The doors themselves being huge monstrosities carved from several hundred individual trees. Since wood was also a scarcity at the time the temple was built, they reflected the high esteem in which the patron saint was held almost more than the gilded gold that was worked into the doorframe. UrchoĦd brushed a lock of his jet black hair from his eyes and looked up, just as he reached the entrance way. The height from this angle was almost dizzying, in fact as a flock of birds flew by, only halfway up the temple fa‡ade, UrchoĦd could feel himself beginning to become a bit sick in the stomach. UrchoĦd shook his head violently, sending his hair flying in different directions. It wasn't the time to act like an awestruck child. He had been summoned to appear before the high priest of the Order; it was a gift not bestowed upon anybody for centuries, and one that he did not intend to take lightly. Resolving himself, and his fate, UrchoĦd pounded on the doors with his fist in the customary three times then stood back to wait. While waiting, the young warrior thought back to the events that led him to this place. He had been born into his station of a warrior, trained and brought up in the martial ways of his people, yet there always seemed to be something different about him, when compared to the rest of his race. First of all, his appearance was sometimes regarded as highly unusual, if not uncommon. His straight, lengthy black hair was a trademark of his people, though, as was his slim wiry frame. Cepheans had always been a contradictive race, appearing perhaps a bit weak because of their common tendency to be very thin. However, underneath their light complexioned skin was hidden a skeleton of remarkable constitution. It was very rare when a Cephean would break a bone, and when they did, the forces involved were just short of super human. Over the flexible skeleton was a complex network of muscle that was designed to be as thin a profile as possible yet still give maximum output. Designed was also the correct word to use as well, because a few decades ago Cephean scientists mastered the art of Genetic engineering, resulting in a species that was tough, fast and very smart. What set UrchoĦd Dorchacht apart from the rest of his people was the color of his eyes. They were a strong golden yellow, a trait which appeared in his race only once or twice every few generations. When this trait appeared, the person often lived to become one of the few that served the Patron Goddess personally. Because of this, UrchoĦd had been given the best in everything. He had received training from his people's highest masters, was given the best education that his people could give. So when the summons came, addressed from the High Priest himself, it came as no surprise to him or his friends. Now, standing at the very foot of the gigantic doors waiting for them to open, UrchoĦd was experiencing his first doubts about the whole thing. Slowly, a creaking noise brought UrchoĦd from his ruminations and he looked down curiously. The huge doors began to slowly part, groaning with age every centimeter they spread. It took all of five minutes to create a space in which a man could walk through, during which UrchoĦd could just barely make out the appearing figure before him. Once the doors were open to the extent that the warrior could walk through comfortably, they stopped. UrchoĦd was then face to face with a slight robed figure. The first impression that was given about this new person was the age of the man. He must have been over two centuries old to look the way he did! Considering that Cepheans rarely lived beyond one and half centuries, this man must be the High Priest that had sent for him. Though, for the life of him, UrchoĦd could not imagine why the ancient figure answered the door himself rather than send an Acolyte to do this. Slowly, UrchoĦd dropped to one knee, determined to show respect to his elder and the only man in their society who could reverse a king's decree. His respect was rewarded by a raspy chuckle and a light hand that came to a rest upon his shoulder. "Rise, young UrchoĦd Dorchacht, I thank you for answering the summons so quickly. It gives me great pleasure to stand before you today." The old man said, voice barely projecting a volume greater than that of a whisper. UrchoĦd slowly rose and took a second closer look at the man before him. The High Priest of Cepheus was a man born into his station. The instant that the former priest died, the Acolytes would begin searching for the new one. To this day, no one outside of the temple knew how the Acolytes could tell, but always without fail they choose a successor who brought the word of the Lady to the people. UrchoĦd was willing to guess that within the next decade, the Acolytes would once again be sent out to search for a new High Priest, as he looked over the profile of the man before him. The priest's hair went snow white decades ago, and began thinning even longer before that. Still, despite the extreme old age, the old man still presented a strong profile that wasn't hunched at all, like some older people tended to do. The strong blue eyes reflected a kind gentleness that forced anybody to instinctively like the man, and his face was etched with the lines of the hundreds of smiles the priest had worn over his lifetime. Still, despite the kindness, there was something very subtle about the priest, something that lay hidden underneath that kind smile and gentle eyes. While UrchoĦd could not place it directly, he could practically feel the power radiating out from the soul before him, and the strength of this power unnerved the young warrior right down to his core. A man with this much power was not someone to be trifled with, fortunately though, he was a priest and by that nature, was not inclined to starting fights. Still it was something that UrchoĦd, for all his instincts, was wary about. "I live to serve my Lady's will." UrchoĦd answered simply to the priest's greeting, choosing to say as little as possible yet still remain highly respectful towards the great man in front of him. "Hmm, yes, I'm sure you do." The High Priest mumbled over a slow lazy smile. This UrchoĦd was certainly an interesting person, he was very glad that the Lady's choice was such a good one. Instantly upon meeting him, the priest could tell that the young warrior was a man of great character and integrity. He had already heard of the exploits this young man had gone on and the impressive service record he carried with him, yes UrchoĦd did appear to be everything his Lady was looking for. "Well then, enough of just standing here in the heat. Shall we begin?" The priest's smile widened as he side stepped and invited UrchoĦd to enter into the darkened temple beyond him. It took several moments for UrchoĦd's eyes to adjust to the dimly lit interior of the temple. Electricity was forbidden the Acolytes; as such, the cavernous interior was lit only by the light of huge torches. The young man stood, fascinated by the design of one such torch immediately to his left, it was a huge metal tripod with a disk of the same material placed on the three legs. He could imagine that a large pool of oil lay within the cauldron of the disk to fuel the smokeless fire. The High Priest let him explore the immediate interior for several minutes and watched with a bemused expression as UrchoĦd's eyes roamed the wide expanse of the interior temple. "This interior hasn't changed in the millenium since it was built," he told the wide eyed warrior and then began to walk off down the torch lit corridor. UrchoĦd followed the swiftly moving priest as best her could, amazed at the pace the old man could set forth. They past huge alcoves that were not lit by torches, but instead let the sunlight of the two Cephean suns cast an eerie column of light upon the occasional statue that was set within the alcove. Everywhere UrchoĦd looked he could see stone columns of magnificent height, beautiful alcoves with detailed statues that rivaled the finest art he had ever seen, and every once in a while he would catch a glimpse of a beautiful central garden when they passed by a glazed window. "Please, Mh˘rgacht, tell me how is it possible to have a central garden in a temple carved directly from stone?" UrchoĦd addressed the man in front of him by the most respectful title he knew, hoping beyond hope that he would stop and share with him some of the temple's secrets. He imagined that some had not been seen by an outsider in countless years. The High Priest stopped suddenly and turned to face his follower. In the dim light, UrchoĦd could see a slight smile etched upon his lips. "Please, young one, do not refer to me in that manner. I have not yet earned that much respect." "Then what do you prefer to be referred to," UrchoĦd asked, wondering why the priest felt that he had not earned the right to be given the title of Mh˘rgacht. The priest smiled and turned suddenly, resuming his swift pace down the hallway. "If you must refer me as anything, call me Father Sagart, for you are now one of my children, and Sagart is the name that was given me by my parents." "Then please, Father Sagart, could you answer my question?" UrchoĦd asked, once again catching up to the swiftly moving priest. "All in good time, young one, all in good time." Sagart answered back then remained silent for the rest of the trip. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of walking down dimly lit corridors and passing numerous doors, all of which were closed and locked, Sagart stopped before a plain wooden entrance way guarded by two statues depicting the two most holy knights in Cephean history on either side. UrchoĦd reverently gazed upon the features of the intricate statues. These two were the first of the knights to joining the holy order serving the Lady. They established the routines and practices that were still alive and taught today. The brothers also formed the basis of all martial knowledge that had been trained into UrchoĦd since he could walk; but most importantly, they were the first to ever to appear with the golden yellow eyes, and the only twins in history to do so. To UrchoĦd, Sprid and Neart were gods among Cepheans and to see them sculpted into statues that looked as though they were made yesterday was like a small miracle in itself, for only one statue of Sprid had ever been found intact and none of Neart were ever recovered. "They are your ancestors, you know," Sagart added conspirationally. "Where else could you have gotten those eyes of yours?" Somehow, that these two were his ancestors left a pit in UrchoĦds stomach. How in the world could he ever live up to their greatness? "You'll never have to, young UrchoĦd," Sagart told him, as if reading his mind from the scared expression on the young man's face. "Now I have someone here who has been waiting a long time to meet you. You really shouldn't keep her waiting either." With his final sentence, Sagart opened the small door in front of the pair and indicated that UrchoĦd should enter. Once the young man followed the priest's directions the door closed gently but firmly and enclosed the warrior in complete darkness. There was no light emanating from the room in which UrchoĦd now stood, save for a slight bluish purple glow that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. All the young man could see was darkness before him and darkness behind him, in fact he would have been willing to believe that he was not even in a room anymore were it not for the fact that he could still feel the solid ground beneath his feet. "Welcome, my young warrior. I've been waiting some time for this moment to come." UrchoĦd jumped as the voice penetrated the darkness. It was decidedly feminine, with a sweet undercurrent to it that made the voice very pleasant, almost musical to listen to. "Wh-where are you, who are you?" UrchoĦd stuttered over the first few words, nervous that he could not see anything and that there was obviously someone else in the room with him. The voice laughed richly, and UrchoĦd forgot his nervousness in an instant. Such laughter was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. "I forget that your kind and others like you do not like disembodied voices." The voice added a second after the laughter died. A few more seconds later, UrchoĦd could make out a ghostly figure approaching him. The closer it got, the more substance was added and the more defined the woman became. When she was about three meters from UrchoĦd, his eyes widened in recognition and he dropped to one knee immediately keeping his eyes glued to the floor. "Please excuse my rash behavior, my lady, I could not know it was you who was in this room!" Inwardly, UrchoĦd was cursing his dense behavior, who else would be in a room such as this? "Rise, young UrchoĦd. I did not mean to frighten you." Lady Tokimi approached the kneeled warrior and gently lifted his head so that his eyes were forced to meet with hers. UrchoĦd was instantly entranced. Why didn't any of the history books or priests talk about the lovely eyes in which their lady was gifted with? They were the color of the most beautiful amethyst he had ever seen. Lady Tokimi smiled at the entranced expression her young warrior wore. The young man was not without his good qualities either. Looking deeper into his soul, she also knew in an instant why Sagart liked him so much. "Tell me young UrchoĦd, do you know why you were summoned to this place?" Tokimi asked, once the boy had risen. "To serve you, my lady, to the best of my abilities." UrchoĦd answered immediately. "Yes, to serve me." Tokimi agreed. "But to serve me in a way that has never been done before, a way that only you, UrchoĦd Dorchacht could do." "I'm afraid I don't understand, Lady." UrchoĦd said, trying to follow everything the goddess said and still keep those lovely eyes of hers within his vision. "You will understand in good time," Tokimi smiled, echoing the same statement that Sagart had said earlier. "For now, all I need to know is one thing, my warrior. Will you serve me faithfully and to the best of your ability until the day you die?" "From now until all eternity," UrchoĦd answered unshakably, and once again kneeled before his patron goddess, now his master. Lady Tokimi laughed once again, a rich laughter that left UrchoĦd's heart singing. "Then so it begins, my young friend." Then darkness surrounded them both. End Author's endnotes: Wow, this second draft just kept getting bigger and bigger! Sorry this took so long to get out, but I really didn't like the first draft so I had to a lot of re-writing with this one. As this is draft 2, (yes, that means my pre-readers have submitted the mistakes I just haven't added them yet ) there are going to a few errors in there somewhere, but I couldn't wait to see what kindof reaction it would get here. Have fun!