Some of you may be wondering why this story didn't wind up in the Crossovers section because of the presence of Tanell, our little friend from *The Dragonriders of Pern.* I considered this, but decided against it for a number of reasons. First of all, Tanell is not, in the terms of *The Dragonriders of Pern,* a true fire-dragonet. First, she is more intelligent and has telepathic powers. Second, she has fur. Third, no fire-dragonet named Tanell exists in the Pern universe, so it's not technically a crossover. Karasu is my own creation and does not exist in any series, anime or otherwise, except those owned by me. She *totally* kicks ass, as you will see in the following story. The Tenchi gang belong to AIC/Pioneer, LCD and are not my property. Let the OAV continuance continue! Tenchi Muyo: Manifest Destiny! Episode 3: The Prophecy Karasu sat up straight and closed her giant book. "Finally!" she shouted to Washu. "It took me a month, but I've finally managed to get Tsunami to relay all the experiences of this group from the exact moment Tenchi freed Ryoko from the sacred cave." "Good for you," Washu said. "So you're finally up to date?" "More or less. Tsunami still has to give me some of her personal notes on the situation and the mythological background of Jurai, however." Karasu grinned. "Fortunately, that'll take a few days, so I can get started with my next major project--jury-rigging Noboyuki's TV so it can get the Purely For Priestesses channel!" "Oh, Purely For Priestesses! I've heard about that channel!" Washu exclaimed. "It's one of the nine channels that the Tokimi- worshiping communities have set up for the magically gifted. I can't WAIT until it's up! I've wanted to see that new human-oriented show, *The Dolphinettes,* for so long!" "Yes, I know. I haven't seen it yet--I was gone before it started up, it's a relatively new show--but anything that involves dolphins is okay in my Book! Well, unless you're killing them. But you get my point." "Yeah, no kidding. Noboyuki was really pissed when I told him I wouldn't eat dolphin meat. He loves it, you know. But, a couple weeks of gentle persuasion, and he was ready to comply!" "Uck. *Eating* dolphins? That's like Soylent Green! If that doesn't prove Noboyuki was a mayfly or something in a past life, I don't know what does." "So, any new thoughts on how to reach Tokimi--oops, I mean, Isis?" Washu asked. "I'm stuck. You're stuck. Tsunami's stuck. We're all stuck. I can't get the thought out of my head that Ayeka is the key somehow, though." Karasu rested her hand casually on one of Washu's instruments. "And it doesn't bother me if you call her Tokimi, you know. She's still the same entity." A strange rumbling distracted Karasu. She looked down at the instrument her hand was resting on. It was glowing bright red. As she took her hand off it, it exploded, causing a chain reaction of noisy and colorful explosions across Washu's work station. "Oh my-- What did you-- You're as bad as Mihoshi!" Washu exclaimed as she tried frantically to repair her instruments. "Wait a second. You *are* like Mihoshi. There's something about the two of you that's similar. I . . . can't put my finger on it, but . . ." Karasu sighed. "She is of my species. Or would be, if her true self had not been buried." "You're sure?" "I've smelled her scent many times. I was doubtful, too. But there is no denying it. Mihoshi's original personality was buried under her current one. That may be why she acts as she does--she's unconsciously trying to hide behind her false persona." "This situation just gets more and more complex, doesn't it?" Washu asked rhetorically. She was still trying to recover what she could of her instruments. When Karasu moved forward to help, Washu roared at her, "Don't touch ANYTHING!" "Miz Washu?" Ayeka appeared through the door that led into Washu's lab. "Karasu! I had no idea you spent so much time with Miz Washu! Uh, why?" "Our interests coincide," Karasu said laconically. "What did you want us for?" "Breakfast is ready. Sasami sent me to get you." "Ahh! Good. I'll come up with you. Washu, I think, needs a few minutes." As they walked to the kitchen, Karasu observed, "Ayeka, you look as white as a sheet. Is anything the matter?" "No," said Ayeka slowly, ". . . no, I just have a slight headache. Oh! I've forgotten. Here is your ointment back." She handed the jar back to Karasu. "Oh, good," Karasu. "I'm relieved to see you didn't use it after the scars disappeared. You use that stuff for too long and it begins to burn your skin." "WHAT! Why didn't you mention that?" Ayeka demanded. Karasu chuckled. "C'mon, Ayeka, lighten up. I was just kidding! Thanks for returning the ointment, anyway." She paused. "And if anything's the matter . . . you *can* confide in me, you know. I may look like a primitive Earthling, but I've lived for a very long time and learned things about the humanoid psyche that no human . . . no *other* human knows about." At Ayeka's doubtful look, Karasu said, "Consider it, okay? It's about time you got off your pedestal and realize you have base feelings just like everyone else. It's nothing to be ashamed of. My door is always open, y'hear?" Karasu sauntered into the kitchen. Ayeka stared after her. "She won't understand," Ayeka thought. "How can she understand it when I don't even understand it myself? Yet . . . I do trust her. She might be a good person to ask advice about Earthling romance." At breakfast that day, Tenchi's attention was all on Ayeka. She was looking very pale, and was not eating very much. He urged her to eat more, giving her the choicest pieces of his own plate. Ayeka ate them wordlessly. Tenchi was really getting worried, and so was Sasami. However, they were worried for different reasons. Tenchi was worried because he thought Ayeka was depressed about not returning to Planet Jurai. Sasami was worried for a different reason, a reason she could not place. The words "Tokimi, Tokimi, my sister, my sister" repeated themselves through her thoughts. But they were not *her* thoughts. But she knew the voice was worried, and therefore so should she. "Arrgh! I can't believe Chief Uchu told me he had no information regarding the message the Marshal sent me! He said I have to stay here for a year as penance for going AWOL! I'm stuck on this primitive mudball!" That was Kiyone, the newest and hopefully last of the women at the Masaki household. Like Karasu, she held no romantic feelings for him in his heart. At least, no major ones. Occasionally Kiyone would get flustered if Tenchi paid too much attention to her, but that was as far as it went, to Tenchi's great relief. Her heart had already been given to Tenchi's grandfather. So Tenchi knew she was not really mad about having to stay on Earth. Noboyuki cleared his throat, beckoning silence. "You girls have been staying on this planet for a long time, haven't you?" Silence surrounded him, except for a quiet snicker from Karasu. Even Washu was silent. Tenchi was beginning to wonder if having his father introducing this plan was really a good idea. Noboyuki stared at the seven females staring at him. "Heh! Well, since Tenchi has to go to the Japanese Museum of Natural History for a summer assignment, I thought you would like to go with him! There's a great deal of Earth's history you don't know about, you know." Tenchi glared at his father. He had wanted to go with just Ayeka and Sasami, to help cheer them up and maybe make them feel better about staying on Earth. Ayeka especially. She looked horrible. Now his father had spoiled everything. "Last time I go to you for help," he thought. Karasu was the first to speak up. "Well, I'm an Earthling myself, but I've always been interested in the subject of history, so I, at least, will go." "I want to go too!" announced Sasami. "I want to see the Egyptian god show! They're having the one where Isis and Nephthys resurrected Osiris!" "Meow!" Ryo'oki added in assent. "Yeah, I'm interested in that too," Washu said. "Gods have always been a special interest of mine!" "If Sasami and Tenchi are going, I suppose I will go too," Ayeka said. "I must say, the prospect of learning Earth's history does interest me." Ryoko said, "Fine. You all go see the Egyptian god show and Tenchi and I will see those big demons that used to roam the Earth, like in that movie *Mesozoic Park!* That'll be will be far more interesting than some stupid show, won't it, Tenchi?" "We--*they're* called dinosaurs, not demons, Ryoko," Karasu said in a long-suffering tone. "And the report I have to write is on ancient Egypt, so I'll be seeing the show too, Ryoko," Tenchi added. "Fine. You go see the damn show! See if I care!" snapped Ryoko. Karasu chuckled. "I want to go too!" Mihoshi announced. "Why? What do you have an interest in, the children's section?" Kiyone asked sarcastically. "Well, Karasu's going, so I'm going too," Mihoshi explained. "What about you, Kiyone?" asked Yosho. "I have to go myself--I don't trust this mix alone. Besides, there's an exhibit on Shintoism that I want to see." Kiyone blushed scarlet. "Well, I guess as long as I'm stuck on this planet, it wouldn't hurt for me to see some of its culture." Noboyuki smiled. "Well, I'm glad that's all settled. I'll just get my car keys and--," "You are not going, Noboyuki," said Yosho. "There isn't enough room in the car. Karasu will drive us." "What?" Noboyuki asked, stunned. As they all entered the museum, Karasu and Washu separated from the crowd. "I forgot to ask you something, Karasu. Did you make any headway on that half-finished prophecy Tsunami showed you?" Karasu shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not. Tsunami said it was the last piece of information Tokimi relayed to her before she was . . . lost, and she wasn't able to complete it. It happened *that* fast." "Tokimi wasn't able to tell you what it means, either?" "Most of her essence is trapped either under someone's control or lost beyond our reach. She can't handle much more than improving on new spells." Washu sighed. "Oh, well. Worth a shot." "Hey, you two! Do you want to see the Egyptian show? Everyone else is going." Yosho's voice, despite his age, rang out high above the buzz of the crowd. "Yeah, we wanna see it!" Karasu shouted back. "Surprising that Ryoko is going," Washu observed. "Not really. She probably just wants to impress Tenchi." "What surprises me even more, Karasu, is that *you're* going. You're just going to point out what the designers got wrong." "What other reason is there?" Karasu asked Washu smugly. "C'mon, you guys! There's a show starting right now!" That was Tenchi's voice. Washu and Karasu grinned at each other, and ran to catch up with everyone else. After the show, while Yosho went to talk with some other priests about the Shinto exhibit, everyone else went to see the Egyptian section. Everyone had been extremely interested in the story, and Tenchi had to do some more research for his paper, anyway. Kiyone had been hesitant about leaving Yosho, but the thought of the damage Mihoshi could do with a room full of ancient Egyptian artifacts finally decided her. When they saw it, everyone seemed drawn to a specific god or goddess. Sasami's was Nephthys, the goddess of death. Kiyone's was Maat, the goddess of truth. Ryoko's was Sekhmet, the goddess of rage. Washu hung around Bastet's, the goddess of joy, exhibit. Ayeka seemed attracted to both Isis and Hathor, which the information section informed her were actually the same goddess. They ruled life and love. Tenchi kept straying back to the sections of Osiris and Horus, which was where Ayeka and Sasami were. He noticed with relief that Ayeka was looking a little less pale than she had been in the morning, and her movements were surer. He stepped up to Ayeka. "Are you feeling better, Miss Ayeka?" he asked her tentatively. "My headache is less than it was," Ayeka answered. "It's strange . . . the moment I entered this room, full of objects of ancient worship, I felt much better." "Good! I'm glad!" Tenchi said. He felt his cheeks go uncomfortably hot. "This amulet, the *tyet* amulet," Ayeka said, pointing at an amulet in the shape of a circle with a horizontal bar, not dissimilar to the bows that Ayeka wore on the back of her dresses, sticking out of the bottom, "doesn't it look similar to the necklace Karasu wears?" "Well, she did say she was a priestess of Isis," Tenchi said. "Maybe she wears it to feel close to her." "Lord Tenchi, I really liked the show earlier today," Ayeka said. "On Jurai we do not believe in gods. I remember . . . in my grandfather's time they used to revere a goddess called . . . Tokimi, I think, and many others as well, but my father declared that blasphemy. He said the closest things in the universe to gods were the Jurai trees. So it is of great interest to me to see how people worship beings they believe hold their destinies in their hands." "I--I'm glad you're enjoying it," Tenchi said, uncomfortably aware that his blush was spreading. Ryoko materialized abruptly through the wall. "Tenchi!" she cried, wrapping herself around him. "You must be so bored having to stay with such a little girl like Ayeka! Why don't we go and do something *grownups* can do?" "Ryoko!" yelled Ayeka, but Tenchi was ahead of her. "Ryoko! Get off me!" He hurled her to the floor. "Now go back to whatever you're doing! Can't you see that Miss Ayeka is still sick? We should be trying to be as nice to her as possible." "Ayeka's not sick!" yelled Ryoko angrily, but Sasami interrupted her. "Yes she is, Ryoko! There's something very wrong with her! I don't know what it is, but it's serious!" the little girl yelled, and was echoed by a "Meow!" from Ryo'oki, who was standing beside Sasami in her childform. "Hey. I don't know if you're aware of this, but there's a sign on the wall that says 'Quiet.'" They turned around. Washu was staring at them angrily. Everyone shut up. Washu nodded. "Good." She walked off. Ryoko. "Okay . . . hmm. Now that you mention it, Sasami, Ayeka is looking even paler than usual, so I'll give her a break. *This* time." She disappeared back to the Sekhmet exhibit. "I would like to compare the amulet on the wall to Karasu's necklace. They're even the same color. It says here that they're supposed to be only made out of . . . carnelian, is that it? I would like to see if they are the same." "Sure, I'll get her," Tenchi said. He went out into the outer hall to look for Karasu. When he came back, he was looking very worried. "Karasu isn't here, and neither are Mihoshi or Kiyone. I'm going to go look for them. You'll be all right, won't you, Miss Ayeka?" "Yes, Lord Tenchi. I'll be fine," Ayeka assured Tenchi, and Tenchi ran off to look for the trio of lost women. Karasu spoke to Washu softly. "I'm going to have a look in the back, where they keep all the stuff that hasn't been translated yet. I just might find something there." Washu replied, "Y'know, the chances are pretty slim that a Jurian prophecy found its way onto a papyrus book in ancient Egypt." "Victories have been won on slim chances, Washu." Karasu turned to go. Washu stopped her. "Karasu, wait." "Yes, Washu?" asked Karasu patiently. "What do you think about gods marrying close relatives? Do you think that that would cause genetic defects in future generations?" Without even looking at her face, Karasu knew she was joking, so she responded in kind. "I don't think gods *can* have genetic defects, Washu." "Really? Why not?" "Well, for one thing, they don't have genes." Karasu inserted a bright red knife into the door with a "Do Not Enter" sign on it,-- "the old credit card in the door trick," she murmured to herself--and walked through when it opened, leaving Washu struck speechless. "Karasu? Karasu, where are you going? Wait for me!" Mihoshi caught the door before it closed, and followed the sorceress. "Mihoshi, don't go in there--" Kiyone rushed through the door before it closed. Washu sighed. "Well, that's how it goes." She turned back to studying the exhibit of Bastet. A falselight illuminating the dark room around her, Karasu looked through ream after ream of papyrus paper. She found nothing. But there was still plenty of stuff to go through. Karasu sighed. A Priestess's job was never easy. She was reaching for a new stack when she smelled the scent of spaceship fuel and Galaxy Police-style bullets, and many more than Mihoshi and Kiyone would be carrying. She ducked under a table full of ancient artifacts, quickly turning herself invisible just for completeness. She slowly stood up. Now that she was invisible, light waves passing through her rather than reflecting off her, she didn't even have a shadow, so she was safe. Then she saw a jar that caught her interest. It was dated Middle Kingdom Egypt and had an interesting hieroglyphic pattern carved on it. She looked at it and mentally read. "Why, I believe this is it! It even mentions the Light Falcon Wings!" Then she heard voices threatening Kiyone and Mihoshi. Mihoshi had just walked through the door when she was accosted by the Galaxy Police. "Oh . . . what are you doing here? Don't you know I've got everything under control here?" "That is no concern of ours, Detective First Class Mihoshi," answered a voice. "We are the Special Corps of the Marshal and our orders are to escort you back to your grandfather." "Oh . . . didn't Kiyone tell him? I want to be here! It's just the perfect place to be and it's so picturesque, don't you think?" Mihoshi smiled weakly. "Please put your guns down!" The speaker stepped forward. It was a tall man with his eyebrows separated into two separate parts. That detail seemed oddly sinister to Mihoshi, but she couldn't place why. "Your wishes are not an issue, Detective First Class Mihoshi. Our orders are to escort you back to your grandfather." "Mihoshi, what's going on? Ahh!" Kiyone crashed into Mihoshi, who was still standing at the door. Mihoshi fell down the stairs. "Ah, sub-Chief Kiyone. Honestly, never send a woman to do a man's job!" "What are you talking about!" demanded Kiyone. "The Marshal sent you to fetch Mihoshi back. He is *most* desirous to see his granddaughter again. The man looked up. "And I see that the space pirate Ryoko is present as well. This will make a double gift for Kyoshin!" "You can't tell Mihoshi how to live her own life! She might not be the sharpest thorn in the rosebush, but her decisions are her own and no one else's!" Kiyone reflexively pulled her gun on the man . . . only to be staring down the barrel of several dozen others. "Oh boy . . ." she whispered. The man fumed. "Sub-Chief Kiyone! Do you have any idea how close you came to losing your promotion??! But now you have lost everything. Drawing weaponry on a member of the Special Corps is punishable by death. Men, fire!" Shuddering, Kiyone braced herself to face whatever lay in the afterlife. She was surprised when nothing happened. She opened her eyes to a group of very confused Special Corpsmen. "My trigger's stuck! Mine too! So is mine!" were the typical comments from the men." Under the table, Karasu snickered. "Heh, heh. You can't fire at Kiyone if your guns don't work . . . Well, I guess it's time for me to take care of these wannabe Tokimi-worshippers." Quickly storing the jar in the astral plane, Karasu dropped her invisibility spell and jumped up and over to the distracted Special Corpsmen. Kiyone couldn't believe what was happening. Now the Special Corpsmen were being attacked by a creature that moved almost too fast for her to see. She looked down at Mihoshi. She lay unconscious on the floor. It wasn't her. But if it wasn't Mihoshi, who was it? Kiyone winced as she heard the cracking of bone. Whoever it was must be very strong. The man who had threatened Kiyone trained his gun at the quickly moving figure, but his gun still wouldn't fire. Kiyone knew what she had to do. She reached for her gun. She raised it and fired at the double-eyebrow man. It hit him full in the chest. He was dead before he hit the floor. The moving figure stopped and jumped lithely down to the floor. Kiyone was amazed. It was Karasu! Karasu grinned at Kiyone. "Do I kick ass or what?" she asked her cockily. Then she cocked her head as if listening, and sampled the air with a sniff. "Reinforcements. A lot more of them. Too many for me to handle alone." Tenchi walked through the door. "Karasu, there you are. Miss Ayeka and I want to have a look at your--" Then he saw the mass of unconscious and dead bodies surrounding Karasu. "What's going on?" he asked. "No time to explain now," Karasu said. "All you need to know is that these are the bad guys, and there's more on the way. Do you have Tenchi-ken with you?" She paused and looked at the man Kiyone had shot. "Interesting. I've seen that eyebrow-mark somewhere before . . ." "Yeah, I carry it around with me all the time since the battle with Dr. Clay," said Tenchi. "Why?" "Look," said Karasu simply. At least fifty members of the Special Corps were storming the back house of the museum. Tenchi sighed. "I guess this is inevitable," he said in a resigned tone, and drew Tenchi-ken. A long blue saber emerged from its hilt. Karasu looked amused. "If George Lucas ever sees that, he'll sue the pants off you," she said, barely holding in laughter. "Can I do anything?" asked Kiyone. "Yeah," said Karasu. "Make sure Ryoko doesn't get in here! Mihoshi is Kyoshin's daughter, so they will at least treat her with courtesy. Ryoko won't even get so much as a warning before they tie her up and deliver her to Kyoshin as a gift." Kiyone nodded, and stood guard at the door. Karasu said, "You take the left, I'll take the right." Tenchi nodded in assent. The battle was over quickly. Tenchi noted Karasu's fighting style and was astounded at how she used her whole body to fight with. No wonder she had been able to beat Yosho! She made karate look like thumb- wrestling. He fared not so badly himself. Tenchi-ken cut through the Special Corpsmen like butter. Not a single shot was fired. Tenchi suspected Karasu had performed one of her magic tricks. That was the thing about Karasu. Well, one of them anyway. Even though she possessed true magic, she did not flaunt it about. Instead she used it in inventive and subtle ways. It was finally over. Four or five men were left alive and ran back to the ship. Tenchi started to follow them, but Karasu laid a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "No, Tenchi," she said. "Life is precious. Grant the gift of it whenever you can. It is those for whom killing is life who lose all feeling." Tenchi belatedly remembered his hatred of violence and did not fight Karasu. He noticed a slight sheen of sweat on Karasu's face. So, she was not invincible after all. That made him feel better. Mihoshi slowly came too. "Wha . . . what happened?" she asked. Karasu said to Kiyone, "It's probably better if she doesn't know." She said kindly to Mihoshi, "Don't worry, it was all a bad dream. You fell down these stairs and lost consciousness. That's all." "Oh!" said Mihoshi. "Good!" "C'mon, let's join the others," Tenchi said. After touring the rest of the museum, they met up with Yosho. Karasu insisted that he drive them home, and, strangely, he complied. Tenchi sat in the front with him. Karasu was sandwiched between Washu and Mihoshi, who was asleep. Kiyone was sitting with Ayeka and Ryoko. Ayeka was, she admitted to herself, feeling a little better. Her head did not hurt so much and she did not feel as weak. When she looked up at the night sky, however, it was still filled with color. She wondered if maybe she should go to Karasu after all and ask her some medical advice. Washu said to Karasu, "So that jar has the full prophecy on it, huh?" "Yup," said Karasu. "Want me to read it to you?" "Be my guest!" said Washu. Karasu read, her voice hushed so as not to alert the others. *Horus sleeps, waiting to be awakened. Three goddesses are his suitors. One, forced to love. One, learning to love. One, loving by nature. None are awakened. Horus sees his destiny in brief moments. He must fight to claim it. He must choose the correct suitor. If he chooses the wrong one, there are two possibilities. One, status quo. One, destruction of the Multiverse. Horus must choose the correct suitor. However, he must choose wisely. Many factors will intervene to make him choose wrongly. With two goddesses to balance, A god to guide, And two Avatars to lead, He must change the universe and free the gods. He must choose the correct suitor. He must free the goddess in chains. He must put an end to the false cult. He must awaken the lost one to his cause. The Light Falcon Wings will be his weapon. The Light Kite Wings will be his defense. If he succeeds in all these things, life will flourish. If he does not, it will be extinguished.* In the driver's seat, Yosho considered all that. Funaho was right. Tenchi had more than he could manage.