"Tenchi Muyo!' and all characters herein are the property of Pioneer and AIC, save those created by the author. This is a fanfic, and is not for profit. Tenchi Muyo! Odyssey Chapter Six: Avalanche by William Nichols "Now that's peculiar," stated Washu. She had been replaying the telemetry from the moment before the quantum storm disappeared. One second it was about to engulf the planet and bombard it with lethal radiation and plasma storms, the next it was gone. Vanished. It defied the laws of physics, and thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics. Every scientific law and principle had been twisted or broken. Washu leaned back into her chair and ponder the situation. 'It had to have been their doing,' she concluded. As much as she hated the Elder, she knew that they would let no harm befall the champion, unless they deemed it part of the odyssey. She had to trust in Tenchi and Ayeka to do their part. Then she could do hers. Washu pulled up some archaic files from her database. It had been twenty thousand years since she had looked over some of this and her ancient Juraian was a little rusty. But she had a little time to practice before Kiyone and Mihoshi made it back. As she read Washu made a mental note to call up an old pupil who had recently moved to Tokyo. She was going to need all the help she could get. *** A cloaked figure walked down the Hall of the Ancients in the temple of the elder. The scarlet path was adorned with gold and ivory statues of champions past. The walls were covered with frescoes and tapestries illustrating their great deeds. Towards the Shrine of the Elder an empty spot stood bathed in light. Baltus knew this was the spot awaiting the statue of young Tenchi. His statue would be grand indeed, as would be his accomplishments. That is if he survived the odyssey and was judged worthy. Baltus bowed his head and uttered a quick prayer before he reached up and grasped the large lion headed knocker. The clang echoed through out the hall. Silently the door opened and he entered the shrine. "What is your report Baltus," boomed the cacophony of the Elder. Baltus took a knee before the imposing forms of his masters and lowered his eyes. "The boy has reached the second sanctuary, Milord's," he reported. "And of Marnot?" "He is guiding them as ordained, Milord's." "Very well then. Report back to us when and if he completes the second challenge," they ordered. "If he completes the second challenge?" asked an incredulous Marnot. "That is our command Baltus. Now go." Without further question Baltus rose and faded out of sight leaving the Elder to themselves. "Now the boy will be proven," one said. "This shall be most interesting," came another. "I have faith in this one," claimed the third. "Quiet!" boomed the fourth. "Watch and we shall see." Silently the Elder turned their gazes to the events unfolding below them. *** It took Tenchi's eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness of the sanctuary. When they did he found they were in a small antechamber of sorts. The walls were rough-hewn and bore the scars of nameless craftsmen from ages past. "I saw some flash lights in the bag," he said to Ayeka as he marveled at the small chamber. There was something about it that looked familiar to him. "Here Lord Tenchi," said Ayeka as she handed Tenchi a palm light. Tenchi cradled the light and adjusted the strap across the back of his hand. He clicked the light on with his thumb and cast a beam around the chamber. "Oh my," he whispered as he got a better view of the chamber. "What is it lord Tenchi?" asked Ayeka. "This is just like the cave at the shrine," he began. "Are you certain?" asked Ayeka. Tenchi walked over to a small stone and touched it with the handle of the master key. Just as he thought it split apart and the wall in front of him opened. "So this is where grandpa got the idea," he said as he cast some light down the sloping corridor. 'Makes sense,' he thought. 'If grandpa had been here before why not use the design for Ryoko's cave.' The white geometric tiles glistened from his palm light. The sight of it made him think back to when he had freed Ryoko. And now she was. "Lord Tenchi," asked Ayeka bringing him back to this reality. "This looks slippery," said Tenchi speaking from experience. "We'd better use a rope." Ayeka nodded and handed Tenchi the backpack. He pulled out another climbing spike and drove it in at the top of the slope. To it he clipped a tether and tossed the remainder down the corridor. It vanished into the darkness below, only giving a barely audible splash to let Tenchi know it had reached the bottom. "I'll go first and you follow my lead," said Tenchi as he ran the tether through his climbing belt. "Just keep a sure foot and take it slow. Trust me: its slippery." Ayeka nodded and hooked up her gear. Tenchi backed down thee slope and shined some light down the hall. He could see at least twenty meters below him, but after that it was pitch black. Slowly he found each footing. Ayeka followed behind, being extra careful of her self. The last thing she wanted was a repeat of the incident on the mountainside. Each passing meter was just as the one before it. Tenchi would cast an occasional gaze down the corridor but he never could see the bottom. Just more tiles before they were enveloped in the darkness. "That's cold," said Ayeka as she stepped into the water surrounding each tile. "I know," replied Tenchi. He had done so several times now and his feet were becoming numb. "The bottom should be getting near," he said trying to ease her concerns. "Was that you Tenchi?" asked Ayeka. "What do you mean?" he asked a little confused. "Did you make that noise?" "I didn't say anything," replied Tenchi as he took another step back. Before he could say anything else to Ayeka a popping sound echoed thru the corridor. "What was that?" he asked as the line went limp. "Oh crap," was all he could get out before he began to fall backwards. Tenchi landed on his rear and started to slide down the corridor backwards. He hit the bottom hard only to have a screaming Ayeka land on top of him. "Oh my," said Ayeka as she realized she was on top of Tenchi. All she could do was blush for a moment before the tether spike conked her squarely on the back of the head. "Ouch," she squeaked rubbing the back of her head. "At least we're at the bottom," began Tenchi as he examined the spike. It should have held his and Ayeka's weight easily. Where the tether attached was just fine, as were most of the threads. But about half way down it was snapped. "I take it that should not have happened," said Ayeka as she held a light on the spike. "No it shouldn't have," replied Tenchi. "Some one or something snapped this," he said pointing out an indentation above the break. "Marnot?" asked Ayeka. "I doubt it," answered Tenchi. "He said his job was to guide me, so I doubt he would do something like this. Besides if he had wanted to kill us he could have down it several times over by now." "You have a point," said Ayeka. "We're not alone in here," said Tenchi as he cast some light around him. They were in a large chamber supported by massive stone pillars. Nothing ornate like the one in the sanctuary of the water stone, just huge blocks of granite supporting the ceiling, which was above the reach of his palm light. "What could it be?" asked Ayeka. "No clue," replied Tenchi as he walked around the hall. "Nothing would surprise me at this point." "What do you mean?" "After dealing with Kagato, Kain, space pirates, princesses, gods, and shape shifting guardian spirits there's not too much left out there," joked Tenchi. Ayeka just looked at him with a confused look on her face. Tenchi shot her a quick smile letting her know that he was not serious. As they explored the cavern Ayeka kept finding her thoughts returning to when she had fallen on top of Tenchi. It had been only a short moment but her mouth had been millimeters from his. She was amazed that she restrained the urge to kiss him. She had wanted to oh so badly. Only if that blasted bolt had not of hit her upside the head. "There's something up ahead," called out Tenchi to the lagging princess. A large block blocked the corridor. Tenchi brushed back the cobwebs to reveal the Light Hawk tri-foil and some ancient script. "Let' see how well the orb works," said Tenchi as he held it up to the block. A blue beam spread out from the orb as Tenchi scanned the ancient script. After processing the writing for a second the orb projected a modern translation: To enter the realm of stone bring light to where there is none "Bring light to where there is none?" began Ayeka. "I don't know either," replied Tenchi as he slid down the wall. "We've got to figure this out," he mused. *** "Watcha doing miss Washu?" asked Sasami. Washu jumped and switched off the computer screen. "Just reading up," she said scratching the back of her head trying to look innocent. "I've fixed some soup and Mr. Katsuhito is coming down. Would you like some?" "That sounds good Sasami," said Washu who was sweating bullets by now. "Go on and I'll be there in a minute or two, okay?" "Alright," replied the little princess as she left the lab. After Washu was sure she was gone she nearly collapsed over her computer. "That was too close," she sighed. "All I need is for her to recognize any of this," said Washu as she turned the monitor back on. She saved her progress and closed out the program. *** "How does one bring light?" asked Ayeka rhetorically. "If I knew how I would," snipped Tenchi. Each second he sat there was a second he did not have to save Ryoko, and he was becoming annoyed. "I'm sorry," he quickly apologized. "I understand," she said as she walked over to a corner. "Lord Tenchi," she began, "look at this." Tenchi walked over to her and saw what she had found. A small beam of light was piercing the darkness. "It must be an air shaft," he said. "But the light," pointed out Ayeka. "There must be more like this one all around the hall." "And if there is," started Tenchi as he ran to the other corner. "Here's another!" "And here too!" called Ayeka. In all they found six of the airshafts. "Now how do we bring light?" asked Tenchi. "These are too closed up to let enough thru." "Maybe now," started Ayeka, "but I'm willing to bet the crowned jewels of Jurai that if they weren't they would illuminate this entire room. Tenchi shone his light around again looking for some sort of reflector. A small glint caught his eye on one of the columns. "Look," he began as he cleared the dust and cobwebs away to reveal polished stone. "All of them are like that," said Ayeka as she cleared off another column. "Now how do we bring in the light?' asked Tenchi. "Leave that to me," began Ayeka as she summoned her Jurai power. A glowing ball of energy formed at her fingertips and she unleashed it up the airshafts. *** Outside Marnot had taken the form of a mountain lion and was stalking a large sheep of some sorts. Just as he was about to pounce a large detonation rumbled through the mountains. He turned to see black smoke rising from the direction of the sanctuary. When he turned back to the sheep it was long gone. He howled in fury. "Only that princess would interrupt someone's meal," he growled. With a sigh he returned to the hunt. *** "Nice work," coughed Tenchi as the smoke began to clear out of the room. "It worked," coughed Ayeka, "didn't it?" Once cleared the airshafts let enough light in to catch the polished portions of the columns. The room was illuminated but the antechamber was not. "What now?" she asked. Tenchi walked to the center of the hall and looked around. The polished white rock was reflecting enough light to illuminate the room, but not the block. As he walked towards the center he noticed a spot where all six pillars reflected light. As he stood on that spot he realized he was directly in front of the block. "Ayeka, do have a mirror?" "I should," she began as she sorted thru the backpack. She pulled out a small compact and handed it to Tenchi. "Will this work?" "Hopefully," said Tenchi as he tried to catch the light. He angled the small mirror to where he could reflect the light towards the block. When he positioned the beam on the Light Hawk tri-foil it began to move. "It's working," began Ayeka. After a minute or so the stone had moved completely out of the passageway. "Lets go," said Tenchi as he took the light off of the tri-foil. When he did the block began to slide back into place. "Hurry!" he said grabbing Ayeka's hand. They dove thru the opening with little time to spare. The block slid back into place with a loud cha-chunk. "I think I broke my lamp," said Tenchi as he tried to get it to come on. "Mine works," replied Ayeka as she cast a beam around the room. What she saw terrified her. "Whoa," commented Tenchi as his eyes came into focus. The sides of the room were lined with the cobweb covered remains of would be champions. "I guess they were not worthy," commented Ayeka as she tried to count the skeletons. Tenchi walked silently among the long departed champions. Some wore Juraian armor but many of them were wearing armor he was not familiar with. All of the remains had one thing in common: they had not died a pleasant death. "Could this be a crypt?" asked Ayeka. "No," began Tenchi. "I think it some sort of trophy room or warning." "Tr-tr-tr-trophy room?" stammered Ayeka. Tenchi nodded grimly. In a far corner a fallen champion was wearing what looked like ancient samurai armor. Tenchi walked over to him and motioned for Ayeka to illuminate him. "He was from earth," said Tenchi as he held the long departed warriors rusted blade. He laid it at his feet and said a quick prayer commending his soul to the heavens. As he looked around he saw something scratched on the wall. "This may be a clue," said Ayeka. Tenchi nodded and held the orb up to scan it. "Beware of the gotha," read Tenchi. "What's a 'gotha'?" asked Ayeka. "I don't know but I'd say it is what did this," he said motioning towards the fallen warriors. "And our rope," added Ayeka. "More than likely." "But why did it not kill us then?" "It's probably hunting us," began Tenchi as he clutched the hilt of the master key. "It's not good sport to kill someone when they're down." Ayeka swallowed hard and gripped the backpack's strap a little tighter. *** 'She is up to something,' thought Katsuhito as he ate his soup. Ever since Washu had come to the table she had been acting a little more paranoid than normal. 'I hope she is not doing what I think she is,' he added mentally. "I wonder how Tenchi and Ayeka are doing," sighed Sasami as she looked around at the empty places around the table. Ryo-Ohki nuzzled up against her and purred, trying her best to comfort the little princess. "I know Tenchi will do better than I did," said Katsuhito as he picked a piece of tofu from his soup. "How so?" asked Washu. "His heart is purer than mine was," replied Katsuhito. "I hope you are right," slurped Washu. Katsuhito watched her suspiciously for a moment before he returned to his soup. 'I had better keep an eye on her,' he thought. 'This situation could become even more dangerous and all of our lives could be at stake.' *** The inner sanctums of the sanctuary were just as nondescript as the earlier portions. "Not much for decorating," commented Ayeka as they proceed down a set of stairs. "It's not meant to be pretty," began Tenchi as he looked around. "Just functional." As they entered another chamber a stench nearly overwhelmed them. Piles of bones and half-eaten carcasses littered the floor. The air of death and decay was nearly enough to turn Tenchi's stomach. "My god that's horrible," said Ayeka as she held a hand to her mouth. "This must be something's lair," said Tenchi cautiously. "L-l-lord T-T-T-Tenchi," stammered Ayeka. Tenchi turned to see her trembling. The beam from her palm light was shakily illuminating a rather large clawed foot. A hooked talon tapped the floor. Tenchi looked up just as the creature opened its fire red eyes. "Oh shit," he mumbled. The Odyssey shall continue.