Blood Red Moon: Eternity 
     Chapter 2: Forgotten Demons
 

     Disclaimers: All characters belong to their various 
Copyrights; Reinhart, Rosa, Cain, and Elayne belong to me.  
Alucard, Carrie, Sheann'a, Drathar, and Dracula belong to Konami.
Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Mihoshi, Tsunami, Sasami, Yosho, Nobuyuki,
Washu, Mayuka, Ryo-Ohki, and Nobuyuki all belong to Pioneer/AIC.
Beyond my characters, I claim no rights to any of the characters,
beyond their use in this story. Comments, quips, insults, and death
threats will only be accepted at Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com
     Blood Red Moon: Eternity is set one year after the events
in Blood Red Moon: Resurrection.  Reinhart and Carrie have been 
married, and their daughter Elayne has been born.  Alucard and his
familiars have built a small cabin near the rest of the clan.  
Blood Red Moon: Eternity is the last in a three series story arc.

"Here we belong, fighting to survive in the war with the darkest 
power!" - Queen, Princes of the Universe 

*****

	D3 materialized on the bridge of the Shiboo, his queen's 
command ship.  Nearly four miles long, and two miles wide at its 
thickest point, from outside the hull resembled nothing so much as 
a huge dolphin, slowly swimming through the sea of space.  In fact, 
the analogy was fairly close to the truth, he knew; the original 
designs and methods of propulsion had been based on a sea creature 
much like dolphins that Tokimi had found.
	To his surprise, his queen was not on the bridge.  The 
monolithic ship was a true wonder.  All of its functions were 
controlled by hyper-advanced computers.  Left alone, its artificial 
intelligence could out-fight a modest sized fleet by itself.  Only 
one being was needed to operate it, though it had carried a full 
seven thousand person crew at times.  D3 moved over to one bank of 
computers, and asked it where Lady Tokimi was.
	"Lady Tokimi is in the Garden, D3.  Would you like me to tell 
her that you are here?"
	"That will not be necessary.  I am sure that she already 
knows.  That will be all," he answered, and then turned, walking to 
one of the lifts.  As a gift, she had given him a physical form not 
long before, and he was still relearning its uses.  At times, it 
bothered him to think of its limitations.  His new body was young, 
certainly, and vibrant, but on somedays he wished for his astral 
form.  The lift took him deep into the heart of the ship, where 
Lady Tokimi kept her private gardens.  Reaching the entrance, he 
was careful to remove his soft sandals before going in.
	The garden had ever been a mystery to D3.  It was Tsunami, 
not Tokimi who loved plants so.  His queen had never held any 
interest in botany, her hobbies falling more into war and 
strategies, yet she refused to allow any, even himself and Cain, to 
care for the plants but herself.  She carefully tended the flowers, 
at least one kind from every dimension she had conquered.  Almost 
every color imaginable, from vibrant greens to fiery reds to dark 
lavenders assaulted the eye, and a thousand different scents mixed 
to form a powerful perfume that filled the air.
	It held beauty, he supposed, though he had never noticed such 
in simple plants.  Yet he remembered quite vividly when he 
accidentally crushed one of the delicate blossoms; he had howled in 
pain for an entire year for that simple seeming mistake, and it was 
one that he did not intend to repeat.  His queen's fury was 
unmatched across the multi-verse, and he had already used his one 
chance.  The next time, she would not be as merciful. 
	He found Lady Tokimi with her latest addition; a tall... 
lilac tree, she had called it.  The tiny purple and white blossoms 
looked surprisingly spectacular; it seemed that it had taken hold 
here after all, though when he had brought it to her it had been 
rather sickly seeming.  Oddly enough, she preferred that the less 
healthy plants be brought to her, instead of new, fresh ones; and 
he had to admit, she had a strange talent for bringing them back 
from the edge.  And as far as he could tell, there was little that 
she enjoyed more than carefully nursing a plant back to health.
	After they had captured Jurai, she had found a woman whose 
body had been suitable for joining with, and young enough to 
survive the painful process.  Of course, the woman's life had ended 
when Tokimi's spirit had joined with her body, but what was her 
life compared to Tokimi regaining her physical form?
	His queen sat with her eyes closed, next to the tree.  Her 
skin was only just slightly tanned, and her hazel hair seemed to 
pour down her back, gleaming slightly in the light of the miniature 
artificial sun that nourished the plants.  Her nose and mouth were 
petite; and had a way of making her face seem stern, yet he 
supposed that the inhabitants of this dimension would find her 
pleasing to look at.  Around her neck, and up to her cheeks were 
the green markings that signified her godhood, and on her forehead 
were two small green dots.  He cleared his throat.
	"Yes, D3?" she asked, without opening her eyes.
	"Cain has signaled that he has retrieved the... sword.  He is 
awaiting your orders, my queen."  Tokimi nodded, and, opening her 
eyes, gracefully stood.  The light blue orbs sparkled slightly, as 
Tokimi looked at him.
	"Lilacs are very difficult to grow properly.  Certainly in 
the wild, they flourish, but in a garden, even one such as this, 
they simply refuse to blossom, save under the most careful of 
touch," she said, lightly brushing her fingertips over one bunch of 
blossoms.  "Yet the results of that patience can be most rewarding, 
don't you agree?"  He blinked at the question, and was about to 
apologize for not having the experience to answer, when another 
voice rang out.
	"True enough, Sister.  I only wish that you had the same 
respect and patience for other life as you do for your plants."  D3 
turned in surprise to see Tsunami slowly walking toward them from 
between a pair of trees.  Automatically, he readied himself to 
defend his queen, but she stilled him with a light touch on his 
shoulder.
	"Surely you did not come to tell me only that, Sister.  Why 
have you come?"  Tsunami paused to lightly touch a drooping golden 
flower.  When she removed her hand, it appeared healthy again.
	"I come to ask you one last time to stop this.  We have not 
the right to meddle in their affairs."  Tokimi laughed softly, a 
breath of the wind through chimes.
	"What is the multi-verse, but entertainment for us?  Your 
pretties, that only half believe they exist, were created only for 
us.  But alas, you never did fully understand that, Tsunami.  A 
pity that Washu was always more interested in her science, else she 
would have stood with me so long ago."  Tsunami sighed.
	"It was you that never understood.  Yes, they were created 
for us, but to protect and to care for, not to manipulate in a 
meaningless game."  She knelt to touch a fragile rose, so pale red 
that it was almost white.  "The multi-verse was the ultimate 
garden, their peoples the delicate blossoms that we were meant to 
nurture and watch grow."  The blue haired goddess looked up at her 
sister, sadness in her pink eyes.
	"We betrayed that trust, and in doing so, lost the right to 
have any place in their lives.  So now, before it is too late, I 
beg of you to stop.  I have done my best to save this small part of 
the garden...  Do not destroy it as well in your want for power."  
Tokimi looked at her sister for what seemed a long time, and then, 
slowly, smiled.  It was a cold, chilling smile, and D3 felt his 
very soul shiver.
	"Even the worst of gardeners knows when it is time to give up 
and start again.  You, of the three of us, should understand that."  
Tsunami sighed.
	"Very well, Sister.  You have left me no choices.  I... am 
sorry.  Hear me well; do not trust Cain."  Tokimi raised an 
eyebrow, and there was a glow before her momentarily.  When it 
disappeared, the foot and a half of sword that had been through 
Cain's heart when he had been brought here floated before her.
	"Do you recognize this, Sister?"  Tsunami nodded.
	"How could I not?  Sa-rokan is... too dangerous to not know."  
Tokimi smiled slightly.
	"As your avatar is armed, so shall be mine."  Tsunami shook 
her head.
	"I have seen three possible futures.  In all three, you give 
him the sword.  In only one do you survive long enough to regret 
it.  If you will listen to no other of my words, listen to these: 
Do not give him the sword, for it will be your end."  Tokimi 
laughed.
	"A good attempt Sister, though useless.  I do not allow my 
avatar free reign as you allow yours.  He will not betray me."  
Tsunami sighed sadly.
	"Good-bye, Sister.  This will be the last time that we meet 
as we are," said the goddess sadly.  She turned, and walked back 
toward the trees she had come from, disappearing at her third step.  
D3 looked at Tokimi.
	"You are sure that it is wise to have told her you intend to 
arm Cain with the sword, my queen?"  Tokimi turned back to the 
lilac tree.
	"Tell Cain that he may begin part two of his mission.  It is 
time that this game ended."  D3 turned to go.  Her words were a 
dismissal, plain and simple.  "Oh, and D3?  Tell him to make 
certain that he is seen."
	"Yes, my queen."

	Tenchi Masaki grinned, as he saw Ayeka and Alucard come out 
of Washu's lab, flanked by Sheann'a and Drathar.  The dhampeal had 
a slightly resigned look to his face; his familiars looked as if 
they had just missed being science experiments.  Ayeka seemed to be 
troubled by something, though she was smiling.  Ryoko had told him 
that she was there already, but he still acted surprised to find 
them all there.
	"Empress Ayeka!  I know that you said you would be here 
early, but I hadn't realized that you were here already.  Although 
I see that your arrival didn't go totally unnoticed."  To his 
surprise, she blushed crimson at that, and Alucard's eye twitched 
slightly.  Sheann'a looked like she was about to laugh.  Tenchi 
made a mental note to ask Ryoko how she had known Ayeka was already 
there.  Recovering, Ayeka smiled, and came over to hug him.
	"Lord Tenchi.  It is good to see you.  How have things been 
here?"  Tenchi smiled.
	"Surprisingly quiet, for a change.  I would say that today 
will be the most excitement we've had in a while.  Have you spoken 
with your mother and Funaho yet?  When I passed your message to 
them, they were quite pleased."  Ayeka shook her head.
	"Not yet.  I needed to attend to a matter with... oh my, he 
seems to have left already," she said in surprise.  Tenchi had 
noticed Alucard slip away while Ayeka had been distracted, and had 
decided not to say anything.  He remembered very well being the 
target of her pursuits, and how relentless she could be.
	"I'm sure that he'll be at the party, Ayeka.  He's probably 
just gone to get ready, which reminds me that I have a few more 
things to get done before it starts.  I'll talk to you later, 
alright?"  She nodded, and smiled at him.
	"Yes.  If you need me, I will be visiting with my brother and 
mother."  Excusing herself, she left the hall.  Tenchi smiled, and 
made his way upstairs.  Moving down the hall, he paused in front of 
the door to what had been his room.  It was closed, so he knocked 
lightly.  When no answer came, he opened it just a little, and 
poked his head in.
	What had been a fairly conservative room when he had lived in 
it had been transformed completely.  Random posters, everything 
from a old, signed and framed drawing of the three goddesses from 
an old animation series to advertisements for one of the new music 
bands plastered the walls.  The shelves were crammed to overflowing 
with books and stuffed animals.  Dominating the corner of the room 
with the sky light was a bed.
	That bed was covered with a thick, white comforter, from 
under which the very tips of several cyan spikes peeked out.  
Tenchi suddenly grinned, as he remembered Ryoko welcoming him home 
after she had destroyed his school.  He had been shocked to find 
the beautiful demoness that had just been trying to kill him 
sleeping in his bed.  But if that hadn't have happened, where would 
he be now, he wondered.
	Tenchi entered the room fully, and walked to the bed.  
Reaching down, he lightly shook his daughter awake.  Rosa was a 
near mirror image of her mother in so many ways that it was almost 
frightening.  She had the same cat-like golden eyes and spikey cyan 
hair, not to mention knack for getting into mischief.  She teased 
her brother endlessly, but when push came to shove, they backed 
each other up all the way.  Rosa yawned, and looked up at him 
sleepily.
	"Hey.  You had better hurry and get ready.  The anniversary 
will be starting soon.  Are you feeling better than you were last 
night?" he asked quietly.  She had been complaining of a headache 
the night before, and Washu had said that she had a little bit of a 
fever.  The scientist had given her a tiny dose of one of her 
concoctions, and told her to sleep it off.  Now, Rosa nodded.
	"A lot.  But I've got the worst taste in my mouth...  Ugh, I 
hate taking Grandmother's medications!  They always come back to 
haunt me!"  Tenchi laughed.
	"I know exactly what you mean.  I think that she does that so 
that she can study our reactions.  Come on and get up.  Ayeka is 
already here, and I'm sure that everyone else will arrive soon," he 
said, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead.
	"Dad!" she laughed, shooing him away.  He chuckled, and 
stepped out of the room.  His next stop was just across the 
hallway, and as he raised his hand to knock on the door, it opened 
to reveal Mayuka.  The oldest of his children, she had grown from 
an often hyper-active young girl into a very beautiful, fun-loving 
woman.  Deep inside, he felt a slight stirring of pride aside from 
his own, and smiled.  He shared his soul with two others, as a 
result of the Light Hawk Sword.  One was Dracula, the king of the 
vampires and Alucard's father.  The other was Yuzuha, the spirit of 
the tree of darkness, and Mayuka's mother.  
	Mayuka had been created when Yuzuha mixed strands of his 
black hair with her own silver hair, and then created a clone from 
the resulting DNA.  Although technically she hadn't really been 
born as his daughter, he just couldn't imagine the family without 
her there.  
	"Good morning, father.  I was just coming down to help get 
things ready," she said, smiling.  He nodded.
	"Do me a favor, and let Washu know that we'll be starting 
soon.  I think that she said she had a new experiment ready to show 
us, so she'll want to know.  And don't forget to knock!"
	"Washu with a new experiment?  Are you sure that it will be 
safe?" she asked, grinning.  Tenchi laughed.
	"You never know with Washu, but she promised me that it 
wasn't anything too dangerous."  Mayuka nodded, and went down the 
steps.  Just as Tenchi was about to teleport to his last 
destination, he felt a familiar presence join him in the hallway.  
Smiling slightly, he turned to find Tsunami, who was looking at him 
sadly.
	"Tenchi...  I must speak to you in private."  He nodded, and 
indicated Ryoko and his bedchambers.
	"It's Tokimi, isn't it?  Tokimi is finally moving."  Tsunami 
nodded.
	"I have just come from her command ship.  I tried to make her 
see reason, but she sees nothing but the power she stands to gain."  
Tenchi nodded.
	"I could feel it last night...  The change that was coming.  
Why didn't you just ask us, Tsunami?  Why did you think that you 
had to trick us into helping you?"  The goddess stared at him in 
shock, quite understandably.  He knew that she had not thought he 
might realize what she was trying to get him - all of them - ready 
for.
	"You... knew?  And never said anything?"  He shook his head.
	"I've picked up some clues that you've left...  Yuzuha told 
me a little...  But I didn't really understand until last night, 
until I... felt the change coming.  Please don't misunderstand me, 
Tsunami...  I think I understand why you did it, and I'm not angry 
or mad at you for it.  But I have to know why you never tried just 
asking us."  Tsunami looked away from him.
	"I... I was afraid to...  I couldn't take the chance that you 
might say no," she said softly, after a moment.  He reached out, 
and gently turned her to face him.
	"Look around yourself, Tsunami.  You are as much a part of 
this family as everybody else.  Have we ever let each other down?  
I said once that I would die before I would forsake any one of you.  
Ryoko... Ayeka... Mihoshi... and Sasami.  That has never changed, 
Sasami-chan.  Never."  She stared at him for a moment, and then, 
slowly, smiled, though a tear slowly trailed its way down her 
cheek.  She reached up to wipe it away.
	"Thank you, Tenchi...  I am sorry to have doubted you."  He 
smiled.
	"What will Ayeka say if she sees her little sister so broken 
up, huh?  Tokimi may be on the move, but at the moment we have a 
party to enjoy, Sasami."  She smiled again, and Tenchi grinned.  
"I'll be down shortly, alright?  I think father said he could use 
some help in the kitchen, if you wanted to."


	Carrie Masaki smiled as she felt the sun wash over her nude 
body in a warming caress, and rolled onto her back so that she 
could soak in even more of it.  When Reinhart had wanted to have 
the skylight put in, she had been somewhat doubtful of the wisdom 
of it; certainly, she liked light, but she did want to be able to 
get to sleep.  Now that she had gotten used to it, she couldn't 
imagine how she had gone more than a century without it.
	However content she might have been to simply lay there, 
absorbing the light, Carrie knew that she would have to get up 
sooner or later.  It was just a matter of time, until - right on 
cue, Elayne cried out.  Smiling and sighing, Carrie sat up, and 
squinted against the light.  Beside her, Reinhart slowly began to 
stir beneath the covers.
	Standing and stretching, Carrie walked over to the cradle, 
and lifted Elayne out.  The baby smiled, and cooed softly, as she 
walked with her toward the bathroom.  There were so many things in 
this world so different from her own.  A bathroom in her world 
would have been a building, inside of which would have been a deep 
hole covered by a special chair.  Running hot and cold water... 
refrigerators... planes... and then there were the more fantastic 
things, like spaceships, or holes in the very fabric of reality 
that sucked in everything...  Black holes, Washu had called them.
	And the sheer number of people!  She had lived in one of the 
biggest towns for nearly a thousand miles, yet compared to the city 
at the base of the mountain, her home town had been a tiny 
flyspeck!  She had almost passed out from shock the first time that 
Reinhart had taken her to Tokyo to do some shopping.  She hadn't 
thought that there could possibly be that many people in the entire 
world, and yet Reinhart had told her that Tokyo was far short from 
the biggest cities in the world.
	As she ran the water for a bath, she thought of all she had 
learned.  Amazing things, things she would have never thought 
possible.  But she knew that she still had a long way to go.  There 
had been times when she had tried to understand something, but no 
matter what she did, she just couldn't quite grasp the concept.  It 
depressed her so, but Reinhart would always be there to give her 
support, and try to help where he could.
	She blinked, as Elayne, who she had set on the counter for a 
moment, floated past her, giggling.  Reaching up, she plucked the 
child out of the air, smiling slightly.  Reinhart had told her not 
to surprised if she occasionally flew off - it apparently came as 
naturally as walking, and he and his sister had taken constant 
flights in their first year.  Testing the water to be certain it 
wasn't too hot for Elayne, Carrie stepped in, and began to 
carefully wash her.
	A whole year, gone by so fast...  She couldn't remember 
anything between the time Cain hit her with the Sphere of 
Destruction, and waking up in Reinhart's arms, wrapped in his 
cloak.  He had told her everything that had happened; her death, 
meeting with Dracula, their final fight with Cain, and her 
resurrection at the hands of Death.  It had surprised her to find 
out that not only had Dracula still lived, but that he had helped 
them.
	Elayne laughed, and splashed water up at Carrie.  She smiled, 
and rinsed the last of the soap off of both of their bodies.  
Standing and taking a towel, she began to dry herself off, and then 
dried Elayne.  It had been such an amazing feeling, as she had 
grown inside her.  When Rosa Schnieder had been with child, she had 
tried to explain what it felt like to Carrie, but it was just 
something that had to be experienced to be understood.  When she 
had finally been born, and Carrie had held her for the very first 
time, she had understood what family meant.  Family were those that 
she would gladly sacrifice anything, even her life, to protect.
	Exiting the bathroom, she noticed that Reinhart had 
disappeared - likely to the onsen to clean up for himself.  As she 
placed Elayne back into the crib, she considered the floating 
bathhouse.  It was one thing that she was certain she would never 
get used to.  The idea that anybody could just walk in at any time 
while she was bathing - and offer to scrub her back, expecting the 
same in return!  She didn't mind going up to soak and relax, but 
she always bathed at home.
	As she finished buttoning a light, blue blouse on, she felt a 
pair of strong arms go around her waist from behind.  Carrie 
grinned as Reinhart leaned forward and placed his head on her 
shoulder.
	"So you decided to get up after all," she said, touching his 
hands lightly.
	"How couldn't I?  I wouldn't want to miss a day for you, 
would I?"  She laughed, slightly embarrassed.  She had never gotten 
used to being a national hero in her own world - she preferred to 
not be the center of attention.
	"It's as much your day as mine.  We came back together, 
remember?" she said, turning to face him, and putting her arms 
around his neck.  He grinned.
	"Yeah, but I wasn't the one that caused such a stir."  He 
kissed her, and grinned mischievously.  She laughed.
	"If we don't hurry, we'll miss the entire thing."
	"Are you saying that would be a bad thing?" he asked, kissing 
her again.  She grinned, and looked up at him.
	"No...  But I think that everybody would be somewhat 
disappointed if two of the honored guests weren't there."  He 
laughed.
	"Yeah, I suppose you're right." He kissed her one last time, 
and then let her go.  "Besides, it's about time that Elayne met her 
god parents, don't you think?"  Carrie smiled.
	"Yes, indeed."