Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Tenchi Muyo characters or anything of that nature. Tenchi Muyo, all characters and names are the sole property of AIC and Pioneer. AD&D and Phyrexia are properties of TSR and Wizards of the Coast, respectively. I only claim ownership of the characters Kalog Planesmaster, the Beastmaster and the Nameless one. Please don't sue. I have no money whatsoever to protect myself with or to pay out. Anyway, on with the story...... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No need for New Realms : Ch.3 Completed goals and tortured souls It would be several days before Tenchi and Ryoko would be strong enough to make the voyage, but they had those few days. A bit of bad weather just off the coast prevented ships from leaving, giving them the necessary time to recover. Timely infusions of healing energies from Ayeka helped to speed things up. When they were finally ready to travel, they loaded their gear onto their horses and headed down to the docks. That is when they first saw the Queen of the Seas. Kendal pointed her out to them. She was a magnificent trireme, sleek and impressive. On either side, there were smaller outrigger hulls that stabilized the ship, but where set so as not to interfere with the bank of oars coming from the sides. The ship was painted a rusty-red color, with large eyespots on the front, for scaring away sea creatures that would attack the ship (as Kendal put it). For a finishing touch, two masts rose into the sky, holding bundled sails in their arms. The gang put their gear in their quarters (a few bunks just below the deck) and had the horses taken down to the hold, where they would remain for the entire trip. Nearly an hour after the gang had gotten aboard, it was time to set sail. The great banks of oars (60 on either side) swept back and forth with precision, pushing the great ship through the harbor. She glided quickly, reaching the mouth of the harbor nearly ten minutes later. As they rounded the point that kept the large waves out, the sails were let loose, to catch the late morning wind. The sails snapped with a great boom as wind filled them. The gang had watched the whole process, standing on the deck as the ship cut into the ocean. Despite all their preparation, however, they were not really ready for the feeling of unbalance when riding a ship. They all held onto the rail for a while as they slowly got used to the pitch and roll of the deck. Fortunately, no one developed seasickness. A couple days later, they had settled into sea life. Tenchi was walking on the port side of the ship when he saw Ryoko sitting down on the outrigger hull. She was staring out at the sea, towards the sunset that had made a red streak upon the waves. Sitting like that, Tenchi thought, she was the perfect image of tranquility. He walked a little ways further down the deck when he noticed the rungs down the side of the ship. He saw they led to the beams holding the front of the outrigger hull to the main ship. Carefully, he climbed down and nervously walked the swaying, railless beams and climbed down to the flat deck of the outrigger. Ryoko turned when she heard him coming up behind him. "Tenchi..." she said quietly. "I didn't expect you here." "Well, I was just out for a walk, and I saw you sitting all alone down here, so I thought you might like some company." "Mmmm, I see." she turned back towards the sea, her face reflecting the red light of sunset. "Where are all the others?" "I think Washu is getting some spell instruction from Kendal and Mihoshi is talking with that bird again. I think they seem to get along well together." chuckled Tenchi. "Yeah..." said Ryoko. "But where did Ayeka go?" "I don't know. I think she's sleeping or reading her spellbook or something." Ryoko just nodded, allowing herself a small smile. They stared into the sunset together for a while, when Tenchi broke the silence. "Ryoko.. I..I never got to thank you for helping me. When the sword started to shock me, you endured a lot of pain, no.....you risked your life to get it off me. So..... I wanted to thank you." Ryoko turned to him. She was smiling, but in the fading light Tenchi could see the tears in the edges of her eyes. "I had to, Tenchi. I couldn't just let that sword take you from me." she replied "I could stand any pain it would dish out to help you...." Tenchi listened, a bit amazed about this facet of her personality. He had known she cared for him, but to take the power of the Master Key to save him? The realization of what it meant weighed on his mind, but then passed, replaced with a feeling of warmth, of compassion. "Ryoko," Tenchi said. " I have something for you." He reached into a pocket in his shirt. From it he pulled two small, red jewels. They reflected the orange sunlight, and added their own crimson glow to the radiance. Ryoko's eyes lit up at the sight of them. Tenchi reached over and put them into her trembling hands. She closed them tightly, and looked at Tenchi. Red glows appeared on her neck and right wrist as she phased the gems to their proper places. "I figured that since you were injured by the sword, that you should get them back, now that it's broken." Tenchi added. "Kind of as consolation." "Oh, Tenchi!" cried Ryoko. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. A little too tightly, because Tenchi started to gasp for air. She let up a little, and then let go. Ayeka, who had been walking the deck trying to find Tenchi, saw the two sitting on the outrigger. Her mind recoiled at the thought of Tenchi being alone with Ryoko, but her fear of falling overboard kept her from climbing down to them. The booming of the sails and the rush of water prevented her from yelling anything to the two. They were talking, about what, Ayeka couldn't tell. Then Ayeka saw what she never had hoped to see, not even in her nightmares. Tenchi pulled Ryoko to him and kissed her. They remained locked that way for several minutes before they disengaged and looked out at the darkened sea, and the fading light in the east. Ayeka, a great pain in her soul, ran back to her quarters and cried herself to sleep. Ryoko and Tenchi made it their evening ritual to sit and watch the sunset for the remainder of the sea journey. They made landfall several days later. There was nothing said to anyone by Tenchi or Ryoko about the events that had transpired on the outrigger. Washu seemed to know, Ayeka thought, but never really said anything. They rode out of the port town the day after they arrived. They could have left sooner, but they didn't because they needed to get their land legs back. Nearly two weeks on a ship makes walking on land a challenge until you once again adapt. The country they rode though was heavily wooded, but well traveled roads were cut through the heavy timber. They made good time. Before the week was up, the thickness of the forest began to grow sparser and sparser. The forest gave way to free standing groves, which then became the wide expanse of a river's floodplain. On the horizon, looming large, were great mountains. "There it is! The Spine of the World!" said Kendal, with a great sweep of his arm. The mountains seemed foreboding, but clues to their quarry's whereabouts might be in them. And from this vantage point, they had an eerie beauty about them. The floodplain was vast. The river was a large one. It ran from the mountains, and was cool. Perfect for drinking purposes, but not for bathing purposes. They arrived in a town by the river in the late afternoon of the second day of travel on the floodplain. Not a large town, but it had an inn. Later that night, once they were settled in, they gathered about a table towards the back of the common room of the inn to discuss the course of action for their mountain travel. Ayeka suggested using that flight spell Washu had used in the city to reach Kendal's tower, but Kendal advised against it. "Winds in the mountains would make that tricky at best, fatal at worst. No, you want to keep to the slopes of the mountains, or the lowlands if possible." he said. "What could we expect in terms of creatures there?" asked Washu. "Goblins for sure. Maybe giants, rocs or, if we're unlucky, dragons. Be pretty bad if we ran into a red dragon while fighting the rough trail and wind of a mountain." he replied. "Well, nothing too much to handle, right?" asked Mihoshi. "I should think not. Unless of course we have really bad luck." he joked. "Meanwhile, what are we going to do about Lord Tenchi's sword?" interjected Ayeka. "We have been lucky so far in not having any confrontations, but if the mountains are as nasty as you say, he will need a weapon." "You are right. But the best we could hope for here is a staff or short sword. Nothing of any use once we get involved in any major combat." explained Kendal. "Well, we can worry about that tomorrow. I think we better get some sleep....(yawn)" said Tenchi. They all went to their respective rooms. But right before Ayeka entered hers, she saw Tenchi and Ryoko kissing in front of the door to Tenchi's room. She choked back a sob as she fell asleep. The next day turned out to be rather dreary. A drizzle of rain fell continually, making everyone generally miserable. They rode in silence, Ayeka trailing the group. She didn't know how she would stand much more. She had lost Tenchi, and that thought hurt her more than anything. As they started to ascend the slopes of the foothills, Washu rode beside Ayeka. Kendal was delighting Mihoshi with tricks and illusions. Washu had said they were cantrips. Ayeka didn't really care. She just wished that what she was seeing between Tenchi and Ryoko were a cantrip. Tenchi and Ryoko. They had gotten more and more open in their attraction for each other. They rode just ahead of Kendal and Mihoshi, talking about something. Ryoko was using her energy, as there was a red glow trailing about the two. "Hard, isn't it, Ayeka?" asked Washu. "Huh?" Ayeka had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't really hear Washu. "What was that, Miss Washu?" Washu glared at her. Then Ayeka realized her mistake and replied with 'What was that, Little Washu?' "I think this trip is wearing on you, Ayeka. You have been more and more down trodden and moody since we disembarked from the ship." Yes, thought Ayeka, since the ship. "I worry about Sasami. When the sword broke, I was almost certain that it meant something bad. I thought much about her on the ship, and now that I don't have to worry about keeping my balance, it is heavier in my mind." replied Ayeka. "Yes, that weighs on my mind as well." agreed Washu. "Not being able to use my skills in science here has worn on me, also. Tenchi and Ryoko seem ok. I guess because they didn't really need to change. Mihoshi, well, I guess nothing seems to faze her." Nothing fazes her, thought Ayeka. I just wish that I could have that kind of willpower right now. The red glow had stopped coiling around Tenchi and Ryoko, and they rode on. By midday, they decide to stop. The weather went from bad to worse, with lightning arcing across the sky. The rain became a downpour. They found shelter in a rocky overhang. "Well, we have a couple days journey before we reach the ruins of the city where I found that book, if my estimates are correct." said Kendal, as he chewed on his rations and studied a rough map he had produced from one of his many pockets. "Since we are in the mountains, we better post a watch at night now. No telling what could sneak up on us in this place." he added. "I'll take tonight's watch." said Tenchi. "Ok, then. Ayeka will be next," said Washu, "Then me, Ryoko and then Kendal." "What about me?" asked Mihoshi. "You just sleep. It'll be better for all of us if you do." replied Washu. They all, save Tenchi, settled down for bed. Ayeka was thinking, about Sasami and her loss of Tenchi when a yell pierced the steady dripping of rain. Everyone bolted upright, except Mihoshi, who still slept. They frantically asked what was going on. "It's those creatures we saw when we first got here!" said Tenchi. "I can see them moving around in rocks." "Goblins." snorted Kendal. "Well, prepare for some action. We have a little while, I think, because they are going to wait until they really outnumber us before they attack." They grimly set to the nerve-wracking task of waiting for combat. They could see the short, gibbering figures amassing in the lightning flashes. Tenchi and Ryoko wore their armor, providing the first line of defense on one side. Mihoshi, who had been awakened, was fumbling with her bow and arrows. Washu and Kendal readied destructive spells. Ayeka looked at the large group of enemies and wondered if they would survive. In minutes, her question would be answered. The goblins attacked. Fireballs leaped from the palms of Washu and Kendal. Mihoshi let a badly aimed arrow fly, killing a goblin. Ryoko slashed at goblins with her energy sword and Tenchi was doing the same. Tenchi doing the same? To make sure she wasn't seeing things, Ayeka looked over between the blows she was raining with her spiked staff at Tenchi. Sure enough, he was wielding a sword similar to Ryoko's. It was too much for her to bear. She screamed and swung wildly. Her blows broke the heads of several goblins. Those around her looked at her fearfully. She swept among them with a vengeance. Then, they fell back. Soon, all the living ones were gone. They all breathed a sigh of relief, and Mihoshi was doing that dance of excitement that she does (OVA #7). She sang that she had hit something bigger in the darkness and when it fell, the goblins fled. Curious, they went out to see what Mihoshi had hit. It wasn't hard to find. It was a taller looking goblin with tusks. His armor, though poor, was better than the ones of the other goblins. An arrow stuck out from between it's deep set eyes, it's black blood trickling out. "Orc." said Kendal, kicking it. "Interesting," said Washu. "Do these two species interact often?" "Oh, yes. Quite frequently. This one must have become the leader of that goblin group. I don't think we'll hear from them any time soon though." he replied. "They're all cowards without a leader." Washu then turned to Tenchi. " And what was that you were using? That looked like Ryoko's sword you were wielding." "I'll explain when we get back into shelter." said Tenchi, a bit defensively. When they got back, they all pressed him for answers, especially Ayeka. "Well," he began " since I don't have a sword, Ryoko fashioned one for me. She did quite well, I might add." "How did she do that?" asked Ayeka. "The basic spell is in her blood. Transferring it was probably something she read how to do in her book." answered Washu. "She probably gave him a ring or something with the enchantment in it. I don't know because she has been hiding part of her mind from me." "It wasn't really a ring, Washu. But you are close in that respect. She gave me the enchantment through blood." Tenchi pulled off his gauntlet and the armored sleeve. He revealed a small scar on the side of his arm. Ryoko showed a similar, but fainter, scar. Washu raised her eyebrow, but said nothing. Ayeka looked about ready to burst, but whether from anger or anguish they couldn't tell. She sank to her knees in sorrow, her strength leaving her. "Then..that..means.." she sobbed, "that you have chosen....her?" "Yes, Ayeka. I'm sorry that it wasn't you, but she is the one I want to marry. This bond of blood is kind of our engagement ring. Please don't take it wrongly, Miss Ayeka. I do love you, but more like a sister than a girlfriend or wife. Ayeka, sobbing, just screamed. It echoed in the mountain passes. In a couple days, they reach the ruins of the city, right where Kendal had said. It was big. Large buildings were in various states of destruction. Vines and tough mountain trees grew rampantly, wrecking more of the buildings. It was eerie. Not a sound. Not bird, no animals, no wind even. "There is a tower near the center of town. That is where I found the book. I don't know if it is still standing, as it has been a while since I was here." said Kendal. "That and many of the buildings that were here last time I was here are gone. I don't remember stone crumbling this quickly though...." They rode on. The buildings began to grow more infrequent the deeper they went into the city. Rising before them, in the middle of one of the more intact ruins, was the tower. It looked to be in ok condition. They tied the horses to some of the sapling that grew around the wrecks. Upon entry, they were assailed by the scent of damp decay. Books, a great many of them, littered the floor, their pages turning into a grey slurry. They poked around the tower, slowly ascending to the top. As they looked around, Kendal kept making quizzical looks at different sections of the tower, and writing things down. When Washu asked about that, he explained that the tower was in better condition than he thought it should be in. "Given the devastation of the rest of the city, I would have thought this tower should have collapsed a while ago. I didn't even think it should have been standing when I first found it." "What do you think this was originally for?" asked Washu. "If it was a fortress or guard tower, maybe it has some kind of bracing you didn't notice." "I thought that, too." continued Kendal as they ascended to the top. "But the arrangement of the tower is wrong for a fortress or guard tower. I concluded that this was a library of some sort, as most of those books you saw down there, as well as a couple of the ones I recovered, belonged to various different races and cultures. I suspect it was a wizard's or noble's personal collection." They reached the topmost floor of the tower. The roof and walls had been blasted open by some powerful force. The stones that had been the walls littered the ground to the north, scattered in a random fashion. They looked out across the ruins. The sun was lower in the sky, as evening was coming on. As the sun set, Mihoshi began to start staring at different parts of the floor. "Ummm, Washu, are those lines supposed to be glowing like that?" "What? Glowing?" asked Washu. She looked, and sure enough, in parts of the dust covered floor, there were glowing marks. Kendal got down on his knees and scraped dust and rock away from some of them. He pulled out a small book and began to frantically page through it. He pointed to various parts of the old pages, getting more and more agitated as he read. He soon had uncovered all the glowing symbols in the floor. Trembling, he got to his feet, the book quaking in his unsteady hands. The fear in his eyes was very evident. And powerful enough to prevent him from speaking for several minutes. It took some shaking from Washu to get him to snap out of it. "What? What is it?" Washu eagerly, though nervously, asked. "These runes...they are a security system. It activated when we came up here, and I don't think we can get far enough away to avoid it's effects....." he trailed off. "Effects? What kind of 'effects' are we talking about?" demanded Washu. "These runes, they have activated a very powerful monster attraction spell. But it has parts to it that I cannot figure out. However, I fear it will have terrible consequences........" He trailed off and was drowned out as the most awful roar any of them had ever heard echoed off the mountain walls. It resounded, growing louder and louder as the thing that was making it seemed to be getting closer. Mihoshi was shrieking in terror, and the others were on their knees, holding their ears to bar the sound that penetrated their minds, their fears. They saw what was making the noise, lumbering through the ruins, tearing apart everything in it's path as it made a beeline for their tower. It was huge, nearly six stories tall by their estimation. It leaned forward, and spikes jutted from the bony plates on it's back. It had wide, lipless jaws that exposed it's teeth and black eyes looked out from under great horns on it's head. They had all the life of a shark's eyes. It's tail whipped back and forth, crushing buildings. It's arms slammed others. It's clawed feet sank a full three feet into the ground with every stride. "We've got to get out of here!" yelled Ryoko over the din. No one moved. The creature was a mere half mile from them, it's eyes level with their part of the tower. "Come on! We have to move! It'll get us for sure if we don't!" Ryoko yelled again. This time, they moved. They all ran for the stairs in a mad panic. Ryoko engaged her sword and her combat gear. She vaulted into the sky as red metal formed a thin shell on her arms, chest and legs in the fashion of her normal combat gear. The beast took notice of her and swiped at her with speed unnatural to such a large creature. Ryoko cursed as she dodged the swipes. She could see the others coming out of the tower, running towards another building. She didn't see which one, because she avoided more swipes of the beast's claws. The others got to a low wall that was a couple hundred feet from the tower. The ground trembled with each footfall of the monster. They could see Ryoko dodging in and out, raining blows on the beast's hide, but without much effect. "I think we'd better help her." said Tenchi to the others. "I don't think she can drive that thing away alone." With a flash of white light, Tenchi's Jurian body armor phased over his black metal armor. His blazing energy sword formed in his hand as he ran to join the fight. Washu silently wished them luck as she tried to get Mihoshi and Kendal calmed down. All Mihoshi could do was huddle behind the wall and whimper in terror, while Kendal seemed on the verge of insanity. Ayeka just held her head in her hands and screamed. "That.....thing!" Kendal spat, "There....... there is no record of anything that looks like that! Gods...help us! It must be the hell spawned Tarrasque!" Washu started, and then thought about it. Yes, it made sense. The Tarrasque had not been described in any books and people didn't know much about it. But the reputation it held...... Washu had a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. Tenchi and Ryoko fought with skill and bravery. But they were hardly making a dent on the creature. The laser bolts Ryoko threw just ricocheted off it's hide, and they couldn't get close enough to land a sword blow. Washu gave them the distraction to land one. A stream of fire and lightning jetted from their hiding place. It merely slid off the beast's skin like water, but it looked towards this new annoyance, ignoring Tenchi and Ryoko. They took the chance. Ryoko teleported behind it's head and drove her blade into it, slicing deep into the monster. Tenchi struck at the back of it's leg. The monster roared in pain and clawed at the back of it's head. All it succeeded in doing was to tear hunks of it's own flesh out, as Ryoko phased out again. Tenchi rushed away from it as it swiped at him. By now, the others had mostly regained their sanity and launched attacks of their own. Kendal had summoned up a beast made of the living earth while Ayeka tried to search for an offensive spell in her book. Mihoshi had stopped whimpering but still huddled behind the wall. The earth elemental lumbered to the monster and brought down a stone fist. The fist broke on the rough brown hide of the beast, but it cracked the hide it struck. The Tarrasque bit down on the elemental and ended it's attacks. Ayeka had found what she was looking for. She stood up and began to recite words from the book. Shimmering forms to shape in the air. The had glowing bird wings, beautiful faces, glowing opal armor and heavy cleaver swords (magna swords). Four of them Ayeka had created. They flew towards the monster, coming in from above and all directions. The Tarrasque was confused at first and the angels landed several blows, breaking it's hide in several places. The thick blood of the monster ran heavily. In the midst of the sword strikes, Ryoko had come in again. She came down with a powerful blow to the beast's head. Her sword penetrated the skull and sank to Ryoko's hands. She didn't stop there. Forcing more energy into the sword, she lengthened the blade. It speared out the bottom of it's head in a fountain of gore. Unfortunately, Ryoko had missed the small brain of the creature. It angrily swiped at her, catching her full on as she tried to fly out of the way. She flew into one of Ayeka's angels, which plummeted with her into the tower they had first been in. A cloud of dust billowed from the point of impact. Kendal tried summoning a dragon, a black one, but as it formed, the Tarrasque ripped it apart. Flying stones forced the four hiding to keep their heads down. Tenchi, who had seen all this, began to feel it was a hopeless battle. It was just getting worse. He slashed into the beast's leg, but it's tail slammed him into the remains of a building as it moved by. In horror, he watched as a wall toppled onto the place where Kendal, Washu, Mihoshi and Ayeka were hiding. And he hadn't seen any movement from the tower, where Ryoko had gone down. The feeling of futility gripped him, but the anger at what had happened to his friends, his family burned within him. Then, the power in him burst into bloom. Like Kagato and Dr. Clay had witnessed, the power within Tenchi was awesome. The three triangles formed on his forehead. Unlike the other times, this time only the middle triangle was green. The two outer ones were red, the color of his energy sword. The Light Hawk Armor formed on him. Combined with his dark armor, it was a chilling effect. His Light Hawk Sword glowed with blue and red fire. The fire of his anger and his hope. Yelling loudly, he formed the blade into a boomerang and threw it at the monster. It cut through it's back like a hot knife through butter. The Tarrasque reared back and screamed in pain. The glowing blade came again and sliced through it's side, taking it's right arm off. The blood of the beast ran heavily, but it gave no indication of letting up. It turned and ran at Tenchi, bellowing it's awful cry. He braced for the attack, his Light Hawk armor glowing fiercely. The sharp twang of a bow came to Tenchi's ears. The Tarrasque stopped in midstride and began to claw at it's face with it's remaining arm. Tenchi looked around quickly and saw Mihoshi propped against another wall, covered in dust and looking ratty. But she was alive, and he was thankful for that. He could also see some other movement in the rubble of the wall, but the Tarrasque had abandon the arrow jammed in it's eye and was moving again. He dodged to the side as the claws descended, and bounded up the leg of the monster as it passed, slashing into it with his blazing sword. The Tarrasque screamed again, and slashed. It over balanced and fell to earth with a massive shock. Time to strike. He cut gashes into the struggling beast. His sword cut the massive tendons that caused the right leg to move. The movements of the monster grew more and more wild and spastic. The final blow mimicked Ryoko's strike. He plunged his sword into the side of the beast. Despite the gore and thrashing of the creature, he held on. The sword grew in length and it blazed with white fire. He pulled the sword like a lever and it split the Tarrasque in two. Fire consumed it and within minutes, only a burned out hulk remained. Tenchi stumbled out of the inferno and collapsed, exhausted from the energy release. He saw Ayeka and Mihoshi rushing towards him before he blacked out.