[This is the majority of Part 2 but due to technical difficultites, it is not
the whole part. The entire part is archived at:
http://members.aol.com/deunan/home.htm]
Hey! Greeting from the Gulf!
Sorry that Homecomings is taking longer than I thought. DEunan, my co-author
has told me that there are several people out there waiting for the last bit
of the story. Well, I am sorry to say, Homecomings is still incomplete.
Why you ask? Oh, for a variety of reasons. There is the fact that I am
currently on deployment, doing circles in the gulf while Saddam plays games
with us. So far his games have cost me two port calls. Hey, I'm not too
bitter. Really!
Second, I work an average of 14 hours a day, so that I don't have a lot of
time to transcribe my notes.
Third, I am currently working on something like six different stories. It
gets a little crowded in my skull when I am trying to sort through several
little wheelbooks worth of notes.
Forth, when I was in Japan (which I had only one day to go ashore for) my
computer suffered a bad thing. I tried to remove Windows 98, and fragged the
drive. Three weeks worth of writing across the pacific went up in smoke (so
to speak)
As for bugging Deunan, dont! Bug me! I am in the gulf with nothing to do
(except work on S-3's) feel free to bug me. Just follow these simple
directions. My boat email address is: vs33s@nimitz.navy.mil
(subject:ATTN AT3 graham/WC 210). Don't send big emails (try and keep it to
less than 4 pages) and I am unable to receive attached files (so don't bother
). Hope to hear from you all sometime soon.
Later
Kain The Seeker
---
Homecomings: A Tenchi Muy \ El-Hazard Crossover
by Kain
co-authored by: Deunan
PART 2
---
Afura ran interference for her companion as they entereed the gate to
the palace. -It wouldn't do for the wrong person to recognize her before
I can get her in front of the council.- It had taken her the best part
of 2 days to get back from the shrine at Mount Muldoon. Her companion
had almost totally withdrawn into herself after her brother's death.
Ayeka's mental state made Afura reluctant to fly back, it wasn't too far
a jump to see her pulling free and dropping from the sky like a rock.
Not something she wanted to happen to one of the Lost. Not to mention
the problems that she had been having herself. The last few days had
been a constant battle for control.
-I won't fail her again.- Afura vowed, -hopefully I can get her in a
secluded part of the palace till I have a chance to talk with Rune and
the others. Before someone sees the War Marks.- She had given a hooded
cloak to Ayeka so as to hide her face. -If the wrong people saw them, or
the Master Key.- It had been 15 centuries since Kaizen's insane act had
taken the bloom of an entire generation, but he was still cursed by
many. Afura, as a priestess, knew the truth of Kaizen, but... The
council would have to be imformed immediately.
She looked at Ayeka and couldn't help but see the pain, despair and loss
in those eyes. -Ancestors, I am only a mere priestess pledged to protect
the secrets of the past, and a poor excuse for a healer of souls,- she
prayed -but grant me the wisdom to keep this Lost Child whole.-
----
The loud shouts and angry voices echoed through the hall as he was
escorted to the council chambers by two blank faced guardsmen, they had
delivered the 'request' to attend the council's meeting. Both stood
aside and held a door open for him when they finally reached the door
way. The doors quietly shut behind him.
The shouting stopped almost instantly. He took his appointed seat in the
smothering silence the filled the room. He looked up only once, to meet
the eyes of Rune Venus, only to turn his gaze back down to the floor at
the pain and hurt in her stoic gaze.
"Why?" Rune asked quietly. Makoto ran his hand through his hair, trying
to rub the pain and weariness away.
"I was searching for an object, the Master Key. It was an artifact from
the Age of Marvels......" One of the lords cut him off abrubtly.
"You risked the welfare of all El-Hazard on a whim? What if you had
brought another monster like Jinnai or even another Phantom Tribe!!"
"Varic, that is enough." Rune's look of disapproval stopped the lord
dead in his tracks, his next comment stilled before it began. Makoto
resumed his survey of the floor, unwilling to meet anyone's gaze as he
continued.
"Since the end of the war, I have been researching the Eye of God.
Trying to understand the way it bridges between worlds. Most of you
think it is to find a way home for myself and the others. It isn't just
for that." A mumur of voices started to ripple through the council
chamber. "I am trying to rescue the woman that I love, who was lost
saving El-Hazard, Ifurita." The council gasped in shock.
"I thought that was a rumor!!!"
"That demon!"
"How!?"
".... deserved..."
".. rot in the darkness."
Makoto pushed down the pain that threatened to consume him in the face
of all the hatred that was being directed at his lost love. -They will
never understand-
"ENOUGH!!", Rune shouted. "There will be silence in this chamber,and
order as well, or I will dissolve this session this instant!" The entire
chamber instantly went quiet as Rune looked back to Makoto, and he knew
instantly that at least one other in the chamber understood his shared
pain with Ifurita. "Makoto, could you please continue?" It was
comforting to see the understanding and empathy in her eyes.
"The Great Key, I found a reference to it and it's creator -Kaizen the
Maker- in a very old section of the palace archives. It was designed to
channel and control energies on an incredible scale, it was used to
calibrate the Eye before it was first fired. I knew that there would be
a connection between the two that I could use to bring it across time
and space from wherever Kaizen's curse threw it. I didn't expect the Eye
to surge like it did though, that was most likely a result of Gallus'
sabotage. I was knocked out by the backlash when the eye fired. The
girl, Sasami, was brought over by the blast also."
"Was there anyone else?" The council member, Varic, repeated again.
"I ... I don't know." Makoto answered, still looking at his feet. A hand
touched his shoulder gently. He looked up a Rune, who smiled gently at
him.The room degenerated into a flurry of conversations.
"He can use the Eye. I think that it could solve a lot of problems."
"The Bugrom aren't going to stay at the dimished levels, you know that
they breed faster than a Kev'n-Kel..."
".. raiding activities are already picking up along the river of God
again.."
"... our forces are still too green and untrained to face the hordes
that will be massing..."
"Your highness, we must find out if there are others. Surely someone can
make this boy tell us more of what he did. How many were brought across
this time." Rune turned to Varic, her face darkening at the nobleman's
presumption.
"I can answer that question," came a voice from the door. Makoto turned
and was surpised to Afura Mann standing at the entranceway with a
cloaked figure, the two guards standing guard on her quest. "My lords, I
know for a fact that there were only five people brought across from
Earth." -How did she know that- He started to ask, when Afura nodded to
her companion, who pulled her cloak back to reveal a face painted in a
tiger striped-like pattern. The council, almost to a man, paled at the
sight of her. Varic scowled and spat. "Your Majesty, and Lords of the
Council, I would like to introduce you to Lady Ayeka, princess of the
Royal house of Jurai and decendent of Kaizen the Maker. One of the
Lost."
-You could know them all over with a feather.- Makoto thought as he
watched Rune stand and greet their visitor. She spoke quietly to the
girl, and then to the surprise of all hugged her. He looked over to the
person sitting beside him, Alliele. She was crying and it looked to be
tears of joy.
"Alliele, why are you crying? Who are the Lost?" She looked at him,
surprised by his question for a second.
"Oh, I forgot, you're not from El Hazard. This girl, she's from a group
of people that were lost in the Great War. The first time the Eye of God
was fired. To see someone from the Lost after all these centuries is a
miracle." Makoto looked around the council chamber as Rune led Ayeka
away.
"Then why are you, Rune and the priestesses the only ones that look
happy to see her."
"I'm.. I'm not sure." Alliele said with a confused look on her face.
----
Rune hugged the girl, and smiled at her. She could tell that the girl,
Ayeka , was tired and more than a little heartbroken.
"Welcome, Ayeka, we're your family. Kaizen was a member of the royal
family. I need to know something, are there any others in your group who
are decendents of Kaizen?"
"Just Sasami, myself .. and Tenchi. Why?" Rune sighed and gestured for a
guard. She turned guickly back to Ayeka.
"This boy, Tenchi, have you told anyone what he looks like?"
"Just Afura Mann." Rune turned back to the guard.
"Find Afura Mann and get the description of the boy and make sure that
he is brought to the palace immediately." She looked back to Ayeka and
smiled to put her at ease, "I think that there is someone that will want
to see you."
---
"Nanami?" Nanami started at the voice, and for a second she couldn't
remember where she was. Sh had felt what seemed to be another of her
'attacks' coming on. -Oh,yeah the royal quarters- Fujisawa-sensei had
threatened to tear the door down if she didn't come out. Miz wanted
someone to watch after the girl while the others attended the council
meeting with Makoto. -Their worried that Makoto might have brought
another monster across like Katsuhiko,... or me..- "Nanami? Are you
alright?" A hand on her shoulder brought her out of her daydreaming. She
looked at the young girl beside her.
"What is it, Sasami?"
"Why are you so sad?", the younger girl asked with an innocent look that
tore at Nanami's heart. She started to reply, but stopped as Rune walked
in with another girl close to her own age. Sasami lit up at the sight of
her. "Ayeka!" The other girl rushed to the bed and wrapped her arms
around the little girl.
Nanami slipped out the door as the two sisters were reunited and
vanished into the shadows of the hallway. No one noticed her
disappearence in the room.
---
Sasami hugged her sister as Ayeka wept. She knew part of it was the same
relief and joy to be together again, but another part of her knew there
was more to it than that. She pushed out of the hug and looked at her
sister's face, still covered in her War Mask. And knew without a single
word from her sister. Yosho, son of Funaho and the crown prince of the
planet Jurai, was dead.
"Yosho?", she asked Ayeka with tears in her eyes now. Ayeka merely
nodded and Sasami held her as she wept again. No one else truly knew how
much Ayeka had felt for their half brother. She patted her sister's
shoulder and whispered as her sobs shook her body. "I know.. ", she said
as she looked to Rune. The older woman retreated out the door, this was
clearly a private moment that she wouldn't want to intrude upon. -Oh,
Yosho, my brother; why did you have to leave us now?- she asked his
departed spirit.
----
"Who is this woman? Why is she singlehandedly tearing apart my plans for
the new camapaign to conquer El Hazard?" Katsuhiko Jinnai looked to his
Burgrom followers and listened to their mumbled replies. The yellow eyed
demoness had been tearing through his forces for days now. He drew in a
breath to continue his rant but was interupted as one of the smaller
bugrom, one not much bigger than a hummingbird, flew up and whispered
something in his ear.
"What?" He screamed in suprise and listened as his scout repeated his
report. -So, there is another way to fire the Eye of God.- "Return to
your post and bring me news of when and where this ... Master Key is
located."-Soon, Makoto, I will finally be able to tear away all the
impediments that you have thrown up. Nothing will stand in the way of my
destinity.- Jinnai raised a hand in the air, "I won't be denied this
time, Mizuhara!"
----
Afura Mann shot up in the bed, a scream rushing out of her. She lay in
the bed gasping for air as the nightmare vanished back into the night.
All around her the rooms contents dropped to the floor, no longer held
aloft by her powers. The windows were open to the night air now, the
glass in them blown out by the winds that had come with her screams. She
huddled miserably on the empty matress, her sheets having been blown all
around the room.
-Just a dream! It's just a dream! get a hold of yourself Afura!- She
looked around the room taking in the devastation left from her nightmare
inspired blasts. -That was without my amplifier rig,... if I had- Her
thoughts were cut off by the realization that she was not alone in the
room. She looked up at the visitor.
"So, have you come to gloat?" She asked, surprising herself at the
amount of bitterness in her voice.
Sheyla sat down on the mattress and looked at her. Concern showed in her
eyes as she handed Afura a cover. Afura took it and gratefully wrapped
it around herself.
"You've never lost it like this before Afura. I came down here to tear
into you over this," She waved the note that she had left at the shrine,
"and I find you with less control than a base novice. What is going on?"
"I... I've lost my Focus," Sheyla looked at her in shock and Afura
pushed on with her explanation. "Doubts best me at every turn.
Everywhere I look and see things that should be within my power, things
that I should be able to do as a preistess. I just can't seem able to do
what is needed of me anymore." Sheyla looked at her in shock, it was
long seconds before she had recovered enough to reply.
"Focus? What are you talking about Afura? You've always had that extra
edge, the drive that Miz lacks. And you sure as hell have more willpower
and control than I do. You don't let things distract you from your
duties.
Afura sighed and rose off the bed, draping the cover over her shoulders
as she stood up. Sheyla tried to ignore the wind that was whispering
through the room, but it was hard when she knew that the wrong word or
situation could literally tear apart the room.
"That's just it, isn't it? All I have is my duty. Miz has Fujisawa and
you flit from one thing to another, except when you are chasing Makoto."
"Aw, come off of it. Look, love isn't all that is cracked up to be. Look
at the fool that I have made of myself." She smiled wryly, but Afura
could see the pain that lurked underneath the brittle surface.
"It's not that, .. I liked being a priestess even during all the
grooming and training. The idea of being a keeper of ancienct lore was
appealing to me, and then there was the challenge of pushing myself to
the limits. Honing the razorsharp edge of my powers to the utmost. All
that drove me was the need.. the drive to improve. Now I see this road,
no forks or turns, just leading forward with no end to it. I'm not happy
or sad or anything anymore. Just this constant cycle of moving day to
day trying to keep that edge, even with that I have my doubts. Maybe I'm
not cut out to be a priestess anymore."
Sheyla was shocked by the revalation that her friend was revealing. This
was going far beyond the funk that she had expected, deeper than she
could have imagined.
"Bullshit, we're heroes. The order hasn't had this many eager recruits
in centuries. All of them trying to see if they have the gift like us."
Afura turned her back and eased the cover down to her waist, leaving her
front and back bare. The wind picked up just enough to make Sheyla
nervous, she tried to break the mood with a little humor. "You haven't
been hanging around with Alliele again have.." Then she saw it and the
rest of her sentence died on her lips.
The interlacing web of scar tissue across her back, vivid red strips
across the bare white skin. Marks that would last a lifetime, reminding
Afura of her loss. Afura held up an arm, it was covered in a similar web
of scars.
"Ifurita..." Afura nodded, " I never knew that it was that bad...."
"I was the indomitable one, remember? The one that couldn't be stoped in
all our trials. Ifurita beat all of us, but she didn't finish me
cleanly. She toyed with me. And I couldn't do a thing to stop her."
Afura closed her eyes, and Sheyla could hear the howl of the growing
wind outside, "I failed to stop her, and I failed to save Akeya's
kinsman....."
"So what are you going to do about it Afura?" Sheyla snapped at her in
anger, "Give up, let your powers rot in some seaport or a freak show?"
Afura slid the cover back on and turned to face Sheyla.
"I am going on retreat. Into the Mountains of God and there I will seek
the Cave of Demons. I am going to regain my Focus, or make sure that I
don't become a threat."
Sheyla looked at her friend in shock, suprised at the turn of events.
----
"She What!," Miz screamed upon hearing Sheyla's news. Mr. Fujisawa stuck
his head up from the couch where he had been reclining, recovering from
his meeting with Miz's family. Sheyla locked eyes with her senior
priestess and repeated her announcement.
"She is going on Retreat, and is taking a quest to regain her Focus."
Miz paled and sat down, suddenly weak in the knees.
"She's going to get herself killed," Miz moaned. Fujisawa sat down
beside his bethrowed and looked at Sheyla.
"What do you mean, what is a Retreat?" Sheyla waved him into silent as
she sat down.
"A retreat is a time for reflection and self disipline. The priestess'
powers require great amounts of willpower to control. Without that
control, our emotional states can trigger massive amounts of damage.
These," she tapped the crystal rig wore most of the time, "amplify our
powers but a preistess without Focus can achieve levels of power that
can be matched by an amplifier. Afura is the most skilled of the three
of us in her powers, she made the study of them a focus in her life.
Without a doubt she is the most powerful of the three of us. She
couldn't stay in the city anylonger without her Focus. If something had
set her off, she could have easily have destroyed the palace or even the
city." Fujisawa paled at the level of destruction that was being
casually described.
"My goodness, that is terrible. Is there anyway for her to recover this
Focus?"
"Yes there is," Sheyla replied, " She must face the fears and inner
demons that destroyed her Focus."
"That means..." Fujisawa's question was cut off by his fiancee's reply.
"She will have to face Ifurita again, without any of us to help her."
Miz, Fujisawa relealized, had already given up on her friend.
-----
Ayeka wandered the massive floor of the hall, flitting from one group to
another, never really paying attention to what is going on. She used to
love the massive ceremonies and galas back on Juria, but now it seemed
all a great waste of time and energy. She was alone, Rune had some
situation to take care of and it would be several days yet before
Sassami was strong enough to be allowed out of bed.
She grabbed a glass off of a passing platter, and sipped it as she
walked around the room. She had been drinking steadily all night and as
a result was fairly numb.
It helped to make her alien surroundings seem more familiar. She kept
seeing something familiar from Juria, only to find that the meaning or
appeareance of something she had known twisted out of context.
She turned to move closer to the open doorways, hoping to get some air
to clear her head. _Before I let the wine go to my head_ She told
herself, though she really wanted to be alone. In avoiding one group of
courtiers that she stepped into another one. She turned to apologize,
even as the courtier did the same.
"Milady, I am so sorry, I wasn't looking..." then there was only silence
as Ayeka looked at the courtier,who was only a little less drunk than
herself.
He glared at her, and she could feel the hatred that seethed underneath
his quiet demeanor. "Oh, it is you, Lady Ayeka." The title was one that
she was used to, Tenchi and his father used it, but this time it was
meant as an insult. Ayeka murmured a hurried apology and turned to
leave, not wishing to have a confrontation, but the nobleman wouldn't
have any of it.
"Hold on, I've something for you," he spun her around and threw his
glass in her face, Ayeka fell back a step stunned at his actions. The
rage on his face grew darker and for a moment, she thought that he was
going to strike her. That was when she acted, more on instinct than
thought.
One moment she was in the ornate gown that Rune had given her, there was
a flash of light and then she was garbed in the battle garb she had
arrived in. The nobleman's slap stopped short of her face and she stuck
a palm outwards. There was a small flash of light and then the man was
gone. Blasted far across the room and into a table laden with food.
Ayeka looked at her hand as if it was an alien thing and then at the
stunned crowds in the hall with her. Then she fled the room at a full
run.
----
Rune rushed down the hall at nearly a run, but not quite. Her companion
kept pace with her as he explained the situation, and she got the
feeling that it was goin to only get worse. Lond's story did get worse
as he finished up and she stopped just short of the doorway.
"He did what!" She knew that Varic was a little impulsive and reckless
when drunk, but to do something of this level was hard to believe.
"After he threw the glass of wine in her face, it looked like he had
intended to strike her. She ... changed, into the outfit and War Marks
that she had wore into the council meeting, and then struck Varic."
"And how is Lord Varic?" Rune asked cooly, Londs didn't give good odds
on Varic's welcome at court anytime soon.
"He is shaken, but otherwise unharmed. Princess, you do realize that
Varic is one of your sister's favorites."
"I'm aware of that, Londs." She stepped into the room and took in the
confusion and devastation that was left in the wake of the incident. She
scanned the room quietly, her eyes running from one group to another,
but she didn't find the person she was looking for. She turned to Londs.
"Where is Lady Ayeka?"
"I don't know, Princess, she ran off after the incident and I have
several others out looking for her." Rune turned and headed out of the
room, she still had much to do.
"Londs, make sure that the men that find her understand that I will be
very upset if there are any other of these incidents."
"Yes, Princess."
----
She finally stopped running, unsure of where in the palace she was. All
she had known was that she wanted away from the hatred that she had
scene. She looked down at the sword in her hand. -It's all I have left
of you, Yosho. It and Tenchi- She sat down and looked around her, she
was in some sort of garden. -How could they hate me so much for
something that happened so long ago. Kaizen paid for his sins, why blame
us?-
Her gaze came to rest on one particular flower in the bed beside her. -A
Royal Teardrop- she picked one and looked at it, trapped in the
recollection of a time long ago on Jurai. The last time she had truly
been at peace.
[flashback]
Ayeka looked up. Yosho was calling her. She gathered up the wreath she
had been making and ran to him.
"For you, Yosho." She said as she placed wreath on his head.
"Ayeka, why are you out here?"
"Because you went out,leaving me behind." Yosho laughed gently as he
scooped her up. Ayeka looked at him with a smile, blushing.
"One day, I will be a bride, won't I Yosho?"
"When you grow up."
"It is the color of your eyes." Ayeka said as she slid the flower into
the wreath. Yosho set her down and pulled it out to look at it.
"A royal teardrop", somehow it disturbed him.
"What's wrong?", Ayeka was confused by her brothers reaction. He looked
in her eyes, suddenly sad and aged beyond his years.
"This flower shouldn't be used for a happy occasion."
[end flashback]
-He knew,- Ayeka realized as she snapped back to the present,-even then
he knew that he wouldn't be allowed to marry me. That the clans wouldn't
allow a half-breed to take the throne.- Someday, you will understand he
had told her after Kagato's attack, when she realized that he was
Tenchi's grand- father. She though back to his dying words and the happy
expression on his face. -I will take you home brother- she swore grimly,
-that much I can do.-
Then she heard a noise to her left, and quickly retreated into the
shadows, she wasn't ready to face anyone yet. A lone figure sat down on
nearby bench and looked up at the Eye of God above. She made out the
figure as a cloud moved away from the huge artifical moon.
-Makoto- She moved closer to see what he was doing. She hadn't had a
chance to meet the young man that was responsible for her coming to El
Hazard. He seemed so sad and tired for someone so young, like the weight
of the world was on his shoulders.
"Makoto, Makoto.", she was startled by the sudden voice near the boy.
Unbelievably, it was a cat that spoke to him. Makoto looked down at the
cat and picked it up.
"Hello Ura," he said as he stroked the cat's belly. It purred loudly and
make it clear that more of the same was expected. It looked up at him,
and she could see that it had a very expressive face.
"Makoto miss 'furita?", it asked with a sad voice. Ayeka suddenly
understood why there was so much weight on the young man's shoulders.
-She must be some kind of woman for him to risk so much to get her
back.-
"Yeah, Ura, I do. I... I miss her a lot." The pain was so clear in his
voice, Ayeka knew the level of despair behind that. She had felt the
same way before, when she had gone looking for Yosho. Before she had
found Tenchi. "I did something bad, Ura, and got someone killed in the
process. Will I be able to look her in the eye when I find her, knowing
that I killed someone to get her back?"
Ayeka found herself walking forward and before she knew it she was
beside him. Makoto looked up in surprise, and moved quickly to set aside
the cat and stand.
"Lady Ayeka, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you where there." Ayeka waved
the rest of his explanation away and sat beside him.
"Makoto, tell me about Ifurita."
Makoto met the princess' eyes and saw her pain and loss. All of it due
to him. Suddenly the pain and guilt were too much, and all the months of
pain and doubt overwelmed him. He collapsed in heap and couldn't stop
crying.
"I'm so sorry, so sorry..." he wept as he curled into a fetal position
on the ground. All that he had left was the pain and loss, and all the
he did brought more..
Ayeka knelt beside him and pulled the weeping boy into her lap. All she
could do was hold him and help him through his pain by being there.
Finally Makoto cried himself out. He looked up at the tearful face of
Ayeka, and reached up to wipe away the tear on her face. As he reached
up his hand brushed up against her headband.
"I'm sorry...." Contact was all that was needed, his power did the rest.
Ayeka and Makoto were frozen in place for long seconds as memories were
exchanged between the two.
For Ayeka, she got to see the last few minutes that Makoto and Ifurita
shared together. She shared his sorrow and despair like it was her own.
She understood exactly what they shared, something that Makoto never
tried to explain. It was beyond simple words. It was too painful to
think that the woman you love might die after centuries of waiting.
Makoto saw the battle between the Bugrom and the Jurian nobles. He felt
Ayeka's bloodlust in the battle and Yosho's death. He understood what
exactly she had lost. He knew that she never had the chance to say good
bye or fully resolve the feelings that she had for her half brother.
Then, as quickly as it had started, the bond was gone and they were on
the ground looking at each other. Makoto sat back and looked at Ayeka in
shock.
"How?"
"Your power," she tapped the headband, "it reacted with this and allowed
us to share one another's memories for a time."
"Oh," it was a little much for Makoto, the emotional rollercoaster of
the last few days. Ayeka stood and held out her hand, knowing
instinctivly what they both needed. Ayeka smiled as she pulled him into
the waiting gala.
"I think that we have both brooded far too long. What is needed now is
something more.. cheerful."
----
Afura looked up at the peak from her campfire as she cleaned up her night
time meal. It had taken several days without her powers to reach this point
in the mountains. The whole time she had followed the old traditions,
refusing to use her powers or outside help. She was sore and tired, it had
been a long climb and she wasn't as used to the thin air of the higher
altitudes as she had been months earlier.
"Tomorrow" She whispered as she looked up at the peak. -Tomorrow I face the
Demons in the cave and....- She dozed off before she could complete the
thought.