Blood Red Moon Resurrection Chapter 12:
     Between Morning and Night

     Disclaimers: All characters belong to their various
copyrights, with the exception of Reinhart Masaki and Rosa Masaki.
Those two are mine.  Beyond their usage in this story, I claim no
ownership, no rights of creation, no nothing.  Please don't sue me.
Comments, quips, insults, and death threats will only be accepted
at Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com
     The Tenchi Muyo Characters in this series are based on the OVA
versions, but don't be surprised if there aren't one or two TV
references.  The characters Carrie Fernandez, Alucard, Death,
Dracula, Maria Renard and Lisa all belong to the Konami Castlevania
series. This cross-over series is placed roughly 17 years in
Tenchi's world, 120 years in Alucard's world after the events in
Blood Red Moon.  Reinhart and Rosa Masaki, the children of Tenchi
and Ryoko, are now young teens.

     "To what profit is it to a man, if he gains the world and
loses his own soul?  Mathew 16:26 I believe." - Dracula, as he dies
at the end of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

*****

     As they finally reached the top of the clock tower, Reinhart
smiled slightly in anticipation.  They knew Cain's secret, now.
Maybe it wasn't much of a trump card to play, but even the lowest
trump could take the pot.  It might just be enough, if they could
find a way to exploit it.  Before them, a long stairway led into
darkness, parts of it crumbling, and one huge section missing
entirely.
     "You've got to give the guy credit...  Dracula always did know
how to set a mood, and slow you down at the same time," said
Sheann'a, shattering the silence grown thick around them.  The
moon, crimson and full, shone through huge holes in the ceiling,
providing an eerie glow that suffused the hall.  Rosa started
walking upwards.
     "The quicker we get going, the quicker we can get outta here,"
she said, grinning.  Reinhart and Alucard looked at each other,
and were turning to follow her when she screamed.  They looked
back just in time to see Cain laugh, and throw two spheres of
darkness at them.  They dodged aside, as Cain disappeared,
taking Rosa with him.
     "Rosa!"  Reinhart began to run up the stairs, barely conscious
of Alucard moving right at his side.  The dhampeal spoke bitterly.
     "We have played right into his hands.  How couldn't I have
seen it before, his intent?"  Reinhart glanced at him.
     "What do you mean?"  Alucard winced.
     "No matter how powerful he is, he would need to have more in
order to destroy the Pendulum.  That is why he needed both the
castle and the whip.  But it wasn't enough.  So, he now will take
more power, in the order of sacrificing someone with great power,
like your parents."  Reinhart finished the thought.
     "Or us!  That's why he needed to get us here!"  Alucard
nodded.
     "And we have blindly given him everything that he needed!"
They reached the gap, and leapt as one.  Reinhart simply flew to
the other side; Alucard morphed into a huge bat as his feet left
the ground, glided to the other side, and then reassumed human
form.  They hit the ground running, and dashed up the remaining
steps.  Reinhart raised his hand, and blasted through the door with
a fireball.  They came to a quick stop as they entered the throne
room.
     "This is... new..." said Sheann'a slowly.  The room that they
had entered could hardly be called a room; more of a vast empty
void.  Above them, and to their sides, there was nothing but
emptiness.  The ground appeared to be simple granite stone, gray
and lifeless.  Although there were no lights that they could see,
an odd, filling glow that seemed to come from everywhere,
and yet nowhere, provided ample light.
     Not far away from them stood Cain, wearing a long black robe,
which covered all but his head and hands.  To his right, a tall
pedestal stood.  There were two items on it, one large bowl made
of crimson crystal.  The other was a long, curving knife with a
blade that looked to be made of silver and a hilt of gold. To his
left, a small urn with strange and evil looking markings waited
on a second pillar.
     Behind him, stripped of her clothing and stretched out
horizontally, with her hands folded at her waist, was Rosa.  She
floated nearly four feet above the ground, just about waist level.
>From where Reinhart stood, she appeared to be sleeping.  Reinhart
guessed that she was in a trance.  Cain looked up, and smiled as
they arrived.
     "Ah!  So you made it to the party after all!  Time here does
tend to stretch out a bit from the rest of the world, so we've been
waiting for some time...  I was beginning to think that we'd have
to start without you!"  He gestured, and suddenly Reinhart found
that he couldn't move more than his head.  A glance to his right
showed him that Alucard and his familiars were similarly frozen.
He smiled at them apologetically, and then closed his eyes, and
began to chant.
     "Powers of Heaven, powers of Hell, I call you as your master!"
He reached over, and picked up the urn, and then smashed it to the
ground.  A cloud of ashes billowed up, half black, half white.
"The souls of twelve of Lucifer's Elder Demons, and twelve of God's
Saints I give you in penance.  Hear me now, throw open the Gate of
Chaos!  Reveal to me the ancient sign, and let the end begin!"
His voice, normal at first, had slowly risen until it seemed to
echo in the void.
     They watched, in stunned amazement, as behind Cain and Rosa's
prone form, a tall bar of light appeared.  With the added
illumination, he was able to make out a huge double door.  On one
side, the huge image of an old man with flowing robes and a long
beard stood, the sun shining brightly behind him.  The man's eyes
were hidden from view by a cloud.  On the other door, a younger
man, with long horns on his forehead and severe clothing stood.
Behind him, fires raged in a bias that looked so real Reinhart
could almost feel their searing heat.  Then he realized that the
bar of light was being produced by these doors slowly opening.
     Cain laughed almost madly as they slowly swung wide.  For a
moment, the light was so bright that it was blinding.  Once
Reinhart's eyes had adjusted to the light, he was able to make out
the form of a huge pendulum.  At the far edges of its slow,
sweeping swing, stood two tall clocks.  As the doors finished
opening, they struck twelve.  The ground shook, as an impossibly
loud tolling called out the hour.
     "Impressive, isn't it, Father?  I'll bet you never even knew,
the entire time that you and grandfather lived and fought here,
never knew what Castlevania really was.  Not the incarnation
of evil that you always assumed it was, though once you were close
in your description of it.  You once told mother that it was a
creature of Chaos."  He laughed again.
     "Not a creature, Father.  The guardian!  And Dracula, though
he didn't know it, was its greatest warrior."  He swept his hand
out at them.  "Such a delicate balance...  Dracula could not be
allowed to gain too much power, else he might threaten the Pendulum
himself.  So, the Belmonts were created.  His balance.  They, they
ultimate light, him, the ultimate dark, even beyond Lucifer.
Did you know, Father, that each time a threat came to the Pendulum,
he was reborn just in time to block its destruction, and then in
turn was put back to sleep by the Belmonts?"  He laughed, and
approached them.
     "And then I was born.  A balance between the Tepes and Belmont
blood.  I threatened the Pendulum by my very existence, for how
could the Belmont blood kill itself?  If it did, there would be no
one to put Dracula back to sleep.  Yet, so long as I lived, the
Tepes blood would never sleep.  Pity I didn't find out about the
Pendulum until about a hundred years ago, before which it had been
weakened by bringing you back to fight Dracula.  It would have made
things so much simpler..."  Cain looked at Reinhart.
     "The Pendulum summoned what it knew could defeat me, at that
time - your father.  But by mistake, it also brought along your
mother, and when Dracula's servant kidnapped her, he was turned
away from his true purpose.  Yet at the same time, he filled the
prophecy, and Dracula was destroyed forever."  Reinhart forced
himself not to look at Alucard as Cain let that slip.  If he didn't
know Dracula was here, in the castle...
     "Pity that I didn't have the power to destroy the Pendulum
then.  I tried, but Tenchi unwittingly protected it when he used
his powers as he, and Reinhart and Rosa Schnieder escaped the
castle.  I myself was injured in the destruction as the castle
collapsed, and I could not raise it again when I finally healed."
He stopped, and then grinned, looking toward Rosa for a moment,
his gaze seeming to drift off to someplace else.
     "Then, twenty years ago, I ran across a relatively simple
spell that I knew I could use to gain enough power to destroy
the Pendulum once and for all," he said, and then giggled suddenly.
"Such an enjoyable one, too...  Take of a virgin goddess her
essence and blood, and her power would become mine...  How
convenient!  I happened to have access to someone with the powers
of a goddess!"  He looked at Rosa again, and Reinhart understood
how she had come to be stripped of her clothing, what he meant by
'her essence.'  Shouting in rage, Reinhart struggled to move.  The
staff, held tight in his hand, began to glow brightly, seeming
to pick up on his anger.  Cain laughed as it did.
     "As I had thought!  She joined with the staff!  Impressive,
even I must admit that I wouldn't have the power or ability to do
something like that!"  The impact of Cain's words stopped Reinhart
cold, and he stared first at Cain, and then at the staff.  Was he
suggesting...
     "No, Reinhart.  He is trying to trick you.  I can already
sense the mind weave that he is using!  Ignore it!" shouted
Alucard.  Reinhart shook his head, frowning.  No!  It was too close
to what he wanted to believe.  Slowly, Reinhart forced his hand to
open, even as Cain frowned, and then gritted his teeth.  Painfully
slowly, his fingers uncurled.  With a sudden snap, he felt the
field binding his entire arm snap, and he dropped the staff,
raising his hand and loosing a fireball before Cain could react.
The projectile slammed into his chest, and the man was thrown
across the room.  He came up laughing, smoke rising from his cloak.
Underneath, smooth flesh had been revealed.
     "Very impressive, very impressive indeed!  You managed to
break through the spell, for all the good that it did you."
Reinhart found that his arm was already frozen again.  Cain walked
over, and picked up the staff, smiling.
     "Ah, yes, the ornaments that Tenchi carved for his dear
friends.  You must be wondering why he did that."  He laughed,
and tapped his head.  "Even the strongest of men is vulnerable
in his dreams...  One dream, suitably horrifying, can convince
him to do anything.  And once he made these, he left a link to
himself that I could feed anything through, should I ever need to."
He dropped it on the ground, and turned to go back over to Rosa.
     "My friends, I tire of this game...  I think that it is time
we ended it, yes?"  Reinhart watched, helpless, as Cain slowly
picked up the dagger, and raised it over his head.  "Ah, my dear...
We had fun, but I'm afraid that I mustn't let pleasure come before
business!"  Laughing again, he began to slowly lower the blade
toward her breast.
     "Rosa!  No!" shouted Reinhart, struggling again to move, but
no matter how he tried, he couldn't even twitch a muscle.  Then,
suddenly, a Sphere of Destruction slammed into Cain from behind.
The dagger went spinning away to clatter against the ground, and he
was thrown forward, over Rosa's prone form.  Reinhart looked in
stunned astonishment in the direction that it had come from, as did
Alucard and his familiars.
     Larger than life, the vampire king Dracula stood there, in
armor resembling Reinhart's father's, and holding a sword and
shield that matched Tenchi's Light Hawk Sword and Shield perfectly,
save that these were black as the emptiness above them.  He had a
grim expression, and his eyes smoldered coldly.  Cain slowly
turned, fury dancing on his face, fury which turned to shock as he
saw who had attacked him.
     Cain laughed, suddenly, laughed as though he had heard the
funniest joke in the world.

*****

     Alucard stared as his father slowly entered the room.  How
could this be?  Dracula was bereft of his powers, was he not?  But
he thought for a moment of Cain's words, that Dracula was
Castlevania's ultimate champion.  Was it possible that the castle
itself had returned Dracula to his full abilities?  Cain laughed,
long and hard, as he turned toward the ancient vampire.
     "Not as dead as you appeared to be, Grandfather.  Is this
Chaos's last defense?  Castlevania's last attempt to bar me from
ending it all?"  He laughed, as Dracula set himself to fight.
     "Perhaps you don't know much about me, Cain," said Dracula,
twisting his name sourly.  "You call yourself of my bloodline,
yet you would seek to destroy all, instead of simply humans?"
Cain laughed.
     "Oh...  That was so cutting...  I think...  I think that I
almost didn't care."  Smirking, he raised a hand, and formed a
Sphere of Destruction.  "I've taken my licks...  Can you take
yours?"  Laughing, he launched it.  Alucard watched as Dracula
brought up his shield, and the sphere splashed against it.  His
father was blasted across the room.  He hit the ground, and slid
several feet before stopping.  Slowly, though, he got up, pausing
to spit out some blood.
     "I've... taken harder hits... from the Belmonts."  Cain
laughed.
     "I am a Belmont, old man!"  He produced the whip from under
his robes, and charged Dracula.  His father raised his shield to
block, only to find that Cain was no longer there.  Cain teleported
behind Dracula, and lasted out with the whip.  It went around
Dracula's neck, and began to glow white.  Cain hauled savagely
back on the handle, and the vampire king stumbled backwards.
Cain pulled him close, and placed his hand into Dracula's back.
     "Guess what, Dracula...  This time, it's forever."  Alucard
felt rather than saw Cain form the Sphere of Destruction;
Dracula screamed as it blasted out his stomach.  He fell to the
ground, the Belmont whip still wrapped around his neck.  Cain
laughed, and teleported back over to Rosa, raising his hand.  The
dagger flew back to it, and he once again brought it over his head.
     "No...  Stop him...  My son..."  Alucard looked back in shock
as Dracula feebly raised his hand, and pointed toward Alucard.
There was a small spark, and suddenly Alucard found that he could
move.  Wasting no time, Alucard summoned up his own magic, and
flung a volley of fireballs at him.  They slammed into him, and
once again the dagger went flying away just before it bit into her
breast.  Cain turned once again, frowning.
     "Will these interruptions never cease!  Faugh!" he said
impatiently.  Alucard slowly drew his blade.
     "Where did you come from truly, Cain?  No child of Maria's
could be as evil as this."  Cain frowned for a moment, looking
down.
     "I... honestly don't know.  Maria was my mother, just as
surely as you are my father.  But perhaps I am of neither you nor
her, merely some nightmare you've dreamt as you sleep?  Fears can
be so alluring... so seductive...  Maybe this is only a figment
of your imagination, and you are still in your coffin, dreaming.
But when you die here, will you wake up?  Will Death come to carry
you away?  Or will you be eternally lost, as the succubus was?"
He laughed suddenly.  "Who can say?  Why don't we find out?"
     Alucard dove aside as Cain flung a Sphere of Destruction
at him, and morphed as he came up, dashing toward the man as a
wolf.  He leapt up, maw wide to grab at his throat.  Cain caught
him, and threw him away, to sail far through the air.  In
mid-flight, Alucard righted himself, and changed into a bat, diving
at Cain again.  He brought up his hand, face full of fury, and
formed another Sphere; reacting automatically, Alucard drew on his
own magic, and spat a ball of flame toward him.  The two spells
met between them, and detonated with a terrific blast.  Alucard
was shaken by the shock wave, and dropped to the ground, morphing
back into human form.
     He brought up his shield in just enough time to block another
blast from Cain; the ancient heirloom was knocked out of his hands
with the force.  Cain smiled grimly, and raised his hands.  Alucard
brought up his blade to try and block what ever might come at him.
Cain laughed.
     "The last stand, Alucard.  After this, nothing can stand in my
way.  Mother will be avenged, the Pendulum will be shattered,
and the pain will go away.  Nothing can stop the pain but this...
You should understand that.  I might have even asked you to help
me, but you just left Mother...  Do you think I'm mad?"  Alucard
frowned.
     "No.  I know the pain you speak of.  As my father said to me,
I will now say to you.  Fate delt me my role, just as you were delt
yours."  Cain grinned.
     "So touching...  Dracula always had a flair for the obvious."
Quicker than the eye could follow, a Sphere of Destruction
formed, and was launched at Alucard.  On instinct alone, Alucard
swung at it.  Only then did he notice that his sword was blazing
with a bright light.  He suddenly sensed her, with him... Maria,
could feel the touch of her hands around his, guiding the arc of
his blade.  The spell touched it, and was reflected back at Cain,
the sphere of darkness changing to a sphere of pure light.  Cain
gasped in pain as it slammed into him, knocking him back.  Alucard,
taking no time to marvel, dashed forward.  His blade was aimed
true, and it plunged into the dazed Cain, piercing his heart.
     Cain blinked in surprise, and looked down, at the sword that
now extended a foot and a half out his back.  Father and son looked
at each other for a moment.  Cain blinked, and coughed.
     "I...  would have...  liked to spend... a day with you...
once."  Slowly, Cain slipped off the blade, but just before it came
completely out of him, the metal snapped in two, leaving Alucard
with half of the sword, and half a foot of the broken blade
sticking out of Cain's chest.

*****

     Reinhart stared in dull amazement as Alucard batted the Sphere
of Destruction back at Cain.  For a moment, he had almost been
certain that he had seen the image of a woman there, holding the
sword with him.  But he wasn't certain, and the vision had been
brief.  Then, suddenly, Alucard's blade had been driven though
Cain's back, and he had found himself free again.  He had
immediately run to where Rosa dropped to the ground.  She moaned
quietly as she hit, but remained in the trance.  Reinhart removed
his cloak, and quickly wrapped it around her.
     He looked up as Cain fell to the ground, the broken end of
Alucard's sword still through his heart.  The dhampeal was staring
at his sword in shock; Sheann'a finished checking Rosa, and told
him that she would be fine, but the trance would remain on her for
a little while yet, and then she flew over to Alucard.
     "She was here...  She turned back his spell," Reinhart heard
him say, with wonder in his voice.  Sheann'a said something
to him; he nodded, and slowly sheathed what was left of his blade.
Reinhart looked at Rosa once more, and then walked over to where
he had left the staff.  Slowly, he picked it up, and smiled.  She
had been avenged.  Reinhart dug into his pocket, and pulled out the
small cube that Washu had given him.  He turned to Alucard.
     "What will you do now?" he asked.  Alucard frowned.
     "This world holds nothing for me now.  Not even my father."
Alucard laughed suddenly, though the sound was cold, barren.
Strange, Reinhart reflected...  A few days ago, he would have been
chilled by that laugh.  Now he almost felt like joining him.  "He
broke the chains that he had made for himself.  In the end, had I
had the chance, I would have forgiven him."
     The words were barely out of his mouth, when suddenly a pillar
of light shot down from above them.  Automatically, they dropped
into battle stances, ready for a fight, no longer caring.  Reinhart
realized that they had both lost what they had come to protect.
But slowly, Alucard straightened, as Sheann'a and Drathar gasped.
Out of the light stepped two ghostly forms.
     One was Rosa, the Rosa that had opened the Belmont tomb for
them... what seemed ages ago to Reinhart.  She smiled at him, and
walked over, knelt by his sister.  Gently, she touched her
forehead, and seemed to dim for a moment.  Then she stood, and
looked at Reinhart.
     "Cain was bluffing; trying to set you off balance.  She will
be fine, but will have no memory of anything that happened after
you first arrived within the tower."  Smiling again, she backed
away, almost to the pillar of light.
     The other woman was the woman that they had seen in Alucard's
memory, the one that he said was his mother.  She walked to him
slowly, smiling.  He stared at her in disbelief, his mouth working.
The ghost came up to him, and hugged him.  He blinked, and slowly,
returned the embrace.
     "I'm sorry... that I was not there when you needed me to be.
But you have lived up to every hope that I could have.  Thank you,
my son.  Now, I've come to finish what you have began."  She
smiled, separated from him, and then slowly walked over to
Dracula's corpse.  She knelt there, and gently turned the body
over.  They all watched in amazement as she took his hand, and
smiled.
     "Arise, my love.  Arise.  You have served your penance...
Proven yourself once and for all.  Alucard has forgiven you, and I
have always forgiven you.  Arise."  She slowly stood, then, and as
she did, a faint, faded image of Dracula stood with her.  His eyes
seemed full of wonder.  She kissed him tenderly, and they embraced.
Dracula looked over at Alucard, in surprise.  Alucard looked away
for a moment, but then slowly looked back.  There was a faint smile
on his face, and he nodded to them.
     Alucard's mother slowly led Dracula towards the shimmering
light.  As they reached it, he stopped.  Raising his hand, he
touched it lightly, and then slowly put a hand in.  Drawing it back
out, he looked at Alucard again, and then suddenly laughed, and
stepped in.  Rosa slowly approached Dracula's body, and carefully
unwrapped the whip from his neck.  It glowed faintly in her hands,
as she rolled it up.  She looked at them once again, a little
sadly, and then stepped into the light herself, raising a hand in
farewell.  The light slowly faded away.  Reinhart smiled, but it
was empty.  He looked at the staff again, and then set the cube on
the ground.
     "Wait."
     Reinhart turned around at the voice of Death, frowning.
The ancient specter slowly came toward them from the shadows.
Oddly, he wasn't carrying his scythe with him.  Beyond that, he
seemed no different from before.
     "What do you want?" he asked coldly.  Death looked at him long
and hard, frowning.
     "Balance...  This is what I have been, since the beginning
of eternity.  This is what I shall always be.  The balance has been
shifted, here."  Death looked at Sheann'a.
     "It is much your fault, though you could not know it.  Cain
was never meant to be; you saved her from what had been her time
to die.  If she had died when she was supposed to, then none of
this ever would have happened.  That the disaster was averted
was only the purest luck.  Even now, the armies of heaven and hell
march here, to destroy the castle once and for all."  He looked
at Alucard.
     "Fate.  My long time ally betray me this time.  For that, I
could do nothing.  Almost, I would have let Cain succeed in his
plan, if for nothing more than an end to my own eternal pain.  You
were woken just in time to help save all, though Cain brought
his own downfall by forcing Tenchi's children here."  Death looked
at Reinhart, then.
     "Death.  I am, and always shall be a great judge, eternally
deciding if it is someone's time or not.  That is my Fate.  But my
role was tainted by Cain.  First Reinhart, then Rosa, then all
three of their children, though I told the fool Elder Demons not to
start that war, all five of them were killed long before their time
was due.  That shifted the balance.  It became weighted to the side
of darkness, and would have shattered the Pendulum by itself,
had the balance shifted far enough more...  One more loss of a soul
before its time.
     "But when the last soul was lost, this time I was able to be
there in time to preserve it.  Balance.  That is what I am, what
I always shall be.  The balance must be restored."  Death raised
his skeletal hand, and gestured as though he was picking something
up.  He brought his hand up, and from the ground, a tall crystal
grew.
     Inside, the body of Carrie waited, hands folded neatly over
her stomach, unclad as Rosa had been.  Death sighed, as the crystal
stopped growing.  The ancient specter looked at Reinhart, and put
out a hand.
     "The staff.  When I saw that you were going to take it with
you, I sealed her spirit there, knowing that Cain would think her
harmless.  While you were here, fighting him, I was purifying
her body of the last effects of his spell, that it would be ready
to receive her soul again.  Give it to me, and I shall finish the
process."  Reinhart frowned, and looked at Alucard and his
familiars.
     Alucard frowned, but slowly nodded.  Sheann'a smiled at him,
while Drathar looked at Death for a moment.  Shrugging, he nodded
too.  Reinhart looked at Death, and then slowly handed him the
staff.  The ancient specter took it from him, and carefully
stood it on end.  Letting go of it, he looked down, and began to
chant quietly.
     "As the rising sun eventually sets, so too does the setting
sun rise.  As a newborn life will eventually fade, so too will a
faded one be reborn to shine anew.  I call this spirit; you have
passed from life to my breast, now pass once again from my breast
to life, and with your return, set the balance once again.  Return,
Carrie Fernandez, and take your rightful life among man."
     As he spoke, the staff slowly began to glow, brighter and
brighter, until it was almost painful to look at.  But Reinhart
forced himself to keep watching.  There was a bright flash, and a
strange, disembodied seeming orb split away from the glow, and sank
into the crystal, splitting apart as it did.  The larger sphere
by far settled into her chest, the smaller, drifted to her stomach,
and disappeared inside. She took a sudden breath of air, as the
crystal shattered, and fell to the ground, as did the staff.
Reinhart was at her side almost before she hit the ground; Alucard
took his cloak off, and handed it to Reinhart, and he wrapped
her in it.  Death spoke quietly.
     "She sleeps.  She will be weak for some time; do not push her
limits.  What I have undone once, I can not undo again."  He turned
to leave, but Alucard caught him on the shoulder.
     "Why, Death?"  Death looked at him, and seemed to smile
slightly.
     "I was once told that my fate was to never touch life, only
see it fleeting from my grasp.  Perhaps that is my penance, and
perhaps one day I will join your father, my old friend."  The
specter stepped away, and slowly disappeared back into the shadows.
Reinhart carefully placed his arms under Carrie, and stood.  Then
he realized that he wouldn't be able to get them both through
the gate.  But almost as if reading his mind, Alucard spoke.
     "I will take Rosa.  There is nothing left for me here.
Perhaps my Fate lies in another land."  Sheann'a and Drathar looked
at him in shock, but Reinhart just nodded, smiling.  The dhampeal
walked over, and knelt, gathering Rosa as Reinhart had picked up
Carrie.  Sheann'a looked at Drathar.
     "Are you sure that's the same Alucard we came with?"  Drathar
shrugged, and dropped down to pick up Carrie's staff.  Reinhart
looked at the fairy.
     "There is a button on the top of that square.  Could you
please press it?  Then get away from it as fast as you can."  The
fairy grinned, and nodded.  She dropped down, and pressed it.
Seconds later, the portal opened.  As it did, the castle began to
shake.
     "The armies are here," said Drathar.  Reinhart looked at
Alucard.
     "Go through, I'll follow you.

*****

     Ryoko blinked as an alarm went off from Washu's watch.  Her
mother looked down, and laughed.
     "They're signaling!" she exclaimed, and ran toward the lab.
They all got up and followed her in, Ryoko and Tenchi at the head
of the pack.  Ayeka, Yosho, Misaki, Funaho, Mayuka, and Nobuyuki
all brought up the rear.  They reached the main room of the lab
just as Washu opened the gate.  A wide portal appeared, that
strange shimmering darkness.
     The first thing to come out was what looked like a flying
doll.  Ryoko blinked, as the little creature grinned sheepishly,
and waved at them.  Next out of the portal was what looked like a
gargoyle, complete with pitchfork, and holding the staff that
Tenchi and made for Carrie while they were in Romania.  He looked
around, and shrugged, then turned back toward the portal.
     The first part to appear was Rosa, wrapped in a cloak,
seemingly floating in mid air.  Ryoko resisted the urge to run
toward her, to find out what had happened.  She was followed
by her bearer, a tall man with a long mane of white hair, a stoic
face, and body armor.
     "Oh my..." she heard Ayeka say quietly.  Ryoko looked at the
Empress, she was staring at the man with a rather unusual
expression.  Ryoko blinked, and looked at the man again.  His gaze
swept over all of them once, and then he slowly walked forward,
looking about himself.  She looked at Ayeka again.  Her gaze was
locked onto the man.  Ryoko winced mentally.  Now she knew where
she had seen that expression before.  She had seen it when Ayeka
had first met Tenchi.  She nudged Tenchi, and pointed to the
Empress, he glanced at her, and grinned.
     Before she could ask him who he was, and why he was carrying
Rosa, a second person being carried through the portal began to
appear.  She had long cyan hair, which hung limply back, and was
wrapped in a black cape.  Her eyes were closed, but Ryoko blinked.
If her face had been a bit more pale, and younger... She blinked
again as the woman slowly opened her eyes and looked around in
confusion.  Her golden eyes.  It was Carrie!  Reinhart, who was
carrying her, stepped the rest of the way through.  As he did, the
portal snapped shut.  He looked down as she stirred in his arms.
     "Dad!" exclaimed Rosa, from the strange man's arms.  She
looked around, suddenly confused.  "How did I get here?  And why
are you carrying me, Alucard?"  She looked at herself.  "AND WHERE
ARE MY CLOTHES!"  The man looked at her apologetically,
and Ryoko was certain that she saw a grin tug the corners of the
flying girl's mouth.  Ryoko cleared her throat.
     "A question I'd like to know for myself, Mr..."  She trailed
off, raising her eyebrow.
     "Alucard, mother.  I'll explain in a little bit, but first,
we need to get them into some clothes?  I'm sure Rosa and Carrie
are already confused enough as it is?" said Reinhart.  Ryoko looked
at him in surprise; he wasn't usually the one to take the lead,
but nodded reluctantly. She wanted to hear what had happened,
but that could wait.  Tenchi moved forward, and took Rosa from
Alucard; the man nodded to him, a thoughtful look on his face.
     "You are Tenchi?" he asked.  Tenchi nodded.  "I believe that
you knew my father."  Tenchi frowned a moment, but then suddenly
he raised an eyebrow.  "Yes, I believe I did.  Perhaps we could
talk at a later time?"  Alucard nodded; Ryoko wondered what the
entire exchange had been about.  Instead, she moved over to
Reinhart and Carrie.  The woman looked up at her.
     "It's... been a long time... Ryoko.  Rosa... said to say
hello..."  Ryoko smiled, and looked at Reinhart.
     "I have the feeling that you are going to have a very long
story to tell me.  But for now, take her up and get her some
clothes.  I think that Ayeka left some that should just about fit
her," she said.  Ayeka looked up at the mention of her name, and
nodded.  Carrie smiled weakly.
     "My... staff.  Where is it... Reinhart?"  He smiled at her,
and called over the gargoyle like creature; naming it Drathar.
He smiled, and handed it over.  Taking it, she looked much better.
     "Come on, first things first.  Let's get you and Rosa
dressed," Reinhart said, and then looked at Ryoko.  "And then I get
to see if I can explain just what happened."  Ryoko blinked.
He hadn't stumbled even once.  As he moved away, carrying her, she
noticed that he didn't seem tense in the slightest.  For a moment,
she wondered if she had been right, and they really had...  She
shook her head.  Reinhart took after Tenchi more than her.
     "He is... handsome, is he not?"  Ryoko jumped as Ayeka came
to stand next to her.  She looked at the Empress.
     "I thought that you said Yosho was your consort now?"  Ayeka
looked at her, frowning.
     "You know very well that was only to trick the council."
Ryoko laughed.
     "I thought you said Tenchi spoiled you."
     "And you said that Tenchi spoiled all of us.  Besides, I was
just remarking that he was handsome.  Nothing more."
     "Yeah right."
---
The Platinum Dragon
"The rising sun will eventually set,
  a newborn's life will fade.
  From sun to moon, moon to sun,
  Give peaceful rest to the living dead." - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of
Time
http://dragonsanime.dreamhost.com - Dragon's Masaki Shrine of Tenchi Muyo
Proud Member of the Ryoko Forever Fan Club