Blood Red Moon Eternity
     Chapter 3: Black Pawn to White Queen

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 

*****

     Reinhart smiled broadly, as Mihoshi's ship hovered to a rare 
clean stop just above the surface of the lake, instead of crashing 
into it.  That alone might normally be reason enough for 
celebration, though they already had their reason for the 
day.  She had sent a message nearly a half-year before that the 
Galaxy Police had finished rebuilding the main hull of Yukinojo.  
The ship's original hull had been destroyed in the Battle of 
G'vanha, which was the name of the asteroid field that the GP main 
HQ resided in.
     Beside him, Carrie stared in amazement at the ship.  He knew 
that she had never quite believed in spaceships; certainly the idea 
would be fantastic enough to him if he hadn't grown up with them.  
He wondered what she would say if he told her that the ship in 
front of them was only the a small part of a much larger ship.
     Mihoshi was teleported near them by the ship's AI.  Fifty 
years old, by her race's standards she was just entering her adult 
years.  His father said that she had once been much ditzier than 
she was now; Reinhart honestly wondered how that could be possible.  
But things just wouldn't be the same without her.  She waved, 
grinning from ear to ear.  Carrie elbowed him lightly in the ribs.
     "Your dance card is already filled, remember?"  He turned, 
grinning at her, and gave her a quick kiss.
     "I wouldn't dream of stumbling over my two left feet with 
anybody else, Carrie."  She laughed.  On her back, Elayne looked 
around from a baby carrier; for her, this would be the first time 
that she would meet several memebers of the family.  They walked 
toward the field, where a long table and elaborate cook set - made 
by Washu, of course - had been set up.  Even as they started 
moving, Nobuyuki and, to his surprise, Sasami, came out the door of 
the house with their arms overflowing with food.  He grinned at the 
prospect of eating Sasami's cooking again - since completing her 
transformation into Tsunami, she rarely got the chance to cook.
     Trailing not far behind them were Washu and Mayuka.  The 
pink-haired scientist was grinning a little secretively; Reinhart 
wondered what she had planned.  Mayuka was carrying a large box; 
Washu pointed to an open spot on the ground, and she carried it 
over and set it down.  That would be Washu's experiment, Reinhart 
was sure.
     Last out of the house were Rosa and his mother, Ryoko.  For a 
moment, he couldn't tell them apart; then he caught the reflection 
of the crimson gem in his mother's wrist.  Taller by just a hair, 
from a distance, his mother and sister were impossible to tell 
apart.  Even up close, they could be hard to discern between, at 
least until they started talking.  Then it was easy to pick out his 
sister from Ryoko - Rosa rarely passed up a chance to tease him 
about something.  They appeared to be having a rather animated 
conversation; he wished that he was close enough to be able to hear 
what they were saying.  Ryoko grinned suddenly, and nodded, and 
Rosa laughed.  He would have to remember to ask his sister what 
they had been talking about.  His mother laughed, and then flew 
over to the steps leading up to his great-grandfather's shrine.
     Ayeka, Yosho, Funaho, and Misaki came down the steps.  To his 
surprise, the entire group seemed somewhat subdued, although they 
were all smiling.  Ayeka and Misaki especially seemed preoccupied 
by something; both were moving slowly with their hands folded 
before them, appearing deep in thought.  Ryoko reached them, and 
waved her hand in front of the Empress's face when she didn't 
respond to Ryoko's greetings.  Ayeka looked up in surprise, as if 
she hadn't realized that his mother was there.  Reinhart frowned, 
wondering what was the matter with them.
     Reinhart caught himself breathing a sigh of relief.  If 
Misaki was in a quiet mood, then maybe they would be able to pass 
the day without any of his great-aunt's legendary bear-hugs, a few 
of which he himself had been the recipient of.  They could be life 
altering experiences... literally.  He would be quite pleased to 
avoid any of those, though according to Funaho, the only person to 
have ever escaped one of Misaki's 'attacks' was Alucard - and she 
had tried to get him more than once.
     A flicker off to his right caught Reinhart's eye; he turned 
slightly, as a huge black wolf carrying Sheann'a and Drathar on his 
back trotted up beside him.  Sheann'a grinned, and waved at Carrie 
and him before she and Drathar hopped off the animal's back, 
hovering in air beside it.  The wolf sat down on its haunches, and 
then suddenly morphed into Alucard.  The dhampeal stood from his 
crouching position, and nodded in his direction.  He wore his full 
battle armor, and a sword was at his side; a long, blue ribbon was 
tied from the pommel down to the scabbard, and back up to the 
pommel.  He had explained once that a blue ribbon tied in a double 
bow meant that the sword was peaceful that day.
     It was a tradition dating back thousands of years in his 
world.  Alucard had taught him some of the surprisingly intricate 
'Code of Blades.'  If there had only been a single bow, it would 
have meant that it had just shed the blood of a loved one.  Had the 
ribbon been red and tied in a double bow, then Alucard could not 
have left before shedding the blood of a mortal enemy.  Red and 
tied in a single bow, it would have meant that he must shed the 
blood of a loved one.
     Reinhart didn't blame Alucard for coming in full armor, even 
if it was just the way that the dhampeal was.  He rarely saw his 
friend without the ancient gear, yet for him it might have been 
wiser.  Since managing to dodge Misaki a year before, she seemed to 
have taken a special interest in him.  There weren't many things 
that worried Alucard...  Misaki was one of the few that did.  
Sheann'a landed on his shoulder, as he turned to them.
     "Good morning, Reinhart, Carrie," he said.  Reinhart grinned, 
and then blinked as he noticed that the dhampeal's hand was heavily 
bandaged.
     "What happened to your hand, Alucard?"  Alucard looked down 
at his hand, and then touched the sword lightly.
     "The Severing and Bonding of Blades."  Reinhart nodded, and 
looked a little closer at the sword.  He raised an eyebrow as he 
recognized the ancient blade Ryuu-ken.  According to the Code, when 
a sword had broken in service of its master, and a new one was 
earned, or given as a gift, the bond that had been formed with the 
old one had to be severed - literally.  The sword was taken in 
hand, and slowly pulled away, slicing open the palm.  Then the 
broken sword was placed to rest, and the new sword held in the cut 
hand, so that the blood flowing from it coated the pommel.  In that 
way, he thanked the old sword for its services, and bound himself 
to the new.  It was an ancient ritual.
     "I may not be much in the way of healing, Alucard, but I can 
at least manage to heal a cut hand.  Let me-" started Carrie, but 
Reinhart touched her on the shoulder lightly, and shook his head.  
Carrie looked at him, confused.
     "Thank you for the offer, Carrie, but it must heal on its 
own."  On his shoulder, Sheann'a shrugged.
     "Men and their crazy ideas about what they must do to uphold  
their honor," she said, rolling her eyes.  Alucard looked at her, 
frowning slightly, and Carrie chuckled slightly.  Reinhart looked 
at the dhampeal, and shrugged.
     "It looks like we won't get a chance to spar today.  Though I 
have the feeling that we'll both be fending off attacks of a 
different sort."  Alucard's lips curled into the barest hint of a 
smile; Sheann'a frowned, and Carrie elbowed him in the ribs again.  
Not nearly as lightly as she had before.  He grinned at her.  It 
was a sort of ritual they had started; every morning, he and 
Alucard would spar with bokken for an hour.  It was partly to keep 
in practice, but it was also partly an expression of the good 
friendship that had grown between them.
     "Indeed."  They were an even match for each other; they ended 
as many days with a draw as they did with one of them scoring a 
win.  Carrie smiled at Alucard; her own staff was still in their 
room, though she could call it to her at any time with a simple 
spell.  Together, the small group walked the rest of the way toward 
where the rest of the family had congregated.  Tenchi grinned and 
waved them over to where he and Ryoko stood.  His mother grinned as 
Elayne stretched a tiny hand toward where her; Carrie smiled, and 
slid out of the carrier, handing the child to Ryoko.
     "We were starting to think that you wouldn't make it," said 
Tenchi.  Carrie laughed.  
     "I had a little trouble getting Reinhart out of bed."  Ryoko 
chuckled, as Elayne squirmed in her grip.
     "I can't imagine why."  Reinhart blinked, as they laughed at 
some hidden joke.  Not for the first time, he wondered if all women 
had some sort of secret language that they all knew and used to 
make fun of men.  Tenchi shrugged his shoulders as if to say that 
he knew what Reinhart was thinking, and then turned to Alucard.
     "The sword suits you." Alucard nodded.
     "I have known this blade for a long time, though you only 
gave it to me last night.  My thanks again."  Tenchi grinned, and 
nodded.  Not far away, Sasami called that the meal was ready, and 
Reinhart grinned, as everybody moved to the table.  Sitting down, 
he looked around the table.  His mother and father sat up at the 
head of the table; Rosa sat to his right, and Carrie sat with 
Elayne to his left.  Mayuka sat down between his mother and Rosa, 
grinning widely.  Alucard sat down across from him, and Reinhart 
chuckled as Ayeka took the seat next to him.  The dhampeal blinked, 
but betrayed nothing of his thoughts.
     Misaki frowned as she saw that Alucard's other side was 
already covered by his familiars; Reinhart had no doubt that he had 
planned it that way.  Sasami set down some dishes on the table, and 
then sat down next to Ayeka; Misaki, Funaho, Yosho, Mihoshi and 
Nobuyuki filled the remaining chairs on that side.  Shrugging, 
Washu sat down in the chair next to Carrie, directly across from 
Sheann'a and Drathar.  The two familiars looked at each other, and 
swallowed nervously, as Washu fixed them with a piercing gaze.  
They began to eat.
     As Reinhart looked around, he wondered if they would all have 
another chance to all be together like this again.  With Tokimi 
likely ready to move again, there was a chance that they would not 
see each other again for a very long time.
     Reinhart looked up, as Sasami laughed, and saw that Ryo-Ohki 
had climbed up to her head, and snatched a stray carrot from one of 
the nearby serving plates.  The cabbit settled in with a happy 
expression, and he grinned.  This really was like old times, before 
Ayeka had become Empress, Sasami had completed her transformation, 
and Mihoshi had been promoted.  They were all together.  There was 
nothing that they couldn't face.  The family finished eating, and 
after taking a moment to clear the tables, began to talk amongst 
themselves again.  Reinhart turned to Carrie, as she picked up 
Elayne, and pointed toward Ayeka, as the Empress moved alongside 
Alucard.
     "Well, do you think that we should ask them?  There probably 
isn't going to be a better time."  Carrie nodded, and they walked 
toward Ayeka and Alucard, who were having a quiet conversation a 
little off to the side of the main group.  Reinhart caught the tail 
end of it as they drew near.
     "There... has been an unexpected change of events...  I would 
like to speak with you... in private after the party is over, 
Alucard...  I have a... request that I must make of you," said Ayeka 
quietly.  Reinhart frowned at the strangely serious tone to her 
voice.  Alucard looked at her.
     "I have a debt to you for your aid earlier today.  If it is 
in my power to do so, I shall help you, Ayeka."  She colored 
slightly, and thanked him.  They turned, as Reinhart and Carrie 
reached them.  Carrie smiled, and Reinhart cleared his throat.
     "We were hoping to be able to catch the two of you alone.  
After talking it over, Carrie and I decided to ask if you two would 
be Elayne's god-parents.  I mean, we'll understand if you can't, 
but..."  He trailed off, as Ayeka smiled broadly.
     "I would love to, Reinhart, Carrie," she said, laughing, 
though for some reason her eyes became sad.  "Thank you...  I am 
glad you thought me suitable for this task."  Reinhart blinked; 
usually Ayeka was nowhere near that humble.  Something wasn't 
right; he was certain of it.  But he smiled, and turned to Alucard.  
The dhampeal was looking at them in surprise, or at least as close 
to it as he ever got.  Slowly, though, he smiled.  It wasn't really 
a movement of his lips, more something that he did with his eyes, a 
softening of them.  It was something that had taken Reinhart a 
while to start to recognize, though it was something that Alucard 
did fairly often.
     "It would be an honor, my friends," he said, surprisingly 
warmly, especially for him.  Reinhart and Carrie both blinked in 
surprise; Alucard was not usually so open with his words, but they 
smiled in return.  Ayeka asked Carrie if she could hold Elayne for 
a moment, and she handed her over.  Ayeka smiled, and looked at the 
baby with an almost far off look in her eyes.
     "The last time that I held a baby was when Tenchi's aunt 
brought Taro over for a few days.  He wore us all out, and Washu 
ended up doing all of the work."  She tickled Elayne under the 
chin, and was rewarded with a laugh.  Ayeka sighed, and smiled 
almost sadly, to Reinhart's surprise.
     As he opened his mouth to ask her what was bothering her, 
Reinhart suddenly felt a presence.  Something familiar...  He 
looked up at Alucard as the dhampeal looked around, frowning.  
Their eyes met for a moment, and he could see that he felt it too.  
It was... evil...  Carrie put a hand on his arm.  It was so 
familiar, that presence...  His eyes widened as he suddenly 
recognized it.
     He found himself suddenly flying backwards, his body wracked 
with pain.  Reinhart slammed into the ground, and heard Carrie 
shout not far away as she landed.  Groaning, he sat up as Rosa 
flashed past him with her force sword ready.  He followed her 
flight, wondering what had hit him, and blinked as a bright light 
flashed.  He heard her scream, and then she landed not far away 
from him with a groan.  Blinking away the glare, he gasped as he 
saw what had thrown him back.
     "No!  It can't be!" breathed Carrie.  Where they had been 
standing, the ground had been blackened by the force of a spell.  In 
the center of that ground stood Cain.  He stood next to Ayeka, who 
was trapped in a bubble shaped forcefield.  His heart shuddered, as 
he saw that she still held Elayne.  Reinhart pushed himself to his 
feet, and saw Alucard shaking off the blast and standing behind 
Cain.  The dhampeal drew his sword, snapping the ribbon in the 
process, and dropped into a ready stance.
     As one, they charged him.  Cain frowned at him in curiosity, 
as though he had never seen Reinhart before.  He didn't see Alucard 
coming up behind him, but Reinhart got there first, being closer.  
Leaping up, Reinhart summoned his sword, and slashed straight down.  
He was only slightly surprised when he came in contact with the 
shield around Cain; indeed, the man seemed more surprised than he 
was.  It was all Reinhart could do to make himself simply drop to 
the ground instead of be thrown back again by the shield.
     "Do I know you?  Can you tell me who I am?" asked Cain 
suddenly.  The questions caught Reinhart offguard, but before he 
could answer, Alucard made his own attack.  Ryuu-ken sliced through 
the shield around him as though it wasn't there; only a quick 
movement to the side allowed him to avoid being run through.  Cain 
blinked in surprise as he saw Alucard's face, and he lightly 
touched his chest, over his heart.
     "I know your face...  You gave me this...  Who are you?" he 
asked Alucard, as he raised his hand.  The dhampeal leapt backward 
as Cain threw several fireballs at him.  While he was distracted, 
Reinhart threw his own barrage at Cain.  They bounced off his 
shield.
     Suddenly Tenchi, Ryoko, and Rosa were at his side, and as one 
they began to advance on Cain.  He frowned again as he saw them 
all, and then turned to Ayeka.  She was pounding on the inside of 
her prison with one hand, holding Elayne close to protect her with 
the other.  Cain sighed.
     "She ordered me to bring only the Empress back, not a 
child...  I would like very much to ask what you know about me, not 
to mention give back the child, but I do not think that you would 
tell me...  Tokimi will be angry...  But it seems that I have no 
choice but to take the child with me, because if I release the 
shield long enough to remove her, the Empress might try to 
escape...  I'm sorry..."  Reinhart heard Carrie scream no, and leapt 
forward to try and grab him, but Cain disappeared just before he 
got there, along with Ayeka and Elayne.
     "CAIN!!!"

---
The Platinum Dragon
Dragon's Masaki Shrine of Tenchi Muyo - http://dragonsanime.com
"The rising sun will eventually set,
  A newborn's life will fade.
  From sun to moon, moon to sun,
  give peacefull rest to the living dead." - Zelda64
Proud Member of the Ryoko Forever Fan Club