Blood Red Moon Eternity
     Chapter 9: The Warrior's Sorrow

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

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

*****

     D3 stared in shock as Alucard caught his energy staff with a
bare hand, and quickly began to feed more power into it.  Smoke
began to rise from Alucard's hand; the man didn't even flinch.  Then,
suddenly he saw the rage that almost poured into his blue eyes.
Alucard growled, and then D3 gasped, as he felt himself being
lifted and thrown clear across the room.  He smacked into the wall,
and slowly pushed himself up.  With a start, he realized that
Alucard had disappeared.
     What had just happened?  The death of the fairy girl had been
preordained; he couldn't have let her reach Ayeka, but Alucard
should have been sliced in half with his strike.  How had he caught
it?  It wasn't possible, and the sheer amount of power he had
poured through it while the man had held it should have killed him
out of hand!  Yet somehow, he had survived it.
     There was a sound to his right; D3 leapt away, throwing several
blasts in that direction.  The smoke cleared, and he scowled as he
realized that nothing was there.  Even as he saw that, he gasped as
he felt something draw a long line down his left arm.  D3 clamped
his hand down on it; when he looked down at it, he was surprised to
see blood oozing out of the cut.  But then he realized; in a
physical body, he would be killed if the body was killed.  He
jumped away, and launched another blind salvo at where he had been.
As he landed, a second gash, a match to the first, was opened on
his right arm by his unseen enemy.
     D3 scowled, and looked around.  The man was playing with him.
Forming his energy staff, he looked around again, holding the staff
at ready.  Curse this physical body, this would be over had he been
in his astral form.
     "Where are you, Alucard?  Come and fight with the honor that
you hold so dear!"  There was a flicker, and then he appeared
before him.  But he had changed, somehow.  His hands had become
long talons; long, sharp fangs had grown from his mouth.  But his
eyes...  They had been human when he had disappeared.  Now, they
were wild, belonging to some insane animal, glowing an evil red.
D3 felt the first stirrings of fear deep within his heart.  The
dhampeal smiled grimly.
     "Alucard?  Alucard is not here right now."  With that, he
suddenly charged forward, moving faster than D3 could follow,
swinging his sword at his neck.  He just barely got his staff up to
block; when the two weapons met, some sort of energy blast threw
him backwards.  He slammed into a wall, and rolled to the side just
in time to avoid the claws that dug deeply into the stone of the
wall.
     He threw a fireball; Alucard dropped his shield into place
and the projectile bounced off of it, reflecting to hit him
instead.  Alucard laughed, and slammed his sword down through the
calf of his leg while he was still stunned by the blast.  D3
shouted, as intense pain rippled up from the injury.  Slowly,
Alucard began to draw it back out, twisting the blade as he did.
     "Have you ever seen how a cat likes to play with a mouse?  He
slowly injures it, little by little, until finally the mouse can't
go on anymore."  He smiled, and D3 shivered.  "Better run quick,
little mouse.  I'm hungry," he finished, as the last of the sword
left his leg.  D3 scrambled away, he leg limply trailing along, and
then abruptly found himself in a corner.  Alucard slowly approached
him, those wild, insane seeming eyes glowing in anticipation.  In a
panic driven move, he tried throwing another fireball.  Alucard
didn't even bother trying to avoid it; it slammed into him and he
kept walking as though he hadn't even felt it.
     "What are you?" he asked, as Alucard reached down and wrapped
his taloned hand around his throat.  He slowly lifted him to eye
level, and then suddenly slammed his fist into D3's stomach.  He
blinked, as incredible pain exploded through his body.  Alucard
smiled.
     "I am the hand Death used to touch you."  He pulled his hand
out of D3's belly, drawing with it his heart.  D3 blinked again, as
a strange, icy coldness began to spread through his body, centering
on his chest.  But his eyes were locked on Alucard, as he slowly
brought his heart up in a blood covered hand.
     As the chill that D3 suddenly recognized as death began to
fill his mind, and he felt himself beginning to fall into that
forever icy embrace, Alucard smiled, and began to eat his heart.
Then his eyes stopped seeing, and he knew no more.

*****

     As always with the Vampiric Rage, it passed as suddenly as it
had come, and Alucard returned to himself abruptly.  His body hurt;
there was no telling what he had been hit with while under the
Rage's control, but he knew that while berserk he was all but
invulnerable.  He looked down, and saw the mangled remains of D3
still clutched in his hand; they were barely recognizable as human
anymore.  He let go of them, and did his best to scrub the blood on
his hands away with a small, clean part of the corpse's robes.
    Alucard staggered away, as exhaustion caught up with him, and
dropped into a chair that had miraculously survived.  A few moments
of rest would be enough; the Rage had touched him enough times
before that he recovered his strength after it fairly fast.
     The room was a shambles.  Very little remained in one piece;
what survived was only still together by shreds of fabric, or half
smashed supports.  He shook his head; it hardly mattered to him
anymore.  Dead.  A part of him was dead.  He looked at the pile of
rubble that had buried Sheann'a, and slowly, stood, and walked over
to it.
     "Here lies half my soul," he said softly, and then turned
toward the back doorway.  D3 had said Ayeka was in the royal
bedchamber.  Slowly, he began to move toward it.  He had sworn an
oath to Tsunami; his job wasn't done yet.  As he started to walk,
he suddenly heard a very faint sound from behind him, and looked
back to the pile of debris, frowning.  It came again, and he
blinked.  Cocking his head, he listened carefully.
     "Get me out of here!!!" he suddenly heard.  Eyes widening, he
quickly began to dig through the rubble, stones and larger chunks
flying away.  Finally, he came down to one huge slab.  Grabbing the
edges of it, he strained upward.  His arms screamed in torment,
still slightly weak from the Rage, but with one final heave, he
lifted it somewhat away from the ground.
     Sheann'a burst out from under it, sucking in a deep breath,
and then scowled at him.
     "What in the hell took you so long?  I've been shouting for
help for an hour!  Couldn't you hear me?"  She looked around, then,
frowning.  "Geeze...  What'd you do, summon up a tornado?"  Alucard
rolled the slab to the side a little, and let it drop.  Where it
had covered, he saw a deep hollow formed by three more large slabs
that had landed on end.  Sheann'a landed on his shoulder, and
grinned.  "There have been some close calls in the past, but I'd
say this is the closest we've ever had."  He looked at her, and
frowned.
     "So help me, if you ever scare me like that again, I swear
I'll... I'll..."  She blinked in surprise, and then laughed.
     "I never knew you cared.  C'mon, lighten up!  I'm not going
anywhere."  She looked toward D3's remains.  "If these are Ayeka's
quarters, I don't think she'll be too happy with your
rearrangements.  Didn't he say she was right through there?"
Alucard grinned, and shook his head.
     "We're taking a vacation after this, I swear it."  He
approached the doorway, pulling the crystalline flask from his belt
pouch, and then looked at Sheann'a.  "You've tempted fate once
today; you aren't going to do it again.  She is likely already in
the final stage.  Wait for me in the hall."  She frowned, and
opened her mouth to argue, but he stilled her with a grimace.
Sighing, she jumped off his shoulder, and flew to the hallway door.
     "Be careful, alright?" He smirked at her.
     "I never knew you cared."  She scowled, and disappeared out
the doorway.  Alucard looked at the flask again, with its crimson
Water of Life, and wondered at this latest twist of fate.  He
reached out for the handle, and turned it, opening the door.
     Immediately, he sensed danger.  There was no light in the
room; it took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness.  He
looked around the huge room.  It was dominated by a huge bed which
filled one corner.  A huge dresser, a wardrobe, and a vanity filled
some of the other space, but there was no Ayeka that he could see.
Slowly, he entered the room, his shield held ready, the flask of
Water in hand.
     The attack came from the right; Ayeka smashed into his side
with a hiss, knocking him down.  He cursed as the flask went
spinning away, and rolled as a fist slammed down into the ground.
He frowned, and looked up to see a pair of wild glowing red eyes
staring down at him from above.  Pulling his knees up, he planted
both feet into her stomach and pushed her away.  She flipped in
mid-air, and landed, snarling, in a crouch.  Alucard frowned as he
saw the proof of what he had suspected since Tsunami had given him
the small, crystalline flask.  A pair of long, sharp fangs that
peeked out from behind her lips.
     Ayeka charged him; he dove to the side, looking for the
flask.  An entire race of vampires...  it boggled the mind.  She
had said that Juraians held vampires in high esteem, but that the
last had died out long before.  Now he understood; they hadn't died
out, simply evolved, changed into a new form.  He spotted the
flask, and made a grab for it; just before he closed his hand
around it he felt something grab his leg and then found himself
sailing through the air.  He bounced off the wall, and landed on
the titanic bed.  Before he could shake off the blow, Ayeka leapt
up and onto him, snarling.
     He caught her arms and was barely able to hold her off, but
with the give of the bed he couldn't get any leverage to push her
away.  She smiled cruelly, as if to say that it was only a matter
of time now.  Ayeka stretched her neck down, snapping at his too
vulnerable throat.  He pulled back as best he could, but knew that
he wouldn't be able to hold her off forever.
     "Alucard!" Ayeka glanced aside in surprise as Sheann'a
dropped the flask beside them; it was just enough of a distraction
to heave up, and flip them both over.  Ayeka screamed in rage as he
pinned her down, and held her arms down over her head, freeing one
of his own hands.  He stretched toward the flask.
     "Sheann'a, you never listen to me.  Thank you!" he said, as
his hand closed around the crystalline flask.  Under him, Ayeka
screamed, and struggled harder to get away, her legs kicking
wildly.  He grunted as she drove a knee into his side, but finally
managed to release the stopper.  Frowning, he forced the open end
into her mouth, and then plugged her nose to make sure she
swallowed.
     The crimson liquid poured down her throat, and, slowly, she
stopped struggling.  That terrible rage began to drain out of her
eyes, until they had returned to their normal crimson.  The fangs
shrank away, as he pulled the flask away from her; she lay there a
moment, and then abruptly began to sob quietly.  Carefully, he
pushed up, and pulled her to a sitting position.  She leaned into
him; confused, he waited patiently as she wept.  Sheann'a landed on
the ground a little off to the side, and plucked at her grime
covered dress in distaste.
     "I knew... you would come for me," she said quietly,
suddenly.  He smiled slightly, looking at her.
     "If I had not, all of the other dhampeals would have made fun
of me."  She blinked, and then laughed quietly.
     "I... hurt.  It feels as though I have fallen down a hill."
     "It will pass.  The Rage is a hyper active state; your body
is exhausted."  Ayeka nodded, as he slowly moved to stand up.  To
his surprise, she grabbed his lapels, and held him there.
Blushing, she looked up at him.
     "Please... just... a little longer."  He blinked, and then
settled back down, simply letting her rest with her head against
his chest.

*****

     Carrie looked at her husband, and frowned slightly.  She was
absolutely terrified of what might have happened to Elayne.  She
didn't understand how he could possibly be so calm about what was
happening; she was all but beside herself in anxiety.  Yet at the
same time, she knew that he wasn't really at ease; he had told her
as much on the ship.  Sighing, she forced herself to calm down, and
get ready for the fight.
     Drathar floated along just ahead of them.  As suddenly as the
trance had come, it had left; the demon had suddenly smiled and
said she was safe.  Whether he meant Sheann'a or Ayeka, she wasn't
sure, but Carrie hoped for Alucard's sake that it was the former.
They rounded a corner, and found themselves finally before the
great doorway to the throne room.  Reinhart looked at her; she
nodded, and formed a power sphere, while they both readied their
own weapons.  Taking a deep breath, Rosa pushed open the door.
     They entered slowly; in the center of the huge room stood
Cain.  A little behind him was a tall cradle.  Carrie's breath
caught; she was just barely able to see Elayne there, but couldn't
tell if she was injured or not.  Cain looked up at them, with a
troubled expression, and then nodded slightly, his lips moving as
though he was speaking to himself.
     "I... thought that it might be you...  Your... names are
Carrie, Rosa and... Reinhart, no?  I... was commanded to... kill
you, and Elayne as well..." he said slowly.  Carrie's heart skipped
a beat, but before she could say anything, he continued.  "There...
is another way.  Tokimi will be angry with... me, but... I will let
you all go... unharmed if you will tell me who I am."  Carrie
blinked, and they shared an uneasy glance at each other.
Reinhart looked at Cain suspiciously.
     "Why should we believe you?"  Cain blinked.
     "Because... I could have harmed Elayne before you arrived...
If... you wish... you may check her to see that she is unharmed."
He backed away from the cradle slowly, still with that troubled
expression.  Carrie looked at Reinhart.  He frowned, but slowly
nodded.
     "I'll check her," said Rosa, walking forward.  Carrie almost
stopped her, but knew that if something had been done to her...
Carrie's mind shrank away from that thought in fear.  Rosa reached
the cradle, and looked down.  Slowly, she smiled.  "She's just
asleep."  Cain nodded.
     "As I told you.  Do... you agree, or must we... fight?"
Carrie frowned.  Amnesia or not, this was still Cain... yet he did
seem to be honestly offering the deal.  Reinhart looked at her;
slowly, she nodded.
     "Drathar, you know him better than the three of us."  The
demon nodded, and began to speak.  As he told Cain of who he was,
the man frowned deeper and deeper.  Finally, he shook his head.
     "Please, no more...  You have told me what I needed to know.
Take... the child...  I... I must speak to Tokimi, ask her why she
has not told me this."  He turned to leave, and Carrie stepped
forward.
     "Why are you doing this, Cain?"  He looked at her, and
frowned, touching the golden cross that hung at his neck.
     "I... can remember a woman.  Her name was... Maria.  She
was... my Mother, I... think.  She... died.  I... do not wish that
for... Elayne."  Wrapping his hand around the cross, he snapped the
chain, and tossed it to her.  "This... belongs to him.  She...
wanted him to have it."  Carrie caught the golden cross in
surprise, as he turned away and vanished.  She shook her head in
confusion, and then ran over to where Elayne slept.  She reached
into the cradle, and pulled her out, tears streaming down her face
unheeded.  Her baby woke up, startled, and then giggled in delight,
golden eyes shining.
     "Mama!" Carrie blinked in surprise, and looked at Elayne,
dumbstruck.  Rosa laughed, as Reinhart came to her side, and hugged
her gently.  Carrie just sighed in relief; Rosa grinned at her
brother.
     "Already talking.  Looks like she's gonna take after her
aunt."  Reinhart winced.
     "I hope not.  I don't think I could handle another
hyperactive smart-alec."  Rosa frowned, and then stuck her
tongue out at him.  Carrie grinned, her fears forgotten.
     "You're slipping, Rosa," she said quietly.  Rosa laughed.
     "Only because I don't get much chance to practice on him
anymore.  He spends all his time with you."  Before either of them
had the chance to respond, Elayne giggled and pointed.  They turned
to see Alucard coming down the steps from the throne, Sheann'a on
his shoulder, and Ayeka in his arms.  "Speaking of slipping,
folks..." said Rosa quietly.  Carrie grinned, as Alucard reached
them.
     "She sleeps.  The Rage has drained her of strength," he said,
almost, to Carrie's surprise, defensively.  Sheann'a snickered; he
glanced at her and she grinned innocently.  Reinhart cleared his
throat.
     "Since we're all here, what do you say we leave?  Before any
more surprises come our way?"  The all nodded in agreement.

*****

     Tenchi woke suddenly.  Ryoko still held him gently to her bosom,
though he could feel her head resting on his.  Her chest rose and fell
in the gentle rhythm of the deepest sleep.  He felt more rested than
he had... in ages, it seemed.  He smiled slightly, and carefully extracted
himself from her embrace.  Kissing her gently on the forehead, Tenchi
sat down on the floor, and crossed his legs.  He turned his thoughts
inward; to his eyes, there was a flash as the room dropped away.
     Tenchi found himself in a lushly green field.  The sun stood high
into the sky; looking around, he spotted a huge Victorian style home.
Sighing, he slowly made his way there.  A gentle breeze was in the air;
in the distance, he thought that he could hear a river flowing.  As he
approached the house, a willowy beautiful blonde woman appeared in
the doorway.  She smiled in pleased surprise.
     "Welcome!  We don't often have guests here, so I am afraid that I
don't have a towel for you to clean away the dust from your journey,
 but if you don't mind waiting, I will ready one for you."  He smiled;
this was Lisa, the only woman that Dracula had ever loved.  He searched
for a moment in those memories for the proper way to respond to that
greeting.
     "Nothing to apologize for, M'Lady.  I have come somewhat last
minute, so you could not have known that I would be here.  I was
wondering, is Dracula available?  I... need to speak to him on an urgent
matter."  She blinked.
     "Dracula?  Oh, you mean Vlad.  It's been some time since I last heard
that name.  To come all this way, it surely is urgent; please, follow me.  I
 will take you to him."  She led him into the house; it was the villa of
Castlevania down to the letter.  He almost expected a vampire to leap out
and attack as they crossed the threshold.  Lisa took him upstairs to the
rose
garden, where, twenty years before, he and Carrie had met Rosa Schnieder
for the first time.
     Inside, Dracula was pruning one of the larger bushes down a little.
When
he and Carrie had come through here so long ago, and they had met Rosa,
she had been set to the task of watering the white blossoms - with blood.
The buds had been as crimson as could be.  Now, Tenchi was almost surprised
to find that the flowers were white.  Dracula turned, smiling with one of
the
roses in hand.  When he saw Tenchi, he lost his smile, and raised an
eyebrow.
     "We have a guest, Vlad.  This is...  my, I don't believe I ever got
your name."
Tenchi smiled slightly.
     "Masaki Tenchi."  She smiled, and then moved over to Dracula.  He
smiled
at her, and tucked the rose into her hair.
     "I think perhaps our... friend might be thirsty, my love.  Would you
please
get us something to drink?"  She smiled, and exited the room.  Dracula
watched
as she left.  "I know why you have come.  My answer is no."  Tenchi sighed.
     "I have no experience in war, was never any good at games like chess
and
stones.  I just don't have the subtlety to play them well."  Dracula scowled
at
him.
     "You should ask my son.  He is a better tactician than I ever was.
Once
Death had taught him how to play, I never once saw him lose a game of
chess.  He infuriated my old friend so."
     "Alucard isn't with me at the moment.  He has gone to Jurai to save
Ayeka and Elayne."  For a moment, Dracula smirked.
     "Adrian has ever been the champion of foolish seeming causes.  I wonder
if he realizes what cause he champions this time."  Tenchi shook his head.
     "Foolish seeming, perhaps, but always for the right in the end.  Even
you
knew that.  From what my own son has told me, in the end, he forgave you."
Dracula shook his head.
     "He forgave what remained in Romania when you destroyed me.
That Dracula had been given a hundred and twenty years to reflect in
his torment; he was given the chance to redeem himself.  I have had
no such reflection, no such redemption."  He glanced at the doorway
that Lisa had disappeared through.  "I shall forever live with the ghosts
of my past, heedless of how real they may seem.  That has become both
my punishment and my reward."  Tenchi frowned, and shook his head.
     "You say that you've had no such redemption.  I say that you once
helped a mortal enemy to survive."  Dracula smirked at him.
     "And for what reason, Tenchi?  For your death, I would have had
my own.  I am too selfish to let even my worst of enemies die if it means
my own head.  I can not help you."  Tenchi looked him in the eye.
     "You have helped me twice before in the past few days."  Dracula
scowled again.
     "It was quite against my better judgement.  Damn you, do you
understand what you ask?"  He looked back to the doorway that Lisa
had gone through, and clenched his hand.  "I have fought to leave behind
that man you once killed.  Do not ask me to be him again, for what I
have escaped once, I do not think I can escape again."  Tenchi sighed,
and nodded slowly.
     "Very well.  I apologize for disturbing your rest."  He turned to
leave.
     "Tenchi...  I am sorry.  I would help you if I could, but I do not
dare return to what I once was."  Tenchi nodded.
     "I understand, and do not hold it against you.  Good bye, Vlad."
Tenchi took a step, and leapt back to the real world.  As his quarters
came into view, he noticed Ryoko in front of him.  She was waving a
hand in front of his face.  He blinked, and looked up at her.
     "Good news.  Rosa just signaled that they got Ayeka and
Elayne; they're all on their way back now."  He nodded.
     "Has Washu picked up anything on the scanners?"  She shook her
head.
     "Not yet.  Tokimi has to know by now that we're coming."  He
nodded.
     "She'll probably try to ambush us as we pass through the Denubi
nebula.  She could hide her whole fleet there and we'd fly right by
without ever knowing."
     "Right.  Tsunami said that she's playing a game; alright, which
game?  Chess, or stones?"  Tenchi frowned.
     "For the number of pieces?  Gotta be stones."  Ryoko shook her
head.
     "But I don't think she's counting pieces, Tenchi.  She's counting
individual people - Tsunami said it herself.  She used her pawn to
take our queen.  So she's playing chess."  Tenchi frowned again, but
slowly nodded.  That did make more sense...
     "Ok... So then we have to think with chess in mind."  Tenchi
blinked.  "But in chess, an attack like this would be defended by
setting up a screen... and then coming at us from some place we don't
expect once we've taken the bait."  Ryoko nodded.
     "The ambush won't come from the nebula, it's too obvious..."
They stared at each other, and then teleported to the bridge.
     "Turn the fleet!  Now!  Tokimi is behind us!"

---
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