Chapter Fourteen

"You truly have turned this place into an underground habitat, haven't you?"

As Mayuka led Washu deeper and deeper through the tunnels and passageways that ran like rabbit warrens beneath the surface of Rikishouki, the scientist sighed, running her fingers absently against the stone that surrounded her. "Mayuka, I understand your feelings, and I realise that you want to make me understand...something. But you're not understanding what I'm trying to tell you. It doesn't matter where we go or what you do. I've never been cut out to be Priestess of anywhere...and I'm really not who you think I am. My bloodline aside, I'm not worthy of carrying the hopes of your entire people."

"Washu-sama." Mayuka frowned, turning to face her companion. "There are a lot of things I don't understand about this world and this life and all of the things that exist on Rikishouki. But one thing I do have faith in is the guidance of the Eagle. He brought our people here, to start a new life, free from Settler interference. He has protected and nurtured us for generations, and now, when we need his help, he has brought you to us. It's not a coincidence that you came here. I don't believe that it is. Why else would I have such visions and dreams about you, if he didn't intend you to come to our aid? You're fighting against the will of your own people's deity...the being your family dedicated their lives to serving. Why are you so adamantly against helping us? I don't understand."

"Mayuka..."

Washu looked stricken as she absorbed the genuine emotion in her companion's fuschia eyes, and Mayuka reached out to grab her by the hand, giving her a little tug in the direction of a crumbling archway. Washu followed her companion, finding herself in the centre of a small, domed chamber, not unlike the one Mayuka called her home. This one, however, was decked out in a completely different way, the ceilings rich with colours and despite herself Washu felt the same sense of nostalgia wash over her senses as she absorbed the images painted over her head. Along the walls, stone caskets carved with intricate details lay silent and still, and even as she approached them, Washu knew beyond doubt what they were.

"Holy tombs." She murmured, her fingers twitching almost automatically into a Kii gesture of reverence before she knew what she was doing. She flushed, clasping her hands together tightly as she registered Mayuka's gaze on her, and with some effort, she forced her hands back down at her sides.

"This is where they are all buried." Mayuka settled herself down in the middle of the floor, crossing her legs as she gestured to the coffins around her. "The leaders of the tribes who brought us life on Rikishouki. Scribes of the Priests and Priestesses of Kihaku - our oldest ancestors. Their names are legends - they are revered almost as much as the Eagle itself. Even though Kihaku was dying, they believed that we had a future somewhere else. That the Eagle would never forsake us, and they fought for that purpose. Their remains lie here, blessed and revered for generations. These were the people who served your family, Washu-sama. The ones in whom the Priest and Priestess had faith. Do you turn your back on them, too?"

"Masoto of the Uematsu. Amari of the Daitokuji. Rei of the Ishihara." Washu glanced from casket to casket, reading the names slowly and carefully aloud to herself. "All tribes I remember, but the given names...are new to me. I knew none of them."

"Masoto was my ancestor." Mayuka said softly. "He was once a Scribe of the Priest's Work, and he led his people to freedom. Amari was his ally, his friend, and later, his wife. Through them, my family line was born. The tribes have mixed blood for generations, now. We no longer refer to ourselves in such a tribal way - I am simply Mayuka of Rikishouki, now. But this is his legacy to me. These people - they fought so that my family could govern Rikishouki in peace and tranquility. Then Yuzuha came...Washu-sama, don't you understand? Our lives, our freedom, everything has been stripped from us since she came to our planet! We don't have any special gifts, but I've read about the Hakubi. I know that, beyond the magic of the World, they were gifted with special powers and attributes. I'm sure you must be strong enough to help us defeat Yuzuha. The fact you even live, so many years since this all happened - isn't that proof enough that you are close to the divine? Yuzuha has such a terrible hold over the people here...those who aren't directly under her spell live in fear of her temper and her random acts of vengeance. You're the only hope we have - that's why the Eagle told me about you. He meant you to come here. To uphold the values that Masoto-sama and Amari-sama and their companions fought for, so many generations ago. They slew Settlers and freed our people - did they do it in vain?"

Washu's eyes softened at this impassioned speech, taking in the tears that glittered on Mayuka's lashes. Sitting herself down opposite the young girl, she frowned, resting her hands in her lap as she considered how to respond.

"My own father would have disowned me, you know." She said at length. "In some ways, maybe he did. Perhaps he didn't believe me dead - I'll never know. But I was written out of Kihaku's history by my own choice and by his. I never wanted to learn the things he thought I should. Even if it's true, what you say, about your people and about the Hakubi tribe carrying magic - I don't understand how to be a Priestess. I never have."

"I don't understand."

"No, and I don't know how to explain it to you." Washu sighed. "Tell me something. How is it that, if what you say is true, Yuzuha was able to come here and attack your way of life? It sounds like you've lived like this for centuries, bothering noone. How did she even know to come here?"

"Noone really knows why she chose this planet, but what I do know is that she was fleeing the wrath of a great Empire, when she came." Mayuka sighed, glancing at her hands. "She was pursued by demon ships from the planet known as Jurai - the one written so often in our own histories. We know about those Settler people, and the way they slew our ancient kinsfolk. Through them, our world was destroyed and left to dust. So when she came here, injured and in fear of her life, our people tended her. She, it seemed, had a common enemy. She had also suffered at the hands of the ones who slew that last true Priest of Kihaku."

She paused, meeting Washu's gaze head on.

"Your father." She added softly. Washu inclined her head in acknowledgement, gesturing for her companion to continue.

"To begin with, her true nature wasn't clear." Mayuka sighed. "Though really, I was too young to remember all this. I know only from the stories told me by Tadashi's family. Even he wasn't so very old - maybe five or six summers at most, when Yuzuha came to Rikishouki. As time went on, and she recovered her health, she grew in strength. Too late the people here realised that she wanted Rikishouki for her own - we did not know how to fight someone like her. We're not a warrior people, Washu-sama. Since the time when we came to this planet, our tribal blood has become so mixed that there are not even fights between different clans. We are all one people. Yes, individuals may have drawn blades or raised fists on each other, but there were no widespread conflicts. Yuzuha took us all off guard. Before anyone knew what had happened, she had slain the entirety of the governing family. All...all but me."

"You survived." Washu said gently. "But you were a baby, correct?"

"I was two or three." Mayuka nodded her head. "I don't remember any of it. I have no recollection of my family or their death, even though I must have been there. I've always been with Tadashi and his family...he's protected me still, even after his own people passed on. But...but I don't like living like this. It's living in fear. Running away. And I'm sick of doing it. I want...I want to avenge what she did to them, but more than that, it's not vengeance I really want. It's peace for Rikishouki. To bring my people back to how they were before. I don't...I don't want Rikishouki to end the same way as Kihaku did - at the mercy of Settlers with evil intent."

"The death of Kihaku wasn't entirely the fault of the Settlers." Washu said sadly. "My sister, Tokimi, she controlled the power of Kihaku...her rages, they killed many people."

"The World sought to cleanse itself of its betrayers...settlers and turncoat Kii alike." Mayuka said simply. "Tokimi-sama did her duty by the World. That is all."

"Is that what you believe?" Washu looked startled. Mayuka nodded.

"So it is told, in the histories left us by our ancestors." She agreed gravely. "Tokimi-sama was not Hakubi, but still she did the World's bidding."

"I've never heard anyone describe such widespread slaughter and despair so simply before." Washu frowned.

"Tell me, Washu-sama, why did you leave Kihaku?"

"Because I didn't belong there." Washu shrugged her shoulders. "As simple as that. I wanted a different life."

"And now?" Mayuka grasped her fingers, eying her earnestly. "Even when you know our story, and all that goes on here? You do have power, I can tell you do. I can see it, when I look into your eyes. There are pictures, Washu-sama - pictures all over the underground world of Rikishouki. Engravings, carvings, paintings of the people that the Kii travellers left behind when they came to Rikishouki. I have seen the images of the Hakubi tribe. I have seen the Priest, with his flowing robes, his red hair, his green eyes. And I see his face reflected in yours."

"Father is here?" Washu looked taken aback, and Mayuka nodded.

"His likeness, certainly." She agreed.

"Will you take me there?"

"Of course." Mayuka's eyes flickered with hope, and she nodded again, getting to her feet. "It's not far from here...this is the oldest part of the burial complex. Many people choose to be committed to flame these days. They believe it is a better way to greet the Eagle, since the core of this world is not the core of Kihaku. Where the Eagle is now, noone really knows."

"In the hearts of the people who have faith in him, I imagine." Washu said softly, allowing herself to be led through a connecting walkway to another domed chamber. This one was devoid of caskets, but as Mayuka gestured towards the furthest wall, the scientist let out a little gasp of surprise. There, rendered in the full glory that Kii artistry could manage, coloured in the same bright shades as the images in the other rooms was the figure of a man, dressed, as Mayuka had said, in long, flowing robes of blue-purple and teal, gathered at the waist with a thick bold sash of vibrant red. Hesitantly she stepped forward, taking in the smooth line of his body, and the distinctive symbol of the Hakubi inked in scarlet on the breast of his clothing. Sharp green eyes stared out across the chamber, the faint flecks of light the artist had given him making him almost alive. His red hair, tied in a tail behind his head, seemed to flow out behind him in some imaginary wind, and in his hand he held a staff, decorated at the top with the head of an eagle. The bird's eyes were vivid sapphire, and the painter had gone to great troubles to emphasise the divinity of both the man and his carved cane. Spectral wings, their tips tinged with blue and silver spread out around the Priest's body, seeming to wrap him in an ethereal glow, and Washu remembered absently Sasami's account of her battle with Tokimi within Kihaku's core.

"Tokimi-chan manifested eagle wings then, too." She murmured. "Did Father call on that terrible power the day he defended his people against the Juraian attack? Is that how he died, wings unfurled, protecting the ones who couldn't protect themselves?"

Behind the Priest's form, Washu made out other people, grouped together by colour and symbol, and with a jolt she realised that these were the tribes of Kihaku, the peoples from whom the Kii survivors had been drawn. The landscape on which they stood jarred her memory, as she recalled standing atop the same bluff ledge as a small girl, staring out at the settlements and temples that littered the wild horizon. Tears touched her eyes and she crossed the chamber almost in a dream, raising her fingers to touch the hand of the man who she had once called Father.

"Otousama." She breathed. "As if he truly lived once more."

"I knew he was." Mayuka agreed, triumph in her fuschia eyes as she observed her companion's reaction. "This image has been here since we've been on Rikishouki. It has never faded...it has been protected by the divine force of the Priest's soul, of that we've always been sure."

She tugged on her companion's sleeve, gesturing to the furthest corner of the mural, and Washu let out a cry of surprise, her hand flying to her mouth as she registered what else had been painted on the soft stone wall.

"I never knew who they were, not exactly. That they would be watching the Priest so intently always made me wonder, but I was never sure." Mayuka murmured. "The painting isn't entirely clear - the way they are rendered makes them almost like shadows, not really there at all. But now I have no doubts. That's Tokimi-sama, isn't it? The Priestess who cleansed Kihaku? And that...that girl with her..."

"That's me." Washu sank down onto the floor before the image, running her finger lightly over the painting of the young woman. "Yes, there's no doubt. Whoever painted this...he hadn't written me out of Kii history as easily as Father might have liked. Even though I never met these people, Mayuka - they still knew about me. About my family - about the people who had ruled Kihaku since the dawn of time. And they thought to render us in paints here, even after the death of their entire world."

Mayuka smiled.

"So now you understand?" She asked softly. "That you matter to this world, even if it isn't Kihaku. Please, Washu-sama. We need you...we've needed you for so long. Now you're here - you must know that the Eagle is still guiding your family's fate. Your Father, he's not there to protect us against our invaders - not this time. But you are...so please, will you help defeat Yuzuha? Will you help us return Rikishouki to freedom?"

Washu was silent for a moment. Then slowly she got to her feet, absently brushing the dust from her knees as she met Mayuka's gaze with a faint smile.

"I suppose, given all of this, I have no choice." She agreed. "Very well. If it means that much to you - and if you think I can really do something to help. I will be your Priestess, Mayuka - at least until Yuzuha is brought down. And I will do my best to do all you ask of me - although in truth I have no idea where I should begin."

She glanced back at the mural, uttering a sigh.

"If nothing else, I owe my people that, for not forsaking my memory." She murmured, more to herself than her companion. "I betrayed Kihaku, and left it to burn. And yet, they still believed I would come. I suppose, given that...I can't refuse. I can't turn my back on my people a second time."

------------------

"Ryoko! Tenchi! Oh, it's so cool to see you!"

As Ryoko and her companions stepped into the Unko's central sitting area, Mihoshi leapt to her feet, sending the bowl of rice crackers that she had been keenly devouring tumbling over the arm of her seat and onto the floor. Kiyone let out a yelp, grabbing for the ceramic bowl and managing to right it before it too followed suit, but the action upset her balance, and she slipped onto the rug with a bump. Mihoshi faltered, staring at her friend in consternation.

"Hey, are you all right, Kiyone? You should really be more careful." She said, concern in her blue eyes. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"Mihoshi." Kiyone sighed, setting the bowl down on the table with a thump. She shook her head in resignation. "Never mind. There's just no point...I should have learnt that by now."

"Miho-Kiyo." Ryoko flashed both girls a smile, crossing the floor to join them as she hauled Kiyone to her feet. "Seiryo said that you were aboard, although I'm a little surprised to find you both here. I know that you worked with him to help put Yugi away, Kiyone, but even so..."

"Well, Washu did save my life, on at least one occasion." Kiyone said simply. "So it seemed the right thing to do."

"And I'm here to help, because Kiyone and I work best as a team." Mihoshi added. "It's so cool to see you both! Are you well? Tenchi, I think your hair's grown since last time I saw you. Are you trying to make yourself look like the statue of Prince Yosho or something? It's kinda spooky."

"Grown?" Tenchi looked discomfitted, fingering his hair absently. "No, I don't think so. I don't look that much like Grandpa - do I?"

"It's hard to tell. Katsuhito-dono is too much of a fossil these days to really know." Ryoko said with a shrug. She sighed, watching as Ryo Ohki darted down onto the spaceship floor, sniffing at the scattered rice crackers as she nibbled at one or two. "Ryo Ohki, that's disgusting. Don't you have any manners at all? They're all over the floor - who knows whose big ugly boots have been pacing through this room?"

Ryo Ohki raised penitent amber eyes to her mistress, and Ryoko sighed.

"Okay, I know. You're tired and hungry. Me too." She acknowledged. "But right now, there are other things on my mind."

"Seiryo told us what you'd suggested, Tenchi. He's gone to speak to Tokimi about it." Kiyone said, settling herself back in her seat. "I don't know what she'll say about it, though. Just our coming here - Mihoshi and I - seems to have driven her into her chamber. I don't know why that should be - when I saw her on Jurai, she was open and friendly and she didn't seem to be afraid of me. But she stared at me as if she'd seen a ghost, this time. It was unnerving. I don't quite know how to explain it."

"I told you, Kiyone. Tokimi's brain isn't normal, that's all." Mihoshi shrugged, sitting back down and glancing around her in confusion. "Hey, where did those crackers go - did we eat them all already?"

"I swear, Mihoshi, you're not one to be talking about normal brains." Kiyone sighed, rubbing her temples. Tenchi smiled.

"With any luck, Tokimi's uniqueness might actually help in this case. She does have Kii sight, we know that." He said. "So if she can be coaxed out to help, we might be able to find where Washu has got to."

"Well, it sounds like a plan at least." Kiyone admitted.

"I bet your Commander was thrilled when Mr Jurai turned up at Headquarters and demanded your assistance." Ryoko remarked off-handedly. "I can only imagine his reaction. It'd be like if I showed up and asked to see one of you - I can't imagine he's number one on the invite list when there's a big social function."

"That's an understatement." Kiyone looked rueful. "He was a bit put out, and I could tell he didn't want me to go with Seiryo...but that's all behind us now and besides, I am a professional. Helping people in trouble is sort of my job, and my own preferences really don't come into it. Washu is in trouble. It's Mihoshi and my job to help her - simple as that, really."

"I knew you were too smart to have suddenly decided to like that guy." Ryoko smirked. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks he's way too sweet on his own opinions."

"Rich people are often like that, though." Mihoshi said seriously. "It's why I don't like them very much. They're really boring and Father hates it when I fall asleep at family functions. So I just don't go to them any more...it's really all so stupid, anyway."

"That's right. Mihoshi, your family are Seniwan nobility, aren't they?" Tenchi remembered. Mihoshi nodded, dimpling.

"Yes, but we're not all funny like that. You can ask Kiyone." She said off-handedly. "She's met my parents and my brother. We're not stuck up and rude, are we, Kiyo?"

"No, the Kuramitsu family are certainly something else." Kiyone returned the smile with an amused one of her own. "But stuck up and rude - definitely not."

"Exactly." Mihoshi looked satisfied. "Mother always says that being friends is more important than being important. Or, well, something like that."

"If you two are hungry, by the way, there may be some food left over from our meal in the Kitchen area, just beyond there." Kiyone raised her hand, gesturing towards the back of the chamber. "I kept a fair bit back, because Tokimi wouldn't come out to eat and I thought she might be hungry later. We can always make something fresh for her, though, if she changes her mind. Seiryo might be arrogant and Juraian, but he does actually know how to cook - and Tokimi seems to be the best one at getting him to do as she wants, so no doubt he'll be glad to do something, if she asks."

"Food?" Ryoko's eyes lit up, then, "Thanks, Kiyo. We've not eaten much at all today, if anything at all, really. Ryo Ohki's not the only one famished...if you don't mind, we'll take you up on that."

"Help yourself." Kiyone grinned. "As I said, it's all through there. And it should still be warm - we only ate just before Seiryo made contact with Ryo Ohki."

"You mean, just before he almost splatted her." Ryoko grimaced.

"Well, you know what male drivers are like." Kiyone's eyes twinkled with humour. "The showier the spacecraft, the worse the pilot inside, or isn't that how the story goes?"

"I heard that, Kiyone." Seiryo emerged from Tokimi's chamber at that moment, sending the detective a rueful smile, which she returned in kind. "Tenchi-sama, Ryoko-sama, welcome aboard. And Ryo Ohki, my sincere apologies to you as well, I'm sure. It was not my intention to cut so close across your path."

Ryo Ohki abandoned the cracker she had been gnawing at, flicking her ears as she gazed up at him plaintively.

"She wants to know if you keep carrots aboard this spaceship." Ryoko said with a sigh, and Seiryo nodded.

"The kitchen. Kiyone, if you wouldn't mind helping our friends with refreshments?" He asked.

"No problem." Kiyone agreed. "Is Tokimi coming out?"

"Tokimi wants to help find Washu-neechan." Tokimi herself answered the question, slipping out of the chamber behind her companion and nodding her head resolutely. "If Tokimi can see the place, Tokimi will look. And then we can find Washu and go home, yes? Then it will...it will all be all right again."

"That's what we hope, Tokimi, yes." Seiryo nodded his head. "It might just be that your special Kii sight can help us find Washu."

"Then Tokimi must." Tokimi said resolutely, moving across the chamber towards the spaceship's wide perspex windows. "Is it out there? Is that where Tokimi should look?"

"We're not entirely sure what we're looking for, to be honest." Tenchi admitted. "Tokimi-san, I know it's a lot to expect of you. But we think Washu saw the planet without having to look too hard for it. Just look outside and tell us, well, tell us what you see."

Tokimi started at the sound of his voice, turning to face him with a mixture of confusion and consternation.

"Prince Tenchi of Jurai." She whispered. "Why are you here, too?"

"Tenchi and Ryoko have come to help too - isn't it great, Tokimi?" Mihoshi explained. "Now I know we'll find her super-fast, and with his bird wing thingies, I'm sure noone will be able to get in our way."

"Bird wings." Tokimi's blue eyes clouded, then, "Hawk wings...Tsunami's wings?"

"What do you mean, Tokimi?" Seiryo looked confused, and Tokimi stared at him, as if he had startled her out of some recollection. She shook her head, turning back towards the window.

"Nothing." She said absently. "I have to look for Washu now. It doesn't matter."

"Tokimi-chan, if something is on your mind..."

"Tokimi is fine." Tokimi said firmly, then, "Nii-chan, is it that planet you're looking for? The one with the glowing white shadow?"

"Glowing white...shadow?" Seiryo blinked, and Tokimi nodded, gesturing out across the bleak expanse.

"That one." She said seriously. "There. With the white light all around it."

"Can a shadow be white?" Mihoshi looked confused. Kiyone shrugged.

"I guess it can, in space." She reasoned, but there was a doubtful expression in her eyes.

"Tokimi, you can see a planet?" Tenchi asked softly. "There's something out there - something you can see clearly as another world?"

Tokimi looked surprised, nodding her head.

"It's right there." She agreed. "Can't you see it, Prince Tenchi?"

"No, I can't." Tenchi admitted. "None of us can - Tokimi, that's why we need your help so much. If you can see it, do you think you can tell us exactly where it is?"

"It's right out there, just on that side." Tokimi's brow furrowed in confusion. "It's very clear. Nii-chan, do you see it? It's there...do you know where Tokimi means?"

"I still only see stars." Seiryo admitted. "You need to be very precise, Tokimi. If you see something, it stands to reason that it is where Washu is being held prisoner. And that means we have to land there - somehow."

"But...I don't know how to explain." Tokimi looked sad. "It's just there. I see it. It's there. Why can't Nii-chan see it? I don't understand."

"Because people with normal eyesight can't, Tokimi." Kiyone said gently. "You're a Kii, so you're special. You can see things that other people can't...you know that, don't you? You can see things inside people, and I guess you can see through planet's cloaks, too. It makes you special, like Washu - that's why Seiryo wanted you to come with him, among other things."

"Tokimi is...special?" Tokimi's eyes became big and a glimmer of a smile touched at her lips. "Kiyone-san, you think Tokimi is special?"

"Sure." Kiyone looked startled. "Why? Is that a problem?"

"You don't hate Tokimi?"

"Why would I hate Tokimi?" Kiyone was bewildered now, and Tokimi shook her head.

"Doesn't matter." She said simply. "Tokimi will try to help Nii-chan and Kiyone-san and everyone to get to the planet...somehow. If Tokimi is special, Tokimi must help!"

"Now that's more like the girl I know." Seiryo grinned at her. "I'm not sure how we're going to manage this, without the Unko's scanner picking it up - but I'm game to try, if you can be the ship's eyes."

"Where exactly do you see it, Tokimi?" Ryoko materialised at Tokimi's side at that moment, startling the girl as she did so. The pirate sent her companion an apologetic smile, gesturing out towards space.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to make you jump." She said off-handedly. "Tell me where you're looking, Tokimi. I want to see if I can see it, now I know where I'm looking."

"It's there." Tokimi pointed. "There, beyond the big glowing star and below the two stars that look like little diamonds."

"Ryoko? Do you see anything, now?" Tenchi came up behind her, and Ryoko frowned, pressing her face close to the perspex as she focused on the area that Tokimi had indicated. At length she let out an exclamation, swinging around and grabbing her fiance by the hands.

"I see it!" She yelled, triumph in her golden eyes. "It's faint - just a shadow, and I'd never have seen it without Tokimi's help. But now I know where I'm looking - I can just about make out an outline, set against the night sky. It's about forty five degrees north east, Seiryo - towards the boundary of this sector and the next. Let's get to the Unko's drive room - I think I can figure some rough coordinates and then we can go get my stupid mother back. That's where she is, I'm sure of it! That's where Washu is and we're going to go get her back!"