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The Challenge 9
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These characters don't belong to me, they belong to AIC and Pioneer. No profit is being made. The Fire Washu's eyes opened wide. Fear ran through her body. She struggled out of bed, her feet tangled in the sheets. Grabbing her robe from the hook in back of the door, she ran barefooted out into the living room. "House, activate Washu One!" she called in an authoritive tone. "Activating Washu One," the house droned. A screen appeared on the wall opposite the door. Her laptop materialized out of nowhere in front of her. Washu hit keys frantically. "House, display cameras from all sectors of Masaki house, followed by outside camera, followed by Ayeka Jurai House, followed by planetary camera, followed by solar system camera." Washu commanded. The screen popped up each one in full view, then transferred it in miniature to another wall screen in front of the staircase. Washu's eyes narrowed. Nothing there. No reason for that amount of fear. Yet... Washu sighed. Her gems floated in mid-air, spun, and told her what the source of her fear was. Washu's eyes widened and the blood drained from her face. Her eyes flew to Sasami's room. The covers were thrown back and the lady was gone. "Is Sasami on Jurai?" Washu barked to the gems. The gems told her it was so. Washu breathed easy for a few moments. "Better go see if I have to haul her fat out of the fire again." *** Sasami had awoken with the same fear as Washu. Before she could get too excited over it, Tsunami had let her know what was wrong. Sasami immediately went to Jurai. Tsunami knew the problem, so Sasami accessed the information from her. Rioters believing she was a false god were attacking her temple. Sasami's eyes flew wide. False god? How dare they! What is this emotion? Tsunami asked. It's anger! Sasami returned as she marched up the temple's stone path. The smoke was billowing out of the top of the temple. Is it a good emotion? Tsunami asked. For this it is! Sasami told her. A group of people were hovering outside. She marched up to them, stuck a finger in one of their faces, and asked, "Who are you?" "We are followers of the true god, Tokimi." The male said proudly. "You are followers of Tokimi." Sasami said slowly. He nodded. "I will deal with you later." Sasami promised and started toward the fire. "Hey, you can't go in there!" the man yelled after her. She turned, tilted her nose in the air, and strode through the fire without it touching her. It actually made a hole where she had crossed. The man blinked, rubbed his eyes, and shook his head. "Nah," he said to anyone listening. *** Sasami perked her ears for any sound. She walked through the blazing walls and where she walked, the flames cooled. There would be an exit for anyone who wanted one. A scream reverberated through the air and Sasami picked up speed. She ran through the corridors, her shoes quenching the flames as she went. The scene she burst in on was a horrible one. Two acolytes lay at the priestess's side their blood pooling on the stones. The man grinned madly at the priestess, who he had already shot in the left shoulder. "Say it." He coaxed. "Say Tokimi is the true god. Or I'll shoot you until you die." "No," the priestess said determinedly. "Good choice," Sasami spoke up as she strode into the room, her eyes on the murderer. "Oh, you. Figures you'd show up, false god." He spit the words at her. The energy gun came up and fired at her. Sasami raised an eyebrow. She looked down. Five shots were in her midsection. She looked at the man with distaste. Passing a hand over her abdomen, the shots healed instantly. "I don't think you deserve that." Sasami said as the gun flew to her hand. She threw it into the wall so hard it shattered. He stared at the fragments. He looked up at her with a tiny bit of fear in his eyes. Sasami nodded. "I am the goddess Tsunami, you are in my burning temple, shooting my priestesses, and ticking me off. I foresee you having a really bad day tomorrow." She waved her hand again and he fell to the ground, paralyzed for the time being. Sasami closed her eyes and froze every person on the grounds who was involved in this. The police had not yet begun to arrive and she was alone for a few moments. "Tsunami," the priestess said weakly. Sasami turned to the sound of the voice. She walked over to the priestess who was now looking at her acolytes. Tears ran down the older woman's face. "They were so young." She mourned. Sasami looked at her and offered a tentative smile. "Are young," she said gently. Going to her knees beside one of them, she stretched her neck out over the young woman. Sasami closed her eyes and spoke a command. "Live," she ordered. The young woman opened her eyes. Seeing the goddess she had worshiped beside her and glowing, the lady assumed what any normal person would. "Am I dead, Tsunami?" she asked. Sasami shook her head. "No," she said gently. She stood up and walked to the other. This one was a young male and he was injured worse than the other acolyte. His heart would only beat for fifteen seconds more. No time for finesse here. Sasami held out her hand over his heart. "Beat," she said in a strong voice. She healed his stomach wound and bade him to wake. "Tsunami," he gasped. "No, you're not dead. You're alive. Rest here, do not move, and I'll be back." Sasami told him. "But the building is on fire!" he told her. Sasami snorted. "I wish it not to be, it is my temple, therefore it is so." She walked to the priestess and stared at her shoulder for a second. The priestess then touched the shoulder and smiled. "Not even an ache. Thank you, Tsunami." She said and bowed. "You're welcome." Sasami told her. She looked at the man who had done this and sighed. Time to get everyone out of the building. *** Washu, still at home, sighed. "But me? Do I get any thanks for alerting the proper authorities after the night watch had been either bribed or converted to Tokimi? No." Washu yawned. "Well, little sister, it looks like you have everything in hand. I'm going back to bed." *** Sasami walked out of the temple to be apprehended by the authorities. Shrugging off their arms, she said, "Do you know who I am?" "Yeah, you're someone who happens to look like the younger princess of Jurai." The policeman quipped. "I'm the goddess of Jurai. I intend to question those people about goddess stuff." Sasami replied stiffly. "Goddess "stuff"?" the policeman joked. "Yeah 'stuff'." Sasami walked forward, but he barred her way. "No, you're not going near the bystanders." He told her. "They are not bystanders, they are the criminals." She said and tried to walk around him. "What's your proof?" he asked politely. "I had to heal my priestess and two acolytes from their violence." Sasami told him. "Uh-huh. You 'healed' them. No one can do that except a goddess which I doubt you are. No holes, no bodies, no crime." The man told her. Sasami ground her teeth. "Why does no one believe that I'm the goddess?" she shrieked. The man snorted. "You're a princess. A nice princess, but still you've never had to work for a living." "What do I have to do, heal someone? Bring someone back from the dead?" Sasami ground out. "Sure. We've got one of our men dying from the smoke. Someone managed to put out the fire, but he got enough of the smoke to kill him. Be my guest, goddess." The man snickered. Sasami walked to where he had pointed. Finding the man on a stretcher, she smoothed the hair away from his forehead. "Hi," she said softly. "How do you feel?" The man coughed. "Not good, princess." Sasami closed her eyes and concentrated. When she opened them, tears streamed down her face. "I'm so so sorry." She said to him. "I can't make you better." "Hey, you're only human." He told her. "No, I'm the goddess Tsunami." She whispered to him. "But I can't make you live." "Why not?" the man asked. "Is there anyone you want here?" she asked, her eyes still producing a multitude of tears. "My wife and son." His eyes pleaded. Sasami nodded. His wife and son appeared by his stretcher. They were disoriented until Sasami said, "He's dying." They looked stricken then Sasami left them alone. The policeman stood in front of her again. "You can't or won't do anything for him." He asked. Sasami looked up at him, tears streaking her face. "Won't. There's more at stake than his life." "What could be more important than his life?" the policeman asked outraged. Sasami blinked at him. "I can't tell you. It would potentially upset the balance. I'm sorry." She walked over to the criminals while the policeman sorted it all out. "So, who exactly is your goddess now?" she asked. "Tokimi," one of them said sullenly. Sasami nodded. "Have you ever seen your goddess?" A man pushed to the front of the group. "Yes. She lives with us, unlike you." "May I see her?" Sasami asked. The man reached back and pulled a girl out in front of him. She had straggly black hair and her clothes had seen much better days. "Hi." Sasami said. "If you're Tokimi, why don't you blast me to bits? Go ahead, take your best shot." Sasami smiled at the young girl. The girl scowled at her. "I'm a goddess of good, y'know." Sasami snorted. "You're a bunch of lunatics. But since the police cannot charge you with anything since obviously no one saw anything, I'll have to do one better." Sasami leveled her gaze at them. "You will not harm anyone living again unless it is in self defense." The crowd straightened. Sasami took a deep breath and marched away from them, satisfied. She approached the stretcher again. The man's eyes were glazed with pain. "Can't you do anything?" The wife said loudly. Sasami looked at the man with pity in her eyes. Touching his temple, the pain eased away. He blinked his now clear eyes. "How did you-?" he asked. "I took the pain away." Sasami said quietly. "Now listen to me closely." She glanced up. "Rudi, I want you to go and get your mom a cup of water." Rudi, opened his mouth to say no, but Sasami glared at him. "Your father won't die until you get back, okay? I need the water for when your mom faints." Rudi ran off. Sasami turned back to the man and his wife. "Okay, here's the deal. I won't heal your husband because he has to die." The wife gulped. "Don't worry about mourning, because you're not going to be here too long either." Sasami stopped as the woman began to cry at her words. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Being assimilated with Tsunami is kind of new to me. Her way of speaking when she's just been introduced to the feeling of anger..." Sasami shrugged. She continued. "This is because of your son. He will be fine." She assured the parents. "He's destined to be a great writer. His work will go all over the galaxy, inspire billions, bring good to the universe. He will become a ward of Ryoko and Tenchi, Ayeka and Balar, live at the palace, run errands, etc. Mostly, though, he will be in the library. His first work will be tonight when you die, sir." Sasami nodded to him. "That is why I cannot heal you. His writing hinges on your death." Sasami finished. The father gulped. "I'd give up my life for him." He said softly. "I suppose I can die for his ability." The wife looked stricken, but nodded. Sasami smiled. "There won't be any pain, I can give you that." She hesitated. "Miss, I have a question to ask. You'll die in three days in a vehicle accident. Neither of you would have had time to say good-bye. Do you want to say good-bye to your son and die together?" They looked at each other and their eyes softened. "Yes," she said simply. "But what will happen to my son?" "I will take him to the palace personally." Sasami reassured her. "Or I can take him back to the house on Earth if you would prefer." She shook her head. "The palace would be better. Could you... maybe...?" "I'm in and out of the palace all the time. I'll keep an eye on him." Sasami promised. Rudi came running up with the water, one hand cupped over the top. "Thank you, Rudi," Sasami said, taking the water out of his hands. "Your mom's not going to faint after all." "Son, we have something to tell you." The father began. He looked at Sasami. "How much time is there?" Sasami tilted her head to one side. "About fifteen minutes. If you need more it is there for the asking." "No, anything that can't be said in fifteen minutes isn't worth saying." The man told her. Sasami politely walked away. *** She came back at exactly fifteen minutes. All three of them were crying. "It's time," Sasami said simply. "Will it hurt?" the boy asked, his fists clenched. Sasami shook her head. "No." "Where do we go, you know, after?" the woman asked. Sasami grinned. "To a place of no pain, of beauty, and love. I will tell you this. By the time your son is 40, you two will be married again and listening to him speak of his books." The couple died with those words. The son stood there, staring at them. Sasami laid a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. I'll take you to the palace." He nodded. *** Sasami stormed into the lab. "WASHU!" she yelled. She continued to call the name of her older sister until she got into the house. "WASHU!" she yelled again. "I hear you, I hear you." Washu said sleepily opening the door to her bedroom. "What's wrong now?" "There was a fire in the temple-" Sasami started. "-and I was the one who called the cops. The other ones had been bribed." Washu finished. "What's the real problem?" Sasami took a deep breath. "They said I was a false god." Washu snorted indelicately. "They are so off the mark it isn't possible." Washu sighed. "Well, I suppose you could try raining down fire. That usually convinces them in a hurry. Ah, but wait! You're a goddess of good. Try flowers instead. No, wait again. That'll give the populace a raging case of hayfever and allergies. Could you hold that until I buy stock in the tissue companies? I need a new tank for the simiwarum." "They said the true god was Tokimi." Sasami said dryly, cutting Washu off. Washu stared at Sasami. "What?" she whispered. "Uh-huh. That's what I thought when I heard." Sasami said to her. "What's going on? Tokimi can't be back. The ten years isn't up or we would have heard from her by now." Washu shook her head. "Tokimi's still Torimi. She's getting married." Washu paused. "Or at least she thinks she's getting married. But if Torimi's still Torimi, then where did they find the name?" "Well, we did leave our names around a bit." Sasami admitted. Washu waved a hand dismissively. "No, it couldn't be those. They're all dust. Believe me, I've checked." "There aren't any records of us?" Sasami said. "You went and made yourself guardian of a planet that flourished so of course your name is all over the galaxy." Washu winked at her. "What about Tokimi's races?" Sasami asked. Washu shook her head again. "It can't be those either. Her races were all on the outer rims and not very sociable. From what I can find, they're all extinct." "Then where did they find the name?" Sasami persisted. "I asked them if they had ever seen their goddess and they pushed a girl at me who was no more a goddess than Ryo-ohki." "I don't know." Washu said. "There shouldn't be anywhere left for Tokimi's name to be written." She sighed and rubbed her head. "You've had a rough night. I've had a rough night. The worshippers aren't going anywhere and I know Tokimi/Torimi isn't. I'm going to go back to sleep." Washu turned and walked back to her bedroom. Sasami admitted defeat and disappeared and reappeared in her room. The tired goddess crept into bed and went to sleep. **************************************************************** |
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