Disclaimer: Characters and concepts from "Tenchi Muyo!" are Copyright AIC and Pioneer LDC. This work is a parody and not to be used for any commercial purposes.

Legend of the Beginning

With a low rumble, the two slabs of rock moved away from each other, revealing the passage. The dark-haired teenager stared transfixed for several long moments. What had caused the slabs to open? He glanced at the ancient sword hilt in his hand. It must have something to do with it. The rusted blade that lay on the cave floor behind him was worthless, but somehow he knew that the sword hilt, though even older, was still in good condition. Maybe it would keep him safe. The rocks wouldn't have opened if no one was ever supposed to go inside.

The boy shook his head for a moment. It would be smarter just to stay out. But from his earliest memories, he had wanted to know what was inside the cave. His grandfather's many warnings had only increased his curiosity. He didn't really believe his grandfather's legend of the demon sleeping within. That had to be a story to frighten people off. But surely what was inside wasn't supposed to be lost forever. Making up his mind, he stepped through the opening.

The passageway was not what he expected. His sandaled foot came down into cold water. The floor was composed of rock slabs carved into rectangular shapes, and the gaps in between held the water. It was certainly not like any ruins that he had ever read about. And after a short distance, it sloped down, the end lost in the depths below. Still determined to discover the secrets of the cave, the boy began to climb down.

Two minutes and an undignified slide and crash-landing later, the boy was at the bottom of the slope. Rubbing his head, he looked around. This far underground, the grotto should have been completely dark, but there was enough light to see most of it clearly. Where was the light coming from?

There were a large number of the carved rock slabs, but instead of forming a ramp, they surrounded a pool. The light came from under the surface of the pool. And in the center of the shallow pool was something the boy had never seen before. It looked like an irregular cylinder, about half again as tall as he was, composed of a shiny substance like wood polished until it was quite smooth. There were lines like cracks running along the surface. It looked a little bit like a large pod from a science fiction horror movie, but if a demon was sleeping inside, it was sleeping standing up. The boy began to move closer, then thought better of it and stayed at the edge of the pool. But a few moments later something happened anyway. There was a hiss as gas puffed from the cracks, which began to widen.

"No! I didn't touch anything! Stop!" The boy found himself shouting out loud, holding up his hands to persuade the pod not to open. It was then that he noticed that the sword hilt was glowing. He fumbled with it frantically, but there was no button or switch to turn it off. The cracks widened until the surface of the pod was divided into panels. The panels started to swing back. Somewhere in the back of his mind the boy had the thought to flee, that he might still evade the demon and its curse. But he stood mesmerized as the light revealed what was within the pod.

It was a figure the size of a human being, clad in dark robes like the garments of centuries ago. The face was a terrifying distortion of a normal human face, red as dark blood, with an impossibly wide mouth through which fangs showed dimly. The eyes came open, and with a thrill of fear the boy saw that the irises were red also. The figure lifted its arms, slowly reaching up until it touched either side of the menacing face.

"Who put this mask on me?" demanded a piercing but definitely female voice. The hands pulled away the mask. "Ryoko! It must have been Ryoko!"

"Grandma Ryoko?" The boy couldn't help saying it aloud. And then he was stuck silent again, for the removal of the mask had revealed the most beautiful female face he had ever seen. The shape was a near-perfect oval, framed by violet hair, and the skin was as flawless as newly poured cream. Even the eyes, though still red, reminded him of glistening rubies.

"Ryoko is your grandmother?" The young woman's voice had turned gentle and polite. She turned to look at him, and instead of anger there was now a warm smile. She bowed. "Please forgive my outburst. I am Ayeka Masaki Jurai. May I know your name?"

"Ayeka the demoness?" blurted the boy. It was a name that had haunted his childhood nightmares from the frightening tales of his grandmother. For the last several years he'd been sure they were only stories made up to scare him, but now he wasn't as certain.

"Demoness? No." Ayeka looked amused rather than offended. "May I guess that your grandmother Ryoko is fond of teasing you?"

"She certainly is." The boy nodded, "She's always telling me I'm too conscientious and not to take things so seriously. And then she tells me things that I never know whether they're serious or not. Does that mean you are an ordinary human?"

"Well . . . as ordinary as you. In fact, I believe I am your great-great-great aunt. Is Tenchi Masaki your grandfather?"

"Yes, he is." The boy remembered he had not answered Ayeka's question. "My name is Kenshin Masaki."

"Kenshin…'sword heart'" Ayeka repeated. "A worthy name. If I may ask, what did your grandmother tell you about this cave?"

"Well, she said that long ago, the demoness Ayeka attempted to enthrall a prince. But a brave female warrior named Ryoko, who she was named after, arose and battled with the demoness for the prince's heart. After a tremendous struggle, Ryoko defeated the demoness and imprisoned her within the earth to sleep for centuries. But if a foolish mortal should awaken her, she will plague that man for the rest of his life. Uh…there's no truth to that, is there?"

"Only a little." Ayeka reassured him. "Did you notice that when your grandmother was telling you this, your grandfather Tenchi would try to say something, and your grandmother would warn him not to interrupt?"

"How did you know?" Kenshin managed to say, though his mouth had dropped open.

Ayeka smiled again. "For one thing, it wasn't that long ago. Ryoko wasn't named after anyone-she herself was there, but she was the demoness. Tenchi was the prince, and still is. And I did oppose Ryoko, but it was more a long-running argument." She considered for a moment. "Well, I grant you, there was occasional combat. But it never decided anything."

"But then, how did you get to be down here?" Kenshin asked.

"Your grandfather Tenchi has a kind heart." Ayeka had a wistful expression on her face. "He couldn't choose between us-and there were more than just Ryoko and myself-because it would cause more grief to the losers than happiness to the winner. Finally Ryoko and I agreed that one would marry Tenchi, and the other would wait here. Staying with the family would have been too much for the loser to bear. And when we had agreed, Ryoko started pleading that Tenchi was the only man she had ever loved, and she could never love any other, and she couldn't face going back into the cave…"

"So instead of defeating you in battle," Kenshin summed up, "she whined you into it?"

"Exactly right." Ayeka held out her hand. "Why don't we go back to the house, and on the way I can tell you some more about Ryoko, and some other members of our family I imagine you haven't met yet." She grinned. "I hope Ryoko has a box of tissues handy--they say being talked about makes one sneeze."

Tenchi sat up with a startled expression. "Wow, Ryoko -- bless you!"

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