Blood Red Moon Resurrection Chapter 4:
        Hearts Within

     Disclaimers: All characters belong to their various
copyrights, with the exception of Reinhart Masaki and Rosa
Masaki.  Those two are mine.  Beyond their usage in this story,
I claim no ownership, no rights of creation, no nothing.  Please
don't sue me.  Comments, quips, insults, and death threats can be
directed to Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com
     The Tenchi Muyo Characters in this series are based on the OVA
versions, but don't be surprised if there aren't one or two TV
references.  The characters Carrie Fernandez, Alucard, Death,
Dracula, Maria Renard and Lisa all belong to the Konami Castlevania
series. This cross-over series is placed roughly 17 years in
Tenchi's world, 120 years in Alucard's world after the events in
Blood Red Moon.  Reinhart and Rosa Masaki, the children of Tenchi
and Ryoko, are now young teens.

     "To what profit is it to a man, if he gains the world and
loses his own soul?  Mathew 16:26 I believe." - Dracula, as he dies
at the end of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

*****

     Ryoko looked up as Tenchi stirred slightly in the medical
bed next to her.  But a day had passed since they had sent Reinhart
and Rosa to Romania.  A day since the vampirism had returned,
since she had been alone in her own mind.  Seventeen years, but she
could not feel him in her mind now.  At first, the shock had masked
it, the shock of his attack when she had first lost their link,
the shock of having to send both children instead of going herself.
     But now, after the original shock that had hidden it had faded
away, she could feel it.  An old fear, one that had been weakened
in its long absence, but it was still there.  That fear of being
alone again.  She could feel it, crawling around in the depths
of her soul, heard its almost newborn like cry.  But this child
was one that she did not want to grow within her, did not want to
nurture as she had Reinhart and Rosa.
     Yet she knew that the fear would grow, against her will,
suckling at the breast of her soul.  Its milk would be the very
knowledge that it was there, slowly but surely gaining strength.
It would take time; even though Tenchi wasn't with her, Mayuka,
Nobuyuki, Ryo-Ohki, Washu, and Tsunami were there.  Her family.
The one that she had worked so hard to build around herself.
Maybe she was being selfish in that thought.  But they were still
her family; something that she had never known until a young boy
was taken by his mother and grandmother to her cave.
     Though she would never admit it aloud, she was still very much
afraid of that being alone.  Of not having anybody to talk with,
to touch, to feel.  The loss of that again, she feared, would drive
her mad.  The thought alone terrified her.
     It wasn't as bad as it had once been, what seemed like ages
ago. She had made it to the point where she could enter the cave,
alone, and just sit there.  Of course, she was never really alone;
her link to Tenchi assured her of that; a comforting hand on her
shoulder whenever she needed it.  But it was still a mile stone
for her, a seemingly indestructible wall broken through.  Ryoko
had never thought that she would be able to bring herself to step
inside, much less ever feel at ease there.  To a point.
     The first time had been hard, even though Tenchi had been
right there beside her as she took the first steps inside, and had
been waiting right there when she came back, gentle smile welcoming
her.  The second time had been harder still; she had kept it a
secret from even Tenchi when she had gone there, and forced herself
to go in.  It had just been something that she needed to do, on her
own.
     She stood, stretching.  Tsunami, who was on the other side of
his bed, appeared to be dozing; Ryoko knew better.  Sasami would
never have let her rest in this situation.  More likely she was
simply in a trance to help conserve energy, yet still sustaining
the energy web that kept Tenchi from becoming any worse.
     Ryoko frowned in frustration.  She should have known what was
happening, the second that he left the table, so pale.  She should
have been able to stop it.  It was her fault that she hadn't seen
the signs before hand.  Wasn't it?  She had sworn, so long ago, to
keep him safe, but she had failed, had failed him.
     "Don't even think that, my daughter, or the curse has already
won as surely as if we hadn't been able to slow it down."
Startled, Ryoko turned to see Washu come into the room with a tray
of food, Ryo-Ohki trailing close behind her.  She hadn't even been
aware that she had spoken her last thoughts aloud.  Ryoko's stomach
growled as the scent of curry drifted over to her from the platter,
reminding her that she hadn't even finished her last meal, much
less eaten in the day since.  Even though she didn't really need
to eat, after doing just that for twenty years, she had gotten
used to it and her body complained if she didn't.
     "I should have, mom.  I should have known...  I should have
been able to do something, stop it before it happened."  Washu set
the tray down on a table that appeared besides her, looking at
Ryoko with pity.
     "There was nothing any of us could have done, save Tsunami,
maybe," she said gently.  Ryoko flared at her in a sudden fit of
temper.
     "How do you know?  You've never had anything ripped away from
you that your inventions couldn't get back for you!  Even I'm just
a replacement!"  Flung in anger, Ryoko regretted her words almost
before they were said, and reached out, as if to take them back
before they reached Washu.  Her mouth tightened, but beyond that,
Washu showed no reaction to the statement.
     "I won't hold you at fault for that, Ryoko.  You're wondering
why it had to happen, why to you, and it's making you angry.
You're looking for something, anything to lash out at, something
to take your pain out on."  Washu crossed the room to her, and
placed a hand on her shoulder.  That child's face suddenly
gained...  an age indescribable was all Ryoko could think of.  "We
are here for you. Mayuka, Ryo-Ohki, Nobuyuki, Tsunami, myself...
I know that it's hard for you to open up, but we're all here for
you, when you're ready. We are listening."  Washu nodded back at
the tray.
     "I brought you something to eat.  Tsunami said that she thinks
some sort of power is feeding the curse, making it stronger than
it should be, and I'm trying to find a way to block it off
somehow." Squeezing her shoulder, Washu turned to leave.  Almost
of its own volition, Ryoko found her hand grabbing onto the
scientist's shoulder.  With a surprised look, Washu turned back to
her.
     When Ryoko opened her mouth, she meant to say that she was
just fine.  After all, Tenchi would make it through this, just like
he always did, and the children wouldn't have any trouble
dispensing with Dracula, if it was indeed him doing this.  She was
too tough to worry about something little like this.  But
sometimes, what a person means to say, and what is said are two
different things.
     Ryoko suddenly found herself clutching onto Washu, sobbing
into her shoulder that she hadn't been able to stop it, even though
she should have, even though she had sworn to take care of him.
The pink haired scientist... no, her mother patted her softly on
the back of her head, and let her sob out her emotions, all the
while whispering exactly what Ryoko hadn't even known that she
wanted to hear.
     "Everything that you could do, you did, Ryoko.  You did, and
are doing, more than anybody else could.  Don't let what is
happening take away the happiness that you have gained here.  Or
else, every thing that you, Tenchi, all of us have done and gone
through will have been in vain.  And that would be the greatest
tragedy of all."

*****

     Carrie awoke in a strange bed, and frowned.  Sitting up, she
saw her saddlebags and staff propped up against the wall where she
had placed them the night before.  After a hundred and twenty six
years of traveling, battling against evil, and doing her duties
as High Seat in the Mages Coven, she still just did not like the
idea of sleeping in a bed that was not her own.  It was never
comfortable! Standing, she stretched in front of the mirror, and
looked herself over.
     It had been some time since she had dropped the illusion
of being an old woman, and she had been surprised when she had
looked at herself in the mirror afterwards.  Carrie could remember
when she had been certain that she would never be anything more
than just pretty.  Short, with a fairly plain face, her only truly
defining characteristics had been her golden eyes and cyan hair,
both of which were due to extreme amount of magic that she had
already channeled by the time that she was twelve.  Some would have
considered them to be a curse, but Carrie had welcomed them, as
setting her apart somewhat from the other girls that were merely
pretty as well. A distinguishing factor to call her own.
     But, it turned out that she had merely been late in growing.
In her twentieth year, she had grown nearly a half foot, and had
filled out amazingly well.  Her hips and chest had fleshed out,
while her waist and legs remained trim, giving her an
hourglass-like shape.  Some of the color that she had lost returned
to her, just enough to keep her from seeming to be an albino.
     She had suddenly found that she could barely step outside
without being all but attacked by the men in the village who were
interested in courting her.  At first, she had enjoyed the
attention, but soon realized that most of them weren't really
interested in her, just in laying with her.  The experience
had made her somewhat disinterested in the entire game.
     Not long after, the plague had come, and first Reinhart,
then Rosa had died, two of those that she loved as family after
the loss of her own.  After that, she began to pull back from
relationships deeper than just friendships.  As a child, she had
come to the conclusion that those she loved always seemed to die.
The solution to her had been simple.  Don't let herself really
love anybody, and then nobody she loved would die.  But for a time,
after destroying Castlevania, she had thought that maybe, just
maybe, she was wrong, that it wasn't true after all.  But with
their deaths that old fear returned.  After all three children
died, while she once again survived, she all but withdrew herself
from the world for a time.  She had settled into a deep depression.
     It was a time she would have liked to forget; a time that she
likely never would.  Old terrors began to walk again in her dreams.
She would see Actrise, torturing her father to death, Dracula
rending the world in two with his evil.  There were visions of
Reinhart and Rosa, spanning anything from Rosa, who had been turned
into a vampire when they found her in the castle, turning him into
one as well, while she watched, helpless to stop them, to simple
visions of them staring at her with cold, accusing eyes.
     The worst had been the images of the children, dreams where
they laughed and played without a care, until she appeared into
their lives.  Always, always the Hordes of Hell would come soon
after, and the children would die in ways no mortal mind should
be able to conceive of.
     Two years, she was afraid to go asleep, because to sleep was
to dream, yet her waking hours held no comfort for her either.
The house that was once so full of life was now quiet, an empty
place. Memories met her at nearly every turn, a carving that Tenchi
had done, or perhaps the staff that she had given to Cloud when he
had first started learning the Art.  So many reminders, so many
memories, but none of them comforting, not anymore.
     Sheer stubbornness made her stay, a refusal to run away from
the past, painful as it may be.  Slowly, she forced herself to
return to the world, remembering some advice Ryoko had given her:
'The point is, we are a family.  Things have happened, but we've
stuck together. And although there can be pain involved in it, in
the end it's better to take the chance on being hurt, and get all
the other things that come with it.  I promise you that it's worth
it.'
     Friends who had seen the depression settle over her were quick
to offer their hands, lending as much support as they could, and
slowly, she had pulled away from the mire she was in.  Eventually,
even the dreams stopped coming more often than once in a great
while.
     Carrie sighed.  Now she had another chance, it seemed, and she
wasn't certain if she was really worthy of it.  Reinhart and Rosa
Masaki...  They were already close friends, even though only a day
had passed.  She was fond of Rosa's quick wit, who, like her
namesake, was always ready with a mischievous comment or idea.
     And then there was Reinhart.  When she had seen them, the moon
had provided just enough light for her to think that he was Tenchi.
As she had drawn closer, she realized that the young man was too
tall, and didn't have the gems in his wrists, but then suddenly
Tenchi-ken had begun to glow.  Recognizing the ancient sword, she
had known that these two had to be descendants at least.
     But she was finding herself attracted to the young man.  It
was insane, she knew.  She was over a century older than he was,
and she really wasn't all that interested in relationships.
But like his father, Reinhart seemed to radiate an almost
irresistible pull - as Rosa had said, he was too cute for his own
good.  And somehow, she knew that if she fell, if she hadn't
already, she wouldn't be coming back.
     Carrie sighed again, in frustration.  She did not want the
deaths of more friends, more people that she cared for, on her
hands. The moment that she had seen them, she had known their
sudden appearance couldn't possibly be a coincidence with
Castlevania's return.  She looked at the mirror again, at the girl
that she hadn't recognized when she had dropped the illusion.
The woman that looked back at her had a haunted face, and tired
eyes.
     "I may as well accept it.  I feel damn old," she said to the
room, and then clamped her hands over her mouth in surprise.
What worried her was that she really did.  Sighing a third and
final time, she got dressed, and lamented not bringing along a
change in clothing.  Traveling, especially on horses, was a dusty
thing.
     Hearing her stomach growl loudly, she opened the door to
reveal Reinhart, with his hand raised to knock.  She wasn't certain
what exactly it was; perhaps the surprise evident in his face, but
it struck her as funny, and she broke into laughter.  He looked
at her with a confused expression, which only made her laugh
harder.  Rosa's head appeared over his shoulder, grinning.  Shaking
her head, Carrie's mirth faded, and she grabbed her staff and
saddle bags, still smiling.
     "So what town are we heading for today?" asked Rosa as she
came into the hall.  They moved down into the common room.  It was
early; the sun wasn't much past the horizon, but there were already
a number of people there.  A couple had their faces buried in a mug
of ale, while others squinted into the early morning with bleary
eyes.  A pair of magicians produced semi-random noises as they
prepared for the day.
     "The next town up is Eagle's Point.  It's really little more
than an inn, a blacksmith shop, and a couple of farms, but it
overlooks a small, spring fed lake."  They sat down at a table,
and a pretty young serving girl came over to take their orders.
Carrie grinned as Reinhart stumbled his way through his order.
Rosa hadn't been kidding, apparently.  The waitress disappeared
into back.
     "There's an old legend connected with Eagle's Point.  It is
said that, centuries ago, a young couple who had just been married
lived there.  One day, the man was called to fight against an
encroaching horde that was attacking the northern border of
Romania.  They said their good-byes, and then he left.  Two months
later, a courier came back with a message for the young woman.
The fort that he had been stationed at had been attacked by an
overwhelming force.  He had held the defenses while the rest of the
soldiers escaped, but he never followed, and was presumed to be
dead.
     "The young woman was heart broken.  She followed a path down
to the edge of the lake.  The waves, sensing her grief, parted,
and as if in a trance, she walked forward, into the lake.  After
she had disappeared from view, the waters closed once again.
     "Five years later, a worn and dusty man entered the village.
He was so dirty that his skin was all but black, and his face was
covered by a long, thick beard.  He was badly injured, and had no
memory of his past, save that his home had been near a lake.  They
cleaned him up, applying healing poultices, and once the beard had
been shaven, one of the men recognized him.  It was the young man.
     "Leading him down to the lake, they told him what they could,
and explained what had happened to his wife.  As they reached
the shore, the waves suddenly parted once again, and a vision of
his wife appeared, beckoning to him.  He slowly walked into the
lake, and disappeared under it.  To this day, people still leave
offerings to the couple."
     Their meal arrived.  Steaming hot porridge, with eggs and some
slightly hard spiced apple cider to drink.  Eating quickly, they
paid for their meal, and then had the stablemen saddle up the
horses and bring them around.  The animals whickered slightly
in the bright morning sun.  There were only a few faint wisps of
clouds in the sky; beyond that, it looked like it was going to be
very hot, and Carrie was glad that most of their travel would be
under the cover of forest.  Mounting, she led them out of the town.
The had to move slower today, allowing the horses to recover from
the long run the day before.  Though they had spent the night in
stable, the animals would still be tired.  It didn't help matters
that they had a full day's ride ahead.  Carrie dropped back to ride
next to Rosa.
     "I had forgotten the downside of riding horses.  My behind
hurt so much last night that it's a wonder I ever got to sleep,"
said the younger girl.  Carrie grinned.
     "You'll get used to it pretty fast.  Even I was a little
saddle sore last night, and I ride fairly often."  Rosa nodded.
     "So that legend you told us.  Do you think that it could be
true?"  Carrie looked at her thoughtfully.
     "You know, I've seen things to make a soul cringe in terror
and shake in fright, and yet, I've also seen joy and love powerful
enough to shatter the darkest night.  Maybe the legend is true,
maybe it isn't.  Maybe it's the idea that is more important,
or maybe it's just a nice story to tell.  The thing of it is, it
doesn't really matter if it is true or not, at least not now, so
long after it happened.  What matters is that people can look to it
as an example of something good and right."  Rosa nodded slowly.
     "Something a person could aspire to.  We have lots of stories
like that in Japan."  Carrie grinned.  They talked for a while
longer, as the horses moved forward at a steady walk.  Around them,
the forest started to thin out a bit, as the neared about the
halfway point of their day's travel.  The birds chirped loudly
in the otherwise quiet of the woods.
     As the light of noon filtered down through the green canopy
above, they came to a stop, and dismounted to eat a trail lunch
of tough, dried jerky, cheese and bread, washed down by water from
their waterskins.
     "What about the two of you?  What training have you received
from your parents?" asked Carrie.  Rosa looked over at her.
     "Dad has been teaching us how to use our abilities almost
since we could walk.  Our force swords, fireballs...  how to use
our teleportation abilities to gain a surprise.  Reinhart is better
with the sword than I am, but I have better aim with my fireballs."
Rosa looked at her brother, who was frowning at her.  "Oh, don't
look at me like that, it's true, and you know it."
     "I'm not that much worse at using them."  Rosa rolled her
eyes, and Carrie chuckled quietly.  It was easy to see that even
though they teased each other constantly, they were still close.
Where one sibling faltered, the other picked up the slack.
     "Either ability will serve you well once we enter Castlevania.
The demons there aren't particularly smart, at least, most of them
aren't, but they are deadly, and the castle itself will be against
us.  I sorely doubt that Cain will be letting us walk right up to
him."  They finished the meal, and remounted, Rosa wincing when
Carrie told them that they still had about four hours ride ahead.
This time, Rosa rode somewhat ahead, while she let Cloud settle
in beside Reinhart's black horse.
     "You've been quiet since getting here," she said.  He looked
at her in surprise.
     "Not really much I have to say, I guess.  Rosa is the talker
of the family.  I never know what to talk about, unless I have a
specific purpose, like now," he answered.  She smiled.
     "I know the feeling.  You know that you want to say something,
but you aren't sure if it's the right thing, or the right time,
and when you finally decide to speak up, it's already too late to
say it."  He nodded.
     "Or you think that you'll make a fool of yourself if you try
to say something, so instead you just stay quiet."  Carrie smiled
a little wider.
     "Exactly.  It isn't that you don't have anything to say, just
that you don't know how to say it."  He smiled briefly at her.
"Your mother once told me that you have to take chances.
Sometimes, you might get hurt, or embarrassed, but in the end, it's
usually worth it."  He sighed.
     "I'm not a chance taker.  Just a simple teen growing up to
tend a shrine hidden way back in the mountains."  He paused.
"Well, maybe not quite as simple as that, but still, nothing too
terribly special."
     "Sometimes it's the people that don't think that they are
special that turn out to be the most special," she said quietly.
He looked at her in surprise, and then blushed, looking away.  Too
late, she remembered that they could both hear much better than
most people could.  Time for a chance, she told herself.  "Your
father thought that he was just supposed to be a shrine keeper
too, nothing special, to him, at least.  But it seems to me that
Ryoko found him to be very special, didn't she?"  He turned partly
toward her in his saddle, a confused expression on his face.
     "Well, yeah, I guess."
     "Just because you don't think you're special doesn't mean that
you aren't special to... other people."  He frowned a moment in
thought, and then opened his mouth to speak.  Just as he did,
though, West Wind tripped on a partly upturned stone.  In his half
seated, half turned position, when the stallion stumbled forward,
partly falling, Reinhart tumbled off to land flat on his back.
Ahead of them, Rosa, who had been watching for the past couple
of minutes, started howling with laughter.  Carrie caught herself
on the point of laughing as well, and instead dismounted to see
that he was alright.
     "Ouch," said Reinhart, propping himself up on his elbows to
look sourly at the horse.  Carrie kneeled next to him.
     "Are you alright?" she asked.  He shook his head.
     "Nothing hurt but my pride," he answered.  Standing, he rubbed
at his back where he had landed.
     "So much for grace in the saddle, brother," said Carrie as she
reined in next to them.  He scowled at her, and then walked over
to collect his horse.  He groaned aloud when he found West Wind.
The animal was alright, but he had thrown his front right shoe,
meaning that he couldn't be ridden for the time being.
     "This is getting more and more fun all the time," he said
aloud. Rosa snickered; and Carrie came over to take a look at the
hoof.
     "We can get him reshod in Eagle's Peak.  Until then why don't
you just ride with me?" she asked.  He stared at her in surprise.
Rosa, Carrie saw out of the corner of her eye, now looked to be
doing her best to choke down a new round of laughter.
     "I can just...  I mean, I could just walk or fly along with
you two.  It's really not that much of a bother."  Carrie looked
at him, shaking her head with a secret smile.  Too cute by a mile.
     "Don't be foolish.  Why waste energy.  Besides, even riding
double, we'll move faster than if you are walking along with us.
Unless you intend to jog the entire way there."  Reinhart looked
between her and Rosa, who was doing her best to look disinterested.
She wasn't doing a very good job of it.  He looked at West Wind
again, and then up the road, and sighed in defeat.  Rosa finally
gave up, and laughed again, as Carrie climbed back onto Cloud.
Reinhart gave his sister a warning look as he handed West Wind's
reins to her, and then scrambled up behind Carrie.
     "Riding double isn't quite the same as riding by yourself.
You'll have a lot better chance of staying on if you wrap your arms
around my waist, and squeeze as tightly to me as you can," she told
him.  Hesitantly, she felt his arms go about her waist, and after
a moment, felt his chest press into her back through her cloak and
blouse.
     "Why Reinhart, you're getting awfully fast with the ladies,
aren't you?" said Rosa.  Carrie heard him groan, likely in
anticipation of the jokes that his sister would take at his
expense. Looking at Rosa, she had the sudden feeling that she might
have a few jokes about her, too.  She felt the warmth passing
to her from his body, especially through his arms which were in
direct contact with her stomach, and knew that she was probably
just a bit flushed.
     As she booted Cloud up to a brisk walk, she heard him mutter,
"She's never gonna let me hear the end of this."  Carrie laughed
quietly, and they rode on.

---
The Platinum Dragon
"The rising sun will eventually set,
  a newborn's life will fade.
  From sun to moon, moon to sun,
  Give peaceful rest to the living dead." - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of
Time
http://dragonsanime.dreamhost.com - Dragon's Masaki Shrine of Tenchi Muyo
Proud Member of the Ryoko Forever Fan Club