Blood Red Moon: Eternity 
     Prologue: Crimson Light
 

     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

*****

     Reinhart Masaki found himself suddenly awake, staring up 
through a skylight that provided an excellent view of a huge, full
golden moon.  The face that men had always attached to it seemed
to be laughing tonight, laughing at him, as if it knew something
that Reinhart didn't.  He wondered idly what it was that the moon
knew, and if it would tell him.  As he lay there, wondering
this, and wondering why he had woken up, he felt his wife shift
beside him, snuggling a little closer to his body.
     Carrie Masaki, though she had the body of a twenty year old,
was actually just short of being a hundred and thirty-eight.
For many, he reflected, the more than a full century separating
them would be an impossible barrier.  To him, it seemed to only be
a few days difference.  His own father, Tenchi, had married the 
demoness Ryoko, who was over five thousand years older than him.
The difference in age made no difference to him.  He loved Carrie
more deeply than he would have thought possible, and knew that she 
loved him just as much.  The thought of losing her was something
that he couldn't even comprehend; though once she had been taken
away from him.
     The pain of that short time had faded very little in the past
year; still fresh in his mind's eye was the suddenness that she had
been ripped away, the senselessness of her killing.  Cain had been
insane, but he was dead now.  Reinhart smoothed a hand over her 
hair, and felt the warmth of her body next to his, as she sighed
in contentment.  She had been given back to him, and it was a gift
that he knew he would be forever indebted for.  
     Finally, the sound that had woken him came once again; the 
soft, yet penetrating cry of a baby.  It was a warming sound, but
still surprising to hear, even three months after she had been born.
They had decided to name her Elayne, which had been the name of 
Carrie's step-mother.  Though only three months old, Carrie said
that she could already sense an incredible amount of magic power
within her.  
     As she cried a third time, Carrie woke up, and looked around
groggily.  She had come far in her year with them; with him.  She
no longer stumbled over the idea of airplanes, or space travel,
no longer was she surprised when she entered Tokyo and saw the 
sheer size of it.  Coming from a universe where technology
and the way of life belonged to what for him was medieval times,
he had worried that she might have trouble adjusting to her new 
home.  But she had gotten used to it quickly, to his relief and her
delight.
     "Whose turn is it?" she asked, only half awake.  He kissed
her on the cheek.
     "Yours, I think... this is about the time that she usually
wakes up hungry..."  She nodded, and slowly sat up.  A sphere of 
light appeared just above her open hand.  Reinhart blinked at the
sudden brightness of it, trying to get his eyes adjusted to the new
light level, as she rubbed at her eyes with her free hand.  Even
with her long cyan hair tangled from sleep and out of place, and 
trying shake off the last bit of her tiredness from being woken
in the middle of the night, she was still absolutely beautiful
to him.  Her golden eyes reflected the light just a little, making
them sparkle.
     The light illuminated their bedroom; near the bed, propped
up in the corner, stood a tall staff.  The entire piece had been
carved in an intricate pattern that subtly twisted to the eye, so 
that it wasn't quite possible to follow a straight line all the way
up or down.  At the top, set in a strange lavender metal, a large,
smooth blue stone sparkled somewhat.  The staff was Juraian wood,
shaped by his father twenty years before, and given to Carrie as a 
gift.
     On the other side of the room, in one of the tall cradles
that Tenchi had made when Reinhart and his sister Rosa had been 
born, little Elayne stretched a hand out toward the light that 
Carrie had made.  The baby shared her golden eyes, and her father's
black hair.  When she had been born, he just hadn't quite been able
to believe that this tiny being was his flesh and blood.  Even now,
three months after her birth, Reinhart couldn't help but be amazed
that she was really his daughter.
     Carrie stood, the ball of light floating along beside her, as
she moved over to the tall, carved cradle.  Reaching in, she lifted
Elayne out, and cradled her in her arms.  Immediately, the child
began to coo, and push at Carrie's breast through the thin fabric
of her nightgown.  His wife laughed quietly.
     "A little impatient?"  Carrie sat back down, and handed the 
child to him as she undid the top couple of buttons on her 
nightgown.  Elayne giggled, as he smiled and kissed her softly
on the forehead, squirming in his grip.  He would never have 
believed that a baby could possibly have this much energy, yet at 
times he felt as though she was actually slowing down just so he 
could keep up.  Carrie put her arms out, her gown open enough to 
expose a milk-laden breast, and Reinhart gave Elayne back.  As 
Carrie settled back with Elayne hungrily suckling, she looked at 
him, smiling.  It struck him suddenly that it had been a busy year.
     Today was the anniversary of their return from Carrie's
world.  After defeating Cain, and Death returning Carrie to life,
they had escaped Castlevania through Washu's portal.  Both Carrie
and his sister Rosa had been unconscious; Alucard, the half-vampire
son of Dracula had helped them by carrying his sister through the 
portal while Reinhart brought Carrie.  
     They had been married not long after, his grandfather
Nobuyuki calling in a few favors from friends to build them a house
next to Tenchi's.  Since then, most of their time had gone into
helping Carrie - and, to a lesser extent, Alucard - get used to 
their new world.  Then, three months ago, Elayne had been born,
and sometimes Reinhart wondered if they would ever get a little
time to themselves again.
     Alucard had built himself a small cabin in a clearing not far
from there.  The dhampeal was a good friend, though quiet.  
Reinhart somewhat envied the peace and quiet that he had to himself
- of course, his familiars, the fairy Sheann'a and the demon 
Drathar were there to keep him company.  His stoic 
contemplativeness had become as much a part of their family as 
Sheann'a's wisecracking, or Drathar's deliberateness.
Even Ryoko, Reinhart's mother who had suffered so much pain at the
hands of Alucard's father Dracula, had come to accept him.
     Later in the day, they were planning an anniversary
party.  Their entire family would be there - Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka,
Katsuhito, Mayuka, Washu, Sasami, Mihoshi, Nobuyuki, Misaki, 
Funaho...  All of them.  Reinhart smiled.  It would be the first
time in a year that they were all together again.  Ayeka and Sasami
had both been away, trying to band together a fleet to fight 
against Lady Tokimi.  Mihoshi had been given command of the Galaxy
Police fleet that would be fighting against Tokimi.  Washu was only
very rarely seen out of her lab, working hard of some top secret
project.
     Reinhart sighed as he thought of Tokimi.  Tsunami and Washu
had told them everything that they could about their sister, and as
they had spoken, he had known that they would have to fight her.
Reinhart, never a great supporter of battle, had had his fill of it
in Romania, and now, with Carrie and Elayne to think about, he held
even more reservations against it.  But it was something that he 
knew would have to be done.
     "Penny for your thoughts, my heart?"  Reinhart jumped as 
Carrie spoke softly, startling him from his thoughts.  Elayne still
nursed contentedly, as Carrie looked at him.  Reinhart smiled,
and settled back slightly, sliding an arm behind her back, and 
giving her a light squeeze.
     "Just reflecting on everything that has happened over the past
year...  It seems like we only just came back, even though I know
it's been more than that.  It just seems like we haven't had any 
time for anything..."  Carrie smiled at him.
     "I know... it's hard to believe that it's been a year since...
that time.  But there is no way I would have rather spent it.  I 
truly have my family here...  I have you, and so, I have everything
that I need."  She smiled softly, and then looked down as Elayne
cooed, pushing away from Carrie's breast.  Laughing quietly,
she carried their daughter back to her crib, and lay her back down.
She giggled, and then fell back to sleep.  Buttoning her nightgown
back up, she came back to the bed, and lay down pressed up against
him.  He kissed her gently, lightly stroking her hair, and she 
smiled at him.
     "A hundred years ago, I would never have believed that I would
love, much less marry, or have a child.  Sometimes, it's almost
surreal, as if I were in a dream," she said softly.  Reinhart
grinned a little mischievously.  
     "Then you'd better kiss me quick, before you wake up and I 
disappear."  She laughed softly, and they moved together as the 
sphere of light she had made winked out.

     Adrian Farienhights Tepes looked up at the moon, as the light
it cast played off his broken sword, and sighed quietly.  There
was a hush to the land tonight, a sense of waiting, as though the
earth itself was bracing for something.  What, he did not know,
but the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, picking up on 
the almost electrical charge in the air.
     He did not know what had woken him this night; indeed, the 
peace that he had enjoyed in the past year was unparalleled
by any other time in his life.  This land...  it was at peace with
itself, unlike his native Romania.  There may have been blood on it
once, long ago, but now...  All his life, he had known nothing
but battle; here, he had found peace, acceptance.  It was something
that he had not been expecting, when he had carried Rosa Masaki
through the portal.
     The moonlight flashed golden on the silver of what had once
been his mother's sword.  The pommel was worked to look like two 
long stemmed roses; the blade itself had been nearly two and a half
feet long; now, it ended a foot from the cross-piece in a clean
break.  It had snapped, driven through the heart of his own son, the
madman Cain.  Born of a metal that none in his world could 
identify, it had been passed down in his mother's family since 
before even his father's time.
     "So I see that I'm not the only one with a sleeping problem
tonight."  Alucard smiled slightly, as Tenchi spoke up from the 
shadows.  The young man moved toward him, seeming to simply melt
out of the night.  On his shoulder rode Ryo-Ohki, the strange
half-cat, half-rabbit creature that was Ryoko's familiar.  Her 
golden eyes shone like little gemstones in the night.
     "The land called to me.  It knows that there is something
amiss."  Tenchi nodded, looking around, as Ryo-Ohki hopped down,
and bounced over to Alucard.  He reached down, and ruffled the 
creature's fur, and she purred quietly.
     "I know...  I've felt this only once before, the day that I 
released Ryoko.  Something is going to happen.  Something that will
change all of our lives."  Alucard nodded in agreement, sheathing
what remained of his sword, and Tenchi suddenly laughed.
     "It's hard to share a soul, I'm learning.  Somehow, I can 
remember that day that your mother gave you that sword; for that
matter, I can remember the day that she gave birth to you, but the
memories are fuzzy, as if it was only something that I imagined..."
He paused, and frowned slightly.  "Though it seems that with each
passing day, they become more and more clear..."  It still caught
him off guard sometimes when Tenchi spoke of a memory that couldn't
possibly be his.  Somewhere deep within his soul, a piece of 
Dracula lived on...  Thoughts, memories drifted into Tenchi from
that piece.  Alucard nodded.
     "My sixteenth naming day.  She felt that I was old enough
to understand the consequences of unsheathing it."  
Tenchi nodded, but remained silent.  The twin gems
in his wrists sparkled almost ominously, a crimson glitter in the
darkness.  Smiling and open, Tenchi was also a deep thinking
man, and this night was one for the deepest of thoughts. 
"I was once told that for every man, there is a time he must 
fight...  For awhile, I had hoped that that time was over for me...
I don't know what is coming, but I know that time has come once again."
Tenchi reached behind his back, and pulled something off.  He 
tossed it to Alucard, and he caught it automatically.  To his 
surprise, it was a scabbarded sword.  He looked at Tenchi; the man
simply shrugged. Slowly, he unsheathed the blade.  It was two and
a half feet long, the hilt shaped into two long dragons made of some
shimmering white metal, twisted around one another.  Their long 
tails made the cross-piece; down the length of the blade, a long,
serpentine dragon marched, scales worked in platinum, mane scarlet
enamel, its claws tipped in gold.  The beast's maw was open in a 
roar that Alucard could almost hear.  It was only sharp on one 
edge, and as wide as his second, third, and fourth fingers pressed
together.  Suddenly, he blinked, and unsheathed his own blade once
again, holding the two next to each other.  Save for the pommel
and the dragon on the blade, they were an exact match, and the same
metal.  Alucard looked back at Tenchi in stunned amazement.
     "It's been in the Masaki family for... millennia.  Grandfather
received it when he married into the line.  It's almost ironic;
I've trained with the sword for a long time, but I can't use it 
because I can't get used to its weight.  I've used force blades
for too long.  It seems fitting that since you lost your sword 
saving my children that you should have it," said Tenchi quietly.
Alucard shook his head.
     "No, I cannot accept it.  I have nothing to give in return."
Tenchi grinned.
     "I thought that you might say that.  You gave up your world
in order to get Rosa home.  I would say that I'm a bit late in 
returning your gift... my daughter's life, and my son and his 
wife's, not to mention their daughter's as well, because he 
wouldn't have left without either one of them.  Its name is 
Ryuu-ken, and all that I ask is that you use it with the same 
wisdom that you use your mother's blade with."  Alucard looked
at the sword again, and slowly nodded.
     "I am honored, Lord Tenchi, by your gift, and I swear on my 
mother's name that I will use it justly."  Sheathing the blade,
he bowed deeply to Tenchi.  The young man bowed back, smiling
slightly.  Almost reverently, Alucard attached the blade to his 
sword belt.  It felt almost odd to have the weight of a whole sword
at his side again.
     "Empress Ayeka sent a message that she would be arriving
fairly early."  Alucard sighed in exasperation before he caught
himself, and Tenchi grinned slightly.  Empress Ayeka Jurai, of the
Juraian Empire.  Though she had not often been there, as most of 
her time was spent gathering an army, when she was on Earth, he 
found himself feeling almost hunted.  It wasn't that her company
was unwelcome, but more the sense that she was trying to tame him.
It was an odd thought, he knew, and likely a fool's fancy; still,
he remembered that the first step to taming a wild horse was to be
around it as much as possible, so that it got used to your 
presence.  It must be his imagination, bit it seemed that whenever
she was there, she was almost never out of his view.
     "It will be a pleasure to see her highness again," he said 
evenly, and Tenchi chuckled.
     "It will, at that."  A slight breeze came up, and Tenchi 
shivered slightly.  "Changes...  But for the better, or for the 
worse?  If you'll excuse me, Alucard, Ryoko is starting to wake up,
and she worries when I disappear.  Good night."
     "Good night, Tenchi, and my most humble of thanks once again
for your gift."  Tenchi nodded, and then disappeared, teleporting
back to his wife.  Ryo-Ohki, still at Alucard's feet, miyaed 
quietly.  He looked down at the tiny creature.
     "So it seems that I shall battle once more...   Such does fate
laugh at me."  He drew his mother's sword, and wrapped his right
hand around the blade.  "For the peace of this land, or any other,
my battle shall last until my final breath."  Slowly, he pulled
his hand upward, leaving darkly glistening blood on the blade's
edge.  "By my blood, and the blood of my father and mother, I swear
this."  
     Drawing a deep breath, Alucard pivoted, and drove the broken
blade deeply into the huge elm that stood behind him.  Only the 
pommel remained visible, the blade entirely sheathed within the 
wood.  Alucard turned, and slowly walked away, blood dripping
freely from his right hand.  Ryo-Ohki miyaed again, and then 
scampered away, in the direction of the Tenchi household.

*****

     He watched, as the man turned, and walked away.  Something
stirred in the back of his mind, an almost recognition of him.  
Briefly, he wondered why his hand went to the golden cross that 
hung at his neck, but then pushed the thought away.  The tiny 
creature miyaed almost mournfully, and then ran off, leaving the 
small clearing empty.  Counting a slow ten, he stood, and entered
the clearing.
     He looked closely at the pommel that stuck out of the tree,
and again, something stirred in the back of his mind.  There were
holes, he knew, in his memory, parts that his goddess had not been
able to restore on her own.  Holes that blotched out most of his 
life.  He could remember an ancient castle, and a huge pendulum,
but at the sight of this sword, his mind burned, straining to 
remember it.  He did not know why, but he knew that it had 
something to do with the thin scar that stood on his chest over his
heart.
     His lover had asked him to retrieve this sword for her; though
she would not explain why.  He had agreed, of course; there was 
nothing that he would not do for his goddess.  But the other sword
that had been given to the man was the same as this, he was 
certain...  Still, she had said nothing of another blade, so he let
it slip from his mind.  Gripping the hilt, he pulled it slowly
out of the tree.
     As it came free, he had a sudden flash.  He stood facing the
man, looking down, he saw the sword embedded within his own flesh.
He stumbled backwards in surprise, taking a moment to recover.
Over the past year, he sometimes would have a memory like that.
Blinking away the confusion, he picked up the broken sword from 
where he had dropped it.  As he teleported away, he suddenly
noticed that he was laughing, almost insanely.  For some reason,
he couldn't stop.  He wondered what was so funny, but realized
that he must already know if he was laughing about it.

*****

     Yosho stepped forward silently as the man disappeared,
laughing madly.  He recognized him, from so long ago.  It was the
same face, the same insane laugh.  Never in all his long life had
he felt as old as he did just now.  The worst of it was that he 
knew that he could do nothing to stop the coming storm but wait and
watch events unfold.  He looked to his side as Tsunami appeared
next to him.
     "Is he the one?"  Yosho sighed.
     "Yes, Tsunami...  He is the one that will...  Oh, Tenchi,
I'm sorry for getting you into this...  I'm sorry for getting
all of them into this."  Tsunami turned to him, her face 
expressionless, but her eyes sad.
     "It was, and is what must be done, in order to save 
everything."
     "Does that make it right, Tsunami?  You need not worry about
my loyalty...  I will see the events that I have set in motion
through to the end.  Yes, I know that it must be done, but does 
that make it right?  Maybe it is easier for you, a goddess, to find
the justifying answers, but for me, a mortal man, it is 
impossible."
     "I can justify it by the number of lives that will be saved."
He looked at her.
     "What gives us the right to sacrifice lives, to chose lives
to sacrifice, in order to save them?"
     "I ask myself that question almost every passing hour."
     "And?"
     "I can not come up with a true answer.  Everything that I come
up with is only running away from what I don't want to think."
She sighed, and then disappeared.
     "Tenchi...  this is not your destiny, but there is nothing
that I can do to change your path now."  He turned, slowly, and 
walked back to the shrine that he had lived in for over seven 
hundred years. He hoped to end his days peacefully there, but
somehow, he knew that for the sins he had committed in the 
past, he would not be allowed to rest that way. 

---
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