Journeys of Time 13: The Hidden Truth of 001-Alpha
This story is copyrighted to SashaWS/ArtisticEastern, containing characters owned by various people used with permission.
Any usage or posting of this story under the claim of being your own is not approved and you will be requested to remove it or face charges.
"Arashi, go down there, girl." Tenchi called out as the wyvern growled and began her descent towards the castle in Morgova. The lycan sitting behind Tenchi, holding onto her for dear life while Peridot was riding on her own wyvern, seeming to not mind how the werewolf was holding Tenchi closely. She had learned that Tenchi would always be loyal to her, so worrying was something she didn't have to do.
Ordering her own wyvern to follow Arashi, it wasn't long before they touched the ground and the guards saluted them, "Greetings, queens of Ri'Co'Va." Tenchi and Peridot gave them a salute back, "Thank you, guards. We would like an audience with the queen." Both guards looked at each other before looking back at them, "Seems like you didn't get informed. Death Queen Sasha has abdicated. We are now ruled by the counsel of Ocarina, Melody and Sonata." Tenchi's eyes widened and Peridot's jaw became so unhinged that a wyvern could have made a nest in her maw.
The sound of feet rushing up the stairs were impossible to hide as Tenchi and Peridot were moving as fast as they could for the throne room. The guards on duty just watched as they ran by, but some noticed the tail missing on Tenchi. None of them stopped the duo however and upon reaching the throne room, Tenchi pushed the doors open, "What is the meaning of this?" she had shouted out, startling Ocarina who dropped a cup of tea on the floor, having to witness the tea staining parts of the floor while shards of porcelain scattered all over the floor.
Realizing that they had visitors, Ocarina stood up together with Melody and Sonata, staring down Tenchi and Peridot, "Well, aren't you rude? We were enjoying some calmth with tea and some fresh scones. What do you want, Tenchi?" Tenchi narrowed an eye before calling out, "What do I want? I want a good reason from you as to why you three are now the leaders of Sasha's realm." Ocarina smirked before taking a step forward, "I challenged mom to Ja'Kio. She accepted and lost with dignity. We formed a counsel since I cannot rule alone. Mom is now the royal advisor." Ocarina held out her hand before the double-edged scythe appeared and she gave it a spin over her head as Tenchi felt a concentrated amount of power blasting out from Ocarina, making Peridot's eyes widen, "Wow! Is that Ocarina? She is so much different!"
Ocarina lowered the weapon to aim it at Tenchi, "If you wanna try me, then bring it on." Tenchi looked at Ocarina before turning around to walk away, "You said that Sasha is the royal advisor now? Then I got all information I need. Farewell, your majesties." With that, Tenchi left the throne room, just in time to walk right into Sasha, wearing a purple robe and what seemed to be a hood over her head. Tenchi knew that power anywhere, but before she could stop her, Sasha began to sprint away at a high speed, making Tenchi look confused, "Was that Sasha? Lets go, Peri!"
Chasing after Sasha, Tenchi and Peridot followed her trail towards the lower floor of the castle, which Tenchi knew very well at this point, "She is in the laboratory." Standing in the front of the door, Tenchi placed the left hand against the door before the lock came undone and as the door opened, they could witness Sasha sitting with the jaranyxes, seeming to groom them both as they laid on their fronts and squeaked happily. Not even bothering with knocking, Tenchi opened the door and alerted the trio of her, Peridot and the werewolf's presence, "Sasha, what happened? Why did you run?"
Sasha kept on grooming the two girls, ignoring Tenchi while the girls looked at them all and seemed curious about the strange fluffy thing that was with them. Tenchi noticed that Sasha's eyes were empty of emotions, like she was just a shell sitting there, "Sasha? Are you there?" No reaction at all. Peridot walked over and quickly lifted her hands to the girls so they wouldn't think she was planning to attack them before she reached her mother and sat down, "Mom, what is wrong?"
What happened next was something that Tenchi and Peridot didn't expect, as Sasha's eyes focused quickly on Peridot and she was teleported back to Tenchi before Sasha's eyes became devoid of emotions. Peridot stood up before swinging both her arms to bring out the chainwhips, attempting to wrap them around Sasha, but it was an almost instant teleportation as Sasha and the jaranyxes had been moved out of range for her chainwhips before Sasha spoke up, "Go away."
Tenchi began to get annoyed, "Seriously? We are concerned about you, Sasha." Sasha stopped the grooming before standing up, "Go away!" Tenchi approached Sasha quickly, "Listen, we are just wondering what happened and help you." Tenchi felt herself being sent back to Peridot by the teleportation spell as Sasha growled out, "Why can't you leave me alone when I tell you to go away?" Tenchi stopped before lifting a hand to Sasha, "Because you are family." Sasha growled before Tenchi noticed her turning away from them, "I didn't want you to see me like this. The powerful queen that taught you so much, now being the advisor to the new queens. What is there to admire now?"
The answer came in form of a punch from Peridot, leaving Tenchi shocked as the punch had enough power in it to actually make Sasha spin around a couple of times while Peridot growled, "Mom! No matter what you are, it still won't change who you are! So what if you are the advisor now? You are still the intelligent and loving mother that you always were. Now wake up!"
Tenchi's expression said it all, she feared that Peridot might have just caused her own demise. Much to her surprise, Sasha stopped and faced Peridot before her eyes narrowed to scare Peridot, but then lean in to kiss her as she held her tightly.
As the kiss ended, Sasha moved backwards and dried her eyes, "Thanks Peridot. I needed that. Just having a hard time accepting that I lost." Peridot nodded before healing up her mother as Tenchi moved in closely, "So, you are okay?" Sasha nodded before heading towards the lab, "Yes, but I think it is time that instead of you finding this out to use against me, I gonna let you hear it straight from the source itself." Just then the lab door opened up and Tarja walked into the lab with a smile, "I thought I heard something! Hi there, sisters. Came to visit?"
Peridot and Tenchi smiled, "Yes, and nice to see you again, Tarja." Tarja lifted a hand to Tenchi and they fistbumped, but Tenchi noticed that something was different with it. Looking at Tarja's offered hand, she noticed the entire arm was covered in a chitinous armor that made a fist of itself, "What is that?" Tarja looked at her fist and laughed, "Oh, just something I learned to make while you weren't around." Tenchi gave a nod before Tarja eeped at Pamelah sniffing her hand, "What is that?!"
Sasha turned her head to look at Pamelah and smiled, "Is that a Lycaneous Mezian? Why you brought her here?" Tenchi looked at Sasha, "We asked the princess of Mez'Vr if we could bring her here and have her cured of that gene." Sasha smirked a bit, "Cured? Don't you mean actually capable of sustaining control of their sanity?" Tenchi nodded before Sasha rolled her eyes and nodded, "I can do that. But first."
Sasha reached into the bookshelf and pulled out the all too familiar book about Tenchi's creation, Tenchi looking at her, "We already know about that, Sasha." Sasha's face seemed to tell her that she was wrong and suddenly Sasha had flipped to the last page and turned the book upside down before beginning to read, "Expanding log. The knowledge of my client's wish might have been met, but I wished to be safe that the payment is not lost. With an additional strain remaining, I created another Alpha Draconis Primus, this one however not having the same powers as the original one. A slight alteration was made to change the red pigment into a golden pigment. Also unlike the original strain, this one was given a metallic hue on their scales. Might even become actual metal itself. I placed it in the same container as the original one. This failsafe will ensure that I get my payment. End log."
Tenchi's eyes narrowed before her right hand formed a fist that came towards Sasha's face, but a chain whip wrapped around the arm to stop it as Peridot shook her head, "No, Ten-Ten. Mom admitted to this." Tenchi growled either way and looked at Sasha, "So you are telling me that I might have a sibling out there?!" Sasha closed the book before putting it back, "Yes. And I got no idea if they are alive or not. Did they get freed or did it fail since you were successful? Only your mom's old castle can tell the answer."
Tenchi growled at Sasha before turning around to run out the laboratory with Peridot following her as Tarja looked after them and then at Sasha who nodded, "You are not following them, Tarja. You got your daughter to take care of." Tarja nodded, "Yes, mom." Sasha turned to face the jaranyxes playing in the enclosure before she heard a voice behind her, "Miss Sasha, do you require some relief?" Sasha looked back at the dragon standing there before she spun around and headed for her, "Yes, Yume. And make sure you are not skipping a beat." The dragon's arms wrapped around Sasha before she nodded, "As you wish, miss Sasha."
Up in the main hall, Tenchi had finally slowed down as she was calming herself down from the reveal, allowing Peridot to catch up to her, "Ten-Ten, you okay?" Tenchi just nodded, "Yes, just hard to understand that I got a potential sibling out there." Peridot gave her a nod before hugging her closely, "Well, if you want, we can go and check your mother's castle. How bad can it really be?" Tenchi was about to answer before they heard the footsteps behind them and how something was slid into a container of sorts, then a second one before the click of something coming shut was heard. Tenchi and Peridot spun around, their eyes going wide as they saw Tarja standing there, holding what seemed to be a massive handgun, aimed right at Tenchi, but Tarja spun it around and lower the barrel down to give Tenchi and Peridot a complete view of the gun.
Tenchi's eyes widened further, "Is that what I think it is?! Is that a working replica of the Good Samaritan?!" Tarja nodded with a soft smile, "Oh yes. I wanted to make one ever since I read the Hellboy comics and now I finally have it. It is made entirely with the same specifications as the one from the comics. Difference being that I made it from a Damascus alloy rather than straight up pure metal. It even has special ammo just like the one from the comics, made by Phoebe. I am very happy to have it."
Tarja wished at that point that she had been quiet about it, as Tenchi growled at her, "Then why didn't you make me one too? You know I like powerful weapons that can tear my enemies a completely new one!" Tarja felt her fear growing the more Tenchi looked at her and suddenly there was a sound of something hitting the floor behind her, causing Tenchi to stop and stare with Peridot as Tarja looked behind her, noticing the neat pile of bricks laying behind her, causing Peridot to begin to laugh, "Tenchi, you made her literally shit bricks!" Tenchi couldn't hold back from joining in on the laughter, making Tarja cover her face in shame as she dropped the gun on the floor and ran off, something that Peridot and Tenchi noticed when they stopped laughing and saw that the only things remaining was the pile of bricks and the gun, Tenchi taking it up and holding the gun in her right hand, "She did actually do a good job on it. Maybe we should hand it back to her." Peridot nodded before going to Tarja's room to hand the gun back.
In a different location, far away from everything else, the darkness laid like a heavy blanket under the black clouds covering the sun's rays of light. The castle of the former queen Elizabeth stood proudly as a sign of the queen's former power and might over the world, no one truly knowing the queen's demise or even did check if she was alive. In the dungeon of the castle, swept in dirt and dust over the long time locked away in the cell, sat a lonely dragon. Its body not shimmering in its normal metallic gold glory, the red eyes closed from the lack of hope for a brighter future and its golden hair shared with its sister hanging like a possible home for any parasites or rodents. The door came unlocked without a reaction from the dragon as the guard carried in a slice of raw meat, bread and some water before the guard grabbed the dragon by the chin and smirked, "You should be happy that she told us to keep you alive. Otherwise we would have already killed you." The faint voice of the dragon spoke up, "Please... just kill me." The guard let the chin go before laughing as he left, closing the door behind him before locking it, leaving the dragon alone with the food, the faint voice speaking up again, "Sister... why did you abandon me?"
The End.
