(May 2000 note: This story was my first major fiction...  Go easy on me about it...)

Note: This is a story in five parts. I am writing this for the enjoyment of
others, but I know that some of you may find this story up to par. If you
find this is so, please don't ruin it for other people by ripping it on the
Bulletin Board. If you hate it, E-Mail me & tell me why so I can work on it.
O.K.? Cool. Also, I wrote this as if it would be made into an anime show.
Therefore, there may be some semi-adult storylines in it. Not to worry,
though. I've tried my best to keep it all ages. But remember, you have been
warned...

THE COURTSHIP & MARRIAGE OF RIKA
BY STEPHEN GARRETT
SFE_OTAKU@GEOCITIES.COM
Part 1: Beginnings

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ACT I
[The scene opens with a panoramic view of Motavia from above. Slowly, the
view is brought in closer and closer to the planet's surface. Finally, it
breaks thro the clouds and swarms over Aiedo. Suddenly, the view shoots
forward, swimming thro the city of Aiedo until it comes to a stop just in
front of Chaz Ashley's house. Then, we see a metal hand reach up and knock
on the door. After waiting for a few seconds, the view zooms back a little
before flying in thro the open window. As it makes it's way up the hall, we
see that the house is almost totally barren. Suddenly, something catches the
camera's eye. We see the metal hand again reaching down to pick it up, and
we discover that it is a women's brassiere. The camera view turns red, and
it bursts thro Chaz's bedroom's doorway. We see Chaz sprawled out in bed,
snoring away and all covered with dirt. ]

Rika's voice: [Gently at first] Cha-a-az. [She waits for a second, then
screams at full volume.] CHAZ ASHLEY!!! GET UP NOW!!!

[Chaz shoots up into the air, and on the way down we see a landmine that has
been reconfigured with two robotic arms and a two-way view screen. On the
view screen, we see Rika's angry face.]

Chaz: [As he lands] Rika-umph. Ow! [rubbing bottom] that hurt. Why are you
so pissed?

Rika: [Lifting up the brassiere and tossing it at him] Just **who** do these
belong to, hmmm?

Chaz: [looks at it for a second thinking, then a troubled look comes over
his face] Where did you find these?

Rika: [With confidence in her voice] In the hall, why?

Chaz: [with a broken voice...] This was Alys's. It must have fallen out of
the cabinet when I was moving it out.

Rika: [With true concern.] Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. [She flies over
and pats him on the back.] So, you finally decided to do it, eh?

Chaz: [With a sigh] Yeah, it had to be done eventually. And since you and
Daughter have all but eliminated the monsters all around the towns, I had
more than enough time to clean out Alys's stuff and donate it to the Motavia
Academy. Mabye someone there can use it.

Rika: [with a worried look] You didn't give them her slashers, did you?

Chaz: Yeah, why?

Rika: [Flying around the room] Oh, don't mind me. I'm just being paranoid.
Hey, can you make it by Valhal Fort tomorrow? Daughter and I have something
to show you that you might be interested in.

Chaz: [With a glint in his eye] Alright, but you'll have to make dinner.

Rika: [Smiling triumphantly] Deal.

[Rika's Land Mine flies off, leaving Chaz alone. As it leaves, the scene
suddenly switches to Rika in person. She is sitting at the terminal,
watching the Land Mine fly up into the air. Suddenly, she switches the
viewer off and whirls around in the chair. She gets up and stretches,
getting all the cricks out.]

Rika: [With a tired look in her eyes] **groan** Oh, I can't believe I've
been working for seventeen hours straight! [Falling down onto her bed] Oh,
all I want to do know is sleep.

Daughter: [Her soft, soothing voice echoing throughout the room] Ah, Rika. I
know what you mean. But cheer up! I have some good news, Demi and Kyra are
coming to Motavia tomorrow.

Rika: [Sitting up in bed] Tomorrow? But why?

Daughter: For the same reason that Chaz is, the unveiling.

Rika: [Curling up under the blankets] O.K., that explains Demi, but Kyra?

Daughter: [Dimming the lights] Well, something might go wrong with the
process, so we must have her here just in case.

Rika: [Tiredly] Oh, that's good. **yawn** I'm tired, can you send Wren the
reconecence he wanted on how the planet was doing now that we've taken over
all the aspects of Motavia's ecology.

Daughter: Yes, yes. I've already taken care of it. Now get some sleep.
You're not a computer like me, you know.

Rika:[with a tired smile and a yawn in her voice] Not for long, daughter.
After tomorrow...[She starts, but falls asleep]

Daughter: [Turns off the lights and speaker system. Then, we hear her as if
she is lost in thought, and doesn't care who listens.] Oh, that Rika. I owe
her so much already, and now she goes and does this for me. **sigh** She's
right. After tomorrow, I'll be changed forever. But, what if it doesn't
work? Oh, well. I'll still be O.K. But Rika? She'll be heartbroken. But
listen to me, doubting my dear little Rika. I should be ashamed of myself.
But, I'll leave all that for tomorrow. For now, I've got work to do...

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT II
[The scene fades out to black, then switches to the basement of the Academy.
We see a feminine figure walk up to a crate of boxes and scrutinize them
carefully. Then, after selecting her target, she picks it up and scurries up
the steps and out of the Academy all together.]

[Once outside the city, she draws out a pole and thrusts it to the ground
the times in rapid succession. Suddenly, the sand in front of her shifts and
up comes an adolescent sand worm wearing a saddle and bridle both engraved
with one word: Brangwin. She rapidly secures her treasure to her pet, then
swings up onto the saddle. She kicks her heels against its sides, and
vanishes in a flurry of sand.]

[The scene follows her along the desert night, riding her Sand worm against
the silhouette of the rising moon. Soon, they come to what used to be Mile,
before the 'Great Wave' killed off everyone in town. Even now, two years
later, not even the monsters would come near this place. It reeked of death,
and that suited her just fine. She halts the worm in front of what used to
be the Inn, and dismounts. The worm looks up at her with its one eye as if
she was its mother. She removes the crate from the worms side, then nods
gently. The worm squeals with glee and shoots deep within the earth to join
its brethren in the sand. The female, now satisfied that her pet is well
beneath the earth, unlocks the door and walks in.]

[The view switches to the inside of the Inn. It is dark until she strikes a
match and lights the three lanterns in the room. She picks up the parcel and
places it on the table and precedes to pry the box open. After trying
unsuccessfully with her bare hands, she tries a crowbar, then a axe, then
finally some dynamite. Of course, they all fail. So, she raises her hand in
the air and screams the word "CRASH" as she swings down her arm in one fluid
motion thro the box. Suddenly, the wood vibrates and disintegrates away,
leaving only the contents of the box behind.]

[The contents look like a bundle of carefully folded clothes at first
glance. The mysterious person then removes her hood and cloak, but we are
still unable to see her face. Underneath of the cloak, though, she is just
wearing a dusty white shirt and a size-too-small skirt. She picks up the
bundle of clothes and one of the lamps, and retreats to the bathroom. After
entering the bathroom, we have the shower scene. Unlike other Anime shower
scenes, in this one, she showers as if she is preparing for a major
religious ritual or something of that order.]

[The scene fast-forwards to when she's drying off in her bedroom. After
finishing. she walks over to the Clothes and starts to put them on. We see
her slip into the pants and undershirt, then into the boots. Finally, she
slips on her Jacket, and we see the one arm at a time shot. Finally, we see
the finished product: a young girl who looks surprisingly like Alys, but
with blue hair instead.]

Mystery Girl: [In an almost solemn voice.] Spirit of my mother, I ask you to
bless me on this mission I now undertake. [Taking up the two blades.] Bless
these slashers, which once were yours, and give them unto me, your daughter
Ryin Brangwin. In your memory I pray, Amen. [With that she places the blades
in their carrying pouches and turns off the lamps. Outside, she jumps aboard
the Sand worm that is already waiting for her and rides toward the north.]

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT III
[The screen comes back into view as if someone is opening up their eyes. At
first, it's all cloudy, but it eventually clears up some. We see the inside
of a space ship, and Demi is at the controls fiddling with the dials.
Suddenly, she whips around and smiles gently]

Demi: Oh, You've finally awoke! That's good, because we're almost to
Motivia!

Kyra: [Still a little tiredly] Could you try not to yell? This thing echoes.

Demi: [A little indignant] Well, I'm sorry. I just was excited with what was
going to happen today, that's all.

Kyra: [apologetic] I know, but it still is a little bothersome, that's all.
Truce?

Demi: Truce. [And they smile energetically at one another as they make their
decent to the planet.]

[We watch as the Landale gently lands on Motivia just in front of Valhal
Fort. The scene shifts to them getting out of thee Landale just as Chaz
pulls up in the Hovercraft. They all exchange greetings and fond
remembrance, then enter the fort.]

[Inside the fort, we are suprised by homely Rika and Daughter have made the
fort look. All around the fort are robots cleaning this or that, and we see
Girl stuff all up and down the halls. as they walk to the main area, Demi
and Kyra talk amongst themselves.]

Kyra: [In a hushed voice] I still don't understand, how did Rika and
Daughter meet?

Demi: [suprised] You don't know? Well, Rika felt sorry for Daughter having
to be shut down by Wren, so after we all left, she came out here and turned
Daughter back on. And of course they hit it off from the start. With
Daughter's help, Rika reprogrammed the robots here to watch over the towns
and keep them monster-free. At first, this upset the Hunter Guild, but then
they saw the benefits of it. Now they would no longer be called out for
every little thing that happened, and they could concentrate on the biggies,
like sand worm herds and such. Of course, all of this soon came to wren's
attention and he came down to put an end to it. {show stills of next few
scenes.} His original intention was to destroy Daughter once and for all,
thinking she was up to her old tricks. But Rika and Daughter pleaded with
him, begging for Wren to spare Daughter. He consented, but on one condition:
Rika and Daughter had to take over operations here on Motivia. {end stills}]

Rika: [cheerfully] And so we have to this day.

Demi, Kyra, and Chaz: RIKA! [They get together and share greetings, then
Chaz gets to the point.]

Chaz: So, why are we here? What's this so called 'unveiling' all about?

Rika: Well, I'll let Daughter tell you herself. Daughter?

[They all gasp suddenly, for out of the shadows comes what looks like a
sixteen year-old girl dressed in a scientist's clothes. They all stare
dumbfoundedly at her.]

Daughter: I suppose you'd like an explanation, right? [they all nod] Well,
this was my original body, but by a freak accident, My mind was transferred
into the machine. So, in hopes that the process could someday be reversed,
My body was frozen. Luckily, we were able to do it, Rika and I.

Chaz: So, does this mean we're out of a super-computer?

Rika: Chaz!

Daughter [chuckling] Well, yes and no. You see, I can log in and out
whenever I want to, so we can always use its database.

[Everyone ohs and ahs, then comes over to make small talk with Daughter.
Suddenly, there's a rumbling from below ground, and then the ground bursts
from below and out of the hole comes Ryin on her Sand worm. She jumps down
from her worm and runs over to Chaz, who is just getting up.]

Ryin: {In an athorative tone] Chaz Ashley, you must help me defeat Zio!

Chaz: [A little bewildered] A-Wha... Lady, I think you're off by a few
years. We killed Zio about a month before the great wave.

Ryin: No, you're mistaken. He lives, AND he's coming for YOU!

Chaz: [disbelieving] And how do you know this?

Ryin: Because, Chaz, He's already killed my mother, Alys, and now he's
coming for her children.

Chaz: [In Shock] You're Alys' Daughter!?!

Ryin: I'm surprised. Didn't she tell you that you had A TWIN.

Chaz: [Chaz turns pale withe shock, and barely stumbles out the words] Who
told you this?

Ryin: Why our father, Rune. Why, didn't you know? [Chaz wobbles a little
bit, then collapses on the floor.]

Rika: [With a great fear in her voice.] CHAZ! Someone, get some water, we've
got to help Chaz!

END OF PART 1