Sean Danna
14th May 2003, 08:17 AM
Ranma: Mazoku Factor
Part 7
The Truth.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Ono Tofu sat in his office staring at the wall with a small cup of
lukewarm sake in his hands. It was dark outside, but still relatively
early. He was just sitting alone in the dark. The only light in the
building was the flashing of a digital clock and the street lamp near
the window of the waiting room. The door was open and a little of the
light stretched across the pitch-black room. His face was a deep frown
as he contemplated his current situation. He wasn't even sure why he was
involved with any of this. The boy seemed to bring him in on a whim, but
he knew that it was carefully planned before hand, probably from the
moment he first met him. Possibly sooner than that even.
Still, here he sat. Mulling over things that seemed more and more
sinister the more he thought about it. A boy of only sixteen years in
age had done this too him, purposely.
He was a goddamn doctor. He ran a very successful clinic in a small
suburban area. He had intuition; he had to have it. He found himself
confronted with all manner of medical problems in his situation. He had
to be able to find the answers quickly sometimes.
"...But this kid..."
He was an arrogant bastard. That's what he was. He thought that he was
smarter, that he could control the situation absolutely.
"What scares me is that he might be right."
He placed the cup down and rubbed at his temples. The boy was evil,
every sense he had told him. He was hiding a lot of secrets, dangerous
ones. He seriously doubted if the boy needed his aid at all. The Hibiki
boy had died a rather unpleasant death, and had no doubt died a few
times before that incident. The fact that he even considered that an
absolute truth bothered him on more than one level.
It also intrigued him. Healing power of that magnitude, and what it
could mean for his profession and the world. It sort of scared him
really. The thought of what could happen if no one would ever die. He
seriously hoped that such a race of men would be sterilized by whatever
caused it. Someone had discovered that kind of power though, and it was
a possibility that knowledge would spread somehow.
Maybe that was why Ranma was trying to get rid of him? Why did he think
he could help him anyway? Ryoga Hibiki didn't need a lot of intelligence
from what he'd seen. The boy would no doubt be up and walking around
again in a month at most. He was glad that he'd spoken with a few of the
students to get the details of the other encounter with Hibiki. Ranma
was right about him, he was dangerous and he had to be stopped. Ranma
seemed to hint that some very powerful dark forces were backing him
somehow.
Still, he doubted if whatever was backing him was much better. He
couldn't just ignore something like this. The end result would probably
be bad no matter who won. There probably wasn't anything he could do
about it though. He might be able to find a way if he stayed close to
Ranma. The very idea disgusted him, but he could not turn back.
The bastard who had given him a damn choice, the one who had told him
the cure for the hole in his heart that seemed to grow with each passing
day. It denied him even a chance to realize his dream. The answer was so
simple. Corrupt her.
"Just a little." He barely whispered the words as his face twisted into
anger. He wanted him to do it. He had no idea why. Was he after him?
Her? Both of them? He wanted her out of his way for some reason. Tofu
had no idea how far the boy would go to do that. What he knew of Ranma
Saotome was not promising either.
In a way, he would be protecting her. If the boy got what he wanted, he
would probably leave the both of them alone. Then again, maybe he
wouldn't.
"Stop trying to rationalize it!" he muttered under his breath. He might
have her, but she would be changed. Would it be enough to matter?
The frustrated man ran his hand through his hair as he fumbled at his
pocket for a moment. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and slipped one
into his mouth. His lighter flicked on and the light revealed an
overflowing ashtray on the table in front of him. He took a drag and sat
back as he exhaled. He simply sat in the faint orange light of his
cigarette as it faded into a tiny pinpoint of light in the darkness.
"What the hell am I doing? What am I going to do?" He couldn't find the
answers. He also knew he was running out of time if he was going to do
anything at all. There was a way to possibly buy more time though.
Unfortunately, that was also his biggest problem. He thought it was
possible that he had gone insane and was just rationalizing a way to
make himself do it. He knew more than anything else, that what Ranma
told him then was true.
Ranma was real though, and he was looking more and more dangerous as
time went by.
He finally downed his drink and simply sat in thoughtless silence for a
time.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Nabiki Tendo stormed down from her room with a frown on her face.
Genma, Soun, and Ranma all sat around the table drinking tea. Kasumi
emerged from the kitchen with a worried looking frown as the men stared
at her dumbly as she glared at Ranma.
"I do believe she's upset with me."
"It would seem so," agreed Soun.
"I don't recall doing anything that should upset her."
"It's part of being married son. You'll get used to it." Genma nodded
sagely.
Nabiki's gaze shifted to her father and Genma for a moment. The fact
that they were speaking as if she wasn't there in front of them would be
dealt with later. Her eyes quickly reverted back on target though as she
turned her attention back to him.
"Your focus is admirable," commented Ranma cheerfully.
"What the hell do you mean you haven't done anything to upset me? You
dragged me halfway across town in the middle of the night just so you
could show off! Oh, and the ten foot tall demon was a nice fucking
touch!"
Ranma simply stared at her cheerfully. "I didn't realize you were so
squeamish. I'll be more careful about who I let follow me next time."
Nabiki's jaw simply dropped. "You..."
Ranma was on the other side of the table at this point. It was clear he
wasn't expecting quite so strong a reaction from her. Her face was a
rather nasty snarl as she clenched her fists at her side. "You and I
need to talk. Right now."
"Sure, we'll use your room," replied Ranma.
"Absolutely not!" snapped Nabiki.
"Why son! That's a wonderful idea!" cried Genma.
"Quite so Saotome! Surely they'll get the most privacy there. I believe
Akane is using the dojo at the moment."
Akane was dressed in her pajamas and had a towel over her shoulder as
she emerged from the bathroom.
Genma and Soun looked back at her.
"Why Akane! I thought you were in the dojo."
The girl looked at the scene in front of her and wasn't quite sure what
to make of it. Nabiki was looking at Ranma like she wanted to kill him.
Ranma was...Ranma. Their parents were hunched over the pair, each
grasping his own child by the shoulders as they pushed them towards the
stairs. They hadn't even stopped to speak with her. Ranma and Nabiki
seemed to be moving slowly towards the stairs though. Ranma didn't seem
to be fighting at all. Nabiki was clawing at her father. They hadn't
even waited for them to stand up before they started shoving.
"Um. I practiced earlier." She turned to glare at Ranma. "This is your
fault isn't it?"
"Actually, I believe it was our Grandparent's fault, but nice try."
The girl snorted and turned her head away.
"Go get in a few kata before bed dear."
"But, I just took a bath!"
"Don't argue Akane! You know daddy is only thinking about your
training!"
Akane just looked at him for a moment. It was painfully obvious that he
was lying too her. She turned away and slowly shuffled to the dojo. It
was quite clear that all she had to do was go inside and stand around
for a few minutes. "Fine."
Nabiki twisted away from her father and slapped him across his face.
"Fine. We'll go to my room. I'm going to get you for this later though."
Soun was frozen in place as he stared at her dumbly. "But...but...I'm
your father!"
"I know that," she snapped as she turned away and stomped up to her
room. Ranma was already standing there with his arms crossed. He'd
escaped his father's grip when she'd slapped hers.
She opened the door and pointed inside.
Ranma's eyes narrowed as he strolled inside and sat on the floor in
front of the bed.
Nabiki narrowed her eyes at him. "Turn towards the chair."
The boy didn't seem bothered by her tone, but obeyed.
She straddled the back of the chair and crossed her arms across the
back. It felt comfortable to have a barrier of some kind between them,
even if she knew it wouldn't do any good if he did decide to try
something. She had a feeling there were lots of different kinds of
'something' with him.
Ranma simply continued to smile cheerfully as he looked up at her. She
could see his eyes, two rings of gold peered back at her as she sat
there. They seemed to be piercing through her, searching every part of
her being, even parts she didn't even know existed. This wasn't
something he expected, and he was still trying to figure out what was
going on exactly.
"I want you to talk."
"Pardon?" said Ranma as he arched his eyebrow slightly. His calculating
gaze vanished in an instant.
"I want you to start telling me what you've involved us in."
"Actually, I was trying to keep you out of it."
"What?"
"I like this less than you do. However, I can't really break a
contract."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" hissed Nabiki.
The boy's smile widened a bit at this. "A very interesting question
Nabiki Tendo."
She seemed confused by that for a split second. Ranma knew he had her
attention. He reached into his cloak and took out a large round red
crystal. He also pulled a five-foot long staff out of the bag that hung
on his hip. She knew this wasn't meant to impress her as he placed the
small hook at the tip of the staff. "It's valuable and fragile, that's
why I don't leave it in all the time."
The girl simply increased the intensity of her glare. "Get to the
point."
"A lesson if you will. There are many kinds of contracts in the world.
Some are written on paper, others are verbal, then there are spiritual
contracts. Breaking each kind has different repercussions. Some you'll
never know about, others just simply don't effect you because it takes
something you never knew you had."
Nabiki nodded at this. "This is something you use a lot isn't it."
"Sort of, but it is very important to me. Enough that a loveless
marriage wouldn't bother me much."
The girl froze with her gaze locked onto the smug looking grin on his
face. "You meant that didn't you."
"I'll admit that being rid of you would be more convenient for me in
the end, I'd rather not drag you or your family into this at all
actually. If you want the truth, I was trying to scare your father the
other night. He wouldn't have cared if I'd put him in your position, but
his two youngest daughters?"
Nabiki simply let her jaw drop again. There was no hiding the
realization she'd just been hit with. "You...you planned all of this
before you even got here!"
"More or less," replied the boy calmly. "I'll admit I wasn't counting
on Hibiki showing up, or the idiot swordsman."
"You seem to know what's going on most of the time. I should have
known. Hibiki is probably working with you."
"Don't give him that much credit," commented Ranma. "He's not the best
of people."
"Who are you to talk?"
"He's not the worst of people either."
"You owe me an explanation."
"Do I?" replied Ranma calmly.
"You're damn right!"
"My but you've gotten vocal tonight. I don't think you really want to
know actually. I think you'd rather it all went away."
"I want answers."
"Why? So you can stop me?" replied Ranma calmly.
Nabiki stumbled back off her chair at the complete change in tone and
mannerism in the boy. His gaze was cold and serious and his voice
lowered very slightly. "What the?"
"Would you really stop me from saving all humanity?"
She quickly regained herself as she sat up. The girl found she couldn't
look into his eyes at all. "You don't seem like the type."
"You'd be surprised who'd save the world given the chance. Self
preservation is a very powerful motivator."
"That doesn't answer anything."
"I'm giving you the chance to turn back, Nabiki Tendo."
"What?" muttered the girl as she glanced towards his eyes for a moment.
She found herself unable to look at him directly and turned towards the
wall completely.
"I'm giving you the chance to not learn the truth. Once you learn it,
it can consume you completely."
She stood up and kept her back to him. "Tell me. I'm tired of asking."
"There is no good and evil."
The girl was infuriated by that answer and turned to scream at him. She
didn't even squeak when she saw him standing in front of her inches away
from her face. He was wearing that cheerful mask again, seeming to take
some sort of glee in her anger.
"It's so much more complicated than that."
"Stop playing with me."
"Its called buildup," muttered Ranma as he gave a heavy sigh. "There
are two forces that oppose each other in the universe."
"What are they?"
"Light and Darkness."
"That's the same thing as..." started Nabiki.
"Is it?" asked Ranma.
"Yes."
"Seems that way doesn't it?" said the boy as he stepped back and waved
his arm. A small ball of light formed there. "Once, there was only
darkness. All the gods and demons lived together in this darkness. Well,
all the ones that weren't born after this. Anyway, the gods created
something after an eternity in the darkness. Specifically, the Almighty
did. He created anti darkness. They called it light."
The girl simply rolled her eyes at this.
Ranma simply grabbed the ball of light and it changed into a purple
flame in his hand. "It was the biggest mistake the gods ever made."
She was fairly interested into where this was going. "This had better
be good."
"Oh it is. You see demons opposed the light's existence. Think about a
bunch of arguing scientists and you'll get what I mean. The Almighty was
quite proud of his light, so he created hell and tossed those who oppose
him into the abyss. It was a dimension of darkness, meant to appease
them. They saw it as a prison. After a time, humanity was created. The
demons escaped, and waged war with the gods. Eventually, the demons were
pushed back into hell. The light of fire forever tormenting them as a
reminder of their loss."
Nabiki shuddered at this. She wasn't sure what to think at this point.
Ranma continued and seemed to ignore her discomfort. "In the peace that
followed, the gods created the Universe, and everything in it. Then they
made their second biggest mistake."
She didn't like this very much at all. Ranma was talking about some
very spiritual and crazy things at the moment. He had to be out of his
mind. "What was that?"
"Humans of course. Creatures that are created within both light and
darkness."
The girl simply snorted. "You expect me to believe any of this?"
"Perhaps." He replied. "Humans can wield both the powers of light and
darkness. The gods saw us as a threat almost immediately. After quite a
bit of deliberation, they decided to eradicate us by flooding the
planet."
The girl simply snorted. "That's some sort of western religion thing
isn't it?"
"Nice to finally know the reason isn't it?" said the boy cheerfully.
"Anyway. The war with the demons was far from over. Their power still
influences things in this world. Occasionally, a few of them escape into
this world. Trying to weaken the light so they can eventually take back
their universe. The Almighty saved us in the end."
"What, he felt bad?"
"No, because he saw us as potential weapons."
"Humans?" grumbled Nabiki.
Ranma raised his staff slightly and a small and rather impressive
illusion appeared inside the orb latched into the top. It was little
more than a slide show though and Nabiki found herself thinking it was a
rather corny way of telling a story. Almost like something you'd see in
a manga or something.
"Not in the way you think. You see, humans can sway either way, light
or darkness. They can be consumed completely by either. Most of them
sway one way or the other, but there is still a balance of strength. The
scales do not tip either way as of yet. The souls of humans contain
quite a bit of light and darkness. They go where they're the most
useful. Once freed from a body, it doesn't take much prodding to get a
soul too completely change one way or the other."
"What happens when they do?" asked Nabiki.
"Heh. What indeed Nabiki Tendo?"
"This is the biggest load of self important bullshit I've ever heard."
"Really?" said Ranma as he stood up and walked towards the door.
"You're not gonna get away with this. I'm going to find out what you're
really doing here."
"There is something you should know Nabiki Tendo."
"What's that?"
"Most humans have both light and darkness inside them. Imagine if you
will, what someone could do if they mastered both."
The girl stood wordlessly and simply frowned at him.
"The gods see us as a threat Nabiki Tendo. They would see us destroyed
as well. Your only choice, is who you die for."
The girl simply watched him as he walked out the door.
"Tell Akane to come inside. She's going to catch cold sitting outside
the window like that."
Nabiki turned and noticed the curtain flapping in the wind. Akane's
voice cursed lightly as her sister poked her head out. "What are you
doing here?"
"I want to know what's going on as much as you do," replied the girl as
she hung her head between her knees. She was sitting just outside the
window on the roof.
"Do you believe any of that?" asked Akane.
"Of course not, he's gone insane. Now we have to figure out how to get
rid of him."
"I guess," muttered Akane. It was clear she was uncomfortable with her
situation. "What should we do? I doubt if dad will throw him out. I
could beat him to near death and I'd bet they'll still hang around."
"I doubt if he'd let you," replied Nabiki. "Whatever it is he's got,
it's driven him mad."
The younger girl simply stood up and turned towards her room, leaving
her sister staring out at the sky from her window. She'd never admit it,
but Akane could tell she was pretty shaken. She wasn't sure if it was
because she might have believed him a little or not. She wasn't even
sure if she did herself or not yet.
++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma stood outside the doorway for a moment staring at it in silence.
Soun and Genma were in bed, and Kasumi was just finishing up in the
kitchen. He was alone for the moment and he smirked. "I wasn't going to
drag you into this Nabiki Tendo, but now..." He turned towards his room
and decided to go to sleep. "After all, tomorrow is another day."
+++++++++++++++++
Darkness, it was almost comforting to close his eyes and have it
envelop him completely once. Now, there was no darkness, only a cold and
focused stare. A heavy breath clouded out from his mouth as he stood
overlooking the sprawling city below him.
The moonlight shined down from above giving the snow an eerily blue
tint. He stood about halfway up the side of the mountain on a small
cliff watching the lights below for a time. He could still see it all,
despite the fact that his eyes were closed.
"Sight..." he muttered under his breath. "It wasn't worth the price."
His lips turned down into a small frown as he continued to stare down
at the city below with his eyes closed. He rarely opened them at all
anymore, in fact, it was actually physically painful to open them in
daylight, or even in a well-lit room. Still, perhaps that for the best.
Some things were not meant to be seen by human eyes.
The cold did not bother him at all it seemed. He stood against the
chilling breeze as if it were the middle of spring. His eyes cracked
open slightly as he watched the chill brush by him.
"Soon I'll have my revenge. You cannot hide from my eyes demon."
The irony did not escape him and he gave a humorless chuckle as he
turned away from the homes and continued up the side of the mountain. He
hefted his traveling bag onto his shoulder a bit more and began to
trudge onward towards the peak. "I'll find you soon enough."
"And then what?" asked a small voice in the back of his head. His frown
deepened as he pushed through the snow.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Ryoga Hibiki sat in the darkness brooding. He wasn't completely healed
yet and picked mushrooms and various small plants out of his skin as he
waited in the shadows of the small cave he'd crawled too as soon as he'd
regained enough of his form to do so. It would probably take a few more
days before he could walk among the humans again.
He was tired of kidding himself. He wasn't a man anymore. He had to
find his soul so that he could be invincible once again. As it was, he
was vulnerable.
"There has to be a way to find it. I've got to figure it out before
Ranma realizes I've lost it. If he finds it first..."
That was when he noticed the stench. Not the putrid bile of his still
healing body, but something stronger, more potent. He slowly stood to
his feet and frowned as he turned to look at the shadows behind him.
"What do you want?"
"Hibiki," said the voice from the darkness. He could barely make out
the massive shadow that loomed over him. It was crouched down low in the
cave it's horns barely touching the ceiling above it. "Saotome still
lives."
"You were useless, he had something better. Look what you've gotten me
so far."
"He must be destroyed, for all of our sakes."
Ryoga chuckled, a few of his teeth clattered from his mouth and onto
the ground. He was only mildly annoyed by this. They would grow back
after all. "You seem awfully hot on this."
"You have no idea. I think you'll be surprised when you find out just
who wants that boy dead."
"You can't seem to find him yourself though."
"He can hide from us," replied the thing simply. "A direct attack
against him would be unwise as well. You have nothing to fear from him
though. Even he cannot kill you."
Ryoga growled irritably at this, but remained silent.
"Is there a problem?"
"Nothing I can't handle," replied the walking corpse.
The demon narrowed his eyes at this, but didn't press it. "Ranma
Saotome seeks something, something we've been able to keep hidden from
him so far. That will not last forever."
"What do I care? I only want to give him what I owe him," snorted
Ryoga. "What you do with him after that is your own business."
"I assure you that we will take care of him when the time comes. We
still cannot assault him directly. You must find a way to weaken him
first."
The corpse nodded his head, small tuffs of hair floated towards the
ground as he sat back down. "You can't attack him yourself can you? He's
got something that scares you, or keeps you away."
"We fear nothing," snarled the beast coldly.
"You need me, for now," replied Ryoga as he stared up at the thing. He
felt no fear, even knowing what it was. In fact, it sort of gave him a
small thrill, a tingling deep inside his body that he couldn't describe.
"Without me..."
"Don't be foolish, how difficult to you think it would be for us to
replace you. You are vulnerable physically, but his magic cannot destroy
you."
"What about you? What sort of magic makes your kind fear him?"
The thing didn't answer for a moment. "Good and evil," it said finally.
"He possesses the secret of good and evil. That makes him infinitely
more dangerous than you will ever realize. That alone is not enough to
stop us though."
The lost boy didn't know what to say to that. It was a cryptic
response, and he knew that was no accident. This thing wanted to keep
him in the dark, keep him away from some sort of power. That meant it
was possible that he could harness this power for himself, and possibly
use it against Ranma.
The thing turned away from him and seemed to melt back into the
darkness. "You seem to have a better idea what it is you are facing now
boy. Go and finish what you've started."
Ryoga looked down at himself and noticed that his body was healed once
again. He clenched his fist and turned towards the cave entrance. With
luck, he'd find Ranma again within a few days. However, he wasn't sure
he wanted to find him just yet.
He didn't use his head much. It wasn't really practical to think very
often. He had enough strength that he could usually pound his way
through anything that got in his way. This problem seemed to require a
different approach though. He needed to find a way to gain the upper
hand against Ranma. He needed to find out exactly what the boy was up
to.
Perhaps he should spend more time on tracking down his soul before he
returned to face Ranma again. Still, he wasn't sure if it was his choice
really. Eventually his curse would take him to the thing the boy had
become. It was funny really, he of all people calling Ranma Saotome a
'thing'.
He slowly shook his head and chuckled as he started towards what he
thought was the exit to the cavern. It didn't really matter if it was or
not. After all, it wasn't like he would run into anything that could
kill him.
++++++++++++++++
Ranma was sitting at the table calmly early the next morning. He sipped
at his tea and simply watched the yard as the Tendo Sisters went about
their morning ritual around him. Something was off though, Kasumi was
walking around, and he hadn't seen Akane rushing about. "Hmmmm. It's
awfully quiet this morning."
Genma hefted himself down at the end of the table and snorted. "So it
is boy. I wonder what's going on?"
"I think Akane is in the kitchen."
"Maybe Kasumi isn't feeling well? Or maybe she just wanted a break this
morning?"
"Possible, but unlikely," said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes. He
vanished from in front of his father.
Genma didn't look particularly surprised or interested in that. The boy
would find out what he needed to know and he probably wouldn't see him
again until the evening. He picked up the tea his son had left behind
and decided to watch the yard, his son seemed to enjoy doing it as well.
He couldn't figure out why, but if he stared at it enough maybe he would
figure it out.
We all know what the chances of that are.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma appeared in the kitchen and sat down on the countertop as far
away from Akane as he could. "Wow. That's a gigantic curse."
Akane almost screamed and spun around with a butcher knife in her hand.
The boy had his head ducked down just below where the knife had stuck
into the cabinet behind his head. "Heh." He looked quite nervous for a
brief moment.
"What are you doing in here?"
"I was wondering why everyone was being so quiet this morning. I
haven't seen your father yet, and Kasumi and Nabiki haven't said a word
since they woke up. Somehow you managed to wake up before me, that's not
happened before. So you're making breakfast today?"
"That's right, and it will be really good too!" snapped the girl
indignantly.
"Not if that curse has anything to say about it," replied the boy as he
pointed at her.
Akane simply stared at him for a very long moment. "What?"
"You're cursed. I imagine you couldn't boil water if you wanted too. If
you really work at it, you might be able to make one thing well. A
concession to ensure you live to hate the curse. It's a really nasty one
too."
The girl was frozen with a wire whisk in her grip. Whatever was on the
end oozed off in a huge glob and hit the floor. It made something of a
thudding sound as it hit and promptly ate through the surface.
Akane was staring at it in shock.
"What were you making again?" asked Ranma cheerfully.
"Pancakes."
"Hmmm."
"It's true isn't it?" she muttered in horror as she slowly stood up
straight. The whisk was dropped to the floor, adding another large hole
in Soun Tendo's kitchen.
"I'm afraid so. I think I might be able to find out where it came from
if you give me a second." He pulled a small yellow crystal out of his
pocket and waved his hand over it once. It started to glow and he smiled
to himself as he closed his eyes. "Hmmm. This is odd. It seems like it
happened to you in... Second grade?"
"A little girl got lucky and worded a hex correctly while performing
the correct hand signals. Apparently she was upset about you beating up
her older brother? A complete and total coincidence, how unusual."
"No," muttered the girl. "Can you...?"
"Me? Lift a curse like that? I'm afraid not, it was something of a
personal curse."
"There has to be a way!"
"That's something you have to figure out on your own. It's a
personality thing, as long as you keep accumulating the right sort of
karma, and you'll keep the curse. You must find the right balance to
destroy it."
"What?" The girl growled and started to roll up her sleeves.
"Don't get mad at me because of the complications of your curse. My
father is taking his remarkably well. At least you're still human."
The girl paused and glared at him. "I...I'll never learn to cook?"
"Hmmm," replied the boy with a shrug. "It's possible for you to learn
to make one thing well. You'd better pick something you like, because
you'll be eating a lot of it. Don't think it will be easy though."
The girl hung her head, tears rolled down her cheeks. "What about that
other thing you said? Karma?"
"Something about you offended that girl. It was strong enough for such
a simple curse to latch onto easily. Whatever that girl had against you,
she was right. However, somewhere, while you bear this curse, a girl who
used to be in Akane Tendo's class is suffering even more. Casting a
curse on someone is tricky, there is always backlash. With this kind of
curse, the price is extremely high. Her suffering is probably different
from yours though. I'd wager three times, that's the usual amount."
The girl was looking at him in horror. "What?"
"To put it simply. To stop your suffering, and hers, you must unlearn
what you have learned."
"What does that mean?" growled the girl as she clutched the countertop
firmly.
"There are rules to this sort of transaction Akane. I'm not stupid
enough to break them and end up tangled in this web. You'll have to find
the answers to that yourself. Otherwise you're missing the point
entirely."
"Transaction?" muttered the girl.
"You owe me a favor," replied the boy calmly. "A rather large one."
Akane was starting to look like she didn't like the sound of that.
"Don't worry I'm well aware that it's not too valuable to you. Sooner or
later I might need something from you though. I'll be most appreciative
if you'd accommodate me. It's sort of tradition with this kind of deal.
Magic users and such prefer favors over most other forms of payment. I'm
afraid the monetary side of this is a bit beyond you anyway."
"You're charging me?" muttered the girl dumbly. "You're worse than
Nabiki."
"Perhaps. I could force you to be my personal servant for a year or so
you know. I'm being polite."
"I didn't ask for..." stammered the girl as she backed away.
"I know. You did, however, accept my consultation."
"You didn't tell me..."
"That would have depreciated the value of the consultation. Akane, you
are dealing with a curse here after all. Don't blame me because there
are rules attached to this sort of thing. It was intended to build
relationships as I recall."
"What rules!?" cried the girl angrily.
"Do you really want to know? I've got a few books upstairs that explain
it all. Shouldn't take you more than a month to bone up so to speak."
The boy leaned onto the counter with his chin cupped in his palm.
"Not that badly. One favor, and you'd better not abuse it."
"Akane, I take what I do very seriously," replied the boy with a
cheerful looking grin on his face. It didn't look much like he meant it.
She had a very bad feeling he wasn't kidding though.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nabiki glared at the boy who stood before her. He had his finger in his
ear and was twisting it idly while he waited by the door. "Hello. Would
it be better if we talked on the way to school, or if we sat down
somewhere?"
The girl narrowed her eyes and slowly turned her head towards him.
"We'll find a place to sit."
"Very well then. After you."
++++++++++++++++++++++++
He sat across from her calmly inside a small café that was only a
little off their route to the school.
"Why did you call me here?"
"Why indeed? You have accounting irregularities."
"What?" said the girl dumbly.
"Here. If you'll notice, Tagura's earnings rate has been dropping, but
in oddly even increments. A few hundred at first, but it stayed about
the same for a time, then it moved up to a thousand or two. Later, it
jumped a bit more. Still, her cut seems to remain the same. Either she's
skimming, and you'll be glad I'm telling you. Whether you admit that or
not is another matter. Then there's the second option."
"What's that?"
"You're paying her to keep something out of sight so to speak."
"Something?"
"I mean it in a broad sense. Could be something you did, some sort of
proof."
"She's one of my top earners."
"At what exactly?" replied the boy as he leaned back in his chair.
"You've been through my records. You tell me."
"I'm starting to like you Nabiki Tendo."
"I'll have to do something about that later. Right now, tell me what
you want."
"If it's blackmail you're worried about, I've got no real interest in
money. I can however be very useful to an enterprising young woman if I
choose to be."
"What do you want from me?" she insisted. She didn't like this one bit.
"What I want from you at the moment is nothing. I haven't done anything
useful yet. However, when I do decide to give you a little advice I'd
like you to remember it. I'm not talking about money either."
"That's disgusting!"
The boy blushed and scratched his head. "I didn't mean that either.
Look, I'm talking about something a bit different than a business
relationship, but fundamentally the same."
"Explain it too me."
"I'll make you lots of money, you owe me a favor or two along the way.
You never know when something like that might be useful."
"What kind of favor?"
"Access to information, contacts I can get through you. I can tell you
about people that your friends might like to know."
"Are you crazy? I don't need to expand. I'm not fool enough to step on
the Yakuza's toes!"
"I'm not talking about those kinds of relationships."
"What?"
"Doing something like this is about power and influence. I expect
you'll go far in this world, and you'll meet a lot of important people.
Most of them you'll hate behind your fake smile. The powerful really are
disgusting people."
"Yes. I can tell."
"Thank you," replied the boy as he gave her a small nod. "It's not like
I'm asking for your soul or anything."
"I've got to think about this," she replied coldly as she stood up.
"Now or never, Nabiki Tendo. This is a one time offer, and if you
refuse, you won't get offered again."
The girl growled as she turned to stare at the boy. "Fine then. I
accept."
"I bet you think I wasn't expecting that. You've still got a long way
to go, Nabiki Tendo." She walked away and went out the door while he
simply sat smirking to himself. After a moment he stood up and placed a
few coins on the table.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma didn't go to the school. He went back to the dojo and walked
through the gate calmly.
Genma and Soun were playing shogi on the porch and Kasumi was in the
kitchen. She'd managed to clean up Akane's mess and was starting on
lunch apparently.
He paused by the kitchen door to glare at her for a moment in silence.
A light smirk formed on his face as she suddenly winced in pain. She was
cutting vegetables and quickly dropped the knife and grabbed her index
finger.
"Ouch. Oh no," she muttered as she turned and walked to get a paper
towel to bandage the wound until she could find a bandage for it.
Ranma's eyes narrowed as she reached the paper towel dispenser and let
go of her fingers.
"Huh? I was sure I..." said the girl as she looked at her hand in
wonder.
"So. Spillover already?" he muttered under his breath. "This one bears
watching though."
He turned away unnoticed and walked into the living room.
Soun and Genma both looked up at him.
"What are you doing home boy?" snapped Genma.
"I've got something to take care of upstairs. Don't bother me," he
replied as he walked up the stairs and ignored them.
Genma calmed considerably and merely settled on a distasteful stare.
"Saotome?" muttered Soun in confusion.
"The boy is going to be upstairs with those books of his for a while.
He's got hundreds of them. It's about the same as sending him to school
anyway."
"Oh. I see," replied Soun as he nodded slowly.
"My son won't slack on his studies Tendo. I don't understand, but he
hates it when there's something he doesn't know."
"How odd," said Soun curiously.
"Indeed," agreed Genma.
++++++++++++++++++
Ranma was sitting at the table when Akane and Nabiki walked into the
room and looked at him.
"Where the hell were you all day?" snapped Akane angrily.
"Yes. Please tell," muttered Nabiki. It was obvious she was just going
through the motions of conversation. She really wasn't expecting an
answer.
"Oh. I just noticed Kasumi heal her own finger with a small spell
before school today. I spent most of the day checking up on that. I'm
quite pleased, my plans are going well. Oh, we'll probably be getting a
new visitor in a day or so. I've got a meeting with him later."
Both girls were staring at him dumbly. Ranma seemed quite pleased with
himself overall and ignored them.
"Say what?" stammered Nabiki.
"I really don't like to repeat myself. I'm afraid you'll just have to
remember on your own."
Akane simply walked away. She was still mad, but had no idea how to
argue with what he said. "Wait a minute! Kasumi!!??"
"Yes. If properly trained she'd be a most powerful priestess. I'm
actually quite surprised about that myself. I've never seen someone so
rooted in the light, and frankly I find it a bit unsettling. Still, I
guess it makes understanding Tofu's problem a little easier. My
recommendation should be quite helpful."
"What recommendation?" snapped Nabiki as she glared at the boy.
"I'm afraid that's confidential. Call it privileged information if you
like." The boy picked up a small cup of tea and sipped it lazily. "Some
new force is at work in the world. It's very exciting."
Akane's face was one of frustration. He didn't look excited about much
of anything at the moment. "What are you talking about?"
Nabiki was trying her best to keep a level head about herself. Kasumi
could do magic? That was new on her, but she doubted if he was lying.
Still, Akane was getting frustrated and loud. "What was this about a
visitor."
"I'm afraid you'll just have to wait and see."
"Right," grumbled the girl as she turned away. She could take a hint,
he'd told them what he wanted them to hear and would simply give
annoyingly vague and cryptic answers from that point on.
"You still haven't answered me!"
"Your sister seems to catch on faster than you do." The boy sipped at
his tea and kept watching the yard in silence.
The girl popped her knuckles and growled at him angrily. "Fine." She
stomped away and towards the dojo.
"I'll have to ask Soun how he deals with so much broken building
material. Akane goes through quite a bit in the dojo."
+++++++++++++++++++++
Just because he could see somewhere, didn't mean he could reach it
easily or quickly. He'd had to learn a lot about patience just to keep
his sanity. He was hiking down the side of a mountain with a traveling
bag slung over his shoulder. His eyes were closed, but no detail went
unnoticed.
He paused and turned slowly towards what was behind him. A cavern, a
dark cave seemed to have been ripped into the side of the mountain.
There was no light inside the cave, but he didn't need light to see.
"So. I find you at last."
"Why do you seek me out boy?" asked the booming voice from within the
cave.
"You know why."
"You are not happy? I gave you what you asked for boy. There is no one
to blame but yourself."
"You deceived me!" snarled the angry boy as he clenched his fists
tightly.
"What did you expect?" chuckled the voice in the darkness. "You've
gained so much, more than even you realize. Yet you still hate me enough
to seek me out for what I've done? That's very interesting indeed. Tell
me Mousse, was she everything you hoped she'd be when you saw her?"
"I…"
"All I did was open your eyes boy."
"You've done much more than that to me," retorted Mousse.
"You're right. Perhaps…I can take back what I've done. If you could do
one thing for me."
The boy gasped as he stepped back. "What?"
"I can give you the eyes you once had again if you wish. However, there
is one thing I'd like for you to do first. Do not forget that you asked
for what you received boy."
Mousse hung his head and turned his face away. "That doesn't excuse…"
"Do you wish to accept my offer?"
"What do you want?"
"If you kill Ryoga Hibiki, I will give you back your old eyes." Ranma
walked out of the cavern with a smirk on his face.
"You!" gasped Mousse as he finally recognized the boy in front of him
for some reason.
"Yes. Me."
"But you were…"
"Lucky enough to be in the right time at the right place. I did what
you asked of me while I was in your land. It's insulting to think you'd
be offended really."
"But how can you be?" stammered Mousse in horror.
"What? The thing that gave you those wonderful eyes? I'm surprised
you're not pleased with them. After all, they are so much more than
you're used too."
"I was treated worse than before! You turned me into a freak!" His eyes
looked almost completely black as he stared at the evil thing in front
of him. "I saw things, things no man should see!"
"As I've said before. You got what you asked for, and I did warn you
there would be a price."
"You want me to kill someone?"
"Yes. I imagine this task will keep you busy for some time. It's much
more difficult than you think."
"You lied to us! You said you were some sort of…" The boy snorted. "Of
course you'd lie. Who am I kidding?"
"I've never lied to you boy. Don't be silly. The truth is so much more
fun. Besides, I do hunt demons. I am Ranma Saotome, otherwise known as
'The Eater of Demons'."
"What?" gasped the boy in shock.
"Those monsters you detest so much are my food. So I'm sure we'll get
along just fine."
Mousse simply glanced at the town that was still in the distance. If
nothing else Ranma had saved him the rest of the walk that evening by
coming to him. He turned his head back towards the boy and found he was
gone. "It figures." With a small sigh he turned away from the cave.
Ranma wasn't the only thing hidden deep within the darkness of that
cavern.
++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma Saotome smiled as he walked into the darkness. "What have we
here?"
The tip of his staff lit up and cast a white glow on the walls around
him. He glanced down at the ground and noticed a set of footprints
moving towards the cave exit in the dirt. Several dirty bandannas
littered the ground around a chair-sized boulder.
"Hibiki was shacking up here. Probably so he could heal a bit in
privacy."
He turned to peer further into the darkness. "Oh, but there's more."
The light of his staff cast long shadows into the cavern. He kept
moving ahead at a steady pace, hoping something evil and horrible would
jump out and try to surprise him.
He wasn't very surprised when that didn't happen. He did however reach
what appeared to be a stone doorway. There were intricate carvings woven
across the slab. Snakes and a particularly large and vicious looking
goat's head adorned the crest that seemed to seal the door shut.
"Hmmm. Most intimidating indeed." He placed his hand on the door and
closed his eyes completely. "Heh. It seems I don't really need to open
this door to find you do I?"
A huge black thing loomed over him just behind his back. It towered
twenty feet in height and had skin that seemed to be made out of
shadows. Its horns crested down in front of its face over the gaping maw
of long sharp fangs. It hissed at him angrily and flapped the wings on
its back in rage. "What do you seek here?!"
The boy's face was actually quite cheerful as he turned to face it.
"Why you of course. I should have followed Hibiki more carefully. Very
interesting indeed."
"What?" snarled the thing. "You!" Recognition hit the thing in an
instant. None of his kind that had faced the monster before him had
lived yet. However, nothing like it had ever faced Ranma.
"Heh. I hope you're not thinking that you're going to win human. My
minions were nothing to my power. I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart
for eternity!"
The boy merely smirked. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. You see…I've
already won."
"Eh?" muttered the thing as the boy vanished from in front of its eyes.
"What? How?"
"You see, those minions of yours are mine now. All their power belongs
to me. As does yours."
A pair of yellow eyes peered out of the darkness the boy's
disappearance had caused. Just behind those eyes, two more much larger
eyes loomed ominously, followed by dozens of smaller eyes from all
around the largest pair.
The inhuman scream of pain that quickly followed echoed in the darkness
repeatedly. Finally, the sound stopped and there was silence.
An explosion of light filled the cavern as thousands of tiny faint blue
lights seemed to fill the air.
Ranma Saotome was standing in the middle of it all with a satisfied
looking grin on his face. "Heh. Not bad."
He raised his staff into the air and the runes along its length began
to glow. "This was a big one, but I'll wager he was working for someone
else still. The biggest I've seen yet, and still not much to deal with.
I shouldn't let that go to my head, but it's so hard to resist."
Almost as if to punctuate those words the balls of light shot together
into the center of the room in a ball that quickly turned into a bright
glowing ball of energy.
"What the?" muttered Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at it.
Without a sound, the light shot forward slamming into Ranma Saotome's
chest. He was thrown across the ground violently and landed on his back.
His hands felt about the area around him as he grabbed for anything he
could. His eyes were closed and he was gasping for breath as he
struggled on the ground. Finally he stopped and lay still in the
darkness.
+++++++++++++++++++
"Where is that boy?" grumbled Genma as he sat with Soun at the Tendo
household.
"He's still not back yet? It's almost time for school to begin,"
muttered Soun as he looked at his watch.
None of his daughters seemed particularly concerned as they went
through the usual morning routine.
"I'll start looking for him if he's not back by lunch. It's probably
nothing really," said Genma with a small shrug.
"I suppose you are right, Saotome," agreed the man with a short nod.
"Still, it would be wise to speak with him about staying out this way. I
wouldn't want him to worry my daughter after they are married. He should
have mentioned something if he knew he'd be gone this long."
"Maybe he didn't?" commented Nabiki dryly as she stood behind the pair.
"Akane and I are going to school whether he's here or not."
"Nabiki? Are you seeing this?"
Everyone turned to look at Akane. She was simply staring at the yard
dumbly.
"What…" Any further speech was cut off abruptly as Nabiki realized what
her sister was looking at.
Kasumi was standing in the yard with birds on her shoulders and head.
She was humming cheerfully as she hung the laundry to dry. A light
breeze was blowing at just the right angle for the job too. She was
humming cheerfully as she pinned a sheet to the line and moved onto the
next item.
"Kasumi?" muttered Nabiki as she stepped forward.
"Hmmm?" asked the girl as she turned to look at her sister with a smile
on her face.
The older girl's eyes were different. Her eyes had changed color and
were now a light gray in color. Nabiki felt better just because the girl
was looking at her. She shook her head and stepped back slightly. "It's
nothing. You just seem…different today."
"Oh. Why thank you Nabiki," replied Kasumi as she went back to her
work.
"What's going on?" muttered Akane. She turned towards her sister and
put her hand on the wooden support closest to her to steady her balance
for a moment.
"I'm not sure. I think Ranma has something to do with it though,"
commented Nabiki reluctantly.
"Ranma? Are you sure?" asked Akane. She was looking at her sister as if
she was crazy.
"I think whatever was happening to her just got a big boost. It seems
to fit the sort of thing he was talking about. We should start looking
into what he's doing more carefully. This could be dangerous."
The youngest sibling looked absolutely confused, but nodded anyway.
"I'm not sure what you mean, but all right."
"That's the problem, Akane. I'm not even sure I know what I mean. Ranma
isn't something we can just ignore and hope he goes away on his own.
This is serious, and it's starting to effect us directly."
The younger girl simply nodded again with a bit more certainty. She
turned to follow her sister out the door.
Neither one of them noticed that the wood on the support had a smoking
black handprint on it now.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Evil of evil that I am...
TBC…
Next time: The Awakening.
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Part 7
The Truth.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Ono Tofu sat in his office staring at the wall with a small cup of
lukewarm sake in his hands. It was dark outside, but still relatively
early. He was just sitting alone in the dark. The only light in the
building was the flashing of a digital clock and the street lamp near
the window of the waiting room. The door was open and a little of the
light stretched across the pitch-black room. His face was a deep frown
as he contemplated his current situation. He wasn't even sure why he was
involved with any of this. The boy seemed to bring him in on a whim, but
he knew that it was carefully planned before hand, probably from the
moment he first met him. Possibly sooner than that even.
Still, here he sat. Mulling over things that seemed more and more
sinister the more he thought about it. A boy of only sixteen years in
age had done this too him, purposely.
He was a goddamn doctor. He ran a very successful clinic in a small
suburban area. He had intuition; he had to have it. He found himself
confronted with all manner of medical problems in his situation. He had
to be able to find the answers quickly sometimes.
"...But this kid..."
He was an arrogant bastard. That's what he was. He thought that he was
smarter, that he could control the situation absolutely.
"What scares me is that he might be right."
He placed the cup down and rubbed at his temples. The boy was evil,
every sense he had told him. He was hiding a lot of secrets, dangerous
ones. He seriously doubted if the boy needed his aid at all. The Hibiki
boy had died a rather unpleasant death, and had no doubt died a few
times before that incident. The fact that he even considered that an
absolute truth bothered him on more than one level.
It also intrigued him. Healing power of that magnitude, and what it
could mean for his profession and the world. It sort of scared him
really. The thought of what could happen if no one would ever die. He
seriously hoped that such a race of men would be sterilized by whatever
caused it. Someone had discovered that kind of power though, and it was
a possibility that knowledge would spread somehow.
Maybe that was why Ranma was trying to get rid of him? Why did he think
he could help him anyway? Ryoga Hibiki didn't need a lot of intelligence
from what he'd seen. The boy would no doubt be up and walking around
again in a month at most. He was glad that he'd spoken with a few of the
students to get the details of the other encounter with Hibiki. Ranma
was right about him, he was dangerous and he had to be stopped. Ranma
seemed to hint that some very powerful dark forces were backing him
somehow.
Still, he doubted if whatever was backing him was much better. He
couldn't just ignore something like this. The end result would probably
be bad no matter who won. There probably wasn't anything he could do
about it though. He might be able to find a way if he stayed close to
Ranma. The very idea disgusted him, but he could not turn back.
The bastard who had given him a damn choice, the one who had told him
the cure for the hole in his heart that seemed to grow with each passing
day. It denied him even a chance to realize his dream. The answer was so
simple. Corrupt her.
"Just a little." He barely whispered the words as his face twisted into
anger. He wanted him to do it. He had no idea why. Was he after him?
Her? Both of them? He wanted her out of his way for some reason. Tofu
had no idea how far the boy would go to do that. What he knew of Ranma
Saotome was not promising either.
In a way, he would be protecting her. If the boy got what he wanted, he
would probably leave the both of them alone. Then again, maybe he
wouldn't.
"Stop trying to rationalize it!" he muttered under his breath. He might
have her, but she would be changed. Would it be enough to matter?
The frustrated man ran his hand through his hair as he fumbled at his
pocket for a moment. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and slipped one
into his mouth. His lighter flicked on and the light revealed an
overflowing ashtray on the table in front of him. He took a drag and sat
back as he exhaled. He simply sat in the faint orange light of his
cigarette as it faded into a tiny pinpoint of light in the darkness.
"What the hell am I doing? What am I going to do?" He couldn't find the
answers. He also knew he was running out of time if he was going to do
anything at all. There was a way to possibly buy more time though.
Unfortunately, that was also his biggest problem. He thought it was
possible that he had gone insane and was just rationalizing a way to
make himself do it. He knew more than anything else, that what Ranma
told him then was true.
Ranma was real though, and he was looking more and more dangerous as
time went by.
He finally downed his drink and simply sat in thoughtless silence for a
time.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Nabiki Tendo stormed down from her room with a frown on her face.
Genma, Soun, and Ranma all sat around the table drinking tea. Kasumi
emerged from the kitchen with a worried looking frown as the men stared
at her dumbly as she glared at Ranma.
"I do believe she's upset with me."
"It would seem so," agreed Soun.
"I don't recall doing anything that should upset her."
"It's part of being married son. You'll get used to it." Genma nodded
sagely.
Nabiki's gaze shifted to her father and Genma for a moment. The fact
that they were speaking as if she wasn't there in front of them would be
dealt with later. Her eyes quickly reverted back on target though as she
turned her attention back to him.
"Your focus is admirable," commented Ranma cheerfully.
"What the hell do you mean you haven't done anything to upset me? You
dragged me halfway across town in the middle of the night just so you
could show off! Oh, and the ten foot tall demon was a nice fucking
touch!"
Ranma simply stared at her cheerfully. "I didn't realize you were so
squeamish. I'll be more careful about who I let follow me next time."
Nabiki's jaw simply dropped. "You..."
Ranma was on the other side of the table at this point. It was clear he
wasn't expecting quite so strong a reaction from her. Her face was a
rather nasty snarl as she clenched her fists at her side. "You and I
need to talk. Right now."
"Sure, we'll use your room," replied Ranma.
"Absolutely not!" snapped Nabiki.
"Why son! That's a wonderful idea!" cried Genma.
"Quite so Saotome! Surely they'll get the most privacy there. I believe
Akane is using the dojo at the moment."
Akane was dressed in her pajamas and had a towel over her shoulder as
she emerged from the bathroom.
Genma and Soun looked back at her.
"Why Akane! I thought you were in the dojo."
The girl looked at the scene in front of her and wasn't quite sure what
to make of it. Nabiki was looking at Ranma like she wanted to kill him.
Ranma was...Ranma. Their parents were hunched over the pair, each
grasping his own child by the shoulders as they pushed them towards the
stairs. They hadn't even stopped to speak with her. Ranma and Nabiki
seemed to be moving slowly towards the stairs though. Ranma didn't seem
to be fighting at all. Nabiki was clawing at her father. They hadn't
even waited for them to stand up before they started shoving.
"Um. I practiced earlier." She turned to glare at Ranma. "This is your
fault isn't it?"
"Actually, I believe it was our Grandparent's fault, but nice try."
The girl snorted and turned her head away.
"Go get in a few kata before bed dear."
"But, I just took a bath!"
"Don't argue Akane! You know daddy is only thinking about your
training!"
Akane just looked at him for a moment. It was painfully obvious that he
was lying too her. She turned away and slowly shuffled to the dojo. It
was quite clear that all she had to do was go inside and stand around
for a few minutes. "Fine."
Nabiki twisted away from her father and slapped him across his face.
"Fine. We'll go to my room. I'm going to get you for this later though."
Soun was frozen in place as he stared at her dumbly. "But...but...I'm
your father!"
"I know that," she snapped as she turned away and stomped up to her
room. Ranma was already standing there with his arms crossed. He'd
escaped his father's grip when she'd slapped hers.
She opened the door and pointed inside.
Ranma's eyes narrowed as he strolled inside and sat on the floor in
front of the bed.
Nabiki narrowed her eyes at him. "Turn towards the chair."
The boy didn't seem bothered by her tone, but obeyed.
She straddled the back of the chair and crossed her arms across the
back. It felt comfortable to have a barrier of some kind between them,
even if she knew it wouldn't do any good if he did decide to try
something. She had a feeling there were lots of different kinds of
'something' with him.
Ranma simply continued to smile cheerfully as he looked up at her. She
could see his eyes, two rings of gold peered back at her as she sat
there. They seemed to be piercing through her, searching every part of
her being, even parts she didn't even know existed. This wasn't
something he expected, and he was still trying to figure out what was
going on exactly.
"I want you to talk."
"Pardon?" said Ranma as he arched his eyebrow slightly. His calculating
gaze vanished in an instant.
"I want you to start telling me what you've involved us in."
"Actually, I was trying to keep you out of it."
"What?"
"I like this less than you do. However, I can't really break a
contract."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" hissed Nabiki.
The boy's smile widened a bit at this. "A very interesting question
Nabiki Tendo."
She seemed confused by that for a split second. Ranma knew he had her
attention. He reached into his cloak and took out a large round red
crystal. He also pulled a five-foot long staff out of the bag that hung
on his hip. She knew this wasn't meant to impress her as he placed the
small hook at the tip of the staff. "It's valuable and fragile, that's
why I don't leave it in all the time."
The girl simply increased the intensity of her glare. "Get to the
point."
"A lesson if you will. There are many kinds of contracts in the world.
Some are written on paper, others are verbal, then there are spiritual
contracts. Breaking each kind has different repercussions. Some you'll
never know about, others just simply don't effect you because it takes
something you never knew you had."
Nabiki nodded at this. "This is something you use a lot isn't it."
"Sort of, but it is very important to me. Enough that a loveless
marriage wouldn't bother me much."
The girl froze with her gaze locked onto the smug looking grin on his
face. "You meant that didn't you."
"I'll admit that being rid of you would be more convenient for me in
the end, I'd rather not drag you or your family into this at all
actually. If you want the truth, I was trying to scare your father the
other night. He wouldn't have cared if I'd put him in your position, but
his two youngest daughters?"
Nabiki simply let her jaw drop again. There was no hiding the
realization she'd just been hit with. "You...you planned all of this
before you even got here!"
"More or less," replied the boy calmly. "I'll admit I wasn't counting
on Hibiki showing up, or the idiot swordsman."
"You seem to know what's going on most of the time. I should have
known. Hibiki is probably working with you."
"Don't give him that much credit," commented Ranma. "He's not the best
of people."
"Who are you to talk?"
"He's not the worst of people either."
"You owe me an explanation."
"Do I?" replied Ranma calmly.
"You're damn right!"
"My but you've gotten vocal tonight. I don't think you really want to
know actually. I think you'd rather it all went away."
"I want answers."
"Why? So you can stop me?" replied Ranma calmly.
Nabiki stumbled back off her chair at the complete change in tone and
mannerism in the boy. His gaze was cold and serious and his voice
lowered very slightly. "What the?"
"Would you really stop me from saving all humanity?"
She quickly regained herself as she sat up. The girl found she couldn't
look into his eyes at all. "You don't seem like the type."
"You'd be surprised who'd save the world given the chance. Self
preservation is a very powerful motivator."
"That doesn't answer anything."
"I'm giving you the chance to turn back, Nabiki Tendo."
"What?" muttered the girl as she glanced towards his eyes for a moment.
She found herself unable to look at him directly and turned towards the
wall completely.
"I'm giving you the chance to not learn the truth. Once you learn it,
it can consume you completely."
She stood up and kept her back to him. "Tell me. I'm tired of asking."
"There is no good and evil."
The girl was infuriated by that answer and turned to scream at him. She
didn't even squeak when she saw him standing in front of her inches away
from her face. He was wearing that cheerful mask again, seeming to take
some sort of glee in her anger.
"It's so much more complicated than that."
"Stop playing with me."
"Its called buildup," muttered Ranma as he gave a heavy sigh. "There
are two forces that oppose each other in the universe."
"What are they?"
"Light and Darkness."
"That's the same thing as..." started Nabiki.
"Is it?" asked Ranma.
"Yes."
"Seems that way doesn't it?" said the boy as he stepped back and waved
his arm. A small ball of light formed there. "Once, there was only
darkness. All the gods and demons lived together in this darkness. Well,
all the ones that weren't born after this. Anyway, the gods created
something after an eternity in the darkness. Specifically, the Almighty
did. He created anti darkness. They called it light."
The girl simply rolled her eyes at this.
Ranma simply grabbed the ball of light and it changed into a purple
flame in his hand. "It was the biggest mistake the gods ever made."
She was fairly interested into where this was going. "This had better
be good."
"Oh it is. You see demons opposed the light's existence. Think about a
bunch of arguing scientists and you'll get what I mean. The Almighty was
quite proud of his light, so he created hell and tossed those who oppose
him into the abyss. It was a dimension of darkness, meant to appease
them. They saw it as a prison. After a time, humanity was created. The
demons escaped, and waged war with the gods. Eventually, the demons were
pushed back into hell. The light of fire forever tormenting them as a
reminder of their loss."
Nabiki shuddered at this. She wasn't sure what to think at this point.
Ranma continued and seemed to ignore her discomfort. "In the peace that
followed, the gods created the Universe, and everything in it. Then they
made their second biggest mistake."
She didn't like this very much at all. Ranma was talking about some
very spiritual and crazy things at the moment. He had to be out of his
mind. "What was that?"
"Humans of course. Creatures that are created within both light and
darkness."
The girl simply snorted. "You expect me to believe any of this?"
"Perhaps." He replied. "Humans can wield both the powers of light and
darkness. The gods saw us as a threat almost immediately. After quite a
bit of deliberation, they decided to eradicate us by flooding the
planet."
The girl simply snorted. "That's some sort of western religion thing
isn't it?"
"Nice to finally know the reason isn't it?" said the boy cheerfully.
"Anyway. The war with the demons was far from over. Their power still
influences things in this world. Occasionally, a few of them escape into
this world. Trying to weaken the light so they can eventually take back
their universe. The Almighty saved us in the end."
"What, he felt bad?"
"No, because he saw us as potential weapons."
"Humans?" grumbled Nabiki.
Ranma raised his staff slightly and a small and rather impressive
illusion appeared inside the orb latched into the top. It was little
more than a slide show though and Nabiki found herself thinking it was a
rather corny way of telling a story. Almost like something you'd see in
a manga or something.
"Not in the way you think. You see, humans can sway either way, light
or darkness. They can be consumed completely by either. Most of them
sway one way or the other, but there is still a balance of strength. The
scales do not tip either way as of yet. The souls of humans contain
quite a bit of light and darkness. They go where they're the most
useful. Once freed from a body, it doesn't take much prodding to get a
soul too completely change one way or the other."
"What happens when they do?" asked Nabiki.
"Heh. What indeed Nabiki Tendo?"
"This is the biggest load of self important bullshit I've ever heard."
"Really?" said Ranma as he stood up and walked towards the door.
"You're not gonna get away with this. I'm going to find out what you're
really doing here."
"There is something you should know Nabiki Tendo."
"What's that?"
"Most humans have both light and darkness inside them. Imagine if you
will, what someone could do if they mastered both."
The girl stood wordlessly and simply frowned at him.
"The gods see us as a threat Nabiki Tendo. They would see us destroyed
as well. Your only choice, is who you die for."
The girl simply watched him as he walked out the door.
"Tell Akane to come inside. She's going to catch cold sitting outside
the window like that."
Nabiki turned and noticed the curtain flapping in the wind. Akane's
voice cursed lightly as her sister poked her head out. "What are you
doing here?"
"I want to know what's going on as much as you do," replied the girl as
she hung her head between her knees. She was sitting just outside the
window on the roof.
"Do you believe any of that?" asked Akane.
"Of course not, he's gone insane. Now we have to figure out how to get
rid of him."
"I guess," muttered Akane. It was clear she was uncomfortable with her
situation. "What should we do? I doubt if dad will throw him out. I
could beat him to near death and I'd bet they'll still hang around."
"I doubt if he'd let you," replied Nabiki. "Whatever it is he's got,
it's driven him mad."
The younger girl simply stood up and turned towards her room, leaving
her sister staring out at the sky from her window. She'd never admit it,
but Akane could tell she was pretty shaken. She wasn't sure if it was
because she might have believed him a little or not. She wasn't even
sure if she did herself or not yet.
++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma stood outside the doorway for a moment staring at it in silence.
Soun and Genma were in bed, and Kasumi was just finishing up in the
kitchen. He was alone for the moment and he smirked. "I wasn't going to
drag you into this Nabiki Tendo, but now..." He turned towards his room
and decided to go to sleep. "After all, tomorrow is another day."
+++++++++++++++++
Darkness, it was almost comforting to close his eyes and have it
envelop him completely once. Now, there was no darkness, only a cold and
focused stare. A heavy breath clouded out from his mouth as he stood
overlooking the sprawling city below him.
The moonlight shined down from above giving the snow an eerily blue
tint. He stood about halfway up the side of the mountain on a small
cliff watching the lights below for a time. He could still see it all,
despite the fact that his eyes were closed.
"Sight..." he muttered under his breath. "It wasn't worth the price."
His lips turned down into a small frown as he continued to stare down
at the city below with his eyes closed. He rarely opened them at all
anymore, in fact, it was actually physically painful to open them in
daylight, or even in a well-lit room. Still, perhaps that for the best.
Some things were not meant to be seen by human eyes.
The cold did not bother him at all it seemed. He stood against the
chilling breeze as if it were the middle of spring. His eyes cracked
open slightly as he watched the chill brush by him.
"Soon I'll have my revenge. You cannot hide from my eyes demon."
The irony did not escape him and he gave a humorless chuckle as he
turned away from the homes and continued up the side of the mountain. He
hefted his traveling bag onto his shoulder a bit more and began to
trudge onward towards the peak. "I'll find you soon enough."
"And then what?" asked a small voice in the back of his head. His frown
deepened as he pushed through the snow.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Ryoga Hibiki sat in the darkness brooding. He wasn't completely healed
yet and picked mushrooms and various small plants out of his skin as he
waited in the shadows of the small cave he'd crawled too as soon as he'd
regained enough of his form to do so. It would probably take a few more
days before he could walk among the humans again.
He was tired of kidding himself. He wasn't a man anymore. He had to
find his soul so that he could be invincible once again. As it was, he
was vulnerable.
"There has to be a way to find it. I've got to figure it out before
Ranma realizes I've lost it. If he finds it first..."
That was when he noticed the stench. Not the putrid bile of his still
healing body, but something stronger, more potent. He slowly stood to
his feet and frowned as he turned to look at the shadows behind him.
"What do you want?"
"Hibiki," said the voice from the darkness. He could barely make out
the massive shadow that loomed over him. It was crouched down low in the
cave it's horns barely touching the ceiling above it. "Saotome still
lives."
"You were useless, he had something better. Look what you've gotten me
so far."
"He must be destroyed, for all of our sakes."
Ryoga chuckled, a few of his teeth clattered from his mouth and onto
the ground. He was only mildly annoyed by this. They would grow back
after all. "You seem awfully hot on this."
"You have no idea. I think you'll be surprised when you find out just
who wants that boy dead."
"You can't seem to find him yourself though."
"He can hide from us," replied the thing simply. "A direct attack
against him would be unwise as well. You have nothing to fear from him
though. Even he cannot kill you."
Ryoga growled irritably at this, but remained silent.
"Is there a problem?"
"Nothing I can't handle," replied the walking corpse.
The demon narrowed his eyes at this, but didn't press it. "Ranma
Saotome seeks something, something we've been able to keep hidden from
him so far. That will not last forever."
"What do I care? I only want to give him what I owe him," snorted
Ryoga. "What you do with him after that is your own business."
"I assure you that we will take care of him when the time comes. We
still cannot assault him directly. You must find a way to weaken him
first."
The corpse nodded his head, small tuffs of hair floated towards the
ground as he sat back down. "You can't attack him yourself can you? He's
got something that scares you, or keeps you away."
"We fear nothing," snarled the beast coldly.
"You need me, for now," replied Ryoga as he stared up at the thing. He
felt no fear, even knowing what it was. In fact, it sort of gave him a
small thrill, a tingling deep inside his body that he couldn't describe.
"Without me..."
"Don't be foolish, how difficult to you think it would be for us to
replace you. You are vulnerable physically, but his magic cannot destroy
you."
"What about you? What sort of magic makes your kind fear him?"
The thing didn't answer for a moment. "Good and evil," it said finally.
"He possesses the secret of good and evil. That makes him infinitely
more dangerous than you will ever realize. That alone is not enough to
stop us though."
The lost boy didn't know what to say to that. It was a cryptic
response, and he knew that was no accident. This thing wanted to keep
him in the dark, keep him away from some sort of power. That meant it
was possible that he could harness this power for himself, and possibly
use it against Ranma.
The thing turned away from him and seemed to melt back into the
darkness. "You seem to have a better idea what it is you are facing now
boy. Go and finish what you've started."
Ryoga looked down at himself and noticed that his body was healed once
again. He clenched his fist and turned towards the cave entrance. With
luck, he'd find Ranma again within a few days. However, he wasn't sure
he wanted to find him just yet.
He didn't use his head much. It wasn't really practical to think very
often. He had enough strength that he could usually pound his way
through anything that got in his way. This problem seemed to require a
different approach though. He needed to find a way to gain the upper
hand against Ranma. He needed to find out exactly what the boy was up
to.
Perhaps he should spend more time on tracking down his soul before he
returned to face Ranma again. Still, he wasn't sure if it was his choice
really. Eventually his curse would take him to the thing the boy had
become. It was funny really, he of all people calling Ranma Saotome a
'thing'.
He slowly shook his head and chuckled as he started towards what he
thought was the exit to the cavern. It didn't really matter if it was or
not. After all, it wasn't like he would run into anything that could
kill him.
++++++++++++++++
Ranma was sitting at the table calmly early the next morning. He sipped
at his tea and simply watched the yard as the Tendo Sisters went about
their morning ritual around him. Something was off though, Kasumi was
walking around, and he hadn't seen Akane rushing about. "Hmmmm. It's
awfully quiet this morning."
Genma hefted himself down at the end of the table and snorted. "So it
is boy. I wonder what's going on?"
"I think Akane is in the kitchen."
"Maybe Kasumi isn't feeling well? Or maybe she just wanted a break this
morning?"
"Possible, but unlikely," said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes. He
vanished from in front of his father.
Genma didn't look particularly surprised or interested in that. The boy
would find out what he needed to know and he probably wouldn't see him
again until the evening. He picked up the tea his son had left behind
and decided to watch the yard, his son seemed to enjoy doing it as well.
He couldn't figure out why, but if he stared at it enough maybe he would
figure it out.
We all know what the chances of that are.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma appeared in the kitchen and sat down on the countertop as far
away from Akane as he could. "Wow. That's a gigantic curse."
Akane almost screamed and spun around with a butcher knife in her hand.
The boy had his head ducked down just below where the knife had stuck
into the cabinet behind his head. "Heh." He looked quite nervous for a
brief moment.
"What are you doing in here?"
"I was wondering why everyone was being so quiet this morning. I
haven't seen your father yet, and Kasumi and Nabiki haven't said a word
since they woke up. Somehow you managed to wake up before me, that's not
happened before. So you're making breakfast today?"
"That's right, and it will be really good too!" snapped the girl
indignantly.
"Not if that curse has anything to say about it," replied the boy as he
pointed at her.
Akane simply stared at him for a very long moment. "What?"
"You're cursed. I imagine you couldn't boil water if you wanted too. If
you really work at it, you might be able to make one thing well. A
concession to ensure you live to hate the curse. It's a really nasty one
too."
The girl was frozen with a wire whisk in her grip. Whatever was on the
end oozed off in a huge glob and hit the floor. It made something of a
thudding sound as it hit and promptly ate through the surface.
Akane was staring at it in shock.
"What were you making again?" asked Ranma cheerfully.
"Pancakes."
"Hmmm."
"It's true isn't it?" she muttered in horror as she slowly stood up
straight. The whisk was dropped to the floor, adding another large hole
in Soun Tendo's kitchen.
"I'm afraid so. I think I might be able to find out where it came from
if you give me a second." He pulled a small yellow crystal out of his
pocket and waved his hand over it once. It started to glow and he smiled
to himself as he closed his eyes. "Hmmm. This is odd. It seems like it
happened to you in... Second grade?"
"A little girl got lucky and worded a hex correctly while performing
the correct hand signals. Apparently she was upset about you beating up
her older brother? A complete and total coincidence, how unusual."
"No," muttered the girl. "Can you...?"
"Me? Lift a curse like that? I'm afraid not, it was something of a
personal curse."
"There has to be a way!"
"That's something you have to figure out on your own. It's a
personality thing, as long as you keep accumulating the right sort of
karma, and you'll keep the curse. You must find the right balance to
destroy it."
"What?" The girl growled and started to roll up her sleeves.
"Don't get mad at me because of the complications of your curse. My
father is taking his remarkably well. At least you're still human."
The girl paused and glared at him. "I...I'll never learn to cook?"
"Hmmm," replied the boy with a shrug. "It's possible for you to learn
to make one thing well. You'd better pick something you like, because
you'll be eating a lot of it. Don't think it will be easy though."
The girl hung her head, tears rolled down her cheeks. "What about that
other thing you said? Karma?"
"Something about you offended that girl. It was strong enough for such
a simple curse to latch onto easily. Whatever that girl had against you,
she was right. However, somewhere, while you bear this curse, a girl who
used to be in Akane Tendo's class is suffering even more. Casting a
curse on someone is tricky, there is always backlash. With this kind of
curse, the price is extremely high. Her suffering is probably different
from yours though. I'd wager three times, that's the usual amount."
The girl was looking at him in horror. "What?"
"To put it simply. To stop your suffering, and hers, you must unlearn
what you have learned."
"What does that mean?" growled the girl as she clutched the countertop
firmly.
"There are rules to this sort of transaction Akane. I'm not stupid
enough to break them and end up tangled in this web. You'll have to find
the answers to that yourself. Otherwise you're missing the point
entirely."
"Transaction?" muttered the girl.
"You owe me a favor," replied the boy calmly. "A rather large one."
Akane was starting to look like she didn't like the sound of that.
"Don't worry I'm well aware that it's not too valuable to you. Sooner or
later I might need something from you though. I'll be most appreciative
if you'd accommodate me. It's sort of tradition with this kind of deal.
Magic users and such prefer favors over most other forms of payment. I'm
afraid the monetary side of this is a bit beyond you anyway."
"You're charging me?" muttered the girl dumbly. "You're worse than
Nabiki."
"Perhaps. I could force you to be my personal servant for a year or so
you know. I'm being polite."
"I didn't ask for..." stammered the girl as she backed away.
"I know. You did, however, accept my consultation."
"You didn't tell me..."
"That would have depreciated the value of the consultation. Akane, you
are dealing with a curse here after all. Don't blame me because there
are rules attached to this sort of thing. It was intended to build
relationships as I recall."
"What rules!?" cried the girl angrily.
"Do you really want to know? I've got a few books upstairs that explain
it all. Shouldn't take you more than a month to bone up so to speak."
The boy leaned onto the counter with his chin cupped in his palm.
"Not that badly. One favor, and you'd better not abuse it."
"Akane, I take what I do very seriously," replied the boy with a
cheerful looking grin on his face. It didn't look much like he meant it.
She had a very bad feeling he wasn't kidding though.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nabiki glared at the boy who stood before her. He had his finger in his
ear and was twisting it idly while he waited by the door. "Hello. Would
it be better if we talked on the way to school, or if we sat down
somewhere?"
The girl narrowed her eyes and slowly turned her head towards him.
"We'll find a place to sit."
"Very well then. After you."
++++++++++++++++++++++++
He sat across from her calmly inside a small café that was only a
little off their route to the school.
"Why did you call me here?"
"Why indeed? You have accounting irregularities."
"What?" said the girl dumbly.
"Here. If you'll notice, Tagura's earnings rate has been dropping, but
in oddly even increments. A few hundred at first, but it stayed about
the same for a time, then it moved up to a thousand or two. Later, it
jumped a bit more. Still, her cut seems to remain the same. Either she's
skimming, and you'll be glad I'm telling you. Whether you admit that or
not is another matter. Then there's the second option."
"What's that?"
"You're paying her to keep something out of sight so to speak."
"Something?"
"I mean it in a broad sense. Could be something you did, some sort of
proof."
"She's one of my top earners."
"At what exactly?" replied the boy as he leaned back in his chair.
"You've been through my records. You tell me."
"I'm starting to like you Nabiki Tendo."
"I'll have to do something about that later. Right now, tell me what
you want."
"If it's blackmail you're worried about, I've got no real interest in
money. I can however be very useful to an enterprising young woman if I
choose to be."
"What do you want from me?" she insisted. She didn't like this one bit.
"What I want from you at the moment is nothing. I haven't done anything
useful yet. However, when I do decide to give you a little advice I'd
like you to remember it. I'm not talking about money either."
"That's disgusting!"
The boy blushed and scratched his head. "I didn't mean that either.
Look, I'm talking about something a bit different than a business
relationship, but fundamentally the same."
"Explain it too me."
"I'll make you lots of money, you owe me a favor or two along the way.
You never know when something like that might be useful."
"What kind of favor?"
"Access to information, contacts I can get through you. I can tell you
about people that your friends might like to know."
"Are you crazy? I don't need to expand. I'm not fool enough to step on
the Yakuza's toes!"
"I'm not talking about those kinds of relationships."
"What?"
"Doing something like this is about power and influence. I expect
you'll go far in this world, and you'll meet a lot of important people.
Most of them you'll hate behind your fake smile. The powerful really are
disgusting people."
"Yes. I can tell."
"Thank you," replied the boy as he gave her a small nod. "It's not like
I'm asking for your soul or anything."
"I've got to think about this," she replied coldly as she stood up.
"Now or never, Nabiki Tendo. This is a one time offer, and if you
refuse, you won't get offered again."
The girl growled as she turned to stare at the boy. "Fine then. I
accept."
"I bet you think I wasn't expecting that. You've still got a long way
to go, Nabiki Tendo." She walked away and went out the door while he
simply sat smirking to himself. After a moment he stood up and placed a
few coins on the table.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma didn't go to the school. He went back to the dojo and walked
through the gate calmly.
Genma and Soun were playing shogi on the porch and Kasumi was in the
kitchen. She'd managed to clean up Akane's mess and was starting on
lunch apparently.
He paused by the kitchen door to glare at her for a moment in silence.
A light smirk formed on his face as she suddenly winced in pain. She was
cutting vegetables and quickly dropped the knife and grabbed her index
finger.
"Ouch. Oh no," she muttered as she turned and walked to get a paper
towel to bandage the wound until she could find a bandage for it.
Ranma's eyes narrowed as she reached the paper towel dispenser and let
go of her fingers.
"Huh? I was sure I..." said the girl as she looked at her hand in
wonder.
"So. Spillover already?" he muttered under his breath. "This one bears
watching though."
He turned away unnoticed and walked into the living room.
Soun and Genma both looked up at him.
"What are you doing home boy?" snapped Genma.
"I've got something to take care of upstairs. Don't bother me," he
replied as he walked up the stairs and ignored them.
Genma calmed considerably and merely settled on a distasteful stare.
"Saotome?" muttered Soun in confusion.
"The boy is going to be upstairs with those books of his for a while.
He's got hundreds of them. It's about the same as sending him to school
anyway."
"Oh. I see," replied Soun as he nodded slowly.
"My son won't slack on his studies Tendo. I don't understand, but he
hates it when there's something he doesn't know."
"How odd," said Soun curiously.
"Indeed," agreed Genma.
++++++++++++++++++
Ranma was sitting at the table when Akane and Nabiki walked into the
room and looked at him.
"Where the hell were you all day?" snapped Akane angrily.
"Yes. Please tell," muttered Nabiki. It was obvious she was just going
through the motions of conversation. She really wasn't expecting an
answer.
"Oh. I just noticed Kasumi heal her own finger with a small spell
before school today. I spent most of the day checking up on that. I'm
quite pleased, my plans are going well. Oh, we'll probably be getting a
new visitor in a day or so. I've got a meeting with him later."
Both girls were staring at him dumbly. Ranma seemed quite pleased with
himself overall and ignored them.
"Say what?" stammered Nabiki.
"I really don't like to repeat myself. I'm afraid you'll just have to
remember on your own."
Akane simply walked away. She was still mad, but had no idea how to
argue with what he said. "Wait a minute! Kasumi!!??"
"Yes. If properly trained she'd be a most powerful priestess. I'm
actually quite surprised about that myself. I've never seen someone so
rooted in the light, and frankly I find it a bit unsettling. Still, I
guess it makes understanding Tofu's problem a little easier. My
recommendation should be quite helpful."
"What recommendation?" snapped Nabiki as she glared at the boy.
"I'm afraid that's confidential. Call it privileged information if you
like." The boy picked up a small cup of tea and sipped it lazily. "Some
new force is at work in the world. It's very exciting."
Akane's face was one of frustration. He didn't look excited about much
of anything at the moment. "What are you talking about?"
Nabiki was trying her best to keep a level head about herself. Kasumi
could do magic? That was new on her, but she doubted if he was lying.
Still, Akane was getting frustrated and loud. "What was this about a
visitor."
"I'm afraid you'll just have to wait and see."
"Right," grumbled the girl as she turned away. She could take a hint,
he'd told them what he wanted them to hear and would simply give
annoyingly vague and cryptic answers from that point on.
"You still haven't answered me!"
"Your sister seems to catch on faster than you do." The boy sipped at
his tea and kept watching the yard in silence.
The girl popped her knuckles and growled at him angrily. "Fine." She
stomped away and towards the dojo.
"I'll have to ask Soun how he deals with so much broken building
material. Akane goes through quite a bit in the dojo."
+++++++++++++++++++++
Just because he could see somewhere, didn't mean he could reach it
easily or quickly. He'd had to learn a lot about patience just to keep
his sanity. He was hiking down the side of a mountain with a traveling
bag slung over his shoulder. His eyes were closed, but no detail went
unnoticed.
He paused and turned slowly towards what was behind him. A cavern, a
dark cave seemed to have been ripped into the side of the mountain.
There was no light inside the cave, but he didn't need light to see.
"So. I find you at last."
"Why do you seek me out boy?" asked the booming voice from within the
cave.
"You know why."
"You are not happy? I gave you what you asked for boy. There is no one
to blame but yourself."
"You deceived me!" snarled the angry boy as he clenched his fists
tightly.
"What did you expect?" chuckled the voice in the darkness. "You've
gained so much, more than even you realize. Yet you still hate me enough
to seek me out for what I've done? That's very interesting indeed. Tell
me Mousse, was she everything you hoped she'd be when you saw her?"
"I…"
"All I did was open your eyes boy."
"You've done much more than that to me," retorted Mousse.
"You're right. Perhaps…I can take back what I've done. If you could do
one thing for me."
The boy gasped as he stepped back. "What?"
"I can give you the eyes you once had again if you wish. However, there
is one thing I'd like for you to do first. Do not forget that you asked
for what you received boy."
Mousse hung his head and turned his face away. "That doesn't excuse…"
"Do you wish to accept my offer?"
"What do you want?"
"If you kill Ryoga Hibiki, I will give you back your old eyes." Ranma
walked out of the cavern with a smirk on his face.
"You!" gasped Mousse as he finally recognized the boy in front of him
for some reason.
"Yes. Me."
"But you were…"
"Lucky enough to be in the right time at the right place. I did what
you asked of me while I was in your land. It's insulting to think you'd
be offended really."
"But how can you be?" stammered Mousse in horror.
"What? The thing that gave you those wonderful eyes? I'm surprised
you're not pleased with them. After all, they are so much more than
you're used too."
"I was treated worse than before! You turned me into a freak!" His eyes
looked almost completely black as he stared at the evil thing in front
of him. "I saw things, things no man should see!"
"As I've said before. You got what you asked for, and I did warn you
there would be a price."
"You want me to kill someone?"
"Yes. I imagine this task will keep you busy for some time. It's much
more difficult than you think."
"You lied to us! You said you were some sort of…" The boy snorted. "Of
course you'd lie. Who am I kidding?"
"I've never lied to you boy. Don't be silly. The truth is so much more
fun. Besides, I do hunt demons. I am Ranma Saotome, otherwise known as
'The Eater of Demons'."
"What?" gasped the boy in shock.
"Those monsters you detest so much are my food. So I'm sure we'll get
along just fine."
Mousse simply glanced at the town that was still in the distance. If
nothing else Ranma had saved him the rest of the walk that evening by
coming to him. He turned his head back towards the boy and found he was
gone. "It figures." With a small sigh he turned away from the cave.
Ranma wasn't the only thing hidden deep within the darkness of that
cavern.
++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma Saotome smiled as he walked into the darkness. "What have we
here?"
The tip of his staff lit up and cast a white glow on the walls around
him. He glanced down at the ground and noticed a set of footprints
moving towards the cave exit in the dirt. Several dirty bandannas
littered the ground around a chair-sized boulder.
"Hibiki was shacking up here. Probably so he could heal a bit in
privacy."
He turned to peer further into the darkness. "Oh, but there's more."
The light of his staff cast long shadows into the cavern. He kept
moving ahead at a steady pace, hoping something evil and horrible would
jump out and try to surprise him.
He wasn't very surprised when that didn't happen. He did however reach
what appeared to be a stone doorway. There were intricate carvings woven
across the slab. Snakes and a particularly large and vicious looking
goat's head adorned the crest that seemed to seal the door shut.
"Hmmm. Most intimidating indeed." He placed his hand on the door and
closed his eyes completely. "Heh. It seems I don't really need to open
this door to find you do I?"
A huge black thing loomed over him just behind his back. It towered
twenty feet in height and had skin that seemed to be made out of
shadows. Its horns crested down in front of its face over the gaping maw
of long sharp fangs. It hissed at him angrily and flapped the wings on
its back in rage. "What do you seek here?!"
The boy's face was actually quite cheerful as he turned to face it.
"Why you of course. I should have followed Hibiki more carefully. Very
interesting indeed."
"What?" snarled the thing. "You!" Recognition hit the thing in an
instant. None of his kind that had faced the monster before him had
lived yet. However, nothing like it had ever faced Ranma.
"Heh. I hope you're not thinking that you're going to win human. My
minions were nothing to my power. I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart
for eternity!"
The boy merely smirked. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. You see…I've
already won."
"Eh?" muttered the thing as the boy vanished from in front of its eyes.
"What? How?"
"You see, those minions of yours are mine now. All their power belongs
to me. As does yours."
A pair of yellow eyes peered out of the darkness the boy's
disappearance had caused. Just behind those eyes, two more much larger
eyes loomed ominously, followed by dozens of smaller eyes from all
around the largest pair.
The inhuman scream of pain that quickly followed echoed in the darkness
repeatedly. Finally, the sound stopped and there was silence.
An explosion of light filled the cavern as thousands of tiny faint blue
lights seemed to fill the air.
Ranma Saotome was standing in the middle of it all with a satisfied
looking grin on his face. "Heh. Not bad."
He raised his staff into the air and the runes along its length began
to glow. "This was a big one, but I'll wager he was working for someone
else still. The biggest I've seen yet, and still not much to deal with.
I shouldn't let that go to my head, but it's so hard to resist."
Almost as if to punctuate those words the balls of light shot together
into the center of the room in a ball that quickly turned into a bright
glowing ball of energy.
"What the?" muttered Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at it.
Without a sound, the light shot forward slamming into Ranma Saotome's
chest. He was thrown across the ground violently and landed on his back.
His hands felt about the area around him as he grabbed for anything he
could. His eyes were closed and he was gasping for breath as he
struggled on the ground. Finally he stopped and lay still in the
darkness.
+++++++++++++++++++
"Where is that boy?" grumbled Genma as he sat with Soun at the Tendo
household.
"He's still not back yet? It's almost time for school to begin,"
muttered Soun as he looked at his watch.
None of his daughters seemed particularly concerned as they went
through the usual morning routine.
"I'll start looking for him if he's not back by lunch. It's probably
nothing really," said Genma with a small shrug.
"I suppose you are right, Saotome," agreed the man with a short nod.
"Still, it would be wise to speak with him about staying out this way. I
wouldn't want him to worry my daughter after they are married. He should
have mentioned something if he knew he'd be gone this long."
"Maybe he didn't?" commented Nabiki dryly as she stood behind the pair.
"Akane and I are going to school whether he's here or not."
"Nabiki? Are you seeing this?"
Everyone turned to look at Akane. She was simply staring at the yard
dumbly.
"What…" Any further speech was cut off abruptly as Nabiki realized what
her sister was looking at.
Kasumi was standing in the yard with birds on her shoulders and head.
She was humming cheerfully as she hung the laundry to dry. A light
breeze was blowing at just the right angle for the job too. She was
humming cheerfully as she pinned a sheet to the line and moved onto the
next item.
"Kasumi?" muttered Nabiki as she stepped forward.
"Hmmm?" asked the girl as she turned to look at her sister with a smile
on her face.
The older girl's eyes were different. Her eyes had changed color and
were now a light gray in color. Nabiki felt better just because the girl
was looking at her. She shook her head and stepped back slightly. "It's
nothing. You just seem…different today."
"Oh. Why thank you Nabiki," replied Kasumi as she went back to her
work.
"What's going on?" muttered Akane. She turned towards her sister and
put her hand on the wooden support closest to her to steady her balance
for a moment.
"I'm not sure. I think Ranma has something to do with it though,"
commented Nabiki reluctantly.
"Ranma? Are you sure?" asked Akane. She was looking at her sister as if
she was crazy.
"I think whatever was happening to her just got a big boost. It seems
to fit the sort of thing he was talking about. We should start looking
into what he's doing more carefully. This could be dangerous."
The youngest sibling looked absolutely confused, but nodded anyway.
"I'm not sure what you mean, but all right."
"That's the problem, Akane. I'm not even sure I know what I mean. Ranma
isn't something we can just ignore and hope he goes away on his own.
This is serious, and it's starting to effect us directly."
The younger girl simply nodded again with a bit more certainty. She
turned to follow her sister out the door.
Neither one of them noticed that the wood on the support had a smoking
black handprint on it now.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Evil of evil that I am...
TBC…
Next time: The Awakening.
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