Okay, here it is, for real this time. The final chapter of "The Death of
Ukyou" Trilogy. (For those of you unfamiliar with the Trilogy the first two
are entitled "The Letters" and "The Shadows." Ask around because I
don't have them and I'm not retyping 'em.) 

   Oh yes, keep in mind that for the sake of continuity, Ukyou was not
cremated when she died. ("The Shadows" was halfway finished when
the information about Japanese burial customs reached me.)



Enjoy the show...
==

                                          RANMA 1/2:
                                         THE BEYOND
                                           by Erin Mills
                      based on characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

    It blasted through the barriers between the realm of the living and the
world of the dead. It needed to heal itself. The damage Saotome had
inflicted on it was considerable. It considered itself lucky to have
escaped when it did.
     No matter. Once it fed, it would be back to full power, and if all the
insight it had acquired into Saotome's character was correct, he would
have no qualms about following it. 
     Even if it meant his own death.
     The Ki-Spirit snickered. Kuonji was it's and soon, it would gain more
power by feeding on Saotome's soul, and then...
     <But let's not get ahead of myself.> it thought, <First, I must feed.>
      It arrived at a place it had separated from the rest of the Plane. A
place where it could keep the souls it had stolen. It passed through the
blackness that surrounded the area and entered a cave like area. In the
center of the cave was a campfire and a large cage. The sight of the
cage stopped the Ki-Spirit in it's tracks.
     The cage it had kept Ukyou Kuonji's soul in was empty. The door
swung open, the handle of a small throwing spatula jammed in the lock.
     The Ki-Spirit howled in rage. It's source of power was gone! Without
a soul to feed on, it would soon perish. And when Saotome came...
     The trap had now become a race. A race which not only held one
soul in the balance, but the souls of every human being in the living
plane.


       Ranma stared at Cologne, anger twisting his face. 
       "Where is she, ghoul? Where's Ucchan?!"
       Cologne said nothing but looked thoughtfully at the empty casket. "It
has her body." she said quietly. The old woman looked up at Ranma and
Akane. "Quickly, back to the Nekohanten."

       Colgone lit the candles on the table. "It has finally acquired her body,
Son-in-law," she began. "It can now begin to annihilate Ukyou's soul
completely and when that happens, it will have a shell to inhabit and a
permanent gateway into this world."
       "How can we defeat it, then?" Akane asked. "It vanished back at
the dojo. We don't know where it is."
      "The damage Ranma inflicted on it was very severe. It has, no
doubt, returned to the Astral Plane to recharge itself and destroy
Ukyou's soul before it takes her body." Cologne looked at Ranma.
"Therefore, YOU must follow it to the Plane, find Ukyou's soul and
destroy the Ki-Spirit.  Only then can we return it to her body and get
things back to normal around here."
        "Let me get this straight." Ranma said. "You want me to follow this
thing to it's home, kill it and rescue Ukyou? No problem."
       "There is one problem, Son-in-law." Cologne replied. "As you are
still alive and not a true magician, you will be considerably weaker in the
Plane than on this world. In other words, you may have to use this." The
old woman rapped on Ranma's skull with her stick. "But, don't worry,
while your strength will be diminished somewhat, your ki abilities will be
stronger than they are here. That is the nature of the Plane."
        "When do I leave?" Ranma asked. 
        "Immediately." Cologne placed a teacup on the table, then vanished
into a back room of the restaurant. She soon returned with a small
bottle. She opened it and poured a viscous blue liquid into the cup.
        "This is a special ki enchancing formula. I used it to sustain Ukyou's
life while you were searching for the Hanakatasha water. It will build up
your spiritual energy to the point where you will leave your body and
enter the Plane. But be warned, you only have twelve hours before the
formula wears off. You must have found Ukyou's soul and helped her
return to her body by then or all will be lost." 
         Cologne directed Ranma and Akane to another part of the room,
where a futon was set up. Cologne directed Ranma to lie down on it.
       "Drink the formula, then just relax as if you were going to sleep.
When you open your eyes again you will be in the Plane." Ranma
nodded, looked at Akane, gave her a quick half smile then downed the
liquid. He laid on the futon and soon felt his eyelids grow heavy. He let
them close. Soon his breathing grew shallow, and then seemed to stop
altogether. Akane's eyes widened in alarm.
        "You killed him!" she yelped. She began to kneel down, intending to
wake Ranma up before it was too late, but was stopped by Cologne's
hand.
        "Think, girl," the old woman said sternly. "He has entered the Plane.
He is on his own. Come, we have work to do."
       "What?"
       Cologne looked at Akane. "We have to find Ukyou's body."

---

      More to come. Got class right now.


                                                   ----Erin 2.5