Michael Won <skeezy5@geocities.com>
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God Emperor 1 / 2 - Part III
	by Skeezy5

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	Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
	Dune Chronicles belong to Frank Herbert.

=======================

		"Once, in exasperation, my 
	mother said that it would take 
	a miracle for me and Akane to 
	ever get married.
		Akane had been extremely
	upset at that - she went so far
	as to yell at mother.  I was not
	there, but that is what Ucchan
	told me.  Later that night, when 
	I went to talk to her, Akane was 
	still angry, very angry.
		I quoted to her from an old,
	old book, back from when Terra 
	still bore life...
		'They say that modern science 
	disallows for miracles.  
		In each human coupling, 
	millions of sperm vie for a single 
	egg.  Multiply those odds against 
	countless generations against the 
	odds of your ancestors being alive, 
	meeting, siring this precise son, 
	that exact daughter...  
		Until it was You, only You, 
	that emerged.  To distill such a 
	specific a form from that chaos of 
	improbability...  That I am here 
	speaking to You is miracle enough 
	for me.'
		That was the happiest day of
	my life, when Akane consented to
	marry me...  That was also the day
	that I consigned myself to my 
	millennia of suffering.  Truly, it
	is amazing what man will do in the
	name of love...
		Even lie to our loved ones.
	Even lie to ourselves."

	-The Stolen Journals


	Shiro looks with triumph, "So, maybe I was wrong.  Maybe a part of 
you still retains a trace of humanity."
	"Shiro...  Shiro...  Leave her out of this!  What did she ever do 
to you?"  I scream out at my...  my...  my *daughter*.  Never, never in 
my life have I felt so revolted at that word.  "For the love of God!  
Let her go Shiro!  If you only had one drop of pity in your heart for 
your whole life, use it now.  If you ever loved me even a bit, let her 
go!  Shiro, please, I'm begging you!"
	"Are you afraid, *father*?  Afraid that your precious God Emperor 
will go to her?  Jealous, *father*?  Your whole life, people loved you, 
but you did not return that love, because you loved another.  Do you 
fear that the Tyrant will abandon you, all of you, for her?  It would 
only be just that such a thing happened to you!"
	"Shiro..."  I fall silent, unable to respond to her.

@->-

	"I guess I should have warned you, Kaneda."  Ranma-sama says as 
she finally stops laughing.
	"I don't see the humor in this situation, my lord."  I grimace, 
hurt that she finds my situation so humorous.
	"Kaneda.  Women have always been falling in love with older men.  
She grew up, respecting you and looking up to you.  Now that she is a 
young woman, it is only natural that she feels that way about you."
	"But sir, she is my daughter!"  Once again, the sense of revulsion 
shudders down my back.
	"Not by birth, but by adoption.  In fact, if you look at the 
records, she is not even that, but your ward."  Ranma-sama shakes her 
head.  "Poor Kaneda.  If you'd taken my advice and gotten married, you 
wouldn't be having these problems."
	"My lord, I couldn't..."
	She cuts me off with a hint of exasperation in her voice.  "Why 
not?  Shinobu still loves you.  After all this time, she still does!  
When you are away on assignment, it is she that comes and takes care of 
your wards.  When you were wounded at Sirius, she nursed you back to 
health.  I ask you once again, why not?!"
	Her voice wakes up the guilt within me again.  Though I know that 
I have no right to, I grow angry.  "My lord, why couldn't you have just 
told me of this so that I could have taken steps to forestall it?"
	"Kaneda!"  Her eyes suddenly flash with anger.  "Would you have 
the oracle run your life?!  If you want me to, I can tell you how your 
life will unfold from this moment on to your death!  Is that what you 
wish?  All of you always ask why I didn't tell you.  Do you wish me to 
look into the future and see the deaths of the people I care about?  To 
know when, where, how, and why they will die, and not be able to stop it 
because my prescience is what locked them into that path?  Do you truly 
wish that I do that to myself?"
	My heart cringes, listening to her voice fill with pain.  She once 
told me of her early prescient searches, how she was beset with the 
choice of following her Golden Path and letting Akane be murdered, or to 
abandon that path to extend Akane's life.  I stare at the floor in 
shame.  "I'm...  I'm sorry, my lord."
	"Do not apologize to me, Kaneda.  I am not the one you should be 
sorry to.  It should be Shinobu."  She lifts my chin up.  "You came here 
to ask me for my advice?"
	"..."  I stare into her blue-gray eyes.
	"Even if you feel that you are living a lie, is it not worth it if 
you fulfill the happiness of others?  Even if your actions and your 
feelings do battle, can you not sacrifice for the sake of another?  
Kaneda, the members of House Kuonji have always stood by what they 
believed, and followed what they felt to be right.  Twice, in the past, 
I asked a Kuonji to do what they felt was not right.  I will make it a 
third time now.  Will you do it for me, Kaneda?  Will you marry 
Shinobu?"
	"Yes, my lord, as you command."
	"It is not a command, Kaneda."  Her eyes are gentle, full of pity.  
"It is a request, from one friend to another."
	"Yes, Ranma-sama, I will."

@->-

	"Shiro.  What do you want?"  His voice cuts through the silence.  
Was he really going to consider her offer?  
	"The terms I offer you are generous, Tyrant.  Exile, for you and 
Akane, after you take the cure.  You two can live out your lives 
wherever it is you choose to go.  I will not bother you."
	"That is all that you ask?"  Ranma-sama asks with a slight touch 
of bitterness.  "And who will take care of the Empire, you?"
	"No, Tyrant.  Nobody will.  There will be no more Empire.  Do not 
mock me, I know the course that your Golden Path will take as well as 
you do.  No one, no single person will ever hold all the reigns in his 
hands after you.  You assured that with your Golden Path."
	"Excellent, child.  You are truly my masterpiece."  He smiles 
sadly.  "And if I don't?"
	"She will die."  The coldness in her voice breaks my heart over 
and over.  How did I bring up such a child?  "Here.  Now.  In front of 
your eyes.  And you will only have yourself to blame."
	With that, Shiro throws the vial at Ranma-sama.  It slowly spins 
through its flight, arcing through the air towards Ranma-sama.  Ranma-
sama, who makes no move to catch it.

@->-

	"My lord, the rebellion has been quelled on Asagi Prime."  I kneel 
before Ranma-sama.
	She looks at me for a while and then turns back to the miniature 
garden she is tending to.  I wait for her to say something, but she 
remains silent.
	"My lord?"  At my prompting, she once again turns and looks at me.
	"Yes, Kaneda?  What do you want?"  She looks at me questioningly.
	"I..."  Why is she asking me what I wanted?  I was merely 
reporting to her as she had instructed.  
	"Do you want a pat on the back, Kaneda?  Thanks for a job well 
done?"  The sarcasm in her voice stabs at my heart.
	"My lord!  I was merely..."
	"I know Kaneda, I know.  I'm sorry I lashed out at you..."  She 
puts down the rake she was shaping the rock bed with.  "Do you know how 
many people have been killed in my name?"
	"My lord, they were all unbelievers.  They..."
	"Seven hundred forty six billion, eight hundred five million, four 
hundred twenty two thousand, and sixty eight people to date.  Never has 
that many people been killed for a single cause, and by the time I'm 
through, it'll be so great that it will never be matched."  The hate in  
her voice is clear, as is who that hate is directed against.  "I am a 
monster!  Do you understand?  A monster!"
	"My lord..."
	"I do not devour mere villages or cities.  I devour planets!  Do 
you understand, Kaneda?  I am the greatest killer ever!"  She falls 
silent again, and this time, I do not interrupt her.  She turns back to 
her garden and stares at it for a long time.  "Kaneda...  Have you had 
your fill in blood?"
	"My lord, I do not understand."  
	"Is your blood thirst satisfied, Kaneda?  That is what I'm asking.  
Have you killed enough to satisfy yourself?"
	"I..."  I remember a face, the face of a young man, barely out of 
his teens.  I remember the fear and pain in his face as my battle axe 
cleaved through his neck, ending his too brief existence.  I remember a 
hundred such faces and choke, bile rising in my throat.
	"You see Kaneda?  You have fought for me for these ten years, and 
you are revolted by the actions you have committed.  I have lived for 
three thousand years and have killed many, many more than you ever have!  
And I am not done killing!  Do you understand now, Kaneda?"  
I steady myself on the ground, not daring to stand.  The revulsion 
that is shaking my body is barely contained.  All those lives, all those 
lives that I ended...
	"Would you like to stop, Kaneda?  Give me the word, and I will 
free you of your service."
	"My lord..."  I look up to see her gaze resting on me once again.  
"My lord, I swore an oath.  Until you no longer have need of my 
services, I am yours, mind, body, and soul!"
	"Yes, Kaneda, I know."  She walks over and kneels in front of me.  
"And I swore an oath too, to guide my Golden Path with my mind, body, 
and soul.  Do you know what the final step to ensure my Golden Path will 
be?"
	"No, my lord."  The shaking in my body is finally lessening.
	"It is almost ready, the Golden Path.  In Shiro, I believe I have 
finally completed all the requirements.  I must test her to know for 
sure, but I can feel it!  I am so close!"
	"That is wonderful news, my lord."
	"No it is not, Kaneda, no it is not!  What do you remember of your 
birth, Kaneda?"
	I am taken aback by the switch in topics.  "My birth?"
	"Birth.  Birth is a trauma beyond all measure.  You are removed 
from the warm protection of your mother and thrust into this cold, 
uncaring world.  That final trauma is what puts the flame of life in 
you.  That sudden, unwanted realization that you are truly on your 
own..."
	"My lord, what does this have to do with the Golden Path?"
	"For the final step, I must give birth to humanity.  They will be 
free of my Empire, of Ranma's Peace.  And in that moment of shock, they 
will turn on each other."  The guilt in her voice tells me how much this 
has been gnawing at her from within.  "The number who will die in those 
times will exceed those killed during my reign by tenfold.  And it will 
all be because I planned it to be that way!"
	"Free of the Empire?"  My mind is numbed by the thought.  It is so 
foreign for me to even think of Ranma-sama's Empire not existing...
	"Yes, Kaneda.  When the Empire dissolves, Humanity will experience 
a birthing trauma that they will remember in their every cell for 
millennia to come.  It will be bloody, and all the blood will be on my 
hands.  So much blood..."  She slowly stands up and turns towards her 
garden.  "I fear that day when the Empire must die more than anything."

@->-

	"No!"  The scream is closer to that produced by a rabid animal 
than any sane human.  Commander Hibiki's form blurs as the vial bounces 
off of Ranma-sama's chest and begins to fall.  In an eye blink, he 
crosses to Akane's side and throws her towards Ranma-sama in one motion.
	"Fool!  What are you doing?!"  The vial shatters on the ground.  
Shiro turns and grabs Commander Hibiki by the front of his shirt, her 
face filled with anger.
	"You said he'd accept!  You were so sure of it!"  
	"I guess I overestimated love."  She lets go of Commander Hibiki 
and turns to Ranma-sama.  "I guess that even you're legendary love of 
Akane is as much of a lie as the rest of your life!"
	"No, Shiro.  You merely underestimated love."  Ranma-sama steadies 
Akane in his arms and points at Commander Hibiki.  "Ryouga has stood at 
my side for all of my three thousand years.  Every single ghola loved 
her, just as the original did.  You were foolish to discount that love."
	"Ryouga, is that true?"  Akane looks up in surprise at Commander 
Hibiki.  He merely looks away, his face aflame with the exposure of his 
secret.
	"Yes, Akane, it is.  Every single ghola that has been delivered to 
me, his first question is to know whatever happened to you.  He always 
blames me for letting you die.  That is the seed of anger against me 
that is always planted in his heart, the one that leads so many of them 
to betray me."

@->-

	"So the Bene Genryu say that the replacement is ready?"  Ranma-
sama continues to keep her back turned to me, staring at the far wall.
	"Yes, my lord.  The new Commander Hibiki ghola will be delivered 
at the end of the month."  I avert my eyes as the Guardswomen clear out 
the mangled body.  "My lord?"
	"Yes, Kaneda?"
	"Why is it that you continue to bring back the gholas of Hibiki 
Ryouga, even though so many of them turn against you?"  I stare at the 
damage done to the room again.  Large chunks of the wall and ceiling 
have been vaporized, and much rubble covers the floor.
	"Do you know how they awaken his memory?"
	"No, my lord."
	"They make him try to kill me."  The calm tone of her voice makes 
me take a few moments before realizing the weight of her words.
	"What do you mean?"  I am shocked at the information.  Kill Ranma-
sama?  But how?  The ghola's memory is restored on the Bene Genryu 
homeworld...
	"To awaken the pre-ghola memory, it is necessary to create a 
strong tension within the ghola.  That tension is brought to a head and 
stretched to the breaking point.  In Ryouga's case, they condition him 
to kill a shape-shifter who looks just like me.  This conflicts with his 
pre-ghola self's loyalty to me.  The tension unlocks that memory from 
within him, and he is restored."
	"Does he ever..."
	"Yes.  Sometimes, the tension finds the jealousy he bore me about 
Akane, and the ghola kills the shape-shifter."
	"What happens to those gholas, my lord?"
	"They are killed.  I have no need for one who snapped under the 
tension..."  Ranma-sama seems to be about to turn towards me, but then 
she stops.  "Kaneda, leave me.  Give me a few more moments to grieve 
Ryouga's death."
	I bow and turn away, troubled by what I have discovered.  Reaching 
the door, I realize something and turn around.  "My lord, you have not 
answered my question."
	"I know Kaneda.  I did not aim to."

@->-

	"So Shiro, what will you do now?"  Ranma-sama puts Akane gently 
down on the ground.
	"Need you ask?  Should I rely on your mercy and ask you for 
forgiveness?"  Her face assumes a prideful sneer once more.
	"Would you ask for it?"  A smile of amusement adorns his lips.
	"No."  A matching smile grows on her face.
	"Then I guess its a moot point."  Ranma-sama frees the strap that 
is holding his sword in place.  He holds it out in his left hand by the 
scabbard so that it is pointing downward.  "I am saddened that it has 
come down to this, Shiro.  You are so close to completing the Golden 
Path, so close.  One last time I must ask, will you not acquiesce to my 
will?"
	"A Saotome will always do what she believes to be right."  Shiro 
hefts the war hammer which had been Ranma-sama's gift to her.  "To my 
death and even afterwards."
	"You are truly worthy of the name then."  With that, Ranma-sama 
springs in at Shiro.  He is slow, much slower than I remember him being, 
and I realize that is because it is *him*, not *her*.  Though a master 
martial artist, his male form is forty some years old, lacking the 
youthful spring of his female form.
	Shiro brings her hammer up to parry the scabbard of Ranma-sama's 
sword.  The look of confidence on her face disappears as the two weapons 
meet, flinging hers away.  Though lacking in speed, Ranma-sama is 
channeling his ki into the weapon, increasing its striking power by 
tenfold.  
	Recovering her footing before she falls, Shiro steadies her hammer 
in a wide grip.  "Heh, not bad for a decrepit old man."
	"Not bad for a young pup."  Ranma-sama attacks again, swinging the 
sheathed sword in a wide arc again.  Instead of meeting the blow, Shiro 
slides back out of its path, then jumps in, hammer whistling through the 
air.  
	The sound of metal meeting metal echoes throughout the courtyard 
as the hammer bounces off of Ranma-sama's parry.  His swing had been a 
feint, and the hammer met the scabbard again in mid-blow.  She slides 
out of his reach again, however, before he can launch a counterattack.  
	Eyeing each other carefully, the two of them circle, having gauged 
the other's relative fighting abilities.  Though Ranma-sama has the 
advantage in training and experience, Shiro has the strength and 
endurance of youth.  She is also the pinnacle of his breeding program, 
and that three thousand years of careful selection in genes gives her an 
incredible edge in reflexes and raw talent.
	"Hiyaa!"  With a loud cry, Shiro begins a series of quick but 
powerful strikes, driving Ranma-sama back in a waterfall of blows.  He 
blocks each of them but is forced to give ground.  Finally, he jumps 
back out of the way.  "Had enough?"
	"Not even close."  Bringing the still sheathed sword in front of 
him, Ranma-sama says, "You are to be congratulated, Shiro.  For the 
first time since I acquired it after defeating House Kuno, I am forced 
to draw this blade.  Beware!  The Blue Thunder shall not go easy on 
you!"

@->-

	"Pathetic.  The old Baron would have had him dismembered without 
blinking for being such a simpering fool."  Ranma-sama shuts off the 
display that was showing the man.
	"What shall I do with him, my lord?"
	"Return him to Furinkan Prime.  He is of no importance in any way.  
To imagine, the once mighty House Kuno has degraded to that.  Though it 
would be kinder to end his existence, I cannot bring myself to raise my 
hand against my kinsman."
	"Kinsman, lord?"  I am puzzled.  Were not House Saotome and House 
Kuno traditionally mortal enemies?
	"Ah, yes...  I forgot that you don't know of this."  She barks a 
short laugh.  "Old Baron Kuno's father had dallied with beautiful women 
during his youth.  The Bene Niichieju saw that he had a trait which they 
wanted, so they had one of their number seduce him.  From her, a 
daughter was born.  They named her Nodoka."
	"Nodoka?"  That is the name of my unit, the Defenders of Nodoka.
"Wasn't she your..."
	"Yes, my mother."
	"But..."
	"The trait was there, but not strong enough.  They wanted to breed 
it back into the line to strengthen it."  Disgust fills her voice.  "The 
witches were afraid the trait would degrade with time, so they decided 
that two cousins should marry in order to strengthen that trait."	
	"Cousins?"
	"They had expected my mother to bear a daughter.  The girl would 
have been bred with her cousin, the first born of Baron Kuno.  I wish I 
could've seen the look on their faces when they discovered I was a boy."  
She laughs again, though there is no mirth in her voice.  "They tried to 
rectify the situation by having me breed with the second child of Baron 
Kuno, of course."
	"What...  Whatever happened to them?"
	"I killed them.  All of them.  That was the least I could do to 
avenge my father."
	The matter of factness with which she utters that statement sends 
a chill down my back.

@->-

	The metal snake crawls out of its ancient home and glints in the 
sun.  For the first time in three millennia, the evil sword which ended 
so many Saotome lives is freed from its prison.  "I will give you the 
chance to yield at first blood."
	"And I shall not return such a courtesy to you."  Shiro brings her 
guard up again as Ranma-sama begins his onslaught.  The exchange of 
blows is furious, a battle between two masters.  I look on with a hint 
of pride in my heart, as my daughter matches my God, blow for blow.   
	Shiro slightly overextends herself on a swing, but that is all the 
opening that Ranma-sama needs.  The sword makes a long scratch along her 
left forearm as she desperately dodges out of the way.  Instead of 
pursuing the advantage, however, Ranma-sama pulls back.  "Do you yield?"
	"NEVER!"  Shiro strikes again, and Ranma-sama is put on the 
defensive.  His movement is not so fluid anymore, his endurance 
beginning to wane.  Shiro presses her advantage, using her superior 
speed to keep him off balance.  Finally, Ranma-sama brings his sword up 
in a desperate block to a massive overhead swing.  Though the blow is 
deflected, the sword shatters into a thousand glittering pieces, the 
shards of metal sparkling like glass.
	"Most impressive, Shiro."  Ranma-sama leaps back and smiles at my 
daughter.  "The time for games is up, however.  I shall end this here 
and now."
	Shiro smiles back, watching Ranma-sama draw in his ki in, focusing 
it.  She drops her hammer to the ground and mirrors him, drawing her ki 
in also.  The hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge, feeling the 
air about the two combatants fill with the tremendous energy being drawn 
in.
	"MOUKO..."
	"SHISHI..."
	"...TAKABISHA!!!"  
	"...HOUKOU DAN!"
	I watch the golden flash of the Mouko Takabisha as the huge ball 
of ki boils through the air.  The small black sphere of the Shishi 
Houkou Dan is absorbed into it and disappears into its depths.  The 
supercharged mass pulsates in the air between the two combatants for a 
moment, angry streaks of black crackling on the yellow surface.  With a 
thunderous noise, the combined ki ball shatters, sending a shock wave 
across the courtyard.  Though I am knocked back, I keep my eyes on the 
dark ki, as it speeds towards its target once more.
	*Dodge!  Dodge out of the way, damn it!  I know you can!  Why give 
up now!  Why?!*  I watch in horror as the Shishi Houkou Dan hits its 
target.  "NO!!!"

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To be continued...

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