Washu kept a sharp eye on the Lord as he chatted to Ukyo and Ryoga-chan, basically ignoring the other girls in the room. That
was fine with her, as far as she was concerned - it meant Ryoga-chan was more likely to be the chosen one... if only Ukyo
didn't keep butting in. In fact, apart from the minor point that Ryoga-chan was spending 50% of her time unconscious, the
only flaw in the plan that Washu could see was that when Tinamous found out Ryoga-chan was really a guy he would either keep
him here anyway, or just go out and capture another load of girls. Ah well. With only two students there to keep an eye on,
she could continue her research. Of course, it would've helped if her computer were operational.
"Excuse me for a second, ladies," Tinamous said as he saw the forms of Grebes and Lady Ibis enter the room.
As soon as he'd stood up, Ryoga-chan leaned over. "Look, Ucchan, I appreciate the help, but could you please butt out of
this?"
"I'm just trying to fill you in on being a bit more feminine," Ukyo argued. 
Ryoga-chan bit back a comment about learning feminism from the world's biggest tomboy and replaced it with, "you don't have
to hit me whenever I get stuff wrong, though. I don't like being out cold. I don't know what's going on. I mean," she
continued, choosing her words with care. "I don't want him to choose you instead." *Oops. I don't think that came out in
quite the right way,* she thought, waiting to be spatulated.
"Ryoga... don't tell me... you're jealous..." Ukyo began, a slight blush crossing her cheeks. *How sweet of him to do
this...*
"You've got to be kidding!" Ryoga-chan blurted. "Jealous of a tomboy like you?!  It's just, if you marry him, I'll have no
one to cook for me!" 
"WHY YOU....." Ukyo paused in pre-swipe. "I thought you were sick of okonomiyaki, anyway."
"No, I thought _he_ might get sick of it. For me, after Akane's cooking, a lifetime of okonomiyaki is bliss."
*CLANG*
"YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!" Grebes called. Silence fell. "The Lord Tinamous has made his decision. He will be wedded to Miss
Ryoga Hibiki..."
"Yes!" Ryoga-chan hissed gleefully from under the spatula.
"...And Miss Ukyo Kuonji."
"WHAT?!!" 
Washu gulped. This, she hadn't anticipated.

End Part XVIII
Final song - Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

===============
PART XIX
Thin Line Between
Heaven and Hell.
Epilogue#1
===============

"Ranma!"
Ranma turned to see Skuld walking towards him. "Skuld. Hi," he said with a small wave.
The young goddess looked particularly worried. "You're back from Easter Island? Where are Ryoga and Ukyo?"
Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously. "Come with me. I think it's best that you talk to Miss Washu Sensei about
it."
"About what? The fact that they don't seem to be on this plane of existence?" she said wryly.
"You know?!"
"I'm a goddess. Of course I know," she snapped. "The problem is, they should be on _this_ plane of existence. I don't know
where to find them and neither does the Almighty and we NEED them back as soon as possible!"
"Wow." Ranma blinked a few times. "I never realised those two were so important."

"... And these are all the photographs we got when we were away," Hiroshi finished. 
Nabiki examined them with a critical eye. "Very good work, boys. Kuno-baby's gonna love these!" She walked over to her
wardrobe and pulled out another bag full of clothes. "See if you can get Ryoga to wear these, will ya?"
Daisuke and Hiroshi exchanged glances before laughing nervously. "Well, there's a slight problem with that..." Daisuke began.
"Which is...?" Nabiki prompted. 
"Ryoga and Ukyo are stuck in the Realm of Lost Spirits and it's very difficult to take photographs of somebody who no longer
exists here," Hiroshi finished. "My, is that the time?"
"Wait," Nabiki said sternly. "What do you mean by 'they're trapped in the Realm of Lost Spirits?' I thought you went to
Easter Island."
"We did," Daisuke said helpfully. "And the Realm of Lost Spirits."
"Explain," the middle Tendo ordered, switching on a tape recorder.

"...Lord Tinamous decided that he was going to marry one of the girls who wandered into his realm. Our class was hopelessly
lost and wandered into there by accident. Ryoga happened to be a girl at the time, and hit on this bright idea of making the
Lord fall for him so we could all go home and then revealing his curse," Washu explained. "But nobody expected the Lord to
decide he wanted to marry Ryoga _and_ Ukyo..."

"...And the moment this Lord announced his decision, we all ended up back at school minus Ryoga and Ukyo. We can only assume
they're still in the other realm. Pity. They were babes, both of them."
Nabiki tried to think. Apart from selling the information to Kuno, she could see no way that this information would help her
make a profit. She had two choices - leave them both to find their own way out of this realm and find money-making schemes
elsewhere or use her connections to help get them back. "You two run along now," she said, suddenly remembering the presence
of Hiroshi and Daisuke."Thank you Nabiki. As always, it has been an expensive privilege doing business with you," Hiroshi said. 
"Flattery won't get you a raise." Nabiki shut the door behind her and sat down at her desk. *Let's see... with Ryoga and Ukyo
gone I lose money through arranged dates with Ranma, pictures of Ryoga-chan and fight money. Plus, with Shampoo marrying this
other guy, competition for Ranma and Akane goes down which means less money from her. But I guess it saves on insurance, and
if Ranma and Akane get married things'll get a bit quieter around here...* She sighed. She couldn't do it. Not even she was
heartless enough to leave two of her little sister's friends stranded in some other dimension. "Akane..."

"Realm of Lost Spirits?" Maika looked at Miyu, who shrugged and shook her head. "Never head of it."
Mihoshi looked like she was about to burst into tears again. Luckily, her body seemed to have dried out for now. "Yukinojo?
Do you know anything about the Realm of Lost Spirits?" she pleaded down her remote link.
"I'm afraid not, Mihoshi. That location is not found under any of my files."
Mihoshi's eyes welled up again and she exploded into full sob mode. "If I hadn't m-m-made Ukyo throw him in the ocean h-he
wouldn't have been a girl and he'd still b-be here!!!"
Maika tried to think of some way to cheer her friend up. "You know, you shouldn't be asking aliens for links to Earth realms.
You could ask that old lady who lives at that Chinese restaurant. She seems to know an awful lot about magic."
Mihoshi brightened up at this suggestion. "Yeah! But will you two come with me?" she added plaintively. 

"Urd, I've got a real problem down here." Skuld sniffled down the telephone. "It's URGENT!"
"I don't remember raising you to come running to your big sis whenever there's a teensy little favour you want doing," Urd
said irritably, trying to watch the television out of the corner of her eye.
"This isn't a teensy favour. Ryoga, AKA Magical Guy Makoto and Magical Girl Ryoko is stuck in the Realm of Lost Spirits and
the magic is blocked."
"WHAT?!!!!" Urd jumped out of her chair, almost knocking over a bottle of sake in the process. "But if the Amityville demons
find out, they'll attack Ranma Saotome and anything that stands in their way! Knowing them, they'll probably try and take out
the rest of the city too, just for the sake if it!!!"
"You think I don't know that?!" Skuld snarled. "What do I do?!!!"
"Hold on, I'll be right there," Urd promised.

"Hibiki is trapped in another realm with the okonomiyaki tramp?" Kodachi repeated. "That's mildly interesting but WHY AREN'T
THEY DEAD???!?!???!?!?"
"Because he's Magical Guy Makoto," the underworld minion repeated again. "Look, do you want to take advantage of this or not?
Because if you do, shut up and let Jodie take possession of your mind, body and soul." He yawned. *If she agrees to this, she
is definitely some sort of psycho.*
"Very well then. If that is what it takes to win my Darling Ranma's love, then that is how it will be." The black rose smiled
and accepted the black cloud that filled her, blackening her soul and taking control.
A few minutes later she stepped out of her hidden room, closing the door behind her, before walking up the stairs.
After looking around and taking note of it's new surroundings, her shadow followed.

"This Hibiki guy has a sister, right?" Urd asked, handing her youngest sibling a mug.
Skuld took a long drag of the cocoa and grimaced. "You put brandy in this, didn't you?"
"So what if I did? You were hysterical over the phone," Urd protested. "Sister. The guy has a sister."
"Yeah. Keiko Hibiki. He's never met her, I've never met her." Skuld took another drag of the warm drink. "Why do you ask?"
"If she's got the same parents as him, then logic says they have the same powers. I guess our only hope is to find this Keiko
kid and train her the same way you did for him."
Skuld held up a hand. "One, I don't know where to find the kid. Two, she wouldn't believe the story, three, I don't have time
to train the kid and four, she's seven years old. I'm not putting her up against Amityville demons."
"Personally, I think it's about your only hope. The other option is to warn this Saotome kid that a big demon is out to get
him, his fiancee and half the city and round up all the super heroes in Tokyo to protect him."
Skuld grinned and reached for the telephone. "You know, that's not such a bad idea."

Cologne looked up as Ranma, Washu, Akane and Nabiki ran into the restaurant. "Hello there. Come to say your congratulations
to Shampoo and Tsubasa before we leave for China?" she asked pleasantly.
Behind her, Mousse snapped another pair of chopsticks in half and glared at his ramen. *When I find Hibiki, he is dead
meat...*
"Hibiki and Kuonji are in the Realm of Lost Spirits?!" Mousse pricked his ears up at this and listened carefully as Cologne
continued. "Unless we manage to wander into the realm, they are lost to us."
*Yes!!* Mousse mentally high-fived. 
"So we find the realm. How do we do that? Ranma asked stubbornly.
Mihoshi, Maika and Miyu charged into the restaurant. Cologne grinned. "Looking for information on the Realm of Lost Spirits?"
she asked.
"Yeah," Mihoshi panted. "How do we find it?"
Mousse shook his head. "I can't believe you're all doing this to get that idiot back," he said calmly.
"I bet you'd be too scared to even consider travelling to the Realm of Lost Spirits," Mihoshi snapped. 
Mousse paused. "Did you just call me a coward?"
"Yes, I just called you a coward." Mihoshi turned her attention back to the old lady. "So how do we get there?"
Cologne shrugged. "Simple really. You just let yourself get lost. That's why it's a realm of lost spirits. Whenever anybody
gets lost, their astral body is sent to the realm and wanders there like a ghost. The time difference has an effect too,
which is why people get lost so suddenly, then find themselves back on track with an equal suddenness."
Washu blinked. "So the reason Ryoga gets lost so easily is because he has an overactive astral body that keeps wandering into
the realm and operates on a different time level to him?"
"Precisely. All the Lord has done is take the mortal bodies there too, so they would operate at the same time. The problem
with finding this realm is the time lag. By the time your astral body has reached the realm, you will have no doubt, found
your way back again."
"So we get ourselves hopelessly lost, easy," Ranma said, picking up a pack. "So who's with me?"
Shampoo and Tsubasa stepped forward. "We are," Tsubasa said sternly. 
Akane nodded. "Me too. Oneechan?"
"Yeah, go on. Count me in," Nabiki said recklessly.
Mihoshi nodded her head. "And me."
"Me too," Mousse added.
Mihoshi gaped at him. "YOU?!?!"
"Yes, me! I won't have you call me a coward and get away with it!"
Washu sniggered at the bickering pair. "It could be interesting. I'm in too."
Cologne looked around. "And me. Hey, what about you two?!" She looked at Maika and Miyu.
"We can't," Maika said regretfully. "Our washing machine blew up yesterday and we're expecting a visit from the insurance
company." She neglected to add that Miyu had blown it up with a Zero Cannon yesterday, while battling a thirty-foot high old
man. (Geriatric Park. ^_^)
"HALT!" A bokken wielding figure ran into the room. "I, Tatewaki Kuno shall travel too with you to rescue the Bandannaed
maiden."
Ranma blinked at him. "Kuno?! What do you know about this?!"
The upperclassman smiled enigmatically. "A little bird informed me that the lovely Miss Kuonji and the even lovelier
Bandannaed girl were being held captive by the forces of magic in another realm, a Realm of Lost Spirits, and seek rescue
from the hands of the villainous Underlord, Tinamous."
"Wow... for once, he actually has vaguely correct information!" Ranma said in awe.
Nabiki blinked. "Kuno-baby ...how did you find out about this?"
"Silence, wench! The time for talk is past... come, let us rescue the fair Miss Kuonji and fairer still Bandannaed girl!"

End Part XIX Epilogue#1
Final song - Separate Lives
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Member 30 of SSoAGMA, Deadly Everyday Object Weaponary Technique, Dragon Warrior Style
Mousse no miku; Generally dangerous English otaku; Supporter of cliched pairs;
Member of the Chan club; WoS; SCG; COURT; SOotCiP;CotMHW - Launderer of the Robes of Death;
Head Castrator of the Hotnit Feminisation Project; Keeper of the Moneybags for the Hotnit Fan Club;
4th Gen. EOE; Image Consultant For "That Guy"; #WASHU#;AKPReSS, Gen. Div.; SLAP;
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Coming soon to list near you.. the legendary 50 foot sig of Team Chan !