al709382@campus.ccm.itesm.mx

		The Caller's Plight, by Jorge Pratt

			Part III, B

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


A couple thousand leagues _over_ the sea

	A strange, frightening object travelled through space, 
heading for the Andromeda Nebula. It was blazing-red, and quite 
large. It almost resembled a stadium-sized urchin. The being 
could travel quickly by its own merits, but there was something 
that called it, pulled it, towards the emerald jewel of Esper 
World.
	And deep within its entrails, a new being was spawning.

			*	*	*

	The Yamata no Orochi pursued Seraphim through the 
Ryugenzawa forest, much to her amusement. She giggled softly, 
shifting the weight of the sealed jar, which seemed to be filled 
with water, in her arms.Suddenly, she slowed down and darted 
straight at the Orochi's main head, taking a little moss. When 
the seven-headed serpent reached the proper speed, she spread 
her arms and a giant gate opened up in front of the legendary 
monster.

			*	*	*

	The group soared silently over the ocean, making only a 
soft brushing sound with the phoeni and Andellia's wings. Ever so 
slowly, the morning sun began to rise from the horizon, reminding 
Phaeron of something with its scarlet hue.
	"Um, Ranko-chan..." he broke the silence.
	"What?"
	"Remember that we agreed not to keep to ourselves when we 
found out about something?"  She gulped, recalling the you-know-
what she hadn't told him about. He continued, "Well, this is one 
of those times, so I think I better tell you about this. Once 
upon a time, there was this big alien-that-looked-like-an-urchin 
thing called Lavos..."
	Akane turned to them, noticing how closely Ranko was 
listening and how she suddenly became shocked. "I wonder what 
he's telling her," she said to herself, a bit too loud.
	"Yeah, I wonder," Ranma said, startling her slightly. But 
Andellia was flying too far behind and to Phaeron's left, they 
couldn't hear a word he was saying.
	"Do you want to know?" Andellia asked. "Alright. Terion!"
	"Hm?" the unicorn, who was also flying to Phaeron's left but 
closer to him, turned back to his fianc�e and slowed down 
slightly, letting her catch up with him. "What is it?"
	"Do you know what those two are talking about?" she asked.
	"Nope, not a clue. Something about an alien, I guess. Why?"
	"Nothing, but thanks anyway," Akane said, falling silent for 
a while, "So, you're Mireillia's brother," she finally said. He 
nodded. "Can you tell us more about her? Why is she trying to 
kill Ranko?"
	"Because she is very weird, that's why. I don't know where 
she got the idea that when a guy does as much as _talk_ to a 
girl he's already proposing for marriage. And since that stupid 
law makes her she think she's engaged to Phaeron..."
	"We heard that part," Ranma said, "But I've been engaged at 
least a dozen times and my 'fianc�es' don't go out to kill each 
other."
	"We don't?" Ukyou blinked in surprise.
	"I mean that you don't _mean_ it in the literal sense of 
the word," Ranma corrected.
	"Well, Terion will have to forgive me for saying this but 
Mireillia is a very troubled girl," Andellia said.
	"Don't worry, I agree on that completely," Terion said, "One 
thing's for sure," he turned to Ranma, "Tell your sister to stay 
out of Mireillia's way or she won't live to tell the tale. As for 
the rest of you, don't even try to fight her-- no wait, don't do 
as much as _touch_ Mireillia. That's her Esper Cilm."
	"Her what?" Ranma and Akane asked.
	"Esper Clim is what in our language refers to when you do 
something that makes an Esper incredibly mad," Andellia said. "You 
know that all people has a certain 'weak spot' that makes him or 
her angry when you arouse that spot, right?"
	"Sure, I know," Ranma said, "Akane's got at least a dozen of 
them: when I call her uncute--" wham! "...tomboy--" slam! "...baka--" 
bonk! "Hey, cut it out!" he turned to Akane.
	She blinked several times, "Oh, sorry, but you've said that 
so much it's become a reflex," she stuck the mallet in the pocket 
universe.
	Terion smirked, "Well, if that's what happens when you 
insult her, then imagine what would happen if you angered 
somebody who can destroy a city just by thinking it. Then you 
have an Esper Clim. For example, Nadir values his bow and arrows 
so much his Clim would be when somebody damaged or stole them. 
My own is when somebody cripples me in any way, and Andellia.... 
hm, she doesn't have a Clim."
	She smiled, "I do, but it's so rare for a blue whale to 
release its droppings on my hair that nobody has actually seen 
it."
	"There you go. All Espers have a Clim. And Mireillia's Clim 
is when anybody, except Nadir, Phaeron and Uncle, touches her. 
Why, I remember that long ago, when Phaeron first rejected her, 
I tried to console her and carelessly put my hand on her 
shoulder. Sheesh! Crazy girl nearly bit my head off! And I'm _her 
brother_! I can't even tell you what she does to those who dare 
hurt her! I'm starting to think only Phaeron's Clim is more 
dangerous."
	"What's Phaeron's Clim?" Akane asked.
	Terion and Andellia blinked. "You know, whenever somebody 
hurts those redhaired twins, either physically or emotionally, 
right?" Terion said.
	"I remember," Ranma gulped at the memory.
	"But really, that she would hurt her own brother..." Akane 
said, "Mireillia must even worse than Kodachi!" She suddenly 
gasped, recalling what had happened to Ranko after her first 
real fight with Mireillia. She would have died a second time if 
Phaeron and Nadir hadn't come back. Ryouga was already sizzling 
in anger.
	"Oww!" Terion complained at his passenger's heat.
	"Hey, why are you all so pale?" Ranko aked as Phaeron 
dropped back to them. "What are you talking about?"
	"Ranko, don't ever come close to that crazy girl again!" 
Ryouga yelled, taking her hands.
	"Huh?" a drop of sweat formed on her head.
	"Calm down, Ryouga-kun," Akane said. "But seriously 
speaking, Ranko, maybe you should stay away from Mireillia from 
now on."
	"I'm not afraid of her," she replied, "The idiot has to 
ambush me, there's no way she can be _that_ strong."
	"She isn't _that_ strong, indeed," Terion said, "She's 
infinitely _stronger_. Remember that the way we call Phaeron 
used to be a nickname? I don't want to scare you, but 'Apeiron' 
isn't her original name. We began to call her that because she is 
the most powerful Esper that has ever lived."
	"That's if you count Seraphim-chan out," Ranko noted.
	"Okay, okay, but angels are another category altogether. 
Besides, have you ever seen an Esper's Ragnarok? It's not easy 
to live through one, I assure you, and Mireillia just _loves_ 
Ragnarok. In fact, when the Three Goddesses passed away and 
became statues, we ALL had to make an oath to never again use 
our full power again."
	"That's right," Phaeron said, "Even Coldfire respects that 
oath. Still, Mireillia always finds a way to _bend_ it slightly to 
her favor."
	Terion turned to Ranko, "So, when I meet somebody who can 
defeat Mireillia in Ragnarok, I'll believe you when you say that 
she's not that strong. But unless you've got a Guardian as 
mighty as Phaeron's, then you better stay away from my sister."
	"Gee, I wonder where I'd find somebody like that..." Ranko 
and Phaeron winked to each other. "Anyway, if Mireillia is really 
limitless, you think she could stop an alien from destroying my 
planet?"
	"What are you talking about?" Akane asked.
	Phaeron sighed gravely, "Andellia, Terion, do you remember 
Spekkio's tales about the Lavos?"
	Mireillia watched them silently as Phaeron went on with the 
tale. So, they had thought she was out of earshot, eh? She 
could forgive her brother and Phaeron for saying those things, 
she could even forgive the humans and Andellia, but if the hussy 
dared refer to her in such a despective tone, then she would 
have to be chastised severely. However, it would have to wait... 
Mireillia knew how to honor a promise, even if it meant for her 
enemy to remain insulting her carelessly. Now, about that beast 
called Lavos...
	A few hours passed, and they were still flying over the 
sea. Nearly everyone had already heard the tragic fate that 
awaited Earth, trying to endure the consequent shock. All those 
people, blissfully ignorant of the vehicle of death that would 
soon depart towards the Third Planet... Akane couldn't help but 
feel utterly terrified at this plot twist, for her family was 
still on Earth. They started thinking about their friends, all the 
strange people they had met, everybody who had, at one time or 
another, affected their lives. And in a little over a week, 
nothing would remain of that but a lifeless piece of rock 
floating between Venus and Ma--
	"Cut that out, you!" Akane smashed me with her hammer, "If 
you're writing that for the dramatic effect, it's not working!"
	"Besides, what's there to worry about?" ever so confident, 
Ukyou said, "I mean, all we have to do is defeat that thing as 
soon as it arrives here, right?"
	"It's not that easy," Phaeron said, "As far as we know, the 
Lavos has been defeated only once, and that's because it had 
been weakened previously."
	"Then tell us how to weaken it," Ryouga insisted.
	"In the planet where that happened," Phaeron continued, 
"there was a mineral called Red Stone, which was used to create 
an energy-absorbing machine. This machine kept draining some of 
the Lavos' power for centuries, rendering it with only about a 
third of its real power. There _is_ some Red Stone in this 
planet, but Kefka has been amassing it in his fortress."
	"I get it," Ranma said, "He's probably gathering all of it so 
he can control that Lavos thing as if it were his pet, making it 
destroy _this_ planet and Earth without getting himself in 
danger."
	"That's what we think," Phaeron said, "Only Kefka himself 
knows what his intentions really are, but what we believe is 
that he plans to drain the life out of Chaos, Exdeath and 
Zeromus, then allow the Lavos to eat up this planet and Earth. 
Then he will destroy both beasts and take their power for 
himself. At that time, he'll probably have enough power to 
command the magic of the Dark Orb."
	"You just reminded me of something..." Terion said, "As I 
recall, the Dark Orb can destroy the Lavos easily."
	"But remember that nobody can control it except for 
Chaos," Andellia reminded, "Humans die at its mere touch, and 
Espers can't even look straight at it."
	"That's what Kefka needs all that power for," Phaeron said, 
"At the moment, he only _has_ the Orb, but he can't control it 
yet, since he's still a human. We'd have to be as powerful as he 
wants to become in order to use it against the Lavos."
	"There is nothing to fear," Mireillia cut into the 
conversation, "I am certain Master Chaos will let us use the Orb 
once we set him free of Kefka's grasp."
	"How do you know?" Akane asked.
	Mireillia smirked, "I know he will. Master Chaos is not a 
madman like Kefka. He used to be a powerful, noble knight--"
	"That's not what he told us," Terion interrupted, "Yes, he 
used to be a knight called Garland. But he came across the Four 
Elemental Crystals and became corrupt. But unlike Zeromus, he 
became a mighty demon, also a master of time, called Chaos. But 
when he was vanquished by the Light Warriors, he changed. The 
Four Crystals possessed him, eliminating his evil and turning him 
into a neutral spirit."
	"But he wasn't really neutral," Mireillia's voice turned kind 
for the first time, "He broke the Crystals' command and traveled 
through space, acquiring knowledge without ever bringing harm to 
anyone. That is, until he arrived at the World of Balance..."
	"He arrived exactly during the War of the Magi," Terion 
continued, "He realized what the Three Goddesses were doing to 
the world and tried to stop them, but for the first time the 
three of them joined forces against _him_, and banished him to 
the original Esper World. However, the goddesses came to their 
senses thanks to him, and decided to come to a truce. They gave 
back their free will to the Espers and turned each other to 
stone."
	"Terion and I were born much later, a few years before 
Kefka destroyed the World of Balance," Mireillia said, her 
demeanor turning dark once more, "But that maniac... he murdered 
our parents and drained their power."
	"Master Chaos took care of us afterwards," Terion said.
	"Wait," Ranko said, "Then you weren't trapped in stone for a 
thousand years like all the others?" Phaeron and Andellia 
shuddered.
	"No, we were already born as Espers," Terion answered, "And 
we came from the first Esper World. But when Uncle met that 
human girl, and Terra was born, some humans from the World of 
Balance found our home and kidnapped many of us. They captured 
me, but somehow Master Chaos protected Mireillia and many 
others."
	"I can see why you love him so much," Phaeron turned to 
the Nightmare.
	"Yes," she sighed, "Master Chaos is like a father to me. He 
taught me everything I know. He would never turn evil again, I 
know it."
	"I hope you're right," Ranma said, "Because if he's in 
Kefka's hands..."
	Mireillia's expression turned dark once more. She didn't 
reply, but everyone could sense the powerful rage that burned 
inside her. Without even realizing it, they began to feel sorry 
for her. Kefka was draining the life of somebody whom Mireillia 
loved dearly, and yet she was powerless to do anything. For the 
very first time, Mireillia was vulnerable before their eyes.
	"Don't worry. We'll beat Kefka and save your master."
	Completely surprised, Mireillia turned to the author of 
those encouraging words. She stared at Ranko completely 
dumfounded, receiving a thumbs-up in reply.
	"Ranko's right," Akane said, "If your 'father' is under 
Kefka's control, we'll help you free him."
	It didn't take long for the other people to start 
encouraging Mireillia, who was utterly speechless. Could it be 
that these humans, even her enemy, understood her feelings? 
Maybe she had the wrong idea about them after all. Why, despite 
what she had done to them, they were trying to cheer her up.
	"Th-thank you," she said, hesitant. "I... may have been wrong 
about you." She turned to Ranko, "Maybe I was also mistaken 
about..."
	Phaeron rolled his eyes, "Mireillia, I've told you about two 
hundred times: Ranko-chan and I are _not_ engaged."
	"That's right," the redhead said, "We're best friends, that's 
all."
	Andellia smirked, "That reminds me..." She then began to 
speak in an ancient style of Esper language, "Te, Phaeron, 
estilar faisi na melaia kran maec?"
	Phaeron's facial feathers reddened, "Andellia, issai! Faisi 
bersas arisi a-melaia kran maec, deni faisi bersas issot a-jinei!" 
Listening in to the conversation, the other Espers that had been 
trapped in Magicite for a thousand years were the only ones who 
understood him.
	"Care to translate what you just said?" Akane asked, "Or 
should we bash the writer for the answer...?" Somehow, a giant 
mallet appeared above me like Damocles' sword.
	"Actually..." Coldfire grinned, "they said--"
	"Just why do you think we spoke in old language?" Phaeron's 
glare seemed to send daggers at his double. "Did you understand 
us, Terion?"
	The Unicorn glared at him, "Of course not, you idiot. You 
know very well that neither I nor Mireillia could understand a 
word you said."
	"That was the idea..." Phaeron said under his breath. He 
certainly didn't want Mireillia to know the meaning of such words.
	The Nightmare snorted. Fine, she would find out then. But 
there still were slight similarities to modern language...
	"Phaeron-kun, remember that we agreed not to keep that 
sort of thing to ourselves," Ranko reminded. "What did you say?"
	Coldfire snickered as Phaeron started mumbling something 
inintelligible. "Idiot," Coldfire thought, "Go on, 'Phaeron.' Tell her. 
Tell her that she has to remember by herself. Tell her that 
nearly everyone in Esper World knows about that except your new 
friends. Or don't you have the guts?"
	"It's nothing important, actually," Andellia said, smirking, 
"Just a little question I asked. Forget about it."
	"And now, presenting ' Ye Old Esper language in Three Easy 
Steps,'" Coldfire began translating before Phaeron struck him 
dead with a glare. "Sheesh, calm down," the black phoenix said.
	"Anyway," Terion said, "We better land soon. The sun will 
set in a few hours." He heard several growlings, "And it seems 
somebody is hungry."
	"But where can we land? We're in the middle of the sea," 
Akane said.
	"I know a place," Nadir said. "It's a small island a couple of 
minutes to the North. It's not too large, barely about four 
square miles, but it'll do."
	Taking the lead, the Kirin sped up, slightly modifying their 
trajectory. It didn't take too much time, the island appeared long 
before the skies turned scarlet. It was about the size of 
Togenkyo, and was covered by a dense jungle as well. Slowly, the 
Espers began their descent towards the land mass, only to be 
greeted by a familiar voice.
	"So, need a rest?" Eoris' voice came out of nowhere. Those 
who were free to do so, smacked their foreheads.
	"You again?" Ranma asked, annoyed. There was still a small 
distance before they landed.
	"I know it isn't nighttime yet..." Eoris said, "But I've 
decided to introduce you to a friend of mine." The fiend's face 
appeared on a cloud, "She's a little devil, alright. You will like 
her on sight. Sharian, show yourself!"
	They heard the rumble of thunder in the distance, the 
skies became covered by dense storm clouds in less than a 
minute. It was still a couple more hours until sunset, but 
everything was covered in darkness nonetheless. Suddenly, a 
cloud released a large bolt of lightning towards the ocean below. 
Glancing towards the point of impact, the party noticed a tiny 
whirlpool had formed. Eoris vanished, however, the whirlpool 
became larger and larger, until a column of spiraling water 
spouted from its center. The party had to stop in midair, the 
column had risen exactly between them and the island.
	"Ho ho ho," a light female cackle, not as grating as 
Kodachi's but not the tinkling of bells either, came from the 
water spout. Slowly, a trio of slits appeared on the column, 
similar to Eoris' face. It was more delicate though, Sharian's 
eyes were slightly larger and cat-like, the mouth, smaller. Her 
voice, soft and inviting, resounded in the distance when she 
spoke.
	"And who might you be to dare cross most of Salar Ocean 
without my permission?" she asked. "I knew humans were insolent, 
but this is intolerable."
	"Who are you?" Ranma asked.
	The female demon blinked, "Didn't my dear Eoris tell you? I 
am Sharian, Green Shadow and Elemental Fiend of Water," she 
smirked devilishly, "and this is the end of the line for you."
	"Oh, really?" the Kirin was readying to attack, while the 
humans were busy trying to recall how to use their new magic.
	"Yes, really," Sharian replied, before gazing downwards into 
the whirlpool, "Now, my little Charybdis, dispose of these little 
pests in any way you see appropriate. Don't hurt them too much, 
though. I want to share in Eoris' delight of murdering them 
personally..." With that, Sharian's face disappeared and the water 
spout began trashing wildly, sending blasts of water in all 
directions. The Kirin was hit, and SPLASH! Instant Mousse-duck 
and Shampoo-cat. He could barely grasp Shampoo by the scruff of 
her neck before she plunged to the raging waters. Even when the 
spout dissipated completely, the whirlpool, Charybdis, continued 
to spit out strong blasts of water at them.
	"Time to see if this works," Ukyou muttered, concentrating 
in her Water magic. Not knowing how to do it, she followed the 
example of Ryouga and Ranma's ki blasts and put her open palms 
in front of her. "Water!" she commanded, and a bright sphere of 
the vital liquid shot out from her hands, enlarging in flight and 
cancelling out one of the shots from Charybdis. Enraged, the 
whirlpool swirled even faster, shooting out water like an anti-
aircraft turret.
	"Guess we won't be able to land here after all," Phaeron 
said, defending from the liquid flak with a crystal shield.
	"I'm not giving up yet!" Ranma saw what Ukyou had done and 
decided to act, "Wind!" 
	Ranko felt a chill travel down her spine, while Kirin's horns 
glowed. "Oniisan, stop!" "Ranma, you idiot!"
	"What?" he asked, but then was answered as Charybdis grew 
at least five times larger thanks to the gust of wind. "Uh-oh."
	"Nice going, you...!" Ryouga yelled, then had an idea. He 
brought his hands upwards, a bright aura covering them, "Instant 
Special Technique!" he yelled, a giant mass of dirt gathering 
above him, "Earth Crush!" he threw his hands downwards, sending 
the dirt straight at Charybdis. The whirlpool had to direct all 
of its shots at the earth sphere, leaving itself open to attack.
	"Lightning!" mimicking Ryouga's actions, Ranko brought her 
hands upwards and gathered a large ball of electric energy from 
the air around them, then shot it towards Charybdis. At the 
same time, Phaeron engulfed the whirlpool with a ring of fire, 
evaporating much of its water. Just as the lightning hit, 
Charybdis shrieked as the water was split apart into mere 
hydrogen and oxygen by the tremendous electricity. Too bad the 
fire hadn't extinguished yet...
	"Wah!" the Espers had to cover everybody with a thick 
shield as the oxygen suddenly helped create a _big_ fiery 
explosion. When it receded, they felt the steam rising from the 
ocean, where huge ripples were still spreading from the spot 
where Charybdis used to be.
	"That was close," Ranma said, then felt a sting on his skin, 
"What the..." Everyone was suddenly drenched by a rain of warm 
water.
	"Shampoo!" Mousse hugged Kirin's long neck.
	"What you doing?!" she bonked him as she recovered her 
clothes from Hammerspace (tm).
	A loud howl came from below, several spots of bright 
energy lit up the ocean. Waves crashed against each other, it 
even started raining again. Ryouga barely opened his umbrella --
it was cold water this time.
	"Oops," Ranko said, "I think we just made it angry."
	No kidding. Charybdis reappeared, and it was _pissed_. It 
even brought the family with it, in the shape of smaller 
whirlpools, which swirled around it in circles. Suddenly, a large 
leaden-blue sphere sprouted from the core of Charybdis. They 
nearly had a heart attack when the sphere opened --it wasn't a 
sphere, it was a large eye. And it was staring back at them in 
sheer rage.
	"The real battle has begun," the smaller whirlpools chanted 
in a chorus, their voices reminescent of the Chipmunks. Charybdis 
glared at them. "Er..., THE REAL BATTLE HAS BEGUN." This time 
they sounded much more imposing. Charybdis turned back to the 
party.
	"Then we'll finish it now!" Ukyou unsheathed her combat 
spatula and channelled magic through it, then swung and sent out 
a hail of ice shards at Charybdis.
	"What a wonderful idea..." the whirlpools said, then 
countered with ice of their own. The attack was lightning fast, 
the Espers could barely avoid being hit.
	"That's not going to work!" Ryouga aimed downwards with his 
free hand, thinking up another technique, "Earth Shield!" a large 
stone barrier formed over Charybdis, deflecting the attack. The 
eye simply blinked, and the eight smaller whirlpools spewed a 
strong gush of water at the shield, washing it away. Terion 
moved out of the way before being hit, then countered with his 
own magic, "Lightning Magic Attack! Overload!"
	Charybdis eye shuddered as a giant bolt struck it, but 
then it glared at Terion, sending out a blast of red energy that 
hit him squarely in the neck.
	"Terion!" Andellia called, seeing him drop from the sky.
	"Ucchan! Ryouga!" Ranma and Ranko also called, but Coldfire 
and Crystallus quickly caught them. Terion was another matter, 
three of the small whirlpools rushed to capture the Unicorn as 
he splashed in the water.
	"No!" Andellia swooped down at a high speed towards the 
whirlpools. Taking the opportunity to attack, Ranma sent out 
several Moko Takabishyas at them while Akane did her best to 
ki-punch them. There were no signs of Terion, though.
	"Why, you!" the Kirin followed Andellia and stomped on the 
whirlpools as he galloped over them. All Mousse-duck could do 
was send out a hail of daggers at Charybdis eye when they 
passed over it. Upset once more, it glared at the Kirin, but the 
energy blast only burned his left hind.
	"Ranko-chan, what do yu say?" Phaeron finally got a clear 
shot at Charybdis, "Do you remember the Hawk Dive?"
	She smirked, "As if I had used it yesterday, Phaeron-kun." 
The Phoenix grinned and dove straight at Charybdis, leaving a 
blazing vacuum in his wake. Concentrating, Ranko steadily got on 
her knees and flipped down, grabbing hold of Phaeron's claws. He 
narrowed his wings, she pulled up her legs. "Go!" he said, right 
as he flew over Charybdis.
	"Hawk Dive Shooting-Star Kick!" she let go of him and dove 
straight at the eye with a spinning drop-kick. Phoenix also 
darted for the eye, spinning as well. Both of them connected 
with the eye at the same time, then she bounced off and landed 
on Phoenix' back, flying out of Charybdis range.
	The eye could barely believe the amount of stars before 
it. How dare they! Well, if it was teamwork what they wanted, 
they would get it!
	"Yow!" Phaeron had to weave between the blasts that every 
single whirlpool was sending towards them. Noticing Charybdis was 
wide open, Ranko waved her arms at Ryouga and Coldfire. "Right!" 
they nodded, and began gathering strength. Andellia also noticed 
and began another pass, hoping to find Terion this time.
	"Ryouga, on my signal, throw another 'Earth Crush' at the 
eye, got it?!" Coldfire yelled. He set a straight trajectory 
towards Charybdis and paused. "Now!"
	Ryouga did as indicated. Meanwhile, Coldfire was using his 
own magic, "Earth-Shadow combination magic! Grand Stone!"
	The ball of dirt that Ryouga had thrown suddenly became a 
gigantic stone, covered by Coldfire's Shadow magic aura. The 
Grand Stone splashed into the water, hitting all of the 
whirlpools at the same time. Not the types to let chance pass 
by, Ukyou and Crystallus also began their attack.
	"So, I told you how to do it," Crystallus said, "Now use it!"
	"Got it," she said calmly, and joined her hands as if 
praying. She was surrounded by a gleaming mist. She stretched 
her hands towards the now-regenerating whirlpools and chanted, 
"Ice!"
	The mist around her body came down upon the water, 
freezing it solid and keeping the whirlpools from forming. 
Charybdis' eye, however, burned in rage. With another blast it 
broke through the ice and reformed, glancing over the rest of 
the ice in order to melt it.
	"Oh, no, you won't!" Ryouga leapt down and landed on the 
ice. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"
	Charybdis watched horrified how the little frozen whirlpools 
shattered into a million ice cubes, while the culprit leapt back 
up and landed on Coldfire's back. But it wasn't even worried 
about its small accomplices. Rather, it was the progressively-
freezing water, caused by the ice shards around it, what 
threatened it. Glaring at Ryouga, Charybdis shot out its 
strongest blast.
	There was no escape from that trap. Ryouga brought down 
his umbrella, defending from the attack. The umbrella wasn't even 
scratched, but Ryouga quickly recalled _why_ he had opened it in 
the first place and cursed himself mentally. In less than a 
second, P-chan was pushed off Coldfire's back, umbrella and all, 
into the water below.
	"Ryouga-kun!" from her position, Akane could not see him as 
he was behind the umbrella. Ranko and Phaeron, on the other 
hand, saw an unconscious piglet hang limply from the umbrella's 
stick and splash in the mad waves. Charybdis didn't even care 
about keeping Terion inside it. It only wanted to crush the pig 
in its counter currents.
	"There he is!" Ranma called as he saw a white lump emerge 
from the water. Andellia panicked and made a break for it, using 
her mental powers to levitate the comatose unicorn out of the 
water.
	"Ryouga!" Ranko and Phaeron dove towards Charybdis once 
more. Only this time, it was ready. The redhead wasn't fast 
enough to put up an aura shield as Phoenix was blasted into 
unconsciousness, leaving her in midair, dropping towards the 
deadly whirlpool because of the momentum. Coldfire was torn 
between helping her or Phaeron, but the only logical solution 
appeared on his mind.
	"Moko Takabishya!" Ranko would have shouted if she had had 
the chance. The blast of red engulfed her even before the ki 
blast left her palms. Turning their attention back to the enemy, 
the members of the party stared wide-eyed as Ranko dropped 
limply into Charybdis.
	"I am certainly going to hate myself in the morning for 
this...  Nevertheless, she saved my life once. Honor forces me to 
repay in kind," Mireillia thought, then shouted, "The one who is 
called Akane holds Earth magic! Create a foothold for me if you 
want to see your friends live!"
	"Wh-what?! But I don't know how to--"
	"Akane, you can do it!" Ranma urged, anxiously looking at 
how the eye was submerging in the whirlpool, ready to consume 
its prey.
	"I..." Akane didn't know what to do. She was always 
considered one of the weakest fighters in town, but this time 
Ranko and Ryouga needed her help! She had to learn how to use 
magic in less than ten seconds or her friends would die!
	"E..." she tried to concentrate, but was becoming to nervous 
and had little success. Steeling herself, she aimed her hands 
forward and shouted, "EARTH!!"
	"Perfect!" Mireillia acknowledged as a large stone slab 
formed beneath her hooves. She landed and morphed into a human, 
then reared back and punched through the stone, shattering it 
into smaller slabs and diving fist-first into Charybdis. The eye 
stared at her in disbelief for a moment, then pulled her down 
along with it into the swirling currents. And then... and then... 
and then... nothing.
	"Ranko! Ryouga-kun!" Akane yelled.
	"Where the hell is Phaeron?!" Ranma was about to explode.
	"Rising Shadow Bolt!" Mireillia flew out of the whirlpool in a 
blast of purple energy, holding the unconscious Ranko in one arm 
and keeping Ryouga behind her inside a hot shield  --which had 
changed him and, amazingly, his clothes back. She landed on one 
of the stone slabs, put Ryouga on the Kirin's back (an act that 
Mousse-duck and Shampoo-cat didn't seem too fond of) and 
hoisted Ranko over her shoulders in a piggyback. She morphed 
into the Nightmare just as Charybdis crushed the stone beneath 
her with its powerful currents.
	"That's IT!" Ranma shouted, "Anyone who hurts my sister is 
asking for this!" he reared his hands upwards, as if he were 
about to throw a ki blast.
	Akane was feeling something similar. To witness how this... 
_thing_ had nearly killed Andellia's fianc�, Nadir, Ryouga _and_ 
Ranko was enough to anger anyone. Being limited by her skills 
was one thing, but this monster was NOT going to get away just 
like that. And with Ranma and Ukyou also preparing to attack, 
she was not going to be left behind.
	"What the--" she was cut off from her thoughts by Ranma's 
expression of surprise. There seemed to be two large balls of 
energy, one bright red and another one violet, which were 
darting straight at Charybdis with only one purpose.
	"White Tornado!" Phaeron yelled, ripping the clouds above 
and trashing in the water below.
	"Stellar Crash!" Coldfire, inside the Tornado, shot out a 
concentrated blast straight into the eye.
	"That's right!" Andellia said, seeing how the Crash weakened 
the eye while the Tornado was summoning the water upwards.
	"Now!" Phaeron and Coldfire came out of the tornado, 
leaving a very-dizzy eye spinning on top of the water spout.
	"Ice!" Ukyou froze the water, turning it into a solid column.
	"I think I got the hang of this..." Ranma thought. "Fire!" the 
column evaporated, only the eye itself remained. "Wind!" As the 
eye was weakened even further, the air currents making it spin 
in midair, the troop finally got a good look at the real 
Charybdis. It resembled an octopus, but instead of having its 
abdomen over its tentacles it was a large yellow eye. Aside from 
the nine muscular tentacles, which were responsible for the 
whirlpool, there were also eight tiny antennae between them, 
each with a small eye on its end. Those were probably the eight 
smaller whirlpools, they guessed. But they didn't notice the 
Charybdis suddenly tightening its tentacles and whipping them to 
the side, using the air currents to send some kind of seed into 
the distance. Finally fed up with playing, Ranma released the 
monster. As it fell, Ukyou froze it again, this time to the bone. 
At the same time, Akane summoned a large stone slab which 
appeared beneath the Charybdis. The frozen monster shattered 
into several pieces upon impact.
	Not satisfied, the Kirin snorted and neighed. Coldfire 
received the message and chanted, "Ultimate Shadow Magic! 
Separation Anxiety!"
	They all covered their eyes as a sudden blast of blinding 
light detached from Coldfire, but almost instantly the light 
receded and _everything_ became dark. They only saw two large  
bolts of energy destroy the remnants of Charybdis, separating 
its very chemical structure. But then the second part of the 
spell created a massive aura shield around the point of impact, 
preventing the following explosion from harming the surroundings. 
And slowly, very slowly, the shield became smaller, keeping all 
the radiation within itself before vanishing from existance along 
with its contents.
	"Wow," even Ranma and Phaeron were astounded.
	"Hah. Nothing to it," Coldfire smirked, "Too bad we can use 
these spells only in Esper World, right, Phaeron?" he mocked.
	"Very funny," the people who had fought him in the World of 
Ruin glared daggers at him.
	"Alright, let's get some rest," the Kirin said, recalling the 
large wound that was still on his thigh. It wasn't going to go 
away if they kept on talking nonsense.
	"Hm?" Phaeron looked about, trying to find Ranko. "What in 
the...?!" he thought, speechless. Was Mireillia actually holding 
Ranko on her back?
	"Rub my eyes, please," he asked to the nearest human, 
Ukyou. She rubbed his eyes. He blinked. Yep, Mireillia was holding 
Ranko on her back. "Well," he thought, "this IS a surprise..." he 
smirked, following the others as they landed on the island.

			*	*	*

	"So, you realize the situation?" Maduin asked.
	"Yes, I do. It was very wise of you not to tell them 
anything about us," the other voice replied.
	"I might be wrong, of course, but it's better to be on the 
safe side."
	"I know what you mean. What happened with Zeromus 
practically forced us to learn about keeping an eye on such 
individuals."
	"Then I believe you have readied everything. Shuttles, 
fighter crafts..."
	"Yes, yes. Don't worry, old friend. We shall help you defeat 
Kefka... That is, if your friends get past the Black Wall."
	"Speaking of 'black'..." Maduin said, nervous, "What do you 
know about the Black Omen?"
	"T-The Black Omen?! D-Don't tell me it's HERE!!"
	Maduin nodded gravely, "I believe Kefka is using it as his 
fortress. And according to Phantom, he has built a new Mammon 
Machine inside it."
	"That is disturbing news... If Kefka _does_ have control of 
the Black Omen fortress, the Mammon Machine and the Orb, then I 
can't help but fear for your friends."
	"Yes, I am afraid too. But something tells me they will be 
all right," he leaned closer to his friend, "And just between us, 
do you remember the feeling of being close to an angel such as 
Seraphim?"
	A smile came from the wrinkled, bearded face, "Of course I 
do. It was one of the high-points of my life."
	"Well, just as a secret, I could tell you that when I met 
those humans, one of them possessed a spirit _very_ reminescent 
of Seraphim's... if you catch my meaning."
	The old man's eyes widened in delighted surprise, "Then we 
do have somebody 'up there' on our side..." a wrinkled hand 
pointed upwards, but then the same action reminded of both 
friends of a very important trouble.
	"Lavos."
	"Yes, Lavos... It was that beast who originally destroyed 
our planet, and even with our great magic we were powerless to 
stop it. Maduin, old friend, I am afraid not even our finest 
warriors would be able to mount a defense strong enough against 
it."
	Maduin shook his head. "Set your mind at ease, friend. I 
didn't come here to ask for your dedicated warriors to do such 
thing. In fact, I wish my new human friends don't even try to 
stop it," he sighed gravely, "for I shall take the responsibility 
of doing so."
	Maduin's friend gasped, "You certainly do not mean you want 
to face the Lavos yourself! We both know only the Dark Orb can 
do that!"
	"Not just the Dark Orb," Maduin said. "There is another 
way... But unfortunately, it is related to the human I told you 
about."
	The old man shook his head, "You do not know what you're 
dealing with, Maduin. Lavos is infinitely strong, you'd need a 
squadron of angels to oppose it."
	"I know, I know. But I won't... I cannot let a human do such 
sacrifice for a world that isn't even its own."
	"If you are so determined, then I guess I can't stop you. 
But I shall pray so you see the truth and you don't have to 
confront Lavos." Both friends rose from the Council's table. "May 
the stars watch over you and enlighten your wisdom, friend 
Maduin."
	The Esper snickered a bit at the old Lunar way of saying 
"good bye", but considered how similar it was to the Esper style. 
He stretched out a hand, "May the wind behind your sails, and 
the Light behind your soul, never diminish, FuSoYa."
	Maduin shook hands with the small old man. FuSoYa stroked 
his long white beard as he saw his friend walk away, then he 
rubbed his bald head. "If only we Lunarians had been as brave as 
Espers or humans..."

	"Are you ready?" Maduin asked. Nodoka and the panda had 
just come back from touring the city of Mysei, to the far East 
of Valran.
	"Are we going to return to Valran?" Nodoka asked.
	Maduin smiled at her, "Yes, in a few minutes."
	"What's going on?" the panda asked with a sign.
	Maduin tried to hide his feelings, "Nothing to worry 
about..." he changed the subject, "By the way, you should hear 
the history of this city." Walking beside them as they left the 
Council, he began his tale.

			*	*	*

	"All set," Coldfire finished preparing the makeshift beds on 
the floor of the tent. Ryouga was already lying down, even 
though the unicorn barely left any space at all. With 
unveliebable care (at least for her), Mireillia set Ranko beside 
them.
	"Nope. No way. Absolutely not. Not a chance."
	"What?" Akane asked to the unwilling Nadir.
	"She wants me to turn back to a human so she can heal 
me," he explained.
	Mireillia just couldn't resist, "Come on, Nadir. It can't be 
that bad."
	He snorted at her, "Are you crazy? If it did this to me..." 
he motioned towards the wound, where even his silver scales had 
been opened up, "Imagine what I'd look like as a human. It 
probably disintegrated the entire upper back of my pants."
	"Oohh, I can imagine, alright," Nadir's former fianc�e said in 
a seductive voice.
	Nadir turned incredibly red, "Forget it! Don't imagine it!" He 
began to get a nauseous look on his face, "You make me sick."
	"Then it'd be better if you didn't use your mental powers 
to see the images in my head, or else this fanfic will earn a 
Lemon rating." He couldn't hold back any more. Nadir choked as he 
tried not to throw up. Mireillia was practically laughing her head 
off. Yep, it was still very fun torturing Nadir. Akane was 
already gone, not wishing to be part of the conversation. It was 
a good sign to hear them talk like that, though. If they could 
talk so openly, then it meant they were probably beginning to 
become attracted to each other again, as Nadir said they once 
had been. That way, Akane thought, maybe Nadir would leave her 
and Ranko alone, and maybe even Mireillia would forget 
everything about Phaeron and stop trying to kill Ranko.
	It was strange, though. Why had Mireillia saved her life? 
After all, she had kept trying to kill her for a long time, and 
even when Ranko had healed her during the fight with Coldfire, 
Mireillia continued to look at the redhead with eyes of fury. 
There was a chance she could have done it to repay her of what 
had happened before, but then again she could have just taken 
her out of the whirlpool and dropped her on the ground. That 
would have fitted her character even more, in Akane's opinion. 
But to see the Nightmare actually protecting the very person 
she was hunting less than a week ago...?
	Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard 
Andellia's voice calling. Shrugging, Akane decided to leave those 
thoughts for later. For the moment, she joined Ranma and 
Phaeron as they went into the tent. Andellia was already there, 
and had morphed back to a winged human. She had used her magic 
to turn back Terion as well, but the burn on his neck only 
enlarged during the transformation.
	"All right, let's begin," Andellia pulled up her sleeves. She 
stretched her right hand upwards, clenching it into a fist. A 
beam of golden light detached from her hand, making it look as if 
she were holding a staff of light. She brought the hand down to 
her side, the arm still stretched outward, and the light _did_ 
become a golden staff. It was about six feet long, and had a 
fist-sized orb on its upper end. Andellia closed her eyes and a 
pair of small white wings spread out from the staff, sprouting 
from the joint between the pole and the orb. When she opened 
her eyes again, a pair of green snakes appeared from the 
ground. They slithered in a spiral around the staff, finally 
reaching the top. They froze in a position that made them face 
each other, opening their mouths and showing their fangs.
	"Isn't that the symbol of Medicine?" Akane asked.
	Andellia smirked, "Yes, a Caduceous. This staff is my 
treasure. My power, after all, lies mainly in healing and giving 
aid, even though I am not very good as a warrior. Now you will 
see what I am truly capable of." She began to aim her staff at 
the trio, but stopped briefly, "Do you want to help?" with a 
smile, she asked to Akane.
	"Uh, sure!" she replied, "What do I do?"
	"You have Light magic, which is the most powerful. And 
among its spells are several healing techniques. Just 
concentrate on healing them. Use your strong will for it, just as 
you used it to create that stone back there. But there's one 
thing you need to remember: believe in yourself. That's the 
essence of magic."
	Akane had to smile. Phaeron had said almost the same thing 
when he began teaching her how to use ki techniques. Alright, if 
she could do a ki-punch she could do a heal spell.
	"Hmm..." she paused for a moment. "Okay, Heal!" she stretched 
her hands towards the comatose trio, sending out a very faint 
glow. Dubious, Ranma passed his hand through the glow. He sensed 
warmth, but then his hand felt completely healed. Even the slight 
burn he had made on himself by using the Fire spell disappeared 
completely.
	"Pretty good," Phaeron said, shifting his gaze from Ranko 
and over to Akane.
	"Alright, I'll help you," Andellia aimed her staff at the 
trio, a bright yellow light covering them. 
	"I thought Espers couldn't use magic on each other," Ranma 
recalled.
	Andellia shrugged, "But this staff _does_ work on Espers, 
so I guess it's kind of a loophole."	
	Slowly, they began torecover. Ryouga had only been knocked 
unconscious by the hit of his own umbrella, so he was the first 
to awake. He still ached a little when he sat up, but a few more 
seconds of staying within the healing field restored him fully.
	Terion was next, even though the reddish mark on his neck 
was a stubborn one. He woke up coughing, then rolled over and 
boosted himself upwards wth his arms. Andellia smiled when he 
opened his eyes and glanced at her, still rubbing his neck.
	Ranko's entire body had been hit by the blast, so it took 
longer to heal her. Unnoticed, Phaeron sent a small glimmer from 
his hand towards Akane, bolstering her spell. The glow detaching 
from her hands became twice as bright, Ranko opened her eyes 
less than a second afterward. Akane looked excitedly at her 
hands.
	"Uhh..." Ranko rubbed her gut, "What hit me?"
	"A-Akane-san?" Ryouga stared at her with wide eyes, "D-Did 
you heal us?"
	"Hm?" Ranko heard that. She looked at Akane, confused.
	"I... Y-yes, I guess I did!" Akane was still looking at her 
hands, she could barely contain the excitement. She had done it! 
At last! After all that time of lagging behind all her friends, 
she was finally up to par with them!
	"All right, oneechan!" Ranko smiled at her.
	"Guess you're not a clumsy, uncoordinated clutz after all!" 
Ranma grinned.
	"I did it!" Akane didn't notice any of the compliments as she 
danced a little jig of celebration. "Heal! Heal! Heal!" she aimed 
her hands at everyone in the tent, sending out spells. Nadir, 
who had turned back to a human, was hiding in the bushes 
outside when he heard Akane's voice. He didn't notice Mireillia 
was staring right towards his butt. Inside, they saw her happily 
skip out of the tent, then heard Nadir ask, "Akane? What 
happened?"
	"Heal!"
	"Wah!"
	"Hmm, nice..." that was Mireillia's voice.
	"Wah!" the sound of somebody running away was heard, 
followed by Mireillia's light laughter.
	"Sheesh, you really are proud, aren't you, oneechan?" Ranko 
smiled and shook her head, amused.
	"Next thing you know she'll probably find out that spell is 
the cure for cancer," Ranma joked.
	Phaeron was still looking at the place where Akane had 
been standing. "B-But my ki-boosting spell didn't even reach 
her..." Indeed, the glimmer he had sent towards her was still 
floating in space. "Then that means..." he snickered and smacked 
his forehead.
	Akane went on dancing along the seashore, ignoring the 
approaching lights of sunset as she continued casting random 
heal spells. Suddenly, she stopped and looked back to the 
campsite. A few veins popped in her head.
	Running back to the tent, she reached into her Personal 
Wormhole (tm) which led to Hammerspace (tm) and pulled out her 
Interdimensional Mallet (tm!).
	"Who's a clumsy uncoordinated klutz, you baka?!"


			*	*	*

	After a brief, post-dinner nap, the troop reassembled at 
the beach. Night had fallen a few minutes ago, but that didn't 
keep them from leaving. This island, while being part of Esper 
World, wasn't protected by magic like Sapphire Woods or Valran. 
Even though it was dark, they would have to leave. After all, 
their next destination was the so-called Poseidon's Trident, 
Kassir canyon's outlet to the ocean. And once they reached the 
Trident, they would be only a step away from Cat's Eye.
	"Ready?" Phaeron asked as he morphed back into the 
Phoenix.
	"I'll never understand humans," Crystallus said, "They're 
delaying far too much."
	"They seemed to act strange after that nap..." Terion 
noted. "By the way, does anyone know where Nadir and Mireillia 
are?"
	"Nope," Phoenix said, hoisting the saddle over his wings.
	"Here, let me help you," Ranko came into view, placing the 
saddle properly.
	"New style, 'pigtails'?" he asked, noticing she had a 
ponytail. She just smirked and looked away.
	"Let's go," Ranma said, as the others followed him. Akane 
playfully tugged at his ponytail. The humans got on the Espers' 
backs, but since Nadir wasn't present Mousse and Shampoo had to 
ride Coldfire and Crystallus.
	"Where are those guys?" Phaeron turned back to the jungle.
	"They said they'd catch up later," Ranko said, winking 
strangely. Phaeron considered waiting for them, but then caught 
the hidden meaning. So, Nadir and Mireillia were finally back 
together, eh? He couldn't help thinking that it had happened 
remarkably quickly, but so what? Smirking, he lead the Espers as 
they took off from the island, heading to the Southeast.
	After a few minutes, once they were flying over open sea, 
Ranko turned to Ranma, who in turn motioned to Ryouga. One by 
one, the humans looked at each other with their red eyes. Then, 
at the same time, they all drew sharp daggers from their 
clothing. With a loud shout, they mercilessly stabbed the Espers' 
backs.
	"Yaah!" Phaeron yelped out as well as his companions, 
defenseless from the attack. He could already feel the warm 
blood spreading across the feathers on his back. "Y-you..." he 
said weakly, his vision becoming blurry. "You're not... Ranko... 
chan..."
	"And how did you figure that out?" the Doppleganger said 
with a devilish smirk, as the Phoenix and other four Espers 
suddenly lost all their strength. The demonic creatures writhed 
in delight as they rolled the daggers inside their victims.
	Before they blacked out, the Espers joined in a single 
thought, "B-but then... Where are they...?"

			*	*	*

	"Uhn..." in the campsite, Akane woke up, grimacing. She 
noticed all the other humans were nearby, and were also groaning 
in pain. Had someone put sleeping potion in the food?
	And where had the Espers gone?


Stricken with tragedy

	"Not a sign of them," Ranma said, coming back to the camp.
	"Where could they be?" Akane wondered. Only Mireillia and 
Nadir were still on the island, but that was because she had 
been laughing at his attempts to find a way to sew his trousers 
back together.
	"Oniisan! Oneechan! Come here!" they heard Ranko's voice 
coming from the beach.
	"What happened?" they asked upon arriving. Ranko and 
Ryouga were crouched on the sand, apparently examining it.
	"Look at this," Ryouga pointed down, "There are footprints 
all over the place. I recognize hooves and bird claws, but there 
are some other, smaller ones over there."
	"Hm?" Akane identified human footprints on the sand, very 
similar to their own. In fact, the patterns were identical to the 
sole of their shoes.
	"These footprints lead to the ocean," Ranko said, "Looks 
like they left without us."
	"And why would they do that?" Ukyou joined them, coming out 
to the beach. They just looked at each other silently.
	"Well, Nadir and Mireillia are still here," Akane said, I don't 
think they left us on purpose."
	"Then what made them leave?" Ryouga thought.
	"Ranma!" Shampoo dropped from the sky, making them leap up 
in shock, "Look what Shampoo found!"
	"What's that?" Ranma examined the gleaming, wicked dagger 
that Shampoo held in her hand. It certainly didn't resemble the 
weapons the Espers had been carrying.
	"Mousse also find strange sword," the Amazon continued, 
then added with a brief scowl, "but then he run into tree and 
hug it. Stupid."
	"Urg... When... did you.. get so heavy... Shampoo?" Mousse 
arrived at the beach, holding a palm tree in his arms. Shampoo 
knocked him out with a bonbori.
	"Where is everybody?" they turned to see Mireillia coming 
out to the beach as well. She looked around, puzzled at the 
absence of other Espers.
	"Have you seen Nadir?" Ranma asked. She smirked, "That 
idiot is still hiding in those bushes. Somebody better give him a 
needle and thread or else he will stay there all day."
	"Do you know something about this?" Ryouga pointed at the 
footprints. She leaned closer to examine, then blinked several 
times in confusion. "Did they already leave?" she asked, turning 
to the humans, who just shrugged.
	All of a sudden they heard the rustling of leaves nearby. 
Turning to the source of the sound, they heard Nadir's voice as 
if he were talking to somebody. "Um... Er... A-Akane, do you, uh, 
have something I can fix this with?"
	"Akane?" Ranma turned to her, but she shrugged in reply. 
They looked at each other and walked over to Nadir, but then 
gasped as they heard him shout. Dashing to the origin of the 
scream, they found a _mad_ Kirin horse-kicking a humanoid 
creature into a tree.
	"Nadir?! What are--?!"
	He bolted his head towards them, "Dopplegangers!"
	"Dopplegangers?!" they barely had time to gasp as several 
other creatures dropped from the treetops. They were humanoid 
in shape, but had no faces and chalky-white skin.
	"That's right..." a devious smirk formed in their faces, "We 
heard somebody among you defeated one of our brothers, so..." 
one by one, they morphed into people they knew: Cologne, 
Phaeron, Genma, Mrs. Tendo, Dr. Tofu, Pantyhose Taro, and two 
more Akanes.
	"Uh-oh," Ukyou took her spatula, guarding from the winged 
minotaur that loomed over her.
	"How dare you..." Ryouga and Ranma hissed at the fake 
Akanes.
	"Don't just stand there, you sissies!" the Cologne double 
ordered. "Kill them!"
	Genma-d crashed into the Kirin with a full-body blow, while 
Taro-d swatted Ukyou aside. Shampoo avoided Cologne-d's 
repeated staff thrusts, but couldn't avoid being kicked away by 
Tofu-d. Enraged, Mousse tried to ensnare him with chains, but 
quickly lost control of his left arm as the Doppleganger touched 
a pressure point on his elbow. Ryouga and Ranma were still 
sizzling at the demonic Akanes that drew out wicked daggers from 
their clothes, while Ranko and Mireillia had their hands full with 
Phaeron-d.
	Akane was the only one who remained motionless before the 
Doppleganger. This thing... No it wasn't a thing, it was _her 
mother_! She couldn't attack her own mother!
	However, the creature didn't show such remorse as it 
blasted Akane over the trees and back to the beach.
	"Akane!" Ranma yelled.
	"Right here, sweetie!" Akane-d nearly sliced his head off. 
Gritting his teeth, Ranma closed his eyes and punched "her" in 
the gut, sending the creature flying into a tree.
	"You evil beast!" Ryouga, covering his eyes with a bandanna, 
thrust with his umbrella. Akane-d just handsprung off the weapon 
and kicked Ryouga in the throat.
	"I've heard of you, you monster!" Ukyou yelled as she 
darted a flurry of spatulas at Taro-d. With lightning speed the 
beast's tentacles knocked the missiles out of the air, then it 
punched with both fists towards her. She could only stare as the 
punch shattered the ice-shield she had just created.
	"What's wrong, 'great-granddaughter'?" Cologne-d mocked, 
"You're getting slow!" To prove her point, she sent out a hail of 
small ki-shots at Shampoo. The Amazon leapt upwards to avoid 
them, but her inexperience with the Dragoon Boots sent her too 
far into the air. Cologne-d cackled.
	"Want a broken bone?" Tofu-d smirked as he jabbed towards 
another pressure point. Mousse pulled out a frying pan and 
batted his hand away, but was left wide open to a massive kick 
in the chest.
	"Hakuda toshin-shou!" Genma-d speared the Kirin's back 
several times. This was where the tables turned, though, as the 
Esper just twisted his snake-like neck and chomped on Genma-d's 
dougi, then flung him into a tree, smashing it.
	"Ugh!" Ranko was blasted yet again by the Four Birds from 
Phaeron-d. At the same time, Mireilla was just recovering from 
the Comet Flare she had received in the gut. But neither was 
using her full strength, considering the image taken by the 
Doppleganger. Fuming, they attacked at the same time, only to be 
greeted by a crystal shield and a blast of Wind magic.
	"M-Mother..." Akane still lay on the beach, a few tears of 
nostalgy running from her eyes. "Come on," she thought to 
herself, unaware of the Doppleganger looming over her with a 
spear in its hand. "That thing is not mom... Don't let it fool you, 
you baka..." Sighing, she shut her eyes and rolled out of the way 
just as the spearhead hit the sand.
	"Now, Akane-chan. Come over to me."
	Amazing, that thing could imitate even her voice!
	"No!" Akane shouted, clenching her fists, "You MONSTER!! How 
dare you do this to me...! To the memory of my mother...!" She 
reared back, opening her palms. Maybe it was the anger, maybe 
she was figuring out how to use magic. The Doppleganger stared 
aghast as a wide ball of purple energy gathered above Akane's 
head. 
	"Heh," she thought, "if Ranma can do it, so can I!" She 
brought her hands upwards. "But I can't let myself be beaten by 
anger. I am a martial artist too!" The sphere turned bright 
yellow. She shouted, "Instant special technique! Solar Eclipse!"
	Suddenly the two aspects of the sphere, the yellow and the 
purple, split apart and shot towards the Doppleganger, crushing 
it between them. Slowly, the spheres merged once more, the 
purple one overpowering the yellow and giving the impression of 
a miniature eclipse until both spheres vanished, taking the 
Doppleganger with them.
	"So... That's what happens when you mix Fire and Shadow..." 
Akane thought as she fell on her knees, exhausted, before 
collapsing on the sand.
	"How dare you use Akane's shape!" Ranma, blindfolded, sent 
out another round of Chestnut Fists towards Akane-d. The 
creature grimaced, then grabbed hold of Ranma's arm and whipped 
him head-first into a rock.
	"Heh, you baka," Ranma smirked as he got up, "I'm used to 
being hit on the head."
	"Who's a baka?!" the Doppleganger reached into Hammerspace 
and malleted him.
	"What the..." Ranma thought, "It got angry when I called it 
baka..." Trying again, he yelled, "You uncute tomboy!" He caught 
the bokken that was headed for his head. Smirking, he taunted 
again, "Your cooking stinks!"
	"Stop saying those things about Akane-san!" Ryouga bonked 
him on the head.
	"Ryouga you idiot!" Ranma yelled as he avoided a real 
attack from the Doppleganger. "That thing doesn't just _look_ 
like Akane, it has the same weaknesses!"
	"What?" Ryouga said involuntarily as he blocked an attack 
from the other Akane-d. "Forgive me for this, Akane-san..." he 
thought, and yelled, "You can't cook!" he noticed the double froze 
in mid-stride. "An opening!" he blasted out a Shishihokodan, 
knocking the Doppleganger into the ocean.
	"That's right!" Ranma swept the other double's feet and 
yelled in her face, "Uncute, moronic, violent uncoordinated, 
badly-built tombo--"
	"Ranma, you JERK!" the real Akane slapped him. Hard.
	"Wha..." both Ranma and the Doppleganger blinked at her in 
confusion.
	"For your information, you're a stupid, selfish, narrow-
minded, uneducated loser!"
	"Hey, I was trying to annoy that monster!"
	"What monster?!" she said. The Doppleganger approached them 
with a halberd in its hands. They idly knocked it into the 
stratosphere as they continued arguing.
	"They don't make Dopplers the way they used to!" the Kirin 
mocked as he hit the ground with its hooves, sending sparks of 
lightning through the ground and frying Genma-d to a crisp.
	Mousse was having a hard time with the Tofu double. 
Nevertheless, remaining alert of the surroundings, he happened 
to hear that bit about weaknesses and leapt away from Tofu-d. 
"Look!" he pointed to the side, "Good afternoon, Kasumi!"
	"K-Kasumi?" Tofu-d's glasses fogged up. Mousse batted him 
into the distance with a giant metal ball.
	"Now, what have you done to Shampoo?!" he turned to 
Cologne-d.
	"Don't worry," she replied, taking out a long sword from her 
staff, "You'll join her soon..." she grinned, and leapt towards 
Mousse, slashing. He wasn't fast enough to block, he only stepped 
back reflexively. "Shampoo!" he shouted, closing his eyes and 
slashing with his scimitar.
	"What you want?" Shampoo asked, clapping her hands on the 
blade. Looking down, she saw the crushed ghoul she had squashed 
while descending from her leap. Mousse sweated visibly.
	"Why you...!" Ukyou grasped her spatula tightly, involuntarily 
covering it with ice. Taro-d darted his tentacles towards her. 
She ducked and rolled away. She stood up, propping her spatula 
beneath her for support. With wide eyes she noticed how the 
utensil's ice spread to the ground, freezing everything it 
touched except for her. Smirking, she grasped the weapon once 
more and froze it, while avoiding the monster's attacks.
	"Hey, you big ugly! Up here!" she leapt up, spatula at the 
ready in one hand, razor-sharp ice shards shooting out of the 
other. Taro-d bellowed as the shards severed most of its 
tentacles. Angered, it clapped its hands at Ukyou, who barely 
slipped out of the way before the giant hands crushed her. 
Landing on the ground, Ukyou thrust her spatula into the ground, 
"Instant special technique! Frozen Support!"
	In a flash of light, the ice spread from the spatula and 
covered the ground around it in a 15-ft. radius, freezing 
everything that it touched. Taro-d bellowed once more as it was 
covered in ice up to its hindquarters. Ukyou removed her spatula 
and leapt away seconds before two furry fists smashed the ice 
she was standing on. "Game over, pal," she said, charging her 
weapon with ice once more and thinking up another instant 
technique, "Stellar Crystals!" she swung her spatula. The ice 
detached from it in crystalline formations, coming over Taro-d 
like a hailstorm. As soon as the crystals touched his skin, they 
froze him completely. Calmly, she walked over to the ice 
sculpture and poked it with a finger. The entire mammoth 
collapsed and broke into a hundred pieces.
	"Yaah!" Mireillia winced as Phaeron-d's left arm-blade made 
a long cut on her torso. At the same time, he opened his right 
palm to fire away a black bird towards Ranko.
	"Stop!" Ranma, Akane and Ryouga came towards them. 
Phaeron-d idly pushed them back into the forest with telekinesis. 
Once more, Ranko and Mireillia stood up to attack, and once more 
they were shot down.
	Ranko gritted her teeth, this was going to sound akward, 
"Mireillia, I know you hate me, but if we want to beat this guy..."
	"...only teamwork will do," Mireillia finished, ignoring how 
akward it sounded.
	"So...?"
	"Let's go!" Mireillia yelled. They dashed towards Phaeron-d, 
who smiled evilly in reply. Suddenly Mireillia dropped below the 
flaming fist, while Ranko leapt over the double and grasped his 
arms behind his back, "Now!" she shouted.
	"Rising Shadow Bolt!" Mireillia rose back up, blasting off 
the ground with a purple field around her body. Phaeron-d was 
caught off guard, the attack burned most of his front side. 
Enraged, he whipped his arms forward and slammed Ranko on the 
ground, and immediately stomped her back with his right foot. He 
was ready to stomp again when Mireillia tackled him and flung him 
into a tree.
	"Ouch..." Ranko rubbed her back.
	"How do you feel?" Mireillia turned to her, charging her 
hands with razor ki.
	"Watch out!" Ranko pointed beyond Mireillia. Phaeron-d 
nearly sliced her in half with his arm blades, but she jumped 
away just in time while Ranko shot out a Moko Takabishya at the 
double. As he bent over in pain, she grabbed him from behind 
again, trying to repeat the attack from before. Only this time, 
she also hooked her feet around Phaeron-d's legs to prevent him 
from reversing the hold.
	"Piercing Arrows!" Mireillia shot out.
	"Yaah!" Ranko barely let go of Phaeron-d in time, "Mireillia, 
watch it!"
	"Sorry!" she replied, sending out another trio of missiles 
at the Doppleganger. She blinked at herself: had she just 
apologized for sending an attack that would have hurt Ranko? 
Well, emnity or not, right now she needed the girl's help, she 
couldn't kill nor cripple her temporary ally.
	Ranko was wondering a similar thing. It was true that they 
were working very well together, but... What would happen after 
the fight ended?
	Phaeron-d jumped away from the two fighters, trying to 
reorganize himself. His eyes were practically flames, and smaller 
sparks were appearing on the rest of his body. A powerful aura 
enveloped him.
	"N-No..." Mireillia gasped, "He's not going to use the Phoenix 
Flare, is he?"
	"The what?"
	Mireillia returned to the reality at hand, "Saotome, quick! 
Summon your Lightning magic!"
	"Okay," she was already creating the ball of electricity 
above her, "By the way, call me 'Ranko.'"
	"Very well, now!" Mireillia and Ranko aimed their attacks at 
the Doppleganger, "Lightning-Shadow combination magic! Dark Bolt 
Bomb!"
	The lightning ball in Ranko's hands vanished, but then four 
straight shafts of dark energy concentrated on Phaeron-d's 
position. With the roar of thunder, the exact spot where the 
beams joined exploded in a hemispherical blast of violet power, 
similar to Ultima. Phaeron-d was sent flying. Silently, Ranko and 
Mireillia nodded to each other. The Esper leapt up, caught 
Phaeron-d tightly from behind and dropped at a tremendous speed 
towards the ground. "Nightmare Suplex!" she shouted, surrounding 
her body with a bright crimson aura. Just as she came on top of 
Ranko, she released the double and landed on the ground while 
the redhead greeted Phaeron-d with a massive White Touch-Moko 
Takabishya combination, knocking him out for the count.
	"Did we do it?" Mireillia approached Ranko, panting from the 
effort, "Is it unconscious?"
	"Yep, it's down and out," she replied, poking him with a 
stick. She turned to Mireillia, "You okay?" she asked, wincing at 
the sight of the gash in the Esper's torso. Without waiting for 
the answer, Ranko began using her Cure 4 on Mireillia, who 
stared wide-eyed as the wound closed before her eyes. Out of 
reflex, the girls smiled at each other in satisfaction.
	"Well done," Mireillia acknowledged.
	"Some team, eh?" Ranko said. They opened their palms and 
_nearly_ shook hands. Mireillia backed out at the last second.
	"Uh.... um..."
	Ranko sighed, "Look, Mireillia, I think I know why you think 
we must be enemies, but can't we work something out here? I 
mean, look at this, we do make a great team."
	Mireillia remained still for a few instants, an akward look 
of indecisiveness on her face. Yes, they were a good team, but 
this was her _rival_. At least, that's what the bracelet she had 
retrieved from the former Nyaniichuan implied. However...
	"Oh, what the heck. Very well," Mireillia shook hands with 
Ranko, "I guess that, for the time being, we can be allies. That 
is, until we find out what happened to Phaeron and the others..."
	Ranko had to smile, "For the umpteenth time, I'm not after 
him. Can't you forget about that?"
	Mireillia looked at the inscription on the inside of the 
bracelet, "I don't think I can..." she thought.
	"Allies, then?" Ranko insisted. She'd much rather say 
"friends," but maybe that would be pushing it too hard, too 
quickly.
	"That's right. Allies," Mireillia and Ranko took each other's 
hands, smiling. They heard the sound of a body hit the ground 
afterwards.
	"Are you two feeling alright?" Akane asked, cocking one eye.
	"Waaaaait a minute, sis," Ranma said, standing up after 
having collapsed, "First she spends all her time trying to kill 
you, and now you just go and make friends with her?"
	"What's going on here?" Ryouga asked, confused.
	Mireillia didn't know what to say, so Ranko tried to explain, 
"Oniisan, trust me on this, okay? You know we all have to stick 
together. Besides..." she walked over to him and whispered, "Maybe 
if I try to make friends with her, she'll leave me alone."
	Ranma looked at her dubiously for a moment, but finally 
rolled his eyes and said, "Hope you know what you're doing."
	"All right, back to the business at hand," Mireillia said, "I 
assume we now know the reason why the others left without us. 
Those footprints we found back there must have been made by 
other Dopplegangers."
	"But then what happened to them?" Ukyou finally found them.
	"We can only hope they weren't killed, nor captured," Nadir, 
back in human shape, approached them. "We'll have to find them."
	"Wait," Akane said, "If they realized those were 
Dopplegangers, maybe they'll be coming back here for us. We 
should stay here and wait for them."
	"I don't think that's a good idea," Nadir said, "If there 
were so many Dopplers here, I don't doubt there's more. But we 
can't go to the Trident right now, with only two of us and seven 
of you. However, we can go Northeast. About ten miles that way 
we can reach the mainland. It'll be easier to find them there."
	"But how will we get there?" Ukyou asked.
	"Umm, maybe we can ask them?" Ranko pointed upwards. There 
was a long golden figure soaring towards the island.
	"Always call a dragon when you need help..." Nadir smirked.
	"Great, just great," Mireillia thought. Not only had she 
become an ally of her enemy, now she was going to have to play 
babysitter for a handful of immature humans.
	Things weren't coming out very well.

			*	*	*

	"_Very_ nice..." Kefka grinned in delight. "Who would have 
thought Dopplers would actually be useful for something?" He 
turned to Tiamat, "But what happened to the Espers?"
	"We do not know, Master," she hissed, "They probably 
escaped." She paused for an instant, "Nevertheless, with their 
weakened condition, I do not think they would make it very far. 
Maybe Eoris or Falia are disposing of them as we speak."
	Kefka stopped smirking, "I don't think so. Those Espers are 
too smart to try and continue travelling during the night. 
However, make sure Geriot arrives at the island before they 
return to it. The humans may have escaped, but at least we'll 
keep their friends from finding them."
	"As you wish, my Master..." Tiamat bowed and left the 
chamber.
	Unnoticed by Kefka, another being, much more frightening, 
smirked to itself as its plans progressed perfectly.

			*	*	*

	"So, where are we going now?" Ranma asked, sitting on Herb-
dragon's back along with most of the people. The party was now 
flying over the land, having crossed the strait between the 
mainland and the island a few minutes ago.
	"There's another city up ahead," the Kirin replied. "It's not 
as large as Valran, but there might be somebody there who can 
help us." As they soared through the star-filled sky, Nadir could 
barely stop grinning. Somehow, he had finally convinced both of 
his "fianc�es" to ride on his back! Sure, they had been _quite_ 
reluctant at first, and it was true that they didn't seem very 
happy now, but it was worth it. Of course, the fact that 
Mireillia still didn't let anyone ride on her back helped greatly.
	On the other hand, the Nightmare was quite annoyed. She 
turned to Nadir, who was grinning like an idiot, and scowled. So, 
who was the two-timer now? And in front of his former fianc�e, 
no less. Stupid jerk, she thought, and noticed that Ranma 
appeared to be sharing some of her points of view. He was also 
glaring at Nadir, obviously jealous.
	"How long will it take us to get there?" Akane asked, "I'm 
falling asleep already."
	"Just a few more minutes," Mireillia replied. "Eliann is a 
peaceful town, we should find an inn when we arrive."
	"Well, in the meantime..." Nadir said, "I can see you're all 
making progress with your magic skills."
	Ukyou beamed in pride, "That�s right."
	"I'd say we�re getting the hang of it," Ranko created a tiny 
lightning sphere in her palm. "But how do you use those 'double' 
combinations, anyway?"
	"Magic combinations are really very simple," Mireillia said, 
"All you have to do is join two or more Elemental Forces when 
you attack."
	"Like when Coldfire turned my Earth Crush into a Grand 
Stone?" Ryouga asked.
	"Exactly," Nadir said. "That was a combination of Earth and 
Shadow. For example, if you use, say, Wind and Fire together, you 
might develop a 'breath of fire.' Or, you can mix Light and Silver 
and create an aura shield even more powerful than the crystal 
dome."
	"I get it," Ranko said, then tuned to Mireillia, "Then, when I 
shot out my lightning, you used your Shadow magic to turn it 
into that Dark Bomb or something like that."
	"Yes. Shadow magic works very well in combination with 
others," Mireillia said, "But if you mix Light and Lightning, you 
can summon an even stronger spell called Luminaire."
	"'Luminaire,' huh?" Ranko thought, using her other hand to 
create a light sphere. She slowly brought the two balls closer 
together, amazed at how they interacted with each other.
	"I was right then," Akane thought, recalling the attack she 
had used on the Doppleganger, "I mixed Fire and Shadow, and I 
got a Solar Eclipse..." she considered the other Elemental Forces 
she had received from Spekkio, "I'll have to try them out."
	"For now, try to think of new ways you can use your magic 
skills," Nadir suggested. "Sometimes, you can devise new spells 
and combinations just out of the blue, which is what you've been 
doing. Then again, you're all martial artists. You should know by 
now about not sticking to a single style, but mixing and 
developing them instead."
	"Guess we'll have a lot of catching up to do, Herb-chan," 
Yuannyan said.
	"That reminds me, why did you stay behind?" Akane asked.
	Herb and Yuannyan smirked, "Can't tell. It's something Maduin 
asked us to do when we arrived at Cat's Eye." After a brief 
pause, Yuannyan spoke again, "But are you sure you don't know 
what happened to Phaeron-kun and the others?"
	"Not a clue," Ranko said, downcast.
	"Don�t worry," Mireillia said, confident, "We'll find them. But 
right now, let's get some rest. We're almost over Eliann."
	Slowly, the Espers and Herb began their descent. As they 
came closer, they saw the town in front of them. Unlike Valran, 
it wasn't built like a castle. It did have a stone wall, though, 
but it stood a small distance away from the outermost houses. 
Then something caught their attention. There were very few 
lights coming from it, most of the town was shrouded in 
darkness. And now that they were flying over the wall, they 
could notice the large holes in the structure, entire sections 
had crumbled to rubble. Fearing the worst, the party landed just 
outside the gates of Eliann.
	"What�s going on here?" Ranma asked. The entire place was 
deserted, yet the remnants of a battle could be seen. Weapons 
scattered over the stone floor, blackened marks where attacks 
had struck, still-burning fires, and...
	"Are they... Are they dead?" Akane asked in a barely audible 
voice, pointing at the corpses littering the floor. Most 
resembled humanoid creatures, others had the shape of animals, 
and a few more were simply unrecognizeable.  Hesitant, a few 
people detached from the troop and examined them carefully.
	"N-no..." Nadir said, seeing a friend�s face on one of the 
bodies.
	"Were they attacked?" Herb bent over the charred remains 
of a Red Shadow.
	"Kefka is responsible for this..." Mireillia hissed, clenching 
her fists.
	"He's got some nerve doing this," Ranma and Ranko were 
already sharing the Nightmare's rage towards the megalomaniac.
	"What's that?" Ryouga pointed at one of the corpses, which 
seemed to be trapped in a cylindrical structure, like a phone 
booth.
	"Unfortunate fool," Mireillia said shaking her head, "That 
pod is a transport tube. Nearly all of Esper World cities have 
transport tubes, which connect them to each other. You can go 
into one, press a few buttons and wind up in  Valran in less 
than a second. The poor guy must have tried to flee through it 
when the attack came, but it overlodaded and cooked him."
	"Then that guy..." Ranma pointed at another corpse. It was 
also within a cylinder, hanging on to a lever inside it, an 
escape route that could never be used.
	"Hm?" Mireillia and Nadir examined the pod closer. "No this 
isn't a transport tube. Unless..." their eyes widened, a small 
glimmer of hope flashing in them. "Quickly, everyone! Try to find 
another tube that looks just like _this one_!"
	Confused at first, they slowly began to heed the order, 
spreading out over the courtyard. What had the Espers found? 
All the tubes they found looked the same, only the one which 
Ranma had pointed was different. Giving the Espers the benefit 
of the doubt, the humans still continued searching nonetheless.
	"Over here!" Lime shouted. "Master Herb, we found it!" Mint 
followed.
	They all rushed to the source of the shouts. Lime was 
trying to lift the huge fragment of the wall which had fallen 
next to the capsule, blocking it. Ryouga quickly helped him and 
they tossed it over the horizon.
	"Yes, it _is_ a Mole Duct," Mireillia acknowledged, sighing in 
relief.
	"What�s a mole duct?" Ranko asked.
	"It�s a capsule which leads to underground passageways," 
Nadir explained. They looked at each other as realization hit. If 
the Esper they had found had tried to use the tube to escape, 
then others might have had the same idea.
	"Let�s hope they�re all right," Nadir said, already climbing 
into the capsule. He pulled a lever, causing a panel to be 
opened on the capsule's inner wall. He pressed a button, and a 
glowing field of pale yellow covered him. A light humming came 
from the machine as Nadir spun in place, several glimmers 
detaching from his body and being absorbed by the pipe on top 
of the capsule. When all of his body was absorbed, the pipe 
opened a conduct to the floor and transported Nadir to the 
underground.
	"I'll go next," Ranma said, still not convinced of the 
capsule's safety. He repeated the otions followed by Nadir and 
vanished as well. Shrugging, the rest of the humans followed 
Ranma, one at a time.
	"What�s wrong, Ucchan?" Ranko asked, seeing her hesitate. 
"I... uh... go ahead, Ranchan. I'll... catch up with you later." 
Looking oddly at her, Ranko went into the pod and vanished, 
leaving only Ukyou and Mireillia out in the courtyard.
	"I don't know about this..." Ukyou said, regretting having 
watched that Star Trek movie. Really, that was the last time she 
let herself be convinced by Gosunkugi about which movie to rent.
	"There's nothing to be afraid of," Mireillia said, climbing 
into the pod, "Esper technology is quite safe." Before Ukyou 
could reply, she had vanished into the capsule.
	"Oh, all right," she entered the contraption. The scene of 
the movie in which the transporters malfunctioned kept repeating 
in her mind over and over and over and over and over and you 
get the picture. Pursing her lips, she chided herself for being 
paranoid and pressed the button. A strange sensation of warmth, 
then cold, covered her body. She looked at her hands, noticing 
she was glowing brightly. Then a feeling of lightheadedness 
followed, she felt dizzy as she disintegrated and was absorbed 
by the machine. Random colors flashed before her, although she 
didn't have any eyes at the moment. Then darkness. And she 
opened her eyes, finding herself in another capsule.
	"What in the..."
	The gang was all there, standing a few yards away from the 
capsule. And they were all standing completely still before the 
Espers that aimed at them with their weapons. Survivors, 
probably, from the attack to Eliann, who had fled to the 
underground during the battle. It was a miracle they still had 
any strength at all to confront the humans, judging from the 
painful-looking injuries and wounds that covered their bodies.
	"Who..." one of the Espers coughed, "...are you?"
	"Hey, calm down," Ranma stopped the spearhead with two 
fingers, an inch away from his nose.
	"We're here to help you," Akane said.
	"Yeah, right," another Esper said, "That's exactly what 
those Dopplers said before sicking their Shadows on us."
	"Do I look like a Red Shadow?" Nadir came forward, smiling. 
One of the Espers, a large muscular goliath, stared wide-eyed at 
him. "Long time no see, Titan."
	"Nadir?" Titan blinked (quite an akward action for a bulging 
mammoth) before crushing Nadir in a friendly hug. The green-
haired Esper went limp afterwards.
	"Hey, don't kill him," Mireillia came forward as well. All of a 
sudden, the other Espers recognized them.
	"The Kirin and the Nightmare!" one of them yelled, "Hey, 
everyone! Come over here! It's okay, they're friends!"
	Nearly every creature in the recint (about half a dozen 
Espers or so) came out of hiding to greet them. A few faeries, 
dragon-like creatures, chimeras and the like approached the 
humans, who were nervously staring at them.
	"You friends too?" Titan asked, in the slow voice of a 
blockhead.
	"Uh, right," Ranma said, before introducing the rest of the 
troop.
	"Nice to meet. I Titan. And... uh... I forgot what comes next. 
Come on, join us. We about to eat."
	Hesitant at first, they followed the Espers into the 
catacombs. But when they opened the doors, they suppressed a 
gasp of shock. The rooms were littered with wounded Espers, but 
these could not even stand. Some of them, the most gravely 
injured, were groaning on their beds, while the rest had to find 
contempt in the floor. A thick, musty air filled the chambers.
	"Help... please..." a bird-like creature reached towards the 
humans. All that Ranko could see in its eyes was pain and 
sorrow, the final desire of leaving the mortal coil without more 
suffering. She couldn't help shedding a few tears for them, nor 
could Akane.
	"It's okay, that's what they're here for..." a sylph tried to 
comfort the bird-man, despite being paralized from the waist up 
herself. Ukyou felt something press in her chest at the sight of 
her.
	They came into the next room, trying to control themselves 
as they did. Akane clung to Ranma tightly, not wanting to witness 
the spectacle before them. Even Ranko held her brother's hand 
for support, for this was where the most injured Espers had 
been put.
	"Ran... Ranchan... what...?" Ukyou found herself deprived of 
speech. The room was immersed in the smell of decay, rotting 
flesh. The lucky ones in this room were still in one piece, but 
the mayority lacked an arm or leg, or both, and one was 
practically limbless. In the corner, barely lit, they could discern 
the shape of a winged humanoid, of the same race as Andellia, 
but he had been cut in half. His lower body was nowhere in 
sight, several cables and life-support mechanisms were sticking 
into the bloody stump that used to be his waist.
	"Titan, where were you?" a beautiful maiden asked. Of all 
the Espers in the room, she was the only one unhurt. She was a 
blond-haired young woman,about eighteen, and covered by a pale 
blue Greek tunic. A crown of sunshine rested on her head, 
bolstering the inner light of her deep blue eyes. As she spoke, 
she gently touched the winged man's hand, releasing a faint glow 
into him. He weakly opened his eyes and smiled at her.
	"You go on," Titan said, opening the last door. for the 
humans to pass. "Titan give food to friends and help Starlet."
	"Are you here to help us?" Starlet asked. "We could use 
any assistance, no matter how scarce."
	"I... I think I'm gonna stay here a while," Ranko said, feeling 
the urge to cast Cure 4 on everyone.
	"But we have to get rid of Kefka first," Ranma said, his 
voice filled with hatred towards a man he hadn't even met.
	"You... Will you confront Kefka?" Starlet's eyes lit up even 
more, a wide smile of relief and joy spreading in her face, "You 
must be the Light Warriors that Ifrit has been talking about!" 
she clapped her hands, "Please, help us. We're desperate here. 
Those of us who are unhurt are doing our best to heal our 
brothers, but since Espers can use magic on each other there 
really isn't much we can do. But if Kefka isn't defeated, his 
magic will continue having influence on all of us and they will 
only get worse..." she stood up, and walked over to the human 
she thought was the leader, "If... if you really are the Light 
Warriors..." she paused, not caring about the rivers of happiness 
streaming down her cheeks. Looking up, she took Ranma's hands, "I 
had faith, and was finally answered. I knew sister Laris would 
send help. I believe in you, in all of you. Please, bring peace 
back to this world, I'm begging for your mercy."
	She couldn't take it anymore. Starlet fell to her knees, 
stil holding on to Ranma's hands. The siblings and Akane 
immediately kneeled by her, trying to comfort her.
	"It's okay, it's okay," Akane said, stroking her hair. "Let it 
all out."
	"I never knew somebody could be as evil as that... that 
maniac," Ranma gritted his teeth.
	"Don't worry, Starlet," Ranko said, "we'll help you. All of 
you. Just have faith."
	"'Sister Laris'?" Ukyou thought, "You mean this is Seraphim's 
_real_ sister?"
	Starlet looked up at them, "Th-thank you." She smiled, 
embarassed, "I'm sorry you had to see me like that. It's just 
that seeing my Esper brothers and sisters like this..."
	"We understand," Ukyou said, "Don't worry about it."
	"Well," Starlet said, "Ifrit is waiting inside. Don't keep him 
waiting." Showing a warm smile, she walked back to her patients, 
"Thanks for your help," she said, turning to them.
	"Herb-chan, you go on ahead," Yuannyan said, "I think I'll 
help her with them."
	"I think I'll do that too," Akane and Ranko said 
simultaneously. They giggled each other and the trio walked over 
to Starlet, who welcomed their help. Shrugging, the rest went on 
to the next room. It resembled a meeting room, like the one in 
Valran, with a large table in the center surrounded by primitive-
looking chairs, and torches hanging from the walls.
	"So, Nadir and Mireillia bring their human friends..." said an 
Esper as he stood out from the door in the other side of the 
room. Like Maduin, he was a large humanoid, with reddish skin and 
a fiery mane. There were two long, cartilaginous protrusions on 
his head, like antenae, which fell down his back. A strong aura 
of fire surrounded him.
	"I am the Ifrit, master of Fire Magic. Welcome to Eliann... 
or what's left of it."
	"Ifrit, what happened here?" Mireillia asked, concern in her 
voice.
	The fiery Esper shook his head, "We never saw it coming... 
Just after we escaped from Kefka when he arrived at Phantom 
Forest, we thought we would be safe here, as in Valran. And we 
were, for a while, until a troop of Dopplegangers came here 
disguised as Espers. We were so naive we let them in, but just 
as they crossed the gates they turned into black dragons and 
started destroying everything. We managed to fend them off for 
a while, until one of them opened the gates again and summoned 
the Red Shadows."
	"But not even Red Shadows are _this_ powerful," Nadir said, 
"I mean, this place was crawling with Espers, I don't think an 
entire legion of Shadows could do something like this."
	"That's because they weren't just ordinary Red Shadows..."

	A battle was taking place in Eliann. The Espers were easily 
holding off the enemies, despite the great numbers of Red 
Shadows and Dopplegangers within the walls. Titan and his friends 
were simply crushing the interlopers with their awesome 
strength, while Starlet healed anyone who became injured. Ifrit 
wasn't even sweating as he used his amazing control over fire to 
blast anyone who tried to attack her. The battle was pretty 
one-sided, in favor of the Espers. They were confident, it 
wouldn't last very long.
	"You damn Mystics!" one of the Shadows bellowed, yelling out 
loud the nickname they had given to the Espers. Escaping from 
Ifrit's blasts, it dashed to the gates and pulled out a dark 
crystal from its robe. "Master Geriot! Mistress Falia! I summon 
you!"
	Ifrit and Titan froze in shock at the mention of the names. 
Suddenly, the ground just outside the gates burst open. Two 
columns sprouted from the crevice, one made of solid rock and 
the other of fire. Geriot and Falia had arrived.
	"Who dares disturb my sleep?" the column of rock shouted, 
as a hideous face opened in it.
	"There better be a good excuse for summoning the mighty 
Falia!" the fire column said in a feminine voice.
	"It... It cannot be!" Ifrit gasped.
	"Oh?" Falia looked around, "Whose idea was it to throw a 
fire party without inviting ME? I am Falia, the Crimson Shadow! 
The Fiend of Fire!"
	"Set yourself at rest, Falia," the rock column said, "If any 
of these insects dared carry out such an outrage, then I, 
Geriot, Brown Shadow and Fiend of Earth will assist you in their 
destruction!"
	"No, you don't do that!" Titan valiantly opposed Geriot, 
uselessly punching him. Geriot laughed and turned himself into a 
stone golem, slamming Titan into the ground and tossing him away.
	"Now's your turn, 'fire sprite.'" Falia also took humanoid 
shape and twisted Ifrit's blasts back at him. The Esper had no 
chance against this enemy, for all of his attacks were easily 
controlled by Falia.
	"Okay, first we get rid of you..." she turned to Starlet, 
who gulped in fright.
	"No! You won't hurt Titan's little friend!" Titan flung 
himself between Falia and Starlet, taking the full power of the 
fire blast.
	"Titan!" Starlet shrieked.
	"There's only one thing to do now..." Ifrit thought, 
"Mireillia... I'm glad your master taught me this..." he stood up 
and covered himself with a sphere of fiery energy, "INFERNO!"

	"But it didn't work?" Ranma asked.
	Ifrit shook his head, "Falia used it against me, like before. 
The two fiends forced us back, letting the other Shadows play 
with us like mad children with fragile toys. I guess you don't 
need to hear what they did to them."
	"But Falia and Geriot..." Herb inquired.

	"Heh," Geriot smirked, "What do you say, sister? Should we 
finish the job?"
	"My pleasure, Geriot," she replied. Both of them took human 
bodies, covering themselves with their respective Shadow robes. 
Falia lifted her hands, Geriot put his hands on the ground.
	"Earth-Fire Elemental Fiend magic!" Falia yelled.
	"Lord Dysithal, give us your might!" Geriot followed.
	"Hellfire Retribution!"
	Just as an earthquake shook the buildings off of their 
foundations, a gigantic explosion of fire engulfed everything in a 
five-mile radius.

	"Oh," was the only word Akane could pronounce after hearing 
Starlet's tale.
	"But... why?" Yuannyan asked, putting a little more effort 
into her healing spell.
	"Does it matter?" Starlet replied, "Kefka is a madman, 
comsumed entirely by evil. He doesn't know of things such as 
reasons or motives for his acts, his mindless strife is all that 
he lives for. I don't know if you have already heard this, but 
back during the time of the Returners, Kefka only wanted to 
destroy everything, and, in his own words, 'build a monument to 
non-existence.' He's the archetypical Destroyer, such as Exdeath, 
who wanted to suck all of the Universe into the plane of 'Mu.' At 
least Chaos and Zeromus wanted to preserve their worlds so 
they could rule over them."
	"But then why is he so insane?" Ranko wondered, "This goes 
way past your typical megalomaniac."
	Starlet shook her head, "That I do not know. It may have 
something to do with his partner."
	"Kefka has a partner?" Ranko asked, surprised that the evil 
lord could make place for an accomplice.
	Trying not to shudder, Starlet looked at her, "Why, yes, 
Kefka does have a partner. But I'm not surprised you haven't 
heard of him. Very few people have. In fact, maybe not even 
Laris nor Maduin know of him."
	"Who is he?" Akane asked.
	"I'm not very sure about his name," Starlet said, trying to 
remember, "What  I _do_ know is that he is even worse than 
Kefka. A real demon, I believe, and just as powerful. He is the 
master and creator of the Four Fiends, even though Kefka 
controls them as well."
	"Wow," Yuannyan said, "A real demon?" she turned to her 
twin. Both of them shuddered as they recalled the evil that once 
possessed Coldfire. But wait a minute. Did Starlet mean "demon" 
as in a powerful evil creature, or as in an actual fallen angel?
	"I'm not really sure," Starlet answered after the question 
was made, "But if sister Laris has been left in the dark about 
him, and only  a creature as powerful as an angel can hide from 
her..." 
	An eerie silence filled the room. "No way..." Ranko thought, 
but an all-too familiar feeling of disquiet came over her. She 
couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something inside her 
seemed to be familiar about this new opponent. Yet again, she 
cursed inwards for her loss of memory, as this probably had 
something to do with whatever happened before Jusenkyo. 
	"You sure you don't know his name?" she asked, trying to 
jog her own memory.
	"I'll try to remember," Starlet said, "It's just that, well, 
the thought of him alone makes me nervous..."
	"I have an idea," Akane said, then got up and left the room. 
When she came back, she brought a folder containing the previous 
section of this fanfic's script... What?!
	Hey, I need that! There are other projects in that folder!
	"I'll give it back later," Akane said, reading through the 
previous scene. "Aha, here it is!" she exclaimed. "See, right 
here..." she pointed at one of Geriot's lines, "He's saying, 'Lord 
Dysithal, give us your might,' in here."
	"D-Dysithal...?" Ranko shuddered mightily, an action that 
surprised even herself. "What happened to me?" she thought, "And 
why do I suddenly feel as if there were a cold draft in the 
room?"
	"Then that demon's name is Dysithal," Starlet finally 
remembered it clearly. Ranko shuddered again.
	"Okay, can I have it back now?"
	"Just a minute..." curious, Akane flipped through the pages, 
"Hey, what's this about an earthquake demolishing our school? 
That fanfic was supposed to have been finished two months ago!"
	"Then give me back my folder and I'll finish! I'm already late 
as it is!"
	"Okay, okay. Here," she hefted it back at me through a 
wormhole.
	"But what's wrong, Zhaodi-chan?" Yuannyan asked, noticing 
the pale look on her sister's face.
	Ranko shook her head and hugged herself, trying to calm 
down from that strange shuddering. "I don't know. Something came 
over me all of a sudden. Don't worry about it."
	"Things are getting worse by the minute," Akane said, "First 
we find out there's a madman trying to destroy everything, then 
an alien threatens our planet, then we lose track of Phaeron-kun 
and the others, and now we discover we're also facing a demon 
named Dysithal." Ranko shuddered yet _again_ at the mention of 
the name.
	Starlet's face lit up like a billboard, "D-Did you say 
Phaeron? As in Phaeron of Fenix?"
	Ranko controlled herself once more, "You know him?"
	Starlet smiled widely, "Do _I_ know him? Why, sister Laris 
and I practically adopted him as our little brother! After all, he 
helped us escape from Magicite after Kefka was first defeated!" 
Starlet could barely contain her excitement. Not only had her 
sister, Seraphim, sent help, but Phaeron was _also_ here. "Where 
is he?" she asked.
	Ranko shook her head, "We don't know. We kinda lost him 
when he and the other Espers left us in the island that's a 
couple of minutes away from here."
	Starlet blinked, "He left you there?"
	"Seems like some dopplegangers tricked them," Akane said, 
"They must have left with them. I hope they're all right."
	"'Them'?" Starled wondered, "Then there _are_ more Espers 
with you?"
	"Sure," Akane said, "There's Crystallus..." Starlet's smile 
reappeared, "Terion..." it became wider, "Andellia..." her eyes lit 
up considerably, as she was also very fond of the Pegasus, "you 
saw Nadir and Mireillia. Oh, and there's also Coldfire--"
	"Cold... fire?" Starlet's aspect turned to a slight scowl, a 
look that really didn't fit the face of a demi-angel. "What's HE 
doing here? Don't you know he was the Esper that originally gave 
Kefka his powers?"
	Ranko dismissed with her hand, "It's okay now, he's on our 
side."
	"Are you certain?"
	Akane and Ranko rolled their eyes. They would have to do a 
little explaining about this...

			*	*	*

	"Zha... Zhaodi-chan..." Yuannyan gasped.
	"Sorry I hadn't told you before, Yuan-chan," Ranko 
apologized, "I wasn't sure of how you'd take it."
	"What did you expect? What would you think if you had just 
heard your twin sister say she was murdered, and that the same 
guy made your best friend kill himself?"
	Ranko sighed. She knew she shouldn't have waited until now 
to tell her sister about the battle and the Caller... Of course, 
there was that little detail she didn't mention, one that had to 
do with a certain four-month deadline...
	"I'm really sorry I hadn't told you, Yuan-chan. But when 
Phaeron-kun came back I just... well... forgot about all that."
	Yuannyan remained frowning for an instant, but finally gave 
in, "Um, sorry for yelling at you, Zhaodi-chan. After all, you 
were the one who had to do all that to bring him back..." a 
mischievous little smile appeared on her face, "Thank's for the 
hint, though. Now I'm sure Herb-chan and I will be married 
someday..."
	As Yuannyan became lost in a reverie the other girls 
continued. "Then that's why he's on our side now?" Starlet asked, 
still not sure.
	Ranko nodded, "The guy is even protecting me now. Why, even 
when Mireillia was after me Coldfire stepped in against her."
	Starlet cocked one eye, "Why would Mireillia be after..." she 
went silent as realization hit. "Oh," she smirked at Ranko, then 
leaned towards the redhead, examining her, "Oh, that's right... So 
_you_ are the one. Wonder why I didn't recognize you sooner, 
after all, with all those pictures in his house..."
	"What are you talking about?" Ranko looked at her, 
confused.
	"Hm?" Starlet leaned back, blinking, "You mean you don't 
know? You _are_ Zhaodi, right? That's how your sister called 
you."
	"That was my name, now I'm Ranma," Akane stared at her, 
"Okay, okay. They call me Ranko now. Why?"
	Starlet cocked her head, thinking. "You really don't know?"
	"Know what?" even Akane was becoming upset.
	Starlet opened her mouth to speak, but quickly decided 
against it. "Phaeron, haven't you told her about it?" she 
thought, "You told me and Laris thousands of times before you 
went back to Earth and she still doesn't know?" She said, "It's 
nothing, don't worry. But then, if you _are_ her, then is it 
possible you're the one who knows how to call Cordis Fortitudo?"
	"What?" Yuannyan woke up at the mention of the name. Her 
eyes opened widely, "Zhaodi-chan, do you remember about her?!" 
she asked excitedly. Ranko nodded nervously, "Sheesh, talk about 
keeping a secret..." she said, noticing how many Espers were 
listening to the conversation despite their injuries.
	"Then we're truly going to win this battle..." Starlet said 
to herself. "Sister Laris, you are certainly wise. You bring not 
only the Light Warriors and Phaeron, but Cordis as well... If only 
Uriel, Etheldred and Bryna were here..."
	Ranko heard that last part. That's right, Serapim had 
introduced her to the other angels while in the Gates, hadn't 
she?
	"Who are those?" Akane asked.
	"Who? Uriel, Etheldred and Bryna?" Starlet smiled, "Why, 
they're simply the other three members of the Five, along with 
Laris and Cordis. They're all Guardians, actually.
	"Uriel is another adoptive brother. His name means 'flames 
of the Lord,' which is very fitting since he wields the sacred 
Ignis Gladius, a sword that contains the burning fire of life. 
Etheldred, whose name means 'noble strength,' is the only angel 
besides Cordis who is primordially a fighter, and she always 
appears along with Bryna, 'the protector.'" Starlet smirked, "With 
so many angels, why worry about Dysithal?" Ranko shuddered 
again.
	"What's wrong with you?" Akane asked, worried, "You do that 
every time somebody says 'Dysithal.'"
	"Stop that!" Ranko said, shuddering.
	Starlet wondered, "Could it have something to do with 
Cordis being an angel, and Dysithal being a demon?"
	"What would Dysithal have to do with Cordis?" Akane asked.
	"Well, if Dysithal is a fallen angel..." Yuannyan said.
	"Will you stop saying that name already?!"

			*	*	*

	It was next morning, although by being in the catacombs it 
was difficult to tell. Although Ifrit hadn't explained anything 
about the "Light Warriors," the word had already spread about 
the human visitors in Eliann. No matter how injured, every 
conscious Esper looked at them with eyes of admiration. If the 
powerful Espers, also known as Mystics, who are able to crush 
entire cities with a mere thought, weren't capable of defending 
from two Elemental Fiends, how could these humans confront 
Kefka, unless they were truly the warriors of lore?
	"We're all set," Akane said, as the party became ready to 
leave.
	"We have faith in you," Starlet said, standing beside Titan 
and Ifrit.
	"Try to hang in there," Ranma said.
	"Don't worry. We'll take care of our brothers and sisters 
while you defeat Kefka."
	Lime and Mint came back to the group, carrying large sacks 
with them, "Master Herb, we've collected the supplies."
	"Supplies?" Ranko peeked into the sacks. They were filled 
with canisters, jars and other recipients, along with sleeping 
bags and tents. There were also wrapped packages of dried meat 
and pickled vegetables.
	"Seems like you've already been to our underground shops," 
Ifrit smiled, "But there's no need to carry them in such 
uncomfortable sacks. Take this instead," he gave Lime a knapsack. 
Confused, he shrugged and started lugging the items into it. 
They were soon amazed at how, regardless of the amount of 
packages Lime stored in it, the knapsack always had room for 
more. Even when he was done stuffing the supplies in it, the 
knapsack still had place left for all their backpacks, even 
Ryouga's. And when Lime hefted it over his shoulders, it was 
incredibly light despite the cargo inside it.
	"You have much to learn from this world," Starlet smiled at 
them, "You can hold anything you want in that pack, and it will 
never get heavier nor run out of room. Even when you find 
weapons and armor, you can hold them in there."
	"We don't need weapons," Ranma smirked, confident, "We need 
only our fists."
	"Sure you do," Ifrit rolled his eyes, seeing how Mousse, 
Mint, Ukyou and Shampoo tried to hide their weapons. "Kary, show 
yourself," he suddenly commanded. Out of the fire that 
surrounded his body, a large flame sprouted and licked the 
ground, solidifying. The party gasped when the flame became a 
strange monster, with the lower body of a snake and the torso 
of a six-armed woman. Her hair was pure fire, and her eyes were 
completely white. And, like Ifrit's, her skin was red.
	"Who's a monster?!" she bonked me with each of her six 
hands.
	"I'd like to introduce you to someone," Ifrit said. The 
snake-woman calmed down and "stood" beside him, "Everyone, meet 
my sister, Kary--"
	"Pleased to meet you," she quickly shook hands with six 
different people at once.
	"...and Kary, these are the Light Warriors--"
	"What?!" she suddenly gasped and reared back, pulling out 
six swords out of Swordspace. She hissed at them, shaking madly 
the rattle in her tail.
	"What's her problem?" Ranko asked.
	"You'll have to forgive my sister," Ifrit said. "She is one 
of the original Elemental Fiends, although she is now on the side 
of Espers."
	"Ah," Mireillia smiled, "I knew I recognized you. You were 
created by Master Chaos, weren't you?"
	"Correct," Kary hissed, still ready to attack.
	"During that time, when my sister was still a Fiend, she 
was vanquished by the first Light Warriors," Ifrit explained, 
"Kary, these are diferent people. They are going to help us 
against Kefka."
	"Are you sure?" Kary inquired. Ifrit nodded, and she 
relaxed, dropping her arms but still holding on to the swords.
	"Will you help us?" Mireillia asked.
	Kary shook her head, "I might have been a Fiend but that 
is in the past now. Besides, my power isn't nearly as great as 
Falia's..." she hissed again at the mention of her nemesis, "Still, 
I can help you indirectly. I possess weapons that not even Kefka 
has access to. And even if you _are_ Light Warriors, you will 
need them." She threw her six swords upwards. Their tips 
converged on a single spot, spreading the swords in a star-like 
formation. Flashing brightly, they spun in place until they opened 
a portal. Several kinds of weapons shot out of the portal, 
landing a few feet away from the humans. Closing the gate, Kary 
retrieved her own swords.
	"I'm not in need for such artifacts," Mireillia said. After 
all, her AtmaWeapon, her pistol and armlets were more than 
enough.
	"Neither am I," said bowman Nadir, "However..." he took off 
his quiver and placed some specialized arrows inside it.
	Ukyou's trusty spatula was enough for her, but at the 
sight of the glistening "spring-autumn" halberd (a Chinese weapon 
which has a curved blade on either end, one like a crescent, the 
other like a reverse axe-blade, without the steel spike that 
European halberds have,) she decided to take both weapons. 
Shampoo, on the other hand, readily took an Amazon sword and 
fastened the sheath on her waist. Mousse simply added a few 
items to his already-vast arsenal. Mint traded his curved sword 
for a more powerful scimitar. Lime disdained the weapons, but 
suddenly a metal glove with inch-long steel nails caught his 
attention. Ryouga took only a pair of razor-edged throwing disks 
and a steel boomerang, already accustomed to the way his 
bandannas worked. Yuannyan took a cleric's mace, about two feet 
long and with an elegant silver head. Herb immediately retrieved 
a long naginata (a spear-like weapon like a curved blade on a six 
feet-long shaft.) Akane remained hesitant for a moment, but then 
took something she was used to: a big mallet, or better yet, a 
stone hammer named Mjollnir.
	"Where... where did you get THAT?!" Nadir stared at Kary, 
dumbfounded.
	She shrugged, "Sometimes it helps to be friend of Odin..."
	"Odin..." Starlet became visibly depressed at his mention, 
she had to hold back her tears.
	"Hmm," Ranko wasn't very sure about taking a weapon, but 
then again the katana of the Saotome family was strapped on her 
back. Smirking, she took a long staff, recalling not only how it 
was Phaeron's favorite weapon but also how skilled she had 
become at it during those three years.
	Ranma, on the other hand, was annoyed at having to choose 
a weapon. Really, he was good enough with his fists and feet, 
why did he have to take one? And he--
	He was cut off by a man-sized blur that suddenly passed in 
front of him and took several of the sharpest swords with it, 
leaving only a note.
	"What the..." Ranma took it and started reading "Thanks for 
the swords. Best regards, Siegfried."
	"Come back with my weapons, you... you thief!" Kary roared.
	"Guess I'll take this," Ranma took a familiar weapon, a 
katana. For some reason, there was a dragon's image engraved on 
the hilt, along with the shape of a whirlwind, but he ignored it.
	"Bwaaah!" one of the swords thought. "Is it possible that 
nobody wants me, Excalibur? Bwaaah!"
	"On second thought..." Mireillia said, then grasped Excalibur.
	"Yes! Yes!" it thought.
	"Terion will probably want a weapon when we find him." She 
stored Excalibur in the knapsack. It cried again at not being 
chosen.
	"Good choices, all of you," Kary said. "Let's see. You've 
taken Mjollnir, Indra's Staff, Excalibur, and the Kamaitachi, also 
called Tempest Sword."
	"Kamaitachi?" Ranma looked at his katana. True, he felt 
wondrous Wind magic emmanating from it. Maybe choosing a weapon 
wasn't that bad after all.
	"Thanks for everything," Akane said, as they were already 
heading for the Mole Duct capsule. A slight eartquake was felt, 
but they didn't mind it.
	"Just be careful," Starlet said.
	"Just one more thing," Kary said. "Mireillia, do you 
remember the other Fiends that Master Chaos created? Well, the 
Lich and Kraken may have been destroyed, but Tiamat is very 
much alive." There was another mild tremor.
	"Tiamat?" Mireillia smiled, "Where is she?"
	Kary shook her head, "I'm afraid she is on Kefka's side. And 
worse yet, he has made her ten times stronger than even Eoris 
and Falia combined. Be very careful when you face her." Mireillia 
nodded.
	Once more, the party had to depart. Waving, one by one 
they vanished in the capsule. Soon, the catacombs had been 
utterly vacated of humans. Sighing, Starlet began to head back 
to her patients when a terrifying sound came. It was the 
laughter of Geriot, coming from the surface.
	"By the Goddesses," Ifrit gasped. Powerless to do anything, 
Kary vanished. Titan turned to the fire sprite. "Friends in 
trouble!" he said.
	"Right. Guess we'll have to call our backup forces..."

	"So --ugh!-- you're the one!" Ranma said, blocking another 
blow from the living skeleton warrior.
	"Indeed, it is I," the column of rock said. "I believe you 
have already met my siblings, Eoris and Sharian."
	"That's right!" Ranko vaulted a skeleton towards Ranma's 
opponent with her staff, "You are nothing but pushovers if you 
ask me!"
	"Pushovers?" Geriot smirked. "Then I shall teach you how 
wrong you really are! Terrato, become such teacher, for this will 
be their final lesson!"
	"Terrato?!" Nadir and Mireillia were shocked.
	The party barely had time to avoid the column of rock as 
it collapsed upon them, too bad the skeleton warriors weren't so 
lucky. When the dust settled, the hole left on the ground by the 
column started glowing. A loud hiss, followed by the distinctive 
slithering of a snake, was heard. Nadir and Mireillia gulped, and 
involuntarily held hands. Terrato had arrived.
	"Wait!" came a voice. Suddenly every single Mole Duct in the 
town came to life.
	"Kary, no matter the outcome..." Ifrit said, "Take care of 
them."
	"Titan help friends!" the goliath said, trying to squeeze out 
of the pod.
	"Bwee, bwee. Ernk!" a large, dark-green boar with blood-red 
eyes commented.
	"My wings are the wind... Let the fight commence!" a young 
man, with large white wings and wearing a silver armor, leapt out 
of the capsule.
	"This shalt be interesting indeed..." the voice came from the 
hole. Diverting their attention away from the Espers and back to 
the threat, the humans took battle postures. "For eons, the 
earth imprisoned me... For eons I waited, and now freedom cometh! 
For I am the Serpent, and all shalt perish under my fangs!"
	With a tremor, the ground opened even more. A tendril of 
gas floated out of the hole, resting on the ground. Solidifying, 
the gas became a gigantic, bronze-scaled snake. It was at least 
as large as Herb's dragon shape, but even the skies darkened 
with its appearance. Lightning came from above, crashing beside 
the wake of the serpent as it moved onward. Every single Esper 
looked at it in terror.
	"It's... It's Terrato..." Nadir gasped.
	The snake opened its mouth, revealing fangs as large as 
broadswords. "Who might thou be, to reveal the name of Midgard's 
Serpent with such incivility? Let the answer come quickly, for I 
possess null patience with pests such as Mystics."
	Ranma was fed up with these arrogant monsters, "Get out 
of our way and you won't get hurt!"
	Terrato ignored him completely, simply slamming his massive 
tail against him and knocking him out.
	"Oniisan!" Ranko yelled. Terrato just pinned his prone body 
with its tail.
	"Thine time hast run out," Terrato bellowed, "Thou art 
indeed lucky to command the attention of Midgard's Serpent, yet 
thou art foolish enough to try and do so in the first place! 
Now, thine folly shalt be thine death!"
	With the speed of lightning Terrato's head darted for Nadir, 
who managed to dodge thanks to his premonition powers. The 
fangs bit deep into the ground, and when Terrato pulled back, 
one could see the large puddles of bubbling venom left by the 
bite. All at once, the humans used the distraction to attack the 
serpent.
	"Wah!" Nadir looked at them, horrified, "Don't attack him! 
This is the creature that killed the Adder!"
	"What?" Ranko turned to him, but was immediately slammed 
into unconsciousness by Terrato's tail.
	"You monster...!" Ryouga bellowed, "How dare you hurt her!" 
he pulled several bandannas and flung them at Terrato's head. He 
only succeeded in annoying him, as the weapons bounced off 
harmlessly.
	"What the..." Mousse also noticed how all his throwing 
weapons were being deflected. Experimenting, he took out a sword 
and slashed towards the giant snake. It shattered like glass 
when it struck Terrato's metallic scales.
	"Wait!" Mousse called, "Don't attack him with weapons or 
else they'll break!"
	"Shampoo no think so!" the Amazon thrust her bonbori into 
Terrato, acknowledging the hit when the snake hissed in pain. But 
when she tried to slam it again, using the weapon like a hammer, 
the handle broke off and the round mace bounced back at her, 
squarely hitting her upside the head. "Oooo, Shampoo dizzy..." she 
wobbled around, fortunately avoiding Terrato's attacks.
	"You don't hurt friends!" Titan rushed towards Terrato. His 
large size let him hold the snake in a choke hold, but it was 
still like a dwarf versus a python. Terrato just pulled up and 
slammed Titan several times on the ground, forcing him to let go. 
Seeing him worn out, Terrato darted for his back, fangs 
glimmering.
	"Yeah, right!" the winged young man challenged, deflecting 
the attack with his shield and countering with a slash from his 
sword. Terrato hissed and reared back, then spat out a large 
gush of venom at him. He blocked with his shield once more and 
leapt up, using his wings to fly straight at Terrato's face. While 
the two engaged in close combat, one biting and hissing and the 
other parrying and slashing, the people below reorganized for 
another attack.
	"Whoa... Anyone get the license of that truck?" Ranma 
unsteadily stood up.
	"Shampoo, are you alright?" Mousse asked to Lime.
	"Zhaodi-chan! Zhaodi-chan, wake up!" Yuannyan cried, while 
she and Akane tried to use their healing spells on her. The 
impact had probably shattered her ribcage, it would still take a 
little while for her to heal.
	"Nobody hurts either Ranchan..." Ukyou hissed, then darted 
her small spatulas towards Terrato. Most of them were deflected, 
but a single one became embedded deep between the metal scales. 
Terrato bellowed in pain.
	"That's it!" Ryouga said, throwing both of his disks. Like 
buzz-saws, they cut into Terrato's flesh and returned to Ryouga, 
who caught them with little effort.
	Terrato turned to them, "Who dares--"
	"We do!" Ranma thrust the Tempest between the scales. A 
gush of blood splurted out of the wound. Akane could barely push 
Ranma out of the way as Terrato bit the ground he was standing 
on.
	"Now I see..." Ifrit concentrated, surrounding himself with a 
perfect sphere of fire. "Inferno revised! Flaming Darts of Jinn!" 
he stretched his arms outwards and a flurry of fiery missiles 
was shot out, each of them hitting Terrato's scales and melting 
them on touch. A very vulnerable opening was made beneath the 
snake's throat.
	"I got you!" the winged knight shouted, diving straight at 
the opening with his sword ready. Terrato just hissed and 
bellowed, "Earth Aura!" A large tremor shook everyone off their 
feet, but then a ring of energy columns sprouted from the 
ground and encased Terrato, protecting him from any attack. The 
knight bounced off harmlessly.
	"Uh..." Ranko shook her head, trying to clear it, "Anyone get 
the license of that truck?" Yuannyan smiled, her sister was still 
very much like Ranma.
	"We'll have to rely on magic for this..." Mireillia said to 
Nadir. "But can't you hit that weak spot with your arrows?"
	"'Fraid not. That barrier is too strong, even for Apollo's 
bow. We have to get rid of it so I can get a clear shot at him."
	"If that's all..."  Mireillia brought her hands upwards, 
"Shadow magic attack! Vacuum--"
	She couldn't finish, Terrato's tail passed through the 
shield and hit her in the gut. Nadir tried to defend her from a 
second blow, but when he shielded her with his own body he was 
sent flying as well.
	"Mireillia!" Ranko called, "Why you...!" she thrust her staff 
repeatedly at the vulnerable tail, using her Lightning magic to 
enhance her speed even further. Annoyed, Terrato darted its 
head at her, but she simply jumped out of the way. Even before 
she landed, she was batted away by the large tail, straight into 
the hole in the ground. Panicking for a moment, she thrust the 
staff into the side of the pit, hanging from it... about thirty 
feet below the edge of the opening.
	 "Hey... Can somebody give me a hand here?" Ranko called. 
"Anyone...?"
	"That does it!" Ranma said, concentrating on his magic, "Time 
to see how this thing earned its name!" he filled the Tempest 
with Wind magic and, in a quick motion, slashed to his left, to 
his right, and finally an overhand chop, "Wind Shears!" he yelled. 
Following his three cuts, the trio of razor-sharp arcs of vacuum 
sped towards Terrato, severing the tip of his tail.
	"Thou art an imbecile!" Terrato bellowed, "Thou hast signed 
not only thy death sentence, but thine friends' as well!" 
Shouting, the serpent glowed brightly, sending out a shocking 
aura of electricity around itself.
	"What in the world?!" Akane stared at Mjollnir, which seemed 
to feed from the lightning.
	"That will be useless!" Herb challenged, "Lightning magic! 
Dragon Spirit Extreme!" He leapt up and became pure electrical 
energy, a lightning bolt shaped like a white-blue dragon. He shot 
towards Terrato, the aura completely ineffective against him, 
and delivered the two rebounding shots at the floor. Terrato 
wobbled backwards as they both struck his chin, electricity 
coursing through his scaly face.
	"Way to go, Herb-chan!" Yuannyan congratulated, once her 
fianc� became human again.
	"Fool!" Terrato saw her completely open. He lunged to 
attack, but was punched away by two human fists and a massive 
one. Ryouga, Lime and Titan reared back for another blow.
	Terrato only smirked, "That was not intended to hurt my 
person, was it? I only felt the light sting of an insect at thy 
touch. Still, it is but a folly to face Midgard's Serpent."
	"More like a worm to me!" Ryouga yelled, pressing one of 
the scales with a finger, "Bakusai Tenketsu!"
	"Agh!" Terrato bellowed as his scale exploded. "Thou art 
dead!" he swung his tail at the trio. Despite their natural 
strength and relics, Ryouga and Lime were sent flying, but Titan 
caught the attack and pulled Terrato away from the humans.
	"Titan won't let you hurt friends!" he said, trying to pull 
the snake upwards.
	"What art thou doing?" Terrato calmly slammed him on the 
ground. Facing forward again, he looked at the humans. "This 
shalt not take long."
	"Are you sure about that?" Ranma, Mint and Shampoo lunged 
with their swords. Terrato just slammed his tail on the ground 
and shook them off their feet. He didn't waste more time, he 
lunged for them once more.
	"Ernk Ernk, Oink Bwee!" the Shoat called its special attack. 
The green boar rushed towards Terrato and crashed into his 
side, completely diverting his attack. The snake tried to bite him 
next, but his face was smacked by Ryouga's Shishihokodan.
	"I have an idea," still hanging in the pit, Ranko thought. 
She had seen Herb's Dragon Spirit Extreme from below, which 
inspired a new technique. "Okay, this staff is full of Lightning 
power, so all I have to do is turn myself into a bolt, like Herb, 
and fly out of here." She closed her eyes and concentrated her 
Lightning on the staff. But something unexpected happened. 
Indra's Staff started sparkling with electricity, a loud humming, 
like a voice, came from it.
	"Yow!" Ranko cried out as the staff became a small bolt of 
lightning and shot out of the wall, with her hands still clutching 
it. But she wasn't even hurt by the lightning, instead she 
managed to control its flight path and aim it straight upwards. 
Once she came out of the pit, she looked down and saw Ryouga 
blasting Terrato's face with a ki shot. "All right, my turn," she 
said to herself, and commanded the bolt to fly towards the 
Serpent. "Raiden's Steed Shooting-star Kick!" she shouted, 
slamming her feet into the back of Terrato's head. The snake's 
eyes bulged out at the impact, but even before she landed his 
gaping jaws surrounded her.
	"Not on your life!" the winged knight said, using Ranko's 
staff to keep the jaws from closing. She blinked at him several 
times, where the heck had he come from?
	"Hang on!" he said, taking her in his arms and taking the 
staff with one hand, blasting Terrato's mouth with the other. He 
hefted her over his shoulders and headed straight for a wall, 
bouncing feet-first from it. "Comet Flare!" he yelled, slamming 
into Terrato's body while using a rapid-fire punch technique at 
the same time. Seeing the snake wobbling, the bird-man said, 
"Hold on tight. This'll be rough," and then spread his six limbs 
outwards, "Wings of the Paladin!" A large silver hurricane spread 
from his body, crashing into the ground below and ripping the 
clouds above, trapping the serpent in its powerful currents.
	"No way..." Ranko gasped. That was the exact same 
combination Phaeron had used when she had been almost eaten by 
the Tritoch, right from the Comet Flare, to the Random Fist, to 
the White Tornado! Who _was_ this guy?!
	"Who are you?!" she finally asked once he had set her down 
with the rest of the humans, while Ifrit and Shoat took 
advantage of Terrato's lack of orientation.
	The bird-man smirked, "Well, nice meeting you too, Zhaodi." 
Everyone stared at him in surprise.
	"You... you know my name?"
	He brushed his hair, "Do you think that, after five hundred 
years of my brother's long speeches about you and your sister, 
I wouldn't recognize you?"
	"Brother..." Akane thought, "Are you...?!"
	"Syrtis Palidor, Paladin of the Silver Swan, at your 
service," he bowed, draping his cape on one arm.
	"Phaeron's brother, Palidor?" 
	"Indeed. But please, call me Syrtis," he said, standing 
straight. Turning back towards the battle, he unsheathed his 
sword, Rainfeather. "Maybe we should get back there. They need 
our help." Without a second thought, he rushed into the fray.
	"They're very much alike," Akane said.
	"He's like Phaeron-kun used to be before dying," Ranko 
added.
	"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ranma followed 
Syrtis.
	"Earth Aura!"
	Everyone was blown away as Terrato once more called his 
defensive shield. Seeing them vulnerable, he opened his mouth and 
sent out a bolt of lightning. Defending with his shield, Syrtis 
pushed back against the pressure of the blast. Unfortunately, he 
had to use both hands to hold the shield. He was wide open as 
Terrato's tail slithered towards him and knocked him off his 
feet. The bolt nearly struck him, but suddenly another warrior, a 
large, heavyset man wearing dark gray armor and a purple cape, 
protected the young Esper with his own magic sword.
	"You..." Syrtis gasped. The man rudely pushed him out of the 
bolt's way and left, disappearing in the cloud of dust. "Wait, 
Siegfried!"
	"Worry about him later!" Nadir, now recovered, morphed into 
the Kirin and stomped his way along Terrato's back, finally 
crashing his front hooves into the snake's skull. Dizzy, Terrato 
could not see Mireillia charging her palms with energy.
	"Disrupt Crossbow!" she yelled, aiming for the opening in 
the monster's throat. The living flesh absorbed the shaft, 
rippling as it did so. Terrato spat out blood, slamming his body 
on the ground at the same time. Losing their balance, the rest 
of the fighters clattered to the ground. Mint and Ukyou were the 
closest to the snake at the time, their weapons were bathed 
completely in the blood.
	"Thou... FOOLS!" Terrato shook his head, sending Nadir on a 
flying trajectory into a wall. "Now, thou hast aroused mine 
anger! None shalt live past this day!" Hissing loudly, the serpent 
reared his head upwards. A wide hood spread from behind his 
head, identical to a cobra. And like such, it possessed a strange 
pattern on its back, like a set of glasses.
	"Bweeee!!!" Shoat bweed in shock.
	"Don't look at him!" Mireillia said, "Do not look at the 
pattern on the hood!"
	"What little good wilt that do?" Terrato hissed, and the 
inside of his hood began glowing. Suddenly, every human that 
lacked flying abilities was pulled off the ground. Terrato used 
his mental power to crush the humans against the ground, 
smirking in delight at their cries of pain.
	"You bastard!" having remained protected by both the Cherub 
Down and the Wall Ring, Ranko resisted the attack and leapt up 
at Terrato, immediately summoning her white aura.
	"Stupid little girl," Terrato said, and turned away from her.
	"Ah..." she couldn't help looking straight into the eyes of 
the hood. She landed on her feet, having lost all her will. Her 
eyes were completely empty, she only stood there like a 
frightened deer in front of a car's headlights. With all the time 
in the world, Terrato slowly opened his jaws and came down on 
top of her. What a delicious snack this would be.
	"Stop!" Ukyou plunged the crescent blade of her halberd 
deep into Terrato's flesh. He reared back immediately, but not 
without cutting a wound in Ranko's back with his poisoned fang. 
As Ukyou twisted the weapon in the injury, the serpent stared 
straight into her eyes. Ukyou, like Ranko, became frozen.
	"Trust in me... trust in me..." Terrato said (sorry, couldn't 
resist this Jungle Book joke.) Ukyou's eyes turned bright green, 
she pulled out her halberd from Terrato's flesh.
	"Ucchan!" Ranma rushed towards her.
	"Die!" she thrust her halberd straight at him. Although he 
wasn't even stratched, the weapon still cut through his clothes.
	"The blood of the Serpent is as deadly as its venom," 
Terrato said, "These weapons have been bathed in it. Thou used 
them against me, now see what thy folly hast brought!"
	"Ucchan, snap out of it!" Ranma said, avoiding the repeated 
thrusts. She was completely under Terrato's control.
	"Ranko! Ranko, wake up!" Akane called desperately, but the 
redhead was still standing, staring into space, as blood poured 
from her wound and the venom possessed her body. Yuannyan 
finally reached them, covering her mouth in shock at the sight 
of the gaping wound in her twin's back.
	"You beast hurt Ranko!" Ryouga opened his umbrella and 
tossed it at Terrato. While the snake simply whipped its tongue 
at it, Ryouga sent out a flurry of bandannas at his eyes. 
Blinded for a moment, Terrato slammed his tail back and forth, 
hitting the ground next to Ranko. She idly fell on her stomach, 
without even trying to stop her own fall.
	"Zhaodi-chan..." Yuannyan closed her eyes and clutched her 
cleric mace tightly. Its head began to glow brightly, almost like 
Andellia's bacculus. But it was no use. The mace was powerful, 
but it wouldn't break Terrato's spell. However, the mace still 
managed to heal her wound, even if the venom had nearly 
replaced most of her blood.
	"You're DEAD!" Ryouga bellowed, vainly stabbing Terrato with 
his umbrella.
	"Zhaodi..." Syrtis looked at her, then at Terrato, "If 
Phaeron finds out about this he'll go mad." He turned into his 
Esper shape, spreading out his wings, "You're Ryouga, right? How 
about helping me defeat this bastard?"
	Ryouga didn't need a second call, he was already riding 
Palidor. As the giant stork sped towards Terrato's face, Ryouga 
pulled out his throwing disks and clutched them tightly. "You got 
any magic?" he asked.
	"Silver and Wind magic, yes, if that's what you mean," 
Palidor replied.
	"On my signal, put up a shield around me and charge these 
disks with your magic. Drop me right over that monster's head, 
got it?"
	"Okay, go!" Palidor suddenly shot straight like an arrow.
	"Now!" Ryouga leapt off Palidor's back and crossed his arms 
in front of him, still holding a disk in each hand, "Silver-Earth 
combination magic!" he yelled, "Full Moon Blinding Bomb!" he 
finished.
	Terrato looked up to meet the attack. It was too late, 
though. The defensive magic of Silver, combined with Ryouga's 
strong Earth magic, turned him into a large round disk that fell 
exactly on top of Terrato's nose. With a speed greater than 
most Espers', Ryouga lunged forward with his disks and cleaved 
both of Terrato's eyes.
	"Aaagh!" the serpent cried, while Ryouga leapt back up unto 
Palidor. "Thou wilt pay with thine very souls for this outrage!" 
he used his false eyes on his hood to look towards Palidor.
	"I think not!" Mousse ensnared Terrato's neck with a chain, 
flinging the other end at Lime. The tiger-boy pulled with all his 
might, cracking a few of Terrato's vertebrae and pinning him to 
the ground. In a flash, Shoat was already facing the false eyes.
	"Bweerk erwk!" he called, which in piggish tongue means 
"Demon Eye!" His eyes turned deep red, each emitting a quartet 
of round blasts that met Terrato's "other" eyes. With another 
cry, the snake could only feel its hood crumble to stone.
	"The final blow!" Herb descended from above, wielding his 
naginata and aiming straight for the opening in Terrato's scales.
	"No!" the serpent whipped him away with his tail.
	"Please, hold on..." Akane held on to Ranko's hand, but the 
smaller girl's skin was now beyond pale and began turning green 
from the venom. Yuannyan was valiantly trying to revive her 
sister, but she wasn't skilled enough to counter a demon's magic.
	"That... that monster," Akane said, choking back a sob, "Don't 
you dare die on us again, you... What about Phaeron? What about 
your friends? Don't leave us..." she couldn't look at her anymore. 
She turned away, her eyes meeting the prone bronze monster. "If 
that thing killed you..." she found her hand reaching for Mjollnir, 
which was still charged from the electricity from before. "If that 
THING dared hurt my best friend in the entire world..." her voice 
was now much more frightening, even Yuannyan turned to her. 
"That monster is MINE!" she roared, gripping Mjollnir tightly and 
dashing straight at Terrato. Everyone stared at her in shock, 
even Ukyou and Ranma ceased fighting. "You BEAST!" she bellowed, 
slamming Mjollnir with all her power into Terrato's gut, oblivious 
to the sound of splitting bones beneath. "You hurt my best 
friend!" Another blow made Terrato cough out blood, "I'm gonna 
kill you!" she brought Mjollnir over her head, but didn't strike. 
Instead, she combined all her magic into this, the final attack. A 
large black circle surrounded the hammer: Shadow magic. A large 
glimmer, very much like a star, appeared on Akane's forehead: 
Silver. The ground around her burst open, and a ring of flames 
sprouted from it: Earth and Fire. A bright white aura enveloped 
her body: Light magic. Despite being blinded and terribly injured, 
Terrato still sensed the power. And he was afraid.
	"Stop... cough... Stop it, oneechan... cough!"
	Akane's magic dissipated completely except for the Light 
magic. In fact, this aura became even brighter when she turned 
around, feeling a hand on her shoulder. She dropped Mjollnir, 
which opened a deep crater in the ground as it fell on the 
ground.
	"Ranko-chan!" Akane hugged the redhead tightly, "Little 
sister! You're alright!"
	"Ugh... I'm... not.. so... sure..." Ranko's eyes were beginning to 
bulge out. "Ouch!" she grimaced when Akane touched the still-raw 
wound on her back.
	"Sorry," Akane said, loosening her grip. Looking beyond 
Ranko, she saw a very exhausted Yuannyan holding on to 
Starlet's shoulder. "What...?"
	"I heard somebody's anguish deep in my soul," Seraphim's 
sister said. "I came to help as soon as I could." She smiled 
warmly at Akane.
	"Thanks, Starlet," Ranma said, "without Phaeron here, we 
needed somebody with that kind of healing power."
	"Oneechan, calm down..." Ranko barely found the strength to 
speak.
	"You stupid baka," Akane kneeled, setting her down, while 
Starlet handed her a blanket, "I thought you were leaving us for 
good."
	"What, and miss your weddi-- er, I mean, and miss all the 
fun?" Ranko said, "You can be sure I won't clock out in this 
world."
	"Promise?" Akane said.
	Ranko rolled her eyes, "Promise." She closed her eyes for a 
moment, trying to rest, "But..." she said, nearly whispering. Akane 
leaned closer to hear, "I guess you know how I felt when I 
thought you had died...."
	"Shut... shut up, you baka," Akane gently smacked her head.
	"Um, aren't you forgetting something?" Ifrit said, pointing 
at the struggling snake on the ground.
	"My time has arrived," Terrato wheezed, "Lord Dysithal..." 
Ranko shuddered, "...bring my revenge upon them!"
	A large red bolt crashed from above. Terrified, Shoat 
escaped inside a Mole Duct. Palidor turned back to humanoid 
shape. Without a second thought, Yuannyan hoisted her sister in 
a piggyback, ready to get her to someplace safe if needed. Akane 
retrieved her Mjollnir, still filled with Light magic. Upon 
Terrato's near demise, Ukyou broke out of the spell and stared 
at Ranma, blinking in confusion.
	"We better finish this before it's too late," Ifrit said, 
calling a sword of pure fire which appeared in his hand. He was 
too slow, unfortunately. A second red lightning hit Terrato's 
body, endowing it with a devil's spirit.
	"Agh!" Ranko cried out, as if she were being hurt by an 
invisible force. Starlet reacted in a similar manner.
	"Is it... Dysithal?" Akane wondered.
	"So, you beat Terrato, eh?" Ranko and Starlet were hurt 
even further by the voice. Yuannyan began to share in her 
sister's pain, she was also vulnerable to the demon's presence.
	Before Ranma could ask, "Who are you?" a flash of darkness 
(yep, that's right.  A flash of darkness,) spread from Terrato's 
body. Lime lost his grip on the chain as the snake slithered back 
to life, fully recovered, and endowed with Dysithal's power. His 
eyes burned as all of Terrato was raw hatred.
	"Uh-oh," Yuannyan said.
	"My God..." Starlet gasped. How would they face Terrato 
now?
	"Spawn of hell!" Syrtis challenged, "We will not be 
intimidated by you!" he thrust up his sword, "Rainfeather! Show 
him what I mean!"
	Glistening, Rainfeather sent out a thin beam of light 
upwards. Like a hailstorm, a shower of razor-sharp feathers 
dropped from the sky and towards the possessed Terrato, who 
just batted them all away with his tail. Unimpressed, the humans 
used the diversion to attack, but they were knocked away as 
well. Even Mireillia's Piercing Arrows and Nadir's White Darts 
were deflected by the reinfoced scales on Terrato's body. 
	"Now, for the time of retribution..." Terrato hissed. 
"Encase!" he shouted. 
	"No!" Nadir protected Mireillia with a thick aura shield. 
Confused, she had to repay in kind.
	"White Mountain... ugh..." Ranko was still too weak to summon 
her shield. Ryouga, on the other hand, created a barrier of rock 
around the humans.
	"Yaah!" they heard Syrtis' cry of pain. Slowly, strange 
emerald shards began to hover around him, waiting for his body 
to disappear before encasing his soul in Magicite.
	"No!" Titan punched Terrato for all he was worth. The snake 
tumbled to the ground, not without a broken jaw. Losing his 
concentration, he couldn't turn Syrtis nor the others to 
Magicite.
	"Friends get away!" Titan shouted, crushing Terrato in a 
bear hug, "Titan deal with monster!"
	"We won't leave you!" Nadir shouted.
	"Then thou art as foolish as this knave!" Terrato was 
breaking loose.
	"Please go!" Titan called.
	Hesitant for a moment, they unwillingly had to agree. Herb 
quickly turned into a dragon, letting everyone ride on his back. 
Nadir and Mireillia morphed to Esper shape and leapt up, 
galloping through the air.
	"We'll send help!" Akane shouted.
	"Hang in there!" Ranma continued.
	"Fools..." Terrato's eyes started glowing.
	Just as the party reached the outer wall, they turned back 
to see Eliann be destroyed by a gigantic red blast that came 
from the sky. Gasping, they thought back to Starlet, Syrtis, 
Titan, Ifrit, Kary... all those Espers they had met. But their 
thoughts were cut short as a demonic face, much more 
frightening than Eoris', appeared out of thin air between them 
and Eliann.
	"Aaah!" Ranko winced in pain before Dysithal's presence.
	"Herb, if you've got hyperdrive, use it!" Nadir said as the 
two Espers and a dragon shot away from the town, as quickly as 
they could, towards the East.

	The skies cleared up, the dark clouds disappeared. A soft 
rain fell upon the battered remains of Eliann, as Starlet fell to 
her knees in exhaustion. Ifrit looked around in marvel, as so did 
Titan. Syrtis just sighed, feeling very tired.
	"We did it," he turned to Starlet.
	"Where did you learn to make magic barriers like that?!" 
Ifrit asked them. Syrtis just patted Rainfeather in appreciation.
	"Titan's girlfriend is very strong!" Titan assumed a victory 
pose.
	"But not enough to oppose me," Terrato still came to 
attack. None of the Espers saw him coming except for one. As he 
lunged towards Starlet, fangs dripping venom, all that Titan 
could do was shield her with his own body.
	"Titan!"
	"Uh..." he groaned as Terrato retrieved his fangs from his 
chest. He looked down at himself, idly staring at the greenish 
blots of venom slowly penetrating his body. Losing his balance, 
Titan fell on his back.
	"Titan! Titan!" Starlet cried, kneeling beside him. Ifrit and 
Syrtis were seething with fury at Terrato.
	"Titan's girlfriend... is pretty..." the goliath said, as his 
eyes settled on Starlet for the last time.
	"Don't leave me!" she cried again, cursing herself for being 
an Esper and not an angel like her sister. If only she could use 
her magic on Titan...!
	"Starlet don't cry... Starlet strong..."
	"You fool! You didn't have to do that!"
	"Starlet... strong..." Titan exhaled.
	"Noo!" she fell on his chest, releasing all her grief. Syrtis 
was about to launch himself at Terrato, regardless of the 
result. Ifrit was already a real ball of fire.
	"Such revolting emotions," Terrato said. Starlet scolwed at 
him with a tear-streaked face of anger, but then closed her 
eyes and joined her hands, as if praying. A faint white glow 
surrounded her tranquil form.  "This display makes me ill..." 
Terrato failed to notice the clouds above him started to part, 
allowing a broad beam of white light to descend beside him.  "Now 
I shalt dispose of thee..." Terrato hissed, and slowly slithered 
towards them, "Thou hast been a nuisance since thy birth, 'little 
star.' Now it is time to join thy friend in eternal damnati-- ak!" 
Terrato was suddenly hit HARD in the throat by an invisible 
punch. Less than a second afterwards he was doubling over in 
pain as an invisible kick, with the power of a comet behind it, 
slammed into his gut. "Who dares..."
	"_I_ dare!" a strong female voice came from the beam of 
light. "For I am the wielder of Noble Strength, and you, creature 
of evil, must be banished from this plane!"
	"'Noble Strength'...?" Starlet repeated, her eyes widening in 
surprise. When the light from the beam receded, she could see a 
tall, beautiful black woman, dressed in what resembled an Amazon 
garb with gold gauntlets. Her long hair was pulled up in a 
ponytail, which fell on her left shoulder and down her chest. The 
most amazing parts of her physique, though, were the large white 
wings that flapped softly on her back, and the bright halo 
around her head.
	"Etheldred!" Starlet called.
	"Yes, it's me," the angel Etheldred said, "I'm sorry for the 
delay."
	"An angel, eh?" Terrato scowled at her. "Thou art but a 
pest. Thine kin is not allowed to harm a living creature!"As if to 
prove his point, Terrato bit Etheldred's arm, injecting every 
drop of venom he had left.
	"True," Etheldred said, shrugging off the bite as though she 
were bitten by a mosquito, "But then again, you were spawned in 
the Lower Realms, and that makes you an enemy of Life! Prepare 
yourself!" She darted straight at Terrato.
	"Lord Dysithaaaaal!" 
	As Terrato's pleas fell on deaf ears, one of the Five 
Guardians rid Esper World of one of its greatest threats.

			*	*	*

	"Yaah! Unh!"
	"Zhaodi-chan, what's wrong with you?!" Yuannyan was becoming 
desperate.
	"Hurry, Herb!" Akane called, "Ranko-chan is being hurt by 
that demon!"
	"I'm going as fast as I can!" he replied. But still, Dysithal's 
essence was gaining up on them. Already they had left Eliann way 
behind, but this blasted demon would not give up! And with Ranko 
getting worse with each inch that he came closer, they were all 
becoming very worried.
	"Why, am I hurting your little friend?" Dysithal mocked. 
Ranko curled up into a ball, trying vainly to endure the pain his 
voice brought. "C-Cordis..." she got out, "Please..." A gold glimmer 
came down from the sky.
	"Your time is up, little humans!" Dysithal said. "I am a 
Demon of the Black Ring, not even your little friend's Guardian 
can stand up to me! And I have waited to capture her soul ever 
since she was born to this world!"
	"What?!" Akane and Ranma gasped, Yuannyan's reaction was 
beyond description.
	"Fading Shadows, come to me! Take the life of our mutual 
enemy!" Dysithal summoned. Ranko progressively began to lose 
consciousness, a frightful cold enveloping not her body, but her 
spirit.
	"Halt!"
	Dysithal stopped in midair, "Who the f--"
	"Mind you language before ladies!" a female voice said. 
Ranko suddenly felt life coming back to her, not even Dysithal's 
presence harmed her anymore. She looked around, seeing even 
Mireillia frozen in awe. They were all looking back to where 
Dysithal was, but now a strong golden glow came from that 
direction. Struggling to her knees, Ranko followed the others' 
example and looked back. Her eyes opened widely and a broad 
smile appeared on her face as she saw...
	"Bryna!"
	She was a female angel, with the traditional white wings 
and golden halo. She had glistening black hair, which flowed 
freely down to her waist. Like Seraphim, she wore a pure white 
gown, tied with a red belt above the waist. The strange part was 
that she was holding a broad golden shield on her left arm.
	"Sister Ranko, are you alright?" Bryna asked.
	"I guess so," she said. "Just a little shaken."
	Bryna turned her full attention back at the demon, "Brother 
Dysithal, cease this behavior at once. Can't you see you're 
hurting her?"
	Dysithal laughed, "Why, even after all I've done, and you 
still call me brother. Wonder how Cordis would call me. Anyway, 
no and yes. I won't stop and I do see that I'm hurting her. Why 
else do you think I'm doing this, stupid broad?"
	Bryna sighed, "I will not let you hurt my human brothers 
and sisters, nor sister Mireillia and brother Nadir. And don't you 
even dare hurt brother Lael and brother Raphael again."
	"That's not an option, but rather an obligation, 'sister.'" 
Dysithal scowled at her. "Stand out of my way if you don't want 
to perish."
	"My life is but a tool for a greater cause, brother."
	Dysithal pondered for a minute about the ramifications of 
killing an angel, but heck, he was going to murder Cordis anyway, 
_and_ her host. Bryna was just a worthless pain in the neck. "All 
right, 'protector.' I'll let them go..." his face vanished for a 
moment, "But li'l Geriot won't!" he cackled loudly, breathing into 
the ground. Although the greater evil disappeared, leaving a 
lesser fiend in its place, Geriot was still one of the Elemental 
Fiends.
	"Why, brother Dysithal, did you turn against us?" Bryna 
said to no one in particular.
	"Yow!" the party stared at the ground, half a mile below. 
Three crevices opened in the surface, shaping a face. Not 
wishing to stay and chat, the party continued on its way, 
leaving Geriot behind, blinking.
	"We're close to a town!" Mireillia said, noticing the misty 
valley up ahead, "We'll get help there!"
	"I don't think so!" Geriot appeared in the shape of a rock 
spire in front of them.
	"You're too late, Fiend," Mireillia said, "We're almost to 
Artanis! Our own Golem is there!"
	"Artanis? Don't you mean 'Atlantis'?" the mist parted to 
reveal the seashore.
	"What in the world?!" Nadir and Mireillia couldn't believe 
their eyes. What had happened? They could have sworn they were 
flying over the mainland, how did they reach the ocean?
	But wait, this wasn't right... They could see something below 
the raging waters. Something like... trees... Buildings... land! The 
entire valley had been submerged under the sea!
	"This is my masterpiece," Geriot said, "Well, mine and 
Sharian's. I thought Espers already knew of this, since I sunk 
this piece of land quite a while ago. You know, the place where 
Eliann was is now a big island, separated from the Eastern 
continent by me."
	"But... But what happened to Artanis?" Nadir asked.
	"Who cares?" Geriot said, "If it's sunk under the water, it 
was probably taken over by those sea pirates, the Magenta 
Tritons. No matter, you won't ever get to meet them. This time, 
_we're_ taking you down personally..."
	Geriot column disintegrated into dirt, manking a large mound 
below. Loud shrieks were heard as the earth shifted and moved, 
the spirit of the Fiend being absorbed by it. Large crevices 
opened in the surface, wounds that spat out fire.
	"We better get the heck out of here," Nadir said.
	"I do not think that's much of a choice," said the voice of 
the Fiend of Wind as Eoris' scowl appeared on thin air.
	"This shall be your last stop," the waters surged up to 
shape the face of Sharian.
	"The Four Fiends won't let you pass," one of the flames 
said with Falia's voice.


End of section 3B