al709382@campus.ccm.itesm.mx

		The Caller's PLight, by Jorge Pratt

			Part III, section C

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



The hidden magic

	"Oh my God..." Akane gasped. The most fearsome monsters 
they had faced had joined together in a lethal force of raw evil 
magic. While Geriot and Falia made their base in the ground 
below, Eoris and Shalia prevented any escape through air or sea. 
Not only that, but Ranko was beginning to feel Dysithal's 
presence nearby.
	"Your funeral shall be a short one," Eoris said.
	"Unlike most creatures of Esper World, the Fiends see no 
point in making speeches before attacking," Sharian said.
	"You are now dead!" Falia's fiery tongues lashed out at 
Herb, who just managed to fly out of the way. Nadir and Mireillia 
scattered, only to be met by a solid wall of air. Within a 
second, the party was trapped by a sphere of Wind magic, a 
makeshitf prison that still allowed any attack to penetrate it.
	"You have no options now!" Sharian said, sending out a rain 
of ice shards at them. Nadir's aura shield was nearly broken to 
pieces.
	"Where are your Esper friends when you need them?" Eoris 
blew into the sphere, smashing them all against the inside wall.
	"You might have vanquished Terrato, but you won't defeat 
us!" Geriot thrust a spike of rock straight into the sphere. Lime 
just managed to shatter it with a drop kick
	"This is fun!" Falia sent snake-like blasts of fire that 
slithered inside the sphere.
	"We won't last long in here!" Herb yelled, "We have to break 
this prison!"
	"It's useless!" Nadir and Mireillia tried to smash through 
the wall with their hooves, "This barrier is too solid!"
	"Wait!" Ranma said, "That's Wind magic, right? I have an 
idea!"
	"What are you doing?" Akane called. Seeing he was about to 
retaliate, the Fiends pressed on, forcing the rest of the people 
to increase their defenses.
	"If anyone has Silver magic, help me!" Ranma said. Yuannyan 
and Shampoo were quick to assist him. "Okay, when I use my 
magic, shoot your Silver magic blasts into it, and don't stop! 
This might be our ticket out of here!"
	"Oniisan, what..." Ranko began to ask when she suddenly 
realized his plan. "So, he wants to mix his Wind magic with Eoris' 
own so he can command it!" she said to herself.
	"But that won't work!" Mireillia landed on Herb's back, beside 
her. "That will only weaken the barrier for a few seconds!"
	"But what if we use another Dark Bolt Bomb?"
	"Too risky to use in here. All Fiends can use Shadow magic 
easily."
	"Then if we can't use Shadow..." Ranko thought. "Oneechan! 
Herb! Do what I do!"
	"What are you..." Mireillia started, then saw how Ranko 
closed her eyes and stretched her arms upwards. An aura of 
Light magic appeared around her, lifting her three feet upwards 
into the air. Mireillia recognized the magic immediately.
	"You're not going to use..."
	"Lightning!" Ranko summoned. A spark of electricity appeared 
on the surface of the sphere. "Oniisan, go!"
	"Wind-Silver combination!" he yelled, "Solid Air Override!" he 
thrust his palms upwards, immediately making a small, hollow 
sphere of solid wind. Shampoo and Yuannyan aimed their magic at 
it, releasing a bright blast. As the magic mixed, Ranma's orb 
released a horizontal spiral of wind, which only had to touch the 
inside of the sphere and it pulled, absorbing Eoris' magic. The 
sphere was effectively weakened.
	"This is it!  Light and Lightning spell!" Ranko opened her 
eyes and stared at the spark, shouting at the top of her lungs, 
"Luminaire!"
	Four straight shafts of electrical energy converged on the 
spot marked by the spark. With a flash of light, a hemispherical 
blast of energy, nearly identical to Ultima, spread on the 
sphere's wall. Akane and Herb, aware of the technique, called 
their respective Light and Lightning to bolster Ranko's Luminaire. 
Upon bursting, the blasts left a small opening --barely large 
enough for Herb to pass, but it was sufficient for their escape. 
Even after they came out of the prison, Ranma held on to his 
orb. 
	"You foolish humans!" Eoris and Shalia were the only ones 
able to pursue them out into the sea. But Herb was becoming 
tired, two full-speed pursuits weren't very good to one's 
stamina, even for a dragon. Unless they found help soon, the 
Fiends would catch up.
	"My children, strike!" Sharian summoned. On cue, a wall of 
water sprouted in front of the party. Ranma just blasted his orb 
forward, as if it were a Moko Takabishya. Growing in size, the 
orb passed through the water and blew a hole in it, then shrank 
and returned to Ranma's hands, much to his amazement.
	"That's it!" Nadir said, "Ranma, blow that again, into the 
water! Ukyou, see if you can create a shield around us on my 
mark! Herb, fly straight into the ocean, quick!"
	"What the heck are you talking about?! We'll be playing 
right into Sharian's hands!"
	"Trust me!" Nadir said, speeding towards the water himself.
	"Here goes..." Ranma shot out his orb into the sea.
	"Now!" Nadir bellowed. Before the water closed again, the 
party went inside it. Ukyou immediately figured out Nadir's plan 
and spread her hands outwards, concentrating as her magic 
created a watery tunnel around them.
	"You won't escape me!" Sharian yelled. "My pets, kill them!"
	Out of nowhere, an entire legion of Charybdis creatures 
surfaced from the inner "wall" of the tunnel. They didn't even 
bother creating whirlpools, they just stared at the group and 
attacked with their trademark Red Gaze. Energy blasts rained 
from all directions, Herb and the Espers had to weave a complex 
trajectory to avoid being hit.
	"I... I can't hold this forever, y'know..." mantaining the 
tunnel was taking its toll on Ukyou. Without warning, she slumped 
down in exhaustion and the water closed in around them.
	"Hope this works," Ranma thought, holding the tired Ukyou in 
one arm and creating another small orb of wind in the other. 
Clenching his fist, he surrounded his head and Ukyou's with a 
helmet-like bubble. He gasped for air inside it, feeling the 
refreshing sensation of his lungs filling.
	At the same time, Mousse-duck saw what Ranma had done. 
Together, the two Wind spell-casters created bubbles around 
everyone's head, but Herb and the Espers were quite a problem. 
And the Charybdi were closing in, even stronger in their natural 
element.
	Swish! Something long and thin, like an arrow, pierced the 
body of a Charybdis. Then another one was hit by a second 
harpoon. The creatures looked downwards, most of them receiving 
even more harpoons straight in the eye. Relieved, the party 
looked down as well.
	A squadron of mermen, with muscular upper bodies and long 
tails, came upwards to meet the intruders. They wore different 
clothing and armor, but they all had the same insignia on their 
breastplates: a red, winged shark. They were the so-called 
Magenta Tritons.
	By the dozens, the Charybdi began to fall idly to the 
bottom. The Tritons were amazingly fast for sea creatures, even 
quicker than the Charybdi. But more monsters kept coming. As one 
Triton pulled out a crystalline shell, it began glowing brightly. A 
large bubble rose from the bottom. Inside it was a woman of 
rugged beauty, with shoulder-length, jet-black hair and wearing a 
navy-blue vest over a full-body suit, colored white. Her hands 
were covered by black leather gloves, matching the boots that 
covered her feet and calves. A bandolier rested around her 
waist, showing a mean broadsword with its posterior edge 
serrated.
	The woman spread out her hands upon arrival. The bubble 
glowed as it transferred her magic to the outside. Counter 
currents crushed a few of the Charybdi, while bolts of Light and 
Shadow magic blasted some others. She even created another Wind 
sphere around the party, letting them breathe easily. When the 
enemies were no more, the woman patted the pommel of her sword 
and crossed her arms, elevating her bubble up to the troop.
	"Who is she?" Akane looked at her in admiration.
	"Great. What am I, a tomboy-magnet?" Ranma was promptly 
bashed by every girl in the group. Finally having something solid 
to stand on, Nadir, Mireillia and Herb changed back to human 
shape. Now that she had recovered, Ukyou joined Akane as they 
made some hot water so Mousse and Shampoo could change back. 
Skilled by now at stealth, P-chan also acquired some of the 
water.
	The woman nodded to the Tritons, who swam towards her. 
Most of them had a gauntlet on their left arms, from which small 
cannons held the trident-shaped harpoons. The woman pointed at 
the party.
	"Guess we found help," Ranma said, smirking.
	The woman clenched the same fist that had once pointed. 
The Tritons surrounded the party and aimed their harpoons at 
all of them. Scowling at the intruders, the woman crossed her 
arms once more.
	"Something tells me we didn't," Ranko said.

			*	*	*

	A large escort of Tritons, now turned into normal (if 
Atlantean in stature) humans, lead the party through the stony 
corridors of the underwater city. With hands tied, and a strange 
metallic brace around their necks, even the Espers were utterly 
powerless to escape. Not to mention both Ranma and his sister 
were about to explode at being treated like this. They had 
escaped the Fiends, but fallen right into the Tritons' hands.
	"It's amazing," Mireillia thought.
	"What?" Nadir asked telepathically.
	"Don't you see? Geriot did sink Artanis, but the Tritons 
managed to save most of the city. I mean, we can even breathe 
normal air in here. Maybe the people who lived here are safe as 
well."
	"I wouldn't count on it."
	"Why not?"
	"Can't you remember the history of Magenta Tritons? They 
gave the term 'cutthroat' a whole new meaning. And from the way 
they handled the octopi back there, I wouldn't be surprised if 
they tried the same with us."
	"Then let's hope we can escape before that happens," 
Mireillia shrugged.
	"Where are you taking us?" Akane demanded.
	"Issai, leren!" a Triton nudged her with the tip of his 
harpoon.
	"Hey, watch it!" she winced.
	"What are you doing to Akane?!" Ranma scowled at him.
	"Issai, ciot larent!" another Triton pushed him forward. "Why 
you..."
	Suddenly Shampoo tripped on one of the stone slabs on the 
floor. Unable to put in her hands, she hit the floor hard.
	"Shampoo, are you okay?" Mousse asked a Triton. He was 
pushed away as well.
	"Dicir ferat, ciot leran!" another guard rudely pulled 
Shampoo by the arm. Seizing the chance, she pulled in her leg and 
kicked the Triton as hard as she could in where she thought 
would be the kidney.
	While the other Tritons turned to her, Ranma and Ranko 
nodded to each other and charged forward, crashing into the 
guards that escorted each other. Akane dropped to the floor and 
tripped those around her, while Ryouga crushed a Triton between 
himself and the wall.
	"That's our chance," Mireillia thought, and charged her foot 
with glowing energy, "Single Hoof!" she leapt up... and fell to the 
ground, paralized. Everyone else but the Tritons was affected in 
the same way.
	"Ciot usdaine," the commander of the Tritons scowled at 
both the captives and the guards. He placed the remote control 
on his belt, pressing a button. The red lights that had turned 
on in the corridor receded, the collars on the prisoners' neck 
ceased glowing.
	"Ugh..." Ranma managed to blurt out.
	"You shall... pay dearly for... hurting Herb's bride... in such 
manner..." the dragon prince groaned.
	"Issai!" the commander booted his head, and everything went 
dark.

			*	*	*

	Kefka couldn't contain his laughter. But this wasn't a 
demonic cackle, but more like a reaction to the hilarious event 
being described to him. Really, to be trapped by Magenta 
Tritons?
	"That has got to be the funniest thing I've heard all week!" 
he said, tears of delight forming in his eyes. "Well done, 
Sharian!"
	"You honor me, Master," Sharian humbly kneeled before him.
	"I have to admit, it is pretty funny," Dysithal, hidden in 
the darkness, thought.
	"Stupid kids, did they really think they could escape just 
like that? Now they're captives of the most pathetic excuse for 
a pirate fleet that ever sailed Salar Ocean! Ho, how amusing."
	"Forgive my impudence, Master, but the Tritons are a force 
to be reckoned with. Especially now that Arianne is their leader."
	"Come on, Arianne can barely use her own so-called Es'dee 
Force, let alone pose a threat for us."
	"I don't know, Master," Tiamat said, "Es'dee is a frightening 
Elemental Force. I am afraid not even Your Magnificence has 
witnessed its true effects."
	"Are you saying Es'dee is some sort of 'secret magic'? 
Don't make me laugh any more. My diaphragm won't take it."
	"As you wish, Master."

			*	*	*

	"Oh, yes..." Ranma said, leaning against the wall of the 
dungeon cell. All the guys were there, but so far, only Lime was 
trying to shatter the walls with his powerful punches. "'Trust 
me,' you say. Nice going, Nadir. Now we're trapped, with no 
weapons, no magic, and no cable TV."
	"I didn't force you to follow me, you know. Besides, would 
you have rather faced the Four Fiends?"
	"Will you stop arguing?" Ryouga said, "We still have to 
figure out how to get out of here." He tugged at the collar, 
"With these things keeping us from using magic or ki, we have to 
think our way out of this one."
	"Then you're going into battle unarmed, piggy."
	"What did you say?!" Ryouga stood up and pushed Ranma 
against the wall.
	"Calm down, this will take us nowhere," Mousse stood up, 
losing his balance now that all his weapons had been taken away.
	"He's right," Herb said, "If I had my ki blasts, we would 
have already left this rotting cell. But we have to put our 
minds together in order to escape."
	"Put our minds together?" Nadir thought, his horns glowing. 
the inhibitor collar might have deprived him of his magic 
abilities, but his mind was still strong enough to communicate 
through telepathy...
	"Sheesh, this place reeks..." Ranko waved her hand in front 
of her nose. She had been fortunate enough that nobody had 
even tried to take her Wall Ring, which was something she was 
thankful for.
	"I'd say. They must have left somebody in here for a long 
time," Akane replied.
	"I wonder how my Ranchan is doing," Ukyou said.
	"And Herb-chan," Yuannyan sighed.
	"I wonder where they put them," Ranko said.
	"Don't worry," Mireillia said, "Artanis' dungeons are not 
very large. We shall find them fairly quickly once we escape from 
here-- uh?" she blinked, hearing Nadir's voice. "Nadir, is that 
you?" she asked mentally.
	"Yes, it's me. How are my little fianc�es doing?"
	Mireillia frowned, "They're dead. The Tritons killed them."
	"What?!"
	"Please, Nadir, you're so naive. And you're also a two-
timing imbecile."
	"Hilarious, little girl. Hilarious. Anyway, got any ideas 
about getting out of here?"
	"Not one. They took all my weapons and even my backpack 
computer. We'll have to wait for an oportunity."
	"But remember that we can't wait too long. That Lavos won't 
stay in space forever, and we still have to find the others."
	"I know, but-- wait, someone's coming. Keep quiet for a 
while, okay?"
	The sound of footsteps increased in volume as whoever 
made them came closer to the girls' cell. Looking through the 
barred door, they saw the same woman from before, the leader of 
the Magenta Tritons. Beside her, was the commander that had 
paralized them before.
	"Te, isser ten estur Gel?" she said in a melodical voice, 
yet strong and emotionless. "Estur na veis a-Gel," her tone was 
almost despective, as they heard her speak. "Dei, tur a-veis Gel 
torak aris," she pointed at Akane,. Her commander nodded in 
agreement, but remained thoughtful for an instant, "Arianne, 
estilar tur bersas Rysta-tel ?" The woman nodded, and both left 
the girls in the cell.
	"Mireillia, what did they say?" Ranko asked.
	The Nightmare was puzzled by the woman's statements. "She 
first asked, 'So, are these the Warriors?' and then , 'They don't 
seem _real_ Warriors.' But then she saw Akane, and said, 'Still, 
she _does_ seem like a Warrior I knew.'"
	"Wow, that's some compliment," Ukyou said. Akane shrugged.
	"What else?"
	"The guard then asked, 'Are you sure she's Rysta-tel, 
Arianne?' I guess that's her own name, since it's not an Esper 
word. Rysta is also a name, but I don't recognize that 'tel' 
suffix."
	"This might be useful information," Ukyou said, while 
Mireillia communicated the news to Nadir via telepathy.
	"Okay, so _I_ remind her of someone..." Akane said. "I wonder 
if we could use this to our advantage..."
	She was interrupted as the commander, this time alone, 
returned to the cell and opened it. He violently pulled Akane to 
her feet, forcing a yelp from her.
	"Why you...!" Ranko smashed into him, but the strong Triton 
just swatted her away with the force of a behemoth, sending her 
crashing against the wall. Yuannyan rushed to her side, but the 
collar on her neck prevented her from releasing any magic.
	"Whoa..." Ranko said, astounded. That simple hit had been 
twice as strong as Ryouga's Shishihokodan, if not more.
	"Hey, let me go!" Akane yelled, squirming in the Triton's 
grip.
	"Very well," in raspy Japanese the Triton said before 
releasing her. In the blink of an eye, his harpoon was one inch 
away from Shampoo's nose. "Follow my orders or else."
	Grumbling something, Akane unwillingly let the Triton lead 
her away from the cell. Turning back, she saw Ranko suddenly 
wince in the exact same way as when Dysithal appeared. Gasping 
as she became aware of the Triton's identity, she could do 
nothing but obey him.
	Eventually, he took her to a large chamber. "Wait here," the 
Triton said, "Arianne will greet you shortly." He pushed her into 
the room, making her lose her balance and she fell forward,
	"You jerk..." she rubbed her knee while the Triton closed 
and locked the door. Standing up, she examined her surroundings.
	The first thing she noticed was the size of the chamber. 
The ceiling was probably forty feet overhead. But it was more 
like a throne room, outfitted for a bedroom. Large windows, which 
reached from the floor to the ceiling, let her see the oceanic 
environment outside. Despite the depth at which they were, the 
water still managed to filter a strong beam of light that fell 
upon a large bed, placed exactly where the throne used to be. 
Gigantic, reddish-brown drapes kept two other sides of the bed 
obscured. They added to the cozy air provided by the mahogany 
boards that covered the walls, coupled with the holm oak stave 
that made the floor. In fact, the whole room had an inviting 
brown tone, despite the blue coming from the windows and the 
white from the light.
	Akane also noticed the large amount of pictures and 
paintings on the walls, and a few smaller ones on dressers and 
nightstands. From the distance, she couldn't see the faces on 
the portraits, but she sensed she would soon have a chance.
	"Forgive my delay," came Arianne's voice from another door. 
Akane turned to see her. Arianne walked over to her, taking off 
her gloves as she did. "Well, talk about a dead-ringer," she 
smirked, draping the gloves over her shoulder. Without another 
word, she turned away from Akane and started to walk towards 
her bed, stopping at the steps to take off her boots.
	"Just who do you think you are?" Akane asked. "I don't know 
why you captured us but we're in a big hurry! We have to--"
	"Such fiery emotions," Arianne smirked, "I recall a time when 
I had such emotions as well. But to answer the question, my 
name is Arianne Lochmer�, and I am the captain of the Magenta 
Tritons."
	"Why are you keeping us here?"
	"Because you trespassed our territories. All of the sea is 
our home, we won't have anyone bring any harm to it."
	"Then you better let us go, or else Kefka will destroy all 
this world, including your beloved ocean."
	Arianne was taken aback slightly, "Kefka? Who is that? The 
same magic lord that brought destruction to the World of 
Balance? It matters not to me," Arianne frowned, "Nobody can 
touch the sea..." she put her hand on one of the windows, staring 
out into the ocean. As if on cue, a dolphin peeked in, squeaking. 
Arianne smiled, "Sharian may be a Fiend of Water, but even she 
cannot harm our home. And Kefka..." she laughed quietly, "The 
writer of this fanfic is exaggerating his might. In any case, I 
would worry only about the Lavos..."
	"You know about him?"
	A silvery glimmer appeared on Arianne's forehead, her hazel 
eyes sharing the glow, "I know many things, Akane Tendo. In fact, 
the old Amazon warrior whom your fianc� calls 'old ghoul' is a 
dear friend of mine," she turned to face an utterly confused 
Japanese girl. Arianne smirked, but by looking at Akane's face 
she became saddened once more. "Go on. Leave. Your friends will 
be released soon." She looked away, heading for the door she had 
come from.
	"Wait... Arianne..." Akane tried to call. There was something 
strange about this "pirate."
	"Yes?" she stopped at the door, but didn't turn back.
	"May I ask... What's the matter?"
	Arianne slumped down visibly, "Go, please. Leave me."
	Completely confused, Akane nervously walked backwards to 
the door. When she turned around, her eyes caught a glimpse of 
one of the portraits. Blinking in surprise, Akane stared closely 
at it. What she saw in the portrait was an image of herself, 
standing next to a tall young man. But both were dressed in 
strange clothing, which appeared elven in style and tones. 
Looking at the door in which Arianne had disappeared, Akane took 
the portrait from the dresser and looked closely at it. In the 
corner of the picture was a short message, "To our big sister, 
from Eleijen and Rysta Lochmer�. Until the Tree of Life is burnt, 
and the Everlasting Sea is dried, the love of our family shall 
continue to live on."
	Many things became clear to Akane. The two people in the 
protrait were Arianne's younger siblings. And she was right: 
Akane was Rysta's dead-ringer. Like Ranko and Yuannyan, they 
could have been twins! Even their hair looked the same. But 
wait... there was something else on the portrait. A black ribbon, 
tied around the picture's top left corner. Akane's eyes widened 
at the sight of it. Had Arianne's family died?
	"A-Arianne?" she called, but nobody answered. Seeing the 
door open, she walked over to it. Crossing through the room, she 
finally noticed that almost half of the pictures were portraits 
of her family, while the others were just images of the sea. 
Akane recognized some people who she believed were Arianne's 
parents and grandparents, and even the picture of her pet hawk 
and dog was there. Only one person didn't fit, a handsome man 
with silver hair, standing beside a fine steed and holding a 
beautifully-crafted lance in his hand. Gulping, for that was 
probably Arianne's boyfriend, Akane went into the room.
	It was considerably smaller than the bedroom, but was still 
quite large in its own right. Completely obscured, the only light 
came from half a dozen glowing emeralds that seemed to be 
suspended in midair. Akane covered her mouth in shock. 
	They were Magicite rocks.
	"My friends..." Arianne was carefully holding a piece of 
Magicite in her hands, stroking it as if it were a pet. The 
artifact glowed faintly in appreciation. Akane vaguely heard 
people talking beyond the room, but she didn't pay any attention 
to it.
	"A-Arianne...?"
	The pirate leader quickly looked up at her, eyes wide. 
"What are you doing here?!" she put the Magicite down and 
grabbed the hilt of her sword. "I told you to leave!"
	"Arianne.. I just want to help you... I know about your 
sister, and, well, I'm very sorry."
	"That... That gives you no right to intrude in here!"
	Akane sighed, "All right. I'm sorry about this. Good bye." 
She walked out of the room, feeling as if she were truly leaving 
her sister behind.
	Arianne stood there for a moment, trying to keep control 
of her emotions. But Akane looked just like her sister! The pain 
was just too great for even a steel-hearted warrior to relive!
	"Wait! Akane!" she called, running out of the room. She 
stopped the Asian girl a few steps before she reached the door. 
"I apologize for talking to you like that. But seeing you brought 
back many bad memories." She walked over to Akane and held her 
hand, "Do you think you could listen to a lonely sea rogue's 
story?"

			*	*	*

	Akane and Arianne were sitting on a bench at the foot of 
the bed. The pirate leader had taken off her swordbelt and was 
now gently stroking the back of her pet, which looked like a 
miniature dragon from Western mythology. Up close, Akane noticed 
the glimmering diamond tiara on Arianne's forehead.
	"I'll start from the beginning," she said. "I'm really a human, 
just like you, but from a different planet. My home was the town 
of Onrac, in the coast of a very large ocean. Unfortunately, 
that was the same world that Chaos had lived in. But I was born 
much later, though. The legends of the Light Warriors had been 
obcured by time, Garland of Chaos had turned to Good again. My 
family was very skilled at sailing, and since that was a coastal 
town my grandfather was soon elected king. People said that my 
siblings and I only cared about protecting our environment so we 
could improve our family's image and inherit the throne. Only a 
council of wise men, from another town, believed in our love for 
nature and the sea. But the forests and grasslands around our 
town were so tempting, many times we were attacked by madmen 
such as Kefka. We had to become warriors to protect them, and 
the magic we learned then is completely different from what you 
have now. For instance, I learned many divination spells, that's 
how I knew your name and about your fianc�. One of my 
specialties is the all-powerful Es'dee Force, about which Spekkio 
knows nothing. But I'm straying off the subject. Anyway, despite 
what people thought my family was devoted to the well-being of 
the sea and nature. It was a complete shock when the council 
discovered there had been a Lavos living in the core of our 
planet in latent state, waiting for our world to 'ripe.' It was he 
who corrupted Garland when he first became Chaos, for Lavos is 
the most powerful Destroyer that has ever lived. What a 
coincidence, he awoke during our lifetime. And right after Chaos 
left our world and arrived at the World of Balance. With no one 
to defend us, we rallied our best warriors and strongest mages, 
from Coneria to Elf Land to Lefein and the Floating City.
	"The Lavos awoke while we were still preparing, and he 
surfaced from the bottom of the sea. We managed to defeat his 
outer body..." she noticed Akane's surprised expression, "Oh, yes, 
all members of the Lavos species have at least three bodies, 
the first of which is like a gigantic urchin. But when we pulled 
back for the next attack, the Lavos shot out a rain of blasts, 
powerful as atomic bombs. The last memory I have of my 
homeworld is that of my fianc�, putting me inside his own 
cryogenic capsule while everything in the planet burst to 
flames." Arianne looked downcast, the pain of her planet dying 
being too great a burden for her.
	"Is the Lavos that powerful?" Akane asked, nearly 
whispering.
	Arianne's head bolted at her like a bullet, "Powerful, you 
ask? Look!" she stood up and took off her vest, then unzipped 
the back of her white body suit and faced away from Akane, 
"Look! The shame of being unable to help! The scars of my world! 
A minor taste of a Lavos' power!" There was a dark brown scar 
running down Arianne's back, from the right shoulder blade to the 
beginning of the sacrum. A faint glow still coursed through the 
injury. "Now I have been cursed, thanks to the fraction of Lavos' 
power that I received. Cursed with eternal life! Not only did I 
have to endure the death of everyone and everything dear to 
me, but the decease of any new friend I would ever make for the 
eternity that is my life! And don't believe for an instant that I 
can die by having my head cut off. I can recover from any 
injury, even if my entire body is severed. But I can feel the 
pain of each wound, amplified a hundredfold, as an everlasting 
reminder of the pain endured by my planet. You see, Lavos is 
not just a big stupid monster. It is powerful indeed, and _evil_. 
So much, only a demon could be responsible for its creation..."

	Dysithal sneezed loudly, "So, little Arianne found out, eh?" 
he thought, hidden in the darkness of Kefka's throne room. "No 
matter, my 'avatar' shall dispose of her and her beloved Tritons 
soon enough..."

	"I wonder what's taking so long..." Ranko said, rattling a 
metal cup against the bars of the cell.
	"She's been out there a long time," Ukyou asserted, "Maybe 
we should try to rescue her.
	"I think she's just trying to convince that pirate lady to 
let us go," Yuannyan said.
	"Well, I do hope she hurries," Mireillia said, "Nadir is going 
crazy... If he hasn't already."
	"There is no need to worry..." came the voice of the Triton 
commander, possessed by Dysithal's essence, "You will all cease 
to live very shortly, when I convince Arianne that you're spies 
of Kefka." He finally appeared, walking over to the barred prison 
doors. Although he wasn't really Dysithal, Ranko felt a slight 
cold in his presence.
	"Yeah, right," she said, "Akane is probably convincing her of 
letting us go."
	"I would not count on it," the commander said, "You don't 
know Arianne, but she's not soft and caring. She would do 
anything to reach her ends, and is now probably considering 
tuning you all in to the Four Fiends in exchange for riches."

	"After my world was destroyed by the Lavos," Arianne 
continued, "My capsule travelled aimlessly through the space. 
Eventually, its energy reserves ran out and I awakened. You 
cannot possibly imagine the pain I awoke to, for the life-support 
systems failed as well. But I couldn't die. The lack of air 
pressure tore me apart, the space radiations burned my body for 
eons. I wanted to die, or at least to scream, to stop the pain. 
But I couldn't. Every minute my lungs were consumed to ashes by 
the space dust, my inner organs exploded by the lack of 
pressure. And the next minute they regenerated, perfectly 
healed, only to suffer the same hell as before.
	"That is why I pity Espers," she said, standing up and 
pointing at the room with the Magicite, "As far as I know, I am 
the only human who has ever had to endure being trapped in such 
way."
	"Then you're not the only human," Akane said, thinking of 
Ranko and Yuannyan.
	Arianne shook her head, "Jusenkyo is not nearly as infernal 
as Magicite, nor as being trapped for TWELVE HUNDRED YEARS in a 
malfunctioning cryogenic capsule. I am well aware that your 
friends were in great pain, a pain that you can't posibly imagine, 
but a pain that _I_ can relate to. Nevertheless, that is but the 
kindest sort of magical imprisoning that I've seen. You see, 
Jusenkyo is pure magic. Whenever it captures a soul, it 
nourishes it and keeps it in perfect state. No matter how long a 
spirit stays within the pool, the magic keeps the spirit's mind 
sane and lucid, but then again that only increases the pain. 
Magicite keeps you conscious in the same way, otherwise all of 
the Espers would have been driven into insanity. On the other 
hand, there was nothing in my capsule to keep me from losing my 
mind."
	Akane was surprised at Arianne's knowledge, "But how do 
you know that much about Jusenkyo and Magicite?"
	Arianne smirked, "My capsule eventually reached Earth. It 
burned completely when I reached the atmosphere, of course, but 
somehow my ashes arrived at China, about one hundred and fifty 
Earth-years ago. As you can now imagine, I met a wise old 
Amazon warrior there. Heh. You should have seen my mental state 
when Cologne-tel first found me, as she was the first living 
creature I had seen after my world died. But the story is too 
long for me to tell, and Cologne-tel remembers it with far more 
clarity than I do. But my point is, I know exactly what kind of 
hell a single Lavos can create, and that is why I do not fear 
Kefka."

	The commander opened the cell's door. "But even if Arianne 
doesn't torture you for tresspassing our territory, I might 
extract some pleasure doing it myself." He drew out a wicked 
dagger, walking towards Yuannyan.
	"Leave her alone, you monster!" Ranko bellowed as she 
crashed into him, flinging both the dagger and the inhibitor 
collars' control towards Shampoo.

	"I did some research while on your planet," Arianne said, 
"For one, there _had_ already been a Lavos spawn on Earth, but 
it was not fully grown when it awoke. First, when it arrived, it 
crashed like a meteor. The creatures that were alive at the 
time -- I think you call them dinosaurs-- died from the impact's 
side-effects. Much later, when mammals already dominated the 
world, the Lavos awoke. But it was still too weak, its blasts 
weren't nearly as powerful as powder bombs. The only thing it 
achieved was to bring down an Ice Age upon your planet, and 
that was the Lavos' folly, for it was not prepared to deal with 
the cold and died, leaving only a mutated spawn in its place 
which later became the ordinary platyhelminthe you call 'leech.' 
But I also found out that the Lavos still managed to curse some 
people in the same way I was. However, when the creature died, 
the lifeforce it had left on those people faded and disappeared, 
and they were able to lead a normal life."
	"Then if the Lavos that destroyed your planet is killed..." 
Akane guessed.
	"Then I will die as well," Arianne finished, "I have carried 
this curse for so long, I am deeply connected to the Lavos. I 
share its pain, its delights. It hurts in my heart when I feel it 
devouring another planet, even if my own body feeds from the 
energy."

	"Shampoo free!" the Amazon sang out when she pressed a 
button on the control and her collar was deactivated. Hurriedly 
taking it off, she grabbed hold of the dagger and flung the 
control at Ranko, who pressed another button and turned off all 
other collars.
	"Nadir, did you...?" Mireillia asked.
	"Yeah, our collars stopped working too. Let's get the heck 
out of here."
	"You fucking redhaired bitch!!" the commander hissed at 
Ranko, getting to his knees...
	...and his head met the wall with a tremendous force, "Don't 
talk like that to my sister!" Yuannyan said, slamming him once 
more.

	"I went looking for the Lavos afterward," Arianne looked 
out the window, "I cannot be killed, not even by a Destroyer's 
power, so the odds were against the Lavos. But if I confronted 
it, I would have unlimited chances to destroy it. You might call 
it a suicide mission, but I had nothing to live for anymore. My 
family was dead, my fianc� was dead, my entire world was 
destroyed. My only friend was Cologne-tel, and I had to leave 
her too when I finally mastered my 'spatial displacement' spell, 
which lets me transport myself into whatever place I wish. 
	"I spent many years looking for the Lavos, and my search 
finally paid off when I arrived at a planet very similar to this 
one. It seems there had been another Lavos there as well, but 
it had been defeated by a group of young warriors," she read a 
bit of Akane's mind, "That's right, it was the same Lavos whose 
power was drained by a machine. I wandered around the planet, 
searching for clues about how they managed to drain the Lavos' 
power. Then I met a young girl, about your age, named Lucca. She 
remembered everything very clearly, and helped me devise a way 
to drain Lavos..." she stood up and took her sword, unsheathing 
it and rising it high up into the air, "Behold, Lavos' bane, 
Crimson Wind. This sword is made of the same material as the 
machine that drained their Lavos, and will undoubtedly serve me 
well in my battle. For this I shall forever be grateful to Lucca. 
And yet my good fortune didn't end there. It seems there was 
another warrior that had lost his sister because of Lavos. When 
I met him, he readily offered to teach me his vast magic. With 
it, I was at last able to magically track down the Lavos that 
destroyed my planet, and even link my mind to it. I also found 
out that Kefka had been reborn, and was calling the Lavos 
towards this world. Too bad, the monster would have ended up in 
a black hole and died if it weren't for that maniac, but thanks 
to him I can finally extract revenge upon it personally.
	"But I figured I would need help to face the Lavos, and 
Esper World is one of the best sources of help. So I travelled 
back in time, using a machine from that planet, and came here, 
about five Esper World-years ago. I lost control of the timeship, 
though, and I crashed into the ocean. As luck would have it, the 
Magenta Tritons rescued me. But keep in mind that all of this 
happened in the past. Right now, there's another 'me' in Lucca's 
planet, and 'she' is probably using the time-machine as we speak."

	"You will be severely punished by this outrage!" the 
commander shot out a large bolt of lightning from his palm, 
varely missing Ranko.
	"Says who?!" Ukyou opened her palms to send a blizzard at 
him. Brushing off the attack, the commander idly punted her away 
and gathered energy between his palms, "Tiger Shark!" he 
bellowed, releasing a sizzling sphere of energy in Ranko's 
direction.
	"Watch out!" Mireillia took the full force of the blast, 
remaining unscathed. She countered with a Piercing Arrow frenzy 
that the commander barely dodged. Taking the advantage, Shampoo 
decided it was long overdue for her to use her magic. "How did 
that go?" she thought, "Oh, yes..." she aimed her palms at the 
enemy, "Instant Special Technique! Moonlight Shield!"
	The Triton was trapped within a smooth aura sphere, which 
nearly filled the entire room. Enraged, he punched through the 
shield --such attack made Shampoo yelp and clutch the sides of 
her head, as it hurt her mind directly. He then swung his arm in 
a broad arc, blowing Ukyou, Shampoo and Yuannyan away with his 
powerful Wind magic. In the blink of an eye he dashed at Ranko 
and punched her in the gut, then pushed up with the same fist 
and flung her into the ceiling with an uppercut. Once she hit the 
ground, he elbow-dropped into her gut again to cause double 
damage.
	"Demonic spawn!" Mireillia grabbed him by the collar and 
smashed him against the wall, succeeding in demolishing it. "Are 
you alright?" she asked to Ranko, who coughed up blood in reply.
	"Don't interfere!" the Triton blasted Mireillia away. "Master 
Dysithal sent me to take care of this bitch, and I won't fail 
him!" he joined palms to create the largest ki blade Mireillia had 
ever seen. The blade rotated in his arms, the tip facing 
downwards and aimed at Ranko's chest.
	"Light magic- White Touch combination!" Yuannyan shouted, 
"Touch of Light!"

	"I came to know the people of this city," Arianne sighed 
sadly, "But unlike Eliann, it didn't survive the Fiends' onslaught. 
What you saw back there were the Magicite rocks in which the 
surviving Espers had to encase themselves." She stood up and 
offered her hand, "Come, I'll show you."
	She lead Akane to the darkened room, where the magic 
stones were kept. There were several of them, and most had 
faint auras around them, revealing the power they contained. 
"This is Bahamut," Arianne said, taking a Magicite, "The lord of 
dragons, and master of Fire, Wind and Silver magic. This is Shiva, 
mistress of Water, Shadow and Wind." She took two more Magicite 
rocks, "This is Alexander, a gigantic fortress that was turned 
into a robot."
	"A mecha?" Akane asked. Arianne laughed briefly at the 
word, "Yeah, a mecha, but looks more like the pipe-covered torso 
of a humanoid with his hands stuck in the ground, and his back 
hunched forward. Anyway, he has Light, Silver and Fire. And 
this..." she showed the other stone, "...is Golem. He really is a 
robot, so he doesn't have magic. He can control many other 
forces, though."
	Akane paused for an instant before asking, "They were all 
your friends?"
	Arianne slumped down, "Yes. And this is another reason why 
I despise Sharian. First she tries to seize control of my home, 
the ocean, and then she drowns my friends here..."

	The Triton smashed through several walls as Yuannyan's 
Touch sent him flying. Convinced that she had knocked him out, 
the redhead quickly kneeled by her twin, already casting a 
healing spell on her. All the girls failed to notice the Triton 
was steadily walking over to them, the triple-pronged harpoon on 
his gauntlet glimmering.
	At the same time, a combination of ki blasts utterly 
destroyed the door in the guys' cell. Ranma waited no more time 
as Nadir guided him to the girls' location.

	"But why tell me all of this?" Akane asked. "If it hurts you 
so much, you shouldn't have relived it."
	Arianne shook her head, "Akane, you are exactly like my 
sister Rysta. If I were to see you pass through the pain a 
Lavos can bring..." she clenched her fists, trying to control 
herself.
	"Then help us," Akane said, "Join us and you'll finally get 
to face Lavos, not to mention you would probably defeat Sharian 
and she won't bother the ocean any more. Besides, we could use 
your help. I've never seen anyone fight like you."
	Arianne lifted her face, "I'm very sorry, but I can't. I want 
you to take all the Magicite stones I showed you, but I am not 
able to go with you. As I said before, I'm very closely linked to 
the Lavos. Who knows what kind of effects this curse would have 
if I came near him. He might use the link between our minds and 
control me, use me against you."
	"Are you sure?" Akane asked. Arianne nodded, abashed. "Well, 
I guess you know what you're doing. It was nice talking to you." 
She turned around and began to head for the exit.
	"Wait," Arianne said, reaching out. Akane turned back. "I 
wanted to say... Akane, it felt good talking to you. I've never 
talked about this to anyone, but you look just like my sister... I 
am thankful I had the chance to meet you."
	Akane felt something press in her chest. Arianne had been 
through so much pain, losing everything she had, everything she 
loved... Smiling kindly, she said, "Arianne, I know I'm not really 
your sister, but... I know what it feels like when you lose a 
little sister because I almost did," she offered her hand, "Can't 
you pretend? "
	A look of incredulity appeared on Arianne's face, but it 
was quickly replaced by a smile as she took the younger girl's 
hand.
	"Now, listen to me," Akane said, gradually softening the 
tone of her voice, "Close your eyes. You're in a town, near the 
sea. You hear people talking around you, about the weather, the 
catch of the day, about your grandfather being king..." Akane 
concentrated, spreading her Silver magic into Arianne's mind. 
"Okay, open your eyes."
	The joy that Arianne felt when she opened her eyes was 
beyond description. Thanks to Akane's Silver magic, what she saw 
was her own hometown, thriving with life. Everything, from the 
greatest tree to the most humble flower, was the same as she 
remembered. She looked around, wildly whipping her head to the 
sides as she tried to keep herself from blowing up in excitement.
	"What's the matter, big sister?" Akane asked, but to Arianne 
that was Rysta talking. Eyes wide as saucers, Arianne opened 
her mouth in disbelief before hugging her as tight as she could.
	"Rysta... My beloved sister... How I've missed you..." Arianne 
buried her head in Akane's shoulder.
	"That's it..." the Japanese girl thought, "You've kept your 
pain inside you for too long. This time... just let it all out. 
Even if this lasts only a moment, maybe you can find happiness 
once more..."

	"Zhaodi-chan, are you alright?" Yuannyan asked.
	"Urg... And I thought Coldfire was bad..." she got up on all 
fours, coughing out a last bit of blood.
	"Ranchan, look!" Ukyou pointed at the Triton, who 
relentlessly strode towards them. He easily brushed away a 
Disrupt Crossbow before reversing Shampoo's attemt to throw 
him, then simply sliced the air in front of him to cancel out 
Yuannyan's Touch. Ukyou released another ice blast at him, but 
he just punched it to shards.
	"Akane!" everyone turned to hear Ranma's voice. Using the 
distraction, Ranko kneeled and leapt at the Triton, tackling him. 
He easily slapped her hard across the face, nearly knocking her 
out, and grabbed her by the collar, rearing back the harpoon-
armed hand.
	"No, not again!"
	The commander was trampled by a tremendous force as 
Ryouga smashed shoulder-first into him. Ranma quickly took Ranko 
in his arms and leapt out of the way of the Triton's thrust. 
Finally united, all of the warriors surrounded the enemy. He 
smiled, and put his hands on the floor. They were knocked off 
their feet by a slight earthquake.
	"Prisoners escaping in level four," he said into his 
gauntlet. "Repeat, prisoners escaping in level four. Bring special 
retaliation unit."

	After a little while, Arianne had returned to reality, 
although she was still hugging Akane. Tears of happiness 
continued to course from her eyes, a pleasant change for eyes 
that had witnessed a thousand hells. Sobbing briefly, Arianne 
hugged Akane again, this time to thank her for giving her a 
second chance at seeing her real sister.
	"Are you alright?" Akane asked.
	"I am now..." Arianne replied, feeling a heavy burden being 
lifted from her heart.

	"Ouch..." Ranko rubbed her back.
	"The Master was correct. You are indeed a bothersome 
flea," the Triton once more reared back, "A flea that must be 
exterminated."
	"Illar!" a detachment of guards arrived at the site. They 
all gripped their spears when they saw the prisoners had 
escaped.
	<Chief!> one of them called again, in Esper tongue. <What 
are you doing? Arianne told us NOT to kill any of the 
prisoners!>
	<Then capture them before I disobey her order, dolt,> the 
commander replied. The guards then forced the humans to their 
feet, already placing inhibitor collars on most of them.
	"Oh, no, you won't!" Ranma and Ranko both elbowed the guard 
behind them. Ranko immediately tore off the collar, which hadn't 
been locked. Ranma's, on the other hand, had closed the instant 
it was in place. He struggled to remove it, but simply fell 
paralized as the commander pressed the button on the control.
	"The Nightmare won't be captured anew!" Mireillia challenged, 
and before the guard could place a collar on her she quickly 
morphed and horse-kicked him away, then morphed back and blasted 
away the guards that tried to attack her.
	"Tough luck, kids," the commander pressed the main button 
and all the humans and Nadir fell paralized. Ranko and Mireillia 
stared as the collars were turned on to their maximum capacity.
	"Oniisan!" Ranko yelled.
	"You... You idiot!" he managed to yell, "Get out of here!"
	"I won't leave you!" the guards were already closing in on 
her and Mireillia.
	"Baka! Get out of here _and_ get help! Hurry!" a guard 
booted him in the head, knocking him out.
	Ranko stood frozen for an instant, torn between staying to 
help the others, find Akane, and blowing the joint altogether. She 
was definitely not going to abandon her friends, but with all her 
injuries she wouldn't last long against all the guards _and_ 
their commander.
	"Maximum White Touch!" she yelled, slamming the head Triton 
into a wall and using the distraction to flee, "I'll come back with 
help!"
	"_We'll_ come back... I swear it!" Mireillia joined her in a 
dash through Artanis corridors.
	"This is the commander," the weakened Triton said through 
his communicator. His voice rumbled through the loudspeakers in 
the corridors, "Two of the escaped prisoners tried to 
assassinate our beloved Arianne. One is a young girl with a 
braid and the other is a female Esper dressed in black. Both 
have red hair. Attack them on sight. Aim to kill."

	"Did you hear something?" Akane asked, stepping out of 
Arianne's chamber.
	"No, nothing at all," she said, putting on her boots and 
gloves, then her vest. "So, let's go get your friends out of that 
stinking place."
	Akane giggled," You got the 'stinking' part right." She waited 
by the door until Arianne was ready, then they both headed for 
the corridors. For a moment, Arianne looked at Akane and 
smirked, then shook her head and turned away. But then she 
noticed Akane was giggling to herself. "What?"
	"It's just that you're really very different from what I 
expected. I mean, I've known you for an hour at most and already 
we are close friends."
	"Well, not all female captains have to be cold as steel. All 
my fellow Tritons know that I'm very emotional. Besides, remember 
that you look just like my sister."
	"You sure didn't act that way when you came to the 
dungeon."
	"I apologize for that, but I wasn't very sure I could trust 
you. We've had our share of spies coming to our home as of 
late, most of them from Kefka." She clenched her fist, "And all of 
them have faced the full strength of Es'dee Force." Her clenched 
fist began emitting a strong glow, but it quickly vanished as she 
smiled, "I might not be able to help you personally, but I could 
still teach you about Es'dee. Interested?"
	Akane nodded, "I bet Ranma will like to learn it also. He 
and Ranko-chan are such suckers for new techniques..."
	She was interrupted by a loud sound of feet running 
through the stone passages. A detachment of soldiers suddenly 
passed through the corridor up ahead, yelling something. Alarmed, 
Arianne briefly turned to Akane and ran after them.
	"Hey, hold it!" she called, "What happened?"
	One of the guards turned to her, his eyes widening 
considerably, "Arianne! Faisi issot loah!" he said in disbelief.
	"Of course I'm alright. What's the matter?"
	The guard looked zealously at Akane, "Estur isser Kefka de 
uinarp," he said to Arianne, who was thoroughly shocked. Her face 
acquiring an angered look, she asked, "Estilar faisi estur isser 
uinarp?" The guard nodded, "Illar estur histe, lahen ter. La, 
estur fa kan issot kan Liss Dith."
	Arianne turned to Akane, the angered scowl still in her 
face, "Come with me." The Triton immediately grabbed Akane's arm 
and pulled her through the corridors, until the trio finally 
reached the place where the humans had been caught.
	"Ak... Akane..." Ranma blurted out at seeing her.
	"So, it is true..." Arianne could not believe it. "They _are_ 
Kefka's spies..."
	Akane gasped and turned to her, "No, Arianne, we're--"
	"Issai, Liss Dith!" the Triton slapped her across the face.
	"No, you idiot!" Nadir yelled, "We're not Red Shadows either!"
	"I..." Arianne scowled at Akane, tears of sad anger coming 
down her eyes, "I opened my heart... my very soul to you... And 
you were spies?!"
	"Let us explain--"
	"Do not listen to their lies, Arianne," the commander said.
	"Enough of this!" Arianne stepped away from the humans. All 
the Tritons backed away as well, after Akane was pushed to the 
ground by the guard. "To tresspass our home is bad enough, but 
to impersonate my sister is a sin I won't ever forgive!" Arianne 
lifted her hands over her head, "Now, all of you shall witness 
the might of Es'dee Force!"
	She threw her hands forward, releasing the blast. Everyone 
screamed as they felt their bodies wince and transform, cursed 
by Es'dee magic.

			*	*	*

	"Hold on!" Mireillia turned back to a very worn-out Ranko, 
"We're nearly out of the complex! Once we get outside, we can 
swin to the surface!"
	"But what do we do then?" Ranko thought. She didn't have 
the slightest idea where they could get help without having to 
summon Cordis or Seraphim, considering they didn't know where 
the other Espers were. Damn. They could really have used 
Phaeron's help right now. That thought made her mind drift away 
slightly. Where could he be? She was starting to worry about 
him. Surely he wouldn't have let himself be captured by a measly 
doppler, but what if "capturing" wasn't the monster's intiention? 
She shook her head, clearing it of such thoughts. He was fine, 
and now her friends needed her help, with or without Espers.
	"There!" Mireillia pointed to an exit. It lead directly to the 
bottom of the sea, but it was at least a way out.
	<Look! They were the ones!> one of the guards spotted them 
and, heeding the commander's orders, shot his harpoon straight 
at them. Mireillia stopped short as it sliced the air in front of 
her, but quickly pulled Ranko out of a second harpoon's way. 
Still holding on to her, Mireillia thrust her other hand forward 
and blasted the invisible force field that held the water out. 
Immediately surrounding herself and Ranko with an aura shield, 
Mireillia used her flying power to shoot out of the building and 
into the oceanic bottom.
	"Quickly!" she said, "Swim as quickly as you can, or else 
they'll kill us!" she recalled the shield and swam upwards. But 
Ranko didn't have the lung capacity of an Esper, she had to make 
a great effort to hold her breath. Another trap had come to 
her: if she didn't reach the surface soon, she would drown 
_again_, but if she hurried her weakened body would not endure 
it and she'd drown anyway.
	<Aim to kill, the chief said aim to kill!> one of the Tritons, 
now in the water, said to his partner. He readied a harpoon 
rifle, aiming for the slowest girl. <Fire!>
	"Aagh!" despite being underwater, Ranko couldn't help yelping 
as an intense, burning pain shot up from her right thigh and 
filled her body. Her tears mixing with the water, she could 
vaguely feel three hard shafts embedded deep in her flesh, 
causing her entire right leg to become useless.
	Noticing she was now alone, Mireillia turned back down and 
stared wide-eyed. A long, trident-shaped harpoon had hit Ranko's 
thigh, the distinctive crimson of human blood mixing with the 
salty water, as the Triton who had fired was now reeling in his 
catch using the rope attached to the harpoon. Surprised at 
feeling rage towards him, Mireillia swung her arm and sent out a 
single Arrow that pierced the rope, throwing the Triton off 
balance.
	"I... can't move..." Ranko thought, clutching the sides of the 
injury, "I'll die if I don't do something..." gathering all her 
courage and strength she pulled the barbed trident, tearing even 
more flesh as she did. That was it, she was useless now. Trying 
vainly to stop the bleeding, she closed her eyes, "Phaeron-kun... 
I'm sorry..." A faint aura appeared around her, but she was in 
too much pain to notice. Before falling unconscious, she thought 
she heard a voice calling her name...
	"Urg... don't do this now, idiot!" Mireillia thought as she 
hoisted Ranko over her shoulders and tried her best to swim 
upwards. She couldn't believe it, but she was actually worried 
about the girl she was carrying: worried that the blood loss 
could kill her. She cursed herself mentally for being so obsessed 
with her Fire and Shadow spells. True, she might be the 
Nightmare, but why did she have to disdain healing spells? Ranko 
was now certain to die if she didn't receive attantion, and where 
would she get it without any healing magic-user nearby?
	"Wonderful," she thought, looking at the Tritons that were 
giving chase, "Phaeron, even if you two really are mere friends, 
I'll get her to someplace safe, for you. I just wish her Guardian 
would show up." As if on cue, three silvery glimmers appeared 
not too far away. "What the..." she started, but she quickly 
noticed the shape of three doplhins, the most beautiful she had 
ever seen, swim towards them at full speed. Not one to turn 
down help when in need of it, Mireillia quickly placed Ranko on 
two dolphins' backs and grabbed hold of the third. "Whoever sent 
them, you have my gratitude," she closed her eyes, and once 
more gazed upwards. "Go!" she pointed, and the dolphins 
immediately answered. They were the fastest in Esper World, she 
thought, already they had left the Tritons behind. But there 
still was an obscene amount of blood mixing in the water, the 
reddish trail leading back to Artanis. She was certain Ranko was 
alive, but would cease to be soon.
	After what seemed an eternity, they reached the surface. 
Mireillia took a mouthful of fresh air into her lungs, deeply 
thankful that the Fiends were nowhere in sight. She took Ranko 
and hoisted her over her shoulder again, but was surprised as 
the dolphins swam beneath her and pushed her upwards, letting 
Mireillia stand up on their backs.
	"Thank you, kind creatures," she said, before launching off 
towards the mainland. It took less than ten seconds for her to 
reach the shore, opposite from the one they had left before 
being captured. Curious, she looked South for a moment. She 
could now see the Black Wall of Cat's Eye, merely a thin needle 
in the distance. Wasting no more time, she tore off a piece from 
her clothing and put a tourniquet on Ranko's thigh to keep the 
blood from pouring. She then crossed the girl's arms over her 
gut and pushed down, pumping out the water she had taken in. 
She called Ranko's name. No response. Pumping again, she noticed 
all the water had been vacated already, but it was Ranko's lungs 
what had ceased to function. Hesitating for several moments, 
Mireillia steeled herself and put her hand beneath Ranko's neck, 
bending down to begin mouth-to-mouth breathing.
	It took about a minute, with Mireillia's disgust and worry 
increasing equally. But finally she felt a void pull the air from 
her mouth and into Ranko's lungs. Sitting up, she felt relieved 
at hearing Ranko cough a couple of times, then gasp desperately 
for air.
	"Easy, easy," Mireillia said softly, "You nearly drowned back 
there."
	"Where..." was the only word Ranko could pronounce. 
Everything around her was blurry, she had to flutter her eyelids 
to focus her sight. When she came to completely, she immediately 
opened her eyes fully and patted herself, amazingly surprised to 
be alive. But she winced at touching the wound on her leg, from 
which blood continued to pour. Without more delays she 
concentrated, feeling the aura of her Guardian around her as 
she cast Cure 4 on herself. The wound sealed before her eyes, 
but she had still lost too much blood. She barely had any 
strength left to sit up straight.
	"Are you okay?" Mireillia asked. Ranko groggily turned to 
her. For an instant she wondered how she ever managed to get 
to dry land, but another look at Mireillia gave the answer. 
Although she was in no condition to show it, the gratitude she 
felt was easily recognized in her eyes. Snorting, Mireillia turned 
away, "Not a word, you hear?"
	"Mi... Mireillia... You... saved my life...?"
	"Don't rub it in, I'm already disgusted with myself," was the 
Nightmare's response.
	Ranko found the strength to smile, "Th-thanks, Mirei-chan... 
I owe you one."
	"Mirei-chan?" the Esper thought, "How dare she! As if I 
were an idiotic little girl! As if I, the Limitless Wild Nightmare, 
were just another of her schoolmates rather than a friend, and-
-"
	"F-Friend?" she thought again. "What made me think that? 
She's my enemy, even if we agreed to be allies..."
	"Why is she not attacking?" Ranko thought. "That 'Mirei-chan' 
bit was enough to anger anyone!" she paused for an instant, 
"Unless... Does she... Is she a friend now? A real friend?"
	"Aigh..." she tried to stand up, but she was still too weak 
from the blood loss.
	"Hey, calm down," Mireillia said, "You'll have to wait for 
your strength to come back. But now we have to get some help." 
She stood up, but was nearly hit by another harpoon. The 
Tritons had caught up with them, it seemed, and had come in 
great numbers.
	"Oh, great..." Ranko tried once more, but flopped down on 
the ground.
	"Ride on my back. I'll turn into the Nightmare," Mireillia 
offered.
	"What?"
	"Are you deaf? Come on!"
	"But I thought you hated--"
	"Are you unable to comprehend? I said come on!" she pulled 
Ranko to her feet. Another harpoon sliced past them. "There's no 
more time for this..." she said, hoisting Ranko in a piggyback and 
dashing away from the shore, then she pounced and morphed into 
the Nightmare exactly as her hands and feet touched the ground. 
Only her hair remained unchanged so it wouldn't singe the girl on 
her back. Slowly (and unnoticed,) Ranko used a low version of the 
Gray Touch to absorb some of Mireillia's strength, enough to let 
her ride properly.
	And so, the Nightmare and her rider became lost in the 
distance.
	But neither had the faintest idea where they were headed.


Together once more

	Akane opened her eyes.
	Mireillia suddenly noticed the white needle jutting upwards, 
a few miles away.
	Ranma scowled, then turned to Arianne, looking up, and up, 
and up...
	"What's that?" Ranko pointed at the Beacon.
	"Yaaaah!" Ryouga looked at himself.
	"That's where we'll get help," Mireillia said.
	Mousse's glasses were too large for his head, "Shampoo!" he 
cried, hugging a guard's leg. The Triton laughed loudly at his 
foolishness.
	"That Triton was wrong," Mireillia said, "Arianne is famous 
for her kindness. We must show her he's really a demon."
	"What.... happened to us?" Ukyou blinked several times.
	"And the only way to do that..." Mireillia contined, "Is with 
the Seraphic Crystal."
	"Stand up, measly little creatures," the commander said, 
laughing. "Oh, I'm sorry. You _are_ standing up already."
	"Do you mean Seraphim is there?" Ranko asked, hopeful.
	Mireillia nodded, "You notice that tower over there? It's 
Seraphim's Beacon. In other words, her house."
	"Why, you..." Nadir scowled at Arianne. She looked down at 
them, "Remove the collars. They're no longer necessary. Not in 
their condition." The guards did as indicated.
	"I see now..." Akane said, "It's not 'Es'dee' magic, it's more 
like..."
	"It's more like 'SD' magic," Herb realized, then blasted me 
with a tiny ki ball because of the awful pun. Every single one of 
them had been Super-Deformed by Arianne's magic, and now 
possesed childlike bodies and large heads, like caricatures of 
their former selves.
	"Okay, hold on!" Mireillia said, as they came across the 
seashore once more. She leapt up, galloping through the air and 
over a 40 mile-wide bay. Up ahead, the Beacon was built upon a 
peninsula, separated from the rest of the mainland by a mountain 
range. It was ironic. The home of Seraphim, on the same continent 
as Cat's Eye. Then again, it might be because of that fact that 
Kefka's evil hadn't yet spread out over the rest of the world.
	"It's amazing," Ranko thought at witnessing the perfect 
beauty of the Beacon. It was pure white, with an occasional 
window blemishing an otherwise-smooth cylindrical structure. It 
seemed tall, yet humbly proportionate. And at its top, was a 
cross-shaped habitation, as large as the Tendo house.
	"Very funny, you idiot," SD-Ranma scowled at me.
	"Kawaii!" SD-Ukyou glomped onto him.
	"If Azusa sees us, we're dead," SD-Akane thought.
	"I have to agree, something good did come out of this," SD-
Herb smiled at SD-Yuannyan.
	"Take them back to the dungeon," Arianne wiped a tear from 
her eye.
	"Wait" SD-Akane called, "Arianne, listen to us! We're on your 
side!"
	"Don't listen, Arianne," the commander said. "Shut up, 
children."
	"No, YOU shut up!" SD-Ryouga and SD-Ranma blasted him into 
the wall with miniature shots. 
	"This guy's the real enemy!" SD-Ukyou yelled. "He attacked 
us while you and Akane were talking! We were simply defending 
ourselves!"
	"That's right! And he said he was sent by Dysithal!" SD-
Yuannyan added.
	"Dysithal?" Arianne stopped short.
	Meanwhile...
	"What's that?!" Ranko pointed at a blue glimmer that was 
speeding towards them.
	"Great. A Blue Dragon," Mireillia replied, "Since we're still 
far from the Beacon, its evil-repellant power hasn't reached us 
yet. We may have to fight it." She paused for an instant, "Are 
you in conditions to do so?"
	Ranko smirked, "I may not be at my fullest, but I can take 
this on."
	"Lets' go, then! Don't let it strike first!" Mireillia snorted 
a gush of flames and dashed straight for the Blue dragon. It 
slowed down, as if preparing to meet them. Mireillia faced it, 
Ranko brought her arms upwards. "Moko Takabishya!" "Chaos 
Hooves!" Mireillia reared up and her front hooves began emitting 
a web of random, chaotic bolts of energy, resembling the pattern 
of a car's broken windshield. The dragon panicked and swooped 
downwards, avoiding the attacks, then came back up and slammed 
into Mireillia, knocking Ranko off of her.
	"Ranko!" Mireillia saw her speeding towards the ground, but 
suddenly a pair of white wings appeared out of nowhere and 
clung to the redhead's back, lifting her back up. "Thanks, Cordis," 
Ranko looked up and flashed a thumbs up. The wings disappeared 
as soon as she called her own white aura, but without the help 
from the Cherub Down's flying powers nor the Gold Hairpin's ki-
boosting magic, she became tired after just a few moments.
	"Watch out!" Mireillia yelled, and Ranko floated upwards just 
as a bolt of lightning shot out of the dragon's mouth. 
Backflipping in midair, Ranko landed on the creature's back. "Hey, 
ugly, up here!"
	The dragon turned to the source of the yell but, like a 
dog pursuing its own tail, it flew in circles trying to catch 
Ranko. It took only an instant for it to become very dizzy. "We 
have you now!" Mireillia created a reverse aura shield around 
the dragon after Ranko had flown away from it
	"That was easy," Ranko said, grabbing hold of Mireillia's 
back once she had become too exhausted. The Nightmare wasn't 
even bothered by being touched, nor by Ranko climbing up to ride 
on her back once more.
	"I won't fall so easily to Kefka's forces," the dragon said, 
"Until my wings become unable to hold me, I will stand against 
your evil."
	Both girls (well, a girl and a mare) blinked at this. "We're 
not from Kefka's forces. You are."
	The dragon blinked, "I am not. You are."
	"We're not, you are."
	"I am... Wait a minute. Are you really not soldiers from 
Kefka?"
	"Nope," Ranko said, "We're actually trying to fight him."
	The dragon's eyes widened in delighted surprise, "This is 
very fortunate! To meet allies in this battle is truly a good 
thing!" Still floating within the shield, the dragon put a claw on 
its chest and bowed, "I am Listar from the Sapphire Giants. May I 
ask for your name?"
	"Sapphire Giants?" Ranko asked, "Who are those?"
	Mireillia could barely stop smiling, "The Sapphire Giants are 
the mountains over there. It is told that a race of friendly 
Chromatic Dragons resides there, and now I see it is true..." she 
released the dragon from the shield, letting him extend his wings 
fully. Ranko was marveled by the sight of them, the dragon had 
at least a one-hundred feet-wingspan.
	"My name is Apeiron Mireillia Nix, Esper of the Nightmare," 
she said, "standing" in front of the dragon. He bowed again at 
her.
	"I am Ranma Saotome, but everyone calls me Ranko," the 
redhead snickered at Listar's confused look. "No, I'm not an 
Esper. Just a human."
	"A real human?" Listar also snickered, "Why, it's been a 
while since I saw a human that didn't turn into something else..." 
Ranko rolled her eyes, she _did_ turn into something else. 
"Anyway, what could two lovely ladies be doing here? I don't know 
how mighty you are, but just the two of you against Kefka?"
	"We were looking for help," Ranko said, "Our friends were 
captured by the Magenta Tritons, and we lost all our weapons 
and items."
	"That is the reason we were coming here," Mireillia added, 
"the Seraphic Crystal is exactly what we need."
	"What a coincidence," Listar said, "I was sent here to warn 
Seraphim about some demon that had become Kefka's ally.  His 
name is--"
	"We've heard of him," Ranko said, "Name starts with 'd' and 
ends with 'l,' right?"
	"How do you... Never mind. Anyway, I also came here to 
offer my help, since I heard Valran, Eliann and Mysei are 
gathering forces to oppose Kefka. It would seem I have met such 
forces," he smiled.
	"Mysei is also safe?" Mireillia was surprised. Well, there 
would be enough time to explain. Right now there were more 
pressing matters at hand. "So, I take it you can help us? Even 
after we use the Seraphic Crystal we will need help against the 
Tritons."
	"Of course," Listar said, swinging his tail in delight, "But I 
wonder what made the Tritons do that?" he wondered.
	"Let's go, then," Mireillia nodded, and they resumed their 
journey to the beacon.
	Back at Artanis...
	"That's right. Dysithal," SD-Ukyou said, seeing Arianne's 
reaction.
	"I knew it," SD-Akane said to herself. "Arianne, trust me. 
We're not spies, much less Kefka's. It's _that_ guy..." she pointed 
at the commander, "...who's the real spy."
	"I have had enough of this stupidity," he loomed over her. 
"Arianne, you certainly trust me, being your right-hand man for 
three years, more than some devious Doppleganger who 
impersonated your beloved sister so she could extract 
information from you. I am surprised she did not try to 
assassinate you while she had the chance."
	"You... you jerk!" SD-Akane smashed his foot with an SD-
mallet. He yelped in pain and punched her away.
	"Akane!" SD-Ranma leapt at the commander, "Kachuu Tenshin 
Amaguri-ken!" he shouted... and the Triton smashed him against 
the wall.
	"Stop!" Arianne yelled, aiming her Crimson Wind at the 
commander. "Listen my true commander would never take advantage 
upon weaker opponents. I have seen more that enough. You are 
the real impostor, and now you shall face the consequences! 
Magenta Tritons, seize him!"
	"Too bad, Arianne. I thought you were smart," the Triton 
smirked devilishly and lifted his palms, blasting every one if the 
corridor with his powerful Shadow magic.

			*	*	*

	"Wow..." Ranko was utterly speechless. The inside of 
Seraphim's home was as manificent as the Beacon's exterior, and 
yet there was deep humility in both the decor and layout. The 
cross-shaped house, each arm facing a cardinal direction, was 
large indeed: Listar was comfortably sitting on top of it and 
there was still room on the roof. There was a single column in 
the center, supporting the entire structure as there were no 
walls in the house, just large windows that allowed a perfect 
view of Esper World. Of course, being the tallest structure in 
the planet helped, one could even notice Esper World's curvature 
from this height.
	A few beds, probably for visitors. Endless bookshelves, 
filled to their max. Nightstands and coffee tables, each loaded 
with pictures (it seemed Seraphim had so many friends, there 
would be no more room for their pictures.) All these furnished 
the house of Esper World's favorite angel.
	"It's beautiful..." Ranko said, looking out the East window, 
as she drank a healing potion that Seraphim had left for herI it 
even had a note, "Sorry, but I can't be with you right now. I 
hope this potion helps you restore your strength." Outside, now 
that noon was approaching, the Sapphire Giants gleamed in the 
bright blue that earned their name. The only imperfection in the 
landscape was visible through the Souh window, from which the 
frightening form of the Black Wall was clearly discerned, as was 
also the deep, mold-green fog that surrounded it. For an 
instant, Ranko wondered why they couldn't just strike from this 
direct route, instead of having to go all the way to Kassir 
Canyon and lose so much precious time.
	"It's very dangerous to do so," Listar said, peeking his 
head through the window. Ranko eeked away from him. "Oh, I'm 
sorry to startle you. Sometimes I forget that not everyone 
knows that I can read other people's minds. Anyway, as I said 
it's dangerous to approach the Black Wall from any other route 
that isn't Kassir Canyon, and even that is nearly suicidal. See 
that fog? It's caused by Kefka eating a lot of chilli..." he 
snickered at Ranko's greenish look, she was covering her mouth 
in disgust. "Just kidding. That fog is really a thick magical 
shield produced by Tiamat. One sniff of it, and bang, you're dead. 
Some say it can even kill angels. However, the river that passes 
through Kassir Canyon is blessed. And when its water is 
evaporated, the steam is a perfect anti-poison. Since that fog 
shield covers a large area, you definitely need to be inside the 
canyon all the time. But if I'm not mistaken, you're supposed to 
leave the canyon when you're near Cat's Eye, correct?" Ranko 
nodded, "Then I figure we will need somebody with Water, Wind and 
Fire magic, so we can evaporate the water and make the steam 
follow us through the fog."
	"You really know a lot about this, don't you?"
	"Well, in the past, our race of dragons studied the history 
of other planets, yours included. When we studied Chaos' world, 
we learned that Tiamat can produce those clouds of poison gas 
at will. Being dragons ourselves, we decided to prepare for the 
time when she resurfaced. Too bad we didn't count on Kefka 
coming along."
	"Found it!" they turned to see Mireillia holding a wrapped 
package in her hand, "This is the Seraphic Crystal. Now we can 
go back to Artanis."
	"How's this going to help us?" Ranko took the package and 
unwrapped it, revealing a large crystal. She lifted it, trying to 
find how it worked, but nothing happened.
	"It shows the true heart and mind of any creature," 
Mireillia said, "It has the same effect as Mirror-Soul Lake, and 
if you looked at yourself through it you would probably see 
your Esper body. However, you can also use it to turn the 
creature's body into its real shape. For example, if your friend 
with the bandanna turned into a pig, you could use this to turn 
him back without need for hot water." Experimenting, Ranko put 
the Crystal in front of her and saw Mireillia through it. Even 
though she had turned human, she was shown as a Nightmare 
thanks to the Crystal. Turning around, she saw Listar through it 
and gasped, for he was really a handsome man with glistening 
blue hair.
	"True," he said, "I wasn't born a dragon. It was the Adder's 
magic what changed me from a human to a Blue dragon."
	"Let's get going," Mireillia said, as Ranko handed the 
crystal back to her. Satisfying a nagging curiosity, she looked 
at the redhead through the crystal.
	"What?" Ranko asked, seeing Mireillia was staring agape at 
her, even after having put down the crystal. Shrugging, Ranko 
headed for the open window and waited for Mireillia to come out 
of her stupor so she could morph into the Nightmare.
	"I..." Mireillia stammered, then looked through the crystal 
once more. "I must be losing my mind. Either that or this is the 
reason why Dysithal is after her," she thought, then shook her 
head and put the crystal in a pouch, giving it toRanko. Turning 
into the Nightmare, she waited until the human girl climbed on 
her back and leapt out the window, headed back for Artanis and 
followed by Listar.
	"Let's hurry," Ranko said, "Who knows what they're going 
through thanks to that bastard."

			*	*	*

	"So," the disembodied voice said, "Ifrit was wrong about his 
'Light Warriors.' They couldn't even defend themselves."
	"Correct, master," smirking, the commander bowed.
	"But you let two of them escape," Dysithal's voice showed 
slight annoyance. The triton panicked.
	"That was not of my responsibility, master. The guards 
hadn't placed the inhibitor collars on them."
	"Well, it doesn't matter. She can try to escape me as she 
pleases, but there will be one day when there is no more place 
to run."
	"You won't ever catch Zhaodi-chan!" SD-Yuannyan bellowed 
from within the cell.
	"In case you haven't noticed," SD-Akane added, "We have 
many angel friends. And when Phaeron-kun hears about what 
you're trying to do..."
	Dysithal's laughter resounded throughout Artanis, "Now 
_that_ was funny. 'Phaeron' doesn't even know who I am. Even if 
he did, he's not able to summon Cordis, and she's the only being 
who has ever been able to confront me. Do you really think that 
his 'rebirth' abilities will hep him? You underestimate the control 
you possess when you're a demon."
	"And _you_ underestimate _us_," SD-Ranma said, "We--"
	"...are just a bunch of miniaturized imbeciles," Dysithal 
finished. "Oh, wasn't that what you were about to say? I am 
_sooo_ sorry... By the way, thanks a lot, Arianne. I got a lot of 
laughs from your Es'dee magic. Or is it 'SD'?
	"I'm very sorry," the Triton captain said, feeling miserable.
	"Don't worry, Arianne;" SD-Akane said, "You're not 
responsible for this mess."
	"Just wait until we get out of here," Ryouga said, "There's 
not going to be much left of this two-bit demon when I'm through 
with him."
	"Come on," Dysithal said, mocking, "Can you leave just a 
little bit? No? Aww, too bad. And to think I was going to leave 
large chunks of you so I could feed the sharks." His laughter 
made the building tremble once more, but this time it came more 
hollow, chilling. All of them felt as if sharp, frozen-cold daggers 
were passing through their spine.
	"Brr..."
	"You okay?"
	"Yeah, I guess," Ranko said, "I can tell Dysithal is here."
	"The demon?" Listar could barely fit inside the large 
tunnel.
	"Can you continue?" Mireillia asked, "If you're so closely 
tied to your Guardian, it's very likely his very presence will 
harm you."
	She shook her head, "Just give me a minute..." she clenched 
her fists and closed her eyes, summoning an odd, pure white aura 
that surrounded her body. "Okay, I can take it now. Let's go find 
the relics and weapons."
	"Wait a second," Listar said, "If that crystal can show my 
inner self..."
	"That's right," Ranko recalled, "You won't be much help with 
your size here." She took the crystal from the pouch and placed 
it in front of her. She immediately saw his human shape, albeit 
without clothes. "Okay, so how does this work...?" she turned to 
Mireillia, but she just shrugged, she didn't know either. "Maybe 
it's like Magicite," Ranko thought, focusing her ki and magic in 
the crystal. With a flash of blue, the artifact emmited a small 
sphere of azure light around it , but then the sphere widened 
and shrank again, this time sending forth a shaft of light that 
hit Listar. He became suddenly smaller, his wings disappeared and 
his arms and legs became those of a human. When the 
transformation was finished, Listar, a human, was crouched on 
the stone floor, looking at himself with disbelief. Yes, he was a 
human, as he confirmed. About twenty-four, twenty-five years 
old, the same age as Arianne, and with shoulder-length clear 
blue hair.
	"Now that we have that finished," Ranko reminded them to 
hurry.
	"First you have to get some clothes," Mireillia was already 
headed for the armory.
	"Isn't there some way to change us back?" SD-Ukyou quietly 
asked to Arianne.
	"My Es'dee is reversible, but I have to take off this collar 
first," she replied, pointing at the inhibitor collar.
	"And in _our_ state, who'd need collars?" SD-Ryouga, bored, 
poked the wall with the Bakusai Tenketsu. It only shattered the 
stone slightly.
	"So, do you understand the orders?" Dysithal asked.
	"Yes, master. They shall all be disposed of, leaving only 
the girl Akane and the pigtailed boy alive, as bait." They were 
mildly startled by what the Triton said. When he arrived at the 
cell, broadaxe in hand, they took battle postures. SD-Ranma and 
SD-Ryouga protected SD-Akane, SD-Herb covered his fianc�e, 
while SD-Mint and SD-Lime stood by his flanks. SD-Mousse, 
without glasses, protected SD-Nadir, while SD-Ukyou and SD-
Shampoo stood close to SD-Ranma. Arianne and the other two 
tritons in the cell moved in, between the party and the 
commander.
	"This will be easy..." he hissed, brandishing the broadaxe 
over his head.
	"Electric Surge!" An electrifying jolt of power hit the 
weapon, frying the Triton. All SD characters recognized the 
voice.
	"Zhaodi-chan!" SD-Yuannyan clung to the barred door, 
beaming.
	"DUCK!"
	"Someone called?" SD-Mousse looked around before being 
pulled to the ground by SD-Shampoo. Everyone kneeled as a 
Single Hoof cleaved the bars of the cell. The door's remains fell 
outward, crushing the well-done commander.
	"Oniisan! Oneechan!" Ranko called, running to the cell. 
"Gaaah..." she gaaahed at the sight of them. After a minute of 
silent horror, she exclaimed...
	"Kawaii!" she picked up her brother and lifted him high up 
into the air.
	"Put me down, you baka!" he wiggled his arms and legs, 
annoyed.
	"What in the world?" Mireillia said as she retrieved the 
collars' control and deactivated them. Arianne and the other 
Tritons immediately ripped them off. Arianne rubbed her neck, the 
collar would leave a nasty mark. "Are you alright?" she heard a 
male voice ask. Surprised, she turned to the source and was left 
speechless. Listar felt the same. The armor-clad dragon warrior 
gazed into her hazel eyes, while the humbly-dressed captain 
became lost in the silver of his.
	"I wish I had a camera," Ranko snickered at all the SD 
people in front of her.
	"It _is_ quite amusing," Mireillia smiled at SD-Nadir, who 
blushed furiously in annoyance.
	"So, who's Ranma-_chan_ now, onii_chan_?" Ranko teased her 
brother.
	"Will you two snap out of it and change us back?" SD-Ukyou 
tugged at Arianne's vest.
	"Everone, meet normal version, and SD version," SD-Yuannyan 
stood next to her twin.
	"Did you find our stuff?" SD-Ranma asked.
	"Sure," Ranko took off the knapsack, "Everything's here, but 
I don't think you could use anything now."
	"We may be forgetting something here..." Mireillia pointed at 
the commander, who had nearly finished digging himself out of the 
metal bars.
	"You are dead, you redheaded bi--"
	"I said, don't talk like that to my sister," SD-Yuannyan 
calmly put her palm on his leg, draining him with the Gray Touch.
	"That was useless!" he punted her away, much to Ranko, 
Herb and Ranma's anger.
	"You asked for it, you bastard," Ranko calmly unsheathed 
the sword of the Saotomes. The Triton retrieved his broadaxe. 
"If you want to kill me, fine. But if you hurt Yuan-chan and my 
friends..."
	"Don't worry, I won't hurt them. Unlike yours, their death 
shall be swift and painless," without another word, he slashed at 
her. Ranko blocked the axe's handle with her katana, then slid 
her weapon upwards and caught it between the pole and the axe-
blade. With a strong heave, she flung the axe out of the Triton's 
hands, leaving him unarmed, but placing herself in a vulnerable 
position.
	"Tiger Shark!" he blasted her back into the cell, amid the 
enraged SD people.
	"Why you...!" Mireillia grabbed his outstretched hands and 
whipped him into the floor, then sent out a wave of Piercing 
Arrows. He barely rolled away as the shafts penetrated into the 
floor.
	"Ouch..." Ranko rubbed her head.
	"Did it hurt, little girl?" Dysithal's voice came to their 
ears once more. Even Listar and Arianne snapped out of it. 
Ranko stood up, smirking.
	"You can't hurt me anymore, you jerk. And you won't possess 
innocent people either!" she aimed the crystal at the triton. She 
was mildly surprised by what she saw, for the crystal showed 
the same triton, but with a gremlin-like red gargoyle clinging to 
his back and grabbing his head. It hissed once it realized it had 
been discovered. Concentrating, Ranko used the crystal on the 
gargoyle. A bright light covered all of the triton, but then the 
light above his head extended and removed the invisibility spell 
from the demon. The triton fell unconscious, but the gargoyle 
just opened its wings and flew around the room, too quickly for 
Mireillia to pierce it.
	"You fools!" the demon said, "By releasing me you only 
increased my power!" he landed and closed his wings around his 
body. Not even Mireillia's Arrows could penetrate the wings. 
Suddenly, the demon began to glow, and all of a sudden he had 
become at least seven feet tall. Strong bursts of energy shot 
randomly from his hands, his eyes burned with actual fire. All 
SD-affected people gulped at the giant.
	"Disrupt Crossbow!" Mireillia shot out. The demon just 
blocked with his wing and blew her away upon sweeping the 
leathery limb. Ranko dashed at him with the Chestnut fist, but 
the monster grabbed both of her wrists and began to apply 
pressure.
	"Feel any pain yet?" he asked, seeing her grimace.
	"Ha!" she grabbed _his_ wrists and arched her back, bringing 
her feet behind and over her head and kicking the demon's head 
like a scorpion using its sting. While he reeled from the blow, 
she brought her legs beneath her body and planted her feet on 
his gut, kicking away from him at the same time.
	"Damn," she muttered, feeling a couple dislocated bones in 
each wrist. SD-Akane and SD-Yuannyan quickly took her hands, 
releasing their cure magic.
	"In the meantime..." Listar cracked his knuckles, "It's been a 
while since I fought one of your kind as a human," he waited for 
the demon to face him.
	"Then it will be your last!" he sent out a powerful blast, a 
wide beam of energy that engulfed Listar and smashed through 
every single wall in its way. Mireillia and Nadir had to put up 
several aura shields to defend from it.
	"That... was a strong one..." Listar said, digging his 
battered form out of the smoldering rubble.
	"I have more if you like!" the demon blasted him away, but 
the beam was at least twice as large now.
	"Aigh... You're powerful, I give you that..." Listar dug 
himself out of the rubble again, this time avoiding the 
obscenely-strong blast. "But you have yet to meet a Blue 
Dragon! Lightning magic, I summon you! Dazer Bolt!"
	A flurry of lightning balls hit the demon from almost every 
angle, each with the power to light up Tokyo for one month. Used 
to this avenue of attack, Mireillia and Nadir simply covered the 
people with normal shields. When the attack ended, the demon was 
dizzy, wobbling to the sides. Shaking his head, he scowled at 
Listar and sent out another blast.
	"Where do you think you are, Dragon Ball Z?!" Nadir clenched 
his fist and aimed at the demon, releasing a column of light all 
of his own.
	"And just when we were proud of being near the Espers' 
level, too," SD-Ranma snorted.
	"Come on. It's easy for Espers to do this," Mireillia also 
joined her hands and shot out a giant beam of light. Ranko was 
suddenly very glad she had befriended Mireillia before she had 
used _that_ technique on her.
	"Waaah!" Arianne screamed, "You're wrecking the city! Stop 
at once!"
	"Make me!" the demon blasted her also. To everyone's 
amazement, she was only slightly injured. The years of living in 
Esper World had made her quite powerful in her own right.
	"Okay, I'll make you!" she closed her eyes, a quartet of 
star-like glimmers surrounding her head, "Fade!"
	"Urrggh!" suddenly the demon clutched himself, as if he were 
enduring a pain from within. He appeared to vanish for an 
instant, but he used all his strength to fight the spell. Breaking 
off of it, he spread his limbs outward and sent a hail of blasts 
upwards, all of which came down like a deadly rain. Mireillia and 
Nadir were blasted away, but managed to put up aura shields 
around the people. Listar simply blocked, which resulted in being 
blasted into a wall. Arianne was also flung away. Enraged, the 
demon dashed for her, his fists flaming. She couldn't stand up, 
much less defend herself. At the last moment, Listar blocked the 
punch with his own body. Taking the new target, the demon 
pounded him again and again.
	"Stop that!" Ranko yelled, fed up with this mindless strife, 
"White Touch-Light and Lightning-Moko Takabishya-BlueBird 
combination!!"
	"Are you insane?!?!" SD-Ranma stared at her wide-eyed.
	"If she's insane, so am I!" SD-Ryouga stood beside her, 
charging up a Shishihokodan.
	"Us too!" SD-Yuannyan and SD-Herb also joined them. 
Shrugging, SD-Ranma leapt to his sister's shoulders and stood on 
them, gathering energy.
	"BLUE TIGER'S ROAR BOLT!"
	"Wah!" was all the demon could say before being blasted out 
of the building...
	Out of the city...
	Through the ocean...
	Into the continental slope...
	And through miles of earth.
	"Hm?" Nodoka looked downwards, feeling a slight tremor 
beneath Valran. Since the tremor ceased a second later, she 
shrugged and ignored it.
	"Whoa..." everyone stared. Those who had sent the blast 
were completely burned to a crisp, their hair standing out from 
all the energy. They were still aiming their palms forward, eyes 
blank. After about ten minutes, SD-Ranma lost his balance and 
idly fell to the ground, toppling over SD-Ryouga and SD-Herb, 
and bringing down SD-Yuannyan also. Ranko blinked, showing signs 
of life.
	"R-Ranko-chan..." SD-Akane quietly approached her.
	"Are you okay?" Nadir asked.
	"Heh," she brushed her hair. "Nothing to it. Just remind me 
to never EVER do that again, okay...?" her voice faded as she 
crumbled to the ground.

			*	*	*

	About two hours later, once they had all recovered, (it was 
a good thing Artanis was properly stocked with healing potions,) 
the five redesigners of the Mega Smasher began to show life 
again. Except for Ranko, they were pleasantly surprised to find 
themselves in normal-sized bodies again, thanks to Arianne's 
anti-Es'dee spells. 
	"Oww..." Ranko groaned as he walked through the halls.
	"You brought it upon yourself, you know," Mireillia was still 
trying to contain her laughter,
	"I know. But I can't wait to show this to Phaeron-kun," she 
smirked.
	"That was nothing. Wait until you see the Phoenix Flare, 
and then you'll really see some fireworks."
	"So, here you are," Akane called, coming around a corner, 
"Did you get your stuff back?"
	"What does this tell you?" Mireillia aimed her arm to a 
wall, a blast from her armlet charring it slightly.
	"Well, then you better come with me. Arianne told me she 
would give us the Magicites and a few new items." Akane lead 
them back to Arianne's chamber. The troop was all there (isn't it 
always,) and they were also waiting for Arianne to come.
	"You baka," Ranma playfully smacked his sister's head, "Did 
you want to get us killed or something?"
	"You know, Zhaodi-chan, that blast reminded me of someone... 
If you catch my drift," Yuannyan winked at her twin, who 
nervously shushed her afterwards.
	"Sorry for the delay," Arianne said, walking into the room 
followed by Listar. "While you were in the cells, I examined your 
weapons and relics. I agree that they're very powerful, but I 
have something else to give you." She opened another door, 
motioning for them to go inside. It was a large armory, 
apparently the former property of the city's ruler.
	"Actually, I have enough with this..." Akane smirked 
mischievously with her Mjollnir. And since nobody had noticed the 
Safety Bit inside her clothes, she had forgotten about it 
herself.
	"Then you better make use of that Merit Award," Arianne 
showed her a vast collection of suits of armor, some designed 
especially for women. Smirking, Akane took a light body suit, 
which seemed to be her battle dougi's big brother. She 
immediately noticed its power.
	The rest of the people simply enhanced their possessions: 
Lime traded his steel claw for a glove with a dragon's claw; Mint 
left his scimitar, cursed by Terrato's blood, and took another 
instead; Yuannyan took a staff, with a bright white orb on top 
of it, but kept her mace. There was also a cleric's robe that 
caught her attention.
	"By the way," Arianne turned to her, "That bangle in your 
wrist is the Charm Bangle, right? I suggest you don't take it 
off, so you're not attacked by monsters in the field."
	 Herb didn't really need anything, so he remained the same 
except for the armor he took, which had the emblem of a dragon 
on the chest. Mousse would have been unable to move if he had 
taken another weapon; Shampoo, like Akane, took a light armor 
that matched her Amazon uniform. Ukyou, now that she had 
recovered her Genji Glove, could once again use both her spatula 
and the halberd, so she didn't need anything. Ryouga left his 
disks and took a single Full Moon, another disk but much larger. 
Nadir and Mireillia once more felt satisfied with their equipment. 
Ranko took a suit of armor nearly identical to the one Herb 
previously wore, with shoulderpads and a light, red mail over the 
torso. Ranma chose something similar as well, but was reluctant 
to leave the Kamaitachi. But weapons and armor weren't the only 
"prizes" that Arianne gave them, she also let them take the four 
Magicite rocks.
	"Oh, and take this, also," she gave Akane a scroll, "This 
contains everything there is to know about Es'dee, and how to 
use it. It would be very funny to use this on Kefka himself, 
right?" she smirked.
	"Okay, then. We'll met again, right?" Akane asked.
	"I hope so. Give Sharian a good one in the nose for me, 
okay?"
	"So, are you coming?" Ranko turned to Listar.
	"Uhh... Sorry. Guess I made so much damage I have to stay 
here and repair it. I'll try to catch up, though."
	And thus, escorted by Tritons, the party left the chamber 
and headed for the exit. Listar and Arianne were left alone in 
the room, remaining silent for a few instants. Turning briefly to 
Arianne, Listar smirked and slowly headed for the door.
	"Hey, wait..." he heard Arianne call. "I wanted to thank you... 
For protecting me."
	Listar smiled, "Don't mention it. It's a knight's duty to help 
others. You'll excuse me, but I have some repairs to attend to."
	Seeing him walk away, Arianne smirked and followed him, 
"Wait, I'll help you."

			*	*	*

	"So, what do we do now?" Ranma asked.
	"Maybe we should head for Poseidon's Trident," Nadir said. 
"That's the only place where we're sure to meet up with the 
rest, with Eliann in danger and the island teeming with dopplers. 
Besides, it's only a few dozen miles to the South. We'll arrive 
there soon."
	"But that means we'll have to cross the cayon during the 
night, then," Ranko noticed.
	"It will be very dangerous, I know. But the night will also 
hide our presence, since Kassir Canyon is very close to Cat's 
Eye."
	Shrugging, Ranko turned back. Behind her, on the Kirin's 
back, Akane was busy studying the scroll Arianne had given to 
her. Noticing her interest, Akane shared it with the redhead. The 
party was still flying over the sunken region of the continent, 
but instead of heading East, towards the Beacon, their direction 
was aimed for the Southwest. Just a few more miles, and they 
would reach the shore once more, and from there it would be 
Kassir's outlet, the Trident.
	It didn't take too long for them to reach the shore. Now, 
it would just be a few minutes and--
	"Well, what do you know..."
	They turned upwards, to the origin of the voice. It wasn't 
Eoris, but they recognized it nonetheless.
	"You might have escaped us back there, but you only 
postponed something inevitable..."
	"What, your defeat?" Ranma mocked. Falia's voice became 
quite annoyed by that comment.
	"Very funny, pigtailed boy. But not smart: it is very stupid 
to mock me, as now my little pets shall prove..."
	Falia didn't even show up, but she didn't need to as 
myriads of red gargoyles dropped from the clouds, each as 
strong as the demon that possessed the Triton commander. They 
all started releasing their shamelessly-large bolts at the party.
	"Man, can't these guys give us a break?" Ranko put her 
hand on her forehead.
	"Nadir, quick, let's land so we can fight them," Mireillia 
called.
	"Land?" Akane wondered why that was so important.
	"You probably noticed that, despite being Espers, we need 
to be standing on something solid in order to morph. On the 
other hand, you just have to eat a Green Cherry. Besides, it 
will be easier to fight from the ground."
	Taking her advice, Herb and Nadir headed downwards, 
avoiding the unceasing blasts. They landed on top of a cliff, the 
ocean raging below. The Espers and Herb quickly changed back and 
readied themselves.
	"We're ready for you this time!" one of the gargoyles 
bellowed. "Shadow magic, MUTE!"
	"Agh..." was the last sound they could make. Although the 
gargoyles themselves were affected by the spell, the humans 
would be unable to cast any spells because of it... Not that ki 
blasts were affected, though.
	"We have other ways to attack!" Ryouga thought as he used 
the power of his Atlas Armlet to rip off a large chunk of earth 
and fling it to the gargoyles, who effectively blasted it to 
dust. This was a perfect opportunity, though, for Nadir to use 
his bow and arrows.
	"Let's see you handle this!" he thought, summoning his bow 
and placing a fork-headed arrow on it. He shot it out, and the 
arrow cleaved one of the demons in two, making it disappear in a 
purple haze. Similarly, Mireillia leapt up and delivered a barrage 
of Multiple Hooves, slicing throuh several more gargoyles. 
Realizing they weren't _real_ living creatures, but magical 
creations instead, the rest unsheathed their weapons.
	"Who needs Wind magic, this thing still works!" Ranma 
thought as the Tempest sword sent out the Wind Shears with 
little effort.
	"Looks like our weapons _do_ work," Ranko saw her brother 
slashing through the hordes, then took her staff and noticed it 
was still charged with Lightning. Smirking, she thrust it upwards, 
charring the gargoyles above her with a lightning bolt.
	"That's it!" Akane also felt Mjollnir's power. Having an idea, 
she flung it straight at the demons. The stone hammer smashed 
into several of them, knocking them out of the sky. But this left 
her completey open for the attack. A gargoyle opened fire upon 
her using its strong blast.
	"AKANE!" Ranma thought. She could barely stand up after the 
attack, luckily the battlesuit had protected her well. But it 
wouldn't withstand the second blast about to be released. 
Suddenly, something came over Ranma. The True Knight puppet in 
his pocket began to glow silver. Guiding his actions, the puppet 
made Ranma dash towards Akane, shielding her from the blast with 
his own body.
	"Oww..." he thought, his wide eyes blinking as he was 
blackened to a crisp. "So, THAT's what it does," he thought, 
feeling the TK puppet returning to normal.
	"Ranma!" Akane would have called, but instead she silently 
saw him fall to the ground, knocked out. Enraged, she retrieved 
her Mjollnir and glared at the gargoyle, who smirked and ignored 
her.
	"Hah! No silly demon take Shampoo down!" the Amazon 
thought, using the Dragoon Boots astounding leaping power to 
ascend to the gargoyles' level, then slash at them with her 
sword. One of the monsters tried to take it away from her, but 
it was promptly turned to puree by repeated bonbori hits.
	"These are just pushovers," Mousse thought, easily catching 
many enemies with a single chain. Without warning, a gargoyle 
snuck up behind him, talons at the ready. "Dacho Kyaku!" Mousse 
thought again, slamming his heel into the demon's chest.
	It was quite easy for Herb to knock down the enemies with 
his snake-like blasts, although Lime and Mint were busy trying to 
defend themselves, lacking long-range attacks themselves. Seeing 
their plight, Yuannyan summoned the magic from her staff.
	"What the..." she thought, seeing a reddish-pink light 
emmanate from the staff's orb. "Ah!" she stared as it summoned a 
shower of star-like glimmers from the sky, like stardust. The 
glimmers hit several of the gargoyles, making them vanish.
	"Let's see you demons handle this!" Ukyou thought as she 
darted several spatulas at the gargoyles, then used the 
distraction to leap up and slash at them with both her spatula 
and halberd. Thanks to Terrato's blood in the crescent blade of 
the latter, most of the enemies were vanquished instantly.
	"Hey, over here!" Akane thought as she sent Mjollnir 
towards the gargoyle that had attacked her earlier. It twisted 
to avoid the attack, then stupidly grabbed the hammer. Lightning 
energy coursed through its body before it released the weapon 
and flung it straight into the ground, leaving Akane unarmed. 
Licking its lips in delight, the gargoyle took a potion from a 
pouch it had carried: a dispel potion. Suddenly every bit of 
magic power it had returned to its body, once the potion undid 
the Mute spell.
	"Ho, ho... You're dead now, little girl!" it brought its hands 
upwards, "Stare into the eyes of... Doom spell!"
	Akane lifted her arms, defending, as the exact image of the 
Grim Reaper surrounded her body, cackling, then the specter rose 
into the air and vanished. Blinking, both the gargoyle and Akane 
were completely surprised to find she was still quite alive. 
Unnoticed, the Safety Bit she carried ceased glowing, it had 
absorbed all of the magic.
	"Oneechan!" Ranko thought when she saw the Grim Reaper 
surround her, but took advantage of the gargoyle staring in 
disbelief and the redhead dashed towards Ryouga. "What?" he 
thought, seeing her making gestures with her hands. "Throw you 
towards that thing?" he stared at her, confused. Seeing her 
insist, Ryouga swallowed hard and put his hands together as a 
stirrup. She stood on his palms, grasping her staff. He reared 
back, she crouched, and, gaining momentum like a discus thrower, 
Ryouga flung her like a cannonball straight at the monster. 
Ranko spun as she sped towards it, then uncurled herself and 
thrust her staff straight into the monster's chest, releasing a 
jolt of electricity at the same time. The gargoyle shrieked in 
pain, but the attack hadn't been strong enough. Before Ranko had 
a chance to land, it swooped down to clutch her neck. Shampoo 
and Herb immediately leapt (or flew) towards them, weapons ready. 
Two more gargoyles knocked them back down. Ryouga was about to 
cleave the monster with his Full Moon when...
	"Ultimate Fire Magic!"
	Even the gargoyles were surprised by the voice. Ranko and 
Mireillia were suddenly overcome with great relief.
	"RED SUN DESCENT!!"
	A gigantic ball of pure fire engulfed the region, identical 
to a red giant star. All the gargoyles fell, burned to ashes, 
while the humans remained unscathed. The cliff was blasted into 
a crater, about five miles wide and two and a half deep. The 
water from the ocean surged into this depression. Every human 
fell, the Espers barely had time to morph. Akane summoned her 
hammer in mid-fall, it was a miracle Mjollnir had survived. 
Mireillia was about to catch Ranko from falling when a large 
bird-like blur swooped down beneath her and carried her upwards. 
The remainder of the humans was also caught. Opening her eyes, 
Ranko felt something soft, feathery, beneath her.
	"Phaeron-kun!" she thought, overjoyed.
	"You okay, Ranko-chan?" the Phoenix asked, noticing the 
reddish marks on her neck. She nodded, but pointed at her mouth 
and shook her head.
	"A Mute spell," the Pegasus behind them said. "Let's land so 
we can cure them.
	"What the..." Akane saw the bandages on every Esper's back. 
No matter. They were all safe, and most important, together. 
There would be time to ask questions later.


The gauntlet

	"You're safe!" Phaeron, now human, took Ranko's shoulders, a 
broad smile on his face.
	"Hey, that's my line," she replied, smiling back, "We thought 
the dopplers had killed you."
	"Us?" Crystallus blinked, "We thought _you_ had all 
perished."
	"How come?" Akane turned away from preparing the meal.
	"When we came back to the island..." Andellia said, as she 
finished casting her Dispel Magic spell on the last of the 
people, "we were greeted by Geriot, the Fiend of Earth."
	"We know him. Go on," Ranma said.
	"Well, we also found a dead body there," Terion shuddered, 
"And it looked just like Akane."
	"It must have been one of the Dopplers," Ryouga said, "They 
impersonated many of our friends."
	"Yes, we realized it had to be a doppler," Andellia said, 
"Because we went to Eliann afterwards. By the way, nice handling 
of Terrato. Anyway, we found Starlet, Ifrit..."
	"And you probably met my brother, Palidor," Phaeron said.
	"You mean they're alright?" Akane asked.
	"They were pretty badly shaken, after all they had to call 
one of the Five Guardians, but yes, they're fine," Phaeron 
smirked.
	"Another Guardian?" Ranko asked, recalling that Bryna had 
come to their rescue. "Who was it?"
	"It was Etheldred, I think," Phaeron said, "There wasn't 
anything left of Terrato, and I mean it. But when we heard about 
Dysi-- about you-know-who..." he turned to Ranko, "Well, we were 
very worried."
	"So, you're familiar with him?" Ryouga asked.
	Phaeron shuddered mightily, "Yes, I am. But I don't want to 
upset Ranko-chan..."
	"Don't worry," she dismissed with her hand, "'Somebody' 
helped me resist his presence, if you know what I mean..."
	"But what happened to you?" Akane asked, seeing that all 
the Espers still had bandages on their back, regardless of the 
shape they were in.
	"We were also attacked by Dopplers," Coldfire finally spoke. 
He seemed to be very pissed by some reason, "They disguised 
themselves as you, then stabbed us in the back when we least 
expected it."
	"And how did you...?" Ranko inquired.
	Phaeron smiled, "Ah, we owe that to Coldfire, right?" he 
patted his double's back.
	"That's right," Crystallus said, "When the Dopplers attacked, 
Coldfire quickly burned me and Phaeron to ashes, knowing we 
would be reborn from them. The Dopplers that were riding us 
were also burned, but they died immediately. Then the both of us 
knocked the rest of the creatures into the ocean, and we used 
Water magic to freeze them solid and break them."
	"But that doesn't avoid the fact that we were fatally 
injured," Terion said, "Sure, the phoeni can take any kind of 
injury and bounce back without a scratch, but what about 
Andellia and I? Plus, the daggers used by the dopplers were 
magic. Even when the phoeni were reborn the injuries remained 
there. We were truly lucky Starlet could use Andellia's staff to 
restore us, but we still weren't fully recovered."
	"Look at this," Coldfire turned around and morphed, then 
carefully took off the bandages. The humans grimaced at the 
sight of the wound, which was still rather raw.
	"Ouch," Nadir winced.
	"Are you okay, Phaeron?" Mireillia asked.
	"I'd rather not show it," he said, thinking about the wound 
on his back.
	"Don't worry," Ranko pulled up her sleeves and stood behind 
him, "We've been up to lots of things too, I'll fix you up in no 
time. Right, Mirei-chan?" she asked. Mireillia snickered, but 
Phaeron nearly choked.
	"How... did you call her?"
	"Mirei-chan. So what?"
	"You don't look very well, Phaeron," Mireillia said.
	"I can't believe it..." he stammered, absent-mindedly taking 
off his armor and removing the bandages. Ranko just put her 
hands on his shoulders, releasing a soothing cure spell, and 
winked at Mireillia. Both girls were amused by Phaeron's reaction, 
the last time he saw them they were still enemies.
	"You really have to tell me what happened, you know," he 
said to both of them.
	"Okay, dinner's ready," Akane said cheerfully. Nearly 
everyone collapsed in shock.

			*	*	*

	Night had fallen, the moonlight reflecting on the ocean and 
giving the landscape a dark blue hue. Silently, the troop was 
flying over the seashore, closer and closer to the Trident. 
Mireillia was flying alongside Phaeron, and Ranko was smiling as 
she rode him despite the lack of a saddle. The rest had taken 
the same "seats" as before, much to Nadir's dissapointment.
	"So that's it," Phoenix smirked, "It's good to see you 
getting along."
	"Tell me about it," Ranko said, "I lose an enemy and gain a 
friend. I like those trade-offs."
	"From what I saw about your Blue Tiger's Roar, I'm pretty 
glad you're my friend as well," Mireillia said.
	"Yes, everyone is improving, right?" Phoenix asked, "Very 
few people know how to use Luminaire and..." he laughed to 
himself for an instant, "...and Es'dee magic."
	"And now we're going to enter the canyon, right?" Ranma 
asked. Andellia nodded, "First we have to cross Poseidon's 
Trident. If we can pass that, Kassir Canyon will be child's play."
	"Why?" Akane asked.
	"Because the Trident is nearly always shrouded in thick 
mist. It has three entrances, or more like there are two large 
islands right in front of Kassir's outlet. But they're large and 
tall, like spires, and each is as large as Valran itself. Not only 
do we have to avoid crashing into the walls of the Trident, but 
we must also be cautious. Nobody knows for sure where it is, 
but there is a horrendous monster residing right after the 
Trident. Legends say it is like a woman, but has twelve heads, 
each supported by a _long_, snake-like neck. It preys upon those 
who enter the Trident, and if they're lucky enough to cross it 
unscathed, she comes down and devours the travelers immediately 
after they come out of the mist."
	"Why doesn't she attack sooner?"
	"She can't see very well through the mist either," Andellia 
explained, "she would see us coming into the Trident, but would 
have to wait until we came out the other side."
	"And how strong is this monster?" Ryouga happened to 
overhear the conversation.
	"Very. But its real strength lies in surprise. No matter 
how well prepared you are to meet her, Scylla would find a way 
to get the drop on you, biting you with those sharp fangs and 
carrying you back to her lair. Her speed is also like lightning, 
which only makes her more dangerous."
	"Heads up, people," Nadir called, "We're two minutes away 
from the Trident's Northernmost entrance."
	"Why do we always get out of a battle to fall into another 
one?" Ranma frowned.
	"Blame Kefka, he loves to do this," Terion said.
	"Well, then..." Phaeron nodded to Crystallus, who fell back 
and started herding the other Espers into a single file. With the 
Phoenix at the vanguard, the formation would be: Phoenix-
Nightmare-Kirin-Dragon-Unicorn-Pegasus-Crystallus-Coldfire.
	"Ranko-chan, listen very carefully," Phoenix said, "Since 
we're in the lead, we have to show the others the safest path. 
Now, I need you to do this. Take off your belt and put it under 
my neck, then tie your ankles with it. That's so you don't fall 
off. Then, make a small ki sphere in your hands and lift it over 
your head. Make it very bright so the others can see it." He 
raised the volume of his voice, "Mireillia, do you hear me back 
there? Try to make a Shadow magic field over us so Scylla 
doesn't see us." He lowered his tone, " Ready?"
	"Don't worry, Phaeron-kun. I have Light magic, remember?"
	"Okay, get ready..." Ranko followed Phaeron's instructions. 
The mist around them was beginning to become thicker and 
thicker. She could barely see the Phoenix she was riding. 
Following the other Espers' instructions, and with Ranko's 
example, Yuannyan and Ranma also made bright ki spheres over 
their heads. Akane would have followed, but despite her growing 
magic she still didn't know how to use ki. Mireillia and Coldfire 
projected an aura of darkness over the group, trying to remain 
hidden from Scylla's twenty-four eyes.
	"Okay, hold on," Phoenix said. "This will be tough."
	They went into the Trident. From her point of view, Ranko 
only saw the dense mist, colored blue by the moonlight. 
Everything was submerged in silence, not even the flapping of 
wings could be heard. The only thing that made a low humming 
sound was the light sphere she was holding, like a barely-
audible, soft whistle. He looked down towards Phoenix' face: his 
eyes were glowing bright yellow. When she turned back to the 
Nightmare, she noticed her eyes were the same as Phoenix'.
	A few moments passed like this, just a silent flight amid 
the thickest of fogs. It was kind of relaxing, she thought, and 
considering the hour she would have become sleepy already. But 
suddenly, she was nearly thrown off balance as Phoenix quickly 
swerved to his left. Ranko saw a large rocky spire jutting out 
to their right. Then he moved downwards, avoiding another 
protrusion. Soon the rock formations became more and more 
irregular, Phoenix had to weave among them just tenths of a 
second before crashing into them. With the fact that the 
protrusions appeared just a few meters before they reached 
them, it was amazing that Herb, not having the sight --nor the 
small size-- of Espers could pass through this gauntlet.
	Suddenly she heard a terrifying, ear-piercing scream from 
above. Ranko immediately looked up, as did most of the humans. 
The Espers braced themselves.
	"Scylla has spotted us," Mireillia said.
	"Ranko-chan..." Phoenix started, "Hold on!!" he suddenly shot 
at top speed through the misty corridor, covering himself and 
Ranko with his Comet Flare aura. The rock formations whizzed 
past them from all directions, with the Espers dropping, climbing 
or moving sideways frantically. Herb was fully focused on 
folowing the light in front of him, even though he sometimes had 
to squeeze among the rocks. Ranko looked at Phoenix again: he 
was sweating profusely now, completely concentrated on finding 
the way through the Trident.
	At the same time, above the canyon, the twelve-headed 
monster Scylla saw the three glowing lights, plus a few Espers' 
distinctive auras, speeding through the passage. Each of her 
heads licked its lips, and she came out of her cave. 
	Despite the speed, Ranko started seeing many odd things in 
the rocks. Rags, shreds of clothes, weapons and armor... And the 
remains of living creatures, now just brittle bones or bits of 
flesh. So this was Scylla's doing, then. But how would they 
defend against an enemy that would surprise them no matter the 
precautions?
	"I have an idea," Ranma thought, but then was surprised. It 
was almost as if he had heard his sister's thoughts. Shrugging, 
he recalled that Scylla wouldn't see them through the mist, which 
meant she would have to rely on other senses to find them.
	"Mireillia!" he called, using his Wind magic to send his voice 
farther. "I don't know if you hear me, but if you do then listen! 
Forget that Shadow field above us and try to create an illusion 
of all of us in its place! You too, Coldfire! And everyone, try to 
hide your presence the best way you can! That's how we'll evade 
Scylla!"
	"I heard you," Mireillia thought, and realized what he 
intended to do. She immediately changed the Shadow field over 
them into an illusionary image of the party, with Coldfire 
following the example. Hoping the two Espers behind him would be 
able to follow them, Ranma recalled his ki ball and used his Wind 
magic to raise the party's scent up to the illusion.
	Scylla hissed in delight. She could smell their delicious 
flesh now! In fact, the blurs below had risen in level, which 
meant she would capture them with greater ease!
	Phoenix sighed in relief, "Okay, we're out of the Trident."
	"Are you alright?" Ranko asked.
	"Yeah, mostly. But now we'll face Scylla. Get ready, Ranko-
chan. This might be even worse than Terrato."
	"Don't worry, Phaeorn-kun. Look at this..." she took her 
staff from hyperspace. He looked back at her, smiling broadly at 
the gift. She giggled, "I knew you'd like this. Too bad you can't 
use it in this shape."
	"Then I guess I'll have to change back," he smirked. The 
mist was parting around them at this point, she didn't have to 
use her Light magic anymore. But then Scylla would attack soon. 
"Okay, we're almost out..." Phoenix slowed down, followed by the 
Espers, "Esper Blitz number 8, everyone! Let's teach Scylla not 
to interfere with us!"
	On cue, all of them swooped down to the bottom of the 
canyon just as the mist disappeared. With twelve shrieks, Scylla 
lunged for the illusions, nearly crushing her own teeth as the 
jaws closed upon thin air. Enraged, she leapt down to the 
Espers' level, screaming.
	"Ryouga, go! Make a foothold for us!"
	"Right!" he said, aiming his hands at the bottom of the 
canyon, "Earth Crush!" The ball of dirt splashed into the river 
below, then bounced up and expanded, creating a makeshift 
platform between the cayon's walls. They landed on top of it and 
waited for Scylla to come down.
	"This is gonna get bloody..." Ranko thought, but one look at 
the water below gave her an idea. She smirked mischievously as 
she ran to her brother.
	"Are you sure?" he asked, shuddering. "You _are_ crazy, you 
know..." he said, the siblings running towards Ukyou.
	"Ranchan, are you sure about this?" she asked. Both of 
them nodded, and took off their belts to cover their eyes with 
them. Ukyou whispered something to both Akane and Phaeron.
	"Wha..?!" was their reaction. Scylla was twenty feet above 
them now.
	"Crystal Dome!" Phaeron summoned his shield, covering 
everyone but the Saotome siblings, Ukyou and Shampoo.
	"Phaeron, what are you doing?!" Nadir protested.
	"Trust me, you'll be glad I'm doing this..."
	Scylla landed on the shield. She was a real monster, a mass 
of flesh with twelve necks sprouting from it. While half of the 
heads tried to penetrate the shield, the rest shrieked towards 
the foursome.
	"Moko Takabishya!" Ranma and Ranko blasted them away while 
Shampoo leapt over them, "Ucchan, NOW!"
	"Kassir river, I summon you! Flow to the sky!" Ukyou lifted 
her hands, her body glowing with Water magic. A large water 
spout came upwards, following her commands. She pointed at 
Shampoo, the water obeyed.
	"Aiyaaa! What crazy girl doing now?!" the Amazon was hit by 
the water: instant CAT.
	"Go, Ranchan!" Ukyou removed the belts from their eyes. 
Shampoo-neko was the first thing they saw.
	"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! A CAT!!!!!"
	"Myew!" Shampoo was suddenly encased in another aura 
sphere, protected by Phaeron. Cursing himself for doing this to 
Ranko, he sent Shampoo towards the aellurophobic pair. While 
Ukyou managed to dash into the crystal dome, they ran all over 
the platform, chased by the sphere that contained Shampoo. Not 
even Scylla's heads were fast enough to catch either of them. 
Suddenly, they both ran into the canyon's wall, the sphere right 
over them. Scylla tried to catch them, but Nadir's arrows made 
her regret the idea.
	"Meow...?" Ranma asked.
	"Myeow...?" Ranko followed.
	"Ah!" Akane stared at them. "It worked!"
	"I'm sorry, Ranko-chan," Phaeron cursed himself again.
	"Meow..." Ranma and Ranko got up on all fours, assuming a 
feline fighting stance.
	"What the heck did you do to her, you bastard?!" Nadir 
pulled Phaeron by the collar.
	"What's with them?" Mireillia didn't remember anything like 
this from the information she extracted about those two. 
Unless...
	"Rowr!" the siblings pounced at Scylla, Neko-ken mode 
engaged.
	"Yow!" Nadir had to release Phaeron as a massive fight 
erupted on top of the shield. Blasts of light, fire and lightning 
shot out from the cloud of dust. Phaeron quickly called 
Shampoo's sphere and absorbed it into his dome. As before, Ukyou 
and Akane made hot water to change her back.
	"Yowr!" Ranma was suddenly batted away by one of Scylla's 
necks. Concerned about her brother, Ranko was distracted long 
enough for one of the heads to fire off a large bolt from her 
mouth. An invisible barrier defended her, rebounding the blast 
back at Scylla. The Wall Ring ceased glowing as Ranko hissed and 
arched her back. Ranma, next to her, reacted in the same way. 
Both began glowing.
	"Uh-oh..." Phaeron gulped.
	"Cat-fist mixed with magic..." Akane didn't dare watch.
	"Kaboom," was Coldfire's accurate remark.
	"YOWRR!!" the siblings, one covered in fire and wind 
currents, the other crackling with electricity, lunged for Scylla. 
Phaeron increased the power of his shield by a tenfold...
	"Whoaa..." Arianne grabbed hold of Listar's arm to keep her 
balance. It seemed a large earthquake had shaken an area to the 
South.
	"You know, I don't think having Ranchan use the Cat-fist 
was such a hot idea..." Ukyou said, examining the LARGE crater 
left by the Fire-Wind-Lightning-Light-Double Cat Fist attack. It 
was as large as the one left by the Red Sun Descent, most of 
the mist from the Trident had cleared because of it.
	And Scylla, you ask? She was now orbiting Esper World, and 
would probably come back down once she regained consciousness, 
say, two days later. Phaeron, on the other hand, was shaking 
from the effort of holding the crystal shield around them.
	"Are you sure they're not Espers?" Andellia and Terion 
turned to Akane.
	"I am VERY glad I didn't try to use cats as her weakness in 
our fights," Mireillia said.
	"Zhaodi-chan and oniisan are very weird," Yuannyan smirked.
	"Ranma! Ranko-chan! Enough!" Akane called. Phaeron collapsed 
on his stomach after recalling the shield. When the smoke 
settled, the siblings were peacefully licking their paws-- I mean, 
hands, and cleaned their heads with them. Standing, they rubbed 
their heads against each other and purred, then heard Akane 
calling once more. Meowing happily, they leapt towards her. Ranma 
landed on her lap, purring, but Ranko just rubbed her head 
against her shoulder, purring also.
	"I get it..." Nadir thought, "They calm down at seeing 
someone they like..." smirking, he took out a blunt-headed arrow 
and swung it on his fingers, luring Ranko to play with it. She 
completely ignored it and rubbed her head against Phaeron, 
sitting next to him and licking his hand, before lying down on his 
back.
	"Ranko-chan..." Akane smiled at her.
	"Okay, you two. Time to snap out of it," Ukyou summoned the 
river (what was left of it) once more.
	"Hey! Ukyou!" Akane protested when she was doused with the 
water. Ranma was washed off her lap and sat up on the dirt, 
blinking.
	"Wah! Cold!" Phaeron splurted out once the water awoke him. 
Sitting on his back, Ranko stared forward in confusion.
	"What happened...?" both asked at the same time. Ranko 
realized where she was sitting and hurriedly scampered to the 
ground, blushing.
	"Let's hope Kefka didn't see that," Mireillia said, turning 
into the Nightmare. Trying to pretend nothing had happened, they 
resumed their journey.
	"You are one crazy girl, you know that?" Phoenix asked, 
shuddering after having witnessed the Cat-Fist personally.
	"Hey, we can't afford to waste time fighting every single 
creature we meet, right?"


An angel's wrath?!

	It was past midnight when they reached their destination. 
It was a place where Kassir canyon passed five miles away from 
Cat's Eye, the closest distance possible. Ever since penetrating 
the fog barrier, they had to fly at a very low altitude, while 
Phoenix used his Fire magic to evaporate some of the water. But 
now they would have to leave the canyon, and face the Dead 
Wall.
	"All right," Mireillia said, "You're Ukyou, right? Try to use 
your Water magic to control the steam. Ranma, use Wind to make 
the steam follow us upward. We'll evaporate the water now."
	"We'll have to be fast," Andellia said, "Not even the steam 
from Kassir's river will be able to shield us from Tiamat's 
poison gas for long."
	Concentrating their Fire magic on the river, Phoenix and 
the Nightmare evaporated its surface, as before. As the troop 
rose, Ranma lifted his hands, creating a sphere of solid wind 
that encased all of them and the steam. Ukyou, meanwhile, kept 
the steam at the precise temperature so it wouldn't become 
liquid again.
	"Here goes," Akane said as their sphere reached the fog. 
Using his own Wind, Mousse caused the gas to part, revealing the 
solid black barrier in front of them. It was too steep to climb 
over, though.
	"No need to worry," Herb said, "We can either fly over it 
or climb it in the same way we climbed Mount Hourai." Lime and 
Mint slumped down in anticipated exhaustion.
	"Yeah right. We'll see you in the afterlife, then," Nadir 
said. "The Dead Wall isn't something that can be passed over. 
When Kefka built it, the mountain range around Cat's Eye grew 
upwards, shaping a hollow cone. The peak of such cone is a few 
miles below the exosphere of Esper World."
	"A hollow cone?" Akane repeated, "Then that means it's 
completely dark in there!"
	"Exactly, my little princess," Nadir said, annoying them, 
"Well, maybe not completely. Kefka's fortress probably sheds some 
kind of light, but my guess is that it's an eternal night in 
there."
	"But Cat's Eye will return to normal after we get rid of 
Kefka, right?" Phaeron asked.
	"I think so, yes. What I want to know is how he plans to 
get the Lavos to break through this thing. Then again, it might 
be just our luck that the Lavos is even stronger than Kefka."
	"Which, according to Arianne, is true," Akane thought.
	"Well, there's no point in waiting out here," Coldfire said.
	"He's right," Crystallus said, "We have to find a way to 
penetrate this barrier."
	"Okay," Phaeron morphed back into a human and analized the 
wall. "Now, we need for all the humans to stand back, I'm afraid 
we Espers will have to use nearly full power on this."
	"Right.," Mireillia said, "Ranko, you and Herb have to make 
the strongest shield you have ever created. Maybe somebody with 
Silver can help you. We'll take care of the wall."
	"I'll help you with the shield," Crystallus said, then turned 
into the Crystal Armor and covered Ranko.
	"Wait a sec," Yuannyan said. She and Herb nodded to each 
other, and the dragon prince retrieved a dark crystal from his 
clothes. Holding it over his head, the crystal emitted a bright 
beam upwards into the sky. "Okay, we're done. Go on."
	"Let's go," Phaeron said, covering all the Espers with his 
golden aura in order to protect them from the poison. Stepping 
out of the sphere, they floated in front of the wall, gathering 
energy.
	"Ready?" Herb asked. Ranko, Akane, Yuannyan and Shampoo 
nodded. "Moon Shield!" they summoned, a large sphere of silver 
energy covering Ranma's wind ball.
	Meanwhile, the Espers were practically made of pure energy 
by now. The Four Birds of Fire were surrounding Phaeron's head, 
and a fifth one, the Lightbird, slowly appeared in front of him. 
Gradually, the auras shaped like their respective Esper forms (a 
flaming phoenix, a giant nightmare, a kirin, a ghostly phoenix, a 
pegasus and an unicorn,) surrounded them. When they opened their 
eyes, a single glowing spot appeared on the wall.
	"Esper Blitz Final Attack!" they all shouted, "Meta-Ultima 
Strike!"
	"What?!" the humans heard the summon. Those who had seen 
Phaeron use Ultima were shocked.
	A blast of Ultima, about six times larger than the one that 
destroyed Star-Peak Mountain, grew along the surface of the 
Dead Wall. It engulfed the Espers and the Moon Shield, then 
dissipated much of the fog around Cat's Eye. A black shadow, like 
a wolf, contrasting with the moonlight, looked down at the blast. 
Nevertheless, when the flash of light announced the end of the 
Ultima spell, the Black Wall wasn't even scratched.
	"It... It's impossible..." Mireillia stammered.
	"Nothing, and I mean _nothing_, can withstand a multiple 
Ultima attack!" Nadir argued.
	"Well, something just did," Coldfire noted, "Kefka really knew 
what he was doing when he built this."
	"This wasn't Kefka's doing..." came the voice. The humans 
relaxed their shield when they realized who it was.
	"Nice seeing you again, Seraphim," Akane said. "We really 
need help this time."
	"How could this thing endure a six-way Ultima strike?" 
Phaeron asked.
	"It's because this 'thing' was not created by Kefka's magic," 
Seraphim said, putting her hand on the Wall's surface. The place 
she touched turned back to normal stone.
	"You mean...?"
	"Yes," she turned to face them, "It was _him_ who built 
this. That's why only an angel can affect it."
	"Are you sure not even our Planetary Crush techniques 
work on this?" Terion asked. The humans shuddered at the 
thought that Espers could destroy a planet.
	"Oh, there's no need for alarm," Andellia noticed their 
reaction, "The Planetary Crush techniques require at least one 
hundred Espers. Our strongest individual attack couldn't do more 
than destroy a small moon."
	"Anyway, I can help you get to Cat's Eye," Seraphim said. 
The sillouhette above them growled at her. "Just stand back. I'll 
make a corridor through this in no time."
	As the Espers stepped back inside the wind sphere, 
Seraphim closed her eyes and joined her palms, praying. A bright 
golden glow surrounded her, her halo became intensely bright. 
Opening her eyes, she said, "Thank you," and spread her four 
wings. Aiming her right hand at the wall, the glow around her 
converged in her palm and a mighty beam of angelical power was 
sent forward, already blasting a hole through the Dead Wall.
	"Amazing," Ryouga said, noticing the ease with which an 
angel performed something that six Espers couldn't do.
	"Seraphim..." Ranko called, "Do you know about Dysithal?"
	Seraphim sighed, lowering her face, "Brother Dysithal... He 
used to be one of us. Why he became dark I don't know."
	"Wonderful," Coldfire said.
	"But why does he want to kill Ranko-chan?" Phaeron asked. 
Even though he knew everything about Cordis, he still didn't know 
why Dysithal was after her prot�g�e.
	"Brother Dysithal was very closely related to sister 
Cordis. As a matter of fact, they were--" She was interrupted 
as a loud howl came from above. Even the angel shivered as it 
reminded her of something.
	"But how can we face him?" Ranma asked, "If that guy is as 
strong as you, and you are more powerful than six Espers put 
together..."
	Seraphim smiled at him, "Don't worry. Sister Cordis will 
never allow him to achieve his goal, even in her current state."
	"Her current state?" Akane wondered, turning to Ranko.
	"I hope you're right, miss Brillan," Andellia said.
	"Please, don't call me that anymore. I may be an angel but I 
am equal to all of you," she smiled kindly.
	"All right, Seraphim," Coldfire said, "But that Cordis better 
take care of Dysithal. We already have enough trouble dealing 
with Kefka, the Lavos, the Four Fiends, Tiamat, Fenrir--"
	"F-Fenrir...?" suddenly Seraphim was startled. A frightened 
look appeared on her face, even her energy blast lost its focus 
and weaved an irregular trajectory through the rock.
	"Seraphim?" Phaeron saw her reaction at hearing Fenrir's 
name.
	"I...I'm fine," she said, although her voice betrayed her, "I'm 
done. Hurry up, get inside the tunnel. I--" once more, a loud 
howl came from above. But it was closer this time. Seraphim 
turned upwards, a look of anger in her face. "Hurry!" she said. 
Heeding the advice, the troop quickly entered the tunnel, 
confused at Seraphim's behavior.
	"Fenrir..." she thought, recalling a great pain from over a 
thousand years in the past. "Fenrir..." she said, tears escaping 
her eyes, as she went into the tunnel.
	"Seraphim-chan, what's the matter?" Ranko asked.
	"It's... nothing. Please, hurry up," she said, extending her 
wings as if to shield them from something.
	"Why, if it isn't the little Laris Brillan..."
	They all turned to the entrance of the tunnel except for 
Seraphim. Before them was a massive gray wolf, about the size 
of a rhinoceros, with eyes of fire. Phaeron and Andellia 
recognized him instantly.
	"You!" Phaeron's gold aura covered him in a flash.
	"Murderer!" Terion never saw Andellia so upset.
	"And what's this? The so-called Phoenix and Laris' winged 
friend," Fenrir rolled his upper lip in rage, "And thou also bring 
friends... How impudent indeed."
	"Who are you?" Ranma called.
	"Thy ignorance surprises me. Thy stupidity astounds me. Thy 
idiocy mocks me... For I am thine bane, and Ragnarok is near. 
Fenrir wilt now delight upon thine deaths."
	"You don't scare us, wolvie," Nadir said, "We already 
defeated your brother, Terrato. Another demon of your kind won't 
be much trouble."
	"Is that thine opinion? Very well. Thy death shalt be slow 
and painful, as my brother's deliverance upon the Adder. Behold, 
puny Esper, the glory of the Wolf of Ragnarok!"
	"Hold," Seraphim turned to face him just as Fenrir prepared 
to pounce. "Fenrir, leave them be. Touch one of their hairs and 
you'll answer to me."
	"Thou?" Fenrir laughed, "Thou could not save Odin and his 
queen from me, how wilt thou be able to hold me now?"
	Seraphim was angered further by the comment, "You know 
very well what I swore upon witnessing the results of your 
murder."
	"Yes, I know. But thou art foolish indeed if thou expect to 
keep me from destroying these humans and their friends. Now, 
stand aside, Laris Brillan, or I wilt crush thine head between my 
jaws."
	"I don't think so," Seraphim immediately encased him in a 
sphere of light. "Quick, get out of here!" she yelled, turning to 
the others, "Fenrir is just as strong as Dysithal! You wouldn't 
stand a chance! Please, hurry!"
	"Seraphim!" Phaeron called, being pulled away by Mireillia 
and Nadir.
	"Let us help you!" Ranko yelled, "I'll... I'll call Cordis!"
	"No!" Seraphim shouted, "If I die, Cordis is the only one 
capable of stopping the Lavos! Go!"
	"But--"
	"GO!"
	Hesitant, the group fled from the conflict. "Thou art dead, 
Laris Brillan! At last thou shalt be joined with Odin!" Fenrir 
broke through her sphere, his fangs glimmering.
	"For Odin... for my sister, Starlet... I will vanquish you, 
cursed wolf of death!"
	"Run!" Coldfire yelled, sensing the upcoming battle.
	"Seraphim..." Phaeron thought.
	"I've never seen her this mad!" Ranko said.
	"I've never seen _anyone_ that mad, period!" Ranma said. Up 
ahead, the people were already climbing down to the next level 
of the tunnel.
	"Ah!" Akane suddenly tripped on a pebble in the tunnel.
	"Oneechan!" Ranko turned back and immediately rushed 
towards her. 
	WHOOOSH. A swelling blast of energy filled the entire 
tunnel. Ranko hugged Akane and faced away from the blast, hoping 
to shield her. Phaeron had a heart attack before dashing for 
them. Ranma and Mireillia were about to follow suit when Coldfire 
pushed them back to the lower level and ran past Phaeron. The 
phoenix would have never reached them in time. All of the 
corridor was burned by the blast.
	"Unh..."
	"What?" Ranko and Akane looked up to see the face of 
Coldfire, who had shielded them with his own body. His right hand 
was holding them tightly, while the left was stretched forward, 
creating an aura shield in front of Phaeron and the rest of the 
people.
	"Coldfire!" they called as he collapsed on the charred floor.
	"Sheesh, Phaeron..." he weakly said, "Guess I received a bit 
too much of your mind..."
	"Coldfire..." Ranko began casting a healing spell along with 
Akane.
	"Can you look after him?" Phaeron asked, deep concern in 
his voice.
	"Sure. Go help Seraphim-chan," she paused for a moment, 
"And be careful."
	Phaeron turned back for an instant, but then he was joined 
by Ranma, Ryouga, Herb and the Espers as he ran back to help 
Seraphim. It was frighteningly quiet in the tunnel, no sounds of 
fighting could be heard. Afraid of what might have happened, 
Phaeron and Andellia ran ahead of the group. When they arrived, 
they were frozen in shock. Andellia turned away immediately, 
holding on to Terion for reassurance.
	There was a burning circle surrounding the crater. Inside 
it, the two combatants were lying on the ground. Fenrir lay far 
from Seraphim, his still form disfigured by the many broken 
bones. The angel wasn't as lucky, though. One of her wings was 
broken, another had a bleeding bite mark. Her clothes were torn 
and shredded, her hair entangled and dirty. There was another 
bite on her neck, and a slash of claws on her cheek.
	"I..." she could barely whisper. A ghostly image, like a 
wondrous knight, escaped from Fenrir's body. "I have sinned... 
Forgive me... for I showed anger... I'm not worthy of being an 
angel..."
	"Seraphim...?" Phaeron and Andellia approached. They were 
stopped as a broad beam of white descended upon her.
	"Do not say things such as that, child," a powerful, deep 
male voice said. Andellia's eyes widened. "You are a worthy angel, 
and I am proud of you."
	Seraphim's eyes were filled with tears, "Odin?"
	The ghostly shape kneeled by her, putting his hand on her 
neck and passing it over her wings as well. She was healed by 
the touch. Taking his hand, Seraphim slowly sat up.
	"You... are proud of me?"
	The knight showed a warm smile, "You don't know how much. 
But for now, let's go. I want to go into the Light with you."
	"Yes!" Seraphim stood and hugged him, both for support and 
affection. "I'll see you later," she waved at her friends as the 
beam of light pulled them upwards. Taking the angel and the 
knight with it, the beam vanished once more.
	"What...?" Phaeron stammered.
	"Who was that?" Mireillia wondered.
	"Seraphim's boyfriend?" Nadir ventured. Everyone glared at 
him, "Hey, _you_ asked."
	"That was king Odin..." Andellia thought, smiling. "At last he 
is free of Fenrir's curse..."
	
			*	*	*

	"So, let me get this straight..." Kefka held his forehead, 
"First Scylla fails us, then they come into the Dead Wall, and 
now Seraphim defeats Fenrir?!?!"
	"M-My apologies, master," Tiamat trembled, knowing that 
Kefka's anger was not something easily survived.
	"Apologies, apologies. If it weren't because I see something 
in you... Just go, Tiamat. I'll talk to you later."
	"Oh, thank you, master. I vow to never disappoint you 
again," Tiamat hurriedly left the room.
	"Damn it!" Kefka grasped a random stone and crushed it with 
two fingers.
	"Troubles, Kefka?"
	The lord of magic felt a chill, "Dysithal..."
	"Have I not told you, my name is not for _your_ usage?"
	"Oh, I forgot. Dysithal, Dysithal, Dysithal, Dysithal, 
Dysithal, Dysithal. You are such an idiot."
	The demon tried to control his anger (something a tad 
difficult when you're a fallen angel,) and contained himself from 
destroying his puppet in this very instant. "Remember, Kefka, you 
are supposed to help me. I give you power and the chance to 
rule a dimension, you give me what I want. Understand?"
	Kefka grinned, "Of course I understand. We're partners, 
right? Loosen up!" he laughed at Dysithal's frown, "By the way..." 
he calmed down, "How's our little pawn doing?"
	Dysithal smirked, "Wonderfully. Nobody suspects a thing. But 
just let them get near this fortress..."
	Kefka sat back on his throne, "Great. But what do you want 
that Lavos for, anyway? I have no need for its power. I already 
know how to use the Black Orb."
	"All in due time, partner. All in due time...."

			*	*	*

	"Talk about thick," Ukyou said, "We've been walking for over 
half an hour and we're still inside this tunnel."
	"Well, Dead Wall would have to be strong in order to defend 
what's inside it, right?" Terion said.
	"Don't worry, we're almost on the other side," Mireillia said, 
"Look, I see a light of some sort right in front of us."
	"And what are we going to do when we get there?" Mousse 
asked.
	"Simple. We should be able to see the fortress from up 
here. All we would have to do is descend to Phantom Forest and 
find a way to breach the fortress' defenses."
	"We made it," Mireillia said, reaching the other end of the 
tunnel. As the gang arrived, the first thing they noticed was the 
darkness of the valley. Due to being covered by the Wall, it was 
as dark as the night outside. Then they noticed the extent of 
the valley. It was at least twenty miles wide vertically for 
thirty-five horizontally. In the middle, running from North to 
South, was the Eye's pupil, Adder's Mouth. The Phantom Forest 
covered the rest of the valley, an eerie blue glow rising from 
the trees. But the cynosure of all eyes was soon the Black 
Omen.
	The floating fortress had a fitting name: it was nearly 
black, with a few dark blue sections and many glimmering lights 
adorning the surface. It would resemble a waterdrop, the floating 
tower tapering at the top and bulging at the bottom, with a 
large platform near the base. Following the design, the many 
ports and bays in the tower became smaller as they neared the 
top, but then became slightly smaller below the platform. And on 
the top of the tower, was a strange machine, with the Dark Orb 
connected to it. The machine projected an odd light, as strong 
as the moon's but with swirling and twisting shapes and colors. 
Kefka must have been having psychedelic dreams before designing 
the machine.
	"What the..." Ranma noticed an entire airforce of glimmers 
scrambling from one of the docks and heading their way.
	"Oh, great," Phaeron stared at them.
	"My God," Andellia's eyes widened in terror, "Griffons!"
	"Griffons?!" every Esper that became an equine creature 
repeated in shock.
	"What's wrong with you?" Ranko asked.
	"It's just that griffons are gourmets," Coldfire said, "And 
their favorite food is horse."
	Ranma and Ranko glared at him, "Enough with the puns about 
our name, will you?"
	"Um, don't you think we should be doing something?" Ukyou 
said, "Something like, getting the heck out of here?"
	"But we're too high! Phantom Forest is at least one mile 
below!" Nadir said.
	"Then we'll have to take that chance," Ranko said. Phaeron 
and the Espers morphed, letting the humans ride them. Then, 
dropping at top speed, they plunged into the green darkness of 
the Phantom Forest.


End of Section 3C