WRITER'S NOTE:
Christopher Willmore has done some pretty sick things. He's had Ranma
served as an entree after being fried to ashes. He's had Akari become a
cannibal and eat Ryouga. He's had Ranma's naked and rotting corpse dumped
in a floating tank alongside Kodachi's equally naked and rotting corpse.
This guy is sick.
But this time, you can't blame him. You blame _me_.
Actually, okay, Willmore still gets a little bit of the blame. He's the
one that set up the genealogy so that Gosunkugi and Akari get together.
He just left out the details.
I'm filling in those details.
Why do this? Simply because, when you think about it, the likelihood of
Gosunkugi REALLY winning Akari's hand is... well... unthinkable. The
idea, though, fascinated me. So one day I offered ol' Willmore my
services... and after sitting down for three days (actually... a grand
total of seven, maybe eight hours) here it is.
So, yeah, Willmore gets the blame for the concept, but the details...
that's my fault. Definitely my fault.
-RpM
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/
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| \ | \ /\ | | /\ /\ | \ / /\
| \ | \ . | \ | |. / \_/ \ | \ \ / \
| __ \ | _ \ | | | | | | | _ \ /\ \/ /
| | \ \ | | \ \ .| | | |.| | | | \ \ / \ \ /
| | / / | |__\ | | | \| | | |\ /| |.| |__\ |/ /\ \/
| | / / | | | |\ | |.| | | |.| | | |\ / \
| |/ / .| ___ |.| |.| |.| |.| | | | | ___ /\ \/ /
| |\ \ | | .| |.| |.| |.| |.| |.| |.| | ./ |\ /
| | \ \ .| | | |.| |..\ |.| |.| |.| | | | /| | \
|_|. \__\ |_|. .|_|.|_|...\/..|_|.|_|.|_|.|_|. \|_| \
/\ \ /
Written by Christopher 'Ratiko' Willmore. / \ \ /
4cw6@qlink.queensu.ca / / \/
Based on a story by Rumiko Takahashi and /
Developed by C. Michael Schumacher / /
[Kensu: cschumac@waun.tdsnet.com], \ /
with the aid of Animax Enterprises \/(Logo:Armakuni)
[formerly TAAC].
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G O S U N K U G I : Generations
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
by RpM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
R2096 characters and situations used with permission. Takahashi's aren't.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
G O S U N K U G I H I K A R U
The Man, The Myth, The Legend
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A young girl, nine years old in age, with large, observative lilac
eyes and long hair (a shock of white running down the middle of her
otherwise dark brown locks) wandered through a building, accompanied by a
young man. The both of them had a distinct family resemblance.
"Well, Ske-chan, what do you want to see today?"
"Um..."
"A story perhaps?"
"Mm-hm!"
"Let's see..." The two entered a room of sorts. Actually, a
library, lined with books from wall to wall, and with several of them
chained to tables. The two went to one of these books and flipped through
the dimly glowing pages. "Your great grandfather... he was... hm... G181
I think."
"What's'at mean?" the girl asked.
"Hm? Oh, he was our one hundred and eighty-first member."
"Wooooow. What'm I?"
"You? Ah, you don't have a number yet."
"Awwwww. Why not?"
"You have to pass a few tests first, and it'll be a few more years
until you can even try that."
"Oh. Okay."
"Now... your great grandfather... hm... not much happened to him,"
he said with amusement. "Anything in particular you wish to see?"
"How him'n great granma met."
"Heheh. Already a romantic, hmm Ske-chan? Ah. Let's see... here
we go."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART I:
One Enchanted Morning
or
The Boy, The Mallet, and the Pig
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
She'd been wandering across Japan for some time now, looking for
that one special boy, the perfect boy, the one that could really knock out
her piggy and sweep her off her feet. So far, however, her search was
useless. There was nobody that came even close to doing it just right.
She sighed, weary of all the travelling she had to do, and checked the map
for Nerima. She'd heard great things about that place... lots of mighty
warriors and such.
It was a good plan, theoretically. Of course, it wouldn't work at
all, but when asked about it many years later, she'd say she had no
regrets.
* * *
In retrospect, it wasn't a good plan.
In fact, it was a stupid plan.
And considering whose plan it was, that's saying a lot.
Gosunkugi Hikaru, freshman, magician, and loner had a dream. He
dreamed that one day the queen of the school, the one every boy dreamed
of, Akane Tendo, would be his. It was a really long shot. It was an even
longer shot when her 'fiancee', the fool Ranma Saotome, showed up. Since
then, Gosunkugi's already bad luck had sunken to new depths.
On this particular day, his dark mood was considerably darker. It
was the end of yet another plot to get rid of Saotome, and it backfired
tremendously. The details were... he just didn't want to think about the
details. Nobody would believe him afterwards when he said that the sheep
was a necessary part of the spell... his reputation was ruined.
Of course, there was one person to blame for that.
Saotome.
The one who WAS engaged to Akane Tendo.
Saotome.
The one that got the attention of all the girls.
Saotome.
The one that was a total jerk to Akane, an ill-mannered conceited
jerk, no better than an animal.
He was an animal. It was a small leap of logic, but there it was.
Ranma was no better than a base animal, a gluttonous violent beast.
With that idea in mind, he woke up early, incredibly early,
earlier than the sun rose, and spent several hours in the field of
Furinkan High, digging a deep hole, covered it with tarp, and left
miscellaneous foods that Saotome was known to like as bait.
Looking back, Gosunkugi admitted it was an incredibly stupid idea,
even for his standards.
After setting his trap, Gosunkugi withdrew to the shadows and
waited. He remained there, eyes in the dark, and waited for Saotome to
come. Summoning up patience the likes of which he had never displayed
before, he waited for hours on end. Unmoving, unnoticeable in the shadows
of the trees nearby, he waited.
And then he fell asleep.
A FEW HOURS LATER
"Zzzzzzzzzzz..."
Gosunkugi the Patient snored peacefully, his head bent back at an
awkward angle, a little drool running down the side of his mouth. He was
about to fall over backwards when a violent crashing noise woke him from
his slumber.
He fell over anywise.
Stumbling quickly back to his feet, Gosunkugi raced to his trap,
feeling victory surge through his veins. The sounds of struggle emerged
from the pit, but something sounded _wrong_. His mind, though, was on a
high and thus decided to edit that thought out until further confirmation
of facts.
Racing to the edge of the pit, Gosunkugi tapped into a berzerker
strength that he would _rarely_ ever tap into again, and actually managed
to lift a gigantic mallet up. With said weapon held high, he declared,
"NOW I'VE GOT YOU, SAOTO....ehh...."
What happened next would best be described in slow motion. A
_very_ large pair of eyes looked up from the pit, it's gaze burning
through as if through Gosunkugi's very soul. A bestial grunt followed.
What the hell was that? A monster from the woods? A wayward spirit? A
demon from hell? With the adrenaline rush racing out of him and fear
making him more limp than a dead fish, he let gravity take over, and the
mallet drove down hard towards the monster in the pit.
*THUMP*
"BWEEEEeeeee....."
Bwee?
Curiosity overcame fear, and he had a good look at what it was
he'd just malleted. It was, apparently, a pig. An incredibly large one,
and by the sounds it made, probably very irritated one too. He scratched
his head curiously and let go of the mallet, whose handle promptly fell
down and smacked him in the foot. Cursing mightily, Gosunkugi hopped
around, wobbled a bit, then fell into the pit himself.
That, he felt, was typical. Just had to happen. It wouldn't be a
normal day for Gosunkugi Hikaru if something stupid of this magnitude
didn't happen to him. In a way, it was comforting, in the way that really
really old shoes are: they might stink, they might look ugly, but they fit
perfectly.
It was at about this point, with Gosunkugi lying back atop a great
(and unconscious) beast, with his foot throbbing and his back aching a bit
from the fall that he heard the voice.
"Katsunishiki! Katsunishiki, where are you!"
It was a cute voice, incredibly cute. Soon it was accompanied by
a cute face, as a girl with shoulder-length black hair and a straw hat
peered down, an expression of tender concern on her face. Gosunkugi was
dazzled immediately.
"Um... h-hello," he managed to stammer out.
She, on the other hand, stared at him in surprise. Aside from
said surprise, the expression was totally unreadable. Gosunkugi had a
feeling that he'd done a Bad Thing again. Logic churned in his head, and
he finally stammered out, "Umm... t-this isn't your pig, is it?"
She nodded slowly, her expression of surprise gone, and one of
curiosity replacing it. The look was aimed at him, and he couldn't help
but blush at that.
"I... ah... didn't mean to hurt it, r-really," he stammered,
waving his arms around frantically.
She giggled at his shyness and extended a hand to help him out of
his pit. "Hi, I'm Unryuu Akari," she said, smiling. "That's Katsunishiki
down there," she added, pointing to the prone pig in the pit. To her
surprise, she easily pulled him out. He was so light, must be because he
didn't eat enough, she thought. She'd have to fix that.
"I'm Gosunkugi Hikaru," he said, laughing nervously and scratching
the back of his head. He wasn't used to _any_ girl talking to him as much
as this girl was, and he felt his heart race frantically with exhilaration
and hope. It was a major achievement, actually, for him to keep this
conversation going as long as it had.
"Nice to meet you," she said, giving his hand a squeeze.
Gosunkugi's face snapped into a goofy sort of grin, and his eyes glazed
over. Akari smiled and giggled. This... Gosunkugi. What a silly man,
although cute, and nice. Yes, he'd make a good husband.
The gigantic pig regained consciousness soon after, casually
plowing his way out of the pit and trotted over to Akari and Gosunkugi.
It couldn't help but notice the way the two were blushing madly and
smiling, and rolled its eyes up, snorting.
The relationship blossomed surprisingly fast, since both of them
were lonely, shy, and when given the chance, sweet. Gosunkugi still had
lingering feelings for Akane, but the dedication that Akari showed finally
cleared his heart of feelings for anyone else. Life for these two seemed
to be charmed, while everyone else in Nerima was either murdered, committed
suicide, blown up, committed to asylums, or generally ruined.
Looking back, Gosunkugi would agree that yes, it was a charmed
life. The golden days of his life, really.
And then he finished high school, which is the point where
everything changed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART II:
Happily Forever After...
or
Do You Believe In Magic?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Immediately after Gosunkugi graduated from High School, he went
back with Akari to the Unryuu Sumo Pig Farm where he was expected to help
train with the pigs.
Was he worried?
Definitely.
Their relationship through high school was great, almost
care-free. The care-free part ended the moment Akari told him how he was
supposed to help with the 'chores' at the Unryuu place (in other words,
wrestle with gigantic pigs every day) and that particular thought made his
veins run cold with fear. There was only one solution, in his view, to
make it through those critical days: magic. He knew he was almost a joke
of a magician, but he had come so _close_ before, and this time it wasn't
just some petty little revenge at stake, it was his future.
He wasn't going to lose Akari, that much he was sure of.
Ever since that day, then, he'd researched, practised, trained,
even gone to the old ghoul that ran the Nekohanten once or twice, and
tried to find a way to somehow overcome the Challenge of the Pigs.
The fateful day had arrived. Gosunkugi stood nervously in the
centre of a fenced-in field, with various relatives of Akari watching and
cheering (and making bets). He muttered a quick prayer to whatever god
may listen, and checked to make sure all was ready. He heard Akari's
cheers from the side, and steeled himself for the battle that was to come.
Meanwhile, at the far end of the field, a titanic pig made it's
way into the field. This one, while not as big as Akari's pet, was
equally as vicious, if not more so. This one was 'Goro', second best pig
of the Unryuu stock. As it spotted Gosunkugi, it immediately charged at
its prey.
Gosunkugi's eyes wend wide with shock as he saw the titanic beast
charge towards him. _How can anything that big move so fast?_ he
wondered. _Snap out of it! It's time!_ He reached into his jacket and
pulled out an impossibly huge mallet. Even Goro hesitated at the sight of
it. Waving the mallet up high, Gosunkugi declared, "for my future... for
Akari's future... FOR OUR HAPPINESS!!! MIGHTY MALLET MUJAKI
STRIIIIIKE!!!"
*Writer's Note: Mujaki = Japanese demon which brings nightmares/dreams
to people... hence, the 'Dream-maker' Mallet.
The pig snorted in anger and charged forward. The Mighty Mallet
Mujaki swung down. And in the end, it was rather indescribable. If
anyone asked any of the Unryuu that attended in that day, and the days
after, they would begin to describe the result with much repeating of
words and various hand gestures, but in the end they would say, "No, you
just had to be there."
It was a draw.
And for the next painful month, it was a draw.
Day after day after seemingly improbable day, a draw.
In ways totally unexpected but totally legal under the laws of
Sumo Pig Wrestling, it was a draw. Again and again and again...
The Unryuu family didn't know what to make of the situation.
Clearly, the boy was unworthy to help out in the family business, he'd be
slaughtered out there if not for that mystic mallet, but he was good at
heart and treated Akari well. A decision had to be made.
She took the decision far better than he thought she would,
especially considering that her whole life centred around pigs.
Gosunkugi sighed, sitting by Akari's closed bedroom door. The moment they
told him, he felt his heart sink, but when they went to tell Akari, he
insisted on doing it himself. It seemed the best thing to do at the time.
He was afraid she'd do something along the lines of malleting him,
punching him, or flat-out rejecting him. That was a major fear he had his
entire life, really. Instead, she turned pale, shrieked, ran back to her
room, locked the door, and started sobbing for about six hours.
The family didn't feel too good about it. They told Gosunkugi
that it wasn't anything personal, and in fact they were welcome to stay if
they wished... he just wasn't allowed to train the pigs. This was mixed
news to him and Akari. The fact that the family didn't oppose their being
together was great, but at the part about training pigs, Gosunkugi would
have preferred not to even try again, while Akari thought it was quite
unfair that her boyfriend was banned from the family business.
After that gruelling summer was over, Gosunkugi went off to
college, while Akari remained behind with her family. Everyone agreed
when Gosunkugi declared that he'd find a way to make a living without
leeching off of the Unryuu family fortune. It would otherwise look quite
dishonourable for all parties concerned. As for WHAT he would do with his
life, he knew that there wasn't much money out there for occultists, even
though he had indeed mastered REAL (although relatively minor) magic.
Well... he always did photograph Akane really well.
So, photography it was, and after several years of hard study and
internships, Gosunkugi Hikaru became a photographer for the Tokyo Herald.
By the time he'd reached the age of 24, he managed to save enough to get
an apartment for him and Akari, one that allowed pets (of course).
He quickly became famous in his field for capturing 'haunting' and
'eerie' pictures, especially when the subject was a disaster area, a
murder scene, a funeral, or any other generally sad event. It had earned
him several awards and some respect.
Three years after they had started living together, Gosunkugi
finally proposed, and they had a lovely fall wedding. Of course,
Gosunkugi declined to be behind the camera for ANY pictures of this event,
mainly because of his eerie 'talent' with the camera... except one.
That one particular picture was of Akari and Katsunishiki, her
feeding the pig some of the wedding cake. What puzzled him later about
that picture was that he appeared to be in it. But that was impossible,
since he was the one taking the picture, right? The 'him' in the photo
was far into the background, and seemed startled that he was captured on
film. Fearing it was a bad omen, he never pointed this out to his wife.
Between them, they had a son, Kyoofu, who seemed almost as sullen
as Gosunkugi had when he was a child, although with Akari's influence he
grew up to be not nearly as shy. The child grew up very observative,
highly intelligent, and to his father's surprise, a sharp aptitude towards
science, as opposed to magic.
Despite his legitimate career in photography, Gosunkugi's research
into the field of magic never stopped. He'd steadily grown in his
ability, accessing the much-disputed hammer-space field at will now, and
even managed to talk to his ancestors. As it turned out, they were rather
proud of how he was doing, and it did his ego good to hear that.
After a solid ten years in the photojournalism business, he took
some time off for 'personal reflection' as he called it. In fact, it was
the offer by a band of occultists for him to join them. Their objective
was a monastery in the more rural parts of Japan, where a haunting of
legend had returned to plague the monks once more. These occultists had
set out with two objectives: 1) exorcise the spirit and 2) get actual
proof of the existence of the spiritual world (of which Gosunkugi and his
photographic skills were key).
Looking back, Gosunkugi would say that if he had to do it all over
again, this particular part he would be more than happy to leave behind.
The exorcism was a disaster, with several of the members of the
team reduced to soulless husks, several monks struck down, and the monastery
itself declared an unholy landmark. In the occult circles Gosunkugi's
name was forever linked with tragedy. Gosunkugi would refuse to discuss
any details of that tragic event, even to his own family, and left it
buried in the past.
The whole event had also made a great impression on another person
that day... a young monk who was shattered in mind, and was once known as
the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High. And that would have dire consequences
many years later...
Gosunkugi vowed that such a tragedy would never happen again, and
continued to research into the occult, while returning to the
photo-journalistic world (which welcomed him back with open arms). Akari
had supported him as she felt any good wife should do, although she didn't
just stay at home all day. She spent a considerable part of her time back
at the ranch, managing the business of the Sumo Pigs, and she did it well.
Things were going well again for the happy couple, but sins from
the past would come back to haunt him.
The year was 2014, and a new vision was slowly creeping across
Japan, a vision that chilled Gosunkugi to the bone. The vision was one of
monk-turned-politician Kunou Tatewaki, who stood on the platform of Moral
Decency. He declared Japan a spiritually hollow society, one that lost
sight of righteousness and cleanliness. This was all seemingly well and
good, but with any light there is a shadow, and the ugly secret of Kunouu's
movement was that he'd formed 'strike forces of righteousness' to smite
that which he had found unholy, but would be chastised for if his actions
were done so in public. Thus, this shadowy group raided bars, strip
joints, burned down magazine and newspaper offices, trashed art galleries,
and defiled the place of worship of False Gods.
And he had not forgotten Gosunkugi Hikaru either.
Thus it came to pass one winter's day that Gosunkugi Hikaru
disappeared from the earth and was never seen again.
He was on his way home to celebrate Christmas with his wife and
their young son, when he was ambushed by a gang of men in robes and
quickly knocked out. Some hours later, he'd awakened in a place he'd
rather not have returned to.
The monastery. He was back in the monastery's stone walls and
drafty corridors, and tied up to a post.
"Gosunkugi Hikaru! You stand accused of a sin of the highest
order!" declared a familiar voice hidden underneath holy robes. "You have
practised magicks of an unholy nature, and have brought ruin to this once
holy place! Thy penalty is... THE PIT!"
"B-b-but WAIT!"
Off to the side, one of the monks muttered, "uh oh..."
The Main Monk stepped forward, glaring at Gosunkugi. "Cease thy
belligerent babbling, thou base black servant of the spirits below! Thou
shalt feel the folly of fickling with my forces of fortitude and fairness!
Thou wretched worm what wiggles it's way unto wayward wanderer's souls!
NEVER AGAIN, says I, KUNOU TATEWAKI, BLUE THUNDER OF GOD!!!"
And without further ado, they tossed him into a pit.
It was a rather nasty pit, apparently located beneath the
monastery, and quite huge too. He guessed that he fell about thirty feet
before hitting some sort of underground reservoir. When they slammed the
door from far above, he was left in total darkness, and for the first time
in many years, he felt no hope.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART III:
We, Gosunkugi.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
He'd spent an hour in the pit, and already he could tell it was
hopeless. Gosunkugi had managed to cast some light into the room, but
unfortunately the appearance of the place did not help his spirits at all.
The room was cavernous, with stalactites and stalagmites everywhere, and
with a large lake as it's main feature. The great body of water was
perfectly clear, all the way to the bottom, but somehow that made it even
more eerie.
Gosunkugi spent the next several hours searching through the cave,
but there was no way out. He thought things couldn't get worse.
Of course, he was wrong.
From far above, the trap door opened and he heard the booming
voice of Kunou Tatewaki, echoing down as if from the heavens.
"FOR THE CRIME OF CONSORTING WITH A CRIMINALLY SORCEROUS
SCOUNDREL, SPECIFICALLY THE ONE KNOWN AS GOSUNKUGI HIKARU, THOU HAST
EARNED THYSELF A PUNISHMENT PAINFUL FOR ONE EVEN AS PIOUS AS MYSELF TO
PERPETRATE, BUT IT MUST BE DONE! TO THE PIT WITH YOU!"
He heard a scream.
He saw a body fall from the cave ceiling high above.
Akari?
"Akari-chan!" He dove into the lake and splashed furiously (he
never did learn how to swim properly) until he reached her, and together
they made their way to dry land. Meanwhile, the voice of Kunou from above
echoed, "FEAR NOT FOR THY CHILD, FOR IN THE INNOCENCE OF YOUTH IS INDEED A
SACRED THING! HE SHALL BE LEFT TO BE RAISED BY THE FAMILY UNRYUU AND LEFT
UNHARMED, UNLESS THE BOY SHOWS TRAITS OF FOLLOWING IN HIS SCANDALOUS
FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS. SO PROMISES BLUE THUNDER! AND MAY YOU FIND
REPENTANCE IN YOUR HEARTS BEFORE THY SOUL LEAVES THIS EARTH!"
Gosunkugi raised his fist defiantly and prepared to yell when the
trapdoor above was promptly shut. So instead he sighed, which to be
honest, was the more natural thing to do.
Once they made it to dry land and shook off the daze of scrambling
about in cold water for a good thirty minutes, Akari collapsed in
Gosunkugi's arms and spent a lot of time there crying. She was glad he
was alive, but now they'd never see their son again. The possibility that
they might die together was small consolation for the almost certainty of
their demise by starvation. Gosunkugi's magic was not strong enough to
rescue him from that situation, and so it was there that Kunou Tatewaki and
his crusaders left them to perish.
And as far as they, and the rest of the world, were concerned,
Hikaru and Gosunkugi Akari vanished that day, and were assumed dead.
That, of course, is far from the truth.
It was two hours since Akari had arrived, and despair was settling
unto Gosunkugi's soul like a long lost friend. He comforted his wife as
best as he could, but knew of no escape from their fate.
Then he saw himself.
Actually, he saw himself several times over. Some of them young,
some of them old, about a dozen of them, but one thing was certain. They
were all him.
"Um... hi there," one of them said.
"GAH!" Gosunkugi was startled out of his wits. He held on to his
wife desperately and stumbled backwards. Akari, wondering what was
startling her husband so badly, turned around, and saw her husband.
Several of them, in fact. And she didn't take it any better than he had.
As a result, they had both ended up screaming in alarm and stumbling
backwards...
And into the lake.
Again.
"Well, that was very... how shall we say..." wondered one of them.
"Gosunkugi-ish?" wondered someone else.
"Quite so, quite so."
"Not taking this well, is he?" said another.
"Hey, he's one of us, how would you expect him to react?"
"Boys, you're not making this any easier on the man."
"Everybody, QUIET! Our new inductee seems to be drowning."
And so, this strange gaggle of Gosunkugis got together momentarily
to fish one of their own, and his wife, out of the lake and, using a
little magic, dried them.
And using some more magic, actually got them to stop panicking.
"Were we always like this?" asked one of the older ones.
"Well, yes."
"Oh... shame about that."
"Hikaru!" yelped Akari.
"What?" they all asked. This just made Akari shriek and bury her
face in her husband's shoulder further.
"Oh, she wasn't talking to us?"
"Why would she, you moron?"
"Be nice, 85."
"Shut up, 43."
"G-guys, to business?"
"Ah, of course."
"Gosunkugi Hikaru?" they all asked, looking at Gosunkugi. He
nodded his head nervously. One of them stepped forward, one of the more
elderly ones. "Gosunkugi Hikaru, we have come to offer you salvation."
"S-salvation?" he nervously asked.
The offer was simple. They'd allow Gosunkugi and his wife
salvation, a life in a better world. Gosunkugi blinked in surprise. This
deal sounded too good to be true, and there had to be a price. In cases
such as these, there always was a price. And so he asked.
The price was simple. They would disappear from this reality,
never to return. It was explained to them that the future of their world
would be hazardous, and for them to return would place them and their son
in certain danger. It was best for them, and their son, if they left.
The option for them was painful, but obvious. They agreed to the
conditions, and thus Hikaru and Gosunkugi Akari forever left this world.
* * *
"Woooooow," said Ske-chan, looking a little melancholy.
"Something wrong?"
"Great-grandfather'n great-gramma gone?"
"Gone? Oh... no." He scratched his chin in thought. "Well...
actually, they just lived somewhere else and they lived happily ever
after, really."
"Honest?" asked Ske-chan.
"Honest."
At this news her mood brightened considerably. "Good story!"
"Glad you enjoyed it, Ske-chan." The man patted her on the head
gently and she smiled brightly. "Now come on... your mother and father
might be missing you, ne?"
"Um... hai!" She nodded happily and put her hand his. As they
left the building, a middle-aged couple walked on by. They looked down at
her, and she at them, and they couldn't help but smile. The woman stroked
Skeride's hair, said hello, and walked on by as the little girl departed.
"So, that's our little Skeride-chan?" said the woman.
"Yes, Akari-chan, that's her. Kawaii, ne?"
"Very kawaii. I hope she will find more happiness than our other
children." She sighed sadly, embracing her husband. "Their lives have
been so tragic. I wish... I wish..."
"I know, Akari-chan... I know."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPILOGUE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
L E G A C Y
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"... and from Hikaru and Akari was borne Kyoofu, who in his union
with Kurenai Fushigi gave light to Shizen and Sakuin. Shizen, who, in his
union with Hibiki Shintsuko begat Gosunkugi Skeride..."
Gosunkugi Skeride, age 14, stared in surprise at the page which
the book had accidentally fallen open to. That was _her_ lineage, _her_
history. Temptation overtook her, and she looked to see what the future
had in store for her, but only saw blurred lines instead of defining
sentences. But of course, she thought, she wouldn't be allowed to see her
future, since it was yet to be defined. There were too many possibilities
yet. She put the book back, feeling no regret. After all, it was the
wrong book. She was after Gosunkugi#182... a prominent figure amongst the
Gosunkugis. She found it, but for some reason it had a seal upon it,
which would not unlock. She knew that she'd get no answer from the other
Gosunkugis... they'd been incredibly tight-lipped when it came to the
topic of the fate of her mentor.
Gosunkugi Skeride was an unusual case, in the history of the
Collective. Unknown to her, her great-grandparents had kept an eye on
their children, and saw in her a potential for magic of amazing
proportions. It caught not only his attention, but the attention of
several other members.
This one would have to be carefully groomed.
At a young age, she had immediately shown a spark of aptitude,
using magic as if it was intuitive. And thus, when her parents weren't
aware, she was carefully groomed by the best in several fields of magic,
the best, in fact, of the Gosunkugis. There was Gos#87, age 29, whose
speciality was the manipulation of the fields of probability through
magic, Gos#99, age 68, whose expertise was in the area of healing,
Gos#103, age 38, who was a master of elemental forces, Gos#132, age 23, a
master of illusion and mind manipulation, and Gos#182, age 19, master of
the magicks of the spiritual world.
They hoped that, by showing her so many possibilities, she would
find her own niche, or even master all the fields, an amazing feat to
attempt. But her preferences had swayed her eventually to Gos#182, the
Necromancer. It seemed that this one, the youngest of the 'master
sorcerers' could relate to young Skeride's life the most easily. From
what little was said amongst Gosunkugis, his young life was harsh as well,
although far worse than Skeride's. It was a world mixed with technology
and sorcery, and also at almost constant conflict amongst it's many
kingdoms. Nobody knows what part Gos#182 played in the wars there, but he
had sought sanctuary with the collective, and had turned his back on his
reality. It had something to do, he said, with the folly and arrogance of
Lords Kunou and Saotome.
Being the first non-Hikaru sorcerer amongst the Collective, and
the first child, she had received special attention from them all. They
had cast a spell on her, which allowed her to visit them at any time when
she willed it. They were her family, her aunts (in some realities,
Gosunkugi Hikaru was born female), uncles, grandparents, brothers, and
sisters. It was a family that had shown her sights which no other child
would ever see, the wonders of the world all hers to visit. Despite this,
however, she still remained shy when dealing with the 'regular' world. If
she was not in the company of The Gosunkugi, she felt her confidence slip
away and disappear.
By the age of 10, Skeride was adept at exorcising spirits, a
practice that her mentor smiled upon. "Spirits that remain on earth are,
by nature, evil," he once said to her. "If they were truly worthy of
mercy, they should have moved on to the next world already. Thus,
necromancy always deals with evil spirits. Remember that, Skeride!"
He turned to her and showed her a savage-looking scar on his arm. "No
matter how they may appear, they are tainted with evil. It is best if
they were put to their rest, else they may scar you, forever."
This lecture she took to heart.
She seemed not to notice how some amongst the collective were
rather concerned about Gos#182's influence on Skeride, or how Gos#182
sometimes wore a dark expression and his aura was tainted with a sort of
grey shade. They got along better than brother and sister, and she was
happy.
Then one day, he disappeared.
A search party was sent to look for him, and found him. Dead.
She had cried for weeks after his passing, and had vowed to avenge him
someday. None would tell her what caused his downfall, but she could see
on his corpse, amongst the savage bruises and wounds, the traces of a
possession. One of the spirit world had taken over his body, and
apparently it had caused his death.
And those chain of events lead her to the here and now, a year
after his demise, and searching for the elusive answer. Maybe, she
wondered, there would be an answer within the books covering the very
history of the Collective itself. Searching through the tangled
bookshelves, ignoring the orangutang (Gos#204, the Collective's librarian,
one of the few Gosunkugis that visited Jusenkyou) and pulled out the
rather thin book of Collective History.
The way it started out, she thought, was amazingly... simple.
It started like this.
Once upon a time, there was A Gosunkugi Hikaru, one that actually
became quite powerful at the art of magic. This particular Gosunkugi had
one day achieved (accidentally, of course, through an odd attempt at magic
involving stick-em pads, baby oil, and sheep) dumped himself into a nexus
of sorts in-between worlds. There, he honed his skills and eventually
refined the process of crossing worlds (and without sheep). Meanwhile,
across the worlds, various other Gosunkugis were also making the discovery
(some with sheep, some without) and they eventually, under the First one's
guidance, made a guild.
The Gosunkugi Collective.
The requirements, early on, for membership of this collective, was
that the member in question merely stumble accidentally into the rest of
the group, (which was how the very first members were gathered) and that
they be Gosunkugi Hikaru. However, as time went on, the more liberal
Gosunkugis had managed to state their case and the membership opened to
any Gosunkugi that had shown any latent talent. This had resulted in the
various progeny of Gosunkugis (and to their surprise, some ancestors).
Then, the membership standards were loosened even further, to allow for
Gosunkugis with the potential, and in extreme danger.
In the third 'year' of it's existence, The Founder, Gosunkugi
'Alpha', had disappeared, and has not been seen again. He had left a
message, warning of a time when there would be internal strife, and a last
inductee, a 'Gosunkugi Omega', would tear asunder all which had been
achieved before, and force all of them to reconsider their goals.
After this bit was mostly drivel about the creation of the
Gosunkugi Collective Continuum. Basically, it went like this: in
an infinite universe, _anything_ is possible. Therefore, it was entirely
possible that there was a reality that was largely empty, save a small
solar system, a planet with plenty of water and oxygen, and a conveniently
built citadel containing everything that a growing Collective might need.
It was, admittedly, a nearly impossible possibility, but with the universe
being infinite and all, it was just waiting to be found. Some Gosunkugis
say it was an incredible display of imagination and effort by Gosunkugi
Alpha to have found such a place amongst the infinite, others say it was
an incredible stroke of luck, more say that he was aided by Gosunkugi's
(Gos#2's that is) Magikal Improbability Generator, and an even more
cynical lot dismiss the whole thing as a demonstration as to how exactly
lazy Gosunkugi Alpha was.
This information, of course, didn't help Skeride a bit.
"Who's there?"
Skeride gasped, startled at the unexpected intrusion. An elderly
Gosunkugi was watching her, bemused. She could tell from his age and
gentle demeanour, it had to be Gos#99.
"Oh... just, ah, looking for some information," she said.
"Ske-chan," sighed Gos#99, "I know what you're looking for..."
"And why won't anyone tell me?!" she demanded.
Gos#99 tapped his finger to his chin in thought, a serious
expression on his face, obviously picking his next words carefully. Then
he put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Skeride... Gosunkugi #182 was a
good person at heart. Just remember the good times, no matter what you
may hear, and let the dead rest in peace."
Skeride wandered the halls, a melancholy hanging on to her mood.
It was at that time that she realised she was totally, hopelessly lost.
"Excuse me, do you need some help?" a middle-aged woman asked.
"Yeah... ah... where's the front door?"
The woman laughed lightly, the sort of laugh that makes smiling a
little infectious. She took Skeride by the hand and walked through
various passages until they had reached the front door.
"Thank you very much," said Skeride, bowing in gratitude.
"Anytime, dear," said the woman.
"Akari-chan! Where'd you go?" called a voice in the distance.
Skeride blinked, surprised that the name of her ancestor was being called.
Were they still alive? Could it be possible? Maybe she could talk with
her great-grandparents... that'd be fascinating.
"Oh dear, I must be going," said the lady, "you'd best be going
too. I think the technicians of the continuum are doing some odd sort of
maintenance soon. You shouldn't be here when it happens."
"Oh... okay." Skeride stepped through the doors, slowly beginning
to fade. As she did so, she turned around, asking, "by the way, it was
nice to meet you... Miss... um..."
"Akari," the lady said with a smile, "Gosunkugi Akari." Skeride's
eyes widened in surprise and she tried to stop from fading back into her
world, but couldn't. As the palace of the Gosunkugis disappeared and her
room came into being all around her, she heard Akari's voice through the
worlds, "Don't worry... we'll be watching. Be good, Ske-chan..."
* * *
"Akari-chan, were you talking with one of the kids again?" whined
Gosunkugi.
"Darling, I don't see the harm in talking to _her_. After all, it
has been years since we've talked to any of our children... and our deal
does not prevent us from talking to them if they come _here_, right?"
Gosunkugi blinked. Then he kicked himself mentally.
Akari sighed, knowing exactly how he felt, since she'd only
realised that herself a few moments ago while spying on her
great-granddaughter. She wished she'd taken part in all her
great-granddaughter's lessons when she was younger, her and her husband,
but it was too late for that. But... there would be other days.
"Come on, darling, let's head back in. We're supposed to take a
vacation at Niagara Falls in a few minutes, ne?"
"Oooh... that's right. Our anniversary." He smiled and took her
by the hand, and looked forward to meeting their great-granddaughter soon.
"Niagara Falls, here we come!"
"Darling... this time, don't use the sheep."
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-the end-
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AUTHOR'S POSTSCRIPT....
Thanks t'Willmore for letting me go loose on this little project. It was
fun treating the Gosunkugi line as if they were a grand tradition or
something... couldn'ta done it without him.
To all you people who were hoping SOMEBODY from Ranma's old group would
get a happy life (Kuno & Kodachi died lunatics, Ryouga died after a long
painful life, and the Tendos lived through HELL, etc....) isn't it ironic
that Gosunkugi gets the happy ending? ^_^
As for the story of Gosunkugi #182, you'll read about him in a few months,
maybe in Ranma2096, maybe not. But you will. And as for the Gosunkugi
Collective... they've put in an appearance in one of my earlier fics, last
year in fact... if you've read any of my stuff, I think you might realise
where you might've seen 'a mysterious group watching over Gosunkugi'
before. =)
and finally, thanks t'Mihoshi@ffml for getting me to like the character of
Gosunkugi enough to actually do this.
-Rod M. (RpM)
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