kapster@mokamo.com wrote:
And here's Part 11 of "Hearts of Ice." Only three more Parts to
go! Woo-hoo! I can't believe I started this in August. Maybe
when I'm finished with this, I can get a life. Then again, I may
do something really stupid, like starting another fanfic... ^_^
Trust me, it's a disease. Don't bother trying to fight it.
Many thanks to everyone who sent C&C on Part 10. Almost
everybody seemed to be concerned about the whereabouts and
content of Nabiki's tape. Well, I'm afraid you'll just have to
read on to see if I resolved anything. Heh heh. (Yes, the
author is stooping to blackmail to get people to read her story.
Pathetic, or what?) ^_^
Well now we know how you managed to nail Nabiki's character so well.
As usual, this installment is up for shredding. Unsheathe those
claws and have at it. Heaven knows I need it. I've been a bit
distracted lately and have been missing some really stupid
grammar and spelling errors, among other things.
Well, I don't have any claws, just some battle spoons and a BFG 9000 I
got on loan from Wyrm (I STILL have to find 2000 'D' cell batteries for
it).
To the blackmailing efforts of Nabiki Tendo, and the taped
confession the girl acquired through unscrupulously bugging the
Nekohanten.
Cologne calls NABIKI unscrupulous? After she zaps her little sister into
an alternate plane of existence?!
A smile crawled across Cologne's face as she contemplated
her decided course of action. A child-like Ranma with little
memory of his past could be easily molded into the perfect Amazon
man. <All in all,> she thought, <a plan with very few
drawbacks.> Now all she had to do now was find the necessary
ingredients for the potion...
Somehow I doubt it'll be that simple. Heh heh.
Ranma's face was pale, his dark hair spiking over haunted
blue eyes that shimmered with tears of despair. He stroked the
silken strands with shaking fingers.
"Akane..." he whispered. And began to sob quietly.
The Snow Woman laughed.
Another sob, wrenching and full of pain.
Wait...
Yuki-onna's head snapped up. That sound hadn't come from
her mirror...
The Snow Woman spun around, the mirror darkening behind
her...
And found herself facing Akane.
Oops. Yuki-onna and Cologne just don't seem to be having very good luck
in this fic.
When Akane looked up, her eyes were wet, but determined.
"I'm leaving," she said softly, hoarsely. "I'm going to find
someone in the Kami Plane who will break the blood spell so I
can... go home. You'll have to find someone else to be your pet
mortal from now on."
And with that, she turned and walked quickly away.
The Snow Woman, numb with shock, reached out her hand.
<No...> "Akane..."
<Akane, don't leave me...>
But she was gone.
In one day. Masakazu was gone, and now, Akane was gone.
She had lost them both.
The Snow Woman sat silently and stared at nothing as tears
of ice slid unnoticed down her face.
For some reason I don't feel terribly sympathetic for "Poor" Yuki-onna.
Boy this story is an emotional wringer!
"Fear not, my beloved. You need not be jealous of this
sweet and innocent admirer. My great and noble heart has room
enough for the both of you."
Normally, this would have been Ranma's cue to punt Kuno into
the stratosphere. Actually, Ranma was so stunned, he'd already
missed this cue several times.
"You... you still have pictures of Akane..." he whispered.
<Nabiki said that the blood spell could have created physical
evidence to convince me, to match my memory, but... even Kuno's
pictures?>
Whoops! Score another one for our Goddess of the Yen! Nabiki 2, Cologne
zilch!
"Well," the man held out a tri-folded sheet of paper. "The
list of instructions you left with each of the distributors...
We noticed that some of them don't make sense. Nobody noticed it
before, but now... We thought you should know about it, and
wondered if you wanted us to release the tape."
Nabiki frowned, her eyes narrowing as she took the paper
from the man and unfolded it. She scanned it briefly.
Her eyes widened, and the blood drained from her face.
This just isn't Cologne's fic. Nabiki 3, Cologne nada.
"Wrong, Shampoo. Nabiki's right," said Ukyo, glaring at the
Amazon. "It's all your fault Ranma is suffering with this blood
spell. Even if you really were captured by some dragon -- which
I seriously doubt, I might add -- Ranma wouldn't be in this mess
if you didn't keep claiming he was your husband."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow at this. Apparently, Ukyo wasn't
as naive as she thought. Then again, she had good reason not to
believe Shampoo...
Shampoo clenched her teeth as tears suddenly built behind
her eyes, and she looked back and forth between Nabiki and Ukyo.
"Shampoo no care what you think," she said softly, fighting the
overwhelming feelings of guilt that rose within her. "Ranma
believe Shampoo. That all that matter."
Well, I kinda feel sorry for Shampoo. She was used by Cologne almost as
much as Ranma. Not that she's innocent, but I don't think she honestly
realised the extent of her crime. Hopefully when Ranma finds out he
won't kill her.
Ukyo stared at Nabiki in wide-eyed disbelief. Then, she
found herself returning the smile, blinking back her own tears,
her expression softening with sympathy. "I should have known,"
she said. "He's gotten to you too, hasn't he."
To her astonishment, Nabiki flushed and lowered her gaze.
Ukyo chuckled, a bit sadly. "That's my Ranchan," she said,
sighing. "The human fiancee magnet. And now he's even got an
imaginary fiancee, thanks to this horrible blood spell."
Geez, if Akane comes back, we get to add Nabiki to the list of broken
hearts! This just keeps getting messier!
"Ranma Saotome?"
Ranma blinked and turned slowly to the young man who had
just walked up to him. A part of his mind that was still active
vaguely recognized him as the man Nabiki walked off with this
morning. He blinked again, willing his eyes to focus, but was
unsuccessful.
The man knelt next to him. "Here," he said, handing him a
small package. "I've been instructed to give this to you. If
Tendo-san says anything, tell her I was simply following her
original instructions to the letter, which included ignoring any
instructions she gave afterwards that sounded suspicious, or went
against the original agenda."
Uh oh! ;p
The man frowned. "Aren't you going to open it?" When Ranma
didn't move, the man sighed. "Okay, whatever. I'm supposed to
make sure you listen to this, so here, let me have it." He took
the package from Ranma's limp hands and opened it to reveal a
small cassette player with headphones attached. He put the
earphones over Ranma's ears and pressed the play button.
"There," he said. "I've done my job. See you around, kid."
The man walked away, knowing from experience that the less he
knew about what was on that tape, the better.
Ranma sat, his besieged mind barely registering the words
that sounded in his ears at first.
Fortunately, it was a long-playing tape, and Nabiki had made
sure the whole thing was filled with the vital conversation,
repeated over and over...
Gradually, Ranma's eyes began to clear...
Urkk. This REALLY isn't Cologne's fic! Obviously even with 300 years of
experience, she can't match Nabiki's contingency planning. Nabiki 4,
Cologne zippo.
I think I said something before about this getting messy. I wonder if
Nabiki can make money selling Chi-fried Cologne bits as soveniers? (Can
you say Thermonuclear-level Shi Shi Hadouken? I knew you could!)
Author's notes: Okay, my brain is officially fried, either from
writing this, or from terror of writing the next chapter. Or
both. Man, this was a tough one. I'm not sure why. Maybe
because I had to get into so many different characters' heads.
Maybe not. I don't know. I wanna go to bed.
The Kuno-speak was fun to write though. What do you think? Was
it a bit much?
I eagerly await your comments, crits, flames and death threats.
I will only begin the death threats if you don't get that next chapter
out! I don't get addicted easily, but when I do, I get REAL snarky if I
don't get my next fix ;p
Keep it up! PLEASE!
The Prime Saggitarian,
Alpha Centauri
"bortaS blr jablu'Dl'reH QaQqu' nay'"
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