You have to believe we are magic;
Nothing can stand in our way.
You have to believe we are magic;
Don't let you aim ever stray.
And if all your hopes survive,
Your destiny will arrive
And bring all your dreams alive
For you.
I'll bring all your dreams alive
For you.
Magic
Part 6 � Screams in the Dark
by Richard Lawson
Comments & Criticism Welcome!
sterman@sprynet.com
Nouma opened his eyes. Somehow, he'd been able to sleep fairly
soundly. That was good; he needed to be alert. He couldn't shake
a slight feeling of guilt. Ryoga was dead; that should have kept
him from sleeping peacefully.
Shaking his head, he got out of bed. Father was gone, of course,
having taken the last watch. Kouichi was still asleep, but
Mitsuaki was just staring at the ceiling. He didn't look like
he'd gotten any sleep. His face was full of anger and grief.
Nouma wavered for a moment, then went over to Mitsuaki and sat
down on the floor next to his bunk. "Hey there."
Mitsuaki didn't respond.
Nouma kept his voice soft and as non-intrusive as possible. "Is
there anything you'd like to talk about?"
Mitsuaki's voice was biting. "If I need the help of Nouma the
Great, I'll ask for it. Until then, leave me the hell alone."
Nouma suppressed a sigh, saddened by Mitsuaki's reaction. Nouma
hoped that Mitsuaki didn't shut himself off from the rest of the
world. Still, there was nothing more Nouma could do right at the
moment, so he simply nodded and stood up.
He quickly dressed, went over to the bathroom, and washed his face
and hands. He examined his own reflection. It didn't look any
different, which surprised him a little. He somehow had expected
worry lines or white hair to have appeared overnight.
Nouma shook himself again and tried to discipline his mind. He
activated his computer's display to discover that his father was
in the women's cabin. Nouma made his way there.
All of the women were up and gathered around Kodachi's bunk.
Father was waving his hand up and down her body, chi crackling
from his fingers. Kodachi had her eyes closed and appeared to be
in some pain.
After a minute, the chi faded and Father took his hand away. "I
don't detect any traces of chi other than your own, Kodachi. I
don't know if that necessarily means anything, however. I'm still
not sure how this thing works. Maybe it would help if you could
tell me what you remember."
Kodachi looked at the people gathered around her. Her eyes found
Nouma, and she smiled. "Good morning, Nephew. Would you sit next
to me? I'd feel better with your company."
Nouma smiled back at her. "Of course." He made his way to her
side and sat on the floor. He held her hand, which was still
strapped to the bed. He squeezed it and she squeezed back.
She looked at Father again. "While I was standing outside the
cave, I heard a voice speaking to me. For some reason, it didn't
alarm me. It seemed natural to hear a voice speaking inside my
head, asking me questions. And before you ask, my particular
mental disorder twenty years ago did not involve any such voices."
Father nodded. "Go on."
Kodachi's gaze turned inward. "The voice seemed to find a way
through all of my defenses and spoke right to the diseased part of
my mind, the part I've carefully controlled all these years. It
asked that part of me if I was happy, if I wouldn't rather have
Ranma-sama again. It reminded me how good I felt back in the old
days." Her eyes focused on Father again. "It didn't mention how
the good times were offset by horrible depression. And for some
reason, I didn't remember that, either. I just remembered the
joy, maniacal though it was. I wanted to feel that good again.
The voice made me feel tired, tired of holding back the insane
part of me, tired of feeling scared."
Kodachi drew a shuddering breath. She squeezed Nouma's hand even
harder, and he covered both of their hands with his other hand.
"The voice won. It set loose my 'Black Rose' persona once again.
Suddenly I felt very, very good. I... I have trouble remembering
what I did next. It... was important to immobilize everyone,
especially you, Ranma. If I could do that, I would be able to
have you for myself. I... my old self wanted that. A lot. It
would do anything to have you."
Father considered her words for a few seconds. "Can you remember
anything else that the voice told you?"
Kodachi furrowed her brow, evidently thinking hard. Suddenly her
eyes widened, and she looked at Nouma. "It was very important
that I not hurt your son. I could paralyze him, but I was to make
very sure that he wasn't injured in any way."
Everyone looked thoughtfully at Nouma. He looked around the room,
feeling like he should be protesting, that he wasn't that
important. He couldn't argue with the facts, however. So far,
everything pointed to him.
Nouma swallowed and tried to divert everyone's attention. "How is
it that you're in control now, Aunt Kodachi?"
Kodachi grimaced. "Well, that's the question, isn't it? Am I in
control of myself? I'd like to think I am. I think that voice
made a mistake in speaking to the diseased part of my mind. That
person isn't me any more. When I woke up again under the effects
of the sedative, I was just me, not the 'Black Rose'. I've had a
lot of experience holding her back, not letting her control me.
I've got that person safely locked up again. I feel like myself,
and I don't hear any more voices. And if I do hear any more
voices, I sure as hell won't listen to them."
Kodachi sighed and looked directly into Father's eyes. "I wish I
could give you guarantees, Ranma. I can't. I do know how that
thing got to me before, and I'm fairly certain it won't be able to
get to me again. I'll do whatever you want, Ranma, including
leaving. I want to stay and help, however. I think I can help,
without... succumbing to whatever that thing is."
Silence followed. Father looked steadily at Kodachi. Kodachi
flushed a little but returned his gaze calmly. After a minute,
Father looked at each of the faces around the bunk. Nouma wasn't
sure what Father was looking for, but when he looked at Nouma,
Nouma looked back at him steadily. He believed Kodachi.
Finally, Father gestured at Nouma. "Help me get these off her."
A soft sigh of relief arose from the gathering. Nouma and his
father quickly had the straps off of Kodachi, and she sat up,
rubbing her wrists.
"Thank you, Ranma. And... I'm sorry I was weak."
Father smiled gently. "You're welcome, but don't apologize.
You've given us some valuable information." He picked up his
computer and opened up a call to everyone. "Meeting in the main
cabin in ten minutes." He looked around at everyone to make sure
they understood, then left the cabin.
Nabiki, meanwhile, was hugging Kodachi fiercely. Kodachi had her
eyes closed and tears were running down her cheek, but after a
second she separated herself and gave Nabiki a strong smile.
Nouma squeezed Kodachi's shoulder and shared a smile with her
himself. Then he left the cabin.
A few minutes later, he was wolfing down a hastily-prepared
breakfast. The cabin was a quiet confusion of people preparing
food and eating it, trying not to look at the long wooden box that
was substituting for a coffin.
Finally, Father spoke into the silence. "First of all, we need to
decide if we should continue."
Nouma drew his head back in surprise. He looked around to see
similar reactions from everyone.
Mitsuaki stepped forward, his face a mask of fury. "Hell, yes.
This thing killed my father. We are going to make sure it pays
for that. If we let the police try to take care of it, they'll
screw it up and that thing will escape and kill other people's
parents." He took another step forward, his hands clenched at his
sides. "We are not going to stop now."
Father looked steadily at Mitsuaki for a few seconds. Then he
moved his gaze around, his face neutral. "Any other opinions."
Nabiki spoke quietly from over by the console. "I agree that we
are the best equipped to handle this. Especially you, Ranma. The
RCMP had this case for two weeks and were unable to make any
progress. We know a lot more now than we did before. I think we
can use this knowledge effectively."
"Plus, we have to remember that this thing is after Nouma."
Kodachi sounded a little tentative, as if afraid to offer her
opinion. "I think it's being a little gentle on us because it
doesn't want to hurt him. It would have no such restraint if
another expedition were to come after it - assuming that we could
get someone to believe our story enough to launch such an attack."
Mikanma practically growled. "We're not cowards, Pop. We
shouldn't run away. Let's attack it before it gets any more
powerful."
Nouma spoke up. "I agree that we should stay, Father. I think we
need to make some plans, do some evaluations, before we launch an
attack. Then we can make some intelligent choices. Good or bad,
we've put ourselves into a position where we're the only ones with
the knowledge and ability to battle this thing. To back away now
is to lose whatever progress we've made."
Kikuko spoke gently. "I think Uncle Ryoga would have wanted us to
continue, Uncle Ranma. He knew the risks going in. We all do.
We're willing to put our lives on the line to stop this evil
thing. If we all die, the sacrifice will be worthwhile if we can
stop that evil from growing stronger." Most everyone nodded,
agreeing with Kikuko's statement.
Father nodded back. "I'm glad to hear that. Next, we have to
decide what to do with Ryoga. I'd rather not leave him here."
Nabiki spoke up. "I checked my transport company's schedule.
There's a plane leaving at three this afternoon. I think we can
put Ryoga on that plane and get by customs fairly easily. Someone
should go with him, though. I can make arrangements at the other
end to have the plane met in Tokyo, but I'd feel better if we had
someone who knows what's in the box along to make sure nothing
goes wrong."
Father looked at Mitsuaki. "That sounds like an excellent plan.
Mitsuaki, I want you to accompany your father back to Japan."
Mitsuaki whirled and stepped into his face. "Really? Why me?"
Father looked back at him calmly. "You're the oldest son,
Mitsuaki. It is your responsibility."
Mitsuaki barked angrily. "That's not it, is it? You want me away
from here because you're afraid I'll lose control. You think I'm
so far gone in anger and the need for revenge that I'll jeopardize
the expedition. You think that maybe I'll leave my rationality
behind and maybe give that monster a way to control me. You're
trying to deprive me of my right for vengeance because you don't
trust me, and you're using this as an excuse to get rid of me.
Right?"
Father looked into Mitsuaki's eyes. His eyes were sympathetic,
but his face was hard and unyielding. "Right."
Mitsuaki stared at him, his face a mask of fury. They held each
other's gaze for a long minute, while the rest of the expedition
held its breath.
Finally, Mitsuaki turned away, walked over to Kouichi, and grabbed
his shirt. "Listen to me, Squirt. It's up to you now. You're
the one who has to make sure that whatever that thing is pays for
what it's done to Father. You understand?"
Kouichi nodded gravely. "Yes, Older Brother. I understand." He
reached up to grab Mitsuaki's shoulder. "Watch over Mother for
me."
There was another long silence while the Hibiki brothers looked at
each other. Then Mitsuaki nodded and, without looking at anyone,
stormed out of the cabin.
Ukyo looked around. "I'll keep him company." She followed after
Mitsuaki.
Nouma felt more than a little relieved. He'd been very worried
about Mitsuaki, and was glad that he was going home. Judging from
the look on Father's face, he felt the same way.
Father rubbed his chin a little bit, apparently trying to gather
his thoughts. "Okay. Stuff I've learned. Whatever that thing
is, it's strong on chi. Ryoga had a lot of chi, and I'm guessing
that he got sucked dry. Yet it was somehow able to mask itself.
I couldn't detect its presence at all. It seemed as if every bit
of chi I let loose was being drained away somewhere. There's
definitely something there, but what and where it is, I haven't a
clue."
Nouma spoke up. "We have a little better picture of how it works.
It seems to be able to speak directly to our minds, both
subconsciously and overtly. It's very good at suggestion, even
when we're aware of it." Nouma paused, grimaced, and decided to
see it though. He really didn't have a choice. "In fact, Father,
I think this thing has a very good hold on you right now."
Father gaped at him. "On me? What makes you think that?"
"From the way you've been acting. Father, the curse has never
been this specific before. Your sense of danger is just that - a
vague premonition that something bad is about to happen. It
doesn't tell you what to do, or who to bring with you. Yet you've
been gently guided, led to believe that you were doing what the
magic of Jusenkyo thought was best. In fact, all you've been
doing is playing into that thing's hands all along."
"I think he's right, Uncle Ranma." Tachi was looking down at her
computer. "You were one of the ones that was most resistant to
going after Uncle Ryoga, even when it was clear that something was
wrong. I think that the thing was working inside you, trying to
keep you from coming after him. It wasn't ready for you yet. I
think Nouma's got it right. That thing found a way to get you to
do what it wanted without you being aware of it. It disguised
itself as your sense of danger, and used that to bring you here,
along with Nouma and a few others. It wants us for something."
Father looked back and forth from Nouma to Tachi, shock on his
face. Nouma could feel a sense of horror begin to permeate the
air as the members of the expedition began to realize that it was
quite possible that they had been subtly manipulated and had put
themselves right where the evil wanted them to be.
Kodachi took a deep breath. "Okay. If that's true, what do we do
about it?"
"Nothing." Khu Lon's voice was decisive. "We continue along as
we have been. It may be true that we're here at the chi vampire's
urging. But we're still the best people in the world to deal with
it. It's not perfect; it lost its hold on Watanabe Kodachi. It
didn't succeed in keeping us from thinking about Hibiki Ryoga and
recovering his body. It is my opinion that it has bitten off more
than it can chew. Our responsibility is to make sure that it
chokes on its own overconfidence."
The atmosphere quickly changed. Khu Lon's words filled Nouma with
resolve and determination. They *would* succeed. At they very
least, they would give this thing a good battle. Nouma felt his
thoughts echoed in the way the expressions of the people around
him shifted. They were ready, too.
Nouma looked at Khu Lon and gave her a small smile, an
appreciation for her words. She smiled back before widening her
eyes a little and looking away.
"Chi vampire?" Tachi was tapping away at her computer. "Did you
come up with that, Khu Lon?"
Khu Lon looked at her and shrugged. "I got tired of calling it a
'thing'. Chi vampire seems to best describe its attacks to date.
No one else has to use it, I just use it myself when thinking of
our opponent."
Kodachi shrugged. "It's as good as anything else. It helps a
little to give it a name. Makes me feel like we've got a better
feel for what it is, and what it does."
Nouma frowned slightly. Giving it a name also but limitations on
it that weren't necessarily justified. He decided not to voice
his opinion, since it *did* seem to help calm people's fears
somewhat. Internally, he resolved to keep calling it a 'thing'
until he knew exactly what it was they were fighting.
He cleared his throat slight. "To get back to our original point,
Father. You said yourself that awareness was a large part of the
battle against mind control. If you can allow yourself to
acknowledge that your sense of danger may not necessarily be
working to your benefit, that will go a long way towards
neutralizing the... chi vampire's... hold on you."
Father slowly nodded. "Fair enough. It just... galls me to think
that something could get through my defenses like this."
"C'mon, Ranma." Nabiki spoke with a fair amount of disgust. "Not
even you are perfect. You leave openings. Hell, Akane could
usually send you flying any time she damn well pleased, even
though you're ten times the martial artist she is. Don't beat
yourself up over this. Just keep it from happening again and move
on."
Ranma grinned at her. "Good advice, as always, Nabiki." He
sobered and looked around the room again. "Okay. I'd like to
spend today teaching everyone some new chi techniques. One is
fairly easy, for those of you used to drawing chi. It's a chi-
shield, one that will deflect chi attacks. If the attack is
stronger than your shield, it will still get through, although it
will be weakened. If this 'chi vampire' has as much chi available
to it as I fear it does, we may need this.
"The second is a lot more difficult. It's a way to view a
person's chi even when they aren't drawing it. That may help us
pinpoint the chi vampire's location. It didn't work for me in the
cave, but I think that's because it was spending energy keeping it
from working. If it lets down its guard, we may be able to use it
and track it down that way."
Father looked around the room. "Kouichi. Nouma. Kikuko. I'll
need to teach you these techniques." He frowned at Khu Lon. "Let
me see you draw as much chi as you can."
Khu Lon grimaced and closed her eyes. A very faint blue aura
surrounded her. Respectable, Nouma thought, although nowhere near
the strength of the other people his Father had listed.
Father grunted. "Okay, enough. You've got enough to make
teaching you worthwhile. Ukyo, Kodachi - I'd like to try teaching
you two as well. You both don't have a lot of chi either, and you
don't have any practice drawing it. We'll try, but I'm not
entirely certain you'll be able to do anything useful."
Father looked over at Nabiki and Tachi. "You two don't have
enough chi to be able to do anything useful with it. I'd like to
see you two trying to gather as much information on the cave as
possible, using the sensors or whatever gizmos Nabiki has."
They nodded, although Tachi looked unhappy.
Father nodded and walked over to Mikanma. She was glaring at him,
but he ignored her. "You should all know that Mikanma is the heir
to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. She's going to
be the one who runs the dojo after me. Her chi skills are
exceptional. She's already familiar with the techniques I've
described. I'm going to have her teaching most of you while I
work with Ukyo and Kodachi. Know that she has my complete
confidence. She'll do a wonderful job with you all." Mikanma's
expression changed from anger to utter shock. She gaped at
Father. He simply smiled and tugged on her pigtail, something he
did when he was exceptionally pleased with her.
Nouma smiled, too. Mikanma *was* an exceptional martial artist,
possibly the best in the world and certainly better than he was.
It felt good, however, to have Father acknowledge it, too. Maybe
it would cool Mikanma's urge to constantly try to one-up Nouma,
now that Father had told everyone how good her martial arts skills
were.
People began shuffling out of the cabin under Father's direction.
Mikanma still looked shocked, and a little disturbed. Nouma
wondered why. She should be happy. He shrugged, and decided he'd
talk to her about it some other time, when it was more
appropriate.
***
Tachi stared at her computer, still fuming. Rationally, she knew
that she wasn't nearly the martial artist and chi specialist the
others were. Uncle Ranma had made it quite clear to her, years
ago, that she would never be more than an average martial artist.
She simply didn't have the strength, speed, reflexes, or chi
abilities of her cousins. Tachi had accepted that, and had
undergone his training. Anyone who passed Uncle Ranma's courses
could beat up on 99% of the world.
It was just very unfortunate that almost everyone else in the
family fell under the remaining 1%.
Tachi shook her head to try and clear it. She was doing some
manual searches through Native American databases, trying to find
out more information about the tribe that had once inhabited this
region. So far, after hours of effort, she'd found out nothing
useful, which frustrated her even more.
The door opened and Mikanma came in. Mother looked up from where
she was controlling two sensors, trying to map as much of the
cave's interior as possible without actually sending a sensor
inside. "How's the training going."
Mikanma shrugged. "Okay. People are learning pretty well. Khu
Lon's determined even if her chi abilities are pathetic.
Kouichi's chi is okay, even if he isn't as smart as everyone else
is. Kikuko has good chi and she learns pretty well; I just wish I
could wipe off that little smile she always seems to have. Nouma
is, of course, Nouma, which means he's so damned perfect that it's
a wonder the chi vampire doesn't just start bowing to him now and
begging forgiveness."
Mother chuckled. "Mikanma, dear, I see that you possess all the
tact and self-control your father had at your age. We should have
a talk sometime about the difference between honey and vinegar."
Mikanma frowned. "You're one to talk, Aunt Nabiki. You're always
insulting everyone."
Mother laughed again. "Sometimes vinegar is good, too. It's
knowing when to use vinegar and when to use honey that can be
tricky."
Mikanma grunted and turned to Tachi. "Can I talk to you a
second?"
Tachi smiled. "Sure." She turned. "If that's okay, Mother.
I've got some queries running, and I could use a break anyway."
Mother nodded. "Okay. Take your time, I doubt there's anything
for you to find. If there was, you'd have found it long ago."
Tachi smiled at the implied compliment, then followed Mikanma out
of the cabin.
Mikanma led her a short distance away. She stopped and looked
around. Tachi looked, too. No one was in sight, although the
sounds of the others working out could be clearly heard.
Mikanma turned to Tachi and tilted her head. "It doesn't sound
like you're accomplishing much."
Tachi grimaced. "No, not really. Like Mother said, if there had
been anything to find out about the chi vampire, we'd have
uncovered it a long time ago. No one knows anything."
Mikanma smiled. "Well, Father wants me to send you on a secret
mission."
Tachi perked up. This sounded interesting. "Really?"
Mikanma nodded. "Yeah. Don't tell anyone. We think that there's
a secret entrance to the cave in the back. We want you to find it
and open it."
Tachi gaped. "A secret entrance? If there is one, Mother would
have found it with the sensors."
"Those are just machines. You're an intelligent person, with the
ability to find things and figure them out. That's why Pop wants
you to go."
Tachi flushed with pleasure. She *was* smart. Mother has always
said so. If she couldn't participate in the martial arts side of
things, maybe she could find another way to contribute. Uncle
Ranma wouldn't send her if she wasn't the right one.
Something bothered her a little. "Should I be going so close to
the cave by myself?"
Mikanma smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. Aunt Nabiki's got two
sensors there. I'm going to go talk to her now. She'll be
watching you constantly. You don't need to worry anyway. You're
too smart to let the chi vampire into your brain."
That sounded right. Tachi was smart, smarter than anyone else in
the expedition. No little voice was going to get through her
defenses. She was being entrusted with an important
responsibility, all because Uncle Ranma recognized her as the
incredibly intelligent person she was.
Tachi smiled. "Okay, Mikanma. Tell Uncle Ranma I'll go right
away. I'll find that entrance and report back."
Mikanma beamed and patted her on the shoulder. "Good. I knew we
could count on you. You're ever so much smarter than my stupid
brother. Go on ahead. I'll go talk to Aunt Nabiki, and we'll
contact you once you get to the cave."
Tachi grinned, turned and ran off. This was so exciting. At
last, she was *doing* something, something useful. All because of
how smart she was.
The warm and pleasant feeling the knowledge of her worthiness gave
her was enough to sustain her all the way to the cave. She stood
at the edge of the clearing. The two sensors were sitting on the
ground by the cave entrance. Tachi frowned, wondering why they
weren't moving. She punched up a connection to the main console
on her computer.
A little to her surprise, Mikanma answered. "Ah, good, you made
it. Go ahead and take a look around. We've got you covered."
Tachi looked beyond Mikanma. "Where's Mother?"
"She went to the bathroom. She'll be back in a minute." Mikanma
made a shooing motion with her hands. Go ahead. I'm watching.
Find that secret entrance."
Tachi nodded and ran eagerly to the side of the cave. She began
carefully studying it. Looking for signs of another entrance.
She wasn't exactly sure what to look for. No matter; she was so
smart, she'd think of something.
She continued walking around the small hill. They really
shouldn't call it a cave. It was more of a hollow mound, kind of
like a burial crypt. Tachi smiled, imagining how her mother and
the others would react to this insight. She'd impress them with
her dazzling intelligence. Even Mother.
As she continued moving around the hill, she spied an opening in
the rock. Immediately her excitement grew. This was it! She
moved to it, finding a wide opening. Her pleasure grew. She was
so smart. She'd found something everyone had overlooked. This
would be so useful. Perhaps she should have a quick peek inside,
so she could tell them exactly where the secret entrance led.
Tachi put her hand on the rock surrounding the secret entrance,
leaned forward, and froze.
For the first time, she really saw the opening. Two meters tall,
a meter wide. An obvious opening, nothing secret about it. No
one could have missed it. In fact, the more Tachi thought about
it, the more she realized that this was the front entrance, the
one and only entrance, and the idea of a secret entrance was
ludicrous.
She'd been so busy patting herself on the back about her
intelligence, she hadn't realized how stupid she was being. In
fact, she had been exceptionally stupid. She was alone, at the
entrance to a cave that had already killed Uncle Ryoga. She'd
been about to step inside, because something inside of her had
told her she should.
Tachi began trembling. Her own arrogance about being invulnerable
to the chi vampire's manipulations had been the key to her mind.
It had used her own pride against her - with help from Mikanma -
and had led her right where it wanted her to be.
In fact, the more Tachi thought about it, the more it seemed
likely that the chi vampire had already taken over Mikanma, and
was now getting ready to take her over, if not kill her.
Tears of fear began running down her face. She slowly lifted her
hand away from the rock.
"Well, that was clever of you, Kuno Tachi. Wait until you've
begun sipping tea before realizing the nature of the parlor the
spider has invited you into. Still, I will give you credit for
figuring it out."
The sound of the voice in her head terrified her. She turned to
run.
"Only a little bit of credit, however."
She froze, unable to move. Something was holding her. She felt
like something had hooked her soul. She tried to reach down and
grab her computer. Using all of the willpower in her possession,
she lifted it from the holder on her belt and held it in front of
her. She tried turning it on several times before realizing that
it was dead.
"A nice try. Someone will come, don't worry. Just not right at
the moment. Now, enter the cave."
Before she could stop herself, she took a step backwards towards
the entrance to the cave. She cried and dropped the computer,
trying to fight her body as it took another step backwards.
Sobbing, she tried to make her legs move forward. She succeeded
in lifting one of her feet, only to have some force yank it
backwards. She reached out her hands to grab the edges of the
cave entrance. She tried to pull herself towards the daylight.
Her forearms trembled with exertion. She leaned forwards, tasting
the air of the forest, afraid of the dank smell of the cave.
Her feet wanted to keep moving backwards. They tried to lift
themselves, tried to take her to her death. Tachi pulled with
greater force.
Somehow, the blackness of the cave grew darker. She felt...
*something* put itself between her and the cave entrance. She
could see a blob of darkness cut off the light coming from the
outside. It felt very cold, as if it could suck the light and
heat and life from everything it touched. She gasped in horror
and fell backwards into the cave.
"Very good. Now, understand that I'm not going to kill you. I
don't need your chi; you have little enough anyway. You will
eventually be my servant, and you will be useful to me. In fact,
you can be of use to me now."
Suddenly, pain wracked her body. Tachi writhed, feeling as if
every bone in her body was being broken, mended, and broken again.
Her whole body spasmed, as pain on levels she'd never experienced
before ripped at her sanity.
"You see, right now I need you to scream."
Tachi, despite herself, had to comply.
***
Nouma wiped his brow. This was quite draining. Mikanma had him
and the others alternating throwing chi at each other and blocking
it with the shields she'd taught them to form. They'd been doing
this for thirty minutes now.
The continual drawing of chi was leaving him exhausted. He
finally called a halt to the back-and-forth chi drill he was
having with Khu Lon. She immediately bent forward at the waist,
clasping her knees and staring at the ground, breathing heavily.
Nouma looked around, to see that everyone else was also resting.
He frowned. Mikanma really should have known better than to leave
while everyone was doing these kind of drills. The use of chi
should be closely supervised. It would be all too easy for
someone to get too carried away.
Even as he was thinking this, his computer beeped. He picked it
up and looked at Mikanma's anxious face. "Nouma, c-could you come
into the main cabin for a minute?"
Nouma nodded, glanced at everyone, then proceeded to the cabin.
Mikanma had chosen a place to drill that was on the far side of
the camp from the main cabin. Nouma figured she wanted to isolate
Nabiki and Tachi from the noise of training.
He walked around the cabin to the door. He opened it and stepped
inside.
"Nouma!" Mikanma seemed relived to see him. "Come over here,
quick!"
He ran over to where Mikanma was standing next to the console.
Nabiki was lying in a heap on the ground. Nouma gasped and
quickly felt for a pulse. It was there.
He looked up into Mikanma's eyes. "What happened?"
"I don't know!" Mikanma sounded afraid. "I came in here, and she
was like this. Tachi's gone, too!"
Nouma quickly looked around, then at the console. "We should be
able to track her."
"I already did." Mikanma pointed to a blinking dot on a map. "It
looks like she's headed to the cave."
"Oh no." Horror washed over Nouma. The thing had gotten to
Tachi. He reached over to try and contact her computer.
Mikanma grabbed his wrist. "I already tried that. She's not
answering, and I can't get an image from her computer." She
sounded frantic, almost wild. "If she reaches that cave, she's
going to get killed, Nouma!"
Nouma controlled his breathing and considered quickly. "We need
to go after her, try to intercept her before she gets there."
Mikanma nodded. "Great idea. Go, Nouma, now! I'll call Pop and
the others and we'll get in touch with you on the computer." She
turned and shoved him towards the door. "Go!"
Nouma grimaced and decided it was as good as anything. He sprang
through the door. He looked over to the trucks, and wondered if
he should take one. He decided against it; if that thing was
interfering with Tachi's computer, who knew what it could do a
truck.
He began running through the forest. He held his computer in
front of him, waiting for Father to contact him. Nothing
happened, and Nouma wondered if the thing was interfering with his
computer as well.
Nouma ran and ran, calling Tachi's name. He had to hurry, had to
stop her. Ryoga was one casualty too many already. He was not
going to let anyone else die.
A few minutes later, he reached the edge of the clearing. He
stopped there, breathing heavily. He could see another hand-held
computer lying just in front of the cave entrance. He was too
late; the thing had already gotten Tachi, one way or the other.
Nouma stayed where he was, waiting for the others to show up. The
last thing he needed to do was to try and take on that thing all
by himself. He carefully examined his mind for external
influences. He didn't find any, although he wondered if he would
know if there were any.
One thing was certain; he was not going to enter the cave. Not
until Father had arrived and they'd come up with a plan.
A scream split the air. It was a scream of extreme pain and
terror. It barely sounded human, but Nouma recognized enough to
know that it came from Tachi. The scream paused long enough for
her to draw another breath, then continued, somehow even louder
than before.
Nouma sprang into the clearing. He stopped himself just outside
the cave. Tachi's screaming continued, ripping his heart apart.
She was suffering, as no one should ever have to suffer. To help
her, he'd have to go into the darkness and possibly expose himself
to that thing's influence. He'd do no one any good if he allowed
himself to be captured along with Tachi.
Tachi's screams, however, were wearing away his resolve. He
couldn't just stand there and do nothing while she died.
He looked around hoping for inspiration. To his surprise, he
found it. Kodachi's ribbon, where she'd dropped it the night
before.
Nouma picked it up. Kodachi had taught him how to use it, years
ago. He hadn't become terribly proficient in it, heeding his
father's advice not to become too dependent on any one weapon.
Still, he thought as he began twirling it, he knew enough to get
by.
He looked into the cave, trying to see Tachi. The sun was very
bright today, which made the interior of the cave correspondingly
dark. Tachi, however, didn't sound like she was too far from the
entrance. He sent the ribbon flying into the cave. He yanked it
back, only to find it empty. He shifted his aim a little and sent
it flying again.
It caught on something. He grabbed the ribbon with his free hand
and gave it a strong tug.
Tachi came flying out of the cave, attached to the ribbon. Nouma
dropped the ribbon to catch her. She was still screaming, but he
ignored it for now. He turned and began to run away.
"Damn you, Tendo Nouma. Do not forget my promise to you. I will
devour all that you hold precious. Indeed, I have already begun."
Nouma grimaced and ran into the forest. It *had* already begun;
the thing had already killed Ryoga. Nouma glanced down at Tachi.
She had stopped screaming. Her eyes were open but vacant, and
foam was dribbling down one corner of her mouth. Nouma could
afford no more time to examine her. He concentrated on getting
back to camp.
It had already begun, it'd said. Nouma couldn't shake the
feeling, however, that it wasn't talking about Ryoga or Tachi.
All that was precious to him. Maybe it was talking about its hold
on Father. They'd already made Father aware of it, however, and
thus had mostly neutralized its effect. It couldn't be referring
to him. Maybe....
Nouma's mouth went dry. Maybe it was referring to someone else.
Someone who had isolated him from the others and sent him off to
the cave. Someone who had discovered Nabiki's unconscious body in
the cabin and had made the decision to contact only Nouma instead
of everyone. Someone who probably could find similar ways to send
Ryoga and Tachi off to the cave. Someone Nouma trusted
implicitly. Someone Nouma loved.
Nouma rounded a clump of trees and lurched to a halt in a
relatively clear area of the forest. Someone was standing in the
center of the clearing. Someone, Nouma realized, who was not
there to help him.
Mikanma smiled widely and cracked her knuckles. "Older Brother,
it's time you joined us. You've never been able to get by me
before, and you won't succeed this time, either. One way or the
other, you'll be entering that cave. It's just a question of how
much punishment you're willing to take before you do."
-*-
