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."

-*-