Well...

I never expected such an *overwheliming*	response to my idea/first 
chapter of a possible Eddings/Ranma crossover. I got one anyway, most 
of them wanting more... RIGHT NOW.

So I wrote a little more.

This is a full chapter, and if writing it is any indication there *is* 
more to come. The dialouge is coming fairly easily, so I shouldn't have
much problem continuing with it.

Again, if you have any ideas, or are interested in writing a chapter, 
get in touch with me, and I'll tell you what I have in mind.
 
This fic assumes a familiarity with David and Leigh Eddings 'Belgariad' 
and 'Mallorean' series. I'm assuming that it's popular enough that I
don't have to summarize. If I do end up having to summarize, should I
post a breif summary to the FFML?

Also, should I post this to alt.fan.eddings?

One last thing before we get down to cases. My new spell checker is a 
little wonky, so don't be afraid to point out spelling errors or typos.

And now, on with the show:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chaos and Destiny

Part 1: Prophecy's Problem
by Christopher Jones
----------------------------------------------------------------------

	*Garion.*
	The king stirred in his sleep and muttered something about
'Mutton futures'.
	*Garion, wake up.*
	"Nnnph,"
	*I swear, you're getting as bad as Belgarath. Wake up, Garion,
I need to talk to you.*
	"Mmmrrr... later, Ce'Nedra. I'm still sleepi...zzznx"
	"Garion, Ce'Nedra's pregnant again."
	The king sat bolt upright in bed. "What?!?! Again!?!?"
	*Just kidding. That won't happen again for another few years. I
need you up.*
	Garion rubbed at his eyes and glanced over at his still
sleeping wife to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He decided to forgo
the customary 'Where have you been?' and stood to clear his mind.
	*It's been a while,* he thought. *How's Eriond?*
	*Coming along,* The Voice replied. *He's still refusing to
exert his will against those who won't accept him voluntarily.*
	*Actually, I wouldn't expect any less form him.* Garion
stretched and walked over to his dressing table. He ran his fingers
through his hair and glanced at the clockwork time keeping device
Polgara's daughter had crafted for him and his wife.
	"Four hours after midnight! Blah."
	*Actually, I wouldn't expect any less of him either. It's just
causing problems for him and Zakath. There's a few small towns up
near Jenno that are still 'waiting for the new dark god'.
	*Eriond's been working away at them for years, but with little
or no progress. Zakath wanted to send in the army, but Eriond
refused.*
	"I'll have to take a trip, and see if I can help." Garion
pulled on an informal tunic and made for the door of his bedchamber.
*So, is this just a social visit? I *really* could use a few more
hours in bed.*
	*Quite the opposite, really."
	"Oh?" Garion padded down the cold hallway toward the royal
kitchens. A cup of tea would be just what he needed to wake up.
	*There's been another accident, Garion.*
	The King froze in his tracks.
	*An... accident? Like...*
	*Yes. A rupture in the fabric of the universe. This one's not
quite so serious yet.*
	Garion quickened his pace and resumed his path toward the
kitchens. *Will it result in another division? Are we going to have
another set of prophecies?*
	*Before the last accident, the consciousness that proceeded me
had no concept of 'intervention'. The division changed all that. I'm
not about to sit back and let something like that happen again.*
	*So what are we going to do about it?*
	*'We'* Garion thought he heard the voice snicker. *You're on
top of things already. Right now, I'm putting all my energy into
keeping the rupture from spreading and destroying another galaxy. UL
and the other gods aren't going to intervene in this one unless it
becomes absolutely necessary. That *may* involve the destruction of
an entire world, so don't even think of asking for outside help.*
	*Lovely,* Garion entered the kitchen, and sneaked past the
drowsy cook. He filled a kettle with warm water and started searching
for a cannister of tea. *So what tasks do I have this time? What
rules do I have to follow?*
	*Since there's no division, You're free to play by your own
this time. You'll just have to help take care of the problem.*
	*That's cute. The new 'Rivan Codex' will read 'Just take care
of the problem.'*
	*You know, Garion. You're sense of humor is decaying as you
age. You're just about as bad as Belgarath.*
	Garion sighed as he poured boiling water over the cup of tea.
*I know. Ce'Nedra's bugging me about it, too. What do I have to do?*
	*Some time this morning, you'll receive several guests.*
	*Guests?*
	*Aliens, Garion. They're from another planet. They're human,
but they were born on a different world, speak another language, and
have wildly different customs. You're job will be to help keep them
alive and sane until I can send them back to where they belong.*
	*That's it?*
	*It will be extraordinarily difficult.*
	Garion did not doubt the invisible presence.
	The voice continued. *If it helps at all, you're Aunt and
Grandfather will be arriving for a visit this afternoon. Poledra,
Durnik and the twins will be along, too.*
	*I could probably use Silk and Liselle, too. Barak and maybe
Lelldorin, might help. I'll send messengers.*
	*You can, but they'll be along in about a week, anyway. Unrak,
too.*
	Garion nodded to himself as he sipped his tea. *How long will
they be here?*
	*Right now, It's heard to estimate. It may not sound like it,
but I'm horribly busy just keeping the universe from falling apart.
Say anywhere from a couple of months to a few years.*
	Garion raised his eyebrow.
	For once, the voice sounded apologetic. *I'm sorry I can't be
more specific right now, Garion. Not even UL knows how this is going
to turn out. The situation is just too chaotic. If we act now,
though, between us we can prevent a repeat of Torak and Zandramas.*
	*It can't be helped, old friend.* Garion answered.
	*Just for your own reference, you're the Child of Light again
while this is going on. One of the visitors may share or assume it
later, though.*
	*Will there be a Child of Dark?*
	*No. That died with Zandramas. It doesn't mean you won't be
dealing with some very evil people, though.*
	"Well, let's get to work then." Garion drained his mug and set
it down on a table.
	*They just arrived. Good luck, Garion.*
	Garion was about to ask what that meant, as a sandy haired
young man and a large, menacing wolf ran breathlessly into the
kitchen.
	"Father!"
	Garion poured another mug of tea and handed it to his son.
	"What's wrong, Geran?"
	"People! From Sky! Fell! Murgos!"
	*Must be the 'visitors',* Garion thought as he followed his son
toward the courtyard. "Wait a second? Murgos?!?!"
	"Yes, father! Murgos! Here on Riva!"
	Garion gritted his teeth. While tensions with the Angarak
nations had relaxed significantly over the last fifteen years, there
were still lingering restrictions. Angaraks were welcome on the Isle
of the Winds only at his invitation. It usually only pertained to
visits of state. If a group of Murgos, even alien Murgos descended
upon the Hall of the Rivan King, there were liable to be *problems*.
As his son calmed, he recounted the story of how several people had
fallen out of flash of light in the air. Garion quickened his pace
after the prince, and soon reached the training yard.
	Geran's filly, Gwenny, was prancing wildly on the other side of
the courtyard while several of the stable hands and a few guards
stood side by side with their swords leveled at something in front of
them. There was quite a bit of shouting going on, partly in a
language Garion didn't understand. The tension was palpable.
	"AT EASE, MEN!" He shouted. While they didn't lower their
weapons, they did back up several paces.
	Garion and his son walked up in between two of the stable hands
to get a good look at the strangers.
	The first thing Garion noticed were their faces. The group did
indeed appear to be Angarak. The men didn't quite have the scarred
cheeks of Murgos, and their skin was quite a bit lighter. They
weren't as tall, ant their shoulders weren't nearly so broad as
Murgo, and one of them appeared to be more Melecene than Murgo. It
was hard to tell, however, since his eyes were covered by thick,
distorting magnifying lenses.
	Looking closely at the other eyes in the group, Garion noted
that they were just a little larger, and more rounded than the Murgo
almond shape. They difference was especially pronounced on the women
of the group.
	Their clothes and hair were quite alien. Two of the men were
wearing short tunics and long trousers. The one in the red tunic had
a long pony tail tied into a braid, and the one in the yellow tunic
wore a spotted band of cloth around his forehead. Although the
pigtailed youth was unarmed, he was standing in what was clearly a
defensive stance, and *acted* as if he were carrying weapon. The boy
with the headband held a parasol made of paper low, as if it were a
sword.
	The other two men both wore robes. The one with the thick
glasses on his eyes wore trousers similar to the other two, and had
several dangerous looking spikes protruding from the sleeves of his
long white robe. The other was wearing large, billowy, pants and
carried a *wooden* sword as if it were made of the finest steel.
	There were a few more women in the group than the men, but only
two of them were armed. Their clothing, however, was even more alien
than the mens'.
	The shortest of the six girls was standing next to the
pigtailed youth and his friend with the headband. Her thick black
hair was cut boyishly short, and she wore a *short* skirt, and a
billowy blouse. While her skirt wasn't quite as short as one of
Ce'Nedra's dryad tunics, it exposed more leg than Garion had seen in
public since the last time he visited Nyssa.
	She held a stance that closely mirrored the pigtailed youth's.
It appeared that they believed they could fight the armed guards with
little more than their fists.
	Behind her were two young women who were very obviously related
to the first. The tallest of the two was wearing something similar to
a long dress, although the fabric and repair of the garment was quite
a bit better than any peasant smock, it wasn't nearly so ornate as
the gowns the ladies in his court wore. She was completely unarmed,
except for a charming smile.
	The other girl was showing more leg than her sister. She wore
trousers that were so short as to completely expose her thighs, and a
low cut blouse that was as daring as anything his wife had ever worn.
Her hair was cut a little longer than the first girl, but quite a bit
shorter than the second. She was unarmed as well, but had her arms
crossed under her breasts and wore a completely unworried expression
on her face.
	Garion thought the next girl was another man at first, because
of her flat chest, but it was obvious from the way she moved that she
was just as female as the rest. Her long, almond colored hair was
tied back into a waist length ponytail, and she wore a severe dark
jacket, and straight trousers. She was armed with a bandoleer of what
looked like cooking spatulas, and a large steel paddle she wielded
like a broadsword. After a second, Garion realised that it was only a
larger version of the spatulas hung over her shoulder.
	The next girl's clothing were at quite a variance. They were
the brightest violet silk Garion had ever seen. She wore a blouse and
trousers, and had long, thick, *violet* hair. She was armed with two
short clubs. They were more short sticks with large, brightly colored
balls on the ends.
	The last girl strained Garion's deeply engrained sense of
Sendarian propriety. She wore nothing more than a tight fitting
outfit that covered very little of her body. It's skintight fabric
showed off every curve of her body. Her wavy black hair was tied off
to one side in an odd looking ponytail, and the sultry expression in
her eyes was every bit as dangerous as it was inviting. As he
pondered the long ribbon the girl continually twirled through the
air, he caught his son staring long and hard at the girl's figure.
	*Uh, oh.*
	Garion noticed that the prevalent expression on the strangers'
faces was one of confusion. He doubted they understood what happened
as well as he did. Well, if he had to keep them safe, the first thing
to do would be to diffuse this situation.
	"Drop your arms, men?"
	The highest ranking guard turned toward him in shock. "Your
Majesty? Drop our arms before Murgos?"
	"They're not Angaraks, Brelmik." He took the guard's sword and
laid it down in front of the four young men, who had taken up a
position just in front of the girls.
	The pigtailed youth said something in a flowing,
incomprehensible tongue and relaxed his stance.
	The rest of the guards grudgingly lowered their swords, and in
response, the group of strangers did as well...
	With the exception of the blue robed man with the wooden sword.
He started speaking in the same alien language, and posed
dramatically.
	The short haired girl rapped him viciously across the back of
the head, knocking him unconscious to the ground.
	The indecently clothed girl with the ribbon laughed evilly.
	Realizing that they would have to overcome the communication
barrier, Garion took the first step. He pointed to his own chest and
spoke his name, "Belgarion."
	The group, still with a wary eye to the King and the other men,
conferred in their alien language for a second. Then, the pigtailed
youth stepped forward and pointed at his own chest.
	"Ranma. Saotome Ranma."

* * *

	Belgarion had the group taken to a private study buried deep
within the citadel. He had forbidden his wife and son from coming
along. He feared for his wife's safety if something unpleasant
happened, and he feared for his son on general principal for the
black haired temptress with the ribbon. Beldaran and her two younger
sisters, Cera and Ce'Vanne had wailed at length, but he assured the
three girls that they would be able to meet the 'guests' sooner or
later.
	He and Kail, and a couple of the guards stood in the room with
the aliens while he waited for his extended family to arrive. With
some missteps, he introduced himself and his warder to the newcomers,
and they in turn, introduced themselves.
	Once they got around the convention that the aliens' spoke
their given names *after* their family names, The first to speak was
the young man with the wooden sword. He introduced himself as 'Kunou
Tatewake' and went on in his foreign tongue. After a few seconds, the
short haired girl knocked him out again, and introduced herself and
her sisters.
	She was 'Tendou Akane' and the other two girls were 'Tendou
Nabiki and Tendou Kasumi'.
	Garion felt himself tripping over the foreign names. They
seemed to at once be simple to pronounce, yet defy his tongue all
the same.
	The spatula wielding girl was 'Kuonji Ukyou' and the long
haired youth, and the lavender haired girl were 'Xian Pu' and 'Mu
Tsi' although everyone else referred to them as 'Shampoo' and
'Mousse'. Garion thought that they must have been a slightly
different race than the others.
	The quiet young man with the umbrella and headband was 'Hibiki
Ryouga. His face was constantly plagued with a worried look at Akane,
and an angry look at Ranma.
	They tried to communicate in sign language, but had so little
in common that it was difficult. The furthest they got was exchanging
nouns for various items. Garion learned 'Table', 'Chair', 'Window',
and 'Wooden Sword' in his visitors' language. Other than that, they
made little progress.
	After a few minutes, he realized that his guests were hungry.
The pigtailed youth, Ranma, had a stomach louder than any Garion had
ever heard. He sent one of the guards to the kitchen with orders for
a small banquet, and *tried* to get it across to his guests by
pointing at his own stomach that breakfast was coming.
	After some rapid fire consultation with Nabiki, Akane, and
Ranma, the bespectacled youth, Mousse, pulled a long rolled up tube
of paper out of his voluminous sleeves. He unrolled it, and handed it
to Garion.
	Garion and Kail took it and laid it flat against a table in the
study. After only a second of study, Garion realized that it was a
map. What it was a map of, Garion had no idea. He assumed that it was
their home world.
	Nabiki strode forward with a questioning look on her face, and
moved her hand over the map as if to ask, 'Where are we?'.
	Garion didn't know what to say at first.
	Nabiki used her finger to circle a small chain of islands in
the middle of the map. "Nippon."
	"That's where your from, isn't it."
	The girl pointed at a large black dot on the largest of the
four islands. "Tokyo. Nerima-cho?"
	Sadly, Garion shook his head. "I don't have the slightest idea
where you're from, young lady. Here."
	He reached up and pulled a largish book from one of the
shelves. He flipped through several pages and laid it down in front
of her. He found the appropriate spot and pointed. "Riva."
	The girl's expression fell. She called over to the others, who
crowded around the atlas. There was another hushed conversation, and
after a few seconds, Ranma made the obvious gesture. He drew a finger
from the map of the Western Nations across the table to the other
map.
	Kail interperated it. "How do we get home?"
	Again, Garion shrugged. "How do I tell them that all I know
that I know is *how* they'll be going home.?"
	"We're going to *have* to learn their language, Your Majesty."
	Breakfast passed without major incident. There were frequent
arguments between the aliens, but nothing got out of hand. After a
few minutes, Nabiki brought her plate over to Garion, and began
exchanging object names with him again as she ate.
	After breakfast, Kail had blankets and pillows brought in so
that the aliens could rest. While Nabiki, and later Mousse as well
tried to learn the language, the rest of the group sat back and tried
to get comfortable.
	They spent most of the morning like that.
	About noon, Garion was about ready to send for another meal,
when Ce'Nedra entered the room.
	Garion was concerned, but so far his guests had displayed
little
aggressiveness.
	He gestured to the two in front of him. "Dear, this is Nabiki
and Mousse."
	The tiny queen nodded and pointed at her own chest. "Ce'Nedra."
	Mousse seemed to have no trouble with it, but Nabiki seemed to
have a little difficulty pronouncing the Tolnedran name. "Se-
nedura?"
	Not wanting to offend in what was clearly a touchy situation,
Ce'Nedra nodded. "Close enough." She turned to her husband. "You're
Aunt's here, Garion."
	"Finally!"
	
* * *

	Brelmik the guard didn't live at the palace barracks like most
of his fellows. Instead, he shared a room in town with his brothers,
Koran and Marso. While it was unusual, Brelmik was a fine duty guard,
and an excellent seargent.
	Brelmik traipsed up the stairs to his room and pounded on the
door. He slipped the key into the lock and let himself in.
	His brother Koran was kneeling on the floor in the middle of
the room before an altar to Belar.
	"Brother," Brelmik interrupted.
	"You would disturb my meditations before Belar, Brelmik?"
	"I belive Belar has sent us a task, Koran. Just today, I
witnessed the spirit of Torak deposit a legion of Murgos inside the
citadel walls!"
	"Do not mock me. I am a priest of Belar. Don't you think that
He would send a test directly to his most favored disciple?"
	"I'm telling you, Koran, I was watching the prince and his
horse early this morning when ten Murgos simply appeared out of thin
air in front of him!"
	The priest cocked his head at his brother. "Are you certain?"
	"Of course I'm certain!" Brelmik strode over to a cabinet and
pulled out a bottle full of amber spirits. He pulled out the cork and
took a long draw off the top. He sat and sighed. "They had already
bewitched the prince and king before they had gotten within ten
paces. I tell you, Koran, those Murgo women are evil! One was almost
entirely naked, and the others were wearing licentious clothing. They
enchanted the King into taking them inside the Hall. Even now,
they're warping his mind!"
	Koran swore and growled. "Belar! Is there no rest for Aloria?
First, our King is forced to marry that godless Tolnedran whore, and
now there are Murgos inside the palace corrupting the mind of his
son!"
	Brelmik took another long sip off his bottle. "What can we do,
Brother?"
	"I believe that the Order of the Bear will most likely have
something to say about this. Gather your like-minded fellows and meet
me at our usual place tonight at midnight. I think it is time to
discuss cutting out the cancer or immorality and depravity that has
plagued the Rivan line."
	Brelmik grinned evilly in the dim light of the loft room. "I
think I will enjoy slaughtering Murgos, Brother."

* * *
	
	The 'guests' were noisy eaters.
	Of course, after three thousand odd years, Polgara *would* have
picked up some rather intense pet peeves, but Garion remembered how
adamant she had been in his youth about drilling proper table manners
into him. She was visible irritated, and he wasn't sure how much
attention she was paying to him.
	Belgarath coughed, turning his head away from an argument
between Ranma and Ryouga over a leg of turkey. "So did the prophecy
give you any hint about what we were supposed to face?"
	"Not really, Grandfather." Garion winced as a bowl of mashed
potatoes was knocked to the tile floor of the study. "He hinted that
we were going to have to fight *someone*, but didn't say who. He
insisted that the situation was so chaotic that there wasn't any way
we could predict what would happen."
	"I doubt it would do any good to press, anyway."
	Akane yelled incomprehensibly as Shampoo tried to hand feed
Ranma.
	"He did say that we were going to have to work to keep them
alive and sane, though."
	Belgarath snorted and scratched at his beard.
	Poledra, who had remained largely silent, other than to greet
her Grandson raised her voice at this point. "With this group, that
could prove difficult. One thinks that one has never seen a more
unruly group before."
	Garion nodded.
	Polgara's teeth clenched as the crescendoing argument grew in
decibels. "I think sanity would include proper etiquette as well!"
	"Now, Pol--" Durnik was cut off as Kunou stood and started
making an incomprehensible speech.
	Garion raised his voice above the din. "Right now, I think the
most important thing we can do is to try to learn their language."
	His 'family' nodded and made various noises of agreement over
the noise.
	"Aunt Pol, is there anything we might be able to do to speed
the learning process?"
	Tearing her irritated gaze away from the rapidly decaying
situation over the lunch buffet, she shook her head. "Doing something
like that with sorcery would be tricky at best. They speak and
*think* in an entirely different language."
	Garion nodded. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."
	Durnik put his fingers to his chin. "Do you think that works
both ways?"
	"I don't get what you're saying, Durnik."
	"Well," he reasoned. "We *can't* get their language out, but
maybe we can put ours in. We already know how we speak and what our
grammar is like. Maybe we could--"
	"RANMA NO BAKA!!!!"
	Belgarath hissed, and turned in horror to where Akane was
standing over Ranma with a large wooden hammer.
	"Did you hear that?!?!" Durnik asked.
	They all did. Akane's angered retort was accompanied by that
familiar rush of 'sound' that always accompanied an act of the will.
Seeing the large weapon out of nowhere she now had levelled at the
pigtailed youth, it was not hard to imagine what she had done.
	Moreover, Garion could feel several of the people around the
table clench their own wills in response.
	Garion stared openmouthed as the girl swung the hammer at
Ranma. The youth cleanly dodged, however, and took a step away from
her.
	Belgarath sighed and shook his head. "And to think, I thought I
was going to have a chance to rest for a few centuries..."
	Durnik counted on his fingers as individual wills clenched and
relaxed. "Five... No, Six. Six of them."
	Poledra nodded.
	Akane took another few swings at Ranma. Garion noted that the
youth sped each lightning fast dodge with a little of his own will.
	Polgara seethed. "This has gone on long enough. STOP THIS!!!!"

	Nabiki felt the others around her freeze in their tracks at the
woman's harsh yell. She didn't have to know the language to
understand what she wanted. She let her self relax, and waited to see
what was about to happen.
	As Akane's mallet tumbled to the floor, Nabiki heard the small
group discussing something rapidly in their undecipherable language.
	After a few seconds, the woman with the white streak in her
hair looked at their little lost group. Nabiki felt something... a
pressure on her mind. A look around confirmed that Kasumi, Ranma, and
Akane, were feeling it too.
	The woman, 'Polgara', if Nabiki overheard correctly, pointed at
her. She said something incomprehensible and then called her by name,
"Nabiki."
	Nabiki assumed from the woman's hand gestures that the next
thing she said was 'come here'. Recognizing the need to maintain some
semblance of safety in the situation, she strode over and bowed
before the woman.
	The rage gone from her face, the woman placed a hand against
the side of Nabiki's face.
	Then, to her surprise, she got the mental image of the woman
stuffing a book in her ear. Nabiki's hand went to her mouth as she
laughed aloud.
	The woman looked at her questioningly.
	"I guess I understand what you want to do... still..." She did
her best to form a mental image of a locked chest with a fence around
it. "Stay away from my personal things, please."
	The look on Polgara's face was a little shocked, but she
nodded in response.
	Then, after concentrating for a few seconds, she spoke one
word. Then she spoke it again and *this time* Nabiki understood it.
"Hear."
	Nabiki suddenly felt a terrible roaring in her ears.
	Her eyes went wide with horror.
	She collapsed, screaming.

* * *

	"All hail Belar."
	"Hail Belar!" The response was a little muffled since the
members of the group had taken to wearing bearskin masks during their
gatherings.
	Koran, standing in front of the campfire, raised his hands to
the sky. "May his guidance give us the strength to crush the non-
believer and deliver Aloria from evil."
	The assembled cultists hooted and bellowed in agreement. They
danced around the fire in glee, making rude 'bear' noises. After
several minutes of revelry, Koran raised a large stick, and used it
to pound a drum at his feet.
	"Brothers, patriots, attend me!"
	Most of the bellowing died down, except for one or two
enthusiasts that were far too gone in drink to care.
	"All hail the priest of Belar!" the cry went up.
	"Now is the time to strike, brothers."
	Another cheer went up in response. Brelmik, who was standing
respectfully at the back of the crowd gathered around the fire raised
his voice. "Instruct us, priest, so that we may strike against those
who hold Aloria in chains."
	"All of us know, that ever since our lord Belgarion ascended
his rightful throne he has been plagued and hypnotized by those who
wished to see all of Aloria scattered to the winds."
	Several 'Aye's went up around the shaggy crowd.
	"First, our lord was forced to marry that red-headed Tolnedran
wench to give the Emperor of Tolnedra access to the holy throne."
	The crowd grumbled in response.
	"Then they invited *Angaraks* into Riva's Hall" Koran paused
for a second to let it soak into the crowd. "Not happy with
subverting our lord's children, those allied against us had to try to
hypnotize the King himself. Now... Now there is a worse threat!"
	"Tell us, Brother Koran," Brelmik shouted from the rear, "What
is this threat?"
	Koran cleared his throat and raised his fists into the air in
rage.	"Our enemies have sent a coven of Angarak witches and harlots
into the citadel to corrupt the souls our King and our Prince! Even
now, they are conducting unholy rituals to Torak and the other gods
in the Hall of the Rivan King!"
	Koran let the grumbling crowd seethe for a few minutes before
he spoke. "Are we just going to set back and watch our future die?"
	"No!"
	"Are we going to let Aloria be divided up amongst our enemies?"
	"NO!"
	"Are we going to let the next King of Riva be a puppet of
Tolnedra or the Angaraks?"
	"***NO!!!***"
	One of the cultists, a young sword-smith, cast his voice up
over the cacophony. "But, holy priest, what can we do?"
	Koran pointed to his brother, at the rear of the assembly. "Our
most excellent Brother Brelmik has a plan to kill not only the
Angarak witches, but slaughter the Tolnedran whore who dares to call
herself the Queen of Riva."
	Brelmik marched up to take a place next to his brother in front
of the fire.
	"Brothers all, listen to me. I have gained a position inside
our Lord's guard. I and any with me have access to the palace and the
chambers of the King himself. This very evening, I and the other
guards with me, shall drag the whore and the witches kicking and
screaming back to my apartment in town. Once there, we will don the
black robes of the unholy grolims and wait for the King and the rest
of his men to find us. Once he is there, we will slaughter the lot of
them. The king will turn against the Angaraks once more, and all
Aloria shall be reunited in retribution!"
	One of the more drunken revellers raised his sword in the air
and screamed, "WAR!"
	"Yes, my brothers," Koran shouted. "War on Angarak!"
	"WAR!"
	"War on Tolnedra!"
	"WAR"
	"War for Aloria!"
	"ALORIA!!!"
	
* * *

	"So then, while Cologne had all three of us tied up around the
caldron," Nabiki paused to sip at her tea, "Ranma, Kunou and the
others all broke in."
	"Why did she have all three of you, if she only wanted to get
rid of your sister?" Garion asked.
	"I'm not sure. Apparently the spell wouldn't work unless we
were all there, though. Ukyou cut us loose, but then the cauldron
spilled over. That's when the floor caught on fire."
	Polgara nodded. "How's the headache, dear?" she asked in fluent
Japanese. Having an entire language crammed into one's head had been
quite a bit more painful than she suspected.
	"Getting better, I think," Nabiki responded. "The tea's
helping. So then, we all ran out of the Nekohanten, and into the
street. Shampoo said she thinks all of her grandmother's potions
caught on fire at once to cause the black hole."
	Poledra wrinkled her nose. "Such a fire would smell most foul."
	"Believe me, it did." Nabiki continued. "Of course, then we all
started getting sucked into the hole."
	Durnik scratched his chin in thought. "Could you do such a
thing with just potions, Pol?"
	I've never heard of anything like that. Father?"
	Belgarath leaned back in his chair. "Possibly. I'm more
inclined to think that the accident Garion's friend was talking about
is responsible for the fire, rather than the result."
	Nabiki nodded. "It certainly didn't *seem* mystic to me. Of
course, a lot of the things Cologne have done do seem pretty magical.
It's hard to tell."
	Polgara thought for a few seconds, and then posed her
question. "Just how old *is* this Cologne woman?"
	"She *says* she's three hundred years old. I always thought she
was more like about ninety or ninety-five." Nabiki sipped her tea
again, and repeated a little of the conversation in Japanese for the
benefit of those around her.
	Shampoo raised her hand and spoke in Japanese. "Great-
Grandmother tell stories about great amazon leader, Ti Chu, who live
to be five hundred year old."
	Polgara looked at her father and mother, and then at Durnik.
With resolution in her expression, she turned back to Nabiki. "If
what you say about her abilities is true, she may very well be
telling the truth about her age."
	Nabiki raised one eyebrow in skepticism.
	Polgara continued. "I have... certain abilities... in that
general direction as well, and I'm nearing my thirty first
*hundredth* birthday."
	Nabiki's other eyebrow went up. "You'll have to forgive my
cynicism, but you certainly don't look it."
	Polgara smiled warmly and patted the girl's shoulder. "What a
darling girl you are to say it, too."
	"Grandfather, on the other hand," Garion interjected, "looks
like he's been around for ten thousand years instead of only seven
thousand."
	"Hey!"
	"You're not joking, are you?" Nabiki looked around at her
hosts.
	To the astonishment of the entire group, Polgara created a
rose out of thin air and handed it to Nabiki. She spoke in
Japanese. "I think it's fairly important that you believe us. You're
in a very hard situation, and it won't hurt to have a little faith on
your side."
	Nabiki took the rose and examined it closely. She shook
her head. "After that, and the translation trick, I'm just about
ready to believe anything, I guess."
	"You may have to." Polgara sighed. "Garion, do you have rooms
for them yet? It's been a very trying day, it's getting late, and
they all need rest."
	The king nodded. "With you and the twins, and the Tolnedran
delegation in town this month, we're a little short on space. We'll
have to double up on rooms, but they should be okay."
	With Nabiki coordinating, the group was led off from the study
and through several hallways. They were split up into pairs and given
rooms with thick, down beds.
	Mousse ended up dragging Kunou into his bed because Akane had
knocked him out again for making a disparaging remark on the
hospitality of their hosts.
	Most were out like a light after their horrendous day. Ukyou
found it particularly easy to sleep with motherly Kasumi in the next
bed. Shampoo and Kodachi wanted to stay up and fight, but just
couldn't seem to summon the energy.
	In Ranma and Ryouga's room, for once they decided they were in
bad enough a situation to cooperate.
	"So do you believe the sorceress lady?" Ranma asked.
	"Why shouldn't we?" Ryouga responded.
	"'Cause you're pretty gullible."
	Ryouga shrugged. "These people seem honorable to me."
	"Me too." Ranma sat on his bed and looked out his window at the
city, and the grey sea beyond. "I'm just jumpy, I guess. We've been
stranded away from home before. Long ways from home, too. This
time... somethin' just feels wrong."
	Ryouga nodded. "You felt it too? Like someone's starin' at your
back all the time?"
	"Yeah. Are we bein' paranoid?"
	"I don't know, Ranma."
	"We gotta keep Ak... the girls safe."
	"Yeah."
	"Truce, until we get home?"
	"Truce," Ryouga affirmed. "To keep Ak... the girls safe."
	In Akane and Nabiki's room, Akane sat in her bed, carefully
examining her sister's face.
	"What was it like?" she asked.
	Nabiki inhaled sharply and put her hands in her lap. "It hurt a
little. Gave me a headache like you wouldn't believe. I guess... I
guess it was like hearing every word there ever was all at once."
	"Do you think she could do it for the rest of us?"
	If what Nabiki suspected was true, then that might not even be
a problem. "Probably. I can tell you though, Akane, it will *never*
be a good alternative to a Berlitz course."
	After talking for a few minutes, the two sisters drifted off to
a troubled, but desperately needed sleep.
	Sadly, it only lasted about a half hour before they were woken
by the men in bear masks with swords.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's notes:

Gee, a cliff hanger. 

Call it incentive for C&C.

Thanks to *all* the people who wrote asking for more, and thanks to
Bob Barnes for his discussion and ideas.

At the rate I'm writing, a new chapter should be along in about a week.
Keep an eye out. Until then...


* * *
Chris Jones, Rodent without a cause - hamster@arn.net
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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