Toma awoke with a start, beads of perspiration running down his face and
staining into his clothes. Something was wrong, he could feel it. It was as
if someone or something was in the room with him. Glancing around nervously,
he snatched his sheathed sword off the table beside his bed and stuffed it
into his belt.
"What…what is this…presence I feel?" Toma slowly paced the room, all senses
burning for a sign that might betray the creature within. There was nothing.
Toma hesitated a minute, then walked over to the table with what appeared to
be long pipes stuck into it. He lifted the cap off one of the pipes and
spoke into it.
"Sarutoru!" After a pause, a voice answered.
"Yes Lord?"
"Find Toristan and Wonton and come up to my chambers…"
"Yes Lord…What is wrong?…" Sarutoru sounded worried.
"It is this strange presence I have been feeling recently…"
"You too Lord?"
"Don’t tell me that you’ve felt it too?" There was a slight pause before
Sarutoru answered.
"Yes Lord, it is something I cannot place…It’s as if something…evil is here
within Togenkyo…" Toma paused and thought for a moment. If something was
indeed within the confines of the island, then they might be in more trouble
than they bargained for.
"Sarutoru, I shall meet you in the Great Hall. Get Toristan and Wonton there
now!"
"Yes Lord, it shall be done." Toma replaced the cap onto the pipe and stood
back to think. Togenkyo was near Japan, by tomorrow it should stop near the
coast. No doubt whatever is on the island had come from Japan. The question
is what is it?!
<Could it be?…> Toma untied a pendant with an engraving of a peach from
around his neck and walked over to the back of the room. He then placed the
pendant into an indentation which was in a plaque set onto a wooden
pedestal. After a few moments, the great steel doors behind the pedestal
slowly slid open with a grinding sound. Toma walked to the edge and looked
down. There, in the darkness, was the legendary spring of Togenkyo, now
filled with an eerie glowing water. Ranma had destroyed it back when they
were on the island in order to save Akane. The spring itself was created by
the sap and water of the Great Tree that lay atop the island. However it had
taken well over four centuries for the old spring to become what it was.
There was no way it could have come back after a mere three months. As Toma
watched, the waters appeared to swirl and foam slightly. The glow subsided a
little and Toma thought he could see the outlines of a human face within the
pool. No, not human…demon.
<Uhh, what the?!?> Toma reeled back, shaken badly. After a few tense
moments, he regained his wits and tentatively peered over the edge again.
The face was gone.
<What the hell was that?!> Toma removed the pendant, tying it around his
neck as the doors slowly ground shut. <Whatever it is, I have a feeling I'm
going to find out soon…> Toma thought as he hurriedly dressed and went to
the Great Hall.
***********
"Now what would the venerable prince want with us?" Toristan asked as he sat
atop one of the many palm trees that dotted the interior of the hall. All of
them could remember when the hall was used to hold the Martial Arts Marriage
Contest a few months ago. Toristan folded his wings about him and sighed. He
too had felt the stirrings around the island. It was unnerving, a few days
ago he nearly flew into a wall.
"Ouf ouf awoooo…" Wonton barked. Sarutoru silenced him with a wave and
looked up. Everyone followed his gaze as arrows of light coalesced to a
point above them. The light formed faster, creating an image of a peach in
mid-air. Then abruptly, the light faded and the peach split open to reveal
Toma hovering in mid-air. Toma then descended to sit on the railing of the
booth above him while everyone jumped back to avoid the spilt peach that
fell to the ground with a splat. Toma sighed.
"Sorry, I forgot…" Everyone nodded. It was easy to forget that their
illusions were now real. It also made for some very spectacular and
dangerous accidents. A few days ago Toristan had thrown an illusory spiked
ball at one of the guards by means to just scare him. He’d gotten a shock
when the ball connected and the guard fell to the ground, dead. The three of
them hadn’t tried anything since. Toma looked down at his three followers
before speaking.
"Ok, I believe that all of you have felt the strange presence within the
confines of our island?…" Everyone nodded. "…A while ago I had a thought to
look at the spring. Now with the spring, two things come to mind. One, it
isn’t possible for the spring to be filled this soon…" Everyone nodded
again. "…And two, I saw the face of a demon within the waters…" Everyone
looked up at him in shock. Toma nodded grimly. "…I know what I saw…There
definitely was something in here…"
"So what should we do?!" Sarutoru asked, a trace of fear in his voice.
"We all know that our illusions are now real…Much as I hate to use them in
this state, they DO make excellent weapons against any adversary…" Sarutoru
nodded.
"How do we find whatever is haunting us though?" Toristan asked. Toma shrugged.
"I have no idea…Though I suggest we start at the spring…" Everyone nodded in
assent. After a moment, the four stood and surrounded themselves with a
purple light before vanishing. None of them noticed the dark shadow hiding
up on the roof of the Great Hall…it had been watching their every move…
*************
"Akane, what’s wrong?" Ranma asked Akane who was sitting beside him on the
couch. Everyone was gathered in the living room minus Ran-ko who was
sleeping upstairs. Soun and Genma(back in panda form) were playing shogi on
the porch again. Nabiki lay in a beanbag behind the couch reading a manga.
Nodoka was helping Kasumi in the kitchen as they made supper. P-Chan had
walked in about half an hour ago and had been on Akane’s lap ever since. For
once Ranma didn’t tease him. They’d been watching TV for the past hour.
Strangely enough Akane hadn’t said a word all that time. She usually would
tell Ranma to move over every 10 minutes or so or something like that.
Anything that would end up with them having an argument that would wind up
with Ranma sitting in the carp pond. Akane turned to look at Ranma.
"What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong?’"
"It’s just that, you haven't said a word for the past hour…"
"What was there to say in the first place?!" Nabiki, behind the couch,
clicked her stopwatch off.
"Hmm, one hour, three minutes and five seconds…new record…" she smirked as
she anticipated all hell breaking loose.
"I dunno, you usually tell me to move over or something every five minutes."
Nabiki popped her head over the back of the couch and grinned at Ranma.
"Five minutes and twenty seconds, get it right Ranma!" Nabiki winked and
slid back down to read her manga.
"Sheesh! Like it matters!" Ranma muttered. Akane appeared not to notice. She
was fiddling with a loose thread on the armrest of the couch. "…Akane…come
on, what’s up?" Akane turned and shot him an icy glare. She was about to
yell at him when she saw that he wasn’t being a jerk. His look was serious.
She softened her gaze and looked down at her lap.
"…I…" Akane held Ranma’s gaze for a moment before looking away. Ranma
however, knew full well what was going through her mind. However, he elected
not to say anything yet. Ranma stood up and walked toward the door.
"I’ll meet you outside ok?" Ranma said before walking past Soun and Panda
and out the door. "…Don’t bring P-Chan!" P-Chan scowled as best as a pig
could. He ‘kweed’ in protest but Akane didn't listen. Ranma’s voice had
something in it. Something that said he was dead serious.
"You be a good boy and sit here ok?" Akane said to P-Chan, who ‘bweed’ at
her, annoyed at not being taken along. He wanted to hear as well what was
going on. After Akane left, P-Chan hopped off the couch and started for the
door. Nabiki grabbed him as he passed.
"Bwee! Kweee!!" P-Chan struggled in protest. Nabiki grinned at the pig.
"I’d like to find out myself what’s going on too ya know…But I gotta feeling
this isn't the time to be pulling anything. So you just sit here and don't
move got that?" P-Chan glared at her before hopping back onto the couch.
***********
Akane found Ranma leaning against the big tree near the corner of the fence,
arms folded. She walked up to him slowly, her arms held in front of her.
Ranma looked up at her as she approached. They held each other’s gaze for a
moment before Ranma looked back down at the ground and shut his eyes slowly.
"I think I know what’s with you Akane…" Akane started in surprise.
"There’s nothing wrong with me Ranma…Can’t I be quiet for once in my life? Gee!"
"Come on Akane, we both know something’s eating you…" Akane opened her mouth
to protest further but was silenced by Ranma’s next statement. "…It’s Ran-ko
isn't it?…" Ranma looked up at Akane, his eyes boring deep into her. She
tried to deny it but found that she couldn’t say anything. She slowly
nodded. Ranma closed his eyes again and turned his head away from her. "…I
knew it had to be her…I saw the way you were looking at me when I was
carrying her up the stairs…" Ranma paused for a moment. "…Look Akane…I…"
Ranma stopped short. Akane was crying, he hadn’t noticed before but he did
now. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks and she made no effort to wipe them
away. Ranma winced inwardly. If there was one thing he dreaded, it was
making a girl cry. After a moment, Akane turned away, ashamed at letting her
emotions get the better of her. Ranma paused for a moment, not knowing what
to do.
"Ranma...I understand...If...if that’s the way you feel then...I...I won’t
get in your way..." Ranma’s eyes widened.
"Now wait a moment here! That’s..." Akane began to slowly walk away.
"...That’s not what I meant!" Akane stopped and turned around.
"So what do you mean then?" Ranma did a double-take. Now THIS was new. It
wasn’t like Akane to actually stop and listen to him.
"What I want to know is...What is it with you? What’s wrong?...Something
with Ran-ko? What is it?" asked Ranma. There was a long pause between the
two, no one saying anything.
"I…I…" Akane stammered. She wanted to come out and say it. Ok, she was
jealous, it wasn’t hard to work that out. Ranma had apparently noticed it
too. She never was good at hiding her feelings when it came to things like
this. Obviously it wasn’t easy for her to take Ranma’s affection for Ran-ko.
"Akane…" Ranma began, walking up to her and putting both hands on her
shoulders. Akane blinked and looked up at him, unsure of what to do next.
"…What I said back at the Nekohanten…" Akane held her breath. "…I meant
every word of what I said…I love you, Akane…It may not seem like it, we will
still fight…" Ranma grinned down at Akane. She couldn’t help but smile back.
"…We will still have our disagreements and we sure as Hell will still
argue…But…" Ranma paused for a moment, looking deep into Akane’s beautiful
hazel-brown eyes, now brimming over with tears. Ranma took a hand off her
shoulder and moved to wipe a tear that had overflowed away. "I…I…I just want
you to know that I’ve always loved you…" Ranma said after a moment’s
hesitation. Akane broke down at that point and buried her face into Ranma’s
chest, sobbing. Ranma embraced her warmly.
"Oh Ranma…I…I… " Akane managed to get out between sobs. Ranma shushed her
with a finger on her lips.
"Sssssshhhh, Akane…Don’t talk..." Ranma whispered into her ear. Akane stood
clinging onto Ranma for support, her tears of happiness staining his shirt.
Finally, he’d admitted his true feelings for her. Why was he so confident
all of a sudden? She didn’t know and didn’t care. All that mattered now was
that she had Ranma, after all this time fighting with all his other
‘fiancees’ like Ukyou, Shampoo and Kodachi, she had finally won. Akane
calmed down after a while and let go of Ranma.
"I…I’m sorry…" Akane said, angry with herself at her lack of control. She
turned away in embarrassment, blushing. It was only then that she saw
everyone else staring at them. Soun and Genma were dancing around waving
their little fans about. Nodoka was looking at Ranma proudly. Kasumi simply
smiled innocently at the two while Nabiki simply shot Ranma a sly grin.
"Hey! Way to go Saotome!" Nabiki smirked. P-Chan had watched the whole
incident, eyes wider than saucers. Now he let out a ‘bwee’ of
anger/frustration/hate/you-name-it, and ran off into the dojo.
"P-Chan wait!" Akane called out, starting to run after her pet pig but was
stopped by her father.
"Akane! I am so proud of you!" Soun exclaimed, tears streaming down his eyes.
"Ranma my boy! You make your father proud!" Genma exclaimed, puffing out his
chest.
"We must hold the wedding immediately!" Soun shouted for all to hear. Akane
and Ranma both winced and fell over in Takahashi Position #34.
"H…hey…HEY! Now wait a moment here!…" Ranma stammered. "…D…don’t you think
this is a little hasty?!?"
"Yeah Dad! We…" Akane was about to follow through when she glanced at Ranma
who looked at her for support, his gaze pleading. She felt a twinge of anger
shoot through her. What WAS wrong with getting married anyway?!? They’d
finally confessed to each other after all this time. What was the reason for
a delay? There was none. Ranma shot Akane an ‘Oh don’t do this to me,
please!’ look as she was about to agree with her father.
"What is wrong with…" Akane stopped as everyone froze. Someone was screaming
inside the dojo, upstairs in Ranma’s bedroom to be exact.
"Ran-ko!!!" Ranma half-gasped, half-screamed, breaking into a run. Akane and
everyone else followed close behind, thoughts of marriage and the like
temporarily forgotten.
**************
"Hmm, I see…So the nature of one of the lost essences has been split?"
Jyusei Shimada asked. The shadowy form swirling around his darkened room
appeared to nod. He had dispatched his shadow warriors to scout out all of
the candidates for the upcoming tournament. All the reports he’d received
had been to his expectation except one. The chance was far too good to pass
up as the objective was obviously drained of energy and vulnerable. That
being the case, it had attempted to eke some form of control over the
target. It was, however, extremely surprised when it’s attempts were
resisted and it was virtually forced out, but the damage had already been
done. The nature of the split was now know to Jyusei, and having been
attacked in such a weakened state, the target would now be much easier to
subdue in future.
"Yes master, but it’s power level is unnaturally high, I have never
encountered a mortal with such raw power before." It was as if the darkness
itself spoke to Jyusei as he got up and paced the room, rubbing his chin.
"…And strangely enough, the signature etched on the essence itself did not
match that of it’s original host."
"Hmm, it is as I have suspected…Though I never thought it possible that
these mortals would have the knowledge and skill to separate the essence
between two living entities." muttered Jyusei, pouring himself a drink from
the mini bar nearby.
"Err…Master, it wasn’t two separate entities, the essence is one of them…"
Jyusei nearly dropped the bottle he was holding.
"What’s that you say?!?" he exclaimed, glaring over to the shadowy
apparition that floated about his desk. It seemed to cringe.
"…I…I said that the target isn’t a separate entity which the essence has
assimilated into, it was created by the essence!" Jyusei’s emerald green
eyes widened in shock for a moment. He hurriedly regained his composure and
walked over to his desk.
"But…That’s impossible!…Mortals don’t have that kind of power! It’s beyond
comprehension!…It…" Jyusei stopped, fear and worry etched on his face. His
brows knitted together in concentration for a moment, eyes twinkling
unnaturally in the darkness of his room. None of the servants or maids in
the estate could offer an explanation of why Jyusei had suddenly grown to
prefer the darkness. He’d recently ordered that only small table lamps were
allowed to be lit around the estate with the exception of the kitchen and
the Grand Hall, a place that he himself never entered unless necessary.
"Hmmm…Ok!…" The shadowy apparition jumped at Jyusei’s sudden exclamation.
"…I have an idea, but we must act quickly…Here, take these…" The shadow
nervously approached Jyusei and took the package he proffered. "…Distribute
these to the addresses written on the envelopes…" The shadow appeared to bow
as in worship before turning to leave.
"Yes master, it will be done!" Jyusei nodded at the shadow warrior before
him before burying his head in his hands.
"Wait!" The warrior stopped dead at the sound of Jyusei’s voice. "…Find Ken
and tell him to report to my chambers immediately…"
"Yes master…" The shadow bowed once more and floated toward a wall, blending
into the darkness and fading completely out of sight.
"Damn! If I had known!…" Jyusei muttered. "…This ‘split’ will prove most
annoying in the future to deal with!…However…If, just if…Yes, though we
shall have to start the tournament early, it might be the only way…" Jyusei
paused, massaging his temples. "…Bah! What am I so worked up about?!?" he
cursed himself. "…Every mortal is part of the darkness…There are two sides
to the coin…All that matters is which side faces up …" Jyusei smirked in
satisfaction.
*************
Ranma kicked open the door to his bedroom and rushed in. He found Ran-ko
huddled up against a corner clutching a blanket to her chest in a fetal
position. She shrieked and drew the blanket over her head when she saw him.
"Ran-ko! Ran-ko! What’s wrong?" Ranma took a step toward her but froze when
she let out another cry. <Shimata! What happened here?!?> He thought
furiously to himself as Akane flicked the room light on.
"What’s going on?" Nabiki asked, running into the room with everyone else
close behind.
"Oh my! What happened?" Kasumi asked, a hand on her mouth.
"I don’t know, we came in and here she was screaming" Akane replied, looking
extremely on edge as she peered around the room nervously. Ranma walked over
to Ran-ko and laid a hand on her shoulder, resulting in another shriek.
"Woah!" Ranma yelped, barely ducking out of the way of Ran-ko’s attempted
backhanded swipe. He caught her extended hand and with his free hand, yanked
the blanked off her head. She yelped again and aimed a blow at his face
which he dodged, catching her arm. "…Ran-ko! Stop this! It’s me! Ranma!"
Ranma shouted, trying to get her attention as she shut her eyes and thrashed
about wildly, trying to free herself from his iron grip.
<What the…> Akane thought, looking on in a mixture of shock and surprise.
<…What could have scared her so badly?!?>
"Ran-ko…RAN-KO!!!…" Ranma yelled in her ear, jolting her enough to make her
stop for a moment. He did a double-take when he saw the look in her eyes.
<Uhhh…What the hell did she see?> Ranma thought. The look in his sister’s
eyes betrayed a deep fear within them, though revealing nothing that could
have told him what had scared her so badly.
"Is she alright?" Nabiki asked, a look on concern on her face. Ranma didn’t
answer.
"Ran-ko…It’s ok…Everything’s ok…It’s me, Ranma…" Ranma softly said, trying
to calm her down. Ran-ko opened her eyes and looked up at Ranma’s kind face.
She could never forget that warm smile, the one he’d given her back in the
bathroom of the Nekohanten when he draped the towel over her.
"R…Ranma…oniichan?…" Ran-ko stammered in a soft voice.
"Hai, it’s me…" Ranma replied. Ran-ko hesitated a moment then threw herself
into her brother’s arms, sobbing.
"Oh…oniichan…It…It was so scary…It wanted to…it wanted to…" Ran-ko managed
to get out between bouts of crying. Ranma simply embraced her, stroking the
back of her head gently, smoothing out her dishevelled hair.
"Sshhhh, it’s all right, it’s ok…You’re safe, nothing’s going to hurt you…"
Ranma whispered to her, gently rocking her back and forth trying to calm her
down. Behind them, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. Akane,
Kasumi and Nodoka walked over to Ranma and knelt beside him.
"Is she ok? What happened?" asked Akane.
"I don’t know, she hasn’t told me yet…" Ranma replied, still cradling a
sweat-drenched Ran-ko in his arms. "…Whatever it was, if I catch it it’s
gonna be one dead motherfucker…" Ranma muttered angrily.
"Ranma!" Nodoka exclaimed. "…Watch your language in front on your mother!"
Ranma ‘acked’ and immediately apologised. Nodoka laid a gentle hand on
Ran-ko’s back, patting her gently.
"There there dear, what’s wrong? Tell Mommy…" Nodoka softly said. Ran-ko
tentatively looked up at her mother’s smiling face.
"…M…Mommy…" Ran-ko stammered. Nodoka smiled warmly at her daughter and
extended both arms toward her as an invitation into an embrace. Ran-ko
looked up at her brother for a moment.
"Go on…" Ranma said, smiling and releasing his hold on her. Ran-ko turned
and leaned into Nodoka for a hug as Ranma stood up.
"Ok, I’m going to have a look around…" Ranma said.
"For what?" asked Akane.
"For the son of a…" Ranma stopped when he caught Nodoka’s glare. He flinched
and grinned weakly at his mother. "…Err, sorry…For the…THING…that did this
to Ran-ko!" Ranma hissed through gritted teeth, he was trying hard not to swear.
"What do you hope to find?…" Akane stated, glaring up at him. "…You actually
think they’d stay around to play hide-and-seek with you?!?"
"Cut it out Akane!" Ranma snapped back. Akane gasped at his tone of voice.
"…This is no time…Uh…Akane…What are you…" Ranma grinned weakly as she stood
up, a blue aura beginning to glow around her.
"Ran…ma!…You DARE to talk to me like that?!?" Akane said in a low and
dangerous tone. Apparently she’d completely forgotten about the tender
moment they shared a while ago.
"Erm…what I meant was…I…" Ranma stammered, backing off toward the door.
Nabiki simply sighed.
"Come on you two…this is NO time for an argument!"
"Nabiki’s right…" Genma said. Both Akane and Ranma looked up at him, Akane
just moments away from sending Ranma on a free trip to the moon. "…We have
to find out who or what could have done this…It isn’t everyday that you get
someone who’s capable of breaching the Dojo’s impenetrable defences…"
"Oh sure, only Shampoo and Kodachi and Ukyou and Kuno and…" Ranma droned on
sarcastically. Genma whapped Ranma upside the head.
"Don’t make fun of your father like that! I was being serious you know!"
Ranma promptly kicked Genma out the window. A loud splash was heard from the
garden when Genma landed into the carp pond.
"I don’t know what’s scarier, whatever Ran-ko saw or you being serious, old
man!" Ranma smirked, poking his head out the window to laugh at Panda,
sitting in the pond. Akane couldn’t help giggling.
*************
K u s a n a g i K y o
--|---|-- --|---|-- ----+----
+-----+ /-, +-+- +-----+
|-----| | |-|- | |
+-----+ -|- |-|- +-----+
----|---- / \ +-+- / J \
-----------------------------------------------
"Kusanagi Flames, Yagami Tears, Orochi Blood"