Ranma three and a half eyes
Chapter 1
by Brendan O'Donnell


	It was two minuets to midnight.  In the greenhouse of the Kuno 
estate a figure was working diligently.  That part of the greenhouse 
was unlit except for the candles, five black candles lit at each point 
of a pentagram, and a large red candle lit at the center. The figure 
spoke, her voice chanting a strange chant in a language that resembled 
Latin.  Her chant continued and rose in volume.
	As Midnight arrived the chant reached a crescendo and the flame 
of the red candle turned bright blue.  From this blue flame rose a 
could of black smoke that filled the center of the mystic circle.  Two 
eyes suddenly formed in the cloud and a voice issued from the mists.  
"For what propose am I summoned?"
	"I call you to take the life of a single woman."  It's summoner 
replied calmly.  "You will seek her in the daylight when she is in the 
company of two others."

	Ranma was walking down the street trying not to look to his 
right.  Walking where Ranma wasn't looking was Akane.  Who was also 
avoiding his gaze.  They were both nervous.
	"We're just doing this for my father, you know."  Akane 
commented.
	"I know, it's not really a date, we're just seeing a movie 
together because it's your father's birthday and you want him to be 
happy."  Ranma replied.  He added in a quieter tone "As if I'd ever ask 
a tomboy like you on a real date."
	"Ranma!"  Akane shouted, turning to glare at him.  She closed 
her eyes then said through gritted teeth "I'm trying to stay civil with 
you so keep your mouth shut and don't act like your usual hentai self."
	"What's that supposed to mean!?"  Ranma pivoted and stared 
right into Akane's glare.  *Back in familiar territory.*  Ranma and 
Akane both thought to themselves with feelings of relief mixed with 
disappointment.  Not that either one would admit it to anyone, 
including themselves.
	"Nihau Ranma!"  Came a voice from behind the pair.  They turned 
to see Shampoo brake her bike and squeal to a stop one-inch from the 
pair.  She grabbed Ranma and said, "Have day off, we go on date yes?"
	"Ranma!"  Akane said angrily.
	"What Akane do here?" Shampoo said looking at the youngest 
Tendo Daughter.
	"Uh, well it's her father's birthday and we're pretending to be 
going out as a kinda present.  It's not a date or nothing�"  Ranma said 
as he pulled himself free of Shampoo's arms.  He trailed off as his 
well-trained sense of danger triggered.  He glanced up a moment then 
grabbed both Akane and Shampoo and jumped to the left.
	"RANMA!"  Akane yelled, a second before a large object smashed 
into the ground where they just stood with explosive force.
	The three Martial artists looked as the dust cleared revealing 
a large being.  It rose from it's crouched over position and turned to 
look at the three girls.  It was almost seven feet tall with deep red 
scaly skin mostly covered by very black armor.  Lashing it's tail 
against the ground it growled.  "Good dodge, but it doesn't change the 
fact that you shall die today."
	Ranma stepped foreword.  "All right who are you and why are you 
after me."
	"You couldn't pronounce my name anyway.  As for why, I was 
asked to kill you and obeying that kind of request is both duty and 
pleasure."  The demon stepped forward, folding it's wings against it's 
back.  It raised it's right hand, which crackled with black fire.  
"Goodbye."
	Ranma pushed the girls to opposite sides as he charged 
foreword, dodging the stream of fire, which ignited the pavement where 
they had stood a moment earlier.  As Ranma approached the demon it 
lashed out against him with the claws on it's left hand.  Ranma ducked 
under the attack and slammed a fist into his opponents stomach with 
enough force to split a redwood in half.  The demon grunted and 
quivered slightly under the blow, lashing out with a claw strike that 
Ranma jumped just out of range of.
	As the demons claws missed their target, it had also extended 
it's corresponding wing.  This appendage struck Ranma squarely, 
knocking him to the ground.
	The demon jumped foreword to it's feet's claws extended, then 
with a strong wingbeat pushed itself back, away from Shampoo who had 
stepped over Ranma, sword extended so that the demon could impale 
himself.  The demon frowned, then pivoted aside from Shampoo and 
Ranma's rising form as Akane jumped in, her kick cracking the ground 
where it had stood.
	"Do you mind?"  The demon's tail suddenly lashed out, impaling 
Akane in her lower left chest.  Before she could do more that gasp, the 
tail suddenly moved, throwing her against the fence of the canal.  "Now 
die quietly�"
	"AHHHRRR!!"  Ranma screamed as he leaped at the demon, his 
battle aura surging like a storm.  The demon moved it's claws to block 
to block the rush, and found itself staggering to the side as Ranma 
avoided the move and rammed 150 hard punches into it's left side.  As 
the demon staggered back, Ranma paused, just long enough to focus the 
Rage that had inundated his mind into his hands.  A fierce light, 
Bright red mixed with blue formed around Ranma's hands for a second 
before he closed the distance with his opponent.  Lashing out with all 
his strength, Ranma double fisted punch impacted with the demons face 
and upper chest.  It was thrown backward by the blow, shattering the 
wall opposite the fence.
	Ranma could barely think of anything but catching the monster, 
and destroying it as thoroughly as he could, when he heard a soft cough 
from the edge of the canal.  His rage dissipated like a tear in the 
ocean.  "Akane!"  He called as he rushed to her side.
	Shampoo shook her head, pushing aside the shock she felt at 
seeing her Rival so casually impaled and Ranma's rage filled response. 
 *Unforgivable Shampoo!  You are a warrior, if you hesitate like that 
it could cost you your life!*  She ran foreword, slowing to a slow walk 
a few feet from the collapsed wall.  The rubble shifted and the demon 
pulled itself to it's feet.  There was a trickle of blood oozing from 
it's lips and it's upper chest was slightly discolored from Ranma's 
last attack, but it seemed more enraged than hurt.  Shampoo heard Ranma 
scream Akane's name, and ignored the surge of pain in her heart.  
*Ranma distracted, I must hold back this monster until he's ready to 
fight.*  She thought as she shifted her grip on her sword.
	Ranma dropped to his knees in the pool of blood forming around 
Akane.  *So Much Blood�* "NO!"   He tore off his shirt and started 
trying to pack the wound, to do anything that would stop the bleeding.
	The Demon purposefully stepped toward Ranma, stopping as it saw 
Shampoo step into it's path, sword pointed right at it.
	Akane looked up at him.  "Ranma."  She said quietly, her voice 
distorted by the blood in her throat.
	"Step aside and live."  The demon stated, raising it's right 
hand and forming a sphere of black fire over it's palm to emphasize the 
point.  Shampoo responded by thrusting her left arm foreword, throwing 
three small knives at the demon's extended hand.  The demon knocked the 
blades out of the air with it's left hand, then lifted it's right and 
grasped the ball of fire.  The flames surged outward, assuming the 
shape of a large sword, then fading to reveal a real sword.
	"Don't try to talk.  Save your strength, we'll talk after I get 
you to a hospital."  There was a strong constant ache in his forehead, 
Ranma ignored it.  *Damn it what do I do!*  He knew about injury.  In 
his mind he reviewed every option he could think of to get her 
someplace she could be treated.  As each possibility passed through his 
mind, he realized the action would be to slow, that it would jostle her 
wound to much, that nothing he thought of could get Akane to help 
before she died.
	Shampoo was putting all her speed and strength into parrying 
the demon's ferocious attack.  She jumped back from a low slash and 
extended her sword.  The demon's black blade had left her own blade 
badly knicked and chipped.
	Akane winced as she lifted her left arm.  "I'm sorry, Ranma.  I 
want you to know I love..."  Her arm dropped, and she closed her eyes.
	"Akane..."  Ranma said, leaning forward and looking into her 
face.  A drop of blood fell onto her cheek, from the red horizontal 
line that had appeared in his forehead.  Akane's breathing was becoming 
shallower.  "No."  Another drop of blood fell.  "No!"  Ranma had to 
wince at the searing pain in the front of his head.  "NO!" he screamed 
to the heavens.  The line of blood in his forehead split, revealing the 
eye beneath.
	Shampoo took another step backward, and just barely kept 
herself from turning as a bright light exploded behind her.  In front 
of her the demon dropped it's guard while it openly gaped.  Not wasting 
the opportunity Shampoo spun foreword swinging her sword in a great 
circular arc.  The sword shattered on the demon's chest, leaving a 
raged line of black blood.  Continuing the circle of her attack, 
Shampoo raised her leg into a roundhouse kick into the demon's stomach, 
throwing it back to the broken wall.  Unable to contain her curiosity 
any longer she turned to look at Ranma.
	Ranma didn't know what had happened; his body suddenly felt as 
though it was filled with power.  A wave of euphoria swept across him, 
and was shattered by the reality he saw before him.  Akane was lying on 
the ground, and he could see her life flowing through her, could see it 
dimming as she died.  Ranma knew he had to save her.  And a means to 
save her formed in his head.  Not questioning its source Ranma leaned 
forward and put his effort into the task.
	Light exploded around Ranma.  Then the light became 
concentrated, focused into a beam from his third eye to Akane's chest. 
 A glowing sphere emerged from her and traveled up the beam to be 
absorbed by the eye.  The eye closed, the light was gone.
	Shampoo watched as the light surrounding Ranma concentrated 
into a beam from his head to Akane's chest.  She saw the sphere of 
light float up the beam to where Ranma's body obscured her view.  Then 
the beam faded.  Ranma sat still for a second.  Then he surged up and 
pivoted to face her.  There was something changed about his face but 
she couldn't clearly see what it was.  He raised his arms, his hands 
clenched into tight fists.  Then he suddenly extended the first and 
last finger of each hand and an aura of blue fire formed around them.
	With a fierce cry Ranma thrust his hands foreword and the fire 
exploded from his hands and surged right at her like a wave.  Shampoo 
raised her arms in a semi instinctive attempt at defense, then blinked 
in shock as the fire passed through her like she hadn't existed.  Her 
contemplation was cut short by the scream from behind her.  Pivoting 
Shampoo saw the demon burning with the same flames that had passed 
through her harmlessly.  A second later it began to crumble into a pile 
of dust.

	Genma Saotome was running along the canal.  Looking up he saw a 
pillar of blue flame form and dissipate a few blocks ahead of him.  He 
accelerated.  *What is happening?*  He had been trying to con a vendor 
out of some rice cakes when he had suddenly felt an overwhelming sense 
of impending doom.  It was a sensation he had not felt in years, but he 
had known it was real and that his son was it's focus. "RANMA!!"
	Genma ran foreword.  On his left he saw Shampoo standing before 
a shattered section of wall  She was staring at the two forms lying by 
the fence.  "Oh, my son!" he cried as he ran up to Ranma.  Kneeling 
beside him he flipped him onto his back and checked his neck's pulse.  
Then he looked at Akane. "What happened�"  He paused looking down at 
the pool of blood that he was standing at the fringes of.. He blinked a 
moment, then he looked closer, and his eyes widened.  The blood was 
flowing back into Akane's wound.  Turning to Akane, he reached out to 
brush the hair away from her forehead.  "Oh Nodoka."  He whispered.  
Then he reached down, swung Akane over his left shoulder, Ranma over 
his right, and stood.
	"Ayah!"  Shampoo had managed to overcome her shock enough to 
walk to where Genma stood.  His sudden decision to manhandle both Ranma 
and her rival fianc�e Akane took her by complete surprise.
	Genma looked her in the eye.  Shampoo had never seen this 
expression on him before.  It was a combination of fear, sorrow, and 
relief.  "Akane's not in any danger.  I'll explain it to her and Ranma 
back at the Dojo once they wake up."  He looked thoughtful for a 
moment.  "I'll definitely have to explain things to everyone�  
Shampoo,"  He hesitated for a moment.  "Something significant just 
happened to Ranma.  And I'd rather explain it to everyone at once so 
please get Ukyo and ask her to come to the Dojo."
	Genma turned, and started down the street at a run.

	Ranma groaned slightly, and blinked as he awoke.  He recognized 
that he was lying in his and his father's room.  He remembered what had 
happened just before he fell asleep.  "Akane!" he cried as he bolted to 
his feet.  Looking to his side he saw Akane lying on a futon a few feet 
away from him.  She was wearing the dress, however he could see through 
the rip the unmarked skin underneath.  Reddening slightly, Ranma looked 
away from her chest, and looked at the familiar contours of her face.  
He had seen Akane in many moods, and even sleeping like now, he knew 
her face perfectly.  There was something different about it.  On her 
forehead there was a Chinese character.
	"Ranma," said a woman's voice from the doorway of the room.  
Ranma hadn't heard the voice very often, but he knew it very well.  His 
mother's voice.
	He looked down at himself and saw that he was male.  Expanding 
his observation he saw his mother was looking directly at him, and 
there was no way he could run or change.
	"Don't worry Ranma," his mother said as she walked across the 
room to him.  "I'm not here about Jusenkyo, or the promise of Seppuku 
you've feared so much."
	"Mom?"  was Ranmas quiet response as he turned to her.  He 
could see a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
	Nodoka responded by grabbing him into a fierce hug, whispering, 
"I missed you so much."
	"Oh Mom."  Ranma grabbed her, hugging as fiercely as he could 
without squeezing harder than he knew she could take.  For a minute the 
hug was all that mattered to either of them.
	Nodoka separated them and brushed the tears from her eyes.  
"Now, let me look at you," she said as she observed him carefully.  "I 
see you do take after me.  In ways I had not wanted," she said with a 
sigh.
	Ranma suddenly recalled the strange feelings and vision that 
had overtaken him when he saw Akane lying wounded in the ring.  He was 
about to ask Nodoka if she somehow meant this, when he heard Akane 
moan.  Spinning and kneeling beside her, he quietly said, "Akane," as 
he watched her wake up.
	"Uh,"  Akane stated, opening her eyes, and looking around.  She 
stopped when she saw Ranma and said quietly "Ranma..."  Then she 
blinked in memory.  She glanced down at the bloodstained dress, and 
putting her hand into the hole formed by the demons attack she felt the 
undamaged skin.  "How?"
	"I can answer that," Nodoka stated quietly from the door.  
Ranma and Akane both looked at her, her joy at being reunited with her 
son was being overcome by some unknown Sorrow.  "Mom?"  Ranma said 
quietly.
	"Mrs. Saotome?"  Akane added, sitting up.
	"Come on, I think I'd rather explain this to everyone," she 
said as she turned and walked out the door.
	Ranma looked after her, then looked back at Akane.
	Akane looked at Ranma, looked down at her dress, and said "I, 
uh, I think I ought to change into something else."
	Ranma glanced down at his own outfit, then said.  "Yeah, me 
too."

	Ranma walked down the stairs with Akane right behind him.  
Akane was wearing her yellow dress with a floral pattern, Ranma his red 
shirt and black pants.  They both paused as they overlooked the family 
room.  Nodoka, Genma, the rest of the Tendo family and Shampoo and Ukyo 
were all gathered around the table.  Everyone turned their head to look 
at Ranma and Akane.
	No one said anything.
	Nodoka indicated that the two of them sit at a open space to 
her left.

	"Ranma, there is so much to tell you.  So much you need to 
know..."  Nodoka trailed off looking down at the table.
	"I think it would be best if I tell him how we met," Genma said 
to her.
	Genma turned to Ranma and began.  "I met Nodoka in the year 
1895.  I was at that time only a few years older than you are now."  He 
looked at the incredulous looks from around the table.  "It may be hard 
to believe but at the time she wasn't human."
	Nodoka looked up and started talking.  "My people were known as 
the Sanjiyan Unkara, or sometimes as the Triclops.  When we existed, at 
least.  For a very long time we sought to end our immortality and 
attain humanity.  To the best of my knowledge I was the last to find a 
way to become human."
	Nabiki looked at her and said in a skeptical voice, "So you 
were Immortal, and you wanted to give it up?"
	Nodoka sighed and looked at the table.  "You can only see our 
longevity, our power.  You don't know the terrible prices they require, 
or the gifts of humanity that you know too well to see."
	"This is all very interesting,"  Nabiki commented.  "But 
according to Shampoo, my little sister just got almost killed by some 
demon and now she's in perfect shape.  How do you explain that?"
	"If you listen to the rest of our story it will all make 
sense," Genma responded.  "To shorten the tale; I met Nodoka on the 
road, and agreed to show her the way to Kyoto.  However on the way 
there , there was an... accident."
	"An inn was on fire, and Genma was severely injured trying to 
save the people inside.  I had only known him a short time, but I knew 
that I couldn't allow him to die.  So I used one of the most basic and 
potent powers of the Sanjiyan and made him my WU."  Pausing, Nodoka 
took a sip from the cup of tea Kasumi had given her just before Ranma 
and Akane had arrived.  She continued, "The Sanjiyan posses great magic 
power.  However, when we use that power to its utmost, it weakens us, 
often leaving us powerless for days at a time.  So, long ago, even by 
immortal standards, we learned how to take the soul of another and 
merge it with our own.  The one whose soul we have taken becomes our 
WU, our... protector and servant.  As the soul is kept safe within our 
own, the WU's body becomes immune from harm, all injuries heal at 
fantastic speed, and they share our own longevity, and a portion of our 
power."  Nodoka stopped and looked at her tea.
	Genma resumed the narrative, "For a very long time I traveled 
with Nodoka, helping her search for a way to become human.  And 
eventually we found the Nyanichuan."
	Ranma blinked.  He looked at his father with a disbelieving 
expression.  "YOU KNEW?!"
	"We knew, Ranma," Nodoka responded.  "You see, the Nyanichuan 
was the critical catalyst in the spell which made me human, and within 
a few hours the character marking your father my WU faded forever.  We 
traveled apart for a few years, I wanted to get a feel of humanity, 
your father met Happosei and Soun, and decided to relearn fighting 
without the power he had gained from me.  After disposing of Happosei, 
we met again, he proposed and I accepted."  She smiled at the memory.  
"We bought a house with the savings of centuries, and just over a year 
later, I had you."  She looked at Ranma her eyes glistening, and a 
smile on her face.  Then the smile faltered.
	"However even from the beginning, I wondered if my Sanjiyan 
nature was gone or merely suppressed.  I was uncertain whether or not 
you might have inherited my former nature.  Then when you were five I 
knew.  You were at the playground, and a group of bullies was picking 
on you.  You had enough training to handle any one of them, but they 
were threatening you all at once.  When I was coming to help you, I saw 
you're forehead begin to spontaneously bleed, here," Nodoka said 
extending her finger and tracing a short line in the center of Ranma's 
forehead.
	"Here you were in a situation where a young Sanjiyan would have 
tried to call forth his power, and there was blood where you're third 
eye would have opened.  That was when I knew you had inherited my 
former nature from me."  Nodoka looked down, her eyes glistening, her 
hands clenched.
	Genma glanced at his wife, then started talking, "Anyway, 
Nodoka didn't know what to do.  Remember it hadn't been that long ago 
when she gave up the power of the Sanjiyan forever.  Now she discovered 
that the power she had spent most of her life trying to escape was part 
of you.  We talked about what to do for a long time.  Nodoka was 
desperate to enable you to grow up and live your life as a normal 
human, but she had no idea how to.  I hoped she could succeed, but I 
also knew that if you did become Sanjiyan, you needed to be able to 
handle it.  After about a week, Nodoka decided that her presence risked 
empowering your Sanjiyan side and she insisted that I take you and 
raise you till you were a man.  So we began our long training trip.
	"I was determined that if I failed to keep you human you should 
at least have some experience with travel and Martial Arts in 
preparation for life as a Sanjiyan.  And as you were about to turn 
sixteen, I decided to hedge our bets and take you to Jusenkyo to add an 
extra bit of insurance that your Sanjiyan nature would remain sealed."
	"So what about that promise?  The man among men thing?" Nabiki 
asked.
	Nodoka looked at her.  "That was my idea.  Genma told me that 
he was coming home after Jusenkyo, I wanted to see my son again so 
much, but I was still terrified that I might awaken the Sanjiyan nature 
within him.  I chickened out at the last moment, and Genma decided to 
come here instead."  She sighed and looked down.  "I kept planning to 
come, but the fear kept holding me back.  Eventually I contacted Genma 
and we tried to think up a way for me to see Ranma with the Jusenkyo 
curse as a buffer.  Genma and I thought up the man among men promise as 
a way to keep you in your cursed form without having to burden you with 
the knowledge that you weren't fully human.  Genma told me that there 
was no sign of your Sanjiyan side manifesting, so I was planning a way 
to reveal your secret and accept your manliness.  However before I 
could, Akane was attacked, and your pain and anger at seeing her dying 
awoke my side of you're heritage.  You made her your WU to save her 
life."
	Ranma looked at Akane, then said quietly "Hai."  Akane looked 
back at him, a somewhat surprised expression on her face.
	"Akane," Nodoka said, turning her attention to her sons 
Fianc�e.
	Blinking back her surprise Akane looked at Nodoka.  "Hai?"
	"You aren't sure you believe what I've said, are you?"
	"Well..."
	"Give me your hand a moment," Nodoka said evenly.  Akane looked 
at her a moment, then extended her open right hand toward Mrs. Saotome, 
palm up.  Nodoka touched the fingers of her own right hand to Akane's, 
then her left hand stabbed a Tanto dagger into Akane's palm.
	It took everyone a moment to overcome the sense of shock enough 
to react.  Ranma was first, grabbing his mother's wrist, and yanking it 
back.  Before he could do anything more, Nodoka said, "Hold up your 
hand, Akane."
	Akane was looking at her just wounded hand, and looked at 
Nodoka she held it up.  As everyone watched, the blood that had poured 
from the wound flowed back into it.  Soon the wound had faded without a 
trace.
	"Hmm, getting soft in your old age I see," Genma commented.
	Nodoka glanced at him with an annoyed look, "She is my son's 
fianc�e, not some slow witted wanderer I just met."
	Genma turned to Akane and said, "She illustrated my 
newly-gained healing power to me by chopping off my head."  He rubbed 
his neck and winced somewhat.
	As Ranma sat back down at the table, Soun finally stopped 
crying.  "Well, this is all a bit of a shock, but my little girl is 
alive and well and that's what's important."
	Nodoka and Genma both looked away from him and coughed in near 
perfect unison.  "Well..." Genma said.
	"Technically..." Nodoka added.
	"Umm, the term most commonly used is, er, undead." Genma 
finished.  Soun stared at him, then started crying again.
	"Undead?" Akane asked.
	"Undead, as in something like a vampire or a zombie?"  Nabiki 
said, looking right at the Saotome's.
	Nodoka frowned and said, "It's a label humanity placed on the 
WU."

	Suddenly a small object blurred into the room.  "Ranma-Chan!" 
it called out, as it resolved itself into Happosei long enough to 
splash Ranma with a bucket of cold water.  A second later the old 
pervert had clamped himself onto Ranma's newly acquired breasts.
	"GRRAA!" Ranma replied.  Her clothes were whipped by an unseen 
wind, her hair raised by an updraft that only affected her, then there 
was a blinding flash of light and a crash.
	Ranma had risen to her feet.  Her right arm was extended from 
throwing Happosei into the garden.  Her third eye was open and glaring 
at the old master.  "You disgusting old freak," she said, her voice 
vibrating with power.
	When this had happened a few hours ago, all of Ranma's 
attention had been directed to Akane.  Now Akane was safe, and she felt 
none of the pain that had accompanied her initial awakening.  She could 
feel the power coursing through her body, focusing in the eye that had 
just opened in her forehead.
	What's more, this third eye didn't see what her other two saw. 
 Through it she saw the spirits that were everywhere.  She could see 
the cloud of dark spiritual energy surrounding the old man she had just 
thrown into the backyard.  And despite the newness of this new sight, 
she knew instinctively what she was seeing.  And as she looked at the 
wind, actually seeing it for the first time; she knew that she could do 
more than just look.  Taking a step toward the garden she raised her 
hands.
	As Ranma lifted her hands, wind swirled around her, picking up 
speed.  Ranma shifted her hands, once again extending the two outer 
fingers while bringing her thumb to meet the other  two.  She jabbed 
her hands forward, and as the wind around her died down, a dramatically 
stronger wind formed around Happosei, lifting the old pervert into the 
air.  Ranma quickly gestured away with her right hand.  Happosei was 
hurled into the distant sky.  Ranma smiled slightly.
	Then the smile faded, and she pivoted and leaped onto the Roof 
of the Dojo.  Everyone ran into the Yard.
	"Ranma?"  Genma called to his son, then jumped onto the roof 
after him as he heard a sudden shriek of pain.  Landing on the roof, he 
ran to where Ranma sat, rubbing her somewhat scorched foot and looking 
at three paper charms lying on the roof in front of her.  Smoke was 
rising from the middle one.
	"Ow, Old Ghoul," Ranma muttered to herself as she stopped 
rubbing her foot and stood.  A quick glance confirmed what Genma 
recognized from Ranma's voice, the third eye was closed again.
	"You shouldn't startle an old woman like that."  Cologne 
responded from the other side of the wards.  "You scared me half to 
death."
	Genma looked at the ancient Matriarch, who was standing on the 
other side of the wards from Ranma.  He picked up a ward and  
commented, "Expecting trouble?"
	Cologne folded her arms into her sleeves and responded, 
"Earlier this afternoon I had a sudden sense of great darkness and 
danger.  I grabbed a few wards and tracked it down, and arrived just as 
you were running off with Ranma and Akane.  I felt something strange 
about them, and I decided I had better follow."
	"And why were you hiding here?"
	"I didn't want to show myself until I had some idea what was 
happening."  Cologne shrugged and walked to the edge of the roof.  All 
three Martial artists jumped into the yard below.
	"Great Grandmother!"  Shampoo cried in surprise as she saw 
Cologne.
	"Come Shampoo, we both have much to think about."  Cologne 
responded as she used her staff to leap from roof to roof in the 
direction of the Nekohanten.  Shampoo looked after her, paused and 
looked at Ranma.  Then she jumped over the wall and began following 
Cologne.  Mousse immediately followed Shampoo.
	Genma looked at the retreating trio of Amazon's and commented, 
"Well we've still got some things to discuss.  Let's head back 
inside.."

	"Nabiki, would you hand this to Akane?"  Genma said as he sat 
down, handing a spirit ward to the middle Tendo sister.
Nabiki looked at the very ordinary looking piece of paper in her hand 
and extended it to her sister.
	"OWWW!"  Akane cried as she jerked her hand away from the 
paper.  "That's red hot!"  She added as she massaged her hand.
	"To you and Ranma now,"  Genma replied, tearing the one in his 
hand in half.  
	"That may be important to know, but I think we have more 
important concerns right now."  Nodoka said.  "I asked Shampoo about 
what you fought, and it was definitely some sort of Stygian order 
demon.  I was never too familiar with them so I can't be too sure but 
if one of them appeared it was almost certainly summoned by someone."
	"When I find out who they'll be sorry."  Ranma commented 
quietly.
	"Tomorrow son."  Genma replied.  "I still remember enough about 
Magic to put together something that will let us track whoever summoned 
that demon, but you are going to get a good night's sleep first."
	Ranma opened his mouth to protest, but Nodoka interrupted him, 
"You've used a lot of magic today, and you will need to be at full 
strength, just in case."  She smiled.  "We have plenty to talk about 
till then,"  She looked at Ukyo.  "I'd like to know why your chasing 
after my son and calling him your fianc�e for instance."
	Genma's face suddenly became much whiter and he said.  "Uh, 
I'll need to start the compass witch, ah witch compass."
	"Sit down, Dearest."  Nodoka replied.  "I'd like to hear your 
viewpoint on this too."