Michael Won <skeezy5@geocities.com>
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God Emperor 1 / 2 - Part II
by skeezy5
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Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
Dune Chronicles belong to Frank Herbert.
=======================
"Is it as if I foresee the moment
and am rapidly approaching it? Or is
it that the moment happened and I am
merely trying to catch up to it?
Yet again, is the moment happening,
and am I trying to run away from it?
Or finally, am I living, and are the
moments catching up with me?
Or do I live each moment that
intensely?
It is intense, it truly is... How
more can I describe my life now, senses
intensified by the prescient drug...
A gift. A small gift. To balance
all the curses which come with it's so
called truth. They truly did not know
what they were doing when they created me,
their Kwisatz Haderach. That is good, as
the act of creation, it is the act of
separation from the parent, not an extension.
Now, I have dared to create, and
like all good creations, it has come back
to destroy me..."
-The Stolen Journals
"So, you have accepted that you are Saotome?" A faint trace of
amusement escapes from Ranma-sama as she turns to face Shiro.
"Yes, Tyrant. I cannot deny my heritage, just as I could not deny
your Golden Path." I stare at her, having seen her for the first time
in years. The anger and hatred which she lashed out with was so
obvious, even to an untrained ear, and I had been trained by the best of
the Bene Niichieju. Yet at the same time, she exhibits remarkable
control, as her battle aura is non-existent. She somehow has an
absolute control over her ki, keeping it confined while her emotions
flared up. The kind of control that most ki masters could not reach in
their lifetimes. "I cannot deny it, you ensured that."
"Yet you deny me." As she speaks, Ranma-sama undoes the clasp
which holds her mask together in the back.
"That is because you are no longer Saotome! You are a monster,
Tyrant! You no longer hold sacred the values which made the Saotome's
great! So I deny you!" As Shiro yells, Ranma-sama lets her mask fall
to the ground. Most of the troops on the battlefield flinch, waiting
for a ball of flame to strike them down for seeing the face of the God
Emperor.
"A monster, did you say?" Her red hair glistens in the sun, her
pig-tail now resting freely. Her smooth skin, unworn by age except for
the occasional scars that she picked up during her journey, shows it
glory to the sun for the first time in ages. But the most remarkable
feature is the one that the two combatants share, their eyes. "The Look
of the Hunted", she had once called it; I have come to call it the Eyes
of Eternal Suffering. So full of compassion, so full of caring, and
unable to do so. Confined to cruelty and violence by their positions
and responsibilities. In a different world, the two would have been
friends, lovers...
"Yes, fiend. And I am here to kill you!"
@->-
"Adopt?" I am puzzled at Ranma-sama's request.
"Yes, Kaneda. All three were recently orphaned. Their mothers
were all in the Fifty Second Legion which was involved in destroying
the last remaining forces of the Cult of Ranko." She hands over a set
of folders to me, each marked only by a serial number on its cover.
"But my lord, what of their fathers?" We continue to walk down
the paths of her labyrinth-like garden. Even having spent so much time
growing up in the Citadel, I still get lost in the garden if I wander
too much, so I stick close to Ranma-sama's side.
"All of the fathers had relinquished their claims to the daughters
at birth. These women opted to bear children without the inconveniences
of marriage." I feel a chill go down my back as I start scanning the
folders. Even after working with them for a whole year, the warrior
women that the Imperial Army is composed of scare me. Strong and
skilled, they are chosen in their infancy for training. Through a
rigorous process that eliminates about ninety percent of them, the best
women of the empire are honed for one purpose - to be killers. Yet at
the same time, with all that deadly force, they are the kindest, most
loving people... They were just... well... strange.
"But why do you ask me to adopt them? And three girls at once, as
it is?" I feel uncomfortable, being asked to become a father when I
have been an adult for a year now. The oldest of the girls is nine
years old, the second seven, and the youngest is six. The oldest is
barely a decade younger than me!
"I think you're lonely." As she speaks, a sparrow comes and lands
on her outstretched hand. It is a Desert Sparrow, the only animal that
still exists from the Dune days. The few that are left on the planet
all inhabit the desert about Ranma-sama's Citadel.
"Lonely?" It is true, that I do not keep many people around me,
but lonely? I consider her words for a second. It is necessary for me
to devote most of my time to training, being the heir-apparent to House
Kuonji and being an officer in the elite Defenders of Nodoka, but I had
never considered myself to be lonely. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I just don't see you with people. At all the parties and
receptions that I hold, you are almost always alone, standing aloof from
the others." She carefully brushes the sparrow's back, careful not to
scare it away. "When I ask you about your life, you always talk about
your job and responsibilities, never about the people in your life..."
"There isn't much to talk about, my lord. You know better than I
do how my sister and her family are doing. My uncle reports to you as
the head of House Kuonji, so you know how my cousins and nephews are
also. Other than that..."
"Whatever happened to Ryouga's daughter?"
Though I try not to, I can feel myself tense up at the mention of
Shinobu... Poor Shinobu... I had told her that I could not love her,
not while I loved another more. She had told me she didn't care. She
had told me that she still loved me, would keep on loving me, and would
be waiting for me if I ever wanted her... She had told me that she
couldn't blame me for loving Ranma-sama more... that she could still
love me...
"Things... Things didn't work out between us."
"Oh. I see... You should go see her. Her father's ill, and
she's the only one that's around to take care of him. Her sisters are
on duty in the Outer Marches. I told them they could come home, but
they chose not to. He's really old you know. I guess its time that I
ordered a new Ryouga made..." The sparrow flies away after having
pecked at Ranma-sama's hand for a while. Her hand reaches out after it
wistfully, but then drops to her side.
"I'll... I'll see if I can make time." Perhaps she is over me.
It has been three years since I last saw her, after all...
"That's good. The girls shouldn't grow up without a mother."
"My Lord!" She laughs heartily as I struggle with which I object
to more - her decision to make me a father, or her attempt to get me to
see Shinobu once again...
"Yes, a mother would be good. Especially for Shiro..."
@->-
"Silence, Shiro!" I yell out, unable to take her blasphemy any
more. "What would your mother say?"
She turns and glares at me. "She would applaud what I am doing,
father. She would applaud it, remembering every single time her heart
was ripped apart because you loved the Tyrant more than you loved her.
Because you loved this Thing in front of me more than you ever loved
her."
"Be quiet, you insolent child! Your mother understood me, she
understood the God Emperor. She knew that God needed me more than she
did." I gasp for breath, my stomach absolutely aflame as my ki becomes
even more unbalanced. I try to calm my rage, but it runs out of
control, disrupting the balance that Ranma-sama had so carefully
restored.
"See what kind of monsters you create, fiend?" Shiro turns back
to Ranma-sama. "See how you have perverted their souls so much? Would
a Saotome ever stoop that low?"
"I do not see what you are talking of, Shiro."
"Him! How you have bent him, twisted him to worship you so! By
everything that is Holy! He would do anything you ask of him. They all
would! You have made these people in to beasts!"
"Beasts? I see." Ranma-sama turns and looks at Ukyou. "Ukyou!"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Would you die for me, Kuonji Ukyou?"
"Yes, my lord! Gladly and without hesitation!"
"Kaneda!" She turns to me now, looking at me with an icy gaze
that I have seen only once before.
"Yes, my lord!" I cry, finally getting upright and into a sitting
position.
"Would you kill your niece there if I asked you to?" I stare at
her in shock, not wanting to believe what I had just heard. I cannot
read her gaze, but it is the same look that she had held when she had
ordered a whole planet to be destroyed...
"I have sworn to follow your every command to the end of my days,
my lord!"
"But would you kill your niece for me?" Her gaze softens as she
asks me again, showing me that she understands what I'm trying to say.
"Your every command will be reality as long as there is a breath
left in me, lord."
"How do you call these people beasts?" She turns back to Shiro.
"What do you mean! He would kill his own niece for you. He would
kill me, his daughter. He would kill his wife, family, clan! Didn't
you just hear what he said?" Poor daughter, she does not understand me.
She never could understand me...
"It is you who did not hear what he said. Listen to his words.
He will follow my will to his death. Finding himself unable to follow
my will, he will kill himself first, rather than do something that he
believes to be wrong. You should know that. It is Kaneda here, after
all, who instilled your own sense of rightness," Ranma-sama turns back
and looks at us compassionately, much like a mother upon her children.
"That they will die for me does not make them beasts. In fact, it is
the opposite. That is what makes them human - that they can find
something greater than their own life - that they can find a larger
cause than self-improvement - that they find themselves able to love me
so much. Do not belittle that love by calling them monsters, Shiro.
You pain me by saying such things."
"If that is what you want to call your brainwashing, go ahead! It
is still evil!"
"If it were brainwashing, why haven't I brainwashed you?"
"So you can amuse yourself! You told me yourself that you are a
predator. You need prey like me to sharpen yourself upon!"
"Ha ha ha. You most certainly are amusing me now. How easily you
twist my words..."
"Laugh away, Tyrant, but you have made a mistake with me. This
prey knows how to and has the ability to destroy you." Ranma-sama's
expression slowly hardens again at Shiro's words.
"Be careful, child. Just because you are my chosen Caretaker for
the Golden Path doesn't mean I will not kill you if you endanger it."
"Could you kill your beloved? Your Akane?" I flinch, hearing
those words escape Shiro's mouth.
@->-
"So, this is Tendo Shiro?" Shiro shyly peeks out from behind my
back as Ranma-sama bends down a bit to look at her. "You're a real
cutey, aren't you?"
Shiro hides again, and Ranma-sama bursts out laughing. I turn and
look down at my adopted daughter. "Come on Shiro. God won't hurt you.
She just wants to meet you."
Slowly, Shiro peeks out around my back again, staring out at the
hand that Ranma-sama is holding out to her. Trying to get her to
overcome her shyness, Ranma-sama says, "Hey, join me in the practice
hall?"
Shiro nods vigorously, having wanted to see Ranma-sama's dojo all
day. She slowly reaches out and tentatively holds Ranma-sama's hand.
"I'm Ranma. You want to be friends?"
"O... Okay." Words finally squeak out of Shiro's throat as she
slowly begins to relax. We continue down the hallway to the dojo. I
look about fondly, remembering the many days I had spent jogging up and
down this corridor. As we reach the ninety second glow globe, I am
slightly disappointed, seeing that it has finally been replaced. I had
once hit it in frustration at not being able to master a technique, and
it had been slightly dimmer than the rest after that. Then again, if
Ranma-sama didn't repair the damage caused by all the fools she had
trained, this place would be a mess... I laugh at the thought of a
thousand teenagers running around, wrecking the place while trying out
their new techniques.
"Here we are! So, what do you think of where daddy learned to
fight?" The dojo is the same as I remember it. The countless times I
had fallen onto that wooden floor... The walls are adorned only by a
simple sign in the old language. Ranma-sama had once explained to me
that it said 'Ii ro ha.' When I had asked her for the meaning of that,
she had looked at me quizzically and simply responded, 'Whatever you
make of it.' It still puzzles me.
I look down at Shiro to see her staring about in wonder. Though I
had done my best to create my own practice hall after this one, there
is a certain balance which says that this one is correct. Of course.
Of all people, Ranma-sama would be able to replicate the original most
designs which had been ancient when man had left Terra...
"So Shiro, you study kempo, right?"
"Daddy trained me since I was six." Shiro pipes up, her martial
arts being the only thing she is really sure of.
"Wow. Five years. You must be pretty good then. Care for a
match?"
My adopted daughter turns and looks at me with some fear in her
eyes. I smile as warmly as I can and nod at her, inwardly wincing with
the falls that I know my daughter will take. She just isn't old
enough to keep up with Ranma-sama. I walk to the center of the floor.
Seeing that both combatants are ready, I begin the match. "Hajime!"
The two of them face off, Shiro dropping into a defensive stance,
while Ranma-sama stands without her guard up. It is a test of patience,
one which Shiro can only lose. Just as the thought occurs to me, Shiro
blurs, striking forward with a beginner's punch-kick combination, much
to my pride. Instead of using one of her less practiced, fancy moves -
which Ranma-sama would've shattered - she is advancing with simple blows
which were well drilled into her. Instead of striking back, however,
Ranma-sama simply slips out of the way. *The water defense already?
But Shiro is a bit young to understand that grace will break strength...*
After a few more moves, Shiro grows more and more agitated as
Ranma-sama slides out of the path of all her attacks. Finally, she
strikes out with her fastest punch, but it merely meets air, as Ranma-
sama flips over her head. As she comes down, though, Ranma-sama's hands
assume the Flower of Death position. I shut my eyes in horror as she
brings in her hands towards my daughter's neck...
When I open my eyes, I see Ranma-sama tap Shiro on the back of the
head lightly. Shiro turns around and looks at her. As if by some
unseen signal, the two of them begin laughing together. "Wow, you're as
good as daddy said you were."
"Ah, he was probably just exaggerating. You're not bad yourself."
"Really?" I watch Shiro's face light up at the complement.
"Yeah, you might actually be able to get better than your dad with
a lot of practice. Now, see that door over there?"
"Mmm hmm!" Shiro is nodding her head vigorously, her shyness
forgotten.
"That leads my personal weapons room. Why don't you go see if
there's anything that you like, hmm?"
"Really?!"
"Yup. Choose wisely, though, since you'll only get one thing."
Even as Ranma-sama speaks, Shiro rushes through the door, her body
flying apart with the excitement. When the door shuts, Ranma-sama turns
to me. "Well?"
"What, my lord?"
"Well, what is it you want to say? Spit it out." She looks at me
expectantly.
"..." I feel the turmoil within me, but try to suppress it.
"Kaneda."
"As my God, you have tested me. Have I failed in that test?" I
can hear my voice crack as the words barely squeak through my vocal
chords.
"What are you talking about Kaneda?"
"The Flower of Death. Shiro..."
"Yes."
"Why must you test me like that. Don't you trust my loyalty?
Ranma-sama, you've been my closest and dearest friend from my earliest
childhood. Must you still test me?" I feel tears rushing to my eyes
and blink them back. "Would you have me choose between you and my
daughter?"
"Oh, poor Kaneda... I'm sorry. That wasn't a test of you...
That was a test of me..." Ranma-sama turns away from me and looks at
the door through which Shiro went. "She is my Golden Path."
"Your Golden Path? Shiro?!"
"Yes. And as you will notice more and more as she grows up, she
is a spitting image of Akane. Those two things make her valuable to me
beyond measure... There is, however, the danger inherent in all of my
descendants in the Tendo line." Ranma-sama turns back to me and looks
at me expectantly.
"Yes sir?" My mind is reeling at the knowledge of exactly how
important my ward is.
"Rebellion. The Saotome-Tendo line is full of fiery spirits, and
have often risen against me... I must know that I will be able to end
her life if she endangers the Golden Path. I am sorry to have done it
in front of you. Its just that... That fight reminded me so much of
Akane..."
Because she is looking at me, the God Emperor doesn't notice, but
I see a hint of movement at the door. Had Shiro heard?
@->-
"Do not kid yourself, Shiro. Just because you look like her
doesn't make you special. I could create thousands who looked like you
if that were my wish, in any personality I wanted.. How many times do
you think the Bene Niichieju or the Bene Genryu have tempted me with
that proposition?"
"Oh, never. They knew that you would slay them all if they
attempted such a foolishness. But I must ask you again, could you let
your beloved Akane die?"
"Try me."
As if Ranma-sama's words were a signal, the rebels open fire with
hundreds of water cannons. Acting as if the water doesn't exist,
however, she stares impassively as the scalding water enfolds her from
all directions. Things are different for the guards who are trying to
reach her, though, as the pressure and heat pushes them away from her...
him.
Slowly, the pressure dies down, and the water flow reduces to a
trickle. The field is covered with steam, but his outline can be seen
clearly. Leaning on Ukyou, I hobble over to where he stands. "Are you
all right, my lord?"
"Yes, Kuonji. I am fine." The depth of his voice is almost
shocking, though I had known what to expect. As the steam clears up,
the changes are even more marked. He stands a good half a head taller
than where she stood, and his build is much more defined and powerful.
His hair is jet black, though streaked with gray here and there. It is
strange for me to look at that longer face, seeing the hints of her
features here and there, masked by his sharper jaw and stronger nose.
Truly, the eyes are the only real similarity between the two of them.
The field is covered with gaping troops as he finally comes into
full view. Many drop to their knees, rebels and soldiers alike. Some
just stand there, too shocked to react in any way. Even Shiro falters,
though she must have known what would happen. Amidst it all, only
Ranma-sama and Commander Hibiki are calm.
"I fail to see what this accomplishes, Shiro." Ranma-sama flicks
his hair, the drops of water sparkling as they fly away, almost like
small diamonds. "How is this supposed to kill me?"
Shiro slowly unhooks a small vial from her belt. "Because I have
your cure. The one that you spent all those years searching for and
could not find."
@->-
"My lord, I was reading your journals as you'd instructed..."
"And?" Ranma-sama looks up from the water color she is doing of
me.
"I am wondering what you were referring to when you talked of
'the cure'?" I try not to fidget, wondering why she is taking so long
with the drawing. Can't she just use a scanner and take my image?
"The Cure? My, that's something I haven't thought of in a long
time..." Ranma-sama puts her brush down and sits back. "When I first
found myself in this form, I hated it. It felt alien, repulsive... It
wasn't until later that we discovered how my curse was different from
the others. For the failures, their cursed forms aged at a rate
relative to their true forms. My cursed form... As you can see, it is
immortal."
"Failures, my lord?"
"Yes. For those who took the prescient drug but failed, they
would gain an animal form that reflected their soul. For me, I had this
body, and while I was in it, my true form did not age. Another gift for
the Kwisatz Haderach that the Bene Niichieju didn't know about. Stupid,
incompetent witches." Ranma-sama picks up her brush again and adds a
bold stroke on the canvas. "When Akane and I realized this, I spent as
much time as I could in my male form, and we looked for a cure."
"Why have you stopped, my lord? Is there no cure?"
"No. I stopped caring when Akane died. At that point, Saotome
Ranma died. I am merely your God Emperor now, the caretaker of the
Golden Path. The Tyrant, as they call me." Her brush falters and slips
a bit. "Damn. Its ruined."
@->-
"What makes you think I'll take the cure?" Ranma-sama sneers in
disdain. "After all, I have to ingest it, just like the original spice
drug. What makes you think I'd do that willingly? And even if you
could force it into me, do you think I did not store some of the spice
drug away for moments like this? You have, at the most, taken away an
hour of my life."
"No, Tyrant. I know you. I worshipped you as a child, studied
you as a teenager, and have plotted to kill you as an adult. Do not
underestimate me. You will take the cure willingly, and you will not
take the spice drug a second time." Shiro's voice is full of hatred as
she mentions her childhood. I can feel my hand clench painfully into a
fist and try to relax my fingers.
"Oh? And what makes you so sure?"
"Because of this. Bring her forth!" At her command, the rebel
ranks slightly part, and a hooded figure stumbles forward, bound hand
and foot. What catches my eye though, is Commander Hibiki's reaction.
His face is full of disgust and anger, but the look is directed at
Shiro, not us. I stare at the prisoner in puzzlement, trying to discern
her identity.
"A hostage, Shiro? Do you think a mere hostage will work against
me?" I spin my head around, the strain in Ranma-sama's voice slicing
through the air like a knife for me. What is he so worried about? Who
could the prisoner be that he is so worried?
"I ask you once again, Tyrant, would you let Akane down?" With
that, Shiro pulled the hood off of the prisoner. From the gasps of the
rebels, it is apparent that even they did not know the identity of their
trump card.
"Again Shiro, what does this accomplish?"
"Tyrant, she was grown from my own cells. Instead of restoring
her memories, however, we created a whole new set of them from her,
exactly replicating Her. And she is in fear of her life."
"No Ranma! Don't listen to them! I'll be all right! Don't give
in!" Her voice is the same as Shiro's in tone and timbre, but the
heartbreaking love in that voice is what makes all the difference.
But how were they able to fit her memories so that... The
realization hits me like a wall. Shiro. The spice drug. She knew.
She had all of Akane's memories. She could create an absolute replica
of her. My thoughts are confirmed by what croaks out of Ranma-sama's
throat next.
"Akane..."
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To be continued...
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