DYNASTY - CHAPTER NINE - PART A
By Sydney Kyle <celenas77@aol.com>
HOMEPAGE: <http://move.to/dynasty>
Author's notes: After a month or so of drawing, drawing, more drawing,
and school, I finally decided to release part A of Chapter Nine. I
hardly have enough time to write any more. But I guess that's all
part of being a high school senior--too much academic work and too
little spare time...
Anyway, my page has finally been updated, and I decided to stick in a
crummy sketch I made. Sorry if it isn't colored--too much work. ^_^
Anyway, feel free to send me any of your fanart (I LOVE fanart) and
I'll have it featured on my page. (Thanks for the idea, Kristen! I'll
be waiting for _your_ art! ^_^)
Lastly, I'd like to thank all of you who stuck with me through this
entire thing (you know who you are :). Trust me, you guys, this is
just the beginning...
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* * * DYNASTY * * *
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
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* * * * * *
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CHAPTER NINE:
Part A
Dreams
=========================
{She's going to lose you.}
Mist. Dark, swirling, oppressive mist.
It filled his nostrils, inebriating him, making his head spin. It
smelled of incense, antiquity, and something ominous and sweetly
arcane.
{She's going to lose you.}
He narrowed his eyes. He was in some sort of subterranean chamber--
a cave perhaps?--filled with swirling clouds of an eerie blue-green
fog. His skin was tingling under his red Chinese shirt, and the tip of
his pigtail stood out in tense spikes. He couldn't shake off the
feeling that something--anything--was going to happen.
{She's going to lose you.}
He whirled around indignantly, but there was nobody there.
{She's going to lose you.}
He whirled again. Nobody. He was all alone in this place, save for
the mist that curled and twisted as if it were alive, and the
disembodied voice that emitted from everywhere around him.
{She's going to lose you.}
He was definitely getting annoyed.
"Shut up already!" he yelled, his voice reverberating back and
forth against walls he could not see. "Who the heck are you, anyway?
What're you talkin' 'bout?!"
The abrupt silence that ensued rang deafeningly in his ears.
"Answer me!"
A low humming sound began, and he twisted around blindly in the
dimness.
{She's going to lose you...}
He gritted his teeth, teetering on the edge of exasperation. "Stop
talkin' in riddles--who's gonna lose me anyway?"
A sliver of light speared the smoky haze. Turning, he caught sight
of a glimmering blue-green halo materializing a few feet away from
him. An image came into focus in the middle of the halo, momentarily
startling in its simplicity.
It was the same face he'd seen when he'd stared into his own soul.
{She's going to lose you, Ranma Saotome.}
He felt the strength being siphoned from his body, and he crumpled
to his knees into the midst of the whirling fog. He couldn't open
move, or open his eyes, or even twitch his little finger.
For the first time in a long while, Ranma Saotome felt completely
helpless.
{She's going to lose you,} the voice droned on, caressing yet
rough, tender yet taunting, loving yet disdainful. It was lulling him
toward a fake security, a false comfort--a promise of contentment that
would not be fulfilled. And it was vaguely female.
It was only by summoning an intense amount of concentration that
Ranma was able to move his mouth. "Why?" he whispered, his chest
racking, eyes burning. "Why...?"
He felt the briefest touch of cool lips on his forehead.
{Because, Ranma Saotome, you are mine.}
* * * * * *
"Who are you?! I demand that you show yourself!"
He was back in the cave filled with crystals. Everywhere he looked,
the mirror-like pieces of mineral reflected back to him his own face,
rendered almost unrecognizable by an uncharacteristic expression of
anger and panic.
"What is it you want?!" he shouted to no one in particular.
{No.} The voice that drifted into his ear was sudden, yet soothing,
with the all the gravelly texture of sandpapered glass. {What is it
_you_ want?}
He blinked, caught momentarily off-guard. "M-me?"
{You. Is there something that you long for the most? Something that
you treasure deep in your heart--something that you know you can never,
ever have...?}
There was only one thing that flashed through his fevered mind.
To his horror, the object of his thoughts was reflected onto the
thousand crystals shards that littered the craggy walls around him. Out
of the corners of his eyes, he could discern purple blurs.
"N-no," he choked out. "Not Shampoo...what are you planning to do
with my beautiful Shampoo...?"
The crystals winked at him.
{How bad do you want her, Mousse?}
He closed his eyes. "You cannot...you cannot possibly know..."
{Well, then, how much are you willing to do for her?}
"What--what do you m-mean--"
{How much are you willing to give up...?}
Mousse froze, his spectacles perched precariously on the bridge of
his nose. "How much I..."
{She can be yours, you know.}
Had he heard wrong? Shampoo...would be...his?
A flare of hope ignited deep within his heart--a hope that he
hadn't felt for a long, long time...
Let it be, please. Please, please, please, let it be...
{She will be yours, Mousse--but remember, there is always a price
to pay...}
* * * * * *
She'd never seen a more beautiful room.
The scalloped ceiling loomed high above her, looking like a roof
of feathery opalescent clouds. The walls, if that was what they were,
glowed with a clear crystalline hue. Ripples of light danced across
the chamber, reflecting from a magnificent fountain situated in the
midst of the room.
She'd never been in a more beautiful room--and she'd never felt so
uneasy in her entire life.
Something was definitely wrong. She could practically sense it in
the bleak atmosphere of the room she was standing in right now.
{Hmm. Been a long time since I've seen your kind.}
She wheeled around at the voice. For some reason, she wasn't
particularly surprised to discover that there was no one else around.
"What you mean, 'your kind'?" she demanded.
{You are a Chinese Amazon, are you not? They were quite an
inconvenience to us, even back then. How odd that you should be one
of the Cursed.}
She glanced down. She was wearing an exquisite silk dress festooned
with intricate spiral designs. With some detached interest, she noted
that somewhere among the swarms of circles was the serpentine form of
a dragon.
The faintest fragment of a recollection surfaced somewhere in her
dream-fogged brain. "Ranma...where Ranma...?"
{Ranma...Ranma...hmm.} There was a brief pause. {Ah, yes. Ranma
Saotome. The boy with the pigtail, yes? You'll have to pardon me if
he cannot be here right now. You see, I happen to know that he is
rather preoccupied at the moment...with her.}
Shampoo caught her breath. "_Her_?"
{Is that trepidation I sense in your tone?} The voice was mockingly
sympathetic. {Concern, perhaps? Worry?}
Bringing her hands up, she rubbed them up and down her bare arms.
A draft of frigid air had penetrated the chamber. "Shampoo no worried
about Ranma going with another girl! He care about Shampoo, you see!"
{Is that so?} There was a hint of skepticism in the voice. {Then
who is this girl I sensed in his soul?}
The water in the fountain began to bubble, spilling froth over the
rosebud ceramic tiles.
Shampoo's eyes widened as she recognized the face of the girl in
the water. Agony was etched into her features as she tore her gaze
away. "That no true!" she protested. "Ranma no love her! She nothing
but crazy violent tomboy--even Ranma say so!"
The voice was soft, almost pleasant. {Maybe things aren't always
what they seem, Amazon. You, of all people, must know that now...more
than ever...}
She only mildly astonished as a searing pain ravaged her shoulder.
Her legs folded down after her like a telescope, and her purple mane
flared out around her like a flower in bloom as she laid her head
down on the floor.
{You see, Shampoo, I _always_ make sure that my solicitors pay me
nothing less than everything they can offer...}
* * * * * *
Flowers.
From everywhere around him, he could smell them. The heady scent
of a hundred exotic flowers.
He was in a garden of some sort, that he could tell. The moon hung
suspended amongst a fleet of stars, a milky orb that illuminated the
faint forms of shrubs and flower bushes. In front of him was a little
footpath that gleamed brightly in the moonlight. A closer inspection
of the path revealed that it led straight to an odd-looking tree in
the middle of the garden.
He walked toward the tree, stepping stiffly onto the silver-gilded
trail like an automaton. There was something--someone--calling out to
him, and try as he might, there was no way he was going to be able to
resist it.
He saw her then, and his breath caught.
She looked like a vision as she sat there at the foot of the tree.
Her long golden hair shimmered like ripples in a clear mountain stream,
and drops of liquid sunset shone in her teardrop-shaped eyes. She was
wearing a dress that seemed to be woven out of gossamer thread, and
her complexion was as smooth and golden as the wavy locks of hair that
framed her face.
She seemed to emanate an aura of perpetual innocence from her
entire being, and yet there was something about her that made him pause
as he approached her.
Her eyes locked on his, and there was no trace of hostility in them.
Rather, they were warm and twinkling with invitation.
{Come here.} Her voice resounded in his ears and all around him,
like tiny bells.
He obliged, feeling every bit of self-consciousness dissolve like
cotton candy in the rain.
{Come closer. Yes, that's it, boy. Closer.} She was smiling now.
He stepped closer to her, as if under a trance, and she reached
out, running her slender index finger down his cheek.
{Mmm, very good,} she declared, raking her gaze over his face
and down his body. {Much better than I expected. You will do nicely,
Ryouga Hibiki.}
The emerald fire that raged within Ryouga's eyes had been
extinguished, and all that remained in them was a dull green smoke.
He felt lethargic, too tired to even think. The tiniest part of his
mind, however, continued to rebel.
<No...Akane...I must not betray Akane...>
As if reading his thoughts, the girl lay a finger on his lips,
effectively silencing him. {No. No Akane. No more Akane, or Akari,
or anybody else...}
The night breeze ruffled the bow on his bandanna, lifting their
hair, rustling her dress and cooling his skin.
{Tell me what you want, and it will be yours, Ryouga Hibiki.} Her
hand dropped from his mouth and ran up his arm, then slipped under-
neath his shirt onto his bare chest.
He shivered, and she smiled again, a dragon's smile.
{And you--you are _mine_...}
* * * * * *
Ryouga Hibiki woke up in a cold sweat.
All of his nerves and synapses were on the verge of exploding into
a thousand tiny shards, gearing into overdrive, despite the fact that
just a moment ago he'd been asleep.
A bright glare appeared to be on the other side of his eyelids.
<Where...where am I...?>
It was a question he'd been asking strangers--as well as
acquaintances--most of his relatively short life. Mostly he asked
himself that when he was awake, but he also asked himself that when
caught between slumber and wakefulness.
He found himself in the last place he'd ever expected.
Blinking rapidly, he tensed up and glanced around.
<I'm...in the living room...of the Tendo Dojo,> he realized with a
start, now fully conscious. <But how did I end up here...?>
Oh, yeah. He must have drifted off to sleep here last night after
enduring two grueling minutes of Cologne's autobiographical account of
how she became the most renowned Chinese Amazon in Joketsuzoku,
complete with all her exploits. He rubbed his forehead. It drove him
to sleep faster than the Hiryu Shoten Ha or any kind of knockout pill.
It was odd, he mused. Leaving him here in the living room of the
dojo--in full sight of the shoji doors--was a big risk. If the
Dynasty or the Dragon clan wanted to do so, then they could easily
break through the entrance, seize him, and suck up his soul without
a moment's hesitation.
And then he remembered. He was cured.
Good-bye, P-Chan. Hello, Akane...
His head snapped up, eyes wide. <Akane!>
Brimming over with sudden exuberance, he barely had time to register
the million thoughts that ran through his mind.
<At last, I have a chance...I can finally win Akane--as a man...>
Ryouga attempted to stand up from his sitting position, and then
he froze.
He was trapped.
In the midst of a trio of slumbering girls.
* * * * * *
Mousse heard her, even as he floundered about in the currents of
sleep. He could recognize her voice--anywhere, anytime, even in his
dreams...
Except he knew he wasn't dreaming.
He opened one eye, blinked as his poor vision kicked in, then
pulled down his round spectacles from its precarious angle on top of
his head. The scene before him melted together into jarring clarity.
Shampoo was moaning.
And her head was on Ryouga's lap.
* * * * * *
<Okay...if I shift a little to the left--yeah, that's right--not
too quick now--then maybe I could...>
Ryouga gulped as a tiny moan escaped Shampoo's lips. Akari shifted
restlessly on his left side, while Ukyou pressed her head deeper onto
his right shoulder, her white silk bow brushing his neck. Ryouga
squeezed his eyes shut, trying to collect his frenzied thoughts.
<How--how did this happen to me...?!>
"RYOUGA HIBIKI!! GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY BEAUTIFUL SHAMPOOOOO!!!"
His eyes snapped open in alarm, only to discover an enraged Mousse
bearing down on him, armed with his legions of chains, ax blades, and a
rubber chicken.
"AAAARRGGGHHHHH--!!!"
Mousse slammed right into him, sending the both of them tearing
out through the wall Ryouga had been leaning on.
*CRASH*
There would be another hole to repair in the Tendo dojo.
* * * * * *
Ranma Saotome was jolted out of his febrile slumber by a series of
noises coming from somewhere outside.
His defenses automatically kicked in, and he scrambled out of his
futon, fists raised, adrenaline pumping, fully expecting another
ambush by the Dragon clan.
To his immense surprise, there was no one in the room--save for
the thickset form of his still-snoring father sprawled on the adjoining
bed.
Ranma shuddered a little, feeling the last fragments of a dream
slowly vacating his mind. He swiped damp bangs away from his eyes,
noting with some apprehension that Shampoo was nowhere to be seen in
the room.
*THUD*
He was taken aback momentarily as something was flung hard against
the wall outside. "What the--?"
Genma rolled over and promptly whapped his son on the head with a
spare pillow. "Keep it down, boy! I'm trying to sleep here!!"
Ranma bopped him in the head in retaliation. "HEY! That ain't me,
old man!"
Rubbing his scalp in a disgruntled fashion, Genma Saotome propped
himself up with one arm and glared up at his son. "Then who, pray
tell, is making that infernal racket?!"
Ranma opened his mouth to reply, but he snapped it closed the
next second as the sound of yelling drifted in from outside.
<No way...that sounds like...like...>
"Answer me when I'm talking to you, boy! Who is--oomph!"
Genma was interrupted as Ranma plowed over him, making a beeline
toward the door.
* * * * * *
"I never imagined that you would stoop this low!"
"I already TOLD you, Mousse--it was an accident!! I had nothing
to do with it, I swear!!"
"YOU SHALL PAY, HIBIKI!!!" And with that, Mousse tossed up the
chicken he held in his hand, which in turn launched a volley of
explosive eggs.
Ukyou, Akari, and Shampoo appeared at the porch, joined shortly
by a slightly irked-looking Akane. Despite the fact that they'd been
unceremoniously yanked from the arms of sleep, the girls were
definitely wide-awake now as they watched the two brawlers face off
against each other in the dojo courtyard.
"Ryouga! Mousse! What d'you think you're doing?!" shrieked Akane.
"Ai-yah! Stupid Mousse--you stop that right now!" commanded Shampoo.
Mousse halted in his assault on Ryouga long enough to adopt a noble
countenance before his love. "Fear not, Shampoo," he declared gallantly.
"For I, Mousse, shall defend your honor against this--this cur!"
"What you talking--" Shampoo began.
"So...where were we?" continued Mousse, training his attention once
more on his flabbergasted opponent. "Ah, yes..." He whipped out a toilet
from the confines of his robes and propelled it toward Ryouga. "SUFFER,
HIBIKI!!!"
The other boy dodged the porcelain object, irritation starting to
creep onto his features. "Me?! What did _I_ do?!"
"Silence! It appears that you have been influenced by that coward
Ranma after all!"
Bad choice of words. Anyone who was Ryouga Hibiki's acquaintance
knew full well that the quickest way to piss him off was to compare
or mention him on the same sentence as Ranma Saotome.
It was Ukyou who first noticed the warning signs, and she hastily
attempted a stab at peace. "H-hey, you jackass! Mousse was just
kidding. Aheheh...right, Mousse? Mousse?"
Ryouga's battle aura was beginning to radiate outward in alarming
waves. His words came out in a low, dangerous growl.
"Don't..." He ducked a stray egg. "...ever..." He jumped over a
battery of chains. "...compare me..." A mace attached to a chain
zoomed toward him, and with amazing reflexes, he caught it firmly in
his bare hand. "...to..." The mace still clutched in his hand, he
yanked it forward, sending Mousse hurtling toward him. "...RANMA!!"
Mousse whisked something out of his robes and shut his eyes.
There was a painful, resounding crack as Ryouga's fist connected
with solid porcelain.
Shards of the shattered toilet were flung everywhere, and Ryouga
recoiled from the impact. Seizing the advantage, Mousse tossed away
the remnants of the shield-toilet and charged at Ryouga in a blind
rage.
"YYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH--*gurgle*"
*SPLASH*
The duel ended the way most of the duels in the Tendo dojo ended--
in the Koi pond.
To Be Continued in Part B