There was water flowing.  He lay on the grass, dusky with
the scent of morning dew, just beyond the building.  Soft and
yielding, the earth beneath his body was like a bed, fresh and
slightly damp.

Y'see, he had this little problem with bladder control....

Down, Gary, down.

    The serious look dropped back onto her face a moment later.  
"We are taught that water is the element most attuned to the 
soul, to the world beyond the physical.  Time can be seen as a

Geez, where did SHE take chemistry? Water's a compound! :-P

Damn you scientists!  Messing up the lovely simplicity of the 
earth-water-air-fire system!  ;p

    "I'm taking the paralysis off the little one," the sixth
girl said.  She waved a hand at Mint, who was surprised to find
himself suddenly able to move.  "Hello there.  I'm Xiandan.  Who
are you?"

Xiandan = "Elixir of life," according to my dictionary.

Yup.

    "Of course we are," the youngest girl said, glaring at him
suspiciously over a cutely upturned nose.  "Men are very stupid
creatures, aren't they?"

Well, most of them aren't as stupid as THIS guy.... :)

Ahh, yes, Mint and Lime, always good for a bit of comic relief.  :)

    "Jinlung was the one who overthrew Ganziao and established
the roots of the Musk Dynasty as it is today," Herb explained.
"Ganziao reigned for three hundred years; the blood was purer in
those days, and more powerful.  He had only a dozen sons in that 
time, but he raised them to be as he was.  Each was sent out upon
his eighteenth birthday on a quest to... prove himself a man.  

Aha! Jinlung is secretly... Nodoka!

Please, Gary, don't spoil the future plot revelations for the others. ;p

    Ranma saw the lake, small compared to the two that he had
seen before, beneath Ryugenzawa and Jusendo.  A few moments 
later, he would realize absolutely that size did not matter, 

(Hentai comment snipped)

And I wonder what that would have been?

    "Oh, Lady," he said.  He sunk to his knees, trembling, and
pressed his forehead to the rough stone of the floor as he bowed.
He was filled with light, with the shared grace of being in her
presence.  "Lady, Lady, Lady."

o/~ Lady, when you're with me I'm smiling....
Give me, whoa-oh all your love.... o/~

Actually, the Cohen song quoted at the start of the chapter makes much 
better musical accompaniment to this scene...

o/~ I cried, "Oh, Lady Midnight, I fear that you grow old,
Stars eat your body and the wind makes you cold."
"If we cry now," she said, "It will just be ignored."
So I walked through the morning
  the sweet early morning
I could hear my lady calling,
  "You've won me, you've won me, my lord."

    There had been the usual procedures when she was young; the
daughter of the most powerful family in Mount Phoenix had certain
roles to fulfil.  She had taken to the lessons well enough, the
old histories and learning of her people.  But nothing else; she
could not sew, or cook, or perform any of the other proper duties
of a lady of the Phoenix Tribe.

Well, maybe being able to turn into a duplicate Akane might help... um,
maybe not.

Well, at least you're recognizing the character parallels being drawn.
;p

    Ranma opened his eyes.  He stretched out legs that had been
curled to his chest, unwrapped his arms from around himself.  He
was swimming in the sea of stars, the vast galactic blackness 
marred with endless points of light.

(Snip George Bush reference)

Ahh... Gary, you're the first person to realize who the ultimate evil 
power of WUE is:  The Republican Party.

    A voice began speaking.  Wiyeed's, yet not Wiyeed's; as if
something spoke using her voice.  "In the beginning, the world
was nothing."

    The stars began to spin around him, as if he were the centre 
of a whirlwind.  Faster and faster they spun, in a glittering 
dance.  "There was no heat."
    

"Cool! A planetarium!"

"We love the planetarium!  Leaving the planetarium gives us intense 
pain!"  

Once again, a very enjoyable chapter with excellent descriptive work
throughout. It was a little thick on the historical stuff; good for
giving the right flavor and providing vissimilitude, but I hope you're
not expecting us to remember all the details.

No, that's not important to getting the main plotline.  The historical 
bits are atmospheric; knowing them in general is alright.  Knowing 
specifics will (IMHO) often make certain aspects of the story more 
enjoyable, but all the details of names, dates, events and places aren't 
particularly important.

As always, thanks for the comments.

Ciao,
-Alan Harnum

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