Ranma three and a half eyes
Chapter 3
by Brendan O'Donnell

	"You're sure neither of them had that whatever it is?"  Akane 
asked Ranma in an annoyed tone.
	"Uh-huh,"  Ranma responded without taking his eyes from the 
street ahead of him.  *Well neither Kuno or Kodachi had any trace of 
the either signature, but that means that it could be anyone.  Who?*
	"Any ideas who it might be then?"  Akane asked in response.
	"None."
	"Want to get married?"
	"Yea�  Hey, What?"
	"Just seeing how much attention you were paying."  Akane said 
as she skipped ahead of him with a big grin.  "And I wanted to see if 
you'd say you love me after that bit yesterday."
	Ranma turned bright red.  "Wh-Who said anything about love.  I 
mean where did you get the idea�"
	"Oh so you awoke that ancestral power of yours because you felt 
your honor required it?"  Akane responded with a big grin.
	"Uh, well, yeah!  I�"
	"No need to rush things, you kids have plenty of time to work 
out how you feel."  Genma commented as he walked calmly past the pair.
	Ranma and Akane facefaulted.
	Genma looked back at them, scowled slightly and added, "I was 
in love with your mother for eighteen years before I got up the nerve 
to admit it to her."  He shook his head and continued down the street. 
 "Immortality changes your sense of time."  Looking ahead he added 
quietly, "So does returned mortality."

	"Great-Grandmother, Ranma's mother just ask Shampoo train 
Akane."
	Cologne looked at her a moment.  "You could benefit from the 
experience of training someone.  Though you should consider carefully 
before aiding a rival for Ranma's affections."
	*She didn't call Ranma son-in-law, has she given up on bringing 
us together?*  "Nodoka says she ask you and you say no, why you do 
that?"  Shampoo added quietly.
	Cologne looked at her and sighed.  "Caution Shampoo, caution.  
I will not give up on the hope of a son in law of Ranma's potential, 
but I must understand the risks before I allow myself to become too 
involved.  If his mother is right then his presence at the village 
could prove a grave danger.  I must watch and learn."
	"Does Great Grandmother want Shampoo not teach not living 
girl?"
	Cologne glanced at Shampoo a moment, then shook her head.  "I 
have no concerns about you teaching her, I'll even help you plan your 
sessions.  But only if it's your decision.  I will not advise you one 
way or the other."
	"Akane now not living girl supposed to protect Ranma.  Shampoo 
help her."
	*And help me learn more about Ranma and Akane as they have 
become.*  Cologne remembered the advice she had received through the 
conduit of the orb.  *"Cologne, be careful not to let yourself get too 
close to the infant Sanjiyan, but monitor his development as closely as 
possible."*  As always she contemplated the aid she had received, 
looking for traps, hidden agendas, and double-dealing.  It was 
basically a habit since in all her infrequent dealings with Nephredana, 
she had always had the upper hand in the final analysis.  *Demons are 
known for their cleverness and deviousness, but she is no match for 
Me.*

	Floating over a small table covered with Red lace was a globe 
of obsidian, about half a foot in diameter.  A smooth very feminine 
hand with long red nails caressed it a moment.  "An unexpected twist in 
the game.  I may snag Cologne a few decades sooner than I thought."

	 "What did you find out?"  Nabiki asked as she entered the 
house's entryway..
	Ranma looked up at her as he removed his shoes.  "Not much.  Is 
mom here?"
	"She's in the guest room."  Nabiki replied with a frown.  "Now 
what do you mean by�"  She paused as Ranma moved past her and made a 
beeline for the stairs.  She looked at Akane.
	"I guess he must want to ask her about that sight thing he 
figured out."  Akane said half to herself.  Looking at Nabiki she said 
in a more conversational tone, "The demon was summoned from the Kuno's 
greenhouse, but we checked and they didn't do it.  At least not unless 
it was the principal but he's taking another vacation to Hawaii so it 
probably wasn't."  She sighed and looked down, her face a mixture of 
conflicting emotions.  "Who did it Nabiki?  I� I hear it every day, 
'prepare to die,' but, it's never seemed serious before."
	Nabiki looked at her little sister.  "And Aunt Nodoka is 
worried that life may get strange around here."  She shook her head.  
"Don't worry Akane, when things start to get crazy the best thing to do 
is simply ignore everything you can't control and concentrate on 
controlling what you can."

	"Hi mom!"  Ranma said as he entered the Guestroom.  His mother 
looked up from where she sat, pausing to put down her calligraphy 
brush.
	 "Hello Ranma.  I just finished this charm for our first 
lesson.  But you can tell me about what happened and maybe there is a 
lesson I can help you learn with that."
	"Ok, well we followed Dad's Witch compass and it led right to 
the Kuno estate."
	"Oh my, the two�"
	"Lunatics?  Well, Kuno attacked me when we found the pentacle 
where the demon was summoned from, he thought 'The Sorcerer Saotome' 
did it and couldn't understand the word no.  I knocked him out, then I 
took a look at the pentacle with this."  He raised his right hand 
tapping his forehead with two fingers.
	"What did you see?"
	"A big confused mess.  But I started comparing the mess to that 
bit of blood on the end of that compass of dads, and I saw it was the 
same as a part of the jumble in the pentacle."
	"That would have been the demon's aura.  The aura of the 
caster's would have been there as well, though you probably would have 
missed it since it's very hard to spot unless you really understand 
what your looking for."
	Ranma nodded his head.  "um, I looked at Kuno and didn't see 
any of that demon aura thing.  And not on Kodachi when I got her to 
quiet down and let me look."  He shuddered.
	Nodoka glanced at him a moment.  "We will go someplace quiet 
for our first lesson in magic, however there is a fast lesson you can 
begin learning now."  She took out her katana and held it out in her 
hands before her.  "Ranma, I want you to look at the blade.  Dispel all 
thought of what you expect to see, just relax and focus on nothing."
	Ranma blinked.  "Um�"
	"Don't argue, don't think, just do what I'm asking you.  Relax 
your perceptions and remember how it felt when you opened your third 
eye.  Don't open it, just remember the feeling."
	The two sat motionless.
	The clock advanced five minutes.
	Neither mother nor son moved.
	Three more minutes  passed, then Ranma started.  "Hey!"
	"What did you see?"
	"Well  I thought there was another jumble of stuff but then it 
wasn't there.  Thing is I felt a little like when I'm looking with all 
three eyes for a second there."
	"Good.  Look at it with all three eyes then."
	Ranma opened his third eye and looked at his mother's sword, 
the one he had so long feared at the blade that would destroy his life 
and his family.  The strands of power were tightly woven through and 
around it, and indeed flowed between it and his mother.
	"The same as what you saw that second, right?"
	Ranma looked into his mother's face.  She was right.
	"You aren't nearly as strong without your third eye, but you 
still have the capacity to wield magics.  Perception is the simplest of 
them."

	The phone rang.
	Picking up the phone Kasumi addressed the receiver, 
"Moshi-Moshi?"   "Yes I'll tell her."  She hung up then raised her head 
to call out, "Mrs. Saotome!"
	Nodoka appeared at the top of the stairs and called down, "What 
is it Kasumi?"
	"Shampoo calling for you!"
	"Ah!"  Nodoka commented as she quickly descended the stairs and 
took the handset from Kasumi.
	"Shampoo, �  Ah good, thank you. � Yes I'll talk to her and you 
two can train in the Dojo for now. � No, I have to try training Ranma 
and it would be best to start somewhere away from everyone. � Yes, I 
don't think Ranma would enjoy watching either.  �  I'll explain 
everything to Akane, don't worry. � Goodbye."  Nodoka hung up the 
phone.

	"Akane,"
	Akane looked up from where she was lying on her bed.  "Auntie 
Saotome?"
	Nodoka entered the room, closing the door behind her.  Walking 
to Akane's desk she turned the chair to face the bed and sat.  "Akane 
we need to talk."  She sighed.  "You know how much everything's 
changed.  My son, You, and that's just a small beginning."  She looked 
down at her hands.  "Chaos is the source of all that is, but especially 
of magic.  Before yesterday Ranma was a natural� focus of magical 
force, but that was all.  He simply acted as a concentration of magic." 
 Raising her head Nodoka looked at Akane.  "You remember what it was 
like here after Ranma arrived?"
	"Well, it wasn't Ranma's fault, I mean Nerima has always been a 
bit wilder than the rest of Tokyo.  And Ranma," Akane paused a moment. 
 "Well maybe things got a little crazier than before, but there were 
plenty of things that didn't involve Ranma."
	"Though he was always part of them,"  Nodoka commented.
	"Kind of."
	"Akane, it's not a question of fault or purpose.  Ranma simply 
by virtue of being who he is drew in chaos intensifying it in the area. 
 It's a completely natural phenomenon.  But things changed yesterday." 
 Nodoka looked Akane in the eye.  "Ranma isn't a passive focus anymore, 
he's a fully active spellcaster."  Nodoka raised her right hand.  
"Among human spellcasters chaos effects are usually a lessor concern, 
the beginners don't have the magic force to draw very much and by the 
time they do gain the power already learn the control and precision to 
reduce the side effects of their magic."  She raised her left hand in a 
balancing gesture.  "But Ranma isn't human.  He has enough power to do 
things off the top of his head that human spellcasters couldn't even 
conceive of without multi-day rituals and a lot of effort.  
Unfortunately this means that until Ranma learns a great deal more he 
will be the center of a 'swirl' of more magical energy than you have 
ever experienced in your life.  What's coming will make last year's 
events seem like a spring shower compared to a typhoon.
	"I talked to Shampoo this morning about her giving you some 
advanced training."
	Akane sat up and looked at Mrs. Saotome.  "I'm a pretty good 
Martial artist!"
	Nodoka sighed.  "I'm not saying you're not.  But the fact is 
that you're not the same person you were two days ago, and unless you 
get accustom to that you are going to die when Ranma dies through your 
lack of preparation."
	Akane blinked.  *Ranma die� and it's literal and real too.*
	"Please Akane, It would mean so much to me."
	Looking down Akane responded, "Ok, I'll try letting her teach 
me a little, but she better not try anything with Ranma!"
	"Don't worry Ranma and I will be going out of town for a few 
days so I can drill what I can on magic into his skull."
	"With that Baka you'll need to pound it in."  Akane muttered.
	Nodoka looked at, then grinned.  "Well, I have been planing the 
lessons to model after Martial Arts.  That should speed up his learning 
rate."

	Nodoka sighed as she watched her son avoid three paper darts.  
His opponent, a student of Martial arts Origami narrowed his eyes and 
folded a paper crane, which he threw at Ranma.  Ranma easily 
sidestepped the projectile, then ducked just as it circled around his 
back.  *It's already started.*  She thought to herself.
	Ranma's opponent grinned at the small slash he had made in 
Ranma's sleeve, then flew backward from Ranma's kick.  
	*According to Genma and the Tendo's, Ranma's been challenged by 
dozen's of practitioners of obscure martial arts.*
	Ranma's opponent pulled out a large sheet of paper and with a 
blur of hands folded it into a Katana.  With a yell he charged Ranma, 
slashing at him with his new weapon.
	*And of course Ranma will now draw these small annoyances more 
frequently, as well as drawing the serious problems.  Like this person 
who claims Ranma spilled water on a great masterpiece of his.*
	Ranma dodged a several lightning fast slashes with the paper 
sword.  Then he suddenly grabbed his opponents wrist and punched him.  
Nodoka saw his fist blurring somewhat at the end of the strike and 
realized he was using the speed training he had received from Shampoo's 
great grandmother.  His opponent collapsed onto the ground unconscious.
	"This sort of thing happens often, does it son?" Nodoka asked.
	"Kinda, though I usually get a little more warning."

	Akane stood in the Dojo contemplating the five cinderblocks 
before her.  She adjusted her gi.  Stepping up to the stack she paused, 
then added four more to the group.  Preparing herself mentally she 
centered her breathing, and with practiced skill smashed her fist into 
the stack.  All nine blocks shattered from the force of her blow.
	"Shampoo see Airen safe if attacked by slow moving brick."
	Akane pivoted to the doorway where Shampoo was now standing.  
"Shampoo.  I was just doing a little training while you were on your 
way."
	"Is Akane ready to start?"
	"Yeah, just�"
	Shampoo crossed the space between her and Akane with one bound. 
 Akane raised her hands and fell back into a defensive stance, but 
Shampoo simply used one fast kick, which went through Akane's defenses 
throwing her into the wall.  "Akane be ready all time!  Not know when 
attack come!"
	Akane pulled herself to her feet and with a fierce scowl she 
shifted into a fighting stance.  Then with a cry she jumped foreword, 
lashing out with a punch, which Shampoo leaned away from, then spinning 
into a kick, which Shampoo jumped over.  She launched another punch, 
this one Shampoo stood and caught with her left hand.  Then before 
Akane could react she lashed out with a simultaneous elbow and knee 
strike to the trapped right arm.
	"GRRH!"  Akane screamed from the pain of her broken arm.
Shampoo released the limb, which dangled in response.  She then struck 
at Akane with a punch she barely blocked.   Her next punch hit Akane in 
the side sending her crashing into the Dojo wall.
	Akane shook her head to clear it.  Looking at Shampoo, she kept 
her eyes on her as she pushed herself to her feet with her left arm.  
Seeing Shampoo drop into an aggressive stance, she raised her left arm, 
shifting her legs into a defensive cat stance.  Then she felt the pain 
in her right arm suddenly surge like the moment it had been broken, she 
felt it move involuntarily, then she felt the pain fading.  She raised 
her right arm and looked at it, realizing that it had just healed.  Her 
self-contemplation was interrupted by a kick to the sides, cracking 
three of her ribs and knocking her across the Dojo again.
	"Not Living Girl pay attention!"  Shampoo yelled.  *Her arm 
fixed itself!  She healed from that demons wound in less than an hour, 
but I wasn't expecting her arm to heal so fast!*  Shampoo thought to 
herself, keeping all the fear she felt welling inside her from reaching 
her face.  " Akane heal fast now, but still clumsy girl who never had 
to train hard enough."
	Akane half snarled as she assumed a defensive stance, fists 
clenched.
	Shampoo smiled and walked toward her.  "We fix that, starting 
now."

	Kasumi opened the door with a smile as always.  "Hello Ukyo, 
it's good to see you."
	"Is Mrs. Saotome in?"  Ukyo responded, as she entered the house 
and removed her shoes.
	"I'm afraid she and Ranma left on a training mission."
	"Do you know where they went?  I was hoping to talk to her 
about something we discussed last night."
	A fierce battle cry echoed from the Dojo.  Kasumi glanced 
there, and commented, "Oh dear."
	Ukyo blinked and looked at Kasumi.  "I thought you said Ranma 
was gone?"
	"Oh yes, Ranma and Aunt Nodoka left a few hours ago.  That's 
Akane and Shampoo."  Kasumi replied, looking at the Dojo with a worried 
expression.
	Ukyo looked at Kasumi, then looked toward the Dojo.  "Sounds 
rough.  Maybe I should�"
	"No, Aunt Nodoka asked Shampoo to help."  Kasumi turned away, 
grasping her apron, and wiping her hands with while stating, "Akane 
can't be killed, she can heal any sort of injury, no matter how bloody, 
messy,  painful,"  Her apron ripped down the middle.  She blinked and 
looked at the remains of the garment.  "Oh my, I have to get my spare 
apron."
	"I have to go, thanks for your time!"  Ukyo commented as she 
turned and walked out of the Tendo House.  *I'm not running away, 
Akane's invulnerable so it doesn't matter how much Shampoo hurts her.  
It doesn't bother me, not one bit, not one tiny bit!  I'm only leaving 
because Ranma and his mother aren't here.*

	Ranma stood in a defensive cat stance, looking ahead with all 
three eyes.  In the clearing before him stood five round posts driven 
into the ground, four surrounding one in a four foot square.  A paper 
charm was sticking to each of the posts, the outer 4 charms with small 
bells attached to them.
	"Take your time, son."  Nodoka said from behind him.  
"Precision and control is one of the most important aspects of magic."
	The center post quivered, then began to rise out of the ground. 
 The bells on two of the wards suddenly began ringing.
	"That's OK, I've got a lot more things to show you, we'll get 
back to this later."
	"NO! This time it'll work!"
	"Ranma!"  Nodoka responded with a voice of iron.  Ranma looked 
at his mother.  "We'll come back to this."
	"Yes mom."

	"Your sure your alright, Akane?"  Kasumi asked as she gingerly 
picked up Akane's gi from the basket.  The garment was deeply cut in a 
dozen places, and splattered with blood.  Kasumi tried not to let 
herself deduce the path of the blades through her sister's body from 
the cuts, however she knew that almost every wound would have killed a 
normal person in minuets if not seconds.  Akane's body had no scars, 
her movements showed no signs of pain or injuries.  She looked tired, 
but as Kasumi compared her appearance to the aftermath of vigorous 
workouts in the past she realized that Akane was much less tired than 
she should have been.
	"I'm fine Kasumi."  Akane responded, opening the door to the 
bath.  Pausing she looked back at her older sister and added, "Thanks 
though."

	"Do you know where Nerima is?"  Ryouga Hibiki asked the woman 
standing at the side of the road.
	"EH?"  She responded, as she pivoted to look at Ryouga.  "Sorry 
I had something on my mind."  She turned to look to the north.  "If 
Nerima's part of Tokyo it's to the north.  Where the storm is breaking. 
 Your going the wrong way."
	"Eh?"
	"North is that way."  She commented, pointing the way.  She 
lowered her hand, still looking to the horizon.  Glancing at Ryouga she 
saw him start in another wrong direction.  "Wait!" she called, walking 
over toward the wanderer.
	"Um, isn't that the way to Tokyo?"  Ryouga responded as he 
pointed down the road leading to Nagasaki.
	"No.  Look, I'm heading that way myself, and I wouldn't mind 
some company."  She glanced toward Tokyo again, narrowing her eyes in 
consideration.  For a moment they glowed.

	"That's right, Concentrate and don't rush."  Nodoka commented 
as she watched Ranma form a fourth small fireball and add it to the 
pattern he had circling a boulder.
	Ranma altered the pattern of the fireballs, they wobbled a 
moment, then entered the new path.  Diverting a portion of his 
concentration Ranma formed fireball number five above his hand.  
Gesturing slightly he floated it foreword to enter the pattern, then 
two other fireballs collided and they and the other three vanished with 
a loud bang.
	"Damn!" Ranma proclaimed as he half-staggered back.
	Nodoka looked at her son, then glanced at the boulder.  "This 
one you can try again."

	"Drink your tea, great granddaughter."  Cologne commented 
looking across the table at Shampoo.  "And after you tell me about your 
first lesson, you can bathe as long as you want.  I took the liberty of 
heating the water anticipating you might have had a hard time with your 
new pupil."
	Shampoo held her right shoulder while rotating that arm.  
"Shampoo now believe Japan bath design best ever envisioned."  She 
reached down to pick up the tea Cologne had poured for her.  After 
sipping from the cup she added, "Shampoo not expect become teacher 
before return to village.  Also never expect Akane become challenge."
	"She was better than you expected?"
	With a proud smirk Shampoo replied, "Shampoo expect Akane to be 
good as eight year old Shampoo, she actually good as nine year old 
Shampoo."  Her smirk faded into a look of apprehension.  "Shampoo not 
expect Akane heal like did.  Shampoo broke arm, fix self very fast.  
When used sword, cut and stabbed a little before used fast kill 
strikes."  She shuddered to herself.  "However hurt, heal very short 
time."
	Cologne sighed and looked at Shampoo.  "You don't like doing 
this, do you?"
	Shampoo blinked.  "Shampoo have not sure feelings teach 
obstacle�"
	"I mean you didn't like striking the killing blows.  Don't lie 
to me Shampoo, I've watched you your whole life."  Cologne sighed and 
leaned back, closing her eyes.  "I was about a year younger than you, 
and while on village business in a nearby province, bandits attacked 
me.  I was good enough with my staff to easily knock out most of them, 
however the leader was an expert swordsman.  I had taken three wounds, 
two severe, before he presented me an opening, and I struck with all my 
strength and snapped his neck like a twig.  Thus this nameless bandit 
became the first person I have ever killed.  Even today I can clearly 
remember his face.  However much I remembered his villainy and the 
necessity of the deed, I was wracked with guilt for a week."  She 
looked at Shampoo, who was regarding her intensely.  "I expected to 
have to tell you that story much sooner.  As the future leader of the 
Joketsuzok you will have to deal with that pain.  I and every other 
elder wish it were otherwise."
	"Great� Great-Grandmother, how many peoples you kill?"
	Cologne looked at Shampoo, then looked away.  With a sigh she 
replied, "I lost count.  By the tenth kill the guilt is easier to 
handle."