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Chapter 8

   Ranma finally got to the Palace slightly worse for wear. At the gate
he was challenged by the guard. "State your name and business," an
obviously bored guard droned. "I am Ranma Soatome of the Anything Goes
School of Martial Arts. I'm here to see Grayson about meeting with the
Royal Summoner."

   "Ranma... Ranma... Ranma.  Hmm... how do you spell that?" the guard
asked, obviously not finding the name under his scheduled appointments.

   "Oh well it's... uh... I guess I don't know how to spell it in your
language," ended a puzzled Ranma.

   "Ooookay, lets try Grayson. Don't see anything for him either. Oh
wait a minute, here he is.  Well we got a slight problem here. You were
supposed to be here an hour ago. Sorry I can't let you in. You're
going to have to get a new appointment." With a sound of finality he
snapped the book shut and went over to talk to the next person in line.

   "But... but... " sputtered a frustrated Ranma. After being ignored
he gave up and walked away. He didn't go far, slipping around the
Palace wall he jumped twenty feet into the air to the top of the wall
and down to the other side. Or that was the plan.

   At the apex of his leap, just as he was landing, a series of
squiggles engraved on the wall glowed at his approach. An earsplitting
shriek filled the air with a sound that could be compared to the cry of
the damned. Immediately thereafter another flash filled the air and the
top of the wall was engulfed in a blazing inferno. Ranma gave a startled
squawk but was too close to avoid the flames and had no time to adjust
his aura. He landed squarely in the middle of the glowing mass.  Giving
a sharp cry of agony he immediately leaped forward, attempting to
minimize the excruciating contact. He landed on the other side, weak
from the pain and staggered over to lean on a tree for support.

   Due to the Phoenix Pill he actually was uninjured from the heat,
unfortunately the effects of the Cat Tongue pressure point made contact
with heat just as painful as if he were affected. And by the way that
little encounter hurt he guessed a normal man would be ashes at this
moment. Taking control of his still screaming nerves, he adjusted his
cloak again and stumbled further from the wall. That shriek was an
alarm, which meant the area would soon be filled with guards.

   After a few minutes he had recovered sufficiently that the people he
passed were no longer giving the 'drunk' disgusted looks.

   His sense of hearing was muted, an aftereffect of the loud piercing
siren he had just encountered. Guards were running around but since they
didn't seem to be noticing him, he ignored them. He had to find that
Royal Summoner guy.

   He was about to ask one of the people he was passing in the Courtyard
for directions when he saw the girl. She was facing away from him,
berating one of her bodyguards. This would be good, he could make sure
the girl was okay after the earlier close call and ask about the
Summoner at the same time. He patted himself on the back for being an
efficient person, and went to speak with her.

   "Excuse me miss," he started.  He didn't get far, the girl turned
around, saw him and jumped towards him wrapping her arms around him.
Ranma responded with his usual eloquence.

   "Uh...well...er... ah... hi?" he said with his arms waving randomly
around.

   "I am so grateful! You saved my life!  You must meet my father, so
he can reward you!" she squealed. The guards behind her glowered, but
made no move to interfere.

   "I'd love to... really... yah, to meet your father. But I have an
appointment right now and I really can't be late. Gotta go... bye," he
stuttered as he fruitlessly tried to disentangle his limbs. The girl had
a look in her eyes that was oddly familiar. He didn't know what it was,
but every other time he'd seen it the next thing he knew he was engaged
to someone.

   "Oh an errand, how cute. I'll come with you and afterward you can see
my father."

   "That would be... fine... I suppose.  Er... you're not lookin' to get
engaged or something are you," Ranma asked with trepidation.

   "Oooee, this is so romantic, my savior asking for my hand in
marriage!  Well I'll have to ask father, but I'm sure he'll give us his
blessing," the girl said with a vacant smile on her face, already making
plans for the upcoming wedding.

   "No!  That's not what I meant... I mean I already got a fiance. Can't
we just be friends,"  Ranma babbled grasping at straws.

   "Don't you like me?" she asked with tears in her eyes and a quivering
lip.

   "I don't even know your name. I'm sure you're a very nice girl, but
we just met."

   "Oh, that's okay, now that we're engaged you can take me on dates.
We'll have so much fun!  By the way my name is Cindra. What's yours?"

   "Ranma Saotome.  Pleased to meet yah," Ranma responded with a
shellshocked whisper.  I am so dead when the others find out about this,
Ranma thought with dread.  The amount of pain he was in for would truly
be legendary.  It was a good thing he had completed his Breaking Point
training, he might even survive.  Maybe.

   "So where are you going," Cindra asked.

   "The Royal Summoner," Ranma replied his mind still disengaged from
his mouth.

   "Ugh.  What a creep!  Well I guess I can't go with you. Daddy told me
never to go near him. As if he had to say anything. I'll take you to the
base of the tower and wait outside. Then we can go and make our
engagement official."

   "I can't wait."

   Cindra and her guards led him around the sides of the palace to the
back where a large tower sat.  It seemed to sit a good distance away
from the main grounds.  The rocks that it was constructed from gave it a
reddish hue, and the way the sun reflected off portions of the surface
gave it a wet bloody texture.

    "I'll be waiting," Cindra stated blowing him a kiss.

   "Be right back," Ranma said practically running into the ominous
structure.  Given a choice between battling demons and confronting
fiances Ranma would always go for the demon.  At least in a physical
conflict there was a chance he might win.

   Opening the oversized front door he rushed inside.  Seeing no women
in sight he slowed down and took a look around.  The first floor seemed
to empty except for a stairway going up.  Shrugging he started his trek.
It was after about five minutes of rapid ascension before Ranma noticed
that something wasn't quite right.  At the rate he was climbing he
should have been at the top already. The next time he passed a window
he looked out.  About twenty feet beneath him was Cindra starring up
toward him. When she saw him she wave enthusiastically at him. After
waving back he continued. The next time he passes a window he again
looked out. Cindra again waved at him from twenty feet off.

   Nodding to himself he ducked back inside. He expanded his aura and
continued upward, this time concentrating on the area around him. Sure
enough about a minute later he felt a tingling sensation he had
associated with active magic coming from a ten foot section of the stair
in front of him. Lightly leaping over the area he continued onward. The
stairs were still unnaturally long, but this time he didn't find a
window with Cindra outside.  After quite a few spirals he found a
placard on the wall with writing neatly stenciled onto it. Ranma was
about to ignore it when the unintelligible words seemed to flex and
suddenly became comprehensible to him.  'Beware of Elemental, turn back
now' written in a smaller letters beneath were, 'If you wish to
continue, please write your next of kin in the space provided. Thank
you.'  A long stylish quill pen seemed to rise out of the placard
waiting for use.

   Ranma grunted in disgust and continued on.  This was the whole point
of his Breaking Point training.  No more running from rock monsters for
him.  Any Rock Monsters, Elementals, or other statuary that attacked him
was going to get a short but unpleasant surprise.  Ranma cracked his
knuckles in anticipation.

   He was running up the stairs a grin on his face when he stopped in
shock.  "Uh oh," was all he managed to get out before he had to dodge
madly around the narrow stairwell in an attempt to avoid a humanoid
shaped ball of fire.  After a few minutes of this Ranma had had enough.
That thing hurt! Jumping over it he raced upward, keeping barely ahead
of it.

   While running he altered his aura making it as cold as he could. Not
only was it essential for his plan, but it allowed him to mostly ignore
the heat of the thing close at his back. Ranma hadn't been sure if his
spur of the moment plan would work. He was pretty sure the technique
had not been designed with a spiral staircase in mind, but hey a spiral
is a spiral is a spiral.  He had almost given up hope of it succeeding
when he felt a change in the airflow that told him the technique had not
only succeeded but it was time for the final trigger.

   Bracing himself for the pain, he stopped suddenly, leaped backward
through the flaming entity and lashed out with a icy fist. The change in
pressure was instantaneous, a howling wind tore through the corridors
rapidly picking up force.  The air seemed to be glowing as he noticed
the chi charged vortex seeming to feed off his opponent's energy.  As
with the Earth Elemental he had used the technique on before it seemed
to be feeding of a source other than the opponents battle aura.  It
almost seemed to grasp the enemies inner magical nature and turn it
against itself.  Perhaps whoever had designed the technique had more
than mundane enemies in mind when he created it, was a fleeting thought
before other things occupied his attention.

   Before when he'd used this indoors he had been firmly 'attached' to
the floor.  Unfortunately although he was not the focus of vortex he was
being drawn up in it's wake.  Ranma was plucked helplessly off his feet
and thrown up the stairwell.  In this way he got a fair view of the
damage being done to the Fire Elemental as he was bounced around the
walls on the way up.  After a few minutes of this, he heard a crashing
sound as the creature broke through the door at the top, triggering some
sort of explosive defensive magic as it flew through the opening.  Ranma
following through the air behind the creature, didn't feel anything at
the door and assumed that monster had triggered all the defenses.  Good
monster, he thought as he was thrown to the ground just past the door.

   Ranma slowly picked himself off the ground. He felt remarkably
sound. "At least I got something out of that Breaking Point training.
Fire Elemental!  Bah!" he said disgustedly. It has never even occurred
to him that he could be facing something other than an Earth Elemental.
Brushing himself off he looked up.

   There was no sign of the fire creature. That didn't surprise him,
what surprised him was the older looking man, with thinning grey hair
standing in front of him, looking at him in an irritated manner.

   It worried him that he hadn't sensed him. Taking stock of himself
for a moment he noticed that although he didn't feel physically weak his
battle aura was about half the size it should be. That was probably why
he didn't sense the fellow, he was far enough away that his reduced chi
senses couldn't detect him, and his hearing was still recovering.

   "By now you may have noticed that no magic is usable except mine. I
hope you have a excellent reason for breaking in here. If you don't, I
doubt that anyone will miss just one more thief," the old man said with
a smirk.

   Ranma wasn't too worried, sure his chi capabilities were damped a bit
but they were far from the crippled state the man obviously expected. "I
have a friend waiting for me outside. I'm sure Cindra'll have someone
look for me if I take too long.  Besides I think you're expecting me.
Grayson set an appointment up for me to meet the Royal Summoner.  Er...
you are the Royal Summoner right?" Ranma asked, suddenly unsure.

   "Ah, the sweet Cindra. Such a sweet young flower. How tragic that her
father disapproves of our relationship.  The things I could teach such
an innocent.  Still there are many others almost as sweet who may be
educated," the old man almost seemed in a trance, a small bit of drool
started to dribble out of his mouth.

   Ah, great, Ranma thought. I must be like a perverted freak magnet. I
just can't seem to avoid them. At least this ones not grabbing my
chest, he shuddered.

   "Hello? Hello! Excuse me! Grayson made an appointment for me?" he
almost shouted trying to grab the old man's attention away from his
fantasies.

   "Grayson... well I do recall something of that nature.  Too bad
you're late.  Maybe next year, I have a lot of demons to summon and only
a limited amount of time.  Sorry.  Go away," he said dismissing Ranma
with a wave of his hand.

   "But... but Grayson said you could help me!" exclaimed Ranma
desperately.

   "I'm sure I could.  Grayson went into some detail about your problem.
I do know a way to find your home plane, but I don't care to. You have
nothing I want, and what you ask is no insignificant thing. Again, go
away," the old man stated coldly.

   "What if... what if I got you a date," Ranma cringed inwardly. He
really, really didn't want to do this.  Where were the demons when you
needed them?

   The old man's entire demeanor underwent an incredible metamorphosis.
Instantly he was warn and chatty.  "Come in my dear man.  Call me
Balthazar... no make that 'Zar for short.  Let's talk business."  With
his arm draped companionably over Ranma's shoulders he led them away
from the splintered doorway toward a cozy little den.  There was tea on
the table and two overstuffed chairs opposite the hearth.

   Ranma sat in the chair but something on the edge of his senses kept
him from relaxing.  His battle aura was muted and his chi senses dimmed
but there was something very dangerous in the room with him. Craning his
neck he searched for the source of his discontent.  His eyes settling on
one of the room's darkened corners.

   'Zar noted his stare and smiled.  "I see you sense my pet. You are a
very capable mage.  Very impressive.  I'll introduce you.  Come out
Phebe!" called the Summoner.  A huge demonic wolf melted into visibility
while stepping out of the shadows.  Five feet at the shoulders, smoke
poured out of the nostrils when the creature breathed and a baleful
crimson light glinted in it's eyes.  It looked hungrily at Ranma and
acidic drool dripped from six inch canines.

   Oddly enough now that he could fully sense the entity he relaxed
more.  He hadn't been kidding when he stated he would rather deal with
demons than fiances.  Keeping aware of the position of the demon, but
otherwise ignoring it, he turned his attention to 'Zar.

   'Zar nodded in approval of his attitude.  Now about this 'date', tell
me about her," he commanded.

   "Fine.  I happen to have a picture of my sister.  She'll go out with
you in return for the way home," Ranma stated with a grimace of distaste
as he took out one of Nabiki's pictures of his girl-type from subspace.
"No funny stuff, just a nice normal date, and then the way home. OK?"

   "Sister, aye? She's a real beauty. A red head too. Well a date sounds
fair. It will be the Palace Ball. They prefer me to stay on the grounds
anyway. Makes them nervous when they don't know where I am. Heh, heh
Have her here by sunset, we shall go to the Ball. Come here at noon
tomorrow and I'll see what can be done regarding your problem," his face
took on a dreamy cast as he started thinking about later that night.

   Ranma took this as his cue to leave and got up. Looking around he
spotted a window and headed towards it. Looking out he saw a grim
landscape, with river of dimly glowing lava. A thick choking smoke hung
over the ground and the very air seemed to have a dim red glow. Quickly
pulling his head back, he looked around for another window. He didn't
want to meet Cindra on the way out, but didn't want to have to go
through Hell to do it.

   He saw another window closer to the still shattered door and went
over to it. It seemed to be the Palace grounds. He didn't see Cindra
or her guards so hopefully they were on the other side. Cindra might
call the Palace guards if her 'fiance' didn't eventually show up, but
right then he didn't really care. He had a bad taste in his mouth and
had the feeling the day was going to get worse before it got better. If
it got better. Stepping out the window he dropped two hundred feet to
the ground, wincing slightly as his feet made contact. He had some
things to do before sunset.

Chapter 9

   Ranma-chan found it simple to get inside the Palace gates later that
evening. Upon telling the guard that she was there for a date with the
Royal Summoner she was quickly let in. The guard was heard to be
muttering over the 'poor girl' and 'fates worse than death'. This did
nothing to improve Ranma-chan's mood.

   For the moment she wore a simple dress. She had no idea of what these
people thought regarding fashion. Earlier in the day she had wandered
around the city and the dress shops and tailors but been too embarrassed
to ask about any of the clothes. It was then that she had developed her
plan. That was the reason she had come to the Palace early. The plan
was simple, find an attractive, well dressed girl, copy her dress and
live happily ever after. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

   A slight chill in the made her shiver slightly as this last thought
occupied her, but she ignored it.  She'd been having those chills ever
since she was cursed, they probably didn't mean anything. She wandered
over to the area the Ball was being held and looked around.  Most of the
preparations had been made already, so few people were actually there,
except for the few servants setting out the last of the food.
Ranam-chan's stomach growled loudly as it reminded her that she hadn't
eaten since breakfast.  She hadn't eaten as much as she usually did back
with the Tendo's.   The monks ate a ridiculously small amount and she
almost felt guilty eating as much as she did.  She supposed that their
food intake would increase as their chi training progressed.  A large
appetite seemed to be an acceptable price for martial arts mastery.

   "You there!  Girl!  Get away from that food!  It's not for the likes
of you."  Ranma-chan turned as she heard a familiar voice.  Sure enough
behind her was Cindra, looking very displeased.  It was only at that
moment Ranma-chan noticed the carrot sticks she had in her had. Looking
guilty she shoved her hands behind her.

   "Why, hello Cindra.  Fancy meeting you here.  How ya doin'?" she said
with a nervous smile.  Cindra didn't know about her curse but she still
felt mildly uncomfortable in the presence of her wanna be fiancee.  She
somehow expected a mallet blow that never landed.

   "How dare you address me so familiarly, peasant.  I saw you eating
from that plate.  That's food reserved for tonight's Ball.  I'll not
have a lowly one like you ruin it, due to you're gluttonous hunger." The
irate girl exclaimed.

   Ranma-chan was quite surprised, this girl was nothing like the sweet,
if overly forward girl she had met earlier that afternoon.

 � Considering how much magic there was around she supposed it was
possible that she had been possessed, or drugged, or had a spell cast on
her.

   "Hey Cindra maybe you should see a magician.  I think someone might
have cast a spell on you.  You're acting a lot more unpleasant than
usual."  Her helpful suggestion was not taken in the spirit it was
proposed in.  Cindra's face became red, and a very unladylike grimace
spread across her face as rage consumed rational thought.  "You're
definitely not looking right.  You should see a doctor or something, you
never know when you might be possessed by some evil oni or something."

   "Guards grab that dirty little peasant.  She has the food behind her
back.  That should be enough to have you in a cell until after the
Ball."  Ranma-chan quickly flicked the carrots away, sending them across
the room to embed themselves into the wall.

   "Hey, I don't have nothing.  Keep your goons to yourself. Boy you
sure got unpleasant all of a sudden," she held her hands out in front of
her to display her innocent.  The four guards hesitated in their
approach, looking in askance towards Cindra.

   "Don't be idiots.  She obviously hid them in her dress.  We'll just
search and then stick her in a cell," screamed a furious Cindra.

   "You guys are not feelin' me up. Keep your hands to yourself."
Ranam-chan easily sidestepped the guards lurch towards her helping them
forward with a subtle nudge with her shoulder and knee.

   The guards continued onward falling headlong into one of the huge
tables with food on it.  Soon culinary masterpeices were flying
everywhere.  Ranma-chan happily grabbed the food flying towards her.

   Waste not want not was her motto.  Besides those carrot sticks just
made her hungrier.  The people surrounding her were not as skilled in
avoidance, the guards and Cindra were covered in dips, chips and
vegetables.

   Munching happily on her new-found lunch, she looked over at Cindra.
"Hey it's too bad about your dress.  It looked really pretty. Hey, can I
borrow that celery, it doesn't look like your using it," Ranma-chan
stated hopefully as he grabbed a celery stalk that had been lodged in
her dress, held in place by the numerous pools of sauces dripping from
her.

   Ranma-chan left the screaming girl while chewing on her snack.  She
really felt sorry for the girl.  She couldn't be blamed for being upset.
If Ranma-chan had a bunch of incompetent bozos guarding her like that
she'd be pretty angry too.  Yah, those guards really did a number on
Cindra's dress.  It was really too bad, Ranma- chan didn't know anything
about fashion, but even she could tell that it had been a really
fabulous dress.  The perfect kind for a Ball. Ranma-chan walked
unhappily back towards the Ballroom.

   Attached to her arm was the limpet of a man known as the Royal
Summoner.  From his mouth poured syrupy sweet lines of what she guessed
was poetry.  Ranma-chan just tried to tune him out.  After her
experiences with Kunou she had it down to a fine art.  It was because of
this that she didn't notice when she was being introduced at the
entrance.

   "This is my date for the evening,  The beautiful Ranko Soatome.  This
is the hostess of the party, the beautiful princess Cindra.

   You look really... interesting my dear.  Ah, I'm afraid I must leave.
I see your father coming this way and you know how upset he gets when he
witnesses our shared affections."  As he left, dragging Ranma-chan he
didn't pay attention to the glazed look in Cindra's eyes, the set
grimace of her mouth, or the twitch that she seemed to suddenly develop
on her face.

   "She had my dress.  The little tramp had my dress on.  She will
pay... "  Cindra muttered as her father walked up to her.

   "Cindra, I love you very much, but you really must pay more attention
to the guests.  That's the fourth one in a row you've ignored as they
arrived," he examined her dress for a moment.  "By the way what happened
to your gown.  At first I that those dark splotches were part of the
dresses' design, but now that I look closer, and see it next to the gown
that pretty little red-head is wearing, it's fairly obvious something
stained it."  He received only a blank faced response, which was soon
replaced with an expression barely repressed rage.  "Hmm... I'll have
your sister greet the guests.  Why don't you change, maybe lie down and
rest for a few minutes.  You don't look well," her father continued in a
concerned voice.

   Ranma-chan would have been having fun, if it wasn't for a few
niggling details.  The first was 'Zar, he was just really irritating. It
was almost as bad as going on a date with Kunou.  Her mind shied away
from this, but it was true.  The constant attention, the bad poetry, the
groping.  If the guy pulled out a bokken she was out of there, trip home
or no.  It was spooky.  The second was the embarrassment factor,

   'Zar loved to dance, which meant she was dragged out on the floor to
make a spectacle of herself.  She learned the steps quickly, meaning her
clumsiness was short-lived, but still.  She was a guy, prancing around
in a dress, especially opposite some Happossai wanna be was the stuff
nightmares were made of.  Third, she'd finally found a cure for her
curse (or a reasonable facsimile) but here she was in a dress again.

   Truly the gods must have it in for her.  The most irritating thing of
the night was that the other guests kept splashing her with hot and cold
liquids.  Tea, wine, beer, brandy, mulled cider, you name and she'd been
hit.  If it weren't for the magical nature of her gown she would have
long looked as bad as Cindra had earlier in the evening.

   Near the middle of the evening 'Zar decided that a walk in the Royal
garden would be just the type of romantic interlude she would enjoy
before they went back to dancing.  Ranma-chan just grunted.  As long as
he didn't try anything funny she was just along for the ride.

   The garden was dimly lit with glowing spheres of energy. 'Zar babbled
on about the different plants and how the lighting could be increased to
daylight intensity or dimmed further for a romantic tryst. The
unpleasant date had Ranma-chan on edge all evening, so when she felt a
high velocity object fly towards her she practically wept with relief.
She didn't of course, really bein' a guy an all.  But almost.

   Plucking the dart from the air she shrugged out of 'Zar's embrace to
leap into the shrubbery.  One shriek of pain later she was back at
'Zar's side lifting a large man dressed in black leather armor by the
collar.  The man had no visible wound but was unconscious.

   "My you are a healthy young girl.  I see you know the same mystic
arts as your brother," examining the man Ranma-chan was holding.  "He
appeared to be an assassin.  I'll have one of my pets watch him.  I'll
talk to the King and have the guards fetch him for questioning when I
see him at the Ball.  He really dislikes assassins in the Palace."

   Ranma-chan shrugged, the excitement had only lasted a moment before
she had realized she was fighting one of the pathetic human fighters
that seemed to be the norm on this world.  She had almost wished it had
been one of those shapeshifted dragons she kept hearing about.
Ranma-chan couldn't think of a reason why one would attack her, but
mindless violence never stopped her enemies in the past.

   She tossed the would-be killer onto the ground and watched in
interest as she felt the tingling associated with magic and a large
wolf- type demon appear next to the man.  Seeing the demon showed no
violent inclination, she sighed and followed 'Zar back into the
Ballroom.  So much for the fun part of the evening.

   Ranma-chan was being swept around the floor, and not particularly
enjoying it.  She was counting down the time to the end of the party,
but it was approaching with excruciating slowness.  It was in this frame
of mind she felt someone behind her, seemingly bent on collision.
Grabbing a firm hold of 'Zar she swung him around to take the brunt of
the impact, he was the lead man so to speak.  There was a thud of bodies
colliding, and then 'Zar exclaiming over Angels leaping into his arms.
Looking down she saw two intertwined bodies on the ground, Cindra and
'Zar.

   'Zar seemed pleased, Cindra less so.  Ranma-chan was about to help
Cindra off the ground when her danger sense she had developed over ten
years of training told her something bad was about to happen.

   Looking around she noticed a man dressed as a servant throwing
something that looked like an amulet.  She immediately grabbed two
random object from subspace and threw one at the servant and one at the
amulet.  The mop slammed into the servant with great force, sending the
servant flying back ten feet.  While the dazed man struggled to his feet
a pair of guards, who had just noticed that something odd was happening,
approached him.

   These events were lost on Ranma-chan.  Her other throw, some sort of
short handled broom, twitched in midair, causing the amulet to merely
stop short of her instead of being knocked completely away.  What caught
Ranma-chan's attention was that the amulet had started glowing brightly.
Her chi senses also informed her a large source of magic was pointed her
way.  Before she could react to this information a shimmering cube
sprang up around her and the couple on the floor.  A feeling of
foreboding flooded through her as she recognized the wall of force she
had encountered when she first arrived.  A shimmering in the air above
the amulet told her the item had not finished it's work.  The light
increased in diameter until it seemed a small circular hole of about ten
inches hang in the air.  A moment later dozens of small humanoid
insectile creatures poured out of it.  They were each about a foot and a
half tall covered in spiky chitin and fangs.  As they appeared they
immediately leaped to attack the human.  Ranma-chan's hands were a blur
as she smashed them from the air, smacking them back into the sides of
the cube's walls.

   'Zar's voice could be heard droning behind her, "Ah the Lasae demon,
a small, though vicious demon.  Wouldn't seem to be a problem normally,
our red-haired friend seemed well equipped to deal with them.
Unfortunately that seems to be a gate into Hell.  I would guess it that
it opened directly into a large nest of these fellows, considering that
more keep coming through as fast as Ranko deals with them."

   "Can't you wave your hands and cast a spell or something, I can't
keep this up," Ranma-chan complained.  It seemed the only competent
magicians were those attacking her.

   "I'm a Summoner, I draw circles and summon demons. I don't wave my
hands. If we were in my lab dealing with a nuisance like this would be
simple, out here on the dance floor it is not. I could call my pets but
I actually think they couldn't do any better than what you're doing. The
King's mages should be here soon, they should easily be able to dispel
these walls.  Of course the demons will still be a problem unless I can
get back to my lab."

   "I'm not sure we have a few minutes," after a moments thought during
which constant crunching sounds came from her fist crushing the oncoming
demons.  "Okay, what's underneath us?"

   "Well I can't say for certain but I would guess it would be the
sewers."

   "Ugh.  Fine.  If I can get us down there can we make our way to your
tower?"

   "Why yes, we can.  I am quite familiar with the sewers."

   "Kind of like a home away from home," sneered Cindra.  She had stayed
silent until then, frozen in horror, but had broken out of her fright
enough to think and react without breaking into a mindless screaming
fit.

   "Yes," stated 'Zar oblivious to Cindra's disdain.

   "Okay, get ready," Ranma-chan warned before letting loose with the
Breaking Point underneath them.  She made certain to aim the rubble
toward the portal in the hope that the rocks might temporarily block the
entrance.

   When the dust from the explosion cleared, Ranma-chan saw that
although the small rift in space was covered already the rocks were
moving, giving evidence of activity beneath them.  At her feet was a
deep hole that opened up into some sort of cavelike system.  Without
wasting further effort talking she picked up her two companions, one
under each arms, and leaped down into the hole.

   Several minutes later they were running down the tunnels, ankle deep
in water of questionable quality, with a chittering pack of demons on
their heels.  'Zar seemed true to his word, unerringly leading them
through the twisting ways and branching corridors.  Once they entered a
large cavern that had some large hungry looking reptiles in them.  The
creatures slowly started to move after them, but were soon left behind.
Soon after this loud roars of pain and anger could be heard and the
chittering seemed to get fainter for a short time.

   Every few hundred feet 'Zar would pause and smear a small amount of
his blood on the walls while muttering a few words.  When Ranma-chan
asked about he got a panting lecture on how the distance of the gate
from his tower made amplification and focus necessary to pinpoint his
circle's effects.  Ranma-chan didn't understand much of it.

   It was a mage thing. Cindra held up fairly well but when she fell
behind Ranma- chan swept her into a fireman carry.  As long as she was
going as slow as 'Zar she could probably carry Cindra's weight all day.
Cindra gave a weak protest but fell silent as she listened to the
demon's noises echoing through the caves.

   After an indeterminate time, they came to an oversized steel door at
the end of the corridor.  'Zar fumbled with the keys slightly before
finally sliding the correct key into the lock.  Slamming the door behind
them they ran up the stairs.  When the reached ground floor of the tower
'Zar spoke a sharp command and the fiery creature Ranma- chan fought
earlier appeared before them, paused for a moment then headed down the
stairs.  The sound of metal, slowly being shredded, could be heard.

   They again started to run up the stairs, when they came to the
teleporting steps that had so confused Ranma-chan earlier, the summoner
spoke a word.  Ranma-chan seemed to blink, she must have, because the
were in a large room with a vaulted ceiling.  On the ground all around
them were circles of all sizes.  They all had odd designs and pictures
drawn within them.  Ranma-chan gathered herself to step out of the
circle she had arrived in.

   "Stop,"  'Zar's voice loudly commanded.  "Do not leave the circle.
This room is warded against all manner of intrusion.  Wait here, I will
bring amulets which will temporarily safeguard you against my defenses,"
saying this he hurried towards a cabinet on the far side of the wall.
Muttering something unintelligible the doors glowed slightly and he
opened them.  Waking back he threw two amulets towards his companions.

   "Place them around your necks and hurry to the seventh circle from
the left.  No! Your other left!  Wait for me, I need to activate several
circles, then I'll be right there."  Walking to three other circles in
the room he muttered arcane words that seemed to briefly hang in the
air.  Although the circles looked the same a sudden familiar sensation
told Ranma-chan that those circles were now very active.

   Nodding to himself he walked briskly towards the others. This turned
into a running gait as a loud thud was heard and the sound of numerous
talons scratching against stone came from a corridor facing the room.
Panting slightly the Summoner began an incantation.

   Meanwhile from the corridor a wave of lasae poured into the room.
Upon entering a good half of them burst into flames, exploded or just
keeled over, but those that survived swept forward like lemmings.
Ranma-chan again took up her position in front of the others and a
regular staccato crunching sounds could be heard.

   Ranma-chan was seriously getting concerned about demons sneaking
around her to attack her companions when 'Zar's voice rose to a shout
and the incantation seemingly ended.  For a moment nothing appeared to
have changed. This illusion was quickly dispelled when the crack of
displaced air was heard.  Throughout the whole chamber starting from
those closest and working quickly to those farther, the little demons
vanished. Within seconds the last had been dispelled.

   "There we go.  Now that wasn't so bad, was it," 'Zar received only a
cold glare from Cindra.

   Ranma-chan was still dressed in her gown.  Even the magical fabric
seemed somewhat bedraggled, and numerous bloody cuts and scratches
covered her arms. "So that still counts as a date, right?" Ranma-chan
inquired.

Chapter 10

   King Monfrey sat in the dimly lit room with his head in his hands.
Things hadn't gone very well the last few days. Personal and City level
crisis had apparently decided this would be a good time to come to a
head. A young guard with a Captain's insignia sat across from him.

   "Alright, Captain Inrio. Let's go over this again," the King said
tiredly, reaching for the cup of spiced wine.

   "Well, I wasn't there personally but the guards on the scene
described two young males involved in an arcane duel in the middle of
the city.  Report vary but it appeared an unidentified young mage in a
red silk shirt was attacked by another unknown young male mage wearing a
huge backpack, and swinging an enchanted umbrella. The red mage avoided
the other's first attack. Unfortunately the Mage's Guild was hit. No one
was killed, but several people had to be dug out of the wreckage and
taken to a healer."  The young Captain took a huge sheaf of papers from
the floor beside him. "I almost forgot. These are complaints and damage
claims from the Guild."

   "Sometime during the battle the Princess showed up," the guard paused
and shook his head in disbelief, "instead of diving for cover she
apparently stayed to watch the conflict. We have reports that the red
mage shielded the Princess from the blast, and then ended the fight by
transforming his opponent into a pig. He then grabbed his foe and jumped
on top of a nearby building."

   "Yes I've heard that much from my daughter," the king said absently.
He had heard that much and more.  His daughter would not stop going on
about the handsome young mage and how he had asked for her hand in
marriage.  From what her guards had said privately it sounded more like
she had railroaded the young man into 'proposing'. Still she really
needed to settle down, a husband and a few children would calm her down.
He really needed some peace of mind.  He had put her off, but perhaps he
should relent and let her have the boy.  It wasn't like she was the
heir, indulging her a little wouldn't impact the Kingdom.  "Continue,"
the Monfrey commanded.

   "Well that's all I have on the altercation, Your Majesty," the guard
replied apologetically.

   "That's all right.  I already know who the red clad 'mage' was. I am
satisfied with his innocence.  The umbrella wielding fiend who almost
killed my daughter is another story.  I want the Kingdom outposts and
garrisons alerted to his description.  Put a bounty of 100,000 gold on
his head, that should stir things up a bit.  Hmm, also talk to the mage
guild and put them on an indefinite commission.  I want them to keep
scrying for him until he's found.  A Royal Commission should also quiet
them down a bit."  Pausing to gather his thoughts the King nodded.
"Alright, next disaster."

   The guard gave a wan smile in appreciation of the royal wit and
continued, "Although we thought at first they were connected, it
appeared that there were actually two separate unrelated assassination
attempts.  The first was a an attempt with a poison dart, this was
foiled by the victim herself, a girl named Ranko Soatome.  She
apparently captured the assassin as well with the aid of the Royal
Summoner."

   Seeing the frown on the King's face the guard hurried on in his
narrative.  "This was the Western Empire's Thieves Guild.  They seem to
have connections with the Thieves Guild in our own kingdom and when a
contract was put on her for unauthorized theft, it seems their 'brother'
guild was happy to oblige when Miss Soatome was finally found."

   "This is unacceptable.  The Thieves Guild is far too bold.  Do they
honestly think I'll ignore an assassination attempt in the middle of the
Palace."  Shaking his head in irritation, "I want the Thieves Guild
chastised.  Start investigating their activities, crack down on what
leads you can find.  Hrmph, they're called the Underworld for a reason,
they must be taught to stay under their rocks."

   The guard coughed delicately, "This could cause repercussions.  The
Thieves Guild is not without power."

   "I think they'll go into hiding for a while.  Or at least the wiser
elements of it will.  Most likely only the more foolish of the Guild
will be captured.  Such as those who sent a contract assassin into my
Palace. Ease off after about three months."  A dangerous glint entered
his eyes.

   "If they take offense to this we'll just have to scour them from the
face of the Earth. I am King of this country, and I dislike even the
darker elements of my Country working with our potential conqueror's,"
the King ended with a growl. His eyes refocused on the young guard,
"There's more, I believe."

   "Well, the last is probably the worst.  Another assassin, we guess he
was hired by the Western Empire directly, attacked near the end of the
Ball.  Disguised as a servant he threw a multiple stage trap amulet at
the same Ranko Soatome that was attacked earlier."

   "She seemed to have quite a lot of attention focused on her for such
a pretty little thing."

   "Yes. I haven't been able to find anything about her. Well except
that she was the date for the Royal Summoner," he quickly continued when
the King growled. "For all we know she was a Succubus Balthazar summoned
to the Ball." The guard chuckled at his own jest.

   "I know a little of 'Ranko' as well. Leave it be," Monfrey said with
a slight nod, "continue with your report."

   "The first stage was the Impervious Walls of Force.  Whoever designed
the trap had a huge amount of energy, the spell involved five faces.  As
you know the base spell is very costly and calls forth only one face.
Only a Kingdom or Mage Guild has those kind of resources. The Royal
Summoner, The Princess and Ranko were caught within the trap.  The
Second stage was only very impressive.  An actual portal to Hell was
opened into a large nest of lasae.  The Summoner was somehow able to
burrow through the hole and escape through the sewers to his Tower."

   "How did you know they had gone to the tower?"

   "We didn't really, Sire.  On of the guards did notice an animated mop
floating towards the Tower so we sent a patrol in that direction and
found the Princess waiting for us."

   "A mop?"

   "Yes, Sire.  We never really found out about it, but it could be
related to the incident."

   "Never mind.  Probably just a case of someone's domestic spell
getting out of hand."

   "I understand the demons were finally destroyed or sent back to their
own plane.  Were there any other injuries?"

   "The second assassin died of 'mysterious' circumstances. Another
reason to believe it was a professional job from the Western Empire. The
imperial assassins are well known for that type of cover- up.  Other
than him I think there were no casualties.  We still have patrols out,
just incase. These specific type of demons are supposed to be
particularly vicious."

   "Thank you for your time. You may go. Oh, and keep me updated,"
nodding in dismissal, the King's eyes went back to the pile of paper in
front of him.  Sometimes it didn't pay to get up in the morning.

   Ranma waited anxiously in the circle, sitting cross-legged across
from 'Zar.  Apparently that Ball and the aftermath did indeed count as
date, since the Summoner had agreed to track down Ranma's home plane.
Now Ranma watched the old man kneel in the circle with a brush, paint,
and big multicolored candles.

   "Are you almost done yet?" Ranma asked impatiently.

   "If you don't stop asking me that, I'll send you on the demon express
to the darkest corner of Hades I can find. I need concentration to
finish this circle. So shut up! Why couldn't Ranko come, she was so much
more pleasant to be with. To hug. To kiss," the old man sighed.

   "Hey!  Leave me... er... her out of your perverted fantasies, old
man."  To keep himself occupied Ranma began finger strike excercises for
pressure point attacks. Though as he thought of it, maybe be could
combine it with the Breaking Point. Lost in thought he didn't notice
the ripping sounds his hands made in the air as they danced in the air.

   "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Just shut up! Do not move! Don't make any
sound! Just stop it!" 'Zar screamed in frustration. Ranma stopped,
looking at the old man in a puzzled fashion.

   What he'd heard about Summoners was really on target. They really had
no self control. Sighing in resignation he stifled the urge to ask 'Zar
when he would be finished and meditated on centering himself, and chi
control exercises.

   'Zar nodded to himself. He had finally gotten through to the
infuriating punk. Finally with some peace and quite he bent to the task
of painting the correct symbols in the circle, muttering words of power
under his breath.  He had just finished putting the final touches on the
circle when he noticed a bright red glow coming from behind him.

   Whirling around to confront the threat he noticed that Ranma was the
only one there.  Of course he was glowing an intense shade of red and
hovering gently an few inches off the ground.

   'Zar started cursing under his breath.  "Damn mages, just because
they don't need a major preparation for magic they think they're so
superior. Ha!  Let's see them try to summon and control a Greater Demon
and we'll see how far their pathetic tricks get them!" Still ranting he
knelt carefully beside Ranma and while leaning close bellowed, "Wake up
Ranma, my boy, it's time to go home!"

   Shocked from his trance Ranma collapsed to the ground, clumsily
scrambling away fom the Summoner while trying to gather his wits.  "What
are you trying to do?  I could have blasted you by accident or
something," Ranma berated the old man.  Probably should have done it, no
one would miss the old freak, Ranma thought, heart still racing from an
adrenaline rush.

   "I'm sure you have more control than that," the old man smiled
benignly.  Ranma looked suspiciously at him, that look didn't work when
Happossai used it either.  "Anyway, I have finished the circle.  If
you'll get back into the circle I'll start the ritual."

   Ranma stepped back into the circle while 'Zar began chanting. A blue
glow began to surround the large circle opposite them.

   Gradually the outline of a huge creature began to appear.  As it
faded into view, Ranma began to appreciate how hideous the creature
actually was.  It had a huge lizard-like head, the mane and front half
and claws of a lion, the rear half of the creature seemed mostly that of
a hippopotamus with the exception of a long thick lizard tail.  From
head to tail, it was 28 feet, completely dwarfing the circle it stood
inside.

   'Zar looked shocked, Ranma would have been amused by this except when
your resident demon summoner looks surprised at what he caught it bodes
very ill indeed.  "My Lord Ammit.  How very unexpected, I apologize for
disturbing you.  I was attempting to contact a demon from Hades, I
really did not mean to contact a God of your stature.  Let me ... "

   'Zar would have continued to babble and grovel further if the beast
had not interrupted.  "I know.  I have an ally in Hades.  I am here on
his behalf.  I have a use for the human next to you.  He will come with
me," a deep growling voice echoed in the human's mind.

   "Wait a minute. I came here to get home.  I ain't going to follow the
first ugly scaly thing you summon.  Who knows where I'll end up," Ranma
protested.  That creature was the biggest thing he'd seen since his trip
to that water of life place, but he wasn't about to stand still while
some goofy dragon monster dragged him to heaven (or hell) knew where.

   "Silence mortal, you have no choice.  Let it be known that your life
will be expended in the most useful way possible, and be satisfied," the
creature continued, disregarding Ranma's protests. Seeing he was being
ignored Ranma powered up a chi blast to full power and threw it at the
creature.  The energy hit the creature in the face prompting a response,
"Ow.  You impudent wretch!  You shall suffer many torments for that
indignity."  Ranma, slightly unnerved that his largest chi blast had
been mostly ignored, prepared for the battle of his life.  He was still
caught completely by surprise when he found his feet leave the ground
and himself floating without any support in midair.  Whatever was
affecting him was not magic, Ranma sensed nothing that he usually felt
involving magical energies.

   Leaving the theories for later, Ranma flailed wildly for a moment
before giving up trying to move and just started shooting chi blasts at
the thing as fast as possible.

   "Ow.  Ow.  Ow.  Stop it, you insect.  Ow. Ow.  Enough, I need you in
one piece for now but you will feel the torments of Hades." At this
Ranma felt a huge force bearing down on his mind, breaking through
barriers he had never even realized were there.  Then his body was
filled with mind numbing agony.  Ranma was stunned for a moment by this
completely unexpected attack before he rallied and attempted to ignore
the mind through his focusing techniques.

   Although it was mostly worthless in reducing the pain, it was
sufficient to allow him to gather his concentration and act in spite of
it. Gathering his chi he renewed his bombardment on the creature.

   "That should keep the mortal busy.  As for you summoner, I suggest
you leave.  I might come to the conclusion you were in my way and you
would need to die. I only need him alive. Eh? Ow. Damn you human gnat,"
the deity raved. While the human hadn't a hope of defeating him, those
rapid fire chi attacks hurt more than any mortal attack had a right to.
Roaring in outrage the deity lunged out of the circle toward the
helplessly floating human. The circle, which was meant to hold demons,
did nothing to slow the god. However the room's defenses would not be
ignored. Magic flickered into existence around the god, and the deity
roared in pain as powerful wards bent their destructive energy towards
the creature. 'Zar knowing the futility of facing even a minor deity
unprepared had slipped out of the room when Ammit had threatened him.

   Soon the initial ward's effects were shrugged off and the creature
lunged again toward the hovering mortal.  Ranma was almost grateful for
this.  Without any leverage all he could was pure chi attacks, which at
least seemed to marginally hurt the beast.

   Unfortunately he couldn't keep it up, throwing a barrage of chi bolts
was not only tiring but plainly not going to win this battle.  When the
monster hit Ranma, he easily absorbed the merely physical blow and,
using the momentum of the strike, began his next attack.  Orienting
himself so he struck the wall feet first, he leaped over the creature to
the wall behind it and repeated the maneuver.  He did this ten times,
each rebound faster and more powerful, glowing brighter with
concentrated chi.

   Ammit swung his head back and forth quickly trying to follow the
annoying mortal, but was not having any success.  Giving up on physical
attack he was about to initial a psionic strike, similar to the first
two that seemed to have devastated the human when he heard the cry
'Meteor Kick' and felt a huge hammer blow strike his back. Writhing in a
failed attempt to escape the incredible force that stuck him he turned
to again face his foe.

   Ranma grinned at the success of his attack. His confident smile
dimmed when he saw the deity shake it's head and stand up almost
unscathed.  With his chi reserved at their lowest point since he had
entered this realm, he knew he would be need to face the creature in
hand to hand until he had enough energy to try a Dragon Ascension
variant.  Teeth gritted in determination he jumped closer to the
creature.

   Now that the human had stopped leaping around Ammit tried to strike
the man with his huge claws.  He soon learned that this was not
effective. The gnat was too agile and quick, he would strike with those
blurring fists that felt like he was being bombarded with pins and leap
away before Ammit could strike. On the few occasions he did hit the
mortal, it simply flowed with the blow taking very little apparent
damage. The embarrassment was too much, this mortal was thwarting his
Godly will. While mostly unhurt the humiliation was unbearable.

   Psionics were too kind for this human. Soon the mortal would see his
full glory and power. Drawing on all the magic within him, Ammit
invoked his deific powers.

   Ranma was already seeing the Ammit's power. This thing would not go
down. He thought he just might have enough barely enough chi to pull a
Dragon Ascension but he wasn't sure. He was still dodging and
contemplating tactics when the creature paused and started glowing
crimson. Without further warning Ranma saw a flash of light and a
incredible beam of energy surge towards him. He attempted to dodge, but
the crimson light almost seemed to move with him. He was engulfed in
raging flames a moment later. Crying out in surprise and pain Ranma was
knocked back into, and through the stone wall. While he struggled to
get up he was struck again. Desperate to get away he used the Breaking
Point to escape through the floor.

   He was about to use the Saotome Special Final Attack (run away until
you think of something better), when a flickering in the corner of his
eye caught his attention.  Just as he turns he saw the creature
materialize before him.  Forewarned, he was fully prepared to avoid the
energy blasts when the creature struck again.  He blinked and found
himself part of the wall again, whatever those freaky blasts were he
simply could not get out of the way.  An image of Kunou spouting off
about the 'Vengeance of Heaven' made him grit his teeth.  This Saotome
wasn't going down without a fight.

   Realizing the futility of dodging he brought his aura under control
and began a variation of his most powerful move. When the next strike
hit him he ignored the pain and focused his concentration and remaining
chi on the perfect Dragon Ascension strike. If it wasn't perfect he had
no chance of surviving many more of those hideous fiery blasts. As he
redirected the incoming energy he felt the breeze that was the precursor
to the complete move. It was with satisfaction that he saw a charged
funnel of rioting energy enveloping his foe. As he fell to his knees in
exhaustion he noted with pride the creature had been thrown through
multiple walls to fall in a sprawl several hundred feet away.

   He was just thinking how remarkable it was that the inside of the
Tower was so large when he collapsed in an unconscious heap on the
floor.  This was just as well, it probably would have broken his heart
if he'd stayed awake long enough to see Ammit slowly get to his feet,
shake the rubble off his huge body and start to limp towards him.

Chapter 11


   Ranma was just drifting on the edge of consciousness when he realized
the background noises he was hearing were actually voices.  It was too
much work to tune them out so he simply let them flow over him.

   "Well, you look like you were in quite a battle. Did the mortal put
up much resistance?" asked a deep almost growling voice.

   "Yeah... nothing I couldn't handle. Are you sure he's just a human?
I don't remember those kind of mortals demonstrating that level of
power," the voice Ranma identified as Ammit reverberated within his
mind.

   "Thoth assured me it was so.  If the God of Wisdom says he's human,
then he's human.  How did he put up such a fight against you?"

   "It was odd. I couldn't lay a paw on him, or when I did he just
literally bounced back, he seems very resistant against normal attacks.
He went down fairly easily once I started to show him the true power of
a god. I admit that if I hadn't been so furious I would have just sat
back and used psionics, which were very effective by the way."

   "From the burns it looks like you called upon Hellfire. Hmm, if he
is defeated too easily by psionics it could be a problem."

   "Well... let's say he's only a little more resistant than a normal
human in that area. He'll do better than I first thought in our
mission," the voice grudgingly admitted. "He may even survive. He
withstood four or five direct strikes of my fire before going down."

   "He better survive, Thoth has an important mission for him after
yours is complete."

   "Bah, Thoth is an oblivious scholarly fool."

   "Be wary with your tongue, he may be ridiculously absentminded, but
no one in there right mind crosses him without excellent reason. He has
forgotten more arcane lore than the remaining pantheon is even aware
existed."

   "His loyalties lie with the Gods of Light, it will inevitably lead to
conflict with us."

   "Thoth is perfectly aware of our loyalties, he has excellent
relations with the Darker elements of our pantheon. Set himself has an
acceptable relationship with him. As long as open hostilities don't
break out we can be assured of Thoth's neutrality."

   "Hmmph," Ammit grunted unconvinced.

   "Look at it this way, he discovered the human. If he hadn't felt
generous, niether you or I would be aware of him and our plans would
have a much smaller chance of success."

   "I'm sure he did it from the goodness of his heart," Ammit sneered.

   "I am aware of some of his purpose for the human. I am not at liberty
to say more but I find no fault with them. You came to me for aid, now
be quite and accept it." The voice said in a low growl, obviously losing
patience.

   "Fine, the human is your pet, you coddle him. I'm going to go and
kill something, call me when we're ready to start," Ammit stated in
disgust. True the human was more than he had initially expected, but he
was still merely a human. Having to think of it as more left a bad
taste in mouth. He opened a portal to his own realm and ambled through
it.

   There was a moment of silence and the deep voice continued, "You can
open your eyes now. I can tell you're awake, though your aura control
is admirable. You will not be harmed. Ammit was... over enthusiastic
with his invitation.

   Ranma carefully opened his eyes bracing himself for battle if
necessary. He noticed he was in a huge chamber, it's ceiling well over
50 feet above him, it and the room he could see was constructed of solid
polished grey marble. If Ranma had been better educated he would have
noticed a subtle, almost Egyptian motif in the design and decorative
carvings about him. All this didn't really register, he was busy being
faced with something straight from his darkest nightmares.

   Standing before him was a giant man, at least eighteen feet tall. It
wasn't his size that aroused Ranma's horror, it was the fact the man
possessed the head of a lion.

   "C-Cat!!!" he screamed in terror, immediately running in the opposite
direction as fast as his legs would take him. The lion headed god
watched his rapidly retreating champion more than slightly nonplussed.
He had struck terror into many a mortal, but considering the bravery
this human had shown in previous battles this was really the last thing
he had expected.   The fact that the mortal was creating humanoid shaped
holes in the stone walls merely added to his puzzlement.  A quiet
chuckling sound behind him jerked him from his bemused contemplation.

   "Greetings, Anhur.  Ah, the neko-ken.  I never thought I'd see that
again.  Then again only an idiot would try to teach that technique to
someone.  It certainly wouldn't be a worshipper of mine," a voice
stated.

   "Thoth," Anhur acknowledged his fellow deity's presence, still gazing
after the human.  "The neko-ken?  I've heard of it.  I'm afraid many of
my followers aren't nearly as wise as yours.  Several of my more
misguided people have tried learning the technique.  Although this is
the first person I've actually seen to survive the training.  I think it
needs a little fine tuning."

   "The training requires a large amount of ability to channel one's
spiritual abilities.  This combined with the extreme youth needed for
the training leads to a very large number of fatalities.  I've done a
little research on the issue, only a handful have ever survived to
training.  One ascended to godhood in an obscure pantheon, one achieved
demi-god status before his violent death, all have been ferocious
warriors."

   "If you knew, why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have greeted him in
my Primal Manifestation," Anhur asked, afraid he already knew the
answer.

   "It slipped my mind, I suppose I was thinking of something else,"
Thoth stated blandly, if truthfully, not really apologizing.

   "Of course, and that curse of his? I was expecting a female," Anhur
sighed in exasperation.

   "Eh? What about the curse? It just makes him a better candidate. In
a highly magical environment such as our home plane here, Dyval, or
Rifts Earth it will give him the stamina, strength, and durability of a
creature of magic. Despite this he's still as hard to perceive as a
normal mortal, I think he can improve this by suppressing his aura as
well. He really is quite the perfect candidate for both our purposes."

   "Do you know how to get him out of the neko-ken? I've never dealt
with a survivor before," he asked the God of Wisdom.

   "From what I've found out about our friend Ranma, a sudden shock will
work. Unless you want a protracted battle I suggest taking his bracers
off and dousing him with cold water. Anyway that may not be a problem.
Since he successfully left your presence he shouldn't be fully under the
neko-ken."

   "Thoth, many of my servants are of the Ramen race. By now he has no
doubt met several. If being surrounding by humanoid cats doesn't drive
him fully under the neko-ken influence, I can't imagine what will."

   "It's really very ironic," Thoth said in a contemplative tone.

   "No. What's ironic is that Ammit's mission is for Abdul-Ra. I don't
think Ranma needs to know his mission is sponsored by the Lord of the
Raksasha."

   "He's a nice fellow for a Demon Lord, I've met him a few times. Very
polite," Thoth said good naturedly. Anhur looked sideways at the Lord of
Knowledge. Only a fool would antagonize Thoth, besides most entities
curried his favor. Thoth could provide incredible magics and artifacts
if he chose to. Fortunately he was wary of placing too much power in
unreliable hands.

   "Whatever, lets go find our champion. Maybe he's in a tree," Anhur
said, while walking off towards the hole in the wall. He doubted it,
there wasn't a tree for miles.

   Several unpleasant minutes later Anhur stood holding a wildly
scratching Ranma by the neck, at arms length. Around him lay a pile of
unconscious feline servants. Anhur himself had metamorphosed into merely
an eighteen foot tall human. He had managed to grab one bracer and yank
it off his erstwhile champion. Presently he was trying to grab the other
arm's. The claws of chi and wind-milling blur of arms made this a
challenge. Off to the side Thoth stood with a huge gold inlayed bucket of
cold water. He looked distracted as if he had other things on his mind
than the skirmish taking place before him.

   Anhur now knew how Ammit had felt.  He was covered in long bloody
gashes.  He was not seriously injured, and his wounds were healing only
slightly slower than they were inflicted, but it was a frustrating
battle.  He knew he had been fortunate to grab Ranma early in the
conflict.  From the speed he'd demonstrated he doubted he would have
been able to lay a finger on him if he hadn't.  The human also exhibited
incredible strength, the god was still significantly more powerful, but
Anhur was still impressed that a human, unaugmented by magic or science
was strong enough to match many of the weaker deities he knew.  He was
also slightly concerned, unlike Ammit he didn't have access to the
disabling psionics he had used.  Thoth did, of course, but his mind was
obviously elsewhere.  He could call on his deific powers as Ammit had
earlier, but he needed Ranma in one piece, especially with Thoth right
there watching... well sort of watching.

   As the God of War of the Pantheon of Taut he would have been enjoying
himself if he had been sparing with his champion in the normal manner.
This clawing at each other lacked dignity.  Anhur finally grasped the
other arm, and after struggling a little for the correct grip, pulled
the other bracer off.  He then looked expectantly at his fellow god.  He
was thoroughly ignored.

   "Thoth!  Hey Thoth!  Pay attention, I need that water now," Anhur
shouted loudly.

   "Eh?  Oh!  Sorry, I was just think of a new spell.  It was actually
very interesting, involving a combination of opposing... " Thoth rambled
on, still distracted by his musings.

   "Thoth!  The water!  Now!" Anhur bellowed.

   Finally bringing his full attention to his surroundings, Thoth
nodded, and poured the water over the still attacking human. As the
human stopped struggling, Anhur put down the wet, bedraggled, and very
female Ranma-chan.

   Ranma-chan came back to consciousness, standing at the intersection
of a huge stone corridor. Furry bodies littered the floor around her.
Fortunately for her sanity she didn't pay any attention to that. Her
attention was riveted to the two enormous creatures in front of her. One
was a eighteen foot tall man dressed in a golden breast plate. He had
deep cuts on his arms that were visibly healing as she watched. The
other was odder still, an equally tall humanoid with the head of a bird
(ibis). It wore a beautifully decorated robe, a staff in one hand and a
golden bucket in the other.  It was hard to tell, but it's eyes seemed
to be focused elsewhere.

   "Again I greet you. I am Anhur, God of the Pantheon of Taut. This is
Thoth, known as the God of Wisdom. We have brought because we have need
of your services. If we can come to an agreement, you will be my
champion and representative in certain affairs. Let us retire to
somewhere less cluttered. Thoth? Thoth! Pay attention!" growled Anhur
with a lionish roar, eliciting a nervous glance from Ranma-chan.

   Soon the three were in a cozy little room, with plush, comfortable
chairs. A table sat before them with cookies, deserts, and tea on it.
Ranma-chan wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but she thought that
she had blinked and suddenly Anhur and Thoth were merely human sized.
Although, it was probably meant to put her at ease, such flexibility
with what seemed reality made her very nervous. This did not stop her
from tucking away large quantities of the sweets in front of her.

   "Well, what do you want me for," Ranma-chan mumble almost coherently
around a mouthful of food.

   "A friend of Ammit's needs a favor.  A female friend of his has been
forcibly detained.  Due to Ammit's friend's nature, if he attempts to
even approach her he will be instantly detected.  This is where you and
Ammit come in," Anhur stated.

   "Rescue a girl?  I can do that.  And you'll send me home then?" Ranma
asked, not paying close attention to the conversation.

   "Yes.  There's more though.  Aside from the details of the rescue
plan, Thoth has a proposition for you after you have completed it,"
Anhur stated.

   "I thought you said you'd send me home afterward," Ranma- chan asked
suspiciously.

   "This would be after you have been returned.  While Ammit's mission
is personal, Thoth's has more Universal implications."

   "Er... how big do you mean," the pig-tailed girl asked.

   "If Thoth's theories are accurate, it could impact every dimension I
know of... "

   "Suffice to say every plane of existence would be affected.  I'll go
into more details once you return.  You could of course be compensated.
Aside from the benefit of keeping the dimensions free of horrors beyond
human imagining," Thoth casually interrupted, apparently his attention
being caught by the subject of the conversation.

   "Can you cure my curse?" Ranma-chan asked excitedly.

   "I could.  But I won't.  The 'curse' you are under makes you very
useful in certain circumstances," Thoth stated.

   "But... "

   "Besides, now that you have those defective manacles, the curse would
seem to be adequately controlled.  They also provide an excellent
defense against further transformational magics," Thoth nodded benignly.

   "But what else could I ask for?" Ranma-chan asked.  Deprived of her
primary goal she was somewhat lost as to what else she wanted.

   "I am the God of Knowledge but I can't say what you desire. Once you
decide that, maybe I can help," the Lord of Wisdom shrugged.

   "Hmm... I may have a suggestion. Ranma, you practice martial arts,
yes?" Anhur asked.

   "Yah.  I'm the best," she stated confidently.

   "Truly?  There is no one that you could learn from?" Anhur asked with
a level stare.

   Well, the old mummy can sometimes, well... usually... beat me with
one of her tricks. And the old freak would win a lot more if he wasn't
so easy to distract. I guess Pop even has a few moves he thinks are too
dangerous to teach," Ranma-chan said hesitantly.  She didn't like
thinking about such unpleasant truths.  If she really needed to win, she
somehow would find a way. She was Ranma Saotome.

   "So there are things you could learn to perfect your art?"

   "Yeah. I guess so. But the old freak won't teach any anything he
knows. All he does is grope women. The mummy, she's taught me stuff, but
I doubt she'll give me much more. I think she's finally realizing that I
won't marry her granddaughter. Besides the really advanced stuff I think
she'd only teach an Amazon," Ranma-chan sighed sadly. What she wouldn't
give to learn those techniques.

   "Well Thoth?  It seems we now know what she wants.  Any Ideas?" Anhur
asked helpfully.

   "Let's start with the 'old goul'. I believe her actual name is
Cologne. What does she want?" the bird headed god asked.

   "Well... she want a really competent heir. I guess three hundred
years is a long time even for her. Shampoo isn't anywhere near as good
as her though. She must be getting pretty desperate."

   Ranma-chan felt kinda bad about that. It wasn't Cologne's fault
Shampoo had been dishonored or whatever.

   "Without physically or mentally transforming Shampoo, I'm not sure
what I can do about her skills or ability. However Cologne's age is
easily dealt with. Would she be more cooperative if you could offer
youth to her?" Thoth asked.

   "You... you can do that?" a shocked Ranma-chan asked.

   "I could do it personally, or I could give her detailed directions on
a construction and use of a circle that could do the same. I think she
is adequately skilled in ritual magic to make use of it. That might be
the best approach. She could in turn apply leverage on the other's you
mentioned. Training for youth," Thoth mused.

   "That takes care of the goul... er Cologne, Happossai and Pops. Wow,
cool.  Too bad I can't help Shampoo, she still has to try to marry me
even without Cologne's support," Ranma-chan said with mixed emotions. On
the one hand her dream of being the best martial artist just may be
coming true, on the other hand he still had most of his other
problems... and maybe a new one.

   "Wait a minute, that means we'll have a young Happossai groping
women.  Can I be responsible for unleashing that kind of horror on the
world," Ranma-chan exclaimed in realization. "Maybe Cologne can think
of something."

   "Would this be acceptable?  You would be achieving your dreams. We
would be getting a champion of impressive skill, and the Universe would
have the aid it needs," Anhur asked.

   "I... yes. I accept," Ranma-chan said. She was worried she might be
making a huge mistake, but she had just been offered a dream come true.
This combined with a chance to fight for the salvation of the
universe... well, it was her duty as a martial artist to accept. She
just hoped she wouldn't be regretting her decision.

   Thoth simply nodded in acknowledgement and faded away. Apparently
going back to his home.

   "Excellent!  You will be training for a short time here, in my home.
Then you and Ammit will leave for the Dyval plane. Upon you're return
Thoth will give you the directions for the circle, you can go home and
train there until Thoth requires your assistance again," Anhur stated in
a hearty tone.

   "Wait a minute, who's Ammit?  Hey, isn't he that ugly lizard thing
that attacked me? I ain't going nowhere with that thing!" Ranma-chan
shouted.

   "Calm down. We have already agreed with the terms, besides Ammit has
learned some respect for you. You will need to cooperate on your mission
to Dyval."

   "Hey what's this Dyval place like anyway?"

   "It is where the Deevals dwell.  It is here that the Deeval Lord
Mephisto holds Rhada."

   "Deevils, eh? Deevils?  As in Devils?!  You guys are trying to send
me to Hell?  Are you guys nuts? And who's this Mephisto guy? His name
sounds familiar."

   "Dyval is not Hades. Hades is where demons dwell. There is actually a
very violent rivalry between the two realms.  Mephisto is an extremely
powerful Deevil Lord who is mainly in charge of guarding Rhada. His
power is equal to most greater gods. We have arranged a diversion, since
it would be unreasonable for you and Ammit to confront him. You should
only need to deal with a few minions such as Deevil Serpents, Dire
Harpies, and maybe Leviathan."

   "Who's Leviathan?" Ranma-chan choked out. She was suffering from
information overload, and was having a difficult time keeping track of
things.

   "Leviathan is a much weaker Deevil Lord, though she is still a
significant danger. She rules the Dire Harpies. Mephisto controls the
Serpents. Mephisto will probably not leave Rhada guarded with mere
minions.  He may have Leviathan stay in his stead."

   "I don't fight girls..." Ranma-chan protested half heartedly, her
head still spinning.

   "She is a Deevil Lord. I think you might want to consider her in the
monster category rather than a girl. Although the manifestation she
usually chooses is attractive..." Anhur's voice faded into speculative
silence. "Don't worry you won't be fighting all the minions at once.
Stealth will aid you more than anything else. Also the Fenry will be
helping you. Ammit will take care of that."

   "Fenry?  Isn't that the kind of demon 'Zar had? Why would the Fenry
help us?" Ranma-chan asked plaintively.

   "Well you are going in to rescue their mistress."

   "No I'm not. I'm going in to rescue a trapped girl.  Wait a minute...
is the girl I'm supposed to rescue even human?"

   "Er, no. She's a Deevil Lord as well." Ranma-chan started to bang her
head against the table.

Chapter 12


   "My lovely Cindra are you sure you want to do this?" 'Zar said,
obviously having mixed emotions.

   "I am not your Cindra. I am simply using your services in exchange
for a price," Cindra stated, her voice dripping disgust.

   "Ah yes. A date and a kiss," a dreamy look entered his eyes as a thin
line of drool exited his mouth. Shaking himself from his stupor he
continued, "Of course it would be best if your father was unaware of our
relationship."

   "There is no relationship, you freak! I mean, of course Daddy doesn't
need to know. He'd get all upset over nothing. I am an adult and since
Daddy gave his permission to marry my love, it is my duty to track him
down," Cindra said with conviction.

   "He may very well be dead. He was taken away by a God of the Pantheon
of Taut. They are not known to be friendly towards humans," 'Zar
warned.

   "I may not be able to follow him to whatever fate my be his, but I
can follow him home. Surely if he lives he will find his way back. And
I will be there waiting. It's so romantic," Cindra sighed.

   "Er, yes. Very. Anyway once Ammit left us I was able to summon an
alternate demon and find out our friends home plane," 'Zar nodded to
himself in obvious pride.

   "Hey I am not a demon," a querulous voice rose from the corner of the
room.

   "Be silent. If you weren't a demon and of supernatural evil my
containment circle would have had no effect, demon." 'Zar stated in
dismissal towards the source of the sound.

   "But I wanna go home. It this any way to treat a harmless old man.
Why is everybody always picking on me?" wailed the diminutive figure,
which could now be made out in the darkened corner.

   "Oh stop your whining. Here," 'Zar hushed while throwing a piece of
cloth at the containment circle. The figure leaped towards the object
only to crash against an invisible surface, which happened to coincide
with the edge of the circle. Fortunately a moment later the clothe
fluttered down to land on the figure's head.

   "Ah! Panties!" the old demon sighed in satisfaction.

   "Fortunately these demons of perversion are all simple minded and
easily to satiate. I'll send him back when I'm sure you've safely
arrived. Have a care, my Princess. I anxiously await our date," 'Zar
continued smiling suggestively at Cindra.

   "Oh please. I think I'm going to be ill. Just get on with it," Cindra
said, fighting her gag reflex.

   "Fine," 'Zar stated while tapping a circle with his staff, mumbling
incoherent words. After several minutes of this a glow formed in the air
and a ripping, electrical cracking sound could be heard. A portal soon
irised open in front of the couple. Through the gate a young lady in a
apron and dress could be seen turning from a sink and a pile of dishes,
a look of mild surprise on her face.

   Cindra took the time to grab her bags and walk through the portal. As
she stepped through the portal it closed quietly behind Cindra

   "Greetings, I am the fiancee of Ranma Saotome. I will be staying here
until my love comes for me." Seeing the girl still unresponsive she
took some gold coins from her belt and placed them in the girl's
unresisting hand.

   "Oh my! Guests! Paying guests. Nabiki will be so pleased," the girl
said, looking vaguely confused.

--*--

   "Anyway, Hades and Dyval have a violent rivalry that has been going
on for... hmm... probably since just after the Old Ones were subdued,
which is a good hundred thousand years," Anhur started after Ranma had
stopped beating herself.

   "What does Hades have to do with anything?" Ranma-chan asked.

   "I'll get to that. Rhada, who is the Deevil Lord whose dominion is
the Fenry, captured Abdul-Ra more than three hundred years ago... "

   "Who is Abdul-Ra?" Ranma-chan interrupted with a query.

   "My you certainly inquisitive all of a sudden. Abdul-Ra is a Demon
Lord of Hades whose dominion is... not important right now. Apparently
Rhada fell in love with her captive. She freed Abdul-Ra because of this.
It's really too bad the other Demon Lords found out about that little
incident. They were really upset that one of their own would demonstrate
such freakish emotion, especially towards such hated foes. They chained
her in her own castle, bound her powers so she couldn't escape, and have
been arguing over what to do with her for three hundred years."

   "Abdul-Ra left his girlfriend to sit in a dungeon for three hundred
years?" Ranma-chan exclaimed in disbelief.

   "Well, it's not as if he ever proclaimed his love for her. That
combined with this probably being the first time he's ever had anything
resembling a warm emotion since...  well, most likely ever. I know him
by reputation, very honorable, which I approve of. Unlike most of the
Demon Lords he takes his responsibilities towards his minions seriously,
but love?  Ha! He's probably been wondering what in Hades happened to
him for the last several centuries."

   "If he's not a friend of yours, then why are you helping him?"
Ranma-chan asked.

   "Well, actually this part is much less straightforward. Ammit is a...
friend... of Abdul-Ra. He has been a go between for Abdul-Ran and Rhada
since shortly after the incident. You see if Abdul-Ra, a Demon Lord,
sets foot on Dyval, the very ground will scream his presence for all to
hear. Ammit, though a fairly powerful deity, is of the Dark Pantheon of
Taut, and there are no overt hostilities between us and Dyval."

   "Then why don't you go help Ammit?"

   "It's not my concern. Furthermore I don't want it to become my
concern. It would be distracting to come into open conflict with the
Lords of Dyval. As it is Ammit will owe me a large favor for your
services that I will eventually collect."

   "Hey!  What about me? I don't want a pack of Demon... er.. Dyval
Lords after me either!" Ranma-chan protested.

   "It's very simple, you are merely human. Humans are very hard to
sense, especially compared to other greater supernatural entities. Since
you won't be declared my champion until after this little enterprise I
won't be officially involved. The Dyval Lords will assume any mere human
is a minion of Ammit's. Only the most petty would specifically target
you for vengeance."

   "Won't Ammit's involvement cause him trouble?"

   "That's not a concern to me. Ammit can fight his own battles. The
Dyval Lords would be fools to declare war on the entire Pantheon of
Taut. Not to mention that in that type of general conflict our 'brother'
Pantheon of Ra might be drawn into the war. Hades and Dyval's other
enemies would take advantage of their weakness and Dyval would cease to
exist soon after. It would be truly glorious, but very unlikely. They
will confine their ire to Ammit," Anhur stated with finality.

   "Okay, that explains your involvement, now how'd I get involved?"

   "Thoth has been trying to deal with the problem with the Old Ones for
long time, even for us. He needs someone whose power is so negligible as
to be unnoticed... "

   "Hey!" Ranma-chan protested.

   "... Yet ironically he also requires a being of great power and
ability." Anhur finished. "You have significant power and ability, yet
if you hid your aura I myself would be hard pressed to sense you in this
very room."  Ranma-chan nodded, her ego soothed.

   "Thoth can be very persistent so he finally found a candidate. You.
He was actively looking and you caught his attention when that fool
accidentally summoned you for his own petty goals. You aren't quite
ready yet so he contacted me. He has access to incredible knowledge, but
for the arts of war I am your tutor."

   "So you'll teach me... wait a minute, you mean you would have gotten
me trained even if I hadn't asked for it," Ranma-chan cried out.

   "Yes," Anhur replied simply.

   "Grayson was right," Ranma-chan sighed in a defeated tone. "Why do
you want me as your champion, and what is a champion anyway?" she asked
still looking dejectedly on the floor.

   "Aside from helping Thoth on an issue that is of vital importance, I
am a god of war. This means that all aspects of conflict are of interest
to me. I possess many armies, some with magical weapons and artifacts of
destruction, others with technology people from your world have yet to
see, or even imagine. But armies are useless by themselves, and though I
am a god I am not omnipotent. There are only so many places I can be at
once. So I also collect individuals of intelligence and power, these are
my generals and representatives. They wield my armies and even some of
my power when I cannot be there myself."

   "But I'm no general! I admit that I'm great with tactics, but leading
an army isn't me. I'm a martial artist!"

   "I never said you were.  Besides my generals may be required to
negotiate, and I think you need to mature a bit before you develop the
patience and wisdom for that." Ranma-chan looked toward the floor in
embarrassment again. "I do require a champion, however. There are times
where disputes with other powers arise where open conflict is not
desired and can be dealt with a contest between two minions. There will
also be times where my own minion will commit crimes and must be brought
back to be judged."

   "I'm not going to kill anyone you point to. I'm no assassin!"
Ranma-chan vehemently protested.

   "I am aware of your limitations," Anhur stated, a hint of disdain
crept into his voice. "Thoth informed me of your moral shortcoming and I
assured him that I will take them into account. Your missions will be
limited to those even you would consider criminals. Likewise I will not
force you to kill. It is usually easier than capture, but I will leave
the decision in your hands."

   "Well, that's okay then," Ranma-chan said, still unsure that it was
'okay'.

   "As to your powers as champion, they will be similar to those of a
priest... "

   "Hey I ain't going to worship you or nothin!" Ranma-chan indignantly
cried out.

   Anhur sighed, "That won't be necessary. A simple acknowledgement of
me being your chosen god is enough. That, and your obedience."

   "Well... as long as you don't tell me to do anything dishonorable,"
Ranma-chan nodded.

   Anhur rubbed his temples, he could tell Ranma was going to be more
work than almost any other follower or worshipper he had. If Thoth
hadn't personally asked for his forbearance on the matter... and of
course, short of the major supernatural entities under his command,
Ranma had the most potential. It was all a simple matter of resisting
the overwhelming temptation of blasting the idiot out of existence,
while waiting for that potential, and his protege's mouth, to mature.

   "Your powers as a champion are as follows: you may dimensionally
teleport to any dimension I have personally been to, assuming you know
it exists.  This is not very accurate without a quite a bit of practice,
be careful, you may end up anywhere on that world. You can use this
three times a day.  However on the bright side, whatever world you end
up in you will be able to survive the local ambient conditions, and
speak the local tongue."

   "Why three times a day?"

   "It's the standard number, ask Thoth, I'm sure there's an arcane
reason he'll be aware of.  Second you will gain a slight resistance to
possession, mind control, soul-drinking and magic in general.  This is
because I am imbuing a small amount of my essence into you.  Not much,
as it would defeat the purpose Thoth has in mind for you.  Your life
span will, as a side effect, be enhanced and you will be age at one
tenth the normal rate."

   "But as a martial artist and a master of chi I already had that. Why
if Cologne and Happossai can live to over three hundred I bet I could
double that," Ranma-chan boasted.

   "It doesn't really matter.  If what you say is true, you could look
forward to a lifespan of six thousand years under my service. As it is,
if you make use of the circle Thoth will give you for Cologne
periodically, you can work in my service for whatever part of eternity
you wish, and then retire for the rest of forever. Aside from all that,
you are far more likely to die of unnatural causes," Anhur smiled
cheerily to himself, imaging himself to be one of the causes.

   "Wow, I could get, like really good, given forever," Ranma-chan
mumbled dreamily to herself. "And I wouldn't even shrink like Cologne
did."

   "Yes, I'm sure you could.  You also have the ability to contact me
directly to ask for divine intervention or simple communication. Do not
do this often. I don't need a champion if I have to do all the work
anyway."

   "I won't need any help," Ranma-chan confidently stated.

   "We'll see.  Finally if you die in my service, assuming your soul is
not trapped, dispelled, destroyed or otherwise inconvenienced, I will
undertake it upon myself to resurrect you."

   "Wow. Neat. I mean how often does that stuff happen?" Ranma-chan
rhetorically asked.

   An uncomfortable silence greeted her question.  Just as Ranma-chan
was going to follow up on her question again with more emphasis, Anhur
continued on a completely different track.

   "If you decide to leave my service I will remove these abilities, and
you may continue normally with your life. Be warned, if you anger
another deity, and he is aware of your special 'status' he has the
capability to strip these abilities from you one by one.  At least until
you again come into my presence and I renew the contract."

   Anhur paused to gather his thoughts. "For now the only glaring faults
I see in you is your ignorance of Deevils and demons in general, and the
Neko-ken. The first can be dealt with easily," Anhur extended his hand
and a large tome appeared in it, "Take it. It is a complete description
of the powers, abilities and anatomy of most dyvals, demons, elementals
and dragons. These are the most common of the supernatural threats you
may face."

   "Does this have pressure points and martial arts technique in it?"
Ranma-chan asked doubtfully. That book looked way too much like school
work.

   "No.  Supernatural entities are very resistant to simple nerve and
chi manipulation. It does contain diagrams of the musculature, skeleton,
tendons, and full range of motion capable by such creatures. The
specific techniques I will leave to you. Mostly for now you should think
of how to apply the maneuvers you know to creatures having a completely
different center of mass, density and flexibility. It would be most
embarrassing to try a throw on a demons only to be disemboweled when you
find the joint actually moves the other way."

   "Hah!  Never happen," Ranma-chan stated, gathering the book under her
arm with more appreciation than previously shown.

   "The next problem is the Neko-ken. There may or may not be cats in
Dyval, but there are definitely fear spells and shape-changers. It would
be unfortunate if you went 'cat' in Dyval, you might win the battle you
were in, but I doubt we'd ever see you again. Ammit would certainly not
bother to bring you back if you resisted," Anhur laughed with good humor
that was somehow lost on Ranma-chan. In the short term I have a amulet
that will keep you from feeling fear. Don't use it too often, preferably
only in combat. It blunts the self-preservation instinct, and most other
emotions as well as fear." He tossed Ranma-chan another object he had
pulled from nowhere.

   "For the long term, I will have a mind mage in my service show you
certain meditation techniques, that will allow you to control your fear.
I think that with enough time and practice you might be able to employ
the Neko-ken techniques at will, without the debilitating side effects."
Ranma-chan perked up at this wonderful news. "You can probably perfect
the technique in just a few centuries," Anhur continued heartily.

   Seeing Ranma-chan's dejected look, he offered some advice. "I suggest
you start looking at the long term, you're going to be busy, but forever
is a long time even for a god. However, for now you should start
studying. I'll have one of my servants show you where you'll be eating,
training, and sleeping."

   As one of the feline Raman walked into the room, a terrified
Ranma-chan created her own exit leaving the room in the opposite
direction.  Sighing Anhur motioned to the servant to bring a bucket of
hot water.

   "I suppose I should have had him wear that amulet first. Oh well, I
knew there was a reason I loathed pets," he muttered to himself.

   Anhur then went to start a process that he hoped wouldn't become a
habit.

Chapter 13

   Ranma rolled between the twenty foot creature's legs and then leaped
up between the spread wings.  Reaching out he clamped a hand onto the
wing, near the base, while pummeling the spine and back of the monster
with a chi enhanced Chestnut Fist. The demon couldn't reach behind it
and was reduced to flailing it's wings around in the hope of dislodging
Ranma.  The creatures struggles were getting significantly weaker when
it realized this tactic was useless.  Reaching out an arm, a long firey
whip appeared within the huge clawed hand.  It then proceeded to swing
the whip over it's back.

   Ranma was almost impressed. He parried the whip with his bracers, and
continued beating the demon. Within a short time the creature gave a low
groan and collapsed to it's knees. Seconds later it completed it's fall
to the ground with a resounding thud.

   "This is pathetic. The creatures Happassai summons are tougher than
this. Of course they usually are a lot faster, but less durable. That
last one sure could take a pounding, almost put Ryouga to shame." Around
him slumped the twitching bodies of five other demons.  Groaning they
slowing dragged themselves from the arena area. Apparently quite a few
creatures of the nefarious planes owed Anhur, and were presently working
off their debts being beaten unconscious by a human. It was humiliating,
but right then all they wanted to do was drag their bodies away to
regenerate, away from the sight of a certain pig-tailed martial artist.
Ranma ignored them with little effort, they were demons.

   They were evil by definition, and unworthy of his sympathy. "Let's
see, that completes the common lesser and greater demon, deevils. Anhur
doesn't have any elementals on hand. From what I've read the greater
elementals are much tougher. The two I fought earlier were certainly
more challenging." Ranma muttered to himself, deliberately not thinking
of the inconclusive outcomes of those battles.

   To be honest, all the greater demons seemed very durable.

   They couldn't block his attacks, or usually hit him, but it still
took a lot of time to wear them down. The book Anhur had given him
proved to be invaluable. Many of the entities he fought had special
attacks or abilities. Nothing that he probably couldn't have dealt with,
but they would have been very surprising to just have happen in battle.

   There was the one that generated an aura of fear, he'd found himself
almost slipping into the neko-ken before he managed to slip on the
amulet Anhur had given him. Of course when he attempted to Slam it with
a Fierce Tiger Domineering attack he had found the negative aspect of
wearing that item. He just couldn't muster the confidence needed for the
attack, indeed all his emotions seemed muted. This was rather disturbing
to Ranma since many of his chi techniques depended on carefully balanced
states of awareness to successfully channel. He had defeated that demon,
but not as quickly or surely as he had expected.

   Other demons could cast certain spells as innate abilities.These had
also proven to be a challenge. Ranma was confident that in a fight with
a mage he would easily win. Mages just took too long to trigger their
spells, they were unconscious before they had finished.

   Talismans, magic items that stored spells and could be triggered with
a gesture were far more dangerous, and could be used by non-mages.

   Despite this the person still had to hold the item and trigger it,
which usually gave Ranma the chance to avoid the attack. Demons were
usually limited in what they could do, but could do it with little or no
warning. Very unnerving, his chi senses had barely saved him from a few
such attacks so far. That, combined with the book describing the likely
effects of these attacks.

   Ranma was so engrossed in analyzing his previous battles he barely
noticed as the earth seemed to move beneath him. He took little more
notice when an irritated demon threw him off it's back where he had been
standing, and  started to trudge towards the arena exit. Giving only a
glance of disgust at the martial artist who had somersaulted in midair
and landed lightly on his feet, still seemingly ignoring his
surrounding.

   A distant gong sounded, this seemed to draw Ranma out of his
distracted state, "Damn, it's time for my meditation lesson with Master
Arien." Ranma took off running out of the Arena and down the corridor
to his appointment. He didn't really register the various demons whose
heads he bounced off on the way.

   Anhur withdrew his attention to his own plane. He had been
perceiving a battle through the eyes of one of his Generals when a
disturbance on his own plane disturbed his concentration. Spreading his
senses through his domain Anhur attempted to pinpoint the source.

   There, faintly, an unauthorized entity. Hmm, felt vaguely demonic,
though something was off.

   Since he knew the location he opened a portal directly to the source
and stepped through. Once there he looked around expecting to see a
minor demon, probably a spy from one of the many planes he was presently
in conflict with. It was stupid for his opponents to think he wouldn't
expect demonic intrusion, but they still tried the tactic. Not seeing
any obvious threat he was about to expand his senses when he heard a
voice behind him.

   "Where in the world am I now! This is all Ranma's fault!" shouted a
boy wearing a bandanna around his forehead, waving an umbrella wildly in
the air.

   Well this was certainly different. An acquaintance of Ranma's.
Altering his shape to that of a six foot human Anhur coughed softly to
capture the boy's attention.

   "I believe you are looking for Ranma?" he asked.

   "Er... no. Ranma's lost somewhere. Could you direct me to the Tendo
Dojo?" the boy asked, while turning to face the new fellow.

   "Just out of curiosity, where do you think you are now," asked Anhur,
speaking ancient Egyptian.

   "Well Canada of course. Though I hadn't realized Canada had deserts,"
Ryouga muttered to himself in Egyptian.

   "What language do you are you speaking in now," Anhur continued,
switching to Atlantian.

   "Listen, I don't have time for silly questions. I need to find the
Tendos. If you won't tell me where they are, I'll just find them on my
own," the lost boy shouted back, also in Atlantian.

   "If you answer my questions, I will see you to your destination
personally," Anhur stated, reaching a hand to the boy's shoulder to
delay his leaving.

   Ryouga shrugged out of the hold on him, or at least he tried.

   Whoever this guy was he might even be stronger than Ryouga. His eyes
widened as he realized this. Up to now the only ones stronger than him
were Herb's minion and Tarou's minataur's form.

   Acknowledging the stranger's prowess Ryouga turned around gave him
his full attention. Anhur seeing this, released his grip on the lost
boy and stepped back.

   "Are you a martial artist" Ryouga inquired suspiciously.

   "Yes, though I practice a very different style than yours. Do you
accept my bargain?"

   "Alright, maybe we can spar a little as well," Ryouga said eagerly,
anxious to learn a new technique in his quest to destroy Ranma.

   "Hmm, maybe. I might enjoy that. However, I do know something that
may be of service to you. I am willing to aid you in exchange for a
favor sometime in the future."

   "All I want to do is reach the Tendo Dojo, you already promised me
that," Ryouga said, wary again. This stranger was acting very odd.

   "You suffer severe directional problems," Anhur continued despite
Ryouga's protest to the contrary, "If I could explain the cause of your
problem and propose a solution, would you find this worth a favor?"

   "You mean never be lost again? You can do that?" Ryouga exclaimed, a
slight amount of his constant depression lightening slightly.

   "I can show you what needs to be done. The rest is, of course, up to
you. Do we have a bargain, boy?"

   "Assuming you don't want me to do anything dishonorable, yes," Ryouga
qualified.

   "I tire of you humans constantly questioning my honor! But enough. We
have an agreement. Come into my study and we will answer each other's
questions." Saying this he walked to a portal that opened to one side of
the two of them.

   "Hey is that a technique I can learn?" Ryouga asked eagerly,
following the man through the gate.

   "That is the question, now. Isn't it?" the man responded to a
confused Ryouga.

   Ranma was walking towards the study. He had finished his meditation
practice and his sparing with his demonic partners, and was searching
for a snack. He had found that the study he had originally met with
Anhur and Thoth always seemed to have fresh tea and cookies on the
table.

   As he neared the door he heard voices. Not wanting to make a
nuisance of himself, he was about to walk away when he noticed something
familiar about the voices. One was Anhur, of course. The god had a
memorable voice that always made him shiver and think of lions. The
other one took a moment to place. When he finally recognized the source
he almost fell over in shock. What the heck was Ryouga doing here of
all places. Was he following him or something? So it was that Ranma
stayed silent and listened to the conversation.

   "Were your parents as directionally challenged as you are," Anhur's
voice carried through the door.

   "Well father was, Mom just followed him around," came Ryouga's voice,
much fainter, seemingly less substantial than the god's.

   "How far back in your family history does this problem go?"

   "Well we don't keep really good records of that kind of thing, but I
think it was at least five. So you know a cure?"

   "I'll get to that. As some background information, let me tell you a
little about supernatural entities and dimensional travel."

   "Dimensional travel? What does that have to do with anything?"

   "You may not have noticed but you are not on your home plane. The
fact that you haven't noticed is the root of your problem. However,
background first. Many entities, dragons, deevils, demons, elementals,
Titans, gods and similar beings possess the ability to travel to other
planes and to teleport from one place to another within a single plane."
Many of them also had the ability to understand and speak any tongue as
well as a slew of miscellaneous talents, but he didn't want to cloud the
main issue.

   "This ability relies on three elements. Perceiving the exact point
in the dimensions where you are, and either remembering or perceiving
the exact point where you are going. Finally, the ability to actually
move to where you're going. You seem to have one out of three of these
abilities. It's the deficiency of the other two which are the source of
your problems."

   "But... I'm no supernatural entity. Hey, if I'm not on earth where
am I."

   "You're on my home plane. Don't worry about it, it's irrelevant.
Anyway most of the creatures I mentioned are incapable of siring
offspring humans, and yes you are mostly human. Gods, however, possess
the unique capacity to crossbreed with any race in existence. You've
probably heard legends of such events," Anhur stated, dark humor hidden
in his voice.

   "You think I'm descended from a god," Ryouga asked disbelieving.

   "Well, probably more than five generations back.  After all this time
I'm surprised it bred true. What gives me hope that I can train you in
the perception you lack, is your presence here."

   "Why?  What's so great about being here?"

   "I know a small amount about you, do to a mutual acquaintance. It's
you're obsession regarding this person which is attracting you to places
he either is, or has been. The very fact you unconsciously can follow
him, though inefficiently raises a hope you may someday do this on your
own."

   "You mean I'll know where I am at all times?"

   "Maybe someday. Perhaps your senses may, one day, be keen enough to
actually travel the planes with some degree of accuracy."

   "Great!  How long will this training take?" Ryouga asked, hope
tingeing his voice.

   "Well, I have an idea that will keep you from straying off your home
plane and accidentally teleporting.  Gaining actual perceptual skill and
control should take no longer than... about a century."

   "A... a century?  I can't wait a century!  Ranma, this is all your
fault!"

   "Be quiet!  And sit down. The actual perception is a simple thing.
Once I open your eyes to the universe around you, you can practice on
your own.  As for your mundane sense of direction, use mundane means of
control. Surely even your primitive world has some means of tracking
things. Use them!"

   "But a hundred years, I'll be an old man by then."

   "I have been informed that a chi master of your level could easily
live past three hundred. Anyway, your friend Ranma has a method of
extending this as well. Ask him the next time you speak with him."

   "Getting on with things, put these on," Anhur stated while the
clanking some sort of metal was heard.

   "Bracelets?  Why do I need bracelets?" a bewildered Ryouga asked.

   "Your manacles gave me the idea. Ingenious use of restraints, by the
way. These are similar. Occasionally it is necessary to restrain a
supernatural entity. It can be difficult when they can disappear at
will, so these were constructed to prevent escapes. They should also
prevent you from 'traveling' too suddenly around your world."

   "Ranma gave me a set of manacles? You want me to wear another set?
Ranma, I'll get you for this!"

   "Stop being so temperamental and put those on. Since your you
already have a pair on your arms simply place these on your ankles.
There we go. Stop grumbling."

   "I don't like the idea of being shackled!" groused Ryouga.

   "Don't worry, the shackles aren't locked. They aren't attached to the
usual chains, anyway. There really is no down side to this arrangement.
Your friend has even used those things to parry attacks, crack walnuts
and a few other useful tricks."

   "Ranma is here? Where is he? He'll pay for what he put me through!"

   The door opened and Ranma poked his head through, "How's it going,
P-chan?"

   Ten minutes later an increasingly angry Anhur tired of watching the
destruction of his home. Returning to his normal lion- headed, eighteen
foot tall form. He bellowed at the two juveniles to stop.

   Strangely enough Ryouga stopped, mostly from the shock of seeing the
man he'd been talking to a few minutes before change into a very large
monster. Ranma stopped from shear fear. Surprisingly, he did not take
off running in terror as he had the last two times.

   Instead he stood stock still, his eyes closed, sweating and shivering
as if under a great strain. Ryouga looked from the suddenly monstrous
felinoid to Ranma in confusion.

   "Ranma?  Snap out of it! What are you muttering about? Are you scared
or something?"

   "I would suggest you don't disturb him. He is presently employing
some meditation techniques he recently learned to control the neko-ken.
Breaking his concentration would be inconvenient."

   "Oh. A martial arts technique. That's okay then. By the way what
spring did you fall into? I haven't seen that one before."

   "I am a god." Anhur stated in a dignified manner, hiding his
irritation after his initial blowup.

   "Gee, bummer. I didn't know Jusenkyo effected god's too. Don't let
the other god's bother you over it. It's not your fault," Ryouga said in
his best sympathetic voice.

   "I did not fall into a cursed spring, I am a god. This is how I
normally manifest myself before my followers," Anhur growled loudly,
quickly losing what patience he had. The noise caused Ranma to shiver
and sweat even more profusely, while increasing the volume of what could
now be recognized as a mantra.

   "Oh. If you say so. I'd be careful around cursed springs though,
you never know," Ryouga said, confused, but determined to be helpful.

   "Grrr. Let's start your training.I will initially show you the way,
you will then work with Master Airen to learn the self-hypnotic trance
and meditation to continue training on your own." After stating this
Anhur walked over to Ryouga, who looked nervously back at the huge
deity. Placing a large clawed hand on Ryouga's forehead, he embraced the
awareness of the universe around him, the beauty of the overlapping
planes and the sure knowledge of his place within this scheme. Then
after forging a telepathic bridge to the demi-human before him, he
crammed the complete content inside his student's skull, smiling
slightly at the cries of agony from a mostly mortal being trying to
grasp more than man was meant to know.

   After a few minutes of this he released his grip. Letting the now
blissfully unconscious human fall to the ground. Much more relaxed he
called for the servants to tend to the boy while he enjoyed some tea.
His happiness was short-lived, as the uncontrollably shaking Ranma, now
shouting his mantra, snapped at the presence of the felinoid servant and
ran through the walls. Again.

   "Help with the Old Ones or no, this is stretching my patience near
breaking. When this is over I will ban these silly martial artists from
my home. They aren't worth the headache," Anhur said with a disgruntled
growl.

   "Master, should I get another bucket of cold water?" the Raman
servant inquired.

   Staring at the hole in wall contemplatively, he sat down in the, now
huge, chair and sipped his tea. "No. No hurry. I'll just sit here, and
finish my tea. Warn the servants away from my champion."

   "What of the demons you asked to be here for your champion's
training?"

   "I'm sure they'll find out on their own," with a nod, sighing at the
well made cup of tea.

--*--

   Jenn looked with satisfaction at the rows of her fellow monks as they
practiced their katas in unison.  They were approaching her own level of
skill and she really had practically nothing more to teach.

   She sensed a presence behind her, easily deducing who it must be.
"Greetings, Master Reteife.  It's a beautiful morning, isn't it."

   "Yes. But sometimes it takes more than excellent weather to satisfy
ones yearning," he paused before continuing. "You have been unhappy
since Ranma's departure. You know my dear we are not a celibate order.
If you wish to take a mate, we will only wish you well. Managing one's
duties and one's family is a task most people must eventually learn."

   "No! It's not like that at all!" she paused gathering her thoughts.
"I feel I have reached a dead end in the Art. I have seen someone fly,
while I trudge along behind, barely hopping. I want... I want to learn
to fly, and I just don't know any way to do it. Oh, if I study and
practice on my own I'll certainly advance to some degree, but I'll never
even approach the level I saw," she said sadly.

   "Hmm. This is true. Our monastery has seen an increase in our skills
I had never dreamed of, but we could do better. Do you see a solution to
your... our... dilemma," the elderly monk inquired.

   "No. Ranma is gone. Maybe dead. No one knows where he went, or
really what took him."

   "Well actually, I had heard it was a dark god of the Pantheon of
Taut," Jenn gasped in dismay, "But there is little we can do for him, my
dear. Think about it, Ranma did not learn his skills by himself. He's
very good, but no one is that good."

   "Of course he learned his skills, but since we have no idea where he
learned them from, this doesn't really help us, does it?" she asked
uncertainly, the old master was leading to something.

   "I spoke with your friend Grayson the other day. He in turn has been
in contact with the Royal Summoner. It appears that we do indeed know
where Ranma came from. I would not object if you undertook a training
journey to this location. You would of course be expected to come back,
some time in the future, and pass on the skills you learned."

   "The Royal Summoner is willing to send me to this place?" she asked
excitedly.

   "He hasn't agreed yet, but I think we can arrange something. The
monastery will of course supply you with funds for your journey. It
wouldn't do if you were too busy trying to survive to continue your
training."

   "This is a great honor, Master. I will strive to live up to your
expectations," Jenn said humbly.

   "You already have. Simply act as you have already demonstrated you
can. Since it seems you will be going to Ranma's home perhaps you could
deliver this to him." Master Reteife pulled a wooden box out of his
robes.

   "A visitor came to our door and asked us to deliver this to the red
haired girl. I didn't understand what he meant until I heard from
Grayson that Ranma has a red haired sister. Although I still don't know
how they found out. Anyway, when you get there give this package to a
Ranko Saotome. I don't know who it's from."

   "Should I go to the Royal Summoner now?" Jenn eagerly asked,
accepting the package.

   "I don't think that is necessary. He has an unsavory reputation. I'll
have Grayson make the arrangements, and get you a talisman to help you
speak the language. Perhaps you should pack and make any other personal
arrangements." He really envied the girl. If he was fifty years younger
he would jump at the chance to learn at the feet of the wise and serene
teachers she would undoubtedly encounter.

--*--

   "It is time," Ranma looked up from the kata he was performing to see
the human appearing Anhur in the entrance of the arena. "You have a
sufficient knowledge of the Deevils you may encounter, and can control
the neko-ken... at least long enough to employ the amulet if necessary.
You will leave immediately. Ammit will meet you at your destination.
Either he or Rhada will be able to return you here upon completion of
your errand. Any questions?"

   "How's Ryouga?"

   "Recovering. He has met Master Arien several times already and is
almost ready to continue on his own. Chances are he'll be home before
you. He'll probably get lost soon thereafter, but that's not my
concern," Anhur stated dismissing the matter.

   "I guess I'm ready," it would be nice to go home and see his friends
again. Of course he had to go through Hell...er... Dyval to get there.

   "Very well," Anhur nodded, and without further ado a strangely
menacing portal opening not far from Ranma. With only a slight gathering
of chi as a sign of the trepidation he felt Ranma walked through.