Wrath of Gods Chapter 9 "Here, Sirs, is the Sacred Mirror of the Grand Shrine of Ise. Very..." The guide's description stopped abruptly, as he saw that the mirror was starting to glow. "Oh, no!" the guide exclaimed, slapping his forehead, as his tour group ran away in panic. "Why I get most weird jobs?! First guide to demon cave in Okayama and demon escapes, next work place gets flooded... I quit! Let's go, Plum!" Belldandy, having just stepped out of the mirror, looked at the departing middle aged man and his daughter in confusion. It was too bad that they had to leave, she wanted to ask them if they'd seen Ranma. Oh, well, she'd have to find him on her own. -------------------------------------------------- Ranma and Akane appeared in an empty park in Tomobiki, the latter looking uncomfortable from holding hands with Ranma in public. "Why did we have to come here, Ranma?" Akane asked, looking at him expectantly. "No particular reason. When I said we were gonna see our friend, I didn't mean we'd actually go to his place." "Huh? What do you mean by that? Are we going to his workplace?" "Nah. We'll just summon him," Ranma replied, waving his hand casually. "Oh," Akane said, before doing a double-take. "Summon him?" "Sure." Smiling, Ranma added, "I've learned a few helpful things since meeting Urd again, and summonings are among them." Holding his hand to the sky theatrically, Ranma called out, "I call forth... Senbei the Genie!" "Was that gesture really necessary?" Akane asked him. "Nope. And neither is this," Ranma replied, before laughing megalomanically. At Akane's questioning gaze, he stopped laughing and sighed. "It's the way Senbei likes to be summoned. Go figure." A bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of the pair, and smoke poured out of it, coalescing into a humanoid shape. A handsome man floated over to the ground, and bowed to Ranma. "Senbei honored you call, Oh Master!" Smiling and spreading his hands widely, Senbei announced, "I am... Senbei, the God of Poverty and Disaster!" "See what I mean?" Ranma stage-whispered to Akane. "He's such a show- off." Senbei huffed and pointedly turned away from the pair, as Akane snickered. "I still don't understand why we need him," the raven-haired girl asked, calming down. "S, why don't'cha tell her your secondary domain?" Ranma offered, grinning all the while. "Hmph!" Seeing that his friend still continued to pout, Ranma sighed and asked Akane to follow his lead with a glance. "C'mon, man, she didn't mean it. Just look how sorry she is." Senbei turned around, and asked Ranma, "How do I know this fair maiden is showing her true heart?" Seeing Akane's left eye twitch slightly, Ranma hurriedly cut in and said, "She's sorry, S. Just let it go, man." Melodramatically brushing a hand through his hair, the summoned god replied, "Alright, Senbei will overlook this slight to his person." Ranma grinned again. "Now that we're all friends again... I need a few things, S, old buddy." "Please, Ranma, call me Senbei." "Sure thing, S," Ranma said, smirking. "Ah, had it been anyone but you, my old friend..." Cupping his chin thoughtfully, Senbei continued, "Speaking of old friends, how is Belldandy? Have you met her yet?" "You knew that we reawakened?" Akane asked incredulously, grabbing the front of Senbei's outfit. Idly batting Akane's hands away, Senbei smirked. "But of course! A person in my position should stay on top of all current events." He winked at Ranma before adding, "Your battle with the Norns at Susano-o's temple set off quite a few alarms on all three worlds." Ranma nodded slowly, digesting that information. "So... She knows I'm back." "Indeed, Ranma." Smiling as if nothing happened, Senbei said, "What do you need, my friend?" "Nothing fancy, really..." Ranma answered, deciding to think about Her later. Tapping his chin thoughtfully, he elaborated, "Just get me the latest hardware." "No problem, Ranma. I have the latest in Divine Tech - it got more memory than you'll ever need in the next couple of centuries, and the multiple processors work together like a charm, not to mention..." "Good," Ranma said curtly, cutting Senbei's rambling off. "And now, I need a level-zero access clearance for the Yggdrasil mainframe." "What?! You can't be serious!" Senbei all but shouted, looking around suspiciously afterwards. "Of course I am, Senbei," Ranma replied stoically. Raising his eyebrows, he asked, "What, is that too much for ya?" "But... Ranma, with that you'll be able to... Oh my God! Tell me you're not going to do that!" Ranma's smirk was the only answer to Senbei's exclamation. After a few moments, the god calmed down and started chuckling, shaking his head. "Okay. If it were anyone else..." "But it isn't," Ranma said, locking eyes with him. "Yes." Senbei leaned over to Ranma and matched his gaze. "You know that even with all the hardware and the username, you'll have your work cut out for you?" "Wouldn't have it any other way, Senbei." Pulling away, the god playfully punched Ranma's shoulder. "That's you, alright." After thinking for a few moments, Senbei announced, "I'll have the goods delivered at the usual location." "Thanks a bunch, Senbei. I owe you one." "And I'll make sure you repay that debt in full." The old friends smiled, shaking hands and sealing the deal. "Say, Senbei... have you heard anything about Sis?" Ranma asked out of the blue. "I'm sorry, Ranma," the god replied, looking downcast. "I haven't heard from her ever since that day..." "Yes," Ranma sighed, before smiling sadly. "Well, it was a long shot, anyway. And perhaps the Yggdrasil will have more info, right?" "Sure thing, Ranma. Take care, now." "Take care... S." "Pour la revolution de la monde!" Senbei winked at Ranma and disappeared in a puff of smoke. "What revolution was he talking about, Ranma?" "It's not just a revolution, Akane... more like The Revolution, with a capital R." Frowning, the short-haired girl said, "Uh huh. This made a lot of sense, you know." "I'm sorry, Akane. I... well, we, actually, still don't have all of our memories back. But I feel one particular memory that stands out from the rest. It's a dream... a vision of a different time... a better time. "When I try to express it beyond a whisper, it disappears from my grasp." Before Akane could comment on that, Ranma grabbed her left hand. "Let us whisper, then." Shrugging, the raven-haired girl complied, and asked Ranma as quietly as she could, "Have you, as they say, gone mad?" Chuckling just as quietly, he replied, "Some might think so... in fact, some did think so, and tried to stop us." Akane saw the expression on Ranma's face darkening, and decided not to press the issue. She figured she'd ask Ranma what he remembered about the past at a later date, when she got her wish. Memories assaulted Akane's brain once more; memories of their goal. She gasped, clutching her head in pain. Ranma was there in a flash, looking into her eyes worriedly. "You've seen it, didn't you?" "Yes. We... failed once." Sighing, Ranma grasped Akane's cheeks with his hands. "The power to revolutionize the world is still within our grasp. This will not end the way it did... you won't die again. I promise!" "I... I believe you, Ranma." Laughing suddenly, Ranma let go of Akane's face and stepped back. Curious as to what set him off, she asked, "What's so funny?" Between chuckled, Ranma replied, "You've said that more times in the past few days than in the whole past year, ya know?" Before Akane could get angry at him, the pigtailed demon added, "I kinda like you this way." Desperately trying to conceal the blush that threatened to cover her face, Akane asked the first question that she could think of to divert Ranma's attention away from her. "So, Ranma, where do we go now?" The pigtailed demon looked at Akane, before shrugging. "Where else? You heard Senbei an' all; he'll send the stuff to the usual place." "The usual place?" Akane repeated. "Yep, Babylon." Blinking, Akane wondered, "Isn't that Iraq?" "Yeah... so?" Ranma replied in confusion. "How do you think we'll get there? We don't have any money! You can't possibly think of teleporting us over all that distance, can you?!" Ranma's smirk was the only response to Akane's rant. Grabbing Akane's waist, he took out a water canteen out of his sleeve and dumped it on both of them. The pair disappeared in the water, the canteen falling on the ground. -------------------------------------------------- "Hey, Iraq is cool this time of year!" Ranma exclaimed, smiling. "But Ranma, I don't talk Iraqish!" Akane hissed, looking around. "That's Arabic, Akane. And don't worry 'bout that, I know the language." "You do? How?" "It's a demon thing," Ranma said offhandedly. "Then why don't I know it?" Akane demanded to know. "Umm, I dunno." Ranma shrugged. "Maybe 'cause you're not a demon but an angel? Ya know, different rules an' everything." Akane thought about it for a few moments, before coming to the conclusion that life was unfair. "So, what are we supposed to do in the meanwhile?" "Let's go eat somethin'; I'm hungry." Not waiting for an answer, Ranma started walking in the direction of the nearest restaurant. "Of course you are," Akane muttered, trailing after him. As much as she hated to admit it, Ranma was right. It was about time they ate something. Akane reached the restaurant's entrance when Ranma was already discussing something with the bouncer. Something just didn't seem right to her for some reason. Maybe it was the people all around throwing glances her way. Akane checked her outfit, and didn't find any holes in it. Her hair was in a bit of a mess, so perhaps that was it? A stone suddenly flew at high speeds towards her, and Akane was barely able to catch it. Dropping it on the ground, she rubbed her sore hand, while looking around warily. Upon noticing a few men frowning at her, she glared in their direction, making them turn away. 'Hmph! Perverts, all of them!' Raising her nose skywards, Akane pointedly ignored the mob that was gathering on the street and walked over to Ranma. "Hey, you're just in time, Akane! Khaled, here, tells me that there's an all-you-can-eat buffet!" the pigtailed demon announced excitedly. When Akane approached the pair, the bouncer's expression hardened and he started shouting something rapidly in a language that she couldn't understand. From the blank expression she came to knew quite well in the past few days that settled on Ranma's face, only to be replaced by pure rage but a moment later, Akane knew that something was seriously wrong... -------------------------------------------------- The pigtailed boy looked around, finding himself suspended in the middle of a gray mist. Sounds seemed to be filtering through the fog as more and more of it receded into whence it came from. "Urd, ya wanna go to this place?" a voice not unlike his own asked someone. Looking closer, Ranma found that his identical double was talking to a person he'd gotten to know quite well recently. Deciding to just let what he figured to be a vision of the past play through, the pigtailed boy settled to watch the events. -------------------------------------------------- "Urd?" Ranma repeated, looking at his companion. Assessing the restaurant called 'Golden Goose' for a few moments, the goddess replied, "Ranma, this looks expensive... Sure!" Ranma just smirked in response. Looping his hand around Urd's, he escorted her to the entrance. Smiling at him, the host, who'd introduced himself as Pierre, said in a pleasant voice, "Excuse me, Sir, but your slave will have to wait for you outside." "My... slave?" Ranma repeated slowly. "Yes, Sir," the host patiently explained, pointing at Urd. Waving his free hand, Ranma protested, "Hey, buddy, you got the whole thing wrong. Urd doesn't belong to me!" His tone of voice bordering on exasperation, Pierre elaborated, "It matters not whom the girl belongs to, Sir." "No, ya don't understand!" Ranma said forcefully, his temper rising. "Urd's as free as all of us!" "Oh... I see," the middle-aged, mustached man deadpanned. "Perhaps the gentleman would like to visit the establishment down the street?" Grabbing the demon's arm, Urd tried to pull him away, saying, "C'mon, Ranma, let's get out of here..." "No, Urd. I said we were gonna have lunch here, an' that's exactly what we'll do," Ranma announced firmly, glaring at their uncooperative host. "Sir, we do not serve to their kind here." "Their... kind?" Ranma mused over those words, wondering what kind of place on Midgard didn't serve to goddesses. Sure, a lot of his colleagues in Nifelheim didn't hold much love for the denizens of Asgard, but Ranma was smart enough not to generalize things. Just because the other side had a few rotten apples, it didn't mean all of them were automatically bad. After all, their own side wasn't much better, so who really gave the demons any right to judge others? "Yes, Sir. Inferior people," Pierre said irritably, his voice cutting through Ranma's musings. Before the pigtailed demon fully understood what the man had said to him Urd tugged on his arm and pleaded, "Ranma, it's not worth it." Ranma stood very still, not bulging an inch, after hearing the Pierre's last words. A few moments later his entire body started to shake. "Ranma?" the Norn of the Past asked worriedly. Ranma's eyes flashed crimson, and he glared at the now cowering host. One word escaped from his throat, bringing the coldness of death with it. "Inferior?!" Still trying her best to diffuse the seemingly imminent confrontation, Urd tried to appeal to Ranma's sense of reason. "Ranma, you know what my father will say... And Hild will have your ass for this! C'mon, just leave it alone..." Ranma grabbed the host's neck with his right hand, the left one going in flames. Holding the fiery appendage right under the poor man's nose, he snarled, "Why in Hell should I let you live?!" Lightning struck the ground next to them, turning their attention back to Urd, who was standing with her slightly shaking finger still raised. When the Goddess of the Past saw that she had Ranma's attention, she pointed the digit at him accusingly. "Ranma, that's wrong. I can't let you harm that idiot." The pigtailed demon stood for a few moments, contemplating his next move. Finally, he threw the overweight man against the wall, and walked over to Urd, who visibly relaxed at this. "You're right, Urd. That scum ain't worth my time, or Nifelheim's, for that matter." Ranma took Urd's hand, and they disappeared in the black rain that suddenly covered their figures. The pair appeared at Mimir's well. Still holding onto Urd's arm, Ranma sighed and shook his head. "I can't believe that people like that exist." "What? Prejudice; racism?" Urd snorted. "You should visit Earth more often. Why do you think we cut back on our official activities on the mortal world a couple millennia ago?" Ranma said nothing, opting to frown. "And what were you thinking?! You can't go around killing people! Father restricted divine intervention on the mortal world a long time ago, and I know for a fact that Hild did the same with her flock. And your... situation... requires you to be on your best behavior." "Your father doesn't like me much, does he?" "The word is 'cautious'. Bell's one of his favorites, after all," Urd replied, smiling. "Besides, I think it's your job that he 'dislikes', rather than the person you are." "I wouldn't have killed him," Ranma suddenly said quietly. "The host?" "Although I do have the license for it," Ranma whispered, leaving Urd's question unanswered. Leaning over to the goddess, he kissed her on the cheek. "Later, Urd." With those words, Ranma disappeared before Urd could say anything to him. -------------------------------------------------- Blinking his eyes a few times to reorient himself, Ranma recalled what caused his memory to play out before him. Seeing Akane watching him with worry only served to fuel his anger further. "What makes you so superior... so right..." Ranma shouted to the bouncer in Arabic. "What gives you the power to judge people you've seen for the first time just by looking at them?!" As Akane stood dumbly, watching the two argue, Khaled shot back hotly, "That wench defies the wishes of Allah himself!" "Oh, really?" Ranma asked snidely. "He didn't mention anything of the kind to me the last time we spoke." "How dare you mock Allah and his will, stupid foreigner?!" the muscled bouncer shouted, grabbing the front of Ranma's outfit. The pigtailed demon's eyes ignited with a hellish fire. Grabbing the offending hand at the wrist, he twisted it, forcing Khaled to his knees. "You can scream for your god all you want," Ranma said coldly. "He won't come. Neither of them will... not anymore. And it's people like you that caused all this." Spitting on the ground in disgust, he continued, "Even most demons want nothing to do with your world anymore. Believe it or not, but unnecessary bloodshed is not all that we care about. "Somewhere along the line, mankind took a turn for the worst." Ranma turned to Akane, determination etched onto his features. "We'll change things... we'll fix what's wrong with the world. All that we've worked for will not be in vain!" he vowed, balling his left hand into a fist. Akane smiled and nodded at him. It wasn't the first time Ranma made up his mind about something, and she knew that he always did his best, and then some, to get things his way. "C'mon, let's go to some other place," he offered, releasing his hold on Khaled. "I don't like the company here." Ranma made a short incantation, and both disappeared from view, consumed by a black cloud that appeared out of nowhere. -------------------------------------------------- The two pairs of gigantic, fiery wings broke through the atmosphere, covering half of the globe. A second later, the area they had originated from disappeared, destroyed in the enormous explosion that shook the entire planet. Skuld watched with wide eyes, too terrified to move, as the gigantic fireball advanced on her. A translucent wall erected itself a few centimeters in front of her just in time, saving her life. A massive shock wave spread out throughout the globe in its wake, tearing down everything that was still miraculously standing. The translucent wall started losing its red color at the onslaught, before finally collapsing... And Skuld woke up screaming. The first to reach her room was Keiichi, armed with a baseball bat. Looking around and not finding any intruders, he asked her, "Did you have another nightmare, Skuld?" The young goddess just nodded, not trusting her voice for the moment. "Do you want to talk about it?" "No..." Keiichi turned to leave, when she spoke again. "But can you stay for a while?" Putting the bat against the wall, Keiichi walked over to a vacant chair and sat in it, smiling at Skuld reassuringly. He could see two thin lines that tears left on her face, and for some reason the thought of the goddess crying tore at his heart. Offering Skuld a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead, Keiichi waited patiently for her to say something. When she remained silent for a few minutes, the boy decided to strike a conversation to get the petite goddess' mind off the horrific visions that haunted her dreams. "I went and looked at a few books about you at the library, Skuld," Keiichi said, trying to figure out something that had been bothering him. "Really?" Skuld perked up. Apparently, Keiichi wasn't as inconsiderate as she had tried very hard to convince herself recently. He'd even read about her! Missing Skuld's excitement, Keiichi continued, "Yeah. I also looked at this Ragnarok thing. A lot of your gods have to fight some beast or the other when it's started, but I couldn't find you anywhere, so I figured you'd be safe and..." "We are not in the Ragnarok legend, because we're dead," Skuld interrupted Keiichi's ramblings in an emotionless voice, her previous happiness gone. "What?!" "We die when it's triggered. That's the prophecy," she said quietly. "Are you sure?" Keiichi asked, hoping he'd misunderstood Skuld's words somehow. "The Ragnarok prophecy is old and vague, but it could only mean one thing." "But if it's vague, then..." the boy tried to argue. "The nightmare I had was about my death." Keiichi looked down at his hands, out of arguments. What could you say to the Goddess of the Future? 'Ranma...' Skuld subconsciously matched Keiichi's position, studying her thumbs. A very awkward silence followed, the boy not daring to say anything else out of fear to worsen the situation further, if that was even humanly possible. "Do you know what it is like to see your own death?" Skuld asked out of the blue, catching Keiichi off guard. The poor boy could only mumble in shock, and stared wide-eyed at Skuld, as the latter started talking. He wasn't even sure that the goddess was talking with him. One thing was clear to Keiichi, however - Skuld needed to get this off her chest. And he would be there for the Norn of the Future at her time of need... simply because it was the right thing to do. "I keep on seeing my death, in full color. I remember every detail... I could even predict the exact time to a nano-second, if I wanted to." Skuld sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her right hand. "I'm not alone when I die. It's funny... one might think it'd be comforting... the not dying alone kind of thing, I mean... "But it's not. Not when you die along with your family..." The goddess sobbed, covering her face with her hands. "I know how I die, and I know how I should prepare for it... my computer's already been upgraded with all the new software that it needs. I've run countless successful simulations! It should work... it should! "And yet, it doesn't. I know it doesn't work, because after each successful test, the dream comes again. And I... no, we... all of us... have to die again. "I know Urd could've tried to save herself, but she tries to protect me instead. I hate her for it! I do! I do! I do!" Skuld angrily hit her bed as she repeated that, her voice rising. "It's my fault. It's all my fault. It's always been my fault, and it always will be..." The Norn of the Future deflated, slumping on her back listlessly. "How can Father be so cruel?" she whispered, almost too quietly for Keiichi to hear. As tears started flowing from her eyes, Skuld was vaguely aware of Keiichi moving towards her and hugging her for support. Sitting on the bed next to her, Keiichi gently rocked the upset goddess back and forth, doing his best to calm her. "It's not your fault, Skuld. Stop thinking that," he commanded, surprising even himself by the firmness of his voice. "But it is," she whispered softly. "That's what my dreams keep on telling me..." -------------------------------------------------- 'Oh, Ranma, where could you be?' Belldandy asked herself for the umpteenth time, sighing internally. She'd searched through the entire shrine twice already, and couldn't find any sign of him. What was even worth was the fact that she couldn't sense his presence, so she had to rely on Amaterasu's words. Unfortunately, the aforementioned goddess wasn't responding to her calls, when Belldandy tried to reach her from the payphones next to the shrine. The Goddess of the Present doubted that she'd be able to reach Amaterasu after seeing the Sun's backups engage, but she still felt obligated to try. However, her worst fears seemed to be a reality. The question now was, therefore, how to find Ranma. Due to his relation to the Goddess of the Sun, he had to know that something happened to her, even if he still had holes in his memory. And that'd mean that he'd go look for her... wouldn't he? 'Who am I kidding? I have no idea where Ranma will go,' Belldandy thought dejectedly. Brightening a moment later, she said, "But I know where he'll turn up eventually!" Deciding that she should gather a few papers she'd need where she was going, Belldandy started walking in the direction of the payphones. -------------------------------------------------- "Hello, I am looking for a temporary job at this school, and one of the teachers has referred me to you, Sir." Taking off his glasses and wiping them clean with a tissue, the Vice Principal, Takeuchi Saito, nodded. "Yes, yes... Please take a seat. Have you ever worked in this field, Miss..." "Dandy," the goddess helpfully supplied. "Miss Dandy." As Mr. Takeuchi looked at her expectantly, Belldandy replied, "Yes, I have worked in my father's organization all over the world. Part of the job's requirements was always educating people." Taking out the documents that her friend supplied to her, she handed them over the table to the middle-aged gentleman sitting in front of her. As he examined them, she added, "I would really like to work here, Mr. Vice Principal." "Hmm, your credentials seem to be in order... Ah, who am I kidding? As it is, our World History teacher has broken his leg a few days ago and will be on medical leave for five more weeks. You are truly a godsend! The job is your, Miss Dandy." "Thank you, Mr. Vice Principal," Belldandy replied, standing up and bowing politely to him. "And please, call me Bell." The goddess mentally added, 'Ranma does...' -------------------------------------------------- Skuld's computer beeped, getting her attention. Wiping her eyes with her sleeves, she left Keiichi sitting on her bed and went over to her terminal. Yggdrasil had finally given back the results of her search. Calming down somewhat, Skuld sat comfortably in front of her computer and opened the search results, activating the printer at the same time. Having a hard copy as backup won't hurt, she reasoned. A smile slowly spread over Skuld's face, as she read the readouts on her screen. That smile soon turned into soft chuckling, which in time grew to full-blown laughter. She had him now, had him right where it hurts! Finally, all of her research paid off. It was kind of ironic, actually, when she thought of it. Skuld was so happy she could dance. In fact, had Banpei been finished, she'd surely have a victory dance with him. Alas, that was not the case, and the young goddess was restricted to hugging herself and squealing with glee. When the bewildered Keiichi asked her what was wrong, looking as if he feared that she'd lost her mind, Skuld grabbed his hands and jumped up and down. The future was not lost after all! There was a way they would stay alive, a way for them to win... Realizing that she had stopped jumping and was now hugging Keiichi, the Goddess of the Future blushed and stepped away from him. Seeing that he was still rooted to the spot and red as a tomato, she pulled him over to her monitor and showed him the results of the search. Yes, the future still had a chance! Now, all Skuld had to do was find a cat... -------------------------------------------------- "Pour la revolution de la monde!" is French for "For the revolution of the world!" -------------------------------------------------- End of Chapter 9.