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The FFML Refugee List
I was going to put a [lime] tag on this one, but then I figured that, if
the word "erection" offends you... since you've already read it in this
sentence, you've got nothing to lose. You can find the previous chapters
of this story at www.rose-hulman.edu/~katinamp/Paradox.html
A General Time Paradox
Chapter 7: Troubled Pasts, Troubled Presents
Queen Beryl frowned into the crystal globe which, until it had
suddenly gone dark, had been showing her the events unfolding in the
Universe. She turned the globe over in her hands, examining it from all
sides. "What is going on? I can't see anything!"
"The Sailor Scouts have some powerful allies, my Queen," said
Chronite.
Beryl let the globe fall into her lap, giving her an unobstructed
view of Chronite. "Must you always appear like that?" she snapped.
Chronite bowed in apology. "I am sorry, my Queen."
"Spare me the groveling, Chronite. What news do you have of the
battle?"
"The battle is over, my Queen. The Sailor Scouts live, but they have
been heavily wounded. Three of ours have returned, but there is no sign
of Kusanagi or Sailor Saturn."
"What has happened to them?" demanded Beryl.
"I do not know, my Queen. But I suspect that Sailor Pluto may have
done something to them."
"Sailor Pluto? The Guardian of Time? You said she wouldn't be a
problem!"
"I believed that she would not, my Queen. When she uses her power,
it increases my power. I did not expect her to be willing to take that
risk."
"Why does using her power increase yours?"
"It was Sailor Pluto who sealed my powers within this dimension.
However, the seal also covers her own powers. In order to use her
powers, she must break part of that seal, and she cannot restore it
herself. Thus, every time we force her to use her powers, my power will
grow."
Beryl idly rolled the crystal ball in her lap. "Then we must force
her to use that power. We need another ally, Chronite."
"I quite agree, my Queen," said Chronite with a bow.
"Don't try to flatter me, Chronite. You are not currently in my
favor."
"My Queen?"
"The fighters you have brought me so far are useless. Obviously, our
coercion is not working. We cannot rely on warriors who fight for love.
We need a warrior who will fight for the sake of fighting."
"That could be dangerous, my Queen," warned Chronite. "Remember that
my power is limited in this dimension. In their own worlds, I have no
difficulty controlling our recruits. However, in this dimension, I
cannot stop them from fulfilling any evil desires that they may have,
including defeating the two of us and conquering the Negaverse for
themselves."
"Do you doubt my own power, Chronite?" asked Beryl.
Chronite bowed again. "Of course not, my Queen. You are undoubtedly
the greatest power in this dimension. Therefore, I am sure that you are
wise enough to realize that in the infinite dimensions to which I have
access, there are powers even greater than yours. Any attempt to harness
one of those could prove to be our - I mean, your undoing."
If Beryl heard the slip, she ignored it. "Of course I know that.
However, there are certainly powers out there that we will be able to
control."
Chronite nodded. "I already have one in mind, my Queen. A creature
held in captivity for its entire life, not yearning for freedom only
because it does not know what freedom is."
"Is it powerful enough to destroy the Sailor Scouts?"
"Its power should be more than adequate for our purposes, my Queen,"
replied Chronite.
"Will Sailor Pluto be able to interfere again?" asked Beryl.
"I do not know, my Queen," said Chronite. "I do not know what power
Pluto has."
"I know what it was," replied a low voice from behind the throne.
"She used it on me directly." Sailor Saturn stepped out from behind the
throne, cloaked in shadow.
"What power did she use?" asked Chronite. "How did you survive?"
"I believe that will be all, Chronite," said Beryl. "You have your
assignment."
"But, my Queen -"
"Are you questioning my orders, Chronite?"
Chronite stared levelly at Beryl. "No," he said coldly. After a
pause, he grudgingly added, "my Queen." He vanished.
"You do not trust him?" asked Saturn.
"That is none of your business," snapped Beryl. "Now, tell me about
Sailor Pluto's power."
"She has the power to banish our warriors to their dimensions of
origin. They can never be returned to this dimension once her power has
banished them."
Beryl frowned. "You said that she used this power on you directly?"
"I am immune to it, because this is my dimension of origin. She
cannot banish me from it."
"But our other warriors are susceptible to it?"
"Only if they are weak enough at the time," replied Saturn. "The
stronger the will of the target, the more difficult it is to separate
them forcibly from this dimension."
Beryl nodded, deep in thought. "Is this power a threat to us?"
"We should probably treat it as a threat," replied Saturn. "The
others must be warned."
"Very well. And you will need to take a much more active role in the
battles from now on."
"That may not be wise, Queen Beryl. My body is weak, and in my
weakened state, Pluto can banish me to the Negaverse until my power
returns."
"Do not presume to tell me what is wise and what is not," said
Beryl. Sailor Saturn's lip tightened briefly, but her shadowed
appearance hid this from Beryl. She bowed slightly, then turned and
walked away from the throne.
When the throne had vanished into the darkness behind Saturn,
Chronite appeared in front of her. "Now, tell me everything you told
Beryl."
Saturn smiled. "You're not so formal when she can't hear you, are
you?"
Chronite raised his hand as if to smack her in the face. "Watch your
mouth!" he snapped.
"Do you care to test my power?" asked Saturn. "Without your full
power, I could destroy you in seconds."
Chronite's muscles tensed as he fought to control his rage. He took
a deep breath and calmed down. "Sailor Saturn... Mistress 9... I must
know what power Pluto has over me. That bitch Beryl has no right to
withhold information from me."
"She doesn't trust you," Saturn pointed out. "I can't say that I
blame her."
"Ha! That pigheaded idiot still believes that she has more power
than me, even when I finally reclaim all of my power!"
"No wonder, when she's growing fat on your flattery."
"Exactly the point, my dear Mistress 9. No sense giving her the
impression that I am a threat. Should she decide that I am dangerous,
she might try to destroy me."
"Then, in fact, you are the one who is afraid of her?"
Chronite tensed up again. "Do not mock me! Just you wait! I will
force Pluto to use her powers, and then I will be stronger than you and
Beryl put together!"
Saturn grinned slyly. "That will be something to see."
Chronite again forced himself to calm down. "I have urgent business
elsewhere. Are you going to tell me what I want to know or not?"
Saturn chuckled. "You're very amusing. I enjoy watching you grovel."
She grunted, and waves of dark energy rose around her body, barely
perceptible in the darkness of the Negaverse. Chronite took a step back
in fear, but then stopped in his tracks and nodded knowingly.
"I see. This is the energy that Pluto used against you. I can feel
it now." He closed his eyes and extended his senses, groping at the
power around Saturn. "Yes, it is indeed a force to be reckoned with."
"What are you going to do about it?" asked Saturn.
"I'm going to do nothing, for the moment. Beryl won't order another
attack until our people can root out another one of the Sailor Scouts'
true identities, so I have time to think. I will secure our next ally in
the meantime." He faded out of the Negaverse.
"What an idiot," said Saturn. "His confidence will be his downfall
as much as Beryl's will be hers." She paused thoughtfully. "I just hope
that I do not become overconfident as well."
*************************************************
Raye opened her eyes to find herself lying in her own bed at the
Cherry Hill Shrine. Amy, Lita, and Mina surrounded the bed, staring down
at her with concern all over their faces. "Guys! You're all right!" She
tried to sit up, but a shooting pain in her side forced her back down.
"Oh, be careful!" Amy admonished her. "Kusanagi stabbed you in the
side, and it still hasn't fully healed. You'll need to stay in bed for
at least another day."
"Where's Serena? And Darien?"
"Serena's still sleeping, and Darien's watching her," replied Lita.
"She blocked one of Lina's spells, and it took everything she had to do
it."
"Meatball-head had the power to do that?" asked Raye.
"Barely," said Mina. "If Lina's power hadn't given out when it did,
Sailor Moon probably would have lost it, and we'd all be dead."
Raye looked up at Mina and saw a sturdy cast covering her right
forearm. "Mina... you saved my life, didn't you? And you took a nasty
hit in the process..."
"I'm not counting," said Mina. "Besides, this cast that Amy made
should allow me to use my arm normally until it heals. So in the end,
there's really no harm done."
"I'm so sorry... I spent the whole battle bleeding to death, and you
guys had to protect me."
"We're just glad you're alive!" said Lita. "We'll do anything it
takes to protect a friend. No thanks or apologies necessary!"
Raye shook her head. "I'm only going to be a burden on you guys
now."
"No you're not!" insisted Amy. "You're Sailor Mars, and you'll
always be a valuable part of our team, no matter what state you're in!"
"This arrangement will work out well," said Lita. "I can't go back
to my apartment anyway, and I can't go out in public, so I'll stay here
to keep an eye on you until you've healed up."
"But... if there's a battle..."
"Don't argue," Amy commanded softly. "You need to rest. In another
day or two, you should be able to fight with the rest of us. Until then,
we'll just have to hold our own."
"I wouldn't worry so much," said Lita. "Artemis thinks he might know
who our mystery allies are, so we should be able to trust them in the
future."
"I can't make any guarantees," said Artemis from the foot of the
bed, "but our allies might just be the Sailor Scouts of the Outer
Planets."
"The who?" asked Raye.
"As far as we can remember," explained Luna, "in addition to
yourselves, there were also Sailor Scouts that represented the planets
Uranus and Neptune."
"They were the protectors of the Solar System from outside invasion
in the days of the Moon Kingdom during the Silver Millennium," added
Artemis. "Their powers were somewhat greater than yours."
"When you were sent into the future, they were sent even farther
ahead, to be prepared for more powerful enemies that would attack much
later than Queen Beryl."
"That's why they can't possibly be here at this time," concluded
Artemis. "But if Lina wasn't lying when she mentioned other Sailor
Scouts... that's the only thing I can think of."
"Could this be the time at which they were meant to arrive?" asked
Amy.
Artemis shook his head. "I'm sure it's not for at least a century,
long after your mortal lives are over. They will help to ease the
transition of this world into the New Moon Kingdom of the Crystal
Millennium during their own mortal lives, while you will exist only as
Sailor Scouts."
Mina scowled. "You can remember all that, but you can't remember how
we can increase our powers?"
"Getting angry at Artemis isn't going to help us," Lita reminded
her.
"If only I could watch them use their attacks for myself," said
Artemis. "Or even just see the attacks again, now that I know they might
be Sailor Scout attacks. That might remind me."
"Don't worry about it, Artemis," said Amy. "I've been working on a
way to get better use out of the powers we have."
"And what have you come up with?" asked Raye.
"So far, nothing." Everyone facefaulted. "I said I was working on
it! I never said I had any results!"
Mina was the first to get back to her knees. "Why should we not be w
orried, when our best plan has no results yet?"
Amy blushed. "Well, I wouldn't say that everything hinges around my
plan... we still have our natural skills and abilities."
"Our natural skills and abilities?" asked Mina skeptically.
"They've gotten us this far, at least."
Mina looked at the cast on her arm, then at Raye, and finally to the
corner of the room where Darien was cradling Serena in his arms. "That's
what worries me."
"Just relax," advised Raye. "We'll just have to deal with the next
fight when it comes."
"You won't be dealing with anything for a while," Lita reminded her.
Raye groaned. "I won't even be able to pray at the sacred fire..."
"Your grandfather and Chad are both praying for your swift
recovery," Amy informed her. "I wish there were something more we could
do, but only time will heal your wound now."
"How's Serena doing?" asked Raye.
"She's just sleeping now," said Darien from the corner. "She'll
probably wake up tomorrow morning, good as new. Maybe she'll even be up
on time for once." He bent down and kissed Serena lightly on the cheek.
She didn't stir.
"She's lucky to have someone like you to watch over her like that,"
said Lita.
"She's not lucky," countered Amy. "She's a princess, and Darien is
her prince."
"Either way, I wish I had someone to watch over me like that," said
Raye. She reflexively turned to the door, where Chad had just appeared.
"No, Chad, I meant someone besides you."
Chad bowed his head. "I'm really sorry, Raye. I wish I'd been there
when those muggers attacked you."
"Then you'd probably be dead by now," said Raye. "The Sailor Scouts
were there to save me and my friends. That's all that matters."
"It's all because of those Sailor Scouts!" seethed Chad with a
clenched fist. "They ruin all my opportunities to prove my love for
you!"
"Chad, trust me. You don't need to be jealous of the Sailor Scouts."
"Then you do care about me!" Chad leapt into the air, then happily
floated out of the room.
Everyone continued to stare long after Chad had left the room. "He's
weird," said Mina at last.
"Well, don't worry, Raye," Lita assured her. "I'll be here until
you're completely healed, and I won't let anything happen to you, even
if I get another scar to match this one."
Raye smiled back, although she was beginning to feel somewhat woozy.
"Thanks, Lita. You're a real... friend." She let her head fall back onto
the pillow and fell asleep instantly.
"Good. She's getting some sleep," said Amy.
Mina yawned. "And we need to get some as well, now that we know
she'll be all right."
"Yes, we need to get home quickly, before our parents worry too much
about us," agreed Amy. She and Mina quickly said their good-byes to Lita
and left the room, and Darien followed shortly after, carrying Serena.
"I sure hope you wake up in time, meatball-head," said Darien. "I
don't want you to die if I can't protect you again." He kissed her one
more time before leaving the building. This time, she squirmed slightly
in his arms and smiled. Darien returned her smile and set off for the
Tsukino residence.
*************************************************
Michelle eased her way into the motel room, careful to support
Amarah as she hobbled in, leaning heavily on Michelle's shoulder. "Just
a little further, Amarah."
Amarah lowered herself onto the bed with a pained groan. "I can't
believe I lost both legs."
"They were really tough, Amarah," said Michelle. "I think we're
lucky to have survived."
"We thought we were going to turn the tide of the battle," said
Amarah. "But we can barely keep ourselves alive."
"The tide of the battle will change," said Trista as she stepped
into the room and closed the door behind her. "Sailor Saturn was the
greatest threat. Now that she is gone, we should have little trouble
dispatching the remaining opponents."
"That's a relief," said Amarah. "But I still don't understand why
Sailor Saturn was attacking us in the first place."
"Yes, you seemed very nervous about something," said Michelle.
"Something having to do with changing our pasts."
Trista sighed. "It's really a matter far above your concern. You're
better off not worrying about it."
"You know that always makes me worry more," said Amarah. "I don't
like feeling helpless. The thought that I can't do anything..." She
clenched her fists and trailed off.
"I know. But this is truly a fight that you can do nothing about."
"Why don't you let us decide that for ourselves, Pluto?" asked
Michelle. "Knowing the truth will be better than fearing the worst, and
it will set our minds at ease."
"Are you sure? The truth could very well be far worse than anything
you could imagine."
"I'll believe that when I hear it," said Amarah. "So start talking
already."
Trista sighed again. "I will try to explain so that you can
understand, but do not be discouraged if you cannot. These matters are
not meant for mortals to comprehend.
"I suppose I must begin by defining my role as a Guardian of Time.
You, as mortals, experience time as a flow of events. However, to a
Guardian of Time, time is merely another dimension like space, easily
traversed with some small degree of effort. Guardians of Time also
experience a flow of events, but it exists beyond time. You might call
it 'supertime.'
"At the beginning of supertime, there were one hundred forty-four
Guardians of Time. Each was granted the power to control one aspect of
existence. The aspects were paired, one representing 'yin,' and the
other representing 'yang.' For example, the yin element of Love was
paired with the yang element of Hatred. Mortals might try to classify
these as 'good' and 'evil,' but both halves are needed for a complete
universe. Only the highest aspect, Time itself, and the lowest aspect,
Void, were not paired.
"We Guardians of Time existed for a single purpose: to bring about
and control existence itself. We pooled our abilities to create an
infinite collection of universes, each possessing all of our aspects in
some form or another. However, we could not efficiently devote our
efforts to every universe simultaneously, even having separated the Time
of those universes from our supertime. So, we divided the universes
among ourselves, giving an equal set to each Guardian."
"Equally dividing an infinite number of universes?" asked Michelle.
"How is that -?"
"Do not concern yourself with the details," replied Trista. "In any
case, as supertime progressed, each Guardian of Time would take a body
that resembled a mortal form and live the course of time in each
universe from the moment of its creation to the moment of its
destruction. In this universe, my mortal identity is that of Sailor
Pluto. However, as a Guardian of Time, my true title is Severer 4, Lord
of Death."
"That sounds familiar, somehow," said Amarah.
"It should. You see, our plan worked smoothly for some period of
supertime, but as all plans do, ours began to fall apart. Some of our
number, those representing the 'yang' elements such as Silence, Chaos,
War, Hatred, Nightmares - " She paused uneasily. " - and Death... began
to lose control, becoming corrupted by the incredible power that they
wielded. Their opposites began to weaken, and existence became
unbalanced."
"You named yourself," said Michelle. "Does that mean that you, also,
were corrupted?"
"Not entirely," replied Trista. "The other Lords of the yang
elements gathered together to overthrow Father 1, the Lord of Time, and
Mother 144, the Lord of Void. They had hoped to gain control of the
entire Council, but the Council was too powerful for them. I avoided
that conflict, knowing that their efforts were doomed. They were
defeated, and their powers were sealed. Their universes were destroyed
to avoid spreading the corruption, and they were banished from the Gate
of Time for all of supertime.
"After that, I returned to the Council to swear my allegiance once
again, and was granted my seat. However, the deposed Guardians have
always sought to reclaim their power, and to control the Council itself
completely. That is the conflict that Mistress 9 speaks of."
"Mistress 9!" shouted Amarah. "I understand now! She was the
Guardian of Time who ruled Silence, wasn't she?"
Trista nodded. "Yes. She still swears her allegiance to Pharaoh 90,
the Lord of Chaos, because she hopes to gain something from him when she
has helped him regain his full power. He was once the most powerful
Guardian of Time by far, save for Father 1 and Mother 144. His rise to
power was so swift that his opposite number, Regius 55, the Lord of
Order, died from the abrupt loss of his power. He was not the only
casualty from the insurrection, but he was the first. Many have said
that had he survived, the War of Time could never have occurred."
"Skip the politics," snapped Amarah. "What do Mistress 9 and Pharaoh
90 hope to accomplish by taking over this universe?"
"They seek to return to the Gate of Time in my stead at the end of
this universe," replied Trista. "They would then regain their power, and
could begin building up power in other universes and plotting to depose
the Council once again. Already, Marius 78, the Lord of Nightmares, has
begun to build her power in another one of my universes, forcing Helios
77 to take refuge in this one because of his weakness. They believe that
they can convince me to join them again, and because I control Death, I
would be able to destroy their opponents easily."
"But you won't do that, right?" asked Michelle.
"Rest assured, I want no part of their dirty plan. However, I may
not have a choice. As I am unable to control the future at this moment,
Mistress 9's plan may come to fruition."
"Okay," said Amarah. "So what IS the plan?"
"This is where it begins to get complicated," began Trista.
"You mean it wasn't complicated before?" asked Amarah. Michelle
shushed her.
"Do you remember the tree analogy that I used before to describe
oblique dimensions?" asked Trista. Amarah and Michelle nodded. "Well,
every tree has a trunk. No matter how high up in the tree you go, the
trunk is the thickest part. It gets thinner and thinner as you climb the
tree, but it is always thicker than the surrounding branches."
"And there's an oblique dimension like that?" asked Amarah.
"Yes. There is one timeline in every universe that is far more
likely than any other, because all choices have preferred outcomes. To
use the example I used earlier, if Sailor Neptune's life were in danger,
Sailor Uranus would be more likely to try to save her than to run away.
That most likely timeline, the trunk of the tree, is known as the One
True Timeline, and it is the only timeline that can be seen by an
observer from outside that universe."
"It must be very significant in the grand scheme of things, then,"
said Michelle.
"Very much so. It is the timeline along which the Guardian of Time
lives during his or her mortal existence, and thus it is the only
connection between the universe and the Gate of Time."
"So Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 90 want to gain control of the One True
Timeline?" asked Amarah.
"They cannot alter the events of the One True Timeline," replied
Trista. "However, they can make certain choices more likely in the
future, thus changing which timeline of those that already exist is the
One True Timeline. It is possible, for example, to plant in Sailor
Moon's head the idea that she cannot defeat Queen Beryl, by demoralizing
her with defeats. Thus, the possibility that she defeats Queen Beryl
anyway will exist, but it will be weaker. However, that cannot be
Mistress 9's goal. I believe that she means to steer the probabilities
in her favor. She wants a timeline where she defeats the Sailor Scouts
in the future to become the One True Timeline."
"Is that possible?" asked Michelle. "Can she really change the One
True Timeline?"
"Yes," said Trista. "The One True Timeline of other universes has
been shifted, in cases where time travel was possible for mortals. A
young man named Trunks managed to alter the probabilities of his
universe, replacing the former One True Timeline with a much better one,
although he could not completely destroy the possibility of his own dark
future."
"What will happen if Mistress 9 succeeds?" asked Michelle.
"Then, in the One True Timeline, Sailor Saturn's power will destroy
this universe."
Amarah nearly leapt to her feet in shock. "Destroy the universe? But
if that happens in the One True Timeline... won't it destroy all
timelines?"
"No," replied Trista. "Sailor Saturn's power is twofold. She is the
Sailor Scout of Destruction, but she is also the Sailor Scout of
Creation. Her power allows her to destroy the universe and replace it
with anything she desires, although she herself is destroyed in the
transition. If Mistress 9 uses that power, then she will create a new
body for herself to use when Sailor Saturn is destroyed and will be the
ruler of the new universe. Although she will not be able to destroy me
without destroying herself as well, my power will be unable to prevent
her from seizing the Council of Time along with Pharaoh 90."
"Is that really going to affect us?" asked Amarah. "If it's
happening in another timeline, then we won't even notice it, will we?"
"Of course we will," replied Michelle. "Think about it. All of
existence ruled by Chaos and Silence and Nightmares... if these forces
take over, what will become of our world? Of all worlds?"
Amarah sighed. "I can't picture it. Pluto was right. That fight is
way above us. We can't oppose that kind of power by ourselves."
Michelle nodded. "As much as we may feel like the defenders of this
world, even we are dwarfed by the magnitude of the true conflicts that
matter. But isn't that the way all people are? Insignificant in the big
picture, but they try to live their own lives regardless of how little
impact they may have."
"Many would lose hope if they knew the truth about their destinies,"
said Trista.
"What about us?" asked Michelle. "Don't we have a hopeful destiny?"
Trista's eyes lost their focus momentarily, as if she were focusing
on an unpleasant memory. She shook her head to clear it. "Even in your
case," she said carefully, "it is best not to know."
"Enough fortune-telling," said Amarah. "We know what we can't do
anything about. So what CAN we do?"
"We must protect the Inner Scouts," said Trista. "We must defeat any
remnants of Mistress 9's plan in order to prevent the One True Timeline
from shifting."
"But I thought you couldn't see the future," said Michelle.
"I cannot," replied Trista. "I cannot see the results of my actions
on the timeline. I am still aware of all timelines, but I do not know
which one will become the One True Timeline."
"Then how will we know if what we're doing is right, or if we're
just playing into Mistress 9's hands?" asked Amarah.
Trista paused. "We cannot," she said at last. "But protecting the
Inner Scouts is our immediate goal in any case. That much I know, even
without being able to see the consequences of my actions. The timelines
do not branch again until the defeat of Queen Beryl. The Sailor Scouts
must survive until then."
"Sailor Saturn seemed to think that the deaths of the Inner Scouts
wouldn't cause a paradox," Michelle pointed out.
Trista shook her head slowly. "It may very well be true. But I can't
understand how it could be possible. We know that the Sailor Scouts
sacrificed their lives to combine their power with Sailor Moon's so that
she could defeat Queen Beryl. They can't do that if they die before
their time."
"There must be some angle that you're not considering," said
Michelle.
"Or maybe Saturn was lying," Amarah offered. "She is our enemy,
after all. Maybe she wants to trick us into being willing to sacrifice
the Inner Scouts."
"However, if I can understand this, we might not have to devote all
of our energy to protecting them," said Trista. "We may be able to
concentrate harder on defeating our enemies instead."
"I still won't stand back and let the Inner Scouts die," said
Michelle.
"I pray that it will not come to that," said Trista. "But if it
does... we cannot let our feelings put the entire universe in jeopardy.
We must do what we must do."
"She's got a point," conceded Amarah. "We might not like it, but we
don't have a choice."
"Then we simply won't let it come to that," said Michelle.
"I hope we can afford to have that kind of optimism," said Amarah.
"Ever since we got here, I've had the nagging feeling that we aren't in
control of our destinies anymore. We're just being swept along in the
flow of time, and we don't get to choose where we'll end up."
"It only means that we must work harder to steer ourselves toward a
brighter future," said Trista.
"Then we'd better make the most of our time off," said Michelle. She
sat down on the bed next to Amarah. "How are your legs feeling?"
"They're still a little numb," replied Amarah.
"Rubbing them a bit might help with that," Michelle suggested.
Trista abruptly stood up and cleared her throat. "I think I have
important business to take care of at the Time Gate. I'll come back and
get you when the next battle begins." She quickly left the room and
closed the door behind her.
Amarah scowled at the door. "I wonder why she was in such a
hurry..."
*************************************************
"Akane... don't worry. I'm going to get you out of there, no matter
what it takes. I just... can't bring myself to kill the Sailor Scouts.
It's not because they're girls - you know I can fight girls if I have
to... but they're the good guys. They're trying to protect people, and
here I am trying to kill them. How am I supposed to choose? What right
do I have to say who lives and who dies?" Ranma looked up at Akane with
tears in his eyes. "What would you do? Would you kill someone else to
protect me?"
"She can't hear you," said Lina. Ranma spun around to face her.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
"I should have been paying attention," replied Ranma. "If I let you
sneak up on me, anyone could have. That's a good way to die."
"No one's going to attack you here in the Negaverse," Lina reminded
him. "It's okay to let down your guard a little. Open up to your
emotions."
Ranma quickly turned back to the crystal, wiping his eyes with a
hidden motion. "I wasn't emotional. Just came back here to look at her
for a while. I'm only protecting her 'cause she can't protect herself.
It's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak." He reflexively ducked
and cringed from the anticipated violent tirade, but the crystallized
Akane was in no condition to deliver it.
Lina sighed. "We both know that that's a lie. Why are you lying to
yourself? If you'd just admit that you love her, killing the Sailor
Scouts would be a lot easier."
Ranma shook his head. "No, it wouldn't. I know it's wrong, for any
reason."
"But what about letting Akane die? Is that right? If it is, then why
don't you just break that crystal right now?"
"I could never do that!" shouted Ranma. Even though she had expected
a reaction, Lina still took a step back in shock. She quickly regained
her composure.
"Then it looks like there's no right choice, is there?"
"Of course not," said Ranma. "So what am I supposed to do?"
"Easy," replied Lina. "When there's no right choice... you make the
wrong choice."
Ranma turned back to Lina, expecting to see a smile on her face, but
her expression was quite serious. "Was that supposed to be a joke?" he
asked.
"No. I'm just stating the facts. There are times when you can't do
'the right thing' because it doesn't exist. Then you have to accept that
there's no way to get out of your destiny and just take the best option
that's open to you."
"That doesn't help me," said Ranma. "How am I supposed to weigh
Akane's life against an entire world?" Lina shrugged sympathetically.
"What about you? What would you do?"
"Me?" asked Lina. "You say that like I'm not in exactly the same
situation as you."
Ranma smacked himself in the face. "Sorry. I forgot." He thought for
a moment. "So, what are you going to do?"
"The same thing as you, I suppose. Think about it a little longer."
"Gee, that's helpful," said Ranma sarcastically.
"I can't make your choice for you," said Lina. "Well, I could always
break Akane's crystal..."
"Don't even joke about that!" shouted Ranma.
"Who was joking?" asked Lina. "If you can't handle a decision like
this, you're not going to get very far around here."
Ranma snorted. "Like you're one to talk. You've never had to choose
between one person's life and an entire world."
"I have, actually," said Lina. "Many times."
"Hypothetically?"
Lina laughed half-heartedly. "I wish. No, I'm afraid I've faced the
same decision you're facing now many times before, although it was my
own fault every time."
"Well, what decision did you make?" asked Ranma.
Lina shrugged. "The only decision I could make, really. I suppose
it's not quite the same as the decision you're trying to make now, since
it was more a question of someone else's life against my soul. But I
still have my soul."
"Who would force you to make a decision like that?" asked Ranma.
"Nobody," Lina admitted. "That's the worst part, really. Like I
said, I brought it on myself. It's the trouble with being a precocious
sorceress."
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe we'd better sit down. It's not a very pleasant story." Ranma
moved away from Akane's crystal and seated himself in front of Lina.
"Have you paid attention to the words of the Dragon Slave?" she asked
once they had both settled themselves comfortably.
"A little," he replied. "I don't remember them well enough to repeat
them."
"'I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand against the
power you bestow in my unworthy hand.' Remember that part?"
"Yeah, I remember that. What about it?"
"Think about the words, Ranma. It's a pledge. Every spell has one.
Black magic is ruled by beings of darkness: monsters, demons, and worse.
In order to use that power, I have to make a pact with those monsters."
She paused and let her gaze drop to the ground. "Usually it's enough
just to use the spell, but sometimes, if the sorcerer isn't powerful
enough to resist, the monster takes control to satisfy its lust for
power. It holds the sorcerer's soul hostage in exchange for some
service."
Ranma's hand clutched at his chest as if protecting his heart. "You
sell your soul for power?"
"There are schools that teach the dark arts, and they carefully
monitor the use of black magic. They never let students advance until
they're powerful enough to resist the monsters controlling the more
powerful spells. I was in one for a few months, but I got bored moving
at their slow pace and ran away to learn magic on my own. I was able to
control myself for the most part, but sometimes, when I cast a new spell
for the first time, the monsters would win out. And then I had no choice
but to do what they said."
"How could you do that? How could you willingly try to use magic you
couldn't control?"
"Haven't you ever tried to use power that was out of your grasp, but
you knew that if you kept trying, you'd eventually get it? Even if it
killed you, you wouldn't give up until you learned it?" Ranma didn't
know if he could count the number of techniques he'd learned that way.
He merely nodded. "I knew I had the potential to be one of the greatest
sorcerers of all time. Even my teachers said as much. I just wasn't
willing to wait that long. I thought I could handle learning on my own.
And every time I lost control, I figured out what I had done wrong so I
could prevent it from happening again."
"But something else went wrong each time. And you lost control again
and again..."
"I did learn a lot faster than I would have at the school. The
school prevented its students from making mistakes, so the lessons took
a lot longer to learn. When I could experiment on my own, I learned
quickly from my own mistakes and made great progress."
"That doesn't excuse anything," said Ranma. "You knew the risks
involved."
"You know what I was feeling, Ranma. You felt it too, didn't you?
You were willing to risk your life to learn some of those techniques,
weren't you?"
"How did you know?" Ranma asked before he could stop himself. How
could she twist his thoughts around like that when he tried to argue
with her? Akane always resorted to violence, but Lina...
"I thought so. I've seen techniques like the ones you used in my own
world, based purely on life energy rather than magic. I also saw what it
took to learn them."
Ranma shrugged. "Fair enough. But still, it was my own life I was
risking, not someone else's. And usually because I didn't have a
choice."
"You must think I'm incredibly selfish," said Lina. "I guess I can't
really make excuses. Black magic is the family trade. It's run in my
blood ever since I was born, so I was destined to learn it eventually. I
couldn't stop once I'd started, no matter what the cost. Black magic is
a destructive force that takes over your body and tries to take over
your mind as well, like a drug. The thrill of that power is incredible.
Once you've touched it, it's almost impossible to live without it. I had
to keep using it, or else it would tear me apart. So I taught myself,
and became the most powerful sorceress in history."
Ranma wanted to argue, but Lina's words echoed his own life so
perfectly that he couldn't. True, the price had been greater in her
case, but her motivation was no different from his. "So, what did the
monsters make you do?" he asked.
"Odd jobs," replied Lina. "Razing shrines to the ground, burning
books of white magic. White magic is no threat to monsters, since it's
only defensive and curative magic, but they don't want the lords of
white magic to gain power or followers. So they had me destroy artifacts
related to white magic."
"And people," added Ranma, filling in the words that she had left
out. "They made you kill white sorcerers, didn't they?"
Lina nodded, tears forming in her eyes. "I didn't want to do it. But
by the time they commanded me to, it was too late to back out. They had
my soul. If they wanted to, they could take control of my body and use
their power through me to do anything they wanted. They could totally
possess me and make my body a shell for their spirits, eradicating my
soul completely in the process. Or, if I was lucky, they'd just devour
my soul for power and leave my lifeless, soulless body to rot in some
dark corner of the globe." Lina shivered, and Ranma wrapped his arm
around her shoulders protectively. Lina leaned against his chest, taking
solace in the embrace. "I've never told anyone about this. Not even
Gourry."
"That's okay," Ranma whispered. "You don't have to say any more."
Lina shook her head, rubbing her temple into Ranma's chest, but he
ignored the pain. "I... I want to tell you. I've kept these memories to
myself for so long... I thought I would forget if I just tried not to
think about them. But I'll never forget... their eyes. It was always
those eyes, that last pleading look before... before... I..." She broke
down, sobbing uncontrollably. Ranma started to pull away from her, but
she threw her arms around him and held herself to his chest. Ranma
slowly let his free arm encircle Lina and held her close as the memories
flooded through her, each drawing fresh sobs.
Ranma hadn't had a great deal of experience with comforting crying
girls, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't have helped him here
anyway. This was a special circumstance, and Lina was extremely
vulnerable right now, open enough to surrender herself completely to
him. He suddenly felt closer to her than he ever had to anyone, and
wanted more than anything to delve into this closeness as deeply as he
could. He wanted to make her feel better, to ease her pain and calm her
troubled mind, still her body's trembling, warm her frozen flesh, prove
to her that her mistakes could be forgiven, that she could be
appreciated for her value as a person without being judged for her
past... that she could be loved.
Ranma's hand instinctively crept down Lina's back and came to rest
on her buttocks. Lina's breath caught in her throat at the contact. She
slowly raised her head, letting her gaze take in Ranma's muscular chest
and compassionate face before settling on his eyes. The reflection of a
face haggard from crying but still youthfully bright stared back, but
Lina concentrated instead on the emotions that she could read in his
eyes. He found her attractive, she could tell, but he was concerned
about her feelings rather than her looks, or her body... despite what
his hand was doing.
Lina realized that she was staring, but she couldn't tear her gaze
from Ranma's face. Ranma stared back, seemingly as surprised as she was,
but clearly in control of himself as he searched her eyes for hints of
her feelings. Her eyes, moist with tears, spoke volumes of emotion to
Ranma; not indignation at his touch, nor anger, but not acceptance
either. This was a look of trepidation, fear bordering on terror; but
also excitement, and one other emotion that Ranma couldn't quite place.
'Are you sure you want to do this?' her eyes asked him. 'We can never
truly be together. We would only be hurting each other, and ourselves.
But if you truly want to have me... then I am yours.'
Ranma slowly closed his eyes, shutting out the outside emotions and
letting his body take over. Despite his lack of sight, Ranma could feel
Lina close her own eyes and lift her head, pursing her lips. He bent
forward to meet her halfway, his mouth tingling in anticipation. Her
warm lips pressed against his, and he felt the warmth fill his body like
a charge of ki energy that made him stronger rather than weaker as it
surged through him. His lips and hers began to move in a complicated
dance that sent ripples of pleasure down both of their spines, arousing
them both to no small degree. The small mounds of Lina's breasts pressed
against Ranma's chest as she moved, and he could feel the tiny nipples
hardening through their shirts. The sensation made him begin to wonder
why he'd never done this with Akane, but it didn't cross his mind to
feel guilty. In that wonderful moment, he didn't even consider how
betrayed Akane might feel.
Betrayal. That was the hidden emotion in those last moments before
the kiss, the one that Ranma hadn't recognized at first. 'How could you
do this to me?' the image of Lina's eyes in Ranma's memory whispered
softly. 'I gave my heart to you, trusted you to hold me. How could you
take me this way; rape my body and my soul with your compassion?' But
the kiss went on, and Ranma had no doubt of what Lina's true emotions
were now. The crystals were forgotten, and for all he cared, Queen Beryl
could shatter them. Lina rolled over onto her stomach, and Ranma felt
her entire body lying on top of his as he lay down on his back, pulling
her with him. He knew that she could feel the stiffness between his
legs, and her tongue slowly parted his lips in response. But, somehow,
they both knew that it would go no further than this. However much
passion they felt, the kiss would end the tryst, and they would have to
quell their quickly beating hearts and return to planning their next
attack. Ranma forced his consciousness above the kiss and began to
wonder what he could possibly say when the kiss ended, when the two of
them managed to pull their lips apart and stared at each other across
the inevitable awkward silence. Would he manage to preserve the mood
while still forestalling the need to act further on their emotions, or
would he dash her heart to pieces with ill-chosen words, destroying her
fragile spirit beyond repair? Was there even anything that could be
said? Perhaps they would simply stare in silence until she reached up to
touch him on the lips with a finger, imploring him to speak no further
of it, and then turned and walked away, leaving a hole in his heart
where she had briefly filled the one that hadn't been there before...
"Ranma, tell me something," said Lina, snapping him out of his
reverie. His hands had begun to stroke lightly up and down her back of
their own accord, and her head still rested against his chest. He
wondered if she suspected why his heart was beating so quickly. He gazed
longingly across her back at her shapely, smooth rump, and for the
briefest of moments, knew with certainty that the reality would match
the fantasy... but it wouldn't be right. He realized that it was now he
who was trembling, and he carefully cleared his mind before replying,
glad that she couldn't feel his erection from her current position.
"What -" he squeaked. He cleared his throat and began again. "What
do you want me to say?"
"Anything," she replied. "It's too quiet. The loneliness is
frightening."
Ranma let his breath out slowly. Though she hadn't said it, it was
obvious that she wanted him to say something to reassure her. Only one
story came to mind, and he plunged ahead, not thinking about what effect
it might have on her. "I used to know a kid, way back when I was young.
Before I got cursed, even. My pops had just left my fiancee Ukyo behind
and run off with her father's cart, and then sold it in the next town
for a tidy profit. He was like that, my pops. Always doing whatever he
could for a fistful of cash, which he'd blow on food all in one day, and
if I wanted any, I'd have to fight him for it. But that's not really
important.
"Anyway, like I said, Pops and I settled down for a while a few
months after Ukyo in this little town way out in the middle of nowhere.
All it had was a few shops where you could buy the basic necessities,
and a little farm. Pops and I stayed at that farm, and in exchange, Pops
and I offered to teach the farmer's son Gendo some of our martial arts
techniques.
"The kid caught on quick, mostly because I was teaching him what
Pops had taught me. He was already strong from spending his entire life
doing chores on the farm, and he had incredible agility from riding the
animals and other odd jobs. I think Pops even said at some point that he
wished I'd been brought up as a farmer, because Gendo was so easy to
teach. So like Pops to say something like that. He'd have done anything
to me if he thought it would make me a better fighter. He even tossed me
into a pit of starving cats every day wearing nothing but fish."
"Knowing that you were afraid of cats?" asked Lina.
"No, that's where I got my fear. Whenever I have to face that fear
directly, I turn into a cat myself - until somebody triggers my Jusenkyo
curse. On the plus side, I can use the legendary Cat Fist while I'm in
that state."
"I noticed," replied Lina. "Anyway, you were telling me about your
friend Gendo."
"Yeah. He and I sometimes practiced on our own, inventing our own
exercises for when Pops and Gendo's dad went out drinking together. We
both learned a lot from each other during that time. That's when I
refined my sense of balance. He showed me how he walked across the
fences between fields without falling off, and I kept trying until I
could do it too. Pops never thought balance was as important as
techniques when he taught me. I owe Gendo a lot of my skills."
"He sounds like a really great guy," remarked Lina. "But something
bad happened, didn't it?"
"I probably shouldn't be telling you this," said Ranma. "It'll only
upset you."
"Tell me only what you want to," said Lina. "I'd like to know what
happened."
Ranma sighed. What was it Doctor Tofu had told him once about
depression, during one of his more solemn moments? 'Men seek advice in
hard times, but women seek empathy. Tell a man what to do, but tell a
woman that you know how she feels.' Something like that. He smiled. He
didn't have any advice he could give to Lina anyway; if he had, he would
have used it himself. Empathy, on the other hand, he had in excess. "All
right. I'll tell you what happened to Gendo."
*************************************************
A muscular young boy leaned against a wooden fence, gazing out
across the grassy field where the horses grazed. "I'll never get tired
of this view," he said to himself. He breathed in a lungful of warm farm
air, paused for a moment to feel the sun beating on his slightly tanned
skin, then ducked a kick from behind and swept his leg in an attempt to
trip his assailant. His opponent countered with a downward kick, which
he avoided by leaping onto the fence.
"You're getting good, Gendo," said his opponent admiringly.
"That was an obvious attack, Ranma" replied Gendo.
"Well, I didn't want to take the risk of hurting you," said Ranma.
"Don't you have any faith in my abilities?" asked Gendo,
demonstrating by backflipping and landing back on the fence.
"Not as much as I have in mine," replied Ranma. "I've been training
my whole life, and you only started eight months ago."
"That's what you think," said Gendo. "I've actually been training
just as long as you have, although not in martial arts specifically."
"All that farm stuff doesn't count," said Ranma.
"Oh yeah? Want to play a game of Fence Tag to prove it?" challenged
Gendo.
"You're on!" Ranma leapt up to the fence, but Gendo was already well
out of arm's reach and still running across the horizontal beams of the
fence, stepping over the vertical posts without missing a stride. Ranma
gave chase, only slightly less sure-footed than the farmer as he
followed Gendo.
Gendo turned to face Ranma, running backwards on the fence as easily
as he did forwards - a skill that he'd learned from Ranma. "Hey,
slowpoke! What's the matter? I thought you were a martial artist!"
"Watch your mouth!" shouted Ranma. As Gendo rounded a corner, Ranma
leapt ahead of him, barely holding his landing on one of the fenceposts,
and tagged him. "You're it!" He immediately ran away, leaping from post
to post rather than trying his luck on the beams. Gendo followed suit,
taking to the posts with practiced ease.
Ranma halted in his tracks and spun around, leaping at Gendo with
his foot extended. Gendo grabbed Ranma's leg and swung him to the side,
throwing him from the fence. Ranma grabbed the fence with his hands and
flipped back onto the beam. Gendo casually tagged Ranma's ankle with his
toe, throwing Ranma off balance and sending him tumbling headfirst from
the fence. "That's the game," he announced. "Nice try, though. A few
weeks ago, a move like that would've caught me."
"I just need to get used to landing on these narrow fences," said
Ranma. "If my balance was a bit better, you never could have knocked me
off of the fence."
"Just count yourself lucky I didn't knock you into the mud on the
other side," said Gendo.
"Whatever. I'm just glad Pops isn't here. He hates seeing you get
the better of me. He'd probably make me carry the horses around the farm
again or something as punishment."
Gendo nodded and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Say... as long
as our dads are out getting drunk, do you want to try out a new game?"
"Sure!" agreed Ranma. "What kind of game?"
Gendo smiled slyly. "Meet me in the barn in ten minutes, and I'll
show you."
"The barn?" asked Ranma nervously.
"Don't worry. I'll get Frisky out of there before then." Gendo
scratched his chin. "Actually, he can be pretty stubborn sometimes.
Better make it twenty minutes. You might want to use the time to
practice your fence-walking."
Ranma scratched his head as Gendo ran away across the fencetops.
"Practice my fence-walking? What kind of game could he possibly have in
mind?"
Twenty minutes later, Ranma stepped off of the fence near the barn.
"Okay, I should be ready for anything Gendo can dish out now." He
cautiously approached the barn. "F-Frisky? You in there?"
A bale of hay shifted to Ranma's left, causing him to scream. "Hey,
relax," said Gendo as he emerged from the hay. "I told you, Frisky's in
the house. You're perfectly safe."
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. "All right. So what's this new game
you've come up with?"
"Just follow me," said Gendo. He led Ranma into the barn and pointed
to the ladder. "Up we go."
"Into the hayloft?" asked Ranma. "What's the point? There's nothing
but hay up there."
"In the hayloft, sure. But what about ABOVE the hayloft?"
Ranma looked up. Just below the ceiling of the barn, a crisscrossing
system of rafters could clearly be seen. "I get it. That's why you
wanted me to practice my fence-walking skills. We're going to play Fence
Tag on the rafters!"
"You got it!" Gendo began to climb the ladder.
"Are you sure that's safe?" asked Ranma. "It's pretty high up."
"We just have to change the rules a little. It's illegal to try to
knock the other guy off."
"But what happens if one of us falls off accidentally?"
"Don't," replied Gendo. "I think you're good enough to manage
yourself on top of the rafters."
"The fences are one thing," protested Ranma. "They're pretty low. If
I fell from way up there, it would hurt!"
"I thought one of the first things you martial artists learned was
how to fall," said Gendo.
"Falling is easy," replied Ranma. "That doesn't mean I want to do
it!"
"Don't be such a baby," said Gendo. "This will be great practice!
Just wait until your dad sees how agile you've become!"
"Can't he see how agile I am a bit closer to the ground?" asked
Ranma.
Gendo leapt up, grabbed a beam, and flipped onto it. "Suit
yourself," he said. "I'm getting some practice up here."
"Fine," said Ranma. "I'm coming up!" He leapt onto the wall of one
of the stalls, then into the hayloft, and finally onto the rafters
without a pause.
"See? Nothing to worry about! You've got enough balance by now that
this should be a breeze."
"I just hope you don't get any breezes up here," said Ranma. "The
wind might knock me off!"
"I don't see why you're so scared," said Gendo. "You have almost no
trouble balancing on the fence any more, and these rafters are much
wider." He paused. "You're not scared of heights, are you?"
"Heights aren't a problem," replied Ranma. "It's falling from them
that scares me."
"You're not going to fall!" Gendo assured him, leaping to another
beam. "Just try to forget how high up we are."
"Thanks for reminding me," muttered Ranma. He walked along the beam
he was standing on until it ended at a ceiling support, then stepped
across the gap to the perpendicular beam. "Hey, this isn't so bad." He
leapt to the rafter that Gendo was on. "All right! Let's play Rafter
Tag!"
Gendo reached for Ranma, but Ranma leapt out of reach. "This should
be a bit more exciting than Fence Tag," he said as he chased Ranma
around the rafters. "It's a smaller space, but the rafters are much
closer together, so there's a lot more freedom of movement."
Ranma slightly overshot a landing, ending up with his feet halfway
off the beam, and windmilled his arms in an attempt to regain his
balance. Gendo quickly landed next to him and grabbed his shoulder,
righting him. "Thanks!" said Ranma. "You saved my life!"
"Don't thank me yet," said Gendo. "You're it!" He leapt away, and
Ranma chased him without pause. They continued that way for hours, as
Ranma quickly overcame his fear and began to aggressively pursue Gendo
across the rafters. The pace of their game quickened as they gained in
skill and tried more and more daring maneuvers.
Finally, Gendo stopped and leaned against a vertical support to
catch his breath. "That's enough for me," he panted. "Let's call it a
day."
"Look out!" shouted Ranma. Having failed to anticipate Gendo's halt,
he had taken one leap too many and was now on a crash course with Gendo.
The farmer failed to dodge in time, and Ranma barreled into him,
knocking him off of the beam. He clutched at a nearby beam as he fell,
but his sweaty fingers lost their grip, and he plummeted headfirst to
the packed dirt floor below.
"GENDO!" shouted Ranma. He leapt down to the floor and knelt beside
his friend. Gendo's neck was bent at an angle that Ranma was sure human
necks weren't supposed to reach, and his breathing came in spurts. Ranma
slowly reached out, afraid to touch Gendo for fear of worsening the
injury.
Gendo opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to look up at
Ranma. "I can't feel my legs," he said. "Or my arms... I can't really
feel much of anything, except a lot of pain."
"Don't move," said Ranma. "You'll be okay. I'll go get our dads -"
"No use," interrupted Gendo. "By the time they get here, it'll be
too late. Besides, there's nothing to do. I'm like an old horse with a
broken leg. Best to just take it out into the pasture and..." He screwed
up his eyes in pain and winced. When the wave of pain had passed, he
opened his eyes again. "It's ironic, isn't it?"
"What is?" asked Ranma.
"You were afraid of getting hurt playing on the rafters, but I
wanted to. And look at which one of us broke his neck." His laugh was
broken by a series of hacking coughs.
"Don't try to talk!" urged Ranma. "Just hold on a little longer!
Don't die!"
"We can't choose when we're going to die," said Gendo. "When it's
time to go..." His eyes glazed over. "Ranma... Sorry about this. I
shouldn't have... tried..."
"It's my fault," said Ranma. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
He held Gendo's hand. "You can't die. You can't die when it's my fault.
I'll kill you if you do." Their traditional joke somehow lost a bit of
its humor under the circumstances, but Ranma still couldn't help
cracking a smile. "That sounds stupid, doesn't it?" Gendo didn't reply.
"Gendo? Gendo?! Wake up! Come on! Wake up!" He shook Gendo by the
shoulders. Gendo's head flopped like a fish in response, and Ranma
quickly dropped him and backed away toward the door. "G-G-Gendo..."
A shadow filled the barn door. "Ranma boy? Gendo? Are you in here?"
For once, Ranma was glad to hear his father's voice. "Pops!
Something happened to Gendo! He's hurt!"
"Quit shouting, boy," said Genma and he staggered into the barn.
"Gendo, what have I told you about pain? You've got to work through it,
or you'll turn into a wimp! Is that what you want?" He grabbed Gendo's
arm and hauled the boy to his feet. "Come on, walk it off!" Genma froze
and pressed his fingers to Gendo's wrist. Sobriety instantly took hold
of him, and his face paled. "By the gods... if the father finds out
about this..."
"Pops? What are you -"
"Come on, boy!" shouted Genma, dropping Gendo's arm and grabbing
Ranma's instead. "We're leaving!" He ran from the barn and fled the
farm, dragging Ranma along.
"But we left Gendo behind!"
"Just forget about him, boy! We don't need a slacker like him
weighing us down. It's the life of a martial artist to keep moving and
never get tied down to one place, remember?"
Ranma nodded as he ran alongside his father, not even pausing as
Gendo's father's scream pierced the air from behind them.
*************************************************
"And we never returned to that farm again," concluded Ranma. "I
suppose in retrospect it should have been obvious why, but back then, I
still believed that Gendo would be okay. I mean, Pops had already run
away from Ukyo and her dad, and Ukyo had been fine. I thought maybe it
was just part of my training or something. After a while, nothing Pops
does surprises you anymore, you know?" Lina didn't respond. She was
shivering against Ranma's chest. "Lina? You okay?"
Lina remained silent, as she continued to stare into the darkness at
the memory that Ranma's story had dredged up from her own past. A young
white priestess, no more than seven years old, lying across the altar in
the shrine that her father had left her in charge of while he went into
town to shop, her hand clutching the bleeding wound in her chest where
Lina's Flare Arrow had just missed her heart, staring up at Lina and
wordlessly begging for an end to the pain. The darkness had fled from
Lina's soul, believing the job finished, but the girl was still alive.
The wound, however, was beyond Lina's power to heal, and the girl's
father would be too late in returning to save her. Lina tried to tear
her eyes away, but the girl's suffering was hypnotic, and Lina could
only watch in horror as the destruction that she had caused ran its
course. The eyes... the dying stare, as life slowly faded from the
body... the ultimate helpless despair... She forced her hand up and
aimed it at the girl. "FIREBALL!" she shouted, and the magic gathered in
her hand. The priestess mouthed a silent word of gratitude as the flames
consumed her and burnt her body to ashes. Only when the last tongue of
flame had extinguished itself could Lina finally turn away and leave the
shrine, resolving never to cast that spell again until she was sure she
could control it...
"Lina?" Ranma's voice snapped Lina back to the present. She blinked
away the image and squeezed Ranma tightly.
"Ranma..." she whispered. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. I
was thinking about all the suffering I've caused. Believe me, you have
nothing to be ashamed of."
"I killed Gendo," said Ranma. "That's not nothing."
"It was an accident," said Lina. "You didn't do it on purpose."
"I thought you weren't paying attention," Ranma reminded her.
"You'd be amazed at what you can hear when you're not paying
attention. Believe me, I know the whole story from personal experience.
I've watched plenty of people die by my own hand, in cold blood. The
only difference is that I could finish them off quickly. You had to
watch while your friend died." She shuddered. "I don't envy you at all."
Ranma began to stroke the top of Lina's head compassionately. "We're
murderers, aren't we?"
"Don't look at it that way, Ranma. We had a few accidents. That's
all."
"It's not going to be an accident this time," said Ranma. "We're
either going to kill the Sailor Scouts, or Akane and..."
"Gourry," supplied Lina.
"... are going to die." Ranma let his words hang in the air, as much
for his own benefit as for hers, then sighed. "We're right back to where
we started."
Lina chuckled. "That we are. But we know a lot more about each
other."
"More than we ever wanted to know," said Ranma.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"I may never see Akane alive again..." began Ranma.
"Don't say that," Lina put in reassuringly.
"I may never see her again," repeated Ranma. "Even if we do go
through with killing the Sailor Scouts, there's no guarantee. Queen
Beryl's the type who would probably kill her hostages anyway, once the
job's done. And if she does kill Akane and Gourry, then we'll be left
alone. Together. And..."
"What? What is it?"
Ranma lifted Lina's head until she was staring into his eyes. "I
never thought I would meet anyone who understands me the way you do.
Even Akane... sometimes I can't tell if she's trying to be nice or not,
but something always seems to be pushing us apart. And she yells at me
for everything that isn't my fault. She makes me feel so rotten, and
sometimes I even start agreeing with her and blaming myself."
Lina put her hands on Ranma's chest and pushed herself away from
him. "I think I know what this is building up to..."
"I want us to be friends," said Ranma. "I never had many of those,
just a bunch of enemies and fiancees... and some people were both. Every
time I think I've found a friend, Pops engages me to her or I
accidentally offend her and she decides to try to kill me or something.
But Pops isn't here, and I don't think I've offended you yet. I just...
I've never felt this way about anyone before. I've never felt so close
to anyone. We only just met, and here we are exchanging our life
stories... I don't want this friendship to go bad the way all the others
did."
Lina was stunned. "You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"
Ranma shook his head. "I've thought of you as a friend since this
afternoon. But just now... I think I might be falling in love with you."
Lina leapt to her feet. She opened her mouth as if to say something,
but no words came out. Instead, she felt warmth rising within her as a
blush came to her face. That quickly gave way to the burning heat of
anger, and she slapped Ranma in the face. "You pervert!" she shouted.
"How dare you touch me like that!" She turned to storm angrily away -
and bumped right into Queen Beryl on her first step, knocking the
Negaqueen flat on her back. "Oh, god! Queen Beryl! I'm so sorry..."
"Silence!" shouted the fallen queen. She pushed away the helping
hand that Lina offered and struggled to her feet, trying to regain her
composure. Once she had calmed down a bit, Beryl continued in her
favorite tone, the one that was calm but carried a venomous edge. "Your
progress at killing the Sailor Scouts has failed to impress me."
"They had help!" protested Lina. "There are more of them than we
thought, and the new ones have a lot more power."
"I am aware of that," said Beryl. "It is not you I am angry with."
She calmly walked toward the crystal that held Akane.
"What are you doing?" demanded Ranma.
Queen Beryl stopped right beside the crystal and turned. "Ranma
Saotome... you had the chance to kill Sailor Jupiter, and you failed.
You gave her the chance to fight back when you could have crushed her
easily. Apparently, your sense of honor means more to you than my
orders." She turned her head to peer into the crystal. "Then what about
her? Does this girl mean more to you than your foolish honor?"
Ranma, already on the verge of tears from Lina's slap, leapt to his
feet. "Queen Beryl, I'm trying as hard as I can! But I can't kill a
defenseless girl, no matter what! Not even to save Akane's life." He
unconsciously clenched his fists. "I just can't!"
"Pity," said Beryl. "At least there are other girls I can threaten.
You have quite a few girlfriends, don't you? Perhaps you'd be willing to
fight for one of them."
"You wouldn't dare!" shouted Ranma. "Leave the rest of my fiancees
out of this!"
"I'll do whatever it takes to secure your loyalty," said Beryl. "And
if this one is useless to me... then I'll get rid of her." She stretched
her arm out toward the crystal.
With a shout of "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ranma leapt forward, reaching for
Beryl's arm. Seconds passed like hours as physics took over Ranma's race
to stop Beryl before she could touch the crystal. Every tiny movement
caught Ranma's eye: Lina's face contorting in disbelief, Beryl's grin
slowly displaying traces of shock. He could hear his own heartbeat, the
only sound in the entire Negaverse as all three held their breaths in
anticipation. The cold chilled him to the bone as he watched her hand
draw ever nearer to the crystal's surface even as he grabbed her bony
wrist, pulling her hand away as he slammed into her with full force. Now
the silence was broken, for an instant, by the tiny "clink" of Beryl's
long, twisted fingernail tapping the crystal as she fell to the ground
for the second time. Then, silence again.
Ranma pushed himself away from Beryl in midair and landed on his
back, not taking his eyes off of the crystal for fear that it would
shatter in the instant when he wasn't looking. Time was moving no more
quickly now than it had during his leap. The moments passed, and the
crystal showed no change. Finally, Ranma let out a sigh of relief.
CRACK! With a sound like splintering glass, a tiny crack appeared in
the surface of the crystal where Beryl's fingernail had touched the
fragile surface. Seconds later, the crack grew and split, forking
outward. After another pause, each branch extended and split again,
sending tiny tendril-like faults in all directions. The cracks grew
toward one another, slowly forming a spiderweb of broken crystal that
continued to expand as Ranma watched.
Beryl watched as well as she got to her feet. "You're quite fast,"
she said to Ranma. "But not fast enough. Perhaps this will give you some
incentive. The crystal will take a few days to shatter completely. If
you can kill even one of the Sailor Scouts by that time, I will transfer
her into a new crystal. If not..." She left it at that and walked away.
Lina felt sick to her stomach as she watched Ranma fall to his knees
before the decaying crystal, crying softly to himself. She stepped
forward, seeking to comfort Ranma; then stopped, remembering what her
last words to him had been before Beryl had appeared. Anything she did
now would only make matters worse. He needed some time alone. He was no
closer to making the difficult decision between Akane's life and those
of the Sailor Scouts, but now his time was limited. Lina remembered the
time that she had had to choose between Gourry's life and the rest of
the universe, and the decision that she had made when her time had run
out. It hadn't worked out as well as she'd hoped. "Ranma..." she
whispered, so quietly that if Ranma heard it, he would probably think it
was his own thoughts. "Don't let it get to you. Just do what you have to
do." Ranma gave no indication that he'd heard her.
Lina watched him for just a little bit longer before she turned away
and left him alone with the crystal. Even now, long after the excitement
had ended, her heart was racing in her chest. Why? She had nothing to
fear. After all, Beryl hadn't been angry at her. Perhaps she was afraid
that, if she failed again, it would be Gourry's crystal slowly
fragmenting - again - and nothing as simple as sacrificing her soul
would save him this time. No. That couldn't be it. The heaviness in
Lina's heart was sorrow - sorrow for Ranma, for the choice that he had
to make, for the love that he felt toward...
Lina gasped in shock. She had been about to fill in her own name,
not Akane's. It was Ranma's feelings toward her that quickened Lina's
pulse and threatened to draw her back to where he was crying to
apologize, to hold him in his hour of need, to do whatever she could to
make everything right... No! She couldn't do that, not now! She had hurt
him enough for one day already. Those wounds would have to heal on their
own.
But she wanted him near her, wanted to soothe his broken heart as he
had soothed hers, to draw out his emotions as he had drawn hers out and
help him overcome the barriers that separated him from himself, to do
everything for him that he had done for her... The feelings were
unmistakable. Whatever he felt toward her, she felt equally strongly
toward him; there could be no denying it any longer. And yet she still
loved Gourry with all of her heart, and judging by Ranma's despair, he
still loved Akane. But Ranma's words had touched her heart, and she
recalled them with a shudder. 'If she does kill Akane and Gourry, then
we'll be left alone. Together.' He hadn't finished that thought, but she
knew what he had been driving at. The thought raised a horrifying
question, one that would probably keep Lina up all night worrying about
it. Which love was real? Which one should she act on? In short, how
would she make the decision that Ranma was now trying to make for
himself - the decision that she, too, would soon have to make - between
her love and the fate of a universe?
*************************************************
A figure appeared beyond the bars of its cage. It looked up, seeing
the visitor through heavy-lidded eyes as well as the artificial screen
of the helmet its "master" had given it. Something seemed wrong about
the red-haired human with the bright red clothing and an ageless look
about his face. Or rather, with everything else around him. The other
caged ones did not move, some hanging in midair in defiance of what
humans referred to as "gravity" - or perhaps merely in defiance of time.
Yes, that was it. Its powerful senses told it that time had stopped, and
that only itself and this human - was he truly even human? - were the
only beings immune to the effect.
"Come with me," said the human. "I will free you and give you a true
test of your power." At last! A worthy opponent to fight. No, it was not
this human, although he too would likely make a worthy opponent. Young
human girls, with elemental powers like those of its usual opponents.
What joy! All its existence, it had wanted to prove itself superior not
only to its own kind - although it was loathsome to think of those
human-tamed abominations as "its kind" - but to humans as well. Now, at
last, it could battle the strongest of humans and be free of its
captivity at the same time!
It nodded, causing the wires secured to its head to tense and flex
with its movement. "Yes. Let us go. I will destroy the Sailor Scouts for
you..." Somehow, as much as it loathed the word, it seemed appropriate
for the human who would give it a new life. "... master." It smiled.
Yes, this one was its master now, a master who would provide it all it
desired. No more weak opponents, no more rules, no more restrictions.
This would be the greatest battle of its life.
----------------------------------------------------------------
REESE: Okay, we've got to think of a really dirty nickname for that girl
who's been bugging you and spread it around school... what was her name
again?
DEWEY: Regina Tucker.
REESE: (pause) We'll think of something.
FORCHE: Hey! Far out!
NIGHTCRAWLER: I swear, that homey's lingo is so whack!
ZETA: It's a 20th century illumination-providing device known as a light
bulb. Apparently, it caused a great deal of trouble near the end of the
century.
RO: Why is that?
ZETA: Nobody could agree on how many people it took to change one.
My webpage: http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~katinamp
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
desaix@sysnet.net
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
anime fanfics available at
http://www.geocities.com/zednik.geo/fanfics.htm
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