% And here I go at last.

Hello all readers,

My muse has apparently returned for now, so I'm riding the wave for as long
as it lasts.

% I'm pulling for ya. Nice to see two chapters so close together.


*** Earth  +0.001,+0.002

Genma grumbled softly in his sleep and rolled over, his arm reaching
out for the familiar shape whose side he had returned to only a couple
of months ago.  When his questing hand only found an empty futon, his
slumbering mind slowly roused to the fact that there was something
wrong.  He blinked open sleep-rheumed eyes and fumbled for his glasses,
putting them on as he sat up in bed.

"Nodoka-chan?"  He spoke in a whisper into the house's darkness and
quiet.  He waited a moment, but there was no response.  Then he sighed.
He knew where she was.  It was the same place she had been going to
ever since Ranko had vanished.

% Ah. This Earth. I had forgotten which earth was which.

Rising from bed, Genma fumbled briefly to find his house slippers and
robe.  The late spring air was still chilly at night.  Once he was
dressed, he shuffled out of the master bedroom and down the hall to
Ranko's room.

A muffled sobbing drifted into the hall from behind the closed door to
his daughter's room.  The sound tugged at his heart, an echo of the
pain and guilt that Nodoka was suffering.  He settled his hand on the
knob and readied himself for a moment by taking a deep breath and then
slowly letting it out.  Then he opened the door.

The room beyond was dimly lit by the nearest streetlight,

% might want to add 'filtering through the window' since it sounds like the
streetlight is in the room.

 occupied by a
huddled figure lying on Ranko's bed.  Genma sighed and shook his head
at the sight of his wife so defeated-looking.

% 'defeated-looking' seems awkward. just 'defeated' or 'devastated' might
do.


"I just want my little girl back," Nodoka whispered softly.  She sat up
and leaned against Genma, sobbing softly into his shoulder.  "Oh Genma,
I was so horrible to her that day.  So hateful.  I just- I just want a
chance to make it up to her."

% Ah. An extra heavy load of guilt.

"I know."  He patted the arm Nodoka had slipped around his waist.  "I'm
doing everything I can to figure out what happened.  I'm going to find
our daughter."

Nodoka began calming down as Genma held her, releasing a soft sigh and
resting her head against Genma's shoulder.  Sleep soon claimed her.

Genma picked Nodoka up-

% Very abrupt ending.


                    ******************************


*FILE MERGE COMPLETE.  INITIATING SCAN FOR INVALID FILES.

*INVALID FILES LOCATED.  PURGING ANOMALIES FROM SYSTEM FILES.

*PURGE COMPLETE.  REFRESHING LINKAGES AND INDICES.

*REFRESH COMPLETE.  RESTORING NORMAL PROCESSING.  ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL.

% Sounds like normal.


Yggdrasil's timbre dropped back to its normal processing tone as the
two timelines finished aligning, two different versions of Yggdrasil
becoming one.  Of course, some discrepancies had to be eliminated.

% It merged two realities into one that quickly easily? Seems like it should
have been more dramatic.

                    ******************************

*** Earth  +3.121,-2.664

Ranko started awake from a sound sleep, uncertain what had woken her
up.

% 'what had awakened her' would be better, IMO.

 She reached for a small, handheld device resting on the table next
to the hotel room bed she had been sleeping on until a few moments ago.
With a grunt, she glanced briefly at its numeric display as it counted
down, before she set it back down.

A rumble of thunder sounded outside, and a wet patter of rain began
sounding against the glass.  Maybe she was just being overly jumpy.  It
wasn't like her to have a rainstorm wake her.  She laid back down to
get some more sleep.  She wanted to be fresh for her next transit.  She
never knew what surprises a new world might have to offer.

Over on the table, a rumpled newspaper sat half-read.  The headline
splashed across the front page was, "Japan Becomes 54th State!"

% Heh. Might have been more amusing if it had been '54th Province.'

                    ******************************

*** Earth  +0.001,+0.002

Genma picked Nodoka up.  He looked around at the newly painted room and
smiled wistfully.  Nodoka had lost no time in starting to prepare this
room for a new baby, ever since she had found out she was pregnant.  It
was nice to see her so excited, but it was still disconcerting for him
to wake up and find her gone in the middle of the night.  She wanted to
fill this room with her presence, so she spent as much of her time in
it as she could.  It was undoubtedly a suggestion by one of her friends
down at Nerima's Women's Kendo Club, perhaps even Lady Kenseiko Kuno,
who Genma had long thought was just this side of being certifiable, but
he had never said anything.  Her husband was his best friend after all.

% Heh. Nice to see the other changes.

As he held his beloved wife, Genma paused a moment to reflect.  It had
been so long since they had stopped trying to have children after the
miscarriage, and he wondered if he was still young enough to handle the
rigors of a new baby in the house.  Painting this room over the weekend
had strained his back a bit, but Nodoka had insisted on getting started
immediately.

Ah well, at least they had names already picked up.  If it was a boy,
then Ranma.  If it was a girl, then Ranko.

Shuffling down the hall so as not to wake her, Genma carried Nodoka
back to bed.

% Oh. That is quite the change. I wonder what caused it.


On a parallel Earth that diverged from the standard Ranma timeline over
five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the world
and has done so for almost a century.  A young scientist named Ranma
Saotome, through a device of his invention, is now possessed of the
skills and memories of a martial artist version of himself.  There was
the promise of romance trouble to come in the Gosunkugi household as a
Chinese Amazon made her desires known.

% Oh? I don't recall Frost doing that.

  Nabiki fully integrated with
the personality of her counterpart, altering her further.  Meanwhile,
while

% extra 'while'

Ranma has now integrated with the personalities of his martial
artist selves, he still resists doing the same with Ranko.  Ukyo
arrived at the Academy for her first day of classes.  Nabiki and Ranma
had a fierce battle against each other, to see who would be the student
of Jun Fan (Bruce) Lee.  Nabiki won through her use of the Chestnut
Fist technique, but things didn't quite work out like she had planned.


Note: Events in this chapter are concurrent with those in chapter 18.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 19 - Signal to Noise Ratio

          You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing, and
          using a timing which the enemy does not expect.

                                   - Miyamoto Musashi

% Reporter: What if you were fighting overwhelming force, like the ocean?
Even if you know its timing, it's not going to help you. And it sure has
hell doesn't care about your timing.

% Musashi: Allow me to attach an addendum: You also win battles but not
being terminally stupid, like reporters.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Her bruises from yesterday were almost gone, and the cracked ribs from
three days ago were finally healed.  Seeing the old woman eyeing her
inscrutably, she quickly replied, "I'm fine."

Cologne chuckled slightly.  Training the feisty girl had been a bit of
a challenge due to Akane's innate stubbornness.  The first few days had
been hard on the youngest Tendo, and Cologne had been relentless.  She
had torn down the girl's pride and battered her body to the brink, but
now the ancient matriarch was rebuilding both and discovering a much
better weapon than she had anticipated.

% The chain gun Akane had concealed in her bra was far better and more
powerful than Cologne had imagined.


However, as she solemnly watched Akane running through her morning
warm-up exercises, the odd feelings of guilt continued to tease at the
edges of her awareness.  So caught up was she in contending with them
that she almost failed to notice a ragged figure suddenly emerge from
the woods.  She blinked in surprise at the sight of the apparition.

"Where the hell am I now?" Ryoga muttered angrily.

% Cologne said, "You're in heaven and I'm an angel." and smiled

% "I want to go to Hell!" Ryouga shouted, trying to escape.

% Cologne whipped out a TV and VCR. "You'll feel like you're there once you
watch the live action version of Dragonball."

% "Noooo!" Ryouga wailed.


The perpetually lost boy paused to adjust the weight of his backpack,
but the physical discomfort it gave him was nothing compared to the
anguish within his soul.

% you could lop off all of his limbs and it wouldn't compare to the anguish
in his soul. :)

 The cowardly Ranma Saotome had run away from
him again, many

% not sure if you need that comma.

days ago, leaving nothing but emotional wreckage behind
him.  An example of such wreckage was poor, kind-hearted Ukyo.  She had
acted so very brave about the whole thing, claiming she wanted to drop
the matter entirely, but Ryoga knew otherwise.  He was doing this for
Ukyo, and when he caught up with Ranma, he was going to make him pay
for his crimes, every single one.

"Ranma Saotome!  I will see you in Hell!" Ryoga shouted at the heavens.

% Cologne; But that would mean you were going there too.

% Ryouga: Let me rephrase that. Ranma Saotome! I will SEND you to Hell! How
was that?

%Cologne: Better.


"I do," Cologne replied, eyeing the boy.  Akane would have had a rather
difficult time dealing with Ranma and Shampoo on her own.  This odd boy
looked like he could prove useful.  "What grievance do you have against
Ranma Saotome?"

% Ryouga: It involved hamsters, duct tape--

% Cologne: Say no more. You'll do.


*** Earth  0.000,0.000

The sound of a crackling fire stirred Mara to sudden wakefulness.  By
opening her eyes to mere slits and attempting to keep her breathing as
slow and regular as she could, she tried to gauge her surroundings

% Mara was in hell. "Nooo--" she started to wail, then stopped, realizing
Hell was home for her.


"I know you're awake," a voice suddenly spoke, interrupting her as she
took stock of her present situation.  "Don't bother faking."

% Mara: I'm a woman. Faking things is second nature to me.


"Hello," said the gnomish old man, casually poking away at the fire
with the stick he held in one hand, stirring the ashes.  "I am called
Cherry.  I would suggest that you don't try that again."

% Heh. Cherry knows a thing or two, I see.

Quickly rising to her feet, Mara felt her powers swelling within her as
they fed off the rage now suffusing her entire being, the sounds of a
battle incantation beginning

% began


Mara growled low in her throat as the pain subsided once again, but she
decided to play along for now.  She rolled into a seated position near
the fire and took the opportunity to study her outfit.

% Hmm. No residual pain, though.

  She recoiled
when she realized what she was wearing: the red, hakama-style pants and
plain white robes of a Shinto shrine priestess.  She fixed Cherry with
an amused glance, wondering if the old monk had enjoyed undressing her.

% Cherry: No, I didn't enjoy that. It was the hot sex I had while you were
unconcious that I liked.

% Mara: Nooooo!

Perhaps she should try to play this a different way.

"So what is this all about?" Mara asked in more seductive tones, her
hand casually loosening her top to reveal a bit more cleavage.  No bra
was present beneath the robe.  She ran her tongue across her upper lip
for a moment to wet them.  "You seem to have me at a disadvantage."

Cherry looked distressed.  "Uh, I'm afraid that you're laboring under
somewhat of a misunderstanding, demoness."

% Cherry: I'm gay.

% Mara: Shoot.


"I dare, dark one," the woman intoned coldly in clipped tones, her eyes
blazing with anger.  "I am Sakura Sakuranbo, a priestess of the sacred
kami, and it would do you well to keep a much more civil tongue in your
head when speaking of the affairs of priestesses."  Sakura paused for a
moment, blanching ever so slightly as she suddenly realized how her
words could be taken.  She hastened to speak again.  "Those happen to
be a spare set of my own clothes you are wearing.  I was the one who
changed your garb, not my uncle."

% Cherry: Darn you!

% Sakura swatted him in the head.

"So what's to keep me from getting physical with you, little monk?"
sneered Mara as she stood up.  "Anything to prevent me from doing
that?"

Cherry looked briefly at his niece and nodded once.

Mara glanced behind her to where Sakura had been standing, but she only
caught a brief glimpse of something red and white moving quickly.  The
breath was abruptly knocked from her lungs by a solid punch just to the
left of her spine.  It was quickly followed up by a hand grasping her
hair and slamming her face into the hard-packed ground.  One of her
arms was quickly caught and wrenched painfully behind her back, and she
felt a foot come down firmly on her neck.  As she briefly struggled to
catch her breath, Cherry approached her and knelt down nearby.

% Mara: (Gasping) Yes, that would keep me from bitchslapping you, all right.


Mara began to turn around, and then the world went dark.

As Cherry and Sakura stood over the fallen demoness, Sakura absently
rubbed the knuckles of her right hand with the palm of her left.  She
kicked Mara hard a couple of times for good measure, still smarting
from the sexual innuendoes at her expense.  They awakened unpleasant
memories of her life with her ex-partner, Ayaka Kisaragi.

%Ah, so she's the Sakura mentioned from before.


Sakura nodded, her mind briefly breaking out of her musings to focus on
Cherry.  "Yes, Uncle.  I will be the resident shrine priestess for the
temple where the Institute plans to house the goddess Belldandy until
her business is concluded.

% It's probably not best to mention this with Mara in the room. She might be
faking it.


It was a shame really.  It would have been quite pleasant to show off
her new apprentice to Ayaka and brag a bit, since Sakura could not
imagine the Institute ever trusting that karaoke otaku with one again,
especially one with as much potential as Rei Hino had shown in her
file.  And even if they ever did give Ayaka a trainee, the girl was
probably some loose cannon reject that no other senior agent would ever
want to be paired with anyway.

% Just like her previous partner.



Cherry smiled and said, "Two young people I've met recently: a teenaged
boy and girl.  The weight of the Pattern is unusually heavy upon them
both, but there is also a disturbing dissonance occurring between them,
almost as if two mutually opposing destinies were now locked in savage
conflict, struggling for ultimate dominance over the other."  Cherry
suddenly frowned.  "I simply can't explain it.  Never before have I
encountered anything like what I can sense happening between them, but
this unprecedented clash between two such strongly discordant destinies
has begun awakening new possibilities in the Pattern, potential futures
that were never there before."

% Sakura: So you haven't a clue to what's going on.

% Cherry: Doh!


Cherry gazed solemnly at his niece.  "Few know of it, and still fewer
dare even speak of it.  It has changed much from what it once was, its
techniques now taught to only a select few in each generation.  For
almost a century it has been used, time and again, to destroy other
schools of martial arts in the world, after first assimilating their
most powerful techniques unto itself.  Since it began following this
path, many of the more unique and powerful schools of martial arts in
the world have been lost, their practitioners killed off to the last."

% And in secret, so no one knows they ever existed.


"Perhaps," Cherry acknowledged.  "But I'm not the only one with an

interest in them.  The Institute has had them both on a watch list for
some time, for reasons other than mine, but I think I bought them some
breathing space.  Kasuga-san can be a fairly reasonable man if he's
approached correctly."

% Basically come out of nowhere and scare the crap out of him.


"That wasn't what you said last night," Mikado said in mild amusement,

% Asuka: I'm a woman. I can change my mind from moment to moment. It's
genetic.

one of his hands moving down her body, gently caressing her skin as he
carefully avoided her worst bruises.

Asuka's nostrils flared slightly, and her brow furrowed angrily.  She
sat up, lifting the sheet to cover her nakedness in a pose of feminine
modesty, ignoring the pleasant tingling feeling he awoke in her even
now, even

% drop the first 'even'


"Kodachi isn't anything like you, Asuka," Mikado replied coolly, as he
immediately regretted giving in to his desires last night.  What had he
been doing, bedding a spoiled, selfish brat like Asuka Saginomiya?

% Um, he's a slut that enjoys sleeping with anything that will screw him.
Surely he doesn't think he's any better than that. :)


As for Mikado, why did it hurt her so much deep inside to have him feel
anything for Kodachi, to hear him speak her name with such reverence?

% Jealousy. Probably natural genetic response to not being considered an
alpha over Dachi as well.


Yet her body betrayed her by its strong yearnings for Mikado, even more
than she could admit feeling for Tatewaki.

% Didn't remember her having a thing for him.



Their other guest was even stranger.  Her name was Belldandy, a foreign
woman, with pale skin, light-colored eyes, wearing strange clothing and
having odd markings on her face.  She was currently sitting at the main
table drinking tea, watching the birds fluttering and chirping just
outside the window.  She was a weird one, but her father had said that
she would not be staying long.  The Mobius Institute had arranged other
quarters for her for the longer term,

% In a cozy ten by ten room with thick walls, iron doors, and wards all
around it. :)

 but Akane found that she liked
her.  Belldandy reminded her a lot of Kasumi, the pair even having very
similar voices.  If she closed her eyes, she was hard-pressed to tell
the difference.  So it had been pretty funny to hear them speak, like
she was hearing one person speaking two different roles.

% Heh. Nice touch.

The past few days had been starting to inundate Akane a bit with the
coursework that she had to catch up on at Furinkan.

% Oh? The Academy was behind Furinkan? How odd.



Picking it up, she saw Ranma's name on it and a folded document inside.
Nibbling on her lower lip briefly, her curiosity getting the better of
her, she pulled it out and began reading it.

% She's not gonna like this.

 She was startled when she
realized it to be a marriage contract, and her heart leapt with joy in
her chest.  Her father must be planning to contact the Saotome family
and arrange a marriage between her and Ranma.  Happily, she skimmed the
text of the document, eagerly looking for her name as that of the
arranged bride.

When she saw the name written there, Akane's jaw fell.

% Yep. It's going to be a mess.

"It can't be," she whispered hollowly, her heart feeling like lead.
She must have misread it before.  She was the one who had fallen in
love with Ranma.  She was the one who wanted him.  Her name had to be
the one mentioned in the contract.  Taking a deep breath to try and
relax herself, she read the name one more time.

Nabiki Tendo.

% Well, she has a pen. A little adjusting, and no one would know the
difference.


After finally regaining control of her seething emotions, Akane very
carefully gathered up the marriage contract and replaced it into the
envelope and then put the envelope back into her father's desk.  She
left the room, retaining just enough presence of mind to remove any
obvious signs of her presence.  Gathering up her umbrella, schoolbag,
and uniform jacket quietly, she slipped her shoes on and hurried out
the door.  She had to train hard if she was going to defeat her sister,
to prove to her treacherous sibling that she was the one who deserved
him, and she needed Sakura to help her.

% A wise plan.


Swallowing nervously, Yusaku Godai nodded at the eldest Tendo daughter
and handed her his bowl.  The house was fairly quiet now.  Akane and
Nabiki had both left for school early, and Soun had left shortly after
sunrise this morning, leaving him alone in the house with three women.

% So he has the day off, eh?


Young, Kasumi thought with amusement as she ate.  He was actually a
little over two years older than she was, or so she had learned while
talking with her father's new guest last night.  Perhaps it was due to
a boyish sort of charm he possessed, a quiet innocence that Kasumi had
been surprised to see in a career military man.

% Or that he's simply immature. :)

And what had been even
more surprising was what Yusaku Godai had awoken within her, a gentle
sort of passion.  She knew that he needed someone around him to take
care of him, to see that he was fed right, to see that his house was
kept orderly, and to see to it that his clothes were clean and pressed.

A blush appeared on Kasumi's cheeks.  She was being silly.  She was a
married woman with a husband who lov- who provided well for her.

% Heh. So she knows the truth, even now.

 She
went back to eating her own breakfast, trying hard to keep her gaze
from drifting back to rest on Lt. Godai.  What she was doing wasn't
right.  What she was feeling wasn't right.  It dishonored her husband
and her marriage vows.  But she couldn't seem to help herself.  There
was something within her now, something that had come into her life
last night when she had answered the front door, like a brilliant light
suddenly illuminating a darkened room.  What was she going to do?

% Belldandy: Good, my plan is working, and I can get off this miserable
mudball soon.

In the kitchen, Kyoko was scrubbing a pot with vigor, feeling a muted
anger at how easily the eldest Tendo daughter had seemed to take charge
of their new guest.  A married woman shouldn't be acting like she had
seen Kasumi acting.  The younger sisters hadn't seemed to notice how
their sister had been behaving, but Kyoko had.  A woman should honor
her husband and remain loyal to him, no matter what.  She herself was a
widow, so that was different, she quickly amended.

% Yep. Very different.

Kyoko paused and sighed when she remembered her first sight of him,
standing there in his battered uniform, yet still looking so handsome
and fit.  She blushed at the memory.  She had always had a weakness for
men in uniform, especially older men.  But there was something about
young Lt. Godai that had captured her attention and stubbornly refused
to release it.  She could tell that he had been through some sort of
horrific ordeal last night, but he had emerged from it only a little
bent, not broken.  That spoke well of the strength of his character.

% Or he has a spine of rubber. :)


The problem was that she was already married, and that complicated
things immensely, not that the Ultimate Force would care.  Belldandy
sighed slightly.  This was an area where Urd might be better suited
than herself.  Perhaps once she was settled at the temple, she should
give her older sister a call and ask for some advice on this case.

% And mention Mara's Goddess hunting as well.

                    ******************************

"Juri seems off her form today," remarked Toga Kiryu calmly, leaning
against one wall.

"This match has only gone on for fifty-two seconds, and you can tell
that already?" asked Miki Karou, briefly glancing at his pocketwatch.

% Touga hit the stopper on his own watch. "Mine says 53 seconds. Yours must
be off.

% "Nooo!" Miki wailed.

% Touga smiled. It was always fun screwing with Miki that way.

"Her movements appear slightly less fluid than normal," he said with a
clinical voice, watching as Utena and Juri clashed blades.  "I heard a
rumor that her parents are trying to arrange another match."

% Touga: But their efforts are in vain, since she's a dyke, and a die hard,
since she won't sleep with me.

% Miki: Or she simply has some taste.

Juri cursed as Utena's blade managed to score a slight rip through her
sleeve as the two girls passed in front of Toga, steel ringing hard
against steel, and she took a moment to snarl once at Toga.  She then
rallied, putting Utena on the defensive and pressing her hard.  But
Utena held firm, her own blade meeting Juri's in a dazzling display of
parry and riposte, weaving a net of steel around herself that not even
all of Juri's skill and might could get through.

"I appear to have touched a nerve, Miki," Toga remarked in a casual
aside to his companion.

% Oh? He said it loud enough to hear, eh? Might want to mention that.


Utena was glad that she was not of the nobility.  An arranged marriage
sounded so archaic.  But then she had not had much interest in boys,
preferring to spend her time honing her skills,

% in seducing women.

 until meeting Ranma
that is.

% Ranma, that

% And I guess not. :)


Ranma.  A faint sigh escaped her lips at the thought of him.  She hoped
that he would call her soon.  Ohtori Academy had a formal dance coming
up, and she could use an escort.  Besides, she sort of owed him for his
kindness in letting her stay at his house overnight.

% And left her panties there as well.

"She's thinking about that Ranma Saotome fellow again, I would hazard
to guess," commented Toga in another aside as he and Miki leaned upon
the Rose Tower's outer balcony, allowing them to look over the entire
school.  Lightning flashed in the distance, and the clouds promised
rain.

% Was it loud enough for Utena to hear?


"He caught the fancy of your attractive little friend Kodachi, I could
see," remarked Toga casually.

% Hmm. Must have heard of Kodachi from someone then? Didn't think he'd seen
the two of them together, or did they meet in the final rematch.


"Yes," replied Miki, a wistful smile appearing on his visage at the
thought of dancing with Kodachi.  "I've been practicing my dance steps
with my sister."

% Ohh. Bad move assuming she still has her psycho crush on him. :)

"I'm sure you have.  All we need to do is show the ladies a good time
amidst a society affair, and they shall be putty in our hands."  Toga
casually stroked back some of his reddish locks of hair, a confident
look on his face.  "I intend to show Nabiki Tendo a very good time, if
you understand my meaning, one that will make her forget all about that
Ranma Saotome fellow."

% Actually I would think Touga had enough of a feel for her to tread
softly,yet firmly. He acknowledged she was a shrewd one. Though his conceit
knows no bounds.


"Excellent, I shall telephone Nabiki Tendo this week and invite her."

% Nah. He's send her something huge and impressive. Like small field of
flowers and an engraved invitation made of gold or something.

He bowed to Miki, smiling at his new ally.

"Here's to victory," said Miki, bowing back in response.

Standing up, Toga smiled even more brightly.  He loved the sound of
that word.  "Yes, to victory."

% Saonji: I like the word to.

% Touga; Yes, but you never suffer from its effects.


A few days spent travelling on the road together with him had given
Ryoko an oddly maternal kind of protectiveness towards Ryoga.  They had
spent a fair amount of their time travelling by talking to each other,
but his core reason for hating Ukyo was still vague.  He didn't seem to
much

% drop 'much'


"Let me get this straight," she said with a grin suddenly appearing on
her face.  "You just spent a couple of weeks trekking across Japan to
get to Tokyo, a city with about twelve million people in it, looking
for this Ukyo guy.  And you don't even have an address?  Just how dumb
are you, Hibiki?"

% Ryouga: I'm very dumb. I do everything to excess.

% Ryouko: This is true.



Sakura could tell that something was wrong when she saw Akane's face.
The girl looked like she wanted to kill somebody.

% more than usual, anyway.


Sakura ruffled Akane's hair and smiled a bit distantly.  Helping Akane
out with her problems would help get her mind off her own troubles,
like her worries over her poor Ryu-sempai, and her plans for maiming a
certain Chinese amazon if she ever got the chance.

% Yes, well the latter bit is important since you can't challenge someone in
the Arena. There are formal rules involved with the Empires most popular
form of entertainment.

% Nice half. Will eagerly move on to the next part. Things are moving along
nicely.

DB Sommer





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