A pillar of light appeared in the middle of a forest clearing. It then receded, leaving Kencana, Sandayu and his pregnant wife. Gesturing toward the area around them, Kencana quipped, “Here you are, you’re new home”

Sandayu looked around before turning back to Kencana. “It’s not that I’m ungrateful, but why do you teleport us here?”

Chuckling, the Avatar of Chaos said, “You want to stay with Markal after what you said back then? He still thinks of you two as traitors, you know”

Sandayu sadly turned toward his wife who then took his hand.

“Regrets?” Kencana asked.

“Just one. I wish that he understands my decision” Sandayu said as he clasped his wife’s hand. “But maybe I’m really a traitor. After all, I don’t understand why he must fight you. Yes, you killed all of them. But I saw what happened. You let them attack first, don’t you?”

“My, my. How observant of you. Will you like to know why I kill your brethrens?”

“I wouldn’t go back on my promise not to seek that answer”

Three seats magically appeared next to them and Kencana invited them to seat. She then materialized her red bladed katana. “You do know Mimei no Ketsurui?”

“Dawn’s Tears of Blood” Sandayu said while shivering. “The blade is red in color because of the countless lives it took”

“You got the name right, but the fact wrong. It turned red because the blood of a single person. In fact, it’s only today that I used it to kill"

Despite their curiosity piqued, both Sandayu and his wife kept quiet.

Kencana smiled. “Mimei Ketsurui has another name, the name used before its blade turned red. The Blade of Eternity”

“The Blade of Eternity?” Sandayu’s wife asked.

“Primula!” Sandayu cautioned her wife, reminding her of their promise to ask about anything.

“It’s okay,” Kencana assured. “I was going to tell you about it” She held out the blade, letting the sun shine on it. “The blade can make its owner immortal. Impressive, right?”

“It sure is” Sandayu agreed.

“But at the same time, it can kill anything, even gods and demons, with it being the blade of chaos”

“So, the owner can basically become god himself”

“That’s right” Mimei Ketsurui disappeared from Kencana’s hand. Then an axe appeared in its place. She then handed the axe to Sandayu.

“This is?”

“Asagao, or Morning Glory. With this, you can get anything you want from this land. Consider this as my parting gift from me to the two of you”

Sandayu held the axe in his hands, testing its weight. “Anything?”

Kencana got up, smiling. “As long as you work for it. This axe wouldn’t chop wood by itself, you know” She then began to walk away. “By the way, while coming to this place, I noticed some group of travelers from the mainland coming toward this island, so you two wouldn’t be alone for long”

“Thank you,” Sandayu said while bowing.

Kencana raised her hand. “Don’t sweat it. After all, you’re forgetting that I have my own agenda” She then cast a spell and was bathed in a pillar of light.

“Wait!” Primula, Sandayu’s wife called out. “Can you tell us the name of this island?”

“Sure. You’re currently on the Nippon Island,” Kencana said while disappearing.

She reappeared in another place, in front of so many pools. “I know you’re there, so come out already. I’ve felt your presence since I’m at the wretched clan's castle”

The fabric of space behind of her was ripped by a clawed hand. The rift then got larger as a three horned demoness appeared out of it. “As impressive as usual, Kencana”

“You know I hate it when someone sneaks up on me, Musna”

“I’m curious with you, Kencana. I don’t understand why you broke off your sword and give a part of it to that couple”

“You’re an idiot, do you know that? That’s why you were unsuccessful in your bid to take over the Infernal Throne from my sister. It’s for insurance”

“Insurance?”

“Yes, insurance. By breaking it up, I’m ensuring that there would be no one who’ll be able to stop me when the time comes for me to carry out my plan” Kencana then walked to one of the pools and cut her finger, letting her blood drip into it. “Before you ask me, I might as well explain it to you. All of these pools will be cursed except for this one; it is tainted with my blood and will call out for a soul to enter it. Yes, a very special soul indeed”

“What will happen if he or she wouldn’t enter?” Musna asked as she wasn’t convinced.

“He would, as it is preordained that he will do so. Want to know something?”

“Sure”

“The boy would be the couple’s descendant”

Musna raised her eyebrows. “That’s surprising”

Kencana began to walk away from the pools and toward Musna, smiling, barring her fangs. “Now, have you ever wondered why I didn’t kill you despite you being an annoyance to me?”

The three horned demoness was about reply when she caught hold of herself. Come to think of it, it was rather strange that Kencana didn’t kill her. She had tried to ambush the avatar of chaos to take Mimei Ketsurui in order to kill Hild, the queen of the infernal realm. However, she was easily defeated. “I don’t know”

“Because you’re no challenge at that time, it’s an insult to kill you” Kencana said while handling a bracelet to Musna. “Here”

“What is this?” Musna said while taking the item.

“A bracelet”

“What I mean is what do I do with it?”

“You want to have Mimei no Ketsurui for your own self, don’t you? All you need to do is to wait until I’ve scattered the remaining pieces and then collect them yourself”

Musna gave a throaty laugh. “And why should I wait until then? I can just go back to the couple’s place and killed them to take that axe”

“And causes me to guard the other parts?”

“You can just hold on them and it will still be the same”

“I wouldn’t. Not if my plan is to come to completion. So be patient, and you may have a chance to kill my sister”

The three horned demoness nodded. “I’ll take your word for it, since you never break your promise. In return I shall do you a favor”

“Just don’t appear in front of me from now on. Do that and I’ll kill you on the spot”

Musna smiled. “Very well. But remember, the next time I appear in front of you is to kill you with your own sword” She then disappeared.

“Fool,” Kencana muttered. “If you think that my sister will let you succeed, you have another thing coming” She smiled, “Right, Hild, my dear big sister?”

A shadow walked out of Kencana’s back and began to take the form of another demoness. “You also know that I was following the two of you”

“Of course”

“Why did you give her something that can kill me, your own sister?”

“Because it’s fun to do so”

Hild crossed her arms, her face showing signs of dissatisfaction. “With you as my sister, who needs enemies?”

“I’m being fair to both you and Kami-chan, sister”

“Whatever” Hild walked to side of the tainted pool and looked into it. “I see that you’re very confident of your plan’s success,” she commented.

Kencana shook her head. “There’s always chaos in order and order in chaos” She closed her eyes as an image of a girl came to mind, one with a short helmet-shaped brown hair. Kencana grinned and thought to herself, “My plan may fail because of you, my little kitty?”

“My, my, Nabiki. You have gotten your clothes dirty. This is a surprise” Kimiko Tendo said as she rubbed her daughter’s head fondly. “You normally don’t like getting dirty” She then brought out a tissue to wipe some grime off her daughter’s cheeks.

Nabiki turned toward the sandbox. Kasumi and Akane were there, playing with some neighborhood kids. “Well, today is a bit special” Despite being young, Nabiki was already particular about her appearance. That was why she didn’t like to play in the sandbox or any games that will ruin her cloth.

“Well, what happen, Na-chan?” Kimiko enquired.

Nabiki played with her fingers, seemingly unsure of whether she should tell or not.

“Come now, you can tell me,” Kimiko leaned toward her daughter. “It will be our secret,” she whispered conspiratorially, knowing full well that Nabiki cannot resist such prodding. Nabiki told her about what happened while Kimiko listened attentively while looking at the pendant on her daughter’s chest. “That’s rather interesting, Na-chan,” she said after Nabiki had finished. “I’m rather happy for you,” she said while looking at the clear blue sky above the two of them before turning her attention toward Kasumi and Akane.

“Would you tell me about that too, Na-chan?” an unfamiliar voice caused Nabiki to turn her head. A very mature and beautiful woman with waist length midnight raven hair was looking at her with interest. The woman was wearing a long dark dress that hugged her ample figure, reminding Nabiki of a scary witch in one of the western movies shown on the television. “I’ll keep it a secret as well”

“NO!” Nabiki screamed.

Nabiki woke up, gasping for breath. She looked around to see that she was in her room, on her own bed. The room was slightly illuminated as the sun’s morning rays peeked through the closed curtains. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was 6.30 a.m. She lied back on her breath, letting out a relieved breath. It’s been a while since she last had that peculiar dream where she first saw Yuko, her mentor in the field of magic. It was true that she was afraid of Yuko when they first met, but she has gotten over that fear. What made it strange was that she couldn’t remember what she had told her mother at that time; yet it seemed very important to her. She put a hand on her head. Why was it so important to her? Almost instinctively, her hand moved to her chest where the pendant used to be.

She closed her eyes. It has been a while since she thought about her deceased mother; recalling countless memories they shared together with her sisters. She could still remember the day her father came and held all of the sisters together, telling them that their mother wasn’t going back. While Kasumi and Akane cried, Nabiki was silent. She wanted to, but somehow she felt resignation and acceptance. But the kids around her age didn’t understand such thing. They called her names when they found out that she didn’t cry during her mother’s funeral. They also started to move away from what they called as an emotionless robot.

Hand still on her head, Nabiki sighed once more and got up. She then walked toward the dressing table, looking at her reflection and gave a small smile. She wasn’t disturbed by such a cold treatment. What mattered for her was that she did what she deemed as right. Her stomach growled, as if complaining. Nabiki quickly prepared herself. When she got down, she was treated to the then normal display of martial food stealing by Ranma and his father.

Kasumi who was handing a bowl of rice to Akane was the first to greet her. “Good morning”

“Morning. Black please,” Nabiki said.

“Here you are,” Kasumi said as she handed her sister a mug of steaming coffee. “By the way, sis…”

Nabiki who had already begun to drink the coffee raised her eyebrows.

Kasumi pulled out an envelope from the pocket in front of her apron and handed it to Nabiki. “This letter’s for you”. She then turned to Soun. “By the way, father, tonight I’ll be coming home a bit late. I already told Nabiki to buy take out”

Before Soun could overreact as usual, Genma whispered something to his friend. The Tendo patriarch nodded. “Have fun, Kasumi”

Nabiki noticed that Akane was rolling her eyes and surmised that her younger sister was thinking about the same thing: both fathers were probably hoping that Nabiki would buy them liquor so that they can drink themselves silly. She then gave nodded at Kasumi. Kasumi has being seeing Tofu, and the young doctor cum chiropractor was beginning to become acclimatized to being near her. He no longer run across the town with a skeleton on his back; he ran across the town with Kasumi on his back. Plus, his spectacles no longer fogged, but Nabiki had noticed some smoke coming out of his ears on few occasions. She was happy with the development between the two of them as it’s time for Kasumi to focus more on her own future. Turning toward the two fathers, Nabiki said, “No sakes or beers included. You have to pay for them on your own”

Soft whimper and whine coming the two of them were drowned by the sound of Ranma eating the food he stole from them.

“Ranma,” Akane said sternly.

“Sorry, Akane” Ranma said as he began to chew his food slower.

Mentally congratulating Akane for being able to teach Ranma to eat at normal speed, Nabiki looked at the envelope.

Three hours later,

Yuko, dressed in a long flowing robe, sat in a dimly lit room. She sipped the tea prepared for her by her assistant, a thin bespectacled high school student who stood next to her. “The tea’s excellent as usual, Watanuki,” she said as she set the cup down. “I’m surprised that you also know how to prepare Western tea”

Watanuki looked at another cup set across the table as steam wafted from it and said, “Is it okay to prepare her tea so early? It’ll get cold”

Yuko’s eyes slowly drifted in another direction. “No. Just right,” she said as Nabiki walked into the room.

The middle Tendo girl took her seat across Yuko’s and Watanuki took it as his cue to leave the room.

“Pretty helpful, isn’t he?” Nabiki commented.

“Well, both you and Watanuki are unique in your respective way,” Yuko said. She then gave a mysterious gaze at Nabiki. “You had the same dream last night?”

Nabiki nodded. She had worked for Yuko for a long time that she had learned not to be surprised to the latter’s ability to know about many things.

Yuko made a disappointed sound. “Am I that scary?”

“Yes”

“That’s a mean thing say, Na-chan” Yuko said, pretending to be upset.

“Don’t call me that,” Nabiki said. “I’m here because of this,” she continued as she held up the envelope in her hand. “I know that my mother gave her life to erect a very powerful barrier to protect Nerima ten years ago. But I didn’t know about this arrangement my mother had with you”

Yuko brought out a rectangular box out of the fold of her robe, put in on the table and pushed it toward Nabiki. “Yes. Kimiko told me that she’s concerned that she wouldn’t be able to give the box to you personally. You know as well as I do about her health condition at that time”

Nabiki nodded said as she took the box. She softly touched the box, caressing the intricate sakura pattern carved on it. Apart from the gracing the box with its presence, the sakura pattern also told her a hidden message her mother wanted her to know; it was some kind of a warning. It wasn’t that her mother didn’t like the flower. In fact, she really liked it. But the sakura’s fall, which can only be seen in autumn, signified passing away or mortality.

Yuko looked at a tea stalk floating in her cup. “You do know about Nerima being a cursed land?”

“Kencana,” Nabiki said.

“I see the Blessbringer girl told you a bit about her” Yuko rested her head on her hand and looked at Nabiki lazily. “Do you believe about Kencana?”

“Do you, Dimension Witch?”

“A river flowing through the land will nourish and corrode it at the same time, despite being imperceptible from far away”

“Whether she exist or not, she had left her marks on us”

“Everything leaves its mark, whether it’s a material or immaterial thing, reality or illusion, what we saw…”

“Or what we dream,” Nabiki finished.

“So, the question you’re supposed to ask is ‘what kind of mark does Kencana leave in your world?’”

“Don’t you know?”

“Na-chan, let me remind you that I still don’t know why you removed the cat spirit from that boy. I would have congratulated you for being able to carry out such a delicate procedure, but you must remember that what you did would have some kind repercussion”

“I know,” Nabiki said quietly.

Yuko took a sip from a cup before continuing, “Our respective paths are almost parallel now, Na-chan. Once that happens…”

“We will go on to fulfill our respective destiny”

“Well said” Yuko said seriously. “All right, I’ll tell you what’s in the box. It is a gift from your mother for you. She wished it for me to take care of it so that I can give it to you”

“I see,” Nabiki said. Yuko had told her with so little words that her mother had asked for Yuko to take care of the box and her as well. The Dimensional witch had to, in order to be able to give it to her. “That’s why I have to slave for you, doing weird errands and biddings”

“Of course, if that’s what you want to call it. For me, I’d call it training”

It was training for her, Nabiki admitted to herself. Despite being in so many life threatening situations, she had persevered and learnt so many things that would be crucial for her to stay alive; at the very least, being under Yuko’s servitude taught her to develop her Ice Queen persona. It has proved itself important when making business deals and propositions. “So, any idea what’s inside this box?”

Yuko laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. “You really think I’m that dishonorable, Na-chan?” she teased.

“Of course not. It’s worse than that,” Nabiki replied smoothly.

“That’s very comforting to hear. As for the box, don’t worry, I haven’t peek in yet. I have no interest in shouldering burdens that aren’t mine to begin with” Yuko then leaned toward Nabiki and asked, “So how about you, Na-chan? You don’t have to open the box, you know”

Nabiki’s fingers that were on the box tensed.

“I’m sure your mother will understand if you don’t want to accept the responsibility, no matter what it is. In fact, one of the reasons why she asked me to keep it is because she wanted you to make that choice by yourself”

“I know that, Yuko-san. However, I have to accept it”

“Because you feel responsible?”

“Yes, there’s no running from the fact. However, the main reason is because I want to”

Yuko smiled and leaned back. “As expected from you, Tendo Nabiki”

Nabiki’s eyes moved toward Watanuki who entered with a tray containing a fresh pot of tea and two plates of food. “Pain d'epices” she commented.

“Spice bread, a fitting desert for quite an animated discussion, don’t you think? While you’re gifted in mixing explosive concoctions or produce industrial-strength toxicant and poisons in my kitchen, Watanuki’s food, well, is more palatable” Yuko stopped talking as Watanuki set the teapot and their food on the table. “You have to say, he’s a good catch,” she said, earning a blush from the bespectacled guy. “But a bit shy”

Nabiki waited until Watanuki left the room. “It’s a relief to know that you’re interested in men instead of in women” She took a bite out of the bread. “This is pretty good. So when you’re going to lie down with him?” she said in a not so subtle jibe.

Her hand supporting her head, Yuko shrugged. “I don’t know. Wouldn’t be fun having to plan to take his virginity. It has to be spontaneous, in the heat of the moment kind of thing. It would be interesting to see how much I have to teach him before he takes the initiatives”

Knowing very well her mentor’s quirky personality and behavior, Nabiki continued eating her food without commenting back.

As she smiled and raised her cup, Yuko said, “That pain d'epices will cost you, Na-chan”

Nabiki closed her eyes as she continued chewing the morsel. “I guess it’s fair enough”

Then in an instant, Yuko’s expression was replaced by a playful one, one that made her look like a gushing teenager. “So, as your payment, you will tell me your opinion regarding him”

“I did tell you that I think that he’s pretty helpful”

“Hm? Who’s talking about Watanuki?”

Meanwhile, in a place quite far away, Ranma sneezed. “Shit, someone must have been talking about me again,” he said to his companion, Ukyo.

Ukyo looked at her ‘older brother’ and wondered who was talking about him. Probably Shampoo was planning to get Ranma to go out with her on a date or Akane thinking about giving Ranma more tutoring on social interactions. And Ranma, being the gentleman he was would accommodate their requests. The okonomiyaki chef wished that Nabiki had stayed out of the fiancée feud. Now, Ukyo couldn’t use her trump card, the yattai dowry, as Nabiki had ensured that her family’s honor would be satisfied by getting the Saotome family to adapt her into their family should Ranma chose someone else. Of course, that also could be said about the Amazon as Cologne agreed to lift Shampoo’s kiss of marriage due to some ‘persuasion’ from the mercenary girl.

Strangely enough, Nabiki didn’t seize that advantage to set up Ranma with Akane, but instead nullified their fathers’ promise. She also managed to settle with Ranma’s other fiancées and fiancés. Heck, thanks to her, Kuno didn’t want anything to do with his girl part, accusing it of being a wretched succubus. In the end, Ranma wasn’t beholden to any marriage promise. Sometime Ukyo wished that she could return things to the way they were. At least she could claim that Ranma had to be with her because she was his fiancée, but now she had to compete with many girls vying for his attention.

Plus, the old Ranma was easier to manipulate.

Ever since Ranma started working as Nabiki’s assistant, he began to become more… assertive. It was harder to get him to do anything he didn’t want to; tears might work, but Nabiki had warned against using it often as Ranma may become immune to it. So far, Nabiki was the only one able to truly control him, due to some unknown pact between the two of them. That thought brought Ukyo to another question.

What was Nabiki’s intention?

While Ukyo was inclined to agree that getting Ranma to work for her doing many chores was better than taking his pictures or setting up fight betting pools, Ukyo wondered whether it was that was what Nabiki wanted. If Ukyo was in her position, she would have taken that advantage to make Ranma hers. But that was her. Perhaps Nabiki had someone else in mind. After all, the Tendo girl was quite ‘close’ with Kuno.

Or maybe not.

“What are you thinking about, Ucchan?” Ranma asked as they continued walking.

Shaking her head, Ukyo answered, “Nothing”

“You’re sure?” Ranma asked, seemingly unconvinced.

Spying the bracelet on Ranma’s wrist, Ukyo quickly said, “Well, you see, I’ve always wondered why you started wearing that bracelet”

The pigtailed martial artist looked at the bracelet. “Oh, this? Nabiki got it for me to enable me to increase my power by forcing me to fight at my opponent’s power level. She said that it’s quite expensive, but sometimes I wonder whether she got it from a bargain bin”

“I see” As usual, Nabiki was involved.

Ranma put his hands behind his head. “I wonder what mother will cook for us”

Despite being informally adopted in Saotome’s family, in case Ranma changed his mind and wanted to marry her, Ukyo didn’t stay with the family, preferring to stay at her own restaurant instead. At first, Nodoka insisted that she stayed with her, but Ukyo pointed out that if Ranma can stay at Tendo’s residence, then she could stay at other place too. After all, with Genma began to return home to be with Nodoka more and more often, it was inappropriate to disturb them. “By the way, Ran-chan, why are we coming here again? Besides visiting our mother, I mean”

There was a splashing sound and Ranma transformed from being Ukyo’s brother to being her sister.

“Hey! Watch out where you point that thing!” Ranma shouted at a myopic man who accidentally sprayed her with water while watering plants. As the man apologized, she groused. “Geez, I sometime wonder where people put their eyes” Ranma then turned toward Ukyo, “Oh sorry. Where were we? Ah, yeah. We’re going to her house to pick up the Saotome Blade”

Ukyo felt fear coursing through her veins. “Are you saying that…”

“No, no, no” Ranma interrupted. “The suicide pact scroll was destroyed by mom, remember?”

“Then, why are we picking up the sword?”

Ranma shrugged. “Now, that I don’t have any answer. All I know is that Nabiki wanted it”

“Maybe she wants to pawn it?” Ukyo said.

Ranma shook his head. “Couldn’t be”

“But I don’t think mom will give the blade that easily”

“That’s why she sent me,” Ranma said while sighing.

They finally reached the Saotome’s residence and the door was opened by a smiling Nodoka.

An hour later, Yuko was standing at the door of her shop with her arms folded, while she watched Nabiki began to walk out of its compound with the small box with her. “Kimiko… seems like your daughter is going to do it” Yuko then unfolded her arms and opened one of her hands, revealing a beautiful pendant. “For her to offer this, her soul, to get her wish granted, she’s very serious indeed” She then gave a thin-lipped smile. “I’m sorry, Kimiko my old friend. But as dictated by my agreement with Nabiki, I wouldn’t stop her, just as she wishes”

1. This chapter is what I call a ‘self writing’ chapter. I certainly didn’t have much of a problem writing it. That’s why I upload it now despite the fact that I’m supposed to start next year.

2. Now, for those who haven’t read Ever Stay Chaotic, at least to the part where Nabiki disappeared into the other dimensions, you might want to reconsider not reading the story. Somehow, I feel that knowing about what happen in ESC may somewhat cause the story’s atmosphere to be slightly different, probably because you may know how the story will develop. Like I said in the earlier chapters, I tried to make this story as independent as possible from the ESC, and I believe that it’s pretty adequate so far.

3. Actually, I wonder, with you 150++ readers reading up to chapter 2 (an estimate based the review counts; may be lower than that), what kind of story do you expect? Surely by the end of this chapter, the majority of you have formed some kind of expectation for this story. Maybe you expect Ranma to end up with any of his fiancées or for him to get cured...