FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination
| FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination |
|
| Home Just In Communities Forums Beta Readers Dictionary Search | Login Register Extras |
“Revenge,” Kencana answered simply when asked by Hild about what she was doing. “Simple, right?”
Hild. the leader of the Infernal realm shook her head. “It’s not that simple, considering the fact that you already achieved it. You wiped out a whole clan of magic users, despite the fact that their numbers are already dwindling”
“Come now, you shouldn’t complain. I remember you not liking the fact that they were in abundance a few hundreds ago”
“Yes, but heaven will not look favorably at this matter”
Kencana was tracing so fme symbols in the air when Hild spoke and promptly stopped what she was doing, turning toward the demoness with a surprise look. “Never thought that you really care about what Kami-chan thinks about you, Sis”
“Of course, not. I’m just concerned about you, that’s all”
“Or are you worried that your ass-kissing minions will die if I kill those from heaven?” ‘Doublet Accord’, signed by both the Heaven and Infernal Realm rulers stipulated that if any Heaven or Infernal realm inhabitants lost his or her life, another one from the other side would automatically lose his or her life as well. “Kami-chan may be annoyed with me killing his beloved worshippers, but I don’t think he want to risk it. Besides, he’s the ever dutiful older brother, right?”
Reluctantly, Hild nodded as it was as Kencana had said. God wouldn’t attack Kencana without a very compelling reason as he knew that Kencana was almost at par with his power. And even if he defeats her, Kencana would probably something up her sleeve. Hild could still remember what happened when Kencana ran amok. Heaven’s Punitive Squad was sent to deal with her and was instantly defeated. Then the avatar of chaos took it upon herself to show displeasure at Heaven’s kingdom. She had caused a major uproar there and half of the inhabitants were either poisoned or injured before God could stop her. Even then, He had to let her go as only she could heal those poisoned by her. From then on, both Heaven and Infernal Realm tread cautiously around her and decrees had been issued for all gods, goddesses, demon and demoness to leave her alone, which they did. From there on, both Heaven and Infernal Realm kingdoms didn’t have much problem with Kencana as she was happy enough to be left to her own device. “You’re right”
“As always”
Then Hild remembered that she hadn’t asked Kencana about something that crossed her mind a while before. “You haven’t told me about the revenge you’re seeking. Blessbringer’s finished, if not for the fact that you purposely spared the four of them. Who’s next?” Hild asked as she eyes the avatar of chaos finished casting a spell.
An ethereal puma appeared next to Kencana, and she petted it. It purred and rubbed its body against her foot. “There’s still one left”
However, Hild wasn’t really paying attention as her eyes were transfixed on the puma. “It’s that…”
“Yes, a part of his soul,” Kencana said fondly as she kneeled and kissed the ethereal being.
It was rare for Hild to see her sister displaying any sign of affection and she finally understood why Kencana was affected when he was killed. But the question that boggled her mind: who did it? And why? Although she thought that the Blessbringer Clan was the one responsible, it didn’t seem to be the case, as suggested by Kencana. Besides, her sister was sadistic and would certainly enjoy torturing his killers.
“Okay, my love, it’s time for you to go,” Kencana said gently to the ethereal puma which nodded in understanding. It then flew off, leaving Kencana and Hild. Kencana waved, as a genuine tear rolled down her cheek. She used the back of her hand to wipe it away as she turned toward Hild, saying, “It will seek his soul when the soul’s ready”
“What will happen then?”
“Oh, you will know when it happens. I will be there as well, to help him and together we will achieve my ultimate plan of revenge”
Hild flashed her a predatory smile. “I don’t think that it would be easy, not when I can just stop you”
“Why do you want to do that?”
“No reason, except like you said just now, for fun”
Kencana laughed, hiding her gaff using her hand. “Are you sure you can do that, Hild, my dear old sister? Do you think haven’t I haven’t put in place several insurances to ensure that you wouldn’t interfere?”
“Oh really?”
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You of all people should know that I don’t like to lie. By the way, you have met Kami-chan recently, right? What do you think of his new accessories? Brill, right?”
Hild wanted to smack her head. How could she didn’t think much about the items God were wearing when she met Him? She had simply dismissed them as limiters to keep His power under control, similar to those she wore. From the way Kencana mentioned about the items, one of them must be some kind of a trap which she can easily trigger, probably to kill Him. But if He died, Hild would die as well due to Hild being His Doublet partner. “You do play dirty, do you know that?”
Noticing the frown on her sister’s face, Kencana held her hands. “Hey, he offered himself in exchange of me giving the antidote to those who were poisoned despite me planning to heal them for free. Who am I to refuse? And talking about dirty, who are you to say that I’m playing dirty? Have you forgotten who you are?”
“If it wasn’t for the fact that you have my life on the line I would have killed you here and now,” Hild said through gritted teeth.
Kencana held her hands wide apart, in a gesture inviting for an attack on her. “I love you too,” Seeing that Hild didn’t make her move, Kencana moved toward her side and patted her back. “But don’t worry. I have no need for it as long as you and Kami-chan butt out of my plan”
“Really?” Hild asked, unconvinced.
“Sure. Oh, by the way, I also told Kami-chan that I’ll be reborn with the knowledge of both of you and the spell to kill him, so please stay away from my future reborn as well”
“You sure took a lot of time to plan for this” Then Kencana realized that something was off. “Wait… future reborn?”
Kencana chuckled. “Yes”
“You’re immortal”
“But that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t be killed. Come, let’s go” she said as she began to walk.
“Where?”
“To the place”
“What place?”
“Come on, Sis. You don’t really think that I wouldn’t know about the universe’s axis of stability degenerating? I feel so insulted. I’m Chaos, after all. I’ll surely know if something’s out of place”
Hild narrowed her eyes.
“Actually you’re here to convince me to sacrifice myself to restore the balance” Kencana laughed at Hild expression changing into shock. “I know you very well. It’s all right. I’ll do it”
The queen of Infernal Real bowed. “Thank… thank you, sister”
Kencana laughed, waving it off. “Don’t mistake me. I neither care about both of you nor the fate of the universe. I’ll be doing it because I want a place for his soul to reborn”
“Are you ready?” Cologne, who was sitting from the sideline asked, looking at the both contenders. When she had opened the Nekohanten, the wise Amazon matriarch had an underground gymnasium built underneath the restaurant for her, Shampoo and Mousse to train. While she didn’t want the challenger to find out about the place, she was didn’t want anyone to watch apart from herself to watch the battle as it would reveal Shampoo’s current skill level. Cologne had to be wary ever since she found out that the middle Tendo girl had been collecting data on every martial artist in Nerima. “FIGHT”
As the martial artists in front of her fought, Colognr watched, while her hand idly produced a small fireball. When Ranma accidentally told her about the magical bracelet Nabiki gave him, Cologne took it upon her to learn about the middle Tendo girl. The night she was spying on Nabiki, she was only expecting to discover that Nabiki was only a ‘hobbyist’ magician, knowing few spells. That would put the girl on par with some of the so called ‘modern day witch’ that could be found in some western countries, or shamanic healers, also known as miko, Taoist priests, dukuns and many others.
What she discovered blew off her mind.
Judging from breadth of knowledge displayed by Nabiki, Khu Lon suspected that the girl knew and had the skill to cast a moderately powerful spell, one that could even defeat her instantly. But despite aptitude, Nabiki has a very weak ki, which made the elder Amazon wondered why did someone took Nabiki as an apprentice. Even Akane’s ki was a few times more than her sister’s. But despite that Nabiki remained a worthy adversary. It seemed that the she has learnt the Amazon’s laws and customs, probably from the book Shampoo accidentally dropped during one of her earlier incursion into the Tendo house. It was from the book that Nabiki found out about the kiss of marriage cannot be applied outside the Amazon village and the real reasoning behind what seemed to be a barbaric law. Because of that Cologne reluctantly rescind the kiss of marriage; Nabiki had promised not to interfere with Shampoo’s pursuit of Ranma as long as she doesn’t resort to coercion methods.
The elder Amazon chuckled. The young one certainly has covered her base by ensuring that her sister had a chance as well.
Meanwhile Shampoo executed a summersault in the air, ending with a snap kick aimed at her opponent’s head. To her shock, her opponent simply moved to her side, grabbed her body. Then Shampoo found herself airborne once more. She quickly twisted her body in order to land safely. When the tip of her foot touched the wooden floor, she had to jump away as a punch was aimed at her face. After she hadput the distance between herself and the opponent, Shampoo smiled and said in a perfect, but heavily accented Japanese, “Persistent and aggressive people would be hated”
“Really?” her opponent said while getting into a battle position. “I don’t know that you care about your face that much”
“Oh, of course,” Shampoo replied. “I don’t want to end up looking like you, Tendo Akane. I prefer to be cute”
Akane narrowed her eyebrows. “If you think you can bait me, let me assure you that you’re facing the new Tendo Akane”
“Oh, how’s the new Tendo Akane’s culinary skill?”
“That’s a low blow, Shampoo”
“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing”
“Oh yeah?”
Shampoo rushed toward the waiting Akane while smiling. The Tendo girl had certainly gotten better. It was obvious that her sensei was a good teacher. While Akane was still nowhere near Shampoo’s level, her defensive moves were repelling every physical attacks Shampoo could throw at her. Not that the Amazon girl minded. After all, she could improve her skill by sparring with Akane. Plus, she could try the new attacks she had learned as well. Akane wasn’t the only one who was learning new martial arts. While she knew that the martial art Akane was studying emphasized on defense, the one she was studying, albeit reluctantly, focused more on offense. “Yeah” She raised her fist. “Ready or not, here I come!” Shampoo cried out while running toward her opponent at full speed.
Akane shifted into a counter position, ready to catch Shampoo’s fist.
Shampoo grinned. As she had expected, Akane was still inexperienced in a real fight. ‘No matter’, she decided. She would have a chance to try one of her new techniques. Shampoo spun her body once in order to throw off Akane’s timing. She then lunged toward the Tendo girl with a fist leading the way.
The move caught Akane off guard and she only had time to hold out her arms in front of her to block the attack. However, the sheer momentum of Shampoo’s attack still threw her away. Gritting her teeth, Akane got up quickly in case Shampoo attacked again. “Seems like I’m not the only one who learned new moves”
“Thanks to your ever mercenary sister”
“Oh, then I guess the fee isn’t that cheap”
“Of course”
Akane shifted into an offensive stance, surprising both Shampoo and Cologne. “Are you ready to annul the kiss of marriage?” she asked confidently.
“Ai ya! I’m looking forward to you handing over Husband, gift-wrapped,” Shampoo said while smiling gleefully. Everyone, except Genma and Soun, knew that all of the marriage contracts and promises to Ranma had been made void, no thanks to Nabiki’s interference. Shampoo still didn’t know what the middle Tendo girl said to her great-grandmother to annul the kiss of marriage, but to her, it didn’t matter. She liked Ranma and would pursue him in a normal way.
“Really? I don’t think Ranma would appreciate being dragged off to your village”
“You’re not Ranma” Of course, Shampoo kept an ace to herself. While the Amazon law decreed that she brings her husband back to the village, there was a loophole to circumvent that ruling and she wasn’t really reluctant to use it. After all, Shampoo was a jealous woman. She didn’t really mind sharing her husband with one or two women, but the whole village? She didn’t think so. After all, she wouldn’t like it if those shriveled prunes like her great-grandmot…, correction, respected elders would like to ‘borrow’ her husband. “So are you going to attack or are you going to bore me to death?”
Akane dashed toward Shampoo at the same time the Amazon began her sprint. They traded few punches and kicks. Using her left hand, Akane tried to chop Shampoo’s shoulder but the latter sidestepped while trying to kick her right midsection. Akane quickly raised her right knee to block the incoming kick. She then used the momentum to move five steps away from Shampoo.
“Oh, you’re on the offensive now?”
“Heh, you’ve seen nothing yet” Akane rushed and executed a kick aimed at Shampoo’s legs. While the Amazon could have evaded it easily with her speed, she purposely readjusted her movement speed to match Akane’s so that they would be able to fight based on skill. Because of that, she had to drop into a squat position and block the kick with her elbow. Shampoo then grabbed Akane’s leg and then tried to sweep the other leg. To her surprise, Akane twisted her body so that her body was momentarily off the floor and used the free leg to kick the hand holding the other leg. Even as Shampoo was forced to release the leg, she kicked the freed leg up so that Akane would be off balance. However Akane quickly put one of her hands on to the floor to stabilize her body and then propelled her body out of Shampoo’s other kick.
“You’re just lucky,” Shampoo said as she rushed toward Akane. They exchanged blows, with both sides remaining unscathed. However, despite Shampoo matching Akane’s power and speed, she was at an advantage due to the fact that her well-train body could absorb more damage than Akane’s. Of course, if Akane had undergoes similar training, the Amazon warrior wouldn’t be so sure about who will win the match. As Akane wiped some sweat off her eyebrows, Shampoo continued, “Perhaps it’s time to end this”
“Heh. As you wish. I will end this with my new technique”
“Interesting,” Shampoo said as she balled her right hand and focused her chi there. “You’re not the only one who has a new trick. I’ll show you the attack that I have been saving until now” Her right fist began to giving off yellow glow. “KOUKEN! (TIGER FIST!)” she shouted as she hurled a yellow projectile.
The yellow ki projectile was supposed to hit Akane, but it collided with a blue ki wave and exploded. The explosion threw both fighters off the floor.
“The match is a draw!” Cologne announced.
“But great grand-mother…” Shampoo protested.
“We can still go on,” Akane added.
Cologne shook her head. “It’s the same even if both of you unleashes your super deadly art”
Both Akane and Shampoo shared a look, surprised that the other party had another move left.
Pretending not to see the exchange, Cologne continued, “Besides, I don’t want the ‘Nekohanten Dojo’ to be damaged by your attacks”
“Nekohanten Dojo?” Akane enquired. “But I thought that Nekohanten is a restaurant”
Cologne and Shampoo rolled their eyes. “We have your sister to thank for that,” Cologne said drolly.
Shampoo got up, moved toward Akane and gave a hand. “Nice match, yes?”
Akane smiled took the hand. “Yes”
“You certainly have improved,” Shampoo complimented. She then grinned, pulled Akane closer and whispered to her ears, “But you still have a lot go regarding your front”
“Frontal attacks?”
Shampoo glanced at Akane’s breasts very briefly. “Yes, frontal attack. You’re still lagging behind me and Ukyo in that aspect”
“So can you help in that?” Akane asked, still not understanding what Shampoo meant.
“Sorry, I wouldn’t. After all, we’re rivals, aren’t we?”
Akane blinked, confused.
That night,
Nabiki was lying on her bed, reading comic while munching potato chip when she raised her eyebrows. “Hmm… seems like it’s a bit hot here” She then shifted her position so that she was on her side. She took the collar of her pajamas and unbuttoned the topmost button, revealing a bit of her cleavage before continuing her reading. After a few minutes more, she changed her position once more, this time unbuttoning the lowermost button. After she did that, she realized something. “Hey, since I’ve unbuttoned two of them already, why don’t I just unbutton all of them and get rid of my pajamas? Wearing bra and underwear in my room is okay because I’m alone right now.
She had to sigh when red droplets began dropping on the floor. “Saotome-kun, please remember to wipe off your blood afterwards. I don’t want Akane or Kasumi to enter my room later and arrive to a different conclusion”
Ranma dropped his Umisenken cloaking, with one hand pinching his nose. “How do you know it was me?” he asked nasally.
“Look, didn’t we have a similar situation earlier on?”
“Yes, but you didn’t explain how you knew about me being here”
“Since we’re in an enclosed room, the air current is quite still. So your movement caused the air to shift a bit. I noticed that because I wasn’t moving. Besides, the sound of potato chip breaking is a bit different than fifteen minutes ago. You entered the room through the window five minutes ago, didn’t you?”
“Sound of potato chip breaking?”
“When I took a bite out, it would make a crunching sound. The sound will bounce differently in different room setups. Different acoustics, as they referred to it” Upon seeing Ranma’s confused look, she sighed “A neutral ki would change form when you focus it in different parts of your body, right? It’s something like that. A sound will change depending on the environment”
“Oh,” Ranma uttered. “Wait, you know about that as well?”
“Don’t sweat the small stuff” Actually, she had another way of finding out that Ranma entered her room. She had placed a barrier using her Shinnokokuei. A defensive device that allowed her to project a barrier around her that would protect against various physical, ki, magic and illusionary attacks; it will draw her own power at the point of negation. “So, why are you here in my room unannounced? You’re not here to ravish me, are you?”
“Of course, not! What ‘ravish’ means, anyway?”
“Never mind. So you were saying?”
Ranma held out Saotome family blade. “Here, I got the sword, just like you asked me to. I can’t describe to you how hard it is for me to get my mom to part with it. What do you need it for, anyway? Don’t tell me that you going to pawn it?”
“Very funny, Saotome-kun. Keep it up and I’ll hire you out to the circus. I just want to have a look at it”
“Ok, here” Ranma said as he hold the sword in front of him.
“Put it on the table. I’m still busy”
The pigtailed martial artist was about to put the sword on the table when he saw a vial with something small inside. He took the vial and brought it close to his eyes. Whatever that was inside vial looked like a small kitten. The thing seemed to be waving toward him, as if wanting to say something.
“By the way, Saotome-kun, whatever you do, don’t remove the cover off the via…”
There was an uncorking sound.
“Opps…” Ranma said a bit guiltily. “Heh heh, it’s a bit too late?”
Nabiki looked at Ranma to see that the martial artist began to glow reddish, along with the family sword and the bracelet on his wrist. Meanwhile the thing inside the vial came out and began to circle around him at high speed.
“Huh? What’s happening to me?” Ranma asked as he looked at himself. “Huh? Why do I feel so strange…”
“Ranma!” Nabiki cried out as she held her hand. “Ei’en akesuru, Shinnokokuei! (Shine eternally, Heart’s Dark Shadow) ” A sphere barrier appeared around Ranma. But to her shock, the thing was trapped inside as well. ‘But that wasn’t suppose to happen’ she thought to herself. ‘The barrier was supposed to repel anything except the soul it’s supposed to protect. Wait… could it be that the…’
As if confirming her unsaid thoughts, the thing dispersed and Ranma’s glow became too bright to look at. After three seconds, the glow receded, leaving Ranma holding a sword with a black blade with a reddish tint to it. Meanwhile, the Saotome Sword and the bracelet he was wearing have disappeared as well. “Huh? What happen?” He looked at the new sword and then at Nabiki who was walking toward him. “What happened?” he asked.
Nabiki gave a very hard slap to his cheek. “You’re an idiot!” she hissed. Then suddenly she dropped to her knees in exhaustion because of the power she used. “A stupid idiot,” she said while panting.
“Sorry,” Ranma said as he rubbed his sore cheek.
“Do you know what happened just now?” Nabiki asked in a small voice.
Ranma shook his head silently.
“You released the kitten spirit I took out from you”
“That means… my Nekoken as well my fear of cats are back?”
“Yes and no. You don’t have the Nekoken and the neko-phobia. But the spirit is back inside you”
“So, can you remove it again”
Nabiki shook her head.
“Why? You did it once”
“I can’t remove you soul, Saotome-kun”
“Huh? I don’t understand”
“I don’t know how, but the cat’s soul was part of your soul all along”
“Wait…”
“Look at the sword in your hand”
Ranma did as he was told.
“Now, imagine that you’re talking to it. Ask it its name”
He closed his eyes for a few seconds. “It told me… that its name is Unmei kiriage”
“Fate’s conclusion?” Nabiki asked. She noted that the ‘kiri’ in the kiriage could also mean ‘to slash’. Literally, the sword’s name was the ‘The slashing conclusion of one’s fate’. “A nice name for your sword”
“My sword?” Ranma asked hesitantly.
Nabiki nodded. “Despite you being an asshole and doing things that could be dangerous, you have managed to accidentally unseal one of the powerful techniques ever created. Congratulations”
“This is one of the powerful techniques known? But I don’t like fighting using weapons”
“Unfortunately, this is not just a simple weapon; this weapon is an extension of your soul”
“My… my soul?”
“Yes. In case you’re wondering, if this sword breaks, you will die instantly”
“But… but…”
“Don’t worry. The sword can only be broken by a weapon powered by a stronger soul”
“Oh… that sounds comforting. How do I put this stupi… er… my soul away?”
“I don’t know”
“You don’t know…. I see” Ranma’s eyes widened. “WHAT?! What do you mean you don’t know?”
“Do you see me brandishing my soul sword Saotome-kun?” Nabiki, who was still sitting on the floor asked back.
“Err.. no?”
“Very observant. Now, maybe since the sword was kind enough to tell you its name, you can ask it on how to make it go away”
Ranma didn’t realize that the statement was said in a sarcastic voice and did what was told. He closed his eyes and focus his attention on the sword. After two seconds, the black sword disappeared and a black bracelet materialized on his right hand. “Hey, you’re right. Thanks, Nabs”
“Don’t mention it,” she answered with a hand on her face. “Since now I’ve already found out the answer to the question that has been bugging me, why don’t you make yourself scarce? I’ll think of a way to strip your wallet bare later”
“Okay” Ranma said while heading toward the door.
“AHEM!” Nabiki said while pointing toward the window.
“Oh yeah! Can’t have the others misunderstand the situation”
“You’re learning fast”
“Anyway, thanks for what you did” Ranma said before he jumped out of the window.
Nabiki, who was still on the floor, looked at the open window and sighed. He had forgotten to wipe off his blood and it had dried. Cleaning it would be a hassle. But the stain was nothing compared to what had transpired after that. She sighed again. Ranma has gotten the sword despite her best efforts.
He was certainly The One.
1. First of all:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2. Some of you may notice that this chapter have certain elements from Bleach (as well as other crossovers). Yes, this story (as well as ESA) is influenced by various COs, but for those who haven't seen the animes, I don't think you'll have any problem following this story. I try to make the story independent of other animes (so the only anime you'll need to know is Ranma 1/2) but if I do screw up regarding this please let me know.