AN: What am I, a request author now? Tuisto had a wicked idea. He posted it. I said I liked it. He wanted me to write it or something similar to it. So I said I would. Thus this Fic was born.
Now I am not doing his idea exactly, in fact I'm changing a lot of it. Hell the honest truth of it is I'm actually severely butchering it. I just wanted you to know just what prompted this unholy idea into seeing the life of day.
And this is not only is this idea born from one by Tuisto, he's also the beta. And that's not all, I'm also dedicating it to him, for his asking me to do this. So, this one's for you Tuisto, read and enjoy.
So on to the summary, the disclaimer, and then the Fic.
Summary: To defeat the corrupted earth, the purity of the moon must join with a pure form of earth. Yes that is purposely vague. Just read this.
Disclaimer: I do not own the intellectual property that is Ranma One Half or any of its associated characters, locations, items, ideas, or anything else that may be associated with it. Those belong to each of its respective copyright owners. I do not own the intellectual property that is Sailor Moon or any of its associated characters, locations, items, ideas, or anything else that may be associated with it. Those belong to each of its respective copyright owners. I do not own any of the intellectual properties that are other fictional persons, places or things. Those belong to each of their own copyright owners. I do not own any real person, place or thing. Those belong to either themselves, in the case of a person, or their real life current true owners in case of a place or object. What I do own is any and every original person, place or thing, used in here as well as the story its self. Those very few things are mine. And that's all that ever will be mine.
SPRING OF ALMOST DROWNED EARTH PRINCESS
CHAPTER ONE
THE TRUE HEIR TO THE EARTH'S CROWN IS ANOINTED
In a small hut in the village of Joketsuzoku, China
During a telling of
The Legend of the Earth Princess
A bedtime story passed that is passed down in the Village of the Amazons
A wizened old woman was tucking a small purple haired girl in to bed.
"Tell me a bedtime story Grandma." The young child cried out to the old one.
The old woman seemed to think about it for a moment, then the child, afraid she would not be told one, cried out "Please?"
"Ok, ok young one. I'll tell you one. A true one at that, for I think you are now old enough to hear the truth behind it." The old woman said with a gentle smile.
"Really? I mean of course I am!" The child exclaimed.
The old woman just laughed, and said "Quiet down child, or I will not tell you the story!" Teasing her Grandchild with an empty threat.
That immediately made the young purple headed girl gave a quick, and cute, pout that caused her Grandmother to laugh heartily. Then she began her bedtime tale.
"Once upon a time there was a beautiful Princess that would someday rule the Earth. Unfortunately for the Princess of the Earth, she was very angry with the Princess of the Moon for stealing her Prince Charming away from her. Vowing to seek vengeance against the more powerful Moon Princess, she sought a way to increase her power. Unfortunately for her, again, she had found a way, but it was a way that made it so a powerful Demon bonded to her very soul so it could get free and destroy all life in the galaxy. Unknowing and uncaring of the cost attached to the power, she did just that, thus dooming the universe. That is what happened oh so long ago." The Grandmother began telling her wide eyed grand daughter.
"The other Princess' Mother, the Queen of the Moon, had sent the Princess of the Moon and her Prince and all her closest friends and protectors into the distant future to be reborn someday, after sealing away the wicked Princess, the Demon that controlled her and all her most loyal followers away in another plane of existence, hopefully for all time."
"Good." The child said, very happy that the bad lady was sent away.
"Yes good." The old woman said. "Now to the truth behind this simple bedtime story, which is known to only a few in this village. Do you wish to hear it young one? It is not a pretty truth."
"Yes Grandma, I wannta' know." The child said with a little fear.
"Good for you young one. The truth is, this tribe once served the wicked Princess, but she became too wicked for us to follow, and we abandoned her in the war with the Moon. When the war was over, our surviving foremothers were giving a charge by the ghost of the Moon Queen herself. She cursed our people child; she cursed them with a curse we readily accepted as a fitting punishment for even thinking of fighting for the wicked Princess at all. She, in her final moments, when she had thrust her child and the others into the future, saw that their would be a time of great struggle, the wicked one would rise up again in the time of her child's new youth. But her down fall could not come from the efforts of her child or her friends and protectors alone. No, to beat the wicked Princess of the Earth, a pure Princess of the Earth must be born to help the reborn Princess of the Moon. And that is why we now guard this valley."
"What do you mean Grandma?" The young child asked, slightly confused.
"Ah, do you know of the forbidden Pools of Jusenkyo?" The old woman asked the child.
"Yes." She said shivering with fear at the mere mention of that accursed place.
"When the Earth Princess was still young and pure of heart, before she let the darkness into her soul, she was traveling the world, seeing the many lands and places of the domain she would one day rule over, and she fell into one of those accursed springs, and almost drowned in it. That seemed to be enough for the accursed things to make a copy of her in them. It is now commonly called the 'Spring of Drowned Girl', but that is only to hide the full truth of the spring, verily, it is actually the 'Spring of Almost Drowned Earth Princess'. Only the chosen one though will get the true form of the pool, all others will only get the girl portion. In fact it was stated by the Queen of the Moon's ghost that the chosen one would only get the girl curse as well, at first. The only way for the true power of that cursed spring to activate is when a being with the girl curse proves themselves worthy. Remember that young child. We have a task to monitor all who fall in to that spring, because someday, someone will unlock the true form of the curse, and then we must find the reborn Moon Princess, so they may work together to fight off the evil Earth Princess. Remember that child."
"I will Grandma!" She cried out in determination, and happiness at the thought of being a part of something important with the grown-ups.
And she did remember it. She told her own Daughter the story, and after losing her in a war with another tribe of that accursed valley, she told it to her Granddaughter it as well. Sadly, when the time came, she was too blinded by her own ambitions for her only Grandchild, and her only living relative, to see the fact that she was already in the presence of The Chosen One, and did not once not once did she see the signs, until it was almost too late.
Nerima, Japan: Three months after Ranma's failed wedding: In the Neko Hanten
'I am an old fool.' Cologne thought to herself. 'How could I not see that Ranma is The Chosen One? I should have seen it long ago. Ranma's Martial Art's code that Ranma keeps spouting over and over should have been the first clue. Ranma not turning out at all like the man how raised him and laughingly calls himself his Father should have been a true red flag. Ranma's constant rescuing of that ungrateful Tendo girl should have shown me with out a doubt. The battle with Herb should have just beaten the idea into me like a dead horse. And the Saffron incident, that should have just screamed it out to me with a big flashing neon sign flowed by a marching band. The boy brought someone back from the dead by pure will for the Gods sake! But no, I was just as blind as all the others. And now, now I can see it, and only because I can see the magic of the pools ready to strike Ranma. I can see it no, now that it's almost too late to tell her, yes, sigh, her, that her curse will soon change and she'll be the new Princess of the Earth. Shampoo will be utterly heartbroken, the other elders will be screaming like banshees and Ranma, Oh Ranma will just be thrilled with this... NOT.' The Elder Amazon thought to herself with a frown.
A knocking on the door to the closed restaurant startled her out of her unusual bout with self pity, and she thought 'That must be Ranma. I see he got my message. Well time to face the music as they say.'
With that thought, she hopped over to the door and opened it to find it pouring cats and dogs in a true monster of a rain storm outside and a very wet female Ranma on her doorstep. Sighing she said "It must be fate that you came here in that form. The Gods must truly enjoy rubbing your face in your mistakes." Cologne said morosely. "Please, come in child, for we have much to discuss." She said, moving out of the soaking wet red haired girl's way.
"Yeah, you said you needed to talk with me about some ancient Amazon prophecy or some such thing. I'm only here because you said it will get me out of my engagement to Shampoo, if I so desire it." She said sitting down at a table, still soaking wet. "So spill it you old ghoul."
Cologne hopped back to the table and sighed. "Ranma, I'm sorry." She said morosely. That caused the hairs on the back of Ranma's neck to stand up on end, for this did not sound like it would be very good news for her.
"Bout what?" Ranma asked cautiously and ready to flee if needed.
"About not seeing something I should have seen much sooner. I want to tell you a story Ranma, it is a story commonly told as a bed time story to young Amazon girls." Cologne started, when Ranma interrupted with
"Ain't I a little old for bedtime stories? And it's morning anyway's." Ranma said frowning. She did not like how this was starting to feel, and a bedtime story to start things off? Weird. Even for her life.
"True Ranma." Cologne said nodding. "But this so called 'Bedtime Story' is actually the secret to a veiled truth that I need to tell you." Clearing her throat, Cologne told the same story she had heard from her Grandmother all those years ago, and had repeated to her Daughter and her Granddaughter over the years
"Once upon a time there was a beautiful Princess that would someday rule the Earth. Unfortunately for the Princess of the Earth, she was very angry with the Princess of the Moon for stealing her Prince Charming away from her. Vowing to seek vengeance against the more powerful Moon Princess, she sought a way to increase her power. Unfortunately for her, again, she had found a way, but it was a way that made it so a powerful Demon bonded to her very soul so it could get free and destroy all life in the galaxy. Unknowing and uncaring of the cost attached to the power, she did just that, thus dooming the universe. That is what happened oh so long ago."
"The other Princess' Mother, the Queen of the Moon, had sent the Princess of the Moon and her Prince and all her closest friends and protectors into the distant future to be reborn someday, after sealing away the wicked Princess, and the Demon that controlled her and her most loyal followers away in another plane of existence, hopefully for all time."
Cologne then looked at Ranma with a severe and pointed look and said "That story is just to get the young ones ready to accept the truth about our tribe."
"What truth? And what's it got to do with me?" Ranma asked with trepidation.
"Simply put, our ancestors were servants to the Evil Earth Princess. We deserted her after we could no longer stand how corrupt and evil she had become, but we still fought with her in the beginning of the war against the Moon Kingdom. Thus we were cursed for it. A curse we willing accepted." Cologne started, when Ranma interrupted her again.
"How were you cursed?" Ranma asked, intrigued despite herself.
"When the Moon Queen sent the children into the future, she saw several things. She saw that the Evil Earth Princess would rise again to do harm to the world in the name of her Demonic Mistress. She saw that her daughter would fight alongside her reborn friends to combat her evil. And she saw that her daughter could not win unless she had the help of someone very special, she needs the help of the true Earth Princess." Ranma started to get a sinking feeling in her stomach when she heard that.
"In truth there is no 'Spring of Drowned Girl'. That spring and the entire story behind is only just a partial truth at the very best. The true truth is that it is the 'Spring of Almost Drowned Earth Princess', for the Evil Princess, back when she was not tainted by jealousy, hatred and the Demonic control of her Mistress, was touring the Kingdom of Earth to see the world she would one day rule over, and fell in and then almost drowned in that spring. And as you know, almost drowning is as good as doing it for those springs, and thus she left her template imbedded into the pool. The pool truly does only turn one into a girl for everyone. Everyone but The Chosen One. That person too, only gets the girl curse, at first." Ranma began to dread hearing more, for she knew that this would fuck her over yet again, but listened on despite herself. "When the a person with the girl curse has proven themselves beyond shadow of a doubt to the magic that controls the pools, that person will be changed by the pools magic into the next Earth Princess, with all the powers and responsibilities that goes with it. And Ranma, you are The Chosen One." Ranma stiffened at that. "You have been showing the signs of the magic choosing you. In all truth I should have seen this coming long, long ago, but I truly was too blind to see it. I don't know when, but soon, very soon you shall become the Earth's Princess, and must find the reborn Moon Princess to defeat your predecessor or all life everywhere is doomed." Cologne finished softly.
Ranma sat still for a moment, and then pounded her fist into the table, causing it to fracture. "This is BULLSHIT!!!" Ranma screamed in rage. Tears of ragged anger unconsciously forming in her eyes, Ranma asked aloud "Why does this shit always happen to me?" The tears went away, and then the anger returned, with Ranma screaming at the top of her lungs. "Why the fuck would it choose me!?! I don't want it!"
"It's not what you want. It's what is needed. You were chosen. I don't know how long it will take, but very soon, you WILL be the Princess of the Earth, and have a very grave responsibility." Cologne told Ranma flatly.
"I know, I know." Ranma said sitting back down with a sad expression. "It's never about what I want, and that's what truly pisses me off." slightly chuckling darkly. It was a very scary sound, especially coming from one such as Ranma. "I guess I have no choice but to accept it though." Ranma said morosely.
It was then, at that time, as Ranma said those words that the Magic of the pools struck. Ranma started glowing a bluish green glow, which not only steadily grew brighter, but also steadily grew larger, until it filled up the entire dining area of the Neko Hanten with an eye searing bluish green light. Then it suddenly snapped, and disappeared into Ranma, knocking her out cold. And Cologne, the only witness to the rebirth of the True Earth Princess, blinked her eyesight back into being and sighed heavily. Then she somehow got the newly crowned royalty tucked into her bed. She then wrote a note explaining that she would be back shortly if Ranma awoke early, and went to explain this mess to Ranma's so called Friends and Family. She was not looking forward to that. Not at all.
Tendo House and Dojo, Nerima, Japan: a little while later
Cologne had gathered all of Ranma's close acquaintances in Nerima, well other then the Insane Kuno's that is, and Ryoga, since he could not be found during this five minuets, and explained the realities of this new situation to them. Though it went over about as expected. Or maybe not.
All stayed silent in their shock at first, and then it was Nodoka whom spoke, breaking the silence, and opening a dam that spilled out nothing but noise. Lots and lots of noise.
"Why did this have to happen to my child? Have those accursed pools not already done enough to my poor baby?" She asked through her tears.
Then some typical responses came from the typical sources. "Why, oh why was I cursed to have a son that would give in to such a pathetic and weak curse?!" Genma wailed dramatically, and in a very over the top style at that.
"The Schools? What of the Schools?" Soun cried. Literally. His tears were falling like a waterfall.
Then came the not so typical responses from some not so typical sources.
"To hell with the Schools!" Akane all but shouted, shocking everyone in the room. "Damn it father! Ranma will need all our help to get through this and still be ready to face his destiny! And in case you never noticed, the Schools would never have been joined anyway, due to you and Mr. Saotome! You, and you alone killed any chance of Ranma and I ever getting together as a couple!" Akane finally shouted, ending inches from her father's face.
Shocked out of his tears for a moment, he asked "What, what do you mean?"
"I mean," Akane drawled out while standing up and getting out of her Father's facial space "Your attempts at always trying to get us wed at any time we expressed any interest what so ever in each other, has made it so any romantic feelings we could have possibly had for each other had died long ago! When I was about to Marry Ranma, I realized I was disgusted by it, for it felt like I was about to Marry my Brother! And when I told Ranma that, he said he felt the exact same way!" Seeing Ukyo's and Shampoo's joyful expressions, Akane sneered and said "Don't be too happy girls, he BEGGED me to keep up pretences so that he could keep you two away. He sees you, Ukyo, as his best friend, or he did, until you used LIVE EXPOSIVES ON HIM! Now he doesn't know how to feel about you. I think you should just grovel for his forgiveness and pray for the best."
Turning to Shampoo, Akane looked sad "You on the other hand Shampoo, just confuse the hell out of him. First off, you came to kill him, for beating you in a fight, a fight over some food for God's sake, and he's never gotten over that aspect of you. You claim to love him, yet you truly did want to kill him at first. He is willing to forgive you for that though, and try to be friends with you, but nothing else."
Then laughing darkly, Akane then said, "He truly does not want to marry any of us, and only stayed with me, for I felt the same way. That's a riot, ain't it girls? He was willing to marry me, out of all of us, and only because I was the only one that didn't want to marry him, and if he had to suffer, so should his wife. Although I severely doubt he ever saw it like that. No, I think he saw me as the only safe one out of all of us." Akane the laughed even darker and said "Me the safe one? That's a hoot!" She then looked over the two other Fiancées of Ranma Saotome and said "And now, I doubt any of us will ever Marry him, or is it her now?" She then chuckled in the dark laughing tone she had used this entire time.
Soun then started tearing up again, while Shampoo and Ukyo sat in shock, and Akane said coldly "Oh stuff it Daddy. Stop your crying."
"Oh my pitiful son, how could you…" Genma started when he was hit on the back of his head with a sheathed katana.
"Genma." The ice cold voice of his wife said as she unsheathed her katana. "Stop bad mouthing Ranma. You got him into almost all of this mess, either directly or indirectly, and now that my baby has a true heroic quest to fulfill, you will either help us help Ranma meet her new destiny, or stay the hell out of our way! If I hear you or hear of you giving Ranma any grief about things as they stand, I will hurt you, and hurt you badly!" she told him that in that same ice cold voice as she held her katana tight to her husband's throat. "Nod if you understand." Genma then nodded. "Good, now STAY SILENT!" She shouted as she took her katana away from her husband's throat, leaving a shallow cut on it.
Looking over to Cologne, Nodoka asked "Can you bring my Daughter back here? I think it's time she truly came home. Home to me and MY home. And I will help you in what ever way I can to prepare her for her new destiny. I have been absent from her life for far too long, and WILL NOT be held out of it any longer." Nodoka told Cologne, daring the Matriarch of the Amazon tribe to contradict her.
"And now that Ranma and I can drop the act, I will too." Akane said coldly.
To say that Cologne was shocked would be an understatement of understatements. What the Tendo child had told her had truly shocked her, for she had thought that the two truly did love each other and were in deep denial of the fact. And while they did love each, that it was as siblings shocked her greatly. And that the only reason Ranma was willing to Marry Akane was for the soul purpose of escaping both Shampoo and Ukyo shook her badly. She had no idea she had misread this entire situation this badly.
And Nodoka surprised her as well. She had always seen the woman as a flake, but now she saw a woman with a will of steel and the skills to back it up, what with the way she had just handled her weapon. Cologne was used to having a ton of information and being able to read people very easily, and yet she had obviously misread three very important people in her current schemes, and had obviously not gotten all the information to be had for it, and what information she did have, she had gotten some of it wrong, to put it mildly. She was seriously pissed at her self for her little FUBAR.
"I'll go get her now. Nodoka, Akane, do the two of you wish to accompany me?" She offered as a peace offering. After they accepted, she told her Grandchild, who pouted in response, to stay at the Tendo's for now.
The Neko Hanten: five minutes later
The three women came into the Neko Hanten out of the pouring rain and found Ranma in one of Shampoo's bathrobes sitting at a table in the middle of the room, nursing some hot coco.
"Ranma, what are you doing in Shampoo's bathrobe?" Cologne asked surprised.
"I woke up and was very cold Cologne. I had been soaking wet when you put me in your bed after all. So I took a nice hot bath to warm myself up, and to see if what it thought had happed did. And yes, it did." Ranma said emotionlessly.
"And how are you feeling Ranma? Truth now." Akane said. Seeing the look on Ranma's face, Akane said "I came clean to everyone about our act, so don't start hiding again." Akane told Ranma, shocking her for a moment.
Ranma shrugged and said, after a sip of her hot coco, "Not as bad as I feared. I feel no where near as depressed as last time, but I think it's due to the way the curse changed me." Ranma said with a far off look.
"What do you mean, Ranma?" Nodoka asked, fearing that Ranma had had her mind altered by the magic of Jusenkyo.
Sighing Ranma said "The last few times I was stuck as a girl, I was a boy in a girl's body, and hated it. Jusenkyo obviously decided that it couldn't have that happen to me, so it, blunted my hate to this, so to speak." Seeing the worried looks on their faces, Ranma sighed and said "I'm still me, I'm still Ranma, and I'm still a male in my mind, but Jusenkyo has blunted my normal hate for being stuck in this form. Oh, I'm still pissed as all Hell right now, but I'm not suicidal like I might have been if not for the magical blunting." Taking another sip of her hot coco, Ranma said "It got me to see the up side to this."
"And that would be?" Cologne asked with a curious edge to her voice.
"Do you know just what the Powers Earth Royalty command?" Ranma asked Cologne with a raised eyebrow.
"No. we, if we ever knew, had forgotten it." Cologne admitted.
"I know. Now I do at least. It will take me a long time to master the Powers I have been given, and in fact it will probably take me a few weeks just to be a novice with them, but they are nice." Ranma said sipping her hot coco again.
"Well don't just leave us in suspense like that Ranma, tell us!" Akane semi-shouted at Ranma.
"All I know is that while I was asleep, I was told what a Royal of the Earth line can do. Any natural element that can be produced by the earth is mine to control. If I knew enough about this power, I could stop this rain storm right now, if I wanted to." As one of the three were about to speak, Ranma said "It does have its drawbacks and imitations though. One limitation is it only works while I'm on earth. Another is I must maintain my spiritual connection with the earth. If I am neither on the earth or if my connection gets broken, I can not access these powers. Another thing is every one who has this power teaches them selves to use it. There truly is no one true way to use it, you must teach yourself it. Also, if like I said earlier, I stopped this rain storm, I would be denying the Earth something it wants. I should not do that. To use this power I must harmonize my own needs and wants with the Earth's needs and wants, or risk backlash from the Earth." Chuckling softly, Ranma said "Truly, I was told much, and at the same time very little by my dream. All I do know is starting soon I will have to start teaching myself this. But for now, I am comforted by listening to the Earth." Ranma said with a far off look.
"Listening to the Earth?" Cologne asked intrigued.
"Yes." Ranma said. "It sings. It sings a wondrous and wordless song. It truly is beautiful." Ranma admitted softly, though every one heard the gentle words.
Gathering her self up, more mentally and emotionally then physically, though there was that too, Nodoka said, "Ranma, why don't you get dressed again? You are move back in with me for now while Cologne Akane and I will try to help you all we can to face your new destiny."
"I'm moving back in with you Mom? Really?" Ranma asked with unbridled joy in her voice.
"Yes. Unfortunately, it seems your farther did not take this news very well, for I saw him leaving, or should I say sneaking. Away from the Tendo's with a bag over his shoulder as we left. I think he's going on another 'Training Trip'." Nodoka said with disgust.
"Well, I can't say I'm sorry to here that." Ranma said flatly.
"I'll visit as much as I can Ranma. And help as much as I can too." Akane told Ranma.
"Hey, I'm only going to be five blocks away, you can come over every day if you like." Ranma shook her head "I still can't believe that all that time Mom, you were only five blocks away, and knew nothing about me." Ranma said sadly.
Nodoka hugged her newly made Daughter and said "I was away a lot on business."
"Business? What sort of business?" Ranma asked.
Nodoka smirked and said "You may not believe this Ranma, but I work at, and run, a, well to put it bluntly, I run a body guarding agency, and frequently, I need to be there to guard a certain somebody." Nodoka was met with silence.
Ranma then laughed and said "I knew it! I new you had to be better with that damn sword then you let on, for your clumsiness was just so obviously forced to me! But running a body guarding agency? I would have never guessed it. Still it makes sense." Ranma hugged her Mom and said "I think I want you to show me where you work some time. Who knows, maybe someday I'll work there for you."
"If I have anything to say about it, you will, and you'll take over for me some day." Nodoka half laughed while being utterly serious. "I can't hire you till you graduate though." She said mockingly.
"Um, you mean next week then?" Ranma asked innocently.
"Will you though? From what I heard about your performance in school…" Nodoka said lightly.
"Another act. Ranma won't graduate anywhere near the top of the class, but she won't be scraping the bottom of it either." Akane said "She worked overtime with Miss Hinomiya to graduate on time and with decent grades. Quite the feat considering Ranma missed a lot of school due to challenges and quests, plus the fact that Ranma never went to school much if at all before going to Furinkan, and then add in the fact that Principle Kuno Hates Ranma's guts and was actively trying to get Ranma either expelled or held back, or for her just to drop out, and then you can see that this is close to a miracle here." Akane finished.
"Hmm, maybe I could see about hiring you Ranma." Nodoka said being serious now and already considering certain possibilities.
"As enlightening as all that was," Cologne began, breaking the mood, "Ranma still must get dressed and we must leave soon."
"True." Nodoka said, getting up from the kneeling position she had been in to hug Ranma.
"I'll go get dressed then." Ranma said, getting up out of her chair, after finishing her hot coco though of course.