Saffronification
By Ozzallos
Part One : Death.
Prologue
Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts stared into the steaming pool of water with no small amount trepidation. A sidelong glance across the rippling surface revealed the expectant visage of the white haired Captain Kiima with the child Saffron at her side. Behind her stood Koruma and Masara; to their right, the advisors and royal court. The crowd were all waiting for one thing and one thing only.
Her.
The martial artist stared down into the pool fed by a phoenix figure head while the twitches at her back reminded her of the events leading up to this crucial moment. All she had to do was take a final step into the bath to complete the cycle …Or so they said, Ranma thought darkly. They weren't even sure whether it would work or not, but she was honor-bound to try. Besides, Ranma thought, she was long past the point of no return already. With a finally look to the winged entourage, she took a deep breath and frowned.
"This had better be worth it."
The Captain of Phoenix Mountain nodded. "For all of our sakes."
She held Kiima's gaze for another moment before stepping fully into the body of water, kneeling down to immerse herself within. At first, she felt nothing. Then a tingle. A minute later, her eyes widened as crystalline thread began to race across her skin, sprouting up from the water and entangling her body. Her first reflex was to fight the threads and she found them every bit as unyielding as the first time she had encountered them only months ago in Saffron's presence. This time, however, the entrapment was voluntarily. The redhead forced calm throughout her body and allowed the threads to take her, deadening appendages as they encased her entire body. It wasn't five minutes before they had nearly covered her, and a feeling of sleepy lethargy overcame her consciousness. Now she would either die, or…
The final fissure closed over Ranma, sealing her into a world of darkness.
Chapter ONE
"Five thousand yen."
Ranma froze in his kata with the words and turned toward the middle Tendo, standing in the open doorway of the dojo of her namesake. Several things passed through his brain nearly simultaneously, the first of which was that she was purposely disturbing his practice with her scheming. It just didn't happen, as even she seemed to realize that the dojo was one of the few places where he could obtain a small measure of peace in his chaotic life. The second thought that he grasped was the abnormally large sum of money she was charging for a total unknown. With these two facts firmly in grasp, Ranma came to the conclusion that the sister had come into information of considerable importance, as she rarely yanked his chain these days.
Not since the failed wedding, at any rate.
The martial artist weighed the pros and cons of parting with such a sizable sum of money even though it grated against him to turn it over to the Tendo standing in front of him. Still, his life was nothing but chaos, and unlikely as it was, Nabiki was one of his few allies in perceiving that chaos before it fully came home to roost. He considered the girl who would be starting her first semester of college for another moment before nodding.
"My tab." Nabiki pulled out a small notepad with a frigid smile and nodded herself, making the requisite annotation to Ranma's running tab. Not that she kept tabs for many people. In fact, they numbered on a single hand. But Ranma was not only a valued source of income, but reliable when it came time to pay up as well. That, and he just refused to carry a wallet. The notepad disappeared and the mercenaries smile faded slightly.
"They've set a date."
It took the pig-tailed martial artist a moment to digest the terse statement. "Set a…" Ranma began, then his eyes widened as realization slammed home. "Oh no…" He stared at Nabiki searching her face for confirmation. The lack of her arrogant mask said it all.
"When?"
"A month from now." Nabiki confirmed softly and Ranma swore in spite of himself.
"Damn, damn, damn, DAMN." He balled his fist and stared an angry floor into the dojo's floor. It was too soon. Way too soon to deal with… that. He returned his attention to the sister. "You're certain?" She cast him a bland look that told him that he ought know better than to question the accuracy of her information. "Uh, right."
Ranma worked the information over in his head and came to the only course of action left available to him. They couldn't let this bite them in the ass again. "I'll tell Akane."
Nabiki was about to protest until she noted the seriousness set across his face. If there was one thing she knew in her profession, it was not only knowing when and when not to cross the line, but more importantly perceiving the line to begin with. By informing Akane directly, Ranma was cutting her out of another profitable source of income, but she also knew that face. He wasn't happy and he would be damned if this was going to happen again.
She acquiesced and Ranma stepped by her and out into the open evening air. No big deal, she mused. There were other ways to make money off the situation. Ways that might even help the couple this time around.
With that thought in mind, she palmed her day-timer, and opened up to the phone section labeled "fiancées".
Akane Tendo sat on the roof of her house in silence while the fiancé of her arranged marriage stood aside, staring into the night sky. The moment stretched on for another precious few minutes before she simply sighed. Ranma took his eyes off the star lit night and looked down at the cobalt blue haired girl. Her next words mirrored his own thoughts exactly.
"It's just … Too soon."
Ranma nodded, opting not to break his silence. He had already come to the exact same conclusion. Their lives had only recently returned to some semblance of normalcy and the last thing either of them need was another shotgun wedding attempt. Another moment of silence drifted between the two before being abruptly abandoned by Akane's fist as it slammed into the roof, buckling the shingling beneath. Ranma arched an eyebrow, noting that only a fraction of her anger managed to bleed through to her strike. After all, she could put a hole in the roof just as easily as he could.
"Why! Why can't they just leave it alone?" She snarled, ending the rhetorical question with a sniffle as tears threatened to break.
Ranma knew there was probably a profound answer to that question. Probably something along the lines of the parents living vicariously through the accomplishments of their children, or some other meaningless psychobabble. True as it may have been, Ranma had a far simpler explanation.
"Because they're both complete morons."
Akane blinked at the statement and managed to smile after it made a pass through her brain. Yeah, that was about right, she decided. What other parent would engage their kids and not even tell them until the last possible moment, then attempt to force them together at every turn? Sure, arranged marriages still happened, but most people went into them knowing about the event, even if they had never met the husband or wife to be. And only complete morons would be blind to the challenges they faced. A gender based water curse? Multiple rivals, male and female? Bi-monthly kidnapping attempts? The list simply did not stop and their parents seemed all but oblivious to it.
A slight chuckle escaped Akane's lips and Ranma smiled. It only lasted for a moment before fading away. "We gotta find some way out of this… Or take control of it ourselves. Can't let my old man or yours do this to us anymore."
Akane nodded in total agreement, and after a moment of silent contemplation, stood up. "We need a plan."
Ranma let loose a wry smile. "Plan? What's that?"
Akane scowled, but there was no heat behind it. "Funny one, Mister 'make it up as you go'." Ranma's smile widened, but abruptly disappeared as his eyes lost focus. He turned away from Akane and stared off into the night. "What?"
"Bein' watched."
Even with the fading light of dusk working against him, Ranma was able to make out a figure perched on a light pole beyond the Tendo property across the street. Now he frowned as his martial arts enhanced senses strobbed out around the stranger, seeing an identity through tendrils of ki. The frown deepened as they recognized the aura all too readily, and the pigtailed boy reflexively prepped for battle. Akane felt her fiancé's power spike abruptly and she took a defensive stance off to his flank. She had no idea who it was out there, but if Ranma was on guard, so was she.
"There will be no need for that, Ranma." The feminine voice drifted softly across the night. It did nothing to lessen the Saotome's guard, and Akane herself recognized it instantly.
"Kiima." She growled in a tone that promised great physical violence. Ranma put a hand on her shoulder, preventing the inevitable step forward that would unleash that violence. Not that he could blame her. The kidnapping and drowning attempted just to obtain her body in the form of a curse was still fresh in her mind.
"Better start talkin', Kiima." Ranma smiled grimly. "I can't hold her back forever."
The shadow expanded as the figure unfurled its wings. She gave them an almost lazy downward beat that allowed her to glide the distance from the light pole to the edge of their roof, illuminating her for the first time. Little had changed in the woman as she still wore the elaborately decorated white Chinese leotard and matching hair in a short crop. All in all, one could almost overlook the fact that she was not only their enemy, but hardly human. Needless to say, the wings and fingered talons shattered that illusion outright.
"I ask a truce of you and yours." She began holding her hands out as if to emphasis she was carrying no weapons. It was entirely symbolic, of course, as Ranma knew that her hands weren't the female captain's deadliest weapons.
"A truce?"
"And your help." She continued, taking a step forward, then to both their surprise, kneeled before them. "I ask you to hear me out. After I have explained, my life is yours regardless."
Ranma blinked and he could feel Akane's anger dissipate slightly. She had moved from the 'stomping bird-girl now' phase of her anger to 'stomping bird-girl later', after they heard what she had to say. Ranma folded his arms and looked on her with slight contempt. "Fine, whatever. So spill it already."
Kiima looked up at him, then cast a wary glance over to Akane. "It is for your ears only, Saotome." The martial artist was about to protest when the Phoenix cut him off. "You have bested Saffron in combat and are probably the only person who can help us. It is a matter of honor for you and you alone."
"I got enough matters of honor to last me a lifetime." He retorted dryly and in a tone that indicated little interest in whatever problems she had. Kiima winced, but held his gaze. "Any reason I should care about this one?"
"Because you're the cause of it all." She replied seriously. The answer was sufficiently cryptic to gain Ranma's undivided attention, even as he ego riled over the fact that a certain overgrown, egoistical bird boy shouldered a large share of the blame.
He turned to Akane, who in turn tore her eyes from their rival, looking upon Ranma incredulously. "You can't be serious considering…!"
"Don't I know it." Ranma sighed, but continued. "Gonna need some time alone, Akane."
"Do the words 'it's a trap!' mean anything to you?" She boggled, not believing that the martial artist would even consider…
He took her hand. "I'll be fine, 'kane." Then he turned, casting a hard glare into the waiting Phoenix woman. "Won't I?"
For the briefest moment, fear pooled into the captain's eyes before being replaced by resolve. As formidable as she was, Kiima knew her limits. She simply didn't pose a credible threat to the Saotome at this point. Even so… "I come under a banner of truce. You have my word."
Ranma nodded and squeezed Akane's hand lightly. She rolled her eyes and grumbled something before taking to the ladder, leaving the Martial Arts heir and Phoenix Captain to talk in the night.
It was another hour before Ranma stepped back into the house, and concern immediately flared within Akane at his appearance. He was pale. Deathly so. The person she had known for so long as the receptacle of ultimate confidence was anything but at the moment.
"Kiima…?" She asked hesitantly and Ranma shook his head.
"Gone." He replied simply, then looked beyond her to Nabiki, who sat watching the scene curiously. "I need a ticket to China Nabs. Yesterday."
"What..?" Akane started, totally blindsided by the sudden turn of events. "You can't…!"
"That'll cost a bit more than my usual services, Saotome." Nabiki considered the martial artist carefully, also taken back by the new development. "More than you have on a good day, I'm afraid."
"Mom'll take care of the bill." Ranma returned, intriguing the middle Tendo further. Ranma was one to take care of his own debts, not lean on others to help him out of one. The fact that he would be relying on his mother for this one was ominous in and of itself. Nabiki nodded, content with watching events play out. She could make money on the back side with the fiancées, if need be. Akane, however, wasn't.
"But…! You can't…!"
"I'll be up in my room packing." The martial artist padded up the stairs, leaving a gaping Akane and thoroughly puzzled Nabiki in his wake. Kasumi stepped into the living room and watched Ranma ascend the stairs curiously.
"Oh my, is Ranma-kun going somewhere?"
Nabiki blinked. "You could say that, Sis."
Akane's head whipped from one sister to the other, then bolted after the pig-tailed fiancé. She was up the stairs in a flash, finding Ranma already in the guest room and loading up his hiking pack. "Ranma what the HELL is going on?"
The martial artist froze in the process of stuffing some clothing into the weather worn pack and simply sat there beside it while the fiancé waited for some- any -forthcoming explanation. After a moment, he drew a deep, trembling breath…
"It was different with Saffron…" He replied softly. "He was trying to hurt you…"
Akane shook her head with incomprehension. They had had this conversation before and at length. Saffron wasn't his fault. Of all the chaos that was spiraling out of control in his life, that particular event was in no way his fault, let alone the degree to which it escalated. Killing never sat well with the martial artist and even though he took pains to avoid such outcomes, it had been inevitable with the self righteous Phoenix king. Even though Saffron had survived, the incident had gone quite a ways toward checking Ranma's views toward himself and the art.
"Of course it was different," Akane knelt next to him, with those thoughts in mind. "We've been through this. It wasn't your fault. You can't listen to Kiima-"
Ranma's head swiveled to face her and she was taken back by the hollow look in his eyes. "You don't understand…"
"So help me out here!" She pleaded, desperate to get some sort of handle at just what had spooked Nerima's premier martial artist so badly. It wasn't quite the effect a cat would have produced, but almost worse in a way. Akane could even sense the emotional turmoil roiling within her fiancé. "You have to give me something here!"
Ranma sat there like a frozen statue, staring at the frantic Akane for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Remember what Saffron told us before the fight? How he was his people's light and power…?" Akane nodded without comprehension. Ranma waited for the answer to come to her, if only so he wouldn't have to relive his darkest hour again. She stood waiting and Ranma sighed. "I killed him, 'Kane… Not only did I kill em' but I trashed Jusendo in the process." Akane's eyes widened as the horrible realization began to seep into her consciousness. "All they got now is a kid Saffron and he ain't nearly old enough to endure the ascension process yet." He paused and a pained expression took over his face. "I did that, and now they're dyin…"
Akane opened her mouth, but the sharp retort that instantly sprang to mind died on her lips almost immediately. "Dying? Who's…? They… They had it coming… Didn't they?"
The pain in Ranma's eyes deepened exponentially. Even Akane couldn't bring herself to believe the words she just spoke. "Maybe Saffron… Maybe Kiima and their court… But… But…"
"How bad could it possibly be?" Akane whispered softly and Ranma stared into the floor.
"People who had nothing to do with the fight are dying." Ranma shook his head, barely able to comprehend the magnitude of the ripples he created in his battle against Saffron. "Hell, I ain't opposed to a little suffern' on their part, but they don't deserve total extinction."
"Total… Extinction?" Akane gaped and Ranma simply nodded.
"Can't let it happen, Akane." Her shock seemed to finally free the martial artist of his motionless depression, allowing him to continue to stuff his meager belongings into the pack once more. "Won't let it happen."
Ranma stuffed one last article of clothing into the pack before hefting the bulging bag as if it weighed nothing. He strode out of the room with pack, Akane close behind. "But you're going tonight?" She asked, the frantic edge still accompanying her words.
"As soon as Nabs gets the tickets-" Then his shoulders slumped. "Hell, ain't even got enough time to say goodbye to Mom."
"Where you going, boy?" Genma stood at the foot of the stairs, arms folded and a serious expression set across his face while Soun stood beside him reflecting a similar demeanor. "Weren't planning on going somewhere, were you?"
Akane watched the depression evaporate, instantly being replaced with determined resolve. "Ain't got time for games, Pop."
"Your father is right, Son." Soun stepped up with a piercing stare. "You have obligations here. Specifically to my Akane."
Ranma's gaze narrowed sharply on the parents and he took the steps one by one. Each one seemed to collect an intangible aura of menace around the pigtailed boy, causing the parents to falter in their resolve. Halfway down the stairs, his eyes locked onto Soun Tendo specifically.
"I don't have to remind what I did at Jusendo, do I?" The question met with wide eyes and Soun found his neck involuntarily shaking his head no. Ranma's actions there were beyond question. Another step brought him closer and his gaze locked onto Genma. "It's a matter of honor, Pops."
"But-"
It was the only word that managed to leave his father's lips before being cut off abruptly. "Don't try and stop me."
"It-"
"People are dyin' because of me, Pops." Ranma continued in a more forceful tone. "Even you can't ignore that."
The elder Saotome thought on the matter as Ranma held his gaze and shook his head. "Alright, but you still have an obligation to Akane." Soun shook his head as Genma continued. "Therefore we'll have to move the wedding date up."
Akane sucked in a breath from behind Ranma. "Move… it up?"
Ranma was taken back as well. "Um, to when exactly?"
Genma turned to Soun with a smile. "Now sound good to you?"
"Indeed it does, Saotome!" The Tendo nodded. Ranma's left cheek began to twitch. While Akane began to visibly glow red.
"What? You gotta be kidding!"
The martial artist agreed and was readying his own opening salvo of physical violence when Nabiki stepped up from behind the parents, cutting in. "No time for that. Your plane leaves in just under three hours."
"Oh my…" Kasumi began. Having observed the entire spectacle, she took her cue from the younger sister. "That's barely enough time to get there and check in."
"Now wait a minute!" Genma protested as Ranma shoved past the parents. He was abruptly blocked by Nabiki.
"You don't intend on keeping Ranma from his flight, do you?" Genma was rendered speechless. "Because if you do, I'll be out over eight hundred thousand yen, and guess who will absorb that cost?"
"But he can't-" Her father whined and Nabiki turned on him as well.
"Plus carrying fees and interest."
"Uh…" Genma stumbled, but recovered quickly. "The boy can take Akane with him!"
Ranma flinched as Soun nodded, fully backing the new proposition. Finally, the martial artist to put his foot down.
"No."
"Boy…" Genma growled, once again irate that his parental wisdom was being countermanded.
"I said no." Ranma eleaborated, then turned to Soun Tendo. "I can't guarantee this ain't all one big trap, Mister Tendo. I can't put her in danger like that again."
Soun shut his mouth right there and turned to Genma. "We can have the wedding when your son gets back."
The balding martial artist nodded, knowing that there was no way that his old friend was going to push forward with the plan now. Instead, he opted to take the high road. "Sound like a plan, Tendo."
Ranma stared at Nabiki curiously and she smiled knowingly. Part of Ranma couldn't help but to be amazed. The other part shivered. He owed her more than money for that one. He even managed to make it to the door before being stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Akane Tendo.
"How long will you be gone?"
Ranma shook his head. "No idea. Not for long I don't think. All they need me to do is top off their reserves or somethin'. Can't be that hard."
"I guess…" Akane grumbled with a significant measure of doubt. If things went as planned in their lives just once, it would be a damn miracle.
"Don't worry 'bout a thing." Ranma smiled. It was the first one she had seen since Kiima had delivered the news. "I'll be home before ya know it."
Ranma Saotome stared through the humidity saturated air to the sight before her; nearly a hundred small pools with worn bamboo poles jetting skyward at variable lengths. They directed her attention up into the roiling clouds that seemed to insist any trip to China be made in her cursed form. The redhead rolled her eyes and studied the springs once more, noting that many had yet to recover from the monsoon only months before. The result was a blending of their numerous magically energies that no person in their right mind would stray near.
With that in thought, Ranma set up camp a good hundred meters from the edge and took to the task of erecting the tent and lighting a fire, the latter being more for the preparation of food and less toward the reversal of her curse. After several trips to this particular piece of real estate, she knew the absolute futility in keeping her birth form, while truth be told, it wasn't so bad. Her last trip here had put that particular aspect of her curse well into perspective, if nothing else. Not that she was going to spend any more time in it than absolutely necessary, just that it was useless to even bother with in a region that dropped water from the sky at such frequent intervals.
It took only ten minutes for the Jusenkyo tour guide to notice the newcomer, and the portly middle aged man stepped into Ranma's view with an expression that betrayed something more than idle curiosity.
"Is very strange for one sir to visit Jusenkyo so often, no?" The Guide cocked his head, staring at the redhead who had only months earlier played no small part in the rescue of him and his daughter. "Only Musk visit springs so often."
"Don't I know it." Ranma replied with some trace of irritation, inviting the Guide and his daughter to join him. The irritation lay mainly in the fact that his entire life seemed to revolve around China, Jusenkyo in particular.
"So what honored Sir do here now?" The little girl known as Plum piped, sitting beside him. She poked the camp fire with a stick while staring at him with wide eyes. After all, it wasn't often that a virtual legend and her very own savior came to visit. "Fought Amazons, fought Musk and fought Phoenix peoples. Is no more peoples to fight!"
A slight tick developed on Ranma's cheek as her words were filed under the 'sad but true' category events of her own life. Knowing her luck, she'd find somebody to fight. Maybe there were some lizard men or something back in the hills somewhere…
Her sarcastic musings were cut short as the Guide finished another puff from his pipe. "Yes, why honored Sir here this time?"
"Meetin' up with the Phoenix."
Both father and daughter's eyes went wide. "Aiyah! Is another fight?"
The martial artist shook her head. "Just a friendly meeting… I hope."
The portly guide cast him a dubious look before settling back into his seat. If there was one thing he had realized by now about this particular guest, it was that he was the harbinger of chaotic upheaval. Somehow, he doubted anything tied to the boy from Japan would go as smoothly as he was hoping. With that thought firmly in mind, he took hold of his daughter and bid the redhead fair well, fully intending to batten down the hatches before all hell broke loose once more.
Alone once more, Ranma turned to the unlikely series of events that had brought her to this point as the sun drifted across the sky. It was as if the strange and unusual had found her at age fifteen and conspired against her ever since. They had been her companions since her fall into Jusenkyo the first time, and one couldn't help but to wonder why. The martial artist sighed, staring at the springs once more. The only thing she knew for certain was that the strangeness in her life made for excellent martial arts training.
Of course, that was the high point of her life. The worst of it was only now manifesting itself, casting an enormous shadow across her soul as the fate of an entire people rested on her shoulders as a direct consequence of her actions. Akane was right. There really wasn't any choice but to take Saffron out. But the consequences to such an action was staggering. Never before had any of her decisions affected the world at large and now here she was with the fate of an entire race hanging by a thread. Killing Saffron had been an easy decision at the time. It wasn't even one she had to think about since there wasn't any question when it came to Akane's life.
But now…
Some link she didn't fully understand had been severed between Saffron and his people, and innocents were dying because of it. Killing a person- even Saffron -hadn't sat well with her after the fact. Knowing that innocent people were dying as a direct result was unbearable. Honor demand that she act. Ranma shook her head in disgust and palmed a smooth stone at her feet, sending it skipping into the springs.
She just hoped Mom understood.
Another pang of regret echoed through the lone Saotome. No sooner could she interact normally with his mother, fate felt the need to intervene once more and call her away in the only possible manner that the martial artist would respond to… Honor. It was her greatest weakness and she was painfully aware of it. There were just some days Ranma wished she could abandon it outright, but those thoughts were always tempered by the reminder of her father and his actions. At least she wouldn't have to deal with the fiancées, the redhead chuckled to herself in a humorless fashion. She'd taken care of that little detail with Nabiki just before stepping onto the plane.
A shadow blotted out the sunlight momentarily and Ranma jerked her head up, finding the backlit winged form gliding in the air above her. To anybody less familiar with the area, they might have been inclined to believe the heat and humidity were affecting them, as this particular form appeared to be an angel or some other miraculous vision. Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, however, knew better.
The winged shadow circled the site once more before being joined by two more shadows. It didn't take a genius to realize who they were, and Ranma's suspicions were confirmed as they descended onto his campsite. A slight plume of dust accompanied the backstroke of their graceful landing and Ranma eyed Kiima's escort with a frown.
"Hope you're not thinkin' about going back on your word." Ranma stepped forward, studying Koruma and Masara warily as they flanked their Captain. Both Phoenix men looked to Kiima, who shook her head.
"No." She replied, holding the martial artists gaze steadily. "They're as much for your protection as mine."
Ranma gave them one last glance and turned back to the noodles stewing over the fire. "All I can say is yas better not be yankin' my chain on this. This ain't a joke I'll just shrug off."
Kiima stepped into the camp wearing a neutral mask. "I assure you , Saotome, it's every bit as dire as I explained in Nerima."
Ranma simply nodded, appearing to focus on the preparation of her instant noodles. "Remind me to get Nabs to talk to you about natural gas or fuel oil investments or something'…"
Kiima took the attempt at levity as an invitation and stood next to him and the fire. "If only it were that simple." She replied, gaining Ranma's undivided attention. "The resources provided by our Lord extend beyond mere heat and light. Such descriptives are crude at best."
"Then what are we talking about, exactly?" The martial artist probed as she dug into her pack, tossing her guests a few more packs of noodles. The dark skinned Koruma stared at the colorful plastic wrapping without a clue as to what to do with it while Masara shook his with curiosity.
"Life itself." Kiima replied and Ranma paused in the preparation of his own noodles. "Our Lord serves as a conduit for our people, his life force feeding the others around him."
Ranma rolled this new information around in his head and decided to ask the most obvious question first. "So why not just find another one of your own kind to do the job?"
Kiima shook her head. "Few born of our kind actually have the ability to ascend as Saffron, and while their used to be an adequate number, time has all but put out that particular fire."
"But I thought…"
"We were immortal?" The Phoenix women finished the question and Ranma waited silently. "Mostly. Some simply choose to pass on naturally while even ones such as ourselves can be extinguished by a determined enough foe."
"Something tells me you got quite a few of those…" Ranma commented absently and missed the scowl produced by Masara. "Must be pretty bad to be askin' me for help."
"You… Weren't our first choice." Kiima replied carefully, eliciting a dry chuckle from the female Saotome. "Regardless, we have no other and you are known to keep your word." Ranma shrugged and the female Phoenix continued. "Once you have rested we will escort you up to Phoenix Mountain. With any luck, your stay will be a short one."
"You can say that again." Ranma replied with an expression that never quite rated a smile.
The pit in Nermia's premier martial artist deepened with every step she took into the depths of Phoenix Mountain, a pit having nothing to do with food. The hike up Phoenix Mountain was a relatively easy one by Ranma's standards, her only complaint being the lack of any ground level access as she traced a path up the narrow crags of the slumbering volcano. Even that wasn't a major concern to the martial artist who had swam the Sea of Japan in full hiking gear no less than two times, a task several magnitudes harder than the one he faced now.
Ranma cleared the final cliff that marked the entrance into the lowest entry point into the mountain, letting her pack drop onto the hard rock as she turned toward the majestic view behind it. Blue eyes soaked in the landscape below, though much of the lush greenery typical of the Qinghai Province was shrouded a rolling blanket of mist.
Undoubtedly waiting to rain on some other poor Jusenkyo cursed fool, Ranma thought with dark amusement.
Not that it mattered from where he was currently perched. Apparently the thick mist below was content to stalk easier prey than the individual standing several thousand feet above it. Besides, that one was already in its cursed form. Her escort circled right and bled altitude until they were level with the rock outcropping she occupied. The gust of their landing caused her traditional red and black Chinese silks to billow slightly as the backbeat of their wings caught them, then subsided. The redhead ignored the Phoenix guard a moment longer as she continued to pick out the valley in detail. Between those two mountains was Jusenkyo itself… About ten, no, fifteen kilometers west of that were the Amazons.
Ranma paused in her sightseeing with the thought. With any luck, her last minute instructions- and payment -to Nabiki would keep them out of his hair for the duration of this ill-fated sojourn. The other fiancées he was less worried about. They were mostly tied to Japan and all were pretty much certain she'd be back sooner or later. Cologne and Shampoo, however, would think nothing of packing up and returning home to set up a new base of operations in their pursuit of her. Sure, she couldn't stop them from returning home, but the instructions she left with the middle Tendo should keep them off the mountain and out of her hair. Combine that with the threat posed by the Phoenix themselves… Ranma shrugged. In a perfect world, at least.
"So what's first?" She turned back to her escort, who appeared to patiently waiting for their guest's attention to return to them. "Sooner we get this over with, the better."
"Agreed." Kiima nodded, joining the petite girl's side as Masala and Kurama took up station behind the pair. Leading Ranma into the cave, she continued. "First, we visit the Phoenix Stone."
"Phoenix Stone?" The martial artist's eyebrow arched as she was led deeper into the mountain. The large tunnel she was being escorted through gradually began to change the further in they journeyed. What had started as rough stone misshapenly carved into the side of a valcanic mountain gradually began to smooth until the rock she was walking upon ended abruptly in favor of smooth dark quartz tiles and tool refined walls.
"Our interim source of life and power." She explained. "When the number of Greater Phoenix began to dwindle, the wiser among us perceived the crisis we faced today, that being the lack of a Greater to distribute their life force amongst their people because of their reduced adolescent state."
"Like Saffy." Ranma nodded, missing the scowl the whimsical name produced among his escorts.
"Like Saffron." The Captain emphasized the correction before continuing with tale. "To stave off this inevitable threat to our people, a stone of pure crystal was carved out of the volcanic rock by our most skilled artisans; a crystal that could amass the mighty power of the Greater Phoenix."
Ranma Saotome cocked her head curiously now. "You saying you got a large crystal battery up here somewhere?"
"Essentially, yes." Kiima replied, leading the Saotome up a new flight of stone carved stairs. "The Greaters fuels the Phoenix Crystal, which in turn acts as an alternate source of power for the host until they are reborn and mature, thereby retaking their mantle once again."
"Okay, and now what's wrong?"
"You are." The Phoenix woman stated without emotion. "Though this crisis was inevitable, you have precipitated it prematurely with disastrous consequences." Ranma gave her a leaded glare but managed to reign in her mouth as the Captain continued. "As I mentioned earlier, time has left us with only one Greater Phoenix to lead us and our encounter with you has interrupted an already precarious cycle of rebirth and renewal. Saffron has been maturing for the past four years. If allowed to mature naturally, he would have grown into his full power in about another four."
"Okay, so I'm missin' the part where I became the big bad guy here." Ranma retorted sharply, tired of having what was amounting to mass extinction laid solely at her door step.
Kiima's own patience began to wear, but unlike the girl at her side, had a reason to maintain an extra measure of it. "Because Saffron is the last of the Greater Phoenix, we have been drawing on the crystal for the last four years and could ill-afford to wait another four for nature to take its course."
Realization dawned on Ranma just before she was about to clear the narrow stairway. "So what you're saying is that you guys don't have another couple of years left on the crystal and I just knocked back the only source of life back into childhood?"
"Essentially, yes."
Ranma stood stunned for a moment as the full implications of the act fell down on her shoulders. "Damn him… The hell… It wasn't my fault. He didn't have to threaten Plum… Or Akane…"
Taloned fingers now rested on Ranma's shoulder, causing her to look up into slitted lavender eyes. "A measure of the blame rests upon my shoulders as well." Kiima admitted in a haunted voice. "He was my responsibility to raise, yet I often foisted him off on that old incompetent fool, Muskrat, turning him into an arrogant, self centered brat."
The martial artist stared into those eyes for another moment and shrugged. If Saffron's own commander could admit some small part in this goddamn mess they were now irrevocably tangled in… "Yeah, well… Not like we couldn't have just let him use Jusendo and go home, I guess."
Kiima simply nodded with the redhead's admission and turned back to the double doors that sat atop the stairway. Her talons sank into what looked like an inlayed combination lock, twisting it twice right and once left before the doors shuddered with a loud thud. Taking the audio cue, the Phoenix Captain swung both open wide to admit Ranma into the mountain's interior.
Ranma Saotome shrugged off the sweltering wave of heat that blew through the dormant volcano and stepped inside. Much like her previous visit, bare rock had been carved and refined into grandeur, while the trapping of luxury hung about the grand hall they had just stepped into.
The grand hall she now stood in was, in fact a giant cavern with a series of interconnecting bridged above and below. Had Ranma a more educated background, he might have realized that the cavern was the remains of a lava chamber that had since drained and put to use by the Phoenix people themselves. Here, the sky was alive as they swooped in and out of the enormous cavern, from one flight to another going about what appeared to be their daily lives. Some were armed, while others simply carried material and supplies across their winged backs as they glided about their business. The martial artist made particular note of that fact and silently strengthened her resolve to see this through. Whatever her history with them, the Phoenix had their share of ordinary people too; people that in turn fell under his martial arts code however much she wished to deny them. Even so, it begged the question…
"Don't see why ya need me." She glanced back to Kiima, motioning to the busy sky above. "They don't seem too bad off, or am I missing something?"
"This is one of the satellite halls that surround the core of Phoenix Mountain, the populous of our civilization." The Captain explained patiently. "Regardless of the condition, life must go on, and those able to, do so."
"So the sick ones are somewhere else." It was less a question and more a statement, to which Kiima simply nodded.
"Some are merely sick. Others are…" She left the statement hang, allowing Ranma to easily grasp the unspoken conclusion. "With any luck, we can stop our people's degradation before the condition spreads."
"Ya make it sound like a disease." The redhead observed as they crossed the span in front of them. One look over the side revealed a drop that even she wasn't likely to survive. That was also when she noticed that she and her escort had gathered the attention of some of the passers by, who soared around them in a small flock to gain a better glimpse of the new comer.
"Only superficially." Kiima explained. "Think of it as lights tied to a power source. Some lights require more energy to operate. Others are tied more closely to the power source." Seeing understanding in Ranma's eyes, she continued. "Now realize that our very source of life and energy is running dangerously low. Those of lesser abilities have become weak and frail, while those with closer ties and higher consumption usurp the supply quite unwillingly."
Cannibalism came to mind, but Ranma figured such a thought wouldn't be well received at the moment. Besides, it wasn't their fault. Unless she missed her guess, the only way to slow the drain would be to lighten the load on this crystal of theirs, which meant more people would have to die.
"Fortunately, that is not your concern." She said, all to easily dismissing the morbid conclusion the Saotome had already come to. "All we require of you is to recharge the crystal, thus preventing further casualties."
"Right." Ranma leveled a stare at the Phoenix woman. She made it sound so easy. The martial artist all but snorted. Woman obviously doesn't know my life. "Then let's be about it."
Chapter TWO
The Crystal was huge, Ranma observed as she walked around it in open admiration. Not pretty, but huge. Regardless, she was quite sure that Nabiki could hock it for a tidy some of money if given half the chance. The crystal itself was dark and murky, illuminating the smaller lava chamber they now stood in with a dull glow. Dying was her first thought, and she realized the light bulb analogy was closer to the mark than she previously realized. Whatever it was running on was in short supply, an effect that manifested itself visibly in the weakening illumination.
The giant shard hung suspended above a pit of orange lava, its orange illumination and grumbling echos evidence that this volcano was not quite as inactive as it appeared from the outside. A harness grafted to six cables held the crystal in place as super heated updrafts distorted the very air around the geological anomaly, as if magic was visibly manifesting itself around the shard.
Ranma Saotome gave the dying crystal one last glance before turning back to Kiima. "You do realize I got no idea what to do with that damn thing, right?"
Behind the Phoenix woman, the elders of her people began to grumble. She secretly despised all the pomp and attention this was getting, but such was beyond her control. Her only task was saving her people, not dressing up in elaborate costumes in the process.
"Traditionally, the Greater Phoenix simply touch the stone themselves and feed power into it." She provided, ignoring the older Phoenix to her back. "Any of us can do this, but none have the power a Greater can manifest, let alone enough to recharge the crystal itself."
"So just touch it and force power in?" Ranma arched a red eyebrow skeptically, receiving only a final nod from Kiima. "Uh-huh. Need some hot water." The Phoenix Captain looked at her curiously and Ranma elaborated. "Guy side has a larger ki-resoivor."
Kiima nodded and whispered to Kaoru, who left quickly and promptly returned with a wooden pitcher of hot water. She in turn, handed it to Ranma who put it to good use. The resulting shift in genders produced the male she was well familiar with. "I am concerned that your body will not be able to withstand the heat of the updrafts around the crystal." She mentioned as the now male Ranma turned back to the wavering crystal. "I have already summon the Gekkaja from storage should you need-"
Ranma waved the offer away. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but the Gekkaja wasn't how I was able to withstand Saffron's heat."
With that, she watched with wide eyes as a mere human stepped into the super heated updraft that buffeted the platform extending out to the giant crystal. Phantom wind immediately took hold of his loose silks and pigtail, sending them flowing upward as he studied the crystal closely. From his closer vantage point, he could make out the geological stresses that had gone into its formation as the dim glow refracted within its many angles. A sent caught his nostrils and Ranma glanced down, immediately finding the edges of his red silks starting to brown from the intense heat.
Best get this over with, then.
He put a single hand to one of the faceted surfaces and winced, pulling it back as heat seered through his nerves endings. Heat resistant he may have been after the Phoenix Pill incident, but that didn't mean he couldn't still feel it. Whatever. Not that he hadn't had his share of pain for a lifetime anyway. What was a little bit more? With that lovely thought, Ranma pushed his hand back onto the cloudy surface and gritted with the pain that flowed into his palm, through his arm and poured wholesale into his brain. The distraction lasted only a moment before he was able to blot it out and focus his energies. The martial artist still wasn't sure exactly how Saffron fueled his attacks, but all he had on him at the moment was ki, and Ranma imagined the formation of a huge moko takabisha in his mind.
More.
A glow erupted around the Anything Goes heir as he continued to pool his energy, unconsciously feeling out just how much the crystal could handle. Its capacity was huge. Did Saffron really have that much power? Had anyone asked him in that moment, Ranma would have denied he'd ever thanking God that the kid didn't have any more control over his power than he had displayed in their final battle. The pigtailed boy found his limit and thrust the waiting energy into the crystal, causing his battle aura to flare brilliantly before subsiding completely. Likewise the crystal seemed to flash with life as well, before returning to its reduced state. Ranma fell to one knee, spent entirely. Behind him, Kiima's voice filtered over the dull throb of the lava pit.
"We all felt… Something."
Ranma wearily glanced up at the approaching Captain and struggled to both feet. "Yeah, something about covers it, but that's about it. Goddamn thing is huge inside."
Kiima was frowning now. "Do you think…?"
Ranma took a deep breath, centering himself after the massive exertion. "Honestly, I ain't too sure. I got good burst energy and my ki reserves are pretty damn big, but… But either Saffron was usin' something different or he's got better sustained output… or both for all I know. What I do know is I fed everything into that I could into that thing short of goin' unconscious and barely touched it."
"If I may…" A crackled voice inserted, and one of the Elder Phoenix stepped forward. He was marked by a cane ending in a plume of bright red and orange feathers and a mane of graying hair atop his wrinkling head. "The power was indeed substantial, but brief. It was being consumed by our people almost as soon as it entered the crystal. At most, it will last us a couple of days on top of our current reserves."
"So Ranma theoretically can recharge the Phoenix crystal…" Kiima began, only to have Ranma round out her thought.
"…but only if yas all stop drawing on it."
The Elder nodded. "In that, the Greater Phoenix excels, being able to both provide for our people and charge the crystal simultaneously."
Ranma shook off the fatigue that was setting in. "I can try again later, but I can't see the results bein' much different."
Silence met the statement, only answered by the bubbling din of the lava pit. Kiima was the first to break the hopeless quiet. "Perhaps another try tomorrow. Failing that, we release you from your obligation. Would that be acceptable?"
The black haired teen gave only the barest of nods. Hell no, it wouldn't be acceptable that he couldn't help these people, Ranma groused mentally, though he had little choice. If he couldn't power their damn stone, he couldn't power their damn stone, end of story. Then he'd go back to Japan with the ghosts of an entire civilization on his back.
Damn it all.
"Tommorow, then."
Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts set his pack down... In a nest. It was his accommodations for the night and the martial artist couldn't help but to find a sort of morose comedic value in the situation. Ranma Saotome, bane of the Pheonix, camping out in one of their nests as a guest of honor. That much was evident by the height of the nest in the main cone of slumbering volcano that was Phoenix mountain. Kiima had informed him that the higher the station in Phoenix society, the higher the nest mounting. Indeed, his was the highest, as Ranma could look out the window and down into the smoldering caldron below while layers of flying Phoenix went about their lives. The carpet was a coat of thick down, while the furnishings and fixtures themselves spoke of opulent luxury, furthering Ranma's disbelief in the entire impossible scenario that had been given form only months earlier. The nest was even complete with a luxury bath and washroom. His appetite considered the large fruitbowl set on the rich oaken table in the center of the room, but was unfortunately interrupted by a knock at the door.
For a moment he paused. What was the protocol for receiving guests? Answer the door? Just let them in? Have them state the password? "Whatever…" Ranma snorted. "Come in."
Kiima again, Ranma observed dryly, only this time she had... The pig tailed teen took a closer look at the boy she held hands with, and the boy stared back with red eyes. Even if Ranma wasn't able to place the form immediately, the flaming red and orange hair was a dead giveaway. Ranma blinked. Even if it was Saffron, this one was many years younger than the one he had first met, yet still older than the incarnation he had left with Kiima six months ago.
"You recognize him then." Kiima stated, noticing the Saotome's confused countenance.
"Not sure if I believe it, but yeah, I recognize him." Ranma nodded slowly, still slightly confounded by his randomly aging nemesis.
"Is that him, Kiima-chan?" The little boy spoke up, tugging on the Captain's silks and pointing to the man before them.
"Yes, Lord Saffron." She stated simply and the boy disengaged his hand from hers, steping toward Ranma, who was already tensing for a confrontation. Little kid or not, he knew bird-boys ultimate potential. Ain't no way-
Whatever thoughts were flowing through the martial artists brain were immediately derailed as the orange and red haired boy fell to his knee before him, prostrating himself fully before Ranma.
"On behalf of the Phoenix People, I wish to thank you for your efforts here and now."
Ranma blinked. That had been the last thing he had been expecting. The kid was… polite? A far cry from the arrogant brat he and his friends had first encountered. The questioning look didn't go unnoticed by Kiima.
"As I mentioned earlier, I have taken it upon myself to ensure that the past is not doomed to repeat itself." She supplied, and Ranma nodded dumbly.
"His age?"
"We mature far more quickly than humans do." The Phoenix Captain replied as the little Saffron recovered from his bow, now looking up at Ranma curiously. "He should reach the age you first met him in about another year and a half. Only then will he be able to endure an accelerated ascension within our mystical springs."
"Can I have a cookie?"
Ranma blinked, as the question was clearly directed at him and was a sharp contrast from the utter seriousness of the gratitude he was displayed only moments before. "Uh…"
"Not now, your Highness." Kiima saved him from the crestfallen look the boy produced. "It will spoil your appetite."
Ranma could hardly believe it. His former adversary, the one who had nearly killed him and Akane… "Awwww, you're no fun!" Then Saffron turned back to him. "Is it really true you change into a girl?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Like Kiima?" the boy pressed, and Ranma shook his head.
"Not like Kiima." Ranma shook his head, then with a conspiratorial smile, leaned down into the boys ear. "Better looking."
"I heard that." Kiima grumbled as Saffron's eyes widened, then smiled herself. "Considering what I've heard, you've adapted rather well to your condition."
"Feh, not like I'm gonna get rid of it anytime soon." Ranma dismissed the subtle jab easily. That, and it's fun to screw with the brains of former enemies, he mused silently as the little Phoenix king blinked curiously at him. Kiima stared at him a moment longer and simply shrugged, lacking a weapon with which to taunt the martial artist further. "How much does the kid remember, anyway?"
"Not much." Kiima admitted. "The Greater among us remember little until they ascend, especially when it is forced, such as our attempt last time. He would eventually come into his own memories, but not for months afterward."
"Explains why he was a complete…" Ranma's insult stalled, finding little Saffron staring at him with child-like innocence. "Eh, explains the issues he had last time."
"True." The captain agreed. "Until they come into their hereditary memory, Greaters are heavily dependent on their upbringing in the here and now. If that upbringing is lacking…"
"Right." The martial artist agreed, having all too much experience in what a lacking childhood could do to an adult. Sadly, not just in Saffron. Ranma turned to the little boy now. "How much you remember of me, squirt?"
Saffron considered the question, concentrating. "I, um… Remember you… We used to play together! With your friends!"
Ranma sighed. The kid's memory was swiss cheese, obviously. Yeah, they played together. They played rough. No point in encouraging that memory though. "Yeah, sure we did, kid."
"Let's leave Ranma for now." Kiima inserted, pulling the child back. "He needs all the rest he can get for tomorrow."
"'Kay. Night, Ranma-kun! Let's play tomorrow!"
Ranma was left dumbfounded as the pair left his nest. 'Let's play tomorrow', he thought sarcastically. Yeah, right after I save everybody from a slow, withering death.
Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts stared at his goal once more, the darkened eight meter tall crystal suspended above a pit of lava that gurgled angrily at him. Unlike yesterday, the Phoenix had seen fit to provide him with robes that would withstand the heat he was now being subjected to, as his last pair of Chinese silks had burned severely. Red and black continued to flutter in the updraft as before while the martial artist stared into his own faded reflection, mentally preparing himself.
Even that wasn't as easy as it sounded.
While the breakfast they had provided was more than ample, the last nights sleep had quite literally been hell. As a rule, Ranma didn't dream much, and whatever he did dream was fairly guilt free on average. Not so last night. Last night the dead came to haunt him, pleading for his help. They followed him throughout China, begging him. Back to Japan. And all the while, he didn't have the power.
The Saotome shook the memories of last night away even as his entourage stood back in hopeful silence. Either he could do this or he couldn't. With that thought, Ranma pooled his power once more, committing nearly every reserve he possessed into one massive core of power. His hand made contact with the crystal and pain seared through his palm once again, distracting him momentarily as he continued to build the core.
Almost…
NOW.
"AHHHHAAARRRR!"
Ranma Saotome dumped everything he had into the transfer, illuminating both himself and the Phoenix Crystal in bright blue flash that was over in seconds. When Kiima's vision finally cleared, she found the crystal slightly brighter and Ranma collapsed upon the platform.
The damn fool must have put nearly everything into that last attempt! She thought, then turned back over her shoulder. "Masoru! Karou!" The pair rushed forward without further prompting, hefting the martial artist up and away from the ledge where upon an Elder in attendance knelt down to inspect him.
"Physically, he's healthy…" The graying old man reported as he let his hand hover over Ranma's head, then chest. "His chi, however, is severely depleted."
"Hardly surprising." Grumbled another elder. "That was about a weeks worth that time. Impressive for a mortal."
"But still not enough." Kiima surmised. "Take him back to his nest so that he may recover."
As she watched the teen being carried away on a stretcher, the Phoenix Captain couldn't help but to feel despair. Ranma Saotome had been their last hope. There were no other others. No more Greater Phoenix. No artifacts of power. And now, no Ranma Saotome, one of the few mortals to beat a Greater in single combat.
In short, their fate had been sealed.
The pigtailed marital artist's view faded back into existence with a couple of blinks and a massive headache that seemed to drive a red hot spike through his brain. Served him right, he thought through the dull throb of pain and set to task of sitting upright. That's what he got for helping arch nemesis. A shuffling to his right caught the martial artist's attention, who turned to find a boy red eyes and fiery orange-red hair staring at him
"Uh, what's up, Squirt?"
"You okay, Ranma-kun?" the boy asked and Ranma winced with the sincerity in his former arch nemesis' tone.
"Yeah, just got one mother of a headache…" He massaged his temples and swung his legs out of bed. Now if he could manage to stand upright…
"Kiima-chan said you shouldn't try to walk for the rest of the-" Saffron blinked as Ranma took to his feet with a slight wobble.
"Kiima-chan is still in the habit of underestimatin' me." The teen stated as he fought for balance while his equilibrium stabilized. "Damn that last attempt really sucked it outta me."
"Was it enough?" The boy asked innocently, causing Ranma to frown.
"Not even close." He admitted truthfully. It irritated him, quite frankly. He was the best. Given time, he might be able to dump a significant amount of ki into the stone, but the Phoenix people didn't have that sort of time. A goddamn prodigy he might have been, but there were only so many ways you could build up inhuman reservoirs of ki without killing yourself in the process, and those took time. It all amounted to one thing…
Ranma Saotome was going to lose this one.
"And we shall keep our end of the agreement." The pigtailed teen turned to the new voice, not even needing to see her to know it was Kiima in the doorway. "You may depart with our blessing and thanks. Your efforts were far more than the Phoenix expected, given our…" She looked down at Saffron next to him and smiled slightly. "…mutual history."
The three stood in silence for a moment until Ranma let out a sigh. He hated losing. "So do you have a backup?"
"We are presently combing every square inch of our archives for just such an alternative." Kiima replied and Ranma turned to his pack, stuffing what little he had chosen to unpack earlier back in. "Suffice to say, however…"
"That I wouldn't be here if you were that confident you'd find something." Ranma finished, eliciting a frank nod from the Captain.
"Regardless, you have more than proven yourself." Kiima continued. "Our elders say you rode yourself to very edge in that last attempt. We can ask little more of you."
Ranma stared at the pack as if it were the ultimate symbol of his failure. "Look, I don't like leavin' like this. I don't lose. Is there anything I can…?"
"No, and frankly, it would be better if you did so." The statement earned the Saotome's undivided attention and Kiima elaborated. "If nothing changes we will fall, and history has demonstrated that the fall of great civilizations tends to be less than civilized. People will undoubtedly looking for something or somebody to blame."
'Somebody', such as the martial artist who set this entire chain of events in motion, Ranma surmised grimly. Damn it. Damn, damn, damn… He shook his head. There had to be a solution. Had to be something to prevent last nights dream from coming to pass. He wouldn't much cry if it was just Saffron. Kiima dyin' would cause him to lose little sleep. But an entire goddman race?
"There's always a solution…" He mumbled to himself as his hand closed around the packs' straps. "Always a way to win…" But what was this one? Even if he went all out and sacrificed the last of his ki into the crystal, it'd only gain them a handful of days. Ranma shook his head and hefted the backpack across his shoulder, leveling a no-nonsense stare into Kiima. "I ain't givin' up. Ranma Saotome don't lose and I'll keep searching for a way to help yas."
"But there isn't…"
"There's always a way to win." Kiima almost shuddered at the hardened ice that was now manifest in his gaze. "Ask anybody who knows me. I eat long odds for breakfast, lunch and dinner."
The only question now was just what he'd have to do to beat these odds.
The departure from Phoenix Mountain was mostly a somber affair, kept only in the 'mostly' category by the happy, go-lucky child Saffron, who insisted on accompanying him to the ledge he had first gained entrance. Beyond that, it was almost a hero's farewell in reverse, as the populace of the mountain turned out to wish The Man Who Had Tried to Help But Failed a farewell.
That in it self had been eye opening for Ranma, as the sick were revealed to him for the first time since his visit. These men, women and children were pale imitations of their brethren and looked almost starved. Life was literally draining out of them and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. If the Phoenix fell, those faces would haunt him until his final days. They were sunken bone, while the feathers that graced the wings on their backs appeared to be falling out. Brittle husks aptly described these victims of war and Ranma cursed the series of events that had brought them all to this point. If Saffron hadn't tried to kill them… If they had just let Saffron use Jusendo…
It was a damn orgy of tragedy and misunderstanding on a massive scale.
His first stop would be the Amazons, he had decided on his way down the mountain. The price for their help would be a high one, Ranma knew without a doubt. First, their relationship with the Phoenix was tenuous at best, while their active pursuit for him only aggravated matters. If they only asked for him to marry Shampoo, he'd be lucky.
Ranma grumbled at the thought, a thought that was quickly checked by the realization of exactly why he was doing it. Exactly how much of a sacrifice was too much when faced with the deaths of few thousand people? His freedom? The freedom of his children? God only knew the asking price the Amazon's would impose, and that was assuming they could help to begin with. Not as if there was a spring of drowned…
Ranma stopped short, turning back down the rock path and staring up at the volcano he had just descended. No, that wouldn't work… Even the Phoenix themselves had to hold the potential to become a Greater Phoenix for that to work. Kiima had explained it in detail. Every volunteer that tried the accelerated ascension had been encased in an egg and died because they never held that potential. She didn't elaborate on exactly how many had sacrificed themselves in just such a manner, but he gathered the number was in keeping with their desperation; that is to say high.
Still… The Amazon's wouldn't help. If there was one thing he knew, it was Cologne and her wiles. Even if she decided to help their ancient enemies survive, the price would be too high. His own allegiance to them he could stomach, but God only knew how many generations of his own blood he'd have to promise into slavery afterwards. He'd have no leverage and no hope for the favor he was asking. Hell, that didn't even take into the very real possibility that they'd all stab him in the back one way or another. Dealing with the Amazons were like dealing with Nabiki, save the fact that the Amazons played their games on deceptively lethal terms. 'Course, Shampoo wasn't all that bad a consolation prize, but there was something to be said about living free or die trying, and Ranma didn't fancy the thought of living out his days as a second class citizen of the Jotsuzuke.
But if the Phoenix did have the water… Heck, at least one of them had to have drowned in Jusenkyo some time in the last four thousand years or so… Lord knew everything else had. He could try it like that at first, and if that didn't work…
Not like he had any better ideas on the horizon in the time allotted.
His course decided, Ranma Saotome turned back toward Phoenix Mountain and his fate.
"You must be joking." Kiima spat at the assembly of elders before her, numbering twelve total. Under normal circumstances they served whichever Phoenix held power, that being of the Greater variety. Though they were a base of knowledge and wisdom to be drawn upon, days such of these hardly qualified as normal and thus the power they were granted had grown accordingly to deal with the crisis. The Captain of Phoenix Mountain grumbled internally at this thought. While virtual martial law didn't grant them total power, it gave them just enough to inflate their egos and generally become pains in the asses.
Her ass, mostly.
"Which of you fools came up with this idea?"
"It's the only way!" One of the wrinkled old men hissed, stepping forward. That would be him, Kiima decided and frowned as the elder continued. "Your champion has failed and now we have little choice but to-"
"SILENCE!" The Captain stepped forward, allowing her hand to rest on the hilt of the blade strapped to her him. The inclusion of Koruma and Masara at her back only served to drive the point home. "We will not stoop to blood sacrifice for such petty gain!" Her baleful gaze swept every across every one of the men and women before her now. "I've seen same scrolls you have. That technique will buy us three months after the crystal dies. It's not worth the blood we'll have to spill to buy it."
Another elder had just stepped forward to insert his own opinion when a new voice stopped them all cold.
"Somethin' telling me that search of the archives didn't go so well."
All eyes turned toward the grand archway to find a black hair pigtailed teen sauntering in with an expression that held faint, if manufactured amusement. The guards at the arch had already stood aside to admit him entrance, and the gathering of Elders stared with wide eyes. Even Kiima herself was shocked to see the martial artist so soon, but schooled her expression into one of cool expectance, if only to spite the old assembly behind her. "True. Neither did the following next three scourings."
"Huh." Ranma Saotome walked up to Kiima as Koruma and Masara stood at relaxed guard. "And blood sacrifice is the best you could come up with."
It was hardly a question and Kiima simply nodded, allowing the silence to speak for itself. Thankfully, the same idiot elder from before saved her the troubling explanation that tended to follow discussions on using the life blood of innocents to fuel ones selfish desire to live a scant few more months.
"Don't judge us, Landling!" The graying old man turned his spite on Ranma, who simply stared back impassively. "What would you do to save something precious to you? To save your entire race?"
"I'd be willing to kill a god."
Any further argument from the old man died instantly on his lips as the point was driven home with all the penetration of a fifty caliber round through hot butter. In that moment, every single person in the room was reminded once more just who they were dealing with, as it was easy to forget that the unassuming blue eyed boy was the one single handedly responsible in forcing Saffron's rebirth. The moment passed as the look of stone flowed from his face, replaced by a more casual demeanor.
"Jusenkyo's been around for a few thousand years, right?" Kiima blinked at the liquidity of the young man's mood and sudden change in topic.
"Er, yes." She fought through her lapse in thought. "Three thousand four hundred and eighty to be exact."
"Created during the Great Sundering." An elderly woman elaborated, brushing strands of fading orange hair from her head. "It was there that the great armies of the-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Ranma waved any further explanations off. It was undoubtedly a very, very tragic tale that was of no concern of his. "Don't care. How many of yas have fallen in?"
Silence greeted his queries for a moment until another elder stepped from the group, this one obviously not faring well in light of the crisis they faced. His feathers were faded and it was obvious the old man was struggling to remain upright. That didn't, however, stop his righteous indignation. "The Phoenix don't fall into Jusenkyo, boy. We are the mighty Phoenix! We-"
Ranma rolled his eyes and Kiima found herself staring at the boy in fascination. "Please." He cut another elder off with little regard as to their rank or station. "Everything has fallen into that damn place, so where's the Spring of Drowned Phoenix?"
"We told you, the Phoenix don't-!"
"Destroyed." Ranma's head rotated on Kiima at the word. "Near the beginning of Jusenkyo's creation when its nature was still unknown. One of our brethren foolishly strayed too close to the spring's settling chaotic energies and was all but dragged in."
Ranma nodded, his guess all but confirmed. "Then all we gotta do is wait for the Springs to settle and-"
"No." Kiima stopped the martial artist. "As soon as our people realized the nature of Jusenkyo and what it had become, the Phoenix Lord of the day, Tsingtao annihilated it himself."
"Damn." Ranma whispered, his body poster instantly fading from confidence to defeat. "Guess I get to talk to the Amazons then."
"Amazons?" The Captain's ears perked up. "What were you planning, Ranma Saotome?"
"Somethin' marginally better than a blood sacrifice." He grumbled, decidedly not thrilled with the prospect of dealing with Cologne. "Look, it don't matter now."
Kiima considered the teen for a moment before spinning around on a heeled boot. "Koruma. Masara. Go to the royal vault and fetch the Abysmal Staff. Full guard."
The pair snapped to attention immediately and were gone out of the room nearly as fast as Ranma could draw his next breath. Now he couldn't help but to look curiously at the Captain of Phoenix Mountain. "What's that about?"
"While the spring did not survive, samples were taken." Kiima explained. "Less than a handful remain to this day."
"You can't DO this!" the most annoying elder stepped forward, quivering with rage. The Royal Apocathary requires those samples to-"
"ENOUGH!" Silver blurred through a glassy arc and the sound of steel hummed through the air as Kiima's sword cleared its sheath. When it was visible once more, Ranma found it pointing squarely at the old man's forehead. "Mind your station, fool. The role of an advisor is to advise, not dictate."
"I, uh... that is..."
"Were you to look beyond you petty ambitions, you would realize that another sacrifice is taking place." Her lavender gazer fixed upon the old man like a skewer, causing him to sweat visibly. "Have you thought about what, exactly, the Saotome is asking?"
"I..."
The sword wavered, and the Phoenix woman pulled it away and re-sheathed it in one smooth motion. "Of course you haven't." She sighed, shaking her head in disappoint as if confronted by a clueless child, then turned to Ranma. "Are you absolutely certain?"
"Don't see no other choice." Ranma shrugged with a look that belied the seriousness of what he was about to undertake. "Don't see no other way to boost my power before ya guys buy it. Can't say I'm happy 'bout it, but then dealin' with the Amazon's ain't at the top of my list either."
Another elder from the assembly of twelve present suddenly realized the martial artist's intent, his jaw dropping. "You can't me serious... Even if you do, there's no guarantee that you'll have the required power! The original victim wasn't even a Greater!"
"He's right." Kiima nodded solemnly. "In fact, you might very well sentence yourself to our very fate, as a Phoenix curse will more than likely tie you into our power structure... Or lack thereof."
"Damned if I do, damned if I don't." He deadpanned, watching the tanned Phoenix Masara return to their chamber with a golden staff in hand, flanked by Koruma and another ten fully armed and armored Phoenix. It was a rather plain golden rod, the martial artist noted as he studied the staff that warranted so much security. Plain, aside from the pair of silver on gold wings at the tip encircling a larger, decorated cylinder. "Don't suppose the victim was a guy was he?"
"Spring of Drowned Phoenix Girl." Kiima replied with a humorless smile and Ranma huffed.
"Figures." He shrugged, watching Masara hand the stave off to Kiima, who in turn began to unscrew the top of the winged cylinder. "Then we'll just use it on my girl type. Shouldn't be too much different."
"That will not work." The reprimanded elder forwarded, his attitude effectively curbed by Kiima's threat into something a bit more... contributing. "The curses have been found to be additive. If it is power you seek through the water, applying it to your cursed self will quite possibly muddy it into ineffectiveness."
Ranma Saotome arched an eyebrow, considering the old feathered mans words. That'd make sense, he realized, his thoughts turning toward Pantyhose Taro. He came back with goddamn tentacles. God forbid I actually jump into the Spring of Drowned Man as a girl, he mused darkly as visions of some of Daisuke and Hiroshi's doushinji manga came to mind. "As a guy then?"
"Will debase your current curse in favor of the new one." Another elder replied. "Which is why it is considered a cure if applied correctly."
"Right." The martial artist nodded. All in all, it shouldn't be too far removed from what he had already experienced. Would have been better if it was a guy Phoenix though, he grumbled mentally. By then, Kiima had already retrieved a long crystal vial from the staff and handed it back to Masara.
"Regardless of how the curse works, the fact remains that you still might not have the power even as a Phoenix." Kiima fingered the vial, careful not to disturb the cork stopper holding the liquid therein.
"Yeah, thought about that after you went over the whole Greater Phoenix bit." Ranma stepped up to Kiima, taking the vial into his own hands. "If it don't work, then we go with plan 'b'."
"Plan 'b'?"
Ranma uncorked the vial with a grim smile. "Those hot springs of yours still working, right?"
Chapter THREE
Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts stared at the full length mirror, taking in every detail that was reflected back at her from its golden phoenix decorated surface. Physically, there was a lot to take in, and the first thing her eyes were drawn to were the wings now adorning her back. She could actually feel them, flex them and once she gathered enough courage, could probably fly with them. That was a sobering enough thought. They were predominantly white, with a fleck of orange-crimson here and to offset their purity of color. She extended one somewhat hesitantly, staring at it through the mirror. It was like a new, rarely use muscle, Ranma noted silently. She could use it and feel it as if it were a part of her, but fine motor control was obviously lacking. Must be what Shampoo, Ryoga and Mousse went through with their curses, she realized in her introspection.
Other details weren't quite as obvious until one focused on them, and Ranma brought her left hand to eye level. What had once been the delicate, but hardened fingers of a female martial artist now extended into razor sharp talons. She could now without a doubt disembowel an opponent if she wasn't careful, a revelation that caused Ranma to frown. They were easily every bit as lethal as the ki claws of the neko-ken. Her hair had also taken a slightly more exotic twist with the transformation, gaining subtle orange highlights that, while nearly imperceptible in indoor lighting, shifted in the natural sunlight as if on fire. Aside those notables and the occasional tuft of reddish feathers sprouting from behind her ears, her physical form remained largely unchanged. It was a dubious blessing in the Saotome's eyes. On one hand she hadn't really gotten any worse. Assuming one could ignore the details, her looks would still undoubtedly charm the average stranger or random ice cream clerk, though she found herself wishing for a closer approximation to her male figure; that being taller and slightly less… developed. Ranma shrugged at that last thought. Regardless, it was a form she was comfortable with these days and that comfort lent an anchor of stability despite the storm of change she had endured. Besides, if she was going to be a woman- or Phoenix for that matter -she might as well be cursed to be a good looking one.
Wings, she could live with. Talons? Okay, sure. Even the stray feather here and there was doable; even if a soft down had been found in places best left unmentioned. But then there were the eyes. Her pure blue eyes still reflected back at her from the mirror, but with a notable difference: The iris were now slits. That change alone lent her features a far more predatory look than what could have been accomplished by the wings and claws alone. It wasn't just how they looked either.
It was what she saw through them.
What had once been 20/20 vision was now impossibly acute, and Ranma was finding it difficult not to fixate on whatever here gaze rested upon, studying it with an intensity previously unknown to her. Subtle differences in textures that she would have never noticed as a human now stood out like night and day, while the distance that she could perceive such detail had increased to a dramatic extreme.
That had been the most obvious change, but she could tell others were waiting beneath the surface to manifest themselves. In an undoubtedly unpleasant manner, she snorted to herself.
"You make a pretty Phoenix, Ranma!"
Ranma's eyes flicked across her own reflection and to that of her nest entrance, where a little boy she knew all too well stood. She rolled her eyes as the once and future king of the Phoenix stepped into her temporary residence. "Don't get used to it, kiddo. Once I'm done helpin' yas all out, it's back to being a guy for me."
The boy seemed to frown at her words, but it was a short lived one as he stepped closer, eyeing Ranma with intense curiosity. "Kiima is teaching me how to fly. Can you fly yet?"
"Heh, hardly." Ranma laughed, turning away from the mirror and slowly flexing her wings outward. "Can barely extend the damn things without screwin' up my balance. Almost as bad as when I got my first curse."
"Kiima doesn't like her change." Saffron commented, studying Ranma's new wings closely. "Says it feels like an anchor on her soul or something."
Ranma arched an eyebrow at the profound thought, but otherwise smirked. "Serves her right. She's the one that took a dunk in the Spring of Drowned Tomboy."
"Tomboy?" the gleaming orange and red haired boy blinked. "No, she becomes a groundling just like you."
"Nevermind." Ranma chuckled softly. Even as she was about to change the topic, another movement in the doorway caught her eye and Ranma smiled. "Speaking of which…"
"I trust I am not intruding?" the Captain of the Phoenix offered as she stepped into the nest. Ranma shook her head and Kiima took the invitation to remain. "How are you…adapting?"
"Aside from the weirdness and my balance being all screwy again, just peachy." Ranma answered with slight, but innocent sarcasm. "Felt that drain you mentioned too. Been pluggin' the hole with ki, but it's a pretty big hole."
"That would be the open connection that is our crisis." Kiima stated, utterly serious. "A Greater Phoenix would normally feed his brethren, or failing that, draw upon the crystal reserves. Unfortunately and as you are already well aware, Saffron is too young to ascend, while the drain upon the crystal prolonged and intense. If it holds out another two months we will be lucky."
"Gettin' a better idea of what yer facin' with each passing moment." Ranma commented, staring down at the boy who was simultaneously the problem and the solution. "Look, I'm more than willin' to buy you the time you need, but I got my doubts."
"Doubts?"
"Doubts." Ranma reiterated. "Takin' this form has deepened my ki reserves, but after years of training, I have a good idea where I stand. I don't think it's gonna be enough, frankly."
"Damn." The woman whispered, eyeing Ranma intensely. "Are you sure? Can you at least try?"
"Heh. Didn't go through all this trouble to pack up and go home." Ranma shook her head, adjusting the crimson and black body wrap she now wore to accommodate her wings as if to emphasis the point. "I said I'll try, but just warnin' ya, plan 'b' is looking less like 'b' and more like 'a' at the moment."
"I… see." The Captain concluded hesitantly. "Then we should prepare the hot springs."
"Yeah, I ain't lookin forward to it either." Ranma grumbled aloud. "Two helpings of Jusenkyo is more than enough for one lifetime. Don't need any more magical crap piled on me."
"This magical 'crap' could kill you." Kiima stated, deadly serious. "Saffron is a known variable. He was once a Greater and will be once more when he is old enough to endure the accelerated ascension. Those without such potential die in the transformation. They are magically encapsulated in an egg and forced to undergo a rapid metamorphosis, only to perish under the stress they are forced to endure. It is painful, lonely death."
"Yeah, been there, done that, almost bought the t-shirt." Ranma returned flippantly as the memories of her own near entombment surfaced. "Not as if I got much choice now with this hole in my ki."
"You can return to your male form." Kiima stated, eliciting a frown from Ranma.
"Sure, but what's gonna happen when I change back?" He asked rhetorically. "And make no mistake, cold water will find me and I will change back. You oughta know that better than most people."
It was true, Kiima realized. Sure, she had taken on the Akane curse for the greater good at the time, but nobody had mentioned just how damn annoying it was to be splashed several times a day, as the magic itself attracted its very trigger. So what happens to a Phoenix who reverts back to their native form with no power source to draw upon? The Captain shook her head. It probably wouldn't be pretty by any means.
"Besides, I gave ya all my word, and between you and me, it's better than the alternative."
"What alternative is that, Ranma?" Saffron spoke up for the first time since the adults began to converse. Ranma fixed the red eyed Phoenix prince with a intense gaze.
"Amazons."
Both Saffron and Kiima nodded, needing no further explanation.
Ranma Saotome stared once more at his newest nemesis, the Phoenix Crystal.
So far she had come up oh for two against it, and wasn't exactly liking the odds on the third round either. She knew her limits as a martial artist, and while her newly infused ki had grown, the redhead was all but certain that her supply would come nowhere close to fueling the demand or the reservoir she was attempting to feed. Once again she put her hands against the dimly glowing surface and was pleasantly surprised that her newly acquired body found its temperature much more tolerable than her previous attempts, regardless of the fact that it continued to be suspended over a molten pool of lava while super heated updrafts wafted around her.
The updrafts were surprising in themselves as they buffeted her new wings and triggered something in her psyche… An urgent longing that she knew for a fact hadn't been present before, yet remained unidentifiable. It was all she was able to do to keep those wings from spreading out quite involuntarily to… Ranma shook her head in order to banish the impulse. She was here to do a job, not indulge in her bodies newfound quirks.
Taloned fingers clicked against the crystalline surface and she concentrated, manifesting a light blue glow as the assembled entourage of royalty, guardians and advisors looked on. Just like before, Ranma decided. The crystal had accepted her power before, so if it worked, why fix it? The martial artist-turned-phoenix pooled her power into an astral ball, forcing it along the ki paths of her body and into what were now her talons. There, the build-up of ki waited as she fed its core, the crystal waiting to eagerly suck it up. With a final push of will, Ranma committed the last of her reserves and thrust the virtual moko takabisha into its crystalline maw.
The muscular tension of her body instantly dissolved as the ball of super dense ki left her, fueling the massive stone with pure light blue radiance before settling back into a dull glow. Ranma's audience was blinded in that split second, and when they finally came to, found their savior an inert mass of flesh and feather before them. Koruma and Masara needed no prompting this time and ran to the martial artist side and hefted her up off the platform and to a more stable location, where an attending physician looked the girl over.
Kiima simply remained neutral as she watched the Royal Physician attend to Ranma. She had felt the energy spike clearly that time, but in the end, the martial artist had proven correct in her assessment of the transformation and the affects on her ki reserves. It was significant, but again, not nearly enough to cover the deepening deficit within the crystal. With their latest fears confirmed, the Phoenix Captain, pulled Koruma to her side and issued the fateful order.
"Ready the spring."
Ranma studied the hallway she was now transversing, flinching slightly with all the memories it was triggering from her last stay in mountain. 'Stay' was perhaps an inappropriate descriptive for the Nermian rescue mission that was, in reality, a full blow assault. They had taken this very walkway that would inevitably lead her once again into the magical springs that were to have been Saffron's path to ascension; soon to be hers. The lack of sufficient geological plumbing had diverted the Phoenix to Jusendo and thus the final, climatic battle that had led her back full circle to this very spot, along this very hallway.
The irony was positively sickening, in Ranma's humble opinion.
But this time, she wasn't the adversary. Hell, this time, she had wings, she groused mentally. Honor had led Ranma to this point. It had forced her into the original confrontation with Saffron and now it was forcing her down this very path to save his people, many of whom were innocent bystanders in that private little war fought months ago. Had she a slightly less developed conscious, she would have called them casualties of war or simply chalked it up to their just deserts. That's probably what her father would have done. Of course, there was a reason she had taken great pains not to emulate her father's behavior.
The soft sigh Ranma produced went unnoticed by her escort as they closed on the entrance into the main foyer and the Spring itself. In front of her was Kiima, Captain of Phoenix Mountain and interim commander and chief until her Lord Saffron- current walking along side Ranma -was old enough to ascend by the very means she was about to utilize. Behind the martial artist Koruma and Masara stepped in time with a short platoon of armed Phoenix in tow, while the Counsel Elders brought up the rear of their procession. Damn honor, she continued to grumble mentally. Always leading me into situations like this one. It wasn't another moment before she and her escorts stepped into 'this one', a steam filled chamber carved out of solid lava rock, richly decorated with all the trappings of royalty. This is where her honor had led to now, and possibly her death. This time the low chuckle made it past her lips. Then again, nobody ever said honor was fair. Besides, if she was to go down, there were worse things to go down for than trying to save an ancient civilization.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Kiima pressed. "This spring represents either life or death. Unlike your attempts with the stone, there is no in between."
The redhead contemplated her words for a moment as their group began to spread out around the springs' edge, then took a step towards it herself.
Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts stared into the steaming pool of water with no small amount trepidation. A sidelong glance across the rippling surface revealed the expectant visage of the white haired Captain Kiima with the child Saffron at her side. Behind her stood Koruma and Masara; to their right, the advisors and royal court. The crowd were all waiting for one thing and one thing only.
Her.
The martial artist stared down into the pool fed by a phoenix figure head while the twitches at her back reminded her of the events leading up to this crucial moment. All she had to do was take a final step into the bath to complete the cycle …Or so they said, Ranma thought darkly. They weren't even sure whether it would work or not, but she was honor-bound to try. Besides, Ranma thought, she was long past the point of no return already. With a finally look to the winged entourage, she took a deep breath and frowned.
"This had better be worth it."
The Captain of Phoenix Mountain nodded. "For all of our sakes."
She held Kiima's gaze for another moment before stepping fully into the body of water, kneeling down to immerse herself within. At first, she felt nothing. Then a tingle. A minute later, her eyes widened as crystalline thread began to race across her skin, sprouting up from the water and entangling her body. Her first reflex was to fight the threads and she found them every bit as unyielding as the first time she had encountered them only months ago in Saffron's presence. This time, however, the entrapment was voluntarily. The redhead forced calm throughout her body and allowed the threads to take her, deadening appendages as they encased her entire body. It wasn't five minutes before they had nearly covered her, and a feeling of sleepy lethargy overcame her consciousness. Now she would either die, or…
The final fissure closed over Ranma, sealing her into a world of darkness.
Vision.
"Would you like to be friends?"
"I'll destroy your happiness!"
"Pick the one you want. She's your fiancée."
"The life of a martial artist is fraught with peril, Boy."
"Sweeto!"
"You enemy of women!"
"What can I get you today, Ran-chan?"
"Nihao Ranma!"
"That's my manly son!"
The faces of ghosts floated through her disembodied consciousness, bringing with them fragments of memories, some fond, others best forgotten. Not that the disembodied consciousness had a choice in the matter as they seemed to float around her in an unbidden tempest around her. Names. Places. Memories. They all floated in the twilight around her and any effort she made to reach out to them failed as they floated beyond her grasp. All of her strengths. All of her weakness. Her pride. Her Victories. Her failures. All laid bare before her and all just beyond her reach. Look, but don't touch.
Flight.
The geothermal rises caught her essence and the disembodied consciousness quickly found herself being carried aloft, away from the molten core that was Phoenix Mountain and up the primary vent. She raced upward with a gentleness that belied the speeds she had obtains, shooting out of the dormant volcano as if she herself was pyroclastic fragment. Free of the thermal plum the kernel of awareness drifted away from the mountain and across the Bayankala range and the greenery that carpeted the earth for hundreds of miles in every direction. Her attention turned to the west and she drifted over a clearing that shown with brilliant speckles of reflected sunlight. A closer look would have revealed the numerous bamboo poles jetting skyward, as if they were reaching out to grab her.
But, no. they had already gotten her twice. A third time would not do at all.
She allowed the wind to carry her away to the west and beyond another ridge of mountains. Nestled between them was a small community of huts with specs that went about their daily business. Amazons, of course the disembodied awareness realized.
They would not have her either, though she would have to deal with them in time.
The updraft from the nearby mountain range caught her once more as she crossed the ridge, sending her spiraling higher and higher, until the clouds were her only companions. Blue sky and clouds. And…
Power.
The vision before her evaporated abruptly as if it were a fragile negative exposed into incandescing brilliance. Streamers of fire danced and burned around her, weaving their essence through her very being. They found the memories like snakes and consumed them, flashing to life like micro novas as they did so. Those ethereal detonations set off there brethren nearby and soon the corporeal intelligence was a supernatural pyre, dancing with heat and fury. It was all she could to do to maintain cohesion as each explosion threatened to tear her very essence apart. Experience would shatter and break away under the stress. She grabbed at the burning fragments desperately. A memory would dislodge as a micro nova cooked of violently. She replaced it before it could float beyond her reach.
Another cluster cooked off and she knew searing pleasure.
And unyielding pain.
The fiery weave was now integral to her being, too deeply entrenched to remove even if she had wanted to do so in the first place. This was the path; the only one she could take. Fire heated her very soul now, building with intensity as the weave strengthened, pulsing with a life of it's own. Nor would it remain confined It would seek others, she realized, tying them to her. She was the link. The cornerstone. The foundation upon which all was built. The eternal, flaming pillar to forever light the way…
The flaming pillar died away, leaving her glowing as the only light to illuminate the endless night.
Author's Notes;
Don't look at me like that. I warned you all this one was coming :p This is the second story in my selfproclaimed 'ification' trilogy, and if the match here isn't obvious, well, take another look at the title. I'm also commiting to the third book right here and now. It shall thus be named… Shinjification!
With that out of the way, let's clear this one up- All fics are live. Do yourself a favor and assume you'll get another chapter until I call a ToD.
The Dark Crystal; One of my most favorite creations by Jim henson, it's my inspiration for the Phoenix Crystal. Whay you try to imagine it, think Dark Crystal.
Power Structure; Saffron is reported to be his peoples heat and power. Of course, canon paints this in a rather silly light if you look at that chapter, but if we assume that he was actually serious about that fact, I have constructed a method by which Saffron literally is, feeding power and more importantly life to his people. This trickle-down power structure is my interpretaion of that.
Honor; i wanted to creat not only a situation that was powerless for Ranma to ignore through his code of honor, but one where the events he instigates have a much larger impact than any he has previously known. Up until this point, his life has little impact outside Nermia and this is the first time he has had to actually deal with the large scale responsibility for his actions.I have Minthil's story "Ranma's Little Dryad" to thank for this piece of inspiration, that is Ranma dealing with the larger consequences of his actions.
Innortal; I got nothin' but respect for you bro :D
Hella Thanks; To DCG, MageOhki, DeltaTheta and a few last minute shots from Trimatter. Peeps kick ass.
Part Two : Rebirth
Chapter 4
Akane tendo threw her bag of books across the room where upon they impacted the headboard of her bed and rebound with some force, boucing twice before settling on the beigh surface of the spread. It was a practiced shot she had performed many times before and thus failed to give the landing zone a second glance before proceeding to the desk. Of course, things didn't always go that smoothly, the University freshman admitted silently as she reached for a small misshapen stack of letters piled among the clutter of the desk. One time she had performed the exact same shot without looking, only to realize Hitomi was lounging in the landing zone a moment too late.
It had taken the better part of two weeks to get back into her roommate's good graces.
Bill. Junk. Junk. Bill. Junk. Shiny Gold decorated envelope with Phoenix Emblems and-
The youngest Tendo blinked. Phoenix emblems meant exactly one thing and one thing only, that thing instantly confirmed by the Chinese writing scrawled incomprehensively across the surface in exaggerated script.
"Ranma!"
The name escaped her lips quite unbiddenly and once she realized it, amended his title to "That jerk, Ranma!"
Jerk, was of course, an apt descriptive as any for the fiancé that had skipped town no less than three years ago. Unlike many of the other epitates she sometimes substituted for his name, this one was one of affection. Kinda. He may have skipped town, but he had kept in more or less regular contact, though this particular correspondence was the most elaborately decorated to date. Normally, it came in non-descript plain white envelopes.
"Whoa, who's that from, 'kane?" The dark haired girl was broken from her trance and glanced up, finding her roommate slipping through the door. Hitomi smiled. "Wait, let me guess- That jerk Ranma?"
Akane produced a crisp nod and the black haired girl with twin pigtails stepped in closer, staring at the golden leaflet adorning the post. "Wow. Getting fancy this time."
Akane produced another crisp nod and went back to staring at the letter. Hitomi was right, even if she didn't follow the thought to the next, most logical conclusion. It was a sharp departure from the normally plain post she received from the Quinghai providence, which in turn indicated that it held something of portent. A tapping foot caught her attention and her eyes swivleved back onto Hitomi, who appeared to be growing quite impatient.
"Well, you going to open it or admire the pretty gold birds all day?"
"Uh, right." With that, she flipped it over and found a wax seal, imbedded with an elaborate crest- another Phoenix if she wasn't mistaken -and ran a nail across it. The crimson wax cracked and soon she was digging into the envelope itself, pulling expensive parchment from its folds. With it, several rectangular stubs fell to the floor. Hitomi was on them in a flash, more than eager to partake in the latest happenings with Akane's Ranma. The dark blue haired girl had barely even began to unfold the parchment when a sharp breath caught her attention. Her roommate was blinking rapidly, counting the stubs numbering four.
"Um, Akane…" Hitomi shook her head as if the paper in her hands didn't actually exist. "These are first class plane tickets to China..."
Kiima was sound asleep when the first spike of power tore through her brain and quickly reduced her innards to molten plasma. Her body arched out of the chair she had been slumped asleep in quite involuntarily. The burst of flame lasted a moment before settling into a warm glow that once again allowed her to regain control of her bodily functions. From the intensely violent reaction, an outsider might have thought that the Phoenix Captain had just undergone an excruciating ordeal. What else other than mind numbing pain would wake a being from the dead of sleep, fill them with incandeseant white heat and leave them panting in a slump?
Of course, they'd be absolutely wrong.
The world came back into focus for the Phoenix Captain and a quick check of the incubation chamber reveal the Ranma's egg unmolested, but her personally guards Koruma and Masara sprawled across the ground in the same condition. Little Saffron was also wide awake from his position beside the egg, staring at her in wonder but little worse for the wear. For the first time in months she not only felt alive, but alive and powerful, and she instinctively knew that the same thing had happened to every citizen of Phoenix Mountain.
The crystal had been cut out of the loop and the circuit was complete.
The Captain smiled, finally regaining her composure while her guard found their own feet once more. All eyes were now on the egg, which, if scrutinized close enough, was seen to rock. Saffron's own eyes widened as the egg rocked against him, prompting him to take a step back.
"Kiima-chan, is Ranma going to-?"
"Any minute now." She nodded and watched as the egg now began to rock in earnest. Elders and citizens alike began to filter into the chamber to watch the spectacle as the faded golden splotched egg drew their attention like a magnet, seemingly girating to an unseen beat. After another ten minutes of vibrations, it suddenly stilled. It was a moment of slight panic for Kiima, kept in check only by the fact that liquied heat continued to flow into her soul unchecked. That warm blanket reassured her that the girl therein was not only still alive, but thriving. The stillness of the egg seemed to be transmitted throughout the very crowd that watched over it, until-
CRAaaCK!
A massive fissure ripped along the top of the mottled golden orb, accompanied by a violent jet of escaping steam. The plum soon subsided as the eggs internal pressure equalized, but was quickly followed by another jarring crack. A large shard fell away soon the be followed by others as the violence inside continued to escalate. Fissures that had begin to invisibly creep across the circumference of the egg widened into visibility, flaking away until the breach was finally wide enough to allow two, mucus laden wings to rise from their stricken cradle. They rose to their full extension and more pieces of the egg parted from their host, allowing a wet, resin coated form to follow them. Streamers of the slime seemed to flow from what was obviously an entirely nude Phoenix female, her formerly bright orange on red tresses dampened by the egg's moist innards. A taloned hand wiped more mucus away from her eyes and face, allowing slitted blue eyes to show with bright intensity, though utterly devoid of intelligence.
A thin smile crept across Kiima's lips, and she motioned her Lord Saffron away from the rapidly disintegrating egg. A new Greater had come into the world and there was tradition to be dispensed with, not to mention biology. Ranma Saotome, Greater Phoenix of the Phoenix People would, after all, be starved after the accelerated metamorphosis she had endured within the egg ,and it was her duty to sate that need. With that final thought, Captain Kiima turned back over her shoulder to the waiting attenedants.
"Bring in the herd beasts."
"Can we come in?"
Ranma Saotome threw a heated glare at the door that muffled voiced sounded through and ground her teeth together. Had anybody actually been in the room with her, they would have seen anything but the confident martial artist of yesterday. Instead there was a fiery maned girl, huddled on the bed with her knees pulled tight against her chest and newly aquired wings quivering. The dragon whisker had not survived the transformation, allowing her tresses to float about her shoulders freely, framing her tear strewn face.
She had been ignoring those on the other side of the door for more than a few hours now.
"Go away."
It was actually the best she could manage… Under the circumstance. The egg had done weird things to her head. Messed with the wiring, she was sure of that. But she could deal. Give her a bit of breathing room and she could deal. She had dealt with being transformed into a curvy girl and she could deal with being transformed into a curvy girl with wings, claws, and… And a perchance for live meat.
No, she couldn't deal with that last part. Not so soon.
"We're very, very sorry for not informing you, Mistress." Then, as an after thought, "There just wasn't any time."
Kiima's voice. But very sorry wasn't cutting it at the moment. Once moment she had been floating through some weird ass dreamscape that was playing all kinds of merry hell with her psyche and the next she awoke, covered from head to toe in blood with the carcass of dead animals around her.
They may have been cows, judging by what was left of their bone structure.
They were definitely still warm.
So was the piece of flesh resting between her talons. And the salty iron taste in her mouth. But that almost wasn't the worst part of it. No, that was beat out by the fact that there was still one cow nearby that had somehow remained untouched. And she wanted it. So very, very badly. Bloodlust screamed through her brain and the desire to rend its living flesh from its body was so strong that she found herself uncoiling from her last… kill and moving to this new, unspoiled one.
It was only her years of martial arts discipline that kept that talon from flashing out to remove its very life from her presence.
"And stop callin' me Mistress!"
But that was merely an annoyance. If anything, she was making that particular point out to be a bigger deal than what it was, if only because it was easier to think about than the damn cows. Once they had coaxed her from the blood soaked hatching grounds, Kiima's entire attitude toward her had changed. It was no longer the 'grudging ally' shtick. It was that full blown 'take me to your leader' reverence, and Ranma was only now getting the idea just who that leader was. She was, after all, feeding the life forces of thousands upon thousands of people now. And if she concentrated, she could feel every damn one of them. Not that she wanted to at the moment. That, she blocked out… along with the cows.
She still wanted that last one.
Talons dug into the soft down bed she was huddled upon, parting the sheets like they were nothing more than warm butter. Her only consolation in this epically screwed up buisiness was the fact that she had, in the end, won just like she said she would. But even now, Ranma was pondering just how high the price of that victory actually was.
Marginally cheaper than dealin' with the Amazons, no doubt, a voice at the back of her brain resonated, one she whole heartedly agreed with. Still, she wasn't human any more. Not by a long shot. A girl curse was one thing, but to not even be human? Was this how Taro felt? What the hell was she thinking?
No way, Ranma snorted mentally. Taro was in for the nickel and dime power ups. Sure, they all combined to create one freaky combination, but they were pretty ordinary creatures when considered individually. Even the damn yeti. Her? She'd skipped all those pissant springs and gone for the big prize, voluntarily blowing her humanity in one big wad.
Crapspace Notes - I thought it over, kicked it around with a few people and decided that I had angled the plot in a direction entirely away from the point of an -ification fic, which is to say, a match without artificial additives or preservatives. Among some of the highlights to this craptasitc plot were Ranma-chan and her eggs, mating flights and a decent helping of Phoenix chan hormones to get us past the initial discontinuity of a Saffron+Ranma matchup. That, and its even hard for me to see the plausibility of such a match up, even though I was building Ranma's honor in as a heavy component toward that end. Unfortunately, the end result is this fic is dead. See the addition of the part 2 snippet for the last of it.