"Naiki, can I talk to you for a little bit please?" Ranma said, gesturing for the girl to follow her out of the room.
"Ummm..." Naiki said, looking toward her brother and sister. "I guess I..."
"...have to go," Eija said nodding.
"We'll meet back when we go talk to your other relatives, Eija," Ranma said. "Deimosu, how's Yonjuu?"
That wasn't telling at all.
I think my mother is going to want to talk to us later, Deimosu warned Yonjuu.
What would she have to talk to us about?
Twelve.
Oh, Yonjuu noted in embarrassment. But we already talked about that...oh, we talked, but not with her.
"Both of you get some rest, this thing isn't over by a long shot," Ranma said, drawing nods from each of them before walking out into the halls with Naiki and waiting a bit before saying anything on subject.
"I haven't done anything with Lusca," Naiki said quickly, as she saw her mother opening her mouth. "And I'm a bad liar, so you know it's true. I mean I'll bet it's fun like when I...."
"Please stop talking about it," Ranma said calmly but quickly. "I don't need to know that. And try to give Tessa a break when your fantasizing while we're at it? Try practicing now."
"Hmm practice what?" Naiki asked.
Privacy, Naiki, Tessa's voice told her. Tell your mother I'll stop listening on this end.
"Umm, Tessa says something about privacy and stopping listening on her end," Naiki said.
"Okay, good," Ranma said, waiting a moment. "So with that, on to a connected subject: What do you think about Lusca?"
"What?" Naiki asked.
"What do you really think about Lusca?" Ranma repeated.
"She can be a pain, but...I don't know, since Tokyo," Naiki looked around. "I'm just...worried about her. I mean she wasn't supposed to be at Kyushu in the first place, and I think I just missed her being around when I was fighting Nike instead of hanging around Eija to see if I'd show up."
Ranma thought back to when the girl had said the Behemoths weren't funny and nodded. As the words were leaving her mouth, the pishogue in her had suddenly burst to overflowing. Compared to the candle flame that she was most of the time, that had been a volcano building up. Probably hitting the top end of what the Immortals called category two.
And she'd come out as monster over a hundred feet tall that was a cross between Gojira and an octopus. She thought back to her first conversation with Lusca.
"Naiki," Ranma said, "she's never going to be easy to deal with."
"She'll get better...I mean when she becomes a kid, right?" Naiki asked hopefully. "She didn't do anything to herself that'll go past that, did she?"
"I haven't seen that process yet," Ranma said. "So I don't know. Besides you're sixteen, are you going to wait for her to grow up again?"
"Hmph, sixteen going on a million," the green-haired demoness said. "I'm going to have a lot of time, aren't I? Just got to keep her alive."
Ranma smiled briefly. Of the three of his children, Naiki was the most innocent and naive. If she thought about it, she would realize that there was a chance of her dying at any given time in one of these battles, and she'd seen good people die who didn't deserve it. She'd also been forced to kill more than her share.
But her first instinct was still to think like a sixteen year old kid who thought about fun, games and pretty people.
"Putting aside your stalker for the moment," Ranma said. "Mara's said she's going to putting you with Moloch when they invade Nifelheim. You know what you're doing, right?"
"Right, Tessa's eyes and ears," Naiki said. "I got it. How are they going to get any big guns over there? I mean...are they going to do the cruise missile thing through a gate?"
"I'm not the one to ask about those weapons," Ranma said. "You'll be hearing Tessa's plan later, I think. The important thing, how are you planning on acting?"
"You mean am I going to be acting like an idiot like with Balor?" she asked. "Umm...I don't think so. I hope not anyway."
Naiki reached up to scratch the back of her head and stretched out.
"So the other Demons ain't full up and they only got a few people like me left who trained to really fight," Naiki said. "But if I die then everybody trying to get in to Nidhog except Demons and some Gods will get cut off, right? Gotta be careful and watch Moloch's back."
She grimaced in frustration.
"And let everybody else do their thing," Naiki said shrugging. "But that doesn't mean there won't be a violent, tumultuous, overwhelming flow if something's stupid enough to come my way. I ain't going to lose, I'm your daughter after all."
"Ummm..." Naiki said, looking toward her brother and sister. "I guess I..."
"...have to go," Eija said nodding.
"We'll meet back when we go talk to your other relatives, Eija," Ranma said. "Deimosu, how's Yonjuu?"
That wasn't telling at all.
I think my mother is going to want to talk to us later, Deimosu warned Yonjuu.
What would she have to talk to us about?
Twelve.
Oh, Yonjuu noted in embarrassment. But we already talked about that...oh, we talked, but not with her.
"Both of you get some rest, this thing isn't over by a long shot," Ranma said, drawing nods from each of them before walking out into the halls with Naiki and waiting a bit before saying anything on subject.
"I haven't done anything with Lusca," Naiki said quickly, as she saw her mother opening her mouth. "And I'm a bad liar, so you know it's true. I mean I'll bet it's fun like when I...."
"Please stop talking about it," Ranma said calmly but quickly. "I don't need to know that. And try to give Tessa a break when your fantasizing while we're at it? Try practicing now."
"Hmm practice what?" Naiki asked.
Privacy, Naiki, Tessa's voice told her. Tell your mother I'll stop listening on this end.
"Umm, Tessa says something about privacy and stopping listening on her end," Naiki said.
"Okay, good," Ranma said, waiting a moment. "So with that, on to a connected subject: What do you think about Lusca?"
"What?" Naiki asked.
"What do you really think about Lusca?" Ranma repeated.
"She can be a pain, but...I don't know, since Tokyo," Naiki looked around. "I'm just...worried about her. I mean she wasn't supposed to be at Kyushu in the first place, and I think I just missed her being around when I was fighting Nike instead of hanging around Eija to see if I'd show up."
Ranma thought back to when the girl had said the Behemoths weren't funny and nodded. As the words were leaving her mouth, the pishogue in her had suddenly burst to overflowing. Compared to the candle flame that she was most of the time, that had been a volcano building up. Probably hitting the top end of what the Immortals called category two.
And she'd come out as monster over a hundred feet tall that was a cross between Gojira and an octopus. She thought back to her first conversation with Lusca.
"Naiki," Ranma said, "she's never going to be easy to deal with."
"She'll get better...I mean when she becomes a kid, right?" Naiki asked hopefully. "She didn't do anything to herself that'll go past that, did she?"
"I haven't seen that process yet," Ranma said. "So I don't know. Besides you're sixteen, are you going to wait for her to grow up again?"
"Hmph, sixteen going on a million," the green-haired demoness said. "I'm going to have a lot of time, aren't I? Just got to keep her alive."
Ranma smiled briefly. Of the three of his children, Naiki was the most innocent and naive. If she thought about it, she would realize that there was a chance of her dying at any given time in one of these battles, and she'd seen good people die who didn't deserve it. She'd also been forced to kill more than her share.
But her first instinct was still to think like a sixteen year old kid who thought about fun, games and pretty people.
"Putting aside your stalker for the moment," Ranma said. "Mara's said she's going to putting you with Moloch when they invade Nifelheim. You know what you're doing, right?"
"Right, Tessa's eyes and ears," Naiki said. "I got it. How are they going to get any big guns over there? I mean...are they going to do the cruise missile thing through a gate?"
"I'm not the one to ask about those weapons," Ranma said. "You'll be hearing Tessa's plan later, I think. The important thing, how are you planning on acting?"
"You mean am I going to be acting like an idiot like with Balor?" she asked. "Umm...I don't think so. I hope not anyway."
Naiki reached up to scratch the back of her head and stretched out.
"So the other Demons ain't full up and they only got a few people like me left who trained to really fight," Naiki said. "But if I die then everybody trying to get in to Nidhog except Demons and some Gods will get cut off, right? Gotta be careful and watch Moloch's back."
She grimaced in frustration.
"And let everybody else do their thing," Naiki said shrugging. "But that doesn't mean there won't be a violent, tumultuous, overwhelming flow if something's stupid enough to come my way. I ain't going to lose, I'm your daughter after all."