Ranma ½ Divine Blood
- Thread starter Thrythlind
- Start date
Ranma walked into the office took in the simple, unpresumptive office in front of her.
There were three people in the room, at least once the secretary passed her and took a seat at the typewriter on the dictation desk. One of the three she recognized, the other two she did not.
One she'd first met in Eastern Europe, she forgot what the name the country was going by that week, and it somewhat explained why they were meeting when they were. He was a rather cheerful sort contrary to what most would have thought of his kind.
In fact, he was how Ranma had started finding regular work as a mystic in the first place. His seal on the message was actually why she had agreed to the meeting.
Of the other two, the secretary was an African woman with religious training judging by her aura, but he wasn't certain of the order. She had physical training as well, and the ring she wore was fairly tell tale mark of just who had given her that training.
"Come in and sit down, Miss Satomi," the chinese man behind the desk said.
The white-haired man stood as the martial artist entered, a masculine sign of respect for a woman that Ranma could have done without, but didn't bother to snuff anymore. The intention was respect, her circumstances were hardly their fault and not something they should be snapped at for.
"Thank you," Ranma said, letting the word hang out in an unvoiced request for a name.
"Zhuge Shen," the man said, bowing.
"Thank you, Zhuge-san," Ranma said, bowing as she moved to sit down as introduced.
"I believe you've already met Mr. Quincey Harker," Shen said, gesturing toward the Eastern European man.
"You could say he helped me on this career path," Ranma noted. "I didn't expect you to follow me out here Quincey."
"I'm only here briefly, Ranma," the man said smiling. "Though it would be good to take in the sights, I don't often get this far East."
Ranma nodded.
"And I'm glad to see Dante's taking on students, too," Ranma said. "I'm guessing there's a gun or two under that typewriter."
"You assume correctly, Miss Satomi," the woman said. "And my name is Bethany."
The red-head looked around the room and could barely resist the itching urge to sarcastically say "A chi master, a vampyr and a demon hunter walk into a bar..."
"The message I had said there was no immediate need and you were going to offer a long-term position," Ranma noted. "Care to elaborate."
"I'm sure you've wondered about the organization that arranges for your missions occasionally," Zhuge-san said.
"It kind of comes with the territory," Ranma said. "Mystical organizations are rarely upfront if they don't know you. And if you don't know them..."
"With that attitude, one wonders why you've worked with us this long," Bethany noted.
"References," Ranma said, looking toward the demon hunter. "This guy's trustworthy."
She jerked her head toward Quincey.
"I'm glad you think so, Ranma," the vampyr noted. "Otherwise I think they might have wasted the air-fare getting me here."
"In any case," Zhuge said. "We've had you under consideration for sometime now, and, given recent events, it has become convenient to offer you a more official position and standing within our group."
"Which recent events are those?" Ranma asked.
"The recent action in Sunan," Zhuge said specifically, bringing Ranma to sit up a bit straighter than she had been.
"And what would you know about that?" Ranma asked.
"Miss Satomi," Zhuge said. "I trust you understand that what I'm about to say is to be kept confidential."
"This sort of stuff usually is, Zhuge-san," Ranma said.
Heck, Ranma's last decade and a half was full of situations that added more to the list of secrets she had to keep to the end. In fact, she herself was basically the same sort of situation for other people meeting her.
"Mithril is our parent organization," Zhuge said.
Ranma blinked and then gave a little chuckle.
"Right hand, this is left hand, what are you doing over there?" she said through snickers.
"Very much the case," the older man said with his own chuckle. "Our group, called Psyche Division, has operated out of the views of the others Mithril divisions for the most part. Though it has since proven necessary to brief Captain Testarossa and her subordinates on the issue."
"And what would you have me do for you?" Ranma asked.
"Our organization is expanding, as are the number of paranormal events of significance," Shen noted.
"Last paranaturalist I talked to said the boiling point to be one percent of the population," Ranma noted. "And I thought we were still down around a quarter of a percent."
"That was in '89, Miss Satomi," her potential client said. "Five years ago, we were at two-thirds of a percent. Estimation is that we'll go over one-percent in two years, and at that time it'll be impossible to hide due to the odds of someone with a gift manifesting in a very public way."
"That's insane," Ranma said. "You'd have to have people being changed by exposure left and right."
"We have our theories," the man said. "Suffice to say we'll share them with you assuming you accept the position we're offering."
"Once again," Ranma said. "No tangents this time, please. What's the position?"
"Regional Operations Coordinator," Zhuge-san said. "You'd be responsible for assessing tasks and selecting resources us here in Japan and Korea. Mr. Harker and myself have been performing such tasks for Europe and East Asia respectively, but the task is getting a bit big for one official to the overall sector."
"Are you sure you have the right person for this job?" Ranma asked. "I've never done much behind a desk."
"There will still be operations that Mithril prefers were kept in house," Shen said with a knowing smile.
"I have to admit that's part of my concern," Ranma said. "But I also don't want to read supicious fires and send some rookie to pick up a pyrokinetic and find a daemon or dragon instead."
"The fact that you are concerned about making that mistake shows a great deal of your worth to hold such a position," the old man noted.
"I also come with my own headaches," Ranma said. "And I'm not sure you'll want those at the door."
"Mysticism is an inherently polar occupation, Miss Satomi," Shen said. "We could not get to be as powerful as we are without taking sides between the selfish and selfless."
"Not good and evil?" Ranma asked.
"Come now, Ranma," Quincey said. "I'm sure you agree, almost nobody chooses evil. They just choose what they think helps themselves the most."
There was a moment of silence as Ranma thought over her response.
"I'll have to consider this," Ranma said seriously, mouth firm. "If you can give me the salary information and such, I should be able to give you an answer soon."
"I understand," the man said. "If it helps, you would be working quite often with Captain Testarossa as she is head of Fleet Operations in the West Pacific and is now briefed on our existence."
"Thanks," Ranma said. "The Captain's a good kid if I remember right. In the mean time I still have to think about it."
She stood up and noticed all the men standing up with her with a sigh. Then came the hand shakes and bows before she stepped outside.
*********
AN: I AM an English teacher....and Geometry teacher...and ESL teacher....though it's the Geometry I teach right now...and I tend to be lazy on my fan fic about proofing...
^_^;;;
There were three people in the room, at least once the secretary passed her and took a seat at the typewriter on the dictation desk. One of the three she recognized, the other two she did not.
One she'd first met in Eastern Europe, she forgot what the name the country was going by that week, and it somewhat explained why they were meeting when they were. He was a rather cheerful sort contrary to what most would have thought of his kind.
In fact, he was how Ranma had started finding regular work as a mystic in the first place. His seal on the message was actually why she had agreed to the meeting.
Of the other two, the secretary was an African woman with religious training judging by her aura, but he wasn't certain of the order. She had physical training as well, and the ring she wore was fairly tell tale mark of just who had given her that training.
"Come in and sit down, Miss Satomi," the chinese man behind the desk said.
The white-haired man stood as the martial artist entered, a masculine sign of respect for a woman that Ranma could have done without, but didn't bother to snuff anymore. The intention was respect, her circumstances were hardly their fault and not something they should be snapped at for.
"Thank you," Ranma said, letting the word hang out in an unvoiced request for a name.
"Zhuge Shen," the man said, bowing.
"Thank you, Zhuge-san," Ranma said, bowing as she moved to sit down as introduced.
"I believe you've already met Mr. Quincey Harker," Shen said, gesturing toward the Eastern European man.
"You could say he helped me on this career path," Ranma noted. "I didn't expect you to follow me out here Quincey."
"I'm only here briefly, Ranma," the man said smiling. "Though it would be good to take in the sights, I don't often get this far East."
Ranma nodded.
"And I'm glad to see Dante's taking on students, too," Ranma said. "I'm guessing there's a gun or two under that typewriter."
"You assume correctly, Miss Satomi," the woman said. "And my name is Bethany."
The red-head looked around the room and could barely resist the itching urge to sarcastically say "A chi master, a vampyr and a demon hunter walk into a bar..."
"The message I had said there was no immediate need and you were going to offer a long-term position," Ranma noted. "Care to elaborate."
"I'm sure you've wondered about the organization that arranges for your missions occasionally," Zhuge-san said.
"It kind of comes with the territory," Ranma said. "Mystical organizations are rarely upfront if they don't know you. And if you don't know them..."
"With that attitude, one wonders why you've worked with us this long," Bethany noted.
"References," Ranma said, looking toward the demon hunter. "This guy's trustworthy."
She jerked her head toward Quincey.
"I'm glad you think so, Ranma," the vampyr noted. "Otherwise I think they might have wasted the air-fare getting me here."
"In any case," Zhuge said. "We've had you under consideration for sometime now, and, given recent events, it has become convenient to offer you a more official position and standing within our group."
"Which recent events are those?" Ranma asked.
"The recent action in Sunan," Zhuge said specifically, bringing Ranma to sit up a bit straighter than she had been.
"And what would you know about that?" Ranma asked.
"Miss Satomi," Zhuge said. "I trust you understand that what I'm about to say is to be kept confidential."
"This sort of stuff usually is, Zhuge-san," Ranma said.
Heck, Ranma's last decade and a half was full of situations that added more to the list of secrets she had to keep to the end. In fact, she herself was basically the same sort of situation for other people meeting her.
"Mithril is our parent organization," Zhuge said.
Ranma blinked and then gave a little chuckle.
"Right hand, this is left hand, what are you doing over there?" she said through snickers.
"Very much the case," the older man said with his own chuckle. "Our group, called Psyche Division, has operated out of the views of the others Mithril divisions for the most part. Though it has since proven necessary to brief Captain Testarossa and her subordinates on the issue."
"And what would you have me do for you?" Ranma asked.
"Our organization is expanding, as are the number of paranormal events of significance," Shen noted.
"Last paranaturalist I talked to said the boiling point to be one percent of the population," Ranma noted. "And I thought we were still down around a quarter of a percent."
"That was in '89, Miss Satomi," her potential client said. "Five years ago, we were at two-thirds of a percent. Estimation is that we'll go over one-percent in two years, and at that time it'll be impossible to hide due to the odds of someone with a gift manifesting in a very public way."
"That's insane," Ranma said. "You'd have to have people being changed by exposure left and right."
"We have our theories," the man said. "Suffice to say we'll share them with you assuming you accept the position we're offering."
"Once again," Ranma said. "No tangents this time, please. What's the position?"
"Regional Operations Coordinator," Zhuge-san said. "You'd be responsible for assessing tasks and selecting resources us here in Japan and Korea. Mr. Harker and myself have been performing such tasks for Europe and East Asia respectively, but the task is getting a bit big for one official to the overall sector."
"Are you sure you have the right person for this job?" Ranma asked. "I've never done much behind a desk."
"There will still be operations that Mithril prefers were kept in house," Shen said with a knowing smile.
"I have to admit that's part of my concern," Ranma said. "But I also don't want to read supicious fires and send some rookie to pick up a pyrokinetic and find a daemon or dragon instead."
"The fact that you are concerned about making that mistake shows a great deal of your worth to hold such a position," the old man noted.
"I also come with my own headaches," Ranma said. "And I'm not sure you'll want those at the door."
"Mysticism is an inherently polar occupation, Miss Satomi," Shen said. "We could not get to be as powerful as we are without taking sides between the selfish and selfless."
"Not good and evil?" Ranma asked.
"Come now, Ranma," Quincey said. "I'm sure you agree, almost nobody chooses evil. They just choose what they think helps themselves the most."
There was a moment of silence as Ranma thought over her response.
"I'll have to consider this," Ranma said seriously, mouth firm. "If you can give me the salary information and such, I should be able to give you an answer soon."
"I understand," the man said. "If it helps, you would be working quite often with Captain Testarossa as she is head of Fleet Operations in the West Pacific and is now briefed on our existence."
"Thanks," Ranma said. "The Captain's a good kid if I remember right. In the mean time I still have to think about it."
She stood up and noticed all the men standing up with her with a sigh. Then came the hand shakes and bows before she stepped outside.
*********
AN: I AM an English teacher....and Geometry teacher...and ESL teacher....though it's the Geometry I teach right now...and I tend to be lazy on my fan fic about proofing...
^_^;;;
Congratulations and good luck, because you're a more patient person than I. It's all I can do to get twenty well-educated adults to sit still when I speechify at them about things that could either kill them or save their ass, depending on what goes down and when they notice. :sweat:
That said, I'm already wondering if she's going to be on a team like Sosuke and the SRT, and if so, who her partners are going to be. I don't see her being thrilled about deliberately sending her kids into combat.
That said, I'm already wondering if she's going to be on a team like Sosuke and the SRT, and if so, who her partners are going to be. I don't see her being thrilled about deliberately sending her kids into combat.
GreydonCreed said:
If there is anyone in Nerima that need a bullet to the head, it's Kuno. 
And he is going to try and save Ranma? The only question is how slowly the delusional idiot is going die.
And it's good to see that Ranma is going to be working with Mithril.
And he is going to try and save Ranma? The only question is how slowly the delusional idiot is going die.
And it's good to see that Ranma is going to be working with Mithril.
If he does, it is only a matter of whom will kill him and how fast he dies. Because there is no way I'll believe they would accept some stranger (to them) coming up to them and confronting them about his love for their mother and the heavens weeping over their fate to be what abominations they are... or some such crap.
If it's Eija he approaches first....she might be merciful....Sousuke would not be
If it's Deimosu....he'd better hope that the kid figures out he's too weak to have done anything to Ranma quickly...
If it's Naiki...she doesn't have the anger building just yet since she doesn't know the pertinent parts of her mother's history....but Mara could use another object lesson
actually....depending on if he's gotten better or not, Eija, considering she lags behind her siblings in the martial aspect, might not be able to take Kuno on her own....
Sousuke definitely can....
from what I can tell between FMP and Fumo, Sousuke armed with his choice of weapons is essentially mid-NWC level. And he seems to know Hidden Weapons style...
If it's Deimosu....he'd better hope that the kid figures out he's too weak to have done anything to Ranma quickly...
If it's Naiki...she doesn't have the anger building just yet since she doesn't know the pertinent parts of her mother's history....but Mara could use another object lesson
actually....depending on if he's gotten better or not, Eija, considering she lags behind her siblings in the martial aspect, might not be able to take Kuno on her own....
Sousuke definitely can....
from what I can tell between FMP and Fumo, Sousuke armed with his choice of weapons is essentially mid-NWC level. And he seems to know Hidden Weapons style...
If Kuno approaches and does his usual ranting, Sousuke will probably stick to non-lethal techniques, and maybe a severe beatdown.
If Kuno approaches with a weapon, the gloves come off. If it's a boken, he may use firearms and maybe just severely wound him, but if Kuno does the stone-smashing techniques or brings a real steel blade, Sousuke will just shoot him in the head and be done with it.
If Kuno approaches with a weapon, the gloves come off. If it's a boken, he may use firearms and maybe just severely wound him, but if Kuno does the stone-smashing techniques or brings a real steel blade, Sousuke will just shoot him in the head and be done with it.
Sengen watched from her table as various beings passed by on business or just relaxing.
What she saw left her having to heavily resist the urge to curl her lip in disgust.
Though, perhaps, her attitude was not so unnoticed as she thought.
"Is something troubling you?" a voice asked.
Sengen, the Japanese guardian of the well of eternal life, turned and found the elegant form of Hecate there. Sengen looked about cautiously before answering.
"I am troubled by what I see here," Sengen said.
Hecate sat down and looked around at the landscape of heaven.
"I see a normal day of business," she noted.
"Business," Sengen repeated. "Business. That is the problem. No, that is only part of the problem. There was a time when we did not conduct business, there was a time when we ruled this tiny world and the specs within it. We were lords and ladies, and not mere...salarymen and office ladies."
Hecate kept her smile hidden as she considered her answer carefully.
"My dear, you think things are not as they should be?" Hecate asked.
"Look over across the way and what do you see?" Sengen asked.
The goddess of night and vengeance looked across and saw two women and a man. One of the women had the marks of a goddess and the man across from her bore the jagged scar-like facial marks of a demon. The second woman bore neither such mark.
"I see Kali, Raijin and Diao Chan eating lunch," Hecate noted.
"And would you be able to tell which was God, which was Demon and which was Human, if it weren't for the marks?" the goddess of eternal life asked.
"Raijin's nails are sharp, and he does have fangs," the goddess of night noted. "And Kali's features are more slender and longer than Diao Chan's, if only slightly."
"Minor details," Sengen noted. "Four...even two thousand years ago demons were raw, blatant creatures and gods were truly the most elegant and ethereal of beings. And humans were hairless apes with bare concepts of culture. Now, they are almost identical."
"We gave words to the mortals and art and science and everything," Sengen noted. "But now we call ourselves by their terms. God, Demon, Heaven, Hell. What happened to our language."
"Perhaps, but humans are not immortal," Hecate noted.
"And what good is immortality if you don't make use of it?" Sengen asked, pointing in another direction.
Hecate followed the direction of the goddess's finger and caught sight of Athena, dressed for the moment in her military dress uniform, talking to her brother Ares, dressed in combat fatigues, accentuated by mediavel style armor pieces, and probably coming off of the practice fields of Valhalla. Ares was much more animated than his sister's cool behavior, but it was clear they were both keeping their tempers.
"I see Ares and Athena arguing campaign logistics again," Hecate noted.
"When first I met Ares, thousands of years previous," Sengen said. "His opinion of arguing involved the point of a sword. He would not listen to the idea of mere woman, even his sister who defeated him so often."
The Japanese goddess continued.
"Athena once cursed a woman into becoming a spider for daring to surpass the gods in the crafts," she said. "And yet she's now dressed in the manner of a human military officer, following their fashions."
"Those are not the Ares and Athena I first met before the realms were merged into two," Sengen said.
"They both entered new incarnations around the end of World War II," Hecate noted. "To better fit into and understand the changing world."
"And grew up on Earth with only limited access to their past memories," Sengen noted. "They might as well have been born completely over again. Is the only difference between us and the mortals that we keep our youthful appearance and power and choose when to start another life? In fact, their sister Eris died, completely. Reborn as humans are reborn, lost, soul untraceable by Yggdrasil. She could have come back as a Norse, or a demon...or even a human."
The last was said with a trace of disgust.
"And to make matters worse," Sengen said. "Some of us and some of the demons have started talking about a 'creator' like some human monotheist. As if there can be something greater than us. Our ancestors made sure we were the greatest beings that could possibly exist. And we throw it aside."
"So, when was the last time you entered a new incarnation?" Hecate asked.
"Fifteen hundred years ago," Sengen said. "And for that, I'm sidelined and given a pointless task. When was the last time a security worker like you entered a new incarnation?"
"Thirty four thousand five hundred sixty two years ago," Hecate said idly.
Sengen froze and stared at the other goddess sitting there calmly in front of her.
"Do you just complain?" Hecate asked quietly.
What she saw left her having to heavily resist the urge to curl her lip in disgust.
Though, perhaps, her attitude was not so unnoticed as she thought.
"Is something troubling you?" a voice asked.
Sengen, the Japanese guardian of the well of eternal life, turned and found the elegant form of Hecate there. Sengen looked about cautiously before answering.
"I am troubled by what I see here," Sengen said.
Hecate sat down and looked around at the landscape of heaven.
"I see a normal day of business," she noted.
"Business," Sengen repeated. "Business. That is the problem. No, that is only part of the problem. There was a time when we did not conduct business, there was a time when we ruled this tiny world and the specs within it. We were lords and ladies, and not mere...salarymen and office ladies."
Hecate kept her smile hidden as she considered her answer carefully.
"My dear, you think things are not as they should be?" Hecate asked.
"Look over across the way and what do you see?" Sengen asked.
The goddess of night and vengeance looked across and saw two women and a man. One of the women had the marks of a goddess and the man across from her bore the jagged scar-like facial marks of a demon. The second woman bore neither such mark.
"I see Kali, Raijin and Diao Chan eating lunch," Hecate noted.
"And would you be able to tell which was God, which was Demon and which was Human, if it weren't for the marks?" the goddess of eternal life asked.
"Raijin's nails are sharp, and he does have fangs," the goddess of night noted. "And Kali's features are more slender and longer than Diao Chan's, if only slightly."
"Minor details," Sengen noted. "Four...even two thousand years ago demons were raw, blatant creatures and gods were truly the most elegant and ethereal of beings. And humans were hairless apes with bare concepts of culture. Now, they are almost identical."
"We gave words to the mortals and art and science and everything," Sengen noted. "But now we call ourselves by their terms. God, Demon, Heaven, Hell. What happened to our language."
"Perhaps, but humans are not immortal," Hecate noted.
"And what good is immortality if you don't make use of it?" Sengen asked, pointing in another direction.
Hecate followed the direction of the goddess's finger and caught sight of Athena, dressed for the moment in her military dress uniform, talking to her brother Ares, dressed in combat fatigues, accentuated by mediavel style armor pieces, and probably coming off of the practice fields of Valhalla. Ares was much more animated than his sister's cool behavior, but it was clear they were both keeping their tempers.
"I see Ares and Athena arguing campaign logistics again," Hecate noted.
"When first I met Ares, thousands of years previous," Sengen said. "His opinion of arguing involved the point of a sword. He would not listen to the idea of mere woman, even his sister who defeated him so often."
The Japanese goddess continued.
"Athena once cursed a woman into becoming a spider for daring to surpass the gods in the crafts," she said. "And yet she's now dressed in the manner of a human military officer, following their fashions."
"Those are not the Ares and Athena I first met before the realms were merged into two," Sengen said.
"They both entered new incarnations around the end of World War II," Hecate noted. "To better fit into and understand the changing world."
"And grew up on Earth with only limited access to their past memories," Sengen noted. "They might as well have been born completely over again. Is the only difference between us and the mortals that we keep our youthful appearance and power and choose when to start another life? In fact, their sister Eris died, completely. Reborn as humans are reborn, lost, soul untraceable by Yggdrasil. She could have come back as a Norse, or a demon...or even a human."
The last was said with a trace of disgust.
"And to make matters worse," Sengen said. "Some of us and some of the demons have started talking about a 'creator' like some human monotheist. As if there can be something greater than us. Our ancestors made sure we were the greatest beings that could possibly exist. And we throw it aside."
"So, when was the last time you entered a new incarnation?" Hecate asked.
"Fifteen hundred years ago," Sengen said. "And for that, I'm sidelined and given a pointless task. When was the last time a security worker like you entered a new incarnation?"
"Thirty four thousand five hundred sixty two years ago," Hecate said idly.
Sengen froze and stared at the other goddess sitting there calmly in front of her.
"Do you just complain?" Hecate asked quietly.
Eija wasn't home yet when Ranma got back from her meeting, but she could hear Deimosu and Naiki sparring as she walked into the door.
"I'm home," Ranma called out.
"Good, someone who can cook," Naiki called out.
Ranma noted as Deimosu responded to his sister, by simply knocking her feet out from under her while she was distracted. The lack of verbal response concerned the red-headed martial artist.
It looked like she needed to speak to more than one child today or tomorrow.
"Naiki, when you get up off the floor I need to talk to you," Ranma said. "In the kitchen since you're apparently hungry. Deimosu, clean things up a bit."
Her tone of voice said that she was going to want to talk to him too in a little bit, but for the moment he was clear. Groaning at the unfairness of the attention, Naiki stood up and shuffled over to the kitchen.
"You're not in trouble, Naiki," Ranma said. "So quit dragging your feet like an untrained brat."
"Hai, 'Kaasan," Naiki said, picking up her walk and moving into the kitchen as Ranma started getting food made for their dinner that night.
"You have a new homeroom teacher, right?" Ranma asked. "'Hot blonde woman in heels'?"
"Yeah," Naiki said.
Ranma leaned over quietly, making sure Deimosu was far enough away not to hear.
"Is this the teacher you stayed after school to talk to?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah..." Naiki said. "It was about a history assignment she gave us."
"What's the assignment?" Ranma asked.
"Let's see...we're supposed to compare two 'tyrants' from history," Naiki said. "And decide if they helped their country and just have a bad reputation, or if they were really evil people that ruined their nation."
Ranma nodded at the assignment, though something about it tweaked something in the back of her mind.
"And who were you thinking of doing?" Ranma asked.
"Ummm, one had to be Japanese, so Tokugawa and...Hitler?" Naiki said.
"Hitler's easy," Ranma said.
"Who would you choose?" Naiki asked.
"Hitler," Ranma said. "History isn't something I'm usually interested in and Hitler's easy."
Naiki smirked.
"I'm going to want to meet this teacher," Ranma said. "What was her name?"
"Geisthexe-san," Naiki said.
"Okay," Ranma said. "And let's make this clear. You are a virgin, and you stay a virgin until you're twenty."
Naiki started to open her mouth.
"And that includes other girls and women," Ranma said quietly but forcefully.
"I wasn't thinking that..." Naiki said, flushing. "Besides, I think she's straight."
Ranma's narrowed eye look was enough to make Naiki realize that the last comment was certainly proof that she was having thoughts in that direction.
"Four years, Naiki," Ranma said. "That's it. I'd like longer, but that's minimum. I sure as hell don't want to hear you're dating one of your teachers."
"And how old were you when you had us?" Naiki asked loudly, and immediately regretted as her mother stopped cutting and prepping food, turning very quiet. "'Kaasan is...something wrong?"
"That's something I'll have to talk about when all three of you are listening," Ranma said, turning to give her daughter a confident smile to encourage her in thinking everything was fine. "Go set the table."
As the green-haired girl started to walk away from her mother, her brother stepped in front of her, looking a bit upset himself.
"What did you ask that for?" he demanded of his confused sister.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay!" Naiki said, pulling away from her brother.
"Deimosu," Ranma said turning around and calling her son over before he could pursue the argument. She waited for him to come into the kitchen before continuing. "What she said was out of line, but it's not your place to snap at her."
"Yes, Okaasan," Deimosu said reluctantly.
"Now, what's wrong with you?" she asked. "You've been grumpy since yesterday."
Deimosu wanted to say that he had heard the conversation between his mother and Akane, but if he did that, she'd instruct him not to do anything.
"I'm not sure I like Eija hanging out with those people," he said finally.
Ranma seemed to visibly relax.
"I thought you gave up your grudge against Sousuke," the red-head said.
"They already blew her up once," Deimosu reminded his mother.
"And if soldier-boy got them both out of Korea safe and sound," Ranma said. "I'm sure he can get them safely out of Akihabara. Anyway, I think all of you have blown each other up at least once."
Deimosu reluctantly nodded.
"Is there anything else you need to talk to me about?" Ranma asked, probingly.
"No, that's about it," the blonde said.
"Then stop pestering Naiki," Ranma said with a smirk. "We don't want to be doing earthquake repairs on the house."
"I heard that!" Naiki called out.
"I'm home," Ranma called out.
"Good, someone who can cook," Naiki called out.
Ranma noted as Deimosu responded to his sister, by simply knocking her feet out from under her while she was distracted. The lack of verbal response concerned the red-headed martial artist.
It looked like she needed to speak to more than one child today or tomorrow.
"Naiki, when you get up off the floor I need to talk to you," Ranma said. "In the kitchen since you're apparently hungry. Deimosu, clean things up a bit."
Her tone of voice said that she was going to want to talk to him too in a little bit, but for the moment he was clear. Groaning at the unfairness of the attention, Naiki stood up and shuffled over to the kitchen.
"You're not in trouble, Naiki," Ranma said. "So quit dragging your feet like an untrained brat."
"Hai, 'Kaasan," Naiki said, picking up her walk and moving into the kitchen as Ranma started getting food made for their dinner that night.
"You have a new homeroom teacher, right?" Ranma asked. "'Hot blonde woman in heels'?"
"Yeah," Naiki said.
Ranma leaned over quietly, making sure Deimosu was far enough away not to hear.
"Is this the teacher you stayed after school to talk to?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah..." Naiki said. "It was about a history assignment she gave us."
"What's the assignment?" Ranma asked.
"Let's see...we're supposed to compare two 'tyrants' from history," Naiki said. "And decide if they helped their country and just have a bad reputation, or if they were really evil people that ruined their nation."
Ranma nodded at the assignment, though something about it tweaked something in the back of her mind.
"And who were you thinking of doing?" Ranma asked.
"Ummm, one had to be Japanese, so Tokugawa and...Hitler?" Naiki said.
"Hitler's easy," Ranma said.
"Who would you choose?" Naiki asked.
"Hitler," Ranma said. "History isn't something I'm usually interested in and Hitler's easy."
Naiki smirked.
"I'm going to want to meet this teacher," Ranma said. "What was her name?"
"Geisthexe-san," Naiki said.
"Okay," Ranma said. "And let's make this clear. You are a virgin, and you stay a virgin until you're twenty."
Naiki started to open her mouth.
"And that includes other girls and women," Ranma said quietly but forcefully.
"I wasn't thinking that..." Naiki said, flushing. "Besides, I think she's straight."
Ranma's narrowed eye look was enough to make Naiki realize that the last comment was certainly proof that she was having thoughts in that direction.
"Four years, Naiki," Ranma said. "That's it. I'd like longer, but that's minimum. I sure as hell don't want to hear you're dating one of your teachers."
"And how old were you when you had us?" Naiki asked loudly, and immediately regretted as her mother stopped cutting and prepping food, turning very quiet. "'Kaasan is...something wrong?"
"That's something I'll have to talk about when all three of you are listening," Ranma said, turning to give her daughter a confident smile to encourage her in thinking everything was fine. "Go set the table."
As the green-haired girl started to walk away from her mother, her brother stepped in front of her, looking a bit upset himself.
"What did you ask that for?" he demanded of his confused sister.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay!" Naiki said, pulling away from her brother.
"Deimosu," Ranma said turning around and calling her son over before he could pursue the argument. She waited for him to come into the kitchen before continuing. "What she said was out of line, but it's not your place to snap at her."
"Yes, Okaasan," Deimosu said reluctantly.
"Now, what's wrong with you?" she asked. "You've been grumpy since yesterday."
Deimosu wanted to say that he had heard the conversation between his mother and Akane, but if he did that, she'd instruct him not to do anything.
"I'm not sure I like Eija hanging out with those people," he said finally.
Ranma seemed to visibly relax.
"I thought you gave up your grudge against Sousuke," the red-head said.
"They already blew her up once," Deimosu reminded his mother.
"And if soldier-boy got them both out of Korea safe and sound," Ranma said. "I'm sure he can get them safely out of Akihabara. Anyway, I think all of you have blown each other up at least once."
Deimosu reluctantly nodded.
"Is there anything else you need to talk to me about?" Ranma asked, probingly.
"No, that's about it," the blonde said.
"Then stop pestering Naiki," Ranma said with a smirk. "We don't want to be doing earthquake repairs on the house."
"I heard that!" Naiki called out.
"You live in a warehouse?" Kaname said, taking in the building and surrounding field where they were dropping Eija off.
"We've been doing a lot of work to convert it," Eija said.
"It is a very good location," Sousuke noted. "I almost did not realize that there was another building here. The outer wall is in good repair. It seems very secure, though with only four people to hold it..."
"Well, Okaasan is mostly worried about training space," Eija said. "Would you like to come in?"
"Sure, why not?" Kaname said, shrugging.
Inside, the building was a lot more like a normal home, if somewhat lacking in decoration. Or at least normal decoration, looking past the front room with the TV, Kaname saw all sorts of medieval weaponry hanging on the walls.
Axes, spears, staves, swords, all artfully displayed, but in such a way as to be easily accessible to the residents.
At the moment Naiki was running a rather energetic kata that looked familiar. It was a moment before she recognized a motion from the fight in Korea. Only this time as she flung out her arms, there were no cresent shaped blades of force coming out from her.
"Girls, Soldier-boy," Miss Satomi said as she came into the front room, wiping her hands clean with a towel. "A bit later than you told me you'd be."
"There was an traffic accident," Sousuke said. "The situation called for us to provide aid to the victims."
"Okay," Ranma said. "I hope you had some fun before that."
She looked at the bags of purchases, including the large easel and sketch pad being carried under Eija's arms somewhat cumbersomely.
"It was interesting," Eija said. "Like the bazaars in Turkey. I'm going to put this in the library, okay?"
"That's fine, I guess," Ranma said, not voicing the thought that it was just another twenty feet down to the door to Eija's room. "Go ahead and sit down, do you want anything to drink?"
"Err, we're under aged," Kaname noted.
"And I don't drink alochol," the red-head replied. "Fruit juice? Water? Power drink? Tea?"
"Sure, juice is fine," Kaname said.
"I wouldn't mind a bottled water," Sousuke noted.
Nodding, Ranma walked into the kitchen and came out with two bottles of water and a glass of fruit juice.
"Pig-tails wasn't with you?" Ranma asked.
"She had a family thing to do tonight," Kaname said. "We'll have to go back with her for a full day sometime."
Ranma looked over her shoulder towards the other rooms and then leaned forward toward the other two.
"Thanks, by the way," Ranma said, winking knowingly as Eija started coming back into the room.
"We're going to need to make some more ritual candles, Okaasan," Eija said. "We're down to about fifteen."
"I thought sure we had more than that," Ranma said, frowning as she sat down.
"And there's something else," Eija said. "We weren't alone in helping at that car accident, there was a woman there."
"Yeah," Kaname said. "Come to think of it, she was doing the same sort of stuff you could, Eija."
"There was?" Ranma sitting up.
"She was very helpful," Sousuke confirmed. "Her boyfriend also demonstrated exceptional knowledge of engineering that was useful in freeing trapped motorists."
"She was immortal," Eija said, drawing looks from Kaname and Sousuke.
"I don't know about that," Kaname noted. "She didn't look that tough."
"Marks on her forehead and cheeks?" Ranma asked sourly.
"Now that you mention it," the blue haired girl said, thinking. "A light blue sliver, I think, like dart."
"That is so," Sousuke confirmed. "Is that a familiar description, Miss Satomi?"
"Her hair?" Ranma asked.
"Brown, I think," Eija said. "Maybe grey or silver. What's going on?"
"Sounds like not the same woman," Ranma thought to herself. "But then there are spells for disguise."
"Okaasan?" Eija asked again.
"Probably nothing," Ranma said. "Think you can find her again?"
"Yes, ma'am," Sousuke said. "She gave us her address in Nekomi. I believe she invited us to come visit her at anytime."
That settled it for Ranma.
She knew she'd been feeling something familiar when she'd walked through there scouting for homes a few months back.
"Sounds interesting," Ranma said. "I'll have to meet this woman."
"Well, anyway," Kaname said with an exasperated sigh. "I'm going to go back into the world at large where words like 'immortal' are things you hear on an anime or movie."
"You get used to it eventually," Ranma said with a knowing smile.
"We've been doing a lot of work to convert it," Eija said.
"It is a very good location," Sousuke noted. "I almost did not realize that there was another building here. The outer wall is in good repair. It seems very secure, though with only four people to hold it..."
"Well, Okaasan is mostly worried about training space," Eija said. "Would you like to come in?"
"Sure, why not?" Kaname said, shrugging.
Inside, the building was a lot more like a normal home, if somewhat lacking in decoration. Or at least normal decoration, looking past the front room with the TV, Kaname saw all sorts of medieval weaponry hanging on the walls.
Axes, spears, staves, swords, all artfully displayed, but in such a way as to be easily accessible to the residents.
At the moment Naiki was running a rather energetic kata that looked familiar. It was a moment before she recognized a motion from the fight in Korea. Only this time as she flung out her arms, there were no cresent shaped blades of force coming out from her.
"Girls, Soldier-boy," Miss Satomi said as she came into the front room, wiping her hands clean with a towel. "A bit later than you told me you'd be."
"There was an traffic accident," Sousuke said. "The situation called for us to provide aid to the victims."
"Okay," Ranma said. "I hope you had some fun before that."
She looked at the bags of purchases, including the large easel and sketch pad being carried under Eija's arms somewhat cumbersomely.
"It was interesting," Eija said. "Like the bazaars in Turkey. I'm going to put this in the library, okay?"
"That's fine, I guess," Ranma said, not voicing the thought that it was just another twenty feet down to the door to Eija's room. "Go ahead and sit down, do you want anything to drink?"
"Err, we're under aged," Kaname noted.
"And I don't drink alochol," the red-head replied. "Fruit juice? Water? Power drink? Tea?"
"Sure, juice is fine," Kaname said.
"I wouldn't mind a bottled water," Sousuke noted.
Nodding, Ranma walked into the kitchen and came out with two bottles of water and a glass of fruit juice.
"Pig-tails wasn't with you?" Ranma asked.
"She had a family thing to do tonight," Kaname said. "We'll have to go back with her for a full day sometime."
Ranma looked over her shoulder towards the other rooms and then leaned forward toward the other two.
"Thanks, by the way," Ranma said, winking knowingly as Eija started coming back into the room.
"We're going to need to make some more ritual candles, Okaasan," Eija said. "We're down to about fifteen."
"I thought sure we had more than that," Ranma said, frowning as she sat down.
"And there's something else," Eija said. "We weren't alone in helping at that car accident, there was a woman there."
"Yeah," Kaname said. "Come to think of it, she was doing the same sort of stuff you could, Eija."
"There was?" Ranma sitting up.
"She was very helpful," Sousuke confirmed. "Her boyfriend also demonstrated exceptional knowledge of engineering that was useful in freeing trapped motorists."
"She was immortal," Eija said, drawing looks from Kaname and Sousuke.
"I don't know about that," Kaname noted. "She didn't look that tough."
"Marks on her forehead and cheeks?" Ranma asked sourly.
"Now that you mention it," the blue haired girl said, thinking. "A light blue sliver, I think, like dart."
"That is so," Sousuke confirmed. "Is that a familiar description, Miss Satomi?"
"Her hair?" Ranma asked.
"Brown, I think," Eija said. "Maybe grey or silver. What's going on?"
"Sounds like not the same woman," Ranma thought to herself. "But then there are spells for disguise."
"Okaasan?" Eija asked again.
"Probably nothing," Ranma said. "Think you can find her again?"
"Yes, ma'am," Sousuke said. "She gave us her address in Nekomi. I believe she invited us to come visit her at anytime."
That settled it for Ranma.
She knew she'd been feeling something familiar when she'd walked through there scouting for homes a few months back.
"Sounds interesting," Ranma said. "I'll have to meet this woman."
"Well, anyway," Kaname said with an exasperated sigh. "I'm going to go back into the world at large where words like 'immortal' are things you hear on an anime or movie."
"You get used to it eventually," Ranma said with a knowing smile.
Ranma felt a twinge of concern as she left her home some days later, her children already well into their first classes by this time.
She always felt that twinge.
When she went on a job that looked like it might be dangerous.
When they left for school.
It was worse after a situation like the Sunan hijacking when things came so close to a final conclusion.
Especially when she considered her task this day.
Still, her kids were well past the point that they needed her for every situation that appeared.
Something she also had to remind herself of everytime.
****
The Kindly Ones' Roost was easy to find.
Very easy, despite how it seemed to lie in an out of the way place on the edge of town.
In fact, Deimosu had to say it almost felt like he was being drawn to the place.
As if it wanted him to find it.
There were places and people that did that, and they were rarely good places or people.
And, growing up in Greece and hearing the old tales, he knew who the Kindly Ones were supposed to be.
Walking up to the door, he opened it to find inside, not the bar he was expecting, but something like a curio shop.
"Well, come in, young man," a feminine voice said invitingly.
Looking in through the darkness, he saw a face lean forward. A woman's face seeming young, but with jagged red marks on her forehead and cheek. She smiled and revealed sharp teeth as she did so.
"We've been waiting for you," the woman said.
****
Kuno looked down the road at Jindai High School, somewhere in the region of this establishment of mediocre public education was one of his loves dwelling within a shameful secrecy to hide the crime committed upon her more than a decade and a half previously.
Somewhere within here where the children of that accursed union seeking the rescue by and guidance by a proper man of true and glorious samurai blood.
He would find one or all of them and they would be gloriously happy to have their unnatural shackles set loose and they would lead him to their mother and her captor.
He had pictures of the children: two daughters that shared their mothers beauty, otherwordly in one case and wild in another. The third child was a boy, probably as much a coward and cur as his father for surely the foul one would have taken the boy in to become everything he was.
Walking along the grounds he caught first sight of one of the girls on the athletics field.
****
Sitting at what should have been a distance, wrapped in a cloak of unimportance, a blonde woman sneered at the human taking in her objective. She didn't have to look hard to see the gulf of skill and power between the two.
The man would be a challenge for Naiki, but she should win.
The question was what she would do next.
Still, first, she had to make sure the two were interrupted. Not an undaunting prospect. Disguising her own presence from three demi-gods and a chi-master was one thing.
Hiding the battle that was about to come, that would take a bit more concentration.
If all of them were around.
Ranma Satomi was leaving the area on some errand or another, Mara didn't know what, and she didn't care what, as long as it kept the woman out of the area.
Likewise, Deimos Satomi was playing hookie for some reason.
Again, Mara neither knew nor cared what.
Deimosu wasn't her task.
That left only Eija Satomi on hand to interfere. According to the file, a first rate magician for a mortal, but hampered by the fact she was a hidden file.
"Well, your sister might feel this, Naiki," she whispered as the magical circle she was sitting on started to flair quietly into life. "But she won't know what it is, have fun."
****
Naiki blinked as the gym teacher walked past her ignoring the fact that she was performing katas instead of the instructed exercises. She blinked and rubbed her head for a moment.
"Did he not see me?" she asked. "Usually he pitches a fit for me ignoring his stupid little exercises."
"You there, girl," a voice said.
She turned around to see an old man, well, to her mind old, watching her and gesturing with a bokken past the wire fence.
"Eh, what do you want?" she asked, still confused by what was going on.
"Are you perhaps the daughter of that accursed sorcerer Ranma Saotome," he demanded.
Growling and gritting her sharp teeth, Naiki vaulted over the fence and landed in front of the man.
"What did you call my mother?" she demanded, the last name was a bit off, but maybe the guy was just an idiot.
"I have not mentioned your glorious mother, who is obviously the pig-tailed girl," Kuno said. "I spoke of that horrid caster of curses and spells that is Ranma Saotome."
"All right, idiot or not," Naiki said. "I can't let that pass."
"Then you think to face Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Nerima Ward?" Kuno said. "Truly the spells of your odious parent are wrought strongly upon you. Well then, I must fight to free you from these supernatural delusions."
That said, Kuno lashed outward with his sword, noting with misplaced pride as the girl dodged under it so adroitly and move inside the reach of his weapon, moving to tear his arms open and slam a powerful kick through the eliminated defense.
Kuno barely dodged aside, using all of his accumulated years of experience in what he considered battle to step aside of the blow and slash downwards almost catching the over-extended girl on the shoulder.
Backing away, he unleashed a stream of high speed stabs which pierced outward to pummel the girl, oh how reluctantly he did so. Rents appeared in her gym clothes, exposing her young flesh to casual examination, but her skin did barely more than bruise.
A vacuum blade slashed inward and Kuno barely dodged out of its path, only to have his feet swept out from under him. He barely rolled out of the path of the follow-up hit, but was already on the defensive as Naiki pressed him.
Every exchange, his mistakes got bigger and he paid a higher price for them. It was inevitable that he should fall wholy, lying unable to move a muscle and only barely conscious in front of Naiki, breathing hard and still twitching made, but having hardly more than light bruising from the exchange.
Ranma, had she been there, would have remarked that Kuno had gotten better, but still would have been surprised that Naiki was out of breath after such an exchange.
That is, unless she knew that Naiki's breathlessness had more to do with decisions than physical conditioning.
She analyzing the fight and considering that this man might just approach her sister in the same way.
Geisthexe-san's history assignment stuck in her mind, and Naiki wondered if she was looking at the proverbial chance to kill Hitler right now, if just on a personal note.
Had the guy died in the heat of combat, that would have been one thing. Naiki's first battle kill had come when she was ten, the youngest of all three of the Satomi kids.
However, her mother had always been firm that death should only be dealt at need and never on a captured or defeated foe.
Despite that, as Naiki kneeled down next to him, hand clenched in a fist at her side. Had he been able to talk, Kuno would have made an obscene comment that might have ended his life.
Finally, Naiki slammed her fist down into the ground at Kuno's head.
After a small ground tremor, the sharkish girl stood up, vaulted back over the fence and started to rejoin her classmates on the way inside the main building.
****
"Not quite there yet," Mara said approvingly. "But getting closer. Well, this lesson isn't over yet."
As she spoke the obscurement around the fight faded away and Naiki's incompetent PE teacher was finally able to find her.
******************
AN: hopefully I caught all the typos here...was getting really sleepy by the end
She always felt that twinge.
When she went on a job that looked like it might be dangerous.
When they left for school.
It was worse after a situation like the Sunan hijacking when things came so close to a final conclusion.
Especially when she considered her task this day.
Still, her kids were well past the point that they needed her for every situation that appeared.
Something she also had to remind herself of everytime.
****
The Kindly Ones' Roost was easy to find.
Very easy, despite how it seemed to lie in an out of the way place on the edge of town.
In fact, Deimosu had to say it almost felt like he was being drawn to the place.
As if it wanted him to find it.
There were places and people that did that, and they were rarely good places or people.
And, growing up in Greece and hearing the old tales, he knew who the Kindly Ones were supposed to be.
Walking up to the door, he opened it to find inside, not the bar he was expecting, but something like a curio shop.
"Well, come in, young man," a feminine voice said invitingly.
Looking in through the darkness, he saw a face lean forward. A woman's face seeming young, but with jagged red marks on her forehead and cheek. She smiled and revealed sharp teeth as she did so.
"We've been waiting for you," the woman said.
****
Kuno looked down the road at Jindai High School, somewhere in the region of this establishment of mediocre public education was one of his loves dwelling within a shameful secrecy to hide the crime committed upon her more than a decade and a half previously.
Somewhere within here where the children of that accursed union seeking the rescue by and guidance by a proper man of true and glorious samurai blood.
He would find one or all of them and they would be gloriously happy to have their unnatural shackles set loose and they would lead him to their mother and her captor.
He had pictures of the children: two daughters that shared their mothers beauty, otherwordly in one case and wild in another. The third child was a boy, probably as much a coward and cur as his father for surely the foul one would have taken the boy in to become everything he was.
Walking along the grounds he caught first sight of one of the girls on the athletics field.
****
Sitting at what should have been a distance, wrapped in a cloak of unimportance, a blonde woman sneered at the human taking in her objective. She didn't have to look hard to see the gulf of skill and power between the two.
The man would be a challenge for Naiki, but she should win.
The question was what she would do next.
Still, first, she had to make sure the two were interrupted. Not an undaunting prospect. Disguising her own presence from three demi-gods and a chi-master was one thing.
Hiding the battle that was about to come, that would take a bit more concentration.
If all of them were around.
Ranma Satomi was leaving the area on some errand or another, Mara didn't know what, and she didn't care what, as long as it kept the woman out of the area.
Likewise, Deimos Satomi was playing hookie for some reason.
Again, Mara neither knew nor cared what.
Deimosu wasn't her task.
That left only Eija Satomi on hand to interfere. According to the file, a first rate magician for a mortal, but hampered by the fact she was a hidden file.
"Well, your sister might feel this, Naiki," she whispered as the magical circle she was sitting on started to flair quietly into life. "But she won't know what it is, have fun."
****
Naiki blinked as the gym teacher walked past her ignoring the fact that she was performing katas instead of the instructed exercises. She blinked and rubbed her head for a moment.
"Did he not see me?" she asked. "Usually he pitches a fit for me ignoring his stupid little exercises."
"You there, girl," a voice said.
She turned around to see an old man, well, to her mind old, watching her and gesturing with a bokken past the wire fence.
"Eh, what do you want?" she asked, still confused by what was going on.
"Are you perhaps the daughter of that accursed sorcerer Ranma Saotome," he demanded.
Growling and gritting her sharp teeth, Naiki vaulted over the fence and landed in front of the man.
"What did you call my mother?" she demanded, the last name was a bit off, but maybe the guy was just an idiot.
"I have not mentioned your glorious mother, who is obviously the pig-tailed girl," Kuno said. "I spoke of that horrid caster of curses and spells that is Ranma Saotome."
"All right, idiot or not," Naiki said. "I can't let that pass."
"Then you think to face Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Nerima Ward?" Kuno said. "Truly the spells of your odious parent are wrought strongly upon you. Well then, I must fight to free you from these supernatural delusions."
That said, Kuno lashed outward with his sword, noting with misplaced pride as the girl dodged under it so adroitly and move inside the reach of his weapon, moving to tear his arms open and slam a powerful kick through the eliminated defense.
Kuno barely dodged aside, using all of his accumulated years of experience in what he considered battle to step aside of the blow and slash downwards almost catching the over-extended girl on the shoulder.
Backing away, he unleashed a stream of high speed stabs which pierced outward to pummel the girl, oh how reluctantly he did so. Rents appeared in her gym clothes, exposing her young flesh to casual examination, but her skin did barely more than bruise.
A vacuum blade slashed inward and Kuno barely dodged out of its path, only to have his feet swept out from under him. He barely rolled out of the path of the follow-up hit, but was already on the defensive as Naiki pressed him.
Every exchange, his mistakes got bigger and he paid a higher price for them. It was inevitable that he should fall wholy, lying unable to move a muscle and only barely conscious in front of Naiki, breathing hard and still twitching made, but having hardly more than light bruising from the exchange.
Ranma, had she been there, would have remarked that Kuno had gotten better, but still would have been surprised that Naiki was out of breath after such an exchange.
That is, unless she knew that Naiki's breathlessness had more to do with decisions than physical conditioning.
She analyzing the fight and considering that this man might just approach her sister in the same way.
Geisthexe-san's history assignment stuck in her mind, and Naiki wondered if she was looking at the proverbial chance to kill Hitler right now, if just on a personal note.
Had the guy died in the heat of combat, that would have been one thing. Naiki's first battle kill had come when she was ten, the youngest of all three of the Satomi kids.
However, her mother had always been firm that death should only be dealt at need and never on a captured or defeated foe.
Despite that, as Naiki kneeled down next to him, hand clenched in a fist at her side. Had he been able to talk, Kuno would have made an obscene comment that might have ended his life.
Finally, Naiki slammed her fist down into the ground at Kuno's head.
After a small ground tremor, the sharkish girl stood up, vaulted back over the fence and started to rejoin her classmates on the way inside the main building.
****
"Not quite there yet," Mara said approvingly. "But getting closer. Well, this lesson isn't over yet."
As she spoke the obscurement around the fight faded away and Naiki's incompetent PE teacher was finally able to find her.
******************
AN: hopefully I caught all the typos here...was getting really sleepy by the end
well, a couple of things:
I think you're thinking of the Moirae...the witches that shared one eye that helped Perseus and were cannibals, because I don't think anybody went to the Furies....called upon them, yeah, but not approached them
also, Deimosu could very well be assuming these are fraudulent furies, after all he's not the most interested in the supernatural stuff of the three (still, though, I'd personally avoid anybody that took the identity on).
finally, the fact is vengeance is a powerful motivator, and, like many passions, often takes people past the point of common sense
I think you're thinking of the Moirae...the witches that shared one eye that helped Perseus and were cannibals, because I don't think anybody went to the Furies....called upon them, yeah, but not approached them
also, Deimosu could very well be assuming these are fraudulent furies, after all he's not the most interested in the supernatural stuff of the three (still, though, I'd personally avoid anybody that took the identity on).
finally, the fact is vengeance is a powerful motivator, and, like many passions, often takes people past the point of common sense
Another thing is that his mother's hiding something about their birth, and (at least in how I'd think it'd work) they'd have an idea about what and who it was, if it was what Akane implied.
Of course, Thrythlind might be going somewhere completely different, but if all I wanted was info and I thought I could trick them out of it? Sure, I'd give it a shot. Probably get screwed over, but I'd still try.
Of course, Thrythlind might be going somewhere completely different, but if all I wanted was info and I thought I could trick them out of it? Sure, I'd give it a shot. Probably get screwed over, but I'd still try.
Kaname and Kyoko noticed as Eija stood up and walked over to the window, frowning.
"Is something wrong?" Kyoko asked.
"I don't know," Eija said. "I just feel a bit...excuse me, I need to check something."
Sousuke and Kaname glanced at each other cautiously for a moment as Eija walked out of the room, where most of the students were currently relaxing in a "study period".
Kaname shrugged, but stood up to follow the girl, Sousuke predictably moving with her.
****
Ranma felt and saw the power imbedded in the very walls of the temple as she approached. And it was definitely the same sort of power that haunted her fuzzy memories of that day and night so long ago.
Taking a deep breath, and wrapping herself in the umisenken's ultimate technique, she started to walk up the path toward the housing portion of the temple.
"Damn," a male voice said from around the back. "I can't seem to make it work at less than half-sized."
"That's better than our power efficiency," a female voice said.
"I'm not giving up yet!" a younger female voice declared. "That bastard and his Red Daikons are going to go down!"
"If we had more money we could afford to do a full-sized unit," another woman noted. "With all the effort we're making in miniaturizing things, you'd think we're spending that anyway."
"Yeah, but its being spent in time, not money," the man said again.
"Does anybody want lemonade," another woman's voice asked.
Following the voices, as it was apparent the residents were in the back of the grounds rather than in the house. Ranma cautiously stepped around the building, wrapped in the umisen cloak.
What she found were three humans and two non-humans working about at marking blueprints and tooling with various machines and engine pieces. One of the non-humans, matching the description she had of this Belldandy person, was walking about serving glasses of lemonade to everyone present.
The youngest seeming of the bunch was one of the non-humans, who seemed to be about the same age as Ranma's children, if not a year or two younger. The others were in their early to late twenties.
"Aren't you guys ready for the software yet?" a sixth voice demanded. "I can't really do any programming on how to run a theoretical mecha."
"Who said you're programming anything?" the teen-aged non-human declared pointing at a tall, dark skinned woman out on the porch.
This third was a third non-human, though was also not wholy the same as the other two women.
"Who's better to do the programming, squirt?" the new woman asked. "A lowly bug-hunter or a full-accredited sysop?"
"Who's been suspended too many times to count," the youngest said.
"Where do they work again?" one of the two human women asked the man. She was the oldest person there by maybe five years.
"I think it's a family-owned software company," the young man said with a trace of nervousness on his face. "Anyway, Megumi's going to be doing the main programming."
"But...why?" the youngest asked. "Keiichi, you know I'm the best robotics expert here!"
"She can do it," the other woman, apparently "Megumi", said shrugging as if she really didn't mind one way or another. "I'm fine with that."
"If either Skuld or Urd programs the thing, it'll likely be overboard," the oldest woman said. "And Megumi's the only other one here with robotics experience, so that's obvious. But the entire thing is moot if we don't get off our asses and work on these miniaturization problems."
Comforted that these were likely not the same spirits that had troubled her previously, all Ranma had to do now was see what they were here for.
Casually, she reached out with an arm and knocked on the wall next to her at the same time as she dropped the umisenken's ultimate technique.
Six people turned around to face with shocked expressions, well mostly, one of the non-humans seemed to be less than alarmed, even if she was surprised.
"Oh, we have a visitor," Belldandy said in a friendly manner. "What can we do for you?"
"I think you met my daughter and her friends a few days ago," Ranma said. "Eija Satomi."
"Oh yes," Belldandy said nodding. "If you can join Urd and I inside, maybe we can discuss this."
"Is everything okay?" Megumi asked.
Keiichi looked up to Belldandy and saw her nod.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Keiichi assured her. "Boss, why don't you and I switch components, maybe if we start on something new we'll clear our heads."
Ranma watched the four continue their project as she followed Belldandy and a confused looking dark-skinned woman, the apparent "Urd", into the building.
Having trained in Stav fairly extensively, Ranma couldn't help but recognize the names Skuld and Urd from Norse myth. With that she was able to go backwards from Belldandy to Verdandi.
Norse goddesses.
If that's what they were, then the spirits that attacked her, were they also goddesses?
"What's going on out there?" Ranma asked out of curiousity.
"The captain of the Nerima Red Dragons, called them armchair engineers," Urd explained.
"Red dragons?" Ranma repeated, confused as he noted laundry strung up in the side yard through another opening in the temple.
"JSDF competitive AS team," Belldandy finished. "In any caseI'm pleased to meet you Satomi-san, I did not know there were any other companions n..."
"I'm really not fond of that term," Ranma said, cutting Belldandy off.
"What, companion?" Urd asked. "What's the problem with that?"
"Because companion is what Keiichi is," a new voice declared, and Ranma and two goddesses turned to see the leather garbed figure of Morrigan walking of the laundry lines. "And Saotome-san's relationship was decidedly less pleasant, or willing."
Behind the woman, one of the bed sheets seemed to be splattered in blood for a moment before the red washed away.
"Oh, Morrigan," Belldandy said in surprise and confusion. "But you..."
Belldandy and Urd turned to look at Ranma who was in stance already, ready to fight against the woman that had just joined them. A red-headed woman who felt as bloody as Belldandy felt peaceful.
"So who are you lady, and why are you here?" Ranma demanded.
"I'm here to talk to you, Ranma Saotome," Morrigan said.
That was all the other red-head needed to hear to make a decision.
Ranma was across the room and moving to slam into Morrigan, pulling the other red-head out of the house into the grounds outside.
The celtic war-goddess blinked in surprise but took control of the roll swiftly, disengaging from Ranma and tossing her aside, over the wall of the temple and following.
As the red-headed goddess leaped the wall, she found Ranma's foot filling up her vision and sending her bouncing down the street.
Out and away from structures, both woman started fighting in earnest, the irritation on Morrigan's face starting to give way to a fierce grin as the patron of the baensidhe let loose with a piercing yell that shattered glass around her and momentarily put Ranma on the defensive.
****
"What was that?" Chihiro asked as the fight, now some blocks away, turned audible to the engineers.
"Maybe a jet did a sonic boom over the wrong air space," Keiichi suggested.
"Gah, hope they get tarred and feathered for it," the older woman said. "Almost broke this component."
****
Morrigan had the advantage as Belldandy and Urd caught up, but the fight was quickly turned around with a call of Hiryu Shoten Ha and even the limited amount of power the first class goddess was using roared to life into a short-lived tornado that had catapulted the woman into the air where Ranma intercepted her.
Both hit the ground into a roll as Morrigan found herself being pushed back by the blows Ranma was choosing. Still, the red-headed human was just that, human, and Morrigan wasn't especially worried just yet.
Even when the woman slammed her to the ground with a sweep and was instantly straddling the leather-clad darkness.
"Saoto...Satomi-san, wait!" Belldandy shouted, moving to grab hold of Ranma's hand as she started channelling chi. "She's an Eye of Ra!"
"What do I care what she is?" Ranma demanded.
"It means she's an investigator," Urd said, coming on the other side. "She solves heavenly crimes."
Ranma paused and took that into consideration.
"You're a cop?" she asked.
"That's a way to put it," Morrigan said.
"And why the hell didn't you say anything?" Ranma demanded.
"Because I haven't had a simple rumble in a long time," the other red-head said.
****
AN: first class gods and demons are strong enough to destroy the world (assuming no one intereferes with them), Ranma's not up to that level, but with Morrigan avoiding her raw power and magical potential (especially as she's probably operating with a limiter on Earth), they're a lot more even in terms of raw martial skill. (mostly because Morrigan reincarnated about thirty years ago and hasn't yet assimilated all her ancient memories into her fighting form).
"Is something wrong?" Kyoko asked.
"I don't know," Eija said. "I just feel a bit...excuse me, I need to check something."
Sousuke and Kaname glanced at each other cautiously for a moment as Eija walked out of the room, where most of the students were currently relaxing in a "study period".
Kaname shrugged, but stood up to follow the girl, Sousuke predictably moving with her.
****
Ranma felt and saw the power imbedded in the very walls of the temple as she approached. And it was definitely the same sort of power that haunted her fuzzy memories of that day and night so long ago.
Taking a deep breath, and wrapping herself in the umisenken's ultimate technique, she started to walk up the path toward the housing portion of the temple.
"Damn," a male voice said from around the back. "I can't seem to make it work at less than half-sized."
"That's better than our power efficiency," a female voice said.
"I'm not giving up yet!" a younger female voice declared. "That bastard and his Red Daikons are going to go down!"
"If we had more money we could afford to do a full-sized unit," another woman noted. "With all the effort we're making in miniaturizing things, you'd think we're spending that anyway."
"Yeah, but its being spent in time, not money," the man said again.
"Does anybody want lemonade," another woman's voice asked.
Following the voices, as it was apparent the residents were in the back of the grounds rather than in the house. Ranma cautiously stepped around the building, wrapped in the umisen cloak.
What she found were three humans and two non-humans working about at marking blueprints and tooling with various machines and engine pieces. One of the non-humans, matching the description she had of this Belldandy person, was walking about serving glasses of lemonade to everyone present.
The youngest seeming of the bunch was one of the non-humans, who seemed to be about the same age as Ranma's children, if not a year or two younger. The others were in their early to late twenties.
"Aren't you guys ready for the software yet?" a sixth voice demanded. "I can't really do any programming on how to run a theoretical mecha."
"Who said you're programming anything?" the teen-aged non-human declared pointing at a tall, dark skinned woman out on the porch.
This third was a third non-human, though was also not wholy the same as the other two women.
"Who's better to do the programming, squirt?" the new woman asked. "A lowly bug-hunter or a full-accredited sysop?"
"Who's been suspended too many times to count," the youngest said.
"Where do they work again?" one of the two human women asked the man. She was the oldest person there by maybe five years.
"I think it's a family-owned software company," the young man said with a trace of nervousness on his face. "Anyway, Megumi's going to be doing the main programming."
"But...why?" the youngest asked. "Keiichi, you know I'm the best robotics expert here!"
"She can do it," the other woman, apparently "Megumi", said shrugging as if she really didn't mind one way or another. "I'm fine with that."
"If either Skuld or Urd programs the thing, it'll likely be overboard," the oldest woman said. "And Megumi's the only other one here with robotics experience, so that's obvious. But the entire thing is moot if we don't get off our asses and work on these miniaturization problems."
Comforted that these were likely not the same spirits that had troubled her previously, all Ranma had to do now was see what they were here for.
Casually, she reached out with an arm and knocked on the wall next to her at the same time as she dropped the umisenken's ultimate technique.
Six people turned around to face with shocked expressions, well mostly, one of the non-humans seemed to be less than alarmed, even if she was surprised.
"Oh, we have a visitor," Belldandy said in a friendly manner. "What can we do for you?"
"I think you met my daughter and her friends a few days ago," Ranma said. "Eija Satomi."
"Oh yes," Belldandy said nodding. "If you can join Urd and I inside, maybe we can discuss this."
"Is everything okay?" Megumi asked.
Keiichi looked up to Belldandy and saw her nod.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Keiichi assured her. "Boss, why don't you and I switch components, maybe if we start on something new we'll clear our heads."
Ranma watched the four continue their project as she followed Belldandy and a confused looking dark-skinned woman, the apparent "Urd", into the building.
Having trained in Stav fairly extensively, Ranma couldn't help but recognize the names Skuld and Urd from Norse myth. With that she was able to go backwards from Belldandy to Verdandi.
Norse goddesses.
If that's what they were, then the spirits that attacked her, were they also goddesses?
"What's going on out there?" Ranma asked out of curiousity.
"The captain of the Nerima Red Dragons, called them armchair engineers," Urd explained.
"Red dragons?" Ranma repeated, confused as he noted laundry strung up in the side yard through another opening in the temple.
"JSDF competitive AS team," Belldandy finished. "In any caseI'm pleased to meet you Satomi-san, I did not know there were any other companions n..."
"I'm really not fond of that term," Ranma said, cutting Belldandy off.
"What, companion?" Urd asked. "What's the problem with that?"
"Because companion is what Keiichi is," a new voice declared, and Ranma and two goddesses turned to see the leather garbed figure of Morrigan walking of the laundry lines. "And Saotome-san's relationship was decidedly less pleasant, or willing."
Behind the woman, one of the bed sheets seemed to be splattered in blood for a moment before the red washed away.
"Oh, Morrigan," Belldandy said in surprise and confusion. "But you..."
Belldandy and Urd turned to look at Ranma who was in stance already, ready to fight against the woman that had just joined them. A red-headed woman who felt as bloody as Belldandy felt peaceful.
"So who are you lady, and why are you here?" Ranma demanded.
"I'm here to talk to you, Ranma Saotome," Morrigan said.
That was all the other red-head needed to hear to make a decision.
Ranma was across the room and moving to slam into Morrigan, pulling the other red-head out of the house into the grounds outside.
The celtic war-goddess blinked in surprise but took control of the roll swiftly, disengaging from Ranma and tossing her aside, over the wall of the temple and following.
As the red-headed goddess leaped the wall, she found Ranma's foot filling up her vision and sending her bouncing down the street.
Out and away from structures, both woman started fighting in earnest, the irritation on Morrigan's face starting to give way to a fierce grin as the patron of the baensidhe let loose with a piercing yell that shattered glass around her and momentarily put Ranma on the defensive.
****
"What was that?" Chihiro asked as the fight, now some blocks away, turned audible to the engineers.
"Maybe a jet did a sonic boom over the wrong air space," Keiichi suggested.
"Gah, hope they get tarred and feathered for it," the older woman said. "Almost broke this component."
****
Morrigan had the advantage as Belldandy and Urd caught up, but the fight was quickly turned around with a call of Hiryu Shoten Ha and even the limited amount of power the first class goddess was using roared to life into a short-lived tornado that had catapulted the woman into the air where Ranma intercepted her.
Both hit the ground into a roll as Morrigan found herself being pushed back by the blows Ranma was choosing. Still, the red-headed human was just that, human, and Morrigan wasn't especially worried just yet.
Even when the woman slammed her to the ground with a sweep and was instantly straddling the leather-clad darkness.
"Saoto...Satomi-san, wait!" Belldandy shouted, moving to grab hold of Ranma's hand as she started channelling chi. "She's an Eye of Ra!"
"What do I care what she is?" Ranma demanded.
"It means she's an investigator," Urd said, coming on the other side. "She solves heavenly crimes."
Ranma paused and took that into consideration.
"You're a cop?" she asked.
"That's a way to put it," Morrigan said.
"And why the hell didn't you say anything?" Ranma demanded.
"Because I haven't had a simple rumble in a long time," the other red-head said.
****
AN: first class gods and demons are strong enough to destroy the world (assuming no one intereferes with them), Ranma's not up to that level, but with Morrigan avoiding her raw power and magical potential (especially as she's probably operating with a limiter on Earth), they're a lot more even in terms of raw martial skill. (mostly because Morrigan reincarnated about thirty years ago and hasn't yet assimilated all her ancient memories into her fighting form).
The Kindly Ones primarily dealt with vengeance against familial murders and natural laws. If anything, the Furies might pursue Deimosu depending on what road his thoughts travel, as the Greeks take the idea of honoring the father and mother to almost deified extremes.
The Kindly Ones existed in Tartarus where they punished the souls who commited familial betrayal, and pursued the heroes who approached them as it was unnatural for living beings to be in Tartarus.
Deimosu approaching the Furies would be the ultimate crap shoot as it would depend on how the Furies changed over time.
The Kindly Ones existed in Tartarus where they punished the souls who commited familial betrayal, and pursued the heroes who approached them as it was unnatural for living beings to be in Tartarus.
Deimosu approaching the Furies would be the ultimate crap shoot as it would depend on how the Furies changed over time.