Remnants of Self
A Ranma ½ Ah Megami Sama crossover by Metroidvania
Disclaimer: First off, I don't own either of the series I'm basing this work of fanfiction off of, so please, don't sue, as you won't win anything off poor old me.
Second, this is a bit of unknown territory for me, especially since AMG is still ongoing….but here goes.
Timeline: Immediately after the Angel Eater Arc in Ah Megami Sama, Ranma….unknown.
Oh, and I'm using English translations of AMG names. Belldandy, Hild,…MARA. Marller will come into mention, but that comes later.
Prologue: Aftermath
Keiichi Morisato stared at the giant, jigsaw like puzzle of the Tarikihongan temple, utterly perplexed.
Between the castle turrets and walls, the giant, steepled clock, and other varied out of place features of the new building, he began to wonder if his life would ever revert back to the normalcy he had once viewed as boring.
"Fat chance of that…" he muttered to himself, giving the giant crater that stood out vividly against the rest of the nearby surroundings another glance before looking away.
He paused for a moment, looking up towards the sky in which Rind had just vanished into the air, her job of retrieving the Angel Eater complete.
He turned to Belldandy suddenly, curious of something.
"Do you think she'll really come back?" he asked quickly, turning to the smiling Norn of the Present.
"Oh yes," Belldandy replied sincerely. "Rind always keeps her promises."
"That's good." Skuld replied. "I liked having her around, even…." She paused for a moment. "If it wasn't under the best of circumstances."
"Ah, chill out, squirt." Platinum hair folded over itself in the slight breeze as Urd draped herself down to the youngest Goddess. "It all worked out in the end, didn't it?"
"Hey, don't call me that, hag!" Skuld shouted, her eyes narrowing as she pulled out her trusty debugging hammer.
"Why you!" Urd clenched one fist, lightning beginning to escape into the air as she cocked her hand back.
Keiichi looked back from the obvious signs of violence that was to be forthcoming, and quietly started sneaking behind Belldandy.
"Well, it looks like everything is back to normal…" he whispered as Urd and Skuld began their customary scuffling.
"Yes," Belldandy whispered back, her eyes twinkling with laughter as she watched her sisters continue their argument. "I think everything's going to turn out just fine."
"Hey!" Keiichi swiveled his head to see Sigel holding some of the good luck charms that had been used to hold down Mara.
The young girl was almost covered in them, her expression of discomfort clearly discernable on her face.
"What should I do with all these?" she asked, one eye twitching as Banpei approached, his mechanical arms extended towards her, only to suddenly fall over a rut and collapse on top of her.
"Rocket Punch!" She shouted, one arm launching out from her hand to blast Banpei far off into the distance.
"Hmph," Sigel sniffed as the arm traveled back along its string, connecting to her arm soundlessly. "Serves him right."
"Now, now, Sigel," Belldandy scolded. "I thought you two were getting along better…"
Sigel lowered her head, one floor scuffing the dirt lightly.
"Yeah, but he still just makes me mad sometimes." She raised her head to meet Belldandy's eyes. "I'll try harder, though."
"Good." Belldandy's smile reappeared on her face. "As for the charms, just put them back in the closet where we found them. I'm sure we might need them later."
"You know…" Keiichi stated as Sigel ran off back towards the makeshift reconstruction of the temple. "Did Mara seem kind of….off, to you?"
Belldandy cocked her head to one side, her mind replaying the battle that had recently taken place.
"You know, Keiichi, I think you're right." She turned to Urd and Skuld, who were now rolling around in the dirt, all semblance of actual fighting reduced to that of a petty squabble.
"Urd!" She called out, and the eldest Goddess looked up from her position atop of Skuld.
"Huh?"
"Did Mara seem a little odd to you today?"
Urd sweat-dropped slightly at Belldandy referring to the vicious battle as yet another everyday occurrence, but reluctantly jumped off of Skuld, brushing the dirt off her low cut light blue skirt with one hand, the other combing her hair back out of her eyes.
"Come to think of it, she did have several chances to attack us….and she didn't."
"That's because she was scared of Rind!" Skuld remarked as she too got up from the ground, adjusting her dress and shaking out her hair to rid it of dust. "Rind was strong enough to go toe to toe with Hild! There's no way Mara can compete with that!"
"Possibly…" Belldandy's response was drawn out, her face narrowed in thought.
"No." Urd replied forcefully, causing the other two goddesses to look at her in surprise, as the comment had been spoken rather vehemently.
"That wasn't it." She continued, her eyes losing their focus as she stared off into space.
"She looked like she didn't know quite what she should have done." She finished after a moment. "It was almost like…indecision."
"She did jump in to knock Hild out of the way of that blast, though…" Keiichi offered his own observation. "Hild didn't seem to like it, though…"
"That's very astute of you to notice, Keiichi." Belldandy smiled at the recipient of her wish, and Keiich blushed slightly, one hand reaching back to rub the back of his head.
"Ah, it was nothing…" He tried to downplay his perception. "I should be the one who's thankful. Your and Rind's plan worked out perfectly."
"It's you we should thank, Keiichi." Urd's voice was strangely serious, and Keiichi turned to face her. "Without you, who knows what could have happened?"
"Um…Er…." Keiichi stumbled over his words, his face reddening more and more at the unusual amount of praise he was receiving.
He took a few steps back to try and lessen the intensity of the stares he was receiving, his nervousness accelerating his flight.
As he was attempting to lessen the intensity of the stares directed his way, his foot suddenly encountered a hole still present in the pockmarked ground not yet affected by the goddesses' spells.
"Keiichi! Are you okay?" Belldandy cried out, rushing over to where Keiichi had fallen to the ground.
"Yeah, I'm okay, Bell. I just slipped, that's all."
"Are you sure?" Belldandy slowly knelt down to face Keiichi, her brown hair spilling into her face as her goddess markings flashed.
"You had a slight sprain." She scolded gently, not noticing Keiichi's blush at her extremely close proximity. "Do try to be more careful. You get hurt enough as it is…" She looked up to catch Keiichi's eye, and her own cheeks reddened as her body subconsciously shifted closer to his.
"Pervert!"
A cloud of dust erupted just to the couple's right, and Keiichi's blush was suddenly replaced by terror.
"No! I swear!..."
"Save it, hentai!" Skuld brought another of her Skuld-bombs up to the ready position, glaring at Keiichi fiercely. "I'm going to get you for messing with my sister!"
Keiichi was immediately off like a shot, running into the distance.
Skuld was after him almost immediately, her dark hair fluttering as she gave chase, accompanied by a small smirk present present on her face.
Belldandy sighed as she watched the two, knowing deep down that although Skuld still gave the illusion of harboring a grudge on Keiichi, she wouldn't hurt him.
"You okay, Bell?"
She turned back to look at Urd, who had moved closer towards her.
"I'm a little tired right now, but that's to be expected."
"And Keiichi?"
"Oh, I know he'll be fine, even if Skuld did get to him." The Goddess of the Present turned to face the Past, her eyes serious. "But going back to Mara…"
Urd's eyes hardened.
"Enough. She's a demon, Hild's her boss, that's all there is to it."
"But…" Belldandy's protest died in her throat as Urd threw her hands up and walked away slowly.
Belldandy sighed once more, and turned to the distance.
"Urd…" she whispered.
//--//--//--//--//--//--//
"So, you thought you could just interfere without my approval?"
A whimper of pain escaped into the air, near inaudible compared to the sound of discharging lightning.
"I'm a bit disappointed with having to do this." the voice showed none of the rage that had just been projected through the air as lightning.
"I raised you, allowed you free reign, and you disrespect me in front of my daughter?" The voice sighed once more, seemingly resigned. "But you do need to be taught a lesson..."
"I'm Sorry!" The second voice croaked out desperately after the sound of lightning had ceased, manacles shifting and clanking as the twitching spasms slowly dwindled.
"Sorry doesn't cut it. Not this time."
The sound of a finger snapping echoed along the caverns.
"Please…you didn't…"
The whimpers morphed into screams as the sound of dozens of tiny feet echoed along the hard stone floor, intermingling with the sounds of soft, silky laughter.
//--//--//--//--//--//--//
Keiichi sighed as his alarm woke him. He looked out his window, seeing the sun beginning to peer through the local mountains, a fine layer of mist slowly evaporating in the warmth of the rays.
" 'S time to get up already?"
He stumbled into the restroom, shutting the door behind him as he turned to turn on the faucet.
"Hey, handsome."
Keiichi's head shot up as a silky voice broke into his morning reverie.
"Gah!"
He stumbled back out of the bathroom, backpedaling until he came to a stop on the opposite wall, his posture indicating a need to flee.
"What's wrong, K1?" Urd asked, her tight-fitting towel leaving very little to the imagination, as she leaned down next to him, fixing him with a lustful smile. "Want to work some of that tiredness out of your system?"
"Buh….guh..."
"Urd, stop teasing poor Keiichi." Urd pouted as Belldandy's head popped out of the doorway to the kitchen.
"Aw, you're no fun, Bell." She did, however, back up several steps, snapping her fingers as her outfit shifted back to her normal attire, light blue dress and black cape fluttering as she twisted around, pirouetting once before giving the V for Victory sign, and slowly and deliberately walked by Keiichi, her hips swaying.
She turned at her door, winked once at Keiichi, and quietly closed off the access to her room.
"Not again…" Keiichi's subconscious lingering glance left his face, slight shame replacing it.
Belldandy stepped into the hallway, wearing a white apron in addition to an aesthetically pleasing though conservative deep blue shirt and jeans combination, accompanied by a white sweater, covered by a pristine white apron.
She blew a loose strand of hair out her face, her expression the tiniest bit exasperated.
"Are you all right, Keiichi?" Keiichi turned his face up to Belldandy, his expression turning sheepish.
"Yeah, I'm okay. What's with the apron?"
"Oh!" Belldandy smiled, and Keiichi's heart fluttered slightly, the thumping clearly audible in his ears.
"I was in the middle of making a cake, but I just realized that we don't have any eggs. Do you think you could run down to the store and get me some?"
"S…sure." Keiichi stuttered, slowly getting up and walking back up to his room.
A few moments later, he reappeared, one arm placing itself in his leather jacket as the other held his helmet.
"Say, what's the occasion?" He asked suddenly, one hand on the doorknob.
"It's…a surprise." Belldandy replied, her grin slightly mischievous.
"Oh. Okay. Anything else besides eggs?"
"Nope, I just need the eggs."
"All right. I'll be back in a bit, then."
Belldandy's grin grew into a full-blown smile.
"Thank you, Keiichi." Keiichi nodded his reply, his brown hair disappearing under his helmet.
The door shut quietly with a click, and Skuld turned from her seat at the kitchen table.
"So, what's the cake for, sister?"
"It's for Keiichi."
"Why?" Skuld's eyebrows raised as she paused from eating her chocolate ice cream, the spoon inches from her mouth.
"For his help with Rind." Belldandy answered, her voice cheerful.
"Oh." Skuld turned back to her ice cream, eating quietly as Belldandy turned her attention back to the cookbook.
//--//--//--//--//--//--//
The custom BMW RS glided to a halt in the Nekomi convention center parking lot as Keiichi extended one leg to balance the bike.
His foot extended the kickstand with a twist, the metallic twang echoing throughout the empty parking lot.
He placed his helmet on the back of the bike, removing the keys; the motor's purring softening as it died.
Placing the keys in his pocket, he began the slight walk towards the nearest convenience store.
As he walked slowly, whistling cheerfully as the sun shone down on his face, a nearby sign on the convenience center window caught his eye.
He turned his head to one side, appraising the large sign beside him.
"Tendo Repair and Construction Services has repaired this center in record time!…" He read aloud, his eyes widening as he continued to peer at the sign.
"We can repair any home or building in one week, or we finish the job at no charge?"
He stopped walking, lowering his head to squint at the fine print.
"Work and progress depends on situation involved. Tendo Repair and Construction Services cannot be held liable for any duels of martial arts involving high scale property damage…"
"Huh. That's weird."
He shrugged, resuming his slow gait towards the convenience center, though the phone number emblazoned in bold lingered on in his mind.
//--//--//--//--//--//--//
"Bell, I'm back!"
"Oh, thank you, Keiichi. Did you manage to get the eggs?"
"Yep." Keiichi raised one hand to his hair to straighten it out from the condensed space which the helmet had provided.
"Hey, Bell," He continued to speak as he laid the eggs down in the kitchen. "Did you hear that the convention center got fixed already?"
"No, I didn't. How did that happen?"
"Apparently," Keiichi broke off for a moment to grab a nearby cookie off of a plate and nibble on it. "There's this really speedy construction service. Tendo Repairs and Construction, I think they were called."
"Well, that's interesting," Belldandy commented off-handedly as she began to crack open the needed eggs for her cake. "I would've thought it would be quite a while before the convention center was open…"
"Yeah…" Keiichi's voice was a little subdued, and Belldandy turned to glance at him.
"Keiichi? Is something wrong?"
"Huh?" Keiich turned to her, his eyes questioning. After a moment, he shook his head emphatically.
"Oh, no. I was just wondering where I had heard that name before…"
"In one of your classes?" Belldandy offered.
"No, it's from a while ago…" Keiichi shrugged as he made to move out of the kitchen.
"It'll come to me, I suppose. If you need me, Bell, I'll be tinkering with my bike."
"All right. The cake'll be ready soon, though, so don't get too busy."
"Will do." Keiichi sauntered out of the room, and Belldandy turned back to her eggs.
"Hey sis," Urd's head popped into the kitchen a moment later. "Where'd Keiichi go?"
"In the garage." Belldandy's voice was pleasant, but Urd spotted the slight narrowing of her eyes. "Why?"
"Woah, there, sis!" Urd waved her hands in the air frantically, well aware of just how Belldandy's mood's could indicate a jealousy storm. "I just wanted to apologize for this morning, that's all."
"Oh." Belldandy's face regained it's smile, and she began to hum slightly as she started to mix the batter.
"I'll…just go apologize then." Urd's head disappeared beyond the door frame, and Belldandy's smile grew as the swish of the opening and closing doorway made it's way to her ears.
//--//--//--//--//--//--//
As Keiichi entered the garage, he noted that, for some reason, the automatic lights had not come on.
Eyebrows raising in confusion, he reached for the nearby light switch, only to feel a hand clasp his own.
"Leave...it…off."
Keiichi frowned.
"Come on, Urd, knock it off." Keiichi rolled his eyes at the tan-skinned goddess' antics. "You tried this already today, remember?" He paused for a moment, waiting for the hand to remove itself from his own.
When, after a few moments, it had not, he sighed in exasperation, his posture slumping.
"Urd, stop playing around. And what happened to your voice?" He blinked as the hand tightened its grip on his wrist.
"Urd, come on. This isn't funny."
"I don't know whether to be amused that Urd does this regularly, or offended that you've mistaken me for her."
Keiichi gulped as he tried to remember the voice.
"Peorth?" He asked somewhat hopefully, only to wince as the grip tightened around his wrist.
"Not even close." The hand enclosed around his wrist became visible as it moved towards the crack of light which filtered through the open door of the garage.
Nervous by now, Keiichi took another guess.
"Rind?"
His answer came in a blur, and he realized detachedly that he was flying through the air.
He hit a nearby wall with a wince and a small cry of pain.
"Oh, don't tell me that's all you've got." The voice was scornful now. "In fact, I know you can do better than that."
"W…who?" Keiichi stuttered as his mind tried to catch up to the flight his nearby body had just taken.
"Keiichi?" One tan-skinned palm opened the door, and Keiichi's head snapped around to see Urd peering through the doorway.
"Urd, be careful!" Keiichi shouted, even as a large bolts of lightning appeared from the darkness, streaking towards Urd.
The goddess in question threw out a defensive spell, barely raising it in time to stop the dancing lightning from reaching her body.
"What the?!" Even as Urd spoke, World Of Elegance was snaking through the doorway, her demonic half blending in with the darkness.
The angel quickly flicked on the manual lighting, and Keiichi turned to see who had attacked him.
When his eyes caught sight of the intruder, he let out a gasp of shock.
"Mara?!"
His eyes widened further as he continued to stare, for it was indeed the blond demoness.
But as Urd walked in through the doorway, her own lightning bolts in hand, World of Elegance returning to her silently, she too gasped.
"Mara?! What happened to you?"
She continued to close the distance between herself and Mara, the lightning dissipating as she reached one hand towards the blond demoness' shoulder.
"Don't even touch me." Although Mara's words were whispered, her tone was absolutely frigid, and Urd stepped back, the force of Mara's words reminding her of a wounded wolf.
"What happened to you?" She repeated her question quietly, and Mara attempted to scoff.
"What, this? Happens all the time." She tried to move, but flinched, a hiss of pain escaping her mouth involuntarily.
Urd's eyes narrowed as she spotted the deep cuts all over the demoness' body, each prominently visible in the tatters of the grey cape and bodysuit.
"Damnit, Mara!" Her voice was thunderous, and Keiichi stared at her in shock, expecting to see a lightning bolt to strike her at any moment.
When none came forth from the sky, Keiichi turned back to look at the confrontation in progress.
"Let me help, Mara."
"Help?" Mara laughed bitterly. "You can't help me. No one ever helped me. Except…"
"Except who?" Urd replied, her own eyes darkening in anger. Mara brought her gaze up to Urd's own for a moment before shirking away.
"Why do you even care?" She shot back. "You left me when you were a kid. That pretty much sums up your level of concern!"
"Shut up!" Urd shouted, lighting crackling around her as her voice rose. But even as her anger rose, she noted Mara's sudden flinch.
"Mara…" She held up one hand in apology, but Mara shook her head stubbornly, blonde locks falling down to cover her eyes.
"Don't even try Urd, I'm leaving. I don't even know how I got here, anyways."
Urd's mind raced furiously as Mara began limping towards the still open door.
"I...I challenge you to Tetris!"
When Mara did not respond, she continued quickly.
"What, too scared to lose?"
Mara sighed heavily, her head drooping down to look at the floor.
"That would have worked on me once, Urd." The weariness in her tone was obvious. "But not today."
She began her ascent into the air, her blonde hair flickering as the wind appeared to pick up speed, and Urd sensed the magical build up that came before a teleport.
Suddenly, the magical presence suddenly fell apart, and she watched, eyes wide open as Mara dropped to the ground.
Urd ran over to her childhood friend, trying to determine just what had happened now that she had a chance.
Mara's eyes remained closed, and Urd continued to look her over for other injuries, she noted somewhat curiously that her unusual foe's power level was dangerously low.
"Mara…" She whispered to herself. "What happened?"
"Should I bring her inside?" Urd turned her head to see Keiichi next to her.
"Did she hurt you, K1?"
"A little." Keiichi admitted, rubbing his sore skull. "But I think she was holding back a lot."
Belldandy appeared out of the temple door suddenly, her hair billowing behind her slightly.
"Keiichi!" She called out. "The cake is…" She broke off, taking in the scene in front of her.
"Urd," She asked after a moment. "What happened to Mara?"
"I don't know," Urd admitted. "She was apparently hiding in the garage." Her eyes were grim. "She's in pretty bad shape, Bell. Her power level is really low."
"Bring her into the house." Belldandy spoke firmly.
"Are you sure?" Urd questioned, and Belldandy nodded.
"She needs help."
"Hey, she's tricked us before…" Keiichi warned, only to wince as Urd glared at him.
"Not this time." She continued in a steely voice. "Her power level's dangerously low."
"Sis, what's going on?" Skuld appeared behind Belldandy. "Mara!" She brandished her Skuld Bombs, preparing to attack the demoness, only to stop at Belldandy's upraised palm.
"Mara's been hurt, Skuld."
"So?" Skuld looked up to face Belldandy in earnest, steeling her expression in preparation for a fight.
"Remember the oath you took when you became a goddess, Skuld?"
"But that doesn't…"
Belldandy's expression hardened as she continued to stare back evenly at Skuld.
"Yes, Skuld, it does. A goddess uses her power to protect all beings." She turned to Keiichi, who had been watching the conversation somewhat uneasily.
"Keiichi, please bring her into the temple." Keiichi nodded, leaning down, and hoisting the unconscious demoness onto his shoulder. Belldandy then turned back to Skuld, her expression softening at the shame visible in her younger sister's eyes.
"Skuld, go get the good luck charms, just in case." Skuld reluctantly nodded, disappearing back into the temple.
Belldandy made a mental note to talk to Skuld about the situation soon, before clearing her throat.
"Urd…"
"What?"
"Did Mara say anything about what happened to her?"
"Not a word." Urd replied immediately. "She only said something about no one caring…" She broke off, her hands clenching in anger.
"Go see if you can help Mara, Bell. I'll be right there."
"Are you sure?" Worry was clearly audible in Belldandy's voice, and Urd nodded reluctantly.
"Go."
Belldandy nodded once, disappearing into the house with Keiichi and Mara close in tow.
After they had gone back into the temple and its wards, Urd took a deep breath, and motioned as if she was going to follow Belldandy back into the temple.
A flash of thunder roared, and a gigantic lightning bolt struck down into the ground behind her.
"Hiiiiiii, Urd-chan!"
Urd quickly masked her emotions, and turned to face the daimakaicho.
"Hild?"
"Aw, I told you that you should call me Hild-mama!" Hild mock criticized.
Urd turned, her face still devoid of any emotion.
"Sorry, Mother." The words were spoken sans tone, and Hild frowned.
"Wha's wrong, Urd-chan?"
"Nothing," Urd replied evenly. "Just wondering why the great ruler of Nifelheim is back so soon."
"What, I can't come down just to see my daughter?"
At Urd's disbelieving expression, Hild's smile fell a few notches.
Mmmm….no reason." Hild spoke thoughtfully, one white eyebrow arching as she stared at Urd.
"By the way, Urd-chan…" she leaned in closer to the Goddess of the Past, draping her head over Urd's shoulder. "Have you seen Mara lately?"
"Not since you and she were here last time," Urd lied effortlessly, even as her mind began to make connections. "Why?"
"She disappeared while I was…talking to her." Hild turned back to stare at Urd, her eyes suddenly shining with dark malice.
Even as Urd shuddered internally, she continued as if nothing was wrong. "If you see her, tell her to come find me right away, m'kay?"
"Why should I?" Urd countered.
"Think of it as a favor for your wonderful mother!" Hild clapped her hands in glee, the malice in her disposition from moments before gone as if it had never existed.
"Well, I've got to get back. Remember to tell Mara if you see her! Bye, Urd-chan!"
A dark portal appeared under her feet with a flick of one finger, and Hild disappeared into it without a sound, waving as she descended into the shadowy portal.
Urd's eyes lost their mask of indifference after the portal had disappeared; red hot rage replacing absorbing the indifference and adding it to the fire.
Without a word, she spun angrily, and proceeded to storm into the temple, her fists clenching and unclenching reflexively as she struggled to contain her anger, tiny electric shocks dancing up and down her skin as she slammed the door of the temple shut behind her, the sound echoing throughout the quiet grounds.
A/N.
First off, I'm aware there's not much in the way of Ranma in this particular story yet. It'll be forthcoming soon.
Other than that, not much else to say just yet, except for the reminder about that old adage about assumptions…
Thanks to anyone who has given me a review in the past, and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
MV