He couldn't see anything, but the moment he smelled the fish sausages wrapped tightly around his
body, and could hear his own breathing echoing in his ears, he knew where he was. The yellow eyes
were all around him, circling around him, each trying to steal a glance at the delicious meal before them.
They didn't attack though, like they always had before. Instead, they circled him, mewing and growling.
'This isn't how it happened,' Ranma thought, 'Why aren't they attacking? They should be all over me!
What's going on?'
He whimpered, huddling into a ball and shutting his eyes, waiting. He waited for the hisses, the teeth,
and the claws to rip through his skin. 'Any second now,' he thought, 'they're going to jump me.'
But they didn't. They just circled him, growling low, sniffing eagerly. Still, nothing happened, but Ranma
remained curled, eyes shut, knowing that once he opened them, they would attack.
"Open your eyes, child," a monotonous voice commanded.
Ranma stopped all motion, holding his breath. This never happened before. What the hell was going on?
"Open your eyes, Child!" the voice snapped, and he felt breath against his face. Hesitantly, Ranma
opened his eyes, and immediately gazed into the eyes of a cat three times as big as the others. His body
convulsed in fear. 'So this is why they aren't attacking! They're letting this big one have me!'
"Child, do you not realize that the cats have already massacred your body? I have no desire to attack
you."
His body stung all over. When had he been attacked? A second ago he had been covered in the fish
sausage, and now he was completely cut up. He shuddered in pain. The cuts were everywhere; he could
feel them on his body, forever marking it, and his mind.
"How-" he croaked.
The large cat tilted its head.
"I am no ordinary cat, Child." The voice didn't come from the animal's mouth, but it was still clear that
the beast was the one talking."I am a demon. A very powerful demon . . . I sensed your soul's struggle to
survive and . . . I . . . am . . . impressed."
"What . . . what d-does that m-mean?" Ranma asked, suddenly feeling exhausted.
"I plan to take your soul to hell," the large feline replied, and spared a glance at the cats surrounding the
two, its feline mouth baring its fangs, grinning in the dark.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, if I did... would I be writing this? Maybe.
"I've always had nightmares of that day . . . that pit. Nightmares on and off throughout the year, wakin'
up sweatin' . . . my heart beatin' like crazy. I was always so happy when I woke up, knowin' the dream
was only that . . . a dream . . . but for once . . . I wish I hadn't woken up."
- Ranma Saotome
Demons Candelabrum
A Ranma ½ Crossover
By Hawk
AN: Thanks to Fallacy, and Corwin once again for prereading this. Without them, this fic would be . . .
Not as good, grammatically, visually . . . mathematically . . . For those of you curious about what's gonna
be the Crossover, I'm not letting it out just right now, you'll find out along the way. This story takes place
after the failed wedding.
Updated: 4/23/11
Prologue - Nightmares
"I-I d-don't wanna!" Ranma shouted and started to cry. His small, ten year old body shook violently. "W-
why? Pl-please! I-I don't wa-wanna g-g-go!" His tears grew stronger, and snot dripped from his nose.
The demon cat leaned forward and gently licked the tears from Ranma's face. If Ranma could read the
demon's catlike expression, he would have realized it was relishing the salty taste.
The demon began to purr.
"Your anguish is delicious," it murmured, still purring. The demon cat began circling him. "Mmm . . .
instead of taking your soul, I'll save it, and in the process, your life. How does that sound?"
Ranma swallowed the bile in his throat, and said nothing. He sniffled and waited for the demon to
continue.
"Look at me, Child."
Slowly, Ranma looked up at the cat, seeing it clearly for the first time. It was all black; that was why
Ranma could see only its red eyes and the three half-circles that marked its forehead.
"Do you want to live, Child?"
"Y-yes. . ." Ranma mumbled, nodding his head cautiously.
"Then stretch out your left arm for me," the demon cat ordered.
Ranma hesitated, cradling his arm against his chest protectively.
"Stretch out your left arm!" the cat hissed, eyes narrowing in the shadows.
Instinctively, and out of fear, Ranma's arm outstretched seemingly on its own. He cringed and twitched,
closing his eyes. Tears poured down his face and he trembled, afraid of what the cat would do.
The demon began coughing violently, producing a disgusting and throaty sound.
Ranma's eyes cracked and he looked at the cat as it coughed over his arm. Was it hacking up a hairball
on him? Something was slowly slipping out of the feline's mouth - a small worm-like creature, pale
colored like a bone. He flinched as it dropped onto his arm, cold and soggy against his skin.
And then, there was pain. It was worse than the cats tearing into his flesh. He screamed, eyes wide, as
the worm dug its way into his arm, through his flesh. His body seized in shock, the life in his blue eyes
dimming slightly as he stared blankly through his unruly, black hair. When his voice all but died out, he
was left with a pitiful whisper.
The cat demon began to speak again. "Because I am not takin-"
His body tensed, and then he sat up, screaming and clutching his left arm, a cold sweat pouring down his
forehead.
A wooden sign smacked into his head, halting his screaming.
'Shut up, boy! Some of us are trying to sleep!' the sign read.
"Argh! Stupid, Oyaji! What ya do that for!" Ranma exclaimed, rubbing the side of his head.
'I need my beauty sleep!' was written on the back of the sign.
Ranma snorted. "All the beauty sleep in the world couldn't help you, Pop."
The large panda was already asleep, again.
Ranma shook his head. "Man, what a weird dream."
He shuddered and looked at his left arm, holding it with his right. Rubbing his eyes, he pushed himself
out of his futon and slowly trudged downstairs.
He walked into the kitchen, intending to get a glass of water, but stopped when he noticed Kasumi
already cooking breakfast. Blinking, Ranma tilted his head and observed Kasumi in silence as she went
about her morning routine.
'Like her own personal kata, a breakfast kata,' Ranma thought, slightly amused by the idea.
Ranma's eyes narrowed, and began to glow without him realizing it. Darkness tainted the space around
his body, and spread outward across the room, creeping over the floors, as if to reach out and entangle
Kasumi.
Kasumi turned around.
"Oh!" She jumped, placing a hand over her heart. "Ranma, you startled me!" she chided, but was smiling
none the less. Her smile vanished when she noticed Ranma's glowing eyes, and the darkness swelling
around him.
Ranma said nothing, instead choosing to just stare a Kasumi. There was something different about her
this morning that he had never noticed before. A small white aura surrounding her body, which slowly
grew larger as the seconds passed. Soon enough it around her was enormous, forcing him to squint his
eyes at its overwhelming brilliance.
'Im-impossible! This is insane! Kasumi can't be THIS powerful! No one human can be this powerful!'
Ranma thought, starting to feel slightly besieged. His knees buckled. 'So pure!'
Kasumi stood still, watching Ranma closely. She knew he could see the aura she was projecting, but
doubted he knew of his own. It wasn't as large as hers, but the dark red aura encasing his body was still
very powerful.
The two auras began pressing against each other roughly, wrestling for supremacy. They grew wilder in
their fight against one another, so much so that the pots, pans and anything else not nailed down began
to tremble.
'This is intense,' Ranma thought, heart beating wildly in his chest. He opened his mouth intending to say something.
Akane walked into the kitchen, right into Ranma's invisible, raging aura and blinked. "Whoa! It's hot in
here!" she exclaimed and fanned the air around her.
Neither Ranma nor Kasumi paid her any heed, focusing instead only upon one another.
She frowned, and waved a hand in front of Ranma's face, catching his attention. "Hey, you wanna go jog
with me?" she asked. 'Why's he staring at her like that?'
"Oh, uh, yeah sure, yeah, let's go," Ranma replied, scratching the back of his head. He turned around
and followed Akane out of the kitchen, but not before stealing another glance at Kasumi.
The brown haired girl was back at the stove, no aura around her, acting as if nothing had interrupted her
morning breakfast kata.
Next Time: Chapter 1 - Visions of the End
Ranma's starting to see things that other people aren't. A world in ruin, a sky of blood red, and a sun of
pure white. But what does it all mean?
AN: Updated 4/23/11
Hope this was enjoyable, and I hope I can get the next chapter done as fast as I wrote up this one.