When the doorbell rang, she knew.
She set up, looking at the clock and wiped the tears out of her eyes. For three weeks she had waited, hoping that no news was good news, but doorbells at three am were never good news.
Ranma wasn't coming home.
She'd known for two weeks, ever since the news reports about the island he had gone to sinking in a volcanic inferno, but she had hoped…
She opened the door, expecting an officer, or some other official who was going to offer maudlin comforts while telling her his charred and burned body had been found, but what greeted her was far worse.
As the door opened, a thin, bedraggled figure fell into her arms, bearing her to her knees, and in shock, she recognized Shampoo. The Amazon was a pale shadow of herself, her normally purple hair bleached almost white, and her face wan and drawn.
"Genma… Ai-Ren… Great-Grandmother, dead. All dead. The Darkness… I… failed…"
Her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out.
It had started when Happosai had died. The old man had come home suddenly, his eyes wild, muttering about it being too soon, that the stars were not right. He had refused to answer any questions, locking himself in his room. Kasumi had found him there at dinner, sitting in front of a curious chest, his eyes staring unseeing at a strange crest on the lid. Kasumi had felt a need to cover the evil looking sigil, even as she had called for the paramedics.
In the end, it had been ruled heart failure due to age, but Cologne had shaken her head. "He was a Master of Anything Goes. Nothing ordinary could have killed him."
The box had become an object of investigation by the old Amazon, her refusal to believe Happosai's death had been natural taking all of them by surprise. They had always assumed she hated the little pervert. Her only explanation was that he had been her husband once. It had been her right to kill him when she wished.
Akane hadn't cared, glad the pervert was finally gone, but even she had worried when the old woman's curiosity seemed to turn to an obsession. She had even found herself putting aside some of the animosity she had shared with Shampoo, the Amazon's concern for her elder reminding her of her own lost mother, and how she had worried as her health failed. She grew more concerned as the elder had seemed to withdraw, her normally lively interference in Akane's love life vanishing as she seemed to grow daily more obsessed with the contents of the box. Cologne had taken to muttering vague phrases that sounded like gibberish, and on more than one occasion, Akane had seen her staring furtively at the stars, almost as if she feared what she might see.
It had come to a climax three weeks ago when she had dragged Genma and Ranma off with her and Shampoo to "train". Kasumi had said the old woman had appeared remarkably calm considering her behavior following Happy's death. And she had refused to let the strange metal chest out of her sight as she had waited for Genma and Ranma to pack.
And all Kasumi had overheard was the name of her destination: Akuma Atoll.
Akane had looked it up on the internet, finding little more than it was an island far down on the south end of the archipelago. It had been deserted since the Shogunate had executed everyone on the island in the 1700's. That had sparked her to investigate further.
She found several stories, that the island was haunted by the slaughtered inhabitants, that numerous visitors to the island had reported strange and unpleasant happenings, but all she could find of why the Shogun had killed every one was that it had been a training ground for a sect of vile and dangerous monks. The Shogun had ordered them slaughtered, and their temple razed to the ground following a meeting with their high priest. Not even the women had been spared.
Other stories she had found were equally disturbing. In the eighteen hundreds a shipwreck on the island had resulted in a single survivor, a raving madman who had ranted about the shadows swallowing his crewmates, about hidden passages with unnatural angles, and glowing stones that moved when he looked away.
A later account told of a group of Japanese soldiers who had landed during the war. They had been found dead, almost torn apart amid makeshift fortifications. The sergeant's journal had been immediately classified, and the island marked as a no man's land, but no reason given. The webpage that told of the tale hinted that the soldiers had died fighting some unknown assailants, no evidence of which were ever found.
The one picture she found was disturbing. The island was a jagged mass of black basalt and volcanic glass, the broken rim of the volcano overshadowing the crumbling ruins of a strangely built edifice constructed of giant, oddly angled blocks of stone. The massive blocks were peculiar; no two of the same size or shape, but cut to interlock like the massive walls of some of the more ancient and puzzling Incan ruins in Peru.
The oddest thing was that the site wasn't even listed as an archeological dig, despite the oddities of such cyclopean stones. The few articles she dug up seemed to dismiss the site of any historical value and claim the odd edifice was poorly dressed stone piled by primitives and merely carved by later inhabitants.
It was the last website she looked at that chilled her the most, and made her stop looking. It was filled with tabloid-like tales of vague horror: that the monks were killed for the practice of human sacrifice, that those who had been killed could hardly be called human, that the island still held terrible secrets, that the government had suppressed all knowledge of what actually was there. Even a report that supposedly claimed that the United States had landed a task force there during the occupation and that they had exterminated an large group of unidentified attackers before demolishing the ruins with high explosive. It was on this site she found the odd and evil-looking sigil she had seen on the chest, and the translation of the odd nonsensical inscription that had been carved around the lock: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."
"In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."
Akane had stared at the drawing, supposedly of the medallion worn by the high priest of the dead cult, and shuddered at the monstrous image of an oddly octipoidal head with disturbing human-like eyes. The website claimed it had been found with the bodies of the dead soldiers.
She had stopped reading after that, unsure if the site was a hoax, or worse, true, and not sure she wanted to know either way. She had gone to the Nekohanten to ask Mousse if he had heard anything before the old woman had left, but found the café empty, and neither Mousse nor Shampoo's father present. But she had found something disturbing in Cologne's room. It was a wreck, like the old woman had fought a vicious battle, and laying shattered on the floor, in the middle of some sort of arcane drawing filled with strange symbols, was her walking stick.
That night she'd had the first of many disturbing dreams of a vast city of green stone hiding in murky depths of water, and started feeling as if she was being watched by unseen eyes.
Sometimes, Ranma had been in her dreams, in horrible ways. Most had been of his lingering death in agony as a vast amorphous shadow laughed cruelly. But the last had been different. It had featured Ranma laughing in triumph as he stood at the center of a vast maelstrom of lava, covered in ice as flames whipped around him. She had known he was dying, pouring all of his life-force into one final ultimate attack as he hurled the very earth itself against that shadow that had haunted her dreams. He poured the liquid rock against the bubbling horror, scorching it, searing it, and reveling in its howls of anger as it was dragged down into the molten magma.
Then he had collapsed, and Akane had awakened screaming as the falling lava consumed him. Woken to find her room shaking, and her radio blaring a warning about the quakes accompanying the eruption of the volcano on Akuma Atoll…
No word… no word for two weeks… and no dreams. The world had gone on, and she had realized she had a hole in her heart that could never be filled.
She got Shampoo to a futon, with Kasumi's help, and made her as comfortable as they could. She woke for but a moment, long enough to reach feebly for her pack and gasp the word "book" before passing out again. Kasumi noted curiously the change in her hair color and commented she looked starved, but didn't know what to do beyond calling Doctor Tofu. Akane nodded as her sister left to make the call, then rifled through the small pack to find the book she had been so urgent to inform them of.
There were only two items in the pack, a small bound book, like a journal, and the hideous chest that had cost her her fiancée. She left that in the bag and shoved it out of sight into a cupboard, then settled against the wall to wait for the doctor and read.
From the Journal of Ranma Saotome
Well, here we go again. Don't know why I still write these things, or why the doc suggested I write them to you, Akane, but since I've written one on every training trip since Ryoga tried to use the old ghouls rock exploding trick on me, why break tradition?
This trip isn't the same old same old though. The old ghoul is being even more closed mouthed than usual, and she won't tell us about the training ground we're going to. There's something weird about her, but I can't put my finger on it. She hasn't seemed normal since we left on this trip. Even Shamps is worried. She's gone out of her way to stay dry, and hasn't even tried crawling in my bedroll or nothing.
Not that you're likely to believe that. I really wish you didn't get so angry all the time. Shamps can't help that the old ghoul is holding her to that damn Amazon law about marriage. Any more than you can about our dads damn promise to see us married. I wish you'd see I really care about you…
And Shamps, and Uc-chan too. I wish you all would stop treating me like a piece of meat you have to fight over. I don't know if I want to get married, or even to who, but I know it hurts to see you all hating each other because of me. I like all of you in different ways.
Kami… If I ever told you that for real, you'd probably kill me. All of you seem to enjoy hating each other more than any of you seem to enjoy my company. Makes it feel sometimes like the only people I can call friends are the ones trying to kick my ass all the time. For all the times we've fought, even Ryoga seems to respect me more than any of you do.
Shit… I'm getting to sound like the pigbrain… getting all depressive. Must be this damn boat. Don't know where the old ghoul got it, but it's a rickety tub, and I'm not real thrilled about the gloomy weather outside. Hope we get to this island soon…
Now that I'm here, I almost wish we were back on the boat. I don't like this placed at all. Back when Dad was dragging us all over China, we came across the ruins of an ancient monastery deep in the mountains near Tibet. The locals had warned him that it was a dangerous place, and naturally he took that to mean it was a great place to train me. This place reminds me of that one. Like that monastery, there's a huge ruin here, made of really big irregular blocks of stone. And like that place, there's something creepy about it. I don't know who built it, but it's got this aura of pain that just seems to have seeped into the very rock. And like last time, the idiot can't feel it. But Shamps can, and I know the old ghoul does too.
We've been here for a day now, and I am so glad the ghoul let us sleep on the boat, though even that is not proof against the foul aura this place exudes. I had those same strange dreams I had in China, of this terribly old city that seemed to be underwater. Just like that time, there was this really strong sense of something lurking just behind me, out of sight, something terrible, and filled with a hatred of everything living. And I woke up to Shampoo screaming in absolute terror and almost in a nekoken. I swear, it was like she had almost reverted to pure cat in fear. The old ghoul had to give her some weird potion to calm her down, and I can still see the fear lurking behind her eyes, but she refuses to tell anyone what she dreamed though she keeps eyeing her great grandmother and seems nervous about being near her. She's been staying close to me, and not even trying to vamp me.
Anyway, we arrived about an hour before sunset last night, and the old ghoul told us to stay onboard before she took the rowboat to shore. She was gone about an hour, and came back muttering to herself. Then today, she brought all of us to this ruined building.
I'm guessing it was some kind of temple, at least it's laid out like one, though I'd say someone set off a lot of explosives inside. A lot of the carvings are ruined, though from what the few remaining depict, I'd say that was a good thing. I though Tarou was ugly, but some of the things carved here make him look cute in comparison, and I wish I could erase seeing what they were doing to the humans from my memory. Suffice it to say, Urotosuki Doji was tame.
The worst part was this partially destroyed stone head at the rear of the altar. It looked a lot like the carving on Happy's trunk, but the eyes seemed to stare at all of us with hatred. It was made of this weird green stone that I've never seen before, and I swear, it looked greasy, like it was covered in a glistening slime. I couldn't bring myself to touch it, but Pops said it was just like normal stone, though unusually cold.
It was a partially collapsed cave in the back that was the goal of Cologne though. She dragged us all back there and had us clear away the rubble as she used her breaking point on it. Even so, it took us half the day to clear it out enough to pass.
I wish she had left it closed.
She dragged us all in there after we had opened it up, and put dad up front with the big spotlight she had brought and had the rest of us using lanterns. She also had us carrying a couple of spare cylinders of propane, like she was half expecting us to need refills. I guess she was, because this cave just keeps going. We've stopped for a break to eat and drink, but we've been walking for about two hours now, and I think we've maybe spiraled a bit, but mainly we've been going downward. I know that doesn't sound so bad, but the cave walls are carved just like up in the temple, and they aren't destroyed down here. And it's like there's this black mist filling the cave, one that you can't see, but which is making the air seem clammy and dirty. My skin is crawling and Shampoo is starting at shadows and acting like a cat with her hackles up. Cologne almost seems pleased, which is creepy, and only the idiot who calls himself my Dad seems to be unaware of it.
Great, Cologne just called an end to the break. Looks like we're stuck going deeper into this pit.
I think I might actually have to say I'm getting a little scared, Akane. I just noticed something which is making every instinct I have say it's time to turn around and run back out of this damned pit.
I know I said the walls were carved, but the floor to this cave hasn't been smoothed. While there's some sand scattered here and there, it's mainly just roughly cut stone. I noticed that a lot of chisel marks could be seen here and there, but it just now occurred to me why something seemed strange about them.
They're all the wrong direction. If this cave was cut by someone digging down, they would be generally towards the way we're going, but they're not. They are all towards the way we came.
Whoever cut this cave was digging up. And we're like maybe a half mile deep now and still going.
Damn, Cologne is almost out of sight, got to run.
We've stopped for another rest break. I'd say we've dropped another quarter of a mile deeper, and gone around a dozen turns of spiral. This tunnel must be like twenty or thirty miles long, and every inch has been covered by those hideous carvings, though I do have to say that the skill of the carvers has improved horrendously. Those monstrous creatures are carved so intricately that I almost fear them stepping out of the walls and doing to me and Shampoo what they are doing to the girls in the carvings.
Yeah, I'm female again, for the moment. We passed a spot in the tunnel where a break had occurred and a small waterfall had formed. There was no way past it dry, and the water was salty. There's a small stream running down the middle of the tunnel now, but no sign that there's been any flooding. Somewhere down there must be a pretty big opening to have not flooded the tunnel as old as that break appeared to be. The carvings all along here are also crusted with salt and a damp moldy smell makes the air unpleasant, but the lamps are still burning well, and this peculiar breeze seems to be keeping the air fresh. For like half an hour, a slight breeze will come down the tunnel, then there's a pause of like fifteen, then a breeze will start coming from ahead for about a half hour. The cycle is continuous and eerie. The breeze coming down is slightly cooler, and dry, while the breeze back is warmer, and feels humid, leaving a clammy feeling on my skin.
Gods, I wish it didn't make me think of something vast breathing.
If I wasn't scared shitless right now, I would be amazed.
We came to the end of the tunnel, and found a city.
At least I guess it was a city. But not one like anything I've ever seen humans build.
The cave came out to a vast opening, one that must have been at least a mile across. And I know nothing human made it. Nothing human builds anything in the throat of a volcano.
Even an extinct one.
We're setting on a ledge overlooking the city and from here, I'd say that it's a mix of old and new structures, though those terms are only relative to each other. There's two distinct type of structures here, and I don't know which disturbs me more. What I would say was the oldest is the least human, and the most impossible. It's the cave itself. It's embedded in a solid block of basalt, and I'd suspect, based on the way the rock is shaped, that the rock came later than the structure that seems to be the main supports for the cave.
That structure is like a massive five pointed star arching over the cave floor, made of some dark metal that is completely uncorroded even after who knows how many centuries or millennia. Unlike the carvings and strange stone of the idol in the temple above, it doesn't exude a dark feeling of despair and pain, though it is cold to the touch. The tunnel we have been following emerged quite close to the tip of one of the star's arms.
Shampoo whispered to me that the supports form some symbol she called the elder sign, but she wouldn't say anything else about it. Like I said, it's a giant five pointed star, but the arms aren't straight, being slightly curvy along their length, like a shallow S. And in the center, where they make a pentagon, there's this eye like structure. It's glowing with a dim blue light, and illuminating the entire cave enough to see without the lanterns.
A solid rim of the black metal encircles the base of the arching star, at least I assume it's solid since there are areas were it looks like molten rock flowed over it and covered some sections of the cave's vast floor. It makes me think this vast structure might have once been above ground and then sunk in the basalt while it was molten, because the rock between the supports has a peculiar pattern, like there was once glass in the spaces between the metal. It is very smooth in some places and in others has a look like it has flowed through small crevices. It reminds me of the kind of extrusions you see coming out of a lava tube. Regardless, something kept the bulk of the molten rock out from the center of the structure, but not all.
From the base, another star covers the floor, its points touching the overhead one, and in its center, directly under the eye, is an immense tower. I can't make out all of it since it looks like a fall of lava from the eye overhead covered a large portion in rock, but what I can see seems to have an organic look to it, like it was grown rather than built. It leans at an angle, and at best guess, it seems aligned with the whole structure, which means it's all lying at a bit of an angle to directly up and down.
And I think it goes under the floor too, because across the cavern I can see where the rim is quite a ways above the floor of the cave, and I can see what looks like the tip of another star going down into the solid rock. It makes me think this whole structure is probably ball shaped, and part of it filled with lava that solidified forming the floor.
Still, as weird as all that is, I think it seems almost normal compared to the other structures I can see, the ones that look like they were made out of the stone that filled the lower half of the cave.
Those buildings are like the one up on the island. Carved out of the volcanic rock in oddly shaped blocks with weird angles. And like the tunnel, they are covered with those horrible carvings. They cover a large portion of the floor, growing more numerous on the far side of this cavern, where a truly gigantic structure sits, one made out of that strange green stone like the partial head was.
I think the fact that it looks like the rock melted and flowed around that too is frightening.
There is definitely something wrong with Cologne.
I heard her muttering to herself while we were resting. I don't think she knew I was awake, which is unnerving. She would normally never miss anything like that. At least, not if she was normal.
She had that damn box open, and was looking at something inside which glowed, and muttering about how the alignment was coming soon and about having to make sure the starseed was prepared. And something about the master would be pleased with her for freeing him.
It's breakfast now, and she's telling Genma how she wants to get to the central tower out there by lunch. She's being very impatient with us over eating and flat out refused to let us spar. She said we had no time.
I'm going to be keeping an eye on her. Something very strange is shaping up and I'm starting to think that damn box is at the heart of it. Somehow, I need to find out what's inside…
Oh gods, Akane. I am so fucking scared right now that I can barely write. But someone has to know what happened down here. I am leaving this with Shampoo and I hope she manages to escape and get this to you.
I was right about Cologne. The Cologne we knew must have died a while ago. All that is left is her body worn like a costume by some horrible creature.
We got to the tower after just a few hours, and that's where everything went to hell. She got to my dad somehow. Hypnosis or something, I don't know. We had walked up to this archway near the base of the tower, and the old ghoul smiled and said we had made it in time. I asked for what. She replied that we were there to activate the starseed and free her master, something called Cthulu I think. Like one of the words on that fucking box.
That's when Dad clobbered me.
When I woke up, I was strung up naked over a weird ass altar. My dad was there too, standing beside the ghoul, naked and covered in some kind of red smears. It wasn't till I saw Shampoo that I realized it was blood. The bastard had been torturing her at the ghouls command, and I could see where she had been tied to the altar and cut repeatedly.
I tried to break free, Akane. I did, but it was no use. What ever they had tied me up in was too strong. And whatever she did to Dad gave him too much strength for me to fight him. I tried. As he was taking me down and tying me to that altar, I tried!
I thought I was strong enough to stand up to anything or anyone, Akane. But I'm not. I couldn't stop them…
I'm sorry I couldn't choose between you and Shampoo and Ukyo, Akane. I'm sorry I couldn't tell any one of you that I loved only you. But believe me, I did love you… all of you. All I can ask now is that you please stop hating one another. Please, if Shampoo makes it out of here, take care of her. She's broken, Akane. They broke her. I hope like hell she'll be able to actually make it out of here alone.
They made me rape her, Akane. That thing inside Cologne made my body react and controlled me. She made me rape Shampoo repeatedly while she watched and laughed. Then she splashed me and had my dad rape me…
They started that damn machine, that huge star thing. It's some kind of weapon, or drill or something, and it's melting the rock around that temple, the gigantic one across the cave. They started it using our pain, our life force, something, I don't know what, but our ki is linked to that monstrosity out there now. If I don't stop it, we're going to die.
That's what galls the most, Akane. She was so contemptuous of us that after she was done with us, she just left us to go and wake her "master". I managed to drag Shampoo to the tunnel leading to the surface, but I have to go back. If I don't stop them, we're all going to die, not just me, but everyone. She gloated to me while dad was raping me about how her master would cleanse the world of its taint of humanity. Inside that temple is a door, a door leading into the dimension where her master lies suspended, and if she opens it, he'll be free. That Starseed apparently stopped him before, by making a volcano erupt and seal that temple below the earth along with an entire city of his followers, but this time, under her control, it will undo what was done.
But the bitch underestimated me. That thing inside her didn't reckon on dealing with Ranma Saotome.
She let slip how to turn that thing on full blast. I'm going back. I'm going to wait till she thinks she has triumphed and then I'm going to shove an ascending dragon fist filled with lava right down her and her master's throats. With that door open, the lava won't be stopped this time, and this thing is going to melt its way right down to the planet's core, taking them both with it.
I stole her box too. What's inside will be useless once this thing is gone, but as far as I can tell, other than its function as a key to the Starseed, it's harmless. I now know the creature that took over Cologne nested in the box with it, but it will die with its master. I'm leaving it with Shampoo as well. Keep it safe. That thing had to keep it sealed in a protective device of some sort and seemed deathly afraid to even be close to it. She had dad handle it when she used it to activate the machine. Perhaps, if any others of these monsters survive, it will keep you safe.
I'm sorry I won't see you again, Akane. Please know I loved you in my own way. Shampoo has promised to tell Ukyo as well, and I hope you all understand.
I'm not going to let that bastard do to you what he did to Shamps and me.
Goodbye.
"She's going to be fine, Akane. She's been traumatized badly, but physically she will recover." Tofu said quietly as he finished examining Shampoo.
"And her mind?" Akane asked.
"In time, with kindness and care."
Akane nodded.
"She's absolutely terrified of men, Akane." Tofu said. "I had to let Kasumi calm her and give her a sedative before I could examine her. She kept calling for her Ai-Ren, and kept calling Ranma a "her". As best as I can tell, she's suppressed the memories of Ranma as a boy completely. I'm guessing that it's too traumatic for her to recall he's male. I don't think she recalls right now that he is dead."
Akane sighed. "I can't say that that surprises me. From what little I know of Amazon psychology, being raped must be the most intolerable thing that could ever happen."
"I should call the police, have them hunt for the person who did this."
"Please, Doctor, don't. He's dead, and she's suffered enough."
"Have you informed her Great Grandmother yet?"
"Cologne is dead too, Doctor. I know you are only being concerned for her welfare, but it's best you don't pry too deeply. Ranma died saving her. I will do anything I can to save her too. I owe him that."
Tofu gave her a long look. "I see." He said finally. He reached out and placed a hand on Akane's shoulder. "I am sorry for your loss, Akane. I truly believe he loved you."
Akane's hand closed around something dangling from a chain around her neck, and she gave him a sad smile. "I know he did, Doctor."
He looked hesitant for a second, then sighed. "There is one last thing you should know, Akane. Something she should not be told for a while yet." He glanced back at the door hiding the sleeping Amazon. "She's pregnant."
Akane's eyes rose to the Doctor's in shock. Then she took a long breath and a sad smile crossed her face. "I see. Thank you very much for letting me know, Doctor."
He seemed taken aback. "I don't know if you understand the implications of that Akane, especially in a rape case."
"I understand it all to well, Doctor. But in this case, I think you will find she will be comforted by being with child." Akane folded her hands across her lap. "We both will."
Akane was sitting by the bed when Shampoo awoke, ready when the Amazon started up with a scream of terror. She grabbed the girl in a fierce hug as she strove to calm her.
"It's okay, Shampoo. It's over. Ranma saved us. It's okay."
She stroked the Amazon's hair, letting the girl sob on her shoulder.
It had been the same for the last six months, and she had done the same every time Shampoo's nightmares had returned. She had been the only person the Amazon had responded to. In her traumatized condition she had seemingly confused her memories of Ranma with Akane, believing at first that she was her Ai-Ren. She had gotten better, slowly, and could recall Ranma, blocking out only the terrible memories from Akuma, but she still shyly called Akane Ai-Ren.
Akane was starting to find she quite liked it too…
It would never be over. She had learned too much to believe that now. The internet had rumors and hints enough combined with what she had learned from Ranma's journal. Ranma had stopped it this time, but others like the creature that had taken over Cologne were out there somewhere. Blindly seeking to free their master from his aeons old prison.
But for now, she would wait. She would accept the Chinese girl's love, and even return it, and together they would treasure Ranma's child. Time was on her side, for now.
Her hand reached up to grab the crystal elder sign that had been Ranma's last gift, feeling it thrum under her fingers, feeling the power that it held. She couldn't use it, but Ranma's daughter could, the one born of both the bloods which had empowered it. She smiled. Ukyo had turned out to be her key to ensuring her daughter would grow up safe, putting her in touch with a distant cousin who would come to teach her how to fight the Darkness and prevail. Between that, and Shampoo's teaching her the Amazon's techniques, their daughter was going to be as strong as Akane could make her. Stronger than even her father…
And when the stars were right, she was going to make one hell of a Devil Hunter.