[The funeral is today. I really don't want to go. But I have to. Not because anyone is making me, but because I have to see her one last time. I have to tell her goodbye. I have to let her know that I love her; that I miss her; that I am sorry that I wasn't good enough to save her. To tell her all of the things that I couldn't when she was with me. God, I really don't want to go.]
Orpheus Road
Version 1 : 3.14.02
I do not own any of the Ranma ½ characters. However, I will if I ever strike it rich.
"" – Japanese Speech
- Foreign Speech (Chinese, Hindi, Korean, English, etc.)
[] – Thoughts
Ch 1: Coping with a Death
It was a sunny day in Nerima. The leaves were just starting to turn and there was a slight chill in the air. Around town there were children playing, people laughing, and couples walking through the park. It was a cheerful day in Nerima. However, the cheer failed to reach a young man as he sat by a pond in the yard of a dojo. For this young man the day was dreary and dark and cold. Just like every day had been since she left him.
A beautiful and gentle looking young woman, with long hair and wearing an apron, approached the young man and sat down next to him.
"Ranma-kun, lunch is ready. Do you want to come in and eat?"
Ranma didn't respond. He simply continued to stare into the koi pond.
"Ranma-kun, I know that it is tough, but you have to move on. Akane would not have wanted you to live like this."
"I never told her how much I loved her, Kasumi. When she confronted me 'bout saying it at Jusendo, I denied it. I never told her how much she meant to me, and I'll never be able to."
Kasumi moved over and gave Ranma a comforting hug.
"She knew Ranma. We all knew."
When Kasumi released the hug, Ranma stood up.
"Thanks Kasumi. I'm goin' for a walk."
"Okay. I will save your supper for when you get back."
As Ranma walked away Nabiki approached Kasumi.
"How is he doing sis?"
"Not good, Nabiki. Not good."
*****************************************************************
A number of hours after the sun had set for the day and the last lights in the Tendo Dojo went out a shadow appeared on the wall surrounding the house. The shadow had a goal, a goal that it was going to accomplish at any cost. Noiselessly, the shadow stole into the house. Once inside the shadow slowed. Its target was close. It knew that its goal lay behind a door within this house. Staying close to the wall the shadow crept toward the hall that it wanted. As it turned a corner its destination came into view. The shadow was beginning to get excited. It was so close.
CREAK!
The shadow froze. It reached into its shirt and produced its weapon of choice.
[Did someone wake up? Are they going to try and stop me from achieving my goal? Let them try.]
Turning its head it searched for the source of the noise. As it turned the light caught the cold piece of steel that the shadow held. After what seemed an eternity of waiting the shadow decided that the noise was nothing. It cautiously snuck toward the door and looked around for anyone. The shadow slowly opened the door and swiftly moved in. It closed the door and turned around to find its target. The Tendo family shrine held its silent vigil in this shadow filled room. Within the shrine lay the remains of Tendo Akane, the shadow's goal.
It would soon realize its ultimate goal.
[Soon _I_ will be the hero. _I_ will be the one that everyone will look to as a savior, not Saotome. Saotome can burn in hell for all that I care.]
Ending its internal dialog the shadow looked around the room. It was dark in the room. Fortunately, what little light came from the outside illuminated the shrine. The shadow decided that it was time to obtain its target and get out. The shadow moved towards the shrine and reached for Akane's remains.
Out of the corner of the shadow's eye it saw movement. It tried to respond, but the attacker was fast and ruthless. The arm that held its weapon was grabbed by the wrist and locked. The attacker's other hand flashed out and grabbed the shadow by the throat. Moving with a speed that belied anything human the attacker picked up the shadow by the throat and ran across the room. When the pair reached the wall the attacker slammed the shadow into it. The collision shook the entire house and caused the shadow to drop its weapon.
"You'd better have a damn good reason for tryin' to take Akane's remains, Gosunkugi."
[Shit! Saotome.]
"Answer me Gosunkugi." Ranma said flatly.
When Gosunkugi looked into Ranma's eyes he felt a fear like he had never known. Ranma's eyes were cold and empty. He knew in that second that if he didn't satisfy Ranma he was a dead man.
Not getting a response Ranma tightened his grip on Gosunkugi's throat.
"I… Uhh… Wa…" Gosunkugi tried to choke out.
Ranma saw that Gosunkugi was going to talk so he relaxed his grip.
"I was going to talk to her."
"I'm sure ya noticed that she's dead, not much for conversation. TRY! AGAIN!"
Ranma punctuated the last two words by slamming Gosunkugi into the wall again and again.
Gosunkugi's vision started to swim. Ranma's grip on his throat was making it hard to breathe. His entire body ached from being slammed into the wall repeatedly. He was starting to feel cold and his extremities were starting to go numb. He knew that he was going to die.
"I… I'm tell…ling the tr… truth." Gosunkugi whimpered between breaths.
"I kn… know… a spe… ell."
At the conclusion of Gosunkugi's last choked statement, the door to the room flew open, the lights came on, and Soun, Nabiki, and Kasumi entered.
*****************************************************************
Kasumi was awakened from her sleep by a loud thud and a shaking of the walls.
[What was that?]
She cautiously got out of bed, put on her robe, walked to the door and peaked out into the hallway.
When she looked out she saw Nabiki also leaning out of her door.
"Did you hear that Nabiki?" Kasumi whispered.
"Yeah, I did. Do you know what it was?"
"No. I think we should get Ranma and father up."
"Okay. You go get father and I'll get Ranma."
With that decided Kasumi crept towards her father's room and Nabiki hurried down the hall to Ranma's room.
Kasumi was nervous. For the thousandth time since her death Kasumi missed Akane. This was what she did best. She could almost hear her little sister. 'I'll show that burglar what happens to someone who breaks into the Tendo residence.' Kasumi smiled a sad smile at the memory and then sighed slightly at the emptiness beside her. She reached the door to her father's room and crept in.
"Father."
Not getting a response Kasumi moved over to the bed and shook her father.
"Father. Wake up. I think someone is in the house."
Soun started to stir and looked up into his daughter's face.
"What is wrong Kasumi? Are you hurt? Is Nabiki okay? OH my little girls! Wahhhh!"
"Father. Pull yourself together. Nabiki and I are okay, but I think someone has broke into the house."
"Then let us show this person the error of attacking the Tendos." Soun said, immediately sobering.
Nabiki entered the room as Soun pulled a bokken from his closet.
"I couldn't find Ranma. He wasn't in his room. In fact it didn't look as if he had ever went to bed."
THUD! 'TRY!' THUD! 'AGAIN!'
All three of the Tendos looked at each other and quickly ran out of the room. They all knew exactly where Ranma was now, but they still didn't know what was going on.
They ran down the hall with Soun in the lead. The three crashed into the room with the family shrine, flipped on the light, and were shocked at what was before them.
Ranma had the Gosunkugi boy pinned to the wall by his neck. Actually, he had him pinned into a depression in the wall. It was not the violence that surprised the Tendos. They had all seen Ranma fight before. What surprised the Tendos was the extreme amount of cold that Ranma gave off. It felt like they walked into a meat locker. There was a light fog in the room and ice crystals were actually starting to form around Ranma's feet.
Ranma ignored the three's entrance. He was still reeling from Gosunkugi's last statement.
[A spell that'd allow him to speak to the dead? If it's true then I can tell Akane that I love her. That I always have. That I'm sorry for all that I've done to her and that I was sorry that I couldn't save her. That I'll be joining her soon.]
Ranma released his hold on Gosunkugi, who slid down the wall and landed in a heap on the floor.
"What did you say Gosunkugi?"
Gosunkugi looked over at the Tendos and then back at Ranma.
"I said that I know a spell that will allow me to talk to the recently departed."
"That's what I thought you said."
"WAHHHHH! I'll be able to talk to my baby again."
"Oh my!" Kasumi retorted with her usual repertoire.
Nabiki on the other hand was thinking this through.
[Since when have any of Gosunkugi's spells ever worked? The only magic of his that has ever been effective has come from someone else.]
"Gos-baby, where did you get this spell, huh?"
"What do you mean wh… where?"
Gosunkugi realized that he had just jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Ranma could at worst kill him. Then it would be over. Nabiki on the other hand could make the rest of his life a hell on earth.
"Where, as in from whom?"
"I… I found it?"
"Uh-uh." Nabiki said shaking her head and getting right in Gosunkugi's face.
[How the hell did I get into this? Why did I ever think that this was going to work? If I tell them who I got it from the old ghoul will know that I've been sneaking spells from her library and then I will definitely die.]
"I. I can't tell you that."
"Oh, that's too bad. I think that Ranma was really interested in talking to Akane again. I am not sure how he'll react when you tell him that you won't let him talk to her. I do believe that the little demonstration before will only be a brief warm-up. Or should I say cool down, in Ranma's case." Nabiki said with venom dripping from every word.
Gosunkugi looked over at Ranma who still seemed to be lost in his thoughts, and then looked back at Nabiki who was hovering right over him and smiling a smile that one would expect to see on a carnivore right before it ate.
"Why does it matter where it came from?"
"Because Gos-baby, everyone knows that your spells don't work. Also, before I start letting you cast spells on my little sister's spirit I want to know everything that there is to know about the spell."
[Crap. I hadn't thought of that.]
"Okay, okay. I got it from Cologne."
There was a sharp gasp in the room from virtually everyone, everyone except Ranma. Ranma's response was to drop the temperature in the slowly warming room by several degrees.
"Why would the old ghoul help you?" Ranma asked as his voice lost all emotion again.
"She didn't exactly. Help me."
"In other words. You stole it." Nabiki quipped.
"Uh. Kind of?"
"Let me see the spell Gosunkugi." Ranma demanded while holding out his hand.
"Al… Alright." Gosunkugi said as he reached into his shirt and pulled out a folded up piece of paper.
Ranma grabbed the paper out of Gosunkugi's hand and unfolded it. He then looked it over and scowled.
"Gosunkugi, you've one second to give me the rest of the spell or I'll break every bone in your body."
Gosunkugi tried to push himself away from Ranma, but the wall wouldn't let him get any farther away.
"What do you mean? That… that is all of the spell."
"Bullshit, this stops in mid sentence." Ranma said as he stepped toward the trembling boy on the floor holding the paper in front of the boy's face.
"How… How do you know that?"
"Because I can read it ya idiot. I'm not illiterate." Ranma was now freezing the mist in the air again.
Gosunkugi found a little backbone at that last statement.
"That's impossible Saotome! It took me all week to translate that. It's in an ancient Chinese dialect. There's no way that you could have just read it." Gosunkugi shot back furiously.
[How dare Saotome imply that he knows more about the field of magic then I do.]
"Why couldn't I? I've spent the majority of my life studying martial arts. About the only thing that I ever read was in ancient Chinese or ancient Japanese or ancient Hindi or ancient Korean." Ranma stated in a monotone that was as unsettling as the mist that formed around him.
"This is in an eastern Chinese dialect that is about 2500 years old, and it stops in mid sentence." Ranma ended by picking Gosunkugi back up by his neck again and shoving the paper in his face.
"Now where is the rest of the spell?"
"Tha… issss all… gott." Choked out Gosunkugi.
Kasumi approached Ranma and laid her hand on his shoulder.
"Ranma-kun, please let him down. It is not going to help anyone if you kill him." Kasumi pleaded.
Ranma looked at Kasumi and his eyes softened. He never realized how much her eyes were like Akane's. And just as he could never really deny Akane anything, he could never really deny Kasumi anything.
"Alright, but only for ya Kasumi." Ranma said as he unceremoniously dropped Gosunkugi on the ground.
"Thank you Tendo-san." Gosunkugi thanked Kasumi.
"Don't thank me yet young man. I too want to know where the rest of the spell is." Kasumi told Gosunkugi in the coldest voice that any of them had ever heard from her.
"That's all that I have. I swear it. Please don't let him kill me." Gosunkugi pleaded.
Gosunkugi had lost it.
[Everyone in the Tendo family hates me. Ranma is about ready to kill me.]
Gosunkugi couldn't take anymore. He curled into a fetal position and started to cry.
"I'm going to go see the old ghoul and get the rest of this spell." Ranma told the others and walked out of the room.
*****************************************************************
Ranma walked up to the door of the Nekohanten and knocked hard enough to rattle the walls.
[The old ghoul is goin' to give me the rest of this spell or I'm goin' to show her how few years away I am from kicking her ass.]
There was no response to his knock. There was another mist starting to form around him again. He knocked again, this time hard enough to crack the doorframe.
[If they don't answer in the next minute I'm going to break in and find it myself.]
Just then Cologne hopped up to the door.
*****************************************************************
Cologne awoke from her sleep in a sweat, barely stifling a scream. A person of her age and lifestyle had seen much, had faced a lot of frightening things and had lived to tell of them. She would still have nightmares sometimes, but they were not often and she knew enough to not be frightened of them. This was completely different. This was no nightmare of the past. This was a nightmare of the present.
[Someone is coming, someone powerful, and someone with a very focused purpose.]
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!
That someone was here.
[That is Ranma. Why is his aura so cold? Why is he here this late at night? I guess I will never know if I don't go see.]
Cologne rose from bed and put on her robe. She then grabbed her staff. Usually, she wouldn't mess with it this late at night, but if Ranma was here to fight it could mean the difference between life and death.
SLAM! SLAM! CRACK! SLAM! CRACK!
[Well, I better hurry before he breaks down the door.]
Cologne hopped down the stairs at full speed and entered the main room. She slowly approached the door and tried to feel out Ranma's intent.
[He wants something. Something that I have, or at least that he thinks I have. He is not really a threat to me yet, but could easily turn so if I refuse him.]
By the time she had finished her thoughts Cologne had reached the front door and opened it.
[My god, he has actually mastered the Soul of Ice so well that he is capable of drawing the heat out of the environment. This is not good.]
"Son-in-law, what do you want at this hour? Could it not have waited until tomorrow?"
"I want the rest of this spell, old ghoul, and it I ain't going to wait another minute." Ranma said as he thrust the paper that Gosunkugi had at her.
Cologne took the piece of paper and looked over it. She gasped in surprise when she realized what it was.
"Son-in-law, where did you get this?"
"That don't matter. I want the rest of it, now!" Ranma said icily to Cologne as he approached her.
"No, son-in-law, you don't want the rest of this spell. It has a side-effect that you will not like." Cologne tried to reason with the distant boy.
[No wonder he is so focused. He has always been his most dangerous when the youngest Tendo girl was involved.]
"Well then, you won't mind letting me see the rest so that I can determine that for myself, would you?" Ranma replied with virtually no emotion at all.
The room's temperature dropped even more and beads of condensation formed on the windows.
[I only have two choices. I either let him see the book and hope that he doesn't get any crazy ideas, or I refuse to let him see the book and someone will most likely die.]
"Fine son-in-law. Tell me where you got this and I'll show you the book that it came from."
"Gosunkugi had it."
"The local boy who fancies himself a magic-user?"
"Yeah that's him."
"I should have known. Very well son-in-law. Follow me."
Cologne led Ranma into the kitchen and down the stairs that led to the basement. In the basement they walked to a room with a myriad of books and scrolls lining the walls. Cologne walked over to a desk along one wall and asked Ranma to have a seat. She then walked over to a shelf and scanned the contents. Finding what she was looking for Cologne pulled out the book and carried it over to Ranma.
"Here you are son-in-law, but you aren't going to like what you find." Cologne said as she handed the book to Ranma.
"Maybe not, but I'll look none the less. Why don't you go back to bed? I'll let myself out when I'm done." Ranma said to Cologne.
"Okay, son-in-law. Good night."
"Good night Cologne, and thank you." Ranma said to Cologne with a little smile.
"You're welcome." Cologne said as she exited the room and closed the door.
[Maybe this is for the best. That is the first time I've seen him show any emotion since Akane died.]
*****************************************************************
When Cologne made it back up to the main room Shampoo and Mousse were there.
"Great-Grandmother, who was here? Why is it so cold?" Asked a confused Shampoo.
"Ranma is here." Cologne said as she headed back up towards her bedroom.
"Aieyaa! Airen come to see Shampoo. Where is he?" Shampoo exclaimed joyously.
"No Shampoo, Ranma did not come to see you. Nor are you to disturb him right now. He is still in mourning over the Tendo girl and is extremely dangerous right now. He is the reason that the temperature is so low in here. I am letting him look up some stuff in the library."
"Elder, I didn't think that outsiders were allowed to see some of the books in the library." Questioned Mousse.
"Do not question me boy. If I had tried to stop him one of us would be dead right now, along with a lot of innocents. Now we are all going to bed." Cologne said as she led the others up to their rooms.
*****************************************************************
Ranma was looking through the book that Cologne had given him. He flipped through it looking at the names of each spell. After he made it three-quarters of the way through the book he found the one that he was looking for. He read the first page, which was exactly what Gosunkugi had, but when he turned the page the reason that Cologne had said the spell wouldn't work became clear.
[The spell traps the spirit of the dead in this plane. There is no way that I'm going to let Akane become a wandering spirit. There has to be something here that will help me contact her.]
With that thought in mind Ranma flipped through the rest of the book that he had. Finding nothing he laid it on the desk and looked at the rest of the books. Finding one that he thought might work he took it to the desk and started skimming it.
Six hours later, Cologne woke up and entered the small library. Before her were stacks of books and scrolls on the floor and the desk was hidden behind them. As she hopped around the stack she found Ranma reading a scroll.
"What are you still doing here Son-in-law?"
"I'm looking up some information." Ranma replied sleepily.
"What information would that be?" Cologne asked nervously when she saw a scroll that was set away from the rest of the scrolls.
[Oh no! Not the story of Ki Sung. If Ranma has read that he will surely try to get Akane back.]
"I am trying to find out if there is other information here that might be useful to my quest."
"What quest would that be, Son-in-law?" Cologne asked although she already knew the answer.
"I think you know what I'm talking about Cologne." Ranma said as he noticed her looking at the scroll with Ki Sung's story.
"Ranma, that is a fool's quest." Cologne said pointing at the scroll.
"Several thousand have tried to duplicate Ki Sung's feat, and none have ever succeeded. Many are never seen again."
"It doesn't matter." Ranma said as he stood to leave.
"Son-in-law, please give up on this idea. You will not succeed. Why don't you just marry Shampoo? She will make a good wife." Cologne pleaded.
Cologne knew that she was doomed to fail, but she had to try.
Ranma's eyes flashed in anger and determination.
"Cologne, it's over. I'll return with Akane or join her."
Ranma turned from the old amazon and walked to the door. When he reached the threshold he turned and faced her.
"Thank you for all your help elder Cologne, and know that I consider you a friend."
Having nothing else to say, Ranma walked up the stairs and out of the Nekohanten.
*****************************************************************
The sun rose over the town of Nerima and the light entered a certain bedroom in the Tendo Dojo.
Kasumi had slept in. She would usually not allow herself this luxury, but a lot had happened lately and she had not been sleeping well. After Ranma left last night Soun escorted the Gosunkugi boy out of the house and politely told him that he was not welcome back. Then the three of them waited for Ranma to return. When two hours had passed and he still had not returned Soun suggested that they all get some sleep and talk to him in the morning. Although, Kasumi doubted that any of them would actually sleep much.
[Well, I had better get up and make breakfast.] Kasumi thought as she got out of bed and dressed.
When she was dressed, she went downstairs and started making breakfast. When she was about finished Nabiki entered the kitchen. She had bags under her eyes and looked like she had slept worse than Kasumi.
"Hey sis. How did you sleep last night?"
"Not very well, Nabiki. I had trouble getting to sleep and I was waking up with virtually every sound thinking that Ranma had returned." Kasumi replied in a tired voice.
"He never came back last night."
"I know. I checked his room before I came down."
"You don't think anything happened do you, sis?"
"No, I am sure that he is fine. You know how he is, Nabiki. He probably just got distracted by something."
"Yeah, I'm sure that's what happened."
"Why don't you go get cleaned up? Auntie and Uncle Saotome are coming over for breakfast in a little while."
"Okay." Nabiki said as she left the kitchen and headed to the bath.
*****************************************************************
An hour later, the Tendo and Saotome families were setting at the table eating breakfast.
"This is delicious dear." Said Nodoka.
"Thank you Auntie."
"Don't you think that we should wake Ranma up?" Genma finally asked.
"He isn't upstairs, Mr. Saotome." Nabiki told Genma.
"Where is he?" Asked Nodoka.
"We had an intruder last night and Ranma went to check on something." Soun said cryptically.
"Oh, when will he get back?" Nodoka asked as her curiosity was piqued.
"Soon, hopefully." Answered Soun.
A couple of minutes later Ranma walked into the dining room and sit down.
"Hi mom and pop. I'm glad that you're here. I have something to tell all of you when we are done eating" Ranma said as he started eating.
The meal quickly passed in silence. Since everyone was anxious to hear what Ranma had to say. When everyone was done Ranma cleared his throat and started to talk.
"I confronted Cologne about the spell. She told me that it wouldn't work, but I convinced her to let me decide that for myself."
"And?" Soun asked hopefully.
"I'll kill anyone that even considers casting that spell on Akane." Ranma stated with anger in his voice.
"What!? Why?" Nabiki asked. Surprised by the vehemence in Ranma's voice.
"Because, it traps the person's spirit in this plane. It makes them into a wandering spirit."
"However, I do have some important news to tell all of you. While I was in Cologne's library I found something that I think might interest all of you."
"I found the story of a man named Ki Sung. Ki Sung was a great martial artist who lived over 5000 years ago in what is now southwestern China. When he was young the girl that he loved was killed in an accident. He was overcome with grief at his loss and retreated from the world. A couple of years later he was talking to an old mystic from the far west who told him that there were ways for the living to enter the land of the dead. Upon hearing this Ki Sung decided that he would travel to the world of the dead and bring his love back. He spent nearly a decade and a half searching for an entrance to the land of the dead. His search took him all over the world and due to these travels he became an almost invincible fighter. When he finally found an entrance to the land of the dead he ventured into it and fought many great battles to reclaim his love. The lord of the dead was touched by his devotion and allowed her to return to the world with him."
As Ranma told his story he started to display emotions that he had not displayed since Akane's death. This made most of the people assembled happy. Nabiki however, was more interested in why Ranma was so taken with this story.
[Surely, he doesn't think that it is real. Not even Ranma could think that you could bring someone back from the dead. Could he?]
"Ranma-kun, that is a nice story, but why is it so important for you to tell us?" Kasumi voiced Nabiki's thoughts.
"What!? Don't you all _see_? If this Ki Sung fellow could bring back his love then I can bring back Akane." Ranma told them in exasperation at their denseness.
"Dear, it is just a story. No one can bring someone back from the dead." Nodoka said with worry in her voice.
"Son, I appreciate what you are wanting to do. Believe me, I understand. I would have done anything to bring back my wife, but once someone dies they are gone."
"Listen Ranma, the story that you just told us is just that a _story_. You have to realize that Akane is gone, and she is _never_ going to come back, _ever_." Nabiki replied.
"NO! YOU'RE ALL WRONG!" Ranma screamed at the assembled people.
[I can't believe it. A chance to get Akane back and they won't listen. Well, even if they don't care about her anymore, I still do. I'll get her back. By myself.]
Ranma turned and stormed out of the room and up the stairs.
"Ranma, my poor son. Maybe I should go talk to him."
"Nodoka-san, I think that he needs to be alone right now. It is a hard time for him, and as far as he is concerned we all just gave up on Akane." Soun said gently.
"Father, it is not healthy for him to delude himself into thinking that Akane can come back." Kasumi added nervously.
"No it isn't dear, but there is nothing that we can do right now."
Just then Ranma stepped back into the living room with his pack on.
"You all just continue to believe what you want. Ki Sung was a real person and he brought back his love. If he could do it, then so can I. I'm going to return with Akane, then we'll see who is wrong. Goodbye."
Ranma turned from the stunned group and marched out the door.
"No! Ranma, you can't leave me again." Nodoka screamed as she ran out of the house.
The others followed, but Ranma was gone already. Genma hugged his wife as she cried into his shoulder.
"It'll be okay No-chan. He needs to do this. After a while he will realize that it is a fruitless search and return when he has come to grips with Akane's death." Genma said in a soothing tone to Nodoka, even though his face showed extreme loss.
"Good luck son. I hope you find peace out there." Soun said sadly as he turn back toward his daughters.
"He isn't coming back is he daddy?" Nabiki asked her father quietly as she fought back tears.
"I am sure that he will eventually, dear." Soun unsurely answered as he wrapped his remaining two daughters in a hug.
"But you know how stubborn he is father. Especially, when Akane was involved. Do you truly think that he will ever give up?" Kasumi squeaked out before she started to cry.
"Probably not, but we can always hope."
Then even Nabiki started to cry as they all walked back into the house.
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