Legal: The characters of Ranma ½ were created by the great Rumiko Takahashi.
I am using them without permission, hopefully for the purpose of entertaining someone. If anyone who has a right to sue me has that desire, I have almost no money.
C&C is appreciated, you can contact me at brendan@wiltonnewyork.com. And if you want to see the earlier parts of this and my other stories, you can find them at http://www.wiltonnewyork.com/Brendan
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Ranma three and a half eyes
Chapter 1
by Brendan O'Donnell
It was two minuets to midnight. In the greenhouse of the Kuno estate a figure was working diligently. That part of the greenhouse was unlit except for the candles, five black candles lit at each point of a pentagram, and a large red candle lit at the center. The figure spoke, her voice chanting a strange chant in a language that resembled Latin. Her chant continued and rose in volume.
As Midnight arrived the chant reached a crescendo and the flame of the red candle turned bright blue. From this blue flame rose a could of black smoke that filled the center of the mystic circle. Two eyes suddenly formed in the cloud and a voice issued from the mists. "For what propose am I summoned?"
"I call you to forth to end a single mortal life." It's summoner replied calmly.
Ranma was walking down the street trying not to look to his right. Walking where Ranma wasn't looking was Akane. Who was also avoiding his gaze. They were both nervous.
"We're just doing this for my father, you know." Akane commented.
"I know, it's not really a date, we're just seeing a movie together because it's your father's birthday and you want him to be happy." Ranma replied. He added in a quieter tone "As if I'd ever ask a tomboy like you on a real date."
"Ranma!" Akane shouted, turning to glare at him. She closed her eyes then said through gritted teeth "I'm trying to stay civil with you so keep your mouth shut and don't act like your usual hentai self."
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ranma pivoted and stared right into Akane's glare. *Back in familiar territory.* Ranma and Akane both thought to themselves with feelings of relief mixed with disappointment. Not that either one would admit it to anyone, including themselves.
"Nihau Ranma!" Came a voice from behind the pair. They turned to see Shampoo brake her bike and squeal to a stop one-inch from the pair. She grabbed Ranma and said, "Have day off, we go on date yes?"
"Ranma!" Akane said angrily.
"What Akane do here?" Shampoo said looking at the youngest Tendo Daughter.
"Uh, well it's her father's birthday and we're pretending to be going out as a kinda present. It's not a date or nothing..." Ranma said as he pulled himself free of Shampoo's arms. He trailed off as his well-trained sense of danger triggered. He glanced up a moment then grabbed both Akane and Shampoo and jumped to the left.
"RANMA!" Akane yelled, a second before a large object smashed into the ground where they just stood with explosive force.
The three Martial artists looked as the dust cleared revealing a large being. It rose from it's crouched over position and turned to look at the trio. It was almost seven feet tall with deep red scaly skin mostly covered by very black armor. Lashing it's tail against the ground it growled. "Good dodge, but it doesn't change the fact that you shall die today."
Ranma stepped foreword. "All right who are you and why are you after me."
"You couldn't pronounce my name anyway. As for why, I was asked to kill you and obeying that kind of request is both duty and pleasure." The demon stepped forward, folding it's wings against it's back. It raised it's right hand, which crackled with black fire. "Goodbye."
Ranma pushed the girls to opposite sides as he charged foreword, dodging the stream of fire, which ignited the pavement where they had stood a moment earlier. As Ranma approached the demon it lashed out against him with the claws on it's left hand. Ranma ducked under the attack and slammed a fist into his opponents stomach with enough force to split a redwood in half. The demon grunted and quivered slightly under the blow, lashing out with a claw strike that Ranma jumped just out of range of.
As the demons claws missed their target, it had also extended it's corresponding wing. This appendage struck Ranma squarely, knocking him to the ground.
The demon jumped foreword it's clawed feet extended, then with a strong wingbeat pushed itself back, away from Shampoo who had stepped over Ranma, sword extended so that the demon could impale himself. The demon frowned, then pivoted aside from Shampoo and Ranma's rising form as Akane jumped in, her kick cracking the ground where it had stood.
"Do you mind?" The demon's tail suddenly lashed out, impaling Akane in her lower left chest. Before she could do more that gasp, the tail suddenly moved, throwing her against the fence of the canal. "Now die quietly..."
"AHHHRRR!!" Ranma screamed as he leaped at the demon, his battle aura surging like a storm. The demon moved its claws to block to block the rush, and found itself staggering to the side as Ranma avoided the move and rammed 150 hard punches into it's left side. As the demon staggered back, Ranma paused, just long enough to focus the rage that had inundated his mind into his hands. A fierce light, bright red mixed with blue formed around Ranma's hands for a second before he closed the distance with his opponent. Lashing out with all his strength, Ranma's double fisted punch impacted with the demon's face and upper chest. It was thrown backward by the blow, shattering the wall opposite the fence.
Ranma could barely think of anything but catching the monster, and destroying it as thoroughly as he could, when he heard a soft cough from the edge of the canal. His rage dissipated like a tear in the ocean. "Akane!" He called as he rushed to her side.
Shampoo shook her head, pushing aside the shock she felt at seeing her Rival so casually impaled and Ranma's rage filled response. *Unforgivable Shampoo! You are a warrior, if you hesitate like that it could cost you your life!* She ran forward, slowing to a slow walk a few feet from the collapsed wall. The rubble shifted and the demon pulled itself to it's feet. There was a trickle of blood oozing from it's lips and it's upper chest was slightly discolored from Ranma's last attack, but it seemed more enraged than hurt. Shampoo heard Ranma scream Akane's name, and ignored the surge of pain in her heart. *Ranma distracted, I must hold back this monster until he's ready to fight.* She thought as she shifted her grip on her sword.
Ranma dropped to his knees in the pool of blood forming around Akane. *So Much Blood...* "NO!" He tore off his shirt and started trying to pack the wound, to do anything that would stop the bleeding.
The Demon purposefully stepped toward Ranma, stopping as it saw Shampoo step into it's path, sword pointed right at it.
Akane looked up at him. "Ranma." She said quietly, her voice distorted by the blood in her throat.
"Step aside and live." The demon stated, raising it's right hand and forming a sphere of black fire over it's palm to emphasize the point. Shampoo responded by thrusting her left arm foreword, throwing three small knives at the demon's extended hand. The demon knocked the blades out of the air with it's left hand, then lifted it's right and grasped the ball of fire. The flames surged outward, assuming the shape of a large sword, then fading to reveal a real sword.
"Don't try to talk. Save your strength, we'll talk after I get you to a hospital." There was a strong constant ache in his forehead, Ranma ignored it. *Damn it what do I do!* He knew about injury. In his mind he reviewed every option he could think of to get her someplace she could be treated. As each possibility passed through his mind, he realized the action would be to slow, that it would jostle her wound to much, that nothing he thought of could get Akane to help before she died.
Shampoo was putting all her speed and strength into parrying the demon's ferocious attack. She jumped back from a low slash and extended her sword. The demon's black blade had left her own blade badly knicked and chipped.
Akane winced as she lifted her left arm. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I want you to know I love..." Her arm dropped, and she closed her eyes.
"Akane..." Ranma said, leaning forward and looking into her face. A drop of blood fell onto her cheek, from the red horizontal line that had appeared in his forehead. Akane's breathing was becoming shallower. "No." Another drop of blood fell. "No!" Ranma had to wince at the searing pain in the front of his head. "NO!" he screamed to the heavens. The line of blood in his forehead split, revealing the eye beneath.
Shampoo took another step backward, and just barely kept herself from turning as a bright light exploded behind her. In front of her the demon dropped it's guard while it openly gaped. Not wasting the opportunity Shampoo spun foreword swinging her sword in a great circular arc. The sword shattered on the demon's chest, leaving a raged line of black blood. Continuing the circle of her attack, Shampoo raised her leg into a roundhouse kick into the demon's stomach, throwing it back to the broken wall. Unable to contain her curiosity any longer she turned to look at Ranma.
Ranma didn't know what had happened; his body suddenly felt as though it was filled with power. A wave of euphoria swept across him, and was shattered by the reality he saw before him. Akane was lying on the ground, and he could see her life flowing through her, could see it dimming as she died. Ranma knew he had to save her. And a means to save her formed in his head. Not questioning its source Ranma leaned forward and put his effort into the task.
Light exploded around Ranma. Then the light became concentrated, focused into a beam from his third eye to Akane's chest. A glowing sphere emerged from her and traveled up the beam to be absorbed by the eye. The eye closed, the light was gone.
Shampoo watched as the light surrounding Ranma concentrated into a beam from his head to Akane's chest. She saw the sphere of light float up the beam to where Ranma's body obscured her view. Then the beam faded. Ranma sat still for a second. Then he surged up and pivoted to face her. There was something changed about his face but she couldn't clearly see what it was. He raised his arms, his hands clenched into tight fists. Then he suddenly extended the first and last finger of each hand and an aura of blue fire formed around them.
With a fierce cry Ranma thrust his hands foreword and the fire exploded from his hands and surged right at her like a wave. Shampoo raised her arms in a semi instinctive attempt at defense, then blinked in shock as the fire passed through her like she hadn't existed. Her contemplation was cut short by the scream from behind her. Pivoting Shampoo saw the demon burning with the same flames that had passed through her harmlessly. A second later it began to crumble into a pile of dust.
Genma Saotome was running along the canal. Looking up he saw a pillar of blue flame form and dissipate a few blocks ahead of him. He accelerated. *What is happening?* He had been trying to con a vendor out of some rice cakes when he had suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of impending doom. It was a sensation he had not felt in years, but he had known it was real and that his son was it's focus. "RANMA!!"
Genma ran foreword. On his left he saw Shampoo standing before a shattered section of wall She was staring at the two forms lying by the fence. "Oh, my son!" he cried as he ran up to Ranma. Kneeling beside him he flipped him onto his back and checked his neck's pulse. Then he looked at Akane. "What happened..." He paused looking down at the pool of blood that he was standing at the fringes of.. He blinked a moment, then he looked closer, and his eyes widened. The blood was flowing back into Akane's wound. Turning to Akane, he reached out to brush the hair away from her forehead. "Oh Nodoka." He whispered. Then he reached down, swung Akane over his left shoulder, Ranma over his right, and stood.
"Ayah!" Shampoo had managed to overcome her shock enough to walk to where Genma stood. His sudden decision to manhandle both Ranma and her rival fiancée Akane took her by complete surprise.
Genma looked her in the eye. Shampoo had never seen this expression on him before. It was a combination of fear, sorrow, and relief. "Akane's not in any danger. I'll explain it to her and Ranma back at the Dojo once they wake up." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll definitely have to explain things to everyone... Shampoo," He hesitated for a moment. "Something significant just happened to Ranma. And I'd rather explain it to everyone at once so please get Ukyo and ask her to come to the Dojo."
Genma turned, and started down the street at a run.
Ranma groaned slightly, and blinked as he awoke. He recognized that he was lying in his and his father's room. He remembered what had happened just before he fell asleep. "Akane!" he cried as he bolted to his feet. Looking to his side he saw Akane lying on a futon a few feet away from him. She was wearing the dress, however he could see through the rip the unmarked skin underneath. Reddening slightly, Ranma looked away from her chest, and looked at the familiar contours of her face. He had seen Akane in many moods, and even sleeping like now, he knew her face perfectly. There was something different about it. On her forehead there was a Chinese character.
"Ranma," said a woman's voice from the doorway of the room. Ranma hadn't heard the voice very often, but he knew it very well. His mother's voice.
He looked down at himself and saw that he was male. Expanding his observation he saw his mother was looking directly at him, and there was no way he could run or change.
"Don't worry Ranma," his mother said as she walked across the room to him. "I'm not here about Jusenkyo, or the promise of Seppuku you've feared so much."
"Mom?" was Ranmas quiet response as he turned to her. He could see a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
Nodoka responded by grabbing him into a fierce hug, whispering, "I missed you so much."
"Oh Mom." Ranma grabbed her, hugging as fiercely as he could without squeezing harder than he knew she could take. For a minute the hug was all that mattered to either of them.
Nodoka separated them and brushed the tears from her eyes. "Now, let me look at you," she said as she observed him carefully. "I see you do take after me. In ways I had not wanted," she said with a sigh.
Ranma suddenly recalled the strange feelings and vision that had overtaken him when he saw Akane dying from the demon's attack. He was about to ask Nodoka if she somehow meant this, when he heard Akane moan. Spinning and kneeling beside her, he quietly said, "Akane," as he watched her wake up.
"Uh," Akane stated, opening her eyes, and looking around. She stopped when she saw Ranma and said quietly "Ranma..." Then she blinked in memory. She glanced down at the bloodstained dress, and putting her hand into the hole formed by the demons attack she felt the undamaged skin. "How?"
"I can answer that," Nodoka stated quietly from the door. Ranma and Akane both looked at her, her joy at being reunited with her son was being overcome by some unknown Sorrow. "Mom?" Ranma said quietly.
"Mrs. Saotome?" Akane added, sitting up.
"Come on, I think I'd rather explain this to everyone," she said as she turned and walked out the door.
Ranma looked after her, then looked back at Akane.
Akane looked at Ranma, looked down at her dress, and said "I, uh, I think I ought to change into something else."
Ranma glanced down at his own outfit, then said. "Yeah, me too."
Ranma walked down the stairs with Akane right behind him. Akane was wearing her yellow dress with a floral pattern, Ranma his red shirt and black pants. They both paused as they overlooked the family room. Nodoka, Genma, the rest of the Tendo family and Shampoo and Ukyo were all gathered around the table. Everyone turned their head to look at Ranma and Akane.
No one said anything.
Nodoka indicated that the two of them sit at a open space to her left.
"Ranma, there is so much to tell you. So much you need to know..." Nodoka trailed off looking down at the table.
"I think it would be best if I tell him how we met," Genma said to her.
Genma turned to Ranma and began. "I met Nodoka in the year 1895. I was at that time only a few years older than you are now." He looked at the incredulous looks from around the table. "It may be hard to believe but at the time she wasn't human."
Nodoka looked up and started talking. "My people were known as the Sanjiyan Unkara, or sometimes as the Triclops. When we existed, at least. For a very long time we sought to end our immortality and attain humanity. To the best of my knowledge I was the last to find a way to become human."
Nabiki looked at her and said in a skeptical voice, "So you were Immortal, and you wanted to give it up?"
Nodoka sighed and looked at the table. "You can only see our longevity, our power. You don't know the terrible prices they require, or the gifts of humanity that you know too well to see."
"This is all very interesting," Nabiki commented. "But according to Shampoo, my little sister just got almost killed by some demon and now she's in perfect shape. How do you explain that?"
"If you listen to the rest of our story it will all make sense," Genma responded. "To shorten the tale; I met Nodoka on the road, and agreed to show her the way to Kyoto. However on the way there , there was an... accident."
"An inn was on fire, and Genma was severely injured trying to save the people inside. I had only known him a short time, but I knew that I couldn't allow him to die. So I used one of the most basic and potent powers of the Sanjiyan and made him my WU." Pausing, Nodoka took a sip from the cup of tea Kasumi had given her just before Ranma and Akane had arrived. She continued, "The Sanjiyan posses great magic power. However, when we use that power to its utmost, it weakens us, often leaving us powerless for days at a time. So, long ago, even by immortal standards, we learned how to take the soul of another and merge it with our own. The one whose soul we have taken becomes our WU, our... protector and servant. As the soul is kept safe within our own, the WU's body becomes immune from harm, all injuries heal at fantastic speed, and they share our own longevity, and a portion of our power." Nodoka stopped and looked at her tea.
Genma resumed the narrative, "For a very long time I traveled with Nodoka, helping her search for a way to become human. And eventually we found the Nyanichuan."
Ranma blinked. He looked at his father with a disbelieving expression. "YOU KNEW?!"
"We knew, Ranma," Nodoka responded. "You see, the Nyanichuan was the critical catalyst in the spell which made me human, and within a few hours the character marking your father my WU faded forever. We traveled apart for a few years, I wanted to get a feel of humanity, your father met Happosei and Soun, and decided to relearn fighting without the power he had gained from me. After disposing of Happosei, we met again, he proposed and I accepted." She smiled at the memory. "We bought a house with the savings of centuries, and just over a year later, I had you." She looked at Ranma her eyes glistening, and a smile on her face. Then the smile faltered.
"However even from the beginning, I wondered if my Sanjiyan nature was gone or merely suppressed. I was uncertain whether or not you might have inherited my former nature. Then when you were five I knew. You were at the playground, and a group of bullies was picking on you. You had enough training to handle any one of them, but they were threatening you all at once. When I was coming to help you, I saw you're forehead begin to spontaneously bleed, here," Nodoka said extending her finger and tracing a short line in the center of Ranma's forehead.
"Here you were in a situation where a young Sanjiyan would have tried to call forth his power, and there was blood where you're third eye would have opened. That was when I knew you had inherited my former nature from me." Nodoka looked down, her eyes glistening, her hands clenched.
Genma glanced at his wife, then started talking, "Anyway, Nodoka didn't know what to do. Remember it hadn't been that long ago when she gave up the power of the Sanjiyan forever. Now she discovered that the power she had spent most of her life trying to escape was part of you. We talked about what to do for a long time. Nodoka was desperate to enable you to grow up and live your life as a normal human, but she had no idea how to. I hoped she could succeed, but I also knew that if you did become Sanjiyan, you needed to be able to handle it. After about a week, Nodoka decided that her presence risked empowering your Sanjiyan side and she insisted that I take you and raise you till you were a man. So we began our long training trip.
"I was determined that if I failed to keep you human you should at least have some experience with travel and Martial Arts in preparation for life as a Sanjiyan. And as you were about to turn sixteen, I decided to hedge our bets and take you to Jusenkyo to add an extra bit of insurance that your Sanjiyan nature would remain sealed."
"So what about that promise? The man among men thing?" Nabiki asked.
Nodoka looked at her. "That was my idea. Genma told me that he was coming home after Jusenkyo, I wanted to see my son again so much, but I was still terrified that I might awaken the Sanjiyan nature within him. I chickened out at the last moment, and Genma decided to come here instead." She sighed and looked down. "I kept planning to come, but the fear kept holding me back. Eventually I contacted Genma and we tried to think up a way for me to see Ranma with the Jusenkyo curse as a buffer. Genma and I thought up the man among men promise as a way to keep you in your cursed form without having to burden you with the knowledge that you weren't fully human. Genma told me that there was no sign of your Sanjiyan side manifesting, so I was planning a way to reveal your secret and accept your manliness. However before I could, Akane was attacked, and your pain and anger at seeing her dying awoke my side of you're heritage. You made her your WU to save her life."
Ranma looked at Akane, then said quietly "Hai." Akane looked back at him, a somewhat surprised expression on her face.
"Akane," Nodoka said, turning her attention to her sons Fiancée.
Blinking back her surprise Akane looked at Nodoka. "Hai?"
"You aren't sure you believe what I've said, are you?"
"Well..."
"Give me your hand a moment," Nodoka said evenly. Akane looked at her a moment, then extended her open right hand toward Mrs. Saotome, palm up. Nodoka touched the fingers of her own right hand to Akane's, then her left hand stabbed a Tanto dagger into Akane's palm.
It took everyone a moment to overcome the sense of shock enough to react. Ranma was first, grabbing his mother's wrist, and yanking it back. Before he could do anything more, Nodoka said, "Hold up your hand, Akane."
Akane was looking at her just wounded hand, and looked at Nodoka she held it up. As everyone watched, the blood that had poured from the wound flowed back into it. Soon the wound had faded without a trace.
"Hmm, getting soft in your old age I see," Genma commented.
Nodoka glanced at him with an annoyed look, "She is my son's fiancée, not some slow witted wanderer I just met."
Genma turned to Akane and said, "She illustrated my newly-gained healing power to me by chopping off my head." He rubbed his neck and winced somewhat.
As Ranma sat back down at the table, Soun finally stopped crying. "Well, this is all a bit of a shock, but my little girl is alive and well and that's what's important."
Nodoka and Genma both looked away from him and coughed in near perfect unison. "Well..." Genma said.
"Technically..." Nodoka added.
"Umm, the term most commonly used is, er, undead." Genma finished. Soun stared at him, then started crying again.
"Undead?" Akane asked.
"Undead, as in something like a vampire or a zombie?" Nabiki said, looking right at the Saotome's.
Nodoka frowned and said, "It's a label humanity placed on the WU."
Suddenly a small object blurred into the room. "Ranma-Chan!" it called out, as it resolved itself into Happosei long enough to splash Ranma with a bucket of cold water. A second later the old pervert had clamped himself onto Ranma's newly acquired breasts.
"GRRAA!" Ranma replied. Her clothes were whipped by an unseen wind, her hair raised by an updraft that only affected her, then there was a blinding flash of light and a crash.
Ranma had risen to her feet. Her right arm was extended from throwing Happosei into the garden. Her third eye was open and glaring at the old master. "You disgusting old freak," she said, her voice vibrating with power.
When this had happened a few hours ago, all of Ranma's attention had been directed to Akane. Now Akane was safe, and she felt none of the pain that had accompanied her initial awakening. She could feel the power coursing through her body, focusing in the eye that had just opened in her forehead.
What's more, this third eye didn't see what her other two saw. Through it she saw the spirits that were everywhere. She could see the cloud of dark spiritual energy surrounding the old man she had just thrown into the backyard. And despite the newness of this new sight, she knew instinctively what she was seeing. And as she looked at the wind, actually seeing it for the first time; she knew that she could do more than just look. Taking a step toward the garden she raised her hands.
As Ranma lifted her hands, wind swirled around her, picking up speed. Ranma shifted her hands, once again extending the two outer fingers while bringing her thumb to meet the other two. She jabbed her hands forward, and as the wind around her died down, a dramatically stronger wind formed around Happosei, lifting the old pervert into the air. Ranma quickly gestured away with her right hand. Happosei was hurled into the distant sky. Ranma smiled slightly.
Then the smile faded, and she pivoted and leaped onto the roof of the Dojo. Everyone ran into the yard.
"Ranma?" Genma called to his son, then jumped onto the roof after him as he heard a sudden shriek of pain. Landing on the roof, he ran to where Ranma sat, rubbing her somewhat scorched foot and looking at three paper charms lying on the roof in front of her. Smoke was rising from the middle one.
"Ow, Old Ghoul," Ranma muttered to herself as she stopped rubbing her foot and stood. A quick glance confirmed what Genma recognized from Ranma's voice, the third eye was closed again.
"You shouldn't startle an old woman like that." Cologne responded from the other side of the wards. "You scared me half to death."
Genma looked at the ancient Matriarch, who was standing on the other side of the wards from Ranma. He picked up a ward and commented, "Expecting trouble?"
Cologne folded her arms into her sleeves and responded, "Earlier this afternoon I had a sudden sense of great darkness and danger. I grabbed a few wards and tracked it down, and arrived just as you were running off with Ranma and Akane. I felt something strange about them, and I decided I had better follow."
"And why were you hiding here?"
"I didn't want to show myself until I had some idea what was happening." Cologne shrugged and walked to the edge of the roof. All three martial artists jumped into the yard below.
"Great Grandmother!" Shampoo cried in surprise as she saw Cologne.
"Come Shampoo, we both have much to think about." Cologne responded as she used her staff to leap from roof to roof in the direction of the Nekohanten. Shampoo looked after her, paused and looked at Ranma. Then she jumped over the wall and began following Cologne. Mousse immediately followed Shampoo.
Genma looked at the retreating trio of Amazon's and commented, "Well we've still got some things to discuss. Let's head back inside.."
"Nabiki, would you hand this to Akane?" Genma said as he sat down, handing a spirit ward to the middle Tendo sister. Nabiki looked at the very ordinary looking piece of paper in her hand and extended it to her sister.
"OWWW!" Akane cried as she jerked her hand away from the paper. "That's red hot!" She added as she massaged her hand.
"To you and Ranma now," Genma replied, tearing the one in his hand in half.
"That may be important to know, but I think we have more important concerns right now." Nodoka said. "I asked Shampoo about what you fought, and it was definitely some sort of Stygian order demon. I was never too familiar with them so I can't be too sure but if one of them appeared it was almost certainly summoned by someone."
"When I find out who they'll be sorry." Ranma commented quietly.
"Tomorrow son." Genma replied. "I still remember enough about Magic to put together something that will let us track whoever summoned that demon, but you are going to get a good night's sleep first."
Ranma opened his mouth to protest, but Nodoka interrupted him, "You've used a lot of magic today, and you will need to be at full strength, just in case." She smiled. "We have plenty to talk about till then," She looked at Ukyo. "I'd like to know why your chasing after my son and calling him your fiancée for instance."
Genma's face suddenly became much whiter and he said. "Uh, I'll need to start the compass witch, ah witch compass."
"Sit down, Dearest." Nodoka replied. "I'd like to hear your viewpoint on this too."
I am using them without permission, hopefully for the purpose of entertaining someone. If anyone who has a right to sue me has that desire, I have almost no money.
C&C is appreciated, you can contact me at brendan@wiltonnewyork.com. And if you want to see the earlier parts of this and my other stories, you can find them at http://www.wiltonnewyork.com/Brendan
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Ranma three and a half eyes
Chapter 1
by Brendan O'Donnell
It was two minuets to midnight. In the greenhouse of the Kuno estate a figure was working diligently. That part of the greenhouse was unlit except for the candles, five black candles lit at each point of a pentagram, and a large red candle lit at the center. The figure spoke, her voice chanting a strange chant in a language that resembled Latin. Her chant continued and rose in volume.
As Midnight arrived the chant reached a crescendo and the flame of the red candle turned bright blue. From this blue flame rose a could of black smoke that filled the center of the mystic circle. Two eyes suddenly formed in the cloud and a voice issued from the mists. "For what propose am I summoned?"
"I call you to forth to end a single mortal life." It's summoner replied calmly.
Ranma was walking down the street trying not to look to his right. Walking where Ranma wasn't looking was Akane. Who was also avoiding his gaze. They were both nervous.
"We're just doing this for my father, you know." Akane commented.
"I know, it's not really a date, we're just seeing a movie together because it's your father's birthday and you want him to be happy." Ranma replied. He added in a quieter tone "As if I'd ever ask a tomboy like you on a real date."
"Ranma!" Akane shouted, turning to glare at him. She closed her eyes then said through gritted teeth "I'm trying to stay civil with you so keep your mouth shut and don't act like your usual hentai self."
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ranma pivoted and stared right into Akane's glare. *Back in familiar territory.* Ranma and Akane both thought to themselves with feelings of relief mixed with disappointment. Not that either one would admit it to anyone, including themselves.
"Nihau Ranma!" Came a voice from behind the pair. They turned to see Shampoo brake her bike and squeal to a stop one-inch from the pair. She grabbed Ranma and said, "Have day off, we go on date yes?"
"Ranma!" Akane said angrily.
"What Akane do here?" Shampoo said looking at the youngest Tendo Daughter.
"Uh, well it's her father's birthday and we're pretending to be going out as a kinda present. It's not a date or nothing..." Ranma said as he pulled himself free of Shampoo's arms. He trailed off as his well-trained sense of danger triggered. He glanced up a moment then grabbed both Akane and Shampoo and jumped to the left.
"RANMA!" Akane yelled, a second before a large object smashed into the ground where they just stood with explosive force.
The three Martial artists looked as the dust cleared revealing a large being. It rose from it's crouched over position and turned to look at the trio. It was almost seven feet tall with deep red scaly skin mostly covered by very black armor. Lashing it's tail against the ground it growled. "Good dodge, but it doesn't change the fact that you shall die today."
Ranma stepped foreword. "All right who are you and why are you after me."
"You couldn't pronounce my name anyway. As for why, I was asked to kill you and obeying that kind of request is both duty and pleasure." The demon stepped forward, folding it's wings against it's back. It raised it's right hand, which crackled with black fire. "Goodbye."
Ranma pushed the girls to opposite sides as he charged foreword, dodging the stream of fire, which ignited the pavement where they had stood a moment earlier. As Ranma approached the demon it lashed out against him with the claws on it's left hand. Ranma ducked under the attack and slammed a fist into his opponents stomach with enough force to split a redwood in half. The demon grunted and quivered slightly under the blow, lashing out with a claw strike that Ranma jumped just out of range of.
As the demons claws missed their target, it had also extended it's corresponding wing. This appendage struck Ranma squarely, knocking him to the ground.
The demon jumped foreword it's clawed feet extended, then with a strong wingbeat pushed itself back, away from Shampoo who had stepped over Ranma, sword extended so that the demon could impale himself. The demon frowned, then pivoted aside from Shampoo and Ranma's rising form as Akane jumped in, her kick cracking the ground where it had stood.
"Do you mind?" The demon's tail suddenly lashed out, impaling Akane in her lower left chest. Before she could do more that gasp, the tail suddenly moved, throwing her against the fence of the canal. "Now die quietly..."
"AHHHRRR!!" Ranma screamed as he leaped at the demon, his battle aura surging like a storm. The demon moved its claws to block to block the rush, and found itself staggering to the side as Ranma avoided the move and rammed 150 hard punches into it's left side. As the demon staggered back, Ranma paused, just long enough to focus the rage that had inundated his mind into his hands. A fierce light, bright red mixed with blue formed around Ranma's hands for a second before he closed the distance with his opponent. Lashing out with all his strength, Ranma's double fisted punch impacted with the demon's face and upper chest. It was thrown backward by the blow, shattering the wall opposite the fence.
Ranma could barely think of anything but catching the monster, and destroying it as thoroughly as he could, when he heard a soft cough from the edge of the canal. His rage dissipated like a tear in the ocean. "Akane!" He called as he rushed to her side.
Shampoo shook her head, pushing aside the shock she felt at seeing her Rival so casually impaled and Ranma's rage filled response. *Unforgivable Shampoo! You are a warrior, if you hesitate like that it could cost you your life!* She ran forward, slowing to a slow walk a few feet from the collapsed wall. The rubble shifted and the demon pulled itself to it's feet. There was a trickle of blood oozing from it's lips and it's upper chest was slightly discolored from Ranma's last attack, but it seemed more enraged than hurt. Shampoo heard Ranma scream Akane's name, and ignored the surge of pain in her heart. *Ranma distracted, I must hold back this monster until he's ready to fight.* She thought as she shifted her grip on her sword.
Ranma dropped to his knees in the pool of blood forming around Akane. *So Much Blood...* "NO!" He tore off his shirt and started trying to pack the wound, to do anything that would stop the bleeding.
The Demon purposefully stepped toward Ranma, stopping as it saw Shampoo step into it's path, sword pointed right at it.
Akane looked up at him. "Ranma." She said quietly, her voice distorted by the blood in her throat.
"Step aside and live." The demon stated, raising it's right hand and forming a sphere of black fire over it's palm to emphasize the point. Shampoo responded by thrusting her left arm foreword, throwing three small knives at the demon's extended hand. The demon knocked the blades out of the air with it's left hand, then lifted it's right and grasped the ball of fire. The flames surged outward, assuming the shape of a large sword, then fading to reveal a real sword.
"Don't try to talk. Save your strength, we'll talk after I get you to a hospital." There was a strong constant ache in his forehead, Ranma ignored it. *Damn it what do I do!* He knew about injury. In his mind he reviewed every option he could think of to get her someplace she could be treated. As each possibility passed through his mind, he realized the action would be to slow, that it would jostle her wound to much, that nothing he thought of could get Akane to help before she died.
Shampoo was putting all her speed and strength into parrying the demon's ferocious attack. She jumped back from a low slash and extended her sword. The demon's black blade had left her own blade badly knicked and chipped.
Akane winced as she lifted her left arm. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I want you to know I love..." Her arm dropped, and she closed her eyes.
"Akane..." Ranma said, leaning forward and looking into her face. A drop of blood fell onto her cheek, from the red horizontal line that had appeared in his forehead. Akane's breathing was becoming shallower. "No." Another drop of blood fell. "No!" Ranma had to wince at the searing pain in the front of his head. "NO!" he screamed to the heavens. The line of blood in his forehead split, revealing the eye beneath.
Shampoo took another step backward, and just barely kept herself from turning as a bright light exploded behind her. In front of her the demon dropped it's guard while it openly gaped. Not wasting the opportunity Shampoo spun foreword swinging her sword in a great circular arc. The sword shattered on the demon's chest, leaving a raged line of black blood. Continuing the circle of her attack, Shampoo raised her leg into a roundhouse kick into the demon's stomach, throwing it back to the broken wall. Unable to contain her curiosity any longer she turned to look at Ranma.
Ranma didn't know what had happened; his body suddenly felt as though it was filled with power. A wave of euphoria swept across him, and was shattered by the reality he saw before him. Akane was lying on the ground, and he could see her life flowing through her, could see it dimming as she died. Ranma knew he had to save her. And a means to save her formed in his head. Not questioning its source Ranma leaned forward and put his effort into the task.
Light exploded around Ranma. Then the light became concentrated, focused into a beam from his third eye to Akane's chest. A glowing sphere emerged from her and traveled up the beam to be absorbed by the eye. The eye closed, the light was gone.
Shampoo watched as the light surrounding Ranma concentrated into a beam from his head to Akane's chest. She saw the sphere of light float up the beam to where Ranma's body obscured her view. Then the beam faded. Ranma sat still for a second. Then he surged up and pivoted to face her. There was something changed about his face but she couldn't clearly see what it was. He raised his arms, his hands clenched into tight fists. Then he suddenly extended the first and last finger of each hand and an aura of blue fire formed around them.
With a fierce cry Ranma thrust his hands foreword and the fire exploded from his hands and surged right at her like a wave. Shampoo raised her arms in a semi instinctive attempt at defense, then blinked in shock as the fire passed through her like she hadn't existed. Her contemplation was cut short by the scream from behind her. Pivoting Shampoo saw the demon burning with the same flames that had passed through her harmlessly. A second later it began to crumble into a pile of dust.
Genma Saotome was running along the canal. Looking up he saw a pillar of blue flame form and dissipate a few blocks ahead of him. He accelerated. *What is happening?* He had been trying to con a vendor out of some rice cakes when he had suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of impending doom. It was a sensation he had not felt in years, but he had known it was real and that his son was it's focus. "RANMA!!"
Genma ran foreword. On his left he saw Shampoo standing before a shattered section of wall She was staring at the two forms lying by the fence. "Oh, my son!" he cried as he ran up to Ranma. Kneeling beside him he flipped him onto his back and checked his neck's pulse. Then he looked at Akane. "What happened..." He paused looking down at the pool of blood that he was standing at the fringes of.. He blinked a moment, then he looked closer, and his eyes widened. The blood was flowing back into Akane's wound. Turning to Akane, he reached out to brush the hair away from her forehead. "Oh Nodoka." He whispered. Then he reached down, swung Akane over his left shoulder, Ranma over his right, and stood.
"Ayah!" Shampoo had managed to overcome her shock enough to walk to where Genma stood. His sudden decision to manhandle both Ranma and her rival fiancée Akane took her by complete surprise.
Genma looked her in the eye. Shampoo had never seen this expression on him before. It was a combination of fear, sorrow, and relief. "Akane's not in any danger. I'll explain it to her and Ranma back at the Dojo once they wake up." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll definitely have to explain things to everyone... Shampoo," He hesitated for a moment. "Something significant just happened to Ranma. And I'd rather explain it to everyone at once so please get Ukyo and ask her to come to the Dojo."
Genma turned, and started down the street at a run.
Ranma groaned slightly, and blinked as he awoke. He recognized that he was lying in his and his father's room. He remembered what had happened just before he fell asleep. "Akane!" he cried as he bolted to his feet. Looking to his side he saw Akane lying on a futon a few feet away from him. She was wearing the dress, however he could see through the rip the unmarked skin underneath. Reddening slightly, Ranma looked away from her chest, and looked at the familiar contours of her face. He had seen Akane in many moods, and even sleeping like now, he knew her face perfectly. There was something different about it. On her forehead there was a Chinese character.
"Ranma," said a woman's voice from the doorway of the room. Ranma hadn't heard the voice very often, but he knew it very well. His mother's voice.
He looked down at himself and saw that he was male. Expanding his observation he saw his mother was looking directly at him, and there was no way he could run or change.
"Don't worry Ranma," his mother said as she walked across the room to him. "I'm not here about Jusenkyo, or the promise of Seppuku you've feared so much."
"Mom?" was Ranmas quiet response as he turned to her. He could see a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
Nodoka responded by grabbing him into a fierce hug, whispering, "I missed you so much."
"Oh Mom." Ranma grabbed her, hugging as fiercely as he could without squeezing harder than he knew she could take. For a minute the hug was all that mattered to either of them.
Nodoka separated them and brushed the tears from her eyes. "Now, let me look at you," she said as she observed him carefully. "I see you do take after me. In ways I had not wanted," she said with a sigh.
Ranma suddenly recalled the strange feelings and vision that had overtaken him when he saw Akane dying from the demon's attack. He was about to ask Nodoka if she somehow meant this, when he heard Akane moan. Spinning and kneeling beside her, he quietly said, "Akane," as he watched her wake up.
"Uh," Akane stated, opening her eyes, and looking around. She stopped when she saw Ranma and said quietly "Ranma..." Then she blinked in memory. She glanced down at the bloodstained dress, and putting her hand into the hole formed by the demons attack she felt the undamaged skin. "How?"
"I can answer that," Nodoka stated quietly from the door. Ranma and Akane both looked at her, her joy at being reunited with her son was being overcome by some unknown Sorrow. "Mom?" Ranma said quietly.
"Mrs. Saotome?" Akane added, sitting up.
"Come on, I think I'd rather explain this to everyone," she said as she turned and walked out the door.
Ranma looked after her, then looked back at Akane.
Akane looked at Ranma, looked down at her dress, and said "I, uh, I think I ought to change into something else."
Ranma glanced down at his own outfit, then said. "Yeah, me too."
Ranma walked down the stairs with Akane right behind him. Akane was wearing her yellow dress with a floral pattern, Ranma his red shirt and black pants. They both paused as they overlooked the family room. Nodoka, Genma, the rest of the Tendo family and Shampoo and Ukyo were all gathered around the table. Everyone turned their head to look at Ranma and Akane.
No one said anything.
Nodoka indicated that the two of them sit at a open space to her left.
"Ranma, there is so much to tell you. So much you need to know..." Nodoka trailed off looking down at the table.
"I think it would be best if I tell him how we met," Genma said to her.
Genma turned to Ranma and began. "I met Nodoka in the year 1895. I was at that time only a few years older than you are now." He looked at the incredulous looks from around the table. "It may be hard to believe but at the time she wasn't human."
Nodoka looked up and started talking. "My people were known as the Sanjiyan Unkara, or sometimes as the Triclops. When we existed, at least. For a very long time we sought to end our immortality and attain humanity. To the best of my knowledge I was the last to find a way to become human."
Nabiki looked at her and said in a skeptical voice, "So you were Immortal, and you wanted to give it up?"
Nodoka sighed and looked at the table. "You can only see our longevity, our power. You don't know the terrible prices they require, or the gifts of humanity that you know too well to see."
"This is all very interesting," Nabiki commented. "But according to Shampoo, my little sister just got almost killed by some demon and now she's in perfect shape. How do you explain that?"
"If you listen to the rest of our story it will all make sense," Genma responded. "To shorten the tale; I met Nodoka on the road, and agreed to show her the way to Kyoto. However on the way there , there was an... accident."
"An inn was on fire, and Genma was severely injured trying to save the people inside. I had only known him a short time, but I knew that I couldn't allow him to die. So I used one of the most basic and potent powers of the Sanjiyan and made him my WU." Pausing, Nodoka took a sip from the cup of tea Kasumi had given her just before Ranma and Akane had arrived. She continued, "The Sanjiyan posses great magic power. However, when we use that power to its utmost, it weakens us, often leaving us powerless for days at a time. So, long ago, even by immortal standards, we learned how to take the soul of another and merge it with our own. The one whose soul we have taken becomes our WU, our... protector and servant. As the soul is kept safe within our own, the WU's body becomes immune from harm, all injuries heal at fantastic speed, and they share our own longevity, and a portion of our power." Nodoka stopped and looked at her tea.
Genma resumed the narrative, "For a very long time I traveled with Nodoka, helping her search for a way to become human. And eventually we found the Nyanichuan."
Ranma blinked. He looked at his father with a disbelieving expression. "YOU KNEW?!"
"We knew, Ranma," Nodoka responded. "You see, the Nyanichuan was the critical catalyst in the spell which made me human, and within a few hours the character marking your father my WU faded forever. We traveled apart for a few years, I wanted to get a feel of humanity, your father met Happosei and Soun, and decided to relearn fighting without the power he had gained from me. After disposing of Happosei, we met again, he proposed and I accepted." She smiled at the memory. "We bought a house with the savings of centuries, and just over a year later, I had you." She looked at Ranma her eyes glistening, and a smile on her face. Then the smile faltered.
"However even from the beginning, I wondered if my Sanjiyan nature was gone or merely suppressed. I was uncertain whether or not you might have inherited my former nature. Then when you were five I knew. You were at the playground, and a group of bullies was picking on you. You had enough training to handle any one of them, but they were threatening you all at once. When I was coming to help you, I saw you're forehead begin to spontaneously bleed, here," Nodoka said extending her finger and tracing a short line in the center of Ranma's forehead.
"Here you were in a situation where a young Sanjiyan would have tried to call forth his power, and there was blood where you're third eye would have opened. That was when I knew you had inherited my former nature from me." Nodoka looked down, her eyes glistening, her hands clenched.
Genma glanced at his wife, then started talking, "Anyway, Nodoka didn't know what to do. Remember it hadn't been that long ago when she gave up the power of the Sanjiyan forever. Now she discovered that the power she had spent most of her life trying to escape was part of you. We talked about what to do for a long time. Nodoka was desperate to enable you to grow up and live your life as a normal human, but she had no idea how to. I hoped she could succeed, but I also knew that if you did become Sanjiyan, you needed to be able to handle it. After about a week, Nodoka decided that her presence risked empowering your Sanjiyan side and she insisted that I take you and raise you till you were a man. So we began our long training trip.
"I was determined that if I failed to keep you human you should at least have some experience with travel and Martial Arts in preparation for life as a Sanjiyan. And as you were about to turn sixteen, I decided to hedge our bets and take you to Jusenkyo to add an extra bit of insurance that your Sanjiyan nature would remain sealed."
"So what about that promise? The man among men thing?" Nabiki asked.
Nodoka looked at her. "That was my idea. Genma told me that he was coming home after Jusenkyo, I wanted to see my son again so much, but I was still terrified that I might awaken the Sanjiyan nature within him. I chickened out at the last moment, and Genma decided to come here instead." She sighed and looked down. "I kept planning to come, but the fear kept holding me back. Eventually I contacted Genma and we tried to think up a way for me to see Ranma with the Jusenkyo curse as a buffer. Genma and I thought up the man among men promise as a way to keep you in your cursed form without having to burden you with the knowledge that you weren't fully human. Genma told me that there was no sign of your Sanjiyan side manifesting, so I was planning a way to reveal your secret and accept your manliness. However before I could, Akane was attacked, and your pain and anger at seeing her dying awoke my side of you're heritage. You made her your WU to save her life."
Ranma looked at Akane, then said quietly "Hai." Akane looked back at him, a somewhat surprised expression on her face.
"Akane," Nodoka said, turning her attention to her sons Fiancée.
Blinking back her surprise Akane looked at Nodoka. "Hai?"
"You aren't sure you believe what I've said, are you?"
"Well..."
"Give me your hand a moment," Nodoka said evenly. Akane looked at her a moment, then extended her open right hand toward Mrs. Saotome, palm up. Nodoka touched the fingers of her own right hand to Akane's, then her left hand stabbed a Tanto dagger into Akane's palm.
It took everyone a moment to overcome the sense of shock enough to react. Ranma was first, grabbing his mother's wrist, and yanking it back. Before he could do anything more, Nodoka said, "Hold up your hand, Akane."
Akane was looking at her just wounded hand, and looked at Nodoka she held it up. As everyone watched, the blood that had poured from the wound flowed back into it. Soon the wound had faded without a trace.
"Hmm, getting soft in your old age I see," Genma commented.
Nodoka glanced at him with an annoyed look, "She is my son's fiancée, not some slow witted wanderer I just met."
Genma turned to Akane and said, "She illustrated my newly-gained healing power to me by chopping off my head." He rubbed his neck and winced somewhat.
As Ranma sat back down at the table, Soun finally stopped crying. "Well, this is all a bit of a shock, but my little girl is alive and well and that's what's important."
Nodoka and Genma both looked away from him and coughed in near perfect unison. "Well..." Genma said.
"Technically..." Nodoka added.
"Umm, the term most commonly used is, er, undead." Genma finished. Soun stared at him, then started crying again.
"Undead?" Akane asked.
"Undead, as in something like a vampire or a zombie?" Nabiki said, looking right at the Saotome's.
Nodoka frowned and said, "It's a label humanity placed on the WU."
Suddenly a small object blurred into the room. "Ranma-Chan!" it called out, as it resolved itself into Happosei long enough to splash Ranma with a bucket of cold water. A second later the old pervert had clamped himself onto Ranma's newly acquired breasts.
"GRRAA!" Ranma replied. Her clothes were whipped by an unseen wind, her hair raised by an updraft that only affected her, then there was a blinding flash of light and a crash.
Ranma had risen to her feet. Her right arm was extended from throwing Happosei into the garden. Her third eye was open and glaring at the old master. "You disgusting old freak," she said, her voice vibrating with power.
When this had happened a few hours ago, all of Ranma's attention had been directed to Akane. Now Akane was safe, and she felt none of the pain that had accompanied her initial awakening. She could feel the power coursing through her body, focusing in the eye that had just opened in her forehead.
What's more, this third eye didn't see what her other two saw. Through it she saw the spirits that were everywhere. She could see the cloud of dark spiritual energy surrounding the old man she had just thrown into the backyard. And despite the newness of this new sight, she knew instinctively what she was seeing. And as she looked at the wind, actually seeing it for the first time; she knew that she could do more than just look. Taking a step toward the garden she raised her hands.
As Ranma lifted her hands, wind swirled around her, picking up speed. Ranma shifted her hands, once again extending the two outer fingers while bringing her thumb to meet the other two. She jabbed her hands forward, and as the wind around her died down, a dramatically stronger wind formed around Happosei, lifting the old pervert into the air. Ranma quickly gestured away with her right hand. Happosei was hurled into the distant sky. Ranma smiled slightly.
Then the smile faded, and she pivoted and leaped onto the roof of the Dojo. Everyone ran into the yard.
"Ranma?" Genma called to his son, then jumped onto the roof after him as he heard a sudden shriek of pain. Landing on the roof, he ran to where Ranma sat, rubbing her somewhat scorched foot and looking at three paper charms lying on the roof in front of her. Smoke was rising from the middle one.
"Ow, Old Ghoul," Ranma muttered to herself as she stopped rubbing her foot and stood. A quick glance confirmed what Genma recognized from Ranma's voice, the third eye was closed again.
"You shouldn't startle an old woman like that." Cologne responded from the other side of the wards. "You scared me half to death."
Genma looked at the ancient Matriarch, who was standing on the other side of the wards from Ranma. He picked up a ward and commented, "Expecting trouble?"
Cologne folded her arms into her sleeves and responded, "Earlier this afternoon I had a sudden sense of great darkness and danger. I grabbed a few wards and tracked it down, and arrived just as you were running off with Ranma and Akane. I felt something strange about them, and I decided I had better follow."
"And why were you hiding here?"
"I didn't want to show myself until I had some idea what was happening." Cologne shrugged and walked to the edge of the roof. All three martial artists jumped into the yard below.
"Great Grandmother!" Shampoo cried in surprise as she saw Cologne.
"Come Shampoo, we both have much to think about." Cologne responded as she used her staff to leap from roof to roof in the direction of the Nekohanten. Shampoo looked after her, paused and looked at Ranma. Then she jumped over the wall and began following Cologne. Mousse immediately followed Shampoo.
Genma looked at the retreating trio of Amazon's and commented, "Well we've still got some things to discuss. Let's head back inside.."
"Nabiki, would you hand this to Akane?" Genma said as he sat down, handing a spirit ward to the middle Tendo sister. Nabiki looked at the very ordinary looking piece of paper in her hand and extended it to her sister.
"OWWW!" Akane cried as she jerked her hand away from the paper. "That's red hot!" She added as she massaged her hand.
"To you and Ranma now," Genma replied, tearing the one in his hand in half.
"That may be important to know, but I think we have more important concerns right now." Nodoka said. "I asked Shampoo about what you fought, and it was definitely some sort of Stygian order demon. I was never too familiar with them so I can't be too sure but if one of them appeared it was almost certainly summoned by someone."
"When I find out who they'll be sorry." Ranma commented quietly.
"Tomorrow son." Genma replied. "I still remember enough about Magic to put together something that will let us track whoever summoned that demon, but you are going to get a good night's sleep first."
Ranma opened his mouth to protest, but Nodoka interrupted him, "You've used a lot of magic today, and you will need to be at full strength, just in case." She smiled. "We have plenty to talk about till then," She looked at Ukyo. "I'd like to know why your chasing after my son and calling him your fiancée for instance."
Genma's face suddenly became much whiter and he said. "Uh, I'll need to start the compass witch, ah witch compass."
"Sit down, Dearest." Nodoka replied. "I'd like to hear your viewpoint on this too."