A young looking girl with chocolate eyes stands
in an endless black void filled with nothing beside
the girl herself and hundreds of strands of light.
She walks briskly among the strands, ducking and
jumping as she weaves through them. As she walks,
she occasionally plucks a strand into place with one
hand while the other plays with the blonde braid
that trails several feet past her feet.
She's wearing what appears to be a scarlet,
sleeveless leotard with shiny white boots and
matching bracers that go nearly to her elbows. The
right boot has a thick gold band that goes around
her ankle, then criss-crosses in front of her leg to
form a gold X before wrapping around her lower calf.
In between the two parallel bands of gold, in the
triangular spaces created by the X, her pale pink
skin is visible.
The only jewelry she wears is a golden choker
that covers her entire neck. It has a round teal
stone that sparkles with an inner fire. There is a
smaller stone of the same color on each of her
bracers. A teal bow is tied cheerfully to secure
her floor length braid, allowing only two shoulder-
length strands to hang on either side of her face.
She smiles softly as she brushes her hand across
one strand of yellow light. It sparkles where she
touched it, moving to a slightly altered path with
her guidance. She nods in contentment and
continues. There is a flickering to her left, and
she notices that two strands are getting rather too
close for comfort.
"No, no! What naughty worlds you are! Do you
really want to collide?" She weaves through the
strands that separate her from the flickering ones.
As she steps up to them, she frowns.
"The Changelings of your worlds aren't terribly
wise, are they? How can I help them?" That was her
job, after all.
Each strand of light represented a world. Each
world had a changeling that determined the path of
the world. The Changelings were complicated people
with odd lives that represented a bit of everyone on
their worlds. Each decision that the Changelings
made altered the direction that their ever-growing
strand made.
If they chose one way, the world would move one
direction. Another decision sent the world in a
completely different way. If the Changeling on the
world of Arcadia forgot to brush her teeth, the
world would spin to the left. It could be tiresome,
but Destiny had been doing this for so many
millennia that it was fun and easy.
Occasionally, two worlds ran very close to each
other, causing minor problems. Problems like the
creation of a demon or the channeling of excess
power into a single person. The world's Changeling
and its companions usually corrected these problems
with ease. Sometimes however, the power/demon was
too powerful, and Destiny sent a minor deity
underling to the people's aid.
Now it is very rare, but not unheard of, for two
worlds to actually attempt to occupy the same space.
It had only happened a handful of times, thanks to
her diligence. When this happened, a more
significant problem arises. The few times that
worlds managed to merge without her noticing,
something different had happened each time.
Destiny's superiors had been terribly
disappointed when one world died, and again
centuries later when the Changeling of one world was
stuck forever on another world. Destiny had vowed
then to be as careful as she could.
Now, she was carefully guiding two green worlds
apart. She was so single-minded that she didn't
notice two red strands flickering rapidly behind
her. On one world, a young girl risked her own life
to cast a very powerful spell in order to save her
friends. On the other, a young man bit back a
hurtful comment about his fiancée.
The worlds jerked suddenly and were now
careening toward each other. Destiny lifted a smug
smile after saving the green worlds. She turned and
noticed the red flashes, gasping and rushing through
the web of worlds. She reached the two red strands
just as they meshed together.
Lina gasped as she sat up in bed. She'd had
another dream of the terrible fight with
Shabranigdo. Gourry was instantly beside her.
"What's wrong Lina?"
She shook her head to clear it, and then blinked
once at Gourry. "How'd you get here so fast?"
He stared dumbly at her for a moment before
looking to the floor and digging one toe into the
planks of the inn floor. "I was kinda worried bout
ya, so I decided to sleep on your floor."
She glared at him before bopping him on the
head. He flew into an unconscious heap on the
floor. Lina sighed and tugged at a strand of white
hair. She hoped it turned back to the fiery red she
knew soon. White wasn't her color. She looked up
at the window and saw the sun rising. They'd better
start out as soon as Gourry woke up.
Lina found Zel and they woke Gourry. After a
quick and hearty meal, they set out into the woods
just outside of town. Gourry kept pestering her
about her dream, and she refrained from knocking him
out again. She'd have to carry him if she did that.
With a frustrated snarl, she took off at a run
through the thick underbrush. She heard Zel and
Gourry yelling and chasing after her. She made it
to the path and turned to yell at them. She kept
running as she screamed over her shoulder, "Will you
guys just leave me alone?"
They came onto the path behind her and started
to yell for her to stop. Gourry was staring right
at her, his face hurt, but Zel was looking over her
shoulder in shock. Lina slowed her pace slightly
and looked back where she was going in confusion.
What was bothering Zel?
She gasped and hit the brakes as she saw a large
blue portal. She managed to halt a few paces in
front of it, but it was pulling her in. Her boots
left trenches in the dirt path as she pulled against
the immense force of the portal. She turned and
tried to walk away, but it caught her cape and
tugged on that.
Gourry saw her problem and ran to her. He
grasped one of her elbows in both of his hands,
pulling with all his might. He felt Zel grab his
waist and pull with him. Gourry closed his eyes in
effort until he felt a cool sensation on his hands.
He looked up to see that all of Lina except for her
face, shoulder, and the arm he grasped was in the
portal.
"Gourry! Help!"
"I'm trying Lina!" Her face and shoulder were
sucked into the swirling blues of the portal,
leaving only her arm from the elbow down in sight.
He felt her slipping from his grasp and made a
sudden decision. He let go of her arm and jumped.
Lina was close to tears as the portal closed
around her face, hiding Gourry from her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt his hands let go and she cried
out soundlessly. The bright swirls of blue with
slashes of red and white formed a tunnel around her.
She saw 'holes' where other tunnels appeared to veer
from the one she was falling through.
She made swimming motions with her hands as she
tried desperately to grab hold of something or make
it to one of the other tunnels. Behind her, she
felt the now familiar sucking of a tunnel as it
pulled her in. The next thing she knew, wind was
blowing against her as if she were falling. She'd
felt like she was falling in the tunnel, but she
just now realized that there wasn't any wind.
The falling sensation ended abruptly as she felt
a cold, wet wall slam into her.
Ranma started to open his mouth when Akane
mentioned cooking dinner tonight. He slammed it
shut. She'd just hit him anyway. He thought
frantically, knowing she was gonna ask him a
question or something that would only get him in
trouble. He heard a ringing and turned as a
familiar sound greeted his ears.
"Nihao Ranma!"
"Ack! Akane, I'll meet ya at the dojo!"
He took off, knowing he'd outrun the bike with a
little effort. He was right, and soon made it to
the Tendo's. He ran through the gate, pausing to
look around the yard. He gave a few soft gasps,
barely short of breath, and scanned the empty
street.
Since it would be several hours until dinner, he
might as well get some exercise in. He was just
starting a kata by the koi pond when the same
ringing from earlier reached him. He groaned and
turned to the wall as Shampoo flew over it on her
bike.
"Why Ranma run from Shampoo?"
Akane ran through the gate and stood between
Ranma and Shampoo, gasping for breath. "Because
you're an annoying bimbo, and nobody likes you!"
"Grr. Is no true. Shampoo many, many friends;
and Ranma love wife very much."
With that pronouncement, she ran toward Ranma
and over Akane. Just before reaching him, there was
a bright flash of light overhead and behind Ranma.
Ranma, backpedaling from Shampoo, had his back to
the bright blue light and escaped unharmed. Shampoo
and Akane, however, were momentarily blinded.
Ranma saw the yard brighten for a second and
noticed the dazed looks on the girls' faces once the
blue tinge faded from the yard. Stunned as well, he
lost his balance and fell into the pond. AS soon as
he hit, something else landed on top of him. He
lost his breath and lay stunned at the bottom of the
pond.
Shampoo shook away the bright spots in her
vision and looked for Ranma. She didn't see him
anywhere, but remembered the flash. Smiling, she
approached the pond. She studied it until noticing
the bright red blur beneath the surface. Smiling,
she reached in and grabbed an arm.
Eyes closed happily as she smiled, Shampoo said,
"See what good wife Shampoo is to rescue Airen?"
"Ow! Hey, let go of my arm, will ya?"
Shampoo opened her eyes and looked at the
strange girl in confusion. "Who you?"
"I'm Lina Inverse." She said it proudly as she
pulled her arm out of the purple-haired girl's
grasp. She watched the girl's face for a reaction,
and getting none, commented, "You HAVE heard of me,
haven't you?"
Shampoo shook her head dumbly, then seemed to
anger very quickly. "Hey! What you do with Airen?"
"Who? Hey!" Lina dodged the sudden punch with
ease, but the second one took her by surprise and
sent her flying over the pond, just as Ranma
surfaced. Shampoo ran after Lina, bouncing off of
Ranma's head.
"Excuse Shampoo, Airen. Must avenge you death
by red-haired stranger girl."
Ranma rubbed her head both to massage away the
pain and in confusion. He looked up at Akane
questioningly as she helped him out of the pond.
"Don't just sit there, baka. Shampoo's gonna
kill that girl!"
Ranma jerked his head around and jumped to his
feet when he saw Shampoo running to the shaken girl.
The redhead was on all fours, shaking her head to
clear it. Ranma crossed the yard quickly, but not
quick enough.
Lina stood and turned just as the amazon reached
her. She spun and dodged a punch. As she
straightened, she jumped away and drew her sword.
Shampoo frowned at the thin blade.
"Shampoo use sword too."
Lina gasped as the other girl brought a blade
from seemingly nowhere. She barely parried the
first blow, but did a little better on the second.
"Shampoo!" Ranma's cry went unheard. He
reached out to grab the girl's sword arm, but she
made a move that even he didn't quite expect. His
arm went through air and Shampoo's blade went
through Lina's shoulder.
Ranma tackled Shampoo as Lina collapsed. Akane
ran over and rolled Lina onto her back. The girl's
face was contorted in pain as she clutched her right
shoulder. Ranma threw a quick punch to Shampoo's
stomach to take her breath away.
"Jeez Shampoo! Calm down. I'm fine already!"
"Ranma! Shut up a second, will you?" Akane
glared briefly at her fiancé before turning back to
the wet redhead on the ground. "Hey, are you
alright?"
"Arg! Get off. Unh." Lina struck weakly out
at Akane, getting enough force into the blow to
knock Akane back a little.
Gourry fell from the portal and rolled to his
feet. He scanned the area and seemed to be in some
kind of garden.
"Who dares to trespass in the garden of the
great blue thunder?"
Gourry turned and stared at the youth before
him. He at first thought that the stranger was
waving a sword at him, but it seemed to be some kind
of wooden toy. Gourry smiled.
"Hi. Sorry about dropping in. I'm looking for
someone, maybe you've seen her. She's short with
red hair and—"
Kuno jerked his head up to study the stranger.
"What have thou done to the pig tailed goddess whom
I love with all my noble heart?"
"Goddess? Well, I never really considered her a
goddess, but L—"
"Have at thee!" Kuno lunged forward, striking
out with his bokken. Gourry drew his sword as he
sidestepped, hitting the teen upside the head. As
Kuno fell to the ground, Gourry started walking.
Lina had a habit of running into trouble, so he was
sure he'd find her soon if he just wandered
aimlessly.
Sure enough, he'd only been walking a few
minutes down the odd streets when he heard
screaming. He followed it to a wall and jumped up
to grab the edge. He pulled himself up and peaked
over after hearing someone yelling about hair
products.
When he looked over the top of the wall, He saw
a boy tackling a girl who was wielding a sword.
Another girl was talking to a beaten looking Lina.
Gourry stared at the scene for long moments before
he started to get angry. He noted the bloody sword
in the purple-haired girl's hand and the gaping
wound in Lina's torso.
He leapt over the wall and ran to Lina. He
pushed the girl away and cradled Lina's head. "Are
you okay Lina?"
"Gourry, gotta cast spell." Gourry heard her
mumbling incoherently and turned glowing eyes on
Shampoo.
"You did this to her."
Shampoo drew herself up and nodded curtly, "Weak
girl attack Airen. Shampoo defend husband."
Gourry leapt to his feet and everyone turned to
him, completely missing it when Lina started to
glow. Gourry drew his sword and pointed it at the
proud amazon. "For injuring my friend, I, Gourry
Gabriev, challenge you to a match to the death."
Shampoo nodded and squared herself off against
him. Lina muttered to herself, but nobody was
paying any attention. Ranma was looking between
Gourry and Shampoo in an undecided manner. Akane
edged closer to Ranma, though she'd never admit to
it later, and kept her eyes on the strange blonde
man.
Gourry narrowed his eyes and slid his sword from
the sheath. Shampoo took one of her usual graceful
and completely unpractical-looking stances. They
stared at each other for a long moment before Gourry
jerked into action. Shampoo's eyes widened
momentarily before she swung her sword up to dodge
the downward slice from Gourry's sword.
His heavier sword slid completely down her
smaller sword until she was forced to take a hit or
move away. She slipped her sword free and jumped to
the side. Ranma suddenly grabbed Akane and jumped
onto the garden wall. She was so intent on the
battle that she barely noticed when he didn't
release his grip.
Shampoo had spun away from Gourry's heavy but
surprisingly quick swipes. He lunged forward and
swung, but Shampoo jumped up and over him, landing
on his left and supposedly blind side. She whipped
her sword around in a vicious attack that Gourry
was able to easily avoid.
Gourry side-stepped and hit her with the flat
edge of his sword on the back of her skull. She
dropped like a rock as Ranma screamed from the top
of the wall.
"No! Don't beat her!"
Gourry turned and gave him a confused and
annoyed look. "Why not? She hurt Lina."
Ranma jumped from the wall and set Akane down
before standing over Shampoo and carefully
scrutinizing her. He poked her with a toe, "Yup,
she's out. Sorry bud, I was hoping she'd beat you."
"What! I—"
Ranma held his palms up to stop whatever
comments the man was gonna make. "Look, she's an
amazon. When a guy beats her, she thinks she's
gotta—"
There was a flash of light and a ball of light
flew past Ranma and Gourry, brushing their noses
before flying over the wall and slowly rising into
the sky to disappear.
Both fighters turned to see Lina sitting on the
ground, one knee up with her arm resting on it. Her
other arm was held against her shoulder, but not
with much evident force.
"How about you two quit the chatter and help me
up here?"
Gourry ran over and helped her stand. Akane and
Ranma walked over to stand side by side and face the
strangely dressed couple. Lina brushed her tunic
and cape off before facing the teenaged couple.
Gourry was studying the whole in her tunic. The
edges were bloody and torn, but only smooth skin lay
beneath. Ranma and Akane were staring too when
Gourry spoke in wonder.
"Lina! You're alright."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course Gourry! It was
only a minor scratch. I've had worse. Now will
somebody care to explain why that girl attacked me."
She pointed angrily at the unconscious amazon on the
ground.
Akane kept her eyes on Lina's stomach, "How
about you explain how you got sliced open a few
minutes ago, but you don't even have a scratch now."
Lina sighed and held one hand over her eyes.
"It was a simple healing spell, alright? Now, why's
she attack me?"
Ranma, still a girl, shrugged. "You fell on top
of me and knocked us both into the pool. While I
was catching my breath, Shampoo tried to play the
obedient little housewife and help me out of the
pool. She saw your red hair and thought you were
me. When you came out instead of me, she thought
you'd done something to me."
Lina nodded slowly as she thought through the
explanation. "So why was she being the happy little
housewife?"
"Because she thinks we're married."
Lina looked up at Ranma and blinked. "Okay, she
may be an amazon, but why would she want to marry
another girl?"
Ranma looked confused until he remembered his
current form. "Oh yeah, you don't know. I have
this curse ya see, and I turn into a girl when I get
hit with cold water."
Lina looked closely at Ranma and squinted.
After a moment, she nodded slowly. "Yes, I can see
the magic mixed with your aura. It's not too bad
though, why haven't you had a mage dispel it yet?"
Ranma and Akane shared a quick glance before
Ranma gave her an odd look. "The only ones that
know magic around here are Happy and the old Ghoul.
Neither of them says that they can cure it, but they
probably wouldn't admit to it even if they could."
Akane held up a finger and added helpfully,
"Cologne would if she thought it would mean conning
you into marrying Shampoo."
Ranma nodded thoughtfully, "That's true.
Besides, she'd definitely heal Shampoo's curse."
Lina studied Shampoo as she had Ranma, "What's
with you people and curses?"
"Hey, it's not my fault Pop can't read Chinese."
Lina blinked and looked at Gourry, but he wasn't
any help. "Hey, where's Zel?"
"Who?" Akane didn't like all these strange
people showing up in her backyard at once.
Lina was busy studying the horizon, so Gourry
answered. "He's a friend of ours. He helped Lina
and me defeat Shabranigdo."
Akane nodded in a confused state until Lina gave
a slight shout and started waving her hands. "Down
here Zel!"
They all looked up to see a cloaked figure
slowly descending into the yard. He was completely
covered in whitish-gray clothes, except for bits of
lavender hair and a shaded bit of his face around
his eyes. He landed lightly beside Lina as the
flickering aura around him faded.
"Where've you two been?"
Lina shrugged and waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh, I've been right here fighting odd little
amazons. I don't know where Gourry was, but he
showed up right after I got hurt."
"You heal yourself alright, or did one of those
girls do it?"
"Hey!"
Zel glanced at Ranma before turning back to Lina
for an answer. "Nah, I got it. They claim that
there aren't any mages around, and I'm prone to
agree."
"Why?"
She shrugged, "Two of them have minor magical
curses and, judging by the calm way he was talking
about turning into a girl, he's had it for awhile."
Zel studied Ranma for a moment. "That's a guy?"
Gourry nodded, "Tell me about it. I find it
hard to believe he's a he since he's built better
than Lina—oof!"
A blushing and angry Lina removed her elbow from
Gourry's stomach. "As I was saying, if you study
his aura you can tell he's a he and that he has a
curse."
Zel did turn and look at Ranma, finally nodding.
"You're right, it's there."
Ranma coughed into his fist and poked his toe
into the ground. "Uh, by any chance, would any of
you be able to fix this curse?"
Lina glared at him, "After your wife attacked
me?"
"Wife!" Ranma, Akane, and Zel all spoke at once
with varying degrees of shock or anger.
Ranma stepped forward angrily, "She's not my
wife, she just thinks she is!"
Lina rolled her eyes, and Ranma continued.
"Besides, I was still underwater catching my breath
after you landed on me when she attacked you. As I
recall, it was Akane and me that stopped Shampoo."
"Well, maybe, but I still had to heal myself."
Akane shrugged, "Knowing Shampoo, be glad you
didn't have to bury yourself before Ranma stopped
her."
Lina glared at her. "I may have been on the
ground, but one spell would have taken all three of
you out without doing anything to me."
Akane looked at her through narrowed eyes,
suspicious of the redhead's confident tone. "Are
you saying that you're a magician or something?"
Lina crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm
saying that I'm Lina Inverse, the greatest sorceress
in the world." She thrust her nose into the air and
tried to look down at Ranma and Akane, even though
they were all about the same size.
Ranma and Akane looked at each other before
asking in unison, "Who?"
Lina face-faulted before quickly pulling herself
up and staring at the two in disbelief. Zel cocked
his head and asked, "You mean you've never heard of
Lina Inverse?" They shook their heads and he turned
to Lina. "That portal must have taken us pretty far
away if they've never heard of you. Besides,
they're dressed funny."
Ranma and Akane developed huge teardrops on the
backs of their heads. "Look, Ranma and I aren't the
ones dressed funny. Are you going to a costume
party or something? I mean, nobody wears such
outdated clothes except for Kuno."
Gourry perked up, "Kuno? I ran into somebody
named Kuno. He attacked me with a stick."
Akane sighed and Ranma smirked. "Great! That
means you probably beat him if you can get Shampoo."
Gourry looked vaguely insulted, "Of course I
beat him! He had a stick and I'm the owner of the
Sword of—oof!" He rubbed his stomach and looked
utterly deflated. "Could you stop doing that Lina?"
"Yeah sure, sure. Anyway, if you guys help us
figure out where we are, maybe Zel here will look
into your curse."
Ranma and Akane looked at each other and
shrugged. Akane finally nodded, "I don't see why
not, as long as you don't attack anyone else. We
have enough fights around here as it is without a
supposed sorceress running around."
"What do you mean 'supposed'? I happen to be
pretty famous where we're from."
"Wo da Airen!" Gourry found himself enveloped
by a mass of Chinese silk and lavender hair. He
milled his arms around to catch his balance,
struggling to keep his mouth out of her hair to be
able to breathe.
Ranma suddenly lit up, but Akane seemed
doubtful. "Hey Shampoo, does that mean that you'll
be giving up on your stupid claim to Ranma?"
Shampoo sent Akane an icy glare over her
shoulder. "Since when angry girl care about Ranma?"
"I don't! I just can't believe you'd switch
back and forth like that!" She was blushing
furiously, but everyone was staring at Shampoo and
Gourry. Ranma saw the blush and glanced curiously
at Akane. He quickly looked away however, when
Gourry jumped out of Shampoo's arms.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Shampoo looked genuinely hurt as Ranma casually
explained. "Like I tried to tell ya. When a guy
defeats an amazon, she has to marry him. She's been
after me for a couple years now."
Shampoo suddenly remembered Ranma and looked
between the two men. "Uh, Shampoo must go back
Nekohanten to make deliveries. Be back later,
Airen."
All watched calmly as she bounced over the wall.
Akane asked wryly, "Which one do you think she
means?"
"OH Akane, I didn't know you had friends over.
Father and Mr. Soatome are going to be late, so your
friends can have their share." Akane sighed and
tried to figure out how to withdraw Kasumi's
invitation, but Lina and Gourry were already at the
base of the porch.
"Oh we couldn't impose. I don't believe we've
met. I'm Lina Inverse the Bandit killer."
"My, what a noble occupation. But isn't that a
bit harsh? I'm Kasumi, Akane's older sister."
Gourry smiled and nodded once in acknowledgment.
"I'm Gourry Gabriev."
"Pleased to meat you, Mr. Gabriev." She smiled
down at him and he seemed to go fuzzy for a moment.
Kasumi didn't notice, and gestured Lina into the
house. "Do come in Miss. Inverse. I assure you,
you wouldn't be imposing at all."
"Well in that case . . ."
Before Akane and Ranma knew it, they were seated
at the table with Nabiki, Kasumi, Lina, Gourry, and
Zel; though Zel was off a little to the side,
withdrawing from the group.
Kasumi turned with a freshly ladled bowl of
soup. "Don't you want some soup Mr. Zelgadis?"
"Uh, no. That's alright." His body chose that
moment to give a hungry stomach growl. He blushed a
bright scarlet, but nobody saw it through the mask
he was wearing. He kept his head down so that his
face was shadowed, and watched everything through
the locks of pale hair.
"Your stomach knows best! Now come have a bowl
of soup."
With the normal amount of success when resisting
a Kasumi-made request, he was soon at the table.
"Um, thanks."
"No trouble at all."
Everyone stared as he stared at the bowl. It
would be impossible to eat while wearing the mask,
and the Tendo household was curious as to why he was
wearing a mask and so worried about hiding his face.
Lina was curious as to how he'd reveal his stony
skin, and Gourry was just trying to figure out what
everyone was looking at.
After a long moment, Lina cried out, "I can't
take it anymore! Zel's uncle put a curse on him
that made him part golem, so he has stone skin.
There, now take off your mask and eat for crying out
loud." Lina soon went back to slurping hungrily
through her fourth bowl of soup. Ranma did
likewise, but kept his eyes on Zel.
Zelgadis studied the delicious looking soup.
With a small sigh, he reached up and undid the cloth
around his face. He closed his eyes as the gasps
reached him. After a moment he opened them to see
the stunned faces. What surprised him were whose
faces were stunned.
Lina and Gourry were looking at him strangely,
while everyone else looked confused. Ranma turned
to Lina. "I thought you said there was something
weird about him?" Akane elbowed him in the ribs.
"Zel, your face!"
"Is it worse or something?" He reached up, but
she caught his hand. She played with his hand for a
bit while he picked up the shiny lid to the silver
pot. He held it up and stared at his reflection.
He still had pale hair and eyes, but his skin was a
healthy pinkish color with a hint of a tan.
"I don't . . . understand. Why?"
Lina smiled up at him. "This is great! That
portal must have changed your curse somehow."
He studied her as well. "Hey Lina, when did
your hair get back to normal?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" She picked up a lock
and studied it. "It's the normal red—oh. I forgot
about that."
Akane looked between the two. "Forgot what?"
"Well, when I used my biggest spell on
Shabranigdo, it turned my hair a yucky grayish
white. Now it's a normal red again."
Nabiki sat with her chin cupped in one hand. "I
wouldn't call that bright color normal."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ranma and
Lina looked at each other, for they'd spoken in
unison. Ranma sat back down and continued eating
as if nothing had happened, but Lina kept going.
"What's wrong with red hair?"
"Oh nothing, but you and Ranma are the only two
I've ever seen with hair that bright. Of course,
Shampoo has purple hair, which is weirder, but—"
Zel raised one eyebrow and asked quietly, "So
you have a problem with purple hair too?"
Nabiki scanned the amused faces around the table
and shrugged. "So we have colorful associates. I
can live with that. I have business, so I'll be
home later." She had to figure these people out.
After Nabiki left, the rest of the crowd settled
down to hear Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis's story.
Lina scrunched up her face in an effort to
remember all the tiny details. "It happened pretty
quick, but I'll tell you everything I remember.
Gourry was being particularly annoying, so I ran
ahead. I was turned around to see them when Zel
made a funny face."
"I saw a blue glow around a bend in the path.
The woods were thick, so me and Gourry didn't see
the portal until she was almost to it."
Lina nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, that's right.
We were turning a corner at the time. Anyway, I
turned around and the portal was an arm's length in
front of me. I tried to run back to the guys, but
it was pulling me in. It wasn't a magical
teleportation spell, or it would have given off some
kind of signs."
Zel agreed, "I didn't sense any magic either."
Ranma and Akane glanced at each other while
Kasumi smiled benignly. Ranma held up a finger,
"Uh, how else could you have come here, if not
magic."
Lina shrugged. "Hey, I don't know. I'm just a
sorceress. We'd better figure something out though,
cause I want to get home. This place is weird."
She looked pointedly at Ranma who'd just spilled
water on herself.
"School?" Lina blinked at Kasumi.
Nabiki looked up and scanned the room vaguely.
"Deja vu?"
Kasumi smiled and held out a battered school
bag. "Of course! You might as well find a
constructive use for your time here. Who knows how
long you'll be with us?"
Gourry and Zel exchanged glances. Zel sweat
dropped at the happy grin on the swordsman's face.
Gourry grinned up at Kasumi. "I hope we get to
stay for a long time. I like it here."
She held a hand to her cheek, "Oh! How sweet."
Zel raised a hand. "Uh, what kind of school,
mage school?"
Ranma gave him a funny stare. "Look, we told
you, there are no mages or wizards or anything.
It's just regular school."
The three strangers to Nerima exchanged glances.
Lina glared at the girl walking beside her. Was
her name Akane? "I can't believe your sister talked
me into wearing this!"
Akane smiled at the red head. "I think you look
nice."
Lina blushed a little and turned away. She did
not like the light blue school uniform, but she'd
somehow been convinced by Kasumi to wear it.
"What about Zel and Gourry? They aren't wearing
uniforms."
Akane shrugged, "Well, we were lucky that mine
fit you pretty well. Ranma doesn't like to wear
uniforms in case he gets splashed, so that's all we
had for them." Zel had been forced into a dark
blue, long sleeved Chinese shirt and a pair of
Ranma's pants. Gourry, being so much taller than
Ranma, wore one of Soun's old gis.
All in all, they made a strange group.
Akane ticked off her fingers, "Okay, Lina is
Ranma's cousin, Zel is an old friend of Ranma's, and
Gourry is training under Ranma's mother for his
sword. Does that work to explain you guys?"
Ranma thought it over. "Well it will explain it
when they leave, but it seems a little odd that they
all showed up at once."
"Then maybe Zel and Lina can both be your
cousins from your mother's side. Gourry can still
be your mother's student then. Maybe you and Gourry
both know Zelgadis and Nodoka brought Gourry to see
you both at once."
Ranma's eyes narrowed as he studied the blonde.
"I don't see why you came along at all. Zel just
wants to look around, and is strangely interested in
the school. You're way too old for school anyway.
You could have stayed at home and then we wouldn't
have had to explained you at all."
Gourry smiled down at Ranma and scratched the
back of his neck.
Lina sighed, "Okay, we I am Ranma's cousin, and
Zel is my brother. Gourry is Nodoka's student. My
mother got sick and Nodoka came to help out. It's
nothing serious, but they didn't want us to catch
it, so Auntie Nodoka sent us to her older and oh so
mature student to take care of us."
Her words were a rapid torrent that swept
everyone away except for Zel, who simply said, "Do I
really look like your brother?"
"Grr! Fine, you're my half-brother. I take
after my mother and you take after your father.
Does that work?"
Everyone glanced around, finally nodding as one
in agreement. Lina waved a hand to the tall blonde
and said diffidently, "Now all we gotta do is keep
the absent-minded swordsman here quiet in case he
forgets the story."
Gourry smiled down at Lina, "What story?"
Lina moaned as Akane pointed up ahead. "There's
the school. Uh, Mr. Gourry, can you remember the
way home?"
He smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Of
course! I just follow all the walls with holes that
look like Ranma."
Ranma glared at Akane, who blushed angrily as
her hands fisted at her sides. "Yeah, that should
work."
The group continued to the gate where Gourry
waved cheerily to everyone. "Have fun in school.
I'll see you guys later." He turned and studied the
street they'd just left. When he spotted a crumbled
wall with a familiar pigtailed shape, he started off
with a purpose.
Lina sighed and shook her head before turning to
approach the school. She shrieked and jumped back
as a strange figure pounced at her. "What the! Who
are you?"
Ranma turned to see Lina grasping the throat of
Kuno; his hand extended nearly to her face, barely
clutching a single red rose. He grimaced in
disgust. "Now what, Kuno?"
Kuno pulled away from Lina swiftly and stuck a
pose as he sniffed the rose. "How fortunate that
the fair goddess has deemed to descend upon these
hallowed grounds and grace us with her crimson
beauty. What is this? She hath unbound her
glorious mane and donned the uniform of mine own
school! Oh beauteous maiden," He ran forward and
grasped her hands in his, "At last you have come to
me under a more permanent basis! I shall see you
every day!"
As Kuno babbled on as the entire school watched
from classroom windows. Lina leaned slightly to one
side to give Akane a stupefied look. The redhead's
face was nearly as red as her hair. Akane held up a
finger in signal for the sorceress to hold on a
moment and turned to Ranma.
"Psst. Ranma? Does Kuno think that Lina's your
girl half?"
Ranma was grinning as his eye twitched. He gave
a devious laugh and turned briskly to face Akane.
"I've got it! Here's what I want you to do . . ."
Lina stared silently at Kuno; her face was blank
as she listened to her apparent virtues to his eyes.
"Gee," she wondered silently, "Does this guy
actually think I'm pretty? Either he's really
sweet, or a complete idiot!" To her immense relief,
Akane appeared beside her and gave Kuno a little
push so that he reluctantly released Lina's hands.
Akane, while smiling at Kuno, whispered to Lina,
"Just play along."
Akane stepped forward dramatically with her
hands clasped before her. "It's true Kuno! Ranma
and your pigtailed goddess were jointly placed under
a curse by an evil sorcerer." Lina blinked.
"However, Ranma nor I could bear for Lina to be
forced to spend most of her days trapped within
another's body. So we went in search of the
sorcerer and slay him, thus removing the curse."
Ranma stepped around, pretending to be as
sheepish as his pride and reputation would allow.
"It's like Akane said. I only hope you can forgive
me for the things the curse made me say to you, and
allow our feud to end." He held out a hand to Kuno
and waited.
The older boy stared between the three, ending
on Lina. "Is it true, fair one? Are you truly free
from some mysterious sorcerer?"
Lina blinked, "Uh, yeah?" She glanced between
Ranma and Akane for approval.
Kuno was suddenly hugging her, "Thank the gods
that you are free to date with me!"
Lina went red from toe to her headband before
she dropped over in a dead faint.
in an endless black void filled with nothing beside
the girl herself and hundreds of strands of light.
She walks briskly among the strands, ducking and
jumping as she weaves through them. As she walks,
she occasionally plucks a strand into place with one
hand while the other plays with the blonde braid
that trails several feet past her feet.
She's wearing what appears to be a scarlet,
sleeveless leotard with shiny white boots and
matching bracers that go nearly to her elbows. The
right boot has a thick gold band that goes around
her ankle, then criss-crosses in front of her leg to
form a gold X before wrapping around her lower calf.
In between the two parallel bands of gold, in the
triangular spaces created by the X, her pale pink
skin is visible.
The only jewelry she wears is a golden choker
that covers her entire neck. It has a round teal
stone that sparkles with an inner fire. There is a
smaller stone of the same color on each of her
bracers. A teal bow is tied cheerfully to secure
her floor length braid, allowing only two shoulder-
length strands to hang on either side of her face.
She smiles softly as she brushes her hand across
one strand of yellow light. It sparkles where she
touched it, moving to a slightly altered path with
her guidance. She nods in contentment and
continues. There is a flickering to her left, and
she notices that two strands are getting rather too
close for comfort.
"No, no! What naughty worlds you are! Do you
really want to collide?" She weaves through the
strands that separate her from the flickering ones.
As she steps up to them, she frowns.
"The Changelings of your worlds aren't terribly
wise, are they? How can I help them?" That was her
job, after all.
Each strand of light represented a world. Each
world had a changeling that determined the path of
the world. The Changelings were complicated people
with odd lives that represented a bit of everyone on
their worlds. Each decision that the Changelings
made altered the direction that their ever-growing
strand made.
If they chose one way, the world would move one
direction. Another decision sent the world in a
completely different way. If the Changeling on the
world of Arcadia forgot to brush her teeth, the
world would spin to the left. It could be tiresome,
but Destiny had been doing this for so many
millennia that it was fun and easy.
Occasionally, two worlds ran very close to each
other, causing minor problems. Problems like the
creation of a demon or the channeling of excess
power into a single person. The world's Changeling
and its companions usually corrected these problems
with ease. Sometimes however, the power/demon was
too powerful, and Destiny sent a minor deity
underling to the people's aid.
Now it is very rare, but not unheard of, for two
worlds to actually attempt to occupy the same space.
It had only happened a handful of times, thanks to
her diligence. When this happened, a more
significant problem arises. The few times that
worlds managed to merge without her noticing,
something different had happened each time.
Destiny's superiors had been terribly
disappointed when one world died, and again
centuries later when the Changeling of one world was
stuck forever on another world. Destiny had vowed
then to be as careful as she could.
Now, she was carefully guiding two green worlds
apart. She was so single-minded that she didn't
notice two red strands flickering rapidly behind
her. On one world, a young girl risked her own life
to cast a very powerful spell in order to save her
friends. On the other, a young man bit back a
hurtful comment about his fiancée.
The worlds jerked suddenly and were now
careening toward each other. Destiny lifted a smug
smile after saving the green worlds. She turned and
noticed the red flashes, gasping and rushing through
the web of worlds. She reached the two red strands
just as they meshed together.
Lina gasped as she sat up in bed. She'd had
another dream of the terrible fight with
Shabranigdo. Gourry was instantly beside her.
"What's wrong Lina?"
She shook her head to clear it, and then blinked
once at Gourry. "How'd you get here so fast?"
He stared dumbly at her for a moment before
looking to the floor and digging one toe into the
planks of the inn floor. "I was kinda worried bout
ya, so I decided to sleep on your floor."
She glared at him before bopping him on the
head. He flew into an unconscious heap on the
floor. Lina sighed and tugged at a strand of white
hair. She hoped it turned back to the fiery red she
knew soon. White wasn't her color. She looked up
at the window and saw the sun rising. They'd better
start out as soon as Gourry woke up.
Lina found Zel and they woke Gourry. After a
quick and hearty meal, they set out into the woods
just outside of town. Gourry kept pestering her
about her dream, and she refrained from knocking him
out again. She'd have to carry him if she did that.
With a frustrated snarl, she took off at a run
through the thick underbrush. She heard Zel and
Gourry yelling and chasing after her. She made it
to the path and turned to yell at them. She kept
running as she screamed over her shoulder, "Will you
guys just leave me alone?"
They came onto the path behind her and started
to yell for her to stop. Gourry was staring right
at her, his face hurt, but Zel was looking over her
shoulder in shock. Lina slowed her pace slightly
and looked back where she was going in confusion.
What was bothering Zel?
She gasped and hit the brakes as she saw a large
blue portal. She managed to halt a few paces in
front of it, but it was pulling her in. Her boots
left trenches in the dirt path as she pulled against
the immense force of the portal. She turned and
tried to walk away, but it caught her cape and
tugged on that.
Gourry saw her problem and ran to her. He
grasped one of her elbows in both of his hands,
pulling with all his might. He felt Zel grab his
waist and pull with him. Gourry closed his eyes in
effort until he felt a cool sensation on his hands.
He looked up to see that all of Lina except for her
face, shoulder, and the arm he grasped was in the
portal.
"Gourry! Help!"
"I'm trying Lina!" Her face and shoulder were
sucked into the swirling blues of the portal,
leaving only her arm from the elbow down in sight.
He felt her slipping from his grasp and made a
sudden decision. He let go of her arm and jumped.
Lina was close to tears as the portal closed
around her face, hiding Gourry from her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt his hands let go and she cried
out soundlessly. The bright swirls of blue with
slashes of red and white formed a tunnel around her.
She saw 'holes' where other tunnels appeared to veer
from the one she was falling through.
She made swimming motions with her hands as she
tried desperately to grab hold of something or make
it to one of the other tunnels. Behind her, she
felt the now familiar sucking of a tunnel as it
pulled her in. The next thing she knew, wind was
blowing against her as if she were falling. She'd
felt like she was falling in the tunnel, but she
just now realized that there wasn't any wind.
The falling sensation ended abruptly as she felt
a cold, wet wall slam into her.
Ranma started to open his mouth when Akane
mentioned cooking dinner tonight. He slammed it
shut. She'd just hit him anyway. He thought
frantically, knowing she was gonna ask him a
question or something that would only get him in
trouble. He heard a ringing and turned as a
familiar sound greeted his ears.
"Nihao Ranma!"
"Ack! Akane, I'll meet ya at the dojo!"
He took off, knowing he'd outrun the bike with a
little effort. He was right, and soon made it to
the Tendo's. He ran through the gate, pausing to
look around the yard. He gave a few soft gasps,
barely short of breath, and scanned the empty
street.
Since it would be several hours until dinner, he
might as well get some exercise in. He was just
starting a kata by the koi pond when the same
ringing from earlier reached him. He groaned and
turned to the wall as Shampoo flew over it on her
bike.
"Why Ranma run from Shampoo?"
Akane ran through the gate and stood between
Ranma and Shampoo, gasping for breath. "Because
you're an annoying bimbo, and nobody likes you!"
"Grr. Is no true. Shampoo many, many friends;
and Ranma love wife very much."
With that pronouncement, she ran toward Ranma
and over Akane. Just before reaching him, there was
a bright flash of light overhead and behind Ranma.
Ranma, backpedaling from Shampoo, had his back to
the bright blue light and escaped unharmed. Shampoo
and Akane, however, were momentarily blinded.
Ranma saw the yard brighten for a second and
noticed the dazed looks on the girls' faces once the
blue tinge faded from the yard. Stunned as well, he
lost his balance and fell into the pond. AS soon as
he hit, something else landed on top of him. He
lost his breath and lay stunned at the bottom of the
pond.
Shampoo shook away the bright spots in her
vision and looked for Ranma. She didn't see him
anywhere, but remembered the flash. Smiling, she
approached the pond. She studied it until noticing
the bright red blur beneath the surface. Smiling,
she reached in and grabbed an arm.
Eyes closed happily as she smiled, Shampoo said,
"See what good wife Shampoo is to rescue Airen?"
"Ow! Hey, let go of my arm, will ya?"
Shampoo opened her eyes and looked at the
strange girl in confusion. "Who you?"
"I'm Lina Inverse." She said it proudly as she
pulled her arm out of the purple-haired girl's
grasp. She watched the girl's face for a reaction,
and getting none, commented, "You HAVE heard of me,
haven't you?"
Shampoo shook her head dumbly, then seemed to
anger very quickly. "Hey! What you do with Airen?"
"Who? Hey!" Lina dodged the sudden punch with
ease, but the second one took her by surprise and
sent her flying over the pond, just as Ranma
surfaced. Shampoo ran after Lina, bouncing off of
Ranma's head.
"Excuse Shampoo, Airen. Must avenge you death
by red-haired stranger girl."
Ranma rubbed her head both to massage away the
pain and in confusion. He looked up at Akane
questioningly as she helped him out of the pond.
"Don't just sit there, baka. Shampoo's gonna
kill that girl!"
Ranma jerked his head around and jumped to his
feet when he saw Shampoo running to the shaken girl.
The redhead was on all fours, shaking her head to
clear it. Ranma crossed the yard quickly, but not
quick enough.
Lina stood and turned just as the amazon reached
her. She spun and dodged a punch. As she
straightened, she jumped away and drew her sword.
Shampoo frowned at the thin blade.
"Shampoo use sword too."
Lina gasped as the other girl brought a blade
from seemingly nowhere. She barely parried the
first blow, but did a little better on the second.
"Shampoo!" Ranma's cry went unheard. He
reached out to grab the girl's sword arm, but she
made a move that even he didn't quite expect. His
arm went through air and Shampoo's blade went
through Lina's shoulder.
Ranma tackled Shampoo as Lina collapsed. Akane
ran over and rolled Lina onto her back. The girl's
face was contorted in pain as she clutched her right
shoulder. Ranma threw a quick punch to Shampoo's
stomach to take her breath away.
"Jeez Shampoo! Calm down. I'm fine already!"
"Ranma! Shut up a second, will you?" Akane
glared briefly at her fiancé before turning back to
the wet redhead on the ground. "Hey, are you
alright?"
"Arg! Get off. Unh." Lina struck weakly out
at Akane, getting enough force into the blow to
knock Akane back a little.
Gourry fell from the portal and rolled to his
feet. He scanned the area and seemed to be in some
kind of garden.
"Who dares to trespass in the garden of the
great blue thunder?"
Gourry turned and stared at the youth before
him. He at first thought that the stranger was
waving a sword at him, but it seemed to be some kind
of wooden toy. Gourry smiled.
"Hi. Sorry about dropping in. I'm looking for
someone, maybe you've seen her. She's short with
red hair and—"
Kuno jerked his head up to study the stranger.
"What have thou done to the pig tailed goddess whom
I love with all my noble heart?"
"Goddess? Well, I never really considered her a
goddess, but L—"
"Have at thee!" Kuno lunged forward, striking
out with his bokken. Gourry drew his sword as he
sidestepped, hitting the teen upside the head. As
Kuno fell to the ground, Gourry started walking.
Lina had a habit of running into trouble, so he was
sure he'd find her soon if he just wandered
aimlessly.
Sure enough, he'd only been walking a few
minutes down the odd streets when he heard
screaming. He followed it to a wall and jumped up
to grab the edge. He pulled himself up and peaked
over after hearing someone yelling about hair
products.
When he looked over the top of the wall, He saw
a boy tackling a girl who was wielding a sword.
Another girl was talking to a beaten looking Lina.
Gourry stared at the scene for long moments before
he started to get angry. He noted the bloody sword
in the purple-haired girl's hand and the gaping
wound in Lina's torso.
He leapt over the wall and ran to Lina. He
pushed the girl away and cradled Lina's head. "Are
you okay Lina?"
"Gourry, gotta cast spell." Gourry heard her
mumbling incoherently and turned glowing eyes on
Shampoo.
"You did this to her."
Shampoo drew herself up and nodded curtly, "Weak
girl attack Airen. Shampoo defend husband."
Gourry leapt to his feet and everyone turned to
him, completely missing it when Lina started to
glow. Gourry drew his sword and pointed it at the
proud amazon. "For injuring my friend, I, Gourry
Gabriev, challenge you to a match to the death."
Shampoo nodded and squared herself off against
him. Lina muttered to herself, but nobody was
paying any attention. Ranma was looking between
Gourry and Shampoo in an undecided manner. Akane
edged closer to Ranma, though she'd never admit to
it later, and kept her eyes on the strange blonde
man.
Gourry narrowed his eyes and slid his sword from
the sheath. Shampoo took one of her usual graceful
and completely unpractical-looking stances. They
stared at each other for a long moment before Gourry
jerked into action. Shampoo's eyes widened
momentarily before she swung her sword up to dodge
the downward slice from Gourry's sword.
His heavier sword slid completely down her
smaller sword until she was forced to take a hit or
move away. She slipped her sword free and jumped to
the side. Ranma suddenly grabbed Akane and jumped
onto the garden wall. She was so intent on the
battle that she barely noticed when he didn't
release his grip.
Shampoo had spun away from Gourry's heavy but
surprisingly quick swipes. He lunged forward and
swung, but Shampoo jumped up and over him, landing
on his left and supposedly blind side. She whipped
her sword around in a vicious attack that Gourry
was able to easily avoid.
Gourry side-stepped and hit her with the flat
edge of his sword on the back of her skull. She
dropped like a rock as Ranma screamed from the top
of the wall.
"No! Don't beat her!"
Gourry turned and gave him a confused and
annoyed look. "Why not? She hurt Lina."
Ranma jumped from the wall and set Akane down
before standing over Shampoo and carefully
scrutinizing her. He poked her with a toe, "Yup,
she's out. Sorry bud, I was hoping she'd beat you."
"What! I—"
Ranma held his palms up to stop whatever
comments the man was gonna make. "Look, she's an
amazon. When a guy beats her, she thinks she's
gotta—"
There was a flash of light and a ball of light
flew past Ranma and Gourry, brushing their noses
before flying over the wall and slowly rising into
the sky to disappear.
Both fighters turned to see Lina sitting on the
ground, one knee up with her arm resting on it. Her
other arm was held against her shoulder, but not
with much evident force.
"How about you two quit the chatter and help me
up here?"
Gourry ran over and helped her stand. Akane and
Ranma walked over to stand side by side and face the
strangely dressed couple. Lina brushed her tunic
and cape off before facing the teenaged couple.
Gourry was studying the whole in her tunic. The
edges were bloody and torn, but only smooth skin lay
beneath. Ranma and Akane were staring too when
Gourry spoke in wonder.
"Lina! You're alright."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course Gourry! It was
only a minor scratch. I've had worse. Now will
somebody care to explain why that girl attacked me."
She pointed angrily at the unconscious amazon on the
ground.
Akane kept her eyes on Lina's stomach, "How
about you explain how you got sliced open a few
minutes ago, but you don't even have a scratch now."
Lina sighed and held one hand over her eyes.
"It was a simple healing spell, alright? Now, why's
she attack me?"
Ranma, still a girl, shrugged. "You fell on top
of me and knocked us both into the pool. While I
was catching my breath, Shampoo tried to play the
obedient little housewife and help me out of the
pool. She saw your red hair and thought you were
me. When you came out instead of me, she thought
you'd done something to me."
Lina nodded slowly as she thought through the
explanation. "So why was she being the happy little
housewife?"
"Because she thinks we're married."
Lina looked up at Ranma and blinked. "Okay, she
may be an amazon, but why would she want to marry
another girl?"
Ranma looked confused until he remembered his
current form. "Oh yeah, you don't know. I have
this curse ya see, and I turn into a girl when I get
hit with cold water."
Lina looked closely at Ranma and squinted.
After a moment, she nodded slowly. "Yes, I can see
the magic mixed with your aura. It's not too bad
though, why haven't you had a mage dispel it yet?"
Ranma and Akane shared a quick glance before
Ranma gave her an odd look. "The only ones that
know magic around here are Happy and the old Ghoul.
Neither of them says that they can cure it, but they
probably wouldn't admit to it even if they could."
Akane held up a finger and added helpfully,
"Cologne would if she thought it would mean conning
you into marrying Shampoo."
Ranma nodded thoughtfully, "That's true.
Besides, she'd definitely heal Shampoo's curse."
Lina studied Shampoo as she had Ranma, "What's
with you people and curses?"
"Hey, it's not my fault Pop can't read Chinese."
Lina blinked and looked at Gourry, but he wasn't
any help. "Hey, where's Zel?"
"Who?" Akane didn't like all these strange
people showing up in her backyard at once.
Lina was busy studying the horizon, so Gourry
answered. "He's a friend of ours. He helped Lina
and me defeat Shabranigdo."
Akane nodded in a confused state until Lina gave
a slight shout and started waving her hands. "Down
here Zel!"
They all looked up to see a cloaked figure
slowly descending into the yard. He was completely
covered in whitish-gray clothes, except for bits of
lavender hair and a shaded bit of his face around
his eyes. He landed lightly beside Lina as the
flickering aura around him faded.
"Where've you two been?"
Lina shrugged and waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh, I've been right here fighting odd little
amazons. I don't know where Gourry was, but he
showed up right after I got hurt."
"You heal yourself alright, or did one of those
girls do it?"
"Hey!"
Zel glanced at Ranma before turning back to Lina
for an answer. "Nah, I got it. They claim that
there aren't any mages around, and I'm prone to
agree."
"Why?"
She shrugged, "Two of them have minor magical
curses and, judging by the calm way he was talking
about turning into a girl, he's had it for awhile."
Zel studied Ranma for a moment. "That's a guy?"
Gourry nodded, "Tell me about it. I find it
hard to believe he's a he since he's built better
than Lina—oof!"
A blushing and angry Lina removed her elbow from
Gourry's stomach. "As I was saying, if you study
his aura you can tell he's a he and that he has a
curse."
Zel did turn and look at Ranma, finally nodding.
"You're right, it's there."
Ranma coughed into his fist and poked his toe
into the ground. "Uh, by any chance, would any of
you be able to fix this curse?"
Lina glared at him, "After your wife attacked
me?"
"Wife!" Ranma, Akane, and Zel all spoke at once
with varying degrees of shock or anger.
Ranma stepped forward angrily, "She's not my
wife, she just thinks she is!"
Lina rolled her eyes, and Ranma continued.
"Besides, I was still underwater catching my breath
after you landed on me when she attacked you. As I
recall, it was Akane and me that stopped Shampoo."
"Well, maybe, but I still had to heal myself."
Akane shrugged, "Knowing Shampoo, be glad you
didn't have to bury yourself before Ranma stopped
her."
Lina glared at her. "I may have been on the
ground, but one spell would have taken all three of
you out without doing anything to me."
Akane looked at her through narrowed eyes,
suspicious of the redhead's confident tone. "Are
you saying that you're a magician or something?"
Lina crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm
saying that I'm Lina Inverse, the greatest sorceress
in the world." She thrust her nose into the air and
tried to look down at Ranma and Akane, even though
they were all about the same size.
Ranma and Akane looked at each other before
asking in unison, "Who?"
Lina face-faulted before quickly pulling herself
up and staring at the two in disbelief. Zel cocked
his head and asked, "You mean you've never heard of
Lina Inverse?" They shook their heads and he turned
to Lina. "That portal must have taken us pretty far
away if they've never heard of you. Besides,
they're dressed funny."
Ranma and Akane developed huge teardrops on the
backs of their heads. "Look, Ranma and I aren't the
ones dressed funny. Are you going to a costume
party or something? I mean, nobody wears such
outdated clothes except for Kuno."
Gourry perked up, "Kuno? I ran into somebody
named Kuno. He attacked me with a stick."
Akane sighed and Ranma smirked. "Great! That
means you probably beat him if you can get Shampoo."
Gourry looked vaguely insulted, "Of course I
beat him! He had a stick and I'm the owner of the
Sword of—oof!" He rubbed his stomach and looked
utterly deflated. "Could you stop doing that Lina?"
"Yeah sure, sure. Anyway, if you guys help us
figure out where we are, maybe Zel here will look
into your curse."
Ranma and Akane looked at each other and
shrugged. Akane finally nodded, "I don't see why
not, as long as you don't attack anyone else. We
have enough fights around here as it is without a
supposed sorceress running around."
"What do you mean 'supposed'? I happen to be
pretty famous where we're from."
"Wo da Airen!" Gourry found himself enveloped
by a mass of Chinese silk and lavender hair. He
milled his arms around to catch his balance,
struggling to keep his mouth out of her hair to be
able to breathe.
Ranma suddenly lit up, but Akane seemed
doubtful. "Hey Shampoo, does that mean that you'll
be giving up on your stupid claim to Ranma?"
Shampoo sent Akane an icy glare over her
shoulder. "Since when angry girl care about Ranma?"
"I don't! I just can't believe you'd switch
back and forth like that!" She was blushing
furiously, but everyone was staring at Shampoo and
Gourry. Ranma saw the blush and glanced curiously
at Akane. He quickly looked away however, when
Gourry jumped out of Shampoo's arms.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Shampoo looked genuinely hurt as Ranma casually
explained. "Like I tried to tell ya. When a guy
defeats an amazon, she has to marry him. She's been
after me for a couple years now."
Shampoo suddenly remembered Ranma and looked
between the two men. "Uh, Shampoo must go back
Nekohanten to make deliveries. Be back later,
Airen."
All watched calmly as she bounced over the wall.
Akane asked wryly, "Which one do you think she
means?"
"OH Akane, I didn't know you had friends over.
Father and Mr. Soatome are going to be late, so your
friends can have their share." Akane sighed and
tried to figure out how to withdraw Kasumi's
invitation, but Lina and Gourry were already at the
base of the porch.
"Oh we couldn't impose. I don't believe we've
met. I'm Lina Inverse the Bandit killer."
"My, what a noble occupation. But isn't that a
bit harsh? I'm Kasumi, Akane's older sister."
Gourry smiled and nodded once in acknowledgment.
"I'm Gourry Gabriev."
"Pleased to meat you, Mr. Gabriev." She smiled
down at him and he seemed to go fuzzy for a moment.
Kasumi didn't notice, and gestured Lina into the
house. "Do come in Miss. Inverse. I assure you,
you wouldn't be imposing at all."
"Well in that case . . ."
Before Akane and Ranma knew it, they were seated
at the table with Nabiki, Kasumi, Lina, Gourry, and
Zel; though Zel was off a little to the side,
withdrawing from the group.
Kasumi turned with a freshly ladled bowl of
soup. "Don't you want some soup Mr. Zelgadis?"
"Uh, no. That's alright." His body chose that
moment to give a hungry stomach growl. He blushed a
bright scarlet, but nobody saw it through the mask
he was wearing. He kept his head down so that his
face was shadowed, and watched everything through
the locks of pale hair.
"Your stomach knows best! Now come have a bowl
of soup."
With the normal amount of success when resisting
a Kasumi-made request, he was soon at the table.
"Um, thanks."
"No trouble at all."
Everyone stared as he stared at the bowl. It
would be impossible to eat while wearing the mask,
and the Tendo household was curious as to why he was
wearing a mask and so worried about hiding his face.
Lina was curious as to how he'd reveal his stony
skin, and Gourry was just trying to figure out what
everyone was looking at.
After a long moment, Lina cried out, "I can't
take it anymore! Zel's uncle put a curse on him
that made him part golem, so he has stone skin.
There, now take off your mask and eat for crying out
loud." Lina soon went back to slurping hungrily
through her fourth bowl of soup. Ranma did
likewise, but kept his eyes on Zel.
Zelgadis studied the delicious looking soup.
With a small sigh, he reached up and undid the cloth
around his face. He closed his eyes as the gasps
reached him. After a moment he opened them to see
the stunned faces. What surprised him were whose
faces were stunned.
Lina and Gourry were looking at him strangely,
while everyone else looked confused. Ranma turned
to Lina. "I thought you said there was something
weird about him?" Akane elbowed him in the ribs.
"Zel, your face!"
"Is it worse or something?" He reached up, but
she caught his hand. She played with his hand for a
bit while he picked up the shiny lid to the silver
pot. He held it up and stared at his reflection.
He still had pale hair and eyes, but his skin was a
healthy pinkish color with a hint of a tan.
"I don't . . . understand. Why?"
Lina smiled up at him. "This is great! That
portal must have changed your curse somehow."
He studied her as well. "Hey Lina, when did
your hair get back to normal?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" She picked up a lock
and studied it. "It's the normal red—oh. I forgot
about that."
Akane looked between the two. "Forgot what?"
"Well, when I used my biggest spell on
Shabranigdo, it turned my hair a yucky grayish
white. Now it's a normal red again."
Nabiki sat with her chin cupped in one hand. "I
wouldn't call that bright color normal."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ranma and
Lina looked at each other, for they'd spoken in
unison. Ranma sat back down and continued eating
as if nothing had happened, but Lina kept going.
"What's wrong with red hair?"
"Oh nothing, but you and Ranma are the only two
I've ever seen with hair that bright. Of course,
Shampoo has purple hair, which is weirder, but—"
Zel raised one eyebrow and asked quietly, "So
you have a problem with purple hair too?"
Nabiki scanned the amused faces around the table
and shrugged. "So we have colorful associates. I
can live with that. I have business, so I'll be
home later." She had to figure these people out.
After Nabiki left, the rest of the crowd settled
down to hear Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis's story.
Lina scrunched up her face in an effort to
remember all the tiny details. "It happened pretty
quick, but I'll tell you everything I remember.
Gourry was being particularly annoying, so I ran
ahead. I was turned around to see them when Zel
made a funny face."
"I saw a blue glow around a bend in the path.
The woods were thick, so me and Gourry didn't see
the portal until she was almost to it."
Lina nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, that's right.
We were turning a corner at the time. Anyway, I
turned around and the portal was an arm's length in
front of me. I tried to run back to the guys, but
it was pulling me in. It wasn't a magical
teleportation spell, or it would have given off some
kind of signs."
Zel agreed, "I didn't sense any magic either."
Ranma and Akane glanced at each other while
Kasumi smiled benignly. Ranma held up a finger,
"Uh, how else could you have come here, if not
magic."
Lina shrugged. "Hey, I don't know. I'm just a
sorceress. We'd better figure something out though,
cause I want to get home. This place is weird."
She looked pointedly at Ranma who'd just spilled
water on herself.
"School?" Lina blinked at Kasumi.
Nabiki looked up and scanned the room vaguely.
"Deja vu?"
Kasumi smiled and held out a battered school
bag. "Of course! You might as well find a
constructive use for your time here. Who knows how
long you'll be with us?"
Gourry and Zel exchanged glances. Zel sweat
dropped at the happy grin on the swordsman's face.
Gourry grinned up at Kasumi. "I hope we get to
stay for a long time. I like it here."
She held a hand to her cheek, "Oh! How sweet."
Zel raised a hand. "Uh, what kind of school,
mage school?"
Ranma gave him a funny stare. "Look, we told
you, there are no mages or wizards or anything.
It's just regular school."
The three strangers to Nerima exchanged glances.
Lina glared at the girl walking beside her. Was
her name Akane? "I can't believe your sister talked
me into wearing this!"
Akane smiled at the red head. "I think you look
nice."
Lina blushed a little and turned away. She did
not like the light blue school uniform, but she'd
somehow been convinced by Kasumi to wear it.
"What about Zel and Gourry? They aren't wearing
uniforms."
Akane shrugged, "Well, we were lucky that mine
fit you pretty well. Ranma doesn't like to wear
uniforms in case he gets splashed, so that's all we
had for them." Zel had been forced into a dark
blue, long sleeved Chinese shirt and a pair of
Ranma's pants. Gourry, being so much taller than
Ranma, wore one of Soun's old gis.
All in all, they made a strange group.
Akane ticked off her fingers, "Okay, Lina is
Ranma's cousin, Zel is an old friend of Ranma's, and
Gourry is training under Ranma's mother for his
sword. Does that work to explain you guys?"
Ranma thought it over. "Well it will explain it
when they leave, but it seems a little odd that they
all showed up at once."
"Then maybe Zel and Lina can both be your
cousins from your mother's side. Gourry can still
be your mother's student then. Maybe you and Gourry
both know Zelgadis and Nodoka brought Gourry to see
you both at once."
Ranma's eyes narrowed as he studied the blonde.
"I don't see why you came along at all. Zel just
wants to look around, and is strangely interested in
the school. You're way too old for school anyway.
You could have stayed at home and then we wouldn't
have had to explained you at all."
Gourry smiled down at Ranma and scratched the
back of his neck.
Lina sighed, "Okay, we I am Ranma's cousin, and
Zel is my brother. Gourry is Nodoka's student. My
mother got sick and Nodoka came to help out. It's
nothing serious, but they didn't want us to catch
it, so Auntie Nodoka sent us to her older and oh so
mature student to take care of us."
Her words were a rapid torrent that swept
everyone away except for Zel, who simply said, "Do I
really look like your brother?"
"Grr! Fine, you're my half-brother. I take
after my mother and you take after your father.
Does that work?"
Everyone glanced around, finally nodding as one
in agreement. Lina waved a hand to the tall blonde
and said diffidently, "Now all we gotta do is keep
the absent-minded swordsman here quiet in case he
forgets the story."
Gourry smiled down at Lina, "What story?"
Lina moaned as Akane pointed up ahead. "There's
the school. Uh, Mr. Gourry, can you remember the
way home?"
He smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Of
course! I just follow all the walls with holes that
look like Ranma."
Ranma glared at Akane, who blushed angrily as
her hands fisted at her sides. "Yeah, that should
work."
The group continued to the gate where Gourry
waved cheerily to everyone. "Have fun in school.
I'll see you guys later." He turned and studied the
street they'd just left. When he spotted a crumbled
wall with a familiar pigtailed shape, he started off
with a purpose.
Lina sighed and shook her head before turning to
approach the school. She shrieked and jumped back
as a strange figure pounced at her. "What the! Who
are you?"
Ranma turned to see Lina grasping the throat of
Kuno; his hand extended nearly to her face, barely
clutching a single red rose. He grimaced in
disgust. "Now what, Kuno?"
Kuno pulled away from Lina swiftly and stuck a
pose as he sniffed the rose. "How fortunate that
the fair goddess has deemed to descend upon these
hallowed grounds and grace us with her crimson
beauty. What is this? She hath unbound her
glorious mane and donned the uniform of mine own
school! Oh beauteous maiden," He ran forward and
grasped her hands in his, "At last you have come to
me under a more permanent basis! I shall see you
every day!"
As Kuno babbled on as the entire school watched
from classroom windows. Lina leaned slightly to one
side to give Akane a stupefied look. The redhead's
face was nearly as red as her hair. Akane held up a
finger in signal for the sorceress to hold on a
moment and turned to Ranma.
"Psst. Ranma? Does Kuno think that Lina's your
girl half?"
Ranma was grinning as his eye twitched. He gave
a devious laugh and turned briskly to face Akane.
"I've got it! Here's what I want you to do . . ."
Lina stared silently at Kuno; her face was blank
as she listened to her apparent virtues to his eyes.
"Gee," she wondered silently, "Does this guy
actually think I'm pretty? Either he's really
sweet, or a complete idiot!" To her immense relief,
Akane appeared beside her and gave Kuno a little
push so that he reluctantly released Lina's hands.
Akane, while smiling at Kuno, whispered to Lina,
"Just play along."
Akane stepped forward dramatically with her
hands clasped before her. "It's true Kuno! Ranma
and your pigtailed goddess were jointly placed under
a curse by an evil sorcerer." Lina blinked.
"However, Ranma nor I could bear for Lina to be
forced to spend most of her days trapped within
another's body. So we went in search of the
sorcerer and slay him, thus removing the curse."
Ranma stepped around, pretending to be as
sheepish as his pride and reputation would allow.
"It's like Akane said. I only hope you can forgive
me for the things the curse made me say to you, and
allow our feud to end." He held out a hand to Kuno
and waited.
The older boy stared between the three, ending
on Lina. "Is it true, fair one? Are you truly free
from some mysterious sorcerer?"
Lina blinked, "Uh, yeah?" She glanced between
Ranma and Akane for approval.
Kuno was suddenly hugging her, "Thank the gods
that you are free to date with me!"
Lina went red from toe to her headband before
she dropped over in a dead faint.