Keika Saotome,
Bearer of the Flames,
Senshi of Time,
Supreme Court of America,
Jan. 22nd, 0002 am.
Chapter One: A Day of Tears
"Ryoga." Luna scolded in a parental tone. "I understand how you feel about her, but it's time you let it go! You've told me yourself a hundred times how much they love each other!"
Ryoga looked at the little cat, harshly. "I can't help it! I just… can't abandon her! What if Ranma… screws up and then…"
Luna shook her feline head exasperatedly and interrupted, "If it feels wrong to do so, as you say, then you shouldn't interfere." Luna advised. "I've presided over many a young person and from the way you speak, both Ranma and Akane deserve a little respite."
Anger boiled on Ryoga's face but it wasn't like he could attack the cat. "Oh, fine!" He uttered.
It was an unusual friendship that Ryoga had with the Luna. It had started with the travels. About the time Ryoga ended up in Paris they had begun to get along. Luna had listened to Ryoga's constant badgering of Ranma and had asked for the story in her ever-patient manner.
Ryoga had relented, telling his life story, and by proxy the life story of Ranma and Akane. The black cat, after having heard the story, firmly insisted that ninety percent of Ryoga's past actions against both Ranma and Akane were wrong.
"Odd that we're still friends," Ryoga had thought.
Artemis still edged around him but, they no longer had any trouble talking to each other, either. Ryoga and the white cat were not quite friends yet… but acquaintances at least.
"You'll thank me someday, young man. I can bet you on it." Luna insisted.
Ryoga was in a good mood. A humorous mood if he was actually capable of it. After a moment of silence, he turned to her and smirked. "Fifty bucks."
"Hundred and you have a deal." Luna replied instantly. Ryoga blanched and wondered idly where a cat got money?
Suddenly the warp bubble appeared. A hole, carved into the very root of reality; that's how Luna described it, anyway. Now, though, Ryoga noticed it. He couldn't actually see reality bent and sliced through as the cats seemed to be able to, but he could feel it. He felt… warm. It wasn't a comforting warm either. It was a sickening sort of sweaty, hot feeling similar to having the flu and being under three-too-many blankets. Matter of fact, Ryoga preferred not knowing what it was. Back then, he had simply gone into a mad rage every time he teleported like this. Now that he knew what it was, he was much more calm about it. Calm enough to feel the maddening, nameless, and putrid fire burning within him.
He walked forward into his invisible creation. The cats followed, bored. They'd seen the square, black hole a hundred times now. It had amazed them the first few times, but now it was rather unspectacular.
The second they stepped through the structure disappeared. Ryoga let out a sigh of relief as the sickness left his body. He breathed fresh air. Dallas, Texas in the states was rather smoky and he was glad to have left it.
"Wh-what are you doing? You pervert!" screamed a horrified young woman.
Screams were heard everywhere all of a sudden. Ryoga's ears were blasted by the screams of pervert, peeping tom, and several other choice accusations. "I-I'm really sorry! I j-just got lost and-" Ryoga shouted.
The cats were on his backpack, giggling in unquenchable hysteria.
Ryoga turned his head and looked at the two laughing cats sharply. "Oh thanks! Real nice of you!"
The cats looked at their human companion and let out simple and innocent "meows."
With that, Ryoga realized that a mob of half naked women was beginning to mobilize. Their choice of weapons was mops, mallets, brooms, pans, and hundreds of other appliances not known to the male mind.
Ryoga turned to the exit and dashed forward at a blazingly fast speed. The mob didn't even have time to see him disappear. The cats on his backpack, clung on for dear life as he dashed out of the bathhouse entrance. He ignored the random stares of the register, manager and several customers as he ran out the building. The mob of half naked women followed him only to the exit of the bath house door. "And stay out! Dirty bastard!" Ryoga distinctly heard before the door to the building slammed shut on him.
Luna and Artemis moved from their shaky positions on his backpack onto his left and right shoulders, respectively.
"Well, where are we this time?" Artemis asked, sardonically.
Looking around for a moment, Ryoga realized that most of the signs were in a legible language. Since Ryoga knew almost twenty, that didn't mean much. They kind of blurred together after a while.
"We're in Japan!" Luna exclaimed excitedly. "The signs are in Japanese! Look!"
A feline paw extended towards a sign that, upon close inspection, did have Japanese Kanji on it. He walked towards it slowly but was suddenly interrupted. "Halt, knave!" Came the distinct words of someone Ryoga would rather not deal with. "Oh no…" Ryoga muttered in an annoyed tone.
The cats looked at the forlorn and agitated face of Ryoga and then turned back to the person who called him. "Kuno…" Ryoga mumbled.
"Y-you're back! Wh-where is Akane? Keika? And… and my s-son-in-law?" Soun asked looking at their downtrodden faces.
The Senshi stood in the living room of the Tendo household. Nabiki, Kasumi, and Soun were all present. All of them, even Kasumi, were glaring at the intruders.
"We're… sorry… Mr. Tendo…" Was all Usagi could say. She had gone over how this would play out hundreds of times. She tried again and again to find a way to explain how Akane, Ranma, and Keika were all… dead or gone. The only one that she had come up with that might lower the Tendo's anger was showing them what she had looked like after the battle was over.
But that would mean ripping out her arm and tearing off her newly re-grown wings again. That idea was basically thrown in the trash.
They had finally resolved to simply tell the truth, and hope to god that the Tendo's were a forgiving family.
"There are less of you now…" Soun said sagely.
Usagi nodded and replied, "Yes. Several of ours died… as well." Her eyes were watering as she looked into Mr. Tendo's own. "Pluto… killed them… and Akane, but…"
"Sh-she's… dead? My daughter is…"
"W-we… tried our best… Mr. Tendo…" Mars muttered, despondently. "But… she was too strong and we couldn't do… anything to stop her."
"Yet you are here now! My little baby girl is dead and you stand here at my doorstep! How dare you!" Soun cried as he somehow found a way around his tears and grief. He reared back and threw his fist directly for Sailor Moon's face.
It wasn't fast enough. Jupiter caught it, mid thrust. "It's not her fault." Jupiter said calmly. "It's none of our faults. Usagi's daughter died too!"
Usagi sniffed and her eyes became teary. More filled with water than they had been.
"Y-you had a daughter? But… you're just a young girl!" Kasumi cried surprised, her glare disappearing.
Sailor Moon looked down. "She was my daughter. Carrot-top… Chibi-Usa. Oh damn… how am I going to tell Mamoru?" she said to herself suddenly.
Nabiki stood. She had been watching in silence. She saw Usagi's emotion for the truth it was, but she could care less. They had lied to her before. They'd been… able to trick her before. They were lying again.
"Where is Akane?" She asked coldly. "One of you told me Ranma was dead, and he was alive. So I can't believe you. Where is my sister?"
"She… is… her body is… there." Usagi choked through her tears, pointing at the door.
Cold fear gripped Nabiki's heart. A… body? Her sister's… body! No! It couldn't be! It couldn't be!
They walked outside, slowly, mustering courage with each step. There, in the Tendo courtyard, stood Sailor Mercury. Just above her outstretched hands floated a dark blue capsule large enough to fit a body in it. It looked like a large pill, thought it glowed with the unearthly neon hue of Mercury's uniform. Inside lay Akane, dressed in a beautiful white dress. Her hair was no longer the frazzled, electrocuted flare that it had been when she died. It had been combed back to perfection. She lay calmly, her eyes closed. Truth be told, she looked beautiful.
"Akane! Akane!" Soun cried. He rushed forward and looked at the girl in the transparent globe, being held at his chest level.
Mercury handed the form too him and it floated above his hands just as it had hers. He slumped to his knees… defeated in all sense of the word.
"Ak... Aka-Akane-chan..." he blubbered as his tears ran freely from his face.
Behind them, Nabiki could see the body just as well as her father. Akane's eyes closed… beautiful. Tears came to her eyes for the first time since her mothers death. She latched on to her older sister, who's eyes were just as wet as her own.
Kasumi held Nabiki and both cried on the other's shoulder for hours it seemed.
Usagi slowly made her way forward to the kneeling man. "I… I'm sorry." She muttered lamely from behind him. She tried to come up with a way to ease the man's suffering but he found one first.
He lay Akane on the ground in front of him, and turned away from her, grasping the surprised blonde in a fierce hug. "She was my daughter!" He shouted at no one.
She embraced him, after she got over her initial shock. More hours passed as he cried rivers onto her shoulder. All she could do was mutter, "I'm sorry," "I know how you feel," and other such consoling words as a few tears slid down her own cheeks.
The other Senshi left slowly, one by one, first Jupiter, then Mars, then Saturn, and finally Mercury, until only Moon was left.
Slowly Kasumi walked an overly emotional Nabiki into the house. "I don't wanna see her Kasumi! I don't want to! Not again!" Nabiki cried pathetically, while Kasumi just held her.
Moon left the embrace of Soun cautiously. "I… I have some good news…" Usagi stuttered.
"W-what?" Soun replied dejectedly as he parted from the younger girl's embrace.
"Ranma." Usagi said simply. "He's alive. And… and your granddaughter is… we think she is with him."
"Keika!" Soun exclaimed. "She's… she's alive? And Ranma? Why didn't he protect Akane?"
Usagi motioned with her hands for him to calm down.
"He did his best. And he has to suffer for it. I have no guarantees. They were sent… to another world. I don't know where but… they were. They may come home some day. I don't know how to get them back but… I'll try, Mr. Tendo." The girl told him.
Soun nodded, trying to hold back his tears. "I'll… expect that." He turned, lifted the capsule of energy which held his daughter's corpse, and began walking back towards his home. "Please leave… unless it's good news… don't c-come back."
Usagi nodded. "There will be good news someday Mr. Tendo. I promise."
Soun said nothing as he entered the house and closed the door. A trail of tears caressed the sidewalk.
Ranma crept up to the unconscious form of her daughter. She moved very slowly. The girl, Ranma's daughter, was dressed in the same clothing as her arch-nemesis had been sixteen years ago.
Ranma moved up to look at Keika's face. Her face was clear as it always was. Pluto, the old Pluto that is, didn't seem to have a face. It had blurred and twisted, always accentuating her beauty but never being… legible enough to see.
Keika looked just like she should, though. No blurred face or anything. Just a girl in a beautiful, black-and-white fuku.
Her long hair, unchanged, blanketed her like a goddess, still reminiscent of the purple-haired girl Ranma couldn't remember. Keika's eyes fluttered.
"Keika!" Ranma exclaimed, excitedly. "Mama… wha… what's goin' on?" Keika asked strangely. Her eyes darted. Left, right, left, up, down. Flitting randomly in a terrified dance with the darkness. Her arms flailed as if she were looking for something that wasn't there.
Ranma pulled her daughter close. She sat and brought the girl's torso up to her and hugged the terrified girl.
"It's okay now, little one. Mama has you. Everything will be alright." Ranma cooed lovingly. "You're safe now. It was nothing." Slowly Ranma lay Keika down. Her arms calmed; her frantic insanity slowed as she lay her head on the cold stone. With a grace born from experience, Ranma set about comforting the keeper of her sanity.
"Mama, what happened to me?" Keika asked weakly. Her chest burned like fire. What had happened there? Why did it feel like… Keika reached out to her chest between her breasts and found them… covered. She looked down and saw the once white fuku. Between her breast was nothing but bloody fabric.
"Mom, aaagh! Wh-what happened to my… to my…?" Keika stuttered as she rose defiantly.
Ranma's firm hand gripped her daughter's arm and pulled the girl back to the ground, and then gently lay down her head on the stone.
"You've got to lay down. You scratched yourself up pretty good here." Ranma said. She took her hand and placed it at the top of the bloodied fuku, right on her daughter's neck. She grasped the fabric on both sides obviously rubbing a bit of Keika's skin when she winced and moaned in miniscule pain.
A loud "riiip" echoed through the world as Keika heard the sound of fabric being ripped straight down from the middle. She jumped, more in shock than pain. This was nothing compared to earlier but it still hurt when the soggy fabric was ripped away. It exposed her chest perfectly to her still somewhat frantic eyes.
"By god, Keika!" Ranma exclaimed.
Blood truly was gushing everywhere. Claw marks from Keika's fingernails lined the area of her chest from one breast to the other. Skin peeled up around the gashes causing the only pain Keika was in now.
"Mom?" Keika said,
finally coherent enough to be able to shirk the depending, childish
voice she had been using. She reached up to her chest area and felt the
bloody wounds tentatively. "Fuuck…" She panned. "Wh-what happened to me"
Ranma
breathed in relief. Keika was alright. Seeing the wounds, they looked
painful beyond reason at first glance; they didn't to Ranma's
experienced eye. She could tell that they were simply minor cuts. They
would likely heal in four to seven days… Knowing her daughter, two and
a half.
"Something… happened to you Keika. I don't know what but I'm pretty sure you just be- uh… became… Pluto." Ranma said, not knowing how her daughter would react to this.
"What?" Keika exclaimed. "I'm… The one that supposedly locked us in here? The son of a bitch? No way!" Keika sat up angrily, her pain forgotten.
'What is up with her language lately?' Ranma thought absently. It was alright. She was raised basically by Setuma's way of life. The man cursed more often than that yakuza leader she'd lived through once… Ikuminaro Sutski, she thought his name was.
"No, No! You… you got her powers I think… You see… they're what's keeping ya alive… it's not the magic that's evil. It's the person who used it…" Ranma stuttered. 'I hope'
Without warning Keika began to hack and cough loudly. Her loss of breath and coughs echoed around the world like a note on a harp, reverberating many times over.
"You ok?" Ranma asked after she slowed down a moment.
"Y-yeah." Keika replied, unsteadily as she looked up. The blood was trailing down her chest and falling onto her stomach.
"Come on." Ranma said in a cheery tone. "Lets get you cleaned up, aiji semai."
Keika grumbled under her breath, "I'm not a "small child," damn it. I'm taller than you are!" She groaned as she pulled herself to her feet slowly. "Mom, I'm itchy." She complained.
Ranma laughed with a sadistic hint to it. "Well you would be, aiji. Putting on clothes after sixteen years of nudism will do that."
Keika's grumbling grew louder.
Ranma smiled and turned to her daughter. In a rare moment of clarity, Ranma said straightly, "I'm glad you're ok, my beloved daughter."
Keika was struck by the sentiment. Not knowing how to respond, she uttered lamely, "Th-thank you, mom."
Ranma knew she had changed a lot in the past sixteen years. She wasn't exactly normal by a long shot either but… she wasn't insane. And she thought she was a good parent too.
Halcyon lay on her soft bed. It was late at night and she was just going to sleep. It had been a long day.
'I hope Papa's ok.." She thought.
It was a cold night, though she'd felt colder. On the moon that meant thirty five below zero. Halcyon was only slightly chilled though as she had lived in these frozen conditions all her life. A long-sleeved shirt graced her body and a pair of fabric pants covered her legs beneath the rather thin blanket.
The moon had only been terraformed thirty seven years ago but it was still rather young and technology wasn't quite like it had been on great planets such as Venus and Mercury. Especially since the soldiers were hogging all of the living quarters and stuffing civilians out in these poorly crafted shelters.
"At least they have windows…" She thought bleakly.
Without warning an enormous bang wracked Halcyon's eardrums. Her bed flipped up and took her with it. She flew forward, propelled like a dart and slammed into the glass window. The window burst into thousands of pieces flying out onto the rocky terrain of the moon as Halcyon fell down to the floor.
She landed and yelped. Glass sliced into her forehead and where she had hit the window and it laced through her right shoulder, leg and hip.
"Ah, ahh…" She winced. It didn't hurt that bad. She was harder than rock, colder than ice. She could handle pain, if anything. It had been all she had ever known. The pain of just living on this planet had prepared her for something as simple as glass. Yet still she lay here as a civilian, unable to fight with her father and brother.
"D-damn…" She murmured. "Th-that stings."
She hobbled to her feet. No sleep tonight. The enemy had attacked the civilians. The scum. How could they do this? Damn Martians and Saturnites… the bastards were heartless and cruel monsters.
She limped slowly. There was the door. Three steps… two… one. She entered it and promptly vomited.
Her mother's torched, black-charred body lay facing her on the floor. An arm, probably some one else's, lay beside it; other bloodied limbs lay all around the room. Her sister lay there as well. They were easily discernable. Her family… they were all dead.
Hard as she might be, her exterior melted.
"Mother!" She screamed, terrified.
She knelt down next to the once-beautiful blond-haired form of her mother. She didn't deserve this! She was, she couldn't…
"No! Momma!"
Halcyon's screams echoed long into the night; her screams terrified the other civilians more than the explosions. More than the fact that the roof on the shelter had been blown away.
Halcyon knew now that the war had finally reached the moon. And her… her mother… her sister… they were among the first casualties.
Hours and hours later Halcyon's tears finally slowed. Exhaustion was claiming her and she knew that the bombs echoing around her wouldn't miss her forever. She stood, but fell back to the ground, tiredly. What was happening? She was… she was…
The girl slumped to the ground.
Darkness...
Usagi woke with tears in her eyes. That wasn't her average dream; Halcyon wasn't her past self at all! It was… who was it? She couldn't tell. God… the girl's parents…. Were dead.
Usagi didn't know what she would do if the same happened to her. It was so realistic. Could it have just been a normal… nightmare? No… surely not.
Memories had become commonplace to Usagi. They were as common as ice cream, now. Two days previous she had remembered all about Silver Millennium military tactics, strategies and training for space-based battle. Not to mention several of the battles the tactics had been used in during Serenity's reign.
Also she had remembered, not too long after the battle on Pluto, that the Senshi could live without food. A surprising discovery, knowing that she couldn't starve to death or die from dehydration. The magic within her would keep her alive. The only reason the Senshi had eaten in the past at all was that, if they were to lose their powers, they would die.
These had all been memories, slowly recovered from her past self, Serena.
But this dream… it wasn't a memory. Not a normal one at least. God it had been so real! Halcyon was… was… All Usagi knew was that this dream meant something important.
Halcyon? Who was she…?
Usagi looked around Makoto's house. Jupiter's house was where she had opted to stay for the past several nights. Hotaru was with her, residing calmly on the other, smaller couch.
She hadn't been able to face the public and no one had reason to come here… yet. All the people who were at her mother's house waiting on her imminent return would have to wait. She was… frightened. Her first day being revealed for who she was and she had failed. Miserably.
She well remembered their dead bodies. How she couldn't revive them. She'd tried countless times, trying to bring them back like she had before. It was to no avail and worse that she knew why.
It was because she wasn't strong enough. Moon Reversion Amelioration was a reversal attack. It brought things back to how they were. Reversed the effects of the past. She had been unconscious for hours it seemed meaning that pulling back the effects of hours, she would have to revert things to hours before in an attempt to resurrect them. Her Moon Reversion Amelioration could only reverse what had happened recently. If she had been stronger she could have gone back further, reversed time further till the point that life and soul would be restored to the dead ones. Now though… their souls were dead and gone. Too far back.
And she had failed.
She wasn't ready to face that. Not yet…
If she could avoid it, she didn't think she would ever show her face in public again. She knew she couldn't though. What was done, was done. She was Sailor Moon now in the eyes of the entire world. When she was younger she would have been dazzled by the idea. Now she just wanted to be younger again.
She turned the television on with the remote left conveniently under the couch. There before her was a rather old looking news man, giving the latest report on the Senshi. "-where it is said that the infamous "Sailor Moon" lived. As you all know it was seen on live television that the girl named Usagi Tsukino has been named as Sailor Moon. This is the back story. Hopefully we will be able to shed some light on her sudden disappearance. As you all probably know, her mother had no idea about her true identity. One Nabiki Tendo, the girl who apparently had been Pluto's apprentice and confident, was able to shed some light on the situation."
The scene switched to the brown haired girl Usagi knew as Nabiki. She was hysteric but not overly so as she had been when Ranma had returned.
"The Sailor Scouts are apparently known for their justice. Obviously… I guess she and the others have saved countless people. But I know first hand. Pluto… Pluto betrayed the rest of them. My sister's fiancée returned from the dead! Pluto used her magic to make me think that my sister had killed her own fiancée! Usagi didn't know about this… so I… I can forgive her… and probably the rest of them too. I just can't wait for my sister to get home though. She kidnapped my niece… Pluto did… And I think my sister and the other scouts went after her. I think they went to Pluto."
The scene switched back to the host. "As unbelievable as it sounds, there you have it folks. Now we'll go see several eye witnesses who saw everything that happened first ha-"
Usagi turned the television off angrily. She stood slowly. It was early. Abnormally early. She pulled back the curtains and looked at the sky. It really was beautiful just before the sunrise. The hazy mist of the almost-lit morning. It was Usagi's favorite time of day… if only because she only saw it about once a year. It helped her forget… forget all of these new problems.
She smiled. It wasn't all bad. Even without her… even without some of the Senshi. Even with failure… life still went on. When the Senshi were long gone. She knew someone would always be there to protect good. But for now… it was her turn.
No use wasting it.
She smiled again. The early morning really did brighten her spirits. She turned and began to get dressed. One final stop to make before she went home. One final stop before another confrontation with the world.
Min stood, finally, dressed back in her good old clothes. She'd finally figured out how to leave the horrid… skimpy outfit. Turned out that it was excruciatingly simple. It had truly been grating on her nerves. She'd gotten into the thing easy enough but figuring out how to get out of it had taken just shy of three weeks!
"Good to see you back to normal, Min." Rand said as he entered her quarters.
It had been some time since he had been here. He was off somewhere doing something. Min wasn't quite sure.
Rand was a prodigy. A devilish man. Cold and calculating were eyes that had once been naught but a farm-boy's innocence. He had to be, Min knew. He ruled very far and very wide. It wasn't an easy thing that he did.. Had to do.
"I… don't think I am quite… normal again." Min replied shyly. "I… still feel it. I… I could get it back if I wanted too."
Rand smirked. "Do you?"
"No! Of course not! What do I look like, some frilly princess?" Min said harshly.
Rand's smirk increased in it's potency. "Sometimes. When you want to."
"Eh… eheh.." Min blushed. She was accustomed to Rand's charms, and heard them most every day. She loved them anyway, though. She was enthralled with him. Aviendha and Elayne were in love with him as well. The lucky wool-headed man. How he managed that, Min would never know. But he loved them all. This… she knew. The bond told her.
They were getting ready. It was very early in the morning. The sun hadn't risen yet and would not do so for several hours. Rand had come to meet her where in her bedroom to pick her up before they left. She had been ready and waiting three hours before the dawn. He had been planning to leave for quite some time. He had told her that his departure had to be a secret.
Which was fine with her. Only Nynaeve, Lan, and Alivia knew of his eminent departure. Elayne suspected, he planned to leave though.
"Are you ready?" He asked, his face growing cold and determined.
"Yes." Was Min's simple reply.
Rand nodded. "Good. Now all we have to do is wait for Nynaeve, Lan, and Alivia."
As if summoned and knock was heard, tapping lightly on the doors to Min's quarters.
Rand walked to the door slowly and opened it tentatively. He wasn't disguised at the moment. If it was someone other than those three than someone would know he was here. At the moment, he didn't want anyone to find him. He planned his departure to be swift and un-expected.
He had been with Elayne for the past fortnight. The woman was insatiable! Light, he loved it! But his duty… his pride, all that he was called him to find them. Those who had betrayed him and attempted to murder him. And after that… He would cure the taint. That was why he needed Nynaeve. She was strong in the one power and he trusted her. If he couldn't trust someone who, for all it was worth, raised him, who could he trust?
He swung the door opened and, to his great relief, Nynaeve, Alivia, and Lan stood there. They held several ter'angreal with them. Most of them were worn by Nynaeve. Lan al'Mandragoran was once Moiraine Sedai's Warder. When she had… died, he had been… transferred. Not long ago his bond had finally been changed to it's rightful place. His wife Nynaeve. He was a strong, muscular man. A dark look of sternness covered him like a blanket. One of Rand's mentors, he was almost the bravest person Rand knew.
Alivia as was her only name, was very old. She was over four hundred years old in fact. Once she had been one of the Seanchan's damane'… the "leashed ones." Women who could channel that had been collard and made as dogs or weapons, without free will. Her strength in the one power was so far unmatched. Even Nynaeve wasn't as strong as the old, yet ageless woman. Her eyes, blue by color, held some lines of damage around them from misbehavior back when she was a "leashed one." Her hair, despite her age, was still mostly blonde, though it had a few white lines.
Nynaeve al'Meara. No… that wasn't right. Her name was Nynaeve al'Mandragoran now… No that was wrong too. Nynaeve Sedai of the Yellow Ajah. The brash brunette, who was the only person other than Rand himself who had fought and defeated one of the Forsaken and lived to tell the tale, was the shortest of the three. Nevertheless she was quite haughty and confident. Her brown braid of hair hung about her, swaying back and forth as she walked. Her brown eyes glared at him, sharpened by the fact that they had done this so much.
"Well, are we ready?" She said haughtily, yanking her braid. Nynaeve's attitude was usually like that. Recovered from her hindrance in the One Power or not, she would always yank that braid when she was irritated.
Why she was annoyed Rand could not fathom. And he couldn't care less either. He had more important things to worry about.
"Yes." He said calmly. "Lets go then!" She snapped.
He nodded silently. Slowly he grasped Saidin. The almighty fire snared his bones, grasping his mind in a the torrent of struggle. He forced the weaves in place and bore a hole through the tapestry. As the tear in space widened, a long country side appeared on the other side of the gate.
"Far Madding." He said. And with that, he grabbed Min's surprised hand, and stepped through.
"I hate Traveling." Min muttered ruefully. "It's so… odd jumping hundreds of miles in a few sparse seconds…
Rand looked at her oddly. "You get used to it."
She gave him a sour glare as the others stepped through behind her. "I'd rather not."
"Dead Scream!" came Keika's high pitched shout.
Ranma dodged the oncoming blast with ease. "You're getting slow, girl!" She cried from her position in the air.
Keika grit her teeth, she'd win today. She could feel it.
She jumped into the air to meet her hovering mother in midair combat. She spun quickly, as her foot careened towards her mother's side. Too slow. Her mother's right hand moved to block it while her left moved in tandem directly towards Keika's face. She leaned back quickly, abandoning her kick. She hovered back and smirked at her mother.
"Pluto Void Beam!" She exclaimed.
A bar of light, blacker than the black of the world lanced towards Ranma. Ranma frowned. In an instant, she was gone, directly behind Keika.
"Stop telegraphing your attacks!" She said angrily into the surprised girl's ear.
Ranma aimed a punch squarely for her daughter head at point blank range. Keika had no time to dodge. The punch slammed into her cheek sending her rocketing towards the ground. "It makes it too easy to dodge them. Do it with silence and then you would have hit me with that!" Ranma shouted at her daughters free-falling form.
"Ahh!" Keika winced as her back had skidded against the hard stone floor, searing off much of the back of her uniform and burning her skin.
She wavered
slightly as she rose to face the descending form of her mother. Ranma
was smirking. "You've still got a lot to learn, Keika"
Keika nodded solemnly once she made it to her feet again.
"I'm going to teach you something new today." Ranma said. She said it everyday and she never lied. There was always something new for her mother to teach her. "Sit down… this might take a while."
"What Mom?" Keika in an interested tone.
Ranma smiled. "What is the first duty of a martial artist, child?" Keika glowered. Child, child, child! When would she stop calling her that infernal name! She was the short one, anyway! "Damn it mom! Stop calling me that! I'm older than you!"
Ranma's smile flipped. "Answer the question. You are what you are. You will always be a child to me." She said harshly.
Keika sighed. "Protect the weak…" She said in a very bored manner.
Ranma smiled. "Good. Now do you know why?"
Keika gave a blank look. Why? Why would you protect the weak? What weak? There were only the two of them and she was definitely the weaker. So therefore Ranma had to protect Keika right?
"I… I don't know, mom." She said, truly baffled by the question. "W-why?"
Ranma smiled at her sixteen year-old daughter once again. With the question, Ranma gave her answer. "Because, Keika, the weak are the ones we love. I failed in this. The… m-man… my love, a long time ago, died because I was too weak to stop it. I want you to not make the same mistakes I did. Because of that, I tell you this story."
Keika sat happily.
Story time! She loved her mothers stories. Many of them made her feel
like the child she hated to be called though. "Tarwin's Gap" and "The
Lady of the Flames" were her favorites. And she really wanted to meet
Machin Shin someday. She'd always assumed, but was never sure, that
Machin actually was her father. Ranma talked about him quite often and had so many stories to tell about him.
He
seemed like such an amazing man. Perhaps this was why Ranma always
edged around him? Perhaps she had lost him… Was this the story that she
had been waiting for? The conclusion to the tale her mother would never
finish?
Light she hoped so!
Ranma sat too, beside her daughter.
"This story is one I've never told you before. I'm telling it to you
now because… well… you are right. You aren't a child anymore. To me you
always will be but… to the world… you're of age now."
Keika was
almost giddy. New story! Ah! She wanted to see these fairy tales in
real life, as her mother said she had, so badly! The rational side of
her brain told her the truth. But her youth told her to hold on to hope.
"This is the story of Akane Tendo… Y-you're… real mother." Ranma said solemnly.
Keika blinked. "W-what?"
"Keika… I've been hiding something from you for… a long time now. Before you were born actually." Ranma said quietly.
"W-what?" Keika repeated, still shocked. R-real mother? Was that possible? She and Ranma looked so much alike though! Same red hair… same blue eyes. She was taller sure but that was probably the result of… her.. father right?
"Akane is your mother. I… wasn't there when you were born but… when you were just a little baby, your mother… she died in my arms." Ranma said. Her eyes were reddening and a small glimmer of liquid slid down her cheek.
"M-mom? S-shit, don't cry… Are you… ok?" Keika asked in her brash yet, guarded tone. Her mother was crying! Her mother never cried! W-what did she do? What could she do?
"I'm fine!" Ranma said sternly. "It's just… it's a bad memory, alright? Ok… It… started a really long time ago"
Keika
listened to the story calmly. Her mother stumbled through it, in a
particularly emotional way. Akane had the baby while Ranma was
imprisoned by Pluto… the old Pluto. When she returned Keika was already
growing hair on her head.
Telling of her first capture by Sailor Pluto and how much Ranma had loved Akane… how she had forgotten the girl in her mind but remembered her forever in her heart for all her long imprisonment.
Then she told of the book and the pedestal mirror and seeing Akane forget all about her. And how Akane had Keika while not knowing that she had ever been… with a man.
She told of Machin Shin and the Black Wind of the Ways. Her mortal enemy and her precious friend who was still trapped inside the monstrous beast of blackness and gore.
She told of her escape from the ways. "Moiraine 'the Blue' Damodred," and how she opened the door to leave the ways, while Rand al'Thor rescued her.
She told of Ryoga and her return to their world, integrating and adding to the story of "Tarwin's Gap." and "The Lady of the Flames."
Ranma told of the scouts… the virtuous Sailor Moon whom Ranma had come to respect. She integrated the story of the nine scouts into her own story.
And finally, she told of Akane's death by lightning. Keika couldn't take her eyes from Ranma as she finished her tale. Ranma didn't quite know how she and Keika had come to be here in this world of darkness again or who had sent them here, but she told of the beam of light that had engulfed her and brought her here as she had just almost engaged Setsuna.
Keika, when the story was over, was mesmerized. Ranma had the time to make it up. It could have been fabrication, even with the incredible detail. She was the Lady of the Flames? Her mother! She created the Black Wind? She… was not her real mother? But… what could Keika think now?
"Keika… I'm… sorry. I know this is probably really hard to believe but… it's all true. That is the story of… well, how you came to be. And… I hope… you could still call me mother after it. I'm… I'm sorry, daughter." Ranma looked down, as if ashamed or something.
Keika didn't know what to say. No amount of story telling could possibly remove her title as her mother though. "You're my mom, mom."
Ranma let loose a desperate sigh of relief and muttered only, "Thank you…"
As Ranma looked up at her Keika could clearly see tears in her mother's eyes now. At that, Keika did the only thing she could do. She moved to embrace the younger-looking woman.
Ranma let her tears fall freely onto her daughters shoulder. The years of thought, worry and doubt spent wondering whether her daughter would accept her when she found out that Ranma was not her real mother. Relief in the purest form was Ranma's only emotion. That and elated joy.
"Thank you…" She repeated over and over, babbling into her daughter's shoulder.
Keika didn't say anything. She had one question, still. This one question could not wait, though. She had to ask. "M-mom… I, I need to ask one thing." She said edgily as she pulled slowly away from the embrace.
"Anything, Keika." Ranma replied, wiping her eyes softly.
Keika hesitated, unsure. What if the question made Ranma angry or sad? Would it be Machin? Or perhaps Ryoga. He was the most likely candidate? Maybe Rand? She didn't know, and she had to. She'd asked so many times before, but this time her mother would not edge around it. After this… she deserved to know!
"M-mom… if Akane is my real mother… who is my father?" She asked.
Ranma looked at her and tears gushed from her eyes in larger flows. But she was not crying. She was smiling. "Me, Keika… I'm your father."
Ranma's story continued.
Min screamed. Anguish. Unimaginable anguish. Pain beyond reason. Her mind was wracked with stabs of millions of daggers piercing her every body part! She was dimly aware of her friends and lover around her, but the unbearable pain made it impossible for her to acknowledge them.
"Min! What's wrong!" Rand shouted. He didn't understand, they'd been walking towards the city and then, in an instant, Min collapsed, screaming.
"Stop!" She cried perilously. "Make it stop!"
Pain washed through every part of her body. Like knives stabbing her insides. It washed through her, gliding through her veins. Tears fell from her eyes as the pain passed unbearable. Min whimpered. Her joints froze locking her in a position which minimized the pain as much as she thought possible. "Min!" Nynaeve yelled.
She lay down beside the girl. She didn't know what she could do but she had to try something. Mixing flows of spirit, air, and water she formed weaves for healing. Moving them towards the screaming girl, she found they wouldn't move forward. Something was blocking her! She pushed harder, and the barrier pushed back, stronger still. "Blood and ashes!" She exclaimed. "I can't help her."
Min was now writhing with reckless abandon. Slowy though, ever so slowly... somehow all the pain began to move. Her arms recovered… her legs felt rejuvenated. Her head seemed to lose the pain.
Her chest was another story. All of the knives that had been stabbing through her… the poisoned water coursing through her veins seemed to coalesce at her chest.
"I feel… something is happening to her… it's… her soul!" Lan exclaimed. "It's… something is happening to it!"
Lan wasn't sure. He could feel life energy. Soul. He had felt the Lady of the Flames' life energy long ago when she had scared Machin Shin away. Now he felt Min's more prominently than before. Something was happening to it. Altering it!
Min grabbed her chest and dug her fingernails deep into is spewing blood and ripping her garments. She didn't seem to care though."Please, stop!" Her head lifted up, her eyes widened. Shock! Pain! And then… nothing.
As if on cue, the pain was gone. Her joints slackened and here eyes closed. Her head fell back but was caught by Rand's rough fingers.
"Min!" He exclaimed, uselessly.
Alivia
stood back, watching the scene. She wasn't sure what to think but she
knew she couldn't help. Healing was not her forte. That was best left
to the Aes Sedai yellow… Nynaeve.
Nynaeve surrendered to the one power, and again formed the healing weave with Saidar again, mixing spirit, air, and water.
This time it touched. Her wounds on her chest closed quickly. Nynaeve was and always had been a healer. She was of the firm belief that anything short of death could be healed. So far, she'd been proven right. She Healed Logain of Gentling right? The man had been permanently severed from the source and she had brought him back to it.
This was easy. Just a few bloody scratches. Min was unconscious making it even easier.
"Min…" Rand sighed, he turned to face Nynaeve and asked blankly. "What happened? What is wrong?"
Nynaeve had no answer. "I… don't know."
"Her soul was changed. Altered or bound to something… I don't know what though." Lan said. "H-how do you know?" Rand said.
Lan knelt down beside the girl and wiped her hair from her face. "Training." He said plainly. "You could do it too if I had a week with you… but I don't. She'll be fine it looks like."
Rand gulped. He couldn't help but be worried. That had been no scream of minor pain.
"The new one is cruel…" Mesaana murmured. "She may even rival you, Semirhage."
Semirhage smirked. She was known for her torture. No one could best her in that. "She'll die. She is young and could never rival me."
Moridin laughed. "You believe the Great Lord wrong? I've seen her power. She holds in her more of the True Source than even I could cope with."
When a normal person said this it would be a laughable statement. Mesaana and Semirhage were two of the Chosen! Two of the thirteen strongest channelers of the age now known as the Age of Legends. Not something to be scoffed at!
But the multiple saa flitting across Moridin's eyes made them shiver. Moridin. Ishamael reincarnated by the Great Lord himself. The strongest of all the Chosen.
If someone surpassed him by far, bar Lews Therin… the man reborn as Rand al'Thor, it was enough to make even them shiver.
"Why are we here? I have better things to do with my time." Mesaana barked. "You will do as the Great Lord commands." Moridin replied, his voice, ice.
Mesaana didn't look intimidated at all. They glared at each other. Moridin's glare, enhanced by the saa flitting about his eyes, proved more potent when Mesaana looked away. "Why are we here?" She repeated.
Screams bellowed from the small house. These were perilous screams that Mesaana and Semirhage had never heard before. Semirhage grew irritated. The new one was cruel… Sammael, Aran'gar and Cyndane. All of which were screaming. They were also Forsaken.
Both Semirhage and Mesaana were surprise to hear Sammael, though they didn't show it. Both had thought him dead when the Dragon took the city of Illian.
Semirhage's irritation was not borne from the fact that she was here when she could be elsewhere, like Mesaana. Her irritation came from the fact that she knew she would be hard-pressed to evict screams from those three.
Aran'gar maybe… she was new to being a woman. Regardless, all of them were stronger than her in the power.
"You see. She is adequate." Moridin stated calmly. I too was made to see the truth in the same way. A word of warning: Don't give her reason to kill you. Graendel is dead. It took her five minutes."
Both of them took it in stride. Graendel was a true pain. The woman was crafty, though not quite as slick as the spider had once been. It was good that she was out of their way. She could have been a fearsome opponent when backed in a corner.
"Do you seek to remove her? Moridin?" Mesaana asked curiously. Her humor was as false as her tongue, and they both knew that.
"Yes." Was his straight reply, surprising both of them. He seethed, breaking his calm exterior. "Who is she to steal my place? She'll die at my feet. I swear on that."
Another scream bellowed from the room. It was the only male scream. Sammael's scream. Then it was followed by a maliciously, insane, cruel laugh.
"That madwoman is worse than… than… Lews Therin…" Moridin said. The saa still flickered about his eyes like wildfire, picking up speed with his emotion. "But back to the subject… Her Imminence!" He sneered, "Has ordered all of the Forsaken here. The Chosen in there have already been informed of this. Al'Thor plans to cure the taint on the male half of the power. Saidin. We are to stop him. But she said she had special orders for you two. For now, I recommended following her. Her punishment is more harsh than Shadar Haran's.
Mesaana cringed. Semirhage looked on defiantly. She had never felt Shadar Haran's touch as Mesaana had.
"What are these orders?" Mesaana asked, her cold exterior finally returning.
"You," Moridin replied calmly. "Along with Aran'gar, are to go to the Ways, and confront Machin Shin. Either make him an ally, or kill him. We have plans for the ways and the soul sucker has been there for far too long."
Mesaana's eyes widened. Kill… kill Machin Shin! By the Will of the Great Lord! That thing had killed whole armies! She didn't know how it was made but she had a guess… It was possible that it could be undone.
"I suppose that could be done. The Ways would be useful without the Black Wind." Mesaana said thoughtfully. Since Traveling was becoming common once again, Mesaana thought that the Ways wouldn't be very useful as a mode of transportation. But hiding an army of trollocs… the grove in Shadar Logoth could serve as an entrance easily.
"What am I here for, Moridin?" Semirhage spat. She would not be rendered helpless as those others were. She was smarter than that.
"You are to find the man known as Padan Fain… Ordeith, he calls himself now. You are to kill him. He has caused enough trouble."
Semirhage groaned. Pathetic! Was she some dog, sent to kill lesser dogs? "Why should I kill the filth! A pathetic fiend like that is a waste of my time!" She stated indignantly.
Moridin growled. "He may kill you. He isn't as weak as you may think. He is the being once known as Mordeth."
Semirhage growled with a feral tone. What was Mordeth? She'd never heard of it. "I'll not be her dog. She can kill the scum herself."
"Feel free to tell her that." Cyndane's perilous scream of torment, and possibly begging, erupted from within. Then silence again.
"That I will." Semirhage said. Her confidence wavered only slightly.
"I'm sure Nyranell will show you the error of your ways then. And after you beg at her feet as I did, perhaps we can form an alliance?" Moridin said in a mock-cheerful voice.
"Not likely, Ishamael." Semirhage stated. She didn't notice Mesaana's interested look, but Moridin did.
It had been long since Ranma had thought of reaching for the light in the back of her mind. A very long time indeed.
But now she sought it. In doing so she found that the black veil that had been gone last time, was there again. She couldn't fathom what the veil was. It was like… protection she supposed. When she drew on the light, through the hole she had drilled in the veil, the light felt wonderful. Magnificent power, hers to force to her will.
Though at one time the veil had not been present. Once she remembered, that veil had not been there when she had touched that globe of luminescent light. The power had still been there, but with it then, had been a taint, full of filth… raw scum sucking at her blood and filling her mind with repulsion.
With the veil there, there was less power. She couldn't draw nearly as much from the light but… the sickening, painful, grotesqueness was filtered out of it.
It didn't matter anyway anymore. The hole in the veil had closed and she could no longer reach it. In about a year she thought she probably could. There was still a sort of… dent in the veil. It was weakened there but it would still be difficult to reach the light.
She didn't have any reason to really. She trusted her daughter immensely. Keika was an sixteen year old girl. She had just found out not a week ago that her mother of all of those years wasn't really her mother and was taking it all in stride. Matter of fact, the girl actually seemed to simply not care about it.
It made Ranma so happy that Keika didn't care. She thanked Kami, the Creator and every other higher being that she knew for that.
She still didn't know how Keika would react when she finally saw her in her male form. She'd told her all she could remember though that wasn't much. Her curse's origin eluded her waning memory. All she could remember was it came from the "Springs of Sorrow." … Whatever that meant.
"Mom!" Keika shouted suddenly. "Mom!"
"Hnn?" Ranma replied turning towards her daughter.
Ranma gasped.
There before her was something she'd been dreaming about for sixteen years. A portal.
"K-Keika! What did you… h-how?" Ranma asked giddily.
Keika seemed stumped herself. How did she do that? She hadn't the foggiest idea. She'd been thinking about leaving… seeing some place and then, instantaneously, there in her hand stood a great staff. A heart on one end and what looked like some sort of key on the other.
Ranma knew the staff well. It had been Setsuna's weapon. Her key.
"I-I was just… thinking about leaving and seeing… well… and then this staff just sort of appeared. I took it and um… my hands just sorta moved by themselves until…" She pointed towards the portal of swirling black. It was an odd sort of tunnel with grayish wisps of color swiveling about the middle.
Ranma joy at the moment was paralleled only by the time when she found Akane. She was going back… leaving the dark prison once again. "W-where does it go? Do you know?"
Keika shook her head. "Well… it's time to go then Keika. Are you ready! I knew you'd get us out of here someday!" Ranma exclaimed.
Keika shied away in shock and horror. "Y-you want me to go… to go through that?"
Ranma nodded happily. "Keika… this is the only way out. We have to go through. I… it's just like the one that led me to the Ways… last time…
"The Ways! W-will… um… will this lead to where Machin Shin is, mom?" Keika asked warily.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Ranma replied calmly. "You have to be ready. I'm ready to leave. Are you? Do you want to see the world? The place where my stories come from?"
"Yes!" Keika practically shouted. Was she really going to get to leave? Was it finally time for her to see? To live! Were all of her mother's stories actually true?
Ranma smiled. "Come on then. Be brave. This is gonna be a really shocking experience for you." Shocking experience for Keika? Hell this was a shocking experience for Ranma! This easy? Amazing! God it had taken so much for her to get out but this… this simple little gateway. Made by the power of her enemy, given to her daughter. Light… her eyes welled with tears. "Free…"
Keika steeled herself. She looked towards the swirling, blackened portal. She was afraid but she had every right to be. She gulped audibly but walked forward.
"Hang on to me. Don't let go, Keika." Ranma cautioned.
She nodded. Keika was surprised. Ranma had gathered all of her items in no less than a few seconds. She was ready, her bag on her back.
"Lets go." And with that… they walked through. Keika was going to be free. Life would finally be shown to her. Tears that had stagnated in Ranma's eyes began to flow freely as she entered the portal. Finally, her daughter would have the freedom she deserved.
"Finally…"
Keika awoke drearily. What had happened? Where was she? She glanced around fearfully. It was dark but that was no problem.
Her aura blazed around her instantly. There was her mother, unconscious beside her. "Thank god…" She thought relieved. It was no darker than her home had been. But no lighter either. She stood on… a bridge of some sort. What was it? Bending down she tapped on it. "Just like home…" the sixteen-year-old thought crudely.
Ranma moaned wearily. "K-Keika? Are you alright?" She asked. Her senses recovered faster than Keika's and she was on her feet instantly. She glanced around and saw, thankfully that she wasn't in the darkened world anymore. She was in the Ways.
She grinned a little. "Well Keika… welcome to the Ways." She said.
Keika looked around, appraising the place with scrutiny. It seemed little different then home. Stone floor, dark except for her aura and the book…
"… This is all? I was expecting more." She said disappointedly.
Ranma smirked in joy. They were finally going to get out and see people again! She thought she remembered what the doors looked like… maybe she could bust one open…
"It's a larger prison, Keika… we have to find a door. We… we need to move fast. If the Black Wind comes… I want you to run. As fast and as far as you can. I'll find you someday… just.. If it comes… run, ok Keika?" Ranma's tone was serious. No nonsense. No complaining.
"Run… gotcha mom." Keika said firmly.
Looking around, Ranma appraised the place too. Just as she remembered it. Dark, damp, and not quite inviting. They should be just fine. It wouldn't take too terribly long to find one of the doors… she could do it before…
Ranma froze in fear. Wind. Wind only blew in the ways when... when...
"Keika! Run now!" Ranma screamed. It was coming! She hadn't expected it to find her so fast! Damn it! Keika had to run!
"M-mom?" Keika asked confused what was that rustling feeling that had washed over her. It felt… like… like using the Soul of Ice technique. It was… cold. Cold movement along her breasts and legs. What was this feeling? This…
"Run, Keika!" Ranma screamed. She turned and her aura blasted fourth like a great fiery furnace. Keika had to shield her eyes. What was this? When could her mother do this? By god!
There, beyond where her light projected was a great.. Massive black… sickening being. The light held it at bay. Her mother's light held it. God the light hurt her eyes. "Run Keika! Run!" Ranma shouted. But to no avail. Keika was too bathed in amazement and feeling to hear her. "Drink the blood… love the blood, kill… hear sweet screams… drink in screams… take the life, drain the soul… kill… kill!" The sickening words wafted across Keika's ears. What were they? What was this feeling? So many new types of pains and pleasures! The cold movement felt tingly and made her shiver, while these words and the silken, garish tongue that spoke them made her stomach lurch. What was going on?
Ranma's light held firm, but was wavering. How long could she hold out? Longer still than ever before but how long! "Keika… please run…" She gasped. She chanced a glance away from her blazing wall of aura and saw her daughter standing in mute shock. Her aura was draining. She was losing it! Keika had to run! She had to run now!
Tears leaked from Ranma's eyes. This couldn't happen! Not now! Not after so long… trying so hard!
"Machin!" She shouted defiantly. "Machin Shin! Turn back! Turn back now!" She screamed desperately. It was no use.
She closed her eyes. The light was hidden, covered by the veil so tightly, it would take a miracle for her to break through. What could she do though? She mentally banged on the black veil… trying with reckless abandon to re-drill the hole and gather that light that had once banished Machin. Her aura was waning. The wind absorbed her soul faster still than ever before. Eating it and mutilating it into his own, making him ever stronger. "Light.. Help me…" Ranma moaned. Her body moved on it's own accord, preparing itself. Her aura dimmed. Soul of Ice was moving to embrace her as it had many times before. She couldn't let it! She couldn't! If she slipped into the technique she would fall unconscious! And when she woke up.. Keika would.. Keika would…!
Keika still sat in the shock. She wasn't moving. Too late! Too slow! She should have waited and trained harder… or opened the veil to light! Why? Why had she been so stupid! So quick to rush out of her prison when she knew what waited on the other side?
And then something happened. It was instant and Ranma could feel it. Machin backed off slightly. The draining slowed. But it wasn't slow enough. "Machin! S-stop!" She shouted terrified. She was slipping. Failing. Her aura dimmed down to less than Keika's as the black mass of wind moved closer.
"K-Keika…" And with that… her light was gone. Her body froze itself completely, locked in the soul of Ice. And Ranma knew no more. "Mom!" She heard slightly.
The Wind faltered. Suddenly, it swirled around the frozen girl. A scream bellowed from within it but… the scream was not the sickening voice it had been. It was the voice of a man. The black mass faded but Keika didn't notice. She ran. She ran like she had never run before. Cold fear gripped her and terror engulfed her. Her mother was defeated, frozen cold and enveloped by that blackness. And she had been told to run!
"Stop!" She heard a female voice yell loudly. "Stop now!"
Stop? Who would tell her to stop! Who was that? What was it? Darkness.
Mesaana growled, the wind fled faster than she could hope to follow. But the girl.. Who was she? And what was that light that had been holding off the black wind? Ah well. She looked at the retreating form of blackness against black and saw it shrinking. Her idea had worked. Saidar, condensed spirit weaves had begun to counter the devilish taint surrounding the foul wind, which had most definitely been crafted by Saidin. She had injected them into the wind easily enough and now it was failing. The taint, seeping away. It would die in a few minutes, maybe less, she assumed. As for the girl, eh. Making her sleep had been easy. Mesaana knelt next to her and smiled. The girl had been holding more of the One Power while she was fleeing than anyone Mesaana had ever seen. Perhaps this was the ace that she needed. This girl was so strong and didn't even appear to know it! Saidar had flooded through her in waves. While Mesaana could hold a lake of the one power, this red-haired girl could hold an ocean!
"Are we done yet? I hate this place." Aran'gar complained. She was… skittish. Aran'gar was the reincarnation of Aginor. While Aginor had been a man, Aran'gar was a woman. She still held Saidin though. The male half.
"The wind is dead. Yes. We can leave now." Mesaana murmured.
"The girl?" Aran'gar asked. She'd recovered from her torture at the hands of Nyranell as well as any of them had. Mesaana could tell he was still shaky. Whatever the woman had done to Aran'gar, Mesaana definitely didn't want to go through it. While not the best, Aran'gar was no weakling.
"Leave her. I'm through with this. I'm going." Mesaana said, haughtily.
"Hmph." Was all Aran'gar replied. He channeled and a gateway appeared. He walked through it without another word, and was gone. She was a man inside, and of course, hadn't been able to tell that the red-haired girl was channeling. If she were a girl and could handle the female half of the power, he too would have wanted to take the girl and use her. She had been… so powerful. Perhaps even more so than Rand al'Thor.
Mesaana smirked. She picked up the red-head, made her own gate, and walked through as well.
All that was left present there, were the rats.
End Chapter
Well there is my first chapter. Hope you enjoyed! Please Leave a review! I like to know what my readers think of me!
To Chels: I love you, baby! Hope you enjoy!
To Anon: If you would read the first book this would make more sense. If you already did then sorry heh.
To Irony: That's... Ironic.
To Silence-Darkness: Yo'. Where were you man? I waited for two weeks untill I could wait no longer. Please gimme an update or somethin! This just ain't the same without you pre-editing.