Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma. S/he is the property of Rimuko Takahashi, along with all these other characters that she crafted. I just use them for my amusement. And yours, I hope.
Her War
"Everything you have, I will take. Everything you love, I will destroy. And then, I will kill you. This I vow."
— Saotome, Ranma
Chapter One
Begin A Tale
She was a tiny girl. Not the type of person anyone would have suspected of changing… well, everything. She seemed mere a twig, snapped in so many places that She was barely recognizable as a person, but pieces of Her body all still clung together by the bark.
Somehow She was alive… somehow.
Never had I seen such malice inflicted. Not even here. Someone had –hated- this girl. It wasn't until later that I realized She had antagonized Her tormenters to get to this point.
She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl I could remember seeing, save for perhaps my daughter. Or at least She clearly had been. But now though? She was… scarred. In so much pain, She couldn't scream. So defiant of her captors she made the rest of us seem as mice.
Not an ounce of cowardice resided in those bones though. Her physique may have been small but she harbored the heart of a lion.
Ukyo Kuonji stared out across the various members of Nerima's martial artists. Gathered once again as they hadn't been gathered in years. It was strange. There was no longer a unifying factor among them however. Small talk abounded as they all sat in a strange, but admittedly quite comfortable waiting room in the middle of Tokyo. A half hour drive to get here, after the impromptu summons from the 'Emperor's Chief Advisor on Foreign Affairs,' in a luxurious limousine had her more than ready to find out what this was all about.
Upon entering the building, sporting more than forty stories at the least, and an elevator ride that took so long she wished she'd simply jumped to the top, she'd been greeted by more men and women in suits then she'd ever seen in her life.
Some people stared at her in a surprised, nosy sort of way, that clearly stated "what the hell are you doing here?" but Ukyo was more than used to that. Having lived as a boy for the past eight or nine years of her life, she was no stranger to odd looks.
She gave a depressed sigh as she thought about it. It had been almost a year since Tsubasa had given up on her, thankfully not long after Ranma's untimely demise. That had always been a good thing… but only a year since Konatsu had died.
And now she was lonely.
Ukyo would never admit it, but she was so lonely she almost wished the disguise master would drop by and impersonate her grill. Just once… for old times' sake.
Why couldn't she find anyone? What was it about her that made people shrink away? Just because she was a little different? Because she wasn't like every other girl? Was she really so repulsive?
She thought she might be sometimes. She had hundreds of regulars in her shop and more than enough chances to hear them speak about her. Many had thought it was only a matter of time before she and the not-quite-Kunoichi tied the knot. Perhaps it would have been, looking back. She'd taken the ninja for granted, forgetting her grief for Ranma only after he had died.
A year after Ranma's death she and Konatsu had become friends of the closest degree, but even so she'd never thought about… well… liking him. At the time, at least.
The whole thing was extremely strange. She was the boy! He was the girl! It would have been all wrong! She wanted a man! Not some weird cross-dressing ninja! And making love with him? God! It would be horrible! Eeugh!
…
At least… those were the things she told herself when she began regretting not using the time she'd been given. All that time spent lamenting stupid Ranma… she'd missed what she might've had right in front of her.
She sighed again and turned her eyes towards Akane, and found herself grinning at the sight. The girl stood together with Mousse. She looked worried and apprehensive. He looked as if a car were barreling down on him and he was frozen in the glare of the headlights.
What in the world could cause his face to look so unbelievably surprised!? Either way it gave her a laugh, and was enough to bring her out of her brooding.
"H-Hello Kuonji-san." Akane greeted, her customary stutter that had developed after Ranma's death punctuated by a large bit more worry than usual.
"Hey sugar." Ukyo replied with a slight hint of curiosity, which Akane picked up on almost instantly. Mousse seemed clueless as ever. And almost as if he weren't here. "So, what's up with you two?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all! And you!?" Akane jumped on her words with all the force of her own fists, now strong enough to overpower anything save for the girl's own cooking.
Of course, this only served to make Ukyo more curious as to what the girl was hiding. Mousse's face sure did look funny. But, being a friend and all that, Akane clearly didn't want her to take it any further, so she dropped the idea of hinting at something out of the ordinary, in favor of a more mundane topic.
"So, any idea why we're here, Akane-chan?" She asked sweetly. Idly she reached behind her back to secure her battle spatula and make sure it was properly adjusted for attack. Things like that tended to happen, and it was always good to be prepared. One of her stipulations for attending this little… whatever it was, had been that she was allowed to have her giant weapon.
Ukyo believed the only reason they allowed it was because none of them realized that it actually was a weapon. Had they, she doubted Setyoki or Setki or whatever his name was, would have been so lenient. Though she saw that Mousse definitely carried at the very least his ball and chain.
Not that she could actually see it of course, but if one was a martial artist for long enough, one learned to know when others were armed. Especially a weapons Master.
"Hello, everyone." Came the distinct, but abnormally informal voice of the man who had sought her out and asked for her attendance at this little reunion. Though, at the time, she had not known any other members of Nerima's martial artists would be attending. She'd forgotten the man's name and for the life of her, could not remember it.
"What's this all about?" Ryoga demanded heatedly. "Haven't you kept us waiting long enough? We've been here for almost four hours!"
Nabiki, sitting on one of the sofas in the far corner of the room, who had been looking out one of the immaculate windows across the Tokyo skyline, turned towards the short man and firmly nodded her agreement.
Ukyo blinked. She'd only been here for a half hour at the most. But then, she had been one of the last to arrive, followed only by Genma and Nodoka.
"We apologize for the wait, and thank you for your patience. It took time to gather everyone that the new Emperor has asked to see. You are a… difficult group to find." He said with a small chuckle.
No one joined him in the humor. Looking around Ukyo could tell that many odd feeling were circling the room. The emperor was paying them… and large quantities of money as well for this. Genma and Nodoka seemed apprehensive, little Ranma-chan resting on Genma's knee, giggling as if all life were a large play toy for her.
Mousse and Akane seemed distracted. Their minds were clearly elsewhere. Kasumi, Tofu, Soun, and Nabiki all appeared to be at least a bit irritated. Kasumi most of all. Save for perhaps Akane, Ranma's death had affected Kasumi most of all. Kasumi had become… cynical. Ukyo had her suspicions as to why and how the change had occurred. She had always wondered how Nabiki and Kasumi had been sisters with the personalities so unbelievably different. Ranma's death exposed Kasumi's true side. A bitter woman arose from the empty feeling Ranma's ashes had left in everyone. Slowly, Kasumi had lost her motherly attitude.
Oddly enough, it was that same quality, her 'fallen-from-grace' sort of perspective, that had allowed Dr. Tofu to get around his infatuation, and finally ask her to date him.
And later, marry him. Their wedding had been around the same time as Konatsu's death…
'No Ucc-chan. Don't think about Konatsu. You've got more important things to be doing!' Ukyo told herself firmly. And she was right. This was no time to be daydreaming about the past.
"Well, let's get right to the point. For those of you who may have forgotten, I am Setsoki Kyoke, the emperor's Chief Advisor of Foreign Affairs. Emperor Hirohito has briefed me on the details of this assignment, and is sorry that he will not be able to attend personally." He paused for a moment as if to make sure he had their attention.
He did.
The martial artists of Nerima had become considerably more calm in the years since Ranma's demise. Satisfied, the man continued on in his same all business attitude as he took a seat in one of the many plush chairs. "The emperor has asked you all to be ambassadors to the newly formed entity known as the Federated City States of New China." The Setsoki finished glibly.
The audience blinked for a second. Ukyo had not known this. Only that the emperor sought her assistance. She was a citizen. She would gladly come to the aid of the emperor. The pay helped as well. Once the small man had convinced her that he was not joking around, and that this was a tried and true summons from Emperor Hirohito himself, she had been more than willing.
It was clear that some had already known. Genma and his wife, Soun, and Nabiki showed the least surprise at this new information.
But others…
"What!?" Ryoga exclaimed heatedly. "New China!?"
"The Federated City States of New China." Setsoki returned ready for the correction. Ukyo noticed Ryoga grate his teeth a bit. He didn't seem to like the man much. Setsoki seemed equally annoyed.
"Isn't there a war going on in China?"Ukyo asked pointedly.
The man gave a small smile. "Good question miss… Kuonji was it? Yes. The war in China has finally ended. China Is now under the control of a new ruler. Brought to rule by the people unanimously, she was crowned four weeks ago as the Empress of All China."
A moment of silence passed while Ukyo and the others thought over Setsoki's words. China had an Empress? China? Weren't they generally more sexist than even the worst of Japanese traditionalists?
Ukyo held back a small laugh at the utter incredulity staining Nodoka's face. Genma himself looked like he barely cared. He was more impatient than anything, but most of his attention was on his small daughter held gingerly in his arms.
"What does this have to do with us, exactly?" Nabiki quipped, clearly just as, if not more impatient then the elder Saotome.
"Exactly. Of that we are not certain. We had hoped you all would be able to tell us. You see, less than two weeks ago, the newly crowned empress arranged a meeting with emperor Hirohito, in order to discuss the terms of an alliance. However, when the issue of Ambassadors to trade information between the two countries came up, none would satisfy her. She demanded a specific ten people. You ten." He finished with a questioning glance across the entirety of the room, searching each of their eyes for the answers to the questions he now harbored.
Ukyo didn't have any thoughts right off. Be the ambassadors between China and Japan? Get paid, nicely for serving her country? Low risk for danger? Sounded like a three way win for her. And she'd never had a lack of customers when traveling before. Her portable cooker, while not quite as delightful as grilling from home, was just as good a profit maker as her restaurant.
Curiosity began to develop in her as she began to think of anyone she knew who had even been to China. Stretching her mind, the only people she thought of were the Amazon's, of course. Ryoga had gone there when he was younger obviously. But other than that she… wait…
A thought struck her.
"Wait… Empress?" She asked, emphasizing the feminine suffix of the title firmly.
"I was just as surprised as you," Setsoki replied tartly. "Yes. Empress is correct. The new ruler China is a woman. The first female ruler of china since ancient Wu Hou fourteen hundred years ago."
Ukyo gave a sigh, and found that sigh accompanied by several others. It had been an entertaining thought. That of Ranma becoming a ruler of China. But empress? Hah! He'd die first!
…
That thought was a bit more depressing when it finished its trek across her mind.
Gloomy, she gave a stare at him. She tried to speak but Xian Pu beat her to the punch. "Xian Pu is from China! Possibly the new ruler of China is an Amazon?"
Ukyo glowered. Ranma's death or not, she had never become friendly with the Amazon. She had a strange fondness for Ryoga, after all their schemes to separate Ranma and Akane throughout those years, but Xian Pu…? Well. Xian Pu was an idiot. Still and always. They would never get along.
"Just because she's from China doesn't mean she even knows you!" Ukyo boomed challengingly. "She could just as easily be someone else from China that we know!"
Xian Pu growled but didn't say anything. Ukyo almost blinked. Perhaps the girl had matured a bit. After a moment of silence, Ukyo began to almost feel bad about the jibe.
"I… am sure U-Ukyo, knows many people from China, Yes? Ukyo knows the Jusenkyo guide maybe?" The girl struggled to use the words correctly but she succeeded miraculously. Her stuttered sarcasm stung Ukyo. Yes. She definitely would never get along with her.
"Both of you are wrong. Our spies in China have told us that this woman is of Japanese descent. She has professed it openly, as a reason to avoid taking the throne. She seemed… very reluctant to take it in the first place. She was described as… humble in appearance but above all… dangerous." He stated, in an alarmingly low tone.
"Joy," Nabiki sighed sarcastically. Her sarcasm was a sign, Ukyo noted. It had taken years for her to actually analyze one of Nabiki's true character traits, but she'd slowly discovered that her sarcastic quips usually meant that she knew something no one else did.
It gnawed at her; what could the middle Tendo's mind have gleaned already that her own could not find?
"So what do we know about this empress? A name maybe?" Nabiki asked tartly, as it throwing a weapon at the sharp-eyed advisor.
Setsoki waved it off, clearly accustomed to barbs regarding his mental prowess. "She is called Fire. That is the only name any would give. It seems to be the only name she has used since she became the leader of the resistance several months ago. Before that, no one had heard of her… it seems she became somewhat of a legend during the earlier parts of the war. And later, a living hero. I don't presume to know what is true and what is not, but our informants tell us that she is considered the savior of China. Why? What from? Questions we would like the answers to. She refused to speak on the events of her past without ambassadors. You ten."
"You don't even know her name?" Kasumi jibed. "Great spies you have there…"
Setsoki's eyes narrowed at that.
"Hundreds of spies were sent to China to try to find out what in God's name was happening over there. Thousands. Do you know how many died? How many died for just this? I don't think you realize just how dangerous the war really was, do you? We have been safe here, but in the mainland for the past two years individual villages have been erased from maps by the day. People killed in the thousands in moments. Then, all of a sudden, our spies, those still alive at least report en masse that a new empress has risen to power." Setsoki spoke eloquently with a voice used to speeches. His eyes were hard and his tone harder. Kasumi didn't bat an eyelash at it, showcasing her own sternness, but Ukyo admitted to feeling a little guilt. Perhaps she should have cared a bit more about the mainland.
"Days later," Setsoki continued, "The emperor received a message requesting an immediate alliance and the presence of ten specific ambassadors. You ten. Now we have discovered everything we can about this 'Empress Ruby,' but anyone sent to watch her has not returned. Not one."
Kasumi was not finished. Sing-songing her voice she attacked with sarcasm to a degree even above Nabiki, "And you expect us to go to her? You offer a wonderful incentive!"
Nabiki herself blinked, not at the words, but at the focus of Kasumi's attacks. Clearly she had been trying to assess just how dangerous this would be. Ukyo watched the middle Tendo then shiver with a calculating look towards her older sister. Ukyo didn't want to be anywhere near a bout between those two minds. A callous Kasumi somehow seemed far more dangerous than Nabiki when pressed.
Setsoki, having just realized he had bitten much more than he could chew, stumbled over his words. "I… I… she er… The empress assured us that you ten would have no cause for worry whatsoever."
Ukyo almost giggled. About time the man showed a bit of humility. And Nabiki too for that matter.
"Hmph. Some guarantee. Look at the welcome she gives your other visitors." Kasumi remarked wryly.
Setsoki sighed, somewhat irritated, and at the same time a bit respectful of the twenty three year old woman. "You are afraid to cross. I understand. Regardless, you have been fully briefed of everything we know. Anyone who does not wish to go to China may leave now. Otherwise, follow me."
With that, he turned and left the room pushing open two wide doors, which men in black suits stood at to hold open.
A moment of somewhat surprised silence swept the room. Ukyo watched the man humorlessly stride away down a long corridor covered with exotic paintings and fine carpeting, until he disappeared around a corner.
Another moment was spent eying one another until finally, Ryoga stood. Followed quickly by everyone else. The boy immediately walked in the wrong direction until a bonbori found its way to his forehead. Ukyo giggled, and the lost boy only deigned to glare at Xian Pu before turning and following the others.
Ukyo followed too.
"Right this way Ma'am! Please keep up!" Said a smiling young woman of no older than twenty, gesturing Akane along slowly. The girl wore a strange assortment of formal and informal dress that Akane had no idea how to classify her. No different from anyone else here, but completely different from the black suited men that had escorted them right up until they had left the helicopter in China's Japanese Embassy, she wore a pair of baggy, slack-like pants and a deep blue tunic, all tied together with a sash and scarf that would have made her stand out like a beacon of 'strange' in Japan.
Heavily accented Japanese, but more than well researched in her vocabulary and probably a very good choice for a translator or guide, her name was Lao Min. And Akane couldn't help but consider her very strange. Even for China.
"Ma'am, please?" She gestured almost pleadingly. "I don't want to keep the Empress waiting any more than she already has. She is very anxious to meet you all!"
Akane blinked. "Wh-what? I'm sorry? What did you say?" She asked apologetically.
The woman sighed exasperatedly and gestured to the others who were already a long ways ahead of her in the long hallway of the Embassy. Only she, Mousse a step ahead of her, and Ukyo caught following her and idly prodding her along at that, remained behind, the others all more than a hundred paces ahead and walking quickly.
Mousse, at the attention given to her, turned and gave her a hard, pressing look. Having the decency to blush, Akane continued along, walking past Mousse and Lao Min quickly to avoid both of their gazes.
She bit her lip. She'd bitten it so many times within the past two day that it was easier to mark the times when she wasn't biting the damn thing. She only really remembered to stop when the taste of blood reached her tongue. Even then, only slightly.
Mousse was eyeing her strangely. He had been doing so the entire ride over the sea and nothing could have made her more nervous. Nothing.
'He knows!' She thought weakly. 'Dammit, Akane you're such an idiot! Why didn't you clean up those damn wrappers!?' She mentally kicked herself.
About half way through the helicopter ride across the Sea of Japan was the time she thought the shocked look had finally eased off her boyfriend's face. That was the only thing she'd cared to look at, having completely missed almost everything about their trip over. All she knew was that the Amazon's expression had faded, only to become a series of emotions that even she could read. Disbelief. Worry. Anxiety…
…Happiness? Elation?
Worst of all, was that strange… expecting look he kept giving her.
Perhaps she couldn't read his emotions as well as she had thought.
'Dammit! I don't wanna tell him! Kasumi! I have to get Kasumi alone to… to talk to her!' She thought weakly.
She walked along slowly, her feet being guided more by the urging voice of Lao Min from behind her than anything else. Her mind was so far away from this impromptu hike that she felt like she probably wouldn't even remember it by the time they got back home.
Mousse… How will Mousse react? How? How?
She asked herself over and over again, but she just couldn't answer. She knew he was a good man. It wasn't likely that he would just shotgun back to China…
'But he sure has the opportunity now doesn't he? Idiot! Why didn't you think about that!? You shouldn't have come on this stupid trip! Now he'll definitely shotgun right back to the Amazon Village! Besides, you're in no position to be thinking about your own good, let alone that of Japan!' Her conscience screamed in her mind. She couldn't help but agree with it and wanted nothing more than to bash herself with a stick. Maybe bang her head against the wall.
Her eyes traveled across it and she decided that would be a bad idea. Polished marble.
Slowly, a few turns later through large vaunted corridors that all appeared to have seen better days, some with tiles having even fallen off the ceilings only to shatter on the hard stone floor, the group came upon a row of revolving doors leading into the outside.
Walking briskly, Akane caught up to Ryoga just as he entered one of the doors and stepped out into the sunlight of a midday.
Her jaw dropped, and all thoughts of Mousse evaporated in awe and terror.
The first thing she saw was the rubble. The ground was littered with more rocks and stones, all jagged and harsh in shapes that clearly had once been smooth and even. Concrete smashed to pieces.
Sidewalks lay cracked everywhere and people dotted the area, digging through mounds of rubble. Poking at them for belongings. Maybe even loved ones. Some tearfully digging, their hands rubbed raw and bleeding all over, but still refusing to stop their endless trek through the hard debris.
Her eyes trailed all around, down the vast street covered in rocks and the remains of street lights and vehicles that was once a bustling road in the middle of a once beautiful city.
Traveling skyward, her view reached the other buildings. Some stood tall and firm, shaved open so she could see right into the very rooms that had once been enclosed. Some had obviously once been twice as tall as they now stood, the tops of their towers now fallen across more rubble covered streets.
Blood scraped along signs and fences and buildings on all sides and the building she had just exited had not been spared of that. Somehow, the thing still stood, but in looking up, she found that it, too, was missing the top of its once tall spire.
All at once she realized what it was the other members of her helicopters flight had gasped at during the last several minutes of flight. She had been too depressed, to worried and concerned with Mousse to take note.
Now she wished she had.
Papers decorated every wall. Littered papers blowing around freely in the wind fallen from the remains of buildings or billboards that had also been destroyed.
Bits of road curved up towards the sky, while others plunged into the earth leaving bare patches of land, and shining arches of road, as if the very ground itself had roiled, and the roads were mere strings wriggling along its top.
"Come on!" Lao Min said, still cheerily. "You must hurry!"
"B-but…! But!" Akane's eyes fell on a young child, kneeling in the stone. Her hands were dirty and her eyes lay staring blankly into a framed photograph, it's glass cracked down the middle, and tears dribbling down onto it.
A young man staring at a short building the above him reading a strange title that was now only half there, along with the right side of the building. He stared blankly as if he would never live again… as if he had lost everything important.
Suddenly, Akane felt herself pushed from behind. She turned around to glare at Lao Min. How… how could the girl be so cheerful?
Dried onto a nearby wall, written in blood, lay a half-written Chinese kanji for 'help.' The rest was a handprint trailing down the wall. She could almost see the body that had scrawled that weak message before sliding down to die. Or worse.
"Come! All is well! Come!" Lao Min insisted.
And Akane's eyes fell on it. Perhaps a mile away, hidden by the stubs of a few once tall buildings, lay a Tower. Seemingly triple the size of Tokyo Tower, it stood gleaming against the bright midday sun; the sun was a weak comparison to its brilliance. The spire gleamed in a holy light; crafted of a white ivory, it glowed with a luster that outshined the moon and the stars and everything else she had ever seen. Like a sword trying to grasp the edges of the sky, it grew out of the ground. It had no windows, or perhaps it was just so big that from this distance the windows were not visible to her.
She was one of the first citizens of a foreign country to visit China in the last two years. Helicopters, planes… nothing could break through the wall of war that China had been, and none wanted to venture in. Because, well… none yet who had, had managed to venture back out.
During the early stages, Akane vaguely remembered from around the time little Ranma-chan was born, Japan had tried to catch film of what was going on in China. Hundreds of dead reporters later and news crews stopped being brave. The story of a lifetime, yes. But was it worth the risk?
Since then, none had thought so.
Akane supposed the government had sent in automated planes and the like, but none of that information had been release to the press. Whatever had been happening right across the sea was a mystery to most of Japan, but it had effected them little. The war in general had barely touched them.
Some foods were a bit harder to find. Some products that had once been plentiful were now scarce. Other than that though? The war in China had yet to affect them, really, beyond the shock value of knowing people were losing their lives daily.
Some muttered about how it had only been a matter of time. So many people there, it was only a matter of time until a war began that could wreck the giant nation. The Soviet Union was much the same. The cold war had been raging strongly but even that had little effect on Akane or anyone she knew.
Japan, smartly, was staying uninvolved.
And now she saw why. This tower had never been a part of Beijing. Not in any of the pictures she'd seen. Not… anywhere, had she seen a building like this.
"Come on!" Lao Min insisted angrily, and Akane jumped as she realized she had stopped again.
Quickly, she hurried her step.
"I'm very sorry young miss," Came Nodoka's sudden voice, and Akane jumped again, surprised. "But we must check in to wherever it is you will be having us stay. As you can hear, my daughter is quite angry."
Abruptly, Akane noticed the sound of a crying baby, and recognized it at Nodoka and Genma's young daughter Ranma-chan. Looking ahead, she saw Genma struggling to quiet the young babe, while he stared around in awe that still had not faded from his first view of Beijing in the helicopter. Akane wished she hadn't been so damn distracted!
Lao Min's grin widened. "Very good! You will be staying in the palace with Empress Ruby. All you must do is hurry. The empress is waiting."
A sharp glare was directed Akane's way before vanishing from the girl's face. Still, she prodded Akane along like a mother pushing a young child.
Akane noticed Ukyo giggle. Mousse was still staring around the city in shocked horror. This was a place he had likely been before in his life… To see it changed so… must hurt. It must make him worry for the home he once dwelled within.
Well, he was an Amazon no more… hopefully he wouldn't…
'Gah! I have to stop thinking about this!' She thought heatedly. Steeling her step, she walked forward at a brisk pace so as to catch up with those that had left her behind. Ever towards the glimmering spire in the distance.
Dr. Tofu thought of himself as a very logical man. Now, though, his logic and his heart were warring together. Logically, it would be best to meet this new empress. Find out who, or what, she wanted, and get out.
But the people in this desolate place screamed for a healer. Screamed for someone of his talent to rid them of their pains. His heart burned with the need to stop and heal every cut. Reset every bone.
Kasumi somehow realized this and led him along firmly, holding her arm behind his back, and he was more than thankful for it. Publicly, Kasumi had lost much of the motherly attitude she had once held, but privately, she was still every bit as fragile. Only he was allowed to see that side of her now. At times, her family glimpsed vague images of the old Kasumi, but she had turned cold to almost everyone.
Ranma had meant as much to her as he had to Akane or Xian Pu or Ukyo. In a different way… but it had scarred her just as much. She felt the family had betrayed him somehow. That they should have gone with him.
Maybe they should have. But then, maybe they would have died as well.
Kasumi knew it wasn't their fault the boy had died. Mousse and Ryoga she blamed most of all, but it still wasn't their fault. What more could they have done? Dive under a falling mountain? Right.
Tofu shook himself. Thinking of Kasumi's past was a good way to distract him from the hurts of those around him, but he couldn't afford to be distant from a situation like this.
The strange part about it all, was that despite the rubble. All the cracked houses and broken bones. Blood covered walls. Toppled buildings. Despite everything, most of the people were not grieving. No. They were rejoicing! Something good had happened.
And he simply had to understand what.
People, happy people, sidled along those who had clearly lost homes or loved ones and roused them to cheer. As if things would be better now.
Empress Ruby, Empress Ruby, The Empress of Fire who calls down the sky has come to save us all, Tofu made out from his broken understanding of Chinese. And many other names and titles were spouted in happiness. Some even danced around small bon-fires. Many still picked at rubble in grief but many more were joyous. As if a new age had come. As if… all was well?
Tofu could hardly fathom it.
Added to that, the spire, a backdrop to the entirety of Beijing's capital, grew ever closer. Now Dr. Tofu could make out small details. Balconies circled the bladed tower, and on each balcony, a hundred archers or gunners or more stood gleaming in pristine armor. Cannons or trebuchets stood by the hundreds along the entire building.
The only thing marring the building was a long wide gash down the front, as if a sword the size of a mountain had sliced down through the edge to pierce the glimmering walls with a blacken-charred scar.
As they grew closer, the walls surrounding the spire came into view. A keep, like from stories and fairy tales of old, the walls stood as tall as many buildings Tofu was familiar with from Tokyo.
If the buildings near the embassy had been toppled, these walls were decimated. Standing at so many different levels of height they might as well have been hills, the walls were destroyed. Crafted of stone and brick, to look akin to the Great Wall of China itself, not a one stood as beautiful as it once had.
The walls… the city… all of it had only just recently come out of a battle of magnitudes Dr. Tofu could hardly imagine.
Yet still, now the people rejoiced.
The Empress of the Sky has come. Let her reign forever. The Empress of the Sky has come.
Tofu had to try hard not to gape.
Nabiki shivered as she calculated the damage costs of the buildings around him. Millions of yen would have to be spent and re-spent to return even half of these once prestigious buildings to their proper order. The walls… god, the poor walls would never be rebuilt.
That great gash in the tower would be more expensive than anything, she bet. Try as she might, she simply could not discern what the tower was made of. Added to all of it, the people, chanting in the streets in some strange and words, some even dancing around fires. Having feasts in closed tents erected as temporary homes.
They passed by a shelter where thousands were waiting in hundreds of lines for a portion of soup. Happy faces, bloomed everywhere. She couldn't understand the language but 'happy' was universal.
It was not long before they stood at the crumbled gates of the walls that surrounded the tower. Nabiki felt more and more intimidated by the thing as she approached. At least double the highest tower she had ever resided within.
The gates crumbled a bit as they were opened for the party, after Lao Min shot a few spitfire Chinese barks up at the men on the half broken bridge top.
The way opened to a small courtyard, littered with craters, dirt, and the remains of once pristine pathways. Somewhat gothic in appearance, little grass decorated this strange court, but hundreds of potted plants lined every wall, with a surprisingly small number of them toppled. It seemed the tower's walls had taken far more damage than the tower itself had. Only that one long gash near the top.
"Jeez this is a long walk. Can't we get a car or something?" She complained, annoyed at just how long the distance between the walls and the building itself appeared to be. She realized that was a pretty dumb question. Cars would not be able to navigate these rubble covered pits and mounds, but still. They were national ambassadors for crying out loud!
Lao Min almost glared. Instead she settled for mumbling, "Annoying Japanese, always complaining. Why does Empress Ruby want to meet them so much? Bah…"
Nabiki only barely made out the words, but they made her smile. Lao Min's cheery attitude, faked though it may be, had been irritating her to no end, and she was glad to see that the girl was more than some strange and relentlessly happy robot.
Before too long, but far longer than Nabiki would have wished, her aching legs viewed a staircase leading high into a giant entry way into the spire; she could barely see the doors, but already she could tell that even the tallest man would need double his own height to touch the tops.
"… Someone's compensating for something…" She murmured angrily.
Kasumi giggled heartlessly, and Ryoga chuckled as well. Lao Min looked at her, confused.
Silently now, the group plodded up the buildings stairs. Akane kept shooting questioning glances Mousse's way when she thought he wasn't looking, and Nabiki noticed that Mousse did the same to her.
Ryoga held Shampoo lightly, his arm wrapped around her lower back comfortingly and they walked as if that were the way they were born to.
Ranma-chan still cried in Genma's big arms and Nodoka tried uselessly to shush the girl. Probably needed a diaper change or something. Nabiki grimaced at the thought. She hated kids. Always had.
Lao Min busily prodded them along, not looking a bit tired. Nabiki supposed none of the martial artists in their group did. She could tell Kasumi and Nodoka both were feeling the burn in their legs, and her father, Soun, to some degree at least did as well. The others might as well have taken a few steps for all the tiredness they appeared to have.
After what seemed an eternity of climbing, gladly thanking whoever it was that had cleared the rubble from these stairs at least, and painstakingly avoiding the dangerous holes that decorated the steps, they came to the giant double doors.
The doors swung open slowly, and Nabiki was greeted with a magnificent front entry way, covered in carpet that seemed fit for a king. Or empress.
They stepped in, and Nabiki heard gasps from all around. High above hung ten bandoliers all dotting the sides of the carpet that ran up a few more beautiful steps. Stone pillars also lined the carpet holding up immaculate tapestries and a ceiling painted with figures of war and killing and anger. Many of those had been painted over, and were even being painted over as she watched. Giant ladders holding men and women, white-coating the gruesome ceiling, and readying it for new scenes. Or at least she hoped so.
The walls held windows on both sides made of stained glass, leading to still other rooms beyond them.
To the far back of the room, more stairs, carpeted with the same red carpet they now stood on, both sides of the yin and yang symbol decorating them in seemingly random patterns trailed up and behind the immaculate throne that stood in the center, raised up and above everything else.
Nabiki almost fainted.
Atop the glistening silver throne that would have made the tower itself seem a pale comparison, sat one man.
"May I introduce," Lao Min stated grandly with a wide sweep of her hands, and a chuckle at her lips, "Empress Ruby?"
Changed… but he was without a doubt, Ranma Saotome.
The man glared heatedly at Lao Min, and those around him, who laughed. "Dammit, Lao Min…" He sighed.
It seemed almost minutes before the shocked surprise faded from the martial artists of Nerima. Then, they rushed him.
Ryoga's eyes remained widened in the purest of shock, even minutes after the others had actually felt him. Touched him to make sure he was not some mirage. Ranma. The Emperor of China! Ranma had left little Nerima behind and become the fucking Emperor!
Of China!
Ryoga almost laughed aloud at Lao Min's introduction of him, but he didn't. Glee filled him as well as a goodly portion of dread. He had mixed feeling about the whole thing. Watching as Akane hugged him. Shampoo as well, and Ukyo. None of them glomped him like they might have years ago, and that made Ryoga so happy on its own that he thought he might cry. Xian Pu… really did love him. Ryoga Hibiki. She had moved on past Ranma, and now it seemed it was only mere gladness that he was alive that spurned the girl's teary eyes.
Added to that was the fact that Ranma was different. The cocky grin he had always sported, no matter what the situation was gone. Not a trace of that remained. Instead the man seemed quiet, reserved… and dangerous. Gone was the martial artist of old.
Scars traced his bare arms from top to bottom, worried Ryoga. A particularly nasty one marred his once pristine face, slicing down his eye, and cheek, and collar bone, all the way to his neck in one long, ugly gash. What in god's name had happened to Ranma between Mount Horaisan and now?
Gone was the pigtail. His hair short and un-bound, waved about his neck spiking somewhat, was held out of his eyes only by the small, silver Diadem signaling his new position. Gone was the seemingly weak physique Ranma once held, in comparison to himself at least, now broadened by what seemed ages of physical effort.
His clothes though… those remained, punctuated by the sigil of a giant Yin pattern on the front, as deep a black as it could ever be, and a yang on his back, whiter than snow. The rest of his shirt remained his trademark red and bluish-black pants.
Adding to his strangeness was the presence of four manacles on his wrists and ankles, where once his arm bracers had been. Simple, metal manacles, grey and dulled with age, yet rustless. That was what they seemed to be at least.
Add to that, the man appeared to be… wary of everyone. And everything. As if he'd grown fearful of attention somehow. Or… just paranoid of everything.
But beyond everything, he was Ranma. Without a doubt he was Ranma. His rival, long dead, now stood before him in new and empowered glory. Ryoga's skin prickled at the thought of challenging him once again, excitement blaring in his bones. What would it be like to battle his old rival once again? A shiver ran up his spine at the thought. But first his story. Why had he not returned home? Why…?
Ranma slowly threw a few of them off, words having not come from any of them. His mother, bawling into his shoulder. Genma silently standing back, tears of joy trailing down his eyes as he held his small daughter. Even she seemed to have calmed down.
Another three hands embraced him from behind and Ryoga could tell Ranma had become very uncomfortable. Then… angry. "B-Back off! Everyone!" He stated. His voice was calm. Deeper than it once had been. Ryoga couldn't fathom why. Perhaps just age? Regardless, his simple word held enough power in it to make those surrounding him step back.
Ryoga felt a wave of power emanate from the man and he shivered. Dangerous. Yes. This man, Ranma though he may be, was… dangerous. That didn't matter though. He was dangerous, too.
Still, Ryoga couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by Ranma's eyes. Once light and happy, they now held a razor sharp edge that could pierce through stone.
Suddenly, Ranma scratched the back of his head, nervousness, and a bit of his old awkwardness returning. "I… I'm sorry. I just… don't like people touching me…" He murmured. "But… what am I having you all wait here for? Come on. Come on! Sit down!" He exclaimed lightly, his tone changing slightly as he walked.
Slowly, he walked through the mass of them, and led them to a door adjacent to the room's throne, and Ryoga found himself in a grand foyer. Ranma gestured towards the various sofas and chairs situated about this unbelievable room's interior, as he himself walked around to sit in a rather uncomfortable looking chair on the far end of the room.
"H-How…? Ran-chan? How did… how did this all—? I mean… what happened to you? We… all thought you were dead… for so long…" Ukyo exclaimed through her tears.
Ryoga could see the lonely girl's wishes brimming in her eyes, and a pang of sympathy shoot through him. Somehow he'd grown to find the love of his life, but Ukyo hadn't found anyone. Ryoga almost hoped Ranma would become her fiancé again. For her sake. Ukyo had always seemed so lonely every since Ranma died, and worse with Konatsu. Not as bad as Akane had been for either of them really… but anyone could see that her thoughts had never trailed far from the two of them, even years after their 'deaths.'
Ranma frowned. "I-I'd rather… uhm… I missed you all. Very much. I'd… I'd like to hear, what you have been up to, in the years I've been—"
"I want to know too, Saotome…" Mousse cut in. "I've… I've felt so guilty for the past two years. I… always wished there had been something more I could've done. We searched Horaisan for months… but all we ever found was your bracer." The no-longer-blind man toned politely.
"I…" Ranma began hesitantly. Then he gave a sigh. As if he'd wished there'd been another way to go about this.
"Yes Son! Tell us how you became emperor, eh?" Soun exclaimed, his voice brimming over in joy the likes of which Ryoga had never seen on him.
Ryoga sat slowly on the end of one of the three couches, close to Ranma's chair in the back, and was happy to find Xian Pu sliding quickly into his embrace, even though her eyes were trained irretrievably onto Ranma.
Ryoga had to admit, he was on the edge of his plush couch seat to hear the beginning of his old rival's story. All the nights he'd woken up in cold sweats thinking about the rival he'd not even tried to rescue. Watching as the whole of the mountain seemed to fall down on both he and his opponent. All the self hatred. Only to find, now, that Ranma had, somehow, miraculously survived.
Had Ranma been wearing his old cocky smirk, Ryoga knew he would have already lost it. But no. This was an older Ranma. An older Ryoga.
Ranma ignored them for a moment, and his eyes fell on the small child in Genma's arms.
Slowly, he stood, and walked to the char where Genma had sat. Kneeling down, he stared into the eyes of the girl, her gleaming red hair a mirror to the hair of Ranma's girl form.
"Who is this…?" He asked, slowly, his eyes rising to meet those of his father.
"I… this is Ranma-chan. We… we named her after you…" Genma said weakly. "My boy… I… I'm so glad you're alive."
Ranma stared at the girl, who stared back just as calmly. Her small eyes confused. Then, delighted. She grabbed at Ranma's diadem, and a few soldiers at the room's doors, whom Ryoga had yet to notice, gasped in shock.
Ranma gave a smile, and the girl's face lit up. "You are a cute little one…" He said lightly, and Ryoga felt he had stepped off a cliff. Was this really Ranma? "Heh. I have a sister… Always wanted one you know." He said, meeting Genma's eyes again.
"Ranma…?" Akane questioned slowly, her impatience reaching new heights. Ukyo 'hmmed' right on top of her.
"It… it's a l-long story." He stuttered as he sat. Where had all of his confidence gone? Ranma…?
"We've got the time, Saotome." Nabiki piped in casually as always, while lay down on one of the couches seated around the room's spacious interior.
Akane seemed so wound upon Ranma's words that she couldn't stand it. "Why didn't you come back? Wh-why would you just let us all think you died! Why, dammit?!" The girl burst suddenly. "Why didn't you… come back to me…?"
Ranma's eyes gleamed with anger.
"I couldn't! You think I didn't want to!?" He barked, his ruse at fragility gone, anger riding on his words. His eyes flared, and Akane jumped at the hate in his tongue.
Ryoga could see fear flashing across Mousse eyes, as he subtly stepped himself between Ranma and Akane. Akane… Akane wouldn't hurt Mousse like that. She wouldn't try to go back for Ranma again, would she?
Xian Pu wouldn't at least. Of that, he was sure.
Ryoga was glad to see Mousse's worry flash away as Ranma barked at the girl, his words attacking, as strong as any punch or kick. He was… a hard man. No longer carefree. No longer young. In any form of the word.
"S-Sorry…" Ranma said, once again trying to act civil. Ryoga hadn't seen it before, but now it was clear. Ranma was angry. Visibly trying to calm himself at least, but he was still angry! At them. At all of them. But it seemed it was Akane for whom he held a particularly strong grudge.
But he didn't want to be angry either. As if he was warring with himself on what to feel.
And Ryoga couldn't for the life of him make out why.
"I… I'm gonna leave out stuff. I… things happened. Things that no one should know about. Things no one should ever have to live through. But… I guess… it all started…"
"…about two years and five months ago."
Chell shivered as the gates opened to her cell. That was a rare thing. They never opened her cell door to give her food.
'Why is someone here!?' She thought frantically, the sound of the door jerking her into a semi-panic. Worriedly, she tugged on her waist-long light green hair, as she tried to get her eye to adjust to the small light, glinting off the armor her visitor wore.
The barred doors creaked open, and through the dim light, she had trouble making out who it was. Just the usual guard, who often gave her pitying looks… or… someone more sinister.
Her eyes drew up, and saw the shadow of what could only be one man. Her body crawled in horror.
'No…. not more… Oh god. I've stayed quiet haven't I? I'm broken! Broken! S-so just leave me alone! I've done everything you've asked!' She screamed in her mind.
"S-stay away…." She couldn't stop the terrified words from dripping out of her mouth. Her voice didn't work very well. All the better. The less she said, the less likely they were to notice her. And she didn't think he heard her.
Being 'broken' bored them. If they were bored, they left her alone. And that was the most one could hope for in this place. They always had new prisoners to 'try out.' To torture into mindless numbness. To laugh at while they screamed.
She'd run out of room on the walls to mark how long she'd been here. The room was a square cell, three sides made of stone, and the final side crafted purely of thin bars. Even the bars had tallies on them to try to mark how many days she'd resided here.
The gate squealed further, as the man suddenly jerked it fully open. An eerie, revolting sound, that mimicked a cry of death to her ears. And she jumped, shivering at the screech. She'd never gotten used to it.
"Hello, little Sage." Came the low, distinct voice of one of the many torturers who had laid hands to her. Damn that name. God damn that name! Her name was Chell!
But she didn't have the will to say anything like that. She knew what that caused. Better to be broken… stripped of her name, than to have her ribs broken again.
They still burned. And it had been at least a year since they had last touched her. Or… maybe it had only been a month? Time grew… strange in here. The only way she could even tell what time of day it was, was by sticking her head between the bars to see the sun filtering in through the small crack in the wall three cells down…
She envied the person in that cell so much! How great would it be to be able to watch the sun rise through that tiny crack!
"How've you been, darlin'?" The man asked. Kindly.
Her spine trembled. Borage… it was… Borage!
"I…! I…!" The word would not leave her mouth. Her fear screamed in her mind. Panic began to overwhelm her.
"N-No! I've been good! I've been g—!" Her jaw snapped shut, as he stepped forward.
The man smiled, cheerily. Slowly, he reached down his giant arm, and grabbed her jaw between his thumb and first finger. The clawed horns protruding from his gloves at the knuckles scrapped along her face, cutting it. She didn't notice. Her terror would not let her notice.
His broad shoulders stretching wider than three Amazons, and his grip around her chin felt as if a clamp that would break her very bones into pieces. Each finger seemed as if it were the size of her hand… and she knew that he could. He… need only pinch those two fingers together, to break her jaw in half.
She wanted to beg… plead. Anything! Anything to get him away from her. To get those grim Rhino-horn pauldrons, and that leer away from her!
She tried to hold back a gulp as the man thrust his pelvis forward. Only the slightest bit.
Tears began rolling down her eyes.
"Ah… sage… how would you like to come with me…? Eh?" He suggested slyly. As if flirting with her.
He dropped something that had been flung over his other shoulder onto the floor with a hollow thud. Then, his other arm reached around her.
'NO! No! P-please!' She screamed in her mind.
"N… N-Nnn—!" She tried to say. All that she managed was to scrape her feet uselessly against the stone floor, as if any amount of strength she held could ever pry her from his grasp.
She'd long forgotten her pride. Long forgotten what it meant to think she was worth something. Now the only thing there was, was staying away from pain.
He gave her a big grin, and his other hand suddenly touched her back. It was almost gentle.
Her tears had become rivers. His hard grey eyes seemed to laugh at her, as he pushed her body towards his.
He only grinned wider. And thrust himself again.
Chell wanted to scream. Her mind wanted her to scream. But she couldn't. Her jaw locked in place, she couldn't make a sound. Not even to beg…
"Mmmm…." He moaned, his grey tinted skin, sliding against her partially-naked body, hooked nose staring down at her, with his hard, blackened eyes.
'Please….' She prayed. 'Not again…'
And without warning, he dropped her. She gasped, both in relief as the pain ceased in her jaw, and at being let go. Her legs, wobbly with terror, couldn't hold her, and she crumpled to the ground in a heap, banging her head against the thin layer of straw lying on the stone cell floor that served as her bed.
"Stand up." He demanded.
Obedience was law. If both her legs were broken, she would have still stood. Her head throbbed, and her entire body shivered with terror. Phantom wounds from long ago, screamed at her to give in to his every whim, if only at the chance of avoiding more torture or rape.
He stood and turned around, the horns on his boots scraping her leg and carving a bleeding gash into it. She couldn't hold back the yelp as she pulled her leg back, and did her best to silence herself, crying noiselessly through the pain.
Bending over, Borage stared down at the toppled thing he'd dropped earlier.
Chell's eyes didn't leave him. Didn't even glance away.
Borage turned heavily, standing again to face down at her, towering over her by almost five heads. She couldn't stop the tears. Then, suddenly, he turned his eyes away from her a bit to stare at the thing he had dropped on the ground before. "I'll be back for her… she's my new pet. And she'll be much more fun than you. I think I'll call her Ruby. After that beautiful red hair. Sound familiar? Sage? Take good care of her… and I mean that… I want her ready to fight back."
"Y… Ye!" Chell squeaked. It actually came out this time. She thought it did.
He smiled. He took a step toward her. Involuntarily, she took a step back.
He bared his teeth in rage. Without warning, his hand shot to the thin piece of wool fabric she wore, clenching it between her breasts and neck, and lifting her off her feet as if he were lifting a feather.
"You deny me!?" He snarled, his eyes now staring directly into hers. She could feel the steam hissing from his pointy nostrils, burning her eyebrows.
"N-no! Never, Master!" Chell exclaimed, her voice found at last.
His angry snarl became a malicious grin. "Of course you wouldn't…"
His free hand trailed down to her backside. The horns of his gloves tore into her flesh and she only barely suppressed a shriek, as he cupped her.
"You are mine!" He screamed at her.
Suddenly, she felt herself slam into the wall of the cell, and slide down it to crumple against the floor. "Y-yes… Master…" She whispered, dazed, her voice failing her once again, her head and back screaming in anguish. Her tears had not even begun to stop.
"Clean her wounds, Sage. With your tongue. If she doesn't sparkle tomorrow, then trust me… you will bleed." His voice was low, and he didn't not wait for a response. Turning abruptly, he strode to the door, giving one long, low moan as he stared at the toppled girl's upturned assets, and walked out.
Chell jumped at the sound of her cell gate slamming closed.
Her fear having taken her, she dared not make a sound until his heavy, shaking footsteps were long gone. Then, as her eyes trailed across the small red-haired girl on the ground, she began to crawl over to her, weeping as she did.
As she slowly reached the girl, her eyes widened in shock. On her both her ankles and wrists lay eight manacles.
"Eight…" She breathed. "By god… what is she…?"
Beaten, was what she was. Beaten to within an inch of her life. A centimeter. Less. But… to have eight manacles. She was a tiny slip of a girl. Why under all that was holy did they put…?
Fearfully, she glanced over her shoulder. No one was there, but she would take no chances.
She rolled the girl over onto her back. For a moment, she bit her lip and shivered. Her legs were covered in blood… and worse things. Bile rose in her throat and she only barely held it down.
She began at the girl's ankles…
Ranma shivered as she awoke. Pain lanced through her as her eyes filtered in the pain of her wounds, but it was less than it had been. She had been through much worse. Or at least that's what she was telling herself even as her mind return to the realm of the living.
Something strange, wet and harsh trailed along her chest and she twitched. Her ribs stung like fire, and whatever the thing was doing, it wasn't helping. Burning, it felt like salt being dropped into her veins.
Instantly, she batted the strange thing away from her, but even that was weak, as she only barely startled it, feeling hair clench in her weak fists, as she tried to push.
"Wh-what are… where am I?" She murmured drearily. "H-hey! Cut that out!" She exclaimed, realizing abruptly that the thing on top of her was a person, her hair a shimmery green, now fading with the first hints of age.
The girl did not move to stop. Instead, she brought one hand, shakily up to Ranma's own and pulled it off of her hair, only to continue… whatever it was she was doing.
Ranma felt pain jolt through her entire body as the next sliced-skin-wound between her rib was licked. She let loose a light scream of shock, arching her back in pain off the hard tile floor.
"Wh-what the hell…?" She asked, when the pain subsided a bit. "What are you do—?"
"P-please… don't struggle… be quiet! Or… or they'll hear you…! H-he might come back! God, please be quiet!" The woman below her begged, half deliriously. Then, with strength that Ranma was not in any condition to counter, the woman forced her arms to her sides and again began licking at the next slice upon the next rib up.
Ranma couldn't hold back her scream this time. Bits of skin, pried open from the torture she had received wilted under the woman's tongue.
Slowly, memories surfaced. Herb…. That bastard Herb. Borage… If Herb was a bastard then Borage was a god damned demon. She twitched as she remembered just how much she had hurt before. Now was only a slight pinch compared to before…
Four vertical slices lined her chest, each following areas between two ribs.
As the pain eased slightly in her ribs, so too did the lesser pains brim up to the forefront of her mind. Borage… Borage was his name. He was the one who had raped her. That hadn't hurt so much as the knives. The bastard was sick, but rape just wasn't very effective of a torture on her predominantly male mind. Sick… god, she shivered at just how sick… but she could handle it. At least she thought she could. She wanted to vomit every bit of her insides to purge this body that was not her own of the devastation that had been wrought upon it. The fact that she wasn't a girl was probably the only thing keeping her sane after… -that-.
She remembered the anger. For Borage. The mindless rhino of a man. He thought he was strong… ha. She would show him the meaning of strong… she would… just as soon as she got these damn manacles off… And Herb. Her hate climbed even higher. "God damn you, Herb… I saved your life… god… god damn you…!" She seethed, even as she felt the girl atop her shift her tongue to the fourth and final cut. Another scream was pried from Ranma's lips as the woman ran her tongue along the slit Borage's dagger had sliced open. Ranma knew it hurt but she also knew that it was far better than leaving the wounds un-tended at all.
Where was she…? Anger was clouding her every thought. Borage. Damn… Damn! Give her a fair fight and she would destroy him! God damn manacles!
"You are… feeling better?" The woman asked weakly. Broken Japanese, she sounded very much like Xian Pu.
"Gaah… I'm… fine." She breathed, half angry with herself, mad with rage at Borage. And Herb… oh god… Herb, would feel her wrath. They had chosen the wrong man to torture. Break him…? Make him one of those mindless drones they seemed to call their pets? Have her wear one of those leather collars like a dog? Hah… they would sooner break the sun.
Bruises matted her body, and she felt the pain of every one of them. Both eyes black, and swollen lips bloodied, and her knuckles felt like they were on fire. Between her legs felt even worse… though she thought that might all be in her mind. Violation screamed in her, and she couldn't help the involuntary shiver that course through her as she recalled the twisted mating.
She wanted to say she didn't care. That it didn't matter. This wasn't really her body anyway… To some degree, that worked. She lay there, barely able to move as the woman licked her everywhere, cleaning her own dried blood and sealing her wounds.
Soundlessly screaming in her fury she pushed at the woman's head to get her away , but she was just too weak. 'God damn manacles!' She bellowed uselessly in her mind. 'Get off of me!'
By the time it was over, Ranma felt as if she might never move again. The ghosts of tears shimmered at her eyes from the pain, and the memory of pain. She dared not let one fall. Gods did it hurt though! If… if only she could just calm down! She had to.. had to think. She was in a prison cell. Manacles robbed her of the ability to summon her ki. She was angry… so… angry…
She'd never felt so weak in her life, or so angry at the same time.
"It… hurts…" She let slip, and mentally slapped herself, even though she couldn't have stopped the pained words. She was not weak. It took minutes. But she lightly placed her hands behind her and pushed herself back up. Naked save for the manacles, her eyes burned with unholy flame.
Hatred, and self hatred gave her strength that she had never touched and she gathered her breath in her lungs. Breathed… Calm. Calm rage. Each breath made her ribs sting but she ignored them. Letting anger be her fuel, pain her bread and butter, her strength began to swell.
"G… god damn… Borage!" She screamed.
"Sh-shut up!" The woman pleaded, diving on her, her green hair shimmering in the dim light filtering in from a nearby cell. "D-do you w-want him to come back?"
Ranma's strength grew and simmered, and she wrenched the woman's hands from her mouth, throwing her off, and standing to her feet in one fluid motion.
"Borage!" She screamed. "Borage!!"
Hate and rage boiled together to create a fire within her that could crush a mountain. That had crushed a mountain. Her pain draining away into the rush of her adrenaline, she swelled more and more of her ki. She felt the manacles strain to contain all that was within her. Eight of the metal clasps, two for each of her ankles and wrists, all straining to hold back everything she had ever been.
"BORAGE!!" Her voice cracked in hatred so strong that she thought she would drown in it. Power ribbed through the manacles and she felt them all begin to vibrate. She would break them… she would break them and kill that man, if it was the last thing she ever did.
One cracked.
Something hard and heavy bashed her in the head, and all was dark.
End Chapter One
Author's Notes: So did you bring your flashlight? Told you you'd need it. Dunno how well you may or may not like this, but as promised it is dark. Similar to Secret Stolen Smiles, this story will be told in a past/future type of style. But from now on most of it will be the past. I have a few grand finales planned for later on in the present time, but honestly this fic is called 'Her War' for a reason. It's about her war! ^_^;
And Honestly, I'll admit I've been reading Shinji and Warhammer 40k. My mind is perverted by epicism of ridiculous levels. Probably actually sounds so ludicrous you can't stand it but who knows? Maybe you'll enjoy.
Hope this is something along the lines of what you all were expecting. Come on… it's not as if you thought someone else was the emperor of china did you? Heh heh. So… I'd like to know how much you enjoy, disbelieve, hate, or love this little fic I've created and corrupted. Drop a review, if you wish… or even if ya don't?
As always, credit to Ryo-Wolf who gave the idea, and Ozz who is my writing ping pong board.
Death to the Musk. The Empress of the Sky has come. Kudos from florida for that is where I am at writing this! Yay Disney! And finally…
Please Review!
Till Next!
MB