Chapter 2: Ranma's Fears Revealed
The seven Legendary Warriors, and two digimon, were making good time on the way to Ophanimon's Castle. As they flew there, the Warriors were telling Ranma of their adventures, while Ranma told them a severely simplified version of his life since meeting the Tendos, which was still very unbelievable and amazing at the same time.
"You've really killed a god?!" Kazemon nearly yelled. This was the one that shocked them the most.
"Demi-god," Ranma corrected, "and I didn't really kill him. He's the Phoenix King and was reborn immediately."
"Still, how is that even possible?!" Beetlemon asked, flying up beside him.
"And you have how many people trying to kill you?!" Tommy asked.
"Let's see," Ranma started counting off on his fingers. "Ryouga's mad about his curse and the bread feud, Kuno thinks I'm controlling Akane and the "pig-tailed girl", Kodachi wants my girl-form dead, Pantyhose Taro is trying to get revenge on the old lech by getting at me, Mouse is still obsessed with Shampoo and thinks I stole her from him, Happosai claims to want me dead at times, and there are probably countless others that despise me."
"Still, though, you must be one lucky guy to have that many fiancees." Beetlemon said, earning a smack from Kazemon.
"You say luck, I say a nightmare. It doesn't help things that I turn into a girl, which has caused more trouble and embarrassing situations than anything else." They had found out about Ranma's curse earlier that day when BurningGreymon lost his grip on him and dropped him into a lake. BurningGreymon then heated up the water enough to change him back and they took to the skies again. "And what was the big deal hitting on me like that?! I told you that I'm a guy, damn it!"
Beetleemon just winced at the memory of the beating he'd been given after trying to hit on the boy-turned-girl. His thunder attacks did practically nothing against the martial artist! They had seen some terrible things in the Digital World, but that was by far one of the worst.
"Look!" Bokomon called out, "There's Ophanimon's Castle!"
Ahead of them was a large white castle surrounded by a field of white flowers. They landed a few feet away from the entrance and the humans-turned-digimon were each surrounded in a bubble of fractal code, reverting them back to normal. The group then proceeded inside.
The interior was more like a library than a castle, as the walls were lined with more books than one could count, continuing upwards with no sign of ending. There were also several piles of books scattered about the room. A balcony ran around the room about ten feet off the ground. Two figures stood perched on the balcony.
The first figure looked like a woman wearing a set of green armor with crosses on the skirt and helmet. The helmet covered most of her face, leaving only her mouth uncovered. Five sets of golden wings spread out behind her with the bottom pair resembling those of an angel while the rest were metallic. She held a large javelin in her right hand and a kite shield with a unicorn's head on it was in her left hand. To his trained eye, she radiated love as if it was her entire being.
The second digimon resembled a large, winged...
"C-c-c-CAT!" Ranma's eyes bulged out and he threw himself against the wall of books so hard that most of the books fell of that section of the wall and one could hear the shelves creaking under the stress.
Everyone had different reactions to this. The humans looked between Ranma and Nefertimon with confused looks. Bokomon had an intrigued look and was quietly muttering "Fascinating…" Ophanimon sighed. She knew she was forgetting something. Nefertimon was trying to figure out what the strange new human was doing and why it continued to stare at her. Neemon was… well, he was being Neemon.
"Can we have some pancakes?" A loud snap was heard and everyone, sans Ranma, who was still staring at Nefertimon, looked towards Bokomon and Neemon, where the latter was rubbing his back.
"Now is not the time for breakfast!" Bokomon practically yelled. "We are here to find out why Ophanimon summoned the Legendary Warriors back to the digital world!"
"But I haven't eaten yet…" Everyone sweat dropped and turned back to find that Ranma was growing more frantic with every second.
Ophanimon carefully moved over to Nefertimon and whispered just loud enough for the others to make out what she was saying. "I believe it would be best if you went into the other room and listened in for awhile. This human has a unique, er... condition that needs to be handled delicately."
Nefertimon had an inquisitive air about her, but complied with what Lady Ophanimon had asked of her.
Ranma noticeably calmed down and moved away from the wall, which now sported a Ranma-shaped indent in it.
Zoe was the first to snap out of her daze and began to question Ranma. "What was that?"
Ranma let out a tired sigh, seeing that he had no choice but to tell them. "When I was 10 years old, my baka father tried to train me in a technique called the Neko-ken. It was supposed to be an unbeatable technique that would instill the ferocity of the cats into the trainee and make them a master of the martial arts. But it was all blown out of proportion. The technique wasn't really a technique, but a form of torture."
"TORTURE?!" Everyone was shocked at this piece of information.
"The so-called training for it was described in a manual that pops found while we were traveling. The baka didn't even bother to read the whole manual or find out more about the Neko-ken before he me through it, even though the pamphlet was only three pages. He took a bunch of cats, through them into a pit, starved them for a while, and then wrapped me in fish sausages and threw me in. I can still feel them all over me sometimes, savagely clawing and biting into me, trying to get as much food as they can. When I came out so afraid of them, pops thought throwing me in again would cure my fear. He tried using dried sardines, salted sardines, and even fish cakes thinking that it would make a difference. It didn't and I eventually just snapped."
Koichi stepped forward a little bit. "What do you mean 'snapped'?"
Ranma looked up with the most serious look on his face that any of them had ever seen. "Just that. I went insane and started acting like a cat. I was completely feral destroyed everything around me, even mauling pops. I was finally brought out of it by a kind old woman that lived nearby." His expression softened a bit at this point. "Since then I've been absolutely terrified of those little demons. When my fear pushes me over the edge, I go back to acting like a cat, and, so far, only three things have brought me out of it. I'm either brought out of it by someone I trust, my curse activates, or I calm down and go to sleep. I can't remember or control anything I do in the Neko-ken."
Everyone stood in silence for a long while as they let all this digest. Finally, Ophanimon walked over to them once more.
"Ranma," she spoke softly. "I believe that there is a way to help you with your phobia. This is something that needs to be done. It would not do for you to be afraid of the various cat-like digimon in our world when you are supposed to be helping to save them. It would also not do for you to be afraid of yourself."
Ranma became very confused at the last part. "Why would I be afraid of myself? It's only those things that scare me."
Ophanimon smiled, confusing everyone even more. "I believe it is time to move on to why I called you all here. First, Ranma needs to be given his spirits."
"Well which warrior is he?" Takuya asked. "We've still got all the spirits in our D-tectors. Since there are only ten legendary warriors, that leaves him with one of the four left: water, wood, earth, and steel."
"Actually," Opanimon interrupted, "He isn't any of those. There are, in fact, eleven legendary warriors."
"WHAT?!"
"That's right. The eleventh warrior's spirits were sealed away to be used only in the Digital World's greatest time of need. However, these spirits were so powerful that, in order to release them from the seal, it requires the combined power of Cherubimon, Seraphimon, and myself. The spirits are also very picky about who they choose to wield them, making it nearly impossible to find a suitable human to receive them."
Ranma, in a rare moment of intelligence, managed to piece together the information they had just been told. "So, these spirits have chosen me to be able to use them?"
"That is correct, young one."
Everyone jumped at the voice that was heard from the doorway of the castle. They were so engrossed in their discussion that they had not even noticed the two new arrivals.
The first was the one who had spoken earlier. He wore a set of blue and gray armor that covered every part of his body and had golden designs resembling wings in various places. His helmet was an almost exact match to the one Ophanimon wore and, also like Ophanimon, he had five sets of angel-like wings splayed out behind him.
The other digimon looked like a giant pink and white... rabbit? He had two yellow stripes going down his torso and a large white frill went around his neck. He wore a golden ring around the base of each ear.
"Ah, Seraphimon, Cherubimon. It is good to see you both again." Ophanimon said in greeting. "I'm glad you could make it."
"Well this is an important occasion," the rabbit stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Then his smile seemed to grow just a bit wider. "Plus, it's not every day you get to give someone the spirits of a Legendary Warrior."
"Too true, Cherubimon. Too true," The other, Seraphimon, said.
"Well, don't keep us in suspense!" Takuya all but shouted. "We want to find out about the Eleventh Warrior just as much as anyone else would."
"Yes, yes. Sorry to keep you waiting, young warriors. Back to business."
"Now," Ophanimon continued, "as Ranma pointed out, he has been chosen to wield the spirits of the Eleventh Legendary Warrior. Unlike the other warriors, the Eleventh's domain of power had nothing to do with any of the natural elements of the universe. This warrior's power was over something that exists in everything, but is rarely in a pure form. The essence of this power has had more effect on Ranma's life than it has on any other being that has ever existed, even coalescing into a visible form on one occasion. This power is the power of chaos and you, Ranma, have been chosen for your unique ability to adapt to the chaos that surrounds your very existence."
Author's Note: Yes, I know. Everyone hates cliffhangers and I admit I hate them too, but they are so convenient to use. I understand that I don't update nearly as much as most people would like me to, but I really don't have a muse for these stories. I have ideas that come to late in the plotline for me to actually put much at this point so it's pretty much writing itself. I'll try to write more, but they may not happen with school starting in a few days for me. I'm gonna work on Might, Magic, and Ki next, but after that, I'm gonna come back to this one for a while.
Side note: Does anyone think I should revise the name of this story now that I've decided on his domain of power? Or should I leave the name how it is? Leave a comment with your vote.