Chapter 3: The Second Seeress

-Monday, June 9, 2003, 9:45AM-

Kasumi sat in the kitchen holding a cup of tea and tried to concentrate. There was a pattern here, she was sure of it. The Visions had to mean something, but she could not see it yet. She repressed an urge to curse and settled for a long sigh.

"What's the matter, Kasumi?" Nodoka asked as she walked into the room.

"Oh, 'Hi' Auntie. Nothing really," Kasumi told her.

"Yeah, not so much," Nodoka said. "Your eyes are red from lack of sleep. You're still having nightmares?"

"They're not nightmares anymore, Nodoka. Those stopped. Now it's the Sight keeping me up. I keep Seeing events and I'm trying to understand why."

"Are you sure they're real?" Nodoka quizzed, although her expression suggested she already knew the answer.

"Tofu was in one of them and Shizuka was in another. When I asked them about the events, they told me things really happened as I Saw them. But I don't know why the Visions are important – or if they are," Kasumi replied, exasperation coloring her voice.

Nodoka pressed her mouth into a line and then walked over to the stove and turned on the kettle. "How about you tell me what you Saw and let me see if I can figure out a connection."


-Tuesday, June 3, 2003, 9:55AM-

General Xie looked at the seven Amazon couples. None of them were warriors, but this mission didn't require warriors. Actually, it was preferable if they weren't. All of them were dressed in western civilian clothes despite the fact they were staying on a military base – something he had arranged for. The couples had left the Amazon village of Nyucheizu in drips and drabs over the last three months at the Amazon Elder Razor's orders and been quietly picked up by the military in the city of Yushu – as planned. Then they had been whisked to Shanghai and this staging ground. These were the volunteers he had asked Razor for before the New Year: restless couples unlikely to stay with the Village, eager to seek new territory.

One of the women, Curtain, spoke up: "Is this all of us now, General? Is it time to leave soon?"

Xie nodded. "Yes, this is everyone who agreed to go, however, it's not time to leave yet. I know you are all anxious to start your new lives, but please be patient. We are waiting on some supplies from Beijing, some documents from the Japanese, and a special package from the Village. You will be leaving on June 12th for Japan and the start of your adventure.

"Look," Broom, an Amazon male, prompted as he stood next to his wife. "Now can you tell us what this is about? Razor only told us that it was important to the survival of the Village. None of us owe the Village anything, but we still have family there."

General Xie considered that for a moment. Finally he started: "As you may know by now, I'm a very practical man." There were nods of agreement around the room. "But even I have to admit that there are things beyond the five senses; some of which you are already aware of." More nods happened. "One of these things is arising in Japan, and if it's not contained, it may destroy most of China, starting with Nyucheizu. Your job will be to contain it in Japan and only you folks have the ability to do it." He looked into fourteen sets of eyes as they became very wide…


-Tuesday, June 3, 2003, 3:30PM-

Daran Hawke swore as he scanned the document written in Mandarin Chinese for the fiftieth time. "That doesn't sound good," Dr. Tofu Ono noted as he walked into the living room of the apartment attached to the Ono Clinic. The doctor was bearing three cups of coffee on a tray.

"Things are all twisted up among all the tribe's chapters," Daran said as he blew out a breath. "I'm not surprised Dr. Meng didn't see all the connections."

"Not to mention you have notes from the other researchers in China," Tofu pointed out.

Daran nodded and noticed the third cup. "We expecting someone?" he asked.

"Me," Maomolin said as he materialized. The bakeneko was wearing his human form dressed in jeans and a button down shirt. He took his cup of coffee from Tofu with a nod of thanks and sat down in a chair next to Daran. Tofu set the tray down but stayed standing.

"All right, let's take it from the top. What did you find out?" Tofu asked Daran.

"In their books of lore, the Musk called the Amazons the 'Xiagawatte' instead of the Joketsuzoku," Daran started. "'Watte' means 'child of', but their no translation for 'Xiaga'. It doesn't seem to be a word derived from the Musk language. However, there's another people, the Kiachioku, where 'Xiag' means 'water' and the 'a' seems to be a preposition. Meng didn't study the languages of his subjects in depth, so he had no way to know this. Dr. Freedman is with the Kiachioku right now and is building a primer. The Kiachioku are in frequent contact with the Musk, but the Musk are not really in strong contact with the Joketsuzoku. It seems the Musk knew about the Amazons long before they actually met them and adapted the Kiachioku's word for them."

"Which means the Amazons were originally called 'Children of the Water'," Maomolin concluded.

"Correct," Daran said. "But they lost that meaning somewhere in time."

"Or were made to forget – about 900 years ago," Tofu stated grimly. The other two looked at him so he went on: "The Amazons claim to stretch back over four thousand years. For an ancient people, their Lore looks like Swiss cheese – especially with regard to the Elements. All this means is that Henna is a true Amazon – she didn't get herself adopted by the tribe. The Amazons once served the Sprite, and one of their number betrayed the Sprite. Then Henna erased any Lore that might break her hold on the Sprite and made the Amazons forget the Sprite. So the Village of Women Heroes was born."

"O.K., that's an interesting hypothesis," Maomolin acknowledged. "But even if it's true, where does that leave us?"

"It means that the Amazons have an extra affinity for Water, more so than any other people on the planet. There's a fair chance that the next child to be Sacrificed is an Amazon girl under the age of 16. We know Akari is just a distraction," Tofu said.

"No, we know there's a fair chance that Akari is a distraction," Maomolin corrected. "I'm not letting my guard down."

"Fair enough," Tofu said with a shrug. "I'm not suggesting you do."

Daran just nodded his head. Then he asked: "How sure are you about sixteen?"

"That's the age of adulthood in the Amazon Village," Tofu replied.

"Yes, but in China, its eighteen," Daran reminded him. "And an Amazon under twenty is considered a minor in Japan. How does the spell judge?"

"I'm not sure," Tofu admitted. "I guess local majority wins. Are you thinking about Mousse?"

Daran nodded his head. But Maomolin disagreed: "Two issues; one: Mousse's aura is not marked and Happosai is not going to be able to get near him without getting killed. Two: Mousse is male. Yang and Yin will have their say. We've got two males and a female. The next Sacrifice is female."

Daran and Tofu considered that and then reluctantly agreed. Tofu blew out a sigh and said: "I guess Akari's not off the hook yet. And it does add a certain symmetry to things." As Maomolin and Daran looked at him, Tofu added: "Two couples – two yin, two yang intertwined together…"


-Wednesday, June 4, 2003, 11:50AM-

Altrus of the Council's Ruling Hex looked at the map. There was a lot of distance to cover between Yushu and Nyucheizu. "It's not going to work," Beltrus told him. "The Chinese are going to blow our mercenaries to pieces. It's one thing to have a raiding party attack Henna, but an army strong enough to wipe out the Joketsuzoku down to the last child will not be tolerated. We just don't have enough men to hold them off. If we try and raise the Power through Blood, our mercenaries will revolt. If they don't, the Chinese will nuke us and declare a military accident."

Altrus swore and slammed his fist into the table. He looked like a tall sturdy human - clean shaven, bald, solidly built, with a chiseled face covered in an intricate design almost like red fire. Beltrus was almost identical looking except his facial pattern resembled fierce waves rising from the ocean. The stone table had cracked under Altrus's massive fist. "Damn Happosai to Kithdrend! This is his fault!" Altrus burst out.

"Yes, it is," Beltrus agreed. "Galtrus is trying to locate him, but it doesn't look promising."

"He's going to be in Nerima shortly. Have our people wait for him there!" Altrus growled.

"Good luck. The Kitsunes want him too. So does Kuno, the Chinese, and the Japanese. All of Tokyo is hunting for him, never mind Nerima," Beltrus told him.

Altrus dropped his shoulders in defeat. "He's won, hasn't he? Five hundred years of plotting and planning and he's still won."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Happosai was his agent all along," Beltrus stated.

"Fine," Altrus groaned. "We are still going to try and beat him to the punch. Tell Galtrus and the others. We've lost Armageddon, but we are going to roast Henna yet."


-Thursday, June 5, 2003, 6:20PM-

The Kitsune Lord Jakaro strode into the Observatory looking for Cronus. Cronus had re-opened the building just after the Cycles had changed and started to re-build the Machine. Unfortunately, the Machine's ability to forecast the future was extremely limited: Cronus was having difficulty building a working Reality model. Indeed, he was having difficulty building a machine capable of running more than an hour without exploding. Fortunately, Reality kept rolling right along – without exploding.

Cronus turned away from his work (and the tower of inter-meshed gears) as he sensed Jakaro's approach. "How's it going?" Jakaro asked him.

"I don't have a scenario where we win yet," Cronus hedged.

"Do you have a scenario where we survive?" Jakaro pushed.

Cronus looked up at the Machine as it started to vibrate. "Umm…no. In fact, now might be a good time to step outside…" With that he forced Jakaro outside again and slammed the door as a tremendous explosion sounded inside. The door bent outward and then resumed its normal shape. A few gears flew out an open window above them. The crashing of falling machinery sounded inside the tower.

Cronus watched one of the gears roll down the hill and sighed. "Obviously, I'm missing something; actually, a lot of somethings probably. There's just so much information to model and we don't have a lot of time left."

"I'm a bit more disturbed by the fact that you haven't come up with a stable scenario yet. That really means 'the devil's in the details' if we want to live," Jakaro responded.

"Do you have anything that might help?" Cronus half-pleaded.

"One thing:" Jakaro replied. "The Council officially threw in the towel. The attack on Nyucheizu been called off. They're going to melt into the countryside and wait for Henna to attack Nerima. They'll strike the House as soon as we give the word."

Cronus did a double-take. "Do they really mean that?" he asked.

"They swore by the Covenant. The deal is we have to turn Henna over to them if we capture her," Jakaro replied.

"My ears must be clogged," Cronus said as he shook his head. "You mean that miserable little goblin was correct?"

Jakaro smirked. "Appears so. Hiring all the mercs worked: we actually starved the Council into submission. Henna doesn't get her war."

Cronus lifted his muzzle and gave a cry of victory. Then he stamped the ground repeatedly – much to Jakaro's amusement. "We're down to one scenario," Cronus crowed. "She has to attack Nerima. She has no choice. Otherwise the Sprite dies and King Rera appoints a successor. Her power fades then and she ages quickly."

"Not to kill your happiness," Jakaro said dryly. "But she has a lot of options. Are we looking for a single assassin or is she invading? Humans or undead? Water Elementals or mercenaries? Who does she attack? Ranma? Akane? Akari? Someone else?"

"All good questions!" Cronus burst out enthusiastically. "I shall find out!" With that, Cronus yanked open the door to the Observatory only to have Jakaro pull him out of the way as several large gears bounded by. Cronus then waved farewell and ran back inside.


-Friday, June 6, 2003, 8:00AM-

King Rera, Lord of the Cycles, King of the Seasons, The Wind Spirit, and the Soul of Winter (a new title) sat in his room surrounded by cats who cared nothing about his personal space. "There are worst things," he thought as he held one of them while another had perched on his shoulder. He looked out the window at the stormy sky of Ranma's spiritual realm and did his best to squash some residual guilt. "It's not my fault," he reminded himself. "Ranma and Akane have different tasks. They must spend time apart – and out of touch." Still it did bother him. Happosai made have dragged Ranma into this, but it was to save Rera's ass. Rera never forgot, especially since Ranma personally stopped him from fading away at the time of the Summoning. "If I could leave you out of this, Brother, I would," he thought.

Then he shook himself. "This is useless," he said out loud. "I have work to do." With that, he sat both cats down and conjured a three dimensional map of the planet. He studied the Dragon lines etched into the planet and charted the power flows for the better part of an hour making notes in the air that hovered in place. He gathered an audience of cats watching him raptly. Finally, he circled a spot out in the Pacific Ocean. "Boom!" he thought. "The Marianas Trench. The Storm will originate there and come north. It will make landfall at Tokyo. That's our one and only chance to stop it. After that, the Storm collapses in on itself and the earthquakes start. Things get far worse after that. So, by June 22, 2003 at 4:10AM, Sister must be either freed or dead. Or possibly both."

Out loud he called: "Suma!"

"Yo!" sounded in the air around him.

"It's coming out of the Sea!" Rera called out.

"No duh!"

"The Marianas Trench."

"All right that makes sense," Suma's voice replied. "You need to tell Ranma and have him tell Tofu and the others."

"You're using names now? That's impressive," Rera said with a grin.

"Apay's a harsh teacher," Suma stated. "She made her point."

"Has she forgiven you yet?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good. You're going to need her help," Rera said pointedly.

"I'm aware. Here, look!" Suma commanded. A Viewing Port appeared showing the area around Nyucheizu (and the Nexus there). Rera saw the damage to the area's life force. Suma spoke again: "It's no good. The area has to be cleaned and purged. Henna has had too many undead there too long. Everything is cursed. Fire is the only cure. I don't think the Nexus is salvageable either. You're going to have to adjust the Power flows away from the area for it to heal."

"The Amazons are in for a rough time," Rera noted.

"They're not blameless in all this," Suma said firmly. "But I've something in the works that might help them. It might help you too."

"Care to tell me?" Rera prompted.

There was silence for a moment and then Suma said in a low voice: "I made contact with Happosai."

"YOU WHAT?!"

"I knew you'd be mad! But it's important! Please hear me out!" Suma's voice begged.

"This better be good…" Rera warned.


-Saturday, June 7, 2003, 2:10PM-

Apay watched in the Viewing Sphere as Akane ran through attack after attack. Her opponents were twelve of Kuno's ninjas specially selected for the drill. They faded in and out of the shadows testing Akane's attack sense to the limit. None of them were getting through although Akane was having a hard time tagging them. Akane was not allowed (yet) to use any advance attacks, only advance defenses. Apay wasn't allowed to help either – no matter how much she wanted to. "She has to do this alone," Apay reminded herself. "When the time comes, I may not be allowed to help, if I'm able to that is." Still, Apay's fingers itched to help. "I need to find a distraction," she finally thought.

Apay closed the Sphere and looked around her room. Her Fish/Water Elementals swam contentedly in their tank, safe from anyone who wanted to enslave them. Finally she called out: "Rera!" That was the latest change in her circumstances. Ever since the Equinox, she and her Siblings were no longer strictly confined to the Dream Realm. They could always reach each other through the link Ranma, Akane, and Ryoga shared. But now they could also reach out into the physical world via Viewing Spheres that were two-way and communicate with other entities, human and otherwise. They had to be very choosy in opening communications so not to tip off Henna, but their freedom was increasing.

"Yo!" Rera answered.

"Did you talk to the Jellyfish King?" Apay asked.

"Yes, he agreed to monitor the Trench. From a distance."

"From a distance?"

"He said things were warming up down there – too warm if you get my drift," he answered.

"So, it's already started," Apay concluded.

She heard Rera blow out a breath. "How's Akane doing?" he asked.

"Well," she replied. She bit her lip and then said: "Are you sure she's the one?"

"Yes," he said gently. "She and Ranma both know. If I could take it away from her, I would."

"Is it because of me?" Apay asked.

"No, this happened before she was born. Akane's immunity to Water makes her the ideal warrior to stop Henna," Rera answered.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Teach her Blessed Fire," Rera responded gravely. "She's going to need it and her Power base is broad enough now."

"Are you sure she can handle that? It usually takes three people to throw it," Apay stated.

"Trust me…"


-Sunday, June 8, 2003, 4:30PM-

Shizuka walked into her husband's florist shop. At first, she thought Hideo was with a customer, but very few people stood well over two meters tall. "Olaf!" she called out to the disguised giant. Both men turned toward her and smiled. She followed on with: "What brings you this way?

"Just taking a break from the farm. Maomolin's there now, and the place is crawling with Kitsunes, including Shiran. There's enough firepower there right now," Olaf laughed. "I came to see what everyone else is up to. What's going on?"

"Things are going according to plan," she answered. "Akane's and Ranma's training is going well. The mercenaries and the Martial Artists are finally playing nice – largely due to Inspector Ojima stepping on a few necks. The cooperation is paying off – we managed to flush out some of Henna's spies before they took a shot at our couple."

Olaf nodded approvingly. "Good. The Kitsunes counter the spies at the farm. We don't have to worry about assassins. From all we've gathered, Henna's still afraid Akari may be the chosen sacrifice."

"No one's taking shots at Ryoga?" Shizuka asked.

"No. We're not sure why," Olaf answered with a shrug. "Maybe she's afraid Akari will be caught in the crossfire."

"Nice to know she's afraid of something," Shizuka replied.

"How are the preparations going for the Storm here?" Olaf asked.

Now Hideo shrugged. "About as well as can be expected given that we don't know what to expect," the florist told him.

"True," Olaf admitted. "How about battening down the hatches for starters?"

"This is a city, not a ship," Hideo chuckled. "But Tokyo has weathered severe storms before. I think we can handle that part of it."

"Do you think you'll have any trouble convincing people to take it seriously though?" Olaf asked with some concern.

"No, everyone's already expecting trouble," Shizuka answered.

"Why?"

"Olaf," she said a little exasperatedly. "It's June and we haven't seen rain for nearly two months."

"True," he admitted.

"It's not even humid – we should be able to practically swim through the air about now," she added. "But we have had very warm weather – with some very strong breezes."

"There's also been earth tremors – nothing big, but frequent enough that people have noticed," Hideo noted. "Earth, Wind, and Fire are all acting up, and Water is absent. Feels like the forerunners of the Storm tuning up."

"So, the Storm will be something like a fierce hot windstorm?" Olaf asked.

Hideo shrugged again. "Maybe, but I think that will only be the half of it." At Olaf's gesture, Hideo continued: "The Storm is the result of metaphysical imbalances – not just physical. It's not just the Elements themselves that are out of whack. There's going to be a spiritual component to the Storm that has to be addressed."

"Which is?" Olaf prompted.

"You tell me. Human choices got us into this mess; the right human choices are needed to get us out, but as far as what choice, or when, or who…" Hideo held up his hands. "I don't know."


-Sunday, June 8, 2003, 11:10PM-

Ex-Queen Mizu, a.k.a. The Sprite, sat alone in her tank. Henna rarely came to see her now as Mizu was of little use to Henna. It was the most peace she had in over 900 years. "It's almost done," she thought. "I've played my little game to the end. Even now, I've lost the last dice throw and he has it."

She stirred a little and thought about her siblings. "I threw you through the Door betting that you'd beat Death and come rescue me. I lost the bet and cost you your lives. For what it's worth, I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, I'm going to join you shortly."

Suddenly, she wanted to see Akane Tendo, but lacked the Power to cast a Viewing Sphere. "I'm sorry for you too, little Daughter. I crippled you at birth and gave you a long road to follow…"


-Back to the present: Monday, June 9, 2003, 11:25AM-

Nodoka got up to turn on the kettle again.

"What do think, Auntie?" Kasumi asked her.

"I think you need to get some more sleep," Nodoka stated with a smile.

"Auntie!" Kasumi protested.

Nodoka's face grew serious as she turned to face Kasumi. "I think the key Vision is the one at the flower shop," Nodoka said.

"What? Why?"

"Hideo said that human choices got us into this mess; the right human choices are needed to get us out. I think he's right. The rest of the visions show things narrowing: people coming together, options falling by the wayside, things coming to a point…" Nodoka said.

"But the Vision with Tofu didn't go like that – nothing was decided," Kasumi noted.

"Because there's still some choice left on the table. We are coming to a point, we're not there yet," Nodoka explained.

Kasumi huffed. "Oh my. So where does that leave us?"

"You mean 'Where does that leave you?'" Nodoka told her calmly.

"Huh?"

"You're being shown these Visions for a reason, Kasumi. Obviously, you're the one who is going to bring us to the Point, whatever that may be," Nodoka clarified.

Kasumi's mouth opened and hung there.


A/N: Next up - The Visions are over and all the pieces are in place. It's time to get started with the next chapter: "Sister".