Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble
Chapter 4
oOo
The Princess of Mars was in many ways a study in contrasts.
For all of her belief in the spiritual, she also was a person of incredible mundane magical talent. Her mystical senses were finally tuned both to magical energy and the force of creature's life. For all of her legendary temper and volatile reactions, she was also be an incredibly calm person at times, taking a moment to consider the problem at hand before acting.
However when faced with the aura which entered her temple she couldn't help but react instantly: whatever had crept up behind her on silent footsteps stank of curse magic and was brimming with far too much life energy to be anything but a youma. A youma which was five feet behind her and closing.
She flowed up and spun in one smooth motion, leading with a spinning kick and a loud kiai which should have caught the interloper unaware. Instead, she got an impression of a somewhat surprised young man in a red silk shirt, blue eyes narrowing, before her kick was caught. The young man spun with the momentum and lifted the Martian princess off her feet.
She lashed out with her other foot, breaking her attacker's grip on her ankle. This had the unfortunate effect of continuing her flight, directly towards the entrance to the temple. Normally this would not have been a problem. Rei was a very nimble girl and possessed a fair amount of martial training. Even wearing her dark priestess robes and slippers, she knew she could twist in the air and land on her feet.
However, when the Venusian and Jupiter princesses came running through the entrance, they stopped and gaped at the airborne girl right at the point on the ground where she was going to land. All three girls went down in a tangled heap.
oOo
Ranma stifled a laugh, watching the trio of girls go down in a mass of flailing limbs and robes, then saw his opening. He could stick around, apologize to the over excitable tomboy in the robes and his two escorts, and then put up with the constant heated looks and fluttering eyelashes...
...or he could make his escape and explore. He could come back in a few hours and talk to the queen and the green-haired chick when they'd finished their discussion.
Decision made, Ranma cleared the girls in one bound and was darting through crystalline hallways before they could recover.
He'd apologize to the girls later.
Well... Probably.
oOo
Ami rubbed her eyes, lifting her gaze from the book lying on the table in palace library. As much fun as she was having reading about the dynamics of magical propulsion when combined with contemporary drive cores, she'd been reading for eight hours. Her eyes traveled to the other books she'd devoured before her latest, noting guiltily that she'd have to put them back on their shelves before she left.
She got up with a sigh, carefully marking her place in her current volume before closing it and gathering all six books on the table. She could at least do the librarians the courtesy of restocking the books herself.
She was walking amongst the shelves when a tall, dark-haired youth darted around the corner, crashing into her and causing her to drop her books. She flinched as she fell back, knowing she was going to tumble painfully into the shelves behind her.
She was pleasantly surprised to feel warm arms encircle her instead, arresting her fall. She opened her eyes to meet cerulean orbs which were almost an exact match.
"Hey, are you alright?" The young man asked in concern, gently leaning back to stand upright and allowing the princess of Mercury to regain her feet. The heels of her dress shoes clicked loudly on the marble floor between the bookshelves in the silence as the girl found herself at a loss for words. He bent down, grabbing the books she'd dropped. "Here, sorry 'bout that."
A clattering of heels at the entrance of the library drew the pigtailed boy's attention, as if he could stare through the bookshelves separating him from the new arrivals. Ami noted the worried look on his face as she accepted the books from him.
"Crap!" The boy's head whipped around helplessly as the tapping of heels drew closer, before leaping directly up and shoving his hands and feet into the narrow space between the high bookshelves and the ceiling. The Princess of Mercury couldn't help but stare up at him, easily two dozen feet up, before her attention was drawn back to ground level when he worriedly brought his finger to his lips with a "Shhh!"
As the boy's pursuers turned the corner, the princess came face to face with three other princesses: Mars, Venus and Jupiter.
"Have you seen a cute guy with a red shirt and black hair?" Venus asked, casting her gaze left and right as if her target might appear around a corner.
"He's got these great eyes, Ami, I swear," Makoto, the princess of Jupiter added. Ami smiled at her fellow schoolmate as she blushed. "And the pigtail was pretty cute, too."
"Are you two sure he's not some youma? That sort of life energy just isn't natural... And I can't believe he's learned to suppress it from my senses so quickly!" Mars added with a pout, scuffing one slippered foot angrily on the floor. Then she smiled. "We were only in the gardens for fifteen minutes before he figured it out! He's probably a ki-adept of some sort. I've got to talk to him!"
For a moment, the blue-haired girl was torn between her fellow princesses and the polite young man perched directly above. Jupiter, at least, was a long-standing friend and the princesses of Venus and Mars weren't too bad, once you got to know them.
On the other hand, the boy clearly just wanted to be left alone. And he'd helped her with her books...
"Sorry, I'm the only one studying in the library right now," Ami admitted truthfully, trying to hide her grin. Clearly her fellow royalty's target wasn't here to study, so it wasn't a lie. That was enough to salve her conscience for now.
The fact that the Venus had taken that cute scholar from the Mars University library before Ami had had a chance to approach him didn't factor into the decision at all. Nor did her desire to upstage her friend from Jupiter... or the somewhat arrogant heir of Mars.
That would be mean and spiteful. She was just trying to help the poor, badgered young man. His pretty eyes and polite, shy nature had nothing to do with it.
She waved her friends goodbye as they left the library on their search. She turned, and was only a little surprised to discover that the young martial artist had already dropped back to the floor without so much as a hint of noise.
His stomach then gurgled, voicing it's hunger.
"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this," the boy offered quietly as he rubbed the back of his neck. His eyes still stared at the library entrance,.over her shoulder.
"There's no need to apologize, Ranma," Ami offered with a smile, drawing those sea-blue orbs back to her. She'd read enough psychology texts to recognize the numerous signs of nervousness and tension. No doubt caused by the trio of boy-crazed girls who'd just departed. "I'm Ami, of House Mercury. Would you care to join me for lunch?"
The smile he returned was all the answer she needed.
oOo
It had only been two hours since Setsuna had left her apartments, so it came as a surprise to find her knocking at the door to Serenity's chambers. She gestured her friend in with a strained smile, still burping her newborn over her shoulder.
"It's the key, Serenity! That boy has left us with the key!" Setsuna babbled, stalking into the room. Serenity arched one eyebrow in response and the Plutonian senshi had the good grace to blush, pausing for a moment before continuing. "The Garnet Orb! The fragments of the mirror which I can't incorporate into it's reconstruction, they contain enough residual magic that I can fully unlock the Gates of Time without effecting the mirror's ability to function at all!"
"Wait, you mean..?" The silver-maned queen began, uncertainly.
"Yes," Pluto confirmed with a broad smile. She brought forth a black orb, dull and unreacting. "I can infuse the Garnet Orb with the temporal magic of the mirror's fragments, and we will not only be able to detect temporal magic, but manifest it at will. Just the fragments will allow me to create a class-A artifact!"
"I thought class-A temporal artifacts were theoretical," the silver-eyed woman muttered, returning the younger Serenity to her crib. She frowned for a moment, tapping her jaw with her index finger as she leaned back against her daughter's crib. "That sort of power is troubling, to say the least. Don't misunderstand me, Setsuna. Of all my Senshi, you're the one I trust the most. But with that sort of power you'll quite literally be the mistress of time itself. You could manipulate it to whatever end you desired."
"My Queen-" Setsuna began, only to be cut off.
"The only reason I'm telling you to continue with this is that trust," Serenity offered sternly, folding her arms. "You among all others are the one I trust to be faithful to the kingdom and it's ideals. Long after I am gone, you will remain. Perhaps you will exist after this entire kingdom is gone. Could you live with that, Sailor Pluto? Could you watch your friends and loved ones die, watch everything you've worked for fall to dust, and yet remain? Could you resist the urge to meddle with time as if you were a god?"
"I.... I'm not sure," Setsuna finally admitted, lowering her gaze to the floor. The Queen could sympathize with her feelings. The girl was so caught up in whether or not she could create the magic that she hadn't yet stopped to wonder if she should. "I'm sworn to guard the Gates of Time and defend the kingdom, but... I don't know if I could defend the Gates from myself."
"Temptation might be too much?" Serenity teased lightly, before her voice turned serious. "If you think you might be tempted, I'm going to need you to firm your resolve. You must not misuse the Gates of Time, but you must have the power to use them if necessary. I expect you to meet my expectations"
"Worried about our visitor?" Pluto asked dryly, crossing her arms.
"I'll admit I'd be far more comfortable with his ability to travel through time if you were there not only to observe, but intervene if you think it necessary," the queen admitted. She shrugged helplessly. "I can't help but trust in him. He's already saved my life once and clearly he's going to befriend and gain the trust of my daughter in the future. However, I'd rest a lot easier knowing you were there to make sure my trust is not misplaced."
"Suddenly I'm not so thrilled about the ability to enhance the Garnet Orb," Pluto muttered, frowning to herself. She glanced at her ruler and, when duty permitted, friend. "Do you happen to have any of Taskent's Reserve in that cabinet of yours?"
"Now now, Pluto," Serenity chided, eyes flashing in mirth. "You need a sure hand if you're to become the Mistress of Time in truth."
"The more I think about this, the less I like it, Serenity," Pluto said bluntly. "I mean, a time-traveling hero is one thing. A time-traveling hero with the magic to spare to unlock the Gates of Time? Perhaps the future me is meddling in affairs more than you'd like?"
"Then I'm sure you'll have firm words with her when you see her," the Queen chuckled.
Setsuna sighed and wondered if she'd look back and pinpoint the day she decided to take up enchanting and crafting as a hobbies would be the day that heralded life became eventually becoming horribly complicated.
oOo
Ranma wasn't just full. He was stuffed.
The girl he'd met in the library had escorted him to a small sitting room in her chambers, calling for lunch for two. What he'd received instead was a three-course banquet even the fabled Saotome stomach was hard-pressed to keep ahead of. It was only after he complained about the serving sizes that Ami had confided, with a giggle, that he wasn't supposed to eat everything.
Not that it mattered. Kitchens: 0, Ranma: 3.
During the meal, the girl had engaged him in small talk, drawing out answers he was surprised to find himself giving.
"Rice, a fish, and two pickles?" Ami asked, incredulous. Ranma sighed, leaning back contentedly in the chair before nodding
"My old man, he was... er, I guess, will be..." The pigtailed boy was thoroughly confused by all this time travel crap, though he was grateful that the blue-haired princess just waved for him to continue. "whatever, he's made some deals that were less than honourable. And it's usually me that gets stuck holding the bag, too."
"Your life sounds rough," the blue-eyed girl sighed, reaching across to lay a hand on Ranma's. He flinched for a second, but didn't draw his hand away. Something about the girl felt distinctly non-threatening. She smiled. "Though look on the bright side... How many amazing things have you done or seen in your life? Where would you be without all the difficulties you face?"
"I've never thought about it like that," Ranma admitted, scratching his jaw with his free hand as his gaze wandered to the window. He sighed, bringing both hands up to scrub his face, not noticing the flash of annoyance in the girl's face as her hand lost contact with his. "Sometimes I wish I was just a normal guy. Then it's times like this, when everything's not crazy, that I can put it into a bit of perspective. I mean, if I ever get back home, I'm never gonna see you or your crazy friends again. I think I might regret that, a bit."
"The life of a martial artist is fraught with peril," the princess returned with a sad grin.
"Speaking of which, I better see what your Queen and the creepy green-haired chick want," Ranma groused, standing. He bowed deeply, startling the blue-clad girl with the polite, courtly gesture. "Thanks for food. And y'know, listening and stuff. It was kinda nice."
He was away before she could respond.
oOo
Haruka couldn't believe her eyes.
Someone was at the bottom of the Queen's tower. Bounding up the various protrusions and dodging the occasional wards as if doing so were the most natural thing in the world. Like he had every right to be avoiding the dozens of guards and as if he were personally exempt from gravity. Had she not been standing on the balcony of her own suite in the palace, she doubted anyone would have noticed.
"Uranus Planet Power, Make Up!"
The newly-raised senshi barely noticed the transformation and after opening the double-doors of her room, she had sufficient space to make the running leap towards the Queen's tower to intercept the pigtailed youth climbing it.
Nobody messed with Serenity. Not unless they could get past her, first.
oOo
Mid-leap up the tower from whence he'd been escorted, Ranma was surprised to find a short-haired blond in a very similar uniform as the green-haired trouble-maker, though it was a dark blue instead of black and featured a bright yellow ribbon in the front.
He was more surprised by the victorious smirk on her face, though this was explained shortly afterwards by the biggest surprise: A rapidly building ball of magical energy concentrated in the woman's right fist.
"World Shaking!"
And the world did shake, as an inescapably fast ball of yellow energy raced along the ground to smash into the martial artist, detonating with a fierce rumble and throwing him back over the edge of the balcony. The blue-eyed youth was shocked at the strength of the attack, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it.
He barely had time to recover from the attack to notice the garden grounds rapidly racing up towards him. He twisted in the air, landing in a light crouch. He immediately sensed a presence above and launched himself back, as the blond which attacked him dove down into the spot he'd just been standing with a rather lethal-looking sword.
"Wow, if those hips of yours didn't act like such a parachute, you might have gotten me with that one!" Ranma informed her cheerfully. The satisfying tightening of her eyebrows and the trembling of her jaw told the pigtailed boy he'd enraged her quite nicely. He wasn't worried. If she tried that magical attack of hers again, he was ready.
The answering grin, however, was new. Angry opponents usually looked less cocky than him, not more.
"Space Sword Buster!" The blonde warrior screamed, slashing three times with her blade. Ranma heard a disturbingly familiar ripping of the air as three vacuum blades tore through the air. While he'd said he would seal the Yamasenken, he doubted that using it against an equally-lethal opponent broke his promise.
"Kijin Raishu Dan!" Two swipes of his left arm and one swing of his right saw three ki-powered vacuum blades race forward to meet the magically-spawned ones of his opponent. Each of the three blades met it's partner with a resounding boom which caused both fighters to flinch, bracing themselves against the shock waves caused by the mutual cancellation.
"Now I'm impressed," the blonde admitted with a broad smile, standing to her full height and resting her sword across her shoulders. Ranma was annoyed to note that she was tall enough he had to tilt his head up to meet her eyes. "I mean, it's one thing to shrug off a World Shaking... But nullifying my Space Sword Buster completely? That takes a lot of skill. Especially for someone just using their ki. It's a shame we're enemies!"
Ranma rolled under a quick running thrust, planting his hands and snapping his left foot up to catch the blond's knuckles. Her sword tumbled from her grip before her attack's momentum had finished and spun through the air before embedding itself into one of the trees. The pigtailed-boy's right foot snapped up right afterwards in an attempt to catch the magic girl in the jaw, but she intercepted the blow with her free hand and used the kick as leverage to flip away.
"I thought I was impressed before, but now... Now, I am very impressed, kid!" Ranma's fuku-clad opponent chuckled, smiling broadly. She pointed at him with one hand. "Do you know how long it's been since I've been disarmed at all? You're the first unaugmented human who's ever managed it! You should feel proud of yourself!
"But," She added with a chuckle, "You're still going to lose. World Shaking!"
"Mouko Takabisha!" Ranma returned, thrusting his hands forward and pouring his ki into the attack. He would win. It was impossible that he could lose! Life energy met magic, exploding brilliantly. Much like the results of the blond's Space Sword Buster when pitted against the Kijin Raishu Dan, the result was a stalemate.
However, this time, Ranma knew he couldn't just wait for the bright lights to fade. He was getting tired and his opponent was just getting warmed up. It wasn't a difference of skill, necessarily, just a difference of stamina: Her magic clearly gave her a nearly-infinite supply which he couldn't hope to match.
So he took the fight to her, diving through the maelstrom of power which separated them to drive a fist into her jaw. He winced at the solid thud, not out of sympathy but due to the blossoming pain in his hand. It didn't diminish his satisfaction as she skipped across the grass, bouncing twice before getting her hands under herself, skidding along the ground to come to a crouched stop.
"Now I'm the one who's impressed," Ranma admitted, thumbing his nose and crouching with his hands on his knees. "With an ass that big, I can't believe you managed to stop yourself from bouncing until you hit a wall."
"Die!"
"Not a chance," Ranma chuckled, ducking under the high kick she launched only to halt it by extending his right arm up. At the same time his left arm extended and he twisted, sweeping her left foot from the ground while twisting her right leg. The resulting counter dumped the blond warrior onto the ground chest first.
What is she made of? Ranma wondered, fighting the urge to rub his wrists as he back-flipped away from thrashing legs, opening up space as he re-evaluated her fighting ability. No wonder she was so sloppy: She had enough strength and endurance to soak up anything but the strongest attacks. With those magic attacks of hers, it was like fighting Herb if he'd ever gone through the Bakusai Tenketsu training. A very, very unfair combination.
The fuku-clad warrior got to her feet with a scowl, and the pigtailed boy grinned.
"You're pretty tough," Ranma admitted. His grin turned into a smirk. "It's a shame you ain't got the skill to back it up."
"I'm going to beat you until I can't see straight," his opponent vowed, crouching low.
It was then that their fight was interrupted.
"Uranus, why are you beating up Serenity-sama's guest?" Ranma recognized the questioner as the tall girl from before, princess... Jupiter.
"Guest?" Uranus asked, staring in confusion at the blue-eyed boy.
"I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm stuck here until the Queen decides what to do with me," Ranma admitted, scratching the base of his pigtail. The blond's face changed not one bit. "Sorry 'bout this?"
Somehow, the apology didn't really help.
oOo
Author's Notes:
Ranma is 5'5" and Haruka is 5'8". That's right, she's three inches taller. I looked it up for that part of the scene. Though the rest of the senshi are freaking short... All the inners (except Makoto) average out at five feet and an inch.
For those who didn't catch it (though among the reviews I noted people who caught both references) the two nods were the Sky Prince from Gabriel Blessing's Destiny and the more subtle reference of Mercury fire wine from Ozzallos' Heir to the Empire. They're not going to be plot elements in any way... I just wanted to give a nod to the two influences in my decision to write a crossover in the first place.
Though speaking of Ozzallos, it still weirds me out to learn that one of my favourite authors (fanfiction or otherwise) has one of my stories in his favourites. It's as surreal as being a local musician and then finding out that Dave Grohl is a fan of your work.
And for the record, not revealing the curse yet was very deliberate. The payoff will be worth it in a later chapter. And I apologize for the length (or lack thereof) of the previous chapters. My computer was crashing roughly every twenty minutes or so, meaning I wound up rewriting a couple hundred words out of every thousand at least twice (and in one case... seven times). It's fixed now, hence the longer chapter.
-Gaming Ikari