Between Asleep and Awake

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction By:

Mika the Raven

Disclaimer: All characters not created by me are the property of Rumiko Takahashi

Chapter 6: Power Overwhelming

It was a fairly cold day, but Akane hardly noticed. She was off to learn a new technique.

The idea had dominated her thoughts last night, driving out some of the sting of Ranma's attack on her. She appreciated it on some twisted level as he had shown just how vastly outclassed she was, and was eager to settle the score.

Her dreams the previous night had stayed with her upon awakening. She threw Ranma through walls, leveled her with a blow, brought her to her knees... the crowd roared approval... and then it was Ukyou she fought, or perhaps Shampoo, or perhaps them both, and again her foe went down before her precise attacks... and finally it was Ranma-kun she was fighting, his face creased with concentration, respect, and a little fear as they dueled... She had decimated them.

It had been a heady array of night visions, and the memory of them buoyed her hopes as she jogged to the clinic. Tofu had promised to train her when she was little. when her father was no longer up to the task. He would teach her his fighting arts. Nothing spectacular, Tofu had said... but useful. She would settle for useful if it helped her win. Spectacular was Ranma's area.

Arriving at the doctor's office, she hesitated, suddenly uncertain. What if she couldn't learn it?

Oh well. She'd deal with that if it happened.

"Doctor Tofu?" she called, pushing open the door. "Are you in?"

"No need to shout, Akane."

She jumped, spinning to see Tofu standing a few inchesaway. "You... you startled me."

He smiled slightly. "You need to keep alert, Akane. Don't let people get that close without warning."

Akane nodded dutifully, although she remembered that Tofu had snuck up on Ranma in much the same way more than once. Erasing his presence from the mind, Ranma had called it... "So. I'm ready to learn if you're ready to teach."

Tofu nodded. "I have long wondered if you were going to take me up on my offer. I'm glad you did" He made a sweeping jesture with his arm "Come out to the back of the clinic, in the garden."

They strolled around into the garden of odd herbs and slightly stunted trees in the rear of the clinic. Stopping, glancing slightly at the overcast sky, Tofu gave a smile of satisfied amusement. "All right, Akane. I'm going to attack you with a simple leaping kick. I want you either to dodge or counter, whichever you prefer."

Puzzled, Akane nodded. "I'm pretty good with aerials, remember. Anything-Goes emphasises them."

He nodded, still smiling. "I know. Ready?"

She snapped into a fighting stance. "Ready!"

Tofu nodded, and leapt in a fairly standard jumpkick.

Akane tracked the movement, prepared to meet the attack, a sidestep and a punch...

Wait! He was veering right! Adjust!

Frantically, confused, she moved a bit to the side... no, the other way... what was going on...

The kick sent her tumbling to the ground.

Tofu extended a hand to help her up. "So. What happened?"

She stood, brow wrinkling in consternation. It had been a fairly simple kick... he hadn't veered in midair, or feinted, but she had become confused about the angle of his attack, where he really was... but why?

Slowly, she replayed it in her mind, looking for what had caused her to react as she had.

"Your shadow," she finally breathed. "It didn't match. It was veering and moving as if you were somewhere else."

Tofu nodded approvingly. "Martial artists trained in aerial attacks, especially ones who recieve aerial attacks, watch the shadow of their opponent to help gauge his or her location. When the shadow moves, their mind assigns the corresponding movement to their opponent. It's all unconsious, involuntary, and so when the two don't match it confuses them, with the inevitable results."

Akane nodded, a smile beginning to form. Ranma used aerial attacks quite a bit; vaulting and balancing in insane but surprisingly effective combat stances. The shadow trick might only work in one fight, but that was all she needed.

"So how do I do it?" she asked.

"It's a bit tricky at first. Come inside, and I'll demonstrate."

They walked back into the clinic, and the doctor seated Akane at a table. Vanishing into a back room, he returned with a candle. As Akane watched curiously, he set it on the table before her, lit it, and then turned off the overhead lights.

"You must move the shadow of the candle. From there, learning to move your own is simple."

She nodded uncertainly. "Okay... how do I do it?"

"Stare deep into the flame. Lose yourself in it. Let it surround you. Then, when that is done, alter the world around you to shades of black, gradual and slow, until the flame itself is a flickering grey in your mind. Once that is done, picture the shadow moving."

Mind over matter. Akane had always hated those kind of exercises. "All right," she said, and stared at the flame.

Warmth. Hot, burning, cold warmth. Flicker.

Time passed. She stared, tuning out everything but the dancing streak of yellow, narrowing the world down to it.

Flicker.

After a long time, she began to let the world back in. But slowly.

It was dark and shrouded, compared to the bright flame. She kept it that way, letting the dancing yellow illuminate black outlines on black surfaces with grey light. Before long, the room was a portrait of ebony.

Slowly, reluctantly, she began to fade the flame. Heat to cold, yellow to white, color to monochrome. The room clustered around the flame, choking the life from it, fading it

until it was a capering slash of white and grey.

Almost absently, she spun the shadow of the candle around and around and around, like a second hand on a watch.

"Very good," said a strange voice, and something huge loomed up behind her. With a small shriek Akane spun, the world slamming back into color, and stared at Tofu.

"Very good," he repeated. "Did I startle you?"

She smiled weakly, still shaking a bit. "I just... I didn't..."

"That's fairly common. Tuning out like that means you can be startled by anything. It's like the teacher shaking you awake in class; quite a shock."

Akane nodded, relieved. "I think I almost had it. Maybe with a bit more practice..."

Tofu pointed behind her. She slowly turned.

On the table, the shadow of the candle was spinning and spinning, like a bicycle wheel with one spoke.

Entranced, she made it stop. Then she started it up again, all with a thought and a will.

"Once you learn how, it's instinctual," Tofu said mildly.

Looking down, Akane stretched out a hand, watched her own shadow do the same. She smiled, and opened her hand, held the open grasp as her shadow's hand tightened into a fist.

It strolled across the room, waltzed a bit, then came back to fall in step beside her.

Akane grinned. "This should teach that baka a thing or two."

"I daresay it will," Tofu said with a smile of his own. "Just be careful. I don't want to have to treat you for any serious injuries."

"I'll be careful," she promised. "Thanks, Doctor Tofu."

He nodded cheerfully. "If this doesn't do the job, there's always... well, never mind. Good luck, Akane."

"Thanks!" Grinning ear to ear, she raced out the door. A bit of practice today, and then tomorrow she'd go looking for Ranma-teme and settle things.Settle things, and show the idiot who was the best.

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To say Akane was ecstatic would be like saying Alaska is cold. She had spent the better part of the afternoon learning how to move shadows. It surprised her just how easy it actually was. It was like remembering how to breathe. She hummed a merry tune as she watched her shadow dancing to its own parade. The only thing that had truly unerved her was the overwhelming sense of immensity that Doctor Tofu seemed to possess whenever she phased the color out of her perceptions. It was like he was everywhere at once, threatening to smother through sheer force of will.

She would have pondered further, but she had just made her shadow do a cartwheel and continue dancing. With out missing a beat she decided to race it home, an unseen set of scarlet eyes watching her from a nearby rooftop.

"Aiyah."

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It was evening, and the sun was already beginning its slow retreat from the sky. A quiet, serene sort of sunset; the beauty of nature enhanced by the effects of air pollution from the teeming city. It cast a faint crimson tinge of light upon the short, purposeful figure standing in front of a Nerima medical establishment.

Staff in hand, Cologne strode up the clinic steps.

She stopped at the door, frowning slightly in concentration. A string of syllables escaped her lips, and there was a flash and a sound like ripping silk. Smiling grimly, she tapped the wooden portal with the tip of her staff; with a roar, the door burst inward in a shower of broken wood.

Cologne stalked calmly into the dimly-lit room, eyes slowly moving back and forth, senses extended. The words to a half-a-dozen incantations hung at the edge of her brain, ready to be spat out with speed and force.

The clinic seemed deceptively mundane, except for the shattered bits of door marring the sterile expanse of floor. A desk, a low table, the skeleton dangling limply from a pole... nothing that wouldn't be found in any doctor's office in Japan. Neat, tidy, and utterly ordinary.

Ordinary to her eyes, at least. Her other senses told a different tale.

"Hello, Cologne." a voice behind her spoke dripping with contempt

She felt the presense a split second before he spoke, and she was already in motion, spinning around to face him. "Ono."

The doctor glanced about the room in mild bemusement. "I never will understand the Amazon inability to use doorknobs. They're not especially complex pieces of machinery, you know."

"It's a quaint ethnic custom," Cologne replied evenly. "You've broken our compact, Ono. I thought you were brighter than that."

Tofu chuckled. "Goodness, is that what's gotten you so worked up?"

"I will not be the only one who is worked up in a few seconds. You were warned of what would happen if you..."

"...broke our most solemn agreement, yes, I know." He smiled, and shrugged slightly. "You would have every reason to be upset if I had broken it."

Cologne frowned, noticing the turn of phrase. "If you had? Don't try to play innocent, Ono. I heard the reports from Shampoo this afternoon, She said the Tendo girl's shadow was walking ten feet in front of her, against the sunlight, and I know very well who taught her how to do it."

"Our agreement covers Saotome Ranma," Tofu said, a slight smile playing across his features. "I am not to talk to, teach, or influence him in any way, aside from providing him with medical help upon request. Fine. I've abided by that, and will continue to. But our agreement says nothing at all about Tendo Akane."

"I think it has become abundantly clear how greatly Ranma values her," Cologne said, reining in her anger with some effort. "Using her to influence him is a breach of our covenant."

He laughed. "You stretch the bounds of our agreement, Cologne. But even granting you that, I challenge you to show even the flimsiest evidence that I've used Akane to steer him to me. You may also want to check your sources on just how important Miss Tendo is to the dear boy."

"I don't need evidence, Transient." The final word was practically spat. "I know the uses you have for Saotome, and I know how much you wish to break our covenant. Did you really think I would abandon him simply because he will not join the Joketsuzoku?"

"You forget yourself, mortal." Tofu's voice grew soft, and the dim light in the room suddenly seemed to grow fainter, the shadows moving pools of ink. A yellow glow leaped up to fill

the lenses of his glasses, casting shafts of ruddy light before him. "You stand on my ground now, not in that fortress masquerading as a restaurant. Do you really presume to come to my place of power, and threaten me, and seek to dictate to me what I can and cannot do? You go too far, Joketsuzoku."

"I will go farther still," Cologne replied, the steel never leaving her voice. "I can send you howling back to whatever pit you call home, Transient, back into darkness for a hundred years. I'm sure there are hundreds of magi who would love to see you bound, helpless, confined to your own realm..."

"Try it, mortal crone," Tofu hissed. "Even if you survive, no Joketsuzoku will dare leave the Waking World for the next five hundred years for fear of what they will find waiting for them. I'm sure there are hundreds of beings who would love to see that."

Slowly, purposefully, Cologne touched the tip of her staff to the floor. A dim orange glow flickered from it, and with a single, unbroken stroke she inscribed a circle around her, the outline glowing against the clinic floor with a blazing radiance.

The doctor stared at the circle, at the staff, and then smiled. A friendly chuckle escaped his lips.

"I do believe you would," he said, seeming to relax slightly. "You'd really destroy us both. Fortunately, you've taken an oath not to. Remember that part of the covenant, Joketsuzoku?"

"On the understanding that you leave Saotome Ranma alone," Cologne replied. "One is conditional upon the other."

"Well, then?" An amused look appeared on Tofu's face. "Exactly what have I done to Ranma of late? I hardly think teaching Akane a parlor trick qualifies as interfering with him, does it?"

"It is the first step towards interfering with him, and we both know it."

"Foolish old woman." Tofu's voice grew cold. "I am not responsible for your paranoid delusions, Joketsuzoku. When you have a nameable way in which I have tried to influence Saotome, you can return and we can destroy each other. Until then, do not bother me with 'first steps' and 'I think you wills', because you know as well as I that such speculation is not what is specified in our covenant. Actions are."

Cologne fixed him with an icy stare, mentally cursing. Much as she hated to admit it, the Transient was right; Akane was not covered by their agreement. As long as he did not actively use her to influence Ranma, she had no technical grounds for complaint.

Worse, she had taken an oath not to interfere in any of Ono's dealings that did not involve Ranma or the Joketsuzoku. And warning away Akane would definitely qualify as interfering. Her hands were tied, for now.

"I will be watching you, Ono," she finally said. "And Akane. And Ranma. If you so much as teach him a new technique for tying his shoes, I shall return and banish you from the Waking World for as long as humanly possible." Cologne favored him with a cold smile. "Humanly possible covers a very, very long time. Even for one of your kind."

"I tremble before your righteous yet impotent fury," Tofu said sardonically. "Not that I expect you to believe me, but I really have very little interest in Saotome. I suspect he'd be more trouble than he's worth." He chuckled. "So hard to find good help these days you know?"

"So, of course, you decided to initiate his girlfriend," Cologne replied. "Yes, your lack of interest certainly shows."

"Do I need a reason to teach Akane a... thing, or two?" Tofu smiled, and the glow brightened, turning his lenses into dull lamps. "I have whims, you know. Your prohibition makes this place fairly boring most of the time. Besides. I like her."

Cologne snorted. "Poor girl."

He laughed. "Poor? Your kind and mine are natural enemies, Joketsuzoku, but I have often worked with humans. To mutual benefit, I might add."

"I suppose that would depend on how you define 'benefit'. You use them, Transient, like toys or chess pieces."

"And you do not?" Tofu raised an eyebrow, the dull glow in his eyes fading somewhat. "You, of course, are always honest and straightforward with your pupils. You would never dream of manipulating them, of using them as pawns of your Council, of even sacrificing them when the occasion seems fitting..."

"Sometimes," Cologne replied evenly. "But we do not revel in it."

The doctor laughed. "And that makes a difference? Did you know, old woman, that I once met Byen Tai? I spoke to her at some length. What do you suppose she told me?"

Cologne was silent, shock and fury warring within her.

"She told me how a great and respected matriarch had trained her, prepared her, and sent her on a vital mission." Tofu shook his head sadly. "Vital mission. Do you know, she actually believed it? Almost to the very end, she refused to believe that her elders had thrown her away as a feint, a distraction, a minor point on a vast and intricate plan."

"A plan that left the Abomination Visandrax chained for another thousand years, and which cleansed the Sea of Dreams for hundreds of miles." Cologne shrugged. "People would have died in greater numbers had we not acted."

"You see? We all have our justifications." Tofu chuckled, stroking his chin with his hand. "She was almost dead when she stumbled into my realm, and she knew quite well what I was.

She told me her story anyway, because by then she hated the people who sent her to die far more than she could ever hate me." He shrugged. "Her last moments were comfortable. Shefought the Abomination, and deserved to die in peace. It might have destroyed us all, which was why I made alliance with your Council and the rest of the Sealers."

"So that was you. I thought you were destroyed in the final battle at Mount Teidi."

"One of my vassals, and a valued one." Tofu frowned slightly. "He, at least, knew what his real mission was."

"It was necessary. Any doubts on her part would have revealed the feint for what it was." Cologne turned to leave, suddenly feeling very old. "It is good to know she died in peace."

"In peace? She felt no physical pain, at least. I saw to that. But the hatred, ah, that did not leave until her spirit did." She could feel him watching as she stepped though the shattered doorframe. "You are a fine one to accuse me of using people, Joketsuzoku. I doubt I would ever manage to use Akane as cruelly as you did your own grandniece."

Cologne descended the steps, and vanished from sight.

Whistling slightly, Tofu bent to examine a fragment of door. "Bakusai Ten-Ketsu. Interesting toy, that."

"IT CAN BE MORE THAN INTERESTING. SHE IS VERY POWERFUL ONO, DO NOT BECOME OVERCONFIDENT"

He chuckled. "She has an edge here, yes. But I don't intend to give her an opening to use it. That foolish oath will bind her, so long as I am careful."

"YOU WILL HAVE TO BE SUBTLE INDEED ONO, I DOUBT SHE WILL STAND IDLY BY AND WATCH"

"Oh," the doctor whispered, "I certainly hope she doesn't simply stand by. That would complicate things."

"ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU WILL GO TOO FAR. DESTROY HER NOW WHILE YOU CAN. I WILL..."

"My agenda. Not yours Willow." He smiled. "Don't worry about our most honorable Matriarch. She will have her day."

He turned and walked towards the back of the clinic, the door behind him putting itself back together without a sound.

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Ukyou slowly spun, showing off the wedding kimono. "Do you like it?"

Ranma smiled and nodded. "It looks great. I can hardly wait to see you in it at the ceremony."

She giggled shyly. "I can hardly wait either."

Laughing, he strolled over, slipping his arms around her. "You know, you'd look pretty good out of it, too."

"You think?" she said, letting one shoulder slip free of the cloth. "You can always check..." she felt his hands, confident and sure, hike up the obi belt and open the kimono's folds. Smiling, she ran her own palms along his bare chest, kissing him as she did.

Pulling away, Ranma sat down on the bed - not hers and not his, part of her mind noted - and beckoned to her. "C'mere, Ucchan."

Slowly, letting the kimono fall away from her shoulders, she walked over to stand before him. "Should we, Ranchan?"

He nodded.

Slowly, she moved into his lap, her legs straddling his. The kimono was now only a loose draping of cloth around her upper waist, and she eagerly pulled away Ranma's black pants. He lifted her slightly, positioning himself, and then she moaned with pleasure as he slid into her.

They began to slowly move, and Ukyou kissed him fiercely. "I love you..."

"I love you too," he whispered.

And then, a figure stepped into the room behind them.

Ranma's eyes widened in terror. His mouth opened to say something, and then a sharp, glinting axe flashed down over Ukyou's shoulder, splitting his skull. Ukyou screamed, terror and grief and horror suddenly shattering her bliss. She tried to turn, but Ranma's arms were still locked around her and he was still buried in her, thrustingspasmodically even as his bloody, ruined face stared blindly at her.

Shrieking, blood cascading into her eyes, she tried to stand. The corpse seemed to stand with her, lifting her off the ground as it rose, and then they toppled backwards onto the carpet. Her head hit the floor hard, Ranma's split, bloody mouth coming down to kiss her as his lower body continued to convulse. Above him, through the crimson staining her vision, she could see a dark figure with a ghost white face frozen with mad glee raising the axe.

Ukyou gave one last scream of terror, and then the axe came hurling down towards her face. There was a sharp, agonizing stab of...

Shrieking, sobbing, Ukyou bolted upright in bed. For several seconds all she could do was sit and scream, and it was only slowly that she realized that she was alone in her own bed, not lying on the floor embracing a corpse.

Her cries faltered, replaced by slow sobs. Only a dream, she frantically repeated to herself. It hadn't been real. It was just a nightmare...

Her bedroom door exploded open and a dark figure burst through, a sharp, glinting steel blade raised high.

Ukyou screamed again, shrinking back, hands frantically reaching for the combat spatula by her bed.

"Ukyou-sama? Ukyou-sama? What's wrong? What happened?"

She shrieked again, then stopped, the voice registering. "Ko..Konatsu?"

The figure stepped forward, lowering the sword, and in the dim light Ukyou could make out the concerned, somewhat wild-eyed features of her waiter/waitress. "Ukyou-sama? What happened? Did someone attack you? I heard you scream, and you kept screaming, so I..."

"J..Just a nightmare, Konatsu. A bad dream." She was still crying, she realized. Somewhat self-consciously she pulled her sleeping kimono a bit tighter around her, trying not to let it remind her of the blood-spattered wedding kimono... "Just a bad dream."

"Are you sure?" he said anxiously, scanning the room warily. "You sounded..."

"I'm sure, Konatsu." There was no corpse mounting her, no psychopath with an axe. It was all a dream.

Somewhat sheepishly, Konatsu nodded. "I'm sorry if I scared you, breaking in. I just thought..."

"It's okay," she said dully, trying to take in the room. She was home, in her own room, not in whoever's room that had been...

"Sorry to have disturbed you, Ukyou-sama. I'll let you get back to sleep..."

"No!" she said with a force that surprised her. "I mean... if it's okay, could you sit up with me for a bit?" Scrambling, she reached over the side of the bed to turn on the table lamp, squinting a bit as it flared to life. "I'm... I'm just going to read for a bit. Until I feel..." She trailed off, unsure what to say. Until she felt safe? Until she was completely sure that it had been a dream?

Nodding sympathetically, Konatsu sat down in her desk chair. "I'll stay for as long as you like, Ukyou-sama."

"Thanks, Konatsu. I really appreciate it." Ukyou grabbed the mystery novel on her nightstand, flipped it open, and began to determinedly read. It was a cop story. The body in it had died from a gunshot to the chest, not an axe to the head.

She shuddered. Maybe it was the fact that it had been such a good dream before it turned horrible, but it had scared her more than anything she could remember since she was young.

Maybe it was Akane's challenger. Someone with a hook had come to get Akane, so now she was dreaming that someone with an axe had come to kill Ranma and her.

Hadn't she dreamed about something like that before?

With an effort, she forced her mind back to the mystery. After a time, the shock and horror began to fade, and the mystery's plot became blurry, and she leaned further and further back in bed...

Gently removing the book from her sleeping hands, Konatsu pulled the covers up, turned off the light, and quietly left her room, continuing downstairs to his utility closet/bedroom he began to rumage through his belongings. Finding what he had been looking for he made his way back to Ukyou's bedroom door, and applied the warding charm. It was a rare one time use demon ward distinct to his clan. He frowned as the ward began to char from an unseen heat source. Evil had been here, but was no longer.

"Sleep the sleep of the righteous Ukyo-sama." He said with a whisper before descending the stairs to his room.

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Cologne stared at her teacup, the morning sun streaming in to cast sparkles in the pale green liquid. She had spent much of last night thinking on what to do, and was only now reaching a decision.

Ranma was far too important to be allowed to fall into the hands of a Transient, even one as relatively benign as Ono. She wasn't even sure the 'relatively' applied; he was a saint compared to the Abomination, but that was no great praise. Creatures of his sort were anathema to the Joketsuzoku, who had hunted down and destroyed more than one of them in their history.

And now, one of them was attempting to steal her prize pupil out from under her nose.

His use of Akane to lure in Ranma was a particularly galling point. Win Akane, and Ono could easily subvert him; Cologne had no illusions about how important the Tendo girl was to her 'son-in-law' regardless of what Ono said to the contrary. Even worse, she feared that Ono might attempt to steer an overconfident Akane into a serious fight with Shampoo - Akane would be badly injured, and the incident would be used to distance Ranma from the Amazons. Or she might simply urge Ranma to listen to Tofu, to trust Tofu... Cologne almost swore. So many possible angles to his game, all leading to the same thing. The ownership of Ranma by Ono.

The news about Byen Tai had shaken her. Perhaps Ono had meant it to taunt her, but it had only strengthened her resolve. She would not allow Ranma to be taken. She would kill him herself, first.

And before that...

Yes, before that she would kill Akane if necessary. She was only a tool to seize Ranma with, but she was a vital tool. Eliminate her, and...

Cologne sighed. There were options to be explored before she considered such a step. The thought of murdering the girl, even for the best of reasons, made her soul shrink.

Then, too, there was Ranma's response to anyone hurting Akane. She had no doubt that attempts by her or Shampoo to eliminate the Tendo girl would result in Ranma turning violently against the Amazons, making Ono's task even easier.

Unless...

Ono had taken advantage of some not quite apparent change in the relationship between Ranma and Akane, seizing upon the opportunity to snare her. The bits of power he gifted her with, while insignificant, would both set her under his control and protect her from the very person who had given him his reason to act.

Unless, of course, someone were to do the same to Ranma.

Cologne smiled grimly. She could teach the pigtailed boy a few minor tricks... nothing spectacular, he had spectacular down to a tee, but enough to give her an edge over Ono's dark influence. If Akane needed to be neutralized - either temporarily or permanently - so be it, she would make an untraceable catspaw. Two could play the game of using tools to control Ranma.

Ironic, she thought. The very thing that had helped push Tofu to this plan would become the means to snuff it out, if necessary. And only if necessary. She had no desire to sacrifice Akane without great need to.

On the other side of the room, Shampoo was absently perched hunkered over on a countertop, a newspaper in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. The lavender beauty was dressed in the same thing she had slept in; a grey, rather wrinkled sleeveless top. The arms were open enough to reveal a bit of her highly defined torso, and even from where she sat Cologne could plainly make out the scars on her torso. Scars she herself had put there.

For the sake of the Tribe, Ono would not succeed.

"Shampoo"

Shampoo looked up, eyes holding the usual expression of bland disinterest. She did not know when the change had occured, but it merely appeared that she was going through the motions in her pursuit of Ranma. She had become distant, morose, and slightly cynical.

"Akane has been taking lessons. She will undoubtedly have something to use against you on your next meeting."

Frowning slightly, the purple headed girl shrugged. "Shampoo no worried about Violent Girl, She too too weak."

There was a loud boom as Cologne brought her staff down on the floor."You would do well to heed my warnings Shampoo, This is no regular martial artist that Akane is being instructed by. He is a Transient, a very cunning one at that."

Shampoos eyes had widened briefly in fear at the mention of the demons of legend before replacing her mask of indifference.

"What you have me do Great Grandmother? Is too too bad for Violent Girl yes? How we prepare?"

"I may be able to help you there. There is a trick or two that you may find useful... for fighting demons."

Shampoo put down her tea and walked over to sit across from her at the table.

"I await your training, Honored Elder. I only hope it is worth my while." Shampoo said in her native tongue

Behind her folded hands Cologne smiled, and dismissed her errant Great Granddaughter with a wave, and watched as she mounted the stairs to her bedroom.

This was too easy.

Cologne raised a teakettle up to the stove, lit the fire, and then heard the knocking.

Three delicate, evenly-spaced raps.

Cologne frowned, a slight chill working its way down her back, and peered intently at the door of the stove.

And, again, three knocks.

"You're invited in," Cologne said slowly. "But only once."

The oven door fell open, the fire behind it blazing redder than any gas-powered range should. There was a chorus of snickers, of giggles, of muted laughter.

Slowly, with infinite grace, a delicate figure decked in white stepped out of the mouth of the stove, daintily brushing bits of flame from her gown absently crossing her four additional arms behind her back.

Cologne gave a short bow. "Lady."

The Lady smiled back. It was, part of Cologne thought, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

The rest of her, though, knew exactly who she was facing, and wasn't pleased about it.

"Young Cologne. I remember you."

"I'm flattered, Lady." She was, in a way. She knew all too well how little importance the Lady attached to humans.

"You were in my service."

"I was, Lady."

"And then you left it."

"It was time to move on."

"You could still return, you know. There is a seat set aside for you." The Lady smiled gently. "Age doesn't matter, in my house. You might turn around and find yourself young."

All true, Cologne knew, and then she felt the entire force of the Lady's will upon her.

She could go back. Go back and practice her Art, unfettered by her creeping mortality. No need to worry about her great-granddaughter, or the tribe, or Ranma. There would always be another Matriarch. She could go back, and be young, and beautiful, and irresponsible when she wished to be. She could...

...could go back and be a slave.

"I think I'll decline your offer, Lady."

The Lady shrugged petulantly. "As you say. I didn't really expect you would."

"Is this just a courtesy call, then?"

"Not at all. I've come to warn you, Young Cologne."

Cologne's eyes narrowed. "I am no longer young, Lady. What sort of warning do you bring?"

"The Transient will try to neutralize threats to his plan. Including you and yours. And perhaps others. Mortals break so easily."

"I am aware of his enmity," Cologne replied dryly. "None of his servants are strong enough to do me harm in the Waking World."

"True, Young Cologne, but he does so like to play with mortals." The Lady smiled. "There are so many of them, scurrying here and there. Like frightened lizards. Some of them bite, and if you look too closely at a pair of them... why, another might sneak up behind you and bite your toes off." She gnashed her teeth for emphasis, and Cologne noted with only mild surprise that they were long, narrow, and filed to razor points.

"I'll keep that in mind." It was cryptic, but that was the Lady's way. Perhaps it was because she didn't think in exactly the same way as humans. Perhaps it was because she enjoyed seeing things bewildered and confused. Probably it was both. "Kind of you to give some thought to me, after all these years." And highly unlikely.

"I have always loved islands. Green and black, and such playthings..." The Lady licked her lips, beautiful in the gesture. "For servants past and present, Young Cologne. And because it amuses me."

Cologne nodded. "I imagine it does, Lady. I keep that in mind often."

Laughter rose, and the flames from the stove roared. And then Cologne was alone in the room, and the oven was cold and dead.

Servants past and present.

Her eyes widened slightly. Did she mean...

She probably did.

Cologne swore. Bad enough that she had a Transient to worry about. Now the Lady had to rear her beautiful head. Ally or enemy? Impossible to be sure, and hard to tell which was worse.

Turning, she walked to the door of the kitchen, and stared for a long time at her bubbly grand-daughter in the center of the room.

Japanese didn't contain the term that was rising in her mind. Chinese did, but it was too broad and only hinted at vague shadows.

"Leanan Sidhe," she muttered.

"What, Great-grandmother?"

Cologne noted with worried approval that Shampoo's presence hadn't registered until seconds before she spoke. "More complications, child." She turned, then, to study Shampoo's face. "Have you met a beautiful woman recently, or in the past?"

Shampoo looked confused. "Beautiful? Are many, Shampoo supposes."

Cologne nodded, satisfied. Anyone who had met the Lady knew exactly what was meant by beautiful woman. It was burned into their brain. "Someday soon, child, a lady in white may offer you your heart's desire. Do not accept."

"She offer me Ranma?" Shampoo raised an eyebrow curiously. "She lie then, of course."

The matriarch hesitated for an instant, and decided on the truth. "No. She won't be lying."

Shampoo looked confused. "Then why you say not accept?"

Cologne sighed. "She always tells you what you'll receive." She glanced into the dining room. "She never tells you what she'll take."

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Willow salked back and forth in her Great Hall fustratedly. The ancient amazon was definitely going to be a problem, this was an outcome she could not allow. She smiled suddenly, exposing her needle point teeth.

"Ah yes, She will do nicely."

She would have to call The Dragon of the Clouds, but she had to find her first since the ancient lizard had been living as a mortal since the Herald of the Nazraene. She shuddered. That particular event had definitely had an impact on all things supernatural, it was why she now had to be very careful when she hunted, as one did not fool around with the residual effects of one descended directly from the Source, but that was neither here nor there. She had a general idea of where the dragon currently lived, she only needed to worry about having to remind her of who she was.

Oh yes this was definitely going to throw a wrench into what ever it was that Bartholomew was planning, not that she had anything against him. This was just business, and she stood to gain very much at the end of this. Bartholomew be damned.

END CHAPTER 6

A/N hey guys, imagine that. two chapters in less than a week. Let me know what you think.

pre-reader credits as always go to my good pal Black Dragon, and Drew1984.

Any one who can guess who the "Dragon" is going to be gets a special sneak peek at the next chapter. Till next time. please read and review

Sorry to have to post this again there were several minor typos that i felt were unforgivable. the next chapter should be out in a few days.

Thanks

Mika