Ranma-chan: Genie of the Ring
by Disruptor
Disclaimer: All characters that are used belong to their respective creators. I do this for fun and do not take any money off of it. Please don't sue me. The stories are mine, so please don't use them without asking me.
Chapter 7
Ranma awoke and looked up. She noticed that she was no longer in the building, but inside the ruby. She looked at her clothing and closed her eyes. Sighing in annoyance, Ranma realized she was back in the genie costume.
"Great. Just great. What happened?" Ranma asked herself, as she stood up and started pacing.
She walked around the edges of her world, feeling as empty as her world. The softly glowing red sky of the interior of the ring bore witness to her slow walk. Looking towards where the horizon was supposed to be, Ranma saw the dark crimson walls that encircled her world. The genie sighed when she saw the book that Akane had wished up for her. A slight spasm hit Ranma, when she was about ready to sit down.
Here we go. I've got to be nuts in thinking that being pulled into and out of a ring in the form of smoke is an enjoyable experience. I still could do without the slave part, Ranma thought before her mind went blank and she materialized in the outside world.
"What is your wish, master?" Ranma asked.
As soon as Akane saw Ranma faint, she moved to catch her. Akane forgot that she was wearing the ring. Ranma was pulled into the ring once she touched it. Akane looked around and saw that no one saw Ranma vanish.
Sighing with relief, Akane thought, I'd better summon Ranma out of my ring, since no one's watching. I'm going to have to wish to know why Ranma fainted. That jer... Ranma never admits to being ill. I hope he won't hate me.
Akane cringed a bit as she rubbed her ring. Smoke poured out of it and formed Ranma-chan.
"What is your wish, master?" the genie mechanically asked.
"Ranma, I wish that you were in the clothes you were in before you fainted."
Ranma's eyes flashed red and her clothes changed.
"Granted."
Licking her lips nervously, Akane said, "I wish to know why you fainted."
Ranma's eyes glowed crimson for a second. Once the glow faded, Ranma started talking in a monotone.
"My female form ran out of energy. Resting and eating do not restore energy. Only by being in the ring will I recover any energy."
"How often do you need to return to the ring?"
"I need to spend at least a couple of hours for every seven days. I fainted because this is the eighth day. If I use a lot of magic, I have to return sooner and/or stay longer."
Akane bit her lip in apprehension, before commanding, "Ranma, I order you back into the ring."
Ranma nodded robotically and said, "Yes, master."
Akane flinched at that. Ranma closed her eyes and turned into smoke. The smoke lifted from the ground and flowed into the ruby. Akane put her hand against the wall and sobbed softly. After a minute, she wiped the tears away and headed towards her table.
I hate being called that, Akane thought. "I never thought that one word could hurt so much.
Akane arrived back at the table and greeted Kasumi. Looking at Akane, Kasumi asked a question.
"Akane, where's Ranma?"
"He...he had to take care of something important. He'll be back later," Akane said.
"I hope he'll be all right."
"Don't worry, I'm sure that he's just fine. Let's sell these books, Kasumi."
Kasumi picked up a dojinshi and looked at it.
"I've always wondered what it would be like to be her. She could do everything," Kasumi wistfully said.
"So have I. Any skill was hers by just yelling the words: 'Honey, flash'," Akane said. "Of course there is the bit where she is the one doing the rescuing, not a guy."
Kasumi nodded and said, "Let's get set up. Hopefully this year we'll sell out."
Akane looked at one of the titles and groaned, "Kasumi, I can't believe you drew a crossover dojinshi of the U.S Dungeons and Dragons show and Magic Knights Rayearth."
"I like Diana, and Sheila reminds me of myself somewhat."
Yeah. Sheila's just as nice as you, but she is far more involved with reality than you are, sis, Akane thought amusedly. Maybe I can have Ranma grant you a wish to let you see what it's like to be her.
Akane's mood took a gloomier turn when she thought of Ranma. She hoped he'd be all right inside the ring. She had had no choice in putting him back in there. Hopefully he could forgive her. Akane shook off her dark mood and started selling books.
Ranma laid on her back and looked at the sky of her world, noticing the only thing in the sky were softly glowing red swirls of color.
"Back in the ring again. Oh joy. Well, at least I know why I don't feel hungry while a girl. This gem restores my energy."
Ranma stood up and walked around the perimeter of his home, trying to ignore the bleakness of the dark walls that enclosed his world.
"I guess while I'm recharging, I could do something. Hmmm. I could look at the book that Akane wished up for me. No. I need to learn control of my magic."
Ranma looked down at herself and sighed, "I might as well get used to wearing this type of clothing. I'm stuck with it, anyway."
Closing her eyes, Ranma started changing the colors of her clothes. She also experimented with slightly different styles. After a few minutes, she stopped.
"This one feels right," Ranma stated to herself. I would love to have a mirror right now
As soon as she finished that thought, a two meter tall standing mirror appeared in front of her.
"Wha..." Ranma blurted and then speculated, "Maybe, I can control this place."
Ranma concentrated for a second. After which, a bedroll and a futon materialized.
"I guess that confirms that. At least, I won't go crazy in here with nothing but red sky and ground all around. I'd better see how I look."
Ranma stepped in front of the mirror and looked at her reflection.
Green silk pantaloons covered her legs. She was wearing a red halter. Over the halter, Ranma was wearing a shirt of clear silk. The shirt ended just below the ribcage, leaving the midriff bare. At the bottom of the shirt and at the end of the sleeves were blue bands. She sighed as she realized, the bands represented her slavery to the ring.
"Well I'm done with that. I guess this will be my default uniform. Now, let's see if I can enchant my clothes, so they change when I change. I don't want to be wearing this getup as a guy."
Ranma's clothes glowed for a few seconds, as she charged her clothes with magic, and then faded. Ranma called forth a steaming kettle from the ether.
"Okay now to see if my clothes change into my standard clothes when I change into a guy."
Ranma took the teakettle and poured the water over herself. Remaining unchanged, Ranma dropped the kettle in shock.
"I didn't change. Why didn't I change?"
Ranma sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest. She grabbed the front of her legs with her arms and rested her forehead on the top of her knees.
I can't change back, Ranma thought miserably. "What went wrong?"
Ranma pondered her situation and realized something.
"I'm inside the ring as smoke. Maybe it really isn't water. It just acts like it for me in all ways except triggering my curse."
Ranma sighed and put that thought out her mind, as she went on to try different sorts of magic.
Ranma looked up at the sky and then at her feet. She bent at the knees and jumped straight up. Concentrating hard, Ranma started hovering.
Well, that worked. I wonder if...
Ranma cautiously moved through the air. As she became more confident, she moved faster.
"This is great. I wonder how fast and how high I can fly," Ranma excitedly said.
Ranma flew higher and faster, forgetting about her worries. That was when a part of Ranma's new condition reestablished itself. Suddenly, she came to a bone-jarring stop in mid-air, though he couldn't see or even feel anything in front of her. It was a feeling like reaching forward with a hand as far as it would go, and trying to push further. Stopped by a wall that wasn't there. He felt like a mime.
Pounding on the 'wall' in frustration, Ranma said to herself, "I forgot. I was so caught up in enjoying being able to fly I forgot."
Ranma looked towards the ground of her world and decided to see if she could teleport.
A slight feeling of dizziness swept over Ranma. A moment later, one of Ranma's slippered feet was touching the kettle that she had brought forth earlier.
Ranma knelt to pick up the kettle. Standing back up, she checked its contents.
"Guess that confirms that. The 'water' is still hot," Ranma said quietly, as she willed the kettle back into the ether.
Shaking her head, Ranma decided to try some transformation magic. At first, Ranma thought that she had it down pat, and wouldn't need any practice. Catching sight of the bedroll, she stopped.
"I can't do that in here. I can summon or change stuff in here with just some concentration. I need to do that outside Akane's ring. Probably the same goes for summoning information."
Ranma looked at a blank spot in the landscape. A full color statue of Genma appeared. Ranma took a step forward and started pounding on the statue with all of her martial arts techniques.
"This is all your fault old man. If you hadn't taken us to that stupid training ground..."
After a bit Ranma slumped to the ground exhausted, her frustration spent. She noticed that the dummy pieces dissolved into nothingness.
"Okay, basic stuff I can do and learn. I guess I'm going to have to have Akane train me," Ranma said dejectedly. "Great. Just great. I have to have Akane use me as a puppet, just so I can learn to control my magic better."
Ranma slowly turned her gaze to an object lying near her. It was the book that Akane had wished up. The young genie studied the exterior of the tome. The book was 30 centimeters wide, 60 centimeters long, and 15 centimeters thick. The cover looked to be a yellow leather wrapped around flat plates of some hard material. The leather binding had various martial arts symbols worked into it.
Ranma wondered what secrets were in the book, and was about to head over to it. She suddenly stopped and thought of something else to do, first. She headed over to the bedroll and futon she willed up and laid down. She figured that a nap would recharge her reserves faster.
Now all I have to do is wait for Akane to summon me out of her ring, Ranma thought to herself.
Something about that last thought bothered Ranma. She went over exactly what she thought and found her answer.
Her ring? When did I start calling this ring, Akane's? Ranma asked herself.
The young genie sighed heavily as she realized that, in part, she had accepted her fate.
Back at the convention, Akane and Kasumi finally sold their last manga and closed up their table. They were pleased with the amount of money that they had brought in. Kasumi addressed her little sister.
"Akane, don't you think it's about time to go find Ranma?"
Akane jumped a bit and replied a bit nervously, "Er, yeah. Sure, Kasumi. I'll go find him now."
Akane walked away in 'search' of Ranma, not noticing that Kasumi was watching her. Kasumi picked up the money that they made today and headed to an ATM machine situated inside the convention hall.
I do hope that Akane and Ranma will confide in me about this new problem, Kasumi thought to herself, as she deposited the money into their savings account. Both have been extremely careful about revealing anything.
She smiled wistfully as she thought of the problem.
It'll be nice to be an aunt. I wonder if it will be a boy or girl.
Akane found an empty room and quickly entered it. She quietly closed the door and took a deep breath. Akane started rubbing her ring and watched as the smoke came forth once more and formed Ranma. Akane stared at Ranma for a second, before speaking.
"I see you changed your clothes," Akane said.
"If I'm stuck like this, I wanted a outfit that I could call my own. You like?" Ranma replied.
Akane nodded, "It looks nice on you Ranma. But, this is no time to talk of fashion; it's time to leave. Do you have enough strength now to make it home?"
"I think so," Ranma said.
"Okay then. Ranma, I wish that you were back in your standard boy clothes and some hot water would splash you in the face."
Wiping his face with his hands, Ranma stated somewhat sarcastically, "Thanks a lot Akane. I really needed another bath."
Akane giggled but didn't say another word.
Ranma and Akane walked back to where Kasumi was waiting for them. Neither one noticed the slightly dreamy expression on Kasumi's face. The trio packed up and called for a taxi to take them home.
Ranma, trying to build his courage up, asked, "How did you do at the con?"
"We managed to sell everything this time around," Kasumi said softly. "We should have more than enough money..."
Ranma shrugged, not realizing that Kasumi's words held a hidden implication. The rest of the trip back was very quiet. Akane tried to engage Ranma in some small talk, but he didn't really feel like talking. Akane soon gave up. The cab reached the Tendo home and let its passengers off. Kasumi made her way into the house. Before Akane could follow her, Ranma grabbed her shoulder. She turned to look at Ranma. The pig-tailed martial artist kept twiddling his fingers as stammered.
"Akane, I need you to do something for me," Ranma heavily stuttered. "I...I want you to make wishes. I need to train my genie form, but..."
Ranma's words trailed off as Akane looked at him blankly. She simply nodded realizing the great amount of trust Ranma had gave her.
"I'll do my best, Ranma," Akane whispered
Ranma watched as Akane went inside the house. He shook his head and hoped he had done the right thing. A bicycle bell announced the arrival of Shampoo.
"Where is Akane?" Shampoo angrily demanded. "Shampoo will kill Akane for stealing Ranma."