Chapter 19:
Ranma screamed. And screamed. And screamed. Screams loud enough to pierce even the thick stone walls of the palace surrounding her. The only interruption to her screaming was when she was forced to take a gasping, choking, ragged breath. Each time she did this the tears streaming from her eyes would get jostled just enough to fall from her face, leaving wet stains on her bed. As she yelled, cried, and sobbed, Ranma simultaneously fought for the insulated protection which the Soul of Ice technique provided.
After an hour of uncontrollable emotional torment, she finally found it. Instantly her voice silenced and her tears stopped. Her mind cleared, leaving behind only a feeling of confusion. How could she have been so out of control mere seconds ago over what now felt like a trivial fact of life?
It was getting harder and harder to find and to hold the cold impassivity of the Soul of Ice. Ranma still had some questions about whether the short term combat technique was meant to be used for the long periods of time she used it for, but it held throughout the day so she saw no reason to discontinue its usage, even if she did act a bit erratically in the late evenings and early mornings. That didn't matter very much.
Actually it hadn't mattered at all for the past three months, ever since Ami and Minako had finally gotten quarters elsewhere, citing the need for sleep. The others, mostly strangers, had abandoned the area around Ranma long before Ami and Minako had given up. It didn't bother Ranma, though. Well, it did kind of bother her, whenever she woke up and wasn't properly insulated with the Soul of Ice technique. However, once she was properly prepared to confront the day, it didn't bother her anymore. The fact that everybody had fled this wing of the palace, the whispered comments she could clearly hear around corners and down the hallways, the way rooms quickly emptied whenever she showed up; they were all just observations of reality she noted and filed away in case they ever proved useful to know.
It hadn't always been like this. Back when they had first moved to the moon, she would go weeks without an outburst. Her vocal mornings had only really started 7 months and 21 days ago. The last time she had gotten a full night's sleep had been 4 months and 13 days ago.
At first the castle residents had just thought that Ranma was prone to nightmares. It was only when the pregnancy had started showing in seriousness that the talk of hauntings, curses, and demonic possession had really started. A couple of the guards had mentioned some rumors about the strange lack of a father early on which clinched that idea, and now everybody avoided Ranma whenever possible.
Ranma didn't mind. How could she? That would require she feel something. Sadness, anger, guilt, shame; all driven away during the day by her martial arts technique. She just observed all of their behavior dispassionately. In the wee hours of the night, when she woke up with a hoarse throat and a soul-crushing depression, she minded, but not during the day. Not when she was actually functional and could go about the business of fulfilling her promise to Ami and Minako, which would free her to fulfill her promise to her mother and finally bring this farce to an end.
With her emotions under control, Ranma was now ready to face the world on yet another day. She started changing her clothes, putting on the loose dress that her very pregnant form required. She probably could have found a tailor to make some more masculine clothing, but during the day she didn't really see the point. It wasn't like wearing a dress it had any real impact on her seppuku pledge or on her training of Ami, Minako, and the others.
At first Ranma had just trained Ami and Minako, but during the trip back from the Confederacy to Greater Domain territories Turquoise had taken an interest and joined in as well. Several other guards had noticed and followed her lead. Most of them had seen Ranma fight during their ambush and had visions of floating above the battlefield and shooting blasts of energy across the field of combat. Ranma had no problem adding them and turning her training sessions into something of a makeshift class of sorts. It would slow down the initial teaching of Ami and Minako, but it was worth the tradeoff in the long-term. Once they had gotten good enough to actually start fighting each other, the competition and variety of opponents would speed Ami and Minako's development far more than their presence early in the training would slow them down.
That had been the plan. However most of those guards had quit shortly thereafter. Being chased around by swarms of bees had a tendency to drive the less dedicated off.
By her current estimate, it should only take two, maybe three, more years before Ranma could in good conscience consider Ami and Minako trained well enough that she could fulfill her seppuku pledge. Minako, and especially Ami, wouldn't be good enough to beat even Akane in a straight out duel, but they wouldn't be inheriting a school of martial arts either. They would know how to defend themselves, and that was all that Ranma needed. It would certainly take time, but with her near constant use of the Soul of Ice, patience was one thing Ranma had in abundance.
Even now Minako and Ami both knew how to take a fall, and were rapidly learning how to force an opponent to do the same. Minako in particular seemed to be picking up things remarkably quickly. Nothing like Ranma's own frightening speed of learning techniques, but Minako was learning things as quickly as any normal human could be expected to. She no longer took pratfall after pratfall in a fight, barely managing to stay one step ahead of disaster, and was shaping up to be quite the competent fighter.
Abruptly all of Ranma's plans for training and the rest of the day got pushed to the side for something much more urgent. Ami and Minako could wait and would probably even appreciate the few minutes reprieve. Her bladder couldn't and wouldn't. She wasn't annoyed, though; that would imply she felt something. She merely observed how much pregnancy affected her daily life and her combat effectiveness.
Ranma quickly waddled her way to the restroom, still showing more agility in her movements than most people ever did despite being nine months pregnant.
"If you will come with me we can get you all registered and help you settle in to your new home," Ami announced to the large group in front of her. She then led them out of the spacious room designed to handle the collection of new arrivals from the planet below. They had been transported there by Venge, not that she went by that name anymore. She had ended up adopting the moniker of "Serenity" nine months ago, when she had returned to her people with her audacious plan.
The adoption of that name, the migration to the moon, the presence of a leader named Endymion, and several other factors were definitely sounding alarm bells in Ami's head. There were a few too many coincidences for her to be entirely comfortable with. Then again, they were apparently in a timeline parallel to her own, so some coincidences were to be expected, including but not limited to the Japanese that everybody seemed to speak. There were enough differences as well, such as the Solar System having 10 planets and no asteroid belt, as to cast doubt on what she suspected.
Overall, Ami wasn't sure what to make of things, so she just let things sit and mulled them over. It was better to hold her tongue than to say or do something rash, after all.
Besides she had more important things to do on a daily basis than speculate about the overlaps between her home timeline and this one. She had taken on a de facto role of adviser to the newly-dubbed Queen Serenity of the newly-dubbed Moon Kingdom, and as part of her duties she was helping lead the logistics for the migration to the moon. Each transport had been for a few hundred people, and it seemed like they had been doing this for forever. The end was in sight, though. This was the last group of the last day. After this they would finally be finished.
The migration to the moon had been a long and difficult one. In fact, many of the members of the former Greater Domains were still angry at Serenity's decision and did little to hide their disagreement with their leader over her perceived cowardice and capitulation. The liberal use of magic which Serenity continually expended to extend the lives of everybody once they reached the moon as an enticement to migrate may have mollified the population, but only to a point.
That was another thing which Ami needed to investigate at some point. She assumed that Serenity's infusion of magic somehow stabilized the biological processes of the body and prevented them from decaying as time went by, but that was all an assumption. She wasn't entirely comfortable just leaving it at that. Indeed the entire concept of magic as a whole somewhat annoyed her. Others might have been content to leave the variety of phenomena unexplained and grouped under the generic label of magic, but she wasn't. Seeing how they were still here after all of this time, and seeing how much more prevalent magic was in this timeline than her own, Ami had every intention of figuring out at least some of the basic precepts of how it all worked. She was sure it would be useful once they managed to return to Tokyo.
It was obvious that despite how much magic was used here that nobody had really put much study into it. Case in point was the palace they now found themselves in. It was the solution they, primarily Ami, had puzzled out in regard to how to safeguard the kingdom against the event that something were to happen to Serenity or her crystal. On its own, the entire kingdom would be left in near vacuum, guaranteeing a quick and uncomfortable death to everybody. While trying to search out a solution to that problem, at Ami's suggestion, Serenity had discovered that the moon itself had some form of magical core somewhat similar a heart crystal within it. That had come as a complete surprise to everybody. The palace itself was designed to tap into that source and create a habitable environment irrespective of whatever else happened.
If a big thing such as a celestial body having something vaguely similar to a heart crystal had been unnoticed and unexplored for so long, Ami wondered what else she would be able to discover or learn in the coming weeks, months, or however long they were stuck here. With enough time and resources she might even be able to figure out a way to get home on her own.
That was in her off-hours, though. Between handling the administration of the migration and training in martial arts with what she considered to be a somewhat sadistic Ranma, she had far fewer of those than she would have liked. That was all set to change soon, though. With the migration finally coming to an end, one of those issues would be resolved in the very near future. That would free up a great deal of time for her to do some basic research, unless something else came up, of course.
The path from the teleportation room to the reception area was long familiar to Ami. She had walked it so many times that she could flawlessly navigate it backwards with her eyes closed. She had actually tried that once, just to see if she could. Today she kept her eyes open, as it helped her keep watch on the large group following her.
As she entered the main reception area, she announced to the group at large, "Please see one of these people behind the counter. It doesn't matter who you see, they all perform the same function. You will be asked to give your name, any family relations, what profession you previously had back on Terra, and any additional skills you may have. Once you are registered, you will be given some temporary housing and all the resources you need to get started. If you have been separated from any friends or family, please mention that as well and we will do our best to reunite you."
To her relief nobody questioned her instructions. She still felt a bit uncomfortable telling the migrants what to do, many of whom were twice her age or older. The ease and authority she had after months of practice might have muted the natural deference towards her elders that Ami's life in Japan had instilled in her, but it hadn't eliminated it.
Once this last group of people was finished being processed, Ami expected to spend the next few hours training with Ranma. She didn't look forward to that. Despite the fact that Ami was getting substantially better in her athletics, the training was just too painful to make it worth it. Not only would she emerge from any spar against Ranma in exhausted soreness, the occasional times she instead faced off against Turquoise or even Minako gave her little reprieve as well. Minako would take the opportunity of any sparring sessions they had to give her a few more bruises than were strictly necessary. She didn't say anything, but Ami suspected Minako was still somewhat upset at her for getting her involved with the daily torture sessions. It didn't help that Minako was so much better than Ami herself was.
She didn't blame Minako for that. She knew she would have been annoyed if she were in Minako's place, even if she did understand why it had been necessary. In fact, she was still somewhat annoyed at herself for having gotten into this predicament. However, despite several months of thinking, Ami hadn't yet managed to figure out a reason for Ranma to not commit suicide which didn't leave her and her friend covered in bruises at the end of the day; and she refused to allow Ranma to give up her life that easily.
Even with her back to the door, Ami was immediately aware when Ranma walked into the room. The pleasant murmuring of coworkers chatting and having a good time while working immediately stopped and the room became much more subdued. In this near silence, punctuated by the now discernible scuffling of feet on the floor, Ami could clearly hear a whisper to her side say, "Why hasn't anybody gotten rid of her yet? She's going to doom us all."
Even after all these months, Ami still couldn't get used to how everybody treated Ranma. Didn't they realize that she was the victim, not some omen of evil? She tried to do what she could, but it was a lost cause with the anti-social aura Ranma cast about. The single saving grace was that the constant whispering didn't seem to bother Ranma.
Ami pushed it out of her mind and said to the gentleman she had been talking to, "If you can tell Axinite-san over there the last time you saw your brother, I'm sure he'll be able to help you locate him."
The man walked over to the man Ami was gesturing towards, leaving her alone to oversee the operation again. By this point it was all well-established and procedures were well in place, very different to the disorganized mess of that first day. Everything now moved like a well-oiled machine.
The open stares and the subtle backing away of the closer members of staff told Ami all she needed to know. After so many months she would have thought they'd be used to it by now. Still, Ami turned to greet the supposedly cursed redhead as she approached.
"Have you seen Turquoise-san?" Ranma asked with her characteristic lack of expression or greeting.
"Hello, Ranma-san. No, I haven't seen Turquoise-dono today," Ami greeted back despite that. It was a bit of an unusual opening line from Ranma. Usually she just got right to the point of trying to bring Ami to the guardhouse when she arrived. Then again, usually Ranma had Turquoise in tow by this point as well.
"She's probably skipping the day, but you're not. It's time to train," Ranma declared.
"I need to finish up in here first," Ami said, suppressing her inner groan. She could have actually left the migrants in the very capable hands of the staff all around her, but she chose not to. It was the last day, and moreover she was in no rush to begin her physical abuse.
Ranma grunted her understanding and took a seat, patiently waiting for Ami to finish. There were only about half a dozen of people left. They were properly sorted in a matter of minutes, leaving Ami without an excuse to stand on.
"Let's find Minako-chan, then we can get started," Ranma said, standing back up.
"I'm off, everybody. Thanks for all your hard work," Ami announced to the group at large.
"Thank you, Ami-dono," Axinite answered back. Ami still found it a bit odd when people addressed her that way, but Serenity had started it and the others had followed suit. "Are you going to the party tonight?"
They had a minor celebration planned for the successful completion of the migration, before everybody scattered to the four winds. "Of course I'm going. See you all there," Ami assured the group. She would miss each one of them. They really were good people.
Ami turned to follow Ranma, who was already walking out of the room. As Ranma left, Ami could practically feel the stress evaporating from the room, leaving everybody much calmer than they had been moments ago. Ami followed moments behind, the chatting between coworkers once again starting up behind her.
Walking with Ranma was the same remarkable experience it always was. Whenever Ami walked around the palace on her own, palace life continue without notice of her presence. A couple of people might exchange a friendly greeting with her, but in general people went their own way irrespective of her. In contrast, whenever Ami walked with Ranma, people would inevitably notice and move away. A man may take the hand of a partner and pull her away, or a woman carrying something might coincidentally turn a corner as they approached. Ami thought she could hear whispering as well, and while she couldn't make out exactly what was being said, she was relatively sure she knew the gist of the conversations.
This behavior didn't change when they approached the guardhouse and the makeshift dojo therein. Even the guards treated Ranma like a pariah, despite Turquoise's and Minako's support. However there was one distinct difference at the guardhouse. Unlike the quiet silence they had walked through in the corridors, the boisterous sound of friendly sparring was loud and clear as they drew near to the guardhouse. That would inevitably change once Ranma's presence became known, but as they approached, Minako's loud voice teasing several guards was plain to hear.
"That's easy for you to say. We have to actually work at it, not like a certain trip-a-holic," one of the men said in response to one of Minako's quips. It was one of the voices of the numerous guards Ami sort of recognized but didn't really know.
"You spend most of a fight on your butt too from what I hear," another man joined in, also familiar but still a stranger to her.
"Well if you got it, flaunt it," Minako said with an easy tone of voice. Over the past several months she had gotten much more casual with all of the guards. With Ami spending most of her time either with Serenity or handling the logistics of the move, and Ranma being as was she was, Minako had taken to spending more and more of her time with them.
"You got that right," the first guard said lasciviously.
"If you put as much effort into practicing as you do staring at me you'd be a whole lot better, Alexandrite-kun," Minako said. Somehow being surrounded by all of the older men, who constituted the majority of the guards, had satisfied even Minako's boy-craziness. She wasn't drooling over every handsome man she saw anymore. "Tell you what. If you can manage to hit me I'll give you a kiss. How's that for motivation?" However she was acting much more flirty than she had previously, in Ami's opinion.
"Woo hoo! Now that's a deal," Alexandrite said, getting to his feet.
"Lucky. Go get her, Alexandrite-KUN!" the second guard cheered on.
"Aww. It's my turn next, right, Minako-chan?" a third guard said. Unlike the other two, Ami thought she knew this short, squat guard with the mostly bald head. If she had to say, she would have guessed his name was Labradorite.
"You'll just have to wait your turn, Labradorite-kun," Minako replied, confirming Ami's guess. Then, noticing Ranma, she said to her, "Hey, Ranma-san. Just one second, let me finish with Alexandrite-kun here first."
"On second thought, I think I'm done for today," Alexandrite said, quickly backing away from the floor.
"Yeah, we'll see you later, Minako-chan. Don't want to get in the way of your practice now," Labradorite agreed, leaving the floor with a speed calculated to be as quickly as possible without appearing to be in a hurry.
One by one all of the guards begged their leave and left. A very few stayed around to join Minako and Ami while they trained under Ranma, but as expected the vast majority disappeared quickly after catching sight of Ranma.
"You should be more serious with your training," Ranma chastised, irrespective of the guards who were still filtering out of the room.
"I'm just having a little fun, nothing special. No reason to go scaring everybody off or anything," Minako said.
Ranma didn't answer, instead taking a conspicuous martial artist stance in the center of the room facing towards Minako. That was nice of her. As often as not she would just outright attack without any warning. Despite this, Ami didn't let her guard down or take her eyes off Ranma, just in case.
"Wait, wait, wait. Where's Turquoise-dono? She's usually here by now," Minako protested.
"I don't know. I haven't seen her all day," Ami said.
"Jet-kun said he saw Turquoise-dono this morning over in the east wing, but nobody else has seen her since then. It's not like her," Minako said. This was something of a letdown. If anybody were to know where Turquoise was, it would have been Minako. Between her growing relationship with the guards, her naturally gossipy personality, and the free time she had around the castle, it seemed of the three of them, Minako knew the most of the happenings of the palace.
"If she wants to take a day off it's her own business," Ranma said.
"If only we could do the same," Minako muttered loud enough for Ami to hear. Ranma must have heard as well, even if she gave no reaction to the statement.
Minako edged forward cautiously. Usually when Ranma took a stance she would wait for the selected student to prepare and take a stance as well, but only usually. Sometimes it was a feint and she would suddenly attack without warning. Occasionally the target of her attack was actually one of the other students, too. One time Ranma had gone so far as to begin her sparring session before they had even entered the makeshift dojo by launching a surprise attack on Ami. Overall it was quite unpredictable and unconventional.
In fact the entire training regime was unconventional. Most martial arts teachers taught things like positions, postures, and how to hold the hands and feet at first. Ranma first taught them how to fall. That in and of itself wasn't too unusual as many forms of athletics, including some forms of martial arts, began by learning how to fall. What was unusual was the way Ranma taught them: by punching or kicking them painfully onto the ground over and over again. If it wasn't for the fact that Ami knew Ranma could hit a whole lot harder, she would have thought Ranma was attacking them at full force. After the first day both Ami and Minako had been covered with bruises, forcing Minako to join Ami and ride in the carriage as they left Confederacy territories. The second day had gone even worse, as both girls' mobility had been seriously hampered by their injuries and were even less agile in the face of Ranma's onslaught.
Once the group had arrived back safely in Greater Domains territory, things had only gotten worse. They had quickly moved on to being thrown bodily off the tops of low buildings, and, surprisingly, that had been one of the more benign exercises. The worst exercise in Ami's opinion was the time they had been forced to run through a forest with strips of roasted meat strapped around their waists. At first it had been strange and disgusting; then the wolves had shown up and it became absolutely terrifying. The final group of guards to quit had left after that particular session. Come to think of it, that was when the whispering about Ranma being insane and possibly demonically possessed had really started in earnest.
Between everything Ranma was throwing at them, it was a miracle that neither she nor Minako had been gravely injured thus far. After all, there was no way Ranma could actually ensure that falling off the roof of a building wouldn't break a limb, or that the chasing wolves wouldn't have made a quick snack of them, was there?
Ami had had some hope that as Ranma's pregnancy developed that it would somehow make things easier. That hadn't proved true. If the advancing pregnancy slowed Ranma down in any way, and physiologically Ami was sure it must have slowed her down, it wasn't to a degree that she could detect.
It had taken months, but finally Ranma started moving on to what Ami could have possibly vaguely considered similar to more traditional martial arts training, and even then it didn't resemble the scripted stances and katas or other forms of martial arts tutelage Ami had expected. At first it had primarily been Minako and Turquoise who, rather than simply trying and failing to avoid Ranma's frequent punches and kicks, had instead been thrown into combat against each other. Turquoise had dominated that first fight, but Minako had managed to avoid any decisive strike, to Turquoise's exceeding annoyance. Ranma hadn't actually said anything afterward either, further making Ami question what was going on.
The other guards joined in the occasional spar a few weeks later, but each one of those fights between students had been as uncommented upon as the fight between Minako and Turquoise had been. It was something of a milestone when Ami had her first fight against Minako a few weeks after that. She wasn't sure what had triggered it, she wasn't sure she what she got out of it, and she still wasn't sure what was actually going on, but it must have meant something.
Despite being somewhat over-matched, Ami looked forward to those occasional spars between students as well. No matter who she fought and how poorly she performed, she would always come out in better shape than the more frequent times she fought against Ranma, when she would wake up covered in bruises the next day. This was true even when she fought against Minako, who she suspected took the opportunity to take her revenge on Ami as best she could in a socially acceptable way.
Ami felt as though she was developing her abilities as well, despite what she felt was a woeful lack of instruction from Ranma. For example, she had gotten just good enough that she could tell when she faced the others, both Minako and the very few guards who still remained, that they each fought very differently from each other. Most likely that byproduct from the lack of formal training and the necessity of having to figure out what they were doing on their own.
For example, Turquoise fought dirty, for the lack of a better term to describe it. She would use unexpected props and tools to distract her opponent, target any injuries her opponent had, and had no compunction of following up strike after strike when her opponent was on the ground. Ami was sure that it violated any number of rules in any number of formal martial arts schools, but Ranma never put a stop to it. Ami made doubly sure to watch her back and stay light on her toes whenever she faced Turquoise.
On the other hand, Minako seemed to have the knack for getting out of harm's way. She would somehow manage to be where Ami's fists and feet weren't. Ami would need to plan any number of follow-up attacks whenever she began an offensive against Minako, focusing especially on planning for any unexpected position Minako could somehow end up in. At first Minako's evasions seemed more the byproduct of clumsy mistakes, but regardless of the cause she would still end up on her butt with the attack sailing clear over her, and more than once Ami as well when she got caught by a flailing foot. More recently Minako's clumsy-yet-fortunate mistakes were gradually disappearing, deft dodges and precise pirouettes being much more the norm now.
These were the same maneuvers Ami saw Minako performing, or more accurately trying to perform, against Ranma. When facing Ranma, Minako's infuriating agility and seemingly impossible luck had little of the effect it had against Ami, Turquoise, and the three other guards who had stuck around. Against the very pregnant redhead, Minako ended up on the ground due to a stiff arm or quick leg sweep just as frequently as everybody else.
Ami's analysis, as well as Ranma's training, was interrupted when a guard burst into the room pushing a man in front of her held at sword-point. It was unusual for anybody to interrupt practice. The stigmatized Ranma made sure everybody kept as much distance as they could. That the guard was escorting somebody at sword-point was unprecedented and ensured everybody gave the entering pair their undivided attention.
Everybody except Ranma. She took advantage of Minako's distraction to sweep her legs out from under her and throw a punch which stopped centimeters from Minako's throat before calling a halt to the fight.
"Who's that?" Ami asked the entering guard, Hackmanite if she recalled correctly.
"I found this scumbag carrying Turquoise-dono's dead body," Hackmanite said.
"What? Turquoise-dono is dead?" Ami asked in shock as Minako got to her feet.
"Somebody take this filth away and I'll explain," the guard said. Amazonite, one of the three remaining guards who was watching Ranma train Minako, took the cue and manhandled the man to the ground before putting restraints on him and taking him out of the dojo.
"I was over near the gardens when I saw this man carrying a body. I thought to myself that it couldn't be good so got the drop on him. Once I had him under control and got a good look, I see that it's Turquoise-dono," Hackmanite said, visibly seething in anger.
"Where did you leave her?" Ranma asked flatly. "Show us."
"Uhh..." Hackmanite said, looking hesitantly towards Ranma.
"Come on, Hackmanite-chan. The faster we can get to Turquoise-dono's body the better, and it won't take that long," Minako prompted her.
"I suppose so," Hackmanite slowly agreed.
Much more quickly than she spoke, Hackmanite led the small group across the palace grounds to where she had left Turquoise's body. A quick examination of the corpse revealed a large stab wound in her back, the blood from the wound staining her clothes red. A trail of blood drops led through the corridor.
"We have to bring her to Serenity-sama," Minako said with a surprising amount of eagerness in her voice.
"Yes, she should be informed, but do we need to bring the body to her? We should at least clean her up a bit before that," Ami said. She really didn't understand her friend sometimes.
"No, you don't understand. You said her heart crystal thing is as strong as the Ginzuishou, right? That means Serenity should be able to revive Turquoise-dono, like Usagi-chan revived us, remember?" Minako said quickly.
"Wait, wait, wait, revive her?" Hackmanite asked. "I remember hearing that Serenity-sama was doing something to extend everybody's lives, but that's a far cry from resurrection."
"We should investigate where these blood drops go to as well," Ranma declared. "You three take Turquoise-san to Serenity-san. I'll investigate where this blood leads to."
"Hold it. These people, whoever they are, killed Turquoise-dono. They're dangerous. You can't go alone, especially in your condition," Hackmanite said.
"Does that mean you're volunteering to go with her?" Ami asked.
"Uhh..." Hackmanite prevaricated.
"You three would just hold me back," Ranma said, letting the guard off the hook.
"If you say so," Hackmanite said, relieved.
"Here. You grab her arms and I'll grab her legs," Minako suggested to Hackmanite, attracting Ami's attention to their positioning. When Ami next turned around, Ranma had disappeared from sight.
"Do either of you know where Serenity-sama is?" Hackmanite asked.
"I think she's in the teleportation chamber," Ami said.
"Okay, lead on," Minako said, as if she and Hackmanite weren't carrying the lifeless body of their former friend between the two of them.
Ami led the pair through the castle. The difficulty of carrying Turquoise's body made Minako and Hackmanite clumsy, and several pratfalls could almost have made the trip comic except for the horrible tragedy surrounding the circumstances. Luckily they didn't run into anybody during the trip. Explanations about what they were doing with Turquoise's corpse would have been difficult at best.
Ami went ahead once they reached the teleportation chamber, hoping to mitigate the chaos which would happen once the other two came in with the bloody corpse. Inside the chamber, Serenity was talking with several other members of the palace staff.
"Hello, Ami-dono. Is it that time already? I thought I had more time before we tried the portal again," Serenity said when she noticed Ami entering the room.
"I'm afraid that's not it, Serenity-sama. There was an incident earlier which demands your attention. It might be best if everybody else left the room," Ami answered back.
Serenity raised an eye at this request, but dismissed everybody from the room. Hiddenite, one of Serenity's personal attendants, stayed behind, but that wasn't really a problem. The dismissing of people was more to prevent subjecting them to undue distress at seeing Turquoise's corpse than anything. If Hiddenite wanted to stay around then that was her own business.
"Hackmanite-san was walking out near the gardens and stumbled across something most distressing. There's really no easy way to put this. It seems like Turquoise-dono has been killed," Ami explained.
"What?" Serenity asked with a gasp.
"It's true," Minako said as she and Hackmanite caught up to Ami. This elicited a second gasp when Serenity saw the body they carried between them.
"Do you know what happened to her?" Serenity asked.
"We didn't take too much time to investigate, but it looks like she was stabbed in the back," Hackmanite said.
"This is absolutely terrible. You were right to bring her to me. We will need to arrange a funeral, with all the state honors we can manage. It's the least we can do for her after all that she has done for us, for me," Serenity said in a quiet voice.
"Actually," Minako said slowly, "we were thinking you might be able to revive her."
"What?" Hiddenite exclaimed.
"You know, bring her back from the dead? Like a zombie, only alive for real and not like a movie clip or something," Minako said, miming out the part of a cliche member of the walking dead. The blood covering her arms from carrying Turquoise actually helped create the proper effect, although it was still far from convincing.
"We know it can be done. We know somebody who was able to bring people back to life, and you have maybe as much power as she did and a lot more experience as well. You should be able to revive Turquoise-dono," Ami added.
"I'll do no such thing. It's unnatural, bringing people back to life," Serenity said firmly.
"But you're extending the lives of everybody on the moon. That's not exactly natural either. This isn't that much different from that, is it?" Minako asked, much less flippant than she had been moments ago.
"There's a big difference. Call it the laws of the universe, call it equivalent exchange, call it destiny, call it whatever you want. Resurrecting people is wrong. It's the same reason I'm not making anybody, including myself, live forever. The nature of life is to change, and if everybody lived forever it would be a disaster. As much as it pains me to say, we have to let Turquoise-dono go," Serenity said.
Serenity firm rejection of the resurrection left Ami crushed. It was almost worse than when Hackmanite had first announced Turquoise's death. Actually it was worse, the hope from despair clutched away so quickly.
Minako seemed to be on the verge of protesting when Serenity cut her off, chastising the just-entering Ranma by saying, "Ranma-san, you really shouldn't be running like that in your condition."
"There really is no time to discuss this. Step away from Hiddenite-san," Ranma said, still moving at a brisk pace towards them.
"What?" Serenity asked confused.
"What are you talking about?" Hiddenite also asked.
"I followed the trail of blood from where we found Turquoise-san's body, and..." Ranma started saying.
She was interrupted as Hiddenite lunged forward at Serenity, dagger drawn. The similarity between the current situation and the circumstances when they had all first met was not lost on Ami. Rather than a Mouko Takabisha, though, Ranma shouted, "Kijin Raishuu Dan" and swiped her arm through the air.
Ami caught a sight of something flying through the air, where it impacted Hiddenite's shoulder, leaving a large laceration and knocking her backwards. This time the dagger didn't manage to sink into Serenity's flesh before being knocked across the room.
"I found that they led to the servants' quarters, specifically to the door of Hiddenite-san's room," Ranma explained.
Ami took advantage of the situation and ran over to take possession of the dagger before Hiddenite could regain her feet. She might have been seriously injured and outnumbered, but there was no reason to take any chances.
"What's the meaning of this, Hiddenite?" Serenity asked the now prone and bleeding woman.
"Barslem-sama was right. You've betrayed everybody in the Greater Domains to the Confederacy. How you could surrender?" Hiddenite accused, full of bluster despite her obviously inferior position. She seemed utterly unaffected by her injury, probably due to shock.
"I didn't surrender to Endymion," Serenity said.
"Didn't surrender?" Hiddenite shouted, "Didn't surrender? How else do you explain this cowardly retreat to this barren wasteland, leaving our homes to that barbarian?"
"We came to an agreement that we would never have peace as we were, and I decided that we should instead make a new life somewhere we could find it," Serenity said.
"Liar! I know I'm not the only person to think this way. There are others, countless others, who feel you have lost your way. The sooner you're dead, the sooner Barslem-sama can return, restore us to our rightful place, and drive out Endymion," Hiddenite said.
"Assuming you're right, just how would you go about getting everybody back to Terra?" Minako asked Hiddenite.
Hiddenite spat at Minako, and then said, "Barslem-sama will find a way."
Serenity took out her crystal, healed Hiddenite's rapidly bleeding shoulder before she bled to death, and then said in a weary voice, "Take her away. Try and find out what you can. We'll decide what to do with her after that, depending on how much she cooperates."
Hackmanite approached to take custody of the former servant. As she did so, Hiddenite shouted out, "You may have stopped me, but we are legion. One of us will get you eventually, Venge. You'd better use your magic to grow a new pair of eyes behind your head, because you can't escape us all."
Once Hackmanite had taken Turquoise out of sight, Serenity let out a sigh. "I knew some people were upset, but I had no idea they were that upset. I fear I may have made a mistake bringing everybody here."
"There was no other choice. We talked about it, remember? Not just us, everybody agreed," Ami said.
"Yes, but even so, I didn't really give them any choice, did I?" Serenity said, and then sighed again. "Well, what's done is done. Actually since you are all here did you want me to try to send you back to your home world again now?"
"About that," Minako said. "I don't want to bite the gift horse or anything, but how much longer until you think you will have enough power to actually get us home?"
"It's hard to say. My power seems to be hitting a plateau, so if it's not soon then I fear it may be outside of my abilities. I was actually going to mention it if I didn't succeed today," Serenity said, disheartened. "It seems that today is full of disappointments."
"Before we try that there is something else we should talk about," Ranma suggested plainly.
"What is that, Ranma-san?" Ami asked.
"I think I've just gone into labor," Ranma said. There was nothing in her voice or bearing which suggested that fact except the large wet stain on her loose dress.
"You are? What should we do!" Minako exclaimed.
"Calm down. Women have been doing this since the beginning of time," Serenity said. "Why don't you go get some water and some towels? You can bring them to Ranma-san's room."
Minako retrieved some water from the kitchen, scrounged up some towels, and met up with the other three in Ranma's room where she handed over the collected supplies. She tried to help out after that, but Ami and Serenity had things well in hand and Minako found herself getting more in the way than doing anything helpful. Rather than cause any problems, Minako instead exited the room.
With nothing left to do, Minako found herself pacing outside the door. Her actions were reminiscent of a nervous father awaiting the birth of his child, even though Minako had nothing directly to do with Ranma's pregnancy. However there was nobody around who could have made that analogy, or draw the incorrect conclusions from it. For better or worse, nobody really poked their head in to investigate. The area around Ranma's room was effectively abandoned due to Ranma's presence.
Minako did find things a bit eerie as she impatiently waited outside of the quiet door. Her main source of knowledge of childbirth was from television and movies, and they informed her that it was supposed to be a busy, noisy affair with lots of grunting and yelling. Despite this, the room was practically silent. Except for Ranma's, Ami's, or Serenity's occasional voice being heard, it could have been an empty room Minako was pacing outside of for all the noise coming from it. As it was, there was no indication that anything more exotic than a civil tea party was happening behind the door.
Her waiting in silence was eventually broken by the cry of a baby with what sounded like a healthy set of lungs. Minako's interminable wait was over and she pushed the door open. Inside she saw Ranma on her bed, still attached by an umbilical cord to an oddly reddish-purple baby with something of a pointy head covered with some downy light red hair. Despite her rather strange look, the baby was a girl it seemed, confirming Serenity's prediction from months ago.
Even more shocking than the strange sight of the strange newborn infant was the sight of Ranma with a tear coming down her face. Minako hadn't seen a shred of emotion from Ranma in months. It could have been a bead of sweat, or possibly an optical illusion or something, except a second tear from Ranma's other eye confirmed it wasn't just her imagination.
She seemed to be the only person who noticed. Serenity was busy caressing and cleaning the crying baby while Ami tied off the umbilical cord and cut it. Serenity then wrapped the infant in a towel and handed her to Ranma, who choked back a sob as she picked up the little girl.
This sound did catch the attention of the other two women in the room. All three of them watched as Ranma choked back another sob. Then, to Minako's amazement, Ranma started openly crying, in chorus to the baby's cries only much louder. After months of stoic emotionlessness, it was weird to see.
"Is everything alright?" Serenity asked gently.
"No," Ranma almost shouted, between gasps of breath in her sobbing. "It's all so wrong."
"Nothing's wrong with her. She looks perfect," Serenity reassured Ranma.
"I know she looks a bit strange but I assure you that this is quite normal, despite what you see on television. Her head and body will adjust to look a bit more like what you expect in the next few days," Ami agreed.
"Not... the baby!" Ranma shouted, her frustration at being misunderstood doing nothing to dampen her misery. She was barely understandable, her words being choked out as her body convulsed with sobs. "Me! This... this body! Being trapped! Here! Everything! Akane... Akane was supposed... to be the one doing this, not... not... not me! Who heard of... a 'man among men' giving birth... to children!"
"'Man among men?' What's she talking about?" Serenity whispered to Ami.
"Didn't you know?" Ranma answered instead, having heard the quiet question. "Couldn't you... tell... with your all powerful magic? I'm really a... a guy! I'm... married back on our... world! Akane's my wife! She... she's the one... who was supposed do this... not me!"
Ranma broke down into another bout of wailing. Despite this she held the baby in her arms in tender safety.
"Is that all true?" Serenity asked incredulously to Ami and Minako.
The cat was out of the bag by Ranma's own mouth, so trying to keep it a secret to prevent her embarrassment was over. Minako confirmed, "For the most part."
"What happened?" Serenity asked.
"What happened? What happened? I'll tell you! It's all the fault... idiot panda... mom... awful curse... and useless Senshi... and... and..." Ranma blubbered out almost incoherently.
"Ranma-san got a curse to turn into a girl," Ami said, more composed and much more understandable than the sobbing redhead. "She was originally a man, and newly married on our world, to a woman named Akane. The rest is basically what you already know."
A flash of an idea suddenly struck Minako. It was so obvious in retrospect that she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before, although maybe it would have been a bad idea before the baby was born so it could have been better this way. She said, "I just had a good idea. Now that you know about the curse, can't you use your crystal thingy and get rid of it?"
Serenity was silent in contemplation for a bit, then said slowly, "I don't think so."
"Why not?" Ranma asked. "Can't you just use your miracle crystal... and fix everything?"
"It's not that easy," Serenity said. "You have a lot of strange magic but I don't see anything which looks like a curse, and if I started poking at the things within you without a better understanding it would be extremely dangerous."
"How dangerous?" Ami asked.
"I could accidentally make an arm fall off, or stop her heart. I might even turn Ranma-san into a brain-dead zombie," Serenity said. "Magic is a potent force, and it can be one of the most dangerous weapons around if it's not used carefully."
There was an obvious connection in Minako's mind, from brain-dead zombie to being attacked by a crazy undead monstrosity. Ranma could already knock her flat without even trying; if she suddenly got an urge to eat her brains in addition to that, it would be absolutely terrible. She exclaimed, "You can't do that! We don't even have any chainsaws or shotguns!"
Ami didn't respond to Minako's outburst, instead asking, "Can't you just turn Ranma male again then, ignoring the curse? You are extending everybody's life somehow after all, so you must know something about manipulation of physiology."
"Not exactly. It's like the difference between making an intentional gate somewhere and what I've been trying to do to send you home. It's easy to maintain a low-level field across everybody to slow the speed of a body's degradation. I wouldn't even know how to get started changing Ranma's gender. Even if I could, there's no guarantee that she would end up in her original body. In fact, chances are she'd end up in a totally new one. There's the baby to think about too," Serenity said.
"What do you mean?" Minako asked.
"She was just born. Would you want to deprive her of her mother at this time when she needs her the most?" Serenity asked.
"No!" Ranma said forcefully, surprising everybody in the room, including herself judging by her reaction to what she just said.
There was an awkward pause, which Serenity broke by saying, "It's good to see you are putting the baby first."
"Speaking of the baby, what are you going to name her? We can't keep calling her 'the baby' after all," Minako asked.
"I'm going to name her Setsuna," Ranma said, fondling the red-haired, pointy-headed baby with the strange skin color in her arms.
"Setsuna?" Ami asked. Her face instantly turned pale, and she spoke with a clear tone of worry in her voice. "You're kidding me!"
"What's wrong? That's a fine name. 'A moment.' Very profound," Serenity said.
"Are you okay, Ami-chan? You look like you've seen a ghost," Minako asked. It was obvious something was bothering her friend, even if she couldn't figure out what it was.
"I... It's..." Ami said, hesitating and stammering. "It's nothing."
"I'm naming her after the fourth woman who left Tokyo with us. She gave up her life trying to save us, and this is my way of honoring her. Her sacrifice will not be forgotten," Ranma said. Tears were still streaming down her face.
In her arms, the newly named Setsuna had stopped crying and gave a gurgle.
Last Updated: December 21, 2012
