Chapter 10:

Ranma Regains Consciousness and Promptly Loses it Again.

AN: I always thought Ranma was more intelligent than he appears, so imagine what his reasoning abilities would be if he had a catalyst to help him improve.

AN2: I refer to Ranma as whatever sex he/she is at the moment.

AN3: I plan on having Ranma with this kind reasoning ability mainly in his/her cursed form at least for this book. He might be a bit smarter than cannon as a guy but not quite as reasonable.

"So young lady, what do you know of that girl?" Cologne asked.

"Umm, she's a guy, and my name is Akane," Akane responded.

Cologne raised her eyebrows upon hearing Akane's response, and asked, "Jusenkyo?"

"That's what she said," Akane answered.

"This both simplifies things, and complicates things at the same time," Cologne said thoughtfully.

"It does?" Akane asked.

"Yes, but at least it solves a few problems. You said she can use magic do you think she would be willing to teach?" Cologne asked.

Akane sighed as she responded, "I don't think so, not because she won't, but because she CAN'T"

"Can't? Why not?" Cologne asked curiously.

"Can you teach what you don't understand?" Akane asked seriously.

"WAIT! Are you telling me that she is casting magic without knowing how she is doing it? That's Impossible!" Cologne declared.

"Well the spell she used to blow up the school was more like a song, than what I usually think of as magic."

"A song? Don't you mean a chant?"

"No, she was definitely singing."

"Not entirely implausible, but I have never heard of such a thing."

"Well…" Akane began, but she was cut off by a scream from the room shampoo and Ranma were in.

Both Cologne and Akane ran into the room in time to see Ranma climb out the window.

"Ranma!" Akane called out.

Ranma stuck his head back in, and said, "Sorry 'kane, but I need to get out of here before the psycho Amazon wakes up, and tries to kill me again." She then pulled her head back outside and started running.

*sigh* "This could be a problem. I came to talk to her, and she is too scared to be in the same room as us," Cologne grumbled.

Akane glared at the old woman, and asked, "And why is she running for her life?"

The old ghoul sighed as she responded, "An old law of our tribe that quite frankly, I dislike. If a female outsider defeats an Amazon, the Amazon must give the 'Kiss of Death' and then track down and kill her. I have been lobbying the council to disband the law, but the most they have done is make a few amendments."

"So Ranma beat her as a girl? I find that unlikely since she has lower than average strength and stamina as a girl."

"Not exactly… she damaged the challenge log, and Shampoo landed wrong. She was a sore loser about the event that she gave Ranma the kiss of death. Since the circumstances of the defeat were highly questionable I received permission to strike a deal with her to neutralize the kiss."

"A deal?"

"That is between us and her," Cologne said.

"Of course, you making a deal is based on the assumption that you can keep her still long enough," Akane commented wryly.

"Do you mind watching over Shampoo while I try and talk to her alone? She might be more willing to talk if Shampoo isn't there," Cologne asked.

"Only if you promise not to harm her," Akane said in a concerned voice.

"I promise that I only want to talk right now."

"Fine I hope that you can find a way for everyone to come out alive."

"Me to child," Cologne said as she pogoed out the door.

Three blocks down the street an out of breath silver haired 'girl' was leaning against a wall.

"Damn, I never thought that she would chase me all the way to Japan," Ranma panted. "I can't fight her like this; I won last time by luck." Ranma thinks for a second before continuing with, "I wonder who the old ghoul was…" *WHAP* "OW who did that?"

"I did," an old ghoul said.

"Who are you?" Ranma asked angrily.

"I am Cologne Matriarch of the Chinese Amazons."

"Amazons?! Crap!" Ranma yelled as she took off running… or at least tried to, as Cologne tripped her, sending her to the ground with an "Ow."

"Don't worry I'm here to talk, NOT to fight," Cologne explained.

Ranma groaned as she levered herself to her feet, and replied, "Talk about what?"

"Your Amazon situation, it might be possible to get you out of the kiss of death, but first I have a question. Is it true that you don't know how you perform that lightning ball technique?" Cologne asked.

"Yes and no. I know how to use, it but I don't know HOW it works. It's almost an instinctive thing. I decide to use it and it happens," Ranma explained.

"And what about the one that you used to level the school?"

Ranma's face adopted a shocked expression as he responded, "I leveled the school with that?" she shook her head as she continued, "But to answer your question, that spell was slightly different from the lightning spell. The lightning spell was created in a panic with me grasping at straws. The song I used was born of anger and frustration. The words came to me in a language I SHOULDN'T know, but I can understand and speak perfectly."

"What language?" Cologne asked curiously.

A phrase like an echo ran through Ranma's mind, and he said it in hymnos, "Was yea ra chs hymnos yor… En chsee fwal fwal yor… exec drone hymnos PAJA enter EORIA_ANSUL_ARTONELICO."

Cologne blinked at the odd sounding language, which was unlike anything she had ever heard, before responding, "That was the language? What did you say?"

"Yes it is, and the translation of what I said is: You will become a song… And wear two wings… Execute the download of Hymn Purger into Shurelia," Ranma replied.

"I see… anyway while interesting this removes the first option that you had. The second choice is to become an Amazon.

"Sorry, I'm not a murderer."

Cologne winced as she realized the impression that her tribe left with Ranma "why do you call us murderers?" she asked angrily.

"Think about why we are having this conversation. That kiss of death law is considered murder to all but two hundred people out of over six billion worldwide, and what a coincidence, your village numbers around two hundred," Ranma replied evenly.

"Our laws are over three thousand years old," Cologne reflexively snapped.

"Old does not mean right, all it means is old."

Cologne ground her teeth at the fact that the outsider used the very same argument that she had been using on the other elders against her. She sighed, and continued with the conversation, "enough, your third option is to become an ally of the tribe."

"What does that entail? I will NOT help with any of the laws I don't feel are right or legal in Japan."

"Then what use would an alliance be?"

"I don't know I don't know your laws to know if any of them are valid in Japan. By the way do you want to know WHY I consider your tribe to be murderers?" Ranma asked.

"Why is that?" Cologne asked while thinking, /she will probably spout off nonsense such as killing is wrong and the like./

"First is the fact that you believe such a law is allowed to happen outside your village. Second newcomers are not told that you have such a unique law, a law that as far as I know doesn't exist anywhere but your village. Lastly that law shows that you don't care about honor or that you weaken your tribe."

"You were administered the kiss inside our village," Cologne reminded her.

"Your laws only state what the Amazons have to do NOT what the victim of the laws has to do.

Cologne was taking mental notes, to use against the other elders, as she continued the conversation, "As to your second point of course we don't tell others. How else will they fight their hardest? And what do you mean by weaken?"

"If a unique law can be so easily activated can result in the death of a person whose only crime was being better than their opponent they should be informed, so they can make the decision to fight or not based off that information.

By weaken I meant that several things. First you send someone to kill a person who already beat said person. That is complete stupidity because the victor might decide to end the life of the threat when she attacks again. Since the Amazon was beat once what is to stop her from getting killed in the rematch? Second the best way to improve is to have a rival of equal or greater strength. A rival drives someone to improve, and when you beat your rival it pushes him/her to improve also. This cycle produces two better fighters than what would originally be possible. By sending someone out to kill or be kill you deny your warriors that opportunity.

The lack of honor in the law is evident because it leaves the method of death up to the Amazon. This means stabbing the person in the back, poison and slitting the person's throat are all legal according to you," Ranma explained.

Cologne got a sly smile on her face as she mentally underlined the part about rivals and honor. She also thought of another law that she doesn't object to. "Say Ranma, is your male form that of a martial artist?" She asked.

Ranma warily answer, "yes, but how did you know I had one?"

"I had a talk with the Akane girl at the clinic and she mentioned Jusenkyo. Now is your original form the one you're in now?"

"No, I was born a guy."

"I'll make a deal with you. If you beat my great granddaughter in a martial arts contest I'll drop the kiss of death," Cologne said with a smile.

The silver haired girl looked at the old woman suspiciously. She then said, "Fine on the condition that you don't try to impose any of your laws on me win OR lose."

"Why would you make that condition?" Cologne asked with a twitch in her eye.

"I think you are trying to ketch me in another law."

"I can't agree to that condition!" Cologne yelled angrily. She then calmed down with a sigh, and spoke in a calm voice, "You leave me no choice." Ranma flinched as she continued, "you are free of the kiss of death." Ranma facefaulted as the old ghoul finished up, "A subsection to the kiss of death law is that if a male is afflicted by the naniichan, he is considered blessed and is immune to the kiss of death, but not to the kiss of marriage."

"Kiss of marriage?" Ranma asked curiously.

"It's what happens when a male outsider defeats an Amazon."

"I'm glad I made that condition then. Now that we have that settled we should get back before your granddaughter tries to kill me again." Ranma said just as a crack appered in reality about a meter above her head. Four slightly scorched figures fell out of the crack, and onto Ranma. This resulted in a flattened and unconscious Reyvateil.

Cologne sighed, pulled out a litter from her hidden weapons pocket, stacked everyone on it, and dragged them back toward the clinic.

Next time

Chapter 11:

Ar tonelico and Ranma ½ meet face to face.