I do not own anything written by Rumiko Takahashi or Kosuke Fujishima.

Ku Lon put aside her now empty bowl and bounded up onto her staff as Xian Pu and her wife escorted their visitors up to her tent — Tendo Nabiki and Tatsuno Nodoka, with Ranma in nature spirit form drifting along beside them (both human women bearing katanas that didn't want to be noticed, something that would be pointless at home but Ku Lon could understand the need for in a modern city). Normally courtesy would require the offer of a meal, but the visitors had timed it so that that invitation could be withheld without giving offense ... if the guest was feeling generous, as these would be. And that was a good thing because the Amazons were once again reaching the end of their financial resources, the income from the training they'd provided to Ranma and Akane before the duel several weeks ago and their participation in the attempt to break the curse on Kasumi and the doctor now spent. The bowl she had just emptied hadn't been anywhere near full enough.

The newcomers stopped in front of her and Nodoka bowed, quickly followed by the other two as they greeted Ku Lon. (Well, Ranma kind of bobbed in the air, but she at least tried.)

Ku Lon acknowledged the respectful greeting with a nod, then gestured for them to sit as she said, "I must admit to some surprise, I only expected Ranma."

"Yes, and I'm sure Ranma is eager to get on with developing her new style," Nodoka agreed, "But she learned something interesting last night that you might be able to provide some insight into, and we have another task for which we would ask your help."

"And that I'd pay handsomely for," Nabiki piped up to add.

"Indeed," Ku Lon responded, showing none of her sudden eagerness at the possibility of more income. Not that her control would keep two of the three from sensing it, but even so appearances mattered. "So, Ranma, just what did you learn?" She listened, frowning thoughtfully as the succubus explained what she had seen in a vision and what her mother had told her after. "Nodoka is correct about the part Initiates have played in history, it is the same in China though we have different labels — not ones adopted from the West," she added with a very faint smirk in the Tatsuno matriarch's direction. "And what you observed about the effect succubae have on the number and power of Western Initiates explains a great deal. As for your own fertility, it could well be that you are only fertile with those of European descent. However, due to the nature of the springs of Jusenkyo there is another possibility. You see, those springs don't just change you into another sex or creature, but into what you would be if you were born that sex or creature. It may well be that you are not just a succubus, but what you would be if you'd been born a Japanese succubus. In which case, you may well be fertile with women of Japan, perhaps even China and your other neighbors around the Middle Kingdom."

Nodoka was nodding her agreement. "Yes, that makes sense. It would explain why Ranma's initial succubus form looks so much like me when I was her age."

Ku Lon nodded her agreement with Nodoka's confirmation of her point, then turned her attention to Nabiki. "And what task do you wish to hire me for?"

"I think it's time that Ranma and I have the same champion bond she has with Akane. Unless you've come up with another way to break the curse on Kasumi and Doctor Tofu?"

"No, we haven't."

"I didn't think so. So we want to be bonded, but the ritual requires at least two Initiates and I won't be able to help. Can you take my place?"

Ku Lon slowly nodded, (pointlessly) hiding her excitement at acquiring such a useful mystic tool. "I'll have to learn the ritual, adapt it to the Amazon traditions, of course, but I would be delighted. I would suggest that Dao Paz or Lo Shun — or both — replace Nodoka as well, that way we can avoid the complications we faced mixing traditions when we tried to free Kasumi and her man."

Nabiki and Nodoka nodded their agreement. (Ranma had lost the thread of the discussion, drifting higher as she watched a pair of warriors sparring some yards away.) Nabiki added, "And I think it's time for those cooking lessons for Kasumi — that victory dinner you cooked for us was some of the best ramen I've ever tasted and I'd like to keep on having it even after you've left."

Xian Pu finally came to the end of her patience. "What about Husband? Can Ranma fix too too annoying problem when Husband come home?"

Her attention caught by her name, Ranma dropped back down. Ku Lon was amused at the way she shifted to where Xian Pu would be looking at her if she could actually see the succubus. "Yeah, sure, I'm ready." Ranma snorted derisively. "Not that one training session's enough ta really go on, but it's enough fer one go."

"So speaks a true artist, always striving to be the best," Nabiki said, then laughed at her fiancé's furious blush. Ku Lon suspected there'd been an emotional undertone to an otherwise unremarkable compliment that the non-empaths had missed.

"Very well," the elder said, "you may inform Kasumi that I will be there at noon tomorrow to further her mastery of the Art of cooking, and expecting the two of you" — glancing between Nabiki and Nodoka — "tomorrow evening with Ranma." When the two gave their assent, the elder looked up at the succubus (again slowly rising to better view the sparring). "Now, Ranma, let's get started on your new style. What have you developed so far?"

/oOo\

Kodachi was actually singing softly to herself as she strode into her suite. It had been that good a day, and good days had been in short supply since that peasant Akane had cheated her of her rightful victory. Her standing at school had taken an enormous hit due to that defeat, and she had struggled to reestablish her due place as the queen of the school. But some meager funds spent, two girls abruptly transferring out and one especially strident nobody sent to the hospital (all three from her team, which had unexpectedly stung), and all was well. The news Sasuke had returned with the previous evening of the most humiliating weakness of Akane's guardian spirit had simply boosted her good mood even higher — she didn't know yet what use she could make of a fear of common house cats, but she would think of something. "Oharu, attend me!"

"Oharu is asleep, and won't be waking up while we have our ... discussion."

Kodachi whirled around, to find a woman she didn't recognize straightening from where she'd been leaning against the wall — fiery-haired, crescent-shaped tattoos on forehead and cheeks. The door to the suite closed.

"Who are you, and how did you get in here?" Turning slightly to hide one hand, Kodachi palmed one of her ribbons from its hidden holster on her thigh underneath her skirt.

The stranger smirked. "My name is Calise, but you will call me 'Mistress'." Instantly, Kodachi's ki-infused ribbon was whipping toward Calise, only for her to lift a single hand. A spiraling ribbon of glowing script that Kodachi had never seen before appeared around that hand before snaking out to intercept her ribbon, twisting along its length and shredding it into a long cloud of threads drifting to the floor.

Before Kodachi had a chance to react the line of glowing script wrapped itself around her, pinning her arms to her sides and her legs together. She toppled forward to slam face-down, only the thickness of her carpet's pile keeping her nose from breaking. The now panicking girl rolled onto her back, shouting, "Sasuke!"

"That oh-so-competent ninja serving your family can't hear you. Or rather, he's hearing the typical exchange between you and your servant as she prepares you for bed." The trespasser stepped around her victim and crouched beside her. Kodachi shuddered at the sight of eyes now glowing red. "Now, we need to talk." She rose to her feet and strode toward the bedroom, Kodachi rising into the air and tugged along in her wake by the ribbon of script. Once in the room Calise dropped into the plush stuffed chair by the window not occupied by the aristocrat's sleeping servant, ignoring the outside view of a night-shrouded garden as Kodachi settled down on her bed, propped up against the wall.

Once she was settled, Calise raise a hand and twisted it and the broach Kodachi had worn during the match appeared. Calise's grin sent shivers down her spine. "You've been a bad girl, deciding not to return this to its rightful owner once your match was finished." Calise seemed to waver for a moment, and suddenly the elderly store owner that had loaned it to her was sitting in her place. Voice still that of the intruder, 'he' said, "That rightful owner happens to be me." Another watery distortion and the woman was back.

"I-I-I didn't know." Kodachi cursed the quaver in her voice and fought to steady herself.

"So what? Honor means that what you knew was irrelevant, you should have returned the broach. But then, you know nothing of honor. Well, now you are dealing with someone that understands keeping your word — and the consequences when you don't — very well." Her grin stretched, turning into something that belonged on a creature from the Deeps. "And thanks to your little ... accident ... those consequences are going to last for a long, long time."

"My-y 'accid-d-d-d-dent'?" The quaver had gotten worse, but Kodachi no longer cared.

"Oh, yes. This broach is much more than just a window into the depths beneath the placid surface of the everyday world, and your ki was just similar enough to the magic that normally powers it to allow it to bond with you. You are fortunate that ki and magic aren't more similar or the resulting explosion would have killed you, and almost every other living being in that auditorium. As it is that bond will last for the rest of your life, and since the broach is mine you are mine as well ... for the rest of your life."

The ribbon of glowing script binding Kodachi silently vanished away, and as she slumped down onto her bed with a gasp her self-declared mistress rose to her feet. "I'll be borrowing the broach long enough for someone who understands it much better than you to place a veil over it, to hide its true worth. Without that veil your ownership of it, and your life, will be very short indeed.

"Your servant will awaken shortly and give you the babying you require before bed. But you're my slave now, just remember that when you consider how to treat her."

And in a heartbeat, the space where Calise had been standing was empty.

/\

Floating just beneath the high ceiling, the invisible demon watched as her new servant simply lay on her bed and shook until the servant girl lying curled up in the chair by the window sleepily stirred, then shot bolt upright when her eyes took in the night outside the window. She whirled in her seat, then thrust herself up out of the chair with wide eyes and a face bleached of color at the sight of Kodachi on the bed. "Mistress, forgive me! I ... I don't ..."

Kodachi's mouth opened, then she paused, took a deep, shuddering breath, and waved a hand. "Think nothing of it. Now, prepare me for bed."

"Y-yes, Mistress."

With that, Calise silently drifted up through the ceiling, through the roof, and into the night sky. Well, that was promising. Perhaps Kodachi is actually sane enough to prove useful. She wasn't foolish enough to think that Kodachi had been broken of her arrogance, breaking her to the saddle would take some work. But perhaps ... just perhaps ... the effort would be worth it. I may actually enjoy this.