"Speech"
'Thought'
#Panda sign#
Spoken spell

Morning

Favian hated everything about this moment. From the look of triumph he had seen on Dorik's face, to the sense of support Favian felt heading in the man's direction. Once again he had to defend his own judgment and the innocence of his students. Where the council had originally argued purely against his student's ancestry, this time Dorik thought he had a winning position. The man's smugness was overwhelming. The chambers were immaculate, servants moved quickly to answer any summons, and it all seemed to be the picture of normality.

Favian wanted to destroy this perfect façade built around him.

"Seeing as you didn't bring your student with you, do you have anything to say on her behalf?" A council member named Broder asked. Favian knew the young man to normally be level headed but was supporting Dorik for some reason.

"I did not bring her because after being attacked, having her dignity stolen, and being exposed to several men who treated her like an animal—I felt it was best not to put her through any more torment." He answered, pointedly looking directly at Varis before turning his gaze to Dorik.

"So you call me a liar?" Dorik asked full of indignation.

"There's a very easy way to prove your accusation." He maintained his angry glare but allowed a toothy grin to spread across his face.

"Is that why you didn't bring her with you? You didn't want us to use a truth spell upon her? To find out her, or should I say your, true motives for throwing herself at me?" Dorik reacted with all the outrage he could muster.

"There is not one witness to that other than yourself!"

"Just as you planned it, sending that poor girl to my home. But too bad for you I was not alone." Standing up, Dorik glanced between several other council members. "How long ago did you purchase her? And why didn't you tell us that she's a slave in the first place?"

"She is not my slave." Favian remained sitting, struggling to keep himself calm. "I did not send her to your home. You had several of your servants threaten her."

"Gentlemen, please!" Varis slammed his gavel down twice. "It's quite disturbing that you neglected to tell us that the girl was a slave. On top of her actions towards Master Dorik last night." (1)

"Actions that he refuses to confirm." Favian pointed out, gesturing towards Dorik.

"We have no reason to distrust our fellow council member's words. Only you have been keeping secrets from us." Another man named Finelis spoke up. "And I move that you be removed from your seat."

Favian's gaze locked on the man instantly. "Removed?"

"Is there a second?" Varis asked.

"I second." Another younger man with pure white hair answered Finelis' call to have him removed.

"Then we will put it to a vote. All in favor." Varis looked around at the assembled group and all but Favian raised their hands. "Opposed?" Favian didn't bother to vote.

"And this changes what?" He asked snidely. "My student is innocent of all accusations and can prove it. These political games make no difference."

"Are you so dedicated to spiting me that you would parade her out before us?" Dorik asked, raising an eyebrow. "I am a bigger man than to use some poor slave girl to get what I want. I would be remiss not to take into consideration the great service she performed protecting our last supply ship." The man turned towards Varis and bowed his head slightly. "Favian has wasted enough of the council's time. There's no further point to dragging this out just to punish someone who he forced into action."

"Agreed." Varis nodded to Dorik. "Our original decision that the girl not be taught will stand. This applies to both of them." Favian simmered, having little recourse politically to fix the situation. "You are still a teacher here but they will not receive any more instruction and will have to find a new place to live by the end of the week."

"And if I refuse to accept this travesty?" He asked, knowing that if he truly wanted to defy the council, none of them would be able to stop him.

"Then an appropriate action will be taken." Varis answered, slamming his gavel down once. "Meeting adjourned."

Dorik couldn't believe how well that meeting had gone. His plan had been merely to destroy the red headed harlot's reputation and create a thorn in Favian's side. But this was so far above any of his expectations. Not only was Favian off the council but both of the tieflings were now out of the academy. He was sure that Ladon would hear about this through another contact and be ecstatic over the result.

Avoiding small talk with a couple of inconsequential council members, he couldn't resist gloating but had to wait until he was alone. Following Favian, he made sure that he was noticed, and entered into a secluded alcove. He didn't have to wait long for the former council member to show up. He was going to start mocking the man but was unprepared to stop Favian from grabbing him by the collar to push him up against the wall with great force. Dorik's eyes widened in alarm at the unexpected strength of the elderly man.

"You piece of filth." Favian growled at him, bringing up his forearm across Dorik's neck. "I swore an oath a long time ago that I would never take another life but if you even so much as utter a word to either of them, I will break that promise and end your miserable existence."

"You're all bark and no bite old man." Dorik sneered.

"Do not tempt me." He growled out and his orange eyes glowed slightly as he roughly shoved him against the wall one more time before pulling away.

"In time." He chuckled at the man's retreating form. When Favian was no longer in sight he brought up a hand to rub at his sore throat.

Three days later

"I can't believe he did that." Ranma directed a punch by Kiima off to one side before grabbing hold of the white haired girl's wrist. With a smooth motion she stepped forward and swept her sparring partners arm downwards and behind her back. Kiima was thrown forward onto her back with a heavy thud.

"You've been complaining about him for days. Surely you have more important concerns." Kiima grumbled as she rose to a sitting position and briefly inspected her wings. The white haired girl was always overly cautious about her wings and took great pride in them. Ranma felt a brief pang of jealousy at the bright white plumage that looked so much better than her own ugly dark bat wings.

"He put me to sleep." She simmered and walked over to the edge of the roof to sit down in a huff. Brushing some of her long unbound hair back over her shoulder, she was quite happy with how it was staying mostly out of the way. It was just an experiment, going forward she would keep it tied back in case of fights.

"He's apologized—at least twice in my presence." Kiima hopped up to her feet with a sigh.

"It's the principle of the matter." Ranma snorted, her anger at Favian's action having fizzled out long ago. He had apologized and helped them find a place to stay. The apartment was the top story of a three story home. It consisted of a one room apartment with a small kitchen and large open living space. The only running water was for the small toilet facility in the back corner. As far as Ranma knew, Favian was barred from teaching them but he had slipped her a bag of holding filled with books and scrolls. These items were now spread out over a shelf and part of the floor. They covered a wide array of subjects and she doubted that she would exhaust the knowledge within for several years.

"Shall we call it a day?" Kiima sat down next to her, wings shifting before settling against her back. It was warmer out today but they were both wearing multiple layers to fight against the cold.

"I guess." She would have liked to continue but there were some scrolls that she really wanted to read through. Glancing upwards at the light gray clouds that hid the sun, she sighed in disgust, having just agreed to stop training before noon. Ranma could remember training with her father from sunup to sunset. But now there were so many other things filling up her time that she couldn't do that anymore.

Kiima leaned towards her and sniffed twice before recoiling. "You don't have a bath here do you?"

"No room." Ranma answered as a cheap explanation, grimacing from Kiima's notice of her lack of hygiene.

Ever since they were kicked out of the home up in the park she hadn't been able to take a bath. There were a handful of places around the city she could go but the whispered rumors about her always made her so angry that she worried about hurting someone if she stayed. Dorik had been very thorough in turning her reputation from a semi-hero for defending the airship to an outright demonic whore. Kasumi had used the one in Favian's home but Ranma had been giving the man a wide berth since he had put her to sleep.

"You're welcome to come and use ours." Kiima offered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Unless you enjoy your newfound ability to wilt flowers as you pass."

"Well if you're offering—I guess I could use a bath." She agreed, her tail twitching once as she picked up on something. "Wait— ours?"

Nerima

"Nodoka." Genma whispered and knocked on the Succubae's door. "Nodoka." He whispered and knocked again with a bit more force. "Nodoka." His hand stopped in mid knock because he no longer had a door to hit. (2)

"Yes?" The redhead in human form asked tiredly at his knocking tactic. She was wearing a transparent black robe over an otherwise very enticing piece of female lingerie that Genma would otherwise spend hours staring at. Behind the woman he could see a form curled up underneath the blankets on Nodoka's large bed.

"Shh!" He pushed his way in and closed the door as silently as he could behind him. "Something horrible has happened." He announced in a tiny voice.

"Ranma's found a way to stay male?" Nodoka asked in horror.

"What? No— Nothing about the boy." Genma shook his head. "He's back."

"Who's back?" Michiko asked curiously, rolling over to face him and to sit up still wrapped up in the comforter. "Is it Ranma?"

Rushing over to the window, he looked around nervously before shutting the drapes. Turning slowly around to face his daughter and mother of his children, he whispered two words. "The Master."

Nodoka blinked her eyes at him and Michiko stared at him without comprehension. "Is that all?" The Succubus asked, completely unconcerned that the gnome was no longer buried in a cave.

"You're not worried?" He was in shock that the demoness didn't immediately pack her belongings to return to her home plane.

"I'm no longer in danger of him binding me so—no." She answered, shifting her robe around briefly to stand with her arms crossed.

"But what about our son and daughter? He'll want some way to get back at me and probably you once he realizes that you're still around. The Master will have no qualms about using them to do that." Genma did not know how he could stress the gravity of this situation any further. Nodoka had to know the danger that Happosai posed, why wasn't she showing any concern?

"Our girls will be fine. Besides—." A cruel smile spread of the demon's face. "I wonder how long he would last against Ranma?"

"Mom, is this Master the one who bound you to this plane?" Michiko asked, her head still the only thing sticking out of the blanket, and a hint of worry entering her voice.

"Unfortunately, but don't worry, he probably won't even know that I'm here, and I can handle anything he may try this time. " Nodoka's reassurance put a happy smile back on the young tiefling.

"He's just as strong as ever, don't underestimate him or how petty he can be." He worried about Nodoka, if she was exposed to the public who knew what would happen? No mortal city was ever going to respond positively to a Demon living secretly in their midst. Ranma and Michiko would also be at risk with Genma himself being pulled along in the wake of such a revelation. Even the Tendo's would come under scrutiny for associating with him and Kasumi's visible reminder of their own ancestry.

"Anything else?" Nodoka asked before sitting down next to Michiko on the bed to pull at the blanket. "Come on wiggle butt, we have a full day planned out and we can snuggle in bed later." (3)

"Mom!" Michiko protested the name and pulled her blanket tighter around her body. "Don't call me that!"

"Or what?" The red head poked at the wrapped up form of her daughter eliciting several giggles. "You'll wag your tail at me?"

"That was only when I was younger!"

Watching his newly discovered daughter share a joke he was not privy to, Genma merely slumped his shoulders in defeat. "No- I guess that's it." He finally answered Nodoka's question. Nodoka would have to feel the Master's wrath before she would ever do anything. Her race was too simplistic to have any long term concerns. But even if Nodoka was going to put herself and their youngest at risk, he would be on watch to help her when Happosai eventually found out about this place.

Ranma let Kiima lead her to the Phoenix's small area of the city. It was perhaps the most unnatural place for the race to take up residence, consisting primarily of older one story homes. But having lost everything, the small number that remained couldn't be picky about their free living arrangements. The area around it looked to be lower income and sparsely populated. Lutansk had been hemorrhaging it's population the moment Ladon took up residence outside. Most of the buildings were dark with the white paint that covered the city chipped and cracked from neglect. Only a small amount of people were walking the streets and they never saw either of them flying because they didn't look up.

Landing after Kiima with a clack from her hooves on the stone road next to a large square building, Ranma stood up straight and waited to see where Kiima was going to take her now. A bath was secondary to finding out more about Kiima's personal life and satisfying her curious nature.

"I just need to check on someone." Kiima pointed towards the large building. "You can go get started in the bath, if you want?"

"Trying to get rid of me?" Ranma asked in mock indignation. "Does my scent offend you that much?"

"Up to you." Kiima shrugged off Ranma's antics and headed off for a two story building across the street.

She may enjoy the time she spent with Kiima but much of what the other girl enjoyed doing remained a mystery. Kiima was always serious, she had been the captain of the royal guard, and appeared to take that duty to heart. Ranma couldn't begin to understand the loss the Phoenix had endured at the hands of Ladon or relate to Kiima's inability to protect her people.

Ranma heard the rapid voices of excited children before the door was opened to the building and inside she was greeted to a long hall fill with close to twenty young boys and girls ranging in age from three to seven. They were all from the Phoenix and upon seeing Kiima they all quit their games or arguments to rush over to clamor for the girl's attention. Up until they saw that a tiefling was standing next to the white haired girl.

"Boys— Girls." Kiima addressed the group that was rapidly growing nervous over Ranma's presence. "This is my friend, Ranma Saotome. Say hello." Around the group there were hesitant greetings directed towards her.

"Hello." Ranma responded and tried to hide her own nervousness. She had no clue what to do in this kind of situation. The only kid she had ever spent any length of time around was her own sister, Michiko, and that had only been for a couple of days.

Wading through the large group of children was an older Phoenix woman with dark red feathers who seemed very relieved that Kiima had shown up. "Thank you for coming Lady Kiima." The woman bowed briefly and gave Ranma a suspicious look out of the corner of her eye before continuing. "And greetings— Miss Ranma."

"Greetings." She answered, the strange situation still throwing her for a loop.

"Samosa, I was wondering if any of the girls were in need of a bath?" Kiiima asked the woman.

"All of them." The woman answered tiredly. "But if you can take the older girls I'll be able to handle the younger ones later after Koruma and Masara come to watch them for the night."

Ranma kept her face neutral, trying to figure out why Kiima was inviting a bunch of children along. She had been looking forward to a nice relaxing soak. As the children were divided up and some boys along with the younger girls complained that Kiima was leaving them, Ranma kept to the side, trying not to be hit by a stray wing.

"Um— Kiima." Ranma whispered to the taller girl. "What's going on here?"

"We all have to take turns with the children." Kiima leaned in close to whisper directly in her ear. "And this'll let me get out of doing more later."

'Kill two birds with one stone?' Ranma thought, deciding not to vocalize the phrase, realizing that it might be a horrible one to the bird people. Blinking at the light tugging on the bottom of her tunic, she looked down to a young girl who was staring up at her with wide green eyes and clutching a stuffed seagull to her chest. "Uh— yes?"

"Are you a nice Demon?" The small girl asked innocently.

"I'm not a Demon." Ranma answered, crouching down. "But yes I am— nice." She added.

"You promise?"

"Uh- huh." Ranma nodded and tried to smile reassuringly.

"Muin don't pester." Samosa quickly herded the small girl away and gave Ranma an apologetic glance.

"Ranma, would you mind keeping an eye out so none of the girls wander off?" Kiima asked as the children finished gathering a change of clothes.

"Sure." She still didn't really know how to feel about this situation but helping to stop little kids from getting lost seemed normal enough. Even if they were going just across the street.

Standing back from the action, Ranma's tried not to laugh when Kiima ended up leading seven of the older girls out of the door like a mother duck with her ducklings. She didn't have to keep any of the kids in line as they followed the white haired girl like she was a celebrity, badgering her with questions about her day so far.

Their bath turned out to be in a dilapidated old public bath house. The heat for the water was provided by a large wood stove with an enchanted pipe constantly pouring water through a system of tubes above. Ranma didn't know why they were using a fire to provide the heat when enchantments would be far more efficient, but assumed there was some purpose for it being cobbled together. The building had only one bath and it looked large enough for a dozen adults to sit comfortably. An area was set aside for cleaning with water being fed by a rusty hand pump in the corner. Ranma had been in dozens of places like this over the years but that was because her father was a cheapskate. The heat generated by the bath and fireplace was barely enough to keep the temperature above the exterior.

Ranma was so caught up in inspecting the building that she failed to notice that the Phoenix were disrobing in order to clean themselves until she caught sight of Kiima removing her blouse. Her blue eyes couldn't help but wander over the white haired girls tall form. The wickedly clawed hands and feet didn't detract from her beauty, or the several thin scars that dotted Kiima's lithe form.

The only thing that stopped her from appraising the Phoenix girl's body for the rest of the day was that Kiima looked over and noticed her attention. Ranma hastily looked away with her cheeks blushing pink, and tried to look busy unbuttoning her tunic. Kiima's attention was thankfully diverted by two girls fighting over something, giving Ranma time to release the breath she didn't know she was holding.

Making a point to not look in Kiima's direction as she settled the dispute between the two kids while wearing not a stitch of clothing, Ranma found that there was one little girl who was sitting off to the side and not preparing to get into the bath. "Hey— um— what's your name?

"It's Riisu, Miss Ranma." The little Phoenix girl answered in a small voice, only looking up long enough to check her identity before staring back down at the floor.

"is anything wrong?" Ranma asked, shrugging off the feeling that she was getting far too used to female honorifics.

"I'm just waiting." The girl answered, playing with the reddish brown feathers on her left wing nervously.

"For?" Ranma knelt down on the wooden floor, happy that she was now fully distracted from Kiima's supple body.

"You're not going to tell?" The girl glanced quickly at the other children.

"On my honor."

"Promise?"

"I promise on my honor." She added.

"Pinky promise? Pluck your wings bare, pull out all your hair?" A tiny clawed hand was extended with the pinky finger extended.

'You're really pushing it kid.' Ranma decided to humor the kid and shook pinkies with her. "Pinky promise."

"They stare." The girl chewed on her lower lip. "Because I got hurt."

"You look fine to me." Ranma wondered if patting the girl on the back as though she should walk off the problem was the proper action. Her words clearly didn't sit well as the young girl's eyes started to water up. "Don't cry." She panicked. "How about— uh— well—." She stuttered, clearly comforting small children was not her element.

"I'll never be pretty like you." The little girl started to cry in earnest, burying her face in her hands.

Ranma stared at the winged girl frozen with indecision and worried that she would somehow get in trouble for making a kid cry. The only role models on how to deal with emotional distress were Nodoka and Kasumi. Some of what those two did had made her feel better so she decided to give one method a try. Scooting over and hugging the girl's shoulders, she gently patted her back. "Hey— don't talk like that. I'm sure you're— going to be really pretty when you grow up."

The crying quickly turned into sniffles as she moved closer and turned enough to look up at her. "You mean it?"

"Oh yea— I'm going to be jealous." Ranma nodded to the girl. "Kiima's going to be asking you how you did it."

"Did what?" The little girl asked cluelessly.

Ranma had to stop and think about her statement for a moment as well. "How you got so pretty."

"Thank you Miss Ranma." The Phoenix girl snuggled in close to Ranma. "Can you help me wash my hair? I want hair like yours, it's beautiful."

"Alright I guess." Ranma nodded her agreement and the little girl gave her one last squeeze before skipping off to start taking her clothing off near the wash area. 'Gee Saotome, keep this up and someday you might make a good nursemaid.'

Starting from her neck and going down, Ranma began to undo the clasps holding her tunic closed. Mere minutes from now she'd be clean and enjoying a hot bath, two things that had been denied her by Dorik. Shrugging her tunic off of her shoulders, she was starting to pull her wings through the material when she caught sight of Kiima's bare chest when the Phoenix upended a bucket of water to rinse the shampoo from a small girl's hair. Ranma's top ripped like parchment, her momentary distraction had caused her to accidentally pull too hard on her tunic, splitting it vertically where the wing slits had been cut out.

"Awwww!" Ranma bemoaned her fate, causing several of the girls to giggle at her accident. Giving them a sideways glance, she removed her tunic, and inspected the damage. Both slits had ripped, running up the cloth in zig zags before coming together just underneath the neck. Thankfully she had a lot of time on her hands now because it wasn't going to be an easy fix. 'That leaves me just three tunics left if I can mend this one.'

The rest of her clothing was removed without incident and once nude, she knelt down next to a giggling Riisu, to perform her promised action. "What?" Ranma asked, the small girl trying to stifle her giggles with a hand over her mouth.

"Your tail wiggled funny when you tore your shirt." The small girl answered.

"Real funny." Ranma rolled her eyes and casually summoned some hot water in a nearby wash bucket to dump over the child's head. She paused for only a moment, realizing that the action had drawn quite a bit of interest from the children who had been paying attention to her. Shrugging it off, she repeated the conjuration while adding a cleaning enchantment, and this time slowly poured the water over Riisu's head to get her thoroughly soaked. "There ya go." She announced, running her hands through the girl's hair to get the enchanted water all over.

"No shampoo?"

"You'll have to go get it." Ranma answered impatiently.

"Okay." The girl ran over to where the communal bottle was being used by another child two years older to get it. With her wings spread slightly to help with balance, Riisu was showing off a large scar that ran diagonally down her back from right shoulder down to her left hip. Ranma brought her right wing forward and thought back to the size of the hole made by Raxus' sword. She knew of no one else on the island who used a sword with such a large edge. Ranma had known that Raxus was a monster but she had to bury her anger at evidence of his atrocities.

"Here it is." Riisu skipped back and handed the nearly empty bottle to Ranma before dropping down on a stool to wait.

Rubbing the flowery fragranced shampoo into Riisu's reddish brown hair, Ranma had a moment of quiet to consider how the tiny child could have survived an attack by Raxus, before three other children took placed around her.

"Can you help us too?" The tallest one with white hair like Kiima's asked hesitantly.

Ranma's shoulders slumped in defeat and she resigned herself to her fate. Ten minutes later and with her knees sore from kneeling on the wooden floor she finally finished with the last one who ran off to join the others in the large bath. Kiima had sat down next to her and gave her an appreciative smile before motioning towards the wash bucket. "What? You can't wash yourself either?"

"Please?" Kiima asked tiredly.

"When you offered a bath, you forgot to mention it was to help you take care of a bunch of kids." She glanced at Kiima out of the corner of her eye and summoned more water to the bucket.

"You wanted to wait." The Phoenix girl pointed out and found the shampoo bottle empty.

"And a cleaning enchantment." Ranma added, activating the enchantment for both of the buckets.

"Thank you." Kiima nodded her head in appreciation. "For everything."

"Are their parents?" She kept her voice low, letting the animated conversation from the children hide her question.

"You saw Riisu's scar." Kiima answered sadly. "They're the only ones that we could save."

"How did it happen? The attack?"

"Our Lord Saffron answered a challenge by Raxus. Everyone but the young were gathered to witness that monster's demise. During the fight the dead came up through tunnels underneath our home. They were deep in the mountain, they should have been safe. We only knew something was wrong when we heard the screams." Kiima squeezed her eyes shut and stopped in her retelling. (4)

"I think I've heard enough." Ranma gulped and used dumping her bucket of water over her head as a way to stop herself from thinking about children being slaughtered.

"Everyone has to pitch in and help take care of them now." Kiima had finished with cleaning herself and waited to see if she was done before heading to the bath.

Ranma decided that she liked following the Phoenix woman around as she almost burned her eyes into Kiima's bottom. Forcing her eyes up to a neutral spot like Kiima's strong shoulders, Ranma reminded herself that she was engaged. 'Well— not anymore.' She realized with a hollow ache in her heart. Sliding into the water next to Kiima, she winced at the unexpected coolness. While it was warmer than the air around it, the water was barely lukewarm. It was also felt dirty from too many people entering without being clean.

"It's a bath." Kiima shrugged, noticing that she was finding fault with the experience.

"Better than a stream." Ranma laughed to herself, preparing a slightly more complicated enchantment. "But I can fix it." Cupping her hands together and raising a small amount of water from the pool, the liquid glowed a pale blue before she let it fall back into the water where the color spread out through the entire bath. Instantly the water cleared and grew warmer until it was creating tiny wisps of steam that floated up into the air. Ranma nodded in satisfaction and allowed herself to sink down into the water until her breasts were completely submerged.

"What did you do?" Kiima asked in amazement. The children missed the spellcasting but they did take note of the added warmth, and they started to pay more attention to the grown ups conversation.

"Just something to keep the water hot and clean." She didn't know if she should point out that it was Kasumi who had taught her that specific spell. "Should last a month or two."

"I don't know how we can thank you for this." Kiima ran a hand along the tiled edge, watching as grime dissolved away into the water, leaving a clean surface behind.

Ranma couldn't stop herself from imagining one way Kiima could repay her but she forcibly killed that line of thought. She wanted to mention that if it wasn't for Kiima and several other Phoenix, death would have been a blessing, but didn't want to appear weak. "We're friends, you don't need to thank me." She finally settled on.

"Friends." Kiima smiled, revealing a subtle vulnerability Ranma hadn't seen before. She wanted to linger on the moment except it was extinguished by large splashes as the children all rushed over to her, spilling water up over her face.

"Was that magic?" "Can you do more?" "Do you know any cool spells?" "Can you teach me?"

"Girls!" Kiima shouted, standing up and planting her hands on her hips. "Where are your manners? Shouldn't you all say thank you for the warm bath?"

"Thank you." They said in a poorly done chorus with several adding Miss Ranma on to the end.

"If you have questions you can ask them later like civilized Phoenix." Kiima added, earning her many disappointed looks. "I'm sure Ranma is tired from performing so many spells so let her have some rest."

"I'm not tired." Ranma whispered to Kiima, the girls were pouting but were starting to play in the water again.

"You will be." Kiima smirked. "We Phoenix have a lot of energy, doubly so when we're children, and none of them are able to burn it off. Why do you think Samosa looked so tired?"

"I thought she just didn't like me." Ranma shrugged and turned towards Riisu who sat down next to her.

"Miss Ranma, do you know any good stories?" The girl asked.

"Riisu, what did I just say?" Kiima crossed her arms and tapped a talon against her upper arm impatiently.

"Please." Another girl close by swam over. "Do you know any? We've heard all of Lady Kiima's."

"No you haven't!" Kiima announced indignantly.

"She's boring! It's just Lord Saffron this, Lord Saffron that." A third spoke before wilting under Kiima's glare.

"I guess I know one or two." Ranma said casually and trying to sound slightly unsure of herself. Smirking, she wondered if she was also a better entertainer than the white haired woman.

Kasumi paused in rolling up a particularly old scroll, afraid that the material would break apart. She had been slowly going through some of the library of information that Favian had dumped into their laps. All of the parchment was enchanted to be more durable than when it was first made but that didn't stop it from aging.

"Pepa, would you put this one on the shelf with the rest of the Dragon scrolls?" She asked the fairy who looked lost in thought as she read from a book Kasumi had yet to review. Pepa nodded and with only minor difficulty raised the scroll up to sit on the indicated shelf. There was a limited amount of space in the apartment but there was enough for several shelves that were still inadequate to hold all that they had.

She was a little surprised by the sheer volume of material that Favian had on Dragons. History of each of the different colors, stories of their interactions with mortal races, strength and weaknesses, even interviews with divine ones. Enough books and scrolls that she imagined it must have taken a lifetime to amass.

The one she had just been studying was a scroll on the fall of the black Dragons. Corrupted by the Demon of trickery and lies, Thet, they became masters of deception. Rarely if ever taking their true form, even tieflings were said to live out their lives disguised as mortals from birth. The prevailing thought on why they were so secretive was that they were completely unable to stand any truth. The rapid destruction of several civilizations were considered the direct result of their manipulations.

"What's next?" Pepa asked helpfully, returning to float in front of Kasumi.

"Time for a break." She answered and painfully rose from her kneeling position for the past three hours. Kasumi wondered if she should set aside time to sew together a kneeling pad since they had no furniture in the apartment. "Do you want some tea?" Pepa nodded enthusiastically and zipped around.

Humming to herself as she prepared a midday snack, Kasumi glanced upwards towards the roof where the sounds of physical training had long since stopped. Since Ranma had not come back she assumed that her fiance and that horrible Kiima woman had left to train somewhere else. Not that she would ever speak aloud her opinion of the Phoenix girl but the two times they had spoken, it had been tense, and with Kiima sounding as though she wanted to gut her where she stood. Kasumi could accept some friction due to the genocide of the Phoenix, but Kiima assigned the same blame to her simply due to her lineage.

Stopping in her preparation, she stared at the kettle as it warmed the water inside. Favian now had to be distant and Ranma was off spending a large portion of time with Kiima. This left her the alone most of the time. There were few people in the city who gave her any consideration and she felt truly alone for the first time in her life. Was it because of her mistaken response to Ranma's proposal? Her own personality? Or was it a fate she was destined to have simply by being the descendant of a Dragon?

"Pepa." She started, watching the fairy scoop out tea from her cup with a makeshift bowl sized for her. "Can you tell me what Ranma does with Kiima?"

"They fight a lot." The blue haired fairy nodded her head, nearly spilling her tea in the process. "But never really hurt each other."

"Oh, so they spar." Kasumi realized what the spell creature was trying to say. Ranma had been denied a regular training partner near her level, so Kiima must be filling the Genma sized hole in Ranma's life. "Anything else?"

"I don't know—." Pepa blinked her eyes and her wings fluttered briefly. "Ooh! They talk sometimes about how they can get better at fighting— I mean sparring."

Relieved that Ranma and Kiima were just sparring partners, Kasumi sipped at her tea, but found no joy in the bland drink. It was getting harder to get any decent tea leaves and even harder to find any reasonably priced. Hopefully she would be able to return home to Nerima and her family soon. Life was so much simpler when her world revolved around her home.

"Pepa." She drew the fairies attention as Pepa's attention was starting to wander. "Would you go get Ranma for me, please?"

"Okay." The blue haired fairy nodded her head briskly.

"And if Ranma asks why— I just wanted to know if— she wanted to go shopping with me." Kasumi added meekly, not wanting to appear desperate to spend more time with her first real friend.

"Right." Pepa nodded again and Kasumi opened up the window so the fairy could get out.

Ranma paused in her story, letting the assembled Phoenix girls wait with bated breath for her next word. All the girls were clumped together next to Kiima on the seat surrounding the bath with she had moved to stand near the center. Kiima had been uninterested at the start but was now listening intently. She had been regaling them with the tale of how she saved a client from an evil magic user. Of course she didn't advertise that she was the strapping young man, valiantly battling poorly trained minions to reach the top of his mountain top lair.

"Running through the upper most door, he stopped—." She breathed, looking between several of the children. "He had finally found the evil wizard Drinnel and his captive— the fair maiden Sipha."

"So did he save her?" One of the children asked impatiently only to be shushed by the rest. Ranma let a small smile creep onto her face, happy that she was being successful at storytelling before she tried to go back into character.

"Sipha's wrists were bound together and she was dangling perilously over a pit in the center of the room, while Drinnel waited in the far corner of the room, ready to release the rope that would send the fair maiden to her doom on spikes in the pit below!" Pausing again, she let the girls react, some gasping in horror, others making comments about poor landlings.

"Drinnel laughed, the rope slipping from his hand for only a moment, Sipha screamed in horror before she was stopped. Our hero paused, seeing that the evil wizard was preparing a portal to escape justice, realizing that there was no way he could save the lady Sipha and capture the evil wizard."

"Stay right where you are! Drinnel yelled across the room as his portal was finished being summoned. You've defeated all of my loyal subjects! He proclaimed. But now you must choose! Save the girl! Or capture me!" Ranma announced dramatically and held her hand over her mouth to laugh evilly.

"What did he do?" Asked Riisu, looking up at her with wide terrified eyes along with several other of the children.

"Well—." Ranma paused. "He had a difficult choice to make, if he allowed Drinnel to go free then more people would be in danger, but the other choice was to let Sipha be killed. He had to save Sipha— and he had a plan. Our hero was the best, he always came through, he always did the impossible!"

"All he had to do was run six meters and he would be able to get Sipha to safety." Ranma noticed a new member of her audience as Pepa flew in the doorway and took a seat on the very edge of the bath.

"The moment he saw that Drinnel's attention was diverted to the final spell for his portal— he ran. Clearing the distance with one mighty leap, he put one arm around lady Sipha's waist, and used his other to grab hold of the rope. Tugging as hard as he could, Drinnel's arm was caught on the other side and he was thrown off balance, his final spell failing to open the portal!" Several of the girl's gave muted squeals of excitement and Kiima gave her a look of approval for the story.

"Dazed but not finished, Drinnel fumbled with the rope wrapped around his wrist long enough to have our hero stomp his boot down on his hand. Drinnel looked up at him in defiance, trying to cast a spell, until he received a thorough thrashing at the hands of our hero. Having defeated the evil wizard and saved the lady Sipha, our hero tied Drinnel up in his own trap, leaving him to be picked up by the proper authorities. So enthused by her daring rescue, the lady Sipha attempted to give our hero a kiss in thanks but he declined. He didn't need such things, he had other maidens to save and evil to defeat— the end." She announced and hung her head.

Ranma looked up quickly and took a step back at the crash of water as all the girls rushed up to clamor around her asking for another story. "No more stories. Sorry." She apologized and sweated nervously. "I need to handle something." Ranma found Pepa fluttering over to her, weaving around all the girls to float within arms reach. "Why are you here?"

"I want to hear your story from the beginning." Pepa gushed and froze at the collective gasp of the children who were now solely focused on her. "Uh— hi." She greeted. "I'm Pepa, what's all your names?"

Ranma winced at the high pitched squeals of delight from the girls as they were all diverted from her to try and capture the cute fairy. "Hey!" She yelled, noticing that they were not at all concerned that Pepa did not want to be forcibly grabbed from the air. "Hey!" She yelled more forcefully and caused the water to rise up quickly and splash them. "She's not a toy so be gentle." There was a brief moment where the girls looked ashamed before they went back to excitedly trying to talk to Pepa. Normally Ranma would have enjoyed the spell creatures misfortune but Pepa had been very tolerable as of late so she would have felt bad to have her be crushed by an overenthusiastic child.

Sighing and deciding that she had been as nice to the fairy as she could be in one day, she waded to the edge of the bath to get out. Kiima watched her charges out of the corner of the eye but followed her out of the bath. Ranma grimaced slightly at the realization that while clean, there were only a handful of towels. 'This time, I'm not waiting.' She decided.

"Do you have much practice as a bard?" Kiima asked, half heartedly trying to get the kids to leave the bath.

"Nope." She answered with a shrug of her shoulders before bending down to dry off her legs. "But if you hear enough of them, you kind of pick up a few things. Not that I'm all that good." She admitted.

"Nonsense, you were great." The white haired woman finally got the attention of all the girls after Pepa decided to fly over to the perceived safety behind Ranma.

"Help." The fairy whispered in a tiny voice. "They keep— grabbing me."

"Well if you annoy me, I'll feed you to them." Ranma whispered back. "And there's more of them."

"Enough girls, get dried off, and get your clean clothes on so we can go home." Kiima stomped her clawed feet on the wood.

Ranma chuckled to herself, happy that she would never have to deal with this many children, and finished drying herself. Her hair was still damp but no towel was ever going to fix that, so she created a warm updraft of air that blew her hair around, and rapidly dried it. Unfortunately it made her hair a gigantic mess so she tried to run her hands through it to remove all the tangles. Her show of magic was loud enough to get attention so she ended up drying everyone's hair. The girls giggling as the air also blew through their feathers.

"So what'd you want?" She asked Pepa finally.

"I don't remember." The fairy admitted, still eying the young girls warily.

"Why am I not surprised?" Ranma rolled her eyes as she put back on her clothing from earlier. She would have to head back to the apartment to get a new tunic because the rip was already bugging her.

"You really should purchase more clothing." Kiima remarked, keeping an eye on the girls as they dressed. "All your tunics are falling apart and your pants are following."

"My clothes are fine." She dismissed Kiima's suggestion as she knelt down to pull tight the ties keeping her pants secured at the ankles. Pausing, she grimaced at a patch of black fabric worn thin enough to see the skin beneath. "Besides, I have some scrolls to look over."

"If it's a matter of money I apologize, as you can tell, we Phoenix have to make due with what we have as well."

"I have money." She rose up to her full height but didn't look right at Kiima. "I just—." Ranma didn't want Kiima to know about her past, afraid of dealing with the consequences of having once again lied to a friend. "I just—- I'm— I'm not good at picking things out." She half lied, she was bad at picking out things for this body. "Besides, I like the clothing I have."

"They do fit your personality, but I am curious why you wear such baggy clothing? You're very beautiful, why not wear something that flatters your figure instead of hides it?"

'Damn it Kiima, stop asking questions.' How could she explain that the reason she didn't want to replace her clothing was because it was something that still tied her to her real body? She already had the outfit Michiko convinced her to buy, what more did she need? "Because I don't like guys staring at me all the time." She decided on an explanation that was actually true.

"So you wear male clothing multiple times your size?" Kiima asked skeptically.

Ranma glanced side to side nervously and crossed her arms. "Yes."

The white haired woman shook her head in disbelief. "So what's stopping you from getting more?"

"Uh—." She blinked her eyes several times. "I guess I could— ya know— get more." Scratching at the back of her head, she laughed nervously. "Silly me."

"Uh huh." Kiima rolled her eyes at Ranma's response. "Come on girls, let's get you back to Samosa."

Unlike when she had followed Kiima across the street earlier, Ranma found herself the center of most of that attention on the way back. Not even Kiima's warning that they should stop badgering her with questions stopped the girls from trying to talk to her. Most of the questions were about them learning magic or something she could do for them. Ranma just smiled nervously and tried to gently dismiss their requests. Seeing that she wasn't going to perform any more spells for them, most of the girls decided to go gloat of their good fortune to the children that had remained at the orphanage. Pepa was keeping a safe distance from the children, having flown up to perch herself on top of the building, ready to dart off at a moments notice.

"Lady Kiima, Miss Ranma is going to come back, won't she?" Riisu asked Kiima, tugging at the bottom of the woman's blouse.

"I don't know, why don't you ask her nicely?" Kiima patted the girl on the top of her head and looked towards Ranma.

"I guess if I have time." Ranma answered, crossing her arms briefly before waving one hand flippantly. It had been a fun diversion to be around the Phoenix for a time. Not that she would ever admit out loud that entertaining a bunch of children had been one of the better moments since coming to this wretched city.

Riisu nodded with a big smile on her face. "Can the fairy come too?"

"Oh definitely." If she was more vindictive she may just leave the fairy here.

"Come back soon, okay?"

"Sure thing." Ranma watched the little girl dash off and sighed, feeling like she was finally free from small children for the day. Taking the opportunity, she slipped out of the front door as Kiima said a quick good bye to Samosa. Feeling the cool air against her back as it went through her torn tunic, Ranma checked the funds that she had with her and waited for Kiima to finally exit the building.

"So— um—." Ranma started, wondering how she should word this. "Do you know of any good places to buy clothes?"

"I thought you liked your rags?" Kiima asked in amusement.

"I do, but I guess I do need a couple new tunics."

"Well I have seen a couple but I don't know how good they are." The white haired girl admitted with a shrug.

"I guess it doesn't hurt to look."

Kasumi tucked her hands in closer to her body as she walked down the slim street. Pepa had failed to return and the weather looked like it might take a turn for the worse again so she decided to brave the city on her own. She wasn't as brave as Ranma but she could handle shopping on her own. It was something she had done for many years now back in Nerima so it shouldn't be as nerve wracking as it was. Unlike Nerima where she was simply an oddity, while a large amount of the population in Lutansk saw her as the enemy.

Greeting the shopkeeper as she closed the door behind her, Kasumi paused long enough to wipe her boots on a mat before continuing in. "I was looking to buy a few things." She had been here before and it had a good supply of everything.

"Such as?" The elderly man behind a counter asked, a wall of general supplies behind him.

"Fabric, approximately six square meters along with a stuffing material. But I'm not sure what you have available." She explained, glancing around to see if there was anything else that may catch her eye. No one else was in the store so she had the shop keepers full attention.

"It would help if you told me what you were making." He rubbed at his chin.

Kasumi smiled just a little bit more at the question. "Well I'm making a pair of cushions to kneel on. Wooden floors are nice but they aren't very comfortable."

"I have some left over material that will work for padding, and I'll have to see what I have left for the fabric."

"Thank you." She watched him head for the back, happy that gold helped smooth over any reservations he may have had about dealing with a tiefling.

Hovering outside of the window to Kasumi and Ranma's new apartment, Pepa was faced with the challenge of opening it. Kasumi wasn't coming to the window after her repeated knocking so that must mean that something horrible had happened inside and it was up to her to save the day. And then they could all go shopping together! Ranma had given her this important task and she wasn't going to fail! Rubbing her hands together in a way she had seen Ranma do, Pepa bent down and took hold of the bottom of the window.

Grunting and with her wings fluttering rapidly behind her, the window remained unmoving briefly before shooting up uncontrollably to slam into the top. Squeaking in surprise, she rushed into the apartment just as the window slammed down behind her.

"Kasumi?!" She called out, flittering about while searching for the Dragon tiefling. Checking underneath several of the scrolls that were still not sorted, she gave up her search, and settled down on the parchment. Pepa was about to continue her quest when she noticed some of the writing on the parchment. "Ooh what's this?"

Entering the tailor's shop along with Kiima, Ranma briefly scanned her surroundings before a middle aged woman approached them. Wearing a long burgundy dress to her shins that only lightly hugged her figure, she greeted them politely but appeared to recognize Ranma in some way. The shop took up the entire bottom floor of a two story building near the outer wall of the city. There were different styles of clothes hung up on the wall and rolls of fabrics hanging on spools.

"Good afternoon ladies, how can I help you?" The woman asked Kiima more than her.

"I'm looking for some new clothes." Ranma answered, earning a very thorough once over by the woman.

"Are these loaned?" The shopkeep asked, bringing up a hand as though she was going to pick at the fabric, but turned it into crossing her arms.

"It's what I like." Ranma answered, not knowing why she would have loaned clothing but feeling like it may have been an insult. " So do you have something like this?" She asked.

"Not exactly this style." The woman picked at the front of Ranma's tunic. "Were you expecting alterations as well?"

"If you can." She was more than capable of doing them on her own, but a professional would likely do a much better job, and spare her the tedious task with a needle and thread.

"What were you looking to get?"

"Two or three tunics and an equal amount of pants."

"Skirts or dresses? Undergarments?"

"No— well maybe some underwear." Those were less worn out but perhaps it would be best if she prepared for when they needed to be replaced.

"I'll need to get some measurements, please follow me."

Following the woman to a curtained off area in the middle of the shop, there was a small rectangular platform in the center raised up approximately thirty centimeters from the floor with the area round it clear of obstructions. Another curtain was hung in the back, creating another small room.

"Would you mind removing your outer clothing?" The woman asked, closing the curtain to cut them off from the outside before heading over to grab a tape measure from a small table nearby with supplies for temporary alterations to clothing. "It will make my measurements more accurate."

Stripping down to her underwear and the close fitting tunic she wore for warmth, Ranma stepped up onto the platform to be measured. There was little difference to the dozens of times she had been measured while grown up, save that more attention was paid to how her body curved, and the more complicated area around her breasts.

"So why do you want something in that style?" The tailor asked, bringing the tape measure around briefly to measure the fullest part of Ranma's breasts.

Ranma blushed heavily at the contact and she noticed that Kiima had seen her reaction. "It's just what I like." She answered.

"Oh— I would have just expected something more— feminine." The tailor explained while measuring the width of Ranma's shoulders.

"Why's that?" Ranma glanced quickly at Kiima who was wearing similar clothing to her own normal wear, although fitted to the form underneath. She saw no reason why she should suddenly be required to dress like Kasumi or Nodoka.

"Rumors travel quite quickly I'm afraid." The woman admitted.

Ranma stiffened, knowing how her reputation preceded her now. "And what do they say about me now?"

"Nothing I would ever repeat to a customer." The tailor moved to Ranma's front and looked doubtfully at her hooves. "But it's still strange that a pretty girl like yourself doesn't want something to flatter her figure."

"I have enough to worry about, flattering my figure is the least of my concerns." She stepped down from the platform as the woman moved towards the break in the curtain.

"Did you have a preference for color?"

"Anything that goes with red." She answered, not wanting to detract from her rare hair color. Unconsciously pushing a non-existent strand of hair from her eyes.

"I'll be back in just a moment." The woman bowed her head slightly and backed out through the curtain.

"Hmm." Kiima drew her attention. "Is noticing the figures of others a major concern?"

"Huh?" Ranma asked.

"It was hard not to notice how you paid attention to my body earlier." Kiima smiled mischievously.

"Wha— wha— what?" Ranma stammered and blushed heavily, having thought that she had been unnoticed. She was saved from explaining herself as the tailor returned with several tunics of various colors and styles in her arms.

"Do any of these catch your eye?" The woman asked as she hung them up on a wooden rod running along the wall. She had listened to Ranma and brought tunics that were close to her original style but she did notice that they were more unisex. A trait that would vanish the moment they were fitted to her form.

"These two." She indicated the two more masculine ones. The first was a dark red and almost identical to her normal style but was split completely down the front with the left side folded over the right, and kept together by ties. The other a light green in more of a local style with the neck opening curving to the right arm into a decorative piece that ran to the bottom.

'This might not be so bad.' She thought, shrinking down her wings and flattening them against her back so she could put on the first tunic. The tailor went to work playing with the fit. After a few pins were inserted to pull parts of the fabric in, the woman stepped away to get Ranma's input. "It really doesn't have to be so tight." She tugged at the waist that was cutting in sharply.

"But it's not tight." The woman grabbed at a good amount of excess material. "See?"

"Oh." Ranma never spent a lot of time in front of a mirror and with how her hips flared out dramatically, her waist looked positively tiny. "Still, I'd like it taken out a bit more."

"Just a second." The woman let out the material further and shook her head. "Mark my words, when your waist is no longer so trim, you'll wish you didn't hide it." She shook her head and made small marks on the fabric with a pencil.

"She's part Succubus, she's cursed to take her body for granted forever." Kiima joked at Ranma's expense.

Ranma felt like she had been betrayed before remembering that everyone now knew her lineage. "Oh please, you have no idea what Succubae are like. If I didn't actually take care of myself I'd be as wide as my mom. Not me though, not an extra gram of fat." Smirking, she cocked her hips to one side and planted her hands on her waist.

"How many kilos did you say?" Kiima pointed towards Ranma's breasts.

"You don't have to be so jealous Kiima, I'd share if I could." She remarked haughtily, pushing her chest out and crossing her arms. She was about to needle Kiima about her smaller bust but she ended up poking her finger with one of the pins as she tried to pose herself to show off her impressive chest. Hissing in mock pain, she stuck her finger in her mouth. The pin prick hadn't hurt, just a reflexive action to the brief shock.

"I think that's a sign I should get back to work." The tailor laughed along with Kiima at her. The woman was still smirking as she wrote down measurements on a small piece of parchment. "Are you able to make your wings bigger as well?"

"I can." Ranma admitted, a little uncomfortable discussing them.

"Show me please." The woman paused in her writing. "After taking that blouse off."

Rolling her eyes at the implication that she would be dumb enough to grow them out while constrained, she pulled off the tunic, and showed the tailor the full size of her wings. Tall enough that the ends would have dragged on the ground if she wasn't standing on a raised platform, Ranma rolled her shoulders around, unused to the added weight.

"I can see why you keep them smaller." Kiima remarked, patting at some of the dark membrane. Ranma pulled back her wing, shrinking away from the foreign contact. Seeing that Kiima looked hurt by her reaction, she struggled to figure out why that would be. "Sorry." The Phoenix girl took a step back.

"Nah it's okay." She wasn't able to figure out what Kiima was upset about. Ranma could feel the tailor behind her measuring how much more vertical space was taken up on her back. While where they attached to her back remained the same, the membrane did stretch lower, and the wing bones grew in size. "Is that all you needed?" She looked over her shoulder, inadvertently bumping the woman as her wing shifted. "Oops."

"Yes— that's all I needed." The tailor grimaced briefly before giving her some more space. Ranma immediately shrunk them back down to a medium size. "This is definitely going to be more work than usual." The woman spoke to herself, writing down more notes.

"Is it going to cost a lot more?" Ranma asked, she had neglected to ask for a possible price, realizing that she did need new clothing, and if this woman really wanted to overcharge her she'd just walk out.

"Give me a moment." The woman started to rapidly write on a new sheet of paper and mouthing numbers too quickly for Ranma to figure out. "Twenty five pieces of gold."

'Twenty five?' Ranma's jaw dropped in shock before she could stop herself. Twenty five gold was equal to two months rent.

"On the high side of course. You haven't decided on the colors you'll want, I don't know how long the modifications will take, and there's always a twenty percent surcharge for female clothing."

"If I may." Kiima coughed into her right hand. "I have eighteen children who will be needing at least one new outfit each within the month. I would be amenable to buying exclusively from your store if you'll provide a discount."

"Eighteen children? That's no small task." The woman tapped her pencil against her chin in thought before turning back to her. "Thirteen for everything you asked for, assuming that your Phoenix friend will sign an agreement."

She was still being slightly overcharged but from what she had seen this woman produced high quality clothing. "That sounds good." Ranma nodded before looking to Kiima.

"Agreed." Kiima gave her a sly smile.

"Then I better finish up with this other blouse." The tailor hummed happily to herself as she gathered up the other tunic Ranma had picked out to hand to her.

Happy with her purchase, Kasumi was slowly making her way back to the apartment with a happy smile adorning her face. Even though she had been overcharged by one gold piece, she had come out with enough material two make two kneeling pads as well as one for Pepa. Pausing in the alleyway she was passing through to secure her package better, she felt very good at the result of her excursion. It would have been much more pleasant with Ranma or even Favian to accompany her but it felt good to accomplish something on her own.

She was just about to resume her walk home when a strong hand was placed roughly on her left shoulder. "Yes?" Kasumi slowly turned, confused and a little frightened over the sudden contact. "Can I help you?" She asked the older man and his three companions.

"Yes." He sneered and violently pushed her. Crying out in surprise, she fell on her hip, and spilled her supplies against a nearby building. "You can give me back my son." He stared into her golden eyes with complete hatred.

"Your son?" She asked in shock, having never been outright attacked by anyone before.

"Damn dragon!" The youngest man yelled and she was completely unprepared for the boot that hit her in the face. "Don't you dare look at my brother with those dead eyes!"

Kasumi clutched at her face, the world spinning around her, and cried into her hands. "Why are you doing this?" Her shoulders shook and she tried to slide away from her attackers. 'Why isn't anyone helping me?' Through her tears she tried to search for help but realized that she had inadvertently hidden herself from view.

"Your kind brings nothing but death and misery." The one who had pushed her said. "It's time we were able to give some of it back." All three of them pulled clubs out that had been hidden beneath their jackets.

"Please— I'd never." She started to breath rapidly, staring up at the three men in horror.

"Enough lies!" The third yelled and lunged towards her.

Kasumi hastily brought up a protective shield around herself, the club bouncing harmlessly off of the transparent orange bubble around her. The man took several more swings before trying to spit on her. "Please stop." She begged, hurting from the blow to her face, but she was now relatively safe behind the barrier so long as she could keep it active.

"What are we supposed to do now?" The one who had kicked her paced angrily around the outside of her shield.

"If we wait around, somebody might notice." The third snarled.

"We won't have to wait long." The eldest swung his club around before balancing the tip on her barrier. "This rannit is already sweating from the effort." (5)

Kasumi gasped at the insult and refocused her efforts on maintaining the barrier. She didn't have enough practice with this kind of spell to channel it effectively. A minute or two was all she had before she would be exhausted and she wasn't able to move while the shield was up.

Wiping some sweat from her brow, she jerked as the youngest man took several swings at the barrier. She could feel the barrier wavering as she rapidly ran out of reserves. 'Wait, why am I waiting?' Immediately she began to scream for help. "Someone help! I'm being attacked in the alley!"

"Shut up you stupid bitch!" She heard one of them yell and the added distraction caused her barrier to fail with a soft pop.

"Someone help me!" She screamed and curled herself up into a ball to try and protect herself.

Ranma gave the Phoenix girl walking next to her a curious glance out of the corner of her eye. There were a lot of mixed signals she was suddenly getting from her sparring partner. Up until today their relationship had been mostly professional and bordering on friendly. But in the span of a few hours Ranma had been invited deeper into Kiima's life than she had ever expected. On top of that, Kiima had not objected to her attraction.

Glancing around and trying to sense Pepa, she wondered what the reason was for Kasumi declining her invitation to go shopping. Ranma could sense that Kasumi wasn't at the apartment but she was incapable of getting an exact position from such a distance without a spell being cast.

"Why are we walking?" Kiima asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"What? You don't find it relaxing?" She asked. Walking felt nice and normal, with nothing that should make her uncomfortable.

"It depends on who I'm with." The white haired girl responded after a moment of hesitation.

"So is it?" Ranma asked, feeling her face heat up, and happy that the streets were mostly deserted.

"I'm not sure." Kiima answered slowly. "Ranma— you're attracted to me right?"

"Um— well— that is to say—." She gulped and fidgeted with her fingers. "Would you not like it if I was?"

"I honestly don't know." The white haired girl seemed more composed but Ranma could see that Kiima was flustered as well. "I've never thought about it. Relationships or even friends have always been the last thing on my mind."

"I— understand— I think." Her mood fell along with her wings, imagining that her attraction to girls may have tainted or destroyed another friendship. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"It was only just a little." Kiima admitted shyly, her large white wings shuffling before fitting tighter against her back. "And truth be told I was really flattered."

"You were?" Ranma asked far too excitedly before catching herself, the tip of her tail happily flicking back and forth. "I mean, you were?" She asked with far more control.

"Definitely, all these landlings look at me like I'm a freak and other Phoenix were always too afraid of me." Kiima moved slightly closer to her. "So— I'm not adverse to trying something."

"Me either." She admitted, feeling a whole symphony of emotions rushing through her head. Should she really be trying this? She was a man and what Kiima was suggesting was not something for a man. While a very large part of her wanted to do it, a smaller but very important part wondered if she should. "Maybe take it slow? Like really slow? Just holding hands slow?"

"Sure." Kiima hesitantly held out a hand, briefly rubbing her fingers together nervously.

'Now?' Ranma thought in horror before mechanically taking the gloved hand, feeling the scales even though the material. "Sure." She nodded, trying to sound more confident than she really was. "So— why did you touch my wing earlier?" Ranma asked as they walked, incredibly nervous with the physical contact, and whether or not other people would see.

The white haired girl's face lit up with realization. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

"Nah it's fine, I'm just not used to people touching me— there." Ranma added to herself that she wasn't used to being touched at all. "But there seemed to be a reason you did it."

"I'm not sure if Succubae have ways to do it, but for us Phoenix it's a sign of great trust. Back— before, it wasn't uncommon to see close friends or couples preening one another."

"If they do have anything special for that kind of thing I wouldn't know, I only met my mom a couple months ago, and we're not exactly on the best of terms." She admitted.

"So you grew up surrounded by landlings?"

"I wouldn't put it like that— but yes I've always been around mortals." She shrugged, feeling a tickling on her senses, and recognizing that it was Kasumi casting a big spell. 'Wait— that's a barrier.' Ignoring Kiima's question on why she wasn't raised by her mother to focus more on what was going on with Kasumi. 'Why is she still keeping it up?'

"Ranma?"

"I think Kasumi is in trouble, come on." Rushing off into the air without waiting for Kiima's response, she headed in the direction of her apartment. Going past Kasumi's location once, Ranma swung back around, and saw three men. Two that looked to be in their thirties and a third who was over fifty. Flaring her wings before tucking them in close to her body, she dropped down into the alleyway just as Kasumi's barrier ended.

Catching the youngest man's wrist before he could even start to bring it down towards Kasumi. "You have five seconds to give me a good reason for me not to break you." She said quickly, not allowing him to move his arm in the slightest, and breathing heavily through her nose.

"Favian's slave." The man gasped.

"Not a good reason." Snapping his wrist with a quick jerk of her hand, Ranma brought her free one forward for a palm strike to his chest. She felt the satisfying crunch as several of his ribs broke before he was thrown through the air to bowl over the other younger man and crash into the far wall of the alley.

"Ranma!" Kasumi cried out happily.

"Give me a minute." She strode purposely towards the downed pair, ignoring the eldest of Kasumi's attackers to focus on the one scrambling to get to his feet. The man fumbled on his knees to find his club that had become buried in the snow. Ranma nearly missed movement out of the corner of her eye as the eldest attacker stabbed at her with a small blade. Side stepping, his blade only cut her tunic near her stomach. Her eyes widened as he moved with surprising quickness to use his other hand to bludgeon her with his club.

"You killed Lethanial, I thank you for that." He shouted, using his knife and club in a flurry of strikes that she found hard to avoid until she realized that he was attacking in a pattern. "But I won't let you stop us from bringing justice to another Dragon!"

Ranma waited for his pattern to repeat and finally his left wrist with both hands. 'Damn he's actually pretty strong.' She struggled to hold him in place before he tried to bring his club down on her head. Rolling his hand over and twisting his body to the side, she slipped the knife from his hand, and used it to slash him across his face.

"So you won't forget this." She snarled, performing a high spin kick to strike him in the back of the neck with her heel to drive him face first into the snow.

Shaking slightly from the adrenaline coursing through her body, Ranma slowly turned her head to face the last of Kasumi's attackers. He still had his weapon but he was visibly trembling and looking between both of his downed partners.

"Fuck this." He threw his club away and started to run away from her.

Ranma snorted and relaxed, negligently raising a hand in his direction, and causing a large gust of wind to hit him in the back of the head. Knocking him clear across the street to slide face first into a building.

"Thank you." Kasumi cried, latching on to her like a life preserver.

She stiffened at the contact briefly before wrapping her arms around the large girl. "It's alright, you're safe." She patted Kasumi on the back and let the Tendo girl cry into her shoulder. Kasumi's face was marred by a boot print but seemed otherwise unharmed.

"Why?" The blonde choked out. "Why did they want to hurt me?"

"I don't know." She let Kasumi continue to cry while she watched Kiima roughly roll over the man with the broken ribs. Removing her white gloves, she ripped through his coat with her talons to see a tattoo on his upper arm.

"I knew I had seen this man before, he's a member of the guard." The Phoenix girl looked at the man with disgust. "I notified actual guards to follow me. The landlings should be here soon enough."

"Thanks." Ranma nodded to Kiima in appreciation for her forethought. "It's alright Kasumi, you don't have to worry about them anymore." She rubbed Kasumi's back, feeling the other tiefling's added warmth through her clothes. "Think you can walk back?"

Kasumi nodded, slowly pulling away from her. "Thank you Ranma— and you as well Lady Kiima." Kiima simply gave a short grunt in response and crossed her arms, watching them with a slight frown.

Two days later

Landing with a slight hop near Favian's home, Ranma straightened out some imaginary flaw in her new clothing. The tailor had done an impeccable job with all of the modifications, even coming up with a better way for her wings to fit through the top. Instead of just two vertical slits, there was a large square with the top portion still attached that would be clasped at the bottom once her wings were through. Getting the clasp closed wasn't the easiest thing in the world but she'd take that over ripping it accidentally. The color had been magically altered so it would never fade, dark navy blue for the pants, and teal for the tunic. There was a minor enchantment on everything she purchased to provide some reprieve from the weather but it would run out in a little over a month.

Knocking on the door, she waited for her former instructor to have one of his servants answer. She glanced behind her to make sure no one was staring again. That was the one major flaw with her clothing, it showed off the curves of her body, and men were really starting to notice her more. It was both annoying and ego boosting to draw so much attention. Kiima thought they looked good on her and that was more important than a bunch of guys she didn't care about ogling her form.

Since the attack on Kasumi, the Dragon tiefling had remained mostly at home unless Ranma was with her. The three men who had assaulted her were being kept in jail for the moment until a trial later this week. Ranma's burgeoning relationship with Kiima was put on hold as she tried to make sure Kasumi was going to be alright.

Finally a servant arrived to allow her in and took her to where Favian was currently moving around the bottom floor of his library looking for something. The library was sunk down into the ground, with a ornate wooden walkway around the second story, and a set of steps to get to the floor. Several large wooden chairs with plush padding were arranged in a circle at the center of the room. Along with books there were various artifacts hanging from the walls or placed on ornate pedastals.

"Right on time." Favian waved to her to come down and Ranma ignored the steps to simply drop from the second story, using her wings to slow her descent just before touching down. "How's Kasumi?" He asked, taking a seat in a large comfy chair.

"Better but still shaken up." Ranma answered neutrally and took one of the nearby seats.

"I'll try to stop by for a visit." He stared downwards briefly with an unreadable expression. "And how are you? I see that you've purchased some new clothing."

"Yea— I kind of had to, the rest were falling apart." She answered, happy with her purchase even if it did mean more unwanted attention from members of her true gender.

"You certainly look much more respectable."

"Thanks— I guess." She puffed up slightly at the praise.

"Almost like you're a proper young lady." He joked, popping the small ego bubbles he had.

Laughing sarcastically, she let her wings drape over the arm of the chair, and slid her butt forward to be reclining. "Another misconception I'll have to remedy." She snorted.

"Indeed." He chuckled to himself and accepted a cup of tea from one of the servants, who immediately moved over to offer her one. Sitting herself back up, she accepted the drink with a curt nod.

"You know, if you really want to make Kasumi feel better, give her some of your tea." She suggested. Supplies in the city for luxury items were low or nonexistent.

"I'll be sure to bring some when I visit. Maybe I'll see if I can bring enough for your friends amongst the Phoenix."

Ranma paused while taking a sip of her tea. "There's a lot of things they could use. Tea would be the last."

"Yes I've heard of the conditions they now live in. But they refuse most offers of assistance without giving something in return. I know that the few warriors they have left, along with your friend Kiima, are working for the town guard."

"But if they accepted it, would you help them?" She asked seriously, leaning forward in her seat to stare into his eyes.

"If they accept, I'll do what I can." He answered without hesitation.

"Well I know there's a sizable bill for getting the children more clothing. I could act as a go between for that." She offered, one of the reasons she chose to accept his invitation was to see about getting more help for them. The Phoenix were capable of paying back the money but it would be weeks before they could earn the amount and if Favian would help then they could use the money for other necessities.

"Not a bad suggestion— that will of course ingratiate yourself with Kiima, correct?" Favian replied suggestively.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She answered far too rapidly.

"It's alright." He laughed to himself. "Your relationships are your own business although I would be quite cross if you were involved with Kasumi at the same time."

"It's not like that!" She protested, feeling her face heat up at the suggestion. Kasumi and Kiima? At the same time? Briefly thinking of the possibilities, she slapped herself for such a thought, and settled into the chair to glare at the man. Deciding that this was just another of his little games. "So is the reason you asked me to stop by just to try and embarrass me?"

"I don't need a reason for that. Although if you're in such a hurry to get past small talk, perhaps I should be more direct on why I asked you to come here today." Reaching to the side of his chair, he pulled out a long rectangular wood box to put into his lap. Reverently ran his hands across the top and along the sides. Pressing his thumb on to an ornate silver lock, there was a soft click, and the top of the box popped open a hair.

"What is it?" She asked, curiosity making her lean forward on her chair, and caused her tail tip to twitch excitedly. Having retrieved her fair share of artifacts over the years, she knew that whatever was in the case was something valuable.

"It's something I've debated on giving you for some time now. Long has it sat in my collection collecting dust and now—." Pulling out a sword in it's sheath, he slowly handed it across to her. "It's yours."

"Mine?" Ranma took the sword and inspected the weapon. Immediately she noticed that the handle had a funny backward curve, opposite of a katanas curve. But other than that it seemed to be more of a work of art. A deep burgundy scabbard with a strangely shifting quality to the wood grain underneath the reflective varnish. The hand guard was smaller than normal with a swirling pattern towards the center with flecks of gold hidden within a strange dark metal. And the hilt was wrapped with a dark brown silk braided with leather.

"All yours, a replacement for the one you destroyed to kill Lethanial. " Favian explained.

'I don't know.' She would have prefered to have her own sword constructed to her own specifications. Ranma could see that this one was very beautiful but Favian may have confused it's physical attractiveness for a solid design. Something about it was tickling at her senses though, as if she had heard of this design before. "What kind of sword is this?" She asked, feeling a hint of magic emanating from it.

"You may have heard of them, they are called in the Old Elven tongue, Fea'megil." (6)

"Woah!" Ranma immediately held the blade back towards Favian. "Wait, you're joking again, aren't you?" She turned her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye suspiciously.

"I assure you that what you hold in your hands is an unbound Fea'megil." He reiterated.

"You can't have one of those." She scoffed, having come across several that were already bound on various jobs over the years. Bound to a soul, they could never be used by any other, and they were often enchanted so that anyone else would be harmed just by touching one. The last one had been created thousands of years ago, before the Elves split into two races.

"Prove me wrong then, draw the sword." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands on top of the sword case still in his lap.

"Well alright then." She gulped and gripped at the hilt with her right hand. Ranma could feel some of her aura being drawn into the sword, as though tiny hands were reaching through her skin to grasp at the incorporeal underneath. 'Could this actually be what he says?'

Slowly she started to slide the blade free from the scabbard, she suddenly felt an overpowering urge, and pulled it clear with one motion. For a moment she looked at the black piece of metal, curved in the reverse, and only three fourths as long as it should be. There was a brief but hard tug on her aura, the metal was surrounded by a soft white glow before a transparent red blade formed in the proper curved position and length. The metal of the sword changed, a rectangular line running along the top edge melted into the material forming a complicated knot pattern, immediately below this design near the hilt ancient lettering appeared in the same way.

"Wow." She breathed, feeling the miniscule tug on her aura from the sword to keep the blade activated. Ranma moved the blade about in the air, noticing just how natural it felt, as though it had been made just for her.

"That does confirm a suspicion of mine." Favian stood up from his chair to inspect the faintly glowing blade that she held in her hand. "It's said that these reflect the bearers natural affinity. Fire appears to be yours." (7)

"I do like red." She tried to focus the opposite element, water, and the sword responded by changing color to blue. As soon as her focus stopped, the blade reverted back to red. Cutting off all of her aura, the blade faded from existence, leaving just the decorated metal. "Any idea what it says?" Ranma asked, for some reason she could feel out how to use the new weapon.

"Inno'amil, I believe." He leaned in to see the decorative script better.

"I've heard the first part before, it means heart."

"And where have you heard Old Elven?" Favian raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"What? I've been in enough Elf ruins to have had to pick up a few words of it. Most of their traps are riddles or they like to threaten you with really flowery language." She shrugged.

"Linguistics? Archeology? I always took you for a simple brute." He remarked with a smirk.

"Hey!" She protested with a knee jerk reaction. "I am one of the best adventurers around."

"Am? Or was? I thought Ranma Saotome died a short time ago?" Favian asked, referencing their talk after she had nearly been captured by Raxus.

She glared at him, angry that he would bring that up in a joke. "Name or no name, that doesn't change how good I am. Not even this weak body can slow me down."

Smiling reassuringly, he patted her on the shoulder. "That's a much better attitude to have, but you have never been weak."

"I suppose it is." She brought her new sword up and across her body to stare at the inscription on it, a new concern creeping into her mind. "Will this still work if I get changed back? I remember, you said that he changed my soul."

"That's tough to say." He answered and rubbed his chin. "A soul is not a static thing, it's never the same from one moment to the next. My guess— is that no, it would not matter. The part of you that makes you unique, is not so limited as to what form it conforms to."

"Guess I'll find out when it happens." She nodded to herself, realizing that focusing on it, she could now read the name of the sword where before she had struggled with the unfamiliar script. Not that she was any closer to knowing the full meaning, but she wouldn't be forgetting it.

"I don't know what I can give you in return for this." Ranma carefully slid the metal blade back into the scabbard and looked up at her former teacher. "What— can you want?" She asked nervously.

"I've made a great deal of mistakes with how I've handled the situation with you and Kasumi. You're both so much better than I am, yet you have been the ones to suffer for my hubris." Favian closed his eyes, his entire body taking the posture of a defeated man.

"Your hubris?" Ranma cut in before sighing. "You're the only one who helped either of us. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you getting me healed. Who knows what would have happened to Kasumi if you hadn't been around." Sighing again, she rose to her feet, and placed the sword delicately down on the chair before facing the elderly man.

"Those were selfish actions, you shouldn't read too much into them." He attempted to dismiss the significance of his actions.

"For someone so smart you're really dumb." She shook her head in disgust at his dismissal at saving her life and what she was about to do. Taking in a deep breath, she stepped forward and hugged him around his chest. "Thank you." She mumbled into his robe as he stiffened at the contact. "Thank you— for everything." Ranma felt a small amount of wetness form at her eyes. "No one has ever helped me as much as you have." She choked out.

Favian relaxed and hesitantly placed his arms around her shoulders to give her one reassuring squeeze. "I doubt that very much." He responded.

"But if you tell anyone— ever about this— I will kill you." She hated herself for showing weakness, but for the moment, she could understand why her mother and sister enjoyed physical contact so much.

"Understood." He started to laugh and then she couldn't stop herself from joining in.

Author Notes

1 - Slavery is not universal but many places will uphold the practice in order to keep diplomatic relations so long as it doesn't directly violate one of their own laws.

2 - Knock knock, Penny.

3 - Amazingly enough this is actually a completely innocent suggestion from Nodoka. While homes are heated as detailed in a prior note, they are still normally quite cool due to lack of insulation, so sharing beds at night for warmth is a common practice.

4 - Raxus, killed a fully ascended Saffron then went on to help butcher almost all of the Phoenix.

5 - Rannit, a severe insult implicating not only the target but their entire family line are infernal garbage. Not very often uttered and in some cultures has started blood feuds.

6 - Literally "soul sword". I'm going to rip off some Tolkien for the language with this area of lore in the universe I'm creating. The time period the sword is from is very Elf focused, so why not? If I was properly writing it, there would be no apostrophe but I'm using it as a way to break up the words.

7 - Actually its primarily fire with earth thrown in. This actually comes from Nodoka's side of the family, because all of the eight major Succubus houses have developed specific affinities that they excel in.

World Info

Divine and Infernals can be divided into three levels.

- The most base or "true" are beings created purely from an attribute expressed by mortals. Because of this they are simple creatures with little concern or thought. This makes them highly destructive, especially for infernals who can be consumed by the need to destroy everything around them. They are not particularly liked by the higher forms who value more stability. Although many enjoy using them for their own purposes.

- The next step up were also originally created the same as their lower cousins but encompasses the full complexity of mortal attributes. Fully thinking and reasoning they are still bound by what created them. Although their attitudes and actions can range from mortal to completely alien.

- The highest level refers to an individual who sits as the literal focus for a mortal attribute, usually called a God or Lord. Immensely powerful, a plane of existence under them bends to their whims. Their strength is partially dependent on continued existence of their attribute and worship of them as deities. Details of how they come to power or what method is used to maintain a semblance of order is a discussion for another info dump.

Named Demon Lords

Thet - Lord of trickery and lies. Nothing is known specifically about this being, not the gender, appearance, personality, or even if it exists. Like the Black Dragons that it corrupted, it is unable to tell the truth in any way. It appears to have many infernal planes under it's sway, all of them a chaotic mess of demons, mortals, and the divine who are caught in endless webs of lies that are so vast and intricate, not even the reality around them can be trusted. Once caught in this web, escape is all but impossible.