Chapter 11
The light of the evening sun glistened upon the bare skin of Ranma's torso as he punched the rope-bound post over and over again. His focus never wavered even as beads of sweat ran down from his brow and into his eyes.
It had been a month since he had been cured of his curse. He had spent each day regretting it, some days more than others: not so much due to any particular inclination toward wanting to be female, but of having lost the choice and the opportunities that had been available; some of which he had explored and enjoyed. His past life as Hestia had little to do with it, though it had certainly extended his comfort level in regard to several female-related subjects.
He could live without getting extra helpings and free food from enamored guys, but there was something to be said about no longer having an outlet for when he didn't feel like owning up to whatever others perceived to be manly. It didn't help that it had been an image that he had projected himself, since other guys could get away with crying without it being a big deal (unlike the time when Mousse had repeatedly made him cry and prostrate himself in front of his peers using a magic pair of glasses).
What really irritated him was how the girls who supposedly loved him were free to do whatever they wanted, and were at that very moment about to see which one of them would attain their dream of becoming a sailor senshi.
He paused when he next struck the post, leaving his arm extended and his fist pressed against the rope. He thought about his mother, and the reason for why he had to be manly even if he had been inclined to change his character and act differently. The problem was that he didn't know what his mother's definition of manliness was, aside from a few aspects that most would consider normal or common. And what he didn't know made him wonder.
His mother had married his father, after all. Even if their marriage had been arranged, he'd seen his father doing things that he considered to be unmanly — or, at the very least, unlawful and immoral — in his mother's presence, or to her herself, without ever being called on it. How could she allow his father to do those things yet still expect him to act responsible, like a man should?
As he lowered his arm and stood up straight, he thought back on the few good things that had happened in the past month. For one, he could still hear his father griping every now and again about him getting a cure while he himself remained cursed. Fortunately, his mother didn't hold it against him for not finding a way to get his father cured as well, though he'd come to expect her aloofness toward his father. Of course, saying that the Jusenkyo curse had gone away on its own because he had earned it might have helped.
Another good thing was that each of the four so-called princesses had been wrapped up with the sailor senshi whenever it had been their turn to spend time with them for a week, so they hadn't paid him much attention during that time. It was also nice that they hadn't bothered him much during the other three weeks of the month, which he attributed to feelings of anxiety as they awaited the moment of truth, wondering whether their efforts had paid off or not.
He looked toward the breezeway that connected the house to the dojo with a wistful expression on his face, wanting to see Kasumi coming to visit him but knowing how unlikely that was to be. Now that they were strictly a man and woman, interacting with each other had become rather awkward: because they didn't want to go through the trouble that would follow either Akane or their parents getting the wrong idea about them acting too familiar with each other. That, and the difference in sex was hard for them to ignore because they weren't interested in a relationship that went beyond platonic, since their friendship had taken root between two girls.
Sighing, he turned away and walked over to the side of the dojo, where a water spigot came out of the ground via a concrete post. He retrieved the towel that he had left on top of it and began to wipe away the sweat from his face. Once he was finished, he folded it up length-wise and hung it from his neck.
Noticing the hose rolled up at the base of the spigot, he stared down at it with a longing look in his eyes and thought, "Damn it. I could really go for some ice cream right about now..."
"Why not get some, then?" He asked himself.
He gave the mental equivalent of a snort at that. "Why else? I've got a tough and manly image to uphold."
"That's a poor excuse and you know it," came the argument. "Besides, how often has that stopped you from doing something humiliating before?"
"That's different," he tried to reason with himself. "I was usually acting stupid at those times. And it's different when people see a girl eating ice cream."
He sensed a mental eyebrow being raised in response to that. "Oh, really? So you're saying that one's function follows form, and somehow there's something about a girl's appearance that signifies their ability to eat ice cream without being persecuted for it?"
That wasn't exactly how he had put it, but he got the general idea and felt equal parts stupid and ashamed. He knew better, even before he had remembered his life as Hestia, but the excuses made his sacrifices the result of being forced by outside sources rather than ones that came from within, which he didn't want to admit to. He could very well eat ice cream whether anyone else cared about it or not, but he cared, and he preferred making choices that would benefit him the most... Not that he'd felt particularly happy with a lot of his choices as of late.
"You're an idiot/I'm an idiot," he told himself, releasing a sigh.
Then he paused, realizing that he had just expressed two separate thoughts at the same time. Well, both thoughts had meant the same thing, only from a different perspective. That had never happened to him before. Was it even possible? And once he thought about it, the side of the conversation that had spoken in the second-person — while sounding just like him in his head — hadn't felt exactly the same as the thoughts that he was sure he had willed into being himself.
"You're an idiot," the other voice repeated, "but you're my idiot."
Elysium, where the Golden Kingdom had once flourished many a millennia ago, was a sight to behold; even to those who had seen it before. Aside from the ruins that bespoke of the aforementioned civilization, it was a place full of natural wonders that was very paradisiacal to the eye.
Four self-identified princesses of Earth, who were wearing their princess garb, looked about themselves — half in remembrance and half in awe — as they followed a Neo-Queen-dressed Usagi, an Endymion-clad Mamoru, and the four guardian sailor senshi to their destination. They did their best to hide their insecurities with self-assurances and self-imposed feelings of confidence, knowing that only one of them would be a sailor senshi after Gaea's judgement ended the rite of succession.
It wasn't long before they arrived at a beautiful lake, one whose pristine and tranquil surface captured the surrounding environment perfectly and reflected it back undisturbed by either wave or ripple. At its bank a fancy-looking ferry awaited them, and near its stern stood Helios, the priest of the large shrine that dominated the center of the lake. He greeted them all with a smile as they approached, in his hands the single oar that would propel and steer the ferry's passengers to where they would need to go.
They boarded the ferry without exchanging any words with anyone. While they could have just flown over to the shrine in the middle of the lake, as with many ceremonies they would need to proceed at a pace that was dictated by whatever impractical, inconvenient or unconventional means had been set as a requirement for it. Fortunately, in this case, the ferry was really the only such thing that the current part of the ceremony could have done without; at least in the opinion of several of those present.
As Helios began to row the ferry toward the shrine, some took the time (since they had plenty of it) to think about this or that, while others tried to not think of anything, fearing that — in doing so — it would undermine the frame of mind that they had put themselves in for what lie ahead of them. The four guardian sailor senshi — in particular — were keen to do nothing that would reveal anything regarding their thoughts or feelings on the matter, being that said thoughts and feelings would have an impact on Gaea's judgement.
It wasn't long before Usagi caught Mamoru's gaze and communicated silently with him about her concerns, since he was the only one who knew what she had learned from her mother-turned-sailor power guardian. She couldn't help wondering exactly what Gaea would do, or how it might affect the four former princesses; and while she found some reassurance from the emotional rapport shown in her beloved's eyes, it hadn't been enough to completely allay her worry. In some ways she felt that what was about to happen was wrong, even though she understood the reason for why it was going to be done. Even if she hadn't heard of what the four candidates had been like from Phoebe prior to spending a week with each of them, she had been able to tell — to some degree or another — that they hadn't been honest with her; that they had — in fact — been putting on a show for their own benefit. And how could she place her faith in any person who only existed as another's mask?
Behind her, Ukyo couldn't help wondering about Konatsu, despite the significance of where she was and what was happening. By the time her week with the sailor senshi had come to an end (at the expense of closing her restaurant during that time, since she couldn't trust anyone else to run it without them running it into the ground), the male kunoichi had simply vanished. She'd seen neither hide nor hair of him since, and at first she had been worried because he hadn't left a note telling her anything of importance. But he hadn't been anything more to her than cheap help at her restaurant, good for little more than waitressing and cleaning (because he was a screw up at everything else), so it hadn't taken long for the concern to vanish. That didn't stop his absence from being a mystery, but she figured that he could take care of himself regardless of the reason for his abrupt disappearance. Still, it was a shame that she couldn't benefit from his unambitious and obsequious devotion anymore.
While the ancient shrine grew bigger as the ferry drew nearer, Akane found it easy enough to feel both confident and smug. Not only did she feel like she had the best chance for being the most normal girl among them (seeing as the other sailor senshi were essentially normal girls living normal lives), but she had also managed to throw water on Ukyo's and Shampoo's passion for her fiancé. After boasting about having taken care of Hestia, by having been the one to cure Ranma of his curse, she had lied and told them that she was no longer interested in him because he was now more Hestia than the Ranma that they had all fallen in love with. And while she wasn't completely at ease with him being Hestia's reincarnation, it was still a matter of pride that she win him from the others. Besides which, marrying him wouldn't be so bad because he was easy enough to control, and that would allow her to be the one in charge while he took care of most of the responsibilities. If she also happened to become a sailor senshi, he'd be more a servant to royalty than a husband and an equal in status, which would suit her just fine.
When the ferry was close enough for the immense size of the shrine to loom over it and its passengers, the four sailor senshi candidates were able to take in the masonic structure's details for the first time in either of their incarnations. Both the foundation and the structure at the shrine's center were octagonal in shape, with the entirety of the outermost part of the former having stairs leading inward to the latter. There were eight flying buttresses supporting the central structure from the base of the stairs, each at a corner, which lent to and complemented the pillar-dominated design of the structure's ground level. The second level appeared to be a roof, where a large stairway led to an unknown area (since they couldn't see it from their current vantage point) that was surrounded by two pairs of massive pillars. There were three pillars to a pair, and each of the three pillars shared the same architrave and didn't seem to support anything more beyond that.
They eventually reached the shrine and disembarked from the ferry. After they ascended the stairs and found themselves beneath the shrine's vaulted ceiling, they were met and greeted by two smiling shrine maidens. The shrine maidens moved with grace, wore slim, white gowns of silk that were long enough to whisper across the floor, and their hair was done up in the same odango hairstyle as Usagi's. With Helios in the lead, he and they soon led their group to the rooftop, this time with the four candidates being followed by Usagi, Mamoru and the four guardian sailor senshi (due to boarding and disembarking from the same side of the ferry).
The roof was essentially the opposite of the ground level, being open to the sky yet covering everywhere else with walls, colonnades and various foliage. Aside from the large stairway there wasn't much of a view of what was beyond the shrine, which was a bit ironic since the roof had a much better view of the surrounding area than the ground level did. However, it had a more welcoming, atrium-like quality to it, as opposed to being wide-open and ascetic.
As for the stairway, it began with a pair of stairs leading in opposite directions, before angling back to meet at a common landing. There was only a single stair that went onward from there, whose width more than doubled near the start as it led the way to a large platform surrounded by six equally-large pillars. To those in the know, all of it was referred to as the "tower of prayer," because it was where Helios conducted his prayers as the priest of the shrine.
While it didn't seem to matter which way they went, Helios and a shrine maiden went one way, leading the four sailor senshi candidates, while the other shrine maiden went the other way, leading the rest of the group. When both groups reunited upon arriving at the landing, the two shrine maidens followed Helios as he broke away from the group and climbed the next set of stairs. When the two shrine maidens stopped and flanked the portion of the stairs where it broadened, Helios continued to make his way to the platform that lie beyond them.
By the time that Helios had stopped a few steps short of the platform and knelt down before it, the tension had become strong enough to wear down calm exteriors and lower the confidence of even the most self-assured among the four who hoped to become the sailor senshi of the Earth. The moment of truth had finally arrived for them, and they were anxious and hopeful to be the victor, being that they all had certain dreams that they wished to achieve — as well as expectations to enjoy — once they were the Earth's sailor senshi.
"Gaea," Helios spoke loudly and clearly as he gazed up toward the platform, his voice having a reverberating quality to it, "she who is mother to us all, the time for judgement has arrived. I have guided those who would be judged to this sacred place, the chosen of a bygone era. With them stand the daughter of Selene, the son of Kronos, and the sailor senshi of Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter."
No sooner than he had finished speaking did the air begin to feel charged with energy, and the shrine vibrated with such a frequency that it had a slight numbing effect on the feet of those standing upon it. Then, above the platform, between it and the maximum height of the pillars, something began to manifest itself visually in the air. It was formless, dancing like a fire, if said fire were a haze of mist and smoke that shimmered and rippled like a mirage. Faint colors appeared to highlight it, constantly changing in shape, size and mixing with each other at their boundaries to create new colors.
When the environment seemed to settle down, everyone present heard Gaea speak in their minds, in each of their own inner voices. "I thank you for your service, Helios. May the four chosen approach me."
While Helios stood up and walked over to one side of the stairway, so he wouldn't be in the way of the proceedings, four girls ascended the stairway at a sedate pace even as their hearts raced, their heads held high. Like Helios they stopped short of the platform, where they looked up at what represented Gaea's presence. To a few of those present, looking upon Gaea reminded them of a television screen displaying noise: because they could briefly make out patterns even though what was being shown was random. It came as a welcome distraction to those who needed it.
"This day has been long in coming," Gaea intoned, "a day that I had once feared as an individual who cherishes freedom. But freedom can not always be won alone, and I'm in a poor position to protect myself and what I hold dear. Recent events have made this more clear than ever, and my reluctance to join with another for the rest of our existence has been put to rest."
This information was new to quite a few of those present, though they were affected by it differently. For the four that the information was most relevant to: while there was some concern about the "joining" part, they were more intrigued by the thought of how long they would live if they became a sailor senshi. For the four that were already sailor senshi: it made them wonder about their sailor power guardians and whether Gaea would become like theirs, who were essentially mirrors of themselves.
"I am pleased to say," Gaea continued, in a tone of satisfaction, "that the one who will become my sailor senshi has been decided unanimously, not only by the judges present but by myself as well. I will now bind myself to them and assume their appearance henceforth, revealing to all what has been decided."
Mamoru looked down upon feeling a familiar sensation, and he and those around him watched as the Kinzuishou came out of his chest and floated toward Gaea. The four girls that stood near the platform, whose backs were facing those who were at the landing, had no idea that it had happened until they "heard" Gaea say, "I thank you and your family, Endymion, for keeping this safe. The abilities that have been bestowed upon you — in order to protect it — shall remain, and to show my gratitude you shall be blessed with a long and healthy life."
When the Kinzuishou reached Gaea, and entered the form that represented her presence, it suddenly disappeared. Replacing it was a pinpoint of light, which began to grow bigger and brighter within seconds, swallowing up the formless shape around it. By that time all of Elysium had begun to go crazy, with colors and shapes changing and distorting without rhyme or reason, as if something were interfering with its connection to reality. This was due to the fact that Elysium only existed because of Gaea's will, and at the moment she was going through a process that limited her attention to anything else.
Despite most present feeling varying degrees of disconcertment and distress, there wasn't an outright panic because nothing was happening to them beyond having to keep their balance, since the shrine itself did nothing more than tremble and shake. When the world around them calmed down and started to make sense again, it came as a great source of relief; although it also helped that their attention had been drawn back to the ball of light, which had begun to change its shape.
Everyone watched as the ball of light changed from a sphere into something else, though only the group at the landing were at a vantage point to discern exactly what it was, as only they could make out the head and limbs that were connected to a torso. To the four girls standing almost directly underneath it, the sphere of light had taken on a very lumpy and rectangular shape, one that had two pronounced protrusions at the bottom.
Then the human-shaped figure of light released a blinding flash, which made everyone shut their eyes and/or cover their faces. When they were able to see again, and saw the nude form of the person that Gaea had bound herself to, there were three distinct reactions. The first came from Usagi, Mamoru and Helios, who had expected Gaea's choice and were concerned about how it would effect the four girls near the platform. The second came from the four guardian sailor senshi, who were surprised but otherwise delighted by the outcome, as their reluctant choices had been ignored for the one that they wanted to — but couldn't — make. The third came from the now-defunct candidates, who stared at Gaea in shocked horror, even as outrage began to build up within them.
Gaea drifted downward, closer to the platform, and smirked at the reactions that she had received from the four girls below her. When she spoke, rather than her voice matching the person hearing it, everyone heard Ranma's female voice instead. "It is done. Now and forever shall Ranma be Sailor Gaea."
Ukyo was the first to recover and express her outrage. "But that... That's not fair! How could you choose her when she wasn't even a candidate! ?"
Gaea looked down upon her as if she were a bug before crossing her arms and snorting contemptuously. "Fair? Who said anything about life being fair? The only reason why I didn't choose just anyone in the first place was out of consideration for the circumstances at the time. You had your chance and you blew it, not once but twice. Forcing someone out of the candidacy in one life, and then trying to ensure that she couldn't become a candidate in another, wasn't going to change anything."
"You've been tricked!" Akane exclaimed, her body shaking with emotion in light of the scenario that she had dreaded becoming a reality having done just that. She found herself putting into words the things that she tended to feel about Ranma and Hestia. "She might seem nice and innocent on the outside, but she's devious and rotten on the inside! She's a pervert, can't be trusted, and she thinks she's better than everyone else! Who knows what she'll do now that she has your power!"
As the girls around her nodded their heads in agreement (with Shampoo and Ukyo joining Kodachi due to Akane's lies, since neither of them had liked Hestia), Gaea stared at them pityingly. "The only ones who have been tricked are yourselves, by yourselves. I know every thought and memory of all creatures born on this planet, and I do not like the desires that have driven all of you to want what I had to offer."
"Unlike you," Gaea continued, with a frown, "the one I've chosen doesn't want to become the queen of the world, play the hero by correcting what is believed to be wrong — wherever it might be found — until it's made right, making a remote village the center of the world and spreading its ways as the correct and ideal way to live, or using one's status as a sailor senshi to become popular and idolized because of their insecurities."
Ukyo had the good grace to look embarrassed, while the others either found nothing wrong with their desires or were too proud to show that they were. In the end, however, they had lost and that hadn't put them in the mood to listen to anyone's criticism; even from Gaea, especially since she looked like the person that they had lost to. Shampoo and Kodachi were already rationalizing how Gaea was wrong, how they were faultless, and why their loss was a mistake that would work itself out given enough time, once she realized the truth as they saw it. As for Akane, she had her head bowed and her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she tried to stop herself from making an outburst, because she didn't like it when someone told her that she was insecure about something, much less when it was said in front of others.
Knowing what was going through their minds, Gaea could only shake her head in mild disbelief. "My words do not reach you. No matter; perhaps in time you'll realize what you've done for it to come to this. Why, it has even cost you the man you all supposedly love."
Pointing out that they had lost their second-highest desire elicited a heart-stricken response, as the combined loss began to take its toll. Only Kodachi hadn't responded that way, who had become confused instead.
Seeing this, Gaea turned her attention to her with a grin and said, "Yes, Ranma and the girl you now know as Hestia are one and the same. You've never seen them together, know that they have gone by the same name, wear the same clothes and hairstyle, appear related, and you've even seen him become her before your very eyes."
"No!" Kodachi screamed, as she closed her eyes and shook her head in denial. "You lie! It can't be!"
And it couldn't be. If she were led to believe it, then that would mean that all of her efforts would have been sabotaged by none other than herself. Not only that, but that she could have potentially had the opposite effect on him while the confidence that she had in her seduction techniques made her blind to that possibility. After all, how could she have failed?
Even though she feared what she might learn, she turned to regard the others who were after her beloved's heart. When she saw them turn their heads away, as if to play innocent, she felt the world fall out from under her feet, and she found herself on her knees before she was even aware of it, with her legs folding underneath her in short order. Now she knew that Gaea had been telling her the truth: because it made so much sense for her rivals to know and not say anything to her about it, knowing that it would ruin any chance that she would have had at winning her beloved from them. She couldn't help covering her face with her hands as she tried to quell the tears that stung her eyes, her grief not helped by the shame brought on by having such a revelation before the ones who had used her ignorance against her.
Before Gaea could attempt to achieve the same kind of result with at least one of the other girls standing before her, she had to pause when she noticed how upset Selene's daughter had become. While she couldn't read the girl's mind, the glare that she directed her way said more than enough. She took a moment to consider what she should do next, and it was with no small amount of reluctance that she decided to leave things be, even as she cursed how much Usagi had turned out to be like her mother.
She released a sigh of disappointment and said, "I suppose that's all that needs to be said. Time to send home the losers, I guess."
The four princess-garbed girls couldn't even begin to mount a protest — even those who had been in a condition and inclination to do so — by the time they found themselves being whisked away within pillars of light, courtesy of an absently-given hand gesture made by Gaea.
"That was horrible!" Usagi decried. "How could you do that! ?"
Now that there was no one present that she needed to act wise and superior around or toward, Gaea huffed petulantly and turned her body away to the side with her arms crossed. "I was just stating the facts. What does it matter if they realize it now or later? The sooner the better, if you ask me."
"That's different," Usagi argued, her expression hardening. "What good does it do you to hurt other people in such a way?"
Gaea regarded Usagi with a sidelong glance before looking away again, her cheeks beginning to flush. She proceeded to pout and fidget with her hands by pressing her index fingers together. In a soft voice she reluctantly admitted, "I was... you know... kind of hoping that it would be good for Ranma, not me."
That brought Usagi up short, while Mamoru and the four guardian sailor senshi marveled at Gaea's change in behavior. Just a moment ago she had seemed so large and in charge, and now she was acting like a demure school girl who had a crush. Could it be that...
Before that kind of thought could be finished by anyone who happened to be thinking in that direction, Gaea turned to face them, waved her hands as if to ward off something, and frantically said, "N-not that I like her, or anything! It's just..." She paused to think of an excuse, and she snapped her fingers upon doing so. "I feel sorry for her! Yeah! And if I make her feel better, it will improve her job performance! That's what it all really comes down to! Job performance!"
She only needed to see the knowing grins, half-lidded stares and cocked eyebrows to know that they weren't buying it, which made her squeal in embarrassment. "I don't have to float here and take this! I have a new sailor senshi to break in!"
And, just like that, she was gone; but not before making a comical-sounding harrumph. Those responsible for her abrupt leave-taking exchanged looks with each other, figuring that Ranma would be in good hands.
"I hope Ranma will be alright..." Usagi thought to herself, concerned.
