Realities Warped!
By Jim Robert Bader
(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi and other artists too numerous to mention.
The Characters Chakar Shadowmane and Garimel Shalestar, however, were created by me, while Trella (RA Curtis) provided some of the characters and ideas that appear within this chapter, based on her series "Aiyaa, My Goddess!"
and inspired by the "Paradise Lost" series by Andy Kent, not to mention a few other creators to whom I might assign the blame and/or credit.
Use by anyone else is strictly verboten and might get you flamed by some of my pre-readers -and they can play really nasty!-
You have been duly warned!)
Chapter Fourteen.
Gods and Monsters
Continuum #52211475
"Now, what's this all about again?" Colonel Saotome Misato demanded of the five peculiar looking teenagers who had been found by Security on the perimeter of NERV central.
"Um...well," Ranko nervously replied to the purple haired commander, "You see, Sir-Ma'am...it's like...we're on a quest and we didn't mean to wind up violating your security and all that. It's just...well...when we dropped out from our parallel dimension into your world..."
"Cross Paratime travel," noted the blonde Doctor Ritsuko Akagi as she adjusted her glasses with the tip of one finger, "We've done some dabbling in it ourselves, of course, but nothing beyond the experimental phases...and you say you have the technique perfected?"
"Well, not absolutely perfected, Ma'am," Meiko replied as she smiled sheepishly at her sister, "It's just that we tend to go wherever we're called by the central processing unit of the division my sisters and I work for, and we're here to recruit volunteers for a very important top-secret mission..."
"Volunteer?" Honeysuckle glanced at Leona and Maya, "I don't remember volunteering myself, do you guys?"
"Top secret for whom?" Misato demanded in her best no-nonsense manner, "I'm sorry, I can't accept that explanation, not when you trespass on a top-secret government installation and then tell me that you're here to recruit one or more of my cadet pilots? I need to know names, and who do you take orders from, young lady?"
"Um...you wouldn't believe me if I told you," Ranko said sheepishly.
"Try us," Dr. Akagi replied, "You'd be amazed at what we tend to take for granted."
"That all depends," Meiko said as she glanced at the two NERV officers and said, "You guys fight Angels for a living, right?"
"We used to," Misato replied, "But our function has progresses a long way from that. We're now dealing with a host of alien menaces, some of whom make the Angels look like social workers, and how are we to know that you're not working with them if you won't tell us who employs you?"
"Um...well...I'm only a Cadet myself," Ranko replied, "But my official designation is a Time Agent for the TPC, Time Patrol Central. I go to other worlds and fight bad guys who threaten the stability of reality as we know it, but I also do field work for...um...well...the Gods, if you can believe that."
"The Gods," Akagi repeated slowly, "What Pantheon?"
"The Yggdrasil branch of the Goddess Relief Agencies," Meiko answered, "They're not affiliated with the Nephlim Angels that you once fought..."
"Thank somebody for that," Misato sniffed, "Could be worse, you could have been some of Metiron's people. She tends to be a real pest at times, though she swears her intentions are benevolent..."
"Not that you can judge that by the sort of fanatics she has working on her payroll," Akagi added.
"Oh yeah," Meiko laughed nervously, "I've had some encounters with them. Real fun types...if you're into mayhem and slaughter."
"I don't believe this," Honeysuckle stared at the two NERV brass, "You actually mean you can accept this at face value?"
"Kid, you wouldn't believe what I take for granted," Misato replied, "For example, I'm part alien on my grandfather's side, and if I'm to take you at your word, at least three of you are the nearest equivalent to being my grandchildren."
Ranko looked at the purple haired woman and blinked, reckoning her age as indeterminate as she had those sort of looks that lasted well into her later years, and tried to contrast her with the grandmother she knew, Saotome Nodoka, then concluded, "You mean...our Pop is your son?"
"Well, most of the time he is," Misato shrugged, "Watching you turn into a boy and back pretty much cinched it for me, but I wanted to get the full story on your before I knew if you could be trusted."
"Um..." Leona raised a hand, "If it's not treading too much on security, Ma'am, mind telling me just what sort of top-secret paramilitary base this is, and what you're fighting with, and against who?"
"All in good time, Cadet," Misato touched her collar and said, "Send them in, Major Hibiki. Let's get this show on the road."
"Huh?" Honeysuckle blinked, "Major...Hibiki?"
To the surprise of the five time-displaced youths a man walked in wearing military dress whose appearance was instantly recognizable from his non-
regulation headband, not to mention his rugged good looks, which prompted Meiko to say, "Uncle Ryoga?"
The man in the uniform looked at Meiko with surprise, then exchanged looks with Misato and Doctor Akagi before seeing them motion for patience, though it was obvious that he was greatly confused about some issue or the other.
"Oh wow," murmured Leona in fascination, "He looks just like Gilgamesh's dad, don't he?"
Then in walked four teenagers of various ages ranging from fourteen to seventeen, in the lead of which was a cocky-looking brunet who wore her hair in a ponytail and who eyed their party up like she was looking to start trouble. Behind her was an almost ethereal beauty whose long white hair and fine features made her seem almost like a porcelain doll, and she moved almost silently with preternatural grace and an aura of otherworldly intelligence behind her reddish-
brown eyes as she studied each member of Ranko's group with curious indifference.
Next came a cocksure looking boy whose swagger and broad shoulders made him look alter than the rest of his curious group, a smirk that seemed perpetually upon his lips as he eyed the new faces made it almost seem as though he were rating them on some mental scale or other and found one or two of them much to his approval. After him came another girl whose movements betrayed the fact that she was a highly trained martial artist, and yet the most curious thing about her was that she exactly resembled Meiko, only her hair was done up into a long pig-tail and she was eyeing their group with unusual caution.
"Cadets," Misato acknowledged the oddly assorted teens, who were each dressed in some sort of form-fitting outfits that did not match the regulation dress worn by the local equivalent to Ryoga, "You've been summoned to his meeting because of some rather extraordinary circumstances, the likes of which we cannot immediately disclose, but suffice to say that I'd like to introduce you to our young guests, Ranko, Meiko, Honeysuckle, Leona and...Maya."
Ranko noted the slight hesitation at the end of that introductory statement and glanced towards the oddly tattooed girl in their midst, wondering what it was about that stunning beauty that was making her feel both uneasy and aroused at one and the same breath.
Colonel Saotome, however, was now on to making introductions of the other teenagers so she focused in as Misato resumed, "And here, representing NERV, are our young pilot cadets, Lieutenants Hibiki Reiko, Hibiki Yui, Taro Seigfried and my granddaughter, Saotome..."
"Hey," the girl at the end of the line pointed at Meiko and said, "Why does she look like me, grandmom? Uh-sir?"
Misato made a slight noise and sighed, "...Meiko-chan, what have I told you about rank and title when in official briefings?"
"Oops, sorry," the other girl winced contritely.
"Wow," Meiko glanced back at her near-identical counterpart, "You have the same name as me?"
"The same mother too, I'd warrant," Honeysuckle murmured faintly.
"Begging the Colonel's pardon," the tall boy named Seigfried spoke up, "But what's this all about, Ma'am? Are these the new pilot recruits we've been told to expect?"
"Not exactly," Ritsuko replied, "In fact, that's what this briefing is about, so if you wouldn't mind sitting down, Lieutenant Taro, along with you others..."
"Sure thing, Doc," said the cocky brunette named Reiko as she slipped into her chair, joined by the ethereal girl beside her as all four cadets composed themselves and sat alertly. Reiko winked at Ranko and smiled affably as she added, "Welcome to NERV, hope you survive it."
"They are not here to join us in our fight against the Jovians, Sister," the oddly pale girl beside her said, "They come to us with far different intentions."
"Yeah?" Leona asked, "What makes you say that, Blondie?"
"I just know," the frost haired Yui replied, glancing towards Maya, "Besides, her markings betray her origins. Clearly this is no ordinary matter as the Gods do not trifle lightly in the affairs of mortals."
"Uh...right," Ranko said, feeling even more unnerved by the mysterious girl's odd manner, "Maya's...kind of unusual, even for us..."
"If you mean by that that my mother was a demon and my fama was half demon herself, which makes me three-quarters demon and one part Goddess, then I suppose unusual would about describe me," Maya noted with an odd lilt of amusement as she glanced back at Ranko and winked, then gave Yui her full attention, "But you, I take it, are part angel?"
"On my mother's side," Yui replied, "My sister, however, is quite human...well, mostly..."
"Thanks a lot," Reiko snorted, "So, if you guys aren't here to join us, what are you here for?"
"Well," Ranko began again, "It's kind of hard to explain. You see...we're actually from another dimension...a different time continuum where things are a little bit different..."
"No fooling?" Seigfried's smile became even more insinuating, and for some reason Ranko felt an urge to slap his face on general principles but restrained the impulse. Instead the boy glanced at the girl beside him and said, "Hey, Saotome, looks like you get to meet your evil twin this time around, how about that?"
"Lovely," the other Meiko sniffed as she looked directly at the Meiko wearing the Valkyrie armor, "Is that some kind of Renn-fair outfit you got on there or something?"
"Ah, no, actually this is real Mithril chain mail," Meiko indicated her armor, "Along with the plates, all forged on the anvil of the Dwarven Smiths of Asgard and all that..."
"No fooling?" Reiko asked, "And you're a Valkyrie?"
"In training," Meiko replied, "But I'm also a Saotome..."
"Might have figured that," Seigfried nodded then glanced at Ranko, "You look just like Uncle Ranma, though my Dad always calls him Fem-boy. Bet you got a curse just like Meiko-chan here, eh?"
"Don't call me Meiko-chan while we're in uniform," the girl beside him grumbled, glancing once again at her counterpart, "And what about you? Do you turn into a boy too?"
"No, thankfully the curse skipped me, but it definitely took root with Oneechan," Meiko indicated Ranko with a nod, "Luck of the draw, I suppose...the rules change with every alternate timeline I visit."
"Wonderful," the other Meiko rolled her eyes, "So why do I get to be so lucky?"
"Look, can we get back to the main subject here?" Honeysuckle asked, "I know this all must seen fascinating to you, but I've been dragged away from my home and family on the promise of some kind of quest that suits my sisters far better than me, so if we can get on to finding out which of you guys that enchanted pendant of yours is after..."
"Enchanted pendant?" Seigfried asked.
"Right," Ranko fingered her locket then said, "Well, to be completely truthful, I don't know how this actually works and all that, I just know that it picks the people we need to complete a mission, and when it decides you can usually tell because we start..."
"Fading out of synch with the regular universe?" Yui asked.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Ranko asked.
"Because I can feel us beginning to shift already," Yui replied, "Both me and my sister."
"What?" Reiko asked, only to start in dismay as she stared at her hand...and then right through it.
"It's beginning already," Meiko mused, "Only this time it's chosen Hibikis instead of Saotomes..."
"Huh?" the other Meiko asked, "Why you guys and not us?"
"Yeah," Seigfried frowned at the two Hibikis, "What makes you guys so special?"
"Honestly, I've got no...!" Reiko started to say when she and Yui joined Ranko's group in vanishing from the chamber.
"Yui-chan, Reiko-chan...what...?" their father broke his silence and darted forward felt the empty space where his daughters had been residing a mere moment beforehand.
"Oh great," Misato growled, "I hate when this happens. How am I supposed to file a report on this with headquarters?"
"Maybe we'd better mark Pilots Reiko and Yui as being on temporary leave until and if they get back," Dr. Akagi replied.
"What do you mean...if?" Ryoga demanded, "Where did they go all of a sudden?"
"That's what the rest of us would like to know, Ryoga-kun," Misato assured him, "But I'd bet a weeks pay that it'll be more trouble than the usual sort we have to deal with...and considering who they took, I'm just glad I won't be the one who has to fill in the paperwork for that..."
"But Grandma...!" Meiko protested.
"Why do those two always get to have all the fun?" Seigfried growled, "A pity, though...that one purple haired chick almost reminded me of Bonbons...OW! What did you do that for?" he snapped at Meiko.
"General principles, Baka," his girlfriend snorted back, intending to fully keep a close eye on her fellow pilot as one could not be too careful with the sort of competition you found these days, especially with crazy Amazon chicks and those funny rules they took so seriously about marrying the one who defeated them in battle, a point to which she was herself quite vulnerable even if she hated to admit that she found the buxom girl's attention to be more than a bit flattering. Not that she ever intended to swing that way sexually, of course, no matter what Reiko said about "sampling" the other side of the coin, that half-Angel hentai...
Continuum #52413783 Gate of Ashkalon
"Well, what do we have here?" Happosai mused as he peered from his place of concealment, seeing the lone man standing atop a smooth mesa formed by carefully sculpted stones that formed a gigantic mosaic.
The old man had nearly missed his last transition point when he was chasing and being chased by those cuties on the movie set, but once he had sensed that Nabiki was preparing to shift to another continuum, he hastily abandoned the game and went after her, barely catching up in time to grasp the trailing ends of the outfit worn by the goddess Peorth.
As such his entrance to this new plane had been somewhat rougher than was usual, and almost he had failed to hold on at the end there as he was caught up in the backtides of the phase shift, which momentarily trapped him near to the event horizon at the eye of the Torus. With an effort of will he had managed to break through to the other side, drawn by the allure that Peorth gave off of feminine divinity, but when he manifested in "Real Space" it was several minutes behind the others, which was why he found only the strange dark-haired man standing there by himself looking all dramatic and important with no sight of Ranma or Nabiki anywhere to be found, or even that cutie-pie Peorth herself, which the lecherous old man found highly annoying.
Being prudent enough to not leap in with questions, he took concealment and waited as the stranger was not focusing his attention towards Happosai. Instead he seemed to be concentrating his energies into some manner of spell or something. Happosai could read by the man's aura that he was incredibly powerful and not to be lightly trifled with, rather a lot like Peorth in certain ways save for the fact that he was no where near as curvy. Bishonen was the word they used to describe guys like this these days, but Happosai always felt disgusted at encountering a man who looked pretty enough to be a girl. He hated to be fooled like that, it was just not natural, and besides, he wanted a real girl he could fondle, not one who was lacking in the right sort of...assets.
But now he sensed that the stranger was ready to make his move, and as the oddly garbed Bishonen man raised a staff that he called into existence, it was clear that a very powerful bit of celestial magic was about to exercised, which piqued Happosai's interests. He was always keen to learn whatever lore he could find since magic could be useful if practiced in the right sort of way, especially if it could be used to make Happosai a more powerful fighter, or-failing that-
more attractive to the ladies.
"HEAR ME, O' CELESTIAL POWERS!" the man intoned solemnly, "I CALL UPON YOU NOW TO WORK MY BIDDING-COME FORTH!"
With that the stranger rapped his staff once against the ground and instantly a pattern flared to lift upon the stones themselves, flaring outward to form a series of circles, squares and glyphs of awesome majesty and power. Happosai could literally feel the energies rising up to levels unknown to him even in the days of his carefree youth, and then he saw a truly amazing sight as lines formed in the air above the cardinal pattern, four lines to be precise, each rising up from an angle diametric to the four points of the compass, and arching up to touch above the very center of the pattern, forming a pyramid of light that remained there shimmering brightly.
Happosai had to blink twice before his eyes could adjust to the blinding intensity of this light pyramid, but as he did so he began to make out tiny forms hovering within the pyramid at different points like a swarm of flies caught in amber. It took a few moments before he started to recognize faces and body types, but then his ancient eyes got very big indeed, for it was none other than Ranma whom he saw as dominating the pyramid at precisely angled positions diametric to one another.
Seven Ranma's? No, wait! There was an eighth one positioned near the very heart of the pyramid itself, and that was far from all that the old man discovered as he stared alertly at the other floating dogs within the pyramid's seemingly solid interior. There were also a fair number of women of many types of voluptuous, some of them quite beautiful and none of them failing the attraction test as Happosai eyed them, grinning the more broadly the more faces he believed that he could make out from within, and some of them as interesting to look upon as Ranko.
"Well, well," he mused softly, "Quite a collection you have here, my good fellow. But what are you planning to do with them all? That's the thing, and I'll warrant it's nothing that I'd approve of..."
The man conducting the ritual made a complex gesture with his hand that caused several glyphs to light up on the ground and appear in the air around the pyramid in a complex network of intersecting lines and forces, and the geometric pattern this formed was quite a sight for the casual observer, but Happosai was a little more concerned about the lines that curled upwards into the sky to form a kind of virtual stairway, three of them in all, and these congealed to form the very solid appearance of a tree moving towards the heavens. Happosai's interest turned to alarm as some vague memory was stirred within him, and all at once he recognized the tree and what it signified. He also comprehended the fact that the man was performing a spell involving many different aspects of Ranma and the others...but as he traced the lines of force to their centralmost hub he discovered the rather amazing fact that there was a single figure occupying the hub at the base of the pyramid, a form spread-eagled and held in place with all the force lines intersecting with her body, a rather familiar form whose face was burned into Happosai's memories as he stared wide-eyed and spoke her name.
"Nabiki? What are you doing up there, my girl?" the old man murmured to himself before following one of the lines positioned directly above the adult form of the middle Tendo girl, and there, sure enough, held suspended as though on a crucifix, was another form whose resemblance to Nabiki was uncanny, and yet whom Happosai knew by another name as he said, "That Peorth girl...what's this? Is that devil using both cuties for some kind of sacrifice spell? Well, I'm putting a stop to this! Nobody messes with my family but me, and that includes stuck up gods with delusions of Omniscience!"
"HEAR ME YOU POWERS ABOVE AND BELOW AND ALL POINTS WITHIN THE COSMOS!" the strange being was declaring, "THE TIME OF THE OLD ORDER IS ENDED...NOW BEGINS A NEW AGE WHERE THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST SHALL BE ERASED FOREVER!"
As Happosai prepared to break from cover, a new impetus was given to his intentions as the spell that the renegade god was casting caused a projected image to form around the pyramid, that of a beautiful naked woman, a fusion of Nabiki and Peorth with aspects of other women combined into a beautiful matrix, unclad and on full display in all her naked glory, the very epitome of womanhood, which fired his lusts and caused him to rush forward in a rash desire to claim this embodiment of everything that he found attractive in a woman.
"SWEETO!" he cried in utter delight, startling Celestine as the renegade god had not expected such an outburst.
"No, you fool! Don't do-!" Celestine started to cry, too late in getting a spell off to prevent the fleet-footed old man from carrying out his intentions, but even one who spent most of his life among the divine spheres could hardly stand between the world's most perverted Martial Artist and the "Celestial Spheres" that were on such prominent display as Happosai literally threw himself at the image of heavenly beauty without thought of the consequences, of which Celestine could have told him plenty.
As it was Happosai leaped and glomped onto the most massive set of perfect breasts that he had ever before witnesses and encountered the energy field that maintained the illusion, his solid mass colliding with the energized particles and tensor-fields that were on display, literally grasping for the brass ring that had eluded him for most of his very long life. This caused his own quantum signature and genetic matrix to fragment, his pattern intruding itself upon the spell, which in turn bent the energy lines and converged them on the old man, transfiguring him and merging him with the goddess-like abstraction., He flared up like a candle and transformed into a multi-dimensional version of himself as the intense concentration that held him rooted to his previous reality gave way to a mental and physical expansion far beyond the limits of mortality.
In other words the pattern merged with him and exploded.
"NOOOO!" Celestine cried, seeing his construction begin to invert and collapse in on itself as the spells woven into the matrix assumed a form that was other than what he had originally intended...
And-far below his feet-another figure stirred, one awakened by the burst of energy as Chakar Shadowmane opened his eyes and absorbed in one second the significance of all that had just happened...
It's a bit of a jolt when you're stuck in a trance and unable to wake up while all around you are signs that the universe you knew all of your life is coming apart and being remade in a new image. It's almost like being trapped in a dream that you can't wake up from, this sense of immobility in which more than just my body is paralyzed but my very mind is trapped and held in a field of stasis. I could watch and observe everything that was going on in the space above my head but I could do nothing to alter the spell that Celestine was casting, my own Starstone being used as a focal point to ground the various energies that would otherwise be uncontrollable, kind of like being a fulcrum with forces equally applied on two ends while I'm trapped at the very center.
Well, that's the short version of what it felt like, but the point of it is, I didn't like it.
But the minute Master Happosai appeared on the scene I actually felt a thrill of hope, which must strike anyone who knows the old geek as funny since he usually rubs people the wrong way. Me, I consider him an old drinking buddy, and while I'll admit some of his habits don't appeal to me in the slightest, compared to the sort of jerks I normally have to deal with in a business sense I actually find him rather charming and harmless.
Of course if he ever tried to do to Garimel what he does to most of the women he encounters...I'd probably send my condolences to his next of kin, and throw in a bottle of sake to help them with their celebration. Hey, I'm generous like that, especially around people who make the gross mistake of thinking my wife is an easy mark. I really don't have to be the jealous and overprotective sort with a wife like her, nosiree, since even my worst enemy, Darcon, would think twice before attempting to lay a finger on my Gari.
Anyhow, I can feel the old man attempting to glomp his perfect ideal girl and getting zapped like a bug for his troubles, but his noble sacrifice creates just the wedge I need to break free of my stasis. I make a point to want to toast a glass or two to the old lech even as I warp on out of there, grasping at a silver strand of energy that I know and recognize so well and using it like a guide line while I mentally reach out and snag the people nearest to me and drag them along for the ride so we zip out of out of there like a campaign cork shot out from a bottle.
Once loose into the stream of the Multiverse I use the Greystar to reorient myself and regain my bearings, then I draw my companions as close to me as I can while reaching out with a hand in search of a familiar pattern. He senses what I am doing and copies my gesture, reaching out to clasp arms with me and draw me along into his boat, and then we manifest on the deck beside him, my reluctant companions and I, who are just then doing their level best to regain their fragmented senses.
I look my savior over, as tall, thin and ageless as I remember with his long white hair and golden-bronze skin, handsome with an aquiline fairness that no single race or nationality can define, his eyes alight with merriment as he takes us in with a glance and smiles before clapping me on the back and saying, "Chakar, you old rascal. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Farhan," I clasp him back on the shoulders, "Boy, are you ever a sight for sore eyes! You can't imagine what sort of a day I've been having lately..."
"Oh, I imagine that I can," my fellow Starlord smiled in that enigmatic way of his that implies he knows something without telling you just how much he knows, "The winds have been a bit restless of late, and that usually means that there's a storm brewing on the horizon. A Timestorm to make that minor squall you had to put out a few years ago look like a tempest in a teapot. Now then, who are your new friends? I don't believe I've had the pleasure of these two lovely ladies before...but the big fellow, him I do remember..."
I turn and glance at my immediate companions and almost groan when I discover who the forth member is of our little merry band of escapees. I'd been trying for someone else whom I'd felt was key to this whole matter but the one I'd blindly grabbed up in my haste was not whom I had imagined her to be. In fact, I would have wanted to come to her rescue anyway, but instead of Nabiki Tendo-
erh...ne Saotome, instead I found myself face to face with the goddess...
"Belldandy?" Peorth started, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh my," said the goddess in question as she stared at the ship that we were standing upon, then looked questioningly at both myself and its owner.
"Hey...what the...?" Ranma turned around and stared at Farhan, "Hey...I know you!"
"And well you should, young lad," Farhan replied, "Been a while for the both of us, but I can still remember when you were a wee tadpole and that fat whale of a father of yours...thought the both of you would drown swimming back to Japan from China, yes indeed, and what with that Amazon on a determined blood hunt..."
"Um...would someone please mind telling me what is going on?" Peorth asked, "What is Belldandy doing here, and...who is this gentleman?"
"Farhan Silverstar," I said, "Meet Peorth, Goddess of Roses, and her associate, Belldandy, the Goddess of the Present. And that big guy, whom you obviously already know, is Saotome Ranma..."
"Wait a minute!" Ranma waved a hand, "Silverstar? He's a Starlord? One of you guys?"
"Ah...actually," I glance at Farhan, who smiles back at me enigmatically and gives me a faint nod, so I decide to venture forth on the true identity of my associate, "He's not just any Starlord...he is THE Starlord, the one who started it all over fifty-three thousand years ago..."
"Please," Farhan waved a hand, "Don't mention my age. Frankly, I don't think I look a day over fifteen hundred myself..."
"Wait just one second here," Peorth exclaimed, "Farhan Silverstar? I read a case file about you once! You were the central controller of the Starstone project back in ancient Atlantis, right before the collapse of their original empire..."
"Yes, yes, it's true," Farhan waved the point away, "No need to advertise about it, it's ancient pre-history, and besides, most Starlords consider me an ancient legend, and I'd much prefer to keep it that way, thank you very much. Now you, on the other hand...Goddess First Class, right?"
"Exactly," Peorth replied, when all at once she was turned around by a pair of slender hands who gently clasped her arms and compelled her to look into the eyes of her fellow goddess.
"Peorth," Belldandy smiled fondly, "It's been so many ages...I had almost forgotten that you were still with the Goddess relief agency. How wonderful..."
"Huh?" Peorth replied, "Belldandy...what? MMPH!?"
All at once she was drawn into the arms of the gentle Goddess of the Present as Belldandy held Peorth tightly and planted a wet kiss on her mouth, shocking even me, and I'm used to seeing stuff like that at family gatherings. It's plain enough that Peorth is just as surprised as I could tell that Bell was using tongue in her kiss and wasn't holding back anything on account of having an audience. Rather shocking when you consider her reputation for modesty and discretion, but I suppose her recent ordeal could be credited with loosening her up a bit in the morals department.
"Whoah," Ranma says, which pretty much summarizes my own rather obvious reaction.
"Well now," Farhan remarks in that understated manner of his, "There's a sight to gladden the heart and renew your faith in humanity."
Belldandy gently broke her kiss then all but glowed as she looked into Peorth's eyes and said, "I have missed you..."
"Hah?" Peorth responds, looking as dumbstruck as any mortal might be in her position.
"Oh," it seemed as if Belldandy just then remembers that she had an audience and said, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to be so forward. It's just that...it's been such a long while, and...oh my...what a wonderful ship this is...how marvelous..."
"Yes, isn't it?" Farhan beamed proudly as he glanced off to his side and acknowledged the stars that lay beyond its railing.
As a matter of fact, so did Ranma, who was staring around in obvious disbelief as there were not only stars above the ship but below it as well, and everywhere in every direction that that the eye could see, the ship itself being the lone constant in a backdrop of constellations, comets, asteroids and star-stuff. The white sails flapping above our heads and off to the sides are the only sound that you can hear as the ship moves eerily along with a ghostly crew tending to the rigging and various points that need maintenance when sailing. I glance at them myself and smile, recognizing old friends among the crew and giving them the nod in passing as they glide about tending to their business.
"What in...?" Ranma finds himself unable to complete his own sentence, for which I suppose I can't really blame him. Even in his line of work it's not too often you travel on a Pan-Dimensional Stellar Sailor drawn along by the winds of quantum field energy past novas and quasars and lots of other stuff that the best radiotelescopes imaginable never have the range to detect.
"My ship, the Silverwand," Farhan replied, "Made it myself from one of the Silver Trees of Aenor, and my crew, stalwart and true, drawn from a race known as the S'lvie, which are kind of like a cross between Angels and Banshees..."
"Incredible," Peorth breathes in wonder, then winces slightly as Belldandy puts her arm around her waist and leans her head against the Rose Goddess's shoulder to sigh.
"It's so beautiful and romantic...and that song they make...what beautiful singing..."
"You think so?" Farhan mused, "I find that one rather sad myself, like a lover's lament, but then again, many of their songs tend to be like that on long voyages where they miss loved ones left behind at various ports. Kind of like the Irish when you come down to it, only they're not much for heavy drinking..."
"Farhan," I say, "I'm sorry if we gotta cut this short, but there's a bit of an emergency going down, and we need to get back to where we just left so we can save the day and all that."
"Oh, quite all right," Farhan smiled, "You don't come by to visit me often enough, Chakar. And how's that wife of yours? She still as much of a hell raiser as I remember?"
"Retired," I firmly assure him, "She left that life behind a long time ago, and good riddance."
Farhan shakes his head sadly, "You never fully leave it behind, Chakar. You're old enough to know that. What Morrigar did to her daughter stays with Garimel every second of her existence, and just because it doesn't rise to the surface too often is no reason to forget that she's the White Shark of the Starlords."
"Like I could ever forget?" I sniff, "Remember, she bites when she gets excited."
"Uh...excuse me," Ranma asks, "But...who are we talking about here?"
"Lady Garimel Shalestar," Farhan replies, "Chakar's wife, if you must know the kind of fool for love he is, taking on a girl like that at his age..."
"Wife?" Ranma looks at me with raised eyebrow before turning around and glancing wildly to the side as if just then remembering something.
"You're married?" Peorth softly groans, "What a pity..."
"Oh, I don't think so," Belldandy purrs, snuggling closer and nuzzling the earlobe of her fellow goddess.
"Okay," Peorth declares as she attempts to wiggle her way out of the arms of her fellow divinity, "Now this is getting a little too..."
"NABIKI!" Ranma cries with sudden urgency, "Where is Nabiki?"
"Ah..." I wince slightly, rather wishing he hadn't brought that up at this particular moment.
I'm rewarded for my trouble by the burly Time-cop turning around and grabbing me again by my cloak, and while I'm a few inches taller than him it's pretty obvious that he's in no mood to mess around as he snarls in my face, "WHERE IS SHE?"
"Back with Celestine," I reply, "I tried to get her and bring her with us but..."
I see it coming with plenty of time to dodge, but for once I decide to take it on the chin rather than put up a struggle as Ranma gives me a taste of the kind of punishment that he usually dishes out with the bad guys. I use it to break his grip and only step back a little as I absorb the blow, grateful that my conditioning makes me as tough as him since the force of his Chi alone could shatter a good sized mountain.
"Now there," Farhan said disapprovingly, "No violence on my ship..."
"You keep out of this!" Ranma snaps while snarling at me with eyes blazing like twin infernos, "Where is she? I've got to find her now, and you'd better take me to see her or else..."
"I said," Farhan does not raise his voice nor gesture nor make any of the usual dramatic gestures that you'd associate with a being of power suddenly making his true self manifest before your eyes, but suddenly even Saotome is paying attention with eyes that go round in a second while his body tenses up and becomes as rigid as a statue, "...No violence on my ship. I'm sorry, but even Lord Shiva should have better manners."
"Oh my," Belldandy exclaims, looking at the suddenly immobile Saotome, "What did you do to him?"
"Oh, he'll be all right in few moments," Farhan smiles as if nothing were the matter, "I just have certain rules that I strictly adhere to. I am a businessman by trade, an adventurer and a wanderer, but I can't abide seeing young lads hurting each other, it disrupts the harmonics of my ship and upsets my crew like nothing else you can imagine."
"I'm sure he's sorry about his outburst," I explain, "But we kind of left his wife in a very bad lurch, which is why he wants to go back there and rescue her, not to mention a bunch of other people who are being held hostage."
"Ah yes...nasty business that," Farhan remarked, "Remaking reality in his own image. I tried that once myself, but never on quite so ambitious a scale as this..."
"How much do you know about this?" Peorth asks.
"I have my ways of knowing," Farhan gives that enigmatic smile of his and says, "A good sailor learns to listen to the winds when they tell you a good story, and I've become a very good listener over the centuries. Marlin House survives because we stay out of politics and don't concern ourselves with the petty squabbles and travails that obsess most regular people. We also don't turn our backs from those who are in need of our assistance, so I can forgive the lad for being a bit hasty. The young are always rash and impulsive, but that's mainly because they haven't seen enough of life yet to know that things happen the way they do because it's the way they're meant to happen."
"I'm not sure I really follow you, Sir," Belldandy admits, "Are you talking about predestination?"
"Predestination?" he smiles like an indulgent father, "No such thing as that, young Goddess. We make our own fates...we and everyone else in the greater scheme of things. We're all a part of the whole, don't you know? We make choices every moment that we're alive, and if we tend to stumble around a bit in the dark, well...that's hardly surprising. Children are meant to stumble and learn, it's a part of growing, and the great cycle of birth and rebirth that affects both mortals and even goddesses. It may not be a perfect universe, but that's the way it's meant to be, don't you know? Because the universe itself is stumbling along trying to discover itself, and that's why it brings intelligent life into existence. We're the reflection of the greater intelligence of the cosmos..."
"Right," I say to head off a lengthier lecture, "We all make choices because in a Multiverse this complex every possible direction we could take or imagine has already existed, and we just choose the direction as we move towards the future. But this isn't the time to get into all of that, Farhan...we do have a bit of an emergency, so..."
"Chakar," Farhan gives me that indulgent look again, "I thought you already knew that time is infinite, and you can always travel back to recover what you've lost, something most non-Starlords only wish they could accomplish. There's no need for you to be rushing into anything when you hardly even know what you're going to do when you get there."
"Maybe so," I reply, "But that reality-inverting Timestorm throws everything else into a cocked hat, and until we put a stop to that there's no way of predicting when and if the Multiverse will start feeling the effect on a grand scale."
"Yes, and if Yggdrasil itself is being impacted upon while this is taking place..." Peorth started to reason.
"Is there something wrong with the central database?" Belldandy asked, "Haven't Urd and Skuld been dispatched to solve this problem?"
I noticed the shocked and worried look that crossed Peorth's eyes as the Rose goddess eyed her compatriot, and the uneasy way in which she said, "Bell...don't you remember? Urd and Skuld have been living with you on Earth for the past few years..."
"But that's impossible," Belldandy replies with a look of total sincerity that I read in her eyes and other tell-tale features, "My sisters would never abandon their duties to the Central office, and neither would I...and Earth is forbidden for anything longer than a temporary visa..."
"Ah...your case was special," Peorth now turns to me and I can tell she's seriously worried, "You fulfilled a wish, remember? One that required you to remain with your client, and after a while Urd and Skuld came to live with you, and then the Almighty declared that you three would reside there together with your husband, Morisato Keiichi."
"Husband?" I hear shock and surprise in the voice of the guiless goddess of Fate, and now I'm starting to worry, "But that's ridiculous, I've never been married. Peorth, are you accusing me of being unfaithful to you?"
"Ah...no..." Peorth blinks and I can see that one came out of left field for her, "To me?"
"Because if you're jealous that I might take up with someone else then I think I need to seriously reassure you that my feelings for you are true and as bright as ever," Belldandy continues as she clasps arms with Peorth and gives her a heartfelt expression, "I know that we have had our difficulties in the past, and over the years we have faced many trials together, but we have always come through, and you must know how I feel about you, even if we were assigned to different sectors..."
Peorth is too much in shock to close her mouth and say something, so I decide to take up the slack by saying, "Excuse me...Lady Belldandy? You and Lady Peorth...are an item?"
"Oh yes, or we were until a few years back," I see radiant joy and happiness in her expression this time, tinged with a hint of regret and sadness, "Peorth is my dearest friend and my most trusted companion. We grew up together as children, we even shared the same teacher, a wonderful man who showed us everything that we needed to know about being goddesses..."
"Celestine?" I venture and see the confirmation in her happy expression.
"Yes, my dearest Mentor," Belldandy declares, then I see the sadness replace her joy as she adds, "But he went away many years ago...reassigned to a different sector of the greater system. I never even got to say good-bye to him, and I owe him so much. How many centuries ago was that? Even I have trouble remembering, but wherever he is I'm sure that he is inspiring joy and wisdom in others, just as he did for me."
"I see," I give Peorth a knowing expression and add, "That the way you remember things, Goddess?"
Peorth shakes her head negatively, then with effort she manages to say, "I did train under Celestine...for a few years anyway, then I was assigned to a different trainer and Bell became his only star pupil. But...you don't remember anything beyond that?"
"Remember?" there is a vaguely troubled shadow that crosses the sky blue eyes of Belldandy as she thinks it over, and then the clouds pass and she says, "Oh yes...I remember now. Morisato Keiichi...I do believe that he was a client some years ago, and I granted him a wish..."
"To have a girl like you stay with him forever?" Peorth asks.
"Why no," Belldandy replies, "He wished to find true love with a woman who could value him for what he is and not look upon him for his shortcomings. The dear young man actually felt inadequate because he was a bit shorter even than me, can you imagine? Men worry about the oddest things sometimes, but he had a good heart, so I granted his wish and helped him find a girl named Madoka, and the two of them were married a short time after this..."
"Madoka?" Peorth blinks, then grumbles, "Way to go, Keiichi...right wish, wrong wording..."
"Eh?" Belldandy asks, "Whatever do you mean, Peorth-chan?"
I hear Farhan's gentle laughter as the oldest and wisest of all us Starlords gives the goddess a kind look before saying, "Sometimes the winds of destiny can blow to very interesting shores, young lady. It may seem that you are destined to follow in one path, but it is the very nature of the Multiverse that another version of you can walk a different path at the same time and arrive at an entirely different destination. Gods may view yourselves as above that sort of thing, but I assure you that you are not, and I should know since I'm older even than your own grandfathers..."
"I very much doubt that," Peorth frowns as she looks at him, "And who are you calling a young lady?"
"He is," I reply, "And I'd take him at his word on that. Farhan was the first and greatest of us all, and if he says something happened that way, then you can bet his Starstone that it's the case, even if he does act a little scatterbrained sometimes..."
"Scatterbrained?" Farhan chuckles, "I like that. Just because I know more things than the human mind was built to handle doesn't mean I'm senile, Chakar. I still have it all up here and ready to be accessed," he tapped his temple with two fingers then winked, "And you know what resources I ultimately have at my beck and call."
Yeah, I very well knew what that meant. The entire Dominion was his creation, back when he and a group of fellow scientists were working to develop the ultimate in Matrix Technology in an Atlantean research complex, a couple of centuries before the Empire was destroyed by an act of hubris and madness.
The ancient Empire of Atlantis was built upon an early form of Matrix technology with stones that could harness the fundamental forces of the universe to power everything from sky-ships to world-spanning dimensional portals. They were crude and limited in their effects, however, and while they could prolong life they were little more than lenses focusing energy like a prism, and if you overloaded a large enough crystal it would shatter like so much used up quartz, which is what happened when the last Emperor tried to use the great central relay crystal as a weapon to enforce his will. That long-dead Emperor blew the empire all to hell and back by abusing the matrix technology that made that island nation into a power to be reckoned with. It's destruction totally collapsed all technology throughout the Empire and threw civilization back into the stone age...all except for the Starlords, who survived because our Starstones Matrix work on fundamentally different principles and constitute a more advanced model
The Starstones were a step above the ordinary matrix, however, being artificially created life forms bonded to a human wielder and bestowing upon same the power to channel the energies of time and space on a greatly accelerated level.
Starstones are symbiotes, and they exist in a very elaborate and carefully balanced geometric equation. There are twelve Major Starstones, four Dominant Starstones, the Tristars and the Omnistar at the top, about one hundred and forty-four Lesser Starstones and one-thousand-seven-hundred-and-twenty-eight Minor Starstones forming an elaborate web of interlacing energies that feed and reinforce one another and give us power to rule over a wide swath of Earth-
related worlds and dimensions. They give us longevity and maintain our bodies, healing us against injury or near-death while keeping us young and fortifying our systems. They expand and multiply our latent psychic and physical powers many, many times over and give us the near-godlike ability to fold and shape the very fabric of time and space on a limited basis.
We Starlords eventually expanded our Dominion to fill the void left behind by the old Empire, but unlike our predecessors we chose to walk invisibly down the corridors of time, unknown and undetected by the majority of worlds that we rule through proxies in the shadows, more myth than substance. Every one of us is a Lord in his own right, the ruler of a portion of the greater whole that forms our shadow-empire across the thousands of worlds and parallel versions of Earth that we call our Dominion.
Ideally speaking, for this network to function at its best every Starstone has to have a wielder to whom they are logically fitted down to the Lesser Starstone status. In actuality there are holes and gaps in the network, but all the Majors and Dominant stones are accounted for, and each wielder is the Lord or Lady who commands one of the dominant Houses of the Dominion. Each stone was specifically keyed to gene-type to a particular family tree and so the Majors and Dominant stones are passed down by hereditary lines of succession. Only someone related to me by birthright could command the Greystar, for example, and the same goes for all of the others of the Twelve and the Four who rule over the empire. Lesser and Minor Starstones are not fitted to a particular type, however, and can be used by anyone who traces their ancestry back to the original Atlantean Scientists who founded the Dominion after the destruction of old Atlantis.
Of the Tristrars...well...they each had a specific wielder, and those guys are still around...after a fashion. But over the centuries they have changed and mutated, becoming something other than human in the strange realm that they conjointly occupy, and no one knows what to make of them since they wield enormous power and can even overrule the Dominion council. The Omnistar itself is the key to the whole Dominion, but it's location is in a fixed point on a realm that is entirely of energy, and no human being can approach it since the field of containment it occupies is a thousand times more lethal than the heart of a nuclear inferno.
Only one man can access the Omnistar, the one who created it, Farhan, who has remained young and virile all of these millennia in order to oversee its routine operation and maintenance. The other Lords of the Dominion are unaware that Farhan is the selfsame scientists who headed the original program. Only I've been entrusted with that tidy little secret, that the Lord of Marlin House is more than just a reclusive eccentric who likes to ferry freight from one corner of the Dominion to the other. If they did find out...well, I know my relatives and brother Starlords all too well and have a pretty good idea what the more ambitious among them might try to do with that knowledge, especially Darcon Trevaros, the Master of the Darkstar and the Lord of the House of the Black Dragon.
Coincidentally, the man who killed my father, but that's another story entirely and one I'm not about to get into while I'm narrating the current crisis.
Aloud what I say is, "Yeah, I know. So...in other words, what you're saying is that the Peorth of one timeline is not the same Peorth of the timeline that this version of Belldandy hails from?"
"More or less correct," Farhan replies, "She's the same in the sense that a goddess as sweet and as pure of heart as she remains a constant over a broad range of multiple timelines, but there are other worlds where conditions are quite different and the Belldandy you would encounter there is...how shall I put it delicately? A very different person."
"A different person?" Belldandy seems to realize the thrust of what Farhan is getting at and looks at Peorth with an expression of dismay and contrition, "Peorth...is what they're saying true? That you don't remember me...or what we once shared together?"
"Ah...well," Peorth reluctantly replies, "Let's just say...I remember things a little bit...different."
"Oh," Belldandy lets the other woman's hand go and puts a hand to her mouth, "Oh my...oh dear...I didn't realize...I am so sorry..."
"Goddess," I say as gently as I am able, "Can you tell us a little something about the world that you do remember? Do you know anything about...the Senshi?"
"The Senshi?" Belldandy asks, blinking her eyes again before saying, "I believe that...yes. Yes, I do remember something about them. I had a friend on earth...her name was...Tsukino Usagi?"
My fears were starting to rise as my suspicions began to come together, "And...do you know what happened to her...and about a Sailor Terra?"
"Oh yes," Belldandy smiles, "I remember her quite well..."
"Sailor Terra?" Peorth looks at me funny, "Are you serious?"
"I remember a Sailor Terra," Farhan smiled, "Cute she was, and as bright as a button, little sister to Prince Endymion, who was then the ruler of the Kingdom of Elysia..."
"Little sister?" Peorth remarks, "Are you serious, old man? Prince Endymion was an only child..."
"On your timeline, maybe," Farhan replies, "But on this young lady's world Prince Endymion had a sister who was reborn in a mortal identity and only discovered that she was Sailor Terra during her early teenaged years..."
"Wait a second," I frown, "Was that girl's name Saotome Ranma?"
"On some timelines, yes," Farhan replies, "But I know of several where her name was Tendo Nabiki. Rather interesting coincidence, wouldn't you say? A Nexus and a Senshi bound to the same destiny, and him a cousin by blood to the reborn Princess Serenity? Oh yes, I do so much enjoy traveling the continuum to discover so many interesting alterations in fate's pattern..."
"Saotome Ranma?" Peorth starts, "And Nabiki? You mean...their destinies are that closely woven together?"
"Destiny is a tricky thing to define, young lady," Farhan explains, "Often we create it with our own desires projected forward into the future. When the desire of two or more persons conflict, however, you get resistance and precession...a vectoring of forces that results in a third or fourth direction being taken. If two people desire the same thing then they will likely overlap in time and share one destiny together, but if their desires conflict, then neither one will entirely achieve the thing which they desire..."
"In other words it's a crazy Multiverse and you'd better get used to it," I say, "Infinite diversity, infinite desire, infinite combinations..."
"It's about the same for you Gods, when you look at it closely," Farhan continues, "You're closer to the center of what constitutes the real Reality, which makes you more real than the world of shadows that belongs to mortals. There's about one of you for every hundred or so different mortals that you interact with, so when you manifest on one Earth plane a version of you is also encountered on the timeline beside you, and so on and so on, until you reach a point of divergence, where another you splits off and follows a different timeline. You ultimately return back to the center of what you call Heaven, which helps to reinvigorate your constitution, but unless you're paying really close attention you're likely to be unaware of the different levels that you work upon. Most Gods use their powers instinctively and intuitively, and these days you use Yggdrasil to tackle all the trivial details, such as keeping the various alternate versions of you from bumping into one another. Kind of like with our Starstones."
"You mean that there are other versions of you operating throughout the timestream, Sir?" Belldandy asks.
"Sure thing," Farhan replies, "A Starstone is like a singularity...it exists on multiple levels and realities simultaneously, but we who are bonded to our Starstones remain this finite thing that we call mortals. The Starstone revitalizes and maintains us in perfect health with powers that duplicate the abilities of the long-ago Ancients, but they also make sure we don't run into parallel duplicates of ourselves by shifting our alternate versions into near-
parallel dimensions. After all, two versions of the same god or goddess existing side-by-side would shake up reality by quite a bit since you both tap into the same deep reservoirs of near-limitless power."
"So...the Belldandy that exists on this world..." Peorth began.
"Will remain where she is so long as she's a long ways from here," I explain, "But if she were to approach this Belldandy then one or both of them would be shuffled off into a parallel dimension, the same way our Starstones operate to keep us apart and prevent us from meeting one another."
"And...have you ever encountered another version of yourself, Sir?" Belldandy asks me.
"Once," I reply grimly, "A Shadow-me, embodying my worst aspects, and I...didn't like it."
"Sounds like one skill my son-in-law could certainly use," Peorth said as she eyed the still-motionless Ranma.
"Oh dear," Belldandy looks crestfallen, "That means that Peorth-chan, my Peorth, is back on my home dimension. Only...how is it that I have come to be here conversing with all of you...?"
"I've got a sneaking suspicion about that," I say, "But I don't think you're gonna like it, Goddess."
Belldandy looks at me and I see her expression go all quiet with consideration, then in a firm-but-level voice she says, "Please tell me, I...have to know."
"Celestine..." I begin, only to see her face brighten up immediately.
"He's back?" she clasps her hands together and looks radiant, "Oh, my dearest mentor..."
I shake my head slowly and say, "Not if what I believe happened is true. Peorth-san...tell us what happened on your timeline. What do you know about the Celestine that you last encountered?"
I see Peorth's eyes flash with anger before she says, "The bastard tried to topple the world tree and replace it with his own creation..."
"No!" Belldandy covers her mouth and looks shocked, "He couldn't have...!"
"I was there, Bell," Peorth replied, "And I was given permission to access the sealed and forbidden archives. Celestine betrayed us all...not once but twice over, the first time when he attempted to use you in a mad attempt to overthrow the heavens...and then centuries later he tried to do the same thing with you again, only you managed to stop him..."
"No...it can't be...!" Belldandy protests.
"The Council that banished him found you innocent of having any real part in his evil," Peorth relentlessly continued, "And your memories of the whole event...were sealed..."
"Sealed?" Belldandy looks shocked.
"Locked away and buried," Peorth replied, "And false memories were put in their place. It was necessary, Bell, in order to help you get over the sense of desperation and betrayal that you were feeling..."
"I don't believe you," the goddess is shaking now, both her head and body as she tries to deny this, "The Peorth I know would never tell me anything so hateful..."
"I'm telling you the truth...as a friend, Bell," Peorth said sadly, "I only wish that it wasn't true, but it was because of you that we were able to defeat Celestine and lock him away once again, after you convinced him to see the error of his ways. Keiichi had a hand in that too...he was quite the resourceful young man indeed, which is no doubt why I..." she paused, glanced at us then hastily said, "Never mind about that. I only know that the Celestine that we encountered a short while ago is the same madman as before, only more deranged and insidious than ever."
"Probably because this one hasn't seen the error of his ways," I note, "And unless we convince him otherwise, we're going to have to put him down for good. The only question is...what kind of handle does he have over you, Goddess?"
"Over me?" Belldandy replies with hands over her perfect breasts, "I don't know what you could mean...I don't know if I can believe any of this. You say that you are from other timelines with different histories? Then surely these events cannot be the same as I remember..."
"I'm afraid it only gets worse, Goddess," I inform her, "Much worse, and now the timeline that you came from has been horribly scarred, closed off and rendered null and void by order of the Gods. It's my theory that Celestine went there hoping to make use of his ties to you, and somehow his experiment went horribly wrong and yielded up a monster."
"A monster?" Belldandy shakes her head and trembles in denial, "No...he wouldn't..."
"He did, Belldandy," Peorth assures her, "On the timeline that I remember he infected you with a virus and used your access to Yggdrasil to partially download it into the mainframe before any of us at Central were even the wiser. I was system coordinator at the time and I led the campaign to try to isolate and contain the virus, but eventually it was ruled that you had to be vaccinated..."
"Vaccinated?" the goddess repeats, her eyes now as wide as some Japanese Anime character, or so it seemed like from where I was standing.
"Only that proved to be a mistake as the virus absorbed the antidote and mutated into a more powerful strain," Peorth continues, "Over ninety percent of the system was infected, so we had to shut down and reboot Yggdrasil, and in that time Celestine called down the world tree onto the earth plane then caused the virus to manifest as this terrible demonic being whose sole purpose was to destroy it..."
"Destroy Yggdrasil?" now Belldandy is completely shocked and horrified, "No..."
"But in the end you saved us all," Peorth assures her, "Because your love for a mortal, Keiichi, was stronger than the programming within you, and with the help of your sisters we were able to recreate the world oak and restore everything back into full balance. Celestine was defeated and admitted his error and finally went into a rehabilitation program. You were cleansed of all traces of the virus, even the initial bits that he implanted in you when he was still your teacher and..."
Now it's Peorth's turn to register shock as something belatedly occurs to her, leaving it up to me to turn to Farhan and say, "You almost gotta admire that Celestine creep, planning this far ahead and with a backup contingency plan almost as clever as the main one."
"Yes," Farhan agrees, "Unusual for a god to be that clever, almost reminds me of some of our relations."
"That...that son of a bitch!" Peorth at last manages to stammer out, "Using me...the way he used Belldandy? I'll kill the motherless-"
"Peorth," Belldandy gently chides, a slight frown creasing her otherwise perfect features.
"I don't care!" Peorth snaps, "This time I really want to break something where it hurts! Bad enough he uses mortals that way, but to use his fellow gods...? He got off too light the last time! This time it means war among the heavens!"
"Now you're talking my language, Mom," we hear Ranma say, informing us that Farhan's paralysis has finally worn off, either that or he shrugged it off using his own powers...or those of Lord Shiva.
"Ready to talk strategy now?" I ask cautiously, preparing myself in case he plans to use any more of the rough stuff.
"Yeah," he assures me, flexing his muscles and balling his fists together, "I've got it under control now, but I'm still mad as hell and I'm gonna go and get back my Nabiki. Nobody has the right to do what that screwball is trying to pull off, nobody, not even a god, and this one sounds more whacked out than the usual sort..."
"What do you mean by 'usual sort?'" Peorth eyes him suspiciously.
"Never mind," I say, turning back to Belldandy, "Whether you can accept it as the truth or not Goddess, the evidence that I've so far encountered confirms in my eyes that the Celestine you remember did indeed attempt to mount a rebellion against the heavens, but his plan had one critical flaw, and it tore an opening in the fabric of time and space that let creatures of the outer dark leak through and infect your whole dimension. The grief and horror at what he did must have driven him completely over the edge, but he managed to rescue you and preserve you, clear of the memories of what had happened, only now he's going to try it again on an even grander scale than before..."
"And because there was no Keiichi to remind Bell of her humanity..." Peorth finishes for me then gives me a shocked look before continuing, "What became of the me of that timeline?"
"Hard to say," Farhan mused, "But I suspect that the answer to that question still exists on your home timeline."
Belldandy is still shaking her head in denial as I sense Ranma looking hard at me, and the next minute he's asking, "What the plan? Do we go in there and break heads?"
"We might have to," I reluctantly admit, "Goes against my principles to fight a bad guy on his own home turf. Doing that's what got my head handed to me in the last fight, but if the Timestorm is breaking out now that his structure is collapsing..."
"Then Celestine will be expending energy to attempt to recontain it," Peorth deduces, "That will leave him vulnerable to a physical attack. He's much less formidable if you confront him on a physical level."
"More a schemer than a fighter," I nod, though I reluctantly add, "But he's not a half-bad fencer either."
"He trained with the best back when swords were a matter of survival," Belldandy lowers her chin and looks depressed, "I'll help you in any way that I can, but...but I just can't believe that Celestine..."
"Later," Ranma smacks his fist to palm and growls, "Let's go kick his ass."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Peorth glances at me and says, "Chakar?"
I nod then say, "Farhan, old buddy, if you wouldn't mind?"
"Oh, no trouble at all," he says and waves a hand to create a mirrored portal, "I've got the coordinates already figured out, so you should arrive only a few seconds after your disappearance."
"Then let's do it," Ranma says, and-true to form-he's the first one to plunge headfirst through the portal.
"Coming ladies?" I ask as I wave my hand to allow them to follow next.
"Not now...possibly later," Peorth replies as she gently takes Belldandy by the hand and guides her through the portal, and then I'm hot on their tight, divine asses as we cross the gap back to the plane of Ashkalon...where the real fun is about to start in only a few more minutes...
Continued.
Comments/Criticisms/Spear of Destiny Rebuttals: shadowmane
Ranko and crew continue to rally a Posse while Chakar leads an assault against Celestine and his temple, but will reality itself survive, "When Gods Collide," or, "War within the Pocket Heaven*!" Be there! (*Not to be confused with Pokeheaven, which is an entirely different concept...)
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