Tangled Fate

by Grounders10

When a group of Sidereal's attempt a ritual to change the world, things go rather sideways when the ritual fails catastrophically. In the process Ranma, Ryouga and most of their company of friends and rivals find themselves scattered across creation. With power beyond human limits can they change a broken world? [Exalted/Ranma]

7. Chapter 7 Oaths of Broken Fate Afternoon

The Canal Gate Docks were, on a normal day, the beating heart of the city where trade goods flowed in and out. Thousands worked on the docks, warehouses and factories; on a normal day. This was no normal day; it was, in the opinion of the soon to be former Satrap Nellens Rombulac, the darkest day in the city's history. Certainly it was the darkest in his fifty years of overseeing the Satrapy.

On this not so normal day the docks still bustled, but not with shipwrights or dockworkers. Soldiers, servants and Dynasts ran back and forth loading as many ships as could be found with supplies and artifacts retrieved from homes. As much as they could fit and still carry as many people as possible. With a bit of luck they might be able to carrying everyone.

"No one else has come down mainstreet for the last twenty minutes. We're probably safe to push off once we finish loading the supplies." A sergeant informed him.

Rombulac snorted and peered up at the sun, leaning back on the crate he had appropriated as a chair as he did so. "At a guess I would say it's just passed noon." He mused, "Anyone who was coming has undoubtedly arrived." With a grimace of pain he stood. His left leg was a mess, but at least he hadn't broken anything. The wounds would heal in a few days.

"Shall I pass the word sir?" The sergeant asked.

Rombulac sighed. "The word is we depart in ten minutes, anyone not on board gets left behind." He said. The sergeant snapped a salute and headed back up the dock. The Satrap watched him go before he made his way over to the nearest vessel, a brand new Galley that had finished construction only the day before Calibration. It was more than likely the last such vessel that would sail for the Realm.

Fifteen minutes later every vessel in port began to make their way out into the river, each of them filled to the brim with civilians and soldiers. Over six thousand souls would call those ships home for several months. Their travel was undoubtedly going to be difficult and dangerous, but to a man with long blonde hair who watched them pull out with his telescope from the safety of the High Quarter wall it was just one more mixed blessing of the last day.

Bengtsson Gehard closed his telescope with a click. "On any other day I would be happy for them to leave." He said to the small group of people around him.

"Their timing is as inconvenient as ever." A heavyset man agreed from where he leaned against the parapet. "We aren't ready for this."

"And we still have to deal with the fact that they were just forced out." Gehard added as he stepped back. "We'll just have to move quickly. Spread the word in Mist-town, that's where we'll find as many recruits as we need."

"What about Sung? He won't take a move like that lying down. You know he's watching." The man replied.

Bengtsson smiled toothily. "I know, and that's why you're going to take a group of my guards and storm his quaint household up in Alder Plaza. While you're doing that I'll get our people organized down in Mist-Town."

"Perhaps you would might consider doing this without violence?" A woman said from behind Bengtsson… Behind him where the only open space was the open air beyond the wall…

Bengtsson spun about, one hand flying to the blade at his waist. He had it halfway out of its sheath by the time he laid eyes on the speaker. The blade froze, barely more than a quarter of its length still sheathed. Even as irreverent as he was there were lines that simply weren't crossed on a whim. Attacking the Goddess of Travelers and messenger of Setarial was near the top of the list.

Eyeing the black feathered Raven carefully he slid his blade back into its sheath. "A good choice." The Raven Goddess said calmly as she settled on the parapet.

He licked his suddenly dry lips. "What business would be so important as to bring the Goddess of Travelers down from her perch atop the falls?" He asked as he bowed deeply.

"That which affects the stability and safety of Greyfalls is my business." She replied tersely. "Tell me Bengtsson Gehard, son of Bengtsson Kuhlbert, what is it that you know of the departure of the Realm?"

"They flee the City because of a force of some kind that took the fortress from them." Bengtsson said, "Word on the street speaks of Anathema falling from the sky and tornados spawning from clear skies." He himself had slept through the events of the night before in the arms of his wife and had missed the events himself.

"Then you know only part of the events of last night." Leitleen replied. "This evening milady Setarial, Lady of the Glittering Eastern Lights, shall be hosting a ball at which she will give her blessing to one of the attendees. You and your family are invited." Her tone of voice made it clear to Bengtsson that it was less invitation and more Divine command. "Until after the proceedings we ask that all attendees refrain from any actions that might destabilize the situation further."

Bengtsson bowed again in order to hide the frown he could not keep from showing. "It will be an honour to attend a ball hosted by the Goddess of the City herself." He said with as much grace as he could muster.

"Until then Bengtsson Gehard." Leitleen curtsied as much as a raven could before taking to the skies again.

It wasn't until she was out of sight that Bengtsson let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Fuck." He said.

"D-Did that just happen?" The heavyset man asked.

"Yes Rosston, yes it did." Bengtsson replied. "It also means that the Gods are getting involved in this mess."

"That is not a good sign for us is it?"

"Not in the least." He sighed. "We need to assume that everyone of any standing in the City is being invited. That means Sung's home will not be unguarded, and we can't take the risk that Leitleen or another of the Goddess's servants is keeping an eye on him in case we do something. We need to change plans. Rosston, you are heading down to Mist-town. Get people organized and prepared."

"Sir." Rosston saluted sloppily.

Bengtsson ignored his second's poor salute and scanned his nervous group of supporters. At the back he spotted the one he wanted. "Gehard, get over here boy." He snapped. The group parted and a boy about fifteen years of age, short with lanky limbs that seemed too thin for his build, nervously made his way forward.

"Yes father?" He asked once he made his way forward.

"Straighten up, come on now." He said with a disapproving look. His second son, Bengtsson Gehard the Second, was frail and nervous at the best of times, though he at least had a good head for numbers. Still the boy was little more than a shadow of his brother.

Gehard made a visible attempt, but he continued to shake visibly. His father tsked. "Head back home boy. Tell your brother Karl he is to go and join Rosston in readying the men, then get yourself and your mother ready. The two of you will accompany me to this 'ball' the Goddess is hosting."

The boy rocked back, surprise overtaking his normal nervousness. "M-Me?" He stuttered.

"Yes you. I have things I need your brother to deal with, so you are coming." Bengtsson snapped. He left out that if the ball turned out to be a trap he wanted his favoured son as far from the mess as possible.

The boy deflated slightly. "Yes father, as you wish." He said.

"Get out of here then." The boy scurried away down the stairs to the street. Two members of Bengtsson's guard followed him without a word. Nearly useless he might have been, but he was still a Bengtsson and would be protected as such.

"Now, for the rest of you." Bengtsson said to the rest of his retinue, "This is what we shall do."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Tangled Fate

Chapter Six: Oaths of Broken Fate

Part Two: Afternoon

By: Grounders10

-0-0-0-0-0-

Staedtler lifted his arms as one of his servants helped him into a heavier set of robes. The chill of winter had come roaring in with an alacrity he had never before seen and his normal mode of dress was going to be far too chilly for the trip up to the palace.

"The City is in chaos, even I can see that." He stifled a sigh as his wife spoke up once again. "Why must you go out into this mess?"

"When a Goddess requests something of you only a fool declines." He reminded her, "With the evacuation of the Dynasts this is even more true than before my Lily." He tugged at the collar of his robes as his servant finished tying them shut. He turned around to face his wife. "Well, do I look presentable enough for Royalty?" He asked with arms wide.

She scoffed before smiling. "As dignified as you ever are I suppose." She sniffed before her expression fell once more. "She is asking you to meet with an Anathema! Perhaps even endorse one. I just… I cannot fathom what she is thinking."

Staedtler sighed. "Yes well. I will meet with this anathema and then… then I must make a decision. An honest decision." He held up a hand to forestall his wife's complaints. "I know, I know. I realize how that sounds, but immaculate dogma aside I must make the best decision for the city, for our family. With the sudden departure of our Overlords there is a vacuum, one that unless filled with all due haste could engulf us in a civil war when we can least afford it. If this Anthema, this.. Girl…." He sighed and nervously wrung his hands.

His wife noticed immediately. "This bothers you quite a bit." She noted before stepping forward. "Leave." She said to the pair of servants in the bedroom. They bowed and quickly scurried out of the room, closing the double doors behind them as they went. "This worries you more than you'd care to admit." She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned against him.

He chuckled softly and wrapped her in a hug. "Yes it does. Last night my worries were whether or not I could restrain the bloodlust of that fool Bengtsson, now they have grown exponentially and without warning. This girl… There are so many stories about Anathema, I have no doubt at least some are true. And yet unless I wish to see this city fall to infighting before our enemies even reach our gates I must risk it."

She kissed him gently on the cheek. "Be careful." She said as she stepped back, "I do not wish to become a widow just yet." He caught her hand and brought it up, bending to kiss it gently.

"Unless I am wrong, I do not think it is my life for which we must fear. Not yet at least." He replied before lifting a scarf from where the servants had left it. He wrapped it tightly around his neck before selecting a dark bowler hat from the nearby rack.

"Well I will wait then, with baited breath perhaps?" She replied.

He chuckled at her snark. "My Lily, I promise I will return." He said as he retrieved a silver inlaid oak walking cane. He turned to her. "Now as much as I would love to wile away the rest of the day in your company I'm afraid I have a lunch I must away to."

A flicker of a frown returned to her face before she sighed. "Go then, and be safe." She said with a curtsy.

He chuckled and pulled her close, drawing a surprised squeak from his wife of twenty-seven years. He kissed her on the forehead. "I shall be as safe I as I can be." He said before sweeping from the room. Behind him he could hear her flustered, and muffled, cursing. He chuckled as he made his way downstairs to the entrance hall.

The sight of four of his guards in half plate, with broadswords at their hips and round shields on their backs, brought and end to his levity. "Sir." They bowed as soon as they spotted him.

"Ross. Ready to leave?" He asked the lead guard.

The large man tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword. "I wish you would consider the use of the carriage. With the city as it is-" He began.

"The odds of something happening and the street being blocked are too high Ross." Staedtler said, cutting off the man who led the ten men he kept around for security. "Garrison Heights is not even a ten minute walk, and I would prefer to have free reign to speak with anyone we might come across on our way."

"Alder Plaza is nearly a ghost town from what I've seen." Ross said, "I doubt there will be anyone out on the streets today. Not with the tension in the air."

Staedtler sighed and strode across the room to the door, behind him his guard formed up without a word. "The city is like an open barrel of firedust. One spark and it will burn. Only by listening to the people can I know if that spark will appear today, or tomorrow, or a month down the line." He said.

"Understood." Ross said with a bow. He had worked for the merchant long enough to know when to stop pressing.

Staedtler adjusted his scarf before, cane in one hand, he pushed open the front door and stepped out into the city. The cold air lashed at his face. A breeze had kicked up at some point since he had last been outside, and he could feel how close to freezing the temperature had gotten.

The streets of Alder Plaza were rarely bustling, though they had been the last couple days as part of the yearly Calibration celebrations, but only twice before had Staedtler seen them utterly deserted. Even striding out into the cobbled street to look up and down the street as far as he could failed to yield a single person.

"Sir?" Ross prompted after a minute's search.

"Lets us be away." Staedtler said after another moment, before he lead the way up the street towards the main thoroughfare. As they walked along street Staedtler took note of abandoned carts, some filled with boxes and others completely empty, and homes, both mansions and upper class apartments, with their main doors thrown wide. Flickering lights from abandoned fireplaces and candles could be seen inside a few. Staedtler had grown up and lived his entire life in Greyfalls. To see Alder Plaza this empty, this desolate and abandoned. He shivered, and not because of the cold.

"I never realized how many people here were Dynasts." One of his guards mussed as he kept an eye on the side streets they passed.

"Alder Plaza's population was two thirds Islanders." Another one said, "If they all up and left…"

"Not everyone did." Ross interrupted as they passed a bakery. Staedtler followed his bodyguard's gaze and spotted a young woman peeking out the second story window.

"Miss Wen!" The merchant called up. She flinched before recognizing him.

"Mr. Staedtler." She said, pushing the window open just a bit.

"How are you today?" He asked.

"How do you think I am?" She snapped, a hint of panic audible in her voice. "Anathema! Here, in the city!" Her breathes came in short gasps and for a moment she teetered on the edge of fainting before she took a deep steadying breath. "And rather than fight the Legion, they- they say they're evacuating. They're abandoning us!" She started crying.

Staedtler winced. "You're from the Blessed Isle if I recall." He said, "Why not go with them?"

"Hah!" She barked between tears. "I may be from the Blessed Isle, but I am no Dynast. Everything I have, everyone I know is here. If I returned to the Isle I would have nothing. I would be less than all but the slaves."

Staedtler frowned. "I see." He sighed. "Stay inside for now Miss Wen, today and tomorrow are likely to be dangerous for anyone on the streets."

"No need to tell me that." She snapped as she pulled back inside her apartment. The wooden shutters clattered against the window frame as she pulled them shut.

"So not everyone left." The first guard said, "just everyone with any influence or money."

"This is going to be hard on the city isn't it?" The second asked Staedtler.

He sighed. "The city will recover in time. Assuming we live through the next few weeks." He said as he started back down the street. His guards followed silently. Twice more they stopped and spoke with people, twice more his impressions of the state of the city grew more pronounced. Everyone was tense and afraid. Afraid of the Anathema, of the unknown, and even of eachother. There was anger as well, mainly focused towards the Legion and the Realm. Compared to the fear the anger was minor, but that could change quickly if certain parties started stoking the flames.

"It's exactly as you said." Ross said as they turned onto the main road to Garrison Heights. More people could be seen in the windows of stores and apartments than in the richer side streets of Alder Plaza. "One spark…"

"Their feelings of anger are overshadowed by their fear right now." Staedtler noted, his hand clenching tight around the handle of his cane. "But given the right motivation that could change quickly. I'm sure Bengtsson would love to take advantage of this madness."

Ross stayed silent as they walked, the only noise in the streets was the wind and the clack of Staedtler's cane on the cobbled street. They had just started up the rise to the gates of Garrison Heights when Staedtler paused. Something felt off. A low rumble through the ground. For a moment he wondered if the gods were cruel enough to inflict an earthquake on the city on top of everything thing else. Then he heard it, a low rattle that thrumbed in sync with the rumble of the earth.

"What is that?" Ross asked as he and the rest turned to look back down the main road towards the source of the strange sound. Staedtler turned to look as well, and sucked in a deep breath as he spotted the source of the commotion.

It was large, smaller than a warstrider but that was cold comfort. Where a warstrider was tall and shaped like a man this thing was low, wide and long. A metal box painted in sickening browns and greens that rumbled forward, pulled by strange strips of… metal? He couldn't tell from this distance, but they appeared to be some madman's attempt to imitate the locomotion of a worm or caterpillar. Atop the square box of its main body sat a squat round bulb with a long metal rod protruding from it. A weapon of some kind, perhaps a giant firewand? The rumble grew louder as it rolled towards them, and shortly they could hear the sound of crumbling stone as the machine literally crushed the cobbled road beneath its weight.

"What hell did that thing come from?" One of his guards exclaimed, his hand twitching towards his sword.

"Where ever it came from it didn't come alone." Ross said, his own hand well away from his own blade. "Look, behind it." Smaller machines crested the hill behind the metal monster. None were at intimidating as the first machine, but several were of substantial size nonetheless. More importantly, however, he could see people either inside them or hanging onto them as they slowly followed the first or their kind towards the fortress.

"Stand down." Staedtler ordered, "I have no doubt that these people are aligned with the young woman we are here to speak with, and your swords would be of no use against that monster of a machine."

"Where did it come from?" Ross wondered.

"From an old ruin somewhere I imagine." His boss replied before turning and starting up the ramp once again, though more to one side than he had before. "Come, we'll be late unless we keep moving."

The ramp up was long, but they had a lead on the machine. Even so it managed to covered the length of the main road and reach the ramp before they had hiked even a quarter of the way up.

They paused in their ascent as the monstrous machine rumbled to a stop beside them. A hatch popped on the top of the machine and a woman in a uniform stuck her head out. "Hello there!" She said.

He tipped his hat. "Good… Afternoon I believe it is?" He greeted. The bells that normally tolled the hour from Garrison Heights had been silent since the evening before.

"Getting there I expect." The woman said as she took a drag from her canteen. "Corporal Kawashima, and you are?" She asked.

Definitely blunt, and also definitely military. "Staedtler William, owner and operator of Staedtler Exotic Imports." He said with a small bow. "I was summoned to the Palace by the Goddess Setarial. There is someone with whom I am to meet."

She frowned at him before ducking back inside. "Give me a moment." She called, her voice barely audible over the rumble of the machine. He exchanged a look with his head bodyguard who shrugged, and kept his hand well away from his weapons.

Taking the free moment he had been given the merchant turned his attention to the machines following the steel monstrosity before him. Where the first machine had great treads in imitation of a caterpillar the following machines had wheels of… rubber unless he missed his guess. Well that would certainly hold up better than wood now that he thought about it. Still the differences did not end there. Screens of what he suspected was glass allowed him to see inside the machines and see their occupants. Many wore the same uniform as the Corporal, but even more wore a wide variety of clothes in styles that he, despite his many years as a merchant, had never seen before.

The corporal popped back out of the hatch. "Your story checks out." She said.

Staedtler raised an eyebrow. How could she know that without… perhaps some form of artifact or perhaps she was a sorcerer of some kind. Either way what mattered was she didn't believe him to be a threat, which was good.

"Since you're heading up to the Castle, you want a ride? I think we've got enough room we could squeeze you in." She offered.

Staedtler shook his head. "I will be fine. A brisk walk like this will do me good." He patted his round stomach for emphasis.

She chuckled. "I suspect it'll take more than a single walk up a hill to deal with that."

"Perhaps my dear. Perhaps." He allowed with a bow.

"Safe walk, and try to keep out off the path this thing leaves. Not sure how stable the footing will be." Kawashima patted her machine before ducking back inside. It roared and began to move forward once more.

Staedtler stepped back to give it the convoy more room. He watched carefully as each machine rolled by. The first thing he noticed was how few people were in uniform compared to those who weren't. The second were the odd looking firewands each of them carried. It was odd to see so many people equipped with the odd weapon from the south. It did give weight to his theory about the first machine though.

After the last machine rolled by Staedtler turned to Ross. "That machine certainly makes a good first impression." He said.

His head guard nodded. "It's different than a warstrider though. Less majestic, more primal. Like standing next to a great beast." Ross said.

"I agree." The merchant smiled. "It is time we saw what else these strangers have to offer. Come on all of you, this ramp won't climb itself." With that he started up the remaining twenty meters to the gate of Garrison Heights.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"I see." Setarial sighed as Ranma finished telling her about the gender curse that she had been dealing with for several years. "Certainly unusual, in application if nothing else. I have seen people, Solars and Lunars alike, change gender before through a variety of methods."

"Can you do something about this?" Ranma asked.

Setarial shook her head after a moment. "Not quickly I'm afraid. While I do know sorcery spells that alter the form of others were never of interest to me, and spells to alter myself were never needed. The forms of Gods are mutable to a significant degree, though I've only rarely needed to take advantage of that in the past…" She mused.

The redhead sighed and sat down in the high-backed chair at the head of the table. The fact that a quick solution to her issues was not available was not a surprise to her. After several years of dealing with the curse she was used to that. "You can fix it though?" She asked.

"Oh more than likely." Setarial said, "Still I would have to study you to determine the exact nature of the transformation, then from their work either on a countermeasure or devise a method of transforming you into your desired shape. Either one is a significant investment of time that I can't guarantee will be available. Truthfully it might be simpler for me to teach you sorcery and let you handle the matter on your own."

"You can teach sorcery?" Kodachi asked.

The Goddess smiled. "Oh yes. Even mortals can learn sorcery since it draws on powers outside themselves." She said, "Normally for mortals such a feat would take years, but Solars such as yourselves can normally attain decent proficiency in a few weeks to months. It does vary a bit."

To learn sorcery… Ranma traced the carving on the right arm of the chair as she thought. It was both an exciting thought and a terrifying one. Having been on the receiving end of mere artifacts many times she had to wonder what magic proper sorcery could achieve.

"Would you teach me?" Ranma asked finally.

"When we have time." Setarial replied, "Even the most talented require days of painstaking work to understand even the Terrestrial Circle of magic. I doubt we'll have entire days to work with any time soon."

The Dawn grimaced. "No kidding. An entire army is coming here… You know last night was the biggest fight I've ever been in before." Ranma said.

"You handled yourself well." The Goddess praised.

She waved it off. "Largest fight in terms of people. I've been in fights with a lot stronger people than we saw last night. I'm just…" She trailed off searching for words.

"Having issues picturing a larger battle?" Kodachi suggested.

"Yeah that." Ranma agreed, "I had to break out the Hiryu Shoten Ha on a bunch of guys who can't take a hit. I don't think I'll be able to afford to pull my punches in a bigger fight."

"Regardless of how little you enjoy killing," Setarial began, "a quick death on the battlefield might be preferable to being crippled for life like many of those you fought last night."

"They won't be crippled if they get treated right." Ranma said with an airy wave, "I know how to leave clean breaks when hitting someone. Most of them will be fine in a couple months at most."

"I see…" The Goddess said thoughtfully. For a moment Ranma could have sworn she saw a look of exasperation on the Goddess' face, then it was gone. "On the matter of Sorcery I can begin teaching you once we have available time. Three hours at once at the very least. The occult secrets of reality aren't shared in an afternoon…" Her eyes flickered to Kodachi. "That applies to both of you if you wish. Teaching one, or teaching ten matters little in this case."

Kodachi looked thoughtful for a moment before going pale. "N-no I'm good." She squeaked.

Ranma stared at her flatly for a moment. She was sure that the nervous girl had suddenly imagined what it would have been like if her old self had had that sort of power. It was a thought that scared Ranma quite a bit as well to be honest. The old Kodachi had been arrogant and insufferable, and been bad enough with just rhythmic gymnastics to rely on. Adding reality breaking power to that? She barely suppressed a shudder.

"The offer will remain open if you wish to learn at a later date." Setarial said kindly, "Still I doubt we'll begin for several weeks at the least."

"I'm good, really." Kodachi insisted in a more normal voice.

"Very well." Setarial bowed to her before straightening to look to Ranma. "This still leaves us with the dilemma of what title you shall be adopting. While I can understand your inherent dislike of such an obviously feminine title such as Princess we still need to decide on something."

"Perhaps, King? Or Prince would be possible?" Kodachi suggested, "A bit unusual for a woman but under the circumstances."

Setarial frowned. "Hm… No, I don't think we can go with that."

"Why not?" Ranma asked. She tried to hide the frown that was forming as the discussion moved onto titles. Royal titles at that. Every time she had encountered 'royalty' of one kind or another things had gone belly up not even five minutes into the encounter. Prince Herb might have been the most prominent, but he was hardly the only Prince she had fought in the past, and none of them had left a good impression. Though Toma hadn't been that terrible once they'd beaten it into him that kidnapping their friends was a bad idea…. He was still a kidnapper though.

"The Realm is very much egalitarian in its treatment of men and women, the same goes for the Hundred Kingdoms thanks to the influence of the Seventh Legion in Lookshy." Setarial said, "However it does have its limits and Titles are very much structured based on the recipients gender. Prince and Princess, Duke and Duchess, Count and Countess, amongst a few. Going against this may offend some more conservative members of Greyfalls."

"And our position is precarious enough without possibly giving insult by ignoring local conventions." Kodachi sighed. She scowled.

Ranma snorted. "And I've been afraid to ignore things like this since?" She said, raising an eyebrow at Kodachi, who blushed.

"Insulting me when I was acting like a lunatic is one thing. The same with dealing with my father and his… unfortunately questionable sanity." Kodachi said, "This, however, could have far more deadly consequences."

"The wrong title could have deadly consequences?" Ranma deadpanned.

"Depending on the title, yes." Setarial said, "While something like King, or Prince is unlikely to cause issue by itself, it would be just another strike against you in the eyes of some along with 'foreigner' and 'anathema'. A minor one in comparison, but this is a tightrope we are walking and if we stray too far we might find ourselves with a battle in the streets."

Right, civil war… Ranma groaned and rubbed her forehead. Politics was getting tiresome very quickly, and she hadn't even had to deal with anyone in person yet.

"To give an example of just how dangerous a title is…" Setarial gestured to Ranma's hair, "One could describe your hair as being Scarlet, and if we paired that with Empress…."

Kodachi understood first. "Oh dear. Yes that would insult the Realm quite a bit I imagine." She said with a nervous frown.

"Right, the Scarlet Empress is the ruler of the Realm right?" Ranma said after moment.

"She was until she disappeared five years ago." Setarial said, "The loss of a Satrapy is unfortunate, but the Realm has lost a fair few these passed few years. I have no doubt that the Realm will one day attempt to seize whatever we build here, but that is a minor priority compared to the many much larger and more profitable holdings they have closer to home. If you were to lay claim to the title of their missing Empress however…"

Ranma sighed. "They'd come screaming for my head at the first chance they got I bet." She said flatly.

"More than likely. While it is an extreme example it does make my point. A title can have an effect, and while something as minor as calling a girl a Prince won't have the same effect, it could be the tipping point in people's opinion." The Goddess finished.

"Still, there are neutral titles." Kodachi said, "Daimyo is one from home."

"And an insult to the Lookshy." Setarial said.

"How?" Ranma asked with a groan. While the idea of being a Daimyo was not appealing, it was something she could accept. It was familiar if nothing else.

"Lookshy was founded and is ruled by the descendents of the Seventh Legion of the Shogunate. The Shogunate ruled Creation after the Dragon-blooded overthrew the Solar Deliberative. It lasted until the Great Contagion and the Fair Folk invasion that immediately followed. Its regional rulers were Daimyos. Lookshy could take that title as an affront to their honour, and unlike the Realm they do have the time and manpower to spare to lay siege." The Goddess said.

Kodachi sighed and took the chair next to Ranma. "This is… Proving harder than I thought." She admitted before sparing Ranma a glance. "Unless you what to simply accept being called Queen?"

Ranma twitched. Visions of her mother finding her and trying to take her head off with the family katana danced in her head. Despite her mother having said, herself, that the contract was fulfilled the woman was still obsessed with manliness… "No means no." She reaffirmed.

The black-haired young woman groaned quietly. "I'm running out of ideas appropriate for a ruler of a nation." She said.

"Nearly any word can become a title if used correctly." Setarial said, "Words like Protector, or Imperator, or even more innocuous words like Lotus have been used as titles."

"Not getting named after a flower." Ranma said dryly, before sighing.

"Excuse me." Three pairs of eyes looked to the far end of the table where the Magistrate Zeriah was sitting. "Would you mind if I offered my insight into this?" He asked.

"Go ahead." Ranma said. The three of them were on the verge of going in circles.

The magistrate recapped his inkwell and set his dip pen down beside it. "You said earlier that you had met royalty before. Would I be wrong to say that from your experiences you have a less than positive impression?" He asked.

Ranma's frown deepened. Herb, Toma, that Lucky Seven Gods Prince… There had been one or two more besides them both men and women, but those were the three that stuck out the most from the rest of the madness that was her life. "You'd be right." She said eventually.

"I imagine that there must be a few stories behind those." Zeriah mused.

The redhead snorted. "The worst one ended with me using his face to break a mountain." She said. An odd noise forced her to look to Setarial, who was staring at her in surprise. "What?"

The Goddess cleared her throat. "To clarify, you only Exalted last night, correct?" She asked.

"Yeah." Ranma said, "Not like I did most of the damage. Bastard had nearly split the mountain in two before I managed to catch him in a Hiryu Shoten Ha. Blasted him down into the crevice he'd carved into the mountain. The mountain couldn't take any more and just fell apart."

"I see." Setarial mumbled.

"Certainly impressive." Zeriah said, like the Goddess he seemed to be surprised. "My point, however, is that perhaps you are approaching this from the wrong angle. You have been looking at what role you are to take, that of a Queen or Empress, and thinking that you must take a grand ostentatious title that befits such a role."

"Something simpler is what you're suggesting?" Kodachi asked.

"If appropriate." Zeriah said, "I have one more question I need answered before I can offer a suggestion."

Ranma shrugged. "Okay, shoot." She said.

The Magistrate leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and his chin on his clasped hands. "Why did you accept?" He asked, "You obviously have good reason to dislike or even hate the idea of Royalty. You disdain traditional titles, even excluding your understandable gender issues. So why? Why accept a request that puts you in a position you obviously neither enjoy nor desire?"

Ranma opened her mouth to respond, then closed it as the Goddess and Kodachi turned to look at her, curious expressions on their faces. Ranma sighed before make eye contact with Setarial. The Goddess' eye shone, almost literally, with curiosity.

After a few more moments Ranma started talking. "A few reason I guess." She said, "I don't want to be 'royalty', and I don't want to deal with royalty. You're right about that. I'm not doing this because it's something I want. I'm doing this because of her." She looked Setarial in the eye. "I've had a run in with a few things in the past that mighta been gods. All of them had an ego bigger than this city. None o' them would have gotten down on their knees and begged someone they'd just met to save… anyone. Except maybe themselves. Even then I doubt it."

Setarial bowed. "I am the Goddess of this City. It safety and prosperity are my greatest concerns, everything else, including my pride, comes second to that duty." She said modestly.

"If only more gods had that view." Zeriah said with his own half-bow.

"Yeah, that." Ranma sighed. "Other than that, well we don't exactly have anywhere to go. This city is one dropped hat away from tearing itself apart. I don't know anything about politics, but the mess this we've stumbled into needs someone to step up and make people listen."

Kodachi leaned over and took one of Ranma's hands. "And we sort of pushed you into this, didn't we." She smiled sadly and a couple tears could be seen glimmering in her eyes. "I shouldn't have said anything. I'm-"

"Don't." Ranma said as she saw the tears forming. "This ain't your fault. I don't like this, that's right, but they're right. Out of all of us I'm the only one who might be able to get this to work."

Setarial bowed low. "Even so." She said regretfully, "I am sorry for placing you in a position that you dislike so much. It never crossed my mind that you would dislike the idea of being royalty so much. Even after you brought up your… experiences with others."

Ranma waved her off with her free hand. "It's fine." She said, "Look, I might not like this, but I agreed to it. That is it." She looked Zeriah square in the eye. "That answer your question Magistrate?" She asked archly, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Very well your Grace." He replied with a stiff half-bow. His injuries from earlier prevented him from doing more, but the sentiment was there. "You do this due to duty, perceived or otherwise." He said, "May I suggest then the title of Castellan."

"That normally refers to someone who manages a fort or castle on behalf of a lord." Kodachi said, straightening up and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Hardly fitting for a ruler of a nation."

Zeriah smiled. "Their duties also include managing the territories around said forts or castles. Still you are normally correct, however we have already established that traditional titles, or even elaborate new ones, are unacceptable to our new Ruler." He bowed his head to Ranma, who snorted at the show of subservience. It annoyed her.

"Get on with it." She prodded.

"As you command." He said with a smile, "You are only doing this because Lady Setarial asked it of you. Also your authority as a ruler is derived from two sources. The surrender of the City by Lily and myself, and more importantly, from Setarial's blessing. While the first will give you legitimacy in the eyes of the Confederation of Rivers, it is the second that will matter most to the people of Greyfalls. If you look at it from the correct angle you rule because she gave you the City and asked that you safeguard its people."

"Like a Castellan with a castle." Setarial said with a smile, "Yes I see where you are going with this Zeriah. The suggested humility in such a title would also be boon when dealing with the merchants and soon to be nobles of Greyfalls. It also carries connotations of protection and defence that might help when dealing with neighbouring countries that would no doubt be worried that we might turn on them."

Ranma looked between the two of them before turning to Kodachi who was visibly thinking. "Your thoughts?" She asked the dark haired girl.

"It's hardly a traditional title for the ruler of a nation…" She trailed off and sighed. "However that doesn't matter. Nothing today has been traditional. His suggestion is a good one I have to admit. Castellans can also be men or women so that's not an issue either." Ranma twitched. "I have to agree with them. I like it." Kodachi concluded with a small smile.

A knock at the door interrupted further debate. "Come in." Ranma called.

Lady Bretegani eased open the door and bowed. "Your Grace, Mr. Staedtler has been spotted coming up the ramp to Garrison Heights. He will be here within minutes I imagine." She said as she rose.

"Thank you, Lady Bretegani." Setarial said.

"We have set up one of the sitting rooms down the hallway. Would you like me to show you there now, or later after he has arrived?" She asked.

"Give us a moment." Ranma said before turning her thoughts inward. Ranma frowned and tapped the table with a finger as she thought. Castellan, it wasn't Queen, or Princess, or any other very feminine title that was as likely to get her head chopped off as it was to get her mocked by Ryouga. She had no issues with anything else surrounding it, and she was not doing this because she wanted an empire. So….

The redhead looked around at the expectant faces that surrounded her. "Fine." She said with a sigh and a smile as an invisible weight lifted from her shoulders. "Castellan it is."

"A wise choice your Grace." Zeriah said with another half bow.

"A good choice Ranma." Kodachi smiled.

"And just in time." Setarial noted, "We should break for now Castellan." Ranma blinked at the title, it felt odd being referred to by a proper title. "You have a lunch meeting to get to and I have several things I must set into motion for tonight." She looked to Kodachi, "And I should remind you that her Grace's meeting is to be alone."

Kodachi twitched. "I am aware." She said, "Though what I am supposed to do for now I have no idea." Her stomach took that moment to grumble loudly. She blushed as soft chuckles rolled around the room. "Perhaps food would be a good idea." She allowed.

"If I might suggest something milady." Lady Bretegani said.

"Go ahead." Kodachi said.

"The first group of your people are arriving here as we speak. I have had the servants set up food and tables of blankets in the entry hall and adjoining rooms. Perhaps you should go see to them while her Grace meets with Sir Staedtler. If nothing else there is plenty of food." The seneschal of the Scintillating River Palace suggested.

"Not a bad idea." Ranma said looking at the other girl who nodded.

"I'll see if there's anyone else we know among them." Kodachi promised.

"Great." Ranma stood, smoothing her kimono-esque dress as she stood before taking Mnemmon's Blade from the table. "Meeting adjourned." She looked to Lady Bretegani and smiled, "Lead the way."

Lady Bretegani smiled and bowed. "This way Lady Castellan." She said with a sweep of her arms towards the door. Ranma twitched before sighing. She should have expected that.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The entrance hall was already bustling with people bundled in blankets by the time Kodachi reached it. She paused near the top of the stairs and looked down into the entrance hall. People were sitting on the stairs, in corners, and could be seen through doorways into sitting rooms around the vast hall. And yet, more people were streaming in through the front doors.

She glanced around and spotted Corporal Kita and her squad helping keep people organized alongside numerous other soldiers, again mostly women, who she didn't recognize. The noise of conversation and shouted orders had been loud and indecipherable down the hallway and even being so close it was hard to make out individual words or voices.

She took the steps down into the chaos one at a time, she was not in a hurry and it gave her time to simply survey the gathering. The non-military people from Japan were a mixed lot. Many were dressed for a summer day with light dresses, t-shirts, and tank tops being common. Others had clearly been involved in a variety of businesses. People wearing suits, lab coats, and construction safety vests made up a notable percentage of the group.

As she descended the stairs she made eye contact with Corporal Kita who patted the soldier she was standing next on the shoulder and made her way over to meet Kodachi as she dismounted the stairs.

"Miss Kuno." She said with a smile.

"Corporal Kita, how are things here?" Kodachi asked as she looked around. A number of people had claimed the corners of the hall and were nursing steaming cups as they huddled in the blankets they had been given. More than a few were looking at her with curious eyes.

"It's not as bad as we feared, but it's not much much better either." Kita said as Kodachi watched one of the palace servants show a mother and what appeared to be her thirteen year old daughter into a nearby sitting room.

Kodachi's eyes followed the pair for a moment before turning back to the Corporal. "How many?" She asked.

The older woman shook her head. "We're still taking a head count, and the last group over the river hasn't been brought in yet either. At least a hundred civilians, maybe a hundred twenty at most?" She sighed. "Like I said, that doesn't include the last group. We're doing good for food and blankets since the troops in the castle opened their doors at least."

Kodachi's stomach picked that moment to grumble and she blushed. "Speaking of food." She glanced around.

The Corporal chuckled. "Through the left door." She said, "It's mainly sandwiches and cheese, but that's better than most of these people were expecting this morning."

Kodachi nodded. "It had been a rather rough day, hasn't it?" She said, pausing thoughtfully before continuing, "Lady Bretegani said that was on his way?"

"He had just made the top of the ramp last I heard." The Corporal said, "He's bringing four guards with him. I think the Lieutenant is debating whether or not to let them into the Palace with him."

"Let them in." Kodachi said, "We're trying to win him over, not push him away, and it's not as if you need to worry about them hurting Ranma." The very idea was ridiculous. Ranma would have to be unconscious and tied down before any ordinary person would be able to harm her, or even touch her.

"I'll pass your suggestion on then Miss Kuno." The Corporal said with a small bow.

"Thank you Corporal." Kodachi returned the bow. "Now I think I'll get some food. This way you said?" She looked through the doorway to her left.

"Yes. A good day to you Miss Kuno."

"And to you Corporal." Kodachi headed for what she thought was a sitting room. Behind her she could make out the Corporal talking into her radio. She put it out of her mind as she ducked into the sitting room to find it quite full of people. Couches and other forms of seating had been pushed back to the walls while the tables that took up the center had large platters of sandwiches, salted and smoked meats, and wheels of cheese. Large teapots steamed next to the clean plates and cups at one end of the table.

All the seating in the room had long since been taken, but there was still plenty of food on the table. Kodachi breezed through the crowd with ease, not jostling or shoving a single person as she made her way to the table. She took a plate from the end of the table and joined the queue that was making its way slowly around the tables, snaring smoked meats, sandwiches and a large slice of what she thought was probably cheddar. As she did so she listened to the chatter of those she passed by.

Most people were simply expressing relief at being out of the cold, or having food and warm drinks. Some, though, were discussing other things.

"-we? Those aren't lamps in the wall sconces. They look like crystals, bright glowing crystals." Said a boy about her age as he peered at one of the glowing crystals on the wall.

"Stop poking it. What if you break it?" The girl sitting next to him hissed. The boy flinched as the crystal shifted and hastily sat back down. Kodachi quieted a snicker and moved on.

"So many female soldiers." A woman standing near the line was saying, "I hadn't realize there were so many women in the army."

"It's not just the soldiers though." The woman next to her in a business suit replied, "If I've seen more than a dozen men since we arrived at the Palace I'll be surprised."

"Other than the servants here you mean."

"Yes other than them." Kodachi moved on.

"Whose in charge? They shuffled us into here without saying anything." A pimply boy several years younger than Kodachi whined to a girl of a similar age. "The yard was a mess, and were those bodies out there? Were they dead? I want answers."

"They looked like dead bodies to me." The girl next to him said with a shrug. "They weren't being handled like they were alive anyway. I'm guessing whoever was here didn't like it when people just showed up."

Kodachi spared at glance at the two of them. The boy looked like he was half-way between either a religious revelation or apoplexy with how red he was. "Did- Did they murder the people up here? Oh god don't tell me they killed the rulers and took over. I don't want to deal with crazy soldiers." He hissed to the girl in a quiet enough voice that Kodachi was sure she wasn't supposed to hear. Still she managed, barely. Not that she needed to try too hard to hear the girl's response.

"Don't be an idiot." The girl sighed. "Honestly you and your conspiracy theories Hikaru."

"They aren't conspiracy theories when I'm right!" He replied in just as quiet a voice as before. "Wouldn't be the first time I was right either!"

The look she gave him was flat enough to deflate balloons. "Guessing that Aunt Yasu was telling mom you were sneaking out at night is not something to be proud of, and it doesn't count." She drawled.

"Yes it does Hikari!" He hissed, looking around in a paranoid manner.

Kodachi smiled and turn her attention to the teapot in her hands as she poured a full cup. Sipping it she smiled, jasmine how nice. A moment later she just barely kept from spilling any of it as the thirteen year old girl from earlier bumped into her while walking backwards.

"Oops." The girl said, spinning on the spot. For a moment their eyes met and Kodachi blinked as eyes that were nearly the same shade of sapphire as Ranma looked back at her then the moment was over and the girl disappeared into the crowds around her, leaving only her last word floating in the air. "Sorry."

Kodachi tried to spot the girl, but there were too many people to see passed. The man behind her prodded her with his plate and she blushed. She was holding the line up. Taking her plate and cup of tea with her she quickly searched for a place to at least put down her cup while she ate. Exalted or not she only hand two hands.

She found an open spot on the floor next to a small table and wooden chair that looked a touch out of place with the rest of the decor. The chair was occupied by the woman who had been with the little girl from earlier. She was craning her neck trying to look around without getting up.

"Is this spot free?" Kodachi asked.

The woman jerked in surprise at being addressed. "I- No, I'm saving it for my daughter. If she ever comes back." She said after a moment.

"That would be the same girl who bounced off me at the serving table?" Kodachi asked.

The woman blushed. "She got away from me when I was getting food, and now I'm worried about leaving here and abandoning our spot here." She said, "She's been running about without regard the whole day and I'm nearly at my wits end. She normally gets tired by now."

Kodachi set her cup of tea down and patted the older woman on the shoulder. "She seems to be quite energetic." She said.

"Certainly one way of looking at it." The woman said before sighing. "Listen to me complain. My apologies I shouldn't be venting the issues of motherhood on a girl your age."

Kodachi smiled. "It's completely fine. Today has been horrible for all of us." She said before bowing as best she could, "I'm Kuno Kodachi."

The older woman smiled back. "I am Hinagawa Miyu. I'm sorry my daughter ran into you." She said, bowing deeply from her chair.

The younger woman waved it off. "I said its fine, and I meant it." She took a bite of the sandwich she had taken. The taste was… good, but she couldn't quite place the flavour of the meat. It was like pork but… harsher? She took a second bite, either way whatever it was it was good.

"Mooooooom!" Both of them started as the young girl they had been talking about seemingly materialized out of the crowd without warning. On her heels was the girl, Hikari, who had been talking to her conspiracy theorizing brother. Half a sandwich stuck in her hair made it clear why she was chasing the younger girl.

The younger girl ducked between the two of them and whirled behind the chair, undoubtedly hoping her mother would save her.

Hikari came to a stop, heaving with heavy breaths that Kodachi suspected were caused more by anger than tiredness, in front of them. "Mrs," She asked in a barely calm voice, "Would you mind letting me strangle your daughter for a few minutes? I promise I won't do any lasting damage."

Kodachi stifled a snort of amusement at the blase expression on Miyu's face. This was obviously not the first time her daughter had used her as a shield against the ire of someone she had angered.

"As much as Kiku probably deserves it I'm afraid strangulation falls under 'harm' Miss?" Miyu said blandly. The named girl pouted behind the chair.

"Moooom." She whined.

"Kurosawa Hikari." The other girl said as she carefully removed the piece of bread from her hair along with the lettuce and smoked meat.

"My apologies Miss Kurosawa." Miyu said, "My daughter is more of a free spirit than is probably healthy."

"Mooom." The girl in question groaned from her hiding spot.

"However, perhaps you would appreciate a bit of help cleaning that up… And an apology from my daughter." She shot the last bit to the girl hiding behind the chair.

The pout grew tenfold as the girl deflated. "Yes mom…" She groaned.

Hikari smiled as she continued to pick lettuce from her hair. "Any assistance would be appreciated Mrs….?"

"Hinagawa Miyu. Please sit." Miyu gestured to the floor in front of her. Hikari sagged to the ground in front of the woman gratefully.

Grinning despite herself Kodachi offered, "Perhaps I should go and see if there are any hand towels or napkins you could use."

Miyu shot her a smile. "If you could that would be amazing." She said.

Kodachi drained her cup of tea and grabbed the second half of her sandwich. "Back in a moment." She said before heading off into the crowd. She chuckled quietly to herself. It seemed that there were many forms of chaos people were getting into.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Staedtler examined the lines of parked machines. There were over twenty of them, and all but a small group of vehicles like the one parked next to the Palace Gates were different. Several were large with large box-like rears, and some were small with barely enough room for, maybe, five people. Certainly not five people of his size at least. Many of them bore the same symbol of overlapping ovals, while other bore a strange 'H' symbol in the same places. Makers marks more than likely, though they were foreign to him.

"Intriguing devices aren't they." He said to Ross.

"Not having to house a team of horses for each cart certainly seems to save on space." Ross said as he eyed the row of vehicles before once again fixating on the monster in the corner where a group of soldiers were discussing something.

"Unless they come from the high first age then I image there's some catch to their ability to move." Staedtler replied as he knelt beside one and tapped the strange wheels. "Rubber, as I thought. More durable than wood I imagine." He stood up with a groan. "Ooph, I shouldn't be bending like that these days. I'm not quite as agile as I once was."

His bodyguard snorted. "Agile is not a word I would have ever used to describe you sir."

"Not in your time with me." Staedtler agreed with a chuckle before heading onwards to the Palace gates. Two women in uniform stood one on either side of the gate, a few people passed them without challenge, but as Staedtler approached one of the guards stepped into his way with her hand held up.

"Stop, name and business." She demanded as the other guard shifted her grip on the odd looking flame piece.

Staedtler bowed politely. "I am Staedtler William and I am here to meet with Saotome Ranma at the request of her Divine Grace Setarial." He said politely. The guard off to the side relaxed her grip on the weapon in her arms.

The first one nodded. "The front gate said you were coming. Proceed into the main hall, Corporal Kita will see you up to the meeting room. Your guards are allowed to accompany you if you desire." She said before standing aside.

He had half expected that they would have to stand outside. "Thank you." He said with a tip of his hat before leading the way through the gates to the Palace. As he pushed open the double doors of the entrance hall the noise hit him. People shouting, for more blankets and food or the names of people; the sound of tables and other furniture being moved and sounds he honestly couldn't identify over the utter chaos that had consumed the palace entrance hall.

He stepped into the room and was promptly forced sidestepped a servant carrying far too many blankets. His guards joined him as he scanned the room for Corporal Kita. He didn't have to look for long as the woman found him first. She was short, like many of these people seemed to be, with equally short black hair and a stern look on her face.

"You wouldn't happen to be Staedtler." She said as she emerged ghost-like from the crowd.

He bowed. "That I am. You would be Corporal Kita I presume?" He asked.

"I am." She said before looking around and gesturing for him to follow. "This way, I'll lead you to the meeting room." Without another word she led them across the hall and up the stairs towards the west wing of the Palace. "My apologies about the chaos." She said, "We're just getting people organized and fed after last night."

He waved it off. "No matter to me, I understand perfectly. This disaster was no more your desire than it was ours." He said.

She inclined her head as they made their way down the marble tiled hallway. She stopped outside a nondescript door of a room that he recognized to be one of the many sitting rooms that made up most of this level. "Here we are. I'd advise leaving the guards outside, but the decision is yours." She said to him.

"Not worried about what I might do to her?" He asked curious. In his experience even exalted dynasts insisted on him entering alone to meet them.

The woman snorted, whether in amusement or contempt he couldn't tell. "She destroyed an army last night, what do you think four men will do?" She asked, before leaving without another word.

"She has a point you know." Ross said to him as they watched the Corporal head down the hall. "If she attacks you-"

"They need me too much for that I imagine." Staedtler replied he took off his bowler hat and ran a hand through his hair. "No your job is done for now Ross. Leave a couple men here and go do some poking around downstairs. Meet these people, get to know them. I want to understand what I am dealing with as a whole."

"As you command." Ross said as he and the others bowed.

"Right then, wish me luck." Staedtler replied as he slid open the door to the sitting room and stepped inside.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Ranma turned the blue-steel blade over in her hands as she sat at the small table by the window. She understood the symbolism of handing over a weapon like this, but its nature as a magic blade made her nervous. The blue-steel was like ice both in colour and texture, feeling slippery at the touch and the longer she left it unsheathed the colder the room seemed to get. The hilt was made of a strange silvery metal and rippled with every movement and every touch.

The blade was unnatural, but somehow it didn't feel dangerous. The chill that emanated from the blade lingered in the air, but it was less the chill of the deep north in winter and more the chill one would find on an early spring morning. Cold, but welcoming. It was still strangely heavy though, not that it was an issue for her, but the blade was nearly four times as heavy as it had any right be for the size it was.

She twitched as voices drifted through the door. They were muffled, but she would bet her moment of quiet contemplation, and break from the madness of the last twenty-four hours, was coming to an end. As the voices stopped and the door started sliding open she slid the blade back into its sheath and leaned it against the wall next to her chair. She would deal with it later, preferably when there was someone who had a clue what to do with a magic sword.

She turned to look at the door as it slid shut behind a large man. The man was taller than she was, but his stature had a great deal in common with Genma, being round. That, thankfully, was as far as the comparison could see to go. Where her father was overweight, poorly dressed, and usually in need of a bath regardless of how recently he'd had one; this man was wrapped in heavy robes of what appeared to be fine cotton and silk. His hair was thinning just a little, but he still had enough it could be called full. He held in his hands a fine cane capped in silver and an equally fine bowler hat.

The man bowed. "I am Staedtler William. I have come as asked by Lady Setarial and Lady Leitleen." He said, leaning on the cane and holding the hat to his chest.

"To judge me." She said, turning in her chair to face him.

He rose from his bow and hung his coat and scarf on a the coat rack near the door. "You are unknown." He replied as he walked across the room. He stopped beside the table and looked at her. His eyes focused on her face, her eyes specifically. "More importantly you are anathema. I am not a pious man, not Immaculate Pious at least, however even I have learned to heed their warnings in the area of the supernatural." He pulled out the chair opposite her and heaved himself into it with a sigh. "However I have also learned to trust Lady Leitleen and Lady Setarial. So here I am, doing yet another thing the Immaculates warn against."

"Talking to a seventeen year old girl?" Ranma quipped.

He chuckled. "The Immaculates have other things to be said about that." He said, "However what they say about what you are, either as an Anathema or as a girl, are entirely immaterial to this discussion." He leaned his cane against the wall next to his chair and sighed. "I am here to decide whether you are in the best interest of Greyfalls. You have Lady Setarial's Blessing, or a promise of it at least. That is in your favour, but I have learned through experience that the minds of men and gods do so rarely align."

Ranma sighed. "Most people's minds don't line up." She said from experience, "Men and Gods? Miracles only go so far." The number of times she had been caught up in some madness over misunderstanding was more than she cared to count.

The large man smiled. "One way of looking at it I suppose." He said before looking down at the table, set as it was with cutlery and wine glasses. "However I was also promised a good meal to go along with today's discussion."

Ranma look to the door. "Lady Bretegani said she would send someone by soon." She said.

"I must say I'm surprised that the servants are cooperating with this." He said, cradling an empty wine glass in one hand. "Lord Bretegani is not one to cast aside his loyalty to the Empress. If anything I would have expected them to have left when the evacuation was called."

Ranma shrugged. "He was injured when a few soldiers decided to loot the place. When we got here he'd already been knocked out." She said before she frowned. "I don't think he's expected to wake up."

"I see." Staedtler replied, "He was a good man, but perhaps a tad oblivious." At Ranma's curious look he elaborated, "He fancied himself a Dynast like his daughter who exalted and was adopted into one of the Great Houses back on the Isle. I don't know which one. His, ehem, 'reward' was to be sent here. As far from the isle as was possible. He often hosted parties involving many of the Merchants and Landowners in Greyfalls. His mistake. They served as places where the like minded could meet and talk without being under suspicion. It was there that the conspiracy started."

"Here? In this Palace?" Ranma asked.

"Yes." He smiled, "Right beneath their noses. It's entirely possible that this very room hosted discussions of treason and sedition. Though we have no way to be certain. When I joined the discussions they had already been building quiet support for several years and had expanded beyond just meeting at those balls, though they did continue to use it to recruit."

Well that was interesting, and another reason for her to hate big parties. There was a knock on the door, forestalling her reply, before the door slid open to admit a young man. He bowed low to them both. "Our apologies for the delay Your Highness, Sir Staedtler. I'm afraid things have gotten quite hectic all of a sudden." He said while practically staring at the floor.

Ranma sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "Stand up." She said after a moment, her voice matching the exasperation she was feeling. People bowing to her just felt weird.

The young man, though he appeared to be a few years older than her, straightened. "Again, our apologies Lady Castellan." He said. Out of the corner of Ranma's eye she caught the speculative look that Staedtler was giving her. "I am here to take your requests." The servant bowed slightly once again.

"Perhaps you could offer us some options?" Staedtler prompted.

The young man flushed. "Yes, of course Sir Staedtler." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a pad of paper. "With the state of the city we are lacking in the way of fresh meats, however we do have a large smoked ham and a variety of smoked meats. Freshly cooked bread, and a variety of vegetables that could be used in sandwiches or salads as you wish. There are three soups currently available. A broccoli and cheese, a tomato and basil, and a chowder made with fish that was brought in just before calibration. A few days old but well preserved I'm told."

Staedtler looked to Ranma. "What would the… ah Lady Castellan desire?" He asked, before chuckling quietly at the twitch she failed to suppress.

She shot him an irritable look that seemed to amuse him before looking back to the nervous servant. Well, there was only one answer for that. "Thr- No, Four Sandwiches. Don't care what you put in them, surprise me. Also a large bowl of.. Hmm…" They both stared at her as she considered the soups. "Chowder sounds good. Also one of those cheese platter and some tea, don't care which."

The Servant blinked dumbly for a couple seconds before shaking himself. "O-of course Milady." He turned to Staedtler. "What would you desire sir?" He asked.

"Two sandwiches, with that ham and whatever cheese you might have at the moment." He said, "Lettuce is acceptable. Also an average sized bowl of your tomato soup if you don't mind. Tea would also be acceptable."

"It will be here shortly Milady, milord." The young man bowed. "With your leave?" Ranma waved him off and fixed an amused look on Staedtler who was shaking his head.

"Do you truly intend to eat five sandwiches and a bowl of chowder?" He asked.

She shrugged, it wasn't that much compared to how much she'd eaten at other times. "I haven't eaten more than snacks since we arrived. I need proper food." She said with a shrug.

"A fair point I suppose." He acknowledged before frowning and looking at her. "Would I be wrong to guess that you grew up without the expectation of nobility or at least without servants and titles?" He asked.

Ranma sighed. "Yes. My pops raised me to be a martial artist." She said carefully. "We spent most of my life on the road traveling and learning. Until a couple years ago anyway when we moved in with an old friend of his."

"I see." The merchant nodded before changing the subject. "Castellan. Normally it refers the caretaker of a castle or fort. From what Lady Leitleen said you were being put forward as a candidate for Queen of Greyfalls. Has that changed in the last couple of hours?"

Ranma sighed. "Not really, no." She said, "I've had run ins with royalty before this. They always acted like arrogant bastards. The idea of sharing a title, even a word of a title, with them is…" She searched for a word, "Sickening." She finished. It wasn't the whole truth, obviously, but at the moment she'd prefer as few people as possible knew about her curse. She didn't need people thinking she was crazy on top of everything else, besides the thought was gut churning.

"Also," she continued, "I'm only doing something like this because Setarial asked me to."

"Why?" He asked, "While I understand the weight of a request by a Goddess, you have demonstrated the sort of power required to refuse?"

Ranma twirled the butterknife between the fingers of her right hand. "I could." She agreed as she spun the blade. "I really want to as well. I ain't a ruler. I don't want to be one, but I'm also partly responsible for the mess that the city is in. So when she asked I agreed."

"There are many ways to help the city." His eyes tracked the complex pattern the butterknife was spinning between her fingers. "It didn't have to be like this."

The butterknife came to a stop. "Didn't it?" She said as she set the knife down. "I could have gone out there and dealt with the army myself I guess, or at least dealt with the General in charge. I could have run off, or helped put things back together…" Her fingers tapped irritably on the table. "But, and here's the point Setarial made, who's in command of the city? Of the Nation?" She asked.

The Merchant remained gravely silent. "Even your little conspiracy doesn't actually have a proper leader. Its got leaders, Sung and Bengtsson for example, but do any of them agree on who's supposed to be King when it's all done?" She prodded.

"No it doesn't." He answered, "We never could agree. If nothing else Her Grace Setarial's actions have at least bought a day of tense peace. Even Bengtsson won't dare break the peace she has asked for. Not immediately anyway. Is that why you accepted, to try and head off a civil war? It would have happened anyway without your intervention."

The butterknife started spinning once again. "Its part of it. We kicked this whole mess off without meaning to, but we're still responsible for what happens. Still I'd have kept arguing except for one thing." The butterknife stopped spinning. "When a Goddess gets down on her knees and pleads for you to do something at the cost of her dignity and pride." She trailed off.

The merchant leaned back into his chair with a thoughtful look. Silence settled between them for a few minutes before the door once again slid open to admit a cart covered in plates and a teapot, pushed by the same young servant as before.

"Your meal." He said with a bow before beginning to unload the plates of sandwiches and bowls of soup. As he set the cheese platter down next to Ranma she raised an eyebrow.

"Can I get a second plate of this?" She asked him.

He stared at her before nodding once. "Yes, of course. I'll bring it up as soon as possible." He said.

"Thanks." Ranma said before taking a bite of one of the sandwich halves

As the tea was poured for both of them Staedtler tasted the soup. "Excellent as usual." He told the servant who nodded gratefully.

"I'll let the chef know." He said before retreating out of the room with the cart.

Ranma took spoonful of the chowder. It was good, though not as good as what Kasumi had cooked on occasion.

"You've given me quite a bit to think on already." Staedtler said after a few minutes of quiet eating. "But I do have a few questions, if you don't mind answering them that is."

Ranma swallowed the last of her first sandwich. She smiled, "Ask away." It was why they were meeting after all.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"We've just had Motou and Kawashima's groups arrive. I'm putting together the team to come and get you Sergeant Mori." Ryu said into the radio of the LAV.

"Understood. We've commandeered the wharf at this end and we're waiting for someone to come get us." The Soldier's voice crackled with the distance, but it was still clearer than it had been a couple hours earlier.

"They'll be there soon. Kumon out." Ryu hung the microphone on in its cradle and sighed. "One thing after another." He complained to Akiyama. The Sergeant Major chuckled.

"It always is. I'll lead the group down if you want." He offered.

Ryu shook his head. "No, no. Get Corporal Kawashima to do it. Ten man team including her. I want you around if Ito starts acting up."

"Yes sir." The older man said.

"Get that done then get back here. We still have other things we need to do." The Lieutenant said. Akiyama saluted and left. Ryu leaned back in the passenger seat of the LAV with a sigh as he enjoyed the moment of quiet. Even with the keep 'friendly' and the Vartabed had been abandoned by the monks, nuns and acolytes who had stripped all of its holy relics and most of the decor at the same time. More than likely they had headed for the Realm with the rest of the Dynasts. Hopefully they had, the last thing they needed was another issue to handle. He rolled the window up and as he sat there the last twenty-four hours began to catch up with him as his eyes started to close.

A few minutes later a knock on the window brought Ryu out of the doze he had fallen into. He rolled the window back down and stifled a yawn as he turned to look at his second. "Well?" He asked through a yawn.

"Kawashima is taking a ten man team down to Canal Gate with a few of the trucks." Akiyama said, studiously ignoring how his commanding officer was shaking himself awake.

"Good, what's next?" Ryu asked as he slapped his face in an effort to wake himself up.

"Kita needs to talk to you about accommodations for everyone. Apparently there aren't enough rooms in the Palace to just use it, and she's concerned about using the Barracks. Not sanitary I think she called it." The Sergeant Major snorted in amusement. "Can't say I disagree."

Ryu opened the car and stepped out stretching. "That bad?" He asked.

"The keep looks practically modern in comparison." The older man replied.

The Lieutenant ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Always something else."

"Yes sir. Always something."

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Honda Type 73 truck bounced as it came to a stop on the cobbled stone that made up the quayside of Canal Gate. Kawashima turned it off and threw open the door, dropping to the ground. On the other side of the vehicle Private Watanabe Yori opened the passenger door far more gently and dropped to the stone.

"Warehouses are pretty close to the water." The Private said as she rounded the side of the vehicle. Yori was looking about nervously, her eyes twitching from one building to another.

"Yeah, keep an eye on them." Corporal Kawashima said as she walked over to the wooden piers that stretched out into the bay. They were, for the most part, empty. All except for a handful of smaller fishing boats and a dozen identical wide and flat bottomed barges with small shacks set up to keep the rain off their passengers. Those were probably their ferries.

"Everyone, gather round." She shouted waving the drivers and passengers of the other three trucks over. Once her squad had assembled she gestured to the barges. "Koneko, Goto, you said that you've gone boating before. Think you can operate those things?" She asked.

The two women exchanged a look and laughed. "Their riverboats ma'am." Koneko said, "Nothing to them but poles, oars and a rudder. We'll need a couple of extra hands to help with everything, but we expected that.

"Good. Private Watanabe and I will go with you." Their commander said.

"What?" The slight and nervous girl said before clamming up nervously again.

Ignoring the interruption the Corporal continued, "Private Harada, you're in charge until we get back."

"Ma'am." The taller woman saluted.

"Alright, let's get this done. I don't want to be out here longer than we need to be. Feels like we're being watched." She scanned the rooftops of the nearby warehouses and nearly dismissed the feeling before a glint atop the walls above the warehouses caught her eye. She didn't even spare it more than the briefest of glances. "Correction. We are being watched. Move it ladies." She snapped, leading the way to the boats.

Stepping off the pier onto the barges the boats barely rocked as she walked across them to the furthest down the line of boats tied together. Koneko and Goto set about finding the oars and poles while Yori carefully made her way across the other barges, flinching at every unexpected sway.

Watching the younger woman make her way, slowly, to the boat the corporal had to wonder if she had made the right choice bringing the nervous young woman. "Hurry up Watanabe. We're being watched and I'd to get this done before they get bold." She called.

"Y-Yes ma'am." The young woman squeaked as she doubled her speed. It was still slower than any of them, but at least she had sped up. "We're being watched, one man on the wall."

"I know-" Kawashima started.

"Two more in the warehouse three to the left, second floor." The Private continued, seemingly to herself as she traversed the last couple barges. "Another is watching from the last street corner in the three story house, and I think there might be one more towards the next district towards the falls." Her feet touched down on the barge and she gave her commander a sheepish grin. "I'm probably wrong though."

Scanning the sights as unobtrusively as possible Kawashima managed to catch sight of the ones in the warehouse, but she couldn't see anymore. Still the fact she'd missed two meant the nervous young woman was probably right about the rest. "No you're not." She said patting the Private on the shoulder before going for her radio. "Kawashima to team. Watanabe just spotted another two in the third left warehouse. Fifth for you lot. Another guy in the house at the corner, third floor, and there might be a guy just up the street towards Nooji Plaza."

"Understood. We'll keep an eye on them." Harada replied.

"Koneko, Goto, you ready?" She asked the only two of them who knew how to sail a boat.

Goto untied a couple ropes while Koneko held out an oar in response. "Goto's just undoing the last few ropes. Once she's done there we'll push off then row out. Doesn't look like they have long poles for this sort of thing, so try not to fall in. River's probably quite deep and cold at the moment as well." Koneko said.

Kawashima took the spare oar and nodded. "Wasn't planning on swimming to the other side." She said before she grabbed another and shoved it into Yori's arms. "Good eye." She said as she stepped passed.

The young woman blinked then smiled shakily. "Thank you ma'am." She said as she threw her rifle over her shoulder and took up position next to the corporal.

Goto walked up to the tiller and spent a couple moment familiarizing herself with it before calling, "Push us off!"

Koneko nodded. "Alright, everyone push in three, two, one." The three of them gently shoved off from the other barge and they drifted into open water.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Ranma sipped her tea, her tenth cup in the last three hours, as she watched Staedtler snack on his own platter of cheese. Their conversation had lasted far longer than she had expected, but she couldn't say it had felt wasted. Staedtler had proven to be a surprisingly interesting person with more than a few stories of his own, collected as they were over his long and storied career as a merchant. In fact he was probably the nicest fat, rich merchant she had ever met… Not that she had met many fat, rich merchants before. Still it was easy to see why the man's word carried as much weight as Leitleen had claimed.

"A good meal, and a long one." The man said as he carefully stacked the empty platter with the rest for when the servant returned to take them away. Again.

"Longer than I was expecting." Ranma replied.

He chuckled. "You don't learn all there is to know about a person in an hour, or even a day. Of course that doesn't mean you can't get a grasp on a person's motivations. Still though, even after the last several hours I have one more question I must ask."

"Another question?" Ranma sighed.

He smiled wanly. "The last, and perhaps the most important. You see, we've spoken of your past and mine. Discussed a little of the place you call home, and even of the history of this fine city." He shifted in his seat to lean forward, placing his elbows on table as he did. "But through all of this you haven't said a thing about what it is you intend for the city."

She blinked. "I intend to save it." She said, "From that Dawn Caste, and from the civil war everyone keeps talking ab-"

"Not what I mean." Staedtler said, raising a hand to halt her. "What I mean is after that is done. What comes after you convince the city to back you, stop the Vanehan army, and have secured peace? What do you intend for the city?"

The look she gave him was nonplussed. "I-" She paused, what did she actually want? Once she did all of that she'd have saved the city, but this duty she agreed to wasn't just going to go away once the army was gone and the crowd of rabid revolutionaries appeased. It wasn't like she could just hand it off to someone else and go home either.

"You don't know, do you?" He mused.

After a few more silent moment she shook her head. "Not a clue." She admitted, "Like I said this wasn't something I wanted. I've never thought about it."

He nodded. "Then perhaps you should. This war is just the start of your reign Castellan." Her eyes widened as he used her new title. "You will have sometime before you must decide on a course for the City, and the nation, but the sooner you start thinking about it the more prepared you will be when that time comes."

She set her teacup down and fixed him with an assessing look. "You've decided." She stated.

"I have." He said.

"And?"

"You are rough, inexperienced, and blunt." He said honestly, and just a bit bluntly himself, "But I can see where Setarial is coming from. You have potential, and I believe given time you could become what this city needs in the long term. In the short you are, to be frank, the only available option." She wilted slightly at that.

"However," he continued, "compared to the others who desire the post that you have stumbled into you see more clearly than they have for years. You are inexperienced in matters of state, but inexperience can be rectified. Blind greed and ambition…" He shook his head before he clasped his hands and bowed as best he could in the chair. "You have my support Castellan Saotome Ranma of Japan for so long as you seek the safety of this city."

She smiled. "Thank you." She said honestly before frowning. "And stop bowing."

He chuckled as he obeyed. "That is something I'm afraid you will have to get used to." He said.

"Indeed she will." Both of them jumped as Setarial appeared without warning next to them. She blinked as Ranma slowly lowered the blue blade from where it had, for a moment, been pointed in her face and sheathed it.

"Don't do that." Ranma said as the blade clicked back into its sheath.

"My apologies Lady Setarial, however scares like that are not good for the health." Staedtler said, resting a hand on his chest as his breathing slowed.

She bowed, a slight mischievous smirk on her lips. "My apologies." She said insincerely, her lips twitching.

"Sure you are." Ranma said, standing from her chair. Despite sitting for hours not a single joint popped or felt strained, unlike the older man Staedtler. Cracks and pops were audible as the large man stood.

"I do not believe she is." The merchant agreed as he stretched before retrieving his cane.

Setarial pouted for a moment before smiling. "I am here to inform the both of you that the afternoon meeting has been moved." She said.

"To?" Ranma asked, though she suspected that Setarial was the one who 'moved' it.

"The Ballroom, down the hall passed the dining room." She replied.

"At what time?" Ranma asked.

"The time did not change, however you do only have five minutes before it is supposed to start." The Goddess replied.

Ranma blinked, well that was what happened when you didn't have a clock in every room, or bothered to carry one. "Well, lead the way." She gestured to the door.

Setarial bowed. "As you wish, Castellan." She said, her lips twitching, as she led them out of the sitting room.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The ballroom, as Ranma discovered the moment she opened the door heavily decorated oak doors, was a room with vaulted ceilings that stretched at from the first floor to what she thought was the third. To even reach the floor of the room from the entrance required her to descend a staircase to the first level. Large marble pillars were spaced evenly along the walls and in two rows that ran on either side of the stairs across the room to a large dias with an ornate throne and banners hung between them from the ceiling displaying crests that were strangely reminiscent of those used by old Japanese noble houses. The floor was made of the same marble that decorated the hallways, with a large multi-colour mosaic of five intertwined dragons that ran from the entrance to the throne between the middle columns of the room.

Ranma walked down the first few stairs as she took in the empty room. After a few seconds she turned to Setarial. "This is also a throne room." She said.

The Goddess nodded and smiled. "It is." She said, walking down the stairs to join her.

"A bit empty isn't it?" Ranma asked as she looked at the banners. "And whose are those?"

"Those banners belong to the Realm's Eleven Great Houses." Staedtler said as he made his way down the stairs far more easily than she would have expected. His four guards stayed at the top step. "Each one is an unbroken line descended from the Scarlet Empress and whichever lover she took at the time." He gestured to a crest with a dot inside a circle. "The Mon of House Nellens, the house from which our former Satrap originated."

Ranma studied the varied Mons for a moment before turning her attention back to the rest of the room, there would be time later to ask about them. "Still rather empty though.

"They normally fill the room with tables and erect a smalls stage when a party is to occur." The merchant replied. As they were talking Setarial ghosted down the stairs and across the room to the throne.

Ranma ignored her as she walked over to one of the marble columns and rapped her hand against it. It felt and sounded like solid stone. "It's a big room." She said, "You could fit about… a thousand people in here I guess?" She looked to Staedtler who looked around thoughtfully.

"Standing room only I imagine for such numbers. Perhaps a third of that comfortably." He replied.

She nodded and made to step between the pillars. "Stay there Ranma." Setarial called from where she was examining one of the arms of the throne.

"Why?" Ranma asked as she took a careful step back.

"Look at the tiles." Setarial said as she fiddled with something.

Ranma raised an eyebrow and looked down. The area between the pillars in the center of the room, where the mosaic was located, were mostly large square blocks a meter to a side except where the dragon mosaic overlapped. Those passed the pillars though were much smaller being perhaps half a foot on one side and two on the other.

"What am I supposed to see?" She asked.

The Goddess looked up from the throne. "This." She said before poking something on the throne's arm. The room shook and dust fell from the ceiling before the floor passed the pillars lurched and surged upwards in a spray of dust. In moments it was over and Ranma stared as two thirds of the room had become risers made of perfectly shaped marble seats, though there was a small amount of dust in the air.

"My apologies for the dust." Setarial said as she walked over to Ranma, "I don't believe they ever made use of this after the Manse was finished."

Ranma stared for a long few seconds. "Every time I think know what to expect." She eventually whined. "How?" She asked the giggling goddess.

"This Palace is a Manse worthy of housing the Scarlet Empress. Its every feature is designed to provide for the comfort of its occupants." Setarial said, "From regulating the temperature of the rooms, to features such as allowing a ballroom to double as a proper throne room. There are other features, though I would be lying if I said I knew them all by heart. I do know that they diverted power from the creation of a Hearthstone to allow for greater comforts."

Interesting, but there was one question. "What is a Manse?" Ranma asked as she walked towards the Throne.

"A Manse is a structure built upon a Demesne." Her annoyance must have been clear as Setarial continued quickly. "A Demesne is a place of power, where dragon lines intersect and their power spills out into the world. Plants, animals, and people who live in such areas can find themselves changed to suit the nature of the energies the spill forth. An air-aspected Demesne could be unseasonably cold year round and cause those that spend too much time within it to develop blue skin, or grow winds, or a million million other strange effects."

They stopped at the base of the dias and Ranma listened to the Goddess. "A Manse is used to tame these wild energies and allow them to be harnessed for whatever the Manse's creator desires. Normally this includes the creation of a Hearthstone, a rock or gem created in the heart of the Manse from the crystallization of the Manse's power. These grant powers to those who possess them, or can be inserted into properly prepared artifacts to allow them to draw upon the power of the manse to operate."

"But this place didn't do that?" Ranma asked.

"No." Setarial replied, "The Demesne here was only moderately strong and they decided they needed the extra power to allow it to live up to the standards expected of a home of the Scarlet Empress."

"Not that it was ever used as such." Staedtler said.

"Our benefit, their loss." Setarial said simply before turning to the throne. "These risers are controlled from the throne. Press the dragon's eyes in the left arm and hold for at least five seconds. That will either summon them or return the room to normal."

Ranma stepped up to the throne and ran a hand across the arm of the chair. The throne was carved of wood and continued the theme of the rest of the building, and more importantly of the room's floor mosaic. Five eastern dragons white, blue, red, green and black intertwined to form the back and arms of the chair. The heads of the white and black dragons formed the arms while the blue, green and red hunched over the whomever sat upon the throne. Even the cushions carried the theme with patterns of interwoven dragons edged in fine golden threads of a material that felt silk but felt oddly warm to the touch.

"Please, sit. It is yours now." Setarial said, bowing to the throne.

Hesitantly, and keeping a close eye on the dragon heads in case they sprang to life, Ranma sat down on the throne. The Dragon's hung just far enough over that, despite being significantly shorter than the Scarlet Empress, they were in her view of the room. She leaned back as best she could in the throne and sighed. It was probably the most comfortable chair she had ever sat on.

"Comfy." She said as she looked up at Setarial who had taken a spot on her right hand.

"It was intended for the Scarlet Empress. If it was anything but I imagine there would be problems." The goddess replied.

The main doors to the hall opened and admitted Kodachi and Ryouga who was saying something that died in his throat as he looked around. His eyes from her and she waved cheekily. He sighed and shook his head before leading the way across the hall.

"Sitting down already." He called, "I spent all day helping people set broken legs and arms, and here you are sitting down." Despite the words his voice was absent its usual condemnation.

The redhead chuckled and hopped out of the chair to meet them. "And I've been stuck dealing with politics." Ranma replied, "You don't see me complaining." She raised an eyebrow as they two of them got closer. "And since when were you Doc Tofu?" She asked.

"That bunch of guys in the keep ran out of pain medication to deal with what we did last night." He shrugged. "I picked up a few pressure points for that kinda thing a while back so I pitched in."

"Am I to assume your meeting went well?" Kodachi asked as she looked passed to Staedtler.

Ranma looked back at the older man standing on the steps of the dias. "He's on board with this whole plan. For now anyway." She said.

Kodachi smiled and walked over to Staedtler. "Hello." She said with a bow, "I'm Kuno Kodachi, it's good to meet someone here who wants to help."

He chuckled and returned the bow. "Staedtler William, at your service Miss Kuno." He said, "It is nice to meet a polite young lady for once."

"Are you saying I'm not polite?" Ranma squawked theatrically.

"I refer you to our past conversations your grace." He replied with a smiled.

She shook her head and turned back to Ryouga. "How did things go with the keep?" She asked.

Her rival ran a hand through his hair. "Better than we feared, but now we've got about a thousand wounded soldiers to deal with." He said.

She winced. That would be a major hit to whatever stores of medicine the city had. "I see." She said before sighing. "Better than having to fight them."

He snorted. "Better for them. Would have taken me five minutes to run through them." He remarked.

Ranma chuckled. "What else did you think I meant?" She asked. The thunk of military boots on marble cut off further conversation as Ryu entered the room. In his wake came a much larger group of people than she remembered being at the last meeting. Most wore the uniform of the JGSDF, but a good few wore the uniforms of the Realm's Legionnaires, steel plate, leather, and cloth.

"I see your meeting wasn't a disaster." Ryu said as he descended the stairs. He patted Ryouga on the shoulder as he joined them. "Excellent work with the keep by the way. Sergeant Taylor and his second have joined us thanks to your work."

Ranma watched Ryouga puff up with pride and stifled another chuckle. Ryouga's pride was easily puffed up, and just as easily hurt, but it was a good way to get him on your side if you knew what to say.

"A lot more of your people." Ranma said looking around.

Ryu nodded, his expression becoming more grim. "We got everyone picked up, but we noticed things while we were getting them. There's movement in the lower portions of the city. Someone is trying to stir things up." He said.

"We knew that was going to happen." Kodachi said as she walked back over. "Still, we'd hoped that we had more time."

"I suspect there would already be violence in the streets if Setarial hadn't extended her invitations." Staedtler added, nodding to Ryu. "More than likely Bengtsson is trying to whip up some form of resistance to anyone other than him being 'King'." The thought seemed physically disgusting to the normally good natured man.

"You are the expert." Ryu said, "I'll hold off on saying any more until the meeting starts. No need to repeat myself."

Ranma sighed. "We're just waiting on the Magistrates now." She said, "Lets all get ready, I want to start when they get here."

The others nodded and the small gathering broke up as Ryu headed back to his troops and Ranma, Kodach, and Ryouga headed to the throne. As Ranma sat down Kodachi slipped in next to Setarial, who smiled at the Zenith, while Ryouga looked around with an eyebrow raised.

Ranma noticed. "What is it?" She asked, exasperatedly.

"No chairs for the rest of us?" He asked.

"I'll arrange for some to be added for yourself and Lady Kodachi before the next time Her Grace holds court." Setarial said apologetically.

Ranma's eyebrow twitched at the form of address, but she held her tongue. As they kept telling her, she would need to just bare it and deal. Well they'd actually said she would need to get used to it, but that implied a degree of acceptance she just was not willing to think about.

Ryouga nodded and shrugged. "I'll deal." He said.

Down on the main floor Ryouga and Akiyama had organized their troops into a clean line on the same side as Ryouga, with the two of them at the foot of the Dias. Meanwhile the Realm soldiers had approached Staedtler and were speaking with him quietly. Judging by the smiles going around she doubted she had anything to worry about.

Things fell into small talk for a few minutes until Lily arrived, helping along Zeriah as he limped down the stairs. He was doing surprisingly well considering she remembered breaking a support pillar with his back. As they reached the bottom of the stairs Leitleen appeared settling on the central red dragon of the throne with a whispered, "Your Grace."

The two Magistrates straightened and marched up to the Dias. "We are here as we promised." Lily said as the two gave a perfunctory bow, not that she expected more from them.

"That makes everyone then." Setarial noted as she looked to Ranma.

"It does." Ranma agreed, standing from her chair and stepping forward. This was her job now. "Alright. Let's get this dealt with, we've only got so much time before the event later, so let's start this off. Ryu, how did things go? What are we dealing with?"

The young Lieutenant straightened and stepped forward. "We spoke with the men in the Keep. They served under a Sergeant Taylor, who is here." He gestured to the blond man who bowed as Ranma glanced at him. "In exchange for medical assistance he opened the Keep. The news is… mixed. We checked the treasury, food stores, and arsenal. As we expected the Arsenal is missing a good portion its stock. There are swords aplenty, but arrows, spears, and other weapons are nearly non-existent. We'll need the stockpiles in Mist-Town if we want to have a proper militia. Food stores are good, and most of the treasury was untouched. Lockler how much did you say was there?"

"At least five hundred Jade talents worth of tax revenue. Mixed Jade and Silver." The Sergeant said, "They probably managed to make off with ten talents at most."

"A solid fund to start with." Setarial said as she noticed Ranma's confused look. What was a Talent exactly? She's ask later.

Ryu continued, "Thank you Sergeant. We left Ryouga to handle the wounded and I led a team to sweep the Vartabed. The Monastery is empty, not a monk, nun, or acolyte to be found in its halls. They stripped everything before leaving as well. I don't think we saw even so much as a wall hanging in there." He sighed. "Other than that we focused on gathering our people. I've brought with me all of my non-commissioned officers. Allow me to introduce them. Let's start with the one you know. Sergeant-Major Akiyama Daichi."

The older man stepped forward and bowed before stepping back in line. "After him is Staff Sergeant Ito Itsuki." The man in question stepped forward and gave the most abbreviated bow Ranma had ever seen.

Ryu stopped for a second as the man stepped back and seemed to twitch for a moment before continuing on. "Sergeant Maki Jirou. Sergeant Mori Katsu. Sergeant Matou Kenji." The three men stepped forward and bowed as their names were said. Somehow Ranma suspected that she was going to get their names mixed up quite often.

"After them we have our small number of corporals. Starting with Corporals Saito Yui, and Kita Honoka." The two stepped forward and bowed. "They've been in charge of security today. Meanwhile Corporal Kawashima Suki lead the groups that opened the gates and manned the ferries today." The woman bowed precisely before stepping back. "Finally we have Corporal Tatsu Haru. He's been helping with the medical issues and taking a census of who's here. Corporal if you would."

The young man with mousy hair stepped forward and bowed. Rising he cleared his throat. "On final count we have, at present, two hundred and sixty-seven people from Japan in the city to our knowledge. We expect to find at least a few more as time goes on. Of them eighty-eight are JSDF, most are from the JGSDF. We do have three pilots and a helmsman amongst the others."

"Thank you Corporal." Ryu said as he stepped forward. The young man bowed once more and stepped back. "On a related note I've been asking around, and we've noticed a strange occurrence amongst everyone from Japan."

"What would that be?" Ranma asked, leaning forward.

The Lieutenant fixed Setarial with a look. "Every last one of them reported that they were surrounded in a short lived aura of elemental power on arrival, one that surges in time with their actions and that they feel a strange unsettled energy beneath their skin. Some have described it as being 'like lightning' or 'a wildfire trying to escape'." He said.

The Goddess exchanged a look with Leitleen before stepping forward. "Everyone of them?" She asked.

"Everyone." Ryu confirmed, "SDF and Civilian."

"I-I see." She looked confused as she considered it. "This aura, could you try and summon it?" She asked.

He stepped into the center of the room, prompting the Realm soldiers to take several large steps back. Ignoring them he closed his eyes and moments later a soft brown glow erupted from him. Motes of dust lifted from the ground and began to clump together around him. He opened his eyes and waited.

Ranma for her part stared. She had seen that aura around enough people in the last twenty-four hours to recognize it at a glance. "That's-" She started at the same time as Lily.

"It is." Setarial agreed, interrupting both of them. She sighed. "It looks like you weren't mistaken Leitleen." She said apologetically.

The Raven bowed. "I report what I see milady." She said simply.

"And I should know to take it at face value, even if it should be impossible." Setarial said. "What I would like to know is how it is possible that even one of you, let alone all of you, are somehow recipients of Terrestrial Exaltations."

"Terrestrial Exaltation is in the blood. This should not be possible. Certainly not at the age they are at." Lily said as she gestured to Ito and Akiyama.

"I agree." Setarial said, "However we should remember what it is we are dealing with. For Exaltations and those they bless there are few things truly impossible. Also we are still in the dark as to the exact nature of the situation we have found ourselves in. Unless someone has new information about what occurred?" She looked around but everyone shook their heads negatively. "Very well. Yes you have a Terrestrial Exaltation Lieutenant. As do your men and those under your care."

"This is a good thing isn't it?" Kodachi asked, getting their attention.

"It should be." Setarial said, "Even a young and untrained terrestrial is more than a match for even a dozen regular soldiers. To have so many with military training and the weapons you brought, our chances of victory have gone up substantially."

Ranma sighed. "This is getting more confusing, not less." She said as she looked them over.

"Of course it is." Ryu said, "Why wouldn't it?"

She chuckled. "We're not the type to be that lucky are we?"

Next to her Ryouga chuckled as well. "Still better luck than we've had in awhile." He said, "I say we don't worry about it for now. Whatever the reason we've got other things to worry about."

"Right." Ranma said, "Let's move on then. Ryu, anything else?"

"We're having issues finding sleeping quarters for everyone." Ryu said.

"Use the Vartabed." Zeriah said, getting looks of surprise from Lily and most of the Realm soldiers.

"Would that be alright?" Ranma asked carefully. He was suggesting taking over a Monastery as a barracks. A monastery of his, supposed, religion no less.

"Out of the three buildings besides the Palace it will be in the best condition and have the most room." The Magistrate replied.

Ranma sighed and nodded. "Sweep it a couple times to be sure you didn't miss anyone then get them moved in Ryu." She said.

"We will. Also, while my men were out in the city we noticed groups of people moving in the Nooji Plaza and Mist-town area along with segments of Canal Gate and High Quarter." He said.

"Bengtsson and Sung most likely." Staedtler sighed as he stepped forward. He bowed to Ranma. "Bengtsson has made it clear he desires the crown of his own. Sung won't let him take it without protest either. If they're moving, despite the ceasefire Setarial called, then tonight could get very exciting."

"They are moving." Leitleen confirmed. "Bengtsson and Sung both plan on attending the ball, but they have family and retainers handling the rallying of troops. Sung was going to honour the ceasefire, but when he got word Bengtsson was still rallying his men and had been planning on raiding his home… Well he started rallying his own supporters."

"So tonight is what? Pointless?" Ranma asked. This was exactly what they had been trying to avoid.

"I would hope not." Lily said, "I've spent the entire day working with Setarial's servants to prepare the temple. I expect the last few details to be ready by the time we arrive."

"Tonight is not about them." Staedtler said, rapping his cane sharply against the marble. "They are but two of dozens who will be attending. Convince them to support you and you will have the favour of the people throughout Greyfalls. The City and the nation."

"There's still be two mobs of people to deal with, and they want each other dead." Ryu reminded.

"Suggestions?" Ranma asked as she turned the problem over in her head.

"I do not think Bengtsson believes he will get Setarial's Blessing." Staedtler said, "That is why he is readying his men. Sung readies his men as well to prevent him from simply seizing power. If we can get Sung to commit to us before the announcement we may be able to ensure that any fallout from a battle falls squarely on Bengtsson. Going against Setarial's decision and attempting an assassination of his rivals on holy ground? With Sung by our side he won't be able to paint us as the instigators."

"By that logic we need to keep Sung alive at all costs." Ranma noted, looking to Ryu.

The Lieutenant nodded. "I think I can put together a team to make sure he gets to the ball. Once he's there if you, Staedtler and Setarial can speak with him…"

"Assuming he's willing to see reason." The Merchant said, "He might not have liked the Realm, but he has little reason to trust an Anathema. You'll need to make some form of good faith gesture."

"Such as?" Ranma prodded, though she suspected she knew what was going to be suggested.

"A noble title would be appreciated I imagine." Setarial said, "That is the primary desire for most of them. The formation of a hereditary nobility."

"Oh yes, because such things never go wrong." Ryouga drawled sarcastically.

Well he wasn't wrong. There was no guarantee that the next generation of a noble family was going to be either competent or sane. The Kunos were a good example of that. Ranma shot Kodachi a look that she caught and blushed brilliantly in response. "I'll consider it." Ranma said, "Other ideas?"

"Cabinet position perhaps?" Kodachi suggested, "We're going to need to put together a government to run things, and quickly before taxes and road maintenance start piling up."

"Make him a Minister or Governor of his District?" Ryu suggested, "Duration until he screws it up?"

"He may be willing to compromise to something like that." Staedtler said after a moment of thought.

Ranma ran her index hand along the head of the white dragon as she leaned back in her throne and thought. The room fell silent as suggestions ran out and they waited. For her. This was her job now, wasn't it… The decisions, the plans, all of it started and ended with her. Eventually she sat up and leaned forward. "Here's what we're doing." She said, and she told them.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Late, but not quite by twenty-four hours. Oooh boy. This got bigger than I expected. I hope you enjoy it. As usual let me know if you spot any grammar or spelling mistakes. I'm just going to go rest my fingers. They hurt. Ooooooooow. *Pained Kitsune*