Chapter 23: Destinies: The Koi Pond
"You were surprised!" Cologne accused Scent.
"I was-"
"Gem-Grab the gem!"
Ranma had it in her fist before the order was finished. Stupid! Why was she obeying any order!? It had been reflexive: Her body responding before her brain! She should(?) let go…
"You were not surprised, Scent? Ranma has you divining pendulum. She is unbiased as she does not know why she has it. She can use it to divine the truth."
"No!" Elder Scent let go of the chain attached to the gem.
Elder Cologne let out a sigh of relief.
"I was surprised by Her(!), not him!" the Elder who was not young protested. But not vigorously, "Fine, then! We shall meet again at noon: In Official Square!"
"You two can be there, I won't!" Ranma told them.
"The you will have no champion, Cologne. Ha! You do not even have an airen, do you" she cackled, turning to leave.
"What does that mean?" Ranma reached out to take her arm.
But the little old Elder leaped into the middle of the street and turned to face the redhead, her staff raised as a weapon. "See? I was not surprised. My guard is up."
'I just want to know why I am not her airen!?"
"You do not know? You may defeated her, but has she given you the Public Kiss?" When Ranma shook her head, a shrewd grin went across the woman's wrinkled face. "Be careful. It may not be the Kiss of Love." And she walked away, saying, "It may be the Kiss of Death."
"So you aren't my fiancee!" Ranma said to Cologne.
"I am. And even if we never kiss, I will still follow you! I now see Scent was right. I do want to lay down the burden I've had ever since I was cursed, a hundred thirty-years ago. I wish I could go back to what I was in my youth. Before I met your master, Happosai."
"Happosai? Never heard of him. Pop's the only claimin' to be my full-time master."
"Liar- No. That's not what I need to know. I need to know if I can let go of my responsibilities. Hand over the Cat's-eye gem."
"C,cat's-" Ranma's fist immediately opened. Just knowing its name put fear into her.
"See, Liar. Just like your master. Afraid."
"I, I ain't a,afraid!" And she tried to close her fist around the reminder.
Cologne took it from her. "Go. I'll catch up with you. If Destiny allows me to."
Ranma snatched the gem back. "You said I'm(!) the one to decide our destiny! I don't trust you doin' it." And she looked at the audience of Sweetie and Ryōga. "Or you guys. My destiny is gonna be My destiny at last!"
"Red!" Hairdo came in from the errand Sweetie had sent him on now that he had forgotten what it was.
"Hairdo!" Cologne barked. "101! 411! 110!" Her pharmacy assistant responded instantly, giving himself no time to forget as he collected the bottles from the cubbyholes. "Now write this down…" And she gave him the steps he was to take in mixing them together. It involved heating 110 to 'body temperature' and keeping it there, so it would be a while before the combined potions would be ready.
That done, Cologne said, "Sweetie, use hot water and see that we are not disturbed."
"Yes, Gramma!" the 10-year old pulled out a steaming ceramic jar. By the Rules of Weapon-space, Ranma now knew, it meant the girl fully intended to use her falcon-self as a weapon.
Still, Ranma was a meter from the open door out into the street. She thought she would have no real problem escaping. From both the falcon, Cologne-the Women Heroes! The only thing keeping her was
She looked at the cat's-eye as it looked back at her. The only thing keeping her was…Fear? Did she really want to know her Destiny?
Ranma went back into the house section. She saw the Cologne, down the hall, go into the furoroom. Did she want to turn her into a Beard again? Was that the destiny the Witch expected from him? She remembered her calling him a pervert. Did she want her "airen" to be a horny and stupid? A creature her womanhood could tame?
She hesitated before going into the furoroom herself.
"I have neutralized the Instant Nannichuan. It is back to being pure Jusenkyo hot water." That was right. Hot water in the Village was piped in from gigantic onsen Ranma and Pop had come to This-side in. "All that remains to do before we can begin is this." And she pulled something out of a long sleeve, tossing into the bath tub.
"A rock?"
"A bespelled lodestone. The current of magic now returns to its source. Creating a circuit. We have a direct connection we can scry from."
"Scry?"
"Look into the water with the cat's-eye. There you will see your Destiny."
Again Ranma felt fear. But once more she faced….
-A face that wasn't his reflected back at him. It was a too cute redhead with…eyeshadow….
"No! I need to change back! I need to see My(!) destiny, not hers!"
"Wash the Nyannichuan off. As I said, the water is now water."
"It's still magic water." But she couldn't stand looking at the girl, reminding him that he felt like a girl. She put her small, slim hands in the liquid and washed her face, her arms, her upper chest, her-
"I'm still a girl!"
"Your other half must still be a boy. We will wait until he meets cold water and you…. Look, now."
The girl was gone! Ranma was himself again!
"Now's not the time to be pleased! Hold the end of the chain. Look at the gem. Look through the cat's-eye at the water. If you don't have a vision, I will take the pendulum from you and it will become my destiny!"
"I will not have my destiny taken from me," he vowed. But the greenish-yellow gem was only semi-transparent and the water was a lighter shade. And his reflection was burred at best. What did he know about divining? Or magic? All he knew-the only thing he really knew-were the martial arts.
Yes! He had the talent to learn new, untrained techniques. It wasn't a conscious ability. Like every part of the martial arts that did not involve strategy and tactics, that ability was on the subconscious level. Below that level, in fact: in the cerebellum and brain stem. Some said it could go even deeper, it could reach….
"Nbki, here you are by the koi pond."
"I needed to get some fresh air, Ksmi…before I return to Mommy's account books. I'm so close to figuring out how to get into her Swiss bank account!"
"Speaking of Mother's books, have you seen her recipe book? No? Maybe Akne knows."
"I doubt it. Baby Sis thinks only of Mommy's books on martial arts."
"She does want to be as great a martial artist as Mother."
"She'll never be. Besides not having the proper training from Daddy, she's too uptight!"
"Akne does need to learn to relax."
"Ksmi! Nbki! Get away from the pond!"
"What? Why?!"
"There's somebody peeping at us through it!"
"That is ridiculous, Akne."
"I agree with Nbki. You're just-"
"I tell you I sense it! …Sense it? Am I…. -Yes, I honestly think I'm sensing something! Is my training finally paying off!?"
"Why not try your katas and see, Little Sister."
"Oh, right, Ksmi, as if she'll suddenly become a martial arts expert as if by magic."
"I, I'm doing them so smoothly! Gracefully! There is no wasted motion! No wasted energy! It feels like I can anticipate exactly when and where to kick next!"
"Oh, Akne! I am so pleased for you! Mother's legacy is now complete!"
"Complete, Ksmi? Only by dividing it."
"And conquering the challenge together as a family. All that remains is for you to becoming as good at managing money as Mother was, Nbki. I'll look at her accounting books with you."
"*Sigh* Why not. You coming, Akne?"
"No. I need to know why I thought somebody was peeping through the pond.
"...I just have to look in, right? What do I see…. A girl with red hair? Is it her, um, magic that-
"There's a boy behind her! -It's a pervert isn't it!?"
Ranma drew back! And the audio-hallucination was gone! Only then, did he realize he hadn't actually seen(!) anything. "That? That is my destiny!?"
"No. Not yours," Cologne told him. "I felt Her: My Other Half. It is so annoying when her greater powers drowns out mine. She had to have had a reason to be scrying herself. She was seeking somebody's destiny and, now, it appears to have become entangled with the destiny of your own other half.
"To see only yours, I must break the connection to that koi pond.
"The koi pond is a source of magic, huh? It's not very big magic, is it."
"Jusenkyo has many subsidiary outlets scattered throughout the world. On That-side, they're cold; on This-side, they're hot. But only a very few are activated and none can do everything that the Mother Source can do." Cologne had pulled out her own pendulum and was looking at its gem. At the end of this chain was an bright sapphire. Its star grew brighter…until she snapped her fingers. After that it became merely lustrous, it's blue now merely sky blue.
"This is supposed to be My destiny!" Ranma told her.
"In the air, it will be my Falcon's-eye," she said, holding up her gem. "But on the ground it will be solely Your car's-eye."
"Cat's-eye!? Hmph! It was more like c,cat's-ear!"
"Because you refuse to look through the CAT'S-eye! Your fear inhibits you!
"I assure you, I want to know your destiny more than my own. I have looked at mine for over a hundred years. My destiny was nearing its end until you(!) came along. You have the Chaos Seed!"
"Ha! I have Manicure."
"The Chaos Seed is What can grow from the magic the Redheads share. You have potential! Or, as the Onmyo would say, You have Quantum Uncertainty."
"If you're tryin' to impress me, it ain't workin'. Let's get this over with. You(!) have a Noon Showdown."
He had the talent to learn new, untrained techniques. It wasn't a conscious…
A pond. It looked natural, like it wasn't in a garden or yard, but out in the wild. Raising above it, like a falcon in flight, he saw that it really was surrounded by a wilderness. There were no buildings in sight. No people. As he rose higher and higher, he saw more and more of the hills spread out below him. Trees and glades became woods and clearings…And though he had never flown before, he was thinking he should be recognizing what he where he was. It was only when he was high enough to see the western coast of a large bay that he knew, for certain, where he was. No, where he Should have been-Tokyo was missing!
Before it had been the Northern Capitol, it had been Edo, but none of the few small villages could be seen to be anything like a town. They reminded him of the few remaining traditional Ainu villages he had seen in Hokkaido. Had he gone back in time before the arrival the Yayoi had come this far north? The first natives of the Islands did not clear the forest for farms, because they hunted and fished. With poisoned arrows and harpoons.
Suddenly the 'falcon' swoops down from above towards…a raft. On it lays a man who looks like somebody who had been shipwrecked. It's him! Is this his destiny?!
Or is he about to meet his destiny? The long-bearded Ainu are approaching him in their birchbark canoes, their weapons raised. Are they just being cautious or are they going to kill him?
The pigtailed Ranma on the raft stirs. He does not look at them approaching warriors. The adult man in rags is seeing what is touching his leg. It was a very pretty woman with tattooed lips and hair the color of the sea.
"Mnshir! We must stop the Invaders from reaching the villages! The Bay shall remain ours!"
"Coming, Father," she says with resignation. But she lingers. "Good-bye, Lover. For now. Try not to accumulate more fiancees." She blew him a kiss…before returning to the sea. The last he sees of her is her fish-like tail. A mermaid?
Ranma is alone. He looks at the approaching war party. He forces himself up unsteadily onto his feet. Getting his sealegs, he looks past the oncoming canoes to look out at the hills. "I will reach the Koi Pond!" he vows. "This-side will not be destroyed again! My Destiny will not be wasted!"
The 'falcon' soared away and high, hurtling swiftly down the coast. Now that he knew he was over Japan, he knew where he was by remembering the maps his Old Man had made him remember. He went past where Yokohama should be and around the Izu Peninsula. It then travels a short ways inland. With Mt. Fuji behind him, he looks down to the lower hills. He is not alone.
"This should be Kamakura." says a golden hair girl with a jeweled nosering. "But it doesn't look like it."
"And when did anything look like the Japan we knew?" the red haired Ranma says, Or was it Eyeshadow? Manicure?
"Airen say this from where first shogun rule?" says a girl with dark blue hair. Was it Cologne? Or somebody else? "Shmpoo only see temple what look like "Made in India". And no mean Big Buddha Statue."
"It does?" asked the only man with them says. "If only my glasses weren't broken."
"It'd say the style is Southeast Asian, when that part of the world worshiped the Dravidian gods," golden-hair says.
"Well, Nsring has traveled the world more than any of us," the man says.
"She is our colony's mapper," the redhead says.
"Cartographer," the man nitpicks. "Too bad she's an awful ambassador."
"Hey! Do you wish to continue our battle!? If you do, Msse-"
"Stop it!" the redheaded woman tells her and him. "I think we're in deep shit. Hopefully, not as bad as Sffron. Just like me and Eyeshadow aren't the only ones with the Hlne Curse, Rge may not be the only ones with the Asra Curse."
"Somebody else with three heads and six arms with godlike power!?(!)" golden-hair cries.
"It's powers boosted by worshipers. Like Sffron. Shmpoo, I may need you to be ready to become a c,cat!"
"Shmpoo no have Instant Maonichuan. Airen must use Water Magnet technique."
"Our other halves have become too good at degaussing themselves! And the Tora-ken is most powerful when I'm surprised by it!"
The 'falcon' took flight again, leaving the four behind! It went West and was soon over the
Southern Japan Alps. On That-side, there were many ski resorts and hot spring, many made to look like they could belong in the European Alps. Nishiyama hadn't been one of them. It had been no walled castle town.
What were the people like? He couldn't tell. Again, all he could do was hear, not see! Was it because he himself wasn't there on the ground?
"Thank you, Tsukiko! Of course, Ranma was too 'busy' to get away from everybody and everything to go on a proper vacation."
"He is our colony's leader, Akne. He has great responsibilities."
(Akne, again!? Maybe? He'd know if he could understand what her name really sounded like!?)
"Too great to be at the birth of our child?"
"Were you at the birth of hers?"
"That's beside the point!"
"You know you didn't have to come to up to this onsen."
"It's famous for its water births! Their midwives are the best!"
"So you're saying our midwife is-"
"Uh-Oh, look! Doesn't that flag look a lot like the Welsh flag? It has a dragon!"
"Of course it does. You already know this isn't an ordinary hot spring and is advertised to have the power to-"
A Call to Action interrupts. "Close the gates! All tourists hide! Rally the soldiers! The Dragon Harvesters are coming!..."
"No! I won't allow that!"
"Akne! Don't make the baby come prematurely! Let me handle it! Man or woman, I am Ranma's Right-Hand!"
"Al,Alright, Tsukiko. Just…don't make Akno an orphan."
The 'falcon' didn't stay around for the battle. Its journey was far from over. It had to go all the way back to China, all the way back to the Bayankala Mountain Range, all the way back to Jusenkyo… All the while, Ranma and the others were getting younger...
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
NOTES:
By Women Hero Law, the woman has to be marry the one who defeats her only if she was surprised in front of witnesses. Then her only choice is one of the Public Kisses.
Yes, Akane did join the Cursed on This-side and it was because of the Spring of Drowned Akane.
Chapter 24 will leave off the Destinies side stories and return to Prime Time. Future stories should be marked as "Destinies". I welcome anybody else interested in writing these side storie. There can be different timelines.
In the timeline I have been using, This-side will become destroyed. But instead of it being recreated the way the Phoenix People envisioned, Ranma found a way to activate the Jusenkyo outlets around the world, letting how each of the local peoples saw their world fix the recreated world in place. It also meant people didn't have to go to the Bayankala Mountains to become cursed.
That the Tendo fish pond could become a cursed spring is 'confirmed' in S7 E1, "Nihao! Jusenkyo Guide". Despite it not being sanctioned by Manga Canon, I'm keeping it and expanding on it. Think of Ley line nodes.