Sorcerer's Solution: Prologue
"Kasumi is nineteen, Nabiki is seventeen, and Akane is sixteen.
Pick one and she will be your wife."
Ranma's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. He turned to look at
his father, who was grinning like an idiot.
"Well Son, who shall it be?" Genma asked impatiently.
If his father and Mr. Tendo weren't such idiots, Ranma may
have believed they were joking, but they didn't have the capacity
for such advanced humor. Before making his displeasure known,
Ranma looked the girls over. Kasumi smiled sweetly at him, but
her eyes revealed the strain it took to maintain, Nabiki regarded
him coldly with the expression on her face making her intentions
clear, and Akane was glaring at him as if he had killed
her mother."Since I'm a guest and all, I'm not going to hurt you,
at least not yet, but you're an idiot if you think you can choose
who I'm have to get married to."
Genma's face fell noticeably, but Soun seemed unaffected by
the statement. Tears of joy ran down his face and his
features practically glowed with bliss."I understand that the
choice must be quite difficult. All three of my daughters have
grown into fine young women."
The Tendo sisters became quite obviously upset, but instead
of directing the hostility at Ranma like he had expected, the
girls turned to their father. Even Kasumi wore an angry
frown. Probably because it sounded like he was trying to sell a
prime piece of meat.
A more direct approach would be necessary, Ranma decided. He spoke
a couple of alien words under his breath while twitching his fingers
a bit under the table. Then, in a flash, Ranma's right hand, the
one he had turned palm upward, sprouted a fist sized ball of
crimson fire. It hovered a few inches over his palm and its
surface boiled violently, but was held in check by Ranma's
will.
There were gasps from all present except for Genma, who had
recently become intimately aquainted with his son's newfound
penchant for pyrotechnics. It had been that reason alone that
he hadn't told Ranma about the engagement a few blocks from
their destination. Soun did have a family to take care of so Ranma
was bound to have mercy on him. Hopefully.
"Here's the deal: Tendo-san, if you can get out of the room before
I blow you up, I'll marry one of your daughters. I'll even let
you pick which one. Keep in mind that if you try and fail,
though, your daughters will be fatherless."
A shocked silence hung in the air at Ranma's proclamation. All
three girls had gone pale. Akane's hand had slipped from where it
had been gripping the table edge in preparation to brain Ranma,
and Genma was trembling. His son had become very, very ruthless
after jusenkyo and the subsequent stay in the amazon village.
Soun's voice cracked as he spoke."Now S-son, I'm sure you're
just overreacting. W-why don't we talk about this a little later
after you've had a chance to settle in? Maybe a long soak in the
furo and a home cooked meal will ease your nerves?"
Ranma bounced the ball of fire in his hand and asked,"So you going
to go for it, or are you just going to give up on the whole
stupid idea?"
Soun, racked with indecision, went almost a minute without
answering. He may have been none to bright, and a little on
the emotional side, but he couldn't leave his children alone to
fend for themselves in a harsh world, and from Saotome's reports,
Ranma was a prodigy. The chances of him standing up, getting
around the table, and out the door before Ranma could hit him
with whatever it was he had conjured up were slim beyond reason,
so finally he relented,"You win." His shoulders slumped in defeat
and his body was actually shaken by sobs.
Ranma sorta felt sorry for the man. The union of the two schools
was obviously very important to him, but Ranma would 'not' be forced
to ever do anything. He followed his own code of honor, and in
his opinion, it was without equal. The ball of fire grew
transparent and faded away.
Kasumi quickly rose from her position next to her father and tried
her best to comfort the emotionally crushed man. As he shook in
her circling embrace, Kasumi levelled Ranma with a disapproving
look that spoke volumes.
Akane's fists were clenched in pure rage. No one could treat
her father like that, even if he did deserve it! It was only
Ranma's obvious command over forces beyond her understanding that
kept Akane from attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm upon
Ranma. Since her oldest sister was the most experienced caregiver
of the family, she left her father to Kasumi, opting instead to
direct a very nice murderous glare at Ranma.
Ranma's father hadn't been shocked by Ranma's display, he'd seen
much worse from his son. The sight of Soun capitulating so
easily, however, was like a blow to the very order of reality.
Tendo never backed down from anything when his mind was set to it.
Not anything!
With calm, unemotional, and methodical grace, Nabiki's mind ran over
a list of facts she had picked up from her already ex-possible
fiance. Besides good looks and the skill he would almost
certainly have from a lifetime of training in the martial arts,
Ranma also possessed a very strong will that he imposed on others
with ease, and last, but definately least, was that he appeared
to casually play around with magic, something Nabiki had never
really even had a second thought about. She had heard an
incantation though, at least that was what she guessed it to be,
and the ball of fire certainly hadn't been a trick done with
mirrors and a flashlight. Conclusion: Ranma equalled several
money making opportunities, fiance or not.
"Ranma, why don't you go out and have a look at the dojo? Tendo and
I have much to discuss," Genma said. Though he wanted the
schools joined, Genma didn't want it enough to upset Ranma to the
point that he started getting... violent. Besides, maybe they
could trick Ranma into falling for one of the girls, they were all
very attractive.
Ranma shrugged, seeing his father's attempt to get rid of him for
what it really was."Why not?" He stood to go, but a sudden
thought struck him. "Hehe," he laughed weakly,"where is the
dojo?"
Before anyone else could answer, Nabiki volunteered,"I'll show
you." She also had a good idea what the two men would talk about,
and the camera imbedded in the wall could pick up anything she
missed.
Ranma didn't see the slightly startled looks directed at Nabiki by
her sisters, so he replied,"Sure, lead the way."
Nabiki led Ranma through the house and across the walkway that led
to the dojo. She followed him into the dojo and said,"You handled
that pretty well." Nabiki couldn't help but respect someone who
could stop her father in his tracks.
Still looking the training hall over, Ranma said,"Sorry I made him
cry and all, but it really was a stupid idea. I'm only going to
get married when I'm ready for it." He found the center of the dojo
and sat down in a lotus position on the tatami mats. A couple
seconds passed while Ranma spoke a short phrase that Nabiki
couldn't understand, then his crossed legs slowly rose from the
floor.
Nabiki didn't let the suprise show on her face. It would be a
serious disadvantage if Ranma knew just how interested in his
abilities she was."Don't worry, he had it coming. How do you
do that," she asked him, sounding and looking innocent.
"Magic," answered Ranma smiling."It's really easy to do if you've
got the potentioal for it."
"Could you teach me?" Kami, she could make a 'lot' of money
selling real magic lessons!
Ranma shook his head slightly."It's too hard to tell yet. I'd have
to be around you for at least a few days before I could tell
for sure." Unknown to Nabiki, Ranma was, with slow and
careful precision, expanding his aura throughout the structure of
the dojo. Once he was firmly linked with it, Ranma withdrew the
energy and settled back to the floor. His was a rare gift, the
ability to draw knowledge and power from outside sources. Of course
it would be a long time before he would see any noticeable
differences in his overall magical strength, and the knowledge that
had become imbedded in the very foundation of the dojo would take
even longer before it began to integrate itself into his own style,
but he was patient and already had several other sites linked
to himself.
"You mean you would really teach me magic, for free?" Now that
was suprising. The concept of 'free' was alien to Nabiki.
"It's against the rules to charge for that kind of instruction."
Ranma climbed to his feet and began the opening moves of a simple
kata, while Nabiki took a seat on a nearby bench.
"Rules?" This was great, she wasn't even having to pay him for
the info, and he was actually willing to teach her magic. If she
knew the secret, Nabiki knew that she wouldn't even need
Ranma.
"Oh yes, there's lots of rules." Ranma smiled."One of them is not
to force a willing student to pay for instruction."
Who would enforce the rules? It wasn't like there was some kind
of magic polce or something."How would one...sorcerer know that
another one had broken the rules?" Magician would have sounded just
a bit ridiculous. Ranma didn't seem like the type to go around
pulling rabbits out of a hat.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you anything else until I know wether or
not you can even learn magic. The chances are pretty slim."
Nabiki decided to change the subject. There wasn't much point
in getting her hopes up, and even if she could have done magic,
the rules would have taken all the fun out of it."My sister Akane
is probably going to try to kill you."
"I wasn't really going to kill your dad, you know. I just had to
scare him into giving up on that stupid idea of his and
Oyaji's."
"Hey, I'm not complaining, but Akane looked more upset than I've
ever seen her, and her temper is legendary."
Ranma frowned, and came to a halt."Isn't Akane the heir to the
school?"
"Yeah, she is." Nabiki had decided not to charge for any
information yet, at least not as long as he was forthcoming
with her."Hey, how did you know that?"
Ranma took one last look at the dojo, making sure that he was
firmly linked with it, then left for the house."She was wearing a gi
in the house and you and Kasumi don't carry yourselves like
fighters," he answered to Nabiki.
Nabiki caught up with Ranma and followed him into the house. She
felt pretty stupid for missing the obvious clues that had led Ranma
to his deduction.
****
"Oh it's just horrible Tendo, horrible! Those evil women
brainwashed my son. Now he is disrespectful and rude, but he used
to be such a well behaved boy," Genma was saying as Ranma and
Nabiki came back in.
"Wow, when all that brainwashing happen, Oyaji?" Ranma asked
from behind his father.
Genma turned several shades paler. Spinning around to face Ranma,
he said,"It's all right Ranma, I was just telling the Tendos about
what happened in China."
"So you told them about the curses?" He was still using
the brainwashing story? Stupid Oyaji.
The fat man now matched the color of his dingy gi."W-what
curses?"
Ranma sighed."I'll be right back." He already knew where the
kitchen was since he had passed it on his way to the dojo. It took
him a minute to find a set of glasses and fill them with water.
He returned to find his father looking a bit wild-eyed, and the
Tendo, Soun included, looking like curious little children.
"Ranma, think about what you're doing, please," Genma pled. They
would all know his shame now! Oh the humanity!
Ranma splashed himself and Genma before anyone could even blink.
The results were spectacular, to say the least. Ranma, once a
muscular young man, was now a shorter, though very endowed red-
headed girl. Genma, found himself, no longer fat, male, or bald.
In fact, he was the mirror image of his son turned daughter.
Using such a negligible amount of magic that a spell wasn't
even required, Ranma warmed the water in the other glass and poured
it over herself and her stiff as a board father.
To the Tendos, who were all taking turns staring at the pair
of Saotomes, Ranma said,"We got the curses at a place called
Jusenkyo because Oyaji is the world's smartest retard. Cold
water activates them and hot water reverses them."
"Couldn't you just," Nabiki wiggled her fingers,"use magic or
something to get rid of them?"
"I wish, but the kind of magic I do, except for a few tricks, is
purely destructive. My teacher said that there were people with
the right kind of magic to break the curse, though. I can't
really find one of them, but I haven't given up.
Kasumi and Nabiki were taking the revelation in stride. Now Ranma
and Genma would know what it was like to be women. Akane just
knew that the Saotomes were perverts, being girls like that,
and couldn't stop thinking about what they must do to themselves
every opportunity that they got. Perverts! Poor Soun, his
already fragile mind made more so by Ranma's demand, just
couldn't handle the extra information. While thinking about
the horrors that his friend had endured for the art, he
fainted.
Author's Notes: While writing Power and Responsibility, I got
this idea. I know I shouldn't start yet another fic while I'm
working on two already, but the idea stuck in my head until I had
to write it down. Writing something from the beginning of the
series gives me a chance to alter Ranma's personality too. In
Darkness Ahead, Ranma is born with special power, in Power
and Responsibility, he is granted power, and now in
Sorcerer's Solution, Ranma knows magic. I don't know wether I'm
gonna continue this or not, but please send in any suggestions
to dark_phoneix@hotmail.com Hotmail has been acting up lately so I
may not see your messages for a few days, but I will eventually.
"Kasumi is nineteen, Nabiki is seventeen, and Akane is sixteen.
Pick one and she will be your wife."
Ranma's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. He turned to look at
his father, who was grinning like an idiot.
"Well Son, who shall it be?" Genma asked impatiently.
If his father and Mr. Tendo weren't such idiots, Ranma may
have believed they were joking, but they didn't have the capacity
for such advanced humor. Before making his displeasure known,
Ranma looked the girls over. Kasumi smiled sweetly at him, but
her eyes revealed the strain it took to maintain, Nabiki regarded
him coldly with the expression on her face making her intentions
clear, and Akane was glaring at him as if he had killed
her mother."Since I'm a guest and all, I'm not going to hurt you,
at least not yet, but you're an idiot if you think you can choose
who I'm have to get married to."
Genma's face fell noticeably, but Soun seemed unaffected by
the statement. Tears of joy ran down his face and his
features practically glowed with bliss."I understand that the
choice must be quite difficult. All three of my daughters have
grown into fine young women."
The Tendo sisters became quite obviously upset, but instead
of directing the hostility at Ranma like he had expected, the
girls turned to their father. Even Kasumi wore an angry
frown. Probably because it sounded like he was trying to sell a
prime piece of meat.
A more direct approach would be necessary, Ranma decided. He spoke
a couple of alien words under his breath while twitching his fingers
a bit under the table. Then, in a flash, Ranma's right hand, the
one he had turned palm upward, sprouted a fist sized ball of
crimson fire. It hovered a few inches over his palm and its
surface boiled violently, but was held in check by Ranma's
will.
There were gasps from all present except for Genma, who had
recently become intimately aquainted with his son's newfound
penchant for pyrotechnics. It had been that reason alone that
he hadn't told Ranma about the engagement a few blocks from
their destination. Soun did have a family to take care of so Ranma
was bound to have mercy on him. Hopefully.
"Here's the deal: Tendo-san, if you can get out of the room before
I blow you up, I'll marry one of your daughters. I'll even let
you pick which one. Keep in mind that if you try and fail,
though, your daughters will be fatherless."
A shocked silence hung in the air at Ranma's proclamation. All
three girls had gone pale. Akane's hand had slipped from where it
had been gripping the table edge in preparation to brain Ranma,
and Genma was trembling. His son had become very, very ruthless
after jusenkyo and the subsequent stay in the amazon village.
Soun's voice cracked as he spoke."Now S-son, I'm sure you're
just overreacting. W-why don't we talk about this a little later
after you've had a chance to settle in? Maybe a long soak in the
furo and a home cooked meal will ease your nerves?"
Ranma bounced the ball of fire in his hand and asked,"So you going
to go for it, or are you just going to give up on the whole
stupid idea?"
Soun, racked with indecision, went almost a minute without
answering. He may have been none to bright, and a little on
the emotional side, but he couldn't leave his children alone to
fend for themselves in a harsh world, and from Saotome's reports,
Ranma was a prodigy. The chances of him standing up, getting
around the table, and out the door before Ranma could hit him
with whatever it was he had conjured up were slim beyond reason,
so finally he relented,"You win." His shoulders slumped in defeat
and his body was actually shaken by sobs.
Ranma sorta felt sorry for the man. The union of the two schools
was obviously very important to him, but Ranma would 'not' be forced
to ever do anything. He followed his own code of honor, and in
his opinion, it was without equal. The ball of fire grew
transparent and faded away.
Kasumi quickly rose from her position next to her father and tried
her best to comfort the emotionally crushed man. As he shook in
her circling embrace, Kasumi levelled Ranma with a disapproving
look that spoke volumes.
Akane's fists were clenched in pure rage. No one could treat
her father like that, even if he did deserve it! It was only
Ranma's obvious command over forces beyond her understanding that
kept Akane from attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm upon
Ranma. Since her oldest sister was the most experienced caregiver
of the family, she left her father to Kasumi, opting instead to
direct a very nice murderous glare at Ranma.
Ranma's father hadn't been shocked by Ranma's display, he'd seen
much worse from his son. The sight of Soun capitulating so
easily, however, was like a blow to the very order of reality.
Tendo never backed down from anything when his mind was set to it.
Not anything!
With calm, unemotional, and methodical grace, Nabiki's mind ran over
a list of facts she had picked up from her already ex-possible
fiance. Besides good looks and the skill he would almost
certainly have from a lifetime of training in the martial arts,
Ranma also possessed a very strong will that he imposed on others
with ease, and last, but definately least, was that he appeared
to casually play around with magic, something Nabiki had never
really even had a second thought about. She had heard an
incantation though, at least that was what she guessed it to be,
and the ball of fire certainly hadn't been a trick done with
mirrors and a flashlight. Conclusion: Ranma equalled several
money making opportunities, fiance or not.
"Ranma, why don't you go out and have a look at the dojo? Tendo and
I have much to discuss," Genma said. Though he wanted the
schools joined, Genma didn't want it enough to upset Ranma to the
point that he started getting... violent. Besides, maybe they
could trick Ranma into falling for one of the girls, they were all
very attractive.
Ranma shrugged, seeing his father's attempt to get rid of him for
what it really was."Why not?" He stood to go, but a sudden
thought struck him. "Hehe," he laughed weakly,"where is the
dojo?"
Before anyone else could answer, Nabiki volunteered,"I'll show
you." She also had a good idea what the two men would talk about,
and the camera imbedded in the wall could pick up anything she
missed.
Ranma didn't see the slightly startled looks directed at Nabiki by
her sisters, so he replied,"Sure, lead the way."
Nabiki led Ranma through the house and across the walkway that led
to the dojo. She followed him into the dojo and said,"You handled
that pretty well." Nabiki couldn't help but respect someone who
could stop her father in his tracks.
Still looking the training hall over, Ranma said,"Sorry I made him
cry and all, but it really was a stupid idea. I'm only going to
get married when I'm ready for it." He found the center of the dojo
and sat down in a lotus position on the tatami mats. A couple
seconds passed while Ranma spoke a short phrase that Nabiki
couldn't understand, then his crossed legs slowly rose from the
floor.
Nabiki didn't let the suprise show on her face. It would be a
serious disadvantage if Ranma knew just how interested in his
abilities she was."Don't worry, he had it coming. How do you
do that," she asked him, sounding and looking innocent.
"Magic," answered Ranma smiling."It's really easy to do if you've
got the potentioal for it."
"Could you teach me?" Kami, she could make a 'lot' of money
selling real magic lessons!
Ranma shook his head slightly."It's too hard to tell yet. I'd have
to be around you for at least a few days before I could tell
for sure." Unknown to Nabiki, Ranma was, with slow and
careful precision, expanding his aura throughout the structure of
the dojo. Once he was firmly linked with it, Ranma withdrew the
energy and settled back to the floor. His was a rare gift, the
ability to draw knowledge and power from outside sources. Of course
it would be a long time before he would see any noticeable
differences in his overall magical strength, and the knowledge that
had become imbedded in the very foundation of the dojo would take
even longer before it began to integrate itself into his own style,
but he was patient and already had several other sites linked
to himself.
"You mean you would really teach me magic, for free?" Now that
was suprising. The concept of 'free' was alien to Nabiki.
"It's against the rules to charge for that kind of instruction."
Ranma climbed to his feet and began the opening moves of a simple
kata, while Nabiki took a seat on a nearby bench.
"Rules?" This was great, she wasn't even having to pay him for
the info, and he was actually willing to teach her magic. If she
knew the secret, Nabiki knew that she wouldn't even need
Ranma.
"Oh yes, there's lots of rules." Ranma smiled."One of them is not
to force a willing student to pay for instruction."
Who would enforce the rules? It wasn't like there was some kind
of magic polce or something."How would one...sorcerer know that
another one had broken the rules?" Magician would have sounded just
a bit ridiculous. Ranma didn't seem like the type to go around
pulling rabbits out of a hat.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you anything else until I know wether or
not you can even learn magic. The chances are pretty slim."
Nabiki decided to change the subject. There wasn't much point
in getting her hopes up, and even if she could have done magic,
the rules would have taken all the fun out of it."My sister Akane
is probably going to try to kill you."
"I wasn't really going to kill your dad, you know. I just had to
scare him into giving up on that stupid idea of his and
Oyaji's."
"Hey, I'm not complaining, but Akane looked more upset than I've
ever seen her, and her temper is legendary."
Ranma frowned, and came to a halt."Isn't Akane the heir to the
school?"
"Yeah, she is." Nabiki had decided not to charge for any
information yet, at least not as long as he was forthcoming
with her."Hey, how did you know that?"
Ranma took one last look at the dojo, making sure that he was
firmly linked with it, then left for the house."She was wearing a gi
in the house and you and Kasumi don't carry yourselves like
fighters," he answered to Nabiki.
Nabiki caught up with Ranma and followed him into the house. She
felt pretty stupid for missing the obvious clues that had led Ranma
to his deduction.
****
"Oh it's just horrible Tendo, horrible! Those evil women
brainwashed my son. Now he is disrespectful and rude, but he used
to be such a well behaved boy," Genma was saying as Ranma and
Nabiki came back in.
"Wow, when all that brainwashing happen, Oyaji?" Ranma asked
from behind his father.
Genma turned several shades paler. Spinning around to face Ranma,
he said,"It's all right Ranma, I was just telling the Tendos about
what happened in China."
"So you told them about the curses?" He was still using
the brainwashing story? Stupid Oyaji.
The fat man now matched the color of his dingy gi."W-what
curses?"
Ranma sighed."I'll be right back." He already knew where the
kitchen was since he had passed it on his way to the dojo. It took
him a minute to find a set of glasses and fill them with water.
He returned to find his father looking a bit wild-eyed, and the
Tendo, Soun included, looking like curious little children.
"Ranma, think about what you're doing, please," Genma pled. They
would all know his shame now! Oh the humanity!
Ranma splashed himself and Genma before anyone could even blink.
The results were spectacular, to say the least. Ranma, once a
muscular young man, was now a shorter, though very endowed red-
headed girl. Genma, found himself, no longer fat, male, or bald.
In fact, he was the mirror image of his son turned daughter.
Using such a negligible amount of magic that a spell wasn't
even required, Ranma warmed the water in the other glass and poured
it over herself and her stiff as a board father.
To the Tendos, who were all taking turns staring at the pair
of Saotomes, Ranma said,"We got the curses at a place called
Jusenkyo because Oyaji is the world's smartest retard. Cold
water activates them and hot water reverses them."
"Couldn't you just," Nabiki wiggled her fingers,"use magic or
something to get rid of them?"
"I wish, but the kind of magic I do, except for a few tricks, is
purely destructive. My teacher said that there were people with
the right kind of magic to break the curse, though. I can't
really find one of them, but I haven't given up.
Kasumi and Nabiki were taking the revelation in stride. Now Ranma
and Genma would know what it was like to be women. Akane just
knew that the Saotomes were perverts, being girls like that,
and couldn't stop thinking about what they must do to themselves
every opportunity that they got. Perverts! Poor Soun, his
already fragile mind made more so by Ranma's demand, just
couldn't handle the extra information. While thinking about
the horrors that his friend had endured for the art, he
fainted.
Author's Notes: While writing Power and Responsibility, I got
this idea. I know I shouldn't start yet another fic while I'm
working on two already, but the idea stuck in my head until I had
to write it down. Writing something from the beginning of the
series gives me a chance to alter Ranma's personality too. In
Darkness Ahead, Ranma is born with special power, in Power
and Responsibility, he is granted power, and now in
Sorcerer's Solution, Ranma knows magic. I don't know wether I'm
gonna continue this or not, but please send in any suggestions
to dark_phoneix@hotmail.com Hotmail has been acting up lately so I
may not see your messages for a few days, but I will eventually.