-Gie-chan
Chapter Two: And So It Goes...
Ranma, Akane, Ukyou and Ryouga arrived at Jusenkyo International Airport later that afternoon. As they were getting off the plane, Ryouga ran ahead and several people tried to cover up their snickers. Ranma called out as Ryouga flew past him, "Hey Ryouga, who'd think that after all the traveling around you do, you would be the one that gets airsick! That's rich!"
"Stop picking on Ryouga, Ranma. He can't help it!" Akane scowled at Ranma and jogged to catch up with Ryouga to see if he needed any help.
Ranma frowned after the running pair and yelled out. "Now who's going help me with all the luggage?"
Ukyou came up alongside Ranma and patted
him on the shoulder. "Don't feel bad Ranchan. I'm here to help
you out!" Ukyou grabbed onto Ranma's elbow and left the hangar, towing
him the opposite way Ryouga and Akane left, towards the baggage claim.
Another pair also left the hangar the same time Ranma and the others left. David Xanatos and his assistant Owen Burnett were going over the plans that they had discussed earlier. "Now all we need is that guide. Where did you say he was going to be, Owen?"
The blond majordomo frowned and looked around. "He said he would be waiting in the parking lot, with his vehicle, to take us to the springs, Mr. Xanatos. He should be around here somewhere." Owen pointed in a direction. "Ah, sir, I believe that is him over there." And sure enough, standing by an old beat-up Army jeep, was the Jusenkyian holding a sign in badly scrawled English that read "Xanatos."
The guide noticed the tall foreigners
and waved in their direction. "Honorable sirs, you Zan-A-Toes?"
Xanatos nodded. "Good, good. Let me help luggage and we be
on way, yes? Want to be there before dark." Xanatos nodded
again and Owen started to help the Guide put their luggage into the Jeep.
Meanwhile, the Nerima Four caught up with each other, Akane and Ryouga (still looking a little green) walking up front, reading a map, and Ukyou and Ranma (sulking) were just behind, Ukyou chattering away at Ranma happily. As they passed the Americans, Owen turned around and barely missed running into Ranma.
"Excuse me."
"I'm sorry."
They nodded at each other and continued on their way.
Ranma continued to concentrate on his sulking, thinking to himself. 'Why is Akane being so nice to Ryouga? It's not like he's never been sick before.' He frowned. 'Why is she fussing over him? It's not like she's his fiancée. Argh! Why am I obsessing over this? We both sort of admitted there was something between us, and she knows I don't like any of the other fiancées that way.' He looked up at the girl in question with a soft smile on his lips. 'Man, she's really gotten to me! All she has to do is smile that smile of hers and I'm a puddle of putty. Oh, but what a smile...' Ranma was awoken from his dream of Akane in a field of flowers smiling at him when Ukyou clobbered him over the head with her spatula.
"Ranma, Ranma! Haven't you been listening to what I said for the past five minutes? What's going through that thick skull of yours?"
Ranma blinked back into real time and blushed. "Wha? Ukyou? What did you say? Umm...which way do we start hiking?"
Ryouga looked up from the map he and Akane were going over. "Don't worry, Ranma. I have everything under control." He pointed in a direction. "We should go to the east."
Ranma sighed, turned and pointed the lost boy in the other direction. "That way is east...toward the sun, remember?"
Ryouga stammered and scowled at Ranma, while taking a quick glance at Akane. "Oh yeah. I knew that, Ranma. I was just testing you...yeah that's the ticket."
Ranma rolled his eyes and hitched his backpack up. "Whatever. Okay, let's get going. We want to make it there before sunset, right?"
Akane looked up from the map and rolled her eyes at the two boys. She glanced around the airport searching for something. She spotted a convenient sign. "Boys," she mumbled to herself. She stated loudly. "If we want to get there before sunset, how about we take the shuttle?" Akane pointed at the sign, Jusenkyo Shuttles: Last One In Five Minutes.> Ranma scowled at Akane as she smugly turned into the turnstile that led to the shuttle.
Ukyou looked at the sign, stopped and glanced around again, a confused frown flashing across her features. "Hey guys, wait a minute, I just realized something. Isn't Jusenkyo and all of the other places around it supposed to be in the middle of the nowhere?"
"Yeah, Ucchan, they are. Why do you ask?"
"Then why does the middle of nowhere have an airport shuttle going to it, and, in the first place, an international airport, to it?"
Ranma looked around and shrugged.
"I don't know, Ucchan. Stranger things have happened. Let's
not question our good luck." The rest followed Akane and boarded
the shuttle to head towards the Cursed Springs.
*****
The sun was just starting to disappear over the horizon as the Nerimians got off the convenient shuttle. The Guide, Xanatos and Owen were also getting out of the jeep. Ranma and Owen looked to each other in surprise, Owen giving Ranma a nod. Plum greeted each of them and offered them tea while her father handed out some papers.
"These papers are release forms that need to be signed. They basically say you hold your life in your hands and will not sue or hold me or my father, the Guide, responsible for what happens here today. That is, if anything happens at all." Everyone gave Plum a curious look. She sighed and explained, "They are a necessary evil; we have had to deal with consequences before."
Ranma and Ryouga winced and started to fill out the papers. Ukyou and Akane just shrugged and filled out their own sets of paper. Owen filled out the papers for both he and his employer. Xanatos signed his own name and Plum collected all the papers and looked over them to see everything was correct.
"Now that the paperwork is taken care of, let's see what are the reasons you have come to Jusenkyo, Land of the Cursed Springs."
Akane spoke up first. "Well, Plum we received your letter stating that the springs have refilled and have come for some Nannichuan water to cure Ranma's curse. We also want to bring home some extra water to cure the ones we left at home."
Owen and Xanatos looked interested and raised an eyebrow at each other. Plum ignored them for the moment. "I didn't expect you to be here so soon, Ranma. I also thought I'd see your father here, as well."
"We could only afford so many tickets, so only me an' Akane are the ones bringing home the water." Ukyou and Ryouga looked miffed at Ranma. "Well, it's true! You guys just came along for the ride."
Plum nodded and turned to David Xanatos and Owen Burnett. "Now, sirs, what business do you have here at Jusenkyo?"
Owen spoke for his employer. "Miss Plum, Mr. Xanatos here is interested in the genetic properties of several of the springs. How the water affects a human if it is an animal-based spring and similarly an animal if placed into a human-based spring."
Xanatos took over from there. "I had read about the Springs in an old book I had bought a while ago. I assure you, we mean no harm to any creatures or humans. We hope to do all of our hypothesizing through computer simulations, and in virtual-reality environments."
Xanatos paused, and looked at Owen. He said nothing and he continued. "Plus, we were in the area and thought it would be an interesting stop on our trip."
The first remark quirked some eyebrows at the two Americans. The second statement received several inquiring looks from Plum, Akane and Ryouga. The third produced a massive facefault from Ranma and Ryouga. "Interesting? Hmpf." Akane elbowed Ranma in the side to keep him from making any further comments.
Plum thought about what Xanatos said, nodded again and spoke. "Well, Mr. Xanatos, your interests seem to be pure, so I will allow your passage through Jusenkyo. Ranma and his friends have been here before and know the true dangers of the Springs." Ranma, Akane, Ukyou, and Ryouga all shuddered. "Please, Mr. Xanatos, make sure you are with my father or me the entire time while in the Springs area. This is for your own safety. I can not stress that enough." Xanatos and Owen both nodded. "Now are we ready? We want to get everything done before it gets too dark outside to see where you're going."
Xanatos interrupted the Nerima group before they all headed out. "Ranma, is it? Xanatos, David Xanatos. You mentioned that you have a curse that originated from here?"
Ranma gave him a pained look and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I do. I fell into Nyannichuan, or girl spring."
Xanatos nodded, and said, "Would you mind if I saw it? The curse, I mean?"
Ranma blanched at the request and reluctantly nodded. He asked Plum for some cold water. "Since I am going to be cured, I might as well do this for one last time. Here goes nothing." And with a dose of cold water, Ranma shrunk and Ranma-chan came into existence for the last time.
Xanatos watched the change take place with an excited gleam in his eye. He walked around Ranma-chan taking in the height change and the new body 'proportions.' "Fascinating. Simply fascinating."
Ranma shrugged under the scrutiny and asked Plum for some hot water to change back. "You get used to it after awhile."
Xanatos watched with rapt concentration
as Ranma-chan grew into Ranma. "Thank you, Ranma. I appreciate
it." Xanatos nodded to Ranma and he and Owen left talking to each
other in hushed tones.
*****
Everyone paraded out of the hut to gather the equipment they would need while in the Springs area. Ranma and the rest of the Nerimians each grabbed a cask to place the water they gathered. Owen and Xanatos also picked up their equipment and supplies and went off in a different direction with Plum. Ukyou handed out torches and flashlights, since it was after sunset and dusk was settling in. Once they were ready, the Guide escorted the Nerimians into the Springs. "Which spring you see first?"
Akane answered, "We would like to gather a cask of Drowned Girl, and then go over to Drowned Boy, if that is possible."
The Guide nodded. "No problem. Let me show you Girl first." The group trooped over to the Nyannichuan, or spring of drowned girl. "Tragic story..." the guide mumbled while Ukyou filled up her cask. Only to be surprised that once Ukyou was done filling the cask, the spring seemed to disappear into the ground. "Where spring go?" The Guide was baffled. He had never seen, in all the time he was here, a spring to just disappear so quickly. Sure, the springs move around sometimes, but he just accredited that to the magic of the area. 'Very interesting,' the Guide thought. 'I'll have to remember that for future pondering.'
"What happened to the spring, Mr. Guide?" Akane asked. "Where did the water go?"
The Guide scrunched his eyebrows together in concentration and gave the best answer he could think of in such a short time. "Spring must not need to be here anymore. See new springs form recently. Old ones leave and make room for new ones."
The group shrugged and put it under the "Weird things to think about later" file. They headed over to the male spring, next.
The five reached the spring. Ranma couldn't handle the anticipation anymore and checking once quick to see if he was male, jumped into the rather large spring. He stayed under for quite a while. Ukyou and Akane started to get worried. "Ranchan, are you okay in there? Do you need help?"
Ryouga saw his chance to get in the spring without Akane thinking him strange and asking embarrassing questions. "Here I come, Ranma!" Ryouga yelled and jumped into the spring after Ranma. They both surfaced a short time later; Ryouga pulling Ranma up by his collar.
"Ryouga, whatcha do that for? I wasn't drownin' or anything."
"Then what took you so long to surface then?"
"I just wanted to make sure it'd work."
The girls just sighed and rolled their eyes.
Ryouga and Ranma crawled out of the spring and gathered up the other casks to fill with spring water to take home. The girls didn't want to risk getting cursed by the boy water so they stayed a fair amount of distance away from the wet males. After they were done with the casks, each noticed that this spring dried up the same way the girl spring did.
"Hey Akane, do you still have some cold water handy? I want to check and see if the water worked." Akane pulled out a thermos and tossed it to Ranma, where he instantly poured the cold water over his head. He opened his eyes and looked down at his cold, wet, MALE body. "Woohoo! It worked! I am finally a whole male again! No more Ranko! No more Kuno groping me! I'm free at last. Thank God, I'm free at last!"
While Ranma bounced around in pure
unadulterated joy and Ukyou and Akane watched, Ryouga started thinking.
'That means the pig is gone too! That means I can eat bacon for breakfast
again without feeling guilty! I am a full man!' Wherein, he
started to run towards Akane with arms outstretched so she could share
in his exuberance. Akane, seeing the Nannichuan-covered Ryouga headed
for her, 'eeped' and turned and ran in the opposite direction from him.
In her urgency to get away, she did not see the tree root that was in the
way of her escaping foot.
Akane screamed.
Ryouga, in his haste to get to Akane, tripped over the cask of Nyannichuan that Ukyou had set down while waiting for the others to finish up, thereby breaking the cask apart. Luckily, for Ryouga, and unluckily for Shampoo, the water soaked into the ground.
Ranma stopped his happy dance when he heard Akane scream. He saw Akane falling toward a spring. "Noooo! Akane!" Ranma dove after her, trying to toss her away from the spring. He was too late. Not only did Akane fall into the water, but Ranma also fell in right after her.
Ukyou, Ryouga and the Guide were speechless. They couldn't believe what just transpired. "Ranchan...Akane..." Ukyou moaned. Ryouga started mumbling nonsense syllables. "Ranma? Akane? Quick! They aren't coming up! Somebody do something!" But before anybody could react, a pair of bodies emerged from the deep waters, only one gasping for a breath.
Xanatos, Owen, and Plum came running over when they heard Akane's scream. They all stood, shocked, gaping at the two in the water.
Ranma gasped for air. "Akane! Help, someone! She isn't breathing!"
Owen quickly jumped into action. He grabbed Akane away from Ranma and pulled her from the water and placed her on the ground next to the spring. Ranma quickly crawled out after her and watched anxiously as Owen started to perform CPR on her.
"She's gonna be okay, right? She has to be." Ranma wailed next to the unmoving body. "Oh, Akane, I'm sorry for dragging you here again...why does everything always have to happen to us? Please forgive me!" As Ranma broke down in tears, a sharp breath came from the once silent body of Akane. "Oh my God...Akane! You're alive! Thank God!" Ranma then went over to her and grabbed her up in a bone-crushing hug.
As Ranma bawled on her shoulder, Akane opened her eyes and coughed weakly. She slowly brought her arms around Ranma shoulders and gave him a small hug back.
"I'm fine, Ranma." She coughed weakly. "I need to breathe, though!"
Ranma then realized he was crushing her, and released his grip enough to bring her face to face with him. "I was so scared of losing you, Akane. Please don't ever leave me."
Akane brought her hand up to his face and touched his cheek gently. "You don't have to worry about that, Ranma. I will never leave you. I love you, Ranma."
Ranma gazed into Akane's liquid brown eyes and choked out a reply, "I love you too, Akane."
With that, he brought his face down to hers and slowly brushed his lips against hers, hesitating. Ranma released her from the kiss, but Akane grabbed his head and brought him back down for a crushing kiss that surprised Ranma tremendously. Akane deepened the kiss and enjoyed being with Ranma, alive and breathing.
After a couple of moments of staring at the couple, Ukyou snapped out of her daze. She looked at the two and made a grimace. "Excuse me, guys. Hello? There are others present." She snorted disdainfully. Ranma and Akane broke their kiss and blushed simultaneously.
At the same time, Ryouga and Plum snapped into reality. They looked at the couple.
And blinked.
They looked closer at the two and Plum gasped aloud. "Oh no. What happened?"
Ranma and Akane looked confused. She explained, "Ryouga was coming at me and I didn't want to get wet, so I ran away from him. I think I tripped and fell into a spring. Ranma came after me." She blinked and opened her eyes wide. "Wait a minute...I, we fell in a spring! Which one?"
The Guide snapped out of his trance and was relieved that he could contribute something important. "Oh poor guests! How very, very tragic! You both fell into Gaagoirnichuan, or spring of drowned gargoyle. About 1200 years ago, gargoyle fall into that spring. Spring not seen for long time. Very special and tragic story. Curse permanent."
Akane and Ranma backed away from each
other and truly looked at one another. They saw what they had become.
Akane and Ranma both screamed.
Akane started to hyperventilate. Ranma stuttered and said, "Permanent?"
They looked into each other's new face
and fainted.
*****
Plum quickly recovered from the shock and started to gather everything and take charge of the situation. "Let's move them inside the hut where they will be more comfortable, hmm? Then, once they wake up, we can explain everything going on all at the same time. All right, Mr. Xanatos, Ryouga, why don't you grab Ranma over there and Father and Mr. Burnett can bring Akane in the hut. Ukyou, why don't we gather all the equipment and start heading towards shelter. The Springs are not a pleasant place to be in the complete dark."
Everyone except Ryouga started in on their assignments and headed towards the small hut. He was rooted to his spot, mumbling nonsense to himself. 'I did it. My fault. I did it. My fault! How could I have done such a thing? OhmygodIdiditIdiditOhmygodIdidit. It's all my fault!'
Xanatos looked at Ryouga oddly and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, we need to get him inside? Hello?" He waved a hand in front of the babbling Lost Boy.
Ryouga snapped out of his self-induced
trance and looked blankly at Xanatos. Numbly, Ryouga picked up his
end of Ranma and followed Xanatos out of the springs and into the hut.
Nobody noticed, in their haste to leave
the springs that Gaagoirnichuan slowly began to disappear just like the
other two springs did earlier.
Once they got Ranma and Akane comfortable in a back bedroom, the rest of the group started to put away the remaining equipment. Ukyou went into the kitchen to talk to the Jusenkyians. Owen and Xanatos talked to themselves. Ryouga sat huddled in a dark corner.
"Owen, can you believe what they fell into?"
"It is incredible, sir. I did not know that one existed. The book did not mention a gargoyle spring."
Xanatos smirked. "Well, aren't they lucky that we are along to help out?"
"It seems to be that way, sir."
Ukyou was still in shock over what happened to Akane and Ranma. "They are going to be okay, right? You were just kidding when you said that the curse was permanent, right? Please say you were joking."
Plum looked up from where she was making tea for everyone. She smiled sadly and replied, "No, my father was correct. It is a permanent curse. At least it was when the last person fell into the spring of drowned gargoyle. The spring has different magic weaved through it. The gargoyle physiology is also different than most. We will explain everything once the two wake up."
Ryouga was back in his trance in the
corner. 'It's all my fault. Oh my God, it's all my fault.
If I didn't run at Akane, she wouldn't have tried to get away from me.
Why must everything happen to the ones I care about?" A sickly green
aura started to form around Ryouga. "Akane's never going to forgive
me. Ranma's never going to forgive me for cursing Akane. It's all
my fault. Why me? Oh lord, why Akane? She's never deserved
such a cruel fate, and what a truly horrible curse it is...If she could
be cured, I would do anything--even gain back that damned pig curse.
I'll do anything...it's all my fault... Oh, Akane!'
*****
In the back room, Ranma woke up in a dark, unfamiliar room and rubbed his head. "What fleet of trucks hit me? I feel horrible. Where am I? Where's Akane?" Akane moaned and started to stir next to him. "Akane? Are you okay? Akane?"
Akane shook her head to clear out the cobwebs. "Yes, I think so. Where are we? Did I have a bad dream, or did we actually fall into a spring?"
Ranma looked sadly in Akane's direction. "No, it wasn't a bad dream. We actually fell into a spring. Both of us. But the question is, what spring did we fall into?"
"I think I heard the Guide mention something about a gargoyle. Is that what we are, now? Gargoyles? What are those?"
"Ain't a gargoyle those statues of demons on churches, Akane?"
"I'm not sure, Ranma. I didn't think they were real creatures."
"Me either. Hey, do you still have your flashlight, Akane? I wanna see what we look like."
"I think so, Ranma." She shuffled around a bit. "Yes, I do. Here, let me turn it on."
Akane turned on the light and saw Ranma for the first time. At least coherently. She looked, really looked at him and gasped. He really looked like, like, well, a demon! "Ranma, is that really you?" He nodded. She crawled over to him to get a closer look. She set down the light so it would shine completely on him. Ranma's skin wasn't the normal tanned color anymore. It had darkened to a shade of charcoal grey. She reached up to touch his face. The texture of his skin changed, too. It now felt like a soft, well-worn leather glove. His hair grew considerably longer, past mid-back, and believe it or not, was the same color as his old cursed form--bright red. She touched it to make sure it was real. It was.
Her eyes traveled around his face. He still looked like Ranma; if you can ignore the horns that were coming out of his head. Two thin horns arched out of his skull, one at each temple, and circled around his head. They curled down and inwards slightly at the end. Two smaller, stubby horns sprouted next to each of the longer horns. Her hands roamed over his face, his horns and his ears. The ears were longer and tapered to a point at the tip. His eyes were still blue, maybe a little brighter, but that could have been the effect of his skin dramatically offsetting them. He didn't have any eyebrows to speak of, though. They now looked like bony ridges that stuck out from his face.
Her eyes traveled down his body. She noticed that his frame was considerably larger and more muscled than it used to be. 'Not that it wasn't before,' she silently added. His arms were similarly more muscled as well, and at the elbows, a protrusion? She felt the elbow spur and frowned slightly. "It feels like a bone," she said aloud. She moved down to his hands, and gasped. They weren't really hands anymore, more like claws, or talons. And where did the fifth finger go? His shirt was in tatters. Pieces of silk held together by strands were scattered over his body, barely covering him up.
"Ranma, you look weird with just those rags on. You might as well take your shirt off. Your pants seem salvageable, though."
Ranma looked down at himself. He blushed and started to take away the scraps of clothing that remained on his body. It didn't take too long and Akane gave him another glance. Her cheeks colored a little as she continued to explore her fiancée.
His legs had drastically changed and looked more like a crouching animal's, with the ankles being tremendously higher than a normal human's feet with a toe on the high heel. His feet had the same type of claws as his hands, but much larger in proportion. A small piece of his slipper surrounded one toe-claw. As she was looking at his feet she noticed something behind him. "A tail!"
"What? I have a tail?"
"Yes you do. See?" As Akane grabbed the tail, Ranma jerked it out of her grasp and brought it across his body. It was long and thin, tapering at the end to an arrowpoint.
"Oh yeah. Cool! I always wanted a tail."
Akane rolled her eyes and noticed something else. "Ranma, turn around. Look!"
Ranma stopped playing with his tail and glanced behind him. "Wow! Wings!"
And wings they were. Gigantic bat-like wings protruded from his back. Akane reached back to feel them . 'They feel like soft leather,' she thought. 'They're beautiful.' Black stretched across the frame and the same shade of charcoal grey colored the wing's undersides. Two little claws were attached to the end wing strut.
Ranma tried to move them and was able to flap them a little. "I wonder if they work like real wings?
"I guess we'll have to see," Akane smiled at Ranma.
Ranma smiled back. He adjusted the light to shine on her. "Yeah, I guess so. Now, let me take a look at you! My goodness, Akane! You sure live up to your name."
Akane looked at herself for the first time. She blushed and swatted at Ranma. "Yeah, whatever. It's not like I picked it out."
Ranma took a moment to take Akane's new image in. Her skin color did indeed live up to her name. Her skin tone was a deep red, almost a wine color. She still looked like Akane, big brown eyes and all. She had the same bony eyebrows as he had. Her hair was the same midnight blue, maybe a little darker, but the length had grown drastically. It now reached to about mid-back. Ranma reached out to brush a lock of hair away from her face to take a good look at her and hit something hard. "Hey, Akane--you got something hard on your head."
Akane reached up to feel the top of her head and gasped. "I have bones sticking out of my head!" Well, almost. Ranma leaned over and parted her hair. She had four horns growing out the top of her head. They were triangular in shape and ran down her scalp in a straight line.
"They look like that dinosaur's horns. Stagasaurus or Stepasaurus or something."
"Stegosaurus, you mean?"
"Sure, whatever. They're neat. Ooh! Sharp too."
Ranma's gaze then traveled down to
her ears, which were elongated to the tips on the end. "Your
ears are like mine." As his gaze wandered
lower, he blushed considerably. "Um, Akane, you might want to, um,
adjust your clothing."
Akane looked startled and looked down at herself. She blushed deeply herself, and quickly covered her expanded attributes with the tattered clothing she had left. Hers was in pretty much the same state as Ranma's—clumps and strips of cloth were all that was left of the outfit she had on when they left Nerima. "Stop looking then, pervert." Ranma blushed again and continued to take in his fiancée's new body.
Ranma noticed that she was a lot taller herself, and her body was more muscled and well defined than before. Her arms were straining at the seams of her sleeves and bone spurs broke through where her elbows were supposed to be. She also had the four taloned hands, and when he looked, huge four taloned feet were visible. He looked up her legs and saw she had bone spurs on her knees as well. "I don't have those on my knees, Akane."
"Well, do you expect us to be exactly the same?"
"Well, sorta. We fell in the same spring. I thought we'd get the same stuff."
Akane thought a bit about that. "Well, maybe the spring adapts to each person, giving them their own unique characteristics. Just like if they would have been born that way."
"I guess," Ranma shrugged. "It makes sense. Hey, look at your tail. Heh, I shoulda guessed."
Akane reached for her tail. It was long and thin, like Ranma's, but instead of an arrowhead for a tip, it was in the shape of a hammer.
"Yeah, I guess. It looks sort of weird, though. Hey, I have wings, too."
Ranma touched Akane's wings. They were bat-like wings, like his. The outside of the wing was black, like his, but what was different was the underside was midnight blue; the same color as her hair, unlike his were the same color of his skin. On the last wing strut, three finger claws were resting. "Her wings are so soft. Wow, she's really cute this way. Not that she wasn't cute before, but she really is this way, too. So beautiful..."
Akane, startled by those words, blushed deeply. "Do you really mean that, Ranma? Do you think I am cute--beautiful even?"
Ranma, shocked out of his reverie by Akane's words, blushed considerably. 'I thought I said that to myself!' "Um, yeah, I do, Akane." He shyly smiled at her "You definitely are not uncute." Akane blushed almost purple against her scarlet-colored skin. Ranma continued. "So, um, what do we do now?"
Before Akane could answer, there was a knock at the door. Plum peeked her head around the door and noticed the pair was awake. "I see you guys have recovered from your swim. Would you like to join everyone else so we can talk and answer any questions that you might have?"
Ranma and Akane nodded and started to get up, but promptly fell down again. They tried to get up again, and Ranma succeeded, while Akane promptly fell back down on her tail. "Oof!"
Plum laughed. "Be careful, Akane. It will take a minute or two to get used to the new legs and feet. Plus, the tail and wings will throw your balance completely off."
"Yeah, I figured that one out, Akane. It's like standing on your toes and leaning forward." He smiled encouragingly. "You can handle it, Akane." Slowly, with Ranma's help, Akane got up and they staggered into the other room where everyone was waiting for them to wake up. Xanatos, Owen and Ryouga stood up when they entered the room and Ryouga backed further into his corner. Ranma looked at Ukyou, but she shied away from his gaze and focused elsewhere.
Plum cleared her throat to try and get everyone attention. She had a monstrous book in her hands and opened it to a certain page. "Now, to begin. Ranma and Akane, you fell, as you can guess, into a spring called Gaagoirnichuan, or spring of drowned gargoyle. About 1200 years ago a gargoyle wandered through this area and drowned in that pool. This book only tells of one time when a human fell into that spring and what happened. As I said earlier, the curse turned out to be permanent. Hot water did not affect the cursed form at all." Everyone but Owen and Xanatos gasped in horror at the news. They just looked at each other with questions on their faces. "Let me continue, please. Over the years, we have found that different curses have different temperature triggers. We have not had a chance to find the temperature in which this curse will activate. It just might be higher than what was attempted last time. Shall we experiment?"
The Guide handed his daughter a kettle. "Okay, we'll start with the warm water and go from there. Ranma, please come over here." Ranma went over to Plum and waited for the water treatment. Plum poured the water over Ranma's head. Nothing happened. "Okay, we'll go hotter." The next kettle was significantly hotter, but Ranma still did not change. They kept going, increasing until they got to boiling. This did activate the change, but with strange consequences. Ranma started to slowly shift to human form, one part changing back at a time, but he screamed in agony with every change. Akane stumbled over to Ranma to see what was wrong.
"Are you okay, Ranma? What's wrong? Why are you screaming?"
"It hurts! It's never hurt before! It feels like I'm bein' torn apart! What in the hell is going on?"
Plum went and got a glass of cold water and poured it over the screeching Ranma. This did reverse the transformation. This time, Ranma didn't feel any pain and it was done within moments. "I guess the switching of physiology between human and gargoyle is just too painful."
Xanatos and Owen shot each other a knowing look. They started to talk quietly to themselves.
Akane and Ranma looked at each other. Akane sniffled and started to cry. "I guess the curse is really permanent. I don't want to have to go through the pain of transforming every time I want to revert back to normal! And if we did, cold water would just find us right away. What are we going to do, Ranma?"
Ranma wrapped his arms and, somewhat clumsily, his wings around Akane in a hug. She bawled on his shoulder. "Sshh, sshh, Akane. It'll be okay, I promise. I don't know what we'll do. We really can't do much of anything, I guess, except keep on going one day at a time like we always do."
Ryouga sat up quickly came out of his corner. He asked Plum, "What if we just go dunk them back into the boy/girl springs? Won't that return them to normal?" 'Please say it'll work...'
Everyone started to talk excitedly. Plum butted in before things got out of hand. "Actually, Akane could get cured if there was any Nyannichuan left, but Ranma is permanently a gargoyle. The water only works three times. Ranma has been dunked three times, so your casks of Nannichuan will not work. Akane has only been dunked twice, so she still has a chance, if you gathered Nyannichuan."
Ukyou nodded. "We do have Nyannichuan in one of the casks. We were going to bring it back for Shampoo, but let's use it now."
Ryouga turned ghost-white and felt sick to his stomach. He fell back into his corner with a thud. "Um...we don't have any girl spring water anymore, Ukyou. When I tried to go after Akane, I tripped over the cask, and I sorta broke it. The water soaked into the ground. I'm really, really, sorry, Akane. I didn't mean it. Please forgive me!"
Akane looked like she was about to cry again. Plum also spoke. "Also remember, the springs dried up after the water was gathered. We can't go back into the Springs and gather more. I'm sorry, Ranma, Akane. There is no cure." Akane turned to Ranma's shoulder again and restarted her crying.
At this point Xanatos and Owen finished discussing things and Xanatos cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Akane, Ranma, but I think we have a solution for you, or at least something you can consider." Everyone looked to David Xanatos with a question. "We, Owen and myself, actually happen to know a little bit about your new species. It didn't shock as much as the others when you popped out of the spring as gargoyles. Being from New York has somewhat dulled us on the extraordinary." Owen just nodded.
"Isn't New York where the gargoyle sightings reported in the news happened?" Ukyou wondered aloud.
"You are correct. I have had personal experience with the gargoyles in New York. They are, in fact, residing with me in their ancestral home. You may have heard of Castle Wyvern? On top of the Aerie Building?"
Everyone just gaped at the two Americans. They couldn't believe what was happening. Millions of questions were flying between the others in the room. 'Did he actually know other gargoyles? Why was he offering up this information? Why was he at Jusenkyo right when they needed him? Is he for real?'
Xanatos interpreted their unbelieving looks and continued. "Yes, it is true. I am in association with the Manhattan clan of gargoyles. Actually, I am the one responsible for them coming to New York. But, like I said, I may have a solution for you, but will have to discuss it with others first. Owen, if you don't mind, can answer any questions about the gargoyle physiology and what-not, while I contact the others." Owen nodded, and Xanatos left to the back room to make a phone call.
"Of course, Mr. Xanatos. I am happy to answer any questions that you might have." Owen looked at his watch and saw there were several hours until sunrise. "I had better explain some certain details before it's too late."
Akane sniffled and tried to regain her composure. "What would those be, Mr. Burnett?" Ranma looked concernedly at Akane and listened closer.
Owen continued. "As you can tell, it is nighttime now. But at sunrise, the gargoyle physiology goes into a form of stasis."
Ranma looked confused. "Stasis? You mean asleep."
"That's right. But, there is a special condition surrounding this. Gargoyles, at night, are living and breathing flesh, but during day, they turn into stone; statues if you will. They remain in the stone state until sunset that night." Everyone around them gasped except for the Jusenkyians. Akane and Ranma looked like they were going to faint again. Ryouga and Ukyou looked sick.
Plum sighed. "I read about that in the book. It seemed impossible to believe, but why would the book lie?"
"Yes, it is true. I have witnessed this numerous times over the years and it is perfectly natural to the gargoyles and to their constitutions. Actually, they welcome the stone hibernation because it heals the wounds of the night and makes them feel physically and mentally refreshed. The 'Stone Cure-All' they call it."
Akane asked, "Are gargoyles sentient beings? Like humans? I was wondering, because they are animal in nature, aren't they, um…we?" She shook her head in frustration. "I thought maybe the spring gave us special abilities."
"Yes, Akane, gargoyles are sentient beings. Most are very intelligent, and have IQ's in the same range as normal humans. Although, there are animal characteristics that are apparent at certain times."
Ryouga spoke up. "Like when?"
"When they are angered or in battle. Their eyes will light up; white for males, red for females, and tend to growl and roar and attack with their talons. Gargoyles are raised at an early age to be warriors, to hunt and to protect the clan." He looked up and turned toward the door. "But maybe we should continue this conversation later. Mr. Xanatos hopefully has returned with some good news."
Everyone turned to the bearded man that walked in the room. "You are correct as always, Owen. Ranma and Akane, I just got off the phone with our other companions on this trip. They happen to be some of the gargoyles I mentioned earlier. We had left them in Ishimura, Japan to visit some 'relatives' there. I have told them about you and a little bit of your situation. They would like to meet you, if possible. They can answer all of your questions a lot clearer than we could, since they are gargoyles themselves. Would you want to meet them? I can arrange to have them meet you at your home tomorrow night."
Ranma and Akane looked at each other and nodded to the unspoken question. She smiled weakly and answered for the both of them. "We would be honored to meet your friends, Mr. Xanatos. If it is possible, we would like to explain ourselves to our families before we meet yours. They might feel a little overwhelmed by us, and others might add fuel to the fire." Akane thought silently. 'Plus, they might not accept us in the first place.' Ranma sensed what Akane was thinking and wrapped a wing around her. She looked back at Ranma gratefully.
"That should be no problem. But, as Owen mentioned to you earlier, it is almost sunrise and it will be time for you to go to sleep and turn to stone. I would like to offer my services and give the four of you a ride home. I will have a jet ready and waiting at the airport within an hour, and in order to get you home in one piece, we should get you in the plane before you become too heavy to move." He paused and raised an eyebrow at the Nerimians. "That is, if you accept my offer of help."
The Nerima Four looked at each other and shrugged. Ukyou spoke for the group. "We would be happy to accept your help. One question I have for you, though, is why do you care about them? It's not like you owe them a debt of honor, or anything. You didn't cause their curse." Ryouga whimpered in the corner.
Xanatos just laughed off the question. "I'm sorry if I have not explained my motives clear enough to you yet. When I first met the gargoyles in Manhattan, I did some rather unpleasant things to them. They have since forgiven me and I have allied myself to their cause of keeping New York safe." He smiled at Ukyou and the two new gargoyles. "To tell you the truth, there are not many gargoyles in the world. I only know of several select clans, and their numbers are very small. I would do much to help anyone of the species. It would be inhuman of me not to."
"I guess that's okay," Ranma responded. "We better get going, then. How much time do we have until sunrise?"
Owen glanced again at his watch.
"We have about an hour and a half before sunrise. Including packing
up, we should reach the airport in just under an hour. We should
get going if we want to beat the sun."
Everyone agreed and started to pack up the remaining Nannichuan casks to take home and the rest of the equipment. Ranma went over to Ukyou and tried to start a conversation. Ukyou started at Ranma's contact with her and backed away.
"Ucchan? What's wrong? You haven't said much throughout the night. Is anything bothering you?"
"Oh umm…Ranch-Ranma...I'm just trying to take all of this in. A lot has happened, you know?"
Ranma rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I know that pretty well. It's sort of hard to believe all of this is happening so fast. But we've been through worse, haven't we? I know we'll get through this one as well."
"Yeah, I guess." Ukyou looked at him out the corner of one eye. "So, Ranma...umm...you were pretty close there with Akane for awhile. I thought you didn't like her in that way?"
Ranma started to blush, and quickly tried to take control of this emotions. "Well, you know, after the wedding and the other things that was going on, we have been getting along much better. We have been more open and honest with our feelings toward each other." 'I think we proved that back at the spring, ' Ranma thought silently. He got a serious look on his face. "Now, something else really bad happened, and I am trying to get used to it as well as Akane. Although, it seems I have the advantage with this one. She's never had a new body before. I have, but now this time, this is my real body. At least I don't have to worry about switching forms all the time and changing in the wrong place at the wrong time." He sighed loudly and shrugged his shoulders. "There is no cure. I have to get used to that early on so I can help Akane adjust to it as well."
Ukyou pondered over Ranma's explanation. She hesitated and asked, "Can I ask you a question, Ranma? Please tell me the truth, and I really mean The Truth." She hesitated some more, and swallowed. "Do...do you...oh hell...do you love Akane? Really, truly and deeply? Don't dodge the question. The Truth."
Ranma wasn't expecting THAT question. He looked startled, but thought about it and blushed a red as deep as Akane. He bowed his head and Ukyou almost didn't hear his answer. "Yes," he whispered. "Yes I do, Ukyou. Very much so. I hope you can understand and accept it. I really do."
Ukyou looked defeated and hung her head lower than Ranma did. She sighed and turned away from Ranma. "As much as I don't want to, I guess I do understand, Ranma. I've been watching you and Akane for a while now, and have seen your love for each other grow. I had heard the two of you talking on the way home from the ice cream parlor yesterday. I felt desperate. I thought I was going to lose you to her. I came along on this trip to see if I could drive you two apart, but I can see that's not going to happen. You're already lost to me." She sniffled a bit and turned towards him. "I...this is hard for me, Ranma, so bear with me." She hesitated again and continued. "I...I release you from our engagement, Ranma. This is for the best, and I think you realize that, too." Ukyou looked up at Ranma, wiping the tears away from her eyes with her sleeve. She weakly smiled at Ranma and gave him a wink. "Besides, I don't think we are really all that compatible anymore."
Ranma blushed once more, and then impulsively grabbed Ukyou in a big bear hug, wings and all. "Thank you, Ucchan. I hope we can still remain friends."
Ukyou grimaced at the hug, and then at the mention of being friends. "Sure Ranchan. I will always be your friend." She squirmed in his grasp. "Can you release me now? I'm not used to the talons and wings yet. They are sort of intimidating."
Ranma released Ukyou, and brought his
tail up to his hands. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I still
am not used to them, and they're mine!" Both laughed a little to
ease the tension and returned to packing up the supplies.
Meanwhile, Akane was slowly packing away hers and the others supplies. She frowned a bit at Ranma and Ukyou, but didn't say anything. Ryouga approached her cautiously.
"Umm...Akane? Can...can I talk to you for a minute?"
She looked up at the boy. She noticed he was white as a sheet and shivering. "I guess so, Ryouga. What do you want? You don't look so good. Are you still feeling bad from the plane ride?"
He shook his head. "No, I think
I might have caught something from jumping in the water after Ranma."
He swallowed and continued, with his head bowed in sorrow. "Um...Akane?
I'm really, really,
really sorry that you fell in the gargoyle
spring. It's all my fault. If you weren't running away from
me..." Ryouga trailed off, sobs taking the place of his apology.
He fell to his knees with his hands covering his face.
Akane looked startled and stared at Ryouga. 'He thinks it's his fault? Well, it sort of is, but I don't blame him. I should have watched where I was going.' "Ryouga, please, stop. It's not your fault, Ryouga, so don't blame yourself. I should have watched where I was going." She winced and continued. "Sure, you shouldn't have chased me, but I don't blame you. Ryouga, please, don't cry. It's not your fault."
Ryouga kept babbling and bawling. "I can't stop, Akane. It is my fault. I caused you to fall in the spring. I should have never come. I'm sorry, Akane. Please try to forgive me. Don't hate me. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you hated me."
Akane shook her head and knelt down in front of Ryouga. "Ryouga, snap out of it. I * Do* Not* Blame* You. If it is anyone's fault, blame Jusenkyo itself. It's magic chose me and Ranma to become gargoyles." Akane looked surprised at what she said. She put that thought aside to think about later. "Ryouga, look at me. Tell me that you don't think it is your fault."
He looked up at her, eyes red from crying. "But it is my fault, Akane. I can't forgive myself as easily as you can."
"But you must. I won't let you wallow in your own misery. You'll explode with depression ki. I care for you, Ryouga."
"Really? You care about me? Why?"
She gave him a small smile. "You're my friend. I care for all of my friends, Ryouga. Now, buck up and let's finish packing, okay?"
Ryouga sniffled and slowly matched Akane's smile with one of his own. "Okay. Thank you, Akane. For being my friend."
She stood and helped Ryouga up.
She gave him a hug. He shyly returned it, a blush spreading across
his cheeks. "You're welcome, Ryouga."
*****
Soon, the jeep was packed and ready
to go. Everyone piled into the vehicle, waved goodbye to Plum, and
was off to the airport.
While in the vehicle, Akane talked to Ranma. "I saw you talking with Ukyou before. What was that all about?"
"I was worried about her. She hasn't said much since the dip in the spring and I wanted to see what was up."
"And what did she say?"
"She said she was trying to get used to the change and everything else and we talked a little." He hesitated and played with his tail. "She also released me from our engagement, Akane."
Akane looked startled. "Really, Ranma? That's a big surprise. Did she give a reason?"
Ranma thought about how he could answer that question. "Yeah, she said that we weren't compatible anymore, and she's seen something growing between us lately." His cheeks reddened with his next thought. "I think she's right about that, Akane. Do...do you think so too?"
Akane looked into Ranma's face. "Yes, I think she's right. We have been getting along really well lately. I want that to continue, Ranma." She looked down a little. "Plus, I kind of liked that kiss earlier. I'd really like that to continue, too."
Ranma gave Akane a lopsided smile. "Yeah, I liked that, too." He pulled her closer to him, and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Ryouga talked to me, too."
Ranma frowned. "What did he want?"
"He blamed himself for us getting the gargoyle curse."
"He should. It's his fault."
Akane swatted at Ranma and scowled at him. "No, it isn't, Ranma. It was just bad luck that we fell in the pool. And don't throw this in his face, either. He looked like he was going to kill himself for a while, there. We talked and hopefully, he is starting to forgive himself. I told him that I don't blame him. If he should blame anything, blame Jusenkyo itself." She got a thoughtful look to her face. She turned toward Ranma. "I think it wanted us to get cursed by Gaagoirnichuan, Ranma. Why else would the Girl and Boy spring dry up right away? It's sort of creepy, don't you think?"
Ranma's doubting features answered for him. "That's a far-out explanation, Akane. Jusenkyo isn't, what's that word you used earlier-- oh yeah, sentient. Jusenkyo's not sentient, Akane. It doesn't have a mind. How can it want to or plan on us getting this curse? That's just plain weird."
"Well, maybe. But it is an explanation. Why did Mr. Xanatos and Mr. Burnett show up the same day and time as we did? Isn't it lucky that they know about gargoyles? Or gargoyles themselves? There are just too many coincidences, Ranma. It's kind of freaky."
Ranma sighed and brought Akane closer to him again. "Let's not think about that now, Akane. That isn't the biggest of our problems. What about being a gargoyle, itself? We're stuck like this. Even if we use the boiling water and go through the painful transformation," Ranma shuddered in remembrance. Akane hugged him tighter. "Cold water will find a way to us soon enough. I think it would be easiest if we just stay gargoyles, permanently, like the Guide said. Just think if we turned into gargoyles in front of a large crowd. We'd be trampled by the stampeding crowd trying to kill us because they thought we were demons."
Akane sniffled a bit. "I guess you're right, Ranma. I think I'd be easier if we stay gargoyles permanently. As much as I don't want to. It would be in our best interests if we accepted these bodies as fast as we can, too. The sooner, the better. Maybe we can ask Xanatos' gargoyles about our new forms." Akane brushed away a few tears. "Oh my. What are our families going to say?"
Ranma looked down at Akane in concern and hugged her closer, resting his cheek on one of her horns. "I don't know, Akane. I don't know. But, I'm here, Akane. I will always be here."
Akane smiled into Ranma's chest and
sighed. She let a few more tears fall in the remembrance of her humanity.
The jeep pulled up to the hangar, where a black jet was waiting for them with the Xanatos Enterprises logo. Everyone piled out of the vehicle and started to unload the equipment. Owen turned around and addressed the others. "The jet is already here and waiting. We can take off after we gather all the equipment into the cargohold. Akane, Ranma, you might want to board now and get comfortable. Sunrise is 20 minutes."
Ukyou looked at the jet. "Xanatos Enterprises...Now I remember where I have heard that name before. You're one of the richest men in the world, aren't you?"
Xanatos turned to Ukyou and bowed. "You are right, my fair lady. I do have a rather large bank account." He winked at her. "I try not to let that get in my way."
Ranma and Akane followed Owen into the jet and got ready for the ride home. Akane hesitated, and then inquired to Owen, "Mr. Burnett, about this stone thing. Does it hurt when we go under? If we're stone, how do we breathe?"
Owen looked to Akane. "Well, I am not sure about the breathing part, but you are statues. The gargoyles never mention having any pain. Like I said earlier, they welcome the change. Although, when they wake up, they do greet the night with a roar. So, do not worry or feel embarrassed if you have the urge to let a roar out when you wake up. It is 'The Gargoyle Way,' as one of the older members of the Manhattan clan is fond of saying."
Ranma inquired, "How many gargoyles are in the clan in Manhattan? Are there many?" Akane nodded at Ranma in agreement.
"There are five original members of the clan; they are the ones that came over from Scotland. Goliath is the leader and has a human, Elisa Maza, a police officer, for a friend. There is Hudson, who is the eldest of the Wyvern clan. Then, there are the mated pairs. These gargoyles are the ones that are in Ishimura, visiting the clan there." Owen studied the pair for a moment. "They are about your age. Brooklyn, the clan's second-in-command, and Angela, Goliath's daughter; Lexington, a computer aficionado, and Aiden, once a human sorceress, she turned herself into a gargoyle through magic to become Lexington's mate; Broadway, the clan's chef, and Shiun, a transplanted member from Ishimura's clan. Last, but certainly not least, is Bronx, a gargoyle beast; doggoyle if you prefer."
Ukyou and Ryouga came into the jet. "Hey guys, are you ready? We are just about to take off."
Ranma looked at Akane, and set his shoulders. Akane reached and held his hand in a gesture of comfort. "I guess so. Ready as I'll ever be. Mr. Burnett, how long until sunrise?"
Owen looked at his watch. "Three minutes. Please make yourselves comfortable. Don't force the change. It will come naturally."
Ukyou looked strangely at the pair. "The change? Oh, you mean when you turn into stone. Is that going to be weird or what?"
Akane sighed and glanced at Ryouga and Ukyou. "Yes, it will. Mr. Burnett assured us that is perfectly natural for gargoyles, so I guess we have to get used to it." She turned to Ranma. "Ready?"
"Ready." He looked to Ukyou and Ryouga. "Make sure nothing happens to us while we sleep. Being stone, we probably tend to chip easily. I don't want to wake up with a finger missing or somethin'." He looked pointedly at Ryouga. "No practicin' the Baukai Tenketsu." Ryouga blushed and nodded.
Ukyou looked at Ryouga and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, guys. We'll protect you."
Ranma nodded, stood, and reached for Akane's hand to help her stand up. "Okay. See you guys in the morning, or evening...I guess." They looked at each other and Akane smiled.
"Ranma, I feel all tingly...is this the change?"
"I feel it too, Akane. I guess so. See you later?"
"Goodnight Ranma."
"'Night, Akane."
Ukyou and Ryouga watched as the stone started to crawl across Ranma and Akane. They stared in silent awe as the stone inched its way up from their feet and climbed all the way to the tips of their horns. Even while the stone crawled up their bodies, Ranma and Akane kept their eyes locked on each other, until they were completely encased in stone.
Ukyou sighed, and turned to Ryouga. "I guess that's it until sunset, right, sugar? Now, we get to present the Tendos and the Saotomes with a set of statues."
Ryouga looked a little green. "I can tell the jet took off. Yeah, what are we going to tell them? We're going to get back well before sunset."
Owen came into the back and spoke to the pair still left flesh. "After Mr. Xanatos and I drop the four of you off in Nerima, I will be staying behind to answer any questions the families have. Mr. Xanatos will then go pick up the other gargoyles in Ishimura and be back around sunset. Hopefully, that will give Ranma and Akane enough time to adjust their families to the situation."
Ukyou and Ryouga both looked relieved. "Thank you, Mr. Burnett. You will be a welcome help."
And so, they settled in for the ride
home. On the flight back to Nerima, Ukyou and Ryouga thought up and
outlined a plan detailing the way they were going to break the news to
the unsuspecting families.