Permanent

Part 20

Aftermath

+++++++++++

Tatiwaki Kuno stood outside the doors of his home in a thundering
rainstorm. His hair was matted down against his forehead and his wings
ruffled behind him nervously. The mansion was as it had always been a dark
silent landmark in Nerima. He stood before the doors of the house and felt
the cool air escaping the crack just under the front door. He frowned as
he stared at it feeling fear encompass his heart. Without any real reason
he stepped forward under the porch watching the doors without being
certain of the strange fear he felt standing there alone. Slowly they
cracked open the light inside was warm and inviting, he stepped forward
and entered the house looking around and finding it as comfortable as it
had always been.

The hallway was brightly lit and the smell of traditional Japanese
cooking floated softly through the air as he moved by the stairwell and
turned deeper into the home. A flash of lightening crashed outside and for
a moment everything seemed dark again, flashes and visions of that
horrible night could be seen in the hallways as he walked onward towards
his bedroom. Then just as quickly as the flash of light from the
lightening ended it was gone again.

Idly he turned into the dining hall and smiled slightly as the
table was once again set with the expensive china. He brushed his finger
across the table and frowned slightly as it was as flawlessly clean as it
always had been before. Still for some reason it felt wet. Another flash
of lightening revealed blood on his fingertips, he gasped in shock as the
vision finished as the first one did. Stumbling back away from the table
he fell against the floor as another bolt lit up the house and somehow
darkening it again, his eyes widened in terror as Sasuke's head
appeared against the doorway staring at him with dead lifeless eyes.

Quickly he rushed from the room and dashed towards the doorway.
Desperately he clutched the doorknob and shook it violently when it would
not give way; he raked his clawed hand against the wooden frame leaving
deep gouges in his terror. Suddenly he stopped, someone was standing
behind him; slowly turning he held his breath as the footsteps came to his
ears, they were soft and light sounds that almost seemed inviting.

"Tachi?" said a familiar voice sweetly.

Kuno sucked in a breath as he stared at his sister in shock. Her
face was peaceful and pleased. "Dachi?"

"Come, brother dear. I have made dinner for us," said the girl as
she stared at him in confusion. He followed her cautiously back into the
dining room. Before him was a small and modest dinner.

"I cannot eat in here," said the boy as he stood just inside the
doorway glancing around fearfully.

"What do you mean brother dear? We always take our meals in here,"
she looked confused, but not unhappy with him.

Kuno gasped as another bolt of lightening struck outside the home
creating the cold darkness again. Standing before him with an empty plate
was a dried out husk, almost a skeleton. He jumped back in shock as the
pleasant scene replaced it once again.

"Come brother dear, we have to eat. I've been worried about you,"
said Kodachi as she took him by the arm and pulled him further into the
room. Behind him the plaster on the wall started to swirl. He knew it was
happening, but somehow didn't notice.

"Sister, are you well?" asked the boy.

"Well? Of course brother dear," replied the girl sweetly. At that
moment another bolt of lightening hit outside. The room changed again,
this time swirling plaster took on a pale blue glow. His sister did not
turn into a husk this time, but took the form of a cadaver that had been
rotting for weeks. Flesh hung from her face and her eyes were shriveled
and dried; her cheerful smile had changed into a vicious snarl of
blackened and rotting teeth. "As well as one can be in hell!" Her voice
was dry, torn by venom and anger. "Come won't you join me there!?"

Kuno screamed in terror as a forceful wind pulled at his body
lifting him and his sister into the air. They slowly floated towards the
vortex that had formed out of the wall with Kodachi keeping an iron grip
on him. He struggled desperately to escape clawing and tearing at her
body sending chunks of rotting flesh flying into the porthole. She snarled
at him in what could have been a smile as she vanished into the hole. His
arm vanished into the swirling blue burning an unbelievable pain through
his body. The flames of the tormented seemed to envelop his very soul as
he struggled to escape only to be pulled into the liquid surface even
further. Finally he felt his mouth fill with the fire as his head
submerged, he stared into the cold dead form of his mansion and saw
Sasuke's head laughing at him from the corner with a look of complete
hatred in his eyes.

"You left me to die! Now get what you deserve!" snarled the ninja
angrily.

++++++++++++

Akane Tendo was woken from her sleep by a scream of complete
terror. She jumped from her bed and rushed into the hallway only to find
Kasumi and her older sister standing there already with looks of complete
concern on their faces.

Nabiki calmed suddenly with a sad look on her face as she realized
what had happened. "Damn, he hasn't done this for a week, not since you
woke up. Kasumi..."

"I know, I know," said the eldest Tendo with a heavy sigh. She
rushed by them into Ranma's old room and almost immediately the screaming
ceased.

"What happened?" asked Akane nervously.

"Kuno is having nightmares Akane, really bad ones. I overheard him
telling Ranma about them one day. You don't want to hear about it," said
the girl as she pulled her sister by the arm and pushed her back into her
room. "Kasumi is handling it, don't worry."

The girl frowned slightly imagining exactly what Nabiki had meant
by overheard. The look on the elder girl's face told her she wished she
hadn't heard. That was probably why Ranma had let her get away with it.
Akane frowned as she forced her way back out and glared at the room. "Is
Kasumi OK in there?"

Nabiki looked at the girl in shock. "Akane, believe me, that is
the last thing on Kuno's mind right now. You have no idea what he's going
through."

The young girl stared back at her sister and growled slightly. "I
think that I do," she replied.

Nabiki stepped back away from her sister as the yellow eye she had
hidden behind her hair glowed slightly showing through the mass of tangles
that hung over her left eye. "Don't do that Akane, it gives me the
creeps!" Quickly she went back into her own room and shut the door.

+++++++++++

Kasumi sat with Kuno's head in her lap gently stroking the boy's
head as he slept. A soft smile crossed her lips as she realized that his
dreams were peaceful once again. "I'll have to thank Ranma for teaching me
that little trick," said the girl as she pushed him gently back onto his
futon.

++++++++++

The next morning Ranma moved about her morning work in the Cat
Café, she rushed through the tables cleaning and bustling about with a
cheerful humming. Talcum frowned slightly as she watched the sickening
display. "Elder, she does not disguise her feelings well."

"I imagine not, the events of that night must have been truly
horrible. It is a shame she will not speak of them, such techniques to
banish demons would me most useful," replied Cologne.

Ko li frowned at the old woman slightly as she scrubbed tables
nearby. "If she does not wish to speak of it, she must have a reason."

Ryoga sat nearby leaning against the wall staring off into space.
His mind was wandering lately and it bothered him. "Akane," he sighed to
himself. "Is that what I want? I can't just leave Ranma alone, as much as
she'd tell me otherwise; but still...Akane." His face twisted into
confusion as the memories of the girl wandered in and out of his
consciousness. "Do I love you? Or is it just overflow from Ranma? I can
never be sure about these things with our connection. I'm not even sure I
can feel love anymore after all I've done and seen. I wonder if Ranma
feels that way?" he looked over at her and she continued working
pretending not to notice him.

Cologne turned to face him and was about to hit him over the head,
his break was over now. Suddenly she felt a crack in her hands, after a
moment she looked down and saw a small crack on the side of her teacup.
"Hmm, an ill omen."

Talcum turned away from a table and collapsed onto the ground
Ranma jumped forward and helped her too her feet. The girl looked down at
the broken sandal and narrowed her eyes slightly. With one quick motion
she tossed her apron to Ko li. "Finish this up for me."

The Chinese girl frowned and glared at the cloth in her hands for
a moment, she was about to protest when Cologne's staff nearly struck her
in the face. "Let her go child."

++++++++++++++

The pigtailed girl stood in front of a small green crystal staring
into one of the flat smooth sides with extreme interest. "Come in Cologne,
this is no secret to you."

The old woman huffed slightly and walked into the room. "Quite
impressive girl."

"Not really, I have this whole room sealed; no one can enter it
without my knowledge," replied the girl.

"What are you doing?" asked the old woman.

"Checking something, it deciphers bad omens. Unfortunately it can
be vague sometimes," Ranma motioned for her to sit next to her and the old
woman complied.

Cologne jumped up in shock as she stared at the rock in front of
her. "That is the emerald of sorrows! How did you come to possess it? It
is one of the most closely guarded secrets of Joketsuko! It should never
have fallen out of our control!"

"But it didn't, it is still in the possession of the tribe,"
replied Ranma with a knowing smile.

Cologne looked at her and just stared for a moment. "I suppose so,
but still I must ask you to return it."

"Don't be so naïve, this is one of three stones, you possess only
one of them. Or should I say two?" Ranma smirked at the old woman and
noticed the look on her face.

"Naïve indeed," muttered Cologne as she turned her attention back
on the stone. "Tell me child, what do you see?"

"A stone, with a Shinto ward tied around it," replied the girl
mechanically.

"Strange, what does this have to do with us?" asked the old woman,
she wasn't really speaking to anyone in particular.

"There is a violent storm around the stone, it seems to be
blocking something. I cannot see anymore than that," said Ranma with an
almost icy chill to her voice.

"Perhaps it is nothing?" said the old woman hopefully.

"No, something wicked this way comes," said Ranma with a barely
disguised smile.

"Well, all joking aside, how much trouble do you think we have on
our hands?" said the woman.

"I'm not really sure, I'm not really getting any strong visions.
No death, no large scale destruction. Just an ominous feeling more than
anything else, I also feel a connection with our past, both yours and more
indirectly to mine." Ranma waved her hands and the stone vanished from its
spot on the ground.

"That's an interesting trick," noted Cologne.


"Not really, I just palmed it," replied Ranma as she produced the
stone from her sleeve.

Cologne looked at her for a moment and frowned.

"Not all the magic books I came across had spells in them, I can
do a few interesting tricks as well," said the girl with a shrug.

"Well, if there is no immediate danger..." said Cologne.

"Yes, I know, back to work," Ranma hunched her shoulders and
walked out of the room.

+++++++++++++

Ryoga met her at the base of the stairs. "Ranma, are we going back
to school?"

"Why do you ask?" said the girl with a look of surprise on her
face.

"Well, we can't just hang around here forever, me and the girls
are getting restless," the boy blushed as the two waitresses stood behind
him.

"Oh, so you got elected to speak huh?" said Ranma placing her
hands on her hips.

"Well, he is the only male," Talcum blushed and shrunk back behind
Ko li.

"So go to school, I'm not stopping you," replied the girl as she
tied her apron around her waist casually.

The three looked at her in confusion. "You can't avoid Akane
forever you know, I'm surprised she hasn't come looking for you here yet,"
said Ryoga a little bitterly.

"That's because she has a little suggestion in the back of her
head too keep that from happening," said Ranma curtly. "I'm not avoiding
her, I'll go back next week. I've still got to sort through this mess
through the proper channels. If we don't do that people are gonna start
asking about where Kuno's sister is," she turned to face them and frowned
at Ryoga.

"I know that, but I can still do the paperwork, the counsel isn't
exactly picky about these things," the boy punched Ranma on the arm
lightly and smiled. "Come on relax a bit will ya?"

Cologne and the two girls just stared at the pair for a moment.
"Counsel?"

Ranma waved her hand and all three of the girls got a glazed look
over their eyes. "You didn't hear anything about a counsel." They all
nodded numbly and went back to their work ignoring the conversation.

"I swear, I almost think you enjoy making me do that to people!" commented Ranma.

"It doesn't hurt them, and we need to talk about it! Ranma, have
you even gone to purify that house yet?" Ryoga looked concerned and frowned a little deeper.

"No, He's gonna have it demolished in a few days, it's better if I
wait until after. The ceremony is much easier. Remember? He's staying with
the Tendos until he takes care of it," Ranma tapped Ryoga on the head and
looked him in the eyes. "You havin some kind of memory problem?"

"No, it's just that, I worry," said the boy half-heartedly.

"Yeah, well stop it. I'll start school next week after I purify the
grounds, we'll see Akane then and she'll have time to think some," Ranma
turned and cheerfully continued her work.

The boy stepped towards her again. "Isn't there anything we can do
for her?"

"Oh, what is it now?" snapped Ranma.

"I was just wondering about her face..." Ryoga looked a little
embarrassed.

"What about it?" asked the girl with a slight look of anger.

"I mean, you can't heal it right? Why not just cover it up?" he
smiled weakly.

"You know that's a bad idea Ryoga, Glamoree is addictive. I'm not
gonna do that to her just cause your ideal woman got a little banged up,"
she turned away and continued to wash her tables.

"More like your ideal woman," retorted the boy.

"I heard that!" Ranma tossed a wet sponge that slapped him in the
back of the head.

Talcum froze and stared at Ranma in confusion. "What did he mean
by that? Maybe is..." She shrugged her shoulders and continued to work, but with a strange smirk on her face.

+++++++++++

Hikaru Gosunkugi sighed as he flipped through the pages, he rested
against the side of the desk lazily leaning on the stump where his arm
used to be. Idly he flipped through the pages of the large book Ranma had
lent him, it was a healing arts spell book. He looked at the stump and
frowned slightly, perhaps one day he could become good enough to grow
another one, but as it stood now he would have to do without it for a
time. Ranma had used all her energy up saving Akane Tendo, unfortunately
she only had enough left to seal up the wound to keep him from bleeding to
death. That meant that basically there was nothing wrong with him anymore,
so a healing spell wouldn't work. When he had asked her about it several
days later, after she had calmed down a bit from the whole mansion episode
and Akane Tendo nearly getting herself killed.

Her reply had been a simple smile and a pile of white magic books with the words "Good luck."

He flipped another page and continued reading, "Man, this is going
to take forever!" Each book was easily as thick as his head was, and he
had to read every spell in the book to find the one he wanted since most
tomes don't contain an index or table of contents.

TBC...