Can It Get Any Worse?: Epilogue
The world around me was a blur. I had no sense of reality other than
that created by the site before me. Ami, my Ami, entombed within an
enormous crystal, a crysatl that could never be destroyed without my
assistance. Kami-sama? He'd get one hell of smack down if he messed
with it. Then I would be destroyed, of course, but he'd still get his
ass kicked.
Ami's pokemon surrounded the crystal, mewling softly, stroking the
smooth surface worriedly. They'd emerged from their pokeballs without
anyone's assistance, and after my little display, no one had the balls
to mess with the creatures.
What could I do? Nothing. The shuriken that had struck Ami, shuriken
that I should have protected her from, had been poisoned both
conventionally and mystically. I could, and already had, eliminated
the mundane poison from her body, but the magically created poison had
bound itself to Ami's soul. To remove it would be to remove her soul.
Oh Kamis, what am I going to do?
Shrieks of insane rage and hate momentarily intruded upon my grief.
That would be the Elders. They would come to regret their younger
bodies now, all strong and resilient. They would survive, for it was
the Amazon way to take care of their own, but their lives would be of
endless mental torment, anguish not of the body but of the soul.
Enough useless staring. I straightened, refilling reserves of energy
spent on manipulating several levels of existance. Usagi may be able
to help. Her White Magic is more effective than mine and her
knowledge of it outstrips my own by leaps and bounds. The ground
beneath my feet was a churned mess of blood, splintered bamboo, and a
swirling miasma of dark energies(demonic shit). Cloven hooves and
reptilian feet had torn the sod to shreds.
Those who had stayed to witness my grief, the few not too scared of me
to hold their own, slowly backed away, never quite meeting my eye.
They would spread the news. Before the end of the day I would be,
within the minds of the inhabitants of Jusendo, twenty feet tall with
glowing pits of fire for eyes, dragging a harem of weeping virgins
behind me.
The senshi were in a little group, huddled together in fear and
sadness, attempting to comfort one another. They didn't draw away
from me, exactly, but there was a definite wariness in the red-rimmed
eyes, a tautness to tear streaked faces. They were my friends, sorta,
they would come to understand.
"Usagi," I begged,"please see if you can help her?" I don't know what
I would do without Ami. She was my better half, literally. The only
reason I even cared about this stupid war was so that she would be
safe and comfortable in the years to come."I can't do anything," I
said, fighting down the urge to cry. I had to be strong.
The ditzy blonde's back straightened and she pulled away from her
fellows. She nodded to me and as I led her over to Ami's prison, I
felt her priming several healing spells of amazing power and
complexity, far above anything I could produce. If she needed energy,
I would provide her with enough to destroy this world, even at the
cost of my own soul.
Usagi fought down a sob as she caught sight of her long time friend.
I had healed the wounds of her body, yet blood still coated her leg
and torso. The sorcerress scanned my fiance in much the same way as I
had, if not a little more thoroughly. She reached the same conclusion
that I had. Shaking her head, Usagi turned to me and whispered,"I'm
so sorry, Ranma. There isn't anything I can do. We can't even allow
her to die in order to be ressurected. The poison would destroy her
soul."
There went hope. I stared at Ami, the world collapsing around me.
I've only ever been truly happy for the few months Ami and I were
together. She'd changed me. Without her...
...without her there was going to be a lot of dead people real soon.
****
Cologne had first felt the chi force induced vaccum exlposion when
she'd been preparing for bed, a young man under either arm. They
couldn't possibly be THAT stupid, could they? She dropped her latest
conquests and ran, glowing with chi, at the fastest speed a non-
Talented human could manage without ripping their own tendons to
shreds. Despite the effort, she was too late.
By the time she reached Ranma's hut, three Amazons, and she suspected
they were Elders, were nothing more than clouds of bloody mist. Ami,
one of the senshi and the sorcerress whom Ranma had soul-bonded, was
down. Even from the distance Cologne had stopped, she could sense the
workings of something dark and insidious within the girl. A poison
she knew of quite well was at work. Poor Ranma, she was a lost cause.
More important at the moment, though, was the poor Elders that were
about to become fish bait.
Cologne knew better than to try to reason with Ranma. In his present
state of mind that would just get her in on whatever horrible thing
his grieving mind could come up with. She wasn't prepared for the
enormous outflow of energy directed by Ranma. It nearly blinded her
chi senses. Reeling from the shock, she caught sight of Ami,
momentarily surrounded by a crystal of huge proportions, fading away.
Now that Ranma had preserved Ami, Cologne guessed, he would be truly
making his displeasure known. She'd expected torture, not summoning
the ranks of Hell to defile and torment her fellow Elders. Through
more than three hundreds years of life, Cologne had seen and
experienced very nearly everything imaginable that a person born on
Earth could hope for. She wasn't prepared for the sight of the demons
at work.
She watched, along with a few Amazons and visitors, throughout the
night, vomitting at least a dozen times. What had the foolish, may
their souls one day know peace, women hoped to accomplish? At least
the entire ruling body of Amazons wasn't insane.
Cologne finally decided to make herself known to Ranma. She'd just
watched him beg Usagi, another sorcerress, one apparently even more
powerful than he in the White magic, to heal Ami. What a fine Amazon
he would have made with such devotion and power. It was after Usagi
failed to do anything that Cologne hopped across the small clearing
created by rampaging demons.
****
"What?" My voice was flat, my eyes cold. Cologne, backbone of the
Amazon Nation, stepped back and swallowed. If she had any sense she
would be running for her damned life.
Cologne reached out and pressed a small glass vial containing a dark
reddish liquid into my hands. Either the liquid or the vial itself
were somehow enchanted, not that I could divine either's purpose."It's
a poison. The Matriarch and Elders of the tribe, over two thousand
years ago, developed it from dragon's blood, one of Saffron's
feathers, and the heart of a newborn babe. I know of no cure." She
would live. Cologne isn't stupid, she knows well enough how I think.
By giving me this vial of poison, she gives me the means to search for
an antidote. She must think that that act alone will save her tribe.
Nope, she's wrong on that account. Very very luckily, I don't think I
can kill all the Amazons without alienating the senshi, and very
likely Ami when she is revived. And I can't alienate the senshi,
really just Usagi, because I will most likely need her help to deal
with this toxin. Less vital, but still important, the senshi have to
stay here, in Jusendo, to continue the war.
I turned my back on Cologne and walked back over to the senshi.
Haruka stood slightly apart from the group of mourning girls, her arms
crossed and a scowl on her petulant face. I glared at her. She ran.
"Usagi, take a look at this. It's the poison used on Ami." Damn, I'm
starting to sound like one of those emotional burnouts that uses too
much negative chi. Well, fuck it, I have a reason. I extended the
vial to her, but as soon as the girl's eyes alighted on the tiny
container, she threw herself backwards, shrieking just a little louder
than a banshee.
I shunted the vial into pocket space and brought the girl to her feet
before the stunned senshi could even react."R-Ranma, t-that's s-s-so
horrible!" Usagi wailed. Now that I think about it, that poison
practically reeks of ritualized magicks, dark magics. Mostly Death,
but the was some Blood and diluted Demonic magic in the pattern. I
can see where something like that would be unpleasant for a sorcerress
of Usagi's perusasion and calibre.
So much for any help."Sorry," I muttered."I'll be leaving now." Yeah,
I'm getting out of town. I don't know how much longer I can control
myself, not around all these Amazons. I have to get away, far, far
away.
The senshi didn't try to stop me, or even call out any denunciations.
Hell, why should I worry about alienating them? They were already
looking at me like I was a whole different person.
****
Three pokemon, a few changes of clothing, some food, and every single
magical artifact the Amazons had possessed(at least the ones that
weren't stupid or too weak to be of use) were all that I carried out
of the village with me. Ami was at the Gates of Time and Space.
Katya was responsible, she'd take care of my fiance. Not that there
was much upkeep involved in dealing with someone in complete stasis.
****
A few days later, while I was killing time incinerating a tree, limb
by limb, I felt the massive magical discharge I'd been expecting. The
wave of power that swept the globe was relatively weak, but the fact
that it covered the entire planet was impressive, to say the least.
Afterward, I couldn't detect any noticeable difference in the Earth's
energy field. Ami'd said that it wouldn't be detectable. Ami...
...Shit, I gotta stop moping and find something to help her. I'm good
at magic, maybe the best, Kamis know I'm the strongest on this planet,
but I'm not arrogant or stupid enough to even begin to believe that I
know all the spells that have been developed over thousands upon
thousands of years.
The world was going to hell now. Food would run out, water would stop
flowing, and medical care would soon be sliding back into the stone
age, meaning that people are going to die. With no electricity or
technology of any kind, people are not just gonna die, they're going
to become paranoid, savage, jealous animals. People like myself, the
martial artists with true chi force and magic talents who previously
remained hidden or withdrawn, we would survive. We would even
prosper.
Someone had to know something that could counteract the poison. If
only the stuff wasn't so evil, I could have had the Dark Prince or
Xochial check it out. To them, though, the poison would be nothing
more than a shot of liquor. Damnit, I need to find an angel or
something along those lines.
****
Author's Notes: I just had the idea to make this the end of CIGAW.
Don't start calling for my blood or planning my death. Part two, 'The
World at War' will be coming along in a couple of days, along with the
side stories involving Ranma's past. I really need those characters
now because Ranma is going to be travelling around the world, meeting
people and looking for a cure to the poison. Rephrase; I need really
well developed characters with descriptive backgrounds so that I can
work with them. Thanks! C&C me at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com